Do cultural differences influence HRM practices Research Paper - 1

Do cultural differences influence HRM practices - Research Paper Example It is worth mentioning the Human Resource Management (HRMs) department is the overall department in most organizations hence the best suited in ensuring that the cultural differences have been utilize and observed as required (Edwards, et al., 2003). Concept Culture Actually, the influence of culture on the Human Resource Management practice must have emanated from concept of culture. Basically, culture denotes the understanding that is mostly held by a specific group of people. Additionally, culture gives more explanation on the assumptions and understanding that are used to give these guidelines in relation to accepting or refuting the perception feelings though and behavior that they have learnt from their fore fathers. Of importance to note is that, culture is passed over through social interactions and is further known to change over time. Similarly, different cultures have existed since time in memorial. In fact, the concept of culture has been documented as having been tested by the ancient employers who were more interested with ensuring that their organizations were running smoothly (Krishnamurthi, 2006). In this regard, the importance of culture cannot be ignored in any practice that relates to Human Resource Management (HRMs). ... According to Evans, 2009 the existence of a created culture particularly by employees ensures that the management of any organization is effective. Moreover, it argues that created culture manipulate how employees perceive, think, act and feel in relation to reality of culture. Created culture plays a significant role in ensuring that there is effective interpretation, selection and communication of information through ways that are meaningful to the employees. Rao, 2004 articulates that the means of understanding organization culture highly depend on the initial assumption of employees in a given organization. These assumptions include national cultural values and beliefs although there are others that still contribute towards this concept. Never the less, sociologist have continually argued that culture does not comprise of individual and their characteristics but it comprises of a group of persons brought together by similar education and life experiences. Consequently, group cult ure defines a collective mental programming that is shared by the entire group. Additionally, it demonstrates the kind of programming that is not found in any other group or nation. For instance, it is argued that most countries use culture that is far much different to other countries. Organization Culture Apparently, organizational culture had no absolute definition. However, organization culture can simply be defined as the culture that is practiced by employees and others stakeholders in any given organization. In essence, any organization must operate with the assistance of employees who ensure that every operation in the organization is working effectively. Scholars reckon that organizations are basically shells which must be filled by a team of

Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction

Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of different service quality factors as quality of food, music, ambience, waiter service on customer satisfaction in a restaurant and to study how the customer satisfaction ultimately relates to customer loyalty for the restaurant. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was given to MBA students of XLRI Jamshedpur in the age group of 21-30 asking questions to ascertain the different levels of service in the Sonnet restaurant. The results of these questionnaires were analyzed using factor analysis. Findings The factors that are crucial for obtaining customer loyalty are waiter politeness, waiter promptness, space, music and food quality. The waiter promptness, space, food quality are partially mediated by customer satisfaction. Of these factors, music negatively affects customer loyalty and positively affects customer satisfaction. Only waiter promptness, aesthetics, music and food quality affect the customer satisfaction. With customer satisfaction as the mediating factor to obtain customer loyalty, we find waiter politeness, waiter promptness, space, music and food quality are significant factors. Research limitations The study was limited only to the patrons of Sonnet, Jamshedpur. The respondents to the survey consisted of students of XLRI Jamshedpur who have visited Sonnet. Future research may be done on number of restaurants instead of a particular restaurant. Future research may also be conducted such that the respondents reflect a more heterogeneous group in terms of age, income level and location. The solitary effect of servicescape on the overall satisfaction level for the customer may also be explored in future research. Practical Implication Hoteliers and restaurant operators should try to ascertain which aspect of the service quality is perceived as more important by their patrons. They can then focus more to improve on these particular aspects as in future these would lead to more satisfaction for the customer. The customer satisfaction in turn will lead to customer loyalty and thus will increase the overall profit for the organization. Originality/value This paper provides insights into how music affects the satisfaction and loyalty for restaurant patrons. The effect of music on customer loyalty has not been conclusively proved in any research paper so far. The other factors of service quality that affect the satisfaction level and loyalty of a patron of the Sonnet restaurant in Jamshedpur have also been explored to provide a complete picture. Keywords Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty Introduction In todays fast paced world meals are no longer a very well planned event, on most occasions it is an afterthought. The proportion of women in the workforce has increased, As a result women have less time to cook meals at home. Hence there has been an increase in the trend of eating out. This results in a flourishing restaurant industry. Like any lucrative industry which attracts a number of players, the restaurant industry is also highly competitive. It is very important to get a feel of this industry from the viewpoint of the customer. It is the customer who makes the final decision of how much to spend and what, when and most importantly where to eat. Thus in order to offer the right service to the customers, restaurant owners and managers need to have a clear understanding of the factors that influence customer satisfaction. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is the state of the fulfillment of the customers expectations from the establishment. When the difference facets of the service provided to the customers exceed the expected level, then the customer is positively satisfied. On the contrary if the perceived level is less than the expected level then the customer may develop negative perceptions towards the establishment. Customer Loyalty Customer loyalty basically indicates a repeat patronage of the particular facility whose services have already been experienced by the customer. Loyalty consists of both a behavioral dimension as well as an attitudinal dimension. Once a customer has a strong positive experience with an establishment, he is more likely to be loyal to it which may be exhibited through behavior as repeat patronage and recommendation (generally exhibited through positive word of mouth). Constituents of service quality The different factors of service quality which influence the customer satisfaction level include: Music: The music played at restaurant has a significant impact on the satisfaction level of the customer. Customers are generally more satisfied in an environment playing music they preferred than in an environment of no music. Music may also have an impact on the spending pattern of customers. Food Quality: Although restaurants have gained importance as a place for socializing, food is the primary reason why a customer visits a restaurant. Thus the quality of food and beverages as well as the variety influences the customer satisfaction level. Waiter Service: Waiters serve as the medium of interaction between the restaurant owners and the customers. Thus the service provided by the waiters often forms the image of a restaurant. Careful, pleasant and attentive behavior on the part of the waiter leads to high customer satisfaction. Ambience: Ambience ( dà ©cor and artifact, odor, noise level , temperature, spatial layout) forms the impression of the restaurant. Research background and hypothesis Music and Customer Satisfaction It has been often agreed upon by researchers that different aspects of service like ambience and layout affect the experience quality of a customer and thus influence his satisfaction. Music helps in creating the proper ambience in the restaurant and has important role to play in customer satisfaction. Studies in social psychology often indicate that there is a strong correlation between music and the social context in which the customer hears it. This relationship can also be extended to the setting of a restaurant. In 1996, North and Hargreaves studied the effect of music on atmosphere in a university cafeteria (North and Hargreaves, 1996). Results suggested that customers liking of the cafeteria increased with their liking for the music played within it. In their research conducted in 1996 North and Hargreaves also found that liking the music in a restaurant had a positive relationship with the customer returning to the establishment in future. According to Stephanie Wilson in her article, The effect of music on perceived atmosphere and purchase intention in a restaurant the music could be used by restaurants to create the proper atmosphere. This can also be used to distinguish itself from the competitors. The research states that the absence of music had the most negative impact on the atmosphere and thus on customer satisfaction. Wilson in her research actually found out that in an environment of no music the respondents were willing to pay the least maximum price. Wilson also found out that the type of music played may also have an important bearing on the customers overall experience as well as his spending habits. Ronald Milliman, in his article The Influence of Background Music on the Behavior of Restaurant Patrons, has proved that background music can significantly influence the behavior of patrons in a restaurant. This view is supplemented by Smith and Curnow (1966), who have proved that inappropriate, loud music creates an avoidance condition and thus can affect the customer perception about a restaurant negatively. In such cases music actually detracts from the service experience. J. Duncan Herrington and Louis M. Capella in their article Effects of music in service environments have stated that often music can be used by service providers in order to a distinctive image in the minds of the customers and thus get a competitive edge. Restaurants can take the aid of music to create an environment which complements their service offerings. Restaurants serving international food can play the music of the particular nation and restaurants serving a particular type of food can also similarly use music. Food and Customer Satisfaction: Variety and presentation of food and beverages and quality of the menu are one of the most important factors influencing the customers feelings towards the restaurant. According to Kincaid and Baloglou, in their article What Really brings them Back (2008), this has tremendous practical significance for restaurant operators. It should be made sure that an interesting variety of food and drinks are presented in unique ways. Food and drink quality is very important to the patrons of a restaurant and restaurant operators should ensure that a strict quality control is in place to make sure that only high quality food is being offered to the customers. Andaleeb and Conway in their article Customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry: an examination of the transaction-specific model(2006) has also opined that food quality is one of the major components which can be improved in order to enhance customer satisfaction. Hong Qin and Victor R. Prybutok in their research, Perceived service quality in fast-food restaurants: empirical evidence from China found that the quality of food was a critical factor in the customers overall level of satisfaction and often influenced the customers decision about selection of a restaurant. Ambience and Customer Satisfaction The ambience and layout of the establishment has an important role to play in the experience quality of the customer. Bitner (1992) coined a new term servicescape which denoted the physical constituents of a service environment. The different tangible constituents of servicescape such as optimum temperature, noise, furnishings and layout combine together to influence the customer satisfaction and repeat patronage level. In comparison to other service industries as banks servicescape plays a more important role in service industries as restaurants where the customer spends a greater period of time. Wakefield and Blodgett(1996) proposed a servicescape framework, the service environment comprised of five important factors: Proper layout and accessibility of the premises (i.e. how furniture, service area and equipments are organized within the establishment) Aesthetics of the establishment ( the interior decoration and architectural design) Seating comfort Electronic equipment ( arrangement of displays and lighting and electronic equipment) Cleanliness All these five factors together had a combined effect on customer satisfaction. As per Grayson and Mc Neill in Using Atmospheric conditions in service retailing, the proper servicescape leads to customer comfort. This comfort has two aspects: Physical comfort and emotional comfort and safety Both these factors together affect the satisfaction level of the customer. Han Ryu in their research The Roles of the Physical Environment, Price Perception, and Customer Satisfaction in Determining Customer Loyalty in the Restaurant Industry had studied the effect of physical environment on customer satisfaction. In the research they categorized the physical environment into dà ©cor and artifacts (which contributed to the attractiveness of the physical environment i.e. floor coverings, wall decorations, pictures, paintings etc), spatial layout (arrangement of objects as furniture and equipment) and ambient conditions (background characteristics as scent, temperature, lighting etc) . The research showed that of all the three dà ©cor and artifacts had the most significant and direct effect on customer satisfaction. The researchers have expressed their opinion that restaurateurs should give paramount importance to physical elements in the restaurant. These can be used as marketing and operational tools to improve the customer experience and resultantly imp rove the customer behavior. Waiter Service and Customer Satisfaction: How a patron is actually treated by the waiter in the course of service is also an important parameter which contributes to his satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Even if there is a service failure, a competent employee can take proper actions which can actually lead to service recovery (Bitner and Booms, 1990). Hence waiter and waitresses who serve as a liaison between the restaurant and the customer play the most important role in the success of the establishment. J.D. Pratten in his article The importance of Waiting Staff discusses that poor waiter service may consist of slow service, serving cold food, spoiling the presentation at the table, causing delay in the carriage of food (as a result of which different dishes at the same table may arrive at different times) failure to have all the accompaniments as sauces at the table, not having the proper cutlery etc. Any of the above occurrences may spoil the experience of a customer thus leading to customer dissatisfaction. A lot of competency and effort is required from the waiting staff to ensure that the experience of the customer is pleasant thus leading to satisfaction. Apart from the basic competencies mentioned above, the personal contact attributes of the waiters and waitresses with the customers including whether the employees were helpful, attentive, prompt, courteous, neat in appearance, and understood customer needs are also very important. Winsted in his study Service Behavior that leads to Satisfied Customers found that the three most important qualities which had a strong correlation with customer satisfaction in a restaurant are careful (.77), attentive (.76) and pleasant (.75). It has been also suggested that managers and owners of restaurants can actually have specialized training programs which will enable as well as encourage the employees to improve their service quality. This, coupled with regular tracking of performance can lead to increase in the customer satisfaction level. Pratten in his article Customer satisfaction and waiting staff (2003) emphasizes that the role of waiting staff in customer satisfaction is paramount and thus if this is not recognized and acted upon there will be a loss of business for firms. Customer satisfaction as a Mediating Variable Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: It seems only logical that satisfied customers of any establishment will turn into loyal customers and will grant their patronage again. Researchers have also found that there exists a strong relationship between the two. As per Szymanski and Henard (2001), there are fifteen significant positive correlations between customer satisfaction and loyalty. Bearden and Teel (1986) have also proved that there is a relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. Thus a satisfied customer turns into a loyal one and brings more revenue to the restaurant. Fornell,Rust Dekimpe, in their research The Effect of Customer Satisfaction on Consumer Spending Growth has proved that an increase in customer satisfaction leads to growth in future customer spending. On the other hand, an unsatisfied customer can cause negative word of mouth publicity. He can actually cause other prospective patrons to turn away from a particular restaurant. Smith and Swindyard (1983) found that in case of a service which is consumed by the customer at the spot, the attitude and the satisfaction level of the customer is an excellent predictor of future purchases. Thus extending this if the consumers are satisfied by the service level at a restaurant then it is actually increases the probability of revisit by the customer. Namkung and Young (2007) in their research found out that food quality significantly affects customer satisfaction as well as behavioral intentions and the relationship between customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions is mediated by satisfaction. Kivela, Inbakaran and Reece in their research Consumer research in the restaurant environment, Part 1: A conceptual model of dining satisfaction and return patronage (2000) made certain observations related to dining satisfaction and return patronage. The study revealed that satisfaction had a strong positive influence on return patronage .The factors having significant influence on the customer included first and last impressions, service excellence, food excellence and ambience. Hypotheses From the above literature review, the following hypotheses are proposed: H1: Waiter service is positively related to Customer loyalty which is mediated by Customer Satisfaction H2: Ambience is positively related to Customer loyalty which is mediated by Customer Satisfaction H3: Music is positively related to Customer loyalty which is mediated by Customer Satisfaction H4: Food quality is positively related to Customer Loyalty which is mediated by Customer Satisfaction Methods Sample The young men and women of age between 21 to 29 years were identified as the target respondent group for the survey. One of the major reasons for choosing this specific respondent group was its availability and ease in communicating to them the questionnaire and getting the response. Since majority among this population has visited Hotel Sonnet during their stay in Jamshedpur, Sonnet was chosen as the hotel on which the questions would be based. The questionnaire was floated through a website and the respondents were asked to fill the questionnaire online. To encourage participation and increase the number of responses a disclaimer declaring the confidentiality of individual data was assured. A total of 164 respondents filled the questionnaire of which 156 responses were considered for the analysis and hypothesis testing. The reasons for not including the rest of the responses were incomplete data set and falling out of our target respondent group. Measures Based on the discussion in the above sections a theoretical model was developed and the following constructs were measured using different scales. Waiter Service Food Quality Ambience Music Customer Loyalty Customer Satisfaction Waiter Service, Ambience, Music, and Food Quality are considered as factors that determine Customer Satisfaction which in turn leads to Customer Loyalty. Waiter Service: Participants were asked to respond to Likert-type scales of 21 questions. The scale used was adapted from Kivela et al. (1999). The questions framed to assess consumer knowledge are consistent with prior literature. The scoring rule was to assign a numerical value to each of the response ranging from 1= Least Important to 5 = Very Important. Factor analysis has been done on the individual responses to determine the factors that constitute waiter service. The appendix reports the questionnaire items used. The content validity for the used scale has been established in the study and since we have used a very similar questionnaire and the scale, the scale can be considered as content valid. Ambience: The significance of ambience to an individual has been measured through 20 questions asked in the questionnaire. The scale used was adapted from Kivela et al. (1999). The questions framed to assess consumer knowledge are based on the questions used in the study and the literature review done during the research. The responses were recorded using 5-point Likert-type scales ranging from Least Important to Very Important. Questions asked to ascertain the importance of ambience are present in the questionnaire attached in the appendix. The individual responses were run through factor analysis to obtain the factors that determine the importance of ambience. The scale has been adopted from the aforementioned study and content validity has been established in the study. Music: Significance of music has been measured on a five-point Likert-type scale adapted from Kivela et al (1999). The individual responses have been subjected to factor analysis to obtain the factors that determine the significance of music. The content validity for the used scale has been established in the study and since we have used a very similar questionnaire and the scale, the scale can be considered as content valid. The appendix reports the questionnaire items used. Food Quality: 7 Likert-type scales have been used to determine the importance of food quality to an individual. Factor analysis has been done on these individual responses to get the factors that determine the food quality. The questions have been framed in accordance with the scale used by Kivela et al (1999). The questionnaire attached in the appendix. Customer Loyalty: 3 questions of Likert type scales have been used to obtain the responses from the respondents. Factor analysis has been run to obtain the factors comprising the customer satisfaction. Questionnaire used by Kivel et al (1999) has been used and the scale is content validated. The appendix reports the questionnaire items used. Customer Satisfaction: 4 questions have been asked regarding customer satisfaction and factor analysis has been run on this data to obtain the factors affecting customer satisfaction. The questionnaire used is same as one used by Kivela et al (1999). The questionnaire attached in the appendix. Analysis The factors for Ambience were found out by running exploratory factor analysis on the 20 items related to Ambience. It was found to contain 2 factors. Similarly the factor analysis was run on Waiter service (21 items), Music (9 items), Food quality (7 items), Customer satisfaction (4 items) and Customer loyalty (3 items) and they were found to contain 2,1,1,1 and 1 factors respectively. The three-step method developed by Erich B. Bergiel, Vinh Q. Nguyen et all for mediation analysis is used in this study. The first step uses Customer loyalty as the criterion variable in the regression equation and the 6 factors identified as predictors. The second step uses Customer satisfaction as the criterion variable in the regression equation and the 6 factors identified as predictors. The third step uses Customer loyalty as the criterion variable in the regression equation and the 6 factors identified as well as customer satisfaction as the predictors. Initially, multicollinearity was found initially between Customer satisfaction and Customer Loyalty (tolerance of 0.161 and VIF greater than 5 were observed). In order to solve this, a factor analysis with all the items corresponding to the 6 factors, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty were done. The items which were correlated to other factors were eliminated. Thus the items corresponding to the factors were brought down. After this, the three-step method of Erich B. Bergiel was used. Results The following were the factors that were identified and the component scores of items under each factor: Waiter service Waiter politeness Respects me .928 Uses very polite language .944 Is helpful and understanding .925 Makes me feel comfortable .932 Waiter promptness Responds to my comments .882 Is quick to attend and serve .804 Tables were cleaned quickly .780 Aesthetics Pleasant fragrance .816 Floor and carpet that are done with aesthetics .816 Ambience Space Spacious ceiling composition .837 Adequate parking facilities .890 Easily accessible location .854 Music Music I feel relaxed when my favorite music is being played in the restaurant .799 I like it when my friends like the music played in the restaurant .799 Food quality Food quality The food meets the expectations from the description in the menu .787 The food is a good value for money .787 The KMO of all the above factors were above 0.5 suggesting that the factors were sound. The Bartletts test of sphericity was significant for all the factors. The communality of all the items was above 0.4. The total variance explained was above 60% for all the factors. Varimax rotation was used to ensure homogeneity of items within factors and heterogeneity with other factors. The correlations between the factors are as follows: Customer loyalty factor Waiter Service Factor 1 Waiter Service Factor 2 Ambience Factor 1 Ambience Factor 2 Music Factor Food Factor Customer Satisfaction Factor Customer loyalty factor 1.000 Waiter Service Factor 1 .632 1.000 Waiter Service Factor 2 .561 .180 1.000 Ambience Factor 1 .712 .779 .440 1.000 Ambience Factor 2 .431 .287 .452 .410 1.000 Music Factor .349 .489 .455 .614 .414 1.000 Food Factor .670 .596 .551 .673 .456 .542 1.000 Customer Satisfaction Factor .665 .400 .683 .580 .494 .559 .658 1.000 All the above correlations were significant at 0.01 levels. Regression Analysis Regression analysis has been carried out with the following six identified factors on Customer Loyalty with Customer Satisfaction as the mediating variable. Waiter Politeness Waiter Promptness Physical Space Aesthetics Music Food Step 1: Regression of the factors on Customer Loyalty Model 1 Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients Sig. Collinearity Statistics B Beta Tolerance (Constant) 3.731 .000 Waiter Politeness .358 .330 .000 .327 Waiter Promptness .390 .360 .000 .537 Physical Space .359 .331 .000 .269 Aesthetics .092 .084 .118 .708 Music -.341 -.314 .000 .557 Food .200 .184 .010 .411 R Square Adjusted R Square .696 .684 The above table shows the results of regression with the six mentioned factors as independent variables and Customer Loyalty as dependent variable. The value of R square is 0.696 shows positive correlation between the six factors together and Customer Loyalty. The inference from Value of Beta and Significance is as follows: Waiter Politeness on Customer Loyalty: Significance of 0.00 and Beta of 0.33 shows that Waiter Politeness affects Customer Loyalty positively. Waiter Promptness on Customer Loyalty: Significance of 0.00 and Beta of 0.36 shows that Waiter Promptness affects Customer Loyalty positively. Space on Customer Loyalty: Significance of 0.00 and Beta of 0.331 shows that Restaurant Space affects Customer Loyalty positively. Aesthetics on Customer Loyalty: Significance of 0.118 is higher than a threshold of 0.05, which indicates that this has insignificant effect on Customer Loyalty. Music on Customer Loyalty: Significance of 0 and Beta of -0.314 shows that Music affects Customer Loyalty negatively. Food on Customer Loyalty: Significance of 0.01 and Beta of 0.184 indicates that Food affects Customer Loyalty partially. Step 2: Regression of the factors on Customer Satisfaction Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients Sig. Collinearity Statistics B Beta Tolerance (Constant) .000 1.000 Waiter Politeness -.014 -.014 .872 .327 Waiter Promptness .384 .384 .000 .537 Physical Space .132 .132 .175 .269 Aesthetics .103 .103 .089 .708 Music .134 .134 .050 .557 Food .246 .246 .002 .411 R Square Adjusted R Square .621 .606 The above table shows the results of regression with the six mentioned factors as independent variables and Customer Satisfaction as dependent variable. The value of R square is 0.788 shows positive correlation between the six factors together and Customer Satisfaction. The inference from Value of Beta and Significance is as follows: Waiter Politeness on Customer Satisfaction: Significance of 0.872 shows that Waiter politeness on Customer Satisfaction is not significant. This indicates that the impact of Waiter Politeness on Customer Satisfaction is insignificant. Waiter Promptness on Customer Satisfaction: Significance of 0 and Beta of 0.384 shows that Waiter Promptness affects Customer Satisfaction positively. Space on Customer Satisfaction: Significance of 0.175 is higher than a threshold of 0.05, which means that we cannot comment on the effect of Space on Customer Satisfaction Aesthetics on Customer Satisfaction: Significance of 0.89 and Beta of 0.103 shows that Aesthetics affects Customer Satisfaction positively. Music on Customer Satisfaction: Significance of 0.05 and Beta of -0.134 shows that Music affects Customer Satisfaction partially in a positive manner. Food on Customer Satisfaction: Significance of 0.002 and Beta of 0.246 indicates that Food affects Customer Satisfaction partially in a positive manner. Step 3: Regression of the 6 factors and the mediating variable (Customer Satisfaction) on Customer Loyalty Unstandardi

Analysis of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Epic Poem Ulysses Essay -- Epic Poe

Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s epic poem "Ulysses" is composed as a dramatic monologue, consisting of four stanzas each of which frankly discuss the speakers current situation and yearning for adventure. The use of iambic pentameter provides a sense of fluidity to the speaker’s voice. The speaker reveals himself to be the protagonist of the poem with the opening line â€Å"It little profits that an idle king† (1). The use of the word â€Å"idle† offers the first clue as to one of the main themes of the poem. Tennyson much like the protagonist of his poem feels the need to move on, in life. The period in which the poem was wrote, many sociable changes where occurring in Victorian England, the effects of the industrial revolution where being felt far and wide and there was, the idea that society needed to work together in order to establish conformity. Ulysses is feeling emotionally empty throughout the poem, without his mariner friends and adventures similar to times gone by, a similar situation that Tennyson had found himself in. â€Å"Ulysses† was written after the death of his close friend, soul mate and confidante Arthur Henry Hallam. This was one of many poems composed by Tennyson, upon Hallam’s death the most notable being â€Å"Memorandum† (1833-1850). Tennyson himself commented how the series of poems were a direct comparison to how he felt after the loss of his dear friend. The poem was published in the book Poems by Alfred Tennyson (1842). Mythological characters appear to play an important role within Tennyson’s poetry, from English folk law characters such as King Arthur that featured in â€Å"Morte D’Arthur and other Idyllis† to the Greek mariner and adventurer Ulysses. The character of Ulysses has featured in many great epic poems, ... ...hesterton. Tennyson. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1906. PDF. Gray, Erik. "Tennyson’s Rapture: Transformation in the Victorian Dramatic Monologue." Victorian Studies 50.3 (2008): 541-42. Project MUSE. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. . Nohrnberg, James. "Eight Reflections of Tennyson’s â€Å"Ulysses†." Victorian Poetry 47.1 (2009): 101-50. Project MUSE. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. . Robbins, Tony. "Tennyson's "Ulysses": The Significance of the Homeric and Dantesque Backgrounds." Victorian Poetry Autumn 11.3 (1979): 177-93. JSTOR. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. . Skidmore, Joel. "The Odyssey - Background - Detailed Version." Greek Mythology. 1997. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. .

Identity: Wild Cat Falling by Colin Johnson, Pleasantville (1998)

Who am I? The question sounds cliche, but let’s be serious. Don’t you believe there is something inside you that you can’t describe, but seems to say, â€Å"This isn’t who I am, or who I planned to be†. The texts I have read emphasise the belief that socialization creates a mask, a false identity concealing the self and who we are to be. However, it is widely believed that identity is a product of socialization- that the self changes through our individual experiences. The persona of WCF is a victim of these processes. CJ’s use of shifting temporal frames allows us to review the persona’s past whilst retaining the present, demonstrating the impact of his childhood experiences on his identity. Jesse Duggan was an influential figure in protagonist’s formative years; her fear of the western culture lead her to condition her son into white society: â€Å"they belong to the white side of the fence. You’ve got to prove you do and don’t you forget it†. She isolates him from his traditional culture and instils in him the stigmas of the lesser breed. The persona’s frequent self derogatory remarks about being â€Å"a mongrel† and â€Å"born under the curse of Ham† indicate how society’s treatment of ‘Noongars’ has affected him. Socialization has isolated the protagonist, denying him his cultural identity and stifling his hopes. Throughout, the persona also remains anonymous, insinuating that his identity is amorphous. Yet we clearly see his mask; â€Å"I took a long look at him and sneered back in my best Hollywood crim voice†. His tone is satirical, as if he knows, his ‘crim’ act is not a true reflection of his identity. And in spite of this mask, his ‘core’ identity can also be seen: â€Å"I stood on the bed, face pressed to the bars, gulping the salt-sea tang until I became part of its crashing surf and soundless depths. † His mask hides his true nature, nonetheless it is revealed through his poetic sensibility. Eliot’s 1911 poem ‘Prufrock’ is a dramatic monologue of a middle-class English-man. For him, socialization demands his conformity to social norms, making him feel imprisoned by its mediocrity: â€Å"for I have known them all already, known them all; have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons†. The repetition of ‘known them all’ portrays life as routine without purpose. â€Å"my morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin; my necktie rich and modest† the detail of his dress elaborately conceals his identity and his true feelings about society. Ironically, the repetition of ‘my’ implies an illumination of identity, rather than its suppression. It seems the Prufrock is afraid reveal his identity may ‘disturb the universe’: â€Å"do I dare, and, do I dare? Avoiding this ultimate question, he seeks peace in oblivion: I should have been a pair of ragged claws; scuttling across the floors of silent seas†. We are gregarious creatures, and Prufrock’s desire for isolation is untenable to us. Socialization has trapped him in a rock and a hard place: he may choose the peaceful oblivion of a void anyday, but he is too scared to reject a mask that he despises in case it may change his world: oh the irony! The 1998 film Pleasantville explores the effects of stepping out of a uniform society. they just happen to see something inside themselves that’s different†. This shot is taken from below, establishing this as a powerful argument and putting David in a position of power over the crowd. He is persuading Pleasantville that embracing your core values defines you as unique; special. He also ‘colours’ George Parker, by revealing to him his intrinsic values: â€Å"don’t you think she looks just as beautiful as the first day you met her? Now don’t you wish you could tell her that? The proxemics in this shot exaggerates David’s emotions and influences his father’s reaction. A shot of David is taken from the court’s POV, which allows for tension to rise before he moves to the side to reveal his ‘coloured’ father. The diagetic tone of shocked voices, coupled with the non-diagetic, soft music that swells at this new revelation, is us ed to highlight the importance of this scene as unearthing your inner self. It seems to say: this is the moment of epiphany, the moment when you discover this universe holds something wonderful and rare, just for you. In David’s own words â€Å"if you just have the guts† to look inside yourself, you’ll find all that â€Å"who am I to be† crap alot easier to handle. WCF’s persona began to confront that ‘song’ or ‘dream’ that had always been with him. Prufrock decided he’d rather drown than face the vast emptiness of his identity. But by giving Pleasantville the choice of change, it instituted profound normative values in people: love, passion, knowledge, peace, expression. All the colours of the rainbow. Though the belief that socialization morphs a person into who they are is predominant in society, it is hard to say that this is truly the case. These texts seem to emphasise the belief that socialization creates masks to conceal our core identities. Of course, socialization can shape us. Would a beggar have the same choices as a rich man? From my perspective, socialization may have us prepare that â€Å"face to meet the faces that you meet† but it may never alter our core identity, which is inevitably revealed when we confront our true emotions.

Ethics Unit Mini Case

This case takes place in a large computer operations company. The stakeholders in this case are as follows: Joe, who has been recently promoted to the position of District Manager of Computer Operation. Mary is the Divisional Manager of Information Systems and Joe reports directly to her. John is the President and CEO of the company and the immediate boss to Mary. The other stakeholders are the general employees of this big company and among them anonymous letter writer. Since this is a computer company, the other stake holders are the customers and the community at large. The Division Manager Mary has received information that the CEO has an anonymous letter from an employee stating that a recently installed expensive system is not performing as expected and has not achieved the expected results. With this information Mary confronts Joe the District Manager about this letter. Earlier on, Joe has already communicated the outlined problems to Mary. Mary being the original supporters of the system has ignored the concerns; instead she had informed the CEO that the machine was operating as expected. Since the John the CEO, has requested a letter from Joe explaining the content of the anonymous letter, Mary instructed Joe to draft a letter and lie that the system is operating as projected and that all savings portrayed in the original justification documents are being achieved. Legal Analysis In this case what Mary is asking Joe to do is illegal since she is asking him to falsify information that has to be represented to the CEO. When she says that the savings portrayed are true she is falsifying information. In this case it does not appear that the company has violated any laws but on the other hand, Mary being the representative of the company is doing an illegal act by asking Joe to falsify the information. Ethical Analysis So far we have learnt that ethics can be described as the study of moral development and moral decision making. Business ethics then refers to the study of moral decision making within the business content which encompasses the survey of good versus bad of right versus wrong. Joe is faced with this dilemma as he has to make a decision that tests his moral ethics. When Mary asks him to lie on his reports, she is putting him in a very hard position. Based on the Categorical Imperative Theory, if Joe’s motive is pure, then his means can be justified. In this case Mary’s demands and ultimatum can make Joe think that he is justified to lie for Mary because if at the end of all this he keeps his position that he has worked had to earn then it is okay. The Utilitarian Theory states that an act is ethical if it produces a greater benefit than the cost. Joe has to analyze if his actions would benefit him or not. For example, he has to look at all angles because if the CEO is to find out that he lied then it could cause him to in a worse position. The Rights Theory according to John Locke (1632-1704) states that individuals had the right to make free choices without governmental interference. These rights are God given. If Joe decides not to listen to Mary and write this draft and tell the truth to the CEO instead it would be his right and the most ethical decision to make. My recommendation for the company is that Mary should own up to the problems that are at hand and tell the CEO that the machine has not operated as she expected and that maybe it was time to look at other alternatives. This is the ethical thing to do as it eliminates dragging Joe into a situation that he did not create. John, the president and CEO, should be able to handle it in a professional way without penalizing but may be asking for solutions from his subordinates. According to Constance Bagley her decision tree provides business leaders with a helpful tool for evaluating the legal and ethical aspects of their decisions. I think Mary and Joe should adopt this strategy because it says for every decision each manager should first ask themselves whether the proposed action is legal and then after that if it is ethical or whether it would be unethical to act to not act.

Death penalty misc14 essays

Death penalty misc14 essays December 12, 1984, the first jolt failed to kill Alpha Otis Stephens, he struggled for eight minutes before a second jolt finished the job. The first jolt took two minutes, and then there was a six-minute pause. During this six-minute pause body could cool before physicians could examine him and declare that another jolt was needed. Stephens took 23 breaths, during that six-minute interval. Such incidents prove that the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and should be replaced by life in prison. The following reasons prove that the death penalty harms rather than helps any quest for a just, humane society. The Bible requires the death penalty for a wide variety of crimes, including sex before marriage, adultery, and homosexual behavior, doing work on Saturday and murder.Somehow people became more tolerant; they eliminated the death penalty for several sins. Sins such as the following: People might as well eliminate the death penalty for murder as well. In fact, according to the Bible an individual who dies without being "saved" (during an execution) will go to Hell for eternal punishment. By killing the person, we are eliminating some individuals' chance for salvation. Human life has intrinsic value, even if a person has murdered another. Nobody should ever be killed, even by the state. Moreover, human beings such as the poor, males, and racial minorities are over-represented among those executed. A study of over 2 dozen convicted criminals on death row found that all had been so seriously abused during childhood that they probably all suffered from brain damage. To further this subject, women convicted of murder are almost never executed. For instance, in March 1998 Judy Beenano aged 54 in Florida, was called the "Black Widow" for poisoning her husband, drowning her son and trying to blow up her fianc ...

Free Essays on I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud

worth uses various natural phenomena, such as clouds, daffodils and waves, as devices to characterize his speaker’s different stages of emotion and feeling. The first few lines of the poem portrays the speaker’s initial emotion. â€Å"I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high o’er vales and hills,† the speaker is described as a â€Å"cloud,† lonely, aimless, and cruising quickly and lightly through â€Å"vales† and â€Å"hills.† A vision of the daffodils moved him to a state of being connected to something, as the poet wrote, â€Å"When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils.† The concord and harmony of the â€Å"dancing daffodils† replaced his feeling of loneliness; he is no longer a â€Å"lonely cloud.† As the twinkling stars in the milky way, and the sparkling dancing waves appeared in the second stanza, they danced along with the â€Å"ten thousand† daffodils, a new state emerged for the speaker, he started to realize the world of interconnection and relationship. He sees the universe as a harmonious whole, in which every subject reflects a nd echoes the other. The daffodils became the speaker’s companions in the third stanza, and they were describing as â€Å"the jocund company† by the poet. He enjoys the company of the dancing daffodils, which brings him happiness and joy. As the poem goes on, the second emotion from the speaker occurs in the last stanza: the state of â€Å"solitude.† â€Å"For oft, when on my couch I lie, in vacant or in pensive mood, they flash upon t... Free Essays on I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud Free Essays on I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud â€Å"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud† by William Wordsworth, a poem that discloses the relationship between nature and human beings: how nature can affect one’s emotion and behavior with its motion and sound. The words the author adopted in this poem are interconnected and related to each other. They are simple yet profound, letting us understand how much William Wordsworth related his works to nature and the universe. In the poem, William Wordsworth uses various natural phenomena, such as clouds, daffodils and waves, as devices to characterize his speaker’s different stages of emotion and feeling. The first few lines of the poem portrays the speaker’s initial emotion. â€Å"I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high o’er vales and hills,† the speaker is described as a â€Å"cloud,† lonely, aimless, and cruising quickly and lightly through â€Å"vales† and â€Å"hills.† A vision of the daffodils moved him to a state of being connected to something, as the poet wrote, â€Å"When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils.† The concord and harmony of the â€Å"dancing daffodils† replaced his feeling of loneliness; he is no longer a â€Å"lonely cloud.† As the twinkling stars in the milky way, and the sparkling dancing waves appeared in the second stanza, they danced along with the â€Å"ten thousand† daffodils, a new state emerged for the speaker, he started to realize the world of interconnection and relationship. He sees the universe as a harmonious whole, in which every subject reflects a nd echoes the other. The daffodils became the speaker’s companions in the third stanza, and they were describing as â€Å"the jocund company† by the poet. He enjoys the company of the dancing daffodils, which brings him happiness and joy. As the poem goes on, the second emotion from the speaker occurs in the last stanza: the state of â€Å"solitude.† â€Å"For oft, when on my couch I lie, in vacant or in pensive mood, they flash upon t...

The Essay Experts 2015 Media Year in Review

The Essay Experts 2015 Media Year in Review 2015 was a full year of speaking engagements where I put out some of my best information about LinkedIn, resume writing, and college essays. In case you missed the live events, I thought I’d highlight some of the appearances that you can still watch! LinkedIn Tips Most recently, I was one of 30+ expert presenters at the LinkedIn Success Summit, a 5-day information-packed event on how to generate leads, sales and profit from LinkedIn. Although you can no longer access my talk for free, if you want to get lifetime access to all the interviews of all the Summit speakers, you can purchase a pass for $147 now through December 31. For  a different type of presentation with more nuts and bolts about LinkedIn profiles, you can view this webinar which I delivered for Beyond B-School’s Get Hired Boot camp on February 18: LinkedIn: The Enhancements That Open Doors. To see me in action, critiquing the LinkedIn profile of Rob Hart, plus giving some other tips on cat photos, check out this  October 28 appearance on Chicagos WGN Radio. Listen here (at about 14:45)! Finally in the LinkedIn Tips  category, the year started off with a January 26 podcast with Angela Copeland of Copeland Coaching: â€Å"Mastering LinkedIn: Secrets from Brenda Bernstein’s Book, How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile† (Podcast #36). LinkedIn was definitely the most popular topic of the year! But there was more! Resume Writing Tips I have only one recorded opportunity from 2015 on the topic of resumes, from a December 9 TV appearance on Fox 6’s Studio A. Preview: I sing New York, New York in this one! If you want more on resumes, please watch my signature webinar, How to Make Resume Writing FUN! (Yes, it can be done!) College Essay Tips If you’re interested in college essays tips for yourself or an upcoming college student, here’s a quick interview for Channel 3 TV on that topic from July 31: View the interview here! To view all of my past TV and radio appearances, visit my TV Radio page. And to catch future events, keep posted with The Essay Experts Calendar of Events and my email/social media announcements. Enjoy the â€Å"TV Watching† over the holidays – I hope the items in this post will balance out other favorites like A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life. If there’s a topic you’d like to see me speak about for any group to get my 2016 media year in full swing, please let me know. I’ll be happy to consider opportunities!

Homeless English Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Homeless English - Assignment Example I based this research on homelessness on a total period of two months and the strategy chosen by me was to interview as many of the homeless people in the local park as possible in the evening time, when the park is really full of public. In an order to draw results by doing interviews, I first made myself familiar with the local homeless people. This study was based on a qualitative and observational approach, while the interview questions to be asked from the homeless participants of my study were very personal and meant to gain information about the nature of difficulties and the level of illegal activities occurring as a result of homelessness. Almost all the poor and homeless people are often found in very old apartment buildings and living with other people while not being considered as their family members. A portion of these homeless people can also be found living on the street and footpaths during the night while hanging around uselessly in the local park for spending the d ay, thus very forced on going along with the bad and bitter life. This small portion of homeless people also faces the threat of eviction continuously by the host family members with which they are forced to live and share living and as a result of which they are often found wandering in the local park in a great number. The looks of hunger, helplessness, and greed which these homeless people spare the financially stable and well-off passing by people in the hope that some of them might give them the opportunity to spend their lives in a better and decent manner simply creates a very sad and tragic atmosphere at some special spots in the park. Such particular spots are especially found full of these homeless people where some of them may even go out of control for bringing a change in their lives, like annoying the well-off park goers and irritating them very much. This observation both goes in favor and against of the highly accepted idea that majority of the homeless people think very little about bringing a good change in their lives and doing something for earning a decent living. This is because the homeless people I observed in the park liked to find a good and decent opportunity for earning a living, though some of them were also found to be very annoying and disturbing due to the amount of trouble they created for the financially stable park visitors. It is also a big reality that I found the risk of theft and crime to be fairly average in this local park, though those criminal incidents that did occur and involved theft were more often than not justly connected to these homeless people by the police forces. One very important finding by the ethnographic research made on homelessness and observing the nature of issues faced by each homeless person I interviewed during the two month period is that the health issues faced by such people often go unreported and unresolved. The risk of substance abuse is also very high among these people, which leads to ot her criminal activities like burglary, rape, and murders. The facts told by the homeless peop

Leadership, Teambuilding, and Communication Essay - 6

Leadership, Teambuilding, and Communication - Essay Example Trait theories recognize the characteristics and behaviors of people across the globe. It states that leadership is an inborn quality and that leaders cannot be raised. This is a hypothetical picture of an ancient belief which explains that when a group of people were facing extreme problems, a hero appeared and led them towards success. Even in today’s world, some people believe that leadership is an inborn quality (Fairholm, m. R., & Fairholm, g. W., 2009). The leaders with the trait theory have characters such as: decisiveness, assertiveness, cooperative approach, ambitiousness, alertness, etc. In business, managers can use the information from the theory in order to assess their positions in the firm and to evaluate how they can strengthen their position. It helps them to have in depth knowledge about their own identity and the way they can affect others in their firm. This theory helps the manager to understand their weaknesses and strengths, thus, they come to know about how they can develop and enhance their leadership qualities (Lussier, N., & Achua, F., 2010). This theory suggests that not all the leaders who are successful have same characteristics. Theory states that the success of leadership depends on the correspondence between the style of a leader and the demands of a situation. This means that the effectiveness of leadership style is a function that is used in the given situation. (Judge, 2002)According to this model, a manager must know his style of leadership, diagnose the situation and then look for the coincidence between his style and the specific situation. This theory suggests that levels of directive and supportive behavior of a leader should be based on the level of staff available. Managerial behavior occurs when a leader uses one-way communication to specify the duties of his followers. The supportive behavior occurs when the leader uses bi-directional

Although consideration is often referred to as the 'badge of Essay

Although consideration is often referred to as the 'badge of enforceability' for a contract in English law, in assessing the - Essay Example However, under the doctrine of promissory estoppels, any party can recover what it has rightfully earned, or the value of detriment suffered by reliance on the agreement, even if a court decides there is no legal contract (MacMillan & Stone, 2013 p.27). Thus, consideration forms one of the fundamental elements of a legally binding agreement, and is often referred to as the ‘badge of enforceability’ for a contract in English law. However, in assessing the validity of a variation in the terms of an existing contract, consideration is but one line of argument. This is because: Consideration is regarded by the English courts as the principle way of determining the existence of a contract (MacMillan & Stone, 2013 p.34). The significance of consideration as a vital aspect of a contract in English law is that; it is through the existence of consideration, that the other essential elements of a legally binding agreement are fulfilled. ... However, while this aspect is a principal requirement in the English contract law, there are further assessments that might be made; in spite of the mere fact that consideration really existed in the contractual agreement, which then nullifies the agreement as unenforceable. Therefore, while consideration forms a fundamental building block as far as the English contract law is concerned, it has emerged that it is not indispensable, and thus there are circumstances under which the courts can regard a contractual agreement that did not entail consideration to be legally binding, while also nullifying a contractual agreement that involved consideration as unenforceable in law (Gillies, 1988 p.72). This simply means that, despite the fact that consideration is a cardinal requirement in the English contract law, it must be interpreted in the context of other principles of a binding contract, and thus consideration is but one line of argument. First, despite the fact that consideration cou ld really exist in a contractual agreement, there is limitation offered to the concept of consideration, which states that past consideration is not consideration (Busch, 2005 p.33). This legal requirement then makes consideration but one line of argument; because it clearly shows that the mere existence of consideration is not sufficient to make an agreement legally binding, since if consideration is past, the contractual agreement will be regarded unenforceable, despite the existence of the consideration (Schulze, 2007 p.49). This principle has been established and demonstrated in various case laws, which has served to show that consideration is a

Social Networking Sites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Networking Sites - Essay Example Face to face meetings, especially for the first time, are usually exciting events. One gets to scrutinize a new acquaintance physically and gauge his or her intelligence through conversations. Almost immediately, one can form an impression of the other, and this may remain unless proven otherwise in the next meetings. A lot depends on the spontaneity of a person – how quick his or her wit is, how personable he or she is, and how one’s sense of humor clicks with another’s. Glimpses of one’s personality shines through except for people who have put up a lot of defensive walls around themselves. For these people, it may be more challenging to see through their real selves. Getting into a social networking site such as Tagged to meet new people online offers a different scenario. One creates his or her own profile, putting in information he chooses to share, lay it out in a design he or she prefers, and adds a profile picture, or more for his or her picture gallery. Then a choice to set this profile in private or to be seen publicly is made by the user. The profile picture is available for public viewing, and becomes a choice in a buffet of new prospects to be chosen as contacts or â€Å"friends† by other members. If someone likes to include another in his friends’ list, then he makes an effort to ask that person if he or she can be added as â€Å"friend†, and upon acceptance, they become part of each other’s online contact list. It is up to them to maintain communication either by sending messages, picture tags or add comments (either text or picture or video) in one’s profile. They may also opt to communicate outsid e the site by exchanging contact details or chatting in another messaging system like Yahoo Messenger or MSN Instant Messaging. Here, they may restrict their communication to online chat or see each other by webcam or actually meet in person. It is really up to the individuals how they want

Healing Process Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Healing Process Nursing - Essay Example However, the overall diversity of the spiritual beliefs may make it relatively difficult for the healthcare service providers to critical evaluate and understand all the different aspects. In consideration of this, this paper will therefore discuss the results of interviews taken from Sikh, Jain and Baha’i patients to understand their perspective on healing and healthcare. Spiritual Perspective on healing According to our Sikh patient, the divine name is considered as the healing medium through which healing could occur. According to their belief, those ailments which cannot be vanished can vanish with the name of the divine. As such the spiritual perspective of this patient regarding healing is entirely based upon connecting the divine name and heals through that. Jain religion is considered as similar to the Buddhism as teachings of both are relatively similar. According to our Jain patient, her spiritual perspective is rather based upon the meditation and adapting a holisti c approach towards life. This therefore ensures healing because extracting stress out of the body can heal according to Jain spiritual practices. Baha’I perspective on healing is based upon the use of relaxation as well as adequate nutrition to achieve health. Our patient suggests that she believes that good relaxation as well as stress free living actually allows our souls to heal our bodies. Critical Components of Healing According to Sikh spiritual practices, meditation of the name of the divine is the most important component of achieving health. This therefore requires the person to actually focus on the name and allow the frequencies of that name to merge with the person to get healed. Apart from this, there is also a degree of faith involved because every person is required to have that faith before they can actually use the divine name to achieve the healing. Further, according to Jain religion, it is meditation which is most important to achieve the health benefits a nd connect the healing process. It is believed that meditation is the starting point in Jain traditions to actually start the healing process. Apart from this, focus on a typical diet is also another critical component of healing as it is believed that different foods have the healing powers and can expedite this process. According to Baha’I traditions, focus on good diet is the starting component to achieve the healing besides focusing on the prayer as the essential component of healing. Prayer has also been discussed in different literature to have an impact on the healing. (Ameling., 2000). Another important component is achieving gradual relaxation and how to overcome the stress from the body. It is therefore critical for a person to ensure that gradual and short bursts of relaxation are achieved either through meditation or other means to actually get the stress out of the body. This would ensure that the body develops its own fighting mechanism to deal with different ai lments. Different Spiritual Beliefs In a multi-cultural as well as multi-faith society it is relatively difficult for the Nurses and healthcare services providers to offer complete spiritual support to the patients to get healed. The diversity of the spiritual practices therefore makes it relatively difficult for the healthcare providers to accommodate or deal with. (MacLaren, 2004) However, all three patients believe that what is important is whether the healthcare service provider can actually understand their spiritual needs. This is therefore regardless of the fact that whether the belief system of the healthcare service provider is relatively different from their own. This suggests that patients are relatively more interested in whether the nurses and other staff can actually unde

NonVerbal MisCOmmunication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

NonVerbal MisCOmmunication - Essay Example In my locality, this sign would generally be taken to mean peace, love or victory. The foreigner, an Italian, reacted not as I expected. He murmured some harsh words and threw a stream of insults at me beneath his breath. I really did not understand why the Italian responded negatively to my humble appeal for love and peace. I felt humiliated especially considering that so many people in the venue had witnessed my move and the foreigner’s reaction. Several years later, I came to realize that the V-sign is an insult in Italian culture, quite the opposite of what I meant. In order to avoid conflicts that arise from non-verbal communication, I always try to learn people’s cultures and thereby improve my intercultural communication skills as much as I can by reading books on intercultural communication, in line with Novinger’s suggestion (Novinger, 2001). I have become more careful on the gestures that I use when

Healing Process Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Healing Process Nursing - Essay Example However, the overall diversity of the spiritual beliefs may make it relatively difficult for the healthcare service providers to critical evaluate and understand all the different aspects. In consideration of this, this paper will therefore discuss the results of interviews taken from Sikh, Jain and Baha’i patients to understand their perspective on healing and healthcare. Spiritual Perspective on healing According to our Sikh patient, the divine name is considered as the healing medium through which healing could occur. According to their belief, those ailments which cannot be vanished can vanish with the name of the divine. As such the spiritual perspective of this patient regarding healing is entirely based upon connecting the divine name and heals through that. Jain religion is considered as similar to the Buddhism as teachings of both are relatively similar. According to our Jain patient, her spiritual perspective is rather based upon the meditation and adapting a holisti c approach towards life. This therefore ensures healing because extracting stress out of the body can heal according to Jain spiritual practices. Baha’I perspective on healing is based upon the use of relaxation as well as adequate nutrition to achieve health. Our patient suggests that she believes that good relaxation as well as stress free living actually allows our souls to heal our bodies. Critical Components of Healing According to Sikh spiritual practices, meditation of the name of the divine is the most important component of achieving health. This therefore requires the person to actually focus on the name and allow the frequencies of that name to merge with the person to get healed. Apart from this, there is also a degree of faith involved because every person is required to have that faith before they can actually use the divine name to achieve the healing. Further, according to Jain religion, it is meditation which is most important to achieve the health benefits a nd connect the healing process. It is believed that meditation is the starting point in Jain traditions to actually start the healing process. Apart from this, focus on a typical diet is also another critical component of healing as it is believed that different foods have the healing powers and can expedite this process. According to Baha’I traditions, focus on good diet is the starting component to achieve the healing besides focusing on the prayer as the essential component of healing. Prayer has also been discussed in different literature to have an impact on the healing. (Ameling., 2000). Another important component is achieving gradual relaxation and how to overcome the stress from the body. It is therefore critical for a person to ensure that gradual and short bursts of relaxation are achieved either through meditation or other means to actually get the stress out of the body. This would ensure that the body develops its own fighting mechanism to deal with different ai lments. Different Spiritual Beliefs In a multi-cultural as well as multi-faith society it is relatively difficult for the Nurses and healthcare services providers to offer complete spiritual support to the patients to get healed. The diversity of the spiritual practices therefore makes it relatively difficult for the healthcare providers to accommodate or deal with. (MacLaren, 2004) However, all three patients believe that what is important is whether the healthcare service provider can actually understand their spiritual needs. This is therefore regardless of the fact that whether the belief system of the healthcare service provider is relatively different from their own. This suggests that patients are relatively more interested in whether the nurses and other staff can actually unde

Acknowledgement- master dissertation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Acknowledgement- master dissertation - Essay Example XXXX taught me that to learn is to constantly challenge what I have learned. It was only through his support and persevering patience that I found the courage and will to overcome the many obstacles and vicissitudes on my way to finishing this dissertation. - My professors, XXXX and XXXX, for their helpful comments and insightful critique in guiding me through the techniques of dissertation writing and choice of topic. Their pragmatic realism coupled with constant encouragement allowed me to grow in both knowledge and character. - My beloved father, Dr. XXXXX, who stands as my role model in both my personal and academic life, for his unwavering support and prayers for my wellbeing and success, and for always being there for me; - My mother, my first and wisest teacher, for raising me to value knowledge and virtue, and for standing by me and encouraging me with her sweet words and unshakeable faith in my eventual success, not only in my graduate studies, for in everything I pursue in life. - My dear husband, XXXXX, for being the wind beneath my wings, and for being the wellspring of support and patience I needed to forge on. It is his belief and trust in me that saw me through the most difficult times in the course of my graduate

Colour Perception in Skin Disease Diagnosis

Colour Perception in Skin Disease Diagnosis Color Perception Dermatologist’s perspective Abstract: Light and color are two important tools for the dermatologist in diagnosing skin diseases. Many articles have focused on the importance of light and illumination but there are only scanty literature about the importance of color perception. The definitions of color, color spaces and their types, assessment of color and its applications, recent advances in human color vision is reviewed. Key words: Color, colorspace, RGB, CIE L*a*b*, Spectrophotometry, Colorimetry Color perception is due to the evoked neural responses in the eye and visual cortex because of light stimulus. Colors differ from each other in wavelength, intensity, and saturation. The importance of color in plants ranges from attracting insects for pollination to production of bright colored fruits for seed dispersal. Color pigments are present in many animal species and has evolutionary importance for searching food, escaping from predators etc. Human skin color is linked with evolution and is changing according to the environment where humans live. Color science has various implications in telemedicine,dentistry,biometrics,anthropology, cosmetics,textiles , artificial intelligence, etc . Color of the human skin, mucosa, nails plays an important part in the social communication ,diagnosis and treatment of dermatological disorders. Dermatologists need to know about the biophysics of skin, eye ,color spaces , illumination sources to understand about perception of color . All visible colors to human eye can be produced by some combination of the three primary colors, either by additive or subtractive processes. Human color perception is most sensitive to light in the yellow-green region of the spectrum. We have three types of cone receptors for the long(L),medium(M),short (S) wavelengths. The balance of neural activity in these three receptors accounts for the millions of color shades. This is utilized by the Bayer array in modern digital cameras. The number of L, M, S color sensitive cones in the human retina differs among people by up to forty times. Human perception of color is controlled much more by the brain than by the eyes. Color vision has distributed processing in the cortex, with a number of brain zones being involved in processing wavelength data and creating color sense . Cone receptors in the human eye lose their color sensitivity with age, but subjective experience of color remains same over the years. The perception of color is flexibl e and relies on biological processes in the brain and eye. Phenotyping based on skin color has been attempted by many researchers the well known one is Fitzpatrick’s I to VI skin types.Though there are some drawbacks in this classification this is useful in a variety of ways treating diseases with phototherapy, in predicting the post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, for making skin colored prostheses , skin grafting etc. Human skin color can also be classified by visual color matching using the Munsell charts. But visual clinical methods of skin color evaluation for diagnostic purposes are so far mostly subjective and inaccurate. Many studies quantitate the skin color based on the spectrophotometry or tricolorimetry measurements which gives the absolute values of the color. The spectral reflectance provides a lot of biological and medical information about skin and mucosa. In case of non availability of these equipments digital cameras and software has been employed to compare and quantitate human color taken under standard conditions. Analysis of color data has to be done by a conceptual tool called color space. Color space aid the process of describing color between people , between software or machines. Color gamut is the area enclosed by a color space in two or three dimensions. Color space is useful to understand the color capabilities of a particular device or digital image and also useful to identify colors in a more intuitive way. There are many color spaces – sRGB, Adobe RGB, L*a*b*, L*u*v*, CMYK etc. Different color spaces are better for different applications. RGB is used in many display devices computer monitor, digital camera or a television, which uses these as its base colors. CMYK is more commonly used in printers. However, no two display devices are equal. A color shade defined by certain value of RGB on one device may look completely different on another device. A device dependent color space is a color space where the color produced depends both the parameters used and on the equipment used for display. Many devices have their own device-dependent RGB color spaces. RGB space can be visualised like a cube with the three axes corresponding to red, green and blue. L*a*b* color space proposed by CIELAB is popular because it is device independent and the L parameter has a good correlation with perceived lightness. It is non linear and intended to mimic the logarithmic responses of the human eye. Any color can be described by a combination of three coordinates, L*, a*,and b* , where L* is the total quantity of light reflected ,a* represents color ranging from red to green , and b* represents color ranging from blue to yellow . L* measures the brightness component of color, and it varies on an achromatic gray scale between a value of 0 (black) to100 (white). The a* and b* coordinates can be converted into hue angle and chroma of color . Hue refers the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli where 0Â ° represents red and 90Â ° represents yellow. Chroma describes the intensity of color, with higher chroma indicating greater intensity. Melanin density and distribution can be assessed by the L* values wheras erythema can be known by the a* values. The color of gluteal region can be taken as the constitutive color whereas the cheek will give details of the facultative color. Skin that is usually exposed to the sun has a more intense red component, presumably because of increased vascularization. Exposed skin also showed lower reflectance (L*) than covered skin, probably because of melanin .Higher L* levels were associated with lighter skin, tendency for sunburn and less tanning . Han K et al (1) observed that the L*a*b* color space to be the most popular system used to measure skin color. The average L*a*b* values for the body parts were 61.74, 9.56 and 17.07, respectively. The site of lightest skin was found to be the medial arm , whereas the darkest was on the forehead . Redness was highest on the cheek and lowest on the medial arm . Skin color was lighter and more yellow in females than in males, whereas redness was higher in males. The factors that significantly influenced L* were sex, work place and sunbathing, factors that influenced a* were sex, work place and smoking; and the factors that influenced b* were sunbathing and age . Ian LWeatherall et al (2) did color measurement in ventral forearm of skin of 99 subjects and expressed the results in terms of color space L*, a*, and b* values. L* values ranged from 59.7 to 73.4.The hue angle ranged from 54.0 to 77.8degrees.The chroma values ranged from 13.2 to 21.6. These color-space parameters are proposed for the unambiguous communication of skin color information that relates directly to visual observations of clinical importance or scientific interest. Yun et al (3) introduced a new technique to measure L*a*b* color coordinates and the melanin and erythema indexes at the same time by analyzing the skin color of normal Asians . While the correlation of the melanin index with the L* value was negative, it was positively correlated with the a* and b* values. While the erythema index showed a weak correlation with the b* value, its correlation was negative with the L* value and positive with the a* value. Change in colorimetric values of bruises over time was significant for all three color parameters (L*a*b*), the most notable changes being the decrease in red (a*) and increase in yellow (b*) starting at 24 h.( 4) Colorimetric skin color values can also be used to study pigmentation capacity, to predict the risk of actinic cancer, in the study of reactions induced by physical and allergic stimuli ,for choosing appropriate sunscreens (5) Comparison using cheaper and novel ideas in this regard is yet to come. Recent advances in Information technology has allowed us to understand color vision and to extract the true color of the skin. REFERENCES 1) Han K, Choi T, Son D et al Skin color of Koreans: statistical evaluation of affecting factors. Skin Research and Technology 2006; 12(3):170-7 2) Ian LWeatherall1 and Bernard DCoombs Skin Color Measurements in Terms of CIELAB Color Space Values . Journal of Investigative Dermatology 1992; 99: 468–473. 3) Yun IS,LEE WJ et al Skin color analysis using a spectrophotometer in Asians. Skin Res Technol. 2010 ;16(3):311-5. 4) Scafide, K. R., et al. Evaluating change in bruise colorimetry and the effect of subject characteristics over time. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 2013; 9(3): 367-376. 5) Andreassi ,Flori L Practical applications of cutaneous colorimetry. Clinics in Dermatology 1995; 13(4):369-73

To Save or Not To Save - That Is the Question Essay example -- Conserv

When you look at a bald eagle, you see how powerful and majestic this bird is, which is how many people feel about the United States; that’s why the bald eagle is our national emblem on our Great Seal. It would be a dishonor to our Nation to have such a worldwide-recognized symbol of The United States extinct, but in fact that’s exactly what almost happened. To help the bald eagle regain it’s numbers, on December 28, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon signed The Endangered Species Act. â€Å"The law established procedures for conserving plants and animals in danger of extinction and those that are threatened, or likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future (Cooper, â€Å"Endangered Species Act† 855). Since its establishment, the Endangered Species Act has been a topic of debate on whether the way the act is set up now has been worth the securing of land, including land that is privately owned, the time to research and the money that has been spent . Once species are listed as either threatened or endangered of becoming extinct the first move is to figure out what can be done to help them. What kind of habitat does it need to thrive? Is it isolated to only a few regions of the country or widely located? Could it be introduced into new regions, whether rural or urban, and still have a chance of survival? The lands that are being protected range from mountains to national parks to any neighborhood across the country, so that the smallest plant to the largest wild animal has an environment where they can continue to thrive. Some species have been reintroduced and their populations have recovered enough to bring them out of the endangered status and off of the Endangered Species Act listing. Wolfs and grizzly bears are two out of the nu... ...ecies Act have their valid points. The two sides need to work together discuss which animals are vital to the balance of the eco-system and which plants could help create medicine that fight illnesses like cancer. The laws need to reflect not only the time and money involved in saving the world’s species of plants and animals but also protect the livelihood of the populations of people who are involved in such areas. The balance between the two is possible as long as both sides work with each other not against each other. Works Cited Arrandale, Tom. "Disappearing Species." CQ Researcher 17.42 (2007): 985-1008. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. Cooper, Mary H. "Endangered Species Act." CQ Researcher 9.37 (1999): 849-64. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. ---. "Endangered Species Act." CQ Researcher 15.21 (2005): 493-516. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012.

Cancer :: essays research papers fc

Cancer INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the American society, cancer is the disease most feared by the majority of people within the U.S. Cancer has been known and described throughout history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early 1990s nearly 6 million cancer cases and more than 4 million deaths have been reported worldwide, every year. The most fatal cancer in the world is lung cancer, which has grown drastically since the spread of cigarette smoking in growing countries. Stomach cancer is the second leading form of cancer in men, after lung cancer. Another on the increase, for women, is breast cancer, particularly in China and Japan. The fourth on the list is colon and rectum cancer, which occurs mostly in older people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the United States more than one-fifth of the deaths in the early '90s was caused by cancer, only the cardiovascular diseases accounted at a higher percentage. In 1993 the American Cancer Society predicted that about 33% of Americans will eventually get cancer. In the United States skin cancer is the most dominating in both men and women, followed by prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. Yet lung cancer causes the most deaths in men and women. Leukemia, or cancer of the blood, is the most common type in children. An increasing incidence has been clearly observable over the past few decades, due in part to improved cancer screening programs, and also to the increasing number of older persons in the population, and also to the large number of tabacco smokers--particularly in women. Some researchers have estimated that if Americans stopped smoking, lung cancer deaths could virtually be eliminated within 20 years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The U.S. government and private organizations spent about $1.2 billion annual for cancer research. With the development of new drugs and treatments, the number of deaths among cancer patients under 30 years of age is decreasing, even though the number of deaths from cancer is growing overall. TYPES OF CANCER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.Cancer is the common term used to designate the mosst aggressive and usually fatal forms of a larger class of the diseases known as neoplasms. A neoplasm is described as being relatively autonomous because it does not fully obey the biological mechanisms that govern the growth and the metabolism of individual cells and the overall cell interactions of the living organism. Some neoplasms grow more rapidly than the tissues from which they arise, others grow at a normal pace but because of the other factors eventually become recognizable as an abnormal growth and not normal tissue. The changes seen in neoplasm are heritable in that these characteristics are passed on from each cell to ots

Personal Philosophy of Teaching Essay

â€Å"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.† – Chinese Proverb I came across this quote back in secondary school when I was bringing the books to my Chinese teacher’s desk. Never would I have thought it would relate to me so closely. As an early childhood educator, our aim is to provide quality education and care to the preschoolers in our care. Children are the future of our country, therefore comes the importance of education. I believe that children are born a â€Å"blank slate† (Locke, 1704) , and they behave like sponges, therefore they will retain and retrieve as much information that are passed to them. There is a pre set standard that is set for each educator for each level, but beyond that , my main goal as an educator is to provide an environment for constant learning and discovery for both the children and myself. Through instilling a love of learning in every student, i hope to ignite their love for learning both in and beyond the classrooms. Building relationships is the first step to everything. Not only can I gain the trust of the children, but the parents as well. When I gain the trust of the child and the parents, not only will it allows me insights of their family environment and beliefs, it also opens a window of conversation with the child. I can get to know more about the child’s hobbies, likes and dislikes and learning styles. This would allow me to approach the child in a more appropriate manner or revise the curriculum to cater to his/her needs. When a child is comfortable in the classroom because they know that they are in safe hands, they would in turn open up more and share more ideas. This also makes the child feel respected. Parental involvement is an important aspect building relationships. Having an idea of what are the parents expectations and addressing a clear stand of my expectations of the children, yet being open to their thoughts and feedbacks would be crucial especially to a new teacher like me. Also, updates, newsletters and calls help the parents to have an idea of the child’s performance in school, and these are usually doubles as record of  the development of the child. Literacy and language are skills that I feel are essential to everyone. The ability to achieve the different levels of reading and writing not only helps indicates the child’s developmental milestone, but also contributes to the child’s social skill. Social skills are life skills that the children take with them out of the classrooms and into society. Experimental learning is another vital life skills that I believe all children should possess. Therefore I strive to make all the learning in my classrooms as relatable to real life as possible. The authentic learning allows the children to have hands on experience with the subjects as they grow and learn to engage themselves in the real world. Being able to make connections by linking the things they learn in the class to the society is important, but making the classroom a conducive place for their classmates is too. Such social and emotional skills are difficult to impart as they are rarely textbook based but rather being felt, therefore cooperative play is highly encouraged in the classroom as well. Meaningful learning experiences cannot happen without a properly equipped classroom. Excellent classroom managements like the inclusion of routines, procedures and also the use of positive reinforcements not only help to maintain order in the classrooms but allow children to feel safe and valued. Indeed, teaching a man to fish an last him for a life time. Likewise, instilling the love of learning within the children will inspire them to continue the lifelong pursuit of wisdom and knowledge even after the educational process has been completed. Though these beliefs are the essence of my philosophy as an early childhood educator, but to cater to the constant change and ever-evolving of the needs of society, the philosophies are reviewed from time to time to help better evaluate personal progress and achieve goals. References Mouner. M (2013) http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2279.html Burns,M.S, Johnson R,T & Assaf M,M (2011) Preschool education in today’s world: teaching children with diverse backgrounds and abilities(USA, Baltimore) Meggitt, C (2012) Teach Yourself , Understanding Child Development (London) Feeney, S, Christensen,D & Moravcik, E (2006) 7th Edition – Who am I in the lives of children: An introduction to early childhood education.(Upper Saddle River, New Jersey) Pearson Education Inc. Ministry of Education (2012) Nurturing early learners, A curriculum framework for kindergartens in Singapore.(Singapore, Singpore) Asian International College (2011) Principles and practices in early childhood care and education : ECE 101 The Gale Groups (2008) Encyclopaedia of children and childhood in history and society: John Locke ( http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Ke-Me/Locke-John-1632-1704.html)

Christian Rap vs Mainstream Rap Essay

I can’t believe the radio is playing some of the music they play and claim its radio friendly. Its not when all you hear is sex, killing, drugs, and so forth. Some may not like rap music, but even people who do claim that rap nowadays is not radio friendly. Christian Rap on the other hand brings forth a new and fresh sound to Rap music while putting Jesus in the center. Most songs encourage young people to do better and make a change to Life and not death. People think that Christian rap are all about spreading the word of god and to convert your to Christianity. If you the Listener actually listened to the lyrics you would change your mind. Christian rap does spread the word of god but it also express how to be yourself. Most songs encourage young people to do better and make a change to their Life and others. Lyrics such as in the song â€Å"Make War† Tedashii raps, â€Å"I’m filled with the Spirit so tell them dog this is pay back/ as you begin to copy the carbon copies of Christ/ and conform to His written image you should be shinning a light/ if you not, why is that? † He summarizes Romans 8:29 which delves into a Christian believer adopting all the traits of Jesus Christ. Lyrics of Christian rap songs are filled with good incentives and positive lyrics. In the song â€Å"Jesus Musik† Lecrae says â€Å"everywhere I go people caught up in theyself money cars and clothes. They talk about it all the time and put it in they songs. They drive around and play it loud like it ain’t nothin wrong . And all they talk about is sinful stuff, got everybody actin bad thinkin that they a thug†. By this he is expressing how corrupt mainstream rap is, Mainstream rap teaches their listeners how to acts and what to wear. Flame says in â€Å"Joyful Noise†, â€Å"The light is where I’m running I thought I wanted life, drunk, sexed out and blunted But all I really wanted was the One who really won itFought death, beat it gave His life to the public†. Flame used to be surrounded by mainstream influences but he found god and now knows who he should follow. People must overcome the iron claw that mainstream rap has on them. Lecrae lets the world know in his song â€Å"Souled out†. He says we must not be ashamed of ourselves and to be yourself. â€Å"Man I consider my life nuthin’. if I could just finish the race. and complete the job the. lord jesus gave me. I live to tell the world his message. Romans 1:16 â€Å"I’m not Ashamed†. I Ain’t Ashamed. †. Sometimes faith may be evident in part of a song or other times an entire song or album may focus on Christian beliefs. Mainstream Rap’s lyrics are much different then Christian Rap. While Christian Rap talks about god and being yourself, Mainstream Rap express their music trough talking about drugs, sex, and violence. These lyrics are broadcasted all over the world showing their listeners that doing those bad things are the right thing to do. Most listeners to mainstream usualy don’t take the time to understand what they are listening to. They block out all he profanity and enjoy the beat of the music. When you take the time to understand what the songs actually mean you may be discouraged to listen to the song again. Lyrics from Lil Wayne in the song â€Å"lollypop† â€Å"She say he so sweet make her wanna lick the rapper So i letta lick the rapperSh-sh-sh-she licked me like a lollypop†. When we look at specific words such as licked and lollypop it suddenly pops out what they are trying to get across. This is not alright for the radio but it sounds good so it ends up getting played. When he says â€Å"Shawty wanna thug. ottles in the club. shawty wanna hump and ooo i like to touch ya lovely lady lumps. † there are so many ad messages getting embedded in your head. Mainstream is filled with explicit language and images. The song Shots by LMFAO encourages drink â€Å"If you not drunk ladies and gentlemen Get ready to get **** up Lets do it ha, ha† and †If you ain’t getting drunk get the **** out the club. If you ain’t taking shots get the **** out the club. If you ain’t come to party get the **** out the club. Now where my alcoholics let me see yo hands up†. Most listeners are in the age of 13 to 24. This is telling children that it is okay to drink. Under age drinking is extremely dangerous . A widespread theme throughout most mainstream rap is a desire for wealth; this wish is part of the American dream, and thus reflects the desires of popular American culture. The constant bombardment of American youths with stereotypes has likely had a negative effect on them. It is common among youths to try and replicate the messages seen in rap videos; this is not surprising. Where we shop and eat even the types of homes we buy are dictated by what we â€Å"hear† the celebrities are doing. That is a powerful influence over an individual. Due to the fact that mainstream rap appeals to the thirteen to eighteen year old audiences and the artists performing come from very similar backgrounds of the listeners, rap music is able to control the way that youth think. The new generation of rappers is taking the lyrics of rap music more literally. Without the youth being able to distinguish fantasy from reality rap music has turned the youth more violent, disrespectful and it is teaching them to stand on the block and hustle or even kill someone over a minor disagreement. Rap music has control of the 12-19 year old crowd more than the parents in the household. It is popular because it speaks to a generation that can/wants to identify with what the artist is saying. The youth are taking someone else’s experiences and making it their own just for the sake of being cool or being accepted by others. Some people say the Christian rap industry is a business. These people sell records to â€Å"save souls. † So if we look at, it would seem as if Christian rappers are getting commission for every soul saved. Most Christian rappers aren’t in this business for the money they just get paid for what they do just like any other job. A pastor gets paid to preach every Sunday why would it be any different for a Christian rapper selling CD’s. Christian rappers have a positive effect on their listeners. The lyrics promote well being and the word of god. Youth that listen to Christian rap are better off then ones that listen to mainstream rap. Instead of being bombarded by bad incentives they are taught how to be a true follower of Christ and no fall to a lower level. These two styles of rap are similar but opposites at the same time. They tempo and beats of the songs are very similar. They have the same basis of how they sound, the thing that makes these to styles different is the lyrics they use in their songs. Mainstream uses profanity while Christian rap uses the words of god. Even though mainstream is more popular, but this is because theirs songs are heavily over played on the radio embedding everything they say into the youths heads and morals. Mainstream should be endorsing lyrics that makes the youth of our nation more well off then filling them with bad images and words.

Relationship Between Art and Religion Essay

Humans have since the very earliest time of their existence questioned various fundamental facts about their existence and the world around them. They have tried to answer the mysteries of life such as how they came into existence and what happens after their death. These questions they discovered could be only answered through religion and science. Religion went about explaining that all things were there because of some greater spiritual being which brought everything and everyone into existence. Religion especially during ancient times put God as the master creator of all things and beings, having created men on all other creations. The average person doesn’t usually think of art as something that influences religion yet in true facts art helps us visualize our beliefs since as humans we at times find it easier to believe that which we see. Even in the Bible we find that humans have made sculptures, statues and paintings of their god in order for them to have something that reminds them of that greater force and act as intermediaries between them as moral beings and God as a divine spiritual being. For example Early Christians used the fish as a symbol of God which is now replaced by the symbol of the cross; Ancient Egyptians who worshipped numerous god’s used a falcons head as a symbol of their sun god Ra, and Muslims with the symbol of a moon and star. In Ancient Greece it was customary for artists to represent the Olympian deities in perfectly-modelled men or women because they believed that the god’s were somewhat like humans but in perfect form and that they were immortal. Art helped (and still does) people visualize all that their religion was implementing so that they could understand, believe and have faith. It was also important because many people where illiterate and so through paintings and sculpt stories painted on the walls of churches, the word of God could be delivered to them as well. Art is still visible on many religious buildings for example the paintings found on the inside and outside of walls of churches illustrates a story from, in the case of Christians, the Holy Bible. Some examples of such would be the cathedral in Rome and that of Milan which are both of extraordinary aesthetic beauty. Art when it comes to religion is a way of spreading the word of God in a non-literal way. The beauty of art is that many people can interpret art work differently therefore a religious art piece can be inspiring and motivational to my life as well as to another in a whole different way because we would have both taken the same message but applied it to our lives in different ways. Therefore art is a language which anyone can speak, understand and interpret personally. Some worldwide renowned artists whose art was influenced by religion are Michelangelo in The Creation of Adam and The Last Judgement, Leonardo Da Vinci in Virgin of The Rocks and Tintoretto in The Crucifixion. Apart from paintings and buildings religion also influenced music in fact nowadays we have multiple praise songs in different religions. In a nut shell whilst religion has left its mark on Art, art has been a helping hand and necessity when it comes to the delivering of the word of God.