Managing Change for Competitive Success

This paper explores two concepts that have been studied in due course; personality and change. The paper begins by defining the concepts and then goes ahead to provide a summary of them. In addition, the paper will give data outlining a problem related to one of the concepts. Moreover, the paper will give a summary of findings and offer recommendations for change where applicable.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Managing Change for Competitive Success specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Personality Personality refers to consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within an individual† (Burger 2010, p. 4). Notice that there are two aspects to it. Part one is concerned with consistent patterns of behavior. These represent the individual differences. An important feature of personality is consistency. People can observe these consistent patterns of behavior across time and situations. The second part is concerned with the intrapersonal processes. In contrast to interpersonal processes, which take place between people, intrapersonal processes take place within individuals. They include emotional, motivational and cognitive processes, and they determine how people react or feel. The manner in which people use these processes and how they interact with individual differences determines the overall character of an individual. These consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originate within an individual. However, this does not mean that external factors do not affect an individual’s personality. According to Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) model, which rests on the personality theory of Carl Jung, personality assumes the following (Howard, P Howard, J 2002): Personality hangs on four dimensional framework; scores of each dimension fall along a binomial distribution and the judger dimension is a key determinant of a person’s preferences. On the other hand, the five factor model (FFM) or the big five model is based on experience and not theory. â€Å"FFM relies on the following: personality has five dimensions, scores of dimension fall along a normal distribution, personality is best described by individual traits rather than types, and the strength of the scores indicates preferences† (The Big Five 2012). FFM has been widely accepted in the academic and psychology communities. It has been employed in team building and employee selection. Job analysis, customer service, management and leadership development, coaching and counseling; career development, conflict management and training design have all benefitted from FFM. Pro FFM model experts identified five correlated groups of behaviors, each of which exists along a continuum.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They are negative emotionality, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness and extraversion. Negative emotionality determines an individual’s capability to withstand stress. Those who have negative emotionality experience many negative emotions and report less satisfaction with life. They are reactive and lack resilience. Since they are susceptible to emotions and show discontent with life, individuals with negative emotionality end up as social scientists, academicians, or customer service professionals (Howard, P Howard, J 2002). On the other end, those individuals without low, negative emotionality tend to be resilient and experience life on a more rational level than others. In addition, responsive individuals fall in the middle range of negative emotionality continuum. Responsive individuals demonstrate a mix of resilient and reactive qualities. The extraversion factor describes one’s comfort level with relationships. Extraverts spend much of their time maintaining and enjoying many relationships. Extrav erts tend to lead, talk and exert themselves physically more often than other people. Such people are usually friendly and outgoing. However, introverts have few relationships and spend a little time with them. Most extroverts find themselves in arts, politics sales and social sciences. On the contrary, introverts take up managerial roles or end up as physical and natural scientists (Howard, P Howard, J 2002). Between the extremes are ambiverts who move comfortably between social and solitary situations. Openness addresses one’s range of interests. Extremely open people (explorers) are fascinated by novelty and innovation. Explorers describe themselves as more introspective and reflective than most people describe themselves. The individuals with explorer profile usually take roles in entrepreneurial, architectural, theoretical, physical and social fields (Howard, P Howard, J 2002). Those who are less open have narrower interests, appear more conventional, and find comfort in the familiar. Such individuals are seen to be conservative. They assume roles in management and applied science. Between explorers and preservers are moderators. Moderators find too much novelty tiresome and too much of the status quo boring. On the other hand, agreeableness refers to a persons’ propensity to differ with others. An adapter refers to a person who is easily agreeable. Individuals with adaptor profiles are usually found in professions like teaching, social work and psychology (Howard, P Howard, J 2002). At the extreme end, adaptors (tender minded) can become dependent personalities who lose their sense of self. Such people value harmony more than they prize having their say or their way.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Managing Change for Competitive Success specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Other hand, challengers focus more on their needs or norms and not on those of others. Challengers usually take roles in advertising and business management fields or the military (Howard, P Howard, J 2002). Challengers (tough minded) can become antisocial, authoritarian, narcissistic or paranoid personalities who have lost their sense of feeling for others. Moreover, conscientiousness refers to a number of goals that one focuses. A highly conscientiousness person is focused and purses fewer goals in a purposeful way. A highly focused person may end up being a workaholic. Such people serve as leaders and executives. A person with low conscientiousness pursues many goals in a spontaneous, scattered way. Flexibles tend to be less focused on goals and are more hedonistic. Such individuals lack control over their impulses. They do not necessarily work less than focused people, but they direct less of their work to specific goals (Howard, P Howard, J 2002).â€Å"The big five vocabulary enables people to communicate constructively about their personality differences† (Howard, P Howard, J 2002, p. 34). The model offers a comprehensive source metaphor that celebrates the fullness of human personality. Managers are expected to have a strong personality in order to cope up with work related stress and other responsibilities. The position of a manager in the present day comes with huge responsibilities and stress. Nowadays, managers are expected to produce results in spite of the challenges at hand. Managers are supposed to devise solutions to challenges that keep on arising at the place of work. Such challenges may include limited budget, reassignment of staff, reorganization of units, withdrawal of finance, government policies, employees’ demands and unavailability of resources. Change â€Å"Change management means to plan, to initiate, to realize to reflect and to stabilize fundamental and far reaching processes† (Recklies 2012, p.1). Change management aims at short term and long term basis of effective changes of behavior patterns and abil ities, in order to optimize processes and communication structures. Thus, an integrative approach to the reorganizations is necessary. Change management is the strategy of planned and systematic change, which is achieved by the influence of the organizational structure, corporate culture and individual behavior; and requires the participation of employees.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More â€Å"In the broader sense, change management is a theoretical concept, which is given to the organization from the outside† (change management 2012, p. 1). Therefore, â€Å"the objectives of change are developed from external advisors (change agents) whereas; the employees are involved on a limited scale with decision making and the conversion of the concept† (change management 2012, p. 1). Balogun and Hailey (2002) argue that change is becoming a way of life for most organizations and managers. Studies done in 1980s, and 1990s indicate that many organizations have been undertaking many types of change including culture change, total quality management, business process re-engineering, and downsizing and delayering. However, many change initiates have not been effective, and organizations are in the process of developing managers who can manage change with a lot of ease (Charan 2006). Managers require context sensitivity (Balogun and Hailey). Contest sensitivity is th e ability to understand the context someone is working in and, it enables one to devise approaches to change that will be effective in that context. Thus, successful change requires a context sensitive approach (Balogun and Hailey 2002). They ague that change can be effected using a framework called change kaleidoscope. The tool enables managers to have a rigorous analysis of the context, a consideration of a range of implementation options, a valuation of one’s own preferences, and how this limits the options to be considered and development of change judgment. In order to design change plan, change implementers should use the organization’s context to guide the approach selected. Change kaleidoscope relies on the definition of contextual constraints and enablers. They are Time: the speed with which change is to be achieved. Scope: the extent of change required in terms of transformation and realignments, within the parts of the organization affected by the changes. P reservation: the extent to which it is necessary to maintain continuity in certain practice. Diversity: the degree of diversity in terms of values, norms and attitudes among the groups of staff affected by the change. Capability: level of competence for managing change. Capacity: the amount of money available to invest in the change, human resource availability and managerial time. Readiness for change: the extent to which employees understand the need for the anticipated change. Power: relies on the change initiator, implementer and other influential stakeholders. In addition, change kaleidoscope entails the definition of implementation options. This involves change type, change start point, change style, change target, change roles and change interventions. Balogun and Hailey (2002) encourage organizations seeking change to follow three steps. The organization should assess the contextual constraints and enablers, determine change parts and use contextual features to inform the ch oices to be taken. Charan (2006) argues that in order for large corporations to achieve major and permanent changes in business performance, they must create a sustainable change in culture. â€Å"Understanding the contextual constraints and enablers is key to understanding the type of change an organization is able to undertake as opposed to the type of change it needs to undertake† (Balogun Hailey 2002). According to Kneer (2009), the implementation of change management takes place in seven steps. The first step involves the creation of consciousness for an urgent need for change by conducting a deeper analysis. The market and the competitive position are examined followed by an evaluation of the possible chances or risks for the business (Beer Nohria 2000). The second step involves the development of visions, aims and strategy. A team that handles this step should be competent enough, and have sufficient conviction and power to design the change. The compiled visions and strategies are communicated in the company during the third step. The change agents need to be cautious of their responsibility, and they should exemplify things. They should state clearly what employees are supposed to do. The fourth step involves subdividing the project into smaller subprojects. If the subprojects are completed, employees will start to have a feeling of success. This positively supports the remaining processes. In the fifth step, it is important to align existing structures in the company to a modified business environment. It is advisable to allow employees to participate in the reorganization. The sixth and seventh steps involve the establishment of the change management. This is accomplished through structures, appropriate training, of the employees via the new projects which keeps the changes process alive. The last step also involves ingraining the new behavior in the social standards and values. In order to achieve optimal results, the change process should be goal oriented. The reasons as to why the organization is undergoing change should be clearly stated. The starting point should also be clearly defined. It should be specified how the success of the objectives is going to be measured qualitatively and quantitatively. Thus, proper measurement instruments should be put in place. The change process will succeed if it fully involves the employees. In fact, this will increase their motivation and enhance their identification with the company. To achieve this, they should be involved in the analysis stage so that they can understand the background. In addition, employees should be adequately trained so that they can master all assigned tasks technically. Appropriate training can be essential in adjusting existing deficits, minimize the fear of the employees concerning new tasks and enhance the willingness for the change. In order to realize the success of the change process, both the management style and the organization should change. Change processes present learning experiences and participants might be challenged, but not overstrained (Barger Kirby 1995). Sufficient time should be given to employees to process individual work procedures. The implementers of the change process should be ready to encounter resistance to change by some employees. However, this can be minimized by engaging them fully in the change process (Pettigrew Whipp 1991). Therefore, to understand problems related to these concepts, the paper focuses on a scenario in which a manager aged 35 years, faces change related challenges. The manager is heading a mining company of Asian origin that has 5000 employees globally and is worth $10 billion. The company is semi private because the biggest shareholder is the ministry of economics. The company faces a challenge regarding exploration activity. People within the company have differing options regarding the amount investment that should be allocated for exploration, development, production an d asset acquisition. Initial investments had failed to produce expected results. The existing proportion of investment allocation aims at allocating 30% to the exploration activities. Out of the 3O% one third goes to XYZ (home country)/domestic exploration, and the remaining is allocated to overseas exploration. 60% of the investment has been diverted to development activities and the remaining 10% finances production activities and asset acquisition. A summary of the Findings Action plan 1: to maintain exploration activities on the same level as allocated in the previous year which saves cash dividend to shareholders and stops concentrated investment in a single project. The contents: It is same as the proportion of existing investment allocation; however, it takes some reduction of the amount of cash dividend to shareholders when compared with last year’s performance-based profit sharing. The activity of shifting dividend from international exploration production companies to shareholders is relatively acceptable. This is because of high risk business and using the cash coming from reduced dividend for exploration activities. In addition, the company does not seek to take more than 25% interest of any exploration activities. Action plan 2: aims at shifting to domestic exploration activities and reducing international exploration activities while maintaining the same proportion of investment allocated in the previous year. It is the same proportion of existing investment allocation; however, the investment allocation at domestic and international exploration activity is different. Based on the historical success rate, the domestic exploration activities are higher than international’s. Although the exploration activity is a gamble regardless of its location, the degree of domestic gamble and overseas gamble is different from probability point of view. The company has a lot of domestic exploration experience. The company has a solid grasp of the geological data and geomorphologic features. Nonetheless, the scale of domestic oil and gas fields is smaller than the international’s scale because of geomorphologic features when compared with the Middle East and Oceania region. In view of the above circumstances, the degree of the basic risk of domestic and international exploration activity do not make much difference. Action plan 3: The summary is to reduce 10% of overall exploration activities and to raise the 10% finance to international oil gas assets acquisition. The proportion of investment allocation is composed of 20% for exploration activity, 60% for development activity and 20% for production activity and asset acquisition. Basically, exploration activity is a gamble. Reducing 10% of exploration activity makes sense in order to shift investment to much reliable oil gas asset acquisition. This also contributes to the improvement of the company’s cash flow, making profits and collecting invested cash ear ly for the next available investment in exploration activities. Recently, there have been a lot of asset acquisition opportunities mainly from companies in same industries, strategic business partners in different industries, XYZ government and investment banks. The price of the oil gas assets used in the production is used in calculating oil recoverable reserve, reserve-production ratio, and current market oil price. Usually, the profit coming directly from the acquired assets only is not big. However, there are synergetic effects through reducing operating costs, discounting insurance, procuring oil producing equipments and applying geological data efficiently to flush out more oil. Recommendations for change The organization should understand that in order to realize maximum benefits from the mining activities, there is a need for change. Therefore, to implement this change, the organization should follow the three steps postulated by Balogun and Hailey (2002). The organization should assess the contextual constraints and enablers, determine change parts and use contextual features to inform the choices to be taken. References Barger, J. Kirby, K. 1995, The Challenge of Change in Organizations, Davis Black, California. Beer, M. Nohria, N. 2000, ‘Cracking the Code of Change’, Harvard Business Review Journal, Vol. 1 no. 23 p. 133-145. Burger, J. 2010, Personality, Cengage Learning, Sydney. Change Management 2012. Web. Charan 2006, ‘Home Depot’s Blue Print for Culture Change’, Harvard Business Review Journal, Vol. 1 no. 14, p. 61-70. Balogun, J. and Hailey, V. 2002, ‘Devising Sensitive Approaches to Change: The Example of Glaxo Wellcome’, Long Range Planning Journal, Vol. 32, no. 24, p. 153-178. Howard, P. and Howard, J. 2002, Buddy, Can You Paradigm? EBSCO, Massachusetts. Kneer, C. 2009, Change Management: enhance the ability to survive. GRIN Verlag, Munich. Pettigrew, M. Whipp, R. 1991, Managing Change for Co mpetitive Success, Oxford Press, Oxford. Recklies, O. 2012, Managing Change: definition and phases in change processes. Web. The Big Five 2012. Web. This essay on Managing Change for Competitive Success was written and submitted by user Davian Reed to help you with your own studies. 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Free Essays on Robert Burns

There are two reasons that Robert Burns is the national poet of Scotland. The first is his â€Å"rags to riches† success story, and the second is â€Å"the way in which Burns in his songs identified himself with the Scottish folk tradition† (Scott-Kilvert 310). The poems of Robert Burns contain many appealing elements, such as colorful, vivid imagery and specific diction, allowing Burns to convey exactly what he is picturing while writing them. These characteristics, influenced by his Scottish background, are easily identified in his classic poem To A Mouse. Burns was born and raised in Alloway, Ayrshire. During his upbringing, Burns’ father, continually prone to bad luck, suffered sickness and a series of bankruptcies until he finally passed away in 1784 (Scott-Kilvert 313). From this stemmed Burns’ matchless satire of the social structure of his day and hardened his heart against â€Å"all forms of religious and political thought that condoned or perpetuated inhumanity† (Scott-Kilvert 313). Burns’ schooling involved everything from French to a minute amount of Latin. Heavily imposed on him during his education were the works of such literary greats as William Shakespeare and John Dryden, orienting most of his formal education toward English culture (Scott-Kilvert 313). During the middle years of his life, Burns was known to those close to him as simply â€Å"an occasional poet† that only wrote verse to express his love and emotions for others. It wasn’t until 1786 that, dissatisfied and disgusted with his monetary problems, Burns published a collection of his poems, planning to take the proceeds and immigrate to Jamaica. The collection, entitled Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was a huge success, and Burns soaked in the fame. It proved, however, to be short lived, as he wrote little poetry for publication after the publication of his book (Scott-Kilvert 315). The imagery used by Burns is so detailed and vibra... Free Essays on Robert Burns Free Essays on Robert Burns There are two reasons that Robert Burns is the national poet of Scotland. The first is his â€Å"rags to riches† success story, and the second is â€Å"the way in which Burns in his songs identified himself with the Scottish folk tradition† (Scott-Kilvert 310). The poems of Robert Burns contain many appealing elements, such as colorful, vivid imagery and specific diction, allowing Burns to convey exactly what he is picturing while writing them. These characteristics, influenced by his Scottish background, are easily identified in his classic poem To A Mouse. Burns was born and raised in Alloway, Ayrshire. During his upbringing, Burns’ father, continually prone to bad luck, suffered sickness and a series of bankruptcies until he finally passed away in 1784 (Scott-Kilvert 313). From this stemmed Burns’ matchless satire of the social structure of his day and hardened his heart against â€Å"all forms of religious and political thought that condoned or perpetuated inhumanity† (Scott-Kilvert 313). Burns’ schooling involved everything from French to a minute amount of Latin. Heavily imposed on him during his education were the works of such literary greats as William Shakespeare and John Dryden, orienting most of his formal education toward English culture (Scott-Kilvert 313). During the middle years of his life, Burns was known to those close to him as simply â€Å"an occasional poet† that only wrote verse to express his love and emotions for others. It wasn’t until 1786 that, dissatisfied and disgusted with his monetary problems, Burns published a collection of his poems, planning to take the proceeds and immigrate to Jamaica. The collection, entitled Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was a huge success, and Burns soaked in the fame. It proved, however, to be short lived, as he wrote little poetry for publication after the publication of his book (Scott-Kilvert 315). The imagery used by Burns is so detailed and vibra...

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Relationship between Translation and Culture

Relationship between Translation and Culture Vocabulary is the most active part of language. It can directly reflect the social changes and cultural developments. In a sense, vocabulary is the mirror of the society and culture, so is the color terms. The understanding and feelings to color terms of Chinese and English People are much alike, which underlies the possibility in cross-cultural communication as well as translatability. When both denotative and connotative meanings of color terms will not lead to misreading, the method of literal translation is a good choice. The merits of this method lie in its fidelity to the original meaning and flavor of color terms (Deng, 2001). It can introduce the TL readers the vivid expression in SL so as to let them gain more knowledge about the unique culture in SL country. For example, red light district à §Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ ¥Ã…’ º. Red light district is a part in a city where many houses of prostitution are located. This expression did not exist in China at first. By literal translation, this expression with its cultural connotation has successfully made its way into Chinese (Wu, 2009). Likewise, some Chinese expressions can also be literally translated into English. For example, green increasing and red decreasing. It is well known to us that is a famous phrase in a Chinese poem > written by Li Qingzhao. It refers to the leaves and flowers seen by the author after she got drunk. It must have been totally strange to English receptors in the past. Due to cultural exchange, the phrase green increasing and red decreasing is becoming more and more familiar to them, and it has been endowed with the same cultural connotation in English as has in Chinese. Zero Translation Transliteration The concept of zero translation is introduced by Professor Qiu Maoru both as a translating strategy for overcoming the unbridgeable distinctions between languages, and as a means of safeguarding the general validity of translatability as the theoretical cornerstone of translation (Wu, 2003). Zero translation means that the TL words or phrases are not employed to translate the SL words or phrases. According to Professor Qiu, ellipsis, transliteration and transference all belong to zero translation (Qiu Maoru, 2001). Transliteration is the way in which, instead of rendering the meaning, only the pronunciation is transferred from SL to TL. As the most fundamental method, this technique is most often used in translating words with absence of designative meanings in TL such as proper nouns, especially names of person, place or geographical features, brand names and corporation names; or some objects, things, terminologies and phenomena peculiar to the source language culture, for instance: à ¥Ã‚ °Ã‚ (persons name) Xiao Hong à ¥Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ ³Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¿(name of wine) Nv er Hong Although through transliteration, the cultural flavor can be retained and the rendering is concise and easy to remember, such a method may sometimes bring obstacles or barriers to the target readers (Wu, 2009). In such cases, transliteration is utilized and often combined with other compensation methods such as extra-textual gloss and contextual amplification, which is to be discussed in the following section (Wu, 2003). Free Translation Though it is preferable to retain in the TL texts as much original cultural sense as possible, in practice, the method of free translation of original cultural-specific factors is not rare. What is free translation? It may be defined as a supplement which means to reproduce the matter without the manner or the content without the form of the original (Newmark, 1988). And it is widely used in cases when literal translation is awkward enough to impair proper understanding and no alternatives in TL can be found for replacement (Newmark, 2001). For example, in Chinese does not mean a person who is red in skin color. à ¥Ã‚ ¨Ã‹Å" is a quite common expression to Chinese people, however, for English people, it does not arouse any associative meaning if it is literally translated into red mother. Then the method of free translation is suggested. Translating it into matchmaker so as that TL reader can understand what is said in the context. More examples are served as follows: à ©Ã‚ ¢Ã…“ the bloom of youth Red-neck à ¤Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ·Ã‚ ´Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à §Ã‚ ¾Ã… ½Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ -à ©Ã†â€™Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬  Ã…“à ¦Ã‚ °Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ From the perspective of cultural translation, the awareness of culture is of great importance for a translator to obtain an ideal rendering in translating practice. A good or ideal translation should accord with the demand and tendency of a particular time and should be understandable and acceptable so that it can enlighten readers to recognize foreign cultural elements. Because of lack of communication, in the past domestication (e.g. Free translation, substitution) was preferred and most of those renderings that employed foreignizing methods (e.g. Literal translation, transliteration) couldnt widely spread. However, because of tendency of cultural integration, foreignizing methods can serve better for the purpose of cultural translation (Guan, 2010). Substitution is an important part of free translation. It refers to a strategy for dealing with objects or events whose usages of color terms are different from those in the target culture. It is the use of one color from the target culture for another from the source culture, both of the colors having the same function (Liu, 2003) There are kinds of situations that need to employ substitution: 1) People often associate certain qualities with certain colors. These qualities often arouse certain reactions or emotions, which are not always the same with different people and the differences fall into two categories: a) Colors having certain associated characteristics in one culture, but not in the other; b) Colors with certain associated qualities in both cultures, but with different qualities. As for the first category, paraphrase will be employed, while as far as the second category is concerned, the technique of substitution is suitable, for example green-eyed à §Ã…“ ¼ (Qiu Maoru, 2001). In Chinese, can be used to express the psychological state of envy or jealousy. In this case, it is improper to translate into red. In English green is often associated with jealousy and envy. Green with envy, green-eyed monsters, and green-eyed all mean being jealous, envious. In English, red eye is a phrase meaning cheap and strong whisky as eyes turn red after drinking such liquor (Gao, 2006). 2) In terms of those with concrete colors, Chinese and English often use different color terms, e.g black tea à ¨Ã…’ ¶; pink eyes à §Ã…“ ¼Ãƒ §-†¦ This is because Chinese and English People tend to adopt different angles of view in observing things and phenomena, and grasping the characteristics of things. In this situation, substitution is apparently an appropriate translating strategy. Conclusion In conclusion, word meaning is different in accordance with various cultural backgrounds. Due to mans social and cultural experiences, same expression may lead to different understandings. Word corresponds in conceptual meaning, connotative meaning, and emotional meaning. The understanding and interpretation of such culture-loaded words must go along with the understanding of the culture involved. Previously, this dissertation analyzes the reasons for similarities and differences of the term RED and illustrates in accordance with perception, natural and social background, and religion. Every cultural phenomenon originates from a certain cultural foundation. Similarities are caused by similar perception and custom. On the other hand, differences are naturally more apparent. Language is involved with the differences of national culture. Therefore, differences between two cultures should be critically considered when translating. And the, this dissertation gives three cultural translation strategies. Firstly, literal translation is considered as the first step. It takes word-for-word translation as its starting point. Literal translation aims at preserving the most possible cultural information of the meaning without changing the linguistic forms of the source text. Secondly, zero translation can be used for overcoming the unbridgeable distinctions between languages. It means that means that TL words or phrases are not conducted to translate SL words or phrases. Thirdly, free translation is an effective way to deal with cultural sense. It is widely used when literal translation is awkward enough to impair proper understanding. In this situation, no TL alternatives can be found for replacement. However, there are some limitations in this paper. Firstly, the colors in the world limitless and there are also many color terms that are used to symbolize them, but cannot compare all of them. The comparison in this paper only focuses on the basic color term RED. Secondly, there are so many expressions with color terms in both Chinese and English that the author cannot write them all, but the examples given in this paper are enough because the purpose of this paper is not only to find out the similarities and differences, the more important point is to understand the similarities and differences between cultures, thus finding out a more appropriate method of rendering the color words.

Concession in Amy Tans Joy Luck Club Essay -- Joy Luck Club Essays

Concession in Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club "Sometimes you have to lose pieces to get ahead," explains the narrator of "The Rules of the Game," a lost piece from Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club that has arguably achieved greater readership through its appearance in numerous anthologies (505). "The Rules of the Game" pivots around the concept that one may triumph in a win-lose situation through a concession. Narrator Waverly Jong recounts applications of this idea as she grows into adolescence in her Chinese-American community. From her adventures in the local marketplace to her romps on the chess battlefield, Waverly's prizes while asserting her concede-to-win strategy include physical objects and abstractions, the intangibility of the latter implying that one's examination of this story must consider terms like conflict, win, and loss in the broadest sense possible. With this in mind, Tan's "The Rules of the Game" explores the determinants behind wins and losses, ultimately suggesting that the most effective way to achieve victory is through an act of concession. Tan introduces this idea as a vague proverb rattled by Waverly's mother that Waverly bevels into sharp clarity by her involvement in situations of conflict that eventually demonstrate the veracity of her mother's words. The first conflict of "The Rules of the Game" materializes when Waverly accompanies her mother to the marketplace as a young child and experiences a loss. "Bite back your tongue," scolded my mother when I cried loudly, yanking her hand toward the store that... ... in the struggle to win. In short, Tan presents several conflicts that investigate the factors in win-lose situations, each conflict reiterating the notion that one must forego a triviality to outmaneuver his opponent to victory. This abstraction appears immediately in the story in an abstruse manner but is eventually clarified by evaluating the consistencies of the sundry conflicts. The repetition of these conflicts with similar outcomes involving (or not involving) concessions elucidates the idea that an act of concession is assuredly the most foolproof approach to triumph in a struggle. Work Cited Tan, Amy. "The Rules of the Game." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories. Ed. Tobias Wolff. New York: Random House, Inc., 1994. 497-508.

Impact Of Climate Change And Greenhouse Gases Environmental Sciences Essay

Our clime is quickly altering all around us. Ice is runing, workss are deceasing, animate beings are in danger, and home grounds are being destroyed. The Arctic is greatly affected. The ice is runing and doing H2O degrees to lift, and animate beings are deceasing because of loss of home ground. Over the past one hundred old ages, the mean surface temperature has risen a little over 1 degree Fahrenheit. ( Baker, 4 ) Climate alteration happens because of worlds and natural grounds. Worlds are non being careful and are non utilizing their resources sagely. Worlds are non looking at other options to assist salvage the environment, and are merely utilizing what is easiest and what we are used to. Climate alteration is a serious job that affects worlds, and animate beings, and if non stopped will do important desolation. Climate alteration is the addition of the temperature of our planet. ( Morris, 4 ) Climate alteration is more than merely a alteration in the conditions ; it is a alteration over a long period of clip. ( â€Å" What is Climate Change? † ) . Climate alteration happens of course but besides because of worlds. During the summer our planet is closer to the Sun and becomes heater. In the winter things get cooler because we are turned off from the Sun. But the ice that we have lost or has melted rebuilds in the winter. This is because of freeze and snowfall ( â€Å" Causes of Climate Change † ) Natural temperatures have risen 1.08 grades Fahrenheit over the past 100 old ages. ( Baker, 4 ) Our environment is besides altering because of human activity and the nursery consequence. The nursery consequence is when nursery gases are trapped in our ambiance. ( Henson, 20 ) Greenhouse gases trap the heat from the Sun in the Earth ‘s ambiance. This heat leads to an addition in the Earth ‘s surface temperature. ( Henson, 21 ) There is this bed in the ambiance that traps heat to maintain our planet warm. When worlds release nursery gases, they get trapped by this bed and the surface temperature rises. There are three chief gases that are considered nursery gases. These gases are C dioxide, methane, and azotic oxide ( Baker, 6 ) . Carbon dioxide is produced when fossil fuels such as coal and oil are burned. Animals such as cattles and sheep release gas as portion of their digestive system and through manure. This produces methane. Then there is azotic oxide. Azotic oxide is produced when fertilisers are used for paces and harvests. ( Walker, David, 112 ) Every clip you drive to the shop, watch Television, travel on the computing machine, drive a auto, and turn on the visible radiations fossil fuels are burned. They are burned to bring forth the energy to power things. When fossil fuels are burned, C dioxide is released into the air. Because there are so many people and so many people actively let go ofing C dioxide, it finally adds up and the temperature rises. ( Henson, 24 ) These gas sums are increasing because the human population is increasing. Climate alteration affects the environment and worlds. The clime alterations with a little temperature alteration. Over the past 25 old ages, the Arctic sea ice country has decreased by about five per centum and summer sea ice country has decreased by 15 per centum. ( â€Å" Melting Ice Caps † ) The thaw of ice greatly affects the nutrient concatenation. The nutrient concatenation is an agreement of the being of an ecological community harmonizing to the order of predation in which each uses the following normally lower member as a nutrient beginning. ( Webster Dictionary ) In the north-polar the animate beings and workss greatly depend on each other. The nutrient concatenation starts with the ice. Ice has algae on it which the krill eat. If the ice thaws, the krill will decease out. ( Baker, 11 ) Fish eat krill, and if the krill sum decreases so will the fish sum. Whales, walruses, seals, and polar bears, will besides be affected. These animate beings will hold less nutrient available because they eat the fish. Even the smallest alteration in temperature can run the ice and do the whole nutrient concatenation to be thrown off. ( Baker, 11 ) The heating of our planet can besides impact the animate being ‘s version. The animate beings in the north-polar have adapted to cold temperatures, few hours of sunshine, short turning seasons, flora and growing periods, and have grown thick coats. Animals in the Arctic have adapted to the conditions so the temperature changes greatly affect them. ( Baker, 11 ) There are three ecosystems in the Arctic. These three ecosystems are the Arctic Ocean, Ice Sheets, and the Tundra. The Arctic Ocean supports fish life. The Ice Sheets provide shelter and land to run for seals, seahorses, polar bears and many more. The Tundra supports life for mosses, lichen, and provides nutrient for musk Oklahoma, hares, and many reindeer. And in the summer birds migrate here. ( Baker, 10 ) The Arctic Ocean is greatly affected by clime alteration. Temperatures are lifting the fastest here. The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean and parts are for good frozen. It includes the sea and set down North of the Arctic Circle, the North Pole, and some parts of other states. ( â€Å" Arctic Ocean † ) The rise in temperature is doing the ice to run. Ice and snow reflect the Sun beam and heat, and H2O and land do non. Because of the ice thaw, there is non every bit much snow and ice. The H2O and land are absorbing the heat and Sun beams doing temperatures to lift even more. ( Baker, 8 ) The lifting temperatures are impacting animate beings excessively. Animals are greatly affected by the clime alteration. Their place is here in the Arctic and they depend on the ice for shelter and runing infinite. The Arctic has many polar bears. Polar bears are endangered because of the thaw ice. In the summer the Arctic Ice sheet thaws. But because of clime alteration, the ice sheet is runing three hebdomads earlier so it did in the 1970 ‘s. ( Baker, 13 ) When the ice sheet moves north the home ground of the polar bear psychiatrists. This forces the bears to swim long distances to happen nutrient for their households. Most bears are good swimmers but some become tired, doing them to decease. ( Olson, 11 ) Another ground polar bears are endangered is because they are non happening the nutrient they need in the H2O, so they wonder towards towns for nutrient. Polar bears ca n't happen the nutrient with the sum of fat they need to last the winter. The bears become slender and ca n't last doing decease. ( Olson, 20 ) Another animate being that is in danger is the Caribou. In 1989 there were 187,000 Caribous and in 2007 there were 120,000. ( Baker, 14 ) Caribou Numberss are diminishing for many grounds. Caribou eat lichen and moss found in the Tundra. Snow sums are increasing which makes it difficult for the Caribou to happen the nutrient with the right sum of fat it needs. If the Caribou does non hold plenty fat to do it through the winter, it will decease. In the summer the moss and lichen become green earlier so normal. This helps the Caribou but so these workss will decease out before. If they do non acquire plenty of the moss and lichen and do non hold adequate fat stored, they will finally decease. ( Baker, 15 ) Climate alteration besides affects people. There are 28 communities in the north-polar mainland and islands. ( â€Å" Canada ‘s Northern Communities † ) This is their place and clime alteration has made it difficult for them to run and angle. There cultural behaviours are forced to alter. Because of the thaw ice sea degrees are raising doing houses to be damaged. Climate alteration could hold a immense impact on our planet in the hereafter. With the ice runing the manner it is, sea degrees could lift doing implosion therapy, and land could be destroyed. Animals are threatened because their nutrient and shelter beginnings are shriveling. Some of these animate beings are endangered now and could go nonextant. Climate alteration could besides be good. The ice that is in the manner could run opening ways for boats to acquire through. ( Baker, 25 ) This could assist concerns take shorter paths to acquire where they need to travel. One chief thing that climate alteration will impact is touristry. Tonss of people would love to see these animate beings and topographic points. More people will come to these topographic points because they may be warmer, or easier to acquire to. Each twelvemonth the mean American adds more than 40,000 lbs of C dioxide to the air. ( Earth In The Hot Seat, 53 ) Go play football or association football. Go take a walk outside, or wing a kite alternatively of sitting inside on the computing machine. When you spend the bulk of your clip outside you do non let go of C dioxide. Reducing the sum of energy you use is the easiest manner to cut down your C dioxide sum right off. ( Earth In The Hot Seat, 54 ) If everyone is cautious to what they do, how much electricity they use, or how long the stay indoors, our C dioxide sum will shrivel. In the terminal this will all add up and the temperature alterations will be smaller. Climate alteration is a job that affects worlds, and animate beings, and is doing alterations to our environment. Over the past one hundred old ages, the mean surface temperature has risen a little over 1 degree Fahrenheit. ( Baker, 4 ) There are many organisations assisting with clime alteration. The Sierra Club is assisting to do clean energy solutions, green transit, bound nursery gases, and utilize resources beyond coal. They are besides informing people about clime alteration so they will make their portion. Climate Change is â€Å" Care for God ‘s Creations. † ( Seven Key Themes of Catholic Social Teachings ) We need to demo attention for the Earth because it is portion of our religion. â€Å" We are called to protect people and the planet, populating our religion in relationship with all of God ‘s creative activities. † ( Seven Key Themes of Catholic Social Teachings ) Finding alternate beginnings of energy is a great manner to assist protect, and sal vage what we have of our planet.

Cinderella Didnt Wear Cotton to the Ball

Cinderella Didnt Wear Cotton to the Ball Cinderella Didnt Wear Cotton to the Ball Cinderella Didnt Wear Cotton to the Ball By Maeve Maddox Next time you dress your heroine for a ball, you may want to describe her gown in terms of its lightness and delicacy. Here are some nouns and adjectives for the job. chiffon n. a diaphanous plain-woven fabric of fine hard-twisted yarn diaphanous adj. permitting the free passage of light and vision; perfectly transparent; pellucid. filmy adj. resembling a film, of extremely delicate texture, gauze-like; consisting of slender filaments, as of gossamer. gauzy adj. of the nature of, or resembling, gauze. gauze n. a very thin, transparent fabric of silk, linen, or cotton. gossamer n. a fine filmy substance, consisting of cobwebs, spun by small spiders, which is seen floating in the air in calm weather, esp. in autumn, or spread over a grassy surface; gossamer adj. light and flimsy as gossamer. insubstantial not existing in substance or reality; not real; imaginary, illusive; non-substantial. lace    a slender open-work fabric of linen, cotton, silk, woollen, or metal threads, usually ornamented with inwrought or applied patterns. organdy a fine but stiff, translucent kind of muslin. NOTE: organdy is a see-through fabric, but not something to dress your heroine if you like her. It is really scratchy. sheer adj. thin, fine, diaphanous. silky adj. having the delicate softness of silk. translucent through which light passes wispy      consisting of or resembling a wisp or wisps. wisp a handful, bunch, or small bundle (of hay, straw, grass, etc.). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to use "on" and when to use "in"15 Types of Documents"To Tide You Over"

Ernest Hemingway essays

Ernest Hemingway essays Ernest Hemingway is considered to be one of the greatest American writers. He is writer who in his works reveals much about himself, because incidents and many scenes from his own life are reproduced in his novels, and actually leading characters have much in common with their creator. To my mind that makes his novels, stories more attractive, more interesting and exciting. That involves also some element of realism in his works. E. Hemingways works are so popular also because of the fact that the author has a consistent view of life and man. Earnshow characterizes the essence of this view in his book Modern Writers: His principal characters are tough men whose appetite for danger leads them into situations where injury, wounds and death are almost inevitable. They are also sentimental men who form strong attachments to women or children and these attachments make them equally vulnerable to emotional wounds. They pitch themselves into struggles that they cannot hope to win, but they show that although a man must lose, he can lose with dignity and honor. ...Hemingway had a strict moral code. The code is worked out emotionally, not intellectually; if what the hero does feel right to him, then it is right, even though it is opposed to the moral standards accepted in society. [Earnshow Modern Writers, London, 1968, p. 193] Indeed Hemingways characters follow this code, code of their own also in the novel the Sun Also Rises. This is the novel of the group of people who make trip to Pamplona for the bullfights. This group of people includes Jake Barnes, Bill Gorton, Lady Brett Ashley, Mike Campbell and Robert Cohn. Although there is one more character, which plays important role but does not belong to that group Pedro Romero. Why he does not belong to this group? The answer is that he does not belong to so called lost generation, because the other characters ...

Analysis of film Clear and Present Danger in relation to the 1980-90's Essay

Analysis of film Clear and Present Danger in relation to the 1980-90's War on Drugs era and Colombian instability - Essay Example The film starred Harrison Ford, Willem Defoe, Anne Archer, Joachim de Almeida, and Henry Czerny, with important appearances by James Earl Jones and Donald Moffat. Hope Lange and Dean Jones, stars from another era, both made appearances as officials in the government. The film was directed by Philip Noyce with the adaptation written by Donald Stewart .1 The film revolves around the temporary appointment of Ryan as Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA when Admiral James Greer becomes ill with cancer. Quickly the action ratchets up as one of the President’s friends is murdered along with the friend’s family. As Ryan is called in to investigate he is embroiled in an intrigue of subterfuge and secrecy. He is used to present false facts to Congress in order to cover up an operation that is considered unethical. An action against the men who were involved in the murder ends badly, leaving the covert troups hanging in the wind and Ryan furious for the inappropriate and i llegal action for which he has now been set up to take responsibility. In the end, Jack Ryan steps up and goes in after the troops with the agent who believed that Ryan was responsible for the cut-off in communications, rescuing the troops and making a political statement about the nature of right and wrong. The film is reflective of many of the unclear and shadowed legacies of the events of President Ronald Reagan’s term in office. In one scene, Robert Ritter and Jack Ryan have a showdown about the events that Ritter approved but burdened Ryan with the responsibility. Ritter repeats twice that Ryan will have to say â€Å"I have no recollection† when he will supposedly have to face congress about the illegal events.2 At the end of the scene, Ritter shouts after Jack â€Å"The world is grey, Jack†, a theme of the time period when drugs were part of the foreign relations events.3 During the administration of President Ronald Reagan, the Iran-Contra affair was rife with declarations of a lack of memory or knowledge of the events by the President and others presumed involved. Former Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North might be a real life figure who is represented by Jack Ryan. Regardless of knowledge of the events, he was the central figure indicted on charges from the fall-out of the exposure of the Iran-Contra deal, but was able to portray for the cameras a patriot with a wholesome appearance.4 While this comparison to North is not strictly representative of the truth of North’s involvement (a truth that may never be fully revealed to history), the potential threat against Ryan through Ritter parallels the feeling of the event. The period of President Reagan’s term and the events of covert and illegal deals is the universe and period of time in which the film takes place. The events of the film are a parallel to the concept of backroom deals and covert operations of a nefarious and illegal nature that were the topic of literary an d film plots of the 1980s and 1990s. The legacy of the Vietnam War, as President Nixon’s administration covertly moved troops into Cambodia is reflected through the illegal movement of troops within the film.5 The intrigue and conspirator themes about a government that cannot be trusted is the underlying context on which the story of the film is constructed. The specific theme of the film is built upon the relationship that the United States had with Columbia and the Columbia drug cartels. The unfortunate state of affairs in Columbia was based upon a system that supported the sale of drugs into the United States. Columbia had shifted its economy from one based on tobacco and coffee to

Reflection and Evaluation of three Technologies Essay

Reflection and Evaluation of three Technologies - Essay Example Additionally, retrieval of content from the internet relies on flash player programs such as adobe. The technology was initially applicable through Smart sketch application because the designers focused on addressing the needs of varied platforms. The flash content files were stored in shock wave format. This allowed the programmers to use Action script language in encoding the graphics in different formats. Additionally, the programmers use flash editor to enrich web content when designing the application. The content can be encoded using java script format, and the extension .swf is used in storage format. Short wave extension makes images appear smaller in the flash player. The format increases flash images capacity to store huge volumes of data (Enticknap, 2005, p.1). The storage codes allow flash images to support different applications making it the preferred technology when disseminating and storing website contents. Evaluation The use of flash technology has led to advances i n computer graphics. It has enabled website developers to design interactive websites that stream data at faster speed. The component manipulates graphics and presents them in different version. The use of XML file is dominant in image edition. According to Enticknap (2005, p.34), the template stores the contents of the website before the transformation of the image. The technology manipulates the contents when designing images that are user friendly to the audience. Flash is a suitable technology that can access images online. Software developers use the technology when designing slideshows that enhance interactions with clients online. Computer programmers use flash image technology to encode information in auto script version. This saves storage capacity and time taken to retrieve flash images. Additionally, the technology uses small bandwidth when streaming information. This makes it compatible with various technological components such as Macromedia Flash MX that carries this a pplication. The compatibility of flash image technology allows web views to obtain information from different places. However, it is necessary to obtain a plug in feature when planning to view the web contents. Flash images application demand less from the users in terms of operational skills. Moreover, the applications are affordable and exude high performances. This has lead to the preference of technology in computer applications. Flash images are instrumental when enriching internet application. The technology enhances interactivity by combining graphics technology when coming up with interactive computer programs. Lastly, the feature supports multidirectional display of website content. HTML5 Technology Overview HTML5 is an assortment of web-based applications that are still evolving. The concept of HTML5 began after developers noticed various deficiencies in HTML4 and associated XHTML. These deficiencies ranged from minor syntactic incoherence to insufficient support of media presentations (Meyer, 2010, p.83). Consequently, recent developments within the HTML5 technology have targeted such defects to develop quickest advances that would improve the performance of internet technology. Developers are standardizing the HTML5 technology into simpler and less controversial pieces. The HTML5 is a technology that organizes and presents information of the World Wide Web.