Narayan Murthys Retirement Speech Essay Example for Free

Narayan Murthys Retirement Speech Essay Different people run out of endurance and intellectual horsepower at different points of time. Some people drop out of the marathon since they do not see any value in an organization when their own time under the arc light is over. A leaders responsibility is to recognize this, provide them opportunities outside the organization, and usher in suitable replacements. Infosys journey is replete with many such examples. The Essence of Leadership : Many intelligent people possess a high ego and low patience to deal with people less capable than themselves. Leaders have to manage this anomaly very carefully; counsel these errant people from time to time, and allow them to operate as long as they do not become dysfunctional and start harming the organization. If they do cross the threshold it takes courage to inform the individuals that their time in the organization is over and that they have to leave. However, one aspect that marks out a truly superior organization is the ability of its employees at all levels to be driven by values and to ensure adherence and compliance under any circumstance. No individual is high or important enough for an organization to put up with non compliance. Leadership by example is what creates trust in people to follow a leader. As long as a leader is able to show his or her sacrifice and commitment to a cause others will follow him or her I am glad we decided on respect from our stakeholders (customers, employees, investors, vendor, partners, government of the land and the society) as the primary objective of the company. I have seen hundreds of instances of such leadership-by-example at Infosys. A sense of ownership among employees is extremely important to build a long term future for a corporation. Such ownership comes from fair merit based and generous sharing of wealth and perquisites among each member of the company. This is my answer to many of my friends who wonder why when Infosys was founded I took a small percentage of my earlier salary while every other cofounders salary was increased by at least 10 per cent. The same friends tell me that they do not know of any other instance where as much as 10 to 15 per cent of the company equity was given to co-founders who had just 12 to 18 months of work experience. I do not know of any Indian company that has given away as much as Rs 50,000 crore (at current stock prices) of stock options to employees. Today; every Indian employee at every level who joined us on or before March 2010 is a stockholder of Infosys. The point I would like to make is that such acts demonstrate that our leaders walked the talk in sacrifice and commitment. Strategy is about ensuring sustained differentiation m a changing environment for better net income margins Differentiation without better net income margins is meaningless. In my opinion operating margins and earnings before taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are not appropriate measures. In fact the best measure of differentiation is the per capita free cash flow generated. Such cash flows bring cash to invest in better people research and development infrastructure training and better customer and employee confidence The famous Harvard historian Niall Ferguson says in his book Civilization: The West and the Rest that the six attributes that have made Western civilization dominant during the last five hundred years are ompetition, science, property rights, medicine, consumption and a good work ethic. I have been saying for many years now that the factors that differentiate a corporation from its competitors are an enduring value system open mindedness, pluralistic and meritocratic approach and practicing speed, imagination and excellence in execution. Leaders have to focus on creating such an environment. The Essence of Leadership : Leadershi p is about taking bold and firm decisions with incomplete information in an environment of uncertainty: Leaders who waffle do not inspire confidence in their people. It is important to use as much data and modeling as possible to eliminate clearly bad decisions. My decision to walk away from a Fortune 10 company when they contributed 25 % of our revenue was one such example of decision making under uncertainty. It was a tough decision that was taken so firmly and calmly that the head of sales at Infosys at that time thought I was not bothered about the future of the company! I had to explain to him that I did indeed agonize over it but that as a leader I could not be driven by panic since such an important decision required a calm and composed mind. Every leader must have a mental model of his or her business with at best five to seven parameters that determine sensitivity to revenue and net income. It is important to update that model suitably as the business landscape changes. Any leader who cannot quickly do such sensitivity calculation would not be able to take quick and bold decisions. Even today I carry and update the mental model of our business in my mind. Generosity is an essential part of a leader. It is the foundation on which teamwork is built. The ability to share the limelight with ones colleagues, the ability to step aside and give opportunity to younger people when they want that fame, power and glory: and the ability to provide a safety net of advice for them is an important aspect of strengthening the future of an organization. It is not easy to give up power, particularly when you have been the object of so much adulation. I must say that Infosys has done a good job in bringing two such transitions before I leave the portals of this company. What Makes an Organization Worldclass : Scalability is the true test of the endurance of an organization. The ability to grow successfully without losing quality productivity employee investor and customer satisfaction and the spirit of a small company is what makes Infosys a great company. We have grown from 50 customers to 620 customers from 10 projects to 6,500 projects from 100 employees to 130,820 employees from 100 sq ft to 28 million sq ft of built up space and from 100 investors to over 450,000 investors. Such a scalability exercise has been successful thanks to our PSPD model of operation. PSPD stands for Predictability of revenues, Sustainability of such predictability, Profitability of such realized revenues and Derisking. Predictability happens because of a good forecasting system that derives realistic data from the trenches and tempers it with the wisdom of senior business leaders. Sustainability refers to the systems that help the efforts of sales people beating the pavement and meeting customers to make the prediction true, the efforts of our delivery people to deliver quality products on time within budgets, and to the efforts of our finance people raising the invoice on time and collecting money on time. Profitability refers to the systems that help our people make value-based sales, follow rigorous budgeting exercises, control costs, get best value for money and ensure the agreed-upon profitability. Derisking refers to systems that identify risks in various dimensions of our operations people, geographies, technologies, application areas and services collect periodic data, review the risk levels and mitigate them. Innovation is the best instrument for creating sustained differentiation. However it must be accepted that revenues for a corporation come from well understood ideas and business models. For example, most of a banks revenues will come from borrowing money at a certain rate and lending it at a higher rate. Part of the profits from such models will be used for research and development to generate new ideas. A few of these ideas will be seeded and some of them will become mainstream revenue earners. Therefore, it is very important for a leader to focus on innovation particularly when the times are good. Customers put food on our table. Therefore, we have to have a laser focus on exceeding their expectations, being open and honest with them, and ensuring that they look good in front of their customers. Employees are the only instruments we have to make our customers and investors succeed. Therefore, we have to create an environment of openness, meritocracy; fairness, transparency, honesty and accountability amongst our employees. Our investors understand that businesses will have their share of up and downs. They want us, the management, to level with them at all times. Therefore, when in doubt, please disclose is a good policy for a corporation. Society provides customers, employees, investors, bureaucrats and politicians. Therefore, earning the goodwill of every society that we operate in is extremely important for us. Global benchmarking is a powerful instrument that helps us to improve our self-confidence, compete with the best global competitors and serve our customers better. Success and Failure We are our best friend and We are our Worst Enemies : We Indians must recognize as we have done at Infosys that we are our main enemies. There is no external enemy. Our failures are because of our lack of commitment to our cause, our inability to accept meritocracy and our indifference to honesty and want of a good work ethic amongst our leaders. Performance alone is the key differentiator. This stems from my belief that performance leads to recognition brings respect and respect brings power. Therefore if India wants to be a superpower as we keep hoping the only instrument we have is performance. We have demonstrated that businesses can be run legally and ethically that it is possible for an Indian company to benchmark with the global best and that any set of youngsters with values hard work team work and a little bit of smartness can indeed be successful entrepreneurs. This way we have enthused millions of young men and women in India. This in my opinion is Infosys greatest contribution. I have realized that humility grace and courtesy are genuine only when you have power and glory. That is why the leaders at Infosys have practiced this time and again. Humility provides us the strength of mind to learn from people better than us. Grace and courtesy make us worthy competitors. They also remind us that such glory and power are ephemeral and give us the strength to handle the days when we too could lose our shine. The crucial things we have to do in the future are to recognize our weaknesses; be open-minded about learning from people better than us; learn from our mistakes and not repeat them; be humble, honest and courteous; benchmark with the best in every dimension; use innovation to perform at global levels; and create a worthwhile vision and improve every day. This is how our mantra of focusing on speed imagination and excellence in execution will take this company very far. I have absolutely no doubt about it. I wish Kris and my fellow Infoscions the best in their journey forward. The board has been kind enough to name me the Chairman Emeritus. Therefore, I will always be there to add value if asked. Thanks, Narayana Murthy

The Flawed Character of Emma Woodhouse in Jane Austens Emma Essay

The Flawed Character of Emma Woodhouse     Ã‚  Ã‚   In Emma Woodhouse, Jane Austen has created a wonderfully flawed heroine. Had Emma been perfect, her situation would have been of no interest to anyone; her flaws are what interest both reader and critic. Peter W. Graham is interested particularly with the first page of the novel where Emma is first introduced to the reader. He discusses how significant the beginning of the novel is to mapping out "Emma's personal development"(42). Walton A. Litz and Patricia Meyer Spacks are much more interested in what Emma's imagination shows about her development. Litz says that "[t]he basic movement of Emma is from delusion to self-recognition, from illusion to reality"(369). Spacks takes the opposite argument suggesting Emma doesn't grow but is simply alleviated of her boredom and her imagination disappears with it. I think Emma's growth throughout the novel is pronounced; she starts out loveable enough but with much to learn. She grows from self-delusion to self-awareness and learn s to see truth and not just what she wants to see. She also grows in her social vision, although not as much as one may hope. All in all Emma makes significant developments and it is easy to imagine that with more time and Mr. Knightley's influence she will only continue learning and growing. At the beginning of the novel we are made very aware of Emma's character, both her strengths and her flaws. She starts out, "seem[ing] to unite some of the best blessings in existence"(Austen, 1; Italics, Graham). Her flaws are "at present so unperceived that they d[o] not by any means rank as misfortunes with her" (1) but instead of seeming a fortunate thing Peter W. Graham states that "by naming what Emma has hitherto avo... ...ce we are never told. All in all Emma makes great strides in her development and there is no section of her life in which she doesn't improve in part. Having come this far already and with Knightley's continued guidance we can only imagine Emma continuing to learn and grow. As we have already seen in her role as daughter, she has been tested and not been found wanting. This definitely bodes well for any tests remaining in Emma's future. Works cited Austen, Jane. Emma. 1972. Norton Critical ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company,1993 Graham, Peter W. "Emma's Three Sisters" Arizona Quarterly vol 43 no.1 (1987): 39-52 Litz, A. Walton. "Limits of Freedom: Emma" Emma. 1972. Norton Critical ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993, 369-377 Spacks, Patricia Meyer. "Women & Boredom: The Two Emmas" Yale Journal of Criticism vol.2 no. 2 (1989): 191-205

Food Globalization in China Essay

In most Chinese traditional families, family members would sit around the dining table and dine together. Everyone would talk about the day and bond as a family. Usually, it would be the mother who would buy groceries after work and return home to cook for the family. Sometimes, the father, the children or even the grandparents would help out in the kitchen. The mother of the family would always consider the nutrition, thus for every dish, it would be well-prepared, making sure that every family member would not have any health problems, such as getting sick or malnutrition. This was what a Chinese traditional family would be like in the past where fast food restaurants and â€Å"instant† food were scarce. Today’s Chinese family has altered tremendously. Purchasing meals at fast food restaurants is such an easy task compared to the loads of work and preparation for cooking at home. As a result, a mother has lost her chance to increase her energy expenditure that she would have spent on traveling to the grocery store, choosing and purchasing items, and returning home to cook. In addition, the bonding time for the family has decreased due to lack of interactions such as cooking and dining together. Instead, a mother has found other ways to provide food for the family. She would often go straight to a nearby fast food chain, make a take-away order or purchase instant French fries or noodles from a nearby supermarket. Likewise, compared to the traditional way of Chinese dinners, where families sit around a table of different dishes, fast food menus are mostly set for individuals, the amount of time that a family spends together is again decreased, and this unhealthy diet may slowly lead to unpredicted illnesses. In a matter of time, whether you are sitting in a restaurant or walking along the shopping districts of Shanghai, you look around and you could see humongous people with waist like pillars, arms that looks like thighs and thighs that rub against each other when they walk, one hand holding a cup of Pepsi and the other feeding themselves with McDonald’s cheese burger. There will be no more people with wrinkles and white hair. The life expectancy has dropped to fifty. This is not an illusion but an anticipated look of the future: The Fat China. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, globalization is the development of an increasingly integrated global economy, which is marked by the increase in cross-border flows of goods, services, money, people, information and culture. It brings the world together by spreading different ideas, making foreign products easier to access, speeding up the pace of life, and increasing the understanding around us. Most countries welcome the rush of globalization, which symbolizes advancements. However, the negative consequences on Chinese culture are deniable and are not worth the consequences. Food globalization is spreading through the world’s diverse cultures in the form of fast food restaurants, high-caloric beverages, supermarkets supplying instant food and high-caloric imported products, and culture changes that affect family bonding time. These changes have resulted in unhealthy diets, a decrease of energy expenditure, and illnesses such as obesity. Food globalization is causing a negative effect in China. Since the 1980s, China’s openness has led to the growth of foreign fast food chains in China. Coca-cola, Starbucks, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Hà ¤agen-Daz, Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, Pepsi, DQ, Pizzahut, Papa John’s and Mcdonald’s can be found almost everywhere in China (Popkin). According to Wen Dale, a member of the International Forum on Globalization, McDonald’s alone has opened up to at least 235 restaurants in China, excluding 158 Mcdonald’s franchises in Hong Kong. Every time when I go by McDonald’s in China, I can see the long lines of people, waiting for their turn to purchase the high-caloric food. When I visited Hangzhou (a city next to Shanghai) at the age of six, I already saw many KFCs around Hangzhou. Today’s Hangzhou is way different compared to twelve years ago, it is more modernized, and at the same time, it is crowded with fast food restaurants. In the shopping district of Hangzhou, there are not only Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton but also McDonald’s, Pizzahut, Hà ¤agen-Dazs, Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, Papa John’s, Starbucks and many other fast food chains. Globalization brought westernization, prosperity into China as well as fast food chains. According to A.Michelle Mendez, a nutritional epidemiologist who received her master’s in epidemiology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, supermarkets, for example, have â€Å"accounted for 48 percent of the urban food markets in China, an increase beyond the 30 percent level in 1999†. With this increase of urban food markets in China, the traditional markets that provide fresh and unprocessed products has started to decline, leading to a higher consumption of processed food. Furthermore, these urban food markets are not only found in large cities but also in poorer areas. (Mendez) The growing presence of Carrefour and Metro that imports foreign products brought giant stores that offer a wide variety of high caloric snacks and soft drinks, increasing the availability of unhealthy products. For example, the direct imports of French fries from the United States has increased tenfold between 1995 and 1999 (Mendez). Food globalization that increased the number of foreign investments produces negative changes to the Chinese Cultures (Dale). Globalization has brought large foreign supermarket firms and fast food chains into China. All of these has resulted in lifestyle changes which include a shift from natural-homemade food and beverages consumed to processed ones, a higher consumption of foreign food, a driving dietary change, an increase intake of caloric sweeteners, a reduced food preparation time and an increase in intake of pre-cooked foods. These led to an increase in obesity rate in China. For foreign food chains to produce large amount of ingredients and products and ship them all the way across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, unhealthy chemicals are often added during production. The contemporary world is characterized by â€Å"an intense, continuous, comprehensive interplay between the indigenous and the imported†. (Jackson) This is demonstrated through the importing and exporting of fast food ingredients. According to John Andrew, a citizen journalist, these chemicals are sometimes known as â€Å"food additives† and not all food additives used are foods. Instead, they are â€Å"chemical that are generally recognized as safe† (Andrew). Almost all of these additives are nowhere to be found in a local supermarket, instead, some are found in â€Å"inedible products like tox antifreeze, silicone caulk, soap, sunscreen and play sand† (Andrew). As reported by Riddhi Shah, a writer for the website Salon, Sally Davies, a New York photographer started a â€Å"part-art, part-food† science experiment. Davies documented a McDonald’s Happy Meal every few days until it spoiled. Even at day 137, â€Å"the meal still looks pretty great† (Shah). After reading this experiment, how would people still feel safe and happy consuming these â€Å"Happy Meals†? Consuming foods with chemicals or food additives may damage long-term health. Globalization brought changes that I have personally encountered. In 2007, the number of foreign franchises in China could be counted with ten fingers. There were only a few Starbucks and McDonald’s opened their first outlet near the downtown Wulin Square, the shopping district in Hangzhou. However, after only three years, the number of Starbucks has quadrupled. Today, there are at least eight Starbucks in Hangzhou compared to the only one less than five years ago. Because Starbucks is present everywhere, it is easy for individuals to grab a cup of Caramel Frappuccino (which is about 430 calories) whenever passing by. This availability has brought about a rush of coffee addicts in China as well as weight gains. Likewise, the newly opened Starbucks near Hangzhou International School where I attended high school attracts many students and faculty daily. This situation also happens to the McDonald’s near the school. The increase in availability has caused a tremendous increase in junk food consumption among the staff and students. It is easy for students and faculty to grab a coffee, or a muffin before or after school. In most countries, especially the United States, Asians are often stereotyped as skinny. However, this perception will have to be altered in the coming decade. In the past, malnutrition has been the main health problem in China. According to James. A Levine, a professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, more than 60 million people have become obese in China (Levine). The data presents 23 percent of Chinese population is overweight. 12 percent adults and 8 percent children have obesity (Levine). The more serious problem is that Levine has predicted by 2020, the obesity population in China will exceed that of the United States. The Chinese population is one of the largest in the world and if as predicted by Levine, the Chinese obesity rate rises, the whole world will be affected by this change. Misra points out â€Å"that the obesity and the metabolic syndrome are immediate cursors of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease†, thus as China’s obesity rate increases, the well being of the Chinese population is evidently threatened. The increase in obesity rate will lead to maladaptive consequences such as an increase in other illnesses, and these studies provide a strong correlation with the growing of foreign fast food chains. Consequently, the increase of foreign fast food chains has affected everyone living in China. Easy accessibility to these restaurants and supermarkets reduces Chinese’s physical activity and labor intensity in both the urban and rural areas (Jackson). This increase number of foreign supermarkets has also resulted in a rise in the average intake of vegetable oil from â€Å"14.8 grams per person in 1989 to 35.1 grams per person in 2004, adding an extra 183 kcal to the population’s daily diet† (Popkin) (see table 1). In table 1, the availability for consumption of total calories has been going upslope since the 1961 and has no inclination of slowing down. Thus, these changes result in an increase in Chinese adults’ consumption on high-fat which rose from 33 percent to 60.8 percent in urban areas and 13.5 percent to 29.3 percent in rural areas (Mendez). Table 1 Regional Trends in Availability for Consumption of Total Calories, 1961-2000†¨Source: Misra, Anoop and Lokesh Khurana. â€Å"Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome in Developing Countries†. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2008. Web. 8 November 2011. By switching from Chinese traditional diet to a Western diet, Chinese are consuming goods that are much higher in calories. In a Chinese traditional family, a dinner often included a few dishes of vegetables, a few dishes of meat (normally less than the number of vegetable dishes), a soup, and lastly a bowl of rice for each family member. One or two of the family members freshly cooked all of the food. This kind of traditional dinner included all components of a healthy meal for a well-balanced diet. For centuries, the only beverages Chinese consumed were tea, water, and breast milk after birth. â€Å"Because water has no calories, the human body did not evolve to reduce food intake to compensate for beverage consumption†, thus, adding sugar into new beverages will increase the caloric intake of an individual. (Popkin) Table 2 displays the short history of caloric beverage for humans. From breast milk, water consumption, the human as evolved to consume soda, coffee, juice, liquor and other beverages that contain sugar. Thereby, when people consume any beverage other than water, their total calorie consumption increase (Popkin). Table 2 Remarkably Short History for Caloric Beverages: Might the Absence of Compensation Relate to This Historical Revolution? Source: Popkin, Barry M. â€Å"The World is Fat.† The World is Fat (2008): n. pag. Web. 8 December 2011. The increase in availability of foreign food restaurants has led to a significant decrease of home-prepared food according to Popkin, an â€Å"obvious shift in home-prepared food and home-based meals to ready-to eat meals, often consumed away from home. With this consumption, Chinese are spending less time with their family members and more time outside of their homes. Even though families may eat out at a fast food restaurant together, as the food is served â€Å"fast†,, the social time that an individual spend with his family is still decreased. It is true that food globalization has presented positive effects on Chinese culture, such as the bringing a diverse of cuisines into China, satisfying the Chinese’s curiosity, the increase in their pace of life and the step of taking Chinese a leap forward into the understanding of the outside world. However, the negative consequences, such as the increase in health risks, and the diminishment of traditional culture that come together with food globalization are inevitable and are worth much more of the attention. These negative consequences may not seem worthwhile at this moment but when they do become serious problems, it will be too late to ameliorate. The question that is left for everyone to ponder is that do a higher standard of living, a higher pace of life worth the sacrifice? Work Cited Dale, Wen. â€Å"The Fast Food Invasion†. China Copes with Globalization: (2005): n. pag. Web 14 November 2011. Jackson, Peter. â€Å"Local Consumption Cultures in a Globalizing World†. Royal Geographical Society (2004): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011.Levine, James A. â€Å"Obesity in China: Causes and Solutions†. Chinese Medical Journal (2007): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011. Mendez, A. Michelle and M. Popkin. â€Å"Globalization, Urbanization and Nutritional Change In the Developing World†. Globalization of Food Systems in Developing Countries: Impact on Food Security and Nutrition (2004): n. pag. Web. 13 November2011. Popkin, Barry M. â€Å"The World is Fat.† The World is Fat (2008): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011.Watson, L. James. â€Å"China’s Big Mac Attack†. Foreign Affairs (2000): n. pag. Web. 12 November 2011. Wong, Seanon. â€Å"What’s In A Dumpling†. University of Chicago (2006): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011 Wu, Yangfeng. â€Å"Overweight and obesity in China†. BMJ (2006): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011. Tan, Cheryn. â€Å"Curry – Origins and History†. Suite101, 2009. Web. 13 November 2011. Shah, Riddhi. â€Å"The Secret to the Immortality of McDonald’s Food†. Salon, 2010. Web. 13 November 2011. Andrew, John. â€Å"Surprise Ingredients in Fast Food†. Natural New, 2010. Web. 13 November 2011. Misra, Anoop and Lokesh Khurana. â€Å"Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome in Developing Countries†. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2008. Web. 13 November 2011.

How to Acquire Knowledge - 1388 Words

Knowledge can be defined as information and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. Type of knowledge that we refer to as a basic cannot be argued and therefor it cannot be disregarded. For example we know that two plus three equals five and we know that water is boiling at one hundred degrees Celsius .We know these statements to be facts due to we have been provided evidentiary provision through either sensory perception, reason (solving a math problem), or language (being exposed to information from an outside source).When it comes to my quote† That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow† I completely agree with it, but I will examine it from both sides through use of real life examples in two areas of knowledge. First area of knowledge that I am going to discuss is natural science. Natural science might me defined as a branch of science that deals with the physical world, e.g., physics, chemistry, geology, and biology or it can be defined as the branch of knowledge that deals with the study of the physical world. Since the beginning of time people wanted to get to know world that was surrounding them. Through observations and countless number of experiments scientist gathered enormous amount of data which they interpreted and based on their interpretation they formed laws of how nature is governed. Many times those laws were incomplete or limited in that sense that theyShow MoreRelatedHow Do You Acquire Knowledge?992 Words   |  4 Pages How do you acquire knowledge? How can we know the nature of reality? That is the question that epistemology asks. But what is epistemology itself and where does it come from? Epistemology focuses on studying knowledge and justified beliefs. What is it that makes knowledge enough and what makes justified beliefs justifiable? 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Therefore, in orderRead MoreThe Knowledge Of Natural Sciences And History1592 Words   |  7 Pagesmath or how reason could fit into art. A network suggests that more than one way of knowing can collaborate within another in order to gain knowledge in a particular Area of knowing. The statement implies that not using a network of WOK to gain knowledge is unwise. Thus, I wish to examine how we best acquire knowledge in Natural Sciences and History. My two central knowledge questions are, how reliable is it to use only one way of knowing in one Area of knowledge in order to gain knowledge? and IsRead MorePhysicalism Vs Knowledge Argument1429 Words   |  6 Pagesarguments is the knowledge argument. The knowledge argument illustrates that physicalism is false. The knowledge argument was created by Frank Jackson and he explained this argument in his paper, â€Å"What Mary Didn’t Know.† This paper introduces the reader to a thought experiment that focuses on Mary, a scientist, who is locked inside of a black and white room. While she is in this room, she learns everything about the physical world and she knows every fact. The knowledge argument considersRead MoreWgu Fht Task 11675 Words   |  7 PagesPiaget and Lev Vygotsky. These two theorists agree on the several concepts of cognitive development but differ on others, the most commonly agreed difference among all theorists involved in cognitive dev elopment is the simple yet complex question of how cognitive development occurs. Jean Piaget, born 1896 and died 1980, was a Swiss psychologist; his focused was on the way an individual child acts upon an object in their environment, in order to build mental models of the way the world works. Piaget

Issues on Teenage Pregnancy Essay - 1645 Words

Children having children, this is an all too familiar phrase that has become a popular adage among people in today’s society. But as popular as this phrase maybe, it does not even begin to scratch the surface that lies beneath the complex issues of teenage pregnancy. There are many adverse concerns that encompass teen pregnancy, to which society has even developed its own views upon. Concerns that develop from adolescent pregnancy can have negative impacts for teenage parents, children, and even society. According to Furstenberg, â€Å"In 1995, in his State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton singled out teenage childbearing as â€Å"our most serious social problem†. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.), â€Å"In†¦show more content†¦255). However, during the period between 1960’s -1980’s, the benefit amount for the young mothers on welfare had actually declined thus giving them a less incentive of having another child to collect more benefits. Societal Issues on Teen Pregnancy With teen pregnancy on the rise during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, it was brought to the attention of the public eye. Many years ago, condoms were made from materials such as linen or animal intestines (Crosson-Tower, 2013, p. ***). With medical advancements being made, the development of a new kind of condom was processed from rubber. Another medical advancement was the development of the IUD, a female contraceptive device, which had become a long-term method of birth control (Crosson-Tower, 2013, p. ***). However, even with the more reliable forms of birth controls, there still existed the issue of accessibility to women of the poorer class. Outside the area of birth control, there existed other social concerns. Demographic studies shows that in developed countries such as the US, adolescent pregnancy has shown a result in a lower rate of educational achievement, rising rates of poverty, and poor â€Å"life outcomes† for children of teenage mothers, when compared to children of young adult women (Cherry Dillon, 2013). Reasons Why Teens Become Pregnant It is believed that many teenage girls become pregnant because, like their partners, they are unable toShow MoreRelatedThe Issue Of Teenage Pregnancy976 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction: Teenage pregnancy is a hot-button issue in the United States that has lured the attention of citizens for many years. Since its peak in 1990, teen pregnancy has declined significantly, but is still held as the center for much controversy, especially with recent reality television shows that many claim are â€Å"glorifying† teenage pregnancy (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 2014; Henson, 2011). 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The Bridge Of Understanding For The British - 899 Words

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Nature in Owen s Poetry Essay Example For Students

Nature in Owen s Poetry Essay Compare and contrast the presentation of nature in Owens poetry. Owen uses the concept of nature extensively in his poem Spring Offensive, in which he contemplates from an initial pastoral, peaceful scene in which gradually reflects upon the events off military initiative. Nature Is also used In his poem The Show to evoke the fear of death through using extended use of metaphors whilst both poems use personification and comparison of human life to the natural surroundings to convey the harsh conditions a soldier faced and the likelihood of death. In The Show, the tone of the poem Is considerably more melancholy than Spring Offensive, using nature more intensively juxtaposed amongst imagery of death, in contrast with the more subtle, in some instances even soothing image that is initially built up in Spring Offensive. For example, in The Show, caterpillars is used as a metaphor to describe the men, In a context of which seems degrading, diminishing the men to something so Insignificant In value. This Is reinforced In the following lines, isolating the word killed. Wrought the use of a comma and full stop, adding an air of meaningless to the word. In contrast, the use of nature in Spring Offensive Initially acts as a motif of both new life and the potential of the men, shown in the second stanza, in which Owen develops a picturesque view of the battlefield prior to battle through; Summer oozed in to their veins. This use of figurative language combines onomatopoeia through the long vowel o sound to create a sonorous, peaceful s cene before action later commences In the fourth stanza. In effect, by reading a focus on nature and the Intricate detail of the scenery through the first three stanzas, the inevitable horrific action of war conveyed through the poems title is delayed thus teasing the reader and creating tension. As Spring Offensive progresses, the mood of poem dramatically advances to apprehension in contrast with the initial peaceful setting. Nature remains keeping a central and focused backdrop to the action of the men, as they topped the hill, and raced together, whilst the context in which it is used in varies. The use of Till like a cold gust thrilled the little word marks the change in direction of the poem, when coupled with the juxtaposing simile like trees unstirred. This acts as a device to show how Owen felt men acted as a part of nature during rest, reinforcing their idle movement for days and in contrast; how it could seem that even nature worked against their favor as they fought to defeat the enemy or merely stay alive. Similarly, this technique of comparing human life to nature Is extensively used In The show, such as using imagery of abundant spawns to convey sheer numbers of men, who were presumably German due to the reference to the color gray (the color of a German army uniform). The depiction of these men being ramped on the rest portrays men acting as an animal raised upon Its hind legs, thus conveying an underlying threat of the enemy and again, diminishing men by making them comparable to animals. Spring Offensive, with the final lines returning to this initial concept of Death having an eerily physical presence, effectively retaining an uncomfortable, dreamlike state of he speaker. In contrast, the mood of the poem in Spring Offensive is separated out more distinctively by larger structured stanzas, with the drowsy, tranquil nature of the first three stanzas pervading peace within the reader through the fluid enjambment of ease and And and pleasant imagery of the onomatopoeic long grass swirled, using nature to evoke peace before a dramatic change in tone taking effect later on in the poem. .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 , .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 .postImageUrl , .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 , .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8:hover , .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8:visited , .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8:active { border:0!important; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8:active , .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8 .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u26a1d6dd667b3be67355a872e337b4d8:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Love Song of A J Prufrock EssayNature is used in Spring Offensive more directly, building scenic imagery from a objective point of view amongst this fierce backdrop of battle and fury, while in The Show nature is used in a more metaphorical sense used to describe the physical and mental state of men at war. For example, in The Show the extended metaphor during the final stanza in which Death is personified as He and appears to pick up a Worm, who Owen identifies with as the men in his platoon, seemingly defenseless as this force of death overpowers them. This is perhaps more disturbing to the reader than the calmer, yet still uncomfortable scenes of Spring Offensive, in which the sky burns With fury against them, more subtly depicting a similar image of a greater power defeating their existence. Owen uses nature in his poetry to powerfully convey how men were degraded at war due to their poor treatment and their surrounding conditions, belittling their entire being to that of an insect or an animal, as seen in both The Show and Spring Offensive. Nature is presented as providing both a sense of tranquility during rest at war; but equally it seemed in a place of such desolate isolation from civilized life, it seemed that even nature acted against the soldiers.