Shrek Essay Example

Shrek Paper Shrek is a comical animated fairytale based variously on literary archetypes and Disney-esque tropes. However, this fairy tale theme has been subverted using numerous presentational devices throughout the film, in many different ways. I am going to explain thoroughly how this is revised and shown in the film. At the opening of the film, the audience is led to believe that this is different than a traditional fairy tale. It starts off with an old distinguished story book, opening to reveal a traditional style fairy tale. The historic style of font, picturesque illustrations, and general gentle setting, lead to the preconception that it is another archetypal tale. With the traditional story book phrases, such as Once upon a time and conventional storylines such as The princess was locked in the highest room of the tallest tower, awaiting true love and true loves first kiss. Near the end of the short fairy tale, a large green hand rips the last page out of the book. Comically implying he used the page as toilet paper, based on the mise en scene and editing of Shrek emerging from an outhouse after tearing out the page and the sound of diegetic flushing. We will write a custom essay sample on Shrek specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Shrek specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Shrek specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This kind of behaviour would not be shown in an archetypal fairy tale, leading the audience to see this is not the type of story they were expecting. The main character, Shrek, is an ogre. This is a clear subversion of a fairy story, as the main character, or hero, tends to be a handsome prince. It is also a subversion of his character as traditionally ogres are brutal, cruel and most importantly, of evil temperament. However also in the beginning Shrek is seen behaving in a human fashion. His habitat is quite homely and domesticated and is even shown performing a human cleansing ritual involving brushing his teeth and even having breakfast. This immediately alerts the audience or at least makes them suspicious, that Shrek must surely be a positive character as he is acting like an approachable human being and not a man eating ogre. However, a little later in the film, Shrek is seen confronting a gang of villagers who are trying to ambush him at his home. Suddenly his character seems a lot more sinister, as he uses traditional archetypal ogre threats, (such as Ill grind your bones to make my bread). But instead of carrying out his threats, he simply tells them to run away. Then terrifyingly roars in the faces of the villagers. This is shown by a close up of Shreks open mouth with food encrusted teeth. This adds to the traditional image of a disgusting ogre, unlike the humanised character we saw in the first scene. The two different sides of him revealed here show that he is a conflicted character. Torn between acting like a traditional ogre and a human character, these parallel images are reflected throughout most of the film. The presentational devices used in this chapter of the film help show this subversion as traditionally an ogre would not show any human characteristics at all and would not doubt the content of his own nature. During his travels, Shrek is introduced to Donkey. They meet when Donkey is pursued by a gang of soldiers and Shrek scares them away. Donkey is grateful and begins to chat to Shrek in a friendly manner. Shrek clearly struggles with the idea that someone does not judge him as a traditional ogre but as a human. Shreks character is more aggressive towards Donkey as he evidently doesnt know how to deal with the situation. This again shows Shreks conflicted character and how he finds it difficult to cope with not being judged on first impressions. Later on, Shrek and Donkey go on a quest issued by Lord Farquaad to rescue the Princess Fiona. When found, the princess appears to be another archetype; the beautiful damsel in distress, waiting to be rescued. However all is not as it seems, as later she is seen performing unladylike actions, such as burping and violently attacking a gang of men who mistakenly attempt to rescue her. The princesss role in a traditional animated fairy tale is to be a weak, beautiful, innocent, damsel in distress. This completely shows the misogynist viewpoint of male/ female roles in fairy tales. Lord Farquaad has all the aspects of a heroic character with his large castle and kingdom, riches and the fact that he wants a princess as his bride. However, his first impression and the actions he is seen doing persuade the audience otherwise. When we first meet lord farquaad, the presentational skills and devices used create a sinister, negative impression of him straightaway. A low angle shot is used to make him appear large and intimidating while he strides down a corridor. The dim background lighting and harsh marching music also add to the daunting effect of the scene. Even his first actions seem chilling, as he is precisely putting on his gloves showing that he means business. After this scene, he is shown torturing another character, the Gingerbread Man, for information. He even threatens the Magic Mirror to make him into a king. After hearing the mirrors solution to marry a princess, he then hires someone else to recue her for him. These are not things an archetypal hero would do at all, in fact, he shows more of the characteristics of a villain; again subverting the stereotypical tale. When Shrek and Donkey visit Duloc, more presentational devices are used in favour of Lord Farquaad. When Shrek and Donkey are discussing with Lord Farquaad the nature of the quest, Lord Farquaad is on a balcony far above them. A low angle shot is used to make him more impressive and show his higher status from the other characters. This was also cut to another shot of a close up behind lord Farquaad, creating a mise en- scene and making him seem bigger and therefore more important in comparison with Shrek. These presentational devices accurately help show the difference in status between characters, establishing their direct contrast to one another. In conclusion, the presentational devices used in Shrek help subvert the archetypal fairy tale through many aspects. Firstly, the use of low angle shots helps to establish status and contrast between characters and even with the characters themselves. For example, a close up of a characters face helps to display their emotions to more accurately. The themed background music used also helps to create a certain atmosphere or setting for a particular character, helping the audience perceive a character easily. Overall, the use of presentational devices in the film Shrek, assist in subverting the generic conventions of traditional fairy tales in a humorous and easy viewing way for the audience.

About online gaming essays

About online gaming essays Ask anyone that had ever played an online game and they will most probably tell you that it is addictive. Indeed it is. Its an MMORPG also known as massive multiplayer online role playing game is one of those that had made millions of hardcore gamers lose sleep over. So whats the beauty behind it? One may question. The reason is simple. It provides the player with another world. In there, there are no boundaries. They can be whoever they want to be and accomplish the things that in real life, they may never ever do. Behind the screen, over the net, no one knows who you are, you maybe jobless but online you can be a millionaire, you may be in your late 40s but in there you are back to you prime. Yes, it gives us a sense of satisfaction that we can only dream about having in real life. Another selling point about this sort of games is the challenge that it can create. Instead of playing again mindless AI controlled opponents, you are now pitting your skills against real people around the world. Being triumphant against them meaning you are actually better then them, at least in the game you are better. And the joy that you get out from it is just like outdoing your peers in school or outperforming your colleagues at work. Yes its real life satisfaction. These points above are enough to get them hooked to the game but sooner or later, once they have grown tired of winning, or losing, you need some other things to keep them in game. MMORPG offers you the reason to stay. Most, if not all MMORPG allows users to create a community in the form of clans or parties. You can now socialize in the comfort of your home with people thousand miles away, you can gain friendships within the game itself, now this is dangerous if not carefully juggled. Some may become too involved in the online world and began to neglect the people around them. Online friends becomes more important then their childhood friends, som ...

How does William Golding show evil at work in Lord of the Flies Essays

How does William Golding show evil at work in Lord of the Flies Essays How does William Golding show evil at work in Lord of the Flies Paper How does William Golding show evil at work in Lord of the Flies Paper Essay Topic: Literature The Beast in the Jungle In the novel, Golding concentrates a lot on the subject of evil and how the children are evil on the island. I believe that he does this to show how humans can have evil within them, and how it can be brought out in certain situations. I also believe that he has focused on evil a lot in the novel as he has entitled the novel lord of the flies which is the means Beelzebub which is commonly used as a word to describe the devil. In the beginning, Golding immediately brings in the subject of evil as early as when the party of boys, known as the choir joined the group of children, they were wearing long black cloaks when everyone else had taken there clothes off because of the heat, they were described as a creature, a shadow and that they looked like darkness. I believe Golding has used this sense of black to suggest that they are evil. Another thing that I believe that Golding has used in the novel to show how some humans are evil is that Jack took an instant dislike towards Piggy as Piggy was intimidated by this uniformed superiority, before he knew anything about him and then went on to bully him throughout the rest of the novel. Jack constantly called him fatty until he found out about the name Piggy and made everyone laugh at him. Piggy was always an outsider after that incident. I feel that another way in which the novel implies that there is evil on the island is the setting of the scar. This is because the area is unattractive and it is given a name of something that is generally unattractive and something that is unusual scar. I believe that Golding has used this to suggest that bad things have happened to the island and bad things are going to happen to the boys also. Another way in which Golding incorporates evil within the novel is when a child was killed because of the lack of control the boys had over the fire. It also took them a while before that they noticed he was missing and it was Piggy who noticed it. There was also no real sorrow for the boy and they carried on life as if nothing had changed, which shows that they didnt really care about him. I also feel that this shows that the island is unforgiving. I believe that the jungle is another symbol of evil that Golding used. The jungle is often described as the heart of darkness. I believe that this is because there is always something of an evil nature that happens in the jungle or is to have said to have happened in the jungle, as it is the jungle where by the snake-thing is supposed have been seen. Also, it is deep in the forest where the pigs are hunted and killed by the children in a savage manor. Another symbol of evil that Golding uses in the novel is the beast. Although there never actually is a beast, I still feel that it adds to the theme of evil within the novel this is because it makes people scared and live in fear, but I also believe that it is a metaphor for what lies within of the children; an evil beast. Not only this but I also believe that the beast helps us to identify the characters within the novel and gives us more detail about their personality. For example, Ralph and Piggy immediately try to say to the litluns that there isnt a beast to try and save them the discomfort they constantly say But there isnt a beastie! and try to convince everyone that they are confident of that fact. Although they say this we find out that both of these characters do have some doubt about there being a beast however they did the mature thing by acknowledging that it could cause havoc if the litluns thought there was and therefore they denied it. This shows a contrast to the characters of Simon and Jack. Simon obviously has no belief in the beast as he has no fear when he enters the forest by himself whereas all of the other characters are very scared. We arent told how Jack feels about the beast however he tries to contrast Ralph and Piggy idea of trying to keep the litluns not scared by saying but if there was a snake wed hunt it and kill it. This plants into the mind of the litluns that there may be a beast. It also gives Jack power as the litluns now think that he will protect them from the beast by killing it. Another example of evil within the novel involves Roger. He sees Henry, playing with the animals. He threw a stone at Henry but threw to miss this shows that he still had something civilised physiologically stopping him from hitting Henry, although he had a strong urge to do so. This shows that Roger had evil intensions and has evil within. I believe that Golding has used this example of Roger to try and make us think about where evil comes from. He uses Jack and Roger as examples. When Jack arrives on the island he is head boy and head of the choir, this suggests that he is a well-behaved child and is good. However as the novel moves on he becomes sinister and evil. In contrast to this, Roger has evil intensions from the start and wants to hurt Henry. I believe that Golding has done this to try and debate whether evil is occurred by nature or nurture. I believe that the mask is another symbol of evil in the novel. This is because when Jack goes to kill the piglet at the first attempt, he was unable to do it because there was still something civilised about his character. However when he puts the mask on it takes away his identity. Jack becomes an awesome stranger, which is a quote that perfectly describes the change that has occurred in the character of Jack, the mask has taken away his identity and his civilised nature and he has become savage. This savageness enables him to kill the pig. I also believe that the mask is a symbol showing that they have become savage and that they are regressing. This is because masks are most commonly associated with our ancestors who we have evolved in character from. This mask is a symbol of how the boys are regressing back to that savage form. Another way in which it shows how the choir have changed while they have been on the island, obviously, being a choir they were good at singing and did it a lot. However as they regressed on the island this innocent singing became chanting. They chanted kill the pig, cut his throat, spill his blood. Most modern hunter would try to kill the animals in the kindest way, however this chant suggests that the choir are enjoying what they are doing and feel no guilt when they take another animals life. In the novel, certain members of the choir become obsessed with hunting and providing meat. Later on in the novel they kill the sow, I believe the way in which they murder this sow demonstrates how evil the boys have become and is a very symbolic event in the whole novel. It particularly involves the two characters Jack and Roger, who seem to be the most evil two characters of the boys. They chased and hunted the chosen pig and I believe that the fact it was a mother was symbolic, Golding is trying to say that these boys no longer need a mother in their lives and they have become independent. They threw fire-hardened points towards the pig until they injured it and the sow staggered. The hunters followed the injured pig, this shows that desperately wanted the kill; they have become savage and evil. The language that Golding used is sometimes described as the language of rape. This is because he uses words like lust and wedded to describe how the hunters were killing her. The name Roger is commonly associated with a person who is good with a spear and this is shown in this s ection of the novel, Roger ran around the heap, prodding with his spear whenever pigflesh appeared. Along with Roger Jack was also on top of the sow stabbing downwards with his knife. The two boys are being lethal in how they are hunting the sow, and they are doing it in a savage and evil manor. The sow was finally defeated when Jack slit her throat, and the hot blood spouted over his hands, these are very young boys and in modern society, most children their age would be very scared in this position, but these boys are attacking the pig in a gruesome way, this shows what they have become and how much they have changed. After the boys killed the sow, they decided to offer the head to the beast as a gift. They put the head on the spear and take in to the top of the mountain. When Simon is by it he starts having a vision that the pigs head is speaking to him. Golding refers to the pigs head as the Lord of the Flies believe that this is a double meaning, the obvious one is that the flies are feeding on the head, however the Lord of the Flies often has another meaning the devil. I believe that Golding is trying to say that the Lord of the Flies represents all of the evil on the island and within the children. When Simon is talking to the Lord of the Flies, because it is being associated with the devil it is as though good is against bad. The Lord of the Flies then threatens Simon in a headmasters voice and calls him a silly little boy. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that they are going to have fun on the island and that he shouldnt try to stop them or else. The Lord of the Flies also says that youll meet me down there I believe that this could be a metaphor for hell. It is ironic that soon after this experience, the children kill Simon and the Lord of the Flies is a symbol of the evil within the children. To conclude my essay, I believe that Golding has focused on the theme of evil within the novel to show us how humans can be evil. He wants to show what children can become if they are not guided in the right direction. I also believe that he has focused on the theme of evil as he wants us to consider whether evil is born with all humans and each person has the capability of evil inside them of it is to do with there surroundings. I feel that Golding used a good variety of characters to demonstrate the different characteristics when they are put in a situation and how different types of people can react and how people can be led. I think that Golding want to show people how humans can be evil in every day life and we dont even notice it.

Adam Smiths Moral Sentiments Essay example

Adam Smiths Moral Sentiments Essay example Adam Smiths Moral Sentiments Essay example 10/19/2013 Business Ethics & Society Adam Smith’s Moral Sentiments Part 2 The reading on Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith first starts of the definition of a prudent man. Prudent man is based on a self- interest, which means taking care of oneself. Prudent man are trying to keep out of harm, care for their own, they are sincere but not so vocal about things, reserved in regards to others, they limit friendship by not passionate but transitory affection, they are conservative financially, modest, they feel horro when being disgrace to others, they tell nothing but the truth, very cautious in actions, never makes rash opinions concerning others, conversations are always inoffensive and they place themselves below of others. Prudent man are naturally contented with his situations, gradually relax, no anxiety to change comfortable situations. Since they are based around self-interest, prudent man are not willing to take any responsibility which his duty doesn’t impose upon him according to Smith. We judge that t heir sentiment is justified when sentiments with another person when the person is alone. Sympathy does not give judgments. Judgments only being considered when there is a difference in attention and when there is awareness between individuals, but if people agree on a judgment then it is not being distinguished. Another way when other’s judgment is different from us is when we can take it as admiration. Smith explained how we take values to judgments when it is similar to our own judgments and therefore we aspect those judgments. Prudent man sympathy will never go to the point of violence of whoever is in those shoes, also of our own safety and comfort. We go into sympathetic state in ourselves when we are constantly intruded. If you are suffering or if anyone is, the feelings can be soften by sentiment from another person, which this is acceptable fort the peace and harmony of the society. As Smith say, society and conversations is the best remedy for recovering the mind. S mith stated that there is to distinction, of one, the person who is notably concerned. Which is a person’s emotion can be awaken by an object. And there is the spectator who is emotionally awakened by watching over and sympathizing. These two types of different people have two sets of different virtues. The person who is notably concerned is self-denial and self-government. The person who is a spectator shows blunt contempt and considerate humanity of coming into the sympathy of the person principally concerned. Smith concludes that perfection of human nature is having this mutual sympathy by feeling more for others than for one self. The degree of passion can sympathize is up to a medium level, which depends on what the passion or emptions is being covey. According to Smith, passions will be considered appropriate or inappropriate to changeable degrees subject to the degree which the spectator is able to sympathize, which what the purpose is to establish which passions evoke sympathy and which don’t and therefore knowing if it’s appropriate or inappropriate. I agree to what Smith is conveying in his readings. Being a prudent man is not enough, not enough to be noticeable or at least stand out in a crowd in any point. As Smith mentioned, prudence people deserve cold esteem, respect but not admiration and it is not enough. Prudence is boring, not out of norm or as I say it is â€Å"too† normal. Surrounding people will never going to be satisfied. Prudence don’t give enough responsible towards others, they are too self-interest and just lack of care for others. In this society where it is so much easier to converse and connect to people, it is almost kind of impossible to have lack of care or too much self-interest. Don’t you want to see how it can help, effect or even

Martin Van Buren Biography and Presidency

Martin Van Buren Biography and Presidency Martin Van Burens Childhood and Education: Martin Van Buren was born on December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, New York. He was of Dutch ancestry and grew up in relative poverty. He worked at his fathers tavern and attended a small local school. He was finished with with formal education by the age of 14. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1803. Family Ties: Van Buren was the son of  Abraham, a farmer and tavern keeper, and  Maria Hoes Van Alen, a widow with three children. He had one half-sister and half-brother along with two sisters, Dirckie and Jannetje and two brothers, Lawrence and Abraham.  On February 21, 1807, Van Buren married  Hannah Hoes, a distant relative to his mother. She died in 1819 at 35, and he did not remarry. Together they had four children: Abraham, John, Martin, Jr., and Smith Thompson.   Martin Van Burens Career Before the Presidency: Van Buren became a lawyer in 1803. In 1812, he was elected a New York State Senator. He was then elected to the US Senate in 1821. He worked while Senator to support Andrew Jackson in the Election of 1828. He held the seat of New York Governor for only three months in 1829 before becoming Jacksons Secretary of State (1829-31). He was Jacksons Vice President during his second term (1833-37). Election of 1836: Van Buren was unanimously nominated to be President by the Democrats. Richard Johnson was his Vice Presidential nominee. He was not opposed by a single candidate. Instead, the newly created Whig Party came up with a strategy to throw the election into the House where they felt they could have a better chance of winning. They chose three candidates who they felt could do well in particular regions. Van Buren won 170 out of 294 electoral votes to win the presidency. Events and Accomplishments of Martin Van Burens Presidency: Van Burens administration began with a depression that lasted from 1837 until 1845 called the Panic of 1837. Over 900 banks eventually closed and many people went unemployed. To combat this, Van Buren fought for an Independent Treasury to help ensure the safe deposit of funds. Contributing to his failure to be elected to a second term, the public blamed Van Buren’s domestic policies for the 1837 depression, Newspapers hostile to his presidency referred to him as â€Å"Martin Van Ruin.†    Issues arose with British held Canada during Van Burens time in office. One such event was the so-called Aroostook War of 1839. This nonviolent conflict arose over thousands of miles where the Maine/Canadian border had no defined boundary. When a Maine authority tried to send Canadians out of the region, militias were called forward. Van Buren was able to make peace through General Winfield Scott before fighting began. Texas applied for statehood after gaining independence in 1836. If admitted, it would have become another slave state which was opposed by the Northern states. Van Buren, wishing to help fight against sectional slavery issues, agreed with the North. Also, he continued Jacksons policies concerning the Seminole Indians. In 1842, the Second Seminole War ended with the Seminoles being defeated. Post Presidential Period: Van Buren was defeated for reelection by William Henry Harrison in 1840. He tried again in 1844 and 1848 but lost both of those elections. He then decided to retire from public life in New York. However, he did serve as a presidential elector for both  Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. He also endorsed Stephen Douglas over Abraham Lincoln. He died on July 2, 1862 of heart failure. Historical Significance: Van Buren can be considered an average president. While his time in office was not marked by many major events, the Panic of 1837 ultimately led to the creation of an independent Treasury. His stance helped avoid open conflict with Canada. Further, his decision to maintain sectional balance delayed admitting Texas to the Union until 1845.

How Marketing Is Done On an International Scale Research Paper

How Marketing Is Done On an International Scale - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that culture is the â€Å"collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.† It is a phenomenon that involves the values, ideas, practices, â€Å"artifacts and other meaningful symbols† that enable people to understand each other for easier communication. Culture in itself also encompasses the goals that are shared by a community. It embraces the way of life of a group of people, which may differ from the next group. Some of the factors that contribute to such differences are the behaviors and practices of previous generations, which are in turn passed on to the next generation by way of tradition. All of these factors, embodied by culture, influences how one treats a fellow human being, how one communicates and negotiates, how one processes information and formulates a decision. The values that are inherent in culture help mold an individual in making important decisions such as wo rk and may be the determining factor in helping that individual achieve success. Understanding the culture of a group of people is very important in marketing, especially in such a field as complex as international marketing. This is because everything that a consumer does, even down to the way the consumer thinks, is heavily influenced by his/her culture. This is what makes marketing quite challenging, because cultures vary from one to another, and there are always changes introduced to groups of people that would also modify their culture. Indeed, the culture in the 19th century is different from how it is currently. In the same way, marketing strategies are also bound to change.

Bio answeres Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Bio answeres - Essay Example Wunder (2014) asserts that these provision may not be applicable in the modern society and the vulnerability of the native communities has minimized. Consequently, the traditional American justice system may suit the native communities. The level of discrimination in the juvenile justice system in alarming. The system created with the objective of separating children from adult offenders have been occasionally used to target specific communities. In an argument by Finlay (2007) minority communities tend to be preyed by the system with the belief that it may incubate crime rates in adults. For this reason, minority groups such as the Hispanics and African Americans are greater targets of the juvenile justice system. Zimring & Tanenhaus (2014) are of the assumption that changes made to the juvenile justice system to transfer offender to the adult system poses more risk to minority communities. Hispanics and African Americans get transferred more from the juvenile justice system to the adult system than any other community (Zimring & Tanenhaus,

Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome in Neonates and Children Essay

Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome in Neonates and Children - Essay Example "SSSS is caused by the release of two exotoxins (epidermolytic toxins A and B) from toxigenic strains of the bacteria (or a germ) Staphylococcus aureus. Desmosomes are the part of the skin cell responsible for adhering to the adjacent skin cell. The toxins bind to a molecule within the desmosome called Desmoglein 1 and break it up so the skin cells become unstuck," reports Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (2006). SSSS can be detected by a fever, redness that has spread on the skin, and irritability. Fluid-filled blisters, which rupture easily, appear within 24-48 hours of the fever and widespread redness of the skin. After the blisters rupture, the skin looks like it has been scalded, or burned. Approximately 15-40% of healthy individuals are carriers of Staphylococcus aureus and as carriers, they carry the bacteria but no signs of the disease or symptoms are revealed. These carriers introduce the Staphylococcus aureus (without any sign of infection or disease) into the childcare facility. But these individuals, particularly infants, get SSSS from a localised staphylococcal infection, which is the producer of the two exotoxins (epidermolytic toxins A and B) and outbreaks can often be found occurring in facilities that provide childcare. The reason older children and adults commonly do not get SSSS is because throughout a lifetime, immunities are built. In children younger than the age of five (especially infants), there is a lack of immunity built up that can defend against the toxin. Also, toxins are removed from the body via the kidneys due to the immature renal clearance system. These are the reasons why infants are more at risk. (Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome, 2006). Diagnosing SSSS can be as simple as looking at the appearance of the skin. Skin tissue can be examined with a microscope. The bacteria can be found by examining surface fluid or pus. Blood can be tested for the SSSS infection. (Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome, 2006.) Pathophysiology has revealed a connection with other complications. For example, staphylococcus aureus causes the autoantibodies and bullous impetigo, a generalized form of SSS, which in turn causes pemphigus. Pemphigus was known to be unrelated to the other conditions. However, a study by Stanley and Amagai (2006) of the molecular pathophysiology of pemphigus revealed that the molecular pathophysiology contributes to the mechanism of the formation of blisters in bullous impetigo and the staphylococcal scalded-skin syndrome. Stanley and Amagai (2006) report the following: Staphylococcal skin infections are among the most common skin diseases in children. Classic studies more than 30 years ago showed that the blisters in bullous impetigo and the scalded-skin syndrome are caused by exfoliative toxin released by staphylococcusSubsequently, it was discovered that two major serotypes of this toxin, A and B, cause bullous impetigo and the scalded-skin syndrome in cases of the scalded-skin syndrome, it circulates throughout the body, causing blisters at sites Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome 4 distant from the infection.49 The risk of death from the

Improvement of My Language and Grammar Skills Essay

Improvement of My Language and Grammar Skills - Essay Example This involves learning how to insert commas and quotation marks in the right places. Use of sentence conjunctions was also another problem. I could either omit the conjunctions or use wrong ones in my sentences. Tenses were also part of the problem. Differentiating between past, present, and future tenses were hard, and in most cases, I substituted present tense for past tense. Most of my sentences would lack meaning due to wrong tenses. There was a huge confusion when inserting phrases and vocabulary in sentences. I could use wrong vocabularies, wrong phrases, and wrong prepositions in most sentences. This gave the reader a vague meaning of my essays. Most of my first essays were used simple sentences, which were wrongly constructed. I lacked a variety of words that I could use in the essays and had to repeat most of the words. However, this has changed since I joined this course. Through interaction with other students and the English lessons in this course, I have expanded my knowledge of English language. I have learned different vocabularies and various sentence constructions that have improved my writing. The essay structure has also improved. This involves analyzing events sequentially to give the reader more understanding of the essay. In the essay ‘I Want to Make a Difference,’ word choice was a big problem (McGeehan, 2012). This involves words such as bad vices yet there are no good vices. In this case, using the word vices only would give the reader the intended meaning. Some of the sentences were poorly done. I used unnecessary words, which made the sentences long and diluted their meaning. Some of the words reduce the captivity of the reader by the essay. By stating that I failed to give a bribe for a job contradicts the essay title since I wanted to participate in corruption instead of being different.  

Critically discuss the extent to which Fayol's classic analysis of the Essay

Critically discuss the extent to which Fayol's classic analysis of the management function has largely been made redundant by - Essay Example With the advent of globalization and continuous advancement in technology, it can be viewed that the way business operated decades ago has radically changed. Many critics around the world are developing new theories that are providing much better ways than the theories that were propounded by managerial theorist in the past. It is believed that today’s managerial theories comparatively provide much detailed analysis and suggestions that can help a business in present highly competitive world. Among all Fayolism is a management theory that was developed by the famous French management theorist Henri Fayol. It is believed that though the theorist work as a guideline for administrators the theory contributed and highlights the practises that would be implemented while managing an organization (Wren, & et. al., 2002). The major purpose of this essay is to discuss the extent to which Fayol’s classic analysis of the management function has largely been made redundant by the m ore recent empirical studies of what managers actually do, such as that favoured by Mintzberg. Discussion Management theories are considered to be a vital part of every business association in today’s competitive commercial environment that serve as a road map and standards for accomplishing their broad objectives. It not only provides a blueprint on how business should be operated but also helps in proper management of resources and in formation of measurable aims and objectives for the business organisation. Henri Fayol is considered to be a pioneer in the field of management theories. With Fayol’s work viz. General and Industrial Management, Fayol was considered amongst the best management theorist in the past. However, with the passing time it can be viewed that many experts were largely convinced with the theory propagated by Fayol while some criticised it on certain ground. Among them the contemporary theory propagated by Henry Mintzberg has been largely been com pared with Fayol’s management theory which has resulted in raising question regarding the applicability and acceptability of Fayol’s classic analysis of the management function. The Different Perspectives on Management Taken by Fayol and Mintzberg Description on Fayol’s Work Henri Fayol generally known as the father of administrative management is considered to be amongst the first management theorist that provided business organizations standard way of managing their business effectively that would help them to achieve their goals and objectives smoothly. According to Fayol, all industrial organization consists of six different group of activities including technical which mainly focused on production, manufacture and adaption; commercial which consists of buying, selling and exchanging; financial which concentrated on searching for chances that would help in optimum utilization of resources; security which mainly focused on protecting property and persons; acc ounting which main task was to maintain stock captivating, balance sheets and cost statistics and managerial

Gambling Essay Essay Example for Free

Gambling Essay Essay The difference between gambling and buying stocks of companies is that you are betting on the future of the company and you have records you can research. If something terrible happens to the country, like a natural disaster, stocks will go down. If the country does well, the stock market will most likely go up. The key to doing well in the stock market is to research the companies you are trying to buy stock in. If you just pick a couple random companies to invest your well-earned money in, it would be more like gambling. It is possible to lose a large sum of money buying stocks if a company that was once flourishing has something bad happen. For example, those who owned stock in BP were probably doing all right until they had a vessel drop hundreds of thousands of oil into the gulf. Gambling in a casino, on the other hand is completely different. The house always a edge, and even though the edge is slim it still makes it so that the house will always win in the long run. If you are gambling in Vegas you better be using money you are willing to lose. In conclusion, if you do your homework and research and choose your stock right, more likely than not you will be making money. One thing is for sure I would feel safer tying my money up in the stock market than at the blackjack table.

The Marketing Mix And The Success Of Innocent Marketing Essay

The Marketing Mix And The Success Of Innocent Marketing Essay The marketing mix has been the core of marketing theory and practice since the 1960s (Lehtinen, 2011). The marketing mix represents the controllable elements of marketing which collectively form the ground of an organization in the perception of customers(Judd, 2003). In the 1960s, McCarthy diminished Bordens twelve controllable marketing elements to a four-element framework: product, price, place and promotion(Constantnides, 2006). Since the marketing mix and 4Ps entered the marketing textbooks, they have been treated as the unchallenged basic model of marketing and been universally accepted(Lehtinen, 2011). With the development of marketing management and the business environment, great changes have taken place in mainstream marketing(Grà ¶nroos, 1994). Are the marketing mix and its 4Ps still in power? Does the marketing mix contribute to the success of an organization and how does it perform in the long-term development of the organization? The purpose of this essay is to analyze how the marketing mix contributes to the organization by taking innocent as an example, and to identify the limitations of the marketing mix as a marketing management tool in the long-term development of a company. The debate over the marketing mix as a marketing management tool has been primarily argued theoretically rather than on an empirical level (Constantnides, 2006). While the marketing mix still has its stage, for long-term success, relationship management is the key to stable development in the dynamic business environment(Wahab and Ali, 2010). When involved with modern business trends, customer-oriented economics needs a relationship-oriented approach to marketing(Grà ¶nroos, 1994). The marketing mix and the success of innocent Innocent was set up by three young Cambridge students in 1998 as the UKs only range of natural smoothies(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.3). In just four years, the turnover rose from  £0 to  £10.6 million(Anonymous, 2004, p.6). Sales boosted to  £80 million in 2006 and roared over  £100 million in 2007(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.3). The rapid increase in profit made innocent a huge success within the first five years (1999-2003). In the next five years (2004-2008), the expansion was a huge success in the middle of Europe(Innocentdrinks, 2012). How does the marketing mix contribute to the development of the organization in the following four aspects: product, price, place and promotion? Products Keeping introducing new products successfully or services into the market is important to the long-term growth of a company (Tzokas et al., 2004). The first pallet of smoothies (250ml), labeled innocent, was introduced to the public in 1999, when the market for pre-packaged smoothies was still new(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.5). In the first stage, little effort was made in introducing new products, but the company has constantly launched new flavors and formats to enhance brand awareness(Anonymous, 2004). In the year 2003, the company launched four new recipes for the existing ranges, a range of two super smoothies and three more flavors of a brand new range called Juicy Waters(Anonymous, 2004, p.7). New categories of products were introduced to the market in the second stage, especially the veg pots in 2008 and fruit tubs in 2009(Innocentdrinks, 2012). From 1999 to 2003, innocent focused on extending its existing smoothie product range rather than develop completely new categories s uch as cream or yogurt. Innocents sales benefited from new product development(Baxter, 2010). To some extent, profits can be increased by filling the existed product line(Kotler et al., 2005). Price The 250ml bottle of smoothies was priced  £1.89 when first introduced to the market(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.4). Their main competitor PJs, UKs biggest smoothies company then, was doing well in the high priced product section and growing very rapidly (Brown and Grayson, 2008). Innocent focusd on being an ethical company, producing green products(Salisbury, 2011), which contributes to its financial performance because potential consumers are willing to pay more for an ethical product, especially manufactured by a company with strong sense of sustainability and social conscience(Anonymous, 2004). On one hand, a company can charge its customers for the value-added factor in the prices (Lancioni, 2005). On the other hand, consumers may consider high price as a guarantee of quality (Huang and Sarigà ¶llà ¼, 2012). Sharma and Lyer(2012) demonstrated that there exists of a segment of consumers who would pay a premium for an ethical product. Place Distribution network plays an important role between the marketing and supply chain interface(Chan et al., 2012). The industry pays more attention to coordination between retailers and suppliers, and a demand chain is preferred to a supply chain(Burt and Sparks, 2003). Research into distribution costs led to the decision that the sales effort should focus on London-based independents channels for the introduction stage, with a movement to multiples later(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.4). The comparatively higher price of innocent tallied with the high living expense in London, and the place in marketing interacted with the brand image(Dhamija et al., 2011). The distribution infrustration, including the selling network and transportation system, has a close connection with the economic performance(Wilkie and Moore, 1999). Innocents London center set a good starting point for further economic development, as well as for its global expansion. Besides, due to the short shelf life feature, i nnocent innovated new ways of distribution to overcome this challenge: let the retailers dominant the order amount(Anonymous, 2004). Changing power relationships in the channels, from the organizations to the retailers, is a growing trend in the distribution perspective(Burt and Davies, 2010). By transferring the power to retailers, innocent reduced the wastage of products, which solved the thorny problem in fruit drinks and smoothies. Promotion Promotional activity is an essential tool for tempting British consumers to purchase fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies(Price, 2012). Like many small businesses in their early stage, many of Innocents most successful promotional activities started as one-off, opportunistic events (Brown and Grayson, 2008). These included putting woolen hats on the bottle in winter, the famous campaign called The Big Knit. 2012 takes the tenth year turn for Innocent to run this promotion(Innocentdrinks, 2012). Unlike many brands, relying on traditional advertisements, such as TV commercials, posters, POP, innocent mainly focused on low-cost activities and event promotion to increase the brand awareness, the Fruitstock, its famous annual summer jazz festival held in London, replaced in 2007 with the Innocent Village Fete, is an example(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.7). These promotion activities link to innocents brand equity: sustainable. The brand equity helped to define the brand value in the beginning stage, and then shaped the sustainability strategy the company adopted (Brown and Grayson, 2008). Besides, the consistency and coherence in brand image, product descriptions and promotion availability played a vital role in the whole process(Edelman, 2010). The limitations of the marketing mix in the long-term development of an organization From a marketing management point of view, the 4Ps may have been helpful at one time, at least for the packaged goods(Grà ¶nroos, 1994). However, the marketing mix and its 4Ps cannot satisfy a market-oriented or customer-oriented definition of marketing(Grà ¶nroos, 1989). Kotler (1992, cited in Lehtinen, 2011) stated that companies must move from a short-term transaction-oriented goal to a long-term relationship-building goal. For innocent, the marketing mix did have its advantage in the introductory marketing, but people-power and the relationship marketing approach also play an active role in its marketing strategy, especially for the development in the secondary stage and long-term success.(Gordon, 2012). People-power It is widely accepted that people is an essential element of the mix ingredients(Baker, 2008). People as the fifth p formalizes the idea that the power of customer-oriented employees does make a difference in the market (Judd, 1987). Staff can help the organization differentiate itself in significant ways in order to gain a competitive advantage and deliver value to customers(Judd, 2003). Innocent created the innocent view of marketing along with the learning and personal development for its employees, compensation packages and incentives were set up to encourage employees to become personally involved in sustainability(Brown and Grayson, 2008). The reflection of these behaviors became a way of advertisement and promotion, and the influence was closely linked to its brand equity. As Judd(2003, pp.8-9) stated, the ability of an organization to meet its external customers needs is a function of how clearly all the people are focused as they perform their respective jobs. Grà ¶nroos(1994) proposed that marketing is to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other stakeholders at a profit, in order to achieve the common goal of the parties involved. Almost all the stakeholders are involved in people-power. Apart from the internal staff, media, retailers and distributors are all external people-power. Innocent was once ranked as the UKs best smoothie by BBC(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.7). The companys blog and the monthly column in the Guardian served as advertisements. Innocents high rate of sale with a premium price also reflected its strong relationship with the distribution outlets. Since its creation, Innocent has invited its retailers to a birthday party every year to keep a close partnership(Anonymous, 2004). Such relationship building contributed to the boost in the quantity of distribution outlets by 265% in 2003, and secured major distribution partnerships with flagship retail brands such as Sainsburys, Starbucks and Boots(Anonymous, 2004, p.9). NGOs and charity organizations welcome the cooperation with Innocent; media advertise this brand even for free(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.8). Cross-stakeholder integration incorporates the interests of all the stakeholders in the organizations way of communication(Mulhern, 2009). Good people-power management thus guarantees their success not only for the first two stages, but also for long-term operation due to the consistency. The integration of relationship marketing and the marketing mix While there are voices for a shift from the marketing mix to the relationship marketing(Gummesson,1995; Gronroos,1994), the co-exist of different marketing approaches are still acceptable(Lehtinen, 2011). The significance of the marketing mix would not fade out but might be reinforced through an interactive approach(Berry, 1983, cited in Lehtinen, 2011). Researchers have found that three basic types of relationship marketing (database, interaction and network) can co-exist with transaction marketing(Gould, 1998). For innocent, starting building relationship with customers and other stakeholders at beginning contributes to their continuous increase in sales and market expansion. Marketers pay heed to relationship marketing mainly because of customer retention, which values in the competitive environment(Doaei et al., 2011). For the long run, relationship marketing focuses on customer involvement and brand loyalty by setting up a long-lasting bond with the customers(Copulsky and Wolf, 1990). The combination of the marketing mix and relationship marketing should be efficient and effective in the current business environment (Lehtinen, 2011). According to Copulsky and Wolf(1990), relationship marketing integrates elements of advertising, sales promotion, public relationships, and direct marketing to create more effective and efficient ways of reaching consumers. The most basic definition for relationship marketing is to attract and keep customers in the long-term(Leahy, 2011). Organizations intended to encourage continuous repeat purchase through this long-term relationship(Fournier, 1998). Relationship marketing increases repeat purchase and enhance customer loyalty(Wahab and Ali, 2010). Innocent performs well in its corporate business achievement, which is the key benefit from the implementation of relationship marketing. Conclusion It is demonstrated in innocents case that the marketing mix still has its advantage in the early developing period of an organization. For a long-term sustainable success, the combination of the marketing mix and the relationship marketing result in better performance. Innocents consistence and persistence in maintaining relatively good relationship with customers and other stakeholders implies the shift from one-way delivery to interaction. The application of marketing strategies differs from one organization to another. Parallel combination of the best options or systematic utilization of these approaches according to the organizations developing stage, the characteristic of the products or service and the brand equity will make contribution to the long-term success of the organization. Further researches can be done in more specific areas. For example: how to choose the most suitable marketing approach for each company and discovery of new key elements in marketing activities and related measurement. Besides, innocent insists in ethical operation. With the increasing awareness of sustainability, more attention can be paid to the interplay of the ethical issues and the marketing strategies. Word Count: 1996

Hope From a King Essays -- Personal Narrative

Hope From a King â€Å"Darkness cannot drive out the darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.† This quote from a long and memorable list of Dr. Martin Luther King quotes offers some much needed solace, and hope in today’s troubled world. The darkness that Dr. King refers to can symbolize many things today and the hate he mentions is as strong today as it was four decades ago; only we are dealing with a different kind of hate. In today’s world, darkness is apparent every corner you turn, with the daily atrocities being committed in southern Sudan and the ongoing conflict in Iraq serving as prime examples. Over 30 countries are actively engaged in civil war, and there is the constant threat of another and more deadly terrorist attack anywhere in the world. When Dr. King said light can drive out darkness, he was referring to solving crisis in a diplomatic manner. Dr. King preached, and practiced nonviolence during the civil rights movement because he believed in the power of people to make a difference more than he did in the power of arm...

The Representation of Evil in Stevensons Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay

The Representation of Evil in Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde This essay will show how evil is represented in Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' is about evil and the duality of people's personalities. To show this I will focus on Stevenson's use of characterization, setting, historical, social and cultural context, settings, symbols and language. Robert Stevenson lived in the Victorian era, this was a very repressive and strict society where it was expected that middle class men would visit prostitutes. This was because people were not supposed to be like animals and have animal instincts such as lust. This meant that middle class men would only sleep with their wives so they could have children and carry on the bloodline. This society would have influenced Stevenson as he was a middle class man himself and he would have experienced his own stifled emotions and hidden instincts, such as lust and rage. Stevenson may also have taken inspiration for the character Mr. Hyde from the crimes of Jack the Ripper who was committing his violent crimes on women at that time. Stevenson may have also been influenced by Mary Shelly's 'Frankenstein', which also deals with the themes of dual personalities and evil. In the text Stevenson uses a lot of powerful imagery when describing Mr. Hyde. He uses words such as detestable and deformed. These words create a picture in the readers mind and give them a general feeling of horror, evil and mistrust. Through out the play Stevenson refers to Mr. Hyde as an animal "God bless me the man seems hardly human". This makes the reader picture Mr. Hyde as s... ...one is particularley important and relevant due to the advances of science, which have seen scientists able to clone human embryos. As we can see in 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' and also in Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein" people who play with nature and do not take responsibility for their work and creations ultimately end up creating evil things which they do not understand or know how to control. It could be said that Stevenson wrote the story as a warning to Victorian society about repression and science or maybe it was just an interesting mystery story, which happens to have like many fictions and stories to have become almost true. To conclude I think that evil is effectively portrayed in 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. Stevenson does this by focusing mainly on the themes of duality and suppression of and in human nature.

From dependence to independence Essay

From dependence to independence – To what degree does Jo mature during the play and become less dependent on other people? Jo was a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve young schoolgirl, dependent on her unreliable mother Helen, never knowing her father. She was trapped between school, her mother and grotty little bedsits, never really having an outside life. This kept her young, so she was often childish and had a fear of the dark. Jo was desperate to leave her mother and spread her wings. Her life is a roller coaster and the play shows her life with its ups and downs. From meeting the black sailor, to getting ready to give birth, we see her mature and become independent. In Act 1, Scene 1, we find out about Jo’s schooling and talents. When she arrives, she wants to find somewhere to plant her bulbs. As she says, â€Å"It’s nice to see a few flowers.† Helen also finds some drawings that Jo had done and gives her a rare compliment by saying, â€Å"I didn’t realise I had such a talented daughter.† Jo replies by saying, â€Å"I’m not just talented, I’m geniused.† Jo is also intent of leaving school – and Helen – at Christmas. She seems to think that she is mature enough to do so. She hates the flat and when Helen says, â€Å"This is the place,† Jo replies, â€Å"And I don’t like it.† She hates life and doesn’t realise how good it can be because she is always on the move. She also seems lonely. This is most likely because she is never in one place long enough to make any friends. Her mother gives her very little support so she must seek affection from other sources. She is sarcastic, but witty and is always answering Helen back. Although she seems to hate Helen, Jo is very dependent on her and – to a certain extent – Helen is dependent on Jo. She is always making Jo do things for her (getting drinks, cooking, etc). Jo and Helen are mother and daughter but someone who didn’t know them, might think that they were strangers that abhorred each other. The pair are constantly bickering and Jo even says, â€Å"I’m sick of you. You’ve made my life a misery.† Jo blames Helen for her misfortune and, in truth; most of it is Helen’s fault. There is no typical mother / daughter relationship between them. They mainly communicate through bickering and rasied voices. Jo is desperate to leave her mother as soon as she has the chance. The teenager is always criticising Helen and vice versa, although Jo does a lot more, for example, â€Å"You’re knocking it back worse than ever.† Jo never calls Helen ‘mother’. This is probably because Helen never acted like mother and cared for her daughter like a mother should. Even Helen says, â€Å"I know, I’m a cruel, wicked woman,† not using the word ‘mother’. Towards the end of the play, Helen comes back to live with Jo. The readers then think that she has decided to be a good mother before her child deserts her. Instead we see that Peter has thrown her out and Helen has become the dependant party, not Jo. There is total role reversal here as Jo has matured but Helen is immature – perhaps naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve – thinking that she can just move back in with Jo and return everything back to how it was. Peter is a brash car salesman with an eye patch. Helen moved again to get away from him but he tracked her down. He wants her to marry him but Helen declines the first time but agrees when he persists. Jo seems to hate him and even asks if he’s already married. She seems spiteful and full of hatred towards Peter. They are both fighting for Helen’s love. Jo asks Peter, â€Å"Do you fancy me?† and he responds, â€Å"Not yet.† He also has photographs of all his ex-girlfriends. Jo teases him quite a bit, asking about his eye and why he’s marrying Helen. Jo also has a fear of the dark, â€Å"I’m not frightened of the darkness outside. It’s the darkness inside I don’t like.† This could be that she is only scared of her future and not what’s happening to everyone else. Jo lives in a poor, sad life and her needs are not important to Helen and the terrible mother neglects Jo a lot, for example, leaving her alone for a weekend while she runs off with Peter. Helen also makes no attempt to help Jo when she’s pregnant. Because of the lack of motherly love, Jo is determined to become independent. She plans to move out, get a job and marry a black sailor. Her mother disapproves but that makes Jo even more single-minded. She is only sixteen so we see that she is pretty independent for her age. She is growing less dependant on Helen, which is a good thing. Readers may think that she is doing this because she has realised that Helen will never love her as much as her many boyfriends. Jo had a brief love affair with a black sailor. Readers never find out his name but Jo calls him Jimmie. It is a quick relationship as he has to leave but the relationship is quite odd. They both say that they love each other but are very relaxed with each other and Jo doesn’t seem to care that he doesn’t come back. Jimmie offers quite a lot of comfort. He is older than Jo and they could move in together if he wasn’t always on the move. He also asks Jo to marry him. She jumps at the opportunity, probably because it means she can leave Helen. As I said, Jo appears to love the sailor but doesn’t expect him to return and doesn’t panic when there’s no sign of him. This could be because her life is so bad anyway, that she becomes pessimistic and doesn’t expect her life to improve in any way. She has had her taste of honey and it has gone forever. Her ideas about him do change. Jo says, â€Å"Last Christmas I had him,† and she realises that she loves and misses him but only when the baby is due. It seems to her that it was all a dream and she can’t remember the reality. The trouble is, the dream left her pregnant with an unintended baby so it must be real. While Helen’s away, Jo meets Geoff, a gay, art student and the pair move in together, without Helen knowing. In today’s society, there is nothing wrong with this but homosexuals were frowned upon in the 1950’s. Geoff is an ideal best friend for Jo. She is no longer dependent on Helen but is instead dependent on Geoff, probably more than she was on her mother. Jo even says, supposedly to the baby, â€Å"Let’s see what big sisters making us.† Geoff is a friendly carer and is totally different from the sailor. Whereas the sailor wants a sexual relationship, Geoff is content with caring for Jo and making cakes. Geoff even asks Jo if they should get married and also asks her what she’d do if he started something. Jo replies, â€Å"In my condition, I’d probably faint.† He adores babies but Jo is less keen on them. Geoff seems to want, more than anything, to be the father of Jo’s child. To begin with, Jo treats Geoff with little respect, joking around and saying things that could hurt him. As their relationship progresses and they get to know each other better, Jo respects Geoff more and more. Jo eventually realises that the baby will need a father figure and decides to let Geoff stay, but they wouldn’t get married. Jo has mixed feelings about becoming a mother. She is intent on keeping the baby at first because she thinks it is cruel to have them aborted. She does, though, have some doubts. For example, she doesn’t want to breast feed her baby. Geoff brings her a doll to practice holds on. She says the colour’s wrong – the father being black – and explodes. She screams, â€Å"I’ll bash its brains out! I’ll kill it! I don’t want to be a mother,† which makes us think that she may have an abortion after all. Previously though, the baby kicked her and she was overwhelmed. All of these details then leave us wondering if she is ready for motherhood. It is more likely that she is ready to become a mother because she has matured a lot since the beginning of the play when she was dependant on Helen. As the play progresses, we see Jo turn from a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve young girl to a mature woman. She is no longer dependant on anyone and, although she is probably destined to a life living in small flats and houses, the prospects are bright and, as she sings at the very end, a glimmer of hope shines through and we think she may have a happy life.

Popular, Fine, Folk: Making Do and Thinking Out of the Box Essay

Once upon a time, at the turn of the 20th century, Marcel Duchamp brought a urinal into the museum. As expected, it was banned from being shown in a major exhibition at that time. Today, the urinal is called a ‘found object,† a fine arts category that has become standard practice for contemporary artists, especially those who are working on media and techniques spawned by Duchamp’s rebellion: conceptual art, installations, and the readymade. One of the most famous latter day versions is that of Andy Warhol’s Campbell soup and Brillo boxes – those mass consumer items that found their way into the domain of the fine arts, and in their turn spawned another academic art historical category: Pop Art. Once upon a time, at the turn of the 19th century, the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, who has not sold a single painting during his lifetime (with the possible exception of one work bought by his brother Theo), died a pauper. In the 1980s, his Sunflower fetched millions of dollars at an auction. Today, he is not only a bestseller; he is also considered one of the best artists of all times. Once upon a time, Madonna was just any other upstart, who with her limited vocal range was singing seemingly superficial songs like â€Å"Like a Virgin† and â€Å"Material Girl. † Today, she and her ‘bad girl’ image, as well as her numerous personas, is the subject of numerous academic papers on popular culture. This and examples from Charlie Parker, as well – Shakespeare, the Shaker furniture, the quilt, Amazing Grace, photography – tell us not only that values change through time, some for the better, others for the worse, depending on one’s point of view. The more important point is that, while terms like popular, fine and folk arts are valuable as terms of convenience, they are unreliable – perhaps even superfluous or unnecessary – as terms of judgment or standards, as in say, low and high art, good and bad art, truthful and false art, among many other boundaries. On one hand, these boundaries are important because they guard against extreme relativism, an intellectual indolence that results in people thinking that anything can be art, and that art is anything and everything that you can get away with. On the other hand, boundaries prevent us from looking at art forms more productively, or think out of the box. As Parker’s essay suggests, it is more productive to suspend our received judgments or templates – if only for a while – and analyze each art form on their own terms: as part of certain domains (popular, fine, folk and their combinations) with their own specific dynamics, gatekeepers, institutions, forms and contexts of production, reception, creativity and artistry and their own specific systems of producing and making meanings. These elements – domain (popular, fine, folk), field (gatekeepers and institutions), artistry (form, content, context) – clash and intersect with each other in an uneven world, characterized by unequal power relations. In this context, extreme relativism – that anything and everything can be art – is problematic. While it is true that anything – say, the urinal – can be art, its transformation required a movement from one domain to another: from the everyday to the museum, where it was lit and put on a pedestal, was signed and given a title (The Fountain) and in the process, became a candidate for appreciation, contemplation, and later, legitimation by the gatekeepers – the people (art historians, critics) and institutions (media, museums, schools) who had the power to rethink its meaning, and bestow on the urinal the term â€Å"art,† under the rubric â€Å"found object,† â€Å"readymade,† â€Å"conceptual art. Such legitimation was later confirmed by artistic, critical and curatorial practice: today, the Fountain, which started out as a rebellion against art and its definitions, is now ironically an academic, art historical and critical orthodoxy. Boundaries between domains are therefore simultaneously porous and self-contained. Everyday objects enter the fine arts, and vice versa. What used to be â€Å"folk† and popular, as in Shakespeare and Bob Dylan are now classics. When the urinal became The Fountain, it ceased to become a mundane object and entered the domain of the museum and the academe, subject to their terms and conditions. When elements of popular culture – the Brillo box, Campbell soup – crossed the boundaries, it became an art-historical category: Pop Art. And when Madonna crossed over from the Billboard charts to academe, her feminist radical potential was recognized, but at the same time, again quite ironically, tamed because her pop rebellion is now academic. Parker mapped the domains according to class – fine arts is a product of the elite, folk, of common folk and popular, of the masses. In real life of course, soap operas (popular) are viewed by different classes and sub-classes; jazz and hip hop, which started out in the ghettos were co-opted by American Top 40s; the Mona Lisa, the epitome of the Classic Masterpiece, found and continue to find its way into t-shirts and tabletops. Thus, instead of bemoaning that standards of excellence are being eroded, it may be more productive to chart these movements of objects and images, not only in terms of content, expression or truths that they contain, as question No. 3 leads us to suspect, but also in terms of how these truths are expressed (form), and the circumstances within which these truths are produced (context). Put another way, instead of persuading the â€Å"masses† that Hamlet is as entertaining as My Fair Lady, it would probably be better to find out why and how My Fair Lady ticks today and why and how Hamlet, which caught the imagination of royalties and subjects alike, clicked during the Elizabethan period and no longer does so today. I suspect this is not because standards of excellence have waned; it is just that each epoch, age, society and culture has its own way of defining, producing, valuing, consuming and receiving art. To be an intellectual therefore does not mean, being the kind of intellectual espoused by Arendt, one who imposes a top-down approach – imposing Hamlet on the masses, for instance. Instead, we need the kind of intellectual who will sit in front of the TV set, watch almost everything – from the seemingly most idiotic sitcoms to the most enlightening art film – and analyze and read the pictures, images and mediums, according to an oppositional and critical frame that works from and within, not from without and from the top. In other words, this is the kind of intellectual that challenges what is and sets out to suggest what is possible, not by imposing so-called alternatives (Hamlet instead of My Fair Lady), but by a process called bricolage – a process of thinking out of the box by making do with, pilfering, borrowing, and reconfiguring what is available, after a sensitive, critical and thorough analysis based on the parameters of form, content, context and domain, field and artist.

Fiscal and Monetary Policy- the Response of Global Economic Crisis Especially in Eu Essay

Fiscal and Monetary policy- The response of global economic crisis especially in EU Introduction Monetary and fiscal authorities across the globe have responded quickly and decisively to these extraordinary developments. In particular, against the background of rapidly receding inflationary pressures and risks, the Euro system has taken monetary policy and liquidity management measures that were unprecedented in nature, scope and timing. Since October last year they reduced the interest rate on the main refinancing operations. They also provided unlimited liquidity support to the banking system in the euro area to maintain the flow of credit. Governments in the euro area have reacted swiftly to stabilize the financial system and to counteract the adverse impact of the financial crisis on the real economy. Both monetary and fiscal authorities will need to remain credible and effective, and to fulfill their respective responsibilities. In so doing, they will lay solid foundations for future economic recovery and long-term economic growth and job creation. The crisis has shown how important it is to have an independent central bank firmly committed to the objective of price stability. At the same time, governments must make a strong and credible commitment to a path of fiscal consolidation and thus comply with the Stability and Growth Pact. But they must also resist the temptation to further increase the size of the stimulus measures, as this could erode trust in the sustainability of public finances and undermine the effectiveness of the measures already adopted. Global economic situation The financial markets, which was triggered by a systematic under-pricing of risk, particularly in the US sub-prime mortgage market, has now developed into a fully-fledged financial and economic crisis at global level. While the world economy continues to face a severe and synchronized downturn, recent international business confidence indicators suggest that the pace of the decline in economic activity is slowing down somewhat. Most forecasters expect that the global economy is likely to recover in 2010. The economic prospects remain fraught with uncertainty. Compared with a few months ago, overall risks to global economic growth have become more balanced. A stronger positive confidence effect than expected triggered by the monetary and fiscal policy measures could lead to a more sustained recovery in global demand and in global trade, and a quicker normalization of financial market and credit conditions. If global policy actions fail to strike an appropriate balance between economic stimulus and longer-term sustainability, financial market conditions could turn unfavorable again. Global inflation rates have continued to diminish rapidly. This is mainly due to lower commodity prices, weaker labour market conditions and greater global economic slack. Risks to global inflation seem to be broadly balanced in the short to medium term. Inflation risks depend on how efficiently the authorities withdraw the policy stimulus. Euro activity In global developments, economic activity in the euro area has also contracted sharply since the second half of 2008. The euro area economy has shrunk by about 4% over the past two quarters, the worst decline since the start of Economic and Monetary Union. For the current quarter, there is evidence that the economy has shrunk further, though at a slower pace. The economy is no longer in free fall; we are seeing the first signs of stabilization. Indicators of consumer confidence and business sentiment have continued to improve somewhat. We are also seeing some encouraging signs of normalization in financial markets. The euro area economy is likely to be very weak for the remainder of past year. The real GDP growth are broadly in line with the most recent forecasts from the IMF and the European Commission. Both institutions expect the euro area economy to contract by 4% or more in 2009, followed by a gradual recovery in 2010. The projected gradual recovery reflects the significant macroeconomic stimulus under way and the measures taken to make the financial system function normally both inside and outside the euro area. Euro price development Inflation in the euro area has declined rapidly since it reached its highest level, 4%, last summer. In May, The decline over this period is primarily  due to the marked fall in global commodity prices, and particularly oil prices. Inflation rates are likely to enter negative territory during the summer, but we expect them to turn positive by the end of 2009. This can largely be explained by base effects from energy prices. These effects are of no concern to the ECB, which aims to maintain price stability in the medium term. In other words, its monetary policy strategy aims to ensure that short-term volatility in inflation rates does not lead to volatility in long-term inflation expectations. It is reinforced by the anticipation that prices will decline further in the future. As a consequence, inflation expectations become disanchored and negative, and firms and households may decide to postpone investments and major purchases. Medium-term inflation expectations remain well anchored at levels consistent with price stability, low or negative inflation rates for a short period of time may help to sustain real income and may therefore stimulate spending. But even if inflation rates to turn positive again by the end of this year, the weak economic outlook for the euro area is expected to keep domestic price pressures contained for some time. Monetary and financing conditions Financing conditions in the euro area, external financing costs have been declining since October last year, and particularly sharply since the start of this year. Following policy interest rate cuts, bank lending rates have fallen significantly. This indicates that the pass-through mechanism from policy rates to the real economy has continued to function in recent months, even though there is evidence that banks’ margins have widened. With credit spreads across all rating classes decreasing from their record highs and with stock prices rising, the overall cost of financing for euro area non-financial corporation’s is diminishing. In general, the recent positive signs from financial markets point to a gradual improvement in confidence among investors. Monetary policy The ECB has acted in a timely, decisive and appropriate manner since the start of the financial market. When the escalating financial crisis led to a rapid decline of inflationary pressures. The interest rate on the main refinancing operations now stands at 1.0%, its lowest level since the launch  of the euro. This level is appropriate taking into account all information and analyses. Money market rates have fallen even further to record lows, and the loan interest rates charged by banks have declined. Substantive monetary policy easing is already being felt in the real economy. In addition to lowering the policy interest rate quickly and sharply, we have resorted to highly non-standard liquidity operations in order to provide the financial system with the liquidity that was so urgently needed. Last October, They adopted a ‘fixed-rate full allotment’ procedure in all their open market operations. This gives banks as much central bank liquidity as they want at our key policy interest rate, against an expanded list of eligible collateral. Coupled with the fact that essentially all financially sound euro area credit institutions can participate in the Euro system’s refinancing operations, these measures have significantly eased the banks’ balance sheet constraints, thereby avoiding a sudden stop in the supply of credit and the emergence of a systemic crisis. Policy measures Both monetary and fiscal policy-makers have reacted in a forceful and timely manner, aiming to restore confidence. And indeed, as regards the Euro system’s monetary policy and liquidity management measures. Confidence has returned to financial markets, and business surveys are picking up. Global and domestic demand to increasingly benefit from the significant economic stimulus and the measures taken so far to bring the financial system back to normal functioning. Fiscal policy measures Fiscal authorities in the euro area have demonstrated their willingness and capacity to act rapidly and in a coordinated manner in exceptional circumstances. It is important to distinguish between measures intended to support the banking sector and fiscal policy measures aimed at stimulating demand. Support for the banking sector Government support for the banking sector was necessary; it has safeguarded the stability of the financial system. The price of this success, however, is that governments have incurred substantial fiscal costs and credit risks that are ultimately borne by taxpayers. Following the adoption of a  concerted European action plan on 12 October 2008, euro area governments announced national measures to support the banking sector. These measures consist of government guarantees for interbank lending, recapitalization of financial institutions in difficulty, increase the coverage of retail deposit insurance and asset relief schemes. Overall, euro area governments committed about 23% of euro area GDP to financial sector support measures. For the euro area, the various support measures adopted so far are expected to have only a small direct impact on government deficits, whereas the impact on debt is expected to be about 3% of GDP. Finally, contingent liabilities related to the financial rescue measures are expected to be about 8% of GDP, excluding government guarantees on retail deposits. These figures, however, do not reflect the very different developments taking place across euro area countries. Rising long-term government bond yields may only have a gradual impact on government borrowing costs, as changes in interest rates only affect the cost of newly issued debt and debt at variable interest rates. However, they may signal both a reduced willingness on the part of investors to provide long-term funding as well as difficulty in accessing capital market funds. So far, most euro area countries have enjoyed relatively low interest rates on new government debt issuance, despite facing considerably more difficult market conditions. Looking ahead, as the economy recovers and competition for financing increases, governments may face higher bond yields again. Use of fiscal policy In addition to providing financial support to the banking sector, euro area governments reacted forcefully to counter the negative impact of the financial turmoil on the real economy. Besides the operation of automatic stabilizers, which provide a significant cushion to the euro area economy by way of lower tax revenues and higher spending on unemployment benefits, the discretionary use of fiscal policy helped to mitigate the effects of the global economic downturn. However, fiscal stimulus measures need to remain temporary and be combined with measures that ensure fiscal sustainability over the medium run. This will preserve trust in the sustainability of public finances and support both the recovery and long-term economic growth. While the recent coordinated fiscal loosening has been broadly accepted as a legitimate and necessary step in the short run, given the exceptional economic circumstances, it also entails a significant fiscal burden. The latest available economic point to dramatic developments in euro area public finances. In addition to a rapidly deteriorating general government deficit, which is expected to be above 6% of euro area GDP in 2010, the euro area debt ratio will increase by about 15 percentage points to above 80% of GDP by 2010. These figures are very high, though they compare favorably with other major economic regions that have also provided a substantial fiscal impulse to their economy. The budget deficit in both the United Kingdom and the United States is projected to be about 14% of GDP in 2010. Against this backdrop, euro area countries must reject calls for additional fiscal loosening. In the current environment, any further fiscal stimulus is likely to be counterproductive as it could hamper the economic recovery in two ways. First of all, even higher fiscal deficits could fuel market concerns about a country’s ability to meet its future debt obligations, thus putting upward pressure on interest rates. Second, increasing budget deficits would also raise concerns about a higher tax burden in the future, thus inducing consumers to save rather than spend any additional income. The financial sector support measures, combined with the Euro system’s enhanced credit support measures, were successful in safeguarding the stability of the financial system. Together, these initiatives have the potential to tackle the crisis of confidence at its root also by taking into account the fundamental role of the banking sector in the functioning of the economy. The restructuring of the banking sector is the top policy priority, and progress in this domain is the key to economic recovery. Given the challenges which lie ahead, banks should take appropriate measures to strengthen their capital base and, where necessary, take full advantage of government support and in particular recapitalization measures. Fiscal policy can contribute to macroeconomic stability also through discretionary actions. When assessing the merits of the different measures  taken, we should differentiate between measures such as (1) expenditure increases and (2) tax cuts, and (3) measures like guarantees and loan subsidies to specific sectors of the economy. Moreover, this type of support would be difficult to reverse and might act as a brake on long-term growth. Turning to the effectiveness of fiscal measures to stimulate demand (spending increases and tax cuts), it crucially depends on the behavior of economic agents, and that in turn also affects the size of the fiscal multipliers (the GDP effect of fiscal stimulus measures). The expectation that higher government spending today may lead to higher taxation in the future would induce both households and firms to save rather spend any additional income, thus reducing the size of the fiscal multiplier. Therefore, the public perception of overall fiscal sustainability plays an important role in the impact of the respective national fiscal stimuli. The effectiveness of fiscal stimulus measures also depends on the extent to which private investors respond positively to tax policy, with their investments likely to be more responsive in the case of ‘temporary’ tax breaks, as they provide an incentive to bring forward future investment plans. At the same time, there is a risk that fisc al stimulus measures may crowd out private investment by putting upward pressure on interest rates. Fiscal stimulus measures should be ‘timely, temporary and targeted’. ‘Timely’ means that the measures take effect when they are needed; any delays in assessing the cyclical situation, in taking decisions and implementing the measures may fail to prevent a drop in output. ‘Temporary’ implies that the fiscal impulse should only last as long as the recession in question. ‘Targeted’ relates to the expected size of the multiplier effect. In addition to these ‘TTT’ criteria, the measures should be consistent with other policy objectives such as fiscal sustainability, long-term economic growth and the functioning of the market mechanism. Implications of policy measures The current crisis has increased the role of the government in the economy. Some bank rescue operations have involved outright nationalizations, so governments now have significant exposure to the financial sector. Similarly, the large fiscal stimuli packages adopted by many countries have led to a large increase in the size of the public sector in the economy. At the same time, the turmoil is being interpreted by some as a crisis of the market economy. It has encouraged critics of the market economy to speak out and demand a much larger role in the economy for governments.The financial system clearly needs a fundamental overhaul. Financial institutions have to take a different approach and adopt appropriate incentives. We need to strengthen the regulation of the financial system, and in particular, we must improve the international cooperation between national supervisors of the financial sector. But the policy-makers must not get carried away by recent events; they should act in a measured way, and not throw the baby out with the bathwater. While governments have had no alternative but to support systemically relevant financial institutions, they should, as a rule, keep their assistance to specific sectors or firms to a minimum. And when they do intervene, they should prepare clear and credible exit strategies. No matter how serious the current crisis is, the market economy remains the best way to organize our economic affairs. An exit strategy is a comprehensive programmed to withdraw and neutralize measures taken during the financial crisis, without causing any harm to the economy. If they have no well-defined exit strategy, governments may get bogged down and the positive impact of the measures taken may be undermined. A well thought-out exit strategy is needed to reassure economic agents that a timely restoration of the level playing field in the different sectors of the economy is the ultimate objective. As such, an exit strategy needs to contain clear criteria about the timing of the withdrawal of the financial support and the reversal of the fiscal stimuli. Euro area governments did not lay out clear exit strategies when they announced the stimuli. Some of their measures do not expire automatically or are not explicitly designed to be temporary. The possible difficulties of reversing the fiscal stimulus packages may hinder the return to sound fiscal positions in the short run. Under these circumstances, the peer pressure mechanism, on which the EU fiscal framework is based, may be weakened thus  making more difficult a return to sound fiscal policies. As a matter of fact, countries with high fiscal deficits may be tempted not to put political pressure on their peers. Protracted excessive deficits may undermine the credibility of the EU fiscal framework, thus casting doubts on fiscal sustainability and jeopardizing the Stability and Growth Pact. The current crisis has taught us an important lesson about the importance of preserving the public’s trust in the soundness of public finances. At the current juncture, euro area governments must make credible commitments to return to sound fiscal policies. Doing so in full compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact is the most credible exit strategy. This requires, first, a full reversal of the fiscal stimulus measures taken so far. This is necessary to ensure an efficient allocation of resources by minimizing distortions in the incentives of economic agents and by avoiding a permanent increase in the size of the public sector. Second, governments must live up to their commitment to maintain fiscal discipline. This means that credible fiscal consolidation plans have to be implemented as early as possible, including a consolidation effort of at least 1% of GDP per annum where necessary. Understanding the monetary policy from the crisis The current crisis demonstrates, once again, how important it is for central banks to remain independent of political influence. Even if we are experiencing the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, long-term inflation expectations in the euro area remain solidly anchored in line with the ECB’s definition of price stability. Although central banks may be charged with additional tasks in the aftermath of the crisis, their primary objective must remain the maintenance of price stability. We cannot allow any conflicts of interest to arise. The high-level expert group headed by Jacques de Larosià ¨re, former Governor of the Bank of France and Managing Director of the IMF, has identified a number of weaknesses in the supervisory framework both inside and outside Europe that contributed to the build-up of the current crisis. The important role played by monetary analysis – and in particular the role of asset prices – when assessing the risks to price stability over the  medium term. Price stability is our primary objective, but this does not imply that we only focus on short to medium-term movements in inflation. Any build-up of financial imbalances which could pose risks to price stability in the longer term could be overlooked under a restrictive short-term approach. The ECB’s assessment of risks to price stability is well equipped to detect these types of risk as it is based on a comprehensive economic and monetary analysis – its well-known two-pillar strategy. The first pillar, the economic analysis, is common to most central banks. This analysis basically consists of identifying risks to price stability in the short to medium term by analyzing the interplay between aggregate supply and aggregate demand in the economy. The second pillar, the monetary analysis, plays a more prominent role at the ECB than at other central banks. The ECB pays special attention to monetary developments in recognition of the fact that monetary growth and inflation are closely related in the medium to long term. Analyzing developments in credit, and in particular loans to the private sector, is helpful in extracting the relevant signals from the monetary developments. This analysis also implies a regular monitoring of asset price developments and their implications. This analysis will become even more prominent in the future. Conclusion The fiscal and monetary authorities have responded forcefully and their efforts are slowly starting to bear fruit. The pace of the economic contraction appears to be slowing down, and confidence indicators have improved somewhat. The crisis has highlighted the importance of sound public finances. Governments need to consolidate during good economic times in order to have room for man oeuvre during not-so-good times. With respect to monetary policy, the crisis has demonstrated the importance of having an independent central bank credibly committed to price stability. The fiscal and monetary authorities have an important role in sustaining the economic recovery. Governments must devise and enact credible strategies to exit from the banking sector and to ensure that the discretionary policy measures adopted during the crisis will be reversed. Their full compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact is the best tool to solidly anchor market expectations. Most importantly, we will continue to deliver on what we are expected to deliver, which is to maintain price stability, and to provide an anchor of confidence in difficult times. The current crisis has shown how important it is for countries to consolidate during good economic times and to build a ‘fiscal reservoir’ from which they can draw in periods of ‘drought’. Many euro area countries failed to do so. They suddenly found themselves in this turbulent environment burdened by high fiscal deficits and debt ratios. As regards monetary policy, it is equally important to draw up a strategy for withdrawing in due course the extraordinary measures that have been implemented or announced. The ECB obviously cannot maintain the current degree of support indefinitely. We are providing substantial short-term support to the financial system and the real economy, and thereby ultimately maintaining price stability. In fact, we are prepared to take appropriate actions once the macroeconomic environment improves. We will ensure that the measures taken can be quickly unwound and the liquidity provided absorbed. This includes, for instance, unwinding the increase in the average maturity of our refinancing operations. Being prepared to exit from our non-standard measures – as soon as the macroeconomic conditions justify such a move – helps to maintain price stability over the medium term and to ensure a firm anchoring of longer-term inflation expectations. References Alan Auerbach and Yuriy Gorodnichenko, 2012a, â€Å"Measuring the Output Responses to Fiscal Policy,†American Economic Journal: Economic Policy,  Alan Auerbach and Yuriy Gorodnichenko, 2012b, â€Å"Fiscal Multipliers in Recession and Expansion,† NBER Chapters, in Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis, edited by Alberto Alesina and Francesco Giavazzi (University of Chicago Press). Rà ¼diger Bachmann and Eric Sims, 2012, Confidence and the transmission of government spending shocks,† Journal of Monetary Economics Blanchard, O. and R. 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