Self-Assessment Essays - Education, Writing, Rhetoric, Essay

Self-Assessment : Read / skim the models, and compare the new essay with them. Which of the models is closer to in terms of content and quality of thought, and being organized and understandable? Take synthesis into consideration. The second model (scored a 6) is close in terms of content and quality of thought to my essay. Both essays answered the prompt similarly: advertisements benefit consumers by keeping them informed and showing them what products are out there. Both essays were organized similarly with five paragraphs. Also, at least three sources were synthesized and connected back to the thesis statement. However, I found that my essay was less clear and more succinct than the sample essay; I did not elaborate on all pieces of evidence. Therefore, I would've received a lower grade (4 or 5). About your own essay, what is ONE feature you could improve in the next one that you write? The next time I write the essay, I believe that I would need to spend more time elaborating on evidence and providing a summary of the body in the conclusion. At some points, I did not provide clear, coherent explanations for why certain pieces of evidence connected back to the thesis. I believe these errors are due to time constraints. I only had 30 minutes to write the essay (took too long to analyze sources). Score : 5 Develops a position on the effects of advertising At least three sources are synthesized Argument is generally clear and the sources generally support the author's position: However, the links between the sources and the argument are somewhat strained. Is less developed and cogent than essays earning higher scores Assessment of Peer Essays : Tiki Brown: Score 4-5: Develops a position on the effects of advertising. Attempts to present an argument and support the position by synthesizing at least two sources (synthesizes three sources), but ends up oversimplifying the main argument and sources used. Link between argument and sources is somewhat weak Allah Akbar Duncan Scott : Score 4-5 : Develops a position on the effects of advertising Attempts to present argument; however, it is oversimplified and in some places, misunderstood Link between argument and sources are strong; however, sources are not elaborated upon fully Essay does not seem to be very sophisticated (Peer scores should be up to score 5; however elaboration was missing)

Modernist Angst- Misogyny essays

Modernist Angst- Misogyny essays The position of women in society has been exemplified in literature as misogynist, and although things have started to change in the last hundred years or so, one sees that women are still portrayed in a poor light. In essence, the idea of women being contemptuous, having a blatant disregard for authority dates back to Eve. Eve coaxed Adam to eat from the tree of knowledge and for such defiance, God punished both Adam and Eve, however, it was Eves punishment that cursed her (and the rest of womankind) to the role of a scapegoat. It is not hard to imagine people routinely murmuring that it was Eves fault, that it is Eves fault, or that is it will always be Eves fault for the role of women and the decline of masculinity. As for men, they have been cursed to dominate the world with the role of a stolid breadwinner. Just as this bible story has not changed to create a better depiction of Eve as less beguiling, less evil, and more caring, neither have Modernist writers who have woven societal tales of social strife. The depiction of women as conniving and despicable has not come through more clearly anywhere than in the Modernist period where women were portrayed as the Dark Horses, the archetypal forces behind social chaos and self-affliction. The depiction of women as the Dark Horses is not just confined to British novels. The American satire by Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, aptly founds itself on a series of social events that create the same Dark Horses. Indeed, most of the interaction between the characters in the novel happens not by coincidence but by planning. Everyone plans trips to the Bellomont knowing that they will spend their time gambling, and Lily, the main character, plans all of her trips with the intent of getting something out of someone. The various visits, then, are the grounds on which the entire social analyses and gossip take place. The...

Innovation Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Innovation Report - Essay Example This paper will examine the impact of innovation on Apple, Microsoft, Nike Inc. and describe how each company’s strategy, processes, products, and or services have been affected by innovation. To understand the impact of innovation on strategy, processes, products and services the definition of innovation needs to be understood. Innovation is not about designing new products, innovation is about creating or delivering to customer’s products or services they don’t even know they want but now they must have (Harvard Business Review 2009). Innovation is the thought of a new creative method; process or idea to a service or product already in existence and that has worked well but now has been changed or modified to fulfill a different need, market or demand. The change or modification will then bring additional revenue to the organization as a result of the innovative process. (Burns, T., and Stalker, 2006, 02) Strategy refers to how the organization will obtain the ends it seeks to achieve; strategy refers to a position taken by the organization. Processes are the learning, designing and planning of the strategy. Products are the results of goods through manufa cturing or a service. Services are the efforts or work by one person or group of persons who benefit another person or group of people, services are considered to be intangible (Betina, 2003). The impact of innovation is clear when looking at how any organization reacts and interacts with the changes of the market. The first organization that will be evaluated is Microsoft. Microsoft is one of the most profitable, most innovative and successful organizations in the world. Microsoft has successfully used innovation to maintain a competitive advantage and market share. Founded in 1975 Microsoft is the world leader in software services, solutions, applications and services that help business operate and stay competitive (Human resource management 2008). Microsoft is at the forefront of innovation and

Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in children Essay

Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in children - Essay Example In fact, the diagnosis of this rare disease depends on accurate identification of symptoms. One tool that can be used to diagnose the disease is the 'diagnostic questionnaire' which can help the medical specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Also, spending time being obsessed with cars, sex and football may be compelling ( or compulsive ) but these pleasurable interests are not considered as clinically termed obsessive compulsive behavior. Further, many patients with the this disease even suffer from more mundane compulsions. And, other symptoms of the disease include repeated and stereotyped checking, counting, ordering or even cleaning. Oftentimes, the disease could generate obsessive thoughts that are sometimes Unhappily though, Obsessive Compulsive disorder sufferers(Beck, 15) carry out compulsive rituals to such abnormal extremes that they interfere with normal living. For example, it is a normal behavior to double-check if the gas fire has been turned off, and the front door locked, before you go to bed. On the contrary, We can psychologically classify a person to be abnormal if he or she washes his or her hands 20 or 30 times a day in a seriously rigid routine. In the same token, it's also abnormal normal to repetitively clean the house so thoroughly for more than an hour because this abnormal action will wear away or literally remove the wallpaper. Additionally, an obsessive repulsive disorder patient may feel he or she MUST meticulously set the table for Christmas dinner even though it is still in late September.Furthermore, there are many features of obsessive compulsive disorder. One of which is that the patient experiences unpleasantly repetitive thoughts, images, or impulses comi ng from the patient's own mind. Normal persons would characterize these thoughts as a silly or, to put it bluntly, symptoms of abnormality. In most attacks, the patient unsuccessfully resists the thoughts and performance of the abnormal acts. A person with obsessive-compulsive disorder has either obsessions, or compulsions or, in worse cases, both(Carr, 1). The obsessions and/or compulsions of this disorder are strong enough factors to cause a significant distress in their employment, schoolwork, or personal and social relationships. It also includes anankastic neurosis, obsessional neurosis and obsessive-compulsive neurosis.I also agree that the patient who has these obsessions(Skinner, 364) does have recurring, persisting thoughts, impulses or images that inappropriately intrude into the person's normal daily routines thereby causing marked distress or anxiety. In fact, these abnormal ideas or thoughts are more than just excessive worries about ordinary problems. In most cases, the person suffering from the disease tries to ignore or suppress these unwelcome thought or to neutralize them by either thoughts or behaviors. I agree that the person who has compulsion has the feeling that he or she feels the need to repeat physical behaviors such as checking the stove to be sure it is off, hand washing) or mental behaviors such as counting things, silently repeating words. And, the obsessive compulsive disorder behaviors occur as a response to an obsession or in

Why should you give blood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why should you give blood - Essay Example Donating blood gives an opportunity to a donor to extend one’s concern beyond the narrow confines of one’s personal interest, so as to do something useful and unique for others. There exists no doubt pertaining to the fact that each and every unit of the donated blood do ends up saving some precious human life. So by donating blood one not only performs a beautiful and selfless act of service for the ailing humanity, but can also rest assured in the warmth of the truth that this donation will bring the gift of life to someone in trouble. Hence, donating blood on the one side saves human life and on the other side brings priceless joy, satisfaction and bliss to a donor. A blood donation literally stands to be a gift of life that a healthy and concerned citizen can give to one’s suffering and sick fellow humans. It is a unique way of paying back the society which provided one with multifarious advantages and opportunities. The second biggest incentive for donating blood is that it costs nothing. Everyone knows that almost each and every act of charity and kindness unavoidably costs something in terms of money or time. In fact there exist very few forms of social service that do not require a person to loose or sacrifice something in cash or kind. However, this does not stand true in the case of blood donations. If any person decides in the favor of opting for a blood donation that entire one stands to loose are a couple of minutes. It is a medical fact even the blood that a donor donates is replaced by one’s body in a matter of hours. So, one should donate blood because it is noble and costs nothing. It doe not matter whether an individual is male or a female, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, colored or white, almost every healthy human being can donate blood without loosing anything in terms of money or time. The biggest and the most pressing reason for supporting blood donations is that till date there

Leadership and performance Literature review

Leadership and performance Literature review An overview of the topic of leadership styles summarizes that the existing studies on how performance is affected by leadership style is separated into important phases. Early studies on leadership (frequently categorized as trait studies on leadership) concentrated on identifying the personality traits which characterized successful leaders (Argyris, 1955; Mahoney et al., 1960). According to them successful leaders are naturally born and those they have certain native characteristics which distinguish them from non-leaders (see Stodgill, 1948). However, there was significant difficulty in validating these characteristics led to widespread criticism of this trait approach, signaling the emergence of style and behavioral approaches to leadership (Stodgill, 1948). Style and behavioral theorists shifted the emphasis away from the characteristics of the leader to the behavior and style the leader adopted (Hemphill and Coons, 1957; Likert, 1961). The primry conclusion of these studies is that adoption of democratic or participative styles by leaders are more successful (see, for example, Bowsers and Seashore, 1966). In this sense, these early studies are focused on identifying the one best way of leading. Similarly to trait theories, the major weakness of style and behavioral theories is the ignorance of how important role situational factors play in determining the effectiveness of individual leaders (Mullins, 1999). It is this limitation that gives rise to the situational and contingency theories of leadership (for example, Fiedler, 1967; House, 1971; Vroom and Yetton, 1974) which shift the emphasis away from the one best way to lead to context-sensitive leadership. Although each study emphasizes the importance of different factors, the general tenet of the situational and contingency perspectives is that leadership effectiveness is dependent on the leaders diagnosis and understanding of situational factors, followed by the adoption of the appropriate style to deal with each circumstance. However, recent studies on leadership have contrasted transactional leadership with transformational. Transactional leaders are said to be instrumental and frequently focus on exchange relationship with their subordinates (Bass and Avolio, 1993). In contrast, transformational leaders are argued to be visionary and enthusiastic, with an inherent ability to motivate subordinates (Bycio et al., 1995; Howell and Avolio, 1993). Although the brief summary above indicates that research into leadership has gone through periods of skepticism, recent interest has focused on the importance of the leadership role to the success of organizations. Fiedler (1996), one of the most respected researchers on leadership, has provided a recent treatise on the importance of leadership by arguing that the effectiveness of a leader is a major determinant of the success or failure of a group, organization or even an entire country. Indeed, it has been argued that one way in which organizations have sought to cope with the increasing volatility and turbulence of the external environment is by training and developing leaders and equipping them with the skills to cope (Darcy and Kleiner, 1991; Hennessey, 1998; Saari et al., 1988). These claims are based on the assumption of a direct link between leadership and organizational performance. This assumption requires critical review. Widely celebrated cases of a direct leadership-performance link may be found in numerous anecdotal accounts of improvements of company performance attributed to changes in leadership (see, for example, Nicholls, 1988; Quick, 1992; Simms, 1997). However, empirical studies into the links between leadership and performance have been lacking. One notable exception is the detailed study of the impact of leadership on performance in the somewhat surprising context of Icelandic fishing ships. Thorlindsson (1987) suggests that variations in the performance of different fishing ships, under identical conditions, can be accounted for by the leadership skills of captains. Over a three-year period, Thorlindsson (1987) revealed that the leadership qualities of the ship captains accounted for 35 to 49 per cent of variation in the catch of different crews. Other studies which examine the links between leadership and performance coincide with the re-emergence of the one best way to lead debate. Of particular relevance is the resurgence of interest into charismatic leadership, which is frequently referred to as transformational leadership (Bass and Avolio, 1993). A number of researchers theorize that transformational leadership is linked to organizational performance (see, for example, Bycio et al., 1995; Howell and Avolio, 1993). Conceptually, it is argued that the visionary and inspirational skills of transformational leaders motivate followers to deliver superior performance (Nicholls, 1988; Quick, 1992). In summary, much of the above evidence presented as supporting the claim of a leadership-performance link is anecdotal and frequently over-concentrates on the transformational role of leaders in corporate successes (for example, Quick, 1992; Simms, 1997; Taffinder, 1995). It would appear that few studies have responded to the observation of Porter and Mckibbin (1988) that much of the research reported as supporting this claim is either inconclusive or empirically suspect. The limited or inconclusive character of research findings in this area suggests the need to investigate further the nature of the relationship between leadership and performance. LEADERSHIP TYPOLOGIES Several different categories of leadership paradigms have been suggested by various researchers. For example, Bass (1985) stated that there are four dimensions of transformational leadership, three dimensions of transactional leadership, and a non-leadership dimension of laissez-faire leadership (Bass, 1985). Avery (2004) suggested categorizing leadership into four leadership paradigms, while Goleman (1995) prefers six leadership paradigms  [1]  . Despite Basss (1985) model being acclaimed as making a major contribution to leadership, his theory has been criticized for various reasons (Yukl, 1999). One criticism is that his model overemphasizes the importance of one or two leadership paradigms (e.g. transactional and visionary), omitting the classical and organic paradigms Bass asserts that visionary (transformational) leaders are nearly always more effective than transactional leaders, but others (e.g. Judge and Piccolo, 2004; Wallace, 1997) dispute this. While this in itself does not invalidate the concept of visionary leadership, Bass attributes more to visionary (transformational) leadership than perhaps he should. As Avery (2004) suggested, both transactional and visionary leadership are valid forms of leadership, but visionary leadership may be applicable more broadly, including in situations where there are insufficient resources for the manager to rely on supplying external rewards (Judge and Piccolo, 2004), or where t he situation is complex and ambiguous, and relies strongly on follower knowledge and commitment. Avery suggests that there are other situations in which transactional leadership is the appropriate form of leadership, such as when followers are unwilling or unable to commit to the leaders vision. In contrast with Basss (1985) model, Averys (2004) paradigms provide a broad basis allowing for different forms of leadership that have evolved at different times and in different places. The paradigms are useful for showing that there is no single best way of thinking about leadership, rather that different kinds of leadership reflect social and historical roots. Averys paradigms allow leadership to depend on the context, respond to organizational needs and preferences, and involve many interdependent factors that can be manipulated (Bryman, 1992; Shamir and Howell, 1999; Yukl, 1999). LEADERSHIP PARADIGMS AND MEASURES Avery (2004) proposes 13 indices to differentiate between her four paradigms: classical, transactional, visionary, and organic. The nine indices included in this review are decision making, range of staffs power, power distance between leader and the staff, key player of the organization, source of staffs commitment, staffs responsibility, situation of management and leadership in the organization, situation of diversity in the organization and situation of control in the organization  [2]  . These nine criteria are considered more relevant for differentiating the four leadership paradigms than the other four criteria. Each paradigm is discussed in turn, including the distinguishing characteristics using the above nine criteria. Classical leadership is probably the oldest paradigm with its origins in antiquity, and is still used in contemporary organizations (Avery, 2004). This paradigm reflected the prevailing view in the business literature until the 1970s when the human relations movement led to more of a focus on followers and their environment. According to Avery (2004), classical leadership refers to dominance by a pre-eminent person or an elite group of people. This leadership can either be coercive or benevolent or a mixture of both. This happens because the elite individual or group commands or maneuvers other members to act towards a goal, which may or may not be explicitly stated. The other members of the society or organization typically adhere to the directives of the elite leader, do not openly question their directives, and execute orders largely out of fear of the consequences of not doing so, or out of respect for the leader, or both (Avery, 2004). Classical leadership has some limitations. The first occurs where the leader cannot command and control every action, particularly as situations become more complex and beyond the capacity of one person; or when additional commitment from followers is needed to get a job done, such as in reacting to changing circumstances; or when ideas about leadership change and followers no longer accept domination, or follower commitment starts to wane for other reasons. Another limitation is that this paradigm often relies on the idea of a great person, implying that only a select few are good enough to exercise initiative, and this belief can encourage followers to deskill themselves and idealize the leaders. Followers then seek and hold little power, leave the leader accountable for organizational outcomes, and make relatively little contribution to the organization (Avery, 2004). According to the nine distinguishing indicators, under the classical leadership paradigm leaders normally use an autocratic style for making decisions, invo lving followers in the decision making process never or very little; they do not empower followers. Followers have almost no power in the organization and as classical leaders tend to be highly directive, followers can be unskilled. The source of followers commitment comes from their fear of or respect for the leaders; the technical system becomes more regulating; the operations in the organization become more routine and predictable; and the organization is highly controlled by the leaders (Avery, 2004). A transaction or exchange process is the basis of the commonly employed transactional leadership paradigm (Evans and Dermer, 1974; House and Mitchell, 1974). The transactional leader recognizes subordinates needs and desires, and then clarifies how those needs and desires will be met in exchange for subordinates work. By clarifying what is required of subordinates and the consequences of their behaviors, transactional leaders are able to build confidence in subordinates to exert the necessary effort to achieve expected levels of performance. According to Judge and Piccolo (2004), three dimensions of transactional leadership are contingent reward, management by exception-active, and management by exception-passive. Contingent reward is the degree to which the leader sets up constructive transactions or exchanges with followers. The leader clarifies expectations and establishes the rewards for meeting these expectations. In general, management by exception is the degree to which the le ader takes corrective action on the basis of results of leader-follower transactions (Judge and Piccolo, 2004). As noted by Howell and Avolio (1993), the difference between management by exception-active and management by exception-passive lies in the timing of the leaders intervention. Active leaders monitor follower behavior, anticipate problems, and take corrective actions before the behavior creates serious difficulties. Passive leaders wait until the behavior has created problems before taking action (Howell and Avolio, 1993; Judge and Piccolo, 2004). According to Avery (2004, p.34), under the transactional leadership paradigm, leaders adopt a consultative style for making decisions. They engage in different degrees of consultation with individual followers, but the leaders remain the final decision-makers. Leaders do not very often empower followers, and followers have very low power in the organization apart from being able to withdraw from or contribute more of their labor. Compared with classical leadership, under transactional leadership the source of followers commitment comes from the rewards, agreements, and expectations negotiated with the leader rather than from their fear of, or respect for, the classical leader. The technical system becomes more regulating, the operations in the organization become more routine and predictable, and the organization is mostly highly controlled by the leaders. Avery (2004) argues that under transactional leadership, the followers knowledge base can be somewhat higher than under classical leadership. Compared with classical leaders, transactional leaders require staff somewhat more skilled on specific tasks. In the last three decades, visionary (transformational, charismatic) leadership has received increasing attention (Bass, 1985, 1998; Burns, 1978; Conger and Kanungo, 1987; House, 1977). It added a new dimension to organizational studies, namely the visionary aspect of leadership and the emotional involvement of employees within an organization. The basic notion is that a visionary leader can create an impression that he or she has high competence and a vision to achieve success. Subordinates are expected to respond with enthusiasm and commitment to the leadership objectives, and may be recruited because they share the vision. Bass (1985, 1998) developed a theory of visionary or transformational leadership whereby the leader inspires and activates subordinates to perform beyond normal expectations. According to Avery (2004), visionary leadership has limitations, even with the current literatures overwhelmingly positive view of it. Nadler and Tuschman (1990) pointed out that the unreal istic expectations followers often place on visionary leaders can create disappointment if things do not work out. Followers can become dependent on visionary leaders, believing that the leader has everything under control. Also, innovation can be inhibited if people become reluctant to disagree with a visionary leader. Avery (2004, p.39) distinguishes the visionary leadership paradigm from the other three paradigms as follows. First, leaders employ a collaborative style for making decisions. They share problems with their followers and seek consensus before the leaders make the final decision. Visionary leaders empower their followers, giving followers a much higher level of power in the organization than classical and transactional leadership. This is essential because the leader needs the followers input and commitment to realize his or her goals. Followers of visionary leadership need sufficient power to work autonomously towards a shared vision. The source of followers commitme nt comes from the influence of the leaders charisma and/or the shared vision, the technical system becomes still more complex, operations become more uncertain and unpredictable, and the organization is jointly controlled by the leaders and their followers. Regarding the followers knowledge base, visionary leadership requires skilled and knowledgeable workers who are attracted to, and share the leaders vision, and can contribute to realizing the vision. The fourth paradigm, organic leadership, is relatively new to organizational studies. Recently introduced by Drath (2001) and expanded by Avery (2004), organic leadership is likely to blur the formal distinction between leaders and followers. This paradigm relies on reciprocal actions, where team members work together in whatever roles of authority and power they may have, not based on position power (Hirschhorn, 1997; Raelin, 2003; Rothschild and Whitt, 1986). Employees become interacting partners in determining what makes sense, how to adapt to change, and what is a useful direction. Rather than relying on one leader, organic organizations are likely to have many leaders. Multiple leaders are valuable because as people cope with heterogeneous and dynamic environments, the knowledge and issues become too complicated for only a few leaders to understand (Avery, 2004). Organic leadership allows for people with different degrees of expertise on current issues to emerge and be accepted by the group as leaders. In addition, under organic leadership, there may be no formal leaders and the interaction of all organizational members can act as a form of leadership, held together by a shared vision, values, and a supporting culture. Under this paradigm where an organization has no formal leadership structure, an integrator role may emerge to actively link together the many parts of the organization (Avery, 2004). The emphasis is on emerging leadership rather than on people being appointed to leadership positions. However, Kanter (1989) argued that the downside of organic leadership that advocates autonomy, freedom, discretion and authorization may result in loss of control and greatly increased uncertainty. It is important to recognize that organic leadership is about generating a form of self-control and self-organization, where people have a clear sense of purpose and autonomy within a particular context (Meindl, 1998). This idealized organic leadership paradigm requi res differentiating from classical, transactional, and visionary leadership concepts by not relying on formal leaders. Furthermore, the enterprise has to trust in the capacity of its members to solve problems and make decisions in the interests of the organization. This idea clearly relies upon self-leading organizational members (Avery, 2004). According to Averys (2004, p. 39) distinguishing characteristics, under organic leadership an organization adopts a mutual agreement style for making decisions. Decisions need not be unanimous but can be based on consensus. The members have a high degree of power as a result of this shared leadership. Accountability and responsibility are shared as well. The source of followers commitment is based on the values and visions shared by all the members in the organization; a strong, shared culture; a technical system that is highly complex; operations in the organic organization become more self-organizing and unpredictable; formal control is pro vided by peer pressure and group dynamics, and a shared culture, vision, and values. Members are self-managing. Organic leadership seems particularly appropriate for professional and knowledge workers in dynamic, chaotic situations. This leadership paradigm relies on attracting and retaining highly trained and knowledgeable staff with self-controlling capabilities

An Analysis of Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions Essay -- Vonnegut Bre

An Analysis of Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions Kilgore Trout is a struggling novelist that can only get his novels published in porn magazines. Dwayne Hoover is a fabulously well-to-do car salesman that is on the brink of insanity. They only meet once in their lives, but the entire novel, Breakfast of Champions (1973), is based on this one meeting. The meeting is brief, but that is all the author, Kurt Vonnegut, needs to express his message. In fact, it is quite crucial that the meeting starts and ends almost instantly. It is the meeting between sanity and insanity. Kilgore Trout is simply the novelist that Vonnegut was when he was younger. Dwayne Hoover is the older, insane man that Vonnegut has turned in to. The meeting between the two is the exact moment when Vonnegut has transformed. The bad chemicals now will run amuck through poor Dwayne's head. Mr. Trout has spent his whole life writing crazy novels, mostly about other planets and the crazy things that happen on them. He lives alone in his house with only his parakeet, Bill, to keep him company. Most of what he talks to Bill about is how the world will be ending very soon. "Any time now," he would say, "And high time, too"(pg 18). This is a product of Dwayne's theory that the Earth's atmosphere would soon become "unbreathable" [sic] (pg 18) and kill off all living creatures. This idea was crazy, but Kilgore does many more things that would seem eccentric to any normal person. The adventure of Kilgore Trout starts when he receives a letter from Midland City. One man, Mr. Rosewater, wants him to come to their fine arts festival as the guest of honor. Kilgore had no idea that he has even one fan. Enclosed is a check for one thousand dollars, which would aid him on... ...whole life. The ink hold that he has on Trout, is now being released. It is almost as if he is releasing sane Kilgore and accepting insane Dwayne. Dwayne read Kilgore's novel and went on a violence spree. He spent the rest of his life in an asylum. Kilgore went on to become a world-renowned novelist. Vonnegut is a world-renowned novelist, who is known for his crazy and insane novels. It seems as if he feels that he has wasted the first part of his life in the novel, when he is Kilgore Trout. After he meets Dwayne he seems to have all of his success and make all of his money. Kilgore confirms this in the end when he only wants one thing from his creator. He yells out to Vonnegut as he disappears, "Make me young, make me young, make me young!"(pg 295) Work Cited Vonnegut, Kurt. Breakfast of Champions. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. 1973.

Hamlet Act Iii Climax Essay

In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Shakespeare uses personification, allusion, and a rhetorical question to advocate that the climatic moment of Act III is when King Claudius admits to the murder of King Hamlet because, by definition, it is the act that turns the action of the scene around, leading toward an inevitable conclusion. Shakespeare uses personification when King Claudius says that â€Å"[his] offense is rank, it smells to heaven† (line 36). Claudius’ guilt of killing his very own brother, King Hamlet, is constantly on his conscious, which is why he gives the â€Å"offense† the trait of a rank smell, something whose presence is constant and putrid. The purpose of personifying Claudius’ â€Å"offense† to have a smell that reaches to heaven is because Claudius is aware that heaven is where King Hamlet’s spirit lies due to his own fault, and his admit to the murder will drive the scene to an inevitable conclusion because he has released key information to a driving mystery in the plot line. Shakespeare makes a biblical allusion to Abel and Cain in lines 37-38 of the play when Claudius says that his â€Å"offense [†¦] hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, / A brother’s murder! †. Shakespeare is atoning that murder is never outdated; no matter the era or the place, the murder of a brother by a brother is never acceptable in the eyes of society or God. This allusion purposefully informs us that King Claudius did kill his brother, King Hamlet, as a warning that falling action concerning Claudius’ unforgivable acts is to proceed. Claudius rhetorically asks, â€Å"O, what form of prayer / Can serve my turn? † (lines 51-52). Claudius’ asks this with the knowledge that there is no form of prayer that would serve his turn because his acts were unforgivable and he must face the consequences for them. Rhetorical questions are always immediately answered, whether directly or indirectly, and King Claudius’ question is consequently to be answered via the falling action that is to proceed after his soliloquy. In King Claudius’ soliloquy in Act III he admits to the murder of his own brother, the late King Hamlet, while also admitting that it is unforgivable, giving the act nowhere else to turn, but to conclusive consequences to King Claudius’ faulty actions.

Shia and Sunni Realms

Shia and Sunni Realms Introduction Islam is the second largest religion in the world in terms of the population as well as global spread. Prophet Muhammad started the religion in the year 610 CE after receiving a revelation through Gabriel who delivered a message to him from God. Islam believers and followers are referred to as Muslims.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Shia and Sunni Realms specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Quran is their holy book that acts as a guide for all Muslims as it contains the message from Prophet Muhammad. It guides Muslims on how to live and or conduct their lives religiously. Blanchard (2009, 2) indicates that several Muslim groups have emerged. The groups are defined by their beliefs and practices through their interpretation of the Quran. Among them are the Shia, the Sunnis, Sufism, Ahmadiya, Ibadi, and Yazdanism amongst others. The paper focuses on the Sunni and Shia groups, which are the largest in the world of Muslims, in an effort to find out their defining factors in terms of development, beliefs and traditions, and their significant followers amongst other parameters. Development of the Shia The Shia group of Muslims is the second largest group after the Sunnis. It constitutes about 10-20% of the whole Muslim population in the world. The development of the Shia community started immediately the prophet died due to the different schools of thought adopted by leaders who were around the prophet. This difference was brought about by a succession in terms of who should succeed the prophet in addition to how it should be done. In fact, the prophet had died without clearly indicating how the succession would happen. Therefore, the leading clerics around him took upon themselves to define what the prophet’s succession would have meant thus leading to the emergence of the two groups. Shomali (2003) postulates that the Shia group was guided by the belief that the prophet had app ointed his caliph through divine messages that he had given his followers when he was alive. This revelation was simply an interpretation of the messages he had left behind, which was contrary to what the Sunni group believed. The Shia group is guided by the belief that the Muslim nation’s leadership is a prerogative of God who should be the sole appointer of their leader. This teaching led this group to follow Ali ibn Abi Talib who was Prophet Mohammad’s son in-law.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Development of the Sunni The development of the Sunni can be traced back to the time when the prophet Muhammad died. There was a need to appoint a successor in his place. The Sunni can be described as the largest branch of Islam making up 75-90% of the Muslim population in approximation. The emergence of the Sunni group came about the same time as the Shia g roup. The two can be described as the original groups of Islam immediately after the demise of the prophet. Elshamsy (2008) states that the Sunni came about due to the belief that the appointment of the caliphate was a prerogative of the people and that the first four caliphs were supposed to be the successors of the prophet because he had not appointed a successor nor defined the succession procedure to his followers at the time of his death. The Sunnis therefore believe that a caliph should be chosen by the community and can be anyone as long as he or she is righteous as per the Quran teachings. They therefore do not believe that only the descendants of the prophet should lead the Muslim community. Beliefs and Traditions of the Shia The Shias just like all other Muslims believe that Prophet Mohammad was God’s last prophet and that he was sent by Allah as a messenger to the people to spread Islam. The Shia people believe in the hadith, which are defined as the sayings of the prophet and his aides, which usually form part of the Quran. The Shias believe in the five pillars of Islam, which are Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Saum, and Hajji. These five tenets are the guiding principles that all Muslims should follow for them to attain holiness. Other than the Quran, the Shia derive their teachings and practices from the Sunna, which are the customs and practices done by the prophet ranging from the qiyas, which are analogies to the Ijma, which can be described as a consensus, not ignoring the ijtihad, which is a given individual’s reasoning as Barzegar (2008, 88) reveals. The Shia group believes that the leadership of Islam should be God appointed since He (God) appointed the prophet and that it should follow the prophet’s bloodline. The group also holds that the mujtahids, who are spiritual people, took over the leadership of faith and community when the Imams who were offsprings of Ali ended and that the heads have the mandate to construe lawful, supernatural, and holy knowledge to the community. The Shia group views and commemorates Ashura, which is the tenth day of the month Muharram according to the Islamic calendar according to Fibiger (2010, 32). This day marks the time when Hussein who was Ali’s youngest son was killed by Sunni forces in Karbala Iraq.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Shia and Sunni Realms specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thus, it observes the day by self-flagellation. Hussein was killed in the year 680 by Sunni forces. The Shia group is strongly guided by the doctrine of the imamate. It centers most of its beliefs and teachings on Ali. According to it, the Imam is sinless and infallible and a source of religious absolute. Beliefs and Traditions of the Sunni Just like the Shia, the Sunni came about due to the succession debate within the Muslim society. The Sunnis suppose that the religious head should be chosen through consent of the community and not simply from the bloodline of the prophet. They believe that the prophet Muhammad was a messenger sent by God. They believe in the hadith and the teachings of the Quran. Just like the Shia, the Sunni believe and practice the five pillars of Islam, which are Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Saum, and Hajj. Shias’ teachings are based on the Quran, the Sunna, the hadith, the qiyas, the Ijma, and Ijtihad. The Sunnis never bestow the status of the prophet to their leaders, as they believe that the last person to have the status was the prophet himself. The Sunnis do not have a strict and complicated religious hierarchy. They allow laypersons to lead prayers at the mosque. The practice is only restricted to religious leaders under the Shia group. The Sunnis have several permissible institutions that provide jurisprudence when it comes to the construal of legal issues. The four are Hanfi, founded by Abu Hanifa, Maliki, founded by Malik ibn Anas, Shafi founded by Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi, and the Hanbali, which was founded by Ahmad Hanbal. These legal schools are prevalent in specific regions of the world, which have chosen to use them as Blanchard (2009, 3) points out. Within the Sunni group, there is a movement called Wahabi, which can be described as purist that interprets the Quran in a fundamentalist way. The Sunni group believes that they are the original group and that their interpretation of the Quran is the correct one. Under the Sunni group, the Imams have a big responsibility when it comes to matters of birth, marriage, and death. They are viewed as the leaders of the religion. Leaders and Significant Followers of Shia The Shia can be described as the most fragmented group in the Muslim nation because of the different factions it has among its followers. The Shia group follows Ali who was Muhammad’s cousin as well as the son in law with the belief that Muslim leadership is God appointed. The Shia group has most of its followers in Iraq, Iran, Yemen, central Asia, and Southern Asia. The Shia group is divided into different groups with two major ones coming out prominently.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As Shomali (2003) explains, there is the twelver Shiism that believes in the line of twelve imams who are descendants from Ali whose appointments were divine from birth. The twelve Shia leaders are Ali ibn Abu Talib, Hassan ibn Ali, Husayn ibn Ali, Ali ibn Husayn, Muhammad ibn Ali, Jafar ibn Muhammad, Musa ibn Jafar, Ali ibn Musa, Muhammad ibn Ali, Ali ibn Muhammad, Hassan ibn Ali, and Muhammad ibn Alhassan. All of these leaders were assassinated. They existed at different lines with all of them being descendants of Ali. Leaders and Significant Followers of the Sunni The Sunnis believe in the first four Caliphs after the demise of the prophet. The Sunni subscribe to four schools of Jurisprudence brought about by the four leaders at different times. These schools of jurisprudence have been spread across the Sunni followers across the world with people in specific areas subscribing to specific schools of thought. Fibiger (2010, 34) lists four scholars that the Sunnis look up to. They include Abu Hanifa (d. 767 AD) whose jurisprudence is called the Hanafi having followers in Bangladesh, turkey, the Balkans, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Jordan, Central Asia and India. The other scholar is Malik ibn Anas (d. 795 AD) whose followers call themselves the Maliki group. They are mostly found in Bahrain, Kuwait, North Africa, and Mauritania. Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’s (d. 819 AD) school of jurisprudence is called Shafi group and is prevalent in Malaysia, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, parts of Yeme,n and Ethiopia. Ahamad Hanbali (d. 855) has Hanbali as his school of jurisprudence. He has followers in the following parts of the world who subscribe to his views and thoughts: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arabs Emirates, and Oman. Ground Breaking Events of the Shia Groundbreaking events of the Shia Muslims can be traced back to the day the prophet Mohamed was born. This period was in earnest the start of Islam as a religion, which would later on lead to the develo pment of the Shia group. The death of Muhammad in the year 632 AD led to succession events with the majority siding with Abu Bakr while the minority sided with Ali only for the group to secure the name Shiat Ali. During this period, the once unified Muslim nation became divided thus giving birth to the Shia and Sunni. Fibiger (2010) states that the killing of Husain who was Ali’s youngest son and a third successor after Ali led to the remembrance of the day by celebrating the day of Ashura when he was killed. This experience further aligned the Shia Muslims towards having their identity in the leadership of Prophet Muhammad’s lineage thus strengthening the Shia group. Ground Breaking Events of the Sunni The groundbreaking events for the Sunni following can be ascribed to the birth of the prophet who later on led the Muslim world. All Muslims celebrate the birth of the prophet because it was the first step to the birth of Islam. The demise of the forecaster led to the s eparation of the Muslim world between the two groups under scrutiny. From this point, the Sunnis were able to define their principles and beliefs. Before the death of the prophet, the Muslims were one group under the leadership of the prophet. According to Sunni News (2009), the Sunni also celebrate the Ashura but not with the same reasons as the Shia but rather as instructions from the prophet who observed the day by fasting. Generally, very few Sunni events can be described as specifically belonging to the Sunnis because most of the days they celebrate are also common with the Shia. Where the Shia Stand Today The Shia group remains small in terms of followership compared to the Sunni. The Shia group is concentrated in specific countries. Their interpretation of the Quran has been criticized as being manipulative to fit their own theories. Nevertheless, the Shia group remains a big force to reckon within the Muslim world because they form almost a quarter of the Muslim population. The Shia Muslims continue to be persecuted in countries where there is the majority of Sunnis. The situation has led to what can be described as an intra-religious war between the two groups. The current structure of the Shia continues to be led by Imams who are regarded as their spiritual leaders. Although they have had splits, the different Shia groups have minor differences that tend to define their existence. For instance, the seveners and the twelvers are the major Shia groups in existence. The groups are divided along diverse schools of thought about the lineage of Imams to follow. As Barzegar (2008) states, some of the Shias hadiths differ from those of the Sunnis. In fact, they include some imams that are not recognized by the Sunni. The Shias just like other religious groups has an expansionist agenda of converting more followers into its group. Where the Sunni Stand Today The Sunnis comprise the largest Muslim group in the world with a 75-90% followership in the whole Musl im nation. Their spread in the world is also the largest due to its popularity. Blanchard (2009, 2) finds that the Sunnis have an organized leadership in the countries where they exist with the highest honor being bestowed on the most learned leader in religious matters. They can be found in countries like Iran where the Ayatollah wields so much influence in both spiritual and political matters. The Sunnis view the Shia people as a group that is out to distort Islamic teachings for selfish reasons by taking every opportunity to fight them. The Sunnis continue to popularize Islam wherever they are by starting community projects that help the community with the aim of winning more converts by generally performing their religious duty as per the Quran. Bibliography Barzegar, Kayhan. â€Å"Iran Shiite Cresent: Myths and Realities.† Brown Journal of World  Affairs 15, no. 1 (2008): 87-99. Blanchard, Christopher. Islam: Sunnis and Shiites. London: Congressional Research Service, 2009. Elshamsy, Ahmad. â€Å"The first Shafii. The Traditionalist Legal Thought of Abu Yaqub alBuwayt.† Islamic Law Society 14, no. 3 (2007): 301-341. Fibiger, Thomas. â€Å"Ashura in Bahrain.† Social Analyst 54, no. 3 (2010): 29-46. Shomali, Muhammad. â€Å"Shia Islam: Origins, Faith and Practices.† Last modified June 20, 2003. http://shiabook.blogspot.com/2010/09/blog-post_3293.html Sunni News. â€Å"Sunni Muslims Look at Ashura as good.† Web.

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