Marketing and Dove

Pricing Strategy 2. 2. 1Factors affecting pricing decisions (Types of market) The internal factor that affects the pricing decision of Dove is based on marketing strategy, objectives and mix. The Dove Company mostly is working on the market of women’s personal care. Dove has a large range of products from soap to hair shampoo. The company strategy and objective is to have a high level of segmentation to answer to the many needs of the women’s personal care market and to widening stereotype view of beauty in younger generation, pre-teen and teenager girls.Besides, the market mix strategy is the price decisions must be coordinates with product design, distribution, and promotion decisions to form a consistent and effective marketing program. Pricing Strategy of Dove hair shampoo is largely determined by the decisions on Market Positioning of product differentiation. So, Dove has been positioned as a product fulfilling the needs of high end consumer class. Dove Company is constantly upgrading time to time to meet the customer needs, such as Dove Straight & Silky Therapy, Daily Shine Therapy, Dandruff Therapy, and Intense Damage Therapy with the affordable price.In addition, the external factor that affects the pricing decision of Dove is based on the market and demand. Dove Company is under the Monopolistic Competition market because there have a lot of buyers and sellers of differentiated products. Dove Company also is the product differentiation that are selling different product for the same purpose such as Pantene, Sunsilk , Rejoice, and so on. Besides, Dove is also price maker and spends a lot of money in advertisements to convince their customers. Last but not least is the competitor’s strategies and price.The competitors of Dove are Sunsilk, Rejoice, Pantene, L’Oreal and so on. According our survey that doing at Kampar area, the competitors are offering the lower price if compare to Dove. For example, Sunsilk 700ml is offerin g their shampoo product at RM17. 50 and Rejoice is offering at RM21. 50 while Dove is offering the same product at RM25. 90. So, it has been influenced the customers who is price sensitivity. Furthermore, the customer purchasing power, government regulation, economic conditions also becomes the external factor affecting the prices. . 2. 2New Product Pricing Strategy Dove is using the Market Penetration for the New Product Pricing Strategies because they have many competitors like Sunsilk, Pantene, Rejoice and so on to win the market share. When Dove Company introduces the new product to the market, it will set a low initial price in order for the brand to â€Å"penetrate† the market quickly and deeply. For example, when the 10th anniversary, Dove will give the promotion by reducing the price and give them discount and offer the new product sample to give the customer trying.As compare above, Dove is offering a lower price from range RM 18 until RM 22. 50 and same volume compa re (700 ml) to Sunsilk in the shampoo market. For increased market penetration, Dove has launching the ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ where the representative will move to the market segments and will do free sampling. Dove’s revolutionary campaign was for the firming lotion which features women of all shapes and sizes thus breaking down the stereotypic definition of beauty – tall, thin and being fair.Their ads have created a ripple in the market with their campaign successfully catching the fancy of both the industry and consumers as being something different. Earlier, the ads used celebrities to promote their beauty products. They are also not for the super skinny models. The Dove ads challenge the traditional concept of beauty. This make the customer realize that Dove cares and penetration will be achieved in newly selected market segments.

HRM Problem in Indian Airlines

Introduction The Indian Airline was set up under the Air Corporations Act, 1953 with an initial capital of Rs. 32 million and started operations on 1 August 1953. And it dominated the Indian aviation sector during the 80's and 90's. However the rules of monoploy were deregulated in 1994. Following which many carriers entered the market. However, only two strong competitors emerged during the 1990s which were the Jet Airways and Air Sahara.This competition from the new private carriers required the airline to adapt to the new order, a process which was difficult due to the fact that management did not have complete commercial freedom, and the government was unwilling to invest in the airline. Another big reason was the Human Resource Management problems including the inefficient manpower planning, unproductive deployment manpower (results of ad-hoc job analysis), and unwarranted increase in salaries and wages caused a number of strikes by the staffs and the ultimate result is losing c ustomers and the losses in revenue.Between 1999 and 2003, the carrier’s fleet did not increase by a single aircraft – during the same period the private carriers’ fleet almost doubled to 53. Inevitably, Indian Airlines’ market share declined, from 100% in 1994 to 40% by 2004 and just 20% by 2007.Background of IA Indian Airlines is one of the prime airlines in India. It is based in Mumbai and focuses primarily on domestic routes, alone with a few international services to neighboring Asian countries. The airline is state-owned and also administered by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Along with Air India, it is the flag carrier of India. The airline came into existence by the enactment of the Air corporations act in 1953.It has been renamed as ‘Indian' on December 7th 2005. It started with about 99 aircrafts and was the outcome of a merger of sorts among several former independent airlines. In 1964, Indian Airlines moved into the jet era with the intr oduction of Caravelle aircraft and also inducted a Boeing 737-200 in early 1970. In a fresh wave of deregulation, nine new independent airlines were launched in India in the early 1990s. Vayudoot, the state-owned feeder airline, itself collapsed in 1993. On 1st March 1997 Indian Airlines became a Public Limited Company.Presently, it has about 70 aircrafts including Airbus A300, Airbus A319,  Airbus A320and an ATR-4. Some of the foreign destinations that are included in its directory are Kuwait, Singapore, UAE, Qatar, Thailand and many more South East Asian countries. This airline was the first to introduce wide-bodied A300 aircraft in the domestic circuit. There are a total of 75 exclusive destinations covered by this airline, 59 within India and 16 abroad.HR IssuesWhen the government open up the sky by privatize the industry, one of the start-ups, East-West Airlines, offered such attractive wages that they prompted a pilots' strike at Indian Airlines in December 1992 during the w inter tourist season. Indian Airlines had 570 pilots at the time, making an average of Rs 30,000 ($962.00) a month. The airline lost Rs2.11 billion ($64.34 million) for the year. Chairman and managing director L. Vasudev had been hired in July 1992, filling a position vacant since the previous chairman had resigned due to the handling of yet another strike.Mr. Vasudev also resigned in May 1993 blaming the aviation ministry for undermining his authority. Russy Mody was named chairman of both Indian Airlines and Air-India in late 1994. He resigned two years later, also citing a lack of authority. During 1998 both Indian Airlines and Air-India were losing money and needed to restore their aging fleets by the end of the year, the Civil Aviation Ministry had dismissed a joint board of directors from the two airlines.All of the chaos happened because of: †¢The recruitment process †¢Job analysis in IA was not done by scientifically †¢Performance appraisal and reward systems were not scientifically doneFindings †¢Lack of proper manpower planning †¢Underutilization of exiting manpower †¢Without proper scientific analysis †¢Increased staff cost during 1994-98 †¢Unnecessary interference by the Ministry of Civil Aviation †¢Unscrupulous methods use †¢Strikes, go-slow agitation and wage negotiations †¢In 1993- 46 days strike by pilots †¢Unethical (false) medical claims †¢Pilots didn’t work overtime even though they got more money †¢Maximum number of employees per aircraft †¢Lack of government decision policy †¢Unethical practice of service on productivity liked incentives †¢30 full time directors and their retinue of private secretaries, drivers and orderlinessSWOT ANALYSISSTRENGTHS†¢Large fleet. †¢Experienced staff. †¢Adequate infrastructure and large network. †¢People are loyal towards the national carrier. †¢Government Backing.WEAKNESSES†¢High overhea ds and huge workforce resulting in lower output. †¢Attitude of the staff (The Unions) †¢Political/Bureaucratic unnecessary interference. †¢Indian Airlines has its socio-economic responsibility of catering to the inaccessibility areas at subsidized rate affecting operational expenses. †¢Job security too high.OPPORTUNITIES†¢Tourism industry is gaining momentum. †¢Induction of new aircrafts on lease. †¢Response to some of the promotional fares (schemes) is encouraging. †¢Shelving of the privatization plans of Indian Airlines by the Government of India. †¢Weakening of the dollar rate in comparison to the rupee.THREATS†¢Perception of the better product in comparison to that of the competitor †¢Recent world events hitting the tourism industry badly †¢Increase in the capacity of various airlines †¢Falling market share of Indian Airlines to that of Jet AirwaysRecommendation From 1997, to till now IA had only emphasized on dist ribution, with marketing as a non-issue. Since the company was faced with increasing competition, lack of resources and mounting losses, it had to formulate and implement scientifically proved HR strategies. The best way to prevent union strike is to work with the union and develop policies that avoid a clash between companies and its employees. Unions in projects is different, unions in large corporate is different. We can contain and curtail the strikes in corporate offices but containing it plants need some analysis.1.Check was there any change in the Head of HR department2.The earlier head was removed or retired or left on his own3.Union leaders are locals or outsiders4.Were there any simmering issues which were pending for a long time?5.The earlier agreement is due for re negation?1 and 2 are most important to find the reason and reactions. 3 are to know how the outsiders involved in the local union and so we can divide the union. 4 and 5 – it is always better to keep th e process of the negotiations on the go, and try throwing the ball in their court as far as possible instead of keeping the issue pending with company. And have discussions, deliberations and best method is to divide the employees into department wise – by telling them that it is for close contacts with the all employees.Implementations To implement the decisions taken during the mid 2001, IA followed steps stated below.1.As the first step free and frank discussions with a cross section of the employees were held. Top management undertook extensive tours of all stations to communicate the details and vision behind all major policy initiatives and to get their response to them.2.Focus on training of personnel was enhanced to increase effectiveness.3.A greater transparency was built into recruitment and transfer policies with a view to boosting their trust and confidence.4.In interactions with unions and Associations a firm but fair attitude was taken.5.Productivity Lined Agree ments, where the inflows exceed the outflows despite the fact that market wages were being given, were entered into.Conclusion Airports are the primary infrastructure facility that a country has to offer to the international travel. The case ‘Indian Airlines' HR problems', examines the causes of the HR problems faced by Indian Airlines. The case reveals how poor management and stubborn work force can drive a monopoly into losses. The case also throws light on other lapses such as poor canteen management and payment of excessive allowances.The case is so structured as to enable students to understand why and how Indian Airlines was constantly plagued by HR problems. The students should be able to see how the pilots and other workers used arm-twisting tactics to get IA to agree to all their demands. The case also provides insights into how IA's lackadaisical handling of its HR problems contributed to the overall mess that the airline found itself in.

Linking up with Talent at Osram Sylvania Case Study

Linking up with Talent at Osram Sylvania - Case Study Example 2. Social Networking Sites for Recruitment Recruitment by means of social networking sites is the latest trend in the professional employment procedure. There are many advantages related to this approach, especially in the instances when the employment has to be done from abroad. Rather than contacting the recruitment companies in those far-off regions, the online communities of interest that have a majority of members from the respective region can be joined and observed silently, for example, supply chain management communities can be joined that have been founded by Indians and have most members belonging to the South Asian land. Sial (2009) stated that the employers can act as silent observers in the prevailing discussions on the platform and identify the individuals that seem to have good experience in the field. Blogging also gives the employer an opportunity to evaluate the individual’s caliber. However, it is advisable to stick to the professional social networking sit es like LinkedIn that are focused on the professional aspects of the individuals. It proves to be a good medium for hiring competent professionals since some are not proactive in the job market and hence do not post their CVs at the job hunting sites.

Babylon under Hammurabis law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Babylon under Hammurabis law - Essay Example Babylonians started ruling over Sumer in 1900 BC. Hammurabi, the king of Babylon led his armies to occupy Mesopotamia and build an empire there. As the supreme ruler, Hammurabi established a set of rules of conduct for the Babylonians. The laws of Hammurabi were written in cuneiform and encrypted on stone, stating exactly how the Babylonian society was to behave. Lewis (pp.18) sates, â€Å"the code is engraved in cuneiform writing on a seven-foot tall black stone pillar†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This discussion is going to focus on the laws of Hammurabi concerning marriage, divorce, adultery, inheritance, and life in Babylon in general. According to Hammurabi’s code, marriage was considered a contract between a man and a woman. Marriages were organized by parents and other relatives for their children, with the bride-groom’s parents obligated to pay bride price to the girl’s family. This type of marriage arrangement sounds authoritative since the lovers did have any say in their own marriage. Parents were in complete control of their children’s lives and marriages were not based on love or mutual agreement on the part of the ones getting married. This is very unfair, since a person would be forced to marry a person they did not want for a partner. Divorce was handled very differently for men and women. Whereas men were allowed to divorce their wives at will, wives were only permitted to separate from their husbands on grounds of neglect or cruelty.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive Essay

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive - Essay Example Townsend (2011, p. 587) illustrates that the compatibilities which electronic and electrical equipment must comply with include designing equipment during the production process in a manner which facilitates reuse, repair, recycling and disassembly. This compatibility is guided by the WEEE’s principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The major goal of the directive is described by Vaisvila and Vaicikonis (2006, p. 43) as the minimization of the disposal of unsorted municipal refuse or waste and thus facilitate the achievement of a separated WEEE collection. Additionally the directive provides that the management systems within electrical and electronic industries must be designed and organized both in individual basis and collectively so that the directive is not violated by these industries.   Hidy, et al. (2011, p. 990) add that apart for provision of recycling and recovery targets, the WEE directives provides that export of electronic and electrical equipment ca n only be achieved through compliance with the WEEE directive. Furthermore the directive provides that manufacturers of this equipment must take responsibility for the costs associated with the picking of waste from the collection centers and also for the processes of refurbishing the equipment in readiness for reuse or recycling.Quinnell (2005, p. 71) explains that the large appliances which are used in households such as washing machines and refrigerators are covered by the WEEE directive. Small appliances such as hair dryers.

Management Essay (Job Satisfaction; Hofstede's Dice Dimensions)

Management (Job Satisfaction; Hofstede's Dice Dimensions) - Essay Example However, a person’s job involves much more than performing the routine technical tasks such as accounting, marketing, researching, manufacturing, engineering, driving or sweeping. Along with doing the primary tasks related to their jobs, employees are also expected to adhere to the code of conduct of the organization, coordinate with colleagues, manage relationships with superiors and fine-tune themselves in compliance with the organizational environment. Consequently, the measurement of job satisfaction is quite an intricate summation of several components involved in a person’s professional life. Nevertheless, after years of experiments, the two most generally accepted measurement techniques are: Single Global Rating and Summation of Job Facets. In the Single Global Rating method, employees are asked to choose on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 representing highly satisfied and 5 representing highly dissatisfied. While in Summation of Job Facets method, employees are require d to express their sentiments with regard to their job in words. The two methods have their advantages as well as disadvantages and are believed to be helpful in their respective domains (Robbins, 2009). Over the years, different theories have been developed by management researchers to expound the concept of job satisfaction. ... Ambrose and Mr. Smith. Mr. Ambrose values variety in his job while Mr. Smith is indifferent about variety in job; then Mr. Ambrose will be more satisfied in a job which offers greater amount of variety and less satisfied in a job which is monotonous, in contrast to Mr. Smith. Another important theory related to Job Satisfaction is Dispositional Theory. It suggests that irrespective of their jobs, people hold certain in-born dispositions that result in them developing a certain type of job satisfaction. Research even suggests that identical twins who have not been brought up together exhibit analogous levels of job satisfaction. Consequently, attempts were made to discover the psychological mechanisms that bring about dispositional roots of job satisfaction. The outcomes have shown that people who have positive core self evaluations – who place confidence in their ability, have much higher levels of job satisfaction in contrast to those who have negative core self valuations (M artinko, 2004). Two Factor Theory (Motivator-Hygiene Theory) groups all the pertinent job facets under two broad factors - Motivators and Hygiene Factors. Motivators include facets such as appreciation, recognition, interesting work, etc. They yield positive feelings related to the job resulting in high job satisfaction. Alternatively, Hygiene factors comprise of job security, pay, work settings, etc. They do not yield affirmative satisfaction, however dissatisfaction emerges from their nonexistence. For example, an employee Ms. Laren would be motivated by challenging work and recognition of performance, resulting in high satisfaction; emanating from the intrinsic nature of the job, which stimulates personal development. While on another occasion, uncertainty hovering over her

The Concepts of Race Relations as Reflected in the Media Research Paper

The Concepts of Race Relations as Reflected in the Media - Research Paper Example Stereotyping to the extent of creating media-fueled labels creates a danger to society in which one ethnicity can be singled out in order to create a sense of ‘safety’ for another. One example of this can be seen in the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as a sign of containing the threat of the Japanese. As well, the new Arizona law that requires all non-citizens to carry identification suggests that in the fight against illegal immigration a racial profile will be used to detain anyone of appearance that might not be a legal citizen. In suggesting that ‘whiteness’ is the norm from which behaviour can be identified as typical creates a conflict with the actual behaviour that exists in the world as well as a problem for those whose ethnic appearance does not fit into what is expected. The idea of ‘whiteness’ is considered a defining standard from which the American experience is then typified. According to Cooks and Simpson (20 08, p. 273), ‘whiteness’ can be defined as â€Å"a process of universalizing, through which white identity is inaugurated as the standard for racializing matrices - all racialized locations are compared to white identity†. The word that most often is associated with this concept is that of privilege. Through the concept of privilege, the ’white’ norm is defined as a luxury of life in which racial constraints have not influenced the success of a family. The benefit of privilege in which the white body experiences freedoms from the constraints of skin color denotes a form of stereotypical point of view that is then reflected within the media.

Contemporary Study of the Impact of Standardization and Harmonization Dissertation

Contemporary Study of the Impact of Standardization and Harmonization of Accounting Standards - Dissertation Example However, the existence of dissimilar accounting practices can be a crucial challenge linked with the aforesaid procedure. In this similar context, ethical dilemma plays an imperative part in harmonising along with standardising the accounting standards as it concerns certain significant moral values that include honesty, reliability, durability and integrity among others. From research methodological viewpoint, both quantitative as well as qualitative research approaches have been taken into concern. Moreover, valuable data associated with this research study has been collected through the execution of structured interviews in the form of questionnaires that has been administered to the officials of the companies following different accounting standards like IASB and IFRS among others. Besides, hypothesis testing by utilising a statistical tool of correlation as a form of meta-analysis has also been considered for this particular research study. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Chapter 1 : Introduction 5 1.1Background 5 1.2Research Problems 6 1.3Research Aims and Objectives 7 1.4Methodological Overview 8 Chapter 2: Literature Review 10 2.1 Importance of Standardization and Harmonization of Accounting Standards 10 2.2 Advantages of Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 12 2.3 Challenges of Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 14 2.4 Role of Ethical Dilemma in Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 15 2.5 External Influencing Factors to Support or To Oppose the Benefits of Standardization and Harmonization 17 Chapter 3: Research Methodology 19 3.1 Research Design 19 3.2 Data Collection and Evaluation 22 3.3 Ethical Consideration 24 Chapter 4: Findings 25 4.1. Benefit of Standardisation and Harmonisation to Its Users 25 4.2 Benefits Accordingly Achieved by Companies in the Recent Phenomenon 26 4.3. Role of Ethical Dilemma in Obtaining the Benefits from Standardisation and Harmonisation 29 4.4. Exte rnal Influencing Factors to Support or To Oppose the Benefits of Standardization and Harmonization 30 4.5 Hypothesis Testing 37 Chapter 5: Discussion 40 5.1. Reasons or Motivations behind Standardisation and Harmonisation of the Accounting Standards 40 5.2. Advantages and Challenges of Standardization and Harmonization of the Accounting Standards 43 Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations 49 References 53 Bibliography 61 Appendix 64 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background The perception of standardisation is fundamentally described as the process of creating uniform business methods throughout different locations or divisions. This particular concept tends to diminish the jeopardy of failure by consistently complying with the business related operational expenditures as well as the performance based objectives (Richen & Steinhorst, 2005). Relatively, the conception of harmonisation is commonly described as the adjustment of the inconsistencies or the differences prevailing amid var ious business policy standards, procedures, specifications and protocols (NSCA, n.d.). Contextually, the Accounting Standards (ASs) are primarily recognised as the specific guidelines which are duly authorised by the skilled professionals relating to any accounting, regulatory or government body. The ASs comprises the significant

Rhetoric and Sterotypes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Rhetoric and Sterotypes - Essay Example Politicians themselves use negative rhetoric against their opponents. People use negative language and rhetoric talking about politicians that further enhances the hatred for this group. They call them people who spend money wastefully and fill their own pockets to enjoy luxuries while common man suffers. They often call them cheaters, frauds and inhuman, and say that â€Å"good people don’t go into politics† (Baker, 2006). The stereotype that labels a tattooed body is one of the most misleading stereotypes which to some extent is true but to a large extent, is false. Public stereotypes tattooed persons as being criminals, addicted to drugs, drunkards, having loose characters like being involved sexually, dirty, rude, indecent, disrespectful, and possessing bad manners. They are thought to be rebellious and violent gangsters. They are also stereotyped as foolish persons sometimes who have no respect for their bodies. Tattooed women are thought to be sluts and whores (Smith, 2010). People see photographs of wanted criminals in newspapers some of whom might have decorated their bodies with tattoos, and they link the same image to every tattooed person which is wrong. People sometimes think of all tattooed persons to be bad and naughty because in some religions, tattoos are totally forbidden, and people decorating their bodies with tattoos are condemned seriously. Public uses negative rhetoric against suc h persons regardless of the reason why the person got himself tattooed. Most often, it is just the fashion and style that compels one to get tattooed. People have also stereotyped feminists and the label goes to every person who supports feminist theories. Feminists are most commonly stereotyped as lesbians who hate men and will do anything to kill any man coming her way. This is a very negative and a very severe kind of stereotype that does not hold any truth in it. Thinking of a feminist as a hard core lesbian is not

Adolescent Substance Essay Example for Free

Adolescent Substance Essay In my teen age, I was exposed to a different atmosphere from Mark Spencer’s. For example, my parents who were very strict about my welfare did not accord me any freedom as Spencer’s parents do. Further, my parents were very concerned about my associates and therefore never accorded me any free time to go anywhere without their permission. They tried to make sure that all their views were imposed onto their children. Due to their strictness, my siblings and I used to clandestinely slip to the neighborhood. We would then enjoy the little free time we acquired via sneaking. This phenomenon had a lot of significance with regard to what activities we engaged in as well as whom we associated with. Although we used to hang around with girls, I used to make sure that my parents never discovered this for such awareness could cause a lot of negative consequences to my wellbeing as well as to my relationship with my associates. If a familiar grownup met me in such funny corners, and I could make sure that they did not report me to my parents because it was suicidal to have been caught in such places. As time went by, I became rebellious to my parent’s so-called rules. I thus started to secretly take drugs at some funny hideouts until I got addicted l. Eventually, I could not hide my drug addiction any longer. Consequently, my parents tried to groom me by the use of the cane but this was of no use to me for I had been hardened with this kind of habit. My parents thus had to send me to a rehabilitation center but again, this action was not significant to me. After spending a year at the center, I pretended to be reformed and was sent back to my parents. At home, I joined some of my old friends and we started to rob people of petty objects. We could then sell such items so that we could sustain our drug habit. I was arrested and taken to child custody where I was reformed and thus became a good teen. At the age of 17, I had reorganized my life and could systematize myself well. The problem that is seen in Mark’s kind of world is that his parents are providing all that he asks for. They erroneously think that denying him some privileges can cause disaster. This is the reason why he is given a car and is allowed to go out on his own. Further, the parents are not aware of the kind of people that Mark is associating with (Steinberg, Fletcher Darling, 1994). Such parental oversight has caused him to indulge in drugs to the extent of bringing drugs into the house. Conversely, due to the strictness of my parents, rather than seeking appropriate ways to curb my defiant behavior, they caused my hardening. It is notable that my case only needed to be addressed with love, understanding, and support from my parents (Gallo Matthews, 2006). In my time, I could not do anything without first consulting my peers. I was thus always struggling not to displease them. In my world, I could not be allowed to go to any overnight party, a privilege which was awarded to Mark (DiClemente et al. 2001). The influence brought about by the environment that I was growing in made my life to change. I thus became a hard nut to crack. This development was brought about by the strict environment in which I grew. Due to Mark’s associates segregating him, because he does not associate with them, he feels rejected by the whole world (Coleman, 196I). This viewpoint makes him to have a negative opinion about all people a disposition that makes him to be very bitter. Further, Mark does not want to be under any authority. The act of purchasing a car for Mark by his parents facilitates him to get back to his friends. Moreover, he is willing to do anything so as to please the associates. Mark therefore starts to take drugs when his parents allow him the freedom to go out with his friends. Instead of the parents in both cases offering guidance to us, they started devising alternative mechanisms to curb our behaviors. This was just a straight way of strengthening our bond with our â€Å"good friends† who were teaching us the so-called â€Å"good habits†. In both cases, parental neglect caused failure in school performance since it made myself to be jailed, while to Mark, it seems boring to go to school (Mak Kinsella, 1996). This disposition has made Mark’s performance to greatly drop from an above average student to merely maintain an average of grade C. References Coleman, J. S. (196I). The adolescent society. The social life of the teenager and its impact on education. Psychoanalysis Quarterly, 32, 126-128. DiClemente, R. J. et al. (2001). Parental Monitoring: Association with adolescents risk behaviors. Pediatrics, 107, 1363-1368 Gallo, L. C. ; Matthews, K. A. (2006). Adolescents attachment orientation influences ambulatory blood pressure responses to everyday social interactions. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68, 253-261. Mak, A. S. ; Kinsella, C. (1996). Adolescent drinking, conduct problems, and parental bonding. Australian Journal of Psychology, 48, 15-20. Steinberg, L. ; Fletcher, A. ; Darling, N. (1994). Parental Monitoring and Peer Influences on Adolescent Substance Use. Pediatrics, 93 1060-1064.

A Look At Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe English Literature Essay

A Look At Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe English Literature Essay Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe (1719) is regarded as the most notable forerunner of the English Novel or to some extent the first English Novel. It was written at the beginning a century that witnessed great changes in the economic order. The cognoscenti have dealt with the character of Robinson Crusoe, bringing out several points of view. The motive of this piece of work is to study Crusoes philosophy about trade, religion and non-Europeans in its historical background. These three facets of Crusoes personality are inherently connected with each other and are thus fundamental to an appreciation of Crusoes mindset and character. His disposition towards dealings and religion is prompted by realistic considerations. He capitalizes on non-Europeans and is backed by spiritual beliefs in his discriminating treatment. The next consideration of the three main aspects of Crusoes nature will help us to grasp his character and inform us of the prevalent trends of the Eighteenth Century. Right from the beginning, Crusoe appears to be a star-crossed navigator and tradesman, however his ambitions are not impeded by shipwrecks and captivity. He is not the archetype of a man who could be impelled to abandon his Marxist principles by bad luck; contrariwise these misfortunes and his defencelessness tend to become a driving force. Robinson has the personality of a well-bred dealer whom setback or hardship does not break but whose perseverance and composure are magnified. Such mischance adds to his wisdom and predisposes him to future challenges. He never omits any scope for investment and commerce. In Brazil, besides exploring other opportunities for making money, he cautiously inspects the land, the plantations, and the regulation of the country. Crusoe undoubtedly inherited his methodical and businesslike way of living from his natal home in York. To put down roots as a planter in Brazil, it is needed to acquire property and obtain an allowable license. He makes profits on the situation and starts out to contemplate future prospects as a prosperous planter. Crusoe is the only one who survives from the hapless shipwreck. Although the craft is filled with water, he takes all the useful items to the island. He dwells on this remote island thanks to his remarkable shrewdness. His living the supervision of the resources on the isle and his discrimination in the dreariest details of everyday life are germane to his mercantile interests. Albeit he calls money a Drug and nasty, sorry, useless Stuff he does not get rid of it but rather encases it in a piece of canvas and preserves it for the future. Robinson Crusoes life as a dynamic trader arises out of his arrival in Lisbon after having spent more than twenty-eight years on the island. It is as though he were leading off a new life from scratch inquiring about the state of his plantation in Brazil and aiming at renewing his old trade contacts. He discovers that his plantation is still thriving and earns from its profits over five thousand pounds in sterling silver. Thenceforth, he disposes of his plantings and takes up residence in England. Crusoes feeling about nature is likewise practical. He exploits the island exclusively for his own subsistence and satisfaction and feels no aesthetic gladness form its magnificent scenery. He just fusses about the improvement of his land and has no leisure to notice that the island provides a beautiful landscape. Crusoes sole pleasure comes from examining his goods: I had everything so ready at my Hand and that is was a great Pleasure to me to see all my Goods in such order and especially to find my Stock of all Necessaries so great. He always pleaded for his freedom when he was on the Island of Despair. But after his deliverance, and on getting back home, he is not inclined to overlook the investment he has made in the island. Apart from his nostalgic association for him, the island is linked to his commercial motives. He writes: Besides this I shard the island into parts with em, reservd to myself the Property of the whole, but gave them such Parts respectively as they agred on; and having settld all Things with them, and engagd them not to leave the Place, I left them there. Crusoes penchant for mercantilism proves to be surprisingly realistic and precautionary; his thrifty investments have brought him a substantial coming back. He is an affluent tradesman and his adventures represent the virtues of individualism and absolute economic, social and intellectual freedom for the individual. Despite the recurrent religious cogitations in Defoes story, we are aware that it would be inaccurate to take the purpose of the novel or even its central theme as being pious in nature. Intuitively assessed, the book looks secular, more instantly and more steadily concerned with a mans earthly fulfillment than with his duty towards the Providence under the guidance of religion. After returning to England, Crusoes comparison of himself to the biblical character Job in chapter XXIX displays much about how he gives his martyrdom religious meaning: I might well say now indeed, that the latter End of Job was better than the Beginning. It is impossible to express here the Flutterings of my very Heart when I looked over these Letters and especially when I found all my Wealth about me; for as the Brazil Ships come all in Fleets, the same Ships which brought my Letters brought my Goodsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ . Like Job, whose religious devotion was gauged by God through the deprivation of family and wealth, Crusoe is dispossessed of his money while nonetheless pledging allegiance to the Deity. In a similar way, the protagonists pride in escaping the middle Station is a mark of Greek mythology in which the characters suffer from hubris and are therefore scourged by their sin. His fathers dictum sounds like a prophetic statement for Crusoes predicament: Boy might be happy if he would stay at Home, but if he goes abroad he will be the most miserable Wretch that was ever born. He unremittingly ponders over his connection with the Lord throughout the novel and how much God is penalizing him for his wicked Days. Halfway through the novel, Robinson, after a long rumination on whether religion allowed him to murder without warning or provoking the cannibals on the island, ends by observing that they might kill him. His observation is: Religion joyned in with this prudentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦me. Religion has a way of concurring with the protection and comfort of Defoes fictional character. As we said previously, Crusoes maiden imprudence is going off to sea without his fathers consent, which is viewed by him and is considered to be so viewed by us, as deliberate insubordination to God, that these calamities are meant to lead him into remorse for his offence and into the pardon and kindness of God, and that his ultimate prosperity is a proof of Gods care for him. Despite the dramatic events, Crusoes temperament does not seem to alter, even if he is in a state of sin or of repentance. The necessity of repentance is a key element in the novel. The Preface indicates the moral and religious dimensions of the story, which states that Crusoes travelogue is published to instruct others in Gods wisdom and the importance of repenting ones sins: The Story is told with Modesty, with Seriousness, and with a religious application of Events to the Uses to which wise Men always apply them to the Instruction of others by this Example, and to justify and honour the Wisdom of Providence in all the Variety of our Circumstances, let them happen how they will. Crusoe needs compunction most when he is told from the fiery angelic figure that comes to him during a feverish hallucination and says: Seeing all these Things have not brought you to repentance, now you shall die. He believes that his major sin is his rebellious behaviour towards his father, which he compares to a biblical reference: I have been in all my Circumstances a Memento to those who are touched with the general Plague of Mankind, whence, for ought I know, one half of their Miseries flow; I mean, that of not being satisfyd with the Station wherein God and Nature has placd them; for not to look back upon my primitive Condition, and the excellent Advice of my Father, the Opposition to which was, as I may call it, my original Sin. It is akin to Adam and Eves defiance of God, which may suggest that Crusoes exile from civilization symbolizes Adam and Eves expulsion from Eden. According to Robinson, contrition consists of acknowledging his desolation and his complete reliance upon the Lord. A main part of the plot of the novel relies on the fact that Crusoe is shipwrecked on the island as Gods way of bringing him to repentance and redemption. On several occasions in the novel, Defoe achieved a kind of grandeur of vision; in which the might and majesty of God are praised: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I had now brought my state of lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦next to miraculous. Here the Puritan sense of the grace of God for an unworthy sinner is well-expressed. It is unlikely that a hypocrite would pen these lines. If the intensity of religious belief appears less in Defoe and the concern with substantial success greater than in the works of his puritan predecessors, that intensity of feeling is yet anything but missing. This may seem the mark of a hypocritical religious belief, despising the wealthy yet labouring to achieve them, but to the Puritan, there is nothing contradictory in this. The most unpleasant leitmotiv in Defoes novel is the way Crusoe behaves towards non-Europeans. The fact that his attitude is very repulsive arouses our interest, for it assures us to understand the foundations of British Imperialism that were being laid at when the novel was written. There is no possibility but that the opinions expressed by Crusoe are those of the author as well. We know enough of Defoes own political career as an agent of the Prime Minister who made the treaty endowing Great Britain with its slaving rights, Sir Robert Harely, to be certain he was in concord with British policy. Moreover it is obvious that Defoe is manifesting his casual sense of superiority to non-Europeans, as shown by his readers sympathy, even to the point of making native humour one of the interests of the novel. We shall consider four aspects of Robinson Crusoe before trying to come to some conclusion: the jocular use of language to characterize non-Europeans; the prejudice practiced by Crusoe; Crusoes belief that other peoples should work for him; and his reflections on nationality. The first part of the demonstration seems innocuous, but it is not. The problem lies in the fact that both Xury and Friday speak very bad English indeed. Concerning Xury, the thing that may surprise us is that he speaks English, because we are told that Crusoe had no fellow-Europeans to communicate with while he was at Sallee. We should expect that he and his fellow slaves would speak Turkish or Arabic or Berber, some language that is used in the Maghreb. Nevertheless Xury speaks bad English in conversing with Crusoe. As for Friday, he could not utter a word in English before meeting Crusoe. Yet, his English is no better than Xurys, even after some three or four years of continual conversation in English. Despite this, other foreigners, from Europe like the Portuguese sea-captain, speak completely good English. Now the vernacular is one mark, a most meaningful sign, of the equivalence between human beings. That Defoe presents Xury and Friday thus, making funny use of their defective English, has the insidious effect of making us perceive them as somehow inferior to Crusoe and to Englishmen in general. The second thing to clarify is another token of Crusoes discrimination. In the episode where Crusoe, after having decided not to interfere in the cannibalistic customs of the Indians on the island, changes his mind on the spur of the moment and does interfere, the reason of his intervention is that one of the victims is a European. This could be abstractly justified, on the basis of Crusoes concept of nationalities. Still, this would be too insubstantial to account for the strength of Crusoes reaction. Fridays pronouncement that one of the victims is a European fired all the very Soul within him. He was filled with Horror at the very Naming of the white bearded man, whom he saw vividly was a European, and had clothes on. Such a fact clearly unfolds Crusoes real sympathy for Europeans, whatever he might say in calmer moments. The coming idea we have referred to is not easy to elaborate. We can pay attention to the fact that Crusoe is never disposed to acknowledge a relation on equal terms with non-Europeans. He purposely strives for appearing to them awe-inspiring and assumes, as a matter of course, that they should be willing to offer up their lives for his privilege. Lastly, the fourth aspect to expound is that Crusoes concept of nationalities, though not racist, seems to be prejudiced against the bulk of native peoples who are seen as evil and deserving of Gods punishment. It is true that he leaves it to God to punish them, but the expression of the theory is meant to limit our empathy for them. In the following paragraph Crusoe goes on to observe: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦we did not know by what Light and Law these should be condemned; but that as God was necessarily, and by the Nature of His Being, infinitely holy and just, so it could not be, but that if these Creatures were all sentenced to Absence from himself; it was on Account of sinning against the Lightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.

Comparing three b2b or b2c web strategies :: essays research papers

I. Introduction The worldwide network of computers, called "Internet", provides opportunities for a company to do business in cyberspace. Organisations find it more and more important to represent them on the Internet to get more customers, to increase the public's awareness of the companies and their products, and to sell more of their products. However, corporate leaders are finding it difficult to keep up with fast-moving markets and the customer conditions that are the hallmark of the Internet. There are numerous and widely varying predictions of the potential of doing business via the Internet, including the increasing numbers of people with Internet access, of corporate Web sites, of Web spending by advertisers, and of total online shopping. Yet, confusion abounds concerning exactly what is happening, how much potential there really is, and what businesses should be doing to take advantage of it. The very nature of commerce on the Net can be baffling, even to the experienced marketer . Both businesses and consumers perceive many obstacles to successful online commerce. In order to successfully cultivate online market share, companies are compelled to design marketing strategies specifically for the information highway. I.A. Popularity of the Internet From its comparatively humble beginnings in the 1960s as a means for protecting US mainframe computer systems in the Cold War, to a 1970s link for scientists and academics to share data and research, the Internet has blossomed in the 1990s into the information age's curious marriage of the personal computer and citizens' band radio (Hof and Verity, 1994), instantaneously linking a user with the whole electronic world and providing the means to interact with that world. This explosive growth of the Internet, including commercial networks and services, has been accompanied by an astounding increase in the population of Internet users. The huge potential of customers and consumers has businesses scrambling to get on to the Web, with its low cost and broad reach. Millions of people worldwide can utilize the Web's affordable and easy access to view product, service and information offerings from an unknown number of potential entrepreneurs. (Chaffey et. al., 2003) Estimates say that the business side of the Internet is small today, but with untold billions in potential sales looming ahead. The prospect of millions of bright, well-educated, upwardly mobile people searching for some new outlet in which to spend their money has been too attractive for many businesses to ignore, in spite of slow initial momentum (Johnson, 1995).

Ted Bundy Essays -- essays research papers

Murder is the most vindictive crime society can commit. As individuals in society, the belief of being born a murderer is false. No one is born a murderer; society gives birth to that murderer. In Ted Bundy's case the lack of parental guidance and constant rejection of women contributed to him evolving into a vicious serial killer. Bundy was a man who let his fantasies run his life, he believed that life was a game. All this contributed to making Bundy revengeful, bitter, and not quite mentally stable. Bundy took countless numbers of young female lives in the 70's. This man seemed to have a highly unstable personality and was often confused in life, some have suggested that, "Bundy was insane and that he should have been in a mental institution." Bundy was executed in 1989 in Florida for his crimes, but the real question is what really made this vicious man tick? Ted Bundy went down in history as one of the most brutal serial killers of the 20th century (AP 10). Ted Bundy was born on November 24, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont in a home for unwed mothers. His 22-year-old mother Eleanor Louise Cowell felt forced by the norms of society to have her parents raise Ted as their own and she portrayed herself to be her son's older sister. As for Ted's natural father Lloyd Marshall, who was an Air Force veteran was unknown to him throughout his life. When Ted turned four, his mother, Louise took him with her and moved to Tacoma, Washington where she married Johnnie Bundy. Ted Bundy felt nothing towards his stepfather, he was very bitter that he was forced to move across the continent from his grandfather, the only man he looked up to. Although, a psychiatrist had concluded after talking with Bundy year's later, that his grandfather was an abusive brute or even worse. As a young boy, Bundy had started becoming obsessed with females and obscure sexuality, "..as a boy, he was already roaming his neighborhood and picking through trash barrels in searc h of pictures of naked women" (Davis.) This seems to be the result of very poor to no parental guidance, he stated himself that he couldn't talk to his parents about many things. Ted Bundy had expressed feelings during an interview that, parental involvement and security is very important in a young child's life and that he never had that protection. Bundy was very shy as a youth and he was often bullied... ...y to travel in the mind of a killer. AOFP. "Ted Bundy: Pathological Profile" www.datagraph.com/bundy.profile.html October 1996 A.P. "Dentist, Using Photos, links Bundy to Bites on Victim in Slaying" The New York Times 19 July 1979. A10 Davis, Barbara. "Ex-deputy tries to cash in Bundy's car" The Seattle Times www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/alttedd_071697.html Duijndam, Rachael. "investigation " www.crimelibrary.com/bundy/investigation.html November 1998. Duijndam, Rachael. "A Time of Terror " www.crimelibrary.com/bundy/terror.html November 1998. Duijndam, Rachael. "The Time of Change" www.crimelibrary.com/bundy/change.html November1998 Larsen, Richard W. Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger (New York, Pocket Books) 1986 Mello, Michael. "Crazy Joe, Ted Bundy and Us" The Miami Herald 18 May 1997 B10 Michaud, Stephen G. and Aynesworth, Hugh. Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer (Toronto, Penguin Group) 1989 Reinhold, Robert. "Student says Bundy fled Murder Scene in Florida" The New York Times 17 July 1979, B15 Rule, Ann. The Stranger Beside Me (Toronto, Penguin Group) 1989

Multicultural Counseling Critique Essay -- Counseling

Multicultural Counseling Critique: Counseling Utilization by Ethnic Minority College Students Although the practice of counseling has evolved considerably since its inception, the concept of multicultural competence remains novel. Engrossed in the lives of every clinician are underlined biases and prejudices that act as filters in which every interaction with a clients is affected. Current research on the topic of multicultural counseling has shown that although multicultural awareness is on the rise there is still a remarkable gap in research regarding the use of counseling service and outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities (Kerney,Draper, & Baron, 2005). Insights such as these have encouraged researchers to investigate multicultural counseling, on many different levels of delivery. One such level is that of the university counseling center setting. Kerney, Draper, & Baron (2005) suggest that in order to address the need for research on the effectiveness of therapy for minorities, one must examine the current effectiveness of therapy on university campuses and the coincid ing utilization of counseling services by racial and ethnic minorities. In order to do this the researchers examined the differences among African American, Asian American, Latino, and Caucasian students in therapy attendance after intake, and the severity of distress at both intake and last session (Kerney,Draper, & Baron, 2005). The current paper will critique the research conducted by Kerney, Draper, & Baron, in order to gain further awareness into multicultural competent methods of working with ethnic and racial minorities. The current research addressed the issue of ethnic and racial minorities’ utilization of counseling services in a university setting... ...nd racial minorities, an increased amount of attention should be focused on normalizing counseling for ethnic and racial minority students. In doing so the stigma of counseling may be decreased and increased usage of services might occur. Upon review of the current literature concerning multicultural counseling, it has become evident that a competent counselor is an individual both aware of his culture, and dually aware of his client’s cultural point of view. In order to be a counselor who is competent in his craft, an understanding of other cultures must first be accomplished, and integrated as part of a counseling modality that is both flexible and able to accommodate client concerns in whatever manner they manifest. This incorporation is crucial in becoming a more culturally aware and sensitive counselor, and is a component worth integrating into practice.

Anatomy And Physiology Of The Affected System

The powerful heart muscle requires a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood to nourish it. The coronary arteries provide the heart with this critical circulatory 24/7 blood supply. Without adequate and consistent blood, the heart becomes starved of oxygen and vital nutrients it requires to work properly and efficiently.   Coronary artery disease or Atherosclerosis occurs when the arteries become clogged and narrowed, restricting blood flow to the heart. (Heart Attack, 2006)   â€Å"The main myocardial infarction causal effects under investigation include blood pressure, hypertension, the use of antihypertensive and/or cardiovascular medication and angina pectoris.† (Caroline B. Ameling et al. 2002, p. 307)Pathology Of The DiseaseThe arteries leading to the heart become narrow and blood cannot flow consistently and evenly. Fatty matter, calcium, proteins and inflammatory cells build up within the arteries to form plaques of different sizes and irregular shapes. The plaque dep osits are hard on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside.When the plaque's deposits harden, the outer shell cracks (plaque rupture) and platelets (disc-shaped particles in the blood that aid clotting) arrive at the heart area, and blood clots form around the plaque. When the blood clot completely blocks or inhibits the artery, the heart muscle and tissue is rapidly depleted of oxygen. Within a short time, damage of the heart muscle cells occurs, causing permanent impairment. The end result, in medical terms is a myocardial infarction (MI), or heart attack.   â€Å"While it is unusual, a heart attack can also be caused by a spasm of a coronary artery. During coronary spasm, the coronary arteries restrict or spasm on and off, reducing blood supply to the heart muscle (ischemia).† (Heart Attack, 2006)Current Treatment OptionsImmediate treatment options include supplemental oxygen therapy, however it is the only form of treatment that improves survival in hypoxemic patien ts, no clear relationship exists between improved survival and reduction in pulmonary vascular resistance with oxygen therapy. (Susan Wilansky et al. 2002, p. 629)   Individuals with angina or chronic chest pains can take nitroglycerin pills to cause the pain to disappear. Because angina patients often have chest pains, the key heart attack symptoms may be lightheadedness, sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath, in addition to chest pain. (Christopher Wanjek, 2003, p. 242)For long term treatment at a hospital, individuals are taken to the cardiac catheterization lab where a doctor will evaluate the coronary arteries to determine whether angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft surgery is appropriate.Patient EducationThe traditional approach to patient education interventions requires a health educator to meet with patients individually or to provide lectures. Some educational approaches appear to be cost-effective has shown that education programs emphasizing self-management of one's health and prevention strategies are effective in increasing patients' self-efficacy and health status. â€Å"Therefore it appears important to measure any changes in self-efficacy and helplessness that may result from either education and/or social support interventions. Such measures make it possible to evaluate the sense of control over health decisions and outcomes that has been associated with health status and health care costs.† (Terry A. Cronan et al. 2000, p. 455)Community referral sourcesAmerican College of Cardiology, 9111 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD   20814-699 Phone:   1-800-253-4636, extension 694WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease 818 18th Street, N.W. Suite 230 Washington, DC   20006 Phone:   (202) 728-7199American Heart Association (AHA)   7272 Greenville Avenue Dallas, TX   75231 Phone:   1-800-AHA-USA1 (1-800-242-8721) Web Address:   http://www.americanheart.orgPreventionTension and anxiety were foun d to be good predictors of disease and mortality even when other risk factors were controlled. More recently, it has been prospectively shown that earlier measures of anxiety were significantly related to the development of atherosclerosis disease. (Stanley Chin et al. 2004, p. 63)Preventive life choice behavior modification includes stop smoking, controlling cholesterol through a healthy diet, managing blood pressure with exercise, relaxing and reducing stress by managing depression and anger.Reference(s)Caroline B. Ameling, Hendriek C. Boshuizen, Augustinus E.M. De Hollander, Hanneke Kruize, Brigit A.M. Staatsen, Elise E.M.M. Van Kempen, 2002, The Association between Noise Exposure and Blood Pressure and Ischemic Heart Disease: A Meta-Analysis. Journal Title: Environmental Health Perspectives. Volume: 110. Issue: 3. Publication Year:. Page Number: 307+. COPYRIGHT 2002 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences;http://www.webmd.com/hw/heart_disease/tx2300-ConRes.asp   He art Attack and Unstable Angina Retrieved December 28, 2006Jiang He, Gail T. Louis, Paul K. Whelton, 2003, Lifestyle Modification for the Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension. Publisher: Marcel Dekker. Place of Publication: New York. Page Number: 278.Susan Wilansky, James T. Willerson, 2002, Heart Disease in Women. Publisher: Churchill Livingstone. Place of Publication: New York. Page Number: 629.Christopher Wanjek, 2003, Bad Medicine: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Distance Healing to Vitamin O. Publisher: Wiley. Place of Publication: New York. Page Number: 242.Terry A. Cronan, Erik J. Groessl, 2000, A Cost Analysis of Self-Management Programs for People with Chronic Illness Journal Title: American Journal of Community Psychology. Volume: 28. Issue: 4. Page Number: 455. COPYRIGHT 2000 Plenum Publishing Corporation;

Chocolate Research Paper Essay

Chocolate is a key ingredient in many foods such as milk shakes, candy bars, cookies and cereals. It is ranked as one of the most favourite flavours in North America and Europe. Despite its popularity most people do not know the unique origin of this popular treat. Chocolate is a product that requires complex procedures to produce. The process involves harvesting cocoa, refining coca to cocoa beans, and shipping the cocoa beans to the manufacturing factory for cleaning, coaching and grinding. These cocoa beans will then be imported or exported to other countries and be transformed into different types of chocolate products. Cocoa beans grow in countries like Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Malaysia, but the highest cocoa producing country is Cote d’Ivoire. The production process of cocoa beans include: first, cocoa is harvested manually. The seed pods of cocoa are collected and the beans are selected and placed in piles. These cocoa beans are then ready to be shipped to the manufacturer for production. Cocoa grows in pods that sprout off the trunks and branches of cocoa trees. The pods have the shape and almost the size of football. The pods start out green and turn orange when they are ripe. When the pods are ripe they are harvested gently with machetes. Machines can damage the trees or the clusters of flowers and pods that grow on the trunk, so workers have to harvest the pods by hand, using short, hooked blades mounted on long poles to reach the highest fruit. The cocoa seeds then undergo a process of fermentation by placing them in large, shallow, heated trays or by covering them with large banana leaves. If the climate is right, they may be simply heated by the sun. Workers mostly women come along periodically and stir them up so that all of the beans come out equally fermented. This process may take up to five or eight days. After fermentation, the cocoa seeds are dried before they can be scooped into sacks and shipped to chocolate manufacturers. Farmers simply spread the fermented seeds on trays and leave them in the sun to dry. The drying process usually takes about a week and results in seeds becoming reduced to about half of their original weight. During the production process, labor is not equally divided between men and women who work in the planation; this brings us to the issue of gender division. The gender divide that exists on the cocoa plantation is that most farm work is conducted by men, although most certainly there are tasks where women are very active, such as scooping the beans from the already opened husks, turning the beans during the fermentation and drying process, and sewing the jute sacs needed for the packaging of the dried beans. Women in the farms normally tend to the needs of the family. When female labor is hired during the harvesting time the wages given to them are not the same as those for men. Perhaps another reason why men are preferred is because of their assumed higher productivity rate compared to that of women. Due to different practices followed in individual regions, even within countries, the participation of women and their assigned tasks vary enormously. For instance, because of the popular method of sun drying cocoa beans in Ecuador, it is necessary to â€Å"clean† the beans. This job is mostly undertaken by women. This is not the case in Ghana or Brazil where sun drying is accomplished while protecting the beans from foreign matters and waste. It is interesting to note however that there is no specific pattern for the assignment of tasks to women, except during the harvest when the scooping of the beans from the opened pods is primarily performed by women in most cocoa producing countries. Given the great differences in the systems of production in producing countries it is difficult to find a common percentage that reflects the average participation of the female work force. It is worth mentioning that unlike the coffee agricultural sector, there are no associations or specific groups that house ‘women only’ involved in the cocoa sector at any level, although all associations and cooperatives are open to all who qualify. Due to fluctuation of cocoa prices in the world market, farmers have no long-term security, and in some situations, they do not have enough funds to support their farming business. Cocoa farmers are always faced with financial hardship; they are not able to provide for their families as they would want nor have enough funds to start up their own farming business because they only receive a fraction of the proceeds from the selling of the beans on the world market and there are many people in the trading chain. Cocoa farmers around the world face many challenges. It is estimated that about one-third of global cocoa crops are destroyed by pests and diseases every year. Many cocoa farmers have limited access to the latest agricultural technologies or methods of cultivation and few of them have business backgrounds to help them effectively market their products and manage their operations. Many of the farming communities live in poverty and are infected with diseases. Industry groups, governments and consumers worldwide have raised concerns about the use of pesticides and child labor on West African cocoa farms. An interview conducted by Christophe Koffi showed that one major problem that women in cocoa production encounter is the lack the of financial capability or backing due to the fact that most of these women find themselves in a male dominated occupation. It is very difficult for them to secure financial aid or loans to manage their farms. For instance, â€Å"Women cannot inherit or even create a cocoa plantation under our patriarch-dominated tradition,† said Vanie, criticising what she called a â€Å"backwards and misogynist† practice† (Koffi, 2008) because we still live in a patriarchal dominated society where women do not have the right to own lands and properties. This paper further talks about the sustanability in the production process of cocoa. We will be looking at Lindt& Sprungli’s which is a family company and a major producer of chocolate and other cocoa products with a headquaters in Kilchberg, Switzerland. Lindt & Sprungli is one of the few chocolate makers that have complete control over every step of the production chain starting with the precise selection of the finest cocoa varieties from the best growing areas in the world right on through the careful and expert processing until ending with the elegant packaging. Lindt gets its cocoa beans mostly from Ghana and Central and South America. Lindt has been very conservative in the amount of energy its invests in the chocolate production process. Each existing and future facility and investment undergoes very detailed analysis to determine how much energy can be saved. Through better insulation and energy recovery, Lindt & Sprungli was able to cut down on energy consumption by more than 13% per ton produced between 2004 and 2010. The company intends to continue reducing the energy consumption rate per ton produced by an average over the coming years. According to the Lindt publication, The company’s efforts: since 1999, Lindt & Sprungli’s Swiss subsidiary, Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli (Schweiz) AG, has been an active member of the Lake Zurich Energy Model Group†¦The Swiss government and independent engineers have audited the progress and as a result, the Swiss subsidiary has been granted the official certificate. (Kilchberg, 2012) Since 2007, Lindt & Sprungli under water conservation has been participating in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)†¦Since then, the measurements of water emissions and energy consumption have been largely based on the concept of the ‘Methodology Fossil Fuels’ set out in the CDP Protocol†¦Waste water, Lindt & Sprungli continuously monitors and analyses the use of water and the output of wastewater in the production process and intends to further reduce the use of fresh water in this process, which, in turn will impact the output of wastewater (Kilchberg, 2012). The major people that benefit from cocoa production are mostly the big corporations. The corporations exploit cocoa farmers in the sense that they do not pay them the true worth of their labour. Women who work on the farms are underpaid and marginalized. There is also the issue of child labor where children of school going age are forced to work on the farms instead of going to school thereby denying them the right to education. The big corporations are not forth coming in releasing information as to how and where they get their cocoa beans from. Most of these African countries where these big corporations get their raw materials from do not have access to good roads, health care facilities, schools, electricity, and there is poverty in most of the communities. These big corporations buy the cocoa beans at a very cheap rate and then import them to the western society and the refined product is processed into different kinds of chocolates (e. g. chocolate drink, chocolate bars of different shapes and sizes and chocolate candies etc. ) . Which are sold consumers at exorbitant prices considering the price at which the cocoa beans are bought from the cocoa farmers. This explains how capitalism and big corporation exploit cheap labour. Almost everyone enjoys a bit of chocolate every now and again. But if you take a closer look at how cocoa is produced, it may well leave a bitter taste in your mouth. The conditions under which the cocoa farmers in many producer countries live and work are worrying: Despite the fact that cocoa is usually their main source of income, the families struggle to make a living from it. Child labour is not uncommon. As consumers we can work with NGOs to find means of helping the farmers to adapt to new systems of cocoa farming that result higher yields, under socially more acceptable and environmentally friendly conditions, to meet market demands and hence ensure a stable flow income. As a major part of the global cocoa industry which has remained inactive and invisible for so long, consumers of chocolate can demonstrate that they want slavery in the cocoa sector stamped out, and your pressure can highlight their lack of commitment and make them more accountable. Finally all cocoa products, including chocolate, run the risk of being tainted by child labour and slavery. To achieve a satisfactory standard of ethical production in chocolate consumers must help to ensure that companies commit to credible and sufficient actions against such things as use of child labour and the exploitation of cocoa farmers and not make false and unsustainable promises to consumers of being â€Å"slavery- free†. The consumers can liaise with government bodies and NGOs to negotiate fair prices for the purchase of cocoa products and this will in turn help the farmers to gain access to basic social amenities of life. Reference Page Archer, D. (2012). ADM’s commitment to sustainable cocoa. Milwaukee: Copyright 2012 Archer Daniels Midland Company . Clarkson, T. (1998). Anti-slavery. Retrieved November 15, 2012, from www. antislavery. org: http://www. antislavery. org/english/privacy_policy. aspx Kilchberg. (2012, April 22). The environment in the Production Process. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from www. Lindt. com: http://www. lindt. com/swf/eng/company/social-responsibility/lindts-sustainable-cocoa-supply-chain/ Koffi, C. (2008, November 7). Ivory Coast women defy taboos. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from iol News: http://www. iol. co. za/news/africa/ivory-coast-women-defy-taboos-1. 423405.

Biography of Annointed Gifts Essay

Annointed Gifts was established in September of 2006 by Rev. Dr. Johnnie E. Jordan Sr. Through Pastor Jordans’ vision he brought forth six anointed young men to spread the word of God through their musical talent of playing instruments, and their special talent of vocals. Minister Nelton Shorter Jr. (Jay-Jay) who is the minister of music at his home church Union Second Baptist been playing keyboard, singing gospel( songwriting) for over twenty years. Davell Davis (Ace) who is the minister of music at his home church Rising Star C.O.G.I.C. been playing keyboard and singing(songwriting) gospel for over fifteen years. Christopher Jordan has been playing drums, singing(songwriting ), for the lord under the leadership of his father and pastor of Greater Mt. Olive M.B.C. for over twentyfive years. Paul Washington plays lead guitar at Greater Mt. Olive M.B.C. and has been playing & singing(songwriting) Gospel for over thirty years. Clarence Trotter received his calling at an early age. He has been playing bass guitar & singing(songwriting) Gospel for over twenty years. Marvin Jordan began to get involved as an audio technician and sound check person at Greater Mt. Olive M.B.C. in 1986. He has over twenty years of experience in audio engineering In the short time that Annointed Gifts been together, they have been fortunate & blessed to perform with some of the big names of gospel quartet. They performed with The Williams Brothers, & The Mighty Clouds of Joy at The Detroit Opera House .They also performed out of state as well as all over the Michigan area with some of gospel greats such as Doc McKenzie & The Hi-Lites,The Pilgrim Jubilees,Keith Wonderboy Johnson, Dewayne Watkins former member of Canton Spirituals, Park Stewart former member of Commission, Darius Twyman , George Dean & The Gospel Four, Evelyne Turrtine’ Agee and even received great reviews from the Legendary Spanky. Annointed Gifts is truly a blessing from heaven abling them to pass on Gods’ message through song and praises.

Religion as a Tool of Control Essay

â€Å"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people† (Marx 260). This statement implies that religion is a powerful concept that encourages people to accept their conditions instead of revolting against their plight. Indeed in the wrong hands, it can be perverted to justify countless atrocities and so be used as a tool of oppression. In her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood portrays a dystopian society, a fictional republic called Gilead, whose rulers use the power of religion to validate their terrifying personal agenda. She satirizes the political system that uses faith to validate its mandate, and justify its more questionable laws. Clearly the use of religion for political purposes is one of the central themes of the novel; Atwood takes a set of fundamentalist religious beliefs followed by certain fringe elements in contemporary society and takes them to their logical end to highlight their true despotic nature. In Gilead, politics and religion go hand in hand. The Sons of Jacob use religion and psychological tactics to control the masses and bend them to their will. Consequently the republic makes extensive use of religious terminologies for example domestic servants are called â€Å"Marthas† referring to a domestic character in the bible, the soldiers are called â€Å"Angels† while the local police are the â€Å"Guardians of the Faith†. The ruling government officials are called the â€Å"Commanders of the Faithful†. Even the names of shopping stores have biblical references like All Flesh, Milk and Honey, Loaves and Fishes. The purpose of this extensive use of biblical language is to deceive the people of Gilead into believing that their rulers enact the will of God Himself. Moreover the government only adopts certain aspects of Christianity while it shuns those that it finds inconvenient. For example Aunt Lydia, a teacher to the handmaids, says â€Å"I’ve learned to do without a lot of things, you get too attached to this material world and forget spiritual values. You must cultivate poverty of spirit. Blessed are the meek. † (Atwood 110) at this point in the novel Offred notes that Aunt Lydia says nothing about inheriting the Earth. Thus the republic used religious justification to demand docile behavior from the handmaids. Therefore religion is used as a powerful political tool in Gilead. Women play a very limited role in Gilead’s society; biblical allusions are used to weaken their status. A Commander makes the following speech at the women’s prayvaganza. â€Å"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved by childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. â€Å"(273) Therefore, by drawing an interpretation from a single biblical story the role of women is limited to reproduction. Moreover, in order to prevent the women from getting libertarian, secular ideas mass censorship takes place in Gilead. The country is cut off from the outside world as it does not even allow international television to be broadcasted; Offred notes this while watching the television â€Å"Serena clicks the channel changer. Waves, colored zigzags, a garble of sound: it is the Montreal Satellite Station being blocked. â€Å"(101) Furthermore all books deemed heretical by the republic are burned and women are not allowed to read at all, the bible is kept under lock and key so that the Commanders can read out only those parts that are prescribed by the government. Offred’s commander reads out the following passage from the bible on the day of the monthly ceremony â€Å"Give me children, or else I die. Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Behold my maid Bilhah. She shall bear fruit upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. â€Å"(112) This biblical tale, narrated in the novel by the Commander, forms the basis of the concept of a handmaid which is why it is given special significance in Gilead and it is also another one of the archaic stories from the bible that are used to enforce highly questionable obligations on women. Thus the women of Gilead are subjugated by a warped version of Christianity. Religion is supposed to emancipate man. But The Handmaid’s Tale depicts a society in which it is used to shackle people, to brainwash them, to force them to conform to a lifestyle permitted by their government. Margaret Atwood compares the people living in Gilead’s repressive society to rats trapped in a maze, she points out â€Å"A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere as long as it stays in the maze†(363). In fact those that rebel to the established norms are dealt with harshly; they are punished at a seudo-religious ceremony called the Particicution, where they are lynched to death by a mob of women for false crimes they did not commit. Regarding this, the dissident handmaid, Ofglen remarks â€Å"He wasn’t a rapist at all, he was a political. He was one of ours. â€Å"(350) What this entails is that the society in the novel is highly autocratic and it does not allow the freedom of expression, in fact it uses fear to control its citizens and induce thei r piety, as Offred notes â€Å"We must look good from a distance: picturesque, like Dutch milkmaids on a wallpaper frieze. Soothing to the eye, the eyes, the Eyes, for that’s who this show is for. We’re off to the Prayvaganza to demonstrate how obedient and pious we are. † (266) This highlights the peoples’ inherent paranoia, the fear of being found unfaithful, that has been slowly cultivated into their hearts and minds. Truly the establishment defiles the true spirit of religion by going against its very essence: the spiritual liberation of mankind. The use of religion for political purposes is one of the central themes of the novel; Atwood takes a set of religious beliefs followed by certain fringe elements in contemporary society and takes them to their logical end to highlight their true despotic nature. In conclusion, Margaret Atwood portrays a horrifying alternate reality in which religious fundamentalists dominate and religion comes to dictate every aspect of human life. The topic of religion carries a lot of significance in the novel; in fact the novel serves as a warning against the extremist views held by many modern think tanks.

Customer Service Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Customer Service - Personal Statement Example Kimberley Palmer’s article about US News’ interview with Jon Yates may help understand the point of view of the customer when they call about a problem. Customers call the customer service department because they have a problem. They cannot do something themselves and they need help. That’s the main responsibility of the customer service representative, to provide assistance to the customer. Sometimes these callers may be angry or frustrated, sometimes they are soft-spoken but that doesn’t mean they are disappointed with the service they are getting. By reading the article of Palmer, customer service departments would understand better what customers wants the most: and that is simply to be heard and understood. Sometimes there are situations wherein customer service representatives cannot help them because of company policies, or sometimes the bug was just recently discovered and the company is just in the process of fixing it. Customer service representa tives may not always have the solutions to all their problems. And there are customers who accept that, given that they were able to feel that the representative was able to understand their need and made an effort to help them in any possible way they can. The article shows how important the role of a customer service representative is. He is the frontliner of the company. ... Also, the more customers want to reach the top of the corporate ladder just to complain about a scratch on their ordered phone, the more the customer service department and quality assurance department looks bad. Why? Because this means that they weren’t able to give the customer their needs. For the quality assurance department, that is to ensure that the products are of high quality and for the customer service department, that is to ensure that an exchange or refund will be given to the customer. If the customer calls the customer service department then goes directly to the CEO, that means they had a bad customer service experience. This means they didn’t get the customer service that the company is required to give their customers. The article is an eye-opener to the customer service department. It is important that they think about the customer’s welfare. If the customer service department is able to give the service that the customer needs, then there wonà ¢â‚¬â„¢t be any bad publicity or any threat to go elsewhere. As Yates advices that if you don’t get a good customer service representative then skip the customer call center and go straight to the top (Palmer, 2012). This advice just emphasizes the importance of good customer service representatives and their role in maintaining the good name and in keeping their customers. His advice to threaten to take a business elsewhere and follow through with it if the company does not respond also proves how important it is for customer service representatives to provide a good service to customers (Palmer, 2012). If the customer service representative fails to answer to the customer’s call or fail to explain to the customer why certain situations cannot be helped or fail to help the customer altogether,

An NFL Redskins Football Match Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An NFL Redskins Football Match Experience - Essay Example This descriptive essay portrays human expression from visiting a football match between Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, which took place in Arlington, United States.Author explaines the commencement of the match, and thousands of fans of both the teams, that could be seen outside the stadium in the form of a huge crowd. They were seen carrying the flags of the respective teams and wore colorful clothes. The live match experience, described in this essay is second to nothing in terms of companionship of the audiences, their unity and support for their respective teams, the adventure and thrill that every goal accompanies, and the memories that stay with the audiences for a lifetime. This essay also focuses on the fans, ways of representing their favourite teams wearing bright colorful dress shirts and ties like red, maroon, dark blue, and even yellow. The match was between Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. Accordingly, blue and red were the most prominent colors in the c rowd. The stadium was overcrowded with at least 40,000 audiences. A brief summary of the match also was given, especially the transition of the game from Dallas Cowboys to Washington Redskins and the effects on the crowd it caused. The atmosphere on the stadium was raised to the next level of thrill and excitement. In conclusion author outlines that, the experience of watching a football match on the television in no way compares to the experience of watching the team perform live in the stadium.

Public Health and the Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Health and the Law - Assignment Example Any person who tests positive to alcoholic or drug influence or intoxication and driving at the same time, such a person is incapable of driving safely is guilty of an offence which is liable for a sentence as well as a fine. Such offences may be converted to serious criminal charges that may attract long sentences such as life imprisonment. Furthermore, the laws also concern observance and respect for traffic signs. This includes traffic signs concerning turning, stopping, starting, changing of lanes, speed limits, among others. The federal and local states ensure that there are requisite gadgets to ensure that there is surveillance to enable law enforcers to effectively monitor road use. In Illinois, for example, the court may order suspension of driver’s license in the event the user does not follow traffic signs. Federal and local states furthermore ensure that all vehicles in use are adequately insured. This will ensure that passengers and other road users are protected. Furthermore, the insurance also covers maintenance of vehicles in case of damage. Besides, the rules cover the speed limits allowable in given areas, and the use of safety belts. Finally, the laws too cover the action or procedure to be followed in the event of an accident. For example, from 1st January 2013, the Illinois laws allow victims of an accident to remove vehicles from the main way if the accident did not result to an injury. This serves to reduce further accidents that may result from road blockage (Olson & Dewar, 2002). Road safety rules are administrative laws. This is because they involve formulation, enforcement and regulation. Furthermore, there is an agency or agencies, at local or federal levels that ensure that the laws are adhered to. In addition traffic laws are a branch of public laws whose concern is to ensure public road safety. These laws are closely related to public health services since they concern the wellbeing of the whole public while

Concept Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Concept Analysis - Coursework Example According to McEwin and Wills (2014), antecedents are the happenings that took place before the manifestation of the idea while the consequences are the effects of the concept. For instance, for holism to take place, there has to exist a real nurse-patient relationship founded on trust and understanding. The nurse also requires expertise, outstanding communication skills and knowledge. Additionally, a precursor to the concept of risk is the cognitive capability to differentiate between options. The aptitude for cognitive reasoning is an antecedent to the risk concept (Fawcett, 2005). If an individual cannot use cognitive reasoning, he or she is not capable of making a recognition or discernment about the probable harm to him or herself and other people. For instance, young children cannot interpret and analyze information in their surrounding that would be harmful to them or would put them in risk; therefore, they cannot know that touching an iron box after use will burn them. It is an adult in this case who has cognitive thinking to understand that the kid is in danger. In this case, cognitive reasoning is an antecedent to the concept of risk (McEwin & Wills, 2014). Townsend, L., & Scanlany, J. (2001). Self-efficacy related to student nurses in the clinical setting: A concept analysis. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 8(1). doi:10.2202/1548-923X.2223 Permalink to

Rights given to prison inmates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Rights given to prison inmates - Essay Example Also, prisoners cannot be discriminated against on the basis of their religion, national origin or sex . In addition, they have the right to pursue legal action if they feel prison administrators’ causes them harm and also to fair treatment whilst awaiting trial (Cornell University Law School). Also, prisoners have a right to be prosecuted for their crimes in a timely manner. Prisoners also have the right to free religion and speech but with some limitations in prison (Cornell University Law School). It must be noted that the courts generally tend to side with prison officials or administrators when going over issues prisoners’ rights in prison. There is no strict scrutiny on whether the prisoner’s living standards are as should be, rather a broader look at whether any constitutional rights are not being met (Cornell University Law School). To conclude, prisoners are afforded some basic rights while incarcerated. The rights given have gotten substantially better over the years. One right that should possibly be given to prisoners is some privacy as this is non-existent in prisons. Prison administrators do not face a much regulation in dealing with prisoners which needs regulated to promote protection of rights. References Cornell University Law School.

Employability and Consulting Skills - reflective report Essay

Employability and Consulting Skills - reflective report - Essay Example 6). If urgent feedback from the team members was required, I would have used face to face communication as it is more sufficient and effective. The second important step is to distribute the meeting agenda and the goals of the meeting in advance. As a team leader, I decided to come up with the meeting structure which will clearly stipulate the expected result from the meeting and ways that will be used to make the meeting more productive. Stating the goals of a meeting helps the individuals whom are expected to attend the meeting to know what is expected of them (Enduring Ideas: The 7-S Framework Podcast 2008, p. 8). This will be achieved by the team leader writing the agenda. The third step that a team leader should consider while planning for a meeting to own the meeting and keeping the meeting moving ahead. Productive meetings are as a result of good leadership. As the team leader taking control of the meeting and expressing my intention of making the meeting to keep on moving with successful, timely and with relevant discussions was important. The meeting leader should show the other team members that he values their time during the discussion. He can do this by making sure that there is a clock or a timer that is visible to all those engaged in the meeting (Cross et al 2006, p. 11). The leader should also ensure that the schedule is maintained by ensuring that the topic of discussion is well maintained. So as to get some constructive and positive inputs from the meeting, two way communications was important to me as it helped in raising honest inputs from every team member. Everyone was also given equal opportunity to express their views and to be heard. It was also important for me to avoid emphasizing on my view as this will prevent the group consensus. Failure to build up a group consensus can make the team

Vietnam War 19641975 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Vietnam War 19641975 - Essay Example The Viet Minh finally came to total power in 1975, after thirty four years of struggle and war, when they unified Vietnam as a single independent communist country after driving out the Americans and the French. France ruled almost all of Indochina from late 1800s and World War II. Many French colonists who built their own plantations on peasant land for own gain, experienced growing unrest among Vietnamese peasants. France reacted brutally by further decreasing freedom of speech and assembly by arresting protestors. However, these actions were unsuccessful and unrest continued to increase. Many revolutionaries escaped to China. In 1924, the Vietnamese started to organize under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. Minh created the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930. Throughout the 30s, Minh led Vietnam's growing independence movement from exile in the Soviet Union and China. However, a new enemy became involved. In 1940, Vietnam was invaded by Japan. The next year, Vietminh was formed under the guidance of Minh. Its goal was to gain independence from foreign rule. After Japan was defeated by Allies in 1945, Minh's goal seemed to be fulfilled. On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent nation. In 1956, a free elec... Thinking this could lead to trouble, South Vietnam's president Ngo Dinh Diem, a strong anti-Communist, refused to take part in the election. America thought Ho Chi Minh's popularity might result in a victory for him and also wanted the election to cancel. Eisenhower gave military aid to Diem for a stable reform government in the South. Diem, however, broke his promise. He crushed any opposition and distributed little land. Diem, a Catholic, also restricted Buddhist practices. Buddhist cleric were killed or imprisoned and temples destroyed. Many Buddhists protested by burning themselves to death. By 1957, a Communist rebel known as the Vietcong was organized. They attacked the Diem government by assassinating government officials. Supported by Minh, Vietcong received military arms via network of paths along borders of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia called the Ho Chi Minh Trail. South Vietnam becomes less stabled, but Eisenhower administration did almost nothing. John Kennedy entered the White House in 1961. Criticized for being "soft" on Communism, Kennedy sent more financial aid to Diem's regime and military advisers to train South Vietnamese troops. Meanwhile, Diem's popularity dropped significantly because of corruption and failure to respond to calls for land reform. (Ang, 311) To fight the Vietcong, Diem initiated the strategic hamlet program by moving all villagers to protected areas. Yet, many Vietnamese resented being moved from their home village. In 1950, the United States officially recognized the Saigon government, and to help out, President Truman sent troops over to train the South Vietnamese on how to use U.S. weapons while the French and North Vietnamese were building up their forces. In the spring of 1954, the North Vietnamese attacked a

Oedipus the King Essay Example for Free

Oedipus the King Essay Man is the marionette in the hands of destiny. It is the circumstances and fate which bring tragic incidents in his life. The Aristotelian tragedies are generally based on this attitude. According to Aristotle tragedy is the representation of action. Common meaning of tragedies is the poignant end of the play. Here we are going to discuss about the two different tragedies which took place in different era. The first tragedy is the tragedy of â€Å"King Oedipus† which happened approximately 2000 years before and the second tragedy is the tragedy which belongs to the modern era. It is Arthur Miller’s â€Å"Death of a Salesman. † They are different from each other but apart from a long gap of about 2000 years, but yet some resemblances are there in them. We are going to discuss on the resemblances and differentiations. Let us consider â€Å"King Oedipus† first According to the rule of Aristotelian plot â€Å"Oedipus the King† is divided into two different parts, one is simple plot and another is complex plot. In simple plot the changes in the fortune of King Oedipus take place without Peripety and discovery. It is a journey from ignorance to knowledge. He has to confront with the consequences of the miserable truth. At first he is not ready to accept the fact but at the end the circumstances compel him to accept the reality. The protagonist, along with the other characters, totally becomes helpless in the hands of destiny. He is a king but the qualities of normal human beings are present in him. The tragedy takes place because of the sin he has committed inadvertently. According to the opinion of Aristotelian tragedies the hero of the play is neither perfectly good nor entirely bad. Oedipus thus is the man of ordinary weaknesses. He has had all the eminence but here he has shown falling into ruin from this distinction and it is unfortunately not because of any deliberate sin but because of the error committed by him in his ignorance. Like the protagonist the other characters in this play are also good but not perfect. For example Laios, father of King Oedipus who is of course a good soul but still he commits a sin of attempting the murder of his son at the infant stage of his life because of the fear that his son would one day kill him. Laios had the feet of this child bound and pinned. Someone tossed it in a mountain wilderness. So there. Apollo didnt cause this boy to be his fathers killer. Laios didnt bear the terror he feared from his son. Thats what the words of prophecy defined. (Line 717, Scene 3, â€Å"Oedipus the King†) The theory of tragedy of Arthur Miller is based on the life of an ordinary man. Miller was rejected by many critics because his tragedy was not based upon the Aristotelian concept of tragedy where the tragic hero is always a king or a prince. On the contrary the hero is a common man and so according to the critics he is unable to arise the tragic sentiments. But it was the belief of Miller â€Å"that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were. On the face of it this ought to be obvious in the light of modern psychiatry, which bases its analysis upon classific formulations, such as the Oedipus and Orestes complexes, for instance, which were enacted by royal beings, but which apply to everyone in similar emotional situations. † (an essay by Arthur Miller, â€Å"Tragedy and the Common Man†) With the same viewpoint Arthur Miller has depicted the tragic story of a very simple ordinary man, Willy. Willy is an ordinary person by occupation as well as by nature. Not only Willy but rests of the characters are the exact mirror image of the ordinary man in the modern society who is constantly pursuing the materialist happiness. According to Miller it is not only the kings that can be the tragic heroes but the common man can also play the role of a tragic hero. As far as the issue of morality is concerned both plays are somewhat similar and somewhat reverse to each other. Morality plays a very important role in both of this play but still it defers from one another. Many people believe that Oedipus is an immoral person but it is not a premeditated immorality. Oedipus’ tragic fall, which later leads to tragedy was absolutely not his sin. He slays his biological father and marries to his biological mother. It is actually the height of immorality but at the time of committing this sin Oedipus was totally unaware about the reality. In short he is the immoral man by his predestined actions. The concept of morality is deliberate in Miller’s â€Å"Death of Salesman. † Here the hero of this play Willy Loman flouts all the rules of morality. He is charlatan, flirt and a liar. The lack of morality finds there in the Loman’s family itself. He goes on deceiving his wife by keeping illicit relationship with another woman. He goes on deceiving his son and wife by making his false image and by pretending to be an important person. They dont need me in New York. Im the New England man. Im vital in New England. (Act 1, Part 1, pg. 4, Death of Salesman) But it is an illusion. Pride is there in both Oedipus and Willy but pride of Oedipus is at least genuine unlike to that of Willy which is just a fake. The heroes of both of the plays have to pay a lot and both of them have suffered a lot due to the mistakes they have done either ignorantly or deliberately. Both Oedipus and Willy in the end succeed in getting the sympathy of the audience. I dont say hes a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. Hes not the finest character that ever lived. But hes a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. Hes not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person. (Act 1, Part 8, pg. 40) Apart from being an ordinary man Willy like Oedipus deserves the sympathy of the audience.