Homosexuals Have Been Excluded From Our Society Since Our Essays

Homosexuals have been excluded from our society since our country's beginning, giving them no equal protection underneath the large branch of the law. The Emancipation Proclamation gave freedom to blacks from slavery in the 1800's and women were given the freedoms reserved for males in the early 1900's with the women's suffrage movement. But everyone still knows the underlying feeling of nation in dealing with minorities and women, one of contempt and utter disgust. Hate crimes are still perpetrated to this day in this country, and most are unpublicized and "swept underneath the rug." The general public is just now dealing with the struggle of Homosexuals to gain rights in America, although this persecution is subtle, quiet and rarely ever seen to the naked eye or the general public. The big question today in Homosexuals rights struggles are dealing with the right to be a part of our country's Military Forces. At the forefront of the struggle to gain access to the military has been Female's who have tried to gain access to "All Men" facilities and have been pressured out by other cadets. This small group of women have fought hard, and pressured the Government to change regulations dealing with the inclusion of all people, whether female or male, and giving them all the same opportunities they deserve. The Homosexual struggle with our Nation's Armed Forces has been acquiring damage and swift blows for over 60 years now, and now they too are beginning to fight back. With the public knowledge of "initiation rights" into many elite groups of the military, the general public is beginning to realize how exclusive the military can be. One cadet said after "hell week" in the Marines, "It was almost like joining a fraternity, but the punishments were 1000 times worse than ever imagined, and the Administration did not pretend to turn there back, they were instrumental in the brutality." The intense pressure of "hell week" in the Marines drove a few to wounding themselves, go AWOL, and a few even took there own life. People who are not "meant to be" in the Military are usually weeded out during these "initiations" and forced either to persevere or be discharged dishonorably. The military in the United States has become an elite society, a society where only few survive. In a survey taken in 1990, the United States population on a whole is believed to consist of 13-15% Homosexuals. This figure is believed to have a margin of error on the upward swing due to the fact that most homosexuals are still "afraid" of their sexuality and the social taboos it carries along with it. With so many Homosexuals in the United States, how can the military prove its exclusion policy against Homosexuals correct and moral? Through the "long standing tradition and policy," says one Admiral of the U.S. Navy. But is it fair or correct? That is the question posed on Capitol Hill even today, as politicians battle through a virtual minefield of tradition and equal rights. Historically, support for one's military was a way to show one's patriotism, if not a pre-requisite for being patriotic at all. Society has given the military a great deal of latitude in running its own affairs, principally due to society's acknowledgment that the military needs such space in order to run effectively. The military, in turn, has adopted policies which, for the most part, have lead to very successful military ventures, which served to continually renew society's faith in the military. Recently, however, that support has been fading. The Vietnam War represented both a cause of diminishing support for the military by society as well a problem. The Vietnam War occurred during a period of large-scale civil disobedience, as well as a time where peace was more popular than war. Since the effectiveness of the military depends a great deal upon society's support, when society's support dropped out of the war effort, the war effort in turn suffered. The ultimate defeat of the United States in the Vietnam War effort only lead to less faith in the military's ability. This set the stage for society becoming more involved in how the military was run. The ban on homosexuals serving in the military, was originally instituted in 1942. Though some of the reasons that were used to justify it at the time have been debunked since-that homosexual service members in sensitive positions could be blackmailed, for instance ("Gays and the Military" 54)-the policy was largely an extension of the military's long-standing policy against homosexual acts. At the time, the prevailing attitude was that homosexuality was a medical/psychiatric condition, and thus

Seafaring A Cornerstone of Viking Culture

Seafaring: A Cornerstone of Viking Culture Technological advances have always played very important roles in the development of cultures. From warfare to agriculture, technology can help shape and mold the way a culture develops. The Viking longships were one such advance. The impact of the technology involved in creating these magnificent ships is very apparent in the remnants of Viking culture. Expansion, warfare and poetry were only some of the many facets of Viking life affected by seafaring. The Vikings were perhaps the most successful of all early explorers. The design of the longships allowed for navigation in the shallow fjords found within Sweden and Norway out to the ocean. From there, the Vikings were able to reach out across the globe. Unlike prior civilizations such as the Greeks, the Vikings used their technology to reach out to other European countries and even into Asia. While the Greeks concentrated their naval efforts in the area of warfare, although there is evidence of far reaching travel in such works as The Odyssey, the Vikings were able to establish profitable trade routes which in turn lead to the establishment of key trade ports such as Hedeby and Ribe. These first trade centers fueled the Viking economy and were essential in the development of Viking culture. However, the expansion made possible by the longships was not merely a tool for trade but also allowed for the colonization of Iceland and Greenland by Viking settlers. Again, the! durable and well-crafted Viking vessels were able to handle such long journeys deep into the unknown Atlantic Ocean. This type of far reaching travel was unheard of before the Vikings and was not matched until almost 500 years later during the peak of European exploration. Colonization, however, was not one of the major goals of the Vikings. Raiding and pillaging were more common tasks than far reaching global expansion. Both, however, ...

''Literature Review'' Topic-Causes of Falls In Elderly Patients Essay

''Literature Review'' Topic-Causes of Falls In Elderly Patients - Essay Example For this reason, it is necessary for health care providers to carefully detect the causes of falls in order to prevent and minimize the risks of falls. Based on the report of the National Health Statistics in England and Wales, the total number of fall and fracture during the year 2004 is 4,547. (National Statistics, 2006) Roughly 64.1% of the cases is unintentional, 32.5% is caused by osteoporosis. The remaining 2.2% and 1.2% is caused by suicide and undetermined probable homicide respectively. (See Table I in appendix– Incidence of Falls and Fractures in England and Wales on page 15) As I work in an elderly rehabilitation ward this topic is more relevant to my clinical area because elderly individuals are more prone to experience fall-related injuries. Seventy percent of accidental death among the elderly patients is due to fall. Most of the elderly individuals that suffer from hip fracture due to serious falls are not able to regain their normal level of function. (Stevens and Olson, 2000) The fact that this type of accidents could lead to the serious physical injury and death among the elderly individuals (Lipsitz, 1991), the causes of falls should be taken seriously in order to prevent and minimize the incidence of falls among the elderly individuals. Therefore, it is necessary to rehabilitate physical injuries due to fall (Muche and McCarty, 2006). In gathering concrete evidences regarding the causes of falls among the elderly patients, the author uses the search engines particularly ‘yahoo’ and ‘google’. Both search engines has been very helpful in enabling the researcher to locate relevant evidenced-based journal that comes from databases search such as dialog datastar: Medline, Embase, Pubmed, The Cochrane Library, Sumsearch, and Trip database. In searching for peer-reviewed journals, the author entered search

Personalised Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Personalised Learning - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that globalisation and the rapid changes and developments in the information and computer technology have created demands and challenges that necessitate the adoption of policies and programmes that will equip children with necessary learning and skills needed as they respond to the demands of the time. In this context, the government, through its various institutions, continue to come up with public policies aiming for the establishment and development strategies and course of action which are geared towards addressing these issues. DfES recognise the insufficiency and ill-adaption of traditional educational structure in addressing the changing demands of the global society. The ‘one-size fits all’ approach in education is no longer appropriate in responding to individual needs and society’s demands for knowledge. As such, through personalise learning, students become engaged and empowered as they take the path towards learning. While at the same, time their parents and the entire community become partners in the establishment of an education that recognises and is built on the individual gifts and prowess of children. In this regard, personalised learning is a learning system approach that caters to the personal and intellectual needs of the children and listens to their voices as it re-affirms the uniqueness of each child as they embark on learning. However, it has been observed that personalised learning is difficult to define (Pollard and James 2004). In fact, Beach and Dovemark (2009) in study have found out that there are teachers who find it difficult to distinguish between differentiation and personalised learning. They have also observed that there are teachers who are not familiar with personalised learning. In addition, it has been claimed that most discourses regarding personalised learning are drawn from â€Å"commentary rather than empirical research, highlighting that there are lim ited studies providing evaluative data on personalised learning† (Sebba et al., 2007, p. 8). In these circumstances, this research will undertake a conceptual analysis of personalised learning. This is done in order to arrive at a clearer understanding and perception of the concept, and at the same time, contribute to the endeavour of establishing more comprehensible parameters for personalised learning. Moreover, this research seeks to know how personalised learning has been concretely adopted in schools. Finally, this study aims to apprehend how personalised learning becomes the 21st century approach to learning. This study will address the following questions. (1) What is personalised learning? (2) How is personalised learning concretely adapted in school/classroom set-up? (3) How personalised learning becomes the ‘system of learning’ that can adequately respond to the challenges of 21st century global society? In order to answer these questions, a documentary analysis of secondary materials relevant to the subject matter of the research will be conducted. For the library research, the electronic databases Academic Source Complete, Jstor, Google Scholar, PsycheInfo, Business Source Complete, and ERIC were searched using a combination of the following key terms: education, personalised learning, 21st century, customised learning, individualised learning, differentiation, multiple intelligence, policies and globalisation. Articles written in English had been selected. Moreover, articles that provided a conceptual anal

What Leads Characters To Exact Revenge?

What Leads Characters To Exact Revenge? Maupassants short stories Vendetta and Mother Savage both deal with the subject of revenge. We learn right from the beginning that in both stories, the widowed mothers live in harsh, rough environments where there is an unfriendly atmosphere. Each story features a widowed mother who is grieving the loss of her son, her only child, and becomes determined to exact revenge. Both widows avenge with unique plans to ensure that their victims suffer gruesome, agonising deaths, with which they hope to achieve satisfaction and peace of mind for themselves In Vendetta, Widow Saverini shows a mothers love for her son when she plans to exact revenge for the death of her only child: you shall be avenged, I tell you. You have your mothers word, and you know she never breaks it. Widow Saverinis love for her son is unique and reserved, possible because of her parents showing lack of emotion in her upbringing. Her love is seen more as a duty to raise her son than to be affectionate and tender loving. Widow Saverini spends many months preparing the dog for the revenge: for three months she accustomed her to this method of attack. She shows her determination in the precision she uses to exact her revenge to perfection. Widow Saverini sacrifices the family dog -Semillante- in a cruel and barbaric act: the woman gave her nothing to eat and maddened with hunger Semillante barked hoarsely. The cruelty she uses shocks us and it displays her level of cold determination. However it could also be seen as a way of involving her beloved pet to aid her di sguise at the revenge. Widow Saverini cleverly creates a human-like figure, with which she uses to practice her revenge: she took some old clothes that had belonged to her husband, stuffed them with straw to represent a human figure, and made a head out of a bundle of rags. This tells us that she has great initiative to succeed with her talented resourcefulness of using everything she already owns. Widow Saverini also uses a disguise which prevents her from being caught and killed herself: she disguised herself to look like a tattered old beggar man. This shows her intelligence as she has thought everything through, enabling her to make the perfect attack and quick getaway. Also, by using her dog to do the dirty work, technically she hasnt committed a murder and she is able to remain disguised and unknown to the public of who she is. Widow Saverinis anger is devious and we are unable to see her true feelings for her sons death throughout the story. However we notice that her actions speak louder than words or feelings. Her feeling remain reserved and rather than immediate rage, she is patient and waits three months before she can release her fury. Widow Saverini is full of grief and isolates herself: she would not allow anyone to remain with her, and shut herself up with the dead body. She does not want anyone to know her sorrow or to appear weak in front of others. Widow Saverini does not cry until she knows that no one will disturb her silently shedding great tears. She feels that she does not need to create an impression when she is on her own and is able to let out her emotions. She feels that the only way to move on is to be active and to avenge her son so that he can rest in peace: you may sleep in peace. You shall be avenged Widow Saverini shows commitment to her son as it is the last thing she can do for him. Despite the company of the young Prussian soldiers, Mother Savage is constantly longing her son to return: the old woman kept thinking all the time about her own son. This tells us that she has a motherly bond with her son and wants nothing more but for him to come home again. She cannot help but ask so many questions as she misses him and cannot take her mind off. She also wants to know exactly where her son is and what he is doing and asks questions such as: do you know where the French regiment has gone- the twenty third infantry? My boy is in it. Mother Savage does not want to lose her son and wants to keep track of where he is. We see how much she loves her son- from the very beginning to her death she loves him. She was still clutching her letter soaked in blood. This shows that unlike Widow Saverini, Mother Savages love for her son is much more tender and affectionate, which is how we would expect it to be. Mother Savage is very compassionate towards her son: she would never k iss him again, her big boy, never! This is the first thing that she thinks about after her sons death and it is how we see how close they were to each other. This is a different response to Widow Saverini who is much less emotional and immediately starts to plan her revenge. Mother Savage is determined to avenge her son whether she kills the real murderer or representatives. Both widows show a high level of determination for revenge and see it as the ultimate way to move on. They feel it is the only way how can rest in peace without their sons. Mother Savage acts on her revenge immediately and uses many resources to help her find revenge. Unlike Widow Saverini, who avenges her sons murderer, Mother Savage uses the Prussian soldiers as representatives to get her revenge. Even though she is planning to kill them, we see that she has some sympathy for the mothers of the sons: she got them to write down for her on a piece of paper, with the addresses of their families. This shows that u nlike Widow Saverini whose aims are to kill her sons murderer and to escape punishment, Mother Savage has thought about everything and feels that the families ought to know about the deaths of their sons, just as she did. Mother Savage is very discreet about her grief: she quickly hid the letter in her pocket and, having had time to wipe her eyes, greeted them calmly, looking her usual self. Both of the widows- Widow Saverini and Mother Savage, feel a sense of pride and do not want to show their grief in public as they feel it will weaken their reputation. Mother Savages grief for the death of her son is slightly delayed as she is overwhelmed by the sudden news and hesitates before she cries: so shocked and dazed that she didnt even feel any grief yet. Similarly with Widow Saverini, Mother Savage does not cry instantly, yet waits for reality to sink in. She does not want to show her emotions immediately as she wants to remain strong. She loves her son fondly and when she starts to cry: grief [floods] into her heart which stresses the pain of how much she misses him. Whilst preparing dinner, the blood of the rabbit causes her to imagine the bloody, gruesome death of her son: she kept seeing her big boy cut in two and red all over. This shows that she does have feelings, everything makes her think of her son and she cannot cope. Mother Savage imagines her sons death: the head falling, the eyes widening, while he was always chewing the end of his bushy moustache as he always did when he was angry. We can picture the image vividly in our m inds which helps us to engage with her feelings and feel sympathy. Mother Savage is distraught by the news and this is emphasised by the trauma she experiences when the rabbit is prepared for dinner: she stripped the skin from the red body; but the sight of the blood which she was touching, which covered her hands, the warm blood which she could feel growing cold and congealing, made her tremble from head to foot; and she kept seeing her big boy cut in two and red all over, like the animal still quivering in her hands. This shows that she is unfocused and due to the shock of it all, she is relating everything to her sons death. She does not hesitate to work out a plan of revenge and acts very quickly so that within the same day, she avenges her son, unlike Widow Saverini who plans out her revenge in the course of three months. Mother Savage controls her rage yet anger she holds for the death of her son causes her to take the blame on the four innocent soldiers living with her and with their death, she feels satisfied. She is proud of her revenge and is willing to die for her son as she admits and confesses with satisfaction that she killed the men. Widow Saverini escapes punishment though Mother Savage is honest and executed. In some ways we find her heroic, that as she was willing to die for her son and was unafraid. The story Vendetta is situated on the coast of Corsica in a tough, hostile environment. Widow Saverinis house is built on a spur of the mountain: and in places actually overhanging the sea, her town looks across the rockstrewn straits on the low-lying coast of Sardinia. The rough terrain and the place where Widow Saverini lives, gives us the impression that life is cheap. The cultural aspect of where she lives is the survival of the fittest and these cultural forces are part of what causes people to act tough and seek revenge. Life is tough and people who live in a harsh environment are bound to be tough and unforgiving. Widow Saverini lives in a house Clinging to this peak, overlooking this terrible passage, where vessels rarely venture. The people she lives amongst do not show sympathy for death as it happens every day. Likewise, in similar circumstances, Mother Savage lives in an isolated house, far away from the village, on the edge of the woods. These cultural forces contribute towards their responses to upsetting ordeals, e.g. the deaths of their sons. However, the story of Mother Savage is situated in Virelogne in France, in a very beautiful area where there is blossom on trees, little woods and grounlike veins carrying blood to the earth. This explains how the area is full of life and naturally beautiful unlike Widow Saverini whose house was amongst a cluster of other houses, Mother Savage lives in the countryside in an isolated house far away from the village on the edge of the woods. This tells us that she lives in a small world, solitary and independent. We also know that though her house is situated in a beautiful setting, cruelty is always beneath the surface. In Vendetta, the people do not seem to have the feelings to care and we see that it is a society where no one helps. They are all very determined with mild corruption: The next day Antoine Saverini was buried, and soon his name ceased to be mentioned in Bonifacio. This tells us that since death is a frequent occurrence in the area, the people who Widow Saverini lives amongst are tough as they are experienced by murders and vendettas. However, in Mother Savage the societys attitude to death is very different. In Virelogne, the people are kind and pleasant and death is something that is unexpected and rare. The people in the village are jolly and friendly, women are seen in the street on a spring morning wearing gay, flimsy dresses. This leaves us with a welcoming pleasant atmosphere where we feel safe. By contrast we see that the people see Mother Savage as an outcast, people didnt feel too sorry for her because they knew she had money, so she stayed alone in an isolated house far awa y from the village. This shows that they do not wish to have anything to do with her so they ignore her and leave her alone. The region suffers from its effects of the Franco Prussian war. The war is a serious factor and though it is very short, there are many killings and deaths which result in revenge schemes causing problems and slight havoc in the area. Similarly with both stories, Vendetta and Mother Savage, they are centred on the effects of war, which is how the scheme of revenge erupts. In the two stories the wars a very different. In Mother Savage the war is completely pointless which resorts to much unnecessary killing, including the death of her son which leads to revenge. Though Mother Savage has a decent amount of money, many of the villagers are members of the lower class and do not. They are severely affected by the war and treated unfairly as they are forced to give refuge to the Prussian soldiers and have no choice, causing them havoc with their lives. Also, Mother Savage is a victim of the war and is full of unbearable grief from her sons death which is why she responds to the letter in such an inhumane way. In Vendetta the community is very rough and, similar to Mother Savage, she is treated cruelly and after the death of her son; she responds in a very sly yet violent way. Mother Savage is treated without any form of justice. She is given no trial and not even the chance to explain the reasons for her actions. She is executed at the scene of her crime roughly twenty minuits after she has had her pleasure of vengeance and is forced to stand against the wall to be shot: she was seized and pushed against the walls of the house, which were still warm [from the fire]. She is treated with the same brutality that she treated the soldiers with. The behaviour of Mother Savage and the Germans was understandable though it would be unacceptable in our society today. In Vendetta there is, similarly with Mother Savage, no form of justice. The community is rough so due to their behaviour, the law is helpless and since vendettas are expected, nothing happens. When Widow Saverini kills Nicolas Ravolati, though her plan is tactical, there is no search or punishment for her because there is no law and the police force seem to be non-existent. Widow Saverini believes that she is doing right thing by avenging her son and even goes to church to pray for strength: she besought Him to aid and support her, to lend to her poor, worn-out body the strength she needed to avenge. This shows us that she believes what she is doing is morally right and does not see it as a crime to kill ones murderer. We also notice the irony of praying to God to help her kill someone. It is mentioned several times in the story that Widow Saverini goes to pray for help from God. From our point of view we believe that she is doing the wrong thing; as it is the opposite of how God wants us to behave. She also goes to church a second time to pray just before she avenges her son: Widow Saverini went to a confession and communion, in an ecstasy of devotion. This shows how keen she is to do what she believes is the right thing. It also shows us how a much tougher and more hostile community believes that revenge is the right thing to do and that God is always on their side. However in Mother Savage the theme of revenge, unlike Vendetta, is not affected by any religious beliefs. When we look at Maupassants life experiences, we can perhaps understand why he based his stories upon those themes. His mother had been the playmate of the novelist Gustave Flaubert, who was the influence of his career. When Maupassant was very young, his parents separated through divorce, onwards living with his brother and mother. This links to how in both of the two stories, the mothers do not have husbands and are widows with nothing but their only son. This is of a similar circumstance to Maupassants childhood. From his early education he retained a marked hostility to religion. This also has similarities with Vendetta. It was part of the reason to why Widow Saverini planned her gruesome revenge because due to religion she believed she was doing the right thing, when in fact she was not. This shows that he is criticising religion here. Maupassant always loved solitude- like both of the widows, and in his later years he developed a constant desire for solitude, fear of death and crazed paranoia of persecution. In 1892, Maupassant tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat, he later died in 1893. We see that towards the end of his life, he became mentally unstable, later resulting with an attempt of suicide. Maupassants characters are very disturbing and we are able to link his mental unstability with them. The two widows seem to be mentally unstable which is because of the cultural and personal forces they live with. Many of the stories that Maupassant wrote are rather sinister and involve the Franco-Prussian war, which he grew up with. The stories have a pessimistic nature due to the problems and illnesses he had in his background life, which also tells us that he was most likely stressed with his life. In Mother Savage we sympathise with the main character, Mother Savage, because we feel sad for how the war has caused her so much grief and anguish towards the Germans. We also sympathise with her because she is willing to die for her son since she loves him so much and despite her honesty she is executed at the wall of her house by the Germans. We look up to her honest behaviour and admire the bravery and courage she has to admit to having killed the soldiers. We respect her personality because though she kills the soldiers, she has the decency to record their addresses and only kills them because they represent the men who killed her son. We also begin to feel quite attached to her because we begin to understand who she is and of her moderate behaviour towards everything that happens. The narrator ends the story with a powerful image, and I picked up a little stone still blackened by the fire. This causes us to consider the story and question whether her methods were morally right. However, in Vendetta we sympathise more with Widow Saverinis victim than herself because we condemn her for avoiding punishment and how she does not even consider for once his side of the quarrel between him her son. Also, as we do not even know Widow Saverinis name, we feel more distant and therefore we sympathise with her less. The short story form is a very effective way of exploring revenge. Short stories are based upon a single plot which makes it easy to focus on. This meant that we could easily focus entirely on the theme of revenge and explore it in further depth. Short stories also often have a moral/key theme which leaves the ending very memorable and intriguing. Only one or two developed characters are necessary and there are not many descriptive passages so the setting is established quite quickly. This means that we can read the story and get to the point quickly, in this case revenge, and explore in depth the theme of revenge. This makes the whole story a lot more effective. The story Mother Savage suggests that Maupassant is condemning revenge as he reminds us that it causes severe punishment and death, although in the story Vendetta it suggests that Maupassant is advocating revenge as it is possible to escape punishment and it leaves you with peace of mind. Maupassant seems to leave us to deci de whether revenge is good or bad having outlined the factors of both decisions.

Moneyball

At its core, the book Moneyball, to me, is about leadership and overcoming resistance to change to create a sustainable competitive advantage. In Moneyball a new General Manager challenges a traditional industry with a new paradigm. He successfully deals with the resulting resistance from the more tradition oriented employees. In the case of the Oakland A's this has led to a substantial competitive advantage through lower costs (their payroll goes down) and improved output (the have a higher percentage of win’s) which leads to an increase in return (average cost of a run is among the lowest in baseball).This represents a major learning to me, it means that I need to be prepared to challenge the conventional wisdom by being innovative in a traditional company or industry. At the same time it is not enough to be just innovative, you need to be the innovation champion and overcome resistance. Baseball particularly seemed like a very traditional environment which allowed Billie Be an’s radical innovation to lead to significant competitive advantage. His success is achieved through three major achievements: 1) He uses innovation to create a different perspective on a particular market. ) He creates competitive advantage by using his innovation to pick his resources in a different way. 3) He further enhances his advantage by building organizational capability around the new approach he has created. Question 1: What is the best way to think â€Å"out of the box† in a particular situation, business or market to come up with the innovation that will change everything. It was my belief that a different perspective on a particular situation can be created by using imagination, intuition and creativity on top of accepted wisdom.In Moneyball, a new breakthrough approach is achieved through pure technology and in detail statistical analysis. Billy Bean uses the power of statistics to uncover relationships in individual and organizational performance. At t he same time, those objective indicators and statistics, in and of themselves, were not the keys. He was able to find (and proof) those measures that are valid indicators of future successful performance. He managed by using the right empirical data. This makes me wonder if rigorous statistical analysis (i. e. ike sabermetrics in baseball) can be used in any industry or situation to determine the factors most associated with true value to the company. The old way of evaluating players was based on naked eye observation and using 5 measurable indicators, which turned out to not be really connected to future performance. As a consequence the book also teaches me to be very careful not to attribute the wrong cause to a result. In any future position I should search for the right statistics that help me zero in on a couple of key attributes closely related to success.In recent years there are several companies that have used technology and statistical analysis to change the game even in old fashioned industries (Amazon, Capital One, etc†¦). It seems to indicate that almost every market is ripe for such an approach. The secret, as Moneyball shows, lies in finding those factors that are linked to the desired outcome versus those metrics that have traditionally been considered as â€Å"the right ones† for an industry.In the case of baseball it took years before those new ways of measuring performance came through, and even then most of the establishment (the old management) scoffed at them. It took the right way of measuring combined with the right dose of persistence to cause a breakthrough. Question 2: What is the best way to evaluate talent ? The talent evaluation approach in baseball relied on personal scouting (a subjective analysis) using some measurable factors (like foot speed) but which are not proven indicators for future success.In business, talent is also evaluated through observation, which is largely a subjective approach (â€Å"employee xx x is a team player and has the right attitude†) combined with some measurable KPI's (key performance indicators) which are often not directly linked to an employee’s contribution to the value creation in the company. Money ball begs the question if there is a way to exploit the inefficiency of current performance evaluation systems by implementing a novel, fact based, employee performance measurement and feedback system.Can companies copy the sabermetrics approach to talent assessment, selection and utilization ? One can imagine that this is possible in a manufacturing or a sales environment where there is a direct relation between employee action and measurable outcomes. It becomes more difficult in the finance, marketing or human resources arena where the immediate impact of employee actions is less obvious. Therefor it would be a major breakthrough if one would be able to identify those factors that predict success.Billy Bean in Moneyball, after identifying the right empirical data and then training (and convincing) his people of the new approach needs to build organizational capability in using and implementing his new system. In the same way, if a company comes up with a new way of determining what will lead to success (see question 1) it cannot stop at just inventing the new â€Å"system†, the organization needs to build capability to use it as a competitive advantage. To build this capability, employee’s performance needs to be evaluated in the light of how much he/she is contributing to the success of the new approach.Usually this capability is built through more â€Å"intangible factors† like company culture, teamwork, motivation etc†¦ Question 3: What is the key driver of building a successful business ? I have been influenced several books (like Blink) or the success of a Facebook, so upto now I assumed that the way to build a business is largely by intuition, belief and drive†¦ Find something you think co nsumers are interested in and then build it. In Moneyball it is exactly the opposite: success (in the form of superior financial performance) is achieved through meticulous measurement and theory testing.There is a very clear process and approach behind the success of the Oakland A’s: decisions are based on first demanding empirical evidence; second, examining the cause-and-effect reasoning that would explain the empirical evidence; third, experimentation; and fourth, continuous learning. Moneyball is a case study on the application of evidence-based management. It boils down to a very logical cause-and effect analysis of the links between resources, cost of resources and performance.Bonus question: Why do colleges pay so much attention to test scores for MBA programs if it is highly probable that my test scores will not relate to my future success in business ? Moneyball clearly makes the point that success does not just depend of having a lot of good data but mainly on havi ng data that are clearly linked to a positive, successfull outcome. It appears that, looking at all the stories of successful businesspeople that did not even finish college, MBA programs should investigate the link between their admission criteria and future success†¦As a consequence an intensely competitive market for graduates of â€Å"elite† programs has emerged, resulting in prices being bid up relative to the next tier of MBA programs. However, â€Å"second tier† programs have highly talented students who receive excellent educations, and thus, are well positioned to be successful executives. Hiring companies could find ways to assess the abilities of MBA students at these programs and obtain excellent talent at a discount relative to the graduates of top schools. Moneyball Moneyball is a book written by Michael Lewis when he follow Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane in the summer of 2003 to see about his approach to running a major league organization. He figures out that just because you may not have all of the money in the world, say like the New York Yankees, that you can still win your division and make the playoffs. Billy Beane shows you his approach at how he win’s as many games as he does that no other team was willing to follow.He would pay attention to statistics that no one else did, like on base percentage, amount of walks, and slugging percentage, and made his team into one of the best in the majors. Since his theory has been proven it’s been shown that on base percentage and slugging percentage are better signs of offensive success and avoiding an out is more important than getting a hit.Oakland had one of the smallest payrolls in the league with $55 million and were forced to get small market players to fill thei r roster. That meant that every pick they had in the amateur draft counted and couldn’t afford to miss. In the book it talks about how Billy got his idea on why to run his organization like this, and he got it from Bill James. Bill James was a writer and obsessive baseball fan who wrote many books on baseball, but his Baseball Abstract are the ones that had the most impact.James’ books though were laughed at when they first came out and didn’t really make an impact until Billy Beane, who had read every book of James’, ran his organization like James’ had said to. Ever since then almost every club has changed how they go about picking up players and using players. Moneyball is one of the best books of all time and has helped changed the way baseball is looked at and played in many peoples eyes and even in major league organizations.

Melodrama as a Genre

In his essay ‘Melodrama and Tears’, Steve Neale proposes the melodrama as a genre emerged to occupy the space between tragedy and comedy. Neale quotes Denis Diderot and identifies melodrama as a primarily ‘touching’ art form, which has the ability to move audiences and induce physical reactions like crying. Neale discusses Diderot’s quote ‘the pleasure of being touched and giving way to tears’ as an important part of the melodramatic mode. Neale continues to illustrate in his essay how the tricks used in showing point of view and timing perform an essential role in achieving maximum pathos in melodrama.Neale argues that the melodramas rely on the discrepancies between the knowledge that the spectator has and knowledge that the character has, to achieve maximum dramatic potential. This is also a way for the spectators to be more involved with the story, as they are now in a position of power. They hold the code that could possibly unlock t he mystery and cause events to happen. The spectator’s awareness of this power and the resulting helplessness they feel with their actual inability to influence the events unfolding on screen is what drives the pathos.A fairly neutral scene in Awaara(1951), of the Judge meeting a stranger at a birthday party is heightened by our knowledge that the characters share a father-son bond, unknown to either of them. Neale also points out the optical point of view method of using eye line match to establish character’s emotions. The Best Years of Our Lives(1946), uses this to let the audience know that Fred and Peggy still have feelings for each other. As Homer and Wilma stand at the altar and get married, we see Fred and Peggy gazing at each other and hearing the words of commitment spoken by the priest.They maintain their gaze without breaking, till they finally embrace and profess their love to each other. Linda Williams’ also acknowledges the feeling of helplessness , by giving us an example of her seven year old son’s reluctance to watch melodrama. Williams’ articulates her son’s disgust at the ‘unseemly emotions that remind him a little too acutely of his own powerlessness as a child’. The term ‘unseemly emotions’ is the code for what Williams calls the ‘excesses’ of cinema. She compares melodrama to pornography and horror cinema; by stating that here naked emotions replace the naked bodies and extreme violence in the other genres.She defines melodrama as encompassing a range of films ‘marked by â€Å"lapses† in realism, by â€Å"excesses† of spectacle and displays of primal, even infantile emotions and narrative that seem circular and repetitive’. Both Williams and Neale define the unrealistic nature of the narrative as a fundamental element of melodrama. Neale points out that melodramatic narration relies heavily on events not being defined through a real ist standpoint, but more dependent on chance encounters and coincidences. The generic verisimilitude of melodrama tends to marked by the extent to which the succession and course of events is unmotivated (or undermotivated) from a realist point of view. † He calls this ‘an excess of effect over cause’, arguing that this phenomenon assigns power to the theory of an external force governing the story. As the all-knowing spectator, some of this power flows to us too, causing our illusion of being able to affect the situation. This makes the lack of our ability to influence the story even more poignant, resulting in our feeling of vulnerability.According to Williams, it is the audience’s involvement with the physical display of emotion on the screen that causes the pathos. Williams argues that the female spectacle of the body is offered as a sensational sight in different genres. The horror genre uses terror, pornography uses orgasm, and melodrama uses crying t o portray an excess of emotion. She theorizes that our tendency to imitate the emotion on screen lends the element of pathos to melodrama. The act of a body, not in control, convulsing with tears lends itself to heightened identification by the audience.Both Neale and Williams demonstrate the concept of timing as an effective method to control pathos in melodrama. Neale attributes timing and articulation of point of view to contribute equally to the effect of poignancy and pathos. Neale presents Moretti’s thesis that the concluding act in the cinema is always too late to affect the protagonist. An example for this point maybe a story where the object of affection might only verbally reciprocate the feeling after the character is dead; while we, as the audience know it beforehand.Moretti also presents the theory that our tears are a result of the reality that our fantasy has been fulfilled and now will not continue. Neale counters this argument by suggesting that delayed timin g is equally poignant in some cases. The pathos arises from the fact that we are dependent on the time of the narration and its narrative, rather than just the fact that it is always ‘too late’. Here, Williams is almost identical in her theory and uses the phrase ‘too late’ to define the temporality of fantasy.Williams also speaks about Moretti’s theory and argues that the once the pursuit is over, there is a sense of melancholic loss that the audience experiences. She evokes the Freudian concept of ‘original fantasy’ to define what the character’s are in pursuit of. The enigma frequently occurred during melodrama is ‘â€Å"solved† by the fantasy of family romance, or return to origins’. Although Williams and Neale take different approaches to defining the melodramatic sensibility, they both do find a common ground in what forms pathos on the screen.There are finer points to be examined in both the essays but a general view points to the spectator’s feeling of helplessness and the crucial element of timing as being very important contributions to the dramatic element of melodrama.Neale, Steve. â€Å"Melodrama and Tears. † Screen 27 (November-December 1986): 6-22. Williams, Linda. â€Å"Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess. † Film Quaterly, Published by University of California Press 44. 4 (Summer 1991): 2-13.