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This Is It Soul Food
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This Is It Soul Food
This Is It Soul Food is undoubtedly one of Houston’s most popular restaurants. Patrons flock to the establishment every single day of the week to enjoy traditionally black cuisines which remind many of their histories. The restaurant also provides all visitors with the opportunity to learn about new kinds of food that may not be common for them. This Is It Soul Food has been around for more than fifty years and remains popular with all kinds of people from celebrities, politicians, locals to tourists. Visiting the restaurant is a chance for people to enjoy delectable dishes as well as celebrate the history of the restaurant.
Frank and Mattie Jones started This Is It Soul Food in Houston’s Third Ward in the year 1959. Frank was inspired by his mother’s passion for food. During his younger days, his mother would cook for boarders at her premises, who included famous names such as jazziest, Louis Armstrong. When Frank and Mattie set up their business, it was a simple A-frame, but it has grown to a thriving business recognized in the Houston community. Craig Joseph, the founding couple’s grandson, currently runs the establishment in the Third Ward.
A diverse range of customers flocks to the restaurant for its culinary delights. In past years, the restaurant only opened for three days a week to serve lunch, but as it grew more popular, demand increased. Today, it opens seven days a week for all meals, except for Sunday when there is no breakfast served. Residents of the neighbourhood, politicians, tourists, professionals and other customers all visit the restaurant every day. There is a wide variety of food offered in the restaurant including braised oxtail, fried catfish, smothered chicken, pork chops, mac and cheese, banana pudding, among many other delights. This Is It is a historical landmark for the African-American community in Houston and a welcoming place for residents and neighbours alike.
Works Cited
‘This Is It Soul Food.’ CultureMap. https://houston.culturemap.com/guide/restaurants/this-is-it-soul-food/
Theory- Case Study
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Theory- Case Study
With the merging of two hospitals, it is essential for the new unit formed to come up with strategies that will make the provision of services to patients as seamless as possible. As the HR manager, I am in charge of the employees working at the hospital, including medical staff and other supporting staff. All the units in the hospital must collaborate to increase the effectiveness of the hospital operations. Before the merger, the five units from hospitals A and B had different procedures, and now that they have merged, the hospital must come up with a new strategy that streamlines operations. I recommend that the hospital takes a service-oriented approach, and this will affect the technology and design of the hospital, and it will also ensure high interdependence among departments in the hospital.
Question One
The hospital should take a service-oriented approach because it is more focused on the provision of services to patients in need of medical attention. The healthcare industry as a whole is categorized under the service industry. The main reason why I have made the selection of service orientation is that the hospital belongs in the healthcare industry, which is service industry in general. The core business of a hospital is treating patients who suffer from different ailments, and this is a service. The doctors and other members of staff offer consultation services to the patients and then recommend the necessary course of treatment. The products offered in the hospital are intangible, and so is consumption. Patients do not have some quantifiable measure on which they can judge the service provided, but they can tell that they feel better and this reflects the quality of care in the hospital. Taking a service-oriented approach will allow the hospital to provide the best care for the patients that visit it. One of the reasons for this is that it will employ people with high levels of skill, which is necessary for a hospital. Service orientation will also concentrate on human contact which is the whole point of a hospital; patients want to be able to explain their problems to a doctor who then interprets the information and finds out more (Khatri 48). Other members of staff, such as nurses and technicians, guide patients on what to do and generally make them comfortable in the process of getting treatment, which can be quite challenging for some people. Service orientation will, therefore, allow the new hospital unit to come up with the most efficient processes to help it achieve its primary goals.
Question 2
The kind of technology that the hospital should adopt based on service orientation is core technology. The type of technology to be adopted determines the organizational structure and efficiency. The core technology is about transforming the process to provide services to the patients. The primary goal of the hospital is to provide medical services to patients, and the technology adopted will relate to this core mission. Despite the fact that hospitals A and B used to be different, they both had the same mission. After the merger, the processes of the new unit must then be streamlined so that any similar services are merged to avoid inefficiency and multiplication of services.
Some of the factors that define service technology are intangible output which is true in this case, a patient who gets treated feels better, but no one can touch or quantify this. Secondly, production and consumption take place simultaneously. The doctor or other medical staff are the producers in this case, while the patient is the consumer. In the consultation room, for example, a conversation and treatment between doctor and patient show simultaneous production and consumption. The process of providing services to patients in the hospital is both labor and knowledge-intensive. Before a person is qualified to work as a member of the medical staff in a hospital, they have to undergo years of training to make sure that they are well-versed in how to treat patients. Handling patients is a serious matter because the course of treatment determines if they get better or worse. Human interaction and customer service is a core part of service-oriented organizations. Patients have to interact with doctors and other members of staff one on one. While technology has led to various improvements in the provision of healthcare, doctors, nurses, and other medical staff still have the biggest responsibility in dealing with the patients (Martin 39). Rapid response time is required because this might be the determining factor as to whether a patient lives or dies. The patients perceive the quality of treatment, although this is hard to measure.
Question Three
The structural design of the hospital is quite important. One of the characteristics of a service organization is that it is not necessarily large. The new hospital will be of average size, meaning that management will not be too difficult. The hospital is also divided into departments to make management easier and decentralized. A service organization such as a hospital also requires technical core employees who will be close to the customer. Examples of these professional core employees are nurses, doctors, technicians, and others. The customers of the services organization, who in this case happen to be patients, interact directly with the technical staff. In the new hospital, this will be true because patients usually meet with doctors and nurses who will give a diagnosis and suggest the best course of treatment. The customer and the technical employees have to be close to each other. One on one contact is crucial because it allows the technical staff to judge the state of the patient (Anderson & Warkov 26). When consulting with a patient, the nurse or doctor can be able to make additional judgments and inferences based on what the patient says and also what they don’t say. For example, the doctor may be able to notice symptoms such as tremors, sweating. The patient will then move to other technical employees; for example, if a person has a fractured leg, they may need an MRI which is operated by the relevant technical employees.
In addition to this, the employees have to be highly skilled, and to do this they usually have years of training in specialized institutions before getting a job as part of the medical staff at the hospital. Finally, employees must posse’s necessary knowledge, awareness, and interpersonal skills. For those members of staff who work directly with patients, they must have the required social skills to handle different types of people. Sometimes treating patients is not just about the symptoms they describe; the member of staff must also be able to interpret and bring up the unsaid issues in a way that makes the patient comfortable. At times, patients may also be hiding relevant information that makes treatment difficult, and the staff has to find a way to extract this information from them.
Some of the main characteristics of the design of the hospital will be formalization, centralization, communication, and coordination, as well as high level of skills among the employees. Because the hospital was previously made up of two units, there is a need for formalization in the new unit. The different departments must work together to provide the best care for patients. Some of the departments in the previous units will have to be merged to avoid the multiplicity of roles and improve efficiency (Martin, 61). When this has been done, the newly formed hospital will need to outline its core mission and goals and have all the employees read through these. One of the core objectives of the hospital; is to provide quality care at affordable costs for all patients, and members of staff need to know how they contribute to this. Centralization will affect the management of the hospital and hierarchy. The previous units of the hospital each come with their different styles and management teams, and to ensure seamless operations, these must be centralized. For example, the HR departments of the two will come together because the new hospital is a new company on its own. There needs to be centrality of administration so that all employees know who they answer to. This will also enhance coordination and communication. The different departments must work together in the most effective and productive manner possible.
Question Four
The hospital should have a high level of interdependence because the process of providing medical care to patients happens across different departments and levels in the hospital. In coordinating interdependence, the hospital must have basic rules and laws in place, and the employees must be aware of these. There should also be planning, such as scheduling regular meetings, for example once or twice every week. In addition to this, there have to be some areas of mutual adjustment such as unscheduled meetings where employees make time to address any urgent issues that cannot wait.
A high level of interdependence is necessary in a hospital setting because caring for patients involves the collaboration of different people (Ginter et al 36). When a patient walks into the hospital, they meet with triage nurses who then send them to a general practitioner. Here, the patient explains their problems, and if necessary, the patient is referred to a specialist. In case the patient needs additional tests such as blood and urine, or MRI, CAT, and other scans, they are sent to the relevant departments who then provide the results of the diagnostic tests. From there, the patient can be sent to the pharmacy to collect prescribed medications. Within one hospital visit, the patient ends up interacting with various departments in the hospital. For the process to be as seamless as possible, there must be high levels of interdependence. Ho single department can work on its own, and in case of a breakdown in the interdependence chain, patient care is compromised. The positives associated with this system of high interdependence is that it promotes the quality of care that patients get in the hospital because the different departments work together to find the cause of illness and the best course of treatment. High level of interdependence can also present a challenge when one department faces a problem, and the whole chain breaks down.
In conclusion, with the merging of the two hospital units, there needs to be a comprehensive strategy that includes orientation, technology, design, and interdependence. The hospital takes a service-orientated approach because its core mission is the provision of healthcare services to patients. Based on this orientation, the hospital then applies core technology, which relates to the mission of the hospital. Some of the structural design elements include highly skilled employees, direct interaction, technical core employees, and decentralized decision making where staff report to department heads. A high level of interdependence in the hospital setting will improve the quality of care because different departments have different core functions that together promote the provision of services to customers.
Works Cited
Anderson, Theodore R., and Seymour Warkov. “Organizational size and functional complexity: A study of administration in hospitals.” American Sociological Review (2001): 23-28.
Ginter, Peter M., W. Jack Duncan, and Linda E. Swayne. The strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
Khatri, Naresh. “Building HR capability in health care organizations.” Health Care Management Review 31.1 (2006): 45-54.
Martin, Brian C. Strategic Planning in Healthcare: An Introduction for Health Professionals. Springer Publishing Company, 2018.
Themes in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’
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Themes in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’
Oscar Wilde’s novel ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is one of the most intriguing books of all time. Dorian Gray, the main character in the story, is a handsome young man who wishes that he could retain his good looks forever. Dorian’s desires reflect those of many human beings. People treasure youth and beauty above all else, and many wish they would never age or lose their beauty. Dorian wanted to engage in hedonism, selfishness, and all kinds of earthly pleasures, but he did not want the effects of these pursuits to show on his body. The human body shows signs of deterioration when misused, for example, excessive consumption of drugs or alcohol will result in disease, and alterations to the physical body. The main question that readers ask themselves when reading the novel is whether, given a choice, they would have chosen Dorian’s path. Dorian’s portrait absorbed all the effects of his crazy lifestyle, allowing him to remain young and good-looking. Dorian remained thus youthful while his peers aged, earning him their admiration. The main themes in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ are the purpose of art, the superficiality of society, the effects of negative consequences, and the emphasis on youth and beauty.
When the novel opens, Dorian Gray is in London getting his picture painted by an artist, Basil Hallward. Dorian is in London, in the home of his aunt, Lady Brandon. Basil is intrigued by Dorian’s beauty and youth and insists on painting him. However, Basil feels that his portrait betrays too much emotion on how he feels about Dorian. Basil speaks to his friend Lord Henry Wotton about his concerns, but Lord Henry tells the portrait is a masterpiece. Lord Henry supports the pursuit of pleasure in life, and Basil worries that he will be a negative influence on Dorian (Wilde 7). Dorian finds the two of them in the studio, and Basil is forced to introduce them. They become fast friends, with Lord Henry making an impression on the gullible Dorian. Lord Henry’s ideas about the transience of youth and beauty affect Dorian, who says that he wishes he could remain young forever. Lord Henry wants to own Dorian’s portrait, but Dorian insists on keeping it. Dorian wishes that the portrait could absorb all the aging and loss of beauty so that he could remain young and good-looking. His wishes soon came true.
Dorian Gray became an avid follower of Lord Henry’s beliefs in new hedonism and pursued all earthly pleasures. He falls in love with an actress named Sybil, who is enamored by his good looks. The actress named Sybil then decides not to act anymore because of her love for Dorian. However, Dorian only loved her because of her acting skills and decides to break off their engagement. Sybil’s brother, James Vane, warns her that Dorian would bring her trouble, but she refused to listen. Dorian goes home after his encounter with Sybil and sees that the portrait has taken on a sneering expression, following his wishes that it should absorb the effects of his actions. He regretted his behavior towards Sybil and decided to make up with her the next day. However, before he can do that, Lord Henry informs him that Sybil killed herself.
Lord Henry tells Dorian to view Sybil’s death as a form of tragic art. He later gifts Dorian a book that defines his very thoughts and actions. As the years went by, Dorian’s reputation suffered. Dorian remained young and good-looking as the portrait aged in his stead. Basil confronts Dorian about his reputation, but Dorian kills him in a fit of rage. James also confronts Dorian about Sybil’s death. Dorian then feels guilty about his actions and tries to destroy the painting. By stabbing the painting, Dorian killed himself, and the next day he was discovered dead. His body was transformed into an old, ugly man while the painting reverted to the handsome young man Dorian had once been.
The first theme evident in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is the superficiality of society. Most people like to dwell on the superficial characteristics of others rather than on important human virtues. In the case of Dorian, the society knew about his hedonistic exploits, and they disapproved. However, because of his looks, they were willing to overlook all his faults. They did not care what he had done; they only focused on his outward appearance (Drumova 4). Such an idea is quite dangerous because it encourages people to disregard harmful and toxic behavior and focus on petty things such as looks. What matters most in a human being is their character, and a person should be judged based on their actions rather than physical appearance. An example of this superficiality in the novel can be seen in the words of Lady Narborough, “you are made to be good—you look so good.” (Wilde 153) Everyone with whom Lord Henry and Dorian interacted with valued good looks above ethics. Although these people knew how Dorian’s actions ruined lives, such as Sybil’s, they overlooked all of this because of Dorian’s good looks.
The purpose of art is another central theme in Wilde’s novel, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray.’ The most important piece of art in the story is the portrait of Dorian. At the beginning of the novel. Basil paints the portrait of Dorian in all his beauty and youth. However, for Dorian, the picture becomes a reminder that he will one day lose his good looks and grow old (Gültekin 51). This relationship between Dorian and his likeness reflects the relationship between an individual and the world. Dorian explains, “The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul.” (Wilde 24) He felt that in having others look at the picture, they would see his soul. True to his words, Dorian’s portrait later becomes a reflection of himself. He kept the picture hidden away at the abandoned room in the house so that no one would see how it transformed over time. At the beginning of the novel, Wilde reflects on the purpose of the art, coming to the conclusion that “all art is useless.” (Wilde 1) However, as the story progresses, readers can see that art occupies an integral part of many characters’ lives. The first is Basil, who worries that his painting of Dorian would absorb his soul. Basil believed that art should be taken too deeply as it exerts power over people. This proved to be true in Dorian’s case, where his whole life came to be defined by the portrait.
The supremacy of beauty and youth is another theme evident in the novel. Dorian is an excellent example of this. Basil is intrigued by Dorian chiefly because he is young and good-looking. Dorian also prized his beauty above anything else, and he was terrified at the thought of growing old. This is the main reason why he was so concerned with his self-portrait. He would give up anything so that he could remain as beautiful and young. “How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young……If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that-for that-I would give everything!” (Wilde 37) When speaking to Lord Henry about Dorian’s portrait, Basil explained that his work might show too much emotion about the subject. Lord Henry was quite taken by Dorian precisely because of his beauty and youth. Lord Henry praised these qualities as the most important for a person (Clifton 287). One surprising opinion from Lord Henry is that beauty and intellect do not go together. He says, “But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face.” (Wilde 77) This line of reasoning where youth and beauty are prized above all else encourages vanity and encourages people to become superficial. Intelligence is a virtue that all people should strive to attain. Intellect and beauty should not be mutually exclusive.
The friendship between Lord Henry and Dorian brings out the theme of the negative effects of influence. When Dorian first met Lord Henry, Basil was quite reluctant to introduce the two because he feared that the latter would influence Dorian with his ideas. Sure enough, Dorian’s life was soon completely influenced by Lord Henry’s influence. Lord Henry believed in hedonism and the pursuit of self-interest at all costs (Stern 751). He also greatly admired Dorian’s youth and beauty, and this was enough for Dorian to follow Lord Henry’s opinions. When Sybil died, Lord Henry urged Dorian to think of her death as an artistic tragedy. Dorian soon convinced himself out of his grief and guilt for the part he played in Sybil’s untimely death. Lord Henry encouraged Dorian to give in to his every desire. He said, “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.” (Wilde 113) Lord Henry also gifted Dorian a book about the exploits of a nineteenth-century Frenchman. This book influenced every aspect of Dorian’s life, and he sank deeper and deeper into a life of pleasure and sin. Throughout the novel, it is clear that Lord Henry exerts the most significant influence on Dorian. One wonders whether Dorian might have taken a different path had it not been for their friendship.
The theme of love in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is a complex one, and it is mostly destructive. Dorian loved himself more than anything, and that is why he treasured his looks. He never wanted to grow old or ugly, and he wished that the portrait would absorb such undesirable occurrences. Dorian’s self-obsessed love proved to be dangerous as he disregarded the feelings and opinions of all those around him as he sought his pleasure. When he met Sybil, he questioned his love for her. He loved her mainly for her acting abilities (Shea 132). He was quite curious as to what attracted him to her, and he sought to explore the new feelings. Sybil was obsessed with Dorian, whom she referred to as Prince Charming. Even when warned by her brother and Wisdom about the danger of their relationship, she would listen to none of them. Dorian and Sybil’s love eventually leads to death. The two felt differently about each other. Sybil made up her mind to stop acting because of her love for Dorian. On learning this, Dorian no longer felt the same way as he did before. He told her, “I loved you because you were marvelous, because you had genius and intellect because you realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art. You have thrown it all away. You are shallow and stupid.” (Wilde 142) The readers could imagine the effect that these harsh words had on the gullible Sybil. She killed herself when Dorian broke off their engagement. When Sybil died, Dorian brushed it off under the advice of Lord Henry. The ease with which Dorian shook off the whole incident makes one wonder whether he really loved Sybil.
In conclusion, Oscar Wilde’s book, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ proves to be quite a captivating read. The author weaves together a tale that reflects the wishes of many individuals and also brings to question the extremes that people would go to satisfy their desires. Society considers youth and beauty to be essential qualities of a person, which leads Dorian to pursue a destructive path in life. Through Dorian’s story, some of the most prominent themes in the book include the purpose of art, beauty and youth, love, and the negative consequences of influence. Dorian lived a life of sin and pleasure, but in the end, he succumbed to guilt. The portrait that helped him escape the reality of age eventually led to his death. One lesson from the books is that aging and death are inevitable, and people should lead a life of moderation to be more fulfilled.
Works Cited
Clifton, Glenn. “Aging and Periodicity in The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Ambassadors: An Aesthetic Adulthood.” English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 59.3 (2016): 283-302.
Drumova, Viktoria. The picture of Dorian Gray: eternal themes of morality, beauty and false values through centuries. Diss. Tartu Ülikooli Narva Kolledž, 2015.
Gültekin, Lerzan. “Art versus Morality: Oscar Wilde’s Aestheticism in The Picture of Dorian Gray.” One Day, Oscar Wilde (2016): 49-62.
Naratri, Aisya Rizka. Psychological Conflict of Dorian Gray in the Novel Entitled the Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Diss. Diponegoro University, 2016.
Shea, C. Michael. “Fallen Nature and Infinite Desire: A Study of Love, Artifice, and Transcendence in Joris-Karl Huysmans’s Á rebours and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 17.1 (2013): 115-139.
Stern, Simon. “Wilde’s Obscenity Effect: Influence and Immorality in The Picture of Dorian Gray.” The Review of English Studies 68.286 (2017): 756-772.
Wilde, Oscar. The picture of dorian gray. OUP Oxford, 2006.