ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Despite appearing only once in the Bible, the parable of the lost son is among the most popular ones used by Jesus in his teachings. Over time the story has grown so popular that many scholars and creative artists use its central theme of grace and forgiveness as their motivation. 1 The allegory is about a young man who asked for his inheritance, squandered it, and went back home to ask for forgiveness. 2 When his father forgave and welcomed him, his elder brother was appalled. Despite being universally attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, it is unclear whether the story originated with the Messiah himself. Nevertheless, many theologians, and laypersons have found the parable’s thematic concerns worth investigating. Different scholars examine different aspects of the story, such as the plot, character, settings, pedagogical methods, and lexical-semantic dynamics, to extract the parable’s full meaning and relevance in contemporary society. This paper will synthesize the literary and historical context and the inferences of the various scholars and theologians to present an analysis that is applicable in the world today. Contextual Analysis Literary Context The book of Luke is one of the four gospels (evangelical) in the bible. The word evangelical was derived from the Greek word Evangelion, which can be loosely translated to mean good news. Luke tries to present Jesus as an ordinary man. This depiction is essential to Luke’s authorship style, considering that he was a medical doctor and a physician. 3 These professions shaped his writings to have more technical finesse than that of the other evangelists of the New Testament. Many scholars consider Luke’s Gospel to be a canonical book because of the author’s canonical ties to his mentor, Paul. 4 It was received with as much acclaim as the other three gospel books, and it is a representation of God’s plan to redeem humankind. The story of the lost son is told as a parable. The definition of the term parable tends to be shallower nowadays than it was in biblical times. However, many scholars and theologians agree that the term is in continual flux and is even more ambiguous today than in the past. A basic definition of the term refers to a compelling story drawn from everyday life to teach listeners a moral or spiritual lesson. Some theologians believe that a parable is a byword for an allegory, a fable, a riddle, or a fable. The parable of the lost son fits into narrative parables, which move beyond simple details to convey a deeper meaning. Some clergymen claim that Jesus used parables in his teachings to keep ‘outsiders’ guessing while benefitting true followers. 5 One needs to understand the mechanics of using parables to convey a message before attempting to analyze Luke 15:11-32. The moral dilemma posed in the parable is designed to persuade the reader to a decision. It is also noteworthy that Jesus chose his parabl
Summary In the second chapter, Michelle Alexander uses the War on Drugs to demonstrate the rot and weaknesses in the American criminal justice system. From the onset, Alexander debunks the made-for-TV criminal justice system myth by outlining the harsh realities on the ground, such as the incapacity of the system to conduct full-blown trials of guilt or innocence, acceptance of plea bargains to avoid severe mandatory sentences and unjustified police searches in the name of fighting drugs. The author is clear that the “system of mass incarceration” is fuelled by drug-related convictions that have contributed substantially to the rise in incarceration rates in the country. Although the War on Drugs appears overfunded and overstaffed, it is unable to rid the country of big-time drug dealers or address the issue of dangerous drugs. Alexander decries how the War on Drugs has diluted the benefits provided by the Fourth Amendment by giving law enforcement agencies sweeping powers to make arbitrary searches and arrests, resulting in the incarceration of millions of American citizens for nonviolent drug transgressions. The Supreme Court is put in the spotlight for aiding the police in conducting unjustified searches and seizures. Americans no longer enjoy the civil liberties enshrined in the Constitution because law enforcement agencies have been given powers to conduct mandatory drug testing and wiretap phone calls regardless of confidentiality considerations. Alexander underscores how the police use unreasonable suspicion and poor excuses to conduct drug searches on innocent people while drug lords walk free. If caught with small quantities of marijuana, these people face severe jail terms due to the abolition of judicial discretion through mandatory sentencing laws. The result is that minor offenders and innocent people end up acquiring the “prison label” due to wanton deficiencies in the criminal justice system. Personal Reaction I agree with Alexander’s observation that law enforcement agencies have been given a lot of powers that hamper the rights and freedoms of American citizens as enshrined in the Constitution. Although the War on Drugs is embedded in justifiable causes, it is my submission that such justifications should not be used to harass citizens in the stop-and-search campaigns. Additionally, the author’s argument on plea bargains makes a lot of sense because an effective criminal justice system should have systems that ensure justice for offenders, instead of relying on plea bargains to win convictions. A plea bargain, in my view, does not serve the interests of justice because people may agree to plea to the charges due to pressure or fear of being convicted. I also agree with Alexander’s assertion that the criminal justice system deals with the symptoms rather than the problem. Although the system is keen on convicting small-time drug users, it lacks the capacity to deal with drug lords who are responsible for supplying the drugs. Pe
“The Poisonwood Bible” is the novel written by Barbara Kingsolver, and it depicts the story of the family of an American Christian missionary who moved to Congo in the late 50’s. During this period, the colonial country was involved in the struggle for independence. The dramatic story with dense and dynamic plot narrated on behalf of five women – the priest’s wife and daughters, unfolds the large-scale picture of the country which failed to withstand the pressure of colonialism and then crushed under the weight of the so-called democracy. Kingsolver unfolds several themes in her book. The major subject is the domination of the Western culture in different regions of the world. The author looks at the issue from the local and the national points of view. At the local level of the village where the story unfolds, the political and economic issues are interrelated with the spiritual ones. While the father of the family, Nathan Price, flamingly preaches for the locals and cherish the dream about their baptism, his wife and daughters have to struggle for survival in the severe and unfamiliar environment. Food and water are hard to get even for the indigenous people, and when it comes to the selection of religion, the villagers would prefer a God who would protect them from hunger, natural calamities, and diseases. “The Poisonwood Bible” depicts the history of Congo during the time of Patrice Lumumba’s political performance; he was a leader of the independence movement. Kingsolver’s ideas may be interpreted from the point view of the Marxist philosophy which states that the individuals who were dominated by the elite classes over the ages will eventually rise and will fight for their inherent rights in society and economy. In the same way, the dominant Western culture and control will be overthrown by the African people who were kept poor and deprived of access to the national wealth. According to Marxist concepts, the working class will introduce a new form of economy and government structure supporting the philosophy of the shared wealth and encouraging the equal distribution of resources (Little 325). And it was expected that the fighters for independence in Congo will achieve similar positive results and will share the national wealth among all indigenous citizens. At the local level, in the economic and social systems of Kilanga district where the priest’s family lived, the villagers who had more food than it was needed simply gave it to the neighbors. The example illustrating the case of compliance with the common wealth conception is associated with the values of communist ideology. From the perspective of novel’s characters, Leah and Anatole, the Western rule, capitalist political and economic systems, and the imposition of the colonialism destroyed the social performance in compliance with the values of shared wealth in the local communities (Kingsolver 174). Overall, the book represents the evaluation of the political crisis and the violent implanting of Christianity among the indigenous people. By skillfully applying the African context,
What factors must a firm consider when deciding to raise or lower its price? One of the factors that a firm must consider when deciding to raise or lower the costs of its products is price elasticity. This is attributable to the fact that the price elasticity of demand of products enables the organization to assess the effect of the variation of costs on the sales proceeds. The price elasticity of demand for products signifies the receptiveness or sensitiveness of customers to the changing prices of goods and services (Keat, Young, & Erfle, 2017). The elasticity of the demand for a given product is high when customers are receptive to the varying prices of commodities. Some goods and services have inelastic demand while others have an elastic one. The most significant aspect that establishes the demand elasticity of goods or services is the accessibility of substitutes. Other factors encompass time as well as the product’s proportion of the customer’s full budget. In the long term, the demand for goods and services is likely to be more elastic and the price lower because of the availability of substitutes and customers’ alteration of purchase behavior. Concerning the varying elasticity of demand, the change in prices of Toyota vehicles has a significant influence on entire revenue. Marketing managers in Toyota Company seek to first understand the demand elasticity of their products before adjusting their prices accordingly (Leard, Linn, & McConnell, 2017). Another factor that the company considers before raising or lowering the cost of its products is the prices of related items. This may necessitate the firm to carry out competitor snooping. Understanding the prices of related products gives the firm a benchmark for its pricing (Miller & Alberini, 2016). Additionally, the firm must adhere to profit maximization while being mindful of attaining competitive benefits and enhancing its success. Looking at the prices set by competitors and just pulling a figure from nowhere to attain a competitive edge may result in the firm’s failure and even collapse due to minimal profits or losses.
Abstract The contemporary business environment presents new challenges to the firms. For this reason, entrepreneurship has become an essential component of business strategy in every business segment. The following paper presents evidence that the UAE family-owned firms are rarely innovative and reluctant to take risks but are predisposed towards the adoption of entrepreneurial orientation practices. Such a situation is favorable to the incorporation of a change from the acknowledgment of the benefits of entrepreneurial orientation to their incorporation into everyday business practices in order to boost business performance. The incorporation of entrepreneurial orientation can be achieved through several approaches, including greater involvement of family business owners in the innovation processes of their firms, empowerment of workers through family culture, and the creation of trusted resource networks used to support innovation. With the suggested changes in place, it is possible to expect improvements in performance as well as the emergence of reliable evaluation practices. Introduction The contemporary business environment is a dynamic field that constantly changes in order to stay relevant. Numerous technological, scientific, and social advancements opened up various opportunities both for the customers and for the owners. Ho
Introduction Sweeping demographic shifts, technological advances, competition, geopolitical realignments, and other related pressures are combining with security concerns, changing customer preferences, expansion urges, and organizational governance to generate momentous pressure for organizational change (Kotter, 2007; Howard, 1994). A diversity of studies (Haveman, 1993; Kotter, 2007; Amburgay, 1993) have found that organizations need to continually change and reinvent themselves to maintain their competitive advantage in the ever-shifting and continuously more complex business environment of the 21 st century. In his study on organizational readiness for change, Susanto (2008) argues that the ever-shifting business environment generates compelling demand for an organization to continually change and modify its strategy, structure, process, and culture. It is the purpose of this report to identify some of the strategic change tools and models and demonstrate how these tools are applied in the organizational context to ensure the successful implementation of the change process. Although there is a close association between the theoretical and practical frameworks of change management, academic change management literature is generally inclined to circumvent the terminology of change management tools, models, and techniques (Hughes, 2007). The challenging nature of change management tools and models justifies further discussion given the practical direction of change management as both a critical subject of study and a routine necessity that must be integrated with key business strategies to enhance profitability and competitiveness in the current economic climate. Towards Understanding Change Management Tools, Techniques & Models It is imperative to note that although management practitioners often refer to change management tools, there is neither a consensus definition of what is meant by a change management tool nor are there universal benchmarks to demonstrate what a change management tool should comprise (Kotter, 2007). Susanto (2008) notes that the practical situation on the ground determines to a large extent how a change management tool should be adopted and reformulated, if such a need exists, to align it with critical business processes in an attempt to ensure success. However, Hughes (2007) quotes a definition given by Bain and Co., implying that a change management tool involves a set of concepts, processes, practices, exercises, and analytic frameworks geared towards assisting an organization in negotiating the change process with a high degree of success. Management scholars and change theorists have often rooted in the differentiation between a change management tool and a change technique. A definition offered by Dale & McQuarter (1998) suggests that “…a tool is a simple stand-alone application; whereas a technique tends to be a more comprehensively integrated approach to problem solving that might rely on a
Introduction Cross- cultural communication occurs when a person in one culture converse or sends a message to another person in a different culture. Cross-cultural communication can cause miscommunications when the message or the receiver misinterprets the content being passed across. For example, when a person from one culture fails to receive the meaning of the intended message, it can result in miscommunication. Thus, the higher the differences present between the sender and the recipient’s cultures, the higher chances for cross-cultural miscommunication occurring. Cross-cultural communication can also involve issues of misunderstanding. These issues are created through misinterpretation and misperception. Various authors on cross-cultural communications have proved that communication style, language and perception among others influence the way different cultures communicate and relate to each other. Switzerland is a country which has succeeded in cross-cultural communication. This is because it is endowed with diverse cultures. Although, this is viewed by most people as a success, other underlying issues been cited as a result caused by diverse cultures. For example, the French speaking population is a dominant group and Germany forms the majority group in Switzerland. They both seem to lead distinct lives. French is the second official language in Switzerland mostly spoken in Jura, the cantons of Geneva, Vaus, neuchatel and in Valais, Bern and Fribourg (Brodbeck and Frese, 2000). On the hand, German is the majority language in the region. The German language has an enduring tradition of being associated rural and urban areas with a plethora of distinctive Alemannic dialect. These differences in languages constitute the underlying issues in cross-cultural communication among these societies. However, despite the differences in language, the two societies has managed to succeed in fostering cross- cultural communication through channels such as media channels, schools, places of worship and in their daily interactions. Besides, working life has also influenced the cross-cultural communication between the two cultures. This paper examines the cross-cultural communication between the French and German communities residing in Switzerland. The author illustrates the two cultures, overtime, have embraced each other’s cultures. This is demonstrated by elevating their languages to form part of the country’s national language. Besides, the wider spread and distribution of the two cultures has harmonized the Swiss society guaranteeing national diversity. It is through language, religion and unique characteristics of each culture that has fostered the Swiss identity the country embraces presently Discussion Switzerland Switzerland is a comparatively small country. It comprises of physical features such as the mountains, rivers and beautiful sceneries. It is a decentralized country and embraces high living standards (Brodbeck and Frese, 2000). Also, the country
Introduction In the modern days, technology has greatly advanced and this has brought improvement in the way human beings communicate. For instance, the emergence of the use of the internet in communication has led to the development of social networks, has brought about online dating, online shopping, blogging, use of text-messaging among others that have facilitated communication among human beings. All these have brought in improvement in people’s lives. The use of modern technology in communication has made people’s lives better by making it possible for them to gain from each other socially and economically in the case where the technology has been used in the right way. Human Communication and modern technology Modern technology has led to development of social networks which have played a major role in improving the way people interact and communicate with each other. For instance, social networks such as facebook have enabled people to reconnect. There have been cases where people may have been, sometime back, classmates, neighbors, or workmates and may have stayed for long without knowing each other’s whereabouts. Modern technology has made it possible for these people to communicate and interact once again and this would otherwise have not been possible in the absence of modern technology. More so, such networks have enabled people to make new friends who might have turned out to be important people in their lives. It is not surprising that those people who were once strangers end up marrying and having children after interacting with one another, initially, through the social networks and online dating. I can personally relate this to the case of my sister where she met her husband online. Initially, they were strangers but through communication and interaction on social networks, they were able to get married and they now have a boy who is three years old. In the absence of modern technology, it would be very hard for people who may be strangers to effectively communicate with one another and engage in dating and eventually getting married. Improvement in communication among people has also been facilitated by use of such technologies as e-mail and text-messaging. Communication has been made possible between people who are far apart across the globe. This has enabled people to improve their social lives through interaction without moving from one region to the other. For instance, currently I do engage in communicating with my
Analysis This trial’s critical inquiry was to determine whether the defendant could expect a reduced sentence because of a course of correction and excellent academic performance since the original sentencing. On the one hand, the appellate record demonstrated the defendant’s progressive reformation, and thus there was no reason to affirm the original sentence. On the other hand, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit had no reason to view interim rehabilitation as something that directly related to the crime. Specifically, they were guided by 552 US 38, which showed the court’s ability to impose any acquittal not inconsistent with the law. Each court relied on Guidelines texts defining acceptable terms for a crime of this level. Conclusion Yes, it is appropriate to rehabilitate the defendant during the interlocutory periods, and it may affect the reduction of the arrest. The court remanded the case back to the lower courts. Thoughts This court case is not any fundamental or textbook illustration, but it shows the organizational structure in the case of multiple consecutive trials. This is interesting since it raises questions about the possibility of rehabilitating the perpetrator between sessions. However, on the other hand, it can become a subject of fraud when the offender hypocritically demonstrates socially responsible behavior in the periods between hearings. It follows that rehabilitation mechanisms must be transparently set up so that the court and jury have no doubts about the accused’s actual rehabilitation.