Monday, May 25, 2020

Dancing Out Of Reality By James Miller - 863 Words

Dancing out of Reality James S. Miller, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, challenges, â€Å"Is what we are shown on reality television, in fact, real?† (94). In James Miller’s essay, â€Å"Rule Maker †¦ Rule Breaker,† he discusses the different viewpoints on reality television shows. To producers, reality television shows are perceived as real; however, to actors and actresses, reality television shows are perceived as fake (Miller 94-95). While James Miller introduces both perspectives of reality television shows, the perspective of the actors and actresses is accurate because reality television shows are an exaggeration of real life. Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dance Moms features the famous Abby Lee Dance Company. The†¦show more content†¦For the amusement of viewers, the notorious mothers fight constantly. In season 1, episode 4 â€Å"Stealing the Show,† Christi Lukasiak, Chloe’s mother, and Melissa Gisoni, Mackenzie and Maddieà ¢â‚¬â„¢s mother, fight about their daughters’ solos. Abby Miller gives Chloe one solo and Maddie two solos. Lukasiak believes Gisoni should pull Maddie’s second solo because Maddie is given an advantage to win. During the awards ceremony at the competition, Chloe is awarded fourth, and Maddie is awarded first and third. Lukasiak is jealous because Gisoni s daughter placed higher than her daughter (Baker, â€Å"Stealing the Show†). Realistically, when a dance team attends a competition, mothers support all of the girls. No mother would actually be as ungrateful for a solo for her daughter as Lukasiak displays. Likewise, in season 3, episode 37 â€Å"The Big Not-So-Easy,† Lukasiak and Leslie Ackerman, Payton’s mother, fight about Payton becoming a member of the Abby Lee Dance Company outside of a bar in New Orleans, Louisiana. During their fight, Lukasiak flips Ackerman s drink out of her hand. The mothers start attacking each other, and Lukasiakâ₠¬â„¢s husband separates them. Lukasiak believes that she is above Ackerman because her daughter is an original member of The Abby Lee Dance Company (Baker, â€Å"The Big Not-So-Easy†). Mothers do not actually fight because they are threatened for their daughters by the otherShow MoreRelatedAn Age Of Mass Hysteria1623 Words   |  7 Pagesstruggle between good and evil, they develop a sense of hysteria as waves of emotions and an alarming rate of new plot points rushes toward them every second. Arthur Miller creates an atmosphere of hysteria by constantly introducing new plot points and shifting who the reader trusts in order to accurately represent the time period. Arthur Miller wanted to creatively, but truthfully, tell the story of the Salem Witch Trials. By having to fulfill this goal, he creates a didactic tone throughout the novelRead More Puritanism in The Scarlet Letter, Bartleby, and Daisy Miller1375 Words   |  6 Pagesthe work of Old Deluder (the name given to Satan in the time period). Yes, it is true; the society in which we dwell in today is no more remarkable than that of barbaric times. The only difference might be that we no longer kill out of primal instinct; we do it out of fear, or malice, or patriotism, or even pleasure. Thus, we are faced with the question of whether or not todays society would experience benefits if a conversion to Puritanism was made or drown in its waters. Because PuritanismRead More Innocence in Daisy Miller, My Antonia, and the Great Gatsby Essay2118 Words   |  9 PagesInnocence in Daisy Miller by Henry James, My Antonia by Willa Cather and the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is not as easy as it seems to distinguish who is innocent and who is not. Innocence is a cultural concept which is usually confusing. An act that is naà ¯ve and normal in one society can be a public disgrace in another. Then a question comes to mind: What is innocence? Challenging the norms of a society makes a person totally wicked? What spoils or preserves innocence? The word innocenceRead MoreNineteen Years A Slave By Solomon Northup Essay1737 Words   |  7 Pagescountry, the good and the bad, however no one can truly grasp the realities of slavery unless they have experienced it themselves. 12 Years a Slave is a phenomenal book because, being a reflection of Solomon Northup’s life, it accurately portrays the life of a black slave during that time period, including intense detail that arises a variety of emotions in the reader throughout the book. Published in 1853 in New York by Derby Miller, and written by Solomon Northup himself, his memoir entitled, 12Read More Futility of Life Exposed in T.S. Eliots The Hollow Men Essay1973 Words   |  8 Pagesepigraph, A penny for the old guy, relates to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. This conspiracy was led by English Catholics who attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament, King James I, his queen, and his oldest son. Guy Fawkes, a Roman Catholic, was one of the leaders who participated in this plot in anger of James refusal to grant further religious toleration. Today, the English celebrate this conspiracy with an effigy of Guy Fawkes which they burn in recognition of the plots failure. TheRead More Henry James The Wings of the Dove Essay4845 Words   |  20 PagesHenry James The Wings of the Dove This paper will present briefly Henry James and his thoughts about the art of fiction that is presented by his same titled essay before thoroughly analyzing his novel: The Wings of the Dove. James’ ideas on his article The Art of Fiction will be applied to The Wings of the Dove and the narrative style that he uses will be indicated by certain quotations taken from the novel. James had read classics of English, American, French, and German literature andRead MoreThe Intersectionality Of Race And Sex1844 Words   |  8 Pageswith little to no money and describes the realities of displacement and assimilation. When the novel was first published in French, it became a surprise commercial success with people being shocked by the taboo subject matter and the fact that the book was actually written by a black author. The book, undeniably written by a â€Å"Negro†, was compared to other writers who were also known to write as fearlessly (i.e. Charles Bukowski, James Baldwin, Henry Miller, and Jack Kerouac). Although critics haveRead MoreEssay Prompts4057 Words   |  17 Pagesplay of similar literary merit. Avoid mere plot summary. The Age of Innocence Mansfield Park A Bend in the River â€Å"Master Harold†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and the boys Bone The Merchant of Venice Catch-22 Monkey Bridge Ceremony My Antonia Daisy Miller My Name is Asher Lev Dreaming in Cuban Native Speaker Dutchman Othello A Fine Balance The Portrait of a Lady The Grapes of Wrath Pygmalion Great Expectations The Remains of the Day The Handmaid’s Tale The RoomRead MoreBuchi Emecheta and African Traditional Society Essay1918 Words   |  8 Pagesallowed to go on far-distant trips, have trade groups in the market places, and take part in small singing, dancing societies. The importance of the age-groups is the manner in which it creates and fosters friendship among young girls and prepares them for future responsibly. In The Slave Girl when Ojebeta returns home from slavery in Ma Palagadas mansion, the first thing she does is seeking out her age-group. In this way she is not left alone in the society of which she has not been a member for aRead MoreThe Censorship of Art Essay example14698 Words   |  59 Pages11-year old daughter. She was shocked to find out that one of the songs on the album, Darling Nikki, contained a reference to female masturbation. The same Prince song was also listened to by the daughter of free-lance journalist Kandy Stroud, who was shocked to discover that her daughter was exposed to unabashedly sexual lyrics (Stroud 1985:14). Around the same time, Susan Baker, wife of former Treasury Secretary and White House Chief of Staff James Baker, overheard her 7-year old child sing along

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Core and Periphery, Two Types That Make the World

The countries of the world can be divided into two major world regions: the core and the periphery. The core includes major world powers and the countries that contain much of the wealth of the planet. The periphery has those countries that are not reaping the benefits of global wealth and globalization. The Theory of Core and Periphery Many reasons exist as to why this global structure has formed, but generally speaking, there are many barriers, physical and political, that prevent the poorer citizens of the world from participating in global relations. The disparity of wealth between core and periphery countries is staggering. Oxfam noted that 82 percent of the worlds 2017 income went to the richest one percent of people. The Core The top 20 countries ranked by the United Nations Human Development Index are all in the core. However, of note is the slowing, stagnant, and occasionally declining population growth of these countries. The opportunities created by these advantages perpetuate a world driven by individuals in the core. People in positions of power and influence around the world are often brought up or educated in the core (nearly 90 percent of world leaders have a degree from a Western university). The Periphery The population is skyrocketing in the periphery because of a number of contributing factors, including a limited ability to move and the use of children as a means to support a family, among others. Many people living in rural areas perceive opportunities in cities and take action to migrate there, even though there are not enough jobs or housing to support them. About one billion people now live in slum conditions, the UN estimates, and the majority of population growth around the world is occurring in the periphery. The rural-to-urban migration and high birth rates of the periphery are creating both megacities, urban areas with more than eight million people, and hyper cities, urban areas with more than 20 million people. These cities, such as Mexico City or Manila, have slum areas that can contain up to two million people with little infrastructure, rampant crime, no health care, and massive unemployment. Core-Periphery Roots in Colonialism Industrialized nations played a key role in establishing political regimes during postwar reconstruction. English and the Romance languages remain the state languages for many non-European countries long after their foreign colonists have packed up and gone home. This makes it difficult for anyone brought up speaking a local language to assert him or herself in a Eurocentric world. Also, public policy formed by Western ideas may not provide the best solutions for non-Western countries and their problems. Core-Periphery in Conflict Here are some examples of border clashes between nations of the core and the periphery: The growing fence between the U.S. (core) and Mexico (periphery) to prevent the entrance of unauthorized immigrants.The Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.Air and naval patrols on the waters between Australia and Southeast Asia and between the EU and North Africa to keep out unwanted immigrants.The UN-enforced border separating the Turkish north and Greek south of Cyprus, known as the Green Line. The core-periphery model is not limited to a global scale, either. Stark contrasts in wages, opportunities, access to health care, and so on among a local or national population are commonplace. The United States, the quintessential beacon for equality, exhibits some of the most obvious examples. U.S. Census Bureau data estimated that the top 20 percent of wage earners made up roughly 51 percent of all U.S. income in 2016, and the top five percent of earners made 22 percent of all U.S. income. For a local perspective, witness the slums of Anacostia, whose impoverished citizens live a stones throw from the grand marble monuments that represent the power and affluence of Washington, D.C.s central downtown. Although the world may be metaphorically shrinking for the minority in the core, the world maintains a rough and limiting geography for the majority in the periphery.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Reconciling Ingrained Traditions with Newly Emerging...

Before the eighth century, England was a pagan society, the English originated from a society marred in idolatry and polytheism. The intermingling of Christian and pagan elements in Beowulf are consistent with the attitudes toward religion that are found in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Beowulf was written in the Middle Ages (500-1000) on Scandinavia, which was a highly pagan society, however the narrator is telling this story within the timeframe of medieval Anglo-Saxon Britain, which was undergoing Christianization. Hence, within the author’s structure of the poem bear a resemblance to the society presented in Bede. Both books while highlighting the intermingling of Christian and pagan elements did not shy away†¦show more content†¦It was under kingship of Ethelbert that the English first converted to Christianity in Bede. Letters from Pope Gregory King Ethelbert highlight the problem of idol worship that persisted in the English socie ty during their first conversion to Christianity. Even those who converted to Christianity such as king Redwald often got â€Å"apostatize(d)† back by their societies, as most people were still ingrained in paganism. For Redwald, it was wife who led him back into pagan practice. After his reversion to pagan practice Redwald tried to â€Å"serve both Christ and the ancient gods, and he had in the same shrine an altar for the holy sacrifice of Christ side by side with a small altar on which victims were offered to devils.† It is such amalgamation of practices that illustrates the intermingling of Christian and pagan elements in both the sources. Areas such as the East Saxons and Essex often lapsed back into paganism. For instance, the East Saxons appostized under king Sigbert and reconverted to Christianity â€Å"by the preaching of Cedd.† Another example is that of the Northumbrians who returned to paganism in 634 C.E after the death of king Edwin. This rev ersion to paganism was evident in Beowulf when Grendel terrorized the Danes, who resultantly turned back to idol worship even though they acknowledge the existence of the Christian God and his power of creation in a song they sang about

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Collaborative Style of Working for Teamwork - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theCollaborative Style of Working for Teamwork. Answer: With the change of time, the style of business has changed a lot and with change of business style or operation, the structure of organizations have also changed a lot. Previously the companies used to trade in one region or country but now due the globalization they have started working in the developed and developing nations. The managers are changing their styles in order to match the expectation of the employees in the workplace as well as for satisfying the growing demand of the customers. This is the reason why the structure of the companies is changing day by day so that they can fit with the appropriate business process. One of the major factors that support the production of the firm is its employees. their ideas, hard work and support helps the company to gain competitive strategy through various types of innovation. According to the demand of the business as well as the leadership style, the companies follow different structures. Some encourage their employees to work individually and some prefer teamwork. The article Collaborative overload by Cross, Rebele and Grant, has detailed the issues and solution to the problem of teamwork of an organization. In order to understand the actual idea and opportunities of teamwork method the definition has to be discussed. In some industries like manufacturing, automobile and IT, teamwork is very important as these industries need constant innovation from various aspects. Through this method the managers of the companies motivate the employees to share their own ideas and resources with others so that they aim maintain the flow of knowledge from top to down or horizontally. Collaboration is the key part of teamwork and in the cross cultural scenario, the diversity is fast increasing hence collaboration has become mandatory to run the business successfully. In increasing production from the employees ends the management have started to motivate the employees for enhancing engagement among themselves and guide others in accomplishing the most difficult tasks. The employees of the organization are trained before they are employed in the core business but in some cases the employees need to learn from their colleagues as it is not always possible to call a meeting or train them for accomplishing a nominal task. These employees then take help from the employees who possess higher resources and knowledge but in most cases, 20% to 35% of value-added collaborations come from only 3% to 5% of employees (Cross, Rebele and Grant 2016). Why collaboration is necessary? This is one of the major aspect to be discussed on. Collaboration among the employees in this current business situation is one of the most pressing necessity yet challenges for the higher authorities of the organizations. This is due to the fact the companies now a days are becoming cross-cultural hence diversity of knowledge and ideas are also growing. In order to get the best of the employees, the managers are encouraging the employees to work collaboratively so that the individual strength are accumulated. In this situation the teams and top talents will stand the costs of high demand for little supply. Collaboration among the teams or the employees is demands of the organization as the managers need to provide needed resources. This will also help the manger to manage the teamwork effectively which will definitely reduce the knowledge gap among the employees and other issues emerging in the organization. According to the authors the need of collaboration is fast increasing which may need for hiring collaboration officers in the near future. What are the problems with associated personal resources? According to this article, there are three types of resources which mainly help the employees to work collaboratively in the organizations. These three are informational, personal and social. These three resources have different facets in which thy work efficiently these resources are the chief elements while creates difference among the experienced and the nonexperience employees. The most precious employees of the organizations possess these resources and constantly increase them in order to create value. The difference in resources determine the efficiency of the employees. All of these resources are nor equally effective. The informational resources are mainly the acquired knowledge as well as skills which can be easily recorded as well as passed on, the social resources capture the awareness, position and the capabilities to access the resources. These two types can be shared among the colleagues as they do not affect the supply but the personal resources which the individual em ployees develop, need effort and time (Cross, Rebele and Grant 2016). Moreover, these resources are not easy to replenish. According to the authors of this article the social and informational resources can be shared without hampering the supply because when the collaborators share their knowledge with others, they keep some the themselves which cannot be done for the personal resources. In addition to this, personal resources are the most unique for which the employees seek help from the collaborates instead of consulting with libraries or other sources these employees seek guidance from the collaborators hence waste time and effort. What are the effects of bottlenecked organizational structure? The study has disclosed the fact that those employees who possess high amount of resources and willing to share them with others, are the most disengaged groups in an organization. Their engagement or statement with their organization become low in compared to those whom they are helping by sharing knowledge. The authors have explored the reason of such behavior and stated that as these employees are very experienced, their production gets disturbed by others seeking for help (Cross, Rebele and Grant 2016). This is the reason, why these top collaborators of the company feel overtaxed and gradually become the bottleneck of the organization. Everyone remain depended on them ad no work can advance without their individual interventions. Unfortunately, the effort of these collaborators which they employ to make others understand or help to complete a complicated task, remain unnoticed. Their talents and diversity remain hidden behind others achievements. Moreover, for collaboration, thes e top collaborators do not get any appreciation or reward hence they feel disengaged with their companies. In addition to this, the study has revealed that the top collaborators of the companies remain disconnected with the personal career satisfaction scores. They are the best sources for information in the organization therefore remain in high demand always. This is the reason why they cannot concentrate on their personal tasks. On the contrary their resources help the companies is diverse ways that make them feel over stressed with no reward. Therefore, these issues ultimate result in high turnover of the most prized employees of the organization (Cross, Rebele and Grant 2016). Due to lack of recognition from the workplace and employees feel frustrated and cannot complete their personal targets easily. Hence they decide to leave the organization and get opportunity to other companies due to their high amount of resources. The top collaborators while leaving their organizations, take more resources and networks with them hence hamper the production of the companies. How redistribution will solve problems? First of all, the employee turnover is a major adversity for the companies. The managers try to retain their employees at any cost but when these top collaborators leave the organizations, this put pressure on the management and their efficiency. Secondly, when the employees leave they affect the resources of the companies as they take valuable data and access to the networks with them. This is the reason why the managers need to take initiatives so that they can maintain the balance of knowledge in one hand and retain more experienced employees in their organization. The authors of this article have analyzed the methods that the mangers can follow to attain this goal. First the managers need to understand the gap between the demand and supply of the resources among the employees. through various technologies like electronic communication tracking and 360-degree feedback as well as the CRM programs, the companies can measure the type, origin and volume or request so that they gain knowledge about the expectations of the employees of the reasons to do a job. They can measure, the information about the time spent in the meetings to get knowledge from the resources and time spent in the solo work. These ideas aim to identify the employees at risk due to collaborative overload. This will effectively help the manager to provide resources where needed thus redistribute the tasks by giving different tasks to the people according to their expertise areas. Secondly, the chief reason of high turnover rate in the organizations is dissatisfaction about the reward and recognition process among the employees. Therefore, the managers must encourage the top collaborators in such a way that they can directly say no to the resources seekers (Cross, Rebele and Grant 2016). They can use team collaboration software which help the employees to build strong barriers around their incoming information flow. The managers need to find out or build perfect replacements for these top collaborators so that when these employees leave the organization, the flow of work remain maintained. Thirdly, reduction of pressure to help others can have positive effect on the productivity of these collaborators. the managers can show methods of filtration and prioritization of the requests so that these people can concentrate on their own tasks. The people thus gain opportunity of the value added activities and through this they will find their work stimulation rather than monotonous. By making social and information resources more available to the employees of the organizations the managers will be able to reduce pressure of the collaborators. There may be a designation where these people will be helping the employees through their resources rather than doing the same tasks. They will act as buffers between the demand or request and supply of knowledge. They will be responding the request immediately when needed thus increase productivity and reduce frustration of not having recognition from the higher authorities. The article has also discussed the issues of collaboration where the women are seen to be the top collaborators in the organizations. They help their colleagues more than the male employees do in the organization. Hence they feel more stressed than others and achieve less. Therefore, it can be said that this article Collaborative overload has discussed the issues of institutional bottleneck and employee turnover in the modern organizations. It has also discussed the ways to be followed by the managers in marinating the smooth flow of work. References: Cross, R., Rebele, R. and Grant, A., 2016. Collaborative overload.Harvard Business Review,94(1), p.16.