So Much to Tell You by John Marsden Essay Example for Free

So Much to Tell You by John Marsden Essay How does the composer, John Marsden, use a variety of techniques to reveal the struggle involved in Marina’s journey towards wholeness? The novel, ‘So Much to Tell You’ by John Marsden explores the concept of growth and change through the character, Marina, and her struggle to become whole. Throughout the course of the book, Marina develops from someone who is so psychologically wounded that she is unable to engage with members of her community, to someone who experiences healing and demonstrates the capacity to reach out to others. The contrast of Marina’s character from the beginning of the novel to the end portrays her development during her journey to heal. The composer uses techniques to convey Marina’s growth and change throughout the novel. In the early stages of the novel, it is evident that Marina has an extremely wounded psyche due to conflict within her family. This leads to her having a resultant lack of spiritual wholeness, which she continually struggles with to heal. The damaged nature of her psyche is highlighted in the recount of Marina â€Å"Looking at the fragmented stars† on Ann’s doona and Ann’s dialogue, â€Å"They do fit together† foreshadows the ultimate reintegration of Marina’s psychological health. When Marina describes her â€Å"grey school blankets† which are sombre, lifeless and boring, even though there is an underlying tone of yearning, she is ultimately characterising herself as boring and lifeless also. Throughout Marina’s journey to wholeness we see many stages of struggle and conflict, and many of these struggles originate from Marina’s own lack of self-worth and her diminished ability (in the early stages of the novel) to communicate. This fearfulness of communication is conveyed through the rhetorical question she uses when she refers to the possibility of her teacher reading her journal: â€Å"What if he reads them? If he doesn’t keep his promise†¦I am lost. In this particular quote the metaphorical use of the word ‘lost’ highlights her fear of engagement with others and indicates that fear is an obstacle she has to overcome if she is to heal, grow and adjust to the way her life is changing and continue on her journey to wholeness. Marina’s struggle with communication and continued lack of wholeness is very present when Marina refers to her tennis practice: â€Å"I sat under a tree and watched†¦watched all the tennis players†. This description of Marina passively watching a tennis game, rather than actively participating in the game, symbolizes her inability to participate in life and also acts as a ontrast between the warm interactions displayed by the other girls and the social isolation Marina feels. This particular incident highlights the psychological damage that has taken place in Marina as there is a contrast between her present inaction and her recount of her past involvement in the lines, â€Å"In primary school, I played sport a lot and was quite good at it†¦I beat the other girls by miles†. Marina is characterised as steadily accepting awareness of the fact that other girls also struggle psychological problems and this moves her further along the path towards wholeness. Marina’s intense reflective tone in the lines, â€Å"It didn’t occur to me that there might be other people who are feeling really bad. Little dark islands floating in the shadows of the school† captures her recognition that other people also feel socially isolated. This recognition is suggested through the metaphor of the â€Å"little dark islands† which is intratextually connected with Marina’s use of an implied metaphor of an island to describe her own state of mine at the beginning of the novel: â€Å"the words break over my desk in soft waves†. Paradoxically Marina’s realisation that other people also feel isolated helps to make her feel less isolated. Marina’s relationship with her father is a major struggle that she has to face on her journey towards wholeness. Marina’s description of her father as a poisonous presence and the use of a descriptive simile in the line ‘like a radioactive cloud’ represents him as toxic and dangerous, but this is contradicted when she shows a glimmer of empathy in the question, â€Å"What’s it like where he is? †. This continued emotional uncertainty of Marina’s as she vainly attempts to clarify whether she loves or hates her father, is a major theme running through the novel and the evolution of her relationship with her father is crucial to her personal growth. Through the progression of highly emotional journal entries, we begin to learn that solely, Marina feels guilty for putting her father in jail. When she makes the comparison between scared and scarred: â€Å"I just realised how alike those words are† we learn that under all her barriers she is still scarred emotionally because of her father’s â€Å"brooding, quiet and ugly silences†. When Marina states that it is â€Å"really important to know whether he hates me or not† we realise that in every way she is imprisoned by the unknown presence in her mind, which is her father. We can acknowledge affirmation of this when she â€Å"draws stripes, which aren’t stripes at all, but are bars, prison bars† on the sand and can understand it as a symbol of Marina being trapped by vestiges of mistrust, fear and self-deprecation. When Marina arrived at Warrington she didn’t speak. However, as she progressively begins to address her struggles she becomes more accustomed to expressing herself in her journal and soon finds her â€Å"voice†. It is through her journal that she initially allows herself to express her pain, release her deepest thoughts and continue on her journey to wholeness. When Marina gives Cathy a flower: â€Å"I nearly backed out, but I didn’t. I placed it on her bed†, it was the first time Marina had reached out physically towards someone. This is a signpost of her mental health and is the first physical sign of her breaking down her self-imposed barrier. In expansion of Marina growing in health, the weekend at Mr Lindell’s, when Marina â€Å"picks up the ball and throws it back†, she visibly interacts with others and shows signs of progression on her journey towards wholeness. When Marina expresses that she â€Å"scored the wrong family† she discovers that not all families are destructive and this allows her to release her initial complete hatred towards all relationships. When Marina says that she wants her father to â€Å"hold her and forgive her† she shows stark contrast to her original aversion to close proximity at the beginning of the novel. Her motivation to meet her father grows greater day by day and it eventually is much greater than her fear. She expresses anxiety in the lines, â€Å"I keep imagining him seeing me and then his face going cold and hard† but soon disregards this and continues on her path towards wholeness as she states that she gets â€Å"courage† when she reads his letter. Once Marina begins to accept and let her father back into her mind, she begins to travel in great leaps along her journey to wholeness. At the end of the novel, the intense moment between Marina and her father (so much so that the â€Å"air was swollen†) releases Marina from her internal prison, and allows her to speak to her father and say: â€Å"I’ve got so much to tell you†.

The Ecstasy Debate: Weighing The Good And The Bad :: Biology Essays Research Papers

The Ecstasy Debate: Weighing The Good And The Bad Ever since its first synthesis 80 years ago, the seemingly harmless nature of the drug ecstasy has been the subject of much debate. While many scientists are convinced that there is a darker side to the euphoria-inducing pill than meets the eye, the millions of users insist that no such danger exists. In fact, while I conducted my research on the subject, I discovered that to some extent, the users' concept is true - ecstasy does seem to be far less harmful than any of the other popularized drugs of the century. But why, then, in 1985 was this limitlessly pleasurable drug outlawed (1), with such a weak case against it? Is the scientific world's overly cautious attitude preventing us from experiencing a limitless pleasure unlike anything we have ever known? These were the questions I sought to have answered. 3,4 - Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA as it has come to be called, is a psychoactive drug with a chemical structure similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline, and demonstrates both psychedelic and stimulant effects (3). It was first synthesized by a German company in 1912 to be used to help develop more advanced therapeutic drugs (1). In the 1970s, MDMA was used to facilitate psychotherapy by a group of therapists in the United States (5). Not until the 1980s and early 1990s did the drug gain worldwide popularity as the illicit "ecstasy" (5), the drug that would eventually stir a wave of excitement among young people everywhere. Ecstasy use, which saw its roots in the hippie generation of the 1970s, has since grown exponentially. Ecstasy tablets confiscated by the Drug Enforcement Administration increased from 13,342 in 1996 to 950,000 in 2000 (4). According to a study conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research in 1998, 4.3 percent of 8th graders, 7.3 percent of 10th graders, and 11 percent of 12th graders reported they had used MDMA at some point (4). However, by far the age group with the heaviest use (1.4 million Americans) of the drug was reported for those between 18 and 25 years of age (4). So much ecstasy is entering our country at present that the Customs Service has developed an ecstasy command center and is training dogs to sniff out the drug (2). What is it that lures so many people to "experiment" with ecstasy and tantalizes them to want more?

Advanced Management

There is no ambiguity in saying that advanced management is a plan, ploy, position, pattern and perspective as it balances internal progressions of organizations with external factors. The overall strategic management of organizations is indivisible from strategic management of relationships, usually the accountability of the public relations or communication department.Strategic management rivets taking decisions and actions that resolve long-term organizational performance. The process comprises strategy formulation, completion, appraisal, and control. It underlines monitoring and assessing environmentally generated opportunities and restraints in light of organizational strengths and weaknesses.Essentially, advanced management is a vehicle for giving forward-looking leadership concerning the most essential issues of concern to an organization and its surroundings in a very determined, efficient, and valuable manner.At the heart of the progression is â€Å"the communal management of a strategic agenda that transforms as an organization's problems and opportunities transform. Effective advanced management is a core form of strategic management needs intensive, continuous, and collective concern of senior management† (Eadie and Stein bacher, 1985, p 425).The purpose of strategic management is to help formulate, implement, and evaluate cross-functional decisions in such a way as to assist the organization in achieving its long-term objectives. The strategic management process is seen as â€Å"an objective, logical and systematic approach for making major decisions in an organization† (David, 1997: 6) in which both analysis and intuition have a role to play.Another accepted perspective (Pearce and Robinson, 1997) emphasizes information flows through interrelated stages of analysis. It implies:The interconnectedness of all process components;The sequential character of strategy formulation and implementation;The necessity of ongoing feedback to asses s the success of strategies as they are implemented;The need to regard strategic management as a dynamic system (components of the process are constantly evolving; formal planning must â€Å"freeze† them to achieve its aims).http://www.ic.polyu.edu.hk/esh/KB/management_strategic/Koch(1999).pdf.Advanced management entails the configuration of a strategic management group to give leadership for the process. Characteristically, the framework of this group will comprise the C.E.O., top-line managers, and key executive staff members. In a small organization, for example, the strategic management group might comprise the mayor or the city manager and the heads of numerous operating departments.It is the responsibility of the advanced management team to give the configuration for developing and modernizing strategic plans and for guiding their realization in all areas. As advanced management is a continuous process, the strategic management group must meet on a usual basis to confer strategies, monitor development, evaluate efficiency, and generally sustain a shared focus on the strategic agenda.This comprises identifying newly promising strategic issues, estimate problems and opportunities as they develop, adapting strategies, and giving direction and control over completion plans to preceding the strategic agenda efficiently. Sporadically, it may consequence in the development of new strategic initiatives.The business environment has transformed drastically since the advent of internet. Business organizations have undertaken extreme restructuring by modifying their means of communication and synchronization of work activities. Internet has made it promise for companies to work on a real-time basis, whereby products and services are conveyed to the right place at the right time.Since then, internet has propagated and has undergone significant improvements. Costs have sustained to decline as these new technologies have emerged. A business not supported by a ne twork of computer systems (primary information technology) is more or less destined to fail, since it will be incapable to compete efficiently in today's complex and dynamic environment.Companies are not the only ones who have gained from advances in modern information technology. Consumers and interest groups have created strategic alliances and now capable to coordinate their activities as well as exchange ideas and thoughts through a number of database and network systems.For instance, owners of personal computers can subscribe to a computer network and without difficulty retrieve information on the products and corporations on line. Such information can also without problems be transmitted to other users.This huge use of internet by both consumers and companies affects, but the way business is run today. These consumer strategic alliances know no geographical limitations; oftentimes, they are global in nature, particularly among the industrialized nations.As companies can get in enormous profits from the better coordination, greater product elasticity, improved quality, leaner production, and more time-based competitiveness that internet offers, they also facades the threat that can come from these consumers' strategic alliances. For instance, corporations can no longer ignore consumer demands for constant product quality, reliability and respect for the environment, or timely delivery of services.As we move toward more and more advanced technologies, the labor force must be retrained. This training must not only expose workers to the technical matters adjoining the new process but also to the new focus of the organization.They have to be made responsive of the importance of advanced technology in improving work methods and in remaining competitive. Employee compulsion to the new process is imperative.Advanced technology by itself adds little or no value to an organization. There should be organizational as well as employee dedication to exploit the techno logy to the maximum. For instance, with ever-increasing use of computer-integrated manufacturing systems, and the stream of technical documentation that accompanies it, employees have to be skilled of recognizing the critical information at the right time.Once that information is recognized and properly interpreted, there must be an organizational dedication to use the information to make better decisions. Without this potential, the organization cannot take advantage from internet.Advanced management, therefore, will persist to be a critical factor in the survival of any organization. We sum up the influence of information technology on human resources as follows: ·Internet transforms the mode of communication and work processes. ·Custom or standardized operations are replaced with skilled and multi-skilled workers. An extremely trained labor force is desired to manage internet. ·Worker motivation and satisfaction might improve since workers are no longer restricted to routin e operations, enjoy management powers, and can contribute to developments in their work processes.Internet also has an impact on the organization itself, as follows: ·Organizational reformation is required. This reformation makes the organization flat. Decision-making powers are decentralized. ·Communications are better and the organization is capable to make timely responses to its environment. ·Introduction of new products and services is improved and varieties of products can be efficiently introduced and marketed by the organization. ·The organization is competent to improve its efficiency, quality, and competitiveness.Today's advanced technology can, conversely, easily become a basic technology. A rapid increase of internet also brings rapid obsolescence of earlier technologies. Policies concerning internet must not be static; they must keep evolving. Stalk (1988) points out that â€Å"competitive advantage is a persistently moving target . . . The best competitors, th e most thriving ones, know how to keep moving and always stay on the cutting edge.†

Violence Against Women - 1456 Words

Aboriginal women and girls are strong and beautiful. Unfortunately, they often face life-threatening, gender-based violence and disproportionately experience violent crimes because of hatred and racism (Fact Sheet: Violence Against Aboriginal Women , 2013). According to Statistics Canada, Aboriginal woman are three to five times more likely to experience violence than non-Aboriginal women (Fact Sheet: Violence Against Aboriginal Women , 2013). Fortunately, this frightening trend has been noticed and interventions such as the Sisters In Spirit social movement and Kanawayhitowin Campaign have been created to assist in diminishing these violent events. It is important to first explore the violence against Aboriginal women that occurs before†¦show more content†¦The Kanawayhitowin Campaign focuses both on interventions for men and interventions for women. The men are educated on the influences and impacts of violence against women in addition to fostering a change in attitudes a nd beliefs. The Kanawayhitowin Campaign uses the teachings of the Seven Grandfathers to help people live in harmony with creation which focuses on wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, and truth (Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres, 2008). This empowers Aboriginal men to take responsibility for their actions and help them chose not to abuse women. The Kanawayhitowin Campaign also provides resources for women by exemplifying different kinds of abuse, and the pattern of abuse. Aboriginal women also have access to safety planning and shelters to ensure their safety which empowers them and displays their rightful place as equal partners in the Aboriginal community. Since 2005, the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s (NWCA) Sisters In Spirit (SIS) initiative has worked to identify the root causes, trends and circumstances of violence that have led to the victimization of Aboriginal women largely resulting in disappearances or death (Toolkit: Wha t You Need to Know, 2013). On October 4th, a vigil is held to encourage citizens to honour victims ofShow MoreRelatedViolence Against Women s Violence872 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Violence against women unfortunately is a very prevalent and critical issue in our society. It is a worldwide but still hidden problem. Freedom from the threat of harassment, battering, and sexual assault is a concept that most of us have a hard time imagining because violence is such a deep part of our cultures and our lives. 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