Classics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Classics - Essay Example When the Athenians reached Melos they sent envoys to offer a proposition to the Melians. During the dialogue this proposition becomes clear. The Melians, instead of allowing the Athenian envoys to make their proposition in front of all the people of Melos, brought them before the Magistrate and the Few, giving the reason that if the Athenians come as judges in their own right, then they should be brought before those who themselves hold a judging position of what is right. However, the Athenians state that they believe the Melians to have requested a quiet audience so that they may not influence the inhabitants of Melos, this they do not mind and go about setting out their proposition. Here, we see the subtleties of politics during this era and how important the masses were in determining what happens during the war. The Melians afraid that their people would choose submission has employed a more covertness means of debate; thus, denying the people of Melos to choose their fate. The Melians see only two ways either they submit to Athenian rule and become slaves or they go to war and hope to win. However, the Athenians declare that the Melians are not completely right in their assumptions; for, the most important thing is to preserve the island of Melos. The only way to do this is to submit to Athenian rule, becoming a tributary of the Athenian empire but being left alone to carry on as before, preserving their culture and ways of living. They indicate that this would be an advantage to both parties; for, the Melians retain the safety and preservation of their country and the Athenians need not make war against them. The Melians state that they do not comprehend why they cannot remain neutral, taking neither side but being friends to Athens. The Athenians explain that if they leave Melos to remain neutral the people of the Athenian empire will either believe Melos to be very powerful or the Athenians

Herr Samsa Is Content Essay Example for Free

Herr Samsa Is Content Essay In Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa, the main character turns into an insect. Although many would argue that this transformation is literal, I would argue that Kafka uses it as a metaphor or some other form of symbol. If my theory is right, this metaphor is used as a means of portraying the dehumanisation and hence insanity of Gregor Samsa caused by the intense stress and demands of his daily job that he worries about so much. I also believe that Kafka uses the particular case of Gregor to represent a whole generation of workers that all fear the same fate. Herr Samsa, Gregors father, in particular fears this and having seen what he fears most in his son, he becomes violent and aggressive towards him; eventually delivering him a slow, gradual death. To support this argument, we find out that, even before the actual transformation, Gregor behaves strangely with regards to his work; studying train timetables for example. It is for this reason that I have decided to carry on with this idea. With Gregor dying at the end of the novella, I decided to use this metaphor of dehumanisation again and apply it to another one of the workers of the same generation as Gregors his sisters boyfriend that she has found since the Samsa family left their home to start a new life. In order for my adaptation of Kafkas extended metaphor to be successful, I have had to adopt his style of writing, something that is very particular to Kafka. Kafka uses long sentences yet keeps the novella moving at quite a fast pace. This is because he pays great attention to detail and turns each detail into something significant. Despite this, he is not particularly descriptive concerning the settings that he has chosen in Metamorphosis. This has the particular effect of rendering the scenes of Metamorphosis full of action and gripping for the reader. This is what I have tried to apply in my extension of Kafkas fantastic tale. Grete watched her father open the door, pull his feet across the mat, throw his overcoat off his shoulders and drop it on the banister. He took both his daughters shoulders, smiled at her for a moment with an expression that could only be associated with pride and then gently kissed her forehead. He then moved on to the kitchen, Grete in his footsteps. Once there, he placed his hand on his wifes shoulder, squeezed it, asked her what was for supper and, in turn, kissed her. Herr Samsa presently moved to the living room and with a pleasant sigh of relief he settled into an armchair and watched in amusement as Grete gazed fixedly at the clock on the wall counting down the seconds. At precisely five, the doorbell rang and Grete let out a little squeal of delight before glancing sheepishly at her father and rushing off to answer it. The same routine had not changed one bit for the last two months yet Herr Samsa could not complain. He knew that five was the time when he could afford himself the pleasure of watching his daughters face light up, making her even more beautiful; reminding him of the attractive and successful woman she was turning into. He had never been happier. Simple and polite but pleasant conversation came from the kitchen a mixture of questions, exclamations and quiet laughter. Following this, Grete entered with Franz who greeted Herr Samsa with a gentle inclination of his head. Ah! Franz my son! How are you? And how are things at work? asked Herr Samsa. Well, as you know sir, not too well Im afraid. We all have a ridiculous amount of work to get through and I, for one, can hardly cope. The only thing that keeps a smile on my face is the prospect of coming to visit your daughter each evening. Grete looked up at him adoringly and smiled before turning to her father with a face that begged no more talk of work matters. Accepting this, Herr Samsa looked at them both. Very well. Off you go. Thank you, sir replied Franz and he eagerly scuttled behind the beautiful young woman who led him to the parlour. Herr Samsa got up and poured himself a small glass of schnapps and settled back down into the warmth of his armchair. As he let his eyes close, he reflected upon how much better life was now. Even going back to work didnt bother him in the least. He felt healthier and fitter than he had been in a long time and he was now always able to join in with the family walks on Sundays. Franz also came with them. The four of them would walk with their arms linked, talking and laughing with a spring in their step. Thus half an hour passed very happily for Herr Samsa before he was called to join the rest of his family at the dinner table. Grete was rather sullen right throughout the meal. Her usual manner of vigorously attacking her food was not there. Eventually, whilst Gretes mother was in the kitchen, clearing the table, he asked her what the matter was. She dismissed the question with another intense stare at the table so her father thought it best to leave the matter alone. The next evening, the atmosphere at the dinner table was tense once again. Grete insisted on glaring sullenly at her plate. Again, Herr Samsa asked her what the matter was whilst his wife was busy in the kitchen. Once more, she tried to ignore him but this time, her father insisted and she lifted her face, covered in tears, before answering. Hes exhaustedI cant stand it anymorehe puts on a brave facebut with me She desperately tried to control herself but burst into tears. Frau Samsa, who had come back into the room, put her arm round her and encouraged her to go on. Gretes parents watched, bemused and shocked, for this was the first time they had seen her cry since theyd decided to restart their lives. Seeing the discomfort in her parents faces, Grete took a deep breath and started again. He doesnt complain about it but when were alone, he talks about nothing but work, almost as if he doesnt know how to talk about anything else. Just last night, instead of talking to me, he spent two whole hours studying a train timetable! And hes developed a regular twitchspasms every now and then. Hes not reallymy Franzanymore. The following evening, nothing changed. As always, Herr Samsa was met in the hallway by his daughter whom he embraced before making his way to the kitchen, in order to greet his wife. As Grete waited for the clock to approach five, she had the same anxious look on her face. But it faded and was replaced with a frown because as the hands hit five she heard a far-off cry. She glanced at her father but he obviously hadnt heard it and so she continued waiting. She was silently surprised that Franz hadnt turned up yet, despite the fact that it wasnt even a minute past yet. As she continued waiting, now perched on the arm of one of the sofas, she heard another cry, closer this time and it resembled more a scream. Yet again, Herr Samsa had not noticed but he was watching Grete with amusement as she visibly became more and more nervous as the minutes went by. Once again, a scream came from up the road. This time, it was accompanied by the smashing of a window. Grete rushed to the living room window and pressed herself up against the window to see what was going on. The last cry had even managed to reach her father and he too had jumped out of the comfort of his chair to see what was going on. Both wore anxious looks upon their faces and as more shouts of terror approached their house, Frau Samsa joined them from the kitchen, wiping the backs of her hands in her apron as she walked. Wheres Franz? she asked immediately. A look of horror crossed Gretes face as it occurred to her that the angry manifestation outside and Franzs lateness could be linked. She tried desperately to see what was going on through the living room window but the angle wasnt wide enough. A couple of flying stones and an apple came into her field of vision and with that she rushed to the front door with both her parents close behind her. It was as she grabbed the cold brass handle to pull the door open that she realised what this was. She remembered the conversation last night at the table and, sure enough, as she hastily poked her head through the door and looked down the street, she clasped her heart. Franz was there sure enough, scuttling desperately down the street, followed by an angry mob yelling at him in disgust and flinging stones of hatred at him. Before her parents were able to see anything, she ran back in, bolted the door and sunk to the floor. Bibliography à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka, translated by Malcolm Pasley, Penguin, 2000

Electronic Voting Essay examples -- Essays Papers

Electronic Voting Gunmen on the grassy knoll, AIDS, landing on the moon, chemtrails, UFO’s, CIA mind control and Waco are some of the well-known conspiracies. But what about George W. Bush’s re-election? This cynicism goes beyond political rhetoric and focuses on our ability to participate in a representative democracy. Developed by the ancient Greeks, one of the first voting systems involved dropping bronze disks into barrels. As technology progressed, the advancements in voting systems surrendered an unacceptable system that lacks accuracy despite public outcry for a paper-verified trail. A voting system has four characteristics: accuracy, anonymity, scalability, and speed. Current electronic voting machines claim to posses these qualities, but to whose standards? Perfection is not reality and human errors are inevitable. Therefore, elimination of controllable errors becomes top priority. Each state must burden this task without national standards resulting in computer technology as a quick fix to a problem. Maryland primarily uses Diebold Direct Electronic Votin...

Of Gods And Romans Essay -- essays research papers

Of Gods and Romans The Romans during the time of their Republic relied on their advanced technology, social structure, leadership and politics to achieve as much as they did. To these people, their gods affected all of these factors and the relationships mankind had with them. The contractual relationship between mankind and the gods involved each party in giving, and in return receiving services. The Romans believed that spirits residing in natural and physical objects had the power to control the processes of nature, and that man could influence these processes by symbolic action. The first is a primitive form of religious creed; the second a type of magic. The services by which the Romans hoped to influence the forces that guided their lives were firmly established in ritual - the ritual of prayer and the ritual of offering. In either case, the exact performance of the rite was essential. One slip, and you had to go back to the beginning and start again. The very multiplicity of deities caused problems, as did the gender of some of them: 'wether you be god or goddess' was a common formula in Roman prayers. The motivations of the sacrifices are what of interest. Most of the time, sacrifices took place for purification, supplication, or celebration. The purification ritual was one that was performed before battle (285). Asking for a deed to be done was very popular as well. One usually asked for victory and good fortune in battle (20). Celebration is the event that seems to be the most spectacular of all. Whether it is in joy of an enemies’ death, such as Mithridates (201), the end of illness of a leader like Pompey (218), or simply the merriment that comes after large victory, we see this in Caesar’s winnings in Gaul (264). Some sacrificial events took place in order to ask forgiveness and appeasement for defeat of a religious enemy (90 – 91). Any sacrificial routine was elaborate and messy. The head of the victim was sprinkled with wine and bits of sacred cake made from flour and salt. Then its throat was cut and it was disemboweled to ensure there was nothing untoward about its entrails. If there was, it was not only a bad omen, but the whole process had to be repeated with a fresh animal until it came out right. The vital organs were burnt upon the altar and the carcass cut into pieces and eaten on the spot, or else laid aside. Then the priest, we... ...als to changes in social conditions and attitudes. To the Romans, the observance of religious rites was a public duty rather than a private impulse. Their beliefs were founded on a variety of unconnected and often inconsistent mythological traditions, many of them derived from the Greek rather than Italian models (90 – 91). Without any basic creed to counter them, foreign religions easily made inroads into a society whose class-structure was being blurred and whose constitution was being changed by social change. The brilliance of some of the major foreign cults had considerable attraction for those brought up on homespun deities of the hearth and fields. Compare to modern society, the Romans seem extremely superstitious. But then today's major religions have all throughout their past discouraged, even combated, superstitions. Also present-day sciences and technological world allow little room for superstition. The Romans lived in an era previous to this. Their world was full of unexplained phenomena, darkness and fear. These characteristics affected every aspect of Roman life. To Romans, these superstitions were a perfectly natural part in the relationship between gods and men.

Preventing Workplace Discrimination Essay

â€Å"Discrimination undermines employee loyalty, destroys employee morale, and reduces productivity and work quality. It can also lead to costly and painful lawsuits and do irreparable harm to a company’s reputation† (Guerin & DelPo, 2007, p. 119). Preventing workplace discrimination, therefore, is important to companies because this will make an organization stronger and will provide the employees a more harmonious working environment. Discrimination can take several forms and there are more than one way of managing such situations, which was demonstrated by the simulation exercise. One of the discriminating actions a company can show is by not accommodating people with disabilities because they believe that these people are not as competent and skillful as people who do not have disabilities. The simulation had an exercise where in job advertisements were shown and the user had to determine the phrases that can come across as discriminating. One of the phrases in the simulation stated that the company needed an employee that was â€Å"fully mobile to run around to meet client needs,† which was discriminating to people with disabilities, specifically those who are in wheelchairs. This exercise teaches companies not to judge employees based on their physical abilities. If a person wishes to apply for a certain position, the company should allow him or her and see if he or she is capable of doing the required tasks without his or her disability becoming in the way of his or her work. The job advertisement exercise also required the user to determine a discriminating phrase regarding drug use and abuse wherein future employees will be required to submit to drug testing. There is nothing wrong with wanting to know if a person has drug problems because it will ultimately be for the best of the company. However, this should not be included in job advertisements because one, it is discriminating, and two, pre-employment tests usually cover drug testing so the company should not worry about it. It is also important for companies to determine a job-seeker’s attitude regarding work to see if he or she has the same drive that the company is looking for. No one wants to hire someone who has no passion for the work that he or she applying for. This will only be a waste of time and money for both parties. The simulation demonstrated this by including some facts about the five applicants that were shortlisted for the positions. Information like religious beliefs and practices and personal stands regarding important national issues are included for the benefit of the human resource department. Title VII can definitely override the employment environment and conditions detailed in a written employment contract between an employer and an employee because title VII is a federal law and should be followed no matter what the written employment contract indicates. In addition, employees should not agree to a written employee contract that does not conform to the conditions that are stated in title VII because this can only lead to legal problems in the future when they encounter discriminating practices in the workplace environment. In conclusion, companies need to remember that they have to adhere to the conditions that are stated in title VII to avoid costly lawsuits and prevent their reputation from being destroyed. They have to provide a fair and unbiased working environment to employees, future or tenured, to maintain a structured organization that will work toward the success of the company. Reference

Introduction to Business Ethics essay

Introduction to Business Ethics essay Introduction to Business Ethics essay Introduction to Business Ethics essayQ.1. The organization considered in this question is the current educational institution. This organization has own culture. The core values of this culture are diligence, knowledge, professionalism and integrity. This culture has a positive influence on actions and decision-making, as it stimulates to share the values and to act ethically. Perhaps, if I had attended a different school or college, I would have become a different person with different ethical values. As for changing organizational culture, it would be beneficial to un-freeze it (prepare for change), make it more flexible in terms of environment changes and re-freeze (integrate flexibility into organizational culture).Q.2. The factors that point out at good ethical climate in the organization are ethical mission and vision, clearly formulated standards and procedures, the presence of audit programs, CSR activities, positive employee attitudes on public resources. The facts showing t he presence of the above-mentioned factors should be used for assessing a companys reputation. One firm that can be deemed ethical is Starbucks and a company with questionable values is Walmart. The decisions of both Walmart and Starbucks are both business-efficient, but Starbucks cares more about its employees and about communities, so the first impressions were accurate.Q.3. Setting the stage for the transition should start from building the values focused on environmental and social factors. Leaders should become role models and demonstrate appropriate behaviors (DesJardins, 2013), and the company should move in small steps towards the triple-bottom-line model. The reasons and the background for the change will relate to the companys impact on the society and the environment and the urgent need to make a positive impact.Q.4. An ethically effective culture is the one which is built on shared ethical values and where employees are empowered to implement these values in practice (De sJardins, 2013). Such approach will lead to profit improvement and long-term reputation enhancement for the organization.Q.7. It is necessary to create a mechanism of whistle-blowing. This mechanism should be anonymous and should be delivered to management. The mechanism should protect the reporting side and the rights of the accused persons as well (DesJardins, 2013). There would be a special account which any of employees could use to send a note to the management and report the issue; the management would consider the issue without informing any other parties and make a weighed decision (involving legal consultants and external experts if needed).Q.8. It is optimal to be an ethical leader and to act as a transformational leader. This image implies that the leader has strong ethical principles, demonstrates them in business and personal situations and acts as a role model. It is important to formulate a mission statement, a vision statement and a code of conduct (DesJardins, 2013) . The code of conduct will be based on ethical values and principles of the company. A compliance program will be created at once and will evolve in the process of development. Mission statement will be used as the major frame shaping the compliance requirements. There might be challenges related to establishing shared values and finding employees who share these values; the success will be the creation of an ethically efficient organization.

Vietnamese Child Rearing essays

Vietnamese Child Rearing essays Some Aspects of Vietnamese Culture in Child Rearing Practices I decided to focus my last cross-cultural research project on child rearing practices of the Vietnamese people and how they differ from that of my own. Included in my work are noteable differences I have found through my reading, research, discussions, interviews, During my interview with a co-worker I was told about a proverb and that most Vietnamese parents are aware of: "à ng con h ½n nhia" (it is far better to have more children than goods). The number of children in a family is unlimited. The child rearing practices of the Vietnamese people differ from area to area (ie. North, Middle and South Vietnam), and amongst people with different educational levels and generation. Therefore, the following information I have presented should be used as a guide and based on the kind of behavior specified. Like most Americans, most of Vietnamese women living in the city have their child born in hospital, but in the villages or country towns however, an untrained midwife "Mà ¸ VÃâ€" ½n"- rural midwife, or even the mother or mother-in-law or female relatives can assist the women during their labor (Hassan et al., 1985). There were no routine check ups during women's pregnancy in rural areas. Check ups started in the late 1960's in the large cities or country towns since the establishment of hospitals and medical clinics. In cities women would see a doctor particularly when they have problems; women in rural areas rarely visit a doctor. Unlike America with its pregnancy how-to classes, exercise classes are unknown in Vietnam. Pregnant wo...