Critique of a Political Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Critique of a Political Speech - Essay Example The opening phrase â€Å"Good evening, tonight I can report to the American people and the world†¦Ã¢â‚¬  makes it clear that the speech is a formal announcement, and that the President is conscious that his words will become a part of history. The word â€Å"report† implies that he will stick to a factual account, and the language that he uses to describe events in Pakistan follow this up, for example â€Å"an operation† (paragraph 1) â€Å"counterterrorism professionals† (paragraph 6) â€Å"a targeted operation (paragraph 11) â€Å"took custody of his body† (paragraph 11). This use of plain and logical language, describing neutrally what happened is called an appeal through logos. The action is presented as a straightforward continuation of America’s counter-terrorism strategy following the 9/11 terrorist atrocities. This can be seen when the President sets out the chronological train of events in his planning and execution of anti-terroris t actions: â€Å"Over the years I have repeatedly made clear that we would take action†¦That is what we have done† (paragraph 15) The timeline of consistent and logical action is also projected into the future: â€Å"Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort†¦ We must – and we will – remain vigilant† (paragraph 13). The way that the President delivers the speech is sober and serious, with no pageantry and no audience present. He stands in a dark suit at a podium, inside the Whitehouse but not in any remarkable location. The American flag is held in shot at the opening but the camera focuses very quickly upon the President’s head and shoulders. There is a small â€Å"WHGOV† logo at the top right of the screen, and a full White House credits screen is shown at the end, but apart from that there is no emphasis on the Presidential status of the speaker. This is very clever, because it allows the President to speak as a human be ing, as well as a head of state. He appears determined and calm, and not triumphalist. He even acknowledges the work of his predecessor in office and political opponent, and agrees with him: â€Å"I ‘ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (paragraph 14) This persona of the calm and dignified leader, victor in long battle and steadily carrying on with the country’s business is an appeal through ethos. It uses President Obama’s political status and personal manner to persuade the audience that â€Å"this is a good and historic day† (paragraph 16) and â€Å"Justice has been done.† (paragraph 19). These last two statements are delivered in the same sober style as the accounts of the action of Pakistan, inviting the audience to trust in his judgement on these matters of interpretation. In fact the President must have known that there would be a lot of angry and worried reactions to the fact that Osama bin Laden was e xecuted without trial. It could be argued that he was not brought to justice at all, and that invading Pakistani air space without permission and then killing him was an act of terrorism which America should be ashamed to admit. These technicalities are not mentioned by the President, and his reassuring persona encourages the audience to concentrate on the result, and not the means that was used to get there. The most obvious rhetorical appeals in the speech are those which use the technique of pathos, a style defined as â€Å"an appeal based on emotion†

Learning Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Learning Journal - Essay Example During this time I gained insight into my strengths and weaknesses and realized that my strong work ethic and reliability made me an effective leader and manager of people. I realized that management was the path in life I am best suited for, so I entered University, and these module courses to further strengthen my management skills and develop my areas of weakness. I appreciate the environment of people with whom I carry out my learning experience. It’s essential to have an informative and critical group of minds that can offer constructive advice on a variety of issues that I can then incorporate into my individual learning experience. I also think that my University experience challenges me to develop greater time management skills and learn better ways to balance my priorities. I believe that my University experience will help me strengthen my writing and analytical skills. I believe that there is an important social realm to obtaining a University degree. While itâ€℠¢s absolutely necessary to have a degree to attain many jobs, the accomplishment of being accepted to University, attending lectures, and successfully completing a University degree is a great personal accomplishment that will bring me confidence and a sense of accomplishment in my life. I’m idealistic. I believe in meaning, or at least something that transcends blind allegiance to the dollar. I understand that I am possibly in the prime of my life and I want to grasp hold of it and make the most of my situation. I am studying at University because I believe ideas and concepts are essential, and that they offer much needed supplements to the ideas and experiences we encounter in our daily lives. I believe the same thing is true of students and professors and I want to make the most of my collaborative relationships with them. Because I am not sure if it Socrates (Plato, p. 32) was right when he said, â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living,† but I constantly am reassessing the

Does consuming Vitamin C reduce the risk of having a cold Research Paper

Does consuming Vitamin C reduce the risk of having a cold - Research Paper Example We call it infection. An infected person is the one whose body has been penetrated with microbes such as Viruses, Bacteria or Fungi. As the microbes continue to grow in the body, the disease gets severe until the person infected is killed. Viral infection occurs when tiny disease-causing particles, called a virus, enter the body and begin multiplying. More than 400 different viruses are known to cause infections in humans. (Natural Standard Research Collaboration, 2011)[1] Most commonly known viruses that cause diseases are common cold, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HIV, Influenza (flu). How are we protected from diseases? To protect from attacks and damage from microbes, God has created human beings with many defensive techniques. The first barrier against the microbes is human skin. Unless the skin is cut, and blood comes out, microbes cannot enter the body. Second protection is white blood cells which are there in the body to defend us. White blood cells eat microbes and also hunt the m down before they can mix in the red blood cell. White blood cells also produce antibodies. Antibodies are natural destroyer of microbes. The antibodies are produced automatically as soon as a microbe enters the human body. For every single type of microbe, a new type of antibodies is made. The third thing that protects microbes from entering our body is hairs in our nose. They catch microbes which are in air or atmosphere. The fourth thing that protects microbes is mucus, a sticky substance that lines nose and windpipe and also washes microbes away from the eyes in tears. In spite of the researches and efforts by human being, the microbes keep entering the human body constantly and make people ill. Those who are infected when do not take necessary medicine on time let the microbes grow to the extent that can kill them. In general all viral infection cause fever and the body uncomfortable which in common terms we call â€Å"sick† or â€Å"ill†. However the sign and sy mptoms depend upon the severity of infection and the type of virus which infected the body. The only way to cure viral infections is to make the body produce antibody which can destroy the viral microbes. The antibiotics made by scientist only cure microbes of type â€Å"bacteria†. However, microbes of type â€Å"virus† do not destroy by antibiotics. Scientists have found a new way to cure virus microbes. This new process is called â€Å"immunization†. A body is immunized when a â€Å"vaccine† is injected in to the bloodstream. This vaccine contains the microbes that cause the disease. The microbes in vaccine are slightly modified. They are either dead or weakened or some portion of it is used. After the injection white blood cells make antibodies against the microbes that were injected by the vaccine. Hence we say that our body is now immunized from a particular viral disease. Any time in future, when a microbe of this type enters the body, it is immedia tely recognized and the army of antibodies comes into action by attacking, hunting and destroying it preventing the body from the viral disease. What is cold? Cold is a viral disease. When a person is infected by cold virus, his throat soars. As the virus grows in the body, the eyes, nose and ears all start to pain. It may raise temperature and cause fever. The effect of cold and flu virus on an individual body depends on the army of antibodies the body posses. Larger army of antibodies

Creating an HR Strategic Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Creating an HR Strategic Plan - Essay Example Moreover, it is responsible for every aspect of an employee such as their benefits, training and legal compliance. Since the sales are dependent on the capabilities of the sales force hired by the organization, it is also linked with the HR department but in an indirect way because hiring is done by the HR department and they also provide training to the employees. If the employees are performing well and are able to increase the sales of the company, it is apparent that the human resource department has hired the correct individuals for the job they are assigned to. (Leat, 2001). HR strategic plan The steps of HR strategic plan are mentioned below. 1. Firstly the organization needs to prepare itself since strategic planning requires a lot of time and energy. The top executive should be involved and costs need to be assessed. 2. A vision and the mission statement need to be developed. 3. The environmental scanning should be done by analyzing the strengths and the weaknesses of the in ternal organization as well as the opportunities and the threats of the external environment. Moreover, the other relevant economic information must be gathered and analyzed. 4. A gap analysis has to be done by identifying the gaps between the vision and the mission statements as well as the environmental scan. 5. Strategic planning is done by developing strategic in order to close the gaps that might occur. Measurement, timing, and budget strategies are developed to meet the goals of the organization. 6. HR strategy involves arranging the HR goals to the organizational strategy mainly in terms of recruitment, retention and termination. 7. After this step, implementation has to be done according to the plans an the various forms of measurements help in tracking the progress. 8. A lot of effort is required to prepare a strategic plan and it takes around five years to prepare it so it must be reviewed and updated every year. (Lewis, 2003). HR strategic plan and strategic goals The HR strategic plan enables the organization to achieve its mission and strategic goals because the businesses that have a formal strategic plan are more successful than those who don’t. A roadmap of success is required by an organization to be successful and a strategic plan provides direction and a course of action that helps in achieving the organizational goals. Moreover, it also helps in aligning the goals of the work units with the organizational goals making the goals common. (Barker, 2008). HR Scorecard The effectiveness and efficiency of the HR functions in producing the behavior of the employees required to achieve the strategic goals of the company are measured by the HR scorecard. To achieve it, we need to know the strategy of the company and to understand the links between the HR activities, the behavior of the employees and organizational performance. The steps to develop an HR score cared are mentioned below. 1. Defining the business strategy. 2. Outline the value c hain of the company. 3. Identifying the organizational outcomes strategy  required by the business. 4. Identifying the workforce needed by the company. 5. Identifying a relevant HR system. 6. Design of HR score card for measurement purpose. 7. A

Business strategy case analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business strategy analysis - Case Study Example A BETA format video recorder was manufactured and produced by many companies like Sanyo, Toshiba etc. But this technology was going to meet a violent end. It was a hit in its introducing year since Sony went ahead to produce a Beta format home video system and Sanyo was producing the top selling beta format video recorder. Beta grabbed one-third of the UK market in 1975. Sony was in an agreement with JVC and the two companies had signed a deal formerly, to produce U-Mat technology and this deal was known as the U-Matic deal. Sony had taken one wrong step during this deal since they were too arrogant and aggressive enough to take most of the credit for the technology in the market. Thus, JVC had a grudge against Sony for this unfair treatment. When Sony produced Betamax they were still in a deal with JVC and once again Sony made the mistake of not accepting JVC's advice on replacing Betamax with JVC's new find which was better in all aspects, "Video Home System" (VHS) technology. Sony was once again to arrogant to accept the advice from JVC and they paid a price for it. JVC launched VHS in 1976 and this format swarmed the market. By 1980, VHS had a 70% market share in North America. By 1984, all strategic companies started to produce VHS format video recorders. Everyone adopted this new and better technology. But there are specific reasons to why Betamax failed due to Sony's bad strategy management. (SJ. Liebowitz, Stephen E. Margolis; 1996) Sony's strategy had flaws and the major flaw was that they had not conducted a proper market research about what the customer really wants. Sony had a wrong perception about what the customers really wanted. They believed the customers would go for the high quality of recording and not the length of the recording. VHS could record up to 4hrs of video whereas; Beta could record up to 3hrs and 35minutes. Customers wanted greater length and not quality of the video. So, VHS sold more and became a HIT! Beta was a high quality video format so the costs involved were high compared to VHS; therefore, the retail price for Beta was higher than that of VHS. This market is price sensitive and Sony took another wrong decision. Sony should have taken informed decisions in the market to avoid the embarrassment and the failure of their baby product that died in its infant stages. Sony could have both gracefully let go of Beta and taken JVC's advice to adopt VHS technology. But the company should have had conducted a market research to know the consumer demands. This would have saved them from making uninformed decisions that were a fatal risk and ended in a failure. Otherwise Sony could have marketed Beta with a different approach by targeting the right market. They could have targeted their product to a niche market that preferred quality over quantity. This way VHS and Beta would be competing in two different markets since VHS was mass marketed. BLU-RAY and HD-DVD BLU-RAY and HD-DVD (High Definition) are the latest buzz in the video format market but history is repeating itself since once again the two formats are in a war to gain the highest market share. BLU-RAY is considered to be more superior to HD-DVD because RAY can record two hours of digital HD (high definition) video and thirteen hours of SD video. HD-DVD has 40% less storage capacity comparatively. Sony's BLU-RAY or Toshiba's HD-DVD need

Total Environments, Health, and Safety Management in Nestle Essay

Total Environments, Health, and Safety Management in Nestle - Essay Example Employees are important part of any firm, whether big or small. Their behavior, attitude and personal hygiene plays a significant role in making the organization’s environment clean and healthy.Nestle considers the knowledge and attitude of its employees about health and safety and always come up with certain program which enhance the knowledge of its employees. The personal hygiene of the employees is the top most thing because a person can make the surroundings clean if only he or she is clean.Considering major element, it also includes the standards in every aspect. Nestle takes it as an important task which comprises each and every input, whether policies or plans, from process to progress. The best way to implement the above elements for healthy and safe environment is continuous monitoring and Nestle is doing the job quite impressively. Nestle plans such workshops which helps the employees in the identification of the hazards and related risk assessment. It includes the recognition of the health and safety hazards, its listing and risk rating of each hazard and the counter act for it. It also includes decision making and steps that may be necessary to reduce, minimize or control the risks.Nestle is organizing events like â€Å"Safety Awareness Week† in its factories with devotion, commitment and understanding to endorse safe working conditions of its employees, visitors and contractors. Not only this days like Environment Day and Earth Day is also observed at Nestle worldwide.... the knowledge and attitude of its employees about health and safety and always come up with certain program which enhance the knowledge of its employees. The personal hygiene of the employees is the top most thing because a person can make the surroundings clean if only he or she is clean. Considering major element, it also includes the standards in every aspect. Nestle takes it as an important task which comprises each and every input, whether policies or plans, from process to progress. The best way to implement the above elements for healthy and safe environment is continuous monitoring and Nestle is doing the job quite impressively. Nestle plans such workshops which helps the employees in the identification of the hazards and related risk assessment. It includes the recognition of the health and safety hazards, its listing and risk rating of each hazard and the counter act for it. It also includes decision making and steps that may be necessary to reduce, minimize or control the risks. Nestle is organizing events like â€Å"Safety Awareness Week† in its factories with devotion, commitment and understanding to endorse safe working conditions of its employees, visitors and contractors. Not only this days like Environment Day and Earth Day is also observed at Nestle worldwide. Efforts like this and many others have been done in Nestle so that a healthy and safe environment is created in the factories and offices round the globe. Following the above steps, any organization can bring the higher standards in their product and can built trust among its costumers. By making a safe and healthy environment we can move towards a prosperous world and also towards greener tomorrow. Safety Visions, goals and Objectives Nestle is one the leading multinational companies. Being the

Where Should We Look to Find the Causes of Educational Inequalities Essay Example for Free

Where Should We Look to Find the Causes of Educational Inequalities Essay In this essay, I will be attempting to explain where I believe the causes of educational inequality lie. I will be focusing on 3 of the reasons that I believe there are such deep rooted inequalities in the education system. I believe that gender, ethnicity and class have the biggest impact on inequality in education. These are the issues which I will be discussing. The statistics are daunting, as Asthana, A (2010) states: boys are falling behind girls in 11 out of 13 learning categories by the age of five and Caribbean pupils are three times more likely to be excluded than any other ethnic group. I have chosen to focus on gender, ethnicity and social class in my essay, though these are by no means the only problems within the education system. I will start by discussing gender and educational inequality. Gender inequalities in education The impact on child attainment Women have always been allowed formal education, though formal education for all children has only been an ideal since about the mid-19th century. There were always a large proportion of people of both sexes who could not read or write, and many for whom formal education never went beyond basic reading and writing and simple arithmetic. Practical skills were more important for most people. Girls in ancient Greece and Rome for example, were educated, it was normal for women to be able to read and write, though most would not have had the same degree of education as boys. For girls, learning the practical skills to run a household would have been the most important part of their education. But some women did manage to make their mark as writers; Sapphos poetry was admired more than any other poet in ancient Greece except for Homer. Girls were often educated at home, though in medieval times for instance there were schools that educated children of both sexes. And upper-class girls sometimes went as boarders to nunneries. Among the upper classes it was commonplace for girls to be more literate than boys, because reading and writing were usually regarded as effeminate pursuits, a boys proper occupation was warfare. Grammar schools were normally only for boys, and in England, universities were open only to male students, though the proportion of boys who went there was tiny compared to the number who go today. Education for girls was of a fairly low standard during the 17th and 18th centuries, but from the early 19th century in America, and the mid-19th century in the UK, it was increasingly the case that all children were expected to attend school. Although boys and girls went to the same schools, they were not in the same classes and certainly were not taught the same subjects. Girls learnt subjects such as embroidery, needlework, music and writing as it was thought more important for them to study ‘accomplishments’ rather than academic subjects. Although a lot has changed regarding the differences between boys’ and girls’ education, there are still some issues that concerns us; the gender gap for example. The gender gap is the difference in attainment with boys and girls. In recent years, there has been a lot of worrying about the growing gap in attainment between boys and girls. By the age of 5, 53% of boys had reached the expected writing level compared with 72% of girls. They then underachieve at GCSE and not as many go on to university. Even once there, they are less likely to achieve a 2:1 or a first (Asthana, A 2010). Some contribute boys’ lower attainment to the changing notions of masculinity and differing attitudes to schoolwork. As Renold, E (2001) stated, many boys learnt the hard way early in their school careers that studiousness and academic success conflict with conventional forms of hegemonic masculinity. Renold (2001) then goes on to argue that as a result of the contradictory masculinities produced by the school, the boys invented an array of strategies and techniques to avoid what were perceived as ‘non-masculine’/ or ‘feminine’ classroom behaviours and to disguise both their desire for and the achievement of, academic success. As Connell (1996, cited in Renold, E 2001) claims, when he discusses ‘gender strategies for schools’, existing patterns of gender relation can only be altered or changed by paying close attention to the ‘dynamics of masculinity’, especially the means by which alternative masculinities are construed (peer support/ collectivity) and resisted (gender and sexualised bullying). Another issue is, of course the same sex school debate. I believe that Co-educational schools are better for children as it teaches them things that are not on the curriculum. It teaches kids maturity with members of the opposite sex. We can logically conclude that members from a coeducational school are generally more understanding of their opposing sex than those who are in a single-sex school. This doesn’t apply to students who have no siblings or are in relationships. It applies to the vast majority of students with any form of schooling. A sibling only has one personality, a girlfriend or a boyfriend only possess one personality. One must be able to understand and cope with members with different personality types to be counted as mature. Also, in a co-ed school, pupils form more diverse relationships. More diverse friendship types would supposedly lead to a bigger and better social life, which is important to have for school students as they progress in life. The logic behind this reasoning is that once you are in the working force, you must be able to deal with anyone that you work with, work for and assign work to. In the real world, we are not separated from the opposite sex so why are we separated in schools? Ethnicity and Inequality in education Ethnicity and inequality of education has always been, in my opinion, a delicate subject. There’s always the possibility of appearing racist or as though discriminating in some way. Rob Meyers (1994) when talking of educational inequality states; â€Å"with the passing of slavery, equality of education was one of the rights formerly held back that was now for Black people to take advantage of. With this equal starting ground, social integration would be a realizable dream. Yet after over 120 years, equality of education had been denied to Black children, thus preventing them from the amount of financial success white children have in life after school. Through benign neglect and the goal of some to find a genetic link to race and intelligence, Black students have been railroaded into low end jobs and inescapable poverty. As Bowles and Gintis have stated, the purpose of education is to preserve the existing class structure. Since the abolition of slavery, racist whites have used the educational system to keep their thrones and to keep blacks poor. Ideas of minority inferiority are spread, and the misinformed fall into the trap of believing that race determines intelligence, using skewed test data to help support their ideas. † Although I’m sure Meyers work has some implications of truth, I don’t believe that this is all about racism and it certainly isn’t all about black children. There are ethnic minorities from all over the globe who experience educational inequality and discrimination. For example, while some ethnicities like Caribbean boys receive negative discrimination I. e. teachers thinking that they won’t perform to as high a standard as the other children, thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, other ethnicities such as Chinese girls receive positive discrimination; teachers thinking that they will be able to perform naturally higher than other students for example, thus putting added stress and pressure on the students. Though one could argue that the fact Asian girls excel is not due to positive discrimination but because their families, friends and societies value hard work, discipline and educational achievement. It is however, very important to maintain high expectations for all students, no matter the race, social background or ability. In the UK, there is evidence that points toward black Caribbean pupils being excessively moved into for lower tier maths and science exams at age 14. Strand (in press, cited in Twining 2012) has shown that black Caribbean students are the only ethnic group to be regularly under represented, relative to white students in entry to higher maths and science test tiers. Furthermore, this under-representation is not a by-product of their lower prior attainment; nor of variances in gender, social class, and a wide range of contextual variables. Strand concludes it is possible that teachers’ conclusions of black Caribbean students’ academic possibility may be distorted by observations of their behaviour as more challenging than it actually is. This may, in turn, lead to a inclination to miscalculate their academic capability (Twining 2012). While black Caribbean children (especially the males) have been consistently labelled as being the underachievers in secondary level education, research has shown that white working class males actually make up around half of the number of low achieving school leavers (Kingdom and Cassen, 2007; Cassen and Kingdom 2007, cited in Twining, 2012). As Asthana (2010) convincingly states, â€Å"Once it was a story of black and white, in which racial discrimination was a major driving force. But in tomorrows report, the story of ethnicity is a complicated one – in which poor black boys underachieve, as do those from Irish Traveller families, but poor Chinese girls overachieve; Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities see different outcomes to Indian ones; and there is a growing group of mixed race children who in themselves have complex outcomes. Other issues students from other cultures face is the need to conform to British culture. I believe that the classroom would be a more efficient place to learn if students were allowed to incorporate knowledge from their cultures into it. Or perhaps teachers should be trained to understand other cultures and to try to teach students by referring to things they may have learnt in their communities.