Belonging to Place Essay Example for Free

Belonging to Place Essay Have you ever been in a room packed full of people, yet no matter whos around, you cant shake a feeling of un-ease, or a sense of not belonging? This has probably happened to each of us atleast once before. Belonging is usually defined as just generally being accepted, we assume its a reference to someone being treated differently to others, whether its for better or worse. But sometimes, it has more to do with the place we are in, rather than the people who are around. To prove this, Ill be discussing Shakespeares As You Like It, a romantic comedy set in a ficticious world, where the illustrious Court is supposedly the place to be for educated citizens, and the Forest of Arden, a place of exile, is thought to be harbour to many theives and those discarded from society. The dramatist uses techniques such as imagery, metaphors and dramatic irony to highlight key aspects of belonging and not belonging. In contrast to this text, Ill also examine My Sisters Keeper written by Jodi Picoult, where the sense of place is not physical, but familial. Picoult uses similar techniques to Shakespeares in As you like it, with imagery and irony used as common themes through-out the text. As You Like It revolves around Rosalind whos uncle, Duke Frederick banishes several characters from city life in the French Court. But when Rosalind herself is exiled, her cousin Celia declares that she will join Rosalind, and that they must go to the Forest to seek the rightful Duke, Rosalind cries Alas, what danger will it be to us, maids as we are, to travel forth so far! Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold This is where Shakespeare introduces the reputation of the forest, known as a dark and scary place of banishment and explains Rosalinds sense of obligation to dress as a man and call herself Ganymede, as she feels she must protect herself and her cousin. Throughout the text Shakespeare uses symbolism in many different ways. He commonly uses metaphors or similies not only to describe things, but sometimes to give them a double meaning. An example of this being Rosalinds choice of alternative identities, when she picks the name Ganymede, who in Roman myhtology is a cupbearer and a symbol of homosexual love, this adds to the continuum of sexual possibilites. When Orlandos selfish brother Oliver first causes him to join those exiled into the Forest of Arden he fears for himself, and his servant Adam, yet his opinions of the forest change when he meets Duke Senior and his comrades. Hath not old custom made this life more sweet than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods more free from peril than the envious court? The Duke asks him. Eventually others come to realise that their impression of the forest was also wrong, and that it has the potential to give them true happiness. As opposed to finding a physical place, Jodi Picoult demonstrates a different kind of belonging. Sara and Brian Fitzgerald dedicate their every moment to their middle daughter Kate, who is suffering from leukemia, leaving their other two childern, Anna and Jesse, feeling like they have no place in the family. This affects Anna in particular, as she was concieved in a lab to be used as spare parts for Kate, and made to donate things like stem cells and bone marrow. She is pushed too far when she is told she has to donate a kidney to her sister, and seeks medical emancipation, leaving her feeling even more out of place in the household. The eldest child Jesse however, rebels his own way by committing arson and petty crimes. Throughout the book Picoult uses this allusion to fire for many things; Kates uncontrollable illness, which seems to destroy everything within its path, or Anna initiating the law suit, like shes starting a blaze that she might not be able to contain. It is again used as a comparison to Kates disease, by her father Brian, who is a firefighter, when he suggests that some fires need to be left alone until they burn out. Though both texts have clear links to family, another aspect they share is great irony. In As You Like It, dramatic irony is used quite often because we, as the audience, always know something that the characters dont. When Rosalind, acting as Ganymede, ends up weaving a very tangled web for herself, she is the character who comes to help everyone achieve their happy ending, and find their rightful place. Shakespeares use of this technique brings great entertainment, and adds to the comedy. However, in My Sisters Keeper the irony is not so comedic. Jesse announces in court that Kate had forced Anna to stop donating organs as she was ready to let her luekemia take her life. Leaving the courthouse, after winning her case, Anna and her lawyer are caught in a terrible car accident, resulting in her giving her kidney to Kate before she passes, this helps Kate to fight off her cancer. Through this Picoults use of irony, much different to Shakespeares, allows Anna, who never knew her part, to help her sister find her own place in the world. In conclusion, the very different texts both highlight aspects of belonging, or not belonging, to a certain place. Whether its physical place or a role that you need to find. The Authors use of techniques such as imagery and irony, and as focus on relationships involving both love and hate, helps to convey what belonging truly means to them.

Bloody Thursday and Paint on the Sidewalk :: American History Depression Essays

Bloody Thursday and Paint on the Sidewalk On the edge of North Beach, across the street from where the myriad of little shops in the wharf which sell Alcatraz t-shirts and miniature Cable Cars begin, two human outlines made of white paint adorn the ground in front of a union hall. These are passed by hundreds of tourists daily, as well as many residents, yet few stop to ponder the curious shapes or the crude text painted in red: â€Å"SHOT BY POLICE JULY 5, 1934.† Though this spot does not mark where the original incident occurred, for the men died in front of the original Longshoremen’s Hall on the corner of Mission and Steuart streets, when the new hall opened here on the edge of North Beach these outlines were placed to remember the event. That event, â€Å"Bloody Thursday,† became the climax of the waterfront strike in 1934 and a turning point for Employer and Union relations in San Francisco—and the rest of the nation. ILA DEMANDS By the end of 1933, the effects of the Great Depression began to shift public opinion toward the rights of workers, and enlivened the efforts of unions working for collective action to ensure those rights. As a report before Congress in 1942 explained, Legislation such as the National Industrial Recovery Act emboldened these unions to explore the â€Å"potentialities of a protected right to bargain collectively† and, in the context of this potential, the â€Å"all but defunct† International Longshoremen’s Association renewed their activity and â€Å"met with immediate success.† On the West coast, the ILA gained scores of new members and even extended membership to include â€Å"checkers, seniors, weighers, lumber handlers, grainmen, and warehousemen employed on the waterfront.†[1] In December, the San Francisco local voted on a resolution to participate in a coast-wide strike to demand a six day, thirty hour work week with minimum pay of $1 per hour. Acting on the instigation of the local, a convention of members from all West Coast ports met in San Francisco in February 1934, deciding to strike â€Å"unless the wage-and-hour demands† were accepted. The Waterfront Employers Union, an association of ship owners which controlled most of the dock labor, refused to even meet with the ILA until they filed a complaint with the National Recovery Administration’s Regional Labor Board.

Management Challenges

Shrinking budgetary allocation is common in many businesses, which can be caused by external factors such as lack of profit, or internal factors such as a deliberate decision to cut costs. Whichever the cause may be, people tasked with the management of a business should learn how to deal with such eventualities. A choice has to be made and a strategy undertaken in order to ensure that the business would not only survive, but even succeed in its venture. Shrinking budgets are nothing more than challenges on the management of scarce resources (Tjosvold & Poon, 1998). Contrary to instinct and common belief, shrinking budgets do not hinder the productivity of an organization. True, shrinking budgets do demand more efficient actions and grounded decisions, but they also push managers into performing better. Tjosvold and Poon note the opinion of researchers on organizational power and politics to the effect that â€Å"conflicts over scare resources intensify competition (Tjosvold & Poon, 1998).† They also claim that conflict over scarce resources lead to effective distribution of resources. The scarcity of resources brought about by the shrinking budget can be productive because of the demand to step up to a higher level. This breeds a sense of competition in the team, which pushes people to work harder to produce better output (Tjosvold & Poon, 1998). On the other side of this perspective is one that denies the usefulness of competition (Tjosvold & Poon, 1998). This side emphasizes cooperation among members of a management team in order to come up with a business plan that manages the effects of the lowered budget (Tjosvold & Poon, 1998). Thus, shrinking budget could lead to unity, cooperation, relationship development and organizational power theorizing (Tjosvold & Poon, 1998). Thus, taken in the proper perspective, shrinking budgets could actually raise productivity to a higher level (Tjosvold & Poon, 1998). Workplace Diversity Diversity is another aspect of business management that has caught the interest of many practitioners and researchers. Generally, the widely held opinion is one in favor of various kinds of diversity in the workplace, such as gender and cultural diversity (Miller,1999). For example, promoting gender diversity in a business organization is now being considered as an effective way of building good human resources. Women are often seen as a minority in various business firms, since they occupy a small percentage in a corporation’s workforce (Miller,1999). However, present changes are reversing this trend through the increased hiring of women in business organizations (Miller,1999). The policy towards increasing the number of women recruits in business and professional organizations is a positive and bold move that is directed towards removing undue discrimination in the professional setting. Provided that the woman applicant possesses the qualifications required by the available position, there is no reason to choose a male employee possessing the same qualifications over a female employee, if such decision is based solely on the applicants’ genders. Thus, simultaneous with the recognition of the inequalities in society regarding hiring of men and women, promoting gender diversity in the workplace shows a deliberate policy of equalizing the market for men and women alike. Another aspect of diversity is cultural diversity. This concept works optimally for a multinational business, which has business connections in various localities (Miller, 1999). Hiring people from all sorts of cultural backgrounds would allow the business organization to reach out to the locals of the place, thereby increasing the company’s goodwill, and eventually, profit (Miller, 1999). Thus, a company that has sales agents of the same cultural background as the consumers has more chances of capturing that market (Miller, 1999). Cultural diversity also leads to a better understanding by the company of possible issues that lead to misunderstanding and disagreements among people working in the same workplace (Miller, 1999). Thus, it is apparent that cultural diversity can play a major role in promoting the well being of a business organization. It should be noted, however, that the organization must ensure equal treatment to people even though they are coming from different cultural backgrounds (Miller, 1999). This way, cultural diversity would only benefit the business organization, and not hinder its development (Miller, 1999). Ethics and the Organization Ethical principles and policies play a big role in the operations and success of a business organization (Hamner, 2006). While ethics is commonly treated as a legal concept, it deals more with proper behavior of people in any situation (Hamner, 2006). The concern about ethical or unethical behavior of members of a business organization springs from the realization that such behavior has great effects on the success or failure of such organization (Hamner, 2006). In particular, unethical behavior within an organization has adverse effects, which could consist in loss of huge sums of money (Hamner, 2006). The best effect of having a clearly formulated ethical policy and ethical code within an organization is the influence of such policy and code on the conduct and attitude of members of the organization (Hamner, 2006). A strong support by the management in favor of ethical behavior will breed a culture of ethics that would make people value ethics, to the extent that unethical behavior would seen out of place in the organization (Hamner, 2006). To be effective promoters of ethical behavior in a business organization, the management must devise incentive schemes for members of the organization who follow ethical rules (Hamner, 2006). Moreover, the ethical rules and policies should be able to cover all facets of ethical behavior, which includes moral, economic, and legal aspects (Hamner, 2006). In sum, managing business necessarily means that one will have to deal with different challenges, such as shrinking budgets, workplace diversity, and ethical issues. However, all such challenges can be dealt with and used as means to succeed. Proper management would actually make organizations stronger and better once such kinds of challenges are met squarely. References Hamner, M. (2006). Management. Aerospace America. Retrieved October 17, 2007 Miller, S. (1999). Poltical Correctness in the Office. Office Systems 16(4). Tjosvold, D. & Poon, M.   (1998). Dealing with Scarce Resources: Open-Minded   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Interaction for Resolving Budget Conflicts. Group Organization Management 23(3): 237-255   

Southwest Airlines an Industry Giant - 2380 Words

From 1972 to 2002, Southwest Airlines stock returned more for their shareholders than any other stock in the same time period (Collins, 2006, Hospital Strategy IV: Southwest Airlines and thinking outside the box). Many companies have begun to take notice of the Southwest model; a model that allows Southwest to thrive while many of its contemporaries are faced with financial difficulties. The success of Southwest Airlines can be attributed to their structure. This structure has made it possible for Southwest Airlines founders Rollin King and Herb Kelleher to create a culture that was unique and ahead of its time: a people first culture. This culture is supported by Southwest s human resource practices. Every aspect is dependant upon each†¦show more content†¦By placing people into functional departments with people with the same or similar specializations, Southwest ensures efficiency. There is a reduction in the duplication of personnel and equipment, and allows employees t o the opportunity to use terms that are inherent to the position. There is a chain of command that is clear and defined. The structure has helped to create a work environment that allows employees to thrive. Due to the success of Southwest Airlines, many companies have attempted to duplicate the Southwest model. They have been able to change their policies and procedures to copy those of Southwest Airlines. In this part, most companies have been successful; but the one thing that they have not been able to duplicate, and this is what makes Southwest Airlines successful, is their culture. Robbins (2005) defines organizational culture as a shared meaning held by an organization that defines that organization and separates it from other organizations. There are several characteristics that capture the essence of the culture of an organization. The characteristic that helped to change Southwest Airlines from a rural airline that serviced only three cities and had four aircraft, to one of the largest airlines in the nation that services sixty three cities and has over five hundred aircraft is innovation and risk taking. Founder Herb Kelleher and Rollin King started Southwest Airlines with a simple plan: to get peopleShow MoreRelatedAdjustments to Southwest Airlines Operations1000 Words   |  4 PagesSOUTHWEST OPERATIONS Although in recent history Southwest Airline did some adjustments to its operation, company maintained its philosophy and stayed true to its original strategy. When company was established in 1971 its primary focus was to stick to short-haul trips, point-to-point flights, fleet only consisting of Boeing737s, high-frequency flights, low fares, and no international flights. Operating in no frills philosophy resulted in lower fixed cost which enabled Southwest Airlines opportunityRead MoreEffects of Quality Management on Domestic and Global Competition1265 Words   |  6 Pagescompetition associated with the airline industry. While Southwest and Lufthansa are both airline companies with similar goals they each have a different process or procedure that they abided by that keeps the company effective. Southwest Airline vs. British Airways Similarities The leading airlines in the industry are Southwest Airline and British Airways. Quality management and innovation is where they both place the heaviest emphasis. 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