Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Time Management Essay Example for Free
Time Management Essay Time Management skills are essential for successful people these are the practical techniques which have helped the leading people in business, sport and public service reach the pinnacles of their careers. The 80:20 Rule This is neatly summed up in the Pareto Principle, or the 80:20 Rule. This argues that typically 80% of unfocussed effort generates only 20% of results. The remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort. While the ratio is not always 80:20, this broad pattern of a small proportion of activity generating non-scalar returns recurs so frequently as to be the norm in many areas. If you work for an organization, calculate how much you cost it each year. Include your salary, payroll taxes, the cost of office space you occupy, equipment and facilities you use, expenses, administrative support, etc. If you are self-employed, work the annual running costs of your business. If you work normal hours, you will have approximately 200 productive days each year. If you work 7à ½ hours each day, this equates to 1,500 hours in a year. From these figures, calculate an hourly rate. This should give a reasonable estimate of how much your time is worth this may be a surprisingly large amount When you are deciding whether or not to take a task on, think about this value are you wasting your or your organizations resources on a low yield task? ________________________________________ Personal Time Management for Busy Managers by Gerard M Blair Time passes, quickly. This article looks at the basics of Personal Time Management and describes how the Manager can assume control of this basic resource. The Eff words The three Eff words are [concise OED]: â⬠¢Effective having a definite or desired effect â⬠¢Efficient productive with minimum waste or effort â⬠¢Effortless à seemingly without effort; natural, easy Personal Time Management is about winning the Eff words: making them apply to you and your daily routines. What is Personal Time Management? Personal Time Management is about controlling the use of your most valuable (and undervalued) resource. Consider these two questions: what would happen if you spent company money with as few safeguards as you spend company time, when was the last time you scheduled a review of your time allocation? The absence of Personal Time Management is characterized by last minute rushes to meet dead-lines, meetings which are either double booked or achieve nothing, days which seem somehow to slip unproductively by, crises which loom unexpected from nowhere. This sort of environment leads to inordinate stress and degradation of performance: it must be stopped. Poor time management is often a symptom of over confidence: techniques which used to work with small projects and workloads are simply reused with large ones. But inefficiencies which were insignificant in the small role are ludicrous in the large. You can not drive a motor bike like a bicycle, nor can you manage a supermarket-chain like a market stall. The demands, the problems and the payoffs for increased efficiency are all larger as your responsibility grows; you must learn to apply proper techniques or be bettered by those who do. Possibly, the reason Time Management is poorly practised is that it so seldom forms a measured part of appraisal and performance review; what many fail to foresee, however, is how intimately it is connected to aspects which do. Personal Time Management has many facets. Most managers recognize a few, but few recognize them all. There is the simple concept of keeping a well ordered diary and the related idea of planned activity. But beyond these, it is a tool for the systematic ordering of your influence on events, it underpins many other managerial skills such as Effective Delegation and Project Planning. Personal Time Management is a set of tools which allow you to: eliminate wastage be prepared for meetings refuse excessive workloads monitor project progress allocate resource (time) appropriate to a tasks importance ensure that long term projects are not neglected plan each day efficiently plan each week effectively and to do so simply with a little self-discipline. Since Personal Time Management is a management process just like any other, it must be planned, monitored and regularly reviewed. In the followingà sections, we will examine the basic methods and functions of Personal Time Management. Since true understanding depends upons experience, you will be asked to take part by looking at aspects of your own work. If you do not have time to this right now ask yourself: why not? Current Practice What this article is advocating is the adoption of certain practices which will give you greater control over the use and allocation of your primary resource: time. Before we start on the future, it is worth considering the present. This involves the simplistic task of keeping a note of how you spend your time for a suitably long period of time (say a week). I say simplistic since all you have to do is create a simple table, photocopy half-a-dozen copies and carry it around with you filling in a row every time you change activity. After one week, allocate time (start as you mean to go on) to reviewing this log. Waste Disposal We are not looking here to create new categories of work to enhance efficiency (that comes later) but simply to eliminate wastage in your current practice. The average IEE Chartered Engineer earns about 27,000 pounds per annum: about 12.50 pounds per hour, say 1 pound every 5 minutes; for how many 5 minute sections of your activity would you have paid a pound? The first step is a critical appraisal of how you spend your time and to question some of your habits. In your time log, identify periods of time which might have been better used. There are various sources of waste. The most common are social: telephone calls, friends dropping by, conversations around the coffee machine. It would be foolish to eliminate all non-work related activity (we all need a break) but if its a choice between chatting to Harry in the afternoon and meeting the next pay-related deadline Your time log will show you if this is a problem and you might like to do something about it before your boss does. In your time log, look at each work activity and decide objectively how much time each was worth to you, and compare that with the time you actually spent on it. An afternoon spent polishing an internal memo into a Pulitzer prize winning piece of provocative prose is waste; an hour spent debating the leaving present of a colleague is waste; a minute spent sorting out the paper-clips is waste (unless relaxation). This type of activity will be reduced naturally byà managing your own time since you will not allocate time to the trivial. Specifically, if you have a task to do, decide before hand how long it should take and work to that deadline then move on to the next task. Another common source of waste stems from delaying work which is unpleasant by finding distractions which are less important or unproductive. Check your log to see if any tasks are being delayed simply because they are dull or difficult. Time is often wasted in changing between activities. For this reason it is useful to group similar tasks together thus avoiding the start-up delay of each. The time log will show you where these savings can be made. You may want then to initiate a routine which deals with these on a fixed but regular basis. Doing Subordinates Work Having considered what is complete waste, we now turn to what is merely inappropriate. Often it is simpler to do the job yourself. Using the stamp machine to frank your own letters ensures they leave by the next post; writing the missing summary in the latest progress report from your junior is more pleasant than sending it back (and it lets you choose the emphasis). Rubbish! Large gains can be made by assigning secretarial duties to secretaries: they regularly catch the next post, they type a lot faster than you. Your subordinate should be told about the missing section and told how (and why) to slant it. If you have a task which could be done by a subordinate, use the next occasion to start training him/her to do it instead of doing it yourself you will need to spend some time monitoring the task thereafter, but far less that in doing it yourself. Doing the work of Others A major impact upon your work can be the tendency to help others with theirs. Now, in the spirit of an open and harmonious work environment it is obviously desirable that you should be willing to help out but check your work log and decide how much time you spend on your own work and how much you spend on others. For instance, if you spend a morning checking the grammar and spelling in the training material related to you last project, then that is waste. Publications should do the proofreading, that is their job, they are better at it than you are; you should deal at the technical level. The remaining problem is your manager. Consider what periods in yourà work log were used to perform tasks that your manager either repeated or simply negated by ignoring it or redefining the task, too late. Making your manager efficient is a very difficult task, but where it impinges upon your work and performance you must take the bull by the horns (or whatever) and confront the issue. Managing your manager may seem a long way from Time Management but no one impacts upon your use of time more than your immediate superior. If a task is ill defined seek clarification (is that a one page summary or a ten page report?). If seemingly random alterations are asked in your deliverables, ask for the reasons and next time clarify these and similar points at the beginning. If the manager is difficult, try writing a small specification for each task before beginning it and have it agreed. While you can not tactfully hold your manager to this contract if he/she has a change of mind, it will at least cause him/her to consider the issues early on, before you waste your time on false assumptions. External Appointments The next stage of Personal Time Management is to start taking control of your time. The first problem is appointments. Start with a simple appointments diary. In this book you will have (or at least should have) a complete list of all your known appointments for the foreseeable future. If you have omitted your regular ones (since you remember them anyway) add them now. Your appointments constitute your interaction with other people; they are the agreed interface between your activities and those of others; they are determined by external obligation. They often fill the diary. Now, be ruthless and eliminate the unnecessary. There may be committees where you can not productively contribute or where a subordinate might be (better) able to participate. There may be long lunches which could be better run as short conference calls. There may be interviews which last three times as long as necessary because they are scheduled for a whole hour. Eliminate the wastage starting today. The next stage is to add to your diary lists of other, personal activity which will enhance your use of the available time. Consider: what is the most important type of activity to add to your diary? No:- stop reading for a moment and really, consider. The single most important type of activity is those which will save you time: allocate time to save time, a stitch in time saves days. And most importantly of all,à always allocate time to time management: at least five minutes each and every day. For each appointment left in the diary, consider what actions you might take to ensure that no time is wasted: plan to avoid work by being prepared. Thus, if you are going to a meeting where you will be asked to comment on some report, allocate time to read it so avoiding delays in the meeting and increasing your chances of making the right decision the first time. Consider what actions need to be done before AND what actions must be done to follow-up. Even if the latter is unclear before the event, you must still allocate time to review the outcome and to plan the resulting action. Simply mark in your diary the block of time necessary to do this and, when the time comes, do it. Scheduling Projects The most daunting external appointments are deadlines: often, the handover of deliverables. Do you leave the work too late? Is there commonly a final panic towards the end? Are the last few hectic hours often marred by errors? If so, use Personal Time Management. The basic idea is that your management of personal deadlines should be achieved with exactly the same techniques you would use in a large project: â⬠¢check the specification are you sure that you agree on what is to be delivered â⬠¢break the task down into small sections so that you can estimate the time needed for each, and monitor progress â⬠¢schedule reviews of your progress (e.g. after each sub-task) so that you can respond quickly to difficulties Like most management ideas, this is common sense. Some people, however, refute it because in practise they find that it merely shows the lack of time for a project which must be done anyway. This is simply daft! If simple project planning and time management show that the task can not be done, then it will not be done but by knowing at the start, you have a chance to do something about it. An impossible deadline affects not only your success but also that of others. Suppose a product is scheduled for release too soon because you agree to deliver too early. Marketing and Sales will prepare customers to expect the product showing why they really need it but it will not arrive. The customers will be dissatisfied or even lost, the competition will have advanced warning, and all because you agreed to do the impossible. You can avoid this type of problem. By practising time management, you will always have a clear understanding of how you spend your time and what time isà unallocated. If a new task is thrust upon you, you can estimate whether it is practical. The project planning tells you how much time is needed and the time management tells you how much time is available. There are four ways to deal with impossible deadlines: â⬠¢Get the deadline extended â⬠¢Scream for more resources â⬠¢Get the Deliverable redefined to something practical â⬠¢State the position clearly so that your boss (and his/her boss) have fair warning If this simple approach seems unrealistic, consider the alternative. If you have an imposed, but unobtainable, deadline and you accept it; then the outcome is your assured failure. Of course, there is a fifth option: move to a company with realistic schedules. One defence tactic is to present your superior with a current list of your obligations indicating what impact the new task will have on these, and ask him/her to assign the priorities: I cant do them all, which should I slip?. Another tactic is to keep a data base of your time estimates and the actual time taken by each task. This will quickly develop into a source of valuable data and increase the accuracy of your planning predictions. There is no reason why you should respond only to externally imposed deadlines. The slightly shoddy product which you hand-over after the last minute rush (and normally have returned for correction the following week) could easily have been polished if only an extra day had been available so move your personal deadline forward and allow yourself the luxury of leisured review before the product is shipped. Taking this a step further, the same sort of review might be applied to the product at each stage of its development so that errors and rework time are reduced. Thus by allocating time to quality review, you save time in rework; and this is all part of project planning supported and monitored by your time management. Finally, for each activity you should estimate how much time it is worth and allocate only that amount. This critical appraisal may even suggest a different approach or method so that the time matches the tasks importance. Beware of perfection, it takes too long allocate time for fitness for purpose, then stop. Monitoring Staff Your Personal Time Management also affects other people, particularly your subordinates. Planning projects means not only allocating your time but also the distribution of tasks; and this should be done in the same planned, monitored and reviewed manner as your own scheduling. Any delegated task should be specified with an (agreed) end date. As a Manager, you are responsible for ensuring that the tasks allocated to your subordinates are completed successfully. Thus you should ensure that each task is concluded with a deliverable (for instance, a memo to confirm completion) you make an entry in your diary to check that this has arrived. Thus, if you agree the task for Tuesday, Wednesday should have an entry in your diary to check the deliverable. This simple device allows you to monitor progress and to initiate action as necessary. Long term Objectives There are many long term objectives which the good Manager must achieve, particularly with regard to the development, support and motivation of his/her work-team. Long term objectives have the problem of being important but not urgent; they do not have deadlines, they are distant and remote. For this reason, it is all too easy to ignore them in favour of the urgent and immediate. Clearly a balance must be struck. The beauty of Time Management is that the balance can be decided objectively (without influence from immediate deadlines) and self-imposed through the use of the diary. Simply, a manager might decide that one hour a week should be devoted to personnel issues and would then allocate a regular block of time to that activity. Of course if the factory is on fire, or World War III is declared, the manager may have to re-allocate this time in a particular week but barring such crises, this time should then become sacrosanct and always applied to the same, designated purpose. Similarly, time may be allocated to staff development and training. So if one afternoon a month is deemed to be a suitable allocation, then simply designate the second Thursday (say) of each month and delegate the choice of speakers. The actual time spent in managing this sort of long term objective is small, but without that deliberate planning it will not be achieved. Once you have implemented Personal Time Management, it is worth using some of that control to augment your own career. Some quiet weekend, you should sketch out your own long term objectives and plan a route to them. As you would any long term objective,à allocate time to the necessary sub-tasks and monitor your progress. If you do not plan where you want to go, you are unlikely to get there. Concluding Remarks. Personal Time Management is a systematic application of common sense strategies. It requires little effort, yet it promotes efficient work practices by highlighting wastage and it leads to effective use of time by focusing it on your chosen activities. Personal Time Management does not solve your problems; it reveals them, and provides a structure to implement and monitor solutions. It enables you to take control of your own time how you use it is then up to you.
Monday, January 20, 2020
Essay --
In the area of mathematics, it has been stated that Aristotle ââ¬Å"is the real father of logicâ⬠(Thompson, 1975, p. 7) and although it may be a minor exaggeration, it is not far off the truth. Aristotleââ¬â¢s ideas on philosophy and logic were great advancers in Western culture, and are still being discussed and taught today. The ancient Greeks focused their mathematics on many areas, but one main question continuously asked by the Greeks was ââ¬Å"what are good arguments?â⬠(Marke & Mycielski, 2001, pg. 449). This question brought about the study of logic. Aristotleââ¬â¢s philosophy on the importance of logic was unique for his time as he believed that logic had to be considered in all disciplines, and that the aim of logic was to provide a system that allowed one to ââ¬Å"investigate, classify, and evaluate good and bad forms of reasoningâ⬠(Groarke). Aristotle studied and contributed to various disciplines including philosophy, science, and astronomy, but his greatest influence was in the study of mathematical logic and more specifically, the introduction of syllogism. As Ulrich (1953) states, ââ¬Å"any discussion of syllogism necessarily involves logic as it is the field that the syllogism plays a very important roleâ⬠(p. 311). Aristotleââ¬â¢s ideas surrounding logic and syllogism are still being used in mathematics today, and over the course of history they have influenced many mathematiciansââ¬â¢ areas of study. (Marek & Mycielski, 2001) Influence on Aristotelian Logic In order to understand Aristotleââ¬â¢s influence on mathematical logic, it is important to understand his life and the people that influenced his studies. Aristotle was born in 384 BCE in Stagira, which was an ancient city in Greece located on the Chalkidiki peninsula (Amadio & Kenny). In 367 B... ...ead of as an axiomization of a body of knowledgeâ⬠(Andrade & Becerra, 2008, p. 310). Conclusion Aristotleââ¬â¢s philosophy of logic and syllogism introduced a system of formal thought. One in which emphasis was placed on answering logical questions through using proof, deduction and reasoning. This contribution to the field of logic allowed future academics to draw connections of previous unknowns in many areas of study, but most notably in the field of mathematics. Aristotleââ¬â¢s contribution to logic, by introducing a system of syllogism, became influential within many disciplines, and his ideas remained a great focal point for many centuries. Although Aristotle will forever be seen as a great philosopher, his influence of the syllogism was one that greatly advanced the area of mathematical logic and opened the gateway for many more mathematical discoveries and ideas.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Historical Context of the Remakes of The Phantom of the Opera Essay
The Phantom of the Opera has undergone subsequent remakes. This Hollywood film has undergone numerous remakes at different historical moments throughout the world. In Hollywood and the United Kingdom, it has spawned more than ten film and TV versions that differ significantly in selecting the settings for the horror-romance [Paris, New York and London] in accounting for the phantomââ¬â¢s disfiguration, in portraying the opera understudy, as well as Christineââ¬â¢s attitude toward the phantom. However, they all follow the male phantom-teacher and female opera-student structure so that heterosexual desire [manifested in two menââ¬â¢s competition for a woman] remains the prime move of the plot. My focus in this essay is Andrew Lloyd Webberââ¬â¢s version of the aforementioned text. My emphasis in this text will be how the phantom [including his image and voice] is represented within the film technology available at that time [in contradistinction to the manner in which the phantomââ¬â¢s image and voice is represented in different versions of the aforementioned text]. My working hypothesis is that since the phantom, by definition, exceeds visual representation in the silent and the sound versions, his voice, as a singer and a music teacher, emerges a primary site for representation and signification. To explore the representation and the significance of the phantomââ¬â¢s voice, I will focus on (1) how the phantom-teacher relates to his student through voice as well as visage, (2) how the teacher-student relationship differ from film to film [from Schumacherââ¬â¢s film in contradistinction to the other version of the film], (3) and how to read these relationships in allegorical terms, or in relation to their respective material-historical conditions. The last question leads me to map the teacher-student relationship onto the tension between an ââ¬Å"originalâ⬠film and its remake(s). In the end this paper will demonstrates the manner in which each remake strategizes its position vis-a-vis a historical moment and a prior film text hence it follows from this that each remake [specifically Schumacherââ¬â¢s remake] should not be subsumed into an echoing tradition in the corridor of the history. I start with the representation of phantomââ¬â¢s voice and its interplay with the shadow. The aural-visual dimension is crucial for our understanding of the issue of subaltern film remaking, which is ultimately an issue of power circulation and distribution. In the film diegeses, the phantom holds power over the student and other people for two reasons: (1) he eludes audio-visual representation and (2) he assumes the empowered teacher position. The 1925 version of The Phantom of the Opera centered upon the triangular tension between Erik, The Phantom (Lon Chaney); Christine (Mary Philbin), an understudy in the Paris Opera House whom the phantom has trained and elevated to the diva position; and Raoul (Norman Kerry), Christineââ¬â¢s fiance. As indicated above, the phantom, by definition, exceeds direct visual coding. The problematic of representation is further compounded by the fact that the film, being silent [that being the 1925 version], cannot represent the phantomââ¬â¢s voice except through the theatre orchestraââ¬â¢s performance. This means that the voice and other diegetic sounds the audience hear do not [seem to] emit from the screen. This representational dilemma is alleviated through the use of shadow [an image that signifies the fusion of absence and presence, thus most appropriate for the phantom figure]. More specifically, this silent film mobilizes venues of representation before Christine sees the phantom. The first is the shadow, proffered exclusively to the audience who, according to Michel Chion, is ââ¬Å"deafâ⬠and cannot hear the phantomââ¬â¢s voice (Chion 7). The other, the phantomââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"angelic voice,â⬠is heard only by Christine and other characters. The differentiated knowledge distribution leads to two modes of spectatorship, one being exclusively visual, and the other exclusively aural. In both cases, the phantom is omnipotent when remaining a mere shadow or a disembodied voice (Chion 19). When lodged in a physical body, a process the power is lost. This takes place in The Phantom of the Opera when Christineââ¬â¢s fascination with the acousmatic phantom turns into dread and disgust once the voice is embodied in a visual image [i. e. , the skull head that she has unmasked]. Thus, the phantomââ¬â¢s deacousmatization depletes his magic power over Christine. Not only does his horrendous visage drive Christine to cover her face [which may implicitly mirror a female viewerââ¬â¢s typical response to a horror film]. It also forces the phantom himself to cover his face. The implication is that to maintain his power, he has to remain invisible. In the same manner, for a horror film to remain horrific, it must not be seen in unobstructed view. As Dennis Giles observes, the more [the viewer] stares, the more the terror will dissipateâ⬠¦ to the extent that the image of full horror will be revealed (unveiled) as more constructed, more artificial, more a fantasy, more a fiction than the fiction which prepares and exhibits it. To look the horror in the face for very long robs it of its power. (48) By covering his face, the phantom symbolizes the horror filmââ¬â¢s attempt to block the viewerââ¬â¢s vision. In other words, the power of the phantom, and by extension, of the horror film, consists in deprivation of visual representation. The problematic of representing a phantom in a silent film thus finds resolution in a paradox, namely, the possibility and effectiveness of representation consists precisely in a lack of direct visual representation. Acousmetre is also crucial for maintaining the teacher student relationship. Once deacousmatized, this relationship comes to an end, which in turn de-legitimizes the phantomââ¬â¢s proposal to Christine. After a long sequence of suspense, sound and fury, during which Christine is salvaged from the Opera Houseââ¬â¢s underground catacomb, while the phantom chased to a dead end, the film [initial version of the film] closes with a double shot of Christine happily married with her aristocratic fiance. Instead of a beauty and the beast story, in which the beast is transformed into a handsome nobleman by the beautyââ¬â¢s kiss, the monster in this film remains a monster and the opera actress gets punished for her scopic and epistemological drive [a ââ¬Å"monstrousâ⬠transgression she must redeem by betraying the monster] returning to humanity [defined as white heterosexual normality] and succumbing to a domesticating marriage. The containment of the female deviancy is built into the film producerââ¬â¢s plan to reinforce what they perceive as the audienceââ¬â¢s wish: ââ¬Å"a movie about the love life of Christine Daaeâ⬠(MacQueen 40). The film thus ends with a triumph of a bourgeois fantasy premised on the domestication of women, and the destruction of the monster. Joel Schumacherââ¬â¢s remake of the original Phantom of the Opera, did not come as a surprise, given the frequent practice of borrowing and adapting at the time. Schumacherââ¬â¢s version retains the powerful phantom figure whose self-de-acousmatization again successfully captivates the student, Christine. Nevertheless, it also displays far more intense interactions between the phantom-teacher and the singer-student. Briefly speaking, their relationship goes through four successive steps: ventriloquism, reverse ventriloquism or excessive mimesis, performative reiteration, and finally, the Benjaminian ââ¬Å"afterlifeâ⬠[which delineate Christineââ¬â¢s gradual usurpation of the phantomââ¬â¢s power while also contributing to the dialectical image provided by the phantom-teacher and singer-student relationship]. The phantom begins with ventriloquizing Christineââ¬â¢s in the latterââ¬â¢s reenactment of the formerââ¬â¢s masterpiece, now titled ââ¬Å"Romeo and Juliet,â⬠replacing ââ¬Å"Hot Bloodâ⬠in Song at Midnight. During the performance, Christine falters at a tenor note, but is undetected by the theatre audience, thanks to the phantomââ¬â¢s backstage ââ¬Å"dubbing,â⬠visually represented through cutaways. The camera first holds on Christineââ¬â¢s bending over the dead ââ¬Å"Julietâ⬠then closes up on his slightly opened mouth and bewilderment, and subsequently following Christineââ¬â¢s puzzled look, cuts to the cloaked phantom in profile, hidden behind a window curtain in the backstage, emotionally singing out the tenor notes. Cutting from the front stage to the back stage area also echoes. In the aforementioned scene, it is important to note that the moment of ventriloquism gradually gives way to Christineââ¬â¢s agency. Indeed, Christineââ¬â¢s centrality in the film is evidenced in the predominance of the perspective shots that mediate the off-screen audienceââ¬â¢s knowledge and sensorial experiences. This viewing structure contrasts sharply with The Phantom of the Operaââ¬â¢s 1925 version. Whereas Christine deacousmatizes the phantom, the audience actually sees the disfigured face before she does. Similarly, Christineââ¬â¢s knowledge [regarding the phantom] is one step behind that of the audience who hear the phantomââ¬â¢s midnight singing and see an enlarged shadow cast on the wall at the opening of the film after the initial portrayal of the opera houseââ¬â¢s condition after the fire. The contrast between the two aforementioned versions of The Phantom of the Opera suggests two different ways of constructing history. One is to hide away the past [embodied by the phantom] that has transformed beyond recognition so as to reproduce its old, familiar image in a present medium, or the student. The other is to acknowledge what the past has become, in order to re-suture it into the present without reducing the present into a mere mirror image of the past. Thus, Christineââ¬â¢s agency and the Phantomââ¬â¢s revival become interdependent. The teacher-student hierarchy, as argued previously, is analogous with the hierarchy between the master and the slave. Furthermore, it can also be mapped onto the tension-ridden relationship between a film and its remake(s). These interconnected, parallel relationships allow us to situate the cultural production of a film in a dynamic socio-political field (Gilloch 17). Following Gerard Genetteââ¬â¢s definition of ââ¬Å"hypertextuality,â⬠which designates that a hypertext both overlays and evokes an anterior text, or hypotext (Genette 5), I argue that a remake occupies the student position, and that its very existence testifies to and evokes its ââ¬Å"teacherâ⬠or ââ¬Å"predecessor. As a form of cinematic doubling, how the ââ¬Å"studentâ⬠film situates itself vis-a-vis the ââ¬Å"teacherâ⬠and its own historical moment determines possibilities of remaking (Smith 56). The major divergences between the two versions of The Phantom of the Opera mentioned above suggest two diametrically opposite agendas. Whereas the former prioritizes domesticating and suturing women into white-oriented heterosexuality, the latter historicizes and politicizes the hetero-erotic relationship between the teacher and student. There are several ways in which one may understand the aforementioned divergence. It is important to note that the text adapted by Schumacher for the construction of his version of the aforementioned film is in itself a divergence from the original. In comparison to Lon Channeyââ¬â¢s version of the aforementioned film [which is an adaptation itself], Schumacherââ¬â¢s version discarded most of the horror version aspects which have been associated with the film [as well as the original text by Leroux]. Examples of these are evident if one considers Schumacherââ¬â¢s choice for the depiction of the phantom himself [as a disfigured individual as opposed to a skull hiding behind a mask]. In a way there are several ways in which such a depiction [the change of depiction] may be understood. Initially, one may state that such a shift stems as a result of the shift from the operatic version of the film as opposed to the ââ¬Å"Beauty and the Beastâ⬠theme associated with the film. Second, in line with the initial claim of this paper, one may understand the shift [in terms of the phantomââ¬â¢s depiction] as a means of mirroring the historical conditions of the filmââ¬â¢s production. The process of mirroring the initial work as a means of showing the teacher-student relationship [in relation to the silent film version and Schumacherââ¬â¢s version] may be understood as a means of employing the manner in which the student has transcended the master to the extent that such a transcendence enabled the initial freedom from the heterosexual archetypal relationships which enables the submission of the female to the norm [that being the norm of female submission towards the male]. It may indeed be argued that Schumacherââ¬â¢s version also enabled such a submission since Christine chose Raoul over the phantom. It is important to note, however, that such a choice may be understood differently in relation to the original silent film adaptation of the aforementioned text. Note for example the depiction [as well as the characterization] of the phantom in the initial version of the film. As was noted at the onset of the paper, the depiction of the phantom in the initial version [silent film version] presented a horrible figure [i. e. a skull for a face]. Such a presentation may be understood, in such a way, that the phantom is presented as the depiction of the deviance resulting from the inability to adhere to the norm. Deviance from the norm, in this sense, may be seen [and in fact understood] as a horrible act itself. Schumacherââ¬â¢s version [with its depiction of the phantom as figure with a face [a handsome one in fact despite its minor deformities] may be seen as mirroring the manner in which deviance from the norm [that of the adherence to the heterosexual and in a sense highly patriarchal relationship] is more acceptable within the current context of the filmââ¬â¢s production (McQueen . Schumacherââ¬â¢s version begins with a reel from the 1919 occurrence at the Opera Populaire wherein the old Raoul is depicted as buying knickknacks that serve as the reminder of the occurrences that led to the aforementioned operaââ¬â¢s demise. What follow this scene is a reconstruction of the Opera Populaire resulting from the flashback of memories to those who where in it during 1819 thereby providing the spectator with the truth behind the masked lives of those who lived within the opera at that time. What is interesting to note in Schumacherââ¬â¢s version [in relation to the reconfiguration or rather redepiction of the phantom] is the manner in which one is now given a new manner of understanding the means in which Christine gains her agency. In fact, agency in Schumacherââ¬â¢s version of the film is depicted as a manner of choice and not as mere adherence to a prescribed norm [in comparison to the original adaption of Webberââ¬â¢s text]. Dramatically, the story hinges on a series of conflicts which continually redefine Christineââ¬â¢s position in relation to her surroundings [as well as to the individuals around her]. Webberââ¬â¢s version [as adapted by Schumacher] depicted this process through a series of musical themes, motifs, and textures which portray the development of characters, attitudes, and emotions. Note that the materials in each of the musical themes and motifs are rarely modified except through instances of fragmentation. Although fragmentation occurs, it is interesting to note that when considered together, these musical themes literally play out the drama involved within the play (Snelson 110). In summary, in this paper I argued that the ââ¬Å"teacherâ⬠text does not simply crumble when the ââ¬Å"studentâ⬠text arises in resistance, but rather experiences a revival. This is because the remake cannot fulfil itself without simultaneously evoking [not ââ¬Å"imitatingâ⬠] the ââ¬Å"afterlifeâ⬠crystallized in its textual ââ¬Å"predecessorâ⬠(Mignolo 112). A film remake re-presents its ââ¬Å"hypotextâ⬠not by turning itself into a submissive double, which simply reifies the ââ¬Å"hypotext,â⬠but rather by revalorizing the unique historical position of the ââ¬Å"hypotext,â⬠paradoxically achieved by the remakeââ¬â¢s stress on its own distinction. In this sense, the various adaptations of Webberââ¬â¢s The Phantom of the Opera may be understood in such a way that both versions [that stand in a teacher-student relationship] present a challenge of the archetypal heterosexual relationships which stand as the pervading theme of the various versions of Webberââ¬â¢s The Phantom of the Opera.
Saturday, January 4, 2020
The Use of Specific Techniques in the Theme of Violence in Brazil Free Essay Example, 3250 words
The statement of the genre in Pixote as a documentary is followed with different techniques used throughout the film to give a realistic feel that portrays the violence of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The main concept is to show the aesthetics that are related to the violence as well as how this affects the viewer. The aesthetics are based on portraying the realities of violence while stimulating the bizarre ways in which these forms in the region. The use of creating attractive and repulsive features through the use of technique and highlighting the world through the story of the children involved in violence are not only used to display specific types of information in the documentary. There is also a sense of defining a reaction that responds to the corruption of the violence in Brazil from the aesthetics and techniques that are used throughout the film (Stam, 44: 1983). The first way in which Pixote depicts adolescent violence in Brazil is through the use of lighting. This feature is what creates the aesthetics of the film and which leads to a visual response from the different segments of the film. We will write a custom essay sample on The Use of Specific Techniques in the Theme of Violence in Brazil or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page
Friday, December 27, 2019
The Importance Of Inclusion In Education - 721 Words
Inclusion In a perfect world, everyone would be accepted just because we are all human beings, but, that is not the case. Children with special needs have been subjected to everything from separate classes and schools to institutions and facilities for years. With the passing of laws children with special needs were taken into consideration and the need for inclusion was brought forth. Inclusion is when all students learn, participate, and contribute to all aspects of the learning process. What is Inclusion Inclusion in education is the act of including children with special needs into general education classes. Students learn side by side in the same classroom with the support of a team of professionals vested in the success of theseâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦For years children with special needs were ushered off to separate classes and schools. Children with special needs have the right to attend classes with their same aged peers in the same classroom with support. Students with special needs deserve the same opportunities they would have if circumstances were different. Inclusion gives those students with special needs the chance to be part of the community; able to form relationships outside of the family unit. All students benefit from inclusion; students with disabilities develop social skills and develop friendships while non-disabled students learn tolerance and acceptance. Separate special education provides no guarantee of success for children who need special attention. Students with special needs may fail to conform to the expectations of school and society, (Carter, Lewis, Wheeler 2017) Inclusion may present issues for teachers that do not possess the skills to make it work. Teachers must collaborate with a team of professional to plan and implement instruction for students in an inclusive environment. Students without disabilities could begin to see the students with disabilities as a distraction in the class depending on the needs of the student with disabilities. Personal perspective on inclusion. I believe that there are many benefits to inclusion but I have limited experience in this area so I canââ¬â¢t really judge how well it translates in the classroom. I think thatShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Inclusion In Education1530 Words à |à 7 PagesIn education, the word inclusion means students with and without disabilities are taught in the same classroom setting. Many sources such as speech physical therapy, or assistive technology are provided in the classroom so the student or students are not pulled out of the classroom. (Murawski, n.d.)Some may say it is distracting to the other students or seem unfair that they are getting special attention. However, being in an inclusion class is beneficial to both students with disabilities and toRead MoreThe Importance Of Inclusion For Special Education1154 Words à |à 5 PagesAccording to Idol (2006) (p.77), ââ¬Å"inclusion is when a student with special learning and/or behavioral needs is educated full time in the genera l education program. The student with special education needs is attending the general school program, enrolled in age-appropriate classes 100% of the school dayâ⬠(Idol, 1997, p.4). By enforcing inclusion, special education students are brought out of isolation and placed back into the general education classroom among their peers. This prepares the studentsRead MoreLevel 3 Diploma998 Words à |à 4 Pageslife; * Education; poor education could effect future goals and aspirations * Disability; unable to access certain services or activities * Poverty; poor health and hygiene, lack of activities and experiences being accessed * Housing; poor health, unable to develop fully. * Offending behaviour; convictions, effecting social ties and job opportunities * Health status; effect social ties, education, job opportunities * Personal choice; effect social ties, education, job opportunitiesRead MoreInclusion Of Special Needs For Students With Disabilities Essay1174 Words à |à 5 PagesOver the course of structuring the education system to include students with disabilities, there has being an ongoing research topic of inclusion. Inclusion, in this area, means the full inclusion of students with special needs in the general education classroom . The research and the debates about the issue of whether or not there should be full inclusion of Special Education students in all general education classrooms in all public schools throughout the United States rages on. The number of studentsRead MoreThe Importance Of The Teacher s Inclusive Education Essay1663 Words à |à 7 PagesThis essay discusses the importance of the role of the teacher in inclusive education. For several yearsââ¬â¢ children who suffer with disabilities and learning difficulties where separated and not given the same opportunitie s. Thankfully changes have been made in the education system and society, showing these children may seem different and may struggle a little more than the average child but they are not stupid and can exceed the expectation for a child of their age. In this essay I will be goingRead MoreInclusive Education Is Not A Marginal Issue1502 Words à |à 7 Pagesââ¬Å"Inclusive education is not a marginal issue, but is central to the achievement of high quality education for all learners and the development of more inclusive societiesâ⬠. This statement made by UNICEF clearly portrays their view that inclusive education is of upmost importance within our schools. However there is a sense that almost too much weigh has been placed upon this educational approach. ââ¬Å"â⬠¦is central to the achievement of high quality education for all learnersâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ , at a common sense standpointRead MoreInclusion Of Special Needs For Students With Disabilities1173 Words à |à 5 PagesOve r the course of structuring the education system to include students with disabilities, there has being an ongoing research topic of inclusion. Inclusion, in this area, means the full inclusion of students with special needs in the general education classroom. The research and the debates about the issue of whether or not there should be full inclusion of Special Education students in all general education classrooms in all public schools throughout the United States rages on. The number of studentsRead MoreEducation For Students With Disabilities803 Words à |à 4 Pagesagree that education for students with disabilities has improved greatly. Students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms have shown an increasing number of academic gains in a number of areas, including better test scores, completing IEP goals, grades, behavior and inspiration to learn. Placement in an inclusive classroom does not disrupt the academic performance of students without disabilities; it actually enhances students performances in and outside of the classroom. Inclusion helps studentsRead MoreInclusion For Special Needs Students Essay1630 Words à |à 7 PagesThere are a need and an active pursuance in including culturally sensitive curriculum in todayââ¬â¢s classroom. However, there is still a lack of inclusion for special needs students in general classroom settings. My interest in this topic stems from my major in EC-6, Special Education. My goal is to work with students with special needs. It is important to integrate students with disabilities in classrooms with students without disabilities. This early introduction of differences among students willRead MoreInclusion For Special Needs Students Essay1633 Words à |à 7 Pagesclassroom. However, there is still a lack of inclusion for special needs students in general classroom settings. My interest in this topic stems from my major in EC-6, Special Education. My goal is to work with students with special needs. It is important to integrate students with disabilities in classrooms with students without disabilities. By allowing students with disabilities to have access to a general education will enable them to obtain an equal education that is catered to their level of understanding
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Celsus Arguments Against Christianity Essay - 1677 Words
CELSUS 4 arguments against Christianity Misty Fleming Paper 1 The first of 4 arguments I believe to be of importance is that of the virgin birth. Jesus claims to be born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem. It was said that Jesus was born to a virgin and God himself. When it was time for Mary to give birth she and her husband set off to have Godââ¬â¢s son. Because there was no room at an Inn Jesus was born in a stable. On the contrary to what the Christian religion believes Celsus says that Jesus was born to a mother who was a spinner, and his legitimate father a Roman soldier, Panthera (Celsus pg. 57). It seemed as if it were common knowledge the transgressions that Jesus mother had committed with the Roman.â⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Not only was it their moral compass, but also an ironclad duty to guide those under their authority in the ways of rightness. God did not follow this thinking pattern. God was justified by his followers by saying that it was a test they needed to endure. He was never challenged, or even questioned. Questioning seems to be a bit of taboo. Celsus brings up important points about God being unreachable and unable to save them from harm. My thinking on this was that he was sitting up in the sky watching, but doing nothing. Celsus points out that God keeps his purposes to himself for long periods of time and just stands by when evil overcomes good (Celsus pg. 77). Instead of stopping the suffering that going on he continued to let it happen. He just stood by when plagues, fires, earthquakes, and famines riddled the land. It is hard to fathom God being all knowing and all mighty, yet he sits around and watches as thousands of his followers are killed through these disasters that he could have ceased with a single command or swipe of his hand. It does not seem to be something that a God with love for his children would let happen if he truly loved them like Christians claim. Instead his followers continued to believe that they just needed to have faith and they would be delivered. For Christians God, in likeness, is thought to be as man is with hands, body, and a voice that he uses to speak to hisShow MoreRelatedCelsus, on the True Doctrine: a Discourse Against the Christians.1357 Words à |à 6 PagesPaper 1 Celsus, On The True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians. (Trans. R. Joseph Hoffman) Romans were a highly skilled and educated lot and they demonstrated mild tolerance to religious sects, like Judaism. The goal of religion was to ensure the prosperity of the state, the people and the emperor under the protection of the gods. They honored this communal argument by preserving traditional ideology, moral conduct and religious responsibilities. But the rise of Christianity and theirRead MoreRobert Louis Wilken Writes Of Early Christianity From The1961 Words à |à 8 PagesRobert Louis Wilken writes of early Christianity from the perspective of Roman historical accounts, focusing on five major critics of the religion, and ultimately drawing the conclusion that these critics were instrumental in helping Christians more clearly define their faith through self-examination and defense of their own beliefs. With the exception of Pliny, whose opinions and actions were of little consequence throughout the Roman Empire, true dialogue began to take place as Christian philosophyRe ad MoreChristianity : Christianity And The Past2071 Words à |à 9 Pageshistory, Christianity always had a reputation, or a ââ¬Å"nameâ⬠following it. Different perspectives approached the reputation that was attached to Christianity in different manners. Justin Martyr and Porphyry had objectives when defining whether this ââ¬Å"nameâ⬠really defined Christianity and the past. They wondered whether the past really represented Christianity. Additionally they honed in on the question of was the past that people represented as Christianity really the roots of Christianity? All aroundRead MoreHistory Of Abnormal Psychology : Ancient Greek Times1929 Words à |à 8 Pagesmade by Asclepiades (129-40 B.C.), who disagreed with Hippocrates that an imbalance of bodily substances caused psychological disorders. Instead, he believed that psychological instabilities could be the product of emotional problems. He spoke out against the imprisonment of mentally ill and bleeding (a tr eatment that continued for another 1500 years). Other important advances made by Aesclepiades were a distinction between acute and chronic psychological disorders and between hallucinations and delusions
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Business Research Workers Retention in the Companies
Question: Writereport to describe a business research proposal based on the topic of workers retention in the companies. Answer: Introduction The report describes a business research proposal based on the topic of workers retention in the companies. Any organisation or business, be it small or big, runs mainly on the shoulders of the employees of that firm. Hence, one can say that the workers are the backbone of the business organisation. In todays world, no one gives proper recognition to the services of the workers when the company makes profit. Mainly the management of the firm takes away all the credits for the success in the business. The demand for skilled workers in the companies has increased in the recent times as the companies wants to remain at the top in this tough competitive world (Haar and White 2013). The research proposal discusses the ways in which the companies can efficiently retain the workers for the development of the company. Literature review To proceed with the research work, the researcher first reviews the literature sources available on the topic of the research. This helps the researcher to understand the problems better. The literature review also helps the researcher to collect secondary data that would be used in the research work. Scholarly articles and journals on the research topic reveal that nowadays it has become difficult for the companies to retain the skilled labourers of the firm (Hancock et al. 2013). Hence, it has become extremely important for the companies to work on the ways to retain their employees. The company has to look after the ways in which the company treats its employees as this is the most important factor which would help to hold back employees (Patel and Conklin 2012). Studies reveal that the employees resign from the services of the company due to many reasons. Some of the reasons which forces the employees to resign from the job includes improper working conditions, inequality in the treatment of the workers, poor technology to name a few (Bode et al. 2015). Hence, the company needs to engage the employees in more productive work to retain them. Some of the factors that would improve the chances of high retention of employees in the company consist of the following: improvement of the working conditions, improvement in the technology to be used by the employees, providing incentives to the workers, equality in the treatment of the workers and secularism (Bova et al. 2015). Studies highlight the fact that there is a positive correlation between engagement of the employees and the retention of the employees in the companies. The turnover or profit of the company increases when the company encourages its employees to engage in productive work (Frey et al. 2013). The following are the strategies the company can follow to hold back their employees: Recognising the employees: The Company should have a policy for rewarding the employees who have contributed to a large extent to the profit of the company. There should also be a provision for giving incentives to the workers. Providing a clear career path: the company should make it very clear to all its employees what the company wants and expects from them. Corporate social responsibility: The organisation should contribute in something that would affect the society and environment in a positive way. This would encourage employees to work with them (Edmans 2012). Research Questions The literature review of the topic helps the researcher to frame some questions that he would answer in his study. The following are the research questions that the researcher would answer in the study: What effect do the allotment of rewards and prizes to the employees have on employee retention of the company? What is the relationship of commitment of the employees, the remuneration that they receive and the performance of the employees to the retention of the workers by the company? How can the employees commitment to his work help in achieving the aims and objectives of the organisation? Description of Research methodology and techniques The researcher would conduct the study going through the following for stages: Enquiry of the topic: Firstly, the researcher would inquire and investigate about the topic. The researcher would review some of the literature articles and journals that are available on the topic. Data collection: The researcher would collect both primary and secondary data for doing the research. The researcher would collect secondary data from the literature review and from other sources like the internet or from websites of the organisation. The researcher also collects primary data by conducting interviews of the relevant subjects (Thomas et al. 2015). Organisation of the collected information: the researcher validates the collected data and performs data analysis. The analyst analyses the data by employing both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques. Presentation of the outcomes of the research: The researcher finally presents all his findings of the research in a proper manner that would benefit the employees as well as the organisations as a whole (Bryman and Bell 2015). Gantt chart The Gantt chart gives the details of the time that each of the important milestones of the research work would take to complete. The following is the Gantt chart of the research. Task Start date Duration End date Literature Review 17th June 15.00 2nd July Data Collection 3rd July 60.00 3rd Sept Data Analysis 4th Sept 55.00 31st Oct Final Report Submission 1st Nov 30.00 30th Nov Description of the research process The research process includes a step by step procedure in which the researcher would conduct the research work. The first step that the researcher would follow is to identify the aim of the research. After locating the sources of the data, the researcher conducts surveys to collect the information from the sources. The researcher first selects the sample of the people on whom the interview would be conducted. The researcher utilises some random sampling technique to select the sample (Corbin and Strauss 2014). The interviewer conducts the interview using a questionnaire that contains questions on the topics related to the study. After collecting the data, the researcher purifies and validates the data and then analyses the data using some suitable data analysis technique (Creswell 2013). Finally, the researcher shares what outcomes of the research he expects from his study. Description of data collection and analysis techniques The researcher would collect the secondary data required for the interview. The researcher would go through the journals or articles available on different sources. This would help the researcher gather information about the topic (Ott and Longnecker 2015). The experimenter would collect primary data from the employees and managers of different organisations through questionnaires. The data that the experimenter collects from the employees and managers comprises of the quantitative data (Gale et al. 2013). The researcher analyses the data using suitable quantitative data analysis techniques. The researcher takes help of some statistical software like SPSS, R, STATA to calculate certain measures of descriptive statistics like median, mode, mean of the data. The researcher may perform some qualitative tests on the qualitative data that is collected from the other sources (Gelman et al. 2014). Expected research outcome The researcher expects that his work would help the employees as well as the different organisations. The experimenter expects that his work would show new ways to the organisations to retain their employees. The research would give new opportunities to the business firms to innovate and find out new ways to improve the work conditions for the employees. Conclusion The report on the business research proposal describes many new areas of the retention of the employees by the business organisations. The research would pin point the reasons why different organisations fail to retain their employees. Hence, the findings of the research would help the organisations to improve the conditions that would hold back the workers from resigning from the service. References: Bode, C., Singh, J. and Rogan, M., 2015. Corporate social initiatives and employee retention.Organization Science. Bova, F., Dou, Y. and Hope, O.K., 2015. Employee ownership and firm disclosure.Contemporary Accounting Research,32(2), pp.639-673. Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015.Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. Corbin, J. and Strauss, A., 2014.Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage publications. Creswell, J.W., 2013.Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Edmans, A., 2012. The link between job satisfaction and firm value, with implications for corporate social responsibility.The Academy of Management Perspectives,26(4), pp.1-19. Frey, R.V., Bayn, T. and Totzek, D., 2013. How customer satisfaction affects employee satisfaction and retention in a professional services context.Journal of Service Research, p.1094670513490236. Gale, N.K., Heath, G., Cameron, E., Rashid, S. and Redwood, S., 2013. Using the framework method for the analysis of qualitative data in multi-disciplinary health research.BMC medical research methodology,13(1), p.117. Gelman, A., Carlin, J.B., Stern, H.S. and Rubin, D.B., 2014.Bayesian data analysis(Vol. 2). Boca Raton, FL, USA: Chapman Hall/CRC. Haar, J.M. and White, B.J., 2013. Corporate entrepreneurship and information technology towards employee retention: a study of New Zealand firms.Human Resource Management Journal,23(1), pp.109-125. Hancock, J.I., Allen, D.G., Bosco, F.A., McDaniel, K.R. and Pierce, C.A., 2013. Meta-analytic review of employee turnover as a predictor of firm performance.Journal of Management,39(3), pp.573-603. Ott, R.L. and Longnecker, M., 2015.An introduction to statistical methods and data analysis. Nelson Education. Patel, P.C. and Conklin, B., 2012. Perceived Labor Productivity in Small FirmsThe Effects of Highà Performance Work Systems and Group Culture Through Employee Retention.Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice,36(2), pp.205-235. Thomas, J.R., Silverman, S. and Nelson, J., 2015.Research Methods in Physical Activity, 7E. Human Kinetics.
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