Short Story Beautiful Animals - 1645 Words

Beautiful Animals Shelby knew she had to do it. Even though she didn’t want to, she had to. Her brilliant brain ran through the possible scenarios of what could go awfully wrong. She knew one thing was perfectly clear, and she had to do it soon. Taking off her shoes, she jumped in; her blue and pink hiking shoes sat atop a grassy ledge watching Shelby. Her thick, brown hair fell into her face as she swam like a fish with no fins. Quickly, she dove down to the bottom of the murky water. Shelby tried to find something to hold on to but just gave up for then it would have been too late for the duck. Previously, Shelby was riding her blue mountain bike through the dense wood. As she was watching the river, she had seen a duck get sucked under. Her veterinarian instincts told her that that the adult duck could hold its breath as if it was a whale. Also, none of the animals in the river would even think of taking a bite of a bird like that one. Finally, she felt something that felt like a duck flippe r. Shelby wasn’t quite sure of what it was, but she felt like it was the duck. Straining her muscles she finally pulled the creature out of the muck. Picking it up, she was disgusted to find out that the animal in her hands was not a duck, but a slimy, green trout that had died a while ago. Tossing it back into the gross fish into the equally foul water, she kept searching. Still persistent, Shelby kept the search going. The sticky sand sucked to her arm giving herShow MoreRelatedCompare and Contrast1444 Words   |  6 Pageslove and admire the captivating tales of the Disney Princesses. Cinderella and Snow White are two magnificent tales of princesses and the trials and tribulations each young lady is put through. Though these stories differ in some ways, such as conflict and plot, one can see that both stories show how important friendship is to overcoming obstacles and finding true love. â€Å"Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?† In the enchanting tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, vanityRead MoreThe Ones Who Walk Away From 1861-18651692 Words   |  7 Pagesthey will never truly escape from the knowledge of this rotting child in the basement. Their happiness will never be fully unconditional, and so â€Å"all smiles have become archaic† (1). They are almost forcibly happy, not because they have orgies, a beautiful city or drooz; but because Omelas has inequality. Without the child, all greatness, every aspect of Omelas would become mundane and happiness would no longer exist. The existence of the child makes it an unconscious responsibility to be happy. TheRead MoreUnequality in Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut 849 Words   |  4 PagesAncient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, â€Å"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.† Kurt Vonnegut portrays Aristotle’s philosophy brilliantly in his short story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron.† The story depicts the American government in the future mandating physical handicaps in an attempt to make everyone equal. Vonnegut describes a world where no one is allowed to excel in the areas of intelligence, athletics, or beauty. Yet, the inequalities among the people shine evenRead More Analysis of The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway909 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis of The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway Ernest Hemingway is known for producing novels and short stories with ambiguous endings. In his short story, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, he definitely leaves his readers guessing. The question is whether Margot kills her husband, Francis, intenionally, or if she accidentally shoots him in an effort to save his life. There are many points that could be argued for both conclusions, but my observationsRead MoreThe Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber Essay801 Words   |  4 Pagesthis common phrase has few words, but a intense meaning. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story, â€Å"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,† the overcoming of fear is shown throughout the story. Francis Macomber and his wife Margaret Macomber are on an African safari with a man name Robert Wilson. Hemingway portrays Francis Macomber as wealthy and beautiful, yet cowardly. Macombers wife Margaret also young and beautiful, but seemingly dissatisfied with her husband of eleven years. Robert Wilson isRead MoreAn Analysis of The Flowers by Alice Walker826 Words   |  4 PagesFlowers† by Alice Walker Short stories are known to have two very distinct characteristics which are interrelated: they are compressed and concentrated. By compressed, they mean that the writer squeezes as much information as possible so that it is still considered a short story. When it comes to the story being concentrated, they typically mean taking out anything that is not essential to the conflict and how the protagonist deals with that conflict. In the plot of short stories there is usually an expositionRead MoreBible vs. Mythology994 Words   |  4 Pagesbetween Greek Mythology and The Bible. Whether it’s the creation of man and women, or the universe, stories have been told throughout time and some can be alike and others completely different. There are people that have gathered, translated and recorded all of these events for us now to learn about. Whether a person believes it is true or not is up to them but if a God is real how come the stories between these two different beliefs can be s o similar. A strong similarity is the creation of man andRead MoreThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay1410 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"The lottery† ENGL 202: Literature and Composition Spring 2013 Turbian Style Thesis: Death is the main theme of both short stories and both authors portrayed this dark and dreary idea as a game the characters are playing. Outline: â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson vs. â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Richard Connell I. Introduction: a. Traditional acts and survival instincts is the key to win or lose the game of death b. Will one allow society or your own reasoning decided if oneRead MoreThe Depressing Life of an Old Woman in Death in the Woods by Sherwood Anderson1136 Words   |  5 PagesSherwood Anderson’s â€Å"Death in the Woods† tells story of the depressing life of an old woman told many years later by a man who narrates the short story. This short story is driven by a plot structure that is told by a sequence of events, a narrator who tells the story, characters, theme, symbolism, and tone. â€Å"Death in the Woods† narrates a sequence of events—the life and death of Mrs. Grimes in its plot structure. This story does not just express the old woman’s tale, but re-tells it. The readerRead MoreThe Contribution Of Ruskin Bond1499 Words   |  6 Pageswhich is oriented to the interests of humans who are viewed as opposed to and superior to nature and are free to exploit natural resources and animal species for their ulterior ends. Ruskin Bond holds the view that all living things and their earthly environment, no less than the humans, possess importance, value and even moral rights. In his short stories, man and nature are not mutually exclusive oppositions. On the contrary, these two entities are interconnected and also mutually constitutive

Descriptive Essay About Volleyball - 1245 Words

The Choice It was the start of a new day, the sun was shining, and autumn had decided take over for the summer. I had just started a new sport, and my first practice was today. My gaze was fixed on the window watching the cars drive by, and then my dad popped the question. The decision that I made about this question has shaped and changed my life forever. I had woken up in feeling very gusto that day all because my first volleyball practice was supposed to start today. It was a nice cool fall morning with red, orange, and golden leaves scattered all over the ground, in the trees, and filling the air. I walked outside and felt the cool, crisp air expand around my body. My breath was thin and clear as I released each breath. Stepping into†¦show more content†¦When I rose from my deep slumber, we were halfway home and my dad was talking with my mom on the phone, so I decided that it would be amusing if I pretended that I was asleep and listened to their conversation. I deliberately realized that their conversation was about me. I gradually started to wonder what they could possibly be talking about that was so important, so I was still and listened as closely as possible. Then I heard it the only word that I didn’t want to hear. Sports. I started to become anxious and fearful as I started to wonder what they wanted to do with sports, and why they were talking specifically about me. My sister did plenty of sports too. My dad hung up the phone and I finally decided that it was time to open up my eyes. When I did open them up my dad glanced over at me and said, â€Å"Anna we need to talk.† I knew that at that moment something wrong and terrible was about to happen. All I said was, â€Å"Okay†, and I braced myself for what was about to happen. He fixed his eyes on the road again, and then looked back at me with a sorrowful look on his face that made his face look contorted, this is how I knew that I wasn’t going to like what he was going to say at all. He opened his mouth once, but nothing came out. He opened it the same way again, only this time the words came spilling out of his mouth. â€Å"I’m sorry to say this, but mom and I talked and we decided that it would be best if you only did two sports, so you are going toShow MoreRelatedDescriptive Essay About Volleyball1352 Words   |  6 PagesAll or Nothing â€Å"Beep! Beep! Beep!† My alarm clock going off at 5:45 AM. I immediately get out of bed thinking this was the day, the final day my friends, family, and school community will watch me play volleyball. That day was my senior night, the night that every freshmen volleyball players anxiously awaits to. As I get ready and go to school, I get text messages from my friends and family wishing me luck in my big game. My heart begins to race and I immediately become nervous for tonight. I amRead MoreDescriptive Essay About Volleyball1563 Words   |  7 Pagesfrom all of the markers. The sound of the keyboards clicking all around the room was triggering my anxiety. The modern looking clock made it’s loud clicking noise every once in awhile. I noticed the red, white, and blue flag again and thought of volleyball. I remember the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner and looking at that small flag brought back some memories. I remember standing on the sideline with my good friend s since Kindergarten as we looked at the flag. I miss playing with my best friendsRead MoreDescriptive Essay About Volleyball1241 Words   |  5 Pagesjust started a new sport, and my first practice was today. My gaze was fixed on the window watching the cars drive by, and then my dad popped the question. The decision that I made about this question has shaped and changed my life forever. I had woken up in feeling very gusto that day all because my first volleyball practice was supposed to start today. It was a nice cool fall morning with red, orange, and golden leaves scattered all over the ground, in the trees, and filling the air. I walked outsideRead MoreDescriptive Essay About Volleyball1139 Words   |  5 PagesVolleyball, one of the worlds greatest sports. From the hot and muggy gym, to sweat dripping down each players face, volleyball is not for the faint of heart. This sport requires a single-minded desire: to win. It takes more than just teamwork to win. Volleyball has always been one of my favorite sports. I would always meet a new friend anywhere I would go. Believe it or not these situations are how you could meet your life long best friends. One day when I was in fifth grade, my volleyball teamRead MoreEnglish Thesis2890 Words   |  12 Pagesislands narrow central area. White Beach faces westward and Bulabog Beach faces eastward. The island also has several other beaches. White Beach, the main tourism beach, is about four kilometers long and is lined with resorts, hotels, lodging houses, restaurants, and other tourism-related businesses. In the central portion, for about two kilometers, there is a footpath known as the Beachfront Path separating the beach itself from the establishments located along it. North and south of the BeachfrontRead MoreMarketing Plan Billabong7614 Words   |  31 Pages So, if the prices of billabong products increase then customers will search for lower price that they can effort. The marketers must watch this entire variable in order use of economic forecasting. They can take advantage of economic environment about the price in the future with adequate warning. 2.2.3 Technological According to the statistics from the 2002 regional telecommunication Inquiry report, there are two important trends in telecommunications. One is that 9% of Australians have accessedRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 PagesUniversity of Colorado at Denver; Dean J. Nelson, Dutchess Community College; James E. Parejko, Chicago State University; Robert Sessions, Kirkwood Community College; and Stephanie Tucker, California State University Sacramento. Thinking and writing about logical reasoning has been enjoyable for me, but special thanks go to my children, Joshua, 8, and Justine, 3, for comic relief during the months of writing. This book is dedicated to them. For the 2012 edition: This book is dedicated to my wifeRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesEnvironment 22 †¢ Improving Ethical Behavior 22 Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model 23 An Overview 23 †¢ Inputs 24 †¢ Processes 25 †¢ Outcomes 25 Summary and Implications for Managers 30 S A L Self-Assessment Library How Much Do I Know About Organizational Behavior? 4 Myth or Science? â€Å"Most Acts of Workplace Bullying Are Men Attacking Women† 12 An Ethical Choice Can You Learn from Failure? 24 glOBalization! Does National Culture Affect Organizational Practices? 30 Point/Counterpoint LostRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesHuman Resource Management. It is truly an exciting time to be studying Human Resource Management. We appreciate that you are taking time to read this preface to get a better understanding of the text and the resources for learning it includes. About the Book Students taking an HRM class are very likely to be taking it as an elective class or a first class toward an HRM major. Both of these groups need a strong foundation book that provides the essential elements of HRM as well as a clear understandingRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pages(alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-07-340334-2 (alk. paper) 1. Project management. 2. Time management. 3. Risk management. I. Gray, Clifford F. II. Gray, Clifford F. Project management. III. Title. HD69.P75G72 2011 658.4904—dc22 2009054318 www.mhhe.com About the Authors Erik W. Larson ERIK W. LARSON is professor of project management at the College of Business, Oregon State University. He teaches executive, graduate, and undergraduate courses on project management, organizational behavior, and leadership

The Secret Lion free essay sample

In this short story â€Å"The Secret Lion† Alberto Alvaro Rios invited me into the world of an imaginative Hispanic youth who is going through the coming-of-age crisis. The story is written in the first person point of view, and portrays the struggle of the speaker and his friend Sergio against the sweeping force of change that accompanies the transition from childhood to young adulthood. The antagonist is time-time that has the power to transform them into the dull and unimaginative adults that they know. They see this change happening to friends like Sandy who now only cares about playing the piano. These youths see in the ordinary objects, magic and greatness. Where adults see a polluted creek, they see a mighty Mississippi on which they can carry adventures and pretend to be Vikings. The hills are not just hills they are, by the power of imagination, mountains full of adventures leading to Heaven. We will write a custom essay sample on The Secret Lion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Then there is the grinding ball. This ball to me was the greatest symbol that explained â€Å"The Secret Lion†. The ball symbolizes the perfect, powerful imagination (it is man-made, crafted, round) that we impart to ordinary objects and change them into extra-ordinary magical things. The ball to the adults is simply â€Å"†¦that dirty thing† to be thrown away. To the youths, it is a treasure to be excited about, admired and buried. This part about the grinding ball reminded me of Don Quixote vision of Dulcinea. With a secret lion on the inside the world can be transformed like magic. I loved the style and diction of the author. The hurried speech of the youths reflected their energy, excitement and haste, â€Å"GuyGodthis is perfect, thisisthis is perfect†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The misspelling of teacher-erz made the speaker real and close, I could almost hear him. I noticed and liked the abrupt short sentences after long ones: â€Å"Like that† and â€Å"So we did†. It made me stop and think. Alberto Alvaro Rios did an excellent job portraying the coming-of-age of these youths. The rebellion against the transformation, the persistence and struggle to hold on to the magic of childhood, the flow of the text and style, the energy that gives the story a dreamy turbulent feel all of this and more affected me in a positive way. I relate to the need of keeping the gift of imagination alive against the force of time. I have still that â€Å"Secret Lion† inside. And yes, I feed it with good literature and guard it from the ravages of the ordinary. According to Einstein, â€Å"Imagination is more important than knowledge. † I wholeheartedly agree.

A Bird In The House Essay Example For Students

A Bird In The House Essay A Bird in the HouseThe theme of entrapment is evident in Margaret Laurences A Bird in the House; all the characters in the novel are entrapped. These characters deal with the sense of confinement and the need for escape. Vanessa, Ewen and Aunt Edna all reach personal freedom, however only to a small extent because they are left with the pain of their memories and regrets. Vanessa reaches personal freedom to a small extent.The stories in A Bird in the House show the pains that Vanessa goes through while growing up. Vanessa travels on a journey form ignorance to knowledge.This journey is her comprehension of why things happen, and how the past, present and future are tied together.Vanessa realizes that the past affects the present which affects the future.While growing up Vanessa is faced with having to live with the dominance of Grandfather Conner.Grandfather Conner represents a dominant patriarchal figure that rules the family.He always had a strong control over the people that lived with him.He was a perfectionist and was very proud of what he had accomplished and at no cost would he let his reputation be scarred.After her fathers death Vanessa moved into the Brick House with Grandfather Conner, this is when she noticed the trapped conditions that aunt Edna was living in and her mother was going to have to live in again.Vanessa always tried to free herself of the things that went on around her by writing exaggerated adventure stories.When Vanessa wrote, it was her chance to get away from the things that made her feel trapped.Vanessa is freed of Grandfather Conners tyranny when he dies, at least one thinks so.However it is evident in the story Jerichos Brick Battlements, that Vanessa will never be free of Grandfather Conner.The painful memories that she has of him will remind her everyday that she is not free of his oppression.Vanessa realizes that she is like him when: she wanted to tell the new owners of the Brick house to trim their hedges, to repaint the wi ndowframes, to pay heed to repairs. she had feared and fought grandfather Conner, yet he proclaimed himself in her veins. (A Bird in the House, p. 191).Thus, it is evident that Vanessa was not free of Grandfather Conners tyranny, which prevented her from reaching personal freedom. Likewise, Ewen MacLeod does not reach personal freedom because of the memories and regrets that he carries around with him. The death of his brother Roderick proves to be a very tragic moment of his life. Grandmother MacLeod is very successful in making Ewen feel guilty for surviving, when his brother did not. This guilt is what keeps Ewen quiet in front of her, he does not raise his voice to her and when he does he instantly apologises. In the story A Bird in the House Ewen drops the hint that the time when he was away at war was a time when he was free, it was a time in which he was able to explore different places. Ewen says: It was kind of interesting to see a few other places for a change (A Bird in the House, p.91). After Ewens death Vanessa finds a love letter and a picture of a girl that she believes was her fathers lover. Vanessa hopes the girl in the picture had meant some momentary and unexpected freedom for her father (A Bird in the House, p.107). Vanessa realises that he r father (Ewen) had been free when he was not at home. Thus, it is clear that Ewens memories are what prevented him from reaching personal freedom. Autism EssayIn the same manner, Ewens regrets kept him from accomplishing personal freedom. In the story To Set Our House in Order, Ewen shares with Vanessa the dream that he once had. The dream to go out into the merchant marine. Ewen tells Vanessa about Grandfather MacLeod and how he enjoyed reading Greek plays. He was interested in them, Ewen said. Grandfather MacLeod must have been a lonely manMaybe he would have liked to talk to somebody about the plays. They must have meant a lot to him' (A Bird in the House, p.54). The way in which Ewen describes Grandfather MacLeods passion to Vanessa shows that Ewen felt the same way. Ewen felt lonely because he wanted to do one thing but did another. Ewens regret is that knowing how much he wanted to go into the merchant marine he did not. Thus, it is evident that Ewens regret did not allow him to reach personal freedom. Similarly, Aunt Edna is a character that almost lets the opportunity to attain personal freedom pass by her. Aunt Edna spent her life trapped in the Brick house with Grandfather Conner and his power, she did not get any freedom while she was with him. Vanessas mother and Aunt Edna had to seek freedom in the whispered conversations they had in the kitchen. Aunt Edna also had some momentary freedom when she was having an affair with Jimmy Lorimer. This freedom was taken away from her when the affair ended. So, once again Aunt Edna was trapped by Grandfather Conner. In Jerichos Brick Battlements Aunt Edna is faced with the opportunity to be free of Grandfather Conner, when she is presented with this opportunity she is not sure of whether she should take it or not. Wes Grigg is a character that is introduced in this story, he wants to marry Aunt Edna. At this point in the story it is evident that Beth (Vanessas mother) is persuading Aunt Edna to marry him and get out of the house. Beth e xplains to Aunt Edna that she has had her freedom, and that it ended when Ewen died. Aunt Edna takes this into consideration and says: I guess Ive got used to being back here in the old dungeon. Its strange, Beth. Fathers impossible, and certainly no one has said it oftener than I haveI have the feeling that the absolute worst wouldnt happen here, ever, (A Bird in the House, p.173). Aunt Edna knows that she has been trapped all the time that she has lived with Grandfather Conner however, when she has the opportunity to be free she doesnt feel that it is needed. Aunt Edna is a character in the compilation of stories that after many chances reaches freedom. Freedom from Grandfather Conner the person that made her feel like there was no where to run, she was finally free of him when she left his house. Therefore, it is evident that unlike other characters Aunt Edna reaches personal freedom at the end of the last story. All in all, it is clear that Vanessa, Ewen and Aunt Edna all reach personal freedom, however only to a small extent. These characters at some point had freedom, or they had a way in which they could be free of the things that went on around them. Vanessa wrote in order to get away from the harshness of the life, it was an escape from the reality that she lived at home.Ewen had personal freedom when he was away at war, he was away from home and this was a time in which he was happy. Aunt Edna struggled throughout her life and was trapped by Grandfather Conner, she reached personal freedom when she marries Wes Grigg and goes away from home. The theme of entrapment is evident throughout A Bird in the House and every character in the stories is trapped in the pain of their memories and regrets.

Sample Essay on the Difference Between a Good Mother and a Bad Mother

Sample Essay on the Difference Between a Good Mother and a Bad MotherIf you have decided to write a sample essay on the difference between a good mother and a bad mother, then this is the right place to look for inspiration. You can look through various works that deal with different topics relating to a mother and how she has impacted on her child. These include topics such as parenting, education, relationships, divorce, etc.It is really important to study these topics because it can help you to develop your research skills and narrow down your choices to the best essay material. Remember that the essay you are writing should be rich and long and should contain the best vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure possible. Keep in mind that the essay should also provide the reader with the best way to interpret your words and that it should encourage them to think beyond what they know.This is the best way to judge the effectiveness of a sample essay on the difference between a good mother and a bad mother. It is crucial to include a wide variety of thoughts about how the reader can develop her own opinions about her.If you think that writing a sample essay on the difference between a good mother and a bad mother is just too much for you, then you can do the task online. You can find numerous websites which offer hundreds of sample essays related to various topics concerning mothers and parenting.The first step in writing a great research paper is to find out all the various aspects that you want to incorporate in your essay. You can consider having an interaction with the writer of the essay, whom you will make contact with over the internet, and the interaction can help you formulate your own ideas and develop your own ideas.Another point to consider while preparing your research paper is to decide on the topic of the essay. So, you can read books that deal with mothers, read some articles that discuss the subject, etc.Lastly, your research paper on the diff erence between a good mother and a bad mother can be a fabulous writing experience and your topic will appear short and lucid. This will make it easy for you to have the desired impact.

John Locke - Seperation Of Powers Essays - Montesquieu,

John Locke - Seperation of Powers Separation of Powers Separation of powers is the act of separating of responsibilities of the three branches of the government. The idea of this separation is not a new one either. John Locke originally talked about it. He stated that the legislative power should be divided between the King and Parliament in England. Another man also spoke about this separation, the French writer Montesquieu, who wrote about it in 1748 in his book De lesprit des lois. His point was that liberty is most effective if it is safeguarded by the separation of powers. He highly promoted liberty. As in the Encyclopedia Britannica, it stated that Montesquieu felt that liberty is most highly promoted when there are three branches of government acting independently of each other. Although his model for the three-branch government was for England, it became more important to the United States. His work was most notably shown in America when the Constitution was being created. Finally, Alexander Hamilton raised his point on separati on of powers in the series of essays called The Federalist. The Encyclopedia Encarta said that he wrote this with James Madison and John Jay and that there were 85 essays all together. They were written about how they wanted the new government to run. It was their view as to how each major department in the new central government should run. More specifically, they stated how the three branches of government should run and expounded the idea of judicial review. The way that the power is separated in the United States was that the legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch executes the laws and the judicial branch interprets the laws. However, as our book and the Encyclopedia Britannica both state, the executive branch in the United States has gained a lot more power. They both claim this because of numerous changes in social and economic life. The idea of checks and balances is closely related to the idea of separation of powers. Checks and balances is the idea that each branch of the government has ways to make sure that each other branch does not gain too much power. Instead, each branch is encouraged to share power with the other. Again, our book and the Encyclopedia Britannica both say that the way that this works is that the courts have judicial review, which is the power of the courts to examine both the executive and legislative branches to make sure that they are doing, is constitutional. Congress has the power to impeach people from both the judicial and executive branches. Plus they have the power to appropriate funds. Finally, the executive branch has the power to veto bills passed by Congress. However, this can be overridden by a 2/3-majority vote in Congress. However, a new concept helps the President, he can line item veto, which means he can blank out certain parts of the bill so it does not have to totally written. The idea of separation of powers is what separates us from Great Britain in the way we run our democracy. In England, the legislative executive branches are integrated. This idea is reinforced with the idea that they should be in constant agreement. It is pretty obvious that they are not in constant agreement here. This can happen because Congress may have a republican majority yet the president and his cabinet may be democratic. The idea is separation of powers is even related to Federalism as a whole. According to the Grolier Encyclopedia, federalism is directly related to the separation of powers. However, it is related to the separation between the state and national government. It said that each level of government is autonomous from the other. Also, neither is dependent on the other for legislation, taxes or administration. The idea of separation of powers has been around for a long time. Our newly founded government decided to use it as a base when writing the Constitution. Its main ideas are related to other aspects of our government such as checks and balances. Its ideals have changed a little bit because now the executive branch has a bit more power, but for the most part it has stayed intact. This concept also

Relative Roles of State and Ngos in Community Development with Respect to Housing as Service Delivery Essay Example

Relative Roles of State and Ngos in Community Development with Respect to Housing as Service Delivery Essay Example Relative Roles of State and Ngos in Community Development with Respect to Housing as Service Delivery Essay Relative Roles of State and Ngos in Community Development with Respect to Housing as Service Delivery Essay What are the developments options the state and the Non-governmental organisations have performed for the Peddie Extension area with regard to the housing delivery. Aims and Objectives of the study: Two aims and objectives have been identified for this study, namely to: * assess whether the stakeholders from the community are satisfied with the housing delivery process and how they have benefitted from the process. * Understand, and analyse the roles played by the state in housing delivery and Non-governmental organisations in service delivery for the rural poor in Peddie Extension.When a state attempts to employ strategies to reduce poverty, to provide necessary service delivery, to involve the poor in their communities in development decision making and resource allocation, it is probable to find its normal and suggested mechanisms inadequate. Additionally when the state endavours to develop the communities by providing with economic policy, basic services and infrastructure, but i s rarely targeted toward rural areas and people. Within the context, more is being asked whether the contribution of voluntarily sector to development provides more emphasis on poverty reduction, a community and participatory development.As the state endavours to develop communities, the social, economic and political environment created an operational environment for the NGOs. Literature on Non-governmental organizations indicates that NGOs have played a major role in an attempt to secure the protection of human rights nationally and internationally. Chakawarika (2011) argues that, the existence of NGOs is proving to be a necessity rather than a luxury in societies throughout the modern world. It is evident that in many developing countries, the role of NGOs has evolved in response to the market gaps left by the government (Gaist: 2009).Impelled by the inadequacies of the state and the market, citizens across the globe have developed NGOs to deal with a diversity of social needs. C onsequently, it could be argued that NGOs are increasingly identified as crucial role-players in community and people-centred development. Gaist (2009) indicates that the NGOs have frequently been regarded as very important for democracy since they have a strong support at grassroots level and their ability to develop and empower poor communities. This is a well-needed attribute in Zimbabwe as most of the communities are beyond being poor.Nzimakwe (2002) also supported this nature of NGOs saying they are enormously vital mechanisms in rural development as they benefit from the goodwill and reception of the community, consequently the NGOs have become very crucial players in the field of social development. There are other researchers who have conceptualized development such as Manuel Castells who was a sociologist who has theorised about the information age. His emphasis on development is mainly on the economic, political and cultural aspects.His major claim relevant to this study i s that, because of the rise of the information age, individual states are no longer able to do what is needed to develop the citizens of their individual countries. He is therefore very pessimistic about the role of the state as agent for development. 2. THE BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The issue of service delivery in Eastern Cape has become the point of interest in the past few years in South Africa. The Bill of Rights embodied in the South African Constitution (Act No. 108 of 1996) (RSA, 1996) states in section 24 that: ‘Everyone has the right to have adequate housing’.Consequently authorities are increasingly confronted with challenges to increase the delivery of houses to citizens. Scholars (Irurah and Boshoff, 2003) argue that, the delivery has not been followed through in implementation in various sectors of the economy. It is essential that these challenges be addressed by making use of correct implementation knowledge, proper analysis and evaluation policies of hous ing delivery. There is no public service can be rendered without suitable governing and administrative arrangements.Millions of historically disadvantaged South Africans, however, still live in rural communities or informal settlements that lack basic shelter and other services (Lawson, 1991). The Eastern Cape housing department provides the legislative and constitutional mandate to provide houses to the poor rural citizens of this province. It stands to reason that, citizens of this province would have access to decent and adequate houses. Rendering of housing services by government has resulted in uncompleted and defective houses due to inexperienced contractors providing poor workmanship and corruption in the housing programmes.Consequently, the state interventions of attempting to provide basic service delivery such as housing delivery in rural areas have been largely ineffective. Castell (2000:92) argues that some obstacles for development come from government bureaucracies. Ho wever, the latter, is only possible when the government policies are haphazard and an approach to community development is uncoordinated. Thus far, there are comprehensive national housing policies to really guide developments.After 1994 the ANC-led government embarked on housing delivery programme to rectify the past imbalances and this hampers the provision of housing in post-Apartheid South Africa. This provision enhanced human settlement development nationally, provincially and locally to meet the needs of South African citizens. These include, among others, expressing housing policies, confirming adequate access to relevant information so that citizens and civil society can mobilise around housing rights, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation of housing progress and implementation (â€Å"Expanding Socio-Economic Rights and Access to Housing, 29 October 2003, p. ). African communities from urban areas benefited from housing delivery as they were entitled to have title deeds of the houses they lived in and some have their houses built. In contrast, black rural communities were not part of the planning and development decisions that affect the quality of their lives as a result, the state did not build houses for people from rural areas. Consequently, the government has been criticised by many dissatisfied South Africans, politicians and the media. Some criticisms were mainly from the media highlighting the corruption, mismanagement with regard to community projects as well as poor service delivery.According to the state which remains as the major protectors and abusers of human rights, NGOs have materialised as central players in the promotion of human rights around the world. Varona (2006) further argue that, citizens felt that there is a need for organising NGOs to develop alternative strategies and acquire new skills and capabilities in order to facilitate this access to housing, serviced land and basic services as lately, for informal settlements to ge t the attention of government in their bid for housing and land tenure, a presentation of concrete development plans, studies and options for housing development is needed.A year after 2006 local government elections, the Minister of Safety and Security reported some 5085 protests against unskilled and corrupt local government nationwide (Robert, 2007: 14). It stands to reason that, there is an escalation of corruption and squandering of resources by government officials and of which result on poor service delivery. In Philippines for instance Varona (2006) argue that inefficient government housing programs has aggravated and made poor communities lose confidence in an ability of the government to provide for basic services like housing and serviced land.Marie Huchzermeyer (2003) points out that, it is the lack of formal rights that allows for exploitation by politicians, by irresponsible or even repressive bureaucracies, and by informally operating groups or individuals in the cont rol over land, access to services, commercial activities, etc. Some researchers indicate that black rural communities have been excluded from participating in the conceptualisation process, planning and development decisions that affect the quality of their lives.Miraftab (2003) advocates that critics point out that viewed in this way, community participation may indeed ameliorate communities’ immediate problems but seldom then continues beyond the life of the specific projects and does not result in any greater community influence in decision making. As a result of that, the rural communities do not actively participate in local governance. 3. THE PROBLEM STATEMENT The purpose of this study is to show that the state has not been performing or has performed poorly in its role as provider of houses in the rural areas of Ngqushwa Local Municipality in Peddie Extension.Therefore, rural citizens are left with no other option than to make use of alternative building, their houses built with mud of which are sometimes not safe and secure. The absence of the decent houses has the risk involve to citizens namely, catching cold and storms outbreak. This problem is predominant in the remote rural areas. In some areas foundations of houses have been laid or walls are built for almost years but no roofs, windows or doors. But there are elected politicians, NGO officials and appointed officials who are supposed to be role-players for the benefit of the citizens.Theirs is to play the role of local government in terms of community development and service delivery as mandated by the constitution. They need to be able to deal with the challenges confronting the local government with regard to service delivery. It stands to reason that, community involvement in decision making is vital during planning. If community participation is neglected or limited then planning and delivery will experience implementation problem.Other problem that has been identified with regard to officials is a lack of understanding of the service delivery processes as well as lack in capability to administrative work. It is thus clear that there is a fundamental problem of rendering service delivery in Peddie Extenstion by incompetent local and non-government officials who do not play their essential roles in satisfying the demand for rural community development. It is thus evident that the municipal officials hamper the implementation processes of the housing delivery provided by the state policies.Consequently they fail to satisfy the demand for the sustainable housing service. 4. RESEARCH QUESTION What are the community development programmess the state and Non-governmental organisations have implemented for the Peddie Extension with regard to the housing delivery service? 5. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY * To assess whether the community members from the Peddie Extension are satisfied with the housing delivery process and how they have benefitted from the process. Un derstand, and analyse the roles played by the state and Non-governmental organisations in housing delivery for the rural poor in Peddie Extension. 6. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY The study will be limited to the Ngqushwa area particularly in Peddie Extension. The intention is to look at community with rural geographical location. Participants in this study will be voluntary. Thus, factors that may limit this study may include access to information, time, travelling funds, unwillingness of participant and insufficient literature on the specific study. 7. THE LITERATURE OF THE STUDYService delivery programmes played an important role in the development of South Africa. The housing sector this is particularly significant as the delivery of housing to low-income communities has been one of the key programmes of the South African government since 1994 (Irurah and Boshoff, 2003). Housing delivery in Eastern Cape in particular which is mostly rural, is forced by a various challenging issues. Pr imarily the Apartheid government has focused only to the white people, the African people in rural areas were almost forgotten, hence the backlog.As a result, this backlog and other challenges overlapped into the present state. Castells (1996) also wishes to demonstrate the role of information technology in transforming the whole economic, social and cultural environment of our times. Researchers such as (Cassier and Kesteloot, 2012) stress that in an information society, there are increasing inequalities that bring about intensifying processes of economic globalisation, capital and labour flexibility and welfare restructuring. Information society, however, is empowered by capital rules in financial form.It stands to reason that the information age comprises of unevenness of development, of the new inequalities and deprivations. Castells claims a new society has risen as a result of the information technology revolution, the economic crisis of capitalism and statism (communism) and the blooming of new social movements like environmentalism and feminism. He argues that more of the worldwide communication is happening through the electronic media, like social networks, electronic mails, cellular phone and so forth.And this network society is global, it is based on global networks and it manifests itself in many forms of production systems and new culture. Castells indicates that, together these three processes are causing a new social structure ‘ a network society’, a new economy ‘a global informational economy’ and a new culture ‘a culture of real virtuality ( in van Dijk, 2001). Harding (2006) argues that multifaceted virtual culture, enforces powerful economic decisions at every moment in the life of the network. Castells’ focus and ideas about development contradicts with those of neo-liberals and neo-Marxists.He focuses on the economic as well as the political and cultural aspects of development while neoliberalsâ€⠄¢ view of development as about the shift of control of the economy from the ‘public sector’ to the ‘private sector’. The philosophy behind neoliberalism is to maximise the role of the private sectors. In essence the aim of neoliberalism is to strive for national success in terms of the global market and that social life should be determined by the market which can be considered to be the best design for the society. Neoliberals also encourage the maximization of contract as well as the entrepreneurial precepts.It also resulted into the forms of work contracts, such as temporary, part-time, contract, and casual workers (Peck, 1996:119) Globalization and neoliberalism are sometimes used interchangeably, if one could argue under the notion of making the economic structure in an outline of a uniform, that is, interconnection of nations through trading. In addition, the keywords between globalization and the neoliberalism are, ‘global capitalism’ a nd ‘privatization’. Neo-liberal restructuring is central to the globalisation process which demands free-market, privatisation, externalisation, casualisation, and more.Conversely, Holm and Sorensen (1995:4) define globalization as the intensification of economic, political, social and cultural relations across borders. Globalisation is made to be valid and it is not seen as an economic aspect, however; one could argue that it is a new phase of capitalism. Harding (2006) adds on what Castells propounds on that the new flexibility offered to capital by information technology is intimately linked to the accelerating progress of globalization, permitting capitalists to keep down labour costs while exploiting emerging markets.Moreover, ideology serves as tool belief with a great political influence to make neoliberalism and globalization acceptable. On the other hand neo-Marxism focuses the most on the social inequalities and it shows the uprising of opposition that counter s inequalities. This theory arose from the work of Karl Marx and it is for the ideas of Max Weber who have theorized on social inequalities for example status and power. Neo-Marxism theory view class division as more important than gender or sex division or issues of race and ethnicity.Moreover Neo-Marxism theory seeks to reveal the hegemony of the dominant class which results to political power. Castells attributes that indeed, the vanguard social and cultural values are in the very design innovations that powered and shaped the oncoming technological revolution (Harding, 2006). There exists what is known as the policy making which is a large sector of elite control within government whereby the corporate community consisting of the upper class work hand in hand in overlapping spheres of economic and political entities (Domhoff,1990: 105).The economy is considered as a fundamental strong point of any society (Livingston, 1939: 53) as people are dependent on an income for basic surv ival necessities, thus if the government favours policies which inadvertently co-operate with the views of the corporate power then the needy are inevitably cared for and corporate elitist take on roles of leadership within the community (Domhoff 2006: 103). 8. FOCUS STUDY AREA The Ngqushwa Municipality is in the ex-homeland an area of the Ciskei. It has only one small town and the majority of the population live in rural areas.Consequently they live in traditional dwellings made of wattle and mud bricks. A large number of citizens build their own dwellings using their own labour and local materials. The most common houses or brick structure are on separate stand or yard, which applies to rural settings. High levels of poverty and difficulties prevails throughout the country, in urban and rural areas alike, due to high levels of unemployment and severe shortages of formal housing. Most members in rural community would not have access to credit for the construction of dwellings in co mmunal or informal tenure areas. 9.RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This will provide an understanding in which the methodology will be used in this study. In this study, it will cover the essence of research design, data collection and data analysis. 9. 1 RESEARCH DESIGN Research design is concerned with defining the type of study to be assumed to produce the intended results. The research design is a key element in its success. Leedy (1997) states that the design process is the planning of the research and includes visualization of the data and problems associated with the use of those data in achieving the results of the research project.The study will make use of an empirical research design which will be informed by the literature review and analysis. Qualitative research is descriptive in that the researcher is interested in process, meaning, and understanding gained through words or pictures. According to Leedy (2001:191) descriptive survey involves distinguishing the characteristics of something. He further suggests that descriptive method is suitable for data obtained from observation. Qualitative researchers are concerned primarily with process, rather than outcomes or products.Struwig and Stead (2001:12) identify that qualitative researchers are very interested in understanding the issues being researched from the perspective of the research participants. The quantitative principles are based on the view that the world is organised and bound by rules. Also quantitative research seeks to use the existing data to analyse the given data in order to validate the representations with regard to the role of state and NGOs in development. Quantitative research makes perfectly clear that seeks to employ mathematical and statistical models pertaining phenomenon.The reason for using quantitative research, intends to understand participants’ experience pertaining to challenges of housing delivery in Peddie Extension by describing housing project management which res ulted in poor or better quality of housing delivery service. It also brings about the broader understanding of the effectiveness of the state or NGOs in rural housing delivery to develop the community. 9. 2 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The data to be used in this paper will be developed from both primary and secondary sources.Primary data The primary data will come from in-depth interviews with grass-roots members of community and government officials. The reason to focus on government officials is that they have detailed information and knowledge on housing delivery. Representatives from non-governmental organisations could be interviewed so as to acquire a broader understanding of the social and political relations in Peddie Extension. Observations and photographs will be used to collect more primary data. Secondary dataThis information will be collected through quantitative approach by describing the state and NGOs’ effectiveness in the issues of service delivery in rural areas. A desk study and network research will be employed to review more additional data from archival documents, housing legislations, policies and programmes in government housing interventions. And from resource relevant databases, related case studies, researches, surveys and publications. The quantitative data on housing delivery will be obtained from the local state municipality offices.The other data will be attained through analysis of relevant sources focusing on housing delivery, statistics, housing policy, frameworks, process and practice and other official reports on housing programmes or projects. 10. TIME FRAMES AND BUDGET To make the study to have meaningful analysis with regard to the role of the non-governmental organisations and state, the study will be based on collaboration between NGOs, government officials and other participant in housing delivery projects during the period April to October 2013 in the Ngqushwa rural area.The rationale for this period will be a ffected by factors such as financial constraints and the nature of the study. 11. OUTLINES OF CHAPTERS Chapter one will be concerned with an introduction to the study which describes and explains the background, problem statement, research questions, objectives, necessity, study plan, limitations of the study, and the definition of words and terms used in the study. Chapter two will provide a literature review of study, framework, concepts and theories which are concerned with community development.Theories that describe the role of the state and NGOs in service deliver. The challenges of grow of homelessness of rural community members as revealed by poverty; lack of access to basic services, facilities and lack of participation of communities in decision-making in the poor communities. Chapter three will outline the research methodology; define the research techniques, data collecting instruments, and the analysis techniques. Chapter four will represent the data presentation, analy sis and interpretation and will provide the criteria for analysis and the actual analysis.Chapter five will deal with the conclusion and will summarise the findings and deductions made in the preceding chapters. Specific inadequacies and problem areas in the role of state and NGOs in community development services will be explained and recommendations to remedy such situation and future actions will be provided.