Compare/Contrast of the Movie and the Book Night of the Twisters

There were many differences between the book and movie. One of the differences in the movie is there is a tornado tracker guy gets information on the tornado, but in the book there isn’t a tornado tracker guy. In the movie, Stacey doesn’t help get Dan ad Arthur out of the basement out of the basement, but in the book, she does. In the movie, the Mom doesn’t give instructions to Dan and Arthur, but in the book she does. In the movie, when Mom leaves the house, she’s checking if Grandmas okay, but in the book, she checks on Mrs. Smiley. In the book, Mrs. Smiley is one of the characters, but in the movie, she isn’t one of the characters. In the book, Dan drives the police car, but in the movie, Dan drives through roadblocks to get to Grandma. In the movie, the Dad got stuck under a car and got rescued, but in the book, the Dad never got stuck under a car. In the movie, Dan sneaks into the car when the Dad is looking for the Mom, but in the book, that doesn’t happen. In the movie, Dan has an earring, but in the book, he doesn’t. In the movie, Grandma dies, but in the book, Mrs. Smiley dies. In the movie, when the family meets, another tornado is upon them, but in the book, when they meet, there are no more tornadoes. Even though the movie and book were different, I still liked both of them a lot. The movie and book were similar in many different ways. The movie and book had the same date, setting, and title. They both talk about red and black letter days. The movie and book had mostly the same characters. They both had Dan doing bike races. In the movie and the book, Dan likes Stacey. They both had tornados in it. In the book, and the movie, Dan and Arthur are friends. In both, the movie and the book, Arthur has a lot of sisters and brothers and moved from California. In both, the movie and the book, when the tornado starts to destroy the house, Dan struggles to get Ryan to the basement. In the movie and the book, they hide in the basement and then get into the shower. In the movie and the book, so many things get destroyed, but no one died from the tornado. There were a lot of similarities between the book and movie.

Ap World History Curriculum Framework Questions

1. In what way do we see the expansion of the Byzantine Empire (or the Muslim Caliphates) facilitating Trans-Eurasian trade & communication? answer: give examples of conquered people being drawn into their conquerors’ economies & trade networks) * Byzantine Empire – use of the gold coin, the bezant, facilitated trade and communication by creating a standard currency by which all peoples could expect to trade with; Balkan Slavic peoples came under Byzantine rule and was drawn into the trade network; became trading partners with other towns that were smaller in size such as Florence of Italy, facilitating long-distance trade * Muslim Caliphates – everywhere, there was a huge incentive to convert to Islam because of the massive trade arena that was created as a result of the religion – in various countries, Islamic religion provided links for trading partners (such as in West Africa); when Islamic empire conquered India, new products were introduced (crops) w hich later spread into Africa and Uerope 2. What examples do you see of cross-cultural interactions resulting in the diffusion of scientific & technological traditions? Byzantine Empire – when China finally opened its doors, many Europeans such as Marco Polo visited there and absorbed many ideas about Chinese culture, writing about them and eventually bringing those ideas back to Europe * Muslim Caliphates – Greek thinking (science and medical texts, as well as philosophy) contributed towards Arab scholarship, and its thinking about the natural sciences and philosophy 3. Following the collapse of empires (most notably Roman), the Byzantine Empire constituted a new government. Give examples of the way that traditional sources of power & legitimacy combined with innovations in governance to produce a gov’t better suited to its circumstances (ie: patriarchy, religion, or land-owning elites combining with new methods of taxation, tributary systems, or adaptation of religious institutions). Byzantine Empire – it maintained a Roman style of centralized imperial court that was based in Constantinople; it set up a caesaropapism where the emperor was both the head of the state as well as the head of the church as appointed by God; maintained many social systems such as taxation and the church; in the 11-13th centuries, there was a leap in urbanization and economic growth, which led to many new chances for women to leave their domestic lifestyles to seek more urban professions * Western Europe – the Roman Catholic Church was separate from the state; the pope held religious authority while the emperor headed the state – system of feudalism ensured loyalty in the chaos-ridden world of that time * China – centralized, individual cities; landowners were given privileges by the government rather than merchants, as merchants were viewed as lazy people who gained profit through the works of others 4. Do you see any examples of i nnovations in agriculture or industrial production? ie: foreign luxury goods & crops like sugar & citrus being grown in new regions) * Byzantine Empire – adopted various mathematical, scientific and philosophical theories of the Arabs and India; adopted the technology from China – papermaking, gunpowder, as well as the compass and much nautical technology; heavy wheeled plow that was adapted to suit the environment – could handle the thicker soil of Northern Europe; relied on horses and used horseshoes probably from China or Central Asia; system of three field crop rotation; adopted silk making techniques and became one of the main producers of silk; developed cannons as a result of the introduction of gunpowder * Muslim Caliphates – new crops introduced in India which were spread around the empire such as cotton and sugarcane (two crops had a very complex production process, and in the rush to produce it, slavery quickly intensified; adopted ancient Pers ian water-drilling techniques, rockets from China, and papermaking techniques all from China; developed a series of math concepts such as algebra, scientific advances such as in medicine and pharmacology 5.What factors do you see that contributed to the decline of urban areas (possible answers: little ice age, invasions, disease, decline of agricultural activity – give examples of this) * western Christendom – around 476, much that had characterized Roman civilization also weakened, declined or disappeared in the several centuries before and after; any semblance of large-scale centralized rule vanished, disease and warfare reduced Western Europe’s population by more than 25%; land being cultivated shrunk, while wasteland expanded; urban life diminished as Europe reverted to a largely rural existence; buildings crumbled from lack of care, and outside Italy, trade routes died out * eastern Christendom – decline in urbanization because of the threat of attac k of outsiders; slavs, arabs, latin crusaders and turks progressively disrupted the empire through simple penetration or military conquests – swelling of Constantinople’s population was not growth, but because many people chased from their region by Byzantium’s enemies sought refuge in Constantinople 6. Do you see continuities & changes in social structures, labor management? (labor: free peasant agriculture, nomadic pastoralism, craft production, guild organization, unfree labor & gov’t enforced labor taxes, military obligations? * China – built a bureaucracy that managed public works; Tang and Song dynasty experienced a revolution that made it the richest, most skilled and most populous country on earth; industrial production soared in both small and large scale enterprises, China’s iron input increased dramatically; produced things for the market rather than for local consumption; growing use of paper money led to the increase in output, population, skills and led to a burst of inventiveness * Byzantine Empire – agriculture – production arranged around two centers – estate and village; distinctions between landholders and tenant farmers; guilds of specified jobs introduced a new and more productive division of labor * Roman Empire – coercive labor system (slavery) 7. Give examples of new forms of coerced labor. Give examples of free peasants resisting attempts to raise dues & taxes (ie: revolts in Byzantine empire or China). Give examples of the increased demand for slaves (for both military & domestic purposes) within Central Eurasia, & Eastern Mediterranean. within the new, fragmented and decentralized kingdoms of the Western Christendom, a social system known as feudalism emerged – lesser lords and knights swore allegiance to greater lords or kings; Roman style slavery gave way to serfdom – unlike slaves, serfs were not the personal property of their masters, couldnâ€⠄¢t be thrown off land and were allowed to live in families, but they were bound to their master’s estates as peasant laborers and owed various payments and services to the lord of the manor * Byzantine Empire highly regulated slavery – natural state of humanity is freedom, but law of nations may supersede natural law and reduce certain people to slavery – basic definition of a slave was – anyone whose mother was a slave, anyone who has captured in battle, and anyone who has sold himself to pay a debt, but it was possible to become free * Abbasid Empire had an army dominated by slave soldiers – mamluks – originally soldiers captures in central Asia, but later boys specifically taken or bought to be trained as soldiers – later dissolved their loyalty to their masters and established themselves as the ruling dynasty * Islamic slaves directed at the service sector – concubines, cooks, porters and soldiers – form of consumpt ion rather than a factor of production – many more female than male slaves 8. In what ways do we see gender relations and family life being affected by religious conversion? may not be many examples in Europe, but several in other areas we’ve already studied) * Song dynasty, reviving Confucianism tightened patriarchal restriction on women to emphasize images of female submission and passivity; emphasized the subordination of women and men and the need to keep them separate * Spread of Christianity opened new opportunities for women – to become nuns/join a convent, offered relative freedom from male control; where women could exercise authority and gain some semblance of education * What rise of Islam meant for women is highly controversial – on a spiritual level, the Quran states explicitly that women and men are equals, but on a social level, they were viewed as subordinate, especially in marriage; sometimes it helped women – banned infanticide, g ave women control over property/inheritance, required a women’s consent for marriage etc. , but also diminished their social roles as there were growing restrictions on women

Alternative to Brainstorming

The NGT is a technique that was developed by Delbecq and VandeVen. It is used for group brainstorming with the intent to get everyone involved by contributing their feedback. It is structured to help gain different viewpoints from several people for a particular topic or issue. The NGT was designed with the purpose of causing all members of the group to be involved in the discussion with one person having single dominance. It allows those individuals who are perhaps more soft spoken an opportunity to have a vocal voice in the discussion. It is also helpful to use when there are new team members who perhaps have yet gained the comfortability for sharing within the group. The NGT should help to keep the discussion flow balanced for all the topics or ideas. It should also help guide the discussion in such a way that limits the possibility of argumentive outbreaks. The NGT should produce a good mixture of quality ideas and help everyone to feel the involvement of working together as a group. The article, Nominal Group Technique: An Alternative to Brainstorming, lists some basic steps to follow when using this technique. The steps are (1) Individuals should be groups by five or six people.

Avoiding Fallacies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Avoiding Fallacies - Essay Example From the reasoning presented by the characters in the book, there are different approaches to the issue of women and publicity. One of the fallacies would be that she would be putting on pants all over her time. Another one would be that Bill Clinton I never wore pants and that would lead us to question what he used to put on. Blair, one of the characters party to the question believes that there is an issue of economic status and women ability that would drive a woman to remain confident even in the face of controversy. Erin Bruno believes that the choice of such a slogan would be based on publicity that is required. The media, according to him reports stories with the audience in mind. When the perceived audience is large, then the chances that the, media will multiply publicity of the aspect in mind is very high. David Bositis presented an issue with the opinion polls not favoring the minorities. Clinton in this case would be described as a minority based on her being a woman. The refore, the fallacies about her slogans were purely meant to publicize her to the

Political culture and public opinion, the media Essay

Political culture and public opinion, the media - Essay Example Another influential body towards the public opinion forming is the media. Through the media information about various governments, operations are made available to the citizens and thus resulting in a change in their ideas considering the information relayed. One major attribute of the "new media" age is the ability to facilitate interactions among citizens, public officials, and media personnel through communication technologies (Lasser, 2012). Citizens are now able to share their opinions and play more significant roles in political happenings and also a feel for their political existence is considered an example being call-ins in various televised news programs and thus democracy is not in a crisis. The senate’s handling of the Anita Hill controversy shows that the Congress and its members care less about the public opinion. This is due to the fact many women were shocked as Anita Hill`s allegations were not taken keenly by a Senate that was highly male

Family Nurse Practitioner Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Family Nurse Practitioner - Personal Statement Example MSN and Post-Master's Certificate Programs Offered: Certified Nurse Midwifery (accredited by ACME), Family Nurse Practitioner, and/or Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner (both accredited by the NLNAC). FSMFN also offers an online DNP program accredited by the AACN. MSN - Family Nurse Practitioner, MSN - Nurse Educator, Post-Graduate Certificate Family Nurse Practitioner, Post-Graduate Certificate in Nurse Education offered by All nursing programs at Graceland University are CCNE accredited. Graceland University is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) and is accredited by the Higher Indiana Wesleyan University - College of Adult and Professional Studies offered MSN- Nursing Administration, MSN - Nursing Education, RN to BSN Completion Online, MSN - Primary Care (Gerontological Nurse Practitioner or Family Nurse Practitioner - *Campus Based) Liberty University's Online MSN - Clinical Nurse Specialist Acute Care Track is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. Graduates are prepared for national certification as a CNS and work as practitioners and/or educators. The University of Cincinnati offers two Online MSN Pr... The University of Cincinnati offers two Online MSN Programs: a Master of Science in Nursing - Nurse Midwifery and a Master of Science in Nursing - Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. The MSN - Nurse Midwifery online program is accredited by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) and the The MSN - Women's Health Nurse Practitioner online program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Nursing students may be eligible to complete all or a portion of their clinical site requirements at a clinical site near their home. If not, there are a number of clinical sites in the Chicago area that faculty will assist in setting up for the student. The Rush University - College of Nursing received accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) offered. Advanced Generalist MSN, MSN Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, MSN Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Community/Public Health Clinical Nurse Specialist, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD). The Saint Xavier University MSN - Clinical Nurse Leader program is CCNE accredited. Graduates are eligible to sit for the AACN national CNL certification exam Schools Based in Nevada Offering Nurse Practitioner Programs University of Nevada, Las Vegas 4505 Maryland Parkway Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, 702-895-3360 Offered: MSN- FNP Track, Pediatric NP Track University of Nevada, Reno - Orvis School of Nursing Reno, Nevada 89557-0052 775-784-6841Offered: MSN- FNP Track, College of Human & Community Sciences Nurse Practitioners in Nevada are referred to as Advanced Practitioners of Nursing or APN's. In order to become certified as a nurse practitioner in Nevada, I must first complete a program designed specifically to prepare me to become an

Management of External Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management of External Resources - Essay Example tcomes of the poor relationship management with the subcontractors. The outcome of such poor relationships and communication with the suppliers and subcontractors is that they start looking to take advantage for their business rather than for the project they have been chosen to work on, so in order to ensure that the suppliers and subcontractors are working for the benefit of the company or project the relationship and communication should be emphasized more. The relationships with the suppliers and subcontractors can be improved by working jointly for one goal, it is the managements job to ensure that the supplier or subcontractor is working for maintaining a long term relationship with the company or is very much devoted to the project that is undergoing, the changing attitude of the supplier is a hint that he wants to either end the relationship or is willing to get some more benefits from the company, in such circumstances it is the job of the management to ask the supplier about the problems they are facing, a very good idea about maintaining a very good relationship with the suppliers that is commonly seen in the successful companies is that the managers of those companies know every thing about the suppliers, they know their backgrounds, their history of working and even the names of their children, this is a very good technique to maintain healthy relationships with the supplier, as the supplier would now pay attention to the particular company and would take interest in its operations as they would see that the company is also taking interest in their personal life. In modern times it is so commonly found that the companies are paying bonuses to the suppliers and else they are providing them with complimentary gifts such as air tickets for spending the holidays outside the country and also many other rewards are given to them to ensure that they all are working for the benefit of the company, one can say that it is not a relationship of love but it is a relationship of need, both of them are dependent on each other. It is also seen that there are many companies that are having problems in making payments to the suppliers, they usually cause a lot of bad debts in the suppliers or subcontractors accounts, as a result supplier either stops supplying the raw material or subcontractor stops working on the project or the supplier brings in the name of the company in bad customers list. To avoid this happening the company has few choices, again it is the management's job to clear all the billings of the supplier and secondly if the company has

Essay on the movie ti kill a mockingbird Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

On the movie ti kill a mockingbird - Essay Example There is no denying the fact that â€Å"Early on in the history of American South, the institution of slavery established race as one of the dominant influences shaping Southern culture (Beck, Frandsen & Randall 121)†, whose diluted remnants can still be traced in the contemporary Southern life. In that context this movie is primarily concerned with the dynamics of the race relations in the South. To a great extent the movie traces the conflict and friction accompanying the change in social perceptions pertaining to the notion of race in the South. The fictional character of Tom in the movie To Kill a Mockingbird emerges as a symbolic representative of the injustices inflicted on a section of the Southern society, a direct outcome of the Southern notions of race. The movie elaborately delineates the race based bifurcation of the Southern society, which happened to be all encompassing, including within its ambit all the salient aspects of the Southern social life, like habitati ons, religion, mannerisms, language, food, politics and sadly justice also. Class is an important concern in this movie as social class has traditionally commanded immense importance in the essentially agrarian Southern culture replete with â€Å"an abundance of myths and stereotypes about the poor and the wealthy (Beck, Frandsen & Randall 46)†. In that sense, this movie allows the audience to glance over a range of class affiliated stereotypes like the conservative Mrs. Dubose, and the Cunninghams and the Ewells belonging to the lower class, from the relatively balanced perspective of Jem and Scout. The movie in a way visually presents the complex interplay between the Southern notions of class and race, with those at the receiving end of the system trying to seek a common space. For instance, when Scout embarrasses the poor Walter Cunningham, she is severely reprimanded by her black cook Calpurnia. However, it does need to be mentioned that when

Customer Accomodation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Customer Accomodation - Essay Example The Channel on the right shows how the Map stocks move from the print planning to the Printing lines, the printed maps move to the Bulk store. Broken down orders are then taken to the Picking area. The channel on the left displays how the customers' orders and trade orders meet up with the Moulin inventory control system. The system is in constant communication with the right hand side channel making sure there is enough stock in place. Through a bar coding system, using hand held scanners, Moulin automatically finds the requested orders in the Bulk store, a picker then brings it down to the picking line. The goods are then packed and dispatched using a contracted logistics service provider. The movement of goods within CSF have both a manual and an automated system working together to produce maximum output. The printing department has the most activity, as much as 4 hours can be spent on setting up just one machine with the majority of time spent on configuring the plates and adjusting the colours. Once set up, the printing machines work two seven-hour shifts, each producing as much as 8000 maps per hour. The company has four printers with two different printing machines, Alpha and Beta. The Alpha machines are older and less efficient, with almost twice as much time needed for set up whilst, only producing half as much output compared with the Beta machine. (Johnston et al, 2003:170). CSF has two fairly distinctive levels of demand. The first is a lower level, where monthly sales volume accounts for only 5% and 7% of the annual total and a second, higher level of demand shows monthly sales of 9% and 11% of the annual total. The planning procedures department use as much as 12 months lead time in preparation for new maps and stock replenishment. The team determine the need for placing a map (stock) on the printing schedule as much as 6 months in advance. They aim to deliver a batch of printed maps to the Bulk store 3 months before stock is projected to run out. Holding 12 months of inventory can be expensive. Warehousing for storage including rent and utilities, Insurance and taxes on inventory finance for the stock, and stock lossage due to shrinkage/deterioration are just a few costs for holding inventory over a long period. Inventory optimization www.sap.com Accessed 2.1.2007 Moving over to the left channel of figure 1 we see more activity coming in from customers and trade orders. CSF aim to have dispatched the customers order within three to four days of receipt, with an 88% performance target regularly being exceeded. Only over the busy Easter months have CSF had problems with delivery times, this was mainly due to their contract logistics service provider. CSF should have forecasted from previous years that Easter was the busiest time and so they should have hired more transport through their logistics providers. The company uses an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for their customers to place orders. Only 50%-60% of the orders are EDI with the remaining orders being keyed in to Moulin by hand. This process is slow, not cost effective and can generate errors. Use of this channel is limited to a small amount of CSF's largest customers. Here I think is CSF's biggest downfall. According to Stock, If the

W6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

W6 - Essay Example In addition, the use of technology has become increasingly common; as a result, geographical boundaries which previously functioned as a barrier, are now being dissolved, facilitating interaction and communication among organizational employees in various nations. A global information system functions within a global context, therefore a leadership strategy that appears appropriate within an organizational context in one country might not necessarily be as relevant in a different country with a different cultural context. As a result, devising an effective leadership strategy must also take cultural, political and legal factors in different countries into account. A global information system refers to any information system that is developed and used within a global context. Outsourcing of organizational functions is becoming increasingly common, especially within the IT context, in order to gain cost benefits. Devising an effective strategy for leadership is vital, because coordinating the effective functioning of the various subsidiaries would require an adherence to the regulatory and legal frameworks that are in place in the subsidiary countries; it would also require adaptation in terms of cultural elements. Devising an effective leadership strategy would therefore require a well thought out approach. This study examines leadership issues in the context of a global information system and sets out a framework for a model that may be applicable. Outsourcing has been defined as the use of external agents in order to perform organizational functions (Brooks, 2006). Where IT sourcing is concerned, this could be carried out in-house, wherein it would be internalized or outsourced to other individuals and companies across the globe, which would in turn, affect the impact of the outsourcing decisions on the workforce and their motivation. Leadership has traditionally been associated with management, but

Greek Mythology and Medea Essay Example for Free

Greek Mythology and Medea Essay Medea is a Greek tragedy which was written in 431 BC by the Greek philosopher Euripides. The story of Medea is one filled with anger, jealousy, and death. The main character, Medea, has to overcome the personal heartache of seeing her husband, Jason, marry another woman. The ensuing struggle she has with this notion is the focus of this play. In a very important scene, Medea hatches her plan to murder the princess, who is Jasons new bride, as well as Jason himself. She says that first, she will pretend to beg for Jasons forgiveness, and then she will have him bring the children back to the palace. At the palace, the children will present gifts to the princess from Medea. The gifts of a veil and bridal robe were covered with a poison that is designed to melt the skin from her body, as well as anyone who touched her. When the children give the gifts to the princess, she cannot resist putting them on immediately. After she put them on, the gifts begin to work as Medea had hoped. The skin begins to melt from her body and her hair begins to fall out. She also bursts into flames. Upon seeing this, a servant goes to fetch the king and Jason, and when he saw his daughter, King Creon collapses helplessly on the body, and as a result died from the same poisons. Jason returns to the place where Medea is staying and insists to see his children. But he is too late, as Medea has killed them as well. Her reasoning was that she hates Jason more than she loves her children. The sheer cruelty of this scene illustrates Euripides point that a clever woman with enough time to hatch a plan is a very dangerous woman indeed. It also proves that hell hat no fury like a woman scorned. Euripides was aiming to show, in my opinion, that when a woman is wronged in a manner such as this one, the man who has scorned her had better think twice about turning his back on the woman, especially if she is a clever one, as was Medea.

Organisational Behavior Notes Essay Example for Free

Organisational Behavior Notes Essay Definition * The study of human behaviour, attitudes and performance within organisational setting to improve performance and differences. * Frameworks of theories, methods and principles from disciplines such as psychology, sociology, political * The organisational Iceberg The study of organisational behaviour embraces, therefore an understanding of * The nature and purpose of the organisation * The human element and behaviour of people * Business strategy, organisational processes and the execution of work * The process of management as an integrating and co-ordinating activity * Social responsibilities and business ethics * The external environment of which the organisation is part of and * The need for organisation success and survival. The Pyschological Contract * The PC is not a formal written document that is referred to but a people organisation relationship where mutual expectations and satisfaction of needs are implied. * Important to enhance the level of trust and teamwork. * Human capital to be seen as a responsibility and a resources to be added to * Two observations in human behaviour at work * Peter Principle * Parkinson’s law ../2 The pyschological contract: possible examples of individual and organisational expectations Individual’s expectations of the organisation * Provide safe and hygienic working conditions. * Make every reasonable effort to provide job security. * Attempt to provide challenging and satisfying jobs, and reduce alienating aspects of work. * Adopy equitable human resource management policicies and procedures. * Respect the role of trade union officials and staff representatives. * Consult fully with staff and allow genuine participation in decisions which affect them. * Implement best practice in equal opportunity policies and precedures. * Reward all staff fairly according to their contribution and performance. * Provide reasonable opportunities for personal development and career progression. * Treat members of staff wit respect. * Demonstrate an understanding and considerate attitude towards personal problems of staff. Organisation’s Expectations of the Individual * Uphold the ideology of the organisation and the corporate image. * Work diligently in pursuit of organisational objectives. * Adhere to the rules, policicies and procedures of the organisation. * Respect the reasonable authority of senior members of staff. * Not to take advantage of goodwill shown by the management. * Be responsive to the leadership influence. * Demonstrate loyalty, respect confidentiality and not betray positions of trust. * Maintain harmonious relationships with work colleagues. * Not to abuse organisational facilities such as email or internet access. * Observe reasonable and acceptable standards of dress and appearance. * Show respect and consolidation to customers and suppliers. A pyshcological contract is not only measured in monetary value or in exchange of goods or services, it is in essence the exchange or sharing beliefs and values, expectations and satisfactions. Mutuality is the base principle of the pyshcological contract and consensus or mutual understanding is the basis of mutuality. Ideally therefore self-interest should be balanced with common interest in a win-win arrangement. In the past this unspoken contract might have implied that employees could expect job security and adequate rewards from their employer in exchange for hard work and loyalty. Today’s pyshological contract may be different, in line with a changed working environment that includes factors such as increased rationalism, technological changes, and management aproaches such as outsourcing. The new pyschological contract may revolve more around an employer’s willingness to assist you in developing your skills to order to maintain your marketability. The Peter Principle This is concerned with the study of occupational incompetence and the study of hierarchies. In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence. Employees competence in their postion are promoted and competence is each new position qualifies for promotion to the next highest posotion until a position of incompetence is reached. The principle is based on perceived incompetence in all levels of every hierarchy political, legal, educational and industrial and ways in whcih employees move upwards through a hierarchy and what happens to them after promotion. Peter suggests tow main means by which a person can effect their promotion rate. â€Å"Pull and push†. * Pull is an employee’s relationship – by blood, marriage and acqaintance – with a person above the employee in the hierarchy. * Push is sometimes manifested by an abnormal interest in study, vocational training and self-improvement. In small hierarchies push may have a marginal effect in accelerating promotion; in larger hierarchies the effect is minimal. Pull is therefore, likely to be more effective than Push. Parkinson’s Law A major feature of PL is that of the rising pyramid, that is â€Å"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. There is little, if any, relationship between the quantity of work to be done and the number of staff doing it. Underlying this tendency are two statements; * An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals * Officials make work for each other What is driving leaders organisations behaviour? * The continuous importance that consumers base on value of product and service. * The diverse workforce is also an important factor that drives organisational behaviour. * Consumers expect that organisation understands their needs and produces top quality products at best price possible. These demands place leaders in a challenged situation by domestic and global markets and competition. What are organisational factors? * Organisational factors may be identified as the organisational environment, structure design * Individual characteristics, group behaviour * Overall decision making * The change processes adopted by the organisation The fast momentum in any industry highlights the importance of the leader to align the human resources with the organisational factors. Framing the Organisational behaviour Organisational behaviour may be studied under the following main contributors * The environment * The individual in the organisation * Group behaviour and interpersonal influence * Organisational process Organisational environment is the external and internal environment, the legal and political constraints, economic, technological changes and development all have an impact on the decisions that are taken by the management. The individual is the foundation of the organisation performance. This should therefore highlight the importance of managing individual behaviour at any level of the organisation. There are 3 important influences that mould the individual behaviour. 1. Individual characteristics 2. Individual motivation 3. Rewards Group behaviour Groups may form either intentionally by managerial decisions or form out of individual efforts. * Formal groups are groups that were intentionally created by managerial decisions * Informal groups are groups that form out of common interests and friendships that may have a negative or positive effect and therefore affect the organisation or individual performance. * Organisational processes are the communication, the decision making and the leadership elements that the organisation fosters as part of its culture and which in turn have an impact on the general performance of the individual and collective behaviour. Factors of organisation process Communication process is the ability of management to receive, transmit and act on information. The information integrates the internal activities with the external demand and information also integrates internally the activities of the organisation. Decision making process Decisions by managers have a direct impact on the employees well being, the organisation’s resources and the design and implementation of rules in a organisation. This should illustrate the importance of managers to communicate, assess and analyse the feedback of decisions and practises in the organisation. Leadership process Leaders in an organisation may be managers and non- managers. The manager may not always be the leader, yet leadership skills contribute in attaining the set goals. Some people believe that leadership styles should vary according to the situation, other believe that one style of leadership is effective in most situations. Importance of effectiveness * Surviving in the environment * Organisation ages- it forms, develops, matures and declines Importance of the Dimension of Time Quality, productivity, efficiency, satisfaction, adaptiveness and development are 6 general categories of effectiveness criteria. Each of the categories have a time base, short run criteria – 1 year, intermediate 5 years, long run are those for which the indefinite future is applicable. Personality Individual difference and work behaviour * Individual differences have a direct effect on behaviour because peole who perceive things differently behave differently. * Individual differences shape organisaitional behaviour and consequently, individual and organisaitional success. What is the ASA framework? This is the attraction- selection-attrition to careers and organisations. * Prospective employees are attracted to careers and organisations. * Organisations elect employees on the basis of the needs of the organisation. * Attrition occurs when individuals discover that they do not belong to the organisation. Studying individual differences at the work place is important since not addressing differences among employees may hinder from achieving organisation and personal goals. Understanding work behaviour Inorder to fully understand where individual differences arise the personal environment also needs to be given attention, weight and considered. Heredity factors are also important. An effective management must; * Observe and recognise the dufferences and * Study relationship between variables that influences individual behaviour. For discussion * What are the variables at work? * Give examples of work behaviour. Can you think of how these may be fostered on connected? The following variables impact employee productivity, creativity and performance extensively; * Heredity factors and diversity * Abilities and skills * Attitudes Heredity factors Gender, race and ethnic background are all heredity factors, mental and moral differences are also influenced by genetic inheritance and such factors mould each individual which in turn have a direct effect at work behaviour. 1.a Diversity * Diversity refers to those attributes that make people different from another. Primary dimensions of diversity include age, ethicity, gender, pyshical attributes, race and sexual orientation. When an employee is harassed as a resukt of diversity, due to isolation they become less enthusiastic in their job. * Managing diversity therefore ensures that employees become top level contributors especially in today’s Abilities and Skills * Ability is a pesson’s talent to perform a mental or pyshical task. * Skill is a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task. * Ability tends to be stable over time while skill tends to change according to training and experience. One needs ability to be a sales executive (appearance and manners are important) yet one may attain skills with years of experience in sales. * Mental ability therefore refers to the level of intelligence including comprehension, indicative or deictive reasoning, body language, associative memory etc. * Tacit knowledge is the work related to practical know how of the employees acquired eitehr through observation or direct experience on the job. Emotional intelligence – When you probe people to get to know them more * It is important that managers assess and attest abilities and skills snice no amount of leadership and motivation can make up for such deficiencies- job analysis therefore becomes important. * Job analysis is the process of defining and studying a job interms of tasks and behaviour and specifying responsibilities, education and training needes to perform a job – therefore removes guess work when recruiting. Attitudes Attitudes are deteriments of behaviour because they are linked with perception, personaility, fdeelings, etc therfore has a certain amount of importance to the managers. Attitudes are * Learned * Define one’s predeposition towards a given aspect or situation * Provide the emotional basis of one’s interpersonal relations and identifications with other * Attitudes are close to the core of personaility * Some attitudes are persistent and enduring while others are liable to change over time. Changing attitudes at the workplace How can a manager change attitudes of his employees? The process depends on three main factors / contributors 1. The Communicator 2. The Message 3. The Situation The Communicator * If the communicator is trusted and the employees perceive the manager as having prestige, they are more likely to change their attitudes. Employees change because they try to identify with a liked communicator and tend to adopt attitudes and behaviour of the liked individual. * A manager with a low prestige is not show respect / trust by peers and superiors – therefore more difficult to change attitudes of his team. The Message * Intentional and unintentional messages are delivered through verbal and no nverbal communication by managers. * The message delivered to employees has to be clear, understandable and convincing. * Developing persuasive verbal and non verbal communication skills is essential to managers. The Situation * The managers success in delivering a change in attitude also depends on the situation when the message is being delivered. * Distraction and pleasant surroundings are two factors that facilitate change in attitude (perks, performance allowance, training opportunities) Is job satisfaction an attitude? Job satisfaction results from the perception of the job itself and the degree which there is a good fit between the individual and the organisation Factors to consider * Pay – not just the pay but the perceived fairness. * The work itself are job tasks considered interesting? Do they provide opportunities for learning and accepting further / higher responsibilities? * Supervision – technical competence and interpersonal skills of the immediate boss. * Co workers – extent to which co workers are friendly, competent and supportive. Advancement opportunities – availability of opportunities Work conditions – the physical work environment is comfortable and supportive of productivity. Job security – it is reasonable expectation that one’s position is secure and contured employment within the organisation. Job relation in relation to Job performance on Effectiveness Are these 2 factors related or dependant on each other? * Attempts by management to satisfy employees may not mean higher performance while high performance may not mean that the employers are satisfied at work. * Discuss the ripple effects of rewards, warnings, absenteeism, fair promotion etc. That these have on job performance in general. Effect on OC Personality Personality refers to a relatively stable set of feelings and behaviour that have been significantly formed by genetic and environmental factors. * The manager attempting to understand his employees must give attention to the major forces that shape personality. * Cultural forces, heredity, family, relationship and social class are all factors that mould personality. How? * Culture – society, institutes various pattern behaviour with the result that members of a culture have common personality characteristics. * Heredity – varies from personality to another but are not constant since it is associated with values or ideals (temperament) * Family relationships – the experience one has with his parents, grandmothers, other family members / life experiences. * Social class – influences one’s self perception, perception of others, of work, of authority of money factor. * Personality is therefore a product (a number of forces that together have attributed to shape the unique individual). Personality is interrelated with perception, attitudes, learning and motivation – therefore analysis behaviour is incomplete unless personality is considered. Personality and Behaviour in Organisations The big five Personality Dimensions is key in understanding organisational behaviour. 1. Extroversion (Open minded, sociable, etc) 2. Emotional (Stability) 3. Agreeableness (More open to people, challenges and change) 4. Conscientousness (to understand your people’s attraction) Other three major factors are: Locus of control This relates to the extent to which employees believe that their behaviour will influence what happens to them. (Differing personalities of Internals Externals). Self efficacy Personal beliefs of competencies and abilities. This has an impact on Org behaviour and decisions like selection, training programmes and goal setting and performance. Creativity This is a personality trait that requires deviation from the normal thinking to produce new and useful ideas. (Think in an unconventional way). While a personality factor of the individual organisations play an important role to develop creativity at work by giving opportunities and freedom to think and come forward with new ideas. Reward winning ideas and discuss failures positively to nourish creativity all round. The Importance of Culture National Culture is the sum total of the beliefs, rituals, rules, customs, artefacts and institution that characterise the population. How organisational transactions are conducted is affected by nation’s culture and its subcultures. Values, customs and rituals of cultures do not simply appear. They are revolutionary and are influenced by politics, religion, language and cultural aspects. Managing in the 21st century For effective management understanding different cultures and various organisational cultures is important in the 21st century. ../9 ../9 Adaptation to new environment is becoming a common occurrence and although adaptation from one origin to another is always difficult, it can be better understood by learning about organisational culture. Organisational Culture Organisational culture is the shared values, norms, beliefs and norms which influence the way employees think, feel and act towards others inside and outside the organisation. OC gives unique identity to an organisation Although culture cannot be seen, it can be sensed and felt through a person’s attitudes, emotions and perceptions. â€Å"The way we do things around here† Deal and Kennedy 1982 â€Å"The collective programming of the mind†, Geert Hofstede 2001. Hostede identified four dimensions of culture: power distance, uncenrtainty, avoidance, individualism and masculinity. Power distance is essentially used to categorise levels of inequity in organisations which Hofstede claims will depend upon managment style, willingness of subordinates to diasgree with superiors, and the educational level and status accruing to particular roles. Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent to which members of a society feel threatened by unusual situations. High uncertainty avoidance is said to be characteristic in France, Spain, Germany and many Latin American societies. Individualism describes the relatively individualistic or collectivisit ethic evident in that particular society. The USA, France and Spain display high individualism. Masculinity refers to a continuum between masculine charactertistics such as assertiveness and competitiveness, and feminine traits such as caring, a stress upon the quality of life and concern with the environment. Can organisational culture be created by management? * Ann Cunliffe (2008) states that OC is important for 4 reasons *Slaps the image that the public has as an organisation * Influences organisational performance * Provide direction to the company * Help to attract and retain motivated staff Creating the desired OC may be difficult since imposing a particular culture may not be met with resistance. Why? Is disparity between what the management states as values and the reality with the employee an issue? What organisational factors may be attributed to the development of a desired OC? Communication is an organisational factor that is an important factor is developing and fostering an OC Why? Discuss with example? Communicating top down only leaves management out of touch from the real situation and may lead to a gap in culture that management wants to create another culture that actually develops. Uncover the levels of cultures Artefacts Visible organisational structures and processes (had to decipher). Annual report, newsletter, furnishings are examples of artefacts. Espoused Values – Strategies, goals, philosophies (espoused justifications). Assumptions that tell individuals how to perceive, think and feel about work, human relationships and performance of colleagues. Basic underlying assumptions – Unconscious taken for granted beliefs, perceptions, thoughts and feelings (ultimate sources of values and actions). Summary with examples of Schein’s three levels of culture * Surface manifestation of culture – most accessible forms which are visible and audible behaviour patterns and objects (observable culture, send a message) * Organisational values – the accumulated beliefs held about how work hold be done and situations dealt with that guide employee behaviour ( be honest, be creative, work hard) * Basic assumption – invisible perceptions, taken for granted understandings, held by individual with an organisation concerning behaviour, the nature of reality and its relationship to its environment (stability, excellence, quality and responsibility). Where does OC come from? Values are the basic element that distinguishes one organisation from the other. Changing organisation structure and its process will mean a change in values and therefore a change in culture. Why? Discuss the difference on a change from tall hierarchy to a change in flat hierarchy.

Understanding The Term Of Agenda Setting Media Essay

Understanding The Term Of Agenda Setting Media Essay Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw first coined the term agenda-setting in their article The Agenda Setting Function of the Mass Media (McCombs and Shaw, 1972). However the McCombs credits Walter Lippmann as the intellectual father of agenda setting (McCombs, 2004: 3). Walter Lippmanns thesis Public Opinion  [1]  described the concept of a pseudo- environment; an imagined reality of the world constructed from the media we consume. Lippmann suggested that man lives in a fictitious world, hence whatever we believe to be true picture, we treat as if it were the environment itself (Lippmann, 2007: 7-10). Walter Lippmann speculation that the Mass Media played an important role in the publics understanding of the world they inhabited. The influence that he implied suggested the mass media agenda played an important role in influencing/shaping the public opinion or public agenda. Hansen writing 88 years later reaffirmed this relationship theorised by Lippmann, suggesting the media play a role in educating the public: While the roles of formal education in acquainting us with the public word and image vocabulary of the environment should not be overlooked, much, maybe most, of what we learn and know about the environment we know from the media. Hansen utilises the Habermasian concept of a public sphere, suggesting that the mass media provide a public arena for national and transnational debate of environmental issues: Since the emergence and rise of the modern environmental movement in the 1960s, the mass media have been a central public arena for publicising environmental issues and for contesting claims, arguments and opinions about our use and/or protection of the environment. (Hansen, 2010:6) The issues discussed within this public arena, can be described as the media agenda. However as much as the mass media provides a forum for discussion, it is not all inclusive. Environmental issues have to compete against each other for widespread coverage. As the environmental agenda, isnt always at the forefront of the public agenda, often multiple environmental issues are fighting for limited coverage from the press: While many issues compete for public attention, only a few are successful in doing so, and news media exert significant influence on our perceptions of what are the most important issues of the day. (McCombs, 2004:2) McCombs, Lippmann and Hansen all suggest that the media dictate to some level, what are the most important issues of the day. The conundrum becomes; how do the cultural gatekeepers decide which issue is the most important on the media agenda, and thus deserves media coverage? What influences the Media on environmental issues? To understand these questions it is necessary to address the fundamental obstacle for environmental issues to overcome to become newsworthy. Visual media utilises imagery as a source of legitimacy. However as environmental problems develop over a long period of time they often appear invisible: a large proportion of the processes associated with the most difficult environmental problems tend to be inaccessible to the senses, invisible until they materialise as symptoms (Adam, 1998:12; Hansen, 2000: 56). Hence although some environmental issues may be more serious in the long-term, they are not always deemed newsworthy as they have no iconography attached to their cause. Pressure groups utilize the issue of invisibility by creating spectacles and press stunts in order to make the invisible issues visible. Greenpeace in particular are hugely successful at utilizing iconography  [2]  . Iconic images of icebergs, crashing into the sea or Fathers for Justice scaling the Houses of Parliament can define an issue, and penetrate public consciousness, much easier than text based media. However Hansen argues that the effects of visual spectacles are short term; they only allow the issue to gain visibility as a trigger to create wider media interest for the issue: The newsworthiness of environmental pressure groups would soon wear off it had to rely solely on their creation of spectacular protest performances[they] are of course eminently newsworthy and visually striking, but they are not sufficient for remaining on the media agenda or for maintaining media visibility in the long term. (Hansen, 2010: 53) Hansen argues that successful pressure groups are able to maintain visibility of the issue in the media by targeting issues that are already being discussed in the forums which the media regularly report on (i.e. Political forums, e.g. Parliament) (Hansen, 2010:53). This would suggest that the media agenda is directly and indirectly influenced by policy agenda, suggesting a symbiotic relationship as the media influence the public agenda, which in turn influences the policy agenda by terms of voting. James Dearing and Everett Rogers (Dearing and Rogers: 1996, Rogers and Dearing: 1988) visualised this concept [see figure 1] suggesting that all three agendas are interlinked: exposure through the mass media allows a social problem to be transformed into a public issue (Dearing and Rogers, 1996:4). When something becomes a public issue it is propelled into policy agenda through the government; who represent the majoritys best interests. However the mass media commentate on the policy agenda so pressure groups are able to exploit this cycle, by elevating topics they deem to be of most importance higher on the media agenda and in turn policy agenda via public pressure: The agenda-setting process is an ongoing competition among the proponents of a set of issues to gain the attention of media professionals, the public, and policy elites (Dearing and Rogers, 1996:6). Figure However the relationship between the three agendas is not without its flaws; For environmental issues to be addressed by the press, they must propel themselves as the most important issue on the agenda to the media. However this does not correspond to levels of importance or seriousness to the public: The relative prominence of a social issue is not in any way a simple reflection of levels of public concern; it is heavily influenced by the activities of issue sponsors such as politicians, or successful interest or pressure groups (Anderson, 1997:30). The notion that issues that appear in the media agenda are not necessarily the most important suggests other actors play a role in setting the agenda. So whilst we rely on the news to dictate what picture of the world we consume, the news agenda can be influenced by amongst other factors, celebrity endorsements. Dan Brockington (2008) suggests industrial society has only a fleeting interest in the environment: their rare glimpse of the environment is often through highly romanticized representations of the environment rather than their own experiences. Hence celebrity endorsements of environmentalism help to replace the lack of experience in society: celebrity support for conservation fulfils a modern social need. The alienation from nature that characterizes capitalist urban living drives the demand for celebrity involvement in conservation (Brockington, 2008:558). Criticisms of the agenda setting model Agenda setting theory is based on long term effects. In order for an issue to become central in terms of public opinion, McCombs argued that the frequency or prominence of a given issue in the mass media, placed significant influence on how important the issues was perceived by the public: Those issues emphasized in the news come to be regarded over time as important by the public (McCombs, 2004:4-5). However McCombs analysis of the prominence of a given issue doesnt take into consideration how the issue is framed within the mass media: Social movements have increasingly focused on the media since it plays such an influential role in assigning importance to issues facing the public. But gaining attention alone is not what a social movement wants; the real battle is over whose interpretation, whose framing of reality, gets the floor. (Ryan, 1991:53) Issues are at the mercy of the press, when they are pushed into the media forum. Different papers frame the issues within their ideological constraints. What becomes essential for claimsmakers and pressure groups, is the ability to manipulate the mass media, so the issue at hand remains at the focus within the different ideological representations. The quantitative approach also only looks how many times an article was published, not how many times the article was read. Obviously circulation figures are a rough guide that an article is being read by a high percentage of that readership. However this is no guarantee that the article is digested. This becomes a bigger problem when considering new mediums such as the internet, is that the quantity of articles on environmental issues is so vast that it would be inconceivable to assume that prominence related to prevalence to the public. Robert Burnett and P. David Marshall suggested that the problem readers have is filtering the vast amounts of information they have access to, to find the right news stories (Burnett and Marshall, 2003: 153). Since then digital news has grown significantly in popularity; the problem thus becomes how can the media influence public opinion when the public have become their own filters, so can solely digest stories based on their interests rather than only being able to choose from a limited set of stories in a newspaper based on an editors choices. Another criticism of the quantitative analysis model favoured by McCombs is that it doesnt take into consideration how something gets adopted by the media. Anderson argued that agenda-setting theorists such as McCombs do not look at the initial triggers that cause issues to be included into the media agenda: Agenda-setting studies have tended to ignore the whole process through which social issues are taken up by the media (Anderson, 1997:25). Within Dearing and Rogers Model, the public are not deemed to be pivotal for the agenda setting process. However when considering the trigger that propels an issue into the media and policy forums (specifically on environmental issues) it can sometimes be attributed to a small group of public individuals who insight direct action, to spark wider interest. Brian Doherty et al. describe direct action as: Protest action where protesters engage in forms of action designed not only or necessarily to change government policy or to shift the climate of public opinion through the media, but to change environmental actions around them directly. (Doherty, Paterson and Seel, 2000:1) The term public is contestable itself; how do differentiate between ordinary members of environmental non-governmental organisations and members of a concerned community? Within different contexts we can all be described as the public. Protesters can be seen as belonging to the public, so the direct action that often provides the trigger for the uptake of issues into the media agenda could be described as coming from a small proportion of the public. The key component of agenda setting research should then be considered minority influence. The minority groups or opinion leaders disseminate their concerns on certain issues by influencing others by empowering their causes by form of protests, publicity stunts and media performances. Environmental Agenda Setting Looking specifically at the Kingsnorth Six case study and applying the Agenda Setting theory to it, we can expose the complexities involved in the agenda setting process and how they may or may not be relevant when looking at it through the perspective of a non-governmental organisation, deciphering whether they are successful in utilising the media to fulfil their aims. The Kingsnorth Six direct action protest involved the David Pepper claims that environmentalism is less a coherent movement and more of a turn in late-twentieth-century thought arguing that in its simplest definition an environmentalist; is one who is concerned with the environment. Thus the majority of the West can be described as environmentalists (Pepper, 2000:445-6). Whilst openly sharing oppositional views is widely acknowledged as a social taboo, the amount of active environmentalists are less popular. Hence by gathering attention to the Kingsnorth case, Greenpeace could turn a minority cause and propel it to the masses, thus gaining the issue serious political significance by bringing it to the environmental sympathisers domain; as nobody wants to be seen as actively damaging the environment, for fear of commercial and political repercussions from the sympathizing majority. Hutchins and Lester argue that journalists have an environmentalist bias as it is in their readers interest: Journalists acknowledge the saliency of environmental issues to readers and audiences because of the threats posed to natural environments and peoples wellbeing by degradation and the unchecked activities of capital. (Hutchins and Lester, 2006:434) Environmental issues have been of particular relevance since global warming was posed as a theory, ever since it has been at the forefront of media and science agenda, seeing with it the rise in popularity of political parties such as the Green Party in the United Kingdom yet also a rise in green policies. Environmental concerns transcend all classes so are useful for the media in targeting large concerned audiences. This scaremongering tactic validates the work of pressure groups and non-governmental organisations and disguises the profit motives of the media reporting it. However Hutchins and Lester ignore two key oppositional concepts: the influence of corporations as advertisers and journalistic objectivity. The first point can be dismissed as only one corporation is being targeted the money lost from attacking E.ON can be easily filled by other businesses from other sectors. The second point journalistic objectivity, allows a platform for debate, whereby environmental sceptics are allowed an equal platform to discuss their opinions. This creates a dilemma similar to the religion versus science debate; influential sceptics are allowed to pollute the influence of pressure groups with little grounding in scientific fact or common sense. The media is more than a site for environmental action; it plays a significant role in shaping debate and influencing outcomes. It is here that representations are determined, images softened or distorted, and power granted or denied. (Hutchins and Lester, 2006: 438) Hutchins and Lester bring up a fundamental point of the nature of the media in influencing outcomes of protests. Whereas the media validated Greenpeaces protests, specifically broadsheets such as The Guardian, projecting the Kingsnorth Six onto hero status; even premiering the Nick Broomfields short documentary A Time Comes: The Story of the Kingsnorth Six (Broomfield, 2009). This presented the Kingsnorth Six as ordinary members of the public with no activist history, whom simply wanted to right a wrong. Dieter Rucht describes how in some rare instances the mass media can potentially be considered an ally for the social movements such as The Guardian in this case. However he warns that social movements would be wrong to rely on this as the mass media carry their own agenda different from the aims of the social movement (Rucht, 2004: 55). The protest/publicity stunt clearly intended to insight media interest. Nick Broomfields short documentary (Broomfield, 2009) highlights the directness of Greenpeaces tactics to achieve press coverage. The activists assumptions of the media reaction were highlighted by a quote from Ben Stewart one of the Kingsnorth Six: because my parents live near there (Kingsnorth Power Station), I gave them a ring and said you might see on the news that I am on top of this power station (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). This arrogance becomes justified when noting the previous newsworthiness of Greenpeace protests in gaining media attention (Carroll and Hackett, 2006:87). Stewart then goes on to state Greenpeaces exact intentions, emphasizing the performance aspect of the protest by having what is implied as press conferences on top of the chimney: I got up and did the interviews with the media and tried to justify it (the protest) to the public when we were up there, and of cause this thing is always a bit controversial (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). Then implying that it would disseminate the issue into public discourse/forums: you get lots of public ringing into the talk radio stations saying were nothing (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). The whole direct action performance comes across as merely being a platform to receive media coverage to then disseminate their issue into the agenda. However Greenpeaces performance tactics resonate well with the medias agenda as they provide the media with pre-packaged news stories: Greenpeace has always been inherently fascinating and newsworthy as far as the media are concerned. It presented them with totally pre-packaged, simplistic but very powerful images of confrontation that were very new and exciting (Gallie cited in Anderson, 1997:35) The Kingsnorth Six protest certainly did this; providing photographs, videos and interviews to the various interested media. Allowing Greenpeace to remain in control of how their imagery was framed and represented. On an interview with ITV Meridian Tonight Stewart justified their actions by highlighting Greenpeaces agenda on E.ONs proposed plans: Gordon Brown wants to build a new one of those carbon dinosaurs and thats why were up here, were trying to stop that happening (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). The telephone interview from the top of the tower to new stations emphasises the link between performance and agenda setting. Whereas the protest may give the guise of trying to shut down the Kingsnorth plant in order to stop the polluting power station, the primary objective of the press stunt prevails: securing communication with the media, thus allowing Greenpeace to dictate the news agenda. However their story only reached local level on television news coverage, receiving coverage from ITV Meridian Tonight and BBC South-East Today. Contrary to the regionalised coverage of the initial protest the subsequent trial received national attention on the respective channels. This would imply that the Kingsnorth Six protest functioned as a trigger to greater media coverage rather than gaining the substantial media coverage needed for an issue to become adopted into the national media and public agenda. It would be easy to assume that Greenpeace had expected more coverage than they received initially. However the issue was already in the political forum, with the Governmental body The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform due to release a white paper on the carbon capture and storage regulations. This reflects Hansens sentiments (mentioned earlier), suggesting it is a deliberate tactic to target issues already in political forums (Hansen, 2010:53). Critiques of Greenpeace reaffirm Hansens observations. Chris Ross writing for Greenpeace highlighted some of myths surrounding the Brent Spar case study; that Greenpeace had the potential to act on issues that they themselves stood to gain positive framing, in other words easy battles: Greenpeace had given little though to the issue it was going to tackle, or its consequences. In short, the Brent Spar was a good photo opportunity for an organisation faced (in some countries) with a decline of its membership and visibility. (Ross, 1998:40) This could be said of the Kingsnorth Case, Greenpeace knew that the proposed plans were controversial within the economical and political climate, so had predicted an easy win which would create a good photo opportunity. This is not to say that Greenpeace was not interested in the issue beforehand, but simply chose a strategic target out of the many environmental criminals in the world. Greenpeace should not be solely attributed with pushing the Kingsnorth case into the media, public and policy agenda after all other non-governmental organisations were also active such as Climate Camp and Friends of the Earth. This poses the dilemma; did Greenpeace activate this protest network by projecting the struggle into the agenda? However it is evident from the polaric media representation of the protests that the Greenpeace protest yielded a greater media influence (than the Climate Camp protests) due to its previous validation within the media because of previous successes in gaining media attention (Carroll and Hackett, 2006:87). Whereas Climate Camp was undermined by their history of negative encounters with the police. The Kingsnorth Six Coverage/ Analysis On October 8th 2007 six Greenpeace representatives climbed the 200 metre high smokestack at the Kingsnorth power station in Medway, Kent, attempting to paint the words Gordon bin it on it. Whilst another 20 activists chained themselves to the stations conveyor belt, immobilising it from burning coal. The Kingsnorth Six as the media labelled them (see fig.2 ), successfully managed to draw significant media attention from October 2007 till September 2008 when the activists were acquitted of the charges of causing  £30,000 of criminal damage to the smokestack on the defence that they were acting to prevent climate change, a landmark case in legal history  [3]  . Figure : 5 members of the Kingsnorth 6 Greenpeace activists. Greenpeace aspired to highlight the plans of the government and the German energy corporation E.ONs proposed plans to build a new coal powered power station at Kingsnorth which was proposed to be operational by 2012; the first of its kind in Britain since 1986. Greenpeace claimed itself that the ensuing direct action led to the postponement of E.ONs plans. Much like the Brent Spar case in 1995, as Hansen described: Greenpeace succeeded in stiring up sufficient media, political and public interest (Hansen, 2000:57) to force E.ON to reconsider its position. The question is how much responsibility can Greenpeace claim? Did the subsequent media coverage really have the effect that Greenpeace claimed? Hansen (Hansen, 2010) repeatedly coins the term claims-maker in reference to pressure groups suggesting that groups such as Greenpeace take a conservative option in their choice of issues to propel into the spotlight. He suggests that claims-makers choose topics which are already involved in policy agenda or Legislator: Most of the issues on which successful pressure groups campaign and successfully gain media coverage are issues which already have an institutional forum rather than completely new issues which have not been problematised in some form or other before. (Hansen, 2010:53) This would suggest that Policy Agenda influences the pressure groups choice in agenda: as they are more likely to have success in influencing the three agenda setting processes if they are able to frame and elaborate existing issues that are already in the public domain (Hansen, 2010:54). Hansen suggests that Greenpeaces spectacular protest performances are great at creating a visual spectacle; however they are not sufficient at maintaining media visibility in the long term (Hansen, 2010:53). In other words apart from the newsworthiness of the Kingsnorth-Six stunt, the more important factor in agenda setting, was the subsequent trial that kept the Kingsnorth issue visible. Hansen suggests that it is not as simple as just setting the agenda as McCombs suggested, the quantity is not of coverage is irrelevant if the coverage is framed in the wrong way: While an environmental pressure group such as Greenpeace has the ability to secure media coverage for its claims its capacity to influence or control the way its claims are framed and inflected by individual newspapers is more questionable. (Hansen, 2000:71) Hansen looked at a selection of the three traditional types of newspapers from the British press: Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror and their respective Sunday editions (Hansen, 2000: 58). Analysing each newspapers output over the period following the Brent Spar protests to determine how the coverage was framed; looking specifically at the gulf between commanding attention for an issue and securing legitimacy (Hansen, 2000:56). He found that individual media exert ideological work upon their differential accessing of sources and their differential choice and promotion of particular lexical terms (e.g. Greenpeace as terrorists, a nuisance, undemocratic) (Hansen, 2010: 57). Hansen implied that Greenpeace media coverage was at the mercy and scrutiny of each outlets ideological allegiance. Although the initial protest is the most visible in terms of photos and iconic moments, in its initial aftermath the majority of press coverage was localised. A search of the Nexis newspaper database shows none of the national newspapers covered the protest in the week following the incident, with the majority of coverage remaing on local television broadcasts and regional newspapers. Between October 15th 2007 and September 10th 2008 there were 42 articles containing the keywords Kingsnorth and Greenpeace. Of these 19 were from The Guardian and The Observer and 10 were from The Independent (both of which could be described as having an environmental bias), hence only 13 were from other UK national newspapers. Applying McCombs quantitative methodology of agenda setting stating that the most prominent public issues are synonymous with the most important public issues (McCombs, 2004:5) One could conclude that Greenpeaces publicity stunt had failed to garner notable national coverage of the Kingsnorth plight compared to its previous successes of gaining the presss attention (e.g. Brent Spa). However out of the mediocre coverage 76% was from UK national newspapers with a history of environmental concern; echoing once again Ruchts notion that the media can potential act as an ally for social movements (Rucht, 2004:55). The Observer notably, exclusively broadcasted Nick Broomfields documentary, which utilised, among others David Gilmour on the soundtrack. Whereas there was a total of 21 national newspaper articles covering the Kingsnorth-Six trial verdict between the 11th and 15th of September 2008; suggesting the mainstream coverage was more interested in the verdict of the court on the Kingsnorth Six; as the result could set a precedent for future environmental policy agenda. Therefore in this case the Kingsnorth-Six stunt was more successful in becoming part of the media agenda in its aftermath. In Hansens Claims-Making in the Brent Star Controversy (2000) He suggests that the Telegraph utilised a negative overlexicalisation of descriptors to describe Greenpeaces actions (Hansen, 2000:62). Throughout the Kingsnorth coverage The Daily Mail, The Mirror and The Express conformed to this convention, often sensationalising the news with doom-mongering extrapolations. The Daily Mail framed the verdict of the case with a negative sensationalist set of descriptors, being highly critical of the ramifications that the case may have for the future of civil order. Whilst being highly critical of Greenpeaces actions the focus was shifted from the agenda of climate change, towards the unlawful nature by which the activists disseminated their message; framing the Greenpeace activists as potential threatening to the public: Green Light to Anarchy; Greenpeace Verdict will Encourage Lawbreakers, Warns Widdecombe (Sears, 2008:12). Hansen observed a similar instance/tactic in the Brent Spar case whilst analysing the framing of civil protest suggesting that The article served a functionlinking together and interpreting a series of vaguely related events or activities as symptoms of a deeper problem or social malaise (Hansen, 2000:61) Emily Highmore: What Greenpeace did was hugely irresponsible (Cited in Sears, 2008:12) So is it OK Now to Kill Gary Glitter? (Littlejohn, 2008:17). So next time some self righteous vegan in cycling shorts is caught smashing up a Range Rover in the name of the polar bears, dont be surprised when they try to use this not guilty verdict as their Get Out Of Jail Free card (Littlejohn, 2008:17). The Mirror NOT LAWFUL.. JUST AWFUL. (Routledge, 2008:29) This is judicial lunacy. It opens the way to all sorts of violence by flat-Earth nutters bent on halting the construction of vital new generating capacity. (Routledge, 2008:29) The Express Judge is an Ass for this Ruling. (Hamilton, 2008:31). The judges direction clearly encourages politically motivated acts of mayhem and is a threat to public order (Hamilton, 2008:31). In all of the above examples the verdict is framed as being giving anarchic powers to Green protesters, sensationalising the potential ramifications. The Greenpeace activists are seen as the Villains disturbing the peace and creating disharmony in the legal system. The Judge and Jury are thus portrayed as the Anti-Heroes being too easily swayed by the glamour of the environmental celebrities paraded by Greenpeace in defence. The Independent For the jury that acquitted the six activists may have done more to frustrate the Governments plans to build coal-fired powered stations than the pressure group has achieved in years. (Lean, 2008:54) The People are Ahead of the Game on Climate Change. (Lean, 2008:54) The Daily Telegraph severe embarrassment to the Government (Clover, 2008:33). So the Greens are Right About Coal (Clover, 2008:33). The Guardian Climb Every Chimney . . .: The Kingsnorth Six Admitted Causing  £30,000 Worth of Damage to a Coal-Fired Power Station Yet a Jury Still Refused to Find Them Guilty. The Verdict Has Left the Governments Energy Plans in the Balance, Says John Vidal, and Given a Huge Boost to Climate Change Protesters. (Vidal, 2008:4). The Maidstone verdict has changed all that and could prove a turning point both for the protest movement and industrial policy (Vidal, 2008:4). If I was E.ON or Owned an Airport, Id be Very, Very Worried: Activists from Other Groups Hail the Kingsnorth Victory. (Van Der Zee, 2008:7) Mel Evans a Climate Camp activist: When you take the arguments to a jury, then they respond in this way because they can see what the reality is. (cited in Van Der Zee, 2008:7) Goldsmith accused the government of a profound lack of imagination when it came to examining alternative energy solutions (Henley, 2008: 6) Beyond all Reasonable Doubt: How Four Witnesses Put the Government in the Dock. (Henley, 2008: 6) The above examples utilise the David versus Goliath analogy or as Vladimir Propp would suggest the Hero character type, suggesting that the case stood as a shift in the

Arab League Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Arab League.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Arab League is a regional organization that was founded on March 22, 1945. The league’s function is to promote political cooperation among it’s member states, and to deal with disputes or any breaches of peace in the region. The league’s official name is the League of Arab States. The founding members of the league are: Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, and Yemen. Membership in the League was later extended to Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Southern Yemen, Sudan, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. The headquarters of the League is located in Cairo, and it is run by a secretary general which is appointed by the league members.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The work of any international organization which attempts to promote peace, and political cooperation is usually confronted by several failures. However, in the case of the Arab League it has been evident that it is unable to sustain the peace within the region or aid in any political cooperation between the member states. The Gulf War could be said to be a test to the power of the Arab League and it’s presumed cooperation and handling problems strategies. The war started off by the invasion of Kuwait by it’s neighbor Iraq, both are member states in the A...

Ethical Analysis of a Nursing Case Study Essay -- Health

Ethical Analysis of a Nursing Case Study `Ethics' is defined as ."..the basis on which people...decide that certain actions are right or wrong and whether one ought to do something or has a right to something"(Rumbold, 1986). In relating `ethics' to nursing care, "Nursing decisions affect people... nurses have the power to good or harm to their patients" (Bandman et al, 2002). In this essay, the author will also identify the most important ethical principles and concepts of Evan's case, will outline the different stages of one's approach to ethical decision-making by utilising the "DECIDE Model for Ethical Decision-Making" founded by Thompson et al (2000) and will make a decision on the best course of action to take as a nurse in this situation. In "Defining the Problem", the first stage of one's approach to ethical decision-making, the key facts are that Evan is a married man committed to a psychiatric unit who contracted HIV after a homosexual affair without the knowledge of his wife, Claire. He refuses that his wife and family be told of his illness. The stakeholders involved directly are: Evan, who does not want his family to find out about his illness or affair; his nurse, who is under increased strain worrying about the burden of, perhaps, having to break the confidentiality entrusted in him; Claire, is the most direct stakeholder as she may have contracted HIV; Evan's partner during the affair is also at risk of contracting HIV and his subsequent partners are also at risk; the other members of staff, are in constant worry over Evan which means that they cannot concentrate fully on their other patients; Evan's family is also involved directly as they are worried about his well-being. There are also stakeholders indire. .. .... (2002) Nursing Ethics: Through the Life Span. 4th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Edwards, S.D. (1996) Nursing Ethics: A Principle-Based Approach. 1st ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. http://www.ethicsweb.ca/guide/ Mill, J.S. (1861) Utilitarianism. Cited in Price, J.A. (2000) Philosophy through The Ages. 1st ed. Australia: Wadsworth. Rumbold, G. (2000) Ethics in Nursing Practice. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Bailliere Tindall. Tadd, W. (2004) Ethical and Professional Issues in Nursing. 1st ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Thompson, I.E., Melia, K.M., Boyd, K.M. (2003) Nursing Ethics. 4th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. UKCC (United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting) (1992) Code of Professional Conduct for the Nurse, Midwife and Health Visitor, 3rd ed. London: UKCC

My Philosophy of Education Essay -- Teaching Teachers Education Essays

My Philosophy of Education Becoming a teacher has always been one of my goals in life. What motivates me to become a teacher is that I love to help and teach children new things in life. I try to do this in a very unique way. I love to see kids happy. I think that being a teacher is a very rewarding job. Teachers should try to teach their students new things with a positive attitude, with enthusiasm and interest. Giving more attention to students of younger ages is especially important. It is a good feeling to see students become knowledgeable in all aspects and to prepare students to be successful for the good of society. I want to give myself the opportunity to become a teacher, and help students to grow academically and emotionally to become successful in society. That is why it is so important for me to become a teacher at the elementary school level. I think that if smaller children learn in a very positive and enthusiastic way, they will learn more easily and will be more open to different learning tasks in the classroom. I think that a teacher can also help all students to obtain very high self-esteem, growth and integrity. A teacher can become, in certain ways, like a parent and most importantly, a friend. All of this is done without forgetting the responsibility of a teacher. Teachers’ relationships with their students are very important, but it is my responsibility as a teacher to also create good relationships with other teachers, because this is important for the school and the society. Being enthusiastic and supportive of fellow teachers can show positive relationships among the different teachers in schools. By having a positive relationship with other teache... ...to meet the students’ parents, to ask for their help and to also celebrate the accomplishments of the student’s progress and teacher’s work. I believe that a teacher should look forward to having a good parent communication, and to collaborate and help other teachers by sharing knowledge and experiences. Today, many parents have been relying on the teacher’s responsibility. Parents expect a lot from the teachers. They want the teacher to teach their children about morality and life-skill principles, which are one of the first issues a child should learn from home. Even though being a teacher is not easy today, I believe I can be a good teacher by using my talents of determination, open-mindedness, and warm feelings for others. I believe becoming a teacher is a difficult career, but at the same time it will bring great rewards and accomplishments.

Breaking the Mold: a Doll House Essay

Breaking the Mold The pressure to conform to an ideal image is a reoccurring theme throughout literature and even in our culture today. In the highly repressive social climate of the Victorian Era, women, much like children, were seen rather than heard. The ideal Victorian woman is hardly descriptive of Nora in Henrik Ibson’s A Doll House. Through careful observation and questioning, Nora recognizes the injustice of the male-dominated society in which she lives.Nora’s discomposure with as her begin treated as her husband Torvald’s subordinate, her realization of Torvald’s true character, and her desire to educate herself prompt her to become independent. The most important choice that Nora makes is to leave Torvald Helmer, because this choice is facilitates Nora’s personal growth. Nora’s choice to leave Torvald Helmer is influenced by her increasing discontent with his condescending, doll-like treatment of her. Torvald establishes his dominan ce by calling Nora his â€Å"little lark† among other pet names.Torvald’s authority over Nora requires her to â€Å"dress up† in a costume, becoming what Torvald expects her to be. As Torvald’s subordinate, Nora fluidly bends and twists to his needs, conforming to his desires. Although Nora would like to be treated as an equal to Torvald, she knows him well enough to realize that equality is impossible in their marriage. In order for the marriage to function, Nora has to appeal to Torvald’s ego by flattering him to ask for money and rendering herself helpless in accomplishing the simplest tasks such as choosing a dress.Small acts of disobedience on Nora’s part are the primary indicator of the growing weight of the facade that Torvald imposes on her. Eating macaroons and saying â€Å"to hell and be damned† are two ways in which Nora chips at the mold of behavior that Torvald sets for her. Nora’s outgrowing of the costume Torvald idealizes is marked by actions such as Nora’s remark that she would like to â€Å"rip it into a million tiny pieces†. Henrik Ibsen repeatedly illustrates Nora’s agitation over Torvald’s static doll-like control, an agitation tangible to the readers from the very beginning.Nora’s initial discomfort in fitting Torvald’s mold is later a significant influence on Nora’s final choice. Despite Torvald’s outward broadcast of a perfect home, several unresolved issues bubble below the surface. Nora recognizes the fundamental issues that loom in their marriage when she sees Torvald’s reaction to the letter from Krogstad, and her realization encourages her choice to leave. Torvald leads Nora to believe that he is a righteous man through lecturing of Nora on the value of honesty and through promising to be her lifeguard in times of crisis.Even right before opening the letter, Torvald remarks that he has often wished that Nora was in some terrible danger so that he could stake his life for her sake. Although Torvald tells her that he would take on â€Å"the whole weight† should Krogstad take action against the Helmers, Torvald’s reaction when the worst actually does occur is quite the opposite. Torvald is outraged when he discovers that Nora borrowed money from Krogstad, and he accuses her of wrecking his happiness. Nora, who originally borrowed the money to save Torval’s life, is shell-shocked by Torvald’s reaction.All of his actions prior to this event led her to believe that he would have taken the blame for her, affirming his love for her. In contrast with her expectations, however, Torvald’s immediate concern after reading the letter is saving â€Å"the bits, and pieces, the appearance. † His foremost fear of losing respect in the community is exhibited by his insistence that Nora remain in the household so that it appears nothing has changed. In the midst of Torva ld’s panic, a second letter arrives, returning Nora’s bank note.Just as quickly as Torvald exploded in anger, he rejoices in triumph that he is saved. Nora becomes aware of Torvald’s selfishness when she asks â€Å"What about me, am I saved too? † Her awakening to the Torvald’s priority of the appearance of happiness rather than actual happiness in the Helmer marriage fuels her decision to discover a better life. Torvald’s outburst ignited Nora’s inner flame. Nora’s attempts at small freedoms can be compared to wet matches, whereas her final decision to leave Torvald is similar to a brilliant spark of fire.Nora’s final motivation for her decision to leave the marriage comes from her realization that in addition to not knowing Torvald, she does not know herself. In leaving Torvald she seeks to educate herself determine if the teachings of religion, law, and society are true. In a sense, Torvald’s response to Noraâ €™s attempt to save him causes Nora to save herself. Upon her realization of Torvald’s true character, Nora tells Torvald that she is â€Å"getting out of her costume,† both literally and figuratively paralleling Nora’s exit of the marriage.Nora fell from the control of her father to the control of Torvald without ever being able to develop her own opinions. Nora breaks free from Torvald’s puppeteer strings with the certainty that she cannot be concerned about her duties to her husband and her children over her duty to herself as a human being. Nora expresses to Torvald that she must develop her own tastes out in the world. In conclusion, Nora’s exit can be attributed to her discontent in Torvald’s mold, her realization that Torvald was not the person she though he was, and her desire to become her own person.Minor rebellions indicate Nora tolerates Torvald’s parental treatment but is clearly not fulfilled living according to some one else’s rules. When Nora sees Torvald’s reaction to the letter from Krogstad, she realizes that Torvald only cares about the masquerade, or how things make him appear. The appearance is all Nora has ever known with Torvald, and her critical decision to leave is reinforced by her desire to cultivate a person behind the appearance. These powerful motivators enabled Nora to slam the door behind her, rejecting the preconceived notions of society and developing new voice all her own.

Obstacles in Mao’s Last Dancer Essay

In Mao’s Last Dancer we are introduced to the obstacles faced daily by a Chinese boy and his family, living in poverty. In Meltdown by Ben Elton, we are introduced to obstacles faced daily by Jimmy Corby. Obstacles we can all relate to in the modern world. This is why I think we should study Meltdown by Ben Elton as well as Mao’s Last Dancer as a core text in the Overcoming Obstacles unit. Meltdown is about City Trader Jimmy Corby. Jimmy was living the life being rich, pampered and spoilt. That is until it all comes crashing down and the Global Financial Crisis hits. He discovers that anyone can handle success, it’s how you handle failure that really matters. We can all relate to these obstacles and the themes of the story. Some themes of the story are money, loss, family and success. All of these themes are somehow incorporated in our life. We all care about money and work for it, we all experience some form of loss during our lives, we all have family who we love and care about and we all hope to be successful in the future. This makes it the perfect book for us to study as a core text. Another reason why we should study this book in the Overcoming Obstacles unit, is we join Jimmy on the journey of overcoming these obstacles. We see how he deals with loss, how he copes with family life, and how he handles failure. Elton, the author of the book, uses various techniques to convey how he overcomes all these obstacles. He uses humour to give us a funny insight on the daily problems. Humour also makes us, as the reader, enjoy the book even more. Lastly, I believe we should study this book as it opens our eyes to real life problems that we all could face in a few years. The Global Financial Crisis is real for all of us. I think that Meltdown is highly appropriate for us to study as it is based around daily struggles faced every day. The main audience of the text are teenagers and young adults making it the perfect book for us. The purpose of the book is to make us realise that there are more important things in life than money. We have to enjoy what we have and not dwell on what we don’t. This is an important message for all of us in life. In Mao’s Last Dancer we focus on the obstacles faced by a Chinese boy living in poverty who is given the chance to make life better for himself and his family. He faces struggles daily and is taught to overcome them. He deals with being alone, a long way from home and his own mental health. We don’t understand these obstacles as much as someone living in poverty would, seeing as we aren’t living in poverty. But then again, someone living in poverty wouldn’t understand the struggles we face daily. Also, by studying Meltdown by Ben Elton as well as Mao’s Last Dancer, We are given two inputs of struggles in the world. We are taught the obstacles faced by someone living in poverty who doesn’t have much money and then is given the opportunity of a lifetime which could give him everything. But then we are also taught the obstacles faced by a man who has money, a house, a healthy family and enough food, but nearly loses it all. We are given two aspects on life. Meltdown is the perfect book for us to study as the obstacles featured in the book are all known to us, we can see and learn how we could possible overcome these obstacles and by studying it along with Mao’s Last Dancer we are given two inputs on life.