Understanding Management and Leadership

The Concept of Organizational Structure Leadership and management are terms used interchangeably in business and other corporate sectors. A leader concentrates on motivation of a group to accomplish common task. Leadership dwells more on social influence while management focuses on the use of people irrespective of self motivation and drive.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Understanding Management and Leadership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Vision and power forms the main difference that defines the two concepts. Leaders have visions and generate power from their subjects while managers may not have visios, instead, concentrates on power generated from positions (Saxena Awasthi, 2010, p.13). There is need for a good leader to strive and accommodate change by appreciating dynamic fluctuations in addition to motivation. He or she inspires and influences followers into the right destination while managers center their interest on maintaining status quo within a paradigm system (Saxena Awasthi, 2010, p.13). The two concepts of leadership and management are meant to complement each other for desirable results within an organization. It is therefore, possible to incorporate the two for achievement of goals and accomplishing tasks. One major cause for dispute is the diversity of concepts to embrace change, which may be reluctantly accepted by a manager at the expense of workers. Attaining great standards in leadership undermines growth of managers due to the diverse nature of interests (Harry Levinson, 1989, p. 65). An example of interaction between these concepts is demonstrated by Mike Merwin who is a supervisor at FLEXcom Company. He talks of distributing time in achieving both management and leadership practices. Management takes 30% while the rest goes to leadership (Thornton, 2003, p.3). Stephen Robbins together with Tim Judge suggests that efficient leaders should take into accou nt three basic roles for efficient delivery. One of the roles is conveyance of information (Robbins and Judge 2011). This involves reception, processing and dissemination of information across all sectors of a firm.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Internal and external systems are linked together via communication channels through an efficient network system for completion of goals and tasks (Robbins and Judge 2011). Interpersonal role qualifies the process to be efficient. The other role involves decision making. At this point, the entrepreneur makes a decision to take risk, handle disputes and act as a link between the business and external factors. A manager acts as centre of power representing interests of an organization. He or she is the flag bearer, leader and a pillar of motivation to the rest of the workforce. Self image and personal conduct of a manager is par amount in the perfection of the roles played when carrying out duties (Robbins Judge, 2011). The roles that are played by good management are vital for proper functioning of an organization. An example of a personality with good leadership is the former South African icon, Nelson Mandela who set an outstanding example in the fight against apartheid rule while in prison. He went ahead to defend integrity and endorsed peaceful coexistence instead of revenge against the former oppressors. This is a classic demonstration of good application of management roles to achieve a common targeted goal. The problem faced by middle level managers in terms of misplaced guidelines on job orientation according to Antonioni is, lack of management basics. This can be avoided by rationalizing the process of management that has fundamentals of good leadership incorporated. Valuation and change of roles to accommodate diversified opinions that are typical of leadership is important for well grooming of good managers other that those who find themselves ending up as managers by chance (Antonioni, 2000. P. 28). Tackling uncertainty by risk assessment is an important aspect of dealing with the stalemate scenario in a business process (Antonioni, 2000, p. 29). This is otherwise called â€Å"fear of unknown† which affects management and business administrative strategies because of eradication of risk-taking aspects of a business venture, a process that derails the entire entrepreneurial move (Antonioni, 2000, p. 29). References Antonioni, D. (2000, September/October). Leading, managing, and coaching. Industrial Management, 42(5), 27: Southern Management Association.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Understanding Management and Leadership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Levinson, H. (1989). Designing and Managing Your Career, Boston, Harvard Business School Publishing Division. Robbins, S. P. Judge,T.A . (2011). Essentials of Organizational Behavior with Self Assessment Library 3.4 Canada: Pearson College Division Publishers. Saxena Sanjay Awasthi Purnima, (2010). Leadership, M-97, Connaught Circus, New Delhi: PHI Learning Private Ltd. Thornton P. B. (2003). Triangles of Management and Leadership, United States of America, Coral Springs, FL. 33077-2246: Llumina Press. This assessment on Understanding Management and Leadership was written and submitted by user Ezra Burch to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. 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Looking At The Issues Surrounding Adoption Social Work Essay Essay Example

Looking At The Issues Surrounding Adoption Social Work Essay Essay Example Looking At The Issues Surrounding Adoption Social Work Essay Essay Looking At The Issues Surrounding Adoption Social Work Essay Essay along with the Adoption and Children Act 2002, provided birth parents in England and Wales entitlement to a support worker, apart from the kid s societal worker, from the point of designation of the acceptance program for the kid ( Goldsmith, et Al, 2004, p 4 ) . The Standards province that birth parents ( a ) should be able to entree different types of support services, including guidance, advice and information before and after acceptance, which recognise the long term deductions of acceptance, and ( B ) should be treated with transparence, equity and respect during the acceptance procedure ( Goldsmith, et Al, 2004, p 4 ) . Most adoptive kids now have programs for direct or indirect post-adoption contact with birth relations. Agencies are required to place contact agreements in acceptance programs and see post-adoption support demands of all concerned ( Goldsmith, et Al, 2004, p 4 ) . Existing ordinances like The Adoption Support Services Regulations entitle adopted kids, adoptive parents, and birth relations for demand appraisal sing contact agreements and authorization bureaus to keep services to assist such contact agreements ( Adoption UK, 2010, p 2 ) . Helping J J contacted us for support on doing contact with her birth parents. The Adoption and Children Act of 2002 has established a model that provides adoptive people, who are more than 18 old ages old and their birth relations, rights to bespeak for intermediary services if they wish to do such contacts. Such mediators are provided by registered acceptance bureaus, ( either voluntary or local authorization ) , or registered acceptance support bureaus and act as go-betweens between adopted people and their birth relations. It is recommended that people wishing to do contact with birth relations do so through mediators. J was informed about the intermediary procedure and services that could be provided by me in interceding with her birth female parent but decided to reach her straight. When J contacted our bureau and the instance was assigned to me to assist her with her emotional challenges and her desire to set up her birth female parent, I engaged her in a long treatment in order to measure her emotional position, her positions about her adoptive childhood and her desire to run into her birth female parent. I met her at her place on two occasions after taking anterior assignments in order to guarantee that she was prepared for the meeting and would be able to convey her ideas better in familiar milieus. I took attention to follow the individual centred attack and intentionally avoided all judgemental feelings about her background as a relinquished and adoptive kid. The acceptance of a individual centred attack is necessary for the true execution of anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory attacks and I was able to understand J s emotional and mental status with greater lucidity and empathy ( Mearns and Thorne, 2007, p 9 ) . Whilst my pick of unfastened and near complete inquiries did assist her in opening up and in casting her suppressions and reserves, I found her to be disturbed about her adoptive position. She appeared to be disturbed with her adoptive parents for their privacy of information about her birth, her birth parents and her acceptance, and kept speaking of little incidents of her childhood about her parents and siblings. She besides spoke about her behavioral jobs, her disturbed slumber and her troubles in doing friends at school. J was nevertheless determined to set up contact with her female parent and decided to reach her every bit shortly as she found out her contact inside informations. I offered to move as intermediary and reach her female parent in order to measure ( a ) her positions on the relinquishing of her birth kid, ( B ) her current emotional position and ( degree Celsius ) her attitude towards set uping contact with J. The lady ( J ) was nevertheless unwilling to wait even for a few yearss and was convinced that her female parent would wish to run into her every bit much as she did. I did mildly explicate to her that her female parent could hold different sentiments on the issue and even offered to hasten the procedure. Whilst J did supply some indicant of being ready for my aid at the closing of our 2nd meeting, she later changed her head and established direct contact with her birth female parent. Her birth female parent, from what J told me subsequently, was perfectly surprised at having the call and was taken aback by the development. She responded to J s introductory communicating with abruptness and grimness, informing her that she did non wish to react to her overture or to set up contact. I do experience that J acted with great hastiness and the consequence of the enterprise could good hold been really different with the usage of an intermediary. I would hold telephoned J s female parent and asked for a personal meeting. I would hold once more adopted a individual centred attack, refrained from being judgemental, and would hold engaged her in treatments about her grounds for releasing her birth kid. I would hold so gently brought up the affair of J, her adopted childhood, the privacy of information about her adoptive position, and her current emotionally disturbed status. I do experience that such an attack would hold yielded a better response from her female parent than J s arbitrary method of set uping contact. Decisions This brooding history inside informations my experiences of covering with an adoptive service user, who tried to unsuccessfully set up contact with her birth female parent. Modern twenty-four hours theory on societal work and psychological science emphasiss upon the complexness of acceptance and the assorted challenges that the procedure brings up for the adoptive kids, the adoptive parents and the birth relations. Adoptive parents have peculiarly important duties in guaranting, perchance through the usage of curative parenting methods, that their adoptive kids do non endure from separation anxiousnesss and do non develop attachment upsets. It is of import for societal workers to understand the emotional deductions of these complexnesss and see the emotional demands of all involved people with empathy and understanding. It is besides of import, as my experience with J reveals, for acceptance reunion processes between adopted persons and their birth relations to be handled with great attention and idea. I do experience that I should hold been more persuasive and perchance more blunt, without being judgemental, with J on ( a ) the perchance really different perceptual experiences of her birth female parent towards the meeting, ( B ) the irresistible impulses that forced her to release her birth kid for acceptance and ( degree Celsius ) her current emotional status and societal environment. Such an action would hold perchance produced better consequences at the terminal. My cognition of societal work theory and pattern has been significantly enhanced by my experience with J and will assist me to cover with such state of affairss much better in future. Word Count: 2625, without commendations and bibliography Bibliography Adoption UK, 2010, Desiring to cognize more or non, Available at: www.adoptionuk.org/information/217131/wanting_to_know_more/ ( accessed January 30, 2011 ) . Blum, H. P. , 2004, Separation-Individuation Theory and Attachment Theory , Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, A ( 52 ) : 535-553. Bowlby, J. , A ; Parkes, C. M. , 1970, Separation and loss within the household , In E. J. Anthony A ; C. Koupernik ( Eds. ) , The kid in his household: International Yearbook of Child Psychiatry and Allied Professions, pp. 197-216, New York: Wiley. Bowlby, J. , 1973, Attachment and loss, Vol. 2: Separation, New York: Basic Books. Brisch, K. H. , 1999, Treating fond regard upsets, New York: Guilford Press. Cassidy, J. , A ; Shaver, P. R. , 1999, Handbook of fond regard: Theory, research, and clinical applications. New York: Guilford. Feast, J. , A ; Howe, D. , 1997, Adopted grownups who search for background information and contact with birth relations , Adoption A ; Fostering 21:2, pp 8-15. Fursland, E. , 2010, Facebook has changed acceptance forever , www.guardian.co.uk, Available at: www.guardian.co.uk/ /19/facebook-adoption-tracing-birth-mother ( accessed January 30, 2011 ) . Goldsmith, F. D. , Oppenheim, D. , A ; Wanlass, J. , 2004, Separation and Reunion: Using Attachment Theory and Research to Inform Decisions Affecting the Placements of Children in Foster Care , Juvenile and Family Court Journal, pp. 1-12. Hollingsworth, L. , 1998, Adoptee unsimilarity from the adoptive household: clinical pattern and research deductions , Child A ; Adolescent Social Work Journal 15, ( 4 ) : pp 303-19. Howe, D. , A ; Feast, J. , 2000, Adoption, Search and Reunion: The long-run experience of adopted grownups, London: The Children s Society. Mearns, D. , A ; Thorne, B. , 2007, Person-Centred Counselling in Action, 3rd edition, London: Sage Publications. Levant, F. R. , A ; Shlien, M. J. , 1987, Client-Centered Therapy and the Person-Centered Approach: New Directions in Theory, Research, and Practice, USA: Praeger Paperback. Appendixs

Profile of Pakistans ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)

Profile of Pakistan's ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the country’s largest of its five intelligence services. It is a controversial, sometimes rogue organization that Benazir Bhutto, the late Pakistani prime minister, once termed a â€Å"state within a state† for its tendency to operate outside of the Pakistani government’s control and at cross-purposes with American anti-terror policy in South Asia. The International Business Times ranked the ISI as the top intelligence agency in the world in 2011. How the ISI Became so Powerful The ISI became that â€Å"state within a state† only after 1979, largely thanks to billions of dollars in American and Saudi aid and armament covertly channeled exclusively through the ISI to the mujahideen of Afghanistan to fight the Soviet occupation of that country in the 1980s. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, Pakistans military dictator from 1977-1988 and the countrys first Islamist leader, had positioned himself as the indispensable ally of American interests against Soviet expansion in South Asia and the ISI as the indispensable clearinghouse through which all aid and armament would flow. Zia, not the CIA, decided what insurgent groups got what. The arrangement was to have far-reaching implications the CIA didnt foresee, making Zia and the ISI the unlikely (and, in retrospect, disastrous) hinge of U.S. policy in South Asia. The ISI’s Complicity With the Taliban For their part, Pakistan’s leaders- Zia, Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf among them- seldom hesitated to use the ISI’s double-dealing skills to their advantage. That’s especially true regarding Pakistan’s relationship with the Taliban, which the ISI helped create in the mid-1990s and subsequently finance, arm and keep in business as a hedge against India’s influence in Afghanistan. Either directly or indirectly, the ISI has never stopped supporting the Taliban, even after 2001 when Pakistan ostensibly became an ally of the United States in the war on al-Qaeda and the Taliban. â€Å"Thus,† British-Pakistani journalist Ahmad Rashid wrote in Descent Into Chaos, Rashid’s analysis of the failed American mission in South Asia between 2001 and 2008, â€Å"even as some ISI officers were helping U.S. officers locate Taliban targets for U.S. bombers [in 2002], other ISI officers were pumping in fresh armaments to the Taliban. On the Afghan side of the border, [Northern Alliance] intelligence operatives compiled lists of the arriving ISI trucks and handed them to the CIA.† Similar patterns continue to this day, especially on the Afghan-Pakistani border, where Taliban militants are believed often to be tipped off by ISI operatives of impending American military action. A Call for the ISI’s Dismantling As a report by the Defense Academy, a British Ministry of Defense think tank, concluded in 2006, â€Å"Indirectly, Pakistan [through the ISI] has been supporting terrorism and extremism- whether in London on 7/7 or in Afghanistan or Iraq.† The report called for the dismantling of the ISI. In July 2008, the Pakistani government attempted to bring the ISI under civilian rule. The decision was reversed within hours, thus underscoring the power of the ISI and the weakness of the civilian government. On paper (according to the Pakistani Constitution), the ISI is answerable to the prime minister. In reality, the ISI is officially and effectively a branch of the Pakistani military, itself a semi-autonomous institution that has either overthrown Pakistan’s civilian leadership or ruled over the country for most of its independence since 1947. Located in Islamabad, the ISI boasts a staff of tens of thousands, much of it army officers and enlisted men, but its reach is much more vast. It exercises that reach through retired ISI agents and militants under its influence or patronage- including the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and several extremists groups in Kashmir, the province Pakistan and India have been disputing for decades. The ISI’s Complicity With al-Qaeda â€Å"By the fall of 1998,† Steve Coll writes in Ghost Wars, a history of the CIA and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan since 1979, â€Å"CIA and other American intelligence reporting had documented many links between ISI, the Taliban, [Osama] bin Laden and other Islamic militants operating from Afghanistan. Classified American reporting showed that Pakistani intelligence maintained about eight stations inside Afghanistan, staffed by active ISI officers or retired officers on contract. CIA reporting showed that Pakistani intelligence officers at about the colonel level met with bin Laden or his representatives to coordinate access to training camps for volunteer fighters headed for Kashmir.† Pakistan’s Overriding Interests in South Asia The pattern reflected Pakistan’s agenda in the late 1990s, which has changed little in subsequent years: Bleed India in Kashmir and ensure Pakistani influence in Afghanistan, where Iran and India also compete for influence. Those are the controlling factors that explain Pakistan’s apparently schizophrenic relationship with the Taliban: bombing it in one place while propping it up in another. Should American and NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan (just as American aid ended after the Soviet withdrawal from that country in 1988), Pakistan doesn’t want to find itself without a controlling hand there. Supporting the Taliban is Pakistan’s insurance policy against a repeat of American withdrawal at the end of the cold war. â€Å"Today,† Benazir Bhutto said in one of her last interviews  in 2007, â€Å"its not just the intelligence services who were previously called a state within a state. Today, its the militants who are becoming yet another little state within the state, and this is leading some people to say that Pakistan is on the slippery slope of being called a failed state. But this is a crisis for Pakistan, that unless we deal with the extremists and the terrorists, our entire state could founder.† Pakistan’s successive governments, in large part through the ISI, created the now seemingly out-of-control conditions that prevail in Pakistan that enable the Taliban, al-Qaeda offshoot al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and other militant groups to call the northwestern part of the country their sanctuary.

Study of Factors and Approaches Influencing Implementation of ERP Essay

Study of Factors and Approaches Influencing Implementation of ERP Systems - Essay Example It is unclear from both the text and the table, what the source of these tables is. It is important to refer to, explain and even evaluate these tables in your text. | 7) In chapter 5, you must include a proper conclusion. Does your research answer the research questions you posed in chapter 1? Have you fulfilled your research objectives? Please be explicit in stating the extent to which you are satisfied with your work. It is okay to say that some elements did not work as you expected. If you were to do this research again, in what way would you do it differently? We are not looking for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"rightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ answers as we assess your work. We are looking for a critical, justified, evidenced, coherent evaluation of the research study and its process. Chung, B. (2007). An Analysis of Success and Failure Factors for ERP Systems in Engineering and Construction Firms. Retrieved December 19, 2010, from Digiral Repository of University of Maryland: http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/7644/1/umi-umd-4917.pdf Srivastava, R. (2003). Learning from Failed ERP implementation or How to make em Successful. Retrieved December 19, 2010, from Apps to Fusion:

Individual Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Individual - Essay Example There are several issues associated with the speech. Consequently, analysis of the agent, agency, and overall purpose of the act indicates strengths and weakness and strengths of speech and covers all the issues in speech presentation. The agent Hillary Clinton at the time of the presentation was the first lady, the wife of serving president of America. The analysis of her personality indicates that she was outspoken, and in the speech she presented her beliefs and issues that she wanted addressed (Keyton). By use of facial appearance and voice intonation, she was able to impact the audience positively. She focused on areas that needed change and that could be addressed to achieve women freedom by enlisting the challenges faced by women in different countries. However, in the speech she indicated only the challenges faced by women and not the achievement already obtained in the process. Through limiting coverage of the successes achieved, she created a fallacy that women are totally oppressed. This notion is not true because women hav e achieved success in some issues. For instance, the women liberation movement of 1900 was able to ensure that women obtain the right to vote and own property. Therefore, despite the existing oppression of women, the freedom to vote and own property was achieved. Then, the fallacy of generalization exhibited in the speech creates a wrong picture of the whole situation (Kampf 112). The presentation of the arguments followed a specified plot, which includes the creation of awareness by illustrating the current situation and developing the objectives and visions in the process. The counter arguments were not presented fully but highlighted as, by the way, issues rather than issues to be pondered. The development of then problem was concise by following an emotive plan which was effective because it captured the attention of the audience. The focus on the issues ensured that the audience was with the presented on

Nervous Conditions Themes Essay Example for Free

Nervous Conditions Themes Essay Tambu was born a girl and thus faces a fundamental disadvantage, since traditional African social practice dictates that the oldest male child is deemed the future head of the family. All of the family’s resources are poured into developing his abilities and preparing him to lead and provide for his clan. When Nhamo dies, the tragedy is all the more profound since no boy exists to take his place. Tambu steps into the role of future provider, yet she is saddled with the prejudices and limitations that shackled most African girls of her generation. Her fight for an education and a better life is compounded by her gender. Gender inequality and sexual discrimination form the backdrop of all of the female characters’ lives. In the novel, inequality is as infectious as disease, a crippling attitude that kills ambition, crushes women’s spirits, and discourages them from supporting and rallying future generations and other female relatives. The Influence of Colonialism The essential action of the novel involves Tambu’s experiences in a Western-style educational setting, and the mission school both provides and represents privileged opportunity and enlightenment. Despite Ma’Shingayi’s strong objections, Tambu knows the only hope she has of lifting her family out of poverty lies in education. However, the mission school poses threats, as well: Western institutions and systems of thought may cruelly and irreversibly alter native Africans who are subjected to them. Nyasha, who has seen firsthand the effect of being immersed in a foreign culture, grows suspicious of an unquestioning acceptance of colonialism’s benefits. She fears that the dominating culture may eventually stifle, limit, or eliminate the long-established native culture of Rhodesia—in other words, she fears that colonialism may force assimilation. The characters’ lives are already entrenched in a national identity that reflects a synthesis of African and colonialist elements. The characters’ struggle to confront and integrate the various social and political influences that shape their lives forms the backbone and central conflict of Nervous Conditions. Tradition vs. Progress Underpinning Nervous Conditions are conflicts between those characters who  endorse traditional ways and those who look to Western or so-called â€Å"modern† answers to problems they face. Dangarembga remains noncommittal in her portrayal of the divergent belief systems of Babamukuru and his brother Jeremiah, and she shows both men behaving rather irrationally. Jeremiah foolishly endorses a shaman’s ritual cleansing of the homestead, while Babamukuru’s belief in a Christian ceremony seems to be rooted in his rigid and unyielding confidence that he is always right. As Tambu becomes more fixed and established in her life at the mission school, she begins to embrace attitudes and beliefs different from those of her parents and her traditional upbringing. Nyasha, ever the voice of reasonable dissent, warns Tambu that a wholesale acceptance of supposedly progressive ideas represents a dangerous departure and too radical of a break with the past. Motifs Geography Physical spaces are at the heart of the tensions Tambu faces between life at the mission and the world of the homestead. At first, Tambu is isolated, relegated to toiling in the fields and tending to her brother’s whims during his infrequent visits. When she attends the local school, she must walk a long way to her daily lessons, but she undertakes the journey willingly in order to receive an education. When the family cannot pay her school fees, Mr. Matimba takes Tambu to the first city she has ever seen, where she sells green corn. Tambu’s increased awareness and knowledge of the world coincides with her growing physical distance from the homestead. The mission school is an important location in the novel, a bastion of possibility that becomes the centerpiece of Tambu’s world and the source of many of the changes she undergoes. At the end of Nervous Conditions, Tambu’s life has taken her even farther away from the homestead, to the convent school where she is without family or friends and must rely solely on herself. Emancipation Emancipation is a term that appears again and again in Nervous Conditions. Usually, the term is associated with being released from slavery or with a country finally freeing itself from the colonial power that once controlled it. These concepts figure into the broader scope of the novel, as Rhodesia’s citizens struggle to amass and assert their identity as a people while still under British control. When the term emancipation is applied to Tambu and the women in her extended family, it takes on newer and richer associations. Tambu sees her life as a gradual process of being freed of the limitations that have previously beset her. When she first leaves for the mission school, she sees the move as a temporary emancipation. Her growing knowledge and evolving perceptions are a form of emancipation from her old ways of thinking. By the end of the novel, emancipation becomes more than simply a release from poverty or restriction. Emancipation is equated with freedom and an assertion of personal liberty. Dual Perspectives Dual perspectives and multiple interpretations appear throughout Nervous Conditions. When Babamukuru finds Lucia a job cooking at the mission, Tambu is in awe of her uncle’s power and generosity, viewing it as a selfless act of kindness. Nyasha, however, believes there is nothing heroic in her father’s gesture and that in assisting his sister-in-law he is merely fulfilling his duty as the head of the family. In addition to often wildly differing interpretations of behavior, characters share an unstable and conflicting sense of self. For Tambu, her two worlds, the homestead and the mission, are often opposed, forcing her to divide her loyalties and complicating her sense of who she is. When she wishes to avoid attending her parents’ wedding, however, these dual selves offer her safety, protection, and an escape from the rigors of reality. As her uncle chides her, Tambu imagines another version of herself watching the scene safely from the foot of the bed. Symbols Tambu’s Garden Plot Tambu’s garden plot represents both tradition and escape from that tradition. On one hand, it is a direct link to her heritage, and the rich tradition has guided her people, representing the essential ability to live off the land. It is a direct connection to the legacy she inherits and the wisdom and skills that are passed down from generation to generation, and Tambu fondly remembers helping her grandmother work the garden. At the same time, the garden represents Tambu’s means of escape, since she hopes to pay her school fees and further her education by growing and selling vegetables. In this sense, the garden represents the hopes of the future and a break with the past. With a new form of wisdom acquired at the mission school and the power  and skills that come with it, Tambu will never have to toil and labor again. Her mother, however, must water the valuable and fertile garden patch despite being exhausted from a long day of work. The Mission For Tambu, the mission stands as a bright and shining beacon, the repository of all of her hopes and ambitions. It represents a portal to a new world and a turning away from the enslaving poverty that has marked Tambu’s past. The mission is an escape and an oasis, a whitewashed world where refinement and sophistication are the rule. It is also an exciting retreat for Tambu, where she is exposed to new ideas and new modes of thinking. The mission sets Tambu on the path to becoming the strong, articulate adult she is destined to become. The Ox In the family’s lengthy holiday celebration, the ox represents the opulence and status Babamukuru and his family have achieved. Meat, a rare commodity, is an infrequent treat for most families, and Tambu’s parents and the rest of the extended clan willingly partake of the ox. At the same time, they secretly resent such an ostentatious display of wealth, since the ox is a symbol of the great gulf that exists between the educated branch of the family and those who have been left behind to struggle. Maiguru closely regulates the consumption of the ox and parcels out the meat over the several days of the family’s gathering. Eventually the meat starts to go bad, and the other women chide Maiguru for her poor judgment and overly strict control of its distribution. At that point, the ox suggests Maiguru’s shortcomings and how, in the eyes of the others, her education and comfortable life have made her an ineffective provider.

Bus Boycott Essay -- essays research papers

During the first half of the twentieth century segregation was the way of life in the south. It was an excepted, and even though it was morally wrong, it still went on as if there was nothing wrong at all. African-Americans were treated as if they were a somehow sub-human, they were treated because of the color of their skin that somehow, someway they were different. In the south it was almost impossible to find any aspect of life that was not segregated. The schools were segregated and the restaurants were segregated. There was â€Å"Colored Only† bathrooms, and â€Å"Colored Only† drinking fountains and segregation was definitely present in public transportation. Martin Luther King Jr. could not have said it better when he addressed the massive crowd at the first meeting of Montgomery Improvement Association and said, â€Å" . . . we are here, we are here because we are tired now.†1 On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks, a seamstress who lived in Montgomery, Al, refused to give her seat up to a white man who had nowhere to sit on the bus. Because she would not move to the back of the bus, she was arrested for violating the Alabama bus segregation laws. Rosa was thrown in jail and fined fourteen dollars. Enraged by Mrs. Parks arrest the black community of Montgomery united together and organized a boycott of the bus system until the city buses were integrated. The black men and women stayed of the buses until December 20, 1956, almost thirteen months after the boycott their goal was reached. The Montgomery Bus Boycott can be considered a major turning point in the Civil Rights Movement because it made Martin Luther King Jr. public leader in the movement, starting point for non-violent protest as an effective tool in the fight for civil rights, showed that African-Americans united for a cause could stand up to segregation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being president of the Montgomery Improvement Association taught Martin Luther the skills and gave the exposure to become a great leader of a movement as large as the civil rights movement. The thing that Martin Luther King is remembered most for was his oratory skills. M.L.K was a master speaker and his speeches and the greatness of them will always live on forever. His Speaking style has been compared to such great people as Gandhi, Jesus and Fredrick Douglass because he knew how to dramatize the truth.2 This is evident when he... ... the Bus Boycott Martin Luther King Jr. went on to become the leader of civil rights movement and the one who the most closely associated to the civil rights movement. Some many things have happened because of Martin Luther King Jr. and everything involved with the boycott. Just think, it all would have never happened if one person, Mrs. Rosa Parks, would have let that the bus driver trample over her and not stand up for what she know is right.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Martin Luther King Jr’s book, Stride Towards Freedom, he sums up the whole boycott very nicely. â€Å"The Story of Montgomery us the story of 50,00 Negroes who were willing to substitute tired feet for tired souls and walk the streets of Montgomery until the walls of segregation were finally battered by the forces of justice.†5 End Notes 1Taylor Branch Parting the Water: America in the King Years, 1954-1963 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988) 140 2Lerone Bennett Jr. Before The Mayflower: A History of Black America (New York: Johnson Publishing Company, 1969) pg. 314. 3Branch 139 4 Branch 143 5 Juan Williams, Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 (New York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1987) 89