Monkey story. Creative Writing Essay

Monkey story is one of the most intriguing stories in the history of China. It involves the famous monkey and its endeavor to be strong and famous. First, the monkey was born in a stone that was worked in heaven and earth and through the uniqueness; he was able to make himself the king of the monkeys. He is very happy as a king and he thinks that he is immortal. He even embarks on journeys that will ensure that he cheats death. Fortunately, on his journey he manages to find a patriarch who is willing to teach him all the magic that he requires to know. After the lessons, he feels that he is stronger than the other students are and starts showing and he is banished as a result (Wu 56). Upon his return home, he finds himself and manages to kill a demon hence freeing the other monkeys. He continues to be mischievous and the emperor of heaven declares war on him. However, he hardens the body very much and it is not possible to punish. Consequently, he is tricked by Buddha to live under the mountain until somebody comes to save him. The events are paramount in the character development of the monkey since the journey reveal the actual character of the monkey (Wu 56).The patriarch appears to be the most important person in development and character molding of the monkey. He shapes the monkey into what he becomes. He teaches the monkey stone magic the fact that makes him very arrogant. The arrogance contributes to the eventual action of the emperor declaring war on him. The magic that patriarch gave the stone monkey helps him to kill the demon and frees the other monkeys hence proving it crucial. Finally, the most significant event in the journey of the monkey is the tim e he encountered a demon and killed it. The killing of the demon makes it clear that he is strong and he can defend the other monkeys from attack by the demons (Wu 67). The demons are attacking the monkeys and hence the action of the monkey is proved important in the end. Reference Wu, Cheng. Monkey. New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1958. Print. Source document

Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures Essay

The two creation myths selected to compare and contrast centers on the Norse culture of Iceland Vikings and the Genesis creation of the Hebrew origin of Christian culture. Both creation myths originate with a hollow abyss where anarchy or war cultivates. The Norse myth relates a struggle in the middle of the blistering realm of Muspell and the murky, icy realm of Niflheim inside the hollowness named ginnungagap and where nothing could cultivate. The Genesis struggle was involving God and nothing, seclusion, and the craving to generate something wonderful. There are exactly nine categorizations of creation myths and numerous utilize more than one notion. Genesis cosmogonies utilizes both the deus faber and ex nihilo ideas. The account frequently deemed the ex nihilo myth, implying â€Å"out of nothing† is the story in the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, of God’s creation in six days by communicating into existence light and blackness, moon and sun, animals and plants, birds and fish, stars and earth, God then creates Adam in His image from the dust and inhales life into him and Eve was molded from one of Adam’s ribs, consequently joining deus faber (the â€Å"maker-God†) with ex nihilo motifs. The Nordic creation myths incline to merge accretion/conjunction, exudation, and sacrifice ideas. It introduces the combining of fire and ice in an arbitrary linking of components. When the tepid breath of Muspell encounters the chill of glacial Nieflheim, ice dissolves and the subsequent water droplets come to life, generating the wicked gigantic Ymir. As the titan slumbers, perspiration from his armpits produces the first man and woman. These added titans mature to loathe Ymir and the creation story goes on with the slaughter and disfigurement of the dreadful giant. The Norse culture consist what we call Vikings. They had a pantheon of 14 main gods and conceived the cosmos as separated into three levels: Asgard, Aesir, is the higher level and land of the main gods, fertility gods, and where light elves also existed. Midgard is the middle  level where men, giants, dwarves, and dark elves lived. Niflheim is the lower level, better known as the underworld, where the evil dead died a second time in the fortress city of Hel. Running through and ultimately reaching above heaven is Yggdrasil, the enormous ash tree that apparently existed before the beginning. The Genesis creation myth is comparable in that the world was shapeless also emptiness, and obscurity laid in the deep. God soul was touching above the top of the seawaters when, he generated the skies and the planet. The scriptural writers considered the universe as a horizontal round formed planet in the axis, an illicit world for the lifeless underneath, and paradise overhead. Underneath the planet stood the â€Å"waters of chaos†, the intergalactic ocean, and nest to mythological ogres conquered and killed by means of God. In Genesis, â€Å"the earth was formless, empty, and dark, and God’s Spirit moved over the waters preparing to perform God’s creative Word† (Fairchild, 2013). God initiated speaking his creation into existence. The first day, he generated luminosity and parted it from the blackness, calling sunlit â€Å"day† and obscurity â€Å"night.† The second day, God made the â€Å"sky† to detached the seawaters. The third day, he formed the waterless earth, called â€Å"land†, and congregated the seawaters, naming them â€Å"seas†. The Divinity as well formed flowers and plants on this day. â€Å"God created the sun, moon, and the stars to give light to the earth and to govern and separate the day and the night† on the fourth diurnal (Fairchild, 2013). These elements would also serve to establish days, seasons, and years. On the fifth day, he formed each existing organism of the oceans and of the skies, sanctifying them to flourish. Also formed the creatures to saturate the world on the sixth diurnal. Adam and Eve, believed to be the first man and woman, were also created in his reflection on this day to communicate. â€Å"He blessed them and gave them every creature and the whole earth to rule over, care for, and cultivate† (Fairchild, 2013). Finally, on the seventh diurnal, he completed his labor of conception and relaxed, consecration it and formulating it consecrated. The Norse story did not have one maker of good, but multiple elements and events that emerged from one evil giant in this creation myth. The cattle stroked off whole Alps of rime, gradually licking rime of other two additional existences, the god Buri and his spouse. â€Å"They had a son named Bor, and his son was named Odin, who became the king of all  the gods† (Distant Train, Inc., 2011). Ymir was malicious and wicked and when Odin along with the divinities may well no more endure Ymir’s wicked deeds, they united to kill the giant. â€Å"Ymir’s huge body formed the earth, his blood became the sea, his flesh became the land, his bones the mountains and his hair the trees† (Distant Train, Inc., 2011). He and the additional deities shaped the heavens with his cranium, sustained up by four immense columns. He created the sun and moon from flashes from the blistering pits of Muspell and placed them in the sky. The ice began to melt in the new world of Ginnungagap from the illumination of the sun and moon and vegetation began to grow. The largest tree, called Yggdrasil, grew from the center of the world and became known as â€Å"The Tree of Life†. â€Å"Its roots penetrated into the bottom of creation and its leaves reached the very top of the sky† (Distant Train, Inc., 2011). To his satisfaction of the newborn earth, Odin baptized it Midgard, meaning ‘The Middle Land’. However, Midgard needed tending to while the gods ascend to Asgard. Odin discovered two collapsed trees, an elm and an ash, which Odin removed from the dirt and shaped the incipient male and female. â€Å"Odin breathed life into the beings, gave them reason and feelings, hearing and sight† (Distant Train, Inc., 2011). Similar to the Genesis story of Adam and Eve, Odin called the male Ask and the female Embla and from them, launched the whole humankind. In summary, the Genesis creation story identifies God as the writer of conception. â€Å"In Genesis 1 we are presented with the beginning of a divine drama that can only be examined and understood from the standpoint of faith. How long did it take? How did it happen, exactly?† (Fairchild, 2013). It is impossible to definitively answer these questions, but these inscrutabilities are not the emphasis of the conception account. The point, is for ethical and religious epiphany. Verse 26, God states, â€Å"Let us make man in our image, in our likeness †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The story goes that a serpent tricked Eve into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree and she offered it to Adam and he also ate from it. As a result, Eve and Adam were expelled from the Garden of Eden, men will labor over the earth, women will experience excruciating pain bearing children, and all humans will die. Readers from Western cultures tend to rank â€Å"metaphysical or spiritual† cosmogonies like the account of Elohim-God speaking the world into existence in Genesis higher than â€Å"physical, natural, or elemental accounts of creation by  accretion, excretion, copulation, division, dismemberment, or parturition† (Leonard & McClure, 2004). If, however, we are self-conscious about our culture’s assumptions about what is â€Å"normal,† we see that at least as many cosmogonic myths have presented creation as part of a natural process as have conceived it as an exercise of divine and creative will. Ranking one kind of myth as lower or more primitive and our own myths as higher or more cultured derives from a cultural bias. To study myth effectively, we need to free ourselves as much as possible from the prejudices we inherit from our cultural surroundings. References Distant Train, Inc. (2011). Norse Creation. Retrieved from http://bigmyth.com/download/NORSE_CREATION.pdf Fairchild, M. (2013, January 4). The Creation Story – Bible Story Summary. About.com Christianity. Retrieved from http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/p/ creationstory.htm Gill, N. S. (2012, April 13). Creation of the World – Norse Mythology on the Creation of the World. About.com Ancient / Classical History. Retrieved from http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/creationmyths/a/11083199Norse.htm Ginzberg, L. (2012, April 13). Legends of the Jews, By Louis Ginzberg. Legends of the Jews. Retrieved from http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_jewslegends1a.htm Leonard, S., & McClure, M. (2004). Myth & Knowing: An introduction to world mythology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Shmoop Editorial Team. (November 11, 2008).The Myth of Norse Creation Myth. Retrieved June 20, 2014, from http://www.shmoop.com/norse-creation-myth/

Felony Inmates Reintegration Back Into Society Essay

Felony Inmates Reintegration Back Into Society - Essay Example There are various felony crimes that could be committed and that have been committed. According to Criminal Law Attorney, felony crimes constitute offenses which are more serious and heavier than misdemeanor crimes like public intoxication and petty theft (2012). The penalty for felony crimes includes fines, incarceration and other punitive punishments. A person convicted of felony crime in a court of law is referred to as a felon (Hattery & Smith, 2010). The rights of convicted felons would often be revoked, for example, the right to vote, the right to bear arms and the right to offer service in the military. Felony crimes could be categorized according to the degree which shows the severity of crime. Of all the felony crimes in this categorization, the most serious are first degree crimes. The definitions of these degrees vary depending on the state or federal laws applicable and also depending on the presiding jurisdiction. While some felony offenders would be tried through the system of state criminal justice, others would be tried through the federal court system. These would be governed by state laws and federal laws respectively. This means that despite the similarity in some types of felony crimes, the outcome could be different depending on where they were tried. Similarly, these crimes could be categorized into two; ones that are violent by intent or act and those ones that are not. Non-violent felony crimes are usually considered as white collar crimes. They would mostly be committed in businesses or professional set-ups with the aim of gaining financially at the expense of another person’s loss. ... These convictions make up about 4% of federal convictions as compared to over 16% in state convictions (Hattery & Smith, 2010). Arson refers to an offense that involves maliciously damaging a building, vessel, inhabited structure or any property through fire or explosive (Travis & Visher, 2005). There are other felony offenses that are neither violent in nature nor intent and include burglary, fraud, forgery and larceny. O’Brien (2010) observed that about 67% of convictions for property felony crimes lead to incarceration. Other non-violent crimes include drug trafficking and possession and about 90% of those convicted of crimes related to drugs face incarceration (Hattery & Smith, 2010). The penalties for felony have been classified into tiers depending on each state’s arrangement. They are often categorized in alphabetical and numerical classes like Class 1, Class A and first degree felony, with crimes in a class bearing similar punishment. Other categories could incl ude Class 2, Class B and second degree classes and Class 3, Class C and third class felonies. Murder felony charges and capital punishment would be in their own category. Federal felony classifications have crimes divided from Class A to Class E charges, which determine the fine to be charged depending on the severity of crime and the offender’s prior criminal records. Generally, felonies convicted on State level are less harsh than Federal punishments (Allard, 2002). How well do inmates regain or create family bonds after incarceration? The terms of incarceration for felony cases vary greatly but usually above one year and could even go to one having a life sentence. According to Scirmer, Nellis and Mauer, M. (2009), 1.7 million American children had their

Company Motivational Profile Fedex Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Company Motivational Profile Fedex - Essay Example â€Å"Motivation is†, Kreitner views, â€Å"the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction.† (1995: 241) Thus motivation is simply the principal factor behind performing something purposeful towards some particular direction. â€Å"Motivation is an inner drive†, Higgins states, â€Å"to satisfy an unsatisfied need.† (1994: 19). Motivation is an urge that supports man during the course of the fulfillment of some tasks individually and collectively. Motivational factors are tremendously significant not only for the employees during their job in a corporate firm, so that they can be proved more and more productive for the organization and workplace, but also its role is imperative one for the companies and organizations for the enrichment of their sales volume and creativity as well. Like other organizations and companies, the world’s leading courier service of Canada i.e. FedEx has also articulated comprehensive motivational schemes for inducing the employees and extract best possible outcomes by meeting the targets and achieving the goals. The management of FedEx has introduced rapid growth opportunities as well as incentives and rewards for the employees on the one hand, and an imperative share in the profit the company earns because of the hard efforts and dedicated and result-oriented performance of the employees on the other. Hence, this global organization offers multiple motivational opportunities for the employees, which are highly supportive in expanding the business of the FedEx courier service in over 160 countries of the world. â€Å"FedEx customer service managers know how important it is to recognize and reward their employees. Customer Service has a wide variety of recognition programs, with a combination of cash and non-cash prizes as inc entives. The BZ (Bravo Zulu - a US Navy term meaning well done) is a monetary reward manager can give to any staff member for exemplary service.†Ã‚  In addition, the company offers the employees with complete medical facilities through the team of competent medical professionals, as well as a regular medical check-up, compensation and remuneration on meeting accidents while performing office duties, 30 annual paid leaves and job security assurance.  

When are people justified in rebelling from a government Essay

When are people justified in rebelling from a government - Essay Example Simply put, whenever a government fails to keep up the social contract it has with the citizens, rebellion against that government becomes justified according to Locke and that rebellion is not illegal or unjust. Therefore, it is important to understand the social contract, the idea of rebellion and how Locke sees the legitimacy of government for any student of History, sociology and even philosophy. Additionally, comparisons can be made in terms of how other philosophers such as Hobbes have seen the legitimacy of government as opposed to Locke to fully understand the position Locke takes on what a government should do to keep the social contract. The social contract theory is a common concept used in many different fields such as political science, economics and sociology. It basically suggests that there is a contract which exists between the state and the individuals who are part of the state regarding their individual rights and privileges. A social contract can also exist between a company/organization and its members or a social group and the participants of the group. The idea of a social contract has been developed and expanded greatly by philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke amongst many others (Wikipedia, 2006). However, the Ideas of Locke are very important in this case because he was the first to establish the criteria for a social contract and then establish the course a people should take up if their own government does not uphold its end of the bargain. Hobbes was the earlier of the two philosophers and outlined his ideas concerning a social contract in his magnum opus titled Leviathan. Hobbes suggests that the natural inclination of mankind breaks men into strong and weak. The strength of a strong man may come from his physical abilities or his mental prowess but in either case, he has an advantage over the weak. However, this

Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Operations Management - Essay Example Indeed, in highly competitive environment, consumers’ role has become more distinct in the wider context of business goals. The businesses which cater to the changing needs of the consumers are better equipped to sustain their market position. For example, tourism is now called leisure market because people not only prefer to visit places but also want to be entertained with creative travel schedule that is better able to satisfy their aesthetic, mental and physical needs. Hence, transformation process applies to both goods and services as consumers’ changing preferences for goods and service needs to be met by the businesses. Data is vital part of process mainly due to the fact that manipulation of data considerably helps to facilitates informed choices. A good database creates new opportunities for expanding business and improving business productivity. It helps to understand the changing trends in the preferences of the people, resulting in new products development and value addition to the existing products that meet the changing requirements of the consumers. (words:

Organizing a project deliverable Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Organizing a project deliverable - Essay Example For my research, I will focus on questioning employees about their feeling in regards to the low productivity. I will seek to understand the reasons as to why the company productivity is faring poorly, based on their perspective. Research data collection will be through surveys, where we conceal employees identities will be concealed. These will include: Analyzing the findings will be easier owing to the use of close-ended questions (Kerzner 2013). In the findings, employee ratings will appear to help communicate the extent of the problem from the employees’ viewpoint. The research will include the research findings fully, to come up with relevant solutions counteracting the issues at hand. The organization of the research will entail an outline that incorporates parts such as the introduction, problem statement, methodology, findings, conclusion, solutions to the problems, and recommendations. The research deliverable will be complete with this outline and plan, maximizing the organization’s productivity through employee motivation once the stated issues undergo

Ethics at Work Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethics at Work - Research Paper Example ver a problem arises, one has to look in to the solutions deeply so as to overcome the problem quickly without causing further damage to the organization. Generally, in times of difficult situations and problems, many people opt to solve the problem as quickly as possible to avoid further losses; however it is not a good strategy to solve any problem (GRAHAM, 2013). Many problems bear such nature that if they are not handled properly but with haste, they cause severe damage instead of being solved. So, one needs to approach a problem after properly planning for it. The following approach shall be preferable for solving problems: As a management officer, a person can react in many ways. This reaction depends upon the style of leadership he prefers. Some managers are hard at deciding for who were involved in any problem. This type of manager is a benefit in case of employees who are negligent in performing their duties; however it may motivate those employees who are generally loyal to work (Giberson, 2009). Similarly there may be a manager who uses politeness towards those who made the problem to rise. It is advantageous as it motivate employees loyal to work to be more careful in performing duties, but can also motivate those who disregard such behavior of managers and become more and more negligent. The word â€Å"best† can be described as the single most advantageous of all the possible things. As discussed earlier, there may be many possible solutions for a given problem. It is very rare that a problem has only one possible way to be solved in. but the best is generally a single one yet this one also is not a hard and fast rule as one solution may be the best from one perspective but the other from another. 2. Concern-for-others principles: they are the principles where a person imposes decisions with the others in mind. They have no concern for the organization or themselves in these types of principles. In my business, I would prefer to use the Balancing

Critical evaluate (debate) the positive (good) and negative (bad) Essay

Critical evaluate (debate) the positive (good) and negative (bad) influence of knowledge management and organizational learning to an organization to form competitive advantage - Essay Example nt position in this as they are the real â€Å"knowledge producers† and hence any new knowledge that a company looks for is produced courtesy through these people. (Rocca, 1992) Competitive success is basically commanded by the companys capability to harness and indeed develop new forms of knowledge, gained either by observation or by experience attained, which can be called as assets that in turn create the required â€Å"core competencies† of the said organization. (Sims, 2002) While these competencies do exist in many forms, learning on the part of a particular company plays a pivotal role, which eventually ventures into other resources of knowledge to generate high-class and exceptional showing from the company’s employees. (Dunn, 2001) Core competencies, which usually flow out of a company, provide characteristic benefits to both the customers as well as any other individuals attached with it. These are generally espied as being the foundation of forming a competitive advantage within the said company. (Chang, 2001) It is quite true that there is a host of ways in which new knowledge within a company is facilitated within its ranks. The need here is to classify them with respect to their importance, which include the cultural infrastructure can be changed within a company so as to gather some proportion to the fact of the actual remains that have to be taken care of in the company and in its employees’ minds. It demands idealization and disclosure of everlasting knowledge that is created over a certain period of time. This usually requires basic changes to already set cultural notions in companies and more so in the minds of their employees. (Fahy, 1996) Also operational infrastructure is changed through human resources organizational practices that are managed and received by the employees and other people in a different way altogether. A basic revamping of a knowledge-centered company is required here, which would involve the job ladders, compensations,

The soiling of old glory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The soiling of old glory - Essay Example At that time Attackers and victims seems quiet. April 5, Monday morning when students of South Boston and Charles town boycott of classes to participate in the rally against busing at City Hall Plaza and the Federal Building because from June 1974 Boston had deliberately maintained segregated schools, first step to raise a conflicts between Black and white people/students. The US District Judge and his companions ordered a program of busing which promotes more and more desegregation, boycotts in all over the city which disturbs the normal Life and violence had vexed the schools and city because of this the studies of students totally disturbed. Two hundred white students combined for the march to City Hall Plaza. Some students don’t know the reason of rally but they attended the rally for any reason and basically no reason of this rally. This rally just propagates the air of race and class. White students hated blacks they followed their parents; students enjoyed days off from school, students having immature minds just need a reason to hang out with their friends. This movement of anti-busing portrays that people filled with patriotism and defend their liberty against this cruelness of a judge. Southside people belongs to South Boston also participate in this anti-busing movement and a spokesman James Kelly the leader represents the South Boston and he is also the president of South Boston Information center. Kelly is an educated person and got his graduation degree in 1958 from South Boston High School and he had a keen interest in games he played a football. He was a sheet metal worker and belongs to a very poor family; he learned trade from his job experience and raising his family in South Boston. Kelly was a child labor he didn’t earn much money he said â€Å"We were renters all our lives. I understand what it’s like to live week to week†. (JAMES KELLY) Kelly becomes economically unstable in 1967. He also spent his time in jail because of his drinking problem Kelly words about him is that â€Å"I am not a very nice guy to my family†. Kelly stopped drinking and his last drink on March 24, 1971. In 1973 Kelly get injured during his job sheet of metal slide injured his right hand and he get compensation from his company. During these holidays the busing crisis starts so he takes interest in this movement. Kelly and City Council president Louise Day Hicks gets active and take action against the desegregation orders of Boston School Committee in 1960s because they were their neighbors and friends so Kelly had not much interest in politics but due to these issues he get involved in politics. He always support and helped the people in their efforts because he wants to defend his community against this busing issue and charges of racism Kelly became active and organized a committee in early September 1974 through South Boston Information Center and work on inaccurate press reports about opposing to busing in aspect of all these segregated issues Kelly organized the protest on April 5. So the relationship of class and race introduced the character Kelly from South Boston. Kelly invites a people, students to protest against and opposed to busing. Kelly wants to end these busing orders, wanted to accurate reporting of racial incidents and he supports the people who want that superintendent to resign. Hicks who support Kelly and these protestors help them when students, marchers arrived at City Hall.

Disney vs. Imane Boudlal Essay Example for Free

Disney vs. Imane Boudlal Essay Disneyland vs. Imane Boudlal HISTORY Disneyland is very large 160 acre amusement park located in Anaheim CA. Disneyland was created by Walt Disney on July 17, 1955, Walt Disney wanted to create a magical place where parents with children could go to the same place and have just as much fun as their children. Walt Disney had the vision that he wanted Disneyland to be like a fantasy land where dreams could come to life. Disneyland is a 17. 5 million dollar magic kingdom. Even though the park was a very expensive project, â€Å"I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral† said Walt Disney. Since Disney was a very expensive project, Walt Disney had some support from his own television show on ABC; it was called Walt Disney’s Disneyland. The TV series offered sneak peeks about the future Disneyland project before it was even finished. It took a full year of hard work to finish the project. Disneyland is well-known for having a strict employee dress code called â€Å"the Disney look†. This dress code was introduced to new employees in 1955 prior to the amusement park opening. Disneyland also calls their employees â€Å"cast members† in order to keep the magical theme going. The Disney look has changed over time, but yet also remained true to offering wholesome family entertainment in one of the world’s top vacation destination. To work at Disneyland, the potential cast member must first agree and understand the policy prior to being hired.

Mechanical Barriers to Communication

Mechanical Barriers to Communication Any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that persons needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional; it may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or non-linguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes. Organisations cannot operate without communication. Communication can take various forms but all forms involve the transfer of information from one party to the other. In order for the transfer of information to qualify as communication, the recipient must understand the meaning of the information transferred to them. If the recipient does not understand the meaning of the information conveyed to them, communication has not taken place. Communication is the life source of organisations because organisations involve people. People cannot interact with each other without communication. In the absence of communication, everything would grind to a halt. For example; the workers in an organisation would not know the organisations objectives so they would not strive to achieve the organisations objectives. The workers in an organisation would not know what their roles and responsibilities were, so they would not be able to carry out their daily tasks and duties. The managers would not be able to train their workers reports so the workers would not possess the skills they needed to carry out their jobs. The managers would not be able to inform workers of changes The organisation would not be aware of their competitors activities On the whole people are able to communicate with each other as this is a basic human function. However successful organisations strive not only for communication but effective communication. Interpersonal Communication This is defined as communication between two or more people and involves the transfer of information (or message) from one person to the other(s). The person transferring the information is called the sender or transmitter. The people receiving the message are known as receivers. The transmitter will need to send the information in a format that the receiver(s) will understand. Converting the information into a format that the receivers will understand is known as Encoding. Messages can be encoded into a variety of formats oral, written or visual. After encoding the message is transferred via a medium called a channel, for example a letter, fax, phone call, or e-mail. After transference the information will need to be interpreted by the receiver. This process of interpretation is known as decoding. Finally the receiver will send a message back to the transmitter confirming whether the information sent has been understood. This back check is known as feedback. The communication process involves seven key elements as illustrated in the diagram below. Why you need to get your message across Effective communication is all about conveying your messages to other people clearly and unambiguously. Its also about receiving information that others are sending to you, with as little distortion as possible. Doing this involves effort from both the sender of the message and the receiver. And its a process that can be fraught with error, with messages muddled by the sender, or misinterpreted by the recipient. When this isnt detected, it can cause tremendous confusion, wasted effort and missed opportunity. In fact, communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information as a result of the communication. By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you actually send do not necessarily reflect what you think, causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals both personally and professionally. In a recent survey of recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees, communication skills were cited as the single more important decisive factor in choosing managers. The survey, conducted by the University of Pittsburghs Katz Business School, points out that communication skills, including written and oral presentations, as well as an ability to work with others, are the main factor contributing to job success. In spite of the increasing importance placed on communication skills, many individuals continue to struggle, unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively whether in verbal or written format. This inability makes it nearly impossible for them to compete effectively in the workplace, and stands in the way of career progression. Being able to communicate effectively is therefore essential if you want to build a successful career. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. You must also weigh-in the circumstances surrounding your communications, such as situational and cultural context. The Communications Process To be an effective communicator and to get your point across without misunderstanding and confusion, your goal should be to lessen the frequency of problems at each stage of this process, with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications. We follow the process through below: Source As the source of the message, you need to be clear about why youre communicating, and what you want to communicate. You also need to be confident that the information youre communicating is useful and accurate. Message The message is the information that you want to communicate. Encoding This is the process of transferring the information you want to communicate into a form that can be sent and correctly decoded at the other end. Your success in encoding depends partly on your ability to convey information clearly and simply, but also on your ability to anticipate and eliminate sources of confusion (for example, cultural issues, mistaken assumptions, and missing information.) A key part of this knows your audience: Failure to understand who you are communicating with will result in delivering messages that are misunderstood. Channel Messages are conveyed through channels, with verbal channels including face-to-face meetings, telephone and videoconferencing; and written channels including letters, emails, memos and reports. Different channels have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, its not particularly effective to give a long list of directions verbally, while youll quickly cause problems if you give someone negative feedback using email. Decoding Just as successful encoding is a skill, so is successful decoding (involving, for example, taking the time to read a message carefully, or listen actively to it.) Just as confusion can arise from errors in encoding, it can also arise from decoding errors. This is particularly the case if the decoder doesnt have enough knowledge to understand the message. Receiver Your message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding of your message, and their response. To be a successful communicator, you should consider these before delivering your message, and act appropriately. Feedback Your audience will provide you with feedback, as verbal and nonverbal reactions to your communicated message. Pay close attention to this feedback, as it is the only thing that can give you confidence that your audience has understood your message. If you find that there has been a misunderstanding, at least you have the opportunity to send the message a second time. Context The situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the surrounding environment or broader culture (corporate culture, international cultures, and so on). Barriers of Communication 1. Physical barriers Physical barriers in the workplace include: Marked out territories, empires and fiefdoms into which strangers are not allowed Closed office doors, barrier screens, separate areas for people of different status Large working areas or working in one unit that is physically separate from others. Research shows that one of the most important factors in building cohesive teams is proximity. As long as people still have a personal space that they can call their own, nearness to others aids communication because it helps us get to know one another. 2. Perceptual barriers The problem with communicating with others is that we all see the world differently. If we didnt, we would have no need to communicate: something like extrasensory perception would take its place. The following anecdote is a reminder of how our thoughts, assumptions and perceptions shape our own realities: A traveller was walking down a road when he met a man from the next town. Excuse me, he said. I am hoping to stay in the next town tonight. Can you tell me what the townspeople are like? Well, said the townsman, how did you find the people in the last town you visited? Oh, they were an irascible bunch. Kept to themselves. Took me for a fool. Over-charged me for what I got. Gave me very poor service. Well, then, said the townsman, youll find them pretty much the same  here. 3. Emotional barriers One of the chief barriers to open and free communications is the emotional barrier. It is comprised mainly of fear, mistrust and suspicion. The roots of our emotional mistrust of others lie in our childhood and infancy when we were taught to be careful what we said to others. Mind your Ps and Qs; Dont speak until youre spoken to; Children should be seen and not heard. As a result many people hold back from communicating their thoughts and feelings to others. They feel vulnerable. While some caution may be wise in certain relationships, excessive fear of what others might think of us can stunt our development as effective communicators and our ability to form meaningful relationships. 4. Cultural barriers When we join a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or later we need to adopt the behaviour patterns of the group. These are the behaviours that the group accept as signs of belonging. The group rewards such behaviour through acts of recognition, approval and inclusion. In groups which are happy to accept you, and where you are happy to conform, there is a mutuality of interest and a high level of win-win contact. Where, however, there are barriers to your membership of a group, a high level of game-playing replaces good communication. 5. Language barriers Language that describes what we want to say in our terms may present barriers to others who are not familiar with our expressions, buzz-words and jargon. When we couch our communication in such language, it is a way of excluding others. In a global market place the greatest compliment we can pay another person is to talk in their language. One of the more chilling memories of the Cold War was the threat by the Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev saying to the Americans at the United Nations: We will bury you! This was taken to mean a threat of nuclear annihilation. However, a more accurate reading of Khruschevs words would have been: We will overtake you! meaning economic superiority. It was not just the language, but the fear and suspicion that the West had of the Soviet Union that led to the more alarmist and sinister interpretation. 6. Gender barriers There are distinct differences between the speech patterns in a man and those in a woman. A woman speaks between 22,000 and 25,000 words a day whereas a man speaks between 7,000 and 10,000. In childhood, girls speak earlier than boys and at the age of three, have a vocabulary twice that of boys. The reason for this lies in the wiring of a mans and womans brains. When a man talks, his speech is located in the left side of the brain but in no specific area. When a woman talks, the speech is located in both hemispheres and in two specific locations. This means that a man talks in a linear, logical and compartmentalised way, features of left-brain thinking; whereas a woman talks more freely mixing logic and emotion, features of both sides of the brain. It also explains why women talk for much longer than men each day. Removing Barriers at All These Stages To deliver your messages effectively, you must commit to breaking down the barriers that exist within each of these stages of the communication process. Lets begin with the message itself. If your message is too lengthy, disorganized, or contains errors, you can expect the message to be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Use of poor verbal and body language can also confuse the message. Barriers in context tend to stem from senders offering too much information too fast. When in doubt here, less is oftentimes more. It is best to be mindful of the demands on other peoples time, especially in todays ultra-busy society. Once you understand this, you need to work to understand your audiences culture, making sure you can converse and deliver your message to people of different backgrounds and cultures within your own organization, in your country and even abroad. Barrier refers to something non physical that keeps apart or prevents activity, movement so on. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ Types of Barriers Physical mechanical barriers Language or Semantic barriers Socio-psychological barriers Organisational barriers Personal barriers 1- Physical Mechanical Barriers Noise It is the disruption or interference in communication process anywhere along the way. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ Noise though of varying degree, disturbs or interferes with communication. Whatever that distracts the receivers attention causes communication breakdown. Noise can be physical psychological. Physical distractions or disturbances such as loud speakers, gossip etc., draw the attention of the receiver. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ Psychological noise is related to mental disturbances like ego clash, pre occupied thoughts, hang over, anxiety. DISTANCE Long distances between the sender the receivers can also obstruct effective communication TIME Time refers to the reaching of message. If an important message reaches late it is sure to affect communication. INFORMATION OVERLOAD It refers to excessive transmission of information. Much more information than what the receiver can process is transmitted to him/her. The receiver can ·t understand , digest, analyze act upon information overload that is beyond mental capacity. MECHANICAL BARRIERS Outdated machines equipment may produce excessive noise leading to physical barriers in communication. Distraction like background noise, poor lighting., affect the morale of the employees also obstruct effective communication. 2- SEMANTIC OR LANGUAGE BARRIER UNCLEAR MESSAGE Lack of clarity in message makes it badly expressed. poorly chosen empty word , phrases, inadequate vocabulary, failure to clarify implications etc., are some common faults found. FAULTY TRANSLATION The message that every manager receives from his superiors, peers, subordinates must be translated into language suitable for the respective person( for whom the information is destined). SPECIALISTS LANGUAGE It is often found that technical personnel special groups tend to develop a special, peculiar technical language of their own. It hinders their communication with persons not in their specialty, because of the receivers ignorance of that type of language. 3- SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTION Perceptual barriers may arise due to differences between individuals in the way they perceive, organize understand their environment. DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDE People differ with regard to attitudes opinions which often interfere with communication. If the message is consistent with our attitudes opinions we receive it favorably. INATTENTION Communication has no impact on those who are unable or unwilling to listen. If people do not pay the required degree of attention to listening understanding the messages they are supposed to receive. PREMATURE EVALUATION Some people form a judgment before receiving the complete message. Such premature evaluation prevents effective communication. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ RESISTANCE TO CHANGE when new ideas are being communicated, the listening apparatus may act as a filter in rejecting new ideas. Thus resistance to change is an important obstacle to effective communication. CULTURAL DIFFERENCE Cultural refers to values, beliefs, norms, attitudes perceptions of people of different nations or regions. Symbols, words, colors, gestures, language must be carefully selected when senders of information are dealing with people of different nations regions. 4- ORGANISATIONAL BARRIERS STATUS RELATIONSHIP ONE WAY FLOW ORGANISATION STRUCTURE RULES REGULATIONS 5- PERSONAL BARRIERS ATTITUDE OF SUPERIOR- the attitude of superiors towards communication affects the flow of messages in different directions. LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN SUBORDINATES LACK OF TIME MESSAGE OVERLOAD Barriers to effective Communication (leaky bucket) At each stage in the process encoding, transference, and decoding there is the possibility of interference which may hinder the communication process. This interference is known as noise. Often a comparison is made between communication and a leaky bucket. If you use a leaky bucket to carry water, water will be lost at various points in your journey from the water tap to your destination. It is not possible to stop losing water because the bucket contains holes. The amount of water you will lose will be determined by the number of holes in the bucket, the size of the holes, the route you take to your final destination and length of time it takes you to get to your destination. There may also be other events that occur during your journey which increase the amount of water lost. Similarly when information is transferred from the transmitter to the receiver not all of the information may be received by the receiver because of holes called noise. Each of the noise may be affect the amou nt of information transferred. Just as in a leaky bucket, more holes decrease the amount of water, more noise decreases the amount of correct information received. Language issues and Cultural Differences The receiver(s) may not (fully) understand the language used by the transmitter. This may occur if the transmitters language is foreign to the receiver. There may also be language problems (that the communication process) if the message contains technical information and the receivers is not familiar with the technical terms used. Cultural differences created by an individuals background and experience affect their perception of the world. Such cultural differences may affect the interpretation (decoding) of the message sent. Environmental issues If the environment that the transmitter or receiver are in, is noisy and full of sound, the sounds may prevent the message being fully understood. Background noise is often created by colleagues or machinery. Channel issues If the channel used to transfer the information is poor it may prevent all or some of the information being transferred. Examples include a faulty fax machine, a crackling phone, handwriting that cannot be read or in the case of oral messages incorrect facial gestures. Receivers Attitude and behavior If the receiver(s) is not interested in the message (or unable to give their full attention to decoding) this may reduce the amount of information received or the accuracy of the information transmitted to them. Similarly the receiver(s) may misinterpret the message by jumping to conclusions or reading the message in a manner that suits their own interests/objectives and distort the true meaning of the message. Transmission journey i.e. steps in the message, If the message is complicated or there are lots of steps taken to transfer the message it may affect the accuracy or interpretation. Comparing with the leaky bucket if the leaky bucket has to carry water over a longer distance more water will probably lost than if the journey was shorter. Internal / Organisational Communication This is communication that takes place within (or across) an organisation. In addition to the usual face to face, telephone, fax or mail; modern organisations may use technology to communicate internally. Technology may be used for e-mails or a linked internal communication system such as the intranet which is an internet system designed solely for use by those working for the organisation. External Communications Conversely external communication is communication between the organisation and those outside the organisation. Modern organisations may design technological systems so that they can communicate with customers and undertake e-Commerce. Alternatively they communicate with other businesses through the internet or similar systems and undertake e-Business. Functions of Internal and External Communications Technology has rapidly expanded the types of internal and external communication available to organisations. The diagram illustrates the vast array of internal and external communication available. Combined together internal and external types of communications allow various sectors of the local, national and international community to interact, liaise and conduct business. Formal and Informal Communications Formal communication is defined as communication which occurs through the official organisational channels or is undertaken by an employee to do their job. For example official meetings, letters and a manager asking an employee to carry out a particular task. Conversely informal communication is that which occurs outside the recognised communication networks such as talking in the lunchroom or hallways between employees. Informal communication can be productive or negative. It has the potential to build teams, improve working relationships and generate ideas as employees are in a relaxed environment. Upward and Downward Communications Downward communication is communication created by directors and managers and passed down the hierarchy of workers in the organisation. In traditional organisations this is the preferred method of communication ie Managers decide what the systems, rules and procedures will be and then they pass these down to employees they manage and supervise. Downward Communication can increase efficiency by synchronising organisational procedures and can ensure that everybody is working towards the same overall aims and objectives. Types of downward communication include job descriptions, appraisals/evaluations, organisational policy, and organisational systems. Although there are advantages to downward communication organisations have began to encourage upward communication. This is communication which originates at the lower level of the employment hierarchy and is then communicated up through the line. Organisations encouraging upward communication believe that everybody is capable of generating thoughts and ideas which may help the organisation to progress, particularly when they are working closely in the area that the idea applies to. Upward communication may increase motivation and make employees feel valued and respected whilst enabling managers to understand how employees are feeling. Furthermore if problems occur at they are more likely to be identified earlier by those working closely in the area that they occur. Types of upward communications include suggestion schemes, feedback forums/surveys, grievance procedures and employee-manager discussions. Lateral Communication This is communication that occurs between employees on the same level in the organisation. As this can involve decision making it can create efficiency as employees do not have to wait for managerial approval. On the other hand if the manager is not kept informed or if the manager fails to set boundaries there is potential for conflict. Diagonal Communication This occurs when communication occurs between workers in a different section of the organisation and where one of the workers involved is on a higher level in the organisation. For example in a bank diagonal communication will occur when a department manager in head office converses with a cashier in a branch of the bank based on the high street. TELECOMMUNICATIONS GLOSSARY Term Definition Telecommunication Communication between parties based in different locations by using a cable, telephone, broadcast or a telegraph. Networking Linking to or more computers together so that information and facilities can be shared. Computers in the same room may be linked together or the organisation may decide to link, computers in different parts of the world together. Local Area Network (LAN) Computers linked by a network without the use of telecommunications. Often the computers linked are based in the same location, group of buildings or site. Wide Area Network (WAN)    Computers linked by a network using telecommunications. Often the computers linked are based in different locations. Teleconferencing    Through the use of telecommunication devices such as video link participants based in different locations communicating is known as teleconferencing. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Computer networks used to exchange standard business transaction documents between organisations. QUESTION 3 How might a manager use the GRAPEVINE to his or her advantage? First of all the definition of grapevine is that it is the unofficial way that communication takes place within the organization. It is neither supported nor authorized by the organization. It can also be called gossip. As we know many gossips have no factual bases at all; most of them however do. A manager can use grapevine to his or her advantage if it is an organization where people are used to get their information from these sources. And of course it would be a lie to say that most of us dont gossip, or listen to them at least occasionally, especially if it involves us. Bad information spreads a lot faster than good news, so the information gets to employees real fast. It can happen by a word of mouth, or recently more frequently by electronic means. If an organization is based on honesty, these grapevine information can be a lot more accurate than in an organization that is based on an authoritative culture. Usually there is always some truth to it however. Rumours about major lay-offs, plant closings, and the like may be filled with accurate information regarding who will be affected and when it may occur. This truth component is what a manager can use to his or her benefit. Most employees know that if there is any kind of grapevine information circling in the company, whatever its about can be true. If a manager for example wants to influence employees to work harder, or put more effort into it, he or she can simply start a new gossip, or encourage an existing one about lay-offs that might involve their department. Im not saying this is a nice way to do this, but if nothing else works, why not. This is however not the sign of the good manager, because he or she should be able to use other methods of motivation. A good leader needs to be able to exert high level of effort from his or her employees by motivating them in different ways. Another way of looking grapevine information is its usefulness in supplementing formal information channels. It provides a way for employees to communicate their imaginations and inputs to a certain issue. If management is not really doing a good job with communicating with employees about what is going on in an organization, then grapevine can satisfy these natural needs for information. Grapevine is a healthy human desire to communicate. It is the informal communication channel within the organization. Managers have to acknowledge this fact, and try to use it to their own advantage. Managers interested in creating good communication within the organization will use grapevine as a mean to improve it. The real value of grapevine should be to management is that it reveals issues that generate from those whom interested in or effected by it. Managers can also participate in grapevine. They can be filters, who monitor the information and forward to upper management only the valuable and important components. Grapevine usually pops up during times of uncertain times; therefore management has to make sure that it is providing enough information about important issues. The longer the rumour goes around, the hardest it is to control, so management had to intervene quickly if it wants to avoid its damaging effects. The fact is that grapevine is exists within organizations, and they always have a truth component to them. Management therefore can use them to their own benefits, as a compliment to the official and formal channels of information. How to use the Grapevine effectively in business organizations? Grapevine is an informal channel of business communication. It is called so because it stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of the authority levels. The management can use grapevine to supplement the formal channels of communication. Though it carries some degree of error and distortion, efforts can be made to correct it. Ignoring the grapevine is nothing but to ignore a valuable source of communication. The management can eliminate its negative consequences and, at the same time, it can nourish its positive benefits. The managers have to learn to manage and control it. 1. The management can open up all the channels of organizational communication to present the facts positively before the employees and ther

The cause and effect of Gangs in Society

The cause and effect of Gangs in Society According to Street Wars by Tom Hayden, an estimate of over 25,000 young people in the United States, the majority of them African American and Latino, have been killed in street wars during the past two decades (Hayden, Foreword). Because of these violent events, those who live in poorer areas of the country are stereotyped: every child with a tattoo and street child is stigmatized as a criminal who is creating an unfriendly climate for investment or tourism in the country(Hayden, Preface, IX). Gangs never used to be called gangs, and some still do not call themselves gangs(Hayden, 2). Although several gang members see themselves as a family or neighborhood, it is pointed out that gangs are essentially a criminal enterprise(Hayden, 3). This review of literature will examine the factors that contribute to the cause of people coming together to commit crimes, as well as the question of whether the decisions made to join gangs are forced or made at free will. An explanation for the gro wth of gangs is the continuation of extreme poverty and isolation among the generation labeled at risk in our nations cities(Hayden, 16). The stereotype that these people are all criminals has become one of the reasons gangs rebel against the society just because it was wrong and violated societys standards of acceptable behavior(Carrigan, 278). Growing Up Without Proper Nurturing Gang members often come from dysfunctional, abusive, or broken homes, poor living conditions, lack of parental discipline, neglect and low incomes(Carrigan, 285). A variety of studies have shown that a lack of time spent nurturing and properly disciplining children can be a significant contributor to problem behavior(Carrigan, 305). The National Center of Health Statistics in 1988 discovered that, Childrens well being is associated with family structurechildren from divorced families and those living with single parents have been found to have more emotional, behavioral, and academic problems than children living with both of their biological parents (Carrigan, 287). For the upbringing of gang members from single parent households, it wasnt so much the family status that caused the problem. Rather, the status brought on stresses and strains that contributed to the deprivation of good parenting(Carrigan, 287). Jane Rodd, an experienced social worker, states that, What society has to l earn is that children growing up have needs: support, love, respect, fair discipline and a family with positive social values. If these elements are not a strong part of childhood development, the child may well become antisocial as a youth(Carrigan, 287). Study done for the Ministry of the Solicitor General of Canada (1985) reviewed the literature on family relationships and delinquency and reached the conclusions that family criminality, whether it be parents or siblings, is a powerful predictor of childrens delinquency, and parental supervision, followed by mothers affection during childhood, appear to be the two most important variables accounting for adult criminality(Carrigan, 286). Some of the gang members are even homeless, either because their parents are on drugs and they discard them, or they have no homes and the children drift away(Castro). Most gang members have nothing to live for, except their hood. They pledge allegiance to their neighborhood gang, and it becomes their whole wide world, their family. Their loyalty is fierce(Castro). Donald J. McKinnon suggests that the main cause of juvenile delinquency is the lack of a sense of responsibility on the part of parents in the matter of bringing up and training children, l eaving them out on the streets(Carrigan, 284). The particular culture of a lower-class community is seen as one of the major factors that causes gang delinquency(Carrigan, 278). The individual is influenced by the norms of the gang, which in turn reflect modes of behavior acceptable to a lower-class culture. These norms are different from the middle-class culture, which places a higher value on conformist behavior(Carrigan, 278). Throughout American history, a high percentage of delinquents has come from poor economic backgrounds. The correlation led to the easy conclusion that poverty causes crime(Carrigan, 283). It is conveniently forgotten that the sources of most street gangs lie in violent oppression, dispossession, and migration(Hayden, 200). In the twenty-first century, the new generation has been Brought up in a materialistic environment, indulged, protected, and taught by consumer-oriented society that instant gratification was a normal expectation in life, therefore youths often lacked patience and an ability to cope wi th frustration(Carrigan 299). Influences in the past that had helped to nurture values and character were, by the 1960s, either substantially diminished or gone(Carrigan, 300). The decline in the influence of the churches, less emphasis on values education in the schools, and the diminution of the role of the state as a moral agent have contributed to the lessening of interest in the role of values as a governor on human behavior(Carrigan, 288). Heredity While bad neighborhoods and lack of moral education is blamed for the formation of gangs, some studies indicate that the urge to join gangs might lie, at least in part, in their genes(Boys May Feel a Genetic Pull Toward Gangs). Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909), professor of medicine at the University of Turin in Italy, argues that more persistent and violent criminals were born that way. They were throwbacks to a more primitive stage of development(Carrigan, 273). He also defined a criminal as an atavistic being who reproduces in his person the ferocious instincts of primitive humanity and the inferior animals, stating that these people generally have enormous jaws, high cheekbones, prominent superciliary arches, solitary lines in the palms, extreme size of the orbits, handle-shaped or sessile ears found in criminals, savages, and apes; insensibility to pain, extremely acute sight, tattooing, excessive idleness, love of orgies, and the irresistible craving for evil for its own sake, the d esire not only to extinguish life in the victim, but to mutilate the corpse, tear its flesh, and drink its blood(Carrigan, 273). Also, those born with criminal traits start lawless activities at an early age, and constantly demonstrate anger, a spirit of revenge, idleness, volubility and lack of affection(Carrigan, 273). It is said that aggressive behavior is one of the early signs of antisocial and criminal tendencies(Carrigan, 306). Other traits are also said to be hints of rebellion when children grow older: a taste for risk; below average verbal intelligence; response to frustration more likely to involve resentment and anger rather than composure or anxiety, guilt or depression; egocentricism; moral immaturity; and poor problem-solving, coping or self-regulation skills(Carrigan, 281). Children that have high tolerance for deviance in general; rejection of the validity of the law in particular, applies rationalizations for law violations to a wide range of stimuli as reasons for anger, tend to become a lot more rebellious when they grow older(Carrigan, 280). Even the most sensitive among them [the gang members] often have committed terrible violence(Castro). However, those who are insensible to pain are often one of the most violent members in the gangs. One gang member tried to steal a car from this guy, and when the guy resisted, he knocked him down and ran over him with the car. Then he backed up, ran over him again, then he drove around the block and came back and ran over him again. Then he put the car in reverse, and as he ran over the guy a fourth time, the police came along and saw it(Castro). According to a study, Boys who have a variant of the gene monoamine oxidase A(MAOA) otherwise known as the warrior gene are not only more likely to be in gangs than boys without the variant, but they tend to be among the most violent members(Boys May Feel a Genetic Pull Toward Gangs). It is not only the poverty-stricken environment or the broken homes that deprive individuals of a sense of belonging, desperate to join gangs. The study shows that joining gangs also has to do with the genetics of a person (Boys May Feel a Genetic Pull Toward Gangs). Previous research has linked low-activity MAOA variants to a wide range of antisocial, even violent, behavior, but our study confirms that these variants can predict gang membership, the studys lead author, Kevin M. Beaver, a biosocial criminologist at Florida State Universitys College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, said in a university news release. Moreover, we found that variants of this gene could distinguish gang members who we re markedly more likely to behave violently and use weapons from members who were less likely to do either(Boys May Feel a Genetic Pull Toward Gangs). The MAOA gene is believed to affect levels of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin that are related to mood and behavior, according to the study. Previous research found that the warrior gene is more prevalent in cultures that are typified by warfare and aggression. Strain Theory When someone is unable to gain wealth, power, status, or possessions by legitimate means(Carrigan, 276), due to the frustration felt at being blocked by the system, the individual violates the accepted code of conduct and to resort to illegitimate or illegal means(Carrigan, 277). Strain theory emphasizes the relationship in society between the goals that constitute status and the conventions or does of conduct that regulate the manner in which those aspirations may be pursued(Carrigan, 276). General Strain Theory identifies three major sources of strain: the failure to achieve positively valued goals, the loss of positively valued stimuli, and the presentation of negative stimuli. The first type of strain includes three subtypes: the failure to achieve aspirations or ideal goals, the failure to achieve expectations, and the failure to be treated in a just / fair manner(Broidy and Agnew). It also considers types of strain other than goal blockage, such as the loss of positive stimuli like friends and romantic partners, and the presentation of negative stimuli like excessive demands and verbal, sexual or physical abuse(Broidy and Agnew). The delinquent accepts societys norms that place an importance on the ownership of certain things, but social inequalities, such as poverty, prevent their attainment, therefore turning to crime(Carrigan, 277). Sampson and Wilson (1995) proposed an integrated social disorganization-strain theory in which strain factors are viewed as causing the deterioration of social controls, which are hypothesized to have the more direct effect on crime(DeFronzo). They argue that the forms of social disorganization that promote crime most likely include disrupted, dysfunctional, and/or structurally impaired households; ethnic, racial, and class discrimination and hostility; and the development of deviant subcultures, although they specified that such subcultures are not entirely distinct from the conventional-dominant culture but rather deviant in the sense of fostering at least the tolerance of certain nonconformist behaviors(DeFronzo). Sampson and Wilson concluded that strain factors such as economically generated frustrations or the lack of access to legitimate opportunities tend to create forms of social disorganization. For example, limited economic resources might be expected to result in stresswhi ch, in turn, increases the likelihood of excessive use of alcohol or other drugsand unprotected sexual intercourse outside of marriage often resulting in children being raised in one-parent households(DeFronzo). The Hippie Movement could be one of the examples of gang-like rebellion against mainstream society, although it influenced the culture later on(Carrigan, 300). The revolt of the 1960s was led, disproportionately, by advantaged, well-educated young people who began the first phase of their protest in universitiesWhen faulty and administrations resisted their demands for change, they resorted to protest and sometimes violence to achieve their goals(Carrigan, 300). Clothing styles were changed as an increasing number of people defied convention by opting for casual dress on all occasions, including topless bathing suits; language took on a new coarseness, as four-letter words became the style and symbol of liberation; drug use reached epidemic proportion, as a way of defying legal restraints(Carrigan, 301). It is said that, The social structure itself is the source of the pressure that forces a person into nonconformist or criminal conduct(Carrigan, 276). In a similar way, different strains gang members experience push them into the situation where they would rather commit crimes together than facing their previous struggles(Hayden, 216-217). Conclusion: The formation of gangs hasnt intensified or surfaced until the past few decades(Hayden, 3). It has caused the death of innocent people, and ruined the future for several gang members that initially joined for the sense of belonging, outside of their dysfunctional families and failed relationships. Those who have been bold, allowed themselves to befriend the gang members and have learned more about them as people, have fortunately survived (Castro). They have also been able to turn some lives around, and help them realize gang violence is preventable (Hayden, Foreword). We must put effort into peacemaking, so that our country would become more civilized and be rid of unnecessary violence. Mike Davis from Planet of Slums emphasized that, What is clear is that the contemporary mega-slum poses unique problems of imperial order and social control that conventional geopolitics has barely begun to register. If the aim of the war on terrorism; is to pursue the erstwhile enemy into his sociol ogical and cultural labyrinth, then the poor peripheries of developing cities will be the permanent battlefields of the twenty-first century(Hayden, Preface).

Shakespeares Othello - Desdemona, the Heroine in Othello Essay

Desdemona, the Heroine in Othello  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   In William Shakespeare’s Othello Michael Cassio’s praises of the richly blessed Desdemona, as he awaits her arrival on Cyprus, are well deserved. This essay will amply support this statement.    Blanche Coles in Shakespeare’s Four Giants interprets the protagonist’s very meaningful four-word greeting to Desdemona which he utters upon disembarking in Cyprus:    Othello’s four words, â€Å"O, my soul’s joy,† tell us that this beautiful Venetian girl has brought great joy, felicity, bliss to the very depths of his soul. This exquisitely beautiful love that has come to a thoughtful, earnest man is indescribably impressive. For him it is   heaven on earth. And all the while, almost within arm’s length, stands Iago, the embodiment of evil, like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. (87)    In Act 1 Scene1, Iago persuades the rejected suitor of Desdemona, Roderigo, to accompany him to the home of Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, in the middle of the night. Once there the two awaken him with loud shouts about his daughter’s elopement with Othello. In response to Iago’s vulgar descriptions of Desdemona’s involvement with the general, Brabantio arises from bed and, with Roderigo’s help, gathers a search party to go and find Desdemona and bring her home. The father’s attitude is that life without his Desdemona will be much worse than before:    It is too true an evil: gone she is;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And what's to come of my despised time   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is nought but bitterness. (1.1)    So obviously the senator has great respect for his daughter, or at least for the comforts which she has afforded him up the beginning of the play. This respect is shared by her new husband Othello, who ... ...   You told a lie, an odious, damned lie;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She false with Cassio! (5.2)    Then she accuses him of causing murder: â€Å"And your reports have set the murder on.† Emilia’s stunning interrogation and conviction of her own husband as the evil mastermind behind the murder results in Iago’s murder of her. Gullible Othello, grief-stricken by remorse for the tragic mistake he has made, stabs himself and dies on the bed next to his wife, his sorrow being as deep as his love for Desdemona prior to Iago’s machinations.    WORKS CITED    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.       Coles, Blanche. Shakespeare’s Four Giants. Rindge, New Hampshire: Richard Smith Publisher, 1957.

With Reference To At Least Four Different Poems, Explore How Cultural E

With Reference To At Least Four Different Poems, Explore How Cultural Identity Is Represented By The Various Poets The four poems I have selected to focus on all portray a cultural identity in their own unique way. 'Wherever I hang' and 'The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping', are both written by Grace Nichols, a poet of Guinean background. I have also chosen to explore 'Dream Variation' by Langston Hughes as well as 'Half-Caste' by John Agard. I have chosen this selection of poetry because I feel that each poem has great merit in successfully challenging the racial disparities of the modern world. Grace Nichols unsurprisingly tends to base her poems around the inequality between the black and white communities; this is reflected in her poem 'Taint'. The poems I have chosen to investigate by her are 'The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping' and 'Wherever I hang'. I chose to include these poems because they are in contrast to many of her other poems and it's content mainly comments on how white and black lifestyles differ rather than her usual theme of black persecution. The other two poems I have chosen by the two different poets both concentrate more on black discrimination like 'Taint' and are more similar to that poem, in this respect, than the two poems I chose by Grace Nichols. Langston Hughes writes a detailed analysis of the desires of the average Black man in his poem "Dream Variation". Hughes was related to John Mercer Langston, who was the first Black American to be elected to public office, in 1855. Born into a family with a strong sense of culture but a desire to be accepted, it is foreseeable that his poem reflects his aspiration of cultural freedom. Hughes uses representative imagery to portray... ...e wants to live she will live despite all obstacles-despite all cultural differences. The four poems use various methods to convey their points, overall the most effective being the humorous approach. Grace Nichols most effectively conveys her cultural identity via her sarcastic and amusing method of writing. This encourages the reader to think more deeply about the poem and understand the idea of culture identity, which could help acceptance of various cultures in Britain. Despite this, I personally feel "Half-Caste" is the most striking poem, stirring emotions deeper than mere amusement. The poem allows us to understand how people of mixed race must feel when this term is used and the implications of such a word. Although fairly aggressive, this poem conveys most constructively the message of the necessity for acceptance, to whoever the reader may be.

Biography of W.E.B. DuBois :: W.E.B. DuBois Writers Authors Essays

Biography of W.E.B. DuBois WEB Du Bois was born a free man in his small village of Great Barington, Massachusetts, three years after the Civil War. For generations, the Du Bois family had been an accepted part of the community since before his great-grandfather had fought in the American Revolution. Early on, Du Bois was given an awareness of his African-heritage, through the ancient songs his grandmother taught him. This awareness set him apart from his New England community, with an ancestry shrouded in mystery, in sharp contrast to the precisely accounted history of the Western world. This difference would be the foundation for his desire to change the way African-Americans co-existed in America. As a student, Du Bois was considered something of a prodigy who excelled beyond the capabilities of his white peers. He found work as a correspondent for New York newspapers, and slowly began to realize the inhibitions of social boundaries he was expected to observe every step of the way. When racism tried to take his pride and dignity, he became more determined to make sure society recognized his achievements. Clearly, Du Bois showed great promise, and some influential members of his community. Although Du Bois dreamt of attending Harvard, these influential individuals arranged for his education at Fisk University in Nashville. His experiences at Fisk changed his life, and he discovered his fate as a leader of the black struggle to free his people from oppression. At Fisk, Du Bois became acquainted with many sons and daughters of former slaves, who felt the pain of oppression and shared his sense of cultural and spiritual tradition. In the South, he saw his people being driven to a status of little difference from slavery, and saw them terrorized at the polls. He taught school during the summers in the eastern portion of Tennessee, and saw the suffering firsthand. He then resolved to dedicate his life to fighting the terrible racial oppression that held the black people down, both economically and politically. Du Bois’s determination was rewarded with a scholarship to Harvard, where he began the first scientific sociological studies in the United States. He felt that through science, he could dispel the irrational prejudices and ignorance that prevented racial equality. He went on to create great advancements in the study of race relations, but oppression continued with segregation laws, lynching, and terror tactics on the rise.

Problem-Solving Essay

Today the world has many issues, like hopelessness, prejudice, and selfish desires. The definition of the word moral is; concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. In the world today there are few moral standards; we have numerous evil influences and few holy and godly influences. What does it mean to live honorably? It means that you respect yourself and others and live a life worth living. People have selfish desires to please themselves and not others.The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 do not be achieved: â€Å"Bad company ruins good morals. † The company we keep, the influences we are under, and the things we look at all directly affect our morals and ethics. Some of the things that affect us morally are, music movies, books, the Internet, the friends we have, and the relationship (or lack of) that we have with God. The way we treat others and ourselves is a huge part of our lives and the way we live the m. We should strive to be like Jesus in all our endeavors. Matthew 5:48, you therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.Some of the ways that we could help the world regain moral standards are, leading by example, helping out or volunteering, and evangelism. The example we set should be an important priority for us as Christians; we should be Christ-like at all times. We could also help out the less fortunate, volunteering at charities or donating money; we should do our parts as Chrism's messengers in the world. The final thing we could do is evangelism, the spreading of Chrism's word. The world Is a sinful place, and God will come soon and take his people from It. The morals that we have are vital to our character.You could live honorably by, asking questions, figuring out what leads you astray, and helping fix It. James 1:22-25, but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For If anyone Is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he Is like a man who looks Intently at his natural face In a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks Into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed In his doing. Problem-Solving Essay By AbernathyThe world is a sinful place, and God will come soon and take his people from it. Asking questions, figuring out what leads you astray, and helping fix it. James 1:22-25, but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed.

Ap Euro Essay Essay

AP European Essay 2-2 The First World War brought about a phenomenon known as â€Å"total war†. Total war is a war fought on all fronts. A total war has the full support of the country and all human resources, from civilians to soldiers, are considered a part of the war effort. Total war during the first world war had a direct impact on the social, political, and economic structures of the European powers. Total war saw many changes in the social structures of Europe. With millions of men at the front unheard of numbers of jobs were available to those who had become accustomed to unemployment and poverty. This type of situation was seldom seen before 1914 where unemployment and poverty had been facts of everyday life. The role of women in everyday life changed immensely with the arrival of total war. With such large number of positions that were typically worked by men opening up many women took roles in society that they had never considered before, such as police officers, mail carriers, and even industry workers. The presence of Total war also promoted social equality, blurring class lines and closing the gap between the rich and the poor. This greater social equality was very apparent in Great Britain where wartime hardships were never extreme and where the bottom one third of the population actually lived better than they had before the war. The advent of total war also brought about change in the political structure of the European powers. During the first two years of the war both soldiers and civilians supported their governments and saw their county as having a just cause for fighting in the war. European governments employed rigorous censorship and propaganda in order to control the public opinion and maintain popular support. By 1916 the stain of a total war began to wear on the people of Europe and some groups attempted to take advantage of this strain. One group who took advantage of this was the group of Irish nationalists in Dublin in who rose up against British rule in the Easter rebellion. Similar strikes and protests flared up all over Europe due to inadequate food rations. Total war not only changed the economy of Europe but also helped to bring about a war economy that would have lasting effects. When the war began Germany went about setting up the War Raw Materials Board to ration and distribute raw materials. Under the direction of Walter Rathenau every useful material from foreign oil to barnyard manure was inventoried and rationed. Food also suffered from rationing with those who worked longer, harder days being allotted more food. This rationing of all useful resources facilitated the mobilization for total war and marked the first instance of state socialism functioning realistically rather than as a utopian program. Without these drastic economic changes the total war phenomenon would have never have come to fruition. The effort of both citizen and soldier were vital in bringing about the total war phenomenon. The social, political, and economic structures of the European powers were changed in great ways due to many nations embracing the ideas that make up total war. But through all of the many changes one thing was certain; war is a vital facet in the changing of societies and countries will shape themselves around it. Not only had the lives of Europeans changed due to total war, but war had changed.

How to Adapt Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” for Film

The two existing adaptations of Herman Melville’s short story â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener,† released in 1970 and 2001, show two legitimate interpretations of this dense, strange story. The 1970 version, starring John McEnrey as Bartleby, elects to prioritize the drabness of Bartleby’s laconic take on life in its color palette and generally dreary atmosphere. The more recent adaptation, starring Crispin Glover in the titular role, is more comic and, in the parlance of our times, â€Å"screwball† in its portrayal of office life.Such an interpretation seems closer to the text for me: while Melville’s story is profoundly sad, this sadness is not a uniform, blanketing affect, falling like Joyce’s snow over the living and the dead, but the failure of even comedy to overcome the characters’ alienation from themselves and each other. Melville’s tale is strange, and as such it calls for a strange adaptation to make it fit on the silver screen. What continues to be amiss in these adaptations is that Melville’s story is about misunderstanding Bartleby, yet both adaptations aim to understand Bartleby.The pathos of the tale, which in its literary form instantiates itself in the relationship between the reader and the text, is lost when a film version purports to offer mimetic verity. The reader of â€Å"Bartleby† is made to feel that she has missed something, that there is some clue to the secret of Bartleby and â€Å"Bartleby† that has been overlooked and which would resolve the pervading feeling of dislocation. In a crude sense, Bartleby represents the very incapacity of language to say what it means to say–that it always says too much and too little, and that even a simple mantra like â€Å"I prefer not to† can become opaque if we look too closely.Any interpretation of â€Å"Bartleby† will fall into this trap to some extent, of offering a definition of what is essentially n ebulous. To circumvent this problem, I propose the same tactic that Melville employs in his framing of â€Å"Bartleby. † Rather than focusing on the titular character, the film should focus on the story’s narrator, the lawyer who will become Bartleby’s boss. After all, what we learn from reading this story is that a name does not tell us who someone is, but misdirects us into the illusion of knowledge.The word â€Å"Bartleby† remains an enigma, and the attached epithet–†the Scrivener†Ã¢â‚¬â€œfurther obscures the â€Å"real† Bartleby that this story invites us to seek. Bartleby’s job as a scrivener is seemingly the least interesting, unique, or existentially relevant fact to know about him, and yet this is what we are misled by the title into defining him by. The narrator, on the other hand, is unnamed throughout. While Bartleby is anomic in the existential sense, he does at least have a name.The narrator, who generally fit s in well with the boring injustice of his socio-economic position, is anomic in that he does not have a name. If â€Å"Bartleby† is in some way a cultural critique, and it is hard not to think so, then this is the man who we should focus on to make him claim a name for himself. Bartleby’s name gives the reader and and people around him a false sense of knowledge of him, as does his identification as â€Å"scrivener†Ã¢â‚¬â€œas if a rote task could actually define him. The weapon of naming should be turned back on the class who is entitled to wield it.Giving a name to the narrator is not the solution to this problem, as that would repress the whole issue of the name. Instead, the film should be framed as an implicit challenge to the narrator to find his name and reveal it, to pick a fixed location in the world of words where he can be found and confronted. (This is similar to the protocol of protesters who ask for police badge numbers so that there is accountabil ity for police actions. ) This need not be an overtly or clumsily militant film.The demand that the narrator name himself cannot be proclaimed literally by the film without adding an additional interlocutor, perhaps the filmmaker as documentarian, and this would only redouble the economy of the shield of namelessness. This would almost be worse, since it would decenter the mechanism of namelessness from the dominant class–where it can at least be located to some extent in the sole nameless character of the narrator–and make it into a roving weapon for all parties vying for power. Rather, we should remember that film can function without gimmickry as a demand for characters to name themselves.The characters in Little Miss Sunshine are all suffering from disparate types of personal flux and the film comes to a conclusion when they are able to define themselves through their relationship as a family. What we have here are actually two forms of social policing that need to be clearly articulated for the purposes of effective translation between literature and film. Literature operates in the domain of words, and so its dominant procedure is naming; film operates in the domain of image (as well as sound, but the eye is the vastly dominant organ for human perception) and its dominant procedure is the gaze.So while Melville’s text puts pressure on the narrator to reveal his name if he truly wants to be Bartleby’s comrade, rather than his patron, we need to switch methods for film adaptation and focus the gaze on the narrator. Simply by looking at him we pose the film question analogous to revealing his name. Appropriately enough, an excellent example of this technique can be found in the television show The Office. The character Michael Scott, a low level manager played by Steve Carell, is shown to be a buffoon just by showing him.With different editing–removing his gaffes, inappropriate pauses and laughter, and the apathetic and un inspired responses of the employees he manages–he could appear to be confident and in control. The persistence of looking determines the difference in social perception. I would support using a camera technique similar to that of The Office in which camera movement between characters often supplants cuts so as to give the effect of the camera belonging to a person in the room.This technique would not be used quite as aggressively as on The Office–characters in my version of â€Å"Bartleby† would not look or speak directly into the camera, nor would there be out of sequence cuts to characters’ interviews or commentary. A mobile camera, both moving between characters during dialogue, and following characters when they are walking, would help to prevent this from becoming a visually boring adaptation (a dangerous temptation for a movie about people stuck inside doing repetitive labor).At the same time, this camera technique would also reveal that this place and this job are boring. Cuts to close-ups obscure the alienation of the figure in his office landscape and falsely re-face persons who professional context de-faces. Coupling this camera technique with the above mentioned preference for showing the narrator and ignoring Bartleby would add an extra layer of visual intrigue, even suspense, as Bartleby would only appear sporadically, incidentally, contingent on his relevance to other characters.Although I would not want to entirely mimic the cinematography of The Office, one thematic element that informs both the style of the television show and my production of â€Å"Bartleby† is the camera as confessional. The demand for a name as the opening for confession creates a stylistic tension: on the one hand, to depict a figure against its ground asks for a wide angle shot that minimizes the proportion of character to environment; on the other hand, the visual poetics of the confession work best when the face of the individual is hi ghly legible.This legibility is one of the oldest criteria of the confession. Without being able to read the face, the veracity of the confession is uncertain; it might be a feint. So when the narrator is interacting with other characters, we would use a wide shot that would pan between them as they took turns speaking, catching Bartleby almost by accident in the marginal, in-between-space, that happens to exist within the zone of the camera’s movement. When the narrator is agonizing over his problematic relationship with Bartleby, the job of the camera is to listen closely and to watch him closely.The internal monologue, the narration as heard/read by the reader, would be performed as spoken monologues that provide dramatic action during the actionless life of the narrator–as he walks the streets of New York or sits at his desk. To reinforce Bartleby’s marginalization, these internal monologues (in Melville’s text) could be performed in Bartleby’s presence to emphasize his non- or quasi-existence. As far as color palette, a unified scheme would help to portray â€Å"Bartleby† as a story about analyzing a single form of consciousness, and hence not guided by the mimetics of realism.Heavy monochromaticism through tinting the film stock is a bit too heavy handed. I think a very light use of a gray-scale filter would be beneficial, but to really capture the horror of â€Å"Bartleby† the muted light and gray-scale lifestyle should be immanent in the mise en scene and costuming. By dressing all the characters and their surroundings in similar colors their alienation is made apparent by the absurdity of them all appearing like chameleons in a colorless environment.Turkey, Ginger Nut, and Nippers, Bartleby’s co-workers, have powerful distinguishing traits that Melville comically exaggerates, and these caricatured personalities appear best against an equally caricatured ground. With everything draped in unending gray, small colorful details could easily mark the personality of these character–as well as marking how ludicrous it is to think that personhood can be signified by the single note characteristics that Melville uses to mark these apart.The soundscape of this film would take after the blurred, mechanically processed effects of Jacques Tati’s Playtime. This would help to take the magic out of Bartleby’s somewhat famous mantra, â€Å"I would prefer not to. † Nothing would be worse than for a fetishist of Melville to be waiting breathlessly for the story’s catch phrase, to construe this refusal of everything (including refusal) as a catchphrase. The narrator does not truly pay attention to Bartleby when he first begins to defer activity because this deferral is virtually unthinkable.In the manner of the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis, refusal to participate in capitalism almost conceptually impossible for the narrator to process. Bartleby’s proclamatio n originates almost entirely out of mind, sight, and hearing. But as the narrator is forced to notice that work is not being done, he and the directionality of the microphones close in on the source of the trouble. Bartleby is saying something very strange: he would prefer not to.In giving attention to Bartleby’s speech it is important to register his words as they occur to/within the consciousness of the narrator. The audio is not supposed to suddenly begin listening to Bartleby as if he is a messianic figure (as he has been construed in the past) but to take note that his deferral has become a (troubling) object of thought for the narrator. The narrator’s responses would always be louder than Bartleby’s words, except when he is repeating them to himself later, fitfully.