Political corruption free essay sample

Many political leaders, especially in Africa, are known to engage in financial malpractice involving public funds meant for the communities they represent. The few people who run the resources of a country end up abusing the resources. These resources that are supposed to be channeled to develop infrastructure or educate the citizens end up being misused, misapplied or misappropriated by those entrusted to bring development. For example in Zambia, Constituent Development Funds (CDF) have been diverted by Members of Parliament to their personal use. There is no doubt that financial malpractice by leaders is a stumbling block to meaningful development in any country. One would not expect leaders in a democratic society like Zambia to embezzle funds meant for the welfare and development of their communities. According to Acemoglu and Robinson, this kind of behaviour by leaders is only possible in autocratic regimes. They argue that democracy makes this kind of theft difficult to accomplish and to conceal for two reasons. We will write a custom essay sample on Political corruption or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Firstly, the formal institutions of government such as the legislature constrain the behaviour of leaders. Secondly, popular participation in the process of government ensures that elected leaders are accountable to the citizenry. In a truly democratic society, there will be honesty, fairness, responsibility and accountability to and for each other (Djokoto and Chama: 2006). However, in most democratic societies, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, leaders can misuse, misapply or misappropriate community funds without the affected citizens raising any serious queries against the culprits. The citizens seem to be indifferent to such occurrences. Their silence or indifference could be a result of either not caring about what goes on around them politically or just being unaware of such things happening. This essay will attempt to explain why citizens do not raise any serious queries against their leaders when they misuse, misapply or misappropriate funds meant for their communities. This essay will begin by defining democracy and give the meanings of the words misuse, misapply and misappropriate. It will then try to explain why the affected citizens do not query their leaders when they abuse community funds. Finally, it will conclude. Democracy is a word with many meanings. Sir Stafford Cripps defines democracy as a system of government in which every adult citizen is equally free to express his or her views and desires upon all subjects in whatever way he or she wishes and to influence the majority of his fellow citizens to decide according to those views and to influence those desires. H. B. Mayo defines a democratic political system as one in which public policies are made on a majority basis by representatives subject to effective popular control at periodic elections which are conducted on the principle of political equality and under conditions of political freedom (Mahajan 1988:794). Democracy is usually understood as majority rule and the holding of regular elections. But if it has to work effectively, it must include active participation by all citizens and a conscious awareness of both rights and responsibilities (Mbewe 2012:16-17). According to the Macmillan English Dictionary, the word misuse means to use something in a wrong way or for the wrong purpose. To misapply is to use something in a wrong or illegal way. Misappropriation means to take for oneself money that one is responsible for but does not belong to them. One of the primary challenges of some democratic societies such as Zambia is the lack of leaders who vie for political office with the goal of serving the people, instead of themselves. During election campaigns, aspiring leaders give false information to people. They promise them of things they fail to give them after elections. This has been the tradition in the Zambian politics. Once voted for, the leaders become part of the rich while the poor Zambians remain cut off. They will invite rich people to dine with him at their newly acquired mansions while the poor who are the majority voters remain poor if not poorer. To host rich people, these politicians will need to have huge sums of money. They also need money to afford their newly acquired status. These people will shun the services in the country; they will send their children to private schools, or to schools abroad. They will seek medical advice outside the country and they will buy their clothes from outside the country. With the above behaviour little or no attention will be paid to improving the services they will never access or to improve the conditions of those who voted for them. Since most of the politicians in poor democratic societies have financially humble backgrounds, where do they get such monies? Records show that it is easy to steal public money in most African countries. The Auditor-General’s report on the Zambian government accounts shows how public funds have been stolen in Zambia. Weaknesses in accounting and revenue collection make it easier for public servants to steal huge sums of public money. At times, the money is not stolen but just misapplied. For example, a forensic audit of Solwezi District Council books by the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) for the financial year ending 31 December 2004 revealed glaring financial irregularities. The auditor’s report showed that the K168 million grant given to the municipal authority with instructions that 70 percent of the money be spent on social services went towards salaries, allowances for councilors and cell phones for chief officers. Only 25 percent of the money went towards social services (op cit Djokoto and Chama). An example of a case of misappropriation of public funds by a leader is one in which a former Defence Minister in the Chiluba administration was found guilty by the Lusaka High Court for using CDF for his campaign during the 2001 elections (ibid). The minister was never jailed but lost his ministerial appointment. Despite such rampant financial malpractices by leaders, the citizens who are deprived of the funds and other amenities fail to raise any serious queries against such leaders. In most cases, revelations about misuse or misappropriation of community funds have been largely driven by the private media. Sometimes, the greatest pressure on government leaders to be accountable for their actions has come from the international media and Western donors. Anti-corruption campaigners such as Transparency International (TI) and other interest groups have also been involved in the fight against abuse of public funds. Through their activism they try to amplify the weak voice of the poor citizens in keeping political leaders in check. However, this is not easy. The constant struggle by these interest groups to hold leaders accountable for their expenditure of public funds cannot be won without the greater involvement of the affected citizens (ibid). Unfortunately, citizens in these societies are just not angry enough. They seem not to care about what happens to the community funds meant to improve their livelihoods. Their indifference to financial malpractices by their leaders does not help the situations at all. As a matter of fact, it increases their already high levels of poverty and widens the gap between the rich and poor. To understand why affected citizens do not take any serious steps against their leaders when they embezzle public funds, there is need to understand the political awareness of the majority of citizens and their involvement in public issues, whether the political system gives a voice to the poor or not, and the way government agencies charged with the responsibility of handling such cases respond to citizens’ grievances. There are quite a number of reasons why citizens choose to keep quiet about the wrongs committed by their leaders. As we try to look at some of these reasons, there is need to understand that people have different levels of awareness with regard to what happens in their communities. There are those that are aware of the situation prevailing in their communities and those that are not. Those that are aware may try to voice their concerns through whatever means are available to them, but their voice will not be heard because it is not strong enough. The reason is that they are just a small minority of the affected citizenry. At times this is made worse by the fact that among this group there may be others who also benefit from the plunder of their community resources by way of receiving gifts or bribes from their community leaders. These will be unwilling to divulge any malpractice by their leaders because they fear losing their extra source of income, which is the bribes they receive to remain silent about the misuse, misappropriation or misapplication of community resources by the leaders. These may even try to protect such erring leaders by hiding whatever information they may know about such happenings to investigative agencies. The other group comprises those that are unaware or have just decided not to participate in such matters, and these are the majority. The majority of citizens are usually not well informed about public issues because of the general lack of information about such issues, especially about government spending policies. For example, in Zambia, there is no community involvement in the budgetary process at whatever level. At community level, there are no access points for ordinary citizens to participate in the budgetary process. The budgeting is done by officials and leaders. Participation of citizens in the budget process is inhibited by lack of access to information on both the national and community budget processes (http://info. worldbank. org/governance/wgi/index. asp). Although citizens may not play a direct role in the preparation process of the budget, they can contribute by fostering leaders’ accountability through positive engagement in monitoring of the implementation of the community projects. If the information about community projects being funded is readily available and understood by citizens, they can easily ask questions when planned projects are not implemented. Unfortunately, this does not happen even in some democratic societies. As a result, leaders continue to misuse, misapply or misappropriate community funds and get away with it because citizens are not aware of the malpractices being committed by their leaders. This can be prevented or lessened by availing citizens with all the necessary information pertaining to projects planned in their communities and how the allotted funds are to be used. Another reason why affected citizens fail to complain against the financial malpractices committed by leaders in their communities is the negative or unfavourable response by government agencies and investigative agencies charged with responsibility to deal with such cases. It appears that the government or political statements are, in most cases, not matched by action. For example, in 2005, a former Health Ministry permanent secretary was accused by the Task Force on Economic Plunder of misusing public funds. As he had openly voiced his support for the President, the latter ordered the chief prosecutor to drop the case. However, the prosecutor refused and ultimately managed to secure a conviction (http://www. freedomhouse. org/template. cfm? ). What this implies is that the citizens lose confidence in the ability of the responsible government agencies to ably handle their complaints without undue influence from higher offices. There have also been cases, for instance in Zambia, where the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had given consent to prosecute some government officials but the government has interfered to protect the accused from being prosecuted. People accused of abusing public resources are allowed to remain members of the ruling party. Such inconsistencies erode the credibility of the government’s stance in fighting such vices and make citizens lose confidence in the government. As a result, citizens begin to feel that even if they complained very little or nothing at all would be done by the government to correct the situation. This is a good reason for citizens to keep quiet and not complain against their leaders when they misuse, misapply or misappropriate community funds (ibid). In conclusion, it can be said that the citizens’ tendency to remain silent despite widespread acts of financial misconduct by the leaders is mainly due to fear by the affected citizens to lose the financial and material support they receive from the culprits because when leaders steal community funds, they bribe a few members of the community to buy their silence and loyalty. The other reasons are the lack of information pertaining to expenditure of public funds, and the unfavourable response by the responsible government agencies in handling issues of financial malpractice by leaders after receiving complaints from concerned citizens. In order for citizens to become willing, informed and effective participants in issues of democracy and good governance, they must be minimally taught to understand good governance and democratic principles and virtues and in the process begin to practice democracy and good governance themselves.

The Online Profits Training Program Is Open

The Online Profits Training Program Is Open The Online Profits Training Program Is Open The Online Profits Training Program Is Open By Daniel Scocco After I mentioned the 10 Deadly Business Mistakes You Should Avoid report last week some readers emailed me saying they were interested in joining the training program. If you are among those, you can do so today, as we just opened the doors to 300 more members. Just visit OnlineProfits.com to get all the details and signup. The number of spots is limited because I personally answer to all the questions that members post on our private forum, and this takes a lot of time. We also prefer to keep a limited number of members joining at every launch because it becomes easier to manage customer support and to make sure that no client will get disappointed. Finally, if you are not sure what Online Profits is about, it is basically an Internet marketing training program that will teach you all you need to know to start building websites and online businesses. I am the founder, but the training material was created by ten world-class experts, each with a different expertise. The training modules range from domain names to affiliate marketing, from social media to search engine optimization. Check it out if you thing it could be the right program for you. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire Youâ€Å"As Well As† Does Not Mean â€Å"And†Grammar Review #1: Particles and Phrasal Verbs

Global Supply Chain Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Global Supply Chain Managment - Essay Example However, Vivek argued that the degree of diversification is the measure for the size of benefits likely to be achieved by the shareholders. Susan believes that small benefit is achieved by the shareholder involved in the diversified project; therefore such investors are poorly inclined towards IPO of such diversified firms. Ronald is firm that the reduction in the likelihood of an IPO is linked with the increase in the degree of diversification, therefore IPO is mainly preferred by such investors who are strange to diversified companies, and as such investors have the potential to make profit from diversification of their portfolios. Atul is his article has claimed that the firm is likely to go public if the stakeholders are diversified, and possess equal shares. The deposit-insurance hypothesis is based on the assumption that the 'acquirers would be willing to pay more for riskier, more profitable organizations whose returns are highly correlated with the acquirer's returns'. As per Vivek, the managerial-interest hypothesis is constant and consistent, and has no relationship with purchase price and exposed risk; therefore the risk management is avoidable from supply chain perspective. Both the articles have agreed that upon the fact that the supply chain management shall be protective of share holder's stake, and the wealth of the shareholder can be increased through alliances that diversify earnings. The earnings diversification hypothesis is based on the fact that higher levels of cash flow for the same level of total risk can be achieved through acquiring banks i.e. seek earnings diversification, 'the reductions in business risk are offset by increases in financial risk'. Catherine is of the opinion that acquisition of firms can offset the reduction in equity value, which can be achieved through issuance of additional debt; such measures diminish the probability level of bankruptcy to the previous level, there have been strong evidence that leverage i s increased as a result of alliances and acquisitions between the non-financial firms. It has been observed that banks acquired by bank holding companies have reduced their capital ratios after acquisitions, and reduction has been incorporated at significant level, 'the increased leverage increases the tax shield due to debt and, hence, after-tax net cash flow'. Ronald informed that the acquired banks reduce their holdings of low-risk securities to a greater level, and also improve their holdings of loans, this correspondingly increase the earnings. Analysis of the common grounds and variances between the two articles Atul has referred to the Research and Development success story for the technological companies, 'R&D Credit supports technological innovations through which the creation and the perseverance of the qualitative standards of living has been possible. It has been realized that 'many positive economic benefits are driven and motivated by performance of research and development, including increased revenue streams to U.S. companies', which is further responsible for the enhancement of the company's ability to 'recruit employees, purchase capital goods, pay dividends to shareholders and contribute to a strong country tax base'. Vivek has supported the argument and has further validated that the loans which appear in the balance

Organizational Innovation and Change SPRING13-A-8-MGT351-1 Essay

Organizational Innovation and Change SPRING13-A-8-MGT351-1 - Essay Example They are solely responsible for all the undertakings within the organization. They are also responsible in organizing the subordinate staff. A director is also organized, he or she keeps to their framework and an eye on the operations of each department (Kennedy, 2008). The director also has better communication skills, which enables him to create smooth Co relations within the staff. They also have a sense of understanding, with moderate humanity. This basically prevents them from mistreating the staff. The most successful of these qualities are that of being organized. This creates peaceful co-existence within the organization. It also provides the basis of success of all the operations undertaken. Proper organization prevents wastage of resources (Louis & David, 2011). These qualities can be developed through education and training. This is because most of them are skill based, such as organization and communication skills. Experience in the specific field of operations will also help to develop most of these qualities.. It is an additional advantage towards the success of any organization if a combination of multiple of the various styles is done. However, this calls for high levels of competence to prevent one aspect from undermining the other (Kennedy,

Explain how blood diamonds have helped prolong conflict in Africa Essay

Explain how blood diamonds have helped prolong conflict in Africa - Essay Example mer Zaire (now conveniently known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC-Kinshasa) and from Sierra Leone to Liberia, diamonds have fuelled civil wars by armed insurgents seeking both revolutionary social change and vast riches through the illicit diamond trade. According to the United Nations, conflict diamonds are used to fund military action on behalf of insurgents and the trade of said diamonds is illegal. Seeking to explore the linkages between diamonds in Africa and modern insurgency, this essay will provide a holistic analysis of the conflict diamond phenomenon and will begin by defining conflict diamonds as well as explore historical antecedents to this trend. This will be followed by a brief discussion of the role of conflict diamonds in modern instances of civil war, including in Liberia, Angola, the DRC and Sierra Leone. Our case analysis will focus primarily on Sierra Leone and the role of diamonds in perpetuating civil war in one of the poorest countries on the plan et. We then turn to an exploration of the international response to conflict diamonds, including the Kimberly Process, and in the case of Sierra Leone, the establishment of international criminal tribunals to bring the perpetrators of armed conflict and extreme violence, often funded through the illicit diamond trade, to justice. By exploring efforts to curb the illicit trade of conflict diamonds, we hope to shed light on the international efforts and will conclude with questions regarding the future of armed conflict in Africa and the role that diamonds and other precious resources may play in fuelling future conflict (Goldsmith, 1987) The exploitation of Africa is a historical fact with its roots in the colonial enterprise and Western encroachment onto the continent. Colonialism has had a lasting impact on many countries of the developing world. Few countries of the world were immune to colonial penetration and the enduring influence of the colonial legacy can be found in

Tone And Diction In Poetry

Tone And Diction In Poetry Analyzing poetry begins with carefully weighing the words and considering every nuance. Tone and diction are two poetic devices to take into account. Tone refers to the attitude or mood conveyed by the poem, while diction refers to word choice and word order. When you read a poem on the page, grasping the tone can be tricky-after all, you cant actually hear the poets voice. So, you need to pay attention to context and connotation. Identifying loaded words can help you decipher the tone. Diction can also help you understand the poems tone. Word choice affects meaning and also determines the sound of the poem. Sound, in turn, contributes its emotional effect. SCREEN 2: Tone in Poetry A poems tone can be defined as the attitude expressed toward its subject. Tone isnt stated directly: you have to analyze the language carefully to grasp it. You can decipher tone in several ways. Youll need to read the poem more than once. First, read the poem to understand its content. Is the poem about an event? Or does it describe a feeling? Does it consider a social problem? Identifying the basic content will help you determine the tone. A poem about discrimination, for example, might be expected to have a dejected or angry tone, while a poem about childhood may have a happy, carefree tone. But those simple assumptions arent always the case. The poet might be using tone to convey more complex meaning. So, reread the poem and ask yourself, Who is speaking in this poem? and Who is the speaker talking to? Your answers will give you a sense of the relationship between the speaker and the reader, and between the speaker and the subject. Is the speaker very close to the action, even immersed in it? Or sitting back and contemplating it? These different positions could give the poem a very different tone. SCREEN 3: After youve identified the poems subject and the speaker, consider how the poems word choice and structure relates to its subject matter. Meter (rhythm), imagery, metaphor, allusion, and diction all contribute to the tone. For example, a quick beat and steady rhyme pattern usually conveys a happy, or lively, tone. Remember, poems about the same subject can have different tones. For example, a poem about graduating high school might have a joyous tone when written by someone who cant wait to get to college, be independent, and experience the world. A person who didnt get accepted into the college that shed aspired to for years might write a poem with an angry or sarcastic tone, expressing a sense of being cheated. Closely considering the language and form of the poem will help you catch the nuances of tone in poems that might otherwise seem similar. SCREEN 4 After youve identified the poems subject and the speaker, consider how the poems word choice and structure relates to its subject matter. Meter (rhythm), imagery, metaphor, allusion, and diction all contribute to the tone. For example, a quick beat and steady rhyme pattern usually conveys a happy, or lively, tone. Remember, poems about the same subject can have different tones. For example, a poem about graduating high school might have a joyous tone when written by someone who cant wait to get to college, be independent, and experience the world. A person who didnt get accepted into the college that shed aspired to for years might write a poem with an angry or sarcastic tone, expressing a sense of being cheated. Closely considering the language and form of the poem will help you catch the nuances of tone in poems that might otherwise seem similar. SCREEN 5 Funeral Blues W. H. Auden wrote Funeral Blues in 1938, but this poem about a loved ones death became famous in 1994 when actor John Hannah recited it in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. Watch Hannahs performance, and then read Funeral Blues closely. Auden used tone to enrich this poems meaning. The first stanzas tone is one of sorrowful anger. The speaker uses commands, such as stop, prevent, and silence. He angrily demands that the noise of everyday life cease, so that he can reflect on his loss. Only the low sound of a muffled drum at the funeral is tolerable. The tone shifts from anger to despair as the speaker moves into more effusive sentences. He insists that the whole world, machines and nature, grieve with him: airplanes should moan, and white doves should wear black. SCREEN 6 The third stanza of Funeral Blues has a more reflective and melancholy tone. The speaker shares what the man he lost meant to him. He repeats the word my nine times, emphasizing the fact that this man was everything to him-his compass in life and the inspiration for his work. This stanza ends with a key line in the poem: I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong. The single-syllable words plod steadily to the concluding word, wrong, that devastates the speaker. In the final stanza, the speakers tone is bitter. If he has lost this man forever, then all life in the universe should end too. Once again, the speaker uses curt commands, this time to tear apart those elements that sustain life: Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood. The tone Auden creates in Funeral Blues-whether it is interpreted as sorrow, anger, bitterness, or love-is effective because it creates a powerful emotion in the audience. We grieve along with the speaker, even though we dont know the unnamed man who meant so much to him. SCREEN 7 The American poet Marge Piercys poem Barbie Doll also seems to be about death, but the poems main subject is something else: societys devaluation of girls and women. Read Piercys Barbie Doll and think about its tone. In the first stanza, the tone is dismissive and infantilizing. The girl is called a girl-child, an indistinguishable female member of a species, not a person with a name. She is born as usual, as if there were nothing to be celebrated in the birth of a baby girl. The phrase did pee-pee is baby-talk, suggesting girls are forever babies. In the next stanza, notice how the speaker describes the girls positive traits in a direct, objective list. The speaker doesnt inject emotion into the description, rather just states the actual facts, implying that they were clear for all to see. But society could care less, and ignores her positive attributes because she wasnt pretty. The tone is one of icy objectivity, even perhaps, cold fury. SCREEN 8 Probably the most dominant tone is one of sarcasm, however. Sarcasm threads through the poem, first appearing in the phrase the magic of puberty in the first stanza. Puberty is typically a hard transition, not a time of wondrous transformation as the word magic suggests. And for this girl, cruelly told she is ugly-well, some magic! In the final stanza, the same girl who was told she was flawed with a big nose and fat legs, is called pretty as she lays cold and still in her coffin, with the undertakers cosmetics on her lifeless face. The line Consummation at last continues the heavy sarcasm and also lends the poem a tone of anger. The word consummation evokes societys ultimate goal for women, to find a husband, and ironically equates it with death. Lesson Activity Self-Checked Read Piercys Whats That Smell in the Kitchen. Then compare this poem to Barbie Doll in 150-200 words, answering the questions in the Tone in Poetry section of the Lesson Activities. SCREEN9 For the American poet Robert Frost, tone was very important. He said, Its tone Im in love with; thats what poetry is, tone. Frost believed that tone conveyed the art in poetry. He called himself an ear reader, not an eye reader. He interpreted the meaning of what he read by how it sounded to him. This is reflected in his own poems, which come to life in the readers auditory imagination. Frost used tone to make his poems interesting, or as he said himself, Youve got to get dramatic. Read the poem A Patch of Old Snow to see how he shifts tone to create a sense of drama. The first six lines describe a patch of old, melting snow. The tone is one of nonchalance: this bit of snow is barely worth noticing, just a blown away scrap in a corner. Once a symbol of winters beauty, the snow is now as unimportant as yesterdays discarded newspaper. In the last two lines, however, theres a shift in tone. The speaker catches himself short with a dash: The news of a day Ive forgotten/If I ever read it. His attention is suddenly captured by the irony of old news. The voice might even drop when reading If I ever read it. While people may read the newspaper diligently every day, even todays seemingly stunning news is as temporal and unimportant as a patch of melting snow. This sudden shift in the tone in the last two lines mocks how transient a persons interest is. Lesson Activity Teacher-Graded Read Frosts poem The Pasture, and then answer the questions under Tone in Poetry in the Teacher-Graded section of the activities sheet. SCREEN 10 Diction in Poetry In the poems you just analyzed, did you notice how tone can be determined by the word choice and word order? This is diction, or the vocabulary that a poet uses-basically the poets linguistic style. Compare these ways of describing a confused state of mind: He knew not what to do, and he had no clue what to do. While the first is formal and perhaps pretentious, the other is plainspoken. A poems tone is also affected by altering the word order; for example, a poet might change She went down to the riverside in her dark mood, to Down to the riverside, dark in mood, she went to give the line a more dramatic and foreboding tone. The diction a poet chooses can also depend on the poems context. For example, when describing the death of a heroic warrior, a poet might use the dramatic He breathed his last in the arms of his beloved, over the straightforward He died in his lovers arms. SCREEN 11 Now take a look at some examples of how poets vary diction in their poems to convey their thoughts and feelings. Read the English poet Andrew Marvells To His Coy Mistress and note the kind of diction the speaker uses to address his beloved. By describing his love in terms of world geography (by the Ganges side) and Biblical history (ten years before the Flood), the speaker attempts to impress her with the vastness and depth of his devotion. The mention of the Ganges River in India also suggests that her beauty is exotic. The words should and would, repeated many times and indicating action that might happen, convey a sense of languor in the first stanza. But in the third stanza, the speaker urgently tries to persuade her to give in to his advances, using active verbs such as sport, devour, and tear.The diction creates a tone of ardent entreaty. Lesson Activity Self-Checked Go to the Diction in Poetry activity in the Self-Checked section and experiment with diction as directed. SCREEN 12 Lets look at a very different example of the role of diction in poetry. With just a few well-chosen words, the twentieth century African-American poet Gwendolyn Brooks powerfully conveys the bravado of a group of young boys. Listen to or read Gwendolyn Brooks We Real Cool, which is about a group of kids skipping school. In this poem, Brooks uses the slang we real cool, instead of the grammatically correct we are really cool to convey the teenagers attitude. Brooks uses the collective we, instead of the singular I, to communicate that the speakers of the poem are a group of teenagers. The word we is also used to show their solidarity to each other. This word depicts their reliance on their group identity, since these teenagers havent developed their own individual identities yet and are overly influenced by their peers. SCREEN 13 In the poem, Gwendolyn Brooks uses the precise diction to mimic unrefined teenagers, and successfully conveys their seeming toughness while in truth they are insecure and defensive. She keeps the poem short to indicate their limited vocabulary and limited self-awareness. These teenagers are rebels without a cause. The poet herself said that the we of We real cool, is to be said softly to show their uncertainty. Listen to what Brooks says about the poem just before she recites it to understand how the poems diction helps establish the desired tone. Did you also notice how the diction of this poem seems to echo jazz sounds? The repetitive alliterations in the lines (We lurk late, We strike straight, We sing sin, We Jazz June) give it a musical quality, and the shortness of the words and lines have a percussive effect, like when cymbals in a jazz band crash. Lesson Activity Not Assessed Read more about how to use diction effectively in poetry. Then go to your Lesson Activities and write a short poem of your own in the Not Assessed section. SCREEN 14 Tone, Diction, and Meaning Youve seen how analyzing diction helps you identify a poems tone and understand its meaning. Now, read John Keatss poem This Living Hand, and think about how the tone is conveyed through its diction. This Living Hand has a mournful, realistic tone. If you analyze the poem closely, youll notice that certain words such as cold,tomb, and icy evoke death and create a strong tone of dread. When Keats wrote this poem, he knew he was dying. This poem was, in fact, the last poem Keats ever wrote. He died when he was just 26. The speaker is accepting death as inevitable, but is unhappy about a life not completely lived and is resentful of those who will live full lives, as is obvious from the lines, So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights, That thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood, So in my veins red life might stream again. The speaker faces death, and makes readers face it too, with his outstretched hand. SCREEN 15 Just as its possible to identify a poems tone and understand its meaning from the diction, its also possible to alter the poems tone and meaning by changing the diction. Read Robert Brownings Pippas Song. This poem has a peppy tone, which comes through words like morn and spring, and particularly the last lines Gods in His heaven,/ Alls right with the world! If you were to change certain words in this poem, though, you would invert the poems tone and meaning. For example, changing spring to winter, or at the morn to at dusk could help create a dark, gloomy tone. Lesson Activity Teacher-Graded Read Edgar Allan Poes poem A Dream Within a Dream and write a 250- to 300-word essay as instructed in the Tone, Diction, and Meaning section of the Teacher-Graded Activities. Lesson Activity Self-Checked Listen to or read Brookss We Real Cool again. Go to the Tone, Diction, and Meaning section of the Self-Checked Activities and rewrite this poem as directed. SCREEN 16 Summary The French poet, playwright, and filmmaker Jean Cocteau once said, The poet doesnt invent. He listens. And thats what you, as a reader, need to do when analyzing a poems tone and diction. If tone conveys the mood and attitude of a poem, diction helps create the tone. To analyze tone, you need to understand diction. You also need to figure out who the poems speaker is, to whom is it addressed, and what the poems central concern and context is. For example, you may miss the irony in Robert Frosts A Patch of Old Snow and the bravado in Gwendolyn Brookss We Real Cool if you dont read the poems closely.

Staying Dry on Game Day :: Descriptive Essay Examples, narrative

Staying Dry on Game Day I wandered aimlessly through the bowels of the structure trying to uncover an unsuspecting vendor selling some protection from the rain. The only thing I discovered was one small booth with nothing to sell. As I approached, several other people followed my lead. I walked up and asked where I could find a poncho to beat the relentless elements outside. The bearded hippo rose up from his resting state and sharply answered my question telling me that a box would be arriving here at any time. Resisting the temptation to depress my partially thawed fist into his crumb laden, burly face, I calmly waited in line with others. As I waited for a supposed shipment, the sweet odor of fresh baked bread drifted past my nose. I had no idea where they were coming from until I turned around and saw a man in a burgundy apron removing hot dogs buns from three bags and placing the buns in the display window of his booth. While the thought of a nice warm, processed meat tube seemed oddly inviting , my focus moved toward something else. Standing there, still dripping from the rain outside, I was beginning to grow impatient about the ponchos. At that moment, a newly defrosted neuron fired. My intuition went in to full gear. I thought if I couldn’t buy something to protect myself from the rain, I would just make one myself. Diving at the trash can, I drove my hand down into the dark abyss of the stationary canister. My hand searched for the right texture of what I desired. After rummaging through what felt like an empty pop can and some napkins, my hands flew out of the trash can to reveal to my eyes the fruit of my labor. I was now the new facilitator of three, freshly discarded hot dog bun bags. With the loot in hand, I made a mad dash for a quiet area in the corridor. Like a robber trying to mask their identity, I proceeded to punch the bottoms out of two bags. The other bag I sat aside for the moment. I took the two mutilated pieces of plastic and pulled them over my boots and up on my thighs which were mostly dry by now.

Challenges of restaurants facing in HK Essay

INTRODUCTION: It is well known that Hong Kong is a food paradise since there is an array of types of food and a wide range of restaurants can be founded in Hong Kong. The business of restaurants plays an important role in the food service sector in Hong Kong and it is gaining momentum due to the variety kinds of food provided. However, due to the cost, labor and competition factors, Hong Kong restaurants are facing challenges both internally and externally, and as a consequence, they are opening and closing at a fast pace. (Chung,2013) CHALLENGE 1: First and foremost, one of the crucial challenges facing by Hong Kong restaurants is the soaring rent of their locations. Due to the increasing tension of the land use in Hong Kong, the land price is increasing and as a result, the rent is rising. The tremendous amount of property rental increased by the property owners adds a large financial burden on the restaurants. Since they cannot gain any profits if they need to pay such an expensive rent, therefore, they will have no choice but to close down their restaurants. The famous Lei Yuen Congee Noodles (Chung, 2013) behind Sogo Department Store in Causeway bay is a case in point. It was forced to close because it was located in the core area in Causeway Bay and the rent was doubled. This case shows that the insurmountable rent may lead to an end of a restaurant business. Besides, the food cost is another challenges to Hong Kong restaurants. Due to the inflation, the cost of ingredients is increasing. Some commodities like vegetables, cooking oil, cheese and beef are costing higher, restaurants need to pay more and the profit is lower (Ryan, 2011). Some restaurants had tried not to increase the price od their dishes and make less profit they could get in order not to scare off their patrons initially, however, with the steady rise of food cost, they were not be able to impede the increase of their menu prices. Undoubtedly, the increase in the price of menus resulted in a loss of customers. CHALLENGE 2: Moreover, labor shortage is also a key challenge of Hong Kong restaurants.  (Wong, 2011) Because of the long working hours and tough work, many people are not willing to work in a restaurant, except those are passionate about food and beverage. With fewer newcomers in this industry, there is a lack of skillful staff. Although there is an implementation of minimum wage law in order to prevent workers from depriving, many people will prefer exploring in other industries rather that working in restaurants, especially the Generation Y who born in the 1980s and 1990s. McDonald’s Restaurants (Hong Kong) Limited is a case in point (Wong, 2011). The Generation Y group of staff has become increasingly mobile after the imposition of minimum wage law. They would like to seek better opportunities in other areas instead of working for long hours in the food industry. Since there will be fewer passionate people in food and beverage among the youngsters, as a consequence, there may be a sh ortfall of restaurants workers after the retiring of the current talented staff. The service quality and operational efficiency may not be maintained with a shortage of labor. Therefore, restaurants are facing a tremendous difficulty in the aspect of labor use. CHALLENGE 3: Last but not least, there is a fierce competition among restaurants. In today’s highly customer-oriented marketplace, maintain increasing levels of food hygiene and service quality is certainly important. Restaurants need to ensure that the basic service is good and the menu should not be dull and it should include some special dishes regularly in order to attract customers. However, it is not the only requirement for maintain restaurants’ competitive edge. Becoming a successful restaurant, not only do the food and service are in a good quality, media attention is also needed. Most of the upscale restaurants in Hong Kong are aggressive in holding events or collaborating with other business partners to offer promotions and to attract media attention. They will also add leisure components to the dining experience, such as wine tasting sessions, cooking classes or food photography courses(HKQAA,2011). Many casual restaurants also take advantage of the social media platform s, for instance, OpenRice and Facebook, to promote themselves by offering discounts. It shows that the competition among restaurants is extremely fierce and media attention plays a key role in the competition of restaurants. If the restaurants cannot stand out to  catch customers’ attention through media, the business may not be successful when they are comparing with other restaurants. CONCLUSION: To conclude, restaurants are facing many challenges in Hong Kong, ranging from internal challenges to external challenges. Although the monetary challenges, lack of labor and the fierce competition add a burden on running the restaurants business, there are always solutions to solve the problems. With the perfect service and tasty food provided, restaurants can succeed and always stand out from others. REFERENCES: Cathie Chung(2013),Attractiveness And Challenges Of Restaurant Business In Hong Kong (Website:http://www.joneslanglasalleblog.com/APResearch/retail-research/attractiveness-and-challenges-of-restaurant-business-in-hong-kong#.UmvxjRaA3X9) HKQAA(2013),VISION (Website : http://www.hkqaa.org/cmsimg/1375072136vision48.pdf) Nicolette Wong(2011),Challenges and incentives motivate young restaurant workers (Website http://cthr.ctgoodjobs.hk/article/show_article.aspx/1174-14129-challenges-and-incentives-motivate-young-restaurant-workers) RYAN(2011),Can Restaurants Increase Their Menu Prices In Response To The Rising Food Cost? (Website: http://www.kng.com/blog/food-and-beverage-news/can-restaurants-increase-their-menu-prices-in-response-to-the-rising-food-cost/)

Breach of data confidentiality

Breach of data confidentiality Introduction This essay focuses on breach of data confidentiality as a potential source of problems in healthcare institutions. Ensuring data confidentiality in healthcare institutions is a form of creating accountability in care organizations (American College of Healthcare Executives, 2012). The paper looks at causes, consequences, and recommendations on effective management of data.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Breach of data confidentiality specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Data confidentiality Poor handling of patients’ confidential data can cause serious problems in healthcare institutions. Therefore, preventing unauthorized access to and improper use of such data are mandatory parts of effective data governance in healthcare institutions. The goal of information confidentiality is to eliminate data security threats such as data loss and unauthorized access to, inappropriate use, and distribution of su ch data. This is a potential source of reputation and data privacy challenges in healthcare institutions. Causes and Prevention Healthcare institutions experience data confidentiality breach from unauthorized access, manipulation, usage, and distribution. Therefore, healthcare institutions must make sure that data are confidential by providing data security solutions that safeguard, restrict, and prevent unauthorized access to patients’ information. In addition, healthcare should stop any authorized access or use of such information using its internal structures for restrictions. Therefore, in order to ensure information confidentiality in healthcare institutions, there should be several measures to prevent confidentiality breach. First, healthcare institutions should use controlled access systems. This aims at preventing access to information by providing various access levels and authorization. Healthcare institutions should ensure that employees only get access to informat ion relevant to their job categories. Second, healthcare institutions should have restrictions on gaining access to areas and systems with medical records of patients. Third, healthcare institutions should have identification and authentication procedures for their employees. This approach ensures that only people authorized to get access to data do so. It should also implement real-time identity procedures to ensure that only employees with authorization can get access to patients’ information. Fourth, healthcare institutions should have systems that conceal patient’s identity as a way of controlling access to patients information. Thus, people can gain access to and use such information without compromising their confidentiality (American Medical Association , 2012).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Importance of ensuring data confidentiality There a re serious ethical and legal consequences of breaching data confidentiality. As a result, ethics and laws about information confidentiality have evolved to protect both patients and institutions. However, healthcare institutions face constant threats from computerized systems as they have changed how people gain access to and use confidential information. Given difficulties with information governance in healthcare institutions, healthcare institutions and their employees should ensure utmost protection of patient confidentiality. Employees in healthcare institutions must ensure that confidential data remain protected always. Therefore, it is the duty of caregivers to let patients know the limits of confidentiality. Thus, patients must make informed decisions about protecting their sensitive information by avoiding disclosure and choice for treatment. Patients also expect their caregivers and physicians to respect their privacy. In other words, caregivers and physicians can only rel ease sensitive medical records with informed consents of patients. It is only important for physicians and caregivers to know laws that involve effective protection of confidentiality, and should not ignore any form of confidentiality breach. This is because even minor cases of confidentiality breach result to mistrust, potential lawsuits together with disciplinary action or dismissal from the job (American Medical Association, 2012). Recommendations for information confidentiality in healthcare institutions Healthcare institutions face many challenges due to confidentiality of information shared across many sections. Human problems and management practices are serious threatens to information confidentiality in healthcare facilities. Therefore, effective information confidentiality and governance should involve the following. Healthcare institutions must educate both their staff and patients about the importance of maintaining information confidentiality. This ensures that people w ho handle such confidential data understand possible consequences of confidentiality breach. Healthcare institutions must also create systems that guard against any form of breach in confidentiality. This implies that policies and access controls should focus on regulatory and legal benchmarks. This prevents threats to information confidentiality.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Breach of data confidentiality specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More If information governance procedures and access controls will have desirable impacts on healthcare provisions and management activities, then employees will adopt desirable practices when handling data. This improves quality of healthcare and satisfaction of patients. Different units should also align their procedures and information controls with those of the institution. This eliminates cases of unauthorized access to information. This requires all departments to collaborate a nd create aligned systems of gaining access to information. Healthcare facilities must also develop and implement procedures for reporting any case of breach in confidentiality of information. All parties know severe consequences of information misuse and loss, such as financial, trust, reputation and regulatory. Further, healthcare institutions must also avoid corresponding fines, lawsuits, loss of patients’ confidence, and misuse of information by adopting effective information governance. Therefore, any healthcare institution can reduce cases and impacts of breaches in data confidentiality by implementing appropriate methods of managing and reporting cases of confidentiality breaches. In case of any confidentiality breach, healthcare institutions should have appropriate response mechanisms to confidentiality breach and propose alternative measures to reduce impacts of such cases. References American College of Healthcare Executives. (2012). Top Issues Confronting Hospitals : 2011. Web. American Medical Association. (2012). Confidentiality: Computers. Web.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More American Medical Association. (2012). Patient Confidentiality. Web.

Discussion of the inner struggle Henry Fleming faces - the difficulty faced during the progression into manhood.

Discussion of the inner struggle Henry Fleming faces - the difficulty faced during the progression into manhood. The Red Badge of CourageByStephen CraneBravery, valor, boldness, intrepidity are all synonyms of the word courage. For a man, courage is more apprehensive timidity than glorious expectance. Something as simple schoolyard brawl can define courage as lucidly as a war of attrition. Henry Fleming is racing towards the clarification of his own inner spirit in the throws of the American Civil War. Fighting against the "rebels," Henry has tremendous ambiguity over his moral fiber. From a war that gave us the term "bite the bullet," referring to the use of a bullet in the mouth of a wounded solider in lieu of anesthesia - it is chilling to imagine the thoughts that Henry Fleming battles from within. Can a boy become a man, define his gallantry and gain his fortitude through the slaughter of another human being? Will his greatest fear of being a coward come to pass? A lifetime of maturity is gained within hours of hostility between the depths of a young mans fervor.First edition cover of The Red Badge of CourageHenry Fleming is alone. Henry is a youth alone in a war between a nation. The inner struggle that he faces cannot be uncovered through his own self-analysis. He must, and will face the ultimate sacrifice. No man knows how he would react in the face of eminent danger comparative to something as gruesome as the Civil War. Henry has heard the horror stories and knows that his fate is approaching beyond his control. Anger exists within Henry as he sees the bravery exhibited by fellow comrades. This courage is illusive to our youthful solider. He wonders, "Where does it lie within me?" "Henry Fleming is caught between the clash of his own courage ness and his desire for self preservation," Steve Crane - Clarendon Press, 1971. The convictions of...

20th Century Modern Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

20th Century Modern Art - Essay Example Kandinsky was an artist whose concepts played a crucial role in developing Abstract Expressionism. The Surrealist idea of the unconscious and Freudian imagery gained popularity among the artists simultaneously, and Abstract Expressionists, especially Jackson Pollock developed the desire to express the unconscious. He was brought up in Arizona and then in Chico, California. During the 1950s, Abstract Expressionism reached its peak. Employing the Automatism technique (from Surrealism, where the artist was to paint without fully controlling his body, thus unlocking the unconscious) which led to his â€Å"drip paintings† later known as â€Å"action painting†, Using household paints instead of artist’s paints, and sticks and other tools as paint applicators, with his canvases laid on the floor, Pollock brought a revolution to this art form. He allowed people to come and watch him while he created masterpieces: moving around the canvas, dripping paint at different angl es; he seemed engaged in a dance. In 1938, he underwent a psychiatric treatment for his alcoholism and worked with two Jungian analysts. After this extremely influential experience, he began exploring his own unconscious symbolism, the result of which is visible in his work Male and Female which shows freely poured pigment for the first time. The brilliance in the poured paintings that he began from 1947 was that he chose numbers for their titles, widening the viewers’ scope by giving them freedom of interpretation, which he thought was limited otherwise. At the age of 44, Pollock passed away in a car accident; he was driving under the influence of alcohol. Pollock’s One (Number 31) is one of his abstract works that he painted using the ‘drip technique’. The canvas is covered with long patchy, free flowing irregular lines; the color scheme is very subtle, consisting of only black, blue, grey, brown and white on an off white background; the beauty of Abstra ct Expressionism is that it does not make a statement of it own, rather it invokes the observer’s subconscious, allowing them to interpret it the way they see it and how it makes them feel (Lanchner & Pollock, 32). However, keeping in mind the post world war era it was created in, one can imagine the chaos and pandemonium of that time and relate to it; it makes one wonder what it must have been like to live amidst all the destruction and bloodshed. On a closer look, one might feel like the black strokes represent moving, perhaps dancing or falling(after being shot, maybe?) stick men like figures; or figures who are trying to run away from the brown, blue, white and grey(the war, maybe, trying to save themselves?). Also, each color might have a meaning of its own: for instance, the brown(earth or ground), the white(people’s tears), the black(arms and ammunition). It is a good thing it does not have a decipherable image(s) with definite meaning. It is a thought provocati ve piece of art, and it leaves one with no doubt as to why the art critic, Clement Greenberg wrote, â€Å"and I knew Jackson was the greatest painter this country had producedâ€Å" about Pollock,who played a great role in expressing the then deplorable social and political conditions of America, and diverting people’s attention from them, hence providing an escape from reality. Abstract Expressionism had become so influential by the second world war that the amateur artists imitated the style as it was, thus lacking originality and innovation, deterring the general public from connecting with it. In the 1950s, a bunch of approaching artists, began defying the norm, using imagery relatable by the general public. That is when advertising started making consumer items like Coca-Cola into household names in America. the American culture was heavily

To what extent can we as humans be objective in our understanding of Essay

To what extent can we as humans be objective in our understanding of human behaviour - Essay Example al’s psychic sphere, etc., there has always been a question: to what extend can a human being remain objective while explaining the reasons for another human’s behaviour? After all, being humans, not only we are prone to mistakes, but we also have our own subjective experience, and which is more personality peculiarities, which may – and actually do – influence the way we perceive things and interpret the motives for another people’s actions and other people’s thoughts. People do not perceive the world as it is; their own mind creates a certain picture of the world that differs from the reality, and every person has the picture of his or her own. This was discovered long ago by a Polish engineer Alfred Korzibsky at the beginning of the 20th century. A most interesting saying belongs to him that says ‘The map is not the territory’ (Korzibsky 1933, np); under ‘the map’ our perception of the world is meant, and ‘the territory’ is the objective world itself. Fairly the same concept is reflected in the works of the sophists in the Ancient Greece who were constantly trying to find an answer to the question if it is possible to comprehend the truth, and if anything exists in the human mind apart from opinions? They were the adherents of Phenomenalism: the theory that stated that we only can perceive those ideas that find themselves in our minds, not the real objects of the world as they are all outside of our minds, and therefore it is incorrect and even useless to even try evaluating anybody or anything that is outside our minds. Conceptual biases: the way we as a group collectively organize our mental views, beliefs and perceptions about life and the universe, which influences what we notice, what we seek to learn, and how we interpret phenomena. Personal biases: the individual experiences and personality that form our personal interests, likes and dislikes, characteristics, etc., which influence what and how each of us seeks to learn and