Monday, September 16, 2019

Show through the movement of verse Brutus’ thought process at 2.1 lines 10-34

This is a soliloquy, designed to reveal Brutus' thinking and feelings, and also to give the audience a chance to judge his motives. By delaying the action of the play, it increases suspense as the audience enter the mind of a killer and his plotting. Throughout his speech, rhythm, rhyme, repetition and imagery are used to reveal Brutus' need to justify himself. The whole speech is in iambic pentameter. Iambs occur when, of two syllables, only the second is stressed. Here, â€Å"death† is most stressed, followed by â€Å"must†. Must† and â€Å"death† contain hard-hitting consonants (â€Å"t† and â€Å"d†) and the combination, along with â€Å"must†, sounds threatening, intent and violent. This rhythmic effect in the first clause sounds determined and final – so why does Brutus run on? The colon before â€Å"and, for my part† suggests that he feels he needs an explanation for this decision, one that he can justify in â€Å"general† terms (meaning for the general good of the people), if not on a â€Å"personal† level, why he is, quite definitely, going to kill Caesar. The iambic rhythm set up so far is interrupted by lines 2 and 3, with â€Å"personal† and â€Å"general† going from one stressed followed by two unstressed, creating a trickling sound, and supporting a very thoughtful tone. One can feel that Brutus is just trying to persuade himself that killing Caesar will look like the right thing to do, once he can find a story to justify it. It's not a vicious tone of a murderer – and that makes it all the more chilling, as we feel that Caesar's life is being weighed in this man's hands. The repeated last syllable is situated in the same place in both lines, creating rhyme. At first, it seems that Brutus values the â€Å"personal† friendship with, and knowledge of, Caesar above the â€Å"general† – but as he continues, the echo of these two rhyming words is in conflict. The bulk of this speech is spent talking in general terms, never really directing his speech at Caesar at all except to talk of his being crowned and killing him. This explaining of Caesar's life would create sympathy for him in the audience, and without this justification Brutus would be simply a base murderer. The poetry of line 5 is typical of Brutus. He mixes beauty with an argument for murder – and for a short time, the extraordinary truth about adders in the summer, hidden dangers becoming clear when the grass is mown and the sun is high, might make the audience believe that Caesar is like an adder. This is the longest line so far, free of pauses, reasoning and worry. But the poetry whips up Brutus' own fears. The words â€Å"bright† and â€Å"brings† and the interruption of the iambic skip, with â€Å"bright day† and â€Å"bring forth† both being stressed, creates the effect almost of a drum-roll, erasing any doubt in Brutus' mind that the adder, in the shape of an Imperial Caesar, is not far away. Through lines 6 – 12 Brutus is again trying to justify killing Caesar. He dehumanises Caesar firstly as an â€Å"adder† and then later as a â€Å"serpents egg† which isn't so different from the disjoining of remorse from power that Brutus suspects Caesar to be potentially capable of. Although Brutus is trying to persuade himself that this is a political assassination for the good of Rome and the Republic, it's easy to notice Brutus is slightly jealous that his old friend, once an equal, is now a god among men. Therefore this is an insight into the possibility that the murder was also personal. These lines are also a period where he is deciding whether or not to kill Caesar. In line 6 he says â€Å"Crown him! – that! † hitting an emotional peak after which he calms himself down speaking in a much lower, less erratic tone. The word â€Å"But† on line 12 is a major turning point in the text. This is where the whole of Brutus's argument lies on common belief not proof. Once again to persuade himself killing Caesar is the right thing to do, he uses a weak argument that says Caesar is using people to get to the top of the political ladder and when he reaches the top will turn his back on everyone who helped him get there. The weakness of this argument is that there are no signs of him ever being evil to his friends before. Brutus describes it as a general model of the â€Å"common proof† that all men grow greedy with power, which if true would justify killing Caesar while he was in his â€Å"shell† before he could â€Å"hatch† Throughout the soliloquy Brutus appears to be contradicting himself and making remarks that he isn't entirely confident about. To me this shows that Brutus had quite a weak personality and was probably a man under great pressure.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Julius Caesar: Compare and Contrast Essay Essay

Julius Caesar is an ancient leader who is known worldwide for his famous last words â€Å"Et tu Brute?† as his closest friends were brutally murdering him. Barack Obama is the current United States President who has been in office for two consecutive terms, or eight years. Both leaders will be remembered forever, Caesar because of his murder and Obama because he is the first African American President to lead the United States. Although United States President Barack Obama is a leader centuries after the rise and fall of Julius Caesar their traits while in power that they exhibited are polar opposites. Whether it be the way that the leaders treat and respect their wives, the life they lived, or the way that they led their countries, they were opposite in almost every way possible. To begin, Julius Caesar was married to a weak-willed woman named Calpurnia. Calpurnia was a whiny woman who tried to keep Caesar from what he wanted to do and his civil duties as ruler of Rome. Calpurnia had nightmares of Caesar dying and his blood being put on display in the streets, dreams that she scared herself into believing, although becoming true. When Caesar refused to listen to her pleads of staying inside their house, she got on her knees and cried to him begging him to please stay home. This Caesar thought was highly ridiculous and he went anyways, against her wishes. Despite the lack of listening that Caesar had shown towards his wife, Obama looks to his wife as if she were his right-hand-man. Barack Obama is married to a strong-willed woman named Michelle. Michelle is a woman who had dreams and once her husband was elected into office, she made those dreams come true, having her husbands’ back in the decisions that he made for his country. Michelle wrote her own stump speeches for her husband’s presidential campaign and generally spoke without notes showing her involvement in the support of her husbands’ job. Michelle is an advocate for a healthier tomorrow, making meal plans for schools countrywide to follow, Obama also backing her up and helping her in any way he can. President Barack Obama has a respect for his wife that is unbelievably vigorous while the respect that Caesar displayed for his wife was as if there was none at all, not only proving how much times have changed, but showing how strong the bonds of marriage should be. Continuing,  Caesar was a patrician by noble birth being born into a wealthy patrician family that had money beyond knowledge. The ancestry that Caesar had was that of honor and fame being the grandson of Aeneas who was the son of the goddess Venus. Caesar’s family name, Julii Caesar, came from the birth by caesarean section, caes- meaning cut, one of his family members being born by this style of birth. Caesar came from a family of such wealth that his father was in charge of governing the province of Asia. But Obama, on the other hand, was born into a poorer family, his mother being from Wichita, Kansas and his father being on a J-visa from a small town in Kenya, both of his parents being in college on opposite sides of the country, forcing them to separate, Obama being a newborn. Obama was named after his father, being Barack Hussein Obama II, a pure Kenyan name. Obama’s parents were highly educated, his father going to Harvard Law School and his mother going to the University of Washington and then to the University of Hawaii where she graduated with a major in anthropology. Caesar and Obama came from completely different upbringings, one of military greatness and wealth and the other of brilliance and poverty. Finally, Caesar, because of his military background and the fact that he led the Romans to the defeat of the Gauls, he was welcomed home to Rome by the senate granting him triumphs for his victories. When Caesar gained more power over Rome, he ordered a census be taken resulting in the reduction of grain dole, restricting the purchases of certain luxuries and rewarding those who had many children simply because they were increasing the population of Rome. Caesar made some very vital decisions in the development of not only Rome, but the world as well such as changing the traditional calendar to the Egyptian calendar meaning that instead of having 365 days in a year, there would be 365.25 days because of the 29th day of February every fourth year. Caesar also made decisions such as establishing a police system, rebuilding the cities of Corinth and Carthage and building a library as a branch off of the Library of Alexandria. Militarily, Caesar wanted to conquer the Dacians and the Parthians, but he wasn’t able to accomplish that due to his death. As a result of his murder, the month July was named after him, its original name being Quintilis. Yet, even though not having any months named after him or establishing such important institutions, Obama has had his fair amount of fame worthy actions. Obama will forever be remembered as the first African  American Presidential Candidate and first African American to become president. As president Obama promised many choices that would help the United States become stronger as a whole such as better long-range planning, superior fundraising, dominant organizing in caucus states, and better exploitation of delegate allocation rules. Obama also made history by becoming the first democratic president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to twice win the majority of the popular vote with the people. Obama made the change to reduce the secrecy given to presidential military records to gain the trust of the people he was in charge of making a better state for. Militarily, Obama issued executive orders and presidential memoranda directing the U.S. military to develop plans to withdraw troops from Iraq, claiming that he was fixing the problem that former President George W. Bush started. Caesar wanted to start war with other countries while Obama wanted to end the war that presented itself, their strategies of dealing with their countries being completely opposite. Caesar was a leader that because of the way that he took care of his subjects was murdered because he simply was not liked. Obama is a leader of a different time period, being constantly followed by security, ensuring his safety, and maybe that’s why Caesar wasn’t saved, because times have changed. Perhaps Obama has learned from Caesar’s mistakes and that has influenced to take votes among the senate and people before making decisions that could ultimately question the safety of the citizens looking up to him. Caesar and Obama both have their own ways of leading their states, treating their wives, and came from completely different upbringings, the one similarity the share being that they will be legends for years to come.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Innovation Strategy at Microsoft Essay

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational software corporation that develops, manufacturers, licenses and supports a wide range of products and services related to computing. Microsoft is the world’s largest software maker and affects millions of users worldwide every day. The company recorded all-time high revenue bringing in $73.7 billion for fiscal year 2012. After analyzing this case, I have concluded that the main problem for Microsoft is that their deep silos are inevitably hindering its ability to produce products and/or services to compete with current computing trends in the industry. While Microsoft continues to dominate the computing world, it cannot be attributed to their innovation strategy. To address these problems I suggest that Microsoft alter their environment to better simulate innovation. Microsoft should create an environmental culture in which employees are encouraged to venture outside their tasks, minimal time pressure, and high job security give positive feedback for initiatives taken. These recommendations are based on specific concepts from the book. Current environment inside Microsoft does not currently provide positive feedback. Their current environments sets commitments for each division and employees are faced with performance evaluations. When employees failed to meet designated commitments, employees were penalized. Additionally, employees are penalized for taking on activities unrelated to their commitments. First in chapter 6 we saw that in an industry where growth is slowing and competition becomes stronger, an organization’s success requires innovation. This is why it is recommended that Microsoft focus on simulating innovation. We saw that innovators derive from individual developers and thereby can be considered the true source of innovative products. While an organization system model and creative individuals are key stakeholders in the business, it is not enough to drive innovation. Per chapter 6, there are several effective ways to simulate innovation- of which are the recommendations suggested above. Innovation Strategy at Microsoft: Clouds on the Horizon ACC – Applied Carbon Corporation (large environmental technology conglomerate) EBC (Executive Briefing Center) Innovation team- Gates was engaged with the engineer and the algorithm, he talked about how the algorithm that could increase the speed of the search This suggestion by Gates reduced time used on massive server banks Later he proposed an innovation to monetization model that would save corps millions of energy time. Innovation at Microsoft: Top-Down or Bottom-Up? Innovation drivers: Product groups, Microsoft Research labs, Innovation teams generating grassroots innovation Innovation at Microsoft really was a â€Å"one-man show†, vision and drive of a senior leader, i.e. Gates, then would work its way down Gates would send out memos calling for dramatic change in products, services and technologies Microsoft offered Extensions on existing products & services – result of product groups New products & services accounted for 1/3 Microsoft Rev Grassroot Innovation Grassroot innovation- attempt to tap into diverse ideas of Microsoft employees & turn into profitable new businesses Participated in ThinkWeek, Quest, IdeAgency & Innovation Outreach Program ThinkWeek- technical papers submitted once a year directly to Gates who reviews them for a week & makes comments Quest- Similar to ThinkWeek but involved Microsoft’s most senior & accomplished technical minds Thinkweek & Quest tapped into minds of senior technical staff- ignored other employees IdeAgency- to full realize potential in grassroots innovation by all Microsoft employees Executive sponsor (most likely product group leader) identified a prb that needed a solution & all employees through an IdeaExchange tool would submit solutions Learning by doing- needed more adjustments- submitting ideas wasn’t enough. Therefore top ideas of IdeAgency were selected (ie. 300 first session), form groups, were given a budget & resources to develop a prototype within 8 weeks. ThinkWeek, Quest, IdeAgency- all internal request for info, IOP implemented to include public Chief innovation officers from 10 Microsoft largest accounts for two-day innovation brainstorming conference- asked to look 5 years ahead (LT ignore ST) Steep believed this would drive innovation b/c had two critical flows of information done in product groups & Microsoft research labs 1. Top-down guidance 2. Bottom-up expertise The Information Technology Industry: Clouds on the Horizon Grassroots innovation initiatives response to increased competition from all sides (apple, amazon, google, linux and others) Microsoft generated most rev from consumer & enterprise licenses for software products ’08 operating income $22.5B on rev of $60. 4B (15% growth rate) New technologies threaten importance of Windows operating system as a universal platform, undermining traditional licensing model used by Microsoft for so long Microsoft business model relied heavily on product groups within divisions while each group tailored its software development process to its core technology & market Product groups worked closely with Sales, Marketing & Service division to deliver on customer needs Again, licensing model has been successful for Microsoft but many business analysts that shrink-wrapped software method of generating revenue will be obsolete and lose to cloud computing items 2000 Apple launched MobileMe Yahoo implemented online advertising business model Amazon online service & transaction business model Google online info search leader Grassroots Innovation under Microscope Product groups focus on ST & Research labs on LT So many processes running concurrently with lots of capital tied into them – is Microsoft delivering on its process? The ThinkWeek & Quest relied heavily no Gates- so what if he departed? IdeAgency great on paper- while delivered many successes, few drawbacks- immense time required to facilitate Too many hurdles trying to make fruitful collaborations in resistant environment Too much effort to get anything going across the product groups Many employees refused to work on projects beyond their defined objectives and commitments out of fear of receiving poor evaluations Organization Structure & Design Three divisions: Platform Products & Services, Microsoft Business & Entertainment & Devices Deep silos that barely communicated or collaborated Three business divisions, seven business groups & 27 product groups were told to focus on its own individual profit/loss. Business groups didn’t have time or incentive to participate in collaborations away from their own group Culture & Beliefs Developer-centric company b/c most employees possessed extraordinary amount of tech expertise- every employee (even senior mgmt.) had small office with a closed-door policy to concentrate better Culture a result of Gates behavior and mgmt. system driven by 3 core beliefs- 1) individual excellence (believed they had brightest employees in the world) 2) competitive behavior 3) accepted to never accept 2nd best (Go Big or Go Home) These believes lead to extreme intra- and interfirm competition intensity Competition amongst each other for positions Personal meeting with Gates & his lieutenants in which major employees are dissected & reviewed (can make or break your career at Microsoft) Culture & Beliefs Individual & group incentives were primarily influenced by â€Å"commitments† tied to each employees output- detailed objectives stated in form of a contract between employee & supervisor. At beginning of year commitments set in stone & couldn’t be changed.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Toyota Motor Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Toyota Motor Corporation - Essay Example Toyota started announcing recalls of 8 – 9 millions after reports of 2000 fatal accidents and 19 deaths from its defective vehicles with accelerator and brake pedal issues. By February 2010 (just before ending of fiscal year on March 31), Toyota had recalled nearly 2 million vehicles from its main markets that also reflected in Income Statement, Cash Flows and Balance Sheet. In fact, the assets and liabilities / debts section were greatly affected from that recall because sales declined and products recalled simultaneously. Toyota Corporation estimated that recall would cost, at least, $2 billion in 2010 – 2011, which may increase in near future if suppliers would increase raw-material / inputs prices followed by high labour expenditures. It is worth mentioning that Toyota's sales in North America reduced by 16% alone in February 2010 in comparison to February 2009 just after the recall. On the other hand, the competitors operational in American markets were among the a ctual beneficiaries, since ‘General Motors recorded sales increase of 15%, Ford observed a growth of 24%, Nissan recorded the growth of 15%, and   Hyundai observed a phenomenal 24% growth in USA. Indeed, the recall enabled Ford Corporation to become second largest automobile seller across North America after General Motors. The recall sabotaged Toyota’s strategic and financial position because customers started switching to other brands, which later resulted in decline in market share. This just happened when Toyota had certain plans / aspirations to benefit from improvements in global economic outlook. Without any doubt, the company in the short - run has been unable to win trust of potential customers and maximise its monetary gains because of additional repair and delivery costs to be incurred from this recall. In addition, the loss of goodwill and reputation alone could prove quite devastating for company in near future when it will launch newly developed products. For instance, potential customers and industry analysts may raise questions about safety, security and reliability of Toyota’s vehicles. In a nut shell, it is justified to argue that Toyota’s balance sheet figures (assets and liabilities) position will deteriorate in fiscal year of 2011 because of mixed consumer confi dence on Toyota’s market offerings.  

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Human Resources Role in Target Corporation Term Paper

Human Resources Role in Target Corporation - Term Paper Example Human resource management is that part of management involved act of putting together human capital in an organized manner to ensure that aims and objectives of an organization are achieved in an efficient and effective manner. Human resources are the most precious assets of any organization since they are the activators of non-human resources and the means for developing competitive advantages and sounds of creativity. No organization can exist without human resources department (Walsh, 2009). An organization with no such a department would be curtailing its operations and may collapse within a short period of time. Target Corporation is a large American retailing company with its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in U.S. it was founded in 1902 as Dayton Dry Goods Company although its first store opened in 1962. This grew to become the largest division of Dayton Hudson Corporation, culminating in the company being renamed as Target Co rporation in August 2000. Target announced its expansion into Canada on January 13, 2011 and has an aim of operating over a hundred stores in Canada by 2013. Target Corporation sells food stuffs and operates groceries that sell dry food stuffs. There are several ways of collecting data for analysis among them being questionnaires, one on one interrogation, online research and using organizational newsletters among others. The method chosen to collect data is online research and organizational newsletters. The purpose of the paper is to assess human resource management and its effect on the employees of Target. Job Design This refers to deciding the contents of a certain job. It is fixing the duties and responsibilities of the job holder, how to do the job as well as define the relationship between subordinates, superiors and colleagues. This should be well spelt out in a company’s policies to ensure that employees adhere to them. Any explanation needed with regards to job des criptions should be answered by top management of a company preferably human resource manager. Job design involves comprises of several issues in any company. A company has to lay job analysis and ensure that this has the support of top management. Job analysis includes reviewing existing job documentation and this should be communicated to employees and managers. Job design helps reduce or curb job dissatisfaction amongst employees since employees are involved in what they like most (Roberts, 1997). It creates chances of rotation hence an employee is able to learn how to perform several tasks in a given organization. Employees are able to interact when the necessary job design is put in place. Job design increases productivity in a company since employees are fully motivated to work. Job design ensures that chain of command if correctly followed in an organization. Job design helps balance requirements of any job with human attributes. A poorly laid down job design results in high rate of employee turnover, more strikes, conflicts and other industrial related problems. There are several factors that affect job design in any given organization. Job scope should be properly described. A narrow scope implies less challenge hence no chance for developing on the management. A wide scope on the other hand will make the management over-worked and may result in distress, dissatisfaction and loss of control. Job design should offer full time challenge on the job. Managers’ efforts should be fully utilised to ensure no much free time during working hours as this might make managers over-stepping their mandate and harass junior staff.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Chopin Biography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chopin Biography - Essay Example It was in Warsaw, the Polish capital where Frederic Chopin spent most of the twenty years of his life. He made his debut in 1818 when he played a concerto by Gyrowetz, which was then followed by the publication of his Rondo in C minor at the Warsaw Conservatory in 1825 (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005). Following his debut, he presented his own compositions, F minor and E minor Concerti in Warsaw in March and October of 1830 (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005). Before Frederic Chopin became a pianist, he was left to develop on his own. Since the Warsaw Conservatory had no great piano teachers, he had to use his own skills (Biography of Frederic†¦). His love for Bach and Mozart served as his inspiration as he kept on mastering the piano (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005). Frederic Chopin eventually became a skilled pianist and a good number of his works were for solo piano (Paterson, 2008). â€Å"Many of these works are fairly short in duration, such as the Preludes, Etudes, Waltzes, Impromptus, Nocturnes and Scherzos, as well as the previously mentioned Polish dance forms of the Mazurka and Polonaise† (Paterson, 2008). More significant was his ballade, which is â€Å"free in style like a stream of consciousness but with an internal logic† (Paterson, 2008). This theme of consciousness was present in all his preludes, most especially Prelude Numbers 15, 4, 6, 7 and 20. Another famous work was the Minute Waltz which was said to be a nickname of his piece (Paterson, 2008). Frederic-Francois Chopin had the novelist George Sand as his companion for ten years, but she left him when Chopin had tuberculosis while in Paris (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005). Soon after that, October 17, 1849, Chopin died at the age of 39 (Polish American Journal, 2007). â€Å"Chopins technique was flawless, and he always caused great excitement with the evenness of his scales and the careful manipulation of his legato (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005). Today he remains as one of the

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Christian Church Art Architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Christian Church Art Architecture - Essay Example In fact, this is the building that I will attempt to effectively 'dissect' in order to ascertain to what extent it has been constructed from an amalgam of various styles as well as attempting to identify the particular styles in question. First, let us look at the details behind the design and construction of this building. The actual construction of this building began in 1851 and reached its completion some six years later. However, due to extensive damage, the building was reconstructed in the 1920s although the reconstruction remained true to the original design. The building was designed and built under the direction of Fr. John Cambiaso who was a Jesuit originating from Lyon in France. We learn that Fr. Cambiaso actually learnt the practice of architectural design during his stay in Spain and this gives us some clues behind his particular use of certain elements within the design. Because as we see from our first view of the church from the outside (fig. 1) it distinctly remind s us of those buildings that were produced under the Islamic and Moorish influences that were so predominant in the seventh and eighth centuries, especially in countries such as Persia, Egypt and Spain.(1) 2 Fig. 1 As we can see, the Moorish elements of this building are typical of how the designers let their imaginations play a little with both patterns and forms to produce designs that were almost dreamlike. However, another building that comes to mind here (especially with regards to the second level arches) is the Palace of the Doges of Venice that was built in the 14th century. It is from this that we learn that our particular church was in reality designed in a Venetian Gothic Style. It is then that we begin to notice the elements of this building that are so essential to the Gothic. In the words of the art historian Heinrich Wolfflin, we notice how in the gothic "†¦the vertical movement streams upwards without check and dissolves playfully at the top" (Wolfflin 60). We k now that the Gothic architects were particularly fond of intricate ornament and tracery and here we see examples of how, again in the words of Wolfflin, "[The Gothic] developed in the direction of ever slimmer and more pointed shapes, to a point of extreme exaggeration" (75). In fact, the Venetian Gothic Style was effectively revived during the 19th century. This revival was mainly down to the work of the British architectural critic, John Ruskin especially his book entitled The Stones of Venice (2). It was Ruskin who spoke of the lightness and soaring spaces of this style and, once inside the church, this is the first thing that strikes us. In fact, the massive height of the nave although typical of most churches in New Orleans is particularly stunning (fig 2) 3 Fig 2 The nave is lined with intricate arcading and 'triforium' windows so typically expansive enough for Gothic taste to permit huge amounts of natural light to swarm the interior. The arcading is layered on intricately de signed columns that incorporate the geometric designs so familiar within the Moorish style. There is also what is known as a Solomonic column (fig 3) that features a kind of corkscrew design. This style of column actually dates back to ancient Jerusalem and has become popularly used since because of its symbolic reference to the gates of paradise. Further adornments include chandeliers constructed of fine bronze, which again appear to be of Moorish style (fig 3). However, further