Essay --

December 9, 2013 Breanna Whittemore English 101 Section 0006 Critical Reflection I went into English 101 knowing that there would be a lot of writing. I was never very fond of writing and I was never that good at it. I wasn’t very excited for this class. When I found out how the class was going to be graded I was shocked, I didn’t think I would be able to pass. I didn’t understand what any of the terms on the final portfolio assessment rubric (PAR) were. As we went through the semester however the idea of turning in a portfolio became less daunting. My writing improved and I knew that if I kept revising I would be able to pass. When I started the semester I went in with a very different way of writing essays than the way that we were learning in this class. I had learned to write short essays that answered prompts, the essay writing that I learned in English 101 was, putting two essays in conversation with each other. In my essay Identity and Discourse, I compare one author’s writing with another author’s writing and how they relate.â€Å"Your home Discourse also gives us a good foundation of what our identity is† (Whittemore, 3) In that line I was able to show that I found a connection between identity and discourse. That is what the purpose of the essay is, to put James Paul Gee’s theory of discourse in a conversation with Robert Brooke’s theory of identity. When it came to the purpose of my essay, I was never very good at expressing what it was. This course has really taught me how to express purpose. It also taught me how to find purpose in others writing. â€Å"What I am going to be talking about in this essay is the purpose of Jean Anyon’s essay, Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work.† (Whittemore, 2) That is the purpose o... ...g of the kind of writing that you do for specific occasions is acceptable as well, and sometimes needed in order for you to get your message across. I came into English 101, a little afraid of what it was going to be like and if my writing abilities were strong enough for me to take it. Once I started the semester though things got a lot easier and I was able to really enjoy writing. The terms on the PAR do not look as discouraging. I am able to put works of literature into a conversation now and find how they connect. I also know what lines of inquiry are and I am able to find them in others essays and put them into mine. I can also find passages from texts to support my statement. Overall, I believe that English 101 has made me a better writer and I think that I have improved tremendously in my writing skills since the first day of class.

Ophelias Hamlet :: essays research papers

Hamlet’s Ophelia William Shakespeare has written many masterpiece plays and has told a vital story in almost all of them. In the play Hamlet Shakespeare uses melancholy, grief, and madness to pervade the works of a great play. Throughout the play Shakespeare uses such emotional malady within Hamlet, that the audience not only sympathizes with the tragic prince Hamlet, but to provide the very complexities necessary in understanding the tragedy of his lady Ophelia as well. It is the poor Ophelia who suffers at her lover's discretion. Hamlet provides his own self-torture and does fall victim to melancholia and grief, however his madness is feigned. Ophelia and Hamlet each share a common connection: the loss of a parental figure. Hamlet loses his father as a result of a horrible murder, as does Ophelia. Her situation is more severe because it is her lover who murders her father and all of her hopes for her future as well. When looking at her character, one would think she was in grief but quickly turns to madness. Ophelia is made to be this sweet innocent girl but then turns crazy after her father dies and Hamlet leaves for England. People argue that Hamlet has the first reason to be hurt by Ophelia because she follows her father's admonitions regarding Hamlet and his true intentions for their love. Polonius tells Ophelia that Hamlet will not do anything but be fickle with the girls since he is suppose to have an arranged marriage. After telling Ophelia this, Polonius and Claudius try to have Ophelia become bait to find out why Hamlet us acting crazy. Hamlet begins with his overwhelming sarcasm toward Ophelia, "I humbly thank you, well, well, well," he says to her regarding her initial pleasantries (3.1.91). Before this scene, he has heard the King and Polonius establishing a plan to deduce his unusual and grief-stricken behavior. Hamlet is well aware that this plan merely uses Ophelia as a tool, and as such, she does not have much option of refusing without angering not only her busybody father but the conniving King Claudius as well. Hamlet readily refuses that he cared for her. He tells her and all of his uninvited listeners, "No, not I, I never gave you aught" (3.1.94-95). Hamlet has a right to direct his anger to Ophelia because it was her that â€Å"repelled† against him. Her father forced her, and if she did try to disobey her father she could be disowned.

Kite Runner †Religion Roles/How Political Events Effect Characters Essay

3. In the novel The Kite Runner, the author Khaled Hosseini rarely mentions religion, but in a way, it plays a big role in the growth of the main character, Amir. In the beginning of the novel, Amir first questions his religion. Either he can listen to a â€Å"mullah† who taught that drinking was a sin, or he can listen to his more westernized father who thinks that religion is meaningless and drinks for his enjoyment. As one works their way through the novel, religion at first appears as a minor role, and eventually evolves into a much greater role in the life of Amir. The first important instance of Religion, appears in chapter three when Amir learns about sin and drinking. â€Å"Mullah Fatiullah Khan†, a teacher who taught Amir about Islam, said that â€Å"Islam considered drinking a terrible sin†, and that drinkers would one day answer for this on â€Å"the day of Qiyamat, Judgment Day†. Amir tells Baba, Amir’s father, about what he learned and Baba responds by saying that Amir has â€Å"confused what [he’s] learning in school with actual education†, says that â€Å"no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin†, and that one sin was theft. Killing, cheating, lying, were all variations of theft. Amir blames himself for killing his mother, and believed that Baba hated him for this. Many people seek forgiveness through religion, but at this point of the novel, Amir has no idea which religion he should turn to. This young Amir seems as if he is indifferent toward Religion, and maybe might not care for it as a traditional follower of Islam would. Even though it seems this way, he will carry religion with him throughout the novel and will become a greater part in his life as he matures. In chapter twenty-four of The Kite Runner, Amir talks to the American Embassy about adopting Sohrab, Hassan’s son that Amir rescues from a Taliban official, and a man says that Sohrab is going to need to go to an orphanage again. Sohrab did not like the idea of being in an orphanage again and tries to commit suicide by slitting his wrists. Amir is able to get Sohrab to the hospital, then finds a white bed sheet and locates west so that he could pray. When he puts his forehead to the ground, he remembers that he hasn’t â€Å"prayed for over fifteen years† and has â€Å"long forgotten the words† but it did not matter to him. He then speaks the words he still did remember. In his prayer he says that he can now see that â€Å"Baba was wrong† and prays for forgiveness of his sins, betrayal, and lies. Amir promises to become a good follower and for his last words he asks for one last thing and says, â€Å"My hands are stained with Hassan’s blood; I pray God doesn’t let them get stained with the blood of his boy too. † I stated previously that many people seek for forgiveness through religion. For most of Amir’s life, guilt was carried with him and was never able to forgive himself. When he was in times of need, like his father’s diagnosis or Sohrab’s suicide attempt, he sought to his faith. This shows that Amir unconsciously also carried his faith throughout his life. Amir is a very introverted main character, but when he turns to his faith, the reader is truly aware of his feelings. Amir needs to believe in god to provide an agent for forgiveness. His faith will finally allow him to forgive himself, and will ultimately make Amir become more mature, and a man like his father. Months later on a Sunday morning, Amir gets out of bed and prays the â€Å"morning namaz†, and did not â€Å"have to consult the prayer pamphlet†. He says that â€Å"the verses came naturally now†. This shows that Amir has now accepted his faith and has grown from it. Amir’s religion and guilt played hand in hand with another. By reconciling and coming to terms with his betrayal of Hassan, he can finally now embrace Islam. 2. In the years of 1978 and before, Afghanistan was a peaceful country. The citizens relatively had freedoms, but with the arrival of the Russians and Taliban, these freedoms were to diminish. These political changes in Afghanistan have a direct effect on the characters lives in The Kite Runner. In chapter five, one reads about the first shootings that Amir hears. There were gun shots and explosions in the streets that lasted less than an hour. Those were â€Å"foreign sounds† to the Afghan people then. â€Å"The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. † Amir then states that â€Å"The end, the official end, would come first in April 1978 with the communist coup d’etat, and then in December 1979, when Russian tanks would roll into the very same streets where Hassan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting. † This is the part of the story where everything begins to change for the characters in The Kite Runner. The communist takeover of Afghanistan would drive Baba and Amir, along with other privileged class, into exile. The political situation in Afghanistan had led to a point where â€Å"you couldn’t trust anyone in Kabul anymore† and â€Å"for a fee†¦ people told on each other†. Dead bodies would turn up on the sides of the streets with bullets in their heads. Baba had to then make arrangements for him and Amir to flee to Pakistan. Baba and Amir would have to leave their old life behind them. Baba would have to leave his life of luxury and wealth. Amir left behind his childhood life, and left his betrayal of Hassan in Kabul, which will carry with him throughout the novel. Amir states that â€Å"For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his. † When they settled in Fremont, California, Baba has a hard time fitting in and would eventually become unhappy working at a gas station. Amir on the other hand will have the opportunity to go to school and graduate college. The move to America is a set back for Baba, but for Amir, it will allow him to grow as a man. Amir would eventually return to Kabul in search for his nephew Sohrab. When Amir sees the streets of Kabul, he noticed that they are flooded with beggars. â€Å"They squatted at every street corner, dressed in shredded burlap bags, mud-caked hands held out for a coin. † The shocking thing here is that these beggars are mostly children, no older than six or five sitting at the laps of their mothers. Amir states that â€Å"the wars had made fathers a rare commodity in Afghanistan. † Hosseini paints a picture of the living situation that Amir’s half-brother Hassan was stuck to live with. Hassan was not privileged enough to flee, and had to live in this war torn Afghanistan. Amir’s nephew Sohrab is one of the unfortunate children that is born into a life of gun fire, explosion, and poverty. It is up to Amir to become a man and find â€Å"a way to be good again. †

Japan: stopping Nuclear Proliferation

The question of Nuclear Proliferation must be qualified as to whether or not it depends on the proliferation of nuclear weapons or on the proliferation of nuclear energy facilities. In response to the first type of nuclear proliferation, which is the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the only resolution available to Japan on this matter is to actively participate in the lobbying against nuclear proliferation in the United Nations Security Council.It has to take a definite stand and gain the support of other countries in preventing more countries from gaining the capability of manufacturing nuclear weapons. Peaceful negotiations with China and North Korea, which are the only nuclear weapon threats in the region, can also have the intended effect of coming at a peaceful resolution to this problem. With regard to the issue of nuclear capabilities, which may also lead to the manufacture of nuclear weapons, Japan must take a more direct role.Japan has a lot technologies and techniques at its disposal to aid those countries that resort to nuclear energy to solve their energy crisis. The financial grants that Japan is willing to grant may act as deterrent for nuclear proliferation and instead encourage these energy challenged nations to seek eco-friendly and non-threatening sources of energy to address their needs. 2. South Korea: Peaceful Resolution of the DPRK Nuclear Proliferation and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ReformThe only way to talk peace is to lead through a peaceful example. The nearest nuclear threat to South Korea is North Korea which has been aggressively testing or declaring that it has nuclear capabilities. The continued efforts at peaceful negotiations are the only way to attain the non-violent resolution that South Korea wants. To threaten a country that may have nuclear capabilities can lead to disastrous results because any sign of aggression could lead to North Korea’s use of whatever nuclear devices that it could have at its disposal.South Korea must also be wary of accepting aid from any other parties that North Korea considers as threats of political enemies. While resort to the United Nations Security Council is indeed a viable option for South Korea, history has revealed that sanctions do not necessarily threaten North Korea. Instead North Korea has maintained that it is willing to use its nuclear weapons against anyone that tries to take any aggressive action against them. The key for South Korea is to conduct peaceful negotiations and adopt a maximum tolerance policy towards North Korea.3. China: The Further Regulation of SALW (Small Arms and Light Weapons) Internationally. China as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council has quite an advantage in convincing the other nations and members of the United Nations to take a more active role in the regulation of Small Arms and Light Weapons internationally. China must also take measures to prevent the manufacture and distribution of SA LW within its own borders as well; the unmonitored arms manufacturing that goes on within Chinese borders is one of the largest sources of these SALW.By cracking down on these small manufacturing plants, China can drastically reduce the volume of SALW that is being produced. It can also take better measures to enforce the policies and also take a more active role in monitoring its borders, especially those that are near the Eastern European Bloc, Russia and the Middle East. This may not be easy for China to do, however, due to the enormity of its country and the lack of funding to police its own borders and industries. 4. Philippines: support for measures to Decrease Human TraffickingThe problem of the Philippines is more economic than it is in Human Trafficking. The daily minimum wage of the Philippines is roughly US$ 4. Improving the living and working conditions of the people of the Philippines is one way of controlling the Trafficking in Humans that occurs within the country. Th e problem with the Philippines is that the economic situation is so poor that there is now a fine line between those who leave the country to find a better life voluntarily and those that have been trafficked. Improving the economic situation will greatly alleviate the situation for the Philippines.While more police measures and tourism regulations are options for the Philippines, the problem remains to be the funding that is needed for police measures and the loss of badly needed revenue caused by tourism regulations. 5. South Korea: Stop Human Trafficking in Asia South Korea is definitely in a better position to do something about the Human Trafficking problem in Asian because of the robust economy that South Korea has. From a geographical perspective, there is not much that South Korea can do to stop this problem.South Korea, however, has the technology and the funds that are necessary to help the economic status of most of its neighbors. Sending financial aid or investing more i n the Philippines will greatly help stop Human Trafficking because it will result in more jobs for the locals and raise the standards of living immensely. The only resolution for South Korea in this matter then lies in being able to encourage the growth of economic conditions within the area to deter the occurrence of Human tracking within the Asian Region. 6.Malaysia: Measures to eliminate International Terrorism International Terrorism is a problem that Malaysia may be too small to prevent. While there are arguably terrorist cells within the South East Asian region, the hotbed for these cells is not Malaysia but rather Indonesia. There is however a certain criteria for Malaysia that may help in taking measures to eliminate International Terrorism. The strong economy of Malaysia gives it the resources that it needs to fund any efforts that its neighbors are taking in order to address the issue.Its membership in the ASEAN is also another key since it can ask for aid from the other m embers and encourage them to take more action against these terrorist groups within the area. 7. Australia: United Nations Reform within the Security Council Australia is currently one of the emerging economies in the world and has gained more and more stature in the United Stations for its involvement in the Invasion of Iraq and the military support that it has been lending to the United States for its war on terror.Australia makes a perfect candidate as a permanent member of the Security Council because of its military strength and active support of the military mobilizations and also because of its geographical location. The alliances that it has with some of the other permanent members of the Security Council such as the United States and the United Kingdom will certainly provide it with a lot leverage when it lobbies for reform within the Security Council of the United Nations. 8. Indonesia: Energy Security for Developing Countries Indonesia possesses one of the world’s largest coasts.The energy production potential of Indonesia is enormous. Its geographical location and unique topography give it the potential to not only produce a lot cheap tidal energy and geothermal energy but recent findings have also located oil deposits on the Indonesian Archipelago. This means that if Indonesia is able to tap into these energy reserves it will be able to generate a lot of energy that it can sell to its neighbors, most of them developing countries such as the Philippines. 9. North Korea: supplementing Developing Countries with EnergyNorth Korea arguably has the nuclear technology needed to supplement the developing countries near it with the energy that they need in order to sustain economic growth. Instead of concentrating on the development of nuclear weapons, North Korea can greatly improve its economic status and the welfare of its citizens by shifting its nuclear production to the production of nuclear energy that it can sell to its neighbors. Its locati on on the Korean Peninsula gives it access to other countries on the continent and also to South Korea.All of the developing countries within its area can gain from the nuclear energy that North Korea can produce once it diverts the nuclear production to nuclear energy production. This will greatly benefit North Korea and improve its economy. It is an ideal set up for developing countries because it spares them the costs of manufacturing energy plants and is ideal for North Korea because it has the basic components that are necessary to initiate such a shift. 10. Singapore: Eliminating Illegal Drugs in the International Realm Singapore became the great nation that it is during the administration of Lee Kwan Yew.The somewhat dictatorial methods of Lee Kwan Yew put many things in order in Singapore and have made it one of the cleanest and most habitable countries in the world. The Singaporean model of government could serve as an international model that could be effective in eliminat ing the drug problems on an international level. The economic stability and the absence of illegal dealings in drugs that Singapore has been able to sustain over the years is an status that the international community can hope to attain by modeling their policies against the Singaporean model.11. Thailand: Support for Humanitarian mine action involvement Thailand is one of the most progressive countries within its immediate regional vicinity. The countries that neighbor Thailand are Cambodia and Vietnam. These countries are still riddled with thousands of unexploded and planted land mines. The problem for these countries however is that they lack the resources to begin the removal of these land mines. Thailand can help in this matter by providing these countries with the economic and technological assistance that they need in order to remove these mines.Alternatively, Thailand can also use indirect method by encouraging trade with these countries in an effort to revitalize their eco nomies and provide them with self-sustaining methods of funding that can help in the removal of these mines. 12. New Zealand: Support for the UNAIDS audits and education program New Zealand is relatively remote island country that has very little infrastructure as caused by the economic depression that it suffered a few years ago. It has begun focusing on a knowledge economy in an effort to revitalize its economy. It needs the support of the UNAIDS however to succeed in this endeavor.The key to resolving this problem lies in being able to reverse the â€Å"brain drain† problem thus assuring UNAIDS that whatever support is given to New Zealand will ultimately benefit the country and not just relocate to another place. 13. Vietnam: Achieving the MGDs The Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations are aimed at improving the overall welfare of the world by the year 2015. In order for Vietnam to achieve these goals, it will need plenty of financial assistance from foreign lending institutions that are willing to take debt-for-nature swaps or debt-for-equity swaps.For Vietnam to be able to achieve the MGD, it will need to promote economic growth in order to reduce unemployment and poverty. Investments in infrastructure and health care are also essential for Vietnam if it aims to achieve these goals. All of these however can only be achieved through the help of financial institutions and other countries that are willing to provide grants to Vietnam. It must also be important for Vietnam to secure these grants under favorable conditions so as not to unduly burden its fledgling economy.

The American Dream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

The American Dream - Essay Example Thereby, if one accesses the viability of achieving the American Dream in the current times, it seems pragmatic to assert that the American Dream does not seem as much of an achievable option today. A range of social, political and economic facts corroborate to this belief. There is no doubt that the people in America do enjoy a better quality of life as compared to many other nations. It would also be safe to say that the poor in America today are better off as compared to the past. However, it is also a reality that economic class in America is something that is getting more rigid and difficult to transcend. The gap between the rich and the poor in America is further augmenting and the poor are not poor because they are less hard working or less willing to work. Class mobility has become an aspect of the American life that has really ossified (Kamolnick 114). The other things is that though the confidence and trust of the people in their nation’s innate capacity and fertility has traditionally been subservient to the imminent economic circumstances, still it is worth mentioning that the current economic meltdown has indeed shaken the people’s faith in the American dream. This is not because the people have lost faith in the values and beliefs underlying the American society. It is because people have largely come to believe that the rich and the powerful do have the power to get away with anything (Alpasian & Mitroff 143). They have the power to bring the national economy down on its knees, and the irony is that they will not be penalized for it but will rather be rescued by commensurate economic bailouts and privileges (Alpasian & Mitroff 157). One scarcely finds the trust and belief in many of the contemporary Americans that one traces in the works of Anne Bradstreet, a belief in the possibility for individual growth and t he maturity of personal talent, irrespective of the imminent constraints and shortcomings. It appears

Discursive essay Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Media Usage in the Workplace - Research Paper Example Research indicates that many employees spend a significant part of the day at the workplace on social media, both for professional and personal benefit. However, research indicates that many companies in the modern world have not embraced the use of social media in the workplace. A study showed that less than 43% of companies have an open policy for social networking at the workplace (Abate et al. 2011, p. 6). Nevertheless, of those companies that prohibit the use of social network among employees, less than 30% blocks the use of these social networking channels altogether (Al-Deen and Hendricks 2011, p.221). Furthermore, findings show that many firms are continuing to embrace social networking at the workplace citing benefits brought by social networking. The study found out that firms restricting the use of social networking at the workplace have been dropping by 10% annually since the introduction of social networking (Abate et al. 2011, p. 6). This has left a lot to be desired of the argument that social media has no place in the modern the workplace. The world has experienced increased growth in the usage of social media over the past few decades. The growth continues to be witnessed with many firms offering social media sites coming up. The most prominent social media sites in use currently include twitter, facebook, mySpace, LinkedIn, and YouTube, just to name but a few (Abate et al. 2011, p. 8). These social media sites give people the opportunity to interact with friends and families all over the world. However, its usage in the workplace has been controversial with some arguing that it has no place in the modern world. Those who argue in this manner put a strong case against social media in the workplace. One of the arguments put forwards against embracing social media in the workplace is that it decreases employee productivity (Al-Deen and Hendricks 2011, p.222). Researchers reveal that many managers oppose social media usage in the workplace since i t wastes employee’s time, which can be used for productive purposes.

Conduct an external environment analysis for a company of your choice Essay

Conduct an external environment analysis for a company of your choice assessing the impact of the external environment on Human - Essay Example The main objective of external analysis is to identify the opportunities and threats in the environment. Identifying and exploiting the opportunities and minimizing the threats, which are hindering performance can help the organization achieve its strategic competitiveness (Hitt, et al, 2009). This external environment has its impact on business strategy and hence on the human resource strategy as well. This paper aims at conducting the external environment analysis of Toyota and studies its impact on the human resource policies and practices of the organization. This paper will make use of different matrices, methods and tools to conduct the industry analysis. Automobile manufacturing is a very significant industry which contributes to 10% of the world GDP. Globalization has resulted in increased pressure on the firms to achieve global competitive advantage. Automotive industry has recently witnessed large scale consolidation of organization resulting in mergers and acquisitions to capitalize the strengths of each market and organization. Most of the organizations in the automobile industry are doing business offshore. The automobile industry global competition is characterized by big three American and Japanese giants with the shift moving towards Japanese automakers which includes Toyota. Toyota is increasing its market share and becoming more dominant and less threatened by its competitors. An external audit of Toyota will reveal its opportunities and threats and its impact on the business and HR strategy. External Environment Analysis The external environment or the macro environment has a strong impact on the all activities and strategies of the organization. These factors include political, social, economic, legal, technological and eco-environmental factors. Two models are used to analyze the force and impact of these factors. These two models are called â€Å"PESTEL Analysis† and â€Å"Porters five forces†. An industry’s attractive ness is evaluated through Porter’s five forces model. According to the model the forces that affect an industry are the threat of entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers and the level of rivalry among the existing competitors (Porter, 2008). The evaluation determines the attractiveness or unattractiveness of the industry and also helps in formulating strategies for obtaining competitive advantage. The attractiveness of an industry in turn determines the overall profitability of the industry measured through overall return on investment. It requires utilizing the existing industry environment to gain competitive advantage. Out of the five forces the strongest competitive force indicates the profitability of the industry and forms the most crucial part of strategy formulation. If the affect of forces is intense then the industry is said to be unattractive that is companies in the industry will not earn attractive return on thei r investments while if the forces are not intense then the industry is attractive and the companies in the