HR Management Challenges at Jaguar Land Rover

HR Management Challenges at Jaguar Land Rover 1. Introduction This report is being presented in response to a request by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) to analyse and assess some important HR implications of the current initiatives by some leading UK companies to send some of their brightest talent to work in emerging markets in order to gain fruitful international experience. Jaguar Land Rover, an iconic British company that has in the past gone through very difficult times and was purchased by the Indian TATA Group of Companies, has been steadily improving its operational and financial performance during past two years. Much of the companys growth is arising from its success in the newly developing emerging markets of the world. Whilst the company still has to make its presence felt in India, the home country of its new owners, its sales are steadily improving in countries like China and Russia, which have many high income individuals ready to spend on high performance luxury cars. The JLR management has recently initiated a proposal for sending some of its best senior managers to China and Russia to gain important international experience (Peacock, 2010, p 1). The company has further more informed its managers that strong experience in such international postings will improve their chances for progression to the board of directors. The Chinese market is extremely important to JLR, second in numbers only to the UK and the USA (Peacock, 2010, p 1). The company is also investigating the possibility of establishing a joint venture in China for the manufacture of thousands of cars (Bowman, 2010, p 1-2). With emerging markets like China, India and Russia becoming increasingly important to western business corporations, many British and American companies are actively investigating the idea of sending their managers to such countries to gain important international experience and insight (Bowman, 2010, p 1-2). JLRs proposal to send some of its key managers abroad was followed by the news of a survey of 418 UK executives that revealed that 40% of companies have plans to send more of their employees to emerging markets in East Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Asia (Bowman, 2010, p 1-2). Such proposals for systematic relocation of high quality organisational talent from home environments to overseas locations is bound to have a number of HR implications, not just from the individuals likely to be effected by such moves, but also by their bosses, who might not be willing to be deprived of bright employees working under them. Whilst such moves by UK companies are bound to have a number of organisational implications, this report deals with three specific HR issues namely, (a) organisational change, (b) cultural differences in international human resource management and (c) Talent Management. 2. Organisational Change Contemporary business organisations like JLR operate in extremely dynamic environments that are constantly being influenced and impacted by changes in technologies and in marketing and economic environments. JLR has in fact suffered extensively in the past because of its inability to respond adequately to global developments in the markets for luxury cars. Its takeover by the India based TATA group has been followed by a number of initiatives in different operational and marketing areas with good results. The company has decided to expand beyond its traditional markets in the UK and the United States and is actively searching for new markets in the Middle East, Russia, China and other emerging economies. Such changes in marketing strategies have been prompted and necessitated by the huge ongoing change in global economies and the expansion of wealth to the emerging and developing economies. Adoption of different organisational strategies often results in the need to bring about significant, long lasting and beneficial organisational change (Bovey, 2001, p 372). Such organisational change requires an identification of where an organisation should be, compared to where it is today, for achievement of strategic objectives, and the formulation and implementation of strategies to take the organisation from where it is to where it should be (Bovey, 2001, p 372). Whilst organisational change can be required on account of a number of environmental and marketing reasons, such change is essentially brought about through the agency of organisational managers and employees and needs to be viewed mainly through HR perspectives (Bovey, 2001, p 372). Numerous studies have confirmed time and again that the majority of organisational change initiatives are unsuccessful in achieving all or some of the original change objectives despite their being widespread agreement about the importance and relevance of such change (Hayes, 2006, p 87). Whilst some change initiatives may founder and lead to adverse consequences because they were essentially grounded in wrong decisions and inappropriate strategic thought, the majority of reasons behind the failure of otherwise important and desirable change initiatives largely occur because of various employee related issues (Hayes, 2006, p 87). There is general agreement on the fact that change initiatives brought about only through orders of senior managers are unlikely to be successful without strong support, involvement and participation of employees. Much of organisational resistance to change comes about from the apprehensions and insecurities of employees in being able to cope with the demand s of the planned changes. Such insecurities could arise from the prospects of having to learn new technologies, work in different locations, handle different people and exploit new markets (Hayes, 2006, p 87). The employees of JLR who are being asked to move to locations in China may well suffer from various apprehensions about the impact of such movements on their personal and professional lives. Such changes could lead to their having to be separated from their wives and children and working in different social, cultural, economic and legal environments (Hayes, 2006, p 87). Resistance to change is a much examined organisational phenomenon. Change management experts like Lewin and Kotter have advanced useful methods for implementation of organisational change. Lewin recommends a three stage change management process that consists of unfreeze, change and freeze stages (Lewin, 2005, p 14). Kotter on the other hand recommends that change should be brought in more gradually over the course of eight appropriate stages (Kotter, 2009, p 7). Whilst such tools for bringing about organisational change have been found to be useful, management experts assert that good change management stems out of effective leadership. Leaders are responsible for bringing about effective organisational change (Kotter, 2009, p 54). It is their responsibility to determine the change objectives, engage in transparent and clear communication about the need for change with organisational employees, identify and motivate change champions throughout the organisation, back change initiatives with physical and human resources and be committed to the achievement of the change objective (Kotter, 2009, p 54). JLR is in the process of implementing a number of change initiatives to improve its strategic processes, market share and operating efficiencies. The proposal to send its talented managers to an important business location like China in order to prepare them for board level positions is integral to such organisational change initiatives. The organisation leadership will have to take care to ensure the careful and appropriate implementation of such processes to achieve change objectives. 3. The Impact of Cultural Differences in International HR Management Globalisation, along with the liberalisation of isolated economies like those of the erstwhile Soviet bloc, China and India, has helped in the development of enormous business opportunities for western corporations (Zakaria, 2000, p 497). Western MNCs have being quick to spot the huge potential markets in these regions and have increased their marketing and production operations across Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and Asia, both to make use of their low cost economic environments and to exploit their growing and attractive markets (Zakaria, 2000, p 497). China represents an important destination for JLR and constitutes the third most important market for the company with potential for substantial future growth. The country is also an attractive destination for the establishment of economic production operations. Whilst the country is extremely important for the achievement of the organisations overall strategy, the success of such a strategy will be significantly influenced by the ability of the company and its managers to succeed in significantly different environmental conditions in China (Stulz, 2003, p 315). Whilst China is making strong efforts to integrate into the global economy, its social, cultural, economic, legal and political environment is significantly different from those of the UK and the USA (Stulz, 2003, p 315). MNC managers are required to handle numerous variables and deal with complex challenges in such foreign environments, many of which are not relevant in their home locations (Stulz, 2003, p 315). The need for such managers to operate in essentially different cultural environments is among the most significant of such challenges. The effect of such cultural differences on the functioning of expatriate managers is often extensive and is commonly termed as culture shock (Gallagher, 1996, p 228). HR experts state that culture shocks can not only affect the effectiveness of expatriate managers to succeed in their assignments, but t hat the ability of such managers to successfully operate in foreign conditions is largely dependent on their ability to recognise, plan for and overcome cultural differences (Gallagher, 1996, p 228). Cultural experts like Hofstede and Trompenaars have studied the issue in details and analysed specific reasons for such differences, which are unique to the social and cultural milieu of individual nations (Gallagher, 1996, p 228). It is important to appreciate that such cultural differences can lead to the emergence of frustration and feelings of strain, which can arise from not understanding the thoughts and actions of local people. Such strain and frustration can lead to anger, depression and helplessness (Maznevski, et al, 2002, p 276). International managers have to be trained to cope with the emotional, thinking and social aspects of cultural differences (Maznevski, et al, 2002, p 276). It becomes very important for organisations to engage in carefully planned and deliberated effo rts to orient their managers to deal with a vast range of cultural differences, especially so when managers have to be sent to countries with very different cultures (Stulz, 2003, p 315). The senior management of JLR must taker careful note of this aspect of international operations and engage in appropriate action, if it wishes to truly exploit the enormous opportunities available in China. 4. Talent Management Talent management represents a complex array of interrelated HR processes that are jointly used to improve the quality of organisational talent (Farndale, et al, 2010, p 32). With it widely being accepted that human resource constitute the most important organisational resource in modern day business, most well run organisations aim to utilise their human resources effectively by taking specific steps to sharpen and improve organisational talent (Farndale, et al, 2010, p 32). Mckinsey referred to this growing movement for improvement of organisational talent as the war for talent. With competition intensifying progressively across the world, most organisations realise that the maintenance and enhancement of competitive advantage is significantly dependent upon their ability to recruit, attract, develop and retain talent (Farndale, et al, 2010, p 32). JLR competes, in its segment of high priced luxury cars with globally famous competitors like BMW, Mercedes Benz and Toyota, all of whi ch are known for the superior quality of their managerial staff and workforce. JLR must also thus make deliberate efforts and adopt appropriate HR policies to nourish, nurture and reward its in house talent and make efforts to attract the best of external talent from outside. Its efforts to send employees who have been recognised on account of their superior management skills to China in order to develop them for senior organisational positions is an important HR process for development of organisational talent (Guthridge Komm, 2008, p 5). The exposure of these chosen managers to very different working and cultural environments will help them to understand different cultures and work with diverse types of people in alien environments (Guthridge Komm, 2008, p 5). Such exposure will help these employees extensively in understanding and appreciating the global economy and important company markets. It will also help them to obtain a world view and appreciate human diversity. Such experience should be invaluable in their development as professional managers (Guthridge Komm, 2008, p 5). Reward and remuneration policies also constitute an integral part of talent management processes (Briscoe, et al, 2009, p 46). Organisational talent not only has to be nurtured but also has to be rewarded handsomely in order to build organisational loyalty and retain it in house (Briscoe, et al, 2009, p 46). JLRs proposal to tie up assignments in China with positive weightage for future board level positions indicates its organisational policy to handsomely reward managers who are committed to organisational interest and personal and professional development. JLR must follow up its proposal to send these managers to China with transparent and clear communication on the reasons for doing so and how such an initiative will help the organisation as well as the individual managers. 5. Conclusions

Essay --

People have different taste buds and different numbers of taste buds that can determine their sensitivity to taste. In this experiment, we tested the changes in threshold sensitivity of chemoreceptors when maple syrup is consumed prior to the tests. Two subjects tasted four solutions (sweet, sour, salty, and bitter). Each solution had seven different concentrations. Two experiments were also made with and without maple syrup consumption. The first experiment was used as a control group for the second experiment. Results showed that threshold sensitivity of chemoreceptors changed after consuming syrup before the other solutions. Based on the results, it was determined that chemoreceptors adapted to concentration strengths. Tastants, which are taste stimuli, uses chemicals to evoke the sense of taste (Kudo et al., 2010). People’s term of taste differs by a genetic locus, which causes the tongue to identify taste (Eisenstein, 2010). A chemoreceptor is a sensory receptor that can identify chemical stimuli then transmits the information to the brain (Campbell, 2010). The number of taste buds in a person’s mouth can also determine their sensitivity to taste (Kudo et al., 2010). Adaptation occurs when the nervous system does not cause a reaction due to a stimulus being continuous for a period of time (Walsh, 2013). In this experiment, we determined the changes in threshold sensitivity of the taste receptors for salty, sour, sweet, and bitter solutions by consuming maple syrup prior to tasting the other solutions. We wanted to see if taste receptors could adapt to a strong sweet taste, but could still acquire the same threshold sensitivity of the other tastes. I predicted that after consuming maple syrup, the taste threshold for the ot... ...erence on the results. Since we only had time to experiment with only two subjects, our average would not be as precise as if we had experimented with five to ten subjects. Another error was the amount of maple syrup consumed. Sometimes Tuan would consume a little syrup and sometimes he would consume a lot. The same also occurred with Khoi as he also sometimes consumed a large concentration of syrup. Temperature was also a factor to the results as a warmer solution was more noticeable than a cooler solution. Due to the collected data, we concluded that the threshold sensitivity of taste receptors did change after maple syrup was consumed (Figure 1). Future experiments that would further the understanding of this topic could be that instead of using maple syrup, which was sweet, we could use something that was bitter, salty, or sour to see if results would also vary. Essay -- People have different taste buds and different numbers of taste buds that can determine their sensitivity to taste. In this experiment, we tested the changes in threshold sensitivity of chemoreceptors when maple syrup is consumed prior to the tests. Two subjects tasted four solutions (sweet, sour, salty, and bitter). Each solution had seven different concentrations. Two experiments were also made with and without maple syrup consumption. The first experiment was used as a control group for the second experiment. Results showed that threshold sensitivity of chemoreceptors changed after consuming syrup before the other solutions. Based on the results, it was determined that chemoreceptors adapted to concentration strengths. Tastants, which are taste stimuli, uses chemicals to evoke the sense of taste (Kudo et al., 2010). People’s term of taste differs by a genetic locus, which causes the tongue to identify taste (Eisenstein, 2010). A chemoreceptor is a sensory receptor that can identify chemical stimuli then transmits the information to the brain (Campbell, 2010). The number of taste buds in a person’s mouth can also determine their sensitivity to taste (Kudo et al., 2010). Adaptation occurs when the nervous system does not cause a reaction due to a stimulus being continuous for a period of time (Walsh, 2013). In this experiment, we determined the changes in threshold sensitivity of the taste receptors for salty, sour, sweet, and bitter solutions by consuming maple syrup prior to tasting the other solutions. We wanted to see if taste receptors could adapt to a strong sweet taste, but could still acquire the same threshold sensitivity of the other tastes. I predicted that after consuming maple syrup, the taste threshold for the ot... ...erence on the results. Since we only had time to experiment with only two subjects, our average would not be as precise as if we had experimented with five to ten subjects. Another error was the amount of maple syrup consumed. Sometimes Tuan would consume a little syrup and sometimes he would consume a lot. The same also occurred with Khoi as he also sometimes consumed a large concentration of syrup. Temperature was also a factor to the results as a warmer solution was more noticeable than a cooler solution. Due to the collected data, we concluded that the threshold sensitivity of taste receptors did change after maple syrup was consumed (Figure 1). Future experiments that would further the understanding of this topic could be that instead of using maple syrup, which was sweet, we could use something that was bitter, salty, or sour to see if results would also vary.

A comparison of text and a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth Essay

‘From page to stage’- A comparison of text and a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. I have decided to aim my coursework at the scene where Banquo’s ghost appears to Macbeth. I am basing my coursework around the reactions of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, and also the way in which Banquo is portrayed to us in Shakespeare’s play and the performance, which we attended, by the Long Overdue Theatre Company. I am comparing each of these characters from the performance with the way that they are portrayed in the written version. In the TLOTC performance; we receive a calm atmosphere at the time of the banquet, however in the written version more mysterious version is revealed to us. In the production version I don’t feel we were given a very clear image of how Macbeth changed throughout the scene. The text initially portrays an image of how horrified Macbeth is when he sees Banquo sitting at the table. When reading the play we can visualise what’s happening throughout the scene. We can visualise how Macbeth talks to Banquo as though he is fully human and is really there. We see this by the way Macbeth speaks to Banquo, â€Å"Never shake thy gory locks at me.† It is in this way that we can tell clearly what’s happening in this scene. The TLOTC portrays this to us well, I feel that they gave us the clear view of Macbeth’s feelings towards the ghost. I feel that this helped us to realise the fear that Macbeth felt. They showed Macbeth’s actions clearly, he was very shaken and scared, I feel that the tone of voice he used was very effective. I feel that we learn more about Macbeth’s astonishment and disbelief in the TLOTC performance than in the text. Macbeth asks † Which of you have done this?† This shows us that Macbeth is in shock at what he is seeing before him. In the performance we are able to see the facial expressions, I feel that this helps us to get a clearer view at what Macbeth is feeling. Whereas in the written version we can only try and visualise what Macbeth is feeling. The tone of voice use helps us to realise the tension which Macbeth feels. Each time Banquo entered the room Macbeth’s tone of voice changed: it became shaken and very loud. I think that Ben Shockley portrayed this very well in the performance. Macbeth tries to tell the others what he sees before him. He say’s to them â€Å"If I stand here I saw him.† In the written version we can’t tell what type of voice is used so less emphasis is put on Macbeth’s words. The supernatural elements were portrayed to us more clearly in the performance. In the written version Shakespeare gives very few stage directions. In the LOTC production I felt that the sound effects that were used each time Banquo’s ghost appeared were very effective, in the way in which we are able to tell when Banquo’s ghost was appearing. We get none of this build up of tension from the written version. I feel, however, that the written version is much fuller than that of the performance as the impact of Shakespeare’s language was more obvious. This was particularly at the beginning of the scene, where Lady Macbeth seems to have a very calm, patient attitude towards Macbeth. Lady Macbeth says to the others in a calm voice â€Å"Sit, worthy friends, my Lord is often thus.† We can see Lady Macbeth’s attitude change towards Macbeth in both the performance and the written version. When she hears Macbeth speak to the ghost but she doesn’t know who her husband is talking to. Lady Macbeth tries to be strong and reassure everyone that Macbeth’s behaviour should not alarm them, when she says to them: † My lord is often thus, and hath been from his youth.† As Macbeth begins again to talk to Banquo Lady Macbeth’s attitude changes again, she begins to panic a lot more. I feel that the way she was panicking partly was giving away their innocence. Lady Macbeth’s panic is conveyed on stage when she say’s â€Å"Pray you speak not, he grows worse and worse, questions enrage him. At once, good night.† In the LOTC performance and in the written version Lady Macbeth is shown as the stronger person between her and Macbeth. Lady Macbeth begins to get so antagonised that she begins threatening Macbeth’s right to call himself a man: she say’s † What, quite unmanned in folly?† I feel that the performance gives a better view on Lady Macbeth’s strong will to keep her and Macbeth from looking guilty. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth not to worry as she is afraid that all his worrying will give away their innocence. I feel that the blood, which appeared from Banquo’s mouth and nose, helped the audience to visualise Banquo’s presence as a ghost, of a murder man, intent on making his killer suffer.

How does Edgar Allan Poe use dreams to portray terror and mirror the narrators sense of reality - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2374 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/06/26 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Edgar Allan Poe Essay Did you like this example? Edgar Allan Poe was a writer during the 1800s and was wellknown for his poems and short stories (biography.com editors). With his use of horror and mystery, Poe was the father of the detective fiction story (biography.com editors). In many of his short stories, the lines between life and reality are seen to be blurry, especially after his death in 1849 (biography.com editors). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "How does Edgar Allan Poe use dreams to portray terror and mirror the narrators sense of reality" essay for you Create order During the late 1830s, Poe published his first collection of short stories, the Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. The Fall of the House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum were two of the many short stories published within the collection. Within these two short stories, and many of his other ones, Poe uses terror to tell the tale. As he was writing, Poe was informed of many instances that were real life situations; he used these situations to tell his stories about them through a more fictional mindset. For example, Poe used James Campbell Usher and Agnes Pye Ushersons of an actor who had previously performed with his motherto tell the story The Fall of the House of Usher (Semtner). In the beginning of the story, the narrator visits the Usher house to visit his childhood friend, Roderick Usher. Rodericks sister has become ill with a very mysterious disease. She later then dies and is buried in a room of the house. Roderick confesses to the narrator that he has been hearing strange sounds and is afraid that he has buried his sister alive. As his fears are confirmed, Madeline, his sister, stands in the doorway and attacks her brother. Roderick dies of fear as the narrator quickly flees from the property. The reallife us her twins were believed to have been insane; this is where Edgar Allan Poes inspiration for this specific story has come. He also used historical events, such as the Spanish Inquisition, and based The Pit and the Pendulum off of it. Pope Gregory IX called on the Inquisition to rid out the heretics in Europe. If the heretics did not want to confess to their crime, they were tortured until they did so. If they completely refused to confess, they were imprisoned and burned at the stake; the same goes for if they were guilty. Spanish leaders King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella asked the Popes permission to remove all individuals who were not catholic to purify the people of Spain (Semtner). In Edgar Allan Poes story, he writes the story of an individual telling his story of being convicted for heresy. He is brought into a chamber instead of being publicly prayed for and convicted and realizes he is not in a good situation. Although these stories are based on real life events, Edgar All an Poe is still able to make these stories dreamlike. By doing so, he portrays horror and uses them to mirror the narrators sense of reality. The anonymity of the first person narration in The Pit and the Pendulum creates a fuzzy and gloomydream likeeffect which helps the story come off as more terrifying. For example, during the Inquisition, heretics were tortured to death or tortured until they confessed. This was, no doubt, a horrifying experience for all individuals that were put through the trials. This is expressed when the narrator explains the judges lips to be whiter than the sheet upon which [he] traces [the] words and thin even to grotesqueness (Poe 3). When the narrator goes on to explain how [he] saw them fashion the syllables of [his] name, the audience can then see that when his name leaves the judges lips, it sounds as lifeless as he perceives their lips to be with the words white and thin to the point of disgust. Later, during the time of his trial, he asks himself, Yet what business had I with hope? (Poe 14). This reveals the obvious sense of hopelessness the speaker now has for his well being and his thoughts on the chances that he has of making it out of the situation alive. The use of the unnamed narrator allows for any individual to be placed in the narrators position. This then helps the reader realize that Poe is using this story to imitate the fears and terror of any individual that was victim to the inquisition, especially with the use of the words I and my repeatedly. In The Fall of the House of Usher, the anonymous speaker also tells his story in a first person narration. In this short story, the effect of anonymous first person narration allows the speaker to be present during the occurrence or situation, but not all the way physically there. For example, Roderick Usher is very upset that his sister has fallen terribly ill; the illness eventually leads to her death. After they buried her, an observable change came over the features of the mental disorder of [his] friend (Poe 18). The reader can also see the that his friend has beheld him gazing upon vacancy for long hours, in an attitude of the profoundest attention, as if listening to some imaginary sound (Poe 18). Here, the speaker is seen to be an observer, almost as if watching Roderick Usher behind a glass wall. There is also the instance as to where the narrator put his hand on his friends shoulder and [the narrator] saw that he spoke in a low, hurried, and gibbering murmur, as if uncons cious of my presence (Poe 24). This brings attention to the fact that the narrator really has no effect on Roderick Usher, making it seem as if he is not really present; he is just an observer. This is also seen throughout the multiple instances in which the narrator made an effort to lighten Ushers mood after the death of his sister by telling him a story, etc., but this has no effect on him. Lastly, when Madeline appears behind the door, covered in blood and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame, the narrator becomes fearful of the angry girl (Poe 25). Instead of her acknowledging him, she walks right past him, as if he is not there in the first place, and [falls] heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final death agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse (Poe 25). One would think that she would be angry at both individuals for burying her alive, but she just kills her brother, instead of killing the narrat or too. This makes it seem as if he was only metaphysically present, creating the dream like aspect of the role of the narrator. The ability of the narrator to first handedly experience the situation creates the terror. In The Pit and the Pendulum and The fall of the House of Usher, Poe uses personification to create a dreamy effect which, in turn, creates a more terrorizing environment and allows the audience to understand the narrators sense of reality. To begin, in The Pit and the Pendulum, the speaker talks about seven tall candles that seemed as if they were white slender angles who would save [him] (Poe 3,4). This right away represents that the narrator is looking for a resolution in this unreal and terrifying situation. The hope for a dream like resolution to his terrifying situation reveals to the reader that is not able to process the fate of which his life faces. Throughout his tortuous stay in this dungeon, at one point, the speaker is introduced to an endless pit. In the centre yawned the circular pit from whose jaws I had escaped (Poe 11). The use of the word yawned indicated that the circumference of this pit must have been very large. Adding on to this, the use of the word jaw and us ing the word yawned to describe it allows to reader to understand that the narrator makes this pit out to be a monster trying to devour him. After the speaker has avoided the pit, he later finds himself tied up with a sharp, swinging pendulum slowly descending from the ceiling. It is lined up to slice horizontal of his heart. The whole [pendulum] hissed as it swung through the air (Poe 13). Again, Poe uses the word hissed making this object seem like it is an animal trying to kill the narratorthis is seen in the previous example of the pendulum. Again, he tells the audience that that pendulum swept so closely over [him] as to fan [him] with its acrid breath (Poe 13). Using the word acrid to describe the breath or the wind coming from the pendulum swinging suggests that the narrator does not want it getting any close, but in this situation, he cannot really help that. . As the narrator describes the hissing vigor of [the pendulums] descent, the reader can see the reference again to t he pendulum being thought of as some kind of angry animal trying to get to the narrator and harm him (Poe 14). As the speaker is contemplating death, he realizes that It was hope that whispers to the death condemned even in the dungeons of the inquisition (Poe 15). This is the first time since the speaker has been held captive that he brings up hope. Although the hope whispers he realizes that there is still a chance to escape this possibility of death. The personification allows for an unreal mindset of the narrator to be portrayed. Poe uses the personification to, not only create more terror and reveal what the narrator thought about the situation, but to make the situation more relatable so every reader can feel the terror those individuals were feeling throughout the Inquisition. Although there is not much personification in The Fall of the House of Usher, there is still some that allows for the creation of terror and the mirroring of the narrators sense of reality. The observation of the vacant and eye like windows suggests that the house has seen the fall of the Usher family, as the windows are vacant and the house is now mostly empty (Poe 3). The repetition of that the vacant and eye like windows suggest that the house itself is alive and is awaitingforeshadowingthe events that are to come. Also, the narrator realizes the hideous dropping off of the veil (Poe 3). This emphasizes the appearance in the narrators eyes as disappointing and nasty. Through the use of personification, Poe uses this to symbolize the presence of an evil force. The personification allows the house to seem unrealdreamlike. This helps to create and setup the terror in the beginning and also shows the reader perception of actuality. The surrealism in The Pit and the Pendulum also helps create the dreamy effect. The author has been tortured to an extent to which he feels disconnected from his physical self. He opens with, I WAS sicksick unto death with that long agony; and when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me (Poe 1). This suggests that the narrator has been through such a traumatic experience that he cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is not real. For example, when the judges are saying his name, he shuddered because no sound succeeded (Poe 3). Also, when he speaks of seven tall candles being white slender angles reveals to the reader that the speaker is on the brink of insanity. Again, he cannot hear or see things correctly because he cannot perceive reality correctly. This is because the hope he had for being found innocent had been crushed when he was found guilty and given the death penalty, hence why he could not hear a sound . In The Pit and the Pendulum, Edgar Allan Poe uses echoes to create terror. This is first seen when the narrator trips and falls, almost making his way into the endless pit in the floor of the room of the dungeon. As a small piece of debris falls into the pit, there is the sound of it hitting the water, and it is succeeded by loud echoes (Poe 9). Using this, Poe brings out a dreamy effect which also creates terror. In this case. The echo represents the emptiness of the well; the amount of them represents the deepness. This creates terror in possible ways that the narrator could fall in at any second, or that he did almost fall in. Considering that the room is very dark at this point, it is very possible for him to fall in, which would be very frightening. In The Fall of the House of Usher, the echo takes places when Madeline is mimicking the sounds from the book that the narrator is reading. This is dreamy in fact because it does not seem realthe narrator does not know how these sound s are repeatedly being produced every time he speaks of one. This also suggests the presence of evil which, in turn, creates a feeling of terror. Many of Edgar Allan Poes short stories are based off of real life events. This being said, the way that he incorporates the dream like effect in each of his writing allows the possibility of more horror and terror to take place in the audiences mind as they read. His use of personification suggests that the narrator perceives a more unreal situation than what is taking place; this makes it more terrifying to the audience in ways that it becomes more reliable considering the different characteristics he is allowing these things in the story to have. The use of surrealism in The Pit and the Pendulum suggests that the reader is going insane and cannot tell the different between reality and a deception. This also creates terror because it allows the reader to realize the horror the narrator has been through to make him think like he does. Lastly, he uses echoes in order to create a sense of emptiness to emphasize the fact that there is a horrifying truth waited to be revealed. Edgar All an Poes use of dreams in his short stories allows the reader to feel more connected to what the narrator feels and allows them to feel more strongly about it.