The Concept of Senate and the House of Representatives in American Government

The Senate and the House of Representatives forms the U.S. Congress. Article one of the Constitution establishes the powers and unique composition of the Senate. After examining the nature of representation and democracy, it is agreeable that all the people need equal representation and provision of equal rights (Caro 23).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Senate and the House of Representatives in American Government specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More During the elections of Senators in different state, the majority rule is usually applied. However, this seems to affect the democratic position of the country and equal representation. In addition, some States have lesser populations compared to others. For example, the state of New York has a population of 19.5 million people while the State of South Dakota has 0.82 million people. With each state producing only two senators, it is notable that the peo ple are not equally represented going by the state population margins. As a nation, we all have the right to vote, equal representation, and ability to practice our liberties as the citizens of a free nation. What this means is that the people of the United States need equal representation under the current constitution. While most of Articles and amendments on the American Constitution are effective towards equal representation, I want to state here that the current Upper House does not fulfill these rights to the people of the land. That being the case, it would be right to amend the constitution in order to have a good Senate that represents the people of the country in an equal manner (Caro 73). I would like to base my arguments for this paper on several issues: the nature of representation, the ability to address the needs of the people, the issue of majority vote, the senatorial term, the filibuster, and the election of Senators in the country.Advertising Looking for essa y on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As provided under the current constitution, the Senate fails to offer the right support to the people with some states with large populations having only two senators (Caro 54). There is need to consider the number of senators from every state based on the population. This is the best approach to have equal opportunities and representation for all the citizens. From the above issue, it is agreeable there is the need to amend the American Constitution, especially Article one towards better representation. Given the opportunity to amend the constitution, definitely I would consider having a new pattern for the senate to promote the issues affecting our people. With the necessary amendments in place, the Upper House will have the right number of senators based on the population they represent. This means that the house will make the needs of the citizens a priority (Caro 56). The other consideration is to have the Senatorial term reduced to four years. This will coincide with the elections for the House of Representatives. By so doing, the Congress will come in place at the same time to ensure policy implementations and ideas are meaningful towards promoting economic growth. The Congress will also address the needs of the citizens equally. The entire Senate will be coming up for election at the same time. The current two-year elections are inappropriate because the idea does not bring in the house new people and ideas. As well, the new approach will ensure equal representation of the people (Caro 76). With the elections taking place at the same period, the people will be able to make proper decisions and put in place the right leaders whose ideas match with those of the Lower House. This will make it easier to have the needs of the people met within a shorter period.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Senate and the House of Repr esentatives in American Government specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For very many years, the Upper House has rejected debates and bills that could have transformed the lives of the people. This has resulted from what the senate calls the filibuster. This is a tactic put in place by the Senate to continue defeating motions and bills in the house. The house achieves this by prolonging the motions and debates indefinitely. When the senate invokes a cloture, the filibuster ends indefinitely (Caro 78). Currently, some positive motions and bills remain prolonged because a two-thirds majority is always required. Some constitutional experts have indicated that the tactic is ineffective because it does not allow the senate to consider some bills and debates by prolonging debates. It would therefore be necessary to amend the current constitution and have a better Senate that addresses the above issues. When these changes are in place, the Senat e will be able to practice its constitutional right to monitor and check the functions of the Lower House, and the federal government (Caro 82). It will be able to offer the best advice to the government and consent to treaties in an effective manner. With a reformed Upper House and its representation, the people of the United Sates will have better representation and achieve economic development. In conclusion, I would propose the above amendments and changes to promote the dignity of the Senate and ensure it represents the rights and minds of the citizens. Works Cited Caro, Robert. Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson III. New York: Random House, 2002. Print.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This essay on The Concept of Senate and the House of Representatives in American Government was written and submitted by user Jorge Winters to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Development and Training Employees as a Method of Retention

Development and Training Employees as a Method of Retention Free Online Research Papers Employee retention guarantees companies remain high performance organizations. Crucial to retention is identifying talented employees who possess potential, showing them how they add value to the organization, and using their talents, so not only the employees remain engaged, but also the company benefits from the employees’ contributions. Oftentimes, if employees lack engagement, they seek out opportunities with other companies. Since companies cannot afford to lose talented employees to competitors, proper training and development is critical (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 2003). Although geared toward companies’ future needs, developing employees aids in retention because development shows employees that they have a future with the company. Conversely, training focuses on employees’ present positions. However, training is as important as development since succession planning highlights high-potential employees, allowing employers to earmark employees for development. Development is not necessarily the employer’ responsibility, as employees aspiring to better positions can and should make their intentions known (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 2003). Training an employee to function properly at a given task requires planning and foresight. Desiring to become an Employer of Choice, Lincoln Electric has made a commitment to provide quality training to its employees. This paper will analyze the training and development plan of the following five training issues; needs assessment, design, development, implementation and evaluation of training provided to employees of Lincoln Electric. Employee development is more than just training; it must become the way the company runs. Companies hire people from all skill levels, even those people who possess little more than a high school diploma or GED. Companies provide these talented individuals with challenging opportunities for personal and professional growth and development. In business training, communicating the importance of accomplishing tasks is paramount. Effective training starts with pinpointing the current skill set of each individual employee. One of the first steps of effective training is finding out what each employees current skill set is. The next step is to find out which parts of the job need to be taught to that individual. The team needs to develop a company-wide development and training program for all of the employees at Lincoln Electric. The result will be an organization of talented, engaged and committed employees. The training program will address the training needs for potential, existing, and newly hired employees as well as supervisors and directors (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 2003). Lincoln Electric’s pay-for-performance system (Lincoln Electric Company, 2007) is well known; however, Lincoln Electric oftentimes encounters difficulties in recruiting employees (Prizinsky, 1994 Narisetti, 1995). While most people seek positions at Lincoln Electric because of their infamous holiday bonus, which is really profit sharing dividends, many applicants do not meet the position requirements (Narisetti, 1995). Moreover, Lincoln Electric is not capitalizing on its most valuable asset: the employees. Investing in employees makes business sense for the employer. While Lincoln Electric laments the number of skilled workers available to them, they forget that they already have those skilled workers: current employees. Lincoln Electric’s issues with training and development are solvable, and the solution starts with the initial problem, which is the lack of qualified, entry-level applicants (Narisetti, 1995). The better the employee, the better the company runs. Lincoln Electric is doubtlessly aware of this concept. Training and developing employees from the onset guarantees Lincoln Electric remains successful in the future. The first way to hook potential recruits is to catch their attention. Lincoln Electric does this rather well by promising no lay-offs, and sharing the company’s profits with the employees (Lincoln Electric Company, 2007). Perhaps even more important is the employer’s willingness to help maximize employees’ potentials. Although Lincoln Electric promotes employees based on experience, as opposed to seniority, there are no systems in place to ensure employees garner enough experience to realize a promotion. If only a small number of applicants can perform basic math skills, and the results are worse every year, Lincoln Electric has to begin training and development before applicants begin working at Lincoln Electric (Narisetti, 1995). This training r anges from refresher courses in mathematics for new applicants to specialized courses such as tool and die, computer-controlled machining, and welding for present employees. Lincoln Electric cannot hire enough applicants for several reasons. First, most people have no manufacturing experience. Second, many high schools restructured their curriculums and no longer offer students exposure to vocational training programs (Prizinsky, 1994). Consequently, Lincoln Electric rejected a majority of the 20,000 applications received during an 18-month period because applicants lacked basic algebra skills (Narisetti, 1995). Lincoln Electric exhausted its hiring efforts by placing newspaper advertisements, retaining recruiting firms, and launching a mail marketing campaign (Prizinsky, 1994). While they did hire some workers using these methods, the original problem remained. Lincoln Electric can meet its hiring goals by sending new recruits to math refresher courses. As opposed to turning away all applicants who fail Lincoln Electric’s math assessment, Lincoln Electric should send those applicants to the math refresher courses. Doing so ensures a continual su pply of entry-level workers. More important, Lincoln Electric can groom these employees for higher positions within the company. Lincoln Electric currently affords employees the opportunity to develop their own career path, and promotes employees based on experience, not seniority (Lincoln Electric Company, 2007). Lincoln Electric should take this incentive a step further by offering tuition reimbursement to employees showing an interest in tool and die making, welding, computer-controlled machining, or any two-year college program that will help employees perform their job more satisfactorily. Tuition reimbursement often pays unforeseen dividends. An employee who realizes his or her true potential is bound to perform better. Although costly, this strategy offers Lincoln Electric a better return on investment than their direct mail marketing campaign. Carefully analyzing costs is one of the many reasons Lincoln Electric is a successful business. To ensure employees stay with Lincoln Electric after completing their degree or certificate, Lincoln Electric should have employees sign contracts that mandate employe es remain under Lincoln Electric’s employ for a specified number of years in exchange for their education. Cleveland Clinic has a similar program; for every 2 years of education the clinic pays on an employee’s behalf, the employee owes the clinic 1 year of employment. If employees leave beforehand, they are liable for the cost of the education (C. Ormsby, personal communication, 2007). Implementing this strategy has a cyclical effect on the hiring, training, and development process. Once new employees enter entry-level positions, seasoned workers who have completed their schooling progress to higher positions, and the cycle continues. As an alternative, Lincoln Electric can offer in-house training program that will inaugurate each January after analyzing contract bids from any area college interested in the advertisement. Participants must sign in for the lab, and take a pretest, which aids in future benchmarking. Lincoln Electric will test participants again after five math labs and participants must demonstrate significant improvement in order for the contract to remain viable. Participants gain no compensation, other than their respective gains in job skills and qualifications. This program will encourage, though not mandate, managers at Lincoln Electric to attend at least one lab a year. The labs commence at Lincoln Electric twice a week at both 8:00 A.M. and 8:00 P.M., to compensate for Lincoln Electric’s rotating schedule (Lincoln Electric, 2007). The primary purpose of these labs is to focus on improving skills in two areas – mathematics and computers. The company will post the schedule on a bulletin board to encourage as many employees as possible to attend. Unfortunately, many ambitious adults do not possess adequate math or computer skills to help Lincoln Electric. This plan will provide otherwise-dedicated employees the basic skills needed for company growth and potential. The evaluation process consists of a two-step process. During the training process, management focuses on the participation and enthusiasm of the employees. Next, employees describe the main points of the training. After the training and development process, the employees demonstrate their mastery of the training session, while management observes. This is an evaluation tool used for employees with direct observation performed by supervisors. While observing, supervisors, prepared with checklists evaluate whether employees demonstrate the desired and required behaviors and skills of the position (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 2003). Businesses usually conduct annual evaluations on their employees rather than providing ongoing process of continuous feedback. A problem with annual appraisals is that the evaluation can sometimes focus on recent events as opposed to past events, which, depending on the details of the events, could be either good or bad for the employee. Both positive and negative feedback is recognized as effective when it is done shortly after completion of a task. Therefore, ongoing evaluations are required at Lincoln Electric. After completing training, employees have the opportunity to complete satisfaction surveys of the training. Any feedback they have helps in their learning process and feedback also lets the employees know their opinions matter and the company as a whole will do their best to consider their opinion. After all, they are the ones using the information they gain from the training on a daily basis. Any employment setting implementing a training program requires planning. For Lincoln Electric, the training and development processes begin at the hiring phase. By implementing training geared toward specific positions, Lincoln Electric can overcome its hiring issues and further develop career path incentives already in place. The institution of math classes and tuition reimbursement provides effective training, and ensures adequate delivery of the training to the employees. Moreover, once employees complete training, supervisors conduct evaluations on the effectiveness of the training, and employees have opportunities to provide feedback. These days, all industries including manufacturing need skilled employees. By providing adequate training to employees at the onset and further developing employees, Lincoln Electric can prepare employees and the company for future growth. References Lincoln Electric Company (2007). Incentive Performance A Cornerstone of Our Culture. Retrieved November 27, 2007, from lincolnelectric.com/corporate/career/ Narisetti, R. (1995). Many workers are called . . . but few are qualified. The Wall Street Journal [Electronic Version]. Retrieved November 24, 2007 from ProQuest Database. Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B., Wright, P.M. (2003). Fundamentals of human resource management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Prizinsky, D. (1994). Going to church gets new meaning: Lincoln electric tries varied venues to find employees. Crain’s Cleveland Business [Electronic Version]. Retrieved November 24, 2007 from ProQuest Database. Research Papers on Development and Training Employees as a Method of RetentionAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaTwilight of the UAWResearch Process Part OneThe Project Managment Office SystemOpen Architechture a white paperInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in Capital

A Profile of Henry VIII of England

A Profile of Henry VIII of England Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 to 1547. An athletic young man who famously grew much larger later in life, he is best known for having six wives (part of his quest for a male heir) and breaking the English church away from Roman Catholicism. He is arguably the most famous English monarch of all time. Early Life Henry VIII, born June 28, 1491, was the second son of Henry VII. Henry originally had an older brother, Arthur, but he died in 1502, leaving Henry heir to the throne. As a youth, Henry was tall and athletic, frequently engaged in hunting and sport, but also intelligent and academic. He spoke several languages and studied the arts and theological debate. As king, he wrote (with help) a text refuting the claims of Martin Luther, which resulted in the Pope granting Henry the title of Defender of the Faith. Henry became king on the death of his father in 1509 and was welcomed by his kingdom as a dynamic young man. Early Years on the Throne, War, and Wolsey Shortly after acceding to the throne, Henry VIII married Arthur’s widow Catherine of Aragon. He then became active in international and military affairs, pursuing a campaign against France. This was organized by Thomas Wolsey. By 1515, Wolsey had been promoted to Archbishop, Cardinal, and Chief Minister. For much of his early reign, Henry ruled from a distance through the greatly capable Wolsey, who became one of the most powerful ministers in English history and a friend of the king. Some wondered if Wolsey was in charge of Henry, but this was never the case, and the king was always consulted on key matters. Wolsey and Henry pursued a diplomatic and military policy designed to raise England’s (and thus Henry’s) profile in European affairs, which was dominated by the Spanish-Franco-Habsburg rivalry. Henry displayed little military ability in wars against France, living off one victory at the Battle of the Spurs. After Spain and the Holy Roman Empire became united under Emperor Charles V, and French power was temporarily checked, England became sidelined. Wolsey Grows Unpopular Attempts by Wolsey to change England’s alliances to maintain a position of importance brought a backlash, damaging vital income from the English-Netherlands cloth trade. There was upset at home, too, with the regime growing unpopular thanks partly to demands for more taxation. Opposition to a special tax in 1524 was so strong the king had to cancel it, blaming Wolsey. It was at this stage in his rule that Henry VIII entered into a new policy, one which would dominate the rest of his rule: his marriages. Catherine, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII’s Need for an Heir Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon had produced just one surviving child: a girl called Mary. As the Tudor line was recent to the English throne, which had little experience of female rule, no one knew if a woman would be accepted. Henry was worried and desperate for a male heir. He had also grown tired of Catherine and fascinated by a woman at the court called Anne Boleyn, sister of one of his mistresses. Anne didn’t want to simply be a mistress, but queen instead. Henry may also have been convinced his marriage to his brother’s widow was a crime in Gods eyes, as proved by his dying children. Henry decided to solve the matter by requesting a divorce from Pope Clement VII. After seeking this, he decided to marry Anne. Popes had granted divorces in the past, but now there were problems. Catherine was an aunt to the Holy Roman Emperor, who would be offended by Catherine being shunted to the side, and to whom Clement was subservient. Furthermore, Henry had obtained, at cost, special permission from a previous Pope to marry Catherine, and Clement was loathe to challenge a previous papal action. Permission was refused and Clement dragged a court decision out, leaving Henry worried about how to proceed. Fall of Wolsey, Rise of Cromwell, Breach With Rome With Wolsey growing unpopular and failing to negotiate a settlement with the Pope, Henry removed him. A new man of considerable ability now rose to power: Thomas Cromwell. He took control of the royal council in 1532 and engineered a solution which would cause a revolution in English religion and kingship. The solution was a breach with Rome, replacing the Pope as the head of the church in England with the English king himself. In January 1532, Henry married Anne. In May, a new Archbishop declared the previous marriage voided. The Pope excommunicated Henry soon after, but this had little effect. The English Reformation Cromwell’s break with Rome was the start of the English Reformation. This wasn’t simply a switch to Protestantism, as Henry VIII had been a passionate Catholic and he took time to come to terms with the changes he made. Consequently, England’s church, which was altered by a series of laws and bought tightly under the control of the king, was a halfway house between Catholic and Protestant. However, some English ministers refused to accept the change and a number were executed for doing so, including Wolsey’s successor, Thomas More. The monasteries were dissolved, their wealth going to the crown. Six Wives of Henry VIII The divorce of Catherine and the marriage to Anne was the start of a quest by Henry to produce a male heir which led to his marriages to six wives. Anne was executed for alleged adultery after court intrigue and only producing a girl, the future Elizabeth I. The next wife was Jane Seymour, who died in childbirth producing the future Edward VI. There was then a politically-motivated marriage to Anne of Cleves, but Henry detested her. They were divorced. A few years later, Henry married Catherine Howard, who was later executed for adultery. Henry’s final wife was to be Catherine Parr. She outlived him and was still his wife at the time of Henrys death. Final Years of Henry VIII Henry grew ill and fat, and possibly paranoid. Historians have debated the extent to which he was manipulated by his court and the extent to which he manipulated them. He has been called a sad and bitter figure. He ruled without a key minister once Cromwell fell from grace, attempting to stop religious dissension and maintain the identity of a glorious king. After a final campaign against Scotland and France, Henry died on January 28, 1547. Monster or Great King? Henry VIII is one of England’s most divisive monarchs. He is most famous for his six marriages, which caused two wives to be executed. He is sometimes called a monster for this and for executing more leading men than any other English monarch on alleged charges of treason. He was aided by some of the greatest minds of his day, but he turned against them. He was arrogant and egotistical. He is both attacked and praised for being the architect of England’s Reformation, which brought the church under crown control but also caused dissension which would lead to further bloodshed. Having increased the holdings of the crown by dissolving the monasteries, he then wasted resources on failed campaigning in France. Henry VIIIs reign was the height of direct monarchical power in England. However, in practice, Cromwell’s policies enlarged Henry’s power but also bound him tighter to Parliament. Henry tried throughout his reign to enhance the image of the throne, making war partly to increase his stature and building up the English navy to do so. He was a fondly-remembered king among many of his subjects. Historian G. R. Elton concluded that Henry was not a great king, for, while a born leader, he had no foresight for where he was taking the nation. But he was not a monster, either, taking no pleasure in casting down former allies. Sources Elton, G. R. England Under the Tudors. Routledge Classics, 1st Edition, Routledge, November 2, 2018. Elton, G. R. Reform and Reformation: England, 1509-1558. The New History of England, Hardcover, First Edition edition, Harvard University Press, January 26, 1978.

Lesson Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Lesson Plan - Assignment Example Since the lesson comprises of new information, guided practice in identification of organisms and their habitat. The prerequisites for this experience are that the students will only require basic reading and observation skills. The diverse nature of the learners and their abilities do not necessarily limit their use of a variety of senses. Employing this fact will enhance learning in this situation. The assessment tool will be informal questioning and demonstration of knowledge and understanding. The students will be needed to indicate the kinds of habitat a presented organism is likely to be found. This makes use of cultural and ability diversity and helps improve class participation and performance. The lesson pre-requisites requires that only observational and basic reading skills will be needed. Since some of the learners with low-level reading skills and those with learning disabilities may not understand the information. The teacher will use simple instructions, to verbally communicate with these specialized groups and pointers to indicate the diagrams on the PowerPoint slides or mages. The lesson plan has incorporated group work as the primary strategy to ensure that all the learners are actively involved in the learning activities (Schultz, 2009). The groupings have taken into considerations the various forms of cultural, religious and gender diversities among the learners. Being less demanding in terms of entry requirements and pre-requisite allows all the students, with their diverse needs and abilities to take part. The lesson plan therefore identifies three active participation strategies which are group work, demonstrations and return demonstrations and question-answer sessions. This allows the learners not just to listen to the teacher but also to take part in the learning activity as well (Schultz, 2009). The lesson

Science and Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Science and Politics - Essay Example Another example as to how science works within the political structure is in regards to chemical warfare. It is well known that despite the various differences between the political view on this and the scientific one, politics have been mediating the science of chemical warfare throughout history (Tuite 2005). When history recalls the Persian Gulf War and the syndrome the soldiers experienced following it, from a political view, the government attempted to deny its existence, claiming there never were chemicals involved at first. This was due to the fact that when scientific explanations were wholly considered, they proved to be extremely costly and the government did not want that. However, it was a fact there was undeniable scientific proof of its existence. In this regard, science and politics clashed. Science had a concern for the emerging illness while those in governmental positions were too concerned with the costs arising from the problem and wanted to be done with it. What Science pushes for is government funding so that it can research unusual illnesses and then make political figures aware. Without science there is no way of avoiding mass epidemics of illness, such as in the concern of the bird flu right now.

Solidworks Essay Example for Free

Solidworks Essay SolidWorks is an immense topic, especially if you are new to the software. There is much to know and much to write about. Although I have made every effort to be complete in this book, I’m sure there are some niche topics that have gone untreated. The 2013 edition has been consolidated from two volumes into one, which led to some choices about content. In this edition, we rely more on video introductions for each chapter to demonstrate some of the basic concepts. You can find those video introductions on this book’s website at www. wiley. com/go/solidworks2013. This book is primarily meant as an encyclopedic desk reference for SolidWorks Standard users who want a more thorough understanding of the software and process than can be found in other available documentation. As such, it is not necessarily intended to be a guide for beginners, although it has elements of that. Nor is it necessarily intended as a classroom guide, but I have seen people use it for that as well. To keep the size of the book down, I have tried to avoid topics found only in SolidWorks Professional or Premium, although some discussion of these topics was in places unavoidable. Although the book does point out limitations, bugs, and conceptual errors in the software, in every case this is meant to give the reader a more thorough understanding of the software and how it is applied in the context of everyday design or engineering practice. The overall goal of this book is not to fill your head with facts, but to help you think like the software, so you can use the tool as an intuitive extension of your own process. As your modeling projects get more complex, you’ll need to have more troubleshooting and workaround skills available to you.

Midnights Children essay :: essays research papers

Midnight’s Children essay Salman Rushdie's creation, Saleem Sinai, has a self-proclaimed "overpowering desire for form" (363). In writing his own autobiography Saleem seems to be after what Frank Kermode says every writer is a after: concordance. Concordance would allow Saleem to bring meaning to moments in the "middest" by elucidating (or creating) their coherence with moments in the past and future. While Kermode talks about providing this order primarily through an "imaginatively predicted future" (8), Saleem approaches the project by ordering everything in his past into neat, causal relationships, with each event a result of what preceded it. While he is frequently skeptical of the true order of the past, he never doubts its eminence; he is certain that everyone is "handcuffed to history" (482). His belief in the preeminence of the past, though, is distinctly different than the reality of time for the Saleem who emerges through that part of the novel that Gerard Gen ette calls "the event that consists of someone recounting something" (26) (Saleem-now, we can call this figure). Saleem-now is motivated to act not by the past, but instead by the uncertainty and ambiguity of the future. Saleem's construction of his own story is an effort to mitigate the lack of control he feels in looking toward the unknown future. To pacify himself he creates a world that is ordered but this world is contrary to his own reality. Saleem spends much of his energy in the story setting up neat causal relationships between events in his past to demonstrate his place "at the center of things" (272). He carefully mentions his tumble into the middle of a parade for the partition of Bombay and then proceeds to propose that "in this way I became directly responsible for triggering off the violence which ended with the partition of the state of Bombay" (219). When telling us of his school-mate Cyrus disappearance from school and emergence as a great religious prophet Saleem quickly mentions the Superman comics that he had given Cyrus earlier, and attributes Cyrus' rise to prophetdom as a direct response to these comics. By viewing Cyrus' motivation in this way Saleem says "[I] found myself obliged, yet again, to accept responsibility for the events of my turbulent, fabulous world" (309). There is an obvious note of skepticism toward these most overt acts of placing himself at the center of things. At one point he asks himself "am I so far gone, in my desperate need for meaning, that I'm prepared to distort everything†¹to re-write the whole history of my times purely in order to place myself in a central role?