King Arthur Essay Example for Free

King Arthur Essay While significant attention is given to the potential historical origins of King Arthur, the Arthur who lingers in pop consciousness is the product of the romantic imaginings of literature and poetry. It is frequently asserted that he is a product of a medieval zeitgeist, which needed a heroic figure to represent the values of its culture. Arthur is a rather complex hero in the wake of the Greek heroes that preceded him, a medieval modern who stands in stark contrast to his classically antiquated predecessors. The tales identify Arthur as the bastard child of the lady Igraine. Merlin used his skills to help Uther Pendragon come to her under the guise of Igraine’s husband the Duke of Cornwall, and Arthur was the fruit of that adulterous union. Merlin takes Arthur and raises him, and when he reached manhood he becomes King of Britain. Arthur’s ascension is detailed as having begun with an embrace with his destiny by obtaining the sword Excalibur. Depending on how the tale is told, he either obtains it by pulling it from a stone or anvil, or it is given to him by the Lady of the Lake. Either way, this dramatically proves his worth despite numerous challengers to the throne. As King, Arthur takes a wife and assembles a gallery of knights who convene around a round table and go on quests in search of the legendary Holy Grail, as well as unifying the various geographical and political factions of Britain as one kingdom, governed under the utopia capital of Camelot. However, despite his desire for peace and prosperity for Britain, the foibles and flaws of his peers continue to disappoint him. Eventually he faces his own mortality, when he is challenged by his own son Mordred for the right to rule, despite his desire for a peaceable settlement. Mordred is defeated but Arthur is fatally wounded and dies. Arthur exemplifies a hero who struggles with duality. Despite the mythic stature accorded to him, his ability to command respect, his strength of courage and his fair-minded sense of justice makes him an exemplar of pure Christianity: liberal in disposition and democratic in temperament, but he is also rather arrogant and inflexible. His crusades also place him in a position in which he frequently neglects his responsibilities as a leader, despite having fought for the right to rule among petty bickering would-be monarchs. The Queen he romanced is left neglected during his adventures, and she betrays him through adultery. His cunning and courage is remarkable, but is witness only abroad never to be put to good use within the kingdom. The Greek heroes are significantly darker, which sets them apart from the rather romantic and idealist tone of Arthur’s mythical self-journey. Consider for example, Achilles: Like Arthur, he was born of an arranged union. Zeus was afraid of a prophecy which told that a child of Thetis would overthrow him, and thus provided for her to conceive with a half-mortal child. Whereas Arthur’s parentage was largely a design of Merlin’s to obtain a new protà ©gà © to raise, while Achilles’ parentage was a political one, insofar as the machinations of gods can be political. Additionally, Achilles’ alienation from humanity is more pronounced, because he is literally ‘less than human’ in his partial divinity, though this divinity makes him cruel rather than virtuous, a far cry from Arthur. The superhuman Beowulf is also comparable to Arthur. While he is able to defeat monstrous opponents in single combat, he parallels Arthur as a monarch whose grim demeanor softens as he ages, and concludes his life with a confrontation with his own mortality. He emerges victorious but fatally wounded, ready to embrace death with the same kind of acceptance that Arthur does.

Hofstede Theory of Cultural Differences

Hofstede Theory of Cultural Differences As we know that today we are living in an era of globalization and culture has a very significant impact on the organization in which operates. Thats why so many researchers have placed too much importance to create a good relationship between the practices and culture of an organization in which it operates, but on the other hand according to the Earley (1994), if management practices are not according to the needs and demands of their employees so then the following problems will arise such as de motivation, low productivity and high turnover. So in order to overcome such problems, a very serious attention much is given to improve the culture of an organization as it ultimately effects the development and effectiveness of HRM strategies and policies. For better understanding of the effect of national cultures on development and effectiveness of HRM strategies, firstly the concept of culture must be clearly understood. A pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. Brewster et al (2008), p.14-15 This definition of culture basically defines that culture is a set of believes, norms and values that people acquire and share with others. The basic feature of culture is that, culture is adaptive. It is helpful for those people who are coming or joining a new place and easily come to know about the existing problems in an organization. Another definition for a culture is: the core of culture is composed of explicit and tacit assumptions or understandings commonly held by a group of people; a particular configuration of assumptions/understandings is distinctive to the group; these assumptions/understandings serve as guides to acceptable and unacceptable perceptions, thoughts, feelings and behaviours; they are learned and passed to new members of the group through social interaction; culture is dynamic it changes over time (Milliken and Martins, 1989). This definition by Milliken and Martins basically defines that culture has two characteristics, first is, its a collective phenomenon, everybody used to share it and secondly it shapes the way people of that culture thinks and respond. As discussed earlier, this is an era of globalization, every single nation has its own culture, their way of thinking, perceiving, responding is absolutely different from different nations. That is why every culture has its own set of values, beliefs and norms. And it easily be seen by different examples of nations like wise: if we see USA the rate of freedom is very much high over there similarly independence, individualism and level of competition tends to be very high in USA but on the other hand lets take Japan where much importance is given to belongingness, all the work is done on group consensus, seniority is also taken into account and cooperate with each other as much as they can similarly in Arab countries family harmony and parental guidance is high and much of the authority is given to the senior member of the society. In Asian countries like Pakistan, ratio of hospitality is very high, respect for seniors and aged people are also high, mostly a decision is taken by havin g guidance from a senior member of a family. Most of the cross-cultural researchers like Hodstede and Trompenaars argued that the culture of the society plays a vital role and helps a lot in reshaping the practices of the management. As the society vastly vary in cultures, management has to keep in mind different methods for motivation of the employees from different cultures and sometimes it creates a problem for the management in decision making process. Hofstede Cultural Dimension: Now I will explain in detail that how management practices differs when organization operates in diverse cultures. Taking into consideration the work done by Hofstede (1980), where he carried out a research by analysing the questionnaires filled up by IBM employees in 70 countries. He concluded that cultural differences depend on four factors: Power Distance: Power distance is the extent in which less powerful members of the society or organization enjoys unequal distribution of the power. For instance, Females and Minorities. In organizations where power distance is high, Hierarchy tends to be taller where all major decisions are taken by few members of the top level management and all decision making process is centralised. High power distance also means that low level management cannot challenge the decision taken by upper level management and also it is very difficult to meet them. But on the other hand where power distance is low, decision making process is decentralised, all the big and small decisions are approved by taking help from the low level management. The basic concept over here is the employee empowerment, and these organizations are found with flat hierarchical pyramid. For Instance: Virgin group of companies. Where chairman of the organization have made small departments and they are allowed to take all decisions regardi ng their department, this helps them out in good decision making skills and also the employee empowerment. Uncertainty Avoidance: Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people feel threatened about a typical situation and have created a set of beliefs in order to avoid these situations. High uncertainty avoidance companies or nations tend to have a strong belief on heir experts and their knowledge and their managers are low risk takers and have a high need for security and these countries are usually developed nations. And countries with low uncertainty avoidance tend to be more risk takers. All activities running in an organization are usually unstructured and there are few written rules, as the managers are willing to accept the risk that is why employee turnover is high in these organizations. From the perspective of HR, all employees are open to accept the new ideas and viewpoints. Individualism versus Collectivism: Individualism refers to the extent to which people look after for themselves and their immediate family only. People in individualistic society tend to gain individual rewards and want to take all decisions by themselves. As they are responsible for their decisions only, they also rewarded individually. Countries which are high in individualism tend to be wealthier and developed, where all promotions are made on the basis of market value. But on the other hand, societies with collectivism tend to work in a group and take care for each other in exchange of loyalty. Countries which are high in collectivism tend to be poorer, where individual initiatives are low and promotions are given on the basis of seniority. Hofstede argued that countries like America, Great Britain and Australia tend to be individualistic societies. Where employees are running behind the individual recognition and promotion in an organization is the major motivational force. But countries like China, Japan and Pak istan, tend to be collectivist society, where all decisions are made on group consensus. Everybody take care for each other and employees are more focused towards group recognition. And the most important over here is that, management encourages cooperation and loyalty and they are treated as a family rather than an individual working for the organization. In 1992 Holden mentioned collectivist society as: Japanese managers spend up to 30% of their time, in and outside normal office hours, educating their younger colleagues and initiating them in the lore and wisdom of the company, preparing them functionally and psychologically for the operations outside the firm (Holden, 1992, p.31) Masculinity versus Femininity: A Masculine culture is the one in which basic social values are success, money and things. A country which is high in masculinity, people laid great importance on recognition, advancement, showing off, material achievement and being outward. But on the other hand countries which are high in femininity, tend to be caring and loving. A great importance is laid on cooperation, group decision making, friendly atmosphere and more employee freedom. Organizations which are working in low masculine society, promotions are made on the basis of merits and all employees are treated as a member of one family, but in organization working in high feminine society, rewards are set in such a way so that more and more competition takes place between employees rather than cooperation. Conclusion: It can easily be concluded that, Hofstede shows that national cultures contain at least four dimensions and every organization has to come up with these dimensions as they are working in diverse cultures. After analysing these dimensions a company can easily operate in diverse cultured society as national culture has a significant impact on the organization. Knowledge of different cultures is very much essential for the organizations which are working as multinationals and also for HR Professionals, as people who are going to hired by the organization have different set of beliefs regarding motivation, loyalty, career development and decision making. So a proper match must be there between the organization practices and the national culture, in this way an organization can easily succeed in a society in which it operates. So that there would be a positive impact of national culture on the development and effectiveness of HRM strategies and policies.

My Great Expectations :: Personal Narrative Writing

My Great Expectations Everything that I have experienced so far in Flagstaff has been great. In the next four years there are many new thing that I will experience here that I never have by living in phoenix. Also I would like to leave here with a lot more knowledge about different things like business and the community of this city. In the outstanding city of Flagstaff I came with a lot of expectation, will experience many knew things in my college years, and also have two main goals before I leave this city. In Flagstaff I have and will experience a lot of new things that did not experience from living in Phoenix. The first thing is the small town surroundings, this is a lot different from living in phoenix most of my life. So far it seems that everyone around here is very friendly and everyone is a lot more laid back. Also the surroundings are a lot different from the desert of phoenix. No longer are there saguaro cactuses and dirt everywhere, now there are pine trees and green grass. The abundance of green makes flagstaff a lot prettier then the desert. I have never lived in an area where it snows in the winter, the Flagstaff winters will also be a new experience for me. These are the great new experiences I will have by living in Flagstaff for the next 4 years. The expectations that I have coming to Flagstaff is having a great education at Northern Arizona University, meet a lot of new people in my four years here, and the new cooler climate here. I expect this university to teach me the business marketing ways so when I get out of college if I work hard I can be a successful business man. I chose to come to Flagstaff for school because of the smaller campus and school size. At any huge university you are just another face in the crowd but here the class sizes are smaller and you can walk to any class on campus. Also by spending the next four years in flagstaff I will meet a lot of new people. I plan on joining a fraternity this semester I will definitely meet a lot of new people by that and also have a lot of new experiences.

Neither Oedipus nor Hamlet was the direct cause of his troubles. :: essays research papers

Although you may never meet them, and although you may not tread the soil of God’s green earth at the same time, many believe it to be a scientific fact every one of us has a twin. These people believe that in some way, we are all connected as twins. Upon presenting their theory, these individuals must have been confronted with hitches and hurdles. From chuckling and chortling to snickering and sneering, one can only imagine the response these scientists must have received! Upon hearing the stories of Oedipus and Hamlet, our eighth period English class reacted much like the scientists’ audience. We began with a prince by the name of Hamlet. The quote, â€Å"with great power, comes great responsibility† comes to mind. As a scholar, Hamlet questioned and analyzed everything set before him. It was no surprise that when presented with the murder of his father, Hamlet acted with extreme caution. He knew it was his duty to avenge his father’s murder, both as a prince, and as a son. In no way could he have prepared himself for such an arduous task. This is why I believe Hamlet was a victim of his circumstance. Hamlet did not provoke the murderer of his father nor influence the course of events that spurred such shocking circumstances; however, being analytical, his best quality, made it more difficult to reach his goal. In the same way, Prince Oedipus is faced with an indubitable fate. From childhood, this young prince was cursed, but destiny never gave up. Again, having such fervent love for his father, Oedipus did the unthinkable- he gave up everything he had ever known to save the life of the man whom he thought to be his father. Once again, it was the protagonists’ best quality that made him vulnerable to his circumstances. Oedipus never sought to mistreat, much less murder his father, but fate would have it no other way.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both of these protagonists have many difference and similarities. Their differences range from motive to the method, which they reacted to their circumstances. Oedipus doesn’t kill to avenge anyone; he kills†¦ well†¦ because some men were in his way? Whereas Hamlet kills to seek justice for an indiscretion committed against he and his family- the honor, which defined his name. Hamlet fought for a father he knew; a father whom he had shared new experiences and memories with. This was not a life Oedipus was familiar with, that is with his birth father.

Gone With the Wind Essay -- essays papers

Gone With the Wind This is a film about contrast. In the film clip, lagre amount of contrast can be found between characters, lighting, the way of how colour is presented, the way of how camera being placed, and the way of how shots being taken. Misc-en-Scene From the film clip (and the whole film), the colour image is strong on contrast, not only the colour of the settings, the furnitures, and the costumes, also the colour contrast of indoor and outdoor. In the film clip, the major colour is grayish, the tones contain grayish olive green, grayish blue ( Melanie’s costume), and grayish brown. It gave the audience an impression of desolated space, like a castle. With a large amount of gloomly shadows of furnitures and stairs, it empasis the dismal of the indoor surroundings strongly. The dull tone of indoor settings is different when compare with the outdoor setting. When Melanie announced to the people who were out in the field through the window, the colourful image of the field outside is a strong contrast to the dull and gloomy image inside the house. This created a feeling of a hidden incident is happened or happening inside the house but the public outside is never known. As the colour concept of people (i.e. audiences) always treated colourful as joyful, happiness and innocent, and dark, dull, gloomy are always connected with evil, crime and secrets. The costumes are designed to signifly the difference in the personalities of Melanie and Scarlet. The costume of Melanie is a grayish-blue lingerie, an additonal over coat, and the a long plait with an untidy hair, that makes her looks compelety as a peasanty woman. Her pale face and the pair of sunken eyes also suggests she is weak, sick, and need protection. Scarlet is wearing a bright colour one piece dress with patterns, her hair hair looks tidy with a white hair net, her light make up, looks elegant and sexy when compared with Melanie. And also created an impression that she doesn’t belongs to the dismal, gloomy house, she doesn’t belong to the working peasant lifestyle. However, she is wearing a pair of old leather shoes which covered by dirt, dry mud and dust, that hide under her pretty dress. It means even thought she is not belong to there, or she think she is not belong to there, but her birth place, her root is Tara, the place with mud, dust, and p... ... and affecting each other...In the film clip, Scarlet shoot the deserter with no mercy, and then discuss with Melanie how to manage the corpse in a very reality tone, it is just like discussing how to hide a furniture, an object. A conflict with Melanie, she hasn’t got any idea of how to solve and hide for this kind of serious crime. But Melanie lie for Scarlet, even thought it is something out of her personality. At that moment they are standing at the same line. Therefore, this is the way of opening up the possibilities of more complexity of the narrative – Melanie and Scarlet is not totally against each other, they still the help from each other, like Scarlet work for Melanie, Melanie lie for Scarlet, they are situated in a very subtle relationship, this is the formation of the the story. Finally, the director described the Northerns are robbers, intruders to the Southerns. This film clip is standing in the point of view of a Southerns. As Southerns are the oppose of liberation the black slave, we can noticed that this film still having the shadow of the white supremeism Bibliography: Gone with the wind and the sunset(1992) Dr Karen Chen, Meiah Publisher

Computer Programing Engineering

Why did I choose Computer Programing Engineering major? In today's world there exist all sorts of challenges to excite the keenest minds around its surroundings. To meet these challenges one would have to invent new techniques, new instruments and new approaches, which could easily open windows into the unknown area of nature and lead us to work at frontiers of science and contribute to world stock of knowledge. To compete with these scientific advances, engineering and scientific study are the key elements for a new innovation and research programs.My long term goal was to be a Computer engineer. The guy from a village that no one has heard of and who had to cross various paths and finally made it here and that person is me. This has been my childhood ambition to study for Computer engineer program. As I heard from my high school teachers, XYZ has the finest and excellent Computer engineering program in the country. My dream has certainly come alive; I am still studying and working hard to achieve my childhood dream. XYZ is an exemplary and a top standard university in State. I feel proud to be a student in this university.Before my day at this university, I came to see a significant amount about this field. I spoke with few modern Computer engineers, and asked them questions about their career. After spending time with those engineers, I came to realize that computer engineer are needed for various jobs all around the globe, and the work is tedious but in the end the computer engineers get paid hefty for their works. Most of the time computer engineers deal with designing and manufacturing memory systems, peripheral devices, and central processing units.Computers are part of our daily life. We use them from microwave machines to smart phones and including cars. This creates an enormous eccentric for production and manufacturing of new products all around the world. One of the best examples comes from the Apple Company, each time when a person uses his or her iPhone or iPad they see a little note at the bottom that says â€Å"the product was designed in California and manufactured in China†. This also brings the needs of every computer engineer for various jobs.A computer engineer could work with CAD for an auto company or establish a data room for the government buildings or simply create a website for someone’s needs. I choose Computer engineering as my major for many reasons. First, I am extremely innovative in subjects working with programing and fixing microprocessors, and I also adore in them. Second is due to the benefits of income and the prolonged need of computer engineers everywhere around the world today. After my graduation from here, I am hoping to have a job that will financially take care of me and also excite me every day about my work.I have also planned my goals for upcoming semesters in XYZ Computer program. I am looking forward towards all my classes and its activities and new subjects to study. In orde r to see my future in a better place, I have set my goals towards hard working in my life in here at XYZ, and hoping that after four more years I’ll finally have my goal achieved. Until then, I will keep my mind and body focused to the task at hand, so I have nothing to focus other than my studies. Computer Programing Engineering Why did I choose Computer Programing Engineering major? In today's world there exist all sorts of challenges to excite the keenest minds around its surroundings. To meet these challenges one would have to invent new techniques, new instruments and new approaches, which could easily open windows into the unknown area of nature and lead us to work at frontiers of science and contribute to world stock of knowledge. To compete with these scientific advances, engineering and scientific study are the key elements for a new innovation and research programs.My long term goal was to be a Computer engineer. The guy from a village that no one has heard of and who had to cross various paths and finally made it here and that person is me. This has been my childhood ambition to study for Computer engineer program. As I heard from my high school teachers, XYZ has the finest and excellent Computer engineering program in the country. My dream has certainly come alive; I am still studying and working hard to achieve my childhood dream. XYZ is an exemplary and a top standard university in State. I feel proud to be a student in this university.Before my day at this university, I came to see a significant amount about this field. I spoke with few modern Computer engineers, and asked them questions about their career. After spending time with those engineers, I came to realize that computer engineer are needed for various jobs all around the globe, and the work is tedious but in the end the computer engineers get paid hefty for their works. Most of the time computer engineers deal with designing and manufacturing memory systems, peripheral devices, and central processing units.Computers are part of our daily life. We use them from microwave machines to smart phones and including cars. This creates an enormous eccentric for production and manufacturing of new products all around the world. One of the best examples comes from the Apple Company, each time when a person uses his or her iPhone or iPad they see a little note at the bottom that says â€Å"the product was designed in California and manufactured in China†. This also brings the needs of every computer engineer for various jobs.A computer engineer could work with CAD for an auto company or establish a data room for the government buildings or simply create a website for someone’s needs. I choose Computer engineering as my major for many reasons. First, I am extremely innovative in subjects working with programing and fixing microprocessors, and I also adore in them. Second is due to the benefits of income and the prolonged need of computer engineers everywhere around the world today. After my graduation from here, I am hoping to have a job that will financially take care of me and also excite me every day about my work.I have also planned my goals for upcoming semesters in XYZ Computer program. I am looking forward towards all my classes and its activities and new subjects to study. In orde r to see my future in a better place, I have set my goals towards hard working in my life in here at XYZ, and hoping that after four more years I’ll finally have my goal achieved. Until then, I will keep my mind and body focused to the task at hand, so I have nothing to focus other than my studies.

Challenges we face today Essay

Challenges we face today in the 21st century are youths not preparing for a productive adult hood. Many youth don’t make it in life because they don’t have a post – secondary education. Obama had a speech saying â€Å"tonight I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training† because nowadays most job required a post – secondary education. Jobs are getting advance and the need for skilled professional are in demand but young adults don’t fulfilled the expectation. United State education system is falling behind, youth aren’t finding employment. No one wants to hire someone who isn’t ready for the task. Post – secondary education is you’re ID to get hired in any field you choose to be. All the reports, all the reasons we still have failed to take action. Getting a post – secondary education should be a primary task. In the workforce today it’s important to have a higher education because if you don’t you won’t have a chance against the person next to you. By having a little more higher education then the next person can earn you more money and live a better lifestyle. If money concerns you, then you need a post-secondary education because future jobs required post- secondary education. The demand for higher education is continuing to increase. Even if jobs are available they are filled by people with post- secondary education. Even blue collar field type of jobs required some post-secondary education. Employers complain that youth are not prepared because they don’t have communication skills, critical thinking, and not being professional. It is important to have both hard and soft skills. Since the labor market is so tough it’s hard to complete without a post – secondary education. Since teens are unable to find jobs they are getting into trouble with the law and most of them are low incomes or minority. Right now the percent of working young adults are at its lowest point. Where ever you go education will always play an important role in your life. Post high school training is necessary to help increase the employment rate. Post- secondary education will help United State move forward.