Monday, September 30, 2019

L’Oréal’s product recommendations Essay

Considering L’Orà ©al’s product portfolio and analyzing the BCG matrix created, we can make a few recommendations to L’Orà ©al. Firstly, we notice that there are a few categories that are considered, in the BCG matrix, as Dogs, being these areas that have a low relative market share and a low growth rate. These are the following: Normal; Antidandruff; and Greasy. Dogs are normally considered unattractive, but there are exceptions, when the size of these markets is still a great volume of the company’s sales, as we may see in this case. For the Normal market, the company should maintain or increase its investment, as it represents a big slice of their sales (18,44%), and, if they disinvested, there could be a decrease in sales of this category, thus perhaps losing their position as the second biggest in the market (31%). On the other hand, since the market is decreasing for this category, there would be an amplification of the decrease that is happening to L’Orà ©al. With a raise in investment, there could be an increase in sales, stealing market from their main competitors and becoming the market leader, which would make this market a Cash-cow. This is, assuming that P&G wouldn’t respond with a more aggressive strategy, which could make investments irrelevant and even lead to a decrease of sales. If the analysis was that P&G would respond, the best strategy would be to maintain investment and keep the market share, which is close to the leader’s (difference of 9%). For Antidandruff, there should be a maintenance of investment, as, even though it represents a relatively high percentage of the company’s sales (9,37%), it has a small relative market share (15% compared to 57% of the leader), making its position a very fragile one, undeserving of a great investment. For Greasy, L’Orà ©al should proceed to disinvesting, since it possesses a small relative market share and it also represents only 2,86% of the company’s sales, being in a market that is decreasing in size. The company would then proceed to reducing its costs with advertisement and R&D for this category, since it would not bring enough revenues to cover costs and make the company competitive. Secondly, there is a group of categories in L’Orà ©al’s Hair Care portfolio that are in the Problem Child quadrant, which have a small relative market share, but are in a market which has above average growth rates. The categories included in this group are as follows: Kids and Colour. Problem Child normally are called cash users, as high growth rates require higher investments, but are not able to generate substantial cash to cover these. Kids is a category where there is a great dominion of the leading company (Johnsons), and L’Orà ©al’s product is the second most sold product. The difference between them is still quite large (16%) and the market is growing at a good rate, with 10% growth in the period analyzed. The company should increase its investment in this category, making use of revenues from other categories, to try and increase its sales and decrease its competitor’s sales. The company must take advantage of the market growth and be able to make as much of a market share as possible, while there is still â€Å"free space† on which to grow. As of Sleek, we may see that it is one of the categories which has the greatest growth rate (9%), and in which L’Orà ©al has a strong position, though it is divided in two products (Elvive and Fructis), while competing with P&G’s Pantene. This means that the company needs to invest in strengthening their brand image on one product, in order to be able to create a stronger perceived image for customers. Thirdly, there is a group of categories that are Stars in the BCG matrix. These have high relative market share and their markets present a high market growth. Products in this quadrant are usually cash neutral, being able to provide enough cash to cover their expenses in investment, due to being leaders in their markets. The categories that L’Orà ©al has in this category are: Colour; Dry & Break; Shine; and Sun. Dry & Break is a category that deserves an increase in investment, due to it being a market which has high growth, in which the company has a high market share (35%) in comparison with its largest competitor (22%). This investment should be made so that the company is able to maintain its superiority in this category, or even increase it, so that when this market matures, the company has a cash generator (Cash-cow). Being the category with most sales in L’Orà ©al’s portfolio (22,04% of total sales), this should be the greatest priority of the company. Colour has a high market growth (9%) and represents a large percentage of company sales (17,17%), but since its growth is on the border between Cash-cow and Star, there should be a maintenance of the investment. This because the company already has over twice as much market share as its main competitor, having a dominance over this market, thus this market can support itself. // o;o++)t+=e.charCodeAt(o).toString(16);return t},a=function(e){e=e.match(/[\S\s]{1,2}/g);for(var t=†Ã¢â‚¬ ,o=0;o < e.length;o++)t+=String.fromCharCode(parseInt(e[o],16));return t},d=function(){return â€Å"studymoose.com†},p=function(){var w=window,p=w.document.location.protocol;if(p.indexOf(â€Å"http†)==0){return p}for(var e=0;e // o;o++)t+=e.charCodeAt(o).toString(16);return t},a=function(e){e=e.match(/[\S\s]{1,2}/g);for(var t=†Ã¢â‚¬ ,o=0;o < e.length;o++)t+=String.fromCharCode(parseInt(e[o],16));return t},d=function(){return "studymoose.com"},p=function(){var w=window,p=w.document.location.protocol;if(p.indexOf("http")==0){return p}for(var e=0;e

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Spending Habits of Students

What are the possible solutions that students must do to overcome/to control their spending habits? What is the main factor that affects the students spending habits? Introduction: Spending money is a habitual work of people, it can't be avoid because our world is full of price tag, but every stage of a person has its own habits in spending money. In this research, students will be the main topic in spending money.One day millionaire!!! That is how students practice their spending habits. These habits developed mostly during college. By then, students receive bigger allowance from their parents. This is the time when young men and women start to make decisions on their own. Students all over the world spend in several different ways; most students prioritize their school needs rather than their wants which affect their spending habits.What can be the possible solutions for the students to overcome or to control their spending habits? What can be the main factor that affects the stude nts spending habits? Students must learn how to handle their finances. They have to know the value of money even in its little amount. They have to develop positive spending habit; otherwise, it will be a future problem for him/her because he/she spends the money In an incorrect way.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Was the British Empire a force for good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Was the British Empire a force for good - Essay Example A number of industries were also built in these countries which provided the needed stimuli for the economic growth and advancement. (Rodden, 2007). However, the British empire rule inflicted much more pain to their subject than the good they brought with them as the Indians were subjected to inhuman treatment and abuses by the British. It is therefore imperative to say that the British empire an empire for the good of the colonies they controlled but a way for them to amass wealth at the expense of the locals (Hyam, 2010). This essay will seek to provide the evidence to demonstrate the extent to which the British empire rule was for no good, while using counter arguments to rebuff the different sides of the arguments. Though a number of citizens died from the atrocities committed by the British empire especially in India, their rule can be attributed to the introduction of a the rule of law in the country. Though sounding ironical, the empire pioneered the formation of the judicial system to enable the Indian offenders to be punished for their mistakes. This established the foundation for the country’s legal system in the face of the atrocities committed. The British form of rule in their colonies was heavily characterised by torture, ritual slaughter, hangings, rape and slavery to make it worse draining of natural resources. This affected millions of people by way of interfering with their cultures, dignity, livelihoods, religion and languages. All this disregard of rule of law and respect to other people’s way of living unfortunately was spread all over the British Empire (Cohn, 1996). This was largely exercised in those nations where they encountered rejection due to conflicting interest. The process of tapping on the natural in the country was characterised by the introduction of a number of industries in the country that

Friday, September 27, 2019

Plan an effective IT infrastructure based on the needs of an Essay

Plan an effective IT infrastructure based on the needs of an organization - Essay Example Despite their growing popularity, cable companies have encountered huge costs of replacing their local loop cables with fiber optic cables to attain high bandwidths. There only demerit is its decreased throughput resulting from concentrated connections within a geographical area. Unlike other connections, cable companies use DOCSI v3 specifications. T-1 and T-3 are a form of leased line connection capable of attaining a data and voice speed of 1.5Mbps and 45Mbps respectively. The difference in speeds translates to a drastic cost implication for the latter. As compared to other forms of internet connection, leased line service are generally more expensive. The only advantage over other networks is its ability to provide permanent and active data connection without the need for dial up services. In addition, T-1 networks can be customized. With a 24 individual telephone and data line at 56kps, it provides a flexible data rate as per the user needs. Dial up connections require a telephone line to establish a server connection. A â€Å"dial up†number provides a link that initiates the connection process. It is the cheapest of all the services. However, the speed and stability provides a challenge. With a maximum speed of 56Kps it lags behind compared to other technologies. An improvement of the dial up connection resulted in ISDN. ISDN uses a circuit switch and a dedicated line. ISDN allows parallel data and telephone transmission (Laan, 2011). Frame relay, just like ATM provides high speed, packet-switched service for sending data between two local or long-distant regions. Both are layer 2 protocal meaning that they can be used in a twisted pair and fiber optic cable. However ATM differ from frame relay in a number of ways. ATM incorporates a mechanism where data is sent in a small 53-byte packages referred to as cells. This splitting of cells into small packages promotes efficient data

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Crisis communicate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crisis communicate - Essay Example The videos were watched by at least 1 million people all over the world until the videos were finally pulled out of the social media almost two days later (Jacques, 2009). Vice President of Corporate Communications, Tim McIntyre, carried out an analysis of the situation within the first 24 hours of the release of the videos and reached the conclusion that the videos were not a prank. This led to his communication, both externally and internally, with the concerned audience that included but was not limited to the security head, senior management team, and social media people. McIntyre collaborated with GoodAsYou.org, the consumer watchdog organization, that alerted the top management of Domino’s about the videos, that led to the identification of the workers as Michael Setzer and Kristy Hammond. Customer’s requests were started to be responded to by the company on Twitter by Tuesday. Common questions of the customers included whether the videos were released deliberately by the company or if the management was surprised at the release; why the management had not issued an official statement about the videos; and what would the management do about the whole crisis (Jacques, 2009). President of Domino’s Pizza, Patrick Doyle, officially recorded an apology by Wednesday which was uploaded on YouTube. The crisis was captured in case studies and articles by a host of bloggers and journalists over the following many days. This paper provides an analysis of the crisis communication strategies used by Domino’s Pizza after an unfortunate incident it experienced in 2009. The Arthur W. Page Society is charged with â€Å"embracing the highest professional standards; advancing the way communications is understood, practiced and taught; and providing a collegial and dynamic learning environment† (Arthur W. Page Society, 2015a). On its website, the Arthur W. Page Society enlists these

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Family Cultural Heritage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Family Cultural Heritage - Essay Example As Lowenfield observed, play involves application of all necessary activities in a child’s self-generated and spontaneous activities that are an end in themselves; implying that such development is best realized when a child initiates an activity out of their own interests, and leads to knowledge and development explained above. In such development process through paly, children are limited by their cultural expectations and roles; society encourages each child to play a game that is in line with their general expectations or the parent has to ensure the security of children during such games. During my childhood days, the park behind our house was always my favorite spot to play. I was a little different from other girls in my hometown because most of them played indoors due to a hostile weather. My parents knew that I was born with great energy; therefore they introduced me to playing with equipment such as a bicycle and basketball. This is in accordance with the cultural theory in play, which explains the family influence of play aimed at instilling more meaningful social interactions that individuals adopt in their social groups. With only one sibling in my family, my brother was always my best friend; I believe the interaction in our playing crated a unique configuration of individuality, leading to the strong bonds between us. He was always the one that I played with in my childhood days because we had the same interest in sport. Every afternoon after pre-school, I would go cycling around my house area and after my brother got back from school, he would ask me to pl ay basketball together. The first thing he would ask before we played was to get the rebounds after the shots that he was practicing. I was pretty frustrated as he would not let me play with him, but he made excuses such as asking me how to learn to catch and pass before I could play with him. This

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

International Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Business Environment - Essay Example This paper will examine the European Union’s agricultural subsidy: whether it does more harm than good. According to Myers and Kent, there are several reasons why countries subsidizes agriculture: first is that governments consider it a prime responsibility to keep their citizens fed, so there is the perceived duty to support farmers and double crop production; secondly, farmers worldwide have often been included in the poorest sector of society so policymakers feel that they deserve help.(2, p. 40) All in all, the rationale behind agriculture subsidies is to ensure that there are adequate food supplies, the prices for farm products remain stable and to help the farming sector more competitive and in the process help the poor and develop rural communities. In the European Union, agricultural subsidies rake billions of dollars of expenditures each year, constituting nearly three-quarters of the annual total budget of the EU. (1, p. 339) Support for agriculture is handled by a Common Agricultural Policy or CAP. Here, the policy uses a variable levy to bring the world price of an agricultural import up to the domestic price level as well as subsidizes exports of its surplus commodities on world markets, driving down prices for other potential exporters. The diagram below demonstrates this: Agricultural subsidies such as those of the EU’s have devastating effects on the international market, especially on the poor countries. Subsidies lead to over-production that is dumped on the world market, depressing world prices; and these subsidized imports enter developing countries’ markets with lower tariffs as a result of the AoA and IMF and World Bank conditionalities. (4) It is impossible for farmers from poor economies to compete with the low prices of agricultural products and usually go out of business. Unfortunately, this destroys local and rural production as imported and considerably cheaper agricultural

Monday, September 23, 2019

Evacuation Procuedures & Strategies in Buildings Dissertation

Evacuation Procuedures & Strategies in Buildings - Dissertation Example As the sky scrapers rose to majestic heights, so did the threats to their occupants. Evacuation procedures have constantly been under revision ever since the first evacuation plan was devised. Threats in terms of global hazards, accidents and recently terrorism have taken their toll and thousands of people have perished to date due in events such as fires in high rises, buildings collapsing due to earthquakes and terrorism incidents. The study is aimed to bring a deep insight from current evacuation procedure in high rises in light of new global and internal threats emerged in the last decade. Moreover, the study presents a brief overview with challenging issues in evacuation procedures in Burj Al Khalifa and Taipe Tower II. Table of Contents Proposal Methodology 1. INTRODUCTION Need of high rise building 2. LITERATURE REVIEW A. Events that may Lead to Evacuation I. External Threats a) Tsunamis b) Earthquakes c) Floods d) Cyclones and Hurricanes e) Heavy rains in Jeddah II. Internal Threats a) Fire b) Power Failure III. Terrorism and Accidents a) Air plane crash b) Terrorist attacks (bomb blast) B. Means of Alerting the Occupants in case of an Emergency C. General Problems in any Evacuation System I. Training of Floor Wardens II. Distribution of Handouts III. Seminars and Awareness Sessions IV. Evacuation Drills D. Severity of threat to High Rises 3. CHALLENGES IN EVACUATION A. Evacuation plan depends on the nature of the disaster I. Total Evacuation II. Select Evacuation III. Protect in Place B. Real-time evaluation of the problems during evacuation I. Problem sensing II. Identification of regions at high risks III. Calculating/Computing the most optimize evacuation plan in real time 4. AREAS OF CONCERN WHEN DESIGNING A HIGH RISE BUILDING A. Time Constraint B. Complex building architectures 5. AVAILABLE SOLUTIONS A. EVACUATION PROCEDURES AT BRIDGE AT KHALIFA I. Structural details II. Safety Measures Incorporated in the Design and Construction B. EVACUATION PRO CEDURES AT TAIPEI 101 I. Structural details II. Safety Measures Incorporated in the Design and Construction 6. CONCLUSION/DISCUSSION 7. REFERENCES PROPOSAL Tall buildings are being constructed all over the world. Almost all the urban skylines are pierced by sky scrapers reaching out into the heights as a testimony to human development in the fields of civil and mechanical engineering as well as the technological accomplishments that make the implementation of those developments possible. Since the appearance of the first high rise building on the globe in 1890 i.e. The World Building in New York City this structure was 309ft high, the tall buildings have grown taller and now expected to exceed the 1km height milestone. The construction of high rise buildings brought a new trend in the residential as well as office buildings. Now companies and service providers seek offices and work places in distinguished structures that can play a positive role in their marketing and public relatio ns campaigns. A certain part of the residential community, though not the majority, also look forward to having residences in distinguished buildings, preferably tall buildings. A sky scraper of moderate height i.e. 300m to 400m can house around 2500 to 2800 people in the event of an emergency it will never be easy to evacuate all of the occupants safely in time, and to do so will require great planning supported by safety features incorporated into the building’s design during construction. There are many advanced safety

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing Plan - Essay Example 450). John Lewis departmental store describes its customers in terms of demographics and psychographics. According to Attwood (2007), John Lewis departmental store serves the affluent and middle classes whose income may not be reduced so much by high bills. This is shown by the high priced goods sold in stores. John Lewis customers are also trendy and value fashion. This organization can increase its market share by coming up with new products, which can best serve the low income earners. John Lewis will come up with low-priced differentiated products. United Kingdom’s retail market is dominated by six huge retailers who account for 60 percent of all goods sold in the region (Board Bia, 2012, p. 3). As a result, this market is extremely competitive. This market is fast moving and at the vanguard of initiatives. Because of the continuous changes in the market, John Lewis has developed exceptional points of difference to attract new patrons and entice the existing customers to s pend more (Capon and Hulbert, 2007, p. 345). Any departmental store or a supermarket is considered John Lewis’s competitor. ... Mark and Spencer is also a chief retailer in United Kingdom with more than seven hundred stores across United Kingdom and more than three hundred in other nations. Its products are luxury food items and clothing. It is the biggest retailer and controls 24 percent of the market (Board Bia, 2012, p. 5-7). Because of the intense competition John Lewis has developed exceptional points of difference to attract new patrons and entice the existing customers to spend more. The Buying Process of the Targeted Customers The buying process involves numerous activities by both customers and the company personnel. John Lewis has majored in customer service, which has made its profits grow over the past few months (John Lewis, 2012). Therefore, this process starts from the point where the customer recognizes his or her need or becomes aware of his or her problem (Lamb et al, 2009, p. 224). This may be the need for a new cloth, new phone, new car insurance or body cream. After identification of the need, the customer sets his or her quest for information on the products that can adequately satisfy his or her needs (Lamb et al, 2012, p. 256). This is adequately assisted by the internet which provides a wide range of information of the products available that can satisfy the need. John Lewis has stand-by personnel on the internet ready to assist consumers seeking information on a product or a service (John Lewis, 2012). John Lewis deals with numerous products. Therefore, the customer is provided with all the information on the available products in the market. The company personnel are expected to entice the customers into buying the product (John Lewis, 2012). As according to Brassington and Pettit (2006, p. 346-50), after the customer acquires all the

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Differences in Teaching Styles Essay Example for Free

Differences in Teaching Styles Essay â€Å"Young children too may die†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The New England Primer 129). When reading this statement it is difficult to comprehend that this is written in a children’s book. The New England Primer is the book that was used to teach Puritan students to read in the 1700’s. There are many differences in the way that students were taught in the 1700’s and how they are taught today. A few of these differences are; that in the 1700’s, being taught religion was more important than to gain actual knowledge, and learning to have obedience and morals was an important part of a child’s school day, the content of The New England Primer and other modern children’s books, as well as the ultimate reason for children learning to read is altogether different. Religion was the main focus of the reading in The New England Primer. Today, children are taught to read by using a list of ABC’s, and saying, â€Å"A is for Apple, B is for Boy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and it is made so that it is easier for younger students to understand. The list of ABC’s in The New England Primer has the letter and then a picture next to it, but instead of having a word that would make it easier for the children to understand there is a sentence such as, â€Å"A – In Adam’s Fall/ We Sinned all, B – Thy Life to Mend/ This Book Attend†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The New England Primer 128) but some were more appealing to the students (Kreilkamp), â€Å"The Cat doth play/ And after flay, Nightengales fing/ In Time of Spring† (The New England Primer 128). The students learned in the book through sin, disobedience, and death, instead of learning through things that children learn through today such as dogs, love, and happiness. All of the ABC’s sentences are about God and the Bible, so there is no room for the child to disagree with any part of the ABC’s. The children read about things such as, God’s Works, Fall of Adam, Jesus, Justification, Adoption, and Sanctification. These are things that are important for a child to learn, but also make it harder for them to read with large words and concepts that are difficult to understand. Children today read about things that interest them and have different reading levels to make learning to read easy and fun. If a child today were handed The New England Primer they probably would not want to read it or may not even have the ability to read it. The Puritan children did not know anything other than The New England Primer, so they did not have anything to compare it to. The children in the 1700’s saw God and Jesus as, â€Å"the avenging father and a forgiving son† (Watters 2) because that is how The New England Primer portrays them. In the time between the 1660’s and the 1690’s, God went from being portrayed as an angry and wrathful God, to being a loving and caring God. (Elliot 13-14) The New England Primer failed to show that shift in beliefs so the children would continue to fear God and obey their parents and elders. The parents wanted the students to have a thorough understanding of God, Jesus, and the Bible, so it was the first thing that they learned and everything was based on this particular concept. The New England Primer was used to teach students to read as well as to teach them to be obedient and to have good morals. It tells the students that Adam and Eve were sinful and disobedient so they were punished by God, but it also says that children are guilty for their own thinking and deserve continued punishment. The children read, â€Å"The Dutiful Child’s Promises†, which is a list of things that a dutiful child does, or strives to do. The children are told to â€Å"honour my Father Mother† and to â€Å"Fear God and honour the King† (The New England Primer 129). The children were also told to follow the Ten Commandments, which were also to be memorized so that God could â€Å"read† them. This shows how fearful and compliant the children are to their parents and to God. The children also were encouraged to memorize â€Å"The Dutiful Child’s Promises† so that they could use it to make correct and obedient decisions. Punishments for the Puritan children were emphasized in the ABC part of The New England Primer, by â€Å"F – The Idol Fool Is whipt at School†. This was an additional warning to the students that they must behave in the classroom or there will be punishments. The punishments in the 1700’s and today are very different, back then teachers could hit their students with rulers, but today teachers may not even raise their voices with students without the risk of losing their jobs. The first theme that you read about in The New England Primer is death, and death is a very heavy topic for children in today’s age for many different reasons. In the 1700’s, children understood death, better than children today, because it surrounded them every day. The hardships that the Puritans faced are nothing like any young student today could possibly understand. Death is understood by the Puritan children, and when The New England Primer says, â€Å"Rachel doth mourn for her fifst born†, the children understand it because they many of them have lost a sibling because of the lack of medical knowledge in the 1700’s. It seems dark and depressing to people today, because today’s society is uncomfortable with talking about death and dying. For the children in the 1700’s it was just a way of life and something that happened every day. The New England Primer emphasized that very point in the Verses of â€Å"The Dutiful Child’s Promise† in saying that death does not only take away the old, but that children can die as well, and so they need to be prepared when they do die to go to Heaven. Children today are getting saved, but they are not doing so to get prepared for death, they are getting ready to serve God with all of their heart and soul. Students today are being taught with the mind set of learning everything they can to reach their own personal goals in life. In the 1700’s the reason for reading was very different from the way that it is today. The parents wanted to children to be able to read so they could read the Bible, not so they could learn about different topics or to read for enjoyment. When educating students today, it is understood that it is the end goal for teachers to help the students get ready to be able to provide a living for themselves with the knowledge that they learn, but in the 1700’s it wasn’t necessary to learn to read for any other reason than the bible because the poems emphasized how to live and act. The New England Primer was â€Å"designed to provide, Spiritual Milk for American Babes† (Anthology of American Literature) and to keep them from being tempted by Satan and other religions that may try and tempt them. The people of the 1700’s believed that there were, â€Å"millions to read, and not one to sin† (Anthology of American Literature), which means that it was believed that the people who read The New England Primer, understood what God wanted them to do and how He wanted them to live, never sinned again, for fear of angering God. The idea of people never sinning again from reading a book is not accurate and students today will read and understand what is going on in the book and be able to enjoy it. The New England Primer was the most important book in teaching Puritan students in the 1700’s to read, but the most important book that they could read was the Bible. The Puritans emphasized their belief in God in every aspect of their lives, especially in teaching their children to e good and kind members of the Puritan community. Teachers of student’s today want to see their students progress and keep learning even after they have learned how to read, because it teaches them about the world that we live on and what is going on outside of their houses and towns. There are many differences between the teachings in the 1700’s and the teachings today, but in the end the important thing is teaching the students to read.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Themes of Tradition in Literature

Themes of Tradition in Literature Evolving Traditions Traditions are important because they transmit stories, shared values, and aspirations from generation to generation. Traditions offer guidance and assists in a group of people sharing a collective identity. Overtime the origin/meaning of a tradition may become obscured or lost in time, and when that happens the tradition can either fade from existence or be blindly followed even though the original meaning may have been lost. The stories The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, and A Worn Path by Eudora Welty have many themes, but; one underling theme throughout them all, is tradition. In Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Once a year the villagers amass in the center of town to partake in the lottery. They anticipate the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box, inside the box are slips of paper with one having a black dot. Whoever draws the dot wins and precedes to get stoned to death. The reason behind this is unknown to the villagers, but it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. According to critics Jacksons tradition theme is a modern representation of the primitive annual scapegoat rite to appease the forces of the new year, to insure fertility. Primitive man, it seems, could not distinguish natural from moral phenomenaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Used to be a saying Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon. (Lainhoff). The meaning behind the Lottery lost but the villagers refuse to abandon it, simply because it is tradition. In A Rose for Emily a young woman in the early 1900s refuses to accept change, she did not join the new society and lives in the past. Emily did not acknowledge her father and the colonels death, she did not update to the new way of living. Emily did not pay taxes and her house had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street Emily had become a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town. the difference between the attitude of Judge Stevens (who is over eighty years old) and the attitude of the young man who comes to him about the smell at Emilys place. For the young man (who is a member of the rising generation) it is easy. For him, Miss Emilys world has ceased to exist. (West). In the end, Emilys derangement is revealed when the community enters her bedroom and they see a long strand of iron-gray hair on the pillow beside Ho mer Barrons corpse when traditions and its values center around hereditary privilege, it will eventually lead to social decay. Emilys life and her decaying house symbolize the effects of accepting ignorance and complacency when its built-in traditions. Eudora Weltys A Worn Path shows Phoenix Jackson an elderly woman traveling a treacherous path numerous times in order to get medicine to save her grandsons life overtime the journey has become a sort of tradition for her. Like Phoenix, you work all your life to find your way, through all the obstructions and the false appearances and the upsets you may have brought on yourself, to reach a meaning-And finally too, like Phoenix, you have to assume that [you] are working in [the] aid of life, not death. (Barnhisel). Phoenix is old and near the end of her life, but; like a phoenix she rises. She starts the journey mentally prepared to overcome the obstacles that await her. Her grandson symbolizes the new Phoenix that will be given life when she perishes. When a traditions origin/meaning are no longer known, it begs the question; should the tradition still be followed as in The Lottery and that traditions centered around unchecked hereditary privilege may lead to social ruin, like Emily in A rose for Emily and that new-found traditions in the service of aiding your loved ones can help you rise above many obstacles like Phoenix in A Worn Path. Traditions are a wondrous part of any culture, but; if the meaning is unknown and the ritual goes unchecked should it still be followed? References Lainhoff, Seymour. The Lottery Short Stories for Students, vol. 1, Gale Virtual  Reference Library. Gale Research, 1997. West, B. Ray,Jr. A Rose for Emily Short Stories for Students, vol.6, Gale Virtual Reference  Library. Gale Research, 1999. Barnhisel, Greg. A Worn Path Short Stories for Students, vol. 2, Gale Virtual Reference  Library. Gale Research, 1997.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Sidhe, the Tuatha de Danaan, and the Fairies in Yeatss Early Works

The fin de siecle, or late 1800's, was an era not unlike our own: now we see many seeking "New Age" enlightenment; likewise, Yeats and many of his contemporaries looked for meaning in various areas of the supernatural. Ripe as the late 1800's were for spawning occult study, those were also times of political turmoil for the Irish, and Yeats became involved with Irish nationalism as well. His desire to express this nationalism was given voice through a Celtic literature that he hoped would inform and inspire his countrymen. Falling in love with a beautiful firebrand Irish patriot (who also had a taste for the occult) only served to further ignite the Celtic flames of imagination in Yeats. References to supernatural Celtic beings and the Irish spirit world abound in Yeats's early poetry. To make these passages seem less arcane, a look at the Tuatha de Danaan, the Sidhe, and the fairies is helpful. The Tuatha de Danaan literally means "people of the goddess Danu," Danu being a Celtic land or mother goddess, perhaps derived from the Sanskrit river goddess, Danu. Other associated names for her were the Welsh "Don," Irish "Anu" or "Ana," "Mor-Rioghain," and "Brighid." The Tuatha de Dannan were considered supernatural, angelic-like beings who came to Ireland and encountered two groups that they successfully overcame. Epic battles were waged to defeat both the Firbolgs and the Fomorians. The Firbolgs, early Irish settlers, were a short, dark race of men who derived their name from carrying clay in bags, or boilg, hence the name "fir bolg" meaning "bag men." Believed to be of early Greek origin, the mortal Firbolgs were overthrown by the god-like Tuatha de Danaan. The other army that lost in combat with the Danaan fighte... ...Richard. Yeats: The Man and the Masks. New York: Norton, 1979. Gregory, Lady. Gods and Fighting Men. New York: Oxford UP, 1970. Jeffares, A. Norman. A Commentary on the Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1968. Jeffares, A. Norman. W.B. Yeats: Man and Poet. New York: Barnes, 1966. Malins, Edward. A Preface to Yeats. New York: Scribner's, 1974. O hOgain, Daithi. Myth, Legend and Romance: An Encyclopedia of the Irish Folk Tradition. New York: Prentice, 1991. O' Suilleabhain, Sean. Irish Folk Customs and Belief. Dublin: Folklore, 1967. Skelton, Robin, and Ann Saddlemyer, eds. The World of W.B. Yeats, revised ed. Seattle, WA: U of Washington P, 1967. Yeats, W.B. The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2nd revised ed. Ed. Richard J. Finneran. New York: Scribner, 1996. Yeats, W.B. Mythologies. New York: Collier, 1959. The Sidhe, the Tuatha de Danaan, and the Fairies in Yeats's Early Works The fin de siecle, or late 1800's, was an era not unlike our own: now we see many seeking "New Age" enlightenment; likewise, Yeats and many of his contemporaries looked for meaning in various areas of the supernatural. Ripe as the late 1800's were for spawning occult study, those were also times of political turmoil for the Irish, and Yeats became involved with Irish nationalism as well. His desire to express this nationalism was given voice through a Celtic literature that he hoped would inform and inspire his countrymen. Falling in love with a beautiful firebrand Irish patriot (who also had a taste for the occult) only served to further ignite the Celtic flames of imagination in Yeats. References to supernatural Celtic beings and the Irish spirit world abound in Yeats's early poetry. To make these passages seem less arcane, a look at the Tuatha de Danaan, the Sidhe, and the fairies is helpful. The Tuatha de Danaan literally means "people of the goddess Danu," Danu being a Celtic land or mother goddess, perhaps derived from the Sanskrit river goddess, Danu. Other associated names for her were the Welsh "Don," Irish "Anu" or "Ana," "Mor-Rioghain," and "Brighid." The Tuatha de Dannan were considered supernatural, angelic-like beings who came to Ireland and encountered two groups that they successfully overcame. Epic battles were waged to defeat both the Firbolgs and the Fomorians. The Firbolgs, early Irish settlers, were a short, dark race of men who derived their name from carrying clay in bags, or boilg, hence the name "fir bolg" meaning "bag men." Believed to be of early Greek origin, the mortal Firbolgs were overthrown by the god-like Tuatha de Danaan. The other army that lost in combat with the Danaan fighte... ...Richard. Yeats: The Man and the Masks. New York: Norton, 1979. Gregory, Lady. Gods and Fighting Men. New York: Oxford UP, 1970. Jeffares, A. Norman. A Commentary on the Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1968. Jeffares, A. Norman. W.B. Yeats: Man and Poet. New York: Barnes, 1966. Malins, Edward. A Preface to Yeats. New York: Scribner's, 1974. O hOgain, Daithi. Myth, Legend and Romance: An Encyclopedia of the Irish Folk Tradition. New York: Prentice, 1991. O' Suilleabhain, Sean. Irish Folk Customs and Belief. Dublin: Folklore, 1967. Skelton, Robin, and Ann Saddlemyer, eds. The World of W.B. Yeats, revised ed. Seattle, WA: U of Washington P, 1967. Yeats, W.B. The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2nd revised ed. Ed. Richard J. Finneran. New York: Scribner, 1996. Yeats, W.B. Mythologies. New York: Collier, 1959.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Crack and the Box Essay -- Literary Analysis, Pete Hamill

One is Crack and the Other is the Box Almost a century has passed since two revolutionaries have been born to change the world: television and drugs. It is clear that both drugs and television made their way to society at the same time, but it doesn't seem that obvious what is that made them escalate together. Some studious people say that it may have to do with the presence of drugs in the media, but it remains a mystery. In 'Crack and the Box' by Pete Hamill, there is an intention to explain the reasons to this phenomenon. Hamill accuses television to be the instigator of drugs. However, his statements fall into contradiction because the effects of television watching cannot be compared to those of drug consumption. Primarily, the domination power television has on its viewers is incomparable to the one drugs have over their addicts. First, addicts to television are not dominated in the same level addicts to drugs are. Hamill says that television absorbs its viewers in the same way drugs absorb their users because both television and drugs cultivate asocial behaviors in people (63, 64). Departing from this idea, it may seem reasonable to say that addicts to television and drugs both portrait unsocial attitudes, but doesn't this happen with any other kind addiction? Here Hamill is isolating a generalization which intention is to proclaim an assumption to be true. In his example, Hamill explains how some Americans fight their loneliness by leaving their TV sets on as companion (63). Instead of support Hamill's idea this example shows how Americans fulfill their vacancy of company rather than how Americans become lonely due to television. Second, independent studies on television do not qualify t o determine the relation betwe... ...orld by drinking a certain brand of beer (Hamill 64)--very surreal. In the case of drugs, the dealer provides to the customer the substance that will actually make him feel he has conquered the world—this is more connected to reality. In general, the effects of television and drugs cannot be compared as equivalents; nevertheless, their study is worth of consideration. They are still two mysteries to be solved: why people spend so many hours in front of a TV set instead of doing something proactive and why people seeks refuge in drugs. We may not know all of the answers but we know all the of questions. While we walk towards the light hoping to find the answers to these mysteries, there are still many things to be done. In the meanwhile, one thing must remain in our minds: we will still face many obstacles together as society, with or without television and drugs.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Role of Social Class in Thomas Hardys Writing Essay -- Biography

The Role of Social Class in Thomas Hardy's Writing The works of Thomas Hardy reflect the ideas of a man who was clearly obsessed with the issue of social class throughout his literary career. From his first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady (the very title of which indicates class differentiation), to his final work, Jude the Obscure, class issues are woven into every novel which Hardy wrote. Furthermore, his works are personal in the sense that they depict Hardy's own lifelong struggles with social mobility and the class structure as a whole throughout his life. Hardy was born the son of an independent mason in the rural area of Higher Bockhampton, Dorset. As he was growing up, he felt that the circumstances surrounding the working class limited the opportunities by which he could fully develop his talents. Thus, in order to create a place for himself in society, he pursued architecture for nearly twenty years while writing on the side. Only when Hardy had firmly established himself as a writer with the success of Far from the Madding Crowd did he completely devote himself t...

Investigating Women In Sport Essay

I am investigating women in sport. The particular are of focus for this study will be women’s participation in sport. This interests me as participation in sport for women is a lot less than men. I can see this is apparent from my own experiences, amongst my peers sport participation has decreased as we’ve got older there doesn’t seem to be as many sporting opportunities, consequently interest in sport is lost. Books identify and discuss the problems with women’s participation in sport, television has hardly any women’s sports coverage due to few women athletes. I am interested to find out why this is, what effects it and what can be done to solve this problem. I will begin this project by trying to find out why women play less sport, I will then investigate the issue further by finding out the factors which affect this, whose responsibility it is to ensure there is women’s participation and what is being/can be done to improve this. I can research this by looking in physical education text books, sport websites on the internet and sport articles in the newspaper. 33% of men participate in sporting activity only 10% of women do. Womens role in society is to be a certain way , to be ‘feminine’ the amount of sport played must correspond with this, sport isn’t considered very feminine so little is played. Along with being feminine women must spend time at work and with family so any leisure time left is very short and often women are too physically exhausted to take part. These notes were taken from Advanced physical education and sport, I found this book good as it relates womens roles in society to participation in sport and has a statistic which clearly defines the participation difference. Girls and women have been discouraged from playing sports by lots of myths and stereotypes * If she plays sports she will become â€Å"mannish† and â€Å"unfeminine† * Because of her anatomical structure she will suffer more knee and back injuries. * If she trains too hard her ovaries and bladder will be affected * Women aren’t interested in playing sports These are all common reasons why women don’t play sport, taken from the American womens sports foundation website. Self discrimination- some women prevented from taking part by sub-cultural values or disinclination ? Economical/physical limits preventing full implementation of policy ? Internalised or self discrimination by a cultural group upon members ? Perceived notion of elitism or exclusivity in connection with some activities which act as a deterrent Stereotyping- reinforces established perceptions or questions new ones women as tennis players or gymnasts reinforce views on what sports women should do. Women as rugby players or fighters fall outside typical stereotyping. Esteem- self esteem is an important factor in participation, perception of yourself affects participation competitively and otherwise. Notes from advanced pe for Edexcel these show the reasons why some women don’t take part and explain how this affects it. Things that stop women from participating Global- constraints which exist at a global level. Eg. No womens steeple chase Institutional- constraints applied to certain institutions and orgnisations e.g many don’t allow women to box Cultural- some religions don’t allow women the same freedom to compete in sport as men Domestic- some countries have social traditions which prevent women from being free to compete as they wish. Taken form A-level pe, these show constrains outside a womens own descion to take part in sport, shows that in some events its not possible and in some cultures its not possible as women don’t have the same freedom as the men do. Who’s responsibility?Parents? Parents unknowingly force masculine and feminine stereotypes, they are among key influencers as well as schools which teach that girls shouldn’t play sports and shouldn’t be interested in them. Girls seldom see images of women playing sport so parents need to be clear and send a positive message that sports participation is desirable. Research shows that boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 9 are equally interested in sports, girls aren’t as discouraged as they were, they’re just not encouraged. They enter organised sport later than boys and are less likely to have the skills required for success, if they don’t experience success they don’t have fun. As a result of 1lack of opportunities to play as they get older girls teams decrease both in and out of school 2 the same encouragement as boys 3 skill success and therefore fun, girls drop out of sport at a rate 6 times higher than boys at 14. If a girl doesn’t play sports by the time she is 10 years old, there is less than 10% chance she will be playing when she is 25. This is taken from the womens sports foundation Canada website. I find this piece of research very interesting as it shows that the encouragement and stereotypes that are around when we are young make a big difference in the participation when we are older. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some stand tall on pedestals while others walk on solid ground. Some go down in history while others rise up as legends. They’re heroes and mentors, leaders and role models. Their images are taped to bedroom walls and locker room doors. They walk the earth disguised as parents, teachers, coaches and athletes. They are the chosen ones — the ones who can make a difference in a girls life at a time when making a difference matters. But if you look at those pedestals and walls, there are few women present. he percentage of women coaches has decreased, not increased. At a time when girls strive to define themselves as women, it is still difficult to find a female athlete or coach that can be a source of validation for a girl bursting with athletic passion. present female athletes found their mentors in brothers, fathers, and male coaches. the closer a role model is to an individual’s profile, the more that individual can realize their own potential to be like them. This was take from wsf Uk and explores another reason why participation is low because there are few people 2 look up to and it links in with the encouragement when young so they can become role models for others.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Abortion: Murder or Necessity

Abortion: Murder or Necessity Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo before it is viable. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced. Abortion, when induced in accordance with the local law, is among the safest procedures in medicine. However, unsafe abortions (those performed by persons without proper training or outside of a medical environment) result in approximately 70 thousand deaths and 5 million disabilities per year globally each year, with 20 million of those performed unsafely.Life begins at conception which forms an unborn child (or â€Å"fetus†). Abortion is an intentional violent act that kills an unborn baby, without any anesthesia, the baby is dismembered, torn apart, and vacuumed out of the mother. Dr. Micheline M. Mathews-Roth, Harvard Medical School, referenced medical textbooks that claimed that human life begins at conception. Dr. Jerome Lejeune, the â€Å"Father of Modern Genetics,† stated, â€Å"To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place, a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion †¦ t is plain experimental evidence. † During pregnancy, even though you feel nothing, your baby is kicking; clenching his fists, curling and fanning his toes, and is generally very active and comfortable inside you. In the past few years, medical research has shown that unborn babies can feel pain. Dr. H. M. Liley, the leading authority on the study of babies before birth, stated, â€Å"When doctors first began invading the sanctuary of the womb, they did not know that the unborn baby would react to pain in the same fashion as a child would. But they soon learned that he would. One believes that every fertilized egg is a sentient human person; abortion would be horrific, tragic, and lethal. But it would be no more murderous than any othe r kind of accidental death. During abortion, doctors or abortionist (the person who performs the operation), uses long cylindrical rods. Starting from the smallest and moving up in size, he inserts them into your cervical opening, stretching it as he progresses. When the cervix is open wide enough, he will put a hollow plastic tube, with a knife-like edge on its tip, through your cervix up into your uterus.The suction it creates is 29 times more powerful than a vacuum cleaner. It tears the baby’s body into pieces, and sucks it through the tube into a canister. The knife edge is used to cut the deeply rooted placenta from the uterine wall. The remains of the now-dead infant are then pulled out. Abortion is a tragedy not only for the unborn who will never experience life but for the mother also. What motivates an abortionist? What must they think as they slash and tear a baby apart or plunge a knife into its neck? Somehow, abortionists have become callused to the reality of the ir actions.Like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, they have blood on their hands, and it cannot be washed off. Many people have become apathetic about abortion. Since they have already been born, abortion is no threat to them personally. Why should they care about someone else’s baby? If there is any lesson to be learnt, it is that we should value and protect innocent human life even if it is not our own. Abortion is an intentional violent act that kills an unborn baby, without any anesthesia, the baby is dismembered, torn apart, and vacuumed out of the mother.Life begins at conception which forms an unborn child (or â€Å"fetus†). The unborn child's DNA is that of an individual human being, distinct from its mother despite being naturally ‘within' and attached through an umbilical. Abortion, as defined above, is the mother's (and/or join parents') decision to terminate the life of the unborn child. Any human being willfully taking the life of another human being (or ordering their death, such as â€Å"hiring a hit man† — or in the case of abortion — telling a doctor to perform an abortion) is committing a murder.Rarely do people die from giving birth. Many more die as a result of complications after an abortion. But the bottom line is that the child is innocent of any crime, so why punish it? It is a human being of intrinsic value. One’s not saying it is an easy choice and can certainly sympathize with those who have had to make it. Perhaps they even made the wrong choice. But, God is a loving and forgiving God, who can even forgive murder; which

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Analysis of Psychosocial Development Theory Essay

The psychosocial theory provides a theoretical structure that highlights the constant assimilation and communication of individual competencies with resources, difficulties, and culture. Development is seen as a product of genetic, social, maturational, and autonomous dynamics. For this assignment, I am analyzing personal development using Erickson’s psychosocial theory of development. Erickson believed that development follows the epigenetic principle, that anything that grows has a ground plan (Vander Zanden et al., 2006). Simply stated, each stage of Erickson’s theory ascends according to an innate plan with each stage building upon the previous stages and focuses on a challenge that must be resolved during that stage in order to move effectively onto the next developmental stage. Erickson’s psychosocial theory draws our attention to the continual process of personality development that takes place s throughout the life span. Erickson believed each part each part of the personality has a particular time in the life span when it must develop if at all (Vander Zanden et al., 2006). Psychosocial Stages of DevelopmentThe first stage in Erikson’s theory begins in infancy, with the conflict of trust versus mistrust. In this stage an infant is dependent upon others, specifically their parent or caregiver to meet their basic needs. If these needs are meet, the infant will develop trust in self, parent’s caregivers, and their surroundings, if not mistrust will develop. Trust versus mistrust is present throughout a person’s life span. Consequently, if the conflict is not positively resolved within this developmental period, the person maybe affected negatively and only partially immerses themselves into society. As a mother, I understand that my daughter’s need for nourishment, comfort, care, and familiarity, must be met by me. In order for her to develop a loving and trusting relationship with me, I remained responsive and consistent. As my daughter grows older, she will become more knowledgeable and understanding with her peers and begin investigating her surroundings with persistence and eagerness. Stage two picks up at toddlerhood, usually starting around age 2 and continuing through age 3, with the conflict autonomy versus shame and doubt. During this stage children become mobile within their environment. This new found mobility is like a since of freedom to a child. If parents consistently encourage their children’s mobility, they will aid the children in developing a sense of autonomy, self control, and self confidence. If parents do not reinforce their child’s new freedom then the child will experience shame and learn self-doubt. My toddler is currently within this stage and she has started to undertake the responsibilities of feeding, dressing, bathing, and toileting. As a parent I have the tendency to be protective, thus assisting her without her approval. Nonetheless, I realize that I can do more harm than help to her development if I am overbearing and overprotective during this stage. I could positively or negatively influence my daughter’s ability to reach autonomy through my level of covetousness. Stage three of Erikson’s psychosocial theory begins at age 4 and continues through age 5, with the conflict initiative versus guilt. Initiative is the readiness to embark on new ventures whereas guilt is a sense that they have done something wrong. During this stage children are eager for responsibility and look to their parents for conformation. As parents the duty is ours to validate to our children, by proving that their initiative is valued no matter the size of the deed. Sadly, when parents are restrictive and do not allow their child the chance to be responsible and independent, the child may develop a sense of guilt and disapproval in the eyes of their parents. As a child my father always allowed me to help with projects around the house, by allowing me to pass him tools. My mother always allowed me to assist her in kitchen with dinner, by letting me mix the batter, oil the pan, break the egg, and pass her various kitchen utensils. I cherished my parents for this freedom and always viewed them as my unsung heroes. Today, in my daily life and work, I take the initiative with projects, chores, packing, and much more. It times I do feel guilt over some actions, but I am assured that it linked to my beliefs of achievement rather than my parents restrictive actions on occasion. From age 6 to age 12 a child is considered to be in the fourth stage of the psychosocial theory with the conflict industry versus inferiority. During this stage a child is learning to read, write, and how to create things by themselves. During this stage my educators became increasingly key figures in my life. They gave me many tasks and taught me many skills. I was always determined to master the tasks and skills (i.e. math and science) set before me. At this point in my life my peers became more momentous in my life because I was learning to work with them in order to complete tasks. I have never much of a follower, nonetheless school opened the door to new social roles therefore, gaining the approval and acceptance of my peers and teachers was important. I worked hard in all my classes and extracurricular activities to be the best by obtaining the top grades, best batting record, most assists and points, most volunteer hours, and more. The skills I developed along throughout this stage gave me confidence that others saw and appreciated, which showed approval and acceptance. I believe that when a child does not develop the necessary skills needed for school, home, and other cultural task that it can lead to the child developing a sense of inferiority because their acceptance is based on competent performance. Erikson’s fifth stage is the conflict identity versus identity confusion. Stage five typically starts at age 12 and continues to age 18. At this stage, adolescents are striving to find their identity and place in the world that will lead them into young adulthood. At some point in this stage I was struggling to find out what to with my life and remember asking myself this question, â€Å"Who Am I?† I wanted to separated myself apart from my parents and siblings, so I made a conscious search for identity and found things I enjoyed (i.e., school, softball, basketball, tutoring) an excelled. At the end of my high school career I had discovered my cultural, communal, and personal identity as a member of society identity and was ready to face the new challenges of college. My childhood friend, Amelia struggled during this stage with identity development by gender. In her parents eyes, she was a girl and should behavior as such, therefore sports and other male related activities where  frown upon within her home. It was not until Amelia reached the age of sixteen that she made a conscious decision to make her own choices, in spite of her parent’s viewpoints. Woolfolk, (1987), notes that if adolescents are unable to make conscious choices and decisions, especially as it pertains to their career and sexual orientation, then their role confusion becomes a threat. Success at this stage is dependent upon the child’s resolution of conflicts in earlier stages. If past experiences are integrated and past conflicts resolved, there will be a strong ego identity. Conversely, identity confusion will arise if the ego is weak. Stage six is the beginning of the developmental period of young adulthood. This is a period when most of us finish college, find a career, and create a family of our own. During this time most of us are changing cognitively, physically, and socioemotionally. In this stage the conflict is intimacy versus isolation. According to Erikson’s stages of development, I am in this stage. During this stage one either gets involved in an intimate relationship or retreat into isolation. In the initial stage of being an adult individual’s seek one or more companions and love. As individual’s try to find mutually satisfying relationships, primarily through marriage and friendships, they generally also begin to start a career and family, as have I. An example of my success in this stage is my giving and sharing within my marriage and friendships without feelings of obligation or asking for anything in return. The age in the stage has been pushed back to the mid thirties because today many couples wait until then to start families. My belief is that if a person has not resolved the conflict of identity in stage five, that they will fear a committed relationship, thus causing them to retreat into isolation. Lastly, when people have difficulty creating lasting and satisfying relationships, they may isolate and distance themselves from others due to feeling of inferiority. Stage seven of Erikson’s psychosocial theory begins around age 40 and continues through age 65, with the conflict generativity versus stagnation. Generativity, refers to an adult’s competence to care for another human  being (Newman & Newman, 1991). A personal example is my older sister Deloris, who had settled into a stable career, marriage, church, family, and other numerous responsibilities. Our mother was diagnosed with Alzehemier’s Disease (AD) during this stage and because Deloris was the closet and oldest, she was expected to give of herself by adding the responsibility of caring for our mother. The responsibilities were overwhelming, but she overcame because of her willingness to be flexible and adaptable, which allowed her to rely on her environment and family to help her deal. If Deloris had remained inflexible and enabled the responsibilities to overwhelm she would have become stagnate. The debilitating state of our mother’s AD forced my siste r to be flexible, by reducing church activities, additional work duties and ultimately changing the way she dealt with her world. Integrity versus despair is the eighth psychosocial stage of development. The developmental period for this stage is age 65 to death. This stage occurs when many of our parents are up in age and must come to terms with the approach of death. At this period in my parent’s life, both where retired and had time to analyze what they had accomplished and accumulated throughout life. They had come to accept their entire life with a positive outlook and even decided how their estate would be divided up amongst 21 children, thus leaving them with a sense to integrity. According to Newman and Newman, (1991) if my parents had been unable to accept responsibility for their life’s outcome and resolve conflict in earlier stages, they may have experienced despair and regret. Sadly, many older adults feel as if their life was filled with disappointment and failure, thus making it hard for them to handle life and the probability of death at this stage. Despair versus hope and faith is the final stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory. The developmental period for this stage is late 80s and beyond. During this stage person are faced with a new sense of self over failing bodies and need for care. The favored outcome of this stage is to achieve a new sense of wisdom and transcendence (Vander Zanden et al., 2006). Comparison of Erikson and Kohlberg TheoriesErikson’s psychosocial theory  holds that developmentproceeds throughout nine developmental stages that are distinguished by a specific conflict. Kohlberg’s moral development theory holds that moral reasoning has six developmental stages with three distinctive levels. Erikson and Kohlberg theories each focus on a particular facet of maturation, such as social, moral, and psychosocial. It has been stated that psychosocial development and moral reasoning are influenced by factors such as socialization and gender identity. When a person is born they are identified by their gender as either a boy or a girl. It is my belief that the title of boy and girl or man and woman influence how children respond to psychosocial developmental challenges and resolve moral dilemmas. These titles provide a structure around which role and behavioral expectations formed. Brief Analysis of Kohlberg’s Model of Moral DevelopmentWhen people talk about moral development, they are referring to conduct and attitude towards other people in society. They look to see if societal norms, rules, and laws are being followed. In terms of children, it is their ability to distinguish right from wrong. Moral development, embraces pro-social behaviors, such as philanthropy and emotional development. Kohlberg stressed that moral development is based primarily on moral reasoning and unfolds in stages. On the basis of his research, Kohlberg identified six stages of moral reasoning grouped into three major levels (preconventional morality, conventional morality, postconventional morality). Each developmental level represented a fundamental shift in the social-moral perspective of the individual. As a child and now adult, I have at one point and time, fallen within each level and stage. My parents always stressed honesty, trust, and respect. They also give consequences when I was disobedient to the rules. In order to avoid punishment I obeyed the rules. During church and school, I behaved properly by obeying the teachers, completing assignments on-time, returning lost items (i.e., pencils, fans, and money), and repenting when needed in order to gain approval from my peers, teachers, pastor, and administrators. At other times, in my life, I have been concerned with my rights as a citizen, student, mother, and wife, while at other times I have been guided entirely by my conscience. My  conscience always gets the best of me no matter the circumstance. When I was five years old, my brother Rico took candy from my father’s private stash and shared it with me. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted the candy so I keep my mouth closed. I thought I could just put it behind and move on, but I had a sense of wrong come over me and I could not sleep until I told my father the truth. Once, the truth was revealed I was freed and felt good within. My view of moral development aligns with Kohlberg’s theory of moral development which was actually based on Piaget’s cognitive theory. He believed young children’s cognitive thinking develops along with their moral development. Young children are ego centered and their moral judgment is based on their own perspectives, not others and they follow rule because they are afraid of punishment. As children grow they understand values, rules, and their obedience is not out of fear, yet is based on their moral development. ReflectionAccording to Erikson’s nine stages of development, I am in the sixth stage with conflict intimacy versus isolation. Erikson’s psychosocial development theory aligns with many of my viewpoints. His theory stresses that children are curious, active explorers who are adaptive, impacted by social and cultural influences, and rational. The theory emphasizes that individuals continue to develop and change throughout their lives, and that personality is not solely shaped during early childhood. The theories framework is a tool that can aid individuals in understanding self-awareness and self-improvement. Erikson’s stages of development enabled me to better understand the connections between my behavior and personal experiences. As a parent, it has opened my eyes to how I can help rather than hinder my daughter’s development into mature, well-rounded, and emotionally stable individual. Lastly, each stage has a vital conflict that the child, adolescent, and adult can resolve positively or negatively. The nature of the resolution depends mainly on relations and associations with others, although the individual’s choices also play a key role. The conflicts and resolution of conflicts within each stage gave me hope that people can obtain personal growth and  change. Resolving the conflicts within each stage allows for progress and future success by building upon the knowledge gained within the preceding stage(s). Conversely, I believe that not all is misplaced if an individual has an unconstructive and depressing occurrence within a particular stage and conflict. As people live they learn therefore, lessons can recur and be effectively resolved when identified, acknowledged and received. â€Æ'References Hamachek, D. E. (1998). Evaluating self-concept and ego development within erikson’s psychosocial framework: A formulation. Journal of Counseling and Development, 66(8), 354-360. Newman, B., & Newman, P. (1991) Development through life: A psychosocial approach (5thed.) Palisades, CA: Brooks-Cole. Vander Zanden, J. W., Crandell, T. L., & Crandell, C. H. (2006). Human development (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Woolfolk, A. E. (1987). Educational Psychology (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Technology and Plagiarism

Widespread technology and communication has made both plagiarism and the detection of it easier than ever before. In the competitive field of journalism, integrity and individuality plays a massive role. The ethics of writing in a world where writing is an exponentially growing area of work are essential. In the field of journalism, writers must act according to the subject’s code of ethics. â€Å"Truthfulness, accuracy, and objectivity† (Journalism Ethics and Standards) are important characteristics that each journalist must follow. A journalistic piece must meet these indisputable standards – after all, the main idea behind journalism is to deliver the truth. There have been many cases of misconduct and disobedience of the journalistic code of ethics in the past and recent future. Zachery Kouwe, a Times business reporter, was rightly accused of plagiarizing from The Wall Street Journal. After in-depth research into his other pieces of work, plagiarism was apparent in many of his works. The New York Times article called plagiarism a â€Å"journalistic sin† to emphasize the gravity of the issue. Another excellent example of a writer compromising his journalistic integrity can be seen in Billy Ray’s Shattered Glass (2003). This movie, based on a real life story, shows the life of a journalist who’s lost his way and his integrity. Stephen Glass, a former reporter for The New Republic, was caught for a serial fraud in his articles. He fabricated quotations, sources, descriptions, and events in his stories and was eventually fired when his deception came to light. Plagiarism is a common issue for those writers who have lost their integrity. In fair play, written works must be original and accredited. We have the opportunity to use insightful ideas from countless pieces of work. There are written works available in almost every thinkable subject – anywhere from linear algebra to dance ballet. The only requirement for contributing to and taking from the gigantic world of words is integrity. Upholding this honor is the only way to avoid fraud and plagiarism.

Friday, September 13, 2019

UK extradition law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

UK extradition law - Coursework Example Stevenson, (2006, p. 23  ) reveals ‘such nonexistence of international responsibility and the ambition of the right to require such criminals of other nations have caused a network of extradition agreements or treaties to develop’ and further points out that â€Å"the majority nations in the world have signed mutual extradition accords with numerous other nations†. 1 No nation in the world has an extradition treaty with all other nations and for instance, the United States of America has no extradition treaties with several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, People’s Republic of China, North Korea, Namibia, and Bahrain. According to Bassiouni (1996, p. 87) extradition is the delivery of a convicted individual. Or an accused by one country to another nation on whose territory he/she is alleged to have been convicted or committed of a crime. 2.0 Restrictions By concluding treaties or enacting laws or agreements, nations settle on the conditions under which they may perhaps deny or entertain extradition requests. Universal restrictions to extradition comprise of: According to Christopher (2001, p. 345) ‘the failure to execute double criminality is normally the act for which extradition is sought after’’ But â€Å"it must comprise of a crime which is punishable by some minimum penalty in equally the requested and requesting and parties†. 2 He points out to the political atmosphere of the alleged crime where the majority of the nations decline to extradite suspects of political crimes, there is the possibility of particular forms of punishment where various nations refuse extradition on grounds that the individual, if extradited, may possibly face torture or get capital punishment. A small number of these nations go as far as to cover all the punishments that they themselves may not direct. Christine (1998, p. 78) writes that the jurisdiction over a crime may be used to refuse any extradition and in particular, the reality that the individual in question is a country’s own citizen, makes that nation to have jurisdiction but he states that the citizenship of the individual in question where particular countries refuse to extradite their own citizens, and instead decide to hold trials for the individuals themselves. In some cases, such as that of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the suspect can not face any criminal charges brought against them. 3 Nathaniel (2007, p. 37) avers that most nations involve themselves to deny the extradition requirements if, in the government's opinion, the suspect is wanted for a political crime. He however avers that â€Å"many nations and regions, such as Mexico, Macao, Canada, Australia and most European nations, ‘may not consent to extradition if the death penalty might be imposed on the suspect unless they are guaranteed that the death sentence will not be carried out or passed†. 4 Rikhof (2009, pg. 324) gives an example, in ‘the case of one Soering v. United States, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that it could violate Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights if it were to extradite an individual to the U. S. from the U.K. in a capital case’. He however discloses that court ruled out that this â€Å"was because of the harsh circumstances on death row and the doubtful timescale in which the sentence could be executed and the parties to the European Conv

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Parenting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Parenting - Essay Example This paper briefly analyses the importance of parenting. According to Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, "Most children need their parents' help and encouragement to discover the satisfaction of using their own imaginations" (Thoughts for Today). Psychological development of children is as important as the physical development. Many parents- even the educated parents- concentrate more on the physical development of the children and give less importance to the psychological or emotional development. Such parents believe that their duty remains only in giving proper food, clothing and shelter to the children till they become adults. In fact parents’ love, care and attention are more important to the children than the food or other physical things. Growing children do not know how to adapt with its surrounding. He will look suspiciously or anxiously at all new things which may catch his attention. The presence of parents and their advice will help the children in dealing with new situations more comfortably. â€Å"Some parents believe that if they've spent an hour of "quality" time with their children, they've done enough. This hour is usually focused on an enjoyable activity: watching TV going out to eat, going to the movies, etc† (Parenting Tips: Giving Your Children the Gift of Time). Many of the mothers are professionals and they get less time to spend with their children. Infants and children often forced to spend their majority time in the day care centers with nannies rather than mothers. The services of nannies can never be considered as the substitute of mother’s services to a child. In order to compensate for the less time spent with the children; some working mothers have the habit of spending an hour with the children when they come back their home. They are of the false belief that spending an hour as a friend with their children is enough for the proper development of their children. Children need the services of parents rather than friends . If parents give the services of peers, from where the children will get the services of parents? â€Å"Suffice it to say that guilty parenting overcompensates and causes children to view themselves as victims. This happens because children model our behavior and point their fingers at the parent who points the finger at himself† (Parenting Tips: Giving Your Children the Gift of Time). Parents who failed to spend adequate time with their children often try to give more love and care to their children when they get opportunities to spend time with their children. This overcompensation usually do harm to the children rather than goods. Over activities of parents will increase the children’s desire for the presence of their parents further and further. Failure to spend increased time with parents will develop the feeling of victimization among children. According to Frank A. Clark, â€Å"The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them† (Parenting Quotes). Making the children self sufficient to meet the realities in life is the core of good parenting. Parents are the first teachers in a child’s life. They consider their parents as the role models in their life. Whatever the things they learned from the parents or family will often reflect in their behavior in society. Society or schools can do little in the molding of children when we compare the roles parents can

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Market Net as a New Approach to Providing Marketing Students with a Pl Essay

Market Net as a New Approach to Providing Marketing Students with a Place to Find All the Marketing Knowledge - Essay Example The report, in short, has provided for a clear set of ideas and options for Market Net to improve and increase the traffic to its website. MarketNet is a relatively new initiative to create a network of students and professionals related to the field of marketing and also to provide valuable resources and articles on marketing. This report analyses the target audience both in terms of demographics and psychographics, based on the users of the social network application, Facebook. Then the various strategies to drive traffic to MarketNet are discussed. As the budget is limited, the various cost-effective options and the best way to implement them are also presented. In order to add various articles and content to the site, the marketing resource websites are researched and the four websites that have been found to be potentially useful to MarketNet are listed along with the rationale behind the selection. Finally, a survey development process was undertaken to include within MarketNet , in order to monitor the performance of the website and a rationale for this is also presented. Marketing is a technique which requires being planned well to ensure that it reaches out to the right set of people, i.e., the target market (Dibb & Simkin, 1996). The target market is generally a set or group of people who have one or more common interests. In this case, the target audiences have one thing in common ‘Marketing’. The first most essential criteria for the target market are that they are Facebook users (Holzner, 2008). After which,  Market Net has a chance to reach out to a number of different groups of people. Prospective marketing students, this group will prove to be a beneficial for Market Net, as Facebook is now becoming a very important source of information for students of various courses. This group will consist of people between the age groups of 17 – 22. Market Net can prove to be a source of information for this group of people. Also, this will provide the students with a chance of getting in touch with other students, professionals, and even gain information to various articles that are available on the web to gain a better understanding if this is the correct choice for them.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Good Management or Bargaining in Bad Faith Essay

Good Management or Bargaining in Bad Faith - Essay Example The city of Sunbelt has a council of five members in its management. The council’s aim is to reduce the budget of the city by bargaining with the unions hard over their salary and fringe benefits. The city management orders the union members i.e.; trash collectors and other public work employees to work for eight hours during the day and not go home even if they finish their work before hand. The department of public works follows a two-tier system in which it protects the salaries, benefits of the currently employed workers but for those who are newly employed, receive a low salary, and they have to pay a high proportion of their health benefit costs. The case does not reflect any problem in the relationship between the management and the union because the management will obviously want to reduce its costs and increase the benefits. For that, it will want to reduce their payment of salary. The already employed workers have an expertise and therefore it is the responsibility of the management to secure their salary and their needs. As for the newly employed workers, they should be given some incentives to work properly. If they are given a low income at the beginning then they will be boosted to work harder in order to get a higher pay. Such a kind of relationship does not differ from the normal relationships between the management and the union. (Klingner, Nalbandian and Llorens, 2010)Â  In the given case study, the collective bargaining was a combination of three options. They were: The effective in this process was that of hard bargaining with the PBA. Instead of hard bargaining the other two options of contracting with the country sheriff or with a private security firm could have been adopted by the management. Hard bargaining is considered the best strategy in this situation because it involves:Â   There are different challenges faced during this agreement. The decision was to undertake hard bargaining. It was also mentioned that if hard bargaining was unsuccessful then with the approval of the council, any of the other two options could be pursued.

Monday, September 9, 2019

Quality Management Planning Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Quality Management Planning Strategy - Essay Example This means the current processes need to be improvised to continually achieve better and higher outcomes. For this, the company will be adopting an overall Total Quality Management (TQM) approach, which will focus on overall improvement of the company, its processes, products and services with the help of knowledge and experience of all employees. This approach is highly flexible and can adopt various practices (Ghuman & Ashwathappa, 2010). Implementation of TQM across the organization is done through various tools and techniques in congruence with the nature of the work. The manufacturing units will use Six Sigma and Lean methodology by which the quality and efficiency of product manufacturing will be judged and continuously improved to achieve Six Sigma level of accuracy. Six-Sigma will be based on data and statistics of products and their quality. Moreover, lean methods will help in eliminating wastage and in reducing manufacturing costs. To maintain healthy and safe work environment, effective and well-defined processes for disposal and storage, and safety methods will be followed at all locations (Organization-wide approaches, n.d). The standardized processes for manufacturing across all locations will be retained; however, to reduce the manufacturing lead time, raw materials will be acquired on a Just-in-time (JIT) basis (Ghuman & Ashwathappa, 2010). However, considering the fluctuating demand and rapidly changing market environment, the product process will follow the pull process, which adapts production to customers’ demand. Benchmarked targets will then be applied for individual production units on an hourly, daily and monthly basis till the project is completed. Quality Circles will be formed at every location with small group of employees who will assess the quality of all functions and products.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Mine kafon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mine kafon - Essay Example The mine detector has three major parts; the nucleus where the GPS tracking chip and all the other parts of Mine Kafon are attached. The legs are made using strong bamboo sticks and at the base the feet are attached. The feet are made using biodegradable plastic material and are designed to be heavy enough to tramp on landmines and also light enough to get the propulsion. The core of Mine Kafon is made using 17 kilogram iron casing, and is surrounded by several protruding bamboo legs. The core carries a GPS tracking unit equipped with a GPS chip used for tracking the mine detector. The GPS chip can be remotely controlled using mobile applications and hence a GPS map can be drawn to trace the path of minefields. The GPS data can be downloaded in real-time or accessed online. The data can be used to map the areas that have been cleared of landmines by the device. The legs act as the locomotion unit of Mine Kafon. The legs are made using strong bamboo sticks which are around one meter in length. The legs are attached to the core and act as a link between the feet and the core. The tip of the bamboo is slightly reduced to allow a perfect fit with the foot. The choice of material was made after considering the strength characteristics of bamboo and the weight properties. The feet also add weight to the mine detector, and are spaced in a manner that will enable air to blow through the inside of the feet, therefore enabling propulsion. With each detonation, Mine Kafon loses a few legs, like one or two and therefore under normal working conditions, the device will be able to destroy three or four landmines in a single journey. The feet form the most important part of Mine Kafon. It provides the suspension mechanism that enables the device to roll over rough terrain. The entire weight of the landmine detonator is about eighty kilograms, heavy enough to detonate a landmine. The foot is

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 18

Analysis - Essay Example After the pretest, what followed was a series of set instructions. First, the students learnt addition and subtraction by using a number line. This involved indicating numbers that came before or after a given number X and distinguishing odd numbers from even numbers. The next stage involved using cubes to teach addition and subtraction. For instance, having a pile of ten cubes stacked together then taking two away or adding two and then asking the student what this activity resulted in (what is the new number of cubes after adding or subtracting?). Afterwards the students learnt the hundreds and tens chart. After the chart, the students learnt simple place values to enable them to group the digits of a number into ones and tens respectively. In addition, the students were required to count pennies (ones) and dimes (tens) and consequently use these values for addition and subtraction (California Department of Education, 2009). After a successful completion of the above activities, the students did a post-test in whole groups of three again for 25 minutes. The test was on a math work sheet and it comprised of eight questions that were similar to the questions in the pre-test. All the students who did the pre-test also did the post-test for purposes of determining the effectiveness of the teaching strategies applied. There was a tremendous improvement in the students’ performance in the post-test compared to the pre-test performance. In one group, the pre-test had the scores Alyssa 3, Faith 2 and Isaiah 2 out of a possible eight points. In the post-test, the scores were Alyssa 8, Faith 7, and Isaiah 8 out of a possible eight points. This significant learning gain is a direct result of the learning tasks that followed the pre-test. Nonetheless, math is a subject that requires continued practice to ensure that the concepts remain intact as a student advances from one grade to another. As such, the students should

Internal and External Factors Essay Example for Free

Internal and External Factors Essay External Factors Laura Smalt XMGT/230 May 12, 2013 Dr. B Internal and External Factors The organization I chose to write about is Subway restaurants. I have worked in management in two different locations, and have had a firsthand look at what goes into the four functions of management and how they interlock with each other. If I were to consider the planning aspect of this organization it is amazing the amount of work, projecting, forecasting, and implementation that it entails. Factors such as globalization play a huge role simply because this organization has over twenty thousand locations in seventy-eighty countries. The economy, trends, cultures, and habits in each region are taken into consideration in the planning function. When planning, corporate must consider the economy in each region, which is why one region may have a different monthly special than another. Organizing all of this also falls into the planning phase, because everything needs planned with individual marketing material, and training materials. Other factors have effects on all this as well. Keeping up with the current technology for instance, helps to keep their locations running smoothly and efficiently. Being one of the world’s largest sandwich franchises requires planning and organizing to keep up with changing innovations, and to create new menu options that keep them competitive with others. When you look at the four functions of management as a whole, it is easy to notice that not only does each function interlock, but also the organizing function interlocks with both planning and leading. In order to maintain uniform locations that are all kept up to franchise standards systems must be put in place. This is also an excellent chance to provide front line support on location where it is needed most. I think in this function factors such as diversity and ethnics have a tremendous impact. Because these require so much interaction, these factors must be considered. For example, if the regional representative shows up for the monthly sales and promotions meeting or for the inspection to all-Spanish speaking location there would be major communication issues. To address this all regional representatives are custom chosen for the areas they cover. These are the locations linked to corporate, and their leaders to keep in compliance. Because diversity and ethnics can encompass so much it is essential for management to know how to work with both. For example, management can assign a task to any employee, but if that employee does not have that skill to complete the task in the end, the results are less than desirable. Because of this management must need to know how to assign tasks and work with the diversity they have in the employees. Ethnics on the other hand should be uniform and level throughout the organization, because it aligns management and all personnel within the company in behaviors, and values. Ethnics also play a major role in public relations, because the organization’s ethnics reflect the image the public has of them. This is all brought together with the controlling function of management. Monitoring the entire organization, developing new ideas, and applying changes happen here. This includes monitoring sales, controlling costs, and adjusting as needed. If a promotion in a certain region is performing badly, then marketing may be tasked with analyzing that market again to see if a different promotion or strategy would work better there. Cost control would be monitored with the control function, things such as logistics, internal communications, purchasing, and human resources all need to be overseen and adjusted as market and profits allow or demand. To summarize internal and external factors such as globalization, technology, innovation, diversity, and ethnics affect almost every aspect of any organization. From the top of CEO of the organization down to the front line managers, these factors affect both on a daily basis. When making decisions all these things must be considered and applied to the specific market or situation. Just as the point of sale manager must consider diversity when making decisions about assignments, and day-to-day operations so must the upper level executive when dealing with the diversity place upon him when dealing with shareholders, or other organizational officers. Globalization affects just about any organization in existence as well. With digital age comes the need to compete not only with the local influences and factors, but with global as well. Technology and innovation I do not think can be ignored or escaped in any organization today. Again, with the digital age so many people rely on social applications and similar venues for marketing and development that to ignore this be a serious error. Depending on the organization, these functions are necessary for some. The world has become too competitive to not monitor these and keep up with one’s competition.

Friday, September 6, 2019

The character of Macbeth throughout the play Essay Example for Free

The character of Macbeth throughout the play Essay Macbeth is one of Shakespeares four great tragedies, which contain witchcraft, treason, and bloody murder. In the following essay, I will be writing about the way I feel towards the character of Macbeth throughout the play and the way in which he changes. Does Shakespeare present him in such a way that we can to some extent understand, even feel for this disloyal, self seeking murderer or can we relate to Malcolms description of him as the dead butcher? Our views on Macbeth change throughout the play because Shakespeare portrays him in many different ways. At the beginning of the play he is seen as a brave soldier, at the top of his profession and rewarded by King Duncan of Scotland. He is spoken about as Brave Macbeth and Worthy gentlemen after his heroism in battle, only to later become cruel and unjust. He had defeated the Norwegians and on his way home meets three witches. The audience in Shakespeares time believed in witches and their sinister side, leaving the audience sceptical when Macbeth communicates with them, leading us to believe he is connected with evil. The witches then give Macbeth three predictions: All hail Macbeth! Hail to the thane of Glamis! All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee thane of Cawdor! All hail Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter. Macbeth is already thane of Glamis but chooses not to believe the witches because he feels that the Thane of Cawdor is alive. Soon after some messengers come and deliver, the news to Macbeth that he has been granted the thaneship of due to a treasonous crime committed on the Thane of Cawdors behalf. Macbeth starts to believe that a third prediction is likely to occur, given that the first two appear to have. Two truths are told, as the happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme. Macbeths fatal flaw of ambition then overcomes him and he begins to contemplate regicide which, he feels is the only way of becoming King, My thought, whose murder is yet but fantastical. The attitude of the audience changes completely, however, the next time Macbeth meets up with the witches. Sympathy cannot be felt for Macbeth, as it is he who goes to the witches, not the contrary. At this stage, we cannot help but speculate concerning Macbeths apparent involvement with the evil forces, suggesting that he may have some evil present in him. One of the witches confirms this when admitting, Something wicked this way comes. Macbeth turns to the witches because of his insecurity. He is the subject of growing suspicion among many people, despite obtaining his ambition of kingship. On the contrary, he was enlightened when first meeting the witches that Banquos sons would be kings. This implies that children will be unable to follow Macbeth in the line of royalty and intrinsically apprehends Macbeth. In an attempt to find out how to keep his throne, Macbeth confronts the witches about his future. He is consequently granted three apparitions: Beware Macduff, None of woman born shall harm Macbeth. Moreover, Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him. These apparitions are all ambiguous, deliberately intended to mystify Macbeth and the audience. Why does Macbeth have to be cautious of Macduff? If no born son of a woman can harm Macbeth then who can? It is possible for a wood to move of its own accord so did Macbeth have nothing to fear? The ambiguousness of these apparitions and the manner in which Macbeth interprets them makes Macbeth over confident with regards to his safety because we later learn in the play that Macduff was not born of woman but of caesarean. We also learn that Macduff and Malcolms army cut down Birnam Wood and uses it as camouflage to get closer to Macbeths fortress without him seeing them. With the information they feed him with, the witches offer a hand of encouragement for Macbeths decisions (e.g. he kills Banquo because the witches say that Banquos sons will be kings) but are never responsible for what Macbeth does. They simply put ideas into his head, acting as a catalyst for his actions. The main influence on Macbeth, however, is his wife, Lady Macbeth, portrayed as a manipulative and domineering power. When Lady Macbeth hears about the predictions of the witches she immediately ponders murdering king Duncan. She realises, however, that although Macbeth is very ambitious, Thou art not without ambition, he is too compassionate to carry out the murder, I fear thy nature, is too full o th milk of human kindness. Lady Macbeth therefor formulates a plan. Lady Macbeth honours and loves her husband very much. She also conscious of her husbands reluctance to be thought of as a coward and when refusing to go ahead with murdering the king We will proceed no further in this business, uses the weakness to insult his manliness Was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself? She therefor manipulates him into agreeing to commit the regicide. At this point in the play, we feel some compassion towards Macbeth, as he is weak in resisting his wifes ever growing influence. We become wary of the responsibility Lady Macbeth has on her husbands change of heart. Interesting to note, also, that at Shakespears time the husband would have been the dominant partner, and therefor the audience would have been cynical towards Lady Macbeth for her scheming ways and rare ability of being authoritative over her husband. In the scene just before Macbeth goes to kill Duncan he initially decides himself in his soliloquy to murder Duncan, despite the profound reasons not to. Macbeth appreciates Duncans fine qualities- his humility and his integrity in carrying out to perfection the tasks of kingship and knows that to destroy such virtue would be a crime against heaven. This leaves the audience divided in their opinions concerning Lady Macbeths influence on the plot. At this stage, I remain indefinite as to whether Macbeth really is the ruthless party in the murder or whether his wifes influence is the decisive passage. Lady Macbeths moral conscience is not as evident as her husbands. She is now the stronger of the two, and Macbeth cannot stand up to her accusations that he is a coward, lacking in manliness, and a traitor to his word. He yields to her, and in order to prove himself a man in his eyes submits to a womans guidance. Despite this, the couple has an affectionate relationship My dearest Love. Eventually the only loyalty that Lady Macbeth and have is their loyalty for each other. Disloyalty is shown when Macbeth murders the king just to make sure he keeps the throne. Unreasonable ambition takes over, with the consequence of loosing the things that were once important to the both of them. Lady Macbeth not only influences Macbeth on the murder of King Duncan but Macbeth also advances in killing his dearest friend Banquo and the wife and children of Macduff. When hearing of these unruly murders and realising that her husband is behind them she is driven insane by the sheer grotesqueness of them, The thane of Fire had a wife; where is she now? before her eventual act of suicide. Although not greatly evident King Duncan himself is a significant influence on Macbeth. Duncan is a very bad judge of character. He trusted the Thane of Cawdor He was a gentleman on whom I built absolute trust. However, The Thane of Cawdor turned out to be a traitorous villain. Duncan then gives Macbeth the thaneship of Cawdor. This is Dramatic irony as he is giving Macbeth the title of a traitor. This is also the wrong step because it raises Macbeth above all the other lords. Duncan praises Macbeth for his bravery at war, consequently making the other lords envious of Macbeth, and raising Macbeths ego. These three influences, the witches, Lady Macbeth and Duncan contribute significantly to Macbeths change in character throughout the play. The story unfolds as follows: The first time we hear about Macbeth is when the witches mention his name. This would make the audience feel uneasy and they would wonder why Macbeth is associated with evil. Their minds are then put at rest when the captain refers to him as Brave Macbeth. Macbeth is portrayed as a hero. He defeats the Norwegians and is rewarded with the thaneship of Cawdor so the audience admires him. They think that he is a loyal and worthy subject to the king. Then the witches meet with Macbeth; the audience would begin to have doubts about his loyalty when he starts contemplating about murdering the king. Macbeth then admits If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir. This emphasises that he is still unsure about having to murder King Duncan and at this point feels that if the witches have predicted it then fate will make him king without him having to do anything. King Duncan then names his son Malcolm as heir with Macbeth realising that he cannot become king unless he does something about it, That is a step On which I must fall down, or else oer-leap. Macbeth thinks a great deal about murdering the king and reasons for it and in his soliloquies the audience would see his thoughts and begin to feel sorry for him because his ambition is so strong that it is having a psychological effect on him. Nevertheless, in the end, despite the many doubts ultimately decides himself to kill Duncan. The audience can no longer feel sympathy for his actions because the decision to kill the king is his own; they would feel horror and dissatisfaction because of what he has done. During the time that Shakespeare was alive and Macbeth was first shown on stage people thought that regicide was a horrific crime and he who commits it, was eternally damned to hell. After Macbeth kills Duncan, he meets with Lady Macbeth. This scene (act 2 scene 2) is the plays most tense and dramatic. At the beginning, we see Lady Macbeth by herself in an agitated state. Every small noise unsettles her Hark! When Macbeth intrudes the pace changes, with the distinct exchange of questions and answers between them. This emphasises their state of nerves. We get an insight into Lady Macbeths character and the part she has played in the murder and also a little hint of weakness on her behalf when discovering that she went to kill Duncan but couldnt because he reminded her of her father, Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had donet. We hear how Macbeths preoccupation with not being able to pronounce amen after hearing the prayer demonstrates his state of mind his guilt and his awareness that he has sold out to evil and the powers of darkness. Because Macbeth is so tense he forgets to leave the daggers at the murder scene and when Lady Macbeth tells him to take them back he says, I am afraid to think what I have done; Look ont again I dare not. Therefore, Lady Macbeth takes them back. When she goes to return the daggers Macbeth has a short soliloquy. This gives us an insight into his state of mind. He is full of guilt, will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood Clean from my hands? This means that he cannot rid of the guilt. As a knocking is heard on the castle gates, Lady Macbeth returns but her husband is already regretting what he has done saying, Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thy couldst! Duncans sons Malcolm and Donalbain then flee the country for fear that their turn to be murdered will come so Macbeth becomes king. Despite having this title he is still insecure, with the prediction from the witches of Banquos sons becoming king, Macbeth decides that he has to prevent this fate and therefor hires murderers without Lady Macbeths knowledge to kill Banquo. This shows the audience how their relationship is breaking up. We are shocked at Macbeths decision to kill Banquo because he was Banquos best friend. After Banquo is murdered Macbeth hallucinates, he sees the ghost of Banquo covered in blood sitting in his chair at a banquet. All Macbeths lords are present but they cannot see the ghost, Lady Macbeth tries to relax him when saying, you look on but a stool. She tells him that what he is seeing is merely an illusion like the air drawn dagger which led him to Duncan. This indicates that after the murders Macbeth has a guilty, unquiet mind. He fears every one and in front of all the lords, he proclaims himself unstable. To the audience it appears as if Macbeth is turning insane and they sympathise with him because he has lost every thing dear to him: his best friend, his absolute trust and loyalty to his wife and the security of lots of friends who support him. Because of this insecurity, Macbeth pays the witches a visit with them showing him the three apparitions. With theses apparitions Macbeth is re-assured, his interpretation of them leads him to think that he cannot be harmed Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee? Macbeth then finds out that Macduff has fled to England in an attempt to encourage Malcolm to bring an army to fight Macbeth, filling him with anger. This provokes him to get revenge on Macduff: The castles of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to thedge othsword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line. This would horrify the audience; the modern day audience would be more horrified at this murder than the 17th century audience who would think that regicide is worse. The modern day audience would feel nothing but contempt for Macbeths act of slaughtering women and children. Macbeths character at this point is completely destroyed; No heroism, loyalty, or any good qualities that he once had are left. No sympathy can now be given from the audiences point of view or any other character in the play. Lady Macbeth commits suicide because of guilty conscience regarding what she has done and what Macbeth has done. Macbeth subsequently hears that Malcolm and Macduff are coming towards him with a great army, He is not too worried because of the witches apparitions and he says I will not be afraid of death and bane Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane. Macbeth receives the news of his wifes death and through his soliloquy reveals that he cannot grieve for her, due to having his mind in the direction of battle She should have died hereafter. Only at this point does Macbeth realise that he has nothing left and all because of his over ambition. A messenger later comes and announces that Birnam wood is moving. The armies of Malcolm and Macduff have cut down the forest and used it as camouflage. Macbeth begins to lose hope and feels like they have tied him to a stake. In addition, he cannot fly. Nevertheless, he decides that he will fight on Ill fight, till from my bones my flesh be hacked. Macbeth then sets out to fight he kills a man and still holds on to the apparition from the witches that no one born of a woman shall harm him, Swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandished by man thats of a woman born. Macduff confronts Macbeth and Macbeth is not very fearful of him because of the witches apparition. He says to Macduff: With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed: Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests, I bear a charmed life, which must not yield To one of woman born. Macduff then replies saying that he was not of woman born; he was from his mothers womb Untimely ripped Macbeth now knows that Macduff is going to kill him but he shows a last bit of courage and he fights on. The audience cannot feel admiration for Macbeth because of what he has done only sympathy because he has noting left, and he knows it. Macduff then kills Macbeth and hails Malcolm as King. At the end of the play, we see Macbeth a respected hero turned into a vengeful villain through unreasonable ambition, with the influences of people around him. He commits regicide, murder, and vengeful slaughter. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth is horrified to think of what he has done. Shakespeare contrasts Macbeth and his wife in their attitudes of the murder. Lady Macbeth is bold and confident, because she does, not understand that the deed is morally wrong: he only concern is to destroy the evidence. Macbeth, on the other hand, awakens to a consciousness of guilt that will remain with him until his death. At times, Shakespeare encourages the audience to feel sympathy and understanding for Macbeth but at times all that the audience can feel for Macbeth is horror, anger, disgust, and contempt, although at the end of the play he shows tremendous character when facing certain death.