Do Animals Need A Bill of Rights? Essay

Animals on a daily basis all over the world are being mistreated and abused by many people that do not care for them. There are very few people attempting to protect these animals, whether they are domestic animals, farm animals, or wildlife animals. More attention should be drawn to the treatment of animals because even if we do have laws for animals and for their well being, many people still do not follow these laws. The laws already established for animals should be enforced, because I do agree that animals need protection, as in free from any harm done towards them purposely, but to have a Bill of Rights specifically made for animals seems extreme. Reasons for believing that animals need protection from any harm done to them from humanity is that many animals are being used for scientific experiments that harm these animals in a cruel way. Yes, there are experiments that use animals and may not harm them in any way, which is fine if there’s no harm being done to them. For example in the article â€Å"A Change of Heart about Animals† by Jeremy Rifkin states, â€Å"In controlled experiments, scientists at Oxford University reported that two birds named Betty and Abel were given a choice between using two tools, one a straight wire, the other a hooked wire, to snag a piece of meat from inside a tube.† This experiment was fine to conduct because in no way were these crows harmed. The only thing the scientists were doing was observing the crow’s behavior. If there needs to be experiments done to animals for whatever reason, the experiments should be conducted in a way that the animals are not harmed. Another reason for believing that animals need protection is that animals are being harmed or mistreated by people who have a habit of using animals for entertainment. A form of entertainment for humanity from animals in a cruel way is hunting wildlife animals and killing them or fishing. Lions, tigers, bears, dears, and cheetahs are examples of wildlife animals that are hunted and killed for either their meat or fur. Fishing is also a form of entertainment for sportsmen that catch fish to eat and don’t realize the pain caused to the fish when the sportsmen kill them.  For example in the article, â€Å"Hooked on a Myth† by Victoria Braithwaite states, â€Å"Every year, sportsmen around the world drag millions of fish to shore on barbed hook s. It’s something people have always done, and with little enough conscience.† This shows how people do not think of the harm they are doing to fish. Just because the fish are not crying or yelling with pain does not mean they are not feeling it. We as humans need to think of the animals as living as well. We humans may not understand them, but animals do have feelings and we need to pay more attention to their treatment. Animals are also used for research such as human’s closest relatives, which are apes, gorillas, and chimpanzees. There are people who believe since these specific animals are as close in DNA as us that they should be used for research to find out how our â€Å"species† function. In the article, â€Å"Of Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and â€Å"Dignity† to Nonhuman Organisms Halt Research?† by Ed Yong, Franz de Waal of Emory University, says â€Å"I do think we have special obligations to the great apes as our closest relatives, but if we give rights to apes, what would be the compelling reason not to give rights to monkeys, dogs, rats, and so on?† Apes should not be the only animals receiving rights only because they are our closest relatives. Other animals are being used for research and not cared for, why should they suffer? I believe it is inhumane of us to be so blind of all the harm being done to all animals just for our convenience. In no way do animal’s benefit from being killed and used as research, we on the other hand utilize them as if they were objects. The issue worldwide is that these animals are being mistreated and abused by humans and therefore should be protected from us, but not make a big decision such as making a Bill of Rights for animals. There are laws already established to protect these animals, and should just be enforced. If these laws are broken by us humans then we should have a punishment, but that’s all it should be a law to protect these animals and do no harm to them. We should not go to an extreme and create a Bill of Rights for animals.

Of Mice and Men Controlled Assessment Draft

Of Mice and Men is an American novel written by John Steinbeck about two itinerant workers who move from place to place. One itinerant worker named George is a small, smart, caring worker. While on the contrary the other itinerant worker name Lennie is a huge, clumsy, naive character. The story is set in a remote place a few miles south of Soledad. The south is usually the best place to live due to the climate of the area. Soledad is the Spanish word for loneliness and solitary.The two itinerant workers pursue their dream of getting their own farm. During their journey George and Lennie encounter many difficulties along the way. It was not uncommon for itinerant workers to suffer from loneliness, isolation and alienation. These three terms are the terms that will be explained in my essay. Dreams are another main factor in this book. George and Lennie have a dream that is the cornerstone of this book. Their dream is that they will â€Å"live of the fatta the lan’†. This quote is a reference to the American Dream.In this case, the fat is a good thing and fat has many properties and is usually the tastiest part of food, they also said that they will live of the fat. This means that the fat is in abundance. The American dream which says you get what you deserve if you work very hard. The American Dream is almost a capitalist dream. Loneliness is defined to be someone who is sad and/or be companionless. Characters such as George, Lennie, Candy and Curley’s wife all suffer from loneliness. George is lonely mainly because he is an itinerant worker which means he doesn’t stay anywhere for long.George even confesses his loneliness by saying â€Å"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. † This is when George talks to Lennie beside the river. Lennie is another character that is caught in the trap of loneliness because of his disability and the fact that he always getting into trouble. Candy is lonely as h e only has his dog which eventually dies. Finally, Curley’s wife is lonely as her wife Curley does not give her the attention she wants. Isolation means to separate or to force apart. â€Å"†¦ he limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it†. Already, in the first paragraph we can see the relationship between man and nature is not the best. Man seems to be destroying nature’s work. The characters that suffer from isolation are the likes of Crooks and Curley’s wife. Alienation is term that is described to a person who is being withdrawn from the world or withdraws them self from the outside world. People often feel alienated as they are being shown disaffection by others. The favourites of Crooks and Curley’s wife suffer from alienation.Crooks suffers from alienation as he is the only black person on the ranch, while Curley’s wife suffers from alienation as she is called names like â€Å"jailbait† (from George) as she is always l ooking for a man and is unfaithful to her husband – Curley. The very first bit of knowledge we know about George is explained in this quote â€Å"The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. The first person/people in something are always the more dominant person as explained in this quote. â€Å"†¦ restless eyes†¦ tells us that he is also a very alert man. Later in the book George also confesses his loneliness to the other ranchers. The other ranchers generally don’t like confessing their own loneliness to others. Quotes like . George is a very father like figure to Lennie, to comfort Lennie he usually says (in this case about Curley) â€Å"you keep away from Curley†. George promised Lennie’s Aunt Carla that he will look after Lennie like a father after she dies. â€Å"One side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong †¦ Gablian Mountains. This quote explains the q ualities of the two itinerant workers. The quote is saying that George is strong mentally and physically. â€Å"God, you’re a lot of trouble †¦ I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. † George often loses his temper with Lennie. He knows that he is mentally stronger than Lennie meaning that he can do whatever he wants by himself but Lennie always restrains him. Crooks is a character in the book that gets quite a lot of stick from the other ranch workers. The type of loneliness he suffers from alienation.The two main reasons Crooks is alienated is because he is black and he is also disabled. The other ranchers use derogative terms like â€Å"nigger† and â€Å"stable buck† as a reference to Crooks. In those times they thought that it was alright to call black people any name that they desire. The book describes Crooks’ appearance as â€Å"his body was bent to the left by his crooked spine†. Since the Abrahamic religions started, the side to your left was considered ‘dirty’ so, Steinbeck can use this for a reason for the other ranchers to hate Crooks as they will probably consider him ‘dirty’.As Crooks spends a lot of time by himself, he has the privilege of keeping more prized possessions than the other ranchers as explained in the quote â€Å"he had books, too; a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905†. You could say that Crooks was quite lucky as he had many possessions unlike all the ranchers as all they owned was a small apple box. Crooks is always the one being picked on; for example one Christmas when all the other ranchers where trying to pick a fight with Crooks. Candy is another character in the book that is disabled.He is also one of the loneliest characters in the book. All Candy has is an old dog. Candy’s dog is described Steinbeck uses quite a few techniques in the book. Some of the techniq ues include allegories and foreshadowing. The best example of an allegory in this book is when Lennie kills the innocent mouse, Candy’s dog is killed and then right at the end of the book Lennie is killed. This also foreshadowed what was going to happen to Lennie as he used to follow George around ‘like a dog’. When Candy had no use of his dog; he decided to dispose of him. This just like what George did to Lennie.

Presentation PowerPoint Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

PowerPoint Presentation Example As earlier stated in my introduction, this report aims at achieving two main goals. The most essential one is to improve students’ academic performance. Secondly, it is to guarantee student manage their time effectively and utilize it well. People say that time is money and am sure we all love money and use it carefully (supposed to be like a joke). I am also sure that we do not want to waste our parent’s money sitting around wasting time and doing nothing. (make it fun by like asking question or asking another student the same question. (MAYBE, Jimmy, do you think it is good to waste time in school?) I am going to narrow down to three main topics in my presentation of managing students time. The first will be on follow plans, good study habits and procrastination. I believe these topics touch on the relevant issues in time management especially when students are concerned. We are all supposed to have plans. I believe you have some plans after this. It maybe to go eat a burger or hang out with your friends ( supposed to be fun when you are saying this. You may make a joke by mentioning some crazy plans. Take care though not to stay on that for long). Now, in the school context, we students are supposed to make academic plans and follow them strictly. The plans show time allocation for each subject. They also make sure that time for one subject does not take up the other’s time. Follow plans are supposed to help your organization during study. They also make sure you cover all subjects without discrimination. By sticking to follow plans, the time you have in school will be well managed. There are various types of follow plans. The most common and recommended ones are study plans, revision plans and progress assessment plans. Study plans are for organization of study time and materials. Revision plans come in handy when preparing for exams and progress assessment plans monitor your academic achievement over time. Students ought to have all of these plans

Unit 5 Individual project 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit 5 Individual project 2 - Essay Example Quality can be defined in relation to both technical excellence and humane approach. â€Å"By technical quality care we mean that the patient receives only the procedure tests, or services for which the desired health outcomes exceed the health risks by a sufficiently wide margin; and that each of these procedures or services is performed in a technically excellent manner. The second component of quality care is that all patients wish to be treated in a humane and culturally appropriate manner and be invited to participate fully in deciding about their therapy.† (Robert H.Brook et al). In short quality in health care is fundamentally based on the two above-mentioned factors. â€Å"Getting quality health care can help you stay healthy and recover faster when you become sick. However, we know that often people do not get high quality care. A 2004 study of 12 large US communities found that just over half (54.9%) of people were receiving the care they needed.† (AHRQ Homepage: ). Everywhere, people looking for health care confront the problem that there is no uniform standard to measure quality. Thus it has become imperative to measure quality of care offered by healthcare service providers. Therefore, with a view to help patients choose the right treatment most suited to their personal needs, more and more public and private groups are developing and using quality measures based on the principles of right health plan, the right doctor, the right treatment, the right hospital, the best long term facility. Thus it can be seen that quality measures make available the necessary information which patients can assimilate to help them take a right decision about their treatment. In order to ascertain quality there are certain available parameters such as process measure, outcome measures and structural measures. In order to determine which one of these is the best, a deeper and wider study is called for. Each satisfies certain requirements

Critical Thinking about the Viet Nam Conflict Research Paper

Critical Thinking about the Viet Nam Conflict - Research Paper Example The American diplomats were so convinced of their supremacy of war power that they completely failed to look at the other side of the coin. As a result of poor planning and failed execution of the projected estimates, the American Culture received shocks and trauma that still haunt them even after so many years. Post the wars, thousands of families were affected, having lost husbands, sons, and daughters. People were left homeless and struggled to meets ends; the scars left on the society were so deep that not only the physical trauma was evident but the emotional stress was high enough for them to start doubting the bureaucrats’ intentions and integrity. The United States had a firm belief that communism anywhere would be a threat and they had a clear thought that they would do everything to curb and eradicate communism. United States were not involved in the Vietnam conflict directly until they felt it was absolutely necessary to continue their fight against communism. Befor e losing out on the World War II, France ruled Vietnam and Vietnam became independent but French were unwilling to let it go without a battle, which eventually led to the The Battle of Dien Bien Phu. France lost the battle, post which it was decided that France and Vietnam would sign a treaty in the Geneva Convention on 1954 to settle for peace. It was agreed that Vietnam would be divided into North and South states on th 17th parallel with communist Vietminh ruling the North and Bao Dai ruling the South Vietnam for two years. The agreement was that presidential elections would be held in 1956 to decide the future course of action but things did not went as planned. The National Liberation Front started communism in the South Vietnam and started anti Diem practices. United States was in full support of the new ruler of the South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem and decided to intervene to ensure that another communist country does not come up. John F. Kennedy made up his mind to completely ta ke sides and prove the supremacy of America by signing a treaty with South Vietnam to extend economical and military help (Lawrence, 2010). United States even helped the South Vietnam in creating Army Republic of Vietnam in the hope that the unit will fight the communists from North and keep the country free from communism. Despite many efforts from America, Sout continued to face defeats on many levels of the dispute. Despite several efforts of United States, it so happened that the South Vietnam went on to face several defeats from Guerrillas and communism was threatening to prevail in the country. Meanwhile, America’s attention was divided in several other major happenings taking place around the world, especially in the Indochina region. But, it was high time that U.S. played direct and more active role to curb out the communism from Vietnam or so they thought. The Truman Doctrine that was originally designed to be made applicable in Europe and Middle East was then being adopted in Vietnam conflict due to the belief that if Communists were not destroyed; communism would soon engulf the concerned Asian region (Westheider, 2007). John F. Kennedy, who took the office in 1961 was of the opinion that there were other major issues than Vietnam and he only increased the U.S. aid at the insistence of

Development program in your public or non-profit organization Essay

Development program in your public or non-profit organization - Essay Example The second step is linking the desired business outcomes with the behavior of the employee so that they know their work, their capability, or whether they are motivated to do it. The employer needs to identify the desired competencies by collecting relevant information on the training. Third, identifying the trainable competencies is necessary, as not every competence is trainable. Evaluation of the competencies for the employees is an important step for any training through such methods as competency evaluation and tests. Using performance surveys will help in the evaluation of the employees competencies. The other step is to determine the performance gaps to establish the number of employees who need training and identifying the Cause of the gap. The employees that fall below the set standard would require training to improve their skills. The next step is to prioritize training needs for the employees by determining the percentage of the workforce needing training (Pynes, 2013). Next step will be to determine how to train using the appropriate methods such as Mentoring and coaching, use of books, use of the Web, or a classroom setting. Other training methods are the use of conferences and university programs. Another step is conducting a cost-benefits analysis and measure the cost of training method against the effectiveness of the method. As the one in charge of the training, there is the need to strike a balance between the cost of training method and its ability to give the desired results. Finally, there is the planning for training evaluation was effective and whether the trai nees retained the content learned. The training should improve the employees performance and competencies for the profitability of the business. The main objective of the training is to impact the basic knowledge to the new entrants to the organization. The next objective is to assist the employees to work more effectively in their current position by giving them the best

Intermediate Microeconomic Theory analysis paper Research

Intermediate Microeconomic Theory analysis - Research Paper Example As noted in the recent market trends the competitive pressure arising from initiative entry in airlines routes have increased drastically. Consequently, Airline carriers are forced to improve on operational efficiency that results to lower fares and heightened competition. This volume intends to analyze the Airline market prior the entry of Frontline airlines and the implications after its entry. The intermediate microeconomics theory analyses business situations where a market or industry depends on a pricing system. This is in cases where the pricing system provides guidance in making decisions that dictate the rates of consumption, production, and distribution of services and goods. The theory further analyses the economic behavioral patterns and the decisions made by economic agents at their individual capacities. Additionally, the theory uncovers the consequent implications felt in market economies when trends alter relative market prices that play the role of economic signals policy makers use to make decisions (Williams, 2014). Prior the entry of Frontier Airlines, there were limited aircrafts, most of the operational airlines had their consumers only being very wealthy and prominent people. Therefore, the demand for airlines was not only low but also expensive. In this era, the airline companies had a complete monopoly over the business arena. Against this background, the market price for the services offered was very expensive. Additionally, the consumers of the services never got of high-quality services because there lacked any competitors to threaten the service providers with the loss of their customers. Therefore, at this period with no perfect competition, the industry was very exploitative to consumers. Furthermore, there were high average market prices on services in the absence of substituent service providers. As revealed by data examination from the transport department, there was an increase in the number of airline

COST AND MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING ESSAY Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

COST AND MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING - Essay Example However, this paper analyzes only two branches of accounting namely financial accounting and management accounting. This report aims at analyzing these two branches in details by looking at each branch separately in regard to accounting. The paper also looks at the differences between the two branches of accounting basing on various factors. Financial accounting It is a branch of accounting that deals with finding and giving information on the profitability of a business. It aims at compiling financial statements of an organization and preparing them so that they show the financial position of a business. This branch is concerned with preparing these statements at the end of every financial year by analyzing revenues, assets, liabilities and other aspects of accounting (Drury 2007). It is the branch that handles the process of accounting and recording in the organization. It determines whether the business has made losses of profits in a certain financial year by preparing relevant f inancial statements. Managers use financial statements to determine the economic solidness of the company. This branch determines the financial position of an organization at a particular time for the purpose of other people like creditors, managers and shareholders of the business. Financial accounting entails providing information to external parties like suppliers and creditors to enable them make decisions (Ahmed 2008). Financial accounting provides managers with information on the company’s financial position, and this helps him to determine the performance of the company finances. With this information, the manager will be in a position to make financial decisions about the company like how to improve on the performance and to devise relevant strategies to improve on the performance of the company. A review of the balance sheet of the company helps managers to determine the cash levels of the company hence making the right decisions. The profitability trends obtained fr om the financial accounts is a critical tool for managerial decisions as it helps the managers to engage in those transactions which tally with the profit potential of the company (Ahmed 2008). Professionals under this branch have to get credibility from various authorities to ensure that they are fit to prepare financial statements and provide information to the relevant parties. For instance, in the United States of America the body that provides such credibility is the American Institute of Certified Public accountants. This body ensures that professionals who carry out the objectives of financial accounting meet the requirements and that they prepare the statements according to the framework (Gupta 2008). Therefore, financial accounting helps managers to determine whether the financial accounts have been prepared in accordance to the set regulations and to make decisions concerning payment of taxes. Financial accounting reduces the common problem of principal agent in an organiz ation. It reduces agency problem by measuring the performance of agents and reporting to concerned parties so that this problem is reduced. It deals with summarizing data from the financial statements that it prepares. It then publishes these statements in annual reports for

Intelligence Community Organization Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intelligence Community Organization - Coursework Example errorism Prevention Act of 2004 that lead in the creation of the office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) influencing in the birth of the current structure of the Intelligence. The U.S. Intelligence Community consists of 17 agencies that encompass the Intelligence Community itself. The paper describes the structure of the U.S. Intelligence Community and further illustrates whether its meeting its primary purpose. The structure of the U.S Intelligence Community consists of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) at the top, headed by the director of national intelligence (DNI); who is the principal intelligence adviser to the president. In addition, he guides other senior personnel such as the National Security Council (NSC), the Homeland Security Council (HSC) as well as leading the other 16 agencies that includes Intelligence Community (IC). According to Aldrich & Rawnsley(2013), the main agenda of the IC involves directing and coordinating the National foreign intelligence activities of the U.S. government. The principal deputy director is the second in command after the DNI then followed by four deputy directors that are responsible for the leadership in their specialized areas: office of the Deputy Director for Policy, Plans and Representatives, Office of the Deputy Director for Collection, Deputy Director for Analysis and Deputy Director for Future Capabilities (Freedman, 2014). The ODNI serves as the central Intelligence Community but all the other bodies are interconnected with the ODNI and with each other at different levels. Logan (2010) illustrates that each agency has been entitled to work independently at its own capacities and focus on area of duty but together as a unit to protect the national security. Other agencies include the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); it is an independent agency known as the America’s spy Agency, involved in collection, analyzes and disseminates intelligences about foreign nations. The Federal

Essay Free

Essay Free Will Essay â€Å"Free Will† takes one of the central questions of any religious realm. Whether a human has a freedom in his choice? Whether a human can make a personal, independent decision such us what he should do in each situation? Or are all of his actions predetermined, and the possibility of making a free choice an illusion? Since the time of the Greek philosopher Socrates to modern times, philosophers, theologians, scientists have tried to prove the existence of â€Å"Free Will† or its absence, and as well have to answer to the question do people have real control over their actions? The question, about existence of â€Å"Free Will†, appeared in ancient Greek philosophy. Socrates and his followers believed that the dependence of the lower sensual impulse is an equivalent to slavery, but responsible subordination which was inspired by human mind, means a â€Å"Free Will†. Socrates argued that all humans are looking for the good behavior, but not all equally know what good behavior is. If a person really knows what the true goodness is, then this person wants to do it, but one, who doesnt know, usually takes imaginary goodness instead of real goodness. Then rushes to reach the imaginary goodness and makes mistakes. This then produces evil deeds. No one is willing to be bad on their own will. This way, moral evil reduced to thoughtlessness, that equal to a lower needs level, and goodness for Socrates, according to Aristotle, expresses of the intellect, which is an equivalent to a â€Å"Free Will†. Which means, only human who doing good things can have â€Å"Free Will†. Based on the foregoing, it is possible to make a conclusion, that by the term â€Å"Free Will†, Socrates understands the qualities that exceptional people have, rather than an integral part of every human being. The idea of â€Å"Free Will† gets a new interpretation with the development of Christianity. If we trace the history of â€Å"Free Will† in the Bible, it is necessary to start with the character of God, who decided on his own and created the universe and all that fills it. The Bible says that man was created in the image and likeness of God. This means that a human is equal to God, and has a consciousness, feelings and will, and has the ability to think and make decisions. Suppose a person is really free in his choice. In such a case, two problems appear right away. According to religious beliefs, everything in this world happens only by the will of God. God makes, all he wants, in heaven and on earth. And no one, including human can’t resist God’s will. How, then, can a person can have any â€Å"Free Will†? If a person is not free, another ethical problem appears. According to Christianity (as well as Islam and Judaism) God rewards man for good behavior and punishes him for his bad. However, if a person cannot choose what he should do in each case, if his actions were predetermined and even corresponded to the will of God, how and why in this case, it is possible to punish humans? And what then is the â€Å"Free Will† for a man? Scientists consider issues related to the freedom of will. With development in science particularly genetic engineering, neuroscience and psychiatry; human view the presence of â€Å"Free Will† has changed. Scientists believe that people do not choose the genotype and the environment, do not choose the other factors affecting their lives. People do not choose in which family to be born, therefore they do not choose hereditary genes that are the most meaningful way determine our lives. Some genes predisposing to a human disease, some genes determining appearance, behavior, intellectual abilities all of them affect our lives. According to scientists, human body is as a kind of machine, established and acting at the direction of the external forces that cause it to work in certain way. This point of view is a concern because it is mean that people cannot be responsible for their behavior in any situation. No one has found the answer to the question of whether people have the â€Å"Free Will† or is it just an illusion. But in any case, a human has the right to follow the path of good or choice the path of evil. All humans exist like cells in a single large organism called the universe. World created from all its parts or elements. Each element contributes to the world their personal characteristic; effects and change world’s destiny. It may be weak and insignificant in the overall system of the world, but it is exists. It operates within certain limits on domestic fundamentals essence and nature. Without any of these elements would be a different world.

Peter Eisenmans Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Peter Eisenmans Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Throughout history, nations have sought to exhibit social memory of their past achievements whilst conversely erasing the memory of transgressions committed during their development. These nostalgic reflections of historic events have been both literally and figuratively portrayed in didactic monuments, which carefully edify the events into clear depictions of state victory and triumph. However, shifts in the discourse of twentieth-century politics have given rise to the voice of the victim within these stories. The traditional nation-state is now answerable to an international community rather than itself; a community that acknowledges the importance of human rights and upholds moral conditions. These states continue to construct an identity both in the past and present, but are expected to acknowledge their own exclusions and accept culpability for their previous victimisations. In this new climate the traditional memorial does not become obsolete, but instead evolves beyond a celebratory monument, increasingly referencing the states transgressions and role as perpetrator. This progressive switch in attitude has given birth to a new form of memorial: the anti-monument. These contemporary memorials abandon figurative forms in preference of abstraction. This medium facilitates a dialogical relationship between viewer and subject whilst also promoting ambivalence. Critically, this new typology allows the narrative of the victim and perpetrator to intertwine into a single united form, a so-called move towards political restitution. This essay analyses the tradition and characteristics of historic monuments and the post-industrial development of the anti-monument. The essay studies and questions abstraction as the chosen vehicle of the anti-monument, using Peter Eisenmans Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe as a case-study. I argue that despite its achievement as a piece public art, fundamentally, it fails to perform its function of commemoration through its abstracted, ambiguous form. Traditional monuments use figurative imagery to form an intuitive connection to the viewer. They use language and iconography to present the onlooker with the states idealised perception of a significant event in history. Throughout time, these monuments have often outlasted the civilizations or political regimes who constructed them and as a result their unchallenged specific narrative becomes definitive; all memory of an alternative narrative is lost with the passing of witnesses who could recall the actual events. This has the negative consequence of alleviating the present-day visitor of responsibility for the past and fails to accommodate the constantly changing and varied perspective of the viewer. In this respect, the permanence of the traditional monument presents an unchallengeable story which becomes an active presence to the visitor, who is always the receptive element. However, events of the twentieth century such as the atomic blast at Hiroshima and the atrocity of the Holocaust altered commemorate practice. Memorials were no longer militaristic and celebratory but instead acknowledged the crimes of the state against civilians. Designers were faced with the innumerable challenge of memorialising the most quintessential example of mans inhumanity to man the Holocaust. An event so catastrophic it prevented any attempt to singularly record the individual victim. The new typology that emerged would later be defined as the antimonument. The anti-monument aimed to dispel previous memorial convention by favoring a dialogical form over the traditional didactic monument. This new memorial typology avoided literal representation through figurative expression and written word in favor of abstraction. This move toward the abstract enabled the viewer to now become the active element and the monument to become the receptive element; a role-reversal that allowed the visitor to bring their own interpretation to the memorial. James E Young commented that the aim of these memorials: is not to console but to provoke; not to remain fixed but to change; not to be everlasting but to disappear; not to be ignored by passersby but to demand interaction; not to remain pristine but to invite its own violation and desanctification; not to accept graciously the burden of memory but to throw it back at the towns feet. In this way, James E Young suggests that the anti-monument acts receptively to history, time and memory. He also states: Given the inevitable variety of competing memories, we may never actually share a common memory at these sites but only the common place of memory, where each of us is invited to remember in our own way. The anti-monument facilitates the ongoing activity of memory and allows the visitor to respond to the current sufferings of today in light of a remembered past. It is this point that fundamentally determines the important and necessary dialogical character of all modern Holocaust memorials. Consequently, in 1999 the Federal Republic of Germany passed a resolution to erect a memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. This memorial intended to honour the murdered victims and keep alive the memory of these inconceivable events in German history. An open competition selected American, Peter Eisenman as the winning architect, who proposed an expansive field of 2,711 stelae and the Ort, a supplementary information centre. The memorial is not only significant for its purposes of remembrance, but also represents the first national monument to the Holocaust to be constructed with financial and political support from the German Federal State. The location of the memorial itself is considered arbitrary by some, as the site has no previous connotation with the Holocaust or Nazism, but instead was a former no-mans land in the death strip of the Berlin Wall. Whilst the commemorative power of this location may be questioned, the significance of its placement lies within its integration into Berlins urban realm. The edge condition of the memorial presents a natural transition between the stelae and the pavement. The ground plane and first stelae sit flush to each other before gradually rising and recessing into two separate data that create a zone of uncertainty between. The memorial does not acknowledge the specificity of the site and the lack of central focus intends to reflect the ambient nature of victims and perpetrators in the city of Berlin. Within the stelae each visitor senses the memory of the victims somatically by experiencing feelings of claustrophobia, uneasiness and disorientation within the narrow walkways and scale of the monument. It was not Peter Eisenmans intention to emulate the restrictive condition of a death camp, but instead, to encourage the personal reflection of the individual in their role of carrying memory in the present. In this monument there is no goal, no end, no working ones way in or out. The duration of an individuals experience of it grants no further understanding, since understanding is impossible. The time of the monument, its duration from top surface to ground, is disjoined from the time of experience. In this context, there is no nostalgia, no memory of the past, only the living memory of the individual experience. Here, we can only know the past through its manifestation in the present. In this sense, each visitor is invited to experience the absence created by the Holocaust and in turn, each feels and fills such a void. It cannot be argued that this corporeal engagement with absence is not potent; however, in most instances the feeling becomes ephemeral. Each visitor walks precariously around the memorial, pausing for thought and anticipating the next corner. They are forced to change pace and direction unwillingly and face the constant threat of collision at every turn and intersection of the towering stelae. It is this condition, in my opinion, that instills the feeling of threat and uneasiness into most visitors as opposed to the perceived connection between themselves and the victims. The memorial does not dedicate any space for gatherings of people and hence inhibits any ceremonial use in the act of memory. The collection of stelae is reminiscent of the cemeteries of Jewish ghettos in Europe where due to space constraints; tombstones are piled high and crowded together at different angles. Some visitors treat the memorial as a cemetery, walking slowly and silently, before stopping and layering flowers or candles at the side of a stele. The presence of these somber mourners and their objects of remembrance are one of the only indicators that clearly identify the stelae field as a memorial. However, the objects discarded at the memorial are always removed by the staff, suggesting the monument be experienced in its intended form; a relationship more akin to public art rather than that of a memorial. In Eisenmans opinion, the memorial is emblematic of a seemingly rigid and understandable system of law and order that mutates into something much more profane. The visitor experiences this first-hand when feeling lost and disorientated in the environment they once perceived as rational and negotiable from the outside. The project manifests the instability inherent in what seems to be a system, here a rational grid, and its potential for dissolution in time. It suggests that when a supposedly rational and ordered system grows too large and out of proportion to its intended purpose, it in fact loses touch with human reason. It then begins to reveal the innate disturbances and potential for chaos in all systems of seeming order, the idea that all closed systems of a closed order are bound to fail. Through abstraction, the memorial attempts to acknowledge both the victims and perpetrators in a single, integrated form. The regular grid of the memorial and its deceptive portrayal of rationality acknowledge the perpetrators of the crime: the Nazi Third Reich. Whilst viewed from afar, the stelae resemble tombstones in a cemetery, granting the victims a marker for their life, a marker previously denied to them by a Nazi regime who aimed to erase all memory of their existence. Eisenmans memorial is concerned with how the past is manifested in the present. His interest lies not with the murdered Jews the memorial aims to commemorate, but instead, how the present-day visitor can relate to those victims. In this respect, the memorial permits remembrance displaced from the memory of the holocaust itself. Eisenman wrote: The memory of the Holocaust can never be one of nostalgia. The Holocaust cannot be remembered in the nostalgic mode, as its horror forever ruptured the link between nostalgia and memory. The monument attempts to present a new idea of memory as distinct from nostalgia. The field of stelae does not present a nostalgic recollection of Jewish life before the holocaust; neither does it attempt to encapsulate the events of the genocide. Instead, the memorial connects with the visitor through a corporeal engagement that facilitates an individual response to memory. The stelae have the effect of creating a ghostly ambience as the sounds of the surrounding streets and city are deadened, exaggerating the visitors discomfort. However, the ambience is disturbed by the shouting, laughter and conversation of visitors lost in the stelae looking for one another. In marked contrast, the subterranean information centre has the effect of silencing its inhabitants. The exhibition provides a literal representation of the atrocities of the holocaust, didactically displaying the clothing, letters and personal belongings of a handful of victims. Eisenman originally rejected the inclusion of a place of information so that the stelae field would become the exclusive and definitive experience. However, his competition win was conditional upon its inclusion. It is my opinion that The Ort or information centre has become the significant place of memory and commemoration despite being simultaneously downplayed by the architect and German state. The small building is located underground and accessed via a narrow staircase amongst the stelae. As with the memorial as a whole, there is no acknowledgement of its existence or function, and as a result must be discovered through wandering. It performs commemoration far more successfully than the stelae field by generating an emotional response from the visitor. In the exhibition, the distress of the visitor is apparent as they walk around solemnly, the reality of the holocaust becoming perceptible. The acoustic presence of crying and sobbing are far removed from the laughter and shouting in the stelae above. The exhibition features spaces where the biographies of victims are made audible, explaining the sequence of events that led to their deaths. In these rooms the smallest details of the victim s forgotten lives are told in a sonorous voice which immediately gives substance to the individual and collective loss. The visitors trauma is perceptible here as the inconceivable statistics are not portrayed as abstract representations, but instead are literal and personified. It is the only section of the memorial where the holocaust is explicitly present; where visitors are not removed from the horrors but instead confronted with them. At street level, the memorial has no signs or indicators to its purpose and the stelae present no carving or inscription. The abstract nature of the stelae and site as a whole have the affect of making the memorial a relaxed and convenient place to be. The monument has transcended the theory that memorials command respect by their mere existence, with the site becoming a part of everyday life for Berliners as a place of leisure. Many stumble on the memorial as an empty maze, a childrens playground where people walk across the stelae, jumping from one to another. They are faced with conflicting emotions between an instinct to show respect and a desire to satisfy a spontaneous need to play. The memorials ambition is to enable every visitor to reach their own conclusion and ascertain an individual experience, which through abstraction it achieves. However, by the same means, it facilitates a detachment between the individual and the memorials primary function of commemoration. The theor etical narrative of the stelae field is an extremely complex and powerful idea, however the ambiguous, abstracted design fails to allow the visitor to truly relate to the victims or gain an understanding of the atrocities of the holocaust. Therefore, whilst experienced in its singularity, the abstract stelae field fails to commemorate, instead being dependant on the didactic approach of the information centre to allow the visitor to relate to the holocaust and its victims. When appraising the entries for the original competition Stephen Greenblatt wrote: It has become increasingly apparent that no design for a Berlin memorial to remember the millions of Jews killed by Nazis in the Holocaust will ever prove adequate to the immense symbolic weight it must carry, as numerous designs have been considered and discarded. Perhaps the best course at this point would be to leave the site of the proposed memorial at the heart of Berlin and of Germany empty Perhaps this approach would have ultimately become more pertinent. How does one design a monument in memory of an event so inconceivable that in some way doesnt have the adverse affect of making it more palatable? Perhaps, as Archigram often insisted, the solution may not be a building. The absence of a memorial delegates the responsibility of commemoration to the individual who as bearers of memory, come to symbolise the absent monument. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is an intriguing and unique perspective on cognitive memory that undoubtedly has advanced the development of the antimonument, setting a new precedent in memorial architecture. However, the memorials effectiveness is fundamentally undermined by the assumption that all visitors are aware, and will continue to be aware of the specific events of the holocaust. For example, how will a second or third generations interpretation differ from that of a survivor who visits the memorial today? Its abstracted, ambiguous form fails to contextualize the memorial without the accompaniment of explicit, literal representations presented separately within the Information Centre. It is for this reason that the memorial seemingly becomes a victim of its own impossibility. Bibliography: Rauterberg, Hanno. Holocaust Memorial Berlin. (Lars Muller Publishers) 2005. Young, James E. The Art of Memory: Holocaust Memorials in History. (Prestel) 1994. Heathcote, Edwin. Monument Builders: Modern Architecture and Death. (Academy Editions) 1999. Williams, Paul. Memorial Museums: The Global Rush to Commemorate Atrocities. (Berg) 2007. Young, James E. The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning. (New Haven) 1993. Boym, Svetlana. The Future of Nostalgia. (Basic Books) 2001. Sion, Brigitte. Experience and Remembrance at Berlin. (New York) 2007. Choay, Francoise. The Invention of the Historic Monument. (Cambridge University Press) 2001. Eisenman, Peter. Notations of Affect. An Architecture of memory (Pathos, Affekt, Gefà ¼hl) 2004. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/germans/memorial/eisenman.html Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Project Text. 2005. Photographs: Magnuson, Eric. Pathways. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/esm723/3754775324) 2009. Ndesh. Platform Games. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndesh/3754009233/in/photostream)2009. Ward, Matt. Flowers. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattward/3472587863) 2009.

Marketing changes :: essays research papers

There have been many significant changes within our society. One of this is the changing gender roles within our society and another is the changing attitudes toward health & fitness. Both of these have impacted on consumer preferences or buying habits. Gender roles are no longer as accurate as it once was. There is now a trend of reserved roles. This is due to the continued growth in a number of dual income households. There has been an increase of women in the workforce in the fast few years. Women in the paid workforce spend less time shopping than the stay at home women. They tend to shop in the evenings and on weekends due to their busy schedules. They tend to swap stores which they shop in due to convenience. This happens due to the time constraints but still earning an income they are less likely to be price conscious. The working women are more likely to purchase convenience foods and products and they tend to be brand and store loyal. In this current society women have different material (clothing) needs to the stay at home women versus the working women. Males are now also more involved in purchasing household products. Some men now do their shopping via the internet rather than physically enter the stores. Because they use this type of method it is harder to record their purchasing habits. They have moved away from traditional roles. Women are now taking a greater role in deciding which products to buy. Buying decisions have moved away from being male/husband denominated to become automatic. i.e. many families now have two cars and they tend to make their purchase decision separate. Direct marketers are now targeting time pressured women who use catalogues, telesales and internet sites as ways of shopping may it be for clothing as well as household and family needs. They have also used this method to target men who now also do the shopping. Marketers who are aware of this change have developed changes to their product design and advertising appeal/styles. Some advertisements have been positive and some offending. I.e. Detergent Ads. Marketers are increasingly attempting to cash in on the belief that men are getting in touch with their feminine side. Many businesses have now marketed their services/ products to suit these changing gender roles. One of this is restaurants. Plenty of them now offer home delivery service. There is also an increase in takeaway stores catering for these busy men and women.

Why Is Religion Important? Essays -- Why Study Religion?

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." -- Dalai Lama In a world where religions plays such a major role in people’s lives, it is not surprising why it is such a major focus in the way choices and decisions are made. There are many religions throughout the world. Some are faiths with a very concentrated following in specific geographic areas, while others span the entire globe and have enormous numbers of followers. Each of the world’s major religions has definite distinctions that set themselves apart from others and that make them unique. These religions, however, all follow the same basic morals and guidelines that are quite similar. The most widely followed faith on the planet is Christianity. Followers of Christianity believe that God sent his own son Jesus to earth to save them from their own sinful ways. They believe that Jesus was killed for his teachings and was then resurrected after lying in a tomb for three days. The main Christian holy day is celebrated on the day Jesus rose from the dead. This day is known as Easter Sunday and is the center of the entire faith. The ultimate goal for Christians is to have their souls join God in heaven when they die where they will live forever in eternal happiness. Christianity is broken up into three different groups that follow similar beliefs but do differ on some. Roman Catholics are the first type. They make up the largest single faith in Christianity. Catholics are united under their leader, the Pope who resides in Rome. They interpret meaning from the Bible to use in everyday life. Roman Catholic scholars, who spend their lives interpreting ... ...s teachings say that all of life is suffering and that this suffering is caused by desire. He said that the only way to end suffering is to end desire and to end desire you must follow the Eight Paths of Enlightenment. There are other smaller groups of religious beliefs like Confucianism, which is basically a respect for elders. Most people in Japan follow this belief. Animism is a faith followed by more primitive cultures throughout Africa and Asia. This centers on the fact that spirits inhabit everything in nature and are thus worshipped for it. Religion remains a crucial part of world politics. It is the driving force behind much of today’s biggest problems, and until everyone learns to respect one another’s differences this unnecessary violence will continue. Dalai Lama Quote http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_religion.html#vM6qqb6vc2q3bDQk.99

IT Business Outsourcing Essay

IT Business Outsourcing involves contracting of specific processes as well as tasks of IT business to a third party or who can provide the service (Gewirtz, 2007). These days a lot of variation can be seen in the business environment, the reason for which is the impact of external factors like changes in the preference of customer. These changes have increased the business pressures in order of performance improvement and competition. Business firms, now days are really facing a lot of pressure to continue reviewing their performance in order to cope up with the current market. Innovation and creativity are the two things which are really very important and highly stress on the improvement of the market position. Hence, to cope with this complex environment, IT business process outsourcing has been as one of the solution in order to improve performance. Outsourcing a process to any proficient company which have ample amount of professional awareness as well as experience can improve the operational efficiency of the business. However all these are based on the amount pf professionalism shown by the company. However, such improvements depend on the levels of professionalism displayed by the third party entity. This means the major emphasis should be given to the level of expertise, time and finances. A third part must have all these qualities to apply as an outsourcer. Problem statement Essential requirement for a business when deciding for outsourcing is adequate information on the assessment of risk otherwise this feature has the ability to hamper your brand image (Sullivan, 2006). Outsourcing should be a result of the organizations decision making capability. Different viewpoints should be taken into consideration with all the important entities like major as well as minor stake holders. External as well as internal environment should also be taken into consideration. Decision should be made on such criteria where you are confirm that the outsourcer have adequate amount of highly professional employee strength and support structures. The objective of this problem study is to find out various variables that a business organization must have to consider when deciding for outsourcing like what are the various risk associated with the business, what type of change management is needed and who all are included in the decision making process, etc. In order to take the correct decision, few objectives are needed to be prepared for better management. Following are some important objectives which should be adopted by every organization thinking for outsourcing. 1. First objective which is very essential is to find out all the most important variables which a business should consider while deciding about the outsourcing of their information processes. It is very important there are lots of factors which can affect the business while outsourcing like finance, employees, amount of profit, geographical location etc. Hence, the main task is to identify the main factors that a business organization should consider. 2. Second objective is to verify if the assessment of risk is making impact on the procedure of decision making when looking for outsourcing the information process. This is very important as without risk assessment, how to know what are the different risks associated with the outsourcing business (Harris, 2008). It gives a clear idea that these are the risk and in order to go for outsourcing you need to cope up with all these. 3. Third thing which is needed to be kept in mind is to verify if the requirement for change management extensively effect the decision about the outsourcing of information processes (Mead, 2005). Change management is basically an organized approach to deal with various changes, from the point of view of organization as well as individual. 4. Fourth objective is to evaluate all the entities required for decision making by a business. These entities are mainly the stakeholders in the organization. It’s very important to involve only those stakeholders who are needed for decision making. Purpose Statement At the time of deciding whether to outsource or not, one thing you should always keep in mind that is do whatever you can do yourself and outsource the remaining. There are many processes that are executed in a company, all of which are not equally important. Except the core process, all other processes are not so relevant. They are just acceptable. Outsourcing IT business process should essentially be the decision of business firm and not an individual’s decision like the top management only. Around 20 industries are taken as the number of participants to complete this survey and the location for study is south East Asia, basically India and Philippines. First necessary step for an organization is to decide whether the outsourcing decision will fit their organizational model and if yes, then why. Even though functioning in same line of business, one company can have ample reason for outsourcing while on the same line; another one can found that reasoning not worth. Making decision is not a very hard process, however, determining whether to outsource or not, what process to be outsourced and what are the objective to be accomplished are some of the important factors to be taken seriously. First variable to be analyzed is the understanding of the core-competencies of the organization because this understanding will help decide what to make and what to buy or outsource. To analyze the quantitative side, all related costs should be evaluated that arise from different task like production, goods delivery or the in-house service. As outsourcing relates to future costs, investigation must be done comparing all the future costs. Now, to analyze the qualitative factor, some issues that should be kept in mind are: Is there some cultural match among company and the outsourcer, can you be willing to share data openly, reliability of the outsourcer, who among both of you has better skills and practices, technology is largely known or not and how hard is this to recruit for the function? One more important thing is that the outsourced process should be core to outsourcer. Outsourcing should provide benefits like cost reduction, flexibility, targeted expertise, benchmark quality and efficiency profits. If these variables are not resulting in positive, then the outsourcer is not the correct one. As outsourcing is very critical for growth of a firm, thus a strong evaluation panel should be setup which should consist of most competent and appreciated employees who will help in deciding on the outsourcing and outsourcer (Wijers,  2009). Decision for outsourcing is entirely dependent on a formula called QCDV which stand for the quality, expenditure or cost involved, delivery at right time, and at last value. in fact, quality as well as the delivery is the most important component for deciding outsourcing as they openly influence your customer as well as businesses reputation and hence sales. In addition, the panel should also judge current regulations, governing bodies and standards of the firm which is associated with the production as well as completion of task in timely manner, that are associated with producing a product or completing a task in a timely manner. The main aspect for evaluation must be the financial saving which outsourcing should provide to the firm. Outsourcing’s main objective should be to save capital. The outsourcer must recognize the firm’s expectations in terms of cost reduction as well as overall performance. Hence, the panel should develop an analysis standard on cost/performance which the outsourcer should have to go through each quarter. This will allow the company to check how much capital as well as expenses are used in the process and if the process is saving money or not.

The Host Chapter 32: Ambushed

The caves were quiet; the sun had not yet risen. In the big plaza, the mirrors were a pale gray with the coming dawn. My few clothes were still in Jamie and Jared's room. I snuck in, glad that I knew where Jared was. Jamie was sound asleep, curled into a tight ball in the top corner of the mattress. He didn't usually sleep so compactly, but he had good reason to at the moment. Ian was sprawled across the rest of the space, his feet and hands hanging off the edges, one appendage to each of the four sides. For some reason, this was hysterical to me. I had to put my fist in my mouth to choke back the laughter as I quickly snatched up my old dirt-dyed T-shirt and shorts. I hurried into the hall, still stifling the giggles. You're slaphappy, Melanie told me. You need some sleep. I'll sleep later. When†¦ I couldn't finish the thought. It sobered me instantaneously, and everything was quiet again. I was still rushing as I headed for the bathing room. I trusted Doc, but†¦ Maybe he would change his mind. Maybe Jared would argue against what I wanted. I couldn't be all day. I thought I heard something behind me when I reached the octopus-like juncture where all the sleeping halls met. I looked back, but I couldn't see anyone in the dim cave. People were beginning to stir. Soon it would be time for breakfast and another day of work. If they'd finished with the stalks, the ground in the east fields would need to be turned. Maybe I would have time to help†¦ later†¦ I followed the familiar path to the underground rivers, my mind in a million other places. I couldn't seem to concentrate on anything in particular. Every time I tried to focus on a subject-Walter, Jared, breakfast, chores, baths-some other thought would pull my head away in seconds. Melanie was right; I needed to sleep. She was just as muddled. Her thoughts all spun around Jared, but she could make nothing coherent of them, either. I'd gotten used to the bathing room. The utter blackness of it didn't bother me anymore. So many places were black here. Half my daylight hours were lived in darkness. And I'd been here too many times. There was never anything lurking under the water's surface, waiting to pull me under. I knew I didn't have time to soak, though. Others would be up soon, and some people liked to start their day clean. I got to work, washing myself first, then moving on to my clothes. I scrubbed at my shirt fiercely, wishing I could scrub out my memory of the past two nights. My hands were stinging when I was done, the dry cracks on my knuckles burning worst of all. I rinsed them in the water, but it made no noticeable difference. I sighed and climbed out to get dressed. I'd left my dry clothes on the loose rocks in the back corner. I kicked a stone by accident, hard enough to hurt my bare foot, and it clattered loudly across the room, bouncing off the wall and landing with a plunk and a gurgle in the pool. The sound made me jump, though it wasn't all that loud next to the roar of the hot river in the outer room. I was just shoving my feet into my scruffy tennis shoes when my turn was up. â€Å"Knock, knock,† a familiar voice called from the dark entry. â€Å"Good morning, Ian,† I said. â€Å"I'm just done. Did you sleep well?† â€Å"Ian's still sleeping,† Ian's voice answered. â€Å"I'm sure that won't last forever, though, so we'd best get on with this.† Splinters of ice pinned my joints in place. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I'd noticed it before, and then forgotten it in the long weeks of Kyle's absence: not only did Ian and his brother look very much alike, but-when Kyle spoke at a normal volume, which so rarely happened-they also had exactly the same voice. There was no air. I was trapped in this black hole with Kyle at the door. There was no way out. Keep quiet! Melanie shrieked in my head. I could do that. There was no air to scream with. Listen! I did as I was told, trying to focus in spite of the fear that stabbed through my head like a million slender spears of ice. I couldn't hear anything. Was Kyle waiting for a response? Was he sneaking around the room in silence? I listened harder, but the rush of the river covered any sounds. Quick, grab a rock! Melanie ordered. Why? I saw myself crashing a rough stone against Kyle's head. I can't do it! Then we're going to die! she screamed back at me. I can do it! Let me! There has to be another way, I moaned, but I forced my ice-locked knees to bend. My hands searched the darkness and came up with a large, jagged rock and a handful of pebbles. Fight or flight. In desperation, I tried to unlock Melanie, to let her out. I couldn't find the door-my hands were still my own, clutched uselessly around the objects I could never make into weapons. A noise. A tiny splash as something entered the stream that drained the pool into the latrine room. Only a few yards away. Give me my hands! I don't know how! Take them! I started to creep away, close to the wall, toward the exit. Melanie struggled to find her way out of my head, but she couldn't find the door from her side, either. Another sound. Not by the far stream. A breath, by the exit. I froze where I was. Where is he? I don't know! Again, I could hear nothing but the river. Was Kyle alone? Was someone waiting by the door to catch me when he herded me around the pool? How close was Kyle now? I felt the hairs on my arms and legs standing on end. There was some kind of pressure in the air, as though I could feel his silent movements. The door. I half turned, easing back in the direction I'd come, away from where I'd heard the breath. He couldn't wait forever. The little he'd said told me he was in a hurry. Someone could come at any time. Odds were on his side, though. There were fewer who would be inclined to stop him than there were who might think this was for the best. And of those inclined to stop him, even fewer who'd have much of a chance of doing that. Only Jeb and his gun would make a difference. Jared was at least as strong as Kyle, but Kyle was more motivated. Jared would probably not fight him now. Another noise. Was that a footstep by the door? Or just my imagination? How long had this silent standoff lasted? I couldn't guess how many seconds or minutes had passed. Get ready. Melanie knew that the stalling would soon be at an end. She wanted me to clench the rock tighter. But I would give flight a chance first. I would not be an effective fighter, even if I could bring myself to try. Kyle was probably twice my weight, and he had a much longer reach. I raised the hand with the pebbles and aimed them toward the back passage to the latrine. Maybe I could make him think that I was going to hide and hope for rescue. I threw the handful of small stones and shied away from the noise when they clattered against the rock wall. The breath at the door again, the sound of a light footfall headed toward my decoy. I edged as quietly along the wall as I could. What if there are two? I don't know. I was almost to the exit. If I could just make the tunnel, I thought I could outrun him. I was lighter and fast†¦ I heard a footstep, very clearly this time, disrupting the stream in the back of the room. I crept faster. A gigantic splash shattered the tense standoff. Water pelted my skin, making me gasp. It spattered against the wall in a wave of wet sound. He's coming through the pool! Run! I hesitated just a second too long. Big fingers clutched at my calf, my ankle. I yanked against the pull, lurching forward. I stumbled, and the momentum that threw me down to the floor made his fingers slip. He caught my sneaker. I kicked it off, leaving it in his hand. I was down, but he was down, too. It gave me enough time to scramble forward, ripping my knees against the rough stone. Kyle grunted, and his hand clutched at my naked heel. There was nothing to catch hold of; I slid free again. I wrenched myself forward, pulling to my feet with my head still down, every second in danger of falling again because my body was moving almost parallel to the floor. I kept my balance through sheer force of will. There was no one else. No one to catch me at the exit to the outer room. I sprinted forward, hope and adrenaline surging in my veins. I burst into the river room at full speed, my only thought to reach the tunnel. I could hear Kyle's heavy breath close behind but not close enough. With each step, I pushed harder against the ground, throwing myself ahead of him. Pain lanced through my leg, crumpling it. Over the babble of the river, I heard two heavy stones hit the ground and roll-the one I'd been clutching and the one he'd thrown to cripple me. My leg twisted under me, spinning me backward to the ground, and in the same second he was on top of me. His weight knocked my head against the rock in a ringing blow and pinned me flat against the floor. No leverage. Scream! The air blew out of me in a siren of sound that surprised us all. My wordless shriek was more than I'd hoped for-surely someone would hear it. Please let that someone be Jeb. Please let him have the gun. â€Å"Uhng!† Kyle protested. His hand was big enough to cover most of my face. His palm mashed against my mouth, cutting off my scream. He rolled then, and the motion so took me by surprise that I had no time to try to find an advantage in it. He pulled me swiftly over and under and over his body. I was dizzy and confused, my head still spinning, but I understood as soon as my face hit the water. His hand locked on the back of my neck, forcing my face into the shallow stream of cooler water that wound its way into the bathing pool. It was too late to hold my breath. I'd already inhaled a mouthful of water. My body panicked when the water hit my lungs. Its flailing was stronger than he'd expected. My limbs all jerked and thrashed in different directions, and his grip on my neck slipped. He tried to get a better hold, and some instinct made me pull myself into him rather than away, as he was expecting. I only pulled half a foot closer to him, but that got my chin out of the stream, and enough of my mouth to choke some of the water back out and drag in a breath. He fought to push me back into the stream, but I wriggled and wedged myself under him so that his own weight was working against his goal. I was still reacting to the water in my lungs, coughing and spasming out of control. â€Å"Enough!† Kyle growled. He pulled himself off me, and I tried to drag myself away. â€Å"Oh, no, you don't!† he spit through his teeth. It was over, and I knew it. There was something wrong with my injured leg. It felt numb, and I couldn't make it do what I wanted. I could only push myself along the floor with my arms and my good leg. I was coughing too hard to do even that well. Too hard to scream again. Kyle grabbed my wrist and yanked me up from the floor. The weight of my body made my leg buckle, and I slumped into him. He got both my wrists in one hand and wrapped the other arm around my waist. He pulled me off the floor and into his side, like an awkward bag of flour. I twisted, and my good leg kicked against the empty air. â€Å"Let's get this over with.† He jumped over the smaller stream with a bound and carried me toward the closest sinkhole. The steam from the hot spring washed my face. He was going to throw me into the dark, hot hole and let the boiling water pull me into the ground as it burned me. â€Å"No, no!† I shouted, my voice too hoarse and low to carry. I writhed frantically. My knee knocked against one of the ropy rock columns, and I hooked my foot around it, trying to yank myself out of his grip. He jerked me free with an impatient grunt. At least that loosened his hold enough that I could make one more move. It had worked before, so I tried it again. Instead of trying to free myself, I twisted in and wrapped my legs around his waist, locking the good ankle around the bad, trying to ignore the pain so that I could get a good hold there. â€Å"Get off me, you -† He fought to knock me loose, and I jerked one of my wrists free. I wrapped that arm around his neck and grabbed his thick hair. If I was going into the black river, so was he. Kyle hissed and stopped prying at my leg long enough to punch my side. I gasped in pain but got my other hand into his hair. He wrapped both arms around me, as if we were embracing rather than locked in a killing struggle. Then he grabbed my waist from both sides and heaved with all his strength against my hold. His hair started to come out in my hands, but he just grunted and pulled harder. I could hear the steaming water rushing close by, right below me, it seemed. The steam billowed up in a thick cloud, and for a minute I couldn't see anything but Kyle's face, twisted with rage into something beastlike and merciless. I felt my bad leg giving. I tried to pull myself closer to him, but his brute strength was winning against my desperation. He would have me free in a moment, and I would fall into the hissing steam and disappear. Jared! Jamie! The thought, the agony, belonged to both Melanie and me. They would never know what had happened to me. Ian. Jeb. Doc. Walter. No goodbyes. Kyle abruptly jumped into the air and came down with a thud. The jarring impact had the effect he wanted: my legs came loose. But before he could take advantage, there was another result. The cracking sound was deafening. I thought the whole cave was coming down. The floor shuddered beneath us. Kyle gasped and jumped back, taking me-hands still locked in his hair-with him. The rock under his feet, with more cracking and groaning, began to crumble away. Our combined weight had broken the brittle lip of the hole. As Kyle stumbled away, the crumbling followed his heavy steps. It was faster than he was. A piece of the floor disappeared from under his heel, and he went down with a thud. My weight pushed him back hard, and his head smacked sharply against a stone pillar. His arms fell away from me, limp. The cracking of the floor settled into a sustained groan. I could feel it shiver beneath Kyle's body. I was on his chest. Our legs dangled above empty space, the steam condensing into a million drops on our skin. â€Å"Kyle?† There was no answer. I was afraid to move. You've got to get off him. You're too heavy together. Carefully-use the pillar. Pull away from the hole. Whimpering in fear, too terrified to think for myself, I did as Melanie ordered. I freed my fingers from Kyle's hair and climbed gingerly over his unconscious form, using the pillar as an anchor to pull myself forward. It felt steady enough, but the floor still moaned under us. I pulled myself past the pillar and onto the ground beyond it. This ground stayed firm under my hands and knees, but I scrambled farther away, toward the safety of the exit tunnel. There was another crack, and I glanced back. One of Kyle's legs drooped farther down as a rock fell from beneath it. I heard the splash this time as the chunk of stone met the river below. The ground shuddered under his weight. He's going to fall, I realized. Good, Melanie snarled. But†¦! If he falls, he can't kill us, Wanda. If he doesn't fall, he will. I can't just†¦ Yes, you can. Walk away. Don't you want to live? I did. I wanted to live. Kyle could disappear. And if he did, there was a chance that no one would ever hurt me again. At least not among the people here. There was still the Seeker to consider, but maybe she would give up someday, and then I could stay here indefinitely with the humans I loved†¦ My leg throbbed, pain replacing some of the numbness. Warm fluid trickled down my lips. I tasted the moisture without thinking and realized it was my blood. Walk away, Wanderer. I want to live. I want a choice, too. I could feel the tremors from where I stood. Another piece of floor splashed into the river. Kyle's weight shifted, and he slid an inch toward the hole. Let him go. Melanie knew better than I what she was talking about. This was her world. Her rules. I stared at the face of the man who was about to die-the man who wanted me dead. With him unconscious, Kyle's face was no longer that of an angry animal. It was relaxed, almost peaceful. The resemblance to his brother was very apparent. No! Melanie protested. I crawled back to him on my hands and knees-slowly, feeling the ground with care before each inch I moved. I was too afraid to go beyond the pillar, so I hooked my good leg around it, an anchor again, and leaned around to wedge my hands under Kyle's arms and over his chest. I heaved so hard I nearly pulled my arms from their sockets, but he didn't move. I heard a sound like the trickle of sand through an hourglass as the floor continued to dissolve into tiny pieces. I yanked again, but the only result was that the trickle sped up. Shifting his weight was breaking the floor faster. Just as I thought that, a large chunk of rock plummeted into the river, and Kyle's precarious balance was overthrown. He began to fall. â€Å"No!† I screamed, the siren bursting from my throat again. I flattened myself against the column and managed to pin him to the other side, locking my hands around his wide chest. My arms ached. â€Å"Help me!† I shrieked. â€Å"Somebody! Help!†

Inland Whale Essay

Finally, In the story of ‘Testily, Sun's Daughter† is the cause of the events that enroll in the story. My claim is, The cautionary tales â€Å"The Mans Wife†, â€Å"Butterfly Man†, and † Testily, Sun's Daughter† reveal that Native American societies and cultures depended on gar popup cohesiveness and not letting greed or personal desires take over. In â€Å"The Man's Wife† the man does many things that affect nature and the way of living.The man doesn't want to let his dead wife leave in peace so he stays with her, burns off his hair, and didn't eat or sleep while he was waiting for his wife. A quote that pro eves this is, â€Å"He as however able to tie around her waist a rope of eagle's down, and clinging to one end of it, he walked a few steps behind her all through the 132). This qua Toe proves that he insisted on being with her that he even went through and tied a rope roar ND her. This also shows that desire has taken over and he w ill do anything to be with her.Not her thing that the man did was going into the dead people's land. A quote that proves this is, â€Å"l must warn you that to the dead the smell Of the living is offensive, and there will be restiveness as among them, feeling of the impropriety of your being here at all†(Kookier 137). This is imp rattan because it shows that the man shouldn't be invading the home of the dead because the e dead and living should not interact with the dead. If this happens the dead is disturbed and t he balance of nature is disturbed.The man should of let go and moved on so his wife's spirit t can be in peace and the desire of his wife can go away. In the story â€Å"Butterfly Man† Clanswoman can't choose who to be with became use of the things she admires or that she likes. At first she was with her baby at the v illegal while her husband was gone. Then she left when not supposed to and saw a butterfly a ND followed it on and on, left the baby on the bu sh alone never to return because of what she wanted.A quote that proves this is, â€Å"Nor was it flying at random, for its standards COUrse WA s leading her ever up and back, farther into the hills, farther from the river†(Kookier 61 ). HTH s is important because it shows that her wanting that butterfly she never noticed how far SSH e was from her home and her baby. Another thing she does is disobey the butterfly man whew n he said not to look up and look at the other butterflies.A quote that shows that she disobey deed the butterfly man and looked at the other butterflies is, â€Å"Her eyes followed his flight and SSH e took one hand off the girdle and reached greedily for him†(Kookier 63). This quote is imports NT because when something is desired so much that they break the rule they are suppose d to follow like not leaving their house when husbands are hunting or the one the butterfly man gave which as never to let go and look up at the other butterflies.This kind of stuff and other things may lead to jealousy and many more things. In the story â€Å"Testily, Sun's Daughter† the cause of the events that unroll in the story are because Of Testily, Sun's Daughter. When Testily accepted Theta's proposal I Hoopla was mad. A quote that proves this is, â€Å"Hoopla was angry. He grabbed Tequila's arm, shouting, She's mine! She's mine! I am older than you and she is mine! â€Å"(Kookier 114). T his quote is important because it shows that Hoopla being jealous he ended up pulling Test

Literature Review on Brand Awareness

Definition of ‘Brand Awareness' The likelihood that consumers  recognize the existence and availability of a company's product or service. Creating brand awareness is one of the  key steps in promoting a product Brand Awareness  is the extent to which a  brand  is recognized by potential  customers, and is correctly associated with a particular  product. Expressed usually as a percentage of  target market, brand awareness is the primary goal of  advertising  in the early months or years of a  product's introduction.Brand awareness is the extent to which the consumer associates the brand with the product he desires to buy. It is the brand recall and the brand recognition of the company to the consumers. Brand recall is the ability of the consumer to recollect the brand with reference to the product where as brand recognition is the potential of the consumer to retrieve the past knowledge of the brand when enquired about the brand or shown an image of the br and  logo.Brand awareness is an essential part of  brand development  which helps the brand to stand out from the others in this monopolistically competitive market Importance â€Å"Awareness, attitudes, and usage (AAU) metrics relate closely to what has been called the Hierarchy of Effects, an assumption that customers progress through sequential stages from lack of awareness, through initial purchase of a product, to brand loyalty. † In total, these AAU metrics allow companies to track trends in customer knowledge and attitudes. [2] Brand awareness plays a major role in a consumer’s buying decision process.The knowledge of an acquaintance or friend having used the product in the past or a high recognition of the product through constant advertisements and associations coaxes the person to make his decision in the favour of the brand. The eventual goal of most businesses is to make profits and increase sales. Businesses intend to increase their consumer pool and encourage repeat purchases. Apple is a brilliant example of how there is a very high recognition of the brand logo and high anticipation of a new product being released by the company.An iPod is the first thing that pops into our minds when we think of purchasing an mp3 player. iPod is used as a replaceable noun to describe an mp3 player. Finally, high brand awareness about a product suggests that the brand is easily recognizable and accepted by the market in a way that the brand is differentiated from similar products and other competitors. Brand building also helps in improving brand loyalty Brand awareness is  an important way of  promoting commodity-related products. This is because for these products, there are very few factors that differentiate one product from its competitors.Therefore, the product that maintains the highest brand awareness compared to its competitors will usually get the most sales. In the study â€Å"Effects of Brand Awareness on Choice for a Common Repeat Purchase-Product† prepared by Wayne D. Hoyer and Steven P. Brown, published by the University of Chicago Press in the journal â€Å"Journal of Consumer Research Vol. 17,No. 2(sep. ,1990) gives an abstract that Results of a controlled experiment on the role of brand awareness in the consumer choice process showed that brand awareness was a dominant choice heuristic among awareness-group subjects.Subjects with no brand awareness tended to sample more brands and selected the high-quality brand on the final choice significantly more often than those with brand awareness. Thus, when quality differences exist among competing brands, consumers may â€Å"pay a price† for employing simple choice heuristics such as brand awareness in the interest of economizing time and effort. However, building brand awareness is a viable strategy for advertising aimed at increasing brand-choice probabilities.In their research ,Brand awareness is defined as a rudimentary level of brand k nowledge involving,at the least, recognition of a brand name. Awareness represents lowest end of continuum of brand knowledge that ranges from simple recognition of the brand name to highly developed cognitive structure based on detailed information. Recognition is taken here to be the process of perceiving a brand as previously encountered(Mandler 1980). Thus the distinction between awareness and recognition is a subtle one,former denting a state of knowledge possessed by the consumer and the latter a cognitive process resulting from awareness.According to Keller (2003) stated that Brand awareness can be referred to as the ability of a consumer to distinguish a brand under various conditions. Keller (2003) also noted that brand awareness is built and increased by familiarity with the brand as a result of repeated vulnerability which eventually leads to consumers experience with the brand. Consumer’s experience of a particular brand could either be by hearing, seeing, or thin king about it and this will help the brand to stick in their memory.Brand awareness can be referred to as the degree of consumers’ familiarity with a brand. Aaker (1991) According to Aaker (1991 p. 62), there are three levels of brand awareness: * Brand recognition: It is the ability of consumers to identify a certain brand amongst other i. e. â€Å"aided recall†. Aided recall is a situation whereby a person is asked to identify a recognized brand name from a list of brands from the same product class. * Brand recall: This is a situation whereby a consumer is expected to name a brand in a product class.It is also referred to as â€Å"unaided recall† as they are not given any clue from the product class. * Top of mind: This is referred to as the first brand that a consumer can recall amongst a given class of product. Many researchers have seen brand awareness as an element that plays a vital role in consumer’s choice of brand. Aaker (1991) prescribed some of the following factors as ways to achieve brand awareness: * Involve a slogan or jingle: a slogan is a visible feature of a brand. There can be a strong link between a slogan and a brand.The slogan and jingle are powerful and can be a great change for a brand. * Be different and memorable: as a result of the similarity between product and their means of communication, product differentiation is important. * Symbol exposure: a known symbol will make it easier to recall and memorize a visible illustration of the brand. A logo that is connected to an existing brand or a developed brand will play a vital role in developing and keeping brand awareness. * Publicity: one of the most important ways to get publicity and create awareness is through advertisement. Event sponsorship: sponsorship of event can also help to create and maintain awareness. * Consider brand extension: one way to increase brand recall is to show the logo or name on the product and make the name popular. Example of t his is coca-cola which is more publicized than the key product. * Using cue: packaging is one of the most significant cues to a brand due to the fact that it is what the purchaser sees when purchasing a product. If the product or brand is not known, the only means of contact to the brand or product is the package. Hankinson and Cowking 1993), indicates in order to achieve the brand acceptance, the relationship between the customer and brand – perception of customer to brand is needed. The customer’s psychological and physical needs and the brand’s symbolic values and functional attributes will be reflect by the strong relationship between customers the brand Brand awareness is essential in buying decision-making as it is important that consumers recall the brand in the context of a given specific product category, awareness increasing the probability that the brand will be a member of the consideration set.Awareness also affects decisions about brands in the con sideration set, even in the absence of any brand associations in consumers’ minds. In low involvement decision settings, a minimum level of brand awareness may be sufficient for the choice to be final. Awareness can also influence consumer decision making by affecting brand associations that form the brand image (Keller1998)

Black People and James Baldwin Essay

In Toni Morrison’s â€Å"Recitatif,† the story is about two girls, Twyla and Roberta. They grow up in an orphanage because their mothers could not care for them. Morrison makes it clear the girls come from different ethnic backgrounds but never states which one is black or white. At one point in the story Twyla comments, â€Å"We looked like salt and pepper. † I grew frustrated with the story and had to read it several times. I could never determine who was black and white and the lesson I learned should have been it doesn’t really matter. The story begins with Twyla’s mother dropping her off at the orphanage. She meets Roberta and they become best friends. The bond they share occurs because they were not considered real orphans. They were abandoned kids unlike the other children whose parents had died. One of the last times the girls see each other was the day of a visitation. On that night, Twyla’s mother was wearing â€Å"those tight green slacks that made her butt stick out. † Many people have labeled blacks as having larger butts. She could have been black, she could have been a heavy white woman with a large butt, or a Hispanic woman like me. But I automatically stereotyped and went with Twyla has to be black. During the visitation Roberta’s mother â€Å"had brought chicken legs. † Twyla notices Roberta does not eat the chicken legs. I always thought black people liked chicken more than white people which means Roberta was white since she did not eat the chicken. Or maybe she just wasn’t hungry. Shortly after that visitation Roberta’s mother came to take her home, leaving the girls devastated. They see each other several times throughout the years. At their first meeting, Roberta was rude and distant because she was high. Roberta tells Twyla she is on the way to see Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was an infamous black guitarist. I thought at this point Roberta has to be black. However Hendrix’s band was interracial with a diverse audience. Roberta could have been white due to the diverse audience. I am a huge Hendrix fan and I am not black so why would I think Roberta is. Twelve years later they meet again at a grocery store. Roberta married a rich man and was extremely friendly to Twyla. Twyla cannot hold back her emotions and asks Roberta about the last time they saw each other. Roberta shrugs it off, â€Å"Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black—white. You know how everything was. † I can relate to this. In 1980, the Cuban Mariel Boat Lifts came over bring thousands of Cubans. I am Cuban but I was born here. Kids I had known since kindergarten treated me as if I just come over on the boats. It had a lasting effect on me and matured me beyond my years. The third time they meet is at the school where their children attend. Roberta and other mothers were picketing because they did not want their kids to be segregated. This led to a fight severing any last chance of a friendship for them as it would not be resolved until Twyla and Roberta meet for a final time. As the story ends I do not get a sense of closure. The question of which girl is white or black remains unanswered. It opened my eyes and made me question how prejudice I really am. I try to not stereotype as a result of what I went through as a child but I found myself doing just that. I can understand why Morrison wrote the way she. I am not sure what her goal was overall but to me it seemed as if she were teaching me about prejudices. â€Å"Recitatif† challenged me to not judge either girl by their race but accept them for who they are. In the end, what difference did it really make about the girls’ races? The story is about how their friendship develops and then deteriorates. Nothing more; nothing less.

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 107

Essay Example From afar, one would think that it is but a very realistic illustration of a bright red, elegant armchair with one pair of an old running shoe and an electrical cord in front, a broom on the side and a painting on the wall hanging just right over it. It would not be until one looks closely on it that the touching details of the painting become clear. The elegant armchair is old and worn out looking as if it has been used for many years. The shadow on the left side of the painting and the one that is created by the armchair make it look like the light is focused on the painting on the wall and the armchair with a huge fish lying on it. With all these elements combined all together, I realized why Fraser named it as such. As one of the spectators in the room, I think that the whole picture shows the contrasting yet funny way of life. The painting of the fishermen that is hanging right above the armchair reflects all of the hard work in order to live an extravagant lifestyle. However, the fish that seems to be catching its breath lying on the chair represents our ignorance of the fact that we have been trying so hard that we do not realize that the one thing that satisfies all our needs are sitting just right inside our home. A healthy lifestyle and a clean living condition are sufficient enough to make man happy. The simplicity of life should satisfy

Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Poetry - Essay Example â€Å"The Mending Wall† basically tells the story of two men, the narrator and his neighbor, and their annual ritual of walking along the wall between their two properties and mending the stone fence. He starts the poem by indicating how unnatural a wall is in the words â€Å"Something there is that doesn’t love a wall† (1). Within this single sentence, Frost has already managed to establish a rambling rhythm to his poem. The reader is forced to slow down and pay attention to the grammatically correct but unusual phrasing of this statement. As the story continues, this rhythm is punctuated by sudden bursts of energy from the narrator, â€Å"’Stay where you are until our backs are turned!† (19), answered by the steady beat of the neighbor’s response, the repetition of an old adage, â€Å"Good fences make good neighbors† (27). Thus, if rhythm were light, we’d see steady pulses interrupted by sudden flashes of color rebuffed by an equally sudden, light-deadening gray wall. The rhythm of the poem is echoed by the symbolism of the poem. As the narrator tries to determine what it is that doesn’t love fences, he manages to convey the sense that it is something larger or deeper than the superficial elements he is naming: â€Å"The gaps I mean, / No one has seen them made or heard them made, / But at spring mending time we find them there† (9-11). This prompts the reader to begin thinking below the surface early in the poem and, as the narrator continues to discuss the mundane elements of rebuilding a fence that will only be falling down again ‘the moment their backs are turned’, the sense continues to build that the fence is not a physical fence at all, but a fence upon the mind. This is made much clearer by the end of the poem as the narrator, after several attempts at levity, watches his neighbor bringing more rocks