Two Bildungsromans in One Story Essay Example for Free

Two Bildungsromans in One Story Essay In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem Finch become more cultured and mature young-adults by experiencing different events. Scout became more lady-like when she observed and helped Calpurnia at her Aunt Alexandra’s brunch. Jem learned from Atticus and Miss Maudie that you should not take pride in your talents. Jem and Scout Finch became more adult-like and mature young people by experiencing different events. It begins with Scout sitting in on her Aunt Alexandra’s missionary brunch. Scout Finch became more lady-like when she observed and helped out at her Aunt Alexandra’s brunch. Scout saw that Calpurnia was doing everything, so she asked if Cal needed any help. ‘â€Å"Can I help you Cal?’ I asked, wishing to be of some service.† (Lee 306). Even when Miss Stephanie Crawford asked Scout if she wanted to be a lawyer when she grew up, Scout stopped and thought for herself, rather than to please others. ‘â€Å"Don’t you want to be a lawyer?† Miss Maudie’s hand touched mine and I answered mildly enough, ‘Nome, just a lady.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lee 308) Scout learned in this chapter how to be a lady, just as Jem over the course of chapters, learned how to be a gentleman. Jem learned from Atticus and Miss Maudie that a gentleman never takes pride in his talents. When Jem saw his father shoot a wandering mad dog dead-on, he realized something very important; a gentleman should never take pride in his talents. â€Å"Jem became vaguely articulate: ‘D you see him, Scout? D’ you see him just standin’ there?’n’ all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an’ it looked like that gun was a part of him†¦an’ he did it so quick, like†¦I hafta aim for ten minutes ‘fore I can hit somethin’†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Lee 129). Miss Maudie had to explain to Jem why his father never told him about his talent in hunting. ‘â€Å"People in their right minds never take pride in their talents,’ said Miss Maudie.† (Lee 130). Both Jem and Scout Finch had small, different realizations throughout the book. Both Jem and Scout Finch learned to become adults in their own different ways. With Scout, she figured out that if you want there to be change in the world, you can’t sit around and do nothing, you have to go out and get it, wherever you can. â€Å"‘Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad, an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home-†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lee 331). For Jem, growing up is more about facing the world for it is, and not what he wished it would be. â€Å"Atticus said that Jem was trying hard to forget something, but what he was really doing was storing it away for a while, until enough time passed. Then he would be able to think about it and sort things out.† (Lee 331). In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem Finch became more informed, and mature young-adults by watching the examples set by their family, and the people who love them. Scout learned from Calpurnia that if you can help someone, then you should. Jem learned from Miss Maudie that people in their right minds never take pride in their talents. Even though they learn it by going through different events, they both come to the conclusion that to change the world, you must first change what is around you. Works Cited Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1960. Print.

The Web Browser Comparison Computer Science Essay

The Web Browser Comparison Computer Science Essay In this assignment, I am going to discuss about the comparison between web browsers. First, what is a web browser exactly. Actually it is a software application for retrieving, presenting and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. Not only that, it can be also defined as an application software or program designed to enable users to access, retrieve and view documents and other resources on the Internet. Internet has enormous of information. We can find out any information in internet. By going to the internet, we require web browser to show us the information such as text, image, video, sound and graphic. Web browser would arrange the information well and present to user in an orderly manner. Browsers are primarily planned to use the World Wide Web, however they can also be used to access information provided by web servers in private networks or files in file systems. The major web browsers are Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari History In 1991, the first web browser was released by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. It was named WorldWideWeb and was later renamed to Nexus to avoid confusion with www system. It was the first graphical web browser and WYSIWTG HTML editor. In 1993, browser software was further revolutionized by Marc Andreessen and with the release of Mosaic (later Netscape), It is the worlds first popular browser which made the World Wide Web system easy to use and more accessible to the typical person. The introduction of Mosaic became one of the first graphical web browsers which led to an explosion in web use. Andreessen who the leader of the Mosaic team at NCSA has soon started his own company, named Netscape, and released the Mosaic-influenced Netscape Navigator in 1994, which rapidly became the worlds most common browser, accounting for 90% of all web use at its peak. In 1995, Microsoft responded the release of Navigator with its own browser, called Internet Explorer. It is heavily influenced by Mosaic, initiating the industrys first browser war. Then, Internet Explorer gained dominance in the web browser market; Internet Explorer usage share peaked at over 95% by 2002. Opera debuted in 1996 Although it has never did widespread use, having less than 2% browser usage share as of February 2012 according to Net Applications. Its Opera-mini version focused on the fast-growing mobile phone web browser market, being preinstalled on over 40 million phones. It is also obtainable on several other embedded systems, as well as Nintendos Wii video game console. In 1998, Netscape start the open source Mozilla project to develop the next generation of Communicator. That browser would sooner or later evolve into Firefox, which developed a respectable following while still in the beta stage of development. As of August 2011, Firefox has a 28% usage share. Apples Safari had its first beta release in January 2003 Apple joins the scene with the release of Safari. It introduces a solid layout engine called Webkit which has been adopted into many mobile devices including Google and Nokia phones. In 2006, Internet Explorer 7 is released after five years of IE 6, adopting some features from its open source competition such as tabbed browsing and anti-phishing protection. The most recent major applicant to the browser market is Chrome. Google launches its own web browser in 2008. Chromes take-up has increased significantly year on year, by doubling its usage share from 8% to 16% by August 2011. In December 2011, Chrome overhauled Internet Explorer 8 as the most widely used web browser. Objective The objective of this research is to determine the advantage within web browsers. Nowadays, there are countless of web browser software application is available to every one of online users. The most major web browsers are Google Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. As it has too much of web browsers is available, I only choose to discuss about the 3 major web browsers which I mention above. There are many factors affect users to determine which of the browsers they choose use. Among those factors, I have chosen 5 of them to discuss. First is Feature. A web browser should offer useful, convenient features that make surfing the web easier and faster. For example, a browser should provide tabbed browsing, an integrated search engine and customizable toolbar. For a more humanize web experience, the browser should also provide the ability to save bookmarks, set parental controls and create RSS (Rich Site Summary) feeds. Generally speaking, the more features an internet browser provide s, the better. The second is Security. While online security measures have come a long way since the beginning of the internet, the web is still widespread with security risks to hack our electronic data. Security features like privacy settings, pop-up blocker and antispyware enable security on internet and help keep private information such as passwords secure. The third factor is Speed and Compatibility. Web browsers should load fast and be well-suited with all major operating systems. A top internet browser will load between pages within only a few seconds. Fourth factor is Ease of Use. The best internet browsers are those that have a smooth balance between features and ease of use. While features on a web browser are important, they become valueless if a browsers interface hinders your capability to use them. The last factor is Help and Support. Although some internet browsers are open source and therefore not enhanced with dedicated technical support, I still considered the qua lity of support options available. When it comes to internet browsers, available support can come in many forms, from FAQs to tutorials, email support to a product manual. Comparison of Web Browsers This chart shown that the first rating web browser is Google Chrome, followed by Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari. There must be factors why these web browsers could get this rating. Feature Set Google Chrome The latest version of Chrome is packed with highly convenient features, including tabbed browsing, synchronization, and privacy functions. By using personal Google account, Chrome can sync your bookmarks, browser preferences and extensions. Therefore, those things will available on any computer once you sign in. This is advantageous because it allows you to easily access your own add-ons and preferences without counting on what computer you are using. Chromes tabbed browsing, tabbed browsing is the capability to speedily switch between a number of open webpages within one Web browser window by clicking on tabs. Tabs appear in the browser window when more than one webpage is opened. By clicking on a tab the user switches that page up front for quick viewing. Tabbed browsing is extremely useful when you are reading a webpage and would like to click a link without losing your current page. After reading the link you can close the tab or just go back to the previous page, keeping both pages available. Tabbed browsing eradicates the need to frequently reload pages or use the back button. Chrome also provides a feature which is privacy browsing. The browser provide incognito mode, which doesnt track your browsing as you surf internet. Once you enter with incognito mode, it also deletes cookies and passwords from that session. You can open in normal mode and in incognito mode in a browser simultaneously. Another innovative feature that came out by Google is task manager. Google takes from traditional operating systems and put on to internet browsing. You can open the online task manager and observer how much computer memory are running by each websites and applications. Not only that, Google Chrome also got automatic updates, RSS feeds and a password manager. The browser does not offer any parental controls and probably wont in future versions as Google has said that there are other ways to monitor internet use, and there are already numerous third-party applications that exist for monitoring. Mozilla Firefox Just like many other major web browsers, Mozilla Firefox has synchronization feature, tabbed browsing which allowing you to quickly switch between webpages in a single window. The find-on-page is a function that allows you to find a word or phrase on a certain webpage without difficulty. Firefox sets the feature right on the bottom of the browser so you dont have to handle the pop-up window. The internet browser also has a voice interaction add-on. The feature allows you to browse the internet with voice commands. Firefox is an ideal browser for college students and other persons who do research online. Mozilla has designed a virtual sticky note which is a feature exclusive to Firefox. You can add your own notes to particular webpages and access them through the toolbar. You can also access your saved bookmarks, archived browsing history and pinned apps. The pin as app tab feature lets you to save commonly visited websites like Facebook or your web-based email and drag an icon on the toolbar. That way, you can easily visit them without opening a new tab. The browsers innovative Smart Location Bar will adapt to your use and preferences. This convenient tool makes it easy to return to websites you previously visited, even if you do not remember the exact URL. It also supports you find sites based on titles and content. Firefox also consist pop-up blocker, password manager as well as parental controls. Not only that, it also have the feature that is drag-and-drop functionality, which offer you to drag text or a link from anyplace on a web page and put it directly into your search bar. Internet Explorer Internet Explorer has offers several features to improve browsing. The browser uses tabs and when you open a new one, it suggests links based on your previous browsing history. The browser also has a box for both searching and website addresses as well as full combination with Windows 7. For instance, you can make what the browser calls a jump list which is the list of your most frequently visited websites pinned to your taskbar. In the same way, you can select an individual tab and drag it to your toolbar. There are four different categories of add-ons provided by Internet Explorer: security, time savers, browsers and entertainment. You will find a number of downloads in each category, each with a description. Major are free, but some you will have to purchase. However, internet browser does not have spell check and integrated download manager, therefore downloads will appear in a pop-up window. And different to some of the other internet browsers we studied, Internet Explorer is not open-source. Open source means the software is made and maintained by a network of users. The coding is made available to everyone, and volunteer software programmers are encouraged to improve it. Security Google Chrome Chrome is made to keep you harmless and more secure on the web with built-in malware and phishing protection. Chrome also has auto-updates feature to confirm you have all the latest security fixes, and more. When you navigate to a website suspected of phishing or containing malware, the internet browser displays a warning. The browser also has auto-updates to make sure your security features stay current without any action on your part, and it applies the sandboxing method. Sandboxing is software that helps block malware and isolates what happens in one tab from affecting the others, so once you close a tab, that process is absolutely ended. Sandboxing is an effective method for stopping malware from installing itself on your computer and monitoring your online activities. Mozilla Firefox Firefox has integrated private browsing. You can simply enable and disable the private mode. Furthermore, different from other browser privacy modes, there is no visible icon on the interface when in private mode. Mozilla Firefox protects against viruses, malware, spyware and phishing sites as well as pop-ups. Automatic updates are also available, so your browser is always up-to-date on the latest security fixes. You also can modify your security settings and control the level of security placed on sites and customize settings for cookies, downloads, passwords and add-ons. An additional impressive security feature the internet browser owns is the one-click site info. You can simply click on the site in the address bar to view important safety information. You can simply delete your personal information, including history, cookies, passwords and web-form entries with the click of a button. Remove all traces of visited website is also available. Internet Explorer One thing Internet Explorer has but many competing browsers lack of is parental controls. You can control the content that access by kids and use the integrated reporting tools to control their activity. For privacy, like normal, the Internet Explorer also provides private browsing. You can surf the web without the browser having a history, cookies or temporary internet files. The internet browser also does a good job of against in spyware, viruses and phishing schemes. A cross site scripting filter is applied to prevent attacks from duplicitous websites that trying to get personal and financial information. Internet Explorer also uses sandboxing which is a security technique in which all the browser tabs function as independent processes. This can avoids happen crashed tab that can taking down the entire browser. Speed Compatibility Google Chrome Google Chrome is abnormally fast. In fact, this internet browser is the fastest of all major browsers. During Chrome timed trials, Chrome initialized for the first time within seconds, as it did the same during the following times we launched the web browser. Navigation time is extraordinarily fast as well. Google has made the Chrome very well-suited with the internet. Chrome was especially designed for quickly and efficiently loads display and conduct with the enormous array of applications on the web. Mozilla Firefox Firefox has always been recognizing as fast internet browser. It beats most of the other web browsers. Firefox has no problem quickly navigating from page to page and yet provides a fluid web browsing experience from start to finish and boasts compatibility across the web. Furthermore, Firefox is fully well-appointed to multi-touch gestures. Internet Explorer Internet Explorers speed is highly competitive. It is not the fastest internet browser we look over, but initiate the application and navigating between pages took less than five seconds. Internet Explorer does not exist any compatibility problem, as the browser supports all current and developing web standards. Ease of Use Google Chrome Most internet browsers are built for function over form, but Google Chrome is a web browser that do well in both. The layout is clean, intuitive and tidy, and Chrome able to achieve a level of simplicity which other internet browsers lack of. Its features are undoubtedly designed for efficiency and ease of use. Moreover, the browser lets you to conveniently create shortcuts to web applications you frequently use, which you can placed on your desktop for quick and easy access. When the browser has multiple tabs open, it would become smaller as more are open. Mozilla Firefox Quite similar to the other top-rated internet browsers, Firefox is well organized and intuitive. The browser has an interface that easy to use and stocked with the essentials. Firefox features are great and useful, yet simple and available. Firefox has numerous extra features that advance improve usability. A fully integrated spell-checker lets users to work directly on the web and still have spell check. One more great utility is an automatic session restore. When Firefox reopens, you can proceed where you left off, even if the browsers have closed unexpectedly or by accident. Session restore can even return text that you were writing in an email and also download in progress. The browser interface integrates perfectly with Firefox download manager. Download manager offers an ability to pause the download and then continuous where you left off. This resume function is even accessible after a system restart. Internet Explorer Likely to our other top-notch internet browsers, this one is clean and easy to use. Basic web navigation is intuitive, and the browsers navigation controls are simplified. There is one thing special about Internet Explorer which is Notification Bar. Instead of dialog boxes opening in separate windows, all notification messages are merged in the Notification Bar, located at the very bottom of the window. You do not have to act on the notifications straightaway, they remain in the bar until you take action. Help Support Google Chrome Google Chrome has an in-depth help center that offers support in all sorts of categories. A lot of resources are provided by help center to help new users started, and advanced users fully customize their browsing experience. Help forum is there provided by Google where users can post issues and interacts with other users as well as giving useful feedback for other users who experiencing same issues. Mozilla Firefox As usual, a lot of useful online documentation, including FAQs, a knowledgebase and a tutorial is provided by Mozilla. The knowledgebase is searchable and consist of standard help. Not only that, there is also personalized help which in the form of live chat with the Firefox community. Direct support via email is also available. Internet Explorer Internet Explorer has the best help and support while reviewing internet browsers. On its website, you would find in-depth documentation, tutorials and FAQs. You can simply search the online resources by keyword. Internet Explorer is also one of the only internet browsers that is enhanced with direct technical support. Personal assistance via email and telephone are provided by Microsoft. Analysis and Critical Comments Browsers Factors Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Internet Explorer Feature Set Tabbed Browsing Add-ons Integrated Search Engine Save Tabs Customization Options Customization Options Bookmarks RSS Feeds Zoom Find-On Page Function Password Manager Auto fill Automatic Updates Synchronize Spell Check Seamless Download Manager Open-Source Development Parental Controls Mouse Gestures Voice Interaction X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Security Pop-up Blocker Clear Data Anti-Spyware Anti-Virus Anti-Phishing Private Mode X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Help and Support Online Knowledgebase User Manual/User Guide User Forums FAQs Tutorials Email Support Telephone Support X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Compatibility Windows 8 Windows 7 Windows Vista Windows XP Mac OS X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Speed Initial Startup Time Average Startup Time Navigation Time 4 6.3 4.3 4.3 6.3 4 4.4 5.7 4.5 Conclusion In my conclusion, there is always some difference between these several browsers. However, each browser has strengths and weaknesses. There is hardly to find a perfect and seamless web browser. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer all have its good and bad. Most of us here are preferred using Google Chrome, it is because, compare to Firefox 4 and IE9, it was unquestionably the fastest browser. Though Chrome is now leading the web browser, IE and Firefox also have strengthened its performance and offering new features that benefit and contribute to users. For the long term, we could not claim a strong victor here as all three major browsers provide a solid browsing experience with few downsides. Things are heating up in the browser world.

The Concept of Charismatic Leadership theory

The Concept of Charismatic Leadership theory The study of leadership has been important to humans since the dawn of civilisation, the concept of leadership; leader and follower were represented in Egyptian hieroglyphics written 5,000 years ago. Between 400 and 300BC the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle wrote about leadership and the requirements, characteristics, and education of leaders (Paul, et al. 2002). Leadership is central to the human condition (Wren, 1995) and has found to be important to all societies, although specific patterns of behaviour vary overtime and across cultures (Bass, 1990). Leadership theories have evolved in the last century to the point where they began to be the basis for models that accurately describe the activities of leaders with good correlation to their success in some situations (Antonakis House, 2002), (Yukl, 2006a). Meindl (1990) leadership can best be understood as a perception that plays a key role in peoples efforts to make sense of organisational phenomena. According to his view, organisational systems, activities, and events are hard to comprehend because they are ambiguous and complex. Nevertheless, organisational members and observers have a need to make sense of their environment to preserve an illusion of understanding and control. Because leadership provides a convenient and plausible explanation for important, but causally ambiguous outcomes, it is overused as an explanatory category. Essentially, attributers romanticise leadership as a causal determinant of organisational processes and performance. In a sense, supervisory theories of leadership are about leadership in organisations. Strategic theories of leadership are concerned with leadership of organisations, see (Hunt, 1991) and are marked by a concern for the evolution of the organisation as a whole, including its changing aims and capabilities (Selznick, 1984). Strategic leadership focuses on the people who have overall responsibility for the organisation and includes not only the titular head of the organisation but also members of what is referred to as the top management team or dominant coalition (Cyert March, 1963). As (Mintzberg, 1989) argues, strategy can be understood as a pattern, that is, consistency in behaviour over time. In the strategy process, there may be intentions that are fully realised as well as fully unrealised strategies. In addition, the strategy may emerge. 2.1 General Leadership Theories 2.1.1 Phases of leadership theories The earliest modern literature on leadership appeared in the nineteenth century. This earliest generation of leadership research was set out from the assertion that the emergence of leaders must be connected with certain inherited endowments. There was even a book named Hereditary Genius (Galton, 1970). A comprehensive review of leadership research, published in handbook form, was produced by (Stogdill, 1974). In this handbook, he provided evidence that leadership traits vary not only from situation to situation, but also from time to time. Only a few components remain comparatively consistent over time. Subsequent editions of this handbook were revised by Bass, who is Stogdills successor (Stogdill Bass, 1981) and (Bass, 1990a). In the later edition Bass drew further evidence from later research and identified traits which were steadily relevant to leadership effectiveness. These included activity level, task competence, interpersonal competence, authoritarianism, power orientation and Machiavellianism, value, needs, well-being, accorded status and esteem, and charisma. (Locke et al. 1991) produced a similar list. Since then, the pace of development has mounted as the need for its application intensified following the development of society especially in business management after World War II. In terms of classifying this evolution, a widely accepted view was suggested by (Hunt, 1999a). According to his argument, this evolution can be divided into three generations; namely: trait theory, situational-contingency theory and transformational leadership theory In all it was later accepted that the trait approach failed to prove that there was a set of gifted traits, which made people become leaders. Researchers then mostly turned to the new assumption that leadership can be taught and learned under a proper set of principles according to (Lee Thomas, 2007). Bass also added an extra chapter to the handbook, and this was dedicated to charismatic and inspirational leadership style. Charismatic leadership is actually one of the most important areas in leadership theory since it has the longest acknowledgement in the literature and actually spans across all the three generations of leadership studies. (Weber, 1924, 1947 1968) was the first to mention the concept of charisma. He saw charisma as a special kind of leadership trait that can lead organisations to get through periods of crisis successfully. Since the mid-1970s, research interest in charismatic leadership was shifted from Webers view of crisis rescuer to an emphasis on those leaders who could effect extraordinary influence continuously. It was found that charismatic leaders could usually improve organisational performance through their own behaviour and that this could have a powerful effect on the morale of their followers. This kind of leadership is referred to by the situational-contingency school of researchers as charismatic leadership e.g. (Adair, 1973), (Kets de Vries, 1984) and (Conger Kanungo, 1987a), transformational leadership e.g. (Burns, 1978a) and (Bass, 1985a), inspirational leadership e.g. (Yuki Van Fleet, 1982) or visionary leadership e.g. (Bennis Nanus, 1985a) and (Sashkin, 1988a). Later, researchers in the generation of transformational leadership also classified it as change management (Bass, 1990b). The first author to differentiate between charismatic and inspirational leadership was (Downton, 19 73). He pointed out that the followers endorsement of charismatic leaders is based on blind faith in the leaders, whereas the endorsement of inspirational leaders is based on the rationale that the followers believe and share the leaders vision and strategy. 3.1 The Concept of Charismatic Leadership (up to 1992) and how it fits in to the general leadership theories 3.1.1 Theoretical background of charismatic leadership The term charisma, whose initial meaning is a gift in Greek, has been frequently used in politics and religion to adduce legitimacy to power. (Weber, 1968) defined it as an individuals personality quality (or at least, specifically exceptional powers or qualities) by virtue of which he/she is set apart from ordinary people and which thus legitimises his/her exercise of influence. (House, 1977a) developed a theory of charismatic leadership which is among the first attempts to build a comprehensive theoretical basis for studying the topic. Leadership theory, alternatively referred to as charismatic, transformational, visionary, or inspirational, has emerged in the organisational literatures of (House, 1977b), (Burns, 1978b), (Bass, 1985b), (Bennis Nanus, 1985b), (Tichy Devanna, 1986), (Boal Bryson, 1988), Conger Kanungo, 1987b), (Kuhnert Lewis, 1987), (Sashkin, 1988b). Relating to this new genre of leadership theory, such leaders transform the needs, values, preferences and aspira tions of followers from self-interest to collective interests. Further, they cause followers to become highly committed to the leaders mission, to make significant personal sacrifices in the interest of the mission, and perform above and beyond the call of duty. Theories of charismatic leadership highlighted such effects as emotional attachment to the leader on the part of the followers; emotional and motivational arousal of the followers; enhancement of follower valences with respect to the mission articulated by the leader; follower self-esteem, trust, and confidence in the leader; follower values; and follower intrinsic motivation according to (Shamir, House Arthur, 1993a). The integration of charismatic leadership theory with the upper echelons perspective in an attempt to better understand the leadership role of chief executive officers (CEOs) was reviewed by (Waldman, Javidan Varella, 2004). They proposed that emerging charismatic leadership theory and research may provide new possibilities for the upper echelons perspective. In the past, leadership theory has been seen as the domain of organisational behaviour and micro-oriented perspectives. (House, 1999) organisational behaviourists are generally more psychologically oriented and define charisma as one of the following: a relationship between an individual (leader) and others (followers) based on deeply held shared ideological (as opposed to material) values; an individual who accomplishes unusual feats through the efforts of followers who are exceptionally loyal to the leader, have a high degree of trust in the leader, and are willing to make personal sacrifices in the interest of the leaders vision and the collective led by the leader; a complex set of personal characteristics and/or behaviours of an individual that leads to the above outcomes. The specific traits and behaviours are defined somewhat differently among the organisational behaviourists theories. Organisational behaviourists have used all three of the above definitions, none of which are incompatible with the others. Charismatic leadership is assumed to have three core components: envisioning, empathy, and empowerment according to Conger (2006), increasing attention has been directed during the past several decades toward charismatic leadership. Charisma represents a potentially key construct relevant to strategic leadership (Pawar Eastman, 1997). Apparently, a recent theoretical perspective has begun to link charisma to strategic leadership. For example (Finkelstain Hambrick, 1996) acknowledged that charismatic leadership could affect firm performance in one of several ways. First, the values of such leaders could influence strategic choices through their impact on their field of vision, their perception and interpretation of information, and their strategic decision making. Furthermore, the day-to-day actions and behaviours on the part of charismatic chief executive officers could also affect organisational functioning and performance. Unfortunately, in their view, they did not make potential linkages between charisma and performance especially clear and, indeed, devoted little attention to such linkages in their consideration of strategic leadership. Conger Kanungo (1992) developed a model that focuses on several behavioural dimensions of charismatic leadership within organisations. According to the model, charismatic leadership is an attribution based on followers perceptions of their leaders behaviour. The leaders observed behaviour is interpreted by followers as expressions of charisma in the same sense as a leaders behaviours reflect that individuals participative, people and task orientations. Charismatic leaders differ from other leaders by their ability to formulate and articulate an inspirational vision and by behaviours and actions that foster an impression that they and their mission are extraordinary. As such, individuals choose to follow such leaders in management settings not only because of formal authority but out of perceptions of extraordinariness. Thus any measurement of charismatic leadership must be based on followers perceptions of the specific behavioural attributes of the leader that engender such outcomes . The Conger-Kanungo model proposed several distinguishing behavioural components in three distinct stages of the leadership process. A number of different behaviours may lead to perceptions of charisma (Bass Avolio, 1993), (Conger Kanungo, 1987c) and (Shamir, House Arthur, 1993b). Following earlier experimental research by (Yorges, Weiss Strickland, 1999), they demonstrated that a leader making personal sacrifices to achieve the collective vision rather than personally benefiting from his or her action was perceived as more charismatic. The more recent psychological and organisational behaviour literature has dealt with these variables rather extensively, arguing that charismatic leaders strongly appeal to the values and self-concepts of followers by articulating radical solutions to their problems (Shamir, House Arthur, 1993c). 4.1 Development of Charismatic Leadership (post 1992) In the past decade, the bulk of leadership research has focused on transformational and charismatic leadership (Judge Piccolo, 2004). In sharp contrast to the rational nature of the transactional leadership paradigm of the 1960s and 1970s (Bass, 1990e), transformational and charismatic leadership theories (Bass, 1985c), (Burns, 1978c), (Conger Kanungo, 1998a) and (House, 1977c) recognised the affective and emotional needs and responses of followers performance, placing more emphasis on the emotional, inspirational, and symbolic aspects of leadership influence (Shamir, House Arthur, 1993d) and (Conger Kanungo, 1998b). Attempts to integrate the multiple theories of transformational and charismatic leadership reveal many commonalities, including leader vision and a charismatic communication style (House Shamir, 1993) and (Kirkpatrick Locke, 1996). Newer frameworks that can be applied to leadership theory include meso-level paradigms that attempt to provide an integration of micro and macro organisational behaviour (House et al. 1995) and (Hunt Dodge, 2001). Concurrent with the development of meso-level paradigms, the field of leadership has witnessed an infusion of theory dealing with charismatic and inspirational leadership. 4.1.1 Realisation of Vision content and organisational performance Drawing from the communication literatures, (Holladay Coombs, 1993 and 1994) invoked the concepts of message content and delivery to explain the two-step process whereby charismatic leaders initially craft and then articulate an idealised vision. An idealised vision is generally considered to be a prerequisite for a leader to become transformational or charismatic e.g. (Bass, 1988). Once formulated, the vision must be articulated to mobilise followers to pursue it. Studies in the past decade have identified six behaviours exhibited more frequently by charismatic leaders than by non-charismatic leaders. These include: vision and articulation; sensitivity to member needs; environmental sensitivity; unconventional behaviour; taking personal risks; and not maintaining the status quo as defined by the Conger-Kanungo scale (Conger Kanungo, 1994a). Envisioning involves creating an overall picture of a desired future state with which people can identify and which can generate excitement. In addition to formulating a vision, they are adept at communicating the vision and infusing day-to-day work with a larger sense of purpose and greater intrinsic appeal (Conger, 1989a). Most charismatic leaders, therefore, are known as persuasive speakers. They often rely on various rhetorical techniques such as metaphors, analogy, and stories to inculcate key ideas into the followers minds, so that their message would have a profound impact on followers (Conger, 1989b). (Awamleh Gardner, 1999) suggested an agenda for research to clarify. In particular, the joint effects of vision content, delivery, organisational performance cues, and generalised leadership beliefs on perceived charisma and leader effectiveness warrant empirical attention. Accordingly, in their study they projected three key objectives: to explore the combined effects of vision content and delivery on perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness; to investigate the relative effects of performance outcomes on these perceptions; and to examine the effects of generalised beliefs about leadership (i.e., romance of leadership disposition) on leadership perceptions. To put the results in perspective, they reconsidered (Lord Mahers, 1993) definition of leadership as the process of being perceived by others as a leader. Accordingly, when people use prototypes to infer leadership, strong delivery of an idealised and well articulated vision will lead to perceptions of charisma and leader effectiveness. These perceptions, in turn, provide the leader with an attentive audience of followers who will be highly receptive to the leaders influence attempts. On the other hand, when followers use organisational outcomes to assess leadership qualities, high performance appears to similarly enhance the leaders image of charisma and effectiveness. Importantly, such perceptions will in turn provide the leader with greater leverage in influencing others. Their point is that the recognition and inferential models are not mutually exclusive. To maximise their influence potential, leaders must provide a strongly articulated and idealised vision, and successfully at tain high performance outcomes. 4.1.2 Charismatic leadership and followers outcomes (Conger, 1999a) over the last decade and a half, highlighted that the topic areas of charismatic and transformational leadership in organisational settings have undergone a significant evolution in terms of both theory development and empirical investigations. Both the greatest amount of theory development as well as empirical research on charismatic and transformational leadership has been in the area of leader behaviours and, to a lesser extent, on follower effects. This was due largely to the backgrounds of the most active researchers, almost all of whom have had a strong behavioural orientation. While there have been a number of individuals studying either transformational or charismatic leaders e.g. (Bennis Nanus, 1985c) and (Kouzes Posner, 1987).Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z., 1987. . The leadership challenge Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Three principal leadership processes are involved (Bass, 1985d)Bass, B.M., 1985. . Leadership and performance beyond expectations Free Press, New York. in achieving such outcomes: these leaders heighten followers awareness about the importance and value of designated goals and the means to achieve them; they induce followers to transcend their self-interests for the good of the collective and its goals; and they stimulate and meet their followers higher order needs through the leadership process and the mission. Bass was the first organisational scholar to operationalise the transformational leadership model into a measurement instrument. As a result, more studies employ his scale than any of the other models proposed to date. As such, today four behavioural components make up the dimensions of transformational leadership: charisma or idealised influence; inspiration; intellectual stimulation; and individualised consideration. In contrast to the other theories, charisma is a separate component and is defined in terms of both the leaders behaviour (such as role modeling) and the followers reactions (such as trust, respect, and admiration for the leaders ability) (Conger, 1999b). (Bono LLies, 2006) suggested that positive emotions play a role in the charismatic leadership process in an extensive literature linking positive affect to the same outcomes achieved by charismatic leaders (e.g., cooperation, task performance, motivation, creativity). Their aim was to examine the effects of leaders positive emotional expressions on follower mood and perceptions. They discovered that charismatic leaders express more positive emotions than do less charismatic leaders and that leaders positive emotional expressions have a direct effect on follower mood. Furthermore, they argued that both leaders emotional expressions and follower mood had independent effects on perceptions of leadership effectiveness and attraction to a leader. First, (Isen, 2004) has demonstrated that positive change is associated with task performance, particularly on creative tasks, though these effects are not universal, as (George Zhou, 2002) demonstrated that under certain conditions positive mood was negatively associated with creativity. Other studies linked group affective tone (i.e., positive group mood) to group effort and coordination (Sy, Cote Saavedra, 2005), improved cooperation and decreased conflict among group members (Barsade, 2002), and subjective assessments of performance (Totterdel, 2000) and (Fredericksons, 2003) broadened-and-built theory posits that positive emotions broaden the relationship between thought and action, leading to increased novelty and exploration of ideas on the part of employees who experience them. (Rousseau, 1998) suggested the possibility that high-quality relationships may develop even when only a few well specified and important resources are exchanged, such as hard work for high pay. In the recent work of (Cicero Pierro, 2007a), they reviewed that leadership and work outcomes are associated to social identification processes, referring both to recent developments of charismatic leadership models and to the recent developments of the social identity analysis applied to the workplace, e.g. (Abrams Hogg, 2001). Two field surveys were conducted using 200 Italian public and private sector employees (two different working organisations). Two questionnaires were designed in order to collect data. They included different measures of charismatic leadership derived by the literature e.g. the Conger-Kanungo Charismatic Leadership Questionnaire; (Conger Kanungo, 1994b and 1998), for Study 2), a scale to assess the degree of identification with the work-group (Van, K.D., Van, S.E.C.M., 2000) and some scales to measure the different outcomes considered e.g., (Brown and Leighs effort measure, 1996) and (Mobleys turnover intention measure, 1977). As they predicted, results o f Study 1 revealed that charismatic leadership was positively related to work-group identification, and employees work effort was positively related to work-group identification. Work-group identification also mediates relationship between charismatic leadership and work effort. Results of Study 2 replicated the positive association between charismatic leadership and employees work-group identification; work-group identification is also associated with their job involvement, job satisfaction, performance, and turnover intention. (Cicero Pierro, 2007b) admitted that their research has some limitations. The first one to note was that a causality relation cannot be inferred due to the cross-sectional nature of the data, although it was one of the most-used methods in applied and field psychological research. They suggested that future investigations, then, should adopt an experimental or longitudinal design. A second one was represented by the fact that the criteria variables had been assessed by paper-and-pencil self-report measures, which may reflect participants perceptions rather than objective realities. However, some of the analysed variables (e.g., work-group identification, turnover intention, job involvement, etc. pertain exclusively to individuals perceptions and feelings, so only a few of these measures (for instance leadership style and performance) should be assessed through actual behaviours and more objective measures in order to substantiate the results obtained. They concluded that their resul ts enlarged the knowledge of the dynamic that may affect work outcomes and underline the tangible relevance of social identification processes and, in particular, the relevance of employees identification with the work-group to the organisation life. 4.1.3 Concept between Instrumental, transformational and transactional leadership Research on leadership started with a concern for identification of leadership traits, so that this might be used to as a basis for management selection and training. When the relationship of such traits to organisation effectiveness proved weak, researchers sought to emphasise specific leadership behaviours, starting with participative management, and the later behavioural research on social/task and instrumental leadership behaviours, revealed the complexity of leadership and showed the futility of simple answers according to (Vasu, Stewart Garson, 1998). Current notions of leadership in particular, transformational leadership perspectives see (Hunt, 1999b), (Lowe Gardner, 2000) fail to address the strategic and task-oriented developmental functions of leaders (referred to as instrumental leadership by (Antonakis House, 2002), see also (Yukl, 1999). Theoretically, these instrumental leader functions are essential for ensuring sustainable organizational and follower performance. Instrumental leadership is not included in transformational leadership theories (e.g., the full-range leadership theory of (Avolio, 1999), (Avolio Bass, 1991), (Bass, 1985e), (Bass Avolio, 1994, 1997), an omission that might limit: the extent to which the full-range theory is able to predict effective leader functioning and our understanding of the contexts in which different types of leadership are important. (Antonakis House, 2004) defined instrumental leadership as a class of leader behaviours concerning the enactment of leader expert knowledge toward the fulfillment of organisational-level and follower task performance, see also (Nadler Tushman, 1990). Instrumental leadership is distinct from transformational (i.e., ideals, inspirationally based, etc.) and transactional (i.e., exchange-based) leadership and encompasses two subclasses of leader behaviours. Each of these subclasses, in turn, consists of two factors: strategic leadership leaders actions centered on environmental scanning strategy formulation and follower work facilitation leaders actions focused on facilitating follower performance. On the other hand, transformational leadership is associated with strong personal identification with the leader, the creation of a shared vision of the future, and a relationship between leaders and followers based on far more than just the simple exchange of rewards for compliance. The ability of the leader to articulate an attractive vision of a possible future is a core element of transformational leadership (Hartog Verburg, 1997). Transformational leadership goes beyond the cost-benefit exchange of transactional leadership by motivating and inspiring followers to perform beyond expectations (Bass, 1985f). As (Hater Bass, 1988) pointed out, contrasting transactional and transformational leadership does not mean the models are unrelated. Burns (1978d) thought of the two types of leadership as being at opposite ends of a continuum. However, here we follow (Bass, 1985g) who viewed transformational and transactional leadership as separate dimensions. This viewpoint implies that leaders could show both transactional and transformational behaviours. Bass argues that transformational leadership builds on transactional leadership but not vice versa. Thus, high-quality relationships have more in common with a transformational kind of relationship than with a purely transactional one (Gerstner Day, 1997). 5.0 Conclusions Each of the theories under consideration has evolved over time by different intellectuals and is still being studied and used today to explain modes of leader behaviour (Harris, Harris Eplion, 2007), (Yukl, 2006b), (Sagie Koslowski, 1994). Each of the theories considers both the leaders effect on followers and the interaction between leader and follower. According to (Summary Report of Accomplishments: 2003à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 2008) reported that one measure of a journals influence on a field is Impact Factor and Citation Data. To calculate the impact factor, Thomson Scientific records the number of citations in a particular year to articles published in the two previous years, divided by the number of articles in the same previous years. For The Leadership Quarterly, the Impact Factors (and ranking within the categories of Management and Psychology, Applied) for the last 5 years as reported by its publisher, Elsevier, is illustrated in Appendix 1. Another measure of journal impact is the number of full text downloads between 2003 and 2008. The number of downloads for The Leadership Quarterly increased as summarised is shown in Appendix 2. The summary of the Impact Factor, it shows there has been a substantial increase in this index between 2003 and 2007 is shown in Appendix 3. I disagree with (Houses, 1992) article that charismatic leadership was a new genre of leadership theory. For the fact that in the past and the present, several publication have shown significant contribution by scholars in the study and practice of charismatic leadership. Researchers have played a key role in shaping and nurturing the fields of leadership and management to generate new knowledge and insights into leadership theories. Appendices Appendix 1. Year Impact Factor Management Rank Psychology Rank 2007 1.763 20/81 12/57 2006 1.720 16/78 12/54 2005 1.750 9/71 7/49 2004 1.769 10/67 6/50 2003 1.315 20/67 13/49 Appendix 2. 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 *Jan-Jun 83,528 125,417 162,583 213,027 260,948 185,627 Appendix 3. 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 .511 .333 .778 .456 1.338 Source: ISI Web of Knowledge.

L’Oreal Case Study Essay -- Business Marketing

L’Oreal Introduction     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   L’Oreal is the largest cosmetics company in the world. It shouldn’t be a surprise that L’Oreal doesn’t sell all of its product lines in every market in which it sells, and the market in the Netherlands is no exception. Upper management of the Netherlands’ L’Oreal subsidiary have to make decisions on which product lines will succeed in their respective market and which ones will falter. In this particular case, L’Oreal needs to decide if it would like to introduce Garneir product lines such as the Synergie skin care line and the Belle Couleur permanent hair colorants line into the Netherlands market. The basic problem is whether or not to introduce these lines into the Dutch market. Situation Audit   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Netherlands, unlike in France, L’Oreal and Garneir are both sold under the same sales force. This must be taken into consideration considering that L’Oreal has products in both hair colorants (Recital) and in skin care (Plenitude). Fortunately, the Dutch market maybe able to handle both of these product lines from L’Oreal and Garneir if it is felt that they could both be profitable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When looking at the Dutch market, the most surprising thing is the youth of population. 40% of the population is under the age of 25. This is an important demographic stat because a lot of younger women are the ones who use cosmetics, but it is important to note that the fastest growing populations are those of age 25 and older which might be important to the market of hair colorants. Another interesting trend is the number of Dutch women who work outside the home with a labor force rate of 29% and it is increasing more rapidly than those of other countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. This is very interesting because these women will have more money, independence, and self-confidence. In these terms, these women will more than likely use more cosmetics because of the increase in time that they spend outside of the home. A final insight into the Dutch market shows that Dutch women tend to shop for value, especially in cosmetics, which needs to be taken into account. The overall Dutch market looks somewhat promising to the introduction of Synergie and Belle Couleur lines, but other factors must also be looked at.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While the overall Dutch market is important in the analysis, the product markets might give a be... ...o use our product because they are out in public and they also have more money to spend on things such as cosmetics. The Dutch women in this market need the Synergie line to give off the idea of a self-concept that can relate our brand image to their needs as a workingwoman. An idea for the advertising campaign could be â€Å"You’re working the hardest, shouldn’t you look the best too!† While this product line is marketed towards the workingwoman, the L’Oreal product Plenitude could be marketed towards keeping a youthful look with its ability to delay the signs of aging. The best bet for the profitability of both products is to effectively find a certain image that each consumer can identify herself with. With this, I believe that both products can succeed in the same market and both can have the potential to have large market shares. Bibliography Datamonitor, Feb. 2004. Haircare In The Netherlands. Retrieved on April 23, 2005. http://dbic.datamonitor.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/industries/industry/?iid=Haircare Datamonitor, Feb. 2004. Makeup In The Netherlands. Retrieved on April 23, 2005. http://dbic.datamonitor.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/industries/industry/?iid=Skincare

The Need for Capital Punishment in America Essay examples -- Capital Pu

It is the firm belief and position here that committing such a crime as murder is punishable by death. Americans should take a position for anyone on death row, to be executed sooner rather than later. The moral reality in an argument for capital punishment is that they know the difference between the death penalty and what happens when it is actually put into place from the court of law. In the United States there are more people sitting in prison on death row than actually being executed at time of sentence. When the death penalty is not carried out, then families of the murdered victim recognize the value of the victim’s life is insignificant and the person that has committed the crime has the greater life of being able to continue living while in prison on death row. Many people argue for the death penalty with the case that is someone commits a violent crime, they should be put to death. Should anyone argue that if you take a human life, they will be able to live in prison and serve time and live, not to die by lethal injection or any of the other forms of capital punishment immediately? The argument for anyone in prison to not be punished and put to death is a crime w ithin itself. It is the belief of many that capital punishment is cruel and unjust. Although others would state the opposite to say that if you have committed murder, you to shall be put to death. In America anyone can have a right to believe that someone should live even if they have committed murder, especially if they have asked for forgiveness and all has been forgiven. Can it be justified that if anyone commits murder and then asked for forgiveness they be allowed to live and not be punished? Justice must be served here on earth as well as after deat... ... or disobeys God’s way in committing premeditated murder or involuntary manslaughter should be put to death immediately. Works Cited Adams, Cindy. â€Å"The Death Penalty as Just Punishment.† Does Capital Punishment Deter or is it a Biased Process? 3 Sept. 2008. 30 May 2010 . Andre, Claire, and Manuel Velasquez. â€Å"Capital Punishment.† Our Duty or Our Doom. 12 May 2010. 30 May 2010 . Colson, Charles W. â€Å"Capital Punishment.† The Rutherford Institute. 11 Nov. 2002. 30 May 2010 . Steiker, Carol S. â€Å"Capital Punishment and American Exceptionalism.† 2005. 30 May 2010 .

Social Studies Form 2

Section A : INDIAN OCEAN 1. The largest ocean in the world is A. Pacific Ocean B. Arctic Ocean C. Indian Ocean D. Antarctic Ocean 2. The line of latitude that divides the world into two is A. Tropic of Capricorn B. Tropic of Cancer C. Equator D. Greenwich Meridian 3. Which stretch of water is found between East Africa and Madagascar? A. Mozambique Channel B. Red Sea C. Arabian Sea D. Persian Gulf 4. Very long ago , the eastern coast of Africa was peopled by a mixture of different tribes who spoke A.Creole language B. English language C. Arabic language D. Bantu language 5. The musical instrument used by Indonesians very long ago was known as A. flute B. valiha C. guitar D. tabla 6. Four thousand years ago , Egyptians used to sail to the country of Punt which is actually A. the coast of Somalia B. Kenya C. Tanzania D. Uganda 7. Four thousand years ago , Egyptians used to sail to the country of Punt which is actually A. the coast of Somalia B. Kenya C.Tanzania D. Uganda 8. From what an imal is ivory obtained ? A. Cattle B. Camel C. Sheep D. Elephant 9. Which one of the following statements describe plantation farming? A. A company like LONRHO cultivating sugar cane on a large extent in Mauritius. B. A planter cultivating vegetables on a small plot of land. C. A small land holder cultivating tea in Mauritius. D. A man cultivating pineapples for his own use. 10. The Arabs travelled in ships called A. Canot `a balancier B.Bateau cousu C. Dhows D. Chinese Janks 11. Why did Vasco da gama sail close to the Eastern coast of Africa ? A. They could stop in any country in case of difficulty. B. They had heard of its great wealth. C. They were the greatest European sailors of the time. D. They wanted to trade with Indians. 12. Why are some tankers not able to pass through the suez canal? A. Because are too big B. Because are too small C. Because the roads are renovated D. Because there was no petrol

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The Theme of Games in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The theme of games plays a very important role in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In fact, much of the action that takes place in this story revolves around the playing of various â€Å"games. † When one thinks of the word â€Å"games,† there are several thoughts that may come to mind. Sports, board games, and card games are all types of games that society today might be familiar with. The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight uses different kinds of games than the ones mentioned above.In the time of Sir Arthur and his court, the word â€Å"game† wasn’t as strongly associated with something pleasurable as it was meant to test one’s worthiness. When the Green Knight enters Arthur’s court and announces that he has come to ask â€Å" a Christmas game,† he has not come to play cards or scrabble, but instead has come to test the worthiness of someone in the court. â€Å"The â€Å" game† of exchanging gifts was very common in Germanic culture. If a man received a gift, he was obliged to provide the giver with a better gift or risk losing his honor, almost like an exchange of blows in a fight, or in a â€Å"beheading game† (Harwood).Many other games are involved in the plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Throughout the third section of the poem for example, we see Gawain's host's wife play games with Gawain. Gawain views his arrangement of trading with his host as a game (line 1380). Even from the beginning, the Knight plays a game of sorts with Arthur’s court by criticizing and almost taunting the court for failing to live up to its reputation:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"What, is this Arthur's house,† said that horseman then, â€Å"Whose fame is so fair in far realms and wide? Where is now your arrogance and your awesome deeds, our valor and your victories and your vaunting words? † (lines 308-311) Eventually the reader discovers all of t he events of the story are a game of Arthur's sister, Morgan Le Fay. Throughout the telling of the story it becomes evident that the author is playing a game with the mind of the reader. This essay will explore the theme of games in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as well as how they might be connected. The foundation of the entire plot of the story begins with the â€Å"Christmas game† that the Green Knight has come to play with Arthur’s court. The court initially believes hat the mysterious knight has come for â€Å"contest bare† (line 277). When the Green Knight reveals that he will exchange one blow for another, it seems like it would be an easy victory for an opponent, seeing that no one expects the knight to survive after being beheaded with his own axe. Surprisingly, the knight picks up his severed head and leaves. This severely heightens the seriousness of Gawain's promise to let the knight have a blow at his own head in exactly one year. Arthur clearly downplays the importance of this promise, saying, â€Å"Now, sir, hang up your axe, and return to the feast† (Line 477).Arthur clearly tries to write off the importance of the contest before Gawain beheads the knight with his own axe, as if he foresees Gawain's eventual success: â€Å"Keep, cousin,† said the king, â€Å"what you cut with this day And if you rule it aright, then readily, I know, You shall stand the stroke it will strike after† (Lines 371-374). While neither Gawain nor the reader is aware of the game that is already occurring throughout the plot of the poem, this same game continues to unfold as Gawain arrives at the castle on Christmas Eve.Bercilak, who plays â€Å"host† to Gawain, continues to trick Gawain by not revealing that he is the Green Knight from Arthur's castle. He allows Gawain to stay at his castle, on the condition that anything acquired throughout the day as a result of staying there would be given to Bercilak as a gift. In return, anything that Bercilak acquired while hunting would be gifted to Gawain. We see another representation of Games within hunting, as hunting is sometimes viewed as a game in itself.Gawain sees this mutual exchange of things won over the course of the day as a game, although Bercilak describes this arrangement as a â€Å"covenant† (Line 1384). It also becomes apparent that the hosts’ wife is playing her own games with Gawain by sneaking into his quarters and trying to seduce him. It is at this point in the story in which Gawain breaks a major rule of the game by not telling Bercilak about the girdle, which supposedly holds magical powers that would prevent any harm from coming to Gawain.Gawain does not fail because he accepts the girdle, but rather because he fails to gift the girdle to Bercilak as something won throughout the course of the day. Since Gawain believes that the girdle would give him the power to survive the blow of the Green Knights’ axe, he fails to hand over his relic to his host. Before Gawain goes to bed on this third night of his stay, Bercilak reminds Gawain, â€Å"Every promise on my part shall be fully performed† (Line 1970).This is a hint to the reader that the host is already aware of the fact that Gawain decided not to share this girdle that was gifted to him. When Gawain finally leaves the castle and finds the Green Knight waiting to hold up his end of the bargain, the Green knight continues to play games with Gawain by â€Å"teasing† him with the axe. He stops at first after Gawain flinches and taunts him for moving. Once Gawain remains still and the Knight deals his blow, only scratching the neck of Gawain, the Green Knight reveals his true identity, as well as the identity of Morgan Le Fay.It is at this point the reader realizes that almost everything that has happened up to this point is just a part of an elaborate game. This game was designed at the hands of Morgan Le Fay to teach Gawain, as well as the other knights of Arthurs’ court, that even the most noble of knights are human and subject to failure at the hands of temptation. As Gawain returns still wearing the green girdle around his arm, it is evident that this game has also taught him another valuable lesson: the lesson of humility (Bennett).Gawain returns to Arthur’s court, still wearing the girdle in shame as a reminder to always follow the rules of the game. After Sir Gawain shares his tales of deceit and trickery, the other knights deem it appropriate to also wear green sashes as a reminder of the adventure that Gawain had. Finally, there are at least two more games that the author plays with the reader throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The first and most obvious game is the fact that the author hides important information from the reader until the end, and then reveals this information.Such information includes but is not limited to the host's true identity, the reason for the â⠂¬Å"Christmas game,† and the fact that Gawain’s aunt, Morgan Le Fay, originated the game. While concealing this information is critical to the progression of the story, it still represents a more subtle game that is being played by the author. â€Å"A much more subtle game played by the author, however, is the way that the author sneaks moral instruction into a poem which, up until about the last three hundred lines, is almost purely entertainment†(Putter).The author clearly expresses to the reader that even Gawain, the noblest of knights, is human and subject to failings. Whether in the fourteenth century or today, the author’s message holds significant meaning. It is apparent that we are in fact all human, and at some point or another, subject to some type of failure. I believe that this is the message that the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight wanted to pass along to the reader. In conclusion, the theme of games is demonstrated in many different ways throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.It is seen in the actions of the Green Knight and Morgan Le Fay towards Gawain. It is also evident that similar games are played between the author and the reader. All of these games tie together significantly to reveal what I believe is the key message of this poem: Regardless of social status, we are all human, we are all subject to temptation, and most importantly, we are all, at some point, almost certainly subject to failure. Works Cited 1. Harwood, Britton J. Gawain and the Gift,† PMLA 106. 3 (1991) pp. 483–99. 2. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume One. General Ed. M. H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1993. 3. Bennett, Michael J. â€Å"The Historical Background† in A Companion to the Gawain-Poet. Derek Brewer and Jonathan Gibson, editors. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1997. pp. 71-90 4. Putter, Ad. An Introduction to the Gawain-poet. New York: Addison We sley Longman, 1996. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The Theme of Games in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The theme of games plays a very important role in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In fact, much of the action that takes place in this story revolves around the playing of various â€Å"games. † When one thinks of the word â€Å"games,† there are several thoughts that may come to mind. Sports, board games, and card games are all types of games that society today might be familiar with. The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight uses different kinds of games than the ones mentioned above.In the time of Sir Arthur and his court, the word â€Å"game† wasn’t as strongly associated with something pleasurable as it was meant to test one’s worthiness. When the Green Knight enters Arthur’s court and announces that he has come to ask â€Å" a Christmas game,† he has not come to play cards or scrabble, but instead has come to test the worthiness of someone in the court. â€Å"The â€Å" game† of exchanging gifts was very common in Germanic culture. If a man received a gift, he was obliged to provide the giver with a better gift or risk losing his honor, almost like an exchange of blows in a fight, or in a â€Å"beheading game† (Harwood).Many other games are involved in the plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Throughout the third section of the poem for example, we see Gawain's host's wife play games with Gawain. Gawain views his arrangement of trading with his host as a game (line 1380). Even from the beginning, the Knight plays a game of sorts with Arthur’s court by criticizing and almost taunting the court for failing to live up to its reputation:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"What, is this Arthur's house,† said that horseman then, â€Å"Whose fame is so fair in far realms and wide? Where is now your arrogance and your awesome deeds, our valor and your victories and your vaunting words? † (lines 308-311) Eventually the reader discovers all of t he events of the story are a game of Arthur's sister, Morgan Le Fay. Throughout the telling of the story it becomes evident that the author is playing a game with the mind of the reader. This essay will explore the theme of games in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as well as how they might be connected. The foundation of the entire plot of the story begins with the â€Å"Christmas game† that the Green Knight has come to play with Arthur’s court. The court initially believes hat the mysterious knight has come for â€Å"contest bare† (line 277). When the Green Knight reveals that he will exchange one blow for another, it seems like it would be an easy victory for an opponent, seeing that no one expects the knight to survive after being beheaded with his own axe. Surprisingly, the knight picks up his severed head and leaves. This severely heightens the seriousness of Gawain's promise to let the knight have a blow at his own head in exactly one year. Arthur clearly downplays the importance of this promise, saying, â€Å"Now, sir, hang up your axe, and return to the feast† (Line 477).Arthur clearly tries to write off the importance of the contest before Gawain beheads the knight with his own axe, as if he foresees Gawain's eventual success: â€Å"Keep, cousin,† said the king, â€Å"what you cut with this day And if you rule it aright, then readily, I know, You shall stand the stroke it will strike after† (Lines 371-374). While neither Gawain nor the reader is aware of the game that is already occurring throughout the plot of the poem, this same game continues to unfold as Gawain arrives at the castle on Christmas Eve.Bercilak, who plays â€Å"host† to Gawain, continues to trick Gawain by not revealing that he is the Green Knight from Arthur's castle. He allows Gawain to stay at his castle, on the condition that anything acquired throughout the day as a result of staying there would be given to Bercilak as a gift. In return, anything that Bercilak acquired while hunting would be gifted to Gawain. We see another representation of Games within hunting, as hunting is sometimes viewed as a game in itself.Gawain sees this mutual exchange of things won over the course of the day as a game, although Bercilak describes this arrangement as a â€Å"covenant† (Line 1384). It also becomes apparent that the hosts’ wife is playing her own games with Gawain by sneaking into his quarters and trying to seduce him. It is at this point in the story in which Gawain breaks a major rule of the game by not telling Bercilak about the girdle, which supposedly holds magical powers that would prevent any harm from coming to Gawain.Gawain does not fail because he accepts the girdle, but rather because he fails to gift the girdle to Bercilak as something won throughout the course of the day. Since Gawain believes that the girdle would give him the power to survive the blow of the Green Knights’ axe, he fails to hand over his relic to his host. Before Gawain goes to bed on this third night of his stay, Bercilak reminds Gawain, â€Å"Every promise on my part shall be fully performed† (Line 1970).This is a hint to the reader that the host is already aware of the fact that Gawain decided not to share this girdle that was gifted to him. When Gawain finally leaves the castle and finds the Green Knight waiting to hold up his end of the bargain, the Green knight continues to play games with Gawain by â€Å"teasing† him with the axe. He stops at first after Gawain flinches and taunts him for moving. Once Gawain remains still and the Knight deals his blow, only scratching the neck of Gawain, the Green Knight reveals his true identity, as well as the identity of Morgan Le Fay.It is at this point the reader realizes that almost everything that has happened up to this point is just a part of an elaborate game. This game was designed at the hands of Morgan Le Fay to teach Gawain, as well as the other knights of Arthurs’ court, that even the most noble of knights are human and subject to failure at the hands of temptation. As Gawain returns still wearing the green girdle around his arm, it is evident that this game has also taught him another valuable lesson: the lesson of humility (Bennett).Gawain returns to Arthur’s court, still wearing the girdle in shame as a reminder to always follow the rules of the game. After Sir Gawain shares his tales of deceit and trickery, the other knights deem it appropriate to also wear green sashes as a reminder of the adventure that Gawain had. Finally, there are at least two more games that the author plays with the reader throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The first and most obvious game is the fact that the author hides important information from the reader until the end, and then reveals this information.Such information includes but is not limited to the host's true identity, the reason for the â⠂¬Å"Christmas game,† and the fact that Gawain’s aunt, Morgan Le Fay, originated the game. While concealing this information is critical to the progression of the story, it still represents a more subtle game that is being played by the author. â€Å"A much more subtle game played by the author, however, is the way that the author sneaks moral instruction into a poem which, up until about the last three hundred lines, is almost purely entertainment†(Putter).The author clearly expresses to the reader that even Gawain, the noblest of knights, is human and subject to failings. Whether in the fourteenth century or today, the author’s message holds significant meaning. It is apparent that we are in fact all human, and at some point or another, subject to some type of failure. I believe that this is the message that the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight wanted to pass along to the reader. In conclusion, the theme of games is demonstrated in many different ways throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.It is seen in the actions of the Green Knight and Morgan Le Fay towards Gawain. It is also evident that similar games are played between the author and the reader. All of these games tie together significantly to reveal what I believe is the key message of this poem: Regardless of social status, we are all human, we are all subject to temptation, and most importantly, we are all, at some point, almost certainly subject to failure. Works Cited 1. Harwood, Britton J. Gawain and the Gift,† PMLA 106. 3 (1991) pp. 483–99. 2. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume One. General Ed. M. H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1993. 3. Bennett, Michael J. â€Å"The Historical Background† in A Companion to the Gawain-Poet. Derek Brewer and Jonathan Gibson, editors. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1997. pp. 71-90 4. Putter, Ad. An Introduction to the Gawain-poet. New York: Addison We sley Longman, 1996.