Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrandâ€Discussion Questions

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is the true story of Louis Zamparini, who was an Olympic runner that survived for more than a month on a raft in the Pacific Ocean after crashing his plane during World War II. He was then taken as a Prisoner of War by the Japanese. Hillenbrand tells his story in parts, and these book club questions are also divided by parts of the book so that groups or individuals can discuss the story over time or focus on the areas they want to discuss more deeply. Spoiler Warning: These questions contain details about the end of Unbroken. Finish each section before reading the questions for that part. Part I Were you interested in Part I, which was mostly about Louis childhood and running career?How do you think his childhood and Olympic training helped him survive what would come later? Part II Were you surprised by how many servicemen died in flight training or in planes that went down outside of combat?Superman received 594 holes in the battle over Nauru. What did you think of the descriptions of this air battle? Were you surprised by their ability to survive despite being hit so many times?Did you learn anything new about the Pacific theater during World War II through this part of the book? Part III How do you think Louie survived the crash?What were details of the mens survival on the raft most interesting to you? How they found and saved water or food? The ways they kept up their mental acuity? The lack of provisions in the life raft?What role did emotional and mental state play in Phil and Louies survival? How did they keep their minds sharp? Why was this important?Were you surprised by how ferocious the sharks  were?Louie had several religious experiences on the raft that led to a new belief in God: surviving the gunning by the Japanese bomber, the tranquil day at sea, the provision of rainwater and seeing singing in the clouds. What do you make of these experiences? How were they important to his life story? Part IV Were you aware of how severely the Japanese treated Prisoners of War during World War II? Were you surprised to learn how much worse it was for men captured in the Pacific war than for those captured by Nazis?When Louie is interviewed just after his release, he says If I knew I had to go through those experiences again, Id kill myself (321). As they were going through it, how do you think Louie and Phil survived the starvation and brutality they faced as prisoners?What were the ways the Japanese tried to break the mens spirits? Why does the author focus on how this was worse in many ways than the physical cruelty? What do you think was the hardest thing the men had to endure?Later in the narrative, we learn that the Bird and many of the other soldiers were pardoned? What do you think of this decision?How do you think the men escaped the Kill All order?Why do you think Louies family never gave up hope that he was alive? Part V Epilogue In many ways, Louies unraveling is not surprising considering all he endured. After attending the Billy Graham crusade, however, he never experienced another vision of the Bird, he saved his marriage and he was able to move on with his life. Why do you think this is? What roles did forgiveness and gratitude play in his ability to move on? How did he see God at work throughout his whole experience despite the unimaginable suffering he experienced?From the moment of their rescue through the present day publishing of this book and the movie adaptation, Louie Zamparini has received significant media attention whereas Allen Phillips was treated as a trivial footnote in what was celebrated as Louies story (385). Why do you think that was?Louie continued to have adventures well into old age? What parts of his post-war story were most notable to you?Rate Unbroken on a scale of 1 to 5. Details of the book: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand was published in November 2010.Publisher: Random House496 PagesThe movie adaptation of Unbroken was released in December 2014.

The Cognitive Psychology Behind the movie 21 Jump Street

Based on the 1987 television show, 21 Jump Street follows the journey of Schmidt(Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum), two amateur cops who must redeem themselves and prove worthy of being legitimate police officers. After failing to arrest members of the local gang, the One Percenters, during their work in park patrol, Schmidt and Jenko are assigned to work in the specialized undercover division known as 21 Jump Street, and must pose as high school students in order to infiltrate a drug dealer. This comedy relates in many ways to cognitive psychology, as many aspects of the film exemplify important topics such as the seven sins of memory, types of memories, and problem-solving strategies. Schacter termed the various common failures of†¦show more content†¦If the families who saw this event later saw a news story about a police officer shooting someone, they are more likely to recall Jenko and Schmidt as being the bad guys in the scenario that they witnessed, rather than r emembering that the One Percenters were in the park smoking marijuana. The sin of bias refers to the way which our current beliefs affect the way we recall memories. In the beginning of the movie, Schmidt and Jenko were former high school classmates—Schmidt was your stereotypical chubby nerd, while Jenko was your stereotypical popular, but underachieving jock. The two reunite at the police academy and become best friends and partners. When they get first get assigned to return to a high school undercover, Schmidt becomes very nervous, as his previous high school experience was not a positive one. This creates a bias in how he thinks the mission will go. The last sin is persistence, occurring when memories that should be forgotten cannot be, as they are linked to strong emotional experiences. When in high school, Schmidt asked his crush to prom, but was quickly denied and humiliated in front of the football players. When undercover, he has the opportunity to redeem his prom ex perience and ask his new crush, but is afraid to do so due to the persistent memory of how humiliating his first attempt at asking someone was. Another aspect of cognitive psychology isShow MoreRelatedProduct Placement12588 Words   |  51 Pagesmerchandise is inserted into and used contextually in a motion picture, television, or other media vehicle for commercial purposes. In product placement, the involved audience gets exposed to the brands and products during the natural process of the movie, television program, or content vehicle. 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Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storageRead MoreHuman Resources Management150900 Words   |  604 Pagesjustified their existence by counting activities and tasks performed. To be strategic contributors, HR professionals must measure what their activities produce as organizational results, specifically as a return on the investments in human resources.21 HR management that focues on highperformance work practices has been linked to better financial performance of the organization.22 18 Section 1 HR Management—Strategies and Environment This shift to being a strategic business contributor requiresRead MoreMarketing and E-commerce Business65852 Words   |  264 Pagesthe U.S.A. and other countries. This book is not sponsored or endorsed by or affiliated with the Microsoft Corporation. Copyright  © 2014, 2013, 2012 by Kenneth C. 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Samson in the Bible Free Essays

Samson’s life was filled with adventure as God blessed him and gave him strength to become one of the judges of Israel. Yet, he squandered all of his potentials and abdicated his responsibilities as a judge of Israel because he became proud of his strength and disobeyed God. Samson’s parents came from the tribe of Dan in Israel. We will write a custom essay sample on Samson in the Bible or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although his mother was sterile, she conceived Samson as a result of direct intervention from God. Even at a young age, the spirit of God was already evident in the life of Samson. This happened at a time when the Israelites were not following the statutes and the decrees of God. Samson was to become one of the leaders of the people and deliver them from oppression of foreigners. God gave Samson immense strength. While he was on the road one day, he encountered a lion, which he killed with his bare hands. Such was his strength that his potentials were definitely from God. Yet, Samson had one fatal flaw – his weakness for women. Because of women, he disobeyed the will of his parents and eventually was led away from his calling as a judge of Israel. The first occasion when he displayed this weakness was when he saw a Philistine woman and became obsessed with her. He engaged into a riddle with a hefty sum of properties as prize with the men of Ashkelon. The men, however, coaxed his wife to reveal the answer to them. Because Samson was so angry, he killed a lot of the men in that place. When he also learned that his wife was given to another man, he wrought havoc against the fields of the Philistines. As a result, the Philistines came against him. As a result, he set a trap for them. He allowed himself to be bound. But later on, he managed to get away from the rope and kill the men who went against him. His victory against the Philistines was brought about by God. Samson even saw a source of water when he was already very thirsty. After the incident with the Philistines, he became enamored with a prostitute and the men of the town decided to trap him in that place. Yet, his great strength aided him against their trap and managed to get away from them. The turning point in Samson’s life was his love affair with Delilah. Little did he know that Delilah was being used by his enemies all over again. He did not learn from his previous experiences and instead allowed his emotions and passions to cloud his wits. Not even once did he suspect Delilah to be the spy of his enemies. So great was his obsession for Delilah that he revealed the secret of his strength with her after several prodding. The end result was his imprisonment and being cut off from his family and his country. During his imprisonment, Samson called out to God during his distress and asked Him to bless him with strength although his hair was no longer long. God granted his request and for a final time, Samson brought havoc and destruction to the enemies of his people. Samson knew his calling as a judge. As a man, he was always aggressive and on the lookout for the next beauty to pursue. Perhaps, the reason why he behaved the way he did is that he was looking for adventure and he thought he will find it in the arms of the women that he loved. Perhaps he fell easily in love and after that, he became blinded to that love. A lot of people are just like Samson. They have great potentials and strength. They know that they are called to do good for God and their people. Yet, they choose to go their own way, choose their own paths that eventually lead to destruction. When people start doing as Samson did, they become blinded to whatever it is that they fall in love with—money, fame, power, other people—and forget about their mission in life. The end result is disaster and ensnarement with the effects and consequences of such choices. Some author may have considered Samson as a sociopath with anti-social personality disorder. This may seem to account for his aggressive behavior, his deceit, impulsiveness and even violence. Although this analysis may seem scientific and related to psychology, but Samson’s personality and impulses is similar to what most individuals encounter. Samson was aware of God’s calling in his life and he even calls out to God when he is deeply in need. Yet, like most men, he has lust for women and he is doing what he can to impress them and win them over. Likewise, he tends to be boastful and arrogant of the strength that he has, a trait which a lot of men display. Another possible reason why he engaged in his acts was loneliness. Calling that â€Å"antisocial† might seem more scientific. Yet, men who experience loneliness may try prostitution and other act just to get over with it. The bottom line is that Samson is an individual who was given immense strength and the potential to lead his people and overthrow the oppressors of his nation. Yet, because of his obsession with women, his lust, his aggressiveness and impulsiveness, he did not fulfill the role prepared for him. Individuals all over the world display just the same kind of attitudes and recklessness. The end result of such attitude and actions is an array of consequences and difficult circumstances. From Samson, individuals may learn that pursuing one’s passions and obsessions lead to harm. How to cite Samson in the Bible, Papers

Business Communication Oil and Gas Industry

Question: Discuss about the Business Communication Oil and Gas Industry. Answer: Introduction: In the overall business history, the joint venture of Caltex Petroleum is recognized as one of the major and most flourishing business accord. The venture took place in 1936 as a combination of two entities i.e. Texaco, Inc. and Chevron Corporation. The company deals in oil and gas sector. It markets an extensive range of convenience and petroleum products. It holds around 526 terminals and ocean depots, two lubricant refineries, six grease plants and 14 fuel refineries. In around twenty two countries the company supplies its services at 103 saltwater ports and 38 airports by offering the finest fueling services. The company holds thousand of gas stations and branded retail channels. Caltex has developed its significant presence in countries like the Middle East, China, East Asia, South Africa and East Africa. It is one and the only petroleum company which has business in all the primary Asian markets. The company possesses a workforce of around 3700 employees who own trained skills and efficient working competencies. The headquarters of the company are situated in Sydney. Overview of the business industry (Source: Austrade, n.d.) The gas and oil industry of Australia is one of the major contributors to the countrys economy, in which particularly the gas and coal plays a significant part. Australia itself is a net importer of oil, in the OECD i.e. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Australia is one of the three nations which export hydrocarbon. As per the KPMG, the energy, gas and oil are the prominent contributors for the development of the Australian economy. And this is the reason for which the country is investing heavily in this sector from last few decades and will going to continue with the same as the demand for the energy is increasing with the increase in the population. However the oil and gas industry is the vital asset for the country as there are present several unexploited and unexplored gas and oil reserves in the country (Michael Bailey Associates, 2015). Characteristics of the industry The oil and gas industry of Australia holds number of strengths as its characteristics such as innovation, the Australian gas and oil companies are recognized revolutionary innovations which comprises of floating production systems, expertise engineering capabilities. Secondly the characteristic the industry possesses is environment controls, remote and safety operations, the Australian oil and gas industry holds excellence in the research and developments sector and through this it provides several updated technologies and new solutions in its working. This gives the industry long term sustainability as an outcome (Austrade, n.d.). Organizational performance Caltex financial results depict its business performance in an adequate way. For the year 2015, the company has attained an after tax revenue or profit of $522 million on a statutory as well as includes revenue on significant items of around $29 million after tax. As compared with the last year, the sales volume of 2015 was lesser by 5% which reflects the extremely competitive business markets (Caltex, 2016). Communication Management For energizing the employee communications at the workplace, the company takes use of online tools. For having better communication, Caltex retired its email solution of Lotus Notes and modify its mailboxes to the Microsoft Exchange Online from the Lotus notes. This helps the company in attaining a flexible contribution of the email services developed in data centers of Microsoft. Through this the employees can take benefit of browser-based admittance to the email through the use of Microsoft Outlook Web Access and can also utilize the well-known Microsoft Outlook messaging. The online tools provide various benefits such as simplified transition, reduced IT costs, empowering of the IT department, increased employee satisfaction and improved mobility and productivity (Kloud, n.d.) The communication of Caltex with the investors is an open communication. The company offers investors with admittance of information so that there can be adequate and informed assessment of the companys future prospects and performance. The company offers the investors with timely and equal access to the information which is price sensitive as well as incorporates practices which can help in preventing the discriminatory disclosure of considerably price sensitive information and thus treat all the investors on a fair and equal basis. The company uses various electronic means for effectively communicating with the investors such as it take use of facsimile, mail, investor meetings, briefings, presentations, site visits, telephone, conference calls, webcast, email, website as well as the company maintains an enthusiastic investor relations resource for having an efficient two-way communication with all the investors (Caltex Australia Limited, 2014) The efficiency of the organization can be seen as the company has received the Merit Award for its effective communication management. The company is at a higher hand in fulfilling the corporate social responsibilities. The communication with customers can be seen through these CSR activities. Caltex has achieved facilitation for its programs for CSR. The company has won Silver Award in Avil for the year 2015and has also attained 5th Amcham CSR Excellence Award in the education category (SwirlingOverCoffee, 2016). This is how the company developed finest communication practices with the customers. Public perception of the Organization The public perception of Caltex is analyzed as strong enough as the company takes various initiatives on a continuous basis to provide the community a better place to work and live. The beliefs and core values are also very robust as the company highly takes care of the employees regarding their health and safety at the workplace and sites. Provide additional training to perform adequately with proper fitness and taking uses of the tools. The company also provides diversity in the work and a great commitment towards inclusion. Caltex strongly oppose any kind of activity related to bullying, harassment and discrimination at the workplace (Caltex, 2016). There are initiatives of the company which provides additional benefits to the women so that they can work effectively by managing their other responsibilities too (Womensagenda, 2016). References Austrade, n.d. Oil and Gas, Australian Government, Australian Trade Commission, Pp31. Accessed on: 21st September, 2016, Accessed from: https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=3ved=0ahUKEwjemu_Y8J_PAhVGLmMKHb8ID7YQFgg1MAIurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.austrade.gov.au%2Farticledocuments%2F2814%2Foil-and-gas-icr.pdf.aspxusg=AFQjCNF9JtXRg2x0HL5CXuIvd8i3OIde0wcad=rja Caltex Australia Limited, 2014. Shareholder Communication Policy, Pp.5. Accessed on: 21st September, 2016, Accessed from: https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=4ved=0ahUKEwjJ4L3l3p_PAhUEaT4KHeuKA8QQFgguMAMurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.caltex.com.au%2F-%2Fmedia%2Fdocuments%2Fcaltex%2Fcorporate-governance%2Fcaltex-shareholder-communications-policy.ashx%3Fla%3Denusg=AFQjCNHPCaMhNU-mtkdgi0uvO6Os_JO-Lwcad=rja Caltex, 2016. Annual reports, 2015 Annual Review, Accessed on: 21st September, 2016, Accessed from: https://www.caltex.com.au/our-company/investor-centre/annual-reports-and-reviews Caltex, 2016. Code of Conduct, Pp.37, Accessed on: 21st September, 2016, Accessed from: https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=1ved=0ahUKEwi0lISSh6DPAhUHS2MKHVNcCBQQFggdMAAurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.caltex.com.au%2F-%2Fmedia%2Fdocuments%2Fcaltex%2Fcorporate-governance%2Fcaltex-code-of-conduct2016.ashx%3Fla%3Denusg=AFQjCNGp9Dw-QtsI7p5bhDa0Rqb6cgWKzgcad=rja Caltex, 2016. Solutions driving Australian businesses, Accessed on: 21st September, 2016, Accessed from: https://www.caltex.com.au/ Kloud, n.d. Caltex Uses Online Tools to Energise Employee Communications, Drive Mobility Online Tools, Accessed on: 21st September, 2016, Accessed from: https://www.kloud.com.au/case-study/caltex-office-365-project/ Michael Bailey Associates, 2015. Australia's Oil Gas industry: An overview, Accessed on: 21st September, 2016, Accessed from: https://www.michaelbaileyassociates.com/news/australia/australias-oil-and-gas-industry-an-overview SwirlingOverCoffee, 2016. Caltex Fuel Your School bags 3rd award for the year, adds IABCs Quill to rare grand slam feat, Accessed on: 21st September, 2016, Accessed from: https://plus.google.com/+Swirlingovercoffee/posts/VoXi6Q2tRWd Womensagenda, 2016. About the Company, Accessed on: 21st September, 2016, Accessed from: https://www.womensagenda.com.au/select-employer/item/3388-caltex-australia