Political Machines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Political Machines - Essay Example Therefore, the basis of political machines is on people who have dissimilar and varying interests. Theodore observes that the different people share a common link despite their fear and ignorance. Theodore perceives that the sole purpose of political machines were to develop American cities equally. This move aimed at promoting urban democracy (Lowi 84-85). Theodore allude that new machines replaced old ones. This essay rejects the arguments of Theodore Lowi. The new and old political machines display similarities signifying that nothing has changed in the governance of American cities. To start with, although some cities such as New York have experienced some reforms in their mode of governance, there are no considerable changes in others cities such as Chicago. For instance, Theodore asserts that Chicago maintained a strong hold of old political machines in the year 1967. This is opposite to the case of New York, which embraced new wave of political reforms. In the year 1967, Chicago reaffirmed and consolidated its old ways of doing political unlike New York, which ushered in political transformation (Lowi 85). This depicts that old machines is still in existence and did not disappear as Theodore claimed. The power of political machine still prevails in Chicago and there is no prediction of its disappearance. Second, new political machines depict many commonalities with the old ones. Methods of employment to senior positions resemble the old way of recruitment. This new method picks those candidates who have experience in their careers. This succeeds the dubious way of selecting candidates to the political seats. According to Theodore’s essay, the so-called reforms have painted politics as a dirt game. This is a perpetuation of the old political machines, which embraced such mode of electing people to occupy top ranks. Big cities such as New York have poor governance despite the fact that there is competent management team (Lowi 85-86).

The past world expo economy influence and effect on property market in Essay

The past world expo economy influence and effect on property market in previous host cities and countries - Essay Example The first of such exhibition was held in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London in 1851. It was named at that time as â€Å"the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations† and rightly so because this exhibition celebrated the coming of age of the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Thus the 1851 Great Exhibition was not only a trade fair but also a display of scientific, industrial and technological inventions. Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert, possibly did not foresee that what he conceptualised would become today’s third grandest event after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games, considering its impact on culture, on society and the nation’s economies. Today, the World Expo has come a long way. It is not only a trade fair and a showcase of new scientific and technological advances and inventions but it is also a means of promoting cultural correspondence and transfer and a way of finding solutions to issues that hound humanity. Moreover, it becomes a platform of presenting a strong national image before the whole world. In other words, it affords countries to advertise their assets and perceived advantages over other nations. The pavilions that each country construct have become competitive in terms of lavishness, splendor, magnificence and cost. There is a contest as to who builds the most stunning and most memorable pavilion. So many World Expo historians are of the opinion that the geodesic dome of the US pavilion in the 1967 expo in Montreal, Canada is the most memeorable and the glass and iron Crystal Palce of UK in the 1851 World’s Fair in London as the most imposing. In each world expo, all countries try to express s ome theme via its architectural design and the contents of its pavilion Thus each World Expo is characterised by glitter, glamour, visions and images (Maddox 2004, p. 79). The

The context of Reward management

The context of Reward management In 1960s and 1970s the main cause behind introducing incentive schemes was to build path of giving workers wages and salaries at a time of government controls (Bowley et al 1982). Due to lack of proper strategy and policies, some of employers gain reduced cost and even below 50% of increased outcomes; in 1980s and 1990s the concept of paying people was changed where worker were paid for their performance rather than attendance; similarly taxation policy was slightly changed as lower rate in income tax(Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). Payment system has been drastically changed in Britain over the last twenty years and lots of concepts are emerged in relation to compensation and remuneration which are directly in control of management; similarly, in USA, a new concept of payment has emerged under the rubric of the New Pay. This new pattern has great influence on Britains management practice and government as well (White, G and Druker, J, 2000). The new pattern of thinking about New P ay in Britain is reward management (term used by Armstrong and Murlis 1988) has same management concern. Then, these concepts fall upon two ground; 1) rewarding employees for work done and 2) remuneration system to be conditional upon business policy. Furthermore, the interest in reward system concept had been boosted by IPD professional syllabus which includes lots of unit and title on employee reward and a specific text book (Armstrong, M, 1999). The new syllabus by IPD provides higher emphasis on rewarding employees and employees satisfaction towards job. However, this holistic approach of payment has not, to date, reflected in academic literature, where controversy arises between micro-economics literature of labor economists and human resource literature. The former concern was about effect of pay on whole economy and impact on inflation, productivity and employment. Afterward, in contrast, draws both upon the industrial with regulation with employment relationship and organiza tional behavior (White, G and Druker, J, 2000). Now, the existing textbook focused largely realistic than imaginary, which ignore collective bargaining and employee voice, continue to play in lots UKs organization (Armstrong, M, 1999).The parallel employee relation also include title to describe pay bargaining systems (Gennard, J and Judge, G, 1997). Most importantly, the impact of control relation with in the work area and its impact on reward management plans and policies are polished over IPD texts. Core personnel and Development text (Marchington, M and Wilkinson, A, 1966) being an honorable exemption to this approach. Reward management has fascinated increased attention in recent years. Pay structure and system of payment are collectively determined and influenced by context of society in which they implemented (Steven, J, 1996). For most of the work is, in the main, a source of disutility, and they therefore require payment to compensate them for the time they devote to it. (Elliott R.F, 1991) Reward management is not only about money. It is also concerned with those non-financial rewards which provide intrinsic or extrinsic motivation (Armstrong, M and Murlis, H 1988) Reward is about how staffs are rewarded and valued in return of their performance towards organization which may includes both financial and non financial rewards and embrace the plan, policies , strategies, and reward layout prepared by an organization to maintain smooth reward system (Armstrong, M, 2009).It signifies one of the vital factors supporting the employment relationship (Kessler, 2005). It can be defined as fundamental expression of job relationship. It is concerned with the formulation, and implementation of plans and policies to reward employees fairly, equitably and consistently on the basis of their performance. The development, maintenance, designs and implementation of reward system is done to fulfill needs of both organization and employees (Armstrong, M, 2009). Both organizational and employees values are significant for align reward practices (Brown, D, 2001). It can influence a number of human resource policies, processes and practices which have great impact on organizational performance(Lawler, 2000a).It becomes an essential tool to coordinate, communicate and reinforce the organizational goal because it incentivizes staffs to achieve objectives and apply required capabilities and skills supporting them (Brett, S, 2006). As a result employee feels that they are considered as valuable asset of an organization (Jaques, E, 1961). All the organization has their own reward system without that employee would not join, come to work and perform less than they are supposed to perform with the mission statement of organization (Wilson, T, B, 2002). Reward system is a system which contains various interrelated process and activities done effectively in order to fulfill organizational goal and maintain employees value (Armstrong, M, 2009). It consists of monetary reward (Fixed and variable) and non monetary (employee benefits) which together mixed and form total remuneration. The main sections of reward system are process, practice, structure, scheme and procedure. Process includes job evaluation, market rate analysis and performance management, Practice includes financial benefits and non financial benefits provided to employees, Structure describe level of rewarding people on the basis of structure and their performance, Schemes explain financial rewards and incentives provided to employees, Procedure for maintaining system and ensuring that worker work according to standard and value of money. Reward system provides systematic way to deliver positive consequence (Wilson, T, B, 2002). Cost is the vital factor in reward and for service oriented organization, labor cost have important proportion on overall cost; however, lower labor cost doesnt always minimize cost , some time high labor cost leads towards increased turnover because of excellent performance due to motivation(Pfeffer, 1998). The proper implementation of strategic reward management helps to change employees behavior and attitude towards organization due to effective reward strategy; there are number of factors which mix along these type of straight-forward cause effect relationship; therefore, there is high possibility that reward strategy might helps in organizational change (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). Reward Issues Boardroom pay has been brought back under the attention after it emerged that CEO of FTSE100 companies receive around  £3.2 m in 2006 where analysis also emphasize that there is narrow gap between American and British pay(The Times, 29 October 2007).Employees of the largest UK companies are ultimately starting to contribute the decent amount of defined contribution and pension; Employers are tends to put much less defined into the defined payment pensions that has largely replace salary scheme for new employees- only 6-7% of salary, Paul Macro, senior consultant with the firm saidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦approximately 15% of the salary that generally accepted as being the level of contribution needed to provide a decent income in retirement (Financial Times, 14th November 2007). Employee compensation, remunerations and reward (terms that may be used interchangeably in the literature, although compensation tends to predominant US commentary) may be defined as all forms of financial returns and tangible services and benefits employees receive (Milkovich and Newman, 2004:3). Reward Theory Labor Market Theory The term labor market implies that, the struggle on labor in capitalist society where product and services are traded in market; employee tries to spend their labor in maximum best prices and similarly employer bargain to purchase labor in minimum best price (Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). Classical labor Market Theory The concepts of constant choice by the groups to effort-reward relationship emphasize classical labor market theory; the demand of labor meets supply of labor exactly where pay will be determine in labor market is known as market clearing'(Black, J, 2002). The only effective policy is to pay what other do (Garhart, B and Rynes, S.L, 2003:15). Fig: According to above figure, the supply of labor is equal to demand of labor where employee will accept the job at the price that offer by employer: it is a value of marginal productivity of labor. This theory explain that there is tough competition among employer in term of paying their employees but finally every employer has to pay same as everyone pays. This theory indicates that paying strategy always leans toward symmetry where demand and supply of labor meets. This model of the employment system address the famous classical economist Adam Smith and its neo classical restatement by other neoclassical economists like: Jevons, Menger and Walrus; every one is free to choose their best price either employees or employers, employee compete with other employee for wages and similarly employer compete with other rivals for labor(Watson, M, 2005). Logically looking for Maximum utility, worker will accept work after comparing overall benefit of different works; thus work that are less satisfying, include more threat and hard to achieve mastery will require higher amount of wages compare to other work whose feature are opposite (Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). However, the concept of labor market was changed form middle of twentieth century, number of research indicate that the real situation of labor market doesnt run according to previous assumption given by classical economists; the paying system might effect in market force whereas some economists argues that it needs to remove market distortion'(Garhart, B and Rynes, S.L, 2003). Whether or not, labor supply by employees to employers is not the single economic issues; it is the effort employed by employees when employed (Rees, 1973) Stand as alternative economic theory of classical labor market theory, institutional Labor Economic Theory describes the different wage level and dependent on organizational issue; employees and employers anticipation will be rest on maximizing in their financial concern (Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). In term of strategic initiative, higher level executive plan the contract in such a way that it minimizes the economic cost by putting labor satisfaction in effective and efficient ways; in other word, both employees and employers make a decision about work relationship comparing all the economic issues and interest; rationality between both party and their interest and wants remain significant Transaction Cost Theory Assumption (Williamson, O, 1975). Similarly, Resource Based Theory of Firm explains that economic effectiveness and efficiency will be increase through subsidiary scheme to take benefits of organizational resources; employee reward are parallel to HRMs other features a nd is arranged to maintain organizational culture (Kessler, I, 2001; Purcell, J, 1999). Whereas, new institutional approach strategy theory describes the number of political and social issues tackling employees in an organization; organizational system (both internal and external) helps to design better employees reward system (Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). Human Capital Theory Human Capital Theory makes an assumption that individuals gather human capital by investing both time and money in training and development, education, and other various opportunities based program in order to increase their efficiency and productivity and as a result employees value to employers (Abercrombie, N et al, 2000). Human Capital Theory (developed by Schultz and Becker in the 1960s) differentiates between expenditure made on human capital and employees consumption; market are for the service of capital, not the reserve capital itself. In order to achieve HRM objectives of motivating employees and get work done through them, manager must balance between cost and skills (Hendry, C, 2003). Exchange Theory explains the relationship between production, employees and employers enter into the contract that employees are willing to accept work and perform their best; similarly, employers are agreed to pay extrinsic rewards and working environment; then employers change hired labor power into labor economic values where employer are likely to invest more in permanent workforce than in temporary workforce (Atkinson, 1984; Kalleberg, 2003). Efficiency Wage Theory According to theory, the managerial policy to gain more efficient employment agreement in medium term; worker will employ their capita; to secure optional work boost pay rate but it cause loss to the employer so, paying higher reward levels is a logical employers reaction in order to hold skilled employees (Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). This theory also describes a possible corrective aspect, concentrating on what economists do to labeled soldiering on the part of worker; more optimistically, this theory theoretically introducing a sorting effect'(Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). Those organization who needs more and skilled human capital to operate their business use above-market wage levels in order to attract expected employees; where close supervision will be reduced; this relates to Responsible autonomy policy (Friedman, A.L, 1984). Paying above-market reward for skilled workforce might be suitable option than to employ additional supervision; this concept will be attractiv e in case of knowledge workers (Rubery, J, 1997). Principle Agent Theory Principle Agent Theory is also known as Agency Theory with the concept the deferred payment method; it emerged as dominant theory on economics and management in term of pay determination process and results; according to this theory, reward system must be design in the way that it satisfies the employees in term of pay and internal ladder of advancement; employees need full payment of their work and effort in short term, in other hand if job length is long then employees stay beyond the below market rate in early phase of employment (Garhart, B and Rynes, S.L, 2003). This theory emphasize result based deferred reward such as profit sharing, gin sharing, incentive plans, stock ownership etc designed for high level staffs; the size of deferred reward depends upon job complexity; Employees potential total earning and career opportunity will determine the risk sharing behavior of employees (Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). Role of employees and employers should be designed effectively t hat it simply explain the characteristics of individual represent that position; thus role theory simply explain how behavior and attitude are socially influence (Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). Internal Labor Market Internal labor market where organization search for a constant association with their workforce; structured internal labor market may be created and maintained few or all the employees from external labor force effecting on organizations ability to preserve its worker (Keer, 1954, cited in Hendry, C, 2003). The theoretical construct of the labour marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦may be more precisely defined as an administrative unit within which the market functions of pricing, allocating and often training labor are performed. It is governed by the set of institutional rules which delineate the boundaries of the internal market and determines its internal structure. These or administrative hiring and work rules defines the ports of entry into the internal market, the relationship between jobs for purpose of internal mobility, and privilege which accrue to worker within the internal Market (Doeringer, 1967:207, cited in White, G, 2000) In united state, after the First World War the development of internal market emerged where demand of both products for equity from trade union and modern personnel management was emphasized in long-term planning (Cappelli, P, 1995). In contrast, most British entrepreneur didnt build internal labor relation but depends upon market mechanism for obtaining labor (Gospel, 1992). Under ILM, wages and salaries was attached with work rather than employees (Williamson, O, 1975). Workers are rewarded through long-term benefits and advantages rather than monetary reward where pricing and allocation of labor are determined by organizational rules and policies (Garhart, B and Rynes, S.L, 2003). Wage Gap Theory Another neo-institutionalist approach was Wage Gap Theory which indicate the same dominant power exercise by employers on their product market to distribute higher part than the normal profit with the employees and employees commitment towards organization for enduring of production (Heery, E, 2000). Wage rate across six OECD nation remained almost equal and controlling labor quality and effectiveness. (i.e. USA, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Norway and Germany); the wage paid to employees in return of their effort seems less considerable comparing with rate of trade union and collective bargaining (Zweimuller, J and Barth, E, 1992). Criticism of neo institutionalist arguments The practical role of employees reward construction and level of typical social science whether at national level or organizational level; management has required employment relationship on more flexible pattern in order to transfer risk from employer to employee and to facilitate organizational product market or to enhance return on shareholder investment. (Rubery, J, 1997).During 1980-1990, the institutional approach of designing fair wage and arrangement with reward enjoy by employees were reduced, supported by government policies that pay should be based upon organizational ability to pay which reduce the power of trade union and popularity of the collective bargaining (Beaumont and Hunter, 2000) The existing reward determination theory was found ineffective in its overruling importance on stability and mutuality building where as majority of interest is on employment relationship thats why labor market policies should be reconsider; more attention should be given for disputes that profit values are redistributed between organizational stakeholders to privilege economic capital over human capital; the expectation between groups, balance of policies have courageously transfer in the side of management (Rubery, J, 1997). Reward Objectives The success of any reward system fully depends upon clear and concise objectives; the first step in consulting a strategic corridor through the reward jungle is to set achievable objectives, basically, to make employees satisfied and get work done from them is a primary objective of reward system (Brown, D, 2001). Organizations are starting to understand that pay should not de considered in term of particular job and financial results; the compensation should be inextricably being attached to employees, their performance and organizational vision and goals as well as most valuable and important tools for communicate, coordinate and reinforce the attitude and behaviors for results (Flannery et al, 1996). Reward management aims to support the achievement of organizations strategic and operational objectives, helps to communicate, drive and support expected attitude and behavior, promote continuous development, compete in employment market, enhance teamwork, and promote flexibility, gai n fairness and equity (Armstrong, M and Murlis, H, 1998). Similarly, support culture management and change through matching pay and organizational culture as a whole, where as it cannot drive change or lead change process, cannot define change, cannot establish values and cannot establish effective leadership (Flannery et al, 1996). Furthermore, the European study under total rewards underpinned the following as a objectives and themes of rewards: introducing more flexible and changeability reward rather than control oriented and highly structured, market driven rewards, more flexible employee based, focused on variable pay, promoting boarder concept of reward in relation to contribution in their organization, implementing variety of reward tools, involving managers and staffs in those rewards cases and so on(Perrin,T, 1999). Total Reward Reward that include not only traditional, financial component (salary, wage, pay, benefit etc) but also non-financial component (job responsibility and accountability, career opportunities, training and development etc) provided by an organization in order to motivate its employees (Thumpson, 2002). Reward that covers not only tangible pay like pay and benefits, but also intangible factors, such as opportunity to work flexibly, career development, trainings and environment where employees feels respect and valued (Brett, S, 2006). It includes direct as well as indirect and intrinsic as well as extrinsic (Manus and Graham, 2003), which embrace everything that employee values in employment relationship (Oneal,Sandra 1998). The combination of both monetary and non-monetary reward which helps to address every staff whether they want financial or non financial; the tools that are used to attract, retain, motivate and satisfy employee in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness that drive desired attitude in workplace (World Bank, 2000). Total reward is vertically integrated organizational strategy and horizontally integrated with HR strategies to gain internal consistency (Armstrong, M, 2009). The success of totals reward strategy is almost all depends upon monetary and non-monetary rewards provided to employees by employers (Davis, M.L, 2007). an approach to providing a package of reward to employees in the way that optimize employee satisfaction with reward from their work, and which does this in such a fashion that the employees contribution to employer is optimized at an acceptable cost -Vicky Wright, CIPD vice president (CIPD National Conference 2001) It is fairly simple to understand but very complex in operation owing to the wide -ranging implications forà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..reward management (Richards and Hogg, 2007:4) All the employers available tools that may be used to attract, retain, motivate and satisfy employees, this encompasses every single investment that an organization makes in its people, and everything its employees value in the employment relationship. (World Bank, 2000) The termà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦adopted to describe a reward strategy that brings additional component such as learning and development, together with aspects of the working environment into the benefit package. It goes beyond standard remuneration by embracing the company culture, and is aimed at giving all employees a voice in the organization, with the employers in return receiving and engaged employee performance. (Richards and Hogg, 2007:1) Whistling the initial definition on offer, the relationship might be distinguish between total reward and various thoughts and ideas like employee well-being and psychological contract (Guest and Conway, 2004); similarly, emotionally intelligent leadership (Brown et al, 2006; Goleman, 2002; Palmer et al, 2001); mutual gain'(Bacon and Blyton, 2006); as well as employee involvement program (Cox et al, 2006) and high involvement work practice'(Huselid, 1995) and so on. Therefore, adopting the wide concept of reward, everything that employees get in return of their efforts is total reward (Davis, M.L, 2007). Therefore, the total reward component of World at Work can be summaries as follows: compensation, benefits, work-life, performance and recognition and development and career opportunities (Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). In USA, both old and new style organization are taking on board total reward strategy. In other hand, same author comment that too often, when companies talk about total reward they simply mean providing generous benefits and positive workplace. Guaranteeing jobs, supporting an attractive work-life balance, adding benefits and pay- scale, encouraging development and opportunities and making work area appealing all makes poor business sense without understanding the needs of high performance. They also told they feel most existing solutions ignore performance and encourage entitlement (Zingheim, P and Schuster, J, 2000). Transactional (tangible) Rational (intangible) Communal Individual Work Environment Core value of the organization Leadership Employee voice Recognition Achievement Job design and role development( responsibility, autonomy, meaningful work, the scope to use and develop skills) Quality of work life Work-life balance Talent management Benefits Pension Holiday Health care Other perks flexibility Learning and Development Work place learning and development Training Performance management Career development Pay Base pay Contingent pay Cash bonuses Long-term incentives Shares Profit sharing Figure: 2 Towers Perrin model of Total Reward Source: (Armstrong, M, 2009) In the above given figure, upper two boxes (i.e. Pay and Benefit) indicate transactional reward which are financial in nature. In other hand, lower two boxes (i.e. Learning development and work environment) indicate rational reward which are non financial in nature The effective reward is the one which consist of both transactional and rational rewards (Thompson, 2002). The success of organization depends upon its staffs. If staffs are satisfied and loyal towards organization than overall goals can be achieved. However, some business organization fails to motivate their employees in aspect of reward. So, considering the fact, organization should apply both financial and non financial reward (i.e. Total reward). Financial/ Extrinsic Reward Rewards like pay, benefit, salary, incentive are financial or extrinsic reward; various kinds of benefits and perks provided to employees in non-cash as a benefits and helps to motivate employees to perform better, similarly it also shows employers interest in employees well being(Perkins, J.S and White, G, 2008). Non-Financial/ Intrinsic Reward Intrinsic reward can be divided into two parts; Environmental reward and Development oriented reward (Kessler, I, 2001). Environmental rewards are like employees value shown by senior supervisor, managers in work place, sensitivity of supervision and leadership excellence; similarly, development oriented reward are individually targeted to enhance career development and opportunity as well as helps to built sense of accomplishment in employees(Milkovich and Newman, 2004). Intrinsic reward is also regarded as psychological reward which indicate psychological contract in work relationship (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.).

Comparison of Into Battle and Spring Offensive. Essay -- English Liter

Comparison of Into Battle and Spring Offensive. Spring Offensive and Into Battle In the comparison of Into Battle and Spring Offensive, it can be said that they are two opposing poems. Although both of their themes are about war, Spring Offensive is a bleak poem compared to Into Battle. One talks about the adversarial ways of the war whereas the other talks about the beautifulness of its. Both poets use 'nature' as a main object in order to describe war. In the poem of Into Battle the poet uses nature as warmth, something colorful and lively e.g. "The naked earth is warm with spring" but on the contrary to this, the poet in the Spring Offensive talks about the dark, cold, and sad sight of it e.g. "Halted against the shade of a last hill". In addition to this, the structures of the poems reflect the poets' moods. Spring Offensive's broken rhythm resembles grief of a soldier and Into Battle's half rhymes make the poem sound like a song. Into Battle seems to encourage people using both patriotism and propaganda of fighting together. Whereas, Spring Offensive is trying to protect the soldiers from war and make them realize how nonsense it is. The people (that seem to be) living in these poems have exactly opposite thoughts and mood. The soldiers that Spring Offensive talks about are worried, despondent and blank, while the ones in Into Battle are singing, as if they are going to a picnic, behaving like the enemies are the ants which are trying to steal their food. Both of them include death, but in Into Battle, death is emphasized as if it is an honor to die. The poet in the Into Battle talks about life in a pleasant manner. He sees life something colorful and worthwhile to live. On the contrary, ... ...ar is) in every stanza. Both of them set the scene before getting into the main theme. For example, in the first lines Wilfred Owen explained the location of war before actually setting the main theme, while Julian Grenfell by using the environment explained the optimistic side of war. I prefer Spring Offensive as it is more attractive than Into Battle because, it talks about the reality rather than the thoughts of an insane man who loves killing people. In addition, Spring Offensive is more convincing than Into Battle in a sense that it encourages people not to go and fight in war, with a strong emphasis by the use of language e.g. "and instantly the whole sky burned". Both of the poems are good examples of war poems. However, personally I enjoyed reading and analyzing Spring Offensive as it talks about the reality of being a soldier and life at war.

“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan Essay

Amy Tan begins by announcing, â€Å"I am not a scholar of English†¦I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country and others.† How does this opening set up your expectations for the rest of the essay? Why do you think she chose to begin by denying her own authority? The introduction Tan decided to use presents the reader with a strong sense of the kind of individual she is. By saying â€Å"I am not a scholar of English†, Tan is revealing how humble she is. Amy Tan has written many novels and essays (some of which have been nationally recognized). Yet, she starts off her essay by stating that this is just a product of her opinion and that it is in no way superior to any others opinion. This manner of denying her own authority shows her strong belief that everyone can have their own interpretation of the value of the English language, much like she does. Her opening draws the reader in; it intrigues us. We are pleased with the idea that Tan is going to bring a new perspective to the â€Å"personal opinions on the English language†. Her opening also causes to reader to have a moment of self-reflection. We start to wonder what our opinion on the English language has been, momentarily stunned because, truly, we have never thought about this in-depth before. Therefore, our expectations for the rest of the essay increase. Tan writes about the different â€Å"Englishes† she speaks. What categories does she divide English into? Why are these divisions important to Tan? How does she say they affect her as a writer? At the beginning of the essay, Tan herself questions how to put a label on the complex â€Å"Englishes† that she has grown up with. To Tan, these â€Å"Englishes† do not just represent a way of speaking; they are multi-dimensional and a big part of her journey to find out who she truly is. Through self-reflection, at the end of her essay, she is able to come up with four categories of the English she uses: the kind of English she speaks to her mother (considered a â€Å"simple English†), the English her mother uses with her (considered a â€Å"broken English†), her translation of her mother’s Chinese (considered a â€Å"watered down† version), and the kind of English Tan aspires to capture (her mother’s internal language- the translation of Chinese if her mother could speak English  perfectly.) These divisions matter to Tan because each of these â€Å"Englishes† uniquely contribute in forming who Tan is. As a writer, this exposure to all of these â€Å"Englishes† has affected her greatly. She no longer focuses on writing to the readers who can understand English perfectly. Tan’s understanding of the multifaceted â€Å"Englishes† present in our nation allow her to get her message across to a larger audience. How does writing for a literary audience affect the language Tan primarily uses in the essay? What kind of English do you think she believes her audience speaks? Why? Support your answer with quotations from the text. Tan is aware that the literary audience will have a higher expectation of her writing. Therefore, she does not write in the manner in which her mother would speak (â€Å"broken English†). However, throughout her essay, any reader, whether an English scholar or student would easily be able to understand what Tan is trying to convey through her writing. In her essay Tan states: â€Å"Fortunately, for reasons I won’t get into today, I later decided I should envision a reader for the stories I would write. And the reader I decided upon was my mother.† Tan’s writing fully expresses the nature of her thoughts and ideas, but she writes in a way that will allow anyone to read her essay. Tan knows that there are people full of thoughts and emotions as complex as hers but are hindered by their lack of knowing English perfectly. She does not want her complex English phrasing to stop them from being able to gain something from her writing. How does Tan’s title – â€Å"Mother Tongue† – affect the way you read her argument? What other titles might she have chosen? Tan’s choice of title-â€Å"Mother Tongue†- allows the reader to understand Tan’s relationship with her mother. Although at some points, Tan was critical and embarrassed of her mother’s English, she has grown to understand and accept the idea that everyone can have their own kind of English. As a reader, the title allows you to have an open mind to the concept that â€Å"broken English† is not necessarily broken. People may not be able to speak English perfectly, but that does not mean you can label them as uneducated nor does it mean you are superior. Tan could have used a title that was patronizing or condescending. Her title could have swayed the reader to let go of whatever English they use and to start using â€Å"proper†/†formal† English. But as Tan said in her essay: â€Å"Fortunately, I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions..† Tan embraces the kind of English her mother uses because it plays a big part in who she is and how she speaks her own English and the title â€Å"Mother Tongue† is a testimony of that.

Respiration in Plants and Animals

Temperature and Its Effects on Respiration in Plants and Animals Introduction Cellular respiration is the process of breaking down organic compounds to create usable energy for plants and animals. Energy that results from this metabolic process is stored in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) but carbon dioxide and water are also end products of this reaction. This makes it possible to study the amount of respiration of a plant or animal by measuring the rate at which carbon dioxide is released by the organism.In this experiment, crickets and germinating seeds will be tested at three different temperature ranges and the carbon dioxide output measured and compared. Method To prepare the test, insert the CO? (carbon dioxide) probe into an empty respiration chamber and allow 90 seconds for the probe to warm up. Next, calibrate the CO? probe and allow 30 seconds for the CO? reading to be calculated and record the base reading. After the base reading has been taken weigh an empty res piration chamber in grams and then place 5 to 10 adult crickets, or 5 to 10 germinating seeds into the respiration chamber.Record the weight once again with both the respiration chamber and the organisms combined. Now, subtract the weight of the empty respiration chamber from the weight of the organisms and the respiration chamber together to determine the mass of the crickets or seeds. Continue to prepare the test by placing the probe snugly onto the respiration chamber and ensure that all other holes are sealed. Begin to measure the CO? output in ppm (parts per million) at 10-15Â ° C (ice bath), 20-25Â ° C (room temperature) and 35-40Â ° C (heated water bath. Allow five minutes for the temperature to stabilize when beginning to test a new temperature range and then proceed to collect data with the CO? probe. After a 3 minute period of data collection record the temperature inside the respiration chamber. Find the most linear part of the graph created from the data collected and determine the slope of the line. Divide the slope of the line by the mass of the crickets or seeds to determine the units in ppm/sec/g. Each temperature should be tested 2 to 3 times to get an average respiration rate for each temperature range tested. HypothesisThe test performed at the highest temperature will increase the rate of respiration of an organism, while the test conducted at the lowest temperature will decrease the rate of respiration of an organism. Results Respiration Rates at Various Temperature Ranges Respiration of Germinating Beans in ppm/sec/gRespiration of Crickets In ppm/sec/g TemperatureGroup 1Group 2Group 1Group 2 10-15Â °C0. 0020. 9231. 1430. 10 0. 18 1. 1790. 3830. 24 20-25Â °C0. 0960. 8940. 9630. 41 0. 2261. 0911. 1180. 50 35-40Â °C0. 273. 2552. 4621. 14 0. 473. 8662. 4771. 94 The rate of respiration in the germinating beans gradually increased as the temperature rose.However, groups 1 and 2 studying the germinating beans collected some inconsistent da ta in the 20-25Â °C temperature range. The overall trend was similar in the data collected from the crickets’ respiration rates. They also respired at a greater rate when the temperature was elevated. Additionally, group 1 studying the crickets also recorded some erratic measurements in the 10-15Â °C temperature range. Conclusion The results of this test supported the hypothesis. It is clear that there is a direct relationship between temperature and respiration in plants and animals.The tendency among both the germinating seeds and the crickets was an increase in respiration as the temperature intensified. The few inconsistencies that occurred throughout the test could have been attributed to not allowing sufficient time for the temperature to stabilize between testing different temperature ranges. Also, the CO? probe could have not been tightly sealed allowing oxygen to enter the respiration chamber and affecting the readings of CO? concentrations. When repeating this tes t it would be important to ensure that these errors are more closely controlled or corrected so that accurate readings could be recorded and evaluated.

International Relations Essay All You Need to Know about It

International Relations Essay All You Need to Know about It Studies in International Relations involve a wide spectrum of topics that range from sociology to political science. Because of the range of topics in international relations courses, the area of study is unique and demanding. As an international relations student, your lecturer expects you to be familiar with everything including historical aspects of international relations, economics, sociology, anthropology, human rights, political theories, and current affairs. Markedly, the interdisciplinary nature of the study of international relations blends the fields of history, economics, and political science to analyze topics, such as worldwide poverty, security, human rights, globalization, and social ethics. Professors test your familiarity of the different areas of study by assigning essays on international relations. Being an interdisciplinary field, it means that there is a wide set of guidelines followed when writing international relations essays. Lecturers may assign you the writing form of an assignment as a part of your course to examine what you know about the area of study, your ability to relate concepts, and your ability to apply theories in international relations into practical life experiences. It is important to keep the noted lecturer objectives in mind when planning and writing international relations essays because they help you understand your professor’s expectations and course grading expectations. You need to have a concrete idea of what to write about before beginning your writing journey. This guide includes powerful international relations essay tips and will provide step-by-step tips and prompts that will help you understand the way to write your international relations essay and why some elements in the writing process are important. Besides, the guideline will help hone your essay writing skills; thus, it can be used as a guide for your other essay assignments. Pre-Writing Tips for Your International Relations Essay The writing process begins the minute you read your assignment and ends when you submit it for grading. Pre-writing tips are guidelines to use in the intervention stage of writing; they help you do the following: Narrow the area of study possibilities down to a manageable and appropriate international relations essay topic; Generate ideas relating to a topic on international relations; Group ideas that belong together. You can use a variety of prewriting techniques, but not all of them may work well for you or for a particular area of your international relations course. You can try out several prewriting techniques until you find the ones that work for you. The common prewriting techniques include: This involves noting down a list of ideas and topics and then reviewing them to select those that fit your assignment objectives. Brainstorming and free writing. In both free writing and brainstorming, the bottom line is that you write down everything that comes to mind about international relations issues without censoring yourself. In free writing, set some time to write what you know about specific topics in international relations. Subsequently, go back through your written notes to find the best ideas, and repeat the process until you have enough ideas for your international relations essay. This involves using reporters’ questions, such as why, who, what, when, how, and where of your area of study. Journal writing. This entails writing a personal reflection on what several international relations topic and concepts mean to you and why. Journal writing helps you develop ideas and topics that you can explore in your essay. Once you have chosen a preferred prewriting technique, the next important steps entail selecting a topic for your essay, note taking, and planning for your essay outline. Topic selection. Topic selection is an important aspect of the essay writing process. Three scenarios may arise in topic selection, namely your lecturer may assign a specific essay topic in international relations, you may be provided with a set of possible international relations essay topics, or you may be required to formulate a topic as long as it is within the international relations area of study. If your instructor does not provide you with an international relations essay topic, conduct preliminary research on various topics in the area of study before settling on one subject matter. Moreover, select a variety of issues you are familiar with and those with readily available information. Note taking. Taking notes occurs once you are done with generating ideas for your international relations essay. The practical aspect is that the note taking process should accompany the researching process to lay down essential elements of your topic. Making a plan. The plan refers to an outline that shows what type of content should be written as the essay’s introduction, body, and conclusion. Making an outline helps in structuring your ideas into concrete pieces of information that can be written for informative purposes. Choosing a Suitable Topic for International Relations Essay: Sound Advice from Our Writers There is no secret formula to identifying and choosing an appropriate topic in the international relations field of study. However, the following key guidelines should be considered when choosing suitable essay topics: Brainstorm for possible ideas on international relations issues. In brainstorming, try to explore what interests you in international relations; Research for ideas on possible topics in books or in articles written by scholars whose work has interested you. Explore if these authors make any suggestions about areas that could be developed into essay topics in the international relations field of study; Think of two or more authors who have disagreed with each other in print about an issue in international relations and determine if you could write an essay that weighs up their opposing arguments; Be realistic when exploring and choosing a particular essay topic. You should only consider topics with readily available sources. Coming up with ideas and topics that fascinate you only to find that all the resources you need are unavailable can be demotivating; Ensure that you do not choose a topic that is too specific. Obscure topics make finding research materials difficult. Besides, a specialist type of research would be inappropriate for an essay; Select a topic that is appropriate to the length of your essay. Students are often tempted to pick topics that are too broad to be adequately covered. While broad topics lead to overgeneralization, narrow topics lead to close observation; Avoid topics that will tempt you to summarize rather than discuss or analyze concepts in international relations unless your professor requires a summary-type of an essay; Choose a topic that interests you to motivate you in research and compile the actual essay paper. Chances are that when an essay topic is interesting to you, the outcome of the essay will be equally interesting to the readers; Once you have picked and settled on a certain topic, do not be afraid to change it if it is not working out as expected. Possible topics for your international relations essay include: Compare and Contrast Atlantic and Pacific Commercial Business Discuss the Validity of the Cold War after the Collapse of the USSR Discuss the New Principles of the U.S. Foreign Policy How did the Cold War end? Did Any of the Sides Win? Discuss the United Nations and Its Peacekeeping Agenda Writing an Effective Title for Your International Relations Essay A common issue evident among students and seasoned writers is omitting or underusing a useful tool in their writing process, namely an essay title. When stuck, it is common for students to give up on generating a title for an essay or they merely label the essays by assignment numbers and sequences. The title of an essay helps in preparing readers to understand and believe the paper that is to follow. The first aspect in drafting an essay title should involve outlining the functions of the title. A good essay title: predicts contents of the essay; catches the reader’s interest; reflects the tone of your piece of writing; presents keywords that define the essay and make it easily identifiable during searches. When crafting the essay title, you need to think of title writing as a process and allow yourself to stretch your thinking during that process. Your title should have a hook that attracts the readers to your essay. This hook can be a collection of keywords from your essay or a quote that introduces your topic or the tone of the essay. Moreover, the title should have one or two key terms that provide the reader with a sense of the content and the angle of your essay. In other words, the title you choose for your essay should provide the reader with an overall overview of the essay even before the essay is read in depth. Despite the recommended short length, the title should summarize the entire essay in a few words. Appropriate Structure for Your International Relations Essay An appropriate outline of the international relations essay should have at least an introduction, main body, and a conclusion. The outline should appear as indicated below: Introduction. The introduction should occupy approximately 10% of the entire essay and it should explain how your essay interprets the title, issues it explores, and the conclusions that you draw from the essay discussion. The introduction should make the target reader interested in your essay, should tell what you are writing about, and must explain why the essay topic is relevant or why you have written the essay. An important aspect of the introduction part of the essay involves getting the readers interested in your work. Creating interest in a reader is what differentiates a B grade essay from an A grade essay. Therefore, choose your words carefully and meet all the introduction requirements. In this case, provide: an overview of the essay; objectives of the essay; the essays significance; a purpose statement; a thesis statement. Body. The main body of the essay should take up 80% of the essay content because it forms the main part of the essay. The content of the essay, at this point, is presented in paragraphs where each paragraph provides a unique theme or element of the essay. In this regard, you should ensure your paragraphs are thematic and based on major arguments. Depending on the ideas and themes you intend to explore in your essay, the number of paragraphs may vary from three to four. However, a one-page essay may only require one or two paragraphs for the body section of the essay. Each paragraph of the essay should develop and explore the major essay arguments and must have a topic sentence that presents your claims as well as evidence that supports claims made in each topic sentence. You should consider the following elements when writing the body of your essay in international relations: The major discussion points in each paragraph; The arguments and evidence that support the topic sentence in each paragraph; The practicality of the topic sentence; The paragraphs’ ability to link the thesis statement, essay topic, and essay title. If the body has three main paragraphs, the first paragraph should focus on the strongest argument in the essay. The topic for this paragraph should be stated within the first several sentences (the topic sentence) and appropriate content should be used to support the topic sentence. You should then provide a clear transition to your next paragraph. The second paragraph should contain the second most significant point of your essay. Similar to the previous paragraph, ensure you provide a topic sentence and supporting evidence. The weakest argument should be presented in the last paragraph and should tie into the essay’s thesis. Conclusion. Similar to the introduction, the last part of the international relations essay should slightly mirror the introduction and summarize the arguments you made in your previous paragraphs. Moreover, the conclusion should echo your thesis statement and provide a description of how you proved your thesis. You should be careful not to introduce new points and arguments in the conclusion section. However, you can provide an action plan where possible. The Last bit Not Least: Post-Writing Tips Proofreading and referencing constitute the most essential post writing process. These tips ensure your essay is appropriate and capable of helping you attain a high grade. Proofreading refers to the process of reviewing your essay to ensure it is free of grammar, sentence structure, and tense mistakes. It also involves reviewing the essay content to ensure it is coherent.