Administrative office management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Administrative office management - Essay Example Advances in telecommunication have changed managerial and administrative duties in the office environment.Leadership styles adopted are largely due to these pressures. Administrators no longer handle conflict management and group dynamics the way thy used to Career development, legal issues and ethics have also taken a shift from the conventional approaches. These changes will be examined in detail below. (Scholtes, 1988)There are three main schools of thought that determine leadership styles adopted. Some researchers claim that certain people are simply born with it. They have the ability to influence other people naturally. On the other hand, other experts suggest that leadership styles are dictated by the given situation facing a group. Groups will change their leadership styles to fit into these ideals. Lastly some people believe that strategies will define the leadership path taken in relation to the leadership traits present within the group.Depending on the three factors discu ssed, supervisors have the option of choosing one of four leadership styles. An autocratic leadership style is one characterized by leaders who utilize their positions to affect decision making processes. On the other hand, there are also Democratic leadership styles where members of a group or those being led have a say in leadership decisions; authority is not exclusive to one individual but is shared equally among all other stakeholders in the group. In 'Laissez faire' type of leadership, the group largely determines decisions made. Specific leaders play little or no role in the decision making process; tasks and objectives lay in the hands of the people. Lastly, there is the abdacratic leadership style. Here, no single individual takes up the role of a leadership and the group does not also bother with authority. Consequently, such a leadership style has been deemed as the most ineffective because it eventually leads to the breakdown of the group. However, because of the pressures exerted by the up rise in telecommunication and the effect that this has on office work, there is a need to adopt a more proactive approach to leadership. This was brought forward by MacGregor (1978). He asserts that true leadership is achieved through transformational leadership. The latter term means uniting members of an organization through a common vision. It also means applying the following processes; Value Integrity Trust The concept of transformational leadership became very relevant to the office environment due to advances in telecommunications. The latter changed people's role in the office from being mere tools to becoming part of the organizational strategy. Changes in telecommunications brought about shift from the conventional transactional leaders. These are leaders who focus only on making other people follow their strategic will. Such leaders are bale to make large numbers of employees follow them but lack the ability to yield quality results. Transformational leaders are those ones who focus on quality of work even when they do not have many numbers rallying behind them. Bass (1990) and Avolio (1995) developed a method of quantifying the extent of transformational leadership within nay one organization. It was achieved through five dimensions: intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, idealized influence in both the behavioral and attributes realms. Telecommunications have also created more emphasis on the issue of employee satisfaction. This is because many workers now have access to vast amounts of resources about their rights through the internet. Consequently, employers have to ensure that they satisfy those needs. On the other hand advanced telecommunications have assisted leaders in the process of satisfying their staff. They now place a lot of emphasis on the path-goal model of leadership. In this approach, leaders aim at achieving organizational goals by eliminating all the

Learning Disabilities Essay Example for Free

Learning Disabilities Essay Children that are dealing with learning disabilities have a difficult road ahead of them. If the disability is neglected or overlooked for too long, the probability of the child falling behind in school as well as social aspects in their life is very high. However, properly identifying the problem and determining the best steps to assist in managing the disability will be vital in their young lives in helping them to achieve their goals. Life can be difficult and sometimes cruel for children, let alone children that are dealing with learning disabilities. A learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to process and respond to information. Cognitive theory and children with learning disabilities have a close relationship. When talking about children who have learning disabilities, it is safe to say that they are not always identified in its earliest stage, which then can lead to long term problems in an individual’s life. From physical, emotional, and social obstacles, all of which they will encounter at some point in their lives if the necessary measures are not taken to help these children. Not having the organizational abilities to acquire the knowledge as it may be taught, limits the ability to properly learn. From the articles I have selected, Children With and Without Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Processes and Outcomes Following Group Counseling, Analogical Problem Solving in Children With Verbal and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities, Working memory functioning in children with learning disabilities: does intelligence make a difference?, The Inhibition of Exogenous Distracting Information in Children with Learning Disabilities, and Cognitive functioning as measured by the WISC-R: Do children with learning disabilities have distinctive patterns of performance?, I will provide insight on how, why, and what the resolutions  are for these children. My chosen theory is relevant to my topic because a learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to process and respond to information. A child with a learning disability may not have any major sensory problems yet they may still struggle to keep up with people of their age in functions of learning and regular daily activities. Through our development process, we become equipped with skills in order to grow, succeed, and evolve into our adult life. When a development stage, cognitive development stage, shows that the basic listening, comprehension, writing, reading, speaking, and the ability to reason are not present, someone needs to identify and address the situation as early on as possible in order for the child to have a chance to grow in all other stages of development. â€Å"Children With and Without Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Processes and Outcomes Following Group Counseling† article will help to shed some light on the events that occur during the counseling process. â€Å"Analogical Problem Solving in Children With Verbal and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities† will help me explain how the children struggle with problem solving when dealing with a learning disability. In the article â€Å"Working memory functioning in children with learning disabilities: does intelligence make a difference?† will identify the importance of having a good, functioning ability to memorize and how children that have learning disabilities usually lack this ability. Cognitive Theory and Learning Disabilities Cognitive theory and children with learning disabilities have a close relationship. When talking about children who have learning disabilities, it is safe to say that they are not always identified in its earliest stage, which then can lead to long term problems in an individual’s life. From physical, emotional, and social obstacles, all of which they will encounter at some point in their lives if the necessary measures are not taken to help these children. Not having the organizational abilities to acquire the knowledge as it may be taught, limits the ability to properly  learn. A learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to process and respond to information. A child with a learning disability may not have any major sensory problems yet they may still struggle to keep up with people of their age in functions of learning and regular daily activities. Through our development process, we become equipped with skills in order to grow, succeed, and evolve into our adult life. When a development stage, cognitive development stage, shows that the basic listening, comprehension, writing, reading, speaking, and the ability to reason are not present, someone needs to identify and address the situation as early on as possible in order for the child to have a chance to grow in all other stages of development. An example of the theory and condition where the two are intertwined would be when a child is in school and could be having difficulties with what other children take for granted as being simple skills that have been learned through development and interaction with parents, teachers, etc. In this child’s situation, he/she does not have the ability to understand the story that he had just read, and now has the task of answering questions about the story in writing. His cognitive development stage for some reason has not evolved the way it should have, which now has left him battling a learning disability that may have gone unnoticed by his parents. In this situation, it is now up to the teacher to be able to identify what is taking place and to make sure that the child receives the necessary attention and evaluation in order to help him/her overcome and cope with what they are struggling with. The difficult part in the whole process is identifying learning disabilities early on and being able to treat them appropriately and in a timely manner. With children, unless significant signs are present, the struggles early on could be attributed to just being a child if one isn’t familiar with the signs of a disability. Once the disability is diagnosed, many options and opportunities are present to help assist in the overcoming of the problems. However, if the disability goes undetected or ignored for too long, a life  of challenges lies ahead for the individual. Literature Review -Children With and Without Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Processes and Outcomes Following Group Counseling. Authors name: Leichtentritt, Judith; Shechtman, Zipora. Publication date: Mar/Apr 2010 Title of publication: Journal of Learning Disabilities Summary: This study compared outcomes and processes in counseling groups of an expressive-supportive modality for children with learning disabilities (LD) and without them (NLD). Article relevance: This article provides and inside look and results into determining what the best form of counseling is for children with learning disabilities. -Analogical Problem Solving in Children With Verbal and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities. Authors name: Schiff, Rachel; Bauminger, Nirit Publication date: Jan 2009 Title of publication: Journal of Learning Disabilities Summary: In this study, they investigated the analogical problem-solving differences between children with verbal learning disabilities (VLD), nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD), or non-LD. Article relevance: This reference will help to show the struggles that LD children have in problem solving and the great disadvantage that they must overcome with this disability. Working memory functioning in children with learning disabilities: does intelligence make a difference? Authors name: Maehler, C; Schuchardt, K. Publication date: Jan 2009 Title of publication: Journal of Intellectual Disability Research Summary: The present study explored several functions of working memory. A working memory battery with tasks for the phonological loop, the visual-spatial sketchpad and central executive skills was presented in individual sessions to 27 children with learning disabilities and normal IQ (ICD-10: mixed disorders of scholastic skills), 27 children with learning disabilities and low IQ (intellectual disabilities), and a control group of 27 typically  developing children with regular school achievement levels and normal IQ. Article relevance: To show a comparison on how the functions of the brain are affected when dealing with a child with a learning disability. -The Inhibition of Exogenous Distracting Information in Children with Learning Disabilities. Authors name: Censabella, Sandrine; Marie-Pascale Noà «l Publication date: Sept/Oct 2005 Title of publication: Journal of Learning Disabilities Summary: This article reports on an experiment examining the capacities of children with LD to inhibit exogenous interference, such as automatic, prepotent responses and distractor interference. Article relevance: To support the fact that children with LD have interference with there working memory and to explain the possible solutions. -Cognitive functioning as measured by the WISC-R: Do children with learning disabilities have distinctive patterns of performance? Authors name: Amedeo D Angiulli; Siegel,Linda S. Publication date: Jan/Feb 2003 Title of publication: Journal of Learning Disabilities Summary: Patterns of performance on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) have been proposed as useful tools for the identification of children with learning disabilities (LD Article relevance: Support in the findings that children with an LD show a pattern in performance that can be determined in early stages in order to counteract the disability. Conclusion The reality of the situation is that learning disabilities in children will always be around. The hope is that someday, with improving knowledge and experimentation, we will have a solution in the process of treating the disability that will allow for the children that have the issues to not feel isolated. The fear alone of a child falling behind in school and in their social life is a stressful situation for that child. Identifying the  disability early and treating it properly is the key to a life without handcuffs.

The concept of leadership in US and japan

The concept of leadership in US and japan Introduction United States and Japan are two giant economic powers in the pacific region. Each country has developed their own management and leadership practice that is suitable for their culture. Gupta, Hanges Dorfman (2002) found that United States is clustered in the same group as Australia, New Zealand and England in the Anglo Culture while Japan is in the same group as Korea, China and Taiwan in the Confucian Asia. The argument is that the nations in the same cluster have more closely related culture than the other cluster. Despite the cultural differences there is one significant aspect where United States and Japan are similar; both countries embrace the capitalism ideology. However Ralson, Holt, Terpstra Cheng (2008) suggest that the Japanese interpretation of capitalist idea is not identical to their US counterpart. That is one reason why Japan can still preserve their culture regardless the westernization enforced by globalization. Leadership is one of the areas where the Japanese is still different compared to United States. Due to long economic and political relation between Japan and United States, it can be argued that there are some exchanges of values and belief. Which raise the question whether the leadership across the different culture is different in its entirety or have similarities? This essay is aimed to compare and contrast the western approach to leadership represented by United States and the eastern approach to leadership represented by Japan by using Hofstedes five dimension of culture as the factor of comparison. The essay will first explain the culture and its dimensions and then followed by the detailed description of each dimension by comparing both United States and Japan in each section. After that the suggested leadership style based on path-goal theory and rewarding system will be provided for each country on the framework of five culture dimension. Also the issue where leadership transcends the cultural boundaries which is possessed by transformational leaders will be discussed and to be concluded in the end. However it is important to note that the culture dimension of Hofstede is only a general perspective of a countrys culture. Cultural dimension Luthans and Doh (2009) define culture as a system that is integrated into the society where the accumulated experience of behavior and characteristics of the members is the foundation. Therefore the culture affects legal system, education, economic system, management practice and leadership style and perception. Some culture requires a leader to be democratic, where in other culture an autocratic leadership style is more appropriate (Hartog, House, Hanges Ruiz-Quintanilla, 1999). That is why it is important to understand the similarities and differences across culture, especially the Japanese and United States to compare and contrast both nation approaches to leadership. To compare the leadership of United States and Japanese culture the model that will be used is Hofstedes (1980, 2001) cultural dimension which consist of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism collectivism, masculinity femininity, and future orientation. Even though there has been much criticism for the generalization of a nations culture and its inability to represent the cultural differences within each country (Siyakumar Nakata, 2001), this model still can be used to compare the differences of leadership in United States and Japanese culture because the behavior and characteristics of leaders in one country is relatively the same compared to the other regardless. Power distance The concept of leadership is closely related to the power distance between the leaders and their followers. This is because the role of a leader is related to power, influence and status in the society or in organization (Lord Maher, 1991 as cited in Hartog et al., 1999). Power distance itself is the degree of acceptance from the society of the power and authority distribution in organizations and institutions, defined by Hofstede (1980, 2001). Power distance and decision making process and authority are related together in inversely manner (Schuler Rogoysky, 1998). United States is regarded as a country with low power distance in the culture dimension. Therefore the decision making and responsibility is more likely to be more directed from the leaders. On the counterpart the Japanese decision making process is unique where the process has to go through peer consultation before it is approved. This is also related to the responsibility of leaders in each country. Glinow, Huo and Lowe (1999) assert that pursuing goals and degree of responsibility varies depends on the degree of leaders authoritarianism. Individualist Collectivist This dimension is defined as a degree of framework where society is closely related to their group or not (Hofstede, 1980, 2001). In individualist countries where people are more concerned about their own interest and needs, leaders tend to take credit of their success. Compared to the countries where collectivism is more valued the credit of success goes to the group. This is similar to the argument of Yan and Hunts (2005) argument where: â€Å"Individualistic cultures, such as the U.S., where leaders often take credit for their organizations success, inference-based perceptions dominate. However, in collective cultures, such as Japan, where self-effacement is valued, leaders often keep a low profile when their organizations succeed, and recognition-based perceptions dominate†. Lack of insensitivity towards the culture which ignores the expected behavior, value and assumptions can put leaders at stake, especially leaders that expatriate to another country where the cultural dimension is different. This dimension is well affected by the socioeconomic development of a country and also its democratization which increase the independent thought and action, concern of others, acceptance to change, self indulgence and pleasure and decrease the conformity, tradition and security (Schwarz Sagie, 2000). Masculinity Femininity The values that is dominant in masculine societies are the materialistic objectives, not caring for others and assertiveness while feminine society have different values such as quality of life, social relationship and caring for others (Hofstede, 2001). Again the U.S and Japan is in the opposite side of this dimension. Leadership in U.S does not tolerate poor performance in the organization while its counterpart the Japanese allow poor performance if the subordinate is to learn from the mistakes. This dimension is also linked explicitly with the gender differences. In the research conducted by Wu Minor (1997) comparing female managers in United States Japan and Taiwan they found out those female managers in United States tend to be more practical and aggressive compared to their counterpart in Japan and Taiwan. Even though there are significant differences in leadership of female managers in United States and Japan, it seems that in both countries leadership role is dominated by male compared to female, despite both nation acceptance of equality in gender. Uncertainty avoidance Uncertainty avoidance is defined as the degree to which certain culture willing to take or reject the risk associated with the decision (Hofstede, 1980, 2001). In relation to leadership this dimension does not explain directly how a leader in certain culture, rather it explain on one of the aspect of leaders criteria based on their loyalty to the organization. Glinow et al. (1999) suggest that in a country where the uncertainty avoidance is high loyalty is significant factor and leaders is perceived as giving a behavioral model for their subordinate, however in the countries where uncertainty avoidance is low this is not a factor. For instance Japanese workers which is categorized in culture with high uncertainty avoidance values their job highly and most likely to be the important part of their personal life, especially if they work in large corporation (Ouchi Jaeger, 1978). This phenomenon will not be found in United States where the uncertainty avoidance is low. The system in most western countries is based on a person achievement. One can be a leader as long as they have sufficient ability and capability to regardless the period of working in the company. Future orientation The final culture dimension added by Hofstede (2001) and it is simply state that certain countrys cultural orientation is on the long term while other is short term. Japan is one of the countries that are categorized in the long term. As pointed out by Alston (1989) that the Japanese leaders evaluate the activities in term on the long term development of organization. This is in congruence with their high loyalty to organization. On the other hand the United States is mostly oriented to the short term because of their achievement based value. United States Leadership United States has been the subject in this essay as the country that highly represents the low context culture. The culture has the characteristics of low power distance, high individualistic, masculine, low uncertainty avoidance and short term oriented in the cultural dimension. Therefore it is more suitable for United States leaders to use participative, supportive leadership and implement the reward and punishment (Dorfman, Hibino, Lee, Tate Bautista, 1997). Participative leadership can be used because the fact that United States is a country with high individualistic and also strongly hold to democratic system. However it is not the case for directive leadership because most workers in United States are highly educated with skills and experience (Kerr Jermier, 1978). Supportive leadership is also acceptable due to moderate to strong relationship of leaders and followers (Indvik, 1986 cited in Dorfman, et al., 1997).Due to the materialistic nature of United States culture the reward and punishment system is effective. According McClelland Boyatzis (1982) high individualism and high achievement is also factors leveraging the effectiveness of reward and punishment in United States. Thus leaders in this country should use these different leadership styles depending on the demand of situations to effectively lead the people in the organization. Japanese Leadership Japanese is regarded as a country with high power distance, moderately collectivist, more feminine, low uncertainty avoidance and long term orientated. Arguably, external pressure arising from the expansion of globalization will eventually force Japanese to converge towards the western values and norms that are deemed to be global and standardized (Frenkel, 1994 as cited in Dalton Benson, 2002). Ornatowski (1998) also concurred to the notion of forces of globalization of creating one world market will lead to standardization of management practice across the globe including ending Japanese-style Leadership. However, Dalton Benson (2002) observed although Japanese firms are undergoing transformational phase of â€Å"westernize† management practices, the effort fall short as constraints exist by strong employment security enforced and supported by legal framework, traditional management values, government policy and advocating position from enterprise union prevail. Therefore Japanese leaders, directive, supportive, rewarding system is more appropriate (Dorfman, et al., 1997). Directive and supportive leadership style is acceptable because of the Japanese has their own mentor relationship system â€Å"sempai-kohai† which can not be found in United States. This relationship system can increase the personal bond between leaders and followers (Chen, 1995 as cited in Dorfman, et al., 1997). The participative leadership style is not acceptable because the power distance of leaders and followers in Japan is relatively high. And because of the cultural value and the loyalty to the company, rewarding can have more influence rather than punishing system. Transformational Leadership Transformational leaders have several attributes that are universally seen as contributing to outstanding leadership (Hartog et al., 1999). Luthans Doh (2009) suggest that those attributes can be characterized into four interrelated factors: idealized influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual stimulation and Individualized consideration. Transformational leaders are the source of charisma and they increase the confidence, loyalty or followers by providing vision that the later accept. The effectiveness of leaders charisma is follower dependent especially if there was a significant change or crisis preceding (Northouse, 2001 as cited in Reave, 2005). Moreover Yukl (1998) as cited in Hartog et al. (1999) stressed that there is a negative consequences for followers to follow the leader if they have low self esteem. Nevertheless this factor of transformational leadership is accepted across culture. Transformational leaders are also extremely effective in articulating their vision and providing sense of purpose to the followers to idealize their influence. There are certain ways to communicate a vision leaders vision the followers such as soft spoken manner of Ghandi and bold manner of J.F. Kennedy (Hartog et al., 1999). These leaders have the capacity to stimulate their followers mind in challenging the old paradigm and accept new one in order to bring change and fulfill the vision. This can also mean that followers in organization are empowered by leaders to be more creative and by doing so bring more value to organization itself and being closer to the desired vision (Fry, 2003). Lastly the leaders that are categorized as transformational leaders are able to recognize the needs of their followers and fulfill those needs by their individualized consideration. This will enhance the trust and loyalty of their followers. High loyalty of followers can realize the achievement or vision and mission in more effective manner which is build by trust between leaders and their followers. This trust is one of the most important variables in leadership (Yukl, 2006 as cited in Jung, Yammarino Lee, 2009). Conclusions Firstly it can be concluded that despite Japan and United States have the same ideology of capitalism, the cultural value of each country have a very significant impact on the Japanese and United States Leadership style. Though the cultural dimension is treated one by one in contrasting Japan and United states, it is also true that those five dimensions can simultaneously affect the value and belief that is important for both leaders and followers (Offermann Hellmann, 1997). And congruence in value and belief with the culture increase the effectiveness and acceptance of the contingency theory (House Aditya, 1997).Secondly there are some aspects of leadership that is acceptable across the cultural differences. For instance the Transformational leadership mentioned earlier. That is affected not only by leaders but also the followers are important factor to consider. These findings can be used by leaders and managers in organization, especially when they are faced with situation to lead people from different cultural background. It is also not limited only in organizational level but also for personal understanding to better learn and develop their leadership quality. References Alston, J. P. (1989). Wa, Guanxi, and Inhwa: managerial principles in Japan, China and Korea. Business Horizons, 32(2), 26-31. Dalton, N. Benson, J. (2002). Innovation and change in Japanese Human Resource Management. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 40, 345-362. Dorfman, P. W., Hibino, S., Lee, J. K., Tate, U. Bautista, A. (1997). Leadership in Western and Asian countries: Commonalities and differences in effective leadership process across cultures. Leadership Quarterly, 8(3), 233-274. Fry, L. W. (2003). Toward a theory of spiritual leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 14, 693-727. Glinow, M. A. V., Huo, Y. P. Lowe, K. (1999). Leadership across the Pacific Ocean: a trinational comparison. International Business Review, 8, 1-15. Gupta, V., Hanges, P. J. Dorfman, P. (2002). Cultural clusters: methodology and findings. Journal of World Business, 37, 11-15. Hartog, D. N. D., House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Ruiz-Quintanilla S. A. (1999). Culture specific and crossculturally generalizable implicit leadership theories: are attributes of charismatic/transformational leadership universally endorsed?. Leadership Quarterly. 10(2), 219-256. Hofstede, G. (1980). Cultures consequences: International differences in work-related alues (Abridged ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Hofstede, G. (2001). Cultures consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. House, R. J., Aditya, R. N. (1997). The social scientific study of leadership: Quo Vadis? Journal of Management, 23, 409-474. Jung, D., Yammarino, F. J. Lee, J. K. (2009). Moderating role of subordinates attitudes on transformational leadership and effectiveness: A multi-cultural and multi-level perspective. Leadership Quarterly, 20, 586-603. Kerr, S., Jermier, J. (1978). Substitutes for leadership: Their meaning and measurement. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 22, 374-403. Luthans, F. Doh, J. (2009) International Management: Culture, Strategy and Behavior (7th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. McClelland, D., Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). Leadership motive pattern and long term success in management. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67(6), 737-743. Offermann, L. R., Hellmann, P. S. (1997). Cultures consequences for leadership behavior: National values in action. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 28(3), 342-351. Ornatowski, G. (1998). The end of Japanese-style human resource management. Sloan Management Review. 39(3). 73-84. Ouchi, W. G., Jaeger, A. M. (1978). Type Z organization: stability in the midst of mobility. Academy of Management Review, 3, 308-311. Ralston, D. A., Holt, D. H., Terpstra, R. H. Cheng, Y. K. (2008). The impact of national culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: a study of the United States, Russia, Japan and China. Journal of International Business Studies. 39, 8-26. Reave, L. (2005). Spiritual values and practices related to leadership effectiveness. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 655-687. Schuler, R. S., Rogovsky, N. (1998). Understanding compensation practice variations across firms: The impact of national culture. Journal of International Business Studies, 29, 159-177. Schwartz, S. H., Sagie, G. (2000). Value consensus and importance: A cross-national study. Journal of International Business Studies, 14(2), 61-74. Sivakumar, K., Nakata, C. (2001). The stampede toward Hofstedes framework: Avoiding the sample design pit in cross-cultural research. Journal of International Business Studies, 32, 555-574. Wu, W. Minor, M. S. (1997). Role Perceptions, Personal Traits, Lifestyles and Leadership: an Empirical Study of American, Japanese, and Taiwanese Female Managers. International Business Review. 6 (1). 19-34.

The Life Of Emily Dickinson Essay -- essays research papers

The Life of Emily Dickinson   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although she lived a seemingly secluded life, Emily Dickinson's many encounters with death influenced many of her poems and letters. Perhaps one of the most ground breaking and inventive poets in American history, Dickinson has become as well known for her bizarre and eccentric life as for her incredible poems and letters. Numbering over 1,700, her poems highlight the many moments in a 19th century New Englander woman's life, including the deaths of some of her most beloved friends and family, most of which occurred in a short period of time (Benfey 6-25).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Several biographers of Dickinson point out her methods of exploring several topics in â€Å"circumference,† as she says in her own words. Death is perhaps one of the best examples of this exploration and examination. Other than one trip to Washington and Philadelphia, several excursions to Boston to see a doctor, and a few short years in school, Emily never left her home town of Amherst, Massachusetts. In the latter part of her life she rarely left her large brick house, and communicated even to her beloved sister through a door rarely left â€Å"slightly ajar.† This seclusion gave her a reputation for eccentricity to the local towns people, and perhaps increased her interest in death (Whicher 26).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dressing in white every day Dickinson was know in Amherst as, â€Å"the New England mystic,† by some. Her only contact to h...

Outline for Gmo

Genetically –modified food of persuasion Specific Purpose: To persuade our audience that genetically modified foods are not safe for consumption. Central Idea: Genetically modified foods may bring a new allergen that we may not be prepared to treat. We put more synthetic toxins into our bodies. I. Introduction A. (Attention Getter) Soon, kids may actually have a good reason not to eat vegetables. Genetically modified foods, vegetables and fruits, â€Å"Frankedfoods†, are making their way from science labs to the dinner table.B. (Thesis Statement) The processed food that has the entire chemical added in it in order to make the food to last longer has the effect of harming the people due to the fact that everyone has their own reaction to certain chemicals. C. (Justification) Currently genetically modified (GM) crops are grown in more than 25 countries. Big transitional companies are carrying out dangerous global experiment by introducing large numbers of genetically modi fied foods into our diet. D. Speaker Credibility) I work at the fast food industry for about six years and I know fast food is bad but I didn’t know how bad it really is. After researching and reading articles about engineered food I have learn so much more what the food contains and it is shocking. E. (Preview of Main points) 1. First I will discuss the health problems of GM foods. 2. Next, how it is important to label the food, and how the government should be involved. 3. Lastly, how we can stop genetically modified foods.

Dude, Where essays

Dude, Where essays Michael Moores book Dude, Wheres My Country has raised many eyebrows, and caused many controversial talks. I think this book is very educational and a good read. The book does not just drag on about politics, but is easily explained in words the American public can understand and comprehend. It makes you wonder what is really going on in Washington D.C. and how much George Bush Jr. actually knew about September 11, 2001 before it happened. In chapter one Moore addresses seven questions towards Bush. The first question Bush is asked about are family relations between the Bushs and the Bin Ladens. We are told that the Bin Ladens and the Bushs have had relations since 1973 when Salem Bin Laden, Osamas brother bought land, built a house, and created Bin Laden Aviation in San Antonio, Texas. After Bush Sr. left office he became a highly paid consultant for the Carlyle Group, a major investor in the Carlyle group is none other than the Bin Ladens. The second question asked is about the special relationship between the Bushes and the Saudi royal family. It is no secret that the largest supplier of oil to the U.S. is Saudi Arabia. When Sadam invaded Kuwait in 1990 the Saudis felt threatened and Bush Sr. came to their rescue. Prince Bandar and wife, Haifa said that Bush Sr. and his wife were like a mother and father to them. Prince Bandar is also an investor in the Carlyle Group. The next matter discussed questions who really attacked the United States on September 11. After some digging by Moore, it was discovered Osama Bin Laden has weak kidneys and needs dialysis for treatment. A person who needs dialysis cannot travel far, and Osama probably was not going to come to the U.S. for treatment so just exactly how could he have pulled 9/11 off? In order for someone to hit a five-story building going 500 miles per hour they need good training, the kind of training you get from t...