Perceptions of Adjustment to Stepfamily Living Case Study

Perceptions of Adjustment to Stepfamily Living - Case Study Example According to the paper the age of the child to be included will be limited from age thirteen to eighteen. This case study will help individuals, couples, and families determine how to meet stepfamily challenges through a clearer understanding of how their own perceptions are contingent upon particular outcomes. This study will additionally contribute to the fields of social science, psychology and family therapy by adding to the already existing body of knowledge on stepfamily functioning. Finally, such information would be particularly valuable to professionals in the field who can draw on the findings to assist them as they work with stepfamilies in their daily practice, and to understand the value of the utilization of the therapeutic process. This study declares that stepfamilies are becoming an increasingly more common type of family in almost all countries, especially in the UK and USA. Increasing parental separation over past decades means that approximately one million children under 18 years of age will experience the divorce of their parents. A large population pool for remarriages and the formation of stepfamilies is created by high divorce rates. Estimates project that 50-60 percent of couples in first marriages will separate. Research indicates that women (mothers) ordinarily re-partner within 3-5 years post-separation and men (fathers) typically re-partner within 1-2 years of separation, most of these include children from a prior marriage, and thus, stepfamilies are formed. While educational, social, and economic factors present unique barriers to stepfamilies, societal stereotyping is another major challenge that stepfamilies encounter. The negative stereotyping of stepfamilies may lead new members of stepfami lies to expect negative outcomes which can then increase the chance of family disharmony.  

The Performance Management At The Starbucks Commerce Essay

The Performance Management At The Starbucks Commerce Essay Mr. Schultz with few investors bought Starbucks in the year 1987. In 1992 Starbucks decided to go public to achieve rapid expansion. The results of making the company public were great; it helped raise $25 million and took the growth rate at 40% to 60. Stratbucks had launched around 5000 outlets by year 2000. Averages of three new stores were being opened each day. At this time 20 million customers were being served by Starbucks. As the company had gone public sales and profits climbed at a rate of 45 to 55%. As the company expanded position of Chairman of board was retained by MR. Schultz while MR. Orin Smith became the CEO. Department of research and development was introduced. Versimo espresso machines and drive troughs were introduced in order to increase operations efficiency. Post of CEO was taken over by Mr. Jim Donald in the year 2005. Immense increase in sales was experienced in his era as the range of products was increased by him. Oven warmed breakfast sandwich, movies and books were added. The characteristics of Starbucks are as follows: Characteristics of Starbucks 1: Setting functional goals to achieve strategic objectives Knowing the distinction between corporate strategy and business strategy is very significant in order to respond to the questions mentioned above. Corporate strategy Issues related to the market in which the market wants to compete or would compete in future are dealt with corporate strategy. The main concern of the strategy is mission, aim and on the whole degree of the organisation. Business Strategy Strategies associated to making a business prosper in a specific market are known as Business strategy. An alternate name for business strategy can be Competitive strategy. The main objective behind the strategy is to be in a situation where organisation has competitive advantage over its opposition in the market by cost leadership or differentiation. Integration, Acquisition and Mergers related benefits achieved by Starbucks Benefits attained by using vertical Integration (backward or forward integration) strategy were: As a result of direct contact with the targeted market, significant environmental knowledge of market is gathered. This enables to make early adjustments to avoid loss. Higher profits can achieve as they are being a buyer and supplier. Sp some section of this value can be delivered to customers. Need for much more capital to enter the market will increase the entry barriers for potential oppositions as a result of vertical integration. Impact of decentralization, separate profit units on Starbucks Diversified business units will have less cooperation between each others. Transaction cost might not be saved as divisional publishing units have to achieve minimum profit % set by corporate management to remain in the Starbucks. Responsibility of their divisional business is not being taken by higher management willingly. Tax in result of stock transfer by internet is being saved. Business and corporate goals would lack alignment. core competencies cannot increase for different businesses Available tools and techniques to set team performance objectives Motivation is most important thing. Motivation can be categorized as a process which develops a desire that people have to work well and achieve the goals. In order to have increased and constant high performance from a worker, it is important to keep the workforce motivated as it is the main aspect of performance. Motivation can be in financial or non financial forms, it is important to apply different theories and figure out which works out the best. In Abraham Maslows theory, he has divided human needs into five types. He then further developed it into a heirchy of needs pyramid, in which needs are aligned in order. According to him all the five human desires have to be fulfilled, to uphold or boost stimulus levels.. Following picture shows hierarchy of the needs: Till year 2000 which was Mr. Schultz era, he managed to attend all the needs lined up in hierarchy. Evidences are provided in the chart below: Source: (Suhomlinova, 2008) Maslows theory was truely adopted by Mr. Schultz in his era. He managed to maintain high levels of job satisfaction level with consistency among the partners. This is proved by 70% staff turnover, which was a result of very satisfied partners. Whereas at the same time other food industries were experiencing 300% staff turnover. After Mr. Schultz period deviations from Maslows theory was observed. Orion Smith denied paying for the overtime, he also neglected health and safety as injuries related to work were not paid for. Partners autonomy was reduced in the operations by the introduction of espresso machines. Job complexity got worse when later Mr. Donald introduction of oven warmed sandwiches resulted in little stimulus and job contentment levels. Latham and Lockes theories about setting goals indicates that if goals are set wisely, it can boost up the motivation levels leading to higher levels of job satisfaction and performance. Set goals must be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time based). Every member of the organisation should agree with the goals set up and should work toward achieving it. Before 2000 under Mr. Schultz leadership organisations aim was to originate a 3rd place if all the partners agreed on it and was acceptable to them. After 2000 with the change of leadership t he goals also changed. The goal was to open as many outlets as possible. The partners were not told of the new goals and strategies which were mainly made to boost up the rapid expansion. All the goals and policy making was done at the top and partners were unaware of it. Moving at a rapid growth rate it seemed unrealistic to maintain customer experience. According to expectancy theory of Vroom the work force will put forward extra effort and hard work when they are aware that their hard work will be praised and rewarded. Expectancy theory is most effective when an enormous organizational change is arising e.g. in this case when espresso machines were installed this theory can be applied to get desired results as some people will not feel comfortable to work with machines as they enjoy doing all the steps of coffee making in a relax pace while talking to customers at the same time. Equity theory tells us that the employees judge the fairness of the distribution of rewards by comparing it to the other co-workers rewards. If the employee making the caparison gets to the conclusion that he is under rewarded, it may result in low motivational and performance levels. Frustration can also arise if the employee is being under rewarded. Increasing number of organisations were understanding the importance of keeping the workforce happy for staff retention and better performance. The job complexity was increasing with the expanding number of stores, sales and products. Due to the increased burden the partners started to feel that the organization is not caring for them, in fact day by day the burden of work was increasing and they had to work very hard to get rewards. The Value of Team Performance Tools to Measure Future Team Performance In 1980 Hackman and Oldham defined 5 features of a good job design; they defined the 5 characteristics as skill variant, test identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. Skill variety was reduced by the installation of espresso machines as the step which involved coffee making, now were different due to machines input. Machines have the massive on the way people perform their jobs, machines bring standardisation and people start depending upon them. The element of people skill was reduced which starbucks was originally hired on with the introduction of espresso machines and growing amount of work load. Socialisation and emotional aspect was missing with the new policies there is no time to speak to customers or colleagues. Usually partners took help from each other, when there was a work load, currently machines can put up with it. Machines do not have any emotions associated to them, people think that they are controlling the machines but in reality they are being controlled by machines as they have to work according to the machines and cope up with its speed. Previously their partners were solely acknowledged by the complimentary feedback from customers as they were involved in the steps of making coffee. Now the appreciation is divided as machine is involved and people think at times that major part of the job is performed by the machine. All the discussion above is almost contradicting Hackman and Oldmans theory thus, resulting is low job satisfaction To make the experience uplifting for the customers these are the main 3 gears of Starbucks branding strategy. Under the leadership of Mr.Dnonald and Mr.Smith clearly all the components mentioned above were losing strength. Reduced personalisation and very little time to communicate and socialise with the customers was the result of espresso machines. The atmosphere standards were being destroyed by the development of drive through as fewer soft chairs and carpeting, as a result of this service is also dropping because 80% of Starbucks coffee is consumed outside stores. In todays market its very significant to created competitive advantage, this can be achieved then product differliation composed to competitions. This is important as many subsidies are present in market this differentiation will make their product sell over others. At very early stages Starbucks adopted the relationship marketing approach. Under the leadership of Mr.Schultz. Today under the leadership of Mr.Donald and Mr.Smith Starbuck is practicing the philosophy of early 19th century. The brand is being ruined by this policy as strategy of horizontal diversification is being used for growth. Early 19th century related production concept is being followed when the imagination of organisations was that as they produce quality products at affordable rates the customers will favour them. in the mid 1920s the selling concept came in, according to which sales targets were to be achieved by aggressive promotion. In the early 1950s the marketing concept also came in. The concept stated to manufacture goods according to the demand and taste of customer. In 1990s the relationship marketing era started. This concept was that apart from producing products according to the. Customers likely and demand, it was also important to maintain long term relation with its satisfied customer. The factors discussed above mention that the starbucks was going backward in the world of marketing after 2000.This is shown by the diagram, illustrated above. Starbucks unique and rich culture is the reason behind its success. A lot of respect is given to its employees calling them partners and using ceo as a substitute of CEO. The achievements of the partner is appreciated by the organisation in the form of norms Warm regard, Mug, Bravo and sprit of starbucks. To achieve customer satisfaction Starbucks feel that it is important to satisfying their staff .Work force variety create environment for a lot of fresh ideas and culture of different sort together, which makes starbucks a desirable place to work. Apart from satisfying its staff and customers sratbucks also serve the community. This is done through their corporate social responsibility group which donated $36.1 Million cash and products sratbucks also volunteered 383,000 hours to help out the community .The unique culture of starbucks helped them to maintain the satisfaction of employees which resulted in low staff turnover and the contentment of a staff were transferred to the cust omers. By the early year 2000 the rules and strategies of starbucks started to change as it was believed the starbucks amazing culture is onerous instead of competitive advantage. as stated in the case study the company had stopped paying for the overtime, less care for the staff and injuries related to work were not being paid for .After Mr.Schultz leadership partners were not consulted about the new strategic decision like, drive through, offering sandwiches or the design changes made to accommodate more customers. Reduced empowerment and lack of entrepreneurial spirit was the result of these policies of the partners. Partners make labour union was fired by the Starbucks. This indicates that the starbucks partners cant get to the upper level management. They need union because of the unhappiness.Making more stores and achieving higher sales become the aim of the higher management .The partners had a feeling that it was not starbucks who was giving up the benefits, but the case was that they had to work very hard to get them .Starbucks faced problems like lower customer satisfaction, less staff satisfaction, reduction in sales and share value as a result of deviation from their culture. 2: Team performance targets towards objectives. To achieve objective a few targets are recommended of the evaluation of the organization: Business It analysed that after Mr.Schultz era which ended at the start of 2000 the focus of the organization deviated from people to other issues .Starbucks preferred products, increase in efficiency through machines and growth of the organization over the people. Leadership Transformational leadership is required to solve the issues mentioned above in the analysis. Importance of leadership should be recognised by Starbucks and the fact that management is not the replacement for leadership. From the above study we can conclude that Starbucks is totally unaware with the advantages of transformational leadership. A good example can be Mr.Schultz. starbuks needs to get in leadership training programmes. They could use their own leadership story for a better understanding. As their story mentions different impacts, under different leaderships. Culture The culture of Starbucks is very rich but after 2000 their dimensions, strategies, aims changed. According to market research report 53% to 61% believes that Starbucks is all about making money. While 48% to 55% people have thinking that Starbucks is all about opening new stores. Its partners also feel that the employees are not being cared for. All the negative thoughts about Starbucks need to be changed. Motivation Starbuks needs to motivate its workforce. As from the study above we have noticed that employees do not have any say. They should be made part of the decision making process., their work shall be appreciated by verbal means as well as financially at times. A new job design needs to be in place which involves less use of machines. Boost in entrepreneurship spirit and empowerment can be achieved if supported and participated leadership is introduced. Product and Competitive Advantage, Vision, Atmosphere and People Creating product differentiation on actual product is very difficult. Competitive avantages can be created through the way to concentrate on service and environment. Environment can be improved by making seating more comfortable by installation of music systems, roper lighting, carpets, heating systems and comfortable seats. Job satisfaction is very important to maintain, as a satisfied workforce will make customers satisfied. This can be achieved by thinking of new ways to reduce job stress. One way can be by reducing the use of espresso machines. 3: Monitoring of actions and activities to uplift team performance Dividing the task into groups or departments and developing coordination between these departments of the organization to achieve organizational goals is called Organizational structure. A good structure sets clearly defined authorities and duties. It also develops and increases coordination. As a result it eases monitoring of different activities of the organisation. Enhanced effectiveness and effectiveness in operations of the organization is a result of this. Organizational structure can be made in three ways; by grouping different activities of the organization: Functional Structure (grouping by task) Divisional Structure (grouping by output) Matrix Structure(grouping by task and output simultaneously ) Starbucks has some functional departments but apart from that it does not have any formal organizational structure as there is no data written in the case study nor on the website. These departments are finance, sales, corporate social responsibility, production, research and development and human resources. The organisation structure shows lack of connection, sequence and coordination between different departments which is observed in the case study. From this kind of functional grouping Starbucks achieved in-depth functional knowledge as it is stated in the case study We tend to be great on measuring things, at collecting market data (Suhomlinova, 2008) but overall organizational goal is suffering due to lack of coordination and accountability. Starbucks grouping also hindering the effective decision making process of the organization as it is stated that we are not very disciplined when it comes to using this data to drive decision making (Suhomlinova, 2008). Poor accountability no clear responsibly is also observed as market research noticed that Starbucks is losing product differentiation and customers satisfaction rates are declining through their decisions like creating convenience by increasing no of stores and drive-throughs but no one was looking at the big picture and previous executives were blaming soft economy for poor performance (Suhomlinova, 2008). During rapid expansion they followed Max Weber Classical approach which led to bureaucracy. They moved their focus from people to mechanistic organization as Mr. Schultz said that he want to shift Starbucks focus from bureaucracy to people by giving them more training and tools to launch new products and introduce new concepts in store designs (Suhomlinova, 2008). All of the above circumstances are creating problems like critical customers satisfaction results reduction in staff morale and cannibalization of existing stores. In respect to Starbuck bureaucracy means function department are performing their tasks without coordination, espresso machines increased standardisation which made partners job boring, formalization and centralized authority to make decision. In general bureaucracy result in higher performance for large size organizations but in Starbucks bureaucracy became a factor or low performance because bureaucracy is effective in standardised operational activities and Starbucks customers want personalized coffee with non-standardized emotional greeting. Value Chain and coordination with drawing activity map Activities related to production are divided into secondary and primary activities by Michael E. Porter value chain. Making and delivering the products is associated with primary activities. Supporting and service activities are related to support the primary actives to produce product or services effectively and efficiently (Johnson, 2008: p.110). Starbucks diversified product portfolio and geographical distances are creating hurdles to fully utilize the essence of vale chain. Mr. Middelhoff asked the whole group to increase and share communication and resources for synergy without drawing an activity map that where the coordination is required. Michael E. Porters value chain is shown in the following diagram. 4. Apply influencing and persuading skills to the active and politics of personal relations. Starbucks needs to develop a marketing department as it has expanded to such a large scale. To develop a marketing department integration of its 3 existing department market research group, category group and marketing group is needed which is show in the picture and adopt relationship marketing approach. Organizational Chart for Starbucks In order to overcome the difficulties mentioned in the analysis an organization chart is shown above. In designing Starbucks structure all types of grouping methods are considered to maximise synergies. To increase communication horizontal and vertical structures are used at different levels. Horizontal structure is used at bottom level management, which includes country manager, area manager, Store Manager and then sales. Vertical communication is used in functional departments. To comprehend customers, enhance efficiency and effectiveness marketing decisions, through internal integration of three existing groups marketing department is brought in to shape. As all the departments will be at head office, it will improve coordination and communication between functional departments. In result this will improve and foster strategic decision making process. Implementing the above recommended chat will result in decentralised and clear responsibilities at all management levels. This will help the organisation reduce bureaucracy. Conclusion The study has tried to explore Starbucks within four learning outcomes as specified above and has found that Starbucks has a unique spiritual culture created by a transformational leader Mr. Schultz. This case tells us that how leaders and organizations can change commodity into culture by having strong belief on people and by creating ethical culture. Power and devotion of people can change a simple product and small company to huge multinational company. Critical analysis of different theories in organization behaviour module not only helps in understanding the organization but also provide a basis to improve them in different environments. Most of the companies now days are trying to increase performance of the organizations by embracing technology but this case study give us a different point of view a more natural approach to solve different problems of the organizations. Different theories developed with the passage of time but to understand organization performance its best to understand and apply all to get multiple view of the organization behaviour.

El Poder de las Metáforas :: Spanish Essays

El Poder de las Metà ¡foras ABSTRACT: The terms 'metaphor' and 'metaphorical' are overused in art theory and criticism, specially when applied to pictures. In last years different authors have written theories that attempt to define and characterise visual metaphors. I shall analyse Carroll's approach to visual metaphors. I shall try to show, first, that requirements of homospatiality and non composibility of the elements in a figure are neither necessary nor sufficient conditions for metaphorical effect, to perceive a thing under a new light. Second, that considering a visual metaphor as an invitation to mapping different categories onto each other does not take into account its specificity. As pictures, their relevance is just to provide the categories for the mapping, which is an imaginary task. On the contrary, there are examples of images, which directly provoke a metaphorical insight. Caricatures are the simplest and most ubiquitous case. I. En los à ºltimos aà ±os han surgido en el terreno de la filosofà ­a del arte diferentes teorà ­as sobre las metà ¡foras visuales, en parte motivadas por el uso ambiguo y el abuso del concepto en la crà ­tica y la teorà ­a del arte. Entre ellas se encuentran la de R. Wollheim en Painting as an Art y la de N. Carroll en "Visual Metaphor". Ambos se centran en el modo especà ­fico en que la imagen, pictà ³rica, en el primer caso, metaforiza. Pero las diferencias comienzan muy pronto. Para Wollheim, la intencià ³n y el efecto de la metà ¡fora consisten en "poner bajo una nueva luz el objeto metaforizado",(1) que no està ¡ necesariamente representado en la imagen. Para Carroll, la metà ¡fora invita a "considerar los referentes de los elementos (de la imagen) fà ­sicamente no componibles y/o de categorà ­as y conceptos relacionados con ellos en tà ©rminos de proyecciones de unos en otros".(2) Mientras que Carroll parte de determinados ejemplos de imà ¡genes que en principio serà ­an fà ¡cilmente admitidos como metà ¡foras visuales, tratando de seà ±alar en quà © consiste su carà ¡cter metafà ³rico, Wollheim procede, segà ºn es habitual en Painting as an Art, identificando ciertas respuestas del espectador, como efecto de un contenido metafà ³rico de la pintura. Estas respuestas serà ­an "mayormente afectivas", estarà ­an "dirigidas normalmente al objeto metaforizado", y serà ­an provocadas por "la pintura como un todo".(3) Por su parte, Carroll propone analizar ejemplos de metà ¡foras pictà ³ricas, como son: Le viol de R. Magritte, El pastel-mà ¡quina de escribir de C. Oldenburg y un fragmento de Las tentaciones de San Antonio de El Bosco en el que aparece un cura con hocico de cerdo.

Immanuel Kant: An Advocate of Modern Deontology Essay

Deontologists claim that an action or a moral rule is right because of its own nature, even if it fails to bring about the greatest good. Deontology is critically based on duty (deontos) – a moral obligation we have towards another person, a group or society as a whole. In this sense, deontology is concerned with the intrinsic properties of actions, not their end result. Immanuel Kant is arguably the most famous advocate of modern deontology. According to Kant, moral law is synthetic apriori and took an absolutist approach. Kant argued that since everyone possesses the capacity to reason and has a conscience, it would be possible for all people to arrive at an understanding of moral truths without the need for experience. He claimed because reason is universal, moral reasoning would lead to the same results over and over again. Kant belived that obedience to the moral law is a ‘categorical imperative’ – an absolute and unconditional duty on all people to act morally in the correct way. He said that true morality should not depend on individual likes and dislikes or on abilities, opertunitities of external circumstances. Obedience to a moral command is an end in itself. Personal preferences(intuition) cannot be trusted as a reliable guide to what is morally right. Duty is more important, and to this end, he advocated the principle of universalisbility’ which requires people to ‘act in such a way that their actions might become a universal law. Universalisable principles apply to everyone. In his ‘formula of kingdom ends’, Kant claimed that every action should be undertaken as if the individual were ‘a law-making member of a kingdom of ends’ this should ensure that every individual appreciates the significance of his/her part in establishing moral guidelines and rules. Furthermore, the ‘formula of the end in itself’ ensures people are vauled for the intrinsic, not instrumental worth, while the formula of autonomy’ stresses that a moral action must be genuinely free if it is to be genuinely good.

Art Notes: Living With Art

Art Megaliths are large stones that are surrounded by a circular ditch. The monument is presumably the marking of graveyard and once was accompanied by other monuments. The Neolithic era is known for the uses of new tools and constructive materials such as hardening clays using a flame. Pottery was used to create bowls, food Jars, cups, and a variance of other objects. Each culture characterizes art in its own way. Artists perform tasks such as create places for some human purpose, create extraordinary versions of ordinary objects, record and commemorate, give tangible form to the unknown. Eves tangible form to feelings and Ideas. And refreshes our vision and help us see the world in new ways. Vincent Van Gogh was a â€Å"painfully disturbed, tormented man who, in spite of his anguish, managed to create extraordinary art. † He was born In Grotto Sunders, Holland. By the time he became intense into art he only had ten years left to live. Creativity is the ability to create some thing that is â€Å"innovative and useful†. Researchers say that creativity can definitely be Improved.Selective perception Is the focusing on the visual Information needed for the task at hand and being able to zone out that of the background. The nature of perception suggests that one of the most important aspects is to notice details and visual relationships, recognize associations and emotions they inspire. Chapter 2 What is Art? Art museums are a source of civic pride. Many artists left behind extravagant examples of just how much they too valued art. Vincent Van Gogh painted Wheat Held and Cypress Trees which demonstrated his genius. Art and beauty art greatly linked.In the 1 8th century when art became a widely approved category, art and beauty were used together to describe a feeling of pleasure. Philosophers hardhearted this pleasure as an â€Å"intellectual pleasure/we perceive through a special kind of attention called disinterested contemplation. † Beauty i s linked to qualities such as symmetry, simple geometrical shapes, and pure colors. Compelling visual power and urgent messages are used to recognize art. Art can Invoke great pleasure as well as Inspiring sadness, horror, pity, awe, and other emotions.Representational includes a broad range of approaches as naturalistic and abstract. A personage is a fictional character. Stylized defines representational art that imitates to a preset style. Nonobjective is a descriptive of art that does not represent or otherwise refer to the visible world itself. What is art? Art is always about something, embodies meaning. Form is the way a work looks. Content is what a work of art is about. Subject matter Is the content the objects or events the work depicts. Iconography Involves Identifying, describing, and Interpreting subject matter In art.Chapters 3 and 4 Notes Chapter 3 Themes of Art word count: 202 All works of art are about something no matter what form whether it is a painting, textile, building, or ceramics. The areas of â€Å"beauteous† are considered themes. A many themes. Art throughout history has played a role in people's relationships with the sacred. Art described politics, social orders, and stories and histories. There are many works depicting deeds of heroes, lives of saints, and folktales. Most of which were passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes it is enough Just to look around ourselves and notice what our life is like here, now, in this place, at this time. † The earliest images of daily life that survived were in tombs of Egypt. Many rituals have been developed to honor ancestors and appease their spirits. However, here is really no ritual that would ever compare to the deep seated feelings with a human. During the renaissance, theorists linked art with poetry. They created images through their descriptive words. They weren't literally painting a picture. Some actual paintings were created to go along with poems.Nature and the human relationship to it have greatly been themes of art works. Chapter 4 The Visual Elements Word Count: 210 The first element of art is line. Line is plainly defined as a path traced by a moving point. An outline defines a two dimensional shape. Contour lines are the lines used o draw or record boundaries of three dimensional forms. Lines are also used to direct movement within a piece. When you look at a piece your eyes tend to follow the lines. Shape is a two dimensional form. Mass is a three dimensional form that occupies a volume of space.A figure is a shape we detach and focus on. The ground is the surrounding visual information the figure stands out from. Figures are considered as positive shapes, and the ground is considered negative shapes. Values are shades of light and dark. Chiaroscuro is an Italian style from the Renaissance period. Hatching involves closely spaced parallel lines. Cross hatching is used to show darker values with an extra set of parallel lines goi ng in the opposite direction. Stippling is also used to suggest values by condensing areas using dots.Simultaneous contrast is used to make complementary colors appear more intense when placed side by side. Texture describes surface quality, smooth or rough. A vanishing point is where forms seem to diminish in size as they recede from us. Chapters 5 and 6 Notes Chapter 5 Principles of Design Word Count: 206 In two dimensional art the organization odd line, shape, mass, light, value, color, texture, space, and motion is called composition. Unity is the sense of oneness, of things belonging together and making up a coherent whole. Variety is the difference which provides interest.Visual weight refers to the heaviness of lightness of the forms arranged in a composition, as gauged by how insistently they draw our eyes. In symmetrical balance, the forms of a composition mirror each other across a central axis. Asymmetrical composition has two sides that do not match. Emphasis means that our attention is drawn more to certain parts of composition than to others. If the means that certain area of composition are purposefully made less visually interesting so that the areas of emphasis stand out. Scale is the size in relation to a standard or normal size.Proportion refers to the size relationships between parts of a whole or between two or more perceived as a unit. The use of a scale to indicate relative importance is the hierarchical scale. Rhythm is based in repetition and it is a basic part of the world we find ourselves in. Chapter 6 Drawing Word Count: 233 The drawings we have been looking at are all on paper, a material we associate closely with drawing. Many other surfaces have been used to draw on. The oldest are eve drawings, caves carved with a hard stone, and using charcoal.Pigment is a coloring material, and binder is a substance that allows it to be shaped into sticks. Graphite is a soft crystalline form of carbon. It is a naturally occurring drawing medi um. Metal-point is the ancestor of the graphite pencil. It is an old technique that was especially popular during the Renaissance. A ground is a base coating of paint. Charcoal is charred wood. Pastel consists of pigment bond with non-greasy binder. Drawing inks generally consisted of ultramarine particles of pigment suspended in water. Wash is ink diluted with water and applied with a brush.A rapid-graph is a metal-tipped instrument that channels a reservoir of in into a fine line. The soft and supple brushes used for watercolors can also be used with ink. The concept of using a brush for drawing shows how difficult it can be to define where drawing leaves off and painting begins. Rectangular shapes sliced from newspaper and from a roll of imitation wood grain wallpaper have been incorporated into a charcoal drawing of a cafe © table set with wine glass and a bottle. This was the new age of more literal art through representation.Chapter 7 and 8 Notes Chapter 7 Painting word coun t: 215 Pigment is powdered color, compounded with a medium or vehicle, a liquid that holds the particles of pigment together without dissolving them. The vehicle generally acts as or includes a binder, an ingredient that ensures that the paint even when diluted and spread thinly. Without a binder pigments would simply powder off as the paint dried. Paints are applied to a support, which is the surface in which the artist works. This may be canvas, paper, wood panel, or a wall. Tempera shares qualities with both watercolors and oil paint.Geese is a mixture of white pigment and glue that sealed the wood and could be sanded and rubbed to a smooth, berrylike finish. Oil paints consists of pigment compounded with oil, usually linseed oil. The oil acts as a binder, creating as it dries a transparent film in which the pigment is suspended. Glazes are thin veils of translucent color applied over a layer of opaque paint. All prima is the name of the technique of opaque colors on the white gr ound. Water color consists of pigment in a vehicle of water and gum Arabic, a sticky paint substance that acts as the binder.Gouache is watercolors with inert white pigment Chapter 8 Prints Word Count: 244 A matrix is a surface in which a design is prepared before being transferred through pressure to a receiving surface such as paper. The term relief describes any printing method in which the image to be printed is raised from the background. Wood engraving uses a block of wood as a matrix. In this case the surface is cut along the grain. A linoleum cut, or linocuts, is very similar to a woodcut. Linoleum is much softer than wood, making it easier to cut, while limiting the number of crisp impressions.Engraving is the oldest of the intaglio techniques, engraving developed room the medieval practice of incising linear designs in armor and other metal surfaces. Dropping is similar to engraving, except that the cutting instrument used is a dropping needle. Mezzanine is a reverse proce ss, in which the artist works from dark to light. Etching is done with acids, which â€Å"eat† the lines and depressions into a metal plate much as sharp tools cut into those depressions in other methods. Aquatint is a way of achieving flat areas of tone-gray values or intermediate values of color.Photographer can print continuous tones, tones that shade evenly from light to dark. To achieve this, a fulfills positive transparency of the photographic image is placed over a sheet of light-sensitive gelatin tissue and exposed to ultraviolet light. Lithography is a bibliographic process. The printing surface is flat not raised as in relief or depressed as in intaglio. Chapter 9 and 10 Notes Chapter 9 Camera and Computer Arts Word Count: 221 Camera and computer technologies are essential to business, advertising, education, government, mass media, and entertainment.ABA All Has Bin al- Haitian, or otherwise known in the west as Alkaline, conducted an experiment in which he conclude d correctly that light travels in straight lines. He also theorized that the human eye worked on this same principle: light reflected from objects passes through the narrow opening of the iris, projecting an image of the outside world onto the surface of the dark interior. Dagger's light sensitive surface was a copper plate coated with silver iodide, and he named his invention the daguerreotype.Photographs bearing witness to events appear in newspapers and magazines all over the world. Dada was formed in 1916 as a reaction to the unprecedented slaughter of World War l. The word dada itself has no meaning, it refers to the art movement that Hoc belonged to. An auteur is a director whose films are marked by a consistent, individual style, Just as a traditional artist's painting or sculptures are. Just as radio had been invented to allow sound captured by a microphone to be transmitted over the air, so video was invented to do the same for moving images captured by a camera.Art that us es the Internet as a medium is known as Internet art, or more casually, net art. Chapter 10 Graphic Design Word Count: 201 On the most basic level, we communicate through symbols. Visual communication is also symbolic. Letters are symbols that represent sounds; the lines that we use to draw representational images are symbols for perception. A word mark or logotype is granted the status of art, letters for public architectural inscriptions have been carefully designed since the time of ancient Romans, whose alphabet we have inherited. A typeface is a style of type.Among the services offered by early printers in the 1 5th century was the design and printing of single sheets called broadsides. Handed out to town dwellers and posted in public spaces, broadsides argued lattice or religious causes, told of recent events, advertised upcoming festivals and fairs, or circulated woodcut portraits of civic and religious leaders. With the development of film and television, graphic design was set in motion. Words and images worked together in film titles, television program titles, and advertisements, all of which needed to be designed.Many art museums maintain collections of graphic designs, which overlaps with art in interesting ways. Many artists have worked a graphic designers, and many graphic designers also make art. Chapter 11 and 12 Notes Chapter 11 Sculpture and Installation Word Count: 211 Amman is a sculpture in the round, a freestanding work that can be viewed from any angle, for it is finished on all sides. A low relief, also otherwise known as a bas-relief, is a technique in which the figures project only slightly from the background. A sculpture that forms project more boldly from their background are called high relief.Modeling and assembling are considered additive processes. Carving is a subtractive process I which one starts with a mass of material larger than the planned sculpture and subtracts material until only the desired forms remain. Casting inv olves a mold of some kind, into which liquid or similitude material is poured and allowed to harden. Modeling is familiar to us in forms such as play dough. Fired clay is also known as terra cotta. Casting is a more indirect method of creating a sculpture. In casting, smother more rounded shapes can be achieved, and also be very shiny.Ceramic is cast in a liquid form called slip, made by mixing powdered clay with water and a defalcation. Assembling is a process by which individual pieces or segments or objects are brought together to form a sculpture. The human figure is one of the widely basis for sculptures of many times and cultures. Chapter 12 Art of Ritual and Daily Life Word Count: 206 Ceramics, from the ancient Greek word kormas, meaning â€Å"of pottery', is the art of making objects from clay, a naturally occurring earth substance. When dry clay has a powdery consistency; mixed with water, it becomes plastic, that is, moldable and cohesive.The vase is made of porcelain, a ceramic made by mixing kaolin, a fine white clay, with finely ground Petersen, also known as porcelain stone. If clay is one of the most versatile of materials, glass is perhaps the most fascinating. The most familiar way of shaping a hollow glass vessel such as a bottle is by blowing. The glass artist dips up a mass of molten glass at the end of a long metal tube and, by blowing into the other end of the tube, produces a glass bubble that can be shaped or cut technique used for windows, lampshades, and similar structures that permit light to pass through.Stained glass is made by cutting sheets of glass in various colors into small pieces, then fitting the pieces together to form a pattern. Forging is an ancient metal working technique using a hammer to shape the metal. Notes Chapters 13 and 21 Chapter 13 Architecture rod count: 200 Tensile strength refers to the amount of tensile or stretching stress a material can withstand before it bends or breaks. It especially concerns the abi lity of a material t span horizontal distances without continuous support from below.Another term for load bearing construction is â€Å"stacking and piling†. This is the simplest method of making a building, and it is suitable for brick, stone, adobe, ice blocks, and certain modern material. Load bearing structures tend to have few and small openings, if any, in the walls, because the method does not readily allow for support of material above a void, such as a window opening. Post and lintel construction is the most elementary structural method, based on two uprights, the posts, supporting a horizontal crosspiece, the lintel or beam.Hypotheses halls comes from the Greek word for â€Å"beneath columns. † A dome is an architectural structure generally I the shape of a hemisphere or half globe. I f a ceiling is coffer, it is ornamented with recessed rectangles, coffers, which lessen its weight. Concrete is an old material that was known and used by the Romans. Like all area of human creativity, architecture has been affected by the evolution of digital technologies. Chapter 21 The Modern World word count: 206 Romanticism was not a style so much as a set of attitudes an characteristic subjects.The 18th century is sometimes known as the Age of Reason, for its leading thinkers placed their faith in rationally, septic questioning, and scientific inquiry. The first art movement to be born in the 19th century was Realism, which arose as a reaction against both Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Realist artists sought to depict the everyday and the ordinary rather than the historic, the heroic, or the exotic. Artists admired many aspects of Impressionism, especially its brightened palette and erect painting technique. But they reacted in various ways to what they perceived as its shortcomings.Their styles are so highly personal that we commonly group them together under the neutral term Post-Impressionists, meaning simply the artists that came after Impressi onism. Europe remained America's artistic touchstone during the 19th century, for America viewed itself then as a continuation of European culture. American artists often went to Europe for part of their training, not only to study with European teachers, but also to see the collections of the great museums. Broadly peaking, expressionism describes ant style where the artist's subjective feelings take precedence over objective observation.Cubism poured all its energy into formal Notes Chapter 22 and 23 Chapter 22 From Modern to Postmodern Word Count: 210 Painters associated with the first major postwar art movement are commonly referred to as the New York School. The New York School was a convenient label under which to lump together a group of painters also known as the Abstract Expressionists. A critic of the time coined the term action painting to describe the work of Pollock and others, for their paintings are not images in the traditional sense UT traces of an act, the painter' s dance of creation.The variety of Abstract Expressionism is sometimes known as color field painting. By the middle of the asses, Abstract Expressionism had been the â€Å"new' style or fifteen years. Many artists felt that it was time to move on. While the artist of Pop turned their attention to imagery, other artists continued to explore the possibilities of nonrepresentational art. One direction that attracted many painters was hard-edge painting. Pop art's focus on imagery in the mass media inspired artists to look more closely at photographs. In a rend called Photorealism, they began to paint what they saw there.In a variety of interrelated trends, artists variously reacted against aspects of developed possibilities that it suggested. Collectively, these trends are known as Factionalism, which unfolded from the mid asses through the mid asses. Chapter 23 Opening Up to the World Word Count: 233 Beginning in the 19th century, transportation and communications technologies made p ossible by science and industry opened up new possibilities for human interaction, compressing our experience of distance and quickening the pace of daily fife. Born in Egypt, she moved to France with her family at the age of eleven.Since 1996 she has been based in New York. Aimer has created installations an performance pieces, but she is best known for paintings such as The Black Bang. We stumble on a secret world within the world we thought we knew. When we step back, the painting comes back into focus, but we can never quite see it in the same way again. Aimer cautions against interpreting her work too narrowly, either as a feminist statement or as a critique of Islam. Recently Murrain generally has broadened his object matter to embrace traditional Buddhist imagery, folding screen motifs, and abstraction.Murrain generally does not execute his own works. They are usually realized to his exacting designs, every outline drawn, every color specified, by employees of Kaki Kaki, Ltd. , a company he founded. In contrast to Murrain's international enterprise, Mexican artist Gabriel Rocco does not have a studio at all. A global wanderer with apartments in Mexico City, Paris, and New York, he prefers instead to work in temporary spaces or in the confines of an apartment amid the furnishings and accumulations of everyday life.

French Texting - Les Textos Francais

French Texting - Les Textos Francais Learning French is one thing, but French on the internet - in chatrooms,  forums, text messaging (SMS), and email can seem like a completely different language. Fortunately, help is at hand. Here are some common French abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols to help you communicate via text, followed by some helpful tips and pointers. French Meaning English 12C4 un de ces quatre one of these days 2 ri 1 de rien youre welcome 6n Cin Movie theater A+@+ plus L8R, laterCUL8R, see you later A12C4 un de ces quatre See you one of these days a2m1@2m1 demain CU2moro, see you tomorrow ALP la prochaine TTFN, ta ta for now AMHA mon humble avis IMHO, in my humble opinion APAPLS plus TTFN, ta ta for now ASV ge, Sexe, Ville ASL, age, sex, location a tt tout lheure see you soon auj Aujourdhui Today b1sur Bien sr Of course BAL Bote aux lettres Mailbox BCP Beaucoup A lot bi1to Bientt RSN, real soon biz bisous kisses bjr Bonjour Hello bsr Bonsoir Good evening C Cest It is C1Blag Cest une blague Its a joke, Just kidding CAD Cestdire That is, i.e., cb1 Cest bien Thats good C cho Cest chaud Its hot C Cest It is Ch ChezJe sais At the home ofI know ChuChuiChuis Je suis I am C mal1 Cest malin Thats clever, sneaky C pa 5pa Cest pas sympa Thats not nice CPG Cest pas grave INBD, its no big deal Ct CtaitCest tout It wasThats all D100 Descends Get down dacdak Daccord OK DSL Dsol IMS, Im sorry DQP Ds que possible ASAP, as soon as possible EDR croul de rire LOL, laughing out loud ENTKEntouK En tout cas IAC, in any case FAI Fournisseur daccs internet ISP, internet service provider FDS Fin de semaine WE, Wknd, weekend G Jai I have G1id2kdo Jai une ide de cadeau I have a great idea GHT Jai achet I bought GHT2V1 Jai achet du vin I bought some wine G la N Jai la haine H8, hate GspR b1 Jespre bien I hope so Gt Jtais I was J Jai I have Je c Je sais I know Je le saV Je le savais I knew it Jenmar Jen ai marre Im sick of it Je tM Je taime ILUVU, I love you Je vJv Je vais Im going JMS Jamais NVR JSG Je suis gnial Im (doing) great JTM Je taime I love you K7 cassette cassette tape KDO Cadeau Gift KanKand Quand When Ke Que that, what K Quest What is Kel Quel, Quelle Which Kelle Quelle That she Keske Quest-ce que What kestufouKsk tfu Quest-ce que tu fous ? What the hell are you doing? Ki Qui Who Kil Quil That he Koi Quoi What Koi29 Quoi de neuf ? Whats new? Lckc Elle sest casse She left Ls tomB Laisse tomber Forget it Lut Salut Hi M Merci Thanks MDR Mort de rire ROFL mr6 Merci Thx, thanks MSG Message Msg, message now maintenant ATM, at the moment NSP Ne sais pas Dunno o Au In the, at the Ok1 Aucun None, not one OQP Occup Busy Ou Ouais Yeah p2k Pas de quoi URW, youre welcome parske Parce que COZ, because p-pitit Peut-tre Maybe PK Parce que Because Pkoi Pourquoi Y, why PoP Pas Not PTDR Pt de rire ROFLMAO, rolling on the floor laughing q-c qqueske Quest-ce que What QDN Quoi de neuf ? Whats new? qq Quelques Some qqn Quelquun Someone raf Rien faire Nothing to do ras Rien signaler Nothing to report rdv Rendez-vous Date, appointment RE (Je suis de) retour, Rebonjour Im back, Hi again ri1 Rien 0, nothing savapa a va pas ? Is something wrong? SLT Salut Hi SNIF Jai de la peine Im sad ss (je) suis I am STP/SVP Sil te/vous plat PLS, please T Tes You are tabitou Thabites o ? Where do you live? tata KS Tas ta casse ? You have your car? tds tout de suite right away ti2 Tes hideux Youre hideous. tjs Toujours Always tkc Tes cass Youre tired. TLM Tout le monde Everyone T nrv ? Tes nerv ? Are you irritated? TOK Tes OK ? RUOK? Are you OK? TOQP Tes occup ? RUBZ? Are you busy? tps temps time, weather Tttt Ttaistout You wereall, every V1 Viens Come vazi Vas-y Go VrMan Vraiment Really X crois, croit believe XLnt Excellent XLNT, excellent y aya Il y a There is, there are French Texting Rules The basic rule of texting is to express yourself with the fewest number of characters possible. This is done in three ways: Using abbreviations, like  TLM  for  Tout Le MondeUsing letters that are pronounced like the desired sounds, like  OQP  for  occupà ©Ã‚  (O - CCU - PÉ)Dropping silent letters, especially at the end of a word, like  parl  for  parle Patterns 1 replaces UN, EN, or IN2 replaces DEC replaces CEST, SEST, SAIS, etc.É replaces AI, AIS, and other spellings of similar soundsK can replace QU (e.g., koi) or CA (kdo)O replaces AU, EAU, AUX, etc.T replaces TES and other spellings of the same sound Tip If all else fails, try reading the symbol out loud.

Gold Alloys in Colored Gold Jewelry

Gold Alloys in Colored Gold Jewelry When you buy gold jewelry, it isnt pure gold. Your gold is really an alloy, or mixture of metals. The purity or fineness of gold in the jewelry is indicated by its karat number 24 karat (24K or 24 kt) gold is as pure as gold for jewelry gets. Gold that is 24K is also called fine gold and it is greater than 99.7% pure gold. Proof gold is even finer, with over 99.95% purity, but it is only used for standardization purposes and is not available for jewelry. So, what are the metals that are alloyed with gold? Gold will form alloys with most metals, but for jewelry, the most common alloying metals are silver, copper, and zinc. However, other metals may be added, especially to make colored gold. Heres a table of the compositions of some common gold alloys: Gold Alloys Color of Gold Alloy Composition Yellow Gold (22K) Gold 91.67%Silver 5%Copper 2%Zinc 1.33% Red Gold (18K) Gold 75%Copper 25% Rose Gold (18K) Gold 75%Copper 22.25%Silver 2.75% Pink Gold (18K) Gold 75%Copper 20%Silver 5% White Gold (18K) Gold 75%Platinum or Palladium 25% White Gold (18K) Gold 75%Palladium 10%Nickel 10%Zinc 5% Gray-White Gold (18K) Gold 75%Iron 17%Copper 8% Soft Green Gold (18K) Gold 75%Silver 25% Light Green Gold (18K) Gold 75%Copper 23%Cadmium 2% Green Gold (18K) Gold 75%Silver 20%Copper 5% Deep Green Gold (18K) Gold 75%Silver 15%Copper 6%Cadmium 4% Blue-White or Blue Gold (18K) Gold 75%Iron 25% Purple Gold Gold 80%Aluminum 20%

What Did You Do This Summer College Interview Question

What Did You Do This Summer College Interview Question When answering a college interview question about your summer activities, no one is expecting you to be busy every day of the year. Summer is indeed a time to recoup after a busy academic year. Students who treat summer like an 80-hour-a-week job are setting themselves up for burn-out. That said, your interviewer will want to see that you did something productive in the summer. Youll want to show that you seek out meaningful and enriching experiences. A question about your summer activities has similarities to a question about  what do you do in your free time.  Summer, however, is a lot more substantial than a few free hours on the weekend, so your interviewer is going to be looking for something meaningful that youve accomplished during those months off from school. Strong Answers to a Question About  Your Summer Activities Your answer to the question, of course, is going to depend entirely on what you did in the summer, but work to identify a few meaningful activities from your summer break before you set foot in the interview room. Some activities that  will  sound good to your interviewer include: Travel.  Did you go somewhere interesting? A national park, historic site, cultural center, or some other destination that expanded your world view or opened your eyes to new experiences?Reading.  Your interviewer wont want to hear that you spent the whole summer indoors with your face buried in books, but they love to hear about reading. Students who read a lot tend to do well in college. You may even find that your interviewer asks you to recommend a good book.  Work.  Whether you helped on the family farm or cleaned dishes at the local eatery, students who work reveal a level of maturity and responsibility that will impress the admissions folks. Your summer may not be as exciting as a trip to Europe, but colleges truly do value work experience.Entrepreneurship.  This could be related to work, but youll certainly make a good impression if you started your own lawn mowing business, developed a useful app, or did something else that reveals creativity, confidence, and motiv ation.Volunteerism.  Community service and volunteer work play an increasingly important role in the college admissions process, and summer is the ideal time to do meaningful volunteer work. Education.  Did you attend a summer engineering or creative writing camp? Did you take a class at the local community college? Needless to say, colleges want to enroll students who like to learn. Weak Answers to a Question About Your Summer Colleges will want to see that youre not the type of student who lets three months go by without doing anything productive. Answers such as these are not going to impress anyone: I built a really cool world in Minecraft. Good for you, but realize that a lot of students fail out of college because they give video games priority over all else; three months staring at the computer screen represents a rather anti-social- even if multiplayer- and unproductive use of time.  I was burned out from school, so I relaxed. For three months? Also, dont highlight academic burn-out in your college interview. Sure, it happens to most students, but such an answer also sends a message that you get overwhelmed by school work. This isnt what you want to tell a college admissions representative.I hung out with my friends. Having friends is good. Colleges want to admit friendly students who build meaningful relationships with others. But what exactly did you do with your friends? Develop this reply to explain the meaningful activities you did with your friends. Ideally, you did something more productive than cruise the local shopping mall. The list could go on, but you get the idea. Answers that suggest you let the summer slip by without doing anything to enrich yourself or help others arent going to impress anyone. A Final Word About Summer Activities Your answer to the question will obviously be unique to your own interests and activities, and thats largely the point here- make sure you are telling your interviewer about summer experiences that have helped make you the person you are. Show that when you are given the time, youll do something meaningful and productive. In short, show your interviewer that youre the type of interesting, curious, hard-working, motivated person who will contribute to a campus community in positive ways.

Starbucks Corporation. SWOT Analysis Research Paper

Starbucks Corporation. SWOT Analysis - Research Paper Example In keeping with the case study, it can be ascertained that the employees in Starbucks used to follow the trend of informal dress-code. The casual dress-code fosters a stress-free environment within the organization. Furthermore, Howard Schultz, the vice president of the company perceived a vision of making Starbucks a national company. He wanted to incorporate values and policies, which will ensure goodwill and trust of the customers along with the employees. The new Starbucks established by Howard Schultz operated 9 stores. However, the newly formed management lacked experience, which stands to be the weakness of the new establishment. In order to overcome the challenges pertaining to management issues, Lawrence Maltz was appointed as the executive vice-president. His skills and strategies provided a new edge to the company (Shah et al., 2006). Correspondingly, the strategy of the company to expand its business in Chicago resulted in challenges. According to the case study, the Chicagoans did not prefer ‘Dark Roasted’ Coffee, which was a major weakness of the management strategy. Furthermore, the expenses incurred in the product processing in Chicago were much higher as compared to that of Seattle. Furthermore, the rent was also very high along with the wage rate. Starbucks expenses increased in Chicago store. In this regard, the advanced strategies taken by the company’s management included increasing labor costs and maintaining higher rents. This strategy ensured higher profits for the company in Chicago. Another key strength area of the Starbucks was its workplace environment. The management of the company endured a strong belief that the employees higher pay scale and fringe benefits act as a mechanism to attract the skilled and motivated individuals as the workforce. The strategies formulated to att ract the human capital acts as one of the major strengths of the company. After acquiring a better position in the homeland, Starbucks decided to expand its operations beyond national boundaries. It had planned two differentiated strategies, i.e. either to establish a company owned and operated store or to provide license to a local company to promote the Starbuck’s products. Uncontrolled expansion of the Starbucks operating store can be termed as a decisive weakness. It has been observed that the company plans for the expansion at the cost of their being different from others. It earned profit in the international market based on its premium coffee brand that has differentiated characteristics, which can be termed as one of the company’s weaknesses (Shah et al., 2006). Starbucks expansion plan to operate its stores internationally can be regarded as a major opportunity for the company. This strategy of the company provides it an opportunity to gain advantage over the international competitors. Moreover, the product line expansion of Starbucks also renders it major growth opportunities. The continuous innovation and commitment of the company had been rewarded in the internatio

Portrait photographer interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Portrait photographer interview - Essay Example instructor. I come from a family of six children, I am the third born in the family, and I have three children, Sarah, Samuelle, and Susan (Somerstein 1). I am also a professional Portrait Photographer discovered as a little girl. I took my very first photos during the Vietnam War, and since then I have been hooked on photography (Somerstein 1). I became a professional photographer back in 1970, when the Rolling Stones magazine looked at my work and decided to sign me on as their photographer. the world. Photography is my life. When I take a photograph, I feel an essence of communication between me and the person am taking the photograph of. It is a new learning experience for me every time. publicly accepted photograph was that of John Lennon during my time at Rolling stones, it would be safe to say that I â€Å"made it† in the 1980s, which was ten years after I started working professionally. So it took me around ten years before I got my big break. because, when I like something or someone, I take a photo of them. To me portrait photography is the best way to get to know people better, to communicate with them, and learn more about them. Portrait photography is reality, which is what I want to experience when I take photographs to photography, photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Frank Robert were my biggest influence (Somerstein 1). They have a way of using their photography as a toll for personal reportage. The photographs they take are merely a report of what is, no additions, no subtractions, just a graphical representation of reality. Stones magazine and Vanity Fair. They have all been big projects for you and you have executed each project remarkably. Now, am curious, how do you get work? Do your clients look for you? Or are you the one who looks for them? and for that reason, I needed to gather as many customers as possible for my work. I still do up to date but at the moment, it is the clients who come

Organisational Culture and Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organisational Culture and Leadership - Essay Example It is characterized by a range of factors such as novelty, risk taking, attention to specific issues, result, people and team orientation, hostility and steadiness. One may also find different strata of culture within the same institute. The leading culture is expressed in the centre principles that are shared by a bulk of the organization’s affiliates. Core values are the primary or dominant values that are accepted throughout the organization. However, there may be various subcultures or small cultures in a business unit, characterised by sector-based title and physical parting. The culture is passed on from one generation to other through stories, rites, substance codes and expression of the organisation. Culture describes the frontier between one association and another by assigning a sense of individuality to its members. It augments the steadiness of the social system by making possible the creation of commitment to anything bigger than self-interest. Besides it serves a s a sense-making and control mechanism for fitting employees in the organization. 2. Leadership 2.1. Meaning Leadership is defined as the skill to persuade a group towards the attainment of goals. The trends in leadership studies reveal a plethora of the different aspects of leadership and yet there is no universally accepted definition or model of a leader. The first dominant framework on leadership was the Trait Theory or the â€Å"Great Men† Theory which was proposed in the early twentieth century. The theory considers â€Å"personality, social, physical or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from non-leaders† (Shoup, 2005, p.2). This theory ascribes conventional qualities like ambition and energy, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, intelligence and knowledge to leaders and holds that leaders are born, not made. Mid-twentieth century saw the rise of the Behaviourist school of leadership which emphasized on the actions and dominant behaviour of the lead ers and highlighted the leaders’ behaviour on the job, use of authority and task-relationship orientation. Later, scholars such as Fred Fiedler realised that a leader must match his/her situation and leadership style should vary depending on the situation and context. This gave way to a third phase of leadership studies, known as the Contingency school, which focussed on job constitution, leader-member association and power position. (Shoup, 2005, pp. 2-4) Later James McGregor Burns brought about a marked transition through his classification of the transactional and transformational leader. He defined transactional leader are one who superficially deals with a situation by hovering around the edges of the problem and transformational leader as one who sees a problem as an opportunity to change the world through his visionary ideas and experiments. (Polelle, 2008, p. xii) 2.2. Importance Leaders act as connections between the association and external regions. During difficult times, they serve as troubleshooters by engaging in negotiation and conflict management. Besides, they provide essential advice, coaching and mentoring to their subordinates to improve upon their individual, team and overall organizational performance. 3. Relationship between Organisational Culture and Leadership Leadership and organizational culture are two inter-related and inter-dependent concepts. Culture is socially learned and transmitted by members within organizations.  The leaders of an organization

Carbon-Fibre Composite Materials Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Carbon-Fibre Composite Materials - Coursework Example There are different types of automobile. A car is the most common type of automobile comprising largely in the usability in human population. Basically, the primary parts of a car includes: the exterior, lights, interior, chasis, brakes, suspension, and engine. Materials used for the various parts of a car needs to fulfill various criteria and comply with regulations and legislations that ensures the safety and environmental concerns of the machines. Traditionally, materials used for automobile parts production comprises of metallic materials, aluminum, steel, magnesium and other metallic alloys. However, with the rise of modern technology where various study discovered new researches, many of the metallic parts of car are now replaced with materials made up of composite materials (Ghassemieh). Composite materials such as carbon-fibre composites have been widely applied in automobile processing. Carbon fibres are those fiber materials derived from carbon. They are mixed and bound tog ether with other materials such as polymer resins processed under heat, pressure and vacuum to derive the special properties for the composites (Johnson, T. n.d). They are considered as new breed for high strength materials. It contains about 90% carbon fiber which is very durable and strong. They are very suitable when used in applications requiring stiffness, strength, lesser weight and superior fatigue characteristics (Hegde, et al. 2004). Carbon Fiber composite polymers or CFRP are devised in automobile manufacturing as they are lightweight.

Dairy industry - canada's supply management system Essay

Dairy industry - canada's supply management system - Essay Example Petkantchin (2008) has mentioned that the â€Å"Canadian milk prices have been two to three times higher than world prices since 1986. This has no doubt contributed to a drop of nearly 15% in per capita milk consumption in Canada between 1986 and 2003† (Petkantchin). Canada is one of the biggest producers of dairy products. At the same time the prices of the dairy products are very high in Canada because of the quota system enforced by the government in the supply management of dairy products in Canada. The productivity gains are actually wasted because of the quota system. The creation of Canadian Dairy Commission in 1966 was greeted with immense pleasure by the dairy farmers; however their expectations went wrong since the government introduced the quota system to control the production of dairy products in Canada. The quota system controls the dairy products production in Canada even though Canada has huge potentials in developing the dairy sector. â€Å"One would argue that with the high capital that Canadian dairy farmers have to invest in quota, it makes it difficult for the next generation to farm. This is entirely correct† (Brander, p.12). The dairy farmers need to invest big amounts in order to keep the quota system in tact which is not a good sign for the future generation. Big expenditure or capital needed for dairy farming will force the next generation to look for other options. At the same time, the tight control over the supply management of dairy products resulted as a barrier to the entry of new players in the Canadian dairy market from external sources. It is quite possible that entrepreneurs from other countries may invest in Canada in the dairy sector because of globalization and liberalization policies adopted by Canada. But the tight control over the supply of dairy products in Canada prevents foreign investors from investing in the Canadian dairy sector. Supply management works well for conventional

Economics for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economics for Business - Essay Example Since China was the biggest importer of the Australian rock lobsters, this industry would lose a significant amount of its revenues in the face of such a prohibition. The Australian Fishing Authorities had also requested the National Government to negotiate these trade restrictions with the Chinese Government. This would save their business from being affected (The Telegraph, 2010). 2. The Chinese economy was the largest buyer of the rock lobster exports of Australia. When the Chinese Government prohibited the Australian lobsters from being imported into the country in November 2010, this came as shocking news to the Australian fishing community. With the exclusion of its biggest export destination, the rock lobster industry in Australia was sure to suffer huge financial losses. The fishing communities in the Victorian province, Western and Southern Australia specialized in the trading of rock lobsters and were expected to be significantly affected as a result of the Chinese ban. The Australian fishing authorities feared that the country’s fishing community would be compelled to sell their catch at very low prices in the market. This in turn would result in lower revenues for these indigenous people. Thus, Australia’s fishing industry was set to be badly hit by China’s import restrictions. ... This ban was expected to generate a host of impacts on the Australian economy, the Chinese markets as well as the international trading community. First of all, the Australian fishing communities were expected to be adversely affected by the Chinese prohibition. The fishing communities hailing from the Victorian province, the eastern and southern Australia specialize in the trading and exporting of rock lobsters. They would witness a sharp decline in the revenues earned from the lobster export. The price of lobsters in Australia’s domestic market was expected to fall, as the demand for lobsters to be exported would reduce. This again would affect the profits of the Australian fishing communities, who would have to sell their lobster hauls at much lower prices to the local citizens. While China had implemented a ban on the import of the Australian rock lobsters, the nation continued to import lobsters from New Zealand and South Africa. If this resulted in a decline in the total quantity of lobsters imported in the Chinese economy, this would lead to a rise in lobster prices in the Chinese markets. However, if the country kept its import quantity the same as before by importing more lobsters from New Zealand and South Africa, then the internal lobster prices would not rise. Finally, there was an opportunity for New Zealand and South Africa to gain from the Chinese ban. Even after it had stopped importing Australian rock lobsters, China continued to import is seafood from New Zealand and South Africa. Both these countries could witness an increase in their lobster exports if China decided to import extra lobsters to replenish the missing imports from Australia. This would result in increased export revenues for both these nations (Herald Sun, 2010). The

Dairy industry - canada's supply management system Essay

Dairy industry - canada's supply management system - Essay Example Petkantchin (2008) has mentioned that the â€Å"Canadian milk prices have been two to three times higher than world prices since 1986. This has no doubt contributed to a drop of nearly 15% in per capita milk consumption in Canada between 1986 and 2003† (Petkantchin). Canada is one of the biggest producers of dairy products. At the same time the prices of the dairy products are very high in Canada because of the quota system enforced by the government in the supply management of dairy products in Canada. The productivity gains are actually wasted because of the quota system. The creation of Canadian Dairy Commission in 1966 was greeted with immense pleasure by the dairy farmers; however their expectations went wrong since the government introduced the quota system to control the production of dairy products in Canada. The quota system controls the dairy products production in Canada even though Canada has huge potentials in developing the dairy sector. â€Å"One would argue that with the high capital that Canadian dairy farmers have to invest in quota, it makes it difficult for the next generation to farm. This is entirely correct† (Brander, p.12). The dairy farmers need to invest big amounts in order to keep the quota system in tact which is not a good sign for the future generation. Big expenditure or capital needed for dairy farming will force the next generation to look for other options. At the same time, the tight control over the supply management of dairy products resulted as a barrier to the entry of new players in the Canadian dairy market from external sources. It is quite possible that entrepreneurs from other countries may invest in Canada in the dairy sector because of globalization and liberalization policies adopted by Canada. But the tight control over the supply of dairy products in Canada prevents foreign investors from investing in the Canadian dairy sector. Supply management works well for conventional

International and Intercultural Communication Essay - 2

International and Intercultural Communication - Essay Example It has a high score of 90. It means that individuals accept hierarchical order in which everybody has a place, and there is no need of further justification. Angola too is a hierarchical society as it has a high score of 83. Therefore, there is similarity in power distance between Albania and Angola. Individualism addresses the degree of interdependence a society upholds among its members (Geert-Hofstede, 2015). Albania is a collectivist society as it has a low score of 20. There is close commitment to family extended family, and extended relationships. There is loyalty, and everyone takes care for fellow members of their group. Offense results in shame and employee/employer relationships are held in moral terms. Angola too has a very low score of 18, therefore, a collectivist society. Uncertainty avoidance portrays the extent to which members of a given culture feel jeopardized by unknown situations. Albania prefers avoiding uncertainties, and it has a high score of 70. Angola too has a relatively high score of 60 on uncertainty avoidance (Geert-Hofstede, 2015). They maintain rigid codes of behavior and belief and are intolerant of unknown behaviors and ideas. Rules are significant, and people have an inner urge to work hard. Albania is a masculine society as it has a very high score of 80. Behavior in work, school, and play are based on shared values that individuals are the best in what they do. People are proud of their achievements and conflicts are resolved at individual level (Luger, 2009, p16). However, Angola is a feminine society as it has a low score of 20. Individuals value solidarity, quality in their working lives and conflicts are resolved by negotiation. Albania is pragmatic in nature and it has a high score of 61. Modern education is upheld as the way to prepare for the future. However, Angola is normative as it has very low score of 15. There is great respect for traditions (Geert-Hofstede, 2015). Albania has a

Improving Team work and leadership in Infosys

Improving Team work and leadership in Infosys The emergence of the private sector in the economy has created more entrepreneurs especially in the services sector. The ability to manage a complex and diverse workforce is a decisive factor that adds to the competency of the organisation in contemporary work environment .complexity of human behaviour has increased the significance of the organisational behaviour .organisational behaviour is concerned with the study of behaviour of people within the organisational setting which involves the understanding .prediction and control of human behaviour and the factors which involves the performance of people as members of an organisation (Luthans ,F. 1992) . The importance of the human capital in the current working environment has increased the importance of managing people within the organisation. The organisation made up of a large number of individual members and they mostly act in a group or in isolation. They are individually and in a group expected to achieve the organisations obje ctive .any sort of indifference between both can lead to conflict and tension between the individual and the organisation. Importance of defining the organisation Organisation are complex social systems which can be defined and studied in a number of different ways .Morgan identifies different ways of viewing organisations as machines ,brains ,organisms, cultures, political systems ,psychic prisons ,flux and transformation and instruments of domination (Morgan.1986). As a consultant seeking to improve the management of people in a organisation you need to define the nature of the organisation and understand the longer-term goals of the company. Goal setting is important were the organisation evaluates the long term and short term goals of the company. Every employee has to understand and work according to this goal. Infosys is planning to become a $10 billion company in the next 5 years and according to the Founder of Infosys is to be a globally respected corporation that provides best of breed business solutions, leveraging technology, delivered by best in the class people (A.C Fernando 2009). The company driven by the passion to innovate in technology and management practices has grown to become a company spread in 16 countries and 32 sales offices catering to the technological needs of a global community. Value systems in Infosys At stretch its competency beyond the stream of technology Infosys has designed core value systems that define the behaviour within the organisation. (George .W. England 1967) after studying the value system of managers in several American firms commented that the personal belief system of individual managers can make difference to an organisation at large as to how he evaluates information and arrives at a decision. Understanding customer value systems is also important to the success as to understand their consumption patterns and the cultural patterns which shape their consumer behaviour as a individual and as a group. (Craig .j. Thompson Maura .Troester 2002) . The value system of Infosys is designed to achieve long term competencies in the industry. Customer delight: To lead by example and excess customer expectation Leadership example: A constant effort to set standards within the industry in the way they do business and to build motivation within the employees to work towards a goal. Integrity and transparency: To be transparent in dealing with customer and discarding unethical practices within the organisation. The example being one of the few companies following high disclosure norms like making no forward looking statements in the stock market (Business Standard 2010). Fairness: Trying to be objective and delivering on expectations and in the process earning the respect of the clients and the shareholders. Infosys has exceeded the guidance in the current quarter with revenues of more than 5741 crore Indian rupees. When management expectation was 5423 crore (Nirmal Bang 2010). The company constantly tries to innovate in an extremely competitive industry .Infosys has grown to become a company with a market cap of more than 32 billion as of date (rediff .com 2010) emerged from being a small time company in the 90s mainly due to its unique management policies and quality of leadership that helped employees to work as a team and contribute effectively to the organisation. As a publically listed company it sets realistic targets of growth which the employees feel achievable. The competitive nature of the industry and the opening of multiple options for the employees is seen as reasons for the high attrition rates within the industry. For example software sector witnessed high attrition rates in the range of 25 -35% especially in the business process outsourcing industry (shvoong .com 2009) when compared to the manufacturing industry. Improving team work at Infosys The current work environment is less about working individually and more about working in groups .large organisations are characterised by multiple groups and work is more of a group based activity and efficiency of group work is crucial in determining the success of the entire organisation .team work is co-operative effort by a group of people to achieve a common goal. (teamtechnology.co.uk 2009). Team work has shaped our work culture and through the history has lived, loved and worked together in groups.(Baumeister 1995) the organisation culture performance is normally managed and assessed by customer satisfaction and sales growth .as the needs of the business grows and when the organisation becomes bigger it is important to build people management and appraisal systems to assess the success of group work .the most guaranteed way of improving performance is by identifying all aspects of the group behaviour and trying to promote those aspects that significantly create more value for the organisation. The management should encourage innovative ideas that create opportunities for value addition. In instep programme at Infosys is targeted at creating valuable ideas that can drive the organisation forward. (Infosys 2009).it brings the best talents from diverse streams to partner with the organisation develop their employees in enhancing their intellectual faculty. The company can adopt similar polices implemented in Vodafone though Vodafone Malta which facilitates the process of research in the company by promoting employees with a passion to innovate. This has helped to design effective tariff structures within the company and make advanced networking equipment and improve supply chain management.(Vodafone Malta 2009) Research and development is one of the core area where the company tries to achieve competency ,according to estimates around 2.5 % of GDP was spend on RD in the year 2005 (lysander.sourceoecd.org).Especially in areas like pharmaceuticals the abilit y to launch new products is important in defining the success of companies. Considering the benefit of team working and its existence at all levels of the organisation ,every team has to be dealt with in nature of its strategic importance ,the management have more to do with the routine functioning of the company ,strategic planning teams are more involved with shaping the overall longer term strategy of the company. Writing an quote in( management today 2004 ) comparing the organisational behaviour in leading Indian IT companies Peter Drucker commented that Management is a function ,a discipline , a task to be done ,and managers practice this discipline ,carry out functions and discharge these tasks. The study outlining the job of managers stated the prime functions as planning ,organizing ,directing and controlling .the main functions of managers after studying Managers of three organisations were outlined as co-ordination and integration between different layers of employees that functions in the IT industry. Facilitating Group cohesiveness in Infosys Group cohesiveness increases the productivity and motivation to work within a group .according to (Zaccaro etal 1995 ) cohesiveness is described as the degree to which group members and attracted to work together and stay together as a group. The role of first time managers has gone through significant change over the last few years in the company has adopted the Managers in charge (MiCP).where there is an effort to decentralise the .management system and delegating more authority to first time managers. This method initially employed by Japanese producers was found to be cost-effective, more focussed and flexible in contemporary work environment. Research in this stream has proved that this increases more facilitative and empowering type of leadership and is more strategic rather than being functional (Ghobadian etal1998).The success of the team work is depended on how effectively the goals are communicated and defined and the appropriate training that develops the overall capabilit ies of the employees and brings them closer to the organisational goal. Performance management and appraisal Right from the beginning the work of the employees are managed effectively and constantly evolved in the organisation .the peer satisfaction report is the key input were the feedback from the peers are used to generate critical inputs about the employees .the evaluation of the task assigned to the employee forms the key part of the performance appraisal in Infosys .team work are monitored through various developmental stages of team work. The forming stages should be more focussed on giving vision to the group a employees should have good listening skills and build interdependency and form the initial ground rules of team building .storming stage involves initial group debates and expressions of conflict within the group .the group has to be reminded of team mission and goals .in the Norming stage the group need present regular feedback of the team work and has to search for solutions to improve the current performance. The adjourning is common in Projects were they dissolve after ac hieving the mission. In this stage the success of the project need to be studied and how it has contributed to the bottom line of the company. Leadership development in Infosys Pre dominantly there is an effort to acquire a global mindset in the current work environment .global mindset .what exactly is Global Mindset cannot be properly defined and tgere can only be vague be definitions and closest that it can be is the ability of organisations to influence ,groups ,organisations and systems that have less similar intellectual ,social and psychological intelligence .company like Infosys having a global presence and should have a decentralised approach were more authority should be delegated rather than being limited to a core group. Creating future leaders in Infosys Infosys leadership institute in Mysore started in 2002 is a unique venture by the company to train Info scions to face the complex tasks in the constantly changing work environment and bringing a strategic change by instilling leadership qualities. Meeting the financial targets is crucial for a company like Infosys which seeks to achieve financial targets by facilitating the process of corporate learning and coupling the strategic organisation goals with the learning infrastructure targeted to improve financial goals (Thomas Anderson 2009). The company received the corporate excellence Award recently and can be seen as a testimonial to its efforts to bring innovative management practices. Following the several theories in Leadership the company has tried to implement these in the work environment. Generic Group Focus Group Premise Major concerns Great man Trait THEORY Identifying the traits and potential leaders for the future Primary source of leadership effectiveness lay in the personal traits of leaders Does not address on the howdimension of leadership Behavioural Theories What do Leaders do Identify determinants of behaviour of leaders . Does not address the situation, the followers Contingency Theory Interactions between the quality of leaders leaders and the situational factors The appropriate leadership style is dependent on the situation and other factors The categorisation of situations at a meta level Transformational /Theory /Charismatical Leadership INDIVIDUAL AS THE LEADER Leadership is rooted in leaders and is a capability partly inherited and partly acquired/ acquirable Current status Implementing various theories of leadership Using the theories of leadership like Trait theory the management spots future leader by understanding their potential based on their current performance and analysing their traits that can make them future leaders. They company also spots charismatic leaders and promote them to critical positions .this helps them to retain talented leaders who can contribute further to the growth in the future. The leadership development programme has outlined three core areas to develop its competencies they are: Work People Technology (Business line 2002) Using the abilities in technology and the competencies of the human capital and leveraging both effectively and strategically can best define the leadership programme in Infosys. Mentoring new recruits and helping them aligning with the organisational goals helps the company to achieve their project targets much easier. There is an effort to increase the morale is increased by sharing the success with members of the core team and rewarding them with bonuses. Infosys was one of the first companies give away huge benefits With Their ESOP systems. The IC workshops The Infosys cultural workshops is the employee engagement programme in Infosys were there are frequent interactions with employees from different cultural backgrounds working within Infosys .this is intended to foster the spirit of camaraderie and to reinforce a common work culture within the organization. Performance appraisal systems Performance appraisal systems are considers one of the most emotionally charged activities in business to asses ones contribution in business and signals he receive has strong impact on his confidence and future performance (Thompson and Dalton 1970). The Infosys feedback systems are tries to make crucial behavioural interventions in the work place based on the feedback which is formal and informal .these feedbacks are analysed to bring out an effective and workable plan which is suitable for the organisation .one of the things lacking in such an interface is that those who receive negative feedback can be spotted as bad performers and will find it difficult to improve their performance. Conclusions Infosys being a leader in the Indian software industry has always followed a policy of leading by example by setting benchmark in the industry. The succession policy followed by company where the founding members step-down after completing their term and retire after they turn 60 (Associated Press 2006). This helps to develop a spirit of equity within the organisation . the action learning system followed in the company should be address real problems in the company and workable plan has to formulated by setting goals for the future. The 360 -degree feedback should be used effectively by interconnecting between various verticals of the company. the company operates various verticals in like banking ,healthcare and research and product development capabilities in one vertical especially the marketing of one product can be used in other verticals as well , for eg : The success of banking software Finacle (Economic Times 2010)can be of use to other verticals in healthcare and retail and proper feedback can help in leveraging on its success to other verticals. The practices the company currently follows has significantly contribute to the value addition in the company over the years. The ability to maintain the value system and bring suitable improvements can define the team work and leadership in the company. Proactive approach can help the company maintain its current niche in the industry.

of mice and men :: essays research papers

"Of Mice and Men" is a skillful novel, which deals with the theme of `outsiders', that is, individuals who do not fit into the mainstream of society. The novel portrays this idea of loneliness throughout John Steinbeck's stimulating and exciting novel. When Lennie kills Curley’s Wife, Steinbeck describes Curley's wife as a prettier figure. He writes, "The meanness and the planning’s of the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face." (p.128) This shows that now Curley's wife is dead, she now looks happy and has escaped from her loneliness. Even though Curley's wife is mentioned frequently, we never know what her name is. This just shows how people do not care for others, leading to loneliness. I think all the men do not consider her as a normal human being, but and object, this object refers to the picture since in the picture there stands one tree in the middle of no where thus representing loneliness. All of the men are to scared to talk to her in case Curley becomes jealous and wants to start a fight. She has no female friends on the ranch, so the men are her only option, but they do not want to become friends with her. She spots out Lennie and wants to start a friendship with him as all of the others fear Curley and will have nothing to do with her. She says to Lennie â€Å"Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever once in a while?† This shows that she is trying to tell Lennie that she desperately needs to talk to somebody as she hardly does ever talk to anyone because they do not listen to her. The dreams that so many of Steinbeck’s characters have are ultimately covering pains and difficulties that they may be enduring. Curley’s wife is the only main character that Steinbeck did not provide a name for. This could be for the reason that the men at the ranch saw her as a nobody and a tramp; therefore Steinbeck is showing she should not be issued with her own name. I am given the impression that she is living in two lives. In reality she is living in a boring ranch, with no companionship in isolation. However, she also believes that she would make it to the movies one day. She says to Lennie "I aint used to livin like this. of mice and men :: essays research papers "Of Mice and Men" is a skillful novel, which deals with the theme of `outsiders', that is, individuals who do not fit into the mainstream of society. The novel portrays this idea of loneliness throughout John Steinbeck's stimulating and exciting novel. When Lennie kills Curley’s Wife, Steinbeck describes Curley's wife as a prettier figure. He writes, "The meanness and the planning’s of the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face." (p.128) This shows that now Curley's wife is dead, she now looks happy and has escaped from her loneliness. Even though Curley's wife is mentioned frequently, we never know what her name is. This just shows how people do not care for others, leading to loneliness. I think all the men do not consider her as a normal human being, but and object, this object refers to the picture since in the picture there stands one tree in the middle of no where thus representing loneliness. All of the men are to scared to talk to her in case Curley becomes jealous and wants to start a fight. She has no female friends on the ranch, so the men are her only option, but they do not want to become friends with her. She spots out Lennie and wants to start a friendship with him as all of the others fear Curley and will have nothing to do with her. She says to Lennie â€Å"Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever once in a while?† This shows that she is trying to tell Lennie that she desperately needs to talk to somebody as she hardly does ever talk to anyone because they do not listen to her. The dreams that so many of Steinbeck’s characters have are ultimately covering pains and difficulties that they may be enduring. Curley’s wife is the only main character that Steinbeck did not provide a name for. This could be for the reason that the men at the ranch saw her as a nobody and a tramp; therefore Steinbeck is showing she should not be issued with her own name. I am given the impression that she is living in two lives. In reality she is living in a boring ranch, with no companionship in isolation. However, she also believes that she would make it to the movies one day. She says to Lennie "I aint used to livin like this.