Huckleberry Finn Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Huckleberry Finn - Term Paper Example n 19th century America in the South and the main characters are represented by low social castes and it is through their experiences and their view points that society’s values and norms are challenged by the young protagonist. Twain presents Huck as a young, independent boy endowed with both strength and stamina of character. He is characterized by 19th century society as an â€Å"outlaw† and an â€Å"outcast† (Johnson 1996, 5). Yet the reader is left with the distinct impression that this characterization of Huck is more of a condemnation of the society in which he is viewed as an outcast and an outlaw. Johnson (1996) explains that Huck’s outcast status is derived from society’s failure. Huck’s childhood â€Å"has scarcely been an idyllic one, nor has he lived the life of a typical carefree boy† (Johnson 1996, 5). Twain characterizes Huck as a sensitive and unselfish individual who struggles with moral choices, often questioning the hypocrisy of societal values and demonstrating his own sense of right and wrong. Huck’s society characterizes him as a misfit who is almost always in â€Å"some kind of trouble, or out of sympathy† with those in control (Johnson 1996,5). Early on Huck is seen as an incompatible fit even with his good friend, Tom Sawyer and his gang. This characterization of Huck continues and strengthens as the plot moves along. For instance, in Huck’s brief encounter with the Grangerfords, he cannot understand their social values and contradicts it in helping their daughter escape with the son of a family the Grangerfords are feuding with. The biggest manifestation of Huck’s characterization as a misfit however, is his determination and efforts to help Jim the slave, escape the Phelps, rather than turn him into Miss Watson. In summary, Huck is characterized as â€Å"continually at war with society, and with society’s values† (Johnson 1996, 6). It is through his experience on the run with Jim, that Huck matures and is able to

Socrates vs Confucius Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Socrates vs Confucius - Essay Example The difference in the attitude towards the means of solving the issues disturbing society came out of the peculiarities if historical preconditions and the period they lived in. Both Socrates and Confucius at the time of significant social changes accompanied by frequent wars, as well as society demoralization and political perturbations. Socrates witnessed florescence of Greece as Pericles was in reign, as well as did he see its overwhelming defeat in the Peloponnesian wars and severe rule of the Thirty Tyrants. Confucius lived at the time when the traditional slave-owning system was on the verge of decline while various political powers were fighting for power. All these factors lead to crises, and the philosophers tried to find a way to understand them and their origins and tackle them mending the social structure. Basically, this was the main common aim of Socrates and Confucius.The principal difference between them lay in the way they chose to treat the issue. The view on human nature and morality is considered to be theoretical basis of their teachings. Socrates shifted focus from speculations about the afterlife, the gods and the nature to meditation on how to live in this world. He saw the solution of a problem in reason. Reason is what can open the essence of a â€Å"paragon† for order; what we wish to create should be first developed in our mind. Socrates’ famous admonition â€Å"Know thyself† implies the importance of knowledge in human affairs.

Does the corporate governance maximize shareholders wealth Essay

Does the corporate governance maximize shareholders wealth - Essay Example Shareholders are interested to know if the risk they took in investing in the company provided returns that increase the wealth not only of the company but also of the shareholders as well. II. Critical evaluation of corporate governance of a selected company Leeds Group’s trading operations are conducted by Hemmers-Itex Textil Import Export GmbH. Hemmers is based in Nordhorn, Germany and has a Chinese subsidiary based in Shanghai. Together these companies employ some 120 people and achieved fabric sales of 13.1 million linear metres in the year ended 30 September 2009 (Leeds Group 2012). Inferring from the annual report of Leeds PLC, it can be said that the company is conservative in applying its cost. Conservative in applying cost meant providing generous allowance for expense to have a more accurate and realistic cost of the company. In fact, Leeds PLC may be one of few companies who are â€Å"honest enough† to reflect a s of  £454,000 in the fiscal year 2012 (Leeds Group PLC 2012) that would be seen by its shareholders. It is tough for the company to reflect a loss on annual report because it may not sit well with the shareholders who might withdraw their investments in the company and leave the company broke affecting not only its liquidity but also its financial position. ... The classical approach to organisational effectiveness was mainly from a managerial viewpoint. Further, classical organisational effectiveness postulated that hard and efficient labour would ultimately reap rewards for management and employees, by increasing the performance outcomes of the organisation. Thus, by raising the productivity, higher profits would be accrued, which in turn would give rise to higher pay, and consequently improved worker satisfaction (Etzioni, 1964). Today’s concepts of effective organisations and management are related to past perspectives (Baker and Branch, 2002). The contemporary globalisation of business profoundly increases the level of competition in most industries. For example, Singapore aspires to lead the biotech industry, Korea’s Samsung and LG have become established worldwide as reputed brands, while Malaysia is a leader in chip manufacturing. â€Å"These new competitors have advantages that range from geography to high-skill, rel atively low-wage workforces† (Lawler and Worley, 2011, p.4). The greatest changes in the recent decades relate to rapid developments in technology and telecommunications including the Internet, satellite TV, and cell phones linking most parts of the world, creating new business opportunities (Lawler and Worley, 2011). Significantly, the classical school developed universal principles applicable to all organisations in all situations. â€Å"The classical theorists conceived of organisations as mechanical devices to achieve oranisational goals and objectives† (Alajloni et al., 2010, p.60). Although classical organisational effectiveness has sustained through several changes in organisational management

Market research analyst Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Market analyst - Research Paper Example The market research analyst is elementarily responsible for the formulation of data, its interpretation, and drawing recommendations based on the findings of a research. This paper will present the key responsibilities of market research analysts as well as their educational requirements and other legal aspects related to the career. It is the responsibility of a market researcher to maintain an effective communication with clients to comprehend and document the objectives of the business. They also formulate the analysis plans that will require client sign-off. It is the task of a market research analyst to design or aid in the formulation of questionnaires and guides to ensure that only the necessary data is captured. After data are collected, it is the role of the market research analyst to conduct an in-depth analysis of the data gathered using either the traditional or the advanced methods. After this course of action is complete, the market research analyst then authors reports containing feasible recommendations. The market research analyst also makes presentations on their drafted reports, answering questions and instilling confidence in consumers. Notably, â€Å"Market research analysts work primarily in professional environments, either as independent consultants or as employees of consulting firms, c orporations, or government organizations† (Pritchard). Market research analysts, â€Å"obtain consumer or employee data through one-on-one interviews, focus group meetings, questionnaires, and polls† (Pritchard). Notably, market research analysts work to ensure that companies understand their target market effectively. With the increasing need for companies to understand the needs of the customer, their psychographics, and demographics, the duties of a market research analyst come in. Practitioners in this career undertake a close analysis of the target

Vietnam and War Aftermaths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Vietnam and War Aftermaths - Essay Example Therefore, increased population in the country has increased pressure on the existing social amenities such as schools and hospitals. In addition, the infrastructure of the country is also under pressure since little has been done to improve its status despite being destroyed during the war period. In addition to the challenges caused by the rapid increase in population, poverty levels of people living in Vietnam make me hate the system of government operating there. In the mid- 1980s and early 1990s, a majority of people living in Vietnam were living in deplorable conditions due to the high levels of poverty in the country. However, it is also good to note that the government took an initiative to correct the situation by initiating systematic strategies. This has brought some changes as reported by the United Nations Human Development Report’ in 2003 which indicated that the poverty levels in Vietnam had greatly reduced. But the situation is still not very stable as many people living in the poverty prone rural areas migrate to town in search of better living conditions. Further, this has led to the famous rural-urban migration resulting to the population explosion in towns. On the other hand, I am worried about the environmental situation of the country. The pollution levels in the country are high causing the negative impact on several areas in the country and of much concern, the agricultural sector. To begin with, deforestation practices are much rampant in the country resulting from forest destruction for use of wood as a source of fuel. In addition, due to the dilapidated infrastructure, the sewer systems in town have fallen out of control and end up in lakes and rivers without being treated. This causes serious health risks to people depending on the water sources in addition to destroying the flora and fauna existing in the lakes and river. Further, the industrial wastes are far above the recommended limits resulting to further destruction of the ecosystem.  

Career Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Career Plan - Essay Example Strengths and Weaknesses Concerning my strengths, I have strong interpersonal skills. In this case, I am able to connect and relate with people since I am a keen listener and engage people because I communicate well with them and make them express themselves better by making them confident when we are communicating. This will help me establish good relationships with my colleagues and help me achieve my career goals since I will have the capacity of completing my roles and responsibilities within an organization. Other than strong interpersonal skills, I am a well-organized individual and an orderly person with regard to my roles as a student and my personal life. Good organization skills are essential for effective management and in particular to an individual aspiring to build a career in human resource management. My strengths include efficiency in change management and responding critically to emergencies without being emotional. This will be an essential skill in analyzing the a reas that my organization needs to respond quickly and efficiently to in order to ensure effective management of changes in the workplace. ... In this case, I have witnessed several occasions in which I have pushed my capabilities hard to ensure there was perfection in achieving my goals. In this case, I work overly hard to achieve my goals, and I even push other people hard in order for us to achieve the goals of the tasks ahead. This character of being overly passionate in achieving perfection makes me stubborn to a far extent. Nonetheless, I will use my strong interpersonal skills to ensure that I do not become overly stubborn due to my desire of ensuring perfection. Goals and Objectives My main career goal is to become the best in the human resources management field and help my organization to achieve its vision and mission by efficiently using the human resource capital. To achieve this goal, my aim will be to ensure that personnel in my organization were managed to the extent that allowed them to utilize their potential and work towards achieving organizational goals. Moreover, my goal is to ensure that there was inc reased productivity every year by tapping out the capabilities of the organization’s personnel and align their goals to the organizational goals, which will improve productivity. Other than these goals, I want to contribute to the field of human resources management by identifying various areas that an organization should focus on in order to exploit the capacity and potential of its personnel. Achieving the goal of improving productivity will encompass various objectives that I must accomplish in order to achieve my goals. First, I will enroll for a master’s degree program in human resources management one year after my college graduation. In this case, I want to focus on acquiring skills and knowledge that will

Blood Diamond Essay Example for Free

Blood Diamond Essay The realization that there is always something bad mixed with good hit her like a tornado as she watched the movie Blood Diamond. Unconsciously she fingered the stone on her finger and wished she had not worn it. She had to blink back the tears stinging her eyes as she saw children being put to work at alluvial mines, and other workers being amputated and killed for sport. I almost choked with guilt when I remembered how I had gaily remarked, ‘Diamonds are forever,’ when my friend showed me the diamond ring her boyfriend had gotten her. We were not giggling anymore when we saw a World Vision quote†¦ ‘amputation is forever. ’ On seeing the movie, we decided that we had to do something about the conflict diamond issue. We felt so bad about not getting information concerning the origin off the diamond my friend wore, we would never know for sure whether it was a conflict diamond or not. Blood diamond and conflict diamonds are more or less synonymous terms. The UN defines a conflict diamond as a â€Å"diamond whose origin is an area which is controlled by forces that are opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments. The diamonds are used to finance military action to oppose the government of the day or to contravene the decisions of security council (UN,www. un. org/peace/Africa/Diamond html) Most of these diamonds have their origin in Africa with countries like Sierra leone, Liberia, Angola and DR Congo being among those most affected. Though diamonds are mined in Liberia, it offers more of a marketing and ‘supporting point’ role for the Blood Diamond trade. Civil wars in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone are funded with diamonds that have been smuggled into Liberia which are later sold and the cash is used to purchase ammunition, guns and other weapons. Liberia has imposed some violence of its own lasting 8 years killing around 200,000and displaying thousands more (Stop Blood Diamond Organization, 2007). Reports by Amnesty International and Global Witness show that there are areas in Liberia where diamond are still mined and traded which are controlled by rebels. Worse, these have been report of links between the infamous alqaida and Liberia (Amnesty USA,2007). The 9/11 attacks have been linked to funds and weapons associated with the diamond mines of Sierra Leone. The diamonds are usually mined by civilians who are used as slaves after being caught as prisoners. The civilians, children included, work in poor conditions and are punished brutally for the slightest error. Killing for sport and amputation are regular occurrences. (Stop Blood Diamonds Organization, 2007). Some of the abducted children eventually become child soldiers. John Lahia, a 15 year old child soldier was among the victims of the war that has led to starvation, disease and war wounds for many refugees. He was wounded by an exploding rocket-propelled geradeand died of a tetanus infection, far away from medical aid that would have otherwise saved his life. The Revolutionary United Front(RUF) medics left him lying in a backwater hospital with his wounds taped for lack of better medical means to treat him. This too will be the likely fate of other combatants and all this because of the greed for diamond (Campbell,2007). A sure way to eradicate conflict diamond is to end conflict areas. Peacekeeping that aims at apprehension and removal of rebels without violation of human rights of civilians can be used to achieve this. Inernational agencies need to focus on ending hostilities so diamond production can return to the hands of the government; this will enable the countries in question to benefit from rather than be torn apart by their diamond mines. In 1999, the UN deployed a mission to deal with the problem of conflict diamonds. The Kimberly cerrtification scheme requires provision of a certificate of origin for diamonds. The aim is to cut off flow of diamonds from illegitimate sources. This process however has several shortcomings. The certificates can be forged, many diamonds can be smuggled into a dean country and even when certificates are real the officials may have been bribed. This is a reality especially because in most of the war torn countries poverty and suffering are rife. Most people will only be too glad to line their pockets with the bribes offered. Sensitizing the American Public on issues to do with conflict diamonds is another strategy. This has already began especially in the entertainment industry with such movies as Dicaprios Blood Dianond and James Bond Die another Day and Kanye West’s song, ‘Diamond are Forever’. Further flooding of the public with more information through as many avenues as possible will ensure that people are aware of the origin and human terror and suffering that comes with some diamonds. This will in turn create a low market for the diamonds, slowing down the flux of diamonds into the country. In the present situation, supply of diamond and human suffering in the country of origin have a direct correlation, decreasing supply from illegitimate sources will consequently lead to a decrease in suffering of the Africa children and civilians affected. US contributes 70%of the worlds diamond trade making it a leading customer of diamond. (VOA News, 2007). The US therefore has a role in spearheading the fight against conflict diamond. The government should insist on strengthening the Kimberley process and the Clean Diamond Trade Act. By providing more forceful support, technical aid and financial aid. African countries can be assisted to develop the Kimbeley process such that its effect is felt by the corrupt officials and rebels overseeing mining of blood diamond. The Government Accountability office has had several proposal which include spot checks of diamond companies and tracking of rough diamonds inside and outside the country of origin. (Globalwitness, 2007). These need application and immediate application. Regular checking of the progress of US wagh diamond trade statistics Is an important evaluation tool for the effect of blood diamond and assessment of how the problem is being combated. Though my friend and I are not sure of the origins of the diamond she wears on her finger we are more knowledgeable about conflict diamonds. As a result our circle of friends also know more and now most of our college is no longer ignorant about the issue. Through our campaigns we encourage people to ask about the origin of the diaomonds they are just about to buy. This means that as a nation we are thinking about and doing something in consideration of the people whose lives have been lost in the diamond trade. REFERENCES Amnesty USA Conflict Diamond retrived from www. amnestyusa. org/new/doc/diamonds-survey-text. pdf Campbell G. Blood Diamonds, Amnesty Magazine retrieved from www. amnestyusa. org/amnestynw/diamond s. html Conflict Diamond retrieved from Www. un. org/peace/Africa/Diamond. html Globalwitness, Combating conflict Diamonds,retrieved Sep 1 2007 from http://www. globalwitness. orga/pages/en/conflictdiamonds. html Stop Blood Diamond Organization, Stop Blood Diamond, conflict Diamond in Africa retrieved from www. stopblooddiamonds. org/children-of-Africa. asp VOA News US cogress Tackle Blood Diamond trade retrieved sep 1, 2007 from www. voanews. can/english/archive/2002-02/a-2002-02-4-2-us. cfm. World vision, Stop the Trade in Blood Diamond, retrieved sep 1 2007 from Worldvision. org/worldvision/stable/globalissues-conflictdiamond.