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Class 643 Discussion 3

Class 643 Discussion 3

Class 643 Discussion 3

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Class 643 Discussion 3

Some factors that might be propelling the shift away from what was once deemed a critical factor in reducing risk to industrial infrastructure and systems are the development of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) and military-grade or weaponized malware. Such APTs include Duqu, Flame, and Night Dragon (Knapp & Langill, 2014). Another factor is the augmentation of cybersecurity research focusing on industrial control systems fuelled by global awareness of industrial control systems security after the disclosure of one of the APTs called Stuxnet. These factors have stimulated a shift in reducing risks to industrial systems because the APTs and weaponized malware provide sophisticated threat actors with high-tech means of targeting and exploiting industrial vulnerabilities. The trend will continue because the attacks due to APTs and weaponized malware are opportunistic and financially motivated, hence increasing at alarming rates.

Some of the controls and concerns that could be applied to lessen the threats associated with the growing social networking include blocking access to social networking platforms entirely from inside industrial networks to prevent are application and protocol exploitation (Knapp & Langill, 2014). Others include launching comprehensive security awareness training for site users and running detailed social engineering penetration tests for industrial social networking sites.

The importance of understanding attackers’ motives when it comes to different types of attacks is that this allows for the recognition of the most feasible approaches to adopt in defending industrial networks from the attacks. Understanding motives significantly changes how we defend against different types of attacks by determining the types of legitimate defense controls and protocols to implement (Knapp & Langill, 2014). Based on the reading, one of the challenges I see in the attempt to develop comprehensive defenses to the broad range of threats is the rapid evolution of the ransomware attacks and other forms of cyber-attacks. Another challenge is the Internet of things in which multiple systems and devices are connected hence increasing vulnerabilities to attacks.

The landscape of cybersecurity threats has considerably changed since the writing of this text to include new forms of threats that were not addressed in the text. Examples of these include crypto-jacking, data poisoning, malicious chips, and a shortage of skills, among others. I think that the rapid pace of technological transformation alters the strategies needed to defend against threats by providing attackers with sophisticated mechanisms and tactics of executing attacks, thus overwhelming the available defense protocols, applications, and controls.

References

Knapp, E. D., & Langill, J. T. (2014). Industrial network security: Securing critical infrastructure networks for smart grid, SCADA, and other Industrial Control Systems, 2 Ed. Syngress.

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Sex Education

Sex Education

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Sex Education

The increased debate on sex education in schools has been accredited to the high number of adolescents engaging in sexual behaviors with less regard not only of the teen pregnancies but also the diseases associated with the behavior. Most scholars believe that schools will serve as a great avenue to regulate such behaviors because it is where most young people spend time and also it is where they gain knowledge on various issues of the government. The paper below will focus on whether sex education should be taught in school concerning an article while supporting both sides of the matter.

           According to ‘Bringing Parents into The Picture’ an article by Thomas Lickona the incorporation of both parents and teachers will provide a better perspective about sex education to protect young people from the permissive society’s harmful effects. Throughout the article, the author has only incorporated the positive sides on why is not only important to incorporate sex education into the curriculum but on the significant part, the parents will play. The author’s main idea is that it is time for parents to be incorporated into the program and how this will happen. According to the author, it is important to join together with parents to prevent the suicide rates that according to him are more prone to sexually active young people, also the number of children who learn away from home will reduce too. In addition, the author believes that the effects of sexually active young people are sickening, they include teen pregnancies, STDs, high abortion rates, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and behavioral and emotional problems.

           The author also believes that by incorporating teachers this will help create an environment where young people can be open with their parents making it easier to discuss on these issues, Also, the fact that young people will be able to understand that the effects of sexual activities while young goes beyond teen pregnancies and diseases bur also self-contempt, depression, aftermath of abortion which can have long term effects. In my essay, I can use the reasons the author has stated on why it is important to incorporate sex education in our schools and the part our parents who we spend quite some time with can play. Lastly, this article is going to help me with futuristic ideas on why it is important for sex education in schools and on ways we can achieve the same.

Works Cited

Education, Character-Based Sexuality. “Bringing Parents into the Picture.” Educational Leadership (2000).

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Logical Fallacy

Logical Fallacy

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Logical Fallacy

What if, all of us could save time and money by just visiting a mall and buying a pair of shoe? And all the time saved we could visit the world, go for adventures, watch movies and we could not be forced to wake on that morning or evening after dinner and hit the gym. The muscle pains days and straining to try to boost our self-esteem through losing weight could all be stories of the past. All of us could be happier by not avoiding eating all the junk food or by asking for food delivering because no matter how much food we eat just by a walk to that class or to the workplace, we could all burn all those calories. We could all use the endless hours we spent at the gym doing other constructive things, example those PE’s lessons students can have a tutoring on the weak subjects and all the money we pay as membership to the gym could be an additional income. Skechers fitness group promote the snickers they use the false cause fallacy by stating the benefits of wearing those shoes.

In the advertisement on the sneakers in store, they are both a woman and a male wearing those sneakers and both of them are smiling. The advertisement have 4 choose two designed for the women and 2 for the men, the shoes benefits are listed which are weight loss, tone muscles, reduce stress on ankles and need and improve the posture. The name of the shoes is shape-ups, and the ad says to get the shape as you walk and not setting foot in the gym, it then goes ahead to tell the viewer that if one is interested in getting the details.

The advertisement to promote its products and have many people buy them uses more than just one fallacy, there is that of false authority and false cause. By using Kardashian as one of the covers, it surely draws most viewers considering the body shape of the star; this will lead to most people who admire and look up at the star to buy the pair of shoe. The second fallacy is the false cause where the advert relates wearing a shoe to keeping fit; these two things do not at all relate. In reality, how can just by wearing a shoe make a person lose weight that is normally lost after very many workouts in the gym and how can your hand muscles tone yet there is no effort done towards the same. These fallacies misinform the author, and in spite, people might buy because of the message they portray, the end will be no different and will only serve that one person who wears them and hits the gym. Additionally, in the adverts, the girl is wearing the workout attire yet it says keep fit while not going to the gym, she could have worn some office wear or casual. Lastly, in one of the shape ups advert with both a lady and a guy both are running, this misdirects the viewers because you have to wear the shoe and go around your everyday activities and by the end, you will achieve all those benefits associated with the shoes.

Both fallacies could be avoided all thing and still achieve the intended purpose of marketing the shape-ups, this could have been achieved by advising wearing of this and going to the gym. The ad could have stated work for fewer hours and still achieve the necessary exercise but not going to the gym. In addition, the cover image could be that of renowned athlete example, bolt because as much as they are still selling with the cover star the athlete sells will be much high and the advert would have included some gym equipment’s, example weight lifting for the hands. The result would have been better because in the previous advert they are implying that by working even the muscles will tone, yet this is illogical. The advert should have also incorporated how long one should wear those shoes by stating the miles because the sole of the shoe seems to cause more problems than good if worn every day by straining the muscles too much. By incorporating, those changes the sales could go far way up, the clients could be satisfied, and the shape-ups could sell themselves.

Skechers is aimed at selling its products at any cost, but it is not true that we can achieve fitness by simply wearing a shoe and going to the gym, this is illogical and therefore, impossible. With the changing world today because of the diseases associated with lifestyle, this ad should in the future focus of incorporating wearing the shape-ups while going to the gym, because this is the only way those benefits outlined in the advert can be realized. The shape-ups are a good shoe that deserves thumbs up but unless the company resolves to change, they might not survive in the market with other better shoes entering the market.

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Judicial Reform for Juveniles

Judicial Reform for Juveniles

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Judicial Reform for Juveniles

Recently, Cyntonia Brown who had been convicted of murder at the age of 16 was granted clemency by the Tennessee governor and will be released from prison. She had been sentenced to serve 51 years and while giving her the parole, the Governor noted that her sentence may have been too harsh. Brown’s case has garnered a lot of national attention especially on the judicial reforms needed. More often than not, teenagers commit certain crimes that get them really long sentences that they may actually miss their teen years in a world full of freedom. There are several criminal justice reform advocates that have pointed out concern to judgments and sentences granted to teenagers bearing in mind most are not often completely developed and their actions may have been influenced by certain aspects of their life unlike an adult who may clearly understand what he/she is doing.

Brown’s case where she killed a man who wanted to have sex because she felt unsafe is a case where at times sentencing may be too harsh. Brown was a victim of human trafficking and on that said day, her boss referred to as “cut throat” had sent her to the streets to get him money. She had been living with “cut throat” for a while after having to escape from her home a clear indication she was a troubled child. The US judicial system seems too often punish offenders although I believe this should not be the case and while sentencing decisions are made the aim should be rehabilitation. Although we cannot justify Brown’s killing of Allen, I agree with Governor Haslam that the sentencing was too severe for a girl who was just in her teenage years and was a victim of a manipulative drug dealer who had turned her to a prostitute (Mattise, 2019).

According to a report by the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention, hundreds of thousands of young girls are often arrested. There have been reports of the dangers these young girls may face while in prison. There have been reports of sexual assault if these young girls especially by the staff members. States that are worst affected by these cases include Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina and Illinois. When most teenage girls are sentenced to these prisons, they are often defenseless and look up to the prison law enforcers for protection. However, some these officers are taking advantage of these young girls probably because they know they may get easily scared and they have no one to run to. There should be measures put in place to ensure these acts do not happen in the prisons. According to research more than 80% of girls in the juvenile system have at one point experienced violence in their home. Most of these girls are often victims of abuse at home or trafficking (Gwynne, 2015). Some young girls have been sentenced for running away and most of the time they are often running from their abusers.

One concern from the case is placing of teenager especially those at 16 in adult prisons. It is sad that a 16-year-old is placed in a cell with individuals over 30 years’ old that have also committed serious crime. A person at the age of sixteen is still a child trying to figure out their life unlike a full grown adult. Most have argued that 16-year olds are little adults but we need to embrace the fact that these are still children and should be placed in juvenile cells. Rehabilitation in juvenile prisons is far much better than in an adult prison and this is evident in the case of The Central Park Five. Korey wise who was 16-years old and sent to adult prison had the most trauma than the rest who were sent to juvenile prison. In a juvenile prison a teenage girl may be accorded education and better amenities. There are states that still send teens to adult prisons for committing certain crimes such as murder and sexual offences. Despite the fact that the offences may be serious, the teenagers ae still young children who may not get the proper guidance in an adult orison as compared to a juvenile system (Ford, 2019).

Prison system are meant to help victims in rehabilitation and not to condemn them. Most teenagers who commit a crime at a young age are often victims or violence, made decisions without really understanding the consequences or have been misguided by an adult. In passing sentences to such cases a lot should be considered including number of years they can serve. Brown was to serve for 51 years before getting a parole meaning without the governor’s mercy she may have remained in prison till she was 67. All juvenile sentencing should be allowed parole hearing after a reasonable period and sentencing should also be fair.

References

Ford, C. (2019, August 30). ‘Children Are Different:’ Sentencing Juveniles as Adults. Retrieved from https://pulitzercenter.org/blog/children-are-different-sentencing-juveniles-adults.Gwynne, K. (2015, September 29).

Girls in juvenile detention are often the victims of family violence, report finds. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/29/girls-us-juvenile-detention-family-violence-sexual-abuse.

Mattise, J. (2019, January 8). Correction: Teen-Life Sentence-Clemency story. (2019, January 8). Retrieved from https://apnews.com/199ec93abff34bf2a6c79b0ec385419b.

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Travel Article

Travel Article

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Purpose and Audience

Purpose can be termed as the writer’s or author’s intention/target when writing an article for a particular audience. Purpose is normally brought out in articles when the writer wants the reader to see what he saw, feel what he felt, and hear what he heard among other targets. Audience refers to the final consumers of the art or work by various authors. The audience can take many forms; a single person, general audience and group audience. This article demonstrates the understanding of audience and purpose through the development of ideas, language features and structures by making links between them. It does so by narrating a short story about teenage friendship which commands attention in its use of imagery, explanations, analyses, explorations, critique, details, examples and a range of viewpoints CITATION Bry09 l 1033 (Bryan Station High School, 2009).

Friendship is always there but we do not go for it. It is God-given and many still take it for granted. A time comes, which comes, but rarely in history to forget the past and focus on the new. It was cold in Sue and the dark came very early. The fluorescent lights came and the streets became pleasant by their look through the windows. There was much play hanging outside the shops as children ran about. Snow powdered the feathers of birds, chicken and the fur of foxes. The wind blew their tails and turned their feathers. At the same period, Linda and I were going through thick and thin in our gradually blossoming friendship. Initially, the friendship had suffered a fracture when her parents discovered the secrete love affair between the two of us. Linda faced deadly threats from her parents. She was ordered to cast her dreams of ever being with me into the abyss. This brought a halt to our relationship and we stopped seeing each other for almost a month. It was not until this beautiful Sunday that we realized that we could never avoid suppressing the burning desire deep inside our hearts; the desire to be together was more than the need for our lives. Do ideal relationships take such a course? People who truly love each other go to the extent of dying for each other CITATION Tee13 l 1033 (Teena, 2013). Was I ready for this?

I must admit that the church hall was out of bounds by six o’clock in evening. At the gate to the church, a woman sold roasted chestnuts, and there we met every evening and were very polite and interested in what was the matter, and sat on the concrete slab there that was to bind our differences together. It was warm standing in front of the charcoal fire and the chestnuts were warm afterwards in the stomach. Linda was very young and very beautiful. Her love was the only thing I could kill for. She defined the meaning for love to me and I could not refuse to do anything for her even if it meant wrestling with an angel. Such promises usually come with friendship commitments. Many relationships are kept alive by the promises that the partners have in store for each other. It is hard to come by relationships that are devoid of promises. This was normal for our relationship CITATION Alo13 l 1033 (Alonna, 2013).

On this Sunday evening, a hush fell over Sue’s church hall. Linda and I were the only people present there. The eloquence silence in the church’s vicinity was one that could only be heard by the dead. As we sat with Linda on a wooden bench trying to mutually exchange our feelings for each other, something terrible happened. It was the turning point of my life. Linda began complaining about a headache then followed by other myriad problems that I could not decipher. Unable to make a decision on what to do, I resorted to wailing just to awaken help from nearby homesteads. Linda was quickly rushed to the hospital and I was arrested for interrogation. Seriously speaking, what could you have done? The only option, I think, is to suffer the same fate as mine CITATION Bri13 l 1033 (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2013).

Immediately after my arrest, Linda’s parents were breathing down my neck. They could not tolerate my innocent pleas. They were determined to have me jailed so as to ensure that their daughter was out of danger. They had warned me severally against associating with their daughter. The reason why they could not believe in my innocence was Linda’s condition. She had succumbed to a coma and could neither speak nor talk. My parents fought tirelessly to soften the enmity that had grown so big as a result of my connection with Linda’s state of the mind. Their struggle was all in vain as Linda’s parents could settle at nothing other than seeing me spend days behind bars until the doctors could say something better concerning Linda’s fate. Moreover, the only way I could be released was through Linda’s gain of consciousness and an utter of no harm from me.

After a week, Linda was able to regain her mental faculties. However, she could not tell anything about her admission to the hospital. Doctors only said that traces of pneumonia were present in a close scrutiny of her blood. This served to tighten the grip that her parents had on my detainment. The turning point of my life came when Linda asked about my whereabouts and demanded that I be availed in the ward she had been admitted. This was the most trying moments in my life because she wanted to see no one else except me. When I reached there, our faces graced each other happily. She could not help but fall for my ever positive expression. She let out a charming grin that led me to spoil for a hug from her. I reached out for her slender beautiful arms which were eagerly waiting to for their perfect partners. As we hugged one another with lots of relief, she muttered what seemed impossible to me, “I will stick by you forever”. The mention of forever did not hit me because reflecting on the past experiences we had come through with her could not exude any form of hope in me. Critically speaking, after such frustrations, no one would still have urge of keeping such a relationship CITATION The12 l 1033 (The Writing Center, University of California, 2012).

The paper has demonstrated the understanding of audience and purpose in its narration of a short story. The story has enshrined a lot of stylistic devices which serves to command attention from the audience and maintains their interest through suspense. Imagery is a common device with that spans the structure of the narrative. Most importantly, the paper has developed ideas and made links between them throughout the paper by use of a short story that describes teenage friendship.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Alonna, S. (2013). Arts and Culture. My Destination .

British Broadcasting Corporation. (2013). Theb influence of Style, Purpose and Audience on Text. English .

Bryan Station High School. (2009). Author’s Purpose and Exercises. Purpose and Audience Powerpoint .

Teena, M. (2013). Imagery Surruonds You. Love Toknow .

The Writing Center, University of California. (2012). Audience. The Writing Center .

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Jared Diamond (born on September 10, 1937) is an American geographer

Jared Diamond (born on September 10, 1937) is an American geographer

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Book Review

Jared Diamond (born on September 10, 1937) is an American geographer, a student of history, anthropologist, and writer most famous for his well-known science books. Initially trained in physiology, Diamond is known for drawing from an assortment of fields, including humanities, nature, geology, and evolution science. He is also a teacher of physiology at the UCLA Institute of Medication. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is a nonfiction book by Jared Diamond.

Guns, Germs, and Steel won awards in 1998 for presenting a more logical clarification on ethnic and cultural variances in ancient human societies to date. A genuine and convincing assessment concerning the explanations behind the nature of select cultures thriving since humanity’s evolution. This book is also considered massively open to the layman. The book is distinguished overwhelmingly in the fields of evolution science, and biogeography represents a prompt clarification for the different grouping of human fate that is satisfactorily kept up by data from various disciplines of scientific investigation.

Maybe the most astonishing accomplishment Guns, Germs, and Steel achieve that of giving a ceaselessly amazing clarification for ethnic and racial complexities than can biased individual hypotheses of humankind’s history. The scope of the book is extensive coverage from the earliest civilizations from thirteen thousand years ago till today over the whole world. While no single landmass or society is recommended, its most essential depth, Australia and nearby regions as the most significant extent of the investigation. Since Diamond experienced more years in these areas, he can provide a genuine assessment. Diamond’s remarkable ability to portray to the world in the small details helped make making his hypothesis of history tasteful to the overall pursuer.

The central topic Diamond focuses on is how did the Europeans manage to colonize the majority of the world, including Local Americans, Africans, and Native Australians rather than the vice-versa. The fitting response, as indicated by the author, lies with fundamental approaches of distinct conditions from which diverse societies rose—arguing that sustainable food creation is essential for a general populace to manage other people to expertise in different sectors. Likewise, the community would achieve more prominent individuals that provide military assistance, especially by massive numbers in times of war.

Diamond explains the effects of the uneven spreading of domesticable plants and livestock around the globe. The subsequent approach of parts affected the changing pace of spread and improvement on the knowledge in various landmasses. Eurasia, with its strategic location and ample land and ecological regions, saw a far sharper speed of the spread of arranged sustenance sources, conditions, and advances than did Africa and the Americas, with their more remote locations. The third factor affected disperse, and improvement between landscapes; the moving degrees of detachment between continents have impressively influenced the development rates. What’s more, another difference in the sections, include contrasts in the area and population density between the societies. It impacts the probability that civilization would invent and handle inventions or be incorporated by their neighbors (Diamond 20).

The “guns, germs, and steel” title of the proposed weapons, illnesses, and advances, whose improvement and spread are subject to the four blueprints of components Diamond follows. They are the basic models that explain the book. At the base of Diamond’s pyramidal question is large-scale food production and storage. He acts as a brilliant watchman for history being driven by natural possibility elements of geography, a record of inequitable distribution of resources.

Along with scientific research carried out in certain regions, Diamond also cites several historical writings. However, some of them are not extremely reliable as individual stories appear exaggerated. He relies on outside sources for areas he was unable to perform data collection. Still, the book focuses on Australia and New Zealand, areas where more research was conducted. Diamond manages to explain why specific populations in other regions succeeded and multiplied while others were completely wiped out. He included ecological factors along with the spread of information and proximity to other civilizations as significant factors.

The book is relevant to me in explaining different factors as to how many dynasties came to power. Additionally, it gives an appealing history lesson on the evolution of civilizations and cultures up to what they are today. Also, a lot of research has been put into the works of Diamond. Many scholars use his text to conduct research in their area of expertise and see if there is any correlation between data. His work is famous in the fields of geography and geology concerning history.

The theory explained in the book is well defined, in my opinion. Diamond can elaborate on many different reasons the Eurasians were able to thrive. The language is also simple enough for any laymen to understand the information provided. His argument is against the belief that certain peoples or races are superior genetically to others. Guns, Germs, and Steel will appeal to anybody intrigued by the documentation of man since the early civilizations. This book is recommended for people interested in the history of humankind.

Works Cited

Diamond, Jared M. “Guns, germs, and steel: the fates of human societies.” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 43.4 (2000): 609.

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Negotiation courses possess

Negotiation courses possess

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Negotiation courses possess the role of preparing students for multiple situations. These contexts include salary negotiation, inter-organizational decision making, and others. Negotiation skills should help trainees interact with a variety of people (Ebner 90). In the end, there is a huge tendency for negotiation courses to assume physical distances that separate people in real world situation. Negotiation that occurs through e-mail is one of the strategies that cater for the physical distances that separate people. In a considerable sense, e-communication has proliferated into dialogues that involve individuals of close proximity. This makes e-communication a tradition rather than a mere tool for compensating for distances.

Media of communication influences the interpretation and sharing of messages. This makes e-mail communication a different context of negotiation. It is notable that an individual might easily relay information in an e-mail rather than a in a face-to-face communication. This suggests that e-mail communication has a different type of richness and interactivity. E-mail is mildly rich medium of dialogue because it does not allow the transmission of visual and verbal cues (Ebner 91). On the other hand, face-to-face communication allows the expression of verbal and visual cues. Visual cues, such as body language, are instrumental part of communication since they express the seriousness of communication. Verbal cues are useful in emphasis and other aspects that compliment messages. In turn, e-mail communication is arguable as a medium that does not allow for emotional connection. In addition, e-mail is medium that shares low interactivity. This is because instantaneous reply of messages is not mandated.

E-mail communication is an electronic transfer of communication that has helped in bridging distances between people in negotiation processes. This medium of dialogue provides a different context for analysis and interpretation of messages. In spite of its convenience, e-mail communication possesses low richness and interactivity. This is because it does not allow the transmission of verbal and visual cues. Besides, it does not mandate the instantaneous reply of messages.

Works cited

Ebner, Noam et al. You’ve got agreement: negoti@ting via email. Pdf. Antwerpen: Maklu, 2011. Print.

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Negotiation and intra-team communication

Negotiation and intra-team communication

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Negotiation and intra-team communication

Negotiation and intra-team communication are principal elements in any organization. This is because they both aid towards conflict resolution. In a multicultural scenario, the given team must make decisions that affect a considerable number of communities. Multicultural teams are products of globalization that introduces a new challenge and complexity to management. The concept of teams is a critical tool that helps organizations accomplish complex and huge tasks. Teams possess the stimuli for creativity that produces unique products and accomplish decisions that stimulate corporate growth (Brett 175).

Teams only achieve prosperity when the top management engages members in meaningful debates. When organizations tolerate open-mindedness, there is a huge capacity for creativity. It is crucial to highlight that teams are not wholly effective at conflict resolutions and decision making. This is because they negotiate agreements in which members have varied views. In as much as conflicts are necessary, they introduce complications such as emotional outbursts.

In intra-team communication, it is crucial to assess the impacts of the disputes on the between-party process. The article draws examples from Israeli-Arab conflicts. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has entailed a long period many negotiations and wars that do not lead towards meaningful solutions (Matz 63). At the David Camp negotiation, there were mini-conflicts that emerged in the process. Thereafter, the economic situation of Palestine deteriorated as the negotiators did not make a concrete solution. It is evident that the inability to strike a compromise made both sides lose their intended goals.

It is discernible that intra-team communication and negotiation are vital elements of multicultural scenarios. A multi-cultural scenario demands a management that places several factors into consideration during decision making. A team is proficient at accomplishing complex and huge tasks. However, there is the high likelihood for varied views that stall resolutions. In intra-team miscommunication, the inability to strike a compromise leads to long negotiations that do not produce meaningful resolutions.

Works cited

Brett, Jeanne. Negotiating globally how to negotiate deals, resolve disputes, and make decisions across cultural boundaries. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley, 2007. Print.

Matz, David. Intra team miscommunication: the negotiator’s fieldbook. New York, NY: American Bar Association, 2006. Print.

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Louisa Alcotts novel Behind a Mask is unclassifiable story that edges close to intense literature.

Louisa Alcotts novel Behind a Mask is unclassifiable story that edges close to intense literature.

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Louisa Alcott’s novel Behind a Mask is unclassifiable story that edges close to intense literature. This aspect is repeated in the character of Jean Muir of whom the audience cannot easily discern. Jean Muir creates a dark and mysterious effervescence that triggers curiosity into what underlies the veil that she wears. At the same time, it might be true that she does not wear any veil. It is hard to conclude whether she is a character that springs from the circumstances around her; or a lifelong conniving woman who takes advantage of individuals’ sympathy and compassion to attain her way around life. Jean Muir should face analysis from two perspectives. She is either a manipulative character or a product of psychological failings. By characterizing her as possessing psychological failings, she is a product of the society’s circumstances such as patriarchy and class distinctions.

A summary of the story reads of a woman who goes to the Coventry as a governess. Jean has been recommended by a family friend of the Muir family. At this time, individuals around her are suspecting that she had a past romantic affair with the son of this friend. She is a humble and lovely woman of whom half the family comes to love. In spite of the overwhelming and gradual reception, the Old Coventry is skeptic of the well perceived character of Jean Muir. The elder Coventry has a growing conviction that Jean Muir is a scheming woman who may eventually surprise the individuals around her with a scripted life of manipulation. If one follows the perspective of the elder Coventry, the audience attains the assurance that Jean Muir is a dark woman. This manipulative character is a unique type since the evil in her seeps into every act that she performs. In this perspective, it becomes difficult to discern her evil character because she does not perform any one sensational and gross act. Instead, she programs her life towards a single ambition of success such that the individuals around her do not notice until she reaches her destination. When she reaches that destination, it again becomes difficult to discern whether she has worked hard for her gains or not.

It is crucial to portray the appearance of Jean Muir as she seems to the individuals who initially encounter her. To begin with, she appears young but she is a moderately old woman who might have reached her thirties. She possesses a dark hair but she has covered the same with a fair colored wig while the individuals around her are oblivious of this idea. In addition, she has a subtle, gentle and meek appearance. In the end, she strikes people as a caring and pretty governess. The audience should have skeptical perspectives as concerns this appearance. This is because Jean Muir professes a character that is difficult to hate. This, however, is impractical in an actual life. A complete individual should possess both discernible glow and dark side. A real person should possess strengths and weaknesses that make individuals hate, love, sympathize and despise her simultaneously. It is not realistic that Jean Muir can possess such a genteel appearance in all her manners and appearance. In turn, this behavior is characterized as seduction. It is only seducers who can project such a faultless image that do not entail the humanity of possessing flaws. Deep within, Jean Muir is a bitter women but she projects an unfazed face out of her circumstances.

The book describes her as not an attractive woman; neither an ordinary one too. By describing her as not attractive, the story does not mean that she is unattractive. Rather, it is difficult to conclude whether she is not beautiful or not. Her beauty solely depends on how she projects herself to the aesthetics loving society that she longs to belong in. In the end, she seduces people with her charms thereby landing into coveted places that she had longed for.

This appealing character seduces the audience into sympathizing with a woman who might have faced certain difficulties in her earlier life. It reveals that the woman projects the image that the society expects of her. It describes the beautiful yet the subtle and meek appearance that the society expects. Jean Muir seduces a society that she deems as impenetrable when she employs real efforts. In turn, the projected image weakens the hard stance of the given society. In Jean Muir’s society, a dark hair and meek personality of a woman is deemed angelic. In turn, women are similar to artifacts that the society perceives as accessories to a dull society. On the other hand, men are the owners of these women that they showcase for pride.

To begin with, it seems that the Victorian society imposes constraints on the entrepreneurial ventures of women. Jean Muir is a thirty year old divorced actress that goes for a job as a governess in an upper class Coventry family. According to her, this might be the only way of attaining wealth. Muir seems to possess talent in creating impressions as she has had a life of acting. In the Coventry family she lays a meek and bashful nineteen year old girl. She plays a sentimental woman thereby winning hearts of the family sons. Having convinced a significant number of people around her, she marries the old titled uncle, Sir John. Muir is securing a prominent financial future by concealing the intricacies of her part to secure the family name. Sir John is an aristocratic man who has the assurance of lifelong wealth due to the family connections and large businesses. Muir probably has the assurance that marrying into the family will accord the platform for having a financially secure family. Besides marrying a wealthy man, a woman possesses limited opportunities to create wealth.

Apart from limited wealth creating opportunities, poverty is a significant trigger of Muir’s character. The book notes that Muir has faced more frost than sunshine. Besides, the story notes that poverty had bound her to a life of misery. Poverty creates a considerable number of problems for such a woman. To begin with, she is an insignificant person of whom the society cannot recognize her talent unless she attains wealth. Jean Muir probable has dependants who rely on her meager earnings from seemingly desperate venture that she engages in.

In order to escape this trap, because poverty seems to be a perpetual thing in her class, she discovers a single way out of the misery. Jean Muir is a victim of a society that only gives wealth to a given class of individuals. As wealth rotates around the class, poverty remains etched in the lower classes. As evident in Muir’s story, as she teaches children in the Coventry community, the lower class overwork themselves to create wealth for the bourgeoisie class. Muir possesses limited alternatives but to effect this image towards appealing to the Coventry class of individuals. By breaking the crust and penetrating into the upper society, she can easily access wealth that is otherwise limited to her class of individuals.

However, employing poverty as an excuse to manipulate individuals is refutable from many points. It is arguable that the Coventry class is a circumstantial product of industrialization. Apart from general wealth level, class conflict is a persistent feature in labor, politics, private life and family. This manifests a whole network of strife that production inevitably creates. Eventually, individuals strive to escape this conflict. This is evident in the Coventry family case as they strive to hide from the tumultuous environment that defines production. Similarly, Muir escapes from this conflict at her home. In the end, every individual suffers the same fate of escaping from conflicts that define their typical environments. An upper class home becomes a refuge from the tumult in the city and social strife. Muir, therefore, should not take advantage of her situation to con her away around life.

Jean Muir is excusable as a product of a patriarchal society. The society constrains and limits a woman’s growth in every perspective. This includes limits to a how a woman expresses herself and explores her nature. In such a society, Jean Muir possesses limited opportunities but to pursue arts such as acting. Through acting, she can communicate the emotions and express the intellect that the society suppresses. These standards limit a woman’s individuality in terms of her intelligence, personality and talents. In turn, she has to opt for the image that society expects of her. Unlike men, women adopt the construct that the society makes for them.

This creates fury in a woman such as Jean Muir who plans to revenge on men. However, she realizes that she cannot attain her wish if she projects that bitter to the world. This suggests that she has to adopt the image that the society expects of her and eventually cast the spotted men in the same arena that she has been knocked down.

Muir’s handling of the male characters in the novel is the mark of a woman who is venting. In her notes to her friend, she reveals that her husband was shocked on hearing that she was an actress. While growing up, she chooses acting and strives to live a reckless life. This creates a tumultuous relationship that leads to her divorce. Jean Muir professes hatred for Gerald since she realizes that he was responsible for her not receiving a carriage to the Coventry estate. Her grand scheme regards charming Edward and moving to Gerard. Thereafter, she drops both of them for their elderly uncle. Her aim is to humiliate and humble the two men. This deep lying animosity is a reaction to injustices that she has suffered out of a society that only appropriates prosperity to men and is limiting to women.

Jean Muir is a reaction to social construct of classes. Muir presents fears of deception and sexual exploitation as a divorcee and an actress. There is blurry line between morals and real life; performance and reality. Muir brings the theme of deception in a quiet family home by concealing unimpressive past through the exterior of a sentimental woman. Such self display heralds as a symbol of the upper class. By actualizing an upper class femininity and virtuous womanhood, she uncovers that class distinctions are acted rather than natural happenings. Such upper class constructs possess the function of concealing family and personal history.

All the same, Jean Muir extends her manipulations to innocent members of the Coventry household. This suggests that she manipulates innocent characters that do not account for the problem that she has encountered in her life. Muir appeals to Lucia’s vanity by praising Lucia’s mother’s portrait. She makes comments about Lucia by arousing her feelings of class superiority and triggering her sympathy simultaneously. This generates the privilege of intimacy as she swings the household’s emotions between two different phases. Muir quickly drops Lucia’s affections and move to Gerard. Muir uses romantic conventions into convincing Gerard about a wholly new side to her. In the end, she creates a fight between Ned and Gerard by creating the impression that both are enemies. It is discernible that Muir destabilizes the life of a quiet family by manipulating the members into behaving the way she expect them.

By saying that Jean Muir possesses psychological failings, it impresses that she is a product of her harsh environment. This creates feelings of revenge and manipulation that she uses to vent. Jean Muir is, however, classifiable as a femme fatale character that possesses an enigmatic past, a created prominent present and a revengeful future. She is just a cunning woman who possesses theatrical talents of manipulating her world. As regards family values, Muir is a destructive character that makes brothers almost murder each other. Besides, she breaks the marriage of Gerard and Lucia. The whole of the Coventry house deteriorates because of her manipulations.

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Literature and oppression on women

Literature and oppression on women

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Literature and oppression on women

The situation of a woman in a traditional society is subject for perpetual debate. Women share a long history of tribulation that has been associable to societal prescriptions that hold certain genders as inferior. Different art works, such as literature, has engaged in discussions and tackled the themes that involve oppression of women. It is notable that the society has systems that encourage the suppression of women.

Literature subtly notes that a man is the determinant of women’s fate in a society. In Rape: A Love Story, there is an immediate horrendous scenario. The city of Niagara Falls bespeaks worry as a woman and her daughter receive a brutal and physical attack from individuals who are supposed to protect them. The book has a title that speculates on the fate of the women. It is an open title that entails no allusion to the onset oppression of women. El Saadawi’s novel, Woman at Point Zero, Firdaus already projects her fate as regards the happenings in her surroundings. This is because, from the onset, she witnesses her father brutalizing her mother. There is an allusion to the scenario of characters from the title of the book. Point Zero refers to a place that subjects its occupants to a sense of constancy. These titles point to a life that offers no hope for either girl or a woman. In spite of the idea that childhood might be an idyllic phase, growing up unearths the grim nature of a community.

The idea of power is a subject that relies on the subjugation of women. This suggests that men harness power by quickly oppressing the most vulnerable group, women. In the beginning, Firdaus learn that her father possesses considerable power over her mother. After the death of her parents, her uncle repossesses this power and extends the element over Firdaus. The two men that Firdaus commits to, manifest a destructive power that they employ to limit the freedoms of the woman. This sequence of power halts when Firdaus meets Sharifa. Sharifa is an independent woman who has navigated the ladder of prosperity by manipulating men. In this regard, Sharifa employs her beauty to wield power over men that she extorts considerable money from. However, Firdaus learns that she is betraying her own sense of dignity by using her body for money. Firdaus realizes that, as a woman, power cannot be absolute as she compromises on her most vital property to gain wealth.

Literature manifests that men merely use women as sources of their pleasure. This suggests that if women wear off the sexual pleasure, the men possess no further interest in them. A woman’s value props on the beauty that the world sees in her. This is an ancient practice that features Euripides’ play, Medea. This story begins when Jason decides to abandon Medea to marry Glauce. This is an immature decision that Janus makes without properly evaluating the emotions of his wife. Interestingly, Jason blames the wife for a melodrama of declaring her grievances to the public. Jason inconsiderate nature further manifests in his regard for the remarrying as a universal family interest. Besides, he employs his exploitative character to extend material offers to Medea. Such experiences build up rage in affected women. This is a danger to a passive society that does not properly consider the situation of women. This is because women’s feelings explode to destroy members of the community who are innocent. The tragedy of the play entails Medea’s rage that makes her poison Glauce and kill all her children. It is evident that women can embody a mixture of passion and rage that the society influences. Medea is an initially loving woman who expresses warmth and exceptional love for all her children and husband. When Jason disappoints her, however, she exacts her revenge on the very individuals that she had unconditionally loved.

There is a considerable sense in which the society suppresses the women’s freedom for expression. Individuals subject women to quietude about their own unique problems. In Oates story, A Love Story, it is notable how Teen’s happiness ends after a party. When Teen decides to reach her home through a long way, a gang of inebriated youths trail her. This gang turns out to be brutal individuals who rape her in front of her own daughter. This story breaks out into the surrounding community but it attracts trivial attention. Close individuals discuss Teena as having called for her own fate. She becomes a victim of gossip in a community that ought to help her. Furthermore, the justice system seems to laugh off her problem as an occurrence that cannot be mitigated. This casts a peek into the rottenness of a justice system that cannot defend beasts from the women. Teen eventually suffers the fate of guilt as she realizes that her assertiveness is source of fun for the passive community.

Literature expresses the fate of women as disguised by the affection of men. This is a deeper aspect that deals with the actual sense in which men perceive women. Sylvia Plath’s poem, Lady Lazarus, expresses cynicism of women’s progressive movements and men’s pretentious expressions of change. This is because there underlies a demeaning view of women. This reflects in women as a dark internal carriage that wishes for its own extinction. Since birth, the character shares a perpetual wish for death. This is a manifestation of a type of life that is similar to the feeling of death since individuals do not show the real value of an individual. The core character has a deep stretching resentment for individuals who seem to express affection towards her. In the poem, there is a regular mention of same place to depict a monotonous living. Monotonous living, in this case, is existence that does not entail change as the women, somehow, remain in their fate of subjugation.

It is discernible that the society has systems that encourage the suppression of women. Literature is an instrumental tool that exposes the underlying events in the oppression of women. In the stories and poems, men determine the fate of their women. The works’ titles bespeak an eventual destiny for women. The Lazarus Woman, for instance, is a title that expresses the fate of the ever-suffering woman. Besides, through prostitution, in Woman Point Zero, it is notable that men wield power by placing women at places for vulnerability. Jason’s activities manifest an inherent male character of manipulating women for pleasure and fleeting to the next beautiful women. Suppression occurs in Teena’s fate as she attracts unconstructive and passive attention. Lastly, it is notable that men embody a consistent character of hiding their manipulation within affections.

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