The Harry Potter Controversy Essay -- Fiction Literature Childrens Pap

The Harry Potter Controversy The wildly popular Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling has caused controversy for many families over the past five years. These novels according to some critics are harmless, adventurous, children's tales. Others choose to portray them as stories that inspire children to become involved in the occult and serious witchcraft. The Harry Potter novels chronicle the life of a young wizard whose wizard parents were killed by the evil Lord Voldermort. On his eleventh birthday he receives invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each of the five books represents a year of his life there (Walker). This essay will discuss whether the Harry Potter novels are a suitable read for children and why despite what some critics portray, Harry Potter can be a positive role model for youth. In recent history a cultural phenomenon has occurred. With the rise of Harry Potter, this nation's youth have displayed a â€Å"mania† that has not been seen in reference to books for a long time. For example, Barns & Noble America's largest bookseller has recently declared that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be their â€Å"largest seller in the history of the entire company† (Mangan). In light of this rise to fame one should note that Harry Potter can and will impact modern culture. In the â€Å"age of electronic entertainment†, Harry Potter novels sharply contrast by luring children away from the internet, and away from video games and the television. Children across the globe are rapidly becoming interested in reading the novels. Katherine Thompson, owner of Frugal Frigate Bookstore, declared the series a â€Å"literary phenomena.† She noted that children as young as eight-years-old will devour... ...nuum, 2001. Person, Judith. â€Å"Books debunk evils of Potter; Christian authors see enchanting talks as Gospel springboard.† LexisNexis . The Washington Times. (October 31, 2002): Joyner Library, City of Greenville, NC. March 2004. Rowling, J. K. â€Å"A Good Scare.† Time 30 October 2000 : 77-78. Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1999. Seden , Janet. 295 â€Å"Parenting and the Harry Potter stories: a social care perspective.† Children and Society 16 (2002): 295-305. . Walker, Wren. â€Å" Muggles and Other Strangers: The Harry Potter Controversy.† Words, Wrants and Wramblings. December 1999. Weekly Editorials and Comments. < http://www.witchvox.com/harrypotter.html >. Colson, Charles. â€Å"Harry Potter and the Existence of God.† Christian Broadcasting Network. 14 July 2000 . Breakpoint. .

themes of cervantes don quixote Essay -- essays research papers

Themes of Cervantes’ Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes’ greatest work, The Ingenious Gentleman, Don Quixote De La Mancha, is a unique book of multiple dimensions. From the moment of its creation, it has amused readers, and its influence has vastly extended in literature throughout the world. Don Quixote is a county gentleman disillusioned by his reading of chivalric romances, who rides forth to defend the oppressed and to right wrongs. Cervantes presented the knight-errant so vividly that many languages have borrowed the name of the hero as the common term to designate a person inspired by magnificent and impractical ideals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cervantes’ theme throughout the novel is consistent and straightforward. Despite the lengthy digressions and numerous episodic adventures, the theme of the novel is clear- the values of the Golden Age have been lost over the centuries and must be restored for the good of society. Before the fall of man when the earth was still a paradise, Don Quixote explained to some goatherds, â€Å"all things were held in common, and to gain [man’s] daily sustenance no labor was required of any man save to reach forth his hand and take it from the sturdy oaks that stood liberally inviting him with their sweet and seasoned fruit (134),† making it needless to steal, cheat or lie. He went on, â€Å"fraud, deceit, malice had not yet come to mingle with truth and plain-speaking.† Because the world is no longer in such a state, however, â€Å"the order of knigh...

Managerial Skills

Time is an important resource in an organization; and a manager has to concentrate on effectively handling this resource.   One of the biggest problems in an organization would be to manage the time allocated to complete the work.   Only a few managers are able to handle this resource effectively.   A manager would have to determine the time taken for each process to be completed.   He would then have to determine ways in which the processes can be speeded up, and the effects the process of speeding up the workflow would have on the quality and the staff members.The manager may have to allocated several resources to effectively handle time such as human resources, logistics, support systems, IT systems, etc.   He would also have to identify the factors responsible for wasting time including telephone calls, personal visitors, unnecessary meetings, chatting of the staff members, indecisive staff, procrastination, problem situations, crisis situations, lack of communication, lack of rest, stress, poor technical knowledge and skills, poor planning and strategic management, not having a proper assistant to perform work, etc.   The organization may also have to change its policies in order to better manage time.   The manager should ensure that the staff members are not stressed too much (Total Success, 2007).A pretest measurement would help to determine the baseline data, before any activity is conducted.   It can be later compared to the posttest measurement.   The results would demonstrate the effectiveness of the activity.   In this way the manager would be studying the effectiveness of the activity.   Before a manager has a time management system in place, he would have to conduct a test to determine the baseline data (SBU, 2007).  A good pretest tool would be a questionnaire given to each staff member of how they manage time.   This is a good example of a pretest tool (SBU, 2007): –1. Time spend on sleeping:2. Time spend on per sonal hygiene3. Time spend on cooking/eating:4. Time taken to travel:5. Actual time spend in the office:6.   Time spend to complete one unit of work7.   Actual time allocated to complete the work:8.   Quality standards achieved:9.  Ã‚   Quality standards required:10.   Time spend in the office doing personal work:11.   Ways in which the time gets wasted:The staff members could also use a time used chart, in which every alternate hour or so they would enter the activity preformed (UMD, 2006): –The management can improve the time management using several strategies: –Having a strong plan in mind.   The manager should ensure he takes into consideration the resources available and the processes that would be involved during the performance of work. Using interactive software tools that can help the staff members to identify what has to be done, and within what amount of time it should be completed. Managers can have certain schedulers to help them plan the pe rformance of tasks and even use of hardware devices.Managers and the staff member should effectively complete the task at that particular moment than wait and keep it pending.   In this way procrastination can also be reduced. Focusing and concentrating on the tasks.   The staff members should be constantly prompted of the targets that have to be achieved.The manager should plan on short-term goals, which would effectively be in line with the long-term goals. Using assistants to perform the less important task, effectively saving the time of the staff member. Prioritizing the work that has to be performed and given importance.  Having activity logs and submitting work reports (Sonic, 2002 & Total Success, 2007)After implementing the time management improvement techniques, the manager would have to use same test tools.The results obtained should be determined.   This should be compared to the pretest data.   The effectiveness of the managerial skills in bringing about appro priate time management can be determined.References:Mind Tools (2007), Time Management, Retrieved on September 29, 2007, from Mind Tools Web site: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_HTE.htm?Sonic (2002), Time Management Tools, Retrieved on September 29, 2007, from Sonic Web site: http://sonic.net/~mfreeman/time.htmTotal Success (2007), Time Management Manage yourself, not your time, Retrieved on September 29, 2007, from Total Success Web site: http://www.tsuccess.dircon.co.uk/timemanagementtips.htmUniversity of Minnesota Duluth (2006), Time Use Chart, Retrieved on September 29, 2007, from UMD Web site: http://www.d.umn.edu/kmc/student/loon/acad/strat/time_use_chart.html

Persists in central Africans Essay

The text notes that an alternate allele of the hemoglobin gene can cause sickle-cell anemia when a person is homozygous for this allele, but that a person who is heterozygous for the allele actually can derive a benefit from it–protection from malaria. In the United States, 8 percent of African Americans are carriers for the sickle-cell allele, while in central Africa the figure is 20 percent. What could account for this difference? Assess. Answer: The difference could be accounted for by the prevalence of malaria disease in central Africa. Heterozygous carriers of the disease are resistant to malaria. Furthermore, there is a at leasr a 25% chance that the heterozygous trait is passed on to the next generation. Malaria is more prevalent in central Africa than in America. African Americans are not as exposed to malaria as central Africans are. Therefore, the sickle-cell trait is being faced out gradually in African Americans. Central Africans on the other hand are continually exposed to the disease. The trait therefore persists in their genome. More malaria resistant individuals are born. Unfortunately, they are heterozygous carriers of the sickle-cell trait. When two heterozygous individuals produce offsprings, there is a 25% chance that a one of them is a homozygous for sickle-cell disease. Therefore, the trait persists in central Africans.

African Poetry

It is a historical irony that the same language serves the African writer in voicing his thoughts and feelings to the world at large. While discussing the future of English, Simeon Porter observes, It will adopt to meet new needs and in that incessant reshaping and adaptation, every speaker and writer consciously or unconsciously will play some part. (181) Today, the prediction of Porter came true of African writing in English. It brought strength and appeal to the English language by adding a large range of new vocabulary and usage. Writing on the problems faced by the African English writers,  Chinua Achebe  the famous Nigerian writer says, The African writer should aim to use English that brings out his message without altering the language to the extent that its value as a medium of international exchange will be lost. He should aim at fashioning out an English, which is at once unusual and able to carry his peculiar experience. (61) It is applaudable that the writers of Africa succeeded in accomplishing the above task set by Achebe, which is by any means not an easy one. Their successful integration of native experience and expression in an alien tongue received worldwide acclaim. Their success proved, as critics like Srinivasa Iyengar pointed out, A shot in the arm of modern English Literature has had to come from West Africans like Amos Tutuola,  Wole Soyinka  and Gabriel Okara. (16) The role of poetry, in African literature, has been highly effective in providing the people with the needful inspiration and the necessary insight. The language of poetry, for the African people, is a source of learning and becoming aware of their destiny that necessitates the knowledge of their past, present and the possible future. These and several other ideas fuelled African poetry in English. For the African poets, poetry became a powerful medium through which they conveyed to the world audience, not only their despairs and hopes, the enthusiasm and empathy, the thrill of joy and the stab of pain but lso a nations history as it moved from freedom to slavery, from slavery to revolution, from revolution to independence and from independence to tasks of reconstruction which further involve situations of failure and disillusion. (Iyengar, 15) When we read African Literature, we should, by obligation remember that, colonization was at its harshest in Africa. As history stands proof, it was highly exploited and savaged by the ambitious white man. This experience is on the minds of all thinking poets. Despite getting uhuru or in dependence, the bitterness returns again and again. The unforgettable colonial past comes angrily alive in a poem by Kenyas poet Joseph Kareyaku thus, It is not as you suppose, your lands, your cars, your money, or your cities I covet It is what gores me most, that in my own house and in my very own home you should eye me and all thats mine with that practiced, long-drawn, insulting sneer. (quoted in Iyengar, 30) In a poem entitled If you want to know me Noemia De Sousa writes ruefully of Africa, by effectively using the literary device of personification thus: This is what I am mpty sockets despairing of possessing of life a mouth torn open in an anguished wound a body tattooed with wounds seen and unseen from the harsh whipstrokes of slavery tortured and magnificent proud and mysterious Africa from head to foot This is what I am. (Narasimhaiah, 137) The much-brutalized Dark Continent is tellingly depicted in the following lines of a poem named The Shapes of Fear by Richard Ntiru. Like an arrested breath when breathing makes silence imperfect and the ear cannot differentiate between the conspiratorial whispers and the winds singing. .. a twig in the courtyard snaps and report of a gun is understood. (Narasimhaiah, 137) Nigerian poet , the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinkas masterful irony skillfully conceals anger at the racist attitude in his famous poem, Telephone Converstion. After negotiating for a house on rent on telephone, he tells the landlady of his being a black African. He was rudely shocked when he was caught foully by the ladys query regarding his darkness thus: HOW DARK? I had not misheard Are you light OR VERY DARK (Narasimhaiah, 149) The ill- mannered silence between the two is filled with images such as stench of rancid breath of public- hide-and-speak, Red booth, Red- Pillar-box, Red double-tiered Omnibus squelching tar that subsume the age-old and still hopeless and violent colour- conflict. The theme of English superiority glares through David Rubadiris poem A Negro Labourer in Liverpool: Here his hope is the shovel And his fulfillment resignation. (Narasimhaiah, 134) One of the most important phases in African poetry is  Negritude, a powerful literary movement founded by Aime Cesaire of Senegal. Among other things, the Negritude poets favoured the theme of glorification of Africa. They worshipped anything African in scintillating rhymes. Anger at injustice meted out to the colonized Africa is also one of the oft-repeated themes of their poetry. Heres an example from David Diops poem Africa. Africa, my Africa Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs. Is this you, this back that is bent This back that breaks under the weight of humiliation This back trembling with red scars And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun.. That is Africa your Africa That grows again patiently obstinately And its fruit gradually acquires The bitter taste of liberty. (Narasimhaiah, 153) Dennis Brutus, a South African poet, was subjected to torture by a cruel regime. His writing is full of images of love contrasted with images of death thus, Desolate Your face gleams up Beneath me in the dusk Abandoned A wounded dove Helpless Beneath the knife of love. (Quoted in Theroux, 2) Great feeling for Africa is felt in Abioseh Nicols poem The Meaning of Africa thus: Africa, you were once just a name to me So I came back ailing down the Guinea coast . You are not a country Africa, You are a concept I know now that is what you are Africa Happiness, contentment and fulfillment. (Quoted in Povey, 39) A poets affirmation of his love for Africa shines radiantly through the following verses. Dark Africa! My dawn is here; Behold! I see A rich warm glow in the East, And my day will soon be here. (Iyengar, 30) Deification of Africa is a fit topic for many African p oets. Perhaps this is their reaction to the self glorification and the civilizing zeal of the imperial powers of Europe. Bernard Dadies poem attains special significance viewed in that light. He says in a poem entitled I Thank God, I thank you God for creating me black. White is the colour for special occasions Black the colour for every day And I have carried the World since the dawn of time And my laugh over the World, through the night creates The Day. (Narasimhaiah, 122) In Africa, the advent of the white mans civilizing mission displaced scores of native societies from their own cultural roots. The impact of the spread of Christianity combined with material benefits such as classroom education and well-paid jobs forced many Africans abandon their own faith and adapt the religion of the pale-faced aliens. This situation is responsible for the natives to suffer from culture shock. Nevertheless, the native is expected to owe allegiance to his own tribal culture and embrace Christianity for material benefits. This cultural confusion is well articulated by Mabel Segun in a poem thus: Here we stand Infants overblown Poised between two civilizations Finding the balance irksome. (Quoted in Povey, 39) Gabriel Okara expresses the same sentiments in a lyric thus: When at break of day at a riverside I hear jungle drums Then I hear a wailing piano Solo speaking of complex ways. (Quoted in Gleason, 143) However, there are poets like Kofi Awoonor Williams of Ghana whose passion for past is expressed in his rediscovery themes with the help of extended rhythms as in the following lines. Sew the old days for us our fathers that we wear them under our old garments after we have washed ourselves.. ( The Anvil and the Hammer) gain, Sew the old days for me my father Sew them so that I may wear them For the feast that is coming. (Quoted in Theroux, 4) He accomplishes the same excellence of evolving extended rhythms in poems like The Long Journey and My Song. Poetic excellence and rare innovative creative ability are seen in  Christopher Okigbo  poems such as The Stars Have Departed. He says, The stars have departed The sky in a monocle Surveys the world under The stars have departed And I- Where am I? ? Stretch, stretch O antennae, To clutch at this hour, Fulfilling each movement in a Broken monody. (quoted in Walsh, 48) Images that can evoke a situation beyond hope which are reminiscent of Eliots war poetry are visible in the following verses from K. Brews poem The Search. The past is but the cinders Of the present The future The smoke That escaped Into the cloud- bound sky. (quoted in Walsh, 50) Some of the poets have realized the futility of fighting over issues such as race, respect and national identity. What more can be more illuminating than the enlightened poets words such as, You must leave the sifting sands of self- seeking and deceit nd erect far mightier mansions on the rock of healthy soil. (Iyengar, 36) Lenrie Peters poems are short on the print but deep on ones mind like the one cited below Open the gates To East and West Bring in all Thats good and best. The memorable lines of Peters poem On a wet September Morning with their sheer beauty of imagery and the underlying thought of universal brotherhood celebrate the oneness of the human family. To c ite a few verses, The echo burst in me Like a great harmonic chord- Violins of love and happy voices The pagan trumpet blast Swamping the lamentation of the horn Then the heraldic drums In slow crescendo rising Crashed though my senses Into a new present Which is the future. After this brief glance at African poetry, we realize that it is not simply an offshoot of British literary tradition. Despite the many disadvantages such as a scarred past, colonial trauma, expression in a foreign medium, inability to travel abroad, unstable economic and political state of affairs in their respective nations, lack of educational opportunities, the African poet has effortless creative capacity. It is an enriching combination of rich oral literature, native experience and imported tradition of writing in English that made African poetry a tremendous success both at home and abroad. The Black Orpheus (African Poets) is no longer an unknown or an unwanted quantity but a fascinating and often enviable and beneficent literary marvel from what was ignorantly termed as the dark continent.

The Workplace Environment Improvement at Ojuice Company Essay

The Workplace Environment Improvement at Ojuice Company - Essay Example This lack of creativity shows in the products and advertisement which affects the sales and profits. The traditional management paradigm is based on the principle of planning, organizing, staffing, controlling and directing (Fayol, 1917). However, the development in the modern management paradigms has resulted in a key inclusion in the management: Employee involvement (Parr, 1992). The workplace environment in an organization depends on a large extent on the behavior and attitude of the manager. Success of a firm is majorly impacted by the manager’s ability to understand and work with people who have different needs, perceptions, and aspirations (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2004). Managers, who believe in Theory X control, direct and coerce employees, whereas Theory Y managers believe that employees are internally motivated, seek and accept responsibility and are innovative (McGregor, 2002). Involving employees in decision making improves employee satisfaction.   In order to improve the workplace environment at Ojuice, Janice needs to change the work culture in the organization. The first thing that needs to be done is to decentralize decision making by empowering the employees. Management controls shall be set up on the basis of feedback and mentoring. Janice shall invite ideas from employees to improve any aspect of the organization. Ideas that garner maximum number of votes shall be implemented. Managers shall also encourage the culture of innovation amongst the employees. This can be done through conducting outbound sessions on innovation and creativity. Besides, the top management shall regularly communicate to the employees on the company strategy and the path. These communications can be in the form of emails, town-hall meets or lunch with senior management.  

Have recent reforms increased parliaments ability to hold the Essay

Have recent reforms increased parliaments ability to hold the executive to account - Essay Example ervation of separation of powers is essential as a check on autocratic power, further symbolised in the UK by the role of Parliament as a check on the executive. With regard to the UK position, the doctrine of the separation of powers has traditionally been limited and criticised for being somewhat unclear in comparison to other democracies3. Nevertheless, it has been commented that the doctrine does in fact influence everyday operations of the executive, legislature and judiciary4 and Barnett argues that â€Å"Separation of powers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ runs like a thread throughout the constitution of the United Kingdom5.† Nevertheless, in the UK there has not been a clear separation of the branches of the state6, but rather a fusion. For example, the executive clearly carries out legislative functions and a prime example is the Law Commission. Although the Law Commission Act 1965 clearly requires the Commission to be â€Å"independent7† in reviewing law reform, its committee members are appointed by the Lord Chancellor who also grants prior approval to projects that the Law Commission will review. Additionally, the judiciary obtain their power from the Crown and there is a distinct overlap of functions between the powers, which should be separated for the effective application of the separation of powers and the efficacy of Parliament as check on the executive8. To address these inefficiencies in the constitutional notion of a separation of powers, the Government undertook what was propounded as the â€Å"biggest constitutional shake up for years9† asserted determination â€Å"to put the relationship between Executive, Legislature and Judiciary on a modern footing, respecting the separation of powers between the three10.† Official debate regarding this pledge culminated in the implementation of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (the Act), which was approved by both Houses on March 21, 2005, receiving Royal Assent on 24 March 2005. The Act introduced provisions for modifying