Meiosis and Development Cutting the Ties That Bind - 275 Words

Meiosis and Development: Cutting the Ties That Bind (Article Critique Sample) Content: Students Last NameCourse InstructorCourseDateTitle: Chapter 3 Meiosis and DevelopmentSubtitle: Meiosis: Cutting the Ties That BindMeiosis is a special type of reproductive cell division which occurs only in the generation of thegametes or germ cells that are responsible for fertilisation and hence formation of new offspring. Meiotic celldivision reduces (halves) thechromosomal content and hence the production of four haploid cells. The overallprocess of germ cell development is called "gametogenesis which is oogenesis and spermatogenesis andincludes not only meiosis but alsothe cellular changes that occurdifferently in male and female germ cells.The development of a new organismfrom the joining of two single cells isa complex and carefully orchestrated process. But even before sperm meets egg, anequally elaborate set ofchoreographed steps must occur toensure successful fertilization and therefore resulting in successful sexualreproduction that will lead to formation o f the offspring. Those steps, known asreproductive cell division or meiosis, split the original number of chromosomes in half so that offspring will inherit half their genetic material from one parent and half from theother. During this process, each set of homologous chromosomes pair up in a kind of chromosomal square dance a process called synapses that will lead crossing over and hence variation in secies. Chromosome 1with chromosome 1, chromosome 2 with chromosome 2, and so on down the line. The two gamete cells stick together, dancing through the phases of meiosis both meiosis I and meiosis II until it is time to segregate or separate to opposite ends of the dividing cell. When the chromosomes dont pair or part appropriately it can result in eggs and sperm with the wrong number of chromosomes, a major cause of miscarriage and birth defects. In order to avoid these mistakes, most chromosomes use a process that allows exchange of genetic information to take place, a process know n as crossing over. In this case chromosomes loop their arms with their partners and even swapping pieces of genetic material to stick together until the dance (crossing over) is over. A few chromosomes, like chromosome 4 in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, are too short to make these crossovers and hence the process of crossing over is not suitable for all species of living organisms. This species have somehow, figured out another way to stay connected to their partners.Stacie E. Hughes, Ph.D., a research specialist II at the StowersInstitute for Medical Research, identified the threads of DNA that seemed to tie these other homologous chromosomes together in pairs. The major objection that still remained was: once these chromosomes are roped into pairs, how do they manage to come apart again and segregate into independent chromosomes? This lead to a research by two scientists; Hughes and R. Scott Hawley, Ph.D., who showed that an enzyme calledTopoisomerase II is required for resolvingthese threads so homologous chromosomes can part ways and become independent once again. The finding, published in the October 23, 2014 issue of Polygenetic, explains the complexity of the meiotic process."It is not surprising there are many ways to segregate chromosomes because there are also many ways to control other molecular events, like gene expression," says Hawley, a Stowers Institute investigator. "This method of segregating shorter chromosomes may be odd and no canonical as it gets, but it does not matter because cells finally survive. since Hughes' initial discovery of DNAthreads, she and Hawley have been looking for the molecular scissors which functions to cut entangled chromosomes free without leading to programmed cell death (apoptosis). This lead to the discovery of Topoisomerase II, an enzyme which cuts and untwist tangled strands of the double helix strands of chromosomes. Previous research showed thatTopoisomerase II was involved in earlier cellular proc esses like DNAelongation and replication, and the enzyme persisted even during later phases of meiosis. The researchers thought that Topoisomerase II might be waiting around to do yet another job, like cutting DNA threads to allow homologous chromosomes to segregate. The researchers tested their hypothesis relatively straightforward. The researchers simply needed to remove Topoisomerase II in their specimen the Drosophila melanogasterand then look to see whether meiosis was able to proceed normally without it. However, because the enzyme was involved in so many critical cellular processes, the researchers knew that an approach like that would yield nothing more than dead fruit flies. They therefore adapted a sophisticated method known as RNA interference which uses small pieces of RNA to silence genes and eliminate Topoisomerase II at a specific time point late in meiotic process. Hughes then isolated the oocytes from the fruit flies and analyzed them using fluorescent tags that ill uminate the DNA threads co...

The Atlantis Rubber Company - Free Essay Example

John smith, the founder of Atlantis Rubber Company, started his business of tire-mounting patent in 1900, with total assets of $2000. At its initials he earned $110,000 by selling the tires of another company but later he purchased a building in 1902 to start manufacturing its own tires, by hiring twelve employees at this place. In 1960s the company has been voted as one of the best among the ten team-managed companies of the United States. The company was organizationally very strong because of its good management which is very important for the success of the organization and there able to survive at the time 1930 when there was a disastrous economic crises for many American firms. The company is now the world leading manufacturer of tires, by having market of 3000 different sizes of tires and more than 10,000 other products of plastic and rubber and many more. There are more than 75,000 employees including men and women working in almost 24 countries of the world. Along with this, the company owned a network of more than 750 stores in the United States. This case revolves around the young man of twenty seven years, Ken Bonner, who worked as an accountant at the home office of the company. The company had its own college for training the engineers, accountants, chemists and many more. The purpose of this training was to make the employees get aware of the history and business of the company in the morning ses sions and to make them more practical in the work they have to do by dividing them in groups. The training session was about of eight weeks and devotion to achieve the goals of the organization was stressed on every employee. The company had great expectations from the individuals who once became the member of the college training. The college training session made every member to realize that they are elite members and their future with the company is bright. When Ken received his first assignment, he gets really disappointed and he started thinking whether his future is bright or he just became a part of the small business of his town, but later on with the passage of time, he desired to be a part of the company. Problem statement: The company was more task-oriented and very restrict to his rules and regulations. They follow the conservative behavior approach to avoid any loss in the business. This was the reason that even when the manager of the Accounts Payable felt the need of more staff in the department, he didnt go for it. Promotions were given only to the employees who were the members of the college training program and the rest of the people had nothing to do with this benefit. There was the lack of coordination among the departments as the employees of one department dont know the employees of other department. There was no concept of employee relationship and employees were made only to achieve the goal of the organization. Although conservative management has its benefits but its not preferable in the organizations at its growing stage. The management of the company was not up to date with the technological changes in the environment. The company was at its best in management in early 1960s but it didnt make changes in its management with the passage of time. The employees were not allowed to talk with each other or to visit to doctor during the working hours. Through this company can achieve its goals but never be able to retain its employees. The case revolves around one man Ken Barron, who moved to different departments, during his job in Atlantis Rubber Company. Ken experience in one department was totally different than in the other department. Issues, Discussion Recommendations Issues Discussion and Recommendation In the first ten to fifteen years of the job, there were some set patterns for job promotions and job titles through which every manager and executive has to pass. Promotion was only given to the employees who were the member of the training college. The competent employees need to be encouraged in promotion whether they are or not the member of the training colleges. This will make them to give more benefit to their organization in achieving their short and long term goals. If the company gives promotions on the basis of their membership it will discourage others employees working in the company and they definitely leave the organization. The management needs to better understand the best promotion practices in order to improve the level satisfaction of the employees (Hooi, 2012). Conservative Management approach was used in achieving the targeted goals. The company was not innovative and no changes were made by the management in its strict rules and regulations with the passage of the time. The company needs to be more relationship oriented. In this way it doesnt only achieve its targeted goals but can make its employees more satisfy with their job. Relationship oriented management practices n the organization results in better outcomes (Toles Anderson, 2011). They need to revise their strict rules of working only so that employee will not even thin about to leave the organization. No extra pay was given to employees for the extra work they used to do in Saturday. If the employee had to work on Saturday because of workload, the company never paid him for the extra work. This only discourages the employee and de-motivates them from doing further work for the company. The company should need to give some incentives to their employees in order to retain them. The management trust and rewards are found to be the predictors of employee satisfaction, which in turn influence the extra role behavior of employees (Reychav Sharkie, 2010). Staff wa s insufficient for the required work. The manager of the company seems to be reluctant in hiring the new staff because he doesnt want to endure his own record of the single job, by the poor performance of the employee. Every employee was given the independent task and he has to complete it. This cause stress in the employees and quality of work is also disturbed. The work should be divided among the individual employees so that they perform their task in an efficient way. Break was insufficient and talking to each other was not tolerated during the work. The working environment of one department differs from the other department of the company. When Ken was in Accounts Payable department, he was not allowed to talk to other employees and the break time also was insufficient for relaxation. But when he moved to the other department, he found the environment bit different. The company needs to provide equal working environment for all the departments. By giving priority to on e department can only de-motivate the employees of the other departments. The working environment or strict rules of the organization are the source of stress in the employees (Jung Yoon, 2013). If someone gets ill he was not allowed to visit the doctor. This seems to be really awkward that someone is ill and he wasnt allowed to see a doctor during work. The company should need to have flexible rules regarding health issues. Even though the company should appoint his own medical officer within the company so that it provide immediate health treatment, if someone is ill during the work. The clerk employee had to come for extra work on Saturday without giving extra pay, and he didnt even told that what he had to do actually. The employees at lower level were not even told that what they need to do actually. They just had to do all work by their selves. If there were any load of work in the department, the clerk had to come on the Saturday and he was not given the extra pa y for that work. This results in the dissatisfaction of the employee from their seniors. The company needs to give incentives and benefits to the employees for the extra work they do. Although they dont leave the organization but the quality of work will be affected. The study has shown that extra work on weekdays or more working hours only lead to dissatisfaction of the employees which in turn increase the intention to leave the organization (Nabe-Nielsen, et al., 2010). There was a Communication gap between the departments of the company. The employee of one department was unaware of the other employees of the other department. Secondly, the employees were not provided with the sufficient information for the work they had to do. The company needs to communicate all the tasks; this will motivate the employees to do the work effectively and efficiently. The employees need to be well communicated about the tasks, this will not only enhance their motivation but the productivity can also be increase (Tohidi, 2011). The working environment was not friendly and few of the departments were equipped with the working facilities. The cost accounting department had only the facility of telephone. The employees were giving the opportunity to have friendly working environment. The rules were not so strictly followed there. But the rest of the departments dont have any friendly environment or direct connection with their managers or supervisors. Ken worked in different departments and he was very satisfied in the department, where the environment was friendly and cooperative. This increases his motivation satisfaction towards his job. Manger support and cooperation is very important for the employees, this will keep them motivated and can reduce the turnover rate. The studies has shown that supervisor support can reduce the turnover rate if he fully understand the needs of the employees, and provide them equal opportunities for career (Yang, et al., 2012). T here was no concept of training, workshops for the new work and it was up to the employee to perform and did his task. The employees were not provided with the training facility, if they assigned a new work by the supervisor. It was totally up to the employees that how they had to do the work because the seniors were only concerned with the outcomes. The company should need to give training to the employees in order t improve the productivity and quality of the work. Training will simply add more profit to the company. There was no concept of job analysis. The employees were not told about their responsibilities at the workplace. They had to figure it out by their selves that what they need to do to achieve the targeted goals of the organization. Job analysis is very important because through job specifications, employees get to know about their duties for a certain position. Conclusion The Herzberg motivation theory reveals that there are certain factors which make employees satisfy or dissatisfy at the workplace (Herzberg, 1959). The company policy, rule or regulations, working conditions, relationships with the seniors are some of the dissatisfaction factor for the employees, which make them to leave the company. Lack of support and trust, stress from overwork can also be the reasons of dissatisfaction. Although Fred was happy with the company but he left the organization when he got attractive job offer from the other company. The research has shown that motivation at work place and retention both are linked to each other, if the employee is motivated he will be satisfied to his job and career advancement which leads to his retention (Maka Sockelb, 2008). Good culture, organizational environment and the most important is recognition all play an important role in retaining the employees. If the company wants to retain its employees he has to make a proper plan or retention strategies. Training, mentoring, incentives are some of the very good retention strategies at workplace. The employees will be more satisfy and retain with the organization if they have provided with the opportunity of training for new skills (Costena Salazarb, 2011). Communicating the things effectively at the workplace will encourage the employees to perform their effectively and efficiently. The only thing now the company has to do is to be employee oriented rather than business oriented. If the needs of the employees are fulfilled they will remain satisfied and will give more benefit to the company.

Organisational Culture - 8269 Words

The topic canvasses the effects of organizational culture on the MA. This annotated bibliography is composed of research based, case study and literature reviewed articles, that all of them are recently published papers. Although in the aspect of mergers and acquisitions, organisational culture has various definition and encirclement (Riad, 2007), from recently introduced emotional intelligence (Harrison-Walker, 2008) to theoretical definitions (Schraeder Self, 2003), and also there are some debates about the direction of its effects on MA (Stahl Voigt, 2008), but its influences on MA are undeniable. (Stinchcomb Ordaz, 2007) The most important effects of organisational culture on MA could be summarised as goal and mission†¦show more content†¦Findings of the research have been categorised in three different aspects. In cultural type aspect, the most important findings are the lack of effective communication management and the absence of a clear strategy for implementing t he merger. It have been founded that most of the observed companies have set the financial benefits and economics of scale as their main objectives. In human resource aspect, It has been founded that no attempts have been made for finding the organisational fit before the mergers and this caused a high level of uncertainty between the employees. Finally, because of the bad management of turnover during the merger, most of the companies have lost their top manager and staff significantly. Integrating the attributes of human resource and organisational culture are on of this article significance. This article has evaluated the success of the mergers and acquisitions by interrelated characteristics between these two main fields. Another significance is the location of the research, South Africa, Which there are a few research related to that country. The research has used only five companies that mean a very small sample size. Furthermore, companies have been chosen from different indu stries and sectors, which reduce the precision of the findings. It could be added that the authors have used qualitative research, which means the findings are highly based on the interpretation of the authors. Article utilisedShow MoreRelatedOrganizational Culture And Organisational Culture1063 Words   |  5 PagesOrganisational Culture Organisational Culture is defined as what the employees perceive and how this perception creates a pattern of beliefs, values and, expectations. Organisational culture differs from organizational climate. Climate refers to more temporary attitudes, feelings and perceptions of individuals (Schneider, 1990). Culture on the other hand is an enduring, slow to change, core characteristic of organisations which is an implicit often indiscernible aspects of organisations, climateRead MoreOrganisational Culture1067 Words   |  5 PagesOrganisation Culture as there are many ways in which you can define the subject my interpretation of it is that it is structure of shared meaning which is held by members that differentiate the organisation from other organisations. Culture has its origin in the organisational interaction. The model put forward by Schein (1985) Schein divides organisational culture into three levels: Outer layer: These outer layers are at the surface, those aspects (such as dress) which can be easily recognisedRead MoreOrganizational Culture And Organisational Culture2209 Words   |  9 PagesLiterature on organisation culture has been involved rapidly and dynamically despite the relatively new to the concept (Schein, 2004). A considerable number of culture changes and management models have been developed by different scholars. The idea of management culture were hardly believed by many scholars. There are competing perspectives on the nature of organisational culture (Martin, Frost, and O Neill, 2006). The research method of organisational culture is fragmented and lacks ownershipRead MoreOrganisational Culture1310 Words   |  6 PagesOrganizational Culture? Organizational  culture refers to a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that show employees what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior.[1] These values have a strong influence on employee behavior as well as organizational performance. In fact, the term organizational culture was made popular in the 1980s when Peters and Waterman’s best-selling book In Search of Excellence made the argument that company success could be attributed to an organizational culture thatRead MoreOrganisational Culture And Organizational Culture2261 Words   |  10 PagesThroughout this essay organisational culture will be examined, including the two approaches mainstream and critical. What managers can do to shape culture and also an example of when culture has in fact been changed. Organisational culture can be acknowledged as the organisations personality; which is also referred to as corporate culture. 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According to the â€Å"Business dictionary† Organisational culture is defined as â€Å"The values and behaviours that contributeRead MoreOrganisational Culture And Organizational Culture1730 Words   |  7 PagesOrganisatio nal culture refers to ‘the shared beliefs and values guiding the thinking and behavioural styles of members’ (Cooke and Rousseau, 1988, in Bratton 2010: 334), indicating that employees who accept the common values of an organisation and put great effort on commitments are likely to build up a strong culture to an organisation. Edgar Schein (2004) proposed three levels of organisational culture. As employees go through changes, they gain experiences from the past, adapt to a new environmentRead MoreThe Influence of Organisational Structure on Organisational Culture2080 Words   |  9 Pagestheir parts such as staff, profit, products, strategy, technology, environment, structure and culture. These parts or factors can directly contribute to the strengths or weaknesses of an organisation and they are all interrelated. This essay will examine organisational structure and organisational culture and the influence mechanistic and organic structures have on organisational culture. Organisational structure, as defined by Hodge, Anthony Gales (1996), is â€Å"the sum total of the way in whichRead MoreOrganisational Behaviour - Organisational Structure and Culture1146 Words   |  5 PagesOrganizational   Structure   and   Culture       Introduction    In order to understand and evaluate different business structures one must be aware of the exact meaning and standards, which make that structure. Different business function in different ways. The World today is full of innovative and new structures, company cultures and ways in which companies base their work. Globalization has emphasized the meaning of company culture in ways that have led to completely new ideas, whileRead MoreOrganizational Culture And Organisational Culture1916 Words   |  8 Pagesinterpretations on what organizational culture is; it can be defined as †¦ This essay will be discussing and explaining organizational culture and change, furthermore how culture can have an influence on behaviour at work. In addition there will be an discussion on the organizational culture of two UK businesses, as well Organisational Culture Organisational culture is described as a company’s personality or DNA. (Education Portal) has defined organisational culture as ‘a system of shared assumptions

Effects Of Temperature On The Quality Of Dna Extracted...

Effects of temperature on the quality of DNA extracted from Manila envelopes Research Proposal Janet Boateng November 15,2014 First draft Forensic Biology 5410 Abstract/summary: In the case of mail threat to an individual, it is possible that DNA evidence could be left by the perpetrator on the adhesive strip of a manila envelope. The process of delivery mail via U.S. Postal Services may take from 3-7 business days, with temperature factoring into the quality of analysis of any DNA. If mail threats are coming from regions experiencing lower ambient temperatures, it is likely that DNA would experience decreased degradation in comparison to mail threats coming from regions with typically higher temperatures. The potential to recover DNA from the adhesive strip of a manila envelope is going to be analyzed through multiple tests on samples that experience varying thermal conditions in a hibernation oven. The underlying hypothesis is that higher ambient temperatures increase the rate of DNA degradation that can be reliably recovered from a manila envelope. The objective of this research is to examine the quality of DNA from the adhesive part of a manila envelope under varying thermal conditions. Introduction Forensic biology laboratories have to scientifically analyze multiple types of evidence including blood, fiber or hair, and various bodily fluids. In most cases, the large majority of evidence obtained is linked to DNA

Social Networking Sites Popular But Not Profitable

It is difficult to benchmark using a prosperous social networking site, since there are none. There are many, even dozens, of highly popular social networking sites that have large user bases and high levels of traffic. Havenstein (2007) notes that even social networking sites with massive user bases have had difficulty driving advertising revenue. There are a number of roadblocks and excuses that companies use for avoiding social networking, but ultimately the decision is economic. Social networking sites must therefore find a way to make advertising economically viable for major advertisers while at the same time controlling the costs associated with running the business. Only then can a social networking site become truly prosperous. One of the biggest barriers that needs to be overcome is the lack of metrics available to measure the success of ads placed through social media. Ads in social media are often placed of the basis of context, so for example they might relate to someones likes on Facebook. These ads, however, still take the form of banner ads and are generally disregarded by users, despite the context. A massive user base can help to overcome this, because advertisers need many thousands of placements to begin generating revenue. This means the networking site needs to be able to offer tens of thousands of placement in order to generate significant revenue. This poses a cost problem for social networking sites. In order to generate page impressions,Show MoreRelatedIndividual Organizational Structure Paper1091 Words   |  5 PagesIndividual Organizational Structure Paper MGT/230 July 23, 2012 Todd Lambertson Individual Organizational Structure Paper Facebook is a social-networking site that has a strong organization structure that is appropriate for their particular product; social media. Facebook seems like a simple site that does not require a structure to operate. Twitter works in the same way but is only set up for chatting through posts, or as it is called tweets. Tweets are text-based quotes of up to 140 charactersRead MoreSocial Networking - a Boon to the Modern Society1201 Words   |  5 Pagestechnology, social networking, came to the rescue. Twitter, Facebook, Google and other similar networking sites have played a major role in helping the blast victims. For example, well-wishers posted messages that asked for blood donations from willing volunteers, and a large number of people responded to such calls. Other posts asked for help with food, accommodation and other facilities for the needy. emergency contact numbers - for hospitals and police stations available on this sites - were reallyRead MoreSocial Media And Its Impact On Society1053 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Media Privacy Technology has developed into one of the most valuable assets to everyday life. The social media apps developed from technology have opened many doors to allow the impossible possible. Being able to buy things online with the click of a mouse, chatting with a friend who lives across the country, depositing a check through your smart phone, and the possibilities are continuously endless. With more and more incredible innovations happening on a daily basis. Much has been madeRead MoreMyspace Opportunities1468 Words   |  6 Pagesstarting a successful Internet direct-marketing firm called Response Base. Anderson and DeWolfe clearly did a lot of things right with this company as they eventually sold it to eUniverse in 2002 for several million dollars. After selling their profitable company, DeWolfe and Anderson had acquired a good amount of experience, confidence, and personal capital which could all be used to start a new business project. The experience that they gained provided the both of them with a comprehensive understandingRead MoreChanges in the Music Industry Essays815 Words   |  4 PagesThe music industry is an ever-evolving revolutionary entertainment industry for the masses. Music provides entertainment to all different masses due to the variety of genres produced. Music is a very profitable and complex industry. Music has expanded to a worldwide industry for musical artist to express their art through the form of song to the masses. Music not only appeals to the ears but to every aspect of a person. Music allows for individuals to explore and let their imagination expand as theyRead MoreThe Expansion and Uses of Internet Browers822 Words   |  4 Pagesof the web browsers that are used throughout the world. These web browsers have become even more common as the years have gone by. People use them in their everyday life to accomplish tasks that they need to get done. The beginning of this profitable and popular invention all started back in 1990 . Internet browsers have been around for the last 23 years. The first browser to be invented in 1990 was called the World Wide Web and then later was renamed to Nexus. The inventor that created the first webRead MoreAs The World Is Growing, The Social Media Network Is Growing1721 Words   |  7 Pagesis growing, the social media network is growing vastly and rapidly as well. We have various social media sites present in the world among which some of the widely used are Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. Similarly, if we investigate, there would more other social media sites that the people have been using in their daily life. Social networking sites which are part of social media are playing a very vital role for the companies and their growth. Social networking sites are helping the companiesRead MoreOrganizational Structure Paper1191 Words   |  5 Pagesglobal social networking giant. That is Facebook organization. In 2004 that time student from Harvard had an idea how it will be better for students can interact with each other besides the classroom and parties. It first start in collage then sweep the nation and named as â€Å"Facebook.† That moment he did not even thought this will be a global hit but it did, many people are joins every day in worldwide it is a social networking phenomenon. Started in 2004 Facebook is social networking sites that haveRead MoreForms and Classification of Online Business1729 Words   |  7 Pageslicensing procedures, and other government-related operations Consumer-to-consumer is e-commerce between private individuals with their fellow consumers. This type of e-commerce is characterized by online markets and online auctions wherein these sites serve as a medium for consumers to transact with other consumers. This type of e-commerce is said to have huge potential of growth out of all the types of e-commerce. 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The Macroeconomic Situation in the USA - 646 Words

Micro-Economic Situation in the USA United States economy was faced with grim economic prospects that nearly plunged the economy into recession. The measures that were put in place by the Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank did make the US economy survive the recession scare that was realized in August 2011. This recession scare was occasioned by the figures generated from the July 29th GDP report (Bullard, 2011). The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has however remained on the outlook and has warned the players in the financial markets of a possible downside risk originating from Europe. The basis of FOMC assertion was premised on European sovereign debt crisis that eroded the confidence households and businesses had in certain financial institutions. However, the drops in confidence have not impacted growth because large businesses have focused their growth strategies to Asia as opposed to Europe. Besides, households are less bothered by events unfolding in Europe which they consider too distant to make them ch ange their behavior (Bullard, 2011). As at January 2013, civilian unemployment rate stood at 7.9%. This was coupled with a four week moving average of 350,500 initial jobless claims (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2013). This means there was a 0.1 percentage increase in civilian unemployment rates considering that the civilian unemployment rate was 7.8% as at December 2012. There was also a +157 change in payroll employment as at January 2013. ForShow MoreRelatedThe Impact of the Deficit Surplus and Debt of the United States1225 Words   |  5 PagesTrade deficit refers to the situation when the value of imports exceeds the value of exports. This is synonymous to surplus when the nation has a surplus of imported goods. The whole affects the income of the USA during that given period hence affecting the national debt. 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Hard Times free essay sample

Published in serial instalments in Dickens’s magazine  Household Words  between April  1  and August  12,  1854 publisher: Charles Dickens narrator: The anonymous narrator serves as a moral authority. By making moral judgments about the characters, the narrator shapes our interpretations of the novel. oint of view: The narrator speaks in the third person and has a limited omniscience. He knows what is going on in all places and at all times, but he sometimes speculates about what the characters might be feeling and thinking, suggesting, at those times, that he does not actually know. tone: The narrator’s tone varies drastically, but it is frequently ironic, mocking, and even satirical, especially when he describes Bounderby, Harthouse, and Mrs. Sparsit. When describing Stephen and Rachael, his tone is pathetic, evoking sympathy. ense: The narrative is presented in the past tense; however, at the end, the narrator reveals what the future will bring to each of the main characters. setting (time): The middle of the nineteenth century setting (place):  Coketown, a manufacturing town in the south of England protagonist:  Louisa Gradgrind major conflict: Louisa Gradgrind struggles to reconcile the fact-driven self-interest of her upbringing with the warmth of feeling that she witnesses both in Sissy Jupe and developing within herself. As this attitude changes, Louisa is caught between allegiances to her family and loveless marriage and her desire to transcend the emotional and personal detachment of her past. rising action: Sissy joins the Gradgrind household, and Louisa marries Mr. Bounderby unwillingly, only to satisfy her father’s sense of what would be most rational for her. climax: Mr. Harthouse joins Gradgrind’s political disciples and attempts to seduce Louisa. Louisa, confused, leaves Bounderby and returns to her father’s house, where she collapses. alling action: Sissy informs Harthouse that Louisa will never see him again, and Louisa attempts to amend her life by appealing to her father and offering assistance to the alleged perpetrator in Bounderby’s bank robbery. themes: The mechanization of human beings; the opposition between fact and fancy; the importance of femininity motifs: Bounderby’s childhood; clocks and time; mismatched marriages symbols: Staircase; pegasus; fire; smoke serpents foreshadowing : Stephen’s claim that factory Hands have only death to look forward to foreshadows his own death in the mine shaft. Bitzer’s run-in with. When Dickens was nine, his family moved to London, and later, when he was twelve, his father was arrested and taken to debtors’ prison. Dickens’s mother moved his seven brothers and sisters into prison with their father but arranged for Charles to live alone outside the prison, working with other children at a nightmarish job in a blacking warehouse, pasting labels on bottles. The three months he spent apart from his family were highly traumatic for Dickens, and his job was miserable—he considered himself too good for it, earning the contempt of the other children. After his father was released from prison, Dickens returned to school. He tried his hand professionally as a law clerk and then a court reporter before becoming a novelist. His first novel,  The Pickwick Papers, became a huge popular success when Dickens was only twenty-five; he was a literary celebrity throughout England for the remainder of his life. At about this time, he fell in love with Mary Beadnell, the daughter of a banker. In spite of his ambition and literary success, Dickens was considered her social inferior in terms of wealth and family background, and Mary’s father prohibited the marriage. Several years later, Dickens married Catherine Hogarth. Although they had ten children, Dickens was never completely happy in this marriage, and he and Catherine eventually separated. Though the young blacking factory employee had considered himself too good for his job, the older novelist retained a deep interest in and concern for the plight of the poor, particularly poor children. The Victorian England in which Dickens lived was fraught with massive economic turmoil, as the Industrial Revolution sent shockwaves through the established order. The disparity between the rich and poor, or he middle and working classes, grew even greater as factory owners exploited their employees in order to increase their own profits. Workers, referred to as â€Å"the Hands† in  Hard Times,  were forced to work long hours for low pay in cramped, sooty, loud, and dangerous factories. Because they lacked education and job skills, these workers had few options for improving their terrible living and working conditions. With the empathy he gained through his own experience of poverty, Dickens became involved with a number of organizations that worked to alleviate the horrible living conditions of the London poor. For instance, he was a speaker for the Metropolitan Sanitary Organization, and, with his wealthy friend Angela Burdett-Coutts, he organized projects to clear up the slums and build clean, safe, cheap housing for the poor. Dickens left behind a large number of much-loved novels, including  Oliver Twist  (1837-39), which satirized the conditions and institutions of the time;  The Old Curiosity Shop  (1840-41), one of the most widely known works in all literature; and  Martin Chuzzlewit  (1843-44), in which Dickens reported his impressions of America. Mrs. Roylance, an early landlady of the authors, appears in  Dombey and Son  (1846-48). David Copperfield  (1849-50) drew heavily on the writers own experiences. In  Bleak House  (1852-53), one sees reflected the sorrow that Dickens felt over the deaths of his sister and daughter. In  Hard Times(1854), he skillfully combined many literary techniques to produce a great novel of social protest. HisLittle Dorrit  (1855-57) describes the arrest and imprisonment of his own father. In  A Tale of Two Cities(1859), a triangle love plot is developed against the background of the French Revolution. Great Expectations  (1860-61) narrates the growing up of a boy under conditions of mystery and suspense. Dickens last volume,  Life of Our Lord,  a book for children, was not published until 1934. In all of his novels — those that appeared as serials in newspapers or magazines and those that were first printed as whole books — Dickens reveals his keen observation, his great understanding of human nature, and his varied techniques of style. True, his characters are sometimes exaggerated; however, the very exaggeration adds vitality and humor to the stories. As a novelist and a social critic, Dickens was a giant of his era; later generations have turned to his works for both amusement and instruction. Though he was far too great a novelist to become a propagandist, Dickens several times used his art as a lens to focus attention on the plight of the poor and to attempt to awaken the conscience of the reader. Hard Times  is just such a novel: set amid the industrial smokestacks and factories of Coketown, England, the novel uses its characters and stories to expose the massive gulf between the nations’s rich and poor and to criticize what Dickens perceived as the unfeeling self-interest of the middle and upper classes. Indeed,  Hard Times  suggests that nineteenth-century England itself is turning into a factory machine: the middle class is concerned only with making a profit in the most efficient and practical way possible. Hard Times  is not a delicate book: Dickens hammers home his point with vicious, often hilarious satire and sentimental melodrama. It is also not a difficult book: Dickens wanted all his readers to catch his point exactly, and the moral theme of the novel is very explicitly articulated time and again. He raises his oldest children, Louisa and Tom, according to this philosophy and never allows them to engage in fanciful or imaginative pursuits. He founds a school and charitably takes in one of the students, the kindly and imaginative Sissy Jupe, after the disappearance of her father, a circus entertainer. As the Gradgrind children grow older, Tom becomes a dissipated, self-interested hedonist, and Louisa struggles with deep inner confusion, feeling as though she is missing something important in her life. Eventually Louisa marries Gradgrind’s friend Josiah Bounderby, a wealthy factory owner and banker more than twice her age. Bounderby continually trumpets his role as a self-made man who was abandoned in the gutter by his mother as an infant. Tom is apprenticed at the Bounderby bank, and Sissy remains at the Gradgrind home to care for the younger children. In the meantime, an impoverished â€Å"Hand†Ã¢â‚¬â€ Dickens’s term for the lowest labourers in Coketown’s factory—named Stephen Blackpool struggles with his love for Rachael, another poor factory worker. He is unable to marry her because he is already married to a horrible, drunken woman who disappears for months and even years at a time. Stephen visits Bounderby to ask about a divorce but learns that only the wealthy can obtain them. Outside Bounderby’s home, he meets Mrs. Pegler, a strange old woman with an inexplicable devotion to Bounderby. James Harthouse, a wealthy young sophisticate from London, arrives in Coketown to begin a political career as a disciple of Gradgrind, who is now a Member of Parliament. He immediately takes an interest in Louisa and decides to try to seduce her. With the unspoken aid of Mrs. Sparsit, a former aristocrat who has fallen on hard times and now works for Bounderby, he sets about trying to corrupt Louisa. The Hands, exhorted by a crooked union spokesman named Slackbridge, try to form a union. Only Stephen refuses to join because he feels that a union strike would only increase tensions between employers and employees. He is cast out by the other Hands and fired by Bounderby when he refuses to spy on them. Louisa, impressed with Stephen’s integrity, visits him before he leaves Coketown and helps him with some money. Tom accompanies her and tells Stephen that if he waits outside the bank for several consecutive nights, help will come to him. Stephen does so, but no help arrives. Eventually he packs up and leaves Coketown, hoping to find agricultural work in the country. Not long after that, the bank is robbed, and the lone suspect is Stephen, the vanished Hand who was seen loitering outside the bank for several nights just before disappearing from the city. Mrs. Sparsit witnesses Harthouse declaring his love for Louisa, and Louisa agrees to meet him in Coketown later that night. However, Louisa instead flees to her father’s house, where she miserably confides to Gradgrind that her upbringing has left her married to a man she does not love, disconnected from her feelings, deeply unhappy, and possibly in love with Harthouse. She collapses to the floor, and Gradgrind, struck dumb with self-reproach, begins to realize the imperfections in his philosophy of rational self-interest. Sissy, who loves Louisa deeply, visits Harthouse and convinces him to leave Coketown forever. Bounderby, is furious that his wife has left him, redoubles his efforts to capture Stephen. When Stephen tries to return to clear his good name, he falls into a mining pit called Old Hell Shaft. Rachael and Louisa discover him, but he dies soon after an emotional farewell to Rachael. Gradgrind and Louisa realize that Tom is really responsible for robbing the bank, and they arrange to sneak him out of England with the help of the circus performers with whom Sissy spent her early childhood. They are nearly successful, but are stopped by Bitzer, a young man who went to Gradgrind’s school and who embodies all the qualities of the detached rationalism that Gradgrind once espoused, but who now sees its limits. Sleary, the lisping circus proprietor, arranges for Tom to slip out of Bitzer’s grasp, and the young robber escapes from England after all. Mrs. Sparsit, anxious to help Bounderby find the robbers, drags Mrs. Pegler—a known associate of Stephen Blackpool—in to see Bounderby, thinking Mrs. Pegler is a potential witness. Bounderby recoils, and it is revealed that Mrs. Pegler is really his loving mother, whom he has forbidden to visit him: Bounderby is not a self-made man after all. Angrily, Bounderby fires Mrs. Sparsit and sends her away to her hostile relatives. Five years later, he will die alone in the streets of Coketown. Gradgrind gives up his philosophy of fact and devotes his political power to helping the poor. Tom realizes the error of his ways but dies without ever seeing his family again. While Sissy marries and has a large and loving family, Louisa never again marries and never has children. Gradgrind’s speech to a group of young students, and it is appropriate that Gradgrind physically embodies the dry, hard facts that he crams into his students’ heads. The narrator calls attention to Gradgrind’s â€Å"square coat, square legs, square shoulders,† all of which suggest Gradgrind’s unrelenting rigidity. In the first few chapters of the novel, Mr. Gradgrind expounds his philosophy of calculating, rational self-interest. He believes that human nature can be governed by completely rational rules, and he is â€Å"ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature, and tell you what it comes to. This philosophy has brought Mr. Gradgrind much financial and social success. He has made his fortune as a hardware merchant, a trade that, appropriately, deals in hard, material reality. Later, he becomes a Member of Parliament, a position that allows him to indulge his interest in tabulating data about the people of England. Although he is not a f actory owner, Mr. Gradgrind evinces the spirit of the Industrial Revolution insofar as he treats people like machines that can be reduced to a number of scientific principles. While the narrator’s tone toward him is initially mocking and ironic, Gradgrind undergoes a significant change in the course of the novel, thereby earning the narrator’s sympathy. When Louisa confesses that she feels something important is missing in her life and that she is desperately unhappy with her marriage, Gradgrind begins to realize that his system of education may not be perfect. This intuition is confirmed when he learns that Tom has robbed Bounderby’s bank. Faced with these failures of his system, Gradgrind admits, â€Å"The ground on which I stand has ceased to be solid under my feet. His children’s problems teach him to feel love and sorrow, and Gradgrind becomes a wiser and humbler man, ultimately â€Å"making his facts and figures subservient to Faith, Hope and Charity. † Louisa Gradgrind Although Louisa is the novel’s principal female character, she is distinctive from the novel’s other women, particularly her foils, S issy and Rachael. While these other two embody the Victorian ideal of femininity—sensitivity, compassion, and gentleness—Louisa’s education has prevented her from developing such traits. Instead, Louisa is silent, cold, and seemingly unfeeling. However, Dickens may not be implying that Louisa is really unfeeling, but rather that she simply does not know how to recognize and express her emotions. For instance, when her father tries to convince her that it would be rational for her to marry Bounderby, Louisa looks out of the window at the factory chimneys and observes: â€Å"There seems to be nothing there but languid and monotonous smoke. Yet when the night comes, Fire bursts out. † Unable to convey the tumultuous feelings that lie beneath her own languid and monotonous exterior, Louisa can only state a fact about her surroundings. Yet this fact, by analogy, also describes the emotions repressed within her. Even though she does not conform to the Victorian ideals of femininity, Louisa does her best to be a model daughter, wife, and sister. Her decision to return to her father’s house rather than elope with Harthouse demonstrates that while she may be unfeeling, she does not lack virtue. Indeed, Louisa, though unemotional, still has the ability to recognize goodness and distinguish between right and wrong, even when it does not fall within the strict rubric of her father’s teachings. While at first Louisa lacks the ability to understand and function within the gray matter of emotions, she can at least recognize that they exist and are more powerful than her father or Bounderby believe, even without any factual basis. Moreover, under Sissy’s guidance, Louisa shows great promise in learning to express her feelings. Similarly, through her acquaintance with Rachael and Stephen, Louisa learns to respond charitably to suffering and to not view suffering simply as a temporary state that is easily overcome by effort, as her father and Bounderby do. Josiah Bounderby Although he is Mr. Gradgrind’s best friend, Josiah Bounderby is more interested in money and power than in facts. Indeed, he is himself a fiction, or a fraud. Bounderby’s inflated sense of pride is illustrated by his oft-repeated declaration, â€Å"I am Josiah Bounderby of Coketown. † This statement generally prefaces the story of Bounderby’s childhood poverty and suffering, a story designed to impress its listeners with a sense of the young Josiah Bounderby’s determination and self-discipline. However, Dickens explodes the myth of the self-made man when Bounderby’s mother, Mrs. Pegler, reveals that her son had a decent, loving childhood and a good education, and that he was not abandoned, after all. Bounderby’s attitude represents the social changes created by industrialization and capitalism. Whereas birth or bloodline formerly determined the social hierarchy, in an industrialized, capitalist society, wealth determines who holds the most power. Thus, Bounderby takes great delight in the fact that Mrs. Sparsit, an aristocrat who has fallen on hard times, has become his servant, while his own ambition has enabled him to rise from humble beginnings to become the ealthy owner of a factory and a bank. However, in depicting Bounderby, the capitalist, as a coarse, vain, self-interested hypocrite, Dickens implies that Bounderby uses his wealth and power irresponsibly, contributing to the muddled relations between rich and poor, especially in his treatment of Stephen after the Hands cast Stephen out to form a union. Stephen Blackpool Stephen Blackpool is int roduced after we have met the Gradgrind family and Bounderby, and Blackpool provides a stark contrast to these earlier characters. One of the Hands in Bounderby’s factory, Stephen lives a life of drudgery and poverty. In spite of the hardships of his daily toil, Stephen strives to maintain his honesty, integrity, faith, and compassion. Stephen is an important character not only because his poverty and virtue contrast with Bounderby’s wealth and self-interest, but also because he finds himself in the midst of a labor dispute that illustrates the strained relations between rich and poor. Stephen is the only Hand who refuses to join a workers’ union: he believes that striking is not the best way to improve relations between factory owners and employees, and he also wants to earn an honest living. As a result, he is cast out of the workers’ group. However, he also refuses to spy on his fellow workers for Bounderby, who consequently sends him away. Both groups, rich and poor, respond in the same self-interested, backstabbing way. As Rachael explains, Stephen ends up with the â€Å"masters against him on one hand, the men against him on the other, he only wantin’ to work hard in peace, and do what he felt right. † Through Stephen, Dickens suggests that industrialization threatens to compromise both the employee’s and employer’s moral integrity, thereby creating a social muddle to which there is no easy solution. Through his efforts to resist the moral corruption on all sides, Stephen becomes a martyr, or Christ figure, ultimately dying for Tom’s crime. When he falls into a mine shaft on his way back to Coketown to clear his name of the charge of robbing Bounderby’s bank, Stephen comforts himself by gazing at a particularly bright star that seems to shine on him in his â€Å"pain and trouble. † This star not only represents the ideals of virtue for which Stephen strives, but also the happiness and tranquility that is lacking in his troubled life.