Friday, January 31, 2020

Transactional Communication Essay Example for Free

Transactional Communication Essay Conversations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They are talking simultaneously, each seeming to carry on a conversation with themselves more so than with each other. She is talking fast, looking at the air, her hand gestures extravagant and facial expressions flamboyant. He is leaned back, sunken into the chair comfortably, talking lowly, nodding his head in agreement at regular intervals, his voice running alongside hers. She is excited. He looks amused.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They sit close to each other in the corner of the cafà ©. Sounds from conversations hum in the air around them, the clinking and bustling of a busy cafà © a background to this conversation. Despite the multidimensional setting—the music playing in the speakers above, the couple to their left discussing baby names, the loud ring of the nearby telephone and the even louder server who answered it—these two talk as if they were alone at home, as if none of the loudness existed. They are celebrating. Crumbled remains of a chocolate fudge cake occupy the table space they share, and two large mugs of coffee sit pushed to the side, ready to be taken away.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is where a server makes it big or loses out completely on a tip. Time is a factor in everything, and as a server you have to be willing to divide your time evenly among your tables so that you don’t fall in the weeds later. If you see one of your tables finished with their plates and cups, it’s your job to pick it up, and fast. It’s an opportunity to offer them anything else, and one more chance to make an impression, to make them like you. They’ve finished eating, and more importantly, she’s just eaten chocolate cake.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   So I bustle over and say, â€Å"Hey folks, can I get this out of your way?† Smiling, of course. You have to smile.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She looks up at me, blinking, cross, brow furrowed. He moves forward, sitting up aggressively, brow furrowing, â€Å"What, man?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Can I get this out of your way?† I ask, cautiously, not sure what just happened here. I even lean in a little, my hands crossed behind my back so I look more servant-ly, less threatening.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The mood cracks. She laughs. He smiles goofily in relief. He shakes his head. She puts her hand over her eyes. â€Å"We thought you said something else,† they both seem to say at the same time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When they leave, I find my tip—a measly $3—under the saltshaker. Apparently, noise is a factor, too. The external part of it, all those people’s voices charging the air around us, music swirling in between conversation, me asking to clear the plates; they thought I was hitting on her. Maybe I was smiling too much.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But he must have that internal part of it, the voices in his head that tell him she’s cheating on him with every guy that sees her. Why is that, I wonder? They were having such a nice conversation, and then I got there, and everything changed. What were they talking about? Being a server is about the closest thing you can be to a fly on the wall. They almost ignore you completely, until you buzz around them and ask if it’s okay to pick up their plates. Next time, I shouldn’t say anything, I should just pick it up.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

An Overview of Reggae Music Essay -- Music

Reggae is a genre of music that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. It is known for the heavy and strong emphasis on the bass within the background beat. Reggae was perceived as a kind of music used to express feelings about the social, political, and economic hardships in Jamaica during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was performed by musicians from black ghettos who used unhurried beats to make a style of music of their own. Reggae became an important part of the lifestyle of many Caribbean islanders; expressing a sense of pride of their Caribbean culture. Reggae was developed from ska and rocky steady. Ska consists of elements of Caribbean and mento, calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. Rocky steady uses musical elements such as jazz, R&B, African and Latin drumming and other genres. It is noticeable by the counted off beats with a slow tempo. A reggae beat is most distinguishable by having a slow tempo, bass beat within the background with an up-tempo beat over it. If you count 1 2 3 4 to the beats, the instrument’s accent is played on the off beats; giving it a relaxed sound. Reggae music consists of a relatively small variety of instruments because of its distinct sound. Bass drums, drum symbols, and guitars are the most common instruments used to play reggae songs. Bongos are used to play broken patterns with the usage of African style rhythms. An important factor to understanding Reggae music is having knowledge about the history of Jamaica. In 1962, Jamaica gained its independence from the British. Around that time, reggae music began to become prominent within the music industry. The most important form of reggae w... ...ic is an important aspect of the many cultures in and outside of the Caribbean. It instills different moods into people and comes in various styles. It has been used to express oppression and joy. No matter how people make or hear reggae music; it will be a distinct sound that lures one’s feelings towards the unique culture. Works Cited Bays, Barry, P. Renee Foster, and Stephen King. Reggae, Rastafari, and the Rhetoric of Social Control. University Press of Mississippi. United States of America. 2002. Chang, Kevin O' Brian, and Wayne Chen. Reggae Routes. Temple University Press. Philadelphia.1998 Jahn, Brian and Tom Weber. Reggae Island. Da Capo Press, Inc. New York. 1998 Latin Pulse Music, Inc. n.p. 2006-2011. Web. 2 April 2012. Sarno, Alberto, Sarno, Marcello. Reggaeton in Cuba. 2007. Sprachcaffe Sprachreisen.Web. 10 March 2012.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

The Rise and Fall of Enron

The meteoric rise and fall of Enron is one of the most notorious tales in the history of corporate America. Enron was the seventh-largest company in the United States in 2000 and ‘Fortune' magazine had declared it as America's â€Å"most innovative company† for six straight years; its share price had climbed from $ 10 a share in 1991 to over $ 90 a share in August 2000 while its revenue jumped to more than $100 billion. (â€Å"Rise and Fall of an Energy Giant†) No one could have predicted that before the end of the following year the â€Å"rising star† of corporate America would be filing for bankruptcy, shaking investor confidence to the core and signalling the end of the longest bull-run in the American stock exchange's history. The ramifications of the dramatic collapse still reverberate in global financial and energy markets as well the U.S. courts, where a number of former Enron managers face serious criminal charges. This fairy tale rise and ignominious fall of Enron is the subject of this paper. The Pipeline and Energy Company: Enron Corporation was formed as a result of a 1985 merger of Houston Natural Gas (HNG) and InterNorth-a Nebraska based gas pipeline company. Kenneth Lay, CEO of HNG, became Enron's first CEO and proceeded to make it the first nationwide natural gas pipeline. Enron soon became involved in in the transmission and distribution of electricity in addition to gas in the US as well as the development, construction, and operation of power plants and pipelines worldwide. Its profits were, however, modest as in those days, energy was a government-sanctioned monopoly. (Lindstorm) Taking Advantage of Deregulation: Things began to change as the gas and electricity sectors were deregulated by the early 1990s. Kenneth Lay decided to take advantage of the deregulation and hired Jeffery Skilling a young consultant with a banking and liability management background, in 1990-making him the CEO of a new division in Enron- the Enron Finance Corp. The duo proceeded to transform Enron from a ‘boringly predictable' and regulated Gas Company into one of the largest energy traders in the US that would eventually dominate the trading of energy contracts and financial instruments known as derivatives. Trading Becomes the Mantra: As Enron's revenues sky-rocketed in its initial forays into wholesale buying and selling of gas and electricity, Skilling was emboldened to extend the trading concept into almost any commodity that could be traded, i.e., futures contracts in coal, paper, steel, water and even weather. Taking advantage of the growing use of the Internet, Enron started Enron Online (EOL) in October 1999-an electronic commodities trading Web site that was hugely successful almost overnight. Skilling hired the brightest talent from the top MBA schools and turned them into high-flying traders with incentives to â€Å"eat what they killed.† (Thomas, para on â€Å"The Best, the Brightest†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) While the company grew rapidly through the 1990s, â€Å"some of the worst manifestations of its culture-obsessions with bonuses, the stock price and exotic accounting-were also growing, and out of control.† (Fowler, â€Å"Enron's Implosion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) Enron did make huge profits for a short while due to highly volatile energy prices, and there was widespread perception in the company about the unlimited potential of online trade and technology innovations such as the broadband. Things started to change in the late 1990s. Other energy companies such as Dynergy, Duke Energy, and El Paso had entered the field of energy trading and the competition started to eat into the huge profit margins of Enron. Other factors such as falling energy prices in early 2001, the approaching worldwide recession and the broadband bubble burst began to work against Enron's ‘dream' run. The company, in the meantime, had embarked on a culture of cutting trading deals that had a momentum of its own that was hard to stop. Disregarding Ethics: Ethics at Enron was put on the back-burner as its corporate culture was focused on making â€Å"deals† and increasing Enron's share value. Skilling was relentless in his push for creativity and competitiveness, giving rise to â€Å"a growth-at-any-cost culture,† overriding all checks and balances, and suppressing all voices of caution. (Fowler) Its ‘ethics' was personified by Kenneth Lay's exercising of his stock options and pocketing profits, even as he was promoting Enron shares as a bargain to employees. It was also reflected in the action of some Enron executives who pressurized a brokerage company to take action against a broker who advised some Enron workers to sell their shares. (Wee, â€Å"Corporate Ethics†) Dubious Accounting: It was hardly surprising, therefore, that several Enron resorted to â€Å"innovative† accounting practices to show inflated profits and hiding their losses. Under Andrew Fastow (Enron's Chief Financial Officer) personal guidance, the company made use of thousands of Special Purpose Entities (SPEs), some of them owned by Fastow himself, to â€Å"park† its troubled assets that were falling in value, so that the balance sheet continued to show growing profits. Conflict of Interest: Despite serious accounting irregularities, no one was prepared to blow the whistle because of conflicts of interest of several key players. Enron's auditor, Arthur Anderson was also its consultant and stood to gain from ‘seeing no evil'; Kenneth Lay was busy exercising his stock options before the share value fell. J.P. Morgan, while underwriting bonds for Enron, was involved in trading derivatives contracts with the company and had a substantial share in Enron stock. Andrew Fastow was making millions in profits by doing business with the firm through secret limited partnerships. As a result, although the fall of Enron when it filed for bankruptcy in December 2001 seemed stunningly sudden to most people, conditions for the collapse had been brewing for a long time.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

The Narrative Of The Captivity And The Restoration Of Mary...

On February tenth, 1675, an Indian attack on Lancaster during King Philip’s War resulted in the capture of twenty-four people. Mary Rowlandson was among these captives, and the resulting captivity narrative, titled The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, published in 1682, is formed based on her memory. Rowlandson’s captivity narrative carried great significance in that it came to be used as a didactic Jeremiad, leading its Calvinist audience back towards God’s path and away from an allegorical wilderness. As a devout Calvinist, Rowlandson believes her journey through captivity is a test wrought by her God. Her deep desire to prove herself to her God comes through clearly in several situations which†¦show more content†¦Although she is quick to accept the events, it is merely because of her conviction that God allowed it to test Rowlandson’s perseverance. A lack of sympathy is shown in a few interactions with he r captors, as Rowlandson remembers how an Indian â€Å"had brought some plunder, came to me, and asked me, if I would have a Bible, he had got one in his basket. I was glad of it [†¦] so I took the Bible† (4), a much-appreciated gift. Upon returning from pillaging another English town, an Indian offers Mary Rowlandson a â€Å"gift† of a Bible, which he had stolen from a dead English townsperson. The use of the word â€Å"plunder† connotes the violent force used in obtaining the Bible, and works to enhance the situational irony of Rowlandson’s neglect of the fact that Indians murdered innocent people in order for her to receive her â€Å"gift.† Rowlandson’s Calvinist views, in this case having her believe God brought the Bible to her, outweighed any sympathy she may have once harbored for an anonymous English person. The intended demographic of reader undoubtedly would have agreed to place their God above any human person, no matter the circumstances. Furthermore, this idea presents itself when Rowlandson attempts to convince Goodwife Joslin, a pregnant captive who was becoming impatient and wanted to go home, not to run away, as she remembers, â€Å"I wished her not to run away by any means [†¦] We opened the Bible andShow MoreRelatedA Narrative Of The Captivity And Restoration Of Mary Rowlandson Essay1342 Words   |  6 Pageswe have discussed a few captivity narratives such as: John Smith, Mary Rowlandson, and Cotton Mather. From a personal standpoint, Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative was one of the best selections we have read in class thus far. It is a prominent source of biblical encouragement to those of the Puritan religion and some other religions that put God above all human and nature. Throughout the short story, a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mary Rowlandson, it describes the elevenRead MoreA Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, by Ma ry Rowlandson1483 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson† by Mary Rowlandson is a short history about her personal experience in captivity among the Wampanoag Indian tribe. On the one hand, Mary Rowlandson endures many hardships and derogatory encounters. However, she manages to show her superior status to everyone around her. She clearly shows how her time spent under captivity frequently correlates with the lessons taught in the Bible. Even though, the colonists possibly murderedRead MoreThe Narrative Of The Captivity And The Restoration Of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson1422 Words   |  6 Pagesof twenty-four people. Mary Rowlandson was among these captives, and the resulting captivity narrative, titled The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, published in 1682, is formed based on her memory. Rowlandson’s captivity narrative carried great significance in that it came to be used a s a didactic Jeremiad, leading its Calvinist audience back towards God’s path and away from an allegorical wilderness. As a devout Calvinist, Rowlandson believes that her journeyRead More A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson944 Words   |  4 PagesThe Pressure to Assimilate in Mary Rowlandson’s A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson There are times when assimilation is not a choice but rather something is forced. In circumstances such as being taken hostage, the ability to survive must come at the price of assimilating ones own customs into another lifestyle. In February of 1675 the Native Americans who were at war with the Puritans obtained hostage Mary Rowlandson of the Plymouth colony. During this timeRead MoreThe Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson1600 Words   |  7 PagesThe Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson reveals that the ghastly depiction of the Indian religion (or what Rowlandson perceives as a lack of religion) in the narrative is directly related to the ideologies of her Puritan upbringing. Furthermore, Rowlandsons experiences in captivity and encounter with the new, or Other religion of the Indians cause her rethink, and question her past; her experiences do not however cause her to redirect her life or change her idealsRead More Narr ative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson1366 Words   |  6 PagesNarrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson From the violent and brutal clash between Indians [1], and British colonists in Massachusetts during King Philips War (1675-6) grew a new literary genre. After their redemption, some colonists who had been prisoners of the Indians wrote autobiographical accounts of their experiences. These captivity narratives developed a large audience, and interest in the narratives continued into the nineteenth century.[2] After her captureRead MoreA Narrative Of The Captivity And Restoration Of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson1042 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl† and â€Å"A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson† are both nonfiction narratives that describe the struggles of women in some form of captivity. The similarities between these two texts are in some ways incredibly obvious, for instance they are both written in the first person from the perspective of marginalized women struggling to merely survive. â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl† specifically deals with the extreme level ofRead MoreThe Narrative Of The Captivity And Restoration Of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson1031 Words   |  5 PagesMary Rowlandson Captivity and Spiritual Freedom The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, or also known as The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, written by Mary Rowlandson is a powerful captivity narrative. Mary Rowlandson gives a first person perspective about her experience of being held captive during King Phillip’s War. Rowlandson lost everything by an Indian attack on her town. The Indian’s over took the town of Lancaster, catching homes on fire, killing and capturingRead MoreA Narrative Of The Captivity And Restoration Of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson982 Words   |  4 PagesA Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson The life one treasures and takes for granted today can be so easily erased in the blink of an eye and gone tomorrow. Therefore, not only is it important to cherish how one lives for today and now, but it’s also important to how one can overcome the misfortunes and hardships they may suffer; tragedy can make a person or break a person. Mary Rowlandson’s experience during her eleven weeks of captivity as documented in â€Å"A NarrativeRead MoreA Narrative On The Captivity And Restoration Of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson1670 Words   |  7 Pageswriting about the historical context of Mary Rowlandson’s, â€Å"A Narrative on the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.† I am going to look at the entire historical background of Rowlandson’s narrative. The way I am going to explore this is how the readers back then would have interpreted Roland’s reference to Biblical verses, and her questioning of God’s role during her captivity. I pl an on using at least 2 sources for this assignment. Mary White Rowlandson was a colonial woman in America who