Role of the Subtext

There are a lot of particular techniques which help the movie makers to create specific structure of the movie, to make it interesting and capturing. Moreover, many directors refer to the special way of telling the background information about the characters, substituting the boring flashbacks and description with the subtext.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Role of the Subtext specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Subtext is the specific technique when the background information about the character or the events is told as the part of the dialogues, the part of the movie. The viewer gets to know more and more about the characters and the movie becomes more understood, the behavior and actions of the characters more motivated and obvious. Gehring (2010) â€Å"These self-referential moments, which will be limited to actual film footage introduced into the narrative, tell the viewer something about a central character or add an ironically insightful subtext to the picture.† (p. 68). Watching The Hangover (2009) and Due Date (2010), it becomes obvious that the subtext plays an important role here, even those the purposes of the technique are different. The Hangover (2009) is the story about friends who have decided to have a hangover in Las Vegas. Having driven to the city and having rented a room in the hotel, friends go to the roof remembering their college times and drink for a good night. The morning in the hotel is awful, friends find a tiger in their bathroom, a child in the room and cannot find the groom. The Wedding is in several hours and friends are unable to remember what happened and try to recollect the previous night in minds by pieces. The movie structure is particular as the heroes find out the events of the previous night vise versa, noticing some things or using the hints they have. Piece by piece the heroes find out where they were yesterday remembering the even ts and trying to find the groom. The disappearance of the groom is one of the most disturbing facts as the wedding is soon and friends do not know what they are to tell to the bride. Finally, when all of the places have been visited, when all of the events are recollected and the stories are told, friends appear at a deadlock. However, they remember the situation which happened to them when they were in college and the mattress at the roof. At the end of the story, friends understand that they were to live the previous night in reverse order as they got to know each other better, they remembered the times they were younger and could allow themselves to have fun.Advertising Looking for critical writing on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These people were together for many years, they came through many situations and when they appeared in the complicated one they managed to solve the trouble referring to their me mories. The subtext plays an important role in this movie as it shows the friendship relationships and the role of the memories. Turning to the discussion of the Due Date movie, it should be stated that the role of the subtext is different here. The movie structure does not differ from the most movies where the events flow, but the role of the subtext is special. The main characters get to know each other by means of the subtest, telling the stories of their lives, presenting the events which do not have any connection to the main plot the characters become closer. Many events happen in the movie and most of them are not related to the plot, to the main idea of the traveling. Two main characters appear in different situations which prevent them from their final destination. The subtexts, additional stories and absolutely strange people which appear on the way of main characters help them become closer to each other even though it seems that those events, vise versa, distract them. T he role of the subtext is different here in comparison with The Hangover. Comparing and contrasting The Hangover and Due Date from the point of view of the structure and the subtexts, it should be stated that the difference is laid in the way the events are presented and in the way the subtext is provided. The Hangover shows the versa structure, when the events are recollected in the reverse order, while in Due Date the main characters just drive to the place of final destination dropping in some places on their way. The role of subtext is different as well. In The Hangover the director wanted to show that being friends from college, people have the same associations, they are able to think and act in one and the same direction. The stories about Mike Tyson and a baby which come along just show the attitude of friends to the same events which are not related to the main idea of their search.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Role of the Subtext specif ically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Additionally, trying to find the groom the friends appear in the situations whish show that they know each other pretty good, they are able to predict the behavior and thought which could be in this or that situation. The scene, where they understand where the groom is, is the confirmation of the fact that the college friendship is the closest. The role of the subtext is to show how people are going to behave in the situations different from their usual environment, to show the real nature of people and to make sure that the viewer is able to understand the background information about some of the characters. The behavior in the strange situations and in their natural environment is different, that is why trying to show the characters from different angles and in various circumstances the director of the movie tries to avoid the discussion and portrayal of the characters which my be boring. The director of t hese two movies gives the viewer and opportunity to get to know the characters themselves. Moreover, the distraction from the main line of the discussion helps the director to pursue several purposes and to offer the viewer several lines of the plot. Even though the subsidiary lines are too short to impact the mood of the movie, they make the presentation vivid and avoid the routine. Therefore, it may be concluded that the role of the subtext is crucial in the movies even though this specific technique implementation does not affect the central plot line. The subtext helps to understand the main characters better and influences the attitude of the viewers to the movies. The Hangover (2009) and Due Date (2010) are the movies which implement the subtext greatly. The main plot is run on the background of the stories which are not related to the main idea of the movie directly but helps to see the whole picture better. Reference List Gehring, WD 2010, ‘Analyzing those movies withi n movies’, USA Today Magazine, vol. 139, no. 2786, p. 68.Advertising Looking for critical writing on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Phillips, T 2010, Due Date, motion picture, Warner Bros, New York. Phillips, T 2009, The Hangover, motion picture, Warner Bros, New York This critical writing on Role of the Subtext was written and submitted by user Korath to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Humean doubt

Humean doubt Free Online Research Papers Kant was enlightened by Hume’s theory of cause and effect. Hume and Kant agreed and disagreed to many concepts regarding metaphysics. Hume was accustomed to believe in necessary connection. â€Å"Humean doubt† is the belief that you can not know or trust that the future will resemble the past. In contrast Kant believed empirical knowledge is never necessary and universal however cause is necessary and universal. He believed that things were known necessarily and the cause of something was beyond experience and could not be known. Kant disagrees with Hume’s idea of cause not coming from experience. For Hume the knowledge of cause and effect is empirical, we develop this relation from experience, this is because we see the constant conjunction between two events, however we can not understand the connection between the events. Because of this â€Å" It is wholly impossible for reason to think such conjunction a priori from concepts. For this conjunction contains necessity; but it is quite impossible to see how, because something is , something else mush also necessarily be, and how therefore the concept of such an a priori connection can be introduced( Prolegomena,4:258, p.65). This suggests that we do not have understanding of the necessity of the connection that occurs between cause and effect. However we only have subjective, and experimental information about their conjunction. First , I will describe The judgements of perception and judgements of experience that both philosophers cover and how Hume develops his scepticism . Then I will illustrate â€Å"Humean doubt† that Kant addresses and explain how he disposes of it, Second I will clarify if Kant is correct to characterize Hume’s position as one of doubt, Lastly , I will conclude all how both philosophers related to one another in relation to theHumean doubt. The judgements of perception is subjective , meaning its everything internally sensed, heard and seen. It has no expectation for inter-subject agreement. The judgements of experiences are objective, they have necessity and universality . Hume believed in judgements of perception while Kant believed in Judgements of experience. Judgements of experience describes the cause of the effect. While Judgements of perception is the perceiving and feeling yet there is no causal inference made. Synthetic a prior is everything that happens has a cause, it is a pure concept of understanding related to cause, this concept also precedes empirical cognition of nature and makes the cognition of lawfully determined objects possible ( §26,p113). Hume categorizes between two kinds of scepticism: consequent and antecedent skepticism. Most important, antecedent Skepticism, consists of forming opinions, he describes it as being custom and habit of human nature , where reason breaks down judgments by doubt. Hume’s Skepticism is based on uniformity and laws of nature based on past experience. He describes naturalism as the science of human nature . These laws of nature of experience are not universal . Hume believes that cause is a concept of necessary connection with no justification by reason. Kant describes â€Å"the essential limitation of the concepts in these principles is therefore: that all things stand necessarily a priori under the said conditions only as objects of experience†( Prolegomena, 4: 309,p.114) . In general, experience is what allows for the constant conjunction of events to occur, meaning experience of the events depend upon intrinsic features so that they can be seen happening one after anoth er. Therefore, Kant agrees that we as humans can not find the cause and effect in our experience. He disagrees with Hume’s theory if of human nature that is derived from custom or habit, For wherever the repetitions o f any particular act or operation produces a propensity to renew the same act or operation, without being impelled by any reasoning or process of understanding.(EHU,para.5.p.121). Hume claimed that we can never understand the cause and effect relationships a priori. Therefore ,causality does not have an objective necessity coming from insight, only a subjective necessity that arose based on custom. This is explained when he says â€Å"The imagination, having by experience brought certain representations under the law of association, passes off a subjective necessity arising out of this, namely custom, for an objective necessity from insight†(Prolegomena, 4: 258,p.65). A priori knowledge is the highest of knowledge. It allows for our prior senses of experience and perceptions to guide us. Although, it is a necessary knowledge integrated by our thoughts, it does not need to rely on anything empirically. â€Å"Humean doubt† is David Hume’s doubt about causality . Causality being the necessary relationship between one event and another event which is the direct consequence of the first. He suggests that reason and experience can not connect things in the world and explain â€Å" that every event has a cause.† He states, â€Å"that we can in no way have insight by reason into the possibility of causality, i.e. of the relation of the existence of a thing to the existence of something else which is posited necessary by the first† (4: 311,p.115). Hume concludes that we have no logical knowledge of cause and effect. In the end the idea of causation is convincing by the custom and habit of seeing events followed after others. This is explained in the prolegomena when it states â€Å" Nonetheless I am far from holding that these concepts are merely taken from experience and that the necessity which is represented in them is fictitious and mere illusion imposed o n us by long habit†(4:311,p.115-116). Kant goes about in his refusal of Hume’s skepticism by showing that we do have an a priori and necessary knowledge of causality and we can have a priori knowledge larger then what Hume suggested . Kant responded to Humes skepticism and disposes of it by maintaining cause as synthetic conditioned idea that we create a priori to all experience. Kant agrees with Hume views of knowledge of cause is beyond experience. However believing that causation is an a prior to experience concept applied to two realms known as are phenomena , this is understanding that comes from experiences, also known as appearances, and noumena which are things in themselves that are comprised of reality. Besides the beings of the senses or appearances (phenomena) which constitute the world of the senses, there were special beings of the understanding (noumena) , which were supposed to constitute a world of the understanding (4:315,p.119). Our synthetic a priori judgments are derived from phenomena because humans can only know the appearance of objects that our sense perception and understanding presents us. The noumena is what we experience, it allows us to justify in imposing the conjunction of concepts to the objects of knowledge. Hume believed that all knowledge starts and rises from experience. In contrast to Kant’s belief that all knowledge starts but does not rise from experience including space and time. A priori element in our knowledge is prior to experience in the form of a cognitive disposition of the mind and it is in depended from any specific piece of experience. The pure a priori concept of understanding includes pure concepts and insight that allows us to conclude the appearances. Kant believed that pure intuitions and concepts the a priori knowledge can not describe the nuemena†things in them selves†. The pure concepts of understanding and intuitions of space and time, are a priori and therefore necessary, we desire to believe that we can receive knowledge further then what we find in experience. Moreover, they provide form (Phenomena ) and no substance (nuemena). Hume believed that all knowledge starts and rises from experience. In contrast to Kant’s belief that all knowledge starts but does not rise from experience including space and time. The differences between Kant and Hume’s philosophies are described through Kant’s characterization of Hume’s position as one of doubt. Kant developed upon the idea that space and time, he described them as added immediately upon the first time of experience, However, Hume suggested that whatever we add to experiences only develops through many experiences when he says ..he has acquired more experience, and had lived so long in the world as to have observed similar objects or events to be constantly conjoined together(EHU,para.4.p.120). Hume’s position allowed Kant to agree or disagree and expand upon his conclusions. The belief that one thing causes another believed by Hume when he statedHe would , indeed, immediately observe a continual succession of objects, and one event following another;†¦He would not , at first, by any reasoning , be able to reach the idea of cause and effect(EHU,para.3.,p.120) was contradicted by Kant when he suggested that th ese psychological elements concerning experience and idea of cause are part of the cognitive structure. Hume characterizes All belief of matter of fact or real existences is derived merely from some object, present tot the memory or senses, and a customary conjunction between that and some other object(EHU, para.8.p.123). This explains the mind as conforming to the world in the form of constant conjunction , the mind develops this belief of a causal connection that when I do this , this will happen. However Kant suggests that this constant conjunction does not exist and that the objects of experience conform to the mind, allowing us to see appearances( Phenomena) and come in touch with conceptions(nuemena). Metaphysics has gained in respect to Hume’s Criticism. Metaphysics is possible, as long as we have necessary, synthetic judgements priori knowledge . Moreover, Kant suggests the faculty of understanding as being the foundation, from that we develop concepts. From concepts comes the two law’s of nature Empirical as described by Hume, and Pure categories emphasized by Kant. Significantly many objects that are objective like causation, space and time, are dependent on knowledge. Hume’s scepticism in regards to reason, claims that custom, habit, and constant conjunctions are the source. In conclusion Humean doubt is the relationship between one event and another event which ends in a consequence, it is the reason why one thing happens after another that contain necessity and universality. Hume concluded that one thing being the cause of another is what developed experience. Kant concluded that we have pure a prior knowledge that includes the understanding plus int uitions that results in experience. Research Papers on Humean doubtCapital PunishmentEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThree Concepts of PsychodynamicBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresMind TravelInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

Get Paid

Get Paid As more and more people dip their toe into writing, more and more publications and editors think they can pay less. Supply and demand is a tried and true concept, and with way more writers clamoring to write, the cost of those writers diminishes sometimes to nothing. That does not give you permission to accept less. That does not give you permission to write for nothing. Instead, that means that you become pickier. I write for free in a few places: Blogs. Few of those pay. However, if I have something to promote, like my latest novel, I will piggy-back on someone elses readership to make a splash. Im making money, just in a sideways manner. A magazine that also advertises me. I periodically write articles for a certain magazine for free. They like my work, and in return, theyve promoted me well outside the parameters of that article, often providing the graphics for the advertising both in the magazine and for me to use elsewhere. An annual tourist guide recently asked me to write a piece, using an excerpt from my novel. This publication comes out once a year and goes in every rental in that coastal town, and sits on the counter of every restaurant. The bottom line is that writing for free has to pay somehow. Not in the ambiguous manner like I need some exposure that I am a writer. Thats a slippery slope. You enjoy seeing your hard-earned Write for free . . . on occasion. But be sure that when you do, theres a defined purpose that WILL result in tangible income. You want to be able to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning.

Personal development and careers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Personal development and careers - Essay Example The last part focuses on barriers to communication and strategies that can be implemented to overcome them. 1. â€Å"Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge through experience which leads to an enduring change in behaviour,† (Hucznski & Buchanan, 2010). It can be noted that organisations operate in a dynamic environment which is ever changing hence learning in an organisation is a very important strategy that ought to be implemented in order to overcome the challenges that are often brought about by change. Against this background, this essay seeks to explain this assertion in relation to learning theories. The paper will also outline different elements of learning and how they impact on individuals as well as the organisation as a whole. Basically, the concept of learning was popularized by Peter Senge (1990) who described it as, â€Å"the process whereby people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free and where people continually learn how to learn together through the exchange of ideas,† (Robbins, 2003). ... The ability of the organisation to grow mainly depends on the ability of the employees to generate new ideas which can be developed into feasible strategies that can be implemented in the operations of the organisation. There are mainly two theories of learning namely the behavioural and cognitive theories. Behavioural theory suggests that human behaviour in relation to learning can be explained in terms of external stimuli, responses, learned histories and reinforcement which mean that all human behaviour could therefore be understood in terms of cause and effect (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2008). On the other hand, cognitive theory posits to the effect that learning is influenced by mental structures. According to Vygotsky (1978), aspects such as problem solving are influenced by an integration of personal traits such as motivation, cognitive strategies as well as the learner’s ambition to acquire new knowledge in a related subject. In most cases, an individual person is awa re of the reason why he or she is learning hence there is need to positively influence this process for a positive result. Both theories are applicable to learning especially in organisations where it can be noted that people learn through socialisation whereby they interact with their workmates in a bid to exchange ideas and knowledge which is the foundation of learning. There is a close relationship between these two concepts given that they emphasise on the need to transform the organisation for positive growth through changing the behaviour of the employees through the knowledge they will gain from the learning process. The learner will be exposed to a system that will

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Business plan - Essay Example However, unless marked costume jewelry, the majority of all jewelry at the store will be upscale or certified fine-crafted gold and diamond jewelry, which will cater to a wide variety of potential customers. Second Street Recovery is owned and operated by Panayiotis Gavriel who will manage all of the business aspects of the company including administrative, bookkeeping, generic management, inventory and sales recording. This self-managed business philosophy will keep labour costs low and provide the owner with more flexibility in daily business operations. Second Street will require an initial capital infusion (long-term loan) in the amount of  £33,575 at start-up. These costs will cover initial insurance, rent deposits, legal expertise, and generic office expenses necessary to operate the company at start-up. The chart below identifies the start-up capital and justification for launch of Second Street. The chart below identifies the expected customer demographics for Second Street Recovery as well as projections for growth over a five-year period, based on expected population increases in the London region. The market analysis chart identifies the percentage of customers which maintain the buying potential to utilise Second Street services, presented in pie chart format. There are currently six to ten competitors in the local region which provide similar pawn services and jewelry resale, making this a very saturated marketplace. For this reason, Second Street Recovery must create a marketing-focused organisation to make Second Street products the foremost name in jewelry, furniture and pawn services. Prouness (2007) describes product positioning from a marketing perspective, which involves creating a connection between the product and the customer by appealing to their unique preferences and lifesyle choices. Product positioning allows a

Project management principles

Project management principles Introduction of project management Project management is a planned and structured effort to achieve an objective or is the process of managing, allocating, and timing available resources to achieve the desired goal of a project in an efficient and expedient manner, for example, creating a new system or constructing a project. Project management is widely recognized as a practical way of ensuring that projects meet objectives and products are delivered on time, within budget and to correct quality specification, while at the same time controlling or maintaining the scope of the project at the correct level. Project management includes developing a project plan, which includes defining and confirming the project goals and objectives, identifying tasks and how goals will be achieved, quantifying the resources needed, and determining budgets and timelines for completion. It also includes managing the implementation of the project plan, along with operating regular controls to ensure that there is accurate and objective information on performance relative to the plan, and the mechanisms to implement recovery actions where necessary. Projects usually follow major phases or stages (with various titles for these), including feasibility, definition, project planning, implementation, evaluation and support/maintenance History Project management has been practiced since the early civilization. Until 1900 civil engineering projects were generally managed by creative architects and engineers by their selves, among those for example Christopher Wren (1632-1723) , Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) It has been since the 1950s, that organizations started applying systemic project management tools and techniques to complex projects. Henry Gantt (1861-1919), the father of planning and control techniques. As a discipline, Project Management developed from diverse fields of application including construction, engineering and defense. In the United States, the two forefathers of project management are Henry Gantt, called the father of planning and control techniques, who is famously acknowledged for his use of the Gantt chart as a project management tool, and Henri Fayol for his creation of the 5 management functions, which form the basis for the body of knowledge related with project and program management. Both Gantt and Fayol were known as being students of Frederick Winslow Taylors theories of scientific management. His work is the forerunner to modern project management tools including work breakdown structure (WBS) and resource allocation. Principles of project management The Success Principle The main goal of project management is to create a successful product. Without making a successful product there is no good point in incurring the project Management overhead cost. opposing to conventional wisdom, there have been many Projects that have been â€Å"On time and within budget† but the product has not been successful, and similarly many that have not been â€Å"On time and within budget† yet the product has been very successful. The Commitment Principle A mutually acceptable assurance between a project sponsor and a project team must exist before a viable project exists. A project sponsor is a knowledgeable person in place of the eventual owner of the product of the project and who is responsible for providing the necessary resources (money, goods, services, and general direction, as appropriate.) A project team is a knowledgeable and qualified group capable and willing to undertake the work of the project. A mutually acceptable assurance is one in which there is agreement on the goals and objectives of the project in terms of the products scope, quality grade, time to completion and final cost. The Tetrad-Tradeoff Principle The core variables of the project management process, namely: product scope, quality grade, time-to-produce and cost-to-complete must all be mutually consistent. The core variables of scope, quality, time and cost are interrelated rather similar to a four-cornered frame with flexible joints. One corner can be anchored and another moved, but not without affecting the other two. The Primary Communication Channel (or Unity-of-Command) Principle A single channel of communication must exist between the project sponsor and the project team leader for all decisions affecting the result of the project. This principle is essential for the effective and efficient administration of the project Commitment. The owner of the eventual product, if represented by more than one Person, must nevertheless speak with one voice. Similarly, at any given time, the projects team must have a single point of responsibility, a project manager, for the work of the project. Such person must have the skills, experience, dedication, commitment, authority and tenacity to lead the project to success. The Cultural Environment (or Suitability) Principle An informed management must provide a helpful cultural environment to enable the Project team to produce its best work. An informed management is one which understands the project management process. A supportive cultural environment is one in which the project is clearly backed by management, and plan team members are enabled to produce their best work without unnecessary bureaucratic hindrance. This rule includes the need for management to ensure that the leadership profile and management style are suited to both the type of project and its phase in the project life-cycle. The Process Principle Effective and efficient policies and procedures must be in place for the conduct of the project commitment. Such policies and procedures must cover, at a minimum, clear roles and responsibilities, delegation of authority, and processes for managing the scope of work, including changes, maintenance of quality, and schedule and cost control. The Life-Cycle Principle Plan first, then do. A successful project management process relies on two activities planning first, and then doing. These two sequential activities form the basis of every project life-cycle, and can be expanded to suit the control requirements of every type of project in every area of project management application. The project life-cycle, characterized by a series of ‘milestones determines when the project starts, the ‘control gates through which it must pass, and when the project is finished. Appraise the viability of projects and develop success/failure criteria Introduction There are a few factors to consider before any actual projects begin. The project developers must contain steps or project phases, most importantly, the original concept must be determined, and so as feasibility study, business plan, risk assessment, public enquiry, permission, organization, planning, design, procurement, fulfillment, test, handover, economic life. Project managers has the task of monitoring projects to be guided into a success, unfortunately, there are some projects that were not completed on time, over budget or being canceled in the process of building it. In general, there are common reasons that are usually found for project failures, these are a few reasons: lack of user involvement, incorrect planning or lack of planning, incomplete requirements, lack of resources, incorrect estimations. According to the 1994 Standish CHAOS statement there are top 10 factors found in successful projects. These factors are listed in Table below Project success factors Project Success Factors % of Responses User Involvement 15.9% Executive Management Support 13.9% Clear Statement of Requirements 13.0% Proper Planning 9.6% Realistic Expectations 8.2% Smaller Project Milestones 7.7% Competent Staff 7.2% Ownership 5.3% Clear Vision and Objectives 2.9% Hard-Working, Focused Staff 2.4% Some factors that contributed to project will be discussed below: User Involvement †¢ One of the key to success in a project is user involvement, without the users involvement, it may cause of failure to the entire project. Even if the project was delivered on time, and on budget, a project has a high rate of failing if the project does not meet users needs. -Executive Management Support †¢ This influences the process and progress of a Project and lack of executive input can put a project at a severe disadvantage. -Clear Statement of Requirements -Proper Planning †¢ Proper planning is one of the most important parts of developing a project, having improper planning of the project may cause a severe disadvantage to the project and result to a failure. -Realistic Expectations †¢ Expectations of the project development outcome must be rational. If expectations in developing a project are not accurate, it may cause to a failure in building the project itself. -Smaller Project Milestones †¢ One of the things to be needed for a complete success of a project is completing smaller project millstones, the small details of a project should not be disregarded for it may result to a minor failure. If these smaller milestones are not being achieved, it may cause a major problem in the completion of the project. -Competent Staff †¢ Staff members play the biggest role in a project development, without the proper knowledge or skill of a staff member may cause a poor outcome to a development of a project. Staff members should be proper trained and have the proper experience before getting involved with the task that they will be handling during the project development. -Ownership -Clear Vision and Objectives -Hard working †¢ Every staff of person that is involved in a project development must be passionate and responsible in achieving objectives. Uncommitted staff members may cause a improper outcome in the building process First of all Figure out what business you are in, and then mind your own business. Figure out what business you are in. Make sure your business is viable. Select projects that are good for your business. Understand the business value in your project and watch for changes. Be diligent in your chosen business, learning and applying best practices. Define what is inside and outside your area of responsibility. 50% of project management is simply paying attention. Understand the customers requirements and put them under version control. Thoroughly understand and document the customers requirements, obtain customer agreement in writing, and put requirements documents under version identification and change control. Requirements management is the leading success factor for systems development projects. Prepare a reasonable plan. Prepare a plan that defines the scope, schedule, cost, and approach for a reasonable project. Involve task owners in developing plans and estimates, to ensure feasibility and buy-in. If your plan is just barely possible at the outset, you do not have a reasonable plan. Use a work breakdown structure to provide coherence and completeness to minimize unplanned work. Build a good team with clear ownership. Get good people and trust them. Establish clear ownership of well-defined tasks; ensure they have tools and training needed; and provide timely feedback. Track against a staffing plan. Emphasize open communications. Create an environment in which team dynamics can gel. Move misfits out. Lead the team. Track project status and give it wide visibility. Track progress and conduct frequent reviews. Provide wide visibility and communications of team progress, assumptions, and issues. Conduct methodical reviews of management and technical topics to help manage customer expectations, improve quality, and identify problems before they get out of hand. Trust your indicators. This is part of paying attention. Use Baseline Controls. Establish baselines for the product using configuration management and for the project using cost and schedule baseline tracking. Manage changes deliberately. Use measurements to baseline problem areas and then track progress quantitatively towards solutions. Write Important Stuff Down, Share it, and Save it. If it hasnt been written down, it didnt happen. Document requirements, plans, procedures, and evolving designs. Documenting thoughts allows them to evolve and improve. Without documentation it is impossible to have baseline controls, reliable communications, or a repeatable process. Record all important agreements and decisions, along with supporting rationale, as they may resurface later. If it hasnt been tested, it doesnt work. If this isnt absolutely true, it is certainly a good working assumption for project work. Develop test cases early to help with understanding and verification of the requirements. Use early testing to verify critical items and reduce technical risks. Testing is a profession; take it seriously. Ensure Customer Satisfaction. Keep the customers real needs and requirements continuously in view. Undetected changes in customer requirements or not focusing the project on the customers business needs are sure paths to project failure. Plan early for adequate customer support products. Be relentlessly pro-active. Take initiative and be relentlessly proactive in applying these principles and identifying and solving problems as they arise. Project problems usually get worse over time. Periodically address project risks and confront them openly. Attack problems, and leave no stone unturned. Fight any tendency to freeze into day-to-day tasks, like a deer caught in the headlights. http://www.hyperthot.com/pm_princ.htm http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/

Symbolism in Flannery O’Connor’s “Revelation”

Flannery O’Connor belongs to the school of writing called American Southern Gothic. Her fiction revolves around people from the South and the volatile relationships fermenting in their society. The significance of being a writer from the American South has something to do with the immediate context from which the stories are written. The extent of slavery and racial prejudice in the South presents Southern writers with subject matter ranging from racism to moral decay (Wood 1) Apart from being rooted in what is considered a backwater, Bible-fundamentalist society, O’Connor’s staunch faith in Roman Catholicism also plays a part in her fiction. Many of her works have been read with symbolism of spiritual realities. Martin asserts that the symbolic nature of her work comes from the plausibility of her characters’ action or the circumstances in which they find themselves, and the metaphysical meaning these actions or circumstances take (137). To O’Connor, however, her fiction is not symbolic but sacramental in that the actions, which are often violent, are seen to be intrusions of God’s grace into the physical world (Revel). The ability of O’Connor to translate abstract matters such as good, evil, grace, and redemption into a concrete, mundane, and very real scenario infuses her fiction with rich symbolism. The effective use of symbol is demonstrated in the short story Revelation. Like most of her stories, Revelation is set in the South, in a little town where ordinary folks live. It is a world familiar to O’Connor, having been brought up in Georgia. The protagonist in the story is Ruby Turpin, a stocky woman who has a penchant for thinking about people in relation to her own sense of righteousness. Along with her husband, Mrs.Turpin is found at the beginning of the story in a clinic waiting room in which she joined several people. Immediately, she surveyed the room and sized them up according to her own sets of labels: a white trash woman, a fat, ugly teenager, a pleasant woman, and ordinary-looking folks. Not long after, she strikes a conversation with the pleasant woman who turns out to be the mother of the ugly girl. They talk about how important it is to observe propriety and maintain a positive outlook even when they have to deal with â€Å"niggers. † They then share sentiment about being thankful for whatever God has given them. All this time, the ugly girl named Mary Grace is smirking, obviously irritated and furious at the conversation of the two women. The white trash woman, on the other hand, tries to join the conversation by sharing comments which only showed her ignorance. At that point, Mrs. Turpin exclaims, out of a sudden burst of joy, how thankful she is to Jesus that He made things just the way they are, and that she was not somebody else. Then, without warning, Mary Grace throws a book to Mrs. Turpin’s face and lunges at her with her hands strangling the stout woman’s neck. Appalled by the violent act, Mrs. Turpin demands the ugly girl to explain herself, and with contempt, Mary Grace commands her to return to hell. Mrs. Turpin takes the incident to be a revelation from God. In her exasperation for not understanding why God would condemn a virtuous woman like her, she demands God for an explanation. All at once, a strange light reveals to her a vision in which all sorts of abominable people are leading a march to heaven with people like her trailing behind. One of the recurring references in the story is the eye. The title itself, Revelation, gives clue as to how eyesight will play out in the entire story. Revelation involves exposing something into view, and in the story, Mrs. Turpin realized the prejudice she hides beneath the courteous demeanor. Through O’Connor’s sleight of hand, Mrs. Turpin’s epiphany gains resonance throughout the story precisely because of the symbols which O’Connor employed. In Writing Short Stories, O’Connor says that a particular object or action becomes symbolic when it accumulates meaning from the beginning of the story until it reaches the denouement (O’Connor 1546). At the onset of the story, O’Connor directs the reader’s attention to the physical appearance of Mrs. Turpin, most significantly to her eye. Her little bright black eyes took in all the patients as she sized up the seating situation† (O’Connor 818). It was through the appearances of people she sees in the waiting room that Mrs. Turpin judges whether they are agreeable or not. It was also through her eyes that she communicates. Upon meeting the eye of the pleasant woman, she seems to have an understanding with her regarding the sorry state of other people inside the waiting room: â€Å"The look that Mrs. Turpin and the pleasant lady exchanged indicated they both understood that you had to have certain things before you could know certain things† (O’Connor 822). O’Connor uses eyesight as a symbol of the inner being of Mrs. Turpin and the rest of the characters in the story—true to the aphorism that the eye is the window to the soul. This is further demonstrated in O’Connor’s description of the white-trash woman’s eye as having a â€Å"cast,† which could literally be a physical eye ailment but could also mean a failure to see things as they rightly are. As a contrast to Mrs. Turpin, the ugly girl who is significantly named Mary Grace responds to the pathetic conversation with a scowl. Mary Grace was the kind of person that Mrs. Turpin could not make sense of or judge as easily as she could others. This suggests that Mary Grace and Turpin do not share the same sentiments regarding other people. Mary Grace, described to have a â€Å"peculiar eye,† sees through Mrs. Turpin’s hypocrisy and uses her eye to condemn it. As Mrs. Turpin’s prejudice gets more blaring, Mary Grace fixes her piercing look at Mrs. Turpin who was starting to get confused at Mary Grace’s hateful look. Mrs. Turpin ignores the ugly girl and blurts out a prayer not unlike that performed by a Pharisee in the Bible. Upon hearing this, the ugly girl throws a book and hits Mrs. Turpin’s left eye. In Oedipus Rex, eyesight and the lack thereof is used ironically to demonstrate how the king’s blindness turned to sight (Bush). Similarly, Mrs. Turpin saw her prejudice through an impaired eye. She sees a vision, while in her backyard, revealing how her prejudice would get her behind the ranks of people marching to heaven. Eyesight, throughout the rest of the story, is used as a symbol of Mrs. Turpin’s prejudice as well as her redemption. Another recurring object in the story which accretes symbolic meaning is the pig. Commonly associated with uncleanness, the pig symbolizes the moral state of Mrs. Turpin. It is no coincidence that she and her husband Claud raise pigs in their backyard. O’Connor reinforces this symbol when Mary Grace calls Mrs. Turpin a warthog. Sparrow sees another meaning to the use of pigs in Revelation. According to him, the act of cleaning the pigs before they are sent to the slaughterhouse symbolizes the act of purging in Purgatory. In the story, Mrs. Turpin violently hoses her pigs as she asks God with insolence why she experienced the humiliating incident in the waiting room. This is a parallel to the act of cleansing that humans must undergo before they can reach heaven. Symbolizing Purgatory is evident in the final revelation Mrs. Turpin receives at the end of the story. The bridge connecting earth to heaven is a place where â€Å"virtues and vices will be equally purged. Shame and pride will be no more. Clean and unclean, sane and lunatic, white and black, gentile and Jew, slave and free, woman and man will enter in a single throng, the last being first, the first being the last. † (The Black Cordelias). The waiting room where Mrs. Turpin experiences her first revelation is another symbol in the story. Filled with people that come from different walks of life, the waiting room is used as a microcosm of the society wherein â€Å"niggers† and â€Å"whites,† rich and poor brush shoulders with each other. O’Connor employs a similar technique in Everything that Rises Must Converge where she set the story in a bus, a scaled-down image of the world. In Revelation, people inside the waiting room inevitably take symbolic meaning. Five types of people can be seen inside the waiting room, relating to different kinds of people in society. The white trash woman, with her ignorant comments and hasty judgment, symbolizes people who are uninformed and uneducated. They view the world with a sharp dichotomy: white and black. This is especially true in the South which was steeped with racism. The Negro represents those who are oppressed and marginalized in society. In most of O’Connor’s story, black people prove to be nobler than whites who think they are superior. Consistent with her strong Catholic beliefs, O’Connor puts preference to the oppressed. Mrs. Turpin of course represents the prejudiced and hypocritical. She is typical of some Christians who wear a mask of righteousness to hide their real feelings towards people they do not agree with. In Revelation, O’Connor puts hope in God’s sovereignty to transform people like Mrs. Turpin, and for O’Connor, God’s intervention in the physical world is possible because of the sacraments, the visible signs of God’s intangible grace. Finally, the presence of Mary Grace symbolizes people who fix the unbalance in the world brought about by prejudice and cruelty. Her name alludes to two Catholic beliefs: Mary, the intermediary between man and Jesus, and Grace, the unmerited favor which God bestows man. O’Connor uses Mary Grace to redeem Mrs. Turbin from her blindness and restore the balance in her life. The use of symbols in Flannery O’Connor serves her purpose of translating into everyday circumstances the abstract truths and teachings of her faith. Her Christian worldview is reflected in her characters and the transformation they experience. Despite being a staunch believer and defender of her faith, her fiction, as demonstrated in Revelation, does not come as a didactic propaganda. Her deft writing and understanding of fiction enables her to create realistic and believable characters which, in turn, enable readers to see the world as it is.