Monday, September 30, 2019

Relationship Issue

Conflicts between people who express outlooks of different epochs often happen in the society and there are lots of situations when even members of the same family who are supposed to be the closest with each other, support opposite visions of the world. However, misunderstanding can always be overcome and warm relations achieved as long as people put efforts into that. Flannery O’Connor’s book ‘Everything that Rises Must Converge’ deals with the relationship of a mother and her son and represents contradictions between them which arise from their different outlooks on reality in which they are living and shows how they are unable to overcome them. Julian is a recent college graduate who lives with his solicitous widowed mother who has put her whole life to raise him well and give him good education. The conflict of Julian with his mother starts because she has a vision of life which is completely different from his. Julian’s mother ‘‘†¦lived according to the laws of her own fantasy world outside of which he had never seen her set foot. ’’ She built that little world for herself, not realizing that times have changed and she needed to adjust to them. She couldn’t keep living in her little world forever and some time crisis was going to occur. Every time Julian made some remark about their present life and that it was different from what his mother had before, she only started remembering past times and past wealthy life which she used to have: â€Å"Your great-grandfather was a former governor of this state†¦ Your grandfather was a prosperous land-owner. Your grandmother was a Godhigh. † However, it’s impossible to blame her for that- she cannot change, those ideas are too firmly fixed in her mind and Julian should have accepted them but he doesn’t even try to that. No matter how much Julian tries to convince her that reality is completely different from those memories, she never wants to listen to him. However, instead of treating his mother with respect and letting her have some weaknesses like any other person, he gets mad at her all the time. Everything what his mother says agitates Julian and he is unable to talk to his mother without a feeling of frustration. Even though he takes her to a reducing class and listens to everything what she says, the feeling of irritation doesn’t leave him and he never feels at peace. His rude attitude towards everything what his mother says shows in most of the discussions in the novel. â€Å"Will you look around you,† he said tensely, â€Å"and see where you are now? † and he swept his arm jerkily out to indicate the neighborhood, which the growing darkness at least made less dingy. ’ Julian is mad at almost everything what his mother says. It becomes clear that as long as Julian and his mother have different views on things, they will never be able to communicate peacefully and they will always have arguments. What really saves them from stopping communication at all, is calmness of Julian’s mother and her trying to neglect unkind words which her son s ays. Even though they express different outlooks and despite any bad features she has, she does show concern about her son and she sincerely hopes for his happy future. Julian’s mother is certainly naive in that because there is hardly any future ahead of Julian but she believes in that like a child and she made sacrifices for him: â€Å"The law of [her life] was to sacrifice herself for him after she had first created the necessity to do so by making a mess of things†¦ All of her life had been a struggle to act like a Chestny and to give him everything she thought a Chestny ought to have without the goods a Chestny ought to have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  One of the main points on which Julian and his mother contradict are issues of racism. In Julian’s point of view, black people have a right to do everything just like white people. However, his mother doesn’t share his point of view because she was brought up in a different society and believes they are inferior. This is again the sign of her living in the past when she had a black nurse and whom she loved but considered her much lower than herself. This attitude can be best seen in the episode when Julian and his mother get on the bus. The bus is half-filled and when mother looks around, she sees only white people and becomes happy. She even says to the lady sitting next to her: â€Å"I see we have the bus to ourselves†. Julian couldn’t stand it when his mother said that and again felt shame for her words. She does her best to show her bad attitude towards black people and doesn’t consider them to be her equal. When a black man comes into the bus and another lady changes her seat to get away from him, Julian’s mother approves of that and thinks this is the way it should be done. The attitude of his mother makes Julian get thoughts of punishing her which show to us that he extremely cruel because a son cannot treat his mother like that. Julian thought â€Å"†¦he might make friends with some distinguished Negro professor or lawyer and bring him home to spend the evening† in order to make his mother feel miserable. He points to his mother that a black lady sitting in the bus has the same hat as she does and wants to make a point that black people can do everything just like white people, they are people of the same kind- but his mother doesn’t understand that. However, the worst lesson which she gets is when she wants to give a coin to the little black boy and suffers from that because the boy â€Å"†¦don't take nobody’s pennies! † and this painful moment leads to the end of the novel. In my opinion, it was possible for Julian and his mother to find ways to understand each other if the son at least put some efforts into that. Despite of all his mother’s faults, Julian should have been more patient with her and he realizes that in the end of the novel when he understands he has lost her. He is not a saint himself and since every human has weaknesses, he should have been more loving and kind with his mother because she gave birth to him and sacrificed many things for him. When he understands he remained alone, he realizes the whole horror of his situation- that he is completely lost in the world without his mother but there is nothing what he can change about that anymore, so the extent of his self-deception is fully confirmed.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Great Expectation Coursework

The first visit Pip had to Miss Havisham's house frightens and intimidates him ‘the passage were all dark, and that she had left a candle burning.' Dickens uses dark imagery to show a bit of clue to the audience the kind of person Miss Havisham is and it emphasises the dark side of Miss Havisham. This makes Pip scared because this is because this is different to where he came from, the house was huge. This shows how different his life is compared to Miss Havisham and Estella and how mysterious the house seems to him and us. Dickens creates a frightening atmosphere by describing the house in a really sinister way, ‘grass was growing in every crevice.' Dickens has portrayed the house as being uncared for because it tells and shows us that Miss Havisham hasn't cared for herself so if she can't do that, she obviously won't care for her house. It shows how mysterious scary and Miss Havisham is. Dickens describes Pip as ‘half afraid' towards Miss Havisham and the house. This shows how the reader understands his trepidation. Pip's social background is much lower compared to Miss Havisham and Estella, his mum and dad are dead, and he lives with his sister and her husband Joe, who is a blacksmith. His sister is worried and afraid Pip will follow in the footstep of her husband and wants him to achieve ‘great expectations'. Pip comes from a poor and low status background, so seeing a house like Miss Havisham's has different feelings, he feels amazed but at the same time worried. ‘This was very uncomfortable, and I was half afraid.' Estella treats Pip in a very controlling and rude way. She makes him feel useless and shows him how lower class he is compared to her. She treats him like a dog, always controlling what he does and always saying stuff about how he looks. ‘He is a common labouring boy, and what coarse hand he has.' This makes Pip start to see who he really is and he begins to worry about how he looks, because before he didn't really consider himself inferior. Pip also tried to be nice to Estella but every time he tried she never seemed to care or notice. ‘After you miss' to this she returned ‘don't be ridiculous boy, I am not going in.' This is done by Dickens to tell the audience that throughout the novel Pip will go through some adventure and Estella treatment towards him was one of them. It was the beginning. The house would really intimidate Pip because the Satis House compared to his house is like a palace ‘the great front entrance had two chains across it outside.' Also all of the riches he sees ‘jewels sparkled on her neck.' This shows a different side of Pip because of his reaction and also to describe what exactly was inside the house and to describe the opposite of Pip's life. The entrance to the house was mysteriously dark. Pip has also never seen such wealth before, so his expectations changes after his first visit. He becomes ashamed of himself, his background and Joe. When Pip first sees Miss Havisham, his reactions are stunned and shocked. Dickens also writes that he feels Miss Havisham is ‘the strangest lady, he has or will ever see.' The impression given to the reader is that he is scared and full of anticipation. This shows how odd the house is and how Miss Havisham is a contrast to Pip's life. When Miss Havisham speaks to Pip, she asks him lots of strange questions which makes her seem impatient ‘call Estella, she repeated, flashing a look at me. You can do that, call Estella at the door.' She speaks to him like he is a servant, always giving him instructions like she owns him or has power over him. ‘Call Estella, you can do that.' She also moves her hand around a lot, which makes her appear really arrogant and bossy. ‘With an impatient movement of the fingers of her right hand.' Pip felt very nervous and anxious before he entered Miss Havisham's room. Dickens describes him as being ‘half afraid' and he is scared of the dark. Dickens also presents Pip as being very small and scared. This is to emphasise the strangeness of the house and how Pip is out of place. Dickens uses imagery to describe Miss Havisham as dying or dead, he also describes her as a skeleton, ‘had shrunk to skin and bone.' The symbolism used is of a dead person. ‘Skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked at me.' Dickens has done this to make the reader shocked because he wants us to feel disgusted and disturbed, and also to infer that she is half dead because of her emotional state. The effect of Miss Havisham's treatment on Pip is that he starts to notice who he really is ‘I began to consider them a very different pair, her contempt for me was so strong, that it become infectious and I caught it.' He also begins to feel ashamed of his social life and he sees the differences between himself and Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham also becomes bossy towards Pip and starts to control him using imperatives ‘play, play, play!' This would make Pip feel useless, insulted and ashamed of his family and probably wished he had a higher status like Miss Havisham and Estella. Estella's treatment towards Pip would affect him by making him feel depressed and make him think that Estella has power over him. Pip feels very strange towards Estella. He is in love with her but she doesn't seem to care. She talks to him like a 5 year old boy. ‘Don't be ridiculous boy.' This will make Pip feel like he is the servant while Estella is the master. Estella tries really hard to put Pip down and it usually works. ‘Her contempt for me was so strong, that it became infectious and I caught it.' It was like Estella had a disease and that has been given to Pip. She also calls him names ‘a stupid, clumsy, labouring boy.' At this point of the story, I think Pip feels ashamed of his family especially Joe. To Pip, Estella was his angel of light, his star. ‘Her light came along the dark passage like a star.' So without Estella, Pip can't see, he's nothing. However, like a star, Estella is cold, hard and out of reach. In the story each of the characters are controlled by one and another. Miss Havisham controls Estella and Estella controls Pip. She wants to get revenge on a male because of what happened with her ex. So she's using Estella to get revenge ‘well? You can break his heart.' Estella is controlling Pip because of Miss Havisham also because she is ‘self – possessed' and too full of herself. Pip is a pawn in their little games. The immediate effects on Pip of his first visit are that he begins to see the differences between himself, Estella and Miss Havisham. ‘I took the opportunity of being alone in the court – yard to look at my coarse hands and my common boots.' He believes what he has been told by Estella and starts to call himself he exact words. He begins to believe he really is not worth it. This has a long term effects in the novel because he becomes a complete different character who looks down at other people, just like Estella and Miss Havisham. Dickens did this to tell the reader that money can change people's character and no matter how much you have there is still a place in your heart that remembers who you were before. The long term effect on Pip of his first visit, are that he starts to become ashamed of his family especially Joe. ‘I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too.' He also starts to hope that he doesn't end up as a blacksmith like Joe. As the time goes on he becomes a snob. Dickens is showing the negative effects of money/elevation in status. The Satis House is like the opposite of Pip's life. He lives in a small house and the Satis House is like a palace, compared to his. It can be seen as a symbol for changing Pip's personality, background and his heart. Also it changes his behaviour from being nice, to becoming a rude boy and full of himself, just like Estella. Pip's visit to the house, is very important because throughout is childhood he had never really had much fun and also his family hope that he can gain an higher status by going to the Satis House. But for his sister she's hoping by Pip going there he may become wealthy one day and they/she would have a better life. So everything Miss Havisham instructs him to do, he has to obey her ‘with the fear of my sister's working me before my eyes, I had a desperate idea of starting round the room in the assumed character of Mr Pumblechook's chaise – cart.' In the novel Dickens is trying to say that no matter how wealthy you are or how nice you are money can change people. He is trying to tell us that the low social class people (Pip's family) were provoked by the amount of wealth they saw, and that intimidated them to want to be rich and rise in status. The reader's opinion of the effect of Satis House on Pip's future, is that if he didn't go to the house, he would be a different character, a different person. So it's the sister's fault for most of the way Pip has changed, but also Miss Havisham and Estella's fault because if he didn't meet them, he wouldn't be rude or have knew about so much wealth. He would be happy the way he was. The whole of the novel hinges that Pip will obviously become a snob and that Pip and Estella might not really get together at first but anything could happen after that.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) - Essay Example The group activities declined in 2006 and 2007 after various measures to counter terrorism. However, after the withdrawal of the US forces in 2011 the group has since increased its attacks targeting the Shiites in an attempt to reignite conflict in Iraq between the Shiite dominated government and the minority Sunnis. According to the report of United Nations, in 2013 alone, there was bloodshed on thousands of the population. In 2012, ISIS was adopted as the formal name of the group and replaced AQI. This is an expression of its broadest ambition because its fighters are challenging the Assad regime in neighboring Syria. In June 2014, attacked military installations in Mosul and took control of the entire city. ISIS or the Islamic state is an extremist movement that makes even Al-Qaeda squeamish. It attracts militants who are eager to build the new caliphate from all over the world. The ISIS army is a mixture of extremists from different parts of the universe including Chechen snipers, Saudi Arabia’s car bombers and western misfits like Douglas McAuthur McCain who has signed to fight among them. The group has kidnapped and murdered American journalists, butchered over seven hundred Sheets in Syria, and threaten the existence of Iraq’s Yazidi community. They employ the vicious Hudud punishments in enforcing sharia laws in the areas they control in Iraq and Syria. The Jihadist group is also known as the â€Å"Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant† (ISIL) and controls an unrecognized sate and caliphate in the Middle East. ISIS originated from the almost fallen Al-Qaeda. The Al-Qaeda who embarked on the arbitrary and brutal treatment of civilians tried to ignite a sectarian war to the majority Shia community in 2006 under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.  

Friday, September 27, 2019

Research Paper on Human Resource Diversity Essay

Research Paper on Human Resource Diversity - Essay Example Managing such a large workforce is difficult, and when there are different cultures involved it becomes even more difficult. XEROX operates in almost all continents. It is present in America, Asia, Australia and Africa. The people from different continents are faced with different culture and within these continents there are different countries having different culture. Even within countries there are different areas with different cultures. This makes the task of human resource management team of XEROX extremely complicated. The message given by the Human Resource Management team to the people working in organization is to treat everyone with dignity and respect. Even if the employees are from different cultures and background they should always treat the other employees with dignity and respect. XEROX also tackles the issue of diversity in the organization through a well thought out recruitment and selection program (Xerox, 1997). Even on its official website, XEROX promotes diver sity in the organization and has spelled out diversity statement for its employees. In which they are told to respect different cultures and people. This is how XEROX tries to maintain its reputation as a diversity-promoting organization. It is also one reason why the business has grown so much and expanded in all parts of the world. If the company had been unable to create an atmosphere where the diversity is respected, the country could not have grown beyond certain regions. But since XEROX has grown and is present almost in all countries of world we can say that XEROX is an organization where diversity is respected and every employee regardless of his culture or background is treated with dignity. This is a big achievement for a firm and lesson for other organizations on management diversity within the organization. (Ethikospublication, 2010) WALMART: Wal-Mart was started in 1962. Now it is present in 15 diverse countries. Walmart is another organization with the diverse the empl oyee base. Wal-Mart is a chain of large discount stores which is dominating the retail sector all over the world. The business model use by Wal-Mart is still a mystery for its competitors and no organization has even come close in giving stiff competition to the organization. As a result, Wal-Mart is going forward without any hurdles. Wal-Mart has a strong human resource policy. It is present on the list of â€Å"best places to work in† and is considered one of the most admired organizations. Last year alone, Walmart has increased the number of minority members working in Walmart store from 13109 to 16237. It has also presented itself as an equal opportunity employer and has increased women employees from 23,873 to 25,246. (Walmart Stores, 1997) Walmart focuses on the policy of giving important to its employees regardless of their culture and background. They promote this by giving opportunities to its workers to talk. They do not call people working in the organization as â €Å"employees† instead they use the work â€Å"associates† for them. Walmart is also trying to treat its employees with dignity and respect by opening up leadership positions and programmes for the members of minority groups and race and women. Walmart considered it as a part of their business and strategy to respect and promote diversity in the organization. As a result, it is more focused on the career development of its associates who are from diverse or different cultures. Apart

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Germany's Holocaust Memorial Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Germany's Holocaust Memorial - Term Paper Example (BBC News). One of the controversies that dog the memorial is the criticism that it exclusively commemorates only the extermination of Jews, disregarding the countless other victims of Nazi oppression, including homosexuals and gypsies. A later monument to Nazi homosexual victims stands opposite the Jewish memorial. The visitors’ information center constructed under the stele is a compromise against the criticism that the entire implications of Holocaust and its history are not appropriately represented by the public sculpture aboveground. The information center ensures that the memorial combines the aims of memory and pedagogy. The accusation of unjust exclusivity also dogs the United States’ Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. in the context of the absence of national memorials to the victims of slavery or the genocide of the Indians. While the unmatched horror of the Holocaust cannot be denied, I believe that slavery and the massacre of the Indians are ethnic events which require commemoration in the nation of their occurrence. In my opinion, memorials to such atrocities serve a vital need in society. They are not just contemporary symbols of regret for the horrors of the past, but serve as documentations of history, and living gate-keepers to the conscience of the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Darwins Rib Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Darwins Rib - Essay Example Science follows a series of research by scientists while the bible summarizes the story of creation. The theory needs people to believe (Root-Bernstein 1). The bible has two ways of explaining how the creation story theory came about. One is that, God makes things to appear and the other one is God works through his chosen ways. He created Adam and removed one of his ribs to create Eve though they committed sin by eating the forbidden fruit. Creationism should not be taught as a science lesson because the theory does not have the series of evidence like evolution. Additionally, creationism involves a super natural being and science does not approve its existence. Several unanswered questions appear in the story of creation. For example, creation answers the origin of God while evolution answers all questions through research (Root-Bernstein 1). The two theories are respectable. The theory of evolution by Darwin gives enough evidence and challenges the creation theory. His research findings prove a point that humans have evolved. However, the creation theory makes a lot of sense because religion is about believing in the unseen God who affects our lives. His work is also

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Oultline 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Oultline 2 - Essay Example transformers as coolants and lubricants, also used as hydraulic fluids, dyes and carbon-less copy paper ink. When PCBs are released into the atmosphere, they can be ingested through inhaling, eating contaminated food and also drinking contaminated water. This usually occurs because the substances (Polychlorinated biphenyls) stay suspended in the atmosphere and may take a lot time to be cleared off. A person can also be exposed to these chemicals through using or even being at close proximity to old equipments that makes use of PCBs e.g. transformers, fluorescent tubes capacitors and other appliances. Air containing above 42% of chlorine PCB or more than 1microgaram of air for a 10-hour workday, 40-hour workweek is not recommended to breath by NIOSH. Requirements by the EPA is that the companies producing this chemicals should store, transport and dispose of this chemicals following the rules and regulations of the Federal Hazardous Waste Management Program and also limits the amount PCBs used in waste water treatment. Chromium have different oxidation states, one of them is +6 and thus the name hexavalent chromium. It is manufactured industrially. Hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI) is are many side effects which include: causes cancer, it also affects the kidney, skin, liver, respiratory system and even eyes. It is estimated that about 558000 workers from different occupations in the United States of America are exposed to hexavalent chromium. Employees are expose to Cr(VI) by inhaling dust, mist or fumes containing this chemical, ingestion or even eye contact with fluids that have this chemical. Exposure to hexa chrome can be very harmful to the skin and the eyes. Direct contact with the skin can lead to susceptible response known as dermatitis. When an anaphylaxis has developed, even concise skin contact can bring about manifestations. Direct skin contact can also bring about an infection referred to as chrome ulcers which small wounds on the skin

Monday, September 23, 2019

Control Mechanisms Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Control Mechanisms Paper - Essay Example Positive reactions accelerate the productivity of organizations. Positive reactions comprise of an increase in motivation among a company’s workforce, an addition in innovation and invention among employees, instill beliefs and values that build the company and an increase in output among others. (Conway, Andrew 42) On the hand, negative reactions are meant to decrease the output of an organization (Scott, John, 1971). The reduction is usually a previous level of productivity that might have been offset and increased to add the productivity of a company. The reduction in output decisions arise when a company’s productivity goes out of hand and becomes difficult to manage. Negative interpretation of a control mechanism by employees may be perceived as lack of independence. Negative control mechanisms that isolate some employees from others may demotivate the employees neglected by the mechanism. For example, a mechanism that separates subordinate staff from the senior staff may demoralize the subordinates and result to low productivity (Scott 21). Negative reactions are contrary to the positive ones as they decrease productivity of a company. Along with a decrease in productivity is a fall in motivation among employees and decrease levels of innovation. Set objectives of a company may als o have to be

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Statistical Analysis Math Speech or Presentation

Statistical Analysis Math - Speech or Presentation Example The entire student population of the US has been divided into state/territories as different strata. Samples are then obtained from each stratum. The advantages of this technique are: This structure and design of the frequency table was chosen because it makes it easier to analyze data using tools such as Microsoft Excel and SPSS. It is also simple to extract data from or to do cross tabulations. As you can see the measures of central tendency: mean, mode and median have been easily calculated using MS-Excel. The section in Table 1 written #N/A shows no mode / multimodal data. From chart 2 we can conclude that Grade 12 students had the highest percentage mean of those who rarely or never wore a seat belt when riding in a car driven by someone else. This is different from Chart 3 below which shows us that Grade 9 had the highest percentage median of the same data. This implies that the data has extreme values. From charts above and below looking at the samples for gender we see we have a skewed distribution. We can see long right-tails which implies positive skewness. A normal distribution is symmetric and has a skewness value of 0. The standard deviation is a measure of dispersion around the mean. In our case the standard deviation is very high when compared to the mean, 9.066 for Male data and 9.575 for Female data. This means that our data has a very wide spread from the centre. a. Parameters are numbers that are used to describe characteristics of an entire population while statistics are numbers that describe characteristics derived from a sample that has been drawn from a larger population.   The standard deviation is a measure of dispersion around the mean. It is the positive square root of the variance. Range is the difference between the highest and lowest values in a sample or population. The inter-quartile range is got from the difference between the 3rd and 1st quartiles of the sample/population data. b.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Management of technology Essay Example for Free

Management of technology Essay Explain the term â€Å"Technofact. † How can it be used to define Technology, and Management of Technology? Explain the value and advantage of the term Technofact, compared to other definitions and common agreement about technology. Explain the weaknesses, missing elements, and contradictions in this term. Technofact is a reproducible object created by humans. By reproducible I refer to any product (tangible or virtual) of which the intention of its human creator was to make more of exactly the same, using the same methodology. Once weve defined technofact, we are able to focus the term technology around this entity, and to define it as the capability of creating technofacts (or the human capability of creating reproducible objects). Technology is not the technical object itself but rather the capability of creating it over on over again. Other fields of science concentrate on understanding and gathering knowledge around the entity that is in the center of the science in question while the technology â€Å"science† is a capability, which is more than merely an understanding. On top of the knowledge gathered, the term encapsulates the creation itself, the know-how. The different aspects of the means to establish that capability ought to be coordinated and managed, thus, management of technology can only be defined if we separate the term technology from the objects, the technofacts, as one can not manage objects. Most of the traditional definitions of the term technology are either inaccurate or too broad. Inaccurate when the definition refer to objects (tools, products) as the technology itself. Too broad when the definition refer to any human activity (van Wyk), which might include forms of art that can not be considered as a technology. Another broad approach can be found in definitions that consider any nature manipulation as a technology (is navigation by stars a technology? ). There are three cases in which I find difficulty with the term technofact as the central entity that technology deals with: 1. When the product has an inherited random element: Consider a computer program that creates random melodies (or drawings) pleasant to the human ear (or eye), based on some mathematical rules. The program itself is obviously a virtual technofact, but are the new melodies or drawings created by it can also be considered technofacts? Obviously, they are being created over and over again using the same technology, but each time the program produces something different. 2. When the product is a natural object or resource: For example in agriculture. Carrots cannot be considered technofacts, but there is obviously a technology to grow carrots. The tools which are used in the process (a plow or a combine) are technofacts, which farmers use to produce the crop itself, but they are not the reproducible product the technology deals with. Another examples can be mining technologies. The end product is the extracted material, which can not be considered a technofact. 3. When the product is an action: For example, the capability to lift heavy weights. A crane is a technofact, but it is not the reproducible object this specific technology enable to reproduce. The reproducible object in this case is not an object but rather an action. What is a â€Å"Technology-Based Organization†? Give an example for a TBO and non-TBO. Can a company be a TBO for a limited time? Explain and give an example. A technology based organization is an organization that uses technology to create economic value or to create a competitive business advantage over other competing organizations. The organization can be continuously pursuing technological improvements, manufacturing technofacts or both. This kind of an organization will be perpetually considered a TBO. On the other hand a non-TBO organization can become one for a limited time, if it incorporates a new technology to improve its processes, thus creating an advantage over its competitors. During the process of assimilating the technology and the time that takes other players to use the same technology, a non-TBO organization can be considered a TBO, as it creates economic value using technology. Consider an imaginary traditional dairy that used to produce milk in the old milking fashion, using the farmers hands and a big nice bucket. At some point the farmer decided to acquire a milking machine from his engineer friend that had recently established a milking equipment factory using his own inventions. The farmer installed the machine in his farm and taught his kid how to use it, so he can peacefully retire. During the next couple of years, the farmers kid gained an advantage over his neighbor farmers, bought more cows, made a small fortune and established a new dairy company (which he called after his dad). Few years later, after all the other farmers had done the same, the farmers kid decided to install digital thermometers in the dairy (acquired from the very same milking equipment factory), and became the leading milk provider to the entire region, with the reputation of having the freshest milk around. Again, achieving an economic advantage using new technology. This dairy had become a TBO for short periods of time during its existence, while the milking equipment factory that had invented and manufactured the machinery was a TBO throughout the years. Explain the term â€Å"White Spaces† in the context of technological innovation. How could this term be used in an organization to help planning and decision making about innovation? White spaces are the two optional gaps between technologies and applications. The first gap exists when there is a need in the market but no solution to match it. The second gap takes place when there is a technology out there that has the capability to produce a technofact that no one knows what to do with. A technofact that did not yet find the â€Å"ultimate product† it enables (where theres a way but there is no â€Å"will†). Innovative organization can either fill up the first gap by pursuing new technologies to match the unanswered market needs, or they can focus their efforts around understanding the potential of existing technologies and to use them to develop new groundbreaking applications. Outlines the dangers and risks associated with rapid technological development to society and individuals. Are you pessimistic or optimistic about it? What can and should we do as a society and as individuals to benefit from technology and avoid the risks. The dangers and risks that rapid emerging technologies incorporate can come in many ways, shapes and forms according to the technology domain. From the lose of privacy through health jeopardizing, moral issues and mass destruction weapons, they all have one thing in common – the rate of the technology adoption and development has become faster than the rate of the ability to comprehensively understanding its implications. Successful technologies are spreading swiftly, acquiring life of their own and â€Å"forcing† people to use them in order to survive in the modern society. Even if a certain individual decides to rebel and not to use a specific technology directly, it still might change the environment this person lives in, to affect and endanger im just the same (e. g. cellular phones). The lose of freedom inflicted by some technologies is a big price of its own that society and individuals have to pay. History tells us that panic from new technologies had always existed, and we are probably experiencing the same unjustified fear of the unknown that the car inflicted on society a hundred years ago. But the problem with history is that it can only explain the past, while the present is unlike anything humanity imagined before. I dont believe that governmental regulations aiming to restrain technology can work in the long run, but in order to control at least some of the risks, governments should cooperate globally on some issues to regulate technologies similar to the way new medicines and drugs are treated. As individuals, we must take responsibility for our health and moral values, to deal with it at all times among ourselves, to be aware of the risks we are taking and not to become blind addicts for anything new. Still, Im pessimistic as for the capability of mankind to do that and overcome its basic selfish nature.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Societal Views on Sports and Gender Essays -- Health Fitness

Societal Views on Sports and Gender Sports have become a major part of American culture and society. It is ingrained in us as a small child that playing a sport is almost necessary. In elementary school we take physical education where we are exposed to competitive sport. But even at this level it is our genders that control which types of sports are deemed "appropriate." Since women started to become involved in sports, there have always been those who have opposed them being there. We saw an example of this in the movie Girl Fight. By allowing a woman to partake in a sport, in this case boxing, that is typically viewed as male oriented in caused society to alter its views. This created many problems though. People do not want to see woman is a fighting role. It is thought to be unladylike and too rough. Because fighting is masculine, seeing a woman in that role changes gender roles in her community. Though it is clear that the Diana can handle herself in this movie. Her culture and society does not want to see her in a strong way. She faces many obstacles in order to show that she does belong where she is. In this movie she is victorious because it is her skills and determination that win out in the end, not her gender. Both in Girl Fight and in Pumping Iron 2 the question of what is feminine and what should a woman look and act like is brought up. In Girl Fight, the idea of a female boxer is deemed not feminine. Diana is told that she is wrong for being interested in male sports. Also, her sexuality is questioned. People call her a dyke and other derogatory terms because they do not believe that she could possibly be a "normal girl". By questioning her sexuality they are saying too her that she is not allowed to be ... ...g to their sexuality. Even though the football team is horrible and the cheerleaders are national champions. It is the fact that these male cheerleaders are involved in a feminine sport that makes them subject to ridicule. There are positive things that can happen as a result of people playing sports not traditionally thought to be okay for their gender though. By having people in these roles it breaks down barriers between men and women in society. There are always going to be those that resist this, but in general people become more excepting of one another. At least that is the hope. Diana, Bev, and the others were either portraying or being, in Bev's case, pioneers in their sports field. But the fact that they got to compete at all shows us that our society has come a long way. Yet, the obstacles that they faced, shows us that we still have a long way to go. Societal Views on Sports and Gender Essays -- Health Fitness Societal Views on Sports and Gender Sports have become a major part of American culture and society. It is ingrained in us as a small child that playing a sport is almost necessary. In elementary school we take physical education where we are exposed to competitive sport. But even at this level it is our genders that control which types of sports are deemed "appropriate." Since women started to become involved in sports, there have always been those who have opposed them being there. We saw an example of this in the movie Girl Fight. By allowing a woman to partake in a sport, in this case boxing, that is typically viewed as male oriented in caused society to alter its views. This created many problems though. People do not want to see woman is a fighting role. It is thought to be unladylike and too rough. Because fighting is masculine, seeing a woman in that role changes gender roles in her community. Though it is clear that the Diana can handle herself in this movie. Her culture and society does not want to see her in a strong way. She faces many obstacles in order to show that she does belong where she is. In this movie she is victorious because it is her skills and determination that win out in the end, not her gender. Both in Girl Fight and in Pumping Iron 2 the question of what is feminine and what should a woman look and act like is brought up. In Girl Fight, the idea of a female boxer is deemed not feminine. Diana is told that she is wrong for being interested in male sports. Also, her sexuality is questioned. People call her a dyke and other derogatory terms because they do not believe that she could possibly be a "normal girl". By questioning her sexuality they are saying too her that she is not allowed to be ... ...g to their sexuality. Even though the football team is horrible and the cheerleaders are national champions. It is the fact that these male cheerleaders are involved in a feminine sport that makes them subject to ridicule. There are positive things that can happen as a result of people playing sports not traditionally thought to be okay for their gender though. By having people in these roles it breaks down barriers between men and women in society. There are always going to be those that resist this, but in general people become more excepting of one another. At least that is the hope. Diana, Bev, and the others were either portraying or being, in Bev's case, pioneers in their sports field. But the fact that they got to compete at all shows us that our society has come a long way. Yet, the obstacles that they faced, shows us that we still have a long way to go.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Essay --

Podcast Paper: Troubled Asset Relief Program Name: Institution: The Global Financial Crisis and Troubled Asset Relief Program In 2008 the global economy experienced its worst economic turmoil in 2008 since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The effects of the crisis started to show in mid 2007 and by September 2008, the situation was out of hand. The world stock market had plummeted, huge financial institutions had collapsed and the government in the developed economies had put in place measures to rescue their economies from disintegrating. The first clear indicator of the crisis was in 2007 when the high prices of homes in the United States nose-dived and there were massive defaults on mortgages. The US financial sector soon started trembling and before long the world’s financial markets were in tatters. The US financial sector was the main casualty and the effects were felt by many businesses and people that rely on credit. The auto industry was on its knees with a number of players in the industry filing for bankruptcy; indeed, they only stayed afloat through government bailouts. Indeed, every se ctor of the global economy felt the stinging impact of the crisis with the US bearing the blunt effects. Even though massive fiscal and monetary policies prevented the US economy from collapsing, recovery has been very slow. The government policies were not applauded by many Americans who believed that the government was bailing out the same institutions responsible for the crisis. Among the government programs initiated during the recession was the Troubled Asset Relief Program. It was created by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to address the biting financial crisis that was at its peak in September 2008. The trea... ... captured by the interests of Wall Street that usually do not serve the welfare of the American people. In fact he pointed out that no single presidential candidate had the willpower to streamline the operations of the financial systems. However, he states that since there are Members of Congress, who severed relations for the sake of the economy and its people, the same people can be the driving force towards meaningful reforms. The American people should never be subjected to such humiliation by a few large financial institutions that have the material resources to influence the decision makers in the economy. In fact, if political will as well as proper legislation and regulation existed, the American people would have reaped optimum returns from the bailout program. Equity stake at the collapsing huge banks would have given the taxpayer greater returns.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Tenant :: essays research papers

Seneca Falls. This topic in my opinion closely relates to Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. In 1848, around the same time this novel was published the Seneca Falls women's rights convention took place in the United States. They fought for the woman’s right to vote and overall equality. It was like men and women lived in different worlds they had to obey different rules and standards. Men basically had little rule, while women were very oppressed. They couldn’t make decisions and own property. Bronte certainly flipped the script with this novel showing the empowered female through her protagonist Helen Graham. Helen Graham is a young woman who changes her identity when she flees from her alcoholic husband who's been leading a life of corruption. She enters this nosy town who finds her new face to be quite interesting. Her new neighbor, Gilbert Markham, is terribly fascinated with Helen. At one point I felt that he could be deemed a stalker because she would not give him the time of day and he still persisted. Eventually Helen gives him her diary which pours out the confessions of her previously disastrous life and gives way to hope for a new future and helps both Gilbert and the reader understand the pain of this troubled woman. Helen passionately challenging ideas such as the extreme sheltering of girls, and the extreme exposure of boys, to the harshness of the world. We especially see this when Gilbert Markham argues with Helen over the differential treatment of boys and girls and the implied outcomes. Helen's protective treatment of her son Arthur sparks reaction in Gilbert. Gilbert's response to this is to say that â€Å"†¦and by such means ... you will never render him virtuous†. His outlook is that based on the society in order to prepare boys to be men it is necessary for them to be exposed to the dangers of the world as a means of developing a strong moral character. It is a double standard for females by the view that girls and women must be protected from the harsh realities of the world in order to protect them from moral distress or tainting. It is this contradiction that Helen addresses, challenging the importance of exposure to use as a strengthening of moral character, and the valu e of keeping girls in complete ignorance of the world's vice to prevent their corruption.

Monday, September 16, 2019

China trade performances and policies

Consumption Behavior China is the world's largest car market. By the end of 2012 the number of motor icicles reached 109. 4 million in China. China produced 19. 3 million cars in 2012. China is the world's largest mobile phone market, with over 1. 1 billion subscribers at the end of 2012. China is the second largest luxury goods market in the world, after Japan, and China is the second largest market for cinema, after the US. Between 1949 and 1979, a total of 280,000 Chinese traveled abroad. In 2012, 83 million Chinese citizens made Journeys abroad. Household consumption as a percentage of GAP is among the lowest of any major economy, at around 34% in 2011, which remained nearly unchanged since 2006.Introduction on China Trade Policies China foreign trade in the past year The trade history of China is Important for how it has affected global production and earnings in poor and rich countries. Many analysts view China ‘s recent dominance primarily as the result of the post-1978 reforms. The overall economic system after 1949 was modeled after the Soviet Union, and raised savings from the rural sector in order to benefit industrial production. Foreign trade was generally conducted by state enterprises that had limited incentives to operate efficiently because their position was not contested by competition. The verbal regime adopted by China was geared towards self-sufficiency and import substitution, which as such was not atypical for a relatively poor country during this period.Never the less, China ‘s own trade regime together with the trade liberalizing of the GATE member countries meant that China's role in the world trade shrank after 1949. While before World War II China Accounted for around 2% of the world's imports plus exports, estimates suggest that China's share had fallen by the asses to around 1 . 7% and by the asses to around 0. 7%. The quantitative information on China's foreign during the period 1949-1979 is very emitted and it corres ponds to the small net gains that China was expecting to reap from participation in world trade. Foreign trade data of China was collected, as in most other countries, in the process of administrating trade taxes through customs.China's share in world trade did not change much between 1970 and 1978, while after 1978 China ‘s share increased substantially, consistent with a trade liberalizing impact of the 1978 reforms. Other breakpoints occurred around 1990 and around 2000, and in each case the rate at which China gains in terms of the world trades eave increased, with China ‘s rate of rate of trade growth increasing overall during this period. Between 1978 and 1990, trade growth is 7. 5%, between 1990 and 2000 it comes to 13. 5%, and between 2000 and 2007 it is 16. 2%. An important event that strengthened China ‘s foreign trade ties further is it accession to the World Trade Organization.China foreign trade today On December from 2001, China became the 43rd member country of the World Trade Organization after 16 years of negotiations. To honor its commitments upon entry into the WTFO, China expanded its opening-up in the fields of industry, agriculture and the services trade, and accelerated trade and investment facilitation and liberalizing. Meanwhile, the state deepened the reform of its foreign trade administrative intervention, rationalized government responsibilities in foreign trade administration, made government behavior more open, more impartial and more transparent, and promoted the development of an open economy to a new stage. Expediting improvements to the legal system for foreign economic relations and trade.After its entry into the WTFO, China reviewed over 2,300 laws and regulations, and departmental rules. Those that did not accord with WTFO rules and China's commitments upon entry into the WTFO were abolished or revised. Administrative licensing procedures are reduced and regulated in the revised laws and regulations, and a legal system of trade promotion and remedy has been established and improved. In accordance with the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) administered by the WTFO, China revised its laws and regulations and Judicial interpretations related to intellectual property rights, and thereby constructed a complete legal system that conforms to China's actual notations and international practices.Taking further measures to lower tariffs and reduce non-tariff measures. During the transitional period following China's entry into the WTFO, the general level of China's import tariffs was lowered from 15. 3% in 2001 to 9. 9% in 2005. By January 2005, the majority of China's tariff reduction commitments had been fulfilled; China had removed non-tariff barriers, including quota, licensing and designated bidding, measures concerning 424 tariff lines, and only retained licensing administration over imports that are controlled for the sake of public safety and th e environment in line tit international conventions and WTFO rules. By 2010 China's overall tariff level had dropped to 9. 8% – 15. % in the case of agricultural products and 8. 9% in the case of industrial products. Since 2005, China has completely maintained its bound tariff rate.

Topshop Marketing Plan

Market OverviewTarget market: The Topshop Corporation focus on the customers of young people, who is between 15 and 30 years old, especially for young females who likes to pubbing, clubbing and have a sense of fun. For this moment, our consumer market niche is not the higher income level but the young people on budget. Customer profile:Our customer profile is young people driven by a need to be fashionable and trendy, they like all trend setting magazines. Our brand also appears to students, professionals, fashion taste makers and high profile A-List stars alike. Competitor profile:The main competitors includes H&M, Zara, French Connection and GAP. These companies are all retailer corporations, which has international business and online retail stores, and larger market shares in fashion retail market comparing with Topshop.Marketing ObjectivesGoals . The objectives can be divided into two parts. Firstly, the Topshop Corporation is focusing on the international business, the recent o bjective is built more than 100 stores all over the world in less than five years to raise the awareness of the brand. Secondly, in order to increase the sales, the Topshop corporation decides to expand their market targeting level, raising the brand position, promoting the cooperation with famous international fashion designer, the objective is to build a international fashion brand with different position of sales.Marketing StrategyYour strategy and marketing mix: [Use this section to summarize the overall strategy and marketing mix (The 8 P’s Product: The Topshop corporation will not change fashion clothing as its main product, but more accessories will be promoted to the market,Place and Timeï ¼Å¡ Price Promotion Process Physical Environment PeopleProductivity and Quality you will use to position yourself within the market to meet your customers’ needs. Whatever your strategy, you goal should be to differentiate yourself from your competitors to encourage customer s to choose your business first.]Action Steps Top 10 Action Steps: [Create a list of the Top 10 action steps that will bring your theoretical objectives (your marketing strategy and objectives) to life. E.g. Finish S.W.O.T. Activity Sheet, complete marketing budget] Background AnalysisThe background analysis should give a snapshot of where you are right now, where you have been and where you want to go. Undertaking this process will help you to define your business's capabilities and find opportunities within your particular market. Finally, defining your core business elements will ensure that your marketing plan and overall business strategy work together seamlessly.Business overview [The overview should cover the nuts and bolts of your business including:The name, structure and date of establishment Topshop is a British multinational retailer which specializes in fashion clothing, shoes, make-up and accessories. It was established in Sheffield, UK, in 1964. Details about the owne rs (their names, roles and levels of experience etc.) What your business is about (your business mission, vision and values) The key business objectives you would like to achieveAn outline of the main products and services sold A financial analysis of your business including sales and profitability A S.W.O.T. analysis of your business to set a line in the sand]SWOT analysisThe strength of the Topshop Corporation is that the owner of Topshop is the  Arcadia Group, which can provide favorable management and strong financial support for its subsidiary company. Moreover, the Topshop brand has take a large market share in the British mainland, the influence of the brand is deep among British people, and it has more than 300 stores nationwide and provides many different kinds of choices in product lines and design variety of products with thousands of looks per season creatively.The weakness of the Topman Corporation is their international market, the company is global, but it has store s only in a few countries worldwide, the market share is poor in US and China which are the two biggest markets in the world. A large number of staff and products make it difficult to manage and increase the management costs. And, big store space lead to weak customer services. On web shopping, there is no detail and size for accessorizes.The opportunity for the Topshop Corporation is the potential market in the oversea market. There are lots of young people in China and US, and they have great purchasing power, which is a good opportunity for Topshop to invest. And compared with other fashion retailers, it is not just targeting at young people, but also white-collared workers and a part of mid-aged persons who follow the latest fashion.The threats are from the competitors like Zara, H&M and French Collection. Like Topshop, they are all fashion clothing retailers, the competitors may have lower market shares in Britain than Topshop, but their sales are mostly from the overseas marke t, and their brands have been accepted by the local people. If Topshop want to expand the oversea market, it is necessary to show its unique features and improve quality and retain low price and good design, and face some limitations from government policies and to know about the cultural and demands of the local environment as soon as possibleObjectives: Vision and mission:The Topshop Corporation is an international fashion retailer, it has over 440 shops all over the world, more than 300 in Britain, which takes more than  50%. For the recent years, the British economy was not very good, so the sell in the mainland was below average. In the age of rapid globalization, technological innovation, population boom, and environmental change, the need of international marketing are pressing. From the topshop international segmentations, we can get the point that the international market has not been fully developed.US, the biggest economic entity in the world, only have four topshop sto res, and the second biggest economic entity, China, only have one. This market shares is not enough in these two countries. Take Zara as an example, we can know the importance to expand an oversea market. The Zara Corporation is a Spanish clothing and accessories retailer, very similarly with Topshop, but Zara opened more than 150 stores in China, almost every big cities in china, and Zara corporation’s sales grew with an amazing speed, and became the leader in the fashion clothing industry.The first goal is named â€Å"explore the new world†, which means the Topshop Corporation is aimed at developing the oversea marketing, especially China and US. The plan for the company is to open 50 stores in China and 40 stores in US in the next five years.The second goal is named â€Å"the social network†, the point is aimed at e-commence. In China, E-commerce is becoming more and more popular nowadays, in the date of 11 NOV and 12 DEC every year, there will be a large dis count online, on those date the sales will be more than 35 billion RMBs, the number is really amazing. The topshop has already had their online stores, and also have international business online, but only takes small shares. Our plan for the company is to build a world level website in different countries, and develop overseas online market.StrategyThere are some steps to finish the strategy, firstly, the advisement.For the customers in China and US, they may not very familiar with the new brand, so a good promotion is very important for Topshop. In the advertisement, we should emphasis our brand is designed for local people, for example, in China, we should highlight that the fashion clothing are designed for the eastern people, and integrated with some local culture cooperate with some famous designers to promote the new product.To open the Chinese market, the first thing our brand needs is to publish Production Promotion Release Conference in the biggest cities in China like Bei jing or Shanghai, and open the first store in the central zone of these cities. In the summer of 2013, US famous fashion retailer brand Hollister open the first store in Salitun, Beijing, which is the popular commercial district in China, and release a fantastic fashion model performance, after that the sales of the store was growing very fast. This movement raised the awareness of the brand and gained more popularity among young people, the topshop may learn a lesson from it.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Curriculum packages,proposals or prescriptions? Advantages and Disadvantages Essay

This exposition will explore some of the major benefits of an adaptive approach to curriculum implementation in Zimbabwe, as a pose to an adoptive approach, namely increased professional autonomy and creative freedom for teachers, relevance to learner demographics and a wholesome learning experience. Considerations will also be made of the constraints of such an approach, chiefly the issue of resource intensity, accountability and control. It will also outline the applicability of an adoptive approach, in Zimbabwe’s examination oriented educational system, where homogeneity of delivery at the peripheral level is of essence. A curriculum provides the framework for how and when to teach what. McKimm (2007) suggests, the curriculum defines learning outcomes, timetables, content, appropriate teaching methods and assessment instruments. Materials such as teacher’s guides, recommended text books and syllabi for each subject all form part of the curriculum package. In the Zimbabwean context, the curriculum package is arranged by the centre, called the Central Curriculum Development Unit (CDU). The CDU prepares and distributes the curriculum package to the various provinces via the district office to the schools. Taking the curriculum as a proposal is like using it as a prop on the stage, it’s a mere accessory, and it accentuates the core theme of the story. It gives the setting while the actual script is in the hands of the director and cast who are the teacher and the learners respectively. In this case, modifications can be made to suit the geographical and social location of the learners. While a prescriptive approach implies the curriculum package is a script which is to be aped word for word and gesture by gesture, mimicking the demands of the examination. A prescription enforces rules about how a subject should be taught as such the teacher is like a drill sergeant implementing objectives in finite timeframes. To begin with, Ndawi and Maravanyika (2011), â€Å"argue that education and human experiences are too wide and too complex to be reduced down to specifiable and measurable objectives.† From this tenet, one can contend that when a curriculum package is used as a recommendation rather than dogma the teacher can regard every exchange as an opportunity for learning to occur, even when tacitly expressed in the curriculum package. Using this approach, the teacher is limited neither by explicit goals nor by resources, which are sometimes in short supply in resettlement schools, but rather empowered to incorporate innovative tactics, rich creativity and a wholesome range of experiences into his instruction. The product is a well-rounded and adaptable member of the wider society. By contrast having a prescribed curriculum, with exacted and measurable goals, unambiguous methods, specified teaching aids and finite timeframes, is a motivating factor for teachers in the Zimbabwean context where incentives inspire those whose pupils attain a certain level of academic prowess, measured strictly through structured examinations. Thus, it can be said that the system rewards homogeneity more than heterogeneity. What Lawton (1980) terms ‘†¦teacher’s legitimate desire for professional autonomy†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ has been motivated by the pronouncement by the Zimbabwean ministry of education to develop the standard of the teaching fraternity by awarding degreed teachers with job security and a disparate pay scale from that of their diploma holder counterparts. This trend of empowerment and upward mobility can sustain a proposal based approach, which requires highly trained and resourceful teachers. To this end, it is advantageous to approach the curriculum package as a suggested plan of action or recommendation, as it fulfills the teacher’s need to express his ingenuity and self actualise. On the contrary, this adaptive approach can be resource intensive. It takes expertise to enforce variations in curriculum delivery, and training this highly skilled manpower may not be financially feasible for the ministry of education. Where teachers are minimally trained or untrained as in the case of temporary teachers in Zimbabwe, the prescriptive slant tends to be enormously helpful as it defines exactly what to teach, when to teach it and how it should be taught. Textbooks and teacher’s guide explicitly state procedure. The Indian National Council of Educational Research and Training (2006) asserts, â€Å"†¦diversity of languages, social customs, manners, mores and uneven economic development, the needs and demands of individuals and society will have differential pulls on the school curriculum, varying from one region to the other.† Similarly, in Zimbabwe an adaptive approach can cater for the range of abilities, tribal nuances and economic strata found in any school community or classroom. In this light, the teacher is given room to improvise using locally available material, from the community’s culture and landscape, to suit learner demographics, thus the learning experience becomes socially relevant, meaningful and learners gain a sense of ownership of their education. Adversely, Lawton (1980), in this statement, â€Å"†¦secondary-modern-school curricula, often lacked structure and purpose†, alludes to the unconstructiveness, that can be generated by a laissez-faire approach to curriculum interpretation, where teachers have extensive flexibility to manipulate their instruction to suit the demographics of their community rather than the universal values which may be tested at Grade 7, O’ Level and A’ Level examinations. The prescriptive approach to curriculum implementation satisfies theâ€Å"†¦political need for some kind of system of accountability†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lawton (1980), as in the Zimbabwean case where there are considerably more state funded rural day schools than there are independent ones. When the prescriptive approach is unequivocally applied, teachers can account for their time and the resources the state has invested in the system by way of mid and end of term and final examinations, whereas, hybrid varieties of curriculum are more complex to control, monitor and assess. Delivery problems can be easily diagnosed and corrected. Again, variations may tend to be too localized, producing a breed of learners with limited regional or international marketability in this era of globalization and the information boom. In a subject like science and mathematics there is not much scope for local variations and the adoption of common textbooks in all parts of the country is feasible. Eunitah et al (2013) imply that, in developing socialist educational contexts like Zimbabwe, it is premature to do away with centrally prescribed curricula in order to accomplish uniformity in the provision of education. This uniformity means, all students in Zimbabwe use standardized learning material and receive a standard educational experience. When a student transfers from a rural to an urban school, as is the trend in developing countries, he has the assurance of continuity. Thus, the prescriptive approach to curriculum implementation achieves meritocracy and functionality. Moreover, the Zimbabwean curriculum pays more attention to acquired skills that can be measured; it is largely objectives oriented, in that learning outcomes are evaluated through summative examinations, from time to time. To this end, a prescriptive approach is more effective, as it provides exact standards and expectations of the learner while limiting deviations which may otherwise be of no relevance to the learner, come examination time. Lawton (1980) points out the love-hate relationship teachers may have with the examination system, though meritocratic and fair it can extend so far into the classroom that it stifles independent thinking, self-discovery, curiosity and creativity, which form part of wholesome learning. It can be concluded that while taking the curriculum package as a proposal, encourages a broader range of experiences and an expansive exercise of potentialities in learners due to its adaptability to various geographical and economic circumstances as is found in Zimbabwe. The prescriptive approach is equally beneficial and perhaps more applicable to Zimbabwe because of the nature of the education system which is examination oriented.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Kogi&Earth Essay

View the film about the Kogi. Briefly describe their religion and how it is interrelated in everything they do. What is a mama? Describe the mamas and their religion using anthropological concepts related to religion. What is their prediction for the world? What kind of evidence are they using to support their prediction? The Kogi are a descendant tribe from the Tairona culture, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. They live in a mountain range that literally has its own ecosystem. To them it is a smaller version of the whole world where every climate is possible. They are an isolated tribe that feel it is their job to keep the heart of Aluna beating to help out the Young Brother. They are very dissatisfied about the way that Young Brother is exploiting, devastating, and plunder Aluna, or Great Mother. To the Kogi, there were 9 worlds made from water. The last one which is inhabited by humanity, or Aluna’s children. Their Kankurua, or hut, is designed like the nine worlds. They are made up of rings that circle to the top, with the top one being the apex of Aluna. (http://www.crystalinks.com/kogi.html) The Mama’s, or spiritual leaders, share the tribes history and religion through word of mouth. For the first nine years of a Mama’s life, they are kept in a cave in total darkness to learn the secrets of Aluna. (http://www.labyrinthina.com/kogi.htm). The mother of the Mama will come in to feed the child, but they are usually left in absolute isolation, so when the emerge into the light, they may see the beauty that Aluna has shown them. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urMcofvcMAU) The Kogi are an indigenous tribe that walk around barefoot to keep in contact with Aluna. They aren’t hunter/gathers, they are an agricultural tribe that plants beans, corn, cotton, and gourds. The only food supply they gather is fish. The Kogi are worried about the world and have a dire prediction for the fate of the planet, because Young Brother is cutting Mother up. They are looting her for her resources which is killing her. The evidence to supporting this is that the tundra, which once used to be green is now brown. http://www.crystalinks.com/kogi.html http://www.labyrinthina.com/kogi.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urMcofvcMAU

Friday, September 13, 2019

Building Information Modeling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Building Information Modeling - Essay Example In addition, BIM considers mistakes that would be made in making estimates for building materials, making it a valid process in the building and construction industry throughout the world. In Building and construction sectors, BIM refers to the digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of structures. In designing a BIM plan, factors such as increase in prices of materials which can inhibit the construction process management. This explains why BIM continues to be a thorough process in the construction sector. Making out estimates of building materials owes to factors such as in prices of materials or having uncertainties in making estimates. However, BIM enables companies avoid such problems as making out estimates by drawing plans, which include provisions, in case there are any constraints encountered during construction. BIM builds a digital format which appears as if it is being made physically. Currently, the UK government advocates for the use of BIM in delivering cost effective solutions in delivery of infrastructure across all sectors, including Telecommunication companies. However, in spite of this advocacy by the UK government, mobile telecommunication companies do not think it a requirement. ... The company has business units, â€Å"which provide infrastructure, transportation services† such as Turnkey- a program involving surveying/site acquisition, design, body and wealth management of client network infrastructure, to UK mobile telecommunication companies, in particular 02, Vodafone, and Orange. Vodafone is a global mobile telecommunication with headquarters in the UK. It is also the largest global telecommunications company basing on its revenues, and the world’s second largest after china mobile. 02 on the other hand, is UK’s leading mobile handset provider and broadband, offering the best phone, sim only and broad band deals. Orange is the fifth telecommunication company in the world, also found in the UK, but with proper headquarters in France. The three telecommunication companies, namely; orange, Vodafone and 02, are clients to GallifordTry Buildinmg and Construction Company. According to GallifordTry, Telecommunication companies do not show int erest in the BIM process, yet it is cost effective in service delivery. On this note, Galliford, as a partner institution believes that it can affect the implementation of BIM in telecommunication companies. 2. Hypothesis Galliford can affect the implementation of BIM among Telecommunication sectors in the UK and gain a competitive advantage over other sectors in the UK government The theorem above is being needed to be checked alongside the following objectives; (a) To identify reasons why Telecommunication sectors such as 02, Vodafone and Orange do not take BIM as a prerequisite, in spite of it being an endorsement of the UK government (b)To determine whether, among the Telecommunication companies, are some outstanding individuals who would like to take part in implementing BIM program (c)To determine the

Thursday, September 12, 2019

We are Seven(Lyrical Ballads) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

We are Seven(Lyrical Ballads) - Term Paper Example Wordsworth wrote the poem ‘we are seven’ at the age of 18 when he was going on a journey with his best companion Coleridge. ‘Wordsworth’s most deeply held conviction is his belief that the scope for poetry was often best provided by memory.’ As we also observe in this particular poem that the little girl that he talks about is actually someone he had met on his journey in a similar setting. As stated, ‘We Are Seven was inspired by a little girl he met in the area of Goodrich Castle.’ The poem comprises of sixteen four lined stanzas with the exception of the last stanza that consists of five lines. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAB. The poem is in the form of a conversation between a stranger and a little girl. The technique of writing the poem in a dialogue form enhances the beauty of the poem as it helps in retaining the interest of the reader, as he is curious about the end result of the conversation. The title of the poem hints about a sense of security that is related to the knowledge of having strong family bonding as observed from the word ‘We’. It has a tone of finality to it. The two letter word hold a lot of meaning as it also indicates the element of stubbornness and conviction of belief that nothing can change the reality i.e. we are seven. Number ‘seven’ can in itself be a reference to ‘Shakespeare’s seven stages’ of a man’s life as the readers later observes that this poem also draws a contrast between the perspective of life from the eyes of a child and an adult and shows the manner in which a person loses his idealism in order to grow up. The poem is basically about a conversation between a man and a little girl about her family and loved ones. The stranger inquires about her brothers and sisters and the girl replies that we are seven. This reply leads to the formation of the whole conversation that takes place in the poem.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

National Sports Day in Qatar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

National Sports Day in Qatar - Essay Example This way the students, employees and every person in Qatar have a chance to participate in sporting events and camps organized by the government. On its, introduction in 2012, CAN-Q did not see much use of the facilities meant for sporting. Both the student body and the staff did not turn up for the events and camps. This report is going to look into the reasons as to why people did not attend the events and camps, by conducting a pestle in addition to customer and competitor, analysis. Furthermore, the report will look at market research and problems faced, and how to resolve these problems by research. CAN-Q is among the oldest colleges in Qatar that provide high learning to the local residents since 2002. The college has a staff of over 650 personnel and a student body of 4600 students. The institution has excellent sporting facilities, which range from football, tennis and basketball courts to the fully equipped male and female gyms. There are two male and female swimming pools located in their respective gymnasiums. The pools have lifeguards who work round the clock, shower and locker room facilities, maintained in top condition. The target market for these facilities is the staff and students of CAN-Q. Both the staff and student are constantly encouraged to make use of these facilities to balance work and exercise and to keep fit and fresh to perform their roles even better. The service gets a fair amount of promotion through email, posters, and flyers and even through word of mouth among the students. Moreover, the service is free of charge to all the staff and students in addition to the alumni of CAN-Q. This is the section where one conducts an environmental analysis of the situation surrounding the sports day in CAN-Q. The result of this will bring a better understanding of the pros and cons around the college. The National sports day is a political initiative made by the ruler of Qatar.  

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

As chief accountant of Curtis you are required to write a report to Essay

As chief accountant of Curtis you are required to write a report to the Chairman - Essay Example A Comparison of financial year 2012 with the financial year of 2011 presents that fact that the volume of sales in the retail industry in UK increased by 2.7 percent. Changes in reported retail sales between August 2011 and August 2012 standard reporting periods (by size of business)       Pre-dominantly food Non-specialized pre-dominantly non-food Textile, clothing and footwear House-hold goods Other non-food Non-store retailing Pre-dominantly automotive fuel Total All Retailing including automotive fuel                               increase 107 32 138 72 375 64 23 811 All decrease 97 33 104 77 306 46 50 713    total 204 65 242 149 681 110 73 1524                               Large increase 66 32 110 42 158 30 n.a. 438 decrease 56 33 73 47 107 19 n.a. 335    total 122 65 183 89 265 49 n.a. 773 Small increase 41 n.a. 28 30 217 34 23 373 and decrease 41 n.a. 31 30 199 27 50 378 medium total 82 n.a. 59 60 416 61 73 751 [Ons.gov.uk (1999 ) Retail Sales: August, 2012] With respect to the food merchandise business, there were certain hardships that were faced by the retailer. During the year 2012, costs of both food items and fuel increased, particularly of fuel which resulted in an escalation in the manufacturing cost of the merchandise. Tate & Lyle Plc has in place an import team which constantly monitors the fluctuation in prices of cotton. For the purpose of reducing the cost of fuel, the retailers are now acquiring the help from the appropriate technology to manage the distribution in the most cost effective manner. In addition to that, retailers are now opting annual fixed price contracts. It is considered that the food industry is comparatively remaining consistent. However, it the prevailing market condition especially the low demand of food ingredient in EU countries significantly influence the market and brought the fluctuation the food market. The deterioration in macroeconomic environment as the result of existing financial crisis also negatively affects this sector. Additionally, the market is passing through from the bad time because the consumer and government are more focusing on the healthy lifestyle. A lot of advertisement is doing on the published media, social media to create awareness among consumers to adopt the healthy life style. The second main reason of downward trend of the food market is increase in the sugar prices and other various raw materials. The increase in the input material results in the high price of the end food products. The consumers are price conscious. The purchasing power of the consumer has been tightening due to low income. (b) As the companies being evaluated are situated in Hong Kong, the primary risk that the acquisition of any of these companies entails is that of the currency risk. Curtis Plc needs to have an adequate understanding of what these risks here and how they can be mitigated. The global operations of any multinational require it to a ctively participate in international trade which causes it to be exposed to a great deal of foreign exchange risks. These companies engages in international trade through foreign exchange forward contracts and options and cross currency swaps to hedge various currency exposures. These exposures primarily include assets, liabilities and bonds denominated in foreign currency. Effective financial management requires identification of

Monday, September 9, 2019

Composer Style report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Composer Style report - Essay Example To understand the bona fide class of this maestro, it is important to look at his background as to how he became the archetypal of the classical and romantic era. Ludwig Van Beethoven, of German Origin was born on December 17, 1770 in the home of Johann who was proficient teacher of violin, piano and voice. Teaching music was his bread and butter as he was a chapel master (Kapellmeister). Since his early age, Beethoven used to sing soprano in the very same electoral chapel where his father was the chapel master who taught Beethoven, violin and piano. Since 8 years of age, he studied with quite a lot of local organists, even received piano lessons from Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, where violinist like Franz Rovantini present him violin and viola lessons. Even though as a born artist, Beethoven’s musical brilliance was associated to that of Mozart’s, he never exceeded the elementary level in school education. In his teens in 1787, he went to Vienna for unknown reasons, but some say that he even met Mozart and took lessons from him. In a two weeks time when he came back his world suddenly changed for him as his mother died and his fa ther became a drunkard. Beethoven, at the age of 19, formally requested to be known as the head of the house and started receiving half of his fathers salary to support his siblings. Beethoven shifted to Vienna in 1792 where his father died in the very same year. His father died in December that same year. He studied with Haydn for a limited time as there was a personality clash. Beethoven then studied with the best known teacher in Vienna, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. With him he learned contrapuntal and counterpoint exercises in free writing, in two to four-part fugues, in imitation, choral fugues, double fugue, double counterpoint at the various intervals, canon and triple counterpoint.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

A report about marks & spencer food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6500 words

A report about marks & spencer food - Essay Example The competitive retail industry landscape has provided the company with the expertise to devise managerial strategies that help in retaining a healthy market share and ensure the return of customers to their stores. The company has improvised its strategies in tune with changing times and introduced new brands and divisions in the retail market segment. The food division is one of the launches that have earned the company a good deal of revenue over the years. The organization started its food division in the year 1931 when they introduced a food department to sell produced and canned food. This was followed by the introduction of cafà © bars providing cheap and hygienic food to the people shopping at their complex. The food division slowly expanded to include various cuisines catering to global tastes and changing habits. The food division of M&S has become a vital part of the retail store business contributing to nearly 51 percent of the total sales and revenues (M&S, 2009). Marks and Spencer was founded by Michael Marks and Tom Spencer in the 1880s as a partnership venture. The partnership was formed in the year 1894 and opened penny price stalls at various locations to attract customers by offering them goods at low price. Sir Stuart Rose is the present Chairman of the M&S group while the food division is headed by John Dixon. The company is currently a shareholding establishment The Marks and Spencer group is primarily involved in the retailing of clothes, food and home products. Clothing products include women’s wear, men’s wear, kids clothing and lingerie. Besides clothing the group also retails cosmetic products, household products, and host of other daily needs consumer goods. The clothing and household articles account for nearly 49 percent of the total revenues. The remaining 51 percent of the revenues come from the food division (M&S,

Saturday, September 7, 2019

PEST-C and marketing stratgy for Appl company Research Paper

PEST-C and marketing stratgy for Appl company - Research Paper Example In a video titled, â€Å"What makes Apple’s marketing Unique†, it emerges that Apple Company designs products with outstanding features (Integra Global Solutions, 2012). For example, when other companies conceived the possibility of developing desktops, Apple moved a step further and conceived the possibility of having a computer in the pocket. Currently, Apple’s MacBook Air is the thinnest computer in existence developed through an amazing product design and detail. Unlike other companies, Apple highlights only one outstanding feature of its products in its advertisements. Although the MacBook Air has remarkable functionality, the Apple Company utilized a unique marketing strategy and placed emphasis on the fact that the MacBook Air was the thinnest computer (OReilly, 2012). The focus on the most outstanding aspects makes Apple’s marketing unique, simple, and straightforward. The focus on a single aspect instead of numerous aspects sets a new standard for Apple product a factor that motivates potential consumers to buy the products. The video uploaded on YouTube by the Integra Global Solutions, who are experts in marketing reveals the uniqueness of Apple’s marketing strategies. Moreover, Apple Company has adopted digital marketing, which has created a buzz on the sleek design of the company’s products. Similar to its products, Apple’s online advertisements and its website focus on high levels of navigability making it easy to use for customers. Through digital marketing, the Apple Company has been able to interact with its customers and focus on highlighting the value added by its premium products. The company does not need to confuse its customers by highlighting numerous features in its advertisements (Montgomerie & Roscoe, 2013). On the contrary, its marketing strategies highlight one outstanding feature that should motivate and convince a customer that the Apple product is worth buying. Irrespective of

Literature Cape Essay Example for Free

Literature Cape Essay Many critics attempt to show how the disguise relate to the different parts, and/or different characters of the play. This story explores a cariety of themes and issues, however disguise, deceit, celebration and festivity are the major, more prominent ones. Although the play is a â€Å"silly play† said by Samuel Pepys, who saw the play on three occasions, many critics feel the play’s use of language used to deceive and the failure of characters to communicate properly and effectively and truthfully, made it confusing. The Twelfth Night (January 6th) is actually the Epiphany. During the Epiphany noble households sponsored numerous performances of plays, masques, banquets and kinds of activities. This story opens up to a man, Curio dressing for the plans of that night. While dressing, he confesses how he feels towards a woman named Olivia. Olivia, a well-to-do woman, wants little Analysis of Major Characters Viola Like most of Shakespeare’s heroines, Viola is a tremendously likable figure. She has no serious faults, and we can easily discount the peculiarity of her decision to dress as a man, since it sets the entire plot in motion. She is the character whose love seems the purest. The other characters’ passions are fickle: Orsino jumps from Olivia to Viola, Olivia jumps from Viola to Sebastian, and Sir Toby and Maria’s marriage seems more a matter of whim than an expression of deep and abiding passion. Only Viola seems to be truly, passionately in love as opposed to being self-indulgently lovesick. As she says to Orsino, describing herself and her love for him: She pined in thought, And with a green and yellow melancholy She sat like patience on a monument, Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed? (II. iv. 111–114) The audience, like Orsino, can only answer with an emphatic yes. Viola’s chief problem throughout the play is one of identity. Because of her disguise, she must be both herself and Cesario. This mounting identity crisis culminates in the final scene, when Viola finds herself surrounded by people who each have a different idea of who she is and are unaware of who she actually is. Were Twelfth Night not a comedy, this pressure might cause Viola to break down. Sebastian’s appearance at this point, however, effectively saves Viola by allowing her to be herself again. Sebastian, who independent of his sister is not much of a character, takes over the aspects f Viola’s disguise that she no longer wishes to maintain. Thus liberated by her brother, Viola is free to shed the roles that she has accumulated throughout the play, and she can return to being Viola, the woman who has loved and won Orsino. Orsino and Olivia Orsino and Olivia are worth discussing together, because they have similar personalities. Both claim to be buffeted by s trong emotions, but both ultimately seem to be self-indulgent individuals who enjoy melodrama and self-involvement more than anything. When we first meet them, Orsino is pining away for love of Olivia, while Olivia pines away for her dead brother. They show no interest in relating to the outside world, preferring to lock themselves up with their sorrows and mope around their homes. Viola’s arrival begins to break both characters out of their self-involved shells, but neither undergoes a clear-cut change. Orsino relates to Viola in a way that he never has to Olivia, diminishing his self-involvement and making him more likable. Yet he persists in his belief that he is in love with Olivia until the final scene, in spite of the fact that he never once speaks to her during the course of the play. Olivia, meanwhile, sets aside her grief when Viola (disguised as Cesario) comes to see her. But Olivia takes up her own fantasy of lovesickness, in which she pines away—with a self-indulgence that mirrors Orsino’s—for a man who is really a woman. Ultimately, Orsino and Olivia seem to be out of touch with real emotion, as demonstrated by the ease with which they shift their affections in the final scene—Orsino from Olivia to Viola, and Olivia from Cesario to Sebastian. The similarity between Orsino and Olivia does not diminish with the end of the play, since the audience realizes that by marrying Viola and Sebastian, respectively, Orsino and Olivia are essentially marrying female and male versions of the same person. Malvolio Malvolio initially seems to be a minor character, and his humiliation seems little more than an amusing subplot to the Viola-Olivia-Orsino- love triangle. But he becomes more interesting as the play progresses, and most critics have judged him one of the most complex and fascinating characters in Twelfth Night. When we first meet Malvolio, he seems to be a simple type—a puritan, a stiff and proper servant who likes nothing better than to spoil other people’s fun. It is this dour, fun-despising side that earns him the enmity of the zany, drunken Sir Toby and the clever Maria, who together engineer his downfall. But they do so by playing on a side of Malvolio that might have otherwise remained hidden—his self-regard and his remarkable ambitions, which extend to marrying Olivia and becoming, as he puts it, â€Å"Count Malvolio† (II. v. 30). When he finds the forged letter from Olivia (actually penned by Maria) that seems to offer hope to his ambitions, Malvolio undergoes his first transformation—from a stiff and wooden embodiment of priggish propriety into an personification of the power of selfdelusion. He is ridiculous in these scenes, as he capers around in the yellow stockings and crossed garters that he thinks will please Olivia, but he also becomes pitiable. He may deserve his come-uppance, but there is an uncomfortable universality to his experience. Malvolio’s misfortune is a cautionary tale of ambition overcoming good sense, and the audience winces at the way he adapts every event—including Olivia’s confused assumption that he must be mad—to fit his rosy picture of his glorious future as a nobleman. Earlier, he embodies stiff joylessness; now he is joyful, but in pursuit of a dream that everyone, except him, knows is false. Our pity for Malvolio only increases when the vindictive Maria and Toby confine him to a dark room in Act IV. As he desperately protests that he is not mad, Malvolio begins to seem more of a victim than a victimizer. It is as if the unfortunate steward, as the embodiment of order and sobriety, must be sacrificed so that the rest of the characters can indulge in the hearty spirit that suffuses Twelfth Night. As he is sacrificed, Malvolio begins to earn our respect. It is too much to call him a tragic figure, however—after all, he is only being asked to endure a single night in darkness, hardly a fate comparable to the sufferings of King Lear or Hamlet. But there is a kind of nobility, however limited, in the way that the deluded steward stubbornly clings to his sanity, even in the face of Feste’s insistence that he is mad. Malvolio remains true to himself, despite everything: he knows that he is sane, and he will not allow anything to destroy this knowledge. Malvolio (and the audience) must be content with this self-knowledge, because the play allows Malvolio no real recompense for his sufferings. At the close of the play, he is brought out of the darkness into a celebration in which he has no part, and where no one seems willing to offer him a real apology. â€Å"I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you,† he snarls, stalking out of the festivities (V. i. 365). His exit strikes a jarring note in an otherwise joyful comedy. Malvolio has no real place in the anarchic world of Twelfth Night, except to suggest that, even in the best of worlds, someone must suffer while everyone else is happy. I n the kingdom of Illyria, a nobleman named Orsino lies around listening to music, pining away for the love of Lady Olivia. He cannot have her because she is in mourning for her dead brother and refuses to entertain any proposals of marriage. Meanwhile, off the coast, a storm has caused a terrible shipwreck. A young, aristocratic-born woman named Viola is swept onto the Illyrian shore. Finding herself alone in a strange land, she assumes that her twin brother, Sebastian, has been drowned in the wreck, and tries to figure out what sort of work she can do. A friendly sea captain tells her about Orsino’s courtship of Olivia, and Viola says that she wishes she could go to work in Olivia’s home. But since Lady Olivia refuses to talk with any strangers, Viola decides that she cannot look for work with her. Instead, she decides to disguise herself as a man, taking on the name of Cesario, and goes to work in the household of Duke Orsino. Viola (disguised as Cesario) quickly becomes a favorite of Orsino, who makes Cesario his page. Viola finds herself falling in love with Orsino—a difficult love to pursue, as Orsino believes her to be a man. But when Orsino sends Cesario to deliver Orsino’s love messages to the disdainful Olivia, Olivia herself falls for the beautiful young Cesario, believing her to be a man. The love triangle is complete: Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario—and everyone is miserable. Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia’s household: her rowdy drunkard of an uncle, Sir Toby; his foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who is trying in his hopeless way to court Olivia; Olivia’s witty and pretty waiting-gentlewoman, Maria; Feste, the clever clown of the house; and Malvolio, the dour, prudish steward of Olivia’s household. When Sir Toby and the others take offense at Malvolio’s constant efforts to spoil their fun, Maria engineers a practical joke to make Malvolio think that Olivia is in love with him. She forges a letter, supposedly from Olivia, addressed to her beloved (whose name is signified by the letters M. O. A. I. ), telling him that if he wants to earn her favor, he should dress in yellow stockings and crossed garters, act haughtily, smile constantly, and refuse to explain himself to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter, assumes that it is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying Olivia and becoming noble himself, happily follows its commands. He behaves so strangely that Olivia comes to think that he is mad. Meanwhile, Sebastian, who is still alive after all but believes his sister Viola to be dead, arrives in Illyria along with his friend and protector, Antonio. Antonio has cared for Sebastian since the shipwreck and is passionately (and perhaps sexually) attached to the young man—so much so that he follows him to Orsino’s domain, in spite of the fact that he and Orsino are old enemies. Sir Andrew, observing Olivia’s attraction to Cesario (still Viola in disguise), challenges Cesario to a duel. Sir Toby, who sees the prospective duel as entertaining fun, eggs Sir Andrew on. However, when Sebastian—who looks just like the disguised Viola—appears on the scene, Sir Andrew and Sir Toby end up coming to blows with Sebastian, thinking that he is Cesario. Olivia enters amid the confusion. Encountering Sebastian and thinking that he is Cesario, she asks him to marry her. He is baffled, since he has never seen her before. He sees, however, that she is wealthy and beautiful, and he is therefore more than willing to go along with her. Meanwhile, Antonio has been arrested by Orsino’s officers and now begs Cesario for help, mistaking him for Sebastian. Viola denies knowing Antonio, and Antonio is dragged off, crying out that Sebastian has betrayed him. Suddenly, Viola has newfound hope that her brother may be alive. Malvolio’s supposed madness has allowed the gleeful Maria, Toby, and the rest to lock Malvolio into a small, dark room for his treatment, and they torment him at will. Feste dresses up as Sir Topas, a priest, and pretends to examine Malvolio, declaring him definitely insane in spite of his protests. However, Sir Toby begins to think better of the joke, and they allow Malvolio to send a letter to Olivia, in which he asks to be released. Eventually, Viola (still disguised as Cesario) and Orsino make their way to Olivia’s house, where Olivia welcomes Cesario as her new husband, thinking him to be Sebastian, whom she has just married. Orsino is furious, but then Sebastian himself appears on the scene, and all is revealed. The siblings are joyfully reunited, and Orsino realizes that he loves Viola, now that he knows she is a woman, and asks her to marry him. We discover that Sir Toby and Maria have also been married privately. Finally, someone remembers Malvolio and lets him out of the dark room. The trick is revealed in full, and the embittered Malvolio storms off, leaving the happy couples to their celebration. Themes, Motifs amp; Symbols Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary  work. Love as a Cause of Suffering Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the play’s main focus. Despite the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in which the various lovers find one another and achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows that love can cause pain. Many of the characters seem to view love as a kind of curse, a feeling that attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively. Various characters claim to suffer painfully from being in love, or, rather, from the pangs of unrequited love. At one point, Orsino depicts love dolefully as an â€Å"appetite† that he wants to satisfy and cannot (I. i. 1–3); at another point, he calls his desires â€Å"fell and cruel hounds† (I. i. 21). Olivia more bluntly  describes love as a â€Å"plague† from which she suffers terribly  (I. v. 265). These metaphors contain an element of violence, further painting the love-struck as victims of some random force in the universe. Even the less melodramatic Viola sighs unhappily that â€Å"My state is desperate for my master’s love† (II. ii. 35). This desperation has the potential to result in violence—as in Act V, scene i, when Orsino threatens to kill Cesario because he thinks that -Cesario has forsaken him to become Olivia’s lover. Love is also exclusionary: some people achieve romantic happiness, while others do not. At the end of the play, as the happy lovers rejoice, both Malvolio and Antonio are prevented from having the objects of their desire. Malvolio, who has pursued Olivia, must ultimately face the realization that he is a fool, socially unworthy of his noble mistress. Antonio is in a more difficult situation, as social norms do not allow for the gratification of his apparently sexual attraction to Sebastian. Love, thus, cannot conquer all obstacles, and those whose desires go unfulfilled remain no less in love but feel the sting of its absence all the more severely. The Uncertainty of Gender Gender is one of the most obvious and much-discussed topics in the play. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s so-called transvestite comedies, in which a female character—in this case, Viola—disguises herself as a man. This situation creates a sexual mess: Viola falls in love with Orsino but cannot tell him, because he thinks she is a man, while Olivia, the object of Orsino’s affection, falls for Viola in her guise as Cesario. There is a clear homoerotic subtext here: Olivia is in love with a woman, even if she thinks he is a man, and Orsino often remarks on Cesario’s beauty, suggesting that he is attracted to Viola even before her male disguise is removed. This latent homoeroticism finds an explicit echo in the minor character of Antonio, who is clearly in love with his male friend, Sebastian. But Antonio’s desires cannot be satisfied, while Orsino and Olivia both find tidy heterosexual gratification once the sexual ambiguities and deceptions are straightened out. Yet, even at the play’s close, Shakespeare leaves things somewhat murky, especially in the Orsino-Viola relationship. Orsino’s declaration of love to Viola suggests that he enjoys prolonging the pretense of Viola’s masculinity. Even after he knows that Viola is a woman, Orsino says to her, â€Å"Boy, thou hast said to me a thousand times / Thou never should’st love woman like to me† (V. i. 260–261). Similarly, in his last lines, Orsino declares, â€Å"Cesario, come— / For so you shall be while you are a man; / But when in other habits you are seen, / Orsino’s mistress, and his fancy’s queen† (V. i. 372–375). Even once everything is revealed, Orsino continues to address Viola by her male name. We can thus only wonder whether Orsino is truly in love with Viola, or if he is more enamoured of her male persona. The Folly of Ambition The problem of social ambition works itself out largely through the character of Malvolio, the steward, who seems to be a competent servant, if prudish and dour, but proves to be, in fact, a supreme egotist, with tremendous ambitions to rise out of his social class. Maria plays on these ambitions when she forges a letter from Olivia that makes Malvolio believe that Olivia is in love with him and wishes to marry him. Sir Toby and the others find this fantasy hysterically funny, of course—not only because of Malvolio’s unattractive personality but also because Malvolio is not of noble blood. In the class system of Shakespeare’s time, a noblewoman would generally not sully her reputation by marrying a man of lower social status. Yet the atmosphere of the play may render Malvolio’s aspirations less unreasonable than they initially seem. The feast of Twelfth Night, from which the play takes its name, was a time when social hierarchies were turned upside down. That same spirit is alive in Illyria: indeed, Malvolio’s antagonist, Maria, is able to increase her social standing by marrying Sir Toby. But it seems that Maria’s success may be due to her willingness to accept and promote the anarchy that Sir Toby and the others embrace. This Twelfth Night spirit, then, seems to pass by Malvolio, who doesn’t wholeheartedly embrace the upending of order and decorum but rather wants to blur class lines for himself alone. Motifs Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. Letters, Messages, and Tokens Twelfth Night features a great variety of messages sent from one character to another—sometimes as letters and other times in the form of tokens. Such messages are used both for purposes of communication and miscommunication—sometimes deliberate and sometimes accidental. Maria’s letter to Malvolio, which purports to be from Olivia, is a deliberate (and successful) attempt to trick the steward. Sir Andrew’s letter demanding a duel with Cesario, meanwhile, is meant seriously, but because it is so appallingly stupid, Sir Toby does not deliver it, rendering it extraneous. Malvolio’s missive, sent by way of Feste from the dark room in which he is imprisoned, ultimately works to undo the confusion caused by Maria’s forged letter and to free Malvolio from his imprisonment. But letters are not the only kind of messages that characters employ to communicate with one another. Individuals can be employed in the place of written communication—Orsino repeatedly sends Cesario, for instance, to deliver messages to Olivia. Objects can function as messages between people as well: Olivia sends Malvolio after Cesario with a ring, to tell the page that she loves him, and follows the ring up with further gifts, which symbolize her romantic attachment. Messages can convey important information, but they also create the potential for miscommunication and confusion—especially with characters like Maria and Sir Toby manipulating the information. Madness No one is truly insane in Twelfth Night, yet a number of characters are accused of being mad, and a current of insanity or zaniness runs through the action of the play. After Sir Toby and Maria dupe Malvolio into believing that Olivia loves him, Malvolio behaves so bizarrely that he is assumed to be mad and is locked away in a dark room. Malvolio himself knows that he is sane, and he accuses everyone around him of being mad. Meanwhile, when Antonio encounters Viola (disguised as Cesario), he mistakes her for Sebastian, and his angry insistence that she recognize him leads people to assume that he is mad. All of these incidents feed into the general atmosphere of the play, in which normal life is thrown topsy-turvy, and everyone must confront a reality that is somehow fractured. Disguises Many characters in Twelfth Night assume disguises, beginning with Viola, who puts on male attire and makes everyone else believe that she is a man. By dressing his protagonist in male garments, Shakespeare creates endless sexual confusion with the Olivia-ViolaOrsino love triangle. Other characters in disguise include Malvolio, who puts on crossed garters and yellow stockings in the hope of winning Olivia, and Feste, who dresses up as a priest—Sir Topas—when he speaks to Malvolio after the steward has been locked in a dark room. Feste puts on the disguise even though Malvolio will not be able to see him, since the room is so dark, suggesting that the importance of clothing is not just in the eye of the beholder. For Feste, the disguise completes his assumption of a new identity—in order to be Sir Topas, he must look like Sir Topas. Viola puts on new clothes and changes her gender, while Feste and Malvolio put on new garments either to impersonate a nobleman (Feste) or in the hopes of becoming a nobleman (Malvolio). Through these disguises, the play raises questions about what makes us who we are, compelling the audience to wonder if things like gender and class are set in stone, or if they can be altered with a change of clothing. Mistaken Identity The instances of mistaken identity are related to the prevalence of disguises in the play, as Viola’s male clothing leads to her being mistaken for her brother, Sebastian, and vice versa. Sebastian is mistaken for Viola (or rather, Cesario) by Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, and then by Olivia, who promptly marries him. Meanwhile, Antonio mistakes Viola for Sebastian, and thinks that his friend has betrayed him when Viola claims to not know him. These cases of mistaken identity, common in Shakespeare’s comedies, create the tangled situation that can be resolved only when Viola and Sebastian appear together, helping everyone to understand what has happened. Symbols Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Olivia’s Gifts When Olivia wants to let Cesario know that she loves him, she sends him a ring by way of Malvolio. Later, when she mistakes Sebastian for Cesario, she gives him a precious pearl. In each case, the jewel serves as a token of her love—a physical symbol of her romantic attachment to a man who is really a woman. The gifts are more than symbols, though. â€Å"Youth is bought more oft than begged or borrowed,† Olivia says at one point, suggesting that the jewels are intended almost as bribes—that she means to buy Cesario’s love if she cannot win it (III. iv. 3). The Darkness of Malvolio’s Prison When Sir Toby and Maria pretend that Malvolio is mad, they confine him in a pitch-black chamber. Darkness becomes a symbol of his supposed insanity, as they tell him that the room is filled with light and his inability to see is a sign of his madness. Malvolio reverses the symbolism. â€Å"I say this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell; and I say there was never man thus abused† (IV. ii. 40–42). In other words, the darkness—meaning madness—is not in the room with him, but outside, with Sir Toby and Feste and Maria, who have unjustly imprisoned him. Changes of Clothing Clothes are powerful in Twelfth Night. They can symbolize changes in gender—Viola puts on male clothes to be taken for a male— as well as class distinctions. When Malvolio fantasizes about becoming a nobleman, he imagines the new clothes that he will have. When Feste impersonates Sir Topas, he puts on a nobleman’s garb, even though Malvolio, whom he is fooling, cannot see him, suggesting that clothes have a power that transcends their physical function. Twelfth Night Analysis of Fools A fool can be defined in many meanings according to the Oxford English Dictionary On Historical Principles. The word could mean a silly person, or one who professionally counterfeits folly for the entertainment of others, a jester, clown or one who has little or no reason or intellect or one who is made to appear to be a fool (word originated from North Frisian). In english literature, the two main ways which the fool could enter imaginative literature is that He could provide a topic, a theme for mediation, or he could turn into a stock character on the stage, a stylized comic figure. In William Shakespeares comedy, Twelfth Night, Feste the clown is not the only fool who is subject to foolery. He and many other characters combine their silly acts and wits to invade other characters that evade reality or rather realize a dream, while our sympathies go out to those. It is natural that the fool should be a prominent amp; attractive figure and make an important contribution to the action in forming the confusion and the humor in an Elizabethan drama. In Twelfth Night, the clown and the fools are the ones who combine humor ;amp; wit to make the comedy work. Clowns, jesters, and Buffoons are usually regarded as fools. Their differences could be of how they dress, act or portrayed in society. A clown for example, was understood to be a country bumpkin or cloun'. In Elizabethan usage, the word clown is ambiguous meaning both countryman and principal comedian. Another meaning given to it in the 1600 is a fool or jester. As for a buffoon, it is defined as a man whose profession is to make low jests and antics postures; a clown, jester, fool. The buffoon is a fool because although he exploits his own weaknesses instead of being exploited by others. he resembles other comic fools. This is similar to the definition of a Jester who is also known as a buffoon, or a merry andrew. One maintained in a princes court or noblemans household. As you can see, the buffoon, jester and the clown are all depicted as fools and are related ;amp; tied to each other in some sort of way. They relatively have the same objectives in their roles but in appearance wise (clothes, physical features) they may be different. In Shakespeares Twelfth Night, Festes role in this Illyrian comedy is significant because Illyria is a country permeated with the spirit of the Feast of Fools, where identities are confused, uncivil rule applauded and no harm is done. In Illyria therefore the fool is not so much a critic of his environment as a ringleader, a merry-companion, a Lord of Misrule. Being equally welcome above and below stairs.. makes Feste significant as a character. In Twelfth Night, Feste plays the role of a humble clown employed by Olivias father playing the licensed fool of their household. We learn this in Olivias statement stating that Feste is an allowed fool(I. v. 93) meaning he is licensed, privileged critic to speak the truth of the people around him. We also learn in a statement by Curio to the Duke that Feste is employed by Olivias father. Feste the jester a fool that the Lady Olivias father took much pleasure in(II. iv. 11). Feste is more of the comic truth of the comedy. Although he does not make any profound remarks, he seems to be the wisest person within all the characters in the comedy. Viola remarks this by saying This fellows wise enough to play the fool(III. i. 61). Since Feste is a licensed fool, his main role in Twelfth Night is to speak the truth. This is where the humor lies, his truthfulness. In one example he proves Olivia to be a true fool by asking her what she was mourning about. The point