Does Music Really Create Better Students Education Essay

In 1981 Bob Marley died of malignant melanoma, a unsafe malignant neoplastic disease found in the toe. â€Å" He was a large musical figure to the universe: his music spoke to an exhausted and oppressed coevals that had experienced incredible poorness, racism, hungriness, and force † ( HistoryWorld 2 ) .A Bob Marley ‘s lazy, loosen uping reggae music connected non merely with his Jamaican chaps, but besides to the young person in the United States and Western Europe so efficaciously that he was looked upon as one of the most influential political figures in the western world.A Bob Marley, a hapless Jamaican Rastafarian of 30 old ages, was lifted to a place of unofficial but immensely important political power by nil more than his religious, socially cognizant music.A Bob Marley is one of many instrumentalists that have proved that music can hold a profound consequence on many facets of humanity. Music is the most common linguistic communication in the western world.A Books must be translated, addresss interpreted, symbols and hand-gestures explained.A Music, on the other manus, is different.A American, Chinese, Russian, Italian, and German instrumentalists all â€Å" read † and â€Å" hear † the same music, â€Å" enchantment † chords the same manner, and know the same musical â€Å" alphabet. â€Å" A The alone uniformity of music makes it the lone linguistic communication that can be understood at face value by, rather literally, everyone who hears it.A While music is heard, on the most basic degree, uniformly by every hearer, it is wholly unfastened to reading. A It is about certain that each and every hearer who hears the exact same composing, in the exact manner, at the exact same clip, will construe it in a wholly original way.A A A A A A A The uniformity of linguistic communication and originality of reading that music provides causes it to unite both the logical â€Å" left-brain † and the originative â€Å" right-brain † in ways which no other medium renders possible.A For illustration, Miles Davis ‘s legendary free wind album Bitches Brew was captured in one recording and is wholly improvisational with perfectly zero anterior planning.A The antonym, nevertheless, can be seen in the preciseness and technically pristine playing of the great classical fiddle ace, Itzhak Perlman.A Both Davis and Perlman are playing nil but the standard 12 notes found in the musical alphabet.A Both exhausted countless hours for the huge bulk of their lives practising their trade, honing their accomplishments, analyzing the elaboratenesss of music theory, and the natural philosophies of their peculiar instruments.A The consequences of all of this pain-staking research and pattern, when interpreted and utilized by two d ifferent heads, are entire opposites.A On the one manus, the consequence is musical flawlessness – on the other, its opposite.A Both are superb, both are rooted in a really scientific and precise survey of music, both are wholly originally and are really different from one another.A This unusual combination of logic and creativeness becomes increasing apparent when music is utilized in the acquisition procedure and makes music critical portion of a kid ‘s instruction due to its consequence on concluding abilities and possible as a larning tool in many scenes. â€Å" Music is a powerful tool and as seen can dramatically better and enrich everybody. It makes sense to force music instruction and to let immature coevalss to derive these fantastic benefits – higher intelligence through increased originative thought, job resolution and physically stronger encephalons, a higher perceptual experience of life including better attitudes, strong desires to accomplish and carry through and higher ego esteem, better developed subject, survey accomplishments, concentration, communicating and squad accomplishments which transfer from instruction through to career and a better apprehension of communities and society † ( Guth 1 ) . A Music holds tremendous potency for helping in the educational process.A At the root of music ‘s possible as an educational tool is the alone manner that affects the human brain.A In recent old ages, scientists have made amazing finds demoing that music has a significant consequence on a hearer ‘s concluding abilities.A Scientists have been analyzing the effects of music on persons ‘ concluding abilities since the Gallic scientist Dr. Albert Tomatis began analyzing the effects of music composed by Amadeus Mozart on autistic kids in the late 1950's.A Children were trained to prove out how music effects their public presentations. At the terminal of preparation, all the kids were able to execute simple tunes by Beethoven and Mozart. When they did â€Å" they were so subjected to spatial-temporal logical thinking trials calibrated for age, and their public presentation was more than 30 % better than that of kids of similar age given either computing machine lessons f or 6 months or no particular preparation. † ( Bridgett 3 ) Since so legion scientist at the helm of legion surveies have concluded non merely that music has a positive consequence on the encephalon ‘s capacity to believe critically, but that music can arouse drastic alterations in temper and heed. A survey published in May of 2001 by Atkinson College ‘s Psychology Department examined the cogency of the Mozart Effect.A The research workers tested the effects of listening to a bright, up-tempo piece of music on spacial logical thinking and compared them to the effects of listening to a slow, sad piece of music.A They measured non merely the participants ‘ ability to ground following hearing to the piece but besides the consequence that the piece had on their mood.A They found that those who listened to the sad music experienced feelings of ennui or unhappiness and performed significantly worse on the concluding trial. The survey concluded that music ‘s consequence on concluding and test-taking abilities is really a bypr oduct of the effects music has on mood.A They concluded that the Mozart Effect resulted in â€Å" an sweetening of spatial-temporal logical thinking public presentation after listening to Mozart ‘s music for 10 proceedingss depends on the person and the particular undertakings chosen. † ( Bridgett 6 ) Then In 2008 the Osaka School of Medicine conducted a survey that expanded on this concept.A The 2008 survey examined topics ‘ encephalons as they listened to music.A This survey focused on the key of the music and its consequence on the brain.A The survey found that music composed in a major manner ( which tends to sound â€Å" happier † ) reduces emphasis degrees and can greatly cut down mental weariness which can halter the encephalon ‘s ability to treat information and do decisions.A Music composed in a minor manner ( which tends to sound â€Å" sad † ) besides had a positive consequence on the encephalon but non to the same extent.A A While the music does impact the human encephalon unusually and positively, the possible benefits music can convey to pupils are non limited to its mensurable impact on the brain.A Music is besides an effectual tool for larning a assortment of accomplishments that are good to pupils ‘ mundane lives in the long term, including logical thinking and analytical abilities, teamwork, and discipline.A One accomplishment that music helps to learn that is really closely related to its antecedently mentioned effects on encephalon chemical science is by conditioning pupils to look at and analyze state of affairss creatively.A Music presents an remarkably synergistic and entertaining manner of learning pupils to believe critically and to work out jobs that are frequently abstract and subjective in nature.A â€Å" The substance of drama in really immature kids is normally comprised of the environmental objects and experiences to which they have been exposed. If the music environment is sufficiently rich, there will be a uninterrupted and of all time richer spiral of exposure to new musical elements followed by the kid ‘s playful experimentation with these elements. † ( Suda 6 ) Music instantly teaches pupils to do abstract associations between what their fingers do and what they hear come out of their instrument.A Students can instantly get down, merely by larning a simple tune that they hear on a regular footing ( Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, etc. ) , larning to organize and do these associations.A Once pupils learn to read music an wholly new kingdom of possibility is opened.A Students so get down doing associations between what they read on the piece of music, what note they are to play ( A, C # , D, Bb, etc. ) what their fingers should make to properly p lay the note ( on many instruments this may affect a determination between to feasible methods of playing the same note ) , and what the note will sound like in context.A When reading music, nevertheless, this melodious reading is accompanied by an every bit of import rhythmic reading.A A A A A A A Rhythm is highly of import to any piece of music and is an effectual tool for learning fractions and division.A Being able to split is critical to being able to read rhythms.A The basic rhythmic pulsation of a piece of music is called the beat.A You may detect a performing artist ‘s pes tapping as he plays.A Performers frequently tap their pes on each round or every other beat.A The velocity with which the beats pass is called the pacing. Throughout a work, the music will be notated with a series of specific types of notes.A Among these are whole notes, half notes, one-fourth notes, and 8th notes.A In 4/4 or â€Å" common clip, † if a note is marked with a whole note the note will be held for four beats.A If marked with a half note it will be held for half of four beats.A In order to decently read a beat a pupil must larn how to divide.A Harmonizing to a recent survey on a school, â€Å" 76 per centum of kids enrolled in the music plan performed above norm on their math ematical scrutinies † ( Edarticle.com 2 ) . This clearly makes rhythm an effectual tool for larning peculiar mathematical accomplishments. More of import than the specific accomplishments that reading music and rhythm aid to learn is the fact that public presentation of a piece of written music requires insistent and changeless exercise of these skills.A A While reading a piece of music a individual must travel through all the associations necessary to play a note that they see written and at the same time analyze the peculiar rhythmic marker and keep the note for the proper duration.A Before the note has been sounding for its full continuance, the performing artist or pupil must already be treating the following note and finding its proper rhythmic value.A A piece of music every bit simple as â€Å" Jingle Bells † will necessitate a pupil to do this association over one hundred times.A Scientists have discovered that larning to read music or play a musical instrument develops higher believing skills.A † The kid who is skilled at music excels at problem-solving, rating, and analysis.A Music reading uses the same part of the encephalon that ‘s used in mathematical thought † ( Schellenberg 4 ) .A That ‘s why so many adept instrumentalists are besides rather good in math.A Music requires changeless mental exercising that can fix the head with the ability to do split-second analyses in any state of affairs. A A A Not merely does music promote a pupil to work independently, it besides encourages pupils to join forces with others and work as portion of a team.A For most kids, athleticss squads are the lone chance to larn how to work as portion of a team.A Sports, nevertheless, are highly limited in their ability to provide different ability levels.A Sports tend to offer squads for really specific age degrees and, at each interval, there is a really limited scope of accomplishment levels.A This often consequences in the exclusion of kids who, due to their physical properties or skill degree, can non maintain gait with the rate at which other kids their age learn.A Sports, by nature, are besides highly competitive.A This competition consequences in competition non merely between squads, but between team-mates and consequences in the exclusion of kids who can non efficaciously assist their squad win.A â€Å" Music allows people of all ages and accomplishment degrees to take part and join fo rces † ( Guth 1 ) . Unlike athleticss, which is limited to athletic peoples, music is something that ensures people that no affair what their ability degree or when they began to larn about music, can bask the educational benefits that music offers.A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Music may besides be used to profit pupils in the survey of History.A It is important for a pupil to hold a thorough apprehension of the societal and cultural context of a historical event if he or she is to understand it completely.A For this ground CollegeBoard has stated that the surveies of â€Å" cultural, economic, political, and societal developments and artistic look and rational discourse are the main aims of their Advanced Placement European classs † ( Collegeboard.com 1 ) .A Music is a microcosm of the society that produces it, and is, hence, reveals much about the thoughts and doctrines of a clip period.A The late seventeenth century and the mid eighteenth century were know as the â€Å" Age of Enlightenment † a clip of progressive idea and philosophy.A This is apparent in the music of the time.A Around the bend of that century came the morning of the Classical Period.A This was a clip of complex, yet subdued music.A Composers like Wolf gang Mozart and Franz Shubert composed spectacularly complex and intellectually stimulating music that reflected the meditative, subdued philosophical nature of much of European society. In short, music is intended to be a vehicle for self-expression and in a universe where so much history is left off the functionary record, music is the lone penetration we have into the elaboratenesss of society that would otherwise be lost forever.A Exposure to the music of different civilizations and even different categories or societies within a peculiar civilization shows us how the universe looked through the eyes of those who were at that place and helps us to understand the societal context of the events that we study in history category. A A A A A A A A A A A Music is besides utile in the survey of English, much in the same manner that it ‘s utile in the survey of History.A Literature and music, over the class of history, both evolve as parts of larger artistic movements.A Romanticism, Impressionism, Realism, and other artistic motions all have distinguishable features that are seeable through the scrutiny of all artistic media.A For case, Romantic authors wrote about the extremes of human emotion.A Edgar Allen Poe wrote of horror and enigma and many other authors wrote of freedom, joy, hatred, fright, and the full spectrum of human emotion.A â€Å" Music of the Romantic period explored the same full scope through the usage of complex, modulating harmoniousness and wild swings in pacing and dynamic † ( HistoryWorld 8 ) A Through the observation of music of assorted clip periods and civilizations, much can be learned about the larger artistic motions of which plants of literature were a portion. Music ‘s possible educational benefits are countless, but doing these benefits accessible to kids can show rather a challenge.A There are, nevertheless, several ways that music can be made more readily available to students.A The first and most straightforward manner to advance music instruction is to do instruments more available to pupils outside of the classroom.A Music instruction is often available through private teachers but, due to fiscal or other restraints, is frequently non a feasible option.A In the past 50 old ages, direction in the humanistic disciplines have alternately ascended and descended in their popularity, verve, and support, particularly in the K-12 classs. â€Å" Music has taken some of the biggest and more frequent cuts among the humanistic disciplines due, in great portion, to the high costs of sheet music and instrument purchase and fix. Other humanistic disciplines direction such as ocular humanistic disciplines, dance, and choir have suffered great ly from clip to clip, but music seems to hold taken the greatest hit † ( Guth 2 ) . Many of these establishments, are sustained by authorities money or the contributions of private citizens.A This greatly limits the support that is available for new extracurricular activities or the enlargement of those that are in topographic point already. A A A A A A A A A A A A Integrating music into the current instruction system would let for the sweetening of the nucleus capable affair upon which simple, in-between, and high school instruction is based.A While music ‘s utilizations as a instruction aide do it highly utile, incorporating musical analysis into the nucleus course of study would let pupils to enrich their instructions and would besides expose them to a linguistic communication that is genuinely cosmopolitan and is proven to heighten their heads ability to analyse and reason.A The usage of music in the instruction in some signifier or another will expose pupils to a sophisticated cosmopolitan art-form that is both aesthetically and practically valuable.

Popular Culture Media and Society: Culture Jamming Essay

Introduction â€Å"Culture jamming† is a strategy often utilized by the anti-globalization movement in the creation and reappropriation of memes, or memorable and persistent ideas. Traditional culture jamming strategies have included a variety of actions, ranging from billboard liberation, wherein artists reclaim billboards as public space, to media activism, wherein activists attempt to garner news coverage through some form of direct action in order to have their message heard. Additional tactics such as spoof advertisements geared to mock a particular brand or industry and branding removal, wherein activists remove all marks of branding from products, have also been deployed. Culture jammers attempt to expose the norms of western industrial society and call them into question but often their attempts are not popular enough to reach a large audience and encourage a large scale questioning of the status quo. The goals of the culture jamming community are to introduce new norms into societies that effectively turn back the meanings of current social norms. Despite the best intentions of those working within the movement, traditional culture jamming rarely makes it into popular culture and is thus often thwarted in the attempt to successfully challenge the norms perpetuated by globalization. The purpose of this study is to examine the ways in which culture jamming that permeates the media and crosses the line from subculture to pop culture can challenge hegemonic structures of power while simultaneously reinforcing those challenges by increasing their popularity. Through the study of popular culture artifacts from a variety of genres I hope to determine whether or not popular culture may serve as an effective strategic forum for the introduction of culture jamming artifacts, as opposed to the traditional and more subversive tactics being deployed by culture jammers. Towards an Understanding of Culture Jamming Culture jamming and studies of culture jamming have typically focused on the ability of an activist group or individual to effectively redeploy the signs and symbols of a dominant system in a manner that disrupts their meaning and critiques the overall system from which the symbols originate. In his recently republished 1993 pamphlet on culture jamming, Mark Dery (2001) states that culture jammers: †¦ introduce noise into the signal as it passes from transmitter to receiver, encouraging idiosyncratic, unintended interpretations. Intruding on the intruders, they invest ads, newscasts, and other media artifacts with subversive meanings; simultaneously, they decrypt them, rendering their seductions impotent (para. 36). From Dery’s perspective culture jamming can be seen as actions or artifacts that are politically or subversively charged. Jamming can range from parody to media gags, but always aims to make a statement against a particular target of power or popularity within a culture. Similarly, semiotic theorist Umberto Eco (1984) advocates that one form of media can be utilized to spread criticism pointed at another type of medium in order to â€Å"restore a critical dimension to passive reception† (p. 138). Eco refers to acts and artifacts that have this potential to be part of â€Å"semiotic guerilla warfare.† The signs and symbols of a culture are open to interpretation. While within a culture there may be a common meaning for these signs and symbols within a culture that meaning is not set in stone. A sign or a symbol may be used to contradict its own popular meaning. Thus we can see how semiotics plays an important role in developing tools for the toolbox of the culture jammer. The lack of fixed meaning in the signs we see on a daily basis allow culture jammers to turn back symbols as semiotic weapons against their creators. Kalle Lasn (2000) defines culture jamming as the demarketing of marketing. As the founder of Adbusters magazine, Lasn has pushed for the reclaiming and redeployment of particular brand names, icons, and advertising campaigns through a process known to culture jammers as subvertising. Lasn explains in his book, Culture Jam that culture jammers utilize Debord’s notion of detournement, or turning back specific aspects of a spectacle against itself. In the case of culture jamming, brands and their advertising are turned back upon themselves to reveal questions and inconsistencies about a particular advertiser’s ideals as seen through its campaigns. Lasn (2000) also claims that successful culture jamming can function as a pincer movement utilizing both high profile media campaigns that challenge industry in combination with grass roots campaigns for local action. The challenge to an industry or target combined with encouragement of behavioral change has the potential to change the perception of the target on a broad scale while also reducing support for the target. A well-organized pincer will get millions of people thinking about their lives—about eating better, driving less, jumping off the fashion treadmill, downshifting. Eventually the national mood will evolve (pg136). Lasn’s pincer attack attempts to make that which is currently chic or popular in a society unpopular on a massive scale. As fewer people within the society buy into the imagery of a particular industry or brand the industry loses financial support and must either change its practices or face rejection by the community at large. Lasn has spear headed grass roots campaigns such as â€Å"Buy Nothing Day;† an annual campaign urging consumers to avoid buying anything on the last Friday of November (a date commonly known among retailers as â€Å"Black Friday† as it often marks record profits for retailers as a result of holiday shopping). Lasn combines this grassroots campaign with thirty-second television ad spots on CNN each year as well as more locally oriented promotion such as fliers that activists can print off the Internet and disseminate at will. Christine Harold (2004) claims that the culture jammer â€Å"seeks to undermine the marketing rhetoric of multinational corporations, specifically through such practices as media hoaxing, corporate sabotage, billboard ‘liberation,’ and trademark infringement† (p. 190). These strategies are used by jammers in an effort to â€Å"glut the system† by supplying audiences with contradictory messages. Their goal is to generate a qualitative change in the minds of the audience about the subject matter targeted. Harold (2004) critiques traditional culture jamming as a rhetorical strategy because it often relies upon revelation of hidden truths and rejection of the systems it attempts to play upon. In her analysis, Harold specifically indicts Lasn’s publications and others who deploy parody or direct negation of corporate logos in their attempts to cause questioning of norms. Reliance on parody as a mechanism for revealing truth requires audiences to deconstruct the common meaning of a sign with little to work with but the sign itself. Additionally, parody causes a commitment to rhetorical binaries that articulate rejection of the targeted idea with little room for the idea to be reframed. Dominant powers within a criticized system can easily utilize these tactics for their own means. The reliance on a recognized symbol helps to maintain its cultural prominence. The rhetorical binary used by culture jammers allows the targeted entity to easily deflect criticism and quash the questioning of norms. While Adbusters and activists of similar ideology may put forth a message of rebellion and rejection corporate targets can use these concepts of rebellion and rejection to sell their products. Recent advertisements for Sprite illustrate this concept well as they focus on rejecting celebrity culture and embracing one’s own character by purchasing the product. Harold (2004) advocates a more appropriative approach to culture jamming seeks to be appropriated by commercial media in order to redirect the focus of dominant media systems. Much of Harold’s argument focuses on the value of media activism via prank, pointing to groups such as the Barbie Liberation Organization (BLO) and Biotic Baking Brigade (BBB) as groups that have successfully received positive media coverage through their pranks. Clearly, we can see that culture jamming may be an effective strategy for putting dominant hierarchies, organizations, and systems into question. However, Reinsborough and Harold (2004) both raise interesting points in terms of the effectiveness of the strategy, with Harold illustrating the problems of strategies that are not appropriative and Reinsborough recognizing that subversive media strategies (such as those Harold advocates) are often limited in scope. When considering Reinsborough’s (2003) usage of the word meme the concept that he is referring to is not necessarily identical to that articulated by memetic theorists. Susan Blackmore (1999) has broadly defined memes as â€Å"everything that you have learned by imitation† (pg6). The definition of imitation from a memetic perspective should not be confused with â€Å"copycat† acts. Instead, imitation should be seen as memes passing from one mind to another. In his article on culture jammers and the World Wide Web, Stephen Downes (1999) defines the meme as a â€Å"contagious idea that spreads from one mind to another† (para. 2). He articulates that memes are a way to represent the ideas contained within advertising and explains that in order for ideas to take hold in one’s mind they must appeal to the audience in a way that helps them to be remembered. Similarly, Kalle Lasn (2000) speaks of â€Å"infotoxins,† or â€Å"infoviruses,† that permeate dominant media forums. Lasn claims that disinformation is propagated through media and public relations spin resulting in the establishment of incorrect beliefs about the world. In one example, Lasn refers to the media’s portrayal of anti-automobile activists as limiters of personal freedom as a contributing factor in the failure of activists to popularize their message. The movement becomes unable to stimulate a mindset shift towards a culture that is less dependent upon petroleum products. As the activists are seen as â€Å"anti-freedom† harms they are attempting to solve such as global warming are not taken seriously. Additionally, he argues that while the effects of global warming can be seen on both local and global scales, disinformation that has been spread through dominant media forums has led to a sense of complacency about the issue in the minds of Americans. Lasn believes these â€Å"infoviruses† are untruthful memes that must be challenged through the production of counteractive memes that outperform those that movements wish to question. â€Å"We build our own meme factory, put out a better product and beat the corporations at their own game. We identify the macromemes and the metamemes—the core ideas without which a sustainable future is unthinkable—and deploy them† (pg124). Both Reinsborough (2003) and Lasn (2000) seem to be identifying that memes are memorable and popular concepts that have the ability to be spread in order to transform cultural norms. Blackmore (1999) and Downes (1999) clearly illustrate that memes are made up of ideas that are picked up from popular culture and imitated. The process of culture jamming can be seen as one generating memes that hold a meaning that challenges existing norms. To return to the analogy of the gene, culture jamming can be seen as a form of â€Å"memetic engineering† with a goal of producing a dominant and meaningful meme that causes new â€Å"traits,† or meanings, to become exemplified within a culture. Understanding the Transformative Potential of Popular Culture Communication and mass media scholars have examined the extent to which popular culture may contribute to the formation of cultural norms and social structure. Guy Debord (1977) implicates popular culture in large portion of what he labels â€Å"the society of the spectacle.† Debord’s (1977) view of the world in the era of global capitalism is one in which popular culture serves to provide images or representations of the world that do not represent its historical state, but instead inspire audiences to digest the world around them as commodities as a replacement for the real. Artifacts such as films are not representative of art, but are tools to inspire audiences to strive towards the acquisition of consumer goods and respect the hierarchal structure. Debord (1977) points out that the society of the spectacle is replete with images and representations that drive audiences to become consumers. This consumption leads audiences to respect the structural hierarchies that repress them. In essence, the complacency most audiences have towards the consumption of images and subsequently the world around them drives this structuralism. While Debord (1977) implicates popular culture and the spectacle as paramount in the construction of a social order of consumption, he does offer some hope for those striving to work against the consumptive nature of capitalist hierarchies in the form of â€Å"detournement† By creating contradictions, negations, or parodies of a given work, â€Å"corrections† can be made to the meaning of the work in order to create a meaning that is more representative of the â€Å"true† states of societies. Marshall McLuhan (1964) argued in his groundbreaking work, Understanding Media, that popular culture experienced a drastic shift with the advent of technologies such as film, radio and television. Whereas popular culture had been print dominated in years previous, the shift to new types of media changed the way media was created and the effect was dramatic. McLuhan argues that the introduction of printed texts into cultures undermined the tribal aspect of communities and collective ideas that had once dominated small communities. Cultures became more individualistic and increased the power of logic and rationale of the written word as opposed to commonality among group members. The advent of new media brought about a more collective consciousness as individuals were drawn to its aesthetics. New tribal communities formed that were rooted in both local and global norms. Audience exposure to new and different sights and sounds increased the shared understanding across cultures. McLuhan also illustrates that the spread of media united people as a result of the media’s importance by comparing media to staples of a society’s economy. Television, for example, can be used to construct the cultural norms of a society. Those people who are active audience members of a particular television show or genre are likely to have shared beliefs, forming a tribal community of their own. McLuhan argued that the community building potential of television and the syndication of programming created the potential for these cultures to spread globally. While McLuhan’s work was performed in the 1960s the subsequent popularity of the Internet seems to confirm at the very least that communities of people who make up television audiences extend worldwide as fan sites, bulletin boards, and blogs dedicated to television programs cross multiple borders and cultures. Television, much of McLuhan’s media, is a part of popular culture. Research has also been conducted suggesting that popular culture has the ability to reaffirm existing cultural norms or as a tool in transforming current norms. Lee Artz (2004) has examined the cultural norms that are present in the bulk of the animation produced by the Walt Disney Co. Artz argues that the autocratic production process embraced by Disney executives results in four dominant themes present in nearly every animated film the company has released. These themes include the naturalization of hierarchy, the defense of elite coercion and power, promotion of hyper-individualism and the denigration of democratic solidarity (p. 126). The prevalence of these themes can be identified through study of the narratives contained within Disney films as well as through the stylistic elements of the animation itself. The ease with which animated film can be translated and transported into the languages and cultures of peoples worldwide offers a large audience to Disney in marketing its films and film-related products. The portability of Disney products from one culture to another is a problematic notion for Artz (2004), as he explains the social stratification present and reaffirmed in the films produced is largely representative of the global capital system that allows Disney to thrive as a media giant. Artz suggests that effective resistance against these thematic representations cannot be implemented by rogue Disney artists injecting subversive messages into films. Instead, â€Å"cooperative creations and narratives† and the appropriation and subsequent use of animation technology by artists, writers, and producers committed to the promotion of democracy would be more effective. This conclusion appears to be impirically proven. While not discussed in Artz’s work, subversive strategies have been employed by disgruntled artists involved in the production of Disney films (such as the post-production inclusion of an image of a topless woman in the background artwork of The Rescuers). However these acts did not generate substantial negative publicity for the company. Peter Simonson (2001) has examined the successes the animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have experienced as a result of using communication strategies rooted in popular culture. PETA seeks to change predominant cultural norms in the area of animal welfare. Their traditional communicative strategies have relied on the generating news controversy and gaining news coverage. Simonson proposes that social movements and organizations seeking to change popular morals or norms rely upon social noise—a multifaceted concept that can be defined as messages that are compelling or loud enough to be heard amidst the signals of mass-media. Noise disrupts commonly held social meanings and is often discordant or disagreeable to a subset of the audience. Scholars have also focused on what makes a particular artifact or action popular. John Fiske (1989) studied culture as popular culture in terms of texts. By making textual analysis of artifacts in popular culture, Fiske began to make claims about the structure of popular messages. Fiske introduced the concept of the producerly text as a primary characteristic of popular culture. The producerly text is conceptually anchored in the distinctions made by Barthes (1977) between the writerly and readerly texts. Barthes contends that readerly texts are those that we are able to read passively. Interactions between the audience and these texts are receptive; there is no need to question or interpret the text in a different way than it is written. Writerly texts can be seen as those texts that require the reader to constantly evaluate and rewrite the meaning of the text, and writerly texts usually require some specialized knowledge or a toolset to decode (Fiske 1989). Many scholars and activists concur that there is a risk when entering into pop culture that the rhetoric used by those critiquing dominant ideologies and structures may be co-opted. The potential exists for the message to be appropriated by those in power for their own means; the message becomes incorporated by those in power in order to embolden their own claims or profits. The same process that allows activists to change the meaning of texts is available to everyone. Popular culture has the potential to create and transform both societal structure and norms. Additionally, communities of common exposure and belief can be developed using popular culture as a medium. There may be a risk of that subversive ideas can be incorporated by dominant systems of power, but this incorporation does not necessarily limit the transformative potential popular culture holds. When considering the culture jammer’s intent of questioning and changing norms popular culture becomes an interesting point of cultural injection. Conclusion In essence, the popular culture jam seeks to be appropriated into pop culture- it becomes pop culture and helps to redefine that which is popular. The result is a sort of â€Å"subpropriation,† where in the author seeks to have his or her work popularized in order to simultaneously popularize a previously subversive concept or idea. However, this appeal to the popular does not necessarily stop culture jamming from occurring. Entry into popular culture does not dictate that the message will be recuperated by industry. Rather, popular culture jamming takes place at a different point than other types of culture jamming. The â€Å"jam† in popular culture jamming occurs at the point that the artifact, action, or behavior becomes popular. The most obvious effect of moving towards a jamming of popular culture is the increased access to larger audiences. Popular culture does not request to be covered in the same way that news-oriented communication or advertisements often do. Instead, popular culture places demands upon media outlets to not only be covered but also be distributed to the masses. This sense of demand results because the popular is attractive to the media as a potential form of profit. Again, we see Fiske’s (1989) theories on production and incorporation at work. A popular culture jam spreads as a result of its popularity. Often this popularity is created by the irresistible profits that may be yielded from an artifact’s incorporation into the popular. In essence, one aspect of the structures that propagate and allow for globalization (and the subsequent problems that those in anti-globalization movements perceive to be resultant from it) to persist and thrive are turned back to criticize either itself or another portion of the hierarchal structure. Popular culture, despite the criticisms it often faces for lack of sophistication or intelligence, is an important element of our lives. Popular culture may also serve as a tool for those struggling against globalization, rampant consumerism, and capitalist exploitation. Each time we turn on a television or listen to the radio or log on to the Internet we are exposing ourselves to popular culture. Popular culture should not be perceived as an intellectual wasteland. While much of that which makes up popular culture may be perceived as being detrimental to society by any number of people, activists and media scholars cannot ignore or reject it. Popular culture needs to be embraced and transformed through the use of producerly texts in order to improve and transform the genre into another persuasive conduit for activists. Popular culture is not going away. In the age of new media popular culture is becoming even more pervasive in our lives as media formats are combined. If embraced as a rhetorical forum by culture jammers, popular culture can be transformed into a more revelatory and revolutionary space for communicating ideals that activists wish to make popular. References Artz, L., (2004), The Righteousness of Self-centered Royals: The World According to Disney Animation, Critical Arts Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1, 116-146. Blackmore, S., (1999). The meme machine, 1st ed., Oxford University Press. Debord, G., (1977), The Society of the Spectacle. Available at http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/pub_contents. Dery, M., (2004, Oct 10), Culture jamming: hacking, slashing and sniping in the empire of signs. Available at: http://www.markdery.com/archives/2004/10/cultureJamming_l.html. Downes, S., (1999, Oct. 4), Hacking memes. First Monday, 4.10. Available at: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue4_l 0/downes/index.html. Eco, U., (1984), Semiotics and the philosophy of language, 1st ed., Bloomington, USA: Indiana University Press. Fiske, J., (1989), Understanding popular culture. 1st ed. Boston, USA: Unwin Hyman. Harold, C. (2004). Pranking rhetoric: â€Å"culture jamming† as media activism. Critical Studies in Media Communication, Vol. 21, No. 3, 189-211. Lasn, K., (2000), Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge—And Why We Must, 1st ed. New York, USA: HarperCollins Publishers. McLuhan, M., (1964), Understanding Media. London, England: Routledge Press. Reinsborough, P., (2003, Aug.), Decolonizing the revolutionary imagination, Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, No.1, Available at: http://www.journalofaestheticsandprotest.org/l/de_colonizing/index.html. Simonson, P., (2001), Social Noise and Segmented Rhythms: News, Entertainment, and Celebrity in the Crusade for Animal Rights, Communication Review, Vol. 4, No. , 399-420.

Illegal Immigration in Morocco and Libya Research Paper

Illegal Immigration in Morocco and Libya - Research Paper Example ng the stakeholders involved, effects on human rights, effects the nations of Europe and their overall economic development, and what steps can be taken to rectify these problems. Through such an examination, it is the hope of this author that the reader can come to a more informed understanding of the unique determinants of illegal immigration from North Africa and the means through which Europe can seek to counter this destabilizing influence upon its future development. It does not take a great deal of careful consideration to realize the fact that countless tens of thousands of individuals each and every year risk their lives in whatever material possessions they might have in a desperate bid to enter southern Europe by. Whereas there are many different routes through which this might be accomplished, two of the most common and utilized routes for entering Europe illegally from Africa are via the coast of Morocco and the Libyan port city of Benghazi. Furthermore, although it might be convenient to understand all forms of African immigration into Europe in terms of a generic or similar pattern, the fact of the matter is that the differential between these two ports of entry not be more stark. As a function of seeking to analyze differential to a more full and complete degree, the following analysis will engage the reader with the unique dynamics that separate these two illegal immigration terminals. Before delving headlong into an analysis between these two potential ports of illegal entry into the European Union, it is first necessary to reference the different stakeholders involved. Firstly, and most obviously, the immigrants and it would be themselves are those who were at the most risk within the situation at hand. Secondly, another of culpable stakeholders involved those individuals, games, crime syndicates, and not portions of governance within the nations in question that actively promote and encourage this traffic as a means of enriching themselves.

The Family Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Family - Term Paper Example Functions of family: Functions of a family arise from the basic needs of humans. Every human being requires mental peace and physical satisfaction. Performing fornication outside marriage is forbidden on religious grounds. Therefore, a man and a woman start a new family when they get married. In the capacity of being husband and wife, the two can make love and satisfy their physical needs while respecting the standards of ethics, law and religion. The couple has babies with the passage of time which enlarges the family. Now, in the capacity of being a mother and a father, the two have certain defined responsibilities towards their children. In a nuclear family, father assumes the roles of bread earner for the family, whereas the mother is supposed to spend that money wisely for the wellbeing of the family. The children, in turn, have to respect their parents. As parents, people dedicate themselves to their children. Children give a meaning and purpose to the life of parents. They all live together as a family and their interests, objectives and everything in life is shared. Problems of family: In the contemporary age, families are facing a lot of problems. Some of the common problems of families are discussed below: 1. Unemployment: In the present age of economic recession, unemployment has become one of the biggest problems specially for people who are responsible to earn for the whole family. Unemployment makes one feel worthless and hurts one emotionally (Grace). Not only does it deprive the individual of the ability to meet the physiological needs, but also, it puts one into psychological distress. One can not pay for the health care, education and general wellbeing of the children. Quite often, unemployment becomes the fundamental cause of tension between the husband and wife and the two, may develop conflicts leading to divorce. 2. Dual working parents: In order to bear the increased cost of living in the contemporary age, in a vast majority of cases, bot h husband and wife need to work and earn. In the dual working parent families, parents mostly do not find sufficient time for proper nurturing and upbringing of their children. Children require time and attention from their parents in addition to their everyday needs related to money. Dual working parents have to remain away from their children for most part of the day, and the children may feel neglected. This can have, and often does have, very severe consequences. In the lack of parental supervision, children do not concentrate upon their studies, spend time with spoiled children, and may be exposed to violence. On the other hand, the parents are no less in trouble. After the whole day of work, parents need to relax, but they can hardly ever manage to with innumerable issues of children waiting to greet them as they appear on the gate of the home. 3. Childlessness: Many couples who start the families are suffering from childlessness. Childlessness is a problem that can be attribu ted to infertility of male, female or both. Also, some women get married too late to be medically fit to give birth to a child. Other families may not be suffering from childlessness, but they may have abnormalities in children which is no less distressful. Children are very important. Childlessness becomes a source of embarrassment for the couple and is a great blow to them (Rosenblatt and Hillabrant). Sometimes childlessness becom

Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs - Essay Example How the Drug Works Cognitive drugs enhance the mental functions of a person significantly. This works when a human brain’s neurotransmitter is stimulated causing a reaction. Dopamine is release in large quantities by neurons causing a human brain to be more active in remembering information, and attention and thinking is enhanced by the use of these drugs. Cognitive drugs were created for helping to cure mental disorders. A common example of such disorder is AHDH, which is a mental disorder common in infants. Cognitive drugs like Ritalin are used to prevent the babies from hurting themselves due to their condition. This drugs help in controlling hyperactivity among the infants. Harmful Effects Cognitive-enhancing drugs are harmful to the students and, therefore, the use of these drugs should be blocked. Appropriate actions should be set to help the society to understand the effects of these drugs by introducing amendments to regulate their use in University campuses. The presc ription drugs should only be used for their intended function and that is to cure mental disorders. The use of these drugs should be discouraged to safeguard the health of students and protected from the negative effects of potential abuse. Therefore, a policy restricting its use should be put in place, since the drugs are essential in the cure of mental diseases such as the ADHD in infants. They should not be totally banned, but enhancements to be available, at the same time managing the risks. There many risks that are associated with the abuse of cognitive enhancement drugs that students buy and sell in the United States. The Ritalin and Adderall drugs are prescribed for the treatment of the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). They have an effect on catecholamine systems by increasing cognitive functions of the patients; the normal people who are healthy, once they use these drugs, they improve their ability to focus their attention better, as well as manipulating the information into a working memory, and to control the responses in a flexible way. Student also use drugs such as Modalfinil, to enhance their cognitive abilities since it has shown the enhancement potential. Modalfinil treats fatigue, which is caused by sleep apnoea (Greely, 2008). The research has also shown that there are some other effects caused by the drug. Modalfinil enhances some aspects of the brain function that occurs in the rested adults who are healthy, mostly inhibitory control. Th e hazards of these drugs used by the students in the US affects not only their mental but also physical health. These drugs tend to alter the brain function of those who take them. A recently carried out research shows that, there are neural system changes, which are engendered by sleep and nutrition. There are some complex organs of the human beings which are also affected by use of such drugs. However, in children, an issue about the drug is raised in that it is related to some harmful effects on children’s brain. Benefits of Cognitive-enhancing drugs There are some benefits that are associated with the use of cognitive-enhancing drugs, mostly in schools and other organizations. In special cases, students and employers are supposed to be allowed to use the drugs so as to achieve pharmaceutical enhancement in cases of mental disorders. This enables the student to compete fairly with normal students

Cultural Timepiece Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cultural Timepiece - Essay Example form and before the invention of the industrial clock Does traditional culture not reflect modern culture in earlier form, thus, to conclude that our conceptions of time are motivated by similar conditions For quite a period since the study of time began, it was emphasized by convention that modern and traditional societies perceive time in contrasts. Anthropologists suggested, more in favor of modern time, that traditional time is "cyclical rather than linear, qualitative rather than quantitative, reversible rather than irreversible, encapsulated in tradition rather than constituting the motor of history, organized by routine and practical tasks rather than by the clock, oriented to stability rather than change, geared to natural rather than calendrical rhythms, and reckoned ecologically rather than by an abstract scale" (Adam 1994, 504). With similar theories on traditional time, Whorf singled out the Hopi concept of time and suggested that its distinct difference from the Western concept was of time perceived as not being made up of discrete instances that follow each other but is characterized by a cumulative getting later (1956, 151). And likened to Whorf's analysis, Evans-Pritchard proposed that the movement of their time must be recognized as an illusion, unlike Western time which passes and progresses, because the tribal time structure stays constant, meaning that their perception of time is no more than the movement of persons through the structure. He further propose that the span of their tradition is limited compared to modern Timepiece 3 time, and that in their myth, the events do not have relative succession (1940, 107-8). These notions has provided us with an impression that the time of traditional societies were found by a radically obscure consciousness driven by primitive conditions. Somehow these model theories would, it seems, have us drift farther away instead of closer to understanding other cultures through their behavior towards time, and in a way convince us that our evolutionary relationship with these societies is incomprehensible. Moreover, if we are to consider these analyses as unanimously true and ideal, our alienation would be fueled by an assumption that these other people are actually molded with an alien makeup by some source alien from our world. And by the same exaggeration have us wonder whether our own civilized consciousness was in fact innate and there was never any need for it to have to grow out of evolution. Closer to home, Ingold presented a different set of dichotomies which is more in regard to industrialism and the household. He contrasted perspectives such that there is free time and clock time as opposed to all time is task-oriented; that there is work and leisure against the notion that all life consists of tasks; that there is creative art and the

Swans Reflecting Elephants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Swans Reflecting Elephants - Essay Example Swans Reflecting Elephants is similar to a brain teaser, or an optical illusion, which is what Dali was aiming at when he painted this piece. At first glance, the painting seems to consist of three swans sitting on a lake. They are surrounded by leafless trees, suggesting that the painting takes place in autumn, and some cliffs, and a few stray clouds drift across the sky. Despite the washed-out appearance of the colors, it is a very serene image. However, the closer that one looks at the painting, the more of the subject matter that they can make out. While the image is clearly that of swans sitting on a lake, a second, more closer examination of the piece reveals that the swans and the trees behind them reflect elephants on the lake. The bare trees become the legs of the elephants and the swans become their trunks and bodies. The perfect placement of the trees and swans allow for this double image, essentially offering two paintings, or two stories, in one. In his Swans Reflecting Elephants, Salvador Dali wanted to show that life is not always what it seems at first glance. His use of the double image, with the swans fading so seamlessly into elephants, reveals that our perception can pick up on aspects or features of life that are not immediately recognizable. This is similar to finding constellations among a smattering of stars, or picking out images or designs in the stucco of walls. Our eyes are capable of finding more than just the original image. Furthermore, Dali gives evidence.

Approaches to creativity and innovation in business Essay

Approaches to creativity and innovation in business - Essay Example Mint), Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Prisons), Department of Energy (Brookhaven National Laboratory), NASA (Goddard Space Flight Center), Department of Veteran Affairs (Medical & Regional Office Centers), Department of Labor and various state and municipal agencies like City of Wilmington, Delaware, City of Tullytown, Pennsylvania and govt. of the District of Columbia. â€Å"We aim to achieve unequalled service delivery that meets or exceed our clients' expectations, caring for our environment and host communities in a friendly manner so as to create value to our clients, employees and the environment (ECG Indutries. Inc, 2012).† The mission statement of ECG industries, INC. encompasses all elements of their business. Their commitment to environment preservation while carrying out their operations is clearly demonstrated through their mission statement. Today’s business climate demands that special attention be paid to environmental services which are driven and heavily controlled by environmental regulations. There are many published guidance manuals and policies at Federal, state and local levels that regulate businesses. The number of regulations controlling businesses with respect to environmental concerns is constantly increasing by the day. The environmental laws are constantly evolving and the nature of these regulations is getting more complex than ever. For a business to operate successfully, they have to comply with all these regulations. Businesses like ECG need to incorporate in their operation a combination of project management skills, technical expertise, regulatory knowledge and experience in dealing with environmental concerns to deal effectively with the heavily regulated environment. Services offered by ECG have the potential of causing severe environmental degradation. They can affect the physical environment as well as health, culture and the economic and social structure of local and indigenous communities. ECG has to conform to environmental standards because of the wide variety of customers they serve. Not only do they have to conform to existing laws, they have to anticipate any changes that might occur and change themselves accordingly (Wawryk, 2012). As applies to ECG, guidelines and standards of International Association of Oil and Gas Producers and American Petroleum Institute can affect operations. The International Association of Oil and Gas producers represents oil and gas companies from all around the world where as the American Petroleum Institute majorly influences the oil and gas industry because of the dominance of American oil companies in the industry. Policies of the World Conservation union along with United Nation Environment Programmed, International Standards Organization, International Chambers of Commerce, the World Bank etc can also influence ECG. The guidelines prepared by the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers include practices that are international ly accepted. The 11 principles contained in the American Petroleum Institute Environmental and Safety Mission and Guiding principles form the basis the American Petroleum Institute environmental Stewardship Program. The American Petrol

Marketing Research Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing Research - Case Study Example If the second sample provides similar results then the remaining funds from the $30,000 can be rolled out across the nation. Some of the strengths of this may be that if it is the case that the initial pilot sample was not representative than a new strategy can be devised, however if the pilot example is representative than we have a good understanding that the expanded study will generate positive results. 2. What could be the ramifications of your budget decisions? Solution: The ramifications of my budget decision could be described as being low risk modest return. If it is the case that the second pilot study does yield positive results than we know that our approach to gathering information is sound and as such we can roll out our program into different markets. Moreover if we learn that we have generated some sort of false positive in the premier pilot study than it may be that we should have to completely reevaluate the way in which we collect the data. If the former case holds true we would be rolling out approximately $30,000 and would generate effective information for the company to modify their marketing strategies but we would also be taking company money that could be spent on other internal projects.

Organizational Theory Design and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Organizational Theory Design and Change - Essay Example This will improve the quality of the decision making as the interests of all stakeholders are considered and hence all aspects of business have been taken into account during decision making. But if there is power imbalance among the stakeholders then the decision making may be influenced by stakeholders with greater power and the interests of the other stakeholders will be jeopardized. The quality of the decision making and in turn the overall interest of the organization is compromised when there is an imbalance of power among the various groups of organizational stakeholders. Organizational politics can have positive as well as negative impact on an organization. Therefore to manage and gain benefits from organizational politics, it is essential to ensure that there is balance of power among the various stakeholder groups in an organization. Balance of power will lead to alternate views and solutions to various organizational problems form various quarters of the organization. The refore balance of power among various organizational stakeholder groups is vital for the overall success of the organization (Jones, 2009). Works Cited Jones, G. (2009). Organizational Theory Design and Change. NJ: Prentice Hall. Print

Kite Runner Essay Example for Free

Kite Runner Essay Sometimes, up in those trees, I talked Hassan into firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbors one-eyed German shepherd. Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldnt deny me. Hassan never denied me anything. And he was deadly with his slingshot. Hassans father, Ali, used to catch us and get mad, or as mad as someone as gentle as Ali could ever get. He would wag his finger and wave us down from the tree. He would take the mirror and tell us what his mother had told him, that the devil shone mirrors too, shone them to distract Muslims during prayer. And he laughs while he does it, he always added, scowling at his son. Yes, Father, Hassan would mumble, looking down at his feet. But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbors dog, was always my idea. But we were kids who had learned to crawl together, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that either. I spent most of the first twelve years of my life playing with Hassan. Sometimes, my entire childhood seems like one long lazy summer day with Hassan, chasing each other between tangles of trees in my fathers yard, playing hide-and-seek, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, insect torture – with our crowning achievement undeniably the time we plucked the stinger off a bee and tied a string around the poor thing to yank it back every time it took flight Think of something good, Baba said in my ear. Something happy. Something good. Something happy. I let my mind wander. I let it come: Friday afternoon in Paghman. An open field of grass speckled with mulberry trees in blossom. Hassan and I stand ankle-deep in untamed grass, I am tugging on the line, the spool spinning in Hassans calloused hands, our eyes turned up to the kite in the sky. Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we dont have to say anything – thats how it is between people who are each others first memories, people who have fed from the same breast. A breeze stirs the grass and Hassan lets the spool roll. The kite spins, dips, steadies. Our twin shadows dance on the rippling grass. From somewhere over the low brick wall at the other end of the field, we hear chatter and laughter and the chirping of a water fountain. And music, some thing old and familiar, I think its Ya Mowlah on rubab strings. Someone calls our names over the wall, says its time for tea and cake Next to me, Sohrab was breathing rapidly through his nose. The spool rolled in his palms, the tendons in his scarred wrists like rubab strings. Then I blinked and, for just a moment, the hands holding the spool were the chipped-nailed, calloused hands of a harelipped boy. I heard a crow cawing somewhere and I looked up. The park shimmered with snow so fresh, so dazzling white, it burned my eyes. It sprinkled soundlessly from the branches of white-clad trees. I smelled turnip qurma now. Dried mulberries. Sour oranges. Sawdust and walnuts. The muffled quiet, snow-quiet, was deafening. Then far away, across the stillness, a voice calling us home, the voice of a man who dragged his right leg Quote #1Sometimes, up in those trees, I talked Hassan into firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbour’s one-eyed German shepherd. Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldnt deny me. Hassan never denied me anything. And he was deadly with his slingshot. Hassans father, Ali, used to catch us and get mad, or as mad as someone as gentle as Ali could ever get. He would wag his finger and wave us down from the tree. He would take the mirror and tell us what his mother had told him, that the devil shone mirrors too, shone them to distract Muslims during prayer. And he laughs while he does it, he always added, scowling at his son. Yes, Father, Hassan would mumble, looking down at his feet. But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbors dog, was always my idea. (2. 2-3)| This passage shows up early in the novel and really tells us quite a bit about Amir and Hassans friendship. Hassan protects and defends Amir and, foreshadowing later events in the novel, refuses to tell on Amir. (Hassan will later take the blame for the wad of cash and the watch. ) We should also note that Amir seems like the gang leader in this passage, getting the two boys into trouble. Does Amir control the relationship? Is this why Hassan often takes the blame for things? Does Amir ever take responsibility for anything in the novel? Quote #2Then he [Ali] would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who had fled from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break. Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name. | Theres a primal closeness between Amir and Hassan. Later, well find out the two boys have the same father, but notice how Hosseini is laying the groundwork for that revelation. The two boys might as well be brothers: they learn to walk together, they learn to speak together, and they feed from the same breast. Which brings up an interesting question: What does Rahim Khans revelation – that Amir and Hassan are half-brothers – really change? Arent the two already brothers in everything? Or does blood fundamentally change Amirs relationship with Hassan? Quote #3Ali and Baba grew up together as childhood playmates – at least until polio crippled Alis leg – just like Hassan and I grew up a generation later. Baba was always telling us about the mischief he and Ali used to cause, and Ali would shake his head and say, But, Agha sahib, tell them who was the architect of the mischief and who the poor laborer? Baba would laugh and throw his arm around Ali. But in none of his stories did Baba ever refer to Ali as his friend. (4. 2-3)| Baba and Alis friendship parallels Amir and Hassans on a number of levels. First, as this passage indicates, theres a similar pattern of leadership (and power): both Baba and Amir have dominant roles in each friendship. And, lest you forget, Baba betrays Ali much like Amir betrays Hassan. As they say, two peas in a pod. Or, maybe it would be four peas in a pod. Were not sure. Anyways, after Amir learns that Baba lied to him for years, he says: Baba and I were more alike than Id ever known. We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us (18. 7). Four peas in a pod. Quote #4But we were kids who had learned to crawl together, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that either. I spent most of the first twelve years of my life playing with Hassan. Sometimes, my entire childhood seems like one long lazy summer day with Hassan, chasing each other between tangles of trees in my fathers yard, playing hide-and-seek, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, insect torture – with our crowning achievement undeniably the time we plucked the stinger off a bee and tied a string around the poor thing to yank it back every time it took flight. (4. 6)| Amir lays out the opposing argument just prior to this paragraph. In it, he says ethnicity will always define a relationship. We believe Hosseini really wants us to grapple with Amirs contradictory stances: Does Amirs friendship with Hassan ever get past history, ethnicity, society, and religion? Later, Amir will justify his cowardice in the alleyway by asking himself if he really has to defend Hassan (since Hassan is a Hazara). Does Amir ever get past his prejudices? Were really not sure about this one. Hosseini devotes the entire novel to this question. Quote 5I know, he said, breaking our embrace. Inshallah, well celebrate later. Right now, Im going to run that blue kite for you, he said. He dropped the spool and took off running, the hem of his green chapan dragging in the snow behind him. Hassan! I called. Come back with it! He was already turning the street corner, his rubber boots kicking up snow. He stopped, turned. He cupped his hands around his mouth. For you a thousand times over! he said. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner. The next time I saw him smile unabashedly like that was twenty-six years later, in a faded Polaroid photograph. (7. 52-54)| Yet again, Hassan demonstrates his loyalty and devotion to Amir. If we were to judge Amir and Hassans friendship by actions and not simply expressions of loyalty, the score would be pretty lopsided. (Of course, Amir saves Hassans son at the end of the book from a pathological pedophile so that counts for something. ) We also want to point out the irony in Hassans reply: For you a thousand times over! Amir will develop a pretty nasty case of insomnia as the guilt piles up inside him. Really, Amir returns to the alleyway thousands of times in his memory before he comes to peace with his cowardice. And so the phrase a thousand times over is colored with some pretty devastating irony. Yes, Hosseini is using irony again. Quote #6[Assef:] But before you sacrifice yourself for him, think about this: Would he do the same for you? Have you ever wondered why he never includes you in games when he has guests? Why he only plays with you when no one else is around? Ill tell you why, Hazara. Because to him, youre nothing but an ugly pet. Something he can play with when hes bored, something he can kick when hes angry. Dont ever fool yourself and think youre something more. Amir agha and I are friends, Hassan said. He looked flushed. Friends? Assef said, laughing. You pathetic fool! Someday youll wake up from your little fantasy and learn just how good of a friend he is. Now, bas! Enough of this. Give us that kite. (7. 106-108)| This is a fairly complex scene. Assef, before he assaults and rapes Hassan, asks Hassan whether he really wants to sacrifice himself for Amir. We know Amir is listening in – and watching – this exchange between Assef and Hassan. In a way, Assefs speech is not prophetic but descriptive: Amir is abandoning Hassan right now. However, we wonder if Assefs description is inaccurate. Is Assef describing his own relationship with Hazaras or Amirs with Hassan? Sure, sometimes Amir does cruel things to Hassan, but he also reads to Hassan and spends almost all his free time with Hassan. Amir may hesitate to call Hassan his friend, but perhaps thats because neither friend nor servant really describes Hassan. Brother might do the trick, but Amir has no idea at this point. Quote #7Think of something good, Baba said in my ear. Something happy. Something good. Something happy. I let my mind wander. I let it come: Friday afternoon in Paghman. An open field of grass speckled with mulberry trees in blossom. Hassan and I stand ankle-deep in untamed grass, I am tugging on the line, the spool spinning in Hassans calloused hands, our eyes turned up to the kite in the sky. Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we dont have to say anything – thats how it is between people who are each others first memories, people who have fed from the same breast. A breeze stirs the grass and Hassan lets the spool roll. The kite spins, dips, steadies. Our twin shadows dance on the rippling grass. From somewhere over the low brick wall at the other end of the field, we hear chatter and laughter and the chirping of a water fountain. And music, some thing old and familiar, I think its Ya Mowlah on rubab strings. Someone calls our names over the wall, says its time for tea and cake. (10. 73-75)| You need some context for this quote. Baba and Amir are on their way to Pakistan, but theyre not traveling by taxi or bus. Theyre in the belly of an oil tanker along with dozens of other Afghans. Baba tells Amir to think of something good, something happy. So what does Amir think of? His childhood with Hassan. We believe this passage proves Amirs (brotherly) love for Hassan. Notice that Amir doesnt recall a special moment with Baba, or even his books or poetry. He thinks of Hassan. Quote #8Lying awake in bed that night, I thought of Soraya Taheris sickle-shaped birthmark, her gently hooked nose, and the way her luminous eyes had fleetingly held mine. My heart stuttered at the thought of her. (11. 104)| Soraya doesnt sound that hot here. From Hosseinis description, we picture the witch in Sleeping Beauty: her nose is hooked like a scythe, and her eyes are glowing in a potion-induced mania. However, we do think Sorayas sickle-shaped birthmark should remind you of someone else in the book. Give up? Thats right: Hassan. (Hassan has a harelip. ) Why do you think Hosseini compare these two characters through their physical features? What else do they have in common? Quote #9When we got to Kabul, I [Rahim Khan] discovered that Hassan had no intention of moving into the house. But all these rooms are empty, Hassan jan. No one is going to live in them, I said. But he would not. He said it was a matter of ihtiram, a matter of respect. He and Farzana moved their things into the hut in the backyard, where he was born. I pleaded for them to move into one of the guest bedrooms upstairs, but Hassan would hear nothing of it. What will Amir agha think? he said to me. What will he think when he comes back to Kabul after the war and finds that I have assumed his place in the house? Then, in mourning for your father, Hassan wore black for the next forty days. (16. 24-25)| You may be confused by the voice here. Its actually not Amir – Rahim Khan gets one chapter in the book. Rahim Khan recounts his trip to Hazarajat to find Hassan and bring him back to the house in Kabul. When Hassan does move back to the house with Rahim Khan, he refuses to live where Baba and Amir lived. Does Hassans refusal suggest that Hassan is only Amirs servant and the two never achieved an equal friendship? (Side question: Does Hassan sense – on some unconscious level – Babas true relationship to him? Is that why he mourns Baba for forty days? ) Quote #10Next to me, Sohrab was breathing rapidly through his nose. The spool rolled in his palms, the tendons in his scarred wrists like rubab strings. Then I blinked and, for just a moment, the hands holding the spool were the chipped-nailed, calloused hands of a harelipped boy. I heard a crow cawing somewhere and I looked up. The park shimmered with snow so fresh, so dazzling white, it burned my eyes. It sprinkled soundlessly from the branches of white-clad trees. I smelled turnip qurma now. Dried mulberries. Sour oranges. Sawdust and walnuts. The muffled quiet, snow-quiet, was deafening. Then far away, across the stillness, a voice calling us home, the voice of a man who dragged his right leg. (25. 150)| We think this is one of the most beautiful passages in the book. Hosseini moves effortlessly between the past and present. Sohrab becomes Hassan, and the park in Fremont, California becomes a snow-quiet Kabul. The smells of Kabul mix with the smells of the New Year celebration in the park. Perhaps, at least in the space of this passage, Amir does find peace. America allowed Amir to escape his past for so many years; but, in this moment, the two homelands merge. Ali calls Amir home, and Amir doesnt seem to mind. ROAD TO AMIRS REDEMPTION THE KITE RUNNER REVISION - Top of Form zainboThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Author: Zain Mehdi | Edited by: zainbo Mar 11, 2012, 12:58pm #1| The topic of the Essay is After reading the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, do you think Amir has found redemption in things hes done. If so, please explain how I wrote this essay based on the events that took place in the novel. Each paragraph must have a quote from the book and Ive included that. I just need to see if my essay is well written, correct grammar and other little mistakes. Please and thank you. ROAD TO AMIRS REDEMPTION In a lifetime, everyone will face personal battles and guilt, some large and some small. Such as guilt over sneaking out, not doing homework, or telling your parents a little white lie. People find peace of mind through redeeming themselves, in other words, we do something that makes up for the cause of guilt. Khaled Hosseinis novel The Kite Runner revolves around betrayal and redemption. Redemption is the act of saying or being saved from sin, error or evil, which the main character Amir seems to need the most. Amir lives with the guilt he has built up over the years because of one incident from his childhood. Amirs fathers words still echo through his head A boy who wont stand up for himself becomes a man who cant stand up to anything. ? pg. 24 Although Amir destroyed the lives of many people, and he has had more than one opportunity to redeem himself of his guilt, he is not the selfish little boy he once was. How often does one stop and think, How will this affect everyone else in my life? Amir had a chance in the alley, to put Hassan first and change the path of both their lives, but he made the decision to turn around and run because it was what he thought was best for him: I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan ? the way hed stood up for me all those times in the past ? and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. Thats what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan. Thats what I made myself believe. I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. ? pg. 77 Amirs selfish ways were a result of the lack of his fathers affection in his life. As a young boy, he was forced to deal with his fathers disinterest in him, which made him incredibly jealous of Hassan. Amir could not understand at the time, why his father adored his servants son more than his own son. As the tension increases between Amir and Hassan, Amir can no longer stand to see Hassan everyday because of what Amir had not stopped and he could not bare seeing his father showing Hassan love and not him. Hassan and his father are forced to leave their home after Amir places his watch under Hassans pillow and accuses him of stealing it. Hassan did not even deny the accusations because he had figured out what Amir was doing. Hassan knew. He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time. ? pg. 111 Even after the alleged theft of the watch, Amirs father is willing to forgive Hassan, which stunned Amir, and made him see that the love his father has for Hassan is greater than he imagined. Amir did not just ruin Hassans life; he also ruined the lives of many people with his decisions after the incident in the alley. Baba lost a chance to watch his son, Hassan, grow up and also lost the chance to bring him to America so he could start a new life. Sohrab lost both his parents to war because they were still living in Afghanistan, lost his childhood to war, and tried to commit suicide as a result of Amir going back on his promise to keep him safe from orphanages. Soraya lost her right to the truth when Amir kept his past a secret even though she opened up to him about hers. It is one thing to destroy your own life with guilt, but it is a completely different issue when you destroy the lives of others. Before Amir can go on the road to redemption, Amir must realize that he cant go back and change what he has done as a child, and he must find inner peace. Although if it was not for Amirs actions as a child, Sohrab never would have needed to be saved in the first place but by saving Sohrab, the last piece of Hassans life, does make a difference. From the moment he chose to turn his back on Hassan, there were many chances where Theres a way to be good again ? pg. 238 for all his wrongdoings, but he chose not to take any of these. Sohrab was his last and only chance for redemption. I have a wife in America, a home, a career and a family. But how could I pack up and go back home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things? And what Rahim Khan revealed to me changed things. Made me see how my entire life, long before the winter of 1975, dating back to when that singing Hazara woman was still nursing me, had been a cycle of lies betrayals and secrets. ? pg. 238 Amir admits that he cost Hassan a chance at a good life and that he had many opportunities to change the outcome of Hassans life. But at this moment he realized he could lose everything he has built in America, but for the first time in his life, Amir did not care about only himself, he came to terms with what he had done, and he was ready to redeem himself at any cost. Amir finally became the man who stood up for himself and his sins. Throughout his childhood, Amir looked for his fathers affection and he never could get it. His father had said Im telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy. ? pg. 24 Amirs father would have been proud of him at this very moment because that was all he had wanted from him. The guilt that was built over the years was finally put to rest at the safety of Sohrab. In Afghanistan when Amir stood up for Sohrab and Assef aggressively beat him up, Amir had said My body was broken? just how badly I wouldnt find out until later? but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed. ? pg. 289 which showed Amir had come to terms with what he had done as a child and was finally felt relieved. Although he was getting beat up, it did not matter anymore, he just wished he had stood up to Assef years ago, and maybe he would have earned his redemption in that alley. | | Jennyflower81Threads: Posts: 884 Author: Jennifer Reeves 85 | Mar 11, 2012, 02:17pm #2| Such as guilt over sneaking out, not doing homework, or telling your parents a little white lie. Not a full sentence. You could start this sentence with: Guilt can stem from People find peace of mind when they redeem themselves, in other words, they do something that makes up for the cause of their guilt. Amir had a chance in the alley, to put Hassan first and change the path of both their lives, but he made the decision to turn around and run because it was what he thought was best for him: I would break up this sentence into 2 sentences, because it is a bit too long, it would be easier to read if it was in 2 shorter sentences. Amirs selfish ways resulted from the lack of his fathers affection in his life. At the time, Amir could not understand why his father adored his servants son more than his own son. As the tension increases between Amir and Hassan, Amir can no longer stand to see Hassan everyday because of what Amir had not stopped and he could not bare seeing his father showing Hassan love and not him. Right here, you begin writing in present tense, when the beginning of the essay is written in past tense, be sure to stay consistent with this, it makes your paper easier to read that way. | | zainboThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Author: Zain Mehdi | | Thank you, any more updates? | | Jennyflower81Threads: Posts: 884 Author: Jennifer Reeves 85 | Mar 11, 2012, 05:04pm #4| Amir did not just ruin Hassans life; he also ruined the lives of many people with his decisions after the incident in the alley Can you be more specific about how exactly did he ruin Hassans life? This is kinda vague. Another example of a life ruined is that of Soraya- you say: Soraya lost her right to the truth when Amir kept his past a secret even though she opened up to him about hers I dont know if this is her life being ruined, although she was wronged. How did this ruin her life? Clarify this. but it is a completely different problem when you destroy the lives of others. Although if it was not for Amirs actions as a child, Sohrab never would have needed to be saved in the first place but by saving Sohrab, the last piece of Hassans life, does make a difference. This sentence is long and confusing, I would make it into 2 shorter sentences. Amir admits that he cost Hassan the chance at a good life and that he had many opportunities to change the outcome of Hassans life. At this moment, he realizes he could lose everything he has built in America, but for the first time in his life, Amir did not only care about himself, he came to terms with what he had done, and he was ready to redeem himself at any cost. | | chalumeau | | ROAD TO AMIRS REDEMPTION? During their lifetime, most people face guilt: some appropriate some inappropriate. Redemption is a way that makes up for the cause of the guilt. In Khaled Hosseinis novel, The Kite Runner, the theme revolves around betrayal and redemption. I looked up the word redemption in The Kite Runner: p. 65, All I saw was the blue kite. All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption. If Baba was wrong and there was a God like they said in school, then Hed let me win. I didnt know what the other guy was playing for, maybe just bragging rights. Important quote. p 231, And from this one last chance at redemption. What is going on here? My body was broken? just how badly I wouldnt find out until later? but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed. ? pg. 289 Good quote you found. Salvation is when God saves you. Redemption may be part of salvation, but redemption also has a place separate from the Divine. After doing a wrong, a person may be redeemed by performing some act, or saying something, or fighting for (or against) someone. You know how they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Redemption is in the eye of the wronged party. Its why you hear phrases such as, redeemed in her eyes. You cant be redeemed without permission. Hopefully, the wronged party accuses the right person, and the right person knows what wrong was committed. Otherwise, you have a very confusing situation for all parties. One that cannot be redeemed. Ever. Try writing your essay again with the theme of redemption as the main focus. Try to answer these questions: 1) What wrongs were committed? Pick the best 3 wrongs he committed. You partially explained these. 2) What does Amir think about redemption? Why does he seek it? Usually a person feels badly about something, or the other party is making his life miserable enough to cause him to cry, ___! 3) What action or words support him receiving redemption? 4) What action or words deny him redemption? 5) At the end is he redeemed? In the eyes of the wronged party? Did the wronged party (parties) know the truth that the reader knows? Does he feel redeemed? Did he know the same truth as everyone else? For the record, Ive never read The Kite Runner. I dont have a copy of the novel either. I wanted to try to help you focus and organize your essay. Ive written many A-essays over the years. | | zainboThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Author: Zain Mehdi | Mar 12, 2012, 08:37pm #6| thanks, ill try to work on it| | Essay Forum / Literature Review /| Unanswered [this forum] / Featured / Similar| Bottom of Form Similar discussions: * Michigan Supplement. Kite Runner * The Kite Runner: A Marxist Perspective * The Kite Runner Thesis Statement * HELP! Kite Runner Essay on Father/Son relationship * Persuasive essay on The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini + The Devil in the White City * The redemption of Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities * Run after the kite common app essay * UC Essay I am a runner, track and cross-country * Developing Runners Mindset Common App Essay for Stanford * Morality and Responsibility essay (connection between Frankenstein and Blade runner) Random: MSW Essay on Parent Advocacy- Child Protective Services The discrimination theme in The Kite Runner helps explain? Discrimination The Kite Runner tackles the issue of ethnic discrimination in Afghanistan with an example of the relationship between Pashtuns and Hazaras. Babas father sets an example for him of being kind to Hazara people, even though they are historically demeaned and persecuted. He could have easily sent Ali to an orphanage after his parents death, but chose to raise him in his household. Baba does the same with Hassan, although this is complicated by the fact that Hassan is actually his son. Even in Babas house, the house of best intentions, the class barrier between the Pashtuns and Hazaras endures. Ali is as dear to Baba as a brother; he calls him family. But Ali still lives in a hut and sleeps on a mattress on the floor. He tends the garden, cooks, and cleans up after Baba, and raises Hassan to do the same. So strong is Hassans identity as a servant that even as an adult, when Baba is gone, he has no sense of entitlement. He insists on staying in the hut and doing housework. When Hassan dies defending Babas house, he does so not because he feels it belongs to him, but because he is being loyal to Baba and Amir. In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, discrimination is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. On the one hand, the Taliban do not seem to care whom they are beating, torturing, or executing. Children like Sohrab and grandmothers like Sanaubar are all susceptible to the Talibans cruelty. In this way, the Talibs discriminate against everyone but themselves. As Amir notices, Assef forces Sohrab to dance to music for his enjoyment dancing and listening to music have long been banned. Amir thinks, I guessed music wasnt sinful as long as it played to Taliban ears. On another level, the Taliban discriminate specifically against the Hazara people. They massacre the Hazaras not only in Mazar-i-Sharif, but in the region of Hazarajat and nearly anywhere else they can find them. Assef and his fellows do not see the Hazaras lives as worthwhile; they barely see them as human. Assef tells Amir, Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage, and someone has to take out the garbage. Like his idol, Hitler, he feels entitled to killing those he deems unworthy of living in his land. He even relishes the term ethnic cleansing because it goes so well with his garbage metaphor. Hosseini has mentioned in interviews that his focus on discrimination in The Kite Runner angers some Afghans, who feel it is inappropriate. Like Baba, many people do not mention the Hazaras history of persecution. Perhaps these people are so uncomfortable with this topic because by having Assef appear in pre-Taliban times and emerge as a leading Talib, Hosseini shows that the Talibans persecution of the Hazaras and other Shiites is not new, but a greatly intensified outgrowth of long-held discrimination. In The Kite Runner friendship is a recurring theme, particularly in terms of how friendship is experienced between different social classes and castes. This is explored in the relationships between Baba and Amir who are Pashtun and Ali and Hassan who are Hazara. A central issue in the novel is how friendship is experienced, understood and expressed between social unequals when they have been pushed together by circumstances (Baba’s father’s adoption of Ali meant he and Baba grew up from boyhood together, followed by Amir and Hassan sharing their entire childhoods in the same house, despite their very different status within the household. ) Amir constantly reflects on the question of friendship: ‘But in none of his stories did Baba ever refer to Ali as his friend. The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense anyhow†¦Because history isn’t easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing. ’ When questioned by Assef about his friendship with a Hazara Amir admits: â€Å"But he’s not my friend! † I almost blurted. â€Å"He’s my servant! † Had I really thought that? Of course I hadn’t. I hadn’t. I treated Hassan well, just like a friend, better even, more like a brother. ’ Hassan regards Amir as his friend and shows it by his unfailing loyalty which is indicative of his awareness of the unequal power in the relationship. Amir is bothered by Hassan’s unfailing loyalty and self

Why Is Organizational Design Important Management Essay

Why Is Organizational Design Important Management Essay Organizational design is selecting and managing the culture, structure, processes and positions in organization so that organization can control the activities. The final aim is to achieve goals and objectives and to make organization successful (Sargent and McConnell, 2008). The design works best if it is effective and it has a positive impact on individuals (Nadler and Tushman, 1998). The organizational design is important because it shapes the behavior of members working in organization (Jones, 2010, p31) and managers acquired desired behaviors through managing organizational design. The two components of design are; Structural components include goal, strategy, and structure and Human components include work processes, people, communication, coordination and control, and incentive mechanism (Burton, DeSanctis and Obel, 2006). But it is not only about formal structure it also includes informal structures and managers integrate both into business strategy. The Ford Company makes a record loss of $13.3 billion in 2006, the tall hierarchy and culture based on empire building was found to be the reason of low productivity. The behavior of managers in Ford because of empire building structure is that they do not admit mistakes and protect their interests; the managers do not like their subordinates to ask questions. The new CEO from outside the company looks at the problem and ordered managers to share information across different departments (Jones, 2010, p36). Organizational design is a continuous processes because globalization, technological breakthrough and tough competition is continuously changing the way organization work and new forms of organizational designs are emerging such as learning, virtual, cellular, alliance, network, modular or spaghetti etc. (Burton, DeSanctis and Obel, 2006). Organizations have limited resources, have internal constraints, external pressures and even face conflicting goal situations and organizational design makes the balance between internal and external pressures (Jones, 2010), manage the resources in such a manner that it will achieve high performance and give best possible outcomes (Daft, Murphy and Willmott 2010, p22). It also increases productivity, allows innovation and gives competitive advantage. When organizations are not performing, managers redesign and restructure the organization so that it will reveal its potential. There is no specific best design for organizations it emanates from overall vision of organization. What will happen if there is no design in company? A Brazilian company Semco has no organizational design, structure, charts, hierarchy, goals and mission statement but still performing well and making profits (Semler, 2007). But Semco has only 150-200 employees, when organizations grow and expands, employ large n umber of people then gradually it becomes more complex. If a manager puts less attention, a flawed design will emerge and it hinders productivity. The factors managers should take into account while designing the organization are vision, strategy, size, environment, communication, control and incentive systems. Finally have a fact in mind that organizational behavior is result of organizational design. REFERENCES Burton, R. M., DeSanctis, G. and Obel, B. (2006) Organizational Design A Step-by-Step Approach. Cambridge University Press, New York. Daft, R. L., Murphy, J. and Willmott, H. (2010) Organization Theory and Design. Andover: South-Western/Cengage Learning. Jones, G. (2010) Organizational Theory, Design and Change. 6th edn. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Nadler, D. A. and Tushman, M. L. (1998), Competing by design, Executive Excellence, vol. 15, no. 8, pp. 12-12. [Online] Available at http://search.proquest.com/docview/204590420 (Accessed 22 November 2012) Semler, R. (2007), Out of this world: Doing things the Semco way, Global Businesses and Organizational Excellence, vol. 26, no. 5, pp.  13-21. [Online] DOI:  10.1002/joe.20161 (Accessed 30 November 2012) Sargent, A. and McConnell, T. (2008), Practical approaches to organization design,  CMA Management,  vol. 81, no. 9, pp. 22-25. [Online] Available at http://search.proquest.com/docview/197815281 (Accessed 22 November 2012) In what ways is the managerial role changing in the 21st Century? The economic fluctuations, change in technology, increasing socializations and demands for employees codetermination is continuously posing challenges to managers (Agthe, 1972) and in past two decades managerial roles had been gone through a notable transformation (Pearson and Chatterjee, 2003). The modern management has seen the shift from dictatorial style to team based approach. Top managers do not only stay in corporate offices but they handle employees from ground levels like Costcos top managers works and administer employees from retail floor (Buffington, 2009). Managers now empower, motivate, educate and coach their subordinates and manage resources strategically. If subordinates do not satisfy with the role of their managers then there is a high employee turnover in organization. The number one reason for which employee leaves job in USA is because of dissatisfaction with their managers and immediate bosses, found in Gallup survey of over 1 million employees (AgriMarketing, 2009). Managers guide and control their subordinates but on the same time take orders from top management; they transfer the vision of top management to employee and communicate goals and objectives. Adam Smith argued managers play unimportant role in organizational performance (Horowitz, 1994) and they just adds hierarchical levels, raise cost and put burdens on organization. But as we have seen in past, managers make organizations economically and technically effective, they manage inputs and processes to maximize the output (Bern et al, 2009). They deals with human, physical and financial resources, makes work done by others and make the job of others easy, practical and possible through demonstrating their competencies in terms of knowledge, skills and abilities. The traditional approach states that managers in organizations perform four general roles planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Mintzberg (1980) had suggested ten managerial roles and are categorized in three d imensions; the first is interpersonal which includes liaison, leader and figurehead. Second is decisional which includes disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator and entrepreneur. The last dimension is informational which includes monitor, spokesperson and disseminator. In addition Douglas  McGregor mentioned two styles of managers. Theory X in which managers push employees to do work, think employees are lazy, show dictatorial role and perform hard management practices. Whereas managers in Theory Y feels employees enjoy their work, wish to grow and that is why managers select soft management practices (Holloman, 1974; Weisbord, 2011). It is not necessary that traditional management roles only improve productivity. In 1914 Ford doubled wage rates from $2.5 to $5 and shortened work hours from nine to eight hours, the result was high productivity and cost went down. It was an out of box phenomenon practiced by managers in Ford. In 21st Century, the managers are seen as ca talyst; have a strong impact on profitability and policies, they are more adaptable, proactive, innovative, mobile and committed (Eric, 1998) for minimizing the threats and grabbing the opportunities. Managers also start giving attention on cultural diversity issues, work life balance, equality, strong laws and regulations affecting organizations which has been given less attention in past. REFERENCES Agthe, K. (1972) The changing role of Europes managers, Business Horizons, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 89-94. [Online] Available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0007681372900675 (Accessed 1 December 2012) Bern, D., Leeds, M., Leeds, E., and Mondello, M. (2009), The Role of Managers in Team Performance,  International Journal Of Sport Finance, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 75-93. [Online] Available at http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=db8b93aa-e99d-4788-ad67-bbe34d70cf93%40sessionmgr113vid=1hid=112bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s3hAN=40508510 (Accessed 1 December 2012) Buffington, J. (2009), Rethinking Management for the 21st Century,  Industry Week,  vol. 258, no. 9, pp. 54. [Online] Available at http://search.proquest.com/docview/219760478 (Accessed 2 December 2012) Eric, R. G. (1998) The compleat manager, 21st century style.  Management Review, vol.  87, no. 1, pp. 9-9. [Online] Available at http://search.proquest.com/docview/206689809 (Accessed 2 December 2012) Holloman, C. R. (1974) What McGregor Really Said, Business Horizons, vol. 17, no.6, pp. 87-92. [Online] DOI: 10.1016/S0007-6813(74)80014-5 (Accessed 2 December 2012) Horowitz, I. (1994) On the manager as principal clerk, Managerial and Decision Economics, vol.  15, no. 5, pp. 413-413.   [Online] Available at http://search.proquest.com/docview/206626208 (Accessed 2 December 2012) Mintzberg, H. (1980) The nature of managerial work. Englewood Cliffs; London: Prentice-Hall. Pearson, C. A. L. and Chatterjee, S. R. (2003) Managerial work roles in Asia: An empirical study of Mintzbergs role formulation in four Asian countries, Journal of Management Development, vol. 22, no. 8, pp. 694-707. [Online] DOI: 10.1108/02621710310487864 (Accessed 2 December 2012) Weisbord, M. (2011),Taylor, McGregor and me, Journal of Management History, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 165-177. [Online] DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17511341111112578 (Accessed 2 December 2012) (2009), A Managers Role,  AgriMarketing,  vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 18-18. [Online] Available at http://search.proquest.com/docview/214008047 (Accessed 1 December 2012) In your view, does team working enhance or detract from enhanced organizational performance? Illustrate your key arguments with organizationally based examples. According to Oxford Dictionary Teamwork is the combined action of a group, especially when effective and efficient. Whereas Team is collection of more than one individual strive to achieve goals, they had a coordination of activities and had a specific performance objectives (Conti and Kleiner, 1997). People rarely work in isolation; they work as teams in organizations. In USA nearly 80% of organizations (having more than 100 employees) organized some employees to work in teams (Bishop and Mahajan, 2005; Plessis, 2011). Organizational performance depends on what are the objectives of organization and can be seen as productivity, higher outputs, financial and operational results (Delarue et al, 2008). Team works for achieving their objective and on the same time it contributes in organizational performance (Bishop and Mahajan, 2005). Managers increasingly organize work around teams because it gives synergy; give greater level of performance as compare to the individual input (Fincham and Rhodes, 2005, p276). Boeing gathered members of design team from dozen countries for its 777 project and synergy is clearly observed in outcomes of teams. The new Boeing is 33% fuel efficient and 25% less costly (Benson-Armor and Hsieh, 1997). It is also important to mention social loafing; the sum of team efforts can be less than the sum of individual efforts, individual puts less efforts when team expands. Teamwork also raises the level of trust because employees depend on each other for completing tasks and projects. According to SHRM (Strategic Human Resource Management) theories, a well-planned HR system which usually includes teamwork will raise employee satisfaction, motivation and commitment which results in positive behavioral changes and leads to enhanced organizational performance (Delarue et al, 2008). On the other ha nd, team often leads to negative results such as conflicts, poor decisions and low productivity (Campion et al, 1993), which harms organizational performance. Buchanan and Huczynski (2007, p284) mentioned overall success of a company is depending on performance of teams working in it. Effective team leads to enhanced organizational performance. According to Guzzo and Dickson (1996), the effectiveness of team depends on goals, team cohesiveness, composition, leadership and motivation. It is important to keep the team on track, the reason for their existence. Teams exist to achieve goals objectives, they exist to perform tasks and it is the major reason for creating teams (Ilgen, 1999). The second performance-dependent factor is team cohesion, the more cohesive team leads to higher performance and teams with cohesion are efficient and effective. Smith et al (1994) found the positive correlation between team cohesion and financial success when he studies the cohesiveness in top management teams. The team composition means the characteristics and nature of team members. Campion et al (1993) mentioned composition is process of designing the te am in terms of the size, heterogeneity, flexibility, tasks and roles of members. Effective teams are of relative size, highly flexible, heterogenic in term of skill and experience especially when tasks are diverse and need different expertise (Hillmann, 2005). He showed through empirical study that composition of team leads to effectiveness. Leaders can also affect the performance of team, sometimes the higher expectations of leaders regarding team performance raise the actual performance of team and leaders often intervene in team processes only to boost the individual performance of members (Guzzo and Dickson, 1996). On the other hand unrealistic expectations may makes members of teams frustrated and often put them in stress. The last factor is motivation; it can be individual or group level motivation. Teamwork raise work morale and the level of involvement of members, whereas incentives and rewards for team performance can raise group level motivation. The 385 employee company S helby Die Casting, automobile manufacturing in Mississippi is 16 months away from closure, for saving the company employees had been organized into workplace teams. The result of teamwork is clearly observed, scrap reached to 12% (which was 40% two years ago) and performance is up, this teamwork saves the company from closure (Caudron, 1994). Another example is of Wellman International, a 450 employee company manufactures synthetic fiber. They improved quality and solve problems by implementing effective teamwork (Ingram, 1996). Guzzo and Dickson (1996) had also challenged the assumption that improvement in team performance simply leads to organizational performance is not always true. Sometimes teams are working well but results are not seen in larger organizational context. If the company invests in IT infrastructure, it may increase team performances but it does not imply that it will have an effect on organizational performance. Team-Organization relation is very vital, the positive changes in team results in organizational performance. On the other hand changes in organization also affects working of teams exist in it. Nurmi (1996) claimed that teams often slow down the decision making process, if members are not empowered. Teams also face conflict situations and they spent huge amount of their time and efforts in resolving conflicts. Teams spend their time in improving communication and attending team meetings which divert them from their original goals, conflict is linked with low effectiveness in org anizations (Dennis et al, 1999). Consensus and compromises are usually seen in teams for resolving conflict scenarios. Team concept is not necessarily applicable in all type of organizations. Gosen Corp organized its employees in cross functional team but after eight years employees did not find the reason for working in team when they are performing well individually and team concept is very ambiguous in company (Caudron, 1994). Caudron, S. (1994) argued bringing the individuals in a group creates barrier for achieving success. Individuals are often become an obstacle in implementing teams, they do not want to be a part of team, rather likes to perform tasks alone and shows reluctance for taking responsibility and decision making, These reluctant employees can be a reason for low performance (Berman, 1999). If the individual employees are organized in teams they look for their interest such as career and salary and they do not put more attention on team objectives. From HR perspective, hiring individuals is easy but getting those individuals perform in teams is hard. Lencioni (2006) had explained the problems in team and explained factors of team dysfunction such as lack of trust, fear of conflict, commitment issues, absence of accountability and inattention to results. These problems are affecting the performance of organization and hard to manage but still they are curable. In present era, teams have become an essential element in organization. Teamwork assists management, improves communication, encourage innovation, save time and hence enhance organizational performance (Nurmi, 1996). For making team perform and make them feel their higher potential, UK organizations invest heavily in team building exercises (Read, 2007). Organizations can work effectively only if there is strong collaboration and coordination among its team members (Mullins, 2011; Brooks, 2009). The self-assessments tool should apply in teams; each team member feels accountable for their work and evaluates their performance critically and member should give feedback to one another. Team roles should be clear among members and managers should make sure that there will no role clashes (Belbin, 2010). Another tool is Gap Analysis; the gap between current position and what should be the future position of tasks and goals then plan accordingly to lower down the gap. If teams are designed, managed and evaluate very well it will give better results and leads to higher organizational outcomes.