by Herman Bailey | Jun 9, 2023 | Essays |
The play, Major Barbara, was written by Bernard Shaw in 1905. The play discusses the incompatible philosophies held by father and daughter, Mr. Undershaft and Barbara, placing emphasis on the contrast between idealism and realism. Shaw addresses social and economic problems, like poverty, facing the society and how individuals and religious charitable organizations attempt to curb the situation. He also examines the morality of poverty. This paper analyzes Shaw’s ideas presented in the play concerning the ways used by people in the society to solve daily problems and their effectiveness.
Barbara is a devoted Christian working with Salvation Army as an official given the tittle ‘Major’. Her parents separated when they were kids and her father vanished from their lives until he reappeared after being summoned her mother, to discuss the financial future of their children, Barbara, Stephen and Sarah. Andrew Undershaft is a wealthy man who obviously spent his time acquiring wealth than thinking of his family since he fails to recognize his children and has no recollection of how many they were. Barbara works at Salvation Army feeding the poor and the hungry as long as they repent their sins and live piously but his father thinks of her as naïve and misguided as stated by Horizon (10).
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Munista (10) says that the play places emphasis on moral values and respects the work of Christian organizations and movements, like Salvation Army, in helping members of the society but questions the effectiveness of their approach and their real intentions. Barbara helps the poor by providing for their basic necessities like shelter, food and clothing. She is passionate about her work since as she believes and finds it spiritually rewarding such that she treats people with caution, firmness and humility. The rules of Salvation Army require individuals to be saved first before they are helped and Undershaft thinks that is unrealistic (Munista 14).
The play revolves around conflicting social and moral ethics believed and practiced by people in the society. Major Barbara is portrayed to be idealistic since she accepts and practices the teaching of the church. For instance, she believes she can rescue the needy and the hungry by preaching forgiveness and encouraging them to be righteous. However, Mr. Undershaft disagrees since he believes in realism. To him providing basic needs for the disadvantaged in the society is covering the real problem. He believes in providing a means for people to earn money to sustain them as depicted by Harrison (8). Undershaft runs a successful munitions factory that supplies guns and cannons which according to Barbara, is a dishonest way of earning a living and does not want any association with it or his money. He believes his way of curbing poverty which is giving people jobs and paying them well so that they are able to provide for themselves a home and put food on the table is realist and most effective. His belief is influenced by his painful experience as a poor man.
Barbara experiences reality that shakes her faith when Salvation Army accepts a denotation from his father that is tainted arguing that it does not matter the source of the fund as long as they serve a good purpose against her will. As a strong advocate for noble moral values she resigns from the job and her objection was seen as selfish since the organization was about to close due to inadequate funds and her arguments shallow. Moreover, she suffered another blow when she discovered that some of the converts were pretending in order to get their basic needs supplies from the organization resulting to her questioning the relevance of the teaching she had gladly accepted and practiced (Munista 7).
According to Munista (15), Shaw criticized the intentions of charity religious organizations, like Salvation Army. He tends to think that they glorify in the vulnerability of the disadvantaged members of the society. They seem to encourage poverty and thinks it is a blessing. They appear to be helping but in reality they are the sole beneficiary of the program as it helps accomplish their mission of spreading their religion. They turn their backs on reality by pretending the world revolves around good and evil and the only way to survive is by praying. They preach forgiveness with the hope that the converts will believe and practice so that they avoid any future uprising by the members and workers in advocating for their rights paving a clear path for exploitation by the wealthy who ironically funds the these organizations.
Shaw in his play, Major Barbara, emphasizes the political ideology that poverty is indeed a crime not a blessing as perceived by some individuals since no poor person is respected. Undershaft believes that poverty is a crime and the way to save the society from this distress is by guaranteeing every individual the money he/she needs to lead a comfortably life. For instance, Undershaft’s munitions factory represents a means of providing the funds required to satisfy the workers’ necessities since Undershaft pays his workers well so that they do not have beg and lead respectable life as implied by Albert (12).
The play exposes the unfortunate fact concerning politics. It views democratic right to vote as a complete felony that covers the undesirable truth about politics that lies to the middle class that by voting they are represented in the government. Shaw implies that the government’s national decisions are influenced by the wealthy industrialists like Undershaft. Undershaft says that only the names of government officials change each voting year but the government remains the same, corrupt, and suggests that real changes can only be made by using guns justifying the relevance of his business as expressed by Albert (15).
Harrison (20) points out the desire for power and influence with the intention of changing the world that was Undershaft driving force. Undershaft talks of the importance of wealth in acquiring power and influencing the world. Barbara begins to view the world differently as she gets to know the ways of his father. She realizes that without money one has very little power and develops desire for power which makes her agree with her fiancée, Cusins, for accepting her father’s factory with the hope that they would use it for the good of the common people. They believe that they can only fight a war by force and acknowledges corruption as a major threat. In addition, she does not abandon her faith but come up with a new perspective on how to serve God. She proclaims that God’s work ought to be done by raising the standards of life for the ordinary citizen instead of offering them salvation in another life as explicated by Harrison (14).
Although the play is an ancient one, it is indeed relevant to the current society. There is exploitation of the needy by the wealthy who views helping them as a way of gaining more power and charity church organizations that thrive from their vulnerability since they actually view poverty as a blessing and kind of encourages it yet in real sense according to Shaw, poverty is a crime and the only way to deal with it is providing a means of income for people to sustain their needs so that they do not have to beg not idealist ways where their necessity is provided as long as they remain followers blinding people from the real world.
Works cited
Albert, Sidney P. Shaw, Plato, and Euripides: Classical Currents in Major Barbara. Gainesville: UP of Florida, 2012. Print.
Harrison, David B. “1920- A New Source for Shaw’s Major Barbara.” English Literature in Transition 1880-1920 (1985): n .pag. Print.
Manista, Francis C. “Doing Proper Things for Improper Reasons: Spiritual Ambivalence in Major Barbara.” Shaw The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies (2006): n. pag. Print.
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
by Herman Bailey | Jun 8, 2023 | Essays |
Executive Summary
The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the appropriateness of the reward system applied within organizations and analyse how much the reward system’s strategies incentivize employees’ motivation and performance in the workplace. In few words, the topic focus on the level of motivation and personal needs satisfaction that certain financial and non-financial benefits, deriving from the company’s policies, could bring into an employee’s life and to what extent these benefits contribute to the employee’s performance and productivity.
In order to develop this topic various motivational and satisfaction theories will be applied. Among them, Armstrong’s, Maslow’s and Herzberg’s theories will be introduce by contrasting the different thesis on motivation they support and by evaluating which positive effects each motivation factor could bring.
Finally, Shell Company will be used as a case study of the topic to allow a better comprehension of how the reward system influences employees’ motivation and to what extent it improves the overall company’s performance.
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Introduction
Being in a 21st century where fast-growing labour markets with high-skilled workers and the organizations’ competition operate with each other, the HR Manager’s job is always more complicated but at the same time significant inside an organization’s management sector.
Retaining high-skilled employees inside the organization for a long-term period, preventing them to change company, is a very important strategy as the managers will benefit from the overall performance and the general contribution that these employees will bring over the course of years. Therefore, a strategic and robust rewarding system should be implemented within an organization that strives to reach this objective. Hence, the reward system implemented by the HR Manager is a fundamental strategy that will help the company to retain employees by motivating them and satisfying their needs and to increase workers’ performance towards the core company’s goal (Mondy et al, 2005).
An employee reward system refers to the employees’ rewarding process in correspondence to the value that the organization sees and receives from them. The reward system is made up of the organization’s policies, processes and practices of rewarding its own employees in accordance with their contribution, skills, competence all together integrated with their market worth (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007). Commonly, many assume that an employee reward system refers only to financial reward; however the employee reward system covers both the financial and non-financial rewards. In fact, a reward system rotates around fixed, variable financial pay and the employees’ accumulated benefits which together indicate the total remuneration owed. Beside this, there are also non-financial rewards that encompass benefits such as recognition, achievements, increased job responsibilities and career advancement.
Understanding Reward Systems
According to (Brewster et al 2007) the main components of this system include:
Processes: through which management is able to measure the value of the job itself, the contribution of the employee to the success of the task and in return the level of employee benefits that are to be provided for success; processes in an organization consist of evaluation of the job and performance management;
Practices: are applied to motivate people by the use of rewards; they are either financial pay, benefits, allowances or non-financial benefits such as opportunities given to employees to develop new skills and advance in their own careers;
Structures: through which are established financial pay and benefits in respect to the value of positions gained within an organization; they provide the scope on which the reward system is based; that is rewards according to performance, skill, competence and experience;
Procedures: are applied to maintain the reward system; they ensure that the system in itself is operating efficiently.
According to (Storey 2007 and Perkins 2008) all people’s needs rotate on money and therefore all reward systems must be based on some form of monetary reward. Money brings the following advantages in a reward system:
- It provides a strategic and achievable goal or objective which the employees can strive towards;
- It can also act as an instrument through which employees can express valued outcomes;
- It is often interpreted as a symbol of how much the organization values the employee;
- It can also reinforce positive behaviour among employees since it often takes on the value of reward value itself;
It can therefore be argued that money is the most likely motivator in a reward system because is directly or indirectly linked with the satisfaction of many other intrinsic and extrinsic needs. However, (Armstrong 2011) contrasts this theory by stating that whereas money can indeed motivate employees, it is not the only motivator. In fact, he continues to state that over-reliance on money as a motivator is likely to lead to a reward system that is not sustainable. He suggests that organizations need to find new strategies through which to engage employees and motivate them towards success. As Maslow showed in his hierarchy of needs theory, employee motivation is often determined by how much the reward system assists them in meeting the various needs. Financial rewards meet the basic needs of living and survival (physiological needs) like food, water and shelter, and the needs of safety, like security of body, resources to live, security of employment, home. These needs are guaranteed especially if the rewards are regular, (Grant 1990 and Whitely 2002). The upper-level needs of Maslow’s hierarchy, love, self-esteem and self-actualization, realize their satisfaction through intrinsic values/rewards (Miner, 2007). Although, it is argued that money also satisfies the self-esteem needs, this is because it is a visible mark of appreciation that is recognizable not just to the employee individually but also to others.
Herzberg’s two factor model however, differs from this point of view. He states that while lack of money may indeed cause dissatisfaction among the employees, money in itself does not result in lasting satisfaction. Once employees have received perhaps an increase in pay or even commission for a job well done, they are instantly euphoric and for a short while are generally motivated to work hard. However, the feeling of euphoria soon dies off leaving an even more unmotivated employee than before. In fact, financial rewards are considered among the hygiene factors, called dissatisfiers, by Herzberg’s theory. These are: salary, company’s policy and practices, supervision, job security, interpersonal relations. He argues that these factors can serve to remove dissatisfaction and improve performance up to a certain point, if appropriately provided, but they cannot produce positive feelings and high level of performance as the motivator factors do (recognition, achievement, work itself, responsibility and advancement) (Miner, 2007).
(Thomas 2002) challenges what he calls the behaviourist dogma about money and motivation. He states that the more an organization continues to rely on financial rewards the more likely that employees will continue to become dissatisfied and de-motivated within a short time. Furthermore, Cameron and Pierce (2002) state that financial rewards tend to corrode the intrinsic interests of employees in their own jobs and tasks. Such interest can only be revived when employees are provided with a reward system that is diverse enough to include other forms of rewards. If the managers’ purpose is to persuade employees to perform determined tasks in order to achieve high level of performances, out of their own motivation, then the managers must find a strategic approach to satisfy the intrinsic goals which money cannot reach, according to Cameron and Pierce (2002). The intrinsic values are those that have been formulated by Herzberg’s theory as the motivator factors that produce satisfaction and by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory as self-esteem and self-actualization. These include: higher job position where job responsibilities increase (recognition), achievements, the possibility of having more flexibility and autonomy, possibility to travel and gain more experiences (self-actualization), the possibility of challenging the employee (work itself) and enriching his skill set.
Companies that have a history of outperforming their rivals regardless of the industry and economic climate have two things in common: first a long term strategic view of their employees and two, stability in the same. They have developed integrated plans for total employee compensation so that rewards are based on achieving the company’s long term goals. Such incentive systems encourage the efficient use of existing assets. They are usually based on the corporate performance, (Armstrong 1996 and Arthur 2001). However, (Arthur 2001) states that many management policies are to blame for the poor employee attitudes. Managements often fail to reward employees either for working hard or for working smart. Many powerful tools lie within the management’s control but the tools have to be applied consistently and within the overall framework of overall strategy for performance improvement. Such a reward system must coordinate the various elements of human resource into a unified program whose focus is to enhance employee’s motivation to work.
The views on how a reward system can be designed and used to motivate employee are as diverse and differ on many grounds. There are those who believe that financial incentives in a reward system will always generate motivation, (Torrington and Hall 1998). Likewise, (Tropman 2001, Langley 2011 and Armstrong 2007) concede that some employees will generally be motivated by money more than others, and if handled properly this reward system can convince them to do even more. However, for some the financial rewards would generally fail because they lack the element of motivation in itself. In fact, motivation often arises where a judicious mix of both financial and non-financial rewards exists; the rewards being offered should be worth the effort and worth having to the employee in order to motivate them. For motivation to come from the reward system, employees need to link certain actions to this system. A multiplicity of inter-dependent factors are involved in motivating people, and therefore there is need for generation of a suitable and yet simplistic reward system. Suitable to the needs of the employees within the organization and simplistic enough so that the employees know exactly what to do in order to receive the rewards, (Gilmore and Williams 2009.
Factors that influence motivation through reward systems – the case of Shell Company
While many other companies were talking about changing and strategizing their success through HR, Shell Company was already doing it. It is therefore not surprising that the company’s reward system is one of the most successful. In the year 2012, shell had the lowest turnover among international operating businesses. Hugh Mitchell, the HR manager for the company was quoted saying that maintaining a satisfactory reward system may seem costly, but in time such system pays itself through the motivated workforce, (Omoweh 2005.
Extrinsic and intrinsic motivating factors: extrinsic factors such an increase in salary are used by Shell to attract ad retaining employees, and for the short term influence an increase in the efforts at work. On the other hand, intrinsic factors, which include an increase in responsibilities, acknowledgement and satisfaction in the job itself, may have a longer and deeper impact towards motivation. Therefore, Shields (2007) concludes that annually the company rewards hardworking employees with promotions including a new range of responsibilities where employees can feel more important.
Satisfaction of needs: people will be more motivated if the job meets their own needs, majority of the organizations focus on financial needs. As (Geus 1997) states, Shell was the first company to seek ways through which employee social needs and psychological needs could be met. This includes rewards on family vacation, and changes in schedules to cater for a healthy social life. Because employees are happy outside the work place, they are more motivated and excited to work.
Goals: in the year 2007, Shell was revamping its own HR system. With the help of researchers and consultants, the company found that employees work better if specific goals are laid out. In addition, such goals should present some form of challenge to the employee. The company has since then included employees in assigning challenging tasks. Team members are asked to nominate themselves and assign tasks for which the greatest challenge equals the greatest rewards. Surprisingly as noted by (Thomsett 2007) the rush is for the most challenging tasks with simple tasks being left to newcomers.
Expectations: shell has definitely gotten it right when it comes to managing and meeting expectations of its employees. While other companies may not be strictly aware and knowledgeable on the expectations of their employees, the shell reward system summarizes the expectation pool as: people are aware and calculate what they will receive in return for particular achievements and efforts, the employees understand and feel that what they expect to get is worth having and they in turn expect to have the reward. Mendenhall et al (2010) conclude that Employees are therefore highly motivated to change behaviour, put in more effort and achieve more in their work place if they know and can control the means of getting and attaining their goals.
Self-efficacy: Shell has a system set in the reward scheme where employees can get advice and encouragement at work. In addition, the system also provides coaching and guidance for the employees not just with regard to work but also other matters of life, (Sjostrom 2007). The result is a more well-rounded employee, who can adjust well, manage challenges and risks because they believe they can do better and have the support to indeed do better.
Conclusion
The performance of any organization is highly dependent on the quality of how it manages its own employees. A reward system is designed to improve the quality of work the organization gets from its employees and also the talent the same organization attracts. Unique talents among the employees including superior performance, high productivity and flexibility and the ability to deliver excellent services at all times are the ways through which employees provide a critical ingredient in the development of a competitive position of the business. One of the keys to competitive advantage is the ability to differentiate between what the business supplies and what its competitors offer. Such differentiation can be achieved by having higher quality human resource. Employee reward practices can make an important contribution to getting and keeping such people, and to providing them with incentives which will motivate them to achieve higher performance.
References
Armstrong, M. (2011) Armstrong’s Handbook Of Strategic Human Resource Management, London: Kogan Page
Armstrong, M. (2007). A Handbook Of Employee Reward Management And Practice. London, Kogan Page
Armstrong, M., Murlis H. (2007). Reward Management: A Handbook Of Remuneration Strategy And Practice. 5th Edition, London, Kogan Page.
Armstrong, M. (1996). Employee Reward. London, Institute Of Personnel And Development.
Arthur, D. (2001). The Employee Recruitment And Retention Handbook. New York, Amacom
Brewster, C. Sparrow, P. & Vernon, G. (2007) International Human Resource Management, 2nd Edition, London: Cipd
Cameron, J., & Pierce, W. D. (2002). Rewards And Intrinsic Motivation Resolving The Controversy. Westport, Conn, Bergin & Garvey.
Geus, A. D. (1997). The Living Company. Boston, Mass, Harvard Business School Press.
Gilmore, S., & Williams, S. (2009). Human Resource Management. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Grant, P. C. (1990). The Effort-Net Return Model Of Employee Motivation: Principles, Propositions, And Prescriptions. New York, Quorum Books.
Langley, A. (2011). Employee Reward Structures. London, Spiramus Press.
Mendenhall, M. Oddou, G. & Stahl, G. (2010) Readings And Cases In International Human Resource Management, 4th Edition, Oxford: Routledge
Mondy, R. W., Noe, R. M., & Gowan, M. (2005). Human Resource Management. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson Prentice Hall.
Omoweh, D. A. (2005). Shell Petroleum Development Company, The State And Underdevelopment Of Nigeria’s Niger Delta: A Study In Environmental Degradation. Trenton, Nj, Africa World Press.
Perkins, S. (2008) Employee Reward: Context, Alternatives And Consequences, London, CIPD
Sjostrom Jr, W. K. (2007). Truth About Reverse Mergers, The. Entrepreneurial Bus. LJ, 2, 743.
Storey, J. (2007) Human Resource Management: A Critical Text, London: Cengage Learning
Miner, J. B. (2007).Organizational Behavior 4: From Theory to Practice, chapt. 5, p 48, Publisher M.E. Sharpe, Inc, New York
Thomas, K. W. (2000). Intrinsic Motivation at Work Building Energy & Commitment. San Francisco
Thomsett, M. C. (2007). Annual Reports 101 [What The Numbers And The Fine Print Can Reveal About The True Health Of A Company]. New York, American Management
Torrington, D., Hall, L., & Torrington, D. (1998). Human Resource Management. London, Prentice Hall Europe.
Tropman, J. E. (2001). The Compensation Solution How To Develop An Employee-Driven Rewards System. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
Whiteley, P. (2002). Motivation. Oxford, U.K., Capstone Pub.
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
by Herman Bailey | Jun 8, 2023 | Essays |
Modern Literary Styles (Due 11/17) Write a 3-4 page essay that examines how African American writers drew on elements from history and culture as inspiration in short stories, novels, and poems
American literature drew much of its influence from their culture and history. For instance, African American literature that is, short stories, poems and novels talk much about the Africans Americans’ culture, social inequality, slavery, racism, their sufferings and frustrations. These themes were incorporated through oral forms like rap, blues, gospel music, spirituals, or sermons. There were efforts by the Western world to rid off African Americans of the brutal sufferings they faced through slavery, racism, and pogroms. The African Americans were subjected to alienation, disesteem, and rejection to ensure that they never reached to the knowledge of their identity.
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It is through this paradoxical status of the African Americans that the African American writers, for instance James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and among others, were in a position to forge their identity based on the travails and the torments they experienced. W Du Bois once stated that African American literature was part of their campaign for political emancipation (Thornton, 734).
Jazz music, for instance, emanated from the tunes composed during this time as they celebrated their hard labor. It was the only time they could celebrate and enjoy since they lived in difficult times of slavery. After the abolition of slavery, jazz music developed from these early tunes and constituted the message of difficult times they experienced during slavery. Another problem that dominated the African Americans was the racial prejudice. It is the attempt of advocating for equal rights and abolition of racial discrimination that African-American writers developed their themes around.
The African American literary works like the songs and poems have powerful imagery, sublime themes and special vocabulary that is attributed to the significant contribution to the world culture. The double-consciousness of the African Americans prompted the African American writers to discover their true self through various ways. For instance, James Baldwin escaped to Europe just to discover his self that could not be realized in America due to the existing social conditions that subordinated self-determination of the African-Americans. The Negroes encountered difficulties in identifying their ethnicity and cultural orientation because they belong to two races. The rejection of the “racial uplift” during the Harlem Renaissance by the African American writers like Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer, and Claude McKay led to the celebration of the African Americans’ color and vividness through cultural essays, poetry, and drama in the African-American fiction (Thornton, 736).
What are some of the ways that African American historical experience is reflected in the works of poems, short stories, and novels?
The historical experience of African-American is reflected in the African American performance in poems, short stories, and novels. The performances helped the African Americans to have a clear understanding of both their past and present through reconstructing and perpetuating their experiences of a mythic past. The performances were carried out in ritualistic and historic continuum. According to Gale (11), rituals, pure celebration, educating the audience on the meaning of the stories formed part of the performance of the story telling, and creation of the story telling stage. This was represented in the story telling performance as a black church. The juxtaposition of the acts and voices in terms of response and call in the storytelling performance is said to connect with “a continuum of African to African-American performance” (Gale 11). The African-American literature used the oral traditions, religion, theatre, and folkways to illustrate the transition of the “African sacred to secular performance” (Gale 12). This was reflected in the storytelling performance through weaving or collage of story in efforts to relay meaning and recognition.
The use of specific symbolic patterns of words and actions in the story telling performance exemplifies the recording and telling the history of African Americans, and acknowledging and coping with their present worldview of duality for cultural survival. The African American literature is characterized by creation and sharing of various forms of art like the folklore, autobiography, and spirituals and blues. The literature exemplifies the African cultural philosophy that is rich in symbolic acts and texts, as well as its own grammatical, ordinal, and ritual structure. Gale (12) that symbol systems of Africa were evident in black performances during events like Southern burial markers and religion, Pinkster, in carnivals, indicate it in the linguistic dozens, in the religious witness, susus, and secret orders, and jubilees. The symbols in the African-American literature encoded a circular philosophy of life, correlative conception of divinity, and community creativity. The symbols also encoded conception of the empowering and ordering force of rituals. The memories of the old world were brought into the new world through the performance of pan-African poetics.
Why were African American poets drawn to musical models such as jazz and blues as a source of inspiration in their writing?
The African American poets collaborated with musicians as well as composers in the creation of choral works, tone poems, opera, jazz, and other forms of songs. Te reasons behind the connection of jazz and poetry can be explained in terms of seeking connection between the values in the jazz lyrics and the definitions in the traditional poetry. A number of people rate songs in terms of its lyrics, that is, poetry. The creation of the song, “Strange Fruit” by Billy Holiday, was derived from Lewis Allen’s original poetic work.
According to Hayden Carruth, who is a poet, indicates that poetry and jazz connection is a twentieth century spontaneous improvisation of personal and conventional determined style. He states that Jazz is a random, open-ended, indeterminate and improvised poem.
It is also important to note that the twentieth African American poets collaborated with musical models such as jazz because Jazz is significant in the American culture through its influence in the poetic dictions. Musical models also set the mood for the poetic themes. Poetry is embedded in musical lyrics. This connection of jazz and music originated from the church services that were conducted by plantation blacks. The electric nature of Jazz talk inspired the writing of the African American poets because the jazz was “highly electric” and combined well with jargons of prostitution, gambling, dance, music, gambling, and larceny. The incorporation of jazz and blues as an inspiration for the writings by African American literary works was because these forms of music reflected the spirit of complicated experience of the Negroes, the African spirit (Benston 339).
How did Amiri Baraka and Ralph Ellison use elements from jazz and blues as a base for their literary styles?
Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) used elements of jazz music in the recording of a number of his poems. An example of Amiri Baraka’s poetic jazz combination was the infamous “Black Dada Nihilismus” that was described to be didactic, apocalyptic, and brutal work of the 1965. Amiri Baraka’s literary work was characterized by overwhelming rhythms, strong imagistic sense, and sophisticated hard message. Amiri Baraka indicated that the poetry was a form of music (Wallenstein 613). Ralph Ellison in his literary works incorporated Euro-American structures, the blues, the chanted sermon, the folktale and other vernacular forms. The backbone of the literary works by Ellison and Baraka was the collaboration with black music, especially, the blues to bring about the Afro-American cultural matrix. The African spirit in the blues prompted them to use jazz and blues as a basis for their literary styles (Benston, 339).
How were the political changes taking place in the 1960s and 1970s reflected in the poetry of the Black Panther Party?
The political changes of the 1960s and 1970s were reflected in the poetry of the Black Panther Party because the literary works were inspired by revolution concept. The poetry was tailored towards the themes of redefinition, war and rage influenced by Malcolm X. The African-American poetry of the 1960s insulted, and sought for compensation of the historical injustices that meted on them by the whites. The poems were constructed in free verse, to create a difference between the Whites and Negros. The Black Panther poetry served as an educational entertainment art in print, on stage, as well as in the community (Jennings 110).
Works Cited
Gale, Jackson. “The Way We do: A Preliminary Investigation of the African Roots of African-American Performance.” Black American Literature Forum, 25.1 (Spring, 1991): 11-22
Jennings, Regina. “Poetry of the Black Panther Party: Metaphors of Militancy.” Journal of Black Studies, 29.1 (Sep., 1998): 106-129.
Thornton, Jerome E. “The Paradoxical Journey of the African American in African American Fiction.” New Literary History, 21.3 (Spring, 1990): 733-745.
Wallenstein, Barry. “Poetry and Jazz: A Twentieth-Century Wedding.” Black American Literature Forum, 25.3 (Autumn,1991): 595-620
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
by Herman Bailey | Jun 8, 2023 | Essays |
In a multilateral agreement like trade unions disputes are likely to arise due to incompliance with the rules and regulation of the union. World Trade Organization has set aside a body known as Dispute Settlement Body that tackles all disputes among the member states, or that involve violation of the binding agreement by any member. All member states are represented in the Dispute Settlement body for transparency and fairness. The aim of establishing the body was to assist maintaining peace as well as good business relations among countries that would ensure that they all benefit economically from the union as it is intended.
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Dispute Settlement Body of World Trade Organization entails compulsory jurisdiction that contains a single set of rules for all disputes that is referred to during conflict resolution and act as guidelines to avoid deviation from the matter at hand and specialized privileges for developing countries that takes into consideration their specific situation. It also contains panel and appellant review that is made up of mediators, arbitrators and a representative of each member state. In addition, Dispute Settlement Body has detailed procedures and deadline. The action conflict resolution follows a detailed process that occurs within specified deadline and the whole process takes one year starting from consultation to implementation. Moreover, it entails quasi-automaticity in the proceedings as explained by Brown (2004).
The operation of conflict resolution by the Dispute Settlement Body follows detailed predetermined stages that include consultation stage, formal litigation stage and implementation stage and are designed in such a way that at either point the conflict could be resolved since it only proceeds to the next stage when the problem is unsolved. The procedure also takes roughly a year without appeal as each stage has a predetermined deadline that has to be observed. In consultation stage, which is the first face, a member that feels that deprived off its rights in acquiring privileges covered under the agreement by another country requests for consultation with that nation which does entail negations preceded by representative of both nations as explained by Cameron (2001).
In case an agreement is not reached within sixty days after consultation requests, the pursuer proceeds to formal litigation stage where the matter is presented to a panel composed of three members appointed by the secretariat. The panel receives written and oral sublimations of the parties involved evaluates them and present their finds and conclusions to the Dispute Settlement Body. There is also an appellant body that handles the appeal of either party challenging the panel’s report. The Appellant body may decide to uphold the findings and conclusion or reverse or modify the panel’s report. The last stage is the implementation stage where the perpetrator is given a period to comply with the panel’s report if not in a position to comply immediately which is a maximum of fifteen months by the compliance and arbitrary panel after which there is retaliation where necessary actions are taken against them according to the requirements of the body which may include increasing custom duty as describe by Cameron (2001).
World Trade Organization in attempt to maintain peace, good business relation and suitable business environment that would ensure all member states benefit from the union established the Dispute Settlement Body and served it with the responsibility of ensuring that every member state complies with the rules and regulation of the WTO. The body identifies any breach in the agreement by any nation as they are all aware of the WTO requirement and takes necessary actions outlined in the body’s jurisdiction if other form of conflict resolution like negotiations fails as explicated by Brown (2004).
Brown (2004) states, that Dispute Settlement Body’s role also entails solving trade conflicts arising between or among member states’ nations. They aim in such a situation is to secure a positive solution to conflict that has been mutually agreed if possible in order to preserve good relationship among nations and prevent anything that would jeopardize business and weaken the economy of member state nations. Most of the time, like in European nations the body intervenes if other methods of conflict resolution like negotiation and arbitrary fail.
In addition, Dispute Settlement Body is responsible for making sure that the rights and obligation of members of World Trade Organization covered under the agreement is preserved. The body ensures that every action taken by WTO does respect the rights of members and meet their obligation in order to maintain trust so that all the members can enjoy the fruits of the organization which is to improve their economy by expanding the markets as implied by Cameron (2001).
In summary, World Trade Organization has a unique and suitable way of solving trade disputes that may arise among its members concerning the compliance of the WTO agreement through it Dispute Settlement Body. The process of conflict resolution follows different stages from consultation, formal litigation and implementation stage.
References
Cameron, J. (2001). Principles of international law in WTO dispute settlement body. International and Comparative Law Quarterly. doi: 10.1093/iclq/50.2.248
Guzman, A., & Simmons, B. A. (2002). To Settle or Empanel? An Empirical Analysis of Litigation and Settlement at the World Trade Organization. Journal of Legal Studies.
Brown, C. P. (2004). Participation in WTO Dispute Settlement: Complainants, Interested Parties and Free Riders. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.546442
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