Saturday, August 31, 2019

Examine Shakespeare’s presentation Essay

When Hamlet was first performed in 1601, England had been successfully ruled for forty-three years by Elizabeth I, a strong and influential monarch who reigned without a male counterpart, establishing England as one of the most powerful and prominent countries in the world. This is proof that women can be as successful as men; however women were still seen as second class citizens, and â€Å"property† of their husbands, during the Elizabethan period. Polonius says of Ophelia â€Å"I have a daughter – have while she is mine. † (2.2, line 106). This is reflected in Shakespeare’s portrayal of women in Hamlet, which shows Gertrude in a very different light to Elizabeth Tudor. For many years in the past, many women played a small role socially, economically and politically. As a result of this, many works of literature of this time, including Hamlet, were reflective of this diminutive role of women. Shakespeare suggests the danger of women’s involvement in politics at the sovereign level, and reflects the public’s desire for a return to a state of stability through a change to a patriarchal system. We can examine Shakespeare’s presentation of women in Hamlet through the way the two women in the play, Gertrude and Ophelia, are treated by the men in their lives, and by analyzing the context in which they are referred. The first time Claudius refers to Gertrude he says: â€Å"Our sometime sister, now our Queen, Th’ imperial jointress of this warlike state,† (1. 2, lines 8-9) which shows how he took advantage of his dead brother’s wife whilst she was still mourning her husband’s death to settle his place on the throne. â€Å"She married. O most wicked speed, to post, with such dexterity to incestuous sheets. † (1.2, lines 156-157) Here Hamlet is accusing his mother of corruption because of her improper sexual activity and marriage. Even though a marital bond existed between Claudius and Gertrude, the rushed and incestuous aspects of the marriage enrage Hamlet. The couple were married less than three months after the death of Hamlet’s father, and in Hamlet’s eyes, Gertrude’s actions have defiled her character. Royal sexual activity created concerns about both power and purity in the Elizabethan world. As women had no opportunity to fight on the battle field, chastity was the principle measure of their honour and virtue. Therefore Hamlet’s opinion of his mother has a negative reflection of a woman’s virtues. Sir Walter Mildway, 1510, said: â€Å"Choose thy wife for virtue only. † Elizabeth’s sexual conduct drew public attention, and she publicly vowed her purity, even adopting the title â€Å"Virgin Queen. † When King Hamlet’s ghost appears he refers to Gertrude as his â€Å"most seeming-virtuous Queen. † (1. 5, lines 4-6) He is expressing his belief that Gertrude had always seemed faithful, but now she has married much less of a man she has dishonoured him, and lost all his respect and trust. Even though Hamlet and his father are seeking revenge on Claudius, they continue to speak of Gertrude. In his second soliloquy we expect Hamlet to be expressing his hatred towards Claudius, however he is focusing all of his energy on this â€Å"most pernicious woman,† (1. 5, line 105) who is his mother. This dis-belief at his mother’s behaviour is understandable, however, as it is so soon after his father’s death, and you would expect Gertrude to still be mourning the death of her husband that she apparently loved dearly. One of the most famous quotes regarding women in Hamlet is â€Å"Frailty – thy name is woman. † (1. 2, lines 146-147) This quote sums up the attitudes of the male characters in the play, that women are by far the weaker sex and gives us a clue as to why the men treat Gertrude and Ophelia with so little respect. In 1558, writer, John Knox described women as â€Å"weak, frail, impatient, feeble and foolish. † Emphasizing the way that women were viewed at the time Hamlet was written. Both the women are greatly controlled by the men of the play, particularly Ophelia who is often told what to do and who has been treated as if she does not have a mind of her own all her life. When asked a question Ophelia often replies with â€Å"I think nothing,† (3. 2, line 118) and when she does express an opinion it is dismissed. Polonius says â€Å"Affection? Pooh, you speak like a green girl unsifted,† (1. 3, line 101) which is extremely patronizing, saying she speaks like an inexperienced and untried girl who does not know what she is talking about. Ophelia could have an out-going personality; however, she is so oppressed that we never get to see a true reflection of her character, due to the constraints of the society she is living in. We even hear Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark, saying to her husband: â€Å"I shall obey you. † By obeying the men and giving in to a passive existence Gertrude and Ophelia are living up to the label that women are the weaker sex. The men give ‘good advice’ to both women, telling them what to do and when, Polonius tells Ophelia not to give her virginity away too easily when he uses the metaphor â€Å"set you entreatments at a higher rate then a command to parley,† (1. 3, lines 122-123) where her virginity is compared to a castle under siege. Even though Polonius is Ophelia’s father, he seems to have no respect for her, or her privacy, and rarely thinks of how she may be feeling. He reads Hamlet’s love letters out-loud to the King and uses Ophelia as bait to improve his image in front of Claudius, which is extremely self-centred and obsequious. Another quote that really stands out in ‘Hamlet’ that shows how little respect the men have for Gertrude and Ophelia is â€Å"Get thee to a nunnery. † (3. 1, line 121) This is Hamlet telling Ophelia that because he can not have her, no one can, so she has to go to a nunnery, away from all other male contact. He does not ask her how she feels, and is willing to make the rest of her life miserable simply because he can not be with her. It never even occurs to Hamlet that she might be willing to move on and find someone other than him to spend the rest of her life with. After the nunnery scene, Ophelia speaks to Polonius and we hear her opinion for the first and only time. She presents herself entirely as the victim of Hamlet’s rough treatment. She says: â€Å"I of ladies most deject and wretched, that sucked the honey of his musiked vows,† (3.1, lines 158-159) showing how Ophelia had believed in what Hamlet told her and how she feels dejected about the fact that he claims to have never loved her. â€Å"God has given you one face, and you make yourselves another,† (3. 1, lines 145-146) is Hamlet saying that women wear too much make-up and in doing so are deceiving men into thinking that they are something that they are not. He accuses Ophelia of being a typical woman and is therefore not treating her as an individual. He says: â€Å"For the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is bawd,† (3.1, lines 111-112) explaining his opinion that beautiful women are untrustworthy and insincere. Even though Hamlet accuses women of this, he is saying it in the heat of an argument so he may be exaggerating and may not be giving his true opinion. Ophelia hardly says a think back to him though, again reflecting the idea that women are frail and passive. Throughout the play Hamlet makes reference to prostitutes, and seems to make a connection between women, sex and corruption. When Hamlet and Polonius are speaking he says: â€Å"For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion. † (2. 2, lines 184-185) He uses this metaphor of a dead dog, and a pun on the word â€Å"sun,† to make the point that if the son (Hamlet) kisses the daughter (Ophelia) then she may breed, like the maggots in the dead animal. The characters of the play often refer to sex in a negative manner, and it is never described as a loving act between a couple. In Hamlet’s second soliloquy he is blaming himself, and compares himself to a slatternly woman saying that he â€Å"must like a whore, unpack my heart with words, and fall a-cursing like a very drab, a stallion. † (2.2, lines 592-594) His references to women are always negative, and he presents them as objects that men can use for sexual pleasure whenever they want. The final point to make about the way Shakespeare presents women is the fact that Ophelia is the only character driven to suicide, and that she is one of only two women in the play. This is possible another way for Shakespeare to make his point that women are by far the weaker sex. Audiences today would find the way that the women in Hamlet are treated extremely surprising as today women are so much more independent. Instead of being a husband’s possession, a wife is seen as an equal. Women today have the freedom to be more open-minded, and are allowed to voice opinions other than their husbands’. Women today have almost total sexual freedom as well, so the connection between women, sex and corruption would probably cause mixed reactions. This, however, also brings me to the point that even though Shakespeare’s presentation of women is negative, so is his presentation of men. He shows the men being insensitive, selfish, oppressive and shows them treating women with very little respect. â€Å"Frailty – thy name is woman,† no longer applies to the women of the 21st Century as there are more or less equal opportunities for men and women now, and everyone has the same education and job opportunities no matter what sex you may be. I think that this quote sums up Shakespeare’s overall presentation of women and the treatment of Gertrude and Ophelia shows us how women were oppressed, and often seen as objects rather than human beings.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Grand Theory Written Assignment Essay

Nursing theory gathers specific information regarding aspects of nursing and utilizes these findings to communicate and describe nursing phenomena. Theories provide a framework for nursing practice and processes. Grand nursing theories are broadest in scope and provide generalizations regarding nursing situations. Grand nursing theories consist of four schools of thought. Nursing theorists bring a unique definition, approach, and focus to these specific schools of thought. The first school of thought includes theories that reflect an image of nursing as meeting the needs of patients (Meleis, 2012). When a patient is unable to meet their individual needs it is the responsibility of the nurse to provide what is necessary in assisting the patient towards independence. Virginia Henderson was a needs theorist who categorized human needs into 14 components: breathing normally, eating and drinking adequately, eliminate body wastes, move and maintain desirable postures, sleep and rest, selec t suitable clothes, maintain homeostasis, personal hygiene, protect the integument, avoid environmental dangers and injury to others, communicate with others, worship according to faith, participate in recreation, learn and discover, and work in such a way there is a sense of accomplishment (www.currentnursing.com). Henderson defined nursing as assisting with these activities to help the individual achieve independence. A person’s ability to successfully perform activities of daily living is imperative to healing. Nurses can assist patients achieve this by identifying knowledge deficits and providing the person with knowledge to help restore wholeness. The next school of thought is interaction. These theories were conceived by those who viewed nursing â€Å"†¦as an interaction process with a focus on the development of a relationship between patients and nurses† (Meleis, 2012). Interaction theorists focus on illness as an experience and nurses must implement therapeutic processes to care for the patient. Imogene King was an interaction theorist that defined nursing as â€Å"†¦a process of action, reaction, and interaction whereby nurse and client share information about their perceptions of the nursing situation and agree on goals† (Meleis, 2012). King’s theory stated that the goal of nursing is to help individuals maintain their health and share meaningful interactions to achieve their goals (Meleis, 2012). The interaction school of thought is imperative because it empowers the patient to be an active and equal participant in their own health care. The third school of thought is outcomes. These theorists strived to restore stability and bring balance to the patient and their environment (Meleis, 2012). Myra Levine was an outcomes theorist the believed that nursing is a conservation of integrities and energy (Meleis, 2012). Levine also defined nursing as patient advocacy and individualizing patient needs with compassion and commitment (Meleis, 2012). These theorists believe that effective coping mechanisms can help the patient live harmoniously. The fourth and final school of thought is caring/becoming. These theories evolved from interaction theories but they are more expansive. â€Å"The process of care is defined as a process of becoming for both clients and nurses; however, transformation is only possible if each is open to it† (Meleis, 2012). Jean Watson believed the goal of nursing to be mental and spiritual growth for human beings, (nurses and clients), and finding meaning in experiences (Meleis, 2012). The caring theory focuses more on the nurse/patient relationship compared to the interaction theory. The grand theory school of thought that is most congruent with my nursing practice is the outcomes theory. I believe that every patient responds to health issues differently. I assess what they need, what their deficits are, and how I can enable their coping mechanisms. I work at a busy trauma center and we have emergency surgeries frequently. Many of these are suction dilatation and curettages. Each woman handles this differently. So I sense and assess what they need to have the best outcome possible. Some want to leave right away, some want to stay a while, some want to see their family and some don’t. It might not be the norm to keep one of these patients for three hours, but I will keep them until they are ready to leave. I believe in patient advocacy on an individualized basis. Please refer to Table 1. Grand Theorist Information for theorist comparison.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Characters in ‘Two Kinds’ Essay

Both, Madame Loisel and the daughter from two kinds, find themselves in similar situations. The situations seem different but in reality they aren’t, as both of them are expected to do certain things, the only different is that the daughter from to kinds in forced to do thing and Madame Loisel just feel like she had to do or to have a certain thing. The difference in the expectations between the two characters, is made by making one character want a certain thing, and the other to be forces to do something. So in other words one of the characters is wants to have certain thing and feels like the society expects the character to have these things. And the other one is made or forces by on other person or character from the story to do certain things, and is expected of certain things. The daughter is the forces character this is because the mother makes her do what she doesn’t want to. Her mother tries to make he a wonder kid and to change the way the daughter is. The mother tries to make her daughter a wonder kid and the daughter starts to respond in a way that she just doesn’t care. Then in some time the daughter be really tiered of the testes that the mother is making her that and the fact that the mother is trying to change her. And so, she starts to take short cut, and with the only intention to stay the way sh e it, the stops listening to her mother, doesn’t pay intention at the piano lessens. On the other hand there is Madame Loisel, which is a character that just feels that it is her duty to be what the society expects of all women. She feels that she has to be in the high class, that she is worth a lot and that all because of her beauty should adore her. She also had an opinion that if she wants something she has to get it or it is the end of the world. In addition, her believe is that her just deserve, also for whom she is, expensive cloths, and expensive necklace. Both of the characters respond very similar to their pressures and expectation that they are faced in the story line. The daughter responds by not agreeing to her mother and by trying to do the opposite of what she is told to do and in addition, she doesn’t listen nor try her best at the test that her mother makes her face. and a bit similar, Madame Loisel responds to  the expectations of society in a way that she just wants something and if she doesn’t get it it’s the end of the world, as if she just is the centre of the world and that she deserves all. So in other words she believes that she is worthy of having the best of the best. Then furthermore, both of the characters change in the end of their own stories. Madame Loisel becomes more realistic about life and gets a true self-esteem for what she had actually achieved. And in addition she loses her opinion that everything that she gets or receives is granted. Then, the daughter listens to her mother in the end of the story and starts playing the piano. As a conclusion both of the characters result in the same position in other words both of the characters are dramatic characters. This is because their view and their characteristics change and became completely different in the end of the story. Madame Loisel changes in a way that she becomes more aver of life and stops taking everything for granted. The daughter also changes to the positive site as she in the end of the story starts playing the piano and in other words listens.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Teaching of Amos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Teaching of Amos - Essay Example Nipping fig trees hasten the ripening and improve the size and sweetness of the fruit that the poor can afford. With the nature of his work, he became aware of the political, social and religious conditions of the society surrounding him. Amos is considered to be one of the so-called 12 Minor Prophets and his book, Amos, is third among the 12. His mission is to prophesy to the northern kingdom of Israel in the days of King Uzziah of Judah (792-740 B.C.E.), while Jeroboam II the son of Joash, was king of Israel, two years before the great earthquake occurred (Amos 1:1). Amos carried messages loaded with affliction to Israel (Amos 2:6-16) and Judah (Amos 2:4-5). Many of Israel's neighbors would also suffer, such as Damascus (Amos 1:3-5), Gaza (Amos 1:6-8), Tyre (Amos 1:9-10), Edom (Amos 1:11-12), Ammon(Amos 1:13-15), and Moab (Amos 2:1-3). God had originally favored the Israelites. He even made a covenant with them. He was especially saddened with Israel that he needed send a prophet to prophesy their impending doom. There was every reason for pronouncing misery in Israel. Prosperity, lavish living, and extravagance were the order of the day. There was a decline in moral standards. Their celebrated peace and prosperity blinded them of the sacred things. They were likened to an overripe fruit that is in the process of decay leading to destruction. Furthermore, they were performing rites that were not commanded of them to do. These are ceremonies with pagan origins. Some turned to some local gods such as Baal in seeking for blessing and fertility, an act that is extremely detestable to their God. They have totally forgotten the Law of Yahweh. The Political Condition Politically, the kingdom was secure. Samaria, its capital and primary center of urban power, was considered unconquerable. About the time of Amos prophesying act, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been triumphant out of war, and had reached its peak of wealth and power, with overflowing luxury and excess. It enjoyed remarkable cultural, social and economic revival. It reached the culmination of prosperity made distinct by artistic and commercial development. The Kingdom enjoyed a substantial period of peace and security under the leadership of King Jeroboam II. During this reign, Israel reached the largest geographical size. The king has restored Israel's traditional borders, ending almost a century of sporadic seesaw conflict between Israel itself and Damascus. Soon after Israel had triumphed, she began to gloat over her newfound power. Because she was relieved of foreign pressures-relief that had come in accordance with encouraging words from the prophets Elisha and Jonah-she felt jealously complacent about her favored status with God. The hopes and expectations of the people were lifted to the highest heights. They looked forward with great anticipation to even greater success and declared a great "Day of the Lord" when God Himself would take the battlefield against their enemies. And the king kept conquering nations even extending its territory into modern day Syria. He took advantage of the Syria's weakness after a recent defeat from the Assyrians. Assyria is the major threat to Israel's power. However, the Assyrians had withdrawn itself temporarily due to internal strife. There was an inside rebell ion that they needed to manage. This allows Israel to flourish

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Greek and British Political Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Greek and British Political Systems - Essay Example System of governance: The country was ruled by a monarchy until a military dictatorship forced the king of the country to flee the country in 1967. A democratic form of government was created in 1974 along with the abolition of monarchy. â€Å"A military dictatorship, which in 1967 suspended many political liberties and forced the king to flee the country, lasted seven years. The 1974 democratic elections and a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy.† (World Fact Book: Greece: Background). The country which is also known as the Hellenic Republic is qualified to be called a parliamentary republic. Constitution: The constitution of the country was created in 1975 soon after the country adopted a democratic form of government in 1974. it was in effect the adoption of the same constitution that was adopted from the one created in 1952, but removing all clauses that were related to monarchy. Amendments were made in 1986 and 2001. the constitution had causes that were similar to constitutions that were associated with democracies. Some of the major clauses were equality of Greeks, freedom of personality, the inviolability of home and private life, the right of petition, assembly and association, the right to work and unionise, the protection of the environment etc. (The Fifth Revisionary Parliament of the Hellenes Resolves). Head of state: The head of state in Greece is the president. He is elected by secret ballot by the parliament and has limited powers. The maximum period that a person can be president is two years and during that time no other posts, positions or functions can be taken up. A two thirds majority is needed from the parliament to be elected to the post. The presidents powers are more representative of the country in nature and real powers of governance are vested with the prime minister and the Greek Parliament. Legislative Power: As in most democracies the legislative power rests with the Greek parliament headed by the prime minister. A parliament member can hold the term of office for a period of four years. There are 300 members in the parliament and election is though secret ballot. The president shall appoint the leader of the majority party as prime minister. Judiciary: The country has there types of judiciary namely the civil, criminal and administrative courts. The highest judiciary is the Supreme Court of the country known as Areios Pagos. Administrative Divisions: For the purpose of governance the country is divided into 51 administrative division or prefectures called nomos in Greek. Political Parties: The main political parties in the country is the ruling New Democracy party (New Demkratia), the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Others include the Coalition of the Left and the Progress (SYRIZA) and the Popular Orthodox Rally (LA.O.S). A comparison with the British Political System: System of governance: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland also includes Scotland and Wales. Unlike modern Greece, Britain is having an uneasy truce after a long period of violence with Ireland. Britain follows a system known as Constitutional monarchy. The country is one of the longest free states in

Computer Sciences and Information Technology Essay - 5

Computer Sciences and Information Technology - Essay Example The recent years have been marked by a shift of resources to more secure designs now that the implementation bags have proved to be scarce courtesy of SDL (Viega and McGraw, 2002, p. 67) Threat models are SDL’s cornerstone as they make it possible for the development team to figure out secure designs in a way that is structured. To achieve this effectively, threat model has been simplified into several tasks; coming up with pictures of data flows software, the application of the â€Å"stride per element† method in an effort to identify threats applicable to the desired design, taking a look at each threat and verification to ensure that the software has been modeled enough by putting into consideration each threat and addressing all the discovered threats (Pfleeger, 1997, p. 78) The basic element of a threat model is in its delineation of the entry points in its application. The threat model is in such a way that it is able to capture the entry points in form of trust b oundaries during the phase commonly referred to as the â€Å"picture-drawing†. Good examples of this include; registry and files entry points and networking entry points. A threat model that is good enough should also be in a position to capture the authorization as well as the authentication requirements and the network accessibility of the interfaces. This process involves network accessibility via the IP address including the remote and local, local-only access and local subnet. The process also includes the authorization and authentication levels, user access, administrator-only access and anonymous access. When it comes to Windows access control lists (ACLs), the authorization levels come as finer-grained (Pfleeger, 1997, p. 56). The process identity is another critical data piece that is always captured by this model. In this case, the running code’s interference is what is taken to be the entry point and the resulting process which is high-privilege is considere d to be very dangerous if it is compromised. In the case of Windows, the administrator or the system process are regarded as being the highest privilege. In Mac OS X or Linux situation, the running process happens to be the most privileged (Viega and McGraw, 2002, p. 108). References List Pfleeger, C. 1997. Security in Computing. Prentice Hall: New Jersey Viega, J & McGraw, G. 2002. Building Secure Software. Addison-Wesley: New York DQ: RBAC The Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is an essential access management approach. It offers a provision method that is straight forward and in the right access level and to the correct users every time it is being applied. Despite RBAC applications, most of the security teams are still facing difficulties when it comes to account implementation and the process of access management on RBAC. The reason for the above scenario is that most of the internal developer’s teams and vendors are not coming up with capabilities based on the expected r ole into the solutions at hand. RBAC has been applicable in major overhaul in the last two years resulting to its application being assigned to more than 20, 000 users on each product. Many vendors tend to be attracted to such products. This indicates how RBAC has value to the management and its users. The latest RBAC model is designed in such a way that it enforces the least segregation and

Monday, August 26, 2019

DP World Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

DP World Company - Essay Example DP World operates in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Indian sub-continent, Australia and in America. The company has taken initiative in the process of reducing frequency of lost time injuries and has been successful in bring down the value of the same to 7.6 in 2011 from 10.1 in 2009. The company also focuses on the internal control of the company related to the organizational structure of the company, code of conduct, whistle blowing policy, risk management and performance, etc. Pensions and post retirement benefits are provided to the employees of the company, which shows that the company takes enough care of its employees even after the termination of employment (â€Å"DP World 2011 Annual Report† 1-10). Reason for DP stock being overvalued The stock of a company is said to be overvalued if the current price of the stocks of the company is greater than stock’s intrinsic value. Here the price earnings of the stock are primarily being considered in order to explain the reasons behind the overvaluation of the stocks of DP World. The price earnings ratio of the company has been relatively high in comparison to the historical price earnings ratio of the company, which is why the stock of DP World is considered to be overvalued. The growth in the global container traffic has risen by three times the rate at which the world used to trade in the past decade. This has also benefited the investors of the DP World due to the emerging trend of the global economy. DP World has escaped the Wall Street crunch and the consecutive downturn of the global economy as witnessed in 2008 and have successfully returned to the range of 40% with $2.7 billion of cash along with the long-term debt of the company. Thus, the rise of DP World has been a consistent one. But the company has clearly shown signs of overvaluation with its IPO price which has turned out to be 22times the value of the shares of the company. The main reason behind this is the fall in the share price of the company from $1.20 to $ 0.70 at the time of the global financial meltdown in 2008-09. The IPO rate of the company was traded at a higher range which led to the investors investing in the higher range to get a substantial return from the company. In a process of making quick profit, the stocks of the company became overvalued. Generally, global container companies trade 9 times the earnings of the company, so the DP World’s valuation metrics increased by 12 times the earnings of the company. This resulted in the price earnings ratio of the company to rise at 25 times in 2011. An increase in the price earnings ratio of the company can also be another reason for the over valuation of the stock of DP World. Moreover, listing of the stocks of DP World in the LSE (London Stock Exchange) can be the reason behind the overvaluation of DP World stock. Even the stock split strategy of the company was a reason for the overvaluation of the stocks of DP World. The volat ility of the market can result in the valuation of the stocks of the company to be either over valued or undervalued. The consistency of the DP World can be witnessed from the annual report of the company, which shows the company is progressing randomly whereas the financial global economy has not revived likewise causing the overvaluation of the stocks of DP World. However, the fall in the revenue of the company from $3,188,941,000 (in 2010) to $2,977,731,000 (in 2011) is slowly leading to the

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Role Played By Speculators and Hedgers in the Derivatives Market Assignment

Role Played By Speculators and Hedgers in the Derivatives Market - Assignment Example According to the research findings, the big disadvantages of speculation are that it increases volatility in the market and excessive speculation creates bubbles and artificial price rises. The regulatory activity is designed to check excessive speculation. Arbitrageurs are a third important group of participants in the derivatives market. Arbitrage involves locking in a riskless profit by simultaneously entering into transactions in two or more markets. As a sophisticated speculator, the researcher will take positions. He strongly believes that the FTSE 100 index will rise to 2800 in December. The futures contract with the exercise price of 2700 is currently available. The author has GBP 10 million available. He will take a long position in this futures contract with the exercise price of 2700. One futures contract is for 100 times the size of the index. If the mark-to-market settlement is ignored, the author can also invest GBP 10 million at a risk-free interest rate. The negative pay-off means that the speculative strategy will lead to a loss of GBP 2,294,000. The fund manager will not exercise the put options because the exercise of put options will lead to a negative payoff.The value of the original portfolio will remain unchanged because the FTSE 100 index is at its original level of 2600 and Beta of the portfolio is 1.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Triple Bottom Line Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Triple Bottom Line - Essay Example The essay "The Triple Bottom Line" discusses the article "The Triple Bottom Line: What Is It and How Does It Work" written by Timothy F. Slaper and Tanya J. Hall highlights the importance of sustainable development. Authors argue about sustainability that has often been cited as one of the primary goals for organizations.Some experts suggest assigning a monetary value to all the 3Ps. The detractors claim that while profits can be measured in dollars, the environmental impact and social impact cannot be measured in dollar terms. Another school of thought suggests that an index is created which will allow for logical comparisons of the sustainability performance of organizations. The discord in this approach is regarding the weights to be assigned to the three dimensions of TBL. Which of the 3Ps is most important; people, planet or profits? Who will decide this? There is no clear cut answer. The authors opine that each of the parameters of TBL should have different units of measurement and should have different metrics. The authors then throw light on the fact that there is no universal method of calculating the TBL. A couple of variations of the TBL measurement; namely The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) that comprises 25 variables and Minnesota Progress Indicator that includes 42 variables and have also been mentioned in the paper. Another important learning from the paper is the appropriate measures to be used while gauging the TBL performance of an organization or of a particular project.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Where will healthcare be in the next five years Term Paper

Where will healthcare be in the next five years - Term Paper Example What is the future of health care in America? This piece seeks to address some of those questions in detail. I believe that health care reform in the United States is still going to be a hotly-contested issue, especially when it comes to the complaints that will be heard by: doctors; insurance companies; and small business owners, especially when it comes to issues like long-term care, walk-in clinics, hospitals, and health care reform bill issues. Doctors are not going to like the new health insurance plan. Since doctors are going to have to treat everyone from now on, regardless of whether they can pay or not, obviously this is going to have a huge effect on how doctors do business. Doctors cannot now turn away patients. They must be willing to see anyone who comes to them with a problem because now everyone will have insurance in order to pay for their doctors’ visits. Doctors are going to most likely be upset with health care reform because of several reasons. Doctors are going to be more in demand now more than ever because they will have to treat so many new patients. They can’t charge whatever they want—they are going to have to receive whatever payment the government gives them. This may upset many doctors because, before now doctors could control much of what their salary was when they regulated the prices for their visits. Since health care is going to be mandated, many doctors will have to receive subsidies from the government for seeing people on the public health care plan, and they are not going to like this establishment for long-term care. Walk-in clinics are most likely going to be overwhelmed. Doctors in hospitals will have to treat whomever walks through their doors, for the most part. They must now treat everyone, regardless of people having had pre-existing conditions. Now doctors must treat whoever comes to them for help; they cannot pick and choose. â€Å"Like insurance companies, physicians and hospitals will

Thursday, August 22, 2019

How American Sugar Buys Protection Essay Example for Free

How American Sugar Buys Protection Essay 1. The US General Accounting Office (2002) estimates that the sugar program cost domestic sweetener users about $1. 5 billion in 1996 and about $1. 9 billion in 1998. Can you validate this statement by using Probit and Tobit analysis. 2. What diagnostics are generally (multicollinearity and normality? ) run on Tobit and Probit? Do the diagnostics method differ for binomial and multinomial (say trinomial) probit? 3. â€Å"Sugar takes into account the potential influence ( power) of a party in allocating its contributions†- Explain the statement. Also give examples to prove your explanation. 4. There exists a relationship between campaign contributions and the state a Senator represents—Explain this statement and use Probit and Tobit analysis to prove your answer. Reference: US General Accounting Office (2002). Sugar Program: Supporting Sugar Prices Has Increased Users’ Costs While Benefiting Producers, GAO/RCED-00-126. http://faculty. washington. edu/belas/543/GAOSugar. pdf. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/12_december/08/todd_making.shtml

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Discuss the issue Ethical Business and How it relates to csr Essay Example for Free

Discuss the issue Ethical Business and How it relates to csr Essay Discuss the issue Ethical Business and how it relates to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). With reference to sources, provide examples of companies or organisations which demonstrate ethical behaviour and evaluate their motivation. The ideas of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility are oftentimes discussed in a similar manner even though they both have distinctly different definitions. As the name suggests, the term ethical business or business ethics is associated with a mixture of both ‘ethics’ and ‘business’. According to Oxford English Dictionary (2010) a business is the buying and selling of products or services with an aim of profit making. Ethics, on the other hand is more complex in that it involves human judgment, between what is right and wrong, in regards to activities and their consequences towards the society (Velasquez, et al. , 2010). Chryssides and Kaler (1993) have drawn attention to the fact that in the same way that political ethics is related to honouring the right and wrong in governmental concerns, or medical ethics being identified with the morality in medical practice, business ethics can simply be defined as the issue of morality within the business industry whereby â€Å"morality is taken to mean moral judgments, standards and rules of conduct† (Ferrell and Fraedrich, 1997, p. 5). Therefore, ethical business can now be defined as the ethics or principles that act as one’s behavioral rules and regulations when dealing in the world of business (Ferrell, et al. , 2010). On the other hand, reference to The World Business Council for Sustainable Development explains CSR by putting across that a business has responsibilities and obligations that go beyond the workplace (WBCSD, 2001). This essentially signifies the voluntary duty that organisations participate in to fulfill the demands of a broader range of stakeholders (Jamali and Mirshak, 2006). Based on the definitions stated above, it would seem that CSR and business ethics share similar theories, considering the fact that both of their notions go further than profit-based decisions and into values along with concerns for the society as a whole (Mullerat, 2010). Having said that, it is certainly interesting to see that most people are inclined to link CSR with the positive operations of a firm yet when a business engages in a non-moral act, they set the stunt side by side with business ethics or rather, the lack of (Crane and Matten, 2010). The question of how business ethics relates to CSR can now be evaluated more closely. Some examples of issues in ethical business as well as CSR include harming the environment and sweatshop labour on top of fraud, health and safety and campaigning (IBE/Ipsos MORI 2009, cited in Irwin, 2010). This essay will comprehensively explore the motivations of firms that have demonstrated brilliant presentations of business ethics, such as Microsoft Inc. as well as examining the motives behind their ethical decisions. Additionally, it will also look at other corporations that have been linked with having high regards to ethics in business yet have been accused in making poor business choices in the recent years, for instance HM’s disposal of unsold clothing items in New York in 2010 (Daily Mail Reporter, 2010). Until recent years, HennesMauritz, more commonly known as HM has been highly admired for launching the use of organic cotton into the high street clothing (Vijayaraghavan, 2010). Green Retail Decisions (2011) reports that it even succeeded in surpassing their organic cotton goal usage in 2010 by tripling their original aim, manufacturing 15,000 tonnes of organic cotton. Furthermore, the company was also proud in producing high street attires out of 16,000 tonnes of fabric that have been recycled (Green Retail Decisions, 2011). Be that as it may, when the firm threw away unsold clothes outside of one of its retail outlets, many were not only left appalled but also questioning their business ethics (Daily Mail Reporter, 2010). In the same year, HM were involved in two more shocking headlines in the news, one of which includes the contamination of the organic cotton textile with GM, and the other being a suspicion of unsustainably made clothes (Vijayaraghavan, 2010). As previously stated, HM is widely respected for working with organic materials on their products. However, when genetically modified cotton was found in random product test conducted in a research lab, they were left with nothing to be applauded for. Hence, it is clear that this particular case study provides contradicting information on HM’s aims and motivations towards ethical decision-makings within their business. Even though they have been acceptable in their business ethics, for many of their stakeholders, the four issues specified above may heavily indicate otherwise. Another good example of a company with a similar situation is Coca Cola alongside its recent endeavours with ethical crises. Ferrel et al. (2011), in their book write that the company has been facing various allegations regarding their ethical misdemeanours since the 1990s, some of which include racial prejudice, pollution and consumption of natural resources. The claim against one of the world’s most acknowledged beverage companies, Coca Cola, otherwise known as Coke, for the practice of racial discrimination within their working environment was taken to court in April 1999 (Winter, 2000). In his article, Winter (2000) reports that Coke practiced a method of pay scale that is based upon a hierarchy whereby employees of African American background were situated at the bottom, earning $26,000 on average less than white workers in a year. Although the company denied all charges at the time, the public was clearly upset, resulting in a decline of their shares at the end of the 90’s (Fairfield, 2007). As a consequence of this, Coca Cola lost one of their main investors and biggest shareholder of 17 years, Warren Buffet in 2006 (Teather, 2006). Having their reputation jeopardised, Coca Cola announced the establishment of a new department to their company, the diversity group (The New York Times, 1999). Since the formation of this group, Coca Cola has been voted 46th on the DiversityInc’s top 50 list of businesses with the best practices along with coming 6th in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Blacks and Latinos (DiversityInc, 2012). In addition to this, Black Enterprise magazine has also awarded the organisation with numerous awards honouring their commitment to establish a working environment that is accepting of different cultures along with featuring the company in the Black Enterprise magazine’s yearly 40 Best Companies for Diversity list (Staff, 2012). DiversityInc (2012) also reports that Coca Cola donates forty percent of their humanitarian effort to culturally diverse non-profit organisations, such as their recent contribution to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. With that in mind, their ethics in business can be considered as acceptable to the public eye and it is almost unthinkable to think that they were accused of race-related discrimination just over a decade ago. The cases of HM and Coca Cola are referred to in this essay to express the similarity in their questionable motives. HM’s claim of being environmentally conscious with their utilisation of organic cotton within their business proves irrelevant after being caught with immoral acts that were stated earlier. The genuineness of their principles in business ethics is flawed by this flagrant contradiction since one would argue that if their sense of responsibility for the environment were great, they would not be accountable for such unethical activities. On the other hand, Coca Cola only responded to possessing ethics in their business environment after being sued and attracting negative media attention, not including the obvious decline in their sales even though they still remained as the world’s leading carbonated cola in 2006 (Fairfield, 2007). Thus, similarly the sincerity behind Coca Cola’s motive to develop a diversity group and their emphasis in cultural acceptance is also suspicious because these were only developed and implemented after the public uproar. Although it may be surprising, Microsoft Inc. can also be compared to Coca Cola and HM to an extent in terms of the motivations behind their CSR works as well as business ethics practices. The co-founder and chairman of Microsoft Inc. , Bill Gates is widely known and celebrated for his great donations to the public. In 2011, Microsoft Inc. won the award for being ‘Most Ethical, beating Google and Facebook after making donations of millions of dollars to non profit organisations and charities, establishing plans of actions for economic development as well as heightening their means of central reporting procedures (Smith, 2011). Having said all this, it is shocking to note that only just 15 years ago, a board experts at a panel in a well-known seminar held in California could not answer and decide whether Microsoft Inc. were an ethical corporation. (Spinello, 2003). Spinello (2003) continues to write that not only were the panel of experts unsure of the answer, the audience, who were consisted of scholarly representatives did not know how to respond either. This is because Microsoft Inc. has been involved in an antitrust inspection worldwide and some Americans have referred to this event as the â€Å"antitrust trial of the century† (Mota, 2005). The antitrust laws, otherwise known as competition laws were introduced by the American government to protect customers from being exploited by companies who practice unfair competition in the market (Investopedia, 2011). Gates is also the primary shareholder in America’s second biggest waste administration called the Republic Services (O’Hagan, 2013). In her article O’Hagan (2013) questions how the co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation can spread the word to publicise vaccinations for poliomyelitis, a disease that can cause a temporary or permanent paralysis while â€Å"Republic Services is locking out its workers as part of an industrial dispute†, a policy that may put a risk to the Americans’ sanitary. There is no doubt that Microsoft Inc. ’s involvement in charity work over the years have been generous and can be regarded as a model example of a company who takes their corporate social responsibilities seriously. However, it is also evident that while their voluntary organisations are remarkable, their business practice leaves with less to be awed for. Hence, similar to the HM case brought up previously, there is a contradiction between Microsoft’s work with charity and some of their immoral activities in the workplace. It is also comparable to Coca Cola in that it only came to be involved in large ‘corporate citizenship’ after the aftermath from their antitrust cases (Smith, 2011). It is safe to say that most companies are fighting to prove their good works through all types of methods, charity works in the case of Microsoft Inc. as well as forming a new diversity department in the case of Coca Cola. With thousands of other corporations yearning to prove their sincerity in making ethical decisions and practicing moral behaviour in the workplace, it is becoming tougher to examine just how responsible and principled an organisation is (Kwan, 2012). Kwan (2012) writes that this issue can be solved with the help of a B Corp certification. B Corp stands for Benefit Corporations, which is one of the latest kinds of corporate structure, acting as a third party classification to calculate the effects of an organisation to the environment (Fritz, 2013). Balch (2012) argues that the term benefit not only considers social and environmental aspects of a business but also its financial side as well, where he insists that 21st century capitalism would be a hybrid of generating social value together with maximising financial returns. B Corps essentially â€Å"provides what is lacking elsewhere: proof† to support that the specific company is in actual fact practicing what is proclaimed by them, hence, useful for firms whose focus is to not only make profit but also putting social and environmental interest a primary concern while doing so (Rosenberg, 2011). Although certifying B Corps to sincere businesses with aims of increasing positive social and environmental impacts sound fair, smaller and newer companies may say otherwise (Akalp, 2011). In their academic journal, Helsey et al. (2013) report that a company must be prepared to invest on their time and money to obtain the status. Depending on the area that they are operating in, the business must able to relate themselves with certain criteria listed, such as â€Å"providing low-income or undeserved individuals or communities with beneficial products or services† (Helsey et al, 2013). Fritz (2013) also confirms that a company must be assessed in accordance to the B Ratings System in which they must score at least 80 points out of 200 on top of consenting to changes in their legal articles of incorporation. Furthermore, there is a fee involved, which varies depending on the revenue of the firm (Akalp, 2013). This implies that organisations with strong awareness and appreciation of responsibilities may choose not to be certified with B Corps and thus put across a sense of false portrayal to companies without the B Corp certificate (Akalp, 2013). Therefore, it can be argued that larger companies with a higher source of income can afford to pay more to be certified. In addition to this, there have also been criticisms on the marking boundaries of the certification process. As stated earlier, companies need to score a point of 80 out of the maximum 200. Horatio (2012) disputes that this only indicates a 40% passing score for a company to be certified, which he claims as â€Å"not much of a standard† and â€Å"essentially worthless†. With that in mind, a case could be made that there is now a limitation to the authenticity of the certificate since large companies can afford to pay their way through the process and most probably pass the low 40% passing requirement. The purpose of this essay has been to convey that most companies, regardless of their past, recent or current reputation are never completely ethical in their business activities and that in one way or another, they have been associated with its share of moral negligence. With the examples used in the essay, it is safe to say that most companies that operate in what is considered to be as ethical to the public are only doing so to receive public attractions, and consequently earn more profits and success to the company. It is important to draw attention to the fact that there is a fundamental difference between what a company does and what their beliefs are. Just because a company is praised for their CSR related activities and was voted amongst the best of companies with high business ethics performance, this does not indicate that they are doing so for the sake of the planet or the people. If anything, this essay has been stating otherwise, demonstrating that most ethically responsible organisations are only involved in ethical activities to draw consumers in, thus, increase their profit.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Analysis of impulse buying

Analysis of impulse buying Impulse buying is defined as a buying action undertaken without the problem having been previously recognized or a buying intention formed prior to entering the store. Operational Definition Shoppers are asked upon exiting the store what items they purchased. For each item, they are then asked some variant of the question when they decided to buy; before or after entering the store. The items purchased whose decisions were made after entering the store are impulse purchases. Problems identified with impulse buying studies: There are three main problems with the earlier research on impulse buying Prior studies conducted were based on a taxonomical research approach which classified products into impulse and non-impulse categories. This tends to ignore that fact that almost anything can be bought on an impulse. This approach is ineffective because it divert attention from the internally triggered motivations and their expression which is crucial to understand impulse purchase. At the end of the day, it is people, not products that show impulse consumption behaviour. Not all impulse buying can be categorized as unplanned purchase and vice versa. A lot of purchase which are not planned can be a result of stimulation in the minds of the consumer inside the store which leads to recall of the purchase which they planned long before but had been delayed or postponed. It is incorrect to classify such behaviour under impulse. Impulse buying drops down to a much narrow and specific range of phenomenon than may come under unplanned purchase. To clarify it can be said that impulse buying occurs when a consumer experiences a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buy something immediately (Hoch Loewenstein,1991) There hardly exist any theoretical models or framework on impulse buying behaviour. Previous work has not offered any behavioural model to explain impulse buying in totality. Especially if we look at the functional or implementation level for the marketers, there hardly exist any organized reference models to use impulse purchase as a tool to improve sales. Many models link arousal and purchase indirectly linked by some external variable. But they have no mention of phenomena where arousal leads directly to purchase. Five factors that affect impulse purchase: 1. Navigating through categories lead to impulse buying: I found this paper on e-Commerce that had a very interesting study on impulse buying and what causes it. The paper studied habits of consumers shopping online, and found that people browsing through products by clicking categories were more likely to buy something on impulse than people searching for stuff online. The rationale is that people navigating through categories get exposed to a much greater breadth of products than people looking for products through search. 2. Power Distance Belief (PDB): I found this research paper that discusses the concept of Power Distance Belief (PDB) and its impact on impulse buying. I am not sure if I fully agree with it, or even understand it, but its a really interesting and novel take on the subject. Power -distance belief is the degree of power disparity that the people of a culture expect and accept. Higher the PDB, the more a person expects and accepts disparity in power. Eastern cultures like China and India have a high PDB and western cultures like America have a low PDB. A low PDB results in greater impulse buying, and a high PDB results in lower impulse buying. The reason for that people is eastern cultures who expect more power disparity, are also brought up to practice self restraint much more than people in western cultures who dont expect so much power disparity. 3. Prosperity: I really dont need research to tell me that prosperity leads to impulse buying. During the peak of the recession impulse buying was not even something I thought about, let alone engage in. Now, that the situation has markedly improved, a lot of people are engaging in it, including myself. 4. Shiny stuff causes impulse buys: According to this piece, things that are sparkly, noisy, jiggly, furry, fuzzy, or have any other feature that makes them draw attention will sell well on impulse. This makes sense too, because the more attention something draws, the more likely it is that you will think about it and end up buying it. 5. Price: This factor is the most talked about when it comes to impulse buying. A lot of people say that they indulged in impulse buying just because something was on a discount. I am sure deals and discounts contribute to impulse buying, and when we see something priced much lower than what we are used, that triggers a desire to get that thing and save money. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3374/is_n13_v12/ai_9204083/?tag=content;col1 Visual aid to trigger impulse purchase: Emotions are at heart of impulse buying decisions Todays retail stores are almost universal in their reliance on self-service merchandising and a high rate of impulse buying. Self-service merchandising is facilitated by store design and careful attention to traffic flow, while impulse buying is enhanced by the use of special displays. Estimates shows that at least 5 percent of total sales are the result of special displays. Impulse sales are created not by persuasive reasoning, but by striking an emotion that the customer can act upon quickly. There appear to be three mechanisms by which the impulse buying response can be triggered. First, the special display cues the customer to respond to an external advertising campaign. The display creates impulse sales by reminding customers about the extensive advertising to which they have (hopefully) been exposed. Second, the display can serve to break the consumers conditioned reflex to buy a particular product. If the consumer buys Brand A because it has become a habit, then it will be necessary for them to have a reason to break this conditioned purchase behavior. Special displays provide a way to accomplish this because the consumer is responding emotionally, not through a reasoned process. Finally, special displays create impulse sales for new or novel products by instigating the desire to try something new! The salient feature to remember about impulse sales is that they are a response to an emotional appeal. A successful appeal may take many forms, but those most universal and easiest to communicate are identified by simple phrases such as: low price, new, free, extra, etc. A special display is used to get the customers attention for each of these messages. To be successful in creating sales, each of the special displays must meet two objectives. The first and most basic is to get noticed. This is accomplished by positioning the display, where it is easily seen (either on an end cap, or sticking out from a shelf). However, given the competition for customer attention, this often is not enough. Methods of increasing visibility include bright colors, maximizing separation from the shelf or general merchandise, and massive size. Using special displays to increase impulse sales. To be successful in creating sales, each of the special displays must meet two objectives. The first and most basic is to get noticed. This is accomplished by positioning the display, where it is easily seen (either on an end cap, or sticking out from a shelf). However, given the competition for customer attention, this often is not enough. Methods of increasing visibility include bright colors, maximizing separation from the shelf or general merchandise, and massive size. The space and situation will dictate which method is appropriate. If, for example, the objective is to increase soft drink sales, this most likely is best accomplished by creating a large display with prominent signing. You also would want to increase impulse sales by creating a display of related merchandise such as snack foods and barbecue supplies. However, if less space is available, then the traditional `shelf-talkers and checkout counter displays are more useful approaches. Another excellent method for attracting attention is the use of special lighting. Lighting not only attracts attention to products, but also communicates a message. Incandescent light creates a softer, warmer image associated with quality. Coloured lighting can be used to achieve other effects. The second objective of a special display is to create an impulse to buy. The message must be clear, immediate, and the action required, unambiguous. Of course, the trick is knowing how to communicate an emotional appeal that translates into the `buy me now message. For chain drug stores, the messages that are most likely to be consistent with the merchandising mix and business policy are price and convenience (Ted Gladson Emotions are at heart of impulse buying decisions.) Model to explain purchase behaviour: Any visual contact with the product or product related communication produces a stimulus or need to look at the product and try it. This leads to development of an attitude towards the product stimulus and leads to three situations: Affect This leads to Behaviour Cognition Reliance martC:UsersnimishDesktopRelianceMart at Ahmedabad.JPG Spread across 165,000 square feet of shopping area, RelainceMart will provide the shoppers a never before experience shopping delight. The hypermarket will carry a range of over 95,000 products catering to the entire family. Shoppers will have the option to choose from a wide array of products in every category ranging from Fresh Produce, Food Grocery, Home Care Products, Apparel and Accessories, Lifestyle Product, Footwear and much more. RelianceMart offers some unique services to the shoppers like tailoring, shoe repair, watch repair, a photo shop, gift services and laundry services all within the store. The store also houses its own fresh bakery serving hot off the oven bread and bread products throughout the day and local savories, an ice-cream train for the kids, a chakki, ready-made batter and loose tea and pickle for the housewives. RelianceMart will also sell fine jewellery and fashion jewellery as a part of its Lifestyle section. RelianceMart will also house a health and wellness store providing pharmaceutical drugs and other wellness products. For the shoppers convenience, the store has a cafeteria providing quality food and beverages for ready consumption, an ATM machine and a consumer service / membership desk to provide the customer a truly international shopping experience. RelianceMart with 61 check-out counters has for the first time in India introduced the Mobile POS system for faster check outs. This is aimed at reducing the customer wait time. The store planning, atmospheries and layout has been designed specifically to provide a complete solution to the customer. RelianceMart will remain open from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. seven days a week. The store has over 400 highly skilled and trained customer sales representatives. STAR BAZAAR The uniqueness of each Star Bazaar store lies in the size and spread of its merchandise range. Shoppers can select from a large range of staples, fresh goods, apparel, luggage, consumer durables, household products and much more and also enjoy the benefit of generous reductions on the market rate.C:UsersnimishDesktopimages.jpg The stores stock goods according to regional customer preferences, as customers in different regions favour different essentials. For instance, in Gujarat, people tend to stock up on their pulses whereas in northern India, basmati rice is a big item. Star Bazaar is aware that people today look at value as a critical component while shopping. And that the first visit may be put down to curiosity, but customers will keep coming back only if they are satisfied with the choices, the quality and the value of the products on sale. So the big focus is on understanding its customers who they are, what they want, what is relevant to them, and how to package it in a manner that makes the store more attractive to them. PRIMARY RESEARCH FINDINGS (All the information used below is taken from the quantitative and qualitative study done for this dissertation) The figure shows the percentage of respondents ever visited one of these stores. 97% of the respondents said that they have visited Big Bazaar at least once, followed by reliance mart, Star Bazaar and Vishal mega mart in the respective order. Factors leading to choice of a hypermarket store Quantitative research shows that the factors affecting the choice of hypermarket store can be broadly classified into three categories: Category Factors Most important Location Variety Discounts Average importance Brand name Quick billing Ease of finding product Quality Experience Least important Size of store Assistance in shopping Shopper Behaviour Trends Pre Planning of purchase From the research it is evident that majority of the shoppers prefer planning their purchase before going to shopping. Research says almost two third (74%) of the respondents pre plan their purchase. This may include everything from the written plan to the mental plan the shopper has. More expenditure than planned Even when a majority plans their purchase, most of the time shoppers end up spending more than planned in a hypermarket. From the above graph it is evident that almost 60% spend more than planned almost every time they go out shopping in a hypermarket. This extra amount can be attributed to the impulse purchase of the shoppers, which means that even when the shopper plans the purchase before entering a hypermarket they still end up purchasing products out of the list. Relationship between preplanning of the purchases and actual impulse behaviour The above figure shows how impulse purchase varies with pre planning of the purchase by the shopper in a hypermarket. It shows some relation between the two: Among the people who end up spending more every time, 61% are the ones who plan their purchase and rest 39% are the ones who dont plan. Among the people who hardly ever spend more than planned, 86% plan their purchase and 14% do not plan. Hence, pre planning of purchase can affect the overall impulse purchase but the impact is very less and consumers planning of purchase dont really influence to their impulse behaviour. It clearly suggests that a good number of purchase decisions are actually taken inside the store. Thus, opens a huge window of opportunity for marketers to influence their behaviour in favour of their product. Mode of payment preferred The number of credit and debit card users in India is climbing fast, and rising affluence is likely to erode Indians lingering reluctance to spend on credit. Indians have traditionally valued thrift and frugality. But the spread of affluence in the wake of rapid economic growth is challenging these values, at least for many middle-class and high-income families. One sign of this is the phenomenal growth in the number of credit and debit cards in India-in the past three years, the number of credit cards has more than doubled and the number of debit cards has almost quadrupled. It has been observed that the mode of payment can influence pain of payment. Since paying by the card will feel less painful than paying in cash, participants will spend more with card. Similar trend is observed in the above pie chart, which says almost 60% of the shoppers today prefer using their credit/debit cards in place of cash. Relationship between mode of payment and impulse purchase From the above figure it is clear that people who end up spending more in form of impulse purchase are the ones who prefer card over cash. On the other hand people using cash hardly ever spend more than planned. Thus, mode of payment can be very significant in influencing the purchase behaviour, especially impulse purchase, since the pain of spending is much less in card payment. Purchase from attractive kiosk The above pie chart shows how product placement and point of purchase communication influence the shopper behaviour. Retail Communication helps the retailers generate sales by using any one or a mix of these outputs and inform, persuade and remind customers about the retailer and its offers. Stores use tools such as visual merchandising, signage and graphics, and other forms of point-of-purchase communication (PoP) to achieve an effective in-store strategy. The consumer response from the above figure shows that 61% of the total respondents show an intention to purchase from an attractive kiosk for product launch or promotion. The above graph shows the trend of actual purchase from such kiosks. It clearly suggests that shopper may try it at times but it depends on various factors such as (findings from depth interviews): Price When it comes to picking up product on impulse from a promotional kiosk, price matters a lot. People would not want to risk buying an expensive product, which they dont have a prior experience with. At low price the risk associated with the purchase gets reduced a lot and results in high trial rate. Category openness to new product depends a lot on the importance of that product in our daily lives. For example, women are very particular about the cosmetic products that they use and are not open to experiment much on the other hand product category like snacks and chocolates does not pose any such risk. Thus, product category also influence this impulse purchase behaviour. Brand Brand name brings with it trust and reliability, which reduces the risk associated with a product trial and shoppers are more open to buy such products. For example, Apple launches its new products and even before the reviews comes out, brand loyalist buys them, because of the trust Apple has built over the years. Packaging Visual appeal plays a very important role in differentiating the product from hundreds of other products kept in a hypermarket. Packaging cannot just attract the customer but can also lead to final purchase because it is the first POP communication by the product. Brands like Parle Agros Hippo took this insight and launched the product in almost all hypermarkets and have been very successful. Discounts / offers Most of the time trial can be triggered by offering discount or some promotional scheme. In this way marketers can reduce the risk by adding more value to their offering. Also, it catches eye and the psyche of Indian customer is such that it looks for higher value at lower cost. It also creates a sense of urgency because even when customer does not need the product he/she may buy thinking that the discount may or may not be available in future. This result in impulse purchase for the purpose to stock. Purchase near billing area Billing counter is the most strategic location to trigger impulse buying behaviour in the shopper. Few factors that affect are: Time Most of the times in Indian hypermarkets people have to stand in queues before billing, this extra bit of time is when they actually think of other things they wanted to buy but may have forgotten. Presence of products around Area near the billing counter is full of products that are high on impulse purchase. These products are not the low priced and mostly eatables. For example, chocolates, toffees, chewing gums, chips, etc. Presence of such products generally tempts the shopper to pick them. The whole experience of shopping happening all around them leads to such behaviour. Influence of others purchase There is a saying that grass on the other side is always green, which holds true with Indians, while shopping too. Every person carrying a product in its shopping cart is marketing for the product. We also tend to look at other peoples shopping cart when we are waiting in the queue and that is the time when we recall most of the items that we need but forgot to buy. This is a major reason of impulse purchase in a hypermarket as compared to that of traditional retail format. Fear of loss Section wise unplanned visit The movement of the shopper inside a hypermarket is the most important thing to study for a marketer because it is very important for any manufacturer to place the product in such a way that it is visible enough to the shopper so that they can make up their mind and buy it. Impulse purchase is hugely dependent on the way the shopper move inside the store. From the research, the above graph shows what sections of the hypermarket witness highest unplanned visit. Most of the times shopper just walk through the section even when there is no intention of buying any product. Looking broadly at the various sections the hypermarket is divided, I listed down the major ones. From the above figure it is clear that: Highest unplanned visit happens in Snacks section that includes chips, biscuits, wafers, chocolates and other packaged snacks. Research shows 71% of the total respondents visit these sections even when they had no plan of buying anything from these sections initially. This is because of the following reasons: Price: Temptation: After snacks comes apparel and personal care section. Here Category bought on impulse QUALITATIVE findings Factors affecting the purchase behaviour and specifically impulse purchase in a hypermarket: Time Hypermarket is a retail format which offers a wide variety of products and practically all the consumer needs can be met at that very place. In such a situation it becomes important for them to spend time inside and take a look at every section of the hypermarket. During the depth interviews, there has been a significant change in the shopper movement and behaviour when given a situation where they have some extra bit of time to spend in the store. For example, they were given a situation where they came for a movie but got tickets of the show that is 2 hours late. Now, they have these 2 hours and they enter a hypermarket when they had no intention to visit the store initially. The response shows that now there movement would not be driven by the pre planned intention but the choice they unconsciously make. Sections they prefer to visit now are the ones which will witness maximum impulse behaviour. During the interviews it was evident that in such a situation maximum number of shoppers would want to visit the apparel and footwear section. Below table shows how the behaviour vary with different age groups. This is an important indicator for marketers and retailers to generate impulse purchase by placing their products at the entry or exit of these category sections. Disposable money (amount willing to spend on different categories) The amount a shopper carrying is also a very significant factor that influence his/her movement inside the store and hence impulse purchase. During the depth interviews, the respondents were given a situation where they were asked to imagine a situation where they are having some extra money and they wont mind spending it that days shopping. There was again a significant change in the behaviour in this situation as this extra amount psychologically give them the freedom to wander in sections that earlier they avoided because lack of money not lack of interest or time. This behaviour is again is important for marketers and retailers to generate impulse purchase by placing their products at the entry or exit of these category sections. In this case, there is a higher chance of impulse behaviour due to availability of extra cash and high intention of purchase. Payment mode Mode of payment is also a very important factor which came into light by observing shoppers at the store and depth interviews. To conduct this study I traced shopper movement inside the store and their purchase trends. If was evident that people end up spending more when they dont pay in cash because the pain of payment is very low in card as compared to that of cash. In store design Billing Counter From the above research it is quite evident that products kept near billing counter have a high probability to stimulate impulse buying behaviour. Various factors like time of queue, access to others shopping cart and the mental satisfaction of buying products contributes to this behaviour. It is designed in such a manner that while waiting in the queue you cannot avoid the sight of the products. Most of the times the products found are low priced and discounted like chewing gums, chocolates, chips, soft toys etc. Shelf placement Shopper movement Entrance Exit Shopping frequency and impulse The above graph explains the relation between shopping frequency and impulse purchase behaviour. Generally, people going for shopping everyday do not spend more than planned. It is evident from the higher number of respondents in the last three categories of everyday shoppers. On the other hand people going shopping less often tends to spend more than planned most of the time which is clear from the fact that first three categories are high on once in 3 months purchasers. Recommendations Promoting impulse buying behaviour Businesses who wish to promote their products and focus on impulse buying should create an environment where shoppers can be comforted and relieved of their negative perceptions of impulse. They should focus on the relative reasoning of impulse buying in their marketing efforts. Similarly, they should also focus on the non-economic rewards of impulse buying. Additionally, businesses can make the environment more complex, further straining consumers abilities to process information accurately. Such techniques as stocking more merchandise, creating stimulating atmospherics, and increasing information may be useful to stimulate impulse buying. Businesses have to make impulse purchasing more risk-free, through convenient return policies, or increase enablers such as credit and store hours. Importantly, this model also offers options for consumers to control their buying impulses, if they choose to, or feel better about their impulse buying, by relieving their negative evaluations of impulse. How to promote impulsive buying Emphasise needs versus wants Highlight that it will not impact on their shopping budgets over time Create a store environment which dazzles them and where they lose control Provide flexible payment methods. Some people have less cash in your wallet and sometimes leave credit cards at home Avoid making the customer wait 24 hours before making an unplanned purchase Demonstrate that this deal/offer will not last tomorrow before they realize that such deals occur on a regular basis Stress on the emotional aspect of owning the product. Good amount of effort should be put into messages which should make consumers recognize that buying on impulse is not bad. Once consumers recognize that products are more than commodities and that they are buying to please their desires, they will feel more comfortable with the impulse buying decision. Product trial There is a wide gap between the points where the product visual generates the stimulus to final purchase. To minimize this gap and to convert all stimuli into action product trial can prove very effective. This helps customers check the quality of the product and its utility, such an experience can reinforce the buying impulse and the need to buy starts dominating. Some well known things about impulse buying Traditionally impulse buying is defined as Unplanned buying refers to all purchases made without such advance planning and includes impulse buying, which is distinguished by the relative speed with which buying decisions occur. Impulse buying occurs when a consumer experiences a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buy something immediately. The impulse to buy is hedonically complex and may stimulate emotional conflict. Also, impulse buying is prone to occur with diminished regard for its consequences. Why people buy impulsively? Some say that it acts as a stress reliever Perceive it as the best buy of that time People are captivated as an audience Consumers have extra money in their budget These are some of the characteristics of impulsive buying Unplanned, Spontaneous and intense urge to buy the purchaser often ignoring the consequences Without much prior knowledge of the product or intension to buy A kind of emotional and irrational purchase often for reasons like fun, fantasy and social and economic pleasure Consumer often regret their purchase after purchasing Internal factors affecting impulsive buying Depends on the mood of the individual, positive mood triggers impulsive buying Impulsive buying is more a need than a want Potential entertainment and emotional worth of shopping Cognitive/affective External factors affecting impulsive buying Windows display Visual merchandising In-store form display Promotional signage Word of mouth messages E-commerce Impact of impulsive buying on the consumer Disturbs the overall financial budget Often gives product dissatisfaction and less alternatives are considered People who go for impulsive buying often have post purchase regret Irrational decision making being more emotional http://www.focus.com/briefs/marketing/impulse-buying-boosting-your-bottom-line/ Limitations People in the city are not used to research hence they were not very responsive or had less idea on how to answer certain questions. As a student, I had limited amount of resources (money, time, contacts etc) to spend on this research. This research has been conducted in two hypermarkets (Reliance mart and star bazaar), the research findings cannot be extended to all hypermarkets in India. This restricts the scope of applying the findings. There are various psychological factors driving impulse behaviour which cannot be covered in this study due to knowledge limitation. Hence the findings cannot be extended to these areas.

Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice and William Shakespeares King Lear E

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and William Shakespeare's King Lear Two English literary works, one a comedy and the other a tragedy, by two different authors of separate centuries, both have their fair share of characters who illustrate the admirable and the not-so-admirable of dispositions. Jane Austen's socially satirical novel Pride and Prejudice from 1813 and William Shakespeare's poetic poem King Lear from 1606 match each other very closely in the context of how good character reveals itself. In each piece, the authors present readers with a contrast between the wonderful and the terrible and act as puppet masters in the competition for the common object of desire; the "prizes" for Shakespeare's dramatic characters are power and riches, and while Austen's characters also aspire to possess affluence, their primary concern is high regard from others. In terms of Pride and Prejudice, all unfavorable characters commit different offenses against amiability in their quests for a flattering reputation, but Austen manipulates their actions so that each comes off as being an extrovert. Similar terms apply to King Lear in that Shakespeare's disgraceful characters act grandiosely and employ dishonesty in attempts toward prosperity. As Pride and Prejudice's villain in disguise, Mr. Wickham sets out to convince his new acquaintances of Hertfordshire that he is a victim of a heartless Mr. Darcy. He initiates discussion with Elizabeth about Darcy's spiteful disposition and ventures so far as to claim to her sympathetic ears "I can never be in company with this Mr. Darcy without being grieved to the soul by a thousand tender recollections. His behavior to myself has been scandalous," (59). Elizabeth later d... ...extroverted methods in meeting the desire. Superior characters demonstrate non-public acts, and anonymous deeds in terms of King Lear, and always without selfish intent. Those successful in attaining the want in both works are on the good side, but inevitable flaws mildly contaminate their characters. As authors, Austen and Shakespeare have the power to personify perfection and invent a role with developed, first-rate, and unblemished character. No one is without fault; high-value characters are the next best example of humanity. Through two contrasting literary pieces, Austen and Shakespeare both present readers with the proposition that one need not be perfect to have noble and virtuous character. Works Cited Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. England: Signet Classics, 1998.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Who was Napoleon Essay -- essays research papers

Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on 15 August 1769, the second of Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte's eight children. In 1778, Napoleon began his education at Autun and later attended school in Brienne, excelling in mathematics and science. Following a year's study at the Ecole Militaire in Paris, he was commissioned in the artillery in 1785. The year 1789 saw the outbreak of the French revolution, which created an atmosphere of opportunity that would not have existed under the Bourbons, and Napoleon was to make the most of it. The first opportunity came in 1793, when Bonaparte was promoted to brigadier general for the decisive part he played in the siege of Toulon, which ousted the British from mainland France. After the coup de Thermidor in 1794, Napoleon fell out of favor and was imprisoned. After his release he ended up preserving the new government from the Parisian Mob with artillery fire, an event that has become known as the 'Whiff of Grapeshot.' A grateful government later appointed Napoleon to command of the Army of Italy. Before his departure, Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais on 9 March 1796. Campaigning in Italy in 1796 and 1797, he inspired the impoverished army with the promise of "honor, glory, and riches," and enjoyed a succession of victories, which resulted in Austria signing the Peace of Campo Formio. His display of bravery, intelligence, and leadership proved an inspiration to the common soldier and formed an enduring bond. Returning to France, he was given charge of an expedition to Egypt, control of which would threaten English possessions in India. The victory at the Battle of the Pyramids gave French control of Cairo, but the naval defeat at Aboukir Bay isolated the expedition from France. After some unsuccessful campaigning in Syria, he departed by ship with a small group of friends and sailed to France, abandoning his Army. In 1799, public sentiment had swung against the government, and following the coup d'etat de Brumaire, Napoleon became the defacto ruler of France. The country was still at war however, and after a dramatic crossing of the Alps, Napoleon defeated the Austrians at the battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800. This victory solidified his reputation of invincibility, and combined with other successes, led to a general peace. After a decade of war, a grateful France made Napoleon Consul for Life and ... ...as soon forced to retreat. The 'scorched earth' policy employed by the Russians combined with extreme weather caused the Grand Armà ©e to disintegrate and the campaign ended in disaster. The defeat in Russia prompted Prussia, Sweden, and Austria to declare war on France. Napoleon raised another army but was decisively defeated at the great Battle of Nations. Napoleon fought a last brilliant campaign in France to defend Paris, but in April 1814 abdicated and went into exile on the island of Elba. The Bourbon king was restored to the French throne. While the Allies debated a realignment of the map of Europe in Vienna, Napoleon planned his return, and in March 1815, he landed in France and regained his throne in a bloodless coup. Rather than await another invasion, Napoleon surprised Allied forces in Belgium. After initial success, Napoleon fought the Duke of Wellington leading an Anglo/Allied army at Waterloo, and was decisively defeated on 18 June 1815. Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena situated in the South Atlantic Ocean, where he resided until his death on 5 May 1821. His remains were removed from St. Helena in 1840 and his body now rests at les Invalides in Paris. Who was Napoleon Essay -- essays research papers Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on 15 August 1769, the second of Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte's eight children. In 1778, Napoleon began his education at Autun and later attended school in Brienne, excelling in mathematics and science. Following a year's study at the Ecole Militaire in Paris, he was commissioned in the artillery in 1785. The year 1789 saw the outbreak of the French revolution, which created an atmosphere of opportunity that would not have existed under the Bourbons, and Napoleon was to make the most of it. The first opportunity came in 1793, when Bonaparte was promoted to brigadier general for the decisive part he played in the siege of Toulon, which ousted the British from mainland France. After the coup de Thermidor in 1794, Napoleon fell out of favor and was imprisoned. After his release he ended up preserving the new government from the Parisian Mob with artillery fire, an event that has become known as the 'Whiff of Grapeshot.' A grateful government later appointed Napoleon to command of the Army of Italy. Before his departure, Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais on 9 March 1796. Campaigning in Italy in 1796 and 1797, he inspired the impoverished army with the promise of "honor, glory, and riches," and enjoyed a succession of victories, which resulted in Austria signing the Peace of Campo Formio. His display of bravery, intelligence, and leadership proved an inspiration to the common soldier and formed an enduring bond. Returning to France, he was given charge of an expedition to Egypt, control of which would threaten English possessions in India. The victory at the Battle of the Pyramids gave French control of Cairo, but the naval defeat at Aboukir Bay isolated the expedition from France. After some unsuccessful campaigning in Syria, he departed by ship with a small group of friends and sailed to France, abandoning his Army. In 1799, public sentiment had swung against the government, and following the coup d'etat de Brumaire, Napoleon became the defacto ruler of France. The country was still at war however, and after a dramatic crossing of the Alps, Napoleon defeated the Austrians at the battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800. This victory solidified his reputation of invincibility, and combined with other successes, led to a general peace. After a decade of war, a grateful France made Napoleon Consul for Life and ... ...as soon forced to retreat. The 'scorched earth' policy employed by the Russians combined with extreme weather caused the Grand Armà ©e to disintegrate and the campaign ended in disaster. The defeat in Russia prompted Prussia, Sweden, and Austria to declare war on France. Napoleon raised another army but was decisively defeated at the great Battle of Nations. Napoleon fought a last brilliant campaign in France to defend Paris, but in April 1814 abdicated and went into exile on the island of Elba. The Bourbon king was restored to the French throne. While the Allies debated a realignment of the map of Europe in Vienna, Napoleon planned his return, and in March 1815, he landed in France and regained his throne in a bloodless coup. Rather than await another invasion, Napoleon surprised Allied forces in Belgium. After initial success, Napoleon fought the Duke of Wellington leading an Anglo/Allied army at Waterloo, and was decisively defeated on 18 June 1815. Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena situated in the South Atlantic Ocean, where he resided until his death on 5 May 1821. His remains were removed from St. Helena in 1840 and his body now rests at les Invalides in Paris.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Influence of Culture on Human Technology :: Sanders The Men We Carry in Our Minds

Influence of Culture on Human Technology The influence that culture has had on human technology is undeniable. One could even go as far as to say that sometimes, it is difficult to distinguish between the two. The term â€Å"culture† is extremely difficult to define because of the vast array of meanings that people attach to it. For this very reason, it is imperative to examine the most basic notion of culture, namely: â€Å"the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought† (as taken from www.dictionary.com). Given this definition, it seems reasonable to conclude that human technologies fall under the category of â€Å"all other products of human work and thought†. Yet, although human technologies are closely linked to culture, we must draw certain distinctions between the two. Today, for example, pop culture is thought of as the exportation of American music, food, and cinema. This is a legitimate example of a culture because it encompasses the ideas/beliefs/traditions of a vast group of people. Computers on the other hand, although great as inventions, cannot be considered a culture. One might argue that computers are part of a culture, or may have even led to a culture (namely, the information age), but in and of themselves, computers and other such human technologies are just that, technologies. Technologies can either be of the mechanical/scientific sort (such as the car) or they can be a type of innovative idea that changes life in some profound way. Having established workable definitions for both culture and human technology, we can now deal with the question of how culture has affected human technology. Given the broad scope of the question, there are several ways to answer it. One way of doing this would be to examine several different cultural movements or characteristics (i.e. art, religion, etc.) and see how they have helped create different human technologies. Another way of analyzing the relationship between the two however, is to look at a human technology and see how culture has altered it. This will be the method employed in this essay. I) Religion and War One of the most obvious examples of a culture or a cultural aspect influencing a human technology is the relationship between religion and the nation-state.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Human Resources Management and Training Essay

A writing audit contains some basic rundown of key sources, yet it, for the most part, has a hierarchical example and joins both outline and mix, regularly inside particular reasonable sorts. A synopsis is an audit of the fundamental data of the source, however, a union is an improvement, or a rebuild, of that data in a way that illuminates how you are wanting to examine an exploration issue. The systematic highlights of a writing audit may: †¢ Give another clarification of old material or blend of new with old understandings, †¢ Trace the subjective improvement of the field, including principle talks about, †¢ Based on the circumstance, asses the sources and guide the peruser on the most reasonable or pertinent, or †¢ Usually, in the consummation of a writing survey, distinguish where defects exist in how an issue has been looked into to date. The reason for a writing survey is to: †¢ Place each work in the encompassing of its presentation to the comprehension of the exploration issue being considered, †¢ Describe the association of each work to the others under survey, †¢ Identify better approaches to clarify, and shed light on any defects in past research, †¢ Solving issues among as far as anyone knows nullification of past examinations, †¢ Point the path in dealing with a requirement for additional examination, and †¢ Discover your own particular discoveries inside the setting of existing writing. The writing survey which was utilized: †¢ Methodological Survey : This approach gives a structure of comprehension at various levels (i.e. those of hypothesis, substantive fields, investigate methodologies and information accumulation and examination strategies), empowers specialists to draw on a wide variety of understanding going from the applied level to useful archives for use in hands on work in the zones of ontological and epistemological thought, quantitative and subjective reconciliation, testing, talking with, information gathering and information examination, and helps feature numerous moral issues which we ought to know about and consider as we experience our examination. †¢ Argumentative Audit This shape analyzes writing specifically so as to help or disprove a contention, profoundly embedded figure, or philosophical blemishes effectively settled in the writing. The design is to build up a group of writing that sets up a contrarian perspective. Given the esteem loaded nature of some sociology inquire about [e.g., instructive change; migration control], contentious ways to deal with dissecting the writing can be honest to goodness and essential type of talk. Nonetheless, take note of that they can likewise present issues of predisposition when they are utilized to make rundown cases of the sort found inefficient surveys. †¢ Theoretical Audit The target of this frame is to inspect the corpus of the hypothesis that has aggregated with respect to an issue, idea, hypothesis, wonders. The hypothetical writing audit help builds up what speculations as of now exist, the connections between them, to what degree the current speculations have been explored, and to grow new theories to be tried. Regularly this shape is utilized to help set up an absence of suitable speculations or uncover that momentum hypotheses are insufficient for clarifying new or developing examination issues. The unit of examination can concentrate on a hypothetical idea or an entire hypothesis or structure.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Ap English Literature and Composition

AP English Literature and Composition â€Å"Only connect!†¦. Live in fragments no longer! † General Course Information 1. 0 Credits (. 5 per semester) Prerequisites: Accelerated English is recommended Course Overview †¢ This class will prepare students for AP English Literature and Composition Exam, as well as the AP English Language and Composition Exam. When registering for exams in the Spring, students will choose which exam to take. †¢ This course is set according to the requirements listed in the AP English Course Description. †¢ The reading in the course will cover a wide variety of genres.You will be introduced to everything from formal literary theory to creative writing. Deep reading, the kind that poses as many questions as it answers, will be expected. We will read for a variety of reasons, sometimes to grasp a thematic element and sometimes to simply enjoy the sounds of words. We will not only identify literary elements, but also why they are us ed and discuss their effectiveness. We will read across curriculums and relate English literature and its themes to those in philosophy, science, and psychology. †¢ This course also intends to hone your skills as writers.We will learn how to appeal to a certain audience and how vocabulary and structure change depending on the type of writing. We will practice deep revision and constantly recognize that writing is not simply putting thoughts down on a page, but a craft that takes a lifetime to perfect. We will discover our own individual styles as writers and use these to our advantage. Mechanics, citations, and technical writing will all be monitored closely. Above all though, we will see how our own words can excite, persuade, and create understanding. †¢ Finally, the course will hopefully make you a critical thinker.We live in the information age and no skill will be more in need than the ability to interpret information. The critical thinking skills you develop in this class will go on to help you on the AP Exams, the SAT, and in almost every aspect of your life. †¢ This course is divided around the different thematic ideas of conflict in literature, non-fiction, and life in general. While the traditional elements of conflict seem simple, we will explore the motives behind them. Finally, we will attempt to figure out how the characters choose to live (or die) with conflict and find resolution.Through non-fiction, we will explore how conflict has been created and resolved through rhetoric and argument. And how a well-written and polished argument can create a path of possibility even through the most mired of conflicts. Elements of the course: †¢ Writing. Drafts will be submitted to me and returned with comments. All papers will have a first and a final draft. Students may be asked to correct their drafts twice before submitting a final draft. All compositions will be graded on the AP rubric. One Friday a month, students will access their writing from the past month from their portfolio in class.During this time, we will have a writer’s workshop and address specific revision strategies. We will focus on revising sentence structure, organization, rhetorical structures, transitions, detail, imagery, conventions, and grammar. While timed writings are a part of this class, the Friday writer’s workshops will illustrate the importance of constant and careful revision. Students will also sign up for a meeting with me after-school every 2 months. At the first meeting, students will discuss with me their strengths and weaknesses. Together, we will assess their improvement throughout the year. †¢ Wordly Wise Vocabulary book will be due weekly.Periodic quizzes will test students’ knowledge. Wordly Wise is an excellent preparation for the SAT. The class will also have a Word Wall. The Word Wall will function to remind students of past vocabulary learned and encouraged the use of new vocabulary in writi ng. †¢ One interactive class project will happen for every unit. The project will often involve synthesizing knowledge from the unit and applying it to something outside English class: art, nature, current events, family life, etc. †¢ Reading journals: Students will keep dialectical reading journals throughout the course. These journals will help facilitate deep and thorough reading. he reading journal is also a great place to practice writing and collecting your thoughts cohesively. We will continuously use the reading journal in class discussion and come back to it to get ideas for essays. The reading journal will be counted as a grade underneath the writing category. Grading: |Writing (Journal included) |50% | |Exams |20% | |Vocabulary |10% | |Assignments and Projects |20% | Course Syllabus: Unit 1: Introduction 4 weeksReadings: †¢ Class Handouts †¢ â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† by Plato †¢ â€Å"Good Readers, Good Writers† by Vladimir Nabokov †¢ Excerpts from â€Å"Why I Write† by Joan Didion †¢ â€Å"Finishing School† by Maya Angelou †¢ Excerpt from Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston †¢ â€Å"My Mother Never Worked† by Bonnie Smith-Yackel †¢ Everything’s an Argument by Andrea Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz †¢ Current articles from the New York Times Discussion Topics: The first few days in class will be spent looking at class policies, organizing notebooks, and receiving helpful information on the strategies we will use throughout the year. SOAPSTone, Dialectical Journal explanation, AP terms list, DIDLS, etc. ) Our first reading will be Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave. † Plato tells us that ideas, not necessarily our experiences, are reality. This argument will encourage us to look deeper into the ideas behind what we are reading and writing. Essays from Didion and Nabokov will give us specific tips on how to begin our journey as acc omplished readers and writers. Then, we will switch gears to a short segment on narrative writing where will read 3 excellent examples of narrative in time for us to write our own narrative essay.While studying narrative writing, we will focus on specific examples of excellence in sentence structure, form, organization, and conventions. Finally, we will spend two weeks studying the text Everything’s an Argument, which we will continue to refer to throughout the year. We will learn how to identify successful rhetorical structures and use them in our own writing. During this examination of rhetorical analysis, we will use current New York Times editorials. Our writer’s workshop will for this unit will focus on varying our sentence structure for emphasis and effect. Assessments: Composition: AutobiographyComposition: Narrative essay over family Timed Writing: 2010 English Language and Composition Released Free Response Questions Argument Analysis: NY Times articles Writer ’s Workshop: Sentence structure Unit 2: Person vs. Nature 5 weeks Reading: †¢ Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe †¢ â€Å"The Santa Ana† by Joan Didion †¢ Poetry of William E. Stafford †¢ Excerpts from Maslow’s â€Å"A Theory of Human Motivation† †¢ Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey †¢ Excerpts from Walden by Henry David Thoreau †¢ â€Å"The American Forests† by John Muir Viewing: †¢ Clips from Man vs. Wild Discussion topics: Person vs. Nature is possibly the oldest conflict in the world.Maslow theorizes that we cannot ascend up the hierarchy of needs until our most basic needs are met. Robinson Crusoe is essentially the story of a man having to begin at the bottom of the hierarchy and work his way up. Person vs. Nature is often illustrated with diction and imagery. In Stafford’s poetry and Didion’s essay, we are invited into their personal experience of nature through word and image choices. Finall y, we see how the person vs. nature conflict changes as technology begins to take care of our rudimentary needs. In Desert Soltaire, nature maintains little of its aggressor status.Instead, man takes over as the force bent on destruction. Finally, we will end our discussion of person vs. nature by taking a field trip to McKinney Falls State Park. There, we will take pictures to provide visual evidence of multiple points of conflict. Our Writer’s Workshop will highlight organization. We will review our own strengths and weaknesses in organization from our past unit’s writing. Assessments: Composition: Using Maslow’s â€Å"Theory of Human Motivation† to explain Robinson Crusoe Composition: Literary analysis of imagery in Stafford poetry Composition: Compare/Contrast- Abbey and ThoreauTimed Writing: 2002 AP English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B Argument analysis: John Muir’s letter to Congress Project: Field trip to McKinney Falls State Park. Capture visual evidence using cameras that illustrates the conflict of person vs. nature. Writer’s Workshop: Organization Unit 3: Person vs. Person 6 weeks †¢ A River Runs Through It by Norman McClean †¢ â€Å"Speech to the Troops at Tillbury† by Queen Elizabeth †¢ â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Women† by Mary Wollstonecraft †¢ â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin †¢ Excerpts from â€Å"A Room of One’s Own† by Virginia Woolf †¢ â€Å"I Want a Wife† by Judy Brady All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy †¢ Selected poetry of e. e. cummings Viewings: Discussion topics: A River Runs Through It is the perfect bridge between discussion of the conflicts in nature to the conflicts between people. We will explore familial conflicts and traditional family archetypes. After we finish the novella, we will take a look at another reoccurring person vs. person conflict: gender roles. Queen Elizabeth, in her â€Å"Speech to the Troops at Tillsbury† used certain rhetoric to explain herself that was needed at the time. We will focus on how that language changed as women gained more equality.Finally, we will focus on style and the creative use of structure across two genres: novel and poetry. All the Pretty Horses will take us through several conflicts as John Grady Cole becomes an adult. Most striking though is McCarthy’s mastery of prose and creativity in structure. We will then make a comparison to e. e. cummings poetry, which also manages to leave out what we expect in format, in order to open our eyes to the exuberant images the poet provides. Our writer’s workshop will focus on how to add specific and concise, yet eye-opening detail to our writing.We will use our previous work in Unit’s 1 and 2 to revise and add detail. Assessment: †¢ Composition: Jung’s Archetypes in Literature †¢ Composition: The changing language of the women’s movement †¢ Composition: Analysis in style of either Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses or e. e. cummings †¢ Timed Writing: 2004 AP English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions (Form B) †¢ Argument Analysis: â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Women† by Mary Wollstonecraft †¢ Project: Use Feminist Literary Criticism to analyze a children’s picture book. Writer’s Workshop: Detail Unit 4: Person vs. Himself 6 weeks Readings: †¢ King Lear by Shakespeare †¢ Sylvia Plath poetry †¢ â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall† by Katherine Anne Porter †¢ â€Å"Fate† by Ralph Waldo Emerson †¢ Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad †¢ â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† by Chinua Achebe †¢ â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† by George Orwell Viewings: †¢ Excerpts from Apocalypse Now Discussion Topics: King Lear will b egin with family conflicts but by the end of the play, we will see a new type of conflict arise.Lear will have to grapple with his failing sense of reality and atone for what he now sees as his past sins. Katherine Anne Porter’s short story will also show the failure to grasp reality. Through the stream of consciousness point of view, the reader will feel like they are losing their grip on reality as well. Emerson’s poem will help us to understand if Lear’s problems were fate, or if fate merely took the fall for Lear’s bad judgment. Heart of Darkness is tied very closely to two types of conflict: person vs. himself and person vs. society. We will see how Kurtz’ descent into madness (yes!There will be many descents into madness in this unit! ) was caused by the evils of colonialism. Achebe argues in his essay â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† that while Conrad was arguing against imperialism, he was doing so from a racist standpoint. We will analyze Achebe’s argument. Orwell will close out the unit by illustrating his own personal conflict with duty and attempt to â€Å"avoid looking a fool† in imperialist times. The Writer’s Workshop will focus on conventions, specifically advanced punctuation and its uses.Assessments: †¢ Composition: Characterization. Choose a character from King Lear, The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, or Heart of Darkness. Analyze the literary techniques that are used to illustrate insanity and the onset of madness. †¢ Composition: From the 2004 Exam- â€Å"Contemporary life is marked by controversy. Choose a controversial local, national, or global issue with which you are familiar. Then, using appropriate evidence, write an essay that carefully considers the opposing positions on this controversy and proposes a solution or compromise. †¢ Timed Writing: 2003 AP English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions †¢ Argument Analysis: â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† †¢ Project: Using the class copy of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 1994, create a power-point presentation that diagnoses either Lear or Kurtz with a particular mental illness. †¢ Writer’s Workshop: Conventions Unit 5: Person vs. Society 6 weeks Readings: †¢ The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien †¢ Political Cartoons from the Vietnam Era †¢ â€Å"Mutual Deterrence† Speech by Sec. f Defense Robert McNamara †¢ War Poetry Selections: â€Å" Dulce Et Decorum Est† by Wilfred Owen; â€Å"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner† by Randall Jarrell; â€Å"An Irish Airman Foresees His Death† by William Butler Yeats; â€Å"My Father Leaves for Vietnam† by Lenard D. Moore; â€Å"Palestine† by Lorna Dee Cervantes; â€Å"The Daisy Cutter† by Louise Rill †¢ The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner †¢ â€Å"Living Under Circe’s Spell† By Matthew Soyster Viewing: †¢ â€Å"The War in Vietnam- A Story in Photographs† from The National Archives †¢ Excerpts from â€Å"Reporting America at War: The Reporters† from pbs. org †¢ Excerpts from The Fog of WarDiscussion Topics- We will begin studying person vs. society by examining how the life of a soldier is deemed honorable and sometimes necessary by society, but often looks mundane and horrific on an individual level. The Things They Carried will take us to one of the more controversial wars, Vietnam. By looking through collections of war photography from the National Archives and watching evening news broadcasts, we will determine what role the media had on the society’s opinion of the war. By reading a collection of war poetry, we will look at the emotional toll that war exacts on individuals.Then, we will shift gears and begin reading The Sound and the Fury, a novel where each character struggles against societal norms that no longer fit the family’s reality. Finally, we will read Soyster’s essay on disability and the struggles associated with it. The Writer’s Workshop for this unit will focus on broad, thematic revision by evaluating the effectiveness of our thesis statements in our portfolio. Assessments: †¢ Composition- Research Topic: Choose one form of media. (Some examples could be television, movies, internet, telephones, etc.You may not choose photography. ) Research and examine the chosen media form’s impact on modern warfare. It should include both positive and negative impacts. †¢ Composition- Persuasive essay: Where should we draw the line with war photography? †¢ Composition- Literary analysis of symbolism in The Sound and the Fury. †¢ Timed Writing- 2001, Question 3- the Sontag photography piece, On Photography, 1977. †¢ Argument Analysis- â€Å"Mutual Deterrence† Speech by Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara †¢ Project- We will create a family tree that spans back 3-4 generations.As a class, we will discuss what â€Å"societal values† are family tree puts on us. We will take a particular look at any â€Å"values† that are placed there because of our blood and not because of our reality. †¢ Writer’s Workshop- Thesis Revision Unit 6: Resolutions 5 weeks â€Å"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die. – Howard’s End Readings: †¢ Howard’s End †¢ â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver †¢ â€Å"On Self-Respect† by Joan Didion †¢ Poetry of Kahil Gibran †¢ Faulkner’s Nobel Acceptance Speech †¢ Woody Allen’s â€Å"My Speech to the Graduates† Viewings: †¢ Howard’s End 1992 version †¢ Discussion Topics: We will end the year with a Victorian class study in the novel Howard’s End. With a host of characters, we will see how some are able to overcome the conflicts and others do not. We will also look at â€Å"connecting the prose with the passion† as we reflect on our studies this year.Before exams, we will take a full week to do practice exams and prepare the final touches on our AP experience. Finally, we will read several writers who focus on resolution rather than conflict. Through emotional experience, logical thinking, and even humor, we will see how characters and people in real life live and deal with conflict. Assessments: †¢ Composition: Analyze the role the house plays in the novel Howard’s End. †¢ Composition: Write a mock graduation speech that includes at least 4 quotes from readings throughout the year. †¢ Composition : â€Å"A picture is worth a thousand words. In our age of information, is a picture/movie/symbol worth more than the written word? Use the Rogerian style to persuade your audience. †¢ Timed Writings: Students will choose 3 timed writings to practice from released exams. †¢ Project: Collage. As a class, we will create a pictorial collage that represents conflict in the literature we have read and in life. We will then put quotes and phrases from the literature and essays we have read that illustrate overcoming conflict. The last part of the collage will show representations of different resolutions in life.