Tragedy of Oedipus Rex Essay Example For Students

Tragedy of Oedipus Rex Essay Brooks and Heilman wrote Understanding Drama in 1948. Their combined experience and efforts in research of the play, Oedipus Rex, give them the opportunity to become co-authors of their essay. Cederic Whitman, in 1951, also wrote an essay about Oedipus Rex entitled Sophocles: A Study of Heroic Humanism. Being published at Cambridge shows his knowledge and experience. The essays together explain their beliefs of Oedipus as a tragic hero. However, Cecil Bowra, author of Sophoclean Tragedy, published at Oxford in 1945, believes that the role of the gods effects the outcome of Oedipus Rex. Brooks and Heilman plus Whitman combined successfully refute Bowras belief in the role of the gods. We will write a custom essay on Tragedy of Oedipus Rex specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Brooks and Heilman believe that Oedipus is a true tragic hero. They begin to say that Sophocles chose to portray Oedipus as a true tragic hero and an object of fate. Oedipus refused to accept the accusations Teiresias had told him. Oedipus needed proof. Going against the will of the gods, he sought to find the truth. Finding the truth, he can no longer stand himself and gouged out his eyes and asked to be banished. Since he did attempt to fight his fate, instead of running from the accusations, he is a hero for standing tall in his quest for the truth. Cederic Whitman also believed that Oedipus was a tragic hero. He believed also that Oedipus was not an object of fate, and that standing up for himself made Oedipus a hero. Whitman realized that Oedipus cannot be guilty of the crimes he committed, because he had done so unwittingly. Whitman continues on that the gods cannot be just if Oedipus is morally innocent. To say that the gods helped Oedipus to kill his father and marry his mother is ridiculous. It was Oedipus negligence to the oracle that damned him to his own fall. Bowra, against Brooks and Heilman and Whitman, believed that the gods played a major role in Oedipus Rex. Bowra believed that Sophocles intended to show the gods at work. He goes on saying that Oedipus is just a parody. The gods humiliated Oedipus to show the people that there is a lesson to be learned. There is indeed a lesson to be learned, but their gods do not exist, therefore the gods are not teaching anyone a lesson. Oedipus was an object of fate, not an object of the gods. Bowra then said that Oedipus blinded himself to make peace with the gods for his past actions. Sophocles established that Oedipus did not believe in the gods. Brooks and Heilman along with Sophocles stated that he blinded himself to save himself from the humiliation of his actions. Brooks, Heilman, and Whitman all believe that Oedipus is a true tragic hero. Together they successfully refute Bowras belief in the gods. It is true to say that Oedipus is a tragic hero instead of a toy of the gods. With their combined experience, Brooks, Heilman, and Whitman presented a wonderful essay showing that Oedipus is a true tragic hero.

Free Essays on The Butterfly

Everyone has something that they value let it be achievement, beauty, justice, or wealth. The late Manly Hall once said that "a man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world" because without standing for anything or having any values a man is lost within himself, so how can he function properly in the world. In " The Butterfly" by James Hanley, value plays a key role in the backdrop of the plot. The two main characters in this short story have different values which is why a conflict arises between them. In the world today, many people have differences and society as a whole needs to start accepting the differences in people and learn from them. The main characters have no similarities in what they value while Brother Timothy values the religious faith, Cassidy values aesthetics. The way Brother Timothy puts his religious faith on such a high pedestal gives the reader the idea that he believes that "religion is the sole technique for the validating of values". Allen Tate, the author of this quotation, describes how strongly Brother Timothy feels about religion. In the very beginning of the story, the reader finds out that Brother Timothy obviously is a priest because as he " strode up and down the passage" his " cassock made a peculiar swishing noise" ( 1,1,1). Since this is so, the reader can infer that Brother Timothy dedicates his life to the Catholic church, and to do that it must be of great value to him. Beyond that, Brother Timothy also displays his value of religion when he tells Cassidy that because he misses mass that he has " no right to be happy or anything else" ( 2,13,1). The reader can infer from this quote that Brother Timothy believes so strongly about religion that he doesn’t even want Cassidy to be happy just because he m isses one day of mass. Finally, the reader can conclude that Brother Timothy values the religious faith because of the way he punishes Cassidy at the end of the story. S... Free Essays on The Butterfly Free Essays on The Butterfly Everyone has something that they value let it be achievement, beauty, justice, or wealth. The late Manly Hall once said that "a man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world" because without standing for anything or having any values a man is lost within himself, so how can he function properly in the world. In " The Butterfly" by James Hanley, value plays a key role in the backdrop of the plot. The two main characters in this short story have different values which is why a conflict arises between them. In the world today, many people have differences and society as a whole needs to start accepting the differences in people and learn from them. The main characters have no similarities in what they value while Brother Timothy values the religious faith, Cassidy values aesthetics. The way Brother Timothy puts his religious faith on such a high pedestal gives the reader the idea that he believes that "religion is the sole technique for the validating of values". Allen Tate, the author of this quotation, describes how strongly Brother Timothy feels about religion. In the very beginning of the story, the reader finds out that Brother Timothy obviously is a priest because as he " strode up and down the passage" his " cassock made a peculiar swishing noise" ( 1,1,1). Since this is so, the reader can infer that Brother Timothy dedicates his life to the Catholic church, and to do that it must be of great value to him. Beyond that, Brother Timothy also displays his value of religion when he tells Cassidy that because he misses mass that he has " no right to be happy or anything else" ( 2,13,1). The reader can infer from this quote that Brother Timothy believes so strongly about religion that he doesn’t even want Cassidy to be happy just because he m isses one day of mass. Finally, the reader can conclude that Brother Timothy values the religious faith because of the way he punishes Cassidy at the end of the story. S...

Carole Satymurtis

Carole Satymurtis Essay Carole Satyamurti , a poet and sociologist cleverly weaved the plight of ordinary women in I Shall Paint my Nails Red : women who are seen as a mere background of the society- neglected and lost in the mundane of her existence . While it is easy to discern that I Shall Paint my Nails is nothing but the showcasing of a womans vanity seeking attention, a closer look at the poem would reveal a deeper and multi-layered analysis of women. In essence, Carole Satyamurtis I Shall Paint my Nails Red was able to show the different roles and interpretations of women of herself, to her daughter , to her lover , the society and to life- that painting her nails red symbolizes a departure from her customary role in to show an intelligent , interesting and valuable person capable of so much more than her ordinary routines . It is a declaration of a womans importance The color red is interpreted in poetry as a figure of speech for passion , anger and strong emotions . In this light, Satyamurti used this color to depict a seemingly humorous and trivial poem into one that speaks of a womans importance. In the first line because a bit of color is a public service (line 1 Satyamurti departs from the convention that public service is about service , the economy and production . Essentially, the poem recognizes that it is not only men who are components of production and economics that can perform public service but also women who provide not only entertainment but beauty and compassion . This is affirmed in her second line when Satyamurti declared that because i am proud of my hands (line 2 connoting that her hands that are used to do household chores are also important . By painting it red , Satyamurti calls attention to the role of women in the society and in the family- that while they are not being paid for work they do every day of their lives , it should not be neglected . Thus, being proud of one s hands and putting a red paint on it declares that the woman is aware of her economic and sociological role and significance On the other hand , the third and fourth lines of the poem points to the theme of strength and empowerment in women . In the line because it will remind me I m a woman (line 3 and because I will look like a survivor the woman is declaring that being a woman means being brave and strong . Thus, by re-affirming her gender identity , the person in the poem is also recognizing that women in general possess strength of characters . Furthermore , because the color red symbolizes intense emotions , it evokes attention thereby , reminding us that women are not ordinary Carole Satymurtis I Shall Paint my Nails Red is a wonderful poem which I found myself closely relating to. I feel that in this poem she reflects many sides of a womans life. It may be understood to have two separate messages, the direct and the hidden message. Satymurti does this through showing both the complexity of a womans life, and the simplicity that also exists within.  At first glance, I Shall Paint My Nails Red gives a more obvious and direct amusing message in which she states different reasons why she would paint her nails red. Each line puts the reader in a different situation which may even be applied to our own daily lives. Satymurti does this by using every day examples and using them to suggest often absurd reasons for her to paint her nails red, adding a bit of comedy throughout the poem. Underlying each idea, however, Satymurti implies a deeper message about women and the many roles that they play in society, and the way that they view themselves. READ: Modern reality play EssayThe first idea Satymurti suggests in the poem is, Because a bit of colour is public service. Here, she is implying that in painting her nails red she is in fact doing others a favor. This line makes me think of a woman loading her groceries onto the cash register before paying, showing off her bright red nails and provoking a smile on the cashiers face. She seems to believe that anywhere she were to go with these red nails, the world would see them and appreciate them. Underlying this main idea however, I feel that Satymurti is trying to portray the fact that women are constantly fulfilling others needs. As mothers, wives, lovers, and even working women in society, women often feel that we must make everyone around us happy. The following line states, Because I am proud of my hands. This idea suggests that she feels she is beautiful and is proud to show that off. However, the line may also mean that she is tough and is proud of her own hard work, as hands are often related to manual labor and work. Although not so common at the time the poem was written, today this woman may be portrayed as even a single mother (As she later talks about a daughter, and even a lover, but no husband) trying hard to take care of her family, working to raise them and provide for them. Despite her hard work, this woman is still woman and lacks the rough hands of a man. She paints her nails like every other woman, and is proud of her hands for all the work they have accomplished her. The line that follows, Because it will remind me Im a woman refers back to the line preceding it. Here one may first simply think that by looking down at her hands and nails she will, again, feel beautiful and feel and remember that she is a woman. Looking past that simple first glance, this line goes back to a womans hard work and the tasks that she must accomplish every day with her responsibilities. In all the everyday stress, a woman often forgets that she is also beautiful and that she is a woman. Despite all her hard work, she is still delicate and most importantly, she must still take care of herself.

Richard Frethorne, Letter to his Parents (1623) Essay

Richard Frethorne, Letter to his Parents (1623) - Essay Example One may also deduce from Frethorne’s letter that the masters do not care about the welfare of the indentured servants. The author of the letter reveals that the sick receive no medication at all. In addition, they have to wake up very early in the morning and work until very late. After a day’s toil, the indentured servants were appreciated with a mouthful of water, gruel, bread and beef (Frethorne 1). Although the servant does not talk about the conditions they were promised directly, one can observe that the shock they receive upon arrivals speaks contrary to their expectation. It would appear that they were promised a life full of bliss such that they did everything to come to the US. The sad and disappointed tone in Frethorne’s letter reveal what seems to be a betrayal. It points out to a possible breach of promise by their masters. The ill-treatment of the indentured servants reveals that the elite viewed this source of labor with contempt and little care. The health, conditions and general well-being of the indentured servants was the least of the master’s concerns (American History 1). It appears the demand was high such that labor was oversubscribed. Naturally, when supply is too high, demand and supply goes down. That is the reason the masters never cared about the indentured servants, as they knew they would easily sign up others. Frethorne reveals that the masters do not even buy for them clothes despite the harsh weather. One of the fellow servants ends up stealing Frethorne’s cloak so that he could buy something and eat. The servant observes that the masters have turned a blind ear to their suffering. He observes that their lives were marked pain, groans and tears. The shocking situation that awaited indentured servants was so severe that many of them were fed on close to a day’s meal over the week. Owing to these, many indentured servants like Frethorne longed for their return

To what extent Thatcherism was hegemonic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

To what extent Thatcherism was hegemonic - Essay Example In what follows I want to explore his novel White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings as a text that uses the city as the site of opposition, as the locale for a critique of dominant ideology (John Corner and Sylvia Harvey, 1991: p. 11.) As many commentators have observed, the period of Thatcher's rule was one in which monetarist policies of enterprise and the manipulation of the nation's history went hand in hand. This relationship transformed a number of elements of English national identity. Gone was the post-war optimism in which Britain embraced a far more egalitarian form of social organisation. As John Corner and Sylvia Harvey assert of Thatcherism: "Freedom and independence derive not from civil rights but from choices exercised in the market (Perry Anderson, "The Figures of Descent", 1992, p. 184.) The sovereignty that matters is not that of king or queen, the lord or the white man, but the sovereignty of the consumer within the marketplace. Massive levels of personal debt and widespread unemployment marked this perceived sovereignty of the consumer. Indeed, as Raphael Samuels suggests, Thatcher's rhetoric managed to effectively obfuscate the fact that her government's policies led to a drastic rise in household debt, from 8 per cent at the beginning of her Prime Minister ship to 14 per cent by its conclusion. In 1983 close to 30 per cent of the London population were living, or in danger of living, below the poverty line. The inner city areas in particular suffered from high unemployment and substandard housing amid the proliferation of the modern movement's tower block public housing. Many commentators as necessary to slim the bloated government running costs and spiralling national production under Labour regarded the economic policies of Thatcherism. Yet as Perry Anderson has argued, Thatcherism economic record was based on luck as much as effective management. Thatcherism claimed that the Union movement was crippling British production, responsible for a downturn in productivity. Its draconian treatment of Union's in the miner's strike of 1984/5 was therefore portrayed as an economic necessity (Jerry White, London in the Twentieth Century, 2002. p. 222.) Antonio Gramsci's concept of Hegemony Hegemony was a concept previously used by Marxists such as Lenin to indicate the political leadership of the working-class in a democratic revolution, but developed by Gramsci into an acute analysis to explain why the 'inevitable' socialist revolution predicted by orthodox Marxism had not occurred by the early 20th century. Capitalism, it seemed, was even more entrenched than ever. Capitalism, Gramsci suggested, maintained control not just through violence and political and economic coercion, but also ideologically, through a hegemonic culture in which the values of the bourgeoisie became the 'common sense' values of all. Thus a consensus culture developed in which people in the working-class identified their own good with the good of the bourgeoisie, and helped to maintain the status quo rather than revolting (Gramsci, Antonio (1971). The working class needed to develop a culture of its own, which would overthrow the notion that bourgeois values represented 'natural'

Perceptual Maps Essay Example for Free

Perceptual Maps Essay

Alcohol :: Free Essays

Alcohol Alcohol is a drug which is used by any age and any ethnic background, it can have serious effects but not many of us realize this. Some people drink a lot and become addicted to it, the alcohol effects part of the brain which controls all the decision making, the outcome of this is loss of inhibitions. It affects the physical side which causes blurred vision and loss of balance. Drinking large amounts of alcohol at once is known as binge drinking, this has serious effects such as unconsciousness, coma and death. As you may realize by now alcohol can be a very dangerous drug but only if you take more than the recommended amount which is: Men - should drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week and no more than four units in any one day. Women - should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week and no more than three units in any one day. If you take more than the recommended amount and drink every so often this will lead to physical damage, the effects of this are, increasing the possibility of catching diseases and making other diseases worse. Excessive drinking is related with loss of brain cells, liver failure, stomach ulcers, certain types of cancer, nerve damage, heart failure and epilepsy. Even though alcohol is used to make people feel relaxed, excessive drinking over a long period of time increases anxiety and causes depression. It also affects problems with sleeping, mood swings, violence and suicide. If you personally drink a lot and would like to stop, it may help if you keep a diary which records how much alcohol you drink every day, also if you could set yourself a target of how much you are allowed to

CIGNA Company Essay

CIGNA is a major health insurance company. Its CIGNA Behavioral Health covers 16 million Americans in all 50 states and internationally. In addition, it supports a network of more than 50,000 professionals who needed a system that quickly and automatically approved requests submitted by providers, such as therapists, for additional patient care. CIGNA Behavioral Health’s business processes for making approval determinations were supported in different locations using several different software applications. Certain rules in use sometimes conflicted with each other, and knowledge was lost due to employee turnover. In addition, the rules were in inflexible if-then statements. Accessing and changing the rules was a slow, cumbersome, and expensive process. To reduce the knowledge loss due to employee turnover and to increase consistency and efficiency of rule maintenance, CIGNA Behavioral Health decided to adopt rule-based intelligent systems that could automate decision-making situations. CIGNA chose Haley Authority knowledge management (KM) software and Haley Rules intelligent system to build a Web-based benefit management system named Provider eCare Online. How does it relate to this week’s course concepts? According to the book, this week we learn about long-term objectives and strategies, we also learn business strategies. It talks about generic strategies and grand strategies. Include in the grand strategies there is an innovation. Innovation is making some changes to increasing markets, this issue is like this. They build this system one reason is to reduce the cost and knowledge loss, the other reason is that it can give them more markets to sell their insurance, it is also convenience for people to use this. At which conclusions do you arrive at from your analysis? According to the book, some firms find it profitable to make innovation their grand strategy. They seek to reap the initially high profits associated with customer acceptance of a new or greatly improved product. For this insurance company, it build a system in order to solve problems and get more money, it can reach my analysis. What are the main takeaways from the situation, your analysis, and your conclusions? In my opinions, by expressing business processes in English using Haley Rules, eCare specialists can implement changes to the rules whenever needed, in hours instead of weeks. The adoption of knowledge-based systems has helped CIGNA enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs. The tools of Haley Authority and Haley Rules in combination provide a convenient platform for the implementation of such intelligent systems. So it is really good system for them to get more money, it also can help people a lot. Reference John A. Pearce, Richard B. Robinson, strategy management, thirteenth edition. Cigna, cigna.com.

The Making of a Great Place to Work – the Story of Marriott International

The making of a Great Place to Work ® – the story of Marriott International A friend was narrating his story of an experience at the Ritz – Carlton hotel. He was suffering from a sore throat and decided to take his mother’s advice and called room service asking for a glass of hot milk mixed with a spoon of turmeric. Three years later after checking into the same hotel, he promptly receives a phone call from the room service, â€Å"Sir, would you like your favorite hot milk with turmeric! Much as he hated drinking hot milk with turmeric, my friend was impressed by the memory of the hotel’s staff. The Ritz-Carlton is one of the many brands of Marriott International. â€Å"Take care of the associates, and they'll take good care of the guests, and the guests will come back. † This was what J Willard Marriott said many decades ago. The founder of Marriott has since been vindicated many times over. Today, Marriott International has nearly 2,900 lodging properties located in the United States and 67 other countries and territories. Between now and the end of the year it will add another 100 properties to take the tally to 3000 properties. Marriott International, Inc. , is a leading lodging company. Its heritage can be traced to a root beer stand opened in Washington, D. C. , in 1927 by J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott. Today, the company manages and franchises hotels and resorts under the Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Bulgari, The Ritz-Carlton, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites, and Fairfield Inn brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club International, The RitzCarlton Club, Grand Residences by Marriott, and Horizons brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; operates conference centers; and manages golf courses. Marriott consistently makes it to Fortune’s Best Employer’s List. And it is number 5 amongst the Top 25 Great Places to Work ® in India. Visit a Marriott property and you will sense the enthusiasm and energy of their Associates (They call their employees Associates). I decided to visit their Juhu property and talk to a few employees to find out what makes this hotel an employer of choice. Here’s what I found. 1. A strong Brand Marriott International does not own the hotels it operates. It owns the brands and runs the management. In this sense it is a true professional services firm. A lot of people can construct a world class property; it takes a Marriott management team to make it a world class hotel. â€Å"When I was working with a rival chain, I kept on wondering, if Marriott can do it, why can’t we,† confided a senior manager. â€Å"When I decided to shift from Delhi to Mumbai, I had a colleague who used to work in Marriott in Mumbai. She almost forced me to come for an interview at Marriott,† shared the current head of Training.  ©Great Place to work ® Institute,India 2. True Empowerment Empowerment is the cornerstone of â€Å"the Marriott way. Marriott has numerous examples of how their Associates feel empowered. Employees decide when to give a fruit basket or other complimentary items to guests. There is a high degree of pride in the unique relationships they form with their guests. One example quoted was how an Associate in a restaurant offered the most expensive bottle of champagne to an unhappy guest- as a complimentary gift! Such examples are applauded and recognised. In the employee website, as well as, the company website you will find a number of stories of exemplary behaviour of Associates. . Guarantee of fair treatment Marriott employees feel empowered because they know that fair treatment is a cornerstone of the Organisation’s philosophy. This is what J W Marriott, Jr, current Chairman and CEO has to say, â€Å"I want our Associates to know that there really is a guy named Marriott who cares about them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bill, as he is affectionately called, makes sure these are not empty words. Each manager has to give an undertaking of fair treatment. There is a process of escalation of employee grievances (Speak Out process), right up to him. Indeed, as the current HR Manager found out, getting a call from Bill’s office to enquire about an employee grievance is not surprising. Considering that Marriott employs over 150,000 employees globally, this is a strong example of the emphasis placed on fair treatment. And for employees too shy to write to Bill, there is always the option of anonymously calling up the Integrity hotline, a 24 by 7 toll free number. As one employee commented, â€Å"A very unique thing in this place is the work culture. I think all Associates are treated equally. At an individual level there are differences but no one turns their back when someone actually needs help. † 4. Communication If fairness ensures that employees are not penalised for doing the right thing, communication processes are what ensures that employees know what the right thing is. This is what Bill Marriott says in his blog (http://www. blogs. marriott. com), â€Å"Many years ago, Marriott did something revolutionary at the time for hotels. We not only began asking guests about their stays, what they liked and didn't like, but we also took that information and created databases and tracking mechanisms so we knew how each hotel was doing. Marriott is the only hotel I know of which has a daily newspaper, called the Daily Packet. The Daily Packet is a communication tool which comprises of the Hospitality Basic of the Day, Events for the day, Daily Birthdays, Special guest recognition of associate efforts, HR eye opener for the day, Daily occupancy rate, etc.  ©Great P lace to work ® Institute,India So the chances are the Associate who offered the bottle of champagne to the customer, did it with the full knowledge of how well the business is doing, and whether she can afford to spend that much on service recovery. An important part of the communication process is the performance communication. Every quarter the GM addresses the associates and shares the Balance Score Card which comprises of the Revenue, Guest Satisfaction Survey results, Turnover rate, Audit Scores etc. The winners for departmental and individual recognitions schemes are awarded during this Quarterly Associates Meeting. This is followed by the department head along with the line manager conducting a quarterly performance review with the Associates. This is to give the Associate feedback and an overview of the last quarter and set his goals and action plan/development for the next quarter. 5. The Marriott way I cannot end an article on Marriott without emphasising their 12 rules of success. Like any other great Organisation (Remember J&J’s Credo), Marriott has defined its 12 rules of success as under: 1. Continually challenge your team to do better. 2. Take good care of your employees and they'll take good care of your customers, and the customers will come back. 3. Celebrate your people's success, not your own. . Know what you're good at and mine those competencies for all you're worth. 5. Do it and do it now. Err on the side of taking action. 6. Communicate. Listen to your customers, associates and competitors. 7. See and be seen. Get out of your office, walk around, make yourself visible and accessible. 8. Success is in the details. 9. It's more important to hire people with the right qualities than with specific exper ience. 10. Customer needs may vary, but their bias for quality never does. 11. Eliminate the cause of a mistake. Don't just clean it up. 12. View every problem as an opportunity to grow. The above rules are supported by 20 Basics – basic behaviours that exemplify the above rules. Marriott’s brand beliefs can be summarised in one line as their spirit to serve- their Associates, Customers and Community. In line with the above Marriott have awards for Community Service and Diversity. Do not be surprised if you see hundreds of Marriott employees (joined by enthusiastic guests) descending on Juhu beach to clean it up. They did precisely that. Just as they took care of 26 school kids and many others during Mumbai floods. Great Place to work ® Institute,India I recall visiting a friend of mine in the HR department of a reputed five star hotel in the beginning of my career. The HR department was in the basement. My friend took me to the staff canteen, a dimly lit place where we were served some beaten rice (Poha) from an Aluminium Container, in a steel plate. I was amazed to see the difference between the basement and the other floors. Times have changed. The HR department in Marriott is at the same level as the Reception. And the basement is no less. For Marriott the â€Å"Heart of the Organisation† is as important as the â€Å"Front of the Organisation†. As you walk through the â€Å"Associate Corridor† which is designed to make you proud to be in Marriott, and enter the Associate canteen, you can’t help exclaiming,† Are all restaurants in this hotel as good as the Associate canteen?! † ____________________________________________________________ ____________ The author is CEO of The Great Place to Work ® Institute, India. He can be reached at [email  protected] in Views expressed are personal.  ©Great Place to work ® Institute,India

Ginkogo Biloba essays

Ginkogo Biloba essays Ginkgo Biloba is versatile herb that can be used to treat many conditions. Ginkgo Biloba shows to be very promising to people with Alzheimers disease. The disease that affects the brain by the degeneration of nerve endings. Numerous studies have shown benefits of using ginkgo biloba extract to improve the mental sharpness of geriatric patients. For example, W.V. Weitbrecht and W. Jansen, of Nuremberg, Germany, conducted a double-blind study involving 40 patients, ages 60 to 80, who had been diagnosed with primary degenerative dementia(Weitbrecht 91). During the 3-month study, one group of 20 received either Ginkgo biloba extract(120 mg/day), while the other 20 was given a placebo(Weitbrech 91). The researchers reported that those receiving the ginkgo extract were more alert, scored higher on psychometric tests and had a more positive outlook than the controls(Weitbrech 92). The ginkgo biloba extract group experienced a significant improvement, compared with no gain for the placebo group. At the Whittington Hospital in London, researchers examined the benefits of ginkgo biloba extract on the 31 patients over the age of 50 with signs of memory impairment, reported Donald J. Brown, N.D., in the May 1992 issue of Lets Live(Brown 62). In the double-blind study, half the volunteers were given 40 milligrams of ginkgo biloba extract three times daily, while the other half remained on a placebo(Brown 62). Psychometric tests were evaluated at the beginning of the study and after 12 and 24 weeks of treatments(Brown 62). The results were encouraging, Dr. Brown said: The patients who received ginkgo biloba extract showed significantly superior improvement compared to those given a placebo. Besides demonstrating that the ginkgo extract has a beneficial effect on mild to moderate memory loss of organic origin, the study revealed that electroencephalogram measurements in the ginkgo biloba extract ...

Employee Training and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Employee Training and Development - Essay Example Secondly, role-playing orients trainees to the behavioral, situational, and operational expectations that apply in the workplace. In essence, such exercises enable the employee to build courage and confidence appropriate for the job. Most importantly, role-playing during training serves as a motivational practice for the employees under training. This gives them an upper hand to the understanding of the essence of the training and subsequent job execution. On the downside, role-playing in the training process has its disadvantages. This practice could intimidate trainees in one way or another. If the employee or trainee fails to achieve the expected outcome of the exercise, their perception about the training and subsequent outcomes of the training could be in jeopardy (Saks, Haccoun, & Belcourt, 2010). Additionally, these exercises could challenge the self-esteem of the trainee, thereby negating the prospects of the entire process. Therefore, it is important for the trainer to understand the employees and their personalities during

North Korea Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

North Korea - Research Paper Example According to Armstrong (2011), North Korea is currently experiencing a range of issues but the most prevalent include the poor state of the economy, which Armstrong (2011) attributes to its authoritarian leadership style that still has not implemented market reforms to improve the country’s ailing economy. Secondly, Armstrong (2011) states that the country has focused so much on funding its military operations that comprise of more than 9 million military personnel of which approximately a million are active army personnel, a fact that makes it the 4th country in the World with largest military defence force. The country’s budgetary allocation to the defense department is extremely high leaving little resource for economic development. Armstrong (2011) stated that North Koreans are grappling with harsh economy, coupled with high food prices, periodical shortage of electricity, fuel, and raw materials that cause manufacturing factories to remain inactive thus, leading to increase in number of the unemployed population. However, on the positive side Armstrong (2011) notes that the new North Korean leader has given women the freedom to wear western brands, which were restricted in the past due to their western affiliation. Secondly, the new North Korean leader has shown a new leadership style by taking the responsibility of the failed rocket launch. Such an admission was not to the norm with the North Korean leadership. The other notable current issue in North Korea is its poor relations with its’ close neighbor, South Korea of whom they are still technically at war with after failing to sign a peace treaty ever since the Korean war. The North and South currently have murky relationship because of periodical wrangles that increases the tension between the two countries. Armstrong (2011) further notes that the new leader of North Korea strained the country relationship with China after recently carrying out a