Plot Summary: The Nine Guardians

The Nine Guardians ?Nine Guardians? takes places in the State of Chiapas, in Mexico, where from the remains of the Mexican revolution came the presidency of Lazaro Cardenas. His presidency takes places between 1934 and 1940, during the time this novel takes place. Cardenas expropriated foreign-held properties, distributed land to peasants, and instituted reforms to benefit indigenous people and Mexican workers. Cardenas found it unfair for the Indians to not be treated as equals, so he demanded rights for Indians. Land holdings were controlled by a ruling elite.The Indians were encouraged to rise against the landowners and demand their rights. They have the law on their side and they start to realize they don? t deserve to be treated as slaves. With the help of others, Cardenas breaks up large estates and forces families off of the lands. The novel is written from the point of view of the author, Rosario Castellanos. However, a seven year old girl is the narrator through most of ? Th e Nine Guardians?. She takes us through the book by introducing the people surrounding her life and her family? s life.The seven year old girl is the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Cesar Arguello. Since the Arguellos are wealthy, the girl is not raised by her parents, but mostly by an Indian servant, she calls Nana. Nana has nurtured and cared for the girl and her little brother, Mario, since birth. Nana is an Indian that lives with this elite, controlling, possessive, landowning family. Despite the fact that she is treated as a slave, Nana loves the Arguellos. Nana becomes a big influence on the little girl, along with her parents, and the retaliation of the landowners and the Indians against one another.The girl and her brother will become innocent victims mostly because of her father, who will try desperately to hold on to their land for Mario? s future. Some of the damage done cannot be fixed and will remain permanent. It is a tragedy of money, power, and male supremacy. The s ituations that occur will leave a strong impact on how she thinks and feels. From beginning to end, the seven year old girl? s perspective of the Indians will change dramatically. In the beginning, the girl is ignorant to the thought of being an Indian. She doesn? t want to know their history and how they stand in their society. Read also  Summary : Love Is Never SilentShe speaks of how young she is and wants no part of what is going on. She loves her Nana but doesn? t think she knows what she is talking about. The thought that she could have been an Indian threatens her. She wants to be idle, absent-minded, and not aware of her surroundings. Perhaps, she wishes this for Nana also. The Indians frighten her and she is ignorant of their part in society. In this novel, when bad things happen, some of the characters are superstitious and believe they pay for their mistakes through curses given by the sorcerers, especially the Indians.She starts to understand her Nana when she sees her wounded knees done by a curse that has followed her from her home, Chactajal. ?It? s withches? doings that? s afoot, child. They gobble everything up-the crops, peace in the family, people? s health.? Since Nana grew up in the Arguellos house and loved the family she lived with, she was being punished. The Indians could not under stand how she could love those that give orders and have possessions, it was against their beliefs.The girl is angry at first at the Indians and begins to understand the sacrifices and hardships her Nana must have and is going through to be apart of the Arguellos family. From this experience, she starts to see who her father is and becomes disgusted with him because he is one that gives orders and own things. She starts to put a lot of faith in her Nana and believes the things she tells her. She becomes more aware that this time in her life is not going to be a time for fun. She also begins to learn to look with lowered eyes when humility looks at bigness, like the Indians do out of respect for the Nine Guardians.From what I understand, the Indians believe that there are nine protectors of the earth that watch over all and control everything. The girl learns things from her Nana and learns to think differently about her parents. She witnesses an Indian killed because her father trus ted him. It makes her sad and fearful of the power that her father possesses. She is seeing her parents differently. As a child, your parents are the world and they can do no harm. As a child, you think your parents are all-knowing. There comes a point where a child starts to grow up and sometimes perhaps their parents are not who the child thought they were.The girl begins to grow up a little and realizes she is now seeing her parents otherwise, almost with a new set of eyes. Her father is completely self-absorbed, except for the fact that he wants to save his land for his son? s inheritance. He thinks of himself as all mighty. He doesn? t think the Indians are worth schooling when the law demands it be done. Her father thinks the Indians could never learn Spanish and are not worth the pay of a master to educate them. Cesar has a sense of self-importance and cares only that his ? commands have power and his scolding inspire fear.?He despises the government and believes Cardenas is inciting Indians against their masters and handing them over the rights that they can? t use and don? t deserve. ?He (Cardenas) doesn? t know them; he? s never been near them and found out how they stink of filth and drink. He? s never done them a favour and been rewarded with their laziness. And they? re so hypocritical, so underhand, so deceitful!? He sees the Indians as little children. ?Cesar was incapable of speaking to people he didn? t consider his equals.? The story moves from Comitran to Chactajal where her father? s ranch is located.Her father needs to supervise the grinding and branding of his crops done by the Indians. At the Arguello ranch, there are many families of Indians taking care of his land, the Indians that he pays little money too, along with no respect. The family goes to Chactajal without Nana because she is afraid of the witches? curses. On their way, the girl starts to learn about death, how easy it is to die when her cousin shots a deer to kill it. Her an d her brother Mario are surprised at how easy life can be taken away. The feud that explodes against the Arguellos leaves everlasting effects on the children.The girl has seen her Nana? s status in society, she has seen the effect of Nana? s love towards her family, she can no longer go to school because it was ordered to be shut down. she has seen a man killed from trusting her father, Their land is set to fire and the threat that they will die in the fire, her illegitimate cousin is killed in rebellion towards her father, she sees her aunt go crazy, and she believes in the power of sorcery. She misses her Nana and her wisdom on life. She is ultimately going to learn the about male supremacy and the effects it has on society.Her brother, Mario, is the pride of the Arguellos family. The Indians curse the boy to death because of the endless fight her father has for power and wealth. The two things that matter to Cesar the most. ?For the Indian is helpless to do better if the white ma n? s will is not behind him. The Indians are starting to realize they are equal to white men. They lose all respect for the landowners and fight back just as bad as the Arguellos fought to keep them as slaves. They are aware now that they own the ranch and are not obliged to work for anyone because now Cardenas has more power than all the landowners.Perhaps, it would have all been better if Cesar Arguellos realized that male supremacy should not control all of society. Cesar Arguello humiliated his wife, did not treat her as an equal, although she put up with him. He also put his children in jeopardy for having them around in the time of trouble. He didn? t realize what he thought and did was not the way the world was supposed to work. He was one man who believed he had a want to control and posses all the power and the wealth he could manage to get a hold of. His arrogant pride led his family to separation.Her mother, Zoraida, was responsible for her life and her childrens? lives, although she allowed herself to do as Cesar demanded. Her mother demands that Nana leaves because Nana informed Zoraida about the curse put onto Mario? s life. The only reason the Arguello family managed to stay together was because of their beloved Mario. If Mario was to die, not only does she lose her son, but possibly her husband that she cannot communicate with. She fires Nana and leaves her daughter scared and enlightened even more about the people she loves and respects.The girl has lost her Nana, her brother dies because of the curse put on his life, she has lost all respect for her mother and father. She only wants to be with Nana since she is the only one that loves and cares about her. Her brother is dead and she feels guilty because she thinks she could have stopped it from happening. Perhaps, she punished her mother for not caring about her. Her mother only cared and loved Mario. Without Mario, her mother felt she was no longer worthwhile. The girl finally realizes who h er parents are and realizes that her Nana, despite being an Indian, is the one who cares about her.She looks for forgiveness from her dead brother because she realizes that it was not his fault she was a female without love and respect from her parents. She realized that if her father just accepted that the time for male supremacy was to end, then the events that took place may never have had happened. Rosario Castellanos From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Rosario Castellanos| Tombstone of Rosario Castellanos| Born| May 25, 1925Mexico City, Mexico| Died| August 7, 1974 (aged  49) Tel Aviv, Israel| Occupation| Poet and author|Rosario Castellanos (25 May 1925 – 7 August 1974) was a Mexican poet and author. Along with the other members of the Generation of 1950 (the poets who wrote following the Second World War, influenced by Cesar Vallejo and others), she was one of Mexico's most important literary voices in the last century. Throughout her lif e, she wrote eloquently about issues of cultural and gender oppression, and her work has influenced feminist theory and cultural studies. Though she died young, she opened the door of Mexican literature to women, and left a legacy that still resonates today.Contents * 1 Life * 2 Work * 3 Selected bibliography * 4 English translations * 5 Additional reading * 6 Notes| Life Born in Mexico City, she was raised in Comitan near her family's ranch in the southern state of Chiapas. She was an introverted young girl, who took notice of the plight of the indigenous Maya who worked for her family. According to her own account, she felt estranged from her family after a soothsayer predicted that one of her mother's two children would die shortly, and her mother screamed out, â€Å"Not the boy! The family's fortunes changed suddenly when President Lazaro Cardenas enacted a land reform and peasant emancipation policy that stripped the family of much of its land holdings. At fifteen, Castellanos and her parents moved to Mexico City. One year later, her parents were dead and she was left to fend for herself. Although she remained introverted, she joined a group of Mexican and Central American intellectuals, read extensively, and began to write. She studied philosophy and literature at UNAM (the National Autonomous University of Mexico), where she would later teach, and joined the NationalIndigenous Institute, writing scripts for puppet shows that were staged in impoverished regions to promote literacy. Ironically, the Institute had been founded by President Cardenas, who had taken away her family's land. She also wrote a weekly column for the newspaper Excelsior. In addition to her literary work, Castellanos held several government posts. In recognition for her contribution to Mexican literature, Castellanos was appointed ambassador to Israel in 1971. On 7 August 1974 Castellanos died in Tel Aviv from an unfortunate electrical accident.Some have speculated that the accident was in fact suicide. Mexican writer Martha Cerda, for example, wrote to journalist Lucina Kathmann, â€Å"I believe she committed suicide, though she already felt she was dead for some time. â€Å". [1] There is no evidence to support such a claim, however. Work Throughout her career, Castellanos wrote poetry, essays, one major play, and three novels: the semi-autobiographical Balun Canan and Oficio de tinieblas (translated into English as The Book of Lamentations) depicting a Tzotzil indigenous uprising in Chiapas based on one that had occurred in the 19th century.Despite being a ladino – of mestizo, not indigenous descent – Castellanos shows considerable concern and understanding for the plight of indigenous peoples. â€Å"Cartas a Ricardo,† a collection of her letters to her husband Ricardo Guerra was published after her death as was her third novel,†Rito de iniciacion. † Rosario Castellanos said of the collection of her letters in â€Å"Carta s a Ricardo†that she considered them to be her autobiography. â€Å"Rito de iniciacion† is about a young woman who comes to Mexico City and discovers her vocation of a writer.

Respect and Sportsmanship

Every day you go through obstacles that will push you to show unfairness, disrespect for others and a â€Å"sore loser† type attitude. For sportsmanship that is just the opposite of its meaning. If you are aware you show sportsmanship every day, whether it is playing a friendly game of basketball in your backyard or being a part of a school spelling bee. For over a decade people around the world learn and show sportsmanship. In the dictionary sportsmanship means one who plays fairly and wins or loses gracefully.To me sportsmanship means a little more than just being nice after a game to the opposing team. It is the ability to keep composed when a situation arises. To be able to except a loss and not act out to make your team look bad. Sportsmanship helps maintain a good image in the competitive world today. It’s a value you have to have to show respect to your team and other teams. It’s your responsibility as a competitive person to show sportsmen like behavior. Outside the sports world you show sportsmanship everywhere.Recently I went around asking a couple students what sportsmanship meant to them. Each one said something different, but they all generally said to show respect whether you win or lose. A great thought was sportsmanship applies to all disciplines. This one individual stated musically speaking; it meant if you are better than your cohorts. You should still open your ears to advice. To encourage people not to bring others down if they do something wrong. Sportsmanship is a kind of style and attitude and it has positive influences on everyone around you. If you win through bad sportsmanship, that’s no real victory. † –Babe Didrikson Zaharias quotes. This is a great quote that really clarifies what sportsmanship is. Yes, winning is awesome but it isn’t awesome when you disrespect people and show childish behavior. That truly is not a real victory. You should win with passion, competiveness and drive. I f you show sportsmanship by being unfair and not respectful, then you are not showing sportsmanship at all.

Knowledge Management System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Knowledge Management System - Research Paper Example A Knowledge Management System (KMS) is often viewed to be a specially computerized designed system that largely supports the generation, storage and broadcasting of information by a greater level. It is a well processed central processing system and a kind of well structured arrangement which offers huge figure of tools to find the answers of different questions quickly. It is worth mentioning that information technology (IT) is used in the KMS arrangement for conducting free flow of knowledge. This field has become quite popular in recent days. The main reason behind this is the advent of internet. KMS refers to an enhanced IT system that generally stores and retrieves knowledge, improves collaboration, locates related knowledge sources and uses knowledge. Basically, technology enhances the capabilities of KMS at large. The importance of knowledge in business organization is incessantly becoming much which is ultimately making the mangers to think utilizing technology in their respe ctive KMS. It helps for the knowledge generation, codification and the transfer of knowledge. A few of the examples of knowledge management service providers include Cobble Soft International Ltd., ePath Learning, Knowledge Powered Solutions, KANA Software, Inc. and Overtone Software. KMS actually smoothes the flow of communication transfer. Any sort of information can be retrieved with the use of KMS. Knowledge management process requires well defined process of architecture for generating, storing, organizing, reviewing of knowledge. Today, economy is getting benefits from the contemporary communication and information technologies in terms of mounting the competence of the businesses globally by exchanging knowledge and ideas within the organizations (Maier, 2004). Globalization increases the communication between the organizations with the introduction of newer information technology involvement in KMS. Certain large organizations such as Ernst & Young and Andersen Consulting ha ve been viewed to exploit innovative technology in their respective KMS. They have developed a number of techniques for the purpose of codification in the last five years (Hansen, 1999). The different activities along with the supporting procedures relating to the execution of technology especially in KMS can be better understood with the help of the following graphical representation. Source: (Nevo, 2003) With this concern, this paper intends to discuss about the technological aspect relating to KMS. Various aspects like the role of technology particularly in KMS, challenges along with critiques regarding this particular subject matter and valuable recommendations to mitigate those challenges will also be discussed in the paper. Role of Technology in KMS The increasing complexity of the business organization needs a process by which the knowledge can be transferred to anywhere in a faster way. Knowledge can now be seen as a factor of production. In this similar context, KMS has bee n introduced in business with the combination of information technology for a faster access (Rollett, 2003). The role of information technology especially in the arena of KMS not only lies on strategy implementation but also upon strategy formation as well. Thus,

Comparing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Comparing - Essay Example They argue for urgent international agreements on limiting such publications and making the requirement of such verifiable data in publications restricted to the higher authorities. The arguments sound valid, since it refers to the possibilities of mass destruction if such data ends up in the wrong hands. History has taught us that this could be the case, if proper precautionary measures are not taken. Ray Kurzweil’s talk titled ‘The Coming Singularity’ deals with a similar topic. He reflects on the possibility of the reverse engineering of the human brain. He feels that the pace at which computer technology develops is phenomenal, and in the coming years, there will be machines that are superior to human beings. It won’t be an extra-terrestrial invasion that we will have to deal with in the future, but an invasion that comes of our on inventions that replace the human brain, complete with emotional intelligence. While this may have its good effects, one has to be aware of the downsides too. While computer technology grows exponentially, the possibilities of its related fields, like biotechnology misusing the developments to re-create a genome of a deadly virus and to use it as part of bio-terror exists. There has to be a system in place to fight any such possibilities, the way the software viruses are fought

How do managers measure organizational Effectiveness Term Paper

How do managers measure organizational Effectiveness - Term Paper Example There have been various attempts to explain organizational effectiveness; some believe it to be completely financial based, others explain it completely based on profits. The next section is a research that tries to explain what organizational effectiveness really is and what role managers play in this. Organizational effectiveness is one of the most essential and most elusive research subjects since the birth of organizational theory. There has been no one explanation for this. There is no ready literature on measures of organizational effectiveness; however there have been four key models that have been mentioned in the literature to measure organization performance. The models approaches are quite different in a few ways however they all aim at one common goal – organization effectiveness. To briefly touch upon these models, the first model focused on production which was considered as the companies output, leadership which highlighted the degree of influence and personal ability, inter - personal conflicts highlighted the possible misunderstanding between team members and team supervisors and lastly commitment which refers to the amount of attachment to the organization. The second model was mainly developed as a management tool. It focused on interrelated organizational processes. This approach used organizational survival and maximized returns as key to effectiveness. Also along with these variables it utilized a few other minor variables which were equally important to run the business smoothly and effectively. These variables were sensitivity to change, promotions, flexibility, adaptability, efficiency, transformations, etc. (Helms, 2008). The third model was a little different and believed that there were six indicators to organizational effectiveness. These indicators varied from internal communications, involvement of board of directors, volunteer involvements, political factors, management

The Weed by Amrita Pritam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Weed by Amrita Pritam - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the story unfolds through the point of view of an unnamed narrator, obviously a city-bred and educated female. The main theme of the story is the vulnerability of women who fall prey to the lure of men, symbolized through the metaphorical weed, and how males exploit the females for carnal pleasure and then discard them. Right from the first line of the story, the author hints at the way women are treated in rural India by her reference to the â€Å"new bride of the old servant,† which connotes to the fact that older men in the country practice polygamy and that they can have younger wives. The author also suggests that under the patriarchal system that exists in the country, any father can give away his daughter to any man without the consent of the girl. Pritam presents the girl as a â€Å"delight to both ear and eye† and owning a body that redeems her â€Å"dark complexion†. In contrast, the author portrays her husband, Prabhati, as â€Å"old, short and loose-jawed,† which indicates that the society disregards the traits of a woman and by belonging to the stronger sex, men are automatically qualified to claim any woman. Unfortunately, Angoori is not the single female, who meets with a similar fate in the rural Indian society and it appears that many suffer at men’s hands in the same way. She relates the story of her friend, who absconds with her paramour, who later deserts her, to the narrator. The author tries to emphasize the issue of male exploitation of the females by referring to various aspects of the rural Indian culture, which is her major theme for the story. She uses the metaphor of the â€Å"weed† to underline the fact that males use some or other material element to win over the female hearts. In the case of Angoori’s friend, the weed comes in the form of sweets and betel leaf and in the protagonist’s case, it takes the form of sweetened tea. The men in all cases e xploit the women and after enjoying the carnal pleasure desert them. The exploitation of women in the rural Indian culture, thus, is a theme that is recurrently emphasized in the story. Pritam also deploys the literary device of imagery and irony profusely in the story to underline the theme of exploitation of females by males in the rural Indian culture. The author’s deft use of imagery to attain this purpose becomes evident from the episode where she equates Angoori’s body to â€Å"rightly kneaded dough, a baker’s pride† and describes her â€Å"rippling muscles impregnated with the metallic resilience of a coiled spring†. By using such imagery, the author provides the readers with a vivid picture a youthful and energetic female. On the other hand, Pritam talks about her husband as a loose-jawed old man, a stark contrast to the resilient and beautiful Angoori, for whom a husband is one whose feet a girl begins to adore when she is five or six. By dwelling on the protagonist’s beliefs such as this, the author wants to emphasize that women in rural India tend to acquiesce to men and they find contentment in it.  

Geography and Careers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Geography and Careers - Essay Example chnology and a solid knowledge of the world while in addition, amongst others, helping in managing natural and urban environments, analyzing the evolving relationship between people and places, planning transportation routes, investigating sustainable land use worldwide, creating geographic management systems for industries and government agencies and helping understand and restore natural ecosystems (Association of American Geographers, 1). The society boasts members from more than 60 nations who come together to share interests in theory, methods and practice in geography. This they do via the AAG’s Annual Meeting, scholarly journals, the online AAG Newsletter, amongst other avenues. Through the activities of its affinity groups and the more than 60 specialty groups, the AAG promotes deliberations amongst members and with scholars in associated fields. The meetings and activities of regional divisions serve to offer opportunities for networking amongst members in any part of the globe. The AAG membership is predominantly comprised of geographers and related professionals who work in the public, private and academic sectors. These members serve in a wide variety of professions from across the world. Over 300 volunteer leaders serve on the Council of the AAG and other committees and groups. The AAG uses educational and research programs and projects to enhance geographic understanding, learning and literacy across the globe and with its headquarters currently in Washington, D.C, the association strives to promote professional studies in geography while encouraging the application of geographic research in education, business, government and related fields. It is reputed for its numerous partnerships as well as developing and managing programs, outcomes to the policy making sector and international outreach. The AAG has its industry and faculty awards and honors which offer recognition to brilliant contributors in the profession. Grant programs are also