Homoerotic and Homophobic Possibilities in The Castle of Otranto Essay

Homoerotic and Homophobic Possibilities in The Castle of Otranto Eve Sedgwick describes the gothic novel as a â€Å"dialectic between the homosexual and homophobic† (92). Homosexuality was first recognized in the eighteenth century and resulted in far reaching social responses. With the establishment of the term â€Å"homosexuality†, social tensions appeared. These tensions found their way into novels as fears of sexuality and the struggle for sexual expression. Sedgwick terms this emerging homoeroticism as the â€Å"gothic unspeakable†, which is reflected through the depiction of male class and male sexuality (95). Although homosexuality is not explicitly discussed in the text of Otranto, some critics find the relationships and behaviours between the male characters to manifest Sedgwick’s queer reading of the gothic novel. Research on Walpole has yet to turn up any concrete evidence that proves he had a preference for men. However, analysts of Walpole’s letters have found that he had developed strong intimate relationships with men that can only be described as romantic, and therefore homoerotic in nature (Fincher 231). Historically, Walpole has also been accused of being effeminate. In a pamphlet written by William Guthrie, an attack is made on Walpole’s â€Å"ambiguous gender†, of which Guthrie describes Walpole as â€Å"delicate† of â€Å"the third sex† and â€Å"possessing a most ladylike manner† (Fincher 233). There is always the possibility that Guthrie’s pamphlet was only written out of anger. Never the less, it functions as a piece of evidence that suggests Walpole’s sexuality, as well as provides an indication of the attitude towards homosexuality at the time. If indeed Walpole had homoerotic tendencies, then his sexuality would â€Å"give rise to rec... ... wins at the end of the novel, as Manfred’s title and property is stripped from him. Whether this indicates Walpole coming to peace with his own sexuality is debatable, and one can only speculate. Never the less, Sedgwick’s queer reading of the gothic novel provides another unique perspective towards Otranto. Works Cited Fincher, Max. â€Å"Guessing the Mould: Homosocial Sins in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto.† Gothic Studies 3 (2001): 229-45. Haggerty, George E. "Literature and Homosexuality in the Late Eighteenth Century: Walpole, Beckford, and Lewis." Studies in the Novel 18 (1986): 341-352. Napier, Elizabeth R. The Failure of Gothic. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987. Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire. New York: Columbia UP, 1985. Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.

Nelson Mandela’s Values Essay

It will be hard to believe if a person says â€Å"A man who served twenty seven years in prison, turned out to be one of the greatest presidents our world has seen†. Well this did actually happen and this former president is still living today. Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa, he was a leader of the anti-apartheid movement in the 1940s. Mandela was jailed for 27 years for acts of sabotage against the South African state, and shortly after his release from prison he led a multi-racial party for the first time ever in South Africa’s history. By doing this he was elected as the first black/democratic president of South Africa. Throughout his years as a president he has been widely regarded as a symbol of global peacemaking, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. His birthday, July 18, has been declared Mandela Day; a global celebration of his legacy. Mandela reached this success and earned the title of a world renowned leader with his values in leadership, standing up for what he believed in, that is in democratic process and his strong disapproval of injustice. Nelson Mandela valued leadership since his early days, considered by many as a revolutionary leader; he helped organize the fight against racism and apartheid in South Africa. (Brink). Mandela witnessed leadership at a young age when observing his guardian supervising tribal decision-making gatherings. Mandela’s guardian listened in silence for days, never voicing his opinion even after everyone’s opinion was heard. After everyone had spoken, his guardian guided the group to reach a consensus. Later, Mandela used this experience to mold his leadership style (Stengel). According to Stengel, Mandela recalled the following lesson regarding leadership from when he was a young cattle herder: â€Å"When you want to get a herd to move in a certain direction,† he said, â€Å"you stand at the back with a stick. Then a few of the more energetic cattle move to the front and the rest of the cattle follow. You are really guiding them from behind.† He paused before sayi ng with a smile, â€Å"That is how a leader should do his work†. Furthermore, Mandela’s strong value for leadership began with him displaying his ability to organize and lead others by helping to create the Youth League of African National Congress (ANCYL) which organized protests, boycotts, petitions, and strikes to end apartheid. Previously the African Nation Congress (ACN), ANCYL’s parent organization, had petitioned the government for years for  equality with little success. However, with increased success of the movement, the government increased violence toward nonviolent protesters and banned the ANC. Mandela and other leaders in the movement had to decide how to respond. In a risky decision, they concluded that nonviolence would no longer be effective and that the ANC needed to continue underground. These actions resulted in the imprisonment of Mandela and many ANC leaders, but this action helped to inspire others and to prepare the country for change (â€Å"Nelson Mandela, African National Congress (ANC), and South Africa.†).After more than twenty years in prison, Mandela decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. He realized that, as a leader, it was time to take a drastic step, and he met with the South African president in order to discuss his release and his desire to s witch the nation to a democracy. Mandela was successful, and upon his release he was elected the first democratic leader of South Africa (Brink). Mandela always stood up for what he believed in; he was never fazed by an opponent. Mandela’s value of believing in the democratic process is an example. Even though many did not always agree with this idea, he believed it was the right way forward (Johnson). He was at first unsuccessful with his pursuits, this included the time when he tried during his imprisonment to have prisoners to be addressed more respectfully by guards, and also later when he attempted to have the national voting age lowered to 14 (Stengel). But slowly he established his foundation of democracy and people were finally drawn to it (Stengel). Throughout his battle against apartheid and helping to bring democracy to South Africa, Mandela adopted a democratic leadership style (Johnson).And according to Johnson â€Å"Democratic leaders set policies through group discussion and decision, encourag ing and helping group members to interact, requesting the cooperation of others† and this was exactly what Mandela did (Johnson). Mandela’s other key value that supported his leadership and democratic style was his strong disapproval for injustice. Mandela never tolerated injustice; he believed that justice was the only path to success. For instance, when Mandela got to Robin Island where he was to be imprisoned, he was told to jog to the prison gate. He firmly refused and started a hunger strike with other inmates to condemn the condition they were living in. This worked out in their favor and the conditions improved (Hume). This example highlights Mandela’s value for denouncing injustice and  oppression. Nonetheless, Mandela believed Consensus to be the superior decision making process to build commitment and motivation in group members toward group objectives. Using Consensus meant that justice would be served at its best when making a decision and Mandela fully supported this process (Johnson). Ultimately, Nelson Mandela is viewed as a revolutionary leader for his ability to empower and motivate others using his strong regard for consensus and the democratic process. His stance for promoting justice and peace has been hailed across the world. He led South Africa from a white supremacist country to being the first democratic nation in Africa. With these values Nelson Mandela reached the ultimate success in the eyes of everyone. Work cited Brink, Andre. â€Å"Nelson Mandela.† Time. Time, 13 Apr. 1998. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . Hume, Tim. â€Å"Digital Mandela Archive Spreads Message of Social Justice.† CNN. Cable News Network, 28 Mar. 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. l. Johnson, Caleb. â€Å"A Leader’s Nest† New York Times [New York] 1993: Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. . â€Å"Nelson Mandela, African National Congress (ANC), and South Africa.† Cold War Museum. The Cold War Museum, 17 May 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . Stengel, Richard. â€Å"Mandela: His 8 Lessons of Leadership.† Time. Time, 09 July 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. .

Professional Value in Ethics and Islam

BUS240: Professional Work Values in Islam Instructor: Dr. Hisham Adam Group Names: Yousef Al Khamis Khalid Al Dabbous Hamad Al Sayegh Mohammad Jamal Professional Work Values Introduction Religion plays an important role in the development of work and professional ethics the world over. All religions, Christianity, Islam, and Hindu among others all inform on work, work values and work ethics in an effort to promote harmony, togetherness, tolerance and hard work. They also advocate for such good practices to ensure cooperation in employer employee relations at the work place.Such religious teachings are entrenched and supported by most constitutions around the world. The Quran and its teachings play an important role in the development of a Muslim. The Quran guides the way of life, it gives insight into relations between brothers, kin, employees and their employers, the individual and the state, and the Muslim and non-Muslims. This holy book above all gives insight into life as Allah w ished. Discussion The Quran gives life lessons on employees and employers.It gives teachings on values required at the work place; some of these values include trust, humility, loyalty, hard work, fairness, justice, kindness, and charity among others. Trust refers to the belief in the strength of truth coming from a person other than yourself. The workplace is akin to a second home for most people in adulthood. Relations form that either strengthen or destroy this environment. Relations built on trust have a positive impact on the work environment and result in success while relations formed with distrust merely lead to frustration and losses.Trust comes alongside truth. With truth, employees and employers have an easier time working together. The Quran puts truthfulness and honesty as some of the best traits that a professional Muslim should possess. They imply that a true Muslim should be fearful of the almighty and true through his actions and words. It goes ahead to say that fai thfulness is directly related to righteousness. In addition to this, all Muslims will be judged and held accountable for their actions whilst on earth.Concerning work and business, it indicates that a good businessperson is one who is honest; hence, he is put in the same category as the prophets. Honesty supersedes respect. An honest boss is one that communicates effectively with his employees and lets them know of the goings in the company. Such an action begets an equivalent reaction from employees hence creating a cordial work relationship between them. All Muslims are supposed to be charitable. Charity here refers to spending what Allah has given an individual usually in the form of resources, monies, energy, talents and possessions for the good of other people.Charity fosters a relationship between man and other men. It also promotes a relationship with the almighty. In modern day, the most common include helping the needy through corporate social relations; avoiding hurting pe ople and helping strangers find their way. Many companies in the world today engage in philanthropic activities, helping the needy, children, the elderly and the poor in fulfillment of their obligation as human beings to Allah. The Quran also advocates for hard work. Hard work for any Muslim is a mandatory exercise.In one of Prophet Mohammed’s quotations, he refers to hard work as an obligation. He goes ahead and explains that it is better for an individual to carry his own firewood than have a friend do it for him. Hard work is linked directly to honesty in which the Quran indicates that it is not moral for one to beg. It directs the Muslims to work and creates a belief that one would receive a better reward for working hard. It asks them to desist from deceiving others, hoarding goods and begging and instead work hard.Dignity and honor are attached to income acquired in a rightful manner whereas sources of unearned monies are revered against; such as betting and playing cha nce games. Forgiveness is a highly cherished trait for professional Muslims. A Muslim is bound to accept an apology from a fellow Muslim not unless such an apology has been given dishonestly by the one offering it. More often than not, relations are destroyed within the workplace. It is often best to seek forgiveness from a fellow employee than engage in constant battle.Forgiveness ensures cooperation is maintained whereas hatred brings forth inconsistency and outright bias leading to losses. Good conduct to others. This trait requires that an individual wish for the best for his Muslim brother. This is a two-way concept where an individual wishes good tidings for his friends just as he would wish to have done to him. In an employee-employer working environment, many employees do not have a desire to see their friends excel. As a result, many of them work to ensure their friends fail and are fired.Maintaining good conduct towards others ensures cooperation and in turn ensures mutual success. Organisational culture refers to the behavior of human beings as being part of an organisation as well as the meaning that they attach to different actions in that environment. Culture is a combination of several things including norms, values, symbols, beliefs and habits among other things that are shared by a people. Organisational culture is also a pattern of behavioral traits and behavior that is taught to members of an organisation to promote co-existence and harmonious living.Such cultures define the appropriate behavior for different situations and environment. An organisational culture affects the way individuals interact with each other in the organisation, how they interact with the customers and stakeholders and have a role in creating a good or bad image for the organisation. Such Muslim professional values revolve around oneness. They represent a constant need to create a good employee-employee and employee employer working relation that ultimately bring succe ss. The Quran is particular in creating equity among individuals working together.Contemporary organisations are composed of individuals from a wide range of religious backgrounds. Professional ethics as stipulated in the Quran do not only apply to the Muslims but may be used by any other person regardless of his religious inclination. Entrenching such traits into the organisational culture will go forth to create a lasting bond (Mats 2002) among employees characterized by cooperation and trust. In addition, it will withdraw elements of doubt and foster trust among employees for the mutual benefit of the company.Conclusion The Quran gives a huge list of ethical traits that a Muslim ought to possess in his day-to-day life. These traits form the basis of any Muslim life. These traits are universal in that, people regardless of their religious inclination may use them. Their use in modern day organisations to inform on organisational culture is widely acknowledged, and appreciated. Mod ern day organisations are multicultural and such traits would be great to bridge this cultural gap and bring harmony to the organisation.

Being a Good Friend

Mean Girls Friends are very important because your life would be miserable without them. You need people to talk to sometimes. Sometimes when you’re lonely you just need a friend. Friends are there for you, they need you and you need them. Friends make your life enjoyable. Going behind someone’s back is very wrong and happens at Peters Township sometimes. It can ruin friendships if people find out about their friends doing such a thing. You can lose other friends and people may not like you if they found out what you did. When new kids come to school they don’t really fit in. We need to help them fit in and make new friends. New students usually don’t have any friends before they get to a new school. When a new student arrives we should make them feel welcome and have a day to know them. If you’re getting bullied all you have to do is bring a baseball bat to school. Then hit the people bullying you with it. They won’t bully you anymore. You could tell a teacher instead, but I support the baseball bat idea. To maintain a healthy relationship you have to be honest, respectful, and nice. If you’re not honest they can’t trust you. You have to respect them and they will respect you. If you’re not nice they won’t want to be friends with you. You need to do a lot of things to have a healthy relationship, but there easy and simple things.

TOYOTA Motor Corporation. SWOT Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

TOYOTA Motor Corporation. SWOT Analysis - Essay Example Strengths refer to the advantages that a firm has over the others in the market. They are the firm’s personal strengths that will help it to bank on, and will help it to get the mover advantage in the presence of the other firms. Most firms and business organizations apply strengths in the form of marketing strategies. In the modern world of globalization, marketing strategies can be made use of in a very innovative manner with the help of electronic means as well as smart advertising and publicity. Weaknesses are the frail aspects of every business; not every businessman knows how to run an organization flawlessly. Thus, they are the demerits that each firm possesses, which gives others in the market and advantage over the firm. Every business firm also has certain opportunities. This is the third aspect of SWOT analysis. Opportunities are the chances that exist in the external environment; every entrepreneur must try and make use of these opportunities. Most of the times the y arise out of the problems that different people have in society; solutions to overcoming such problems and helping people out, introduction of new technology, change in the habits of the people, are some of the types of opportunities that exist in the external environment. ... They must be overcome by the use of turning them into opportunities so that they can be of an advantage to the business firm. If the threat is not managed properly, it attacks the weak aspects of the firm and may lead to losses or a lower turnover. A SWOT analysis for a business firm should be made once the project or preliminary report has been made. The feasibility plan of the business further helps to look into and measure the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the organization might have to face. At this stage, it is imperative to form such an analysis because it helps to give the directors and entrepreneurs of the firm an in depth look into the workings of the business and whether or not it will be able to succeed in the future. This can only be decided once the weaknesses and threats have been laid down because they need to be combated strategically, while causing minimum possible harm to the business. Weaknesses and threats need to be either reduced or mitig ated by the business. Yet another option to use these to the firm’s advantage is to convert them into opportunities. As discussed above, many problems can be converted to form opportunities – this can be done if the entrepreneur is dynamic and has excellent knowledge regarding the external business environment as well as the needs of the people and target consumers. Despite this, many management gurus have argued that simply by making use of and implementing a SWOT analysis, a firm cannot succeed. Many firms fail to deliver performance because of not being able to indulge in reporting about the different aspects of the firm with regard to the proper use of financial ratios (to depict the firm’s actual position with respect to its

Diversity in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diversity in the Workplace - Essay Example Capitalizing and maximizing on diversity in the workplace has become a very critical management issue today (Thiederman, 2008). The leadership and management teams in organizations need to recognize that workplace environment is diversifying, evolving, and changing. Management and employees must be equipped to value multicultural differences in both customers and associates in order for everyone to be handled with dignity. Considering that managing diversity remains an important organizational challenge, leaders and managers should learn the skills required in a multicultural and diverse environment (Devoe, 1999). This paper will discuss various aspects of diversity in the workplace. Generally, diversity is defined as understanding, valuing, celebrating, accepting, and acknowledging differences among people with regard to ethnicity, race, gender, spiritual practice, age, public assistance status, class, sexual orientation, and mental and physical ability (Shakhray, 2009). In the wake of globalization, diversity issues are considered fundamental and are projected to become even more critical in the coming years because if increasing differences in the populations around the world. As such, organizations are required to focus on diversity particularly within the work setting and to look for ways of becoming completely inclusive organizations since diversity has the potential of resulting to greater competitive advantages and productivity. Diversity especially in the workplace is believed to be an invaluable competitive asset that any organization cannot afford to ignore (Devoe, 1999). Valuing and managing diversity is an important component of effective people management that can go a long way in improving productivity and satisfaction in the workplace. Demographic changes such as the organizational restructurings, equal opportunity legislation, and women in the workplace will need organizations to assess and review their practices of management, as well as to de velop creative and new approaches to manage people. Such changes will increase customer service and work performance (Harvey and Allard, 2005). There is no doubt that diversity in the workplace is a reality around the world. this is not only reflected in the organizational demographic trends, but also in how issues are being addressed in the workplace including the issues of disability accommodation, flexible work arrangements, elder care and child care among others (Thiederman, 2008). Diversity is beneficial in many ways to the organizational as a whole and also to the management and employees. Even though employees are interdependent in the work environment, respecting differences of individuals can significantly increase productivity. Workplace diversity can increase marketing opportunities, business image and creativity. In the modern era when creativity and flexibility are critical to competitiveness, workplace diversity is important for the success of any organization (Lewis, 2000). Proper management of diversity in the workplace can provide a distinct advantage in this era of enhanced competitiveness. Various studies have shown that heterogeneity promotes productivity and creativity. In addition, heterogeneous groups have demonstrated to produce better solutions to challenges within a workplace

Psychological (market segmentation) of Hong Kong Essay

Psychological (market segmentation) of Hong Kong - Essay Example 1998, 6) of people in the target market. On the other hand, Jakubiak et al. (1990) note that psychological or psychographic market segmentation is based on the research over specific characteristics of the target market: ‘sex, age, income and education’ (Jakubiak et al. 1990, p.15). In accordance with the above, the psychological market segmentation of Hong Kong could be analyzed as follows: In Hong Kong the high percentage of population (74.8%) is between 15 and 64 years old (Index Mundi 2011); men are approximately as many as women, with a slight superiority of women though. The entire population is urban, at least referring to the structure of the population in 2010 (Index Mundi 2011). The life expectancy of the population has been estimated to 82 years; women are likely to live longer reaching the 84 years while men tend to live up to the 79 years, at least at an average level (Index Mundi 2011). In accordance with a recent governmental report, in 2009 the population of Hong was estimated to 7 million. In the same report it is noted that in 2009 females were more than males, ‘889 males for 1000 females’ (Hong Kong government 2011). It is also mentioned that the educational level of the population has significantly improved the last 5 years; in 2009 the percentage of people attained a post-secondary educational institution reached the 25.7% - from 22.8% in 2004 (Hong Kong government 2011). As for the average income of local population, this was estimated to $17,500 – for the fourth quarter 2004 (Hong Kong Government 2004). Taking into consideration the above facts, the performance of Dippin Dots in the market of Hong Kong is expected to be significant; the specific product addresses a high percentage of the population – in terms of age and activities: from children in school to individuals at work. Women, who are likely to consume sweets more than men and who are the majority in Hong Kong, are expected to love