Good and Evil in Beowulf Essay Example for Free

Good and Evil in Beowulf Essay The story of Beowulf was probably composed in England sometime in the Eighth Century AD, and written down circa 1000 AD, by a literate scop (bard) or perhaps a Christian scribe who was possibly educated in a monastery. The poem was created in oral tradition and was transferred to writing over time. It had its roots in folk tales and traditional stories until some very talented poet put it in something very near to its current form. The poem was more than likely performed for audiences at court or on the road as the scop found audiences to support him. It was sung or chanted rather than recited it, and usually to the accompaniment of a harp. There was a constant struggle between good and evil in the story. Beowulf, God, and Wiglaf represented good in the poem whereas Grendel, his mother, and Cain portrayed the contrasting side of evil. Beowulf and Grendel represented the ultimate struggle of good and evil. Grendel tried to destroy everything around him while Beowulf tried to do good all the time. The first battle between Beowulf and Grendel, Beowulf was God (good) and Grendel was Cain (evil). This was actually an allusion from the Bible, the story of Cain and was used to compare Gods feelings of Grendel, a descendant of Cain. The book stated, †¦Since Cain had killed his only / Brother, slain his fathers son / with an angry sword. God drove him off, / outlawed him†¦. Cain killed his brother because he was evil and God shunned and marked him for his evilness. God used his wrath to take care of Cain. God had the same feelings for Grendel. Grendel was described as a vicious monster that was an offspring of everything evil, God refused to forgive Grendel and favored Beowulfs pride over Grendel’s sins. In the battle, God granted Beowulf overwhelming victory. The book stated, The Ruler of the heavens brought about a right issue, when once more he stood up with ease. God stood with ease because the beast he hated, Grendel, was dead. Beowulf was a mighty, honorable hero who had super strength and the ego to match his strength. He defeated Grendel with his bare hands, and then he fought Grendel’s vengeful mother. Tired and torn, Beowulf, through his goodness, was able to vanquish Grendel’s mother. , At the brink of exhaustion, Beowulf grabbed a monstrous sword and the book continued, he struck furiously the blade went straight through the doomed body. This was the perfect example of goodness. The story of good and evil was told from the beginning of mans existence. Beowulf, revealed how this was evident and explained the side of good as depicted in the hero Beowulf. Evil was personified in Grendel, Beowulfs, opposite, the man-eating beast that terrorized humanity. As long as the delicate balance of good and evil was recognized the characters in the epic related to the concept of good and evil. Good won out every time there was a contest because God wanted good to prevail. Beowulf showed how good was related to evil. This story represented these qualities in both main characters. The struggle began when God allowed Satan dominion over the earth. The battle between them had been recorded throughout literary history. Some of the heroes that had challenged Satan did so to protect the weak. Others fought for fame and glory. The theme of good vs. evil that was present in the story of Beowulf, it became the classic foundation of many modern stories. Beowulf and Grendel represented the ultimate struggle of good and evil. Grendel tried to destroy everything around him. To Beowulf, this was another conquest. It allowed him to do yet another good deed that people talked about for a long time. Beowulf represented God and Grendel was Satan. The struggle between God and Satan had existed throughout time. Beowulf was all that was good, moral, and ethical. He lived by the rules of God. Grendel denounced those rules to live by his own. Thinking only of that which gave him pleasure, he attempted to destroy everything good and kind. Truly, Beowulf was like a parent and Grendel was like a child whom he chastised. Beowulf displayed a variety of things that the Anglo-Saxon people valued; many of those traits were expressed through the main character, Beowulf. In him, was seen the qualities of courage, loyalty and a thirst for fame. The character and story also had one running theme throughout, the age-old subject of good versus evil. Beowulf was the epic hero of this poem. He embodied all the characteristics that a hero should, such as bravery, loyalty and strength, both physical and mental. He was the archetypal hero. He fought for good and represented it as well. Beowulf signified good, but there was a contrasting evil to complete the balance. The monster Grendel and his mother were that evil. The mere look of them left the impression of fear and sin. He strode quickly across the inlaid floor, snarling and fierce: His eyes gleamed in darkness, burned with a gruesome Light. Their wickedness seemed to spread to their home, infecting the lake in which they lived. A deer, hunted through the woods by packs of hounds, a stag with great horns, though driven through the forest from faraway places, preferred to die on those shores, refused to save its life in that water. This signified good and evil. Beowulf confronted the monsters and defeated them. (Baldwin, 99). With each of the characters representing good and evil respectively, Grendels defeat clearly symbolized Beowulf and his goodness overcoming the beasts wickedness, just as we would view Christ defeating Satan. Throughout history and in endless fairytales, good was always victorious over evil. The white knight always defeated the dragon. This was no exception with Beowulf. Though the poem ended in his demise, Beowulf was remembered for being the hero that saved his people from the evils of their world. In conclusion, in the epic Beowulf, there was a constant struggle between good and evil. Beowulf and Grendel represented the ultimate struggle of good and evil. Grendel tried to destroy everything around him while Beowulf tried to do good all the time.

Personal Development and Reflective Reasoning in Nursing Essay

â€Å"Maybe reflective practices offer us a way of trying to make sense of the uncertainty in our workplaces and the courage to work competently and ethically at the edge of order and chaos†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ghaye, 2000, p.7) In order to fully understand the personal development and reflective reasoning in relation to your development in the Nursing field, one will have to define these two terminologies. Personal development means to include activities that improve awareness, can develop potential that will ultimately enhance the quality of life. Medical colleges advocate personal development plans as a basis for continuing professional development. Whereas, reflective reasoning is where a nurse can apply learning and insights of others into their own work. In nursing courses students learn through lecture and discussion, which is the primary method for teaching theoretical principles, but when you add a more complete understanding of the relationship between theory and practice one may become a more competent nurse. Awareness of issues and analysis of knowledge and feelings are some stages that are involved in reflection but then identification and integration of new learning is needed as well. By consc iously engaging in their own and others reflection it is believed that the level of professional interaction will improve. Motivation, one issue bound to crop up in ones work life, as well as leadership and of course managing conflict these are some issues when speaking of personal development. The ability to reflect upon us is a valuable part of human life, insisted Taylor (2000). Reflection and reflective practice are claimed to enhance professional development, link theory and practice, promote critical thinking, lead to self-awareness a... ...Cartwright(Ed.), Studies in social power(pp. 150-167). Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research. Ghaye, T. (2000) Into the reflective mode: bridging the stagnant moat. Reflectice Practice, 1(1) 5-9. Gray, G. (1998). Becoming a reflective practitioner. In Towards a Discipline of Nursing, Churchill Livingstone, Melbourne, pp. 335-354. Harrington-Mackin, D. (1996) Keeping the Team Going: A Tool Kit to Renew & Refuel Your Workplace Teams, March 26, 1996 AMACOM Kerfoot, K. (2001). The Leader as Synergist. MEDSURG Nursing, 10(2), 101-103. Laurent, C.L. (2000). A nursing theory for nursing leadership. Journal of Nursing Management, 8, 83-87. SCHÃâ€"N D A (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: how professionals think in action London: Temple Smith Taylor, B.J. (2000) Reflective Practice: a Guide for Nurses and Midwives. Buckingham: Open University Press

Assignment: Change Models Essay

In this paper the executive at a high-end retail chain selling luxury watches, jewelry, and hand bags is in charge of the company’s first expansion in the international pool, which is about a new store open in Shanghai, China. This is only a short term objective as the company expects to open several stores in the BRIC countries, such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China, which is the long-term plan. The executive explains the chain models used to follow the short-term and long-term goals and the effects these changes would have on executives, managers, and employees from the company. Organizational Change Change is not easy to implement and plan. It requires a lot of responsibility for the ones that are impacted by it and for the ones who enforce it. Weis (2012) reminds about three types of change that can be at an organizational level, such as: developmental, transitional and transformational. Developmental change refers to improvements of what already exists. A good example of developmental change is when a company improves a procedure or a process that exists within the organization like the leave time or the update of an HR policy. There is little stress involved in such change and it does not really need to be of a larger scale and scope. The second type of organizational change reminded by Weiss (2012) is transitional change and it refers to implementing a known desired state, different from a current one. It is a type of change of a larger scale and it deals with a certain amount of stress, unlike developmental change. A good example of transitional change is the merger or acquisition procedure of a company. Another example when it comes to processes and procedures is about replacing them with new ones, like when a new technology system is installed, replacing an older one. Transitional changes can unsettle jobs, can shake things in a company, and they can also create new jobs, requiring training and hiring. The third type of change is the transformational model which requires or involves the emergence of a new and unknown state for the company. When a company moves to a new and different target market it requires different strategies, as well as skills. Another good example of transformational change is when the CEO and executives of a company want to change the culture or/and the structure of a company. This type of change is the requiring intensive focus and involving a lot of stress. It may be the most complex among all three change types. The short-term objective that needs to be implemented by the executive is the open of a new store in Shanghai, China. Being a single event it may not require such intensive focus; however, there are aspects of the matter that need to be highly considered. The strategy proposed for the opening of a new store in Shanghai is to reach the objective through a transitional change model. A good way to implement this change model is with the 7-S model. Waterman, Peters, and Philips (1980) explain that the 7-S Model for Organizational change examines seven key areas of the company, as well as the relationship of each of the elements one another. The 7 elements are grouped into two major categories, such as: soft elements and hard elements. The elements are as follows: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff, and skills. Through strategy, the company plans to maintain competitive advantage, while the structure refers to the hierarchy of the company. In both situations, the short and long-term, the hierarchy of the company suffers modifications and the executive needs to make sure the employees and everyone affected by the change are ready to experience it. Systems refer to every-day processes through the company, while shared values refer to the core value of the company. The executive will follow and enforce the shared values of the company in both the short-term and long-term events. Planning for the short-term and opening a new store in China, may be slightly difficult since it is the first time the company deals with such an action. That is why every step needs to be well calculated. It is the first time when the executive needs to come up with a plan involving the inventory of the new store, how it will be maintained, and how supply of products is made. Laws and regulations of China when it comes to retailing need to be considered properly. The first experience will be useful into creating the long-term strategy because it provides the experience necessary to such change within the company. No longer will the other managers and executives need to think locally and nationally. They have to think globally and that is a change required to be addressed in the first place. Since it involves opening a new store, the employees would be hired locally. This is a change that affects the managers because they will have to learn how the hiring process takes place in the country where the new stores are opened. The long-term strategy may not be as complex as the short-term strategy for change because there will be a precedent and the company will cope with the change easily. Conclusion Dealing with change can be challenging when a company focuses on going globally. This paper exposes the strategies an executive at a jewelry store has to deal with opening new store in China (a short-term objective) and other stores in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Given the cultural diversity of these countries, hiring approaches, as well as the laws and regulations being different in these countries can make the achievement of the objectives more difficult. References Waterman, R. H., Peters, T. J., & Philips, J. R. (1980). Structure is not Organization. Retrieved from http://www.lmcuk.com/management-tool/the-7-s-model-for-organisational-change Weiss, J.W. (2012). Organizational Change. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Issues in Rural Adolescent Mental Health in Australia Free Essay Example, 1500 words

The young members of the society, specifically the children and the adolescents, are believed to be the future of a nation. Indeed, their ability to function individually and as a part of the community will largely determine the status of the society. This principle has invisibly become the basis of the current policies and government actions that promote optimal health and well being of the young. In Australia, where currently live the healthiest generation of children in the history, authorities, including individuals and organizations from both public and private sectors, continue to search for and formulate the most efficient policies and services that can further improve the indices mental health as mental illness has become one of the leading causes of non-fatal burden of disease and injury affecting good health (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2006, p. 97). Despite such efforts, national, state and local leaders of change as well as the health care profes sions, especially those engaged in primary care must know that every policy and action such as the National Mental Health Strategy and the Fourth National Mental Health Plan will be deemed useless unless they think about and act on broader, often nonbiomedical, determinants of population health while also attending to needs of patients for individual care .We will write a custom essay sample on Issues in Rural Adolescent Mental Health in Australia or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page