The Siege by Helen Dunmore - Chapter 17 Essay Example for Free

The Siege by Helen Dunmore Chapter 17 Essay The chapter begins with Anna sharing how she feels about winter and the snow. Anna has always loved the first snowfall of winter. She knows as soon as dawn comes that it’ll be today. The sky remains dark, with a yellow tinge to the clouds. The light has a sharp, raw edge. Everything is waiting, silent and expectant. Snow will come. She thinks the snow will wipe away all mistakes. Light will stream upwards from the immaculate white of the ground. When the first snow falls, Anna always goes to the Summer Garden. There, the noise of the city is muffled, and the park is eerily luminous. Small, naked ­looking sparrows hop from twig to twig, dislodging a powder of snow. The trees are lit up like candelabra by the whiteness they hold in their arms. Underfoot, she hears for the first time the squeak of snow packing into the treads of her boots. She bends down, scoops up a handful of the new snow, throws it up into the air and watches it scatter into powdery fragments as it falls for the second time. And although she’s cold and she ought to get home, she always stays much longer than she means to, because she knows that this feeling won’t come again for another year. The snow will continue to fall, thaw, freeze, turn grey with use, be covered again and again by fresh blizzards. But nothing again will have the freshness, exhilaration and loneliness of the first snowfall. She’s the one thing still warm and alive in a world which is going to sleep. She looks up, into the snow which spirals down the steep funnels of the sky, whirls into her face, lands on her eyelashes and melts into tears. And then she goes back to the apartment, along streets where trams are already thrashing the new, soft snow into slush. Children skid around street ­corners, yelling, their faces blazing crimson. Soon it’ll be time for skis and sledges. And tomorrow, when she wakes, the snow will be thick and crusted with ice. The sun will be out, and all the shadows will be blue. This is how she has welcomed the snow every year of her life. But this year she will not welcome it in that way. The first snow falls on the fourteenth of October, drifting down through the sky and settling on the ruins of shelled houses, on to tank ­traps, machine ­gun nests and heaps of rubble. The snow is silent, but ominous. No one knows, this year, whether it will be an enemy or a friend. The Russian winter defeated Napoleon, people say to one another. Perhaps it will defeat Hitler, too. A ring of siege grips the city. Nothing comes in, nothing goes out. And in the suburbs, within sight, the Germans have dug themselves in. There they stay, hunkered down for winter in deep trenches, behind defended firing ­positions. The Germans have always been good at digging trenches, say older Leningraders who fought in the last war. Luxury trenches, they have, with carpets and chairs and pictures hanging on the walls. There they squat in the outskirts of Leningrad, like wolves at the mouth of a cave. They pour shells on to the city, but they do not advance any farther. This is blockade. swinging their arms. They write letters to their families, saying that they’ll be home soon, when they have won the war. Behind them, unbroken supply lines stretch all the way back to Berlin. The Germans are altering their rolling ­stock to fit Russian railway lines. They have got the harvests of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on hand, and they can wait as long as they have to. An iron ring squeezes around the besieged city, slowly throttling it. Marina and Anna talk about Marina’s roles, and how she played so many roles, one including Cordelia in For My Cordelia. ‘Oh Anna, I played so many roles. I kept it for the stone, not for the inscription. Besides, I never identified with the character. I am much too aggressive. I would have taken Lear by the shoulders and shaken some sense into him. That kind of vanity amounts to madness, don’t you think? All of us are to grovel on the floor declaring our love for our great leader. But of course, you have to find a way into every part.’ Q: How much money do they have left? A: Five Hundred. Q: What is one role that Marina potrayed? A: Cordelia in For My Cordelia

Leadership in Organizational Settings

Leadership in Organizational Settings Leadership can be defined as the ability to influence, motivate, and enable other people to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members (McShane, S.l., Von Glinow, 2010). The competency perspectives try to identity the characteristics of effective leaders. The leaders might have specific personality characteristics, such as positive self-concept, integrity, drive, and leadership motivation, knowledge of the business, cognitive and practical intelligence, and emotional intelligence. Besides that, the behavioural perspective of leadership identifies two types of leader behaviour, people-oriented and task-oriented (McShane, S.L., Von Glinow, M.A., 2012). The contingency perspective of leadership takes the view that effective leader diagnose the situation and adapt their style to fit the situation. There are four leadership styles in path-goal model: directive, supportive, participative, and achievement oriented and several contingencies relating to the characteristics of the employee and of the situation (Bolman Deal, 1991). According to the founders, there are two other contingency leadership theories include the situational leadership theory and Fiedlers contingency theory. Transformational leaders create a strategic vision, communicate that vision through framing and build commitment toward the vision. In this topic, cultural values also influence the leaders personal values, which is turn influence men or womens leadership practices. 1.2 Background of the Company: AirAsia In this assignment, we try to probe the leadership style of AirAsia. AirAsia is an airline company in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is focusing on low-cost with the dream of making flying possible for everyone. Tony Fernandes, the CEO of the AirAsia, who is the founder of Tune Air Sdn. Bhd. He is the one who introduced the budget no-frills airline. Now AirAsia is the largest low cost airline in Asia. AirAsia group operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 400 destinations spanning 25 countries. Its main hub is the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) which is located at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The vision of AirAsia is to be the largest low cost airline in Asia and serving three billion people who are currently underserved with poor connectivity and high fares. There are four mission of AirAsia: to be the best company to work for whereby employees are treated as part of a big family; to build a globally recognised ASEAN brand; to accomplish the lowest c ost so that everyone can fly with AirAsia and sustain the highest quality product, enchanting technology to reduce the cost (Company Profile of AirAsia Berhad, 2013) 2.0 CONTENT 2.1 Competency perspective of leadership Competencies encompass a broad range of personal characteristics, including knowledge, skills, abilities, and values. Personal characteristics significantly influence leadership emergence the perception that someone is a leader in a leadership situation. (Steven L. McShane, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). Leadership competencies can be grouped into seven categories such as: Emotional intelligence The important attribute of effective leaders. The leaders ability to monitor his or her own and others emotions, discriminate among them, and use the information to guide his or her thoughts and actions. Integrity Integrity refers to the leaders truthfulness and tendency to translate words into deeds. This characteristic is sometimes called authentic leadership because the individual acts with sincerity. Drive Drive represents the inner motivation that leaders posses to pursue their goals and encourage others to move forward with theirs. Drive inspires inquisitiveness, an action orientation, and boldness to take the company into uncharted waters. Leadership motivation The leaders need for socialized power to accomplish team or organizational goals. Effective leaders try to gain power so they can influence others to accomplish goals that benefit the team or organization. Self- confidence The leaders belief in his or her own leadership skills and ability to achieve objectives. Effective leaders are typically extroverted such as outgoing, sociable, talkative, and assertive, but they also remain humble. Intelligence The leaders above-average cognitive ability to process enormous amounts of information. Leaders have superior ability to analyze a variety of complex alternatives and opportunities. Knowledge of the business The leaders tacit and explicit knowledge about the companys environment, enabling him or her to make more intuitive decisions. 2.2 Transformational leadership Transformational leadership is about leading changing the organizations strategies and culture so that they have a better fit with the surrounding environment. Transformation leaders are change agents who energize and direct employees to new set of corporate values and behaviors. They create, communicate, and model a shared vision for the team or organization, and they inspire followers to strive for that vision. Next, Transformational leadership is particularly essential in organizations that require significant alignment with the external environment. There are several elements of transformational leadership: Create a strategic vision It refers transformational leaders establish a vision of the companys future state that engages employees to achieve objectives they didnt think possible. Strategic vision creates a higher purpose or superordinate goal that energizes and unifies employees. A strategic vision might originate with leader, but it is just as likely to emerge from employees, clients, suppliers, or other stakeholders. Communicate the vision It refers transformational leaders communicate meaning and elevate the importance of the visionary goal to employees. They frame messages around a grand purpose with emotional appeal that captivates employees and other corporate stakeholders. Framing helps transformational leaders establish a common mental model so that the group or bring their visions to life through symbols, metaphors, stories, and other vehicles that transcend plain language. Metaphors borrow images of other experiences, thereby creating richer meaning of the vision that has not yet been experienced. Model the vision Modeling the vision is also important because it builds employee trust in the leader. The greater the consistency between the leaders words and actions, the more employees will believe in and be willing to follow the leader. Build commitment toward the vision Build commitment toward the vision which is transforming a vision into reality requires employee commitment. Transformational leaders words, symbols, and stories build a contagious enthusiasm that energizes people to adopt the vision as their own. Leaders demonstrate a can do attitude by enacting their vision and staying on course. Their persistence and consistency reflect an image of honesty, trust, and integrity. Lastly, leaders build commitment by involving employees in the process of shaping the organizations vision. Application Competency Perspective of Leadership 1. Leadership motivation Toni Fernandes was a leadership motivation leader. He was very accessible to the media was entirely committed to his business. He tries to gain power and influence others to accomplish goals that benefit the team or organization. For example, he wore AirAsias official T-shirt and office red rap cap to almost every official function and sometimes he will serve the customers on the plane together with employees. (Tony Fernandes, 2012) He had done this action because he wanted to motivate his employees move toward together to achieve the goals. Besides that, Tony Fernandes was an outgoing, sociable and talkative person. He gave his phone number to all the media representatives, and was himself advertisement for his company. Although he was a Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia, but he also remain humble in front of others. Because of his personal characteristic and attitude, he was able to achieve their companys objectives and goals. He had became a good example for his employees, so that employees willing to follow him to accomplish the goals. 2. Intelligence Tony Fernandes was an intelligence leader. He had superior ability to analyze a variety of opportunities and alternatives. He had a good vision of the future because he was exploited the markets opportunities well. AirAsias vision is to be the largest low cost airline in Asia and serving the 3 billion people who are currently underserved with poor connectivity and high fares. (AirAsia Corparate Profile, 2012) Although the context was not very beneficial to enter the market, but Tony Fernandas chose to take the risk. He believed that he and his management team were able to analyze and manage the opportunities and alternatives with their intelligence. For example, Tony Fernandes had used his intelligence and finally transformed AirAsia from a heavily-indebted subsidiary into an industry player. Besides that, Tony Fernandes had started a hotel chain, Tune Hotels which is based on the no-frills concept by using his intelligence. He had involved in different industry in the marketplace. 3. Knowledge of the business Tony Fernandes had the knowledge about the business and companys environment which can enable him to make more intuitive decisions. For example, Tony Fernandes was the first person who entered the market segment of low costs and no frills. He did not take risks only by taking over AirAsia, but also in its drastic changes. Since the creation, he continually brought a lot of innovative concepts, such as, booking services for hostels, travel insurance, online booking and check-in, car rental, holiday products, credit card or medical care. He also deeply changed the business model of the airline company which is choosing a low-cost and no-frills strategy and moved down the value chain. Throughout the changes that had made by Tony Fernandes, we believe that Tony Fernandes had enough knowledge about the business. With this knowledge, he was able to achieve companys objectives and goals. 4. Drive Tony Fernandes was a leader who motivates and drives his employees (Allstars) to pursue their goals and encourage them to move forward with him. In AirAsia, Tony Fernandes had tried to introduce something in the management philosophy, where he wants people to pursue their dreams, pursue their passion. For example, Tony Fernandess childhood dreams included running an airline, owning an English football club and an owning Formula One racing team. (Tony Fernandes, 2012) Thus, Tony Fernandes decided to achieve and fulfill his dream by buying an existing airline and started to transform it into an industry player. At the same time, Tony Fernandes also encourage his employees (Allstars) to pursue their passion and drive them to move toward the goals. He had created an environment where people can learn, grow and do what turns them on. Because of this, employees were being motivated by Tony Fernandes and they started to pursue their goals together with Tony Fernandes. Transformational leadership 1. Create a strategic vision Tony Fermandes is a chief executive officer or director AirAsia Berhad and he is transformational leader because the business model of the airasia are changed by him which is Now everyone can fly a low-cost and no-frills strategy and moved down the value chain. It also has successful swiftly broken travel norms around the globe and has risen to become the best of the world. Tony Fermandes mortgaged his home and sank his savings to invest Airasia Company (Alesia Sion, 2012). Tony Fermandes have develop strategic vision of the company to which is Airasia be the largest low cost airline in Asia and serving the 3 billion people who are currently underserved with poor connectivity and high fares. As we know that, nowadays many airplane companies come out different strategies to make their company better than competitors so he has create a good vision for doing their business once he takeover the company. Form the year 2004, Airasia had achieved the low-cost airline awards is the low cost airline in the world. It proved that he successful to accomplish his company vision. 2. Communicate the vision Next, Tony Fermandes work hard to create an environment where employees can learn, grow and do what they should do in company. He also encourages employees to pursue their passions love their jobs at AirAsia based on their environment. Besides that, the nice quoted part every month he spends a day as a baggage-handler; every two months, a day as a cabin crew; every three months, a day as a check-in clerk (Shashank Nigam, 2009) to describe he always change jobs to get experience with different department. He also established a culture department to pass the message and hold parties. The workplace are different the traditional hierarchal Asian population which open plan workplace so that all employees can meet him by anytime. 3. Model the vision He also modeled the vision of the company which is to prove that he not only talks also enacts it to let everyone fly by providing low-cost airfares. Furthermore, the CEO Airasia Tony fernandes personal credo is dream the impossible, believe the unbelievable, and never take no for an answer. There was a real example which is started AirAsia Thailand, Tony was asked by a women about she wanna be a pilot, then tony replied that if she qualify he will hire her as a pilot. Lastly, she did and became a first officer and subsequently now she is a full-time captain and flying in the plane (Chris Forrest Harvey, 2012). This show that he let everyone can fly and also let everyone have the opportunity to become his workers help them to achieve their own dreams. 4. Build commitment toward the vision Lastly, Tony fernandes build commitment toward vision which transforms the vision in reality. He desire to start low-cost airline company then he has create the good vision of the company to let everyone can fly in reality. Therefore, AirAsia keep promote promotion package with low prices for customers to enjoy low prices fly to different places. AirAsia fares are significantly lower than those other airline service providers, websites fares also cheaper than frontline counter price and having free seats promotion to give the customers opportunity to enjoy and also for those who cannot afford the prices. It is to accomplish the vision everyone can fly in reality. Besides that, He break down hierarchy to encourage employees to speak out and breaking down walls for example he sit with his employees in an open floor plan and also let his contact number to his employees so they can just call, e-mail and SMS him directly and solve it quickly which do not need go through any department. Ev en the lowest ranking officers also can have his phone number to contact him directly which means he treats everyone as equal and willing to commit to their needs (Shashank Nigam, 2009). Disadvantages One main issue in related with Air Asia in leadership in organizational settings in which the competency perspective of Tony Fernandes may have several limitations. The leadership that Tony Fernandes applied might assume that the same personal characteristics are equally important in all situations. This may be false assumption as this perspective is too complex to have universal list of traits to apply to every conditions. Other than Air Asia, Tony Fernandes is the chairman for the Queens Park Rangers Football Club. Tony Fernandes keeps defend the football club with his own competency perspective that QPR football club that the club can overcome their conflict. This shows that Tony Fernandes had used the same personal characteristics equally in all situations whether in Air Asia or the QPR football club. The second limitations would be that the leadership Tony Fernandes has might influence only peoples perception that someone is leader, not whether Tony Fernandes makes a difference to the organizations success. This perspective only shows Tony Fernandess leadership potential instead of leadership performance. Therefore, it doesnt shows that the effectiveness of Tony Fernandess leadership compares to other perspective of leadership. One issue we can see that in the Air Asia wordpress showed that Tony Fernandes had cheated on the price of the shares of Air Asia. But then it was found out by the Australians effective enforcement that Melboure Federal Court imposed a huge fine of Aussie dollars 300,00 on Air Asia and Air Asia X for this misleading website information cheating its customers concealing charges of taxes. Why does this issue happen? It is simply because the dropping by the angry customers whore also the shareholders that would not trust anymore on Tony Fernandez and Air Asia over their scamming businesses deals and unfair deals to the customers. As for transformational leadership applies by Tony Fernandes, it can be only mention in general that leaders that are transformational when they successfully bring out the change, rather than when they engage in certain behaviors we call transformational. Therefore without the success done by Tony Fernandes towards the vision of Air Asia, Tony Fernandes would not be entitled of this perspective leadership. 3.0 RECOMMENDATION Competency perspective of leadership A company can achieve success if the leader can execute that the competencies that is difficult for others to replicate. In this competency perspective of leadership, Tony should organize a team to identify new directions or actions for the whole management. Besides that, he should often organize a meeting of the employee to discuss and clarify what they will need to do differently as a result of changes in the company. Problem solving or decision making process with the management team will be another alternative for Tony to have a better competency perspective of leadership. Emotional intelligence is an important skill that a leader required to influence his/her employee to perform well in their job. Therefore, Tony should have a good management for his emotional to prevent a conflict with his employee or having a wrong perspective decision due when his emotional level is low. Good leaders know their strengths and limitations, so they able to control their emotions and behaviors. Thus, Tony needs to strive for his personal development by engaging in continuous learning. Based on the learning, Tony should be able to adapt to stressful situations and be able to maintain a balance between his work and non-work lives. Lastly, Tony should have a leadership to maximize the potential of others and motivate them to attain shared goals. He must be able to manage individual and group performance with an understanding of group dynamics and team building. Tony needs to provide the drive for his employees to make them have better work performances. He should be understanding and be empathic toward individuals emotions and be able to resolve conflicts in a respectful manner. One of the ways to motivate the employee is to create a slogan of company to improve mutual relationship between company and employees. Besides that, Tony should play as a role model with competency attributes for his employees, and that will create a drive to make them set Tony Fernandes as a target to surpass. Transformational leadership Transformational leaders have the capability to successfully achieve the objective because of four attributes which including charisma, the ability to provide inspirational motivation, the ability to stimulate intellectually, and the ability to offer individualized consideration. According to Barnerji and Krishnan (as citied in Kasturi, 2012) a good transformational leader must possess the ability of articulating a convincing and realistic vision and focus others towards a new critical path. In certain circumstances, a company may need to be redesigned to support the whole transformational leadership. As we know, create a strategic vision is a fundamental element of a transformational leader to become successful. Tony Fernandes need to create and communicate his vision thus stimulate discussions with his subordinates. For example, he may run brainstorming meetings with the subordinates to present new organizational models. With this, the employees will be more understand on the company objectives and to have better job performances. Charisma is another important component to which a leader to behaves in commendable ways that cause employees to identify with the leader. Tony also needs to be a role model for their followers with having a clear set of values and demonstrating them in every decision. The leader and followers must build a mutual trust between each other on a solid moral and ethical foundation (Covey, 2007). Besides that, the leader must create an inspirational motivation for the employees as the motivation is appealing and inspiring to employees. For example, Tony Fernandes can communicate optimism about future goals with his employees to provide a motivation for them to perform better in the work field. It is important that this visionary aspect of leadership be supported by communication skills that allow the leader to articulate his vision with precision and power in a convincing and persuasive way. Therefore, a good communication skill is required to complete this element of being a transformational leader. Furthermore, Tony should acts as a mentor or instructor to the employee and listens to their apprehensions and needs. Tony can encompass the need to respect and celebrate with the employees for their individual contribution for the company. Tony can reward to those contributed employees for their good performance in job, this can motivate the employee to have a better commitment on their job. This way not only educates the next generation of leaders, but also fulfills the individuals need for self-actualization, self-fulfillment, and self-worth. It also naturally propels followers to further achievement and growth. According to Burns (as citied in Arachchi, 2012), it show that transformational leader as reflecting the traits and behaviors are required for initiating change. These leaders need to identify themselves as change agents and take responsibility for transformation. Generally, they are risk takers and courageous, believe in and trust people, have a clear values in motivation. In other words, Tony needs to deal with complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty and share his vision with the employees. To fulfill this element, Tony should show his confidence of taking risk in doing business and prove to his employees that he has the ability to do so. With that, the employees will be influenced by his leadership and help the company to achieve the goal. Recommendations Other Relevant Theory Other than competency and transformational perspective leadership, there is another theory that can be applied by Tony Fernandes to solve the problem which is implicit leadership perspective. The competency and transformational leadership perspectives make the basic assumption that leaders make a difference. However, leadership also involves followers perception about the characteristics and behaviors of a leader. This perceptual perspective of leadership is collectively called implicit leadership theory (Steven L. McShane, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). According to the implicit leadership theory, everyone has leadership prototypes which they use to evaluate the leaders effectiveness. Employees are more willing to allow someone to influence them as a leader if that person looks and acts like their prototype of a leader. Tony Fernandes should possess a good leadership prototype as he is the CEO of Airasia. These prototypes can be developed through socialization within the family and society, shape employees expectations and acceptance of others as leader, and this in turn affects employees willingness to serve as followers. Such leadership prototypes not only support Tony Fernandess role as a leader, they also form employees perception of the leaders effectiveness. If Tony Fernandes acts consistently with employees prototypes, they are more likely to believe that he is an effective leader. Besides that, as mentioned earlier, the leadership that Tony Fernandes applied might assume that the same personal characteristics are equally important in all situations, but this may be false assumption as this perspective is too complex to have universal list of traits to apply to every conditions. Therefore, the contingency perspective of leadership plays an important role to help Tony Fernandes to solve the problem. The contingency perspective of leadership is based on the idea that most appropriate leadership style depends on the situation. It assumes that effective leaders must be both insightful and flexible (Steven L. McShane, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). Tony Fernandes should put efforts to choose and enact different styles to match the uncertainty situation. Moreover he must have high emotional intelligence so that he can diagnose the circumstances and match his behaviors accordingly. 4.0 CONCLUSION The studied prove that there are two leadership theories have been implementing in the company, AirAsia: competency perspective of leadership and transformational leadership. There are seven dimensions has been found in competency perspective of leadership such as emotional intelligence, integrity, drive, leadership motivation, self-confidence, intelligence and knowledge of the business. However, Tony Fernandes only apply leadership motivation, intelligence, drive and knowledge of business in his business. Emotional intelligence and drive are recommended implement to the business to prevent the conflict with the employees and to increase the team performance. For the transformational leadership, it emphasizes to create a strategic vision, communicate the vision, modeling and build commitment toward the vision. In this case, Tony Fernandes has successfully applied all the four dimensions of the transformational leadership in the business. In the recommendation part, the need to create and communicate vision thus stimulate discussion with subordinates is a must to Tony Fernandes. He also need to create an inspirational motivation for the employees and communicate with employees will help them perform better in their work field. Hence, a good communication skill is required to being a transformational leader. Besides that, Tony needs to deal with complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty and also share his vision with the employees to influence them perform well to achieve the goal. There are some points can be identified and apply to other relevant theory, for example, implicit leadership theory. Implicit leadership theory emphasize the importance of involves followers perception about the characteristics and behaviors of the leader. And this point not mentioned in the competency and transformational leadership theories.

Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) Essay -- essays research papers

Youth crime is a growing epidemic that affects most teenagers at one point in their life. There is no question in society to whether or not youths are committing crimes. It has been shown that since 1986 to 1998 violent crime committed by youth jumped approximately 120% (CITE). The most controversial debate in Canadian history would have to be about the Young Offenders Act (YOA). In 1982, Parliament passed the Young Offenders Act (YOA). Effective since 1984, the Young Offenders Act replaced the most recent version of the Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA). The Young Offenders Act’s purpose was to shift from a social welfare approach to making youth take responsibility for their actions. It also addressed concerns that the paternalistic treatment of children under the JDA did not conform to Canadian human rights legislation (Mapleleaf). It remained a heated debate until the new legislation passed the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Some thought a complete overhaul was needed, others t hought minor changes would suffice, and still others felt that the Young Offenders Act was best left alone. In February 2002, the House of Commons passed the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). The Act came into effect in April 2003, replacing the Young Offenders Act (Mapleleaf). The new legislation attempts to balance the legalistic framework of the Young Offenders Act and the social needs approach underlying the Juvenile Delinquents Act. This goal is apparent in the Declaration of Principle stating th...

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: essays research papers fc

The History Behind To Kill A Mockingbird   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nelle Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird has been considered one of the classic works of American literature. To Kill A Mockingbird is the work ever published by Nelle Harper Lee, and it brought her great fame. However, Nelle Harper Lee has published several other articles in popular magazines. Nelle Harper Lee is not an individual who desires to be in the light and little is known about her personal life. At the time it is believed she is possible working on her memoirs. The fictional work of To Kill A Mockingbird plots many elements close to real events in America’s struggle over civil rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scout Finch is the narrator in Lee’s work To Kill A Mockingbird, and the two share many similarities in real life. They both grew up in the 1930 in Alabama towns. Lee’s father was Amasa Lee â€Å"attorney who served in the state legislature in Alabama† (Johnson). Atticus Finch who is Scout’s father was also an attorney and served on the state legislature. They both had an older brother and a young neighbor playmate. Lee’s was Truman Capote and Scouts was Dill.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Lee was six years old one of the nations most notorious trials was taking place, the Scottsboro Trials. â€Å"On March 25, 1931, a freight train was stopped in Paint Rock, a tiny community in Northern Alabama, and nine young African American men who had been riding the rails were arrested† (Johnson). â€Å"Two white women on the train,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 in an apparent effort to avoid prostitution charges, claimed that they had been raped by the black youths and these accusations nearly led to a lynching in Scottsboro, where the youths had been jailed† (Jones Ross). The trails and appeals of these youth gained national attention throughout the 1930’s and, at one point, all but one of the young men was sentenced to death in the Alabama electric chair.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In To Kill A Mockingbird Lee tells the story of a Mr. Tom Robinson who is an African American who is being charged with rape against a white women. Atticus is the lawyer who must defend Robinson in court. In the Scottsboro case a central figure was a heroic judge who overturned a guilty verdict against the young men. The judge went against the public in trying to protect the rights of the African American men. In reading the novel you learn that Atticus arouses anger in the small community when he tries to defend Robinson.

Psychological Skills Training Essay -- Sports PST Training Athletics E

Psychological Skills Training What exactly is Psychological Skills Training and for a coach or instructor, what advantage is gained by its implementation? In other words, why bother? Psychological Skills Training (PST) is typically more comprehensive than a few short sessions with a few simple interventions that a coach or instructor might suggest. PST usually integrates cognitive and relaxation techniques in a more encompassing approach to mental training and as a complement to physical training. Individualism is a hallmark of most PST programs. (Gill, 2000) The Importance of Mental Skills Why are mental skills so important to performance and why are they often neglected by coaches and athletes? Yogi Berra has been quoted as saying, "sport is 90% mental and 50% physical." You can question his mathematical savvy, but if you're an athlete, coach or fan, you can't question his wisdom. (Hacker, 2000) Many athletes understand that while developing oneself to their physical potential is a critical element in performance potential, it is often a deficit in our psychological game rather than errors in our physical performance that keep us from performing at optimum levels in practice, games or matches. Spud McKenzie, the Budweiser poster puppy, suggested that it is important to say when, but also emphasized the critical element of knowing â€Å"when to say when†. It is often the successful athlete has recognized what needed to be done and the unsuccessful athlete was unable to do so. As a consequence, it is not the physical talents or abilities that separate athletes an d teams, or successful versus less successful performance, rather, the psychological dimension that most frequently explains a given sport outcome or individual performance. For this reason games are played. Prior to each contest, judgment could be made with regard to which team or individual is the â€Å"more highly skilled†. If games were decided on who is the most physically gifted and/or talented individuals or teams, it would prove to be an exercise in futility to compete. As a result, whether you are an athlete or a coach, mastering the mental game of sport will allow you to achieve a level of success as a competitor than you could otherwise not achieve by focusing exclusively on the physical side of sport. PST - The Initial Learning Phase The four commonly used PST techniques are: arou... ...file becomes increasingly significant in terms of achieving desired performance levels. The margins for success and failure as a world-class athlete can be miniscule. Skiers go wide on the third gate of a downhill race to find they have not only lost the gold medal, but any medal. Members of the PGA, after playing 72 holes, find themselves losing the tournament by one stroke, as a result of the missed three-foot putt on the second day of competition. Works Cited Gill, D. L., (2000), Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise, Champaign, IL, 2nd Ed., p197, Human Kinetics. Hacker, C., (February 2000), Introduction to Psychological Skills, Eteamz, http://www.eteamz.com/baseball/instruction/psych/index.cfm?m=1,2,3,4,5 Rushall, B. S., (1995). Mental Skills Training for Sports, Sports Science Associates, Spring Valley, CA., 8.1- 8.3, White, S. A., Psychological Skills: Differences between Volleyball Players on the Youth National Team and Those Involved in the 14’s High-Performance Camp, Unpublished Thesis, Illinois State University, Normal, IL. Weinberg, R.S. & Gould, D. {1995} Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Ch.15

Why is Atticus defending Tom Robinson?

I, Atticus Finch, have decided to defend Tom Robinson against the beliefs of white southern culture. I realize in doing so that I am jumping out of the lines in which the white community has drawn so easily. They have put themselves in these lines to separate themselves from colored people in a way that makes them at a higher standard. I am defending Tom Robinson because I believe him to be an innocent man, he has the right to a fair trial even if he is colored, and he deserves justice. In taking this case, many people have changed their perspectives of me just because I am defending a colored man. Tom Robinson is a noble field hand. He has no reason for harm towards Mayella. I truly believe that his innocence is real. He is kind and helpful, even brave enough to continuously help Mayella on his walks home from work. Tom was not carrying out favors for Mayella for money, but just out of the kindness he possesses. Yet, this town sees Tom as a rapist because of his skin color. If this man was white, you would be able to understand and actually hear what I am saying about an innocent man. You cannot get passed his appearance to see his heart. I am able to see pass his color and find his person underneath his skin. I am choosing to step out of the lines because Tom Robinson did not rape Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson has the right to have someone defend him who believes in him. I took this case because I want to defend him to my best ability. Every man has the right to a fair trial. No matter race or color. Bob Ewell can judge me for siding with a colored person. But I fight for justice, not for a so called â€Å"superior† race. This man should be innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent. People put these perceptions that whites are superior to colored people just because there white. That is not a way people should view other people. Tom deserves a fair trial. Mayella tells this lie in court, why? She feels that because he is colored she will be able to blame him. Although Tom Robinson is colored he has the right to justice as much as a white man. He shouldn't be blamed for an act that he didn't commit because of the color of his skin. I want justice for this man. Notice how he is just a man. He isn't defined as a colored man in my eyes as he is to the white community. Tom Robinson is a man who is innocent and justice deserves to be given to this man, this human being. Many townspeople may not understand why I stand by a colored man, but I stand for justice even if that means stepping outside the lines that this white community has drawn around themselves. White people need to step off the pedestal that they have given to themselves and realize everyone deserves justice. Although people may not understand why I defend Tom Robinson, I choose to do because he deserves justice. No matter his skin color, he is a man who is innocent. I may have broken rules in the eyes of the white community, but I stand for justice and Tom is innocent. My actions are my own and I don't let racism waiver my beliefs. Colored or white, justice is a right to all.

Government Assistance on Welfare Programs

S. B. 311 will reform the current system of welfare. The reform of the national system is based on the Wisconsin Works or W-2 bill. The bill makes it necessary for people receiving financial, medical, and other various types of government assistance to work for what they receive. The goal of this bill is to eventually get everyone off of the current welfare system. This bill requires everyone who is currently receiving welfare to find employment or enter a job training program. The part of the W-2 bill that will be included is the part that deals with job location. Every participant would have to meet with a financial and employment planner, who would help develop a money and time management program for that person. They would also determine which level of employment or training the participant is ready for. Here are the levels from top to bottom: Unsubsidized Employment: People entering at this level will be offered the best available and immediate job opportunity. If the job does not provide a high enough income to support oneself, income credits, food stamps, Medical Assistance, and child care may be accessible for 6 months. This period of time is given to the participant to locate a higher income job. Trial Jobs: These jobs are designed for people who are not able to locate unsubsidized work. The bill would cover added costs to the employer for training an employee which might need extra support in job training for the first 3-6 months. These trial jobs should result in permanent positions. While a participant is working at a trial job the would be eligible for all of the current assistance programs. If a person quits a trial job they will be ineligible for any further financial or any other type of assistance. Community Service Jobs: This category is reserved for people who do not have the job skills necessary to be hired by a regular employer. CSJ workers would receive $700 per week for up to eight months. During this period, a participant would have to work 30 hours a week and have 10 hours of educational training a week. After the eight months, the participant would be transferred to a trial job. Transition: Transition jobs are only for those people unable to perform self-sustaining work. These participants would receive up to $700 a week for up to a year. During this period, a participant would be required to have 30 hours of work and/or developmental training a week and 10 hours of educational training a week. Participants would be eligible for all assistance programs and would be required to move to the CSJ category after a year. These are the measures that would be taken to help people find employment and permanently get them off of welfare. The current national system that is being used for work requirements is TANF. TANF stands for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. The required number of monthly hours of participation in the program is 25 hours for 1999. Job skills ttraining, education related to employment, and secondary school or GED completion does not count towards the first 20 hours of participation. They can be in the program for up to 24 months and can receive all of the current welfare benefits. Then job searching is allowed for an additional 3 months, while participants still receive benefits. The only punishment this programs implements for able adults that do not work is that the adult would only receive foods stamps for 3 months out of a three year period. However, the person would still be eligible for other assistance benefits. The current national system seems like a joke. It is practically encouraging people not to work. It has a basis for some practical ideas, but the requirements are far too small and there is virtually no motivation for a person to work. Everyone is not given an equal chance to get a job growing up, but that does not mean working Americans should have to support them. S. B. 311 proposes a practical working plans for unemployed citizens and also has rigid standards. The expectations are high of the participants, but it is time that unemployed people have to work for what they receive. The bill proposes a plan which provides adequate assistance for people receiving job training and assistance to those who are starting unsubsidized work. On the other hand, the guidelines of the bill were designed not to tolerate an unwillingness to work. If a person chooses not to work, or to go through the levels of job training, they will receive no government assistance. This seems harsh, but who wants to support someone who refuses to work? The participants of this program are given more than a fair chance to find employment and if they choose not to work, they will suffer the consequences.