Theme

Eddie Truong Prof. Gray English 28 11 March 2013 Finding The Theme Many stories around the world have a wide variety of theme and issues that are not easily identified. Throughout stories, authors like to describe the characterization of character rather than the plot. The reason authors don’t describe the plot of the story is because through the characterization of the characters, readers are able to distinguish the different issues the author has planted in the story. Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† is a short story that explores the way some people tend to view their family heritage and culture.Even though the title of the story does not give a sense of genre, it is actually a drama story because it has conflicts between different people. This story begins when Mama and Maggie are waiting at their front yard for the arrival of their daughter/sister. When Dee, the sister arrives, she informs her family that she has thrown away her name for another name. When they all get into the house, Dee asks her mom for valuables that were left behind by their past relatives. At first Mama agrees to give it to her, but refuses later because Mama felt that Dee would not carry the important heritage of the family tradition.Dee, who is outraged at this point, runs out of the house and left saying that they do not understand the real importance of their culture essay writer dubai. In the story, â€Å"Everyday Use† uses direct and indirect characterization through Mama, Maggie, and Dee to elucidate the theme of personal belief some people have for their family heritage. One way the theme becomes clearer to the readers is through the indirect characterization of Mama. Indirect characterization is shown throughout the story to show the traits of the characters by what they say and what they do. The readers are able to have a sense of who the character is by indirect characterization.For example, â€Å"A yard like this is more comfortable then most people know. It is not just a yard. It is like an extended living room† (108). Through this quote the readers are able to realize that Mama is proud of what she has and the yard was not just a property to her, it is her culture. Another example given is when Mama â€Å"snatched the quilts out of miss Wangero’s hand and dumped them into Maggie’s lap† (115), and then at the end mama and Maggie sits outside enjoying their sister leave. This shows the readers that Mama believe that Maggie is more qualified to carry on the heritage and their belief of heritage is better than their sister.Another character that is characterized directly and indirectly to help clarify the theme is Maggie. Unlike indirect characterization, direct characterization is when the traits are actually given to us by the narrator rather than their actions and words. The way the author directly and indirectly characterize Maggie helps the reader see the belief she has in her family cultur e. For instance, When Maggie lets her sister have the quilt because she â€Å"can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts† (115) since she was taught how to make the quilt by their grandmother.Maggie does this because she had acquired the skill of quilting from her grandmother. This quote shows that Maggie is open minded and wanted to learn her family’s culture. The readers can have a sense that Maggie feels that the culture of making quilt is better than needing an item to actually remind you of your culture. Another example is when Maggie says that the dasher was whittled by â€Å"Aunt Dee’s first husband†(113) and that his name was â€Å"Henry, but they called him Stash†(113). Maggie says this quietly and outspoken because her sister Dee didn’t remember who in their family made that significant piece.The reader are shown that Maggie actually know more about their family valuables and their heritage than Dee. Maggie values the importa nce of the people who created this piece, while Dee just valued the material. The last character that helps elucidate the theme through indirect characterization is Dee. The indirect characterization of Dee helps show the reader the views of heritage she has compared to her mother and sister. A given example is when Dee comes back home and tell her family that she has thrown away her name, which has been in their family for years and chosen the name: â€Å"Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo† (112).This shows the readers that Dee has thrown her family’s name that has been passed down their culture because she wanted to be even closer to the roots of their African Americans culture. Another example that is given is when Dee yells at her mother that Maggie shouldn’t wear the quilts because she doesn’t â€Å"appreciate the quilts† that their ancestors has made. Dee believes that â€Å"they’re priceless†(114) and that they should be hung up. Even t hough the readers will find that Dee is being disrespectful to her mother, the readers are able to recognize that the quilt was made with materials from African American culture.Indirect and direct characterization is a key way to help readers wrestle their way through the different issues expressed by the author. The descriptions of the character’s traits and their words to their actions are important in every story. Many stories would be difficult to figure out the issues or theme without these key points. It could leave readers confused and mislead into many different directions. Through indirect and direct characterization, the readers are able to find the ideas given by the author.

Hangover Movie Review

I haven't laughed this hard at a movie in a long time. When I saw this movie in theater for the first time I came out with my face hurting I was laughing so much. Everything about this movie just clicked. Perfect cast with great chemistry, great direction, great music, and most importantly a fun script with hilarious dialogue and characters. The movie starts where its two days before Doug’s wedding, himself and his three friends drive to Las Vegas for a crazy bachelor party they'll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can't remember a thing. For some reason, they find a tiger in the bathroom, and a six-month-old baby in the closet of their suite at Caesars Palace. The one thing they can't find is Doug, the groom. With no clue as to what happened that night and little time to spare, the three of them must retrace their steps and all their bad decisions in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L. A. in time to walk down the aisle. The four main actors in this movie are; Bradley Cooper as Phil Wenneck, the groom's best friend, a school teacher who is bored with married life. Ed Helms as Dr. Stuart â€Å"Stu† Price, a dentist stuck in a bad relationship, friend of the groom. Zach Galifianakis as Alan Garner, the socially awkward, soon to be brother-in-law of the groom, and Justin Bartha as Doug Billings, the soon-to-be groom. I personally think that they all did a great job acting out their characters personality and made everything work quite smooth. The movie followed a regular predictable story line, it was very easy for me to predict what was going to happen next. It was very easy to watch the lighting was perfect, and the director, Todd Phillips did a great job with all the shots. The movies music was composed by Christopher Beck. The movie had a few featured artists in this film, such as Kanye West, The Donnas, Usher, T. I. , Mickey Avalon and The Dan Band. For the closing credits the song â€Å"Right Round† by Flo Rida was played. The Hangover might not appeal to those seeking a more disciplined, focused comedy, but the film represents the best of what comedy can provide — pure, unadulterated, slaphappy entertainment. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Matrix impact and implementation plan - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2855 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Essay any type Did you like this example? Instructions Begin by copying and pasting the solutions you generated for Enerstasis Task 4 Exercise into the first column of the Impact Matrix. Add as many rows to the matrix as needed to include all of your solutions. You may find that some solutions overlap; combine or modify them as needed and describe the changes you made in your Footnotes/Explanation. If you eliminate any solutions, cross them out using the strike-through function (on the menu bar, select Format and then Fonts to find this feature). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Matrix impact and implementation plan" essay for you Create order Do not completely delete any of these solutions. Just make sure to explain your reason for striking through/crossing them out in the footnotes. Continue by copying and pasting the causes you came up with into the first row of the matrix (so that each one will head its own column). Add as many columns to the matrix as needed to include all your causes. Complete the matrix by putting an X in each box where implementing the solution would substantially affect the cause. Some solutions will only affect one cause, whereas others will have far-reaching effects. Cross out specific solutions if they are impractical, if they would cause more problems than they would solve, if you combine them with others, or if they are unnecessary (e.g., all the effects they would have are already addressed by other solutions). In the last column of the matrix, number the solutions in the order of the extent of their impact. This should be determined by the number of causes they would resolve and th eir likely negative consequences. After completing the matrix, document any notes or explanations for the ordering in Footnotes/Explanations. To complete part 2, develop your plan to implement solutions. Consider the impact of the solutions, and then, think about the difficulty of implementing the solutions and any interdependencies among solutions (i.e., do some steps need to come before others?). Order the solutions from first to last, based on these factors. You can implement more than one solution at the same time, but not more than three. Describe your implementation plan in paragraph form in part 2 of this template. This should include your suggested steps, their order, and any concerns or points to consider for implementation. Part 1: Impact Matrix Note: If you cross out solutions or causes because they have been adequately addressed by another solution, or because they are impractical or would do more harm than good, cross out the text (use the strike-through function) or change the font color. Add a footnote (bottom of matrix) indicating why you have eliminated them. Cause 1 Cause 2 Cause 3 Cause 4 Cause 5 Cause 6 Cause 7 Cause 8 Cause 9 Cause 10 Cause 11 Degree of Impact List your causes across this row The production line is not set up to handle custom orders Li doesnt order parts on a timely basis Policy (no custom orders) is not enforced Incentives in Sales Department are flawed Combined with # 11 Poor Customer service HR-Leadership Development Siloed departments and poor interdepartmental communication HR policy on Promotion Combined with cause 11 HR policy on Orientating HR policy Recruitment/Selection HR policy Management skills/and incentives List your solutions down this numbered column 1 Assess equipment functionality for tracking units completed x x 3 2 Modify equipment for maximum productivity x 3 Review the last 30 customized orders to see if there is a pattern x x x 2 Develop a menu of standardized customization elements x x x 2 5 Process them in runs of 1000 on a weekly basis to generate surplus parts x x 5 6 Develop an improved calendar to determine when units will be completed to provide better feedback to sales department x x x x 3 7 Prior to beginning production identify, type, quantity of parts needed for that shifts production using an inventory system x x 2 8 Budget in inventory time as part of a check -out list for end of day work so that additional parts can be ordered x x 2 9 Develop a daily dashboard so that staff can assess their progress at completing units x x x x X x 4 10 Incentivize production workers when units are completed timely X X X x X x 2 11 Establish a post-production meeting between engineering and production to discuss defects and to provide feedback to engineering using minutes as a measure and implementation of changes in the menus of customization x x x 4 12 Develop the role of a supply leader whose responsibility is to order supplies and complete inventory tracking x x x x x 5 13 No customization policy Throw that policy out Its stupid and not customer friendly x x x 4 14 Set up focus groups with the oldest (most frequently renewed contract) and biggest (generates largest volume of work) Find out what they want and what is the menu of customized items x X x 3 15 Develop an interview process with those customers who have chosen not to renew their contracts and have gone to competitors and find out if customization was involved x 1 16 Incorporate the above information from (15) into the customer service focus group x x 1 17 Provide feedback to staff on results of focus study x x 2 18 Change incentive program in sales department to include contract renewal, retention statistics, timely delivery, customer satisfaction, x x 2 19. Develop a customer service rating which allowed customers evaluate customers on a 1 -5 scale and provide incentives on all 5 customer service experience x 3 20.Interview a sampling of current customers using new tool x 2 21 Interview a sampling of customers who have chosen to not renew their contract to find out why and what the competition offered and if customization was an influence x x 22 Develop an incentive for production line staff for every unit completed shipped and received in a timely manner to share in division wide incentive x x x 2 23 After collating interviews; provide feedback to department x x 24 Develop a training program for sales staff to meet customer needs re customization options x x x x 3 25 Develop a values -based evaluation program to adequately reflect the values of Enterstasis wants to provide to its customers and to employees, stockholders, others X x 3 26 Management training class on change management, x x 1 27 Executive training re diversity t raining, motivational leadership, change management x x 3 28. As part of the HR program -invest in manager training, selection and support 29. These values can drive everyday manager interactions These values need to be en-cultured into staff x 2 30 Managers need to help employees align their activities with the companys values by using the values to anchor and give meaning to work tasks X x x 2 31In HR education cited above include cultural diversity x x x x x 2 32In HR education include conflict resolution and a policy perhaps on what to do x X x x 1 33 HR education how to inspire excellence x 3 34 Set direction and guidelines for the Division x X x x 3 35 Develop goals for department that also reflect values x X x 4 36 Have routine staff meetings and communicate these goals x X x 1 37 Involve staff in developing goals for division x X x 4 38 Ron Turner needs to go to Malaysia and see things for himself. His background is manufacturing so he should give his perspective to Reuben King x 3 39 Henry Ron need to develop an improved relationship with Reuben King to understand the personnel issues in Malaysia x 3 40 As part of the reworking the customer service program, and perhaps prod/eng processes as well develop criteria for prioritizing orders x x X x 3 41 Quality Control is key when it comes to ensuring customizations, and customers are being taken care of properly x x X x 1 42 HR Evaluate and develop policy to regarding hiring friends for administrative level X X x X x x 2 43 Cultural diversity training for all management positions should be required will help break up the cultural conflicts ensuing the organization x x x x x x 2 44Departments need to be re-organized to all cross functional teams like engin eering/production and put in tune with the overall goals of the organization in order to work in an efficient manner x x 2 45 Promotions should be based on qualifiers of meeting and exceeding job expectations without requiring supervisor approval x x x x 4 46 Meet with a representative of the Malaysian government -discuss your dilemma and ask for suggestions on how to recruit highly qualified Malaysian x 1 47 Aggressively market at arenas where skilled Malaysians may be i.e. university. x x 1 48 Depending on skill sets of qualified Malaysian candidates offer internships in areas of study x x x 4 49 Offer scholarships or loan forgiveness to attract Malaysian candidates x x 1 50 Do a HR training on how the personality profiles each employee interact w/ one another x x x 1 51 Have a Malaysian national at Chicago office x x 2 52 Potlucks, parties featuring Malaysian food to be served in Chicago 53 American food and traditions served in Malaysia Develop social activities that embrace cultural differences between USA Malaysia x 1 54 Offer alternate work week in Malaysia to allow devout Muslims to attend mosque on Friday or allow prayers x 1 55 Communicate in Chicago that the work week is different so that there is a different level of expectation in terms of business communication x x 1 56 Address cultural diversity in code of Conduct and have zero tolerance for prejudice x x 1 57 HR training on customer service x x x x x 1 Footnotes/Explanation: We have color-coded our interventions into 4 major groups yellow for customers, violet for operations, gold for employees and green for governmental compliance. Our vision is that Mr. Lefler would actually develop team around the colors to carry out these plans. #s 1-6 are all solutions derived from cause 1 #s 3-4 solutions are both due to the c auses of 1, 3, and 7. #s 7-11 are solutions originally derived from cause 2, which has also been affected by a few other causes according to the matrix above. #s 13-17 are solutions which have originated from cause 3, but can also highly affect cause 5 with being able to control the issue of poor customer service. #s 18-22 are solutions which have stemmed from cause 4 on the, but have also been affected by cause 5. #s 23-24 are solutions used to solve the issues with cause 5, however after further review these two solutions could also help with cause 6 and 11. #s 25-41 are all solutions for cause 6; however 26 and 27 are detachments for solution 28-39 which are all people causes affecting Enerstasis. In order to better break down the issues the solutions need to be able to pinpoint exact causes hence the various detachments. #s 32, 34-37 are solutions for causes 6, 7, and 11. #s 42-44 is the solutions for cause 7 Cause 8 and cause 4 can be enveloped with caus e 11 thus creating an umbrella effect on the HR section in order to ensure all polices are being acknowledged by the HR management with the best interest of the organization in mind when setting division goals. #s 45 and 49 are solutions which tie into cause 9, while 46-48, and 50-57 all tie into cause 10 and 11. It is cause 11 which has developed the most solutions to changing the current culture at Enerstasis. Once the people/leadership is changed within the organization with the solutions listed above then the rest will follow. The management issues tend to affect everything issue addressed above, and without good leadership being the foundation of this organization everything else will come crashing down. Part 2: Implementation Plan To begin changing the culture, one must fist assess how ready the culture is ready to change. Resistance to change can be overcome when leaders are able to communicate why the change is necessary. Leaders need to clearly communicate h ow the changes will benefit the employees and the company. Leaders need to also communicate the goals and the direction of the department. An essential element of change management is overcoming resistance to the change. During this pre-implementation phase leadership needs to develop the informal networks and help convert them to support the initiatives Administration has envisioned. This informal leadership is essential to the effectiveness of the culture change. In Competing by Design, Nadler discusses the influence of Power: Problem : Power that the best practices involve managing political dynamics which entails getting support of the key power groups which is the informal organizations. Developing strong relations within the informal organizations which will build in stability. This is crucial as the most difficult element is to maintain stability in the midst of great change. It was unclear from the materials provided whether or not there is a Human Resource Director or a functional HR department This role is mission critical as many of the interventions stem out of training and changes in HR policy. This is another critical step that needs to be accomplished prior to beginning the implementation plan. Another individual that is essential prior to implementation is the appointment of a project co-coordinator. This person would report directly to Henry during this project implementation. We recommend that this person be someone from within the organization presently to assist with the informal organization. Being an insider will help overcome some of the inertia found as a result of any change management. Executive training needs to occur first in order to help lead the charge. Executives need to have the tools to bring about the necessary culture change Developing core values in conjunction with staff is going to be necessary to sustain long-term change. Once leadership has the tools they need to create change, the first changes need to be intentional so as to demonstrate concern for staff during tumultuous times. Staff needs to be convinced that these changes are to their benefit, so changes that have little cost such as changing work hours in Malaysia to allow people to go to Mosque, or shifting work week are the types of changes that put employees quality of life first. Also changing the HR promotion policy is another easy win. Increasing staff engagement is going to be essential in order to develop loyalty while change begins The executive team needs to have quick wins such as number 3 above and then develop the infrastructure for long-term sustained change. Once staff is engaged, begin to look at customer engagement, and identify what are the easy wins for customers and that may begin with customer survey. It has been said that administration can only focus on 3 things simultaneously James Pappas So the focus I would use would be employee engagement, customer engagement, and production improvement To identify which element s are related to employee engagement, customer engagement and production improvement we color coded the elements. Production improvement is a violet, Customer engagement is yellow and employee engagement is orange. Governmental compliance and is pervasive through all interventions and we highlighted it green to identify the elements effected by external culture. We recommend developing 3 teams with an oversight or steering committee. The oversight or steering committee is responsible for primary meeting all governmental constraints and to ensure that the teams are moving forward. Additionally, these teams need to appoint a team leader, who will own this process for the long haul No just for the implementation phase but to ensure that these tasks do not break down after the consultant leaves the project. Each team must have representative from both the Malaysia and Chicago office Each team needs to complete their own assessment and identify what they will need in terms of people, supplies and resources (space, time) In particular each team needs to identify what are the pitfalls or unintended consequences to the change. Once these teams have been established, review all of the metrics described in Task 2 and make sure everyone understands metrics and definitions Once there is agreement around the metrics, developing the dashboard or how these metrics will be displayed is essential to keeping all of the groups honest and focused. All teams need to follow the pattern of PDCA which is plan, do, check, and act. Doing small tests of change gives the team the ability to test out the ideas and modify them as necessary All teams should have timelines and report to steering committee monthly till all implementation items are completed The timeline of a year is reasonable for completion of the entire project with reports to the steering committee occurring monthly for the 1st Quarter and then quarterly and then an annual review. The project co-coordinator besides making sure that each team is functioning well and completing tasks must also help develop the transition plan from project to something that is absorbed into the culture. The danger is that if these changes are seen as a phase they will not have the staying power that is required and the company will quickly within 5 years be back to the present situation. Sources: Gallup Great Manager training Class Posts Dr. James Pappas, VP of Quality Patient Safety Reliability at Loma Linda University Medical Center Organizational Assessment Perspectives on the measurement of Organizational Behavior and the Quality of Work Life by Edward Lawler III, David Nadler, Cortland Cammann, John Wiley Sons, NY p495 -605 The Turnaround Managers Handbook, by Richard S. Sloma, The Free Press- Division of Macmillian, p42 203 Competing by Design., by Nadler, David A. and Michael L. New York: Oxford, 1997. Print. P 183, 186, 187, 195, 201