Critical Response to David Gutersons Snow Falling on Cedars Essay

Critical Response to David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson's novel Snow Falling on Cedars undoubtedly holds high acclaim in its reputable attempt to show the prejudice between the Americans and Japanese after World War II and more importantly the prejudice that is unavoidably apart of human nature. The author of the criticism recognizes and brings to light the things done by Guterson throughout the novel. He refers to the animosity between people brought about by differences, the unwillingness to accept change, and also states that things end in a moral and justified manner. The author refers to â€Å"old passions, prejudices, and grudges† surfacing throughout the novel taking place off the Washington coast. In referring to â€Å"old passions† the although beings up a valid point of the passion that exists between Ishmael and Hatsue, although it is not necessarily â€Å"old† as Ishmael is still vibrantly in love with Hatsue throughout the novel up until the very end. Their so called passion begins in the cedar tree where they spend their childhood escaping from the prejudices of society, but form a passionate connection that cannot be broken. Referring to the â€Å"prejudices and grudges† the author is most evidently talking about the resentment between the Heine and Miyamato families regarding the purchase of Ole Jugersons land. The grudge aroused because the land rightfully belongs to the Miyamatos as they had it land leased but when the Japanese were sent to internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor there became co nfusion. Out of this confusion the land ended up in the hands of Carle Heine. If the land dispute would have been between two similarly colored people it would not have been as significant. Being between the Japanese and American protagonists it becomes an issue of prejudice rather than ownership as Karl, the ideal white male, keeps land from the hard-working Japanese who fought for a countries freedom in which he is not even viewed as equal. The simplistic idea of land ownership boils down to a much more complicated issue of the impurities of American democracy. The author also refers to Gutersons courtroom, where the entire novel takes place, as being â€Å"cleverly constructed.† In doing so he alludes to the imagery portrayed through the novel by Guterson, which gives life to the seemingly standard courtroom making it a clear repr... ...as a possible motive, points to Kabuo as the murderer. Meanwhile, Hatsue Miyamoto, Kabuo's wife, is the undying passion of Ishmael Chambers, the publisher and editor of the town newspaper. Ishmael, who returned from the war minus an arm, can't shake his obsession for Hatsue any more than he can ignore the ghost pains in his nonexistent arm. As a thick snowstorm whirls outside the courtroom, the story is unburied. The same incidents are recounted a number of times, with each telling revealing new facts. In the end, justice and morality are proven to be intimately woven with beauty--the kind of awe and wonder that children feel for the world. But Guterson communicates these truths through detail, not philosophical argument: Readers will come away with a surprising store of knowledge regarding gill-netting boats and other specifics of life in the Pacific Northwest. Packed with lovely moments and as compact as haiku--at the same time, a page-turner full of twists. Works Cited Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. New York: Vintage Books, 1994. 75-428. "Snow Falling on Cedars." Kirkus Reviews. 24 Mar. 2005 < . Snow Falling on Cedars. Sparknotes. 24 Mar. 2005 .

International human resources Essay

It is the biggest challenge of companies today to maintain and attract best employees thus the realization in holding trainings and conferences for top executives to level officers is exceedingly in demand. Initiating strategies and solutions regarding employee retention and human resource management keep on going to minimize costs and money. There are many promising solutions in going through a lot of obstacles in human resource recruitment. We may start on some questions that would spark a new beginning: are the employees are given the chance to speak? Are new ideas accepted? Are benefits really beneficial to employees? Does the employees’ opinion count? Are works valued, evaluated and rewarded on their performance? This are simple questions that has an impact to the existing problems in many companies, regardless of size, incorporating other issues like repatriation, better opportunities, poor treatment, differences in culture and disagreement on the direction of the company, lack of recognition, indefinite growth prospects and poor relationship among co-workers. Keeping people and maintaining them for a longer period of time is the most difficult and challenging tasks for all human resources managers nowadays, hopefully, we will answer possible keys and solutions to these burning questions throughout the discussion. Why are people leaving from one company to another? A wide variety of reasons why are people leaving their jobs to find new companies includes: expectations were not satisfactorily fulfilled, unsuitable for the role, do not fit with the company’s culture, insufficient opportunities for growth and development, inadequate acknowledgment and admiration, problems with a manager or supervisor, not satisfied with the compensation, stress, lack of work and life balance, and lack of confidence in the company and leadership (Meyers). According to Susan Heathfield (Heathfield, 2007), most employees are leaving their work for reasons of searching new opportunities with other companies. Three top reasons were identified by Heathfield: fifty three percent of employees look for better rewards and benefits, thirty five percent were discontented with prospects of career growth and development, and thirty two percent were ready for a new experience and new environment. The motivating factors that can enhance the continuous stay of employees were examined by Bob Losyk on his article, here are the different factors that he stated: dignity and respect, involvement and participation, pay above the industry average, showcase superior workers, and by showing support to employees (Losyk). Giving dignity and respect is one of the most important key elements in satisfying the employees, harsh words, shouting, insults, and abuse of power will only result to demoralization, low morale, increase possibilities of absenteeism, and in turn resignation. Losyk added that employers should be treated with high respect, worth and goodness, let them relax, be independent and empowered. Do not crash on people who make mistakes instead make it more constructive and let them learn from it. Involvement and participation is also a significant factor in dealing with employees’ motivation to stay in the company, by listening to their suggestions, aspirations, and ideas can make them more involved and active much as with belongingness and partnership. Paying above the industry average will surely and literally compensate the best employee thus giving and making more money for you. Great employees should be compensated for what they gave back to the company and it should not be as simple as paying back but to reward and constantly recognize their efforts. For sure, companies who have the best employees will have more satisfied clients because of the excellent services they receive and in return a greater chance of repeat business will likely to come. Another tip from Losyk is to highlight and draw attention to outstanding employees by giving awards, certificates, extra remuneration, dinners as well as posting their photos on bulletin boards or company newsletters. To share and show support, to listen and know their personal and family problems can be a key factor for lasting relationship with employees. It will create a positive and motivating atmosphere resulting to a more productive and high-quality employees (Losyk). Increasing demand for immigrant workforce and opportunities abroad: The increasing demand of hiring cross-cultural workforce is a global necessity to respond the needs internationally. But because of the terms and conditions in hiring immigrants, it is very difficult to establish a worthy and constant employee for a particular business due to numerous alternative employment with other companies. To better understand the recruitment, hiring and retaining the best employees especially the immigrants and ethnic workers, it is important that we should consider the culture, traditions, and beliefs, know the different ethnic lifestyles and values, appreciate the impact that the immigrant workforce is influencing the management, and study the fabrications on recruitment of diverse ethnic groups. In addition to Losyk’s article, he stressed that it is significant that companies must understand the needs and desires most Hispanic and Asian workers want from a workplace, discover how to give comment to immigrant employees, determine the critical factors needed to train Asian, Hispanic and other cross-cultural groups, and create management techniques that can work and understand the involvement and recognition with the ethnic groups (Losyk). Further problems encountered by other employers is when their employees who are assigned to work overseas over a period of time will transfer to another companies in a few months to seek greener pastures. These are real and actual happenings in most development organizations when workers or volunteers enter into a contract to gain experience overseas and marked it as a stepping stone to find great opportunities abroad. How can companies and organizations struggle to this concurrent problem? Is this just a cycle to be left out and find new workers to continue the job? Are there any other holistic means that we can manage to surpass this continuing global recruitment problem?

Saving Ourselves And Others - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 738 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/03/14 Category Environment Essay Level High school Tags: Recycling Essay Did you like this example? Saving Ourselves And Others   Our species has lived over two hundred thousand years on earth and in the past year we have created over 2.6 trillion pounds of garbage. Thats over eleven million Royal Caribbean cruise ships in weight. The largest cruise ships built to this day. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Saving Ourselves And Others  " essay for you Create order We just throw away trash and never really think about where it goes. Most of us never see it. Most trash is sent to landfills where it is burned releasing methane and carbon dioxide, which makes up almost ninety percent of the gases in a landfill. The bacteria breaking down the trash also releases harmful gases into our atmosphere. Those chemicals can also contaminate our bodies of water and ground water. Some trash is even dumped into the ocean, almost fourteen billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean every year. The simple way of protecting our planets land, air, and water is to recycle. Landfills have become a global problem. We are running out of space to put the synthetic waste. This accumulation it will have devastating effects on the environment. Plastic is a really hard substance to break down. It takes thousands of years to decompose. When the plastic decomposes it releases harmful green house gases. These gases ,carbon dioxide and methane, are very harmful to take in. Each trees can only get rid of about fifty pounds of carbon a year, but plants are considered a limited resource. We need a well balance of carbon dioxide to be able to have oxygen. If we can reduce the amount of plastic we uses daily it would help substantially. I used to use over two plastic water bottles a day until I switched to a permanent water bottle. That is approximately fourteen water bottles a week. Imagine everyone in the United States (325.7 million) using half of that a week. Thats over two billion water bottles a week. With recycling we dont have to destroy habitats to make more r oom for our waste. We will be able to save trees and natural habitats for wild life. Landfills can even hurt our near bodies of water. When it rains the water carries the chemicals from the landfill to near by bodies of water. Essentially making it dangerous for aquatic life and the wild life that has to drink out of that body of water. Landfills also effect our ground water. In some states their water filters are not as robust as others. This makes public water questionable in some areas. Some public water in the United states even carries these harmful bacteria and chemicals. Trash in the sea is also a big problem. Hundreds of thousands of marine animals die each year die each year from ocean pollution, and almost one million seabirds die from ocean pollution problems. There is even an island of trash in the great pacific that stretches over six hundred thousand miles composed of plastic and floating trash. This Island is the size of Texas; the biggest state in North America. Plastic in the ocean kills many marine life due to them mistaking it as food. Upon ingesting it they consume many chemical killing them from the inside. If they do survive the plastic is passed up the food chain harming the bigger fish that relies on those smaller marine life. Sea turtles also mistake plastic as food and when they ingest it they choke or they starve from the plastic making them think that they are full. This has made almost all species of sea turtles become endangered. The cost of recycling my be high, but is letting a whole planet unlivable not equal to the cost? The Earth will always be here but will we? If pollution keeps skyrocketing the way it is now we wont be able to live on the planet that we are meant to be on. As of right now we do not have the technology to find another planet to live on. We do however, have the knowledge and the power to make earth a healthy living space; not just for us but for the thousands and thousand of animals with us. Many people have started organizations to help with our trash epidemic. They just need a little help and understanding from others, because we will have to face this epidemic in the future. So why not prevent that fate before hand and recycle to make a cleaner and breathable future.