Thursday, December 26, 2019

Foucault - Power/Knowledge - 2372 Words

Foucault’s theorisation of the power/knowledge relationship Foucault in theorizing the relationship between power and knowledge basically focused on how power operated in the institutions and in its techniques. The point is how power was supported by knowledge in the functioning of institutions of punishment. â€Å"He places the body at the centre of the struggles between different formations of power/knowledge. The techniques of regulation are applied to the body† (Wheterell et al., 2001: 78) Power is the ability to control others or one’s entity. Accordingly it can be defined as a kind of strength or as an authority. There are various theorisations about the meaning of this term in sociology thus it would be hard to give a comprehensive†¦show more content†¦When plague turned up the old system followed the then methods of observation and surveillance, plague was everywhere thus the supporting power must have been mobilized. In this case â€Å"power is mobilized; it makes itself everywhere present and visible; it invents new mechanism; it separates; it immobilizes† etc. to make people act as it was expected in these conditions (because of the plague almost every interactions must have been stopped in the interest of getting rid of the disease). (Foucault, 1975) The Panopticon instead of exercising power from several sides emphasises the importance and perfection of the surveillance focus from one place. The Panopticon is a building which has an annual part in the periphery and a tower in the centre. Next to omitting little details its most important feature is the ability to see into every cells without being visible. â€Å"The panoptic mechanism arranges spatial unities that make it possible to see constantly and to recognize immediately.† (Calhoun et al., 2007: 209) The consciousness of being watched make people put on their best behaviour, their best way of acting thus the inmates do not commit any further crimes as it usually occurs that could happen without being watched. The operation of this building gives theShow MoreRelatedFoucault s Theory Of Individual Power And Knowledge1596 Words   |  7 PagesTheory of Individual Power and Knowledge have allowed one to see the other side of arguments with more posing questions. Domestic Violence is now resulting in a spouse being labeled with the brand of â€Å"battered woman’s syndrome† and it opens the door for a many unanswered questions, and is debatable at best. In the case of Francine Hughes Wilson, â€Å"The Burning Bed† shed new light on the ever growing problems within a domestic abusive relationship and gave way to social change, knowledge and empowermentRead MoreA Few Ways That Foucault s Conceptualization Of Bio Power And Of Disciplinary Knowledge And Practices976 Words   |  4 PagesThere are a few ways that Foucault’s conceptualization of bio-power and of disciplinary knowledge and practices may be evident in college settings. One example of bio-power in a colle ge setting might be birth control and sex education at my university. Another example of bio-power in our colleges is a requirement of a health credit, such as basic health or physical education, in order to graduate. Like bio-power, disciplinary knowledge and practices are used in our university and other community collegesRead MoreThe Philosophical Methodology of Geneaology1395 Words   |  6 Pagesevents. Fueled by Nietzsche’s sense of deconstruction, Foucault also sought to deconstruct all metaphysical ideas and disregard the belief of perpetual truths. His idea of genealogy operates under the assumption that the facts are to be interpreted as opposed to accepted, for facts can be created by the will to truth, or the need for truth at any price. This concept originally belonged to Nietzsche, borrowed and expanded on by Foucault. Foucault provides greater insight to genealogy thanks to the workRead MoreBird’s Eye- view of Foucauldian Perspective to Commercial Hiera rchies and Confrontation1510 Words   |  6 PagesMichel Foucault was a French philosopher or a historian of systems of thought. His theories addressed the relationship between power and knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control through societal institutions. Through his impressive career Foucault became known for his many demonstrative arguments that power depends not on material relations or authority but instead primarily on discursive networks. The sole purpose of the present research paper is to evaluate the power relationsRead MoreRelationship Between Sex And Power955 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian, social theorist, philologist and literary critic whose work had a tremendous impact on several disciplines. He was not a sociologist by training, but he worked diligently on sociological issues and otherwise had significant influence on the work of other sociologists. One of his most famous works is the The History of Sexuality, in which he examines the emergence of sexuality as a discursive object and separate sphere of lifeRead More The Introduction to the History of Sexuality by Foucault Essay1118 Words   |  5 PagesSexuality, Foucault explains how during the 19th century with the raise of new societies, the discourse or knowledge about sex was not confronted with repulsion but it â€Å"put into operation an entire machinery for producing true discourses concerning sex† (Foucault 69). In fact, this spreading of discourse on sexuality itself gives a clear account of how sexuality has been controlled and confined bec ause it was determined in a certain kind of knowledge that carries power within it. Foucault reflectsRead MoreGramscis And Foucaults Notions of Power1471 Words   |  6 PagesPower is a concept that is at the core of issues regarding social stratification (Scott Marshall, 2009). Therefore there have been many debates regarding what this concept of power actually means. For Gramsci, power needs to be considered legitimate by those who are subject to it, and the legitimacy of power is gained through the manipulation of social norms (Scott Marshall, 2009). This manipulation of social norms, links to Gramsci’s notion of ideological hegemony. Gramsci uses hegemony to showRead MoreSocial Order (Foucault and Goffman)1463 Words   |  6 Pagesas among various individuals. In any society, people must acquire knowledge of how to relate to one another and their environment. Order is then established by a normalisation and standardisation of this knowledge. This essay will examine tw o views on social order, applied to social sciences, and embodied in everyday life. It will compare and contrast a Canadian sociologist, Erving Goffman, and a French philosopher, Michel Foucault. Through an analysis of these two figures, the text will present differentRead More Panopticism Essay753 Words   |  4 PagesIn his essay â€Å"Panopticism,† Michel Foucault introduces the Panopticon structure as proof of modern society tending toward efficient disciplinary mechanisms. Starting with his example of the strict, intensely organized measures that are taken in a typical 17th-century plague-stricken town, Foucault describes how the town employed constant surveillance techniques, centralized a hierarchy of authorities to survey households, partitioned individual structures to impose certain behavior, and record currentRead MoreThe Theory Of Knowledge And Power1131 Words   |  5 PagesPost-Foucauldian theory of knowledge and power, knowledge has been used as a synonym fo r power. In 21st century they are considered as two sides of the same coin. Power gives an individual the ability to make others obey in a social relationship irrespective of the basis. As per Foucault power is not only brutal physical force rather an invisible form of network that operates. At times, the operator has no knowledge of this invisible power which controls others. Similarly, knowledge is defined as a belief

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

The Moral Code Utilitarianism And Rule Utilitarianism

One of the most important parts of being a functioning human being in society is the ability to make ethical decisions. Although most humans have similar ethical beliefs there are still many differences between each person. These differences can be influenced and affected by a person s upbringing, religion, and overall social interactions. When analyzing a person s ethical beliefs, we can see a combination of different ethical systems working in tandem to make up one complete ethical code. We can define this mix of different systems as a person s satisfactory moral code. Through learning different ethical systems, I have found that my own satisfactory moral code is largely comprised of utilitarian beliefs with the inclusion of radical virtue ethics. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll The first, main part of my satisfactory moral code is utilitarianism which is an ethical system that focuses on overall utility or happiness in a group. There are two main types of Utilitarianism; Act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Act utilitarianism is an ethical system that defines right and wrong by looking at individual actions and seeing how much happiness these actions produce within the group. Right is defined as creating the most overall utility or happiness and wrong is defined as the latter. Although on the surface it seems right to look at overall happiness there are still flaws in this system. OneShow MoreRelatedEvaluation of a Business Code of Ethics Essay1369 Words   |  6 PagesFirst Energy and the Business Code of Ethics PHL/323 March 7, 2011 First Energy and the Business Code of Ethics First Energy prides itself on the ethical standards it has created. These standards are the basis that builds upon the trust between customers, shareholders, employees, and the surrounding communities. First Energy encompasses more than five states and supplies millions of customers. As a service company, First Energy expects its employees to adhere to a workplace free of harassmentRead MoreUtilitarianism : A Ethical Theory1381 Words   |  6 PagesUtilitarianism is a normative theory that describes how one ought to act by evaluating the consequences of actions, thus utilitarianism is a breed of consequentialism. Consequences determine whether an act is right or wrong, so one ought to act to produce the best results. The best result is the one that maximizes utility, or produces the largest amount of good. Utilitarians define good as pleasure or happiness, since it is the only thing that is intrinsically good. This is not to say that utilitariansRead MoreJames Liang And The Vo lkswagen Emission Scandal Essay1314 Words   |  6 Pageseven further. The entirety of the scandal eventually came into the public spotlight in 2015 (Guess, 2016, p.1). The subsequent paragraphs of this essay will first discuss Kantian duty ethics and rule utilitarianism, and focus on analyzing the moral implications of Liang’s actions in reference to these moral theories. Kantian duty ethics, also known as deontology, is based on a few key principles: first, that an act is morally valuable if the will is perfectly aligned with duty; second, that the responsibilitiesRead MoreEthics Vs. Kantian Ethics1249 Words   |  5 Pagesthought that would best govern human decision making. Two prominent ethical theories that arose were utilitarianism and deontological ethics. Both ethical theories developed to establish and justify a set of different moral rules and principles. Utilitarianism, otherwise known as consequentialism, is an ethical theory that sees the best moral decision is one that maximizes utility, which implies that no moral decision is intrinsically right or wrong. Deontological ethics or Kantian ethics is a normativeRead MoreEthical Theories Supporting Different Moral Perspectives Of Human Actions871 Words   |  4 PagesThere are numerous ethical theories supporting different moral perspectives of human actions. The various theories differ a ccording to the way in which they require people to act, and in their fundamental arguments. Because of different perspectives and philosophical views, no ethical theory can be said to be superior to the other. The paper that follows describes and defends the ethical theory of utilitarianism. Reasons why Utilitarianism is the Correct Ethical Theory i. It reinforces rationalityRead MoreUtilitarianism Vs. Utilitarianism Theory909 Words   |  4 Pages In the history of philosophy Utilitarianism has been viewed as one of the best of the moral theories. It has become one the most powerful, influential, and most persuasive approach to normative ethics. The utilitarianism theory also has had a major impacts on approaches to economic, political, and social policy. The utilitarianism theory had originally had been created by Jeremy Bentham. His version of was that aggregate pleasure after deducting suffering of all involved in any action. HoweverRead MoreMill s Utilitarianism : Utilitarianism1251 Words   |  6 PagesMill’s Utilitarianism For centuries philosophers have attempted to explain morals, creating ideas that break this ethical system down into basic components. English philosopher, John Stuart Mill, was a large contributor to the idea of utilitarianism. Although Mill’s utilitarianism provides a strong argument for explaining morality, it is not a bulletproof theory. J.S. Mill’s Principle of utility, also known as the greatest happiness principle, is an ethical philosophy that looks at the developmentRead MoreCultural Relativism : A Moral Theory1676 Words   |  7 Pagesnot Objectivism, which is a moral theory that states that there are certain moral standards that everyone should follow regardless of their opinion and indifference towards them. Cultural relativism is one of the two forms of Ethical Relativism. The latter one belongs to a form of moral skepticism. It states that moral standards are not objective, but relative to the standards of a person or a society. Consequently, cultural relativism is based on the belief that a moral standard is correct only whenRead MoreCase Study : Applications Of Utilitarianism1339 Words   |  6 PagesEthical Case Two: Applications of Utilitarianism The case I chose to apply utilitarianism to is case number three. In case three, I am working for the number one car manufacturer in the country. Our latest model the Hipster is planned to be released but has potential brake issues. These brake malfunctions could cause serious injuries from accidents due to drivers being unable to stop the vehicle. The requirement is to submit a report and let consumers know that there is a recall after the governmentRead MoreNo Moral Rule Is Absolute909 Words   |  4 Pages No Moral Rule Is Absolute The simple definition of Utilitarianism is â€Å"the belief that a morally good action is one that helps the greatest number of people†(Utilitarianism, ). However, Utilitarianism is far from a ‘simple’ philosophy, and while there is no perfect doctrine when it comes to Normative Ethics, Utilitarianism comes the closest for a number of reasons. The first is impartiality; or rather equality of concern for everyone’s well-being. The second is that Utilitarianism is not based

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Big Issues Facing HR in Hospitality Industry

Question: Describe about the Big Issues Facing HR in Hospitality Industry. Answer: The primary objective of service industry such as hospitality sector is to recover the economic growth of the country. The service sectors in Australia have contributed to the economic recovery in the country and it has been emphasized that this industry has a lot of potential in terms of growth, productivity and regional competitiveness (Baum, 2015). However, industry analysts have confirmed that despite the growing nature of the industry, the statistical figures are varying on hiring the employees and several other issues are facing by the human resource sector. Several businesses in Australia, both the large and the small ones have severe difficulties in understanding the obligations facing in the human resources and employee retention. A recent article in The HR Magazine by Jen Schramm from the Society for Human resource Management, discusses the major issues faced by the human resource sector. This essay aims to discuss the three most important HR problems in terms of hospitalit y industry. Several studies have shown that the hospitality industry needs appropriate and skilled employees. According to Nickson (2013), not only numeracy and literacy, hospitality demands more aesthetic labor, which means the required skills in order to behave in a proper way as the job requires, although there have been less researches conducted regarding the value of human resources in the hospitality industry. Since the 1970s, tourism and hospitality industry has emerged to be a significant one for Australian economy. Increases in the international tourism also resulted in a considerable growth in hotels and other related infrastructure and thus this industry has become one of the major employers of human resources. Hospitality industry is a labor intensive industry and around the globe this industry is facing a high level employee turnover and the companies are finding it difficult to retain their employees (Randhawa et al., 2016). Attracting and retaining the quality employees have been a great challenge for this industry and in an obvious way Australia is no exception. The employee turnover rate has a huge cost ramification as well. In a recent study, it was shown that over the last decade added pressure have been found on the hotel returns. The hospitality industry is expected to perform well financially; however, profitability has not been that much strong in the field yet (Boella Goss-Turner, 2013). In this kind of financial situation, the labor utilization has become more critical and the expenditure of human capital for the unnecessary turnover became even more significant. There is always significant link between the organizational transaction cost and the employee turnover, which has been addressed in many researches so far and that link also attempts to define the employee relations and business outcome. In other words, involuntary or voluntary turnover of existing employees has a huge cost to the companies that involves advertising, recruiting, training, development program and the quality of the organization (Solnet, Kralj Baum, 2015). Therefore, it is not only the significant tangible cost, but also the intangible cost associated with it including the loss of efficient employees and replacement costs. Researchers found that the lost investment in the training and development is the perfect instance of turnover and opportunity costs. Several studies have pointed out that employee turnover costs are also associated with the organizational behavior and other factors such as role conflict, less job satisfaction, lack of motivation, corrosive leadership, lack of development in the career and these have a great impact on the productivity and the quality service in the hospitality industry (Stone et al., 2015). Employee turnover results in lack in productivity and may account for two thirds of turnover cost. Therefore reduction in the employee turnover might be helpful in reducing the hotel costs and also improving the labor productivity. However, managing and accounting for employee turnover remains a problematical question for the hospitality industry and thereby adding the burden and turnover costs. However, there might be few strategies that can be applicable in order to achieve an improved situation in the industry. As many studies have pointed out the human resources accountability structure continue staying weak if the HR department of a certain organization keep on baring the cost of the turnover and there will be no department that can minimize that (Mok, Sparks Kadampully, 2013). It is also pointed out in several researches that they employee turnover is an artificially manufactured culture in the hospitality industry to meet the accepted yet vague organizational objectives. All these researches highlight the fact that hospitality industry has faced a huge labor retention problem. However, a timely examination into the turnover costs is very much essential in understanding the impact on the hospitality industry and a enviable turnover rate might be achieved through effective human resource management strategies. Human resources industry is always seen as a non innovative genre where the decisions regarding salary are made and team building sessions get organized. However, this industry is changing in a rapid manner and incorporating technology. The hospitality industry, in fact, has a dynamic environment and a place for continuous movement and development (Hoque, 2013). Throughout last few decades the industry has witnessed several changes at unprecedented pace through the use of technology. There are varieties of tools that can help the organizations to ensure the satisfaction of the guests. In a recent study, it was identified that human capital has faced several challenges in the modern age regarding the employee engagement, competitive compensation, developing organizational leaders and employee retention. These challenges have sparkled innovative ideas in the human resource sector across the globe. It is already seen that social media is being used for several recruitment and many impor tant organizations have turned their channels to identify the appropriate candidates. The virtual world has been continued to be matured and found its way into the professional environment. The popularity of social networking sites have changed radically as well. In the hospitality industry the guests now have an opportunity to share their experience to others, also can exchange significant information about their stay, hotel amenities and others (Wirtz Lovelock, 2016). These networking sites also allow the visitors to rate their services and review their experience online. These reviews tend to have a large impact on the future potential guests when they try to research online before making decisions about their travels. According to a recent study, a huge percentage of travelers feel confident with their decisions while they read good reviews online. Therefore technology has a huge impact on the human resource sector as well. As the virtual reality have been a matured one now, many companies have started releasing their products online and in terms of hospitality it is also true, as it can be seen in the previous discussion. This kind technology has prepared for disrupting the talent management and the productivity, as the potential of the virtual reality can be envisioned and the employees can use for any requirements from assignment to corporate trainings (Marler Parry, 2016). Furthermore, the digital involvement of the employees will increase more and in several situations the training and development procedures can be done virtually as well. Another important impact of modern technology in the hospitality industry is the advance learning about machines. There are automated data analyses through algorithms and other programs can be done. These allow the machines to collect several information from the corporate environments and improve the human resource depart of a certain organization (Robinson et al., 2014). These technological developments can improve the efficiency of the analysis done on the initial level and allow the HR professionals to look for the higher results. The machine learning application in the hospitality industry is primarily focused on the talent relationship and predictive analysis, mostly used in the recruitment process. Studies also show that several organizations will soon adopt the cloud computing technology for data access and human resource sector is expected to be ahead of that curve and will spend more on utilizing the cloud solutions to increase the productivity of their workforce rather than other sectors in the hospitality industry. Increasing of these tools will be available with much information and that will make the HR professionals shift to the business performance and execution, as it will free up the human resource departs from the training and development (Deery Jago, 2015). The time consuming jobs like preferences of the employees, work patterns will start being automated with the help of this technology and the human resource professionals could focus of more engaging challenges that will increase the productivity of the company. However, this development of technology can increase a level of insecurity in the professionals as they might face some risks as well. Another HR issue that is faced by the developing hospitality sector is the importance of big data. Big data is the torrent of information in details about the consumers and the employees, which now have begun through the hospitality human resources and allow the managers to connect the HR policies with the corporate financial outcomes (Ramos et al., 2017). Hospitality organizations have gradually started addressing both the challenges and the possibilities of big data. Additionally, in dealing with the huge volume of information, the organizations should cope with the variety and the velocity of the information while they can also make sure that there has been an ethical application of the gathered information. There are four primary attributes of the type of big human resource data and a framework has been developed regarding the nature of the data. These four primary attributes are velocity, volume, veracity and variety (Xiang et al., 2015). It is stated by several professionals that the companies have a huge data that points for all the individuals in their use. The primary levels of this information are the employees and the applicants and the former employees, but some companies also obtain and analyze the information in the transaction level. In addition to that, the managing of volume can be very much tricky for the information technology constraint. The veracity of the information is a prominent concern. While most of the HR professional using this technology are confident about the HR metrics, many are concerned about the quality of the HR data. There is also a substantial variance in the big HR data that is collected by the companies (Xiang et al., 2015). For instance it can be sa id that for the recruitment process the data not only includes demographic information about the potential candidates, but also the specific channels to be used by the applicants to apply for the specific job, interviews and other related information. Other than the three previous aspects of big data, there also lies another component, velocity that concerns with the incredible speed of the compilation of the data. The organizations using big data entirely rely on the provided information and consider it to the accurate one. The companies in the hospitality industry that use the big HR data consider the main objective to gather and examine the data o enhance their business performance and other functional operations. At the end they can also use the varied data mining process to examine the sources of the data as well. The primary challenge for the hospitality industry is that the variance factor is very much common in the industry. Therefore it is important to differentiate between the practical and statistical significance of the data (Supanti, Butcher Fredline, 2015). In future the hospitality industry need a more purposeful approach to the data analysis process and the function specific activities are important to understand, especially how they are related. In conclusion it can be said that the complex and rapid changing environment in the hospitality industry might be very much challenging for any human resource professional. However, at the same time the growing technology and other advancements are enhancing the growth of the industry itself. It is not necessary for any profession to expertise each and every thing in the industry, but a deep insight into the issues might give the professional a lot help. In order to overcome all the problems the professionals need to overcome their personal anxiety and fear because at the end of the day the industry will be improved. Reference List Baum, T. (2015). Human resources in tourism: Still waiting for change?A 2015 reprise.Tourism Management,50, 204-212. Baum, T. (Ed.). (2016).Human resource issues in international tourism. Elsevier. Boella, M., Goss-Turner, S. (2013).Human resource management in the hospitality industry: A guide to best practice. Routledge. Deery, M., Jago, L. (2015). Revisiting talent management, work-life balance and retention strategies.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,27(3), 453-472. Hoque, K. (2013).Human resource management in the hotel industry: Strategy, innovation and performance. Routledge. Marler, J. H., Parry, E. (2016). Human resource management, strategic involvement and e-HRM technology.The International Journal of Human Resource Management,27(19), 2233-2253. McPhail, R., Patiar, A., Herington, C., Creed, P., Davidson, M. (2015). Development and initial validation of a hospitality employees job satisfaction index: Evidence from Australia.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,27(8), 1814-1838. Mok, C., Sparks, B., Kadampully, J. (2013).Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. Routledge. Mok, C., Sparks, B., Kadampully, J. (2013).Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. Routledge. Nickson, D. (2013).Human resource management for hospitality, tourism and events. Routledge. Ramos, C. M., Martins, D. J., Serra, F., Lam, R., Cardoso, P. J., Correia, M. B., Rodrigues, J. M. (2017). Framework for a Hospitality Big Data Warehouse: The Implementation of an Efficient Hospitality Business Intelligence System.International Journal of Information Systems in the Service Sector (IJISSS),9(2), 27-45. Randhawa, P., Kim, M., Voorhees, C. M., Cichy, R. F., Koenigsfeld, J. P., Perdue, J. (2016). Hospitality service innovations in private clubs.Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,57(1), 93-110. Robinson, R. N., Kralj, A., Solnet, D. J., Goh, E., Callan, V. (2014). Thinking job embeddedness not turnover: Towards a better understanding of frontline hotel worker retention.International Journal of Hospitality Management,36, 101-109. Solnet, D., Kralj, A., Baum, T. (2015). 360 degrees of pressure: The changing role of the HR professional in the hospitality industry.Journal of Hospitality Tourism Research,39(2), 271-292. Stone, D. L., Deadrick, D. L., Lukaszewski, K. M., Johnson, R. (2015). The influence of technology on the future of human resource management.Human Resource Management Review,25(2), 216-231. Supanti, D., Butcher, K., Fredline, L. (2015). Enhancing the employer-employee relationship through corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,27(7), 1479-1498. Wirtz, J., Lovelock, C. (2016).Services marketing: people, technology, strategy. World Scientific Publishing Co Inc. Xiang, Z., Schwartz, Z., Gerdes, J. H., Uysal, M. (2015). What can big data and text analytics tell us about hotel guest experience and satisfaction?.International Journal of Hospitality Management,44, 120-130.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Wasteland By TS Eliot Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Wasteland By TS Eliot Essay, Research Paper The driving force of all life is procreation and re-birth. For world, flora, the carnal land, the endurance of the species is the dominant factor and merely the fittest survive. For millenary, different races have believed that the birthrate of the land depended on the sexual authority of their swayer or favor of their Gods. Pagan, Roman, Grecian and other Gods have been invented who were believed to command the birthrate of the land, such as Ceres, the Roman goddess of agribusiness, on which the endurance of their populations has been believed to hold depended. Assorted superstitious notions and faiths have farther developed and become important factors in the lives of one million millions of the universe # 8217 ; s population. The Waste Land takes these subjects and portrays a dead land that lacks the birthrate and sexual authority needed to prolong and come on life. We will write a custom essay sample on Wasteland By TS Eliot Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A land nothingness of what is needed for re-birth. The 4 vitalizing elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Earth is sterile ; Air is turned to # 8220 ; brown fog # 8221 ; ; Fire burns ; Water drowns. The sexual imaginations are unproductive: sex is present as a lustful functional device but lacking of the necessary birthrate. Superstitions are turned to by the society in hunt of the reply in the signifier of Tarot card cards and faith is a changeless yarn as evidenced by the repeating Biblical mentions and subjects. In The Burial of the Dead we see that he gives us an image of the Earth as unfertile, alternatively of being the foundation of flora. It is merely a depository for the dead. Earth is the 1st. of the 4 natural elements. These 4 gap lines echo the # 8220 ; April # 8221 ; , # 8220 ; root # 8221 ; , # 8220 ; Lilac/flower # 8221 ; , and # 8220 ; rain/shower # 8221 ; imagination of the 4 gap lines of The General Prologue of Chaucer # 8217 ; s Canterbury Narratives. These lines are reflecting the image of life and decease. Rain normally nurtures and strengthens workss and sustains them, but here we see that life even with H2O is easy dying and blowing off. He subsequently goes on to state that the trees will give no shelter and the crickets, no alleviation. This line comes from Ecclesiastes 12:5-7: # 8220 ; Besides when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and frights shall be in the tungsten ay, and the Prunus dulcis tree shall boom, and the grasshopper shall be a load, and want shall neglect: because adult male goeth to his long place, and the grievers go about the streets. Or of all time the Ag cord be loosed, or the aureate bowl be broken, or the hurler be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the Earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. # 8221 ; When he says # 8220 ; I will demo you fear in a smattering of dust # 8221 ; , he once more gives us the image of birth because in the Christian belief, God made Adam out of! the dust of the land. A Game of Chess comes from Thomas Middleton # 8217 ; s A Game at Chesse, a controversial Elizabethan drama picturing war between England and Spain with England as the white pieces and Spain as the black. In this verse form though, the participants end in deadlock. As though a window gave upon the silvan scene The alteration of Philomel, by the brutal male monarch So impolitely forced ; yet there the nightingale Philomel is the character raped by Tereus and who had her lingua cut out so that she couldn # 8217 ; t state. She was turned into a Luscinia megarhynchos. These few lines represent gender without birthrate, and how the Earth is so otiose that it can # 8217 ; t bring forth life any longer. The Fire Sermon A cardinal characteristic of Bramanical doctrine was the worship of fire as portion of the Vedic rites. Fire in that sense was used as cleansing. In this usage it is cleansing the universe of all immoral things. Fire was the voice of the God Agni personified by adult male, H2O personified by adult female. In Death By Water, H2O here doesn # 8217 ; t give life, it takes life off. Short, resolute and uncompromising. Water is the 3rd. of the 4 natural elements. In the Christian belief H2O is used for baptising. This procedure is like deceasing in H2O, and being ressurrected into a new life. In the following chapter this same thing does the Godhead voice here, boom, reiterating Da! Da! District attorney! that is, restrain yourselves, spring, sympathise. One should rehearse this same three: temperateness, giving, sympathy. # 8221 ; Thunder brings the promise of rain but fails to supply it. Thunder represents Air, the 4th. of the 4 natural elements.