Connecting And Comparing Literature English Literature Essay

Connecting And Comparing Literature English Literature Essay For the final essay, two short stories and one poem will be used to illustrate comparisons by looking at the characters as their respective authors describe them, and how this is used to draw readers into their stories and poems. The two stories being used are, A Rose For Emily, by William Faulkner, and The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, by Stephen Crane. The poem being used is, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. Conflict and prejudice will be highlighted as the common thread among the three works. Comparison will come from using the characters in the stories and poem, and how the authors use descriptive writing to draw their readers into the stories and poem. In A Rose For Emily, the description of Miss Emilys house by William Faulkner is a big square frame house that had once been white (DiYanni, 2007), and how Miss Emily looked as she walked in to the meeting with the Board of Aldermen, a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head (DiYanni, 2007). The end of the story finds William Faulkner giving great detail about the body of Miss Emilys suitor Homer Barron and the room decked and furnished for a bridal night, and how the body of Homer was described as fleshless and once laid as if it were in an embrace, how he had rotted beneath his nightshirt (DiYanni, 2007). The vivid description allows one to get a clear view of the room and the decomposed body of Homer. When he writes about the indention on the pillow as if someone had laid their head there and then they find the strands of grey or silver hair, one can visualize Miss Em ily lying next to Homer in a macabre way. The style of writing William Faulkner uses in this story, allows him to navigate among many points of view within the story. William Faulkners use of third person allows for flashbacks and the ability to dig deeper into the history of the town. By also using symbolic language such as referring to Emily as Miss Emily (DiYanni, 2007), William Faulkner is able to send the reader back in time when the story actually takes place. This allows the reader to get a better understanding of the larger issues that were at play in the South around the turn of the century. The language used in The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is quite moving. Robert Frost speaks of approaching a fork in the road. He must choose which road to proceed down. He chooses the one that appears less traveled only to find that it is traveled about the same as the other road. Robert Frosts subtle use of description when he refers to the two roads being about the same, lets one know that they may be close, but not exact. Many of the roads chosen in life look very similar at the entrance but change quite often as they are traveled. His use of the word sigh and difference in the fourth stanza can mean either positive or negative feelings, but since the author mentions that nothing will be known until the future, we do not know which effect these words mean. Robert Frost speaks of possibly coming back to travel the first road at a later date but doubts this as life is too short. Robert Frost infers that he will report back on his travels down the second road at some point in the f uture. The character in this poem must choose a road to take without knowing where it may lead. In A Rose For Emily, Miss Emily had to make a choice as well. Her choice was to poison Homer to keep him from leaving. Another part of the poem that connects to Miss Emily is where her decisions would lead. This could be what Miss Emily was thinking when poisoning Homer. Emily may have thought briefly as to what the town would say about her actions. Perhaps this is why she kept him upstairs in the bedroom so she had him with her at all times even though he was not a living breathing being he was still with her. As long as she kept him hidden in the house, and made it look as though he would marry her, the townspeople would be satisfied. Many questions arise with the story as to why Miss Emily would do this. Perhaps Miss Emily thought she would not die alone. Even though she could not talk to Homer he would be there with her when she died. The poem also relates to The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky. Jack had choices to make in The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky that included whether to leave town and get married, tell the townspeople before he left, tell them before he returned, and whether or not to return to Yellow Sky after the fact. I think the part of the poem where he states, I took the one less traveled (DiYanni, 2007), could describe the choices of Jack and his bride as they boarded the train. How Jack went to San Antonio and married a girl he thought he loved without letting the townspeople of Yellow Sky know what he was doing could be compared to the line in the poem, I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence (DiYanni, 2007). Jacks escape route from the train station in Yellow Sky would involve the choice of two roads. The first would have been to get off the train and face the town. The one Jack chose was the second road or choice which was to plan his escape from the train to avoid being seen by the townspeople before he could come up with a plan to introduce his bride. Just as Miss Emily loved Homer, Jack loved his bride and married her whether the townspeople would like it or not and Jack loved his town, but loved his bride more so he married her without talking to the towns people. There are many correlations between Jack and his bride and between Emily and Homer. Both Jack and Emily are in love with their significant other, and both Jack and Emily choose the road of deceit. Jack keeps his marriage a secret from the town and Emily keeps the death of Homer a secret from the town. The two short stories chosen connect in a way that shows the reader how people judge and are prejudice towards others. In the story, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, there are several prejudices in the story. For instance when the porter bullied them with skills in ways that did not make it plain to them that they were being bullied (DiYanni, 2007). The porter on the train treated them with all the unconquerable kind of snobbery. He oppressed them in a way they had small knowledge of him doing so (DiYanni, 2007). In the story, A Rose for Emily, the towns people thought the Griersons were snobs in their own right, the towns people thought the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were (DiYanni, 2007). Another part of the story finds Miss Emilys neighbor complaining to the judge about the smell coming from Miss Emilys house. She relates to Miss Emily as a high and mighty Grierson, and wants the judge to do something about the smell coming from the house (DiYann i, 2007). When Miss Emilys father dies, the towns people are glad in a way, saying Miss Emily would somehow now be humanized and learn what it was like to live on little money (DiYanni, 2007). It seems Faulkner and Crane must have been treated with some type of prejudice in their life. Perhaps Faulkner and Crane were prejudice towards others also. One could speculate that both of these writers reflect many personal life experiences in their writings. Prejudice has been around for so long that it may never completely go away. It is sad that people have to deal with this in their everyday lives, and one could argue that this is what makes some stronger and makes others weaker. The stories here both take place in the South, which would make sense as the South is still noted for harboring prejudices. Both authors speak with an apparent knowledge of the South Even though one of them was not born there. Stephen Crane spent quite some time in the South and found the people and towns very interesting. He was originally from New Jersey and instantly fell in love with a woman from Florida. This could have led to his writing about Jacks instant love for his bride from San Antonio. William Faulkner came from a traditional southern family and grew up in Mississippi. Being from the south, his writing knowledge and style are ever present in his stories. He describes southern family traits and customs that are still used today. Some of these would be the hospitality and community atmosphere. Communities do not only affect the language of the author but they also can provide the community of the authors work. Some communities act like an extended family and an author may want to show that aspect. Sometimes an author may wish to write about a close-knit community that knows everyone elses business. Often a writer will write about their community, illustrating certain cultural aspects that they hold dear. All of these can be examples of the writers community coming to life in their own stories. In A Rose for Emily (DiYanni, 2007), William Faulkner shows a community that is very involved with each other. They are constantly talking about what Miss Emily does, what she says, and whom she sees. William Faulkner speaks for the community using the pronoun, we, throughout the story. He describes how the community reacts to Homer Barron trying to court her, At first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interestà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (p. 82). Everyone becomes very interested in Miss Emilys love life. When she buys poison they become worried that she was dumped and will now commit suicide. Then they hear that she bought things for a man and they become happy for her again. This is probably an example of the type of people William Faulkner was around. Another example of a community that is close comes from; The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky. In this story the marshal, Jack Potter, is illustrated as a very important figure in his community. Because he is a prominent figure he feels he committed a crime by leaving Yellow Sky to get married. Additionally, the townspeople speak kindly of the marshal when a former outlaw, Scratchy Wilson, goes on a drunken rampage, I wish Jack Potter was back from San Antonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (p. 487). Jack is responsible for taking care of Scratchy when he gets drunk. Stephen Crane lived briefly in the Old West and more than likely witnessed similar events to that of Scratchy Wilson. Many people have been told they would never make anything of their lives by someone who had judged them before they knew whom they were. They then go on to prove them wrong by getting a degree and making for themselves a good life.    This is what makes so many of the writers stories relevant to their readers. They are able to draw the readers in using some of their own life experiences, which make the readings more interesting and can help the reader relate to the stories. It also enables the reader to become a part of the story. The readers can actually place themselves as a character in the story because many have had some type of prejudice directed towards them at some point in their lives. If one has ever lived in small town America, the description of how the towns people act in both stories The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky and A Rose for Emily are right on the money. Being one from a small town, it reminds me of both stories on how people judge marriage, there is something wrong with a person if they are not married by a certain age and then if some of the elders in the town do not approve of the marriage comments are made. Both stories in so many ways compare to life in small towns, where people have nothing better to do than to spy on someone to see what they can gossip about. As a youth, it did not matter which friends home your were visiting, the adults in that home were your surrogate parents while you were there. Even today, people are watched and dissected according to what they do and dont do as it relates to what is expected. Robert Frost was born on the west coast and then moved to the east coast. His poems deal more with his life in New England and with rural America. His life was hard and riddled with death and depression. Only two of his kids outlived him. His struggle with life and the many crossroads he faced are evident in his poem, The Road Not taken. Reading this poem reminds me of the fact that I am at a fork in the road and I have chosen my path. At this time, I do not know where this road will lead, but am anxious to find out. I found Frosts poem to be very tricky and very deep. The more I read it, the more I enjoyed it. I may have to save this one as it really spoke to me about choices we make. I found myself apprehensive at the beginning of this class. My ability to read and hopefully interpret poems has expanded since starting this course. I was never much into poems, but at least I am beginning to feel as though I can understand what the author is saying through the use of imagery and elements. As this class has progressed I have found through the readings in the class that I enjoyed most of the readings. I have found I now read with an open mind and do not judge a book, short story, poem, or play by its title. I read a story through and then read it again and find that it makes more sense the second time around. In conclusion, I feel the two short stories and one poem I chose can be compared in many different aspects. The three of them tie in very well with each other through conflict and prejudice. Even though the authors come from similar, but different backgrounds of life, they all wrote with their life experiences in mind. The authors had a talent for drawing readers into their stories and poems and kept the readers attention throughout the readings.

Corporate Entrepreneurship Theory

Corporate Entrepreneurship Theory Can we qualify Daimler strategy as entrepreneurial? If so, what are the steps taken by Daimler AG to induce or support their Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) Strategy? How are corporate entrepreneurial behaviors being facilitated in Daimlers management team? What factors are affecting CE applied by Daimler, and how could Daimler be more entrepreneurial? Limitation: The thesis paper mainly focuses on Corporate Entrepreneurship theory specifically entrepreneurial transformation. Even though there are other types of Corporate Entrepreneurship types including corporate venturing, Intrapreneurship, and bringing the market inside, we discussed Corporate Entrepreneurship through the lenses of entrepreneurial transformation by excluding other types of corporate entrepreneurship. Our focus is mainly concerned in the activities inside an organization, and entrepreneurial transformation focus on these activities with a good overall view on the strategy, culture, structure, and leadership and not a single part in particular. As being one of the forefront car  companies, we chose Daimler- one of the leaders in the automotive industry- as our case study. In our preliminary research, we found that Daimler AG focus on innovation and entrepreneurial activities as a crucial role in achieving sustainable growth; therefore, they fit the profile we are conducting the research about. Due to the time factor and the resources allocated to this paper, we also concluded that a study about entrepreneurial activities within organization can be best presented if we concentrate on one company rather than the whole automotive industry since our finding will be more specific, more reliable, and we will reduce the generalization of the results. As being one of the forefront car companies, we chose Daimler as our thesis subject. Furthermore, we only chose to use qualitative method rather than quantitative method due to the time factor and inability to reach a sufficient number of employees working for Daimler AG. We also analyzed Daimler entrepreneurial activities through the lenses of company perspective. Our work is mainly based on interpretation of interview made with Mark Reine, Daimler Annual report, Integrity Report, High-Tech Report and Sustainability Report. Papers Structure: In chapter 2 we go through our theoretical framework. We describe the theory that we use as a knowledge foundation for our study. We map out some of the studies that are relevant for the theoretical perspective in this study. In chapter 3 we describe the methodology we have used when making our study. We describe the different choices we have made throughout the study, and motivate why we have made these choices. And we briefly present our respondent. In chapter 4 we present our respondent in more details, and we compile our empirical material that we have gathered through our conducted interviews. The information is presented respondent by respondent. In chapter 5 we evaluate the gathered empirical information and analyze it by the support of our theoretical framework. In chapter 6 we present the conclusions drawn from the analysis of the gathered information. Here we also present the conclusions that we arrived with regarding studying CE within organizations.   Theoretical Framework In this chapter we present our theoretical framework and the main theories that will help us answer our research questions. We present the Corporate Entrepreneurship theory, its definition, types, success factors, and dimensions This is where we accumulate a knowledge base that is necessary to fully understand the scope of the thesis paper and the logic used to conduct it. This knowledge base will support the gathering, interpreting and analyzing of our information and empirical data made in latter chapters. Corporate Entrepreneurship In recent years, the conditions of competition in the global environment have changed for the companies. The market is dominated by constant change, complex tasks and environmental turbulence (Rothwell, 1983 as cited in Livesay, 1995; Burns, 2008). As we mentioned earlier; knowledge, innovation and flexibility become an important resource for sustained competitive advantage. In other words, Entrepreneurship is the crucial factor for success or survival (Burns 2008; Czernich 2004). While small firms take the advantage of these conditions and become very successful due to their flexible structure and entrepreneurial spirit, large firms suffer more due to their mechanistic, bureaucratic and rigid structures (Burns, 2008). Many scholars research new ways for large organization and come up with many ideas. One of the solutions for companies to deal with the rigid bureaucratic structures is to induce Corporate Entrepreneurship in their structure (Dess et al., 2003). As it is mentioned earl ier, while CEOs are concerned about profitable organic growth, they find corporate entrepreneurship or creating a new business as one of the solution (Lippitz Wolcott, 2007). As corporate entrepreneurship is becoming popular, research on CE has grown too (Dess et al., 2003). According to Cunningham and Lischeron (1991), CE can be seen as a school within entrepreneurship theory. Since there is no generally accepted definition of entrepreneurship (Swedberg, 2003), the definition of corporate entrepreneurship also suffers from this problem.   In the next sections, we are going to define and explain Corporate Entrepreneurship from different perspectives of many authors. We will present the different point of views on Corporate Entrepreneurship in regards to its definitions, different types, and success factors that affect it. Definition of Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE): As it is mentioned above, since there is no generally accepted definition of corporate Entrepreneurship (CE), many scholars define CE differently. According to Sharma and Chrisman (1999 in Dess et al, 2003, p.352), Corporate Entrepreneurship is the process whereby an individual or group of individuals, in association with an existing organization, create a new organization, or instigate renewal or innovation within that organization. Dess et al. (1999) also see it as two types of phenomena and processes: while one is about creating a new business within existing organizations through internal innovation or joint ventures, alliances, the second one is about the transformation of organization through strategic renewal. Burns (2008, p.12) defines CE as a process which encourages CE in every level of organization; corporate, division, business unit etc. Lippitz and Wolcott (2007, p.75) define it as a process in which teams within an establish organization create a new business which is d istinct from parent company but leverages the parents asset, market positions, capabilities or other resources. Also according to Vesper (as cited in Hornsby Kuratko, 1999, p.29), Corporate Entrepreneurship is a new strategic dimension, initiative from below and autonomous business creation. These different definitions show that the meaning of Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) is still ambiguous. CE can be seen as an evolving phenomenon which is still being researched by many researchers (Burns, 2008; Zahra, 1991). In order to fully understand corporate entrepreneurship, different types of CE must be analyzed. The next section will show the difference between these types, and which is more relevant to our research. 17 Types of Corporate Entrepreneurship: Scholars define and classify CE into many different types. These views cover a wide range. According to Birkinshaw (2003 in Burns, 2008, p.13-14) and Thornberry (2001 in Kenney Mutjuba, 2007, p.75-6), there are four types of corporate entrepreneurship: Corporate Venturing: It is the process of starting new ventures related to core business through investing in smaller innovative firms and different forms of corporate venturing units by larger firms Intrapreneurship: It is about the identification of employees who have entrepreneurial skills and it focuses on encouraging these employees to act in an entrepreneurial way within large organizations. Bring the market inside: This dimension takes a marketing approach to encourage entrepreneurial behavior by changing structure. Entrepreneurial Transformation: According to Burns (2008, p.14), it is about the adaptation of organizational structure, and culture to changing environment and create a new organizational environment to encourage entrepreneurial activity. He also mentioned that according to this dimension, the individual behavior in the organization is influenced by leadership, strategy, systems, structures and culture. Moreover, Covin and Miles (1999 in Dess et al., 2003) identify four types of CE. They offer structurally complex firms to use simultaneously one or more forms of CE in different parts of organization. The first one is sustained regeneration, which is stimulated by the firms culture, processes and structures to create new products in its existing market and also to enter with existing product into new markets. Here, companies know their products life cycle and they create strategies according to competitive expectations. The second type of CE is organizational rejuvenation. It is more about process and administrative innovations rather than product innovations. It enables organizations to improve the firms ability to execute strategies. It concerns about inducing entrepreneurship through organizational procedures and standards. Strategic renewal, which is the third one, is about how to change strategies to compete differently. While organizational rejuvenation is about the organizatio n itself, strategic renewal is about both organization and environment. It consists of the ways to exploit the opportunities more profitably and how to explore new ideas in  these changing circumstances. Domain Redefinition focuses on creating a new product market that competitors have not discovered yet or are not successful in that market. Domain redefinition aims to have first mover advantage in that new market. We find the classifications of Birkinshaw (2003 in Burns, 2008, p.13-14) and Thornberry (2001 in Kenney Mutjuba, 2007, p.75-6), and Covin and Miles (1999 in Dess et al., 2003) interesting because we can see that to a certain extent they are interrelated. Burns (2008) argues that corporate venturing and Intrapreneurship are seen as techniques that bring the market inside and can help stimulating the entrepreneurial transformation since it covers the whole aspects of the organization. Furthermore, by comparing entrepreneurial transformation to the types mentioned by Covi n and Miles (1999 in Dess et al., 2003), it is observable that these types to some extent are also contained within the entrepreneurial transformation, because they cover aspects related to structure, culture, environment, and strategy which is what entrepreneurial transformation is about. Before focusing on the aspects affecting entrepreneurial transformation, the dimensions that foster CE must be mentioned. In the next section, the success factors of Corporate Entrepreneurship are going to be explained. The Success Factors of Corporate Entrepreneurship: According to Dess and Lumpkin (2005 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007), there are five dimensions which shows that organization is entrepreneurial-oriented: The first dimension is autonomy indicating that employees must be empowered and encouraged to find the innovative products or new internal process. Employees must be supported to create innovative ideas. The second dimension is innovativeness. Organization must invest in research and development. The third dimension is pro-activeness which is related with organizations willingness of being different by exploiting opportunities. Company must be future-oriented. The fourth dimension is competitive aggressiveness. The organization must both willingly and eagerly engage in a competition and conduct strategies that exploit the opportunities better than other competitors. The last dimension is risk taking which is one of  the most important dimensions for Corporate Entrepreneurship. Company must be aware of business, financial and professi onal risks associated with CE (2005 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007, p.76). These dimensions stated earlier by Dess and Lumpkin (2005 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007) support and slightly similar to the success factors Abraham talks about (1997 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007; Sathe, 1985 in Kuratko and Hornsby, 1999). Nonetheless, they overlook the factors of reward and reinforcement, and time availability mentioned by Abraham (1997 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007). According to Abraham, there are four important corporate entrepreneurship success factors that must exist within an organization (1997 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007; Sathe, 1985 in Kuratko and Hornsby, 1999). The first factor is management support which is about promoting entrepreneurship in the organization. The management support consists of championing the innovative ideas,  providing necessary resources, transparency within organization, being a coach or mentor rather than being a manager. The second factor is autonomy which points out that employees are ready to take risks and failure is tolerated by management. This factor must be strengthened by the organizational structure which facilitates the implementation of ideas. The third factor is reward and reinforcement. The effective reward system will enhance entrepreneurial behavior in organization and help employees to take risks. Both extrinsic (monetary) and intrinsic (recognition) rewards motivate employees to be more entrepreneurial. The last factor is time availability. There must be flexible time constraints which let employees to deal with a long term problem. (Echols and Neck, 1998; Kuratko et al. 1999) As a whole, it can b e seen that corporate entrepreneurship success factors are highly related with entrepreneurial transformation mentioned in the types of corporate entrepreneurship. It can be understood that management support is highly related with leadership and culture (being a coach or mentor rather than being a manager) and structure (championing the innovative ideas, providing necessary resources, transparency within organization); autonomy is also related with structure; reward and reinforcement system can be stipulated by organizational culture, structure and leadership while time availability can be induced by both leadership and organizational culture. In the next section, the factors of entrepreneurial transformation are going to be explained in detail. Entrepreneurial Transformation within organizations: As it is mentioned above; in order to have successful Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE), large organizations must add the success factors of CE to their whole system which is related with entrepreneurial transformation. According to Burns (2008, p.18), entrepreneurial transformation is about adaptation of entrepreneurship to large firms by changing their structure, strategy, system, leadership and culture to cope with change and innovation. He identifies strategy, leadership and management, culture, and structure as necessary elements to achieve entrepreneurial transformation. These elements are: Entrepreneurial Transformation Leadership Management Organizatioal Culture Organizational Structure Corporate Strategy Institutional Field In addition to these elements, institutional field can be seen as one of the element that affects corporate entrepreneurship strategy because while companies are defining their strategies, they have to think both company and companys environment that company exists in. Figure 4 summarizes these elements and shows how they influence the Corporate Entrepreneurship strategy within an organization. As it is shown in the figure above, there are five elements that influence the entrepreneurial transformation within organization; Leadership and Management, Organizational Culture, Organizational Structure, Corporate Strategy, and Institutional Field. All these elements are strongly interrelated and have a strong influence on each other. In order for a successful entrepreneurial transformation within an organization, all the elements must be taken in consideration, simply because they support each other. Having a weak link in the entrepreneurial transformation elements will lead for an ineffective and  inefficient entrepreneurial transformation within any organization. Leader and management set the road for the transformation and eliminate the dysfunctions within the organization which prevent entrepreneurial behaviors (Burns, 2008; Kuratko and Hornsby 1999), and the culture, structure and institutional field is what support this transformation. The strategy is what maintain and f oster the success of the transformation in the later stages. The figure 4 shows an intertwined relationship where all the elements are connected in a way and not as a procedural process. In next sections, the five elements are going to be explained one by one in further details. Leadership Management One of the aspects that affect CE is management and leadership. Burns (2008) discusses the relationship between management and leadership. He states that although they go hand in hand with respect to skills and competencies, there are still some critical differences that could be addressed; Management could be seen as the mechanics of the organization, while its leadership functions as the brains. Burns (2008) emphasizes mainly on the roles of each and state that Management is concerned with execution and handling of complex organizational tasks and processes mainly concerned with efficiency and effectiveness. Compare to management; leadership is concerned with broader principles related to communication, motivation, and setting goals and direction and particularly change. According to Kuratko and Hornsby (1999), the new corporate revolution represents an appreciation for a desire to develop entrepreneurial leadership within the organization structure; in other words in-house entrepreneuring development, or face stagnation, loss of personnel, and decline. In order to do so, effective entrepreneurial leaders strive to construct, define and gain commitment to values and beliefs they try to integrate in the organization they work in. These shared values and beliefs incorporated within the vision and mission of an organization are what make the essence of its culture that binds the organization all together (Burns 2008). The shared vision and values are the desired future state that the organization is striving to achieve thus its acts as a powerful and effective motivational tool. However, in order to create an entrepreneurial culture based on motivation and strive to achievements, entrepreneurial leaders need more than just a  promising vision (Burns 2 008). They need to create a management team that enforce this entrepreneurial culture; a flexible adaptable team that is able to operate under extreme changing environments and to handle risk and uncertainty. Moreover, Kuratko and Hornsby (1999) emphasize on this topic and state that specific elements for entrepreneurial leaders need to be recognized first for a corporate entrepreneurship strategy to be induced effectively and efficiently. These elements are: Developing the Vision. Developing Innovation. Developing Venture Teams. Structuring for an Entrepreneurial Climate. Kuratko and Hornsby (1999) also emphasize on the vision as the first element needed to induce an effective and efficient corporate entrepreneurship strategy. A shared vision that is supported by top management that reinforces innovation and entrepreneurship is what the second element needs to be achieved. Without a vision that is supported by the leadership in the organization, innovation is not achievable. Moreover, the third element is venture team similar to what Burns (2008) defines as management teams who have the potential for stimulating innovation and creativity within the organization. The final and most critical element that Burns didnt emphasize on is structuring for an entrepreneurial climate. And what Kuratko and Hornsby (1999) mean by the entrepreneurial climate is the innovative environment that allows new ideas to flourish. In order to deeply discuss the role of leadership in creating the entrepreneurial climate, the transformational leadership theory needs to be discussed briefly. According to the transformational leadership theory, transformational leaders behavior does not depend on a traditional exchange relationship between leader and follower (Bass, 1990). Their behavior is based on personal value systems that are not negotiable; they modify their followers goals and aspirations to be aligned with their goals by demonstrating: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass, 1990). Bass states that transformational leadership is needed to broaden and elevate the interests of employees, generate awareness and acceptance of the purposes and missions  of the organization, and stir the employees to look beyond their own self-interests for the good of the overall entity (1990, p. 19). Between the four elements used by transformational l eaders to influence followers bass discussed, we are interested in the inspirational motivation which mean the ability to develop and communicate a convincing and attractive future vision. This vision is not only materially based but offers challenges and meanings (Bass, 1990 in Felfe, 2004). Humphreys (2005) also emphasizes the role of transformational leadership and state that it is more suitable for a dynamic external environment, where employees are empowered with greater responsibility and encouraged to innovate, initiative and take risk. Comparing Bass (1990), Kuratko and Hornsby (1999), and Burns (2008) brings us to the point that it is observable that they all agree on the importance of developing a shared future vision that align the goals and objectives of the leadership with all parts of the organization. They all emphasize on the influential role it has in stimulating the entrepreneurial strategy needed to flatten the way for flexibility and adaptability needed for innov ation especially in a dramatic changing business environment. Furthermore; the leadership style and the level of commitment and support they choose to employ defines to what level the entrepreneurial climate could be achieved. However, according to Burns (2008, p.105) quoting Richard Branson, there is no single best leadership style. It always depends on many different factors such as the leader, group, task, and situation, or even the context they are in; similar to the ideology the contingency theory discuss (Burns, 2008). The theory emphasizes that there is no best way to mange or lead in an organization. One of the examples Burns (2008) discusses is the managerial grid which was developed by Blake and Mouton. This model classifies the managerial styles upon leadership concern toward task compared to the concern for people. Figure 5 summarize and explains these styles. It classifies them into five types: Impoverished Management, Country club Management, Middle of the road Managem ent, Team management, and Authority-Compliance Management.   Figure 5: The Leadership Grid (Source: created by the authors, adapted from: Blake and Mouton, 1978 in Burns, 2008) Nevertheless; if the organization desires to stay entrepreneurial, certain styles will not be appropriate such as autocratic or dictatorial- where the leadership dictate what is needed to be done without given any kind or decision making authority to the management team or impoverished management that has low concern for both the task and the group, because it is hardly leadership at all. On the other hand; the organization must encourage the consultative style- where the leadership shares its high level of authority with the management team supervising the decision making process, and if the number of employees in an organization increase, concern for the group must increase and move toward the group and thus team management.   Burns also discusses how managers behave in situations involving conflict in order to obtain the best effective and suitable results (2008). Based on the Thomas-Kilman Conflict modes questionnaire, behavior can be classified under two important dimensions which are Assertiveness the extent to which individuals satisfy their own needs, and Co- operativeness the extent they attempt to satisfy the needs of others. Thomas and Kilman comes up with five behavioral classifications that individuals can be indentified with: Competing, Accommodating, Avoiding, Collaborating, and Compromising. Figure 6 explains these classifications in more details. (Burns, 2008, p. 99) Figure 6: Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Modes (Cited from Burns, pg. 99, 2008, adapted from: Thomas and Kilmann, 1975) Furthermore; according to the matrix provided above on how to behave in situations involving conflict, each style has its advantages and disadvantages and can be effective in different situations. However management teams tend always try to resolve conflict through collaborating or compromising approaches. Collaborating deals with finding alternatives that meet everyones concerns, and compromising the in between diplomatic route (Burns, 2008, p.99). Both approaches are assertive and co-operative, thus using informal influence to get their ideology implemented within the organization and its culture. 2.2.2. Organizational Culture: Organizational culture is another important aspect that affects corporate entrepreneurship. According to Sackmann (1991 in Dimitratos and Plakoyiannaki, 2003),  many researches see organizational culture as cognitive framework which consists of values, beliefs, norms, meaning systems, patterns of thoughts. Organizational culture influences the expectation of organizational members to each other and their expectations of external interaction with suppliers, customers, and external environment (Ireland, Hitt, Sirmon, 2003). Parboteaah (2000 in Kenney et al., 2007) claims that developing and nurturing an entrepreneurial culture will help a company to find innovative solutions and sustain strategic competitive advantages, that is why Dess et al. (2005 in Kenney et al., 2007) recommend companies to check their culture if they have an entrepreneurial orientation. According to Ireland et al. (2003, p.970), an effective entrepreneurial culture must dedicate itself to the simultaneous impo rtance of opportunity-seeking behavior and advantage-seeking behaviors, culture must promote innovative ideas and learning, encourage risk- taking activities while accepting the failure, and must be open to continuous change. Furthermore, the dimensions of culture created by Hofstede help to characterize an entrepreneurial culture in the organization (Burns, 2008). First dimension is individuality versus collectivism. It is about the level of preference to work as individuals or groups. According to Burns (2008), entrepreneurial culture must be based on collectivism rather than individuality in larger organizations. The establishment of relationships and networks within the organization will result in a strong sense of in-groups with the feeling of competition against out-groups (competitors). The second dimension is power distance, which is about the degree of in equality among the people that community is willing to accept (Burns, 2008, p.116). Hofstede (1981 in Burns, 2008) claims that while lower power distance encourages the egalitarianism that stimulates flat structure, open relations and unrestricted information flow, higher power distance support hierarchical structure. Burns (2008) indicates entr epreneurial culture involves lower power distance. The third dimension is uncertainty avoidance, which is about the degree of peoples tolerance for complexity and uncertainty. While higher uncertainty avoidance stresses rules and procedures, rewards the compliance to these roles, lower uncertainty avoidance tolerates complexity, encourages flexibility, risk taking, initiative decision-making. Burns (2008) claims that low uncertainty avoidance is suitable for CE. The final dimension is masculinity and femininity. While  masculinity is based on financial and material achievements and competition, femininity focuses on relationships and cooperation. According to Burns (2008), CE must find a balance between masculinity and femininity. They have to establish one culture that focuses on achievements against competitors through networks and cooperation within organization. On the other hand, Beer, Eisenstat and Spector (1990) claim that while corporate culture is one of the aspects that help to establish corporate entrepreneurship in large organizations, Cultural Revolution by itself is not enough to achieve successful revitalization. The management must analyze every field of organization including its structure, strategy, leadership because culture correlates every field of organization. Leaders have to find out the sources of the problem and they have to make changes where it is necessary. Organizational Structure One of the other factors that stimulate entrepreneurship in a company is the organizational structure. Large companies have realized that to survive in todays conditions which are rapid and sociological changes, they have to create a structure that stimulates creativity and innovations (Sapolsky, 1967 in Livesay, 1995; Sinetar, 1985 in Livesay, 1995; Beer et al., 1990; Burns, 2008). However Sapolsky (1967 in Livesay, 1995) and Burns (2008) claim that there are no basic guidelines about one perfect structure that is suitable for every organization. According to Echols and Neck (1998), it is necessary to redesign structure to foster corporate entrepreneurship. Managers must structure organization as flat as possible and support it with entrepreneurial culture. New structure must support entrepreneurial behaviors. They analyzed three specific categories of entrepreneurial behavior which must have been addressed by management while changing structure. The first category is detection of o pportunities which requires transparency in the organization, external and internal networks and easy access to firms information. The second category is opportunity facilitation which demands supportively competition among firms and support from managers as coaches or mentors. Final category is the motivation to pursue opportunity. Managers must consider rewarding their employees for their entrepreneurial behaviors. (Echols et al., 1998, p.40-41) The most suitable structure depends on the nature of the organizations, the strategies employed, the task that they operate, the environment that they exist in and the size (Burns, 2008). Size is one of the most important factors for defining the structure. In recent years, as entrepreneurship becomes an important key success factor for the business, small firms gain a competitive advantage over large firms because of their flexible structure which enables better communication, greater delegation of authority and faster decision making. Nowadays, large firms are downsizing or deconstructing themselves to be entrepreneurial (which is the breaking of the organization down into smaller units) (Burns, 2008, p.137). The following trends are indicated by Pettigrew and Fenton (2000 in Burns, 2008, p.138): decentralizing, de-layering, outsourcing, down-scoping, using project forms of organizing, developing strategic alliances, communicating horizontally as well as vertically, investing in IT , and the application of new HR policies. Furthermore, organizational structure is obliged to change as the organization grows (Greiner, 1972 in Burns, 2008; Morris, Allen, Schindehutte Avila, 2006). But the traditional large firm structures are not suitable in this complex turbulent

The Science Guys - Theories of Evolution :: essays research papers

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) Today, the name of Lamarck is associated merely with a discredited theory of heredity, the "inheritance of acquired traits." However, Charles Darwin, Lyell, Haeckel, and other early evolutionists acknowledged him as a great zoologist and as a forerunner of evolution. To be fair to Lamarck, we should mention that since the time of Linnaeus, few naturalists had considered the invertebrates worthy of study. The word "invertebrates" did not even exist at the time; Lamarck coined it. The invertebrate collections at the Musà ©e were enormous and rapidly growing, but poorly organized and classified. Although the professors at the Musà ©e were theoretically equal in rank, the professorship of "insects and worms" was definitely the least prestigious. But Lamarck took on the enormous challenge of learning -- and creating -- a new field of biology. The sheer number and diversity of invertebrates proved to be both a challenge and a rich source of knowledge. What Lamarck actually believed was more complex: organisms are not passively altered by their environment. Instead, a change in the environment causes changes in the needs of organisms living in that environment, which in turn causes changes in their behavior. Altered behavior leads to greater or lesser use of a given structure or organ; use would cause the structure to increase in size over several generations, whereas disuse would cause it to shrink or even disappear. This rule -- that use or disuse causes structures to enlarge or shrink -- Lamarck called the "First Law" in his book Philosophie zoologique. Lamarck's "Second Law" stated that all such changes were heritable. The result of these laws was the continuous, gradual change of all organisms, as they became adapted to their environments; the physiological needs of organisms, created by their interactions with the environment, drive Lamarckian evolution. Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) Carl Linnaeus, also known as Carl von Linnà © or Carolus Linnaeus, is often called the Father of Taxonomy. His system for naming, ranking, and classifying organisms is still in wide use today (with many changes). Erusmus Darwin He did discuss ideas that his grandson elaborated on sixty years later, such as how life evolved from a single common ancestor, forming "one living filament". He wrestled with the question of how one species could evolve into another. Although some of his ideas on how evolution might occur are quite close to those of Lamarck, Erasmus Darwin also talked about how competition and sexual selection could cause changes in species

Achilles Shield :: Free Essay Writer

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Achilles’ shield, made by Hephaestus, the god of fire, plays a part in the Iliad. It tells the story of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. Hephaestus depicts the two cities and the activities going on in them, and Agamemnon’s, the Greek’s king, estate. Homer thought that seeing what it is on the shield could help the reader understand the importance of Achilles' shield and the Iliad. Hephaestus used fine metals and put lots of scenes of things going on not only in that time period but also in respect to the Iliad’s plot. Hephaestus went into great detail in the cities; especially what mood and what people were feeling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hephaestus used bronze, tin, gold, and silver to make the shield. The shield has five layers of metal. On the shield are scenes showing the heavens, earth, sea, two cities (a Greek one and Troy), Agamemnon’s estate, fields, a vineyard, a herd of cattle, and people dancing and being merry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two cities on the shield represent a city in Greece and the city of Troy. One of the cities is filled with men dancing and singing, and brides in the streets. The other city has an army surrounding it. There is Turmoil around both of the city. In one two armies fight, Greeks and the Trojans, along the river banks killing many men. Both cities are tainted with death, but at the same time both have love in them. In one city, the Greek one, two men, possibly Achilles and a fellow comrade, fight over the consequence for the murder of a warrior and take their case to a judge, could be Zeus in the Iliad, to decide the punishment. In the other, children and wives stay and watch the house and each other as the men go to war. This scene is meant to parallel to the Trojans leaving to fight the Greeks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Agamemnon's estate is also depicted on Achilles' shield. Plentiful harvests of grain are shown along with Agamemnon standing silently among the barley. An ox is also shown being killed for a feast. The shield represents happiness and prosperity for Agamemnon which also foreshadows the Greek's victory over Troy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally, the shield showed a vineyard with many workers who pick the grapes. One is a young boy who loves to sing and play a lyre. A herd of cattle is also illustrated.

To Have Or Not To Have Caesarean Section Essay example -- essays paper

To Have Or Not To Have Caesarean Section Years ago caesarean section (c-section) was only done in cases of emergency such as when the mother’s life or the neonate’s life is in danger. However at the turn of the century, there seems to have a remarkable rise in c-section deliveries. It seems that women nowadays are willing to take the risk of surgery to avoid the stress and pain of labor rather than experience the normal trend of delivering a baby vaginally – the normal way. The majority of pregnant women believe that the best method of giving birth is the least painful but this is not necessarily the safest (Ghetti, Chan & Guise 2004). Amazingly some obstetricians have become advocates for this surgical procedure instead of advisors to what is really suitable for the individual. What it is that drives women to go for a mutilating procedure rather than a simple laceration of a normal birth? The answer is obvious. The modern women are scared of pain, of the long stretch of labor and the stress that comes along with it. But what the modern women should understand is that delivering babies by caesarean section is not the answer to a pain-free delivery (Smeltzer & Bare, 2002). Caesarean Section – Its Beginning Many people think that c-section is a modern method of delivering babies. The truth is, â€Å"†¦ caesarean section has been a part of human culture since the ancient times†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (The National Institute of Health Convention, 1998). In fact history tells about the birth of Julius Caesar by c-section, thus the term â€Å"caesarean† came into use. However, modern historians do not believe that Julius Caesar ‘s birth was by c-section since his mother had been mentioned in some part of history to be alive when Caesar was already a reigning ... ...Ghetti,C., Chan, BKS., & Guise, J. (2004). Physicians’ responses to patient requested-caesarean delivery. Retrieved March 2, 2005 form www.cinahl/chi-bin/refsvc Ignatavicious, D. & Workman, L. (2001). Medical-surgical nursing: Critical thinking collaborative care. (4thed.). Philadelphia, PA: Mosby, Inc. Lowdermilk, D. & Peryy, S. (2004). Maternity and women’s health care. (4th ed.). St. Louise, MO: Mosby, Inc. Porter, M. & Bhattachary, S. (2004). Preventing unnecessary caesarean section: Marginal benefit of a second opinion. The Lancet. 364, 1921. Rubin, R. (2004). Do you have a choice? USA Today, Sept.16, 2004, D-08. Smeltzer, S.C. & Bare, B. (2002). Medical-surgical nursing. (9thed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Stein, R. (2004). Findings on caesarean section rekindle debate. The Washington Post, Dec. 15, 2004, p. A-18.

Heights of Oppression

The hands maid tale is skillfully woven book that touches on plenty of issues. Though the book was written 1985, it has received present time praises that have increased its sales over the past few years. Serializing of the book on film also drew critics to it as it raised many touching issues; love, politics, religion, gender, language and sex among many other many other contemporary issues that still spark debates in the 21st century. We must acknowledge that the writer employed interesting writing styles to clearly depict the themes she wanted so as to achieve the rewards of a timeless masterpiece. Repetition to create emphasis was the main writing device. The recent buyers have had the motivation to acquire and read the book because each of them can at least find a sentimental issue to connect to from the book. My literature review will delve into on one theme from the book that will capture the attention of most of the readers because the society at large is by all means connected to it.I chose the theme of oppression because there a many people that will connect to this due to its diversity. In this theme are many other sub themes that can be expounded on; social oppression, religious oppression, economic oppression, gender oppression among many other forms. This paper is to make the audience aware of pressing issue and around them and motivate them to act to emancipate themselves. I will gauge the effect of my work according to how I will captivate my audience. The connection that my desired audience will feel towards my review will prove the sweat I put in it to. I will use online reviews to build my case and scholarly articles prove my point. Relevant examples with connection to the issues around us will be elaborated in the discussion part of the research. First I will elaborate and give a general meaning to the theme then state the specific types of oppression I will be touching on depending on how the book has presented it in its characters and stage setting. The scholarly references and online reviews will be stated and I will use my own arguments; that I will mainly draw from my culture to explain how my society perceives the matter and their notions or decisions they have on it. Where possible, I will be stating the origin of the notions and what they eventually lead to; either more oppression or redemption. My introduction will begin with the statement problem as depicted in the book. That will be followed by the research materials and research methods I used to expound on my themes. Finally, I will explain the main reason behind my writing and how it will help the readers connect to the real time issues. When looking for online reviews, ones made by literature professors would be most preferable. When selecting scholarly articles; I will stick to ones that expound to the theme of oppression to prevent myself from derailing the theme or my audience the chance of questioning my relevance. The links between the book, the theme in question, the reviews and scholarly articles capped with my earnest opinion about how the society perceives the matter will define the credibility of my essay. The main objective behind the essay is to show the audience that there exist unseen problems in the society; ones that happen as a norm and that there are solutions to them. This paper really matters to the society as it will give a guide on many other themes in the book and show the way to liberation from their miserable status quos. IntroductionOppression is the central theme in the book as it lays foundation to all other evils in the book. Sexism, gender discrimination, religious oppression and classism all lay allegiance to the theme. The major part of the book is a recollection of events from the protagonist; Offred. She is giving her take to her new audience after she luckily fled the dreaded city of Gilead. The language she uses; gives vivid picture to the grotesque status quo she was in. the authors base of emphasis also stresses on the key theme; oppression. Gilean is an imaginary authoritarian city that came into being when there was a significant drop in fertility scores and with them a drop of birthrates. The ruling class saw it relevant to come up with laws that would class people for the roles they were to do in that jurisdiction. Women were the main prey under the claws; they were to strictly bear children. No education or jobs were given to them as they would pose competition to men and divert them from their main role; reproduction. Margaret's description to them through the protagonist is; a set of ovaries encompassing a womb. They were barred from talking alcohol, caffeine or nicotine as it would reduce their fertility. The paradox is that it is women other female characters that take pleasure in oppressing other women either to please the regime or themselves. The society has also been oppressed as they have been classified and color coded. Different colors specified roles and authority to be used over the subject.Research methodQualitative literature analysis is the method I have employed in the whole research. The characters in the novel handmaid's tale are ones that I have used to extrapolate the theme of oppression. The settings in the book and the mood it presents made the book a choice as they all blended significantly to the theme in question. Carefully reading the novel was the first step. I had to be precise so as to note the stylistic devices used and their motive in either backing or refuting of the theme. My understanding of the book was enhanced by specific reviews of it that targeted the theme at hand. In order to relate the theme with the issues in the 21st century, I referenced the reviews and my own findings to scholarly articles that touch on the present issues. Watching the television series also clarified my view as it clearly depicted the situation as it was during the scripting of the book. The mood, setting and ambience set in the movie were a clear replica of the ones in the book. Apart from focusing on these only, I also touched on the other main theme to gauge if they are the ones that catalyzed the oppression or if oppression was the base that all other evils in the book were built on. That I did so as to cast away the shadow of biasness and portray issues as they were set to be by the author in a bid to convince my audience that the issues in the book were the exact semblance of the issues they faced.ResultsEven from the prologue of the book it was clear that oppression was the wind that sails of the evils in the book rode on. To be precise, it was gender oppression that lay founding to the utopian city and sexism that paved way for the ruling class. My own analysis revealed that oppression was so deep that the individuals and the society saw it as a norm and had no hope or motive to redeem them at all. The analysis put to record that there exist 2 measures of oppressions; systematic oppression and individual oppression. Systematic was one imposed by the regime; the formulated draconian laws and individual oppression was one that the individuals forced themselves to believe that what was being done to them was right and that they better contend with it or risk an immature end. From the commentary and remarks that the series got I noticed oppression was still the center stage in the present societies. In the book we saw the blacks and the Jews being treated differently from the rest of the ruling class; the whites. They even had names tags to refer to them; racial oppression. We see that the laws hugely disfavored them and they were given the crudest of all jobs and invoked the harshest form of punishments; death. Religion was seen as a catalyst to the broadening of them theme and not a savior to the situation; religious oppression. Color coding was done define authority, privileges and roles. Here I saw no form of rebellion to it and a society that was treated quite highly than the other always exploited the ones that were below it. This treatment and exploitation was toned down to individual level and done in the most sleek and dreadful ways; we notice that the characters mused at themselves for stamping their authorities over others. Depending on who was doing the oppression, why it was being done and where it was being done led to diversification and further classification of the evil; dictatorship, racism, sexism and sycophantism. Those were the exact settings that were portrayed in the televised series yet it spurred a lot of critics that it invoked bitter dissent in people. DiscussionIn this part I will be giving my evidence in support in the systematic then individual oppression format backed by speeches of the characters in the book and showing the page numbers. I will further give my own views about the cause and course of the speech and the motive behind it according to the setting and the situation the character was in. I will back my claim with a scholarly article then finalize this chapter with how the issues relate in our present society across the globe. Systematic oppression was prevalent to the book as it the law of gender classification and prescribed women to reproductive roles only. Women were raped and the whole thing enshrined in the law that formed ‘The ceremony'. This is the law that gave rise to handmaids (himberg-2018). Women are given no choice as the ‘Aunts' force them to commit themselves to the profaning doctrines or choose between that, death and the ‘unwomen'. We see the Offred justifying the act by saying â€Å"..nor does rape cover it; nothing is going o here that I haven't signed up for† (artwood-94). It is her justification and compliance that depicts individual oppression.The law that handmaids were only bear children with generals was another form of systematic oppression (haghi-2016). Twisted religious definitions also added weight on this saying that their God considered it a sin. The handmaids and ones that impregnated them would face automatic death penalties if found out. In this case we see Ofglen describe Janine's despondency she thinks its her fault..two in a row for being sinful† (artwood-215). This was after Janine had lost two of her babies. Janine is not happy with the situation but she justifies it. That statement reveals the height of individual oppression and that melted the people's willingness to stand for themselves.The laws Gilean were so ruthless to law breakers or even purported law breakers. We see a police force called ‘the Angels' that was basically an execution squad set to squash rebels; systematic oppression. A holy nun, aunt Lydia even works as spy in addition to being an administrator to the monastery that bred handmaids. A wall is even built to display the corpses of the rebels. In the heights of all we see the Offred justify the people hanged on the wall â€Å"have committed atrocities and must be made into examples, for the rest† (artwood-42).ConclusionThe above examples can be related to the scenarios prevalent in the present times. Back in 2014 we saw boko haram in Nigeria abduct 200 school girls and take them to militia camps so that they could sire a new generation of rebels. These are the same scenarios where gender discrimination breeds, we are aware of some primitive societies like the Maasai in Kenya that do not allow their girls to get education and they believe that their role is strictly to reproduce and take care of men (myers-2018). If we tone issues down we will see the need to dissect why Arab states dictate that women should never be their leaders leave alone drive cars. When names of heroin ladies like Rewiyya, Briska Bernard, Sayidat Zuhal get mentioned we see that women all over the world need saving as the vice has become a norm in the societies we live in (rea-2017). it his high time that people stop viewing these vices as norms and see the reasons behind the laws formulated or their adverse effects. ReferencesMargaret Artwood- 1985The Handmaid's TaleS Haghi-2016Suppressing Agency: transitive analysis of Margaret Artwood's The Handmaid's TaleJ Rea-2017Lessons from handmaid's taleJ Himberg-2018The lavender menace returns: reading gender and sexuality in the Handmaid's TaleN Myers-2018Hearing voices among the indigenous Maasai women in Tanzania: implications for global mental health

A Terrible Dream

A terrible dream I was relaxing at home watching television when I suddenly heard someone calling my name â€Å"Seik Yee, help me! Help me please! † I turn my face to the person who calling me, I was so astonishment! I saw my friend Jack. â€Å"Jack! Are you okay? What happened to you? † I asked. He stared at me blankly and started speaking in Mandarin! His Mandarin was very good as my Malay, which was zilch. I spoke some Mandarin. â€Å"Wo hen xin ku, jiu wo† he kept on repeating. â€Å"Fang wo zou, Fang wo zou† he said.This translated to â€Å"I’m suffering, please help me. Let me go. Let me go. † We usually conversed in English and his behaviour was strange and I was confused and worried. Jack’s face was drenched in perspiration and he was getting increasingly agitated. I was sure that he wasn’t having a heart attack though. I had seen the movie ‘The Exorcist’ before and his demeanour reminded me of one possessed , just like the movie. Suddenly, someone rushed to my side and a crowd had gathered.Jack’s eyes were expressionless and he didn’t recognise me although it was impossible for him not to notice me. He continued talking aloud but now I couldn’t understand what he was saying at all. It seemed to be heavily-accented Mandarin and Chinese dialect of some sort I couldn’t identify. The person who rushed to my side just now suggested he had suffered a heart stroke and a few people helped move him into shaded area. He was almost delirious by then. Suddenly, a group of monks nearby came over to see what the commotion was about.The most senior-looking monk took one look at Jack and shook his head. He immediately clasped Jack’s hand to his and started reciting mantras. It was only then that Jack calmed down and stopped talking to himself. Eventually, after few minutes, he slept soundly, much to my relief. The monk reassured me that he was okay. After about 10 mi nutes, he gently woke Jack. A bit dazed, Jack was otherwise â€Å"normal†. After Jack absolutely okay, â€Å"Where was us now? † I asked. I’m absolutely doesn’t known where am I at the beginning.Jack then answer my question and gave me an insight into the history of Great Wall which I had not known. â€Å"Here is the Great Wall of China. Millions of workers had been involved in its construction over hundreds of years spanning many dynasties. The work on the wall was so difficult that most workers died within the first year. Their bodies were thrown into the wall to help fill it. Most of the workers were slaves, criminals, political prisoners or extremely low-wage workers. † â€Å"What?That is so†¦Ã¢â‚¬  when I want to complained about that, suddenly heard a women voice who calling me â€Å"Seik Yee, why you slept on sofa and the television is on? † I opened my eyes, my mother’s face was the first thing I saw. Now, only I realiz ed that is a terrible dream! In that because of the dream, I swear I won’t visit or travel to the Great Wall of China. (521 words) ENL 1100: ENGLISH 1 PROGRAM: DBADI SESSION: JAN 2012 SECTION: GROUP D2 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT: 2/2 BY: NAME: LOH SEIK YEE MATRIC NO: J11009464 LECTURER: MS DEEPA DATE OF SUBMISSION: 16/2/2012