Definition and Examples of Visual Euphemisms

Definition and Examples of Visual Euphemisms Visual euphemism is the use of a pleasing or inoffensive image to represent an object, concept, or experience thats considered unpleasant, distasteful, or distressingly explicit. In  Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language (2006),  Keith Allan and Kate Burridge point out that visual euphemisms are commonplace; for example,  low-calorie salad dressing (usually  oil-free) is presented in shapely, slender-waisted bottles. The shape, the cleverly altered spelling and reversed coloring on some of the packaging sends out the message non-fattening loud and clear. Examples and Observations Good  visual euphemisms are  to be found in advertisements concerned with false teeth- something that no one wants to see. An advertisement for one fixative simply shows two beautiful slim blue cylinders fitting together perfectly, as a voice  Ã‚  praises the efficiency and salubriousness of the product.(Toni-Lee Capossela,  Language Matters. Harcourt Brace,  1995) Visual Euphemisms in Everyday Life: Romance in the Toilet Bowl CleanerSociety has many instances of visual euphemisms. Bald men wear toupees. Both sexes wear contact lenses. Fig leaves hide the genitals of statues. Pubic hair was airbrushed out of soft-porn photographs until the 1960s. The Society for Indecency to Naked Animals designed boxer shorts, knickers, and petticoats to cover the sex organs of animals during the 1960s (cf. Fryer 1963:19). Frilled pantalettes modestly hid the limbs (legs could not properly be mentioned, especially in America, see Read 1934:265) of the table and the pianoforte during the V ictorian era. . . .Attractive packaging itself is a kind of euphemism: emphasis on appearance instead of the product contrasts strikingly with the old-time grocer who displayed items in bulk. Lighting effects that redden meat, the waxing of fruit, and the attractive packaging are cosmetic; and like verbal euphemism, they create a positive illusion. Still photography, film, and television are superb media for deceptive euphemisms. . . . These media present a world of perfected forms in which there is romance in the toilet bowl cleaner, poetry in the sanitary napkin, temptation in the tampon, and beauty in a glass of dentures.(Keith Allan and Kate Burridge, Euphemism and Dysphemism: Language Used as a Shield and Weapon. Oxford University Press, 1991) SharksAs trash-happy and ridiculous as it sounds, the movie [Spring Break Shark Attack] isnt just another load of tired old beach bunk. For one thing, the scary parts really are scary, enough so that little kids should be sent to their roomswhere, presumably, they can watch the less menacing aquatic antics of SpongeBob SquarePants. . . .When a partly eaten shark victim washes up onshore, for example, he really looks like a partly eaten shark victim, not the scrubbed-up visual euphemism of TV times gone by. Is this progress? Wellkinda?(Tom Shales, Cue the Shark Music and Prepare to Be Scared. The Washington Post, March 19, 2005) Sexual EncountersVictorian novels and pictures frequently feature a woman enthroned on a gentlemans knee as a visual euphemism for sexual encounter. Although William Holman Hunts famous picture The Awakening Conscience (1854) indicated that the fallen woman regained her moral conviction by showing her in the act of rising from her lovers knee, many pictures a nd stories celebrated the happy wife, held by her husband on his knee as both sweetheart and child.(Judith Farr, The Passion of Emily Dickinson. Harvard University Press, 1992) Deception and SecrecyThere is no doubt that some euphemism adds dimensions of deception and secrecy. And in the case of the visual euphemism the illusion is very effective. Its always much harder to prove misrepresentation when a claim is expressed non-verbally; in other words, not in propositional language with actual nouns and verbs. The visual euphemism can be a lot more sneaky.(Kate Burridge, Weeds in the Garden of Words: Further Observations on the Tangled History of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 2005)

Homemade Fire Extinguisher Science Project

Homemade Fire Extinguisher Science Project A fire extinguisher is an important piece of safety equipment in both the home and lab. You can make your own fire extinguisher using common kitchen ingredients to learn how fire extinguishers work and to learn about gases. Then, apply the Ideal Gas Law to change the characteristics of your homemade fire extinguisher. How a Fire Extinguisher Works A fire extinguisher typically deprives a fire of oxygen. If you encounter a fire at home, on a stovetop, for example, you can smother the fire by putting a lid over your pan or pot. In some cases, you can toss a non-flammable chemical on the fire to reduce the combustion reaction. Good choices include table salt (sodium chloride) or baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). When baking soda is heated, carbon dioxide gas is given off, suffocating the fire. In this project, youll cause a chemical reaction to produce carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide sinks in the air, displacing it and removing oxygen from the fire. Homemade Fire Extinguisher Materials Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)Vinegar (weak acetic acid)Jar with lid, with a hole in the lid Make the Fire Extinguisher Fill the jar about halfway full with vinegar.To activate the fire extinguisher, drop in a spoonful of baking soda.Immediately shake the jar and point the hole of the jar toward your fire. Test out your fire extinguisher on a candle or small intentional fire so you will know what to expect. Tips and Tricks If you want a directional fire extinguisher, you can insert a straw into the hole in the jar or bottle. Use caulk or duck tape to secure the straw so that it wont shoot out of the jar when you use the homemade fire extinguisher.Dont add too much vinegar to the container! You want enough room to add the baking soda and to prevent excessive build-up of pressure.You can prepare sachets of baking soda for easier use. Simply wrap a spoonful of baking soda in a piece of tissue or toilet paper. When youre ready to use the fire extinguisher, drop the packet of baking soda into the jar and close the lid. How to Make a Fire Extinguisher Shoot the Farthest You can apply the Ideal Gas Law to make a science project out of your homemade fire extinguisher. How would you make the fire extinguisher shoot as far as possible? You do this by maximizing the pressure in the bottle. The pressure in the Ideal Gas Law is related to the volume of the bottle, the amount of gas in the bottle and temperature. Maximize pressure by increasing the temperature and the number of moles of gas inside the bottle. PV nRT P is the pressure in the bottle V is the volume of the bottle n is the number of moles of gas in the bottle R Ideal Gas Constant T temperature Kelvin Solving for pressure or P, you get: P nRT / V So, to maximize the amount of pressure and thus the distance you can shoot the carbon dioxide, you can: Minimize the volume of the container (V). Using a larger bottle may make it easier for you to complete the project, but it wont improve the distance of your homemade fire extinguisher.Maximize the amount of gas produced by the chemical reaction (n). Youll need to experiment with the amounts of vinegar and baking soda you use in order to produce the most carbon dioxide. Usually, youll have plenty of vinegar in a bottle, but not necessarily enough baking soda to react all of it. Also, keep in mind you increase the reaction needed to produce the carbon dioxide when you increase the availability of baking soda by shaking the container to mix the chemicals or by breaking up the baking soda into a fine powder (rather than adding one large clump). Disclaimer: Please be advised that the content provided by our website is for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. Fire extinguishers and the chemicals contained within them are dangerous and should always be handled with care and used with common sense. By using this website you acknowledge that ThoughtCo., its parent ​Dotdash, and IAC/InterActive Corp. shall have no liability for any damages, injuries, or other legal matters caused by your use of fireworks or the knowledge or application of the information on this website. The providers of this content specifically do not condone using fireworks for disruptive, unsafe, illegal, or destructive purposes. You are responsible for following all applicable laws before using or applying the information provided on this website.

Discussion Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Discussion Questions - Assignment Example berg (Saadi, 2010), cooperation with Threadless Company gave Dell possibility to be closer to its customers as such art fitted consumers of Dell products. The co called crowdsourcing is also known business model which such companies as Mars and Ben & Jerry used within their strategies. Thus, Mars has launched the global contest in order to choose the new color of M&Ms. Ben & Jerry lineup added Primary Berry Graham. If to consider firm performance regarding customer satisfaction, Ngobo (n.d.) considers that in service sectors, firm-specific effects are more important than the industry effects as it is more difficult to imitate in the customized service industries. Within the strategic management, firm effects capture variation in strategies and performance outcomes throughout industries and firms (Mauri & Michaels, 1998). The three levels of strategy, the corporate, business and functional should be paid equal attention by an organization as it enables the firm to determine its long-term direction within the external environment, meet the stakeholders’ expectations and take care of its operations (Barnes, 2007). The firm should understand where it is in business, what it should acquire or divest, how to compete in this business and with what mission, determine its strategic objectives and resources managed in the function. Despite the different length, content, format and specificity if a mission statement, it should be informative and clear, inspire employees and all organizational stakeholders. Academicians consider (David, et al., 2014) that effective mission statement includes components directed toward customers, products or services, markets, technology, environmental concerns, philosophy, concern about society, employees and self- concept. Within the modern business world, it is important for an organization to understand the external environment in order to align it with the strategies which lead to a firm’s ability to remain sustainable in the

How a person should be Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How a person should be - Essay Example Another approach in the direction of understanding truth goes with the name of interpretive analysis of situations and the conclusions that individuals and groups draw from their experiences are indeed identified as truths. But, in the view of this group’s conceptual understanding, the nature of truth wholly and solely depends on one’s experiences alone. The final approach towards gaining understanding of reality is called postmodernism that simply states that nothing is in-definitively true and vice versa and therefore, the gathering of information is going to determine the truths and facts of the present time. There was a time in past, when scientists believed that world is flat like a table and if ships were to go far into the sea then, they may fall from the edge of the world. However, with the passage of time, the featured belief changed and so did the human behavior towards reality (Klein pp. 26). The knowledge always changes, modifies, and transforms the basic se t of beliefs from which the complete social value system is based and because of this reason, when beliefs go through the process of change, then, the societal behaviors mold in such a way so that they can represent the newly formed assumptions. The Plato developed a way that thrived on gathering people’s opinion about a particular matter and then, the group attempted to develop a consensus and that agreed upon statement was given the status of divinity. But, if people’s experiences are recommending against the general statement then, it means that the reality is outdated and needs modifications. Thusly, the major and the most important approaches towards reality are based on human interpretation of events. The scientific experimentation technique introduced by early Muslim scholars was based on the due principle of experimentation and it supported the notion of experimentation via that the statements about reality can be proven and disproven (Rorty pp. 1). The real ch ange in the community occurs on a cognitive level and then, a new thought is shared slowly and gradually with others (Gladwell pp. 2). Ultimately, it reaches the people who have the appropriate level of power and authority needed to bring the change. Therefore, a small change in a thought pattern leads to a major one. But, nobody cares to tell the name of a person who originally gave the seed of change and because of this reason, real thinkers of the community remain unknown and unsung in most number of the cases. In the modern scientific literature, the researcher is free to fabricate hypothetical statements about an issue but he or she has to prove it with the help of empirical experimentation in order to derive generally acceptable statements. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned approach can be taken as monistic evaluation of interpretive assumptions about reality. The trend of change in human belief system over the passage of time is supporting that nothing is true forever and tha t is an elementary assumption of postmodernism (Rorty pp. 2). The previous discussion highlighted the fact that not all of the approaches towards reality are hostile to each other but they are indeed complimentary. The monistic way of thinking helps humans in standardization of realism so that public can understand and comprehend the world around them in a shared manner. The interpretive analysis of the situations helps

Sparknotes Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Essay Example for Free

Sparknotes Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Essay This chapter introduces one of the primary motifs of Into the Wild, that of documents. Because the books subject, Christopher McCandless, has died before author Jon Krakauer can meet him, Krakauer must rely on the testimony of the people McCandless encountered in order to stitch together the story of the young mans journey — and especially on the documents McCandless left behind. The first of these documents is McCandlesss S.O.S. note. Others will include his journals, the notes he made in the books he read, graffiti he scratched into various surfaces, and photos he took of himself. To these Krakauer will add maps of the places McCandless visited, relevant quotations from a wide variety of authors, and even a brief memoir of the authors own young manhood, inserted near the end of Into the Wild. All of these enrich our understanding of McCandless and help us to believe that the amazing story we read in Into the Wild really happened. The fact that someone as articulate and effective at communicating as McCandless died alone, having written a kind of letter (the S.O.S. note) that went unread until it was too late, is an example of irony. Also ironic: McCandless, who encountered no one during the four months between his entrance into the bush and his death there of starvation, is discovered not by one fellow trekker but by five — all within days of McCandlesss death. Chapter 3 This chapter begins to explore the character of Christopher McCandless in depth. Far from being a stereotypical slacker, he was hard-working, according to Wayne Westerberg. The fact that he had read the long and difficult War and Peace indicates that McCandless was intelligent and studious. (Indeed, we learn as well in this chapter that he was a success at selective Emory University.) Most indicative of all with respect to McCandlesss character are the things he renounced: $24,000 and his very name. In doing so, he seems to have been rejecting his family and what he saw as their materialistic values. This information doesnt fully explain why Christopher McCandless would forge alone into the Alaskan wilderness, but it begins to address the motivation for this bizarre act. The fact that McCandless never told his parents what he planned to do could indicate a lack of resolve on his part, or even cowardice. It also shows that the young man thoughtful enough to present Wayne Westerberg with an inscribed copy of one of his favorite books was callous enough regarding his parents feelings to leave them in the dark regarding their sons whereabouts. Considering that he eventually would die of starvation, McCandlesss gift of $24,000 to OXFAM, an organization dedicated to fighting hunger, is an example of irony. Chapter 4 This chapter unearths additional motivation for McCandlesss irrational Alaska trek to come. During his time in Mexico, he lived on nothing more than five pounds of rice and what marine life he could pull from the sea, and Krakauer points out that this may have accounted for the young mans belief that he could live off the land in the Alaskan wilderness. (Undeniably, McCandless proves himself remarkably capable in this chapter, canoeing through hundreds of miles of hostile landscape and even crossing an international border undetected.) And yet other questions remain unanswered. His mother says that Chris was very much of the school that you should own nothing except what you can carry on your back at a dead run. She doesnt say why this is so, however. The motif of friendship emerges further in these pages, as McCandless, who earlier struck up a friendship with Wayne Westerberg, befriends Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob. One of Into the Wilds many ironies: a young man compelled toward a solitary life, who eventually will die alone, was quite gregarious and made friends easily. Another irony: McCandless abandons a car, the only problem with which is a wet battery, and burns his cash — but quits a job when it becomes clear that he wont be paid for his hard work. He has a complicated relationship with money and possessions, to say the least. Chapter 5 In this chapter, a theme introduced when McCandless presented a copy of War and Peace to Wayne Westerberg reappears: the young mans abiding love of literature. Since childhood, he was obsessed with the novels and stories of Jack London, who condemned capitalism and glorified nature. According to Krakauer, however, McCandless forgot he was reading fiction and conveniently overlooked the fact that London himself had spent just a single winter in the North and that hed died by his own hand on his California estate at the age of forty, a fatuous drunk, obese and pathetic. Krakauer characterizes his protagonist more deeply by means of contrast with those who surround him: Note that even at the Slabs, where snowbirds, rubber tramps, and other antiestablishment types congregated, McCandless was an anomaly: an individual who wanted life to be not easier (as most of the habituà ©s of the Slabs presumably do) but more difficult. Thus he prepares at the Slabs for a life in the harsh wilderness of Alaska. Notice as well the extent to which author Krakauer relies on documents left behind by McCandless to tell the young mans story. During this part of his journey, he ceases regularly keeping a journal, and Into the Wild becomes sketchier, more reliant on authorial inference. Chapter 6 The theme of this chapter is the astonishing ability of Christopher McCandless to win friends and influence people. Not only did he befriend the octogenarian Ronald Franz, but he convinced the old man to change his ways fundamentally at a time in life when most people have settled down for good. It is important to understand that McCandless fled society not because he couldnt get along with others, but because he chose to be alone. The fact that McCandless achieved this effect by means of a letter speaks to the power of the written word. Remember that he was inspired to head into the wild by books he read (Tolstoys, Jack Londons, and others) — and that it is a magazine article which informs the hitchhiker Franz picks up at chapters end that McCandless has died, thus inspiring the old man to give up on life. Chapter 7 Regarding McCandlesss character, it is interesting — and of course believable — that he can be intelligent, hardworking, and resilient, yet lack mechanical dexterity and perhaps even common sense. While the former characteristic, his awkwardness with machines, is consequential in ways that he manages to recover from (as in the abandonment of his car), the latter, his difficulty being just plain sensible, will have a greater impact. McCandlesss rage toward his parents, and particularly his father, is something that many of those who meet him pick up on. It seems to be their lifestyle more than anything else that McCandless is rejecting when he flees the conventional middle-class American way of life, though why it so repels him is never made completely clear by Into the Wild. It is not uncommon for men and women of Christopher McCandlesss age to flee their parents particular ways of doing things (psychology even has a term for this dynamic: reaction formation), but rarely is the response so extreme, so complete. The degree of McCandlesss renunciation of his familys values is a large part of what makes Krakauers book so fascinating. Finally, there is something admirable about McCandlesss utter devotion to what he believes in. It is easy to be inspired by books and the ideas they espouse, but not so easy to live the kind of life envisioned by thinkers like Tolstoy and London. McCandless talks the talk in a way that alienates fewer listeners than one would predict, but he walks the walk, too — which may account for the fact that so many of those he encountered continued to listen. Chapter 8 This chapter offers context for, and thus perspective on, McCandlesss situation. By quoting from some of the many outraged responses to his article, Krakauer shares with the reader the typical reaction to McCandlesss story: smug superiority laced with disbelief that anyone could be so foolhardy. And yet, as the examples of Rosselini, Waterman, and McCunn demonstrate, McCandless is hardly the only individual impelled to live off the land in the Alaskan wilderness. At the same time, these others provide Krakauer with an opportunity to highlight McCandlesss uniqueness; the author characterizes him by contrast with his predecessors. Similar to Rosselini and Waterman, Christopher McCandless was a seeker and had an impractical fascination with the harsh side of nature, the author writes. Like Waterman and McCunn, he lacked common sense. McCandless was unlike Waterman in that he was mentally stable. And in contrast to McCunn, McCandless didnt expect to be saved. Although he was rash, Krakauer summarizes, McCandless wasnt incompetent — he wouldnt have lasted 113 days if he were. And he wasnt a nutcase, he wasnt a sociopath, he wasnt an outcast. McCandless was something else. . . . A pilgrim perhaps. Chapter 9 This is a second consecutive chapter in which the author attempts to illuminate McCandlesss character by comparing and contrasting it to those of his predecessors. In doing so, Krakauer further convinces the reader that although McCandless was unique, the impulses that drove him were not unprecedented. Nor are these impulses an exclusively American phenomenon. In fact, although rare, the drive toward solitude crosses continents and millennia, as the example of the Irish monks demonstrates. Chapter 10 By flashing forward to McCandlesss death, Krakauer intensifies the drama of his story. He reminds us that McCandlesss adventure ends tragically. In addition, the author emphasizes the young mans connections to those whose lives he touched: friends Gallien and Westerberg, as well as MCandlesss relatives. The prior two chapters have emphasized McCandlesss commonalities with others who have sought adventure and solitude in the wild. This short chapter reminds us that, although it was not unique, McCandlesss story was noteworthy, newsworthy — it was covered not only in Alaska but in the national press. Chapter 11 This chapter asks more questions than it answers — and understandably, since the riddles it poses cannot be solved definitively. Are Christopher McCandlesss parents responsible for their sons death? Was his personality shaped by, or even inherited from, them? Could his parents have interceded and altered his behavior, thereby changing his fate? For that matter, what exactly was McCandless rebelling against, aside from middle class ennui? Also, wouldnt it have been more productive for him to have resumed his work on behalf of the homeless, hungry, or disenfranchised after college, instead of indulging his whimsical notions of (his own) survival? Chapter 12 Two factors emerge in this chapter that clearly contributed to McCandlesss flight into the wilderness — and his eventual death. First, Walt McCandless comments that Chris was good at almost everything he ever tried . . . which made him supremely overconfident. This bit of characterization goes a long way toward explaining McCandlesss bewildering lack of preparation for his Alaskan adventure. There is no evidence that he failed at much, if anything, during his childhood and adolescence, which may have exacerbated the hubris naturally felt by many young adults. As to why McCandlesss overconfidence found its outlet in a radical rejection of his parents bourgeois values — and his family altogether — the information that emerges in this chapter about his fathers double life could well have offered the motivation. Krakauer doesnt linger on this episode, but if nothing else, it seems to have provided the match that lit McCandlesss short fuse. Chapter 13 During the plane ride home with Chriss remains, his sister Carine eats every scrap of food the cabin attendants set in front of her. Soon afterward, however, she discovers she has no appetite and loses so much weight that friends think she has become anorectic. Chriss mother also stops eating, losing eight pounds. His father, Walt, responds the opposite way, putting on eight pounds. Though both compulsive eating and loss of appetite are not uncommon responses to stress and grief, it is hard not to see the McCandless familys food-related behaviors as connected to Chriss demise. It is as if Billie and Carine are identifying with him, feeling Chriss pain, while Walt is compensating for what killed his son — though none of them are doing what they do intentionally, or even consciously. Chapter 14 Up to this point in Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer has maintained journalistic objectivity, or at least the appearance of objectivity. In this chapter he abandons that perspective. Note, however, that Krakauers integrity as a journalist is not compromised, since he is entirely up-front about the experiences he shares in common with his subject, McCandless. In fact, it would be more ethically suspect if Krakauer did not divulge that he had his own into the wild experience as a young man. Because of his candor, readers are able to take this into account when the author views McCandlesss activities with some sympathy. And as a result of reading this chapter and the one that follows, the reader moves closer to McCandless and his perspective. Not only Rosselini, Waterman, McCunn, and Reuss (as well as the Irish monks described) have shared McCandlesss impulses, but the author himself. Behavior that seemed utterly bizarre, at the start of Into the Wild, is becoming easier to conceive of with every successive chapter. Chapter 15 his chapter further develops the motif of fathers and sons, suggesting explicitly that sons often rebel against their fathers at the same time that they are powerless to resist paternal traits they have inherited. Clearly Krakauer believes that McCandless was driven to do what he did in large measure by his relationship with father Walt. And this is only part of what Krakauer believes he shared with McCandless. They also shared hubris. It is easy, when you are young, he writes, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it. When I decided to go to Alaska that April, like Chris McCandless, I was a raw youth who mistook passion for insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic. Which is not to say that Jon Krakauer believes his younger self to have been identical to Christopher McCandless in every respect. Krakauer says he wasnt as intelligent as McCandless and didnt possess his lofty ideals — but young Krakauer was also, crucially, a superior outdoorsman. Chapter 16 This chapter, the heart of Into the Wild, reconstructs McCandlesss climactic Alaska adventure, following him into the bush and observing his admirable survival skills. Although Krakauers book is an adventure story, Into the Wild is also a study in character, and Chapter Sixteen is no exception. McCandless is revealed in the moose episode to be highly ethical and deeply sympathetic; the reader cannot help being moved by the enormity of the young mans despair over wasting his kill. By the same token, McCandlesss lack of foresight and his hubris, apparent in a low-level way prior to this time, now yield consequences that will be fatal. He did not anticipate that melting snow would swell the bodies of water he crossed on his way into the bush. And his arrogant refusal to bring a map prevents McCandless from learning that, despite its increased size, the river is fordable upstream — another in a series of ironies that punctuate this book Chapter 17 The ironies multiply in this, the books penultimate chapter. The basket that Krakauer and his companions discover at the U.S.G.S. station has been secured by hunters to the side of the river on which McCandless camped so as to make crossing the Teklanika harder for outsiders. If hed known about it, the author writes, crossing the Teklanika to safety would have been a trivial matter. Because he had no topographic map, however, he had no way of conceiving that salvation was so close at hand. In another irony, McCandless was close to not only the abandoned gauging station but three empty hunting cabins, as well. Did he really go into the wild after all? Undoubtedly he was living in a hostile environment during the months he spent in Alaska, but some wouldnt call the area he inhabited the wilderness at all. Chapter 18 Did McCandless finally come to forgive his family, as evinced by the HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED inscription he wrote toward the end of his life? Perhaps — but note that in all of his writings, there is nothing that explicitly reaches out to his parents or his sister, Carine. McCandless never acknowledges them, even to say goodbye. Note, too, that Krakauers theory on McCandlesss death, that it was caused by mold on wild potato seeds, is just that: a theory. It is not definitive. To some degree it is beside the point anyway, since one could argue that it wasnt so much starvation that killed McCandless as arrogance and shortsightedness.

Management Essay -- Training and Development, Change, Innovation

Training and Development is said to be beneficial for both firms and employees. Why then are some organisations and individuals reluctant to invest in training? The question appears to make assumptions that some organisations and individuals are reluctant to invest in training despite the fact that there are some obvious benefits for both firms and employees with training and development. This essay will explain the meaning of training and development, highlight the positive impacts that training and development have on the performance of employees and organisations, as well as the reason both employees and firms are reluctant to investing in it. Some authors have argued that there is little or no difference between training and development as they are intertwined overlap a lot and can be used interchangeably. Training is a single event which is skills specific, while development is an on-going process which enhances people’s capability from a present state to a future state where higher skills are needed (Armstrong 2006). According to Laird (1978), Training can be defined as â€Å"an experience, a discipline, or a regimen which causes people to acquire new, predetermined behaviours† (p.9). Alternatively, Laird in his book (1978:9) referred to the work of Nadler (1970), who defined development as being concerned with â€Å"preparing the employees so that they can move with the organization as it develops, changes and grows†. Development can be on-the-job and through work experience. The on-the-job method which includes; training, coaching, and mentoring (trying to encourage the person doing the job to do it better) is for the purpose of personal growth. Also, development through work experience is when individuals learn through rotation o... ... more strategically when it can be seen directly to solve major operational issues†. Hence, it should be concentrated more on how to identify and satisfy customer desires, developing skills, enabling individuals to take extra responsibilities, providing success for management and increasing all-round competence. I could argue for or against the implementation of training and development in an organisation. Based on academic studies carried out so far, I would suggest that in as much as training and development is an important aspect of Human resources management which is principal to the realisation of organisations goal and objectives, training and development on its own without ‘employee motivation’ and ‘effective organisational communication’ would render the whole process a failure and lead to high employee turnover and increased cost for the organisation.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 22

The afternoon after Elena's â€Å"discipline,† Damon took out a room in the same complex where Dr. Meggar lived. Lady Ulma stayed in the doctor's office until between them, Sage, Damon, and Dr. Meggar had healed her completely. She never talked about sad things now. She told them so many stories about her childhood estate that they felt they could walk around it and recognize every room, vast though it was. â€Å"I suppose it's home to rats and mice now,† she said wistfully at the conclusion of one story. â€Å"And spiders and moths.† â€Å"But why?† Bonnie said, failing to see the signals that both Meredith and Elena were giving her not to ask. Lady Ulma tipped her head back to look at the ceiling. â€Å"Because†¦of General Verantz. The middle-aged demon who saw me when I was only fourteen. When he had the army attack my home, they slaughtered every living thing they found inside – except me and my canary. My parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles†¦my younger brothers and sisters. Even my cat sleeping on the window seat. General Verantz had me brought in front of him, just as I was, in my nightgown and bare feet, with my hair unbrushed and coming out of its braid, and beside him was my canary with the nighttime cloth off its cage. It was still alive and hopping about as cheerful as ever. And that made everything else that happened seem worse somehow – and yet more like a dream, too. It's difficult to explain. â€Å"Two of the general's men were holding me when they brought me before him. They were really propping me up more than keeping me from running, though. I was so young, you see, and everything kept fading in and out. But I remember exactly what the general said to me. He said, ‘I told this bird to sing and it sang. I told your parents I wanted to give you the honor of being my wife and they refused. Now look over there. Will you be like the canary or your parents, I wonder?' And he pointed to a dim corner of the room – of course it was all torchlight then, and the torches had been put out for the night. But there was enough light for me to see that there was a heap of round objects, with thatch or grass at one side of them. At least that is what I first thought – truly. I was that innocent, and I believe shock had done something to my mind.† â€Å"Please,† Elena said, stroking Lady Ulma's hand gently. â€Å"You don't have to keep on with this. We understand – â€Å" But Lady Ulma didn't seem to hear the words. She said, â€Å"And then one of the general's men held up a sort of coconut with very long thatch at the top, braided. He swung it casually – and all of a sudden I saw it for what it really was. It was my mother's head.† Elena choked involuntarily. Lady Ulma looked around at the three girls with steady, dry eyes. â€Å"I suppose you think me very callous for being able to talk about such things without breaking down.† â€Å"No, no – † Elena began hastily. She herself was shaking, even after tuning down her psychic senses to their least extent. She hoped Bonnie wouldn't faint. Lady Ulma was speaking again. â€Å"War, casual violence, and tyranny are all I have known since my childhood innocence was crushed in that moment. It is kindness now that astounds me, that makes my eyes sting with tears.† â€Å"Oh, don't cry,† begged Bonnie, throwing her arms around the woman impulsively. â€Å"Please don't. We're here for you.† Meanwhile Elena and Meredith were regarding each other with knitted eyebrows and quick shrugs. â€Å"Yes, please don't cry,† Elena put in, feeling faintly guilty, but determined to try Plan A. â€Å"But tell us, why did your family estate end up in such bad condition?† â€Å"It was the fault of the general. He was sent to faraway lands to fight foolish, meaningless wars. When he left he would take most of his retinue with him – including slaves who were in favor at the moment. When he left once, three years after he had attacked our home, I was not in favor, and I was not chosen to be with him. I was lucky. His entire battalion was wiped out; the household members who went with him were taken captive or slaughtered. He had no heir and his property here reverted to the Crown, which had no use for it. It has lain unoccupied for all these many years – looted many times, no doubt, but with its true secret, the secret of the jewels, undiscovered†¦as far as I know.† â€Å"The Secret of the Jewels,† Bonnie whispered, clearly putting it all in capital letters, as if it were a mystery novel. She still had an arm around Lady Ulma. â€Å"What secret of the jewels?† Meredith said more calmly. Elena couldn't speak for the delicious shivers that were running through her. This was like being part of some magical play. â€Å"In my parents' day, it was common to hide your wealth somewhere on your estate – and to keep the knowledge of its hiding place strictly to the owners. Of course, my father, as a designer and trader in jewels, had more to hide than most people knew of. He had a wonderful room that seemed to me something like Aladdin's cave. It was his workshop, where he kept his raw gems as well as finished pieces that had been commissioned or that he designed for my mother or out of his imagination.† â€Å"And no one ever found that?† Meredith said. There was just the slightest tinge of skepticism in her voice. â€Å"If anyone did, I never heard about it. Of course, they could have gotten the knowledge out of my father or mother, in time – but the general was not a meticulous and patient vampire or kitsune, but a rough and impatient demon. He killed my parents as he stormed through the house. It never occurred to him that I, a child of fourteen, might share the knowledge.† â€Å"But you did†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie whispered, fascinated, taking the story where it had to go. â€Å"But I did. And I do now.† Elena gulped. She was still trying to stay calm, to be more like Meredith, to maintain a cool head. But just as she opened her mouth to be coolheaded, Meredith said, â€Å"What are we waiting for?† and jumped to her feet. Lady Ulma seemed to be the most tranquil person there. She also seemed slightly bewildered and almost timid. â€Å"You mean that we should ask our master for an audience?† â€Å"I mean that we should go out there and get those jewels!† Elena exclaimed. â€Å"Although, yes, Damon would be a big asset if there's anything that takes strength to lift. Sage, too.† She couldn't understand why Lady Ulma wasn't more excited. â€Å"Don't you see?† Elena said, her mind racing. â€Å"You can have your household back again! We can do our best to fix it up the way it was when you were a child. I mean, if that's what you want to do with the money. But I'd love, at least, to see the Aladdin's cave!† â€Å"But – well,† Lady Ulma seemed suddenly distressed. â€Å"I had meant to ask Master Damon for another favor – although the money from the jewels might help with that.† â€Å"What is it that you want?† Elena said as gently as she could. â€Å"And you don't need to call him Master Damon. He freed you days ago, remember?† â€Å"But surely that was just a – a celebration of the moment?† Lady Ulma still looked puzzled. â€Å"He didn't make it official at the Servile Offices or anything, did he?† â€Å"If he didn't it's because he didn't know!† Bonnie cried out at the same time as Meredith said, â€Å"We don't really understand the protocol. Is that what you need to do?† Lady Ulma seemed able only to nod her head. Elena felt humble. She guessed that this woman, a slave for more than twenty-two years, must find true freedom difficult to believe in. â€Å"Damon meant it when he said we were all free,† she said, kneeling by Lady Ulma's chair. â€Å"He just didn't know all the things he had to do. If you tell us, we can tell him, and then we can all go to your old estate.† She was about to get up again, when Bonnie said, â€Å"Something's wrong. She isn't as happy as she was before. We have to find out what it is.† By opening her psychic perceptions a bit, Elena could tell that Bonnie was right. She stayed where she was, kneeling by Lady Ulma's chair. â€Å"What is it?† she said, because the woman seemed to bare her soul most when she, Elena, asked the questions. â€Å"I had hoped,† Lady Ulma said slowly, â€Å"that Master Damon might buy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She flushed, but struggled on. â€Å"Might find it in his heart to buy one more slave. The†¦the father of my child.† There was a moment of perfect silence, and then all three girls were talking, all three, Elena guessed, trying frantically to do what she herself was working at, which was not mentioning that she had assumed Old Drohzne was the father. But of course he couldn't be, Elena scolded herself. She's happy about this pregnancy – and who could be happy to have a child by a disgusting monster like Old Drohzne? Besides, he didn't have a clue that she might be pregnant – and didn't care. â€Å"It might be easier said than done,† Lady Ulma said, when the babble of reassurances and questions had died down a little. â€Å"Lucen is a jeweler, a renowned man who creates pieces that†¦that remind me of my father's. He will be expensive.† â€Å"But we've got Aladdin's cave to explore!† Bonnie said gleefully. â€Å"I mean, you'll have enough if you sell off the jewelry, right? Or do you need more?† â€Å"But that is Master Damon's jewelry,† Lady Ulma said, seeming horrified. â€Å"Even if he did not realize it when he inherited all of Old Drohzne's property, he became my owner, and the owner of all my property†¦.† â€Å"Let's go get you freed and then we'll take things one step at a time,† Meredith said in her firmest and most rational voice. Dear Diary, Well, I am writing to you still as a slave. Today we freed Lady Ulma, but decided that Meredith and Bonnie and I should remain â€Å"personal assistants.† This is because Lady Ulma said Damon would seem odd and unfashionable if he didn't have several beautiful girls as courtesans. There is actually an upside to this, which is that as courtesans we need to have beautiful clothes and jewelry all the time. Since I've been wearing the same pair of jeans ever since that b*st*rd Old Drohzne sliced up the pair I wore into this place, you can imagine that I'm excited. But, truly, it's not just because of pretty clothes I'm excited. Everything that happened since we freed Lady Ulma and then went to her old estate has been a wonderful dream. The house was run down, and obviously the home of wild animals who used it as a lavatory as well as a bedroom. We even found the tracks of wolves and other animals upstairs, which led to the question of whether werewolves live in this world. Apparently they do, and some in very high positions under various feudal lords. Maybe Caroline would like to try a vacation here to learn about the real werewolves though – they're said to hate humans so much that they won't even have human or vampire (once human) slaves. But back to Lady Ulma's house. Its foundation is of stone and it's paneled inside with hardwood, so the basic structure is fine. The curtains and tapestries are all hanging in shreds, of course, so it's sort of spooky to go inside with torches and see them dangling above and around you. Not to mention the giant spiderwebs. I hate spiders more than anything. But we went inside, with our torches seeming like smaller versions of that giant crimson sun that always sits on the horizon, staining everything outside the color of blood, and we shut the doors and lit a fire in a giant fireplace in what Lady Ulma calls the Great Hall. (I think it's where you eat or have parties – it has an enormous table on a dais at one side, and a room for minstrels above what must be the dance floor. Lady Ulma said that this is where the servants all sleep at night, too (the Great Hall, not the minstrel gallery). Then we went upstairs, where we saw – I swear – several dozen bedrooms with very large four-poster beds that are going to need new mattresses and sheets and coverlets and hangings, but we didn't stay to look around. There were bats hanging from the ceiling. We headed for Lady Ulma's mother's workroom. It was a very large room where at least forty people could sit and sew the clothes that Lady Ulma's mother designed. But here's the exciting part! Lady Ulma went to one of the wardrobes in the room and moved away all the tattered, moth-eaten clothes that were in it. And she pressed some different places at the back of the cupboard and the whole back of the cupboard slid out! Inside it was a very narrow stairway going straight down! I kept thinking about Honoria Fell's crypt and wondering if some homeless vampire might have taken up residence in the room downstairs, but I knew that was silly because there were spiderwebs just inside the door. Damon still insisted that he go down first because he has the best eyesight in the dark, but I think the truth is that he was just curious to see what was down there. We each followed him one at a time, trying to be careful with the torches, and†¦well, I can't find the right words for what we discovered. For just a few minutes I was disappointed because everything on the big table down there was dusty rather than sparkly, but then Lady Ulma began to gently brush jewels off with a special cloth and Bonnie found sacks and packages and she poured them out – and it was like pouring out a rainbow! Damon found a cabinet where there were drawers and drawers of necklaces, bracelets, rings, armlets, anklets, earrings, nose rings, and hairpins and ornaments, too! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I poured out a pouch and found that I had a huge handful of glorious white diamonds dripping through my fingers, some of them as big as my thumbnail. I saw white pearls and black pearls, both smaller and perfectly matched, and huge and in marvelous shapes: almost as big as apricots with pink or golden or gray sheens to them. I saw sapphires the size of quarters, with stars you could see almost from across the room. I held handfuls of emeralds and peridots and opals and rubies and tourmalines and amethysts – and a lot of lapis lazuli, for the discriminating vampire, of course. And the jewelry that was already made up was so beautiful it made my throat ache. I know Lady Ulma had a quiet little cry, but I think it was partly from happiness as we all kept complimenting her on her jewels. In days she has gone from being a slave who owned nothing to an incredibly rich woman who owns a house and all the means she would ever need to keep it up in style. We decided that even though she is going to marry her lover, it was best at first for Damon to buy him quietly and free him quietly, but to play â€Å"Head of the Household† for as long as we are here. During that time we will treat Lady Ulma as family, and will put the jeweler Lucen back to work until we leave, when he and Lady Ulma can quietly take Damon's place. The feudal lords around here are not demons anymore, but vampires, and they have less objection to humans owning property. Have I told you about Lucen? He's a wonderful artist with jewels! He has a burning need to create – in his early days as a slave he would create with mud and weeds, imagining that he was making jewelry. Then he got lucky and was apprenticed to a jeweler. He's felt sorry for Lady Ulma for so long, and loved her for so long, that it's like a little miracle that they are truly able to get together – and most importantly, as free citizens. We were afraid that Lucen might not like the idea of us buying him as a slave and not freeing him until we leave, but he never thought he'd be free – because of his talent. He's a slow, gentle, kind man, with a neat little beard and gray eyes that remind me of Meredith's. And he's so amazed at being treated decently and not worked around the clock that he would have accepted anything, just to be allowed to be near Lady Ulma. I guess he was an apprentice when her father was a jeweler, and he fell in love with her all those years ago, but he thought he would never, never ever be able to be with her, because she was a young lady of quality and he was a slave. They're so happy together! Every day Lady Ulma looks more beautiful, and younger. She asked permission from Damon to dye her hair all black, and he told her she could dye it pink if she liked, and now she just looks incredibly beautiful. I can't believe I ever thought of her as an old hag, but that's what agony and fear and hopelessness do to you. Every one of those gray hairs was from being a slave, with no property, no say in her future, no safety, no ability even to keep her children, if she had them. I forgot to tell you the other upside of Meredith, Bonnie, and I being â€Å"personal assistants† for a while. It's that we can employ a lot of poor women who make their living by sewing, and Lady Ulma actually wants to design and show them how to make our finest clothes. We told her that she could just relax, but she says all her life she's fantasized about being a designer like her mother and now she's dying to do it – with three completely different types of girl to dress. I'm dying to see what she'll come up with: she's already started sketching and tomorrow the man who sells fabric will come and she'll pick the materials. Meanwhile Damon has hired about two hundred people (really!) to clean out Lady Ulma's estate, put up new wall hangings and curtains, refurbish the plumbing system, polish up the furniture that has kept nicely, and to get new furniture where things have fallen apart. Oh, and to plant ready-grown flowers and trees in the gardens and put in fountains and all kinds of stuff. With that many people working, we ought to be able to move in in just a matter of days. All this has just one purpose, aside from making Lady Ulma happy. It's so that Damon and his â€Å"personal assistants† will be accepted by high society as the season of parties begins this year. Because I've kept the best for last. Both Lady Ulma and Sage could immediately identify the people in the riddles that Misao gave to us! It just goes to prove what I thought before, that Misao never imagined that we'd actually make it here, or that we could get entrance to the places where they've hidden the two halves of the fox key. But there's a very easy way to get invited into the houses we need to get into. If we're the newest, splashiest nouveau riche (sp?) around, and if we circulate the story that Lady Ulma has been restored to her rightful place, and if everyone wants to know about her – we'll get invited to parties! And that's how we get into the two estates we need to visit to look for the halves of the key that we need to free Stefan! And we're incredibly lucky, because this is the time of year when everyone begins to give parties, and both households we want to visit are having early celebrations: one is a gala, and one is a spring soiree to celebrate the first flowers. I know my writing is shaky now. I'm shaky myself at the thought that we are actually going to look for the two halves of the fox key that will let us break Stefan out of his prison. Oh, diary, it's late – and I can't – I can't write about Stefan. To be here in the same city with him, to know the direction to his prison†¦and yet to not be able to get to see him. My eyes are so blurred I can't see what I'm writing. I wanted to get some sleep to be ready for another day of running around, supervising, and watching Lady Ulma's estate blossom like a rose – but now I'm afraid I'll just have nightmares about Stefan's hand slowly slipping out of mine.