Monday, December 30, 2019

The Affordable Care Act Of The United States - 1616 Words

Studies in various cities in the United States have revealed that there is an overall inadequacy of health care for low income, homeless, and uninsured individuals (Hwang et al., 2010). The government has recognized the lack of healthcare for these individuals. For many years, politicians have been struggling to enact a healthcare reform. Finally, in March 2010 the Affordable Care act was written into law (Hammer, Phillips, Schmidt, 2010). There have been many debates on the pros and cons and how effective this act will be at achieving the goal. These debates raise the question, should poor or homeless individuals be required to pay for healthcare insurance? Experiencing poverty or homelessness presents unique barriers to all aspects†¦show more content†¦Many who have experienced food insufficiency feel that health care is a lower priority when directing their personal resources. Another barrier is vision impairment, the person may be unable to navigate the system or colle ct needed health information due to poor eye sight (Baggett, O’Connell, Singer, Rigotti, 2010). Finding transportation to clinics or provider’s offices to receive care may enable some from using preventive care. Another major factor is stigmatism. A homeless man or woman may feel they are being stigmatized by health care professionals (Hwang et al., 2010). Work for the homeless often comes day by day and is unpredictable. In addition their current job may be the only source of income for the individual or family. The consequences of missing work even for health reasons is costly to someone’s survival, making work their number one priority. These various reasons can lead to prolonged homelessness, loss of employment related to inability to work from being ill, and further health deterioration or possibly death (Hwang et al., 2010). The extent that homeless individuals are able to obtain health care is largely unknown (Baggett, O’Connell, Singer, Rigotti, 2010). In a study on the use of primary care among a homeless population two main barriers were established. These were the inability to afford care and the prioritization of other needs above

Saturday, December 21, 2019

William Shakespeare s Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark - 953 Words

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Polonius is shown to be the bumbling counselor to King Claudius. He is considered a high class-citizen although he is below Hamlet and the king. When examined from a Marxist perspective, Polonius is often treated poorly by Hamlet because he is not in the same social rank as the prince; however, Polonius values his position as counselor highly and goes through great measures to assure that he keeps his job because it guarantees him a place in upper class society. After developing a plan to find the root of Hamlet’s madness with the king, Hamlet walks in, and Polonius attempts to converse with him. At first, Hamlet’s remarks seem insane, but his words are laden with insults to Polonius. The prince comments that he agrees with his book which describes â€Å"that old men have†¦ a plentiful lack of wit,† directing his jab at Polonius (II.II.193-195). His mocking shows that class is very important in the kingdom; because Polonius is of lower rank than Hamlet, Hamlet believes he has the right to insult Polonius. However, Polonius mistakes the affront on his age and intelligences as further proof of the prince’s insanity and leaves to exact his plan to find the source of the prince’s madness. Hamlet openly mocks Polonius while with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whispering â€Å"that/ great baby you see there is not yet out of his swaddling-clouts,† showing that Hamlet does not respect Polonius and feels that he can mock him because ofShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark1584 Words   |  7 Pages The drama Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is a renowned play that was written by William Shakespeare, it portrays love, tragedy, gluttony, and of course vengeance. Hamlet is a character that was perhaps the best dramatic person to be created in such a play. He is, in fact, irresponsible, however careful, polite, yet rude, affectionate, but cruel. People may, in fact, feel that this play is troubling, or maybe overwhelming, on the other hand, William Shakespeare possibly wrote this play over an incidentRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark1740 Words   |  7 Pagescommonalities: violent murders, treachery and revenge. However, while Hamlet, Prince of Denmark portrays these same ideas, it effectively fights against the traditional expectations of a Shakespearean tragedy. The play centers on Hamlet’s attempts to avenge his father’s murder, yet his greatest struggles are against himself. Stemming from his constant desire to plot a perfect revenge, Hamletâ €™s obsessiveness often leads to frustration. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony and lengthy soliloquies to give the readerRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet, The Prince Of Denmark985 Words   |  4 Pages William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Prince of Denmark has remained to be the most astonishing of William Shakespeare’s tragedies. It is widely known to be considered as a philosophy or drama based play, but moral center is universally acknowledged. The characters in Hamlet persistently struggle with the power of their consciences, as they are tempted to satisfy their innermost desires. Hamlet, The Prince of Denmark, is bestowed upon the strenuous task of taking justice into his hands to avenge hisRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet Prince Of Denmark 1540 Words   |  7 PagesHamlet Prince of Denmark is one of the key plays that gives the audience an insight into human character. William Shakespeare chooses to focus on the influence of people’s emotions on their actions, rather than their rationality. In the play, the melancholic Prince Hamlet, chooses to avenge his murdered father by killing his uncle who marries his mother and assumes the throne. Although the plot is simplistic, it shows how Hamlet undergoes considerable emotional stress before exacting his supposedRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet - Prince Of Denmark901 Words   |  4 Pages In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, Ophelia is a passive woman. She went through her life just letting whatever happened to her happen. Her father, Polonius, was a controlling father, like most fathers of that time. Her boyfriend, Prince Hamlet, is insane and cruel. With these two men controlling her life more than anyone else it made her rely on both of them being there. Ophelia grew to rely on people telling her what to do. Ophelia’s mental stability deteriorates because HamletRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark884 Words   |  4 Pagescharacters and situations. The writer creates these characters with personality to fulfil their story with drama. The play â€Å"Hamlet, Prince of Denmark† by William Shakespeare consists of man y dramatic characters. The main character, Prince Hamlet, is a troubled college student who is mourning the death of his father and disagreeing with the marriage of his Uncle to his mother. Hamlet begins to seek revenge on his Uncle, and new step-father, but his madness begins to show Hamlet’s motives. Analyzing Hamlet’sRead MorePerfect Idealism In Shakespeares Hamlet1631 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction The play Hamlet is a fable of how the ghost of a slain king comes to haunt the living with disastrous consequences. A rancorous ghost and a brother s murder, lead the gloomy setting of Hamlet s Denmark. Hamlet story opens with an encounter between young Hamlet, his dad s ghost as well as the prince of Denmark. The ghost reveals to Hamlet that its murderer was his brother Claudius, who then rapidly wedded his widowed queen, Gertrude. As a result, the ghost presses Hamlet to seek vengeanceRead MoreThe Death Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare1427 Words   |  6 Pagestreason, ruthless scheming, and a ghost, Denmark is on the verge of damage. Directly following King Hamlet s death, the widowed Queen, Gertrude, remarried Claudius, the King s brother. Prince Hamlet optically discerns the joining together of his mother and uncle as a hasty and incestuous act (Charles Boyce, 232). He then ascertains that Claudius is responsible for his father s perfidious murder. His father s ghost asks Hamle t to avenge his death and Hamlet concurs. He plans very punctiliously,Read MoreHero Hamlet And His Jumbling Journey1527 Words   |  7 Pages26 February 2015 Hero Hamlet and his Jumbling Journey In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Prince Hamlet takes on the typical Archetypal hero s journey but throughout its course he causes the death of multiple characters. Hamlet receives supernatural aid from his deceased father, answers but chooses to delay his call to action, suffers in the belly of the whale, and leaves behind a legacy of truth and justice to restore peace to the kingdom of Denmark. Prince Hamlet arrives home from collegeRead MoreA Tragedy Full Of Revenge995 Words   |  4 Pages6 August 2015 A Tragedy full of Revenge The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, also known as Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare somewhere between 1599 and 1602. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play stages the revenge Prince Hamlet is instructed to enact on his uncle Claudius. Claudius had murdered his own brother King Hamlet and later seized the throne, marrying Hamlet’s widowed mother, Gertrude. Hamlet is Shakespeare s longest play and among the most powerful and influential

Friday, December 13, 2019

The Road Free Essays

string(124) " to a boy with a big sense of humanity, who knows a lot about the world he lives in and feels responsible for other people\." The post-apocalyptic novel â€Å"The Road†, written by Cormac McCarthy was published in 2006. [1] It deals with the journey of a father together with his son, who try to reach the coast after America, its nature and civilisation has been destroyed by some catastrophe. Therefore some important issues are implied: travelling, fear of death, nuclear war, goodness, religion, cannibalism and of course the relationship between father and son. We will write a custom essay sample on The Road or any similar topic only for you Order Now Maybe that is the reason why McCarthy dedicated the novel to his son: John Francis McCarthy. In 2007 McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for this novel. 2] In 2009 the Novel was made into a film, also called â€Å"The Road† and directed by John Hillcoat. [3] There are some interesting aspects, regarding the similarities and differences between the novel and its cinematic adaptation. The Novel Cormac McCarthy tells the story of a journey, made by father and son. They survived a nuclear catastrophe, which is not described in detail and want to go south in order to reach the coast. They have a card in order to carry their habits. They hope for a humanitarian climate, nourishments and other peaceful survivors. Due to the apocalypse, they have to deal with a lot of trouble during their trip. In order to survive despite the lack of food, a lot of people became cannibals. Cannibalism is no option for the man and his son, because they belong to the good ones. Therefore they have to be carful who they trust and their search for food is more difficult. In addition they have to take care for their clothing, especially for their shoes because it is very cold since the catastrophe. [4] â€Å"Mostly he worried about their shoes. That and food. Always food. † (McCarthy, 2006: 17) [5] The most problematic aspect is the fathers task to raise his son under such circumstances without neglecting the sense of humanness. The world he knows was completely destroyed and there is no common childhood. The son has to cope with aspects like cannibalism and suicide very early. He also has to accept the circumstance, that his father is going to die sooner or later and that he needs to be able to live on his own when the time comes. His father tries to prepare him as good as he can. McCarthy tells the story among 287 pages. He uses 3rd person narration, where the narrator is omniscient, because he knows about thoughts, dreams and fears of the father and his son. His style of writing without chapters stresses the travel motive. It highlights the fact that the protagonists have to go on and on until they reach the coast and that there are no other important stages in between. Another important technique is the avoidance of names which means that both protagonists remain anonym. This technique highlights the aspect, that in case of a nuclear catastrophe, this scenario could happen to anyone. The father and his son serve as representatives for humankind. In addition there are no concrete names of places which indicates, that this scenario could not just happen to anyone, it could also happen anywhere in the world. There are two more aspects, which remain unclear. The first one is the fate of the mother. The book does not make clear what happened to her because for them, it does not matter. She is gone and that is all they need to know. Secondly there are no details mentioned when it comes to the catastrophe which also indicates that it is not important what happened. The man and his son are alive and so they have to challenge the circumstances, indifferent what caused them. â€Å"The clocks stopped at 1:17. A long shear of light and then a series of low concussions. (†¦) A dull rose glow in the windowglas. (McCarthy, 2006: 52) McCarthy creates a very desperate imagery. His preferred chosen words are dark and sad. He uses short sentences, which guarantees that the novel is written in a minimal, but tough very closely style. [6] â€Å"No list of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one’s heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes. † (McCarthy, 2006: 54) Even the dialogues between father and son or between them and strangers they met are very short. In addition there are a lot of details described, no matter if they are tolerable or hardly shocking. â€Å"They could smell something cooking. Let’s circle around, the man said. (†¦) They left their food cooking. (†¦) What is it? He said. What is it? The boy shook his head. Oh Papa, he said. He turned and looked again. What the bay had seen was a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit. † (McCarthy, 2006: 198) The two unnamed Protagonists The son is about 10 years old and was born after the catastrophe. That is why he does not know the world as it was before. He has although no childhood like one would think of. He has to grow up without his mom, knowing that his father will also fade away one day. Therefore he has to learn very much important skills in a short amount of time. He has no real toys and no other kids around him. In contrast he knows how to kill himself and feels responsible for his father, who became ill. It is important to say, that the son serves as a symbol for hope. â€Å"He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke. † (McCarthy, 2006: 5) Not only for his father, also for other people they met. For example Ely, the second stranger they met thought that he was an angel. Within the story the young boy grows from a child with a lot of questions and fears to a boy with a big sense of humanity, who knows a lot about the world he lives in and feels responsible for other people. You read "The Road" in category "Papers" â€Å"The man squatted and looked at him. I’m scared, he said. Do you understand? I’m scared. (†¦) You’re not the one who has to worry about everything. The boy said something but he couldn’t understand him. What? he aid. He looked up, his wet and grimy face. Yes I am, he said. I am the one. † (McCarthy, 2006: 259) The father can be characterized as a reactor. Whenever it comes to violent actions he is just acting in self-defence. He knows the world as it has been before the catastrophe, and feels sorry for his son but he also knows that he can not hold the horror away f rom him. He faces the fact that his son has to live on his own one day and that it is his job to make sure that he will be able to do so. Therefore he is distrustful when it comes to strangers. He always reminds his son to be less helpful and a bit more wary but often he does not succeed. In addition he is very ill and weak. The only reason why he is able to go on without committing suicide is his son. Everything he does is for him. â€Å"He held the boy close to him. So thin. My heart, he said. My heart. But he knew that if he were a good father still it might well be as she had said. That the boy was all that stood between him and death. † (McCarthy, 2006: 29) Ending The ending of the novel is a happy one. They manage to reach the coast and the father dies in peace. After some days other survivors appear. There is another man, a woman and two other children, a boy and a girl. The boy talks to the man and makes clear that they belong to the good guys who â€Å"carry the fire†, which means that they do not kill and eat other people. After he made that clear, it is okay for him to go with them. Therefore the ending implies a new beginning, because it could be possible that the boy and the girl create descendants one day, which would be a first step to get a new population. â€Å"The woman when he saw him put her arms around him and held him. (†¦) I am so glad to see you. She would talk to him sometimes about God. He tried to talk to God but the best thing was to talk to his father and he did talk to him and he didn’t forget. † (McCarthy, 2006: 286) The Movie The movie â€Å"The Road† was published in 2009. John Hillcoat (Director) and Joe Penhall (Screenplay) produced a cinematic adaptation of the novel with the same title and story which takes 111 minutes. The role of the father is played by Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays the role of the son. [7] As already said, the story is almost the same. There are just a few changes within it. For example there are some flashbacks to the time before the catastrophe and shortly after it, when the mother was still alive. In addition there are some omissions because of details which would have been too shocking, like the passage with the infant corpse. [8] Despite those supplements and omissions Hillcoat and Penhall did a really good job. They managed it to copy the imagery of McCarthy’s special style of writing into the atmosphere of the film. Therefore they used a number of techniques. [9] The depressive and sad atmosphere is easily created by mostly grey and brown colours. Furthermore the film was produced in wintertime, when there automatically lies snow and the trees are without leaves. The film implies no ordinary scenery, because it is not a complex story. The contrast comes when the flashbacks to the time before the catastrophe are shown. The colours change into very intensive ones, it is summer and you always hear nice piano music. One could also argue that the piano serves as a symbol for the presence of the mother and for civilisation because it represents culture. When the father remembers his wife there is always piano music which accentuates the scenes. Later in the film he has to cut an old piano into pieces in order to get wood for a fire. This is a clear indication that he is angry with his wife because of her decision to commit suicide. Those scenes are different to the few passages about the mother in the book. She is not a big issue in the novel. Within the book the story is told by an omniscient 3rd person narrator. In the cinematic adaptation the man tells the story. This is a contrast to the book, where the actions, feelings and thoughts of the man are part of the narration. On the one hand one could argue that this contrast is problematic because in the end the father is going to die and the way of narration could be too personal. But on the other hand Hillcoat and Penhall had to choose someone who tells the story and they had no other opportunity if they want to have the option of flashbacks and omniscience. According to the protagonists there is one other existing difference. In the book the boy seems to accept his fate and tries to make the best out of it. He grows up very fast and is rather adulty than childish. In the film he collects some artefacts like a broken comb of his mother, wears her clothes and also has a few toys. He is often scared and cries when he is. All in all, the boy is played like a child and not as grown up as he is described in the book. The overlapping aspect is the importance of â€Å"to carry the fire†. He is always asking if someone carries the fire, which means not to kill other people and disregard morality and values. The biggest difference between the novel and its cinematic adaptation is the ending. In the book it is described as a happy end. The father dies, the son meets another family who also carries the fire and can go with them. In addition the family has a daughter, which means that there is a new beginning for civilisation implied. This procedure is the same at the end of the film but there are some details which change the situation. Firstly the thumbs of the veteran are missing or garbled. That was also the case when they met the thief who has stolen their cart with all their goods. Those missing fingers can lead to the suggestion that he had been a member of a cannibalism commune. This would also fit to the question why a family should voluntary incorporate another hungry child. In fact there is no food left and every additional person is a risk at the same time. One also has to remember that they have a dog in the movie, which is pure luxury according to the circumstances they live in. According to those details there are two possibilities: either they are just as friendly and careful as the boy and it is an act of charity, or they see their chance in getting extra food without killing someone of their family or group. Novel or Movie? In my opinion both works are really great. I like the novel of McCarthy very much because of his style of writing and the atmosphere within the story. The dialogues are short, concise and therefore fit totally in. In addition the characters with their actions, thoughts, feelings and dreams as well as the ending of the story are simply realistic. There are some differences when it comes to the cinematic adaptation but those are no reasons for regarding the film as inferior. As already said, I think that Hillcoat and Penhall did a great job because it must have been very hard to transport McCarthy’s style of writing into a movie. What I like most is the ending of the film. It is less clear than in the book and every viewer can decide which option seems to be more realistic. I think the interpretation of the ending refers to ones personal character traits. If the viewer is as prudent, distrusting and sometimes hopeless like the father he will maybe be more likely to see it critical. In contrast a viewer who is as optimistic as the son will probably see the details as unimportant and therefore recognize the ending as a happy end, like the one of the book. This opportunity of individual interpretation is a great aspect of the movie. Bibliography McCarthy, Comac. The Road. New York: Vintage Books, 2006 http://www.buecher.de/shop/krimi–thriller/the-road/mccarthy-cormac/products_products/detail/prod_id/22749892/session/0c16e28341622398e76f09549b0dc89c/ (23.02.2012) http://www.cormacmccarthy.com/works/theroad.htm (23.02.2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/ (23.02.2012) http://sweetcheese.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/41jilx9r0rl_ss500_.jpg (23.02.2012) http://quaterlyconversation.com/the-road-by-cormac-mccarthy-review (23.02.2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/ (25.02.2012) Movie: â€Å"The Road†, Universum Film GmbH: 2009 http://www.beyondhollywood.com/the-road-2008-movie-images-gallery/the-road-movie/ (25.02.2012) How to cite The Road, Papers The Road Free Essays Why do you think McCarthy has chosen not to give his characters names? How do the generic labels of â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† affect the way you /readers relate to them? While reading The Road, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy, I was jerked from the warmth, comfort, and safety of my home and thrown into a cold, dark, and desolate world, walking alongside â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy†. McCarthy composes his work so graphically that readers are drawn right into the story. I believe Cormac McCarthy wanted the figures in this book to be universal, so that the reader could imagine him/her self as â€Å"the boy† or â€Å"the man† at any given moment, and to be able to feel as they do. We will write a custom essay sample on The Road or any similar topic only for you Order Now To do this McCarthy did not designate the characters in his book with names, and because of this, I was able to connect with â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† on a personal level and envision myself uniting with them in their chilling journey. As the reader, I was deeply overwhelmed with many mixed emotions such as compassion, sadness, happiness, disgust, remorse, and fear. I have pity for the characters in the book The Road, because â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† have to pass day to day struggling to survive in a frigid bleak world where food is scarce â€Å"They squatted in the road and ate rice and cold beans they’d cooked days ago. † â€Å"Already beginning to ferment. †(McCarthy 29). The landscape is blackened, and mankind is almost extinct â€Å"The mummied dead everywhere. †(McCarthy 24). As I read on I noticed myself connecting more deeply with the characters. When the boy’s mother takes her own life, I was deeply saddened and my heart broke for â€Å"the boy† simply because his mom, someone he cherished and loved so much, had given up on hope and faith and deserted him. I just wanted to take hold of the child and comfort him even though at this moment he has no clue his mother has left. I also felt sorry for â€Å"the man†, one, because he has to tell his child where his mother is â€Å"For the love of God woman. What am I to tell him? † (McCarthy 58), and two, because his love and best friend was in such despair and there was nothing he could do to impel her to stay. As a mother, in some ways, I also felt sorry for the mother in this book, because most women dream of the day she will have a child of her own to love, care for, and teach, but this mother had to give birth to her son after the great catastrophe, and instead of bringing her tears of happiness, it brought tears of sorrow. She now knows that she has to raise her son in this dark and barley habitable world and that it will be a constant struggle to survive. â€Å"My heart was ripped out of me the night he was born†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (McCarthy 57). On the other hand though, I am also disgusted with the mother for the one reason that she gave up, and now her family, especially her child, has to suffer the consequences due to her actions, but again, given that I put myself in her situation, would I do the same thing? While reading I also felt deep sadness in many parts, for one instance, when â€Å"the man† dies, at this point in the book I had tears streaming down my face. â€Å"He slept close to his father that night and held him but when he woke in the morning his father was cold and stiff. † â€Å"He sat there a long time weeping†¦ (McCarthy 281). â€Å"He knelt beside his father held his cold hand and said his name over and over again. †(McCarthy 281). At one part in the book, remorse, disgust, sadness, and compassion were the stirred emotions that hit me all t once. It was the time when a thief robs â€Å"the boy† while he is asleep on the beach. When â€Å"the boy† was first robbed I was angry and disgusted with the thief who had robbed a sleeping innocent child, I could never see myself doing this especially in a situation where food is hard to come by and staying warm is almost impossible! When they finally catch up with the thief â€Å"the man† points the gun at him and threatens to shoot him. â€Å"The boy† is pleading with his father not to kill the thief. â€Å"The man† says to the thief â€Å"Take your clothes off. †(McCarthy 256). â€Å"Take them off every goddamn stitch. † (McCarthy 256). Eventually the thief is completely naked, â€Å"the boy† and the thief are begging â€Å"the man† not to do this, but the man looks at the thief and says â€Å"You didn’t mind doing it to us. †(McCarthy 257). Now I feel that the thief is getting what he deserves. When they leave the thief standing in the road â€Å"the boy† becomes extremely upset, â€Å"And They set out along south with the boy crying and looking back at the nude and saltlike creature standing there in the road shivering and hugging himself. † â€Å"Oh Papa, he sobbed. †(McCarthy 258). I am now starting to feel the compassion the boy has towards the thief â€Å"He was hungry, Papa. † â€Å"He’s going to die. †(McCarthy 259). They finally take the thief’s clothes back and pile them in the middle of the road and I am glad of this. Later as they were lying down at camp I believe the man was starting to feel guilty, and he spoke â€Å"I wasnt going to kill him, he said. † â€Å"But the boy didnt answer. † â€Å"They rolled themselves in the blankets and lay there in the dark. † â€Å"He could tell the boy was awake and after a while the boy said: but we did kill him. †(McCarthy 260). When â€Å"the boy† made this comment I felt deep remorse and disgust in myself for having felt so harshly toward the thief in the beginning. I also felt happiness and relief in this story when â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† found the underground shelter behind the house in the field, I felt as if I was there with them discovering the grand riches this den held! â€Å"Oh my God, he whispered. † â€Å"Oh my God. † â€Å"What is it Papa? † â€Å"Come down. † â€Å"Oh my God. † â€Å"Come down. † (McCarthy138). â€Å"Crate upon crate of canned goods. † â€Å"Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. † â€Å"Canned hams. † â€Å"Corned beef. † â€Å"Hundreds of gallons of water in ten gallon plastic jerry jugs. †(McCarthy 138). In this underground hideaway was everything they needed to survive. I was so overwhelmed with joy and comfort that I forgot for a moment about the cruel cold world above. During many portions of this novel I experienced also many sensations of fear. The most prominent passage is where â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† come across a house and both are vulnerable due to fatigue and starvation. â€Å"They’d had no food and little sleep in five days and in this condition on the outskirts of a small town they came upon a once grand house sited on a rise above the road†(McCarthy 105). As they start toward the house â€Å"the boy† becomes frightened and â€Å"the man† or father tries to reassure him that everything is okay and that they have to go inside. At this point I am feeling a little uneasy about the two entering the house. As they cross the porch â€Å"the boy† is trying to convince his father not to go inside, agreeing with the boy I imagine myself in his shoes and I am pleading for â€Å"the man† not to enter. â€Å"The man† is determined and tells the boy â€Å"We’ve got to find something to eat. † â€Å"We have no choice. †(McCarthy 106). When inside the home â€Å"the boy hung on to his hand. † â€Å"He was terrified. † (McCarthy 107). While investigating the house they come across a door in a room next to the kitchen that might have been considered a pantry at one time. â€Å"In the floor of this room was a door or hatch and it was locked with a large padlock made of stacked steel plates. †(McCarthy 108). â€Å"The boy† again tries to plead with his father to leave, and I again right along with him, but now my tension and curiosity is starting to rise a bit, wondering what is underneath this door. The man† believes there is a significant reason for this door being locked, so he makes his way to the tool shed â€Å"half dragging the child and went sorting through tools† (McCarthy 109). He retrieves a shovel, heads back into the house, and pry’s the door open. Now I am holding my breath just waiting for the outcome, good or bad, I do not know, but I am very anxious. â₠¬Å"He started down he rough wooden steps. He ducked his head and then flicked the lighter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (McCarthy 110). â€Å"Coldness and Damp. † â€Å"An ungodly stench. † (McCarthy 110). What came next caught me completely off guard! Huddled against the back wall were naked people, male and female, all trying to hide, shielding their faces with their hands. † â€Å"On the mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened and burnt. † â€Å"The smell was hideous. † â€Å"Jesus, he whispered. †(McCarthy 110). Now I am in a complete state of shock, fear, and disgust. Unbelievable! All at once I am feeling the fear and shock of â€Å"the man†, â€Å"the boy†, and the mangled victims that have been terrorized, probably raped, eaten or at least half dismembered and eaten by the wicked and ruthless barbarians! Then one by one they turned and blinked in the pitiful light. † â€Å"Help us, they whispered. † â€Å"Please help us. †(McCarthy 110). My heart is now beginning to race. When they finally reac h the top of this grave, â€Å"He shoved the boy through the hatch and sent him sprawling. † â€Å"He stood and got hold of the door and swung it over and let it slam down and he turned to grab the boy but the boy had gotten up and was doing his little dance of terror. †(McCarthy 111). As if this horrific and vivid image engraved in my head was not enough, McCarthy immediately throws me into a sheer state of terror and panic. â€Å"†¦ the boy was pointing out the window and when he looked he went cold all over. † â€Å"Coming across the field toward the house were four bearded men and two women. † â€Å"He grabbed the boy by the hand. † â€Å"Christ, he said. † â€Å"Run. † â€Å"Run. † I had to literally set the book aside, go outdoors, calm down, and smoke a cigarette to calm my nerves. Finally my heart rate returned to normal and I picked up the book and continued to read. After I completed this part in the story and discovered that â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† had escaped I got up checked on my children to reassure myself that they were asleep safe and warm in their bed, I quickly ran back through the house like a child with a sense of fear that something was going to jump out and grab me at any moment, I jumped in the bed got as close to my husband as possible and eventually drifted off to sleep. When I finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I was astonished at how deep I was able to connect with the characters and the fact that this book touched me as deeply as it did. It also made me think what if†¦? In reality if this were to happen would I have the courage and strength of â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† or would I be like the mother as McCarthy states it â€Å" †¦a faithless slut†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (57), who has taken death as a new lover. Over all I personally believe that this novel was absolutely fantastic, even though I had nightmares for a few nights after I had completed the book. This just goes to show what a great writer McCarthy is, he touches his readers so deeply they even dream about his work. I would defiantly pick up this book and read it again just for fun. How to cite The Road, Papers

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Planning and Implementing Change in Organisation

Question: Discuss about the Planning and Implementing Change in Organisation. Answer: Introduction Organisational Change management is a term used for managing the changes which keep occurring in an organisations working conditions pertaining to its people and projects(Graetz Rimmer, 2012). Emergent changes are the changes which may occur in near or far future. For example changes in the structure and the culture of an organisation. Change agents are actors inside or outside of an organisation who initiate or execute the change.(Goksoy, 2015). Change is a constant process occurring due to transformation in knowledge, technology and systems. There are various theories which assess and formulate methods for handling change in an organisation. Use of complexity theory by change agents to understand emergent change Complexity theory considers organisation as a formation of complex systems which emphasises on interactions and feedback loops to manage change(Lanning, 2014). Complexity theory helps in understanding how firms adapt to a particular change in the environment. According to this theory, organisations are complex and dynamic network of interactions. There are three different theories or models in complexity theory(Devlin, et al., 2012). In the chaos theory, organisational systems are considered to be sensitive to small changes. The emergent changes percolate into these systems very fast can create chaos and confusion.(Bridges, 2017). Learning, innovation and adaptability can remove chaos and bring order under such systems. Another form of complexity theory is complex adaptive systems theory. This theory stipulates that systems in an organisation are diverse but adaptive to emergent change by nature. According to this theory emergent change is dynamic and unpredictable. Consequently, the need to learn is essential for a system to survive the change. Example of diverse adaptive system is the stock exchange,(Agboro, 2015). Change agents must balance the need for stability with the need to adapt to the emergent change. Third major theory of complexity theory is nonlinear theory. Agents with in a system have diverse behaviour and the sum total of the behaviour of the system may not be the sum total of all the parts of the system(Hensmans, et al., 2012). According to complexity theory systems in an organisation constantly interact and adapt to each other(Pycroft Bartollas, 2014) Therefore, adaption to emergent change does not happen because of any planned activity but as a result of adaptive systems. An important concept propagated by complexity theory is that no controller can actually manage these systems in an event of organisational change(Verity, 2012). This theory also propounds that reaction to emergent change is a result of collective adaptability rather than individual action(Devlin, et al., 2012). Theorists give an example of an ant colony which may shift to a certain food source as a result of collective action and not due to an individual decision. The concept of self-organisation and real time response is another major concept of complexity theory According to this theory organisations need to self-organise themselves in the event of emergent change without internal or external control mechanism. For self-organisation to take place there should be open communication and connectivity among all parts of the organisation. Entire organisation should be open to new ideas and diversity of views regarding adaptability to change. Another concept in complexity theory is the edge of chaos. This phrase is used to define the thin line between order and chaos in an organisation or any system(Bridges, 2017). It can also be understood as the transition space between ongoing order in a system and the chaos which may follow if an emergent change occurs. Organisations can handle change and avoid falling into chaos by continuous innovation and improvements in their operations The most important point propagated by complexity theory is that organisations are formed of complex systems and emergent change cannot be manged through control(Agboro, 2015). This is because change is dynamic and can reach an organisations system at any time in any manner. Therefore, it is important to keep information flow and feedback loops open in order to prevent chaos and failure of the organisation in the wake of emergent change(Hensmans, et al., 2012). A feedback loop is a structure in which output comes from one node which leads to eventually input going into the same node(Agboro, 2015). In business terms the leader should provide information to the team of employees regarding an emergent change and must get ideas from the subordinate towards adapting to this change; hence, creating a feedback loop. For example, if another firm is acquiring a firm, this situation can be termed as an emergent change. In accordance with complexity theory this change cannot be managed through rigid control, as the systems within the organisation have no idea about the policies of this new firms and how they will manage the organisation once they acquire it. Hence, leader needs to keep the information flow active and adapt to the emergent change when it arrives through interaction and communication. Complexity theory takes a naturalist approach to change management and propagates learning, knowledge management and innovation to evolve with the change and adapt to it(Hensmans, et al., 2012). Complexity theory also advocates that organisations should become learning organisation and incorporate knowledge management in order to adapt to change. According to this theory change cannot be managed through control but agents of change can understand change by continuously interacting and learning new and innovative things. Conclusion Complexity theory helps organisational leaders in viewing organisations as systems which are in content interaction with each other and are inherently adaptive. Complexity theory promotes learning, knowledge management and diversity of thinking and idea generation to manage change in an organisational system. This theory encourages the change agent to experiment rather than go with rigid control mechanism. Complexity theory is criticised on the grounds that it is difficult to apply in real situation as self-organisation and adaptability may not take place quickly leading to failure of the organisation. Certain theorists believe that the way forward is to create directives for the change agents and let them adapt to emergent changes with the help of self-organisation under these directive. References Agboro, A. J., (2015) Change Management and its Implications for HR Activities. Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag. Bridges, W., (2017) Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change. Boston: Da Capo Press. Devlin, A., Elvira, M., Ramire, J. Zapata-Cantu, L., (2012) Understanding Organizations in Complex, Emergent and Uncertain Environments. Humburg: Springer. Goksoy, A., (2015) Organizational Change Management Strategies in Modern Business. Harshey: IGI. Graetz, F. Rimmer, M., (2012) Managing Organisational Change. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Hensmans, M., Johnson, G. Yip, G., (2012) Strategic Transformation: Changing While Winning. Hamburg: Springer. Lanning, H., (2014) Planning and implementing change in organisations. Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag. Pycroft, A. Bartollas, C., (2014) Applying Complexity Theory: Whole Systems Approaches to Criminal Justice and Social Work. Bristol: Policy Press. Verity, J., (2012) The New Strategic Landscape: Innovative Perspectives on Strategy. Hamburg: Springer.