Sherman Alexie’s Short Stories Essay Example

Sherman Alexie’s Short Stories Paper In Sherman Alexie’s short stories â€Å"This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona†, and â€Å"Indian Education† Alexie uses action and dialogue to show the struggles of an Indian culture in a white mans world, putting the theme of race and social justice in a dilemma. Alexie uses dialogue in the short story â€Å"This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona†, to illustrate an ill-funded Indian reservation. After Victor had found out that his father had passed away Victor needed money to retrieve his father remains, realizing that, â€Å"[The only people that] have money on a reservation, [are] the cigarette and fireworks salespeople. People in the reservation truly don’t have money but for the few that sell cigarettes and fireworks, even the Tribal Council, â€Å"[Has] a difficult time financially†, only being able to provide Victor with a hundred dollars for the retrievel of his fathers remains. Alexie also uses action in the short story â€Å"Indian Education† to give a sense of predigest against the Indian race. While in the second grade Alexies teacher makes him take a separate spelling test designed for junior high students, and when he proved to her that he could spell the words correctly she made him eat the test. We will write a custom essay sample on Sherman Alexie’s Short Stories specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sherman Alexie’s Short Stories specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sherman Alexie’s Short Stories specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The predigest missionary teacher wanted Alexie to feel inadequate by giving him a harder test, even though he passed, the teacher was in such rage that he did not fail she made him eat the test. The missionary teacher has no respect for Alexie by calling him an, â€Å"indian, indian, indian† with no capitalization, giving no sing of respect for his background. Sherman Alexie’s short stories tell the stories of Indians in a racial and social injustice world.

Classical Management Viewpoint of the Worker Essays

Classical Management Viewpoint of the Worker Essays Classical Management Viewpoint of the Worker Essay Classical Management Viewpoint of the Worker Essay The classical management writers had a particular viewpoint of the worker. Discuss what this was. [12 marks] a The evolution of management has been in existence since the construction of massive structures such as the pyramids in Egypt in the ancient days and the Great Wall of China during the Qing Dynasty period. It is thus evident how important the role of management and its application is globally and through the passage of time. The emergence of the classical approach occurred during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain and Europe, as it became necessary to have a more formal approach to management. Production shifted away from the cottage industry as large complex organisations sprouted due to new forms of technology. The classical approach places emphasis on purpose, formal structure, hierarchy of management, technical requirements, and common principles of organisation in order to manage efficiently the higher amount of outputs from increased producitivity. (needs emphasis on the workers) The classical management approach comprises of three theories namely- bureacratic management by Max Weber, Scientific management by Taylor and Administrative management by Henri Fayol. Max Weber is a German sociologist who defined an organisation as a well-defined hierarchy of authority and responsibility, following a system of rules and regulations where there is no confusion and conflicts. Under this formal hierarchy structure, workers abide by rules and follow accordingly without question. Official positions exist in their own right and jobholders have no rights to particular positions in the top management, since appointment of staff is based on qualification and competence. This will thus allow for a stable and well-defined job content such that work performance is based on the identified roles. However, the over-emphasis on rules and regulation only serves to dehumanise and demotivate the workers as workers’ initiation and creativity are being stifled. They become inflexible in responding to situations, and reluctant to innovate in time. There are three types of legitimate authority identified by Weber- traditional, charismatic and rational-legal authority. Workers are required to accept those in authority that arises from tradition and custom. They must also be loyal and entrust their confidence in the personal qualities of the leader. Hence, there is no questioning of the authority since the workers are bounded by the rules and procedures of the organisation, and does not have any job movement in their job scope. Nonetheless, Weber see this approach as neccessary at that time in order to achieve stability in the organisation, where rules are implemented to increase efficiency and productivity even though it neglects the social needs of the workers. Another writer who contributed to the classical approach is Taylor. He introduced the theory of scientific management where workers are viewed as â€Å"rational economic man† who are satisfied and motivated by high wages, and are willing to work diligently for the organisation. He was concerned with the efficiency of the working methods, and the question of how to organize different resources into efficient and profitable operations. He wanted to prevent â€Å"soldiering† which he believes arises due to the fallacious belief of the workers that any increase in output will result in unemployment, hence deliberately restrict their work-rate in order to stay in employment. Hence in order to overcome this problem, he came up with â€Å"a true science of work†, referring to the amount to be done by a suitable worker under optimum conditions. Workers are paid their wages according to their productivity. Workers are systematically trained and placed through careful selections, jobs designated for them. Through analysis of the â€Å"stopwatch exercise†, he was able to establish standard time and standard output of work. He argued that workers prefer to be given a definite task with clear-cut standards, then rewarded accordingly for their productivity without limit. However, the scientific approach fails to consider the social needs of the workers as well, and also overlooked the human desire for job satisfaction by labelling workers merely as a â€Å"rational economic man† who works long hours willingly for the sake of higher wages. Workers are viewed as cogs of machines, and exploitation of labour and unfair distribution of wages may occur. Administrative management was prefaced by Henri Fayol. He says that to manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control. In his book â€Å"Administration â€Å"Industrielle Et Generale†, he proposed 14 principles of management which he feels will enable organisations to function efficiently. His emphasis was also on the hierarchical aspects of the business enterprise as a formal organisation, based on the division of work, scalar chain, unity of command and centralisation. This top-down management style shows how authority is limited and restricted from the workers, who are expected to follow the leadership of others. In conclusion, under the classical approaches to management, the theories have similar traits towards their view of the worker. Discuss in what ways, and for what reasons, this viewpoint may be different in the 21st century. [13 marks] The 21st century marks an important pardigm shift in business and management principles. We now live in the Information Age (post-modern) and not the Industrial Age (classical). The 21st century is also a period of great uncertainty where we have se en horrific acts of terrorism against the good of mankind, the SARS outbreak in Asia, which threatened to derail the World Economy in today’s ever-increasingly ‘boundary-less’ global economy as well as many other events. Henceforth, the classical management writers’ viewpoint of the workers has become less relevant in the 21st century as the approach was developed in the 1890 to 1940s. The classical approach’s viewpoint of the workers has become different in the 21st century as the modern era is more focused on the social needs and welfare of the workers. Human’s rights are being advocated, henceforth making it necessary for organisations and their management to take care of the needs of the workers. Workers from the past were also less educated, whereas 90% of the population in the 21st century living in cities are literate. As such, it is more important for managers to focus more on improving the interactions and relations between management and workers at the workplace. This is developed in Hawthorne studies by Elton Mayo, who discovered the importance of informal working group. When workers feel more important at work and being taken care of, their productivity will improve, resulting in an increase in output. This is therefore different from the viewpoint of the classical approach when the social needs of the workers are being neglected. Nowadays, management has adopted a much flatter structure instead of a tall one. Workers have to be convinced of the abilities of their superiors before accepting their management styles. Similarly, top management must also be open to ideas coming from the lower level of workers within the organization. There should be mutual communications between the managers and their subordinates. Managers are encouraged to show care and concern towards the workers so that they will be motivated. This motivation to work will help to keep the productivity and efficiency of the organization going by making the subordinates feel important (encouraging self-esteem), and feel as if they really belong to the organization. As such they will feel that contributing to the organization will not only benefit the organization but themselves through self-satisfaction. However, too much motivation and giving leeway to workers will cause them to be complacent and to lose their sense of working abilities. Hence there should be a proper balance between adopting some of the classical approaches and putting them together with human relations which will be discussed later. The Gilbreths, followers of Taylor in scientific management of classical approaches were convinced with doing things in the one best way through the process of recording techniques done in experiments and motion studies. The Gilbreths used charting and basic elements of on-the-job motions and providing a standardized basis for recording movements. By doing experiments like these, the Gilbreths are trying to anaylse the whole working operations and this, as they believe, will most likely boost workers morale because of its obvious physical worker benefits and involves the managements concern for the worker. In this form of classical approach, every worker will always be a doer, a learner and a teacher that will have new possibilites in the job scope. This method applies mainly in the Industrial as mentioned earlier. However, as a contrast to such a classical theory of managements attitude to the worker, Elton Mayos Hawthorne studies were on the workers rather than on the work. Hawthorne was mainly interested in studying social relationship at work. Human relations have become an important element in management as it is proven by the company is able to thank their workers and show their appreciation is by giving company dinners and incentives like healthcare services that will benefit them, and such activities undertaken by organizations are still practiced in many organizations such s MacDonalds, Federal Express. The systems theory also states that organisations are complex entities, or systems of inter-ralted and independent parts comprising of input, process and output which have interaction with the external environment to arrive at stable state (homeostasis). Under the open socio-technical system, workers need work compatibility with each other in order to work in teams, which is important for work redesign (relevant for motivation). The Volvo experiment at the Kalmer plant has hexagon-shaped factories with assembly lines along glass walls. The autonomous team decides on allocation of work and responsibilities. By specializing and helping each other as a team, productivity and sales quality will improve. (need to relate more to 21st Century) As organizations cannot be totally humanized, managements attitudes and perspectives towards Man have also evolved along with their management ideologies, from Human Relations approach to one of Contingency Approach. Due to factors such as globalization, cultures of various countries (eg asian values that need adaptation), turbulent environment (war on terrorism), deregulation, privatisation, urbanisation and movement towards capitalism and dependence on market economy by countries such as China and India and greater competition, which are prevalent in the 21st century, and therefore old ideas have to be discarded and new ones embraced. As organizations have adapted and become more complex (Peters and Watermans attributes of organizations in the early 20th century, these ideas have become less applicable in changing times of the 21st century), operations have been decentralized and more fluid and flexibility have emerged (Sony and 3M). Therefore Man has evolved due to the demanding nature of today, which require many competencies and skills to deal with any incidences that occur due to the non-ideal (no one optimum) state in the business world. The classical approach have declined over the years but we cannot deny that their usefulness have not totally been eliminated. Some approaches like the structural organizations in the government still adopt its concept which is based on bureaucracy. However, managements must also give consideration to human factors and not simply based it on one approach. The structures of the organization should be more flexible and not rigid in order to adapt quickly to any global changes. Only then organizations can operate well in a globally ever changing integrated precarious world economy (need to emphasize more on 21st century; change conclusion).

Glossary of Cold War Terms

Glossary of Cold War Terms Every war has its own jargon and the Cold War, despite the fact that there was no open fighting, was no exception. The following is a list of terms used during the Cold War. The most worrisome term  is definitely the broken arrow. ABM Anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs) are designed to shoot down ballistic missiles (rockets carrying nuclear weapons) before they reach their targets. Arms race Massive military build-up, especially of nuclear weapons, by both the Soviet Union and the United States in an effort to gain military superiority. Brinkmanship Purposely escalating a dangerous situation to the limit ( brink), while giving the impression that you are willing to go to war, in the hope of pressuring your opponents to back down. Broken arrow A nuclear bomb that is either lost, stolen, or accidentally launched that causes a nuclear accident. Though broken arrows made great movie plots throughout the Cold War, the most serious real-life broken arrow occurred on January 17, 1966, when a U.S. B-52 crashed off the coast of Spain. Though all four of the nuclear bombs aboard the B-52 were eventually recovered, radioactive material contaminated large areas around the crash site. Checkpoint Charlie A crossing point between West Berlin and East Berlin when the Berlin Wall divided the city. Cold War The struggle for power between the Soviet Union and the United States that lasted from the end of World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union. The war was considered cold because the aggression was ideological, economic, and diplomatic rather than a direct military conflict. Communism An economic theory in which collective ownership of property leads to a classless society. The form of government in the Soviet Union in which the state owned all means of production and was led by a centralized, authoritarian party. This was viewed as the antithesis of democracy in the United States. Containment Fundamental U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War in which the U.S. tried to contain Communism by preventing it from spreading to other countries. DEFCON An acronym for defense readiness condition. The term is followed by a number (one to five) which informs the U.S. military to the severity of the threat, with DEFCON 5 representing normal, peacetime readiness to DEFCON 1 warning the need for maximum force readiness, i.e. war. Detente The relaxing of tension between the superpowers. See details in  Successes and Failures of Dà ©tente in the Cold War. Deterrence theory A theory that proposed a massive build-up of military and weaponry in order to threaten a destructive counter-attack to any potential attack. The threat was intended to prevent, or deter, anyone from attacking. Fallout shelter Underground structures, stocked with food and other supplies, that were intended to keep people safe from radioactive fallout following a nuclear attack. First strike capability The ability of one country to launch a surprise, massive nuclear attack against another country. The goal of a first strike is to wipe out most, if not all, of the opposing countrys weapons and aircraft, leaving them unable to launch a counter-attack. Glasnost ​ A policy promoted during the latter half of the 1980s in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Gorbachev in which government secrecy (which had characterized the past several decades of Soviet policy) was discouraged and open discussion and distribution of information was encouraged. The term translates to openness in Russian. Hotline ​ A direct line of communication between the White House and the Kremlin  established in 1963. Often called the red telephone. ICBM ​ Intercontinental ballistic missiles were missiles that could carry nuclear bombs across thousands of miles. iron curtain ​ A term used by Winston Churchill  in a speech to describe the growing divide between western democracies and Soviet-influenced states. Limited Test Ban Treaty Signed August 5, 1963, this treaty is a worldwide agreement to prohibit nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, outer space, or underwater. Missile gap ​ The concern within the U.S. that the Soviet Union had greatly surpassed the U.S. in its stockpile of nuclear missiles. Mutually assured destruction ​ MAD was the guarantee that if one superpower launched a massive nuclear attack, the other would reciprocate by also launching a massive nuclear attack, and both countries would be destroyed. This ultimately became the prime deterrent against a nuclear war between the two superpowers. Perestroika ​ Introduced in June 1987 by Mikhail Gorbachev, an economic policy to decentralize the Soviet economy. The term translates to restructuring in Russian. SALT   Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were negotiations between the Soviet Union and the United States to limit the number of newly created nuclear weapons. The first negotiations extended from 1969 to 1972 and resulted in SALT I (the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) in which each side agreed to keep their strategic ballistic missile launchers at their current numbers and provided for the increase in submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) in proportion to the decrease in number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). The second round of negotiations extended from 1972 to 1979 and resulted in SALT II (the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) which provided a broad range of limitations on offensive nuclear weapons. Space race   A competition between the Soviet Union and the United States to prove their superiority in technology through increasingly impressive accomplishments in space. The race to space began in 1957 when the Soviet Union successfully launched the first satellite,  Sputnik. Star Wars   Nickname (based on the  Star Wars  movie trilogy) of U.S. President Ronald Reagans plan to research, develop, and build a space-based system that could destroy incoming nuclear missiles. Introduced March 23, 1983, and officially called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). superpower   A country that dominates in political and military power. During the Cold War, there were two superpowers: the Soviet Union and the United States. U.S.S.R.   The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), also commonly called the Soviet Union, was a country that consisted of what is now Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Regent Park Mosque Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Regent Park Mosque - Coursework Example The Muslim community in the United Kingdom was officially presented with the Masjid as a gift from the government of Britain. This was aimed at enabling Muslims in London to create a centre for Islamic culture and build a mosque with an aim of providing an opportunity to carry out affairs related to their Islamic faith (Hodges, 2009, p. 57). This gift was greatly accepted by a mosque committee which comprised distinguished Islamic diplomats and Islamic residents living in the United Kingdom. This gift was presented to the Muslim community with the intent of paying tribute to thousands of Indian Islamic soldiers who had passed on while fighting for the British Empire. The British Empire at this time had more Muslims than Christians. In 1947, the London Central Mosque was registered by the mosque committee as a trust corporation named London Central Mosque Trust Limited. To date, the board members of the trust committee comprise Muslim countries’ diplomatic representatives whom the Court of St. James’s has accredited. The main objectives of the mosque committee included: first, to build a mosque on the provided site and secondly, to establish a cultural and religious centre for Muslims who resided in the United Kingdom at that time, and future generations. ... The cost of building the mosque was partly covered by Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal’s contribution of â‚ ¬2 million. In 1977, the mosque was finally completed with a total cost of â‚ ¬ 6.5 million. According to Hodges (2009), Regent’s Park Mosque is the United Kingdom’s centre for Islamic focus for Muslims and Islam. Apart from the mosque being a place where Muslims offer daily prayers, it also provides several services that include offering education to children located in central London and its environs. It provides conference facilities and serves as a convention centre. The centre also offers counseling and wedding halls for hire as well as fairs among other services. Regent’s Park Mosque symbolizes the presence of Islam and Muslims in London and the United Kingdom as a whole. The mosque is distinct from other buildings in London due its golden dome shape and the minaret (Hodges, 2009, p. 62). The prayer hall is designed in such a way that it is facing Mecca. It also has a distinguishing red carpet feature with a vast mosaic decorated dome as well as a huge chandelier located at the centre. In one prayer session, the mosque has the capacity to accommodate up to 1400 worshippers. The mosque can be extended to accommodate additional 4,000 worshippers during festivals and even more when the worshippers overcrowd in the main court yard (Hodges, 2009, p. 79). The London Central Mosque receives up to fifty thousand Muslim visitors during the two main Islamic festivals. During these periods, the mosque is overflown with Islamic worshippers from within London and outside. The central mosque of London is an active place receiving visitors and worshippers on a daily basis (Hodges, 2009, p. 79). The

Macroeconomic Data Analysis and Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Macroeconomic Data Analysis and Report - Essay Example It is important to note that the population growth rate is an important factor in gauging the economic performance of a state and by taking the case of these two countries it will be easy to establish their economic trends. If this is presented in a table form or graphically the trend will give an insight into the economic characteristics of the two countries. Exchange rate is vital in comparing the strength of the currency between the countries and this is an index of measuring level of economic growth holding other factors constant. Purchasing power parity is important in measuring the inflation rate between the two states under case study. The ratio of gross national product to gross domestic product is important in providing a ground for estimating the amount of income that is repatriated to other countries. Bigger ratio means unfavorable productivity of the country and overdependence on foreign capital and skilled manpower. To explain the economic growth and development parity b etween these two states needs to be presented in graphs. The figure one above shows that the exchange rates between the two states have a wide gap and this is consistent across the three years. It is important to note that UK is more developed and economically stable as reflected by its comparatively lower exchange rate than Saudi Arabia. Considering the figures of exchange rate across the years shows some changes for United Kingdom while Saudi Arabia has a constant exchange rate which hints stable currency and consistent economic growth than in UK (Sarno & Taylor, 2005, 98). United Kingdom has a high population which presents a strain on the existing resources but considering the geographical size of the state. The point of concern in this case is the trend in population growth. The rate of population increase is high for Saudi Arabia than UK and this present expansionary threat to Saudi Arabia as the population will put steady

Division of labor in a Household Essay -- essays research papers

Division of labor in a Household   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The division of labor in the household hold depends on the environment. Society creates gender ideology that affects the roles women and men take on in the household. In The Second Shift by Arlie Russell, she states three different ideologies of gender. There is the traditional, transitional and egalitarian ideology that determines what sphere men and women want to identify with, home sphere or work sphere. However, it depends what kind on the time period and society you live in that determines the â€Å"norm† gender ideology, which affects the division of labor in a household. The society, which affected the Mendoza and Ortega family that I have observed and interviewed, constructs views of the appropriate roles for men and women in the family devotion schema. Historical   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An important period of United States history that affected the division of household labor was during the earlier industrial revolution. Before the industrial revolution in America, men and women work in the farm; it was a private family farm that both men and women worked. So around the 1830’s these farms were taking over by corporation, and during this time there was a growth of factories, trades and business in the new cities of America, which attracted men and women away from the farm life. However, there was a transition in economy of America, which affected men and women, but it affected them differently. The jobs that men were receiving were different from what women were getting. â€Å"In 1860, most industrial workers were men.† While, men where working in factories women where working in more domestic jobs, but only 15% of women were working for paid. Hence, most women stayed at home to take care of the second shift, housework. When men star ted working in factories and women working in domestic jobs, this change the way people lived, especially family life. Now men are leaving their homes, where they use to work as farmers, to city to work, while women primary stay at home to work. During this time period, the lives of men where changing more drastically, but women identity was still identifying with the home, while men were identifying with his paid work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nowadays, women’s lives have changed significantly due to the expansion of jobs that have gave women more opportu... ...n working, still the women were the one who did most of the housework. The placement of living also had an affect on their lives as well. As a native New York, the part of queens the Ortega family lives, would be consider as â€Å"suburbs† and the part of Brooklyn, the Mendoza family live in would be considered as the urban. Their surroundings affected their affirmation of their choice of gender ideology. In Queens, most women were stay-at-home mothers and expected the man to provides the finical needs. Sherry affirmed her notion of traditional mothers by giving examples of her neighbors to state that it’s the â€Å"norm† to take at home and take care of your children. On the other hand, Gen lived in an area where most of the mothers worked outside the homes. She stated that today, â€Å"women should not identify herself with only the home, but with the labor force as well.† Both families’ neighbor encouraged them to believe in their gender ideologies, which had some contradiction between what a person said they believed, their gender ideologies and what they actual did in the second shift. The Mendoza and Ortega family had one person, the wife/mother, doing more of the second shift, housework.

Learning how to act: my personal journey in discovering my acting process

Many perceive the work of an actor as a lot of fun and that it is easy as saying the alphabet. After all, who among us have not acted at one point in our lives? Haven’t we put up an act when faced with daunting situations in our lives? Haven’t we said lines that weren’t really part our true personality? All of us have acted one part or another at different times in our lives. But to be an actor is not just about putting up an act. What many people do not understand is the fact that acting is just like any other job –you have to put a lot of work in it to perfect it. It is not just a talent you have. It’s a skill that must be developed over time and practice. In theater and in acting, it is true that practice makes perfect. With this thought, it necessarily follows that a real actor must continue to learn how to act and make it as natural as it possibly can. It is thus very useful that many books have been written about how one can best capture the art of acting and how one is able to play a role and not just merely act it. I have used these books in my own personal journey in discovering my very own acting process. And I must admit that doing so has made my work, and my life, as an actor even more meaningful. Let us first take, for instance, the book written by the Members of the Atlantic Theater Company called A Practical Handbook for the Actor. In sum, this book outlines and explains the Practical Aesthetics Technique where emotions are explored through the use of the imagination and the pursuit of a physical action. Practical Aesthetics is an acting technique developed by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet. The book is co-written by Melissa Bruder, Lee Michael Cohn, Madeleine Olnek, Nathaniel Pollack, Robert Previto and Scott Zigler. It is based upon a series of workshops by acting coach David Mamet. According to this book, Bruder, et. al. postulate that â€Å"acting, like carpentry is a craft with a definite set of skills and tools† (Bruder, et. al., 1986). The book mainly aims to teach up and coming actors like me to find the truth in every scene they are to perform and to be able to identify the specific actions in the production and why they are doing them. I must say that I agree with the book when it said that the process of an actor begins before any acting is offered. To do this, I agree that that actors like me must learn to always keep themselves in a state of optimal conditioning. Doing this will allow us to immediately connect to any character that are assigned to us to portray as well as to discover the essence of character. To move in this direction, I start evaluating and considering all given circumstances of the character. I try to familiarize myself with the character or role I am to play as well as make every effort to explore their world. In addition, I try to see any parallelisms between the role I play and the real me. I’ve learned that this is an important aspect in my acting process since it will allow me to understand where my character is coming from or why they might tend to feel a certain way. Personalizing a role has become an integral part of my job as an actor. I believe this is the only way where one actor can bring a particular character to life. Another aspect that must be highlighted in carrying out the tasks of an actor is memorization. Without a doubt, memorizing the lines –knowing what to say and when to say it—is an integral part of being an actor. As noted in the book, an actor can learn much about the play and the role in the process of memorization. As we learn to memorize the words out of context, the book noted, we realize the importance of giving each and every word the attention and focus it deserves. The reason by which the character must say those lines should also be sought (Bruder, et. al., 1986). I also have learned that memorization is much more than learning the lines. It is also learning the perfect delivery of each line of the character. This is where vocal training comes into play. Delivering your lines in a clear, crisp and understandable manner is a very important facet in the life of an actor. Just like other actors who have read and experienced the book A Practical Handbook for the Actor, I have learned that the voice is a system, with layers of muscles, bones, tissues, and fibers that must be maintained in performance shape if expected to respond on command.   My vocal chords are actually the way by which my characters are able to speak what they want. With this realization comes the decision to include a basic vocal workout into my daily routine so that each word that I say on behalf of the character I play comes through in the way it should. As I earlier noted, timing is just as important as learning the words to say. To get into character, an actor must learn to always know what the character needs and wants and why they are inclined to say a particular line at a particular time. To be able to do this, I have learned the importance of reading through the script over and over and over again. As noted in the book A Practical Handbook for the Actor a script and character analysis requires sharp and thorough thinking skills and insight. As much as possible, I try to go over the script quite a number of times and try to assess if I was able to get the whole picture correctly. I try to make notes of how I understand each emotion being felt by the character and try to see if the same analysis will hold true the next time I read through the script. I aptly call this text analysis whereby I assess if I have covered everything I need to cover in terms of knowing my character and his lines. I believe this is very helpful in getting to know my character in a deeper level. I believe that only when an actor knows his character in a deep and meaningful level can an actor will be able to react naturally in all situations –scripted or otherwise. I agree with the book when it noted that text analysis is the skeleton of the character. It provides the actor some baseline information on which reviews can be made to hone a certain technique. This process also helps me stay on the objectives at hand and allows me to make use of various tactical ranges. In trying to approach acting, I have tried to remember the words of the famous Konstatin Stanislavski when he said that one should always approach a role as directly as possible and see if it lives. He noted that if the role and the actor has a connection, then there would be no point in applying a certain technique towards acting. But, as an actor, I also know that this does not happen often. Hence, learning a certain technique towards improving one’s craft is very important. Many actors today admit that Stanislavski's System is a complex method used to produce realistic characters. When using the Stanislavski's System, an actor is required to deeply analyze his or her character's motivations. The actor must learn to discover the character’s objective in each scene and the so-called super objective for the entire play. To do this, I have learned to also apply Stanislavski's â€Å"magic if† where an actor is able to ask questions about their characters and themselves such as â€Å"what if I were also in the same situation?† How would I act then? This thinking gives me a deeper understanding of the actions of my characters as well as an insight of what is going through in his mind. One other important aspect that I find interesting in the Stanislavski's System is his focus on the Method of Physical Action. I find this interesting because he placed as much emphasis on the physical aspect of acting as he does on the emotional part. Many actors, including yours truly, have this thought running in our heads that emotions form the better part of how acting should be. But Stanislavski says otherwise. He notes that physical action is just as important as the emotional aspect of a scene. According to Stanislavski, the Method of Physical Action has brought him to a complete dealing with the instrument of the actor. But what exactly is this so-called Method of Physical Action? The Method of Physical Action is said to be based on the idea that emotional life is a kind of two-way street and that the only thing an actor will ever have control of in his life as regards himself is his body, nothing more. There is never a direct line to emotions in performance, only to the body. Quite simply, the body must be used to convey the emotions. Stanislavki stressed on the need for the actor and the director to work hard in using the actor’s body –the body being the primary material of creation. He added that the purpose of rehearsal is how to come to physical actions that affect the actor and bring life to the scene at the same time. In fine, Stanislavski noted that the art of performance cannot be learned from literature alone but also from action; from performance and not just mere observation. As a result, I have learned to be more conscious of my physical action in converying emotions to the audience. After all, an audience will not necessarily feel my sadness unless I am able to phyiscally convey it to them by means of tears and a sad facial expression, among others. Another important thing I have learned in my journey to discover my personal acting process is the idea or concept of growth. I realized that an actor, just like anyone else, must continue to grow in each and every role that he plays. As noted in the same book, an actor must learn how to embrace the importance of the never-ending process of growth. The journey of acquiring additional knowledge, filling and refilling the artistic tank, humbling oneself to a point that permits an explosion of growth or even one good â€Å"Ah Ha† moment is not only important, but also essential to one’s life as an actor and as a person (Bruder, et. al., 1986). As an actor I must continually grow and always be on the look out to better my craft. To do this, I must learn to immerse myself in a creative environment –one that will complement the skill and talent that I have as an actor. I now understand the importance of being in a group where I can let my creativity flow free and at the same time, learn from the people I am with. It has been said that the day you stop learning is the day you start dying. As an actor, and as person, we must not let that happen. I have learned the importance of learning while working and working while learning. When I say learning, I don’t just mean it to be a classroom-type of learning. I also talk about learning through observation. We must learn to observe the environment we move in, the people around us, the places we go to. I must say that I agree with Alice Ripley when she said that acting all is about experiencing life and then carrying that experience with you on stage. It is also in this concept that I have learned to make bold choices in my life as an actor. I have learned not to be afraid of unconventional roles or ways of acting out a part. Making bold choices is, I believe, an integral part of learning. I have realized that I will grow as an actor if I can take on roles that are new to me or if I can step out of roles that are stereotyped.   Doing something different each day is the spice in an actor’s life and I have learned to look forward to every opportunity in spicing up my career with bold moves. Using presence of mind and common sense is also an important part in carrying out my acting process. As an actor, one must be ready for anything –a missed line, a prop that is not in its right place or a miscued entrance. When these things happen, common sense is the one thing that will save an actor from a disastrous scene. Coming up with adlibs or learning how to subtly put the misplaced prop in its rightful place is a skill that must also be honed as an actor. I believe that presence of mind can be assured when an actor is focused on the play at hand. I would like to call it simply as â€Å"being in the moment†. Being in the moment is more than just being in character. It involves being aware of the entire acting environment and learning how to cope with unexpected events whenever needed. As actors, it is not rare to find ourselves in situations where we are so focused in our roles that we tend to miss some of the difficulties encountered by our co-actors. In situations like these, we must learn to salvage the scene by helping our co-actors find their groove again, so to speak. Lastly, I have learned that I have to learn to enjoy what I do as an actor. I must enjoy the variety of roles I play –knowing full well that not everyone is able to live in a world separate from their own reality. I have learned, in my own acting process, the idea of making acting as fun as it can possibly be for me and my fellow actors. I agree when they say that acting should be fun, challenging but fun. My acting process, I realize, will change over time. It will adapt to the environment I am moving in and the roles I will be playing. But one thing should remain the same: it must always be fun. I must find a way to make it a fun learning experience each time. After all, when we enjoy what we do, the audience feels it. And the audience deserves nothing less than the best of ourselves as actors when we go up on that stage. References: Bruder, M., et al. (1986). A Practical Handbook for the Actor, New York: Random House, Vintage Books. Stanislavski, C. (1936). An Actor Prepares, New York: Routledge.