Jamba Juice Hr Interview Essay Example

Jamba Juice Hr Interview Essay Manager Interview- Jamba Juice Company Business and HR Strategy Jamba Juice’s company strategy focuses on the customer experience, optimizing store performance and developing a people pipeline. Jamba believes that each team member and manager contributes to the profitability of his or her respective store and that each store makes a difference. Therefore human capital is their main priority and greatest asset. Jamba Juice’s HR strategies are highly in line with meeting their performance goals as well as their objectives to develop people into the future leaders of the company. Hiring The managers and team members of each store make an impact on sales, customer service and the overall Jamba Juice experience for the consumer. This means that having the wrong manager or team member in place will affect the store as a whole and ultimately drive down sales. When hiring Jamba Juice looks for people who are â€Å"passionate about Jamba and the culture and values of FIBER: fun, integrity, balance, empowerment and respect. † The company culture is an important aspect of hiring because they must find the right match between the company and the new employee. Since it is customer based, Jamba Juice looks for energy and passion along with the ability to lead and demonstrate fairness. There are two types of employee hires, general manager hires and team member hires. General managers (GM) run the entire store from ordering inventory to cleaning. They also act as the main human resource department for his or her store. The success of the store and overall business lies within the GM’s hands. In order to find the right people for the general manager positions, Jamba Juice tries to first promote from within. If a store is looking for a new GM, all of the surrounding stores in the area are contacted and asked if any team member could be a potential candidate. Jamba Juice encourages promoting from within to increase motivation as well as to ensure that the candidate already has a firm understanding of the organization and is committed to the Jamba culture and experience. Jamba Juice has also started to find new ways to attract and reach a new talent pool through their employees. If an employee uggests a general manager candidate to the company and they are hired, that employee will receive a $1000 reward. Jamba believes that if they can get the right people in place today, the future of the company will thrive and each store, team member and customer will benefit. The next process is hiring the team member. Team member have the most face time with the customer, are the ones behind the register up-selling products, the ones making the smoothies and the ones responsible for having the custom er leave happy. We will write a custom essay sample on Jamba Juice Hr Interview specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Jamba Juice Hr Interview specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Jamba Juice Hr Interview specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Although team members do not hold as much responsibility as the general manager it is important that Jamba Juice finds the right people that will be passionate about their job and excel at customer engagement and selling products. Sample questions for an interview include â€Å"what are your customer standards towards customer service† and â€Å"tell me about a product you have sold. Sell it to me† (see attached). When answering these questions Jamba Juice’s general managers look for energy, the ability to be a productive team member and someone that will fit with the culture of the organization. It is crucial that the team members and managers that they are hire also demonstrate leadership as they plan for leadership succession in thinking of the future profitability and success of the company. Training Once hired and seen as a good fit, training begins right away. Jamba Juice has an extensive training program that continues on throughout the entire time they are employed. When a team member is first hired the initial training process occurs 3-4 days a week for a month and then weekly thereafter. New employees are given an â€Å"employee training manual† in which each part entails a reading section, answering question section and a practice section. Each employee must fill out the book and after each part must meet with the general manager or shift manager in charge to demonstrate what they have learned. New team members are also given â€Å"training mentors† to help them adapt to the initial environment, making their first smoothie, ringing up at their first purchase, and ect. These training mentors help ease the process of learning new material and provide them with a sense of instant support and a teamwork feel. Upon training, new team members also receive a â€Å"bingo† card (see attached) that must be signed off every time a new objective is learned. Throughout the bingo card there are practices and evaluations, and at the end there is a â€Å"whirl pinning ceremony. † At this ceremony the new team member receives their whirl to wear on their apron signifying that they made it and are an officially â€Å"informed† Jamba employee. This bingo card and â€Å"reward† at the end is motivating and provides a visual and tangible appeal to finishing the training process. During training is when Jamba focuses on their key strategies of great customer service, â€Å"wowing† the customer and always leaving the customer with a smile. Training does not stop after the first month but continues throughout the course of employment. Roughly every month a new project or initiative comes out and each team member and manager must take a â€Å"product knowledge test† to see how well they understand the product and to ensure that they will be able to communicate the benefits to the customer. Being tested on material reinforces the importance of understanding the new material and keeps everyone on the same knowledge page. Jamba’s thorough training process sets team members up for success and creates a bridge of trust between management and the team member because the managers know that each employee is equip with the proper skills and guidance of how they should be performing and executing tasks. Motivation In order to motivate their employees Jamba Juice uses many forms of competition, rewards and recognition. One of Jamba Juice’s monthly competitions is â€Å"Employee of the Month† who is voted on by the team members themselves. With this award comes a gift card, and his or her picture and bio posted in the front of the store for every employee and customer to see. This competition was newly enacted and has proven to drive up performance levels in some employees. Team members want to be recognized on the board and are continually finding ways to see what they can do to be the next â€Å"Employee of the Month. † Other competitions that Jamba Juice engages in are selling competitions. Whenever Jamba comes out with a new product or batch of items there is a competition on whom can â€Å"up-sell† the most products after the customer has order the original smoothie. This competition technique reinforces and reminds the team members to up-sell other products whenever at the register so that they can reap the rewards of being recognized to other employees as the â€Å"best† and receive a bonus gift card. With these rewards they feel that their hard work is being paid off and it is something to strive for rather than merely â€Å"doing their job. This competition technique though has recently seen some flaws. The people who are winning â€Å"Employee of the Month† are the ones also winning the competitions. The same three employees are winning the sales competitions because they are usually the ones that work the most and have the most register time as well as the most experience. This outcome was beginning to cancel out the motivation that it was originally intended for because the same three people were winning, and everyone else knew that they didn’t have a chance because they didn’t work as often. In order to help reverse this back to it’s intended motivational purpose, Jamba is going to start having the managers choose the â€Å"Employee of the Month† and give it to the people that they have seen grow in the company and that are trying to better themselves and the company. Once managers start voting instead of team members the competition won’t be about how many hours they worked, it will be about the quality of work they give when they are at work. Hopefully this tactic makes things at a more even playing field because receiving awards is a great motivational strategy to help build performance. Another motivational technique at Jamba Juice is how they utilize their back room. Most Jamba stores are very small which creates a tight knit atmosphere. Many of the stations (the register, fruit and yogurt and blenders) are close together which promotes teamwork and communication on the forefront and keeps the culture neatly ingrained. It is very similar in the back room of the store. This is where employees go when they first check in and the last place they go where they check out. In the back room there are profiles of all of the employees, a shift board with everyone working that day, positive emails that have been sent in by customers and posters of the company’s mission statement. In the backroom there is also a board that communicates sales for the day, sales forecast, and a daily void report to see what products they are wasting daily. This form of openness and sharing managerial information with team members makes them feel a bigger part of the company and allows them to see that their hard work is paying off in the day-to-day sales. Keeping team members â€Å"in the know† is an empowering tool and forces them to understand the company and how each member can make a difference. Compensation amp; Performance Measures New team member hires are paid a base pay of $8. 50 hourly. Shift managers are paid $12 and general managers are paid on salary with an average 50/hr workweek. Every six months team members and shift managers are given a performance review that determines the pay raise that they will receive, the highest raise being $0. 35 per six months. The performance review is done by the general manager of the store and looks at how well they demonstrate â€Å"FIBER,† customer engagement, their product knowledge, teamwork abilities and how they keep the store clean. The results of these reviews are given face to face and comments of what they are doing well and how they can do better are expressed. Tying pay to performance is another way to boost motivation in employees. It gives them goals to work towards and know that they will be rewarded in the end if they perform well. All of Jamba’s performance measures tie back to their core mission of optimizing store performance and customer engagement. People are Jamba’s greatest asset and they like to treat them so by rewarding them with recognition and benefits. Retaining Employees Jamba Juice maintains their employees through their strong company culture. They treat their employees as equals and provide them with benefits and an overall experience not a merely a job to make money. Employees at Jamba Juice know that they are important and therefore are enticed to treat their customers with the same amount of respect and good customer service. In the past year turnover has decreased by 15% at the store management level because of the strong investment in finding the right people and ones that can fit the culture and provide excellent customer service skills, selling skills and overall high performance levels. It is seen that there is a correlation between a manager’s tenure and the stores overall performance. Instead of moving top performing managers to open new stores, Jamba’s head human resource department has been excelling at succession planning and promoting talent and leaders from within to build up new stores where their strong culture and high performance levels can be maintained.

How to Write a Great Descriptive Essay on Life in Kenya

How to Write a Great Descriptive Essay on Life in Kenya When writing a descriptive essay, you must first select the topic of your work. The topic could be any range of things such as a flower or a desk, your favorite place to read, or an inspirational person. What is most important here is that you must be personally familiar with the object of your writing. You cannot, for example, write a decent descriptive essay on a beach that you have never visited or about the perfect chocolate cake that you have never eaten. Once you have selected your topic, you must take some time to brainstorm what attributes you can recall, what attributes satisfy the five key senses. Your goal here is to precisely convey each sense so that the person is able to sense everything you do. If, for example, you are describing a non-native flower that bloomed in your garden overseas, you want to do more than state that the flower was beautiful or had a powerful fragrance. You want to explain the color of the leaves, petals, stem, and stamen. You want to describe the flavors found in the powerful fragrance. Was it a combination of earth, vanilla? Was it sweet or bitter? Was it something that accosted the senses or was a light after-thought lingering in the air? Was it a scent surrounding the immediate vicinity of the flower such that stepping into the world of the plant brought you into the smell itself, a smell which permeated your nostrils, hair, even your clothing, and stuck with you for days after? Do more than just explain the colors found in the flower. Tell your reader what each part of the flower felt like to touch. Were the leaves soft? Was the petal hard and firm? Explain the size, shape, patterns found in the plant, how it hung from the stem or whether it was an upright plant. These are all important items to cover. You want to leave no stone unturned here. Your reader should finish your paper as intimate with that native flower as you are. Diction and economy are imperative to your success in descriptive writing. Because it is descriptive by nature, you must be careful about your diction, or word choice. You have to include the most appropriate word, a task which can take hours or even days if you are really searching. While a handful of words might be sufficient, if there is one word that embodies what point you are trying to get across to the reader, you will be much better off relying on it instead. For example, describing someone as â€Å"loquacious† rather than saying â€Å"he enjoyed talking all the time† is a much better use of the English language, for in one word you can convey so much more than you did in the latter five words. For this type of writing, the organization is not as critical. You have a great deal of leeway with regard to the structure of your body because of the different topics you might select. You can choose whichever organizational method best suits the purpose. To ease your writing process weve also prepared interesting facts about life in Kenya and topics based on the book A Primates Memoir. Use them for your paper and youll see how simple it can be. If you need a professional essay writer online to get your descriptive essay written from scratch, follow our writing service!

Steel Properties and History

Steel Properties and History Steel is an alloy of iron that contains carbon. Typically the carbon content ranges from  0.002% and 2.1%  by weight. Carbon makes steel harder than pure iron. The carbon atoms make it more difficult for dislocations in the iron crystal lattice to slide past each other. There are many different types of steel.  Steel contains additional elements, either as impurities or added to confer desirable properties. Most steel contains  manganese,  phosphorus,  sulfur,  silicon, and trace amounts of aluminum,  oxygen, and nitrogen. Intentionally addition of nickel, chromium, manganese, titanium,  molybdenum,  boron, niobium and other metals influence the hardness, ductility, strength, and other properties of steel. Steel History The oldest piece of steel is a piece of ironware that was recovered from an archaeological site in Anatolia, dating back to about 2000 BC. Steel from ancient Africa dates back to 1400 BC. How Steel Is Made Steel contains iron and carbon, but when iron ore is smelted, it contains too much carbon to confer desirable properties for steel. Iron ore pellets are remelted and processed to reduce the amount of carbon. Then, additional elements are added and the steel is either continuously cast or made into ingots. Modern steel is made from pig iron  using one of two processes. About 40% of steel is made using the  basic oxygen furnace (BOF) process. In this process, pure oxygen is blown into melted iron, reducing the amounts of carbon, manganese, silicon, and phosphorus. Chemicals called fluxes further reduce levels of  sulfur and phosphorus in the metal.  In the United States, the BOF process recycles  25-35%  scrap steel to make new steel. In the U.S., the  electric arc furnace (EAF) process is used to make about 60% of steel, consisting nearly entirely of recycled scrap steel. Learn More List of Iron AlloysWhy Stainless Steel Is StainlessDamascus SteelGalvanized Steel

Discuss victimization of Children that are exposed to domestic Essay

Discuss victimization of Children that are exposed to domestic violence and the long term impact - Essay Example Individuals who are directly targeted in domestic violence are not only suffering its adverse effects; others, especially children, are even experiencing the negative effects of this sort of violent behavior. Children are being exposed to this sort of violence in their everyday life in different forms; exposure might be in form of hearing, seeing, experiencing and being informed about such assaults. According to the US Census Bureau, during 2001 a total of 15.5 million children were living in households where domestic violence was taking place (McDonald, 2007). Children who are violated in cases of domestic violence are not only the ones being negatively impacted; even children who live in households where domestically violent activities are taking place are being negatively impacted. The degree of impact may vary according to factors such as age, sex, frequency, and whether the child has been directly abused or has experienced indirect abuse. The negative effects domestic violence on children are said to be short as well as long term in nature. Short term negative effects associated with domestic violence include: increase in anxiousness, depressing state of mind, and depreciated level of performance in academic life and self-esteem. The long-term negative effects associated with domestic violence are those concerning the way domestically violated children exhibit as they grow up. College going students that have been violated indirectly reported the various issues stated in the short term negative effects of this kind of violence as compared to those college students that do not experience intimate partner violence (Stark, 2009). Studies even report that individuals who have been abused sexually and emotionally in childhood have even reported the same kinds of abuse in their adulthood (Stark, 2009). The social learning theory states that if children observe

Globalisation and Challenges of the Muslim Religion on Its Influence Essay

Globalisation and Challenges of the Muslim Religion on Its Influence to the Family and Its Function in the Middle East - Essay Example This essay declares that majority of the humans all over the world follow one religion or other. Even the non-believers might have followed some religion, before becoming non-believers. However, religion is not a static concept or entity, which will be contained in one place or in a particular period of time, but it could spread to various places, and importantly could evolve and change based on certain world events. One of the events, which is having impacts on religions, and thereby in the way that religion impacts lives is globalization. Globalization is the process, in which the geographical and other social boundaries are broken, with interaction happening between people in various spheres of life, including economics, social, cultural etc. Because of this interaction, and its impacts on various ‘spheres’, the religion also gets impacted. As the report stresses family is also an omnipresent concept followed in all the countries and cultures of the world. Humans will not normally exist or thrive in isolation, he/she will be in the midst of others, and family is something, which majority of the humans are born in. That is, with biological connection established, when they are born, families get formed naturally. However, in the current times, the definition of family has had some competing definition due to the nature of change in family dynamics and composition. In general, it can be defined as a thing, in which group of individuals will live collectively particularly in a house or home, preferably under the control of one head. â€Å"A family is group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adaptation and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members of one family)† (Mather 2004, p.2). When one focuses on family from the perspective of Func tionalist theory, it is clear that the institution of family plays many key roles. As a vehicle of socialization of individuals with the family from birth throughout the life stages. Functionalist acknowledges the socio-emotional support. As a means of production Family as a means of regulating sexual activity. Transmits social identity and social status of individuals within a given family, community or society. However, with the rise of single parent families, families with same sex couples and even families where the partners live together outside of marriage, traditional definitions of family are being broken, particularly in the Western world. Dhami and Sheik (2001, p.57) ascertain that, â€Å"We live an era in which the nature, function, and structure of the family have been thrown into question. Many, for example, would consider an unmarried couple, a single mother, and homosexual couples as equally legitimate expressions of the family unit.† At the same time, when one focuses on the family from the perspective of Islam, the family is defined as ‘divine institution’. That is, Dhami and Sheik (2001, p.57) further argue that, â€Å"Islam takes a more conservative stance, arguing that the family is a divinely inspired institution, with marriage at its core.† Thus, when religion or particular religious beliefs are focused, it interprets family differently. Religion

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Misinterpreted Essay Example for Free

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Misinterpreted Essay Reading Fahrenheit 451 one can only wonder on somewhat naà ¯ve, but nevertheless terrible prophecy of the dark future to come, brought on us by Ray Bradbury. Often seen as a work of fiction or anti-utopia, in fact this is just a social horror story, if such a genre can be invented for its description. The technologies depicted in Fahrenheit are rather primitive compared to modern times. Sure, Bradbury had extrapolated the TV screens of 50’s and predicted the invention of giant TV walls, with â€Å"presence effect† that allows the viewer to feel himself in the center of action. Bradbury had expressed the fears that TV means death of media of a previous generation, being the books. But, as McLuhan stated, the technologies of past ages don’t die so easily, â€Å"The dominant technologies of one age become the games and pastimes of a later age† (McLuhan, p99). As fears that cinema would mean the death of theatre had proved themselves to be incorrect, thus a larger-scale fear that TV means the end of books had proved itself to be false too. On the other hand, Bradbury hadn’t predicted the invention of a new media which would outscore the TV as much as TV outscores the books: the Internet. The TV had no chance to progress into totally-enveloping media reality depicted in the book, losing the race to more modern media. While Bradbury’s technology prediction hadn’t been correct, his social predictions had proved to be uncannily true, if somewhat optimistic. The all-world media programming is here, broadcasted by orbiting satellites, turns the globe into a repertory theater to be programmed (McLuhan, p9). And the news brought to us by every source – from TV to Internet and even to Radio – are apt to be manipulated simultaneously, as was shown brilliantly in â€Å"Wag the Dog†. The censorship depicted by Bradbury isn’t here; instead, we have a total media coverage that produces fake events undistinguishable from real. People do not need to follow instructions told to them on TV; instead, we follow the views and ideas presented to us daily. The Electric Dog doesn’t roam the streets: the society is our Electric Dog that doesn’t kill nonconformists in real sense but effectively blocks ‘them’ from ‘us’. What brings salvation and hope in Bradbury’s world after the holocaust are Bible words. It doesn’t mean that he relies on religion to carry us through the new Dark Ages – rather, he tells us about our inner faith, which isn’t expressed but felt and understood. But as no holocaust had happened yet, only those who really feels in need seek salvation, others are content with what they’ve got. Bradbury’s views on government in Fahrenheit border with clear accusations of fascism, the burning of books being the most obvious historical reference. But fascism in US had became such a popular scare since the end of WWII that we don’t fear it as much anymore. After all, if government would ever decide to apply a ‘stricter’ views to economics like Roosevelt’s New Deal in 30’s, (which is quite possible now because of economics crisis), most voices would be raised in its defense rather than in its critics. People feel the government to be controlled by them, not the other way round. In Fahrenheit society education of youth program them to see their world as unquestionably right, defies critical thinking and praises the conformity instead. This is not only an exaggerated, but also a distorted picture of modern education, depicted just to scare us even more, to create a sense of further isolation of Guy Montag from the world. Bradbury doesn’t give much attention to the youth; this is sensible, for what he longs for is the past. Fahrenheit’s ending can be seen as a longing for â€Å"Golden Age†, the times that never were real but always in our eyes seem to be brighter than today. It is a hymn to nostalgia. But one cannot contemplate his past too long – he must consider the future. We should look ahead and be brave, no matter what dangers are waiting for us there. Works Cited Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Published by Del Rey Books, Random House Publishing Group, 1953, renewed 1981. McLuhan, Marshall, From Clichà © to Archetype, Published by Viking Adult, 1970. Wag the Dog, by Barry Levinson, 1997 (the movie).

Negative Aspects of Animal Testing Essay -- Biology Medical Biomedical

An Evil Science: ANIMALS IN RESEARCH Dating back to ancient times, animals have been used in research to advance biomedical sciences. However, the ways the human race can exploit these living creatures are absolutely evil. The main concern animal rights advocates have are not concerned with the idea of using animals in research but the way people can torture these animals. The twentieth century has witnessed some of the cruelest acts of violence in the laboratory but it has also seen the rise of the animal rights movement. Cruelty will always exist in this world, in some form or another, but hopefully it can be abolished from the laboratories. One could hear the agonizing screams of the horse from a great distance. Inside the lab the horse was being wrestled to the ground as its limbs were bound with ropes. The researchers sat on the horse to keep it still as they were carrying out their cruel deed. Sometimes this experiment could take up to four hours and always the horse was fully conscious as its throat was slit to expose the jugular vein. After the scientists extracted the blood they needed to make a cheap medicine, they left the horse to bleed to death and then they threw the mutilated carcass onto the streets. This is only one example of the cruelty associated with animals in research. In this case, a horse was tortured and slaughtered to obtain a blood serum that is now rarely used due to the risk it poses to humans. A simple and humane alternative to this process is to merely use a needle to draw blood from the animal. (http://stopanimaltests.com/f-turkishHorses.asp, 7/30/06) Advocates for animal testing claim that, since the beginning of history, many advances in biomedical sciences have been a product of using anima... ...d though it still cannot be seen, the end of animal testing is approaching ever so slowly. In some laboratories evil continues to prevail, but in many others, good is dominating. Works Cited Stephens, Martin L., Ph.D. Alternatives to Current Uses of Animals in Research, Safety Testing, and Education. Washington, DC: Humane Society of the United States, 1986. "The Hidden Lives of Rats and Mice." Stop Animal Tests. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 30 July 2006 hiddenrats/ >. "Animal Testing." Wikipedia. 27 July 2006. 30 July 2006 . Pratt, Dallas, M.D. Alternatives to Pain. N.p.: Argus Archives, 1980. Ryder, Richard. "Institutional Speciesism: Cruelty is Wrong." Animal Experimentation: Good or Bad? By Richard Ryder, et al. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2002. 57-74.

Far From Feminism: A Doll’s House Essay

First performed in Denmark of 1879, â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Ibsen shocked Europe with its controversially courageous ideas. Although the play undeniably paints a sympathetic salutation to the plight of women during the 18th and 19th century, Ibsen repudiated the piece as being of solely feministic construct, declaring it a humanistic piece. In fact, when he was being honored by the Norwegian Society for Women’s Rights, Ibsen himself stressed that his general intent as a writer was not to solely bring light to the plight of women when he asserted that, â€Å"True enough, it is desirable to solve the woman problem, along with all the others; but that has not been the whole purpose. My task has been the description of humanity† (Ibsen Letters 337). Upon further examination, it becomes evident that the feminist ideals that are present in â€Å"A Doll’s House† culminate as merely a symptom of an all-encompassing epidemic. Through the characters of Torvald, Nora, Krogstad, and Christine, Ibsen underlines the lethality of a marriage diseased by societal pressure, and the hope of a union that is free from fallacy, yet by no means fault. Torvald is a caricature of the chauvinistic male products of the patriarchal prison that perpetuated throughout society in the 18th century. A result of embracing the role that society has assigned him, is the projection of those societal ideals onto his own environment. Unfortunately, society has misconstrued Torvald’s interpretation of love, and what it means to be a ‘good’ man/husband; he believes he loves his wife, but what he loves is the idea of her. He loves the idea of her as a dazzling doll that he can dress and disregard, or a child whom he can control and (pretend to) protect. Torvald reflects his assumptions of his wife’s inferiority in many ways: He refers to her as â€Å"Little Squirrel/Skylark/Songbird† (Ibsen 1352), he indicts her of â€Å"think[ing] and talk[ing] like a heedless child† (Ibsen 1401), and he accuses her of not â€Å"understand[ing] the conditions of the world in which [she] live[s]† (Ibsen 1400). These assumptions culminate in an insurmountable amount of irony. While Torvald accuses his wife of being ignorant to the world around her, it is he that is in fact unaware of the harsh realities of his life. During a time when Torvald became ill, Nora committed forgery of her father’s name to yield the necessary funds that permitted they travel to receive the medical attention required to save her husband’s life, an act that Nora fruitlessly fights to ensure remains unbeknownst to her husband. Additionally, Torvald is kept unaware of Dr. Rank’s impending death by both the doctor, and by his wife, Nora. Rank tells Nora, â€Å"Helmer’s refined nature gives him an unconquerable disgust at everything that is ugly† (Ibsen 1377), directly alluding to Torvald’s superficial nature and his inability to face the unpleasant realities of life. Thus, it is Torvald that does not â€Å"understand the conditions of the world in which [he] live[s]† (Ibsen 1400); however, his ignorance is not of his own doing. Further irony is offered to Torvald’s patronizing pet names for his wife. Torvald’s use of naturally elusive animals in reference to his obedient wife invokes images of unnaturally caged creatures, a reflection of Nora (and all women) as ‘caged’ within society’s assigned role to women as, and capable of, lesser than what Ibsen revolutionarily believed to be their actual worth and ability. The superficial standards of society have conditioned Torvald to believe that Nora depends on him (and thus, the more important he is), and that she, as a woman, is emotionally and mentally childlike (and thus, the stronger and wiser he is). Furthermore, Torvald casts himself a heroic role in his own fictional theatrical production when he tells Nora, â€Å"I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my life’s blood, and everything, for your sake† (Ibsen 1394). Torvald, enthralled by Nora’s dazzling demeanor, fantasizes about how he might rescue her from some great danger. However, shortly after his chivalrous charade, Torvald, having learned the details of Nora’s debt, has the opportunity to do just that, and fails miserably. Nora’s husband shows no appreciation for her intelligence or intention in performing an act that could have been avoided had Nora been capable of exceeding the superficial barriers imposed by society (such as attaining a credible career, or the ability to acquire a loan). Additionally, Torvald lacks even slight consideration of his wife’s feelings in light of the details of her loan, despite the fact that her actions saved his life. He rejects her as both a wife to him, and a mother for their children. Furthermore, he asserts that he wants her to remain in his house and pretend that all is well with their marriage asserting that â€Å"From this moment happiness is not the question; all that concerns us is to save the remains, the fragments, the appearance† (Ibsen 1396). Thus, Torvald’s harsh and selfish reaction to the insight of Nora’s crime is far from heroic, and prompts Nora’s revelation of her husband and marriage: â€Å"You don’t understand me, and I have never understood you either–before to-night† (Ibsen 1397). Ironically, Nora has also been at fault for deceiving her husband of her true nature prior to this proclamation. Nora, who has never lived alone–she went directly from the care of her father to that of her husband–has been conditioned to believe that a woman’s â€Å"happiness is dependent on the happiness of the head men in her life† (Northam 251). This belief results in a faà §ade that Nora fabricates and flaunts as an embodiment of a woman/wife consistent with the ideals of her father, husband, and society at large. As Torvald gently chides Nora throughout the play, Nora good-naturedly responds to, and even plays into, his criticisms. She has learnt to coax her husband into submission of what she asks by appealing to what she knows he finds desirable in her. Nora’s character shifts from initially struggling to define self-fulfillment, to the astoundingly audacious pursuance of it on conclusion. Ibsen carefully constructed the character of Nora so that her independence and precaution are consistently shown as persistently trying to outshine her adolescent-like dependence and unpredictability. Although her father, husband, and societal standards have perforated any practical understanding concerning gender roles, she has retained enough intrinsic wisdom to confront an emergency, perhaps an implication of Ibsen’s faith in the commendable innate characteristics of women at large. The fact that she confronts her and her husband’s inability to pay for treatment of her husband’s pressing illness by means of a forgery provides credence to her independence of thought; the carelessness of the act however, reflects her lack of sophistication. The collision of wisdom and childishness within Nora’s character enables her to test by experience the social hypothesis which declares that duties to the family are the most sacred. To her dismay, Nora realizes that despite her diligence towards her dues as both mother and wife, her marriage is not one of true love. Nora concludes the play with the world famous slam of the door as she releases herself from the infectious incubator in which she has so long been  entrapped by fault of her husband, society, and her own self-deception. She declares her right to tend to â€Å"other duties just as sacred†¦Duties to [her]self† (Ibsen 1399) in her flight to freedom. Subsequently, her conclusive and dramatic exodus offers Torvald a chance for liberation (and perhaps even redemption). When Torvald claims he has â€Å"it in [him] to become a different man† Nora responds, â€Å"Perhaps–if your doll is taken away from you† (Ibsen 1401). This is a direct implication of Nora’s realization not only of her own imprisonment, but also her insight regarding the contribution her role as Torvald’s doll has had towards her husband’s conditioning. This, in addition to her own self-realization, adds subtle yet substantial reinforcement to the humanistic nature of the play. Nils Krogstad, from whom Nora acquired the scandalous loan and has been blackmailed her since, is a character that can be reasonably stigmatized as a grade-A villain (A is for antagonist). However, although Krogstad undoubtedly uses some villainous tactics over the course of the play, there are in fact indications throughout that, underneath Krogstad’s villainous exterior, there is, at least to some degree, a respectable man who can then be recognized as another victim caught in the stranglehold of society. Krogstad’s former fiancà ©e, Mrs. Christine Linde had brutally severed her relationship with him when she was left fatherless, her brothers and ailing mother to care for, and without means for monetary support. Since a woman of the 18th century could not take out a loan, nor acquire a high-paying job, Christine’s circumstances necessitated that she marry a man with money. Eventually, Krogstad married and had children but when his wife passed away, he was left to raise and support his children alone. Under the pressure of his circumstances, Krogstad commits forgery, and is consequently viewed by the community as having a â€Å"diseased moral character† (Ibsen 1360). Thus, Christine’s rejection of Krogstad for a man whom could provide monetary support, combined with â€Å"society’s reaction to his petty crime performed to support his family out of reasonable desperation† (Hardwick 294), has programmed Krogstad to believe that to be a man worthy of a woman’s love or societal acceptance, he must be a man of flourishing financial standing, thus tragically fating him to a decade of self-suffering through petty crime and blackmail (Hardwick 294). When Christine’s brothers are grown, and her mother and husband have passed away, the newly independent, and, while of by  no easy means, self-sufficient Christine perpetually â€Å"found life profoundly depressing and aimless without the anchor of a husband and children† (Northam 252). Christine does not find happiness again until she reunites with Krogstad, telling him â€Å"I want to be a mother to someone, and your children need a mother. We two need each other† (Ibsen 1388). For a play that is often painted as a feminist paean, Christine’s proclamation is an awfully traditional assertion. Her tenacity to jump back into the role of wife and mother could be defined as tragic: society has conditioned her to believe that the only way she will feel satisfied in her role as a woman is to play the part of wife and mother. On the other hand, Christine makes her statement not out of ignorance, but as a woman well aware of life without men. Thus, Christine’s dissatisfaction may not be a nod to the tragic conditioning of women to fit the role of wife and mother, but an acknowledgement of the intrinsic inclination that we as humble humans feel regarding a need and desire for love. Christine and Krogstad, who reunite towards the end of the play, contrast the relationship of the Helmers in that the foundation of the new found relationship is one of mutual understanding and equality. Christine says to Krogstad, â€Å"Nils, how would it be if we two shipwrecked people could join forces? [†¦] Two on the same piece of wreckage would stand a better chance than each on their own† (Ibsen 1388). Perhaps the point Ibsen is trying to perpetuate in the reunion of Christine and Krogstad is that â€Å"the most wonderful thing of all† (Ibsen 1403) is, in fact, a marriage, a marriage that is â€Å"a wonderful thing† despite the imperfections of the individual, or within the relationship, a marriage that depicts what Nora defines as â€Å"a real wedlock† (Ibsen 1402). Although it can’t be entirely denied that Ibsen is making a statement on the rights of women in this era, a greater feat is his illustration of the institution of marriage as flawed by fallacious fronts. Ibsen’s greatest achievement in â€Å"A Doll’s House,† however, is not the judgment it passes on the institution of marital union, but the warning it perpetuates: â€Å"It is of no use lying to one’s self† (Ibsen 1376). Ibsen incorporates implication of hope in the union of Christine and Krogstad, a union that may be full of imperfection, but is free of fallacious fronts. Ibsen illuminates the issue of societal pressure through the intricacies of each, Torvald, Nora, Krogstad, and Christine, to underline an issue that goes far beyond feminist ideals, and perhaps even more impressively, an idea that transcends time. Works Cited Hardwick, Elizabeth. â€Å"Ibsen’s Women.† Seduction and Betrayal: Women and Literature. New York: Random House, 1974. 31-84. Rpt. in Drama Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J Trudeau. Vol 2. Detroit: Gale Research Inc, 1992. 292-296. Print. Ibsen, Henrik, and Evert Sprinchorn. Letters and speeches. 1st ed. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964. Print. Ibsen, Henrik. â€Å"A Doll’s House.† Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. By Ann Charters and Samuel Barclay. Charters. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2012. 1349-1402. Print. Northam, John. â€Å"Ibsen’s Search for the Hero.† Ibsen: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1965. 91-108. Rpt. in Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Paula Kepos. Vol 37. Detroit: Gale Research Inc, 1991. 249-253. Print.

Analsysis of John Green;s The Fault in Our stars Essay

In 2013 it is predicted that 580,350 people will die from cancer (Howlader). Chances are any given person knows at least one person, who has suffered from cancer. Talking about cancer is not something that people willingly do. If you are unlucky enough to not know someone who has had cancer, reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green will give you the emotions of losing someone dear to you to cancer. What makes this book worth reading because of it’s plot, the characters are relatable and give the reader meaning, and the book sticks in the readers mind even after finishing the book. The plot of The Fault of Our Stars tells the story of Hazel Grace who experiences a miracle that shrinks her ever growing tumors and buys her more years that she expected. The novel is based on the twist in Hazel’s life when she meets Augustus Waters, a cancer survivor, at a Cancer Kid Support group. The story follows the friendship and romance of Hazel and Augustus. The two grow together and share experiences and love for reading making their friendship and relationship become more solidified. The romance flourishes after Hazel has a medical issue due to the tumors in her lungs and explains to Augustus that she wants to meet her, and now his, favorite author in Amsterdam. Augustus uses his wish, presumably from the â€Å"Make a Wish Foundation,† to get himself, Hazel, and Hazel’s mother to Amsterdam. This trip is the climax in the relationship of Hazel and Augustus. They share their first kiss, and lose their virginities to each other. This is also the tipping point where we realize that Augustus is dying, Brodie 2 his cancer has reoccured and it appears to be incurable. After their trip we quickly see Augustus’ health go down a downward spiral, his caner getting worse and spreading throughout his body. The author then does the unexpected and ends the romance of Hazel and Augustus by having Augustus cancer overwhelm him and eventually take his life. Green follows Hazels life after his death showing her grief and her will to live. Augustus death gave her a new perspective on life. Wanting to fight her cancer more. The plot is overall strong and well thought out. The story is possible, while unlikely that two teenagers with terminal caner would travel to Amsterdam together, but still has the realistic nature that gives most people something to relate to. Having two teenagers with cancer fall in love gives the plot not only a twist at the end, but also something that everyone in their lives look for. It has hope for the people needing hope, love for the hopeless romantics, adventure for the adventure seekers, something for everyone can be found in this book. The characters Hazel Grace, and Augustus Waters, have aspects of their personalities that everyone can relate to. The author John Green specifically designed the characters to be relatable for all ages. Green gave Hazel a strong independent personality who doesn’t like seeing herself as being weak. Green wants to make Hazel a teenager, despite her terminal cancer. Green comments, â€Å"I wanted to establish that just because Hazel is sick and dying or whatever, she is still a teenager, and more generally she is still human and developing emotionally at the standard human rate, and not at some wildly increased rate of development that’s only available to you if you have incurable cancer. † (Questions). Green creates a character that has had things in her life happen that many teenagers will never experience. However he gives her â€Å"normal teenager† aspects where she does not enjoy physical contact with her mother. Giving her a real teenage Brodie 3 attitude makes her more relatable than a mature teenager who loves her parents and has terminal cancer. While Augustus seems to be the mature teenager who beat cancer, he still has his teen angst common in adolescence. He travels with Hazel against his parents wishes, he lies to Hazel about coming out of remission, and has attitude with a flight attendant when she asks him to remove an unlit cigarette from his mouth. While many teenagers wouldn’t go against their parents wishes especially when it comes to their wellbeing, lie to the woman they love about their cancer, and smoke unlit cigarettes to get across a metaphor, Green makes it clear that Augustus was a real person. He had pain and suffering that he didn’t lead on. Green says when asked why Augustus stops hiding his pain towards the end of his life, â€Å"I am really bothered by the idea that people in pain who are being wrenched from existence should be perpetually cheerful and compassionate about it. † (Questions). His point is that some people can only bottle up their pain for so long. This is something many teenagers with depression, and even adults can relate to. Memorability of a book or any form of media is important. Having quotes that can be used in everyday life, and some that are so deep that they make you think about yourself and the marks you leave on the world. Having strong quotes such as, â€Å"I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you. † (Green, 128). The certain quotes that stick with someone, that initiate emotions, are important in any books. The emotions that can be drawn out of the reader, mainly bringing sadness towards the end when Brodie 4 Green does the worst possible thing to his characters by ending the life of Augustus, for some people this can spark intense emotions. Many people say to â€Å"not read this book in public† (Keane) due to the fact that many people have cried. Not expecting the twist ending, finding yourself shocked at the pain the other characters are feeling create an almost physical response from some readers. The effectiveness of a good book are based on the plot, characters, and memorability. While some of these are all based on personal preference it can be agreed that The Fault in Our Stars is, according to Time, an â€Å"instant classic. † Time magazine wrote, â€Å"(I can see) The Fault in Our Stars taking its place alongside Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret in the young-adult canon. † Writing about such an emotional topic of cancer and on top of that writing about the love and the loss of two teenagers is a strong concept to tackle and release into the public. The words on the pages jump off and overall the book is worth reading due to the intense plot line, relatable characters, and the quotable passages. Brodie 5 Works Cited Bruni, Frank. â€Å"Kids, Books and a Five-Hankie Gem. † The New York Times 22 Feb. 2012, sec. Opinion Paged: n. pag. New York Times. Web. 2 Oct. 2013. Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton Books, 2012. Print. Green, John. â€Å"Questions about The Fault in Our Stars. † John Green. N. p. , n. d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013. . Howlader N, Noone AM, Krapcho M, Garshell J, Neyman N, Altekruse SF, Kosary CL, Yu M, Ruhl J, Tatalovich Z, Cho H, Mariotto A, Lewis DR, Chen HS, Feuer EJ, Cronin KA (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2010, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, http://seer. cancer. gov/csr/1975_2010/, based on November 2012 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER web site, 2013. Keane, Shannon Rigney. â€Å"Book Notes: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. † Girls Leadership Institute. N. p. , 7 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. . Lockhart, E. â€Å"The Fault in Our Stars: John Green, Kate Rudd: 9781455869893: Amazon. com: Books. † Amazon. N. p. , n. d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013. . Time Magazine. â€Å"Reviews for The Fault in Out Stars. † John Green. N. p. , n. d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013. .

And Now Miguel essays

And Now Miguel essays People around the world have had responsibility throughout theirs lives. With being responsible anyone can achieve anything that they want. America is a great country with people that taken responsibility in their whole lives. Thats why America is so strong and containing with great people who built America from pieces to pieces. Mostly for the families that living, farmers for example; it was hard to take care of livestocks because it was expensive. If animals are lost the farmers will lose part of the family stock. It was a family business job, so everyone in the family helped with the work; men, women, boys, and girls. However, not everybody had the responsibility to take care of the family business. If one failed to perform a duty, the family business might fall apart. ...and now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold shows that through taking responsibility with ones actions and behaviors, a person can mature enough to be able to follow their heart. The main character Miguel wants to follow in the shadow of his father. He wants to do everything like his father does. He wants to be a part of the family business; he wants to help out with raising the sheep. He feels like he could be a part of something and he wants to get credit for what he does. But for me, I have the wish to be part of everything that happens, even it is not happening to me (Krumgold, 16). Miguel wants to be a part of the team and experience the happiness or sadness based on the investment that others in his family share. He doesnt care if the family finds a pot of gold and they want to share. Miguel doesnt want the gold; all he wanted was to be there when the pot of gold is found; to be a part of the experience. Miguel wants to prove that he can be a part of the family, to his father and mother. He tries so hard to fit in with his family but hes rejected by his family. But still I am glad that Im growing up to be ...

Battle Royal Essays - Social Philosophy, Philosophy Of Life

Battle Royal After I read the story "Battle Royal" by Ralf Ellison, I could not restrain my thoughts about issues of morality and what it has to do with reality, from clashing in to one another in my mind. As these two completely different ideas were pushing me to the brink of madness, my mind began to click. The swirling messy cocktail of two abstract ideas started taking shape as I began remembering what I had learned earlier in school, and from my summer readings. At this point I came to the realization that a persons reality, that is that persons mental reflection of the society and or time in which he or she live in, is consistent with that persons morality or standards of right and wrong. I realize that my concept of a person's reality being consistent with morality is quite confusing. I also except the fact that there are always exceptions to rules. In this case it being that some peoples moralities contradicting their reality. However this realization of mine makes perfect sense to me, an d I will attempt to explain my thoughts to you in hopes that by the time you are finished reading this essay you will understand what I mean. The story "Battle Royal" is the key in understanding and seeing the relationship between morality and reality. The characters in this story, namely the grandfather and his grandson, reveal to us their individuality, principles, morals, and ethics doing so they unfold a map that reveals their mental reality. Because their principals, morals and ethics reveal to us their mental reality, then their mental reality discloses the reality of the society in which they live in. However to clarify my thoughts I will use Book 5 of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" to elaborate more about reality and morality. And from that I will show you how the grandson breaks away from the reality that he is been taught to see, and steps in to the light that his grandfather guide's him too before he dies. "Battle Royal" is a story about a black boy that is psychologically wakened when he overhears what his grandfather says at his deathbed to his father. This boy, before he realizes who he really is, and his social standing in the society that he lives, is searching to find himself. However this search is filled with many obstacles, because he lives in a time when people of his status are conditioned to act, talk, and behave in a certain way. Our hero's journey toward the light (truth) is started a long time ago. However in the beginning he is unable to get on the right course, due to the wrong advice he is given by different people; he says it as "All my life I was looking for something, and every were that I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction" (448). Because each time that he accepts their advice he is little by little pushed off the right track. It is not until he realizes that he is searching for himself, and instead of asking others questions, he needs to ask the questions to himself. Once he discovers whom to turn to, he begins a long and difficult journey in which he realizes that he is a unique person, he puts it as, "I am nobody but myself."(449). This means that he is unique and he is who he is, black. However before he comes to this enlightenment he discovers that he is an "invisible man"(449). He marks himself invisible because in the society in which a person is unheard and unseen by others is invisible. At that point our young friend's problem is clear. He is a black boy in a White men's world, in which he is not see or heard. Yet he still does not know what to do about it, well at-least not until he hears his grandfathers words to his father: Son, after I'm gone I want you to keep up a good fight. I never told you, but your life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy

Comparative Study of Critical Resource Diagramming Versus PERT and CPM Assignment

Comparative Study of Critical Resource Diagramming Versus PERT and CPM - Assignment Example PERT is a statistical implement used in project management, it is designed to analyze and exemplify the task evaluation completing a given project (Delgado et al., 2004). It is normally used in conjunction with CPM which is known as critical path method in project scheduling and management technique. CPM is a tool used to evaluate and determine duration based on the proof of identity of â€Å"critical work† through an activity network (Delgado et al., 2004).Ultimately CPM and PERT can be merged into one to form a project scheduling technique known as CPM/PERT. The combination of both CPM and PERT makes it visually easier to view precedence relationships and gives an opportunity for ideal large projects with several activities (Delgado et al., 2004). CPM/PERT contain two major key elements: activities and events. An activity embodies an action and consumption of resources such as time, money and energy needed to complete a quota for a given plan. The activity is typically epitomized by an arrow; this is due to the fact that it encompasses resources (Delgado et al., 2004). An event, normally taken to mean node will basically occur at the beginning and the end of an activity. The events have no resources and as a result are represented by a circle (Delgado et al., 2004). When working on a complicated project, it is normally very hard for the business owner to envisage the schedule and risks. Applying the PERT/CPM can help play a major role in breaking the large efforts down into smaller tasks and show the relationships between different tasks. This can help in determining the expected outcome besides anticipating and alleviating scheduling bottlenecks (Delgado et al., 2004). Using the just-in-time (JIT) philosophy as a standard project scheduling technique can help solve the implications of Ajax project management that includes the stratagem, fabrication and introduction of a firsthand microwave oven. The just-in-time is used to eliminate wastage by cutting unnecessary inventory and doing away with the delays in operations.