Poem Comparing Essay Example for Free

Poem Comparing Essay Good evening Mr. Georges and fellow classmates, I have researched about 2 poems and made a comparison between the two. I’m here today to talk to you about them and see what you think at the end of the speech. The two poems I researched were (on the sea, author John Keats) and (sea fever, author John Masefield). as you can see from the title of the poems that they are bot about the sea but don’t be confused, they’re both completely different stories. Both of these poems talk about the sea, they are both referring to the sea as a human and identifying it in a human characteristic kind of way. As we can see along the sonnet (on the sea), the author uses terms as uproar rude, mighty swell, caverns, and vexed, desolate shores. He also mentions The Greco-Roman goddess Hecate associated with magic and the wild. This is referring to the sea and how ruthless it can be. This poem deals with nature, focusing on its wild and violent side. This poem also reflects on human actions. The poem is comparing the nature with the human being, because we can also get wild and violent. It seems a criticism of the alienation of the human being -above all when living and working in big cities. So the author may be calling our attention – the speaker of the poem addresses to us (Oh ye!) -And giving us a piece of advice- not to underestimate nature. John Masefields poem Sea Fever is a work of art that brings beauty to the English language through its use of rhythm, imagery and many complex figures of speech. The imagery in Sea Fever suggests an adventurous ocean that appeals to all five senses. Along with an adventurous ocean, Sea Fever also sets a mood of freedom through imagery of traveling gypsies. These poems both use a rhythmic tone in their stanzas. In the sonnet â€Å"sea fever† lines 3 and four, it uses rhythmic language, these lines say â€Å"And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking† These are just two lines in the poem but if you actually read the poem you can see examples of rhyme throughout the whole poem. In the sonnet â€Å"On the sea† examples of rhythmic language can be found in the lines 4 and 5, these lines say â€Å"Of Hecate leaves them their old shadowy sound, Often tis in such gentle temper found† and as in the first sonnet, this sonnet also has rhythmic language throughout the whole poem. These poems also have their differences; they each talk about the sea but in a different perception. The sonnet, (on the sea), talks about the sea and how angry it can be, it is comparing the sea with human actions and is warning the humans to be careful of the nature. It talks about the Greco-Roman goddess Hecate associated with magic and the wild. I wonder if the author is referring to something that happened to his life that made him so angry to write this poem, what do you think it could be? The Author uses language techniques like Personification, Capitalisation and rhyme. He personifies the Sea in line 5 by saying it has a gentle temper. The author uses capitalization for the word †Sea† which makes me believe that he was trying to make the subject of the poem a human. â€Å"He uses Rhyme throughout the whole poem and it does make the poem seem more interesting to read. The sonnet (sea fever) is completely opposite to the sonnet (on the sea) because sea fever talks about the sea but it talks about a sailor and how he just can’t wait to get on a ship and sail into the sea. This poem talks about a sailor who is very excited to go out to sea, he wants adventure, and he wants a wild journey into the ocean living the vagrant gypsy life. The author refers to the sea as a home to this sailor unlike the sonnet (on the sea) which refers to the sea as a wild, dangerous and ruthless place. The author uses language techniques like Metaphors, emotive language and Repetition. Examples of Metaphors used in this poem are (sea and the sky) line 1, (star to steer) line 2, (and gulls way and the whales way where the winds like a whetted knife) line 10. Examples of Emotive language used in this poem are (to the lonely sea and the sky) line 1 (and the sea gulls crying) line 8. An example of repletion is that he starts every stanza with the sentence (I must go down to the seas again). So in conclusion these poems are similar but different in many ways, and like me and you each of them has their ups and downs. They both talk about the sea but each in a different perception. Thanks for listening to my speech and I hope you gained a little information from me today.

Communication Behavior in Boomerang and Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak :: essays papers

Communication Behavior in Boomerang and Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak In this paper I will attempt to discover how cultural differences affect communication in two movies of differing cultures. I will keep the names of the characters formal for both movies and for the Indian movie I will translate their lines to English directly. The first movie is of the Indian culture entitled Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak, which roughly translates to â€Å"From Armageddon Till Armageddon.† This has a classic Romeo and Juliet theme. I will focus on what I consider are the three main relationships in this movie: 1) Raj, the main male character, and Reshmi, the main female character, 2) Raj and his family, and 3) Reshmi and her family. The second movie is of the African American culture entitled Boomerang. This is in essence about a lady’s man who is in search for a perfect woman. Along the way to finding Miss Right he romances other women and as soon as he finds who he believes is the right one, she romances him. I’ve chosen three main relatio nships from this movie as well: 1) Marcus, the main male character, and Angela, the women he ends up falling in love with, 2) Marcus and Jacqueline, the female he believes is the perfect women, and 3) Marcus and his friends Gerard and Tyler. This essay will discuss how the friends of each movie communicate with each other, what good and bad communication behaviors they have, compare and contrast the relationships depicted in the movies, talk about how the theories of friendship in the course text apply to the friendships in the movies, converse about how each film portrays the culture of the characters, and lastly discuss what each film says about the communication habits of their respective cultures. Both movies have similar means by which the characters communicate with each other. In Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak Raj and Reshmi begin their relationship with Reshmi taking pictures of Raj jogging. He notices her taking the pictures and hides, and then he comes up behind her and scares her. When he realizes who was taking the pictures he strikes up a conversation. He apologizes for scaring her and refers to his thoughts by asking, â€Å"Do you always take pictures of people jogging (Khan, 1988)?† In this first encounter neither of the characters disclose their names to each other, yet Raj asks Reshmi to meet him at the same place at the same time the next day. Communication Behavior in Boomerang and Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak :: essays papers Communication Behavior in Boomerang and Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak In this paper I will attempt to discover how cultural differences affect communication in two movies of differing cultures. I will keep the names of the characters formal for both movies and for the Indian movie I will translate their lines to English directly. The first movie is of the Indian culture entitled Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak, which roughly translates to â€Å"From Armageddon Till Armageddon.† This has a classic Romeo and Juliet theme. I will focus on what I consider are the three main relationships in this movie: 1) Raj, the main male character, and Reshmi, the main female character, 2) Raj and his family, and 3) Reshmi and her family. The second movie is of the African American culture entitled Boomerang. This is in essence about a lady’s man who is in search for a perfect woman. Along the way to finding Miss Right he romances other women and as soon as he finds who he believes is the right one, she romances him. I’ve chosen three main relatio nships from this movie as well: 1) Marcus, the main male character, and Angela, the women he ends up falling in love with, 2) Marcus and Jacqueline, the female he believes is the perfect women, and 3) Marcus and his friends Gerard and Tyler. This essay will discuss how the friends of each movie communicate with each other, what good and bad communication behaviors they have, compare and contrast the relationships depicted in the movies, talk about how the theories of friendship in the course text apply to the friendships in the movies, converse about how each film portrays the culture of the characters, and lastly discuss what each film says about the communication habits of their respective cultures. Both movies have similar means by which the characters communicate with each other. In Quayamat Se Quayamat Tak Raj and Reshmi begin their relationship with Reshmi taking pictures of Raj jogging. He notices her taking the pictures and hides, and then he comes up behind her and scares her. When he realizes who was taking the pictures he strikes up a conversation. He apologizes for scaring her and refers to his thoughts by asking, â€Å"Do you always take pictures of people jogging (Khan, 1988)?† In this first encounter neither of the characters disclose their names to each other, yet Raj asks Reshmi to meet him at the same place at the same time the next day.

A research proving that the act of abortion is not immoral Essay

Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. Since 1969, abortion has been legal in Canada. However, it was only allowed under special circumstances which included, high-risk pregnancies and pregnancy as a result of rape. Abortion without federal restrictions has been legal since 1988 in Canada. With the advanced technology of today, abortion can be done both surgically and non-surgically. Furthermore, many today may believe that abortion should be illegal as it is considered to be â€Å"inhumane†. Nevertheless, because of the time the abortion takes place, the situations that make abortion the only option and avoiding birth defects, one can come to the conclusion that abortion is not immoral. This fact can be proven throughout the research done by medical professionals and people who have had to get an abortion done. The universal definition of abortion states that abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by either a surgical or non-surgical method before the fetus is able to sustain independent life (up to 24 weeks). Abortion ranges in two different forms, surgical and non-surgical. There are 2 types of surgical procedures which are Vacuum Suction Curettage (VSC)  and Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA). Throughout the first twenty weeks of pregnancy, the fetus has now developed the entire skeletal figure, all major organs are functioning, and this would include the heart, stomach, liver, kidney, and brain. By twenty weeks, the fetus can now kick, grasp with his or her hands, hair is visible and vocal cords are working. Stated by Dr. Paul Ranali, a neurologist studying at the University of Toronto, there is evidence of the fetus feeling pain during the abortion procedure (Pollitt, 2011). Although it is unusual that one would have an abortion this late in the pregnancy, abortion can take place any time during the first trimester of pregnancy which is up to 24 weeks, the fetal brain is completely developed at the age of 20 weeks. The brain has the full complement of brain cells as an adult would have therefore made the fetus ready to receive pain signals from the body (Johnson, 2011). Overall, many still allow the abortion to take place after knowing this information. Because the abortion process takes place at such an early stage in the pregnancy, many do not seem to consider the fetus as a human, therefore, disregarding the slurs (murdering the fetus) that are typically said. The main cause for abortions would be the fact that they are unplanned pregnancies. As stated in the Annual Abortion Survey in the United States (AAS), â€Å"on average, women give at least  3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner† (Annual Abortion Survey- USA, 2013). Because of these reasons, it is unfair to bring an innocent child into the world where they would not receive the care that is needed. Also stated in the AAS, twenty-one percent of women included a physical problem with their health among reasons for having an abortion  and eleven percent admitted that they went along to get an abortion due to the fact that they were victims of rape. Those who do not wish to have a child because of financial situations can be understood by those who believe abortion is immoral because raising a child in today’s time is known to be expensive to those who make an average salary of $34,000. While considering having a child, one must be able to provide basic necessities such as diapers and formula. The costs of diapers can range from $10.00 – $50.00. The costs of baby formula can range from $15.00 – $50.00 (Evers, 2013).   If one cannot provide their child with the essential needs, they should not bring them into the world. If on e cannot provide for their child, it can also cause a strain on the mother and father’s relationship due to overwhelming stress and pressure. Also, studies in the United States have shown, those who are not financially stable and continue with their pregnancy, are more likely to become unemployed, to be on public welfare, to be below the poverty line, and to later on in life, become victims of domestic violence (Evers, 2013). Because many do not want to be placed in a situation where they are in danger or not capable of raising a child, they choose to abort the potential child. A birth defect is defined as a health problem or physical change which is present in a baby at the time he or she is born. Birth defects can occur either from genetic factors or even environmental factors. The genetic causes could be inheritance, single gene defects, multifactorial inheritance, teratogens or a chromosome abnormality.   Luckily, only three out of every one-hundred babies are born with a birth defect (Williams, 2007). Many birth defects can be diagnosed before birth with specialized prenatal diagnosis test. Birth defects that are considered as chromosomal abnormalities such as Downs Syndrome can be diagnosed before birth by examining the amniotic fluid from the placenta. A commonly used test that screen for birth defects and mainly Downs Syndrome would be Alpha-fetoprotein. Alpha-fetoprotein measures the levels of alpha-fetoprotein in the blood. This screening may be included as one part of a two, three, or four-part screening, often called a multiple marker screen. The other parts may include the following: Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and Estriol (Williams, 2007). Human chorionic gonadotropin is a hormone that is extracted from the placenta cells. High levels may indicate a fetus with Down Syndrome. Estriol is  a hormone produced by the placenta and by the fetal liver and adrenal glands. Low levels may indicate a fetus with Down Syndrome. Other birth defects that are a leading cause of infant mortality would be heart defects and missing organs and limbs. These birth defects are noticed through ultrasounds just before the pregnancy goes to twenty weeks. It was founded that roughly two percent of all pregnancies are complicated by a major birth defect. Of that two percent, ninety-three percent of the women decided to terminate the pregnancy before the child is born into a life of suffering (Williams, 2007). Thus concluding that women mainly resort in abortion in order to protect a child from being born with a disability that could lead them i n a life where it would be difficult for them to survive. In conclusion, one can say that abortion is not an immoral act due to the fact that at the time abortion takes place the fetus has not yet become a human, the situations that make abortion the only option which shields the unborn child from being born into a world where they cannot be taken care of and avoiding birth defects. This fact has been proven throughout this essay by the research done by medical professionals and people who have gone through this experience. Bibliography Abortion Laws Worldwide. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2015, from https://www.womenonwaves.org/en/page/460/abortion-laws-worldwide Annual Abortion Survey-USA. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/ Children’s Health. The  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nemours Foundation, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. . â€Å"Description of Types of Abortions, Abortion Procedures, How They Work, What to Expect.† Description of Types of Abortions, Abortion Procedures, How They Work, What to Expect. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. . Evers, J. (2013, February 1). Religious views on abortion. Retrieved March 4, 2015, from https://www.spuc.org.edu/youth/student_info_on_abortion/religion Guralnick, M. J. (2010). Early intervention approaches to enhance the peer-related social competence of young children with developmental delays: A historical perspective.  Infants and Young Children, 23, 73–83. Hirsch, L.(2010). â€Å"Genetic Testing.† KidsHealth – the Web’s Most Visited Site about Johnson, M. (2011, January 1). Abortion. Retrieved March 4, 2015, from http://www.cfsh.ca/your_sexual_health/abortion/ Pollitt, K. (2011). Pro: Reclaiming abortion rights (pp. 29-43). Religious views on abortion. (2012, January 1). Retrieved March 4, 2015, from https://www.spuc.org.uk/youth/student_info_on_abortion/religion Sanghavi, D. (2013, January 1). Texas’ Bill Would Ban Abortions at the Time Testing Reveals Fetal Defects. Retrieved March 2, 2015, from http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/07/texas_ Williams, M. (2007). Abortion (pp. 34-59). Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

Practical Labour Law Assignment Essay

The common law contract of employment would require that the two parties involved i. e. employer and employee conclude an agreement equitable to or at least meeting the needs of (locatio conductio operarum/employment proper). Considering the nature of the relationship between Mrs. James and the school, it is difficult to define who the employee and employer is, as the initial agreement for the services offered by Mrs. James was made between her and the parents. The school ultimately becomes responsible for paying her salary based on a request she made. No formal agreement is mentioned with regards to this arrangement for instance, is the school charging her an administration/handling fee or is she subjected to statutory deductions like UIF as the other teachers. Mrs. James was provided with the tools (i. e. two classrooms) to run her services by the school and they stipulated conditions of her using the schools facilities (provided she supplied the children with equipment etc). Thus it would seem as though a (location conduction operis ) or â€Å"provision of work† contract exists between the school and Mrs. James. This contract unfortunately does not provide her with job security or recourse when facing acts of negligence or wrong doing by the other party to the contract. The control test indicates that Mrs. James ran her own after care centre without reporting to any of the staff members, in fact if ever there was a reporting structure it would probably be to the parents of the children she looked after. The governing body had no control over how she ran her classes either than the fact that they stipulated that toys and equipment be provided to the children and of course that the classrooms be well maintained. The governing body can stipulate the code of conduct for the other teachers but surely Mrs. James would not be subjected to this. In terms of the Organizational test, Mrs. James has been a part of the school for 15 years receiving a cheque from the school governing body like any other member of the organization and hence feeling somewhat involved with the school. However should the teachers for instance be involved in industrial action over salaries would Mrs. James as â€Å"part of the teachers’ organization† get involved or benefit from salary increases? There was no formal contract between the two but the school does provide the classroom (capital asset) and pay her via cheque signed by the governing body. To some degree they can terminate her services but not necessarily through disciplinary procedures as would be the case with their employees. If the school can no longer provide or choose to offer their facilities to someone else, surely the contract involved between Mrs. James and the school, would be more a tenant/landlord agreement rather than an employer/employee agreement. Who profits from the provision of these services? The fees paid by the parents are wholly received by Mrs. James which makes it seem as though she’s the only one profiting from the services rendered but arguably the school indirectly benefits from this arrangement. For instance parents of prospective school children may consider the provision of after care facilities as an added bonus when trying to decide which school their little one should attend. Furthermore Mrs. James has the added benefit of receiving her collated fees on time with no risk of theft etc. in a convenient manner at no extra charge to her. Teachers employed by the school earning a salary in exchange for the services carried out at the business of their employer are entitled to certain benefits. If the school was her employer then Mrs. James would’ve had to obey reasonable instructions from the school regarding her work but it seems she ran her business independently. The court should thus not rule in her favour as she wasn’t an employee of the school and hence cannot be retrenched. Question 2Word Count: 402 Skills development Act 97 ?Key purpose of the SDA and SDLA: The Skills Development Act (SDA) 97 came into effect in 1998, it is centered at improving the South African workforce by providing skills and opportunities to South African citizens. It aims to improve the quality of a workers life and grant opportunities and flexibility of employment as well as increased competition in the workplace as workers become more productive and efficient in their work. Entrepreneurship or self employment is encouraged through this act. The workplace becomes an institution of active learning as employees are encouraged to study or continue to train further and acquire new skills. Issues such as high unemployment or unskilled labour force can be addressed as employers are encouraged to employ unskilled workers for instance graduates or scholars with no working experience. Job prospects of historically disadvantaged individuals are improved through training initiatives. Provision and regulation of employment services Improved return on investment in the labour market due to increase in the levels of investment in training and education. In order to facilitate and finance SDA, the skills development levy Act (SDLA) was created. It is a levy imposed on employers to ensure funds are generated towards financing skills development. ?Key provisions of the SDA that apply to our company: The National Skills authority ; National skills fund; labour centres ; SETA’s; Skills Development Planning unit and of course the Skills Development levy grant scheme where established to provide for SDA. SETA’s or Sector Education and Training Authorities through which learnerships are provided mean that we as an employer must-: 1. Employ a learner for a period specified in an the agreement 2. Provide the learner with specified practical work experience 3. Afford the learner time to attend the education and training specified in the agreement ? Key procedures to be followed or set up to ensure compliance with SDA and SDLA : We have to apply to the commissioner of the South African Revenue Services to be registered to pay SDLA. The company also has to register with a relevant SETA. Payment of the levy must be made no later than seven (7) days after the end of each month. Every employer is subject to pay a skills development levy which is collected by SARS. This levy must be paid at a rate of 1% of an employee’s total remuneration excluding pension or retirement allowances. Question 3Word count: 468 a) All South African employees working more than 24 hours a month and who are not receiving a monthly pension, nor employed under the skills and development act are entitled to a statutory benefit called UIF which stands for Unemployment Insurance Fund. In the event that you fall ill, pregnant or are dismissed from work and even if your contract of employment should expire and you are involuntarily out of work, you will then be able to claim benefits against UIF and will be paid out a certain amount over a certain period of time by the labour department. Officers and some specified employees of national and provincial spheres of government may not claim UIF so too are foreigners entering the country for specified learnerships or contracts of service and employees earning commission only. Since you are of legal employment age and earn below the annual level determined by the minister of labour, you may apply for UIF should you involuntarily be unemployed subject to you having employment but not necessarily making contributions towards UIF for at least 13 weeks during the year before having to claim UIF. The company will deduct contributions from your salary every month and pay both our contribution as well as yours towards UIF fund. We will both be subject to paying an equal amount of 1% of your earnings towards the fund. In your current position as trainee data capturer you will be earning R7500 which is below the current income ceiling of R8099 per month. In the event that you claim for UIF you will then be entitled to a percentage of R7500 multiplied by 12 months divided by 365 days as a benefit paid out to you. Once a year the company pays out a bonus (guaranteed 13th cheque) to which a contribution for UIF will also be deducted however as your service with us progresses and you are possibly promoted into another role which may have the added benefit of a performance bonus, please note this will not be subject to UIF contributions. We will also make no UIF deductions on overtime paid to you or any other special allowances that don’t form part of the contract of employment you’ve just signed. As a contributor to the fund, you may one day claim for illness; maternity/adoption benefits and of course in the event that you are for instance retrenched, dismissed or your contract is terminated and you are left unemployed, you may also claim for this. In the event that you should pass away, your dependants may also claim from the fund provided they do so six months of your death however under special circumstance the commissioner may accept applications older than six months.

Understanding Chemical Evolution

Understanding Chemical Evolution The term chemical evolution can be used in many different ways depending on the context of the words. If you are speaking to an astronomer, then it could be a discussion about how new elements are formed during supernovas. Chemists may believe chemical evolution pertains to how oxygen or hydrogen gases evolve out of some types of chemical reactions. In evolutionary biology, on the other hand, the term chemical evolution most often is used to describe the hypothesis that organic building blocks of life were created when inorganic molecules came together. Sometimes called abiogenesis, chemical evolution could be how life started on Earth. The Earths environment when it was first formed was very different than it is now. The Earth was somewhat hostile to life and so the creation of life on Earth did not come for billions of years after the Earth was first formed. Because of its ideal distance from the sun, the Earth is the only planet in our solar system that is capable of having liquid water in the orbits the planets are in now. This was the first step in chemical evolution to create life on Earth. The early Earth also did not have an atmosphere surrounding it to block ultraviolet rays which can be deadly to the cells that make up all life. Eventually, scientists believe a primitive atmosphere full of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and perhaps some methane and ammonia, but no oxygen. This became important later in the evolution of life on Earth as photosynthetic and chemosynthetic organisms used these substances to create energy. So just how did abiogenesis or chemical evolution happen? No one is completely certain, but there are many hypotheses. It is true that the only way new atoms of non-synthetic elements can be made are through the supernovas of extremely large stars. All other atoms of elements are recycled through various biogeochemical cycles. So either the elements were already on Earth when it was formed (presumably from the collection of space dust around an iron core), or they came to Earth via the continuous meteor strikes that were common before the protective atmosphere was formed. Once the inorganic elements were on Earth, most hypotheses agree that the chemical evolution of the organic building blocks of life began in the oceans. The majority of Earth is covered by the oceans. It is not a stretch to think that the inorganic molecules that would undergo chemical evolution would be floating around in the oceans. The question remains just how these chemicals evolved to become organic building blocks of life. This is where the different hypotheses branch off from each other. One of the more popular hypotheses says that the organic molecules were created by chance as the inorganic elements collided and bonded in the oceans. However, this is always met with resistance because statistically the chance of this happening is very small. Others have tried to recreate the conditions of early Earth and make organic molecules. One such experiment, commonly called the Primordial Soup experiment, was successful in creating the organic molecules out of inorganic elements in a lab setting. However, as we learn more about the ancient Earth, we have found out that not all of the molecules they used were actually around during that time. The search continues to learn more about chemical evolution and how it could have begun life on Earth. New discoveries are made on a regular basis that help scientists understand what was available and how things may have happened in this process. Hopefully one day scientists will be able to pinpoint how chemical evolution happened and a clearer picture of how life began on Earth will emerge.

Theoretical Perspective - Definition Examples in Sociology

Theoretical Perspective s in Sociology A theoretical perspective is a set of assumptions about reality that inform the questions we ask and the kinds of answers we arrive at as a result. In this sense, a theoretical perspective can be understood as a lens through which we look, serving to focus or distort what we see. It can also be thought of as a frame, which serves to both include and exclude certain things from our view.  The field of sociology itself is a theoretical perspective based on the assumption that  social systems  such as society and the family actually exist, that culture,  social structure, statuses, and roles are real. A theoretical perspective is important for research because it serves to organize our thoughts and ideas and make them clear to others. Often, sociologists use multiple theoretical perspectives simultaneously as they frame research questions, design and conduct research, and analyze their results. Well review some of the major theoretical perspectives within sociology, but readers should bear in mind that there are many others. Macro versus Micro There is one major theoretical and practical division within the field of sociology, and that is the division between macro and micro approaches to studying society. Though they are often viewed as competing perspectiveswith macro focused on the big picture of social structure, patterns, and trends, and micro-focused on the minutiae of individual experience and everyday lifethey are actually complementary and mutually dependent. The Functionalist Perspective The functionalist perspective  also called functionalism, originates in the work of French sociologist Émile Durkheim, one of the founding thinkers of sociology. Durkheims interest was in how social order could be possible, and how society maintains stability. His writings on this topic came to be viewed as the essence of the functionalist perspective, but others contributed to and refined it, including Herbert Spencer, Talcott Parsons, and Robert K. Merton. The functionalist perspective operates on the macro-theoretical level. The Interactionist Perspective The interactionist perspective was developed by American sociologist George Herbert Mead. It is a micro-theoretical approach that focuses on understanding how meaning is generated through processes of social interaction. This perspective assumes that meaning is derived from everyday social interaction, and thus, is a social construct. Another prominent theoretical perspective, that of symbolic interaction, was developed by another American, Herbert Blumer, from the interactionist paradigm. This theory, which you can read more about here, focuses on how we use as symbols, like clothing, to communicate with each other; how we create, maintain, and present a coherent self to those around us, and how through social interaction we create and maintain a certain understanding of society and what happens within it. The Conflict Perspective The conflict perspective is derived from the writing of Karl Marx  and assumes that  conflicts arise when resources, status, and power are unevenly distributed between groups in society. According to this theory, conflicts that arise because of inequality are what foster social change. From the conflict perspective, power can take the form of control of material resources and wealth, of politics and the institutions that make up society, and can be measured as a function of ones social status relative to others (as with race, class, and gender, among other things). Other sociologists and scholars associated with this perspective include Antonio Gramsci, C. Wright Mills, and the members of the Frankfurt School, who developed critical theory.

Critical Perspectives on HRM in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Critical Perspectives on HRM in Britain - Essay Example Research shows that when an organisation is able to achieve a cohesive and unified organisational culture, it improves problem-solving capacity within a firm and leads to enhanced organisational performance (Yilmaz and Ergun 2008). Furthermore, a longitudinal study conducted by Kotter and Heskett (1992) discovered that having a cohesive organisational culture was correlated with a 765 percent improvement of business incomes for the investigated organisations occurring between 1977 and the year 1988. With such evidence of organisational improvement and enhanced problem-solving capacity as a result of developing a cohesive organisational culture, it would appear that it is, indeed, desirable for senior managers to seek to change their organisational cultures if it is determined that existing culture in insufficient for enhancing organisational performance. However, change resistance is commonplace in many organisations in which managers become the victims of illogical and irrational employee responses when organisational members are faced with change (Ford, Ford and D’Amelio 2009). Hence, it might not be feasible to seek change of culture as a result of the intensity of psychological retaliation imparted upon management when attempting to elicit cultural change. There appears to be significant evidence that seeking to change organisational culture maintains a variety of benefits for an organisation. O’Donnell (2006) asserts that when an organisation maintains a cohesive culture, culture can facilitate development of innovations that support an organisation’s goals. For many organisations, especially those that operate in saturated competitive markets, the capability of an organisation in achieving many innovative outputs serves as a predictor of competitive advantage and holistic organisational performance. Kalyanaram and Gurumurthy (2008) describe an example of being a first mover in a new market where a firm