Benjamin Franklin Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Benjamin Franklin - Research Paper Example Life in Philadelphia was focused mainly on applying his expertise as a printer. It is here where he married Deborah Read in 1730 at the age of 24. The entrepreneurial skills of the spouses were enhanced through diverse businesses ranging from retail selling, bookstore, printing and contributing literary works in the Pennsylvania Gazette (US History, par. 14). One of the most famous works he published as Richard Saunders is the â€Å"Poor Richard’s Almanac† where â€Å"years later the most striking of these sayings were collected and published in a book† (Bellis, 3). In 1749, Benjamin’s scientific pursuits were highlighted as he invented diverse gadgets, to wit: the Franklin stove, â€Å"swim fins, the glass harmonica (a musical instrument) and bifocals† (US History, par. 21). He was more famously known for having conducted various experiments leading to the discovery of electricity (Bellis, 2011). In another field of endeavor, Benjamin ventured into the political arena in the 1750s. He had vast accomplishments in Philadelphia, of which the following are noteworthy: â€Å"first circulating library in Philadelphia, an academy which grew into the University of Pennsylvania., the foundation of a hospital† among others (Bellis, 5). He was likewise civic minded and envisioned to provide a more beneficial society through â€Å"the paving and cleaning of the streets, better street lighting, the organization of a police force and of a fire company† (Bellis, 5). The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) revealed that more than being a man of diverse interests, Benjamin Franklin was considered a citizen of the world for having â€Å"negotiated treaties with Great Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, and Spain and helped secure Americas place in the world. As a respected scientist and scholar, he was granted honorary degrees in England, Scotland, and America. And as an Enlightenment thinker, he exchanged letters

Oppressive to women and sexist Essay Example for Free

Oppressive to women and sexist Essay In studying the two tables, the one I did myself and the one my friend did, it became apparent that while there were some differences, many of the descriptors were similarly placed within the table. There were some differences, notably that we both thought the American belief of Muslims is that their religious is oppressive to women and sexist, but my friend also thought that Christians and Muslims had a male-dominated political environment. The other interesting similarity was that we both believed Americans view Muslim-Americans as fanatics and violent, a stereotype that is perpetuated on television and in the media. We both listed some descriptors in the Both category, notably the fact that we perceived both groups as devout, both as sexist in some respects, and both as family-oriented in nature. From the Christian table, I think that women who go to work and secular content in education are true descriptors about this group in general, while the idea of them having immodest dress and all being law abiding are obviously false. For the Muslim-Americans, I believe the idea of them having modest dress and being governed by the Qu’ran is true, but I do not think all of these people are violent and undereducated. Both my friend and myself seemed to have similar views on how America views each group but many of them were not true and not necessarily how I truly believe, but how American society wants us to believe. I believe that in our society the media plays a large role in how we view each group. Watching a religious channel and seeing the way some right-wing conservative Christians act sheds a light on how most Americans think Christians act, while on the other hand the media portrays Muslim and Arab peoples as fanatically religious and as being terrorists. These images have stuck in the minds of Americans, particularly since 9/11.

Beaches Essay -- Descriptive Personal Narrative

Beaches are beautiful forms of nature. Each one varies from another. Some can be rocky, some have white sand, some have black, some are small, and some are large. I love all sorts of beaches. Each beach I have visited has been a memorable experience, but one in particular stands out in my mind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During my junior year I went on vacation to a resort in Jamaica with a extraordinary beach. It was a large beach with white sand and remarkable palm trees. There was also a long row of enormous rocks that extended far out into the Caribbean Sea. I found that those rocks made a great place to walk out on to watch the glorious sunsets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I thought this Jamaican beach was great for a couple of reasons. One reason was that it was the perfect place to watch the sunset. The other was that it was a great place to lay out relaxing and tanning during the day. Each day, I’d wake up in the morning, grab a soft white towel, and head for the beach. I was always one of the first to settle on the sand. I easily found myself the perfect spot along the crashing waves each and every day. I’d sit on that towel all day long. I got up only to run into the Caribbean Sea to cool myself off. During the day the beach truly was a great place to be, however, the late afternoon and night were beautiful beyond compare. One night in particular, the sunset was truly a memorable sight. Every sunset I’d witnessed had been great, but this particular evening was my favorite. That night I walked out onto...

The Change in Scrooge’s Character :: A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens Essays

The Change in Scrooge’s Character How does dickens show the change in scrooge’s character in ‘A Christmas Carol’, look closely at the language used and how this influences the reader In 1843 Charles dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ partly to make people aware of the terrible conditions of the children of the poor. In 1843 he visited the field lane ragged school and was appalled by what he saw there/ ragged schools catered for the very poorest, hungry children who roamed the streets, trying to teach them the basic skills of reading and writing. He had also been shocked by a parliamentary report by the children’s employment commission. Dickens was the most popular novelist of the day and he soon realized that far more people would take notice of the terrible conditions of the poor if he wrote about them in a story. ‘A Christmas carol’ was published on 17th December 1843 and by the 24th he had sold 6,000 copies. Dickens called it a most prodigious success., the greatest, I think, have ever achieved. ‘A Christmas carol’ is still widely read today and appears in many versions including illustrated re-telling of the story for young children. Hardly a Christmas goes by without a version of ‘A Christmas carol’ appearing on TV in one form or another. The name of the main character, scrooge, has come into general use in the English language meaning ‘a miserly or mean person’. In ‘A Christmas carol’ Dickens shows scrooge as an evil, nasty man by using a long list of adjectives, he’s described with this sentence â€Å"Oh! But he was a tight fisted hand at the grindstone, scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and as solitary as an oyster† Another way to show this is the way he talks to people, e.g. when his nephew invites him to his Christmas party but he turns him down and calls Christmas a ‘Humbug!’ and even worse, when 2 charity workers ask him for a donation for the poor children, he says send them to the work houses, if they would rather die they better do it, and decrease the surplus population. This shows how much of a cold hearted, covetous sinner he is. Dickens makes us feel like he’s an evil man, he’s selfish and says he’d rather the children die than donate his money to charity. When the ghost of Marley visited scrooge in the night, he was shocked, he first saw Marley’s face as the doorknob, then he was frightened further when the ghost of Marley opened the door from the outside when

Nucor – Porter’s 5 Forces

NUCOR AT A CROSSROADS CASE ANALYSIS NUCOR’S SUSTAINED PERFORMANCE RECORD PORTER’S 5 FORCES ANALYSIS †¢ Supplier Power: With the eventual exit of integrated steel companies from buying scrap, the options available with suppliers to sell, reduced. Nucor started several small plants that were close to suppliers ; customers, thereby reducing transportation costs. Also, the sites chosen had inexpensive electricity. Their employee-centric policies resulted in them having lowest attrition levels ; a steady supply of new employees. Thus the supplier power was moderate-low. Buyer Power: Although Nucor employed the latest technology ; competitive prices, with imported steel available, the buyers had more options to choose from. However, Nucor’s customer service was a differentiator that buyers were willing to pay for. Hence, the Buyer power was mildly unattractive. †¢Barriers to Entry: Minimill business was a capital-intensive business for a new player. Also, for existing integrated steel makers, their reluctance to adapt to newer technology ; smaller scale discouraged them to get into the market of the minimills. Thus it was mildly attractive from Nucor’s point of view. Threat of Substitutes: With wide availability of substitutes such as aluminum, plastics ; advanced composites, the demand for steel had stagnated. Hence, the threat of substitutes in the future was highly unattractive. †¢ Degree of rivalry: The integrated steel makers didn’t threaten Nucor’s business. Nucor always had the cost advantage ; efficiency coupled with superior technology ; innovation. However, this was challenged by the global steel makers which resulted in lowering of prices ; lower margins. The only differentiation for Nucor was its highly sought-after customer service.Thus the degree of rivalry was high. Thus overall, Nucor had sustained performance so far, due to its technology innovation, lean operations, high efficiency, strong emp loyee relations ; superior customer service. However, going ahead, with availability of substitutes ; growing threat of equally good foreign steel makers, the sustainability is in question unless Nucor innovates ; strategically aligns itself to the changing demands of its customers. FUNCTIONAL FIT †¢ Low Cost Focus Strategy: Nucor adoption of organic growth helped in bridging the gap between the company and its customers.Mills were set up near the Vulcraft operations and Vulcraft in turn ensured speedy delivery of the products to its customers. The company was also able to bring down the fixed order processing costs by using computerized order entry and billing systems. With the help of competent distribution and other measures, the company was successful in raising the willingness of the customers to pay even if the price was increased. Also, the company focused on the low end segment. †¢ Organizational systems / Procedures: Nucor had a flat organizational structure. They decentralized the plant-level decision making to the respective plant managers.This led to a lot of autonomy ; faster decision making thus providing them an advantage over the competitors. The performance measurement was more quantitative in nature for the plant managers, where they had to meet specific revenue targets. The Nucor management supported creativity ; risk taking as they firmly believed in innovation ; improvisation. There was a relatively high degree of inter-plant communication vis-a-vis consolidation of orders, sharing of deliverables, etc. Thus the plants didn’t entirely work in isolation, although the structure was decentralized.At the plant level, there were conscious efforts to treat all levels of employees at par ; make all of them feel equally important ; relevant to the organization. †¢ Performance Measurement: The performance of the plant manager was more quantitative in nature. However for those of the other employees, it was a mix of qualitative as well as quantitative. This is because of their emphasis on productivity ; quality. The reward / compensation were more group based rather than individual based, encouraging teamwork. †¢ Values / Culture Review: Employee focus was the hallmark of Nucor.They encouraged risk taking, creativity ; innovation. Their policies didn’t allow for much differentiation between different cadres. Their flat structure had decentralized decision making, they provided employees a sense of belonging / ownership with the organization. The all-cash incentives were regularly doled out ; were directly performance linked – quality ; quantity-wise. Their strong employee-bonding started right from the time the plant was constructed, till retirement. They didn’t believe in firing ; during lean times, would rather cut back on working hours, than fire people.The end result was that they not only had a highly productive, motivated, experienced ; non-unionized work force, but their e mployee turnover was much below the industry average ; they had many people willing to work for them. Their high human capital was a clear differentiator ; advantage over the competition in the steel industry. Thus, Nucor’s approach of controlled growth, focus on technology ; innovation, high employee productivity coupled with a dedicated workforce, decentralized ; quick decision making, have resulted in a sustained growth ; success of Nucor.For sustainability in the future, Nucor will have to continue to focus on technology ; innovation as it has been its point of differentiation among its competitors. TETRA-THREAT FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS: Threat of Imitation: †¢ The advantage it derived from a flatter decentralized structure ; a motivated workforce, was hard to imitate, as it would mean reorganizing the organization ; it would take much longer to be effective. †¢ Nucor constantly innovated ; used latest technology. Hence, even though a competitor cop ied its technology, it would take time for it to implement it ; in that while, Nucor would have moved n to a newer technology. †¢ Costs of imitation in this case are the capital investments that would have to be made ; the economies of scale that will have to be achieved. Threat of Substitution: †¢ The internal threat of substitution by means of resource substitution is very little, as the employee attrition rate is very low compared to industry level ; the services offered to customers is of high value for the customers. †¢ External threat of substitution is high due to emergence of aluminum, plastics, etc as cheaper substitutes for steel.But as Nucor is focused on innovation, it can counter this by itself moving towards these substitutes or coming up with further innovative ways to make steel which can compete with the substitutes. However this would mean further investments in technology ; infrastructure ; training of employees. Threat of Holdup: †¢ Nucor has a strong vertical integration ; the market for the suppliers is limited as the integrated steel makers are no longer in its market. So threat of holdup from suppliers is low. †¢ It also adds value with superior customer service, which the buyers are willing to pay for.But the buyers do have option to opt for imported steel. Thus, Nucor will have to sustain the additional value it generates for its buyers. Threat of Slack: †¢ Nucor has optimized the technology that is available for manufacture. It also has a dedicated skilled workforce. However it has not fully exploited these to venture into newer steel markets or into a Joint Venture with foreign steel makers who could provide newer technology. However its organizational structure ; policies are suited for sustained growth. UNCERTAINITIES AND RISKS ASSOCIATED 1.Technological threat: CSP would become obsolete in 10-12 years time, as new technology of casting even thinner slab was already under way. This posed risk and unce rtainty to Nucor’s heavy investment in CSP, but adoption of this technology could give it the first mover advantage also. 2. Quality: SMS’s pilot plant ran only 7 minutes and produced 12 tons per charge due to space constraints. It wasn’t clear if it could take the load from continuous operations and sustain the wear and tear. The components had to operate with more than 96% reliability for it to be cost-effective. 3.Raw Material: Nucor used scrap as its raw material, and the uncertainty of the scrap prices could make the project not viable. If scrap prices rose above $ 140 per ton, Nucor might have to shift to Direct Reduced Iron as raw material which would require major changes in facility and operations. 4. Competition: Other minimills will also adopt CSP in a few years and hence Nucor may not be able to bask in the glory of first mover advantage. It wasn’t even clear if first mover advantage would offset the huge costs this project entails. 5. Company : They didn’t have the expertise in flat rolled products which had to be acquired.Integrated mills adopting CSP were a major threat as they already had the expertise in flat rolled production. 6. Operations: CSP plant was very large and more complex. It couldn’t have been located in rural areas, where Nucor have till now established their plants, hence would require new strategy to cater to these plants. 7. Growth: Nucor was concerned that it would have to enter the high end market if it plans to build more plants with CSP technology and that would require products with superior quality ; reliability of delivery, which CSP did not guarantee for such products.Moreover the high end market demanded relationship based marketing which involved the customers at early level of development of product, which would be difficult. 8. Resources: If Nucor pursued both the projects i. e. CSP and joint venture with Yamato Kogyo, then it would have to stretch its financial resources an d raise equity or debt for huge capital expenditures for the initial years. But, according to its policies, Nucor restricted its debt/equity ratio to less than 30 % and did not issue new stock. So the problem of raising funds for the two projects is a matter of concern.PROJECT FEASABILITY ? Financial Decisions Assumptions: †¢ The new project technology will become obsolete in 10 to 12 years of time, so assuming that this project will last for 12 years of time including 2 and half years of startup time and two years for full capacity utilization. Assumed that 50 % of capacity will be utilized in 3rd yr, 80% in 4th yr and full from 5th yr onwards. †¢ The capital expenditure of $280mn takes place in phase wise manner with $70mn today, $170mn in first year and $40mn in second year with additional $30mn in second year for startup cost.Working capital of $30mn will also be divided in 3 years based on their capacity utilization. †¢ The revenues and costs are adjusted with an inflation of 3. 5% each year. †¢ The rising scrap prices are also taken into consideration. †¢ Assuming that reduction in labor costs and savings in energy will be absorbed by inflation. †¢ Depreciation taken around 13% w. r. t. given data (Done by WDV method). †¢ Tax rate taken around 44%. †¢ Assume salvage value equal to the book value at the end of the project life. †¢ As the industry is stable, so taken beta value (=0. 95) around market beta (=1). Keeping the Debt/Equity ratio to be around 15%, according to existing capital structure policies. The Capital budgeting of the project leads to the following analysis: IRR=11. 8%, NPV =$18mn and ROC=26. 5% The Expected rate of return of the project is more than the WACC (10. 19%) and NPV;gt;0, though it is not very high. The project is therefore financially viable and can be adopted. ? Industry Opportunities: †¢ As the market for low end products was beginning to reach saturation, CSP was a great opp ortunity for Nucor to enter into flat rolled products.It could easily enter into the low end of the flat sheet market, consisting mostly of construction applications, where low price was key differentiator. †¢ Its internal sales (Vulcraft division) could be 100,000 tons of flat sheets each year to produce steel deck. †¢ Moreover, it could enter into the high end market after some years by expanding its capacity, which will make it possible for Nucor to compete with US integrated mills and capture their market share. †¢ The threat of ocean freight imports could be mitigated by the reduced costs. Construction industry offers good opportunity as it takes high priced products from the integrated steel mills and CSP will give Nucor the cost advantage to charge lesser price and hence be able to sell its products. ? Operations: †¢ CSP would lead to savings in casting operations, labor costs and energy costs. †¢ Nucor would be able to achieve economies of scale at a reduced output as compared to the US integrated mills. The yields will be higher and the operating costs will reduce. ? Technology: †¢ Nucor had the drive to embody technological advances.It invested heavily in upgrading its capacity. Its investment levels were 2. 9 times its depreciation charges, wherein the three largest integrated firms had a ratio around 1. 6. Through CSP, Nucor will gain the first mover advantage for atleast a few years. †¢ Hazelett Caster wasn’t as effective as CSP. Also, there were some operational constraints with Hazelett approach like expensive conveyor belts, reduced product quality and increased maintenance costs. Conclusion: Taking all the business and financial aspects into consideration, Nucor should go ahead with this technology.

The role of Antithesis in the novel To kill a Mocking Bird Essays

The role of Antithesis in the novel To kill a Mocking Bird Essays The role of Antithesis in the novel To kill a Mocking Bird Paper The role of Antithesis in the novel To kill a Mocking Bird Paper The masterpiece exposes not only deep social message but also ills of the society, as the writer in various ways reveals the eternal and global robbers such as the problem of good and evil, the problem of racism (black or white), the problem of morality and judging system. The idea of Social Inequality is centered around the whole excerpt. The events Of the novel are perceived through the eyes of the first person narrator (l punched Gem; shut my eyes; I saw Tactics pushing papers from the table into his briefcase) from the SCOUts point of view which produces a peculiar effect because Scout observes the events from her childhood, as she understood them at the time, rather than imposing an adult commentary. This makes the narrative respective naive: often we get descriptions of events just as she experiences them, without commentary on what they mean. The tone of the text is rather elevated and tense which is due to the choice of lexis (we had never seen him sweat, jury seemed to be attentive, we exchanged horrified glances). The extract combines narration with description and elements of dialog and monologue (the usage of rhetorical questions and possession, the repetition Of such phrases as black or white, all men are created equal helps to create emotional atmosphere and to emphasize and to keep in mind the importance of these phrases). The whole text contains the abundance of thematic judicial terms and clicks such as: the jury, corroborative/medical evidence, on trial of life, with the court ; s permission, guilty, the testimony, cross examinations, victim, offense, the defendant etc. The symbols which are used in the text are worthy of notice. The title VETO Kill a Mockingbird has very little literal connection to the plot, but it carries a great deal of symbolic weight in the book. In this story of innocents destroyed by evil, the mockingbird comes to represent the idea of innocence. To kill a mockingbird means to destroy innocence. Tom Robinson serves as a perfect example of this symbol. The sentence this case is as simple as black and white strikes the reader with its symbolic features. The usage of such stylistic devises as simile case as simple as black and white based on the antithesis black and white reflects the problem of racism and at the same time the problem of morality and immorality / (good or evil). On the one hand Males Lowell is rather speaking name due to the fact that surname Lowell is consonants with the word evil: they are homophones. The connection of two pairs of antithesis innocence- evil and Tom Robinson- Males Lowell brings to light the problem of morality. On the other hand from the very beginning of childhood we got used to understand that dark and black is something evil and white is good and always wins the everlasting battle. If we consider this fact, the reader can arrive at the idea that black people are evil and white are good. From the text this opinion is brightly expressed by the jury. He walked slowly up and down in front of the jury, and the jury seemed to be attentive. I guess it was because Tactics was t a thundered. All these stylistic devices such as the antithesis up and down, the assonance of the sounds: a/o/I/, rhythm was because/ and the Indianapolis (the jury) reveal the indirect meaning. The usage of the constriction Seemed to (be attentive) signifies that the juries have already made their final decision about this case and no one even Tactics- the fighter for the truth can change the course of events. They are truly believe that a lie as black as Tom Robinson ;s skin. A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson. The foreman handed a piece of paper to Mr..

energy crisis essays

energy crisis essays Late in the autumn of 1973, energy (or the lack of it) grabbed headlines like never before. It was not until the war between the Arab countries and Israel that the United States noticed a sharp decrease in our oil supplies. This was due to the fact that we - the U.S. - were supplying aids and weapons to Israel. Arab, who produced the majority of the worlds oil, decided to punish us by cutting off our oil shipments. In November of the same year, President Nixon appeared on live television to inform the United States public about the crisis. He informed the people they were going to have the most crucial energy shortage since World War II. In order to conserve energy there were a few emergency polies being enforced. These new rules were said to help everyone get through the shortage, but they ended up having the opposite effect. A few of the policies included lowering highway speed limits to 55 miles per hour in hopes of saving gasoline. Also, factories worked shorter shifts and air travel time was cut by about 10 percent. During this time, children were effected a lot. Nixon ordered that clocks were not to be turned back an hour late as they usually were in October. Instead, the U.S. was to stay on summers daylight savings time in order to conserve energy. Therefore, kids had to go to school when it was still dark. Some children carried with them flashlights. Christmas was a very sad time in 1973. People were unable to use Christmas lights or any other electronic decorations in order to save energy. The President announced that because of the crisis, the lights of the national Christmas tree would not be turned on. Increase of prices made it hard for families to buy things and pay bills. Demand for oil created hardships for gas station owners as well. There were long lines of cars snaking for miles, and impatient drivers starting fights and sometimes shooting one another. ...

A Guide to Bursitis

A Guide to Bursitis Bursitis is defined as the irritation or inflammation of a bursa (fluid filled sacs attached to joints). It most commonly occurs in adults over 40 years of age and results in discomfort or loss of motion in the affected joint.   What Is a Bursa? A bursa is a fluid-filled sac located around joints in the body that reduce friction and ease movement as tendons or muscles pass over bones or skin. They are located around joints and reduce friction and ease movement as tendons or muscles pass over bones or skin. Bursas are found next to all joints in the body.   What Are the Symptoms of Bursitis? The main symptom of bursitis is experiencing pain in the joints in the body - usually occurring in the shoulder, knee, elbow, hip, heel, and thumb. This pain may start subtle and build to extremely intense, especially in the presence of calcium deposits in the bursa. Tenderness, swelling, and warmth often accompany or precede this pain. Reduction in or loss of motion at the affected joint can also be symptomatic of more severe bursitis, such as the case of frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis wherein the pain from bursitis makes the patient incapable of moving the shoulder What Causes Bursitis? Bursitis can be caused by acute or repetitive traumatic impact to the bursa, repetitive stress through overuse of the joint, and post operation or injury infections.   Age is one of the primary factors that cause bursitis. Due to prolonged stress on joints, especially those requiring daily use, tendons toughen and become less tolerant of stress, less elastic, and easier to tear resulting in an increased likelihood the bursa could become irritated or inflamed.  At-risk patients should use caution when engaging in activities that cause extensive stress to joints, such as gardening and many physically stressful sports, as they have also been known to carry a high-risk for causing the irritation.  Other medical conditions that cause additional joint stress (such as tendonitis and arthritis) may also increase a persons risk.   How Do I Prevent Bursitis? Being aware of the strain daily activities have on your joints, tendons and bursas can greatly reduce the likelihood of getting bursitis. For patients beginning a new exercise routine, stretching properly and gradually building up stress and repetition will help mitigate the possibility of a repetitive stress injury. However, since age is one of the primary causes of the ailment, bursitis is not entirely preventable.   How Do I Know If I Have Bursitis? Bursitis is difficult to diagnose as it shares many symptoms with tendonitis and arthritis. As a result, identification of symptoms and knowledge of causes can lead to a proper diagnosis of bursitis. Follow  these tips if you have been diagnosed with a repetitive stress injury and use a visual pain scale to track and identify your pain to help determine if you have bursitis. If symptoms do not alleviate after a couple of weeks of self-care, the pain becomes too severe, swelling or redness occurs or a fever develops, you should schedule a consult with your physician.

Leading Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Leading Organizations - Essay Example According to Kanter (1995) such an action will not constitute an adequate response. This is so because, success is based on an organisation's ability to create, rather than predict the future by developing those products that will literally transform the way the world thinks and view it self and the needs (Kanter 1995:71). Within the context of today's global competition, businesses and firms no-longer compete as individual companies but try to corporate with other businesses in their activities (Wu & Chien 2007:2). These researchers further argue that, this strategy has become quite common in many businesses today. The conventional vertical integrated company based business model is gradually being replaced by collaborative relationship between many fragmented, but complementary and specialized value stars and constellation (Wu & Chien:1). An alternative approach towards organisational success, one which is becoming increasing prominent and has attracted the sustained attention of both domestic and international business scholars are core competences, capabilities and resources (e.g. Madhok 1998, Prahalad & Hamel1990, Hamel & Prahalad1994 ). In today's global business environment it is no longer sufficient simply to meet customers demand as time quality and cost have become increasingly important in the phase of increasing competition (Petts 1997:551). According to Higgins (1998:2), "customers don't always know what they need or even that there is a problem to be solved." Success awaits those companies that recognize the fact that, to be successful and satisfy customers, it is often necessary to lead customers into recognizing these needs (Higgins 1998:2-3). This is what Nike and a host of other leading brands have been doing. In the next section, using the five forces framework of Porter (1980), I will diagnose the Nike brand to see the company's control over suppliers, competitors, competitive rivalry etc. 1.2 Nike and Porters Five Forces Model According to Porter (1980), argues that understanding of the sources of competition in an industry was vital in developing an organisation product advantage. As shown in the five forces frame work, Porter further states that, five forces were vital in shaping the nature of competition in an industry, and at the same time dictate the company's advantage through the nature of the relationship with the market participants. In the industry in which Nike operates rivalry is not fierce though there are many niche players, with direct competition coming from Addidas. Nike through the five forces has a higher bargaining power when compared to its competitors, suppliers and customers, because of the brand equity. With a relatively high profit margin, in the sector to attract potential competitors or new entrants, the situation is however difficult for new entrants to enter the line of business, because huge capital, and capabilities to support after sales services are vital too. Through an

The Cowboy Phenomenon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cowboy Phenomenon - Essay Example Finally, the cowboy is aggressive because nothing can stop him from achieving any goal he wishes to achieve (Ruud, Geoff & Hugo 156). â€Å"There are some things a man just can’t run away from† The first characteristic of the cowboy involves certain aspects of his lives that are mandatory. Consequently, the cowboy must perform these functions because he has no other options. The functions could even be dangerous to the cowboy’s existence. However, the cowboy performs the functions to satisfy significant expectations in his life. For example, in Johnny Guitar†, Johnny realizes that he is in love with Vienna. This love for Vienna enables the viewers to encounter the first cowboy characteristic of Johnny Guitar. This is because Johnny Guitar maintains Vienna’s company after the self-declared reformed. Guitar knows about Vienna’s possible involvement in the robbery because of criminal history, which Vienna already has. However, this does not stop Johnny Guitar from saving his love, Vienna. Johnny Guitar is aware that it is a great risk to save Vienna after her capture but the love he has inspires him (Ray). Consequently, Charles Cosby displays similar cowboy characteristics in â€Å"Cocaine Cowboys 2†. The only difference is that Cosby’s inspiration is the urge to be successful in the cocaine business, not love. Cosby has exemplary courage, which enables him to write letters to Blanco. Evidently, Griselda Blanco is a queen pin who most people fear. Therefore, Cosby’s decision to write the letter to Blanco is synonymous with the first characteristic of the cowboy. This is because Cosby dreams of also leading the cocaine business. Later he establishes the cocaine business and is a rich man because he was not afraid to approach the godmother (Corben & Perry). â€Å"A man ought to do what he thinks is right† The second characteristic of the cowboy encourages cowboys to do what they think is right rega rdless of other people’s views. Johnny Guitar helps Vienna out of the burning bar without considering if Vienna was right or wrong. Johnny Guitar believes that men ought to protect the respective women who they love. Therefore, he saves Vienna from all troubles that face her like when Emma convinces the men to kill Vienna. Similarly, Cosby engages in certain behavior that people would otherwise consider immoral. For example, he sells cocaine in the city without considering the dangers, which he poses to people. Cosby is equally aware of the consequences of the cocaine business. He risks serving jail time like Blanca or even facing more punishments that are serious. However, this knowledge does not stop Cosby from engaging in the dangerous drug business. His only concern is to be successful with the drugs, which he realizes when he owns the 40 Million-cocaine business (Ray). â€Å"If everything isn’t black and white, I say â€Å"why the hell not?† Finally, the c owboy is aggressive in everything he does because of what Johnny Guitar and Charles Cosby reveal in their respective situations. For instance, Johnny Guitar ensures that he saves Vienna when Emma suggests killing Vienna. It is among the most dangerous decisions he makes in the entire movie. This is because of Vienna’s past and the anger, which Emma and her gang have for Vienna. Obviously, Emma would also kill anyone who was on Vienna’s side. However, that could not prevent Johnny Guitar from facing the angry

Outback Steakhouse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Outback Steakhouse - Essay Example This paper seeks to assess how employee selection methods at Outback Steakhouse help it to have a competitive advantage. It also seeks to establish the importance of fit to the organization. Moreover, it seeks to evaluate the organization’s employee selection process and whether or not its selection methods are valid. The employee selection methods at Outback Steakhouse have, no doubt, given it a competitive advantage. It has made good use of some of the most effective intangible human resource factors, and these together with a wide knowledge in organization have helped it to have advantages over its competitors. The intangible factors also make it hard for Outback’s competitors to imitate its operations. Outback aims at maintaining its competitive advantage, especially through the use of its already established intangible factors, which are mostly employee-centered. It uses a precise process of employee selection for both its hourly and management employees, and this process is one of the things that have helped it to hire and retain the best employees. During the hiring process, Outback always assesses the qualifications of all applicants before selecting the most appropriate for the vacancies in question. This selection process keeps in mind Outback’s objectives, and such, the successful candidates are always those who have proven beyond doubt that they are ready to work within its vision and values, and also adhere to its organizational culture. These employees must be competent enough to work in teams, and be responsible and accountable (Jackson and Randall, 2008). To efficiently perform in a competitive business world, every player needs to understand that structural flexibility is very crucial for success (Vesey, 1991). This is what Outback seems to have understood so well. Outback Steakhouse employs personality test when recruiting new employees. This is majorly aimed at identifying those candidates who â€Å"adaptable, highly soc ial and meticulous.† Thereafter, it keeps the records of all the successful candidates, which are later used to set the cutoff scores for hiring other employees in future. Only those who attain the set cutoff scores get hired, and as such Outback Steakhouse uses this opportunity to recruit only those applicants with characteristics almost similar to those of existing successful employees, a factor which has helped it maintain its competitive advantage. Moreover, its selection process has helped it to keep its employee turnover levels as low as possible. The low employee turnover is equally important as Outback Steakhouse maintains almost all the skills and talents it nurtures. The process is also very cost effective compared to other recruitment processes, since basing recruitment on the traits of established employees helps it to get simply the best employees (Jackson and Randall, 2008). Fit has proven to be very important for Outback Steakhouse. By matching the personal qual ities of all potential employees to Outback Steakhouse’s culture and values, fit provides it with the most effective employees. It helps it to get the most appropriate hourly and management staff, that is, it helps in hiring the right staff. This fit is also relatively important in meeting the organizations objectives, as it ensures that the best employees are retained as they develop their careers within the organization. This not only leads to better performance but it also increases the loyalty of the employees, who are likely to be more committed to achieving the organizational goals (Jackson and Randall, 2008). Most restaurants in the US are reportedly doing badly partly

Persuasive Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Persuasive - Research Paper Example s that the policy and rules regarding treating a young offender as an adult should be revived and, besides some public defender offices have launched and started a few novel programs too, likewise the advantages that are woven with this agenda are not only economical or equitable, but ethical/ moral and environmental. Initiating with the solution, the Bureau of Justice Assistance has posted suggestions for the designing and implementation of these new programs. All these various programs are driven to conceal the children who have, intentionally or unintentionally, committed felony from facing the prosecution in an adult court. This however, does not at all means that the young offender will be rescued from their act, but to deal with it in a way a juvenile should be dealt with, rather than imposing them on an intimidating and a daunting environment of an adult court. In addition to tis, the chief thing among all this execution of programs is that children be assist by the multidisciplinary personnel of which the attorney is one associate, and that the corresponding personnel will speak on behalf of the child from the beginning to the end (Allard & Young et al. 2002). Nonetheless, establishing programs to produce representative of the child is not enough; instead the history of the child and his life and circumstances surrounding him at the time of crime should be extensively analyzed. If and when the examination of the violation and the juvenile will be done, information that can help solves the case easily without taking it to the adult court (Allard & Young et al 2002). For instance, a fifteen year old had been sexually as well as physically abused in the house by his step-father and later during the time of act by the step-father and in order to save himself, the child kills him. Here, taking the child to be prosecuted in an adult court without examining his history and the circumstance during the time of killing can have a very adverse effect on the child,

Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors - Term Paper Example The metals used are mainly gold and silver. When the surface plasmons collide with light energy, a kind of resonance occurs named; surface Plasmon polarization. The resonance continues oscillating along the surface of the metal decaying gradually through loss of energy to the absorption into the metal and radiation to the media interface i.e. air or water or other surface (Bozhevolnyi, 2008). The resonance of the surface Plasmon is then used to monitor the reflected light energy from a prism coupler in relation to the angle of incidence. This method can be applied to solve real life problems like observation of nanometer variations in density, thickness and molecular adsorption. Devices are being innovated every day in application of this technique. The surface Plasmon resonance sensors (SPRS) help detect chemicals, molecules, tissues like proteins, metals among other materials. This technology has been commercialized hence it is used in a very wide number of fields i.e. mass destruc tion weapons, medicine, security protocols, pharmacy, production plants, service delivery like water for residential use, optic communications and so on (Thirstrup, 2004). New and Useful Applications of Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors The applications could be classified into four distinct groups: 1. Optical sensors 2. Biosensors 3. Chemical sensor Optical Sensors The most influential application of this technology was in the fiber optic. In this type of sensors, data is converted into light energy and interfaced with a dielectric metal. The high refractive index of the metal allows for total internal refraction thus the light energy is infinitely refracted along the cable with minimum loss of energy. This excites the surface Plasmons thus creating a surface resonance wave. The fiber optic cable is designed with a core metal in the centre, a bimetallic surround to the inner metal, a protective layer of metal preventing the effect of external waves to the wave in transit and insula tors all around each layer. When a light is beamed on a prism at an angle greater than the critical angle of the media, total internal reflection occurs. The wave formed in the media could be manipulated through the use of a material with a higher di-electric constant. This could be regulated to match the surface Plasmon resonance. It in turn creates a wave that travels along the surface of the metal at very high speeds. The energy formed through conversion of light energy to electronic energy can be controlled to achieve optimum sensor values i.e. increasing the two main parameters: sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio. The sensor can be improved by using a dielectric media with a high refractive index. However, the materials used are limited to costs thus a balance needs to be maintained between the two (Wang, 2002). Figure 1: prism experiment of the surface Plasmon wave Biosensors These are devices used to analyze the detection of analytes that combine physiochemical detector co mponent with biological components e.g. tissues, molecules, fluids and so on. This technology takes advantage of the application of surface Plasmon resonance sensors at the molecular level. This is technically used to identify various types of molecules based on the level of excitement induced by a photon of light incident on the molecules of the object in test. The biosensors are used to perform rather difficult tests i.e. testing the Ph of the brain, the Ph of the eye, the Ph under the skin and so on. The

Persuasive Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Persuasive - Research Paper Example s that the policy and rules regarding treating a young offender as an adult should be revived and, besides some public defender offices have launched and started a few novel programs too, likewise the advantages that are woven with this agenda are not only economical or equitable, but ethical/ moral and environmental. Initiating with the solution, the Bureau of Justice Assistance has posted suggestions for the designing and implementation of these new programs. All these various programs are driven to conceal the children who have, intentionally or unintentionally, committed felony from facing the prosecution in an adult court. This however, does not at all means that the young offender will be rescued from their act, but to deal with it in a way a juvenile should be dealt with, rather than imposing them on an intimidating and a daunting environment of an adult court. In addition to tis, the chief thing among all this execution of programs is that children be assist by the multidisciplinary personnel of which the attorney is one associate, and that the corresponding personnel will speak on behalf of the child from the beginning to the end (Allard & Young et al. 2002). Nonetheless, establishing programs to produce representative of the child is not enough; instead the history of the child and his life and circumstances surrounding him at the time of crime should be extensively analyzed. If and when the examination of the violation and the juvenile will be done, information that can help solves the case easily without taking it to the adult court (Allard & Young et al 2002). For instance, a fifteen year old had been sexually as well as physically abused in the house by his step-father and later during the time of act by the step-father and in order to save himself, the child kills him. Here, taking the child to be prosecuted in an adult court without examining his history and the circumstance during the time of killing can have a very adverse effect on the child,

Law and ethics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Law and ethics - Research Paper Example Additionally, the contract clause called binding effect ensures that both parties have sufficient knowledge or skill concerning the consequences of their actions (Chen-Wishart, 2012). On the other hand, labor law should focus on the rules and regulations that define minimum wage and collective action. Accordingly, provision of warranty is vital because it allows an aggrieved party to claim losses suffered or monetary damages. Overall, the defining rules should equally have collateral contracts besides the main contract to assist in case the other fails. It is crucial to comprehend the contents of a contract in relation to the clauses and limitations that are often defined by civil or penalty law. A penalty law is imposed in case a party contravenes the contents that bear a huge significance in the contract. Consequently, a penalty could assume a monetary payment or forfeiture of certain resources that are clearly spelt out in the employment contract. Alternatively, adducing supporting evidence is fundamental in cancelling a contract or invoking the civil law to receiving fine for restitution (Poole, 2012). Similarly, under the labor laws, both parties must thoroughly acknowledge the limitations of the contract. For example, the contract could either be rescinded or void depending on the emerging terms and conditions. Construction of the contract must obey the relative terms that are spelt out by employment contract or labor laws. This is because it is upon both parties to set the agendas of the bargain including subsequent rights and responsibilities. Likewise, during the construction of the contract, comprehending the implications of social subordination and economic dependence will determine the avoidance of civil penalties. Conversely, the labor laws must address the issues of bargaining power that breed inequality between individual parties the scenario usually result to conflicts and injuries

Multiculturalism in Counseling Essay Example for Free

Multiculturalism in Counseling Essay ABSTRACT Stemming from the uprising in the 1960s, multiculturalism has presented serious challenges to the society, especially to the academic sector. Criticized by social groups, schools were inclined to adopt programs in recognition of the multicultural population, and later structured their systems to cater to the needs of the growing population. Today, multiculturalism has become an important consideration in designing school programs, facilities, and hiring policies. Particularly, school counseling was one area that went through a notable change. The introduction of this paper gives a brief historical background of multiculturalism in school counseling. It discusses how multiculturalism was incorporated into the school curriculum, and was adopted in school counseling. The main part of this paper discusses the competencies every school counselor must possess to address the needs of multicultural students. Anchoring on the three core competencies set by the AMCD, this paper presents ways on how one can be knowledgeable of clients’ worldviews in order to serve them best. In addition, it suggests other devices or strategies counselors may consider when dealing with multicultural students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The conclusion of the paper summarizes the ideal characteristics of a counselor, and presents further considerations school administrators and counselors can make to ensure effective counseling strategies which adhere to the demands of multiculturalism. Introduction Multiculturalism as Rosado (1997) defines, is a system of values and behaviors which recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in society—their identities, values and socio-cultural differences. In addition, multiculturalism supports continued contribution of the culture in the society. Based on this definition, we can view multiculturalism as the harmonious coexistence of different cultures in the society. In the author’s view, culture is not limited to bases of origin. Culture may arise from similar beliefs, attitudes, or feelings of a certain group of people. Thus, it also encompasses those who have the same subcultures based on values, economic status, socio-political status, or gender. Particularly, those who have the same subculture based on gender include women, gays, lesbians and transgender individuals. In the same manner, people belonging to the same economic status or religion share a similar subculture that establishes their diversity from others. In this study, we refer to multicultural people as those who embody a different set of cultures and subcultures, other than the native culture or the majority. As such, we may define multiculturalism as an approach that recognizes diversity in culture among different ethnic, gender, economic, socio-political, and religious backgrounds. Multiculturalism has also become a prevalent topic in school counseling. It has prompted psychologists and educators around the world to review school practices that hamper culturally diverse students from performing well in school. Now that the growing population of multiculturally diverse students seems to be taking over the White population, the challenges that go with implementing multiculturalism in counseling would probably be more relevant in the next decades.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Multiculturalism in Counseling In the field of education, authors claim that multiculturalism rooted out from the social action of African Americans and other â€Å"people of color† back in the 1960s (Banks, Davidson Davidson, as cited in Gorski, 1999). The common feeling that schools had the most hostile and oppressive treatment of other cultures aroused them to protest and fight for reforms. In those days, African Americans and other cultures suffered from racism and discrimination from the White population who occupied professorship or management statuses. Colored people were treated as second class citizens, if not as outcasts. However, through the efforts of African American activists, schools were compelled to review their policies and hiring process in consideration of the non-Whites. In the 1970s, other groups such as the elderly, gays, lesbians, and people with disabilities also contested that institutions should pay equal respect to all peoples on matters of employment, educational opportunities, and work pay. Following this, a number of programs and policies emerged, including additional courses on prominent women or famous people of color. Despite this effort, social activists were not satisfied, for schools only celebrated women of greatness, and not women in general. For instance, James Banks (1981;1989), one of the pioneers of multicultural education argued that to adhere to the idea of â€Å"multicultural environment,† all aspects of the school had to be reviewed. According to him, policies, teacher’s attitude, assessment programs, and counseling should be transformed accordingly. This concept of multicultural education coincided with the idea of social equality among diverse cultures. By 1980s, following the path of Banks, K-12 teachers, namely, Carl Grant, Christine Sleeter, Geneva Gay, and Sonia Nieto exposed and criticized oppressive teaching approaches, standardized tests, classroom climate, and discriminatory hiring practices. Relevantly, this created in every academic professional the challenge to recognize diversity or as later coined, multiculturalism, and make it their mission to â€Å"manage† and â€Å"live diversity† (Rosado, 1997 ). Being multicultural does not only mean having a student population composed of various cultures, though this is often the contention of many schools. Rosado points out that for a school to claim they are multicultural, they must at least adhere to four standards. These include reflecting heterogeneity, demonstrating sensitivity, realigning the school’s mission, and creating an ambiance that empowers all groups in the school. With clear and careful intention, Rosado argues that schools should adopt change geared towards multiculturalism on individual as well as institutional levels. On the one hand, by saying individual level, we mean that schools should aim at urging administration, teachers and students to transcend beyond their own racial, gender, cultural and socio-political identity to recognize other identities. On the other hand, as Rosado contends, institutional level means focusing on empowering diversity. This goes beyond merely admitting people of color, but also taking into consideration in the school’s mission, vision, values, and structure how it can empower each individual. Although motivated by good intention, empowering people of diversity, as pointed out by Rosado may sometimes lead to a utilitarian view of giving a person his needs in exchange of what he can offer his society. We say that this is very utilitarian in that it sees the individual as a utility, more than an entity with values, attitudes, and affection. In contrast, we should be inclined to think that it is the school’s responsibility to provide the different needs of individuals in recognition of their diversity and nothing else. No conditions should apply as to whether the society can profit from his acts or not. Relevantly, whether the person is worthy of rewards of multiculturalism should not be an issue. Four intentions have motivated the adoption of multiculturalism in education. These include the â€Å"need to remedy ethnocentrism, rebuild understanding and appreciation of different cultures, defuse tension and conflicts among ethnic groups, and make the school curricula relevant to experiences and traditions† (Webb, 1990). In the next part, we will discuss how well these motivations relate to school counseling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many research works confirm the positive effects of multicultural education on students. For example, Hale (1986) shows that children in a preschool program achieved higher cognitive levels upon integrating African American culture in the curriculum.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the same way, Zaslavsky (1988) demonstrates how elements of other cultures can help in teaching complex math concepts to students of an inner-city school. Fulton-Scott (1983) confirms benefits of integrating multicultural education in elementary programs for Hispanic students. The study reveals that students’ scores in Math, Reading, and Language were significantly superior over those of students enrolled in programs without multicultural integration.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Benefits of multiculturalism are likewise recognized in the field of Psychology, particularly in school counseling. However, research in this area has focused more on counselors’ multicultural competence rather than on the effect of counseling founded on multiculturalism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1991, the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) identified the need and rationale for multicultural counseling. This led to the approval of 31 multicultural counseling competencies as proposed by Sue et al. (1992) in 1991. Following this, in 2002, the APA Council of Representatives approved the Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice and Organization Change, which was, in fact, based on the work of Sue et al.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The need to adopt multiculturalism in counseling, especially in schools, is truly urgent and necessary for ethical reasons. In relation to this, AMCD identifies three characteristics counselors must possess. First is counselor awareness of own assumptions, values, and biases. Second is understanding the worldview of the culturally different client; and third, developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Primarily, culturally skilled counselors can be identified as those who have awareness of other people’s culture other than their own. They are aware of how their cultural background, experience, attitude, biases, and values influence the counseling process of a client. Moreover, these counselors recognize their limits when it comes to tolerating other values, behaviors, or norms. To add, culturally skilled counselors are also comfortable with differences between them and the clients in terms of race, gender identity, ethnicity, culture, and beliefs. To illustrate, the first measure of competency requires a counselor to mirror whether his own values and beliefs would personally or professionally affect the process of counseling. For example, a Christian counselor may have biases towards a Muslim student, for they have truly different belief systems. In this situation, if the counselor has no knowledge of ethical limitations, he might insist that his beliefs are better or are morally upright, and those of the student’s are the opposite. However, such case may be prevented if the counselor is fully aware of conflicting values he has with the student. In our own view, a school counselor should be open to all values of every student. This is different from the counselor in the private sector. In school counseling, the counselor who cannot accept views of some students is not fit for school counseling. A school counselor should have readiness to counsel every student, and there should be no instance when he would not accept a student for counseling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To ensure that the counselor meets the first requirement mentioned above, he should reflect on his values and find out if he has beliefs against any culture, including students with different gender identities, cultural or religious practices, and other moral practices that their culture has taught them. For instance, taking into consideration the case of students with gender identity problem, the counselor must be careful not to insist that the student sticks to his biological gender. Rather, he should exercise care in handling this case. After all, the whole life of the student may depend on the decision he makes at the time of counseling. Culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge and understanding about how gender stereotyping affects them personally and professionally. Considering the sensitivity of the issue of gender identity disorder, the school counselor must be careful not to affect the decision and values of the individual, for he is going to suffer later on should he take the wrong decision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, as Sue et al. contend, culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge about their social impact on others. These include one’s awareness of own communication style, and how this style may hinder or facilitate the counseling process. Recognizing limits of their competencies, school counselors may confer with their colleagues how to overcome these weaknesses. Aside from this, they should seek further training or education on other cultures as a way to do away with biases. The process of balancing one’s view of other cultures may take a lifetime as new concepts may arise everyday. For example, the term transgender individuality appeared only in our modern times, but the concept of transforming from one gender to another has been known as early as the time of Sophocles or even earlier. In this regard, counselors should not grow tired of finding ways for self-actualization. Also, on the second characteristic, it is the responsibility of the culturally skilled counselor to gather resources to learn about the identity of other cultures. In the case of homosexuality among students, the counselor should know the different sides of the coin in being a homosexual. In particular, counselors who deal with this issue should have a good understanding of the process of being a homosexual (Adams, Boatwright, Gilbert, Forrest Ketzenberger, Cass, Chung Katayama, Croghan, Driscoll, Kelley Fassinger, Dunkle, and Pope, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). With this knowledge, he must let the student decide on his own whether to retain his gender identity or move to the phase of ‘coming out†. Coming out or in other words, admitting to the society that one belongs to a specific gender type is in itself a dilemma among teenagers with identity confusion. The specific role of the counselor in this situation is to help the youth consider advantages and disadvantages of coming out (Adams, Belz, Brown, Croteau Hedstrom, Elliott, Hetherington, Morgan Brown, Morrow, Pope, Rodriguez Chang, Pope Schecter, Savin-Williams, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). Additionally, the counselor should guide the student in the stage of coming-out by training him/her how to deal with people’s inquiry about his identity. For example, the counselor could give real-life scenarios, and ask the student to react on them in order to ensure that he would be prepared for particular instances when he would experience doubt. If the counselor feels affirmative or senses tolerance toward gays and lesbians but lacks the knowledge to handle cases of these individuals, he could improve his familiarity with them through a lot of ways. One source of invaluable information is reading literatures regarding gay/lesbian culture. At present, explorations on gender-specific cases are improving in terms of number and depth. These readings can guide a counselor to discover gay/lesbian cultural identity. Likewise, attending conferences or symposia, gathering insights from past clients and friends who belong to the same gender type will also contribute a lot (Sanabria, 2004). Also, as Sanabria expresses, if the counselor feels that he is not qualified to handle the case, it is only ethical to refer the student to someone who could offer him the right counseling. Furthermore, counselors who cannot be affirmative of gay and lesbian culture are probably misinformed and should look into themselves again if they are fit for being a school counselor. The issue regarding sexual minorities is only one of the issues a school counselor must be able to handle. If the counselor cannot help sexual minorities, he should reconsider if he should continue practicing in the academic setting. Suffice to mention, the National Career Development Association, American Counseling Association, and American Psychological Association have well-defined ethical codes that offer guidance for individuals who work with sexual orientation issues. Included in these ethical codes is the knowledge about students’ behavioral identity. Importantly, culturally skilled counselors should be aware of life experiences, cultural heritage, and historical background of their multicultural students. For instance, an Asian American student has different historical and cultural background from a Latino counterpart, or an African American. When counseling an Asian American, for example, a Chinese girl who cannot relate well with her classmates, a counselor must be informed of the conservative values Chinese families have. Actually, the attitude of keeping one’s silence may be in conformity with Confucian values. In this regard, the counselor cannot expect the girl to be as outgoing as he r classmates are, for the behavior she presents embodies a cultural heritage among the Chinese. Furthermore, culturally skilled counselors understand the consequences arising from one’s exercise of cultural traditions and rites. In some parts of Asia, for instance, there is still the custom of prearranged marriage. Thus, a counselor who encounters a high school student in this situation should suspend judgment of the custom, but rather honor it, and perhaps counsel the child to make her own choice, after laying down the consequences of abiding by the culture. In considering choices, the counselor may enumerate possible circumstances the child would face if she relents to her parents’ decision, or vice versa. Under no circumstances should the counselor dictate to the child what she should do as this may result in confusion or family conflict. Likewise, the counselor may also opt to explain the issue to the parents, but before doing so, the counselor must take precautions so as not to offend them. At all times, respect should form part of every counseling situation. Aside from obtaining a rich background of their students, a competent counselor, according to Sue et al. should also be kept updated with the latest trends and occurrences that concern his clients. In the case of a school counselor, it would be of great help if he engages in research and other activities to keep him updated with the students’ lingo, hobbies, behavioral patterns, etc. They should actively seek out opportunities—personal and professional experiences that enrich their knowledge, understanding, and cross-cultural skills. Moreover, as some schools implement nowadays, counselors can engage in outside school activities such as outreach programs, educational trips, camps, and other activities which would help gain a more vivid profile of the counselees. They should also be actively involved with minority individuals outside the school setting. Community events, celebrations, and other gatherings may help provide a wider perspective of minorities which relate with the academic scenario. Considering the dynamic role that the school counselor plays in society, the responsibility of ensuring that they possess the relevant qualities expected of a counselor should be borne by colleges offering the course or training. Based on the literature gathered, schools have positively become fully concerned about the issue of multiculturalism. Many schools and universities nowadays adhere to the demands of the culturally diverse society. However, the way to attaining competency of some school counselors may still be too far. In one study Holcom-McCo y (2000) conducted, the author identified five underlying factors influencing school counselors’ perception of themselves as competent professionals. These factors included understanding of racial identity development, ability to comprehend multicultural terminology, multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. Among which, counselors perceived lack of knowledge of racial identity development as the problem that hindered them from being fully competent in multiculturalism. To address this problem, Schwallie-Giddis et al. (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) suggest that future school counselors should undergo multicultural training on racial identity development, and multicultural knowledge development. In a study conducted, school counselors assessed the effectiveness of a nine-month multicultural professional development program. The study involved 13 school counselors in a multicultural professional development program held from school year 2001-2002. Applying three dimensions of multicultural competencies, the participants assessed their own competencies. Resources included a videotape of a case study to which participants reacted, in order to discover assumptions, values and biases. To assess understanding of the clients’ worldviews, the study made use of case studies of linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students. The participants were asked to apply a framework to the cases to examine aspects school counselors should consider when handling diverse students. The participants had a lengthy discussion on the provided cases, and at the end of the session, they expressed the advantage of having discussions with peers. Another session comprised of a panel interview with three mothers of different cultures. Each of the women talked about her child’s experiences in school, all of which related to the inefficiency of the school officials to handle multicultural students. In all the issues raised, lack of communication surfaced as the most recurrent problem. In relation to this, participants commented that had there been proper communication between parents and school officials, issues would have been resolved more easily. Moreover, the study also included a session that dealt with developing appropriate interventions to cases of LCD students. Through this, participants were able to exchange views and experiences which could help build up a resource for interventions to cases of LCD students. Based on this session, counselors noted that most of them found it difficult to deal with LCD student mainly because of the language barrier. Furthermore, insecurities due to lack of knowledge of other cultures affected the competencies of the participants. In sum, the school counselors agreed that having enough facility to understand the student and overcoming language barriers is one major key to providing adequate help to students. Similarly, Chandras et al. (2006) suggest counseling strategies and techniques in handling multicultural students. One skill they emphasized to be critical in every counseling situation is effective listening. Effective listening, as Neuknug (2002) defines, includes allowing students to talk, concentrating on what is being said, giving minimal advice, empathizing, asking for clarifications, and limiting questions. When handling multicultural students, it is important for the counselor to be fully sensitive to verbal cues that relate to culture. For instance, a student who is often bullied in class may not admit why he is being bullied due to his insecurity. There are some students who would rather keep the truth to themselves or resolve their own conflicts instead of asking help from school officials. Despite this attitude, a good school counselor could still unlock verbal cues that could make the student open up. For example, a child who claims he is not interested in making friends with his classmates could likewise mean that his classmates are cruel to him and not totally uninteresting. As such, clarifying responses and not directly giving advice may help the child reflect on his own situation. To maintain effective counseling strategy, a constructive and emphatic relationship is very important (Chandras et al., 2006). In this respect, the counselor’s role is first to build up trust and optimism. On the one hand, gaining trust of a student is paramount to establishing a good relationship. Without trust, there can be no revelations, no life experiences told. On the other hand, developing optimism facilitates finding a solution to the problem. Also, when a student perceives that there is a solution to the dilemma, he becomes more willing to cooperate in the counseling process. Secondary to the abovementioned is discussing stages of the counseling process. It is important to inform the counselee how the counseling would go, what can be achieved during counseling stages, and how long they will take. Together with this, the counselor should set guidelines both he and the student will follow, such as time schedule, behavior rules, and limitations. Chakras et al. determine other responsibilities of a counselor. These include preparing the student for counseling session. As a counselor, one has to establish the reason why the student should undergo counseling. Asking the student what he feels is wrong, or eliciting experiences that seem difficult for him are ways to prepare the student. In addition, the counselor must assert that the problem can be worked out if the counselee cooperates in resolving it. Also, some situations that lead to the attention are considered for school counseling. These include breaking school rules, misbehaving, or underachievement. As such, the class adviser and the school counselor should work hand in hand regarding record of students’ behavior and progress. One of the misconceptions about counseling is that students are referred to it only for disciplinary purposes. Students tend to think that if they are called for counseling, they have been noted to misbehave in school. Thus, some students create a wrong view that counselors are disciplinarians. Importantly, this issue should be addressed during school orientation, letting the students know and feel that counseling is a helping process, and not a disciplinary one. Furthermore, what the counselor can do to avoid this misconception is to call each student one by one, get to know them, and allow a time for them to be acquainted with her and her work, so that fears regarding counseling could be avoided. Importantly, not only those who have reports of misbehavior should be called for counseling, but every student handled by each counselor. During counseling session, one good characteristic the counselor should exhibit is to remain focused on the specific problem. If the student’s problem concerns only his classmates, the counselor should identify ways to resolve it at the said level, and not delve on the students’ family background, as such may give the student an impression that his problem is huge. For example, if the student identifies that he is having problems with classmates bullying him, the counselor must call the attention of the said classmates and allow the said parties to explain the issue (i.e., tell them of the situation to find out if they are aware of the problem they cause their classmate). Furthermore, it is the counselor’s role to sustain interest of the counselee during the counseling process. To attain this, the counselor should ask questions relevant to the situation, and involve the counselee in arriving at the best workable solution. Asking irrelevant questions and monopolizing the discussion may distract the concentration of the counselee. In addition, the counselor may give assignments or home work so that the student would feel responsible and be prepared for the next counseling session. As regards developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques to help multicultural students, counselors should also be effectively involved in non-academic and out-of-school activities. As the core of the student’s personality, the counselor should focus first on building family relationships. Activities involving the students’ family would be an effective strategy to (1) know students well, (2) gain knowledge of family structure of students, whether parents are separated, and where students stay, (3) provide a venue for family bonding, and (4) inform parents of their children’s progress/problems. Parent involvement in counseling is inevitable. Some studies confirm student improvement in â€Å"academic performance, attitudes and behavior, attendance, school adjustment and engagement, and graduation rates† (Barnard, Epstein, Simons-Morton Crump, as cited in Sanabria). In Jevnes (as cited in Sanabria), a recent meta-analysis of 41 studies shows a significant relationship between parent’s involvement in school and academic achievement of urban students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Parent involvement in school can include activities designed to inform them of their children’s progress, workshops or conferences to help them cope with the difficulties of parenting, marriage, etc. However, some parents lack the initiative to get involved in their child’s school affairs. As Lareau (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) posits, parents perceptions of racism and their own negative school experiences tend to create the distance between them and the schools. One study conducted by McKay, Atkins, Hawkins, Brown (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) found that the racism awareness of low-income African American parents was positively related to at-home parental involvement, and inversely related to at-school involvement. In this case, the counselor should coordinate closely with class advisers and other school officials to help convince these parents to give priority to their children. One source of motivation could be research dat a establishing correlation between children’s progress and parental involvement. One activity the counselor could organize is a â€Å"Day with Parents.† This could be a panel discussion involving model parents (probably of outstanding students) to act as the panel, and discuss relevant issues with students and co-parents. In this activity, the panel discusses ways on how they get involved with the affairs of their children, and how these measures create positive output to them. After the pane interview/discussion, the parents may exchange ideas in a forum to discuss proper ways to bring up children. Specifically, student problems, whether academic or personal, may also be brought up. Another activity the counselor could organize is a family day in which the whole family will come to the school to enjoy rides, games, or dining together. This event may be school-wide and would need the participation of every school personnel and students. Aside from organizing events for the family, the school counselor could also incorporate in the program field trips, camping, games, and other fun activities for the students. This will help students, especially with multicultural background, to get to know their classmates well. This way, they would also find time to have more friends. Aside from this, fun activities would also make them realize that school is not just for learning academics but also for having fun.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, other activities school counselors could provide include workshops or performing arts activities. These activities are very ideal to cultivate the talents of students. Examples of which include art, theater arts, dance, and singing workshops. After the workshops, counselors could also have a culminating activity in which students show what they have learned from the workshop. For arts, students will have an art exhibit, for dance, theater arts, and singing, the counselor could propose to school administration to allow a concert or show, in which students will be the performers. This particular activity could also serve as a fund raising campaign aside from showcasing the talent of students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other activities to make students realize their potentials include sports activities/intramurals. This would allow sports-minded students to show their capabilities in their field. Also, this could serve as the school’s campaign against drug use among students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Further to the given interventions, counselors could also conduct career orientation, especially for graduating students. In this activity, the counselor would invite some professionals to talk about their career to inspire students to follow a similar path. At the end of the session, the counselor would elicit from students, which career aroused their interest, and what made them interested to it. Importantly, students should be given many options to choose from, and career professionals to be invited should likewise have multicultural identity, so that students can easily relate with them. Evaluation sessions should also follow to allow room for improvement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Counselors also have a part in the school’s community outreach. By giving orientation to students regarding the activity and motivating them to help other people, students will realize that the helping profession is not limited within the four corners of the school. The participation of the counselor is very important as this will strengthen the role of the counseling profession and the school’s mission of helping other people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other interventions the counselor could incorporate in the counseling program include achievement tests, personality tests, and other assessments to gauge the students’ academic and personal progress. These could help identify the needs of the students or their inclinations to serve as guide in choosing their future career. There are a lot of ways a school counselor can adopt to help in the holistic development of students. In adopting each intervention, what is important is to bear in mind its applicability to the multicultural students. As each student comes from a different background, it is imperative to learn about them individually, and not just by names or culture affiliation. As long been practiced by other counseling professionals, one strategy the counselor could employ is to do home visits. By visiting students in their home, the counselor will gain a clear and accurate picture of the students’ background. Similarly, this would also create for him a first-hand experience of the students’ cultural background.   Conclusion As we continue to live in the Information Age, we are driven to realize the many impacts of multiculturalism on people, educational institutions, and society in general. In particular, we see how it changed history in the 1960s with the civil protest of Black Americans, and how it restructured school policies on employment of faculty, and treatment of students. Similarly, we see how it inspired minority groups to express their views and contribute to the rich and modern culture. Moreover, we see the important role of multiculturalism in the counseling programs of schools and the community, not to mention the challenges it continues to bring counselors in providing care and assistance. Although discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, socio-political, and economic status are still evident in our society, the progress attained by forerunners and supporters of multiculturalism make us look forward to a better nation in the next decades. As time unfolds, we may take pride as we watch Americans embrace Africans, Asians, and other people of color. This view will continue to unveil as school administrators continue to uphold and cultivate the gifts of diversity in their orientation of students and communities. Much to the efforts made by school activists, we may look forward to more reforms in the counseling scene, either in schools or communities. The standards set by the AMCD or APA would continue to lead counselors to realize the importance of their roles in the society. The role played by counselors is not an easy task. However, by being conscious of their own tendency toward biases, counselors would avoid disserving their clients, and in the long run, the attitude of people especially schoolchildren toward counseling would further be affirmative. Moreover, adhering to the second characteristic, counselors would maintain a sensitive attitude toward cultures of other people. As such, they will feel the importance of bridging gaps among multicultural individuals, thus becoming proponents of unity and peace in the long run. Also part of the competency requirements of counselors is to devise or organize strategies to provide relevant counseling and helping services to the people. In this respect, their role is not limited to the school setting they serve, but it is likewise relevant to the community they work with. By fulfilling their part as community helpers, counselors would have a richer cultural experience which could help in their field. Recognizing the difficult task expected of counselors, we may develop the doubt regarding the capability of school counselors of today in taking on the said challenges. In this regard, counselors would need all the assistance it could get from school officials such as teachers, principal, and other staff. Through the collaboration between counselors and school officials, multicultural students will realize the important contribution they can make in the society, not only in their group but also in the lives of other people, in the fields of technology, manpower, innovation, and care for the environment. The nature of helping students does not end in counseling them or providing moral support. Rather, it extends to making them feel their importance as people, providing them choices in life, and cultivating their talents. The counseling program of every school should be the most active program among all, as it involves not only the students and counselors, but also other school officials, including the teachers, librarian, and support staff. If every one in the school system shares in the goal of achieving multicultural counseling, we can hope for the success of multicultural students. As such, everyone should his/her own part and responsibilities in promoting the welfare of the students—that is, giving respect to people of other cultures, helping them realize their life goals, and making them co-creators of society. Despite all the efforts exerted by counselors and other individuals to make up a better society, we can still note some people, even students who would resist multiculturalism. The harsh picture of some students exhibiting exclusivist attitude toward their peers should not be overlooked. Rather, it should be the concern of everyone in the school, especially its officials. In line with this, more studies should be conducted on how to incorporate multicultural views into the counseling program of every school, beginning from pre-schools to post-graduate schools. It would also help if psychological groups or associations would set standards particularly for multicultural school counseling. These rules would serve as guide for school administrators in choosing the right school counselor. While it is the role of school counselors to provide counseling to multicultural students, it would also help if schools would implement a procedure to evaluate if other aspects of the school adhere to promoting cultural diversity. Particularly, school administrators should realize that the issue of multiculturalism should not be addressed by the counseling program alone, but also by all aspects of the school, including the physical structure of the school. In this regard, future research in psychology could include ways on how the school’s physical structure could support counseling programs for multicultural students. References Chandras, Kan, David DeLambo, Sunil Chandras. (2006). Counseling strategies and techniques to sensitize school counselors to the life experiences of culturally different students. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://www.counselingoutfitters.com/Chandras.htm Constantine, Madonna. (2001). Universal-diverse orientation and general expectations about counseling: Their relation to college students multicultural counseling expectations. Journal of college student development. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3752/is_200111/ai_n8993131 Freedman, Kenneth. (1999). Multicultural counseling. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http://www.alaska.net/~fken/Multiculture.htm Gorski, Paul. (1999). A Brief History of Multicultural Education. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/edchange_history.html Hanna, Fred. (2000). Asian shades of spirituality: implications for multicultural school counseling. Professional school counseling. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KOC/is_5_7/ai_n6121238 Harris, Anthony.   (2007). Philosophy and techniques of multicultural education. Journal of multidisciplinary research. Vol. 1 Issue 1. Retrieved January 22, 2008, from http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1080.htm Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.getthetoolkit.com/publications/transgender%20students.pdf Patterson, C.H. (1996). Multicultural counseling: from diversity to universality. Journal of counseling and development. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.sageofasheville.com/pub_downloads/MULTICULTURAL_COUNSELING_FROM_DIVERSITY_TO_UNIVERSALITY.pdf Rosado, Caleb. (1997). Toward a definition of multiculturalism. Retrieved January 30, 2008, from http://www.rosado.net/pdf/Def_of_Multiculturalism.pdf Rosado, Caleb. (n.d.). What makes a school multicultural? January 24, 2008, from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/caleb/multicultural.html Sanabria, Samuel. (2004). Culturally appropriate career counseling with gay and lesbian clients. Career development quarterly. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Culturally+appropriate+career+counseling+with+gay+and+lesbian+clients.-a0127052322 Sue, Derald Wing, Patricia Arredondo, and Roderick McDavis. (1992). Multicultural counseling competencies and standards: A call to the profession. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from www.counseling.org/Files/FD.ashx?guid=e14f8c36-41e7-4af8-830d-69f6057986d7 – Van Velsor, Patricia Graciela Orozco. (2007). Involving low-income parents in the schools: Communitycentric strategies for school counselors. Professional school counseling. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Involving+low-income+parents+in+the+schools%3a+communitycentric-a0171018638 Webb, Michael. (1990). Multicultural education in elementary and secondary schools. Eric digest number 67.  Retrieved January 24, 2008, from http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9218/secondary.htm

Mr. Palomar and When My Brother Was An Aztec Analysis

Mr. Palomar and When My Brother Was An Aztec Analysis When My Brother Was an Aztec is Natalie Diazs first accumulation of poems. The book is separated into three parts. The first section of the book is committed to catching cultural depictions of Native Americans and their communities, the second segment is about the drug addicted brother, and the third on the pity and agony that goes with reservation life. On the other hand, Italo Calvinos Mr. Palomar is a novel that comprises a series of short chapters, each in sets of three, which explores Mr. Palomars universe. The text is broken into three individual sections. They are Palomars Vacation, Palomar In the City and The Silences of Palomar. This novel presents the story of a man who cannot move past his self-made boundaries. It depends on things that our principle character, the middle-aged Mr. Palomar, sees and ponders. This paper will examine the way both the author Natalie Diaz and Italo Calvino uses the scene and overall importance of the scene in text. Also, it will scrutinize simi lar or different approaches taken by the authors to scene and how do these approaches impact the result. Poems in the first section of Diaz most specifically address Native American experience and the first section of Mr. Palomar addresses visual experiences. The first section of the book is committed to catching social previews of Native Americans and their groups. There are some poems that juxtapose glimpses of those communities against standard culture, as with Cloud Watching and If Eve Side-Stealer and Mary Busted-Chest Ruled the World, these and others make a study of the devastated conditions that numerous Native Americans are compelled to live in and around reservations. The outright highlight of the section is The Last Mojave Indian Barbie. The gently hidden scrutinize of standard cultures misleading position toward Native Americans is made entertaining in light of the fact that it is wrapped in the transparent appearance of the tremendously censured doll Barbie. The piece is flippant and shocking, which makes the demonstrations of the youngsters toys all more amusing. On the ot her hand, the reader is acquainted with Mr. Palomar as he endeavors to think about the way of one wave through direct perception. Calvino, in third person, points of interest wonderfully the trouble of doing as such, as the wave itself raises and falls, shifts shapes and dimensions, is converged with different waves, parts from itself and changes, and at last dies along the beach. In Mr. Palomar, Calvino tells us, is trusting that in achieving a reply with regards to the structure of a single waves nature, its development and decimation, he will discover a similarity to the reply with regards to the topic of the piece of the universes nature. He neglects to do as such, is flopped even to diminish his nervousness in endeavoring to do as such, and proceeds onward. The following story being one of endeavoring to accomplish the fitting concordance of detachedness and mindfulness as to a topless sunbather to pass on regard for tradition and regard for her femininity, with the aftereffect of being perceived as a pervert. Poems in the second section of Diaz represents another sort of experience and the second section of Mr. Palomar shows components that are anthropological, or cultural in the expansive sense. The reader finds that the second segment takes a more genuine thoughtfulness and altogether refocuses on the brothers character. His crazy drug addicted behavior is expertly caught in My Bother at 3am.. Using non-particular solid subtle elements, Diaz transports the reader to the scene for observing the Brothers hallucination of the devil, feel the siblings fear, and feel his moms despondency. It is one of the best poems in the collection. The section finishes up with a formal internment of the sibling in No More Cake Here. The poem utilizes sound and imagery to catch the sisters help and blame at being remembered at her brothers death. Toward the end, the reader is made uncertain as the sibling returns and tells the sister/narrator that he is not dead. Now, the reader may assume that the brother is a signifier for the wrongs of a modern culture and that the sister infers present day society unnecessarily depleted and too much occupied, making it difficult to oversee troublesome issues. On the other hand, Palomar in his garden attempting to comprehend a blackbirds whistle and Palomar microscopically looking at the infinity of his lawn; Palomar watching the moon and the planets and the stars (Mr. Palomar Book Review Summary). Palomar getting another point of view on his city from his patio and considering the mass whirling of starlings. Palomar wondering about every one of the assortments of cheeses in a cheese specialists and ending up purchasing a simple cheese bothered as he is called to make his request. Palomar also at the zoo contrasting himself with a giraffe (Mr. Palomar Book Review Summary). The poem of Diaz and the novel of Calvino provides new experiences from different aspects. The reader finds the poems of When My Brother Was an Aztec are expertly made utilizing imagery, sound, and frame to catch their individual subjects in striking conduct. Likewise, the book functions as a whole. It works as a scrutinize of the issues of poverty and drug addictions confronting standard and Native American society. Diaz is completely fruitful with this, her first collection. Diaz tries different things with structure in a large number of her poems to demonstrate how the association of a poem is just as important as its content. When My Brother Was an Aztec takes after a stair-step example to demonstrate that as Diaz and her family take after her brother more distant and further down his dangerous way, there is no real way to return. On the other hand, Mr. Palomar watches and considers questions as various as blackbirds, the sky, a cheddar shop, and the naked bosom of a sunbather. A t least twice, be that as it may, Mr. Palomar finds the tables turned on him, turning into the watched instead of the observer (Mr. Palomar Characters). At the end of the novel, Mr. Palomars absence of authoritative self-knowledge gets to be distinctly prominent, however then, as the creator proposes, a telescope is most likely not the best instrument for seeing oneself. Finally, it can be said that In When My Brother Was an Aztec, Natalie Diaz looks at memorys part in human identity. Every poem is layered with different pictures and feelings exhibiting the tumult that imbues familial connections, especially those clashed by social conflicts and drug addiction. On the other hand, Italo Calvinos Mr. Palomar is a novel, yet in another sense, it is just about a philosophy book, beautiful all things considered as it brags no answers, rather it is basically a series of perceptions and inquiries with respect to them. By this way, both the authors were successful to express what they wanted to say in different form of writings. Works Cited Calvino, Italo. Mr. Palomar. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985. Print. Diaz, Natalie. When My Brother Was an Aztec. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon, 2012.Print. Mr. Palomar Book Review Summary. Detailed Review Summary of Mr. Palomar by Italo Calvino. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016. Mr. Palomar Characters ENotes.com. Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.