Choosing Your Religion and Political Beliefs †Literature Essay

Choosing Your Religion and Political Beliefs – Literature Essay Free Online Research Papers Choosing Your Religion and Political Beliefs Literature Essay Everyone knows that part of the idea behind the creation of an independent nation in the 1700’s was the opportunity for all people to make choices for themselves and to be whoever they wanted to be. Whether or not the idea turned out the way it was supposed to, is another question. However, the opportunity for people to make choices concerning religion, political beliefs and other important matters relies upon the idea that people are equipped to make these decisions, as well as other less substantial decisions everyday. Supposing that people have the ability to live as individuals, responsible for and living in the best possible way for themselves, assumes that people are capable of making good decisions, decisions benefiting themselves and those around them in the best possible way. The possibility of this ideal, the basis of the establishment of America, is explored and represented in a number of the works of the time, including Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette, and in Charles Brockden Brown’s Weiland and Arthur Mervyn. In the works, the authors represent individualism in different ways, but each seems to support the idea that it is impossible for any person to make every decision co rrectly for him or herself, and that to some extent, all need the help of others to make the choices which are best for themselves and the world around them. Foster presents the idea that women are unable to make good decisions for themselves in The Coquette. In The Coquette, Eliza is always appealing to her family and friends for help in making her decisions regarding her two suitors, and she is constantly going back and forth with her decisions and convictions. One moment, Eliza has determined to be with Boyer, and the next she is regretting and recanting her decision and again running to Sanford. Eliza also declares again and again that she is no longer going to see or spend time with Sanford, only to agree to a meeting with him only days or moments later. Even after Eliza makes a seemingly definitive decision to reject Sanford, she does not follow it, to the dismay of her family and friends. Eliza’s indecisiveness even leads to the loss of Boyer, and it is not until he has found another love that she makes the decision that she loves him. Eliza’s inability to make a timely decision only leads to her misfortune. Further supporting the idea that Eliza is incapable of making a good decision is the result of her final decision to be with Sanford. Although it could be argued that a part of Eliza’s misery stems from her family and friends lack acceptance of her choices, it is undeniable that her ultimate decision results in the ruin of her life, both emotionally and physically. Because Eliza consents to the affair with Sanford, she is resigned to a life of shame and ruined reputation, and she mourns her decision and the effect it will have on her mother and friends as soon as her â€Å"mistake† is revealed. As a result of her decision to be with Sanford, Eliza becomes pregnant, and the shame and strain of bearing a child out of wedlock leads to her eventual death. Clearly Eliza is unable to make a good decision, so it is entirely possible that Foster believes that not only her character, but all women, are unable to do so as well. Foster seems to support the idea that women nee d the help and advice of others in order to make the right decision, and that a foolish girl trying to make such decisions for herself, trying to exert her individuality, can only result in disaster in the end. Brown also leads the reader to question individuals’ abilities to make good decisions in Wieland. In Wieland, several characters are presented as making decisions which have extreme ill effects for those around them, implying that Brown supports the idea that individuals are incapable of relying solely on themselves when it comes to decision making. Such bad decision making is without a doubt illustrated in the decisions of the villain of Weiland, Carwin. In the work, Carwin’s choice to fool around with the Wieland family creates the worst possible effects for everyone. Because of Carwin’s pranks, the family goes through countless instances of horror and grief, and their content existence is essentially ruined. Carwin and his ventriloquism causes the distress of Clara, her brother Wieland, and his entire family, and leads to an immense amount of questioning and doubting among the group. Carwin’s tricks may even have played a role in Wieland’s slaughtering of his family, if not by the direct encouragement through ventriloquism of Wieland to sacrifice them, at least by making his mind more susceptible to a mental breakdown causing him to do so by placing unnecessary stress on his mind. Carwin comes to regret his fooling with the family, as is demonstrated by his attempt to gain forgiveness and to explain himself to Clara after the nasty results of his schemes. Since Carwin regrets his decision to use the family to entertain himself, he too is illustrated as unable to make a decision which is best for himself, and which has even worse results for those around him. It could also be argued that Wieland himself is further proof of the individual’s inability to make responsible and good decisions. Not only does Wieland make the unfortunate decision to murder his family as homage to God, but his apparent mental instability initiates questioning about the ability for all Americans to make decisions for themselves. If mental instability could happen in the case of one American, it could logically happen to others, making the stability of all America vulnerable. If there are those out there who are hearing voices telling them to kill their families, America truly is in danger, especially if these people are being trusted to make significant decisions affecting themselves and others. Brown seems to be warning his readers against this possibility, and to be supporting the idea that one alone cannot make the important decisions for himself or for society. Inexperience seems to be the problem associated with one making one’s own decisions in Arthur Mervyn. Again in Mervyn, Brown seems to be supporting the idea that the intelligence of more than one person is necessary to make good decisions, and that the individual is incapable of making the wisest choices for oneself. Arthur Mervyn seems to be Brown’s illustration of why individuals are incapable of decision making, as he is undeniably inexperienced and uneducated, and unable to trust in many of his own choices in important matters. Although Mervyn seems to place faith in his actions and their moral consequences, he still is unable to believe himself to possess enough experience and knowledge to make every good decision and to achieve anything substantial in society or the world. He is constantly seeking the advice and counsel of his wiser and more worldly friends, such as the Stevens’ and even Welbeck, proving his desperation for resources and help and his in ability to make choices for himself. Mervyn even requires the advice and encouragement of Mr. Stevens in the situation of making Ascha his wife, demonstrating that he cannot make important decisions for himself even when they are of the most personal kind. Adding further doubt to Mervyn’s ability to make good decisions is the fact that when Mervyn does make a decision for himself, it has many extremely unfortunate results. Because Mervyn decides to run hastily to the city to save Susan’s fiancà ©, he causes a number of events which have terrible effects for himself and for those around him. Since Mervyn left without informing the Hadwin’s of his intentions, Mr. Hadwin risks his life unnecessarily in entering the city himself to search for Wallace. Mervyn also exposes himself to the disease while conducting his search, an occurrence which leads to the danger of infection to others as well. Undoubtedly, Mervyn is a reckless and somewhat thoughtless man when he must make his own decisions, and if it were not for luck and the care of others, he most likely would not have made it through his ordeal alive and happy. Without the intervention of others, and their help in making his choices, Mervyn would not have had his happy ending, showing that Brown believes that everyone needs help when it comes to deciding what is best for themselves and for the world. As Foster and Brown demonstrate, although America may be ideally a land where people can achieve individuality, it may not always be best for people to assume responsibility for each decison in such a tumultuous time. As the works demonstrate, looking only into oneself for the right answers is not always best, and can have some unfortunate results. Therefore, these authors each seem to be supporting the idea that in a time of many questions and such doubt, allowing others to advise and counsel can only help in the decision-making process, and help to ensure the well-being and happiness of those for whom they care. Research Papers on Choosing Your Religion and Political Beliefs - Literature EssayCapital PunishmentAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in Capital19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionThree Concepts of PsychodynamicGenetic EngineeringRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoResearch Process Part One

Definition of Dialectology

Definition of Dialectology The scientific study of dialects, or the regional differences in a language. Although to some extent an autonomous discipline, dialectology is regarded by some linguists as a subfield of sociolinguistics. What is Dialectology? Sociolinguists and dialectologists share some goals and methods. We both tend to be interested in the language of a particular place (a speech community), language in use, authentic speech, and defining a language variety in terms of how it might differ from the standard. A major difference is that in the past dialectologists or dialect geographers have been interested in the most divergent, traditional language of a community, assuming that other forms resulted from later movement toward the standard. Sociolinguists, on the other hand, are interested in the full range of forms in a community (and their social evaluation) ...The goals of dialect geography and dialectology have been to show where particular speech features are found, and to discover the boundaries between dialect regions. But dialect geography has also tried to find the most traditional speech in each region, on the assumption that regional dialects are most distinct when they havent been influenced by their neighbors , or by mainstream language.(Gerard Van Herk, What Is Sociolinguistics? Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) Dialect Geography Dialect geography [is] a methodology or (more accurately) a set of methods for gathering evidence of dialect differences systematically ...More than a century has elapsed since the first major project in dialect geography was undertaken, and in that time there have been hundreds of projects, great and small, that have made use of the methodology ...The resurgence [of dialect geography] began in the 1980s. We have already noted some of the benchmarks: the revival of the Middle and South Atlantic States project under Kretzschmar, the resumption of analysis of the survey of English dialects by Upton and his associates, and, of course, Pedersons Gulf States publications. In addition to these, significant regional projects are taking place in Spain directed by Manuel Alvar, in France sponsored by the Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, and in many other places, including Mexico, Canary Islands, Vanuatu, and RÃ ©union. Dialect atlases are appearing in relative profusion, some of them belated culminations of old field work and others the end-products of more recent research.One reason for the resurgence is technological. Dialectology, the most data-oriented branch of language studies, finally found itself with tools commensurate to its task.(J. K. Chambers and Peter Trudgill, Dialectology, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 1998) Social Dialectology Social dialectology differs from traditional dialectology in its shift of focus from rural, settled communities to communities characterized by immigration and mobility... A sign that social dialectology is maturing as a discipline is that scholars are now able to compare the results of a range of studies in order to locate and explain parallel developments.(David Britain and Jenny Cheshire, Introduction. Social Dialectology: In Honour of Peter Trudgill. John Benjamins, 2003) Forms of Dialectology In social dialectology, boundaries between varieties are identified on the basis of trained linguists observations of actual phonetic and grammatical features that constitute salient differences between varieties. In regional dialectology, boundaries are identified on the basis of what trained fieldworkers are able to elicit from speakers or speakers reports of what they usually say. In perceptual dialectology, the beliefs and thoughts that non-linguists have about language are used to distinguish varieties. Peoples perceptions about language, whether descriptively accurate or not, are just as important to the researcher as the objective facts about how speakers talk.(Miriam Meyerhoff, Introducing Sociolinguistics, 2nd ed. Routledge, 2011)

Managing change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Managing change - Essay Example The different steps associated with change management programs have been put forth by various researchers. Out of them the most prominent model is the eight step managing process of change as proposed by Kotter (1996) (Todnem, 2005, p.370). The process begins with the creation of a sense of urgency in the organization, i.e., major changes necessitate a sense of motivation among relevant people who can sense a potential crisis in the organization. This can arise due to lost markets, reduced profits, and entry of competitors, lost customers or even unacceptable products and services. Such aspects lay down the foundation for change requirements in the organization. This is followed by putting together of a guiding team or a group of enthusiasts who would recognize the indispensability and value of the change. The third step requires creating a vision and a strategy which requires motivating people, giving them a direction and aligning their efforts and processes. Vision gives employees the depiction that each one involved carries and evokes on a regular basis to ensure that the course does not get deviated. The next step is to communicate the vision to all subjects concerned. It is crucial to spread the change message across the organization through repetitive activities through as many channels as possible. Empowering people is the next step in which barriers and obstacles to the change are removed in order to remove hindrances which discourage people to take up the change. Following this step is to create momentum for the change by consolidating the accomplishments and allowing and enabling further changes. The final step is to implant the new approach into the culture of the organization (Tcherpokov, 2006, p.1-2). The change process was initiated in British Airways on account of consistent financial losses over a period of time, shrinking of the cabin crew, diminishing profits, diminishing share of the market, technological changes and cultural changes. The aim of the change process was to enhance organizational efficiency, reduce costs through restructuring of the organizational structure and strategy. The company’s mission and idea for the change process was communicated across all levels of the organization on a repetitive basis so as to ensure its acceptance and absorption into the system. Moreover, as per the steps put forth by Kotter (1996), British Airways implemented the change process by empowering individuals in the organization to actively participate in the change. This was achieved through training of staffs in the desired direction such as to make them efficient not only to participate in the change but also develop the changed culture throughout the organizational hierarchy. The idea was to bring about the productivity and performance improvement through the people. Only after the idea for the change was inculcated into the organizational culture, it could be implemented successfully. When the changed processes, norm s, activities were completely ingrained into the culture of the organization the results were seen to be long lasting and a new culture was successfully developed in British Airways (Tcherpokov, 2006, p.2). Reference Tcherpokov, M. (2006). The Eight-stage Managing