Author: JL Admin

A collection of high-quality academic essays.

Dune by Frank Herbert: Characters

Posted on by JL Admin

Alia Atreides 

Alia is the daughter of Leto and Jessica. She was conceived only a few days before her father’s death. As a result of Jessica drinking the water of life, the sacramental poison of the Fremen, while pregnant with her, Alia becomes fully self-aware while still in the womb and has an adult consciousness. She becomes known as St. Alia of the Knife because she takes revenge for her father by assassinating her grandfather, Baron Harkonnen. 

Duke Leto Atreides 

Duke Leto is Paul’s father. The family name derives from the family that led the Greek forces in the Trojan War (perhaps because of the fulfilled prophecy concerning Agamemnon’s treacherous death). Leto is aware that a member of the nobility is supposed to act in the ideal—with honor, justice, and courage—and does so to the best of his ability. His genuine virtues make him popular among the other noble houses of the Landsraad. Even the . . . Read More

When Genius Failed (Summaries of Chapters 7 – 10)

Posted on by JL Admin

The last section of the book containing the said chapters is both thought-provoking and insightful. These chapters cover the course of decline of LTCM (Long-Term Capital Management) from its heady days of exponentially growing profits, customer base and stock prices. This section of the book encapsulates the systemic causes that precipitate financial crises and stock market collapses with predictable recurrence. At the same time, author Lowenstein takes cognizance of how individual businesses are agents that trigger such crises. 

Roger Lowenstein throws light on the human psychological factors behind the bankruptcy of investment firms. The dubiousness of capitalist adage ‘greed is good’ is questioned by the author. Often, behind most financial market collapses is the unsavory and unwarranted history of excessive leveraging of capital by investment firms. Tied to excessive risk taking is the phenomenon of neglecting systemic risk. In other words, since most banks and . . . Read More

Mainstream Media and Religion

Posted on by JL Admin

The content of mainstream television these days is by and large determined by the conservative political agenda. This phenomenon is at its most visible in the United States and somewhat mellowed down in other advanced societies of Western Europe. Needless to say, developing and under-developed nations have poor freedom of expression in mediums such as television and print journalism. In the three weeks of attentive television watching, I focused on the news station CNN. The continuous watching and analysis of the programs, some overarching themes and operational frameworks for news content are discernible to me. The following passages will outlay the same.

One of the dominant issues dealt with by CNN are American politics, with the date of elections to the Senate getting nearer. Although the panel discussions centered on politics do not treat overtly religious themes, there are many instances of religious connotations and symbolisms. It appeared to me that, without any . . . Read More

Land Art Movement: Spiral Jetty and Tree of Life

Posted on by JL Admin

The foremost common feature between the two works is how they embrace the theme of nature. Both of them are exemplary specimens of the ‘Land Art’ genre and they attempt to extend human imprint onto the natural world and vice versa. For example, Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty is an audacious attempt to create an artificial spiral jetty on the edge of the iconic Salt Lake in Utah. The spiraling quay-like structure spans nearly 1,500 feet in an anti-clockwise fashion. The land art ‘sculpture’ can be construed as a tribute to the unique ecology of the saline lake. Indeed, the choice of mud, basalt rocks and salt crystals were based on their complementary qualities. For example, the basalt rock is naturally black and the salt crystals are of various hues. Together they present a mosaic like appearance. Apart from this attention to aesthetic detail, the Spiral Jetty is of great utilitarian value. Not only does the construction please the eye, but it serves as a medium for . . . Read More

Kurt Schwitters: Artworks & Biography

Posted on by JL Admin

Kurt Schwitters is an important German artist of the early twentieth century. Not only did he pioneer domains like graphic design and collages but also contributed significantly to a multitude of art forms. Indeed, his artistic interests were so varied and multifarious that it spanned a spectrum of written, spoken and visual arts. This essay will present a short professional biography of Schwitters, with a focus on his graphic design and collages (Merz Pictures), as well as his collaboration with Dutch colleague Theo Van Doesberg. 

Schwitters is one of the early exponents of the Dada style of drawings and prints. Despite his mastery of this form, he was perceived as an outsider by other proponents of this style. For example, in 1919, he was officially rejected by Tristan Tzara and fellow Zurich Dadaists for perceived bourgeois sensibility in his works. Although art is supposed to remain above and beyond politics, Schwitters’ association with the bourgeoisie continued . . . Read More

Szpilman family’s disintegration in The Pianist (2002)

Posted on by JL Admin

There are several scenes in the film which show the Szpilman family’s gradual disintegration. When German troops invade Poland and make rapid inroads, the Szpilmans were still hopeful that the foreigners will be soon driven out. But formal Polish resistance to the Nazi advance turns out to be very weak. Within a month Poland surrenders and strict controls were imposed on civilian life. But even during this stage the Szpilmans are very much together. Their major concern at this point is not security but sustenance. While the threat of raids by the secret police makes life edgy, the Szpilmans still have the comfort of the family to keep aloft their spirits. 

Even when all Jews are ordered to move to the Jewish ghetto, the family is hopeful of quick military intervention by Britain and France. After the annexation of Poland, the Nazi command had ordained that no Jewish Poles can run businesses or work where they choose. As a result, the Szpilmans were forced to sell off . . . Read More

Employee Compensation Case Study

Posted on by JL Admin

Jinnikins Jeans has carved out a reputation for itself based on its easy informality of business and product style. But this uniqueness of style is also sometimes the undoing. With respect to HRM practices, especially when it comes to formulating employee compensation programs, the model of ad hoc decision making that had prevailed in the early days can prove counterproductive. 

Compensation policies of companies across industries and domains usually have these two facets: firstly, the fixed financial recompense and performance-based incentives; and secondly, the prospects for career growth and promotion. 

It is fairly certain that the older reward models employed by Jinnikins ware inadequate in meeting the new visions and aspirations of the company. In the older model, there is an element of randomness and spontaneity of decision making. Breaking away from this tradition, the new HR Director, Etty, took the right measure of applying course correction. She . . . Read More

Why is ethics important for today’s educational leaders?

Posted on by JL Admin

That ethics is fundamental for leadership in education is self-evident. When compared to any other profession, educators are entrusted with not just professional responsibility but moral responsibility. This is so because educational institutions are the incubators of tomorrow’s leaders in various walks of life. Luke Wood and Adriel Hilton present a cogent case on the why community college leaders should “employ ethical paradigms while constructing and considering alternative courses of action in decision-making processes”. (2012, p.196) They identify five paradigms of import: ethic of justice, ethic of care, ethic of critique, ethic of the profession and the ethic of local community. As the two scholars articulate leadership ethics is a complex enterprise, with its numerous dimensions and that the value of any ethical principle is measured only upon its application. Considering how leaders in educational institutions confront dynamic moral issues on an everyday basis, these . . . Read More

Ethics – Types – Definitions

Posted on by JL Admin

Ethic of Justice

“The ethic of justice is an ethical frame that conceptualizes issues, holds confidence in, and enacts decisions based upon “the rule of law and the more abstract concepts of fairness, equity, and justice”” (Wood & Hilton, 2012)

Ethic of Critique

“The ethic of critique is juxtaposed to the ethic of justice in that it “critiques” moral problems caused by the ethic of justice. The ethic of justice recognizes that laws and codes may be imperfect but that leaders are to maintain these laws until changed. In contrast, the ethic of critique views laws as providing an advantage to certain groups over others. In this light, law is seen as a support of social hierarchies based upon race, class, and gender.” (Wood & Hilton, 2012)

Ethic of Care

“Similar to the ethic of critique, the ethic of care is also juxtaposed to the ethic of justice and is also consequentialist . . . Read More

Abraham: Origins and Historicity

Posted on by JL Admin

Abraham is undoubtedly one of the most important Biblical characters. His relevance in terms of shaping Christian thought has been significant. Beyond Christianity, Abraham finds a crucial role in two other monotheistic religions of Islam and Judaism. Notwithstanding his importance to monotheistic traditions, Abraham’s exact history and origins remains obscure. The fact that Abraham’s life and work preceded that of Christ by a few centuries has made claims on historical accuracy rather dubious. This essay will argue that, despite crucial theological merit in the conception and attributed preaching of Abraham, a study of the historicity of origins gives no concrete proofs. 

Preliminary research on the debate surrounding Abraham’s historicity has thrown a few interesting leads. Liberal historians seem to take a dispassionate look into available data and present a realistic picture of Abraham’s legend. On the other hand, conservative theologians and scholars attempt . . . Read More