The parallels between The Crucible and the Rwanda Genocide Essay Example for Free

The parallels between The Crucible and the Rwanda Genocide Essay The Parallels between The Crucible and The Rwanda Genocide The themes of justice, community and sacrifice in The Crucible are universal and can be identified in many modern events in history, including the Rwanda Genocide. The genocide in Rwanda and The Salem Witch Hunts in The Crucible have many striking similarities, primarily these are: the hunting down and killing of a group of people identified as being different, the mass killing of people for no valid reason and the taking of revenge on a whole group of people for the acts of one or more individuals of that group. Common to these two events is the ruthless hunting down of victims. The judges in The Crucible pressure Abigail and the girls for the names of possible witches. Their mission is to convict as many as possible, without questioning if they may be innocent. The judges are merciless predators hunting their prey, exactly like the relentless Hutu’s seeking out the Tutsi’s in every part of Rwanda. The Hutu’s burst into people’s homes, ruthlessly searching for any Tutsi, ready to savagely torture them with machetes before killing them. Any Tutsi they find, regardless of age or sex, gets brutally slaughtered in order to totally eliminate the tribe. Another similarity is the relative escalation of death and murder once the trials/genocide had started. The numbers of deaths in The Crucible were much greater than anyone in the beginning could have predicted. Once Abigail realised the extent of the damage she had caused and saw how out of hand the trials had gotten, she fled. The violence in Rwanda reached extremes far greater than expected and became a genocide, resulting in the deaths of between 500 000-1 000 000 people, with thousands and thousands of brutally butchered corpses littering the streets. The motive behind both events is revenge. In The Crucible, Abigail initially uses the idea of witchcraft to save her own skin, she then realises that she can use it as excuse to seek revenge on Elizabeth Proctor for dismissing her and destroying her relationship with John Proctor. Similarly, the Hutu’s seek revenge on the Tutsi’s for shooting down their president, killing him and everyone else in the airplane. The Hutu’s believe the Tutsi’s were trying to regain power. There was a long history of rivalry and violence between these two tribes and the killing of the president was the catalyst ignited the voracious flames of revenge. The Hutu’s began their manhunt to find and kill the Tutsi’s in revenge for the years of perceived oppression  when the Tutsi’s ruled Rwanda. Like John Proctor in The Crucible, there too is a protagonist in the Rwanda Genocide – Paul Rusesabagina. They both display strength in standing up for what is right, they refuse to betray their friends and they both show great courage to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing themselves. In The Crucible, as things start to get out of hand, John takes it on himself to stand up to the authority and set things right. Even when standing up against the church places suspicion on him, John will not compromise his beliefs and fights for what he believes is right. This is the same fight Paul Rusesabagina undertakes. Paul refuses to fall into the violence and hatred between the Hutu’s and Tutsi’s. He questions the idea that Hutu’s are better than Tutsi’s. He himself, a Hutu, is married to a Tutsi and he will not let himself be threatened into changing his beliefs or into following what the other Hutu’s are doing. As a Hutu, Paul is expected to despise the Tutsi’s and to be a part of the violence and the killing. Instead he takes in the homeless, terrified Tutsi refugees and turned the hotel he was managing into a refugee camp. Paul knew that he and his family would be killed if the Hutu’s discovered what he was doing, but he did not falter. He took them in, protected them and provided for them when no one else had the courage to. He refused to betray or abandon his family and friends or his people. He saved the lives of 1 268 refugees through his sheer strength, intelligence, perseverance and bravery. Paul’s refusal to betray his people to save himself is strikingly similar to John’s refusal to betray his friends. Although his betrayal would have saved his life and allowed him to be with his family, he could not do it. John’s refusal to betray his friends leads to the ultimate sacrifice. His final act of defiance, to refuse to be part of something untruthful, ultimately led to his death. This emphasises his strength of character and his immense courage. Like John Proctor, Paul also made sacrifices and took great risks. Paul sacrifices his home, his job, the safety of his family and was even willing to sacrifice his life to save the lives of people he didn’t even know, but was willing to protect. He gave help to anyone who needed it,  Hutu or Tutsi. Both of these acts of sacrifice, from just one individual, led to the saving of many lives. The themes of justice, community and sacrifice in The Crucible are universal and timeless. The Crucible teaches us about these themes and teaches us to identify them in historical events. The baseless killing of innocent people simply because they belong to a certain group is repeated over and over in history along with how the courage of one or many individual/s can lead to the saving of multiple lives. There are always individuals in brutal situations who display enormous courage and humanity in standing up for what is right and not blindly following others; individuals who have the courage to question authority. The Crucible teaches us that the courage of one individual can save the lives of many if they only have the strength to question and to stand up for what they believe. The Crucible teaches us to identify these themes in real life events. In addition to the Rwanda Genocide, the relevance of The Crucible is manifested in other recent situations, we only have to consider school girl Malala Yousafzi who was shot in the head by the Taliban after speaking out and standing up for the right of girls to go to school in Afghanistan. The themes of justice, community and sacrifice are evident in The Crucible and The Crucible teaches us to recognise them in real life situations and teaches us the importance of courage and sacrifice, and the great impact that one brave individual can have in a horrific and seemingly hopeless situation.

The Core ideas of change management

The Core ideas of change management It is in the nature of people to be afraid of change. In our everyday life we normally establish routines and become comfortable with the way things just happen. The idea of potential change of the patterns of behavior makes us feel uncomfortable, brings uncertainty and risk in the everyday life. As social entities, corporations are no different. Daily work schedules and process organisation become part of the corporate identity and gradually slow down the speed needed to remain competitive and be a winner. According to Tabrizi (2007), To stay competitive, a player must be dynamic in the marketplace, constantly revising its own strategy in response to the strategies of its opponents, as well as aligning itself with the changing demands of its customers. The organizations that can most quickly respond to the marketplace, particularly those that adapt faster than their competitors, are the ones that make it to the top. Key concepts In general, reviewing the initial reasons for change, it can be reactive, when organizations respond to external factors, and proactive, when companies initiate the process of change themselves. However, no matter what the initial reasons were, once the process has started, we can be sure that change in one part of the company invariably will affect people and processes in all other parts. Moreover, a thorough change can influence, or be influenced by the organizational mission and strategy, structure, products and processes, its employees and culture, technology and know-how employed. Change can be provoked by external or internal factors, or a combination of both. External factors may be changes in demand of consumers, threatening actions of competitors and suppliers, newcomers in the business, MAs, changes in the legal and political environment, new technologies, changes on the labor market, etc. The internal factors can be found within the company itself and may result from redefined mission and strategy, need for major changes in the culture and management style, need for improvement of quality and efficiency, etc. There are lots of algorithms and prescriptions about how exactly shall changes be implemented. In order to get deeper understanding of the contemporary methods, first we will examine the basic change management theories and approaches. Theoretical foundations The three main theoretical schools are differentiated by the addressed levels of change individual, group or organizational level. These are The Individual Perspective School, The Group Dynamics School and The Open Systems School (Burnes, 2009). Individual Perspective school According to Burnes (2009), the Individual Perspective School is divided into two main movements Behaviorists and Gestalt-Field theorists. Both of them address organizational changes on individual level. The main idea of the Behaviorists is that peoples reactions are closely interrelated with their interaction with the environment. One of the first Behaviorists, Pavlov, stated that all behavior is learned and all individuals actions are led by the expected results. Through his well known experiment with the dog that associated the sound of the bell with food, Pavlov proved that one can easily manage peoples behaviour through external stimuli and reward. The other movement, the Gestalt-Field theorists, argues that human actions could not be product only of the surrounding environment, but from the interpretation of this environment through changing the understanding of the situation and modifying the external stimuli. Group Dynamics School According to Cummings and Worley (2009), The Group Dynamics School emphasizes on the implementation of organizational change on a group level. Its founder Kurt Lewin argued that the individual will respond to the groups interactions and pressure and will adapt to its culture and behaviour, accepting its values, norms and roles. Open Systems school The main focus of the Open Systems School is the organisation as a whole, composed of a number of interconnected sub-systems (Burnes, 2009). The different parts and subsystems are interacting with each other and with the environment. Mullins (2008) writes that most important is to achieve an overall synergy within the organization, rather than optimizing the performance of any one individual part. Approaches to change The three basic approaches to change management are the Planned approach, the Emergent approach and the Contingency approach (Burnes, 2009). Contingency approach The basic principle of the Contingency approach is that there is no one best way to change. Change has to be applied in line with the environment and the organisation has to adapt to it. The contingency approach examines the effectiveness of different models, techniques and methods of change management and advises to choose according to the situation. Planned approach The basic idea of the planned approach is that organizations shall first identify areas where changes are required and initiate a process of its implementation (Burnes, 2009). It was launched in the 40s in the work of Kurt Lewin, who developed the most popular models of planned change: Action Research and Three-Phase Model. The approach has been widely used since the 80s. The Action research model is based on the statement that change requires action, and action is based on analysing the situation correctly. The Three step model is based on three phases of implementation: unfreezing moving refreezing. The Planned approach represents a more general prescription about how change should happen in a world much more ideal than the world we know today. As the contemporary situation is changing rapidly, the chance that the environment has changed again during the implementation of your change plan and has made it useless, is extremely high. That is why, I consider the Emergent Approach much more effective and useful. Emergent approach The Emergent approach is focused on the assumption that change is a continuous. According to Dawson (2002), organizational change is a persistent, open-ended process of adaptation to changing environment. It emerges in an unpredictable and unplanned fashion. Maybe the most distinctive feature of the approach is the bottom-up approach of control, i.e. that the employees are most closely involved with the process with the change process (Dawson, 2002). The approach requires a major change in the traditional role of the managers. Unlike the planned approach, here, the role of the manager is not to initiate and control the process, but rather to assist and facilitate it. In order to summarize the main models of implementation, Burnes (2009) has chosen the three most practical models of emergent change: Kanters Ten Commandments for Executing Change, Kotters Eight-Stage Process for Successful Organisational Transformation and the Seven Steps model of Luecke. In order to illustrate the overall impact that emergent change has on organizations, I have chosen the case of Ken Freeman, who made Corning Clinical Labs from a business in shambles to the industry leader in the size (Appendix I). CASE STUDY Ken Freeman, Corning clinical labs, Appendix I Change and the Manager External and Internal Approaches to Change As we have already outlined in the previous part of the work, change can be planned or unplanned (emergent). Planned change is sought when the organisation deliberately attempts to make internal changes to meet specified goals or to pursue a set of strategies (French et al, 2008). However, not all change in organisations happens as a result of intended direction. Unplanned change is provoked by some external triggers such as market forces, economic crises, economic opportunities or social changes. Unplanned change occurs spontaneously and without the organisations provocation. The appropriate goal in managing unplanned change is to act immediately once the change is recognized, to minimize any negative consequences and maximize any possible benefits. (French et al, 2008) However, no matter whether the changes were planned or unplanned, in order to implement a successful and thorough change management plan, there shall be sufficient dissatisfaction with the existing situation, strong attraction to moving towards a more desirable position, desire to formulate a strategy that will realize the vision (French et al, 2008). Change may be triggered by internal or external forces: External forces may be changes in the demand for the organizations products as a result of changing consumer preferences, action by competitors, government etc., threatening tactics of competitors by aggressively cutting prices, newcomer in the market, political or legal changes, changes in the terms of trade (tariffs, exchange rates), lack of skilled employees, etc. (Martin, 2005) Internal forces should theoretically, be more clear and predictable. For example changes in strategy as a result of revised mission or goals, need for cultural changes, changes in the management style, need for improvement in quality, efficiency, standards, need to cut costs (Martin, 2005). However, according to Mabey and Salaman (1995), irrespective of the initial reasons for the change, change is characterized by two important dimensions: firstly, the scale of change (from fine tuning through to corporate transformation) and secondly the style of change (collaborative through to coercive). Selected models of Change Organizations typically respond to the challenges of the above described external and internal triggers with the help of various programs, each designed to overcome obstacles and enhance business performance. According to Luecke (2003), these programs fall into one of the following four categories: Cultural change Cultural changes focus on the human side of the organization. It handles with the general approach of doing business and the relationship between the management and the employees. A typical example for cultural change is changes in the mission and vision of the company and the organizational development. In order to illustrate the overall impact on the company that cultural changes may produce, I have chosen the example with ATT and NCR. Case study ATT and NCR (Apendix II) Structural change Structural changes address the structure of the organisation and the design of jobs and working arrangements as the key levers of change. According to Mabey and Salamn (1995), structural changes are triggered by an organisations inability to fully realize the strategy it is following due to administrative deficiencies caused by a mismatch between the new strategy and the existing structure (Mabey Salaman, 1995). Luecke argues that these programs treat the organization as a set of functional parts-the machine model. Through mergers and acquisitions, between companies, reengineering of units, reconfiguring of divisions, managers try to improve the overall performance and results. A classic example of redesigning the whole management structure in order to complement the strengths of the top people, is provided by Google (Appendix III). CASE STUDY GOOGLE, Appendix III Cost cutting The third program for change is cost cutting. Its core idea is to eliminate non-essential and non-profitable activities. This can be done through reengineering of the structure, decrease of the personnel, focusing on the production of profitable items, etc. Process change Process change aims at making processes faster, more effective, more reliable, less costly. These programs focus on altering how things get done (Luecke, 2003). Examples include reengineering a loan approval process, approaches to handling customer warranty claims, production processes, etc. Attitudes to Change 3.1. Reactions to change In general, there are different reactions to the proposed change process and according to them people are split into three main different groups supporters, apathetic and resistors. According to French et al (2008), change initiatives are typically met by some resistance. Resistance to change is any attitude or behaviour that reflects a persons unwillingness to make or support a desired change. The reasons for this reaction are manifold people are afraid of the unknown, many of them dont understand the need for change, or some may even think that the proposed change goes against the values held by members in the organisation. These reactions outline the need to consider also changes in the culture of the organisation, including changes in members values and beliefs. French et al (2008) outline also another perspective of resistance to change in their work, namely to see resistance as feedback that can be used by the change agent to help accomplish his objectives. The essence of this notion is to recognise that when people resist change they are defending something important that appears to be threatened by the change attempt (French et al, 2008). There is no universal recipe on how could resistance to change be overcome, however, considering the limitations of this paper, one example method illustrated also by a brief case study will be presented in the third part of this paper, The People Problem, which shall give the essence that could be followed. Gender and Change Management Preece, Steven Steven (1999) describe several studies that have concluded that women are more likely than men to display characteristics which would make them good team players. The authors cite a survey conducted in the company Bass, designed specifically to examine gender-related issues in public house management. According to the survey, women appeared to focus on teamworking 82 % of them answered that they find it beneficial due to issues such as the mutual development of ideas, helping each other and problem solving. In the same time, only 65% of the men stated to have positive attitude against team work. These results evidence that women are in general better teamplayers than men and consequently may experience a greater impact in the changeover of the company they are employed with. Case study ATT and NCR (Apendix III) What aspects of the external change environment did Jerre Stead and his advisers choose to focus on? Could they have defined the external environment in a different way, perhaps using scenario planning techniques discussed above, which would have allowed them to construct other, more realistic scenarios? By way of illustration, had they been less US- and head office-centric, could they have created a more accurate picture of the organization and its problems, one that would haveallowed them to see the potential for the problems they would create in Scotland, their key subsidiary location? The central point of this message is that managers are active agents, not merely passive recipients of abstract and external market forces. Good managers understand how to enact their environment in order to control it through more intuitive and creative interpretations, re-definitions and action (Weick, 2001). Weick argues that managers are often better advised to act their way into thinking, by taking smaller, incremental steps and learning from them, rather than think their way into acting through top-down, transformational planning strategies such as those depicted in the ATT case. The dangers of a top-down, planning-then-action approach are twofold. The first danger is that by making big changes there is little chance for learning to occur because you dont really know which of the many components of the change had the most effect. The second danger, and more likely consequence, is that by constructing a plan that is complex you are likely to fall into the trap of paralysis by analysis. The key point is that culture, once understood, is treated as a highly manageable feature of organizations. This seemed to be the perspective of Jerre Stead, the CEO of ATT (GIS) in the case study. Such unitary assumptions and analysis may have a degree of validity in certain contexts, but in others they are likely to be misplaced and misleading. Ask yourself the questions in the ATT case: (1) How realistic were the assumptions made by Stead regarding the potential to create a unified culture in the company? (2) Were leadership and communications all that was necessary to overcome barriers to change? Perhaps he could have taken a different view, distinguishing between: à ¢-   the corporate culture, which is essentially what managers want the organization to be like, similar to the concept of corporate identity in Chapter 6 and more amenable to control; and Chapter 9 Managing organizational change 385 à ¢-   the organizational culture and subcultures, which are more akin to the notions of organizational identity in Chapter 6, and which are less amenable to control, for a variety of reasons. Bearing in mind the preceding health warnings, and the concerns expressed about the concept of unitary cultures, managers need to have a set of sophisticated techniques to identify and manage their organizational cultures. For example, in the ATT case, Jerre Stead and his colleagues might have benefited from constructing alternative scenarios of what the organization might have looked like. More importantly, they would clearly have benefited from an understanding of the nature of the different subcultures in the various subsidiaries of ATT (GIS). The People Problem The real change comes from the people. Individuals are those who create, implement and support change processes. Unless people are involved, committed and prepared to adapt and learn, objectives, plans and future desired states will be likely to founder on the rocks of resistance (Rosenfeld Wilson, 1999). Any transformation of significance will create people issues. And the more significant the transformation and the impact on the people, the greater is the need for full involvement (Burnes, 2009). A successful implementation of turn-around organisational transformation requires not only good planning, but also understanding of the human part. Discipline is a key factor for success; however, it demands strict data collection and analysis, planning, and implementa ­tion discipline as a redesign of strategy, systems, or processes. The main goal of this work is concerned with the role people play in managing strategic change how they do it. Role of the management Typically, the people at the top of any organisation are seen by others employess, stakeholders and outside observers as intimately associated with strategic change, whenever such occurs. Therefore, the overall role of management in the process of change is highly significant (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008). 1.1. Change Management at the Top According to Mullins (2008), the successful management of change is a key factor of organisational performance and effectiveness and should emanate from the top of the organisation. The people at the top of the company are responsible for the strategy and philosophy, the culture, for creating and sustaining a healthy climate and establishing and directing appropriate organisational processes. The successful implementation of change demands positive action from top management and a style of transformational leadership in order to gain a commitment to change (Mullins, 2008). Extremely important management features and capabilities are effective communication skills, ability for recognizing and releasing the potential of everyone involved with the change, setting a good personal example, self-pacing to avoid unnecessary stress. 1.2. Managers and leaders However, top managers may be the initiators but are not always the real leaders of the change process. Luecke (2003) argues that leaders create an appealing vision of the future and then develop a logical strategy for making it a reality. They also motivate people to pursue the vision, even in the face of obstacles. Managers, on the other hand, have the job of making complex tasks run smoothly. Managers are those who elaborate and implement process details, assure resources and direct the process. John Kotter has described the relationship of leadership andmanagement in a simple two-by-two matrix, shown below (Luecke, 2003): The main idea of the matrix is that long-term transformation process requires involvement both from leaders and managers and that transformation goes nowhere when both leadership and management are found wanting (Luecke, 2003). 1.3. Middle managers Middle managers are the implementers of strategy. Their role is to put into realization the direction established by top management by making sure that resources are allocated and controlled appropriately, monitoring performance and behaviour of staff and, where necessary, explaining the strategy to those reporting to them (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008) Role of Employees According to Brill and Worth (1997), in order to make the change effort work, we must learn how to capitalize on positive human qualities, such as trust, idealism, and dedication, and mitigate the impact of those other natural human traits (suspicion, stubbornness, anxiety) that often undermine the change process. The role of employees is most obvious in cases where the chosen approach to change is bottom-up, not top-down. Strictly speaking, bottom-up change can not only be implemented from the lower levels of the hierarchy, but also initiated from the employees. However, Burnes (2009) argues that there is little point in encouraging staff to identify change opportunities unless they are also encouraged to implement them. The need for using the bottom-up approach is evident when taking the emergent approach to change. Having in mind the rapid pace of environmental changes, they need to be dealt with speedily and be treated locally, in order to achieve optimal and timely success. Role of Stakeholders In the process of change stakeholders are not actively participating, however, gaining their support is extremely important. In a turnaround situation it is crucial that key stakeholders, like the major financing bank, trade unions and some key clients are kept clearly informed of the situation and the following improvements as they are being made. Moreover, a clear assessment of the power of different stakeholder groups may become vitally important, especially when implementing major transformations (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008). The support of powerful stakeholder groups can help to build a strong fundament, especially in cases where the change agent does not have a strong personal power base from which to work. Dealing with Difficult People Understanding the roles of the participants in the process and showing them the right direction to the desired change is the a major part of the transformation. However, as already outlined in the previous part of this work, change imposed by others feels threatening rather than exciting and the lack of choice makes people feel powerless and leads to stress and defensive behaviour (Mabey Salamen, 1995). That is why, the earlier in the process the resistance agents are found, the better the whole process can be managed. French et al (2008) have outlined the following general approaches for dealing with difficult people: Education and communication discussions, presentations, demonstrations; Participation and involvement allow others to help design and implement changes, contribute ideas; Facilitation and support providing emotional support, actively listening to problems, training; Negotiation and agreement offering incentives, working out trade-offs, special benefits; Manipulation and cooptation influence others, selective information, buying off leaders; Explicit or implicit coercion using force, threatening (French et al, 2008). Resistance to change as resource of new ideas Resisters to change are problematic and typically, when something goes wrong, they are the first that are blamed for the disaster. However, this is not only pointless, but leads also to destructive management behaviours mangers may become defensive, uncommunicative, competitive (Ford Ford, 2009). Strong leaders can hear and learn from their critics and understand that even difficult people can provide valuable input when treated with respect and let to communicate their point of view. An example of such situation is presented in Appendix IV a brief case study about Alison, IT executive, aiming to implement a major change in the computer system of the hospital she was employed with. CASE STUDY Alison, Appendix IV Linking Strategic and Operational Change In the previous chapters of this work, I have examined the theoretical grounds, the major approaches to change, the roles of the different participants in the change process. However, no matter how good the plan for change may be, the most critical part, i.e. the bottleneck remains the implementation of the transformation. According to Luecke (2003), 70 percent of change initiatives fail to meet their objectives. Kotter has also written that If you were to grade them using the old fashioned A,B,C,D, and F, Id be surprised if an impartial jury would give 10% of these efforts an A. But Im not saying that 90% deserve a D either.What is tragic is that there are so many C-pluses. Its one thing to get a C-plus on a paper; its another when millions of dollars or thousands of jobs are at stake (Luecke, 2003). Implementing Strategic change Burnes (2009) argues that the implementation of change is a two-way process of ensuring that strategic decisions lead to operational changes and on the other hand, operational changes influence strategic decisions. The process of implementation may follow the models either of Planned or Emergent approaches. Although that by many, including Burnes (2009), there are no universal rules for leading change, supporters of panned and emergent approach propose sequence of actions to be adopted, which could facilitate and give a structure to the implementation of the strategic changes. Pettigrew Whipp (Burnes, 2009) propose a simplified model of actions to be taken in order to structure the change process: Kanter and Kotter (Burnes, 2009) also propose some ideas for implementation of change. However, I consider that Luecke has given the most practical recipe for action. His model consists of seven steps: Step 1. Mobilize Energy and Commitment through Joint Identification of Business Problems and Their Solutions Step 2. Develop a Shared Vision of How to Organize and Manage for Competitiveness Step 3. Identify the Leadership Step 4. Focus on Results, Not on Activities Step 5. Start Change at the Periphery, Then Let It Spread to Other Units without Pushing It from the Top Step 6. Institutionalize Success through Formal Policies, Systems, and Structures Step 7. Monitor and Adjust Strategies in Response to Problems in the Change Process (Luecke, 2003). For me, this approach is very close to the practice, as it is very much result-oriented and in reality results are the real measures of success, not plans and theories. In order to illustrate this consideration, please refer to Appendix V, a case study about Xerox. CASE STUDY XEROX, APPENDIX V The role of the Change agent In the process of change there are always factors limiting the implementation of the changes in the operational level. According to Mabey and Salaman, (1995) an important factor for successful implementation of strategy into operational level is the formal and informal presence of a change agent. According to Rosenfeld and Wilson (1999), change agents are the individuals or groups of individuals whose task is to effect the desired change. They can be both internal and external to the organisation. The agent acts as intermediary and his responsibilities may range from complete collaboration with staff to acting as absolute authority and expert. Internal change agents are mostly experts in the field, to who people trust. External agents may have political credibility and support, however, often lack the detailed knowledge of the company (Rosenfeld Wilson, 1999). Considering the complexities involved with change, the range of abilities and expertise of the change agent could be significant. Vital to the success of the change agent is also the support from the senior management of the company. Change agents see the need for change and articulate it effectively to others. They are critical catalysts for a change initiative and should be placed in key positions (Luecke, 2003). Here are some of the most important implications of change agents: articulate the need for change; are accepted by others as trustworthy and competent; see and diagnose problems from the perspective of their audience; motivate people to change; work through others in translating intent into action; stabilize the adoption of innovation; and foster self-renewing behavior in others so that they can go out of business as change agents (Luecke, 2003). People suitable for this job can be professional change agents like those working in the HR consultancy companies, or people from the business. They can also be produced like GM did in the past. Luecke (2003) describes the case: General Motors attempted something very similar in its joint venture with Toyota: the NUMMI small car assembly plant in California. That plant was run according to Toyotas world-beating production methods, and GM rotated manufacturing managers through the plant to learn Toyotas methods and, hopefully, bring a working knowledge of those methods back to Detroit. Reflecting on Change in Different Contexts

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button | Adapting literature

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button | Adapting literature Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach 18. This quote from Mark Twain inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald to write his short story à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 1922. Just recently, in 2008, it has been adapted as a motion picture movie directed by David Fincher with great success. There have been many adaption of literature into film and the quality of the outcome as well as the number of parallels to the original work often differ greatly. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a very extreme example and for a long time the nouvelle wasnt even considered to possibly be turned into a movie due to the lack of techniques to have the reversed aging process of Benjamin Button seem real. I found the idea of living life backwards and the difficulties and experiences which are linked to such an extraordinary phenomenon very appealing. Therefore I wanted to find out more about it and read the short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Even though book and film differ in several ways, the main idea is the same and so fascinating that I decided to do my research paper on comparing the book with the movie. B: I As we will see, the movie is a very loose adaption of the book, basically, the only consistent occurrence in both the movie and the book is Benjamin Buttons unusual, reversed aging process. Yet not even this is completely similar: while the book ´s character of Benjamin Button has the mental age of 80 at the end of his life, the movies version gives Benjamin the mindset of an infant trapped in an 80 year old body. Film: The story starts at the day when Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans. At this very day Daisy Williams is waiting in a New Orleans hospital on her deathbed for her end to come. There with her is her daughter Caroline, who stands by her and reads to her mum out loud of a diary given to her by a man called Benjamin. His mother died by giving birth to him. Now the difference to all the other newborn babies is that he was old and wrinkled. Thomas Button, his father, horrified of his son leaves him on the doorsteps of an elderly care-home. Where Queenie a black NANNA? Takes him in and treats him like her own son. Benjamin fits in well even though of his young age he looks as old as most of the residents. Soon Benjamin realizes that he is physically growing younger not older. SZENE . Early in his life, he meets Daisy, the woman of his life which he first meets when shes a young child. Both lives go different ways and sometimes their paths even cross each other. Until they finally can manage to make a life together, which however because of there different fates isnt of a long duration. (QUELLE) Book: Benjamin Button was born in 1860 in a hospital in Baltimore. But not as a baby, he had the mind and appearance of an old man in his 80s. Mr Roger Button, Benjamins father, is member of a eminently respectable family and the president of Roger Button Co., Wholesale Hardware. Because of his high social status he has difficulties accepting his son for who he was. He tries to build up the illusion that his son is in no aspect different from any other person. The times society cared a lot for conformity and therefore had very little tolerance for this curious case of Benjamin Button. Benjamin still lives a very full live just in a different kind of way. He ages backwards at the same rate as everybody else is getting older. In 1880 Benjamin Button is twenty years old (but appears approximately 50) and meets and falls in love with Hildergarde the beautiful daughter of General Moncrief. Hildegarde turns out to be attracted to older men and six month later against all moral standards becaus e of their great age difference the get married and even have a son called Roscoe. While Benjamin is getting younger Hildegarde is getting older, and he soon looses interest in her à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾He wondered what possible fascination she had ever exercised over him.(p.37) Benjamin goes off to fight in the Spanish American War, as he returns home he appears about the same age as his own son, Roscoe. Growing younger everyday he attends Harvard University at the age of 18. After Benjamin graduates he is young enough to go to prep school, until he ends up beeing playmates with Roscoes son. Without being able to stop the reversed ageing process he goes to kindergarden until he finally is even too young for that. As he grows younger and younger he looses the memory of his entire past life until ..it was all dark(p.52) While the plotline is a complete different one when comparing book and film, there are however obstacles Benjamin Button has to overcome during his lifetime. In the book mainly because of the nonacceptance of society and in the movie because of II b ; One main theme in the book is how a new born baby, physically and mentally in his 80s, is accepted into society. In the short story, which plays in 1860(first few lines), Benjamin is born in the hospital and right from the beginning one can see how Benjamin is considered to be beneath social standards of that time. When Mr Button arrives at the hospital, the doctor even worries about his own reputation : Do you imagine a case like this will help my professional reputation? One more would ruin meruin anybody. (Page 4). Mr Button still unsuspecting of what happened has to realize, that the doctor who brought himself into the world and had been the family ´s physician for over 40 years, has no interest in seeing any of the Buttons ever again as he makes clear by saying : à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Im through with you! I dont want to see you or any of your relatives ever again! Good-bye! (Page 4) It is not only the doctor who is upset and hostile. It seems like the whole hospital is worried because of this unusual event.. The hospital will never regain its flawless reputation after-(Page 6) complaint the nurse seconds before she showed Mr Button the way to his new born child. The fact that his new born baby actually is an old man outrages Mr. Button to a degree, that he even calls his own son an imposter and lier (page 8). This shows very well how the society back then reacts to phenomenons which do not fit their norms and believes. From this moment on, Roger Button does everything in his power to threat Benjamin appropriate to his age. He wants to keep the old age of Benjamin a secret and even thinks further what the best solution would be to do so. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾If, say, he could only find a very large boys suit, he might cut off that long and awful beard, dye the white hair brown, and thus manage to conceal the worst, and to retain something of his own self-respect not to mention his position in Baltimore society . Roger Button is determined to keep his illusion alive and deny the obvious which is made very clear by the following words :Benjamin was a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾baby, and a baby he should remain(page 15) What the mishap would have cost the Buttons and their kinsfolk socially cannot be determined (page 17) But the citys attention is very soon drawn onto other things the outbreak of the Civil War. By the age of twelve Benjamins parents got used to him and even felt that he was not any different from other children. This was the time when Benjamin was not troubled by society because of his appearance. Later in the book though he has once again troubles to find his place in society. This occurs when Benjamin Button who just passed his entrance examination to Yale college is called into the Yale registrars office to receive his schedule. Benjamin cant die his hair before he enters the office and therefore cant hide his elderly appearance. The registrar first thought hed be talking to Mr Roger Button. As Benjamin made is case clear and insists on his age of eighteen, once again Benjamin meets with his à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾curse he has to deal with since his birth. The idea! the registrar shouted. A man of your age trying to enter here as a freshman. Eighteen years old, are you? Well,Ill give you eighteen minutes to get out of town. (Page 23) Being unable to gain a proper education at college because of the social inacceptance of his case he starts working for his fathers company Roger Button Co. During this time, Benjamin also starts to mingle with society and meets the daughter of General Moncrief, HildegardeIt whom he marries 6 months later. The story of Benjamins birth is being remembered again but many stories were made up such as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Benjamin was really the father of Roger Button, that he was his brother who had been in prison for forty years(page 31) Therefore the real story is forgotten or just so unbelievable that nobody believes it, not even his own wife. Many years Benjamin is able to life a happy life without having to worry about his physical aging process which makes him appear younger by the day, until he comes back from the Civil War to his wife and has to face that his ever younger appearance drives his wife nuts, she honestly believes its his way of annoying her and she is in the illusion that he could stop his aging process any time he wants. But, Hildegarde, I cant help it. You can too. Youre simply stubborn. You think you dont want to be like any one else. (page 37) After that point, the gab between them begins to widen. Benjamin keeps getting younger until he is a young boy. He receives a letter from the army asking him, since he served as an officer with a higher rank during the Spanish-American War to go back into service. He sees this as an opportunity to go back in time and do the duty he once enjoyed so much. Again society does not comply with his intentions. He arrives at the headquarters where he is turned down and sent home considered a little boy who wanted to play soldier. This also is the last conflict concerning the aspect of society and Benjams process of becoming younger. From that moment on Benjamin continues living his life backwards going back to kindergarden then under a nanny ´s custody getting younger and younger until hes finally gone. The skit of Benjamin Button is that the need for social self-preservation plays such a big role,that it blinds everyone from seeing Benjamins fate for what it is, and for accepting him for the person he is. Fitzgerald criticizes the community of the upper class whos reputation mainly is secured throughout conformity and their status is determend by their wealth. The social aspect or concerns about someone ´s reputation and how its influencing the book however is almost absent in the whole movie. In the film, Benjamin appears like a child, but his appearance still is so shocking to Mr. Button (PHOTO) that he grabs the baby wanting to get rid of him. It seems like he even attempts to throw the little baby into the river. (9:57) The appearance of a police officer stops that thought and he leaves Benjamin with 18 Dollars on the steps leading to a New Orleans boardinghouse for the elderly , the Nolan House (QUELLE), where Queenie, takes him in and raises him like he was her own child, hes accepted right away. There is no hint in the movie that Mr Button gave his son away for any other reason than his outer appearance .Mr Button:I thought you were a monster (1:43:23) c; In the movie, Benjamin Button has to overcome several obstacles linked to his reversed aging process such as witnessing people constantly dying in front of his eyes during his earlier time in the Nolan House, where à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾death was a common visitor. (25:03) When Benjamin talks about his process about getting younger with one of the residents living in the Nolan House. Its made pretty clear by the words of the resident what heavy burden he has to carry upon his shoulders. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Well I feel sorry for you, you have to see everybody you love die before you do, its an aweful responsibility(52:47). In the movie theres a love story which helps to understand what it means to live a life backwards like Benjamin does. He meets Daisy who is the grandchild of Miss Fall and sometimes comes to visit her over the weekends at the Nolan House. Benjamin falls in love with Daisy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾ from the first time he saw her (36:47) But her being only 10 and him physically in his 70s and the mentally young age of both makes a romance impossible at least for this moment. It turns out to be a love story which develops slowly, over the course of many decades. At the age of 17, Benjamin goes on a long intense trip on a tugboat. Even though Daisy and Benjamin write each other constantly, many years pass until they meet each other again in the Nolan House in 1945 when Benjamin is 26 years old. Even though Daisy makes strong suggestions to sleep with Benjamin, he turns her down for the reason that she is to be leaving the next morning. This incident though is not important for the aspect which is discussed here. Its mentioned here only for the better understanding of the plotline. However in spring 1962, 19 years later Daisy and Benjamin meet again in New Orleans at the Nolan House where they both fall in love with each other at once. The fact that Daisy is many years older than Benjamin seems to be irrelevant for quite a long time until the reality of his curse pops back into his life. Daisy gets pregnant and Benjamin asks himself the question :How can I be a father when Im heading in the other direction? Even though his wife knows the consequences she gives him words of encouragement and insists that they will somehow make it work. But life doesnt always go according to one ´s wishes, therefore not long after the baby is born Benjamin realizes that his son needs a father and not a playmate. He makes a very tough decision and goes away, leaving his wife and daughter with enough money to live a good life. Giving up the love of his life is probably the biggest obstacle Benjamin has to overcome because of his reversed aging process. SETTING: III a;Charactere In the short story Benjamin is born as an old man apparently about seventy years of age.(p.7) He has almost white hair and a long smoke-colored beard(p.7) Benjamin starts out with a lot of demanding and complaining. Just born and still in the hospital he announces This is a fine place to keep a youngster of quiet tastes. With all this yelling and howling, I havent been able to get a wink of sleep. I asked for something to eat.(p.9) He also doesnt act anything like a baby. When he is alone he secretely smokes cigares and finds more interest in an encyclopedia than in kids ´ toys.(FOOTNOTE) Instead of playing with children of his age he finds more pleasure in sitting and talking to his grandfather. Benjamin occassionally breaks things on purpose to create the illusion beeing a normal baby just to delighten his father. he only did these thing because they were expected of him, and because he was by nature obliging.(p.18) This is also the reason why he dies his hair and shaves his bear d, he tries to please everybody around him even if hes not comfortable with it. Aging backwards for Benjamin means to overcome many obstacles as shown above and still Benjamin always keeps his dignity and never complains about his faith. Benjamin, once he left the hospital, took life as he found it.(p. 17) As Benjamin gets older, or younger for this matter, he turns out to be very intelligent and succesfull in what he does. Not only did he graduate from Havard University but also made his fathers company way more profitable due his new ideas. He also becomes an expert in dancing and great in playing golf. During his army time in the Spanish-American War in 1898 he becomes a lieutenant-colonel. He was slightly wounded, and received a medal. Benjamin also becomes more and more attracted by the gay side of life. He was dancing with the prettiest of the young married women, and chatting with the most popular of the dà ªbutantes.1912 though is a turning point in Benjamins life. His glor y years seem to be over now- as his physical appearance now is the one of a sixteen year old teenager his mental ability grows back as well. And therefore his social status is following the same process, he finds himself much alone, except for the companionship of three or four fifteen-year-old boys in the neighborhood. Now at the end of his life he behaves and thinks the way he was supposed to during his early years. He reads little boys stories and for him now playing with little stripes was the most fascinating game in the world.(p.49). He is a little boy now and he was very happy(p.49) Slowely he starts to forget no token came to him of his brave days at college, of the glittering years when he was flustered the hearts of many girls. And then he remembered nothing. In the movie Benjamin starts his life by looking like a normal baby except for his skin which is heavily wrinkeled, just like the skin of an old person. He cries like any other baby but after a closer examination by the doctor they find out that his health condition is rather in a state which can be found by elderly people than by a newborn child. Details then bookaccommodating Father: In the story Benjamins dad is very present right from the beginning. He is a succesfull man and helds a high position, both social and financial. And therefore is always concered about other peoples opinions of him. He seems to not be very open for things he doesnt understand or he doesnt believe in. Which is shown by his attempt raising his son Benjamin the normal way, which is only made possible through illusions he built for himself to avoid the confrontation with the truth. He has a hard time accepting Benjamin as his son until he gets older which is either because of Benjamins trumendous success with the company (It was mainly due him that the family fortune was doubled chpt. 7) or due to the fact that Benjamin finally appears younger than his dad. In the movie however his name is Thomas Button. He also is the head of a successful Button company, but he doesnt seem too concerned about what other people think about him, he even seems like a man without any scruble by abondoning his son just because of his appearance. Later in the movie it accured that Mr Button is sick and his time on earth is very limited. He wants to make up for everything and regrets his mistakes. He tells Benjamin that he was his father and furthermore tells him that he should never have abondoned him (1:34:37). Though the apolgy was long overdue and what he did unforgivable this small move still makes him a sympathic character at the end. Mother: While in the book the mother is alive there isnt anything else mentioned about her. In the movie however Benjamins biological mother dies giving birth to Benjamin. At her place steps Queenie, his black surrogate mother. This character is very strong and independant, its basically her who runs the whole Nolan House with all its elderly residents. Which also shows how responsible and caring she is. Her joyfull acting and her supportiveness towards Benjamin thouroughout the movie makes her a loveable character.

Shallow Romeo and Stupid Juliet :: Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Shallow Romeo and Stupid Juliet We just finished reading the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. In this play we are introduced to the tragic story of their forbidden "love" which ultimately leads to their deaths. Although Romeo and Juliet is considered to be a timeless love story, I find Romeo to be too immature for this to be so. When we are first introduced to Romeo, he is involved with a girl by the name of Rosaline. Benvolio inquired about Romeo's situation with her to see if she was the cause for his melancholiness, when he discovered she was, he advised him to forget her and move on to another girl. "Tut man, one fire burns out another's burning; One pain is lessened by another's anguish. Turn giddy, and be helped by backward turning. One desperate grief cures with another's languish. Take thou some new infection to thy eye, And the rank poison of the old will die." Romeo takes the advise Benvolio offered, and not another word about loving Rosaline is spoken. On the same day, Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio went to the Capulet's party dressed in masks so their identities wouldn't be known. At the party, Romeo saw a beautiful girl dancing with Paris and instantly fell in love with her. He asked a servingman what her name was but he didn't know. "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night As rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear- Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear. So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? Forsweare it, sight, For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." I find this hard to believe that Romeo could instantly fall in love with Juliet by her looks alone. Even harder to believe, is that if he was

Essay on Theism versus Atheism in Catch-22 -- Catch-22 Essays

Theism versus Atheism in Catch-22  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 deals with many issues that mankind is prone to deal with. One issue that is raised is the subject of theism versus atheism.   This argument is manifested in a dialogue, approximately two pages in length, between Yossarian, the main character, and Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife. In this particular scene, Yossarian and the lieutenant's wife are debating the existence of G-d, presumably in the Judeo-Christian sense. The scene begins with each character introduced as an atheist, although the degeneration of the argument eventually proves somewhat otherwise. Yossarian is portrayed as a character in a perpetually negative mindset; he is invariably bitter and jaded, particularly because he has been forced to fight in World War II. Yossarian's experiences have led him to expect the worst from life, and to disbelieve in a g-d that causes such things as tooth decay and pain. The reader knows very little about Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife, aside from her sexual escapades with the soldiers serving under her husband. Nevertheless, she seems to be under the impression that there are things in life to be grateful for under any circumstances. Yossarian attempts to prove his point through a long-winded and rather humorous speech about G-d being a bumbling fool who "robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements" (189). While Yossarian raises a valid question against the existence of G-d, the fact that he debates the existence of G-d at all and speaks as though G-d exists provides the loophole necessary for this G-d to be a Catch-22.      Taken into consideration without the idea of Catch-22, the singular flaw in Yossarian's argument is that h... ... point of silliness) directly opposite a serious point in order to make the point more obvious. The fact that Heller chose religion as a subject to tackle shows great strength, particularly considering that Catch-22 was originally written in the late 1950s - a time in which the concept free-thinking was still in its infancy. The method of satire as a means of attacking an issue provides an effective outlet for the expression of ideas while maintaining a light overtone as a defense against retaliation. The scene pertaining to the atheism debate was both amusing and thought provoking, a task difficult to overcome.    Works Cited:    Heller, Joseph. The Chelsea House Library of Literary Criticism. Twentieth-Century American Literature Vol. 3. New York. Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.    Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. New York: Dell Publishing, 1991

Marriage and the family

Throughout the course of time, family dynamics and components have evolved along with society. In recent history the contemporary family has evolved into more of a dual earner family, leaving the traditional division of responsibilities ever changing and progressing. In todays society it has become more common to see women taking on the traditional responsibilities of men both financially and around the home and men doing their part to assist with more household activities and child care.To fully understand the changes that have taken place over time it is important to look at here we have come from. Customarily, in the past family roles between and husband and wife were black and white. Men would traditionally work the nine to five every day, support the family financially, and take care of household maintenance. This would often cause less time for things like engagement with children and helping with their overall development. While Men had their hands full outside the home, women spent most of their time in the home taking care of housework and rearing children.As a society we have come a long way from what used to be considered a contemporary family. Today, a contemporary family no onger consists of one employed provider but a dual earning couple. This is due to women becoming more independent, career oriented, and educated. Another factor that plays into the evolution of the dual earner family is the state of the economy, cost of living, and childcare expenses. It is almost essential for families to have duel earners in order to make ends meet. Today, women can be Just as an important piece of the financial puzzle as their counterparts.Now that we have established the new normal, it is important to look at the division of the families responsibilities. In dual arning families, men have been doing more than they ever have and have come a long way. Men are now more actively participating in things like housework, cooking, and lawn care but the statistics st ill may surprise most. â€Å"According to the data from The American Time use Survey, 83% of women as compared to 64% of men reported spending time in such activities. † In addition, â€Å"married men reported spending 1. hours on household activities compared to 2. 5 hours reported by married women. † (The marriage and family experience eleventh edition) It is obvious that men are still doing less than women in the home on average.But Men have come a ong way from where they were in eras such as the 50's and 60's where they assisted in almost no household work. It is established that men are doing a better Job as society progresses. â€Å"Men's share of housework has increased over the past three decades (from 15% to more than 30%) as has their actual time spent doing housework. (The marriage and family experience eleventh edition) It is now common to see men cooking, cleaning, and child rearing as a result of both individuals being an equal contributor both financial ly and to the family. In shift work arrangements a man's role may be increased depending on what shift he is working. If a man is working a night shift, he would most likely be responsible for things like getting children ready for school, cooking breakfast, and driving to school as he would be returning from work when they are waking up.Obviously it is not Just the men who mentioned before, women are still doing more than men statistically when it comes to domestic chores. Women are often now earning larger wages, working more hours, and have more responsibilities than men both in their careers and in their families. Being domesticated is nothing new as far as women leading the way in the home. As ime passes it is hard to determine whether or not things will ever be equal.With the evolution of the dual earning arrangement, families are now forced to alter their traditional responsibilities to make the household run as a unit. Over the past few decades we have seen an exceptional in crease in the man's responsibilities around the home and have seen a shift in the traditional division of responsibilities. As the cost of living continues to rise and salaries continue to fall, it is not likely to see a shift in the other direction anytime soon. It truly is amazing to see how we have broken the mold in such a short period of time

Galileo Galilei: Man of Science Essay

Galileo Galilei was an Italian scientist born on February 15, 1564. He lived in a time when people perceived the earth as the center of the universe and when people interpreted the scriptures literally. He originally pursued the field of medicine, but later gained an inclination towards mathematics. He worked to develop the scientific method and to explain the world in mathematical terms. Today, his inventions and discoveries contributed to the establishment of the scientific world’s foundation. Galileo Galilei: Man of Science Galileo Galilei is one of the most revolutionary figures in history who transcended both religious and scientific conventions. The expanse of his accomplishments cover physics, astronomy, and mathematics, all to which his contributions have resulted in significant advances. He lived in a time when truth was persecuted and religion dictates facts of society. But he refused to remain in stagnation and to accept without question. His works reflected both genius and ingenuity, as his life mirrored the depths that human intelligence can reach. Being a highly celebrated scientist, Galileo has proven himself a man who would always exercise the freedom to think, discover, and create. Life and Writings An Italian scientist born on the 15th of February 1564 in the city of Pisa, Galileo Galilei lived in a time when Europeans have only recently discovered the Americas. He was born towards the end of the Renaissance period. His birth was three days prior Michael Angelo’s death, 72 years after the discovery of the Americas, 43 years before the landing of the Mayflower, and two months before the birth of Shakespeare (Fermi and Bernardini, 1961, p. 11). Galileo, as he is more popularly called, was the son of Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati. Although originally from Pisa, Italy and lived there for 10 years, Galileo moved to Florence, his Father’s birthplace, to join his family. He was then sent to the Camaldolese Monastery at Vallombrosa in order to be educated by the Benedictine monks. This religious order became attractive to the young Galileo, as he incorporated the monastic life with solitude and hermitage. He entered the order and became a noviciate, but his religious life was put to a halt as he faced a strong opposition from his father. Vincenzo Galilei had already intended that his eldest child would practice medicine (O’Connor and Robertson, 2002). Galileo pursued his medical degree at the University of Pisa, as he was urged by his father. But being a physician was never appealing for Galileo, and he only took interests on course subjects concerning mathematics and natural philosophy. This diverted his attention from medicine to his destined field, mathematics and natural sciences. In 1589 at the University of Pisa, he became the chair of mathematics. However, after the death of his father, which compelled him to search for more lucrative means to support his family, Galileo took the position of professor of mathematics at the University of Padua in 1592. Until 1610, he taught geometry, mechanics, and astronomy in this university. This period was very important as Galileo made outstanding discoveries during this time in both pure and applied sciences. He argued against the Aristotelian doctrines on the universe and even believed that Kepler’s Supernova of 1604 occurred far from the Earth. He already silently believed in the Copernican claim of heliocentrism (O’Connor and Robertson, 2002). Galileo had three children with Marina Gamba. But he fathered his son and two daughters out of wedlock. The children’s illegitimate status made Galileo decide that his daughters are not suited for marriage and therefore must enter a religious order. They became nuns of the convent of San Matteo Arceteri where they forever remained. His son, on the other hand, later gained a legitimate status and was able to later marry (Life, 2000). Due to his support for the heliocentric theory of Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo faced the Inquisition of the Catholic Church in 1633. The leaders of the Roman Catholic religion convicted Galileo with the crime of heresy. As part of his punishment, the church ordered that he withdraw his support for Copernicus publicly. He was also given the sentence of life imprisonment, but only served house arrest due to his advanced age. By his age of 72, Galileo suffered from blindness due to cataracts and glaucoma. And in 1642, Galileo Galilei died at Arcetri. This was the very same birth year of another physicist, Isaac Newton (Chew, 1996). One of the most interesting characteristics of his writings is that they are all, except for one, written in the Italian language instead of Latin. Although Italian was his native tongue, the more conventional medium of scientific writing was Latin. Two of his most renowned works are entitled â€Å"Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican† and â€Å"Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences† (Kolatkar, 2001, p. 3). He presented these works in a considerably dramatic and lively manner. Here, he told of the story of a conversation among three characters, Simplicio (representation of Aristotle), Salviati (representation of Galileo), and Sagredo (intelligent layperson). His greatest scientific contributions were contained in these literatures. These highly influenced the â€Å"modern scientific thought – ‘its method of enquiry’ and ‘its criterion of truth† (Kolatkar, 2001, p. 3). He was the responsible for the current scientific method that scientists are employing, and which would last for generations to come. His other famous writings include â€Å"The Little Balance,† â€Å"The Starry Messenger,† â€Å"Letters on Sunspots,† â€Å"Letter to Grand Duchess Christina,† â€Å" Discoros Delle Comete,† and â€Å"The Assayer† (Chew, 1996). Contributions in Astronomy, Physics, Mathematics, and Technology Given the title of â€Å"Father of Modern Science† (Finocchiaro, 1989, p. 1), Galileo Galilei has highly contributed to the advancement of science especially in the field of astronomy, physics, and mathematics. He developed the scientific method, which is very instrumental in the methodology employed by many of the scientists after him. This scientific method allowed scientists to conduct experimentations that are quantitative as opposed to qualitative, repeatable, and unbiased (Finocchiaro, 1989, p. 1). In the field of physics, Galileo notably took interest on falling bodies. At the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Galileo dropped a cannonball and a feather. Through this simple experiment, he discovered that the falling objects had the same acceleration despite their differences in mass. He found that the speed is dependent on air resistance and not on the object’s mass, which is now one of the most well known laws of physics (PBS, 2002, p. 1). Galileo’s mathematical inclinations led him to developing a certain method in solving problems. He reduced these problems into ordinary lay terms and adapted them into a common-sense logic level. He used this in formulating analyses and in resolving the problems into simplified mathematical terms. This proved to be successful as he was able to describe and experiment on motion, which eventually helped Isaac Newton in mathematically describing his Law of Inertia (Chew, 1996). Galileo is also known for his technological contributions. Galileo was naturally observant and very curious with his surroundings. He enjoyed exploring and experimenting on mechanical objects. This interest led him to invent a simply designed thermometer, a geometric military compass, and a modified telescope. It is with the latter invention that Galileo was able to explore the celestial bodies. Galileo observed the moon’s surface and found that it has great similarities with the Earth. He also made the very interesting astronomical observation on Jupiter and its four moons and on Venus and its different phases. Using his self constructed telescope, Galileo viewed distant planets and stars, their behaviour and their surfaces. Still in contribution to the field of Astronomy, Galileo described and illustrated the altering pattern of the Sun’s spots. His proposed explanation for this phenomenon is that these changes in the sunspots’ pattern were due to the rotation of the sun. Of all Galileo’s scientific theories, his most controversial was his support for the Copernican opposition against the classic Aristotelian doctrines. The ancient Greeks’ belief of geocentrism and geostasis were taught in all universities and other academic institutions at his time. But Galileo opposed these views as he believed in the Copernican geokinetic and heliocentric theories. This is a highly controversial stand for Galileo as it led to his encounter with the church, which eventually sentenced him to life imprisonment (Finocchiaro, 1989, p. 7). After being sentenced into life imprisonment, Galileo served his punishment under house arrest until his death. But this did not prevent him from continuing his scientific experiments. When he returned to his studies in physics, particularly motion, he analyzed falling bodies, projectiles, inclined planes, and other important areas that are considered as the foundations of modern physics (PBS, 2002, p. 1). The Inquisition As one of the most popular and accomplished scientists in his time, Galileo was not only under the scrutiny of the public but most essentially by the church. It was however unfortunate that the Father of Modern Science did not escape the fury of religious officials against his beliefs. He greatly suffered from his encounters with the Roman Catholic religion, and paid until the rest of his life (Wudka, 1998). At the University of Pisa, Galileo taught astronomy with the required curriculum. He was compelled to teach the geocentric and geostatic theories that scholars of his time accepted. But due to his exposure to a novel theory by Nicolaus Copernicus when he taught at the University of Padua, he became convinced that the earth and the other planets revolve around sun. This is otherwise known as the heliocentric theory that is currently accepted as a scientific fact. His support for Copernicus meant that he was against the doctrines taught by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1633, he faced the historically renowned â€Å"Inquisition† (Chew, 1996). It was in 1611 that Galileo first experienced religious encounters for his Copernican beliefs. Four years prior the inquisition, the Dominican friar named Niccolo Lorini had criticized his views and even filed a complaint against him. In his defence, Galileo argued to the officials in Vatican and to the Grand Duchess Christina that he be given liberty to inquire and defend his ideas in Rome. By the year 1616, scholars proclaimed that heliocentrism is both philosophically absurd and theologically erroneous. Those who advocated this theory were considered heretics. He was ordered by Pope Paul V to refrain from defending the Copernican view and to discuss his beliefs neither in speech nor in writing (Wudka, 1998). The Roman Catholic Church was already experiencing oppositions from different sectors of the society. It was facing battles against armies of Protestants and therefore needed to establish and to demonstrate enough strength against their enemies. With his authority at stake, then church’s leader Pope Urban VIII accused Galileo of mockery against him. This placed the renowned scientist before an inquisition which later convicted him guilty of heresy. He was 69 years old during the incident, and therefore was very physically vulnerable. The church threatened him of serious torture if he did not withdraw his support for Copernicus. Therefore, he recanted his theory and was sentenced into life imprisonment, but instead placed under house arrest. He died serving his sentence and it was not until 1992 that the church apologized for its maltreatment towards this man of science (Life, 2000). Legacy Three hundred years after the inquisition, the church recanted its verdict against the men of science that they persecuted. Galileo Galilei, together with Copernicus and other men, was absolved of the crimes they were accused of. But more than his sufferings from the hands of the church, Galileo has left his legacy in the world of science. He would forever be remembered for his contributions in the laws of physics and his astronomical findings. And most of all, his improvement of the microscope would always be regarded as a revolutionary tool in advancing our knowledge of the universe. Generations after ours would never cease to know his name, as it epitomizes both genius and greatness. Galileo Galilei has carved his niche and would forever be remembered as a man who shaped the modern world of science (Hughes and Shaw, 1999). â€Å"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. † -Galileo Galilei References Chew, R. (1996). Galileo Galilei. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from http://www. lucidcafe. com/library/96feb/galileo. html. Finocchiaro, M. A. (1989). The Galileo Affair: A Documentary. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Hughes, E. And Shaw, L. (1999). Galileo’s Legacy. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from http://www. cogs. susx. ac. uk/users/desw/galileo/life/legacy. html. Kolatkar, M. (2001). Galileo Galilei: Father of Modern Science. Journal of Science Education, 6:3. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from www. iisc. ernet. in/academy/resonance/Aug2001/pdf/Aug2001p3-5. pdf Life (2000). Galileo Sees the Moons of Jupiter and the Earth Moves. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from http://www. life. com/Life/millennium/events/05. html. O’Connor, J. J. , and Robertson, E. F. (2002). Galileo Galilei. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from http://www-history. mcs. st-andrews. ac. uk/Biographies/Galileo. html. PBS (2002). Who Was Galileo Galiei? Retrieved January 31, 2008 from www. pbs. org/wgbh/nova/galileo/media/lrk_handout. pdf. Wudka, J. (1998). Galileo and the Inquisition. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from http://phyun5. ucr. edu/~wudka/Physics7/Notes_www/node52. html.