Analysis of the poem A strange Meeting Essay

In the elegy â€Å"strange Meeting â€Å", Owen brings the horrors of wars and their devastating effect on those involved, he emphasizes their part in hindering the world from progress . War and death are presented in this poem through the story of two dead soldiers ,who fought on opposite sides , and who meet again in Hell . They speak of their shared hopefulness of the â€Å"undone years † . Owen’s manipulation of words and his use of artistic devices in the poem takes the reader to a vivid awareness of the real dreadfulness of battles and death. The speaker in the poem ,who is a soldier, starts the poem by saying that he seemed to † escape† the battle to somewhere else , a place he discovers later to be Hell . The mere use of the word † escape † implies that the speaker was trapped in war before he escapes to Hell which is , when compared to battle, a relief. Owen says that common words associated with wars like chivalry , courage and gallantry do not describe wars, not really, instead war is pain , sorrow and loss . He emphasizes on the destructiveness of wars to those involved . He says † yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned † , so they are † encumbered † physically with their uniforms and sacks and emotionally with too much sadness and sorrow brought to them by war . Those sleepers are † too fast in thought or death † to be stirred . One of those sleepers † sprang up † from death and smiles , although he smiles but still it is a smile of death . That man recognizes the speaker for he, the speaker, is the one who killed him as we know later in the poem . The poet describes this other man’s face as † grained † with † a thousand pains â€Å", pains from his previous life and past experiences in battle . Now they are in Hell , a place of anguish and despair , a place where shouts of pain and torment is expected , but oh no , not in this poem . Hell is a quit place where there is silence † yet no blood reached there from the upper ground † † and no guns thumped , or down the flues made moan † . So Own draws a picture of silence in Hell and contrasts this picture with battle where noise, blood and moans are everywhere . The speaker says about Hell that † here is no cause to mourn † no more grief or sadness . The stranger agrees with him † None † as if they are both relieved that it finally Al Neghaimshi 2 ended , finally they will rest . † Save the undone years , the hopelessness † This is their only regret . They shared so many in the past , the two of them , similar lives , experiences and similar horrors and pains that they could be called â€Å"friends † in spite of the fact that they are actually strangers . â€Å"Strange Friend † as paradoxical as it seems but still true , † Whatever hope is yours , was my life also † . Owen argues that wars † trek† the nations from progress and he calls it † retreating world † . The poet says † when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels † he would go and † wash them † . Owen takes into his hands as a poet † to warn † as he said himself once , † Even with truths that lies too deep † . He says he will do it † not through wounds ; not on the cess of war † , so it is not through innocent people , not through wars that destroys the lives of many . † Forehead of men have bled where no wounds were † that’s a clear indication to the myth of Christ which says that before he was crucified his body sweat blood , He was the one who paid for the sins of the humankind and so are those men paying their lives in wars whom foreheads † bled where no wounds were † . † I am the enemy you killed , my friend † a beautiful line towards the end of the poem . Although we stand in life different and enemies , but we shared the same experience and will share the same destiny . He closes the poem by saying † let us sleep now ..† let us finally rest and forget the horrors and pains . So ironic of Owen to let his protagonist finally rest in † Hell† . Aren’t people who fight for their countries are supposed to be martyrs and go to Heaven ? It is Owen’s way of doubting the cause which wars stand for , the cause after all is false . Owen by letting his two protagonist rest in Hell , he also conveys the message that Mankind must seek reconciliation , stop this bloodshed , they must embrace pity and love for each other . Owen writes this beautiful elegy that talks about war and death , but what is most ironical is that he himself dies in war .

Stress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Stress - Essay Example As such, it was important for me to ensure that my performance did not experience a downward trend as I intended to work there as I continued with my studies so as to support my parents in paying school fees. My parent’s quarreling and fighting usually drove me to the edge especially due to the fact that I envied my friend’s parents who showed deep concern and affection for each other even in the public. I used to ask my self so many questions which went unanswered and which distracted me from my work. On one occasion, I woke up to find my parents in a heated argument over something that completely embarrassed me especially due to the fact that almost all of my neighbors had come to witness the fight. To make matters worse, most of them were enjoying the show instead of separating them though they cannot be totally blamed due to the barbaric cultural restrictions which mutually makes it a taboo to interfere with family matters especially if you are not a member of the family. There was less I could do but eventually, they stopped fighting after realizing that they were creating an unnecessary attention. This occurrence almost squeezed out tears from my eyes but I managed to suppress them and be able to prepare myself for work. Never before in my life had I experienced such a humiliating event and as such, I arrived for work in a bad mood which was first noticed by the receptionist, who in most times enjoyed chatting with me in the morning as he was the only person who was closer to me in terms of age and education. Furthermore, we had known each other before as we shared the same hostel during my first year in college. Unlike other days, that day I was quiet and I did not feel like talking to anyone irrespective of whether he or she was my superior or a friend. Stress management is a major challenge in my life though I have not yet had the courage to accept it and acquire professional help. However, there is a solution

Delivering Benefits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Delivering Benefits - Essay Example Having multiple health-care plans is important for FedEx in slowing down increases in the cost of benefits in the following ways: Firstly, having the wellness center within the facilities where FedEx employees are trained and advised will enable the company reduce health-insurance costs significantly because the programs help in instilling greater health awareness among its employees. Secondly, we are told the FedEx have a disease management preprogram that provide health care advice to employee suffering from diseases such as arthritis, asthma, and diabetes. This program certainly enables employees understand their health condition and how to manage the diseases thereby reducing unnecessary expenses that would have otherwise been spent on health care service. Thirdly, the nurses’ telephone hotline available for employees who want to seek health care advice on minor illnesses is also important as far as reducing the cost of benefits is concerned. This is because the hotlines enables employees to get quick heath care services from professionally trained nurses thereby reducing the expenses that would be spent if the services were not provided in time (Robert and Jackson 24). This, in turn, reduces the health care cost of benefits to FedEx. Disease management might help a lot with health benefit cost in a number of ways. Firstly, the objective of the program is to minimize the effects of diseases such as arthritis, asthma, and diabetes through screening and preventive care. This is because these diseases are deadly and are likely to burden an organization financially if an employee is left to seek treatment services from the hospital. As such, having the disease management programs within the company will help employees with such illnesses better manage and treat the diseases in time. This reduces the costs that would have otherwise been spent if a patient were left to seek medication from hospitals (Robert and Jackson 26). Training programs such as

Aligning AL Company with the Gramen Equipment Operations Essay

Aligning AL Company with the Gramen Equipment Operations - Essay Example The company popularity has grown and even attracted media attention for the innovative approach to training. On the other hand, Gramen Equipment Company deals in designing, manufacturing, and marketing agricultural equipment. The company is also popular. In 2010, the company had succeeded in recording as substantial as 3 billion dollar profit from its sales and increased its staff to 9, 000 employees. The company has been focussed on realizing growth through acquisitions. As a way of keeping abreast the trending developments, Gramen has looked to employee training to keep abreast, has been extended to those of the acquired firms. The training services would be sought from Attain Learning. Attain Company services would include offering customized online financial courses to a number of middle-level managers from Gramen Company. After the Completion of the Course, Attain Learning would conduct a seminar to reinforce the learned financial principles. Gramen was concerned about extending the training to other product lines offered by Attain learning. There were even chances of having Attain establish a hosting professional Centre for Gramen Company. Thus, two firms have to work together. Attain Learning strategic management structure requires that only the Account Director is to be the person of direct contact with the client. The problem lies in aligning the Attain Learning Organization with the Gramen Equipment firm for efficient operation. Importance of Strategic Fit Before coming up with a strategic fit, it is imperative to acknowledge the importance of having a strategic fit. Undoubtedly, this will inform some of the points to give considerations to in designing a strategic fit. The problem with lacking an appropriate and well defined strategic fit is role overlap, ambiguity, and miscommunication that result in organizational conflicts (Solomon, Bamossy and Askegaard 2011). Such a situation is depicted in real life encounter between Gramen and Attain Learning management. The challenge comes out clear when Kay Sunderland, the accountant director, while busy in his office, received a call from Juan Nunez, a chief learning officer at Gramen, one of the Attain Learning esteemed customers. Nunez wanted Sunderland to call him, as soon as possible. He called back only to be informed that Attain Learning content development officer, mike Morgan, had contacted Nunez. Nunez point was that he did not want to deal with Morgan and did not any interference from him. Sunderland was concerned that no one else was supposed to deal with the client directly other her. In this regard, there is the need of devising a strategic fit that shuns such challenges. Strategic fit is an expression of the degrees in which organizations match its resources and capabilities with the opportunities that exist in the external environments. The matching process assumes the strategic processes, including human resource management and organization restructuring (Bird, 2000).

The Great Migrations of Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Great Migrations of Africa - Essay Example Therefore, Mauch had a vision; he theorized that the Great Zimbabwe monuments had been actually made by Biblical characters visiting from the north. He stated: "I do not think that I am far wrong if I suppose that the ruin on the hill is a copy of Solomon's Temple on Mount Moriah and the building in the plain a copy of the palace where the Queen of Sheba lived during her visit to Solomon." Mauch further stated that a "civilized [read: white] nation must once have lived there." To us nowadays, this seems very far-fetched and the concept of the indigenous people actually building the monuments seems far more likely, but this was not true of most European assumptions during the late 1800s (Manu, 2004). The civilization actually existed around 1100-1450 AD, which was actually when the civilization was at the height of its power (Manu, 2004). There are still modern day settlers in the region, made up of mostly shone-speaking farmers. The civilization is located in south central Africa, which is considered current Zimbabwe, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. The actual site itself sits on a high plateau, over 1000 m (Manu, 2004). This civilization is important for a variety of reasons. First, this site, which includes the Great Enclosure wall, has its very impressive monuments which are only beaten out with impressiveness by the Egyptian pyramids (Manu, 2004). Furthermore, an extensive trading network formed through this region, and during the Medieval period, this was very important. The main focus of trade was on gold, copper, tin, cattle, and cowrie shells. This area was also important politically. For around 350 years, the civilization would be ruled by powerful rulers. The civilization was probably made up of around 18,000 inhabitants (Manu, 2004). In 350 AD Shona-speaking farmers settled in the region. They had migrated into the area to avoid the annoying tsetse flies, which can cause the deaths of not only people, but cattle as well through the disease known as sleeping sickness (Manu, 2004). The flies did not make appearances at such high altitudes, so the farmers were able to farm their cattle. At the end of the 11th century, the civilization began to develop (Manu, 2004). Intensified trading activities helped the civilization to expand. However, the civilization was not to last forever. It was abandoned around 1450 AD for reasons still unknown to historians today (Manu, 2004). There has been much speculation about this. It is known that the people left and started the northern kingdom of Monomotapa, as well as other states. Some historians have speculated that the fall could have been attributed to the population depleting land sources, over-farming, or perhaps a drastic weather change that could have hurt the trade marke t. Still, further research in this area is needed (Manu, 2004). Question Two The Bantu people began to migrate from the Congo or Niger Delta Basin. Their migration is so impressive because it is actually one of the largest ever seen in history. This incredible movement started at around 1000 AD and continued through 1800 AD (Nalubwama, 2009). However, historians are still unsure of why the movements happened in the first place. Therefore, there has been much speculation and theory for how and why this began. One theory given reflected on the concept that overpopulation may have inspired some groups of people to move into a different area, looking for areas and land to farm. Another

How is genocide defined Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

How is genocide defined - Essay Example They are a phenomenon of the plural society, with its marked divisions between racial, ethnic, and/or religious groups. Plural society theory deals with the relations between these groups, and the conditions promoting peaceful cohabitation, integration, or violent polarization leading to genocide. It has no application to the genocides of international war, committed in armed conflict between separate states. The Convention definition of genocide is summarized as the intent to destroy in whole or â€Å"in part a racial, ethnic, religious, or national group as such, by killing members of the group or imposing conditions inimical to survival† (Show and Schott 2005, 34). The inclusion of mental harm among the acts constituting genocide seems incongruous, but it must be read in the overall context of the intent to destroy the victim group. Under Article I of the UN Convention, the contracting â€Å"parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of wa r, is a crime under international law† (Show and Schott 2005, 17). The Convention was adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly. The notion â€Å"genocide† was developed by R. Lamkin in 1943. He joined two words â€Å"genos† which means family or tribe and â€Å"occidere† which means massacre and killing. Also, Lamkin developed a draft for the Genocide Convention. The main strength of this Convention is that 137 countries recognize mass killing as a crime against humanity and were obliged to prevent genocide on their territories. The main strength of the Convention is that it recognizes genocide and interprets it as â€Å"the crime against humanity†.

Discuss how Apple Computers can bring manufacturing jobs make to the Essay

Discuss how Apple Computers can bring manufacturing jobs make to the United States - Essay Example The cost of producing an I-Phone in China is a fraction of what it is in the U.S. This is partly down to cheap labor costs in China vis-a-vis the United States. Huge incentives and subsidies are also directed at technology companies from the Chinese government. The government should similarly offer tax breaks to Apple and other technology companies to ship jobs back to the U.S (Pisano & Wily 8). This will ensure Apple remains competitive even while manufacturing in the U.S. If this happens, jobs shall be created in the shipping industry deriving from the increased movement of parts and raw materials from China to the U.S. The disadvantage in this move is that the government will forego large amounts of revenue from a company that already rakes in a fortune in terms of revenue. However, as its increasingly becoming apparent, costs are not the sole motivator behind Apples decision to relocate to China. A poorly skilled workforce in the United States is also to blame. The immediate solution to this is upgrading workers skills. This is best done through employee training programs by the government. However, this does not to suggest that American workers are totally deficient of skills in demand; instead, they need to fine-tune their technical or mid-level skills. Majority of Americans are armed with first-rate qualifications, but the technical side of their training can not live up to the demands of a global company of Apple’s size. Even if, they had the necessary qualifications, the company would not obtain them in the numbers required. This deficiency could be plugged by relaxing visa rules to allow easier entry of Chinese, or other equally skilled workers to take up the extra jobs (Pisano & Wily 9). Even when that is done, a more flexible workforce will be required. Up scaling happens at extremely short notice; thus, it would be difficult to achieve that considering the fact people are only familiar with nine to five jobs, in the U.S.