The Divide Between God and Man Essay Example for Free

The Divide Between God and Man Essay Religion is a common theme in poetry. In the Norton anthology Modern Poems, several poems from many eras discuss or refer to religion. Six in particular show a progression of man’s slow destruction of his relationship with God and the world. â€Å"Imperial Adam† by A. D. Hope begins this sequence by the unique way sin is introduced into the world. William Butler Yeat’s â€Å"Second Coming† is an apocalyptic interpretation of what might be considered the antichrist. All together, these religious poems weave a tale of sadness and despair for mankind as they fall further and further from each other and from God. â€Å"Imperial Adam† introduces the Biblical Adam just as he has awakened from his â€Å"surgery† to find his companion. God has blessed him with a female because â€Å"It is not good for him to live alone† (line 8). However, instead of viewing her as a soul mate and companion for the glory of God, Adam sees Eve in an immediately sexual light. The poem makes use of sexual imagery such as â€Å"golden breasts,† â€Å"plump gourd,† â€Å"virile root,† and â€Å"delicious pulp of the forbidden fruit,† (lines 13, 17, 19). The sexual experience is described in stanza’s seven and eight, but instead of being treated in beautiful terms, it is described as animalistic, loud and overly passionate. Just as the Bible story goes, Eve gets pregnant and gives birth. The child, Cain, in the Bible goes on to kill his brother out of jealousy and becomes the ancestral father of a lineage of outcasts banished and cursed by God and spurned by mankind. This outcome is the focus of the last stanza of the poem. The baby is not immediately seen as a darling expression of love, but his birth is described in less complimentary terms: â€Å"Between her legs a pigmy face appear,/And the first murderer lay upon the earth† (lines 43-44). The first attention paid to the baby, at this point a true innocent, is that he is the future murderer of his brother who creates the schism between God and man. Another Biblical story that is alluded to in poetry is the parable of the prodigal son. According to this parable, a wayward youth takes his inheritance, leaves his home, and frivolously wastes his money. He returns home to find the love of his father still strong in spite of his sins and despite other’s anger at him. In â€Å"The Prodigal Son† by Rudyard Kipling, the story is the same, but not exact. True, the son has gone off to lavish living; he says â€Å"I wasted my substance, I know I did,/On riotous living, so I did,/But there’s nothing on record to show I did/Worse than my betters have done† (lines 25-28). The young man realizes his faults, but also questions his treatment by his family. He feels that his sins are no worse than any other, and finds it his label as a â€Å"monster of moral depravity† (line 23) to be quite unfair. Indeed it seems his behavior is not as horrible as the consequent behavior of his family, specifically of his own brother. In this poem, the reader learns that despite the hard knocks the young man experienced, he did work to maintain himself. The young man, unlike the Biblical prodigal son, does not remain home. He finds their attitudes toward him more oppressive than the hear life he had lived. He leaves with a warm salutation to his parents, but cannot quite find the same feelings for his brother, whom he calls a â€Å"hound† (line 48). The rhythm and rhyme of the poem are a bit misleading, in that they suggest a less serious nature than, say, the Biblical story. However, the messages are eerily the same. Like the ultimate reality of the Biblical Cain and the son in â€Å"Imperial Adam,† family relationships are strained from the beginning, particularly, it seems, between brothers. The young man doubts the relationship he has with his father is worth putting up with his sulking, angry brother. This relationship has an obvious figurative meaning as well as a literal one. The young man doubting his father’s relationship can be read as a person doubting the existence of a kind and gently God. In Gerald Manley Hopkins’ â€Å"Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend,† the idea that man may doubt the nature of God or become infirm in his faith or religion is expressed in sonnet form. The poem begins with the speaker asserting that he knows God is just and fair with him and acknowledges that his own ways in the world are also just and fair. His question is, and this question has undoubtedly been repeated countless times throughout the years, â€Å"Why do sinners’ ways prosper? And why must/Disappointment all I endeavour end? † (lines 3-4). His problems are echoed throughout time: â€Å"Why do bad things happen to good people? † or â€Å"Why do bad things happen to me? † The speaker, through his own failures and disappointment comes to question if God treats everyone fairly and kindly, what is the point of being continually good? He points out that sinful behavior is much more prevalent than his own goodly works: â€Å"Oh, the sots and thralls of lust/Do in spare hours more thrive than I that spend,/Sir, life upon thy cause† (lines 7-9). He laments that his good words does not seem to â€Å"wake† or enlighten anyone. Ultimately, the speaker begs God to send his roots rain, this metaphor being that he wants God to send him proof that what he is doing is worthwhile. Of course, as most theologians will attest to, God is not in the business of proving himself; faith is the name of the game. The man, who can be representative of all mankind, is losing faith in God and in his own ability to see the benefit of a holy life and godly works. As man slowly seems to split from God, man is also splitting from mankind. God, in the Bible, loves all men and wants them to love one another. Unfortunately, almost from the beginning of time, this has not been the case. In Adrienne Rich’s â€Å"Yom Kippur, 1984,† the speaker, a Jew, reflects upon the loneliness and solitude she feels as the result of being a Jew in a sea of Christians. While this is not a holocaust poem per se (though some images may suggest this) and the date in the title does not suggest Hitler’s annihilation, a resonance of fear permeates the poem. The speaker asks, â€Å"What would it mean not to feel lonely or afraid/far from your own or those you have called your own? † (lines 2-3). Subsequent lines make it clear that many other people live solitary existences for reasons other than religion. She names women and homosexuals as groups that have also been persecuted by people, and sadly, by religion and churches. The spirited narrator urges all feeling solitary to â€Å"Find someone like yourself. Find others. /Agree you will never desert each other/Understand that any rift among you/means power to those who want to do you in† (lines46-49). Unfortunately, the world has not achieved this. She mentions the modern crisis between the Arabs and the Jews in the last stanza as an example of how â€Å"souls crash together† (line 120). The speaker constantly expresses her fear of solitude, which can be interpreted as meaning solitude from others or even solitude from God. Though Rich is not necessarily known as a religious poet, the message rings true. Men divided from one another will fall, and God seems nowhere in this chaos. Furthering the idea that God seems lost from man and the world is Philip Larkin’s poem â€Å"A Poem for Sunday. † This poem is a first person monologue of a person who is drawn to a quiet and empty church. His journey through the silent place is, thus, shared step-by-step with the reader. He listens to the sounds of the heavy door shutting and observes the heavy brown and polished brass colors of the sanctuary. Ultimately, though he visits the church often, he stops to â€Å"reflect the place was not worth stopping for† (line 18) and that his visits seem to all end in this way. He wonders about a time when people stop going to churches or places of worship at all. This speaker and his thoughts seem to represent the feeling that many hold in his society. He sees little interest in the church as a religious house of worship, but more as an oddity the architecture of a bygone era. He surmises that â€Å"†¦we shall keep/a few cathedrals chronically on show,† (lines 23-24) only for a spectacle, but clearly separated from their holy purpose. The fifth stanza shows the gradual decline of the importance of the church as the speaker wonders who will be the last to ever enter its doors for worship: â€Å"A shape less recognizable each week,/A purpose more obscure. I wonder who/Will be the last, the very last, to seek this place for what it was;† (lines 37-40). The tone of the poem seems sad and remorseful, as if the speaker recognizes the sadness and futility of an age in which people do not seek God or have use for ore even remember the use for churches or cathedrals. The last poem in this series marks a specific time of the beginning of the end of the world. Many future seekers try to pinpoint the end of the world. While nobody has been successful, it is clear that many religions agree on some type of coming or second coming of the diety. â€Å"The Second Coming† by William Butler Yeats is an apocalyptic interpretation of the coming of not God, but Evil. The speaker begins by discussing a world out of balance in which â€Å"Things fall apart†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"The ceremony of innocence is drowned;/† (lines 3, 6). It seems to warn of a time in which society is so far from God and in which things are so bad, that nothing can be reversed or saved. â€Å"Surely the Second Coming is at hand! † (line 10). Unfortunately, the speakers’ joyful words turn to fear as he envisions not the return of Christ, but of the Sphinx, the mythological beast that taunted and killed many men. This second coming is a beast that has â€Å"A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun† (line 15). This beast has been awakened and â€Å"its hour come round at last,/Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? † (lines 21-22). This fearful question hints at a world that will be destroyed by evil instead of reclaimed by God. It suggest that mankind now has no hope of salvation. The poems in this paper all show a progression of man away from God and towards evil. Beginning with Adam, the father of murderous Cain, this symbolic journey moves through the dissolution of the family, the man’s disillusionment and loss of faith in God, the separation of man from each other, the decay of the church, and finally the birth of ultimate evil. Human beings have, indeed, fallen from God in each of these ways. The poems presented here are the attempts of the poets to capture these feelings and emotions and express them to the reader. The body of religious poetry includes far more poems on a similar theme. Because the poems hail from many time periods and from many authors, it can be assumed that the fears and suggestions in these poems are not limited to one era or to one author or country. Unfortunately, the six poems, â€Å"Imperial Adam† by A. D. Hope, â€Å"The Prodigal Son† by Rudyard Kipling, â€Å"Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend† by Gerald Hanley Hopkins, â€Å"Yom Kippur, 1984† by Adrienne Rich, â€Å"A Poem for Sunday† by Phillip Larkin, and â€Å"The Second Coming† by William Butler Yeats all paint a bleak outlook for mankind and his relationship with his God and with mankind.

Frances Ecconomy :: essays research papers

France is one of the world's richest nations. Industrialization began at the end of the 18th century. Unlike England and the rest of Europe, France failed to maintain the momentum of its early industrial start and was still an agricultural nation at the end of the 19th century. Most growth has occurred since the end of World War II. France now ranks among the world's most economically advanced nations. A distinctive feature of the postwar French economy has been national economic development plans. The first, the Monnet plans named after Jean Monnet who thought of it. Railways were nationalized in 1937, and many other sectors of the economy, including the coal, natural gas, electricity, banking, and transportation came under state control shortly after World War II. Other major industries were nationalized in the early 1980s. In the early 1990s, manufacturing employed between 20% and 25% of the labor force. Many French business enterprises are small to moderate in size, although the competitive business climate created by membership in the EC has forced many companies to be restructured and combined to form powerful corporations. The leading manufacturing industries are metallurgy, mechanical and electrical engineering, chemicals, and textiles. In 1986, France ranked third in Europe in steel production, with an output of 14.8 million metric tons and second in aluminum output. These and imported metals are fabricated into a wide range of mechanical and electrical equipment marketed throughout the world. French locomotives, turbines, electronics equipment, nuclear power plants and submarines, and television systems are famous for their innovative design, as are French automobiles, such as Citroen, Peugeot, Simca, and Renault, and French aircraft, such as Mirage, Concorde, and Airbus. In 1985, France ranked fourth in the world in production of passenger cars and third in output of commercial vehicles. A wide range of chemicals, including perfumes, pharmaceuticals, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and fertilizers, are also produced. The French textile and garment industry has long been known for its high fashion, alth ough in recent years the industry has lost many former markets to lower-priced imports from countries with lower labor costs. Less than 1% of the labor force is engaged in mining. In 1988 coal production was 14.5 million metric tons. Most of it from two principal coalfields the Lorraine coalfield near METZ, which is an extension into France of the Saar coalfield and the Nord-Pas de Calais coalfield around Lille, which is an extension into France of Belgium's Sambre-Meuse coalfields and is similarly thin-seamed, faulted, and difficult to work.

Standardization versus Adaptation in International Marketing

There has been much debate over implementing a standardization strategy versus an adaptation approach across international markets. There are numerous factors to consider, along with pros and cons of both marketing plans. While standardization is equated with brand consistency, lower advertising costs, and overall synergy, adaptation is often required to address cultural differences for more effective communication and proves that cutting costs does not always facilitate higher profits1.For some time many researchers, such as R. D.  Buzzell in 1968, have concluded that the real question is what marketing elements can be standardized and to what degree2. However, academics support the notion that adaptation is essential to prosper in global markets. 3 And in the instance of advertising to China, the necessity for adaption is ever present. China is a very appealing marketplace to many companies due to its large population and growing economy. Despite the country’s fiscal growt h, there still remains a large disparity between big cities, like Shanghai and Beijing, versus the more inland provinces4.And since the relationship of cultural, political, and economical similarities support the standardization of competitive strategy, treating China as one nation to market to would be a mistake in itself, let along trying to standardize a campaign targeting American and Chinese consumers. Some corporations, such as Coca-Cola and Proctor and Gamble, have achieved extreme success by targeting the affluent, but there is almost a 90% segment left to infiltrate. 5 This may mean lowering product price point, but many firms still deter from positioning their products to the middle or lower class due to the high advertising costs.It is an overcrowded arena to effectively breakthrough, but this is where adaptation would hold the competitive advantage. Along with the vast disproportionate economies of scale, the psychological and cultural drivers of Chinese consumers are tr ansforming as well. The desire to express their individuality is ever present, especially in the younger generations. Nokia has seen their cell phone sales surpass other brands because of its fashion focus that the other phones lacked6.The want  for basic consumer goods is also overlooked for ones that offer a lifestyle benefit of enjoyment. â€Å"The percentage of households reporting they have DVD players jumped from 7% in 1997 to 52% in 2004. The number of households with computers grew from 2% in 1994 to 13% in 2004, and the number of those with mobile phones jumped from 10% in 1999 to 48% in 2004† (Burkholder). Thus, consumers are more likely to spend their money on technology or fashion as opposed to a household item they may need.Globalization is one of the reasons a new Chinese consumer has emerged. Individuality, brand attitudes, and lifestyle preferences in China are more aligned with Western markets, yet multinational corporations have been disappointed from stan dardized marketing strategies7. The drive to purchase Western products has greatly increased between each Chinese generation as well. In fact, generation Y (18-24) has purchased more tech-savvy devices, used the Internet, and purchased more Western brands than any Chinese age demographic before8.This appears to be more of a reason to standardize advertising campaigns, but despite desire and acceptance of Western ideals and products, the younger Chinese demographic is still very in touch and proud of their heritage9. This dynamic consumer requires research and attention, which denotes an adaptation technique to effectively communicate a marketing plan. There seems to be a general consensus from marketing researchers and intellectuals that standardization strategies are more effective, economical, and should be applied initially.However, consumer behavior and perceptions play an integral role in framing an advertising campaign and this is where a degree of adaptation is essential. Sta ndardizing many parts of a marketing mix is beneficial, but there are certain areas where modification will yield the best results. In order to achieve a working model of international marketing, standardization and adaptation strategies should be applied as see fit. And since China has a particularly diverse set of consumers that makes marketing to the country alone dynamic, an adaptation approach would be advantageous in regards to an international campaign.

Impact of empowerment on the organizational behavior in 5 star hotels Free Essay Example, 1000 words

Whereas a bare approach to Human resources management is a self explained concept without its strategic orientation. It refers to all those activities that are undertaken consciously or unconsciously, internally or externally to an organization whereby human resources of the organization are developed and utilized in a manner to maximize achievement of organizational goals. One important precept of entire human resources' management exercise is the recognition of the fact that the most valuable resource for any organization is its human factor; it is the only live factor and thus the only truly mouldable factor. Therefore human resource management (HRM) is a term used to represent that part of an organization’s activities concerned with the recruitment, development and management of its employees (Wood & Wall, 2002). Employee empowerment is an important piece of strategic initiatives in human resource management in any hotelling organization. Empowerment if adopted as a consc ious strategy has important implications for employee motivation, performance and the quality of the service offered by the hotel. This paper seeks to examine the issue of employee empowerment in some star hotels in Jordan in the back drop of a comprehensive literature review. We will write a custom essay sample on Impact of empowerment on the organizational behavior in 5 star hotels or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now The Hotel Industry Parks (2003) states with abundant clarity the role of human interface in hotel industry in following words, † The hospitality industry is obviously customer-service driven. If your employees aren’t satisfied in their jobs, their unhappiness is bound to spill over into their attitudes and behaviors toward clients and guests. Most hospitality positions require people to be in constant communication with the public while servicing guests. Because of this, employee satisfaction is vitally important to the success of your business. Everyone knows that it costs much more to hire and train a new employee than it does to keep an existing employee. However, besides the monetary benefits, tenured employees provide many more advantages to the company. In Adenekan Dedeke (2003) service quality was framed as being dependent on composite results that a service provider and its systems offered a customer. In contrast to the approach that depicts service quality as a discrepancy construct, this paper frames the concept as a fulfillment-oriented construct. Accordingly the underlying variables were defined. To implement a context-dependent Services quality instrument, paper argued for use of a service quality grid to classify firms according to their outcomes and dominant service-encounter interactions.