Symbols and Motifs in Literature

When you read a book, you might notice recurring themes within the text, which usually influence the storyline and provide clues into the plot or conflict occurring. In order to build and explain the theme, the author will use symbols and motifs. Many readers fully understand what a symbol is, but not everyone is as familiar with motifs. While they are similar and both serve to help us understand the material at hand, these two types of language arent the same. Both are crucial parts of creating a strong storyline that will draw in the reader and hold his attention. What is a symbol? A symbol is an object that represents something else, and in fact, are a part of your daily life, not just a piece of literature. You may not realize it, but you  encounter millions of symbols in your everyday life, such as: Traffic lights: Red light means stop, green means go, and yellow means cautionThe arrow means this wayA cross represents religion, or more specifically, ChristianityLight bulb means new ideaNumerals 1 and 0, put together, mean tenA heart means loveLogos represent brands, like the Nike swoosh or Macs AppleEven our names are symbols that represent us as individual humans Symbols can hold unexpected meaning, but upon further investigation, can make a lot of sense. For example, if you read a scene that involves a skunk lurking in the background, you might wonder what that animal could signify. But, if  theres something that foul in the works of your story, like a breakup or a bit of bad luck, the skunk begins to bring up imagery of something that is less than pleasant to experience. Thus, the symbolism.   To better understand symbolism, you might  ask yourself to consider what a variety of everyday objects might stand for if they were used in a piece of literation. For example, think about emotions or thoughts that come to mind when you see the following: Flowers (represent nature, birth, growth, femininity, beauty)Lightening bolt  (represents speed, strength, power, electricity)  Spider web (represents entanglement, entrapment, mystery) What is a motif? While a symbol might occur once in literature to signify an idea or an emotion, a motif can be an element or idea that repeats throughout that piece of literature. It is closely related to a theme but is more of a supporting role to the theme than a theme itself. It is within the pattern of repetition that the power and impact of a motif are found. A motif could, in fact, be expressed by a collection of related symbols. How do symbols and motifs work together? Since multiple symbols can be used to explain a motif, lets break down a few examples. Lets say we have a story about a family struggling to stay together, parents considering divorce. We might encounter a motif of fragmentation that could come from several symbols that appear in a book: Shattered glassA runaway (pet, teen, car)An explosionA scattered puzzle Sometimes a motif can also be a study on contrast, like the theme of good versus evil, or light and dark. A series of symbols that could represent this motif might be: Moon shadows (shades of darkness)A candle (a light in the darkness)Storm clouds (temporary darkness)A ray of sunshine (emerging from darkness)A tunnel (through the darkness) The symbols and motifs you discover in your reading will lead to the understanding of an overall theme of your book. To find the theme of a book, you should look for an overall message or lesson. If you do encounter the motif of light and dark in a book, you should think about a message that the author is trying to send about life. The light and dark of a story might tell us: Love survives deathLife renews itselfKnowledge conquers fear Tip: if you see a series of symbols or a collection of motifs, but you cant come up with a theme, try inserting a verb to describe the object.  If you see a lot of references to fire, for example, you can ask yourself what action we might associate with fire. Fire burnsFire destroysFire warms Consider which of these behaviors make sense in the context of the novel or story you are reading.

Sex Education And Public Schools Essay - 1692 Words

In this paper I will address virginity, first sexual experiences, sex education in public schools, and abortion. The first two topics, virginity and first sexual experiences, coming from a personal perspective as well as some credible sources. I will also include the historical aspects of virginity, the creation and use of the concept, and why it’s in our society. The last topic is my concern for the lack of sex education in public schools and mentioning the harm of abstinence only sex education and the importance to provide comprehensive education for our youth for protection and lifelong sexual satisfaction. I will also include my experience with sex education and how limited or censored topics can be detrimental to children by second-guessing their understanding of necessary and critical sexual information. Virginity. Anyone is familiar with the term virginity. Whichever way the word was introduced to us all throughout our lives we have either been taught by parents or educators about the word and the concept of virginity or we have figured it out by word of mouth among our peers. By definition, according to a simple Google search, virginity is â€Å"the state of never having had sexual intercourse† or â€Å"the state of being naive, innocent, or inexperienced in a particular context.† With the concept of virginity there are myths that are deeply rooted to it that come from the historical and societal aspects of our culture, despite the word ‘virginity’ being prevalent for manyShow MoreRelatedSex Education in Public Schools1188 Words   |  5 PagesSex education should be taught in public middle schools because: it decreases the chance of sexual diseases and teenage pregnancies, it is needed in case of a parents’ absence or neglect, and it also provide s more knowledge about how sex works while debunking the myths surrounding sexual intercourse, and it makes some want to set goals for relationships. People say sex education encourages youth to engage in sexual activities rather than preventing sex. This is true; however, studies show that whenRead MoreSex Education For Public Schools1426 Words   |  6 PagesSex Education Research Paper Sex education being taught in public schools is a reoccurring topic in many schools. More recently, it has also caught the attention of the public again due to rising unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease among young teenagers in the US over the last decade or so. â€Å"Each year, U.S. teens experience as many as 850,000 pregnancies, and youth under age 25 experience about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections† (McKeon). 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For example, Wyoming, North Dakota, Minnesota, Maine and Utah do not require schools to provide sexuality or STD/HIV education, (they teach abstinence). District of Columbia, on the other hand, must includeRead MoreShould Sex Education Be Incorporated Into Public Schools?1372 Words   |  6 PagesFor Sex Education in Public Schools An observation of the prevalent television programs and popular topics broadcasted in the media often depict teenagers with an air of promiscuity. Is teenage pregnancy really an uncontrolled epidemic, as depicted in shows such as â€Å"16 and Pregnant†? Are a vast majority of teenagers exchanging racy photos of their bodies with each other? If so, are teenagers acting out because of too much sex education? Or is the outbreak of hyper-sexualized activity linked to lackRead MorePros And Cons Of Sex Education In Public Schools821 Words   |  4 PagesShould Sex ed be taught in public schools? I. 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History of Rock and Roll free essay sample

Course Books and Resources: Required Katherine Charleston- Rock Music Styles, A History (sixth edition, but fifth edition is k) Course Requirements: You will be expected to do all readings for each week, and watch the videos hat are inbred in the lecture. The readings will always have a lecture section, and a reading from the textbook. Weekly tests will draw from both sources. I have a monitor to check if you have watched the videos, so be sure to do all listening, and absorb the music you are hearing. The entire point of this class is hear and the sounds and understand their historical and cultural context. Grading Grading will be based on: I Weekly Test Questions from that weeks readings I Midterm paper (Due in week six) See below I I Final examination 1 concert review (Due the last week of class) To pass this class you must complete all assigned items. We may still listen to the radio stations, dance and sing along to the old favorites or the new hits, but when we gather in serious intellectual or political forums, to share our views on the great issues and ideas of the day, we leave rock n OLL behind, back in the closet where old baseball gloves and Barbie dolls gather dust.Especially for the Baby Boom generation, which grew up on rock n roll, and certainly took It seriously in youth, this desertion, or embarrassment, or hesitation, or whatever it is, casts a sad pall over approaching middle age: sure, in our youth we believed in all those great ideals, but that was when we were young and carefree; now weve got responsibilities, and well, its just not so simple as all that.In defiance of this trend, and in view of the apparent retreats from idealism that have permeated the sat decade or two, this book celebrates rock n roll as a legitimate art form, and more, as a strong current In American and world culture, which contains a cen tral and coherent Ideology, as viable as any other Ideology competing for primacy on the world intellectual stage. I present these themes as justification, and excuse, for examining rock n roll music, history, personalities, and ideas from the standpoint of the unifying ideas and trends that have remained with rock from the beginning. Rock n roll can be described in such cohesive terms only if it is more than Just a popular consumer entertainment medium: It must be a self-contained movement, which adherents choose to Join, and by so choosing accept Its terms. In turn, rock n roll can only be a movement if all of its widely disparate strains and offshoots are in some way connected to a common, unifying origin.This is in fact true; every rock musician today, from Alabama to Australia, from Sinad OConnor to Axle Rose, can trace his or her roots directly to a single moment in history, the springboard of all rock music and culture, the explosive events of the mid-sass that first introduced he Idea of rock n roll to the world. It is the themes and artistic styles of that very special, very brief time, that spawned the movement, and that subsequent artists, from Dylan and the Beetles through Midnight Oil and Public Enemy, have merely refined and redefined.The sass were comparatively safe and innocent, and rock n roll est ablished a foundation for the ideals that youth could pursue in such an environment. When issues of race relations, war, sexuality, drugs, ecology, and world hunger arose in later years, rock n roll was forced, like every other ideology, to eared on and reveling in rock n roll as a lifestyle only heightens the significance of their common response, as expressed in and through the music.What we of the rock generations lack, then, is not a belief system, or a serious foundation for political, social, and creative expression, but simply a willingness to accept that what we have is good enough. Believers in Socialism or Conservatism or Buddhism have no more coherent, sophisticated, or relevant conceptual system of how humans should interact, should respond to common problems and needs, and should understand their place in the universe. Its Just that there are a lot more solemn, tedious books written about those ideologies, and their promoters dont typically gross $1 5-million on a world tour.So this book tries to be slightly more of the solemn variety, although not tedious, and certainly entertaining, in the tradition of the genre, despite its serious intent. It traces the sources of rock n rolls meaning, the paths which that meaning has taken over time and the performers and events that have shaped it, and how rock n roll has confronted the many and potent challenges that have faced its millions of followers throughout the past four decades. In attempting to paint this unified portrait, I have been responding to a perceived need, a need that is within myself as much as in any other rock n roll fan.When listening to countless heartfelt rock anthems, ballads, protests, and love songs, I have shared the feeling of purpose and hope contained therein. Then, when looking at the outside world, I have witnessed the frustration, hypocrisy, and despair that so regularly dominate headlines and events, and it always seems that rock n roll is very distant from these sad realities. The politicians and power centersthe Establishmentare almost always so UN-hip, so far removed from the simple, sincere sentiments of the music.If we listen to the cynics, then this is because rock n roll is kid stuff, and has no place at negotiating tables or decision makers desks. I prefer not to accept that view, to remain defiantly naively idealist. I prefer to assert that not only is rock n roll ideology real and viable, but that maybe its time has come. In this vein, Changing the World: Rock n Roll Culture and Ideology proceeds roughly along historical lines, discussing the evolution of the music and the culture, pausing each time it encounters an issue with which rock n roll has been especially concerned.It leads toward a coherent, albeit dynamic, conception of the cultures ideology, and of its meaning for those of us who, in our way, believe in rock n roll. All you really need to know about the origins of rock n roll is that it started with slavery. The history books can give you the details; whats important is that rock n roll can be traced in a direct line to an utterly unnatural phenomenon: the forced uprooting of tens of thousands of Africans from their native lands and cultures, and their reincorporation to a new world as different from what they had known as black is different from white.Add in the fact that families were split apart, slaves from different tribes were thrown together on the same plantations, and, of course, these reluctant visitors were chained, whipped, imprisoned, and compelled to perform excruciating hard labor for barely subsistence nourishment. Keep in mind that these conditions continued, on this continent, for well over a century, until less than 150 I realize that this is hardly news, but sometimes it seems that white years ago.Americans have forgotten, or want to forget, that slavery ever existed, let alone so Think of the condition that European culture had achieved by the mid-sass: the emergenc e of Impressionist art; the great novels of Hugo, Flutter, Tolstoy, and Dickens; the intellectual enlightenment of De Touchline and Descartes; the revolutionary ferment of Marx. Any average liberal arts student encounters most of these great cultural developments to some degree: the core of modern Western civilization was formulating overseas.Meanwhile, Americans still thrashed fellow humans into pitiful servitude, and treated them legally as no more than personal repertory. This unavoidable element of our nations history is ignored over and over by ideological chauvinists who oppose Affirmative Action and civil rights legislation, who decry reverse discrimination and claim it is unfair to try to force integration or to ameliorate African Americans disadvantages at the expense of innocent European Americans. That anyone could find in the predominance of poverty within black communities in America anything but the continuing legacy of human bondage is unfathomable, and truly frightening. The only conceivable explanation is that some people keep forgetting about slavery. Why the hell are so many blacks stuck in hopeless ghetto lives, resorting to drugs, crime, and violence to fill the void of their existence?Because their great great great grandfathers were slaves; their great great grandfathers were illiterate, disenfranchised sharecroppers; their great grandfathers were dirt poor farmers or laborers who moved to Northern cities when the Depression wiped out what meager opportunities remained in the South; their grandfathers were equally poor children of the first ghettos, Jobless and uneducated, with no hope for escape; and their fathers found scarcely better chances despite the rookeries of the post-War years, the hope of the civil rights movement, and the slowly emerging sense of unity among African Americans as a race.Many of todays young blacks, of course, cannot look back through a lineage of fathers, grandfathers, and so on, because so many fathers, themselves often little more than children, disappeared before or soon after their progeny were born. Such is the cycle of deprivation where hope is unknown. Public policy and individual determination have only dented this tragic legacy; for the majority of African Americans today, slaverys evil scars remain open.Yet the white establishment forgets about slavery, forgets about blacks, really. A Roots comes along and poignantly revives the suppressed collective memory for a while, but amnesia soon returns. When a Jesse Jackson persists in underlining the injustice between the races, white America is concerned, or bemused, or insulted, but only occasionally inspired, the way they should be, the way otherwise despairing blacks are inspired. Other countries have endured slavery and pay the price in their own way.In America, slavery was more dominant, more integral to the nations economic and social fabric than anywhere else, and in the most wealthy and advanced country on earth, slaverys price is the highest of all and the bill has not been paid in full. To understand rock n roll, therefore, we must understand what slavery was, and where it left the sons and daughters of Africans who knew nothing of the European roots of American culture. For slavery provides the perfect rationale, the perfect explanation for why rock n roll should stand apart from other musical forms, as a cultural revolution unto itself.Every society, after all, has its indigenous music, which serves as entertainment, history. Rock n roll, certainly, is modern American folk music in these respects, successor to Stephen Foster and Cole Porter. But that is only a minor facet of rock n rolls place in American, indeed in world society since 1955, and the larger elements of rocks influence reach far beyond the traditional cultural adhesive status of other folk musics.To solidify this claim, and to explain it, we can point directly to slavery, which forcibly mixed the radically different elements of two cultures in a boiling cauldron, bringing to white, rural, agrarian America a series of rhythmic and vocal radiation that originated on the other side of the planet in Africa, and adding an important spiritual, melancholy, almost fatalistic sensibility that grew up by itself in the slaves imprisoned souls.This last ingredient is crucial: they didnt sing the Blues back in Africa. Rock n roll is an African-American hybrid, but its strongest root is the very suffering, and survival, of generations of slaves, who lea rned how music could help a man to transcend earthly pain for a while. The Blues sings of sadness, toil, and loss, but the reason for singing the Blues is to relieve the hurt these things cause.The Blues, with its simple, repetitive rhythms and chords and lyrical phrases, provides a comforting communal message that musician and audience can share, as long as they know where the singer is coming from. Its no wonder that Blues singers were so popular during the Depression, especially in the South, between both black and white audiences. Its also easy to understand the strong bonds between the Blues and Gospel music: from a secular point of view, singing about the Lord lifting you up and singing about the Blues falling down like rain are spiritually equivalent acts.So while the musical innovations brought to America by the Africans involved rhythm primarily, along with new variations on the use of the human voice for both melody and rhythm, their more fundamental contribution to the legacy that was to spawn rock n roll was the use of the music itself for emotional, spiritual purposes. The rhythms especially, of course, figured prominently in this application, because the drudgery of repetitious work picking endless bales of cotton, chopping wood, etc. Loud be relieved somewhat by a superimposed musical rhythm. In this way the function and form of the music reinforced themselves. Wh en the Blues evolved into a more general style in the decades following emancipation, the repetitious element remained intact, partly because it made the music easy to learn for folks who had no access to refined teaching or expensive instruments. The spiritual function also remained, but evolved, as the oppression of the slaves transformed into mere deprivation, hopelessness grew into mere purposelessness.But it is not nearly sufficient to identify black musical heritage from slave work songs through Ragtime, Blues, Jazz, Gospel, R, and the like, and simply extrapolate the line further to encompass Rock n Roll. Rock n rolls starts from these foundations, but it adds more, and what it principally adds is white America, both in the music and in the audience. White America slowly discovered the endearing, inspiring musical heritage that had become central to African Americans lives, and, establishing a tradition that is practiced to this day, began to imitate and adapt black music.Thus the hybrid forms arrived; at one time or another, rock n roll has incorporated Country and Western, Swing, Classical, Big Band, Folk, and even Tin Pan Alley musical elements, Just as it has incorporated Blues, RB, and the other inherently black m usic, although clearly without the presence of African slaves and their descendants there would have been no rock n roll to speak of. Its harder to say that without whites there wouldnt have been rock n roll, partly because its hard to imagine what that would mean in practiceAmerican Apartheid, perhaps: no opportunity for or attempts at cultural integration.But since white America was where all the wealth and power lay, there was never any question that the natural economic evolution of black musicor other arts, or business, or politicswould be toward gaining white favor, if only to share in the pie. White America, on the other hand, must have taken to black music solely because it was enjoyable, since there was no pecuniary incentive in the pre-civil rights era to embrace the relatively isolated, unknown African American culture.In any event, the two groups met and formed the first and strongest cross-cultural art form in America. Rock n roll belongs to that heritage only: the meeting of peoples. In America, such a meeting on practical physical terms was unique after the Civil War, although the history of international immigration and assimilation in the New World forms something of a recent for the learning of alien traditions in this country that is probably unheard of anywhere else. To my knowledge, no other country publicly acknowledges SST.Patriots Day, the Chinese New Year, Marci Grass, Halloween, SST. Valentines Day, all the Jewish religious holidays, and the full spectrum of Christian holidays to anything approaching the degree that the United States does. More than a token recognition of international coexistence, however, rock n roll has become a culture unto itself. It is in fact one of the few uniquely identifiable elements of what can be described as American culture: something that does not exist anywhere else in the world except as derived from its American roots.Some other such elements might include our preoccupation with television, professional team sports, and automobiles, and perhaps our capitalist industrial imperative High Techwhatever that means, presumably industrial applications of post-World War II scientific research, especially in semiconductors and in the physical and biological sciencesmay also be a part of American culture, but it is moving and changing so fast across the globe that it is perhaps one of the first features of World culture.If so, it might compete with post-sass rock n roll for that honor, since rock has long since moved well across almost all national boundaries. Lest we forget, it is worth cont emplating briefly the other significant historical events between the emancipation of the slaves and the birth of this intercultural infant in the mid-sass. A couple stands out: World Wars II and l. The first was important, in this context, mostly for indirect reasons, I. . , it set the stage for the second. The time period and circumstances of World War I also brought about rapid developments in the technology of radio communication, hose commercial application starting in the sass lay the single most vital industrial foundation for rock n rolls eventual emergence. Quite simply, prior to radio, there was almost no means of hearing music without being present at its live performance.The occasional exception was for the fortunate few owners of phonographs, and the fortunate fewer among musicians who had their music recorded. Of course, radio and recording technology have been cohabitation since the earliest amateur broadcasters spun classical discs into makeshift transmitters and recorded music predates the twentieth century, but only with the advent of radio id records obtain the vehicle to become a truly mass medium.Perhaps the oldest truism in what has come to be called the Recording Industry is that people wont buy a record unless theyve heard it first Radio created a means for people to sample records, and thus the opportunity for record sales to produce significant profits significant enough by the middle of the century to make millionaires out of a few recording artists, and to create an incentive for countless small time entrepreneurs to get into the business of finding, developing, and marketing such artists on their own independent record labels. That radio is the spinal chord in this industrys nervous system is fairly obvious today; what is worth remembering is how relatively new radio is to the history of music. Its dramatic rise as an entertainment medium in the late sass, and dominance of American culture in the subsequent two decades before televisions ascension, directly and crucially paralleled the transformations and cross-pollination of musical styles that finally became rock n roll.In a way, although most nostalgic memories of the Golden Days of radio focus on proto- television-type dramas, comedies, news flashes, and advertisements, radios most enduring legacy may be this musical metamorphosis that began with the inception of radio technology and reached maturity Just as radio was giving way to television in Americas living rooms.Indeed, even radios relative fall from prominence as a multi- faceted, universal entertainment source may have spurred rock n rolls success, because with television taking over all the ser ial and variety programs, there was a lot of spare air time needing to be filled, and recorded music was the ideal, inexpensive choice. During radios heyday, however, music was only one of a potpourri of elections available along the dialbut it was this very diversity of programming that allowed music itself to evolve.Never before had it been possible for different racial and regional populations to encounter each others native musical styles without actually venturing out to a live performance, which in the case of the Blues might have meant an impromptu backyard boogie session, or Just as likely a spirited gathering behind state prison walls; or in the case of white country music, a hoedown on the farm. In either event, white and black music lovers would not have felt articulacy comfortable in the others environment. With radios non- discriminatory access to transmissions from anywhere within the vicinitywhich on a clear night can amount to hundreds of miles in any directionwidely diverse groups could meet and learn about each other without having to travel, or to hang out where they were drastically out of place. It was even possible to encounter appealing, unfamiliar music somewhere along the dial and not realize how relatively alien was its source.That is, it was no secret that certain stations or programs played primarily lack or race music, and more often than not vocal distinctions alone would reveal a singers ethnicity, but to notice those distinctions one had to be reasonably aware of the other group in the first place, and furthermore one had to be thinking in terms of racial differences, rather than music for its own sake. For many listeners, it was enough to discover something different and exciting on the radio; they could enjoy it without worrying about its larger social significance .And when the audience consisted of musicians themselvespeople who were interested in developing their tit the inspiration afforded by a new sound. Imagine how that odd beat, or use of guitar or horns, or that funny lyrical twist or uplifting voice, crackling across the evening airwaves, must have sounded to the musical entrepreneurs of the sass and sass. Imagine how hearing Blues greats like Bessie Smith and Robert Johnson for the first time affected fledgling composers struggling to adapt their songs to contemporary tastes. Even the Jazz giants of the eraLouis Armstrong, Count Babies, Duke Longtime, and the restextended their influence through radio play and record ales, as well as through movies and sheet music distribution, to reach distant audiences that would have been inaccessible otherwise, and their consequent effect upon the growth of such hybrid forms as Western Swing and urban Jump Blues was considerable.Still, the bulk of this musical experimentation was taking place far from the awareness of the general public, at what might be thought of as the cutting edge of U. S. Cultural development. Most Americans were little concerned with music at all, as the country struggled to withstand the ravages of the Depression, and hurtled once again toward War overseas. What music they did attend to consist mostly of Hollywood and Broadway show tunes, big band numbers, and the crooning of such emerging stars as Being Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and the Andrews Sisters.Music itself, although always important, was simply not as central an element of average Americans daily lives as it has been for those of us who grew up in the Rock Era. There were, of course, neither stereos nor any equipment capable of reproducing music at a quality level remotely approaching live or in-studio sound. Most rock fans, I would guess, would soon tire of the music if the best sound systems they had available were equivalent to sass vintage monaural phonographs, or even the best radios of the time.In such an environment, a catchy tune and sing-along lyrics were about the best one could expect to hold a wide audiences interest; its doubtful that a fuzz-box and Hendrix-style feedback would have made much of an impression. Owning a large record collection, which today is as common as filling a few bookshelves with paperbacks, was for seriously devoted fans only, usually Classical or Jazz aficionados. Life in the sass and sass Just involved other sets of tastes, interests, and priorities for the majority of the population.And as of December 7, 1941, the principal preoccupation of virtually the entire population became the War. Now heres ano ther topic that a lot of us dont keep in perspective, I think. The War. The entire rock n roll era, the entire rock generation, has been a post-War phenomenon, which means that nearly all of us, almost everyone involved with and interested in rock, did not experience and does not remember the War. As the years go by, the percentage of the U. S. Population answering to that description grows larger and larger; weve long since been a majority. As a post-War child myself, by bout 14 years, I can no better speak from personal knowledge of that period than I can of slavery or the Depression, but I sensein my parents and grandparents, in the older generation of politicians, businessperson, retirees, and veterans, in the recollections of books, films photographs, headlinessomething of the meaning of the War for those who lived through it.Or perhaps more accurately, I sense the absence of that meaning for those of us who did not know the War. For America, World War II lasted only 3 years and 8 months: not long from the point of view of adulthood soon become blurred as we grow and change and encounter perpetual newness through life. Change, in fact, is so constant for us these days that the mid-sass, say, 1974 through 1978, seem ancient and largely irrelevant to todays world.For those who lived through the War, however, I believe it was different. For two or three entire generations of Americansschool children, young adults, older citizens, all of the 100 million or so people living and aware in this country during the years 1941 through 1945the War became the most significant, indelible memory of their lives, coloring and shaping and controlling their every thought and perception of the world for all the decades that followed.This is to say nothing in particular of those who actually fought in the War, and came home injured or heroic or not at all; nor do I refer at the moment to Europeans and their front yard view of th e War, nor even to the refugees who fled here from destruction and genocideall these were naturally changed forever by World War II: they were among its victims.Im pointing rather to the vast group of Americans who had no direct personal involvement with the Hell-on-Earth occurring overseas, who simply stayed home and did their part, sending off sons and husbands and brothers to fight, buying war nods, writing letters, running air raid drills, watching newsreels, and hoping that the boys would come home safely. This was by far the majority of Americans: the spectators to the War, the audience. They had no idea, Just as those of us who never went near Vietnam have no idea, what the war was really like, in the trenches, the camps, the airplanes and ships. But because they were the audience, and because the show was so absolutely all encompassing, they too were profoundly affected by it, forever. Four years may be short to present memories, but imagine watching a movie that lasts for four years.A movie that is excruciatingly tense, with thousands of subplots, spectacular heroes and heroines, hideous villains, constant gut-wrenching plot twists, tremendous poignancy, anguish, excitement, fear, and whose ending cataclysmic and Joyous, horrifying and exultantis uncertain until the very last hours. You go to bed with the latest developments on your mind; you wake up to learn what has happened while you slept, while the four-year movie played continuously.And you have no choice but to watch it, to follow the story, because it is on every screen, covered on the front pages of every newspaper, every day, bulletins flashing from very radio, and everyone around you is watching at the same time. For four years. Now try to imagine, more than all of this, that its no movie, its real life, out there, somewhere: its colossal evil and immeasurable fear, untold sacrifice and suffering, superhuman heroism, pain and death, glory and triumph, every day, unrelenting, overwhelming.You may not experience any of it yourself, but you are acutely aware at every breathing moment that it is happening, that its outcome is supremely important to your future, the worlds future, theres little you can do to help but you re compelled to Join in with everyone else and try, and even when those occasional moments arrive when some nearby distraction takes your attention away, you only feel all the more inside how insignificant is everything in your life in comparison with whats happening over there, in the War.Try to imagine it, and realize that you cannot possibly begin to imagine it, but know that for tens of millions of Americans, your parents and grandparents, it happened. Dont think for a nanosecond that hasnt been a World War Ill: the Koreans and Vietnamese and Iraqis are but a blip on the screen by any standard of comparison. The bottom line on World War II is that modern American history began when it ended; World War II was the Genesis, the Big Bang, that set in motion all that has occurred in the subsequent decades; nothing since that time is unrelated to the War.So its all very good to talk about historical trends in American music from a detached perspective: Blues, Jazz, Swing, Tin Pan Alley, Rhythm and Blues, Country, Rock n Roll .. . And, Oh yeah, those patriotic songs during the War era. But the truth is that life stopped, evolution ceased, and music was swallowed along with the rest of America by the War, and what it spit out afterward was not simply a continuation of what had already been going on before, but a new, different, clean slate: post-War music, or a post-War stage on which to strike up a brand new band.Because the War generations, you see, were destined to live with the War, and all of its trappings, permanently thereafter. The image of the War would remain vivid in infinite glorifying films, shows, stories, fiction and truth. The music of the era would continue too, in Sinatra and Glen Miller tunes, in Duke Longtime and Ella Fitzgerald, in all the stars and sounds that rose to reminisce in that time, and whose entertaining provided bittersweet respite from the anxiety and intensity.For the War generation, new music, invented afterward, could serve no purpose, perhaps because there was no purpose left to serve. With War over, there was less reason for these veterans to become passionate, to look for escapes or inspirations; placid, repetitive entertainment, basking in the mellow glow of victory over despair, might be enough. Rock n roll fans and critics tend to deride Tin Pan Alley crooners for their slow, syrupy love songs, with no beat and sleepy tiring arrangements, but Im not sure we always understand where that audience of Music of Your Life listeners is coming from.Why would they need upbeat, loud, exciting, fast music like rock n roll? They had World War II, enough excitement to last a lifetime, thank you. If we begin to understand that perspective, then we can find some insight into how rock n roll did appeal to the post-War generation. By 1954, anyone who was a teenager was personally unacquainted with World War II; even a 19 year-old had only been ten when it ended, and the younger teens had been infants while the War raged.By the mid-sass, the Baby Boomkids born in droves to ret urning soldiers and their wives, and to the generally Jubilant and prosperous population of post-War Americawas starting to grow up, and to listen to rock n roll. This vast new chunk of humanity between our shores could not possibly share the feelings and memories of their parents, could not know what the War had meant, and how profoundly it had influenced the older generations. They could not, in truth, share their parents complacency with the post-War world, peaceful and prosperous and entertaining as it was in contrast to what came before.If anything, it was the absence of any great challenge, whether war, depression, industrialization, or political change that spawned the celebrated restlessness of young Americans in the sass. The symbol of the generation, James Deans Rebel Without a Cause, testified to the itching need of teenagers to discover some purpose in their lives. Whereas a decade before, every moment of every day had brought vitally important developments and concerns that affected the entire country, mid-sass daily life was, conflict and the Cold War were disturbing, but remote and ultimately meaningless to ids.The situation was a little different for young African Americans, however. Their restlessness did find an outlet, a purpose, in their own hometowns: the cause of Justice and dignity. Perhapsand this is only a guessthe presence of an un derlying sense of purpose embodied in the emerging black music of the time is what appealed so much to white youth. It wasnt the lyrics, really. The Blues talked of pain, but usually man/woman pain, not social injustice.The newer, upbeat style known as Rhythm and Blues as often spoke of dance, or cars, or sex, or dreamy love, as it did of hurt. It may have been that specific words werent necessary, that the feeling of the music was enough. Black music in the late ass and early ass was finding newer and stronger means to express the solidarity felt within the black community, how that community differed from the white controlled world, and how, in truth, African Americans were becoming proud of the difference.Music itself, with a steady, upbeat rhythm, was central to the community identity, and the pleasures and passions of life that blacks expressed through their music may have seemed more immediate and authentic because of the composers and performers real ensue of alienation. The political purpose of civil rights was only Just beginning to surface as a unifying cause among blacks, and it was ar guably the tightening of the community through cultural communication that gave rise to civil rights awareness in the first place, not the other way around. Thus, the purposefulness to be found in black music was perhaps no more complicated than the Joy with which the made it, the Joy of a close-knit people discovering themselves. Most white Americans lacked any sense of group alienationafter all, their kind had ruled the land for centuries UT white teenagers, who felt cut off from their parents past, might have been attracted to black communal expressions because of their own emerging sense of loneliness.Liking black music was tantamount to wanting to Join the group. In any event, the rock n roll legends tell of how it slowly became apparent to a few foresighted record store owners, and then disc Jockeys, and then producers, that black music was appealing to more and more young whites, that a new social trend was underway, far from the mainstream of popular entertainment, but not so far that here wasnt any money to be made from it.Sometime in the early sass, the term Rhythm and Blues entered the popular lexicon, and a handful of entrepr eneurs began trying to exploit the commercial possibilities of this newly defined genre. Hindsight relates that the likes of Alan Freed, Sam and Dewey Phillips, the Briar and Chess Brothers, and Emmet Retune were visionaries who single-maidenly forged ahead through the doubts and rejection of the traditional radio and recording industry establishment and arrived at the glorious new horizon that they had always received before them.

Plant Diversity Study Guide free essay sample

Burnes (1992) expressed that ‘change management is not a distinct discipline but rather, the theory and practice of change management draws on a number of social science disciplines and traditions’ (Kitchen Daly, 2002). It is also defined as ‘the process of continually renewing an organization’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers’ (Moran Brightman, 2000). A clear definition of change or change management / organisational is still lacking despite numerous definitions by authors (Struckman Yammarino, 2003). The purpose of this paper is to explore change leaders’ skills/abilities required in implementing change in various context or change management approach. In doing so, the nature of change encompassing the drivers, critical success factors (CSF), dilemmas of change and types of change is discussed to achieve a better understanding organisational change. The drive for change follows the cause-effect path set in Figure 1. The transformation needs attention to both the external and internal drivers of change (Anderson Anderson, 2010). The Burke-Litwin model (Appendix 2) ranks them in terms of importance. The model argues that all of the factors are integrated and interdependent which generally most authors agree to (Kitchen Daly, 2002). However, there are authors claiming that technology, government and globalisation, competitionand corporate sustainability to be drivers for change (MGT8033, 2012). Based on the infinite arguments, it can be construed that state that the drivers of change are too many too list (Jick Peiperl, 2011). Figure 1: The Drivers of Change Model (Anderson Anderson, 2010) An organisation’s ability to survive the transformation is greatly influenced by its CSFs. However, contradicting findings of the MIT study (Berger et al. , 1989) and Samson’s (1999) fourteen guiding principles (MGT 8033, 2012) is sighted. Researchers also identified communication, employees’ perception of the organisation’s ability to deal with change, planning and analysis and assessment as success factors (Chrusciel Field, 2006). Soft success factors (innovativeness, creativity and intuition) build on the existing platform of hard success factors (quantity, diligence and productivity) and soft success factors are becoming competitive advantage (Bertoncelj et. l, 2009). Figure 2 lists the necessary conditions for a successful change based on a survey conducted in UK (McGreevy, 2009). Sound pre-planning Objectives of the change process aligned with organisational objectives Commitment from the top of the organisation to ensure that resources were available to manage the change effectively Commutations – explaining why the change was necessary Participation Applied project management Taking a measured approach to the roll out of the change programme Progress monitoring of results using the balanced scorecard Figure 2: Conditions for successful change (Source: McGreevy, 2009) Organisation should also analyse the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ interventions of change as shown in Appendix 3 to ensure effective change programmes. Five dilemmas of change that have characterised decision about organisational change, viz. adaptive or rational strategy development, cultural or structural change, continuous improvement or radical transformation, empowerment or leadership and command and economic or social goals was identified (Stace Dunphy, 2001). To handle such dilemmas, the scale of change model (Appendix 4), which uses the influence of culture and power was created by Stace and Dunply. The model also suggests there is no particular way of implementing change that will work in all situations (MGT8033, 2012). Organisation structure can vary along a number of dimensions in the form of bureaucratic, functional, matrix or network structure. The choice of structure is influenced by an organisation’s strategy, its size and the technology used. As an organisation changes its strategy to respond to PEST factors in its external environment, so should its structure change to maintain the strategy-structure relationship (Senior, 2002). To allow organisational survival, organisations tend to favour flatter and more flexible ways of working compared to hierarchical organisational forms and bureaucratic control systems which can be a hindrance to change (Collier Esteban, 2000). The drivers of change are the primary determining factor of the type of change an organisation is to lead – developmental, transitional or transformational, presented in Appendix 5 (Dick Peiperl, 2011). Development change is an improvement in an organisation’s existing way of operating to ensure efficient business (Anderson Anderson, 2010) It happens when firms continually scan their internal and external environments while avoiding radical, infrequent scale change (Gilley et. al 2009) to increase competitive advantage. Transitional change occurs when a problem is recognised in the current reality that needs to be solved with a new way of operating (Anderson Anderson, 2010) which represents small, gradual even incremental changes in people, policies, procedures, technology, culture or structure (Gilley et. l 2009). The most widespread type of change occurring in today’s corporate world is transformation change which happens when the organisation identifies that is existing was of operating cannot meet market demands. This calls for content changes that are far more radical (Anderson Anderson, 2010). Successful transformational changes have been positively linked to increased competitiveness, although extreme and sometimes revolutionary (Gilley et. al, 2009). ‘It is represented by a radical conceptualization of the organisation’s mission, culture and CSFs, form leadership and the like’ (Dick Peiperl, 2011). Cooper and Arygris (1998) claim organisational change can ‘take many forms it can be planned or unplanned, incremental or radical, and recurrent or unprecedented’. Continuous change assumes gradual shifts whereas discontinuous change is much more dramatic which changes the nature of whole industries and economies (Kitchen Daly, 2002). Radical change normally happens after a prolonged performance decline or major environmental change (Beugelsdijk et. al. , 2002). This type of change involves processes, technologies or knowledge that require new ways of operating for the adaptation to be successful (Street Gallupe, 2009). It suggests the use of authoritative power to force change in a rapid way to address organisational and environmental fit or intra organisational fit (MGT8033, 2012). Figure 3: Radical or revolutionary change (Source: MGT8033, 2012) Incremental change is a process whereby individual parts of an organisation deal incrementally and separately with one problem and one goal at a time by responding to internal and external environments. However, incremental change limits the need of fast or fundamental change when required and Burnes (2000) identifies that it can lead to a slow death. While some writers deem that this approach is relatively unimportant, others identify that it can be part of an overall plan to transform an organisation (MGT8033, 2012). Evidences are clear that Japanese companies have an enviable track of achieving fierce competitiveness through pursuing this approach. It avoids both stagnation of doing little or nothing (Burnes, 2004). Figure 4: Incremental change (Source: MGT8033, 2012) The punctuated equilibrium model (Figure 5) suggests that change is discontinuous. It is argued that, with a few exceptions, most organisations experience change as a pattern of punctuated equilibrium. Contrary to opinion cited in Burnes (2000) which suggested that this model of change has been rejected due to lack of empirical support (MGT 8033, 2012), numerous case histories offer support for this model (Hayes, 2010). Tushman and Romanelli (1985) proposed an interaction between radical and incremental change, making use of this model, conducting a case study on Heineken, Inc. and concluded that organisational change process that consists of initial radical change was succeeded by incremental change (Beugelsdijk et. al. , 2002). Figure 5: Punctuated equilibrium model of change (Source: MGT8033, 2012) Proponents argue that continuous transformational change model (Figure 6) is vital for organisational survival and they must develop the ability to transform themselves continuously in a fundamental manner. This is particularly the case in fast-moving industry sectorssuch as Intel, Wal-Mart, 3M, Hewlett-Packard and Gillette where the ability to change rapidly and continuously. Continuous transformation to be able to keep aligned with the constant, rapid, radical and unpredictable changing environments in which organisations operate is the rationale for this model (Brown Eisenhardt, 1997). Figure 6: Transformational change model (Source: MGT8033, 2012) Appendix 6 illustrates a framework of an organisational change which allows approaches to change to be matched to environmental conditions and organisational constraints (Burnes, 2004). Armenakis and Bedeain (1999) identified three factors common to all change efforts – content, contextual and process issues (Walker et. al. , 2007) The change models previously examined suggests and relates to the need to review associated leader skills (Gilley et al. , 2009). In Saka (2003), Buchanan and Badham (1999) define change agent as a manager who seeks ‘to reconfigure an organisation’s roles, responsibilities, structures, outputs, processes, systems, technology or other resources’. Burnes (2004) defines change agents as ‘the people responsible for directing, organising and facilitating change in organisations’. Pettigrew and Whipp (1991) describe change agents as ‘individuals operating at various levels and holding differing ranks within an organization, ensuring that there is both operational and strategic change capacity’ (Massey Williams, 2006). Evidences suggest interpersonal skills drawn on leaders’ abilities to motivate, communicate and build teams will increase leaders’ success with change. Organisational leaders strongly influence the work environment via constant interpersonal interactions. Motivating employees, communicating effectively, and creating environments in which team thrive are each positively and significantly associated with effectively leading change. Kark and VanDijk’s (2007) find that a leader’s ability to create a work environment that enhances employee motivation proves critical. Similarly, Luecke (2003) claims that effective communications are necessary to cultivate and used as an effective tool for motivating employees involved in change. LaFasto and Larson (2001) also stated that building teams requires leaders with good communication and motivation skills. It is clear that motivation, communication and teambuilding skills are interrelated and complementary. Hence, deployment of such interpersonal skills to fully engage employees and cultivate and lead a successful change is important. Leaders’ deliberate and disciplined actions, grounded in a solid base of interpersonal skills, enable effective change (Gilley et al, 2009). Gilsdorf (1998) claims that many mistakes in change management programmes is associated with communication breakdown. According to Hargie and Tourish (1993), the quality of communication between the people who make up an organisation is ‘a crucial variable determining organisational success’. Kotter claims that clear communication to employees is critical to the successful management of change. Communication is regarded as key issue in the successful implementation of change programmes (Kitchen Daly, 2002). As constant communication and motivation is required to engage employees throughout the various context and change phases, the need to use these skills must be also constant throughout to achieve effective change programmes. Change can trigger a wide range of positive and negative responses and poses significant challenges both to those who implement and those are affected by the change. Evidences shows that employees tend to resist organisational change in general. Literatures propose that a change leader with high emotional intelligence will promote the use of constructive conflict resolution skills and strategies and lessen the possibility of destructive conflict strategies. Goleman (1998) suggested that individuals with high emotional intelligence will have superior conflict resolution skills, though this statement has not been supported with research (Jordan Troth, 2002). Resolving conflict skills is needed most during a radical/revolution change, the initial staff of a punctuated equilibrium change approach and continuous transformational change due to the rapid and unpredictable manner of change management and the possibility of experience high resistance amongst employees. Research has shown that visionary leadership positively affects business outcomes and follower perceptions of leadership effectiveness. Given convincing empirical support for the impact of visionary leadership on positive organisational outcomes, scholars claim that interpersonal skills and competencies are necessary for demonstrating visionary leadership behaviors. Recently, Bass (2002) noted that several aspects of emotional intelligence are critical for transformational leaders who score highly on visionary leadership and individualised consideration. Effective visionary leadership requires leaders to provide a clear and compelling sense of direction which is important in times of rapid change for organisations. However, not all situations where this kind of leadership is needed are identical. Michael Dell and Bill Gates are two examples of men who saw a reality different from others in the computer business. Visionary skills involves mentally modelling performance, focusing on the positive – sometimes incremental – steps necessary to achieve acceptable results considering the capabilities and constraints of oneself and the organisation (Gilley, 2005). Visionary skill is most needed during a continuous transformation change and incremental change. Organisations need to be equipped to reengineer their strategic priorities at speed which leads to re-evaluating the quality and effectiveness of their decision-making processes when confronted with exceptional instability in current business context. The key to success in doing this is predictive analysis – using quantitative methods to derive actionable insights and outcomes from data which brings about the need for a change leader to be analytical and able to diagnose in drawing conclusions and making decisions. Analytical leaders in Google, Tesco Best Buy and Caesars Entertainment Corp. are realising powerful benefits of being able to predict market trends, identify customer behaviours and pinpoint workforce staffing requirements (Gilley, 2005). However, an executive vice president for a large health insurer in Pennsylvania states recognises that analytical capabilities on its own do not help to create competitive advantage (Harris Craig, 2011). Strategy shapes an organisation’s long term direction and actions, including changes required to achieve planned results. Leaders with strategic thinking skills hold a global ‘big picture’ perspective of an organisation could with an understanding of the interrelatedness of its numerous parts. A strategic approach to change appreciated that change creates change, causes a ripple effect, and may yield solutions that are tomorrow’s problems which change leaders need to anticipate and plan for (Gilley, 2005). The decision to radically change the distribution system in Heineken by Freddy Heineken can be seen as a controlled form of organisational change. This coincides with the view on organisational change that can be labelled ‘rational adaptation theory’. According to this view, organisational change is the result of a designed change in strategy of individuals in an organisation in response to environmental changes, threats and opportunities. The anticipation of future developments in the beer market made Heineken’s CEO decide to change the distribution system radically (Beugelsdijk et. al. , 2002). Traditional models of growth have often emphasised maximising revenue generation through increased capital expenditures. However, there is a trend towards achieving organisational growth by exploiting the understanding of the relationships between an organisation and its environment in order to solve problems and revamp itself. Organisational development (OD) is the new way through which organisations can continuously improve on their activities and increase their long term prospects which organisations develop by adopting a series of planned intervention strategies that aim to enhance the effectiveness of the organisations (Mulili Wong, 2011). Schein (1988) stated that organisations have continually to achieve ‘external adaptation and internal integration’ (Senior, 2002). Recognising and understanding leadership and management functions itself does not guarantee success – a variety of skills, ability, knowledge and aptitude are needed to implement change well. The specific knowledge, skills and competencies within each broad category are by no means mutually exclusive to each dimension – they often overlap. Successful change leaders must be able to make sense of change contexts and deploy knowledge and core competencies appropriately. No two change scenarios are exactly the same; hence, the requisite combination of one’s skills and competencies are unique to each situation (Gilley, 2005). It can be concluded that a change leader is required to exercise all the skills in various change approaches / context, discussed earlier in this paper. However, the degree of skill required may vary depending on the phases of change – an example is illustrated in Appendix 1 (Part B).