Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain and the Green knight is a story set in the Middle English and was written by an unknown person from West Midlands. He is famed with many other works that were also written around the same period.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Sir Gawain is the protagonist in the tale. Several events in the story describe his true nature. He foregoes two daunting tests. This is a challenge that he accepts without seeking help from King Arthur’s knights; a challenge to behead the dangerous and feared Green Knight and to allow him retaliate one year after at the Green Chapel. This added to the excitement of committing adultery with Lord Bercilak’s wife. In the real sense, it is at the Green Knight’s abode that Gawain rests on his way to the chapel. This tale is symbolic of life; how it sets trials and dares and the results that arise b ecause of triumphing in passing these challenges. Gawain is a true depiction of heroism in the story due to his zeal and gallantry on how he handled tasks (Peters 2). Sir Gawain is truly, a figurative character in the story. He is symbolic in the way he depicts the innocence of life. He did not fear at all to agree to all challenges since it pointed at salvaging the entire kingdom from the serious effects of anarchism that could arise from the failure of having a central king. His acceptance to a duel against the Green Knight immediately portrayed one of the elements that knighthood stood for. This is the aspect of fearlessness. Individuals accept such dares on a daily basis. Indeed, this could be the basic foundation of the roots of the term â€Å"sticking one’s neck out†. In instances where individuals take up on certain tasks or challenges, many are never prepared to live with the results of an unsuccessful feat. However, Gawain was the opposite of this. Peters says that after the end of one year, he bravely rode his horse and went to the Green chapel. This not only proved that he was fearless but a true hero. This was of course preceded by the caution â€Å"take caution Gawain, that you will not be a deserter of your trial through fear† (178). Throughout his journey, Gawain encounters dangerous situations and self-reluctance in some factors and the undying exploration for the chapel. This sentiment can be exemplified as the inner suffering experienced as a consequence of dealing with personal scruples. The long journey also gauged his faith as he continually prayed throughout his travels. He did not curse or downplay God’s name at any time. Evidently, it is true that the prayers served to keep Gawain sane and committed to the reason of his journey.Advertising Looking for essay on british literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Gawain’s wishes and prayers are res ponded to when he moves and ends arriving at a location where he could ask for an apparent rest. The castle he finds becomes the setting for his next rest. His main challenge grows as he enjoys his time at the court and discovers that there is a woman who is excited by the prospects of getting to know and understand him in a better way. The woman turns out to be the wife of Lord Bercilak; the Green Knight. This is depicted as a temptation. The woman in question attempts to entice Gawain while her husband is on a hunting expedition. Gawain manages to rebuff her trials except for a single kiss which he talks of in a confession. The woman offers him a sash which is believed to guard anyone who wears it from an apparent harm (Williamson 27). He takes possession of the sash, although reluctantly and does not mention to Lord Bercilak that he got it from his wife. This is because he accords most of his trust in material possession rather than God who can guard him from any form of harm. Mo st of his actions above are representative of his heroism save for this last act which appears to be one of his downfalls in the story. Gawain later heads for the chapel and gets the Green Knight ready for him and honing his axe. Gawain takes a bend over a blow which is immediately feinted by the Knight. This causes Gawain to flinch and he is reprimanded by the knight for that action. The knight goes for the axe again but repeats his earlier trick by feinting the blow. This infuriates Gawain who is not impressed at the playful nature that the knight employs. The knight’s third blow hits Gawain at the back of his neck. He later elaborates that the first two blows that he made are only representative of the exchanges at the court between Gawain and his wife which he rejected, and the last blow was symbolic of the failure of Gawain during the final encounter with the woman where he accepted the sash offered to him as a replacement of his faith he had in God earlier. This action according to the knight can be pardoned and lauds Gawain for indeed being exemplary and one of the most trustworthy individuals he had come across in his life. Peters mentions that the knight commented, â€Å"Gawain was polished of that dilemma and cleansed† (124). This meant that men, in spite of their liabilities and disparities can be pardoned. Gawain sees fault in himself and feels like he has lost the confidence of other people with him. However, he gets forgiveness from his peers. Obviously, even the knight sees Gawain’s heroism basing on what he comments about him. That even in the face of adversities and failures, Gawain can still seek pardon and remorse from peers.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Gawain’s character in the story is representative of the values of the society in which the texts were written. There was mu ch regard and respect for God’s will and expectation of man to always respect the creator and his rules. Gawain cautiously and skillfully evades a woman’s wiles and tricks that could have led to adultery. This tale has much to do with how a man should lead his life. We are faced with many tests and challenges on a daily basis, and to be pardoned of any of these is indeed normal. This tale will always be reminisced for its intense poetic nature in the way Gawain is handled, and can be utilized as a foundation on which people can judge their actions. Gawain is indeed a man and every one of them has pardonable faults. What is astounding however is that Gawain is a hero based on his actions that are mentioned above. Works Cited Peters, Scott. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Analysis. London: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print. Williamson, Neilson. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Ontario: Middle English Series, 1999. Print. This essay on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written and submitted by user Penel0pe to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Steve Invasive Species and Hallow Stems Essay

Steve Invasive Species and Hallow Stems Essay Steve: Invasive Species and Hallow Stems Essay Invasive species are plants or animals that are introduced to other environments of their own. These species cause adverse effects of the habitats they invade on an environmental, economical, and ecological level. They threaten biological diversity and can upset the balance of living things in nature. Look for example at Human Beings, we are a major invasive species to many areas of the Earth we occupy. We have destroyed many other life forms both plant and animal, just as any invasive species can do to the environments they are introduced into. Fallopia japonica(Japanese Knotweed) for example is an invasive plant species. It is a perennial of the family Polygonaceae which is native to Eastern Asia. This plant has hallow stems and has a resemblance to bamboo even though the two species are not closely related. It has a very invasive root system and it can damage buildings, roads, and most other manmade structures. In some areas its even possible this plant can reduce the capacity o f flood channels that carry floodwaters away. Is it feasible to say that these plants killed someone? Would the difference in the flood channels ability to carry water from these plants be capable of making such a negative difference? This plant forms extremely thick and dense growths that crowd out much of the surrounding plant life. It has great success growing in a variety of soil types. Another eerie fact is the rhizomes() can survive temperatures of -31F and can extend 23 ft horizontally and nearly 10 feet deep. This would create an extremely difficult task to remove if it threatened any buildings or other plant life you had concern for. To obtain an understanding of the effects of this particular invasive plant, we must first understand its uses and why anyone would contribute to the success of this bad plant. One reason being that Japanese knotweed is used in beekeeping as an important source of nectar for honeybees. They are used mainly in times of the year when many other species are not flowering. The honey yielded is a monofloral honey, which means that the honey is derived from one plant species and has a distinct taste. Secondly the young stems that grow are edible as a spring vegetable which has a flavor similar to sour rhubarb. Lastly this plant is known for its high concentration of resveratrol and flucoside piceid. This means it can replace certain grape byproducts. It is useful in this way even more because its year round growth and its ability to grow in many climates. The best way to control this weed is to use some form of

Evaluating and reviewing a piece of pop culture Essay

Evaluating and reviewing a piece of pop culture - Essay Example haps this is the reason why it is so popular because it has a subliminal message that an average guy just like Chuck and everyone else’s could become a super spy through an unexpected circumstance. The weakness of the TV series is that it defies logic and not based on sound science. For example, how could the CIA possibly build a labyrinth of headquarters at Nerd Herd’s basement without being notice by somebody? And also, there is no scientific basis that a person can remember everything (being an intersect) by just opening an email. The TV series became popular because it brought down spy culture to the understanding of the masses. The general audience was able to relate how the life of an average person could turn into a highly adventurous, explosive and secretive life by being a spy. Chuck’s dilemma on how to keep his identity and to fulfill the function of a spy also tickles the fancy and imagination of the audience that made it popular. Because of the theme of the film which is espionage and action, the main audiences of the film are mainstream males who are into espionage films. They can relate themselves as Chuck doing extra ordinary things even if they are just a regular guy. The value of the series is the ability of the main character Chuck, to relate to the subliminal aspiration of an average male to do adventure and secretive work by being a spy. It differentiated from other TV series of the same genre as it strips the work of being a spy as unattainable and making it a possibility as portrayed in the TV series Chuck. Whereas other TV series of the same genre portrays the role of a spy to require superhuman ability such as superior intelligence and athleticism, Chuck removed this barrier by just requiring the protagonist to be at the right place and at the right time and able to do the same and even better by just being lucky. If this will be translated to a game just like other spy films, this will prove to be interesting as those

SHORT ANSWER QUESTION - discuss and evaluate the range of family Essay

SHORT ANSWER QUESTION - discuss and evaluate the range of family types. (1000 words). - Describe and analyse sociological perspectives on the family (2500 WORDS FROM SECTION 2,3,4,AND 5 OF CRITERIA) - Essay Example Both the wives share their husband, and there should not be any bonds between the wives of the husband. Only when this condition is satisfied do we come across a Polygamous family. (Moynihan, Carolyn) This is a form of marriage where the woman takes the bite instead of the man. A polyandrous form of marriage includes a woman having more than two husbands and all of them living together at the same time. There should not be any bond between the husbands and they may or may not have kids. (Zietzen, Miriam) Monogamous form of marriage is the most prevalent form marriage in the society today. In almost all the countries throughout the world we have this type of marriage existent in their facets of societies. In this form of marriage, the man and the woman have only one partner, and they refrain from increasing the number of partners, but they stick to themselves. Matrilocal families consist of such kind of families which live with the wife’s mother’s house. According to this trend, the mother of the female child lives with her after her child gets married. Men have a very limited amount of input in the growth of the kids, and they usually bring up their sister’s kids. Woman have a dominating role to play in this kind of marriage. (Matrilocal Residence) Patrilocal families are the opposite of Matrilocal families where the couple resides along with the father of the husband in the same house. The kids are raised by husband the wife, but the husband has a dominating role in the family, focussing on running the family whereas the wife brings up the kids and looks after the day to day business of the family. Matrilineal descent is a system of family where the lineage is traced from the mother’s side. It is a line of descent from the female ancestor, from where the successors trace their lineage from the female ancestor. The husband also forms part of the wife’s lineage, and the kids take the family names of the mother’s

Contemporary Issues in Global Business Management Essay

Contemporary Issues in Global Business Management - Essay Example It is also found that Cathay Pacific is making sincere and earnest efforts towards sustainable business model, while also contributing to the social and environmental causes. Corporate Social Responsibility is also variously addressed as Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Responsibility, Global Citizenship, and Corporate Philanthropy. The definitions put forward by various organizations try to explain the concept using different terminology. As such there is no universal definition of CSR. However, different definitions of CSR carry a similar import and are same in extent and scope. The channelling of corporate resources towards community well-being through discretionary business practices is called Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR is to carry out business processes in a manner that exceeds the legal, ethical, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. Through CSR, companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. CSR aims for well-being of employees, customers, stakeholders and society in which it operates. According to EU Commission (2002) as cited in Hopkins (1998), CSR is voluntary action exercised by the companies to make their businesses socially and environmentally sustainable. CSR is voluntary integration of social and environmental concerns with business operations (CEC in: Worthington et al., 2003). The World Business Council as cited in Hopkins (1998) introduces the notion of ethics in corporate social responsibility best practice. It is described as a commitment to behave ethically and contribute to the economic development and quality of life of the workforce, local community, and the society at large. Airlines provide air transport services for passengers and freight. Airlines operate internationally or nationally as scheduled services or charters. Airline companies

Key Challenges Faced By The Bpo Industry Management Essay

Key Challenges Faced By The Bpo Industry Management Essay Peter Drucker says innovation is a change that creates a new dimension of performance. In todays business world, competition has become fierce and sophisticated. Companies worldwide are striving hard to operate as efficiently as possible and pass on the savings to the end consumers, in a bid to stay ahead of the competition. In the process, many companies are forced to innovate to come up with ways to reduce costs, increase efficiency and identify differentiators not only for their own organizations but also for their customer organizations. In the midst of this dog eats dog global competition, customers are true beneficiaries by demanding additional value, process innovation and business transformation from suppliers. In todays dynamic world, innovation is the hallmark of a competitive and leading organization. With attrition rates and competition in the BPO and ITES sectors rampant, innovation is the logical solution to stem the rot of this exodus and surge ahead of competition. Innovation, however, is not only about discoveries or new inventions; it is a concerted initiative to implement new ideas and methods of doing business to increase the overall efficacy of results (read topline and bottomline).   Innovation in BPO and ITES sectors is now picking up after companies have woken up to the fact that innovation is indispensable for survival and also in creating a competitive edge. Innovation occurs not randomly or accidentally but when there is a proper system/structure in place to encourage it. Any business is the sum total of its capabilities, which may differ from person to person. Nourishing innovation involves understanding the various capabilities in an organization and harnessing them to the best of its ability. These capabilities include: Differentiating capabilities an organizations primary assets that describes its special nature and the real differentiating factor Core capabilities those that are critical to the organizations survival, but may not necessarily help in differentiation Support capabilities those that support the organizations core capabilities and foster them. This paper aims to analyse innovation in the Indian ITES industry, success thereof and the focus needed to excel in the space. In particular, the organozation I was working for was suffering from all the symptoms mentioned in the report. Key Challenges faced by the BPO industry today and ways to fight it Flight to Scale Galloping Manpower Costs Increasing investments in Infrastructure Customer Retention Customer Acquisition People Retention To face these challenges, BPOs are forced to innovate and differentiate themselves in the market place. There are various types of innovation that a BPO can resort to: Business Model Innovation Services/Markets innovation Operations Innovation Business Model Innovation would mean changing the structure of doing business or even changing the billing model. From an hourly billing rate or transaction based billing organizations are now looking at outcome based financial models and sharing the risk and reward with the customer. Services/Markets Innovation would mean targeting entirely new markets based on new or existing offerings. BPOs can also innovate by coming up with entirely a new range of services. For example, many organizations are now talking about platform Platform BPO is about providing Business Processing services using a domain rich vertical or horizontal application (platform). Good examples for Horizontal application would be FA, CRM etc. There are innumerable vertical platforms. Some examples are Mortgage Processing, Collection Management, Insurance Benefits Administration, Policy Administration, Claims Processing and the list goes on. The purpose of the platform is to give credibility to the BPO providers capability. Operations Innovation aims at providing operational excellence with new offerings. Organizations are increasingly investing in analytics to provide the client insights into the way business is conducted and identifying areas of improvement. In one sense, it is akin to consulting services. Other forms of innovation could be in the areas of employee practices and investments in new technology. This is a significant change, which is true also of what is happening in IT and has a remarkable parallel with the transformation and rise of Japan in the post-war period. The transformation first occurs in transiting from cost advantage (wage arbitrage) to quality. Then comes the stage where quality is taken for granted, like hygiene, and clients start demanding innovation as a matter of course. Indian BPO as also IT is here right now and the ability of Indian players to innovate, in which they are still beginners, will determine their future.   A few examples of innovative players to help employee retention Intelenet Global Services, one of the leading BPO companies in India and rated among top-10 by NASSCOM, offering BPO and technology consulting services to clients in various sectors across the globe, has capitalized on its capabilities through employee innovation practices. To eliminate the boredom of the employees and keep them motivated to give their best for continuous value-addition to their clients, it offers its employees three career paths in the form of vertical growth, horizontal growth, and shift to parent company. While 70% of promotions in the organization are internal, only 30% is external. After 2 years of service, if an employee doesnt want to be a team leader (vertical growth), but desires to get into HR or training or other areas, he is allowed to shift diagonally across functions. Moreover, if someone who has worked for 2 years wants to move from nightshift to dayshift, then he is given first preference, subject to a vacancy in the parent company. Intelenet has spon sored offshore domain specialization training programmes for its employees, besides certification programs such as Train the Trainer. It has sent its employees to participate in seminars and conferences of top management institutes and also got them Customer Operations Performance Centre (COPC) certified. Similarly, Prudential Process Management Services (PPMS), the wholly-owned BPO subsidiary of Prudential UK, also offers vertical and lateral growth for its employees, thus enhancing value for its clients as well as employees through employee innovation. eFunds International, a US-based company providing technology solutions in financial risk management and electronic payments, and consultancy services, is creating continuous value for its clients through employee innovation. Whenever an employee joins the organization, he is given a Magic Score Card, which serves as a training passport. eFunds provides its employees training expertise in domain areas and also focuses on leadership skills. Because of its innovation initiatives, eFunds net revenues increased 11% from $532 million in 2003 to $552 million in 2004. Infowavz, another BPO company, offers a 1-year Management Development Program for fresh employees who join the company after completing their MBAs. It also offers an Accelerated Career Development programme for highly motivated and self-driven employees who look for continuous challenges and opportunities to maximize their potential. It has designed a unique Team Innovation programme for top performers who are associated with new projects at the pilot stage or proof-of-concept stage. Infowavz lucidly communicates its career path to employees at the recruitment stage, defining the Key Result Areas, and conducts an exhaustive Training Needs Analysis programme to identify the deficiencies and build employee competencies. There are quite a few BPOs investing on platform technologies to differentiate themselves from competition and also to improve margins. Wipros experience in the outsourcing industry has led to the development of Base, a technology platform that integrates outsourced services with the customers internal business processes and fulfils the following requirements: Flexibility and continuous improvement Control and transparency Complaince Faster time to benefit Accuracy and Quality What it takes to be an innovator A Partnering Attitude. Whats key here is a strong, long-term relationship between the two organizations. Both organizations must discourage adversarial, us-versus-them attitudes. If the provider fails, the client failsand vice versa. This is not about warm, fuzzy feelings; it is about clarifying synergies between the two organizations during the RFP cycle and ensuring alignment of interest just like in joint ventures. The Right Technology Platform. IT should support innovation. The technology platform provider must be able to make new technologies available quickly through the provider. This requires close collaboration between the BPO provider and the technology vendornot just marketing agreements. Also, buyers should select technology vendors with a demonstrated track record in bringing innovations to market over extended periods of time. BPO is long term; it is an innovation marathon, not a sprint. The Appropriate Governance Mechanisms. Buyers must ingrain innovation in their governance. That includes creation of an innovation and technology council with members from both buyer and supplier who meet regularly to review progress, ensure the technology evolves, and check the benchmarks at regular intervals to identify where performance falls behind. And technology evolution must push innovation efficiently, meaning integration is easy because the platform conforms to standards. Buyers can insure their tech platform does this using proactive oversight and agreed-upon standards. Standardized Process Redesign and Related Technology. Buyers need to limit their customization demands whenever they can. If buyers want innovation, the service delivery economics must work for the supplier. Suppliers that make money can afford to bring in innovation. This often becomes tricky because both buyer and supplier have to clearly understand the cost structure of the service delivery. A provider forced to accept a service delivery model that does not harness economies of scale, process optimization, or access to labour arbitrage is never going to be able to innovate, and customers forcing BPO providers to tweak their offerings may inadvertently kill the very root of the economic advantage suppliers are supposed to bring to the table. Better discussions about standardization pains and gains must happen between the client and the provider organization. Absolute top management commitment. No innovation can happen without top management commitment for both human and capital resources. This is very important because when investing in innovation sometimes results are not immediate. The senior management must have the vision and patience to reap the benefits. Conclusion Innovation in the BPO space continues to be a challenge for the following reasons: BPOs are normally under margin pressures and resource commitments for innovation are difficult to make. The SLAs are very stringent and time bound. Moreover daily performance could affect the commercials in a big way. This is because organizations see this as a window to reach out to their customers and a slip here would directly affect their customer satisfaction. Hence contracts are very tight and normally followed to the dot. This leaves very little room for innovation. Running the operations everyday is a struggle in itself People related issues are much higher when compared to the sister industry Information technology. The work hours are odd and the compensation less. This means a good amount of time being spent of motivational issues and coaching and training. Due to all these reasons, innovation in the BPO space continues to be a challenge. But in future as competition stiffens and the line between IT and ITES fades, there is a good chance that the scene gets better, including the organization I was working for.

Human cloning: what are the ethics, applications and potential undesira

Mankind has always tried to extend his knowledge about the properties of every living thing; it is an integral part of human nature. What is also important about it is that there is constant disagreement in new views between scientists and society. One such problem is the question of human cloning. Firstly, the term â€Å"cloning† must be defined: â€Å"Cloning is the production of an exact genetic duplicate of a living organism or cell† (Baird 2002, 20). This procedure not only led to producing a sheep, Dolly, but it can also have other very useful applications. Using different methods of cloning is expected to change radically the process of organ transplantation and it is a way of finding appropriate treatments of diseases. As a result of this sick people can be cured and other cases might be prevented. Despite these apparently positive applications, there are some very weighty arguments against human cloning, the main one being that the idea of cloning runs counter to religion and centuries-old principles. The aim of this paper is to consider the ethics of human cloning and analyse its applications and potential drawbacks. Main body There is one very important aspect about cloning – in general there are two basic methods of cloning: reproductive and therapeutic. Not everyone is acquainted with this information, so when the word â€Å"cloning† is used, it evokes the concept of reproductive cloning, â€Å"armies of obedient replicants†, which may appear risible, but â€Å"22% of respondents in ... Time/CNN poll gave this fear as their reason for opposing reproductive cloning† (Levy and Lotz 2005, 234). The following will describe the procedure of reproductive cloning, the reasons for rejecting it and arguments for this method. The aim of reprod... ...ificially conceived. It also has not been proven so far that he would have another constitution or different from usual people’s necessities of life. As it was written above, cloning could be helpful for infertile couples that want to have genetically close children to them. Nevertheless, opponents think that genetics is not compulsory in this situation and it is possible to love adopted children as well as own, so long as the role of mutual understanding is more important than genes. At the same time everyone has a right to marry and to have children, so why it is immoral to have a cloned offspring, if it would make parents happier and possibly will improve demographics in some countries. To sum up the theme of reproductive cloning is complicated and there is no single point of view in all categories, however, discussion of therapeutic cloning is no less complex.