The Progressive Era Of The Gilded Age - 1455 Words

Throughout the progressive era there were many reform movements due to the abundance of political, social, and economical corruption in America in the gilded age as seen by political machines like William Marcy tweed and American financiers like J.P. Morgan. Some of the many issues that made themselves present in the gilded age include the large wealth gap, child labor, women’s lack of rights, influx of immigrants, Urbanization, Indian wars, monopolists, political machines, and alcoholism. All of these issues were brought to attention by Muckrakers like Jacob Riis, the photographer of How the Other Half Lives, and Upton Sinclair, the author of The Jungle. Once these issues were raised, Much to the monopolists dismay, America knew they had†¦show more content†¦These conflicts were started because of the white man’s need to expand his land in order to have more power, land the Native Americans lived on, and when they refused to move a war was started following th e trail of tears and reservation systems. This image demonstrates the large changes implemented by progressive reformers like Richard Henry Pratt as seen by the drastic difference in the appearance of the little boy. Muckrakers like Ida Tarbell and Jacob Riis push for a change through progressive reforms as seen by their published works that brought awareness to the many issues that plagued the Gilded age. Tarbell wrote History of the standard oil company which called attention to the monopolist, John D. Rockefeller and his oil company, and the corruption within this establishment. By writing things like â€Å"There is no independent refiner or jobber who tries to ship oil freight that does not meet incessant discouragement and discrimination.†(Document 3) sheds some light on Rockefellers character and business tactics. By exposing J.D. Rockefeller to the public the common man can now see what was invisible before therefore sparking the flame of change, creating the desire fo r change in these aspects of life. This is the first step to actually making change happen throughout the progressive era. During the progressive era there was a dramatic change in Democracy in order toShow MoreRelatedThe Gilded Age And The Progressive Era3319 Words   |  14 PagesThe Gilded Age and the Progressive Era were times of great change for women in the United States, and women entered into a new standard of living. As times progressed and new advances were made in both society and technology, people had to learn how to adapt to those changes while still being an asset and following societal rules. The purpose of this paper is to acknowledge the reformations and changes brought to people and society by women during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era. RegardlessRead MoreThe Progressive Era Of The Gilded Age1465 Words   |  6 Pagescomes consequences. Industrialization of the United States had indirectly tarnished the Gilded Age, and now that this era was coming to an end, reformers were left to clean up the mess. Hence, the Progressive era was born. The Progressive movement was based in the urban middle class and focused on the improvement of society, the economy, and politics. Yet, the movement was not unified. Each reform group of the era had a separate goal that they would focus on. Each president also had a separate visionRead MoreThe Gilded Age : The Challenges Of The Progressive Era1344 Words   |  6 PagesThe Gilded Age was associated with many difficulties - unprecedented fortunes and poverty, urban squalor, unhygienic food production, and other issues – that many Americans were left to deal with. In the early 1900s, â€Å"widespread dissatisfaction with new trends in American society spurred the Progressive Era, named for the various ‘progressive’ movements that attracted various constituencies around various reforms† (Andrew et al. 1). This new era was the age in which people tried to solve problemsRead M oreAnalysis Of The Gilded Age And Progressive Era1108 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era Throughout the history of time, people named certain time periods based on the events that occurred. People considered the time from the 1890s to 1916 as a shift of the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era when many things changed dramatically. The â€Å"Gilded Age† was the time of innovation, invention, and rapid growth, but the presence of monopolies sprouted everywhere in American’s economy and led to social inequalities. Then the Progressive Era responded toRead MoreThe Gilded Age : An Era Of Extreme Corruption1169 Words   |  5 PagesAmerica enters the Gilded Age from 1877 till about the 1890’s. Then the next era would be the Progressive Era beginning from where the Gilded Age left off till around 1920. Though these eras are accepted in the historical community, some historians argue that it is useless to label these two as separate eras in American history. One historian is Rebecca Edwards in her article Politics, Social Movement, and the Periodization of U .S. History. She argues that the Gilded Age and the Progressive should be knownRead MoreThe Gilded Age : A Powerhouse Rose From The Ashes Of The Civil War871 Words   |  4 PagesProgressives in the Gilded Age The Gilded Age: A powerhouse rose from the ashes of the Civil War. From the Civil War until about 1896, the Gilded Age was born. The United States was going through an era of governmental, fiscal and societal restructuring. Gilded Age got its name because Mark Twain seen as a period where everything seemed to be well on the surface but beneath was a scheme of political dishonesty and self-indulgence. Around this time, the affluent upper class was created due to theRead MoreWomen During The Civil War997 Words   |  4 Pagestraditional viewpoints of society of the time. The status of women was shifting rapidly in the Progressive Era. However, middle-class white married women still did not work outside the home. They were expected to stay home and tend to their families. Minority women, on the other hand, had to balance home life and their jobs outside of the home. An extensive advance for a change called the First Reform Era, arose in the years before the Civil War. The new movement included the efforts of social activistsRead MoreThe Gilded Age Of The Nineteenth Century And The Succeeding Period887 Words   |  4 PagesTwo prominent eras of American History were the Gilded Age at the end of the nineteenth century and the succeeding period, the Progressive Era. The Gilded Age, also know as the Second Industrial Revolution, was a peak of high economic development with the rise of technological advancements in a free market environment, meaning that the economy was driven by self-interest instead of government authority. Besides its economic growth, the Gilded Age handle changes in social divisions. After the abolishmentRead MoreThe United States Treatment Of African Americans1291 Words   |  6 Pagesthis was much better than slavery, citizenship came with many troubles of its own. The years following the Civil War, known as the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, would prove to be, aside from slavery, some of the hardest times for African Americans in all of U.S. history. The years immediately following the Civil War were known as the Gilded Age. During the Gilded Age, African Americans were had just been freed from slavery, given the right to vote, and had many more protections under the federalRead MoreThe Progressive Movement Of The American Progressive Era1259 Words   |  6 PagesWhen it comes to the American Progressive Era there is really no other movement like it. This was a movement that had not just one but many faces that ranged from people as big as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to people like Jane Addams that accomplished so much. It was a movement so broad that it encompassed basically everyone and spoke not just to but for all those excluded from power. It also wasn’t just one big movement but a conglomeration of them varying from social, to economic, to

Analysis Of Homer s The Odyssey - 978 Words

At the beginning of The Odyssey, Homer informs us of the battle Odysseus faces as he strives to return home to his wife and son. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, his wife Penelope is pursued by many suitors trying to marry her and take over his kingdom. Out of her love for Odysseus, Athena appears to Telemachus as Mentor to give him hope that his father will return and also convince him to set sail in search of his father. In book two, following Mentor’s visit, Telemachus gathers all the suitors and confronts them about their actions toward his mother. Antinous then tells Telemachus of how Penelope had led them on. Throughout The Odyssey, Homer emphasizes many important points with his use of symbolism. One of these points regarded Penelope’s loom. He emphasizes her loom as though to illustrate the ideas of faith, faithfulness, trust and betrayal, as well as the idea of karma. After Telemachus had confronted the suitors of their wrongdoings toward his mother, Antinous spoke up a nd stated, â€Å"she set up a great loom in the royal halls / and she began to weave, and the weaving finespun, / the yarns endless, and she would lead us on: ‘Young men, / my suitors, now that King Odysseus is no more, / go slowly, keen as you are to marry me, until I can finish off this web†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Lines 102-107). This is the first that Penelope’s loom is referred to as a web, entailing that there is some complexity in the way she keeps her faithfulness to her husband. Although she is not strong enough to keep offShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey By Homer1202 Words   |  5 Pagescoping with the idea of losing his father and letting others to rule Ithaca. It is noticeable from the beginning of The Odyssey, written by Homer that Telemachus finds himself in a complicated situation where his life is seen to be in danger. He is a character of being distance from people. The idea of Telemachus becoming his own father, threatens suitor’s control in Ithaca. Homer describes Telemachus as a teenager who has not found himself and is on a mission to become an adult as his father. TelemachusRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey By Homer1095 Words   |  5 Pagesused in Homer’s Odyssey is the digression. The digression is departure from the main storyline that does not alter the action of the story, but adds a layer of sentimental content to the plot which usually helps underscore themes central to the story. The digressions in the Odyssey are meticulously written with great attention to detail just like the rest of the epic, and they truly help readers grasp the important aspects of the story. The liberal use of digression in the Odyssey helps build a vividRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey By Homer2018 Words   |  9 PagesThe Odyssey by Homer is more light in tone than the Iliad, of the same author: The good wins while the evil is punished. Even though the gods are still strict, the relationship between Odysseus and Ath ena is a more sincere and equal a relationship than between God and Man in the Iliad. Odysseus is distinguished not only by his bravery, but largely by his intellect and cunning. He is the type of resourceful man whom never gives up, thinks of the causes, is reverent and never gives in. The Odyssey isRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey, By Homer915 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the Odyssey, the hero, Odysseus is portrayed in two different and contradicting lights: the wise hero and the capricious leader blinded by his own pride. The epic writer, Homer, embodies the theme of hubris throughout Odysseus’ journey home. The idea of hubris, a trait of excessive pride, significantly develops personalities of characters within The Odyssey, and Homer ultimately creates a statement about excessive pride. The dual portrayal of Odysseus leads the reader to ultimatelyRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s Odyssey By Homer Essay1479 Words   |  6 Pages The word â€Å"Family†, according to Merriam Webster, is thought to be a group of people brought together by common affiliation. The same cannot be said for the culture in the Odyssey by Homer. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is trying to get back home from fighting in the Trojan War. He has been away from home for almost 20 years longing to just be reunited with his kinfolk. Along the way, he comes across many obstacles that hinders him from reaching his home and family in in Ithaca. Luckily, the memoriesRead MoreAnalysis Of Odyssey By Homer s Odyssey2253 Words   |  10 Pagesand Midwifery Council, 2006). The literature surrounding the subject of mentorship is vast and fails to provide a single definition, however the terms used are often similar. Colley (2000) writes that the word mentor originated in Homer’s poem ‘Odyssey’ in which the character oversees the development of Telemachus. Usually mentoring describes the process of an experienced team member using their skills and knowledge to educate and develop a junior or less skilled co-worker (Chartered Institute ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Odyssey 1483 Words   |  6 PagesViolence in The Odyssey Violence in Literature can take any form, whether it be natural disaster like and earthquake or a human based disaster like war (Campbell). In Homer’s The Odyssey both types are found†¦ whether it’s Odysseus’s hardships like making it home or dealing with the wrath of the god Poseidon. Every violent scene has its own reasons, some are more reasonable than others. For instance, the gods were angered by the disobedience of the mortals, this is more reasonable than the killingRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Odyssey 795 Words   |  4 Pages Odysseus Epic Hero In the Epic, â€Å"The Odyssey, spoken by Homer, conveys a heroic tale of an epic hero named, Odysseus, who faces many challenges as he sails to get home. One of the tasks Odysseus faces is, The Sirens, who challenge Odysseus s will power. Another challenge Odysseus encounters is, â€Å"The Cyclops, who torments and slaughters some of Odysseus s men due to his curiosity. One of the hardest threats he had to confront was, â€Å"The Land ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Odyssey1636 Words   |  7 PagesGreek society, Homer’s The Odyssey provides a detailed insight into the values of this intricate culture. In particular, this epic discusses the ways in which the deathless gods influence the fates of the mortals. The overall impact of the gods’ power is the mental straining that emerges from the unrelenting conflict of man versus immortal. Likewise, the actions and misfortunes of others also catalyze this extremely significant and powerful mental battle. Homerâ€⠄¢s The Odyssey reveals the values of ancientRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Odyssey 1128 Words   |  5 Pages The Odyssey shows a lot of different stereotypes for women throughout the book, taking action to get what they want. Odysseus is trying to get back home after ten long years since the fall of troy, and his son is going out to find him. Throughout the book Odysseus meets lots of woman who vary in personality. He meets woman with the stereotypes: â€Å"mantis†- dominant, eats its mate, destroys to gain power, feared by many. â€Å"Damsel in distress†- persecuted maiden, woman placed in a dire predicament requires

Case Study of Unilever KM Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Questions: 1.Describe Unilevers knowledge assets in the context of Unilever's organisational objectives, and classify the knowledge into category(ies) of tacit and/or explicit knowledge. Describe Unilevers KM activities and associate the activities with the knowledge? 2.Describe Unilevers KM issues. Choose 4 KM models from Topic 2 of this unit, among which 2 models are appropriate for Unilever and the other 2 are not and discuss why and why not (you may adapt the existing models to Unilever)? 3.Identify and explain challenge(s) for Unilever's KM, and provide and discuss your own solution(s) to the challenge(s)? 4.Cathy is going to call her team to discuss the way forward. As a team member, you are asked to recommend a KM cycle for Unilever, focusing on activities in each phase? Answers: 1. Unilevers knowledge assets in the context of Unilever'sorganisationalobjectives: Unilever is one of the largest consumer goods at the global level with an annual turnover 40bn. It has its presence in approximate around 100 countries (Unilever UK Ireland 2018). Such a larger presence means there might be few management challenges which could only be mitigated if appropriate strategies are being implemented. One of such challenges to Unilever is the KM (Knowledge Management). They have been following the knowledge management strategy since 1996; however, there are flaws like the updating of senior experts profiles in the CoP (communities of practice). CoP was being initiated in Unilever with a vision to improve its KM by connecting together the companys experts who are geographically dispersed (Sim, King and Price 2016). Classifying the knowledge into tacit and explicit knowledge: KM at Unilever can be divided into two categories such as the follows: Tacit- The knowledge management structure at Unilever is tacit in a form that the experts at the different geographical places are connected through CoP (Grover and Froese 2016). They exchange their experience and learning with each other. They are like the members of CoP workshop. Explicit- The knowledge is explicit in the form that they have created a database portal on the workshop through which employees can access to several domains like learning histories which covers the experiences shared by retired employees (Grover and Froese 2016). DescribingUnileversKMactivitiesand associatetheactivitieswiththeknowledge: As discussed, the activities include the creation of workshop in the CoP (community of practice) where experts from different geographic can come closer to each other and share what their useful experiences are. They have also created an intranet portal that also reflects the explicit knowledge of Unilever has a domain named learning histories. Experts and employees can go to the domain and find what the senior retired professionals have followed under different circumstances. This is another way of enriching the knowledge management (KM) (Sim, King and Price 2016). 2. Unilevers KM issues: One of the issues, as identified in the attached case study, is the updating of CoP (community of practice). The experts from different branch locations of Unilever at the global level do not regularly update their profiles. This is problematic because if there is no update then the flow of knowledge would be hampered (Chang and Lin 2015). Another issue as being identified by the new CEO Paul Polman is the alienation of knowledge management with the Unilevers organisational objectives. Cathy has more or less the same views on KM who is the head of knowledge management group in Unilever. Cathy has indicated that there is a need to align the knowledge management process with the thought process of companys CEO. Cathy further added that professional competencies are not just doing what people know but, it is giving importance to what should be known in order to deliver the success. Selecting 4 models of which 2 are suitable to Unilever and 2 not. Discuss why or why not: The four models are Organisational Epistemology Model, Knowledge Spiral Model, Sense-Making KM Model and Building Using Knowledge Model (Strunga 2015). Organisational Epistemology Model is similar to Unilevers CoP (community workshops) as the model has emphasised on having an organisational structure in which individual member shares their innovative thoughts to facilitate organisational knowledge. The Knowledge Spiral Model is not appropriate to Unilevers KM because the model facilitates a knowledge management based on a continuous updating of a tacit and explicit form of knowledge. The Sense-Making KM Model is also not suitable to Unilevers KM as the model encourages individual contribution and their external information. The Building Using Knowledge Model is in the line with the Unilevers CoP workshop as the model governs the organising of knowledge in a storehouse for users, so that, they are able to utilise the correct knowledge in context to specific problem (Strunga 2015). T his is exactly similar in meaning to the Unilevers CoP workshop where every expert from different geographic is able to get strategic approaches to a specific problem. 3. Challenge(s)forUnilever'sKM: The challenge to Unilevers KM is evident from the views of new CEO which has indicated towards its alienation with the organizational objectives. The fact has also been supported by Cathy who is the head of Unilever's knowledge management group. One of the objectives of Unilever is to establish a continuous flow of both tacit and explicit knowledge, so that, they could construct better strategies to counter the challenges and be one of the leading names in the competition. However, such thing is not happening as believed by the new CEO and the knowledge management group head. They have identified few reasons for it such as an irregular updating from senior experts at the different geographic locations (Wong et al. 2015). The community CoP was developed keeping in mind that expert's views would be exchanged and thereby, benefit the decision-making capabilities. An intranet portal was also being developed, so that, it could be made both interesting and engaging. The portal had contents like learning histories which showcases the experience of retired professionals when they were the part of Unilever. It was being developed, so that, existing experts could know from such experiences that how to handle a specific situation. Despite such strategies, the knowledge management process in Unilever has flaws. However, it is indicative only that probable reason for it could be the inactive responses from the experts. Discussing the recommended solutions: The recommendations would be to align the knowledge management process with the organisational objectives. Moreover, the senior experts would be required to regularly update their profiling on the CoP workshop. This is necessary as team will find the experts views and experiences on different strategic challenges. Moreover, will keep getting the number of views on similar kind of challenges and hence, they will grow in knowledge which is necessary to maintain an equivalent success in different branch locations (Antle et al. 2017). 4. Recommendinga KMcycleforUnilever: There are various cycles using which knowledge management in Unilever can be improved; however, the Integrated KM Cycle looks the most feasible with the existing organisational procedure. The integrated KM cycle follows some principles which are quite similar in meaning to Unilevers CoP which is why Cathy may find this cycle much more effective than the rest other cycles. The integrated KM cycle adheres to the following process: Capturing the knowledge or creating it and then after assessing the suitability of the knowledge, passing it to others. This is a one form of tacit knowledge. The next stage is contextualising the concept and applying it to a problem situation. If it is productive then applying it by updating to the storehouse of knowledge management (Strunga 2015). The process cycle is exactly similar in meaning to the Unilevers CoP where experts share their experience in different challenging situations. The senior experts first capture the information and then asses it on some strategic situation. If they find this effective then they apply it to the organisation by updating this to the intranet portal. However, the experts have expectedly lacked in updating their knowledge and thoughts which are why the workshop has suffered and could not deliver the updated knowledge that could have helped Unilever in being in line with the organisational objectives. Cathy with the help of Integrated KM Cycle ca n highlight her team member the areas where they have lagged. Moreover, Cathy can also show the importance of following the chosen cycle. References: Antle, J.M., Basso, B., Conant, R.T., Godfray, H.C.J., Jones, J.W., Herrero, M., Howitt, R.E., Keating, B.A., Munoz-Carpena, R., Rosenzweig, C. and Tittonell, P., 2017. Towards a new generation of agricultural system data, models and knowledge products: Design and improvement.Agricultural systems,155, pp.255-268. Chang, C.L.H. and Lin, T.C., 2015. The role of organizational culture in the knowledge management process.Journal of Knowledge management,19(3), pp.433-455. Grover, R. and Froese, T.M., 2016. Knowledge management in construction using a SocioBIM platform: A case study of AYO smart home project.Procedia Engineering,145, pp.1283-1290. Sim, S., King, H. and Price, E., 2016. The role of science in shaping sustainable business: unilever case study. InTaking Stock of Industrial Ecology(pp. 291-302). Springer, Cham. Strunga, A., 2015. The Integration of Virtual Learning Communities into Universities Knowledge Management Models.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,197, pp.2430-2434. Unilever UK Ireland. 2018.Home. [online] Available at: https://www.unilever.co.uk/ [Accessed 14 Mar. 2018]. Wong, K.Y., Tan, L.P., Lee, C.S. and Wong, W.P., 2015. Knowledge Management performance measurement: measures, approaches, trends and future directions.Information Development,31(3), pp.239-257.

People and organization Radian Oil and Gas company †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the People and organization Radian Oil and Gas company. Answer: Introduction The report is developed to focus on the people and organization where various business activities are managed. The business organization chosen here as the case study is Radian Oil and Gas company in Saudi Arabia. The company manages its engineering solutions properly and allows its customers to conserve energy. This will further help in making the organization operate efficiently through a wide range of products and services solutions and reduce the emissions of Carbon dioxide that can harm the ecological balance in nature. The business activities at Radian Oil and gas company have also led to the saving of fuel, electricity and water (Radian.com.sa 2017). The major issue that may be faced by the business organization is illustrated and how it can affect the business functioning at the individual, group and organizational level. The socially constructed nature of the organization is also understood along with the identification of various factors that can influence the organizationa l practices (Abedin et al. 2013). There are certain plans that will be constructed, based on the theories, to promote collaborative working and overcome the socially constructed barriers too. Problems experienced at individual, group and organisational level The motive of the company is to conserve energy and so sustainable approaches have been followed to make sure that energy conservation is possible and ecological balance in nature is maintained. Organisational level One of the major issues faced was that a huge amount of energy was produced and electricity was also used largely, which increased the operational expenditures too. Radian Oil and Gas company started its business operations and processes in the year 2010 and since then it has been committed to the deliverance of excellence in terms of services provided to the customers. The company also operated trough a wide range of products and services that reduced the carbon dioxide emissions and even saved the fuel, electricity and water largely (Abraham 2013). The functioning of the engineering instruments and machineries incurred a lot of energy, because of which the costs for implementing those were also high. The issue was though negligible, still it posed to be a threat, because it delayed the construction project and even could have reduced the capital of the organization, furthermore creating more problems like being unable to improve the infrastructure of the organization through necess ary investments. This is a major issue at the organizational level for Radian Oil and Gas Company in Saudi Arabia (Baines et al. 2013). Individual level There are lots of questions related to the industry fundamentals including macro environmental factors, maintenance of balance between supply and demand, regulatory mechanisms for managing the cost components and influence created by geopolitics. The prices of oil and gas are reduced, which has created a huge adverse effect on the oil and gas industry of Saudi Arabia. Crude prices reduced, which resulted in complexities related to the trade flow and other traditional suppliers concerns. Depending on just energy is not favourable, because it could result in less market share and even create difficulties to gain enough profit in business and provide the right amounts of wages to the employees of Radian Oil and Gas Company, Saudi Arabia (Barnaud and Antona 2014). Group level At the group level, the issues faced were identified as lack of communication between the employees and lesser wages paid to the team members when involved in smaller projects within the oil and gas industry. It is often seen that the group members find it difficult to interact with each other due to different backgrounds or cultures from which they belong. Discrimination is a major issue that can create issues for the workers of Radian Oil and Gas Company at the group level. This not only could hinder the successful accomplishment of tasks but might also prevent the organisation to obtain the outcomes that were assumed at the earlier stages during themanagement of a project. This might even delay the progress of a project and prevent the completion of the project on time (Basu 2014). Socially constructed nature of organisation The socially constructed nature of the organisation means the theory of knowledge in communication and sociology that can identify the development of jointly constructed understandings and make shared assumptions about the reality and origin of the organisation. The social constructionism theory enables to focus on the human beings perception related to the environment where they are working. The conservation of energy is related to the performance of the organisation, which shows that with themanagement of construction project activities, there will be production of large amount of energy as well as many investments. As the performance of the organisation is excellent, there has been production of huge amounts of energy too, which is considered as a major issue, because energy conservation is important for business sustainability (Baumeister and Peersman 2013). Radian Oil and Gas Company has helped the customers to conserve energy and function more efficiently by delivering a wide range of business solutions to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and maintain a stable environmental condition. This would also save a lot of heat, water and electricity and at the same time preserve the environment by fulfilling its corporate social responsibility properly. The organisation has achieved success through the development of a good relationship between the business and its customers and gain knowledge about the preferences of the customers, furthermore gain motivation level to emerge as a successful market leader (Bratton and Gold 2012). Radian Oil and Gas company is one of the most established business engineering solutions provider in Saudi Arabia that has been specialised in the areas of transferring heat, solar power and heating systems, conservation of energy and optimisation of combustion. The improvement of deaerators' effectiveness has b een possible with little investments, the short shutdown has provided better capacity, high turnaround, and this was the cause of reducing the operational expenses too (Brindley 2017). Evaluating the theories and ideologies that can influence the current organisational practices Various kinds of theories and models can be used to create a positive impact on the organisational practices and ensure that the issues such as lack of ability to conserve energy, financial instability and low level of communication between the employees of the organisation are overcome. Few of the theories used within the business organization Radian Oil and Gas Company, Saudi Arabia have brought huge advancements and progress in the project management, and some of these are McKinsey 7S model, Kotters Eight step model, Kurt Lewins theory of managing changes, etc. (Broadbent 2013). The issues faced by the company were lack of ability to conserve energy and poor communication between the workers of the organization. Issues were also related to the industry fundamentals such as the inappropriate balance between the supply and demands, ineffective regulatory mechanisms and other macro environmental factors creating an impact on the organisation. Due to the lowering of the crude price, the trade flow activities were hindered, and suppliers' requirements were not fulfilled, which was a major concern as well. The company wants to overcome the issue of high amounts of energy production, which can also lead to the high generation of heat. The main focus of the company is to conserve energy and make sure that the energy and other resources are utilised properly to make the business function effectively (Brounen, Kok and Quigley 2012). Therefore, it is evident that the utilisation of these kinds of theories can influence the organisational practices and led to better pro ductivity, enhanced level of profit and even help the organisation to gain a competitive advantage in business. Mckinsey 7-S Model The Mckinsey 7 S model or theory consists of the various components that are needed to be followed by the Oil and gas company to accomplish a project and obtain the desired positive outcomes properly. The first element is the strategy that has allowed the company to implement strategies for pursuing the growth, development and creation of value within a volatile environment. To become successful in the present market, the price of commodities tend to increase, which needs to be re-evaluated based on the middle and high level expectations of the customers. Radian Oil and Gas Company has managed to confront strategic changes and made decisions to enhance performance and enable supply of products and services according to the demands of the market (Chin, Hambrick and Trevio 2013). The structure of the organisation is maintained through the management of reports and optimises the exploration portfolio for increasing the production volume, mitigate risks and gain good amounts of return both in the long and short-term. The systems include the everyday organisational activities that the employees of the organisation are involved with to accomplish the tasks properly. As the issue related to the lack of conserving energy was to be overcome, it would be important for Radian Oil and Gas Company to identify areas of growth, find out opportunities to reduce the costs of production and even enhance the productivity level largely (Coleman 2012). The shared values are the goals and objectives that have been developed according to the sets of values and beliefs required to maintain a good culture within the business organisation. The major values and beliefs are followed at Radian Oil and Gas company for the creation of a good culture and ensure that the work ethics are maintained properly too. This could make the employees of the organisation abide by the rules, regulations and procedures, furthermore develop a cost for fulfilling the demands and preferences of the customers in different segments of the market. The company aims for meeting the demands of people in the different market segments and manage the costs at various supply levels, which can allow the development of a project and ensure that economic impact is maximised (Cummings, Bridgman and Brown 2016). Style represents the kind of leadership adopted by Radian Oil and Gas company to overcome the issues faced by the company and even the socially constructed barriers with efficacy. No one seems to bother about the issues faced by the company other than the leader of the business organisation. It is the role and responsibility of the leader to check whether the company has been performing properly or not and find out ways by which the issues can be overcome. The transformational and democratic leadership styles are followed mainly to consider the opinions and feedbacks of the employees and then make effective decisions in business for the business benefits (Davis 2012). Staffs and skills are the other two major components of the McKinsey 7 S model that represents the employees of the organisation and their skills, competencies and expertise level. The workers have been trained to strengthen their abilities so that they can perform to their potential. This would also make the staffs informed about the issues experienced by the organization and then work as an unit to deal with the issue perfectly (Eisenberg et al. 2013). Lewins change management theory The theory proposed by Lewin was also utilised by the organisation to implement changes to the organisation and ensure that the business operations and processes are managed properly. The various stages included unfreezing, movement and refreezing. The unfreezing stage allows for creating awareness of the issues among the staffs of Radian Oil and Gas Company and enhances their level of acceptability to respond to the changes with ease and effectiveness (Gorran Farkas 2013). The people, processes and structures of the company should be assessed to examine how changes should be possible, and the company could gain competitive advantage in business. The movement or changing stage allows for moving towards a new state and improve the existing structure, processes and culture of the organisation. This would make the staffs adopt the changes made by the company and learn the new ways of thinking, behaviours and processes that could be advantageous. The changing stage could also resolve the issues related to lack of communication and other cross-cultural barriers by promoting effective communication between the employees and become familiar with the changes and improvements that were made (Haddington, Mondada and Nevile 2013). The refreezing stage enabled reinforcements and stabilised the new state of the organisation soon after the implementation of changes. This helped in making changes to the organisational processes, structure and a perfect culture was also established, which facilitated team work, coordination and acceptance of new behaviours and attitudes. Acceptance of changes would bring more productivity, create a sense of urgency, develop a vision and empower the staffs of Radian Oil and Gas Company, Saudi Arabia to become successful within the business environment (Hayes 2014). Kotters eight-step theory This theory is equally important as the other two models or theories for managing changes within the organisation and enhances its capabilities to overcome issues and establish itself as a successful company within the marketplace. At first, a sense of urgency is created to demonstrate the problems to every member of the organisation. The issues included the high production of heat and energy with very little amounts of energy that had been conserved. Due to the immense heat generation, the cost of operations and business activities also got higher along with a reduction in capital. Another major problem was the emissions of carbon dioxide in large amounts due to the energy production, which not only deteriorated the organisational functioning but also created negative effects of the environment (Jrvenoja, Volet and Jrvel 2013). The issues were needed to be addressed to create urgency among the staffs and make them know how to deal with those. The organisation has developed a team consisting of skilled workers with proper guidance by the leader to coordinate the activities and communicate important information about the issues. It could be understood that, at the individual and group level, there was lack of communication, which had been identified quite easily by developing a guiding coalition. After this, a strategic vision is formed, and initiatives are taken to clarify certain things to the employees and link the initiatives with the vision and mission of the organisation (Kenney 2012). A volunteer army is enlisted to enable large-scale changes and allow them to discuss the effects of these kinds of issues and furthermore identify opportunities to ensure that the changes are successful and noteworthy. The next stage of the Kotters model has facilitated the capabilities of the organisation to overcome the barriers and created a positive impact on the business functioning. This has also created enough scopes for Radian Oil and Gas Company to generate short-term wins and keep track of the progress of the project. Kotters theory is used by the organisation to improve the credibility of systems, structures and policies and initiate changes consistently until the vision gets turned into reality and the goals and objectives are accomplished (Love, Lopez and Kim 2014). Lastly, the changes are made with the focus on accelerating the production and business processes efficiency through the development of communication between the new behaviours that have been adopted and organisational success. By understanding these issues, the company would be able to implement high-efficiency energy saving cooling tower to reduce high amounts of heat generation and even conserve a lot of energy. The staf fs could understand the urgent need for making changes and even implement various effective regulatory mechanisms for creating positive effects (Okfalisa et al. 2012). Designing plans to improve collaborative working nature It is often seen that resolving an issue becomes easier when collaborative working is established within the workplace, and same has happened with Radian Oil and Gas Company in Saudi Arabia. There are various plans to improve the collaborative working among individuals and enhance the effectiveness of the workforce. The leader must inspire his subordinates and communicate with them frequently. This creates new lines of communication and motivates the employees to perform their roles and responsibilities with dedication and commitment. Aligning the shared vision and purpose is essential to foster collaborative working and make the employees understand their roles properly, furthermore help the organisation to achieve the goals and objectives by contributing to the organisational effectiveness too (Ortiz-Cruz et al. 2012). The staffs are willing to coordinate with each other and discuss certain matters, thereby provide their feedback and opinions, based on which, effective decisions can be made. It has developed close relationships with the employees and enabled the leader of Radian Oil and Gas Company to establish a healthy culture where people can work as an unit (Oyedepo 2012). Plans are also designed to diversify the workplace to manage flow and exchange of information at a faster rate and maintain innovation, creativity, synergy and resolve conflicts and misunderstandings within the workplace. It is important to maintain privacy and make sure that information and data about clients and employees are not disclosed. The employees must be careful to keep the data and information secured and prevent any sort of unauthorized access too, which might result in loss of data (Patel, Pettitt and Wilson 2012). With the advancement in technology, the internet has become widespread, and it has benefited the company by allowing the workers to interact with one another and develop deep connections to manage proper flow and exchange of data and information with convenience. Though emails, telephonic conversations and video conferencing can be essential tools for employees to communicate with each other and work in coordination, still face to face meetings can foster better relationships and provide guidance and support whenever critical situations are needed to be handled. An employee engagement platform is created to improve the collaborative working and align the staffs of the organisation with the shared vision and purpose (Radian.com.sa 2017). This has smoothened the progress of the entire system to develop interpersonal relationships and empower the staffs to bring positive results for the organisation by working together. Not just communication is essential to enhance the working efficiency, but also the ability to respond to changes is needed for fulfilling the demands of the stakeholders. One of the most effective plans for the creation of a collaborative working environment is to enable transparency for defining the roles and responsibilities of the employees and share information to guarantee the participation of the employees and reduce chances of errors to the utmost level possible. Collaborative working could also help in preventing the supply chain risks and make sure that good quality resources were provided for enhancing the manufacturing and production processes (Shin et al. 2012). Innovative approaches to overcome socially constructed barriers Though the issues like lack of ability to conserve energy was not a socially constructed barrier, still it is important for Radian Oil and Gas Company to maintain an optimum level of energy and conserve it properly. The combustion operations were optimised with the burners used with a low level of NOx, which can deliver the best performance. This would also facilitate the working mechanisms of the flame monitoring systems, combustion control and control the fuel-air ratio properly, furthermore measure the water level and implement systems to manage the burning of fuels and conserve energy as much as possible (Sutherland 2013). Al these innovative approaches could allow Radian Oil and Gas company to improve its business operations and processes, ensure consumption of fewer amounts of fuel and even reduce the carbon dioxide emissions largely. Many of the customers believed that not maintaining a balance in combustion could create a negative impact by increasing the ownership cost and even degrade the performance and effectiveness of the operations. All these issues would further increase the cost of fuel, create a sudden shutdown of the systems, increase costs of production, produce high amounts of energy, which might create large amounts of heat and cause pollution too (Vaara and Whittington 2012). To overcome the socially constructed barrier, the company has introduced a patented dual strainer venture steam trapping system, to improve the effectiveness of the oil and gas industry and even reduce the cost of maintenance of boilers. This would further improve the transfer and exchange of heat and energy and make sure that the most suitable amount of energy is used and any other than that is not wasted. There would also be reduced emissions of carbon dioxide, and on the other hand, the need for replacement of failed steam traps could be prevented as well;, furthermore creating energy efficient system that can both conserve energy as well as ensure successful functioning of Radian Oil and Gas Company in Saudi Arabia (Watson 2013). The running of the steam traps would be possible in a better way, furthermore, it could serve as both patented gas turbine and even augment the power supply to enable conservation of energy and overcome issues where high amounts of heat and energy might be generated. There were other socially constructed barriers that have been generated due to the issues related to the industry fundamentals such as macro environment, inappropriate balance between the supply and demand, inaccurate regulatory mechanisms to control the cost of business operations and processes. With the reduction in prices of crude oil, it has also raised a lot of issues and complexities with the flow of trade-related activities and even low quality goods and raw materials delivered by the suppliers (Yingjian et al. 2014). To overcome the issue of lesser market share, Radian Oil and Gas Company must provide the right amounts of wages to the employees and make sure that they are kept motivated, furthermore allowed to communicate with each other and work as an unit to overcome the socially constructed barriers with ease and effectiveness. The waste energy is also a major issue, which can be generated in the form of steam, exhaust gases and even may generate lots of heat due to the high energy consumption. Radian Oil and Gas company has utilised various innovative approaches to make sure that the renewable energy sources are used properly to obtain energy from solar power and with the use of solar water heating systems. The company, in the recent years, has promoted its sustainable approaches by utilizing the fuel cell technology combined with an electrochemical device (Abedin et al. 2013). It has helped in combining the hydrogen fuel or natural gas with the oxygen present in the air to generate electricity, heat and water at a faster rate with much efficacy. The fuel cells have worked like a charm for producing and conserving energy, furthermore put strict rules, regulations and limitations to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide. There are few other innovative approaches undertaken by Radian Oil and Gas company to focus on the needs of customers and at the same time, conserve a lot of energy to create a positive mindset among the customers about the company and develop a healthy environment where people could lead a better life in the future (Abraham 2013). The energy conservation should also allow for finding out new ways of generating energy through environment-friendly approaches and ensure that the needs and expectations of the customers are met, and energy that is conserved can be used for other purposes when needed, in the future. Conclusion Based on the analysis of various aspects related to the management of people and organizational activities, it could be understood that Radian Oil and Gas Company had managed to bring fruitful results by identifying the issues at first and then developing relevant approaches to overcome those properly. The problems were experienced at individual, group and even at the organisational level that not only hindered the successful completion of projects undertaken, but also created socially constructed barriers. Few issues experienced by the organisation were the production of huge amounts of energy and heat, which was needed to be conserved, issues generated due to inappropriate balance maintained between the demand and supply due to fall in oil price and lack of communication problem faced at the group level. The theories used here to discuss the impact of issues and ways of resolving those included McKinsey 7S model, Kotters Eight step model, Lewins theory, etc. Several plans were desi gned as well to improve the efficiency of collaborative working like enabling transparency, diversification of the workplace, the creation of an employee engagement platform, etc. Lastly, few innovative approaches had been discussed here to resolve the issues and even avoid harmful effects on the environment by maintaining a sustainable place in the market. References Abedin, M.J., Masjuki, H.H., Kalam, M.A., Sanjid, A., Rahman, S.A. and Masum, B.M., 2013. Energy balance of internal combustion engines using alternative fuels.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,26, pp.20-33. Abraham, S., 2013. Will business model innovation replace strategic analysis?.Strategy Leadership,41(2), pp.31-38. Baines, T., Lightfoot, H., Smart, P. and Fletcher, S., 2013. Servitization of manufacture: Exploring the deployment and skills of people critical to the delivery of advanced services.Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management,24(4), pp.637-646. Barnaud, C. and Antona, M., 2014. Deconstructing ecosystem services: uncertainties and controversies around a socially constructed concept.Geoforum,56, pp.113-123. Basu, R., 2014. Managing quality in projects: An empirical study.International journal of project management,32(1), pp.178-187. Baumeister, C. and Peersman, G., 2013. The role of time?varying price elasticities in accounting for volatility changes in the crude oil market.Journal of Applied Econometrics,28(7), pp.1087-1109 Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012.Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan. Brindley, C. ed., 2017.Supply chain risk. Taylor Francis. Broadbent, D.E., 2013.Perception and communication. Elsevier. Brounen, D., Kok, N. and Quigley, J.M., 2012. Residential energy use and conservation: Economics and demographics.European Economic Review,56(5), pp.931-945. Chin, M.K., Hambrick, D.C. and Trevio, L.K., 2013. Political ideologies of CEOs: The influence of executives values on corporate social responsibility.Administrative Science Quarterly,58(2), pp.197-232. Coleman, L., 2012. Explaining crude oil prices using fundamental measures.Energy Policy,40, pp.318-324. Cummings, S., Bridgman, T. and Brown, K.G., 2016. Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewins legacy for change management.human relations,69(1), pp.33-60. Davis, G., 2012. A documentary analysis of the use of leadership and change theory in changing practice in early years settings.Early Years,32(3), pp.266-276. Eisenberg, E.M., Goodall Jr, H.L. and Trethewey, A., 2013.Organizational communication: Balancing creativity and constraint. Macmillan Higher Education. Gorran Farkas, M., 2013. Building and sustaining a culture of assessment: best practices for change leadership.Reference services review,41(1), pp.13-31. Haddington, P., Mondada, L. and Nevile, M. eds., 2013.Interaction and mobility: Language and the body in motion(Vol. 20). Walter de gruyter. Hayes, J., 2014.The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan. Jrvenoja, H., Volet, S. and Jrvel, S., 2013. Regulation of emotions in socially challenging learning situations: An instrument to measure the adaptive and social nature of the regulation process.Educational Psychology,33(1), pp.31-58. Kenney, W.F., 2012.Energy conservation in the process industries. Academic Press. Love, P.E., Lopez, R. and Kim, J.T., 2014. Design error management: interaction of people, organisation and the project environment in construction.Structure and Infrastructure Engineering,10(6), pp.811-820. Okfalisa, Alias, R.A., Wong, K.Y. and Chong, S.C., 2012. A knowledge management metrics model for measuring strategy implementation success.International Journal of Business Excellence,5(4), pp.305-322. Ortiz-Cruz, A., Rodriguez, E., Ibarra-Valdez, C. and Alvarez-Ramirez, J., 2012. Efficiency of crude oil markets: Evidences from informational entropy analysis.Energy Policy,41, pp.365-373. Oyedepo, S.O., 2012. Energy and sustainable development in Nigeria: the way forward.Energy, Sustainability and Society,2(1), p.15. Patel, H., Pettitt, M. and Wilson, J.R., 2012. Factors of collaborative working: A framework for a collaboration model.Applied ergonomics,43(1), pp.1-26. Radian.com.sa. (2017). Radian. [online] Available at: https://www.radian.com.sa/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. Shin, S.J., Kim, T.Y., Lee, J.Y. and Bian, L., 2012. Cognitive team diversity and individual team member creativity: A cross-level interaction.Academy of Management Journal,55(1), pp.197-212. Shirey, M.R., 2013. Lewins theory of planned change as a strategic resource.Journal of Nursing Administration,43(2), pp.69-72. Sutherland, K., 2013. Applying Lewin's change management theory to the implementation of bar-coded medication administration.Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics,8(1-2). Vaara, E. and Whittington, R., 2012. Strategy-as-practice: taking social practices seriously.Academy of Management Annals,6(1), pp.285-336. Watson, T., 2013.Management, organisation and employment strategy: new directions in theory and practice. Routledge. Yingjian, L., Qi, Q., Xiangzhu, H. and Jiezhi, L., 2014. Energy balance and efficiency analysis for power generation in internal combustion engine sets using biogas.Sustainable energy technologies and assessments,6, pp.25-33.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof represents a title of a brilliant play composed by Tennessee William, an American playwright. The play focuses on a non-adaptive southern family that is pushed by life to handle concealed deceit and hypocrisy. The issues presented in this play transcend time and realm. William has succeeded in producing a modern tragedy which looks into the consequences of social change, human heart deception and portrayal of the ordinary tragedies that are faced by ordinary people in a dynamic world.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Generally, the play emphasizes tragedy in contemporary troubles such as alcoholism, mendacity, regret, betrayal, bitterness, greed, cancer and death. The play also explores homosexuality and infidelity which in part, play a role in bringing these terrible and sorrowful events. Cat on a Tin Roof is, arguably, A Tragedy. Yet, t his is a somewhat a vague term; broad, certainly. This essay aims to discuss â€Å"tragedy† as presented in various ways in the play. Kolin argues that, the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with its classic antecedents, share a basic principle: â€Å"Man is not the master of his soul. The great decisions are made by forces beyond control (1)†. In the play, superior forces that the characters fight against are biological, social, psychological and economic. As the play commences, one observes that there seems to be lack of communication among the characters as they appear to be suffering from lonesomeness. Tennessee looks to be leery of the alterations in the social measures and household unit dissolution resulting from social and global modifications. This is a fear that is reflected by Big Daddy’s phrase; â€Å"Sometimes I think that a vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with†(122). This basically means that emergence an d development is in accordance with nature but the result brought about by the change is often damaging and unanticipated. Big Daddy, as a matter of fact is an American Dream embodiment and via his character. Tennessee depicts how the society of America has made a sacrifice of all values in the name of the most appealing value in the globe; money. Ambition has an atrocious aspect, and Big Daddy is an achiever in the world of business, but a failure in some other facets. As a human, he has gone wrong by concentrating his small empire upon himself rather than becoming sensitive to the opinions and demands of his family. He acts as though money were his mere value as a man, as evidenced by this; â€Å"Y’know how much I’m worth? Guess Brick! Guess how much I’m worth!† His being a failure in other aspects and a sorrowful character is by itself a form of tragedy (Kolin 122).† A conspicuous battle ensues in Big Daddy as he makes an effort as a father, to m ake advances Brick just as a caring dad goes up to his son, revealing his inmost affection and anxiety. The struggle is betwixt his great affection for his boy and his finding the facts, and the mindset of his miserable upbringing by which the dad was normally a removed and an unreachable figure.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The stage directions of the play hints this; â€Å"glancing quickly, shyly, from time to time, at his son†, â€Å"pressing his head quickly, shyly against his son’s head, then coughing with embarrassment†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this implies that he is embarrassed to display affection, which displays a form of tragedy within himself (Kolin 134). Via the difficulties experienced by Brick and his father to freely converse about the matter, deficiency in message conveyance is exhibited thus resulting to desolation and closing off. The two men continu ously talk while saying nothing of importance and not paying attention to each other at all, as pointed out by Brick’s speech; â€Å"We talk, you talk in circles! We get nowhere, nowhere!† (124) Big Daddy is however determined to converse with his son and he says, â€Å"Don’t let’s- leave it like this, like them other talks we’ve had†¦it’s always like something was left not spoken†. To some extent, the two men are tragic characters. At the earlier stages of the play, there is a family gathering aimed at celebrating the patriarch sixth-fifth birthday of Big Daddy when they barely discover that he had cancer and they start to quarrel and finally had to deal with many other prevarications and hypocrisy in their livings. The destiny of Big Daddy is determined by cancer for which he battles his life against. Meanwhile, Mae and Gooper compete against Maggie for the inheritance that insures economic security in the materialistic society apathetic to the needs of the poor. Big daddy has never made a will and now he is on the brink of dying thus he might end up having inheritance disputes within his family (Kolin 127). The tragedy of existence makes the troubles of Brick to look petty. Brick’s troubles however, are directly associated to the reality that exalted him at one time and he so much adored that he took on its entire preconception. When he had grown old and imperfect, the very world dropped him as a hot brick. At once the reality sickened him, and was displeased for becoming its part, and therefore he set himself apart. Contrariwise, Big Daddy learned to assume the untruthfulness of living, and this hard-boiled and made him misanthropic. Brick attempts to define himself either as homo or heterosexual. Simultaneously, as an idealistic individual, he tries to wage war with a realistic society of America (Kolin 122).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof specifical ly for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Brick has become unhappy, unemotional, detached and hard to get on with ever since the death of his friend Skipper. He becomes a drunk and nobody, not even Maggie, his wife, could make him happy. He badly misses Skipper and blames himself on what happened to his friend thence sees alcohol as the only remedy to his sorrow. The reason why Brick is very bitter toward life is that he feels there are lies all over in his life which are impossible to get away from. He believes that his wife betrayed him with his closest friend, Skipper. Moreover, everybody was lying about the condition of his father and his family including his brother, are doing all that is possible to make sure that they inherit his father’s fortune after he passes on. With all this occupying his mind, he finds it best to become unemotional and detach himself from his entire family and life. He supposes that if he drinks into oblivion each da y of his life, then it will come to pass or he will have nothing to deal with at the least. From his past happy life, Bricks life turned into hell- it had an unhappy ending which brings in the definition of tragic. Due to him not responding to his friend’s call for help, Skipper died leading to his tragic end (Kolin 122-126). Another victim who suffers tragedy is Maggie, Bricks wife. She is constantly rejected by her husband who is supposed to love and comfort her as a soul mate; therefore she suffers that tragedy of rejection and loneliness. When Maggie complains about the trail that their marriage is taking, Brick coldly tells her to have an outside affair if she so wished to have sexual satisfaction. He goes on to tell her that they only shared a roof because she wanted to and had agreed to do so only in name, â€Å"I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to! Now, you keep forgetting the conditions on which I agreed to stay on living with you.† Such t reatment is inappropriate regarding the reality that they were man and wife; hence Maggie continually suffered silently. Maggie on her part is unwilling to go out and have an affair. She opts to remain â€Å"a cat on a hot tin roof† till her husband appreciates her. While being angry and frustrated with the entire situation, she hopes that her husband would change for the better. She does not seem to matter to Brick at all as he becomes bitter and cold toward her and is amazed that Maggie could actually want to bear child with a man who does not love her (Kolin 123). This is truly a tragedy in that it is an unhappy event in life. Families are perhaps the most difficult to understand in human relationships. In the play, they seem to lend themselves towards tragedy naturally. Tennessee’s family greed tragedy is encountered when the news of Big Daddy’s illness is learned of. Mae and Gooper want to gain Big Daddy’s favor and they aim to achieve this by discre diting Maggie and Brick. They claim that they have five kids with the sixth one on the way while Brick and Maggie do not have any (Kolin 128-130).Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This way, they are trying to impersonate that the estate of Big Daddy will be in good hands with the responsible family members, â€Å"Suspicious of her greedy, prolific relatives who have produced five grandchildren for Big Daddy, she explains to him why they have assembled – to battle over the vast inheritance of the 28,000 acre Mississippi cotton plantation/estate†¦ (131)† The two form a team of public relations, blandishing Big Daddy as they tear down their contenders at every opportunity. They always take caution in maintaining their polite and civilized appearance while betraying Big Daddy’s back. Doctor Baugh and Reverend Tooker also portray the same traits as Mae and Gooper while hoping to be included in the will (Kolin 122). The characters’ stories in the play is in reality a mere means through which Tennessee delivers his message and captures the volatile depth of feelings experienced by groups of people during times of crises. Tragedy, bas ically defined as an unhappy ending of an event or a sorrowful character with a disastrous conclusion, has been dealt with by Tennessee in his play. The discussed fateful events can be summarized as; the rich Big Daddy who is now facing a terminal illness and a broken family, Brick who once valued and enjoyed life but has turned to an alcoholic due to his friend’s death, Maggie who hopes to be loved and treated well by her husband but all is in vain, and finally Mae and Gooper who hope to acquire the inheritance. They have been pushed to battle for the inheritance by their economic situation, thus it is unfortunate that they do not possess enough wealth given the fact that they have many children. Conclusively, the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is indeed a play filled with tragedy. Works Cited Williams, Tennessee. Tennessee Williams: A Guide to Research and Performance. Trans. Philip Kolin. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998. Print This essay on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was written and submitted by user Wyatt Gibson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof The fundamentals of the play While discussing Tennessee Williams’s play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I would like to highlight some fundamentals of the author’s work. First of all, I would like to point out that at the first time the play seems to be easy to read; however, it is only the first impression. Generally, there are a lot of complicated themes the author discloses in the play.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In my opinion, all the works written by Tennessee Williams reflect some biographical data. For instance, everybody knows that the playwright’s father was an adventurous and an alcoholic, and his mother was a submissive, but hysterical woman. So, how these facts can be interpreted? First of all, I have to admit that these data have direct relation to the plot of the play. While reading Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, it becomes obvious that one of the main characters, Brick was an alcoholic. When speaking about the author’s relations with his mother, one can make a conclusion that feminist aspects must be considered in depth. Of course, nobody will deny the fact that the play is based on the author’s personal experience. The author reflected his inner world and the feelings he experienced when being a child. The thesis statement The major themes the author discloses in his plays are related to sexual violence, family and financial constraints. When speaking about Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, one is to keep in mind that the key aspects Tennessee Williams highlights are associated with â€Å"undertones of emotional, sexual, and spiritual need that are apparent in his character Maggie the Cat† (Fellows 1). The basic points of an analysis According to the plot of the play, Brick doesn’t support any relations with his wife; this point gives us an opportunity to suppose that lack of desire by husband a nd Maggie’s social standing can be explained by the time period in which Tennessee Williams’s play was written. To my mind, one of the key themes of the play is considered to be absence of mutual respect and support.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It is obvious throughout the script of the play that everyone has their own agenda in the family, and no one is really there to support each other as a normal family should be† (â€Å"Cat On a Hot Tin Roof: Plot and Theme† par. 3). The first family, which includes Brick and Margaret, is not rich; moreover, Brick aggravates financial situation in his family. The second family, which includes Gooper and Mae, is selfish. The most interesting fact, however, is that nobody wants to become a real family. Nobody understands what the term unity means and how important this word for both families.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On th e other hand, it seems that the author added some elements of humor in his play. Thus, it is really funny to observe how hostile all characters are. Although, it seems that Tennessee Williams’s humor was not healthy, unfortunately†¦The fact that all characters are against each other is not comical, anyway. In Cat, Maggie probably does love Brick, Big Mama probably does love Big Daddy, and Brick loves Skipper and Big Daddy as surely as they have loved him. Yet the lies separating those who would love are not easily vanquished. In this web of familial, fraternal and marital relationships, Williams finds only psychic ruin, as terminal as Big Daddy’s cancer and as inexorable as the greed that is devouring the romantic Old South (Crandell 124).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In my opinion, it is uncertainty in family relationships which brough t fatal consequences. On the other hand, it is not a secret that psychological support is one of the most important things people need to be happy. In spite of the fact that Gooper and Mae were selfish for the wealth and had established jobs they were not happy. They had normal home setting; however, they lost the most important thing in family relations – they didn’t respect the strongest feeling in the world. On the contrary, they didn’t understand what they lost and what their real trouble was. Another important theme of the play I would like to touch on is homosexuality. Taking into account the time period in which the play was written (1955), one can suppose that the second theme seems to be hidden. On the one hand, there is nothing unusual that Brick and Skipper were best friends. However, one is to keep in mind that they were extremely close friends and Brick’s wife became jealous because of such friendship. â€Å"It is obvious Brick does not appr eciate the devotion of Maggie. He is in a state of denial about life (and his possible sexual orientation and attraction to Skipper) and has degraded Maggie since the beginning of the relationship† (Fellows 1). So, again feminist aspect takes place. There many critical articles concerning the play Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. In my opinion, the author reflects the conflict of the personality; so, a person’s inner problems and isolations caused unstable family relations. Thus, there is a need to remember the author’s childhood and the time period when he acquired poor social skills and most of his peers referred to him as ‘Miss Nancy’ (Londre 20). The conclusion Unfortunately, the driving force the main characters rely on is recognized to be some kind of lie. For instance, Mae and Gooper who are selfish for wealth lie not only to each other, but to other people who surround them. Of course, their lie is related to their affection for Big Mama’s husba nd. Moreover, it is evident that they neglect the fact that Big Daddy hates all their children and doesn’t like Gooper. On the other hand, Big Daddy can’t understand the basic reasons of the so-called pretence. Taking into account the previous paragraph, I suppose that another important theme of the author’s play is considered to be the conflict between honesty and lie. This is a global theme, and in some way, one can call the theme unique, as it existed at all times.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Generally, I think Tennessee Williams is really a psychologist. He reveals the truth, the brutal reality and discloses helplessness of other characters. Let’s consider one of the examples: BIG MAMA: You don’t mean that! BIG DADDY: What makes you think I don’t mean it? BIG MAMA: I just know you don’t mean it. BIG DADDY: You don’t know a goddam thing and you never did! BIG MAMA: Big Daddy, you don’t mean that (Williams 77). This dialogue shows us that Big Daddy’s wife has no arguments to prove her thoughts or ideas. She doesn’t want to accept her husband’s brutality and denies his words. All the characters do the same; unfortunately, they can’t be honest and destroy their lives with their own hands. Works Cited â€Å"Cat On a Hot Tin Roof: Plot and Theme.† The Pennsylvania State University. Web. Crandell, George W., ed. The Critical Response to Tennessee Williams. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. Questia. Web. Fellows, Niki. Feminist Analysis of â€Å"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof†, n.d. Web. Londre, Hardison. Tennessee Williams. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishers, 1979. Print Williams, Tennessee. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1955. Print This essay on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was written and submitted by user Gianna Rosales to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

European Exploration and Trade Essay Example

European Exploration and Trade Essay Example European Exploration and Trade Essay European Exploration and Trade Essay There was once a time in our history, before computerized maps and satellites and tracking programs. Sailors had to guide themselves by the stars and very basic and inaccurate maps. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Europe there was advancement in technology and learning that led to widespread exploration and trade among countries. The introduction of the compass, advancements in cartography, the printing press, and other inventions led to increased trade and exploration throughout Europe. Before the fifteenth century, sailors often didn’t venture far from what they knew because maps were extremely inaccurate and weather was unpredictable. In the fourteenth century a style of maps, called portolon charts, were introduced. These were pictures of harbors, ports, cities, and coastlines inscribed on sheepskin. These maps were valuable to the merchant and traders between cities, but to the explorer changing continents they were basically useless. The compass was also a major improvement to previous methods. Before this invention, sailors used the stars to navigate and stay on their somewhat planned course. However, during the day they were at a loss. When the compass was invented, it allowed sailors to know their bearing all the time. People soon learned to notice and pay more attention to weather patterns while sailing. They discovered the trade winds among the seas and noted where they were in relation to each other and what their effects on shipping were. The winds caused either a faster and smoother trip or a longer and rougher voyage, depending on the direction of the ship and the wind involved. This was an advancement to previous methods because they now knew what to expect and prepare for instead of guessing or being surprised. They could also plan routes and try new routes. This led to a period of time called the Age of Sail. The printing press was one of the biggest and most important inventions of this time period. Before, literature and documents were scarce and not very common. After the printing press was introduced, literary works and various types of documents were more available to the common person. This encouraged people to become more educated because they now had the means to do it. The printing press also had an effect on cartography. Because maps had to be either inscribed or drawn, they were rare and not very public. After the printing press, maps were able to be duplicated and shared with other cartographers. In doing this, they could compare their maps with other peoples and create a newer and more accurate representation of the land and sea. This caused people to become more sure and trusting of these maps, making them venture out further than they had before, thus increasing trade. The design and size of ships were also changing during this time. The Europeans began to incorporate the methods of other countries, such as China, into their own shipbuilding process. One change was the multiple sails on the ship which allowed for better upwind travel. The all-in-one rudder was also a major improvement because it allowed for easier and faster steering and better control and stability of the keel. All in all, various changes and improvements occurred during this time. Inventions and improvements such as map making, compasses, understanding of weather patterns, and the printing press were all factors in the increase in exploration and trade in Europe.

Develop Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Develop - Assignment Example This includes those functioning in learning & memory, motivation & appreciation and inhibitory regulation over character. Because drug abuse and addiction comes in many ways and interfere with one’s personal life, treatment is difficult. Proper treatment programs involve many components. The components are specific to aspects of the illness and its effects. Treatment must help the victim stop using drugs, maintain a normal lifestyle and become a productive individual in the society, at work and with family. As addiction is a chronic illness, individuals cannot just seize using drugs shortly and be cured. Most victims need prolonged or continuous care to achieve the main goal of sustainable recovery from addiction. When a person is fighting with drug addiction, sobriety may be a difficult goal to achieve. However, recovery is a viable option. It never depends on the situation or failures. Everyone is susceptible to change given the correct treatment, care and appropriate examination of the root causes (John, 2011). Many individuals with a struggle in dealing with addiction, the first step mainly for the addicts remains to be the decision to seek for change. Conflict in the choices an individual makes the biggest and the most vital step towards recovery of drug and substance abuse. There are several things, which the individual requires to comprehend before embarking on recovery phase. Commitment remains the absolute solution for the recovery phase. The activities requiring change include: People with addiction problems may view themselves as not ready for the required change of quitting. Several factors require comprehension before the individual is ready to change. The process is usually a long-term thing and requires time. Commitment, motivation and support are the most vital key factors require consideration. Upon contemplation there are several points that an individual can rely on to achieve full recovery, these are: The change