A reflection on the book `Krik?Krak`

1. What is the significance of writing in CHILDREN OF THE SEA? This is where the narrator recollects about her past. Writing the Children of the Sea was deemed significant for the flow of the book because all the rest of the story were just products of the memories or records of the life of the character as she was on board a ship to Miami. It was a contrast of life and death as the main character writes about her life while a girl of fifteen gives birth to a baby and the baby eventually dies. 2. In NINETEEN THIRTY-SEVEN, why do the women travel to the river so often? A quote from the book says â€Å"The River was the place where it had all begun† (41) answers the question on why women travel so often to the rivers. They go to the river to escape the horrors of their own land. To escape death and seizure her mother swam the river that crosses between the Dominican Republic and her native country, the Haiti. Her grandmother on the other hand, being too weak to swim was caught and killed in Haiti. 3. Explain the significance of the list at the sugar mill in THE WALL OF FIRE RISING. Why doesn`t the mother want his son`s name on the list?  In The Wall of the Fire Rising, a couple is trying to raise their son without tainting his soul with poverty and hopelessness.   This is the main reason why his mother doesn’t want his name to be signed at the sugar mill. The Childs parents don’t want the boy to serve as slave in the Mill. The child however grew fascinated in the works of Boukman, a declaration of freedom and slave revolution. 4. How does (social) class become significant in BETWEEN THE POOL AND THE GARDENIAS? To further stress the importance of class in Between the Pool and the Gardenias, I quote an excerpt from the book which says â€Å"Her lips were wide and purple, like those African dolls you see in tourist store windows but never could afford to buy.† The character is that of a young woman who have had many miscarriages before since she can’t afford better healthcare for her baby. She is now in denial of her child’s death and is drawn to a dead child that she has seen on the streets. Though the corps is decaying, she can’t seem to take her eyes of the child and continues to visit her. She wants to give the child proper burial but such would require money. 5. Reread the conversation between the girl and her grandmother on page 107 in THE MISSING PEACE. Why does the grandmother feel hostility toward the visitor? In the Missing Peace, two desperate women where brought together amidst the chaos of the fall of the old regime. The narrator, Lamort, helps an American journalist named Emilie in finding her mother. Lamorts grandmother feel hostility toward the visitor for the simple reason that she was American in a foreign country and she fears that their quest for the journalist mother would put her grandchild in danger. 6. Both death and life function as major themes in SEEING THINGS SIMPLY. How does painting work with those two ideas? According to the character, the painting serves as a memoir for her as shown by the excerpt, â€Å"to have something to leave behind even after she is gone.† Through her paintings life was preserved but as her real reason for making the painting unfolds, it foreshadows death. 7. Danticat places the traditions of Haiti and Haitian culture at odds with Americans and American customs in CAROLINE`S WEDDING. Offer an example of this relationship and its significance to the story. In Caroline’s Wedding, clash of   Haitan and American culture was portrayed as Caroline is not having a church wedding which is very important to their tradition.   The difference between the American and Haitan culture was further illustrated when Coroline said to her mom in one of their arguments that they don’t want to spend money a single day just to please the rest of the crowd while leaving them bankrupt. It is cheaper to get married in court than in the church, the way all Haitan Weddings are held. They said that her husbands’ friend who is a judge will be the one to wed the couple in his office and not in the church. 8. The text closes with writing once again in the Epilogue. What is the significance of writing for this author? What does the Epilogue reveal about Danticat? The Epilogue provides substance and unity for the rest of the story as one would get to understand that she is writing of different generations of women who are bounded by struggles. When asked what the essence of writing for her is, the author said in the last part that the act is pretty much like braiding ones hair; you take a clump of rowdy stands and try to unify its strands to make it bigger and stronger.      

Assessing the Marks and Spencers retail chain

Assessing the Marks and Spencers retail chain Marks and Spencer is a British retail chain with over 800 stores in around 30 countries (600 in the UK). Food and clothing retail play a large part in the Marks and Spencer corporate strategy. The Marks & Spencer business model has had to adapt to change and consumer trends over the years to maintain the company’s position as one of the largest retailers in the world. Marks and Spencer (M&S) is a heritage of the British retail and has been present for nearly 130 years. Throughout the years, several individuals have led the organisation and distinct patterns of leadership style can be observed. The impact of leadership style at M&S will be compared to the organisation’s performance and critically evaluated against published leadership models. Covey, S.R. (1990) Historical leadership (1880-1990) (Mathieu) Until the middle of the 20th century, the customers and employees were divided in two classes: middle class and working class separating people who had money and the wo rking class who hadn’t. Additionally, women during this period seemed to have predominantly a reproducing role and did not have direct political power. Gender and classes have shaped the evolution of M&S dominated by strong powerful males from its early days [Rippin A. (2005)]. The leadership of M&S has been and still is dominated by men. Michael Marks founder of M&S had the traits of an entrepreneur. As the leadership was passed on through the family, increased competition within the heirs led to emergence of stronger characters. Michael’s son, Simon Marks and later Simon’s brother in law Israel Sieff changed the leadership style towards a stronger dictatorial influence. Both Marks and Sieff families had been victims of violence especially during the war and controversially established an organisation with ‘systematic symbolic violence’ and bullying [Rippin A. (2005)]. M&S managed to blur the gaps between the social classes, at least on the fashion aspect by the type of clothes provided by the company. Working class women could at last afford and wear elegant and aspiring clothing deemed to a superior class. Derek Raynor took over in 1983 which was a major transition from a family business to a plc. In 1988, Sir Richard Greenbury concentrated on the operational and financial of the organisation. In the following year however, M&S failed to transform significantly and became reactive [Stockport G.J. (2000)]. As the environment became more dynamic, customers’ expectation changed, competition became fiercer but M&S failed to keep up and adapt to the market. The family business became victim of their past success and lacking of a person with exceptional calibre to lead change through its professional debut. 2.0 Leadership transition Changes outside and inside M&S In 1997 M&S made over 1 Billion pounds of profit and accounted for over 16% of UK’s clothing market. The company was then valued at 19 Billion pounds. (199 7 Annual Report). 1998-1999 marked the start of an under performing period and share price plummeted by 40% [Cape Times Business Report (1999)]. As competitors such as Zara and Next took market share from the top end of the market while the same time value offerings were attacked by the supermarkets who were increasingly entering the same market. Peter Salisbury became CEO in 1999 and started to question the M&S ways of working. He placed an emphasis on empowerment by reducing the number of hierarchical layer from eight to seven, and promoting a sense of ownership and decision-making in local stores [Stockport G.J. (2000)].

Homeland Security - Response & Recovery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homeland Security - Response & Recovery - Essay Example It is then vital that upon actual operation, when all responding personnel come face-to-face with the families of the deceased, to understand that emotions are at their extremes. To assist everyone with this matter, keep in mind that there are five (5) processes or stages involved in dealing with their grief and loss. Remember the acronym DABDA; where D stands for denial, A stands for anger, B stands for bargaining, D stands for depression and A stands for acceptance (Kubler et al, n.d.). The first stage which is denial often makes everybody wonder if the situation really happened and why it did not happen to someone else. Denial makes an individual less perceptive about his or her surroundings and usually cannot relate with continuity because they are still in a state of shock. Most people who undergo this stage wonder if it is still possible to go on because the loss is quite unbearable to think of and survival is out of the question at the moment (Kubler et al, n.d.) The second st age of the psychological process of having to deal with death is anger. When in grief and in despair, a person usually forgets to be rational and throws caution to the wind. Feeling angry about the loss is often displaced to somebody else, making that person a target of emotional outbursts. Anger is a way of trying to reconnect and acknowledging the pain a person is feeling. While it may seem that this strong emotion can go on and on, it will dissipate in time and healing starts to set in. So when someone is angry due to a loss, it is advisable to just let the person rant on because suppressing it will only delay the natural healing process that the grieving person is unconsciously seeking for (Kubler et al, n.d.). The third stage is bargaining. This phase is characterized by asking the question â€Å"What if?† The â€Å"ifs† is the grieving person’s way of saying that he or she really just wants to remain in the past. It is a feeling that craves for the normal pattern of life the person was used to. It is also means to cover the guilty feeling of being alive, while his or her loved one has passed away (Kubler et al, n.d.). After bargaining, the grief stricken individual enters the fourth stage which is depression. This emotion must not be interchanged with the mental disorder depression since losing somebody to death is naturally depressing. Having a mental disorder of depression on the other hand is being saddened or dismayed for no particular reason at all. Depression is a normal feeling a person will have after the death of a loved one that will normally be forgotten after sometime when the healing process is completed (Kubler et al, n.d.). The fifth stage is acceptance. When reality really settles down, a person does not have any choice except to go on for there is nothing anyone can do to change what has happened in the past. While it may seem that the dead loved one is being betrayed by having to live on and continue to enjoy life; the fact is that life must go on. It is about time to start picking up the pieces and being at peace with the knowledge that life must be lived without the presence of the dead loved one (Kubler et al, n.d.).. Having explained the emotional and psychological aspects responders will be encountering at the

Executive Pay Compensation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Executive Pay Compensation - Research Paper Example So far, research has indicated that people are the most important resources that businesses require in creating their competitive strategies. This stems from the fact that people have the capability to understand the business environment and ways of creating their success. In having a competent staff, one of the approaches used is ensuring that people get the best pay for their work they do in the business. Some business owners believe that having a competent staff is the key to having effective and efficient work. While it may be true, the approaches used in achieving an effective and competent staff are what differ from one business to another. One of the questions that have kept appearing among most of the researchers concerns the real worth that can be attached to business executives. Are the top managers and other CEOs justified by receiving millions of dollars at the end of their month on their paycheck? If that can be case, can their salaries be justified from the work that th ey do? These among other questions have formed the centres of discussion whenever employee compensation is mentioned. While some businesses often use money as a means of motivating their staff towards better performance, others often prefer using other non-monetary forms of incentives to achieve same; this has led to a huge controversy concerning executive compensation pay.Inasmuch as business executives have continued to be the beneficiaries of huge pays from their companies, some people have been outraged by this observation.

Cause and effects of going without sleep Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cause and effects of going without sleep - Essay Example The inability to cope with stress results in emotional disturbances (such as anxiety, fear, and worry), overthinking, and restlessness preventing an individual from sleeping. Besides stress, other psychological factors that cause insomnia include psychological disorders (both personality and clinical mental disorders) and traumatic experiences (such as rape, close encounter with death or the death of a loved one). Conversely, insomnia might result from physiological complications. The brain is ultimately responsible for controlling sleep in human beings. The pre-optic area of the hypothalamus (anterior part) is the part of the brain that controls sleep. Therefore, damage to this area of the brain from accidents might cause insomnia. Other physiological factors that might cause insomnia include coronary diseases, cancer or respiratory diseases among others. Some medications used to treat diseases might affect regular sleep patterns among individuals. Finally, social factors that might contribute to insomnia include dysfunctional social interactions. For example, physically or verbally abusive relationships are a major cause of stress, which in turn affects different aspects of an individual’s life including sleep. The recreational use of some drugs and substances also affects the sleeping pattern. For example, caffeine found in coffee and Khat all cause insomnia (Brodsky & Brodsky 67) . In conclusion, the effects of insomnia are also explicable using a bio-psycho-social approach. Insomnia impairs optimum mental functioning. Fatigued individuals are highly irritable, which puts a strain on their social interactions. For example, they are prone to emotional outbursts and fits of rage both at home and at the workplace. In addition, insomnia impeded speedy recovery of sick individuals (Brodsky & Brodsky

Intermediate Accounting 2 answeres Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intermediate Accounting 2 answeres - Essay Example Additionally, the organization should deduce that the position will be examined by legitimate taxing authority with full concept and awareness of the significant when information when evaluating whether a tax position has met the more probable than not recognition threshold. Measurement process: this is the second process that calls for measurement of a tax position that meets a threshold of more likely than not recognition in order to determine the benefit that should be recognized in the statements of financial position of respective organization or enterprise. A tax position, that has 50% benefits, is realized upon final settlement. IFRS requires deferred tax liabilities and assets to be classified as noncurrent in the balance sheets while, on the other hand, U.S.GAAP allows noncurrent and current classification of liabilities and assets leading to a slight difference. IFRS does not give any specific guideline for the purposes of recognizing deferred tax liabilities that are associated with uncertain tax position while U.S.GAAP provides precise guidance for the recognition of the deferred tax liabilities. Other countries have a well-elaborated retirement systems that do not give rise to any suspicion. For example, a country like Australia, there is a government mandate for universal participation of workers in retirement plan (Unilever 2007). Netherlands have laws that require workers’ pension plans to be converted into lifetime annuities so as not to spend all their savings early. Unlike other countries, U.S’s contributions are of low rate to assure retirement adequacy for the majority of middle-class workers and some other workers withdrawing their sums before the retirement age. United states have the authorization of employers paying 6.2 percent of their salaries to social security that is time and again overlooked drawing much attention to the accounting pension than other foreign countries

Land Economics and Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Land Economics and Planning - Essay Example The paper suggests and recommends some proposals to be followed in this scenario.More and more people from the rural areas are beginning to turn up in the urban areas for the better employment opportunity. This is the â€Å"pull† factor, which attracted people from the villages to come to towns and cities. Subsequently, there were also â€Å"push† factors in the form of change in land reforms and the development of capital-intensive techniques of agriculture. This has created an explosion of urban population in the recent years. As the population increased, the need for appropriate infrastructure to support these people became a necessity. It is a known fact that cities have traditionally enjoyed more economic advantages because the facilities for industrialization like transportation, communication etc. is available here. (Balchin, Isaac & Chen,2000, 2000; pp 1-6). The retail park to be set up will house various retail stores and supermarkets under one roof. This will lead to more employment opportunities for the people in the town. Various retail stores will open up in the area providing for more investment from the companies in the development of the town. As it will be set up in the heart of the town, that would mean the availability of communication from all parts of the town. Subsidiary industries will be opened up to support the new activity in the town. In short, the whole economy will get a facelift using land as a resource. On the contrary, the town center is one of the areas, which lies in the pivotal position of the town. It lends to the beautification of the area with greenery and parks. To set up a retail park would mean the destruction of these places, which are treasured by the citizens. The town will be devoid of the greenery. The construction of a retail park would also mean the setting up of various subsidiary industries, which would increase the pollution.