Technical Writing Essay Example

Technical Writing Essay Technical Writing Name: Course: Institution: We will write a custom essay sample on Technical Writing specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Technical Writing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Technical Writing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Instructor: Date: Technical Writing 1). Proposal To: XYZ company To: Manager From: Human Resource Date: Subject: Proposal to write a Bureaucracy Elimination Guide Introduction I am writing to propose writing a manual of procedures and instructions of eliminating bureaucracy within the organization to be followed by all the employee of this company. This manual is going to lay down instructions that can be used to move from a bureaucratic structure in the organization to a devolved one that allows faster decisions making, implementation of strategies, as well as allowing innovations and facilitating time efficiency to improve production and performance of the organization as well as a reduction of costs. Definition of the situation Having a manual of procedures would solve several problems such as the following that have reduced performance of the company: Unnecessary workloads in the company due to many processes Dissatisfaction among the internal and external customers Sluggish implementation of operations, ideas and decisions Monotony among workers When there are unnecessary processes within the company, there is wastage of valuable time that could be used for more production. Production is achieved through a number of processes, which are assigned to different people across the whole company. It is necessary that all processes within the company be designed to add value to the company’s products and reduce wastage of time. Although attempts to go through the processes faster have been made, we still waste a lot of time with them. Too many processes that increase workloads cause dissatisfaction among workers or internal customers, who in turn extend their dissatisfaction to the external customers. When there are too many workloads that hinder workers from getting the work done, it takes time to serve the customers, who are left quite disappointed. When there are many processes that increase the workload for the workers only manage to do very little with too much effort, hence there are minimal achievements. When there is need to implement new ideas and operations for the betterment of the company, it becomes almost impossible because of processes put in place. There are too many hierarchical authorities within the company, and too many paperwork, and meeting to check that all rules and procedures have been followed to the letter. This makes it hard to implement any change or new idea to the company since the process is too long and unnecessary. Too many processes such as paperwork and authorities require handing in everything for approval, which makes it a routine even for very simple operations. Repeating the same operations everyday and going through many processes that are unnecessary builds up monotony among the workers, taking down their morale to work. More so, they lack any authority to act on themselves, further lowering their morale since they are only there to follow rules and procedures. Objectives The manual of procedures will provide employees and the management of the company with easy to follow steps in reducing the bureaucracy that has bound our company, preventing it from performing. Eliminate unnecessary processes that build up unnecessary workloads Increase satisfaction among the internal and external customers Increase the speed of implementing decisions, ideas and programs Eliminate monotony among workers and create a devolved hierarchy of authority. Through following the manual of processes will lead to a better company with a chance of growing fast and creating better working environment for the workers to satisfy customers, and even a culture that encourages innovation. Proposed Table of Contents Through relying on my extensive experience and a vast range of skills and knowledge, I will write a manual of processes to be followed to eliminate bureaucracy. The manual is going to have several sections as follows: Identifying and defining all the tasks involved with getting results Rank the tasks according to their priorities Finding the shortest root to the result Eliminating the unnecessary paperwork Reducing the processes/ eliminating some of the processes Delegating authority across the company Making decisions Focusing on actions instead of processes Among the sections, there will be subsections with much more detailed information for specific operations and processes. Schedule The manual will require several tasks to acquire the necessary information, which shall include: **Carrying out interviews with department managers and supervisors ** Getting more information from workers concerning the operations and processes as well as work itself ** Gathering information from previously written rules and regulations concerning the current procedures and policies of the company Gathering information from other competing companies concerning their processes for benchmarking** **Writing the fast rough draft of the manual** **Formatting and editing the draft** **Testing the draft through issuing it to few professionals for review and comments** **Revising the draft to include any necessary changes suggested** **Printing the draft** **Producing a final copy for submission** I intend to submit the manual of processes on March 28, 2012. The following is a breakdown of the timeline of the tasks involved and their completion dates Writing the fast rough draft: Feb 25-22 Formatting and editing the draft: Feb 26- 29 Testing of the draft: March 5-10 Revising the draft: March 12-16 Printing the Draft: March 19- 23 Producing the final copy for submission: March 25-26 Submitting a final draft: March 28 Qualifications There is no person better qualified to write this manual than I am. Having worked for more than seven years in this company within several positions, I have experienced the effect of having bureaucratic systems in the organization. I have experience in writing technical papers of about 18 month, which I gained before joining this company. In addition, I am very proficient in the Microsoft word publisher, which I will use to write the manual. In addition, I am well equipped with the necessary facilities for the project, considering I have a personal computer and printer at home to work with and also at my office. Personnel I will be working closely with the overall supervisor, whom I believe has had a lot of experience from supervising all the departments and knows all the problems associated with each of them. He will also be involved in reviewing the draft considering e is among the supervisors. Budget The project will cost roughly a total sum of $1292 to complete, with the distribution of expenses as follows ItemAmount $Salary for writer (20 overtime hours @ $20)400.00Salary for 10 reviewers (5 hours each @ $17)850.00Printing fee for 25 pages @ $1.20 each page)30.00Binding fee @ $ 1212Total $1292 Conclusion This manual will assist all the managers and supervisors as well as workers in concentrating on action-oriented tasks that produce the results, than focusing on processes of ensuring rules are followed to the letter. Upon your approval, the manual can be complete for implementation by March 28, 2012 at a minimum cost of $1292. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hear from you. 2). Project Workshop Created by Human Resource Manager March 28, 2012 Table of Contents Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. IV Defining tasks †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..1 Define processes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 Create project teams †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..3 Sort processes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 Involve all people †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..5 Identifying desired results †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.6 Reviewing objectives and goals †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 Identifying tasks for each results†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.7 Getting the shortest means †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.8 Ranking the tasks †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 Identifying mandatory tasks †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.9 Facilitating tasks †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.10 Eliminating the unnecessary paperwork †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦11 Identifying all the paper work†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..11 Identifying repetitive paper work †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦12 Paper work in between processes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦13 Automating paper work †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..14 Eliminating unnecessary processes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..15 Identifying unnecessary processes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦15 Identifying which ones are needed †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦16 Eliminating the processes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.17 Delegating authority across the departments †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..18 Selection of people to issue with authority †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..18 Giving instructions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦19 Monitoring †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.20 Making decisions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦21 Defining the problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.21 Identifying a solution †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦22 Implementing the decision made †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..23 Focusing on actions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.24 Informing everybody †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.25 Eliminating obstacle †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..26 Make a plan †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.27 Build confidence †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.28 Motivate people †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.29 Introduction Looking at the history of this company when it was started, there were many rules and policies put in place. These rules and policies were meant to protect the company from fraud issues through reporting according to the policies and following the processes put in place to ensure every detailed operation is documented for security purposes. At the start of the company, almost five decades ago, this was seen as the best way of ensuring accountability of the workers. However, things have changed since other companies have been established and competition has stiffened. The newer companies adopted an organizational structure that advocates for innovations and seeking to serve the customers in a better way. They adopted a devolved structure and a central information center where every department can have access in order to make informed decisions. However, our company has remained in the old bureaucratic structure, where processes are given more priority, instead of results. We have con tinue to suffer loss of customers and market share, and coming up with strategies of solving such issues has been met with difficulties because of the policies and rules that have to be followed, ,making it hard and time consuming to implement them. Continuing with this kind of structure is only going to bring the company to its end in the next few years considering we are already starting to incur losses. This manual of processes seeks to solve these problems and ensure our company is back on track to compete like the others within the industry. The processes and rules within the company have become an end to themselves, instead of being means to get results done. We spend almost 65% of our time dealing with paperwork, waiting for approval and ensuring every operation is approved documented, including the simple tasks. More so, we are using rules and policies that were made long ago when the company started, while the policies within the market are so dynamic, changing everyday, while we only make very little change. It seems we are Mack timing around the same rules and policies. This manual provides processes that if followed will help us in eliminating the unnecessary rules, policies and processes within the tasks such as documenting different papers for different departments. The manual also provides processes that can be used to create a central information center, to ensure that al departments have access to information for informed decision-making. Currently, all decisions are made by your office, making it hard to do many tasks when you are unavailable. The manual has provided processes that can be used to overcome some of the unnecessary processes, how to identify them and eliminate them. It starts by providing specific way of identifying all the tasks that are carried out in the company to achieve results in the departments. This will then help identifying which tasks are more related to achieving the result, and separates them form paperwork and the rules. Then basic tasks of achieving the results are assessed to help in finding out what tasks are not necessary. The manual then looks at the processes undergone in production, from procurement to end results until delivery to the customers in order to find out what processes are not necessary and can be eliminated. The manual also addresses the issue of decision making within the company and the best way of delegating to enhance devolvement within the company. Defining all tasks This part will deal with the first step towards eliminating bureaucracy, which is defining all the tasks carried out within the company and the processes they have to go through before they are completed. Defining tasks The first step towards eliminating bureaucracy within our company is defining and identifying all the tasks carried out within the company before any result is achieved within the company in the departments. This can be done by asking all the employees to define what they do in a typical day, and the routine they take upon entering work in morning. defining processes Every process within the company needs to be defined at all the departments. Again, this should be done by the employees, who will define the processes they go through before a task is completed. This will help in identifying those processes that are not very important, or those that are repeated severally. create project teams The purpose of these project teams will be to help in the identification of what can pass as bureaucratic and what does not. These teams should be made across all departments to help in the process of this project. sorting the processes After identifying the tasks and processes within every task, the project team should come in to identify the most important processes and those of lesser importance, as well as those that can be done away with. To do this the teams will require representing the processes and actions in flow charts to have a visual of all the processes. This can be done through starting with the first process to every task, such as procurement, where processes start at seeking a quotation of goods required, to having them delivered in the stores department. involve all workers Considering the workers are the ones involved directly in the production work, they should be involved in identifying activities that are not very necessary. Those that can be dealt with in a better way that saves time and reduces processes, and those that are not necessary at all. In our company, majority of activities involve seeking approval, documenting almost all the activities and following procedures laid by the strict rules, which are not easily flexible. Such activities should be identified as less necessary to action. Through following this process, activities that can be dealt with in better ways can be identified, such as paper work can be reduced using computerized records. The process shall also help in identifying processes that can be eliminated in order to reduce the amount of workload. Identifying desired results In this section, desired results are the focus, with the aim being to know what the company would like to achieve. This way, tasks associated with achieving the desired results can be identified easily through looking at the goals and objectives of the company. Reviewing objectives and goals After identifying all the activities and tasks, all the desired results should also be identified. This can be done though reviewing the goals and objectives of the organizations that are already set, since they are the guidelines to the desired results. Identifying tasks for each results After identifying the desired results for the company, the tasks associated with each result should be identified. This should be done through looking at all the processes in every task, and aligning them with objectives. For instance, if the objective of production department is to increase production by 10%, they should look at what tasks should be done to meet this objective. Getting the shortest means After identification of tasks associated with each desired results, the shortest means to the result should be defined. This should be done through considering only actions that are directly involved in getting the results. This way, it will be easier to know what would be the shortest means to achieving the task. Some of the tasks can be done faster if some of the processes were eliminated to allow continuous work without interruption by paperwork. For instance, with the sales department, having to go through approvals is not necessary. The shortest route to selling goods to the customer is having a record of finished goods ready for sale. Then goods can be made available to the sales department, where customers only need to pay for the goods, and get them immediately while invoicing comes in later. After identifying the task, we should focus on getting it done, rather than focusing on following processes and rules that might make it harder to achieve the results. The shortest way should be sought. Ranking the tasks This part will deal with ranking the tasks and processes in the order of their importance in terms of achieving the result. After identifying and defining all the tasks and activities, representing them in a flow chart diagram, a ranking should be done of what tasks and activities come in fast, or those that are mandatory. Identifying mandatory tasks There are some tasks that are mandatory, or the basic ones concerning production of results, which provide the company with revenues such as production itself. Activities associated directly should be ranked as first. facilitating tasks Other tasks that have to be there are those facilitating auditing and records keeping for accounts and finance department. The organization should define what the goals of the company are in order to find out what tasks are more important. Some record keeping has to be there for the purpose of administration, management and finance as well as auditing purposes. Within these processes, the most important among them should be ranked first. However, some can be done in better ways such as making records at specified times. Eliminating the unnecessary paperwork This section deals with the elimination of paper work, which is one of the time consuming activities that can be dealt with through other means. Identifying all the paper work All the paper work in every process and task should be identified and put down in a flow diagram as the first step. Identifying repetitive paper work Some paper works are repeated severally for purposes of records in all the administration departments. They should be identified as some of the paper work to be eliminated. Paper work in between processes any paper work that comes in between the basic processes or activities meant to get work done should either be eliminated if not necessary, or should be dealt with using other means Automating paper work Some of the paper work require filling in several forms that carry the same information to be used within the different departments. Such paper work can be avoided through having an online or offline recording of data, where every department can have access to the information they require from the different departments. This would mean having a central database where all data is stored. This way, a process that involves filling in several forms with the same information can be eliminated since a computerized storage can be duplicated easily without time wastage. One form entered through the computer can be shared or re-used by all departments through re-entering the data easily than having to fill out forms manually. More so this will reduce irreversible errors involved with paperwork since with a computer it can be corrected. Automating paperwork will reduce time wastage by a big margin. Elimination of most of the paper work will be equal to part of eliminating unnecessary processes at every task. More so, automated paper work can replace almost all the paper work except where a signature is required. Eliminating unnecessary processes This part concentrates on the elimination of some of the processes that might not be necessary. There are several processes to every task in the company, with most involving several approvals before the next activity is done. Within this approvals there is a lot of paper work where signing has to be done. There are many steps and rules put across for every task, and all make it hard to complete work in time. identifying unnecessary processes For those processes that cannot stop the actual work from going on when they are not done as the action goes on, should be identified and marked. identifying which one are needed Some of these processes may not be needed, especially those that are repeated several times. After delegating authority, approval processes should be eliminated from the higher management for most of the usual operations. Such processes should be identified eliminating the processes For those that are identified as unnecessary, they should be eliminated as long as they add no value to the results or operations within the company. Some of those that are repeated severally can be dealt with through other means. For instance, those requiring approval of the higher offices can be done once upon completion of a task instead of approval at every progress. This should be done by involvement of the teams appointed. While going through these processes, one can ask why they have to do them, and whether they are necessary. Several approvals at every stage can be avoided through allowing one approval of a certain task if it has to remain. Delegating authority across the departments This section focuses on delegation of authority, where people should be empowered in the various departments across several positions to ensure authority is not so much centralized. The management office has become blockage, where everything has to be approved before anything moves ahead. Many project and operations are paused while waiting for your approval. Many paper works requiring approval wait at your office, and when you are not available, many things seem to stop. In addition, some operations requiring several approvals seem to be coming back to your office several times, creating more delays. To enable fast and continuous flow of work, it will be necessary to delegate authority across the departments to ensure that decisions can be made at the lowest level possible where the actual work is happening. This will involve: Selection of people to issue with authority Within the different departments and positions, there should be selected a person to lead each team. The selected people should be among those with experience and leadership skills to lead the rest. Giving instructions: Giving instructions to the selected personnel on what to do in every situation will ensure people do not just use their imagination upon receiving authority. More so, this will ensure they are accountable and responsible. Monitoring: After giving authority to the selected people at different positions, monitoring should be done. Monitoring can be done to ensure instructions are well utilized and understood by everybody including those who will be under the selected people. After ensuring they know how to use the authority, allow more authority to enable them work independently while reporting their work at scheduled times. Making decisions This sections concerns making of decisions within the company, where despite being moved lower to the actual work, should not be delayed. All decisions should be made as need arises, without delaying. Delayed decisions make things even slower, since nothing can go on without a decisions having been made. Defining the problem The first step in making decisions is defining what the problem is. This helps in knowing how it can be dealt with since its impact is already known. Identifying a solution After defining the problem, several solutions can come up. Then a review of the solutions should be done to ensure the best option of found, one with least repercussions, but with best results. Implementing the decision made After identification of the best solution to the problem, implementation of the decision made should not be delayed even for a while. Rather, people within the problem area should be given the authority to implement it immediately. During decision-making, they should be involved too. Using this method ensures there is a sure way of making decisions, and not just by one person, but a team that has better capability of making the decisions faster without delay. For decisions that can be made without your presence, acting on them immediately as they arise would be best for everybody, to ensure continuous flow of work. With this kind of process in decision-making, it will be possible to eliminate delays and bureaucratic processes requiring approval from the highest office. In addition, people near the action have better information that is needed for making the decisions. Focusing on actions This section is on focusing on action rather than processes that waste time within the company having to go through so many. When there is more focus on actions than processes and documentation, there is more production and performance. informing everybody Upon deciding on focusing on action, or making it the first priority, all members of the organization should be informed to take more actions than focusing on processes. eliminating obstacle Any obstacle or distractions that come in the way of result-oriented actions should not be considered as top priority, but dealt with after action is already done with. This can be done through focusing on first priority activities, and those that are marked as less important should be tackled later. make a plan For every action that is supposed to be done by a particular person, there must be a plan that helps in organizing the way to go about the actions of the day. Many people waste time due to lack of planning their day. Everybody should be having a plan of the actions to do in a day, putting the first priority activities first, and the rest later, or in an organized way such as time for actions, and some time for documenting all the action together rather than having to document each action at a time. build confidence Many people will hesitate in doing something that is not approved for fear of losing their jobs or receiving punishment in case, they go wrong. The employee confidence should be built up, which can be done through giving them some more training on working independently. More so, this should also come in together with delegated authority to people holding important positions at the lower levers to allow easy decision making. motivate people To make it clear that actions are the first priority, motivations such as rewarding and appraising should be used for those who perform well, such as getting promotion. This will send a message that actions are more proffered than following long procedures and paper work. With focus on action, more production will be achieved from the time saved. Te appointed teams for this project should be involved through out the processes to ensure that the change does not occur at top only, but to every body in the organization in order to change the whole company. At the end of this process, bureaucratic processes shall be eliminated, and the important ones dealt in a better way. This will allow faster decisions and implementation since such decisions will be made at the lower levels that are concerned with the actual work. 3) Letter of Transmittal To: Angela ChiltonAssistant Professor of EnglishTarrant County College, Northwest Campus4801 Marine Creek ParkwayFort Worth, Texas 76179 Dear Angela: In responding to our agreement on the start of the previous month, I am submitting the fully completed manual of processes, which is entitled A Guide to Eliminating Bureaucracy at XYZ Company. The purpose of this manual is to act as a guide in eliminating bureaucratic structures and processes within XYZ Company in order to enhance efficiency. This manual provides explanations of processes that can be followed to ensure a smooth transition from the bureaucratic processes, to an action-oriented company geared towards achieving competitive results. In addition, the manual also provides explanation on how to reduce some of the processes within the company that end up taking much of the time yet they are not action oriented, hence pulling down performance. Finally, it gives a few guidelines on how to change the way the company deals with some of its processes to make them less time consuming as well as efficient. The project was in response to the falling performance of the company, which needed to restructure itself back to profit making, or else it would be shut down in few coming years. There were very strict rules within the company that acted as an end to them selves instead of means to achieving results. In addition, there was very little authority at the lower level where it was needed the most, leading to workers having to seek approval; of almost all their activities. The project gives guidelines of how to delegate authority to empower people to act independently, which I believe encourages innovations since people can use their imagination tailored to the needs of the company. In addition, many people do not love paper work, rather, action is more interesting for them, hence with authority, which everybody would love to have action is more guaranteed considering some of the tedious workloads are eliminated. In completing this project, I enjoyed a few things in the process of writing the manual. One time was during interviews with workers who were quite dissatisfied with their work place because of unnecessary processes, and being just subjects to rules ad regulations. Most of them described their work with such sarcasm that only made it enjoyable, other making fun of their typical day, citing they act just like bees, moving from one office to the other with papers, but unlike bees, there was hardly any significant amount of honey made from these trips. Completing this project improved my skills as a writer greatly, considering that I had a lot of hard times starting with the real work of writing, especially selecting a topic that I would enjoy. I realized that introduction is one of the hard things to write but upon writing it, everything else comes easily. As a writer, I can now complete other project without much difficulty, considering towards the end I all the work was progressing with ease, knowing what words will come next and having a clear flow of mind during writing. Above all else, my manual in the company was received with mixed reactions form all sides. For the top management, parting with power was hard, and supported all ideas except delegation. However, through persuasion that without authority at lower level there will be no change, the top management too, received the manual warmly. On the other hand, the workers at lower level, especially those involved in the actual work were quite happy to know that some processes might be eliminated. In general, is helping the organization in shedding off the bureaucracy. Currently, production and performance has shown signs of improvement as the workers start to embrace the ideas gradually, through at a good pace. In case of any questions concerning the project, I am available to answer all of them as well as make clarifications that you might need. I can be contacted through my usual email, telephone number as well as my cell phone, which are as following: Yours sincerely Signature: Name:

Biography of James K. Polk, 11th US President

Biography of James K. Polk, 11th US President James K. Polk was president during the Mexican American War and the era of Manifest Destiny. Learn more about the 11th president of the United States. James K. Polks Childhood and Education James K. Polk was born on November 2, 1795, in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He moved with his family at the age of ten to Tennessee. He was a sickly youth who suffered from gallstones. Polk did not begin his formal education until 1813 at the age of 18. By 1816, he entered the University of North Carolina and graduated with honors in 1818. He decided to enter politics and also was admitted to the bar. Family Ties Polks father was Samuel, a planter and landowner who was also a friend of  Andrew Jackson. His mother was  Jane Knox. They had been married on Christmas Day in 1794. His mother was a staunch Presbyterian. He had five brothers and four sisters, many of whom died young. On January 1, 1824, Polk married Sarah Childress. She was  well-educated and wealthy. While first lady, she banned dancing and liquor from the White House. Together, they had no children. James K. Polks Career Before the Presidency Polk had focused on politics his whole life. He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives (1823-25). From 1825-39, he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives including serving as its speaker from 1835-39. He was a great ally and supporter of Andrew Jackson. From 1839-41, Polk became Governor of Tennessee. Becoming President In 1844, the Democrats were having a difficult time getting the necessary 2/3 of the vote to nominate a candidate. On the 9th ballot, James K. Polk who had only been considered as a Vice Presidential candidate was nominated. He was the first dark-horse nominee. He was opposed by Whig candidate Henry Clay. The campaign centered around the idea of annexation of Texas which Polk supported and Clay opposed. Polk received 50% of the popular vote and won 170 out of 275 electoral votes. Events and Accomplishments as President James K. Polks  time in office was eventful. In 1846, he agreed to fix the boundary of the Oregon territory at the 49th parallel. Great Britain and the United States disagreed about who claimed the territory. The Oregon Treaty meant that Washington and  Oregon  would be a territory of the U.S. and Vancouver would belong to Great Britain. Much of Polks time in office was taken up with the  Mexican War  which lasted from 1846-1848. The annexation of Texas which had taken place at the end of  John Tylers time in office hurt relations between Mexico and America. Further, the border between the two countries was still disputed. The U.S. felt that the border should be set at the Rio Grande River. When Mexico would not agree, Polk prepared for war. He ordered General  Zachary Taylor  to the area. In April 1846, Mexican troops fired on the U.S. troops in the area. Polk used this to push forward a Declaration of War against Mexico. In February 1847, Taylor was able to defeat the Mexican army led by  Santa Anna. By March 1847, U.S. troops occupied Mexico City. Concurrently in January 1847, Mexican troops were defeated in California. In February 1848, the  Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo  was signed  ending the war. By this treaty, the border was fixed at the Rio Grande. By this means, the U.S. gained California and Nevada amongst other present-day territories amounting to over 500,000 square miles of land. In exchange, the U.S. agreed to pay Mexico $15 million for the territory. This agreement reduced the size of Mexico to half of its former size. Post Presidential Period Polk had announced before taking office that he would not seek a second term. He did retire at the end of his term. However, he did not live much past that date. He died only three months later, possibly from Cholera. Historical Significance After Thomas Jefferson, James K. Polk increased the size of the United States more than any other president through the acquisition of California and New Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War. He also claimed Oregon Territory after a treaty with England. He was a key figure in Manifest Destiny. He was also an extremely effective leader during the Mexican-American War. He is considered to be the best one-term president.

New Directions and Challenges of Social Sciences Assignment

New Directions and Challenges of Social Sciences - Assignment Example The fact that it has been labeled soft science can affect the perceived value of the discipline as well as the amount of funding available to it (Bernstein, 1983). A perfect example is during the late 2000s recessions where social science disproportionately cut from funding compared to mathematics and natural science, which was never touched. Numerous proposals were made for the National Science Foundation to cease funding all social sciences since they make no impact to development. Secondly, social sciences progress is considered nonlinear because many new ideas have to lead to revolutions while others have had lengthy gestation periods and ultimately met a protracted resistance (Bernstein, 1983). Furthermore, other new ideas have attained overly rapid and faddish acceptance that is usually followed by a quick dismissal. Bernstein further asserts that an earlier generation of research in retail management documented a myriad of characteristics attached to scientific progress, but it was never followed by trans-disciplinary studies that tested and developed the general theories that cropped out. Additionally, social sciences such as retail management deal with people. As such, it becomes difficult in isolating all the variables that may influence the outcome of any social science research. In fact, controlling the variable may even alter the results thus it is hard to devise an experiment in any a soft science. The last two decades, the science of retail management has indeed gained relevance and developed the wealth of instruments. Of great importance are the techniques that are used in carrying out an objective research. In spite of using research as a tool for finding answers to business problems, there still one big challenge: explicit assumptions. Most of these tacit assumptions undermine research more so, in retail management (Collins, 2001). Â  

How will Russia and Ukraine likely address their current and future Essay

How will Russia and Ukraine likely address their current and future conflicts in the coming decade Is war likely - Essay Example Issues of natural wealth, such as oil and gas, in the Crimea are very important to all actors involved in the region, including modern day Russia, the United States and Ukraine. Issues surrounding accessibility as well as resource scarcity have recently come to the fore and have involved all actors with a stake in the region. On the surface it may seem clear that the stronger regional power (i.e. Russia) would have the upper hand over Ukraine and eventually determine the fate of the relations between the two countries. Yet there are complexities that dictate the intrigues of international relations and foreign affairs. Ukraine, although is not yet a member of the European Union, is looking forward to NATO membership in order to safeguard its defense in an unforeseen political future. The most immediate resistance to Russia’s regional hegemony is the European Union, which continues to stymie its attempts to throw its weight around regionally (Recall the brief Russian-Georgian W ar last year caused by the break-away Republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia). Still, the EU is burdened with the scarcity of natural resources and consequent economic dependence on other nations; 82% of its entire consumption of oil and 57% of gas makes it the world’s leading importer of fuels. The major supplier for these fuels is Russia, and this has been increasing following strategic investments and agreements from Russia. The EU is hampered by its economic dependence - a factor that cannot be overlooked. The isolation of Russia amongst the former members of the Soviet sphere of influence is a real threat to the decision makers in Moscow.

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

Vulnerability - Essay Example nternal or external resources to cope with stressors.† They argue that vulnerable people do not have the capacity to react to possible stressors and thus have a high risk of harms or losses. Rogers (1997) on the other hand defines vulnerability as â€Å"susceptibility to health problems, harm or neglect.† He argues that vulnerability is used to mean a certain level of danger or threat to the person, and maybe concrete reality-based or a feared threat. From these two definitions it is possible to note that vulnerability is a propensity to harm and makes people helpless, making them need some form of protection. Mr Brown, the subject of this paper is vulnerable because of his mental condition and his inability to make decisions and thus needs protection. In defining vulnerability, the term can be viewed in two dimensions. The first is vulnerability as a noun (etic) and the second is vulnerability as an adjective (emic). In the first perspective, vulnerability is taken to mean susceptibility to or possibility of harm and is thus externally evaluated by and individual who sees another as in need of protection from harm (Spiers, 2000). The second perspective, emic, vulnerability is viewed as a state of being threatened and a feeling of fear of harm. This is internally evaluated by the individual as a result of experiences that makes the individual feel vulnerable. Etic vulnerability has received wide scholarly attention in the medical field as well as in other fields. Emic vulnerability is less explored in the medical field (Spiers, 2000). This paper seeks to explore the issue of vulnerability through the eyes of a patient named Brown. It will look at the factors that made the individual to be considered vulnerable by looking at how and why he was feeling vulnerable. It will also look at practices and experiences that made the individual vulnerable before looking at the ways in which he could be protected from being vulnerable. The first reason that made him

Achieving Universal Primary Education

Achieving Universal Primary Education In 1998, the then government of Pakistan, accorded full recognition to the fundamental responsibility of restructuring of education system of Pakistan, by announcing the National education policy on 27th March 1998. The National Education Policy 1998 was devised with a sight to transform the Pakistani nation into an integrated, cohesive entity that can stand up and compete against future challenges by setting one of the main objectives of achieving universal primary education by providing the maximum opportunities for free access to every child. In 2000, world leaders from 189 nations voted to implement the MDGs.Pakistan was also one of them. This declaration set eight goals to achieve the unanimous vote to instill the Millennium Declaration may suggest that the political will to accomplish these targets is promising. The achievement of universal primary education was second goal set after eradicating poverty.The target set under this goal was that by 2015 universally children will b e able to complete full course of primary schooling.The indicators to achieve this target were completion/survival rate , net enrollment ratio and literacy rate of 15-24 years old men and women. However, critics of the MDGs are not sure about the likelihood of every nation attaining universal education by 2015. The critics of the MDGs suggest that greater focus should be placed on the overall progress rather than the final outcome as the evidence implies that the educational MDGs are not likely to be achieved in most countries. By concentrating primarily on the rates of progress over time, (Sahn, 2003) claim the results will be more beneficial in providing encouragement to countries, as failure to achieve the goals is not synonymous with failure to achieve social progress. So, greater attention should be placed on rates of progress towards completing these goals rather than the final outcome. As failing to achieve these goals by 2015 does not indicate a lack of improvement in Pakistan, it is more appropriate for policy analysts to focus on rates of progress. Since Pakistan has signed Millennium development declaration, it is facing major problems like war on terror, political instability, and earthquakes 2004 and floods 2009-10 which hindered its progress towards these goals. There are so many other factors that are obstructing Pakistan in achieving its millennium development educational goals. 2.2 Factors that affect the achievement of millennium development goals of primary education in Pakistan in light of previous researchers and critics. As this paper intends to provide the reasons for critical lag and gap in achieving primary educational millennium developments goals in Pakistan and how these goals may be achieved, I chose to focus on factors which are common and have greater influence on educational progress and aspects that government and other educational authorities in Pakistan can have a direct influence over through policy change. For the purposes of this research, the model that signifies the determinants of educational progress are completion survival rate, female teachers as percentage of total primary teachers, population aged between 0-14 as percentage of total population , poverty rate and literacy rate gap.But other variables that are considered and have an impact are net enrolment ratio, rural population, pupil-teacher ratio, public expenditure, gender parity index, and non-formal education (deeni madrassas), low birth weight babies. The debate that whether educational progress is more affected by personal back ground of students ( that includes rural population, poverty rate, public expenditure , gender parity index) or school quality factors ( that are pupil teacher ratio, trained teachers ,female teachers and non formal education) has been ongoing since the Coleman Report (Coleman et al. 1966). Coleman et al. (1966) found that family background of students, that is their parents socioeconomic status, parents education and occupations are more indicative of students educational progress than school-level factors. Since the publication of the Coleman Report, researchers have continued to examine and debate whether quality of education or home environment determines students academic achievements. Especially in regard to how national economic development affects which factors are more important on a global scale, policy makers continue to look for which factors may best explain educational progress. In this resea rch, I intend to observe whether economic or educational investment factors best explain progress towards the educational MDGs in Pakistan. In order to determine how Pakistan can use its resources most efficiently, I have used statistical data for different variables covered under socio economic status of students and educational quality and their effect to reduce literacy gap. Though 70% of population in Pakistan is still living in rural areas. But growth in rural areas is moving towards down and literacy rate is improving so we can see that social background of people has high impact on educational progress. (DR .P.A.Shami, 2005) in their study on basic education in Pakistan raised issues like lack of access to quality education in rural areas and unequal distribution of educational resources in rural and urban areas. These issues still prevail in society as a hindrance to achievement of MDGs for education. The Pakistan has The average literacy rate of Pakistan is 57 per cent with combination of 69 per cent for males and 45 per cent for females.The literacy rate in urban areas remains much higher than in rural parts of the country , 74 per cent and 48 per cent respectively The average provinicial literacy rate follows as Punjab and Sindh 59 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (50 per cent) and Balochistan (45 per cent) (Pakistan Economic Survey, 2009-2010). As I have taken population aged between (0-14) as percentage of total population as one of my variables and more than half of population in Pakistan lives in rural areas so it ultimately effects my determinant. As past research indicates that the effects of educational investment factors or school quality factors which include total educational expenditures and number of trained teachers for the universal enrolment MDG, pupil-teacher ratio and repetition rate for the universal completion MDG, and pupil-teacher ratios and number of female instructors for the gender parity goal may vary depending on the economic status of a nation (Heyneman Loxley, 1983). The educational investment factors are most indicative of educational progress in the worlds poorest countries, where as economic growth characteristics will best explain the progress of lower-middle income countries towards the educational MDGs. Economic growth may be viewed as more significant at the national level in lower-middle income nations because these countries are closer to being seen as legitimate economic partners by industrialized nations than low income nations. Alternatively, educational investment factors will likely be mor e significant in low income nations because improvements in these in these countries are more immediately perceived at the individual level than changes in national economic growth. (Gupta et al, 2002) found in his research that economic growth has been major determinant of educational progress. This is in line with my determinant of poverty rate. As economic growth of country directly links to the welfare of its citizens. The growth in economy can lead to educational growth if net enrollment rates do not rise at much faster rates than GNP per capita is recognized by Colclough Al-Samarrai (2000) in his research. This finding suggests as more children reach the school going age, fewer public resources will be available to allocate to a nations educational system. Thus economic growth is linked to greater funding on education as more resources are available to spend on education. This trend may occur for several reasons. First, as the economy of nation develops more spending is done on education, even though the total proportion of the GNP spent on education decreases (Coclough Al-Samarrai, 2000) and secondly, increasing rates of economic growth signify a higher quality of living for a nations citizens. As financial resources become more readily available at the individual level, the perceived costs of education may not be as great. Increasing employment rates may enhance citizens opinions towards education because prolonged unemployment can lead to disinterest in investing in further schooling (World Bank;2010). However (Mellinium developemnt goals, 2010) shows budgetary allocations are not sufficient enough to implement the desired projects to achieve universal primary education by 2015. Budget for education still remains at about 2% of GDP, out of which major amount is spent on administrative issues like salaries, leaving very minimal amount to spend on new initiatives. (Pakistan Economic Survey, 2009-2010) In South Asia, Pakistan falls in one of those countries who contribute lowest public expenditure on education , as a proportion of their GDP. According to figures, Pakistan allocated to the education sector 2.5 % of the GDP in 2006-07, 2.47% in 2007-08, 2.1% in 2008-09 and 2 % in 2009-10. This factor also directly affect the poverty rate.As if public expenditure is increased , there will be more cheaper education facilities thus making poor people accessible to basic education. A study by Qureshi and Arif (2001) conducted on the Profile of Poverty in Pakistan demonstrates that poverty has been increasing drastically throughout the decade starting 1990s. More rural household were dragged to poverty and approximately a quarter of the urban households were also living below the poverty line by the end of 1998-99. They conclude by shedding light on the fact that acquisition of education is one of the most significant determinants of the incidence of poverty. It is imperative that education should be taken into account during policy formulation and implementation. A very important idea has been put forward in the article which states that education can have a positive impact of poverty alleviation strategies. The acquisition of an individual will have a positive effect on his or her earnings and productivity and furthermore also impact any individual that interacts with the educated. (Qureshi and Arif, 2001). I have taken the literacy rate gap (target-actual) as my dependant variable for this study as it is inversly proportional to maximum achievement of primary education and studied the effect of other independent variables on education. Despite the general assumption that more funding in education leads to achieve higher degree of educational attainment and enrolment, previous researches on the impact of public spending on education for improving educational progress is same. Gallagher (1993) claims in his work that while educational expenditures positively affect enrolment rates, further attention is needed to assess the quality of how public expenditures are spent in education. The total public education expenditures may not be the most accurate determinant of observing how a government is financially supporting its educational system, but other research indicates that educational funding at the national level can vary significantly. Colclough Al-Samarrai (2000) mentioned in his rese arch that South Asian countries spend a higher proportion of their total GNP on education and subsequently have higher enrollment rates. As total educational expenditures vary significantly based on certain national characteristics, more research is needed to determine how influential a nations total financial support for education is on enrolment rates. For instance, the school-aged population in Sub-Saharan Africa is proportionately larger than the school-aged population in South Asia (Colclough Al-Samarrai, 2000) indicating that total education expenditures would need to be greater in these countries to allow for funding to be similarly allocated. Additionally, in terms of educational funding, the majority of finances are spent on teacher salaries and other administrative works (MDG Report, 2004 MDG, Report 2010) ,Dr PA Shami Development of education in Pakistan (2005).Though public expenditure on education is taken as variable in my regression model but it ultimately effects t wo of my variables completion rate and female teachers.As if there will more public expenditures on education it will provide more resources and facilities to education sectors thus making education more easily achievable ending up in students successfully completing their primary education.Similarly it can increase number of female teachers in education sector by giving them good pay incentives. A nation with a higher school-aged population will likely have greater pupil-teacher ratios which in turn may lead to a lower quality education. Pupil-teacher ratio is a significant determinant for its potential effects on educational progress, specifically in terms of school completion rates, though researchers are in agreement about its significance. Dr PA Shami in his paper Access and Equity in Basic education also raised this issue that in Pakistan the very high pupil teacher ratio in most of schools especially rural areas has worse effects on its educational progress. As teachers cannot accommodate to give attention to a class of 40 to 50 students so it aversely affects the progress. The amount of time a teacher can commit to each student is reduced by large class sizes, but the gender of the teacher may also affect how likely girls are to obtain an education. In many places like Baluchistan, Sindh and Pakhtunistan parental attitude towards girls education is very conservative. This situation is more intense in rural areas which cover more than 70-80% of total population in Pakistan. In rural areas due to poor quality of life and less exposure and awareness and illiterate parents both socially and academically, long distant schools and lack of female teachers, children are not sent to schools and especially girls.(Dr P A Shami Access and equity in basic education 2005) MDG Report 2010. Consequently, girls may need for female teachers to be present in order to decide that obtaining an education is worthwhile. Additionally, as girls tend to receive less attention from instructors than boys, a lack of female instructors can reduce the amount of learning time for girls (Benavot Gad, 2004), thus reducing the likelihood of girls attaining an education. In addition to affecting the gender parity ratio, the presence of women in the educational system may influence enrolment and completion rates. The higher participation of women in the workforce is often viewed as indicative of a nation becoming modern; more women in the educational system may lead to higher enrolment and completion rates. Female teachers in schools tend to have higher levels of certification than their male counterparts. Consequently, literacy rate gap will be lower in areas with a higher percentage of female teachers because the female teachers are more qualified, easy going and trustworthy to teach. (DR .P.A.Shami, 2005)in their study point out insufficient and imbalanced educational infrastructure, high poverty rate, incompetent, untrained and non availability of teachers, illiteracy of parents and economically weak families give rise to low completion/survival rate of primary education , which ultimately negatively effect literacy rate gap. These factors are also seen in (Mellinium developemnt goals, 2010). Completion survival rate is taken in my research as independent variables to assess its impact on literacy rate gap which ultimately targets achievement of Millennium-Development-Goals for primary education in Pakistan. (Mellinium development goals, 2010)raised issue of net enrollment ratio and completion/ survival rate that has also mentioned by (DR .P.A.Shami, 2005).Though net enrolment ratio has increased in primary education to 57% in 2009 from 42 % in 2002 but we are still lagging behind a lot to catch 100% by 2015. And the children who manage to complete their primary school that is to complete studies from grade 1 to grade 5 is only 54.6% in 2009 which has been decreased from 57.3% in 2002. 2.3 Discussion of various projects and programmes running in Pakistan to achieve MDGs for primary education According to Pakistan Millennium-Development-Goals Report (Mellinium development goals, 2004) by the GoP (Government of Pakistan), a fair assessment of the status and trends relating to Goal 2 is difficult owing to a number of reasons.MDG Report 2005 highlighted that major discrepancies arise due to data collection by different methods, the use of different definitions of variables, and the time lag between data collection and publication. MDG Report 2004 states that discrepancies are sometimes significant, for example, between the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) and the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (PIHS). There is greater consistency, however, in the rates of change implied by these sources as indicated in (MDG Report 2005 pakistan world fit for children report , 1989).The programs and projects introduced to achieve the MDGs are run by different organizations and NGOs. The programs and projects running at provincial level are independent and have n o interference from federal government. Therefore monitoring and evaluation of these programs is difficult at federal level making the analysis of such interventions are more complicated for researchers and policy makers. An education sector reforms (ESR) specific programme was provided Rs732 million which was spent on the provision of missing facilities in primary and middle schools, restoring and reestablisihing of science education at secondary level and establishment of polytechnic institute at district level (Balochistan, Khanozi,Turbat Gilgit).The national education foundation intends to establish community schools in the country at the places where primary school are not available within a reachable distance and skill based literacy centers. Rs 1 billion were expanded under Canadian Debt Swap Project for capacity building of teachers training institution and training of teachers. Child Friendly School model (CFS), which is a framework for all children to enroll in schools and learn effectively has been expanded in the country to over 2700 schools. (Pakistan Millenim development goals report, 2010) .In time of natural disasters like earthquakes and floods UNICEF provides help to organize mass b ack-to-school campaign, being to resume quality education activities, encouraged to rebuilt schools and infrastructure, aided to improve, speedup and adapt learning strategies for children who have missed schooling, female education and generating public support to raise awareness about importance of education. Further it provides help to schools, providing with safe water and sanitation. (Goal: Achieve universal Primary eduction). Schools are also trying to decrease the dropout rate of students which is about 50% at the moment by engaging children in co-curriculum activities, such as sports and other play activities to develop their interest in schools and increase the retention rate at school. 2.4 Analysis of gaps and lags The achievement of MDGs so far is not remarkable and the reasons other than one described above are also earthquakes in 2004, war on terror and recent massive destruction in floods 2010. Pakistan has currently net enrolment ratio less than 80%, which is unlikely to reach 95% by 2015.Net primary enrolment ratio was 52% in 2004-5 rose to 56% in 2006-7 and then 57% in 2008-9.There are significant variations in NER among the four provinces .The NER is highest in Punjab with a slight improvement in other provinces by 1%.Gender disparity in NER is reduced. Especially in Pakhtunkhwa it has improved by 4% in last few years. Trend towards private schooling is increasing in urban as well as rural areas, with primary enrolment increased from 18% to 20% in the later. There has been significant decline in completion/survival rate to grade during the last five years. The rate decreased from72.1 to 54.7 to 52.3 to 54.6 in 2005-6 to 2006-7 to 2007-8 to 2008-9 respectively.But it has been improved dr astically in 2010 reaching to 69.9%. One of the main reasons of escalating this rate may be shift in the number of students from public to private schools due to unavailability of teachers, better infrastructure and standard quality of tuition in public schools. Data of the public school does not show whether students have left school or gone to private schools. In the last ten years there is overall improvement in literacy rate with respect to individual sectors of male, female, urban and rural areas. Though there is increase of 3% points in urban areas and 1% point in rural areas. Literacy rate is higher in urban areas 74% compared to 48% in rural areas in 2008-9.The individual provincial literacy rates are as follows: Punjab Sindh 59%, Khyber- 50%, Baluchistan 45%.The literacy rate 2008-9 is higher among men 69% compared to women 45% which is increased from 66% and 43% in 2006-7 respectively. (Mellinium developemnt goals, 2010 (Australian Aid Programme to Pakistan, 2010). Social status between men and women, contraceptive use, fertility rates decline, the relationship between child and maternal mortality is a good established. The most powerful donors reduction of child mortality is the mother of a literacy, which in itself is an education system to ensure that his pioneering development of the book as a free universal access to education for the poor, including girls and boys.There should be emphasis on education among these women, social status and overall health of children and pregnant women, he made two basic features that make life meaningful and free possible.The social status of women through education, enjoyment and economic relationship between education and health opportunities is, therefore, is to achieve the Millennium-Development-Goals and to ensure that the basic premise of sustainable development. It is obvious that Pakistan lagged behind in this respect the pain behind. In general, Pakistan faces multiple and interrelated problems, with a view to achieving the Millennium-Development-Goals call. Some of these issues relate directly to health care, while others refer to economic,social and cultural. Nevertheless, macro-political environment is also a source of problems. Pakistan history suspicious of democracy. The country was under an actual or de facto military regime, history and deprived the majority of people the fundamental freedoms. There is no sense of democracy, promotion of civic awareness, a strong sense of human rights and freedoms will be difficult if not impossible, to achieve the Millennium-Development-Goals in Pakistan.

It is Impossible to Accurately Imagine What is it like to be a Bat Essa

It is Impossible to Accurately Imagine What is it like to be a Bat Insofar as I can imagine this (which is not very far), it tells me only what it would be like for me to behave as a bat behaves. But that is not the question. I want to know what it is like for a bat to be a bat... - Thomas Nagel In order to take the above request seriously, one must assume that bats have experience and consciousness. Assuming so, one must then imagine the consciousness that a bat must live with. Its brain is "designed to correlate outgoing impulses with subsequent echoes, and the information thus acquired enables the bat to make precise discriminations of distance, size, shape, motion, and texture comparable to those we make by vision." (Whereas we humans rely on sight to create our vision of the universe, bats rely on sound.) Because any argument of any creature's existence must be based on the human epistemology, the question is now not how bats perceive the universe, but how a bat's perception compares to the human perception. Such a comparison may never be genuine or correct, but by...

Femme Fatale in Victorian Literature Essay

INTRODUCTION Victorian Era was the big step in the overall cultural development of England. Many, presently famous novels and poems came to light during this period. Mainly writers, who (in their style of writing) openly manifested their opposition to the strict moral law which was significant those days. Universal etiquette of behavior, wealth and the family name in the social hierarchy ladder were very important to be perceived as aristocracy. Class division within the society was clearly marked. The pattern of a female character in Victorian novel which gained popularity very fast that time was Femme Fatale pattern which is also known as deadly woman. I have chosen such topic, because I am of opinion that femme fatale type of character is the most interesting of all female identity types. Furthermore, Victorian period is a time of a changing role of the women in the British society, which gives us very contrastive background, in which behavior of such woman was something immoral, controversial but also brave. Charles Dickens is widely perceived as the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era. He is the creator of fictional characters, which are known all over the world and are used as universal patterns through centuries till now. Ch. Dickens in his work described in a perfect way English Victorian society as well as its rules. Dickens, through his life experienced many difficulties, which shaped his identity and had immense influence on his own, specific style of writing. His thirteenth novel Great Expectations was one of the greatest among Victorian Era works. The main character Pip, is growing and developing through the whole story which is why the novel belongs to the Bildungsroman genre. What is more, Great Expectations novel was firstly published in the serial form in weekly magazine All the Year Round so it can be also defined as serialized novel. The plot of this story is quite complicated, bringing the reader much of surprise because of unexpected turns of action and character, like the most significant change in the story is when the main hero suddenly becomes rich person and his life has been rapidly changed. But it is not main hero on whom I am going to focus in the first chapter of my diploma paper. It will be the woman of his dreams. The woman, who was unable to return a feeling back to him, as well as to anybody else. Her name is Estella Havisham and she is the first example which I am going to analyze in my work. The second writer from Victorian era whose fictional character I am going to analyze is William Thackeray. William Thackeray, the next one of the greatest writers in Victoria Era, was born into British high society in 1811. He experienced mostly comfortable and easy life until he reached 22 years old. Till that time he managed to squander most of his fortune. The main reasons which led to that situation were gambling and the Indian Banking Crisis. We can say that during his life he experienced on his own what is like to be rich and poor. That is why he could objectively depict the view of British society of his times. This is exactly what he had done in his famous work entitled Vanity Fair. In 1847 He started publishing short stories in Punch Magazine, which means that similarly to Great Expectations, it was also serialized novel. Although first chapters of this novel were written years before, they were not available for the wide audience. The whole story was completed and published as a book in 1848. That time also it received the subtitle A Novel Without a Hero. Very soon it became successful. CHAPTER ONE: FEMME FATALE AND VICTORIAN SOCIETY 1Victorian Period – Overall information The period 1837-1901 is named Victorian after Queen Victoria who ruled English country that time. It was a time of a big change when English Victorian Society was divided into three main classes: upper, middle and lower which was also called working class. Each class is characterized by various occupations, ways of life and etiquette. The upper class consisted of the nobility, such as dukes, earls, and viscounts. They were often related to the royal families of Britain and Europe, and their society was distinct and separate to the other two classes – certain expectations had to be met by everybody. Most of these ‘aristocrats’ did not have a profession, as their families had sufficient funds to live in affluence. However, many were captains of industry, especially mining or ship building. The middle class consisted of rich families who were respectable, but lacked a â€Å"title†, and often had skilled professions, such as a doctor, or a teacher. At the beginning of the Victorian times, they were a small proportion of the population. However, the effects of the Industrial Revolution meant that more people could be defined as ‘middle class’, because of improvements in education and more opportunities of leveling from the lower class to upper one. The lower class (working class) were made up of the rural and urban poor, who had often low skilled, dangerous, dirty and boring jobs (often all four) that they had to take because of the lack of education. A handful could actually be defined as ‘lower middle class’, but because they often lived in terraced housing areas, they were defined as working class. There was also a class below the working class – paupers. They lived in extreme poverty, often because of old age, unemployment, illness or strained resources. Sally Mitchel in her book clearly points out that Most working people earned just enough to stay alive, and could be thrown into poverty by illness, layoffs, or a sudden misfortune such as a factory fire that caused even short-term unemployment. People in unskilled and semiskilled jobs generally needed additional income from several members of the family. (Mitchel 19) Etiquette was one of the most significant thing that time. Education of the woman would not be completed without teaching rules of proper behavior. Not only women but also men had to obey this set of rules during many daily activities even the simplest one. What kind of jewelry as well as when and where one should wear, who to walk with, who to dance with, how and when to speak to a stranger, were all very critical knowledge. For men, there were rules about bowing, where to sit and next to whom, even about the circumstances in which it was appropriate or not to smoke or drink in front of ladies. Running a house without servants was almost impossible. The number of servants one could afford was a sign of one’s wealth. The bigger house, the more servants were hired. They were usually divided into two groups: indoor (butler, housekeeper, maids) and outdoor: (coachman, groom, a gardener). Being a servant wasn’t well-paid job but thanks to tips, a servant could earn extra money. Next, very significant thing which was obligatory mainly in upper class society was dance. It was the essence of every ball which was one of the greatest entertainment that time in English society. Balls were organized on many occasions and created opportunity to know noble men and women from upper class. In Victorian Britain the ideology of separate private sphere to the woman and sphere of business and politics to the man was clearly marked. The home was regarded as a haven from the busy and chaotic public world of politics and business, and from the harsh life of the factory. In Victorian times, you could travel one of three ways: by train, by horse, or by foot. The most common means of transportation was by far the horse. It was used by rich and poor. The rich owned fancy coaches that had every accessory one could ever need for living on the road, and the poor would go about town on the cheap omnibuses that carried twenty people at a time. 2Femme Fatale The term femme fatale comes from French and it states mainly in the opposition to another popular image of a Victorian woman called Angel in the House. ‘Femme Fatale is a woman who is sexually attractive but cruel and dangerous to men who have a relationship with her’ (Macmillan Dictionary, Femme Fatale definition). There were many famous female characters in the history who suit very well to this image even before the term Femme Fatale has been created. To the most famous examples belong: The femme fatale has always been a well-known archetype in literature, art and movies. The tradition of the femme fatale is long and versatile and can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt, with its iconic Cleopatra. Especially in the fine arts, the femme fatale has been portrayed in many metaphorical ways: as a vampire, nymph, fallen angel or sorceress. She flourished in the 1940’s century film noir, where the combination of aggressiveness and sensuality in women was a central topic (Place, 1998: 57). We can find many examples not only in written form but also in movies, where tempting and lethal women can be found as well: Sharon Stone in BASIC INSTINCT (1992), the Bond Girls or Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones in CHICAGO (2002) were all very seductive, but dangerous. Hence, based on van Dijkstra’s extensive historiography, the femme fatale can be defined as a woman who is mysteriously seductive and uses this quality to outsmart men. Her resistance against male domination exists of beauty, charm and sexual allure: she tempts the male target and drives him crazy by denying him her affection. (1986, 237) To summarize: key aspects of the femme fatale are mystery, beauty, seduction and, most importantly, danger. The most conventional image of the perfect Victorian woman who states in opposition to Femme Fatale woman can be found in the title of a long poem written by Coventry Patmore: The Angel in the House. The pure woman’s life was supposed to be entirely centered on the home. She preserved the higher moral values, guarded her husband’s conscience, guided her children’s training, and helped regenerate society through her daily display of Christianity in action. If she successfully made the home a place of perfect peace, her husband and sons would not want to leave it for an evening’s (morally suspect) entertainment elsewhere. (Mitchell 266) 3 William Makepeace Thackeray – Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta, India, in 1811. He was son of Richmond Thackeray, an Indian Civil Servant, and his wife Anne. Just a few years later his father died, his mother remarried, and the shy and young William was sent to England where he would deal with the harsh realities of isolation at Charterhouse, a private school in London. He then went on to attend Trinity College, Cambridge. Thackeray abandoned his studies without taking a degree, having lost some of his inheritance of twenty thousand pounds through gambling. During 1831-33 Thackeray studied law at the Middle Temple, London, but had little enthusiasm to continue his studies. Soon after He went to Paris to unsuccessfully try his hand at painting. It was in Paris that he met and married Isabella Shawe (1816–1893) in 1836, with whom he would have two surviving daughters, Anne Isabella and Harriet Marian. Back in England he suffered massive financial losses, which is why he had to start writing articles, reviews, essays and sketches as a journalist. Travel articles about France such as his Paris Sketch Book (1840) and The Yellowplush Correspondence (1841) were among his first efforts appearing in various magazines and journals including Fraser’s, Punch, and The Times. He also illustrated many of his own works. After the birth of Harriet, Isabella started on what was to be, until her death, numerous bouts of depression, an extensive search for a cure, and ultimately a slow spiral to insanity. She would live apart from William, rarely seeing him or her daughters. Thackeray remained close to his daughters all his life. Anne was his secretary for a while and they both lived with him at his house in London before marrying. The disintegration of his marriage however would have a profound effect on his life and was reflected in the characters of his novels, including the loveless marriage between Rachel and Frank Castlewood in The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. (1852) and its sequel The Virginians (1857). Haunting the Literary Clubs of London including the Garrick Club, Thackeray also travelled the Mediterranean, A Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo (1846) the result. Book of Snobs (1848) and Vanity Fair (1848) followed soon after, but it was not until The History of Pendennis (1850), his semi-autobiographical novel that Thackeray’s success as a humorist was confirmed. He then embarked on a series of lectures published as English Humorists of the Eighteenth Century (1851) and Four Georges (1860), based on the Hanoverian Kings, from his tours of the United States in 1852-53 and 1855-56. In 1860 Thackeray became editor of the monthly literary journal Cornhill Magazine, but died suddenly three years later, in 1863, at the age of fifty two. He lies buried beside his mother in the Victorian Garden cemetery Kensal Green in London, England. Charles Dickens wrote a glowing tribute to him in Cornhill Magazine. William Thackeray is mostly known for his great novel â€Å"Vanity Fair†. The novel was written in 1848. The book brought Thackeray prosperity and made him an established author and popular lecturer in Europe and in the United States. Vanity Fair with its second title A Novel without a Hero is a novel published in 1847–48, satirizing society in early 19th-century Britain. The book’s title comes from John Bunyan’s allegorical story The Pilgrim’s Progress, first published in 1678 and still widely read at the time of Thackeray’s novel. â€Å"Vanity Fair† refers to a stop along the pilgrim’s progress: a never-ending fair held in a town called Vanity, which is meant to represent man’s sinful attachment to worldly things. The novel is now considered a classic, and has inspired several film adaptations, the most recent being the 2004 film starring Reese Witherspoon. In 2003, Vanity Fair was listed on the BBC’s The Big Read poll of the UK’s â€Å"best-loved novel†.[1] 4 Charles Dickens – Great Expectations Charles Dickens is widely perceived as the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era. He is the creator of fictional characters, which are known all over the world and are used as universal patterns through centuries till now. Ch. Dickens in his work describes in a perfect way English Victorian society as well as its rules. Dickens, through his life experienced many difficulties, which shaped his identity and had immense influence on his own, specific style of writing. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812 in Portsmouth. He was son of John and Elizabeth Dickens. Until he finished 11 years he and his family moved two times. He was very clever boy. When he was young, he read many novels, especially the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding. From the early stages he took private lessons, first in dame school, and then at a school run by William Giles, a dissenter, in Chatham. In 1822, the Dickens family moved to Camden Town, a poor neighborhood in London. By then the family’s financial situation had grown dire, as John Dickens had a dangerous habit of living beyond the family’s means. Eventually, John was sent to prison for debt in 1824, when Charles was just 12 years old. In 1860 Dickens started to publish short stories for the weekly magazine â€Å"All The Year Round†. Although intended for weekly publication, Great Expectations was divided into nine monthly sections, with new pagination for each. At the beginning, his serialized story was not so famous as A Day’s Ride by Charles Lever, which was published in the same magazine but soon lose favor with the public. Dickens, during one year of publication (1860-1861), wrote thirty six episodes. The novel gained title Great Expectation and became very successful among works of Victorian era, showing simultaneously Dickens’ peak and maturity as an author. Nowadays, novel is regarded as very important and is taught in many English classes. The main character Pip, is growing and developing through the whole story which is why the novel belongs to the Bildungsroman genre. In many respects, it contains themes and emotions directly related to the author’s experience. For instance, the description of Pip’s childhood has some affinity with Dickens own life. Also, Estella seems directly inspired from Maria Beadwell, a lady whom Dickens loved; Beadwell snubbed him coldly because of his low social status. The plot of story is complicated, bringing the reader much of surprise because of unexpected turns of action as the most significant change in the story when the main hero suddenly becomes rich person and his life has been rapidly changed. But it is not main hero on whom I am going to focus in the first chapter of my diploma paper. It will be the woman of his dreams. The woman, who was unable to return a feeling back to him, as well as to anybody else. Her name is Estella Havisham and she is the first example which I am going to analyze in my work.

Diluting the Bucket List

Diluting the Bucket List Diluting the Bucket List Diluting the Bucket List By Maeve Maddox The idiom â€Å"to kick the bucket,† meaning â€Å"to die,† has been used in English since the eighteenth century. The term â€Å"bucket list† makes its earliest appearance on the Ngram Viewer in 1962, forty-five years before it was popularized by the movie The Bucket List (2007). A â€Å"bucket list† is a list of things that a person hopes to experience or achieve before dying. In the movie, a character played by Morgan Freeman is diagnosed with lung cancer and makes such a list. Less than a decade has passed since the movie popularized the term, and already it has dwindled into a mere synonym for â€Å"to-do list.† A â€Å"to-do list† is a list of tasks that need to be completed during a period of time. A typical daily to-do list might look like this: 1. cut grass 2. pick up cleaning 3. take cat to vet 4. play basketball 5. renew library book An advertising campaign called â€Å"Summer Bucket List† alerted me to the fact that the term â€Å"bucket list† is being used as a synonym for â€Å"to-do list.† The ads show people drinking beer and engaging in ordinary summer activities. The â€Å"bucket list† in the context of the ads is simply a list of outdoor activities to be fitted into one’s schedule before the end of summer. The same day I saw one of the â€Å"summer bucket list† ads, I watched a rerun of Bones (television crime series) and heard two characters discuss goals to be achieved before the age of thirty as â€Å"a bucket list.† I suppose this use could be argued as being metaphoric: â€Å"life after thirty equals death.† Here are some examples in which â€Å"bucket list† seems to be overkill: But dont let high school pass you by- be sure to make the most of your last days before college by creating your own senior year bucket list full of things you want to do or accomplish by graduation day. - Huffington Post. Back when my hubby and I first got married almost 7 years ago, we had some fairly standard items on our â€Å"before baby† bucket list.  - Maternity advice blog. To help you take these last months [of college] by storm, we’ve compiled the ultimate bucket list of things you’ve been meaning to do since freshman year. - MTV site. Write yourself a marriage bucket list to ensure that you and your spouse’s first year together is one full of fun, love and laughter!- Wedding advice site. It was inevitable that â€Å"bucket list† would morph into â€Å"list of things to be done before a particular event- not necessarily dying- takes place.† To me, the use of â€Å"bucket list† in such contexts sounds creepy, especially when the terminal event is something joyous, like the birth of a baby. Related post: â€Å"Pushing Up Daisies† and Other Euphemisms for Death Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'ts5 Brainstorming Strategies for Writers40 Idioms with First

The History of Japanese Ninjas

The History of Japanese Ninjas The ninja of movies and comic books- a stealthy assassin in black robes with magical abilities in the arts of concealment and murder- is very compelling, to be sure. But the historical reality of the ninja is somewhat different. In feudal Japan, ninjas were a lower class of warriors often recruited by samurai and governments to act as spies. Origins of the Ninja It is difficult to pin down the emergence of the first ninja, more properly called shinobi- after all, people around the world have always used spies and assassins. Japanese folklore states that the ninja descended from a demon that was half man and half crow. However, it seems more likely that the ninja slowly evolved as an opposing force to their upper-class contemporaries, the samurai, in early feudal Japan. Most sources indicate that the skills that became ninjutsu, the ninjas art of stealth, began to develop between 600 to 900. Prince Shotoku, who lived from 574 to 622, is said to have employed Otomono Sahito as a shinobi spy. By the year 907, the Tang Dynasty in China had fallen, plunging the country into 50 years of chaos and forcing Tang generals to escape over the sea to Japan where they brought new battle tactics and philosophies of war. Chinese monks also began to arrive in Japan in the 1020s, bringing new medicines and fighting philosophies of their own, with many of the ideas originating in India  and making their way across Tibet and China before turning up in Japan. The monks taught their methods to Japans warrior-monks, or yamabushi, as well as to members of the first ninja clans. The First Known Ninja School For a century or more, the blend of Chinese and native tactics that would become ninjutsu developed as a counter-culture, without rules. It was first formalized by Daisuke Togakure and Kain Doshi around the 12th century. Daisuke had been a samurai, but he was on the losing side in a regional battle and forced to forfeit his lands and his samurai title. Ordinarily, a samurai might commit seppuku under these circumstances, but Daisuke did not. Instead, in 1162, Daisuke wandered the mountains of southwest Honshu where he met Kain Doshi, a Chinese warrior-monk. Daisuke renounced his bushido code, and together the two developed a new theory of guerrilla warfare called ninjutsu. Daisukes descendants created the first ninja ryu, or school, the Togakureryu. Who Were the Ninja? Some of the ninja leaders, or jonin, were disgraced samurai like Daisuke Togakure that had lost in battle or had been renounced by their daimyo but fled rather than committing ritual suicide. However, most ordinary ninjas were not from the nobility. Instead, low-ranking ninjas were villagers and farmers who learned to fight by any means necessary for their own self-preservation, including the use of stealth and poison to carry out assassinations. As a result, the most famous ninja strongholds were the Iga and Koga Provinces, mostly known for their rural farmlands and quiet villages. Women also served in ninja combat. Female ninja, or kunoichi, infiltrated enemy castles in the guise of dancers, concubines, or servants who were highly successful spies and sometimes even acted as assassins as well. Samurai Use of the Ninja The samurai lords could not always prevail in open warfare, but they were constrained by bushido, so they often hired ninjas to do their dirty work. Secrets could be spied out, opponents assassinated, or misinformation planted, all without sullying a samurais honor. This system also transferred wealth to the lower classes, as the ninja were paid handsomely for their work. Of course, a samurais enemies could also hire ninja, and as a result, the samurai needed, despised, and feared the ninja- in equal measure. The ninja high man, or jonin, gave orders to the chunin  (middle man), who passed them on to the genin, or the ordinary ninja. This hierarchy was also, unfortunately, based on the class the ninja had come from before training, but it wasnt uncommon for a skilled ninja to ascend the ranks well beyond his or her social class. The Rise and Fall of the Ninja The ninja came into their own during the tumultuous era between 1336 and 1600. In an atmosphere of constant war, ninja skills were essential for all sides, and they played a key role in the Nanbukucho Wars (1336–1392), the Onin War (1460s), and the  Sengoku Jidai, or Warring States Period- where they aided samurai in their internal power struggles. The ninja were an important tool during the Sengoku Period (1467-1568), but also a destabilizing influence. When warlord Oda Nobunaga emerged as the strongest daimyo and began to reunite Japan in 1551–1582, he saw the ninja strongholds at Iga and Koga as a threat, but despite quickly defeating and co-opting the Koga ninja forces, Nobunaga had more trouble with Iga.​ In what would later be called the Iga Revolt or Iga No Run, Nobunaga attacked the ninja of Iga with an overwhelming force of more than 40,000 men. Nobunagas lightning-quick attack on Iga forced the ninja to fight open battles, and as a result, they were defeated and scattered to nearby provinces and the mountains of Kii. While their base was destroyed, the ninja did not vanish entirely. Some went into the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who became shogun in 1603, but the much-reduced ninja continued to serve on both sides in various struggles. In one famous incident from 1600, a ninja snuck through a group of Tokugawas defenders at Hataya castle and planted the flag of the besieging army high on the front gate. The Edo Period under the Tokugawa Shogunate  from 1603–1868 brought stability and peace to Japan, bringing the ninja story to a close. Ninja skills and legends survived, though, and were embellished to enliven the movies, games, and comic books of today.

Greenleaf by Flannery O'Connor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Greenleaf by Flannery O'Connor - Essay Example She is inwardly tormented by a world that is not of her making and outwardly by a wild bull that is eating away at what little peace she has left on earth. The Greenleaf sons were content with their modern dairy operation while Mr. Greenleaf and his wife, "... lived like the lilies of the field, off the fat that she struggled to put into the land". "Greenleaf" is a story of families and faith. . Mrs. May had hired the Greenleafs after her husband passed away and left the dairy farm to her and her two sons. When they were hired, Mr. Greenleaf and his two sons brought along Mrs. Greenleaf and 5 little girls. At this point in their history the families were not remarkably different. Mr. Greenfield's total possessions were little more than a "... pieced-together truck, his wife and five daughters". Mrs. May had inherited little more than that from her husband. Her friends were awestruck that she had gone "...practically penniless and with no experience, out to a rundown farm...". Still, Mrs. May viewed herself as a remarkable woman. The hired help were a necessary annoyance. The sons also grew in different directions. The Greenleaf boys, O.T. and E.T., spent a successful stint in the Army and returned with their new wives to set up a successful dairy business. Tormented by her own sons' failures, Mrs. May attributed E.T.'s and O.T.'s success to government handouts.

Disscus How ethics applies to police work. and how ethical decisions Essay

Disscus How ethics applies to police work. and how ethical decisions should be made by law enforcement - Essay Example They take vow of office, are anticipated to meet the terms with certified codes of ethics, and are subject to numerous rules, laws, and protocols. An officer matures his or her moral scope, ethical base, or character from cooperating with other characters and reviewing ethics. Ethics exercise for police authorities assistances them do the following: Surrounded by an agencys code of ethics are precise provisions endorsing the protection of lives and belongings, the meaning of escaping bias and the accepting that the badge is the representation of the public trust? To be brief, the code of ethics necessitates that officers are not only equipped to impose the law, but to shadow it. They are entitled to be illustrations to the public and to make evident the right way to perform, instead of the entitlement mentality they are so repeatedly reproached of exhibiting (Gleason,