Role of the Change Agent in Organisational Development

Role of the Change Agent in Organisational Development This paper had been concluded in order to interpret the importance of the organization development and how achieving the organizational development process is going to affect the welfare of the organization. The paper identifies the main methodologies and theories that are concerning with the way the changing process are going to be achieved. Through the paper, there would be a identifying to the role of the change agent and the main characteristics that should be available at this person. The paper will also highlight the main dilemmas and the opportunities that are going to face the organizational development agent through the changing process, and how the agent should get rid of the barriers and how the agent are going to seize those opportunities. Introduction The changing nature of the market had influenced the ways that many managers used to think. Many organizations now seek to cop with the change that occurs in the market place and in the management methodologies. This changing nature had derived the companies to lean to changing their old theories and to maintain new ways to run their businesses, and their institutions in many ways. However, the changes in the market nature are considered to be challenges for the companies and the managements, it also can provide them with new opportunities. Thatà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s why it is important for the managers and the businesses owners to be continuously aware with the newest methodologies and theories that help them manage their institutions more efficiently and effectively. Literature review What is the organizational development? Before interpreting the organizational development recently issues, there would be a discussion about the nature of the organizational development process and how this process started. The organizational development is a process that includes developing both of the organizational internal capacity in order to achieve effectiveness, to ensure its sustainability. Sometimes companies seek achieving the organizational development processes for maintaining certain missions, goals, or to cop with the development of the companys competitors. (Thomas G. Cummings, Christopher G. Worley) The organizational development is based on the idea of changing the current state of the company. This change could be through restructuring, or re-engineering the internal structure of the company. Also, sometimes the company seeks changing the operations processes at the company. Those characteristics of organizational development process led Adam smith to come with a broader definition, stating that the organizational development is considered to be the processes that the organization are achieving, through the usage of the behavioral science approach, system improvement, planning, and self-analysis, in order to reach the highest rate of effectiveness. (Smith 1998) How to discover the need for change? The organizational management should develop an understanding of the need for change and create awareness and legitimacy, by seeking out and understanding both of the external data and the internal data, making sense of the perspectives of other stakeholders, and evaluating the organizational management concerns and perspectives. After maintaining those activities, the organizations should identify whether the organization is ready for change or not. This issue will be answered through reviewing the previous change experiences, identifying the organizational degree of openness to change, measure the executives support, and whether there are fair and satisfying rewards for change or not. When the organizational management successfully realizes that the organization is requiring change and is ready for maintain an organizational change process, the organizational management should assign the agent, who is going to develop the organizational developm ent process. (Thomas G. Cummings, Christopher G. Worley) Who is the organizational development agent? The organizational change agent, who also called the organizational development practitioner, is the one, who performs the process of change in the organization. The agent should have some characteristics that would enhance his ability to achieve the process effectively. One of the main characteristics are his wide knowledge about the behavior of the people within the organization, this knowledge can be gained through his interaction with the employees personally, or by his observation to their behaviors. It is prefer that the agent has an academic study in sciences that study the human behavior like; psychology, sociology, and human resources management. The organizations have the freedom to hire the change agent from outside the company in order to change the companys system, or to develop the performance of the companys operations. In this case the change agent is called to be an OD consultant. (Thomas G. Cummings, Christopher G. Worley ) Some organizations prefer to choose one of the inside employees to be responsible for the change process, as he will always has wider knowledge about the companys employees and also because the inside agent will be more caring for the interest of the company. The inside agent usually are chosen from the top management, as to be aware of all of the companys operations, values, and objectives. On the other hand the external agent will has some advantages over the insider, as the external consultant will hold different perspectives, views, and different experiences that the external agent had gained from dealing with other companies. Those advantages will give the company the opportunity to be able to get rid of the restrictions and constrains of the old regime. (Thomas G. Cummings, Christopher G. Worley) What are the OD agents activities? The change agent or the OD agent, with the help of the top management of the company, should perform certain activities that lead an effective change management. One of the main activities of the change agent is motivating for the change, which can be concluded through creating readiness for change and by overcoming resistance to change. Also the change agent has the responsibility to create the organizational vision, through describing the core ideologies and creating the envisioned future. However the change agent plays an important role in the change process, the top management should also develop a political support for the change process, through assessing the change agent power, identifying the key stakeholders, and influencing the stakeholders. It is also essential that the top management manage the transition process, by planning for activities and commitment, and by structuring the change management. One last role that should be played by t he management is to sustain the momentum, by providing resources for change, build support system for change agents, and develop new competences and skills. Finally, Change requires time and many of the expected financial and organizational benefits from change lag behind its implementation. If the organization changed again too quickly or abandons the change before it is fully implemented, the desired results may never materialize. By concluding those activities, the company will ensure that the change agent is going to perform the organizational development process effectively and efficiently. (Dennis Stevenson) What are the organizational development theories? This is considered to be the most fundamental question in the study of the organizational development. The methods that the organizational development agent is going to use are considering whether the agent will succeed in what achieving the change process effectively or not. There had been many methods that had been used by many agents and many organizations, but there are three main theories or methods that are considered to be the most successful ones for planned change. Those theories are the Lewins change model, the action research model, and the positive model. (Alicia Kritsonis) First, according to Lewins change model, there are two particular groups, who hold two different attitudes about the change process. The first group is accepting the status quo and wish that nothing would change. This group of stakeholders restricts change and push employees away form change. On the other hand, the other group is actually pushing for achieving the change process. This group is facilitating change and pushes the employees toward the change process. (Alicia Kritsonis) The German Kurt Lewin, who was considered to be the founder of social psychology, stated that the change process could be illustrated by a model, which is consisting of three main steps. The first step is to unfreeze the existing situation to overcome the strains of individual resistance and group conformity. This unfreezing action takes place through increasing the driving forces that direct behavior away from the existing status quo, decreasing the restraining forces that negatively the movements from the existing equilibrium, or find a combination of the both. The second step of Lewins model is the movement process of the target system to a new level of equilibrium. This step can be achieved through persuading employees to agree that the status quo is not beneficial to them and encouraging them to view the problem from a fresh perspective, working together on a quest for new and relevant information, and connecting the news of the group to well. Finally, the last step of the model indicates the refreezing process, at which the change had been implemented by the change agent in to sustain overtime the change over time, not to allow the employees to return to their old state. The unfreezing step can be achieved through reinforcing new patterns and institutionalize them through formal and informal mechanisms including policies and procedures. (Alicia Kritsonis) Second, according to the action research model, which had been introduced by Lippitt, Watson, and Westley in 1958, there are eight main steps to conclude change in the organization. Those steps are sequenced as followed. The organizational management should identify the main problem of the old regime, and then the management should ask for the help of a consultant with a behavioral science expert. The change agent should gather data and maintain diagnosis for the data that had been gathered from internal and external resources. After maintaining the diagnosis the agent should conclude processes of feedback to the organization, jointing diagnosing of the problem, jointing the action planning, and then the actions should be concluded. However the action of change had been concluded the data should be gathered after maintaining the action in order to evaluate the progress of change and to ensure that the change had been achieved successfully. (Kritsonis, A) Third, the positive model of change, which is also called the appreciative inquiry, had been established by David Cooperrider, who used the model to enhance a positively-focused perspective and an opportunity-oriented intervention. The proponents of the positive change model assumed that the organizational development models are considered to be too negative, as they focus only on the problems, neglecting the opportunities and its importance appreciative inquiry is considered to be focusing more in the humanistic matters, rather than being pragmatic and realistic. It is also considered to be more participatory; rather than being often top down driven. Appreciative inquiry had emerged over the past several decades as alternatives to the other models of the change to the shortly examined reasons. (Boyd Bright, 2007) (Cooperrider, Whitney, Stavros, 2008) (Egan Lancaster, 2005) The positive model of change involves five main phases. The first phase is to initiate the inquiry, through emphasizing the involvement of the members of the organization in order to identify the organizational issue. The second phase is to gathering the information that determines the best of what is in the organization. Then the third phase encourage the change agent should discover the themes; and examines the stories for identifying the set of themes that represent the common dimensions of peopleà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s experiences. The forth phase will include the creation of the preferred future; by identifying the best theme, challenging the status quo, and describe a required future. The last phase will enhance designing and delivering several ways to create the future, through activities and plans that are necessary to achieve the vision. (Herb Stevenson) There some differences between the three models. For instance, Lewins model differs from the other models as it focuses on the general process of planned change rather than the organizational development activities. Also, the Lewins model agrees with the action research model, in terms of level of the participants involvement and the high degree of focusing on change. They also are more concerned with what the organization does wrong, rather than what are the main opportunities that the company has. (Herb Stevenson) What is the general model of planned change? There is a general model of planned change. The model had been introduced by Cummings and Worley at 1993. This model consists of four main steps, which are taking place in a forward sequence. Those steps are entering and contacting, diagnosing, planning implementing process and the evaluating institutionalizing process. First, the entering and contracting stage, it involve making the top management of the organziation decide whether the organization need a planned change program or not. The management should define some resources to this change process. The managemnt should determine the consultant, who is going to runn the change process, and to clearly illustrate the organizational issue into presenting the problem and symptoms. (Miriam Y. Lacey) Second, the process of diagnosing that includes focusing on the understanding of the organizational problem, and the identification of the organizational positive and negative attitudes. Through the diagnosing stage, the management should choose a suitable model to understand the organization as a whole. The best model that many of the organization seek to use is the open system model, which is suggesting that the organization is operating within both internal and external enviroment. This open system gathers specific inputs from the enviroment and transforms those inputs into outputs through social and technological procedures. Then the output of the transformation process is considered to be returning to the enviroment and can be used as feedback to the organizational evaluation. (Miriam Y. Lacey) The third stage of the general planned change model is the planning and the implementing process. This stage enhances the organizations members and the chanage agent to align together to plan and implement the orgaznaitional interventions that is required to achieve the change. The interventions design can be implemented through creating the organizational visions and goals, and through making action plans to implement them depending on the organization readiness for change, current change capablilites, culture power distributions, change agents skills and abilities. There are four types of interventions that could be emplemented. The interventions could be human process interventions (process consultation and team building), techno-structural interventions (downsizing), human resources management interventions (performance appraisal), or strategic interventions (transformational change, transorganizational change, continuous change). The forth stage would be the evaluating and the institutionalizing process. This stage involoves evaluating the effects of the interventions and managing the institutionlization of successful changes programs. (Miriam Y. Lacey) How to evaluate the effectiveness of the change? This could be the most critical question that the top management should ask. The origination should maintain a full evaluation to the results of the change. The main goal of the change management is to close the gap between the planned outcomes and the actual outcomes of change. There are differences in the evaluation process, this differences occur according to whether the change occurred by an internal or external agent. The external consultant rely on repeat business and customer, while the internal agent would prefer relying on repeat business, pay rise and promotion, considering them the main key measures of success. Also, the external consultant focuses on the long-term results, while the internal agent has a little recognition for a job well. (Miriam Y. Lacey) Summary The organization should focus on many issues to be able to survive in todays changing environments. The main issues are the continuously checking for the problems and the new changes inside their company and outside, in the other companies and the markets. This continuous monitoring leads to successfully recognition for the need for change. The organization management should also carefully choose the most successful and knowledgeable agent who is enriched with the highest experience and skills. The successful choice of the internal or external agent will ensure the success of the change process. Also change agent, should manage the change process through the main issues and problems of the organization through a way that will be compatible with the organizational goals. However, the organization could manage the change process successfully; the results may not be as same as planned, because of the continuously changing nature of the environment. Thatà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ s why the company should develop an open system model that facilitates the continuous change process.

The Four Types of Essay Organization

* The four types of essay organization that was discussed in the course readings were topic, time order, space order, and informative process. The characteristic that makes these essays expository for topic expository develops by topic systematically organizes information about topic in the most logical fashion. Time order developed by time order involves the sequential or chronological organization of information form one period to another. This types of expository developed arranges information according to date or specific time, for instance, from the earliest to the most recent or vice versa.Space order an expository essay developed by space order involves the spatial organization of idea. This arrangement refers to information that deals with location of people, places, or things. Finally, the informative process developed by informative process may best be described as how essay, or demonstration. * How to distinguish space organization from time organization or informative pro cess organization is that space organization arranges deals with people, places or things.And informative just involves step-by-step process, with arranged in their natural order, for example, â€Å"How to Write an Expository Essay†. * The organization of each essay can help the reader understand the subject matter because it helps defines and understand of each type of expository essays. * The essay I read that had the most effective organization was â€Å"A Soul as Free as the Air: About Lacy Stone†; because the essay explained everything about Lacy Stone by giving examples and details about her life.It also was developed in the four basic expository essay format with the topic giving the information about the whole essay, and with the time order it basically arranged everything and order that happened in her life, space order it stated how she lived her life in different place, and also the time she spent, and as for informative process the essay was basically writt en step by step giving details about the whole essay. * The type of essay organization that is suitable for my essay topic is topic because it would contain systematically organize information about a topic in the most logical fashion.

Dorothy Day, Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement

Dorothy Day was a writer and editor who founded the Catholic Worker, a penny newspaper that grew into a voice for the poor during the Great Depression. As the driving force in what became a movement, Days unwavering advocacy for charity and pacifism made her controversial at times. Yet her work among the poorest of the poor also made her an admired example of a deeply spiritual person actively engaged in addressing societys problems. When Pope Francis addressed the U.S. Congress in September 2015, he focused much of his speech on  four Americans he found particularly inspiring: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton. Days name was no doubt unfamiliar to millions watching the Popes speech on television. But his effusive praise of her indicated how influential her lifes work with the Catholic Worker Movement was to the Popes own thoughts about social justice. Fast Facts: Dorothy Day Born: November 8, 1897, New York City.Died: November 29, 1980, New York City.Founder of the Catholic Worker, a small newspaper published in the Depression which became a social movement.Named by Pope Francis in his 2015 speech to Congress as one of his four most admired Americans.Is widely expected to be declared a saint in the Catholic Church. During her lifetime, Day could seem out of step with mainstream Catholics in America. She operated at the fringe of organized Catholicism, never seeking permission or official endorsement for any of her projects. Day came late to the faith, converting to Catholicism as an adult in the 1920s. At the time of her conversion, she was an unmarried mother with a complicated past that included life as a bohemian writer in Greenwich Village, unhappy love affairs, and an abortion that rendered her emotionally devastated. A movement to have Dorothy Day canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church began in the 1990s. Days own family members have said she would have scoffed at the idea. Yet it seems likely that she will one day be an officially recognized saint of the Catholic Church. Early Life Dorothy Day was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 8, 1897. She was the third of five children born to John and Grace Day. Her father was a journalist who bounced from job to job, which kept the family moving between New York City neighborhoods and then onward to other cities. When her father was offered a job in San Francisco in 1903, the Days moved westward. Economic disruption caused by the San Francisco earthquake three years later cost her father his job, and the family moved on to Chicago. By the age of 17, Dorothy had already completed two years of study at the University of Illinois. But she abandoned her education in 1916  when she and her family moved back to New York City. In New York, she began writing articles for socialist newspapers. With her modest earnings, she moved into a small apartment on the Lower East Side. She became fascinated by the vibrant yet difficult  lives of impoverished immigrant communities, and Day became an obsessive walker, ferreting out stories in the citys poorest neighborhoods. She was hired as a reporter by the New York Call, a socialist newspaper, and began contributing articles to a revolutionary magazine, The Masses. Bohemian Years As America entered World War I and a patriotic wave swept the country, Day found herself immersed in a life filled with politically radical, or  simply offbeat, characters in Greenwich Village. She became a Village resident, living in a succession of cheap apartments and spending time in tearooms and saloons frequented by writers, painters, actors, and political activists. Day began a platonic friendship with playwright Eugene ONeill, and for a period during World War I, she entered a training program to become a nurse. After leaving the nursing program at the wars end, she became romantically involved with a journalist, Lionel Moise. Her affair with Moise ended after she had an abortion, an experience that sent her into a period of depression and intense inner turmoil. She met Forster Batterham through literary friends in New York and began living with him in a rustic cabin near the beach on Staten Island (which, in the early 1920s, was still rural). They had a daughter, Tamar, and after the birth of her child Day began to feel a sense of religious awakening. Though neither Day or Batterham were Catholic, Day took Tamar to a Catholic church on Staten Island and had the child baptized. The relationship with Batterham became difficult and the two often separated. Day, who had published a novel based on her Greenwich Village years, was able to purchase a modest cottage on Staten Island and she created a life for herself and Tamar. To escape the winter weather along the Staten Island shore, Day and her daughter would live in sublet apartments in Greenwich Village during the coldest months. On December 27, 1927, Day took a life-changing step by riding a  ferry back to Staten Island, visiting the Catholic church she knew, and having herself baptized. She later said she felt no great joy in the action, but rather regarded it as something she had to do. Finding Purpose Day continued writing and taking jobs as a researcher for publishers. A play she had written hadnt been produced, but somehow came to the attention of a Hollywood movie studio, which offered her a writing contract. In 1929 she and Tamar took a train to California, where she joined the staff of Pathà © Studios. Days Hollywood career was short. She found the studio not terribly interested in her contributions. And when the stock market crash in October 1929 hit the movie industry hard, her contract was not renewed. In a car she had purchased with her studio earnings, she and Tamar relocated to Mexico City. She returned to New York the following year. And after a trip to Florida to visit her parents, she and Tamar settled in a small apartment on 15th Street, not far from Union Square, where sidewalk speakers advocated solutions to the misery of the Great Depression. In December 1932 Day, returning to journalism, traveled to Washington, D.C. to cover a march against hunger for Catholic publications. While in Washington she visited the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, the Catholic Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.   She later recalled she had been losing her faith in the Catholic Church over its apparent indifference to the poor. Yet as she prayed at the shrine she began to sense a purpose to her life. After  returning to New York City, an eccentric character turned up in Days life, someone she regarded as a teacher who may have been sent by the Virgin Mary. Peter Maurin was a French immigrant who worked as a laborer in America though he had taught at schools run by the Christian Brothers in France. He was a frequent speaker in Union Square, where he would advocate novel, if not radical, solutions for societys ills. Founding of the Catholic Worker Maurin sought  out Dorothy Day after reading some of her articles about social justice. They began spending time together, talking and arguing. Maurin suggested Day should start her own newspaper. She said she had doubts about finding the money to get a paper printed, but Maurin encouraged her, saying they needed to have faith that the funds would appear. Within months, they did manage to raise enough money to print their newspaper. On May 1, 1933, a gigantic May Day demonstration was held at Union Square in New York. Day, Maurin, and a group of friends hawked the first copies of the Catholic Worker. The four-page newspaper cost a penny. The New York Times described the crowd  in Union Square that day as being filled with communists, socialists, and assorted other radicals. The newspaper noted the presence of banners denouncing sweatshops, Hitler, and the Scottsboro case. In that setting, a newspaper focused on helping the poor and achieving social justice was a hit. Every copy sold. That  first issue of the Catholic Worker contained a column by Dorothy Day which outlined its purpose. It began: For those who are sitting on park benches in the warm spring sunlight.For those who are huddling in shelters trying to escape the rain.For those who are walking the streets in the all but futile search for work.For those who think that there is no hope for the future, no recognition of their plight — this little paper is addressed.It is printed to call their attention to the fact that the Catholic Church has a social program — to let them know that there are men of God who are working not only for their spiritual, but for their material welfare. The success of the newspaper continued. In a lively and informal office, Day, Maurin, and what became a regular cast of dedicated souls labored to produce an issue every month. Within a few years, the circulation reached 100,000, with copies being mailed to all regions of America.   Dorothy Day wrote a column in each issue, and her contributions continued for nearly 50 years, until her death in 1980. The archive of her columns represents a remarkable view of modern American history, as she began commenting on the plight of the poor in the Depression and moved on to the violence of the world at war, the Cold War, and protests of the 1960s. Dorothy Day addressing a protest against the Vietnam War.   Getty Images Prominence and Controversy Beginning with her youthful writings for socialist newspapers, Dorothy Day was often been out of step with mainstream America. She was arrested for the first time in 1917, while picketing the White House with suffragists demanding that women have the right to vote. In prison, at the age of 20, she was beaten by the police, and the experience made her even more sympathetic to the oppressed and powerless in society. Within years of its 1933 founding as a small newspaper, the Catholic Worker evolved into being a social movement. Again with Peter Maurins influence, Day and her supporters opened soup kitchens in New York City. The feeding of the poor continued for years, and the Catholic Worker also opened houses of hospitality offering places to stay for the homeless. For years the Catholic Worker also operated a communal farm near Easton, Pennsylvania. Besides writing for the Catholic Worker newspaper, Day traveled extensively, giving talks on social justice and meeting activists, both inside and outside the Catholic Church. She was at times suspected of holding subversive political views, but in a sense she operated outside of politics. When followers of the Catholic Worker Movement refused to participate in Cold War fallout shelter drills, Day and others were arrested. She was later arrested while protesting with union farm workers in California. She remained active until her death, in her room at a Catholic Worker residence in New York City, on November 29, 1980. She was buried on Staten Island, near the site of her conversion. Legacy of Dorothy Day In the decades since her death, the influence of Dorothy Day has grown. A number of books have been written about her, and several anthologies of her writings have been published. The Catholic Worker community continues to flourish, and the newspaper which first sold for a penny in Union Square still publishes seven times a year in a print edition. An extensive archive, including all of Dorothy Days columns is available for free online. More than 200 Catholic Worker communities exist in the United States and other countries. Perhaps the most noteworthy tribute to Dorothy Day was, of course, the comments by Pope Francis in his address to Congress on September 24, 2015. He said:   In these times when social concerns are so important, I cannot fail to mention the Servant of God Dorothy Day, who founded the Catholic Worker Movement. Her social activism, her passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed, were inspired by the Gospel, her faith, and the example of the saints. Near the end of his speech, the Pope again spoke of Days striving for justice: A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to dream of full rights for all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton. With the leaders of the Catholic Church praising her work, and others continually discovering her writings, the legacy of Dorothy Day, who found her purpose editing a penny newspaper for the poor, seems assured.

“For Each Of Us, Life Is A Journey. Heavenly Father Designed

â€Å"For each of us, life is a journey. Heavenly Father designed it for us out of love. Each of us has unique experiences and characteristics, but our journey began in the same place before we were born into this world† (Henry B. Eyring, Brainy Quotes, Retrieved April 21, 2017). Each of us is placed on this earth for a purpose that is only known to God. However, while we seek that purpose and His will, He has given us the free will to behave and interact with our surroundings as we see fit. The discussion in this paper covers the spectrum of attributes and my current position among them. Using the McGraw-Hill Connect assessment, I was not overly surprised by the results. Within the scope of my career, more specifically the last five years, I†¦show more content†¦Ultimately, I accept the moderate rating of personality. As depicted in other areas of the assessment, my personality is adaptable and flexible, which is in many ways the standard operating expectation within the military. Values and Attributes Insights Integrity first†¦Service Before Self†¦Excellence in All We Do! These are the core values of the United States Air Force. After fifteen and a half years, these core values are branded into the depths of my being. However, we are taught through the ten commandments, that there are many other values that are exponentially more important. This assessment proved as much as it showed power as my lowest score. I know God has ultimate power and while I have free will here on earth, He has control. The rest of the values measured in the medium and high levels of importance. The highest were in achievement and in benevolence, which I feel are spot on. My drive stems from my ability to achieve the goals I have set in personal, family, faith, and work environments. While at the same time, compassion in all areas of my life are integral. God showed His compassion and love when He sent His Son in John 3:16, â€Å"For God loved the world in this way: He gav e His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life† (Holman Bible Publishers (Nashville, Tenn.), 2004, John 3:16). MotivationShow MoreRelatedReality and Illusion4098 Words   |  17 PagesReality versus Illusion Texts: Life of Pi King Lear Heavenly Creatures Blade Runner Pans Labyrinth Research Questions: 1. How does each character’s situation influence their perception or ideas of reality versus illusion? 2. What are the similarities and differences between the main character’s situation in each text? 3. What insights relating to reality and illusion can be gained from each text? Resources: Title: Life of Pi Author: Yann Martel Question 1: Pi survives his ordealRead MoreWhy Is It Bad?1281 Words   |  6 Pagesis a time to relax and enjoy life. When a person decides to retire, they do not consider the many challenges ahead. 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God, Thoth, a past civilization, or space aliens? It is these questions that will be examined so that we can gain a better understanding of why such seemingly enormous undertakings of pyramid construction were ever carried out. Why do some believe that the Great Pyramid (or the pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu or Cheops) at Ghiza was designed with clear mathematical links between the Pyramids dimensionsRead MoreSymbolism on Gattaca Essay4547 Words   |  19 Pagesand soul to achieve a dream, discuss. Gattaca is a provocative science-fiction interpretation of the future of genomics. Andrew Niccols presents us with insight to a pessimistic view of genetic enhancement set in the not to distant future. The film takes us through the journey of Vincent Freeman, and Jerome Morrow who with the value of each others body and soul commit and reaches astonishing feats of humanity. The triumphs of Vincent and Jerome can be seen as heroic, but what is it that makes