Essay on Homers Odyssey - Comparing Odysseus and Telemachus :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Parallel between Odysseus and Telemachos in Odyssey      Ã‚     In Odyssey, Homer creates a parallel between Odysseus and Telemachos, father and son. The two are compared in the poem from every aspect. One parallel was the quest of Telemachos, in correlation with the journey of his father. In this, Odysseus is developed from a childish, passive, and untested boy, to a young man preparing to stand by his father's side. This is directly connected to the voyage of Odysseus, in that they both lead to the same finale, and are both stepping-stones towards wisdom, manhood, and scholarship.    Through these voyages certain parallels are drawn concerning Odysseus and Telemachos: the physical journeys, the mental preparations they have produced, and the resulting change in emotional makeup. These play an immense role in the way the story is set up, due to the purpose of each character's journey, their personal challenges, and the difficulties that surround them.    As Homer makes it apparent, there are other underlying themes embedded in the story that would just confuse the reader if they were not there. An example of this is the emotional aspects of both characters. If one does not understand this key element, their is no way that the sequence of events would cohere. "Why didn't Telemachos look for his father earlier? Why did Penelope wait twenty years to consider remarrying? How did this affect Odysseus in his journey?".    These are questions that would go unanswered unless the reader reaches within the emotions of the character. In the case of Telemachos, his emotions shaped his well being. For example, had it not been for Athene giving him confidence, by no means would he ever have thought of taking such a voyage, hence, Telemachos would have never participated in his "final test" against the suitors either. His sorrow and anger from the loss of his father and his mother constantly being attacked and proposed to by piranha-like suitors were also driving forces towards his journey.    Some of these are brought out in different situations, both positive and negative, such as Menaleus's mention of his father, which caused a sudden out-burst of tears, and the proud and accomplished feeling he received from leaving Sparta.. Odysseus's situation was only slightly different. He, like Telemachos had his worries about family-life, and his kingdom at stake, but also had concerns about his wife, possibly triggered by the mention of Agamemnon's by Proteus, who was killed by the hands of his own wife.

Julius Nyerere & African Socialism Essay

Socialism as quoted by Julius Nyerere as â€Å"the attitude of the mind† and often defined as a system of social organizations producing and distributing goods that are owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy. In a socialistic society it is the attitude of mind, and not the rigid adherence to a standard political pattern, which is needed to ensure that the people care for each other’s welfare. In order to understand African socialism better we need to clearly understand how a society operates. In a socialist society the means of production are owned by the workers rather than by a rich minority of capitalists or functionaries. Such a system of ownership is both collective and individual in nature. Socialism will not be a utopia simply created in people’s minds. It will be the product of economic and social development. Now African socialism is a belief in sharing economic resources in the â€Å"traditional† African way. Many African politicians supported the â€Å"traditional† African way that is often referred as African Socialism. Julius K. Nyerere who was one of them who later became the President of Tanganyika (East Africa) in 1962 and was President of Tanzania (Tanganyika and Zanzibar) from 1964 to 1985. A Socialist and Pan-Africanist, was a force for moderation and racial harmony. He worked in close cooperation with the British authorities in his homeland. However, advocates of African socialism claimed that it was not the opposite of capitalism or a response to it, but something completely different. They claimed their socialism was merely recapturing the spirit of what it was to be African. Many believed that Africa was far behind capitalist states in terms of economic development and to compete fairly with them they needed a different appeal to unite them. German economist Werner Sombart in 1906, in his definition of American Capitalism stated, â€Å"America is the Canaan of capitalism, its promised land. † Capitalism is regarded as an economic system distinguished by private ownership of the means of production and the production of commodities for sale. The modern business corporation is an original creation of the American imagination. It was first fashioned to extend local markets, then, it became an indispensable means to create a national market. Both American industrialization and capitalism were crucially dependent upon the corporate form of organization. Thus arising a political process whereby economic power can become translated into governmental policy. American capitalists had almost a free hand in gaining control of a country unimaginably rich in natural resources. In straight-out contests of strength with both organized and unorganized workers American capitalists usually triumphed. The very philosophy of individualism facilitated the adoption of slavery in the American history. President, Nyerere had to steer a difficult course by the late 1960s Tanzania was one of the world’s poorest countries. Like many others it was suffering from a severe foreign debt burden, a decrease in foreign aid, and a fall in the price of commodities. The objective of socialism in the United Republic of Tanzania is to build a society in which all members have equal rights and equal opportunities, in which all can live in peace with their neighbors without suffering or imposing injustice, being exploited, or exploiting. The nature of Tanzanian society was on rural development. People were encouraged (sometimes forced) to live and work on a co-operative basis in organized villages or ujamaa (meaning ‘family hood’ in Kishwahili). It is important to realize that the policy of ujamaa Vijijini is not intended to be merely a revival of the old settlement schemes under another name. The Ujamaa village is a new conception; â€Å"Understanding that what we need to develop is people, not things, and that people can only develop themselves. † Ujamaa villages are intended to be socialist organizations created by the people, and governed by those who live and work in them. They cannot be created from outside, nor governed from outside. No one can be forced into an Ujamaa village, and no official at any level can go and tell the members of an Ujamaa village what they should do together, and what they should continue to do as individual farmers. According to Julius Kambarage Nyerere â€Å"I have said that a millionaire can be a good socialist. But a socialist millionaire is a rare phenomenon. Indeed he is almost a contradiction in terms. The appearance of millionaires in any society is no proof of its affluence; they can be produced by very poor countries like Tanganyika just as well as by rich countries like the United States of America. † He also goes on to say that a millionaire can be a socialist; he may value his wealth only because it can be used in the service of his fellow men. But the man who uses wealth for the purpose of dominating any of his fellows is a capitalist. On the other hand the white population of the U. S. A. descended from European immigrants who, most energetic and independent elements of their peoples, crossed the ocean to escape oppression, persecution and poverty. From the first settlements on the Eastern coast, with its commercial towns, they gradually expanded over the entire continent, exterminating in continuous fight the Indian natives, clearing the forests, subduing the wilderness, and converting it into cultivated land. American capital soon played the chief role in opening up the Western wilds by digging canals and building railways. Through its friends in Congress it was rewarded for this service to the nation with big allotments for exploitation, paying not more than the bribes, the form by which the politicians got their share of the profits. Founded on the principles of individual liberty and self-determination the nascent United States provided fertile ground for the seeds of Capitalism. Conditions such as slavery, explosive growth in the number of banks, America’s powerful drive to expand its territory, neutral trade during the war between Great Britain and France, and ultimately, the Industrial Revolution enabled American Capitalism to grow into a thriving jungle. Ayn Rand, a Russian-born, American novelist and philosopher says,† America’s abundance was created not by public sacrifices to the common good, but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. â€Å"

Building Effective Teams & Managers and leaders

Whether we like it or not, there are always poor performers in any type of team or organization. These are employees or team members who do not meet the standards set by the organization. Commonly, poor performing employees are those who belong to Quartile Four when employees are force-ranked. Most managers and leaders agree that it’s not easy dealing with poor performers. As Levinson (2003) said, â€Å"it’s a wrenching task, but you have to face up to the need to confront poor performers, and either fix their shortcomings or fire them.  Ã¢â‚¬ Poor performers, no matter how small in number they may be, still have a big impact in the performance of the whole team or organization. As the HR Manager of the company, I would advise each member of the team to help one another in their tasks and job responsibilities. If the team members notice that there are poor performers among them, they should take immediate action by working with these people and talking to them. Havi ng a good peer-to-peer conversation may reveal the issues that the employee is facing, thus, affecting his/her performance at work. This can help getting to the root cause of the problem and help the member solve it.Team members who are not performing well tend to share their problems and open up more easily with their peers than with their supervisor or manager. Poor performers can also be identified through feedback from peers and, if applicable, customers. The customers are the people who can see the outputs of the employee or member’s work. If it is unsatisfactory to the customer, then the employee must not be performing well. Peers are good sources of feedback when it comes to how the employee or team member really works when the boss is not around. The employee’s co-workers are the people s/he gets to work with day in and day out.They are the ones who can immediately see where the employee is good at and where he is not. Thus, these people can better provide the data and the tools to determine the poor performers in the team or organization. Though co-workers may contribute to the improvement of a poor performer, still, the best person who could talk to the person and give relevant advices is the immediate superior. The member’s immediate superior would know the areas where s/he needs more improvement. Thus, the superior can give better advice pertaining to these areas and how to better improve on them.The immediate superior can also give suggestions on some actions the member needs to do in order to improve on the areas identified. Coaching and mentoring are the key techniques in handling poor performers. Constant monitoring of the employee’s performance and regular coaching would do a lot of help in the improvement of the employee. People think that coaching is a negative thing when it is actually the opposite. Coaching provides a venue for both the employee and supervisor to talk about each other’s performance (Yes, employees get to speak to! ).However, if several coaching have already been done and all other mentoring techniques and help are also tried but the performance of the employee remains the same, it will be best for both parties for the employee to just say goodbye. The job may just not really be for him/her. References Levinson, M. (2003, November 1). How to Find, Fix or Fire Your Poor Performers. CIO Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2006 from http://www. cio. com/archive/110103/poor. html Time to Stop Tolerating Poor Performers. (2006, February 26). The Sunday Times. Retrieved August 1, 2006 from http://www. timesonline. co. uk/article/0,,8543-2057887_1,00. html

The Journey of Sojouner Truth essays

The Journey of Sojouner Truth essays Her name is Isabella Van Wagner born into Slavery in 1797. She was one of twelve children parented by Elizabeth and James Wagner. Her brother and sisters were scattered on different plantations throughout the world. Therefore, she never knew any of them. She was from Hurley, Ulster County, New York. Charles Hardenbergh owned both of her parents. John J. Dumont owned her. Therefore, she never had any physical contact with her parents. Isabella had an arranged marriage to a man named Thomas. The two of them had five children throughout their marriage. All of her children were sold as slaves. Imagine how she felt having to watch her children sold to hard life of brutality. Isabella could not do anything about it. In order to survive as Isabella did through slavery, strength and courage were the main factors. It has been said by many researchers that Isabella ran away from Dumont in 1827. However, it has also been said that she was released following the New York Anti Slavery Law of 1827. Therefore, the truth is very unclear to me. I am not sure how Isabella was freed. After she was freed, she lived with a Quaker family. She stayed there for quite some time using their surname. During the time that she stayed there, they helped her retrieve one of her daughters by the name of Sophia. From 1829 to 1843, Isabella supported herself by domestic work, at the same time she was searching for lifes deeper thoughts and meanings. She became a religious mystic and took on the name Sojourner Truth. Trying to save the world by preaching against sin, including the sin of slavery. She was an outspoken advocate of womens rights. Sojourner spoke with a deep voice, and powerful words leaving a long lasting impression wherever she spoke. Sojourner Truth was a strong determined black woman and her words had an effect on everyone she spoke too. In 1851, Sojourner Truth became famous for her speech at the Womens Rights Convent...

New challenges in taking GCSEs

New challenges in taking GCSEs UK educational system I’d like to share with you some latest news about UK educational system and specifically challenges in taking GCSEs UK examination system for secondary school undergoes serious changes. According to the recently adopted rules, children will have to spend three years, instead of two, to get ready for math and English - two main GCSE subjects. The main goal of these reforms is to make exams more complicated and thus more productive. They are mainly focused on branches of mathematics, such as algebra and geometry. According to these changes, school children are expected to make in-depth investigation of the subjects and learn the material more profoundly. Undoubtedly, the time spent for learning the subject will be increased as well. Teenagers are likely to have more math classes during the week alongside with the extended curriculum. The new GCSE project is to be launched in 2018. Despite such cushion of time, designers of the examination system recommend that schoolchildren get down to work as soon as possible, since the renovated program includes all the additional math exams. Teenagers are not the only ones, who will be crammed with the material. A heavy burden of mixed responsibilities will be laid on teachers’ shoulders. The range of their duties is going to be enriched with the following tasks: to keep up with the updates in fundamentals of the subjects, to monitor pupils’ progress, to work out new syllabus. In addition, the changes will concern not only the quality of the exams but also their quantity.   The number of subjects is reported to be reduced from 12 to 8. Therefore, academic progress of the schools will be ranked in eight key subjects. They are as follows: English and Baccalaureate subjects of English, mathematics, science, language and humanities subjects. The grade system is also said to be renewed. The well-known grade letters A, B, C, D, E are expected to be substituted with numbers. Thus, there are going to be two test papers at pupils’ disposal. The first one, in higher mathematics, is graded from 4 to 9, for the second, less complicated test one can get from 1 to 5 points. Experts assure that new GCSE project is worth all the efforts and time. It is expected that those pupils, who usually leg behind the rest of the class will have an opportunity to boost their success in studies, as they will have more time to get ready for GCSEs.

Summary of Personal Reflections and Learning In Relation To My SWOT Essay

Summary of Personal Reflections and Learning In Relation To My SWOT and PDP - Essay Example Further, I become familiar with the university setting and learned that the only difference from other lower learning institutions was the fact that one had to be self- driven. In relation to this, I learned a significant number of behaviors characteristic of me. In other words, I have come to learn and appreciated some attributes that define my personality. It was with the help of a questionnaire that colleagues at the university were able to guide me towards self-discovery. However, there are some attributes inherent in my personality that I would like to work on. I call them personal weaknesses. This paper summarizes my reflection and learning in relation to my strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats. Further, I will present my personal development plan. This exercise will help me to identify my weakness, and improve on them. Consequently, I will be able to improve my chances of being employed in the future. After two weeks of attending classes, I discovered some strengths about myself. In my case, I could easily start a conversation, thus most people approached me for help regarding some personal problems. During lectures, students will request me to ask the lecturer regarding class materials. At some point, I was voted as the class representative owing to my outgoing nature. Hence, I came to learn that I was confident, but others called it daring. Overall, what they meant is that I had the courage to express myself whenever I felt like doing it. I learned that I had taken this attribute for granted while growing up. I hardly knew that it was not in the nature of everyone to take charge and face issues without apprehension. Based on Eysenck’s theory of personality, some people’s personality is characterized as extroverted- stable. These types of people are sociable, outgoing, responsive, and could be able to lead others (Nevid, 2010).

Technical Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Technical Writing - Essay Example how to sell, customer service, merchandise knowledge. By the end of the third month, the employee flows without assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact me in regards to any questions or concerns about this report. Sincerely, YOUR NAME 1. Course- Mythology (English Department) Lesson- Odes Assignment – Greek and Roman View on Life and Death in Horace’s Odes. Five page paper. Works Cited Page. Minimum sources 3. Deadline: two weeks. Step One: Obtain correct materials. In this case, the Jame’s Michie translation of Horace’s Odes, 2002. Step Two: Read and highlight portions of Horace’s Odes that pertain directly to life and death. Note line and page numbers. Step Three: Seek other credible sources that better explain or discuss the idea of how Romans viewed life and death that refer to Horace’s poems and cite them with evidence in the main source to back your argument. Step Four: Write the paper with the correct amount of pages and sources. Reread for grammar and spelling then again for clarity and flow. Step Five: Make sure to turn the paper in by the deadline to avoid losing unnecessary points. 2. The particular lesson above will be graded as follows: A. Compliance of instructions (15 points) B. Content (25 points) C. Grammar and spelling (20 points) D. Ease of explanation, flow, proper citation, evidence, and relevancy (30 points) E. Works Cited or Reference Page (10 points) *5 points will be deducted for every day past due date on late papers. After 7 days, there will be no late papers accepted. a-c. The technical writer’s responsibilities include developing documentation via editing, proofreading, writing, research, and professionalism. Also, delivering proposals, preparing grants and/or writing for operational systems. Understanding a reader’s context affects the preparation of a document in numerous ways, but the most important ones being that the wrong research could be conducted, or content edit ed if that communication is null n void. Project Plan sheets have six parts to it: Audience, Purpose, Subject, Author, Project Design and Specifications, and Due Date. The individual functions act as a whole to ensure an appropriate, detailed plan that assists in avoiding future errors. 3. a. Sexist language is language that unnecessarily draws attention to gender in a negative way, i.e. to stereotype or demean. b. Bar Charts are visual tools to illustrate a point. They can also be graphs and have rectangular-shaped bars that are shaded or not shaded according to the values in which are utilized, or being presented. It does not matter if they are showed vertically or horizontally as long as it is consistent with the data. c. Spatial method of paragraph development is effective for optimizing description and it moves directionally. d. The classification method of paragraph development is not as left to right so to speak because it goes by grouping people or objects by their shared gr oups. Reference Page Picket, A. N., Laster, A. A., & Staples, K. E. (2001). Technical English: Writing, Reading, and Speaking (8th ed., pp. 45-46). New York, NY: Addison Wesley