Greek Mythology Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Greek Mythology Assignment - Research Paper Example He evidently does not see their humanity and spiritual value, presenting their stories as embroidery on male tales. It is the thesis of this paper that female characters in the Iliad are like trophies, and what they do or say does not affect what happens in any important way. Trophies are awarded for accomplishments and they attest to the competence of the person to whom they were awarded. Trophies are motivators of competition between opponents or groups of opponents. Trophies are useful as launching pads for bragging. Trophies indicate that the trophy holder is a winner, but they give no assessment of how much skill was demonstrated or what the criteria was. Trophies can give a biased picture of the trophy-holder as more than what he/she actually is. Trophies can also become an annoying distraction as they require dusting and polishing, arranging and protecting, all the requirements of object management. Some people buy themselves trophies, so they will look and feel more important and powerful than they really are. Trophies can arouse jealousy in others who have no recognized accomplishments. Trophies come in various levels of quality. Although they usually look elegant, and most often come with a pedestal, some are of a more fragile nature while othe rs last well. Trophies are usually placed in a designated area, such as an enclosed cabinet, a wall of shelves with other trophies, or on a bookcase, and they are kept there in one place, being viewed from a single perspective. These characteristics of trophies, their place and use, apply to the Iliad’s women too. Helen was a top quality trophy. She was intelligent, expressive, self-motivated in spite of tremendous restraints. She was a hated foreigner, inadvertently responsible for the Trojan War and a lot of suffering. She is a captive, possessed object. Being a possessed object was par for the course in the time of the Iliad.

The Impact of the Employee Handbook on Organizations Essay

The Impact of the Employee Handbook on Organizations - Essay Example What is an employee handbook There are many attorneys with internet presences offering "free advice" on handbook drafting in layman's language (Dickson Wright).Look for simple definitions on the internet and you may be disappointed; however, Schaefer goes to some trouble to distinguish it from the much larger "manual of policies and procedures": An employee handbook is designed to familiarize employees with basic company policies and benefits programs, and although it draws topics from the far broader policies manual, it presents them with much less detail. (43) Also, the reader may have direct experience of signing an acknowledgement often including a statement, a disclaimer, to the effect that you agree that the handbook does not in itself constitute an employment contract (Schaefer 43) which is a key point in understanding them. Handbooks are informational, non-contractual documents that cover the employee journey from induction to discharge. Implicit in them is the legal concept of consensus in idem ("agreement in the same thing"), widely acknowledged to be an advantage of these documents (Newcomb). For the purposes of this essay we will only consider large-scale enterprises which are usually where they are used. Handbooks can be most useful for employee induction, as a basis for resolving disputes or reducing a company's exposure to law suits arising from health and safety legislation, claims for harassment and for unfair dismissal; indeed, it could be a combination of all of these and more. Although it may be assumed that the handbook may not be well received by some employees, this misses the point in that it is a top-down, employer-created document and they must comply with its rules and spirit. In a unionized workplace, much of the content would depend of the relative bargaining strengths of the parties. Employer interests will inevitably dominate and, ironically in some respects, be separated from their employees', e.g. consider McDonalds' policies on "no solicitation, no loitering" (McDonalds 9). It may prescribe the use of safety goggles or a uniform (McDonalds 13), but also describe, say, an attitude that shop floor staff must have toward customers, as illustrated by McDonalds' conc ept of "customer delight" (10). If we compare and contrast the handbooks for a commercial concern, McDonalds Australia, the University of Chicago and The State of Iowa, we can see immediately that although covering broadly similar themes, they are tailored to the organization to take account of their particular corporate culture and aims, e.g. differing health and safety requirements, differing staff profiles (diverse age group or predominantly young people), the mission of the organization, etc.. One is aimed primarily at inexperienced young adults, one at a range of staff from clerical to collegiate, degree-educated academics and one at an American state with probably the broadest and most diverse employee profile. Handbook content is broadly similar regardless of the organization's purpose and covers matters such as absence and sick leave, benefits, dress code, health and safety, performance and appraisal,