The Old Man and the Sea Essay Example for Free

The Old Man and the Sea Essay â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea:† A Tale of Betrayed Brotherhood In Ernest Hemingway’s novella â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea,† an old fisherman named Santiago faces the challenge of catching the largest fish of his life, an act he hopes will bring immortal greatness to his name. The accomplishment of this goal, however, hinges on the act of killing a creature Santiago often deems his equal, as exemplified by his recurring reference to the fish as a brother. The old man’s longing for greatness negates any moral considerations he may have, though, until he realizes his own mortality, extends that into a feeling of equality with the fish, and the fish’s body is destroyed by sharks. Then he understands what he has done: stripped the noble fish, his equal, of its pride. From that point on, he regrets his actions of betraying his brother. Therefore, throughout a majority of â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea,† Santiago’s desire to achieve immortal greatness overshadows the immorality of his actions, but when the sharks destroy the physical embodiment of this achievement, the fish, he realizes that the end does not justify the means; immortal greatness is not obtained. Santiago, who is nearing the end of his life, has a preoccupation bordering on obsession with greatness. He continually speaks and thinks of Joe DiMaggio, the embodiment of greatness in the form of a baseball player, and his roots as a poor fisherman’s son strengthen the attachment. He dreams of lions, the kings of the jungle, enjoying their domain on a beach. Greatness is clearly on Santiago’s mind. In addition, he longs for the type of greatness that transcends human life; he dreams of achieving immortality through the remembrance of his name in association with something great after his death. After battling the fish for many days, Santiago thinks, â€Å"I am not good for many more turns. Yes you are, he told himself. You’re good for ever† (Hemingway 70). His inner speech, particularly the last sentence, demonstrates his lofty, idealistic mindset. He views his existence as eternal; thus, the type of greatness for which he yearns inferably fits this view and is therefore eternal as well. For Santiago, immortal greatness can only be achieved through fishing: â€Å"You were born to be a fisherman and the fish was born to be a fish. San Pedro was a fisherman as was the father of the great DiMaggio† (Hemingway 81). By extension, Santiago labels the rest of the subjects of the sentence as great due to the reference to DiMaggio, and because he specifically refers to his role in life (a fisherman) in this context, he believes it to be his means toward achieving this greatness. What better chance does he have than to bring in the greatest fish of his life, alone and in old age? Therefore, the fish he catches in the story is his chance at immortal greatness. Early in the story, before Santiago has even seen the fish, he thinks, â€Å"If he will jump I can kill him. But he stays down for ever. Then I will stay down with him for ever† (44). This thought also illuminates the connection he feels between the fish and his glory: If he does not catch the fish and bring it home, hope for his immortal existence dies because this greatness depends entirely on the fish, this fish. Throughout most of the novella, Santiago views the fish as beneath him, as something he is entitled to subdue. For example, he takes possession of the fish, the fish he thus believes he is destined to catch, by referring to it as his before anything even nibbles on his line (Hemingway 24). Also, during Santiago’s battle with the fish, he thinks, â€Å"But, thank God, they are not as intelligent as we who kill them; although they are more noble and more able† (Hemingway 47). In the first half of this passage, he clearly places himself mentally above the fish; however, the second half introduces the respect Santiago holds for the fish, which brings into question his asserted feelings of superiority. In addition, he often refers to the fish as his brother, introducing a sense of kinship he feels with the creature (Hemingway 44, 47, 57, 71, 73). Yet the air of supremacy remains, despite these outward expressions of equality, because the old man’s desire for greatness is so blindingly dominant. Santiago speaks aloud: â€Å"‘I’ll kill him though,’ he said. ‘In all his greatness and his glory. ’ Although it is unjust, he thought. But I will show him what a man can do and what a man endures† (Hemingway 49). In this quotation, Santiago recognizes the greatness of the fish and even contemplates the moral implications of his quest to kill it, but his conclusion that he needs to finish what he set out to do to prove man’s dominance over the creatures of the sea, specifically his dominance to satisfy his hunger for greatness, overshadows his brief moral questioning. Also, Santiago’s references to the fish as a brother initially do not always signify kinship and equality. Once, he makes the claim that his two hands and the fish are brothers; the fish is only related to two small parts of his body (Hemingway 47). Albeit the hands are important parts to the fisherman, he still equates the fish to a portion of his body, not the whole self, which implies there is more to than man than to the fish. A little later, he calls the stars his brothers and expresses gratitude for not having to kill such great, distant beings (Hemingway 58). This minimizes both the fish’s greatness and supposed brotherhood because Santiago clearly longs to be one amongst the stars (immortal greatness), despite, or perhaps because of, their admittedly ungraspable nature, in addition to battling a mere mortal fish. For these reasons, throughout much of the novella Santiago puts the fish’s greatness below the quest for his own, despite selected words to the contrary. When Santiago comes to terms with his own mortality, however, he truly recognizes his equality with the also mortal fish. After days of battling the fish, his inescapable mortality rises to his mind for the first time: â€Å"‘Fish,’ the old man said. ‘Fish, you are going to have to die anyway. Do you have to kill me too’† (Hemingway 70)? Here, Santiago realizes that more than the ability to obtain greatness lies in the hands of this fish; his physical existence also hinges on the fish’s actions. This thought humbles the old man, and minutes later he thinks, â€Å"You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a great, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who† (Hemingway 71). For the first time the word â€Å"brother† carries the weight it implies because Santiago sees both himself and the fish as mortal beings in a struggle for life. No longer does he assume superior rank over the fish; instead, he recognizes the nobility of both beings as equal in his expression of unconcern for which dies. Shortly after this realization, Santiago succeeds in landing the fish; however, only an hour later, sharks begin to attack the dead fish tied to the side of his boat, ripping flesh from bone, stripping it of its physical mortal greatness. At this point, the question of the morality of killing the fish once again surfaces: â€Å"You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive, and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more† (Hemingway 81)? Because Santiago had previously established a kinship with the fish, he questions his pride-motivated actions, whether or not his obtaining of immortal greatness justifies killing a noble brother. It soon becomes clear that these means are not justified. Santiago begins to apologize to the fish numerous times, first for the sharks that mangle its body, then for killing it in the first place (Hemingway 85). Eventually, Santiago says, â€Å"‘I shouldn’t have gone out so far, fish,’ he said. ‘Neither for you nor for me. I’m sorry, fish’† (Hemingway 85). In this quotation, Santiago laments his quest for greatness (â€Å"I shouldn’t have gone out so far†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) and asserts that it destroyed both him and the fish. Therefore, despite the completion of his goal to catch a great fish, Santiago fails in his quest for immortal greatness because he realizes that killing a creature equal in greatness and nobility to himself, a creature he calls his brother, is ignoble. He even acknowledges this failure after he returns to shore, when he recognizes that nothing outside himself actually beat him in his quest: â€Å"And what beat you, he thought. ‘Nothing,’ he said aloud. ‘I went out too far’† (Hemingway 93). Only his desire for immortal greatness defeated him and barred him from achieving it, that is, if it was ever possible for him to achieve it at all. Therefore, in Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea,† Santiago fails in his quest to acquire immortal greatness. He begins by thinking of the fish as his to take, the means by which he can obtain greatness, but after realizing his own mortality he understands the fish’s equality to himself and regrets taking its life, which led to the stripping of its flesh, its physical greatness. Thus, the nobility of both the old man and the fish are ruined, and he certainly fails to seal his name as an eternal presence of greatness. Perhaps his quest was doomed from the beginning; immortal greatness was never possible for the old man.

Artificial Insemination :: Pregnancy Reproduction Essays

Artificial Insemination There are different types of responsibility involved in human reproduction. With modern biomedical technology the question of â€Å"who is responsible?† comes up a lot more. Artificial insemination is one of newer forms of technology that involves that question, which includes moral, and social responsibility. In â€Å"Artificial Insemination† Munson raises the question not only of who’s responsible but also what responsibilities and rights the sperm donor has and where fatherhood comes into place in that situation. He argues that the responsibilities of the donor are severed from the child produced but has the responsibility of quality, meaning informing the bank of any diseases and family history. Mainly the topic Munson seems to focus on is the responsibility the sperm donor has to the child. He believes that â€Å"The donor’s actions consist only in donating (selling) his sperm†¦ some responsibility attach to such actions, but the responsibility of being a moral father is not among them†. The moral father of a child does not necessarily mean the biological father, but the man that is involved in planning or actions, such as intercourse, towards the pregnancy. Munson then supports his arguments well with the example of two court cases. The case of People vs. Sorenson shows that Mr. Sorensen, even after divorcing his wife, was still responsible for the child even if he wasn’t the biological father. He was involved with the planning and consented to his wife getting pregnant using artificial insemination, therefore was held liable for child support. Munson then explained that â€Å"the sperm donor was explicitly held to be no differe nt from a blood donor†. The other case used was the case of CM vs. CC. In that case CM, the supplier of the sperm was also implicated in the planning of the pregnancy. Even though CC and CM were dating exclusively during most of the pregnancy, when they separated CC refused to allow CM visit the child. The court found the manner in which CC was impregnated irrelevant and granted him visitation rights and parental obligations. The use of this case shows that even though artificial insemination was used, the man involved in the planning, who also happened to be the donor, is the moral father. Artificial Insemination :: Pregnancy Reproduction Essays Artificial Insemination There are different types of responsibility involved in human reproduction. With modern biomedical technology the question of â€Å"who is responsible?† comes up a lot more. Artificial insemination is one of newer forms of technology that involves that question, which includes moral, and social responsibility. In â€Å"Artificial Insemination† Munson raises the question not only of who’s responsible but also what responsibilities and rights the sperm donor has and where fatherhood comes into place in that situation. He argues that the responsibilities of the donor are severed from the child produced but has the responsibility of quality, meaning informing the bank of any diseases and family history. Mainly the topic Munson seems to focus on is the responsibility the sperm donor has to the child. He believes that â€Å"The donor’s actions consist only in donating (selling) his sperm†¦ some responsibility attach to such actions, but the responsibility of being a moral father is not among them†. The moral father of a child does not necessarily mean the biological father, but the man that is involved in planning or actions, such as intercourse, towards the pregnancy. Munson then supports his arguments well with the example of two court cases. The case of People vs. Sorenson shows that Mr. Sorensen, even after divorcing his wife, was still responsible for the child even if he wasn’t the biological father. He was involved with the planning and consented to his wife getting pregnant using artificial insemination, therefore was held liable for child support. Munson then explained that â€Å"the sperm donor was explicitly held to be no differe nt from a blood donor†. The other case used was the case of CM vs. CC. In that case CM, the supplier of the sperm was also implicated in the planning of the pregnancy. Even though CC and CM were dating exclusively during most of the pregnancy, when they separated CC refused to allow CM visit the child. The court found the manner in which CC was impregnated irrelevant and granted him visitation rights and parental obligations. The use of this case shows that even though artificial insemination was used, the man involved in the planning, who also happened to be the donor, is the moral father.

Performance Management Plan Essay

Good afternoon Traci, after assessing the current status and future needs of Marylee Luther’s construction company and taking some notes from your conversation with her the other day we have compiled a performance management framework that we believe will integrate the company’s goals to its strategy while making the growth move from Michigan to Arizona and staying consistent with the organizations current revenue and employee growth projections over the next year. We will briefly outline this performance management plan as it pertains to the categories of alignment of the performance management framework to the organizational business strategy, organizational performance philosophy, the job analysis process you will complete to identify the skills needed by employees, methods used for measuring the employee’s skills, process for addressing skill gaps, and an approach for delivering effective performance feedback. The framework that has been chosen for the organi zation will ease the growing pains of adding 20% more personnel (130 people) over the next year. Performance Framework Organizations with the revenues and personnel comparable to Mrs. Luther’s construction business have made the move to all inclusive software systems in order to handle the monitoring and scheduled maintenance of both operational and employee performance metrics which allow managers to make real time changes that save time and money for the organization. We recommend WebFOCUS performance management framework or (PMF). According to â€Å"Information Builders† (1996-2013), â€Å"PMF is a comprehensive, fully integrated, out-of-the-box solution that fully supports any existing performance management methodology, such as balanced scorecard (BSC). It comes complete with all the functionality and tools companies need to efficiently and effectively set and communicate strategy across the organization, define related metrics, and involve all stakeholders in monitoring and measurement – all from a single, intuitive, easy-to-access, browser-based environment.† Read more:  Growth Performance Management The PMF software has such features as †¢Performance management data models †¢Pre-built dashboards, scorecards, and reports †¢More than 500 pre-packaged metrics for common industries and business functions †¢Strategy mapping to visualize and communicate strategy †¢The ability to manage performance and risk together †¢Mobile alerts †¢In-depth analytics †¢Link scorecards to operational reports The WebFOCUS framework software will be a good fit for the organization due to the fact that the software will give the organization the ability to maintain consistency and allow for growth in every area of the business. Performance Philosophy In order to facilitate the solidification of the performance framework with the organizations new performance strategy, we have chosen a proven philosophy that encourages the simultaneous improvement of both technical and social aspects of the company through aligning the organizations strategy with its goals and clearly incorporating each employee into a definable part of the business. Core principles are developed as guidelines for members of the organization to operate under to stay in line with the business goals. Here are the principles that should be focused on moving forward. †¢The strategy and goals of the organization are clear to all members of the organization and are an integral part of everyday operations †¢The employees are treated as the organizations key assets and are provided with the training, skill development, and resources to succeed while fulfilling the organizations strategy †¢Work is designed around teams to accomplish the goals of the business as a whole †¢Job processes and structures are streamlined to support a focused part of the organizations strategy †¢The management team is present to provide operational boundaries, resources for tasks and guidance when needed †¢The organization will always exceed the expectations of its customers Identifying Employee Needs Given the fact that construction workers are out on job sites most of the day and cannot voice their needs or concerns when they arise, we recommend a system of top-down check ins daily where managers will have mobile conferences with site supervisors after having team meetings that morning on the different job sites. This will help move any employee needs or issues up the management chain faster. To add to that process management will have quarterly one-on-one meetings with all employees to address any needs and guide in filling any performance or skill gaps that will later be scheduled for improvement. Measuring Employee Skills Using the WebFOCUS software, we recommend having employees taking an online test that can be done at work or home that will identify each employee’s skills and strengths and will put those into a database that measures standards to each job and where that employee excels or falls short in that job and the construction industry. The new software will also keep the company goals and focus for both Michigan and new Arizona facilities simultaneously. Addressing Skill Gaps Construction employees are notoriously hands on people so after a proper skills assessment test to identify strengths and weaknesses in that employees current position we recommend a one-on-one meeting between that employee and their manager where a training map can be discussed and implemented over a three month period which will consist of both online and on-the-job training to bring the employee up to industry standards for their respective position. The training will be monitored by site supervisors and progress will be logged and relayed to upper management. Effective Performance Feedback Performance feedback is essential to both the employee as well as the company so we recommend a system of open communication and full disclosure as they pertain to current and the projected 20% new employees over the next year for the company. The process will consist of the manager clearly conveying their expectations of said employee at the point of hire, informing that quarterly one-on-one meetings with the manager will be held to make sure that employees performance goals are being met, and address any issues or concerns that arise. The process for the yearly performance feedback reviews will consist of a clear ranking system based off of the managers previously stated expectations of that employee, social and technical compliances for that employee, and will give an overall score that will dictate any compensation raise or bonus. The day of the performance feedback the employee will receive a printed out copy of the feedback an hour before their actual meeting with management. This will allow the employee to work out any emotions or feeling within themselves first so that the meeting with their manager can be conducted with fresh eyes and ears. The manager will not address any issue with compensation or wander off topic during the feedback and new goals and expectations will be discussed and implemented from that point. Conclusion The information that has been given in regards to Marylee Luther’s construction company warranted a completely all inclusive software system to be able to make assessments and organize information regarding the business and employees. We feel that the WebFOCUS software chosen for her company will streamline processes and expedite growth as they expand to the Arizona market and provide flexibility for the managers to use in new ways moving forward in both states respectively. We believe that the process changes recommended towards employee relations will empower the employees to expand their own knowledge and foster a sense of accountability and ownership that will ultimately take the company and employee to the next level. References Information builders (1996-2013). Retrieved from http://www.informationbuilders.com/products/webfocus/webfocuspmf The center for organizational design (2012). Retrieved from http://www.centerod.com/high-performance-philosophy/

School Districts Are Financially Struggling And Looking...

School districts are financially struggling and looking for ways to save money. One of the methods that they have implemented is to decrease the number of students in Special Education classes by using inclusion, also called mainstreaming, by having the students included in general education classes. A districts Average Per Pupil Expenditure (APPE) can vary significantly for Special Education. The services are defined in each student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). Whereas one student’s IEP might mandate a single service, another may require several services and accommodations that involve multiple teachers, specialists, personal aides as well as additional meetings. Inclusion of special education students, in public schools, is more costly to school districts and is not effective enough to justify the cost. Since the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was finalized, in October, 2006, there has been a push to transition special education students into general education classes. This places additional pressure on the general education teachers and their school districts, who are expected to prepare them. Before a district can initiate the change there are several issues that need to be addressed. Districts are supposed to provide specialized professional training that prepares a general teacher would need to be funded at the district level, unfortunately, many districts can’t afford it. As noted by Allison Gulamhussein, in many districts,Show MoreRelatedThe Education Of The School Essay2540 Words   |  11 Pagesproper funding of the schools is hard to find. While there is federal and state funding to assist the schools to achieve this mission, it only covers a small portion of a school’s operating budget. 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