Dracula Culture - Free Essay Example

Bram Stoker, an Irish author with an undeniably gothic reputation, once wrote in his famous novel Dracula: Oh, the terrible struggle that I have had against sleep so often of late; the pain of the sleeplessness, or the pain of the fear of sleep, with such unknown horrors as it has for me! How blessed are some people whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams (Stoker, 160). Throughout the years, many cultural crazes have come and gone. Doctors no longer wear bird masks with herbs stuffed up the beaks to protect from diseases. We no longer believe in the miasmatic theory of spontaneous growth. Even as we grow, we shed our belief in Santa Claus and the benevolent tooth fairy. No matter how many advancements we make, however, there are always elements that stay behind through generations and societies. One of these elements is that of the vampire. I am not a fan of the word vampire it sounds far too juvenile, and I wouldnt blame anyone who laughed at me for taking the topic so seriously. Even so, it is true that these gothic half-villains have latched onto our imaginations in many forms. Through movies, books, plays, and even academic journals exploring the topic, vampires have somehow managed to stay prevalent in our culture. I believe this is because vampires represent what we want from our existence. We want the blissful sleep with the absence of nightmares. While some audiences may dismiss this as the obsession of Goth youth who handle their black eyeliner with a heavy hand, I am of the opinion that these creatures hold something of fancy for all of us. The final sentence in the novel Dracula reads, We want no proofs; we ask none to believe us! (Stoker, 444). It is this spirit of firm exclamation that guides to me to write about this convoluted topic. I dont want to explore the physical vampire as much as I want to explain why, as a civilization, we remain sickly fascinated with them. Everything about these creatures are what we, humans, want to derive from our existence. Vampires have taken the literary scene by storm, evolving from the menacing Count Dracula in the days of Stoker to the lovely sparkling bloodsuckers that roam the streets of Forks, Washington in Stephanie Meyers Twilight saga. The simplest place to start explaining our communal obsession is in the physical realm. Vampires are perfect. Their skin is clear and everyone fawns over their beauty. They are lean and chiseled and will always stay that way: real people like Elizabeth Bathory believed these things so whole-heartedly, theyd kill to obtain the promise of eternal youth and gorgeousness. Creatures such as these dont spend time staring into an imperfect reflection in the mirror: they physically cant. They are very literally erased from the mortal struggle that is self-doubt. With this inane perfection comes a double-edged deal: you dont need to fit into society at all, if you dont please. While some among us may have felt the lifelong desire to fit into society as perfectly as a piece of a puzzle, others may have spent time rejecting the commitments of societal normalcy. For example, the latest adaptation of Dark Shadows, where Johnny Depp stars as the ancient vampire Barnabas Collins, makes no attempt to conceal the abnormalcy of Depps character. Collins wears clothes that are severely outdated and speaks with the lilt of an English gentleman. David Putner, author of The Gothic, which is a book explaining the Eastern European Gothic styles of the 18th century, is quoted as saying: one of the most significant shifts in the movement is the vampires transformation from peasant to aristocrat (Putner 269). Many of the modern blood-suckers we see in the media are rich. This is a symbolic representation of their success in society, or conversely, a demonstrati on of how leaving behind civilization helped them achieve riches. It is envy that keeps these rich vampires in our mind and in our media. Beyond the physical form of these creatures, they offer an immediate identity. When you are watching or reading a media that involves a creature that would fit under the term vampire, you dont really have to pay much attention to personality. Theyre actions and their names do that for them. When you picture a vampire, you picture a brooding fella like Mr. Edward Cullen, or possibly even a determined protector who is repeatedly cast to the edge of society. When you have such an infamous title as vampire, you dont have to play the game of creating an identity for yourself. I think this how many stereotypes about youth and vampire obsession got started: the youth found that vampires didnt have to work for their identity; their purpose in life. It acted like a balm for their angsty soul. Clinical psychologist Dr. Belisa Vranich wrote an article for the Huffington Post in which she explained: Often people feel lonely, feel alienated, feel special, misunderstood, different at some point in their lives. Yes, vampires are loners, but they are perfectly comfortable with their solitary existence (Vranich 1). We can only imagine what it must feel like to be secure and comfortable, at all times, with your existence. This relates back to the quote I began with, spoken by Mina Harker at the opening of chapter 11 of Dracula. She was wishing for someone elses existence, yet did not know that what she was describing was that of a vampire. Her enemy. Could this be a gothic interpretation of the-grass-is-always-greener? In our culture, trends and fads come and go, often times before all of us even understand what was so great about them. Somehow vampires have stuck around for ages- from the consumption deaths of the 19th century to the new, fancy vampires of Charlaine Harris novels. Keeping with the explanation of envy as the reason for the vampires prominence, I think another valid point is the fluency of the vampire. Eric Nuzum, on behalf of NPR, wrote an article called Defining Dracula. Nuzum insists, In the 43 sequels and adaptations of Stokers novel, Transylvanias most famous son rarely appears the same way twice. He has evolved with the society around him. His physical traits, powers and weaknesses have morphed to suit cultural and political climates from the Victorian era to the Cold War (Nuzum 1). It is with this thought that we come to a complicated answer for a simple question. We keep the vampire in such popularity because it has changed to suit us. No matter what was valued at the time, the vampire shifted to encompass it. To always be one step ahead of humans, thus capturing our attentions, attractions, and jealousy. We as humans cant shift so seamlessly, but the undead icons of our seemingly gothic culture sure can. Humans are not mechanical, systematic organisms who feel what they want and do what they should. Neither are our idolized bloodsuckers. In fact, every single vampire character that has been immortalized in media and literature was plagued by centuries of mistakes and doubts. Whether it be the insidious, gothic bloodlust of Count Dracula, the sadness that cloaks Barnabas Collins during his eternal slumber, or the isolation that the Cullen clan somewhat forces on themselves, they all feel it. It gives us hope that one day, someone will love and accept us. That one day we will pick up the broken, jagged pieces of ourselves and assemble them into a powerful force that lives above and beyond the normal good folk of society. This, in my opinion, is the driving force that the vampire has stayed around for such a long time. Religion is another factor that can explain the popularity of vampires. Specifically, religion that is derived from fear of eternal damnation. It could be said that vampires were created by humans so that they may not fear punishment from God or other forces of their chosen religion. Vampires are evil: it was not a contested fact until they started to sparkle and save the day. They were creatures that humans could destroy, something to shove the fear of damnation on. When they were killed, the humans could rest knowing that whomever they believed in was admiring their courage and sacrifice in the face of evil. It was a way to get in the good graces of the universe, to rationalize the fear of consequence for whatever we had done. Journeying back in time a little while, in Kentucky 1992, a group of teenagers shocked the world with their vampire cult. They sent parents into a frenzy, churches into hysteria, and shook the foundation of what a vampire was. Their cult, which was murderous and highly illegal, played an important role in the religious interpretation of vampires. The author of an article in The American Literary History journal, Teresa Godden, is quoted as saying, In the Bible Belt, the teenage vampire serves as a threatening image of family values gone awry the child as a soulless killer, as homegrown horror (Vampire Gothic 1). What this serves to say about the vampires prevalence in our culture and media is that it is as much a warning as it is a point of envy: to be so far gone from your conscious and humanity that you can do whatever you please. Closely related to religion is the idea of how we are told to live our lives, especially as children. We were told not to go too far into dark woods, to put reflectors on our bicycles and had curfews placed on us, effectively keeping us in the lights of our homes when the darkness reigns outside. It is highly possible that the vampire has stuck around for such a long time because the creature is an excuse to dabble in darkness. Still, it is socially acceptable. After all, Hollywood pumps out vampires onto the cinema scene constantly. Being interested in these comic-book creatures is a pretty benign way to express your interest in the things youre forbidden to explore. During an interview for Wired magazine, Ana Lily Amirpour, the creator of an Iranian short film called Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, which aired at the Sundance film festival, expressed her opinions on what, in its purest form, a vampire is. She said, A vampire is so many things: serial killer, a romantic, a historian, a drug addict- theyre sort of all these things in one (Why We Just Cant Quit Our Obsession With Vampires, 4). I agree heavily with Amirpours assessment of the creature, and I think the way she phrases her description does much more justice to the creature than simply calling it a vampire. There is a humanistic quality to the vampire; the tortured soul of a poet that attracts a curious girl to the dark side of town or the menacing battle scars that dot the face of Vlad Dracul, the Impaler of old world Romania. I think the ultimate appeal of the vampire is going to end up being the universal quality that the creature has always brought with it. Vampires wear their scars on their sleeves, but we humans keep our own hidden under layers of sarcasm or moodiness. There is something to be said about being completely honest with the world: unleashing what you are for all to see and judge. Humans never feel free to do this: they dont want to end up being the goof in the back of the classroom drawing haphazard skulls on their anemically pale forearms, wearing their differences out there in the open. In Russian culture and literature, the vampire was a harsh reminder of the importance of conformity. If you think about the political and social climate of Russia in the late 18th and 19th centuries, youll find it was a strict country that valued complete obedience, especially to authority and the norms of society. The common vampire for Russians to believe in was a heretic. The people who strayed from the common religious or social beliefs of the time were shunned, even in death and the afterlife. Vampires dont have to obey the norms of culture, nor can anyone shun them more than they can themselves. Count Dracula did not hide the fact that he was a monster, once Mr. Jonathan Harker had put the pieces together. Culturally, I have yet to examine what vampires mean. What does it show us about our societyand ultimately ourselves that we keep these pale, bloodsucking people in our media? From the outside, it looks like were missing something. We remain so obsessively fascinated with late-night tours of Romanian palaces and the whisper of a velvet cloak belonging to a cold-blooded vampire lord. Vampires were born out of the desire to explain things that we could not yet understand for ourselves. One of the most iconic cases of this reasoning is that of a young girl named Mercy Brown, who perished in Exeter, a small Rhode Island town, in the 19th century. The Brown family had been troubled by consumption for many years. The disease, which turned out to be an infection much like tuberculosis, killed most of the Brown children and Mrs. Brown in short years. The only children left were a young man named Edwin and his sister, Mercy. Mercy fell ill with the almost-always fatal affliction shortly before Edwin also succumbed to consumption. When Mercy finally passed on and was buried, somehow, her father started to believe what the townsfolk had been murmuring: she wasnt completely dead. It was not that she had been in a coma and woken up buried in the ground. It was believed that she had returned to earth to claim the rest of her family. To prevent this, Mr. Brown went to unthinka ble measures, guided only by his fears and grief. For the Smithsonian, Abigail Tucker concludes the story simply: Undeterred, the villagers burned her heart and liver on a nearby rock, feeding Edwin the ashes. He died less than two months later (The Great New England Vampire Panic, 4). The gruesome example of the Brown family serves to prove that vampires, like many other supernatural phenomenon, were used to explain what society wasnt yet ready to diagnose in the physical realm. Belief in something has always comforted us. Whether it be in the form of Sunday church services or quiet afternoons spent being thankful for your family, humans have believed in something ever since the dawn of time. And we will continue to believe in things. I am not about to insist that everyone believes in vampires. I personally dont. What I am clearly insisting is that they give us something to believe in: the possibility -a little seed of an idea- that there might be more to our existence. In a weird, twisted, way, it is quite possible that we keep vampires around because they are comforting to us. We have all been raised with the legend of Count Dracula, be it in the form of a cartoon like Hotel Transylvania, or the creepy stories told to us by sinister siblings. The things with which we are raised have a way of sticking with us and we have been raised with vampires. Our ancestors, those who lived in a time of entire families perishing by consumption, believed in these things. There is a fascination that many people holdknowingly or unconsciously- with the days of the past, where things were simpler. Vampires, on the surface, are the simplest of creatures. They drink our blood to live, and then they retreat swiftly to their caves or mountain-top dwellings, only to be seen in the dead of night. These creatures provide comfort beyond a religious-like belief that our ancestors held dear. They allow us to explore and put a name to what we believe in. As we explore the lore and history of these creatures, we develop ideas about what we believe. Beyond this, I love to think about one more basic implication of our belief in these creatures. They dont judge. They let you leave whatever situation youre in and join them on amazing adventures. They wont shun you because they have been shunned. They wont abandon you because society has abandoned them. These are the unconscious thought processes by which we can explain our love for the vampire. We will never stop loving these creatures. They have wormed their way into childrens picture books, classic literature, contemporary novels, movies, music, and even clothing and apparel choices. For something to stick around for so long, it must mean something. The vampire transformed itself from the corpse of a loved one rising to destroy you to the sparkling immortal that whisks you into the woods and away from your responsibilities. There are so many reasons why we insist on keeping these reincarnations around. We envy their freedom, we admire their bold demeanors and how rules dont apply to them. We inspire to be as blunt and honest as them. Well never know for sure whether our sickly fascination lays rooted in science and possibility or fantasy and solidarity. In a way, this is how it should be. The mystery of the vampirein all its many forms- was never solved, so why should we try? As humans, when something is solved, it is no longer valuable to us. Its done, its past. It is a piece of history. But vampires are our history because we have not explained them. They remain so prevalent in our minds and in our Halloween costume choices because there is no pressure to be reasonable and real with ourselves.

Parenting Style In The Kite Runner - Free Essay Example

Kite Runner Final Paper Parents play an integral role in their childrs life. Each parenting style has a different influence on a child, determining how one will interact with their peers and develop future relationships once their in the real world. In the Kite Runner, By reading through the psychoanalytic lens, itrs clear to see that Babars authoritative and uninvolved style is problematic and has a negative effect on Amir and their relationship. The first sign of Babars uninvolved parenting style is his lack of involvement in his sonrs life. When Amir was asking his dad if he could sit with him and his friends, trying to enter his dadrs smoking room, Baba kept on blocking him from coming in. Go on now, hed say. This is grown-ups time. Why dont you go read one of those books of yours, (3). Baba not engaging in his sonrs life makes it difficult for Amir. He is constantly yearning for his fatherrs love and attention. He ends up being jealous of Babars relationship with Hassan. As of result, this leads Amir to not having any guidance, a real father figure to nurture him and teach him. In addition to Babars uninvolved parenting style, hers shows very little warmth and affection towards Amir. Amir was told a story about his dad fighting a bear with his bare hands how no one would even question his fatherrs strength, any story about Baba for that matter. Amir would have dreams multiple times about his father wrestling with a bear, leaving Baba with scars all down his back. And in those dreams, I can never tell Baba from the bear, (9). A bear represents power and strength, but therers also a coldness to Baba. Amir is left emotionally withdrawn by his father. Amirrs dreams indicates that there is a distance in his relationship with his father. Their relationship becomes the motive behind Amir betraying Hassan because he saw how much attention Baba was giving to Hassan instead. Finally, Babars aggressiveness is a sign of this parenting style. Amir is in the smoking room with Baba, sitting on his lap and talking about what he learned in school. Baba then tells Amir what he thinks about sin. Youll never learn anything from those bearded idiots. Piss on the beards of all those self-righteous monkeys, (12). Amir tries to live up to his fatherrs demands and high standards and doesnt want to disappoint him. He spends time with Baba to succeed at his fatherrs demands, but therers a part of Amir that stands back and kind of hesitates because he feels as if his father is already disappointed in him. Last but not least, the final sign of Babars authoritative parenting style is he sets some ground rules, specifically on stealing. Baba tells Amir about the act of theft being a sin and if he ever came across a man who committed such an act, they would suffer the consequences. There is no act more wretched than stealing, Amir, Baba said. I spit on such man, (14). Once again, we see Amir fearing his dad; the fact that Baba would say that he would spit on a man. This leaves Amir terrified of his father, with his sort of militant behavior. In conclusion, we see Amir gradually learn how to stand up not only for himself, but for others. He stood up to his enemy, Assef, after being put down by him for so long. He stood up to Sohrab when the General Taheri called Sohrab a hazara boy. Even though the book doesnt end a good note, we see Amir making strives to become a better individual and a father figure, nurturing and giving sohrab the love and attention that he never got as a child.

Biology Prefixes and Suffixes -troph or -trophy

The affixes (troph and -trophy) refer to nourishment, nutrient material, or the acquisition of nourishment. It is derived from the Greek trophos, which means one who nourishes or is nourished. Words Ending In: (-troph) Allotroph (allo - troph): Organisms that get their energy from food obtained from their respective environments are allotrophs. Autotroph (auto-troph): an organism that is self nourishing or capable of generating its own food. Autotrophs include plants, algae, and some bacteria. Autotrophs are producers in food chains. Auxotroph (auxo-troph): a strain of microorganism, such as bacteria, that has mutated and has nutritional requirements that differ from the parent strain. Biotroph (bio - troph): Biotrophs are parasites. They do not kill their hosts as they establish a long-term infection as they get their energy from living cells. Bradytroph (brady - troph): This term refers to an organism that experiences very slow growth without the presence of a particular substance. Chemotroph (chemo-troph): an organism that obtains nutrients through chemosynthesis (oxidation of inorganic matter as a source of energy to produce organic matter). Most chemotrophs are bacteria and archaea living in very harsh environments. They  are known as  extremophiles  and can thrive in extremely hot, acidic, cold, or salty habitats. Electrotroph (electro - troph): Electrotrophs are organisms that can obtain their energy from an electric source. Embryotroph (embryo-troph): all the nourishment  supplied to mammalian embryos, such as the nourishment that comes from the mother through the placenta. Hemotroph (hemo-troph): nutritive materials supplied to mammalian embryos through the blood supply of the mother. Heterotroph (hetero-troph): an organism, such as an animal,  that relies on organic substances for nourishment. These organisms are consumers in food chains. Histotroph (histo-troph): nutritive materials, supplied to mammalian embryos, derived from maternal tissue other than blood. Metatroph (meta-troph): an organism that requires complex nutritive sources of carbon and nitrogen for growth. Necrotroph (necro - troph): Unlike biotrophs, necrotrophs are parasites that kill their host and survive on the dead remains. Oligotroph (oligo - troph): Oligotrophs are organisms that can live in places with very few nutrients. Phagotroph (phago-troph): an organism that obtains nutrients by phagocytosis (engulfing and digesting organic matter). Phototroph (photo-troph): an organism that obtains nutrients by using light energy to convert inorganic matter into organic matter through photosynthesis. Prototroph (proto-troph): a microorganism that has the same nutritional requirements as the parent strain. Words Ending In: (-trophy) Atrophy (a-trophy): a wasting away of an organ or tissue due to lack of nourishment or nerve damage. Atrophy can also be caused by poor circulation, inactivity or lack of exercise, and excessive cell apoptosis. Axonotrophy (axono - trophy): This term refers to axon destruction due to a disease. Cellulotrophy (cellulo - trophy): Cellulotrophy refers to the digestion of cellulose, an organic polymer. Chemotrophy (chemo - trophy): This term refers to an organism making its energy by the oxidation of molecules. Dystrophy (dys-trophy):  a degenerative disorder resulting from inadequate nutrition. It also refers to a set of disorders characterized by muscle weakness and atrophy (muscular dystrophy). Eutrophy (eu-trophy):  refers to proper development due to healthy nutrition. Hypertrophy (hyper-trophy): excessive growth in an organ or tissue due to increase in cell size, not in cell numbers. Myotrophy (myo-trophy): nourishment of the muscles. Oligotrophy (oligo-trophy): a state of poor nutrition. Often refers to an aquatic environment that lacks nutrients but has excess levels of dissolved oxygen. Onychotrophy (onycho-trophy): nourishment of the nails. Osmotrophy (osmo-trophy): the acquiring of nutrients through the uptake of organic compounds by osmosis. Osteotrophy (osteo-trophy): nourishment of bone tissue. Oxalotrophy (oxalo - trophy): This term refers to the metabolism of oxalates or oxalic acid by organisms. Words Beginning With: (troph-) Trophallaxis (tropho-allaxis): exchange of food between organisms of the same or different species. Trophallaxis typically occurs in insects between adults and larvae. Trophobiosis (tropho-bi-osis): a symbiotic relationship in which one organism receives nourishment and the other protection. Trophobiosis is observed in relationships between some ant species and some aphids. The ants protect the aphid colony, while the aphids produce honeydew for the ants. Trophoblast (tropho-blast): outer cell layer of a blastocyst that attaches the fertilized egg to the uterus and later develops into the placenta. The trophoblast provides nutrients for the developing embryo. Trophocyte (tropho-cyte):  any cell that provides nutrition. Trophopathy (tropho-pathy):  Ã‚  a disease due to a disturbance of nutrition.

Essay on The First Industrial Revolution - 2069 Words

Imagine living in a world without electricity, transportation, lights, or modern technology. Envisioning life without the gadgets and gizmos we enjoy today may seem bizarre, but our society remains dependent on the inventions of the turn of the 18th century to feed, clothe and sustain itself. The First Industrial Revolution occurred during the beginning of the 18th century and would merge with the Second Industrial Revolution in 1850. It was a time of great change in America and the world. The previously miniscule GDP, the Gross Domestic Product (Webster, 1), began to shoot skyward with implementation of an array of new inventions, the use of steam power, and the cotton gin, which vastly increased the ability of farmers and manufacturers†¦show more content†¦Yet the population had no room left in the frame of the prevailing system of production to grow or live. Work in the factories was salvation to the people who thronged into plants for no reason other than to improve thei r standard of living† (Mises , 1). Though living conditions may seem bad during the early Industrial Revolution when compared to now, American society had reached a critical point. The only future for many people, particularly the Irish and German immigrants, was in the budding factories or on the virgin prairie. It would be unfair to not point out that the revolution offered a new life to many people. Working provided failed farmers, immigrants, and women work they could never gotten before. People had an opportunity to work for a better life, creating a chance for social mobility, which existed nowhere else in the world than the Americas. The First Industrial Revolution was a time of innovation which led to the mass manufacturing of many of the things we now take for granted like tractors, plows, machinery, textiles, and interchangeable parts, without which American society as we know it would have become stagnated by the sod of the prairie. The growing population would have simply been doomed to starvation and peasantry as it had been in medieval Europe. The changes taking place in the American way of life were closely related to theShow MoreRelatedThe Invention Of The First Industrial Revolution1391 Words   |  6 PagesThe First Industrial Revolution Envision living in a society dominated by factories that just recently transformed from arable land and farms. Imagine constantly hearing about brand new inventions and ideas that were deemed impossible only a few years ago. Visualize working long hours in cramped factories, in exchange for low pay and contagious diseases. 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The people who established these mills hired children and women to decrease their labor cost by paying them low wages and having poor working conditions for them as well. The Labor force impacted American culture through various means such as the child laborRead MoreThe Western Military Trajectory During The Gunpowder And First Industrial Revolutions2121 Words   |  9 Pagesthe impetuses for a military revolution stemming from non-Western stimuli. Innovations such as the composite bow (introduced by the Hyksos), cavalry (accredited to Assyria and Persia), the stirrup (attributed to China), gunpowder (China), crossbow (China), and cannons (China) have been attributed to non-Western regions; however, it is the Western militaries that exploited these innova tions to their full deadly potential and in the process created military revolutions. This paper will discuss how

The Machine Stops A Cautionary Vision - 906 Words

â€Å"The Machine Stops† – A Cautionary Vision Science fiction is a literary genre that explores potential consequences related to scientific innovations. It is largely based on the idea of writing rationally about alternative worlds or futures. Provided adequate knowledge of the past and present world, science fiction tales provide realistic speculations of possible future events (ReadWriteThink). E.M. Forster’s story The Machine Stops can be regarded as a work of apocalyptic science fiction in that it is a cautionary vision of the future. Through speculation and storytelling literature belonging to the genre of apocalyptic science fiction provides a means of understanding the world. What is chilling about the story The Machine Stops are the similarities that it has to social media, the internet and other technologies. All of which have significantly empowered, disrupted and seduced the modern age. The story The Machine Stops describes an era where humans trade first hand experience for a life situated in front of a screen, known as the â€Å"machine† (Forster 1). In the constructed future Forster describes a life where people are confined to â€Å"a small room, hexagonal in shape, like the cell of a bee [and] it is lighted neither by window nor by lamp, yet it is filled with a soft radiance (Forster 1).† With a touch of a button the machine provides human necessities; food, water, light, and screened social interaction. Human contact is only ever encountered when one travels via theShow MoreRelated John D. Rockefeller Essay1337 Words   |  6 Pageserase the memory of his predatory business practices. Who was Rockefeller? 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Evolution of Democracy and the Athenian Constitution Essay

Evolution of Democracy and the Athenian Constitution Democracy is defined in modern times as government by the people. To put that in perspective and better understand all that democracy entails we must consider its origins. It is surprising indeed that even today tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and how it changed the socio-political scene in Athens is what will be considered in this paper. The paper will have three sections, each detailing the various stages of political development from the kings of†¦show more content†¦Honor was a competitive concept in Greek society. This held true not only for individuals but also for the highly competitive city states or poleis. 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Hospitality Management Organizational Psychology

Question: Describe about the Hospitality Management for Organizational Psychology. Answer: Introduction Importance of Delegation Olivia should accept that she cant do everything on her own and this will be the first step towards delegating tasks. It should not be a question of the more delegation, the better, which could lead to loss of control but rather the challenge of her delegating properly, and effectively the tasks that she wants to and can delegate(Preenen, van Vianen and de Pater 2014). Some of the importance of delegation includes: Olivia will have more time to do important Tasks By Olivia delegating some of the things that she does not need to do personally, she will at least be able to free up some of her time that will enable her to other important valuable tasks that only require her energy and experience. This will give her some time to plan and also increase her strategic capacity thus improving the systems of her boutique. Growth of the Team By delegating some of the duties to her staff, Olivia will help them to develop in their capacities hence making them also feel more valued in the business. It will also increase her teams job satisfaction and an opportunity to be successful and excel. It will make her business to prosper more(Evers, Hafkesbrink and Becke 2014). Fostering of efficiency and creativity By Olivia delegating some duties, she will be promoting teamwork that will bring in different points of view on how well to approach some tasks hence translating into increased productivity and efficiency(Lyons and Lyons 2016). Why Olivia does not want to delegate tasks Olivia fears delegating tasks because maybe she feels that it is more efficient if she handles most of the tasks on her own. It seems that she does not think that her supervisors are capable of doing what she does best; she fears that they might disappoint her. Delegation plan for Olivia Tasks not suitable to delegate Liaising with clients regarding their needs and updates contracts accordingly. Liaising with venues and suppliers and negotiates contracts for space, supplies, audiovisual equipment. Staff recruitment and selection. Ensure all SOPs and quality assurance principles are adhered to. Updating company SOPs. Conducts employee appraisals Handling complaints. Client needs Tasks that others can do in Olivers absence Conducting employee appraisals. Liaising with venues and suppliers and negotiates contracts for space, supplies, audiovisual equipment. Handles complaints. Client needs Tasks delegated permanently Checking room layout prior to event and that all materials, such as place cards, nametags, packages, gift bags, registration lists, etc. are prepared. Checking audiovisual equipment, signage and dcor meet quality expectations. Client needs Ensuring all staff arrive on time and are in full uniform. Organizes replacement staff in case of absenteeism. Organizing event bookings and contracts. Conducting research making site visits and finding resources to help with decisions about event possibilities. Creating and revising room layouts for each event. Creating event run sheets to ensure the smooth flow of the event. Organizing staff rosters. Preparing budgets and provides periodic progress reports to the event director. Conducting pre/post-shift meetings. Monitoring staff on shift Training of new and existing staff when necessary Checking staff time cards and that labor costs comply with budget. Tasks not being done but can be delegated Updating the company website. Marketing How Olivia can determine delegation of duties to the staff Picking the right person: Olivia should know that picking the wrong person for a key task can make that task not to be successful. Matching the requirements of the job with the abilities of the staff: Olivia should make sure the staff being delegated the task has the right capability for the job. Delegating to the staff a clear outcome that is expected: Olivia should explain to the staff what she expects to be done and also the reason for undertaking the task. How Olivia can give Instructions effectively For Olivia to give effective instructions, she must consider some of these measures: Being specific and clear. Give alternatives incase her instructions fail. Set boundaries. Give specific time frames. Seek clarification from the staff to make sure they have understood the instructions well. Why staffs resist taking delegated tasks The staff resist delegation of tasks because may be they feel that they have not been trained on how to handle the tasks that are being delegated to them hence there is fear of failure among the staff. Olivia should embark on training her staff. This will give them confidence to handle any delegated tasks more efficiently without fear of failure(Dobrajska, Billinger and Karim 2015). What Olivia should do to ensure delegated tasks are successfully implemented Olivia should start by specifying the outcome that she desires to her supervisors that she has delegated the tasks. Another thing, Oliver should do, is to also provide sufficient support to the staff, identify the limits, and establish controls and finally Oliver must resist an upward delegation at all cost. After a task is completed, it is important for her to give recognition where it is deserved. Time management Strategies Olivia can effectively manage her time by: Knowing how to spend it. Setting her priorities right. Using a planning tool. Avoiding procrastination. Managing her external time wasters. Scheduling her time well. Consequences of ineffective time management Inefficient flow of work in Olivias business. It may lead to wasted time: She must work hard to avoid anything that distracts her from achieving her goals. Missing of deadlines; Olivia can avoid this by prioritizing her tasks i.e. those that are urgent and those that do not need any urgency. Poor Quality: If there is no proper time management, this may lead to poor outcome of tasks. Monitoring Strategies that Olivia can use Watching the employees using her own eyes and see how they work. Asking for an account of what they have done in her absence. Asking her employees to use self-monitoring tools like project plans or activity logs. Reviewing her staff work in progress. Doing her own intelligence by gathering information about her staff. Conclusion It is important for Olivia to realize that if she really wants her business to be more successful then she will have to involve her staff in achieving this. By involving them, her business is bound to even experience more growth. In addition, by offloading some of the tasks that can be done by the staff, she will have more time to manage her business more effectively without much stress. References Preenen, P., van Vianen, A. and de Pater, I., 2014. Challenging tasks: The role of employees' and supervisors' goal orientations.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,23(1), pp.48-61. Dobrajska, M., Billinger, S. and Karim, S., 2015. Delegation within hierarchies: How information processing and knowledge characteristics influence the allocation of formal and real decision authority.Organization Science,26(3), pp.687-704. Evers, J., Hafkesbrink, J. and Becke, G., 2014. Balancing efficiency, quality of work and service qualityMeasuring the productivity of social services. Cockpit soziale Dienstleistungen. Gestaltung der Produktivitt durch Balance von Effizienz, Untersttzungsqualitt und Arbeitsqualitt, pp.19-46. Lyons, P.R. and Lyons, P.R., 2016. Helping managers to more effectively delegate authority.Human Resource Management International Digest, 24(6), pp.1-3.