Free Oedipus the King Essays: Hamartia in Oedipus Rex :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Hamartia in Oedipus the King According to the Aristotelian characteristics of good tragedy, the tragic character should not fall due to either excessive virtue or excessive wickedness, but due to what Aristotle called hamartia. Hamartia may be interpreted as either a flaw in character or an error in judgement. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, certainly makes several such mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his judgemental errors seems to indicate a basic character flaw that precipitates them. Oedipus’ character flaw is ego. This is made evident in the opening lines of the prologue when he states "Here I am myself--you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus." (ll. 7-9) His conceit is the root cause of a number of related problems. Among these are recklessness, disrespect, and stubbornness. Oedipus displays an attitude of recklessness and disrespect throughout the play. When he makes his proclamation and no one confesses to the murder of Laius, Oedipus loses patience immediately and rushes into his curse. Later, he displays a short temper to Tiresias: "You, you scum of the earth . . . out with it, once and for all!," (ll. 381, 383) and "Enough! Such filth from him? Insufferable--what, still alive? Get out--faster, back where you came from--vanish!" (ll. 490-492) If an unwillingness to listen may be considered stubbornness, certainly Oedipus would take advice from no one who would tell him to drop the matter of his identity, among them Tiresias, the shepherd, and even Jocasta. Even after Oedipus thinks he has received a reprieve from the fate he fears when he hears that Polybus is dead, he does not have the sense to keep still. "So! Jocasta, why, why look to the Prophet’s hearth . . . all those prophesies I feared . . . they’re nothing, worthless," he says. (ll.1053-1054, 1062, 1064) To the shepherd, Oedipus certainly has no respect for the man’s age when he tortures him. Oedipus’ cruelty indeed literally squeezes his own demise out of the shepherd: "You’re a dead man if I have to ask again . . . I’m at the edge of hearing horrors, yes, but I must hear!" (ll. 1281, 1285) After his recognition and reversal, Oedipus exclaims "The hand that struck my eyes was mine, . . . I did it all myself!" (ll. 1469, 1471) He is not only referring to his self-inflicted mayhem, but also the chain of events that led to his demise.

A debate over ABC Family Values

The article is based on the analysis of a Walt Disney Company owned ABC TV series;     Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Secret Life of the American Teenager† and attempts to relate its scenes and theme to the present day common teenage sexual encounters and early pregnancies. The authors attempt to question the shift to   programs   that are sex based by the ABC TV given that   Disney   not only has themes, in their view, are out of place on a channel with But â€Å"Secret Life† has the word â€Å"family† in its name but also has   a chaste image (James & Chmielewsk, 2009). By venturing into teenage sex series, Disney which presumably ought to promote family values and fight sex before marriage, appears to have undergone a kind of revolution.The series reportedly show playing on bed, a father enquiring about daughters’ sex life and revelation about a father molesting his son. ABC Family also plans to show a comedy about a young woman rejected by a boyfriend after h aving his baby, keeping in mind that its programs are known to advance youth innocence (James & Chmielewsk, 2009).In a rejoinder however, the Disney-ABC Television Group argues that they are just being genuine and responsive to the life experiences of their audiences in attempt to mirror what is happening in the society (James & Chmielewsk, 2009). However, this comment has generated concern about the paradigm shift from the â€Å"family programming,† to contemporary series despite a sensible reason to appeal to the younger viewers; a situation necessitated by research findings.I think that the â€Å"Sex Lives of the American Teenager† a timely series by ABC owing to the increasing cases of teenage sexual experiences, early pregnancies and child molestation. These, are social ills which contravene Disney’s family values hence the series serve to educate the public. At the same time, ABC has ensured that each episode ends with an advisory that encourages parents a nd children to talk before it's too late, an idea which I believe illustrates the very message that the explicit teenage scenes tend to depict.Reference:James & Chmielewsk. (2009, February 1).A Debate over ABC Family Values. Retrieved February 4, 2009.Available Online:

Leadership and Management Essay

Everyone manages. We manage our finances, time, careers, and relationships. We tend not to think of these activities as â€Å"managing† or of ourselves as being â€Å"managers.† Nevertheless, they are. These examples of managing or being managers are relatively simple and straightforward, even though we may find many of them fraught with difficulty. It is when the concepts of managing or being a manager are applied to organizations that complexity increases—almost always exponentially. At this point it becomes necessary to study and understand the theoretical bases of management. The practice of management and the classical enunciation of management principles can be traced to the 19th century. The development of management as an academic discipline based on a body of knowledge that can be taught is a recent development and is generally attributed to the work of Peter F. Drucker in the latter half of the 20th century. That body of knowledge is taught in graduate schools of business and in programs that prepare managers of public health departments, programs, and health services organizations, such as hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities. This chapter provides a basic introduction to management theory and problem solving, and concludes with a brief discussion of negotiation and alternative dispute resolution. Managers are persons who are formally appointed to positions of authority in organizations. They enable others to do their work and are accountable to a higher authority for work results. Primarily, the differences between levels of managers are the degree of authority and the scope of their accountability for work results. Line managers manage people and things; staff managers, such as the human resources department and the fiscal office, support the work of line managers. Management Functions and Decision Making The five management functions of planning, organizing, controlling, directing, and staffing are brought to life and connected by decision making, which is itself a subset of the essential process for managers that is known as problem solving. Little that managers at all levels in an organization do falls outside the purview of the five management functions. Management theorists and practitioners may choose one or two of the five functions as most important, but this is not borne out normatively. When one considers the full range of what managers do (or should do) as they perform their work, concentrating on a few to the exclusion or diminution of the others will invariably cause problems for the organization. Decision making is an inherent activity of managers, and they make decisions within and among the five management functions. Decision making is part of the process of problem solving, which also includes problem analysis. Performance of the management functions and the decision making of problem solving should be evaluated using explicit and measurable criteria. In addition to engaging in the five management functions, managers must utilize specific skills, play various roles, and evidence a number of competencies. Managing and Leading Some theorists and academicians distinguish managers and leaders, based on the view that managing is more caretaking and maintaining status quo (transactional) whereas leading is more visionary and dynamic (transformational). That distinction may be more important pedagogically than in practical application, however, especially at the organization’s operating level. Senior managers must ensure effective current organizational activities and that an organization’s future is envisioned. Using this vision, the organization can be transformed as needed. As they work to achieve organizational objectives, managers use technical, conceptual, and interpersonal skills. These skills are applied in various proportions, depending on the manager’s task and level in the organizational hierarchy. Usually, senior managers make greater use of conceptual skills, whereas middle- and entry level managers use a more even mix of the three. The research of Henry Mintzberg found that managers have different roles, the general categories of which include interpersonal, informational, and decisional. Each may be segmented. For example, the interpersonal role includes figurehead and influencer, informational includes monitor and spokesperson, and the decisional role includes entrepreneur and negotiator. Successful managers integrate these various roles and are likely to engage in them without making a clear distinction. Another way to understand managers’ work is to identify their competencies, some of which are found in the categorizations discussed earlier. Conceptual, technical managerial/clinical, interpersonal/collaborative, political, commercial, and governance competencies are used in different proportions by managers at various levels of the organization. Most theories view leadership as grounded in one or more of the following three perspectives: leadership as a process or relationship, leadership as a combination of traits or personality characteristics, or leadership as certain behaviors or, as they are more commonly referred to, leadership skills. In virtually all of the more dominant theories there exist the notions that, at least to some degree, leadership is a process that involves influence with a group of people toward the realization of goals. I will say on the front end that, in my opinion, leadership is a dynamic and complex process, and that much of what is written these days tends to over-simplify this process. My goal here is to provide an overview that keeps things simple, without crossing into over-simplification, and for the most part refraining from any critiquing of the various theories. I will leave that to my fellow bloggers for now. Trait Theory This theory postulates that people are either born or not born with the qualities that predispose them to success in leadership roles. That is, that certain inherited qualities, such as personality and cognitive ability, are what underlie effective leadership. There have been hundreds of studies to determine the most important leadership traits, and while there is always going to be some disagreement, intelligence, sociability, and drive (aka determination) are consistently cited as key qualities. Skills Theory This theory states that learned knowledge and acquired skills/abilities are significant factors in the practice of effective leadership. Skills theory by no means disavows the connection between inherited traits and the capacity to be an effective leader – it simply argues that learned skills, a developed style, and acquired knowledge, are the real keys to leadership performance. It is of course the belief that skills theory is true that warrants all the effort and resources devoted to leadership training and development Situational Theory This theory suggests that different situations require different styles of leadership. That is, to be effective in leadership requires the ability to adapt or adjust one’s style to the circumstances of the situation. The primary factors that determine how to adapt are an assessment of the competence and commitment of a leader’s followers. The assessment of these factors determines if a leader should use a more directive or supportive style. Contingency Theory This theory states that a leader’s effectiveness is contingent on how well the leader’s style matches a specific setting or situation. And how, you may ask, is this different from situational theory? In situational the focus is on adapting to the situation, whereas contingency states that effective leadership depends on the degree of fit between a leader’s qualities and style and that of a specific situation or context. Path-Goal Theory This theory is about how leaders motivate followers to accomplish identified objectives. It postulates that effective leaders have the ability to improve the motivation of followers by clarifying the paths and removing obstacles to high performance and desired objectives. The underlying beliefs of path-goal theory (grounded in expectancy theory) are that people will be more focused and motivated if they believe they are capable of high performance, believe their effort will result in desired outcomes, and believe their work is worthwhile. Transformational Theory This theory states that leadership is the process by which a person engages with others and is able to create a connection that results in increased motivation and morality in both followers and leaders. It is often likened to the theory of charismatic leadership that espouses that leaders with certain qualities, such as confidence, extroversion, and clearly stated values, are best able to motivate followers. The key in transformational leadership is for the leader to be attentive to the needs and motives of followers in an attempt to help them reach their maximum potential. In addition, transformational leadership typically describes how leaders can initiate, develop, and implement important changes in an organization. This theory is often discussed in contrast with transactional leadership. Transactional Theory This is a theory that focuses on the exchanges that take place between leaders and followers. It is based in the notion that a leader’s job is to create structures that make it abundantly clear what is expected of his/her followers and also the consequences (i.e. rewards and punishments) for meeting or not meeting these expectations. This theory is often likened to the concept and practice of management and continues to be an extremely common component of many leadership models and organizational structures. Servant Leadership Theory This conceptualization of leadership reflects a philosophy that leaders should be servants first. It suggests that leaders must place the needs of followers, customers, and the community ahead of their own interests in order to be effective. The idea of servant leadership has a significant amount of popularity within leadership circles – but it is difficult to describe it as a theory inasmuch as a set of beliefs and values that leaders are encouraged to embrace.

Mali Report essays

Mali Report essays What Was Left In Pandoras Box? Africa is a land without peace, without basic human rights or needs, a place where human life has no value and suffering is just part of living. In many places around the continent hope is something that has not existed for generations, but in one of the five poorest nations on the planet, hope has been rekindled. The Republic of Mali is located on the western part of Africa. The northern half is Saharan desert and the southern half is savanna that, unfortunately, is being encroached upon by the desert. Not even four percent of the country is arable (United States 2). Many problems are present in Mali including poverty, famine, and lack of potable water. These issues are being addressed, though, by the government and other international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The Malian government and society are based on Islam. Unlike most Islamic states, however, it is a relatively peaceful country and lately has had relatively peaceful t ransfers of powers. This has allowed the people of Mali to progress toward a better and brighter future. Many different cultures co- exist peacefully in Mali. These include the ancient Mande peoples who include the Dogon tribe, the Peul, the Voltaic, and the Tuareg people. The Tuareg are the most interesting people living in Mali. They are called the blue men of the desert because of the cloths dyed in indigo that they wear. The men wear full face masks with beautiful designs on them to attract the women. The women do not wear the usual face masks as women in other Islamic cultures do. A married woman only wears a turban- like head covering that signifies that she cannot be loved by another man. The Mande, Peul, and Voltaic peoples originate from the Kingdom of Mali. Between 800 A.D. and 1550 A.D. the Kingdom of Mali was prosperous and very influential on the continent of Africa. At the height of its civili...

ff essays

ff essays Quebec's Quiet revolution: What is it? How has it changed Quebec's society? How has it affected Confederation? The English-French relations have not always been easy. Each is always arguing and accusing the other of wrong doings. All this hatred and differences started in the past, and this Quiet revolution, right after a new Liberal government led by Jean Lesage came in 1960. Thus was the beginning of the Quiet Revolution. Lesage had an excellent team of cabinet ministers which included Rene Levesque. The Liberals promised to do two things during the Quiet Revolution; one was to improve economic and social standards for the people of Quebec, and the other was to win greater respect and recognition for all the French people of Canada. The Liberals started a program to take control of hydro-electric power companies. French-Canadian engineers from all over Canada returned to Quebec to work on the project. Slogans during these times were "we can do it" and "masters in our own homes". The government also started to replace programs the Church previously ran, which included hospital insurance, pension schemes and the beginning of Medi-Care. For these programs, the Quebec Liberals had to struggle with Ottawa for a larger share of the tax dollars. One of the greatest reforms was the modernization of the entire school system. The Church used to own the schools of Quebec. Most of the teachers were Priests, Nuns and Brothers. They provided a good education but Quebec needed more in business and technology. Lesage wanted a government-run school system that would provide Quebec with people in engineering, science, business and commerce. With the new freedom of expression, lots of books, plays and music about French culture were all developed in Quebec. French contemporary playwrights were very famous during that time. However, not all was going well in Quebec. The French-English relation was going bad. Many studies showed that French-C...

A chat with my grandpa on the war in Korea

A chat with my grandpa on the war in Korea It may be hard to believe, but before this interview, I never knew that my grandfather was involved in the Korean War. It wasn’t, and isn’t, something he talks about unless he’s asked. Talking to him about his experiences taught me so much about not only him, but my family also. I know my grandfather as the man who dresses up as Santa Claus because he bears an uncanny resemblance to him, the man who bakes bread as a hobby. This information revealed a part of him that I never knew was there. Michael Sosik was born on November 11th, 1943. His father, who passed away only a few years ago, was a World War II veteran who was on the beaches of Normandy only a couple weeks after D-Day. He grew up in Pennsylvania and enlisted in the army on March 23rd, 1962. When I said I was surprised he remembered the exact date, he said, â€Å"It’s a day you don’t really forget.† When he enlisted, he was already married to my grandmother, Doris Sosik, known to former Burgess students as the widely loved Mrs. Sosik. He chose the Army rather than the Navy despite his former experience with boats because he wanted to serve two years rather than four, and he wanted Special Forces. When I asked my grandfather why he enlisted, he said, â€Å"Patriotism. The President called for people to volunteer, he said he was looking for ‘a few good men.’ I voluntarily answered the call. That was a mistake.† Michael described his first days in the service as â€Å"lost and confused.† He disliked the feeling of his civilian privileges being taken away. He had to cut his longer hair, wear the same uniform as everyone else, and had the same rank as all the other men- he describes it as â€Å"a breaking down of your individualism.† His athleticism was the only thing that set him apart from the other young men. The food he described as â€Å"pretty gross.† He said that they were fed C-Rations, which were canned in 1943, the year he was born. His job assignments varied throughout his service. He was an infantryman, he jumped out of airplanes, he was a gunner on a helicopter, he learned to fight in jungle and mountain environments, and he worked with a Chaplain, who he called â€Å"an amazing man.† A Chaplain is a Catholic priest that provided spiritual and moral support for the men who were fighting. When asked about his most memorable experiences, he recalls the time he jumped out of an airplane and came right down the center of a large pine tree, getting caught up only a few feet away from the ground. He walked away from that incident with only scratches. Another experience he had took place when he was driving a Jeep. Michael and his crew heard guns firing, and suddenly a bullet went through the spare tire of the vehicle. He kept that bullet and still has it to this day. On another occasion he was in a helicopter when the compressor stalled at about 3,000 feet up. The crew brought the helicopter down with autorotation, and the ground came up fast. When they landed, they hit the ground so hard that the tail of the helicopter broke off. These were all scary, but the experience he considers to be the worst happened once he had come back from overseas. He was stationed at Fort Bragg in the Carolina Maneuver area, which encompassed Southern North Carolina and Northern South Carolina. He was an armorer and advisor, testing gun systems on helicopters in preparation for Vietnam. It was early in the morning, and the visibility was low. There’s no radar on helicopters, so there is no way of telling what’s around other than your own vision. When they took off from the landing zone, nose down, they saw a whole formation of other helicopters coming at them over the trees. Quickly they slammed the helicopter back into the ground, destroying it. He says, â€Å"You go overseas and you’re in a combat situation and you come home and you’re just training- and you run into something like that. The only thing that’s going through your mind is, ‘I’ve been through all that, and now I†™m going to die here?’ I thought for sure I was going to die that day.† As for life overseas, my grandfather had a unique experience. I asked him what people did to occupy the time they had off. He replied that many men went to see prostitutes, but he had another hobby. He absolutely loved visiting orphanages in Korea and volunteering his time with the children. He got very attached to one of the girls he met at an orphanage. Had he been financially able, he would have adopted her. Even still, he wants to find her, but he says, â€Å"No one can seem to help me. I know her information, her name, where she was†¦ I’ve not been able to find her.† Michael traveled all over when he was in the service. He’s been all over the US, to Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Cambodia. When talking about these places, he seemed to relive his memories vividly. He said, â€Å"Korea’s very hilly. You can be standing on top of a hill looking down at this valley, and they’re covered with rice patties- but there’s clouds in the sky, so you see these light and dark green patches in the shadow of the clouds.† The relationships that he had with his fellow soldiers and his officers were stronger overseas than they were when he came back to America. For the most part they were pretty good, but he says, â€Å"There are bad apples in every barrel, just like everything else.† When he was in the US, he brought his wife with him wherever he went, so he didn’t really socialize. One friend he made was the son of a Nazi officer named Ulf. They were close overseas, and they rotated on the same day. When they got back to America, Ulf returned to the Midwest where he lived. A couple of months ago, my grandfather looked him up online and pulled up an obituary. Through this, he learned that Ulf had been living in Northborough, Massachusetts, and had died only 3 months ago. For thirteen years, they had been living less than 30 minutes away from each other. When Mike talked to Ulf’s wife, she remembered his name. I saw his face change as he said; â€Å"It is really difficult, now at my age, that these people that I worked so close to, that I risked my life with- they’re leaving this Earth.† My grandfather left the army as an E-5, which is equivalent to a Sargent. He re-acclimated quickly to civilian life. He joined VFW and American Legion, and his education was supported by the GI Bill. He served an apprenticeship, started a construction business, went into publishing, and finally started Northeast Merchant Systems in Sturbridge, which is the job he retired from. He had four children, all of which were discouraged from joining the military. He now has 15 grandchildren, including myself. When he reflects on his years in the military he say’s he’s glad that he did it, but would never recommend it. He strongly dislikes the politics involved in war. He’s proud, but he wouldn’t do it again, and maintains that were he growing up in this day and age, he would not want to be involved in that â€Å"mess.† He says that he lives with problems today because of what he did in the service, and it’s transformed the way he thinks about life. Especially, he says, it affects the way he thinks about credibility. In the army, you report what you saw, not what you â€Å"think† you saw or what you analyze it to be. This is important in life too. Many people embellish what they see, and don’t even realize it. Military service also taught him how to rely on others, and how to trust someone with your life. It was a very strange experience for me to hear my grandfather talking about how closely he knew death, when just two weeks ago I had no idea that he had ever been to East Asia. If he had been driving his jeep a little slower, or waited a little too long to land the helicopter, or missed that pine tree by a few yards, I wouldn’t be here to tell his story. I’m proud to be the granddaughter of such a laudable man.

Human Resource Reflecting Paper - on The Cane Mutiny Article Essay

Human Resource Reflecting Paper - on The Cane Mutiny Article - Essay Example Frank was worried about the potential demographic situation of Germany which implicated that the average age of German population was on a steady rise, and what effect it would have on the personnel of a midsize pharmaceutical firm like Medignostics. Frank’s other proposal which was to open day care centers for the children of young employees were also met with skepticism from Erwin. Frank wanted to emphasize the need of day care centers to facilitate young parents since the options of changing schools for children would make them join rival firms. Erwin saw this proposal as increased cost that would be detrimental to the company (Geissler, 2005). I feel that Frank should have consolidated his proposal with sufficient data and facts. In order to convince the executive management about personnel matters it is necessary for HR manager to present his argument in a manner that is comprehensible for the top team. If Frank wanted his HR strategy to be considered, then he should have given a clear picture of the negative consequences if a business enterprise ignores the demographic issue. He should have clearly stated how the growing average age of population would affect hiring of personnel, their costs, performance and innovation. A problem appeared among the older employees who are near retirement age when Part-Time Statute for the Elderly was implemented which paved the way for easy retirement of older workers so that there would be job vacancy for the younger aspirants. This program was subsequently scrapped since proved to be costly to the company and this directly affected older personnel. For instance, Matthias Hausmann who was 58 years old had worked for the company for over 20 years. He regularly made himself absent in the office which resulted in his unavailability during decisions to be made or when clients needed him. This was proving to be a loss to the company as clients were moving their business elsewhere thus hurting productivity. Moreover, th e salary structure indicated that older employees receive more than the younger group, and this must be restructured to consider the stress-related cardiovascular diseases more common among the middle-aged group. Another feature that must be considered is the need of continuous appropriate training of older workers so that they remain productive till their retiring age. This will also reduce the difference of technological know-how between the young managers and their older subordinates. I feel that Frank should have stressed on the fact that older employees needed to be utilized efficiently to ensure better products that would capture larger market. Although it is not known about the details of Frank’s strategies, I think it should include an internal program to create awareness among the employees about the demography and its practical impact on the company. I also support Frank’s theory of starting day care centers within the company as this would benefit the young employees. In this era of severe competition when firms fight to hire and retain qualified professionals, it is prudent for companies to prove themselves as family friendly. Of course, he needs to oversee the costs involved in establishing and staffing a day care center. If the costs seem to be detrimental considering Medignostics is a midsize firm, he can suggest alternative proposals like joining with other firms to establish day care center that would benefit the