Alternative Methods of Involving Employees in Decision Making Essay

Alternative Methods of Involving Employees in Decision Making - Essay Example Moreover, I have realised the method of transition from one paragraph to another in order to keep the flow of a paper from feedbacks. Introduction â€Å"Employee involvement is not the goal nor is it a tool. Rather, employee involvement is a management and leadership philosophy about how people are most enabled to contribute to continuous improvement and the ongoing success of their work organization† (Employee Involvement: How to Involve Employees in Decision Making, 2012). Advancements in science and technologies and subsequent development of new organizational principles stress the importance of employee involvement in decision making process in an organization. Earlier, top management and middle management were responsible for taking critical decisions with respect to the functioning of the organization. However, the necessities of employee involvement in decision making process are well documented by modern researches. â€Å"For a company to remain healthy over the long term, a new strategic direction that would help it to grow and offer its people challenging work, is needed† (Xarcos, 2009). Ensuring employee participation in the decision making is one way of giving a strategic direction to an organization. â€Å"The concept of employee involvement originates from a leader kind of philosophy where people contribute to the effectiveness of the company and improvement is continuous. Companies that employ this strategy are most successful in areas of their business†(Alexander, 2011). Employees are the most important resource as far as an organization is concerned. In fact employees are the only active resource of an organization and the supervision from this active resource is necessary mobilize all the other passive resources of an organization. Being the only active resource in an organization, employees should be given participation in the decision making process so that they may feel more attachments towards the organization. Differe nt methods are used by different for ensuring employee participation in the decision making process. This paper analyses the alternative methods of involving employees in decision making and the benefits and challenges that these might present for an organisation. Alternative methods of involving employees in decision making The following figure illustrates the ladder of decision making in an organization. Ladder of Decision Making Level 1. Executive Decision Level 2. Executive Decision with Report Level 3. Consultative Decision Level 4. Employee Recommendation Level 5. Delegated Decision (with Veto) Level 6. Delegated decision (w/o Veto) Level 7. Employee Decision Responsibility for the Decision (Gallagher, 2002) At level 1, the chief executive is taking decisions independently and he may or may not inform his decision to the employees during latter stages. At level 2, the executive takes decisions and inform it to the employees in the near future itself. At level 3, the executive welcomes ideas from employees before the decision making process. At level 4, the executive assigns the duty of decision making to the employees whereas at level 5, the executive can accept or reject the decisions taken by the employees. At level 6 employee decisions will be accepted by the executive whereas at level 7, employees may not even inform the executive about their decisions. â€Å"Strategies to encourage employee involvement through participatory, consultative and cooperative workplaces have been widely promoted since the 1970s†

Midterm paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Midterm paper 2 - Essay Example Unique religious, universal views are accepted as certain customs not necessarily by different views of the facts and genuineness, but by their external characters and elements, such as ritual undertakings and modes of dissertation. Under these separate views and rites, there lie the same truth and the common quest of truth. Brook (14), ecumenical view is not obviously syncretism, in as much as it can be practiced without merging individual customs. This can result to logical attempts to synthesize teachings and bring the differences together; however, the obvious conviction of the common element of truth will be an adequate skeleton for ecumenicists to reason out those differences without having to advance to syncretism. In a general understanding, of this issue; therefore, each and every custom and religion being merged should be given the rights to do what they believe is their own truth without any feel of the other religion that they are being suppressed or intimidated. Second, according to Brook (14), it should be noted that syncretism is not inclusivism meaning that ideas and forms of one religion’s traditions are best put forward if they are explained in terms of another one. By so doing, the contents and rules of one religion are reduced into the content of another one. Bringing one religion within the ideational system being practiced by another religion will see the previous religion being regarded accordingly as a low-grade, imperfect, or "failed" representation of truth and custom. Viewing this idea from the side of the dominant religion, this will probably seem like a syncretism combination, yet in particular, nothing has been added or incorporated that might significantly disorient the religion and customs into which the new elements and ideas have been included or excluded. This can; therefore, be an appropriate method of merging two distinct religions without necessarily interfering with the belief of any religion. It is a

Internal and external analysis of Kelloggs

Internal and external analysis of Kelloggs In this assignment Im going to make an external analysis and an internal analysis of the Kelloggs company. Im going to choose four tools to make the all analysis. For the external analysis I will do PESTEL and Porters five force models and for the internal analysis I will do the Value chain and a benchmarking on Cereal SBU Presentation of the organization Kellogg Company is the United States largest cereal-Maker. In 1898, Will Keith and John Harvey give birth to the famous breakfast cereal Kelloggs Corn Flakes. Thanks to the success of the products Will Keith create in 1906 the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. Kellogg is the leading producer of breakfast cereals in the world. It takes places in 18 countries and sells it products in more than 180 countries. Between 1938 and the present day Kellogg opened manufacturing plants in the UK, Canada, Australia, Latin America and Asia. Kellogg produce a wide range of cereal product including the well-know brand of Kelloggs corn flakes, rice krispies, special K , fruit n fibre, as well as the nuti-grain cereal bars. The philosophy was improved diet leads to improved health Kellogg company mission statement: Kellogg is a Global Company Committed to Building Long-Term Growth in Volume and Profit and to Enhancing its Worldwide Leadership Position by Providing Nutritious Food Products of Superior Value Analysis of Kelloggs external environment Analysis of Macro-environment influences through the PESTEL model The headquarter of Kellogg company is currently base in Battle Creek in the Michigan. I will base my PESTEL analysis in the country of the USA Political : Reforms for the problem of obesity in USA (wide problem) US focus on cereal products in the level of 17% of the food market(2000) Economical : The deterioration of general economic activity and the contraction of the food market have not been without consequences for the food industry .Faced with financial difficulties and difficulties of access People doesnt have money to buy expressive food because of the decrease of salary. High unemployment rate : 9,00%( january 2011) GDP in 2009:14  266  milliards of $ Curent Deft: 6% of GDP Increase of the inflation rate:1,5% Decrease of the money , low rate of the dollar Hard competition between the breakfast and snack brands Decrease of all the sales in cereal market (began in 2005 with less 0, 4%) Social : Population of USA: 312.061.000 people increase of obesity rate so the cereal market develop the sector of light food Lack of time to take a breakfast: American people would like some easy to transport at work or at school to eat. The increase in the Third Age population group (due to better living conditions and better health care) will decrease the sales of Kellogg children product and down growth for adult products. Importance of the health, safety People want to be inform on what people it Technological : Innovation on the cereal market: different package, small bar (snack), resealable package (or close package) Recycling package Innovation in communication and advertising level Scientific progress on the health- diet food Increase the cost of RD Kelloggs did a matrix Sustainability ingredients Environmental : Development of the biologic and natural food Development of ecologic packaging, and recyclable packaging to avoid the waste Legal : environnemental charter Health claims is becoming more prevalent with the increase of the power of American heath associations. Globalization creates homogeneity of consumer behaviour. Globalization is a key driver for standardization. This sector of tourism has to take into account the requirements of global customers. (Standardize the food, the drink, the activitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). Because of this standardization competition increases between firms within the tourism sector. This price war will lead to decrease price. The five porters force Analysis Industry competitor: In the market industry four large companies are dominant (Kellogg, Nestlà ©, MDD and Jordans). Its an oligopolistic situation (a small number of sellers and a large number of applicants). The competition between the organizations is high and intense because of the price principally. Threat of a Substitution: there are many substitutes because of private label Threat of entry: The cereal industry is oligopolistic, so is very difficult for other firm to enter in this sector. If firm want to penetrate this market he has to have competitive prices, and has to make marketing communication and promotion to attract consumers Bargaining power of buyers: the power of buyer is low in the cereal industry; consumers dont have a deep impact. Bargaining power of suppliers: the power of suppliers is low because the importance of the market shares of private labels. They do exactly the products in cheaper prices. Suppliers can buy product independently. Source: Adapted from Porter M (1998, cited by Johnson G al, 2008) Analysis of Kelloggs internal environment (internal strategy) The Kelloggs value chain Support Activities Firm infrastructure: In order to maintain a good satisfaction level from its clients, Kellogg uses several services and the entire organisation is flexible. Quality Control Finance Accounting Information system(internal communication) : high level Kelloggs has an intranet to expose the information of the firm Legal service : the law concerning the production of the product Logistical support (restoration) Planning : Provide a planning to clients and Anticipate customers needs Human Resources Management: The company allows a dynamic of human resources management policy. For doing that well, Kellogg establish a model wish name is Kellogg business leaders model (KBLM).It is the base of everyone in Kellogg industry, it improves the competencies of each works and allow to progress in the company. This model is one of the most important competitive advantage, it allow adding value to the firm. Recruitment policy: Kellogg is looking for talent workers to develop new products and give freedom to do innovation. It does recruitment on international dimension. Training: Kellogg establishes the standing coaching to help workers to improve future operations and profitability. Kellogg is developing  plan  for  individual career to respond to the workers needs (new skills) The innovation is one of the most important sectors that Kellogg develops; it gives time to worker just to think about innovation. Performance measure Kellogg measuring performance and make feedback to add value Add value Kellogg motivates employees in giving merit reward when they perform. Technology Development: RD for products The innovation is a part of Kelloggs culture, it is the most important cereal heathcare company The development of products aimed at meeting consumers health and nutrition needs. The development of products packaging to ameliorate the communication for consumer and his comfort (when he use the product) Innovation on the image of health cereal: cereal for men target. Innovation the type of product(museli, cereal) Innovation to keep the iron in the cereal culture Innovation to give notoriety and visibility of the product The company has announced that it is testing the possibility of using lasers to etch the companys  name into corn flakes to let customers know they are eating a genuine Kellogs product(geek.com) Innovation in communication all around the world Procurement: To achieve economies of scale, purchasing division negotiate with suppliers to obtain group rates to reduce reduce cost and save time on delivery. Inbound Logistics: Kellogg calls the best suppliers and partners in term of cost efficiency, maintain the quality of the products. The suppliers are responsible (deal with) all the tasks upstream.( packaging, manufacturing, transportation management services, logistics management services and supplier management/procureme nt) the inbound logistic is automatic , evry part of the production is automated. Operations: Kellogg has un structure for all operation system very flexible. Kellogg set up On office in each country of the world. So Kellogg can manage the transformation between the raw material and the final product Outbound logistics: The distribution of the products to consumers (end user) is doing via a multi-layers channel system. The different channel of distribution allows comforting the consumers during the purchase. (distribution on retail, hypermarket and supermarket in general) Marketing and sales: All the consumers are familiar with the Kelloggs brand and Kellogg cereal. Kellogg company make sponsorships locally to height brand awareness. Thank to that Kellogg cereal are famous in all around the world. Kelloggs cereal use sometime promotion to reduce the price and increase the purchase. Kellogg  has managed  to  establish itself  in  almost  all   supermarkets  and  hypermarkets  in the world Services: Kellogg  offers  several   services  that  can   enhance  these  product to  the  consumer. Kellogg offering outstanding customer services( promotion to attract people and to loyaty the consumer with a relational   communication program  across all  brands  for adults and children,  built around a  mini-consumer Primary Activities Benchmarking To do this benchmark we are going to take the Kelloggs human resources sector and we will compare with Nestlà © human resource (Nestlà © is the principal competitor). Kelloggs Nestlà © HR culture Goal: add value thanks to innovation HR program: Kellogg business leaders model Kellogg join the high ethical standards -Freedom in the post HR program:Principles  of  Conduct Nestlà ©s business relationships between employees Communication is the principal factor of the HR policy. Equity between employees has to be respected. Give responsibility to employees Non freedom in the post Selection recruitment Kellogg is looking for talent workers Human Diversity attract and loyalty future employees(long term contract) Recruitment on the personality and professional skills develop a long term relationship. Training and Development Trainee program Personal development and team development Tainting program -Personal development Pay Benefit employee rewarding benefit: adaptation of working hours Employees social security. wage level( inferior to superior) Equity Financial compensation allows motivating employees. Participation/employee relation/communication -Power of employees unions -participation in important decisions. Every employee has got a personal responsibility in the company. -Importance of employee association.

The Impact of Classical Literature on Machiavellianism Essay -- Litera

In offering his own world view and knowledge to the Medici family, Machiavelli draws a considerable amount of his resources from classical figures and ideology. While Machiavelli is writing for a prince, whose goal would be to gain in territory, power, and control; his philosophy ties simply into less vital victories in the lives of common people. In this paper I will explain the points where he differs and conforms from/to the classical ideology in the generalized context of a leader. He uses these in one of two ways, by agreeing with and reinforcing them, or by refuting them. While Machiavelli keeps the need for a leader to have independence, seriousness, loyalty, and intellect; he rejects the necessity of generosity, mercy, and honesty, in favor of the outward appearance of these virtues. While Machiavelli’s viewpoint differs from the common ideology of his time and of classical antiquity, he does not disagree with all of the virtues. One such virtue is independence. Machiavelli spends the beginning of his treatise discussing principalities and defending them. A wise and successful leader, he says, should not use auxiliaries or mercenaries, as they will always lack unity and their true loyalty is always uncertain. For auxiliary troops, their loyalty is always to a rival, whom may betray the leader at any time. Wise leaders also do not consider a victory with outside help to be a true victory. (The Prince, Chapter 13, pg.49) For mercenaries, their loyalty is to whoever can offer them the most. (The Prince, Chapter 12, pg.43) Machiavelli reinforces this key idea with two examples. The first is in the Old Testament when Saul offered David his weapons and armor, which he rejected as he would be unable to fight well w... ...re the leaders that maintain a faà §ade of honesty, while being skillful in deceiving rivals and enemies. He advises that a leader cannot and should not keep his word when it would harm him. He goes on to say that men are so naà ¯ve and focused on the present that any skillful deceiver would have little difficulty finding people to deceive. (The Prince, Chapter 18, pg.61-62) Despite some of Machiavelli’s more provocative and shocking statements in The Prince, upon a close reading, his values are not very different from those of the classical period. Although he rejects the genuine need for generosity, mercy, and honesty in return for the appearance thereof; he keeps the more significant remaining values the way they are. The changes that he makes in explaining his view of the world are based on his examination of humans as inherently corrupt and self-serving.

Professional Communication at the Workplace Essay

Interpersonal communication is essentially the exchange of communication between one person(s) and another. Like any other form of communication, interpersonal communication involves the sender of the message and the recipient of the message. The message can only be passed correctly if both the sender and the recipient pass it correctly and understand each other. I work for a voluntary group at the University. This group aims at reaching out to the less fortunate both in the institution and the society generally. We do not offer financial help as such but instead focus on the abilities of the people we interact with and give them the necessary counsel and advice they need. In this way, we give them ideas on how they can actually help themselves out financially. This organization involves a lot of interaction, both within ourselves as the members of the organization and also between us and the people we interact with. As such there is a lot of interpersonal communication that goes on. The group consists of a total of ten members, and as they say, we are like our fingers; we come in different sizes and lengths, not literally but in terms of age, personalities, gender, culture, spiritual orientation and physical abilities and disabilities. This whole structure of diversity makes communication, particularly interpersonal communication, an issue worth debate. This is because the way we choose to communicate within ourselves and others is bound to affect our service delivery either positively or negatively. The following part of the paper will critically analyze each of these factors mentioned above that makes us diverse in our communication, interpersonal communication.CITATION Joh12 p 56 l 1033 (Johnson, 2012, p. 56)Age The voluntary group I work for is extremely diversified when it comes to age, with members from the extreme sides of the age spectrum. The oldest member in the group is aged forty seven, while the youngest is seventeen. Most of the members, about seventy percent, are aged between seventeen and twenty five. The main reason behind this is the fact that the organization requires the participation of both the old and young. For instance, the young and vibrant group, which forms the majority of the group, is required to move up and down and interact with the people we look forward to offering our help to. The older group is mostly involved ion critically analyzing our case studies and give direction on the best way forward. It is therefore not easy to hold a conversation between these two groups that are different in terms of age. For instance, young people will always base their ideas on what social media says. They will go with current trends since that are what they are familiar with a nd immediately make a decision. The older group will look at trends on a more historical point of view and analyze historical events in relation to the topic of discussion before coming up with a remedy. The young members, moreover, communicate with a lot of slang because as much as this organization is based on official business, it is also a social and interactive group as well. This way, the message at times is not passed effectively from one person(s) to another. The consequence of this communication gap is that the goals of the organizations are not at all times met and therefore efficiency is not achieved as well.CITATION Ric01 p 76 l 1033 (Pircadi, 2001, p. 76)Perceived Emotions, Relationships and Personality Our personalities define us. We have different personalities just as we are different in other aspects of our lives. The personality of a person is one thing that psychologists have proved beyond reasonable doubt that is very difficult to change. The personalities of a person will most of the time dictate the way in which they communicate. Some people are introverts and as such they tend to keep to themselves. They listen more than they speak. They think more and learn more from their surrounding and the people around them. Others are outspoken and will speak more. They express themselves through speech. The relationship between or among people also influences communication. CITATION Joh12 l 1033 (Johnson, 2012)This I have witnessed in my voluntary work group. People tend to open up to those they are close with and give less details to the people they are not that close to. One’s family tends to know them better because of the blood relationship that exists as compared to outs iders. Finally, people perceive and express their emotions very differently. Jerry, a member of my voluntary group tends to hide his low moments in smiles. It is therefore not easy to tell what he is going through. I, on the other hand will always show it. I have no way to hide and it is communicated through my emotions. The way we react to how we feel will determine the way we communicate. There are those of us like Jerry who will drown our sorrows in smiles and those like me who will communicate it just as it is. It is therefore very clear that we communicate our emotions very differently and this goes way back to our personalities.CITATION Joh02 p 94 l 1033 (Gray, 2002, p. 94)Spiritual Orientation The world is composed of people with very diverse spiritual backgrounds. Spiritual background forms the foundation of the life of a person. More often than not, the behavior of a person is well explained by their religious beliefs. This is also the case with communication most of the time. Spiritual diversity will create diversity in speech and in communication generally. For instance, Moslems do not shake hands as a sign of greeting. Their greetings are always in form of speech. This is unlike other religions where people are allowed to shake hands casually and even hug. People from strong religious backgrounds and those with high faith are also very cautious with their speech. They tend to taste their words before they spit them out, that is, they are sensitive in their speech so as not to hurt others. The voluntary group that I work with, or rather that I work for has all Christians but one Moslem, Rahima Nassir. She, in one way or another, communicates in a different way from the rest. Most of the time, she refers to the Allah, who is the Supreme Being according to her religion. This happens especially in cases where she tries to sound optimistic and give a hopeless situation hope. The voluntary group involves a lot of interaction and therefore we have to be warm as we interact with others. This is at times not very easy to achieve owing to the fact that some religious beliefs have certain strains. Rahima is not the only one that faces such challenges. Even along the Christian front, there are various denominations which uphold different values. These values make the approach to various situations very differently. CITATION Gai10 p 104 l 1033 (Forey, 2010, p. 104)Gender The gender of a person also affects communication, particularly interpersonal communication. The female species has a different way of passing a message from the male species. One thing I love the most about my voluntary group is that we are balanced when it comes to gender. Out of a group of ten, we have five ladies and five gentlemen. This gives a ratio of one to one. However, this gender difference can at timers be a major setback in terms of communication. The Ladies, for instance would like to be addressed in a more soft way even when it comes to simple aspects such as greetings. Important to note is that communication does not involve only speech, there is verbal and non-verbal communication, all of which should be considered. Throughout the time that I spend with members of my organization, I have observed that men and women have very different modes and methods of communication. Most of the time, male members are very radical in their speech as well as their illustrations. La dies have a different approach. They, more often than not, are very soft both in their speech and illustrations. It is for this reason that they (ladies) are extremely cautious in their speech. I also noted that the men speak fewer words as compared to the ladies. Ladies speak more, except in a few instances.CITATION Mar09 p 85 l 1033 (Gufey, 2009, p. 85)Person with Disability They say disability is not inability. However, this part of the paper will view disability as a hindrance to communication to an extent. People with disabilities, physical disabilities for that matter, face a lot of challenges when it comes to passing a message effectively. This bottleneck is faced by not only the sender of the message but the recipient as well. The voluntary group that I work for or rather the members of the group that I work with experiences such challenges. In the group, there are two people with physical disabilities. Jerry is a deaf while Geoffrey is visually impaired. Of the two, I think Geoffrey has the most difficult time when it comes to communication. For one reason or the other, Geoffrey happened to be the secretary of the organization at some point in time. He therefore took minutes during meetings and did all the secretarial work. This position, I can say he deserved. Geoffrey is very brilliant besides being very diligent in his work. The main challenge that group faced was the translation of the brail recorded minutes. No one in the group understood brail language apart from Geoffrey himself. He was the only one that could read and understand the minutes. Consequently, he had to step down as secretary after a fortnight of good leadership. Jerry on the other hand, cannot communicate easily and effectively. As a matter of facts, he is most of the time misunderstood and the group experiences a lot of instances with miscommunication. Sign language is not that easy to understand. This impacts negatively on the communication in the organization. Both Jerry and the rest of the members have a hard time in communicating. The importance of both Geoffrey and Jerry in the group can never be underestimated but then at times the challenges effective communication a tall order.CITATION Per08 p 119 l 1033 (Mcintosh, 2008, p. 119)Culture Culture is a very important aspect that should be put into consideration when it comes to effective communication. The culture of a member or members of a group determines how the message is conveyed and it also determines how the message is perceived. Culture affects communication to a very great extent simply because the culture of a person will dictate their style of communication. This means that the more diverse the cultures are, the more diverse their styles of communication. Though to a small extent, there is cultural diversity in our voluntary group. In essence we have people from diverse cultural group. For matters of convenience, I will describe the cultural diversity as high culture and low culture, not that any culture is more superior to another, but for explanatory purposes. For instance, Evelyn, the group’s organizing secretary, is from the high culture. This category mainly focuses their communication on arts and by arts I mean it is more of music, drama et cet era. This category will therefore involve people with a very high esteem since for one to be able to express themselves through arts; they have to be extremely bold, just typical of Evelyn. On the contrary, the low culture category involves large audiences. A good illustration of how culture can affect communication is that in some cultures for instance, it is very vital to maintain eye contact during communication while in others; eye contact can be seen as offensive and unacceptable. Barry, the chairman of our voluntary group and Miley, our secretary are most of the time caught up in such a situation due to their religious differences.CITATION Jos14 p 92 l 1033 (Chesobro, 2014, p. 92)Conclusion and Recommendations With over seven billion people in the world, it is expected that people will differ in relation to various aspects of life. Even people from the same family, people with the same cultures, same religious beliefs and people from the same age group will at one point or the other differ. Communication, on the other is also very important. Each and everything we do revolves around communication. No man is an island. This simply means we have to live harmoniously with each other. For this reason, communication is very important. This paper has not focused on intrapersonal communication but interpersonal communication since this is the way we interact with each other in our work places. Without effective interpersonal communication at our work places, it almost difficult to make any social and economic progress. However, I have learnt from my work experiences at my voluntary group that diversities will always be there, they are there to stay. These are some aspects of life that we should a ccept them just in the way they come. We can never be the same. It is therefore very important to understand and embrace each of our diversities, placing our differences aside. From my own case study it is clear that communication is very important. It is equally clear that challenges must arise due to the diversities in various life aspects. Therefore, from my own experience, I would recommend that we respect the fact that we are not and can never be the same but try as well to burn any bridges that might exist as a result of the differences amongst us. We are one and shall always be one, despite our differences. Let us let communication to make us and not break us. References 1033 Avery, C. (2001). The Flexible Workplace. New York: New York University Press. Chesobro, J. (2014). Professional Communication at the Workplace. New York: New York University Press. Eunson, B. (2009). Communication in the Workplace. New York: Edgeworth Publishers. Forey, G. (2010). Globalization, Communication in the Workplace. Oxford University Press. Gray, J. (2002). Mars and Venus in the Workplace. Oxford University Press. Gufey, M. E. (2009). Essentials of Business Communication. New York: New York University Press. Johnson, J. (2012). Solving Problems in Technical Communication. Oxford University Press. Mcintosh, P. (2008). Interpersonal Communication In The Workplace. New York : New York University Press. Muema, T. (2007). Effects of Poor Communication in the Workplace. Miley and Sons Publishers. Pircadi, R. (2001). Skills of Workplace Communication. New York: New York University Press. Source document

The Poetics of Popular Music Essays (2197 words) - Pop Ballads

The Poetics of Popular Music Essays (2197 words) - Pop Ballads 14004 1247555 Neil Briffett13words The Poetics of Popular Music December 9, 2014 Final essay Every day a person finds that special someone to love or thought to be love. Relationships are the hardest thing to work on. Many work out but many dont. Most of the times the means is clearly no ones fault. If there were a lyricist that explore most of his songs on the same topic who would it be? A speaker with the same motif in his songs is Bruno Mars, in which some of his are about breakups and betrayals. Songs like Grenade, Natalie and When I Was Your Man are some good example of which it shows Brunos relationship problems with woman. Bruno Mars expresses the consequences of his decisions throughout different concepts such as broken hearth, regrets and betrayal; also they are represented by using symbolism, irony and metaphor, in order to show his depressive mental state. Firstly Grenade by Mars, generalizing about the lyrics of this song, it is about a broken heart guy just got dumped by a girl, who did not love him and made him suffer a lot. The lyrics expressed show that the speaker is very sad and depressed, which are the same to a failure stage in a relationship like every other unhappy couples. The first sentence of this song, which says Easy come, easy go/That's just how you live oohh (1-2), makes you immediately think that this is the type of girl who doesnt view relationship as anything serious, which causes a lot pain and stress for Bruno when he tries to save their failing relationship. The artist says he willingly gave the other person his all in the relationship, he treated her with respect but she instead took advantage of his love. She treated Brunos undying love and devotion like a piece of rubbish and threw it away without thinking. This person that Bruno was really into must have been really something to him because he goes on to des cribe all the ways in which he would be willing to die for his beloved: grenade, blade, train, and bullet. A lyric that illustrates well this situation is Id catch a grenade for ya (11), the word grenade is referred to his ex, for whom he would do everything for the other person, and in this case he would catch a grenade, or die for that person. Although, the writer does not show any anger towards the woman, but instead shows a heart broken man who tells us what he would do for her afterwards, in contrast she wouldnt do anything in return to him. These actions are illustrated by the use of hyperbole, whereas the speaker says Yeah youll smile in my face/Then rip the brakes out my car (21-22). These lyrics are an example of overstatement, as it means that the girl is two faced enough to smile when she with Bruno, then rip out his breaks once he turns his back, knowing very well that could lead to a fatal car crash. Secondly, betrayal is one of the most painful experiences. Natalie, is about Mars telling a story of his speakers revenge against a gold digger named Natalie who took the protagonist for everything and how he wont stop at nothing to make sure she pays even if he ends up spending life time in jail. Not like the previous song was about breakup, this one is focuses more on betrayal, in which the girl stole Mars money and left him broke, for that reason it causes him to go on a vengeance spree. Although Natalie played with his emotions, the speaker describes the situation with a positive tone; for example when he tells us that I spend a lifetime in jail (yeah, thats what Ill do) Ill be smiling in my cell (yeah, thinking about you) (32-33), the composer is admitting that he doesnt care about the consequence of murdering Natalie; as long as he can get his revenge on her, hell be happy to spend the rest of his life in jail, knowing shes long gone. The writer uses a technique in the song, wh ich is the synecdone of lines. The method changes the way you interpret the song, because

How do Hamlets Soliloquies reveal his Changing thoughts and Moods throughout the play Essay Example

How do Hamlets Soliloquies reveal his Changing thoughts and Moods throughout the play Essay Example How do Hamlets Soliloquies reveal his Changing thoughts and Moods throughout the play Paper How do Hamlets Soliloquies reveal his Changing thoughts and Moods throughout the play Paper Essay Topic: Hamlet The play Hamlet is basically about life and death. We see this through the character Hamlet. Hamlets character is not one dimensional, their are many sides to his personality. We can tell this by the way his mood varies throughout the play. Only in the soliloquies does Hamlet reveal his true self, and we the audience begin to develop a better understanding of his complex character. A soliloquy is a speech in which a character (in this case Hamlet) reveals to the audience his thoughts and feelings which he is unable to express to other characters in the play. So in other words, soliloquies give a voice to Hamlets thoughts. This is why soliloquies are so important, because a character can express his most inner thoughts with out judgement from fellow characters in the play. The three soliloquies I have studies are like signposts in the play. They guide us through Hamlets mind at different points in the play. The main focus of my analysis will be on different actors interpretations of this play, as well as the actual content and language of these three different soliloquies. The first soliloquy I am studying is in act one scene two. In this first soliloquy Hamlet talks about how if it wasnt for gods laws (sixth commandment, a religious law), he would committee suicide. This is due to the world at war, his deceased father, and how his mother has remarried. O, this too too solid flesh would melt.. his canon gainst self-slaughter. Hamlet continues to tell us, the audience, about how he is irritated (or you could even say maddened) with life and how purposeless everything in this world seems to be. weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seems to me all the uses of this world! As well as how the world is corrupt. He expresses this by comparing his immediate world to a garden overrun, polluted by foul-smelling weeds. . tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature posses it merely. Hamlet is not really mourning his fathers death in this soliloquy, but he is infuriated with his mother for remarrying his uncle so soon after his fathers death. That is should come to this! But two months dead- nay not so much, not so excellent a King. After this Hamlet continues to explain how nothing can happen to make this situation any better. But this does not mean Hamlet will do nothing, and accept everything. This is not good enough for Hamlet, something has to be done. The audience is drawn to feel this way because we can tell Hamlet is a clever man (we can tell this by the way Hamlet contemplates situations, which he sees as wrong, in his mind e. g. his mother remarriage. Also Hamlet is clever enough to keep his thoughts to himself hence he only expresses his feelings in soliloquies). Hamlet also compares his father and uncle. The way Hamlet does this is by comparing them as a Hyperion to a satyr. This comparison of the two men makes his father sound grand, powerful, beautiful and as a mythical creature. Therefore suggests that Hamlet feels that his deceased father is the rightful king, and Claudius is inferior to the King Hamlet. This also seems that this is the only way Hamlet can talk about his father compared to Claudius. In addition, this over explanation dramatises these two characters. Also this makes King Hamlet almost seem like a God, and as for Claudius well he is seen as a servant (compared to his father). This suggests that King Hamlet will always be superior to Claudius, even in death. We, the audience, can also see that these are Hamlets true inner thoughts as they almost flow out of his mouth as he gets caught up in the moment. Ad this soliloquy is full of interpretations, rushes of thought and language, which also suggests that Hamlet is getting caught up in the moment. The language in this soliloquy resembles a train of thought. The words flow together with commas that continue this flow. As well as studying the text of Hamlet, I am also studying two versions of Hamlet in the form of a play. The two films I watched each portrayed these soliloquies in different ways. The first noticeable difference between the two is the fact that, the Peter Brooks version concentrates on the actors face that plays Hamlet. While the Mel Gibson version focuses more on the setting. I do not think that the reason for this is one is a low budget film while the other is not. I think that both versions want to portray Hamlet in different ways. The Peter Brooks version portrays Hamlet as a strong minded character, focusing on every word that Hamlet speaks. While the Mel Gibson version also does this (but not nearly as much), but as a lot of the focus is on the setting, this suggests that Hamlets words can not express his true feelings as well. It is though the setting dramatises the words that Hamlet speaks. This also is a reason for why in the Mel Gibson version, of this soliloquy, has been cut down. The only similarity there is in both films is that; the actors never look at the camera. I think that this suggests that Hamlet does not need to prove himself to anyone; he is not trying to convince us, the audience, that his feelings are right (or the right way to think and feel). Hamlet believes that his are beliefs are true and know one will change his mind. Hamlets character does not need to keep a hold of the audience by addressing them with looks or suggestive posses. So already in this first soliloquy we see how intelligent Hamlet is, how he thinks over situations. He does not just sit back and take things as they come. It is though Hamlet already, sub-consciously, knows that Claudius is unlawfully the king. So from here the audience feels like Hamlets character is strong minded, intelligent and a deep thinker. At the moment the audience does not know if Hamlet is going to be brave enough to change things. Though, we do get the sense that Hamlet will just take things as they come. This is where the audience claps their first sense that action may happen in the near future. Hamlet is also seen as almost as brave, as it seems he is going to change this to make them seem right. He is not seen as a coward for this very reason, as well as, he has not committed suicide. But this is mainly down to the fact that it is a sin. So maybe he is not so brave. However the audience looks past this as not an act of coward ness but as an act of bravery to stand-up in what he believes in. The second soliloquy that I am studying is in act 2. Here Hamlet express disapproval of the way he can not act to avenge his dead father. . hat a rouge and peasant slave am I! Hamlet later explains how he is going to trap Claudius. Hamlet is also frustrated how actors can act with feelings, while hamlet has lots of motivation (and reasons) to avenge his father yet he can not act on this. Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion force his soul so to his own conceit.. Hamlet is also still trying to make sense of the world. I think in this solil oquy we, the audience, see how intelligent and self-aware Hamlet really is. He even considers himself as a coward. And this is the first time we the audience think Hamlet is actually a coward, and actually start to wonder is Hamlet is going to live up to what he is saying. Am I a coward But I am pigeon livered, and lack gall To make oppression bitter Alliteration is used in this Soliloquy. Out of the soliloquies I am studying, this is the first that I have seen alliteration. The use of alliteration makes the words stand clear from the rest, it emphasises them. This means they must be important for such emphasis to be laid upon them. Especially the way, even when u read them, they make u spit them out. It is though they are disgusting, poisoned, and almost shameful. These words are said as hamlet is questioning about how he does nothing to avenge his father. So this shows the way he is ashamed of the way he does nothing. Bloody, bawdy villain! With Hamlets realisation of how he has done nothing to avenge his father, he comes up with an idea. Hamlet will watch his uncle to see how he reacts when he sees a play of a murder which resembles King Hamlets. Hamlet also shows his disgust in Claudius by calling him a creature. This shows that Hamlet thinks that for someone to murder, they must (almost) not be human. Hum I have heard That guilty creatures sitting at a play Have by the very cunning of the scene Been struck so to the soul The Mel Gibson version of this concentrates on the anger that Hamlet is feeling. This is shown by the way Hamlet is standing. It is as if Hamlet can not bear it anymore (all his anger) and needs something to be done. The Mel Gibson version also starts about half way down the soliloquy. This is because half way down, in the soliloquy, Hamlet starts to get going therefore gets more aggressive. Also Hamlets character is seen as more unpredictable as three quarters down the script, Hamlet does calm down. This is because he has finally thought of a plan. The Peter Brooks version is different. In this version Hamlet is seen calmer and in deep thought more than the Mel Gibson version. This is expressed in the way that the actor is sitting down. Also bloody bawdy villain is left out. This too makes Hamlet seem less aggressive. The way none of the script is cut out, makes Hamlet seem as though he is able to work through is feelings and emotions, therefore a more stable and in control character In this soliloquy we see how Hamlets mood has changed more aggressive and more frustrated. Though this seems to work best for Hamlet, as with theses feelings he later is able to come up (finally) with a plot. Hamlets character becomes more complex in this soliloquy. We no-longer think of Hamlet as a man whom will act on his feelings. Now of a man, who is scared to act on his feelings, yet knows he is a coward and he should, but physically he cant. This is maybe because he is not yet mentally prepared. It seems that Hamlet has to be frustrated with his feelings and hate himself for not acting, to then later be able to mentally carry out what he first intended to do. The third soliloquy I am studying is in act three scene one. In this soliloquy Hamlet is still discussing the meaning of life and death. Hamlet is scared of what happens after death. To be, or not to be. This is all before a meeting with Ophelia. This soliloquy does not advance the story. Instead it shows us a lot about how Hamlet thinks things through. Also in this soliloquy Hamlet is still delaying murder. Hamlet is spilt; on one hand he wants revenge for his father, on the other, he is an intelligent student which is teachings go against ghosts. This soliloquy is also different to the rest in the way that he reflects on general issues. There are no direct references about other people. This is maybe because Hamlet has now almost totally withdrawn himself from the world. Hamlet discusses how, if you cant win a battle, you can still fight. But what is the point? Hamlet is thinking things through; this intelligence makes him a coward. to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them Onomatopoeia is used in this soliloquy. This makes the words come alive and stand out. This is needed as it is about death. Which, discussing death seems to be very important to Hamlet. shuffled off this mortal coil Ophelia is mentioned right at the end of this soliloquy. I think this is to show that Hamlet is not as alone as he thinks he is. He could rely on Ophelia and talk to her, yet he keeps his feeling to himself. The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remembered. In the Peter Brooks version, there is emphasis on part of this speech. This shows that, in this version Hamlet is seen to be thinking about death, and is scared of it as it has been mentioned several times. The emphasis is shown by a pause by the actor when saying To die-to sleep Also in this version there are longer pauses which show deep thought. And even a slight struggle to contemplate these ideas. But as he is still discussing them it shows they are important. Hamlet is sitting down in this version. He never stands up. This shows us how there is no aggression. As well as the fact that he never raises his voice. This version is less emotional. It is more serious, the actor uses a lower tone of voice in some areas of the speech. The camera zooms in on Hamlets face, yet he never looks at it. This suggests that Hamlet is trapped inside his head. Also this is shown by the way Ophelia doesnt come into the scene (this has been excluded from this version). The Mel Gibson version is more about setting. It is set by the grave of Hamlets diseased father. This version is set here to show how Hamlet must (or so he feels) live up to gat revenge for his father. Also this emphasis on the scenery shows how death is inside Hamlets mind. This version of Hamlet makes his character seem less calm. The actor gets angry, clams down, moves around (e. g. lays on the floor) at certain points. All these emphasis how complicated Hamlets mind is. And how confused he still is As well as how unpredictable his character is. Yet again we see, in this soliloquy, how intelligent Hamlet is. How he contemplates important situations in his mind. Death plays a very important role in this soliloquy. Hamlet is constantly thinking about it. Though in this soliloquy we see how frightened Hamlet is of death. Also this soliloquy shows how alone Hamlet is, as there is no mention of anyone (only when Ophelia enters the room). So this soliloquy shows how Hamlet is trapped, he is far too intelligent for this play and therefore is alone. This is shown in the way that he has cut himself off from the world (almost entirely). Soliloquies are extremely important in this play. Without them we would know nothing of Hamlets intellect, how he plans to get revenge, and what he is really like. Only in soliloquies do we, the audience, get to see the real Hamlet. This means that none of the other characters in the play really know what he is like. This is maybe why Hamlet cuts himself off from the world, because he knows that he can not tell anyone what he is truly thinking, hence he trusts no one. This lack of trust in people comes from the murder of his father. Hamlets moods and thoughts change a lot throughout the play. Without the soliloquies we would find it hard to understand Hamlet, and therefore the play. These soliloquies help the audience understand why Hamlet does the things he does e. g. excludes himself from the world. Soliloquies are important in this play as they reveal how Hamlets character. These soliloquies also show how Hamlet takes it upon himself, alone, to find out the truth. As well, the soliloquies in the play reflect the tension in Hamlets mind; he resists the outside ideas while continuing his own ideas inside his mind.