Unman Wittering and Zigo by Giles Cooper Analysis

We have been studying the play Unman Wittering and Zigo, which was written by Giles Cooper in the 1960's. Giles Cooper was born in Dublin in 1918 into a privileged home. His father was a naval officer, who later became a judge. Giles Cooper's father wanted him to become a diplomat or a lawyer but Giles chose to go to drama school rather than university. He was educated in a public school, subsequently the story is based on his own experiences of authoritarian teaching while he was a student. Giles Cooper was concerned about the effects of authoritarian teaching and as a result wrote this play. The play is about a teacher, John Ebony, in his first job who wants to make a good impression. He finds that the boys he is teaching are fractious and have a nasty habit of gambling. His life as a teacher rapidly descends in to a nightmare, and as the story goes on he begins to uncover the mystery surrounding the death of the previous school master. It goes on to reveal something dark and unpleasant about the nature of the boys who killed their form teacher. The play was written for radio so there aren't any visuals. The audience therefore had to imagine what the characters and scenarios were like. As it is a radio play the tone and pitch of the voice are very important because this is the medium through which effective understanding is conveyed. The scenes in the play are very short because audiences cannot listen for a long time without visuals. Therefore the director must entertain the audience by providing a gripping thriller. John is used in the story to expose the hidden secrets of Chantery and the corruption of the boys. Giles Cooper does this through a vulnerable and in experienced teacher. John is trying to be more like Mr Winstanly but this does not work for John because he is far too inexperienced. In the first scene John is appointed as a temporary teacher at Chantery. When the Head is talking to him he makes sure John knows about the reputation of the school, as if the headmaster is showing off. Surprisingly the headmaster ignores John's questions and instead of answering he interrupts or changes the subject. ‘Was he my predecessor? Er, Yes. That brick building†¦.' This makes the reader wonder why? He does it because he is hiding something about Mr Pelham The headmaster tells John that Lower 5 B are a little mischievous but he does not reveal the full truth about the class but holds it back. The Head then leaves him with Cary, by doing this the headmaster comes across as an irresponsible character. He also undermines John's confidence because he feels he is not important enough to be shown around the classroom. This is not the case. The headmaster is scared that John will find out about the corruption of the school if he is shown too much. This shows the Headmaster is hiding the inner secrets of the school and is only showing the ‘sugar coated topping' of an apparently successful public school. In scene 3 the boys take control very quickly. From the beginning the boys start mocking John and giving random and futile comments, as though they are mocking the way teachers teach. ‘Jamaica's in the Caribbean, sir' They use a derisive tone by giving useless information as though they are teasing John. John loses his temper and responds to this in an authoritarian way. As a diversion they then poke Wittering, who cries out loud. This delays the lesson again. When his attempt to quiet them down fails he resorts to using his authority. â€Å"Now I don't wish to crack the whip on our first morning but I will if you make me† The pupils respond to this by giving a fake confession to him of Mr Pelham's murder but they use this confession as an attempt to intimidate John throughout scene 3, John raises his voice constantly i.e. using authoritarian teaching to gain control of the class but this does not work and he fails to regain control of the class. The students take advantage of John's inexperience and in doing so gain an advantage over John When the Head walks in, the boys carry on with the lesson and by doing this makes us think that they have done this before. This is the chance John has to tell the Headmaster about what they had said, but foolishly he doesn't. This shows that John's confidence has diminished. Furthermore John presumably does not want to tell the Head because it could create the impression that he cannot handle the class. In scene 8, convinced that the boys have committed some sort of crime, John takes Mr Pelham's wallet to the headmaster and suggests that it should be given to the police. However, (contrary to John expectations) the headmaster tells him off for leaving the class and ignores his concerns. â€Å"‘It was in his pocket when he was killed' ‘It is a practice which is always discouraged here. Every period should be worked through whatever happens'† The headmaster then changes the subject, suggesting he doesn't want to discuss John's concerns, by saying he wanted to invite him for dinner. This shows that the headmaster does not give John any support but more importantly does not want the secrets of what happens in the school to be exposed. He is extremely sensitive about the reputation of the school. The Headmaster then seems to order him to return to Lower 5 B, â€Å"‘ Lower 5 B have been left to their own devices for long enough, Miss Gammel' ‘But sir' ‘Discourage any discussion of the matter'† By doing this the headmaster is discarding any of his suggestions and is not helping out John when he is inexperienced and unsure of what to do. The situation would affect John greatly because he knows he doesn't have any one to turn to and cannot do anything even if the boys intimidate and taunt him. When John returns the pupils seem to know what the Headmaster has said. ‘On the whole Ebony. The less said the better. Perhaps you better return to Lower 5 B. They have been left to their own devices for too long.' This suggests it has been said before. Teachers have gone to the headmaster but he has been very dismissive. The pupils seeing John's lack of confidence take advantage of the invitation and make a proposal. â€Å"‘You don't want to be sacked from your first job do you sir†¦.' ‘No he wants us to be a credit to him.'† The tone of the pupils her would be very calm, slightly intimidating as though they know they are in control but also very persuasive but this time they spoke in more of a friendly manner. On the other hand John would be speaking in an uncertain tone and seems to agree to the modus vivendi although he doesn't actually say anything which emphasises his powerlessness. The modus vivendi creates a vague sense of stability in the classroom as it brings about a situation in which the constant battle for power is ended for the time being. This is because it seems John has finally been defeated and the students have gained control. John admits defeat at this point and it is now that he is finally sees the truth in their confessions and begins to develop an idea of how cunning and clever the students are and how much the system has corrupted them. As a result of this he sees no point of arguing with them as they obviously don't lack determination. The situation changes once again when the Headmaster more or less sacks John. ‘†¦.that's the last thing I'd want you to think, but we always like to have Old Chantovians on the staff and as Grimwits available for the Easter term we really think we ought to take this opportunity to secure his services†¦.' The headmaster not only puts John out of a job, but crushes his high hopes of raising his teaching status by starting in a well known and supposedly successful public school. One characteristic that John does not lack is ambition. It is this that causes him to be irresolute at a time when discipline is needed as he doesn't want to spoil his chances of a permanent job. Getting sacked in turn brings about a new feeling of anger. In this new frame of mind it now seems to John that he has nothing to lose and this creates new possibilities for John. In scene 24 the tables turn, as John gains power and the students lose it. The students begin to realise that they can't hold anything against John and moreover the fact that he doesn't seem to care anymore. Now it is the students that begin to panic. When John refuses to teach the lesson, the students retaliate by trying to show that they don't need him and haven't lost anything. They try to prove how little his withdrawal affects them so attempt to continue with the lesson themselves. â€Å"‘And he's taking it out on us' ‘It's not fair' ‘Are we going to let him?' ‘No. We'll go on ahead without him. Cuthbun, you're the best at history you take us'† This attempt fails as their independent learning skills have not been developed, and soon there is chaos when they begin to bully Wittering, taking all their frustration out on him. This is where the writer shows that, although too much authority has disturbing consequences, totally removing it would be just as harmful because anarchy would be the result. The confession and revelation of Mr. Pelham's death plays an essential role throughout the play. Not only does it disclose what characters authoritarian teaching can create. It also shows the extent of Cooper's passionate views regarding authoritarian teaching. The play is about violence and authority, the questions posed by the play are- Does authority prevent violence, or does authority cause violence?

Apollo Shoe Inc

Date: 19 Jan 1:30:27 From: Dennis Reese Subject: Revenue Cycle Problems I have looked over Bradley’s report and yes we do have some issues with the Sales, and Account Receivables. The fourth quarter deviations overstated are the worst because they can have the most effect on the Financial Statements. The controls need to be more uniform as Bradley stated because then they would even out through the months instead of hitting us mostly on the fourth quarter.The company reports financial Statements each quarter and they are the months: March, June, September, and December. In their last quarter they are facing financial problems because of incorrect record sales. Some of the sales records are missing bills of lading. Also the credit approval controls are not emplaced our lack of them will cause a greater liability for collection. Will need to verify all the charges to the customer because there is many overcharge and undercharge amounts.The overcharge delay from invoice date and credit memo averages 24 days to correct the mistake. Apollo’s controls are un-reliable and we will need to follow up on all Revenue and Accounts Receivable. Also positive confirmations need to be sent to customers with accounts greater than 1,000,000 and negative confirmations need to be sent to customers with less than 1,000,000. But all the customers need to be verified that their information is correct before they are sent. Also we need to ask the customers to verify all sales they made from us for the year.

A Class Divided Personnel and Industrial Psychology

In the classic film, â€Å"A Class Divided†, schoolteacher Mrs. Jane Elliot devised and conducted a lesson plan to show her students exactly how discrimination comes about. Outraged by what she saw occurring in the nation, Mrs. Elliot conducted this lesson with a class of third graders the day following the assassination of Martin Luther King.Mrs. Elliot set the stage for differentiating between blue eyed and brown-eyed children. Her goal was to have her students experience what it felt like to be discriminated against. She had previously discussed the issue of discrimination with her students and thought the seemed to understand and was in fact upset by Dr. King’s death; they did not recognize the discrimination in her class exercise until it was over and pointed out to them.Mrs. Elliott’s lesson divided her class by eye color. She had two groups, the brown eyes students and the blue eyed students. She told the students at the start of the day, that the blue eye s group was comprised of the smarter and nice students. She gave them special privileges as a result of their favored designation.The students in the brown eyed group were treated poorly, with negative comments and unfair rules. She was surprised to see how the children accommodated these roles. The brown eyed students suddenly did poorer on tests and acted differently. The blue eyes group took on a posture of superiority and was mean to the brown eyed students.In class she purposely commented on the superiority of blue-eyed children in order to set them against the brown-eyed students. She then reversed her statement the following day. When she revered her treatment of the students, the student’s behavior reversed. The brown eyed students became superior and the blue eyed students began doing poorly. It became clear that as an authority figure, what she said was believed. Even parents did not question her statement.The thesis of this experiment was that people accept and act upon what people of authority or social stature. The film depicting her classroom experiment was mad in 1985 for the PBS show FRONTLINE. The film was entitled A Class Divided. The film included a follow-up on Mr. Elliot’s students, who were young adults at the time the film was made. Thee film was followed by similar stories of experiments in other settings.The implications of this film on psychology are broad based. It demonstrates the impact of authority and social stature. The lessons learned as a result of this film help us to understand how the influence of authority and socials stature can be used in both positive and negative ways. It helps us to understand why and under what conditions people will blindly follow others.2. Malcolm Gladwell, New York archives: Personality plus Overview of the articleThis article, written by Malcolm Gladwell, was printed in the September 2004 edition of the New Yorker critiques the use of personality tests. The tests discussed are those largely used in the employment arena. Gladwell gives the history of the development of various tests and then their common uses, his personal experience and his assessment of the test as an employment tool.The article is extremely easy to read and interesting. Gladwell provides background on some of these commonly used tests, which would be of surprise to employers using them.   The backdrop for the testing assessment is the story of a lieutenant in the US Army, Sandy Nininger.He explains that Niniger was an unlikely soldier given his calm, thoughtful demeanor. Nininger however, developed into a fierce soldier and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his WWII service.   Gladwell goes through the various personality tests and wonders how any of these tests might have noticed the trait in Nininger that made him such a warrior, when he was better known for drinking tea and listening to classical music.The history of the Myers Briggs is somewhat comical as Gladwell write s. He explains that the test was the brainchild of mother-daughter socialites, seeking to better understand the men in heir life and relationship between men and women. The Myers brigs was developed based on Jung, but according to Gladwell, these woman knew or understood very little about Jung’s theories. In fact, he makes it clear that Jung would have never agreed with the basic tenant of the Myers Briggs.Gladwell met with a psychologist and underwent the Thematic Apperception Test which required him to compose stories for pictures. The psychologist then looked and themes in Gladwell’s stories and gave him a report. While Gladwll understood the assessment and found the psychologist to be quite perceptive, he expresses concern regarding the amount of subjectivity in this test assessment. A different psychologist could have come to an entirely different conclusion.Finally, he discusses the services of a company called Developmental Dimensions International (DDI). This c ompany assesses prospective employee’s strengths and weaknesses by spending a day with the person in a simulated workday. There person is given a job for the day and then assessed on a variety of levels. Gladwell spent a day with the company and received an assessment that again, he could understand but questioned the subjective nature of the assessment.Gladwell, in summary reminds us that while personality tests are frequently used by employers, there is much subjectivity and room for interpretation. He acknowledges the fact that these tests are fun and the results are interesting, he cautions the use of them as meaningful assessments. He concludes by asking if any of the test he reviewed, would have been able to predict Sandy Nininger's personality traits.

Application of Nursing Theory Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Application of Nursing Theory - Assignment Example A nurse manager who has authority over the staff calls them for a meeting whereby they highlight issues affecting their work and carry out collective decision-making. This way, they arrive at good conclusions and each staff is given a goal to attain. After a stipulated period, their work is evaluated whereby each staff is held staff accountable of the already assigned tasks. Nurse mangers can apply this to influence outcomes in patient-care delivery as well as patient satisfactory scores (Meleis, 2011). This theory is well applicable in patient care delivery because the nurses help the patients cope with stress (Meleis, 2011). Stress according to king entails a state where the patients interact with the nurses to maintain a balance for growth (Meleis, 2011). During the transaction between the patient and the health care provider, the patient is given a feeling of control by being involved in decision-making, the nurse listen to their complains as well as offer additional education besides aiding in decision acing (Meleis, 2011). The theory also applies in patient satisfactory scores since as the nurses provide medical and technical information, the patient contributes personal and emotional info. They combine their perceptions and judgments hence drive towards goal attainment (Meleis, 2011). If goals are attained, there will be satisfaction as well as e ffective nursing

Assignment 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

2 - Assignment Example Intuitively this can happen, but the evidence presented does not warrant that such would lead to the kind of seemingly dramatic downturn in the quality of the relationship between Lindsey and Malik, as described. The literature describes this fallacy as the Slippery slope fallacy which is a fallacy where the evidence to make a given conclusion is not sufficient. Here there may be an exaggeration of the consequences of Lindsey’s going to university over having a baby. After all, Lindsey can have a baby and go to university, and the choice does not preclude Lindsey having a baby after university. Moreover, given that the couple’s relationship seems long-term, it is unlikely that just one event whose consequences can be reversible can lead to the downturn of the relationship. The consequence is reversible because they can always have a baby during or after university, assuming that Lindsey is young and still have many childbearing years ahead of her (Bassham et al.). 2. Pr emise: (1) The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star reporters made the claim that Mayor Ford uses crack cocaine, and that the mayor’s brother was a drug dealer in the 80’s. (2) Mayor Ford says that the reporters are â€Å"just a bunch of maggots† Conclusion: People should not listen to the â€Å"sleazebags†. Fallacy: Personal Attack Here the mayor says that because the reporters have questionable professional and personal morals, the conclusion is that their assertions that the mayor did drugs and that his brother pushed drugs cannot be true. He is equating the reporters' morals with the non-truth of their claims (Bassham et al.) It may be that the reporters are of questionable morals and integrity as far as looking for news and making sure that their newspapers are able to feed off sensational reporting, but the character of the reporters do not preclude them from making truthful claims relating to the activities of the mayor and his brother, especially s ince the newspapers themselves are reputable and can be presumed to have done its fact checking prior to the publication of the claims. The personal attacks on the reporters are not relevant to whether the mayor and his brother used/are using and/or dealt drugs (Bassham et al.). 3. Premise: (1) There are many weight loss programs available. (2) The Weight Watchers sales associate said theirs is the best weight loss program among alternatives Conclusion: The Weight Watchers program is the best there is. Fallacy: Hasty Generalization Here the conclusion is that since the sales associate says Weight Watchers is the best, then that claim must be true. This is relying on the authority of one person, the sales associate, and not considering that other points of view may yield different answers as to which program is the best (Bassham et al.) It may be true that the Weight Watchers program that Keesha enrolled in is the best in the market, but this cannot be concluded from the evidence tha t Keesha presented, which is the word of the Weight Watchers sales associate. The evidence is small, and just consists of one sample so to speak, whereas a more

The Dim Lighting Company Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Dim Lighting Company - Coursework Example 2. The second macroeconomic issue is the recent poor performance of the Dim Lighting Company subsidiary that Jim West manages that is the subject of this case. â€Å"last year the division failed to realize its operating targets, and profit margins dropped by 15 percent.† West is not mistaken to believe that this might affect his future with the company. More importantly and more to the point it is a problem for the corporate parent and would be a problem for any manager in any industry. Interestingly, the microeconomic problems confronting the subsidiary are relatively independent of the macroeconomic issues and focus on human resources issues. In a nutshell, both Jim West and Robert Spinks are small-minded and self-centered. They both need an attitude adjustment. 1. Jim West is not illogical when he worries that his career with the Dim Lighting Company is not affected positively by his subsidiary's poor performance. However, there is nothing personal about that situation. His job is to manage a profitable subsidiary and if it is not doing so he needs to be looking for solutions not obsessing over his personal fortunes. 2. Robert Spinks â€Å"is recognized as a talented scientist.† His staff is motivated by his scientific abilities and relevant professional organizations have recognized his abilities and achievements. However, that brilliance clearly does not translate into social intelligence. He left his former job over interpersonal-related issues and is regarded as â€Å"autocratic, strong-willed, and impatient† by other Dim Lighting Company managers. 2. The rapid changes in lighting technology are reflective of the overall emergence of the new Green economy. For economic reasons and the emergence of sustainability as a key corporate goal economy-wide are making energy efficiency in all industries essential. That is driving the demand for energy efficient solutions in all elements of the economy.

Strategic Leadership in a Changing World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Strategic Leadership in a Changing World - Essay Example News Corporation has been founded by Rupert Murdoch in the year 1979, and the company is headquartered at New York, NY, USA. The company operates in six business segments such as Cable Network Programming, Television, Direct Broadcast Satellite Television, Filmed Entertainment, Publishing and others (New York Times, 2013). Cable Network Programming division of News Corporation licenses and produces sports entertainment, business news, movies, general entertainment, etc. Filmed Entertainment division of the company offers animated and live-action motion pictures in the form of entertainment to customers. Television division of the company offers both network programming and broadcasting entertainment to customers (New York Times, 2013). Recently, News Corporation has acquired ESPN STAR Sports division through wholly owned subsidiary. According to the annual report published by News Corporation (2012), the company earns annual revenue of more than $30 billion from its global operations . Major entertainment divisions of the company include Fox Entertainment, National Geographic channel, Fox studios, etc. (News Corporation, 2012). The concept of strategic leadership in the form of competitive advantage was probably first identified by Porter (1985 and 1991). Porter (1985) has given the basic framework of ‘outside in’ approach which helps a firm to understand the particular market in terms of macro environmental (political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal) analysis and industry force analysis. Seminal research work of Michael Porter (1985) has given a 5 force framework which helps a firm to understand the business opportunity in particular market in terms buyer power, supplier power, threat of substitute, entry barrier and competitive rivalry. However, strategic leadership is more important from the competitive advantage perspective. In simple words, it can be said that companies can only achieve strategic leadership if it is able to achieve competitive advantage over other competitors. The question may arise that how a firm can achieve competitive advantage? Well, to answer this question, research scholars such as Barney (1986) has given the Resource Based View (RBV) model. According to Barney (1986), a firm should use its financial and non-financial resources which are valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable in order to archive competitive advantage. Adner and Zemsky (2006) and Kraatz and Zajac (2001) have also found that availability of resources and optimal usage of these resources develop capabilities for firms and using the developed capabilities can help a firm to achieve competitive advantage or better to say strategic leadership. An eminent author has epistemologically created link between performance, strategic leadership and competitive advantage in the following manner; â€Å"Sustainable competitive advantage is more probable in firms that achieve sustained superior performance.â₠¬  (Powell, 2001, p. 879) Discussion about strategic leadership is incomplete without the mentioning the concept of ‘Core Competency’ given by Prahalad and Hamel (1990). These eminent scholars’ duo has suggested that companies can achieve core competency by strategically using its capabilities backed by valuable resources. Optimizing resources and capabilities in particular business operation can help firms to