The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling Review

'The Jungle Book' by Rudyard Kipling Review The Jungle Book is one of the works for which Rudyard Kipling is best remembered. The Jungle Book falls in line with works like Flatland and Alice in Wonderland (which offer satire and political commentary underneath the genre title of childrens literature). Likewise, the stories in The Jungle Book are written to be enjoyed by adults as well as children- with a depth of meaning and symbolism that delves far beyond the surface. Relationships and events related to The Jungle Book are important to any human being, including adult men and women, with or without families. While the tales can be read, or children may listen to them from an older reader, these stories need to be re-read later, in high school, and again in later adult life. They are enjoyable in every subsequent reading and the longer one lives, the broader is the frame of reference one has against which to draw the stories into perspective.The Kipling stories offer a marked perspective of a reminder of human origins and history as well as animal. As the Native American and other Indigenous Peoples often state: All are related under one sky. A reading of ​The Jungle Book at age 90 will reach several more levels of meaning than a childhood reading and both are just as brilliant an experience. The stories can be shared inter-generationally, with interpretations shared by all. The book is a group of stories that are actually quite good for â⠂¬Å"Grandparents in the School† types of family literacy programs of the current day. Importance of the Tales Kipling is still much quoted, via Gunga Din and his famous poem â€Å"IF,† but The Jungle Book  is also important. They are important because they address the prime relationships in one’s life- family, coworkers, bosses- and everyone’s relationship with Nature. For instance, if a boy is raised by wolves, then wolves are his family until the last one dies. The themes of The Jungle Book revolve around noble qualities such as loyalty, honor, courage, tradition, integrity, and persistence. These are good to discuss and ponder in any century, making the stories timeless.My favorite Jungle Book story is of a young mahout and his elephant and the legend of the elephant dance in the middle of the forest. This is Toomai of the Elephants. From wooly mammoths and mastodons to our zoological parks, to the Elephants Sanctuary in the American South to Disney’s Dumbo, and Seuss’s Horton, elephants are magical creatures. They know friendship and heartache and can cry. Kipling may have been the first to show that they can also dance. The young mahout, Toomai, believes the tale of the infrequent event of Elephant Dance, even when the seasoned elephant trainers try to dissuade him. He is rewarded for his belief by being taken to that very dance by his own elephant, spending time in another world that few can enter. Faith makes entrance possible, so Kipling tells us, and there is the possibility that childlike faith can be translated to any number of human events. â€Å"Tiger-Tiger† After Mowgli left his Wolf Pack, he visited a Human village and was adopted by Messua and her husband, who both believed him their own son, previously stolen by a tiger. They teach him Human customs and language and help him adjust to a new life. However, the wolf-boy Mowgli hears from Grey Brother (a wolf) that trouble is afoot against him. Mowgli does not succeed in the Human village but makes enemies of a hunter, a priest, and others, because he denounces their unrealistic comments about the jungle and its animals. For this, he is reduced to the status of the cowherd. This story suggests that perhaps the animals are more just than Humans.The tiger Sheer Khan enters the village, while Mowgli takes half his cattle to one side of a ravine, and his wolf brothers take the rest to on the other side. Mowgli lures the tiger into the middle of the ravine and the cattle trample him to death. The envious hunter broadcasts that the boy is a wizard or demon and Mowgli is exiled to wander the c ountryside. This certainly shows the dark side of human beings, again suggesting that animals are nobler creatures.​ Other Favorite Tales Other favorites from this collection are â€Å"The White Seal†, the tale of a Bering Sea’s seal pup that saves 1000s of his kindred from the fur trade, and â€Å"Her Majesty’s Servants†, a story of the conversations heard by a man among the camp animals of the Queen’s military. The entire collection observes mankind from a stance of needing improvement that is possible if they listen to animal wisdom.

buy custom The Leader Followers essay

buy custom The Leader Followers essay I always thought that being a leader is both enjoyable and simple. I dreamt of being a leader so that I could attain fame and secure recognition. My case happened in the university during the just completed summer semester. One of the classes that I attended last semester required us to participate in a group project. I found this as an exciting opportunity to demonstrate my leadership skills since I wanted my group to attain the best grades in the project. I readily accepted the role of the group leader where I was expected to control the whole group and ensure that the work was done properly. My followers included five girls who came from different colleges. The fact that the five female students came from different colleges confirmed the diversity that existed between them. However, I was able to control the group by applying effective leadership skills, and I was very optimistic that the same would continue throughout the project. However, the one-month period coincided with Ramadan. It was the worst scenario in the whole process. The attention of the group was diverted to Ramadan, and it became very hard to control them. We first met with the five girls after the end of a lecture, when the lecturer had just suggested that the whole project was to be completed in group work. We engaged in a face-to-face conversation, and we all decided to combine our efforts and work together. Everyone longed for good marks and thus they vowed to work hard to attain the same. We appointed one of the girls to become a leader, but she hesitated. She claimed to have no prior experience in leading people, and that was it. They offered me to lead the group, and since I wanted to see my group progress well, I readily took the position. This time, I vowed to take co-opting antagonistic as my tactic (DuBrin, 2013). I was determined to engage all the students in the whole process so that they could easily make their contributions and recommendations. We had one more month to go, and we were expected to complete the work urgently. During the first week, the group was very committed. We had a superb relationship, and no one coul d have imagined that it would change. We remained optimistic that we would work together till the end of the assignment. I believed that a good relationship that prevailed at that time was due to the dedicated attention that everyone gave to the project. The group members followed me because they had a lot of trust in me (DuBrin, 2013).The saw my commitment to see the group work done within the shortest time possible and I ,in turn, strongly influenced them in one way or another. I was a team player, and I did my best to ensure that I completed my tasks earlier than the other group members (DuBrin, 2013). I reserved time and commitment for this group since I felt that I had interest in its success. I adopted the habit of collecting the group work earlier, and I had a check of it prior to presenting the same to the lecturer. No significant change occurred in the initial stages of the project. Everyone was up to the task; they completed their assignments on time, and they made their submission in advance. I was very impressed, and I maintained my optimism that my group would receive good grades in the end. However, the group lost track at the end of the third week (DuBrin, 2013). Three girls started behaving in an awkward way. They could not attend the group meetings as it was the case before. Our group faced a lot of challenges during this time. We missed important presentations and, as a consequence, we lost a lot of marks. We never submitted our reports as it was the case in the previous weeks. The other group members were overworked since we could not have continued missing presentations. I was optimistic that this would not last for long. However, the trend continued, and I decided to take an action. I decided to contact the girls. I called and texted them several times, and I received no response. I thought that this was the most justified way, since reporting them to the teacher could have cost them a lot. Some of the girls responded and clarified that the month of Ramadan was a very crucial event, and they vowed to catch up with us as soon as possible. I had to work with two girls who were complaining because of the heavy workload. I always made a personal appeal to the two girls so that they could remain motivated and active. I was very kind to these girls. We enjoyed a superb relationship, where respect and discipline prevailed. I played the role of an inspiring leader who was always ready to help (Van Vliet, 2014). I assisted them whenever they needed any assistance and at no one point did I let them down. According to Vincent van Vliet, the main source of power is the referent (Van Vliet, 2014). The girls had already developed some trust in me and many termed me as their role model. I used this power to persuade them to act responsibly and submit their assigned parts at the right time (Van Vliet, 2014). I also helped them to complete their tasks whenever they had issues. Furthermore, I influenced them positively and I constantly used polite words so as to ensure that they remained on the right track (Van Vliet, 2014). I avoided arguments and confrontations even with the members who were not participating. My main tactic of influence was adopting the tactic of leading by example (DuBrin, 2013). I always ensured that I shared the tasks equally, and I was the first one to complete the task. The style had some benefits and setbacks that hurtled me. While the members remained committed to the process, some of them did not work as expected. The same seriously hurt the whole group. For example, some members lost commitment. However, despite the setback, at the end of the project, the group members marveled at my positive attitude that I displayed during the whole process; my positive attitude inspired and moved them (DuBrin, 2013). The members confessed that they had acquired leadership skills from the experience. At the end of it all, we all agreed to retain the same group in the coming semester. To my amazement, I discovered that even the three girls who had lost the commitment to the group were delighted. I was successful influencing my group members. The key factors leading to success was the strong commitment that I maintained throughout the whole process (DuBrin, 2013). A positive attitude and the good etiquette that prevailed throughout the whole process explain the reasons for success. Leading by example is another factor that led to my success. My success was measured by the comments of the group members who commented positively on how I influenced them. The end results of the project are also a good indicator that I succeeded in influencing my group. 800x600 Normal 0 false false false RU X-NONE X-NONE ![endif]> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"ОÐ ±Ã'‹Ã'‡Ð ½Ã °Ã'  Ã'‚Ð °Ã ±Ã »Ã ¸Ã'†Ð °"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} Buy custom The Leader & Followers essay

The Impact of Oil spills on our Eco-system Essay

The Impact of Oil spills on our Eco-system - Essay Example The blowout preventer which was expected to alert and prevent the release of oil into the natural environment, failed to activate thus causing disastrous environmental consequences (BBC News, 2012). Furthermore, according to reports, the miss management at BP and its inability to control or prevent the damage is held accountable as one of the key reasons of this huge environmental disaster. The report presented by the Oil Spill commission, stated BP had relatively little knowledge regarding the geology of the site in question, which is perhaps the main underlying cause of the disaster. Apart from that there were several other factors such as oversight and the inability of the management to ensure effective implementation of proper safeguards to prevent such an event from happening. The report also stated that over and above the failure to predict the unfortunate event, BP also failed to implement adequate safety and control measures to prevent the damage (Oil Spill Commission Report, 2011). 2. Describe the risk factors associated with this incident/accident. Apart from the loss of lives of the workers and employees working on the rig, the oil spill has lead to several ecological, social, financial as well as environmental consequences. ... oard), BP was aware of the significant safety issues, well before the explosion occurred but still implemented cost cuts of about 25 per cent during the years 1998 and 2000. This measure on the part of the management led to a significant negative impact on the maintenance and infrastructure expenditures at the refinery (Regester and Larkin, 2008). Also the design of the cement used to seal the bottom of the well was flawed and ought to have been repaired promptly to avoid the dangerous consequences. The management failed to analyze the problem with the seal, and incorrectly validated the test result by approving it, despite the apparent fault. The workers hired on site, failed to foresee the looming disaster, and alert the concerned management regarding the same, which resulted in the blowout (BBC, 2011). 5. What were the short-term effects of this incident/accident on the surrounding environment? Any disaster of this magnitude and scale is likely to result in threatening consequence s which reach beyond the routine issues faced by organizations in their day to day operations. The short term effects of the BP Oil spill are listed below: Source: BBC News (2011) - Impact on the marine life: The oil spill underwater affects the marine environment causing damage to the aquatic life. The site of the oil spill is home to a wide variety of rich and diverse marine life including cold-water corals, fish, etc. Furthermore it is also reported that the endangered sperm whales frequent this water bed in search of giant squid and other prey. The oil spill destroyed the natural habitat of these species and affected their life cycles in the process. Since the marine species are highly interdependent, the food web is completely destroyed. - The environment: As many as 60,000 sea birds