Information Systems Case Study

Troubles emerging from useless data frameworks in assembling SMEs  ± contextual analyses J. G. Thoburn Coventry University, UK S. Arunachalam Coventry University, UK A. Gunasekaran University of Massachusetts, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, USA Keywords Information frameworks, Agile creation, Small-to-medium-sized ventures Introduction Today, fabricating associations are progressively required to be profoundly optimised.Abstract The capacity to react quickly and successfully The need of keeping up optito produce new items and administrations has mal activities and turning into a lithe and responsive endeavor is become less a strategy for increasing upper hand, yet increasingly a methods for getting progressively essential to make due in the worldwide market. endurance. Numerous organizations have seen the need Consequently, all assets in the to embrace an entire scope of practices that lessen organizations should be adequately sources of info and squander, and permit more prominen t responmarshalled.Traditionally SMEs siveness to client needs and the markethave focused on the 4Ms  ± cash, materials, machine and spot. In response to changing necessities labor however have frequently neand conditions, fabricating standards glected the viable administration keep on being characterized. It is conceivable to recognize of data, which numerous creators recommend is at the core of two patterns: those tending to overwhelmingly any lithe organisation.The impact the connections required in neighborhood and worldwide is insufficient or divided infor-exchanging conditions, for example, that depicted mation frameworks (IS) that don't by Porter (1996) and those frameworks concentrating on address the requests of operational or the more extensive key needs authoritative structures inside an enterof the organization. The examination repeat, for example, business process re-designing ported here inspects the diversi(Hammer and Champy, 1993).Arguably, the ties of issues that happen in lithe assembling worldview consolidates both. three unique organizations and, Changes in data innovation and analyzes their frameworks to the interchanges over the most recent two decades have beliefs of dexterous assembling. further moved the equalization towards the client. There has been a gigantic development in the quantity of PCs being used, putting enormous force on the work area, at ever-diminishing equipment cost.The appearance of the Internet and the extension of the free market in broadcast communications present the alternative of basic and minimal effort correspondence. Presently it has gotten simple for all players in the gracefully chain, or even individual shoppers, to quantify determination, cost and flexibly execution against their requirements. They can buy products that unequivocally meet their necessities from anyplace on the planet, bypassing any apparent weaknesses of their nearby marketplace.In reaction to the requirement for nimbleness or the prere quisites to connect various pieces of the International Journal of Agile association or components of a gracefully chain Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116â ±126 viably, frameworks are developing that may # MCB University Press generally change the association of [ISSN 1465-4652] assembling. All together that they may [ 116 ] accomplish this, organizations should plainly comprehend and sort out their data assets at the most punctual conceivable stage in their development.It is evident that solitary those endeavors that can react to showcase requests with least postpone will endure. Kidd (1996) contends: The dexterity that emerges can be utilized for upper hand, by having the option to react quickly to changes happening in the market condition and through the capacity to utilize and misuse a principal asset, information. Individuals should be united, in unique groups conformed to plainly characterized showcase openings, with the goal that it gets conceivable to level each other's inf ormation. Through this procedure is looked for the change of information into new items and services.High response adaptability will be close to a qualifier later on, similarly as excellent is today. This adaptability can't be acknowledged by cutting edge hardware alone. Human imagination and hierarchical capacity, if vital bolstered by cutting edge PC based apparatuses, will be the reason for endurance and achievement methodologies. This paper portrays concentrates over a time of 15 months, of three organizations, and examinations how far they are away from having the capacity to get dexterous, by looking at the territories that were dysfunctional.It investigates the significance of data the board and assesses data frameworks set up in these organizations. It talks about the requirement for a progressively organized and all encompassing way to deal with moving data in its different structures to the various territories of an association, meaning to give ideal access to data while d isposing of inefficient duplication just as producing and testing new information about the association's evolving prerequisites. Data characterized The term data is broadly and regularly erroneously utilized. Numerous creators concur that J. G. Thoburn, S. Arunachalam and A.Gunasekaran Difficulties emerging from useless data frameworks in assembling SMEs  ± contextual analyses International Journal of Agile Management Systems 1/2 [1999] 116â ±126 there are three natural sorts: information, data and information. Notwithstanding, this paper contends that there is a fourth, knowledge, which is unmistakable from the others. Everything except information require a comprehension of the socially characterized setting  ± where the data, information and knowledge originated from, the presumptions encompassing them, and their significance and confinements. Every one of them might be characterized as follows: .Data: a progression of perceptions, estimations or realities. . Data: data wil l be information sorted out into important examples by methods for the utilization of information. The demonstration of sorting out information into data would itself be able to create information, when an individual peruses, comprehends, deciphers and applies the data in a particular work circumstance. . Information: the scholarly capital occupant inside an association. The realities, encounters or skills known by an individual or gathering of individuals, or held inside an association, picked up by individual or shared encounters, preparing or instruction. Insight: what an organization has to think about its serious, monetary, specialized and industry condition to empower it to envision change and define methodologies to best accommodate the requirements of the commercial center and its particular clients. However numerous parts of an organization's IS are based, not around formal or innovation based arrangements, but instead on casual or human situated frameworks. Mintzberg (1997 ) analyzed a wide scope of administrative work, prevalently in enormous associations. He revealed that chiefs, while 40 percent of their time was committed to picking up and sharing data, generally utilized casual frameworks fixated on people.Nevertheless, he reasoned that: the activity of overseeing is on a very basic level one of handling data. that dealing with an organization was basically a matter of control. Notwithstanding, this suggests an unbending nature of structure and custom that doesn't fit well with the present association, and absolutely doesn't advance nimbleness. Compliment, less progressive business frameworks confine control and make it hard for the board to accomplish endeavor wide guideline. Smith (1984) notwithstanding, accepted that the imperativeness of living frameworks was not a matter of control, but instead of dynamic connectedness.Veryard (1994) contends that: frameworks are a powerful interchange among adjustment and non-adjustment. This is decisively what is required in coordinated associations, where there remains the requirement for strength and responsibility, in a domain of fundamental and maybe quick change. Dynamic connectedness in a spry association is given by the progressions of formal and casual data. Veryard further proposes that: the future has a place with beneficial interaction  ± outside joining in quest for normal business points. The creators' examination and experience shows that casual frameworks are similarly significant in all aspects of the organisation.This has all the earmarks of being particularly obvious in littler associations, where they have less evolved proper frameworks, or formal frameworks are not performing ideally. So as to all the more likely comprehend and coordinate the IS, the fundamental job of casual frameworks must be considered. The requirement for data frameworks in SMEs to effectively convey and control for most of this century, old style the executives authors, for example, Henri F ayol (1949) and Gulick and Urwick (1937) instructed This is confirm in those all-encompassing ventures presently answered to be emerging.If this natural view is sought after, it very well may be seen that organic living beings, particularly human ones, accomplish absolutely the nonstop adjustment that is portrayed in the light-footed worldview. The best people can mix data from their outer condition, with information on their own abilities, utilizing formal and casual frameworks, while holding data and information in memory. There is consistent structure and maintenance of information, with capabilities instructed by model just as by the proper techniques to be found in training and training.Concurrently, a significant number of the control and co-appointment frameworks, even those scholarly, become generally autonomic, allowing increasingly successful preparing of ecological and incidental changes. Such frameworks might be plainly seen at work in people when they are, for instance, driving a vehicle. Inability to work successfully in those conditions prompts serious outcomes. Likewise, by consolidating with others, abilities might be stretched out to be undeniably more than the total of the parts.Accordingly, natural frameworks may give helpful models to what might be relied upon to happen in assembling associations of things to come. With natural life forms, the requirement for versatile ISs is generally significant in development and early learning stages, or in the midst of an essentially

5 Career Strategies You Can Take from The Art of War

5 Career Strategies You Can Take from The Art of War On the off chance that you’ve ever perused The Art of War by Sun Tzu, you realize that it was intended to be a guide for real fighting. Taken marginally less truly, every one of these hundreds of years after the fact, it’s likewise a helpful guide for drawing nearer and enduring any sort of contention, including those at work also a phenomenal introduction for building your administration abilities. Let’s take a gander at a portion of the key focuses in the book that you can apply to your own career.1. Methodology is Everythingâ€Å"Victorious warriors win first and afterward do battle, while vanquished warriors do battle first and afterward look to win.†If you don’t have an arrangement, it’s simple to get buried in the everyday and dismiss your objectives. It’s essential to have present moment and long haul proficient objectives so you’re gaining dynamic ground, rather than simply managing whatever comes your direction and look ing out for the following thing.2. Be Ready to Compromiseâ€Å"The most noteworthy triumph is what requires no battle.†You may know you’re directly on a specific point or an approach to get things done, yet inquire as to whether I bet everything on this, what is accomplished here? Some portion of being a colleague implies being prepared to bargain and haggle to ensure work is completing. In the event that you’re chipping away at your own, at that point sure-it’s your way or something bad might happen. On the off chance that you’re working with others, it’s critical to consider their perspectives too. Realizing your needs can assist you with making sense of when it’s imperative to battle for something, and when you’d be in an ideal situation finding a compromise.3. Keep Calmâ€Å"The incomparable craft of war is to curb the foe without fighting.†Work isn't the spot to lose your cool, in any event, when things are harsh, o r somebody drives you mad. Discover elective approaches to settle clashes without shouting. You can likewise deal with your at-work unwinding strategies to assist you with adapting to pressure and resolve issues without taking off the handle.4. Grasp Office Politicsâ€Å"He will win who realizes how to deal with both predominant and mediocre forces.†Workplaces have governmental issues. This is similarly as obvious in the event that you work in a drive-thru eatery for what it's worth on the off chance that you work for a Fortune 500 organization. Whenever you set up various characters to accomplish shared objectives, some portion of your own activity will be cooperating with others to ensure you’re getting things done.Rather than maintain a strategic distance from clashes, chip away at them and through them. You’ll be fabricating acceptable abilities, and piling on experience focuses you can highlight later for an advancement or another job.5. Keep Your Confidenc e Levels Upâ€Å"You need to put stock in yourself.†Strategy, arranging, and great propensities are phenomenal approaches to support your vocation, however they’re not the most significant component you are. On the off chance that you play to your qualities and realize that you can deal with whatever comes your direction (regardless of whether it requires some additional fight arranging), that certainty can improve both your work execution and the nature of chances that come your direction.

Explain Biblical Ideas About the Goodness of God Essay

All through the holy book the decency of God is appeared from numerous points of view, the holy book presents God as being ethically great, and everything that he is or will ever be is additionally introduced as ethically great; The Bible presents God as kind, an all caring figure. It shows this in various manners all through the Bible, the first and conceivable the most significant path is in the primary book of the Bible, Genesis. Beginning states that everything that God makes is â€Å"Very good†; When God made the world in the Genesis creation story he directed different things. â€Å"And God stated, Let there be light: and there was light, and God saw the light, that it was acceptable: and God isolated the light from the obscurity â€Å". (Beginning 1:3-4). The creators of the holy book while applauding God do so in light of the fact that he gives motivation to it. The making of creatures, plants and waters are largely essential for the sustainment of life, and religion, â€Å"Be productive and increase; fill the earth and repress it; have territory over the fish of the ocean, over the winged animals of the air, and over each living thing that proceeds onward the earth and God stated, â€Å"See, I have given you each herb that yields seed which is on the substance of all the earth, and each tree whose natural product yields seed; to you it will be for food. (Beginning 1:28-29). A few Christians accept that there is still goodness like God’s around us today as stewardship. We take care of our reality to improve it so we can give it to the people to come. Another manner by which the book of scriptures shows Gods goodness is; Christians accept that God’s goodness is appeared in his child Jesus, and his penance for the sake of God. Jesus came to earth as God in human structure, he done this to encounter the lives of his kin. God thought it was fine and dandy mentioning individuals to keep controls but since he minds he needed to encounter the lives of his devotees and the challenges they bring about so he sent Jesus. Jesus was the perfect of good goodness for mankind; he showed the correct manner by which individuals should treat one another and how to adore God, and this was recorded and passed onto people in the future by it being retold in the book of scriptures, even today individuals can at present read it and increase information on Gods penance. The type of good portrayed in the book of scriptures is totally different from Platos type of good; Platos type of good was great and it didn’t exist on Earth it existed in the domain, making it an idea and not close to home to anybody, Platos type of good doesn’t check out circumstances or throughout everyday life, it essentially exists, where as the possibility of ‘Gods good’ in the holy book centers primarily around moral conduct. It is worried that humankind ought to settle on the correct decisions to life by and consistently intends to be acceptable. Plato’s type of the great is great, but since it doesn’t genuinely exist what ever goodness is on earth is just of duplicate of the perfect in this way making it flawed when it is polished. So whatever you think you are doing is acceptable, it isn't. Anyway God accepts that everybody can be ethically acceptable in this way living their lives in like manner. When God makes people he gives them rules of follow, they are to assume liability for the earth he has made and not take from the tree of information. This shows he thinks about love being their principle obligation, yet he checks out their lives. Divine beings goodness is likewise appeared through his affection in the book of scriptures, God gives people choice, to settle on their own ethical choices however he obviously sets out what is correct and what's going on. Anyway he doesn’t constrain them into complying with those standards, he is adoring and lets them decide for themselves, this is a demonstration of adoration. He realizes that since he has made man in his picture (Genesis 1:27) they resemble God and they comprehend what is anticipated from them. Indeed, even idea they haven’t been mingled they despite everything realize what is ethically right. Plato would concur with this announcement since he accepts we as a whole know about perfect structures from birth. God orders things to be acceptable in light of the fact that he is omniscient and knows all. So everything that he orders will be great, acceptable and adoring.

Free Essays on Hesiods Theogony

, frequently assigning wares, yet in addition social foundations, for example, sovereignty with its perplexing capacities and trappings of custom. The settlements cast by Aegean and Near Eastern rulers contain comparable recipes. Methods for bookkeeping, checking, and weighing are comparative or indistinguishable. Nobody debates the Near Eastern cause of composing on dirt tablets or of the Greek letter set. Instruments, and most likely how they were played and for what reasons, are the equivalent in East and West, as seem to be... Free Essays on Hesiod's Theogony Free Essays on Hesiod's Theogony In M. L. West's excellent version of Hesiod's Theogony, distributed in 1966, W. asserted that Greece is a piece of Asia; Greek writing is a Near Eastern writing (p. 31), a noteworthy case when everybody realized that Greece is a piece of Europe and its writing not at all like whatever showed up in the Near East. However over the most recent thirty years others have made comparable cases. W. Burkert, particularly, contended that Akkadian cuneiform one next to the other with Aramaic, Phoenician, and Greek alphabetic content creates a continuum of composed culture in the eighth century which extends from the Euphrates to Italy (The Orientalizing Revolution, Cambridge, Mass., 1992, p. 31). Here W. decides to demonstrate his postulation, presently an age old, and we may be upset that he has succeeded so well. There are twelve parts, which I will quickly audit all together. In the main part, Aegean and Orient, W. takes a bird's-eye perspective on striking highlights of Near Eastern and Aegean societies that for clarification shout out for direct transmission or a typical starting point. He doesn't state this, however if one somehow happened to contrast Bronze Age Greece and Bronze Age China or the Hopi Indians of Arizona one would not hope to discover such basic components, here recognizable to antiquated courses of exchange and correspondence over north Syria, through Cyprus and Rhodes, to Crete and the Aegean. These are social ancient rarities and not the consequence of equal development. Such regular components incorporate a generous rundown of credit words, frequently assigning wares, yet in addition social foundations, for example, majesty with its mind boggling capacities and trappings of custom. The settlements cast by Aegean and Near Eastern lords contain comparable recipes. Methods for bookkeeping, checking, and weighing are comparative or indistinguishable. Nobody questions the Near Eastern root of composing on dirt tablets or of the Greek letter set. Instruments, and almost certainly how they were played and for what reasons, are the equivalent in East and West, as may be...

Coffee and Tea Essay

Espresso and tea have existed on the planet for quite a while. Several years prior, individuals who lived in South America began to create espresso, yet the most punctual beverage likes espresso was made by antiquated Arabian. They thought it was a sort of medication utilized for stomach. After the fifteenth century, espresso was spread to different nations, for example, Egypt and Ottoman Empire by Muslims who returned from Hajj, while in old China, Chinese individuals began to make tea around 3000 years prior. In view of pleasant condition and climate, the initial segment of tea plants was found in southwest China. After, drink tea turned into a significant culture of Chinese individuals, and tea started to spread into nations close to China. Espresso and tea are comparative, yet extraordinary in some particular territory. To begin with, espresso and tea are comparative yet extraordinary in populace. Individuals from all around the globe like them. For instance, British individuals used to drink some tea with certain bites when they have a rest toward the evening. Western individuals appreciate drinking dark tea, and some of them blend it in with milk to make smooth tea. In like manner, the vast majority like drinking espresso, for it regularly tastes great. In China, an ever increasing number of individuals started to drink espresso, and some of whom need to taste better espresso like blue mountain espresso. Be that as it may, despite the fact that these two beverages are both well known the world over, espresso is as yet tanked most by western individuals, while the most amount of tea is utilized in East Asia. Individuals lived in China, Japan, and Korea viewed tea as the principle drink. Second, espresso and tea are comparable yet unique in work. Both espresso and tea can invigorate individuals on the grounds that there is a sort of synthetic issue, which is caffeine in them two. This concoction matter can be utilized for nerves to cause an individual to feel conscious and vivacious. Additionally, a few specialists said that dark espresso and green tea can enable an individual to get thinner. Be that as it may, conversely, tea has some more capacities because of another sort of concoction matter which can’t be found in espresso. This synthetic issue that named tea polyphenol whose capacity is to mitigate the impact that is made by poison. At last, espresso and tea have similitude and contrast in start. Them two are produced using plants. A large number of years back, individuals lived in Africa planted espresso trees in succeed, and now, Brazil has the most espresso trees on the planet. In south of China, there are a ton of terraced fields that develop tea trees. Then again, individuals use leaves from tea to make tea, while they use natural products from espresso plants to make espresso. To summarize, espresso and tea are comparable in their populace, capacity, and start, while they are distinctive of their utilization in better place, their diverse concoction matter, and their distinctive material. I propose that individuals should drink both espresso and tea with the goal that they can be more advantageous.

30 Books About Love for the Perfect Bibliophilic Valentines Day

30 Books About Love for the Perfect Bibliophilic Valentines Day Can you smell that? Looks like love is in the air, and the only thing we love around here is BOOKS! What would be better during the Valentine season for bibliophiles like us than reading books about love? Well…Maybe books with “love” in the title, or poems that will make you fall head over heels, or the romances coming out this year that you’ll be adding to your TBR ASAP. But we’ve been there and done that. Today, we’re sharing more than a few books about love, and we’re not limiting it to romantic love. We are highlighting books that explore love within friendships, families, and even ourselves. There are even a few books about love to help navigate and succeed at IRL love. Books About (Self) Love These books explore the importance of loving yourself and succeeding every step of the way. Bloom: A Gift for the Girl Learning to Love Her Beautiful Soul by Shani Jay There is nothing more powerful than loving yourself, and this book will teach you that.  Let Shani’s words give you an instant confidence boost and remind yourself that you (and only you) hold the keys to your own happiness. This book might actually change your life! Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by Kamal Ravikant Coming in with only 68 pages, Love Yourself may be one of the shortest book about loving yourself you will ever read! It is too easy for us to criticize and believe the worst of ourselves, but Kamal wants us to reject those notions. Instead, he wants us to love ourselves intensely. The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship by Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills Find your future by reaching back into the past with Toltec wisdom. Through parables, the authors teach the reader that healthy and positive relationships begin with having a healthy and loving relationship with yourself. Radical Self-Love: A Guide to Loving Yourself and Living Your Dream by Gala Darling “When you love yourself, life is limitless.” Sometimes, the hardest thing in life is learning how to be your biggest cheerleader, instead of your biggest critic. Let the book that “should be on every woman’s bookshelf” lead you to the most fulfilled life your dreams. Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Self-Love and Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstein If you are looking for A Course in Miracles with a new generation twist, then you can come to the right book. Bernstein shares her journey from a New York publicist and party girl battling addiction to soaring on a spiritual high and inspiring the next generation of seekers. Words from a Wanderer by Alexandra Elle Are you in search of powerful words to guide your crooked life path? Look no further than in this third edition of daily affirmations that serve as encouragement for the reader. There is even a journal in the back to help continue the conversation! Books About (Familial) Love These books are about the bonds of love that either break the family unit or bring the members closer together. Loving Our Kids on Purpose: Making a Heart-to-Heart Connection by Danny Silk Using his interpretation of biblical principles, Silk argues that instead of teaching children to accept training from well meaning adults, parents must control themselves and promote independence in their children. If you’re a believer raising children, then this could be a revolutionary concept in your parenting strategy. Far from the Tree by Robin Benway It’s a story of nature versus nurture. Grace is an only child adopted at birth who just discovered she is her birth mother’s middle child. After giving up her baby for adoption, Grace goes searching for her biological family and finds her siblings. If you’re asking if this is the perfect read for fans of This Is Us, then the answer is a resounding “Yes!” Fathers and Sons by Howard Cunnell Above all else, this is a story about unconditional love. Howard’s childhood was dominated by the absence of his father.Now, he is a father, and his daughter is becoming his son. In his memoir, Cunnell shares his years of self-destruction and how love and responsibility saved him.   The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz In this “mesmerizing, poetic exploration of family, friendship, love and loss,” Salvador is feeling unsure of himself and his place in his loving, adoptive family as he and his friends, Samantha and Fito, navigate their senior year at El Paso High School. Red Dust Road by Jackie Kay From the time she realizes her skin color differs from her parents to finding her Scottish mother and Nigerian father, Kay’s emotional journey of self discovery is full of twists and turns. But in the end, her memoir helps us all realize that both our internal makeup and external landscape contribute equally to making us who we are. Shelter by Jung Yun When tragedy strikes his parents, Kyung is compelled to take them in. For the first time in years, the Cho family is living under the same roof, and the close proximity brings old feelings of guilt and anger. Kyung wonders if he can be a good husband, father, and son when he never knew affection as a child. The book begs the question, “For better or worse, are we destined to become our parents?” Books About (Platonic) Love The best reads for anyone whose favorite stories star BFFs. The Group by Mary McCarthy This inspiration for not one, but possibly two hit HBO shows about a group of girlfriends living in New York City, follows the lives of 8 Vassar graduates known by their classmates as “the group.” As they enter their adult lives, some friends grow grow apart, but come together to mourn the loss of a member of the group. How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford When your friend is in the darkness, what is the most you are able and willing to do to lead them to the light? Bea and Jonah are two withdrawn kids who see right through the robotic fronts they put up to survive the day. When Jonah discovers a family secret that sends him into a tailspin, Bea tries to save him, but discovers the power of friendship has limits.   The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton Stay gold, reader, with this transformative YA classic about friendship. Ponyboy is a greaser who knows he can only count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop, and his friends, Johnny and Two-Bit, who would do anything for him. Ponyboy is always ready to rumble against the socs with his fellow greasers, until the night things go too far. The Vow by Jessica Martinez Would you marry your best friend to keep them from getting deported? Annie and Mo enter into a marriage of convenience to prevent Mo from getting deported back to Jordan. However, the situation jeopardizes Anna relationship with her new boyfriend and her chance for happiness. Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan No matter your relationship status, there’s nothing like the love of your closest friends. That importance is more than obvious in this story of friendship between four black women waiting for the men who will take their breath away. The White Boy Shuffle by Paul Beatty For those whose vibe is “Why so serious?” here is a satirical coming-of-age novel that explores contemporary life in America through the friendship of Gunnar and Nicholas. Books About (Romantic) Love A few books about love for anyone who loves to read an engaging love story. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan Boy meets boy: The perfect beginning to a beautiful love story. When Paul meets Noah, it feels like he’s found The One. But, then he blows it. The odds are slim that Noah will take him back, but Paul refuses to give up without a fight. If you love love and fighting for the one you love, then give this book a spin. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell The perfect read to experience the power of falling in love for the first time and the pain of knowing that it almost never lasts. Over the course of one school year, follow misfits, Eleanor and Park, who are destined to become star-crossed loves. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang There is no way to predict what the heart wants, as Stella Lane learns. Stella is dedicated to her career of using algorithms to predict customer purchases and is left with little time for dating. Having Asperger’s also doesn’t help, so Stella hires Michael Phan to help her check off all the boxes of her romance lesson plan. Will Stella learn to embrace the illogical logic of love? The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo How do we know if our current love is meant to be our last love? When Lucy and Gabe meet again after graduating college, it seems like fate has brought them back together. But Gabe takes an assignment in the Middle East, and Lucy’s career brings her to New York. The following 13-year journey keeps them continents apart, but never out of each other’s hearts. Otaare by Alessandra Ebulu If you want a love stories about nemeses becoming lovers, then this is the love story for you. When Bola is accused of plagiarism, he is stunned. Not only is he surprised by the accusation, he is more stunned by the accuser, a writer with beef against his family. Hating a perceived enemy is easy. What happens next is complicated and possibly world shattering. When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri “The film-ready rom-com about finding love when you least expect it.” Katie Daniels has come a long way from her Kentucky upbringing, but being suddenly dumped by her fiancé leaves her devastated. On a whim, she agrees to drinks with Cassidy Price. The two soon form a friendship that makes Katie question everything she has ever learned about sex and love. Books About (Real) Love It’s good to read about love, but these books make sure you get to experience a love of your own. 100 Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda Have you ever loved someone so much that you wrote a book of sonnets dedicated to them? No? Well, I guess you’re not Pablo Neruda, because these love sonnets are dedicated to his beloved wife. Consider this an inspiration for your next anniversary card or wedding vows. The Astrology of You and Me: How to Understand and Improve Every Relationship in Your Life by Gary Goldschneider and Camille Chew (Illustrator) If astrology is totally your thing, then this reference is “indispensable” when it comes to navigating the zodiacs at home and work. If that doesn’t hook you, the pictures makes this great decor for your coffee table. The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman “Falling in love is easy. Staying in love is hard.” You may know your Love Language, but do you know your partner’s Love Language? Do you know your BFF’s Love Language? The 5 Love Languages is the practical guide to sustain a flourishing relationship or to revive a floundering one.   How to Love  by Thich Nhat Hanh In the third installment of the Mindfulness Essentials series, Nhat Hanh brings his signature humor and compassion to answer the titular question. He concludes the basis for our emotions boils down to four essentials, starting with “you can only love another when you feel true love for yourself.” How to Fall in Love with Anyone by Mandy Len Catron “What really makes love last? Does love ever work the way we say it does in movies and books and Facebook posts? Or does obsessing over those love stories hurt our real-life relationships?” Those are the questions Catron seeks to answer in this series of essays. If you are looking to read love stories based on emotion as well as science, then this is a must-read for your bookish Valentine’s Day. Love is a Choice: The Definitive Book on Letting Go of Unhealthy Relationships by Robert Hemfelt, Frank Minirth, Paul Meier Sometimes love is not beautiful. Sometimes we hang on to dangerous relationships. Sometimes we have to be reminded to remove ourselves from toxic love. Sometimes we need the motivation to end the vicious cycle that is hard to break. This book offers a faith-based guide to help those looking to permanently end an unhealthy relationship and heal from the subsequent damage. Share your favorite books about love in the comments!

Make Panic Look Fetching The Eroticization of Rape by Ovid - Literature Essay Samples

Jordan Reid BerkowFinal PaperRome of AugustusApril 17, 2003Make Panic Look Fetching: The Eroticization of Rape by Ovid In both the Ars Armatoria and Metamorphoses, Ovid presents highly detailed, compelling scenes of rape, crafting these moments with an almost exquisite attention to detail that reveals their value to him as a writer. Two of the most notable rape scenes in Ovids repertoire are that of the rape of the Sabine women, in the Ars Armatoria, and the story of the Arcadian Girl (also known as the Callisto myth) in Metamorphoses. While one may imagine that the ancient Roman conception of rape may have been fairly simplistic and accommodating to the male perspective, Ovids portrayals are, to the contrary, quite complex and cast the women not as mere faceless victims, but rather as individuals with highly distinctive personalities and characteristics. Additionally, Ovid pays a great deal of attention to the negative effects that the rapes have on the victims, describing their sorrow, their tears, and their cries, as in the Ars Armatoria, for their mother (124). This remarkably sympathetic portrayal of women, however, while perhaps intended to elicit sympathy from the reader, is overwhelmed by Ovids attraction to the fantasy of male dominance and by the extreme eroticization of the act that reveals Ovids true perception of rape. Indeed, the compassionate, tear-stained depiction of the women is the very mechanism through which Ovid eroticizes the brutal scenes. His compassionate portrayal of the women is thus invalidated by his determination to cast these women as clear objects of desire and arousal, reveling in the beauty that is found in their misery. The Rape of the Sabine Women is a tale so integral to Roman history and mythology that it has found its ways into the oeuvres of a number of prominent authors. Livy tells the story of the young Roman men who, finding it more difficult than they had expected to secure a wife, attack the Sabine women dur ing a festival at the bequest of their ruler, Romulus (SB 53). The Rape of the Sabine Women is not generally cast as a moment of shame in Roman history, but rather as the crucial moment in the development of the race. It was, as Mary Beard writes in The Erotics of Rape: Livy, Ovid and the Sabine Women, an originary moment for the Romans (1). Beard goes on to note that Livys telling of the story of the Sabine women emphasizes the honourable motives for the rape[and] admits no questioning at all of what is, at first sight, a most questionable founding act (4). In many renditions of the story, then, the rape is viewed as a political act, not one in which the emotions or identities of the victimized women are given a great deal of consideration, and certainly not one involving any significant component of sympathy. The Callisto myth is another story that has been taken up by a number of classical authors, from Hesiod and Apollodorus to Pausanias and Ovid (Wall 10). Ovids renditio n is a fascinating and highly complex portrayal of the nymph dedicated to Diana who catches the eye of Jove. Jove approaches Callisto (referred to in Ovid as simply the Arcadian girl or Lycaons daughter, but who will here be referred to as Callisto for the sake of simplicity) in the guise of Diana, and then rapes and impregnates her. When Callistos pregnancy is discovered by Diana, she is banished. Upon the birth of her son, Arcas, she is transformed into a bear by the jealous Juno, wife of Jove. This rape scene, as well, is often viewed as a moment of political change more than a brutal, invasive act, for as Kathleen Wall writes in The Callisto Myth From Ovid to Atwood, the rape takes place in a wasteland that is later renewed by the birth of the illegitimate son, Arcas, the savior of the country (16). While many versions of both stories focus on the political impact, as opposed to the emotional or psychological trauma of the act of rape, Ovids accounts again contain a great deal of complexity and a surprising degree of attention to the female characters. In the story of the Sabine women, Ovid does not, as Livy does, attempt to deny the individuality of the women involved (Beard 9). Ovid takes care to describe the unique ways in which each woman responded to the trauma: The same nightmare for all, though terrors features varied: Some tore their hair, some just froze Where they sat; some, dismayed, kept silence, others vainly Yelled for Mamma; some wailed; some gaped; Some fled, some just stood there. (121-125) The women are not grouped into a singular body of rape victims, but are treated as individuals, with distinct personalities and responses to assault. Ovids description of the rape of the Sabine women further appears to relate to the feminine perspective through its insistence on conveying the horror of the situation. In the above quote, the dismay with which the women greet their rapists is made abundantly clear, in contrast to Livy, where little attention is paid to the responses of the women, with the strongest reference to their attitude towards their rapists coming in the line the stolen maidens were no more hopeful about their own situation [than the parents], nor less indignant hardly a compelling description of the emotional consequences of rape. Ovid, however, pays a great deal of attention to the fact that the girls are left panic-stricken, / Not one had the same colour in her cheeks as before (119-120), and portrays the relationship between the victims and the rapists as timorous doves flee[ing] eagles (117) and baby lambs running when they lay eyes upon the hated wolf (117-118). Furthermore, by referring to the scene as a nightmare (121) Ovid clearly instructs the audiences response to the scene: as a spectacle of horror. In Metamorphoses, the scene of Callistos rape is similar to the account of the rape of the Sabines in the Ars Armatoria in that Callisto is endowed with a sign ificant degree of individuality, and the reader is clearly intended to look upon the scene with a sense of horror and a deep sympathy for the violated woman. Callistos most striking characteristic is her fierce independence and, as a huntress, disinterest in typically feminine pursuits: She had no need / To spin the wool to softness, nor to vary / The way she wore her hair (410-412). Perhaps the most startling evidence of her strong personality comes when Jove appears to her in the guise of Diana, and Callisto cries, All hail, great goddess! / Greater, I think, than Jove, and he might hear me / For all I care (428-430). She is unafraid of the wrath of even the most powerful of all gods, the ultimate strong, masculine figure. Callisto is no nameless, faceless woman, but a notably original character with a personality that rivals even Joves in its distinctiveness and strength. Like the rape of the Sabine women, Callistos rape in Metamorphoses is portrayed with an eye towards elici ting the sympathy of the reader. Ovid writes that Callisto really struggled against Jove, noting that the struggle was so fierce that even Juno might have been moved to sympathy for the girl, and describes the aftermath of the rape by writing that she loathed the forest, / The knowing woods, and fled, almost forgetting / To take her bow, her quiver, and her arrows (438-440). Callisto is so traumatized that she, like many rape victims, cannot stand to even be in the physical area where the violation took place. She is so emotionally wounded that she nearly forgets her greatest passion, hunting, in her desire to flee the scene of the crime. The audiences sympathy for Callisto is further evoked during the scene of Dianas discovery of the girls pregnancy. When Diana orders her to jump into a pool of water, Callisto refuses out of fear that her condition will be discovered. In response, Dianas other attendants literally strip Callisto naked, leaving her exposed and vulnerable: So t he others / Stripped her, and saw the truth. She stood in terror / Trying to move her hands to hide her belly (461-463). After this second violation, Callisto is not received into the warm arms of her companions, but is banished as a pollutant (465). To add to this punishment for an act that was forced upon her, Juno takes vengeance on Callisto by transforming her into a bear. Ovid describes the transformation in horrible detail, as Juno flung her down to the ground, and the girl, reaching / Her arms towards her in pleading, saw them blacken / Grow rough with shaggy hair (480-482). The heart-rending way in which Callisto is treated, in conjunction with Ovids clear characterization of her as an independent, strong character combine to infuse this episode with a surprising degree of complexity and humanity. While both stories may appear, then, to pay a surprising amount of attention to the feminine perspective in their determination to convey the individuality of the victims and the fact that the reader is intended to sympathize with them, Ovid cannot be construed as a feminist because his true conception of the act as an erotic show of male dominance is made clear in both myths. Examining, first, the story of the rape of the Sabines, we can see that Ovids true perspective on the story is revealed through its very placement in the Ars Armatoria. No matter how much sensitivity is invested into the story, the fact that the story is but one scene in a text on love advice cannot be ignored (Beard 7). Ovids account of the rape thus takes on aspects of a hilarious joke, as when he declares that Project Rape was on (114). The rape scene is therefore not a serious description of a highly significant moment of political change, nor is it a sensitive portrayal of the emotional aftermath for the victims of rape. It is, rather, but one more moment of flippancy in a humorous treatise on how to get a woman. Rape, it is implied, is just one of the many means by whi ch to secure yourself an heir. The tentatively feminist tone that we have noted in the Callisto myth is invalidated when, upon closer examination, the story is revealed as an emphatic declaration of male dominance. Callisto can be viewed as the very prototype of the independent, self-sufficient huntress who has no need for male companionship, and her violation is thus a resolutely misogynistic assertion of the inevitability of male dominance over even the strongest woman: She really struggled against him (even Juno / Had she been there to see, might have forgiven) / But girls are frail, and anyway, who could conquer the might of Jove? (434-437). Ovids determination to portray Callisto as a strong female character can therefore be seen as underscoring the theme of male dominance no matter how strong or independent the woman, in the face of male power she must ultimately fall victim to his wishes. Kathleen Wall writes that the strange rejection of Callisto by Diana can be seen as further evidence of Ovids misogyny. Dianas condemnation of her companion is odd, considering the fact that most modern studies insist that the goddess was not originally characterized by physical virginity (Wall 12) and thus would not have reacted with such reproach to Callistos rape and pregnancy. The goddesss moral or social condemnation of the nymphs behavior is, like the meaning of the word virgin, a patriarchal imposition, for the matriarchal goddess of fecundity, maternity, and childbirth would not have treated her votary in this way (Wall 13). Ovid, through Dianas rejection of Callisto, elicits further sympathy for the young girl, but also demonstrates an inaccurate rendition of how a mother goddess figure would have responded to the violation of her protÃÆ'Â ©gÃÆ'Â ©, thereby revealing his true attitude towards the matter. Ovids real perspective on these brutal scenes of rape is revealed most strikingly through his determination to eroticize the act even while de scribing the horror and fear experienced by the victims. Mary Beard describes how, during the scene of the rape of the Sabine women, Ovid lavishes great attention on the beauty and desirability of the Sabines, conveying that their sadness renders them even more attractive. What, after all, writes Beard, could be more erotic than tears and fears? Hit her and have her; she looks so gorgeous when shes all upset (9). Ovid writes that even in their terror, many contrived / To make panic look fetching (126-127). Rape, then, is not so much a brutal act as a sexual farce, a contrivance by the women to appear unwilling and reluctant so that they may be taken through no fault of their own. The male attackers take on a paternalistic tone, almost being cast as rescuers of the Sabine women: Any girl who resisted her pursuerToo vigorously would find herself picked upAnd borne off regardless. Why spoil those pretty eyes with weeping?Shell hear, Ill be all to youThat your Dad ever was to you r Mum.'(127-131) The fact that the rape takes on a humorous light thus reveals Ovids true perception of the act, invalidating the claim that some may imagine he has on presenting a feminist account. The rape of Callisto is similarly eroticized, both through the attention lavished on Callistos physical beauty and desirability and through the very scene of the seduction. Callisto is a purely natural beauty, and her transformation into a bear symbolizes the fact that her character brings to mind the untamed side of our personalities (Wall 14), a savage, wild, free and highly sexualized object of desire. Additionally, when Jove seduces Callisto, he does so in the guise of a woman, Diana, kissing her The way a maiden does not kiss, or should not (430). Through these elements, Ovid creates a male fantasy: the strong, independent, desirable ice woman who is overcome through intervention by another, equally sexually aloof woman, yet who eventually must fall, submissive, to the inescapa ble power of a man. Though Ovid, in both the Rape of the Sabine Women in the Ars Armatoria and the Callisto myth in Metamorphoses appears to infuse brutal scenes of rape with surprising sensitivity and attention to the feminine perspective, the feminist slant is entirely invalidated as a result of his inability or unwillingness to divorce himself from fantasies of male dominance and the erotic aspects of the rape scenes. Rather than truly portray the emotional trauma that results from rape, he instead creates sexual farces that only serve to underscore the apparent inevitability of male dominance that is pervasive throughout his works.