Robinson Crusoe: A Mans Discovery of Himself, Civilization, and God. E

Robinson Crusoe: A Man's Discovery of Himself, Civilization, and God.   Just about everyone can recite the highlights of Robinson's adventures: A man is shipwrecked without resources on a desert island, survives for years by his own wits, undergoes immeasurable anguish as a result of his isolation, discovers a footprint in the sand that belongs to Friday, and is finally rescued from his exile. Unfortunately, all of this is wrong.   But more significant than any of these details is that our overall perception of Robinson Crusoe is wrong. The single most important fact about this boy's adventure book is that it is not a boy's adventure book at all. It is, rather, a grown-up tale of a man's discovery of himself, civilization, and God.   As Defoe's book begins, Robinson Crusoe of York commits what he calls his "Original Sin†Ã¢â‚¬â€he spurns his father's advice to join the family business and instead heads out to sea. Robinson is self-willed, arrogant, and hungry for exploits. Catastrophes ensue—storms, shipwrecks, and slavery—but the lad continues in his follies. "I was," he confesses, "to be the willful Agent of all my own Miseries."   Then providence gives him a second chance, shipwrecking him on an Atlantic island, whose features roughly match those of the Juan Fernandez group in the Pacific Ocean where Robinson's real-life prototype, Alexander Selkirk, passed seven years in solitude. Robinson's island is a pristine land of surpassing beauty. To its forlorn first inhabitant, it seems nothing short of Eden: "the Country appear'd so fresh, so green, so flourishing, every thing being in a constant Verdure, or Flourish of Spring, that it looked like a planted Garden."   In this paradise Robinson builds a new home—without Eve... ...ledge the enormity of our task; for when before has a secular culture rebuilt itself on sacred foundations? We need solutions as ingenious as any devised by our industrious hero. Like Robinson, we must never despair; like Robinson, we must find strength in prayer. It helps to bear in mind that it is we who have uprooted God from our homes, schools, books, arts; we have cast ourselves adrift. God, the master mariner, never abandons his children. We do well to remember, too, that Robinson found salvation in a plight more desperate than ours. Then, perhaps, we can relish the truth in Walter de la Mare's heartfelt remark about Defoe's finest creation: "Even to think of his admirable hermit is to be cheerful and to take heart of grace."   Bibliography Zaleski, Philip. â€Å"The Strange Shipwreck of Robinson Crusoe.† First Things 53 (May 1995): 38-44.           

Business: Teacher and Job Enrichment

1. Analyse how these two sets of views can be applied to the work of Herzberg or Vroom or McClelland. These two sets of views can be applied to the work of Herzberg or Vroom or McClelland as the different points made in this case study relate or link to the theories that these three theorists have come up with. For example Bob Nelson believes that workers need some control of their work meaning job enrichment and being recognised for achievements made. This links back to Herzberg’s theory that workers can be forced into doing anything if the pay is high but this does not mean that they want to do it.They are not motivated. To motivate them they must be happy with their work space and the amount of supervision they have. The committee were not satisfies when the principal did not give feedback based on their work which really demotivated the individuals who put the time and effort to produce the report. This refers to Vroom’s theory of individuals choosing to behave in w ays that they believe will lead to outcomes they value. He said that there is a positive link between effort and performance.In this case each committee individual accepted to help create the report based on the idea and misleading that it will benefit them greatly as they would receive recognition. Again relating to McClelland’s theory, he said motivational needs are important as we as humans have these needs. The achievement motivation is shown when the committee individuals decide to participate to achieve something bing recognition which motivated them. 2. Discuss how the views contained in the extract above could be applied in practice to: -a restaurant -a food shop -teaching staff at a school or collegeI believe that not all the views stated in the extract can be applied to the specified businesses as people are different in every business. In a restaurant industry money is important to the workers as this is what motivates them to work and follow orders. I think some c ontrol of the employees work is not good when managing a restaurant as everything needs to be fast and as smooth as possible. The staff should be credited for good work and achievements they have accomplished in this case being a restaurant an award like employee of the month could be beneficial to motivate the employees to work.In a restaurant business communication is very important as it is the key to getting the correct customer orders leading to good customer feedback. However if there is no feedback the staff are not able to correct and improve their working habits which can cause a bad reputation for the restaurant. When dealing with a restaurant business I do not think that opportunity for growth and development education is necessary to the waiters as they do not have a big career path ahead being a waiter for example.But I do believe that team working is very important as they need to work together in order to deliver orders for example from the customer to the chef. Leade rship is important to a manager running the restaurant as everything needs to go as ordered and expected as there is no room for error to occur such as wrong orders or miss communication which will eventually lead to bad customer service, unsatisfied customer needs and a bad reputation for the restaurant. Teachers may not only be working for money but for the satisfaction they get out of teaching.Some teachers may be satisfied with the essential needs they had even before they started to teach meaning that money is not their need at the moment. I think that teachers need to have some sort of control over the way they work (job enrichment) as it will help them challenge themselves and have responsibility for their work. I think as humans they need to be thanked and recognized when they have achieved something as this will motivate them even more to do it again. It is important for teachers to receive feedback on their work as this will enable them to teach better.This can be done by other teachers assessing one another and sharing teaching methods as it will help them teach at their best ability. Communication Is vital to teachers at a school or college as this is how messages or requests are passed on or received. If a teacher does not receive an answer to their request from management it is very likely that they will be demotivated to participate or get involved in the future. Teaching staff at a school or college have limited opportunities for development as there is only a certain amount of promotions they can receive.For example an English teacher would only be able to develop their career path by being promoted to being the head of the English department. As for team working, it is important for teachers to work together as departments to complete certain duties. * Teachers should have good leadership skills as they need to provide clear instructions and set specific deadlines. If a teacher does not have good leadership skills then it may cause problems l ike students not following instructions or not having control over their class.

The Debate About Information Freedom - 996 Words

Pros and cons of WikiLeak The debate about information freedom has become fiercely contested with the advent of WikiLeaks. Wikileaks is a non-profit organization which collects original resources and publishes on the website. It provides a secure platform for whistleblowers. Some people consider Julian Assange (leader of WikiLeaks) as a hero who has provided a platform to uncover the truth. This essay discusses the pros and cons for the issue. In 1971, The NewYork Times and Washington Post newspapers convened hundreds of people from the politics, press, law and academia, spending 20 days, in order to expose a secret document with 47 volumes and 7000 pages to the public (Douglas 2011). However, 39 years later, on 28th November 2010, according to its official website, WikiLeaks released 251,287 United States embassy cables, including 15,652 secret classified cables in one night. It claims that it is the largest activity ever to publish large-scale documents(Wikileaks, 2010). It is acknowledged that internet strengthens the power of a single group to spread an idea and reveal the truth. Based on the open platform, small groups or individuals, like Wikileaks, play greater roles in the information freedom. The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) announces an official statement on its website which declares that Wikileaks is crucial to assist keeping government and corporations transparent (APC, 2010). As is stated on its website, the goal of WikiLeaks is to bringShow MoreRelatedThe Presidential Debates Between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon1524 Words   |  7 PagesThe Presidential Debates Between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon In the Presidential Election of 1960 John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Richard Milhouse Nixon were in a series of debates that were different from past debates. The three biggest national television networks arranged for the debate to be televised on all three stations. 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