Parody of Marc Antonys Funeral Speech(Julius Caesar)

A PARODY OF MARC ANTONY’S FUNERAL SPEECH Author-A Maths FearingStudent Friends, Scholars, And Fellow-Sufferers, Lend Me Yours Ears, I Come To Criticize Mathematics, Not To Praise It. The Evils That Former Geniuses Invented, Lives After Them; The Good Is Lost In The Sands of Time; So It Is With Mathematics. The Noble Maths Teachers Have Told You, Mathematics Is Interesting, If It Were So, I Have Failed to Appreciate It- And Failing To Appreciate, Have Failed In it. Here, Under The Leave of The Principal And Teachers For They Are All Honourable People, Come I To Speak Of The Ordeal Of Mathematics. Maths Is Complicating, Nauseating, And Frightening To Me But Our Maths Teachers Say, â€Å"It Is Interesting And Easy† And They Are Honourable Men. Many A Time we Are Given Sums Whose Complexities Did Leave Us Reeling, Does This Make It Interesting? When The Poor Students Failed, The Maths Teachers Routed And Roared. Mathematics Should Be Made Easier Or Abolished Yet The Maths Teachers Say â€Å"It Is Easy! † And They Are All Capable Men. You Have All Observed During The Year, As The Maths Teachers Walk Into The Class, The Students Sweat And Swoon. Is It Necessary? Yet Our Maths Teachers Say It Is Necessary, And Sure, They Are Capable Men. I Speak Not To Disprove What These Teachers Say; But Here I Am To Speak What I Do Know. You All Did Try To Pass Mathematics, But Without Success. Isn’t That What Causes To Hate Schooling? O’ Education! Where Is The Justification? Have All Educationists Lost Their Reason? Bear With Me, I Must Stop Now; My Fear for Mathematics Allows Me To Go No Further. I Must Pause Till Reason Come Back To Our Educators. Till Yesterday, We Bore The Rigours Of Maths Silently But Now We Must Rethink Our Goals. It Is Not That We Need To Do Away With Mathematics, But Just Make It More Bearable. O’ Friends, If I Were To Stir You Up Against Mathematics I Should Do The School Wrong And The Maths Teachers Wrong Who You All Know Are Capable Men. I Will Not Do Them Wrong, I Rather Choose To Wrong The System,To Wrong myself And You; Than To Wrong such Honourable Men. *——————-*

Men and Women are Made Not Born Essay

In this essay I will write about how women and men are made not born. I will beintroducing different cultures and their views on men and women, how women at onestage in time did not have any rights to become what they wanted, I will give my ideas onthe subject and I will also research other authors work to get a different variety about whywomen and men are made not born. Firstly I will start by researching different cultures and their ways of life. This reallyinterests me because it is good to see how different people and their countries really andfrom each other. In Australia men and women are equal,they both can work in any job they desire, they both have the right to vote and go to war. It was not always like this though in Australia, it was a long time until women got equalright to men. It was the nineteenth century when women were given the right to vote andto stand for election into parliament. Although it was not until the 1960’s to the 1970’swhen women gained equality with men with work, the law and general social standing. Ifwe take a look into a totally different country like Afghanistan, women are ‘made’ bytheir fathers and husbands. Marriage for women is chosen by their families, women mustbe completely covered by a long veil and accompanied by a male relative when theyleave the house and women must do what they are told by their fathers and husbands. Soas we can see, it is hard for women in Afghanistan to become what they want and be whothey want to be. Another culture I want to look at is how women became men in the mountains ofNorthern Albania. A girl or her parents could decide to make them a male, circumstanceswhich would arise in order to do so would be that their husbands or fathers died at war orhad died from other reasons, so the wives or daughters would take on the lead role for thehousehold. They would become men if they wanted to work and build their communitiesinto something better, for example, working in the Communist Party Action Group, youcould only be a male to be a member. In order to get out of an arranged marriage orprotection against the kidnapping and trafficking of young women, it was easier for girlsto become men. What I am trying to say with researching different cultures is that in some countries menand women can choose how they want their lives to turn out and make a future forthemselves unlike other countries where people’s lives are made up for them. Another way we could look at the topic ‘Men and Women are Made Not Born’ is thatmen and women have to earn what they want to achieve, they are not just born with theirtalents. For example, if a person does a good job for someone then they are going torecommend them to other people, thus achieving a good reputation. As ( Mead, G 2007,p. 29) quotes ‘the self is something which has a development: it is not initially there abirth, but arises in the process of social experience and activity.’ This means that whenchildren are born they do not immediately have the social skills they require in life to dowell for themselves. The child has to go through a development which slowly teachesthem their life skills. It is up to the individual to decide what they want to achieve in life,they have the choice to carry on their education in what ever field they choose to bettertheir chances in the work force. The same in the work force, people have to betterthemselves to do better than others, to compete with the competition in order to get thejob. With an individual improving themselves in all kind of aspects, they are likely to geta good reputation and make something of themselves. This proves the heading ‘Men andWomen are Made Not Born’. In Australia it is a free country, everybody has the right to do or become what they wantto become. I believe the term men and women are made not born, to mean that it is up toboth men and women to make their lives and achieve what they want in life. Everybodyis their own unique person. Whether they are Australian, Chinese, Asian, American andso on, with their own personal beliefs. I guess the main reason I have focused on culturesis because I believe that an individual’s culture has a massive effect on the lifestyles theylive which develops an individual into their own unique, special person. References:’ Factors that brought about the women’s movement’, www.skwirk.com.auAlessandro Monsutti, ‘Culture of AFGHANISTAN’, www.everyculture.comBessant, J. Watts, R. (2007) Sociology Australia, Allen & Unwin. NSW. Gardner, J. (1987) Atlas of the World, Australia: Reader’s Digest. McWhirter, N. (1999) Book of Millennium Records, Virgin Publishing’s: Great Britain. Young, A. 2007, ‘Once Were Women’, Good Weekend, 20st October, 47-48. Mead, G 2007, ‘The Self’ in Classic Readings in Sociology’, Mind, Self and Society, pp25-32

Amerigo Vespucci Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Amerigo Vespucci - Research Paper Example This fact is proven by letters and other passages of text found attributed to Vespucci (Uzielli). He studied the sciences of physics, cosmography, astronomy, and geometry, contributing immensely to their progress (Uzielli). Therefore, it is fair to say that Vespucci was not just a gifted navigator, as is known of him more commonly, but also an eager student of science, who quickly mastered the existing sciences and was a learned man of his time. After the death of his father in 1483, Vespucci joined the household of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici as steward (Uzielli). Due to his loyalty and his skill, he was promoted in rank and position in the household till he was made a businessman with the family. It was through this business opportunity that Vespucci was able to acquire ships and join the expeditions of Columbus into the New World (Uzielli), this being described fully in the proceeding paragraphs of this paper. In 1491, Vespucci came to Spain and settled in Seville, a place that was to serve as his hometown for the rest of his life, and from where he would launch around four voyages to the New World (Amerigo Vespucci). At that time, it was felt in Europe, due to reasons beyond the scope of this paper, that the East and the Indies should be reached by way of the West, something that became more of a motto for the navigators of that time (Uzielli). Therefore, the voyages of Columbus and later of Vespucci were to become so significant, both economically and geographically. On the 10 of May, 1497, after acquiring three ships from the King of Castille, Vespucci set sail on his first voyage toward the West, through the Fortunate Islands towards either Guiana or Brazil (Uzielli). It is believed that he might have made his made into the Gulf of Mexico and then sailed along a great portion of the United States as far up as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, before returning to Spain on the 15 of October, 1498 (Uzielli). Vespucci sailed on his second voyage from Spain on the 16 of May, 1499 (Uzielli). He was accompanied by Alonzo de Ojeda and Joan de la Cosa (Uzielli). It was on this second voyage that he discovered Cape St. Augustine and the Amazon River (Uzielli). He traveled through Cape Verde and Equator until he landed on the coast of Brazil (Uzielli). Due to the exhaustion that he contracted owing to his long travels, he was taken ill when he returned to Spain in the September of 1500 (Uzielli). It was after he got well again that he wrote an account of his travels in his second voyage (Uzielli). The fourth and the fifth voyages of Vespucci commenced from Portugal instead of Spain (Uzielli). On 1 January, 1502, he named the Gulf of Bahia on his third voyage (Uzielli). In the same voyage, he discovered the Island of Georgia when he was traveling to the South America after he had discovered Bahia (Uzielli). During his fourth voyage in 1503, having found an area rich in brazil-wood, he established an agency in the Cape Frio (Uzielli). Ac cording to some sources, Vespucci made another voyage, a fifth one, in 1505, to the West, during which he found gold and pearls in the area (Uzielli). This was followed by a sixth voyage for the same purpose (Uzielli). However, not much evidence is found of these two last voyages, not even in Vespucci’s own writings (Uzielli). In 1505, Vespucci is believed to have married a lady by the name of Maria Cerezo (Uzielli). She bore him no children, and died either in 1523 or 1524 (Uzielli). However, Vespucci took his brother’

Political Realism and Neo-realism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Political Realism and Neo-realism - Essay Example According to the paper each one of the so called super powers of the universe employs all the available resources and forces to maintain their legendary political stature. On the other hand, developing nations, whose political and economical images still lie below the surface of the universe, also struggle to sharpen their bristle fangs to keep away the possible exploitations from the powerful states. The politically able nations, in reaction to the defensive game of the underdeveloped nations, make all efforts to curb the dependence of such ‘poor’ nations on them. This is realism in play; every state on its own, exhibiting the unending selfish nature of the political leadership. Neo-realism is just but a replica of the features of the original realism; the very eternal struggle has been structurally cocooned, both aspects portraying almost similar trends. Therefore, the slightest difference between the two has always been very invisible light for many scholars and world leaders. This study outlines that  the very concept also brought about the reconciliation among many states after the war. Today, realism has continued to guide the minds of policymakers in different states of the world. It is interesting to see how nations divide a long the lines political power; without any apparent interest on the economical wealth, following this old theory of the early 1900s. Each one of the so called super powers of the universe employs all the available resources and forces to maintain their legendary political stature.  

Comic Book Critical Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comic Book Critical Analysis - Assignment Example On hearing about it, we may take them to be conveying only comic stories, but they also present seriousness- this can vary from sexuality and alienation, to terrorism as well as stories relating to family, love etc. while analyzing the comic books, it is important that we should know from what point of time the graphic novels began to take shape as a distinct medium ,entertaining people, and who brought in innovative steps in this regard (Eisner, Will (1978). In ‘Truth about Graphic Novels: A Format, Not a Genre, The ALAN Review, Winter 2005 by Fletcher-Spear, Kristin, Jenson-Benjamin, Merideth, Copeland, Teresa’, we find this comment, and could be aptly used while mentioning about the graphic novels. â€Å"The shortest definition of graphic novels describes them as "book-length comic books." A definition used by librarians refers to them as book-length narratives told using a combination of words and sequential art, often presented in comic book style. The constant in both definitions is "comic book." (Fletcher-Spear , 2009)Comic books are meant to entertain people. They seem very effective in conveying ideas of an author. Scot Mccoud has been an inspiring figure in this field. Scott Mccloud has been a prominent figure in writing and drawing comics since 1984.his book ‘understanding comics has been a great success. He is one of the American comic artists to assimilate magna influences in to his work. Scott McCloud is considered one of the pre-eminent comics’ theorists on the basis of his Understanding Comics, a seminal work in comics’ theory. Though McCloud has been criticized for his lack of â€Å"theoretical sophistication† by not engaging with more theoretical vocabulary or reference to theory like semiotics, post-structuralism, or narratology, his work is still fundamental to comics theory, especially due to his own practical use of comics language (Groensteen vii). (Chris Hagenah 2000) Scout

Na Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Na - Essay Example Thereby, it is the very brevity, simplicity and limited scope of these photographs that highlights the enormity and complexity of urban life. In other words these photographs accentuate urban complexity, by capturing simple themes, which in this case happens to be roads, paths and stairways. It does need to be mentioned that the chosen theme is something that is recurring and ubiquitous in all urban scenarios. The idea behind this portfolio is not to showcase amazing things, but rather to present simple aspects of urban life in a way that amazes and provokes. These photographs provoke the viewers to perceive the regular and mundane aspects of their urban existence in a new way. The photographs I have selected distil a facet or quality of the urban life in a very physical and confined manner. Though all these photographs subscribe to a common theme, yet, they do capture utter diversity underlying the regular urban commutes. To achieve versatility and variety, they rely on the contrasts between the ambiance, setting and architectural style marking each specific path and road (Liggett 120). The strategy to shoot these photographs from different elevations has added a subtle third dimension to them. The amazing thing is that though people are absent from many of these shots, still they are emphatically evident, going by the fact that these allays, stairways and paths accrue relevance in relation to people only. It is their inseparable association with the urban human existence, which imbues them with a range of meanings, contexts and ideas (Liggett 120). Though these photographs do not catch people directly, yet, they speak much about them and the kind of lives they live. It is this aspect of this portfolio that adds multiple layers of meaning and appeal to each individual photograph and makes it more dynamic. The one other thing that makes this urban

Effect (s) on Crime Rates during the 1990s Compared to the Period of Research Paper

Effect (s) on Crime Rates during the 1990s Compared to the Period of 2000 to 2010 - Research Paper Example Some other attributed it to economic crisis and poverty, the influence of abuse in alcoholic drinks. the influence of excessive violence in films and videos, and the lack of respect for authority and the law. Yet, Douglas McDonald and Peter Finn (2000) noted that â€Å"use of illegal drugs began to be more widespread in the late 1960s, and that the increasing integration of the world’s economies has also expanded opportunities for organized criminal enterprises to traffic in drugs more efficiently and with less risk, to support terrorism, and to commit theft, often in a massive scale.†(p. 1) The effect of the drugs may lead to horrendous criminal activities. Aside from this, since drugs are very expensive, addicts frequently resort to crime such as burglaries, assaults and ambushes, to pay for their habit. However, McDonald and Finn also noted in their review article that in the period of 1960s, â€Å"the Federal Government had emerged to be more active in crime contro l†. ... Based from the records compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, wherein levels of crime are measured by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, the national overall crime rate has been decreasing since 1991. Their listed categorized reasons for the decreasing rates are: effective strength of law enforcement agencies; administrative and investigative emphases of law enforcement; policies of other components of the criminal justice system; citizen’s attitudes towards crime; population density and degree of urbanization; variations in composition of the population, particularly youth concentration; economic conditions, including median income, poverty level, and job availability; cultural factors and educational, recreational, and religious characteristics; family conditions with respect to divorce and family cohesiveness; stability of population with respect to residents’ mobility, commuting patterns, and transient factors; modes of transportation and highway syste m; climate; and crime reporting practices of the citizenry. (Marowitz, 2000, p. 1) For easier analysis of the factors that affect the decreased in crime rate, FBI’s crime data, the United States Crime Index Rate, classified crime rates into two major components, which are property and violent crime rates. Violent crimes categories, crimes committed against people, are murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, while property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. (Marowitz, 2000, p. 3) Marowitz (2000) analysis on the statistics record of United States Crime Index, by the year 1960-1998, burglary rate’s decrease was seen from 1986 to 1991

DVD Review At Deaths Door Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

DVD Review At Deaths Door - Essay Example Dr. Patel is accused of conducting operations on patients that would have survived without the operations. The doctor also defends himself on several occasions, at one point arguing that his patient Barry that had cancer could survive after an operation Unit (ABC News, 2010; Sparkk TV, 2014). Several legal and ethical issues are identified in DVD especially by Toni Hoffman and other nurses. First, Dr. Patel conducted surgery in the hospital despite being informed that the facility would not allow for successful surgery (ABC News, 2010). This surgery led to the death of the patient. On another note, the doctor was said to be extremely concerned with making money as opposed to the general well being of the patients (ABC News, 2010; CNN, 2010). The doctor is seen to constantly pressuring the nurses to meet the deadlines set. Worse still, a great percentage of the patients were forced to take on surgery despite their conditions not being worse. ABC News, (2010) and CNN (2010) indicate that Dr. Patel even worked in odd hours all in an attempt to make more money. The doctor also gave old fashioned treatments, filled wrong information on the charts and even the patients had long delays before transfers. Dr. Patel even conducted medical treatments that were wrong such as treatin g the man with a caravan roll on his chest who later died (ABC News, 2010; CNN, 2010). The nurses involved were affected in a great way by the activities conducted by Dr. Patel. From the movie, it is evident that the nurses were affected both psychologically and emotionally and some could barely stand the deaths that were taking place. A notable example is Toni Hoffman who is indicated to go through emotional stress and even went through sleepless nights trying to figure out what would be the suitable resolution to their problem (ABC News, 2010). Toni’s mother explains how she went through stress and could barely lead a normal life. Among the positive actions undertaken by all parties

Administrative Theory Essay Example for Free

Administrative Theory Essay The issue about the ability of public servants to serve the best interest of the public through a solid public governance and administration system has always been an important point in related debates and discussions. In this paper, the focus will be on the role of the Administrative Theory, its related perspectives and paradigm, and how disaster response actions act as a mirror reflecting the state of public service, and the significance (or lack of) of the Administrative Theory in today’s world. Disasters, some say, bring out the best in everyone. If this was true, then the worst disasters can be used to gauge public service and the ability and competence of public servants as well as the use and significance of dogmas, structures, policies, beliefs and design of pubic administration in the modern day life. An example of one of the deadliest modern day natural disaster is Hurricane Katrina. See more: The Issues Concerning Identity Theft Essay â€Å"Hurricane Katrina may be the largest natural disaster in dollar terms in U. S. history, with damage exceeding $50 billion (Birkland, 2006, p. 105). † Hurricane Katrina, for its ferocity, strength, and extent of damage is a good case study in the assessment of public service doctrine use and compatibility, as well as the competence and ability of the people working under these public service perspectives to cope and cooperate successfully under a pre-defined dogma. Ideally, the Administrative Theory was designed so that a particular process and protocol is established so that actions of different individuals, serving to be able to accomplish one purpose, are constructive and contributing towards the achievement of a particular goal, in essence making the theory the catalyst of the start of a process that can provide assistance. The Administrative Theory, as an idea, is always expected to influence constructive and positive output from any endeavor (i. e. response to a natural disaster). But in application, the use of the existing paradigm for Administrative Theory is not always assisting the efforts during a natural disaster. Sometimes it also hinders the effective delegation of assistance and response by individuals and agencies during a natural disaster because it is incomplete and not fully suitable for the present design of local and federal governance as it is applied in the United States. The best example to use as a case study to determine Administrative Theory’s characteristic as being unsuitable and incomplete when used in the current system of governance in the United States is the administration problems that happened during the Hurricane Katrina disaster response and management. Following the idea of the Administrative Theory, members of the agencies responsible for responding to the victims of Hurricane Katrina should have effortlessly handled the situation considering that everyone has a task to fulfil. What the Administrative Theory failed to discuss and include in its parameters is the complexity brought about by inter-agency operation present during the Hurricane Katrina disaster management action and similar incidents. Because of the rigors of the Administrative Theory and the limitations that are found in the theory’s nature and essence, how the people acted and reacted with each other during the disaster response was far from being smooth and flawless. In the assessment of the Hurricane Katrina public administration efforts for disaster response and assistance, observers can see that in employing the ideas found in the Administrative Theory (as well as with consideration to other factors too), the situation became more problematic and complicated. â€Å"Then Hurricane Katrina slammed into the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi, virtually destroying New Orleans and many smaller communities along the Gulf Coast. Although arguments continued long afterward about the adequacy of federal, state , and local emergency response, in the minds of many Americans government had failed its most basic responsibility: to help its citizens in a time of dire need and to protect them from further harm (Stivers, 2008, p. 73). † Because of this, it can be considered that the Administrative Theory can be considered as a source of hindrance and not a source of assistance in the effective action during natural disaster response, assistance and management. What are the issues? There is just one important issue that is connected with the assessment of the impact of the Administrative Theory and the disaster management during Hurricane Katrina. This is the assessment of the administrative aspect of the local and federal government, and why many individuals believe that in general such efforts failed. The Hurricane Katrina and how the government (local and federal) responded, cooperated and interacted during the disaster management efforts provided a classic case wherein administrative theories and its use or absence is seen and reflected. The issue focuses on the fact that despite the country’s capability – material and theoretical – to respond well and effectively during disasters like Hurricane Katrina. The effort was considered as a failure, owed largely to the role of the existing public administration approach. The presence of Administrative Theory aspects, in this case, and how this particular disaster management effort brings to light what is lacking in the current public administration theories and models. The realization, all in all, is that the ensuing complexity of local and federal governance makes elusive the perfect formula for effective public administration and governance in different levels, including disaster response and management. â€Å"People who study and practice administration often take the view, perhaps only half-consciously, that if only the right formula for organizing work and assigning responsibility can be found, things will fall into place and everything will run smoothly or, at least, more so than before. Many of the post-Katrina criticisms levelled at governments have centered on failure to coordinate rescue efforts. These charges reflect the continuing belief in the power of the right system. Certainly they mark the belief that there is a right system (Stivers, 2008, p. 73). † Who are the actors? In the assessment of the Hurricane Katrina and the assessment of the Administrative Theory perspective in the effort to provide disaster response, assistance and management in the location of the disaster, it is important to identify the actors (individuals and agencies) who took part in the effort who may or may not be responsible not only for what measure of success there is in the endeavor but also in the failure of the parameters and perspective of the Administrative Theory in this particular scenario. The Administrative Theory talks about roles and responsibilities, but it did not explain how complexities of these things should be addressed during interagency response to natural disasters, something that happened during Hurricane Katrina. â€Å"Interagency relationships lead to well documented problems associated with unclear authority and responsibility. The House committee examining the government response to Hurricane Katrina blames all levels of government, from the White House, to Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana, to Mayor Ray Nagins of New Orleans, for the delayed response to the storm (Callahan, 2006, p. 139). † This is just a ballpark assessment of the list of characters involved who also contributed to the failure of the disaster rescue and assistance action, despite administrative practices and because of the incompetence of such measures in handling real life scenario. Other participants are identified by the National Response Plan (NRP) program of the government, which identifies the federal as well as non federal agencies and organizations which should be involved in the time of disaster management (Hogan, Burnstein, 2007, p. 151). But NRP in itself was considered by some as problematic. â€Å"As Hurricane Katrina plowed ashore, this cumbersome and contradictory schematic of national disaster response was about to be put to a stern test (Cooper, Block, 2007, p. 130). † There are also some other actors who are involved in this interagency action and it included government entities (military, paramedic, search and rescue units, office of the mayor and governor, etc) as well as private (NGOs and private citizens). What leads the various actors to make the choices or take the positions that they do? There are several reasons that could answer the question about the motivation of the actors to act or decide as they did at the height of the Hurricane Katrina. This may include accountability, responsibility, initiative, instinct or even the sense of direction coming from an existing protocol and systematic approach to problems such as this. How each actor weighs each and any of these is another consideration. Some of these maybe personal forces (i. e. instinct, initiative, a sense of ethics and responsibility, personal clarity of mind and sense of direction during crisis, etc), while other possible motivation maybe organization forces. There are also other reasons, like the absence of a possible course of action that directs everyone involved inside a particular course of action for this eventuality. â€Å"The NRP offers no clear guidance on what distinguishes a run-of-the-mill disaster from a catastrophic event. But generally, catastrophic events imperil the national leadership, echo through the national economy and cause national disruptions (Cooper, Block, 2007, p. 130). † What are the organizational forces? Even if there were aspects of the Administrative Theory in use during the effort to provide assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina which can be categorized as organization forces, some of these aspects maybe considered useless as well because these forces (like the push and pull of the initiatives and information of the people working under the system) are not properly acted upon. Take for example, the characteristic of the Administrative Theory about the idea of chain of command and information sharing based on a ladder-type hierarchy. This aspect was in use, pre-Katrina, as well as during and after the Katrina crisis. But critics believe that it was a failure nonetheless because the response of the individuals to the information shared through the chain of command was not properly acted upon. Because of this, there were feelings of dismay and low moral, and some people integral in this chain of command, realizing the breakdown and futility of such design, resigned from their position. â€Å"Matthew Broderick, head of the DHS Operations Directorate and the HSOC, resigned effective March 31, 2006, following the House of Representatives report on Katrina, which singled him out for failing to inform high-level officials of Katrinas devastating impacts William Carwile, a veteran FCO who had been put in charge of the Katrina response for Mississippi and who had struggled to inform the administration that Katrinas impacts were truly catastrophic, resigned his post and left government service shortly after Katrina (Tierney, Bevc, 2007, p. 48). † What are the external forces? While external forces were hardly discussed as source of the failure of the operation to answer the devastation of Katrina immediately and in the long term, there may also be external forces at play in this situation. This may include the presence of political consideration of political leaders that could have affected and influenced the actions that they took during the disaster. Foreign aid and support, as well as foreign pressure, and the threats coming from the outside which may aggravate the situation inside Mississippi and New Orleans, may have also contributed to the turn out of the rescue and assistance efforts.

To be, or not to be Monologue Essay Example for Free

To be, or not to be Monologue Essay ‘To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?† Perhaps the most oft quoted of the bard’s words, this soloiloquy by Hamlet in Act III, Sc. 1 (58-62) defines the highest point of the dramatic conflict that is going on in the protagonist’s mind and reveals most insightfully the character of the prince and the crux of his great tragedy. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is troubled by the ethical implications of committing suicide: whether to live and suffer the vagaries of fate that humankind is subject to; or whether to rebel against the utter helplessness of the human condition and end it all in death.   The character of Hamlet is of a philosophical and contemplative bent and he is deeply troubled by ethical and philosophical issues that can never be answered with complete certainty. The contemplation of suicide at the height of his troubles is yet another example of this turn in his character. Is it noble â€Å"to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune†¦?†, Hamlet reflects and we are reminded of another of Shakespeare’s great tragic drama, King Lear, where after being mercilessly maltreated at the hands of fate Gloucester arrive at a similar conclusion about the essential tragedy of the human condition, puny beings powerless in front of an omnipotent and hostile fortune: â€Å"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.†   Hamlet compares death to long-awaited sleep and reflects on the final peace and freedom it would bring to the tired and troubled soul: â€Å"To die,—to sleep,— /No more; and by a sleep to say we end /The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks /That flesh is heir to†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Persuaded by this metaphor, he decides in support of suicide, but soon realizes the limitations of the comparision and the deeper and far greater implications of death. Once again we find Hamlet oscillating and intrinsically incapable of deciding on a course of action which is the crux of his tragedy. Just as he is incapable of deciding whether or not to take revenge on his wicked uncle who had beyond any reasonable doubt, killed his father and married his mother, so is he incapable of moving any further than the philosophical reflections on suicide and actually taking his life.   This soliloquy by Hamlet actually brings into focus all the most crucial themes of the play. It directly addresses the issues of death and suicide the significance of which can not be understressed. Through Hamlet’s incapability of motivating himself into action, the speech problematises yet again the complex relation between human thought and action. And last but not the least, it brilliantly dramatises the impossibility of finding any certain answers in an universe which is essentially ambiguous.   The biggest mystrey of the play Hamlet concerns nobody else but the character of Hamlet, and there has never been any dearth of speculation about his real motivations, his psychology etc. However, the famous Romantic critic William Hazlitt provided an interesting angle of approaching this highly complex charater when he wrote: â€Å"It is we who are Hamlet†¦.†. Truly, Hamlet, more than anything else is a brilliant metaphor for the human condition; a perfect representation of modern man. In his inability to arrive at any fruitful decision to act on, in the overwhelming drama that goes on in his mind all the time making him suffer all the more intensely and in his almost masochistic compulsion to probe the darkest and most fearsome depths of his own mind, he is surely the most perfect figure in literature to voice the most fundamental of all human question: â€Å"To be or not to be†¦?† Works Cited    Hazlitt, William. â€Å"Characters of Shakespears Plays†. http://shakespearean.org.uk/ham1-haz.htm Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. R.A. Foakes. Surrey: International Thomson Publishing Company, 1997. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Ed. R.A. Foakes. Surrey: International Thomson Publishing Company, 1997.

Film Analysis Troy (2004) | Historical Accuracy of Troy

Film Analysis Troy (2004) | Historical Accuracy of Troy As generations continue to revolutionize, various new prospects lie ahead for the many inhabitants of earth, no matter what corner they live in. At a time when technology is changing so rapidly, the histories, traditions and cultures of the past are sometimes forgotten, if not lost altogether. To counter this, Hollywood directors and producers alike create fantastical films that bring to life the many stories and legends that are carried down through generations, but have a chance of being lost forever. One of the stories that was written down rather than told was Homers epic poem, the Illiad which was basically the legend of the Trojan War. The story which is thought to be based on history was turned into a film in 2004 by director Wolfgang Petersen. The films plot is based on the King of Mycenae, Agamemnon, who has forced the kingdoms of Greece into a loose alliance after decades of war. Menelaus, the King of Sparta and Agamemnons brother, strives to make peace with Troy, who is th e most powerful rival to the emerging nation but when the Trojan prince, Paris, steals away Menelauss wife, Helen, Agamemnon strives to get her back for his brother and in the meantime, using the event as an opportunity to fight Troy and bring it down, so that Sparta could be the strongest Greek nation. Although an ingenious plot, based on the Greek epic poem, many things can be questioned, as it is unknown if the epic poem was even based on history itself. A film that is historically inaccurate gives no benefit to its viewers as the story can be so twisted and changed that it is no longer, a tale of history, tradition or culture. When examined meticulously, it is clearly evident however, that the film Troy, is historically accurate as it is based on true facts from the ancient Greek life. The military, portrayed through fighting formations, weapons, and naval warfare, the culture of the Greeks portrayed through burial customs, belief in gods and architecture as well as class struct ure, portrayed through the roles of women, the respect to the king, and the respect to the Myrmidons, Achilles fighting group, are all pieces of evidence that lead to the verdict that the film Troy is historically accurate. The military and its different parts that it is made up of are essential to any nation, particularly one which is emerging to be the most powerful. The military not only protects the nation from invaders but also helps in the conquering of new territories to expand the nation so that it can grow. Expansion and conquering enemies all bring up a nations status, which is why the Greeks fought with each other to gain power and respect from others. Part of the militaries practices which were essential to its existence were fighting formations. The fighting formations of the Greeks were tightly formed and organized so that the enemy could not penetrate. The battle line a carefully built wall, the warriors standing with shield touching shield in a solid line. This is likely to have been the position before a battle, with armies drawn up in opposing lines and meeting in this simple formation. The battle probably broke up into a mà ªlà ©e, only after one side had given way, followed by indi vidual duels and single combat.  [1]  It is evident that the fighting formations were strongly structured so that the army appeared not only more powerful and mighty, but more organized and therefore more likely to intimidate the enemy. Once the formations were broken, the warriors fought individually, trying to kill as many of the opponents as possible. This sort of fighting in formation was also portrayed in the film Troy where Hectors army gathered outside of the Trojan walls standing side by side, with their large rectangular shields touching each other for protection. Once battle was initiated however, the men separated and fought individually. This event in the movie was clearly an accurate portrayal of fighting formations in Greece during 1250 B.C.E and thus starts to prove that the film Troy is historically accurate. Another division of the military, one of the most important in fact, is the weapons. Without weapons, battle would be very hard to win because warriors would need to be clever and exceptionally strong so that they could overtake their enemy with their bare hands. Luckily, the Greeks had very developed weapons, which proved to be useful against opponents. Weapons like spears and swords were used extensively in the Greek military, although spears were the first weapon of choice. Swords always seem to have taken second place after spears.  [2]  This is also portrayed in the movie Troy as when Hector faces Achilles in one on one combat, they use their spears first and then their swords. Spears in the film were constructed in such a manner that they looked like they were supposed to. Throwing spears (javelins) were usual, but some were obviously thrusting spears, such as Hectors, which was supposed to be 11 cubits long. Spear shafts were made of ash wood.  [3]  Although it is impo ssible to tell the exact length of the thrusting spears used in the film, they were pretty long, visually looking to be about 5 metres, which is approximately the length of 11 cubits. The rod of the spears were all made out of wood, although again, it is impossible to tell whether or not it was particularly out of ash wood, however it was definitely made out of wood. Therefore it is obvious that the film Troy sticks to history because of the materials and props they used on set to film the production, the same materials and objects which were used over three thousand years ago. The last division in the military which was of high importance to the Greeks, was naval or the sea category. Without naval ships, armies could not have gotten around and travelled to other areas to expand their territories or challenge their enemy as a consequence for a wrongdoing. The Greeks used many different types of warships, although the ones that were most common during the Trojan War and which were described in Homers epic poem Illiad were Pentekonters. Two types of ships are mentioned by Homer: light, fast ships powered by 20 oars, and heavier warships powered by 50 oars. These 50-oared galleys had one level only. They appear to have been built mainly from pine wood, with oars of polished spruce. while the bow terminated in a nearly vertical prow with a metal sheathed ram at the waterline. Pentekonters had a mast with a square sail that was taken down before going into battle  [4]  In the movie Troy the ships used also had one level of oarsmen and about 50 men rowing wit h oars. The front of the ship had an almost vertical prow that was slightly curved to the shape of the ship that helped stop the ship when it reached the shores. The ships used in the film also had square shaped white masts that were lowered when the ship reached the shore. Evidently, the portrayal of the military in the film, whether naval or on land, was historically accurate because the things depicted were truthful to history and actual Greek objects and occurrences. The culture of any nation, whether emerging or already established plays an important role in the everyday lives of citizens. Culture is a development in inhabited area that shows how prosperous the place is, because the main focus is no longer on just mere survival, as there are things to do. Religion, architecture, art, beauty, sports are just some of the aspects of culture that show how rich a nation is, because the people can have an average income, but if they are culturally satisfied, they will be happier than those who have no culture. Culture played an important role in the lives of the Greeks and they had advanced burial customs, religion and architecture, which made their nation a better place to live. Burial customs are one aspect of culture that was sophisticated and there was always a belief in the afterlife in the Greek culture, no matter what religion. Inhumation was most common in Mycenaean times, but by c. 1200 BC cremation became the main method of burial and was un iversal  [5]  Evidently, by the time of the Trojan War, cremation was used most often and this is depicted in the film as well because everyone who dies in the film, whether it was Patroclus, Hector or any other warrior; they were all collected and burned. In cremation, bodies were burned on a pyre soldiers killed in warfare were only rarely buried on the battlefield. Very often they were cremated on the battle site and their ashes taken home.  [6]  It is obvious that soldiers were generally not buried at the site of the battle in which they fought, rather just cremated and the ashes were gathered and taken home. This was the case in the film Troy when many soldiers died; chariots collected the bodies and carried them just outside of the battle field where there was a huge fire where other soldiers would cremate the bodies. Again it is clearly portrayed that the film Troy was historically accurate because it followed the burial customs that the ancient Greeks practiced thems elves. Religion was another important aspect of the ancient Greeks life and they all worshipped some gods. To some Greeks, certain gods were unimportant, but others were considered almighty to them. To the Trojans, the God Apollo was of high importance. A god worshipped throughout the Greek world, and the embodiment of moral excellence He was the god of prophecy, healing, archery. He was also a god of light (sometimes being identified with the Sun and with the god Helios).  [7]  In the film Troy the main worship was to Apollo and this is portrayed through frequent reference to Apollo, when King Priam or his men were prophesising. Everything centered on Apollo, who Priam prayed to nightly and to whom he assumed the wooden Trojan horse by the Greeks was built. The precious temple of Troys patron god Apollo (complete with 5 foot high solid gold statue of Apollo) is located outside the city, down the beach.  [8]  This was the case in the film because the Trojans created a temple just ou tside the city and in front of it was a massive gold statue of Apollo. Clearly, the historical accuracy of the film Troy is yet again proved as it supports the facts from ancient Greek religion. Another form of culture is the art through mainly architecture that is apparent in any nation that is on the rise to being one of the best. Architecture shows how culturally rich a society is because again the main focus is no longer survival, but other things as well, which show how prosperous a nation may be. Troy had a massive wall that protected the city on the inside and that was their main form of architecture. The walls of fortifications are an average of 16.5 ft thick and are built of massive stones weighing up to 10 tons.  [9]  Evidently the fortifications at Troy were extremely large which is why no one could penetrate them until the Greeks created the Trojan horse. This is also portrayed in the movie Troy when the Greeks attack but cannot penetrate the walls until they sneak in through the horse. The walls used in the film are visibly made out of stone and very large, although it is impossible to tell the exact measurements of the fortification. Overall, the portrayal of culture in the film Troy is historically accurate because the burial customs, religion and architecture portrayed in the film is the same as that of the ancient Greek world. The class structure of the ancient Greek world was much different than ours today, although some things are similar to todays world. Historical accuracy in the class structure system is key to a successful depiction of the ancient Greek world in film. The respect given to women, to the king, and to Achilles elite warrior group, the Myrmidons, all are historically accurate because it is very similar to the respect given in the ancient Greek world. The respect given to women in the ancient Greek time period was small but there were enjoyable parts to it. Female characters of the upper class led a relatively independent life. Although women were technically of citizen status, they had no rights of citizenship. Women had no political rights and could take no part whatsoever in government.  [10]  Evidently women had small respect but those of the upper class were fairly independent, being allowed to do more than the poorer women, although none of them could participate in politics. Th is is also portrayed in the film Troy. The women of the palace who were princesses or so took no part in the politics of the palace where all the men assembled, led by the king and his princes to plan out things for Troy. Although women had no role in politics and government, they played an important role in religion. Within religion women did play an important role, such as a dominant role at funerals, weddings. There were many priestesses.  [11]  This is also portrayed within the film Troy as when Briseis, the cousin of Hector and Paris, decided to become Apollos servant she was commended and it was said that Apollo is going to have a wonderful servant. Although women had this advantage, they were considered weak and a reference to this is made in the movie when it is said that peace is for women and weak by Agamemnon. Evidently using that metaphor, women were considered fragile and therefore peace went straight along with women since peace did not show off nations might or po wer. Evidently, the film Troy is historically accurate because it correctly portrays the respect given to women in the ancient Greek class system. In the ancient Greek world, there was always a lot of respect given to the king of the nation, whether he deserved it or not. Kings were very respected officials and demanded that they were given honour even if they were wrong on something. In the film Troy the respect given to the king, particularly Agamemnon was very high although he did not do anything. Odysseus, comments on this to Achilles who gets angry over the fact that warriors are giving the king things that they stole, even though he did nothing at all to deserve the gifts. Odysseus says War is old men talking, and young men dying. Evidently it is portrayed that the king had much respect whether he deserved it or not, and in this case, it is evident that Agamemnon did not deserve the respect that he was being given. Nonetheless, the king continued to be showered with gifts, as warriors were honoured to be in his presence and to be given a promise by him. Achilles elite group of warriors, the Myrmidons, were also a group that was given a lot of respect and was allowed to be different because they were necessary to the winnings of many battles. Although the king, particularly Agamemnon disliked Achilles and his group very much because of their individuality, he used them because of their skill. For example, all Greek warships that sailed had white sails but the ship that was used by the Myrmidons, had a black sail and was a showcase of their individuality. The Myrmidons, led by Achilles were so skilled that when they went out on their own onto the beaches of Troy, instead of waiting for the other Greek ships behind them, Agamemnon complained but soon acknowledged that it was the groups choice to do what they want. Evidently Achilles group, the Myrmidons, had a lot of respect from others, even Agamemnon who let them do what they wanted to, because of the Greek need for them and their skill. Overall class structure and the respect that w as given in the film Troy was historically accurate because it truthfully portrayed women, the king and the Myrmidons. From the beginning of the film Troy directed by Wolfgang Petersen, right to the end, the film proves that it is historically accurate and thus keeps the legend of the Trojan War, written down by Homer through his epic poem the Illiad alive. When analyzing the military portrayed in the film through the fighting formations, weapons and naval warfare, it is evident that the producers stuck to history and made an accurate portrayal of the Greek military. Culture as well is an aspect that proves to be truthful to the ancient Greek world through the portrayal of burial customs, religion and architecture. Finally, class structure and respect is yet another part of the film that remains historically faithful through the portrayal of the respect given to women, the king and Achilles elite group of warriors, the Myrmidons. Overall, it is apparent how new periods of time can still maintain history and portray legends, traditions and cultures of the past accurately, so that the audience can bene fit from the film and the story of the ancient world will never be lost. What Causes Poverty And Inequality? What Causes Poverty And Inequality? Poverty vary across rural and the urban areas. Rural areas have a higher poverty rate than urban areas due to low-wage jobs and a higher rural unemployment. Poverty rises as the area becomes more rural. Poverty could become a very serious issue everywhere. Lack of basic needs can increase the poverty rate. Urban areas are not likely to be affected to poverty but not all places. What is Poverty? For some people poverty could mean being poor or having no money. But to me personally poverty could mean so much more.Its when people lack the basic necessities for survival. For instance they may have been starving, lack of clean water, proper housing, isolated from family and friends, experiencing racism and discrimination, having problem in getting your basic needs, sufficient clothing or medicines and be struggling to stay alive. Poverty can mean different for each individual. It could mean What causes Poverty and Inequality? Some people may think that countries such as MEDCS (more economically developed countries) no one can be poor or if they are, its just due to some failings and problems. However, that is not the case. In reality it is more a measure of inequality. For example, a person who is relatively poor in a rich country usually suffers less material deprivation than someone who is living in a country with low overall standards. In these countries poverty could be an extreme major problem you are more likely to lack basic needs and survival can be more of a struggle, but because the general living standards are lower in these countries, there may be less relative poverty this will be less difference between the poor and the living standards of everybody else. How can poverty affect inequality? Poverty hits children hardest, like every lack of goods and services hurts every other human being. Poverty can damage childrens environment in every way whether it is physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. For example, women who must walk long distances to fetch household water may not be able to fully attend to their children; this may affect their health and development. And children themselves who walk long distances to fetch water for their family have less time to attend school. This problem particularly affects girls. Poverty can lead to malnutrition, which in turn is contributing factor in half of the under -five deaths in developing countries. Approximately 300 million children all around the world go to bed hungry every day. Fulfilling childrens right breaks that cycle. Poverty has been a very big problem in our world today. Poverty can affect inequality, the gap between the rich and the poor which is quite high and often getting wider and wider..People look at term pove rty in a different way depending if the country is poor or rich. World Hunger and Poverty World hunger is a terrible indicator of world poverty. There are many issues causing hunger which are related to factors that cause poverty. These are famine, drought, poor crop yields etc. The causes of hunger are related to the cause of poverty. One of the major causes of the hunger is poverty itself. According to the UNICEF over 9 million people die worldwide each year because of hunger and malnutrition almost 5 million are children. Poverty is transmitted from one generation to the next generation. For example malnourished babies often may give birth to an under -weight baby. These babies are more likely to die, but if they survive they are less likely to grow and develop to their full potential. The first goal of The United Nations Millennium Development Goals is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. UNICEF helps by building national capacitors for primary health care, healthy children become healthy adults. These people will create better lives for themselves, their communities and their countries. Helping the worlds children survive and flourish is another way in which UNICEF is helping. UNICEF also purchases and helps distribute to vaccines to over 40% of children in developing countries. UNICEF along with other governments and non-governmental organizations at national and community levels work to strengthen local health systems and improve at home care for children including re-hydration to save lives of infants with severe diarrhea and other diseases. Reducing Poverty Reducing Poverty should start with children. Every 3.6 seconds one person dies. This mostly applies to small children .Small children around the world die because of poverty. Poverty is a serious issue our world is facing today for countries all around the world especially countries in LEDCS (low economically developed countries). It is most threatening to childrens rights: survival, health and nutrition, education, participation, and protection from harm and exploitation. It creates an environment that is damaging to childrens development in every way mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. How Can Poverty Be Measured? Generally people who have been below at-risk-of poverty line for several years are likely to be in a more extreme situation than those who are only in such a situation for a short time, these people are those who live below the poverty line.  Ã‚  It is also important to measure the length of time that people are living in poverty.  Ã‚  However in many countries, it does not exist covering several consecutive years and this thus limits the possibility to measure those who are longer term below the relative income poverty line and they are likely to be in a worse situation. Global Perspective on Poverty Some countries are much poorer than other countries due to various reasons. Some countries such as USA and China are well developed and most people might not be suffering poverty. But as I said Poverty is present in this world, it does not matter where you are; it is always present. Some countries could be richer and some may still be developing. The gap in equality between countries has been widening in recent year. I think rich countries should be more aware of countries which have more problems due to poverty, this relates the developing countries. This might help the developing countries. The rich countries could help by giving money to provide poor countries food, Shelter, water and human basic needs. Local Perspective on Poverty Countries all round the world have been trying to solve this problem in many ways. For instance Poverty has decreased in Ethiopia for the past few years. Ethiopia is a developing country for now but few years later it is going to be one of the more economically developing countries. Some parts of Ethiopia, especially over the country side the government has helped to give some shelter and some food and water. Some big organizations have been helping try to overcome this issue. The ESCO and the UNICEF should be one of those who have given more consideration due to this issue; this helps our country solve this problem much faster way. Personal Perspectives on Poverty Being poor is a very repellent issue. We are very lucky students; we are able to sleep with our stomach filled and shelter to live in. I feel we are very lucky. Small children go to sleep hungry and die easily. We have the chance to be well educated and become successful. While as children which are poor dont even have money to eat or drink. They usually go to bed hungry. Some dont even have a place to live in this indicates that I think we are very lucky. Our parents have the money to send us to a proper school and we could get educated and become successful if we take our chance and use it properly. Conclusion As a conclusion all I can say is that poverty is the worst thing that could happen to a human being. Poverty doe not only happen in poor countries but it is also present in rich countries. Poverty and Inequality have been a major problem. One of the millennium goals is to solve this problem. If this problem is solved our world would have peace. Adults or children would be happier than before they will not go to bed hungry and this will make them stay alive and go to school. Work-Cited List (MLA CITATION)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shah,Anup.Causes of Poverty.web.Acessed on 21/11/11  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  UNICEF.Millenium Development Goals.web.Acessed on 21/11/11  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shah,Anup.Causes of Hunger are related to poverty.web.Accessed on 21/11/11  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  European Anti-Poverty Network(EAPN).Poverty and Inequality in the European Union(EU).web.accessed on 21/11/11  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rogers,C.Carolyn.Dimensions of Child Poverty in Rural Areas.web. Accessed on 4/12/11

Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay example -- T.S. Eliot Lust Sex R

Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The pursuit of youth, of sex, of â€Å"yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window panes,† some pursue this their whole lives, a bachelor looking in the corners of streets and bars for a bit of youth and company. This is the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot, 1917. It is the song and love story of men who search for their lover in places absent of love and instead only finds lust. Those who only find lust in these lonely places eventually become old, as the speaker of the poem realizes. The only argument in this poem is that of a man much past his prime, arguing to himself whether to retire the chase; the author uses logos, ethos and pathos when arguing to himself, and you, about giving up the Darwinian chase. The author of this poem is T.S. Eliot a modern poet who is a contemporary of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Much of his work comes from post World War I, a period which was filled with excess and disillusionment with humanity and our ability to create and control civilization. The greatest war in the history of the world up to that point had just been fought. Millions died and the World with all its sadness could do nothing more then try and fill itself with wine and lust. The poem deals partly with this matter, mostly with lust and pursuit of women to find happiness in a world full of dingy sadness. The author addresses himself in this poem. Much similar to you looking at yourself in the mirror and speaking to yourself; asking questions and answering them. A sense of this is achieved in the first stanza when he refers to â€Å"you and I† meaning the self seen by others and the self he perceives. Yet this rhetorical self is juxtaposed next to an ... ...ser to death to argue that he is indeed growing older that because he has fear of death he realizes his youth is now gone. His fear is pathos and an appeal to himself that he is getting older. Remember that he is in discussion with himself and you are the audience to his personal monologue, he does not have to convince you that he is growing old but himself, the man in the mirror. Pathos or the poet’s emotional appeal is that he is afraid of death and simply that means he is growing older. Those who find lust in instead of love in youth find themselves in the situation that T.S. Eliot finds himself in. That situation is growing old and still behaving as a lustful youth wondering what to do and reasoning with yourself over your wasted pursuit of women and whether to continue the chase or give into old age and â€Å"wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.†

Suicide :: essays research papers

Teen Suicide   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Suicide is a major issue among teens. In 1990 alone we lost more than 13 out of 100,000 teens to suicide. This number increased by 15% less than one year later. When suicide is discussed in schools students take it very seriously because they know that at least two people in their class will attempt suicide.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When there are suicide prevention discussions most feel their is no hope. â€Å"Youth still see psychiatry as a pretty scary system,† says Lynn Chiarell, satellite program coordinator for Youth Net (Youth Net). â€Å"When you look at what happened at Columbine, it’s pretty obvious those kids had real problems but everyone just ignored it. We want to prevent that from happening here at Youth Net.† When suicidal teens see that there are people who care, they feel they have someone to talk to. Most teens that are thinking about suicide won’t talk about their feelings. This is why it is important that if someone brings the issue up you talk to them and ask them about their feelings and tell them you care. If we can get more people to at least consider suicide being an open issue it is a big step in teen suicide prevention.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every teenager has mood swings and habit changes. But when a teen seems to be depressed for more than two weeks, serious depression could be setting in (APA Online). â€Å" Young people who have attempted suicide are at greater risk of future attempts. Listen for hints like, â€Å" I’d be better off dead† or â€Å" I won’t be a problem for you much longer† or â€Å" Nothing matters; It’s no use,† so you can tell if your teen is suicidal. Many suicide cases are by teens who abuse alcohol or drugs. Some teenagers â€Å"clean house† by giving away favorite possessions, cleaning their rooms or throwing things away before committing suicide. Some of the most dangerous times of a teen’s life is when he or she has suffered a loss or been publicly humiliated, Loss of self-esteem, the break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend. When this happens suicide is often a reoccurring thought. When you know that something like t his has happened you should talk to the teen about how they feel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Young people in today’s society have it tough. They deal with divorce, death and illness. Teens have to deal with complex decisions and peer pressure every day.

Impact of the Public Sector Reform on Employee Relations Essay

In the 1950s to the 1960s, the Conservative government of Britain had a strong compulsion to adopt a neoliberal stance on economic policies. Certain industries which were nationalized by the Labour Party after the Second World War were privatized. State spending on health, education, and welfare were cut; this was so since too much spending would necessarily result in low economic performance of the whole country (although variation was possible). Military spending were doubled to contribute to the overall economic output of the country. This was continued during the leadership of Lady Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) and her successors. Nevertheless, although allowing a significant reduction of government spending in the welfare sector, the Conservative government instituted some reforms to upgrade government programs on health and the bureaucracy itself. The Local Government Act of 1993, Health Care Complaints Act of 1993, the Parliamentary Commissioner Act of 1994, the Local Government Act of 1974, were some of the examples of the readiness of the Conservative government to put efficiency and cost effectiveness the emblem of a government in service (to the people). These acts passed by the Conservative government were meant to streamline the bureaucracy, increase the powers of the local governments (establishment of new boroughs and counties), extend the powers of the parliamentary Commissioner in investigating cases involving local authorities, improve the health care service by allowing the private sector to invest in government health programs, and put a mechanism to effectively negotiate grievances in the government and its related entities (like government owned corporations). These programs and policies were meant to create a bureaucracy with the intense participation of the private sector. They were programs economic in character. Programs were directed to the service of the public but with the capital from foreign and private individuals playing as the motor of development. The image of these programs seemed to be a positive one; intense partnership between the government and the private sector in the service of the public. With the coming of the Labour party in power, some changes were presented in the halls of the parliament. There was a step to extend the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Commissioner in matters allowed by parliament (the three Ombudsmen – the Parliamentary Ombudsman, Local Government Ombudsmen, and the Health Service Ombudsman). An act was established also established to increase public sector employment; a move almost totally ignored by the Conservative government in the 1960s. It is expected that due to the changes hitherto described above public sector employment would increase by 360, 000 in the next three years, and almost a million in the following decade. The number of teachers, doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and policemen increase by more than 100, 000. An increase would be expected in other professions (which is around 200, 000). Although a general cut was implemented by the Labour government in the civil service programs, they were compensated by an additional increase of public sector employees. In sum, the reduction was implemented to increase public sector employment since public sector employment is one of the most effective ways of boosting economic performance (due to its manageability). Needless to say, however, these changes proposed or implemented by both the Conservative and Labour governments of Britain have had certain effects or impacts on employee relations. The Health Service Act implemented by the Conservative government proposed a two-valorem system of negotiation between complaints presented by the two parties involved. This action proved to be not very effective as a conflict resolution mechanism for employees. The present Labour government established a so-called conciliator with the aim of: a) to bring the parties involved together for the general purpose of negotiation and settlement of complaint, b) to create activities deemed possible for the attainment of a settlement, and c) to assist the parties involved to reach for a fair agreement. This three-party system of negotiation (which were imitated by other countries) became an effective force in resolving conflicts in the public sector (the employees). The number of resolved cases or agreements had increased since the coming of the Labour Party in power, a huge debacle for the opposition. The creation of metropolitan boroughs and counties made by the Conservative government (acts enumerated above) had also some impact on employee. It fairly promoted intense economic activity in these new districts. Public sector employment had a slight increase. Herein, therefore, it became the duty of the government to institute a law which will protect the interests of the public sector employees. The creation of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act of 1967 and an amended bill in 1974 defined the limits of the Ombudsmen in reviewing cases or complaints presented to them by government employees (against local authorities or other employees). The effect was good for the public sector employees since the number of complaints and perceived problems in the government bureaucracy was reduced. This was not really a good measurement of performance since the number of public sector employees at that time was small; the civil service jobs share in the total number of jobs was about 62 %. Due to the increasing number of public sector employees, the Labour government refined the laws mentioned above. The Ombudsmen were granted right by the parliament to investigated cases independently, with more flexibility and rigour. A general program of action was also presented by the Home Secretary to reform the Parliamentary Commissioner, giving the latter some air of independence when reviewing not only cases involving possible crime committed by members of parliament) to the general public but also to the increasingly significant public sector employees. It was recognized that delays would be averted if this plan of action was implemented, and therefore a possible amiable relationship between employees result. Nevertheless, a revised attached code of ethics was also created to define the limits, behavior, and general attitude of government and public sector employees to lessen if not avoid conflict or mismanagement of delegated or defined duties. The Labour Party in the present can boast of its success both in streamlining the bureaucracy (same policy of the Conservative Party in the 1950s to the 1960s) and providing a ground base of cordial public sector employment system (employment and conflict resolution). One public sector employee noted that the propensity or possibility of having conflict with her peers appears to be zero. This is one indication of the success that the Labour Party can present to the general public. However, such conclusion is not totally accurate. The Conservative Party was able to create brilliant programs that were responsible for the increase in the public sector employment. The program of devolution gave the local governments the right to shape the economic policy of the districts involved. The air of supra liberalism during the Conservative years promoted intense migration from Third world countries. The public sector itself became a hotspot for foreign nationals, of which the British public can depend for their special services. It seemed from the start that conflicts will generally increase because of the heterogeneous character of the public sector employees, but the speculators proved wrong. The code of ethics prepared by the British MP’s became a great piece of political scourge to the Labour Party. Not only that conflicts decreased in the government and the public sector decreased, the ruling government experienced a high trust rating from the two sectors, and of course a high applause from the business sector. The consecutive electoral victories of the Conservative Party (during the leadership of Margaret Thatcher) proved the case. Nevertheless, certain variables have to be considered when reviewing electoral victories for it is itself a locus of different circumstances of advantages. There is one great difference, however, when we talk of the Conservative and Labour policies on public sector employees. It is generally accepted that impersonality should be the hallmark of a bureaucracy and of course the whole economic activity of the country. In the Conservative years, impersonality was always implemented in the government, with strict penalties for noncompliance. However, government officials were not aware that the policies they implemented (as enumerated above) had certain effect on the public sector employees. Employees became resonant of public policy. They became more politically involved in public discussions. And as such, became more impersonal in their dealings with the government and their clients. Economic activity, according to one economist, may well be possible under the environment of impersonality and laxity of economic requirements. This became a starting step for Britain to increase its migration rate. The increasing number of public sector employees heralded a change or revision in the policies of the Labour Party in terms of public sector employment. As mentioned above, the proposed and implemented policies on negotiation and extension of powers of the types of Ombudsmen were generally meant to increase the efficiency of the government to solve disputes arising between employee and employee, employee and employer, and between employee and government officials. Remember that the public sector had increased because of migration. The current composition of the public sector employees deserve a more efficient and complex system of work arrangements. This was generally only an adaptation made by the ruling government, since the composition of the public sector employees during the 1950s to the 1970s is generally different from today. Nonetheless, only two factors in the public sector employees that became the point of reference of a government in power: its size and composition. Although this may be a narrow generalization, the circumstances that followed afterwards prove such assertion.

Defining Human Resource Management: Function and Roles Essay

Human resource management conducts several operations, and plays a vital role in organizations. Many employees look to human resource management for assistance and representation. A company’s ability to manage people effectively can build a more successful organization, and also helps maintain a more vibrant workforce, which in turn aids companies in keeping a competitive edge in many of today’s industries. The following information defines human resource management, touches on personal experience, and examines the functions and roles human resource management plays in an organization. Human Resource Management Human resource management helps organizations to obtain and develop employees. People comprise any organizations most valuable asset, and sufficiently motivating and maintaining a well-trained workforce allows organizations to perform at optimal levels. Human resource management acts a subset of management, and coincides with the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling functions thereof (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007). From a personal viewpoint, human resource management involves several activities. At previous larger employers, hiring, training, payroll, and conflict resolution were some of these duties, while others included company party planning, employee benefit disbursement, and annual progress reports. Today, human resource management at a current employer has significantly less duties, as the small property maintenance company employs a much smaller workforce of fewer than 15 employees. However, at all places of personal employment the human resource departments had multiple responsibilities related with not only managing people, but also providing various support functions to the organization. Primary Functions of Human Resource Management According to DeCenzo and Robbins (2007), two primary responsibilities include, â€Å"assisting the organization in it strategic direction and representing and advocating for the organization’s employees (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007, p. 34). As previously discussed, human resource management can involve several organizational activities, but the main focus constitutes supporting both the company and company associates. The four primary human resource management activities that provide organizational support include staffing, employee development, motivation, and maintenance (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007). Staffing an organization often requires screening several candidates to seek out the best fit for a particular position. Once hired, human resource departments must provide adequate training and orientation to help not only new employees, but also further develop and enhance existing company staff. Building a quality workforce for an organization takes time and effort from human resource management teams, largely because as stated by DeCenzo and Robbins (2007), â€Å"People, not buildings, make a company successful,† (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007, p. 32). Additionally, the human resource department finds efficient ways to motivate workers such as benefit packages, performance bonuses, and other influential compensation. This function is highly important, as it helps build and maintain morale. Motivating people can prove to be a difficult task, and as explained by DeCenzo and Robbins (2007), â€Å"Human behavior is complex, and trying to figure out what motivates various employees has long been a concern of behavioral scientists† (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007, p. 40). Finally, the human resource team must maintain effective communications, employee loyalty, and assist in providing a continuously safe and healthy work environment (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007). The Strategic Planning Role of Human Resource Management Strategic planning for organizations begins with setting achievable objectives, and the role of human resource management requires finding economically feasible strategies to meet preset organizational goals. According to DeCenzo and Robbins (2007), â€Å"This means working with line management in analyzing organizational designs, the culture, and performance systems, and recommending and implementing changes where necessary† (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007, p. 34). Additionally, this often involves figuring out ways to reduce costs in personnel, while finding more affordable ways to offer motivational benefits to employees. Human resource management displays added value to an organization by effectively validating the company’s human resource management investments (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007). Despite the size of an organization, a quality emphasis on human resource management builds potential for successful production efforts. Organizations cannot function without people, and the proper selection and development of employees often benefits from a quality human resource management team. DeCenzo and Robbins (2007) stated, â€Å"Human resource management is a function of every manager’s job, not just those who work in human resources† (DeCenzo & Robbins, 2007, p. 34). Many people tend to think of hiring or payroll when the term â€Å"HR† comes up, when in fact, several important organizational duties and responsibilities come with these positions. References DeCenzo, D., & Robbins, S. (2007). Fundamentals of human resource management (9th Ed.), Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, retrieved from the University of Phoenix Electronic Library.

How do you as a modern reader, respond to Austen’s presentation of Mr. Knightley’s guidance of Emma in the novel as a whole?

After the episode at Box Hill, Mr. Knightley says to Emma, ‘I must once more speak to you as I have been used to do: a privilege rather endured than allowed, perhaps, but I must still use it.' How do you as a modern reader, respond to Austen's presentation of Mr. Knightley's guidance of Emma in the novel as a whole? It can be said that Emma is a novel which is based on morals and manners. In the society, and the people in which Jane Austen deals with, we see the high expectations, the pride and mainly good use of manners in their community. George Knightley is considered to be a well mannered and respectable man, and we are shown good reasons to believe so, on many occasions. He is thought of as a ‘good-catch', being rich with ‘old money', and having very high status, but does not show any signs of snobbery to or against another person. In addition, Mr Knightley has many good qualities, and we can see how fond Austen is of her ‘faultless' character. We see him in many circumstances, (mostly) being calm, polite and sharp, never succumbing to rudeness. He is always pleasant and friendly towards Miss Bates, which shows the reader a very gentle side to him, even though many other characters get agitated with her rather easily. Austen also helps us understand how courteous and patient he is, whilst dealing with Mr. Woodhouse. He is a very annoying, infuriating man so by showing Mr. Knightley to be friendly and tolerant with him, helps us see what truly great qualities this man has. When speaking to Emma, we understand how much he cares for her, though sometimes he may seem quite abrupt. Nevertheless, throughout the novel we see Emma's countless faults. She seems to be inexperienced at the start of the novel, which can be said to ‘justify' her childish behaviour. Though it appears that she does not know a lot about life in general, acting spoilt and immature; we are soon shown of her sharp, intelligent and kind self, which makes the reader realise of her desperate need of help. She is lacking parental support greatly, and quite seriously; it is clear to us that she has never had a mother figure to look up to, only ever having Miss Taylor her governess, which seems more like friendship than mother-daughter. Her father does not realise of her need of love and support, and therefore continues to act like a selfish child who needs a great deal of care, consequently ending up with Emma caring and concerning for her father and not concentrating on her own needs. Although we see of her and her sister's closeness, Isabella has her own life and is away from their estate for most of the year. As a result Mr Knightley shows to be the only one capable and willing around her, to help her through and towards her development. As Mr. Knightley acts as Emma's ‘mentor' throughout the novel, we see on many occasions, him upsetting her with the truth, them in conflict, and a lot of realisation about oneself. When she boasts of her persuading Harriet to decline Robert Martin's marriage proposal, as she is certain of Mr. Elton's love for Harriet, we see Mr. Knightley fuming with rage at her, as she does not realise the consequences of her actions, and the damage she will cause for the people involved. She is stubborn with George Knightley, and only when Mr. Elton proposes to her, does she realise the reality in what she has done and the truth in what he has said. The situation is then followed by her self-searching, and reflecting on her actions, admitting she is wrong to only herself, soon forgetting of her wrong doings. Following the incident at Box Hill, it is the first time that we see Emma break down in the novel. Mr. Knightley is very angry with Emma, but does raise his voice, simply explains their situation of how people perceive them, clarifying the importance of them setting a good example. Possibly the reason for her humiliation, is the fact that she did not realise how hurtful she was to Miss Bates, and never once took into consideration of her position in the society. By explaining how their circle of friends look up to both her and Mr. Knightley, Emma for the first time in the novel realises her situation as a woman, a mentor, and a friend. Once releasing her true, sad feelings, Mr. Knightley acts kind and careing towards her, and she accepts her mistakes, and is prepared to apologise to Miss Bates as well as being friendly and patient with her from then on. This can be seen as a self-analysis, which truly shows her willingness to develop. Even as a modern reader, it seems that Austen is simply showing two peoples love for each other, in which they both work hard to persist. Mr. Knightley cares a great deal for Emma, and we can see that all his stern and honest ways in which he has dealt with her throughout the novel, have all been on the grounds of his love for her, as a friend, a companion and a man. He is sensible and truthful during the narrative, which is how Austen gains our trust for him. He has helped her comprehend many difficult situations on many occasions, but she has also helped him to maybe not be so serious and untrusting. And it seems as though Emma realises this near the ending of the novel, whilst discussing the situation of herself and Mr. Knightley, and the situation of Frank and Jane, to Frank Churchill himself. Though at times Mr. Knightley has maybe seemed harsh and cold towards Emma, it has made her improve and mature in character greatly, ending with her fine development.

Filipino Patriotism Essay

As time passes by, a person’s traits, behavior and personality changes generation to generation, some changes are positive and some are negative, but does Filipino traits today a positive or a negative change when we relate it to the love for our country? Filipinos today are somehow unpredictable. Why? Of course we’re not god to predict what they can or will do that somehow can put the country to shame. But as you can see, we, Filipino’s can do everything now, thanks to our ancestors who successfully freed our country, but sadly some are abusing or overusing the gifts we received from our ancestors. Feeling free and can do everything, Filipinos somehow became spoiled, that they only think and do things for theirselves, never for the country. Some says that all  the Filipinos who work abroad are considered as Filipino patriots. Let’s see. Why do you think some Filipino’s went to other countries just to work? Is it for our country? Or is it because of our country? Many workers reasons are that they need to gain higher amount of money everyday to sustain their and their family needs that they have to sacrifice their lives for their family. It’s really for their family not for the country, yes they are heroes: heroes of their own family. You see, nowadays, you’ll never hear these sentence anymore: â€Å"oh, I went to other countries for our own country. † It’s just a sad thing that we make ourselves believe that when we work abroad we might be already a Filipino patriot, but the real thing is, we are leaving our country behind, we never know that maybe someone out there needs us so bad that when we cooperate with them to contribute in raising our country’s economy. And have you ever noticed that some people, permanently leave this country after they earned enough money, and the worst, others, denies or are ashamed of their nationality. A Filipino in new York posted this, â€Å"Deep down inside every Filipino knows that there is a sense of patriotism soon to erupt. But now is not the time. There’s no sense of showing Filipino pride when we have a government as lame as this. Nakakahiya pa nga minsan eh. † And another Filipino posted this, â€Å"After the September 11 tragedy, you’ll see people wearing American Flag shirts, cars have American Flags hanging out, American tickers being given away free everywhere, and what not. Wow, do *I* have one on my car†¦. well yes, because I live in U. S. soil and I’m a Fil-Am.. but.. wait!!! Deep inside me I’m still a proud Filipino, I will stand behind my country till the end, and it hurts because it looks like no one else besides me thinks Philippines have a chance. † It’s a sad thing hearing or reading posts like this. Is Filipino patriotism, really dying? How about the youth? Wouldn’t they do anything about it? Who is responsible enough to guide and pursue youth to do anything for our country?

Business Model of Amazon

As the economy has moved from agrarian to industrial to information age, the focus of the businessmen or the wealthy and powerful has also shifted in terms of the ways of obtaining wealth or doing business. In the agrarian age there was shortage of land which made ownership of land as the determinant of value. Powerful land barons typically accumulated vast tracts of land and coerced people who were bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord into living on and working it. As economy moved from agrarian to industrial age, physical assets owned by a firm became the determinants of value and shortage of raw-materials led the powerful industrialists to conspire to control the supply of raw materials. In this age, the market could absorb as much product as the industrialists could produce. The current era in which we live has been defined as the information age wherein relationships and intellectual capital are more important than anything else. One is not worried about physical assets anymore. Companies don’t compete with each other over superior products as they are largely commoditized rather compete increasingly on the basis of value added customer services. The economic battles of today are fought over the mind-space of consumers. In the information age power-play customers are not passive participants, in the way that land and raw materials were in the agrarian and industrial ages. In fact, according to Zang Hailing, it is the customers’ time that is in short supply, and therefore for any firm to succeed, emphasis needs to be given to the importance of reducing the customers’ time to adopt a new product. Thus, in a world where technology is changing every day and the transformation of consumers has happened from â€Å"Price Takers† to â€Å"Price Makers† as they are armed with more options and information; the companies that control more and more customer relationships will be the ones that hold the power in an industry and reap the lion’s share of the profits. E-commerce or e-business is an important tool that enables companies to reach out to the global market at low cost and provides abundant information about the consumers’ requirements and preferences easily which was not so easy earlier. Following figure is a glimpse of the promising future that the ecommerce industry holds. The US E-commerce has seen a 40% increase in the sales over the past 5 years as a percentage of the total retail sales in US. Source: http://ycharts. com Now when thinks about e-commerce, the first name that comes to everyone’s mind is that of Amazon. com. Not only most of the people have heard about it but there are many people who have actually used its services. Amazon was not only one of the few of the companies that thrived throughout the period in which many dot-com companies struggled to survive but has been constantly performing exceptionally well in terms of revenue per visitor which is one of the key parameters for any commercial website. Amazon has had one of the fastest growths in the internet’s history with revenues reaching $2, 8 billion in the first five years with Google’s revenue reaching only $15bn in the first five years. Now, just like any other traditional business in order to clearly understand an e-business one needs to have information on the following components: a) Business Strategy which determines the products and service offerings by the firm, the firms targeted customers and the firms value proposition. It also helps firms decide on the choices and the tradeoffs that the firm needs to make. b) Organizational form or structure c) Business processes which refer to the unique ways in which organizations coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce a product or service. ) Value Chain i. e. the sequence of activities that a firm undertakes to create value, including the various steps of the supply chain but also additional activities, such as marketing, sales, and service. e) Core Competencies which are the collective learning’s of the firms and being distinctive create long term competitive advantage for the firm. From the beginning, the focus of Amazon. com has been on offering their customers compelling value. In the current report filing dated 04/13/12, Jeffrey Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon. om writes â€Å"We realized that the Web was, and still is, the World Wide Wait. Therefore, we set out to offer customers something they simply could not get any other way, and began serving them with books. We brought them much more selection than was possible in a physical store (our store would now occupy 6 football fields), and presented it in a useful, easy-to-search, and easy-to-browse format in a store open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. † The Value Proposition offered by Amazon. com is â€Å"earth’s largest selection—24/7, at competitive price. † Amazon. om has continuously focused on improving the shopping experience owing to which they substantially enhanced their stores in 1997. Though they started off with books, they now offer customers gift certificates, 1-ClickSM shopping, and vastly more r eviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. The company’s stated goal was to â€Å"be Earth’s most customer centric company for three primary customer sets: consumers, sellers and developers. † It targeted its first set of customers through its initial retail model where it sold only books. It offered the perfect combination of low prices, large selection and convenience or customer experience. The digital media allowed limitless inventory, boosted customer care and allowed higher margins and hence lowest prices. In 15 years Amazon went from 1 category to 16 main categories of books. Amazon began with books and needed to grow big fast. From 1995-1998, Amazon moved from books to music and again through the same combination moved to become the biggest seller of music in just 120 days! Amazon moved on develop its own digital driven supply chain and distribution network by hiring from the expert: Wal-Mart. Amazon accelerated development through its strategy of â€Å"Build, buy, partner† a) Build: Amazon keeps on creating new categories. For example, Amazon kicked off a new service by the name MyHabit. com in May 2011 that made fashion available to consumers directly from designers and boutique brands. b) Buy: When there is a lot of competition in any area and the competitors have a strong hold, Amazon believes in buying out the incumbent. Few of the acquisitions made by Amazon include Internet Movie Database  (IMDb), Zappos (an online shoe and apparel retailer) etc. ) Partner: Amazon has also entered into a lot of merchant partnerships. It offers its technological service and ecommerce expertise to third- parties. For example in October 2011, Amazon. com announced a partnership with DC Comics for the exclusive digital rights to many popular comics, including Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Sandman, and Watchmen. As mentioned before as well, Amazon want to be the â€Å"wo rld’s most customer-centric† company, and so their focus is on the â€Å"Customer Service†. It ensures customer loyalty through three main approaches: a) Recurring usage b) Seamless Integration c) Lock-in The following table tells us how Amazon uses all above mentioned approaches for its both customers: Sellers and consumers. | Sellers| Consumers| Recurring Usage| a. Developed a customer base close to 615mn users that can’t be ignored by sellers b. Ensures profit through optimized and reliable technology c. Developed a trusted Brand name| a. Created an ecosystem through Kindle b. Stores user’s media library c. Offers personalization to customers d. Gives special offers everyday| Seamless Integration| a. Monitors sellers rating ratings posted by consumers and expels sellers with bad ratings b. Offers Fulfillment by Amazon service(FBA) which allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network| a. For customers, all the sellers are highly commoditized and invisible. They buy it because of the Amazons brand value b. Get benefitted by Amazon Prime and free super saver shipping| Lock-in| a. By controlling or owning the customer accounts b. High level of infrastructure development required to ensure same level of customer service as offered by Amazon| a. By providing digital content that works only on Kindle b. Amazon Prime Program which requires annual subscription| | c. | c. | Amazon developed a value chain of itself for internal appraisal so as to identify its strengths and weaknesses that would help it add value and maintain a competitive advantage. Amazon uses the value chain model from Michael Porter’s book, â€Å"Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. † The first table represents the Primary activities of Amazon which are needed to produce a product or services for the end customers. Inbound logistics| Operations| Outbound logistics| Marketing ; Sales| Service| Avoids the overhead and large amounts of inventory carrying cost because it orders the books from the distributors. Easy and fast payment systems. Online customer systems and feedback. | Operates a number of transportation hubs that they refer to as injection points. Injection point locations are located in heavily customer concentrated areas. | Customer tracking  is an Amazon stronghold through which it provides personalized customers’ exper ience| Free return policy within 30 days. Uses marketplace to increase channel and range of goods through 3rd parties and customers. Highly reduced returns to suppliers (such as unsold books and media) due to available accurate forecasting technology | Customized buyer experience| Ability to aggregate orders bound for specific locations. | Interactive shipping and parceling price calculations. Free delivery based on single transaction spends. | Price comparison of new products with used products in marketplace shops. | Efficiently gathering information about customer experiences to inform service inputs and inventory controls. | 24 hour warehouse operations to meet customer demands. |   Utilizes the capabilities of its supply chain partners to deliver orders directly to ustomers which bypass the Amazon. com internal distribution center network|   Discounts and price reductions made available with suggested product mixes. Similar products recommended to customers interactively. | Offers customers gift certificates, 1-Click SM shopping, and vastly more reviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. | The next table gives information about the various support activities performed by Amazon which help to facilitate or assist its primary activities. | Value Creation| Cost Reduction| Firm Infrastructure| Huge central customer data warehouse available to all business units. Amazon’s single technology platform with services being incrementally distributed to other worldwide locations, reduces costs by leveraging investments | Human Resource Management| Amazon. com has a great training for its employees resulting in talented, smart and hard working group. Offers employees unique benefits such as medical, paid time off and stock grants and relocation allowances and hence attract highly skilled workers| Amazon utilizes independent contractors and temporary personnel to supplement their workforce, particularly on a seasonal basis. Although Amazon has works councils and statutory employee representation obligations in certain countries, Amazon’s employees are not represented by a labor union| Technology Development| High investments in technology development (e. g. , Kindle) to best leverage digital products. Innovations such as personalized recommendations, one-click ordering, and search inside the book are all Amazon. com innovations. Highly customized software applications that support their supply chain business model. For example, Amazon. om is linked into Ingram’s systems to see Ingram inventory levels when deciding whether to use Ingram to drop ship an order to a customer | Building an IT strategy, IT infrastructure and Data Centre on Linux open source software thus reducing cost of technology development. Renting computing resources to other companies reduce total cost of ownership Using standard hardware systems from HP to reduce cost of maintenance and compatibility| Procurement| Utilize s a Sales and Operations (SOP) planning process to determine forecasts for each roduct that it stores in its distribution center inventoryUses the strategic business unit – Booksurge to keep a rich inventory of digital copies of books so as to make this readily available for customers through print-on-demand and reduce the time of delivery | Specially built distribution Centers, warehouses and fulfillment Centers to increase the speed of order processing thus avoiding transaction costs of contracting out| In addition to the business strategies the value chain components mentioned above, the success of Amazon. om can be attributed to the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder chief executive officer Jeff Bezos and the strong inclination of the firm towards bringing about innovation in the business model. Let us discuss both factors one by one. Entrepreneurial Spirit of Jeff Bezos: Jeff Bezos can be regarded as the forward-looking CEO responsible for the success of Amazon. com. He has not only efficiently managed the present but through his long term vision always taken steps to create the future. The computer science and electrical engineering graduate from Princeton University moved to Seattle after resigning as a Senior Vice-President at D. E. Shaw, a Wall Street investment bank. At the time Bezos didn’t know much about the Internet but he came across a statistic that the Internet was growing at 2300%, which convinced him that it was a large growth opportunity. Without knowing anything more, he plunged into the world of e-commerce with no prior retailing experience. It was his decision to locate the company in Seattle because it had a large pool of technical talent and since it was close to one of the largest book wholesalers located in Rosenburg, Oregon. Moreover, the sales tax laws for online retailers state that one has to charge sales tax in the state in which one is incorporated. Therefore it was logical to locate in a small state. Under his guidance and logical thinking Amazon. com quickly became the leader in e-commerce. Operating 24 hours a day, the site was user-friendly and encouraged browsers to post their own reviews of books and offering discounts, personalized recommendations, and searches for out-of-print books. In June 1998 it began selling CDs, and later that year it added videos. In 1999 Bezos, looking at the future trends, added auctions to the site and invested in other virtual stores. The success of Amazon. com encouraged other retailers, including major book chains, to establish online stores. As more companies battled for Internet dollars, Bezos saw the need to diversify, and by 2005 Amazon. com offered a vast array of products, including consumer electronics, apparel, and hardware. And with the Jeff Bezos vision to make every book ever in print in any language available to the consumer in 60 seconds, Amazon launched the handheld device called Kindle in 2007. Bezos is the quintessential dot-com icon. He proved to the business world that the Internet was about more than knowledge. He proved that it is possible to overcome fears about purchasing online, to drive down transaction costs, and to build an international e-commerce business over the Internet. He had the courage to attempt something that people doubted could be done. . At the age of 35, Jeff Bezos was picked as the 1999 Time person of the year. Describing why it chose Bezos, Time magazine said, â€Å"Bezos’  vision  of the online retailing universe was so complete, his Amazon. om site so elegant and appealing that it became from Day One the point of reference for anyone who had anything to sell online. † Innovation in the Business Model: Amazon survived the dot-com bust because it had a viable and innovative  business model  built around a market-changing customer value proposition and a radical profit formula and over it has been able to sustain its position as the leader in e-commerce by bringing about continuous innovations in its business model. Let us look at some of the different dimensions wherein Amazon. om has been able to bring about business innovation. a) Offerings: By offering a handheld device dedicated to reading, Kindle, Amazon. com revolutionized the books industry. By creating a product like Kindle, the created a perfect, integrated and streamlined customer experience. b) Platform: With Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment By Amazon, and Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon is creating powerful self-service platforms that allow thousands of people to boldly experiment and accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible or impractical. ) Customers: In 2002 Amazon launched a web services platform and identified a new area of potential growth by finding another new customer—the IT community. Serving this new customer’s needs required different processes, different resources, and a different profit formulaâ€⠀in short, another  new business model. d) Customer Experience: 1-Click combined with Gift-Click and Wish List made Amazon. com the most convenient, easiest-to-use shopping destination the holiday season. Wish List allows customers to post the gifts they’d most like to receive from family and friends, while Gift-Click allows customers to send gifts easily by entering just the e-mail addresses of their recipients. e) Value Capture: By opening up its storefront to other retailers that were essentially competitors, Amazon transformed its business from direct sales to a sales-and-service model, aggregating many sellers under one virtual roof and receiving commissions from the other companies’ sales. ) Supply Chain: Fulfillment by Amazon service (FBA) by Amazon is a classic example of innovating business model through supply chain. FBA allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network and in the last quarter of 2011, shipped tens of millions of items on behalf of sellers. When sellers use FBA, their items become eligible for Amazon Prime, for Super Saver Shipping, and for Amazon returns processing and customer service. From the above discussion of Amazon’s business strategy, value chain analysis and the success factors we can conclude that Amazon has a robust Business model. Amazon’s business model fends off all the four threats. It has the costly-to-imitate financial and technological resources, it has developed protection against holdup by seamlessly vertically integrating its both the customers i. e. the sellers and the consumers. Reduced slack by locking-in the customers and the sellers and fights substitution through innovation in business model. Business Model of Amazon As the economy has moved from agrarian to industrial to information age, the focus of the businessmen or the wealthy and powerful has also shifted in terms of the ways of obtaining wealth or doing business. In the agrarian age there was shortage of land which made ownership of land as the determinant of value. Powerful land barons typically accumulated vast tracts of land and coerced people who were bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord into living on and working it. As economy moved from agrarian to industrial age, physical assets owned by a firm became the determinants of value and shortage of raw-materials led the powerful industrialists to conspire to control the supply of raw materials. In this age, the market could absorb as much product as the industrialists could produce. The current era in which we live has been defined as the information age wherein relationships and intellectual capital are more important than anything else. One is not worried about physical assets anymore. Companies don’t compete with each other over superior products as they are largely commoditized rather compete increasingly on the basis of value added customer services. The economic battles of today are fought over the mind-space of consumers. In the information age power-play customers are not passive participants, in the way that land and raw materials were in the agrarian and industrial ages. In fact, according to Zang Hailing, it is the customers’ time that is in short supply, and therefore for any firm to succeed, emphasis needs to be given to the importance of reducing the customers’ time to adopt a new product. Thus, in a world where technology is changing every day and the transformation of consumers has happened from â€Å"Price Takers† to â€Å"Price Makers† as they are armed with more options and information; the companies that control more and more customer relationships will be the ones that hold the power in an industry and reap the lion’s share of the profits. E-commerce or e-business is an important tool that enables companies to reach out to the global market at low cost and provides abundant information about the consumers’ requirements and preferences easily which was not so easy earlier. Following figure is a glimpse of the promising future that the ecommerce industry holds. The US E-commerce has seen a 40% increase in the sales over the past 5 years as a percentage of the total retail sales in US. Source: http://ycharts. com Now when thinks about e-commerce, the first name that comes to everyone’s mind is that of Amazon. com. Not only most of the people have heard about it but there are many people who have actually used its services. Amazon was not only one of the few of the companies that thrived throughout the period in which many dot-com companies struggled to survive but has been constantly performing exceptionally well in terms of revenue per visitor which is one of the key parameters for any commercial website. Amazon has had one of the fastest growths in the internet’s history with revenues reaching $2, 8 billion in the first five years with Google’s revenue reaching only $15bn in the first five years. Now, just like any other traditional business in order to clearly understand an e-business one needs to have information on the following components: a) Business Strategy which determines the products and service offerings by the firm, the firms targeted customers and the firms value proposition. It also helps firms decide on the choices and the tradeoffs that the firm needs to make. b) Organizational form or structure c) Business processes which refer to the unique ways in which organizations coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce a product or service. ) Value Chain i. e. the sequence of activities that a firm undertakes to create value, including the various steps of the supply chain but also additional activities, such as marketing, sales, and service. e) Core Competencies which are the collective learning’s of the firms and being distinctive create long term competitive advantage for the firm. From the beginning, the focus of Amazon. com has been on offering their customers compelling value. In the current report filing dated 04/13/12, Jeffrey Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon. om writes â€Å"We realized that the Web was, and still is, the World Wide Wait. Therefore, we set out to offer customers something they simply could not get any other way, and began serving them with books. We brought them much more selection than was possible in a physical store (our store would now occupy 6 football fields), and presented it in a useful, easy-to-search, and easy-to-browse format in a store open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. † The Value Proposition offered by Amazon. com is â€Å"earth’s largest selection—24/7, at competitive price. † Amazon. om has continuously focused on improving the shopping experience owing to which they substantially enhanced their stores in 1997. Though they started off with books, they now offer customers gift certificates, 1-ClickSM shopping, and vastly more r eviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. The company’s stated goal was to â€Å"be Earth’s most customer centric company for three primary customer sets: consumers, sellers and developers. † It targeted its first set of customers through its initial retail model where it sold only books. It offered the perfect combination of low prices, large selection and convenience or customer experience. The digital media allowed limitless inventory, boosted customer care and allowed higher margins and hence lowest prices. In 15 years Amazon went from 1 category to 16 main categories of books. Amazon began with books and needed to grow big fast. From 1995-1998, Amazon moved from books to music and again through the same combination moved to become the biggest seller of music in just 120 days! Amazon moved on develop its own digital driven supply chain and distribution network by hiring from the expert: Wal-Mart. Amazon accelerated development through its strategy of â€Å"Build, buy, partner† a) Build: Amazon keeps on creating new categories. For example, Amazon kicked off a new service by the name MyHabit. com in May 2011 that made fashion available to consumers directly from designers and boutique brands. b) Buy: When there is a lot of competition in any area and the competitors have a strong hold, Amazon believes in buying out the incumbent. Few of the acquisitions made by Amazon include Internet Movie Database  (IMDb), Zappos (an online shoe and apparel retailer) etc. ) Partner: Amazon has also entered into a lot of merchant partnerships. It offers its technological service and ecommerce expertise to third- parties. For example in October 2011, Amazon. com announced a partnership with DC Comics for the exclusive digital rights to many popular comics, including Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Sandman, and Watchmen. As mentioned before as well, Amazon want to be the â€Å"wo rld’s most customer-centric† company, and so their focus is on the â€Å"Customer Service†. It ensures customer loyalty through three main approaches: a) Recurring usage b) Seamless Integration c) Lock-in The following table tells us how Amazon uses all above mentioned approaches for its both customers: Sellers and consumers. | Sellers| Consumers| Recurring Usage| a. Developed a customer base close to 615mn users that can’t be ignored by sellers b. Ensures profit through optimized and reliable technology c. Developed a trusted Brand name| a. Created an ecosystem through Kindle b. Stores user’s media library c. Offers personalization to customers d. Gives special offers everyday| Seamless Integration| a. Monitors sellers rating ratings posted by consumers and expels sellers with bad ratings b. Offers Fulfillment by Amazon service(FBA) which allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network| a. For customers, all the sellers are highly commoditized and invisible. They buy it because of the Amazons brand value b. Get benefitted by Amazon Prime and free super saver shipping| Lock-in| a. By controlling or owning the customer accounts b. High level of infrastructure development required to ensure same level of customer service as offered by Amazon| a. By providing digital content that works only on Kindle b. Amazon Prime Program which requires annual subscription| | c. | c. | Amazon developed a value chain of itself for internal appraisal so as to identify its strengths and weaknesses that would help it add value and maintain a competitive advantage. Amazon uses the value chain model from Michael Porter’s book, â€Å"Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. † The first table represents the Primary activities of Amazon which are needed to produce a product or services for the end customers. Inbound logistics| Operations| Outbound logistics| Marketing ; Sales| Service| Avoids the overhead and large amounts of inventory carrying cost because it orders the books from the distributors. Easy and fast payment systems. Online customer systems and feedback. | Operates a number of transportation hubs that they refer to as injection points. Injection point locations are located in heavily customer concentrated areas. | Customer tracking  is an Amazon stronghold through which it provides personalized customers’ exper ience| Free return policy within 30 days. Uses marketplace to increase channel and range of goods through 3rd parties and customers. Highly reduced returns to suppliers (such as unsold books and media) due to available accurate forecasting technology | Customized buyer experience| Ability to aggregate orders bound for specific locations. | Interactive shipping and parceling price calculations. Free delivery based on single transaction spends. | Price comparison of new products with used products in marketplace shops. | Efficiently gathering information about customer experiences to inform service inputs and inventory controls. | 24 hour warehouse operations to meet customer demands. |   Utilizes the capabilities of its supply chain partners to deliver orders directly to ustomers which bypass the Amazon. com internal distribution center network|   Discounts and price reductions made available with suggested product mixes. Similar products recommended to customers interactively. | Offers customers gift certificates, 1-Click SM shopping, and vastly more reviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. | The next table gives information about the various support activities performed by Amazon which help to facilitate or assist its primary activities. | Value Creation| Cost Reduction| Firm Infrastructure| Huge central customer data warehouse available to all business units. Amazon’s single technology platform with services being incrementally distributed to other worldwide locations, reduces costs by leveraging investments | Human Resource Management| Amazon. com has a great training for its employees resulting in talented, smart and hard working group. Offers employees unique benefits such as medical, paid time off and stock grants and relocation allowances and hence attract highly skilled workers| Amazon utilizes independent contractors and temporary personnel to supplement their workforce, particularly on a seasonal basis. Although Amazon has works councils and statutory employee representation obligations in certain countries, Amazon’s employees are not represented by a labor union| Technology Development| High investments in technology development (e. g. , Kindle) to best leverage digital products. Innovations such as personalized recommendations, one-click ordering, and search inside the book are all Amazon. com innovations. Highly customized software applications that support their supply chain business model. For example, Amazon. om is linked into Ingram’s systems to see Ingram inventory levels when deciding whether to use Ingram to drop ship an order to a customer | Building an IT strategy, IT infrastructure and Data Centre on Linux open source software thus reducing cost of technology development. Renting computing resources to other companies reduce total cost of ownership Using standard hardware systems from HP to reduce cost of maintenance and compatibility| Procurement| Utilize s a Sales and Operations (SOP) planning process to determine forecasts for each roduct that it stores in its distribution center inventoryUses the strategic business unit – Booksurge to keep a rich inventory of digital copies of books so as to make this readily available for customers through print-on-demand and reduce the time of delivery | Specially built distribution Centers, warehouses and fulfillment Centers to increase the speed of order processing thus avoiding transaction costs of contracting out| In addition to the business strategies the value chain components mentioned above, the success of Amazon. om can be attributed to the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder chief executive officer Jeff Bezos and the strong inclination of the firm towards bringing about innovation in the business model. Let us discuss both factors one by one. Entrepreneurial Spirit of Jeff Bezos: Jeff Bezos can be regarded as the forward-looking CEO responsible for the success of Amazon. com. He has not only efficiently managed the present but through his long term vision always taken steps to create the future. The computer science and electrical engineering graduate from Princeton University moved to Seattle after resigning as a Senior Vice-President at D. E. Shaw, a Wall Street investment bank. At the time Bezos didn’t know much about the Internet but he came across a statistic that the Internet was growing at 2300%, which convinced him that it was a large growth opportunity. Without knowing anything more, he plunged into the world of e-commerce with no prior retailing experience. It was his decision to locate the company in Seattle because it had a large pool of technical talent and since it was close to one of the largest book wholesalers located in Rosenburg, Oregon. Moreover, the sales tax laws for online retailers state that one has to charge sales tax in the state in which one is incorporated. Therefore it was logical to locate in a small state. Under his guidance and logical thinking Amazon. com quickly became the leader in e-commerce. Operating 24 hours a day, the site was user-friendly and encouraged browsers to post their own reviews of books and offering discounts, personalized recommendations, and searches for out-of-print books. In June 1998 it began selling CDs, and later that year it added videos. In 1999 Bezos, looking at the future trends, added auctions to the site and invested in other virtual stores. The success of Amazon. com encouraged other retailers, including major book chains, to establish online stores. As more companies battled for Internet dollars, Bezos saw the need to diversify, and by 2005 Amazon. com offered a vast array of products, including consumer electronics, apparel, and hardware. And with the Jeff Bezos vision to make every book ever in print in any language available to the consumer in 60 seconds, Amazon launched the handheld device called Kindle in 2007. Bezos is the quintessential dot-com icon. He proved to the business world that the Internet was about more than knowledge. He proved that it is possible to overcome fears about purchasing online, to drive down transaction costs, and to build an international e-commerce business over the Internet. He had the courage to attempt something that people doubted could be done. . At the age of 35, Jeff Bezos was picked as the 1999 Time person of the year. Describing why it chose Bezos, Time magazine said, â€Å"Bezos’  vision  of the online retailing universe was so complete, his Amazon. om site so elegant and appealing that it became from Day One the point of reference for anyone who had anything to sell online. † Innovation in the Business Model: Amazon survived the dot-com bust because it had a viable and innovative  business model  built around a market-changing customer value proposition and a radical profit formula and over it has been able to sustain its position as the leader in e-commerce by bringing about continuous innovations in its business model. Let us look at some of the different dimensions wherein Amazon. om has been able to bring about business innovation. a) Offerings: By offering a handheld device dedicated to reading, Kindle, Amazon. com revolutionized the books industry. By creating a product like Kindle, the created a perfect, integrated and streamlined customer experience. b) Platform: With Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment By Amazon, and Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon is creating powerful self-service platforms that allow thousands of people to boldly experiment and accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible or impractical. ) Customers: In 2002 Amazon launched a web services platform and identified a new area of potential growth by finding another new customer—the IT community. Serving this new customer’s needs required different processes, different resources, and a different profit formulaâ€⠀in short, another  new business model. d) Customer Experience: 1-Click combined with Gift-Click and Wish List made Amazon. com the most convenient, easiest-to-use shopping destination the holiday season. Wish List allows customers to post the gifts they’d most like to receive from family and friends, while Gift-Click allows customers to send gifts easily by entering just the e-mail addresses of their recipients. e) Value Capture: By opening up its storefront to other retailers that were essentially competitors, Amazon transformed its business from direct sales to a sales-and-service model, aggregating many sellers under one virtual roof and receiving commissions from the other companies’ sales. ) Supply Chain: Fulfillment by Amazon service (FBA) by Amazon is a classic example of innovating business model through supply chain. FBA allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network and in the last quarter of 2011, shipped tens of millions of items on behalf of sellers. When sellers use FBA, their items become eligible for Amazon Prime, for Super Saver Shipping, and for Amazon returns processing and customer service. From the above discussion of Amazon’s business strategy, value chain analysis and the success factors we can conclude that Amazon has a robust Business model. Amazon’s business model fends off all the four threats. It has the costly-to-imitate financial and technological resources, it has developed protection against holdup by seamlessly vertically integrating its both the customers i. e. the sellers and the consumers. Reduced slack by locking-in the customers and the sellers and fights substitution through innovation in business model.