How the book canterbury tales reflects its time Essay

How the book canterbury tales reflects its time - Essay Example All these experiences trained him to be a poet of men as he appeared eventually in the Canterbury Tales. In the Canterbury Tales he fixed up the spirit of his age for future generations to observe and appreciate. In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer is almost silent about the very stirring historic and political events of his age (Phillips 27). Chaucer does of course casually refer to some of these events, but there is no full length treatment of any of them. The Peasant’s Revolt is referred to in the Nun’s Priest’s Tale. The Battles of Crecy and Poietiers are glanced at elsewhere. The allusion to the Black Death comes in Chaucer’s character sketch of the Doctor of Physic in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. There is then a latent reference to Lollardism in the delineation of the Poor Parson who like a Lollard believed in simple living and high thinking. Chaucer’s subtlety with the treatment of historical events could be attributed to his concern as a poet, with the dateless and universal aspects of human nature. The Canterbury Tales gives us a fairly authentic and equally extensive picture of the socio-political conditions prevailing in England in the age of Chaucer (Schoeck & Taylor 31).

Demonstrate Enhanced Self Awerness, Interpersonal and Self-Managment Essay

Demonstrate Enhanced Self Awerness, Interpersonal and Self-Managment Skills When Establishing and Maintaining Professional and T - Essay Example Prior to conclusion, the student will reflect on his/her personal skills and highlight one action point for each that will benefit you in maintaining professional and therapeutic relationship. Literature Review The process of establishing a strong nurse-patient relationship could result from a constant or regular interplay or covert negotiation between the nurse and the patients until both parties are able to reach a mutual and satisfying relationship (Morse, 1991). Depending on the time spent between the nurses and the patients, nurses are expected to build trust and meet the individual needs of each patient. According to Morse (1991), nurses who are not willing or failed to commit themselves to the patients would end up forming a unilateral relationship rather than a nurse-patient relationship. ... Caring is the central force when developing nurse-patient relationship that aims to protect the patient’s dignity (Kozier et al., 2004, p. 72; Astedt-Kurki et al., 2007). Therefore, developing trust between the nurse and the patient is important (Yamashita and Mound, 2005). For nurses to be able to successfully perform the seven nursing roles (i.e. the stranger role, resource role, teaching role, counselling role, surrogate role, leadership role, and technical expert role) in caring for the patients, Peplau emphasizes the need for nurses to communicate and be a good listener to the patient (Courey et al., 2008). For example, by listening to the specific needs and personal experiences of the patients, the nurses will be able to have a better understanding on how they should provide caring and treatment to the patients without causing any unnecessary internal conflict between the two parties involved (Di Joseph and Cavendish, 2005). Communication skills can affect the success or failure of a nurse-patient relationship. Therefore, nurses should be aware of their choices of words, sentence structure, and tone of voice (Kozier et al., 2004, p. 427). In most cases, patients who are emotionally happy and satisfied with the development of nurse-patient relationship are more open in revealing their emotions with the nurses (Astedt-Kurki et al., 2007). Once the patient is able to share his personal experiences with the nurses, the nurses will have more opportunity to communicate with the patients and be able to provide them with the comfort they need to be able to cope with their health status. As part of strengthening the relationship between the nurses and patients, Tveiten and Severinsson (2006) revealed that a

Central Symbol In John Steinbecks The Chrysanthemums

Central Symbol In John Steinbecks The Chrysanthemums In the short story The Chrysanthemums, John Steinbeck uses the chrysanthemums as the central symbol to help the reader understand the storys plot and recognize the emotions and thoughts of the main character. Elisa Allen is an intelligent hard working woman who is unhappy and unfulfilled with her life. Her frustration arises from her husband who does not admire her as a woman and from not having mothered a child. She has a flower garden where she grows and takes care of beautiful chrysanthemums which are the only outlet for her frustration and her emptiness. The chrysanthemums in this story illustrate plenty to the reader about Elisas struggle to finding herself and fulfilling herself as a woman. Steinbeck uses the flower throughout his story to symbolize his main characters thoughts and ideas. Elisa relates herself to these chrysanthemums and her frustration is evident when she is first introduced in this story. She is a lonely, discontented woman. Her husband is always busy working in their farm, he does not pay any attention to her or her needs as a woman. She discovers an outlet for her dissatisfaction in a garden where she cultivates beautiful chrysanthemums. She takes refuge in her chrysanthemums, which symbolize herself. Steinbeck uses these lovely yet hardy flowers as a symbol to represent the soft spirit of Elisa. The chrysanthemums symbolize Elisa as well as the limitations and restrictions of her life. One can clearly see the hostility in their relationship yet she comes out as an emotionally strong woman. Elisa stiffened and her face grew tight. Henry stopped short and looked at her. Why-why, Elisa .You look so nice! Nice? You think I look nice? What do you mean by nice? Henry blundered on I dont know. I mean you look different strong and happy. I am strong? Yes, strong. (Steinbeck 218). It clearly shows her strength of mind here. Elisa took great care of their flowerbed and like her house, it was neat and carefully ordered. Elisa relates herself to the flowers and as a reader we can see that she becomes one with the plants when she tends to them. She does not feel appreciated and is neglected, but still has enough to give herself to the care of her chrysanthemums. These flowers symbol how beautiful she really is and how she wants to be seen. Steinbeck lets the reader discover that the chrysanthemums are a part of Elisa. Elisas chrysanthemums also represent children that she does not have. Nurturing and taking care of these flowers satisfies her barren maternal instincts. The care she tends her garden with symbolizes her desire to look after children. The reader gets the feeling that they are her children and she looks after them like a mother. The chrysanthemums symbolize Elisas desire to be a mother and her children as well. She takes care of her garden and handles the chrysanthemums with a lot of love and attention just as she would tend to her own children. Elisa is very protective of her flowers and yet very proud to show them off like any mother would have been. She spread the leaves and looked down among the close-growing stems. No aphids were there, no sow bugs or snails or cutworms. Her terrier fingers destroyed such pests before they could get started (Steinbeck 212). She feels these insects will harm her flowers so she removes them before they can do any damage. Just as any good mother she does not want to see her children get hurt and she is happy and pleased to nurture these beautiful flowers. Elisas pride to grow such beautiful chrysanthemums show that the flowers in some ways replace for the fact that she has no children. The reader also sees that when the tinker praises her garden she swells with pride, almost feeling like she herself, and her children are being admired. The blossoming of these flowers to Elisa is like her own children shinning. These flowers clearly symbolise her needs as a woman, her need to be a mother and how she feels. In conclusion, we can understand that John Steinbeck uses many symbols in The Chrysanthemums. Elisas garden and the chrysanthemums all symbolize different phases of her life. The use of symbols in this story plays an important role in the readers understanding of the plot. Imagery and symbolism are well placed throughout the story to help explain Elisas feelings, her deepest fears and desires. They also establish the chrysanthemums as a direct extension of herself. After reading this short story one must wonder if Elisa will continue to live this discontented and unhappy lifestyle or will she finally blossom like one of her chrysanthemums?

Crazy Old Holden Essay -- Essays Papers

Crazy Old Holden If you really want to hear about it, there is alot of symbolism in Catcher in the Rye. This novel, written by J.D. Salinger, utilizes symbols to portray different themes. Of these symbols there are three that are strongly related to Holden. The operation, being a madman, and stepping of a curb all play a vital role in the novel by J.D. Salinger. Holden is a very disturbed individual. Every since the death of his little brother, Allie, he has been going crazy. Holden even describes himself as a madman. Holden talked about being a madman while he was talking to the cab driver. Holden asked where the ducks went when the weather got cold. The cab driver thought this was a strange question and turned around to look at Holden like he was â€Å"a madman† (60). The cabby thought that it was an absurd question because everyone knew that the ducks went south for the winter. That is why the cab drive turned around to look at Holden like he was crazy. Another instance where Holden mentioned the madman was while talking to Sunny, the prostitute. Sunny came to Holden’s place because he wanted to have sex with her. Instead, Holden didn’t want to have sex, but he wanted to talk. Sunny thought that this was very odd of Holden to want to talk to a prostitute, rather than have sex, so she looked at him as if he were â€Å"a madman† (95). Going along with the madman theme is the operation that Holden talks about. The operation he is always talking about i...

After the Second World War Essay

1) Japan   2) The â€Å"four tigers†: Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore (the sixties of the twentieth century); 3) Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China (from the 1970s to the 1980s) In fact, by rejecting import substitution industrialization Asian nations managed to avoid some negative results of this policy. First, their economies were not dragged by inefficient industries. Second, East Asia did not have to implement policies benefiting industrial workers at the expense of those working on the farms. This was crucial for Asian countries because farmers made up the majority of their population. In addition, in order to diminish the cost of industrialization, the cost of food needed to be kept artificially low. And also, East Asia attempted to prevent the appearance of rent seeking behaviours, which resulted from the usage of the licensing schemes for import substitution strategy and which usually increased inefficiency of economics. High tariffs on manufactured goods, which were imposed by many countries in order to create their manufacturing bases, forced multinational companies to assemble or produce them locally. For example, manufacturers of motor industry exported vehicles for local assembly. Their vehicles were delivered ‘completely knocked down’ and the local assembly resulted in poorer quality and higher expenditures in comparison with those imported already built up. Moreover, the local assembly of identical products only duplicated resources and reduced economies of scale, which became increasingly inefficient for manufacturers. On the whole, at the beginning of 1980s the policy of import substitution industrialization began to fail both in Latin America and in those Asian countries where the policy was adopted. Generally, it happened because the governments involved in the policy started to overspend reserves in order to keep the stability of currency. The governments in Latin America defaulted on their debts and had to turn to the help of the International Monetary Fund. Another process which contributed to the failure of import substitution was globalization. However, some economists think that the collapse of the policy of import substitution industrialization â€Å"should not necessarily be taken as an endorsement of globalization. † Such point of view was supported by the fact that some countries of East Asia also used high tariff barriers while rejecting the rest of the strategy of import substitution. This mixed policy was focused on investment and subsidies on the industries which would produce goods for export. As a result, these Asian countries managed to create competitive industries. However, irrespective of all their achievements, the policies described above also proved to be inefficient and later led to many problems during Asian financial crisis. The closing period of import substitution industrialization was in 1989 when the Washington Consensus as a set of policies designed to promote economic growth in the countries of Latin America was presented by John Williamson. The Washington Consensus included reforms which continued the policy of import substitution industrialization offering a modernized version of its tenets. In particular, the Washington Consensus proposed the following: 1) the discipline of fiscal policy; 2) tax reform. It flattened tax curve: the tax rates on high tax brackets were lowered and the tax rates on the low tax brackets were raised. Also it suggested lowering the marginal tax rate; 3) Competitive exchange rates; 4) Trade liberalization by means of low and uniform tariffs which would replace quantitative restrictions; 5) Reduced limitation for foreign direct investment; 6) Privatization of state enterprises; 7) Deregulation, which implies â€Å"abolition of regulations that impede entry or restrict competition, except for those justified on safety, environmental and consumer protection grounds, and prudential oversight of financial institutions† 8) Property rights must be legally secured; 9) Public spending should be redirected toward the investment of health, education, and infrastructure; 10) â€Å"Interest rates that are market determined and positive (but moderate) in real terms. † In the nineties the Washington consensus was being disputed. The critics of the reforms argued that they would lead vulnerable countries to crisis instead of helping to overcome it. Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky claimed that the neoliberal policies of the Washington consensus would lead to the exploitation of labor market of an underdeveloped economy by a more developed one . Privatization of state industries, deregulation, and tax reform were seen by the opponents as the reforms which would ensure the development of the layer of local monied elite who would pursue local interests and try to maintain local status quo. Jorge Taiana, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Argentina, also disapproved the Washington consensus saying that such policies never had a real consensus and nowadays â€Å"a good number of governments of the hemisphere are reviewing the assumptions with which they applied those policies in the 1990s,† adding that governments are working on a development model which would ensure productive employment and guarantee the generation of real wealth. Another economist Duncan Kennedy in the article for The Boston Review stated that the Washington Consensus completely opposed the initial tenets of import substitution industrialization and more favoured American political interests: â€Å"In the form promoted by the United States, ISI was as hostile to free-market economics as to Communism. The overarching idea of the Washington Consensus was to wipe out every aspect of ISI: the Washington Consensus is both that free markets are good and that ISI [Import substitution industrialization] was bad. Developing countries were to develop through integration into the world commodity and capital markets, with policies of deregulated private enterprise, foreign investment, and open economic borders. † All in all, taking into consideration the mistakes of the previous experience and the criticism of the economists, the developmental policy of import substitution industrialization has never been returned since the time of the Washington Consensus. Thus, in the paper import substitution industrialization as a process and as a policy was investigated. It was found out that import substitution pursues three main goals: utilization of underused capacities, reducing unemployment and infant industries protection. The implementation of the policy of import substitution industrialization is based on three tenets: particular monetary and industrial policies, and protective trade barriers. However, it turned out that success and efficiency of import substitution industrialization was doubted by the proponents of absolute free market. Potential risks of import substitution were also visible while careful theoretical analysis and pointed out by economists. The underdeveloped countries of Latin America and East Asia implemented the policy of import substitution industrialization. It occurred that the potential risks and the negative aspects found out by the proponents of absolute free market constituted the drawbacks of the policy and finally became the chief factors of its failure. However, the major part of East Asian countries rejected the policy and experienced economic growth. The example of Brazil demonstrated that the policy of import substitution industrialization can stimulate economic growth for some period of time, but its drawbacks (first of all high expenditures and inefficiencies) pose real obstacles for continuous and strong economic development. Bibliography: 1) Bianchi A. M. Concern with Policy-relevance in the Latin American School of Economics. Post-autistic economics review. Issue no. 18, 5 February 2003 article 2 10 Nov. 2005 2) Charles J. Born in Blood and Fire Chasteen, 2001.p. 226-228. 3) Duncan Kennedy on import substitution industrialization. Totalitarianism Today. The Boston Review October 13, 2003, 10 Nov. 2005 4) Import substitution, Economic Geography Glossary, 1999, , 12 Nov. 2005 5) Import substitution, Wikipedia, 24 October 2005, 10 Nov. 2005 6) Stutz F. P & Souza A. R. : The World Economy: Resources, Location, Trade, and Development (3rd ed. ), Prentice Hall 1998.

Outsourcing and Negotiation in Project Management

The prevailing tendency of organizations is to concentrate on core activities and opt to outsource those activities which are considered to be noncore. 1) Discuss the concept of outsourcing, reason behind outsourcing and its challenges. Outsourcing is the act of one company contracting with another company to provide services that might otherwise be performed by in house employees. Often, the tasks that are outsourced could be performed by the company itself, but in many cases there are financial advantages that come from outsourcing.Many large companies now outsource jobs such as call centre services, email services and payroll. These jobs are handled by separate companies that specialize in each service. Outsourcing is therefore, the process of contracting an existing business function or process of an organization to another independent organization and ceasing to perform that function or process internally, instead, purchasing it as a service. Reasons for Outsourcing i. Cost redu ction/Cost Savings- outsourcing cuts costs such as labour costs, regulatory costs and training costs.Most companies that provide outsourcing services are able to do the work for considerably less money as they don't have to provide benefits to their workers and have fewer overhead expenses to worry about. ii. Focus on Core Business- companies are able to focus their money and resources more towards improving the core aspects of their business when outsourced. this allows the outsourcing company to build onto its core functions that keep the business running smoothly. iii. Access to more Knowledge, Talent and Experience- outsourcing means contracting to an organization that is more specialized in a particular area, e. . , payroll services. this means that the process that is outsourced will be performed in a more efficient and effective manner hence improved services. iv. Increased profits- due to the fact that some services or processes are outsourced at a cheaper cost, it means tha t the services/products a company offers will also be provided at an affordable price hence higher revenues. Cost savings and reduction also increases the profits. Challenges of Outsourcing i. Eliminates direct communication between a company and its clients especially in instances where customer service has been outsourced.This may prevent a company from building solid relationships with their customers which can lead to dissatisfaction. ii. The danger of not being able to control some aspects of a company which have been outsourced which can lead to delayed communication and project implementation. In turn, this can cause a company to become highly dependent on its outsource providers which can cause problems or complications should the outsource provider back out on the contract for one reason or another. iii. Any sensitive information is more vulnerable as there is reduced confidentiality and also the risk of leakage.Outsourcing means that some information needs to be shared wit h the outsource provider hence confidentiality is compromised. 2) Discuss the significance of negotiation and its approaches to achieve procurement objectives, factors influencing buyer negotiations, strengths and weaknesses of negotiation styles. Negotiation is dialogue between 2 or more people or parties intended to reach an understanding, resolve point of difference or gain advantage in outcome so as to satisfy various interests of the negotiating parties. It is therefore mutual discussion and arrangement of the terms of a transaction or agreement.It is a process where each party involved in negotiating tries to gain an advantage for themselves by the end of the process. Negotiation is intended to aim at compromise. Approaches to Negotiation i. Structural Approach Structural approaches consider negotiated outcomes to be a function of the characteristics or structural features that define each particular negotiation. These characteristics may include features such as the number of parties and issues involved and the composition or relative power of the competing parties.In this approach, there's an emphasis on the means parties bring to a negotiation. Power is thus the central determining factor in negotiation. In this view, the relative power of each negotiating party affects his/her ability to secure their individual goals. However, other factors such as negotiating skills can play a key role in shaping negotiated outcomes. Therefore, victory in negotiations does not always go to the party that is more powerful. Another limitation of structural approaches is their emphasis on taking positions.Negotiators should be aware that a blind attachment to winning from a negotiation regardless of the resulting satisfaction of other parties, can be a poor long term strategy if it means that the other side will lose its will or ability to maintain its side of the negotiated agreement. ii. Strategic Approach Here, the emphasis is on the role of ends (goals) in determin ing outcomes. Negotiators are viewed as rational decision makers with known alternatives who make choices guided by their calculation of which option will maximize their ends or gains.Actors choose from a choice set of possible actions in order to try and achieve desired outcomes. It's grounded in the belief that there is one best solution to every negotiation problem hence look for best solutions from all perspectives of a negotiation. iii. Behavioural Approach Behavioural approaches emphasize the role that negotiators' personalities or individual characteristics play in determining the course and outcome of negotiated agreements. It explains negotiations as interactions between personality types. It therefore, highlights human tendencies, emotions and skills.It may emphasize the role played by arts of persuasion, attitudes, trust, perception or misperception, individual motivation and personality in negotiated outcomes. iv. Integrative Approach Negotiations are viewed as interacti ons with win-win potential. It looks for ways of creating value so that there is more to share between parties as a result of negotiation. Uses objective criteria, looks to create conditions of mutual gain and emphasizes the importance of exchanging information between parties and group problem solving. It thus calls for participants to work jointly to create win-win solutions.It involves uncovering interests, generating options and searching for commonalities between parties. Objectives of Negotiation for Procurement 1. Obtain the quality specified- through negotiation, buyers and suppliers are able to reach a consensus on quality required for the products/services. 2. Obtain a fair and reasonable price. 3. Create a long term partnership with a highly qualified supplier- through negotiation, an organization is able to identify which supplier it best relates with hence creating a long term relationship. 4.To get the supplier to perform the contract on time- delivery date schedule fo r quantity and quality specified should be realistic. It's important that buyers negotiate delivery schedules which suppliers can realistically meet without endangering other requirements of the purchase. 5. To exert control over the manner in which the contract is performed- buyers need to negotiate for controls which will assure compliance with the quality, quantity, delivery and service terms of the contract. Factors Influencing Buyer Negotiations 1. Type of Buyer All buyers are not equal.Buyers have different acquisition objectives, growth and competitive pressures, availability of capital and the attendant costs, risk tolerance and adeptness at negotiating deals that will impact the amount they are willing to spend on procurement. 2. General Attractiveness of the Company Naturally, an asking price that is below market valuation will make a supplier more attractive. Also, an asking price that is in close proximity to a company's fair market valuation is also attractive. Therefor e, factors that make a supplier attractive include: †¢ Strong management A strong balance sheet †¢ High growth rate †¢ Leadership or dominance in the market Such factors will attract buyers since the supplier will be viewed as dependable or reliable. 3. Financial Parameters A buyer's financial parameters that determine what to be paid include: internal cash available for procurement and the amount they are willing to invest in a single procurement deal. 4. Relative Negotiation Skill and Bargaining Leverage of the Parties As a buyer, the amount of money you will pay will be influenced by your negotiation skills, bargaining leverage and time constraints.For example, if the products/services are required urgently, then you might not have enough time to bargain for a good deal. Ultimately, the greatest power possessed by both the buyer and seller is to walk away or end the negotiation process. 5. Buyer's Experience with Prior Suppliers The amount of money that a buyer is willing to pay is influenced by prior experience. If the buyer paid a high price in the past and the supplier failed to deliver, they will think long and hard before offering an overly generous price and vice versa. 6. Inherent Risk Factors and the Buyer's ToleranceRisk can be defined as the possibility of a bad outcome or the uncertainty of a desired outcome. Tolerance of risk is a buyer's willingness to accept and manage risks that can come about say due to a delayed or even failed delivery. When it comes to negotiation, the biggest risk is overpayment then the product/service procured does not meet the specifications or is not even delivered. 7. General Market and Economic Conditions Economic and market conditions strongly influence buyers. Favourable economic conditions means that buyers are willing to spend more; unfavourable economic conditions means that buyers will reduce on their spending.