Beccas Story - 1441 Words

Becca s Story by James D. Forman The Plot: Throughout the story there were several incidents of suspense that revealed the characters. One incident of suspense was when the Confederate army was fighting the Union army at the battle of Gettysburg. Their were brigades along the woods to hold the opposing army off. Alex and Charlie could do nothing but watch because it was such a spectacle. The others were advancing towards the boys and they were silently praying to themselves that they would stop before they reached them. They didn t stop though and the boys had to charge. They were reloading, shooting, tearing cartridges with their teeth, and sheltering. The whole time they were being fired at and dodging the fire. By this time Colonel†¦show more content†¦The Theme: The problem in the story that the author raised or our consideration is whether the war is a good and brave thing or a terrible and cowardly thing. The authors sort of sends mixed messages about the theme of this story. He makes Becca and Alex in favor of the war in the beginning. Becca and Alex felt it was an honorable thing to join the Union but Charlie was scared and didn t like it. But by the end Becca hated the war and the two boys couldn t stay out of it even after they had been wounded and discharged. They just kept going back for more as if it were the right thing to do. I agree with Becca that war is terrible and dangerous and it ruins lives. I would not have agreed with her at the beginning when she thought Charlie was cowardly for not really joining the Union like the other boys in Michigan. The reason I agree with her final thought is because I have learned history and I have seen through books that war is not the resolution to all problems and that it hurts more than it helps. The Historical Aspect: The book takes place during the Civil War (1861-1865). The setting was Jonesville, Michigan. This town made up the seventh infantry along with a lot of other towns too. The book says the Civil War started on April 12, 1861 when the bombardment and capture by the Confederacy of Fort Sumnter. At this time Lincoln was alreadyShow MoreRelatedBriar Rose834 Words   |  4 Pageslayers of narrative in Jane Yolen’s- Briar Rose is highly effective in communicating the story and the story and themes concerning Gemma’s past experiences of the Holocaust and Becca’s quest for truth and fulfilment of her Grandmother’s legacy. Yolen uses a number of voices or accounts of events to give the reader a dramatic sense of the extent and the horror of Gemma’s experiences. The fairytale story, Becca’s quest and Joseph Potocki, all add richness of detail to the novel as a whole. TechniquesRead MoreBriar Rose Essay1325 Words   |  6 Pagesin spires responders through the use of structure, language and other techniques. The novel Briar Rose by Jane Yolen is a heart wrenching story of sleeping beauty intertwined with the horrors of the Jewish Holocaust. The structure of the novel is altered in a way to interweave three stories including Gemmas Briar Rose fairy tale, Beccas quest and Josefs story. The use of language techniques explores the idea of the characters as it gives an understanding of their circumstances and the situationsRead MoreThe Play That I Attended Was Rabbit Hole1402 Words   |  6 Pagesantagonist is Becca’s husband, Howie Corbett. Howie creates conflict with Becca early on by trying to seduce her. This causes a major argument between the two and actually moves them farther apart in their road to recovery. Both characters dealt with the grieving process in their own way, which caused a great deal of tension. The second antagonist is Becca’s sister, Izzy, who creates tension with Becca afte r telling her that she is pregnant. Izzy’s future child is a gateway to memories of Becca’s past, whichRead MoreEnglish Briar Rose Book Analysis4443 Words   |  18 PagesBriar Rose Book Analysis: Antagonist is a person, thing, or force that works against the protagonist, or hero of the story. The antagonist in the novel is Beccas older sisters, Shana and Sylvia. Example: This is crazy, Syl shouted into the phone†. I made a promise, Becca saidRead MoreEvaluation of the Opening of The Ring Essay698 Words   |  3 Pagesvideo is quite chilling in the way it is told, due to Beccas facial expressions and her voice, which is quite eerie. This sets the mood and in a way explains to us the way in which the urban legend is meant to be perceived, as it based around horrific, painful deaths, and the fact that an everyday thing such as a video could kill you. When the film begins, the camera goes back and forward between Katie and Beccas faces as the urban legend is being told. This is to show Read MoreBook Report on Paper Towns by John Green1351 Words   |  6 PagesAuthor: John Green Genre: Young adult novel, mystery Characters: 1.) Quentin â€Å"Q† Jacobsen – He is the protagonist and the one who is telling the story. He is childhood friends and neighbors with Margo, who he also had a crush on ever since they were children. As the years passed, their contact with one another has decreased. As the story progress, he tries to unfold clues he thinks Margo intentionally left for him when she went missing. 2.) Margo Roth Spiegelman – Margo is Quentin’s childhoodRead MoreHow Is Briar Rose Made Memorable Through the Interactions of Ideas and the Way These Ideas Are Represented?2072 Words   |  9 Pagesis through entertainment that a novel is made memorable. The main factor that contributes to achieve a memorable novel is the ability the author has in exemplifying certain ideas as well as the way in which these ideas are embedded throughout the story line. Jane Yolens Briar Rose is made memorable through its complex yet tightly fabricated narrative structure, the unique language of the narrative in the way Yolen relies heavily on irony, the use of effective characterisation, which Yolen manipulatesRead MoreBriar Rose Speech797 Words   |  4 PagesJane Yolen uses many forms and techniques to convey distinctive ideas about the Holocaust, humanity and the power of storytelling. This novel is one that needs to be clearly understood to grasp the true meaning of the story. Yolen uses what could be called a radical structure to get the reader involved with the quest to find out the real history of Briar Rose. Jane Yolen has structured the novel in such a way that it combines the innocence of a fairy tale with the harsh reality of the HolocaustRead MoreDiscuss How Yolen’s Perspective on Personal Discovery Is Conveyed in Briar Rose.979 Words   |  4 PagesBut in the novel Yolen shows the readers it is always better to come out of the wardrobe then to stay hidden and not be found. Becca’s editor Stan says, â€Å"I don’t think you’re going to be happy until you find out who your grandmother was, Becca†. Since Becca was little her grandmother, Gemma, told her stories about Briar Rose. Becca was always interested in these stories. Stan believes that Becca will not be able to know her own identity until she discovers the truth about Gemma’s astonishing claimRead MoreStructure Briar Rose - Jane Yolen992 Words   |  4 Pagesvery effective in conveying her story which she delivers in a superb fashion. Elements of the story are reveled at specific times to tie in with the theme of growth and development both personal and historical. The use of allegory drives the story along. It is a constant reminder of The Holocaust to ensure the reader is not too captivated by the fairy tale element of the novel. The use of allegory grounds the novel, gives it a sense of realism. Whilst the story Yolen tells is fictional the setting

Asleep Analysis (Wilfred Owen) - 1967 Words

Asleep by Wilfred Owen Poem Under his helmet, up against his pack, After so many days of work and waking, Sleep took him by the brow and laid him back. There, in the happy no-time of his sleeping, Death took him by the heart. There heaved a quaking Of the aborted life within him leaping, Then chest and sleepy arms once more fell slack. And soon the slow, stray blood came creeping From the intruding lead, like ants on track. Whether his deeper sleep lie shaded by the shaking Of great wings, and the thoughts that hung the stars, High-pillowed on calm pillows of Gods making, Above these clouds, these rains, these sleets of lead, And these winds scimitars, -Or whether yet his thin and sodden head Confuses more and more with the low mould,†¦show more content†¦Paraphrase: â€Å"intrusive lead† meaning bullet, comparison â€Å"like ants on track† =gt; militaristic, vivid imagery Stanza 2 1. Euphemism: â€Å"deeper sleep† =gt; death, alliteration â€Å"sh† =gt; sound that is very soft and quiet =gt; peacefulness 2. Metaphor: â€Å"shaking of great wings† =gt; angels, connotation of heaven, â€Å"hung the stars† =gt; figurative language makes this very â€Å"poetic† 3. Imagery and personification: â€Å"high-pillowed on calm pillows† not only creates imagery the repetition also adds to the emphasis of the comfort, a stark contrast to the following possibility as to where â€Å"he† went. This is also a metaphor as is demonstrated by the following lines, the calm pillows are in fact â€Å"these clouds†, soft and white. He personifies the pillows as being calm to reinforce the image of tranquility and paradise. 4. Anaphora: repetition of these adds to rhythm and starts the association or war with nature. He uses weather as a metaphor of the weapons, the gas, shells and bullets. The poet associates natural el ements with the unnatural killing-machines created for war, which also creates a contrast. The soldier is above the chaos and the dangers of the battlefield. 5. Metaphor: scimitars = swords, sharp cutting wind like in Exposure =gt; referring to cold perhaps. The soldier is free from these agonies. 6. Opposition with â€Å" Or whether† and imminence â€Å"yet† creates bitterness as suggestsShow MoreRelatedWilfred Owen : The Greatest English Poet During The First World War Poem Summary1358 Words   |  6 Pages Wilfred Owen Wilfred Owen is recognized as the greatest English poet during the First World War. Wilfred Owen notable poems contains the lives and historical records. He wrote out of his intense personal experience as a soldier and wrote with unrivalled power of the physical, moral and psychological trauma of the First World War. From the early age of nineteen, Wilfred Owen wanted to become a poet and immersed himself in poetry, being specially impressed by Keats and Shelly. Wilfred Owen himselfRead MoreThe Soldier By Wilfred Owen1376 Words   |  6 Pagesinhumane devastation that each battle- each moment- causes for the minds and in bodies of every soldier. â€Å"The Soldier† was written by Rupert Brooke in 1914, just before World War One was about to begin, while â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est.† was written by Wilfred Owen in 1917, during which Word War One was being fought harshly. Due to â€Å"The Soldier† being written before the War began, this poem depicts an idealized pe rception of war in which the subject topically seems honored to die for his country, and contentRead MoreThe Voices Against War By Thomas Hardy1151 Words   |  5 Pagesresistance to Great Britain. Wilfred Owen witnessed first-hand of the horrors of World War I with a price of his life. He wrote poetry vividly describing his treacherous experience on the battlefield. Also Randall Jarrell, served in World War II and used his experience to write an anti-war poem with the imagery of his experience. All of these anti-war poems most be analyzed properly to fully understand how their authors present their message. The conventions used by Hardy, Owen and Jarrell in their respectiveRead MoreWilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est1100 Words   |  5 PagesLiterary Analysis of Wilfred Owen’s â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† The world is a changing place with many different countries and people in those countries who try to change the world from our past, future and present. When looking at poems from the past we are able to see the world through the author’s eyes of the time and possible a view into the future. History tells us to learn from the past to improve the future of our world. A way to learn about the past is by reading poems from a time mostRead MoreAnalysis of Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen Essay485 Words   |  2 PagesAnalysis of Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen In the poem, Dulce et Decorum Est written by Wilfred Owen, the speaker appears to be a soldier in the army, warning young people eager for war, â€Å"children ardent for some desperate glory,† that war is not what it seems. The soldier explains to the reader through first hand experience that fighting for one’s country is not as glorious a task as it may appear to be. One shouldn’t believe the lie that is told about how itRead MoreThe Movie Park Avenue : Money, Power And The American Dream858 Words   |  4 PagesAvenue: Money, Power and the American Dream† by Director Alex Gibney, an analysis of the true facts behind the ‘American dream’ is presented (Lee). Similarly, the poem â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† by Wilfred Owen speaks about the true facts of a war that people foolishly dream to go to for honor (Owen). The two are distinct in the sense of their nature. The first piece by Gibney is a documentary film while the second one by Owen is a poem. For this reason, they apply different strategies to put acrossRead More Dulce et Decorum Est Essay1748 Words   |  7 PagesWilfred Owen’s â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† and E. E Cummings’, â€Å"next to of course god america i† are poems that critique patriotic propaganda. Both poems use words and images to effectively depict the influence that patriotic propaganda has on war. â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† uses descriptive words to create realistic images of the horrors soldiers are faced with during combat, whereas â€Å"next to of course god america i† uses sarcasm to inform readers that the abuse of propaganda can be used to manipulate othersRead MoreCompare Contrast the Portrayal of War in Dulce Et Decorum Est Charge of the Light Brigade.2305 Words   |  10 Pagesmuch greater and deadlier than their own. Dulce Et Decorum Est was written in the 20th Century. It depicts war, in this case WW1, an exact opposite to Charge Of The Light Brigade. Owen wants to dispel the lie that describes war as a place of pride and brightness, when in reality it is a place of bloodshed and obscurity. Owen knows first hand the devastation of combatting in war because he experienced it himself; therefore he ridicules the renowned title ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est, which means ‘it is sweetRead More Love Presented in Poems by Wilfred Owen Essay2489 Words   |  10 Pages Love Presented in Poems by Wilfred Owen Explore how the theme of love is presented in Birdsong and a selection of poems by Wilfred Owen. Loving attitudes, though perhaps not as prominent as themes such as violence and pride, are intimately observed and explored in Sebastian Faulks Birdsong and in many of Wilfred Owens War poems. Each aspect of love, as seen through the eyes of this First World War soldier and Faulks characters, is as interesting as it is diverse, allowing an imperviousRead MoreThe History of The Old Lie and Poetry of Wilfred Owen2490 Words   |  10 PagesThe History of The Old Lie and Poetry of Wilfred Owen Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori is a Latin saying that was expressed by the roman poet Horace. It means It is sweet and fitting to die for your country. When Owen wrote his poetry based on his experience of the Great War he did not agree with this saying; he wrote poetry that was full of horror yet told the truth. Therefore he called this saying the old lie. Owen called it this because war was no longer

Vietnam war Free Essays

string(166) " impact on the viewers who realised a lot of Americans were killed, but they primarily saw the atrocities the American soldiers were imposing on Vietnamese soldiers\." When talking about American media during the time of the Vietnam Wars, a common belief is that US news coverage of the events had a significant impact on public opion about the conflict, at such an extent that is is sometimes refered to as the â€Å"Living- Room War† or the â€Å"Media War†. Critics of the US Media in coverage in Vietnam claim that most of the journalists were personnally against the war and their reports therefore negative portraits of US Involement in Vietnam, biased by their personal point of views. Other people thank the media for having given more accurate reports f what was happening in Vietnam than the ones given officially by the leaders of the country The accuracy and the objectivism of the media at that time is still questionned nowadays, but was is clear is that before the Tet offensive of 1968, the media had genrerally reported on the war quite favorably whereas It was presented in a more negative light at the end of the sixties and in the early seventies. We will write a custom essay sample on Vietnam war or any similar topic only for you Order Now The debate on the role played by the U. S. Media in the Vietnam wars is open: did the media follow public opinion, or did it Influence It? To what extent If any was the US media opposed to the Vietnam War? My essay shall first explore the shift brought by the Tet offensive In the US media. Then, shall focus on analyzing what caused the media to be accused of being against the Vietnam War before looking at the consequenses supposedly engedered by the role of the media. Finally I shall draw a limit on the role played by the media during the conflict. At the beginning of the war, American people seem to have supported it but public support decreased over the years. Although it was a major topic of the news by the end of the sixties. he Vietnam War was not a major concern for the American citizens t the beginning of the decade. Despite Kennedy’s decision to militarize the war and send military advisors to Vietnam, when Johnson replaced him, only one American on four was aware of the conflictsl . The Kennedy administration and the Johnson administration tried to keep the public away from the concern of the war. When J ohnson ran his election campaign, he was promising the Americans that he did not intend to escalate the war. He therefore stood for the peaceful candidate, and a lot of people would vote for him hoping he would find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.. An incident occurred during the time of the election campaign: the Gulf of Tonkin crisis. As Walt Rostow -a political theorist- noticed, the crisis occurred when needed. In fact, the resolution passed by the Congress gave Johnson a Justification to escalate the war and public opinion therefore accepted the decision. 2 The â€Å"carte blanche† given to President Johnson after the incident permitted him to escalate the war without any major opposition. A few people opposed it, like George Ball who was in favour of negociations rather than a military escalation that would be diffcult to ontrol. According to Daniel C Hallln, It Is only with the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that the Americans began to be conscious about the conflict occuring in Vietnam3. Political leaders supported, or at least, did not really opposed Johnson decision of ecalating the war, a decision he had taken without informing the American citizens. In 1965, â€Å"tuesday-lunch meetings†, Johnson had previously taken a lot of decisions through a limited group, whose members themselves started to doubt about the strategy in Vietnam. It is the case for McNamara who was pushed away from the decision- aking after having spokn in favour of a diplomatic solution. The disagreements within the governement started to serve as topic of critic for the Journalists who did not approve of the war. Senator William Fullbright instored the Senate Foreign Relation committee hearings that were televised. The conflict in Vietnam was not anymore presented through facts to the American public, but it was debated and criticized in front of them. In 1966, public opinion started to be reluctant about Johnson’s policy-making. At that stage, opinions over the war were divided, whereas it was between political leaders or etween the American citizens. A majority of people was against the war, but a minority agreed on what should be done to end the conflict. The key event that permitted the US media to play a role in the war occurred a few years later when the Tet Offensive took place. American people were already putting the war in question because of the fact that the war had already been carried on for a long time and had costed many lives of young Americans. But at the meantime, official statements were repeating that US army was making huge progression towards victory. The Tet Offensive is nowadays seen as the one that turned public opinion, and the war itself. When the Communists attacked South Vietmam in January 1968, the Americans and South Vietnamese turned back the attack. It was a clear military victory on the battlefields but the images resulting from the attack had an opposite efect on the audience. This event is genarally said to be decisive for the end of the conflicts. In fact, despite a military victory; another battle was yet oppen: the media war. The Tet Offensive was reported on American TV and provided the ublic for the first time with the violence of the war. They had been told victory was near: it was not what the shoking images of the Tet Offensive were displaying. The Viet Cong suffered great losses but they had managed to trigger a revolt within the American society. The credibility of the Johnson administration in the mind of the public was yet destroyed. The Tet Offensive on television displayed scenes of combat, of They had a shoking impact on the viewers who realised a lot of Americans were killed, but they primarily saw the atrocities the American soldiers were imposing on Vietnamese soldiers. You read "Vietnam war" in category "Papers" The Tet offensive was interpreted as a defeat by the media since it proved that victory was far for being near. One of the Journalists reporting on the Tet incident was CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite, â€Å"the most trusted man in America† according to a opinion poll, made the famous statement that the war would result either in a stalemate or a defeat4. Johnson was aware of the power the journalists had on the American society. After Cronkite had spoken about the war, Johnson said â€Å"Well, if I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America†. They had been antiwar protests that had been televised before 1968. The March on the Pentagon in 1967 was as a huge media event: Americans ah hippies putting home. However, antiwar movements were themselves divided. Some of them were radical movements that paradoxically proned violence to revolt against the atrocities in Vietnam. The radicalism of some of the movements made that media did not really know how to deal with them in the news and left some American reluctant to join them. But after the Tet Offensive, antiwar protests were presented on the screen in a more positive perspective. The movement itself gained strength after people istrust the governement and the media increased their coverage of protests. The media helped the antiwar movement to gain strength. The critical approach of the war the media took after the Tet Offensive helped the citizens to take more seriously what independent Journalists opposing the war had said before. At the end of the sixties, the image of the Vietnam War conveyed by the media was quite negative and until the withdrawal of the troops, the media not look at the Vietnam War in a postitive light. The Nixon government had to face another media scandal undermining US involvement in Vietnam in 1971. The New York Times stole a copy of the Pentagon Papers, a secret study â€Å"History of the US decision-making Process on Vietnam Policy’ and published it, followed by the Washington Post. As it was enlighted later in the New York Times in 1996, the publication of the Pentagone Papers prove the American people that Jonshon and his administration had constantly lied to the people but also to the Congress5. To defend the role played by the media during the conflict, Journalists argue that they were only providing the audience and the readers with what was hidden to them by official reports. The shift in the way US media presented the war after the Tet incident is the reason why media are sometimes said to have been opposed to the Vietnam War, and sometimes even accused of having been responsible for the defeat. Different opinions can be found on this matter, agreeing or rejecting those theories, but what seems clear is that a war was being carried on between the leaders of the country and the media. Nixon explicitly express his disagrement with US news coverage, arguing that aside from the Communists, â€Å"our worst enemy seems to be the press†6. According to him, media put an emphasis on the military and moral side of the combat, forgetting to speak about the genuine objective of the war which was to fight Communism. This objective is what had maintain the Journalists to speak in a united voice at the beginning of the conflict: the only Journalists who disaproved with the conflict did not disagree with its aim, but with the strategies employed to achieve it. 7 Johnson’s vice-president Spiro Angnew also regularly denounced the unneffciency and inaccuracy of the media, even calling the reporters â€Å"nattering nabobs of negativism†. In 1970, President Nixon founded the Office of Telecommunications Policy (OTP) to promote positive media coverage for his administration and to question indirectly the media’s accuracy. Critics of the press covering the Vietnam War are often stating that what the press did was showing daily fghts, forgetting about their aims, and focusing on details instead of providing the public with valuable informations. 8 Wyatt commented on this particular issue :†An intense focus on spot reporting of day-to-day combat and political stories (†¦ typified American Journalism in Vietnam. During the height of American military involvement, even the most interested, diligent [dedicated] news consumer could conclude that the war in Vietnam was primarily an American effort in which non-military issues were either nonexistent or unimportant. â€Å"9 A parallel can be drawn between human memory and news media coverage. 10 Both of them keep certain images and versions of events and supr ess others. The Journalists therefore chose to provide the American people with a certain approach to the conflic. What they are often blamed for in the coverage of the war, is that they have not been able o imform the Americans about the actions of the Viet Cong. By focusing on the violence of the conflicts involving Americans, the importance of the war crimes commited by the Viet Cong on the Vietnamese population was neglected. For those who believe that the Vietnam was lost because of the media, their argument is that by leading the nation to stand against the war, the soldiers on the battlefields lost the support they needed. In November 1969, President Nixon made a speech on television where he suggested that the â€Å"great silent majority’ of Americans supported the war and that the media were undermining the war effort. John Pilgrer is one of the Journalists denying the fact that the Vietnam War was lost because of the media. According to him, the media coverage did not undermined the military and political effort, and the reporters were not antiwar. ll He points out that what the media did was to support â€Å"a failed crusade†. It is for these reasons that some argue that Vietnam was not a military defeat, but more a social defeat generated by the media. Marshal McLuhan is a famous defensor of this theory. He argues: â€Å"Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America, not on the battlefields of Vietnam. â€Å". The defeat can be explained by the fact that no military or political leaders had understood that the information war was at least as important as the military war. The media challenged the discrepencies between the reality in Vietnam and the reports of official sources. Emanating from a pluralistic media, the power of convincing the people was increased. Defensors of the media would argue primarily that it is only an excuse for the leaders not to take credit for a battle that ended up being a disaster for America. Richard Hallbrooke statement illustrates this point of view: â€Å"The press didn’t lose the war for us. The war was lost because the strategy was wrong. The military lost the war; the political leadership of this country lost the war. Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon and [Secretary of State] Henry Kissinger are the men who cost us this thing. Not the Case-Church Amendment [a law that placed restrictions on presidential war powers], not David Halberstam and Walter Cronkite, and not the antiwar demonstrators. The war was not lost, as Nixon always likes to write, in the halls of Congress and on the ages of the New York Times; it was lost in the rice paddies of Indochina. â€Å"12 They would also respond to the critic who claim that the war was lost because of the media showing only the horror of the fights, that only a small percentage of the news coverage were fghtings. However, an study by the sociologist George Bailey shows related to actions by US ground troops or US Air force. 13 According to many Journalists -Walter Conkrite being one of them-, media proved efficient in giving America truthful informations at a time when the government and the military leaders were lying to them. A credibility gap was therefore constructed, and vice-president Spiro Agnew accused the Journalists of being resonsible for it, stating that if such a gap existed, the best place to start looking for it was not the offices of governement in Washington but in the studios of network in New York. It is however hard to determine if the media were the source of influence for public opinion. The researches led by Daniel C. Hallin led to the conclusion that â€Å"Television was more a follower than a leader of public opinion. † The media had a different role in the Vietnam than it had had in previous conflicts. Instead of reinforcing the voice of the governement, it provived the public with a critical approach of US policy making. Also, because it was the first war being televised, it was the first time American people had to face images of the conflict. Those images are now what remains in the minds of the people when thinking about the news coverage of the Vietnam. At the time, the reporters were not really aware of the power it could have on the mind of the people, nor on the everlasting impact it had on the society. Television and photographs, the visual images of the war, is what people remember owadays. The fact that Journalist did not realise that they were actually opposing the war is a point that is worth raising. If the media proved to be opposed to the War, it may not be what they intented. The power the images displayed on television had on the public is hard to determine, as Hallin underlines: â€Å"television images pass very quickly, leaving the audience with little time to reflect on their meaning. We know very little about how television audiences construct the meaning of what they see and hear†. 14 The consequenses of showing the war on images was probably not anticipated by the eporters, but American public surely remembers pictures such as Vietnam Napalm† by Nick Ut (1972) or â€Å"The Execution† by Eddie Adams (1962). Life Magazine is the author of one of the most influential act during the war with the publication of an edition with photographs of the 242 American soldiers killed during one week of fighting. At the time of the Tet Offensive, Journalists rushed to cover the event. They gave America the pictures of the attack stating that what was happening there was horrific. The Tet Offensive was a real disaster in term of losses for the North Vietnamese soldiers. It appears clear that they knew they would not have any chance to win against the South Vietnamese and the Americans. This suicide-assault may illustrate that the Communists had understood the power the media could have in a fght. They wanted reporters to show to the people in America how violent were the conflicts, and how Americans slaughtered the Vietnamese. If such was their aim, they achieved it. Eddie Adams, the photograph who took the picture of a Viet Cong chief apologized to the US Army. 15 During the Vietnam. Wars, the media and the Americans seem to have followed the same opinion regarding the war. At the beginning, they were all genrerally supporting it. By the end of the sixties, they started to oppose it. The media might have influenced public opinion by starting to show the soldiers in action in Vietnam, by sympathise with antiwar movements or by displaying another version of event than the one given by the governement. Americans must have tend to believe what was told on the news at the time. They had believed the governement since the start of the war, and the war had still not ended. Moreover, the point of view given by the American media was one-sided: the enemy viewpoint was given in less than 3% of he coverage. 16 It is hard to define if the population influenced the media, or the contrary, and historians disagree on this point. Nevertheless, one must not forget that the Journalists were themselves American citizens, and therefore their voices counts as the voice of the nation. If we look at the news coverage on the Vietnam Wars, arguments can be found to describe the American media as being against the War. First of all, the fact that the media did not follow the same versions of events than the governement is one. How is the nation supposed to support a war launched y a governement that does not report the same versions of events as the ones shown on television and in the newspapers.? Morever, the antiwar movement was growing at the end of the sixties and antiwar protests were being covered by the media in a positive aspect. But what the media did that had the most impact on the American people is that they provided them with images of the conflict. Blood, violence, injuries: never a conflict had been covered that way on the television before. The shoking pictures stunned many people and the need for negociations to stop the disaster became the solution wanted by the people. In my opinion, Journalists were as shoked by the images as the people. They must have been revolted by the situation but did not intent to turn public opnion against the war. What I think they really did was to give the pictures that spoke for themselves to the public at first, and really speak against the war when they could embrace public opinion that was changing. To conclude with, I can say that the media were opposed to the war but in a limited way: the opinion on the coverage shifted with the public opinion and with the realization that the end of the war was far for being near. How to cite Vietnam war, Papers

Strategic Human Resource Management free essay sample

To simply define Human Resource Management (HRM), it is a management function that helps managers recruit, select, train and develop members for an organization. Obviously, HRM is concerned with the people’s dimension in organizations. When we say HRM of the organization, it is concerned with all the departments of it. In the marketing department, people consult products or services that lead to the sale. In the sales department, people sell products or give services to the customers. And also in finance, people manage and forecast the flow of money in the organization. All these functions cannot be accomplished without the help of the human resources and people are the ones that can make the organization achieve its objectives. And when the strategies come together with HRM, there comes Strategic Human Resource Management (strategic HRM or SHRM). It may be regarded as an approach to the management of human resources that provides a strategic framework to support long-term business goals and outcomes. The approach is concerned with longer-term people issues and macro-concerns about structure, quality, culture, values, commitment and matching resources to future need. First, according to Strategic Marketing Management by Wilson, Gilligan and Pearson, I would like to express the different levels within the organization that strategies must be developed. They are: * Corporate strategy, which deals with the allocation of resources among the various businesses or divisions of an organization. * Business strategy, which exists at the level of the individual business or division, dealing primarily with the question of competitive position. * Functional level strategy, that is limited to the actions of specific functions within specific businesses. The above strategies are set at the different levels to achieve a major or overall aim of the organization. The strategic approach addresses issues and needs relating to changes in structure and culture, organizational effectiveness and performance — matching human resources to future requirements, the development of distinctive capabilities and intellectual capital and the management of change. There are five functional areas identified by Bratton and Gold in forming the core of human resource management activities. Staffing: Obtaining people with appropriate skills, abilities, knowledge and experience to fill jobs in the work organization. This role encompasses human resource planning, job analysis, recruitment and selection. * Rewards: The design and administration of reward systems. This role includes job evaluation, performance appraisal and benefits. * Employee development: Analyzing training requirements to ensure that employees possess the knowledge and skills to perfo rm satisfactory in their jobs or to advance in the organization. Employee maintenance: The administration and monitoring of workplace safety, health and welfare policies to retain a competent workforce and comply with statutory standards and regulations. * Employee relations: Under this heading may be a range of employee involvement/ participation schemes in union or non-union workplaces. In a union environment, it also includes negotiations between management and union representatives over decisions affecting the employment contract. With the best HRM policies and practices, HRM strategy does more than drawing boundaries; it also recognizes and addresses peoples needs. The best HRM practices contribute the four outcomes as follow: * Competence: Employees are versatile in their skills and can take on new roles and jobs as needed and are better able to respond to changes in environmental demands. * Commitment: Enhance mutual trust and better communication between employees and managers. * Congruence: All stakeholders share a common purpose and collaborate in solving problems brought about by changes in environmental demands. * Cost effectiveness: HRM policies are cost-effective in terms of wages, benefits, turnover, absenteeism, strikes, and similar factors. Here is the example of â€Å"Starbucks† which is one of the best known and fastest growing companies in the world that invest a lot in human resources. Starbucks believed that the companys success and rapid growth could be attributed largely to its committed and motivated workforce. Consequently, the companys human resource policies reflected its commitment to its employees. Starbucks cared about its employees and was one of the few companies in the retail sector to provide generous benefits to both full time workers as well as part timers. This ensured that employees remained motivated, and Starbucks had a relatively low employee turnover. However, in the early 2000s, the company faced the challenge of finding and retaining the right number and kind of employees to man its future growth. Despite the fact that employees, especially those on the frontline, are critical to the success of retail businesses, most companies do not have a strong relationship with their employees, and consequently suffer from a high rate of employee turnover (In the early 2000s, employee turnover in the retail industry was around 200 percent). In this scenario, Starbucks stood out for its employee-friendly policies and supportive work culture. The company was especially noted for the extension of its benefits program to part-time workers something that not many other companies offered. They are offered health and dental coverage, vision care, life and disability insurance, paid time off, a retirement savings plan, stock options and a discounted stock purchase plan, adoption assistance, domestic partner benefits, emergency financial aid and a free pound of coffee every week. As a result, Starbucks employees were among the most productive in the industry and the company had a relatively low employee turnover. The above example proves that HRM is the crucial source of competitive advantage to be a successful organization in the business environment. Thus, as I have discussed so far, you may have some ideas about Human Resource Management and notice how much it is important for an organization. Reference 1. Aswathappa, K. Human Resource and Personnel Management (Fourth Edition ed. ), (pg. 5) 2. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Starbucks. (2013, January 17 Thursday). Retrieved from en. wikipedia. org. 3. http://www. hrtutorials. com/cs-model-evaluating-human-resources/. (2013, January 17 Thursday). Retrieved from www. hrtutorials. com. 4. http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Human%20Resource%20and%20Organization%20Behavior/HROB068. htm. (2013, January 15 Tuesday). Retrieved from www. icmrindia. org. 5. http://www. mainstreet. com/article/career/employment/4-employers-great-part-time-benefits. (2013, January 17 Thursday). Retrieved from www. mainstreet. com. 6. Manual, ABE Study, Strategic Human Resource Management, (pg. 4,5)