The eNotes Blog The Big Read Get Talking AboutBooks

The Big Read Get Talking AboutBooks One of the things I miss most about graduate school is the time to luxuriate in conversation with intelligent, engaged people about literature.   Inevitably, someone had a different take on some element of the book that made me re-evaluate my own position or, conversely, helped me feel more confident about an interpretation. In a recent interview on NPRs  Morning Edition,  Oprah Winfrey told interviewer Lynn Neary that her reason for starting the original book club (that catapulted so many authors to fame and fortune) was for the exact same reasons as my own: wanting to talk to other people books. Of course, there are probably hundreds of book clubs in every city and intimate gatherings are great. But if your life and relationships are anything like mine, trying to get friends to commit, show up at the same time, and actually have  read  your selection by a specific date can about as successful as herding cats. Thats why I think that this year, for the first time, I am going to attempt to participate in a number of   Big Reads.   The Big Read  is a project sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment. Here is a brief description of how  The Big Read  works (learn more by clicking the link): Through The Big Read, selected communities come together to read, discuss, and celebrate one of 34* selections from U.S. and world literature. In addition, The Big Read provides comprehensive information about the authors and their works in the  Our Books  section of The Big Read website. Click  here to enter your city, state, or zip code to find out what your community is reading, find a real life book club or online discussions. Curious what titles up for discussion? Here are just a few of the selections, ranging from new works to classics: In the Time of the Butterflies  by Julia Alvarez Bless Me, Ultima  by Rudolfo Anaya Fahrenheit 451  by Ray Bradbury My Antonia  by Willa Cather The Poetry of Emily Dickinson

Biography of Canadian Civil Rights Icon Viola Desmond

Biography of Canadian Civil Rights Icon Viola Desmond She’s long been compared to Rosa Parks, and  now late civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond will appear on Canada’s $10 banknote. Known for refusing to sit in the segregated section of a movie theater, Desmond will grace  the note, starting in 2018. She will replace Canada’s first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, who will be featured on a higher-value bill instead. Desmond was chosen to appear on the currency after the Bank of Canada  requested submissions for iconic Canadian women to be featured on the bill. News that she was selected came several months after the announcement  that slave-turned-abolitionist Harriet Tubman would appear on the $20 bill in the United States. â€Å"Today is about recognizing the incalculable contribution that all women have had and continue to have in shaping Canada’s story,† Canadian Minister of Finance Bill Morneau said of Desmond’s selection in December 2016. â€Å"Viola Desmond’s own story reminds all of us that big change can start with moments of dignity and bravery. She represents courage, strength and determination- qualities we should all aspire to every day.† It was a long road to get Desmond on the bill. The Bank of Canada received 26,000 nominations and eventually cut that number down to just five finalists. Desmond edged out Mohawk poet E. Pauline Johnson, engineer Elizabeth MacGill, runner Fanny Rosenfeld and suffragette Idola Saint-Jean. But Americans and Canadians alike have admitted they knew little about the race relations pioneer before the landmark decision to feature her on Canadian currency. When Desmond beat out the competition, however, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called her selection a â€Å"fantastic choice.† He described Desmond as a â€Å"businesswoman, community leader, and courageous fighter against racism.† So, why were her contributions to society so important that she will be immortalized on the nation’s currency? Get acquainted with Desmond with this biography. A Pioneer Who Gave Back Desmond was born Viola Irene Davis on July 6, 1914, in Halifax,  Nova Scotia. She grew up middle class, and her parents, James Albert and Gwendolin Irene Davis, were highly involved in Halifax’s black community.   When she came of age, Desmond initially pursued a teaching career. But as a child, Desmond developed an interest in cosmetology due to the dearth of black haircare products available in her area. The fact that her father worked as a barber must have inspired her as well.   Halifax’s beauty schools were off limits to black women, so Desmond traveled to Montreal to attend the  Field Beauty Culture School, one of the rare institutions that accepted black students. She also traveled  to  the United States to get the expertise she sought. She even trained with Madam  C.J. Walker, who became a millionaire for pioneering beauty treatments and products for African Americans. Desmond’s tenacity paid off when she received a diploma from Apex College of Beauty Culture and Hairdressing in Atlantic City, N.J. When Desmond received the training she needed, she opened a salon of her own, Vi’s Studio of Beauty Culture in Halifax, in 1937. She also opened up a beauty school, Desmond School of Beauty Culture, because she didn’t want other black women to have to endure the hurdles she had to receive training. Roughly 15 women graduated from her school each year, and they left equipped with the know-how to open their own salons and provide work for black women in their communities, as Desmond’s students came from throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec. Like Desmond had, these women had been rejected from all-white beauty schools. Following in the footsteps of Madam  C.J. Walker, Desmond also launched a beauty line called Vis Beauty Products. Desmond’s love life overlapped with her professional aspirations. She and her husband, Jack Desmond, launched a hybrid barbershop and beauty salon together.    Taking a Stand Nine years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus to a white man, Desmond refused to sit in the black section of a movie theater in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She took the stand that would make her a hero in the black community after her car broke down on Nov. 8, 1946, during a trip she took to sell beauty products. Informed that fixing her car would take a day because the parts to do so weren’t readily available, Desmond decided to see a film called â€Å"The Dark Mirror† at New Glasgow’s Roseland Film Theatre. She purchased a ticket at the box office, but when she entered the theater, the usher told her that she had a balcony ticket, not a ticket for the main floor. So, Desmond, who was nearsighted and needed to sit downstairs to see,  went back to the ticket booth to correct the situation. There, the cashier said she wasnt allowed to sell downstairs tickets to blacks. The black businesswoman refused to sit in the balcony and returned to the main floor. There, she was roughly forced out of her seat, arrested and held overnight in jail. Because it cost 1 cent more for a main floor ticket than for a balcony ticket, Desmond was charged with tax evasion. For the offense, she paid a $20 fine and $6 in court fees to be released from custody.    When she arrived home, her husband advised her to drop the matter, but the leaders at her place of worship, Cornwallis Street Baptist Church, urged her to fight for her rights. The Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People offered its support as well, and Desmond hired a lawyer, Frederick Bissett, to represent her in court. The lawsuit he filed against Roseland Theatre proved unsuccessful  because Bissett argued his client was wrongfully accused of tax evasion instead of pointing out that she was discriminated against based on race. Unlike the United States, Jim Crow wasn’t the law of the land in Canada. So, Bissett may have triumphed had he pointed out that this private movie theater attempted to enforce segregated seating. But just because Canada lacked  Jim Crow didn’t mean blacks there eluded racism, which is why Afua Cooper, black Canadian studies professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, told Al Jazeera that Desmond’s case should be viewed through a Canadian lens. â€Å"I think its about time Canada recognizes its black citizens, people who have suffered,† Cooper said. Canada has its own homegrown racism, anti-black racism, and anti-African racism that it has to deal with without comparing it to the US. We live here. We don’t live in America. Desmond lived in Canada.   The court case marked the first known legal challenge to segregation presented by a black woman in Canada, according to the Bank of Canada. Although Desmond lost, her efforts inspired black Nova Scotians to demand equal treatment and put a spotlight on racial injustice in Canada. Justice Delayed Desmond didn’t see justice in her lifetime. For fighting racial discrimination, she received a great deal of negative attention. This likely put a strain on her marriage, which ended in divorce.  Desmond eventually relocated to Montreal to attend business school. She later moved to New York, where she died alone of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage on Feb. 7, 1965, at age 50. This courageous woman wasn’t vindicated until April 14, 2010, when the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia issued an official pardon. The pardon recognized that the conviction was wrongful, and Nova Scotia government officials apologized for Desmond’s treatment. Two years later, Desmond was featured on a  Canadian Post stamp. The beauty entrepreneur’s sister, Wanda Robson, has been a consistent advocate for her  and even wrote a book about Desmond called â€Å"Sister to Courage.† When Desmond was chosen to grace Canada’s $10 bill, Robson said, â€Å"It’s a big day to have a woman on a banknote, but it’s an especially big day to have your big sister on a banknote. Our family is extremely proud and honored.† In addition to Robson’s book, Desmond has been featured in the childrens book â€Å"Viola Desmond Wont Be Budged.† Also, Faith Nolan recorded a song about her. But Davis is not the only civil rights pioneer to be the subject of a recording. Stevie Wonder and rap group Outkast have recorded songs about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, respectively. A documentary about Desmonds life, â€Å"Journey to Justice,† debuted in 2000. Fifteen years later,  the government recognized the inaugural Nova Scotia Heritage Day in Desmonds  honor. In 2016, the businesswoman was  featured in a Historica Canada Heritage Minute, a quick dramatized look  at key events in Canadian history. Actress  Kandyse McClure starred as Desmond.

Dee Dees Yarn Manufacturing Company Research Paper

Dee Dees Yarn Manufacturing Company - Research Paper Example Warehousing has an additional section that specializes in distribution with its section manager. The development of the idea is associated with some aspects based on yarn production; their desire to engage in the business and the opportunity to start a yarn manufacturing company, direction of interrelated operations and other support processes for complete production. The concept is developed to ensure that products cater to the needs of all people, both men, and women. The companies basic model of operation is aligned with five areas that will enable the organization to achieve its objectives allocate functions appropriately, make decisions for production, execute the plans and conduct post-production assessment (Lord, 2003).   The company will greatly consider quality for the products offered regardless of the costs for production. This shall be meant for the consideration of the customer focus on the product. Dee Dee’s yarn manufacturing company will be considerate in the type of materials to be used in the yarn production. All materials selected shall be critically evaluated to ensure quality for the production of an ultimate quality product that will completely meet the customer’s need. Dee Dee’s yarn Company will ensure the uniqueness of their product. All products manufactured shall be outstanding in place of imitations from other yarn manufacturing companies. It shall ensure the addition of any other aroma or aspect to the Dee Dee’s yarn products to add values over the other yarn products from other companies. In this way, the company shall benchmark with the current yarn producers to make a clear understanding of the necessary practices in the market. The Company will conduct a research for the most applicable aspect of product design and create the ultimate product with considerations of the implemented concepts.

Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 -UK Essay

Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 -UK - Essay Example   The aims of the Commission and the Executive, whose existence and functions derive from the 1974 Act, are to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees and to safeguard others, principally the public, who may be exposed to risks from work activities. The Act was intended:  - To make further provision for securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work;- To protect others against risks to health or safety in connection with the activities of persons at work;- To control the keeping and use and prevent the unlawful acquisition, possession and use of dangerous substances.   Measuring and Accounting for Corporate Health and Safety Performance,  seeking views on the case for improving approaches to measuring and accounting for corporate health and safety performance. This was circulated to ‘key players’ in the British ‘occupational health and safety system’ and was made available on www.rospa.co.uk. It examined performance measuremen t and reporting against the background of strategic policy development in occupational safety and health as raised in the Governments and the Health and Safety Commission’s plans for ‘Revitalising Health and Safety at Work’    and wider issues of holistic business risk management raised in guidance on the Turnbull Report. A lot of factors may in be in place preventing.  They were built and used at a time when regulatory requirements and operational priorities were very different from those of today.

International Tourism Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

International Tourism Marketing - Essay Example This number represented a growth of 6.6 percent when compared to that of 2009. Receipts for international tourism grew by $919 billion in 2010, a number that corresponded to a rise in real terms of 4.7 percent (Corigliano and Baggio, 2004:301). Many countries around the world used to depend solely on other means of generating income. Introduction However, as time went by and economic analysts realized what tourism and its related businesses could do for a country’s growth, they initiated measures that aimed at encouraging intensive investment in tourism. In contrast to those other economic activities, tourism bases on competitive advantages and has the potent ability of creating additional income, growth, and job opportunities for many decades to come (Au, 2010:4). Estimates depict that international tourist arrivals will be more than 1.6 billion in 2020. International tourism suffered a setback due to the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11 that pushed the US ec onomy and indeed many others into recession. The September 11 terrorism attacks led to erosion of consumer confidence in travel (Akehurst, 2009:52). This traumatic blow delivered directly to the US tourism and leisure travel as well as domestic travel had no comparison even to the Kosovo or the Gulf War. As a result, the US economy took longer than projected as opposed to Germany and Britain (Fayal and Garrard, 2005:47). Given the tremendous results of international tourism as well as the possible challenges affecting its growth, this paper will seek to analyze the significance of social media in international tourism marketing. As of today, the behavior of consumers in tourism is different due to the hyperactive competition, digitization of the world economy, and the effects of globalization. This trend is becoming a multidimensional concept whereby people view it as an outcome of a dynamic system based on relations between the processes involved in motivation, attitude, effective manifestation, information, and perception (Corigliano and Baggio, 2004:302). With this respect, to research certain dimensions those are congruent to consumer behavior in international tourism in order to determine the consumption and purchasing pattern of the respective customers is essential. This helps in tailoring and catering for the customers’ needs and wants, which in turn translates to return or repeat business (Akehurst, 2009:53). As this essay depends highly on international tourism market and the diversity ascribing to this market, this sector requires bidders to put much focus niche marketing. Simultaneously, market segmentation becomes a subject with an attractive strategy, viability, and high as well as potential rates of profitability in this framework. The role of marketing research in international tourism market segmentation With the main objective of every company being to satisfy their customers, companies with a strong orientation pay special attention t o the behavior of consumers whereby they capitalize on the information that they obtain with the view of attracting new customers and retaining the existing ones (Corigliano and Baggio, 2004:303). In this context, it is agreeable that the complexity of international tourism marketing puts more emphasis on the importance for market segmentatio

People and organization development Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

People and organization development - Coursework Example An organisation is composed of different units with specific roles that contribute to the success of the operations and the achievement of the goal. One of the most important aspects on the establishment and operation of an organisation is the change that dictates organisational development. Organisational development (OD) is the force that moves the company forward in different aspects. It is described as by Huse in 1980 as ‘the deliberate, reasoned, introduction, establishment, reinforcement, and spread of change for†¦the improvement of the organization both in terms of effectiveness and health† (Nel, 2009, p.2). For that matter, the change brought about by the reaction of the organisation to different intrinsic and extrinsic factors can be considered included in the definition of organizational development. These changes affect the components of an organisation specifically the people. One aspect of organisational development is even targeted to improve the well b eing of the people such as the employees and the members of the organisation. Due to the importance of the development of the people, the research undertaken is focused on one of the important dynamics in an organisation that is related to the people, team and team building. Team and Team Building Teams are cooperative groups in an organisation established to achieve common specific goals. ... This is where the concept of team building comes in. Team building is defined as the planned activities with the primary objective of improving the group dynamics. The main roles of team building activities include â€Å"improvement of the accomplishment of tasks, interpersonal skills, problem solving skills and team performance.† Such activities apply for different classifications of groups such as work groups, temporary project teams and virtual teams. In addition, problems and challenges within an organisation or within the team itself can be resolved through team building activities namely lack of cooperation, loss of productivity, conflicts within the group and in the work environment, lack of innovation and initiation, and the failure to achieve goals and complete tasks leading to inefficient services. Team building activities cover the different aspect within the organisation such as employee involvement, work design, restructuring, and strategic change (Cummings and Wo rley, 2009, p. 2263). In general, the issues related to team and team building is clearly connected to the change that can challenge the company and can result to either excel or fail. For that matter, the methods and principles of the dynamics of the team and the methods and techniques in team building are considered to be included in the basic protocols in the establishment and operation of organisations. Thus, to be able to achieve an understanding of the team and team building concept, it is important to consider the different topics related to the subject matter understudy. Objectives of the Study The study is aimed to present an overview of the concepts of the team and team building and the role on people and organisational development. In general, the

Thomas Hobbes views on Hate Crimes Research Paper

Thomas Hobbes views on Hate Crimes - Research Paper Example In relation to this, aversion refers to the state of being repelled by the object that one hate and this refers to the presence of the object, which in turn leads to the hate for the object (Herbert 98). The above is a strong view on hate crimes in that it is based on this that he is able to place a distinct definition to depict the difference between love and hate, and how the two relate to one another. This is by definition of the presence and absence of all the aspects of an object or the object in its entirety to e hated or loved. As such, hatred is the presence of that which one would like to avert from, as well as the presence of aspects that are of negative appeal to the person in question. Hobbes view goes as far as stating that without the presence of order in an indefinite manner is likely to cause the perpetration of conduct and actions that people please to do. With this in mind, the crimes of hate are brought out in terms of the presence of order, in which case order is meant to restrict the general overview of hate in relation to aversion and the presence of undesirable elements in an aspect of an object or the object as a whole. As a result, Hobbes is of the view that laws or orders are the determinant of the perpetration of hate crimes, in which case they are used and are meant to act as restrictions towards people’s behaviors by constraining their desires (Vaughan 61). This is in relation to what they find pleasant or unpleasant, in which case order is the ultimate determinant of human behavior, where it dictates that which can be liked and to what extent. In addition, it determines what can be done and that, which cannot be done in relation to the hatred of the events that culminate in the hatred and what relates to the hatred occurring towards an object. As a result, Hobbes is of the view it is order that blocks unfavorable human conduct in relation to hate crimes making order the one way that hate crimes are avoided, and even eliminat ed altogether. In addition, the crimes of hate, according to Hobbes, morality is the main aspect that determines the application of love and hate, in which case, the two are based on being fit. As such, the fittest means to conduct life is termed to be the promotion of personal wellbeing, where this is the consequent of the derivation of morality from prudence (Replogle 571). This is to mean that Hobbes view on crimes of hatred is the presence of logic and morality to direct the behavior of a person as it is through logic, or rather reason that a person can direct him or herself in a responsible manner. Responsibility, according to Hobbes, is conduct that appealing to the logic of the social environment, in which case it is the social environment that determines the correctness and wrongness of one’s conduct (Michaelis 105). In addition, it is according to reason that crimes of hatred can be corrected as man can be shaped or influenced by the same environment to conform to it s moral standards, or even come up with his or her own moral codes that are based on prudence, reason and logic. As such, he brings up his view on the role of the society on influencing hate crimes, as a gauge for right and