Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay Example

Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay ASSIGNMENT FRONT COVER | | | |Module name: Class # 790 – Organizational Behavior | |Assignment title: Midterm Exam | |Assignment deadline: November 12th 2012 | |Effective number of words used: 1471 | | Table of Contents Question 1: Understanding Human Behavior is critical to organizations – discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders today . †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 Question 2: Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive – discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace – please provide an example †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 References and Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Question 1: Understanding Human Behavior is critic al to organizations – discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders today In today’s ever changing environment, organizations need to continuously adapt and transform, not only in order to succeed but even just to survive. While it takes a capable manager to efficiently run a business in steady-state, it takes a leader to successfully drive an organization through change (Kotter in Robbins and Judge, 2009: 385). Dealing with technology, economic and legislation changes isn’t new for organizations. The speed of change has however substantially increased in the last few decades as has the disruptive nature of these changes. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Behavior Mid Term specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Behavior Mid Term specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Behavior Mid Term specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Leaders today are faced with challenges such as globalization and instant communication that were not present until recently. The words and actions of leaders are broadcasted across the globe within seconds and are heard and seen by individuals who will perceive and interpret them through the filter of their own values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations. In this accelerated environment, effective leaders need to be able to swiftly read trends and anticipate change, adapt to new situations, fine-tune their actions and continuously inspire others towards the pursuit of a compelling vision. In order to do so, they need to be perceptive of the environment around them and detect when discrepancies between their assumptions and reality arise (Clawson, 2001: 14). An example of business failure due to the mismatch between leader’s assumptions and environmental reality is Polaroid. When in 1977 Polaroid launched its instant-video product Polavision (an innovative instant movie camera that used an additive process to generate color), it experienced the first of several product failures that eventually forced the company into bankruptcy. The mistake that Polaroid’s Leader Edwin H. Land made was to assume that the market-follows-technology approach that had been successful for the previous 40 years was unchangeably valid (Lefler, 2010), despite the skepticism expressed by many within the company. Simpler and cheaper videocassette based alternatives were released at the same time by Kodak and other competitors. These â€Å"non-instant† products responded to markets’ trends better than Polaroid’s ground breaking instant-video solution, condemning Polavision to irrelevance and Polaroid to massive losses (Giambarba, 1977). I think Polavision is the story of a self awareness lacking leader, failing to identify his blind spots and driving the organization to failure. In my opinion Mr. Land failed to question his assumption in a changing marketplace and to openly listen to others, consequently ignoring precious feedback. Had Mr. Land listened to the concerns expressed by others around him, including Polaroid’s president Bill McCune, things could have possibly gone differently. Self evaluation is what allows individuals to identify those blind spots and weaknesses and to put measures in place to compensate them (Musselwhite, C. 2007). Through self evaluation, self awareness is achieved. The benefits of self evaluation and self awareness for a leader in today’s organizations are significant. By understanding your strengths, efforts can be focused on them, hence developing a greater potential for success (Roberts at all, 2005: 1). By recognizing your weaknesses you are in a better position to a ccept them and deal with them effectively. In the case of Polavision, Mr Land’s product and technology strengths were overshadowed by his marketing weakness. For his leadership to be effective, Mr. Land should have commissioned a market research to validate his assumption that the public was ready and willing to consume the product he was developing. Self awareness is the basis of self management and social awareness (Goleman, 2000; 80). The ability to read and manage your emotions, reactions and feelings, helps seeing yourself and the world under a different light. This in turns enables you to shift your point of view and identify opportunities and solutions that were otherwise impossible to imagine (Covey, 1989: 86). In the case of Polaroid a more socially aware Mr. Land would have valued the input of the Polavision skeptics and maybe redirected his creativity towards developing a product more in line with current market trends. Moreover, acknowledging your limits and not hiding them induces trust. You are perceived as human and people relate to you better. When trusted, you become a more effective leader as people feel safe when they follow your direction. Your behavior remains consistent in different situations and the influence of the environment on your actions is weakened. You develop charisma. You become authentic (George, B. et all, 2007: 7). Self evaluation implies asking for feedback and actively listening to what you hear. As you learn from asking questions, people around you also feel more comfortable doing so. This ignites a virtuous learning circle that drives personal growth. The biggest asset of organizations is their human capital. An engaged, motivated and virtuous human capital is the engine behind organizations’ success. In particular, by developing an environment where it is OK to ask questions, to challenge status-quo, to try new things and to make mistakes, innovation forces are unleashed (Musselwhite, C. , 2007). Conclusion Self Evaluation develops self awareness. Self awareness promotes personal growth and enables behaviors that are associated with charismatic leadership. Charisma is what inspires others to follow the leader. They trust her, share her vision and feel empowered and motivated to work towards a common goal. Charisma is a crucial element of effective leadership, but it is often not sufficient to drive organizations, particularly large ones, to sustainable success (Nadler and Tushman, 1990: 85). Self awareness developed through self evaluation, allows a leader to also understand and address this. By recognizing her limits, a self aware leader will develop an organizational structure that complements her strengths and, through alignment, effectively works towards the set vision. The most prominent benefits of self assessment for leaders today in my opinion are therefore the enablement of charismatic and institutional leadership, both of which are necessary to effectively guide an organization. Question 2: Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive – discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace – please provide an example Prejudice (prior judgment[1]) implies forming an opinion about the personality traits, expected behavior, skills and capability of a person, without that opinion being backed by empirical evidence. These pre-formed opinions are often very strong, deriving from values and beliefs that are deeply embedded in our psyche. As such they are hard to remove. We may even unconsciously reject evidence negating the pre-judgment in a self affirming effort to confirm our assumptions. The end result is a diminished ability to appreciate the full range of qualities and the potential of the impacted individual. Prejudice and the corresponding discriminatory behavior, including institutional prejudice, are major issues for organizations today. Increasing cultural diversity in the workforce and the global reach of markets require organizations to actively strive for integration rather than assimilation or differentiation (Thomas Ely, 1996: 1). In my opinion, the onus of promoting an effort in that direction lies mostly on managers. As a manager I have a moral and professional duty to address prejudice in my organization and I have taken specific steps in that sense. I started with doing introspection to identify my own prejudices. I focused on my upbringing: who were the most influential figures in my childhood? What messaging did I receive from them and from the environment around me? What stereotypes derived from this? Being of white, catholic and Italian origin, I could immediately identify how anything outside of that archetype, was subject to some degree of prejudice, even if involuntarily. The good news is that â€Å"Prejudice is externally sourced† and â€Å"since it s learned, it can be unlearned† (Clawson, J. G. Smith, B. , 1990: 5-6). I then realized that most likely everyone in my work environment have similar preconceptions. For example, some people talk to me with the typical Italian-American mafia accent from The Sopranos[2] probably thinking it is hilarious. It doesn’t bother me, but I can definitely see how it could be bothersome to other Italians. I made treasure of these realizations and determined that these are ignorance-based preconceptions that can be resolved by increasing inter-cultural knowledge. I therefore resolved to take steps to encourage people from different backgrounds and cultures to interact with each other. For example, recently I included two international team members (Bryan the reporting manager who is Chinese and Manish the systems analyst who is Indian) in a 4 person project team based in the US Midwest, dealing with the integration of systems and processes from our Company’s latest acquisition. I personally facilitated the first few meetings and encouraged open participation by listening to and publicly valuing everyone’s contribution. I then assigned tasks in a way that required interaction and cooperation. The effort paid off and the team succeeded. The system and process integration was completed in record time, with wide consensus and to the smallest details. References and Bibliography Books Robbins, S. P. Judge, T. A. (2009). Organizational Behavior. 13th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. USA: Free Press. Internet Resources Lefler, P. (2010). Polavision Polaroids disruptive innovation failure. [Webpage] Available from: http://www. spruancegroup. com/blog/bid/32860/Polavision-Polaroid-s-disruptive-innovation-failure [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. Giambarba, P. (1977). [Webpage] Available from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Polavision [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. Musselwhite, C. (2007). Self Awareness and the Effective Leader. [Webpage] Available from: http://www. inc. com/resources/leadership/articles/20071001/musselwhite. html [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. The Online Etymology Dictionary, word search: prejudice. [Webpage] Available from: http://www. etymonline. com/index. php? term=prejudice [Accessed on Thursday, November 8th 2012]. Wikipedia, word search: the sopranos. [Webpage] Available from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Sopranos [Accessed on Friday, November 9th 2012]. Journal Articles and Written Course Material Roberts, L. M. , Spreitzer, G. , Dutton, J. , Quinn, R. , Heaphy, E. , and Barker, B. (2005), â€Å"How to Play to Your Strenghts†, Harvard Business Review, January 2005. Goleman, D, (2000), â€Å"Leadership that gets results†, Harvard Business Review, March-April 2000. Clawson, J. G. 2001) UVA-OB-0652 Leadership and Intelligence, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Darden School Foundation. George, B. , Sims, P. , McLean, A. N. , and Mayer, D. (2007), â€Å"Discovering Your Authentic Leadership†, Harvard Business Review, February 2007. Nadler, D. A. , Tushman, M. L. , (1990) CMR-024 Beyond the Charismatic Leader: Leadership and Organizational Change, Calif ornia Management Review, Harvard Business School Publishing. Clawson, J. G. Smith, B. (1990) UVA-OB-0381 Prejudice in Organizations, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Darden School Foundation. Thomas, D. A. Ely, R. J. (1996), â€Å"Making Differences Matter†, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1996. [1] See the â€Å"Online Etymology Dictionary† (http://www. etymonline. com/index. php? term=prejudice) [2] From Wikipedia (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Sopranos): The Sopranos is an American television drama created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads.

Free Essays on Belize

My interviewee is from the country of Belize, Central America. Belize is located on the Caribbean coast of the northern Central America. It shares a border on the north with the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, on the west with the Guatemalan department of Pet’n and on the south with the border of Izabal. To the east in the Caribbean Sea, the second-longest barrier reef in the world, most of its coastline is swampy. The country totals area is slight larger than El Salvador or Massachusetts. The capital to Belize is called Belmopan. When someone hears about Belize for the first time, they imagine it is somewhere in South America. But in reality, it is in the middle of Central America. For most part, only a small portion of today’s tourist population has been to Belize. Because of this, the Belize’s Barrier Reef, Maya ruins and rain forest are â€Å"unspoiled† for all to enjoy. The total population of Belize in 2004 was 272,945 people. Approximately 55.8% of the population is the age bracket of 15-64, 40.6% in the age 0-14 and only 3.5% over age of 65. Some would say that the first settlers to Belize were the Mayan Indians. Archeologist says that approximately 1 to 2 millions Mayans lived on the coast of Belize. Mayans, dating back to 2000 BC, originally occupied Belize. The Mayan culture flourished until about 900 AD. No one knows for certain what caused the disappearance but some would say it was war, famine, loss of faith, or a series of natural disasters. The Spanish first laid claim to the areas of Central American during the 16th and 17th centuries. Belize at that time was called the Bay of Honduras. The English Puritan claimed to be the first settlers; they settled in early 1600’s. This began the conflict with Spanish settlers that lasted for centuries. The Spanish continuously tried to expel the British from their territory. They did signed treaties in 1763 and 1786 that allowed the British to contin... Free Essays on Belize Free Essays on Belize My interviewee is from the country of Belize, Central America. Belize is located on the Caribbean coast of the northern Central America. It shares a border on the north with the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, on the west with the Guatemalan department of Pet’n and on the south with the border of Izabal. To the east in the Caribbean Sea, the second-longest barrier reef in the world, most of its coastline is swampy. The country totals area is slight larger than El Salvador or Massachusetts. The capital to Belize is called Belmopan. When someone hears about Belize for the first time, they imagine it is somewhere in South America. But in reality, it is in the middle of Central America. For most part, only a small portion of today’s tourist population has been to Belize. Because of this, the Belize’s Barrier Reef, Maya ruins and rain forest are â€Å"unspoiled† for all to enjoy. The total population of Belize in 2004 was 272,945 people. Approximately 55.8% of the population is the age bracket of 15-64, 40.6% in the age 0-14 and only 3.5% over age of 65. Some would say that the first settlers to Belize were the Mayan Indians. Archeologist says that approximately 1 to 2 millions Mayans lived on the coast of Belize. Mayans, dating back to 2000 BC, originally occupied Belize. The Mayan culture flourished until about 900 AD. No one knows for certain what caused the disappearance but some would say it was war, famine, loss of faith, or a series of natural disasters. The Spanish first laid claim to the areas of Central American during the 16th and 17th centuries. Belize at that time was called the Bay of Honduras. The English Puritan claimed to be the first settlers; they settled in early 1600’s. This began the conflict with Spanish settlers that lasted for centuries. The Spanish continuously tried to expel the British from their territory. They did signed treaties in 1763 and 1786 that allowed the British to contin...

Human Resource and equal Employment Opportunities Essay

Human Resource and equal Employment Opportunities - Essay Example Walgreens receives a number of benefits for employing the disadvantaged people in the society. First, Walgreen gains reputation since it is only company that gives priority to the physically challenged individuals who are subject of rejections. Additionally, reputation gained will attract greater market ahead of other drugs suppliers because of fame and uniqueness. With time, the population of the disabled will increase and this group is likely to be shopping from these centers because their colleges work there. The company will also benefit from diversity that promotes creativity and innovation. It will be the center for harnessing the talents from the physically challenged, that the rest of the world has not realized.A number of factors hinder people with disability from obtaining employment. First is little education or lack of training. Majority of the physically challenged are rejects in the society, they have little access to education compared to the rest of the society. Some of them lack mobility to go look for these jobs hence cannot access the opportunities. Moreover, the lack of special features in the job places locks them out. This is because the disabled requires special washrooms, equipment, and a good work environment. Additionally, a person’s own disability is another barrier. For example, some of the people with special needs may not complete the assigned task because of their disability. Finally, stereotype is also a major challenge, the society view disability as inability.

Regions Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Regions - Research Paper Example The specific concept that emerged during this period was altered the conception of the region. The concept was not a descriptive unit but rather, and it was a theoretical unit. The intellectual transformation was wedded to geopolitical conditions that comprised war and militarism. The transformation was driven by an imperative in advancement in science. The article shows an increase in the demand for regional intelligence and research that could address social challenges adequately. A new regional model that is linked with the solidification the strategic regions of the world open to America power and there is an emergency of complex technology involved in science. The evidence provided to support the main point of the second reference is the measurement takes in situ. The article provides a time comparison of the offensive patterns at two points in Oresund, a Scandinavian border region in between Sweden and Denmark. The analysis was carried out to facilitate the understanding of the relationship between crime and demography, land and social-economic covariates. The measurement is taken at the original point of occurrence and hence in situ. The implication of the main point of the first reference is the explanation between the advances in science and technology and military operations. The article implies that as science and technology advanced the operations of the military also advanced. The implication of the main point of the second reference is that there is a possibility of crime in the border to continue growing interest in Europe. The increased interest is as a result of the enlargement of the European Union and the increase in the movement across the border. The movement is facilitated by improved communication systems. The increased communication systems lead to the continuous change in the offensive pattern across the border. The two main points can be combined to

Answering Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Answering Questions - Essay Example Intended strategy is often planned unlike emergent strategy which is which emerges incrementally. Emergent strategy, therefore, is often used to respond to emergency situations. Intended strategy has a well laid out structure and plan whereas emergent is usually informal and doesn’t have a well laid out structure (Grant, 2010). Another difference is that intended structure is as a result of critical thinking and execution while emergent is often based on trial and error. Intended strategy involves analyzing situations while emergent strategy is based on exploring options or finding out solutions. This school is visionary in nature and it has a centralized leadership through the Chief Executive Officer (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, 2009). It has a body the where crucial decisions can be taken and comprehensive tactics can be deduced. These bodies use intuition, visions, inspiration, and inspiration as tools for guiding their decision making process Its strategy comes about through constant experimentation and adapting to situations. This means that strategies are gained through experience (Grant & Jordan, 2012). The more the experiences the greater the knowledge learned from them. There is no clear pattern to describe how strategies are formulated. Internal Strategic Analysis is undertaken to evaluate and organization’s strategic capabilities and so as to know its main strengths and weaknesses, and sources of the sustainable competitive advantage. The model used is SWOT analysis. This means that the strength and weaknesses likely to impact the strategy development is reviewed. The information need is derived using an internal analytical tool such as value chain and financial analysis. Organizational purpose tries to explain the reason for the existence of the organization. Corporate social responsibility, on the other hand, is the endeavor of organizations to act ethically by taking care of the welfare of its staff members and

Instrumental And Integrative Motivation

Instrumental And Integrative Motivation Robert Gardner established a model of motivation in second language acquisition in 1985. The field of language teaching has been influenced for many years by the model which came from the studies of language immersion in Canada (Ehrman, 1996, p.139). The model describes two forms of motivation, instrumental and integrative. Instrumental motivation refers to learning to accomplish a task, such as passing a course, getting better pay, and so on (Ehrman, 1996, p.139). Integrative motivation refers to a favorable attitude toward the target language community, possibly a wish to integrate and adapt to a new target culture through use of the language (Gardner, 1985, p. 54). One of the Gardners main ideas is that the integrative motivation plays an important role in second language acquisition. It is directly and positively related to second language achievement. However, the Gardeners model has received lots of criticisms since it was published. The criticisms will be discussed in the foll owing. The model is criticized for overstating the importance of the integrative motive. Gardner simply used the candidates selection of integrative reasons over instrumental ones as evidence that integrative reasons have a higher level of motivational intensity (Gardner, 1985, p.53). Gardner found that the integrative motivation has an extremely high significance in his studies. Nevertheless, the instrumental orientation such as getting a job and passing an examination is also an important factor in second language learning. If learners with integrative motivation can achieve success since they are active in their learning, the same theory might be applicable to the learners with instrumental motivation. Instrumentally motivated learners may be successful since they are eager to learn to achieve their instrumental purposes. Integrative motivation is the central concept in the Gardners model. However, the support of the importance of the integrative motivation is not consistent. Some early studies did agree that integrative motivation was significant in second language learning (Gardner and Lambert, 1959) but some recent researches has shown that the instrumental motivation has an equal or better impact than the integrative motivation. In some cases, the integrative motivation is even considered as having a negative correlation with proficiency which in turn affecting the success of second language learning (Belmechri and Hummel, 1998; DÃ ¶rnyei, 1990). DÃ ¶rnyei (1990) suggested that instrumental motivation could be more important than integrative motivation for foreign language learners since foreign language learners are not likely to have sufficient knowledge and experience to take part in the culture of the people who speak the target language in their early stage of language learning. Integrative motivation may not play a significant role in the early stage of foreign language learners. The importance of different kinds of motivation can be different between second language learners and foreign language learners. Gardners emphasis on integrative motivation for language learning may not fit in all language learning situations (Schmidt, Boraie, and Kassabgy, 1999). The Gardners model have limited applicability for the learners who do not have frequent contact with the target language speakers since they have few opportunities to integrate with the speakers. There are many other factors contributing to the motivation of the learners who are far away from the target language speakers, such as instrumental motivation and knowledge orientation. Gardner should not overstate the importance of integrative motivation in all language learning situations. The significance of different types of motivation may vary from one to another language learning situations. Actually, integrative and instrumental motivations are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Brown (2000) stated that learners rarely select only one type of motivation when learning a second language. The motivation of learning a second language is usually a combination of different forms of orientations. He has cited an example of international students who are residents in the United States. The international students learn English for academic purposes while wishing to be integrated with the people and culture of the country at the same time. This example has clearly shown that integrative and instrumental motivations can mutually exist. In some cases, it is difficult to divide instrumental and integrative motivations. To conclude, the importance of instrumental motivation is being concerned more in the later studies while the significance of integrative motivation has continued to be emphasized. However, it is important to note that the instrumental motivation has only been regarded as an important factor in second language learning while integrative motivation is continually linked to the success of second language learning. Motivation is a significant contribution to second language learning achievement. Therefore, identifying the types and combinations of motivations is one of the keys to successful second language learning. At the same time, learners should be reminded that there are always other variables which can be unique to each language learner affecting the success of second language learning. References Belmechri, F., Hymmel, K. (1998). Orientations and motivation in the acquisition of English as a second language among high school students in Quebec City, Language Learning Brown, H.D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall. DÃ ¶rnyei, Z. (1990). Conceptualizing motivation in foreign language learning. Language Learning Ehrman, E. (1996) Understanding Second Language Learning Difficulties. London: Sage Publications Gardner, R. C., Lambert, W. E. (1959). Motivational variables in second language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology Gardner, R.C. (1985). Social psychology and language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London, Ontario: Edward Arnold. Schmidt, R., Boraie, D., Kassabgy, O. (1999). Foreign language motivation: Internal structure and external connections. In R. L. Oxford (Ed.), Language learning motivation: Pathways to the new century. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.

A Comparison of Andrew Marvells To His Coy Mistress and Thomas Hardys

A Comparison of Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress and Thomas Hardy's The Ruined Maid In this essay I will look at the two poems, explore what the poems are about, look at the language and images used in them by the writers and then compare the two. "The ruined maid" by Thomas Hardy is a conversation between two women; "Melia", the ruined maid herself and another lady, her friend of whom she used to know when she lived in need. Melia's friend brings up all different points about Melia that have changed, for example the way she looks, 'now you've gay bracelets' and acts, 'you'd sigh and you'd sock' but Melia just says a few simple words in reply. 'To his coy mistress' by Andrew Marvell is a one sided argument and is about a man trying to persuade his mistress to lose her virginity with him before her looks and beauty start to go, as she gets older. He tries to persuade her to have sex with him by using flattery, humour and frightening, almost blackmailing her by describing different shocking images. Hardy writes 'The ruined maid' in an unusual way, one of which is not usually heard of, he writes it as if it was an actual informal conversation between two women. He creates this by using various amounts of punctuation; he uses speech marks throughout the poem, uses dashes to separate the two different people?s speech, and uses question marks, explanation marks and further speech marks in all the appropriate places, which all help to give the effect of the conversation happening, from the first line to the last and encourages the reader to think of it more as a dialogue when reading it. 'Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compa-ny!'- ?Some polish is gained with one?s ruin,? said she? is an e... ...gh it is obvious that she does not want to, as she would have known that it wasn?t the best thing to do, that her marital status would have been in ruins, her reputation in tatters. However in ?The ruined maid? Melia had already have had sex and although her old life and the only way she knew was gone, she had gained a much better one, where although she is no longer of any marital value, she appears (unless it is just a cover) to be more polished and seems happier in general life. If you look at it in one way, ?The ruined maid? could be what could happen to the mistress in ?To his coy mistress?. It could be what happens to her if she goes through with the man?s proposal so in conclusion, although the poems tell the tales of two different stories, they could easily be part of the same one, where ?The ruined maid? follows on from ?To his coy mistress?. A Comparison of Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress and Thomas Hardy's A Comparison of Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress and Thomas Hardy's The Ruined Maid In this essay I will look at the two poems, explore what the poems are about, look at the language and images used in them by the writers and then compare the two. "The ruined maid" by Thomas Hardy is a conversation between two women; "Melia", the ruined maid herself and another lady, her friend of whom she used to know when she lived in need. Melia's friend brings up all different points about Melia that have changed, for example the way she looks, 'now you've gay bracelets' and acts, 'you'd sigh and you'd sock' but Melia just says a few simple words in reply. 'To his coy mistress' by Andrew Marvell is a one sided argument and is about a man trying to persuade his mistress to lose her virginity with him before her looks and beauty start to go, as she gets older. He tries to persuade her to have sex with him by using flattery, humour and frightening, almost blackmailing her by describing different shocking images. Hardy writes 'The ruined maid' in an unusual way, one of which is not usually heard of, he writes it as if it was an actual informal conversation between two women. He creates this by using various amounts of punctuation; he uses speech marks throughout the poem, uses dashes to separate the two different people?s speech, and uses question marks, explanation marks and further speech marks in all the appropriate places, which all help to give the effect of the conversation happening, from the first line to the last and encourages the reader to think of it more as a dialogue when reading it. 'Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compa-ny!'- ?Some polish is gained with one?s ruin,? said she? is an e... ...gh it is obvious that she does not want to, as she would have known that it wasn?t the best thing to do, that her marital status would have been in ruins, her reputation in tatters. However in ?The ruined maid? Melia had already have had sex and although her old life and the only way she knew was gone, she had gained a much better one, where although she is no longer of any marital value, she appears (unless it is just a cover) to be more polished and seems happier in general life. If you look at it in one way, ?The ruined maid? could be what could happen to the mistress in ?To his coy mistress?. It could be what happens to her if she goes through with the man?s proposal so in conclusion, although the poems tell the tales of two different stories, they could easily be part of the same one, where ?The ruined maid? follows on from ?To his coy mistress?.