Politics and society in Italy during World War 2 Essay

Roberto Benigni’s movie â€Å"Life is beautiful† was a successful attempt of making a tragic-comedy. Roberto Benigni directed the movie, wrote it and acted in it. Previously, he worked as a comedian in several movies. The movie won many awards including, Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998 and an Oscar award for the best actor. The movie makes sure that as Benigni can very well make people laugh, he can also be a serious actor at the same time and is able to entertain people with his serious acting as well. Before I start writing about the movie, I would like to discuss the main idea of it. World War II, its disasters, its effects on the people and of course on the country – both physically and psychologically is being discussed in the movie and Benigni was successful in depicting it in the movie. George Holmes in the chapter 10 of his book â€Å"The Oxford Illustrated History of Italy† has excellently defined that period of Italy’s history on which the movie was made. According to Holmes: â€Å"Italy had entered the war both materially and psychologically unprepared, uncertain about her war aims and about how they were to be achieved. None the less the conviction that the war was represented some kind of spiritual apotheosis for Italy had been common to many interventionists, whether rightwing authoritarian like Salandra or democratic and reformist socialist like Bissolati. † (pg 265) The movie’s first half was really comic and enjoyable but the second half, according to many critics, was very tragic as the most of it was shot in concentration camps, showing all the miseries people had during that period. But on the other side, a good compensation for the second half is the sweet love story of a lady Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni’s real-life spouse) and a man (Benigni). The love story prepares the viewers for the upcoming tragic drama. In short, the movie is a good way of informing about the daily life during war and how the victims have to bare the pains and pressures. It seems that the movie is a mixture of two movies, a comedy and a very light one in the first half and a very tragic and to some extent indigestible in the other half. The movie starts with a powerful comedy which had an impression that the movie contains humor, comedy, romance and nothing else. The credit for this pretension goes to the production and direction team completely which did not let us think that the movie could contain those wretched scenes. The reason of plotting the movie this way might suggests that in the first half it prepares the viewers for the second half. It might be possible that the first half gives the viewers clue of attaching their sympathy with the main characters which would help them in understanding the last part of the movie. Roberto Benigni was successful in depicting the tragedy and sorrowfulness into comedy. As in Nazi death camp, the way he turned that calamity into adventure is really admirable. In fact, this is the basis of the plot and all the characters did their best in it. The relationship of the father and a son sometimes brought tears into the eyes of the viewers as they were suffering from the torture and sometimes it also brought a smile on the positivity they kept throughout the movie. The name of the movie really meant it. â€Å"Life is Beautiful† doesn’t mean that whatever life gives to us is always beautiful, but how we perceive it actually make it beautiful or ugly. It is always on the person that how he’s reacting to the events in the life he’s coming up to, and this is what this beautiful movie is trying to make us understand. The starting fifty minutes of the movie has a beautiful and a very pretty girl called la Principessa (the Princess) who is an elementary school teacher and is engaged to some Fascist officials. That was those fifty minutes which was the development of the movie. Viewers had to change their attitude towards the movie in those fifty minutes. It was a shift from an imponderous effect of movie to a farce. No doubt, it could a shock for some people for a sudden change in the movie, but I think this is a best part of it and it’s also an essence of a good plot. A good plot doesn’t allow viewer or reader to predict its climax but yes, can give sometimes a clue. In this movie, â€Å"Life is beautiful†, the happiness in the starting till its fifty minutes, in a sense give a clue that the disaster and woefulness is still waiting for its turn! The credit of the shift of the movie goes to the xenophobic uncle of Guido. He is prejudiced and a narrow-minded guy for which Guido and his family had to suffer later. The writer of the movie wrote this event and about his uncle in a very light manner, although its not. Guido’s shop was sooner labeled as a â€Å"Jewish store†. The couple has a five year old baby boy now named, Joshua (Giorgio Cantarini). This is the year 1945. â€Å"Jews and dogs aren’t allowed into the pastry shop†, this is what the son asks his father to be explained. The father was very well conscious of whatever was happening during the time. He had to protect his son from the mental disturbance in anyway and he started telling his son that whatever is happening is only a drama and has no reality in it. â€Å"Tomorrow, we’re going to write: ‘No Spiders and No Visigoths Allowed†, father replied to son as he never wanted his son to be pressurized in that political situation. George Holmes says: â€Å"Emblematic of the Italian authorities’ attitude to its own soldiers was its behavior in respect of those Italians who had fallen prisoner to the Austrians and Germans. Of the 600,000 soldiers who became prisoners in the course of the war, more than 100,000 died in captivity-a far higher proportion than for any other country. † (pg 267) The Guido’s family soon became imprisoned by the police. They were taken to some prisoner-of-war camp. Dora took a difficult decision to move with her family instead of following them in the train. It was an abhorrent place. People there were made to perform laborious work like melting down the weapons and the weak ones, old ones and the children were made pouring down the water. According to George Holmes: â€Å"The war proved to be a shock of massive proportions, which tried the politically unstable, economically backward, and weakly united society to its limit and which bequeathed a legacy no one had been able to predict. Indeed, the divisions which the war exposed and the lacerations which the conflict provoked would have consequences which went well beyond the Armistice of November 1918. † (pg 264) The best thing of the movie which kept the interest of the viewers till the end is the fatherhood which never let his son feel fearful although living in the death camp. He kept on explaining that it was just a game and we are not supposed to lose it at any cost. He made sure his son by showing the numbers on his arm. He told him that the bad people were not letting them to register them but he did it so that they can also enjoy the game. The son assimilated all as he is a child of five year only and he hasn’t learnt not to trust his father until now. Father told the son that the goal of the game is to score 1000 and the winner will get an original tank and not the toy with which Joshua plays with. The rules of the game kept on changing as the story moves on and the torture increases but mostly they used to play hide-and-seek, make believe and a rule called â€Å"silence†. Simultaneously, the father kept on making sure the son that the police, in reality aren’t bad, and the way they behave is only because of the game. This attitude of a father of never letting a child know that from what torture they have been going through suggests a very pure, strong and trustworthy relationship of a father and son. Father also prepares his son for the future if he doesn’t get the food. He says that if he cries for the food, he’ll be failed. Throughout the time the father and son spend in the death camp, Guido made his son feel that they are on vacations. â€Å"†¦Camp prisoners are all going to be â€Å"cooked in the oven† to become â€Å"buttons and soap† is one of the examples form the movie which Guido tell his son, almost depicting the tragedy into comic. Benigni deserves a special award on the part when he shows that he knows German and translates the orders to his son. When death was announced to the prisoners, the father introduced three new and FINAL rules to his son: â€Å"There are three cases in which you lose all your points,† he says. â€Å"One: Those who cry. Two: Those who want to see their mamma. Three: Those who are hungry and want some snack. Forget about it! † According to some people it’s a cheapo way of letting the kid into dark till the end. Viewers have remarks that he should have told him at the end about the actual thing happening to them. But its too late to tell anything to the innocent kid now because it’s the end. An American was driving that tank which was arrived, and yes, Joshua really played well. In World War II, about 8,000 Italian Jews were imprisoned and murdered. The criticisms on Benigni are open after the movie. He depicted himself as an inhuman person who couldn’t feel the territory which the people went through during the World War II. But on the other side of the picture, we also see people’s remarks saying that a person without a brave heart cannot think, write and act in a manner he did. He, through the period of World War II is trying to tell that no matter what circumstances you are present in, don’t let the life go out of your hands, as your life really worth to be lived! The theme of the movie â€Å"Life is beautiful† is also that a person will always try to protect his loved one in the difficult situation and never let him go in depression and this is what a father did to his son. Benigni also depicts the value of family in this movie. He showed the real essence of fatherhood, a husband and a lover. Self sacrifice and believe in one-self is the other minor theme of the movie which kept the last part of the movie really active. It also gives us the lesson of being calm, active and reality based in all odds of the life. Although there was a terror and horror all around, he knew how to use his brain and where. It’s not easy for a person to maintain his spirits and powers in such a hectic situation of life. This is not at all easy for a person to act like him in other situations, keeping the spirits and hopes high but what he tries to convinces is that its not even impossible. A person can make his life beautiful if he wants to, it’s all in his hands how he values the time he has. According to George Holmes: â€Å"The enthusiasm which greeted the Italian decision to end neutrality and intervene in the First World War was something which left a profound impression on observers;†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg 264) The above extract is the very starting part of Chapter 10 of the book, the title of the chapter is â€Å"Italy 1915-1945: Politics and Society†. Just like the way viewers of the movie were drowned into the profound effect of the war, when we go through the book, the same way we indulge in the miseries of the War. Holmes has written it so well that a person could feel the pains himself as he’s experiencing it. As said earlier, the title â€Å"Life is beautiful†, is not just a title but it’s a message of Benigni to Holocaust. This is Benigni’s very positive approach that he is calling Life â€Å"beautiful† avoiding the facts that there are hell lot factors which can make a person perceive life very sorrowful and bad, especially a person who has tortured in a death camp. According to Gerald Peary, Benigni only wanted to depict father’s love in his movie and this was the best way of depicting it. If his main focus would only be on imprisonment of the victims of the wars, he would have made a documentary or a real imitation sort of a movie. But he was not failed in depicting the sorrows, tears and torture of the prisoners in World War II and side by side he also successfully portrayed the social and cultural decline in Italy during that period. George Holmes has written a very well-embellished book on the history of Italy. The book â€Å"The Oxford Illustrated History of Italy† has a rich material on whatever happened during World War II. It tells about the early days of Roman Empire in the beginning of 1990. He has given several pictures in the book to illustrate its culture and social ethical norms. The book tells us the story of the Italy from the Roman Empire till today. Italy did not exist as a separate individual political unit before a century ago but it had a rich culture. In fact, it always had a powerful culture which started from the period of Renaissance. During the middle ages, the exporter from Florence, Venice and Genoa started their trading with Asia and Europe. After the nineteenth century, Italy was actually created and their political establishment started transcending. The twelve great leaders captivate the history and culture of Italy which is very well written in the above discussed book written by George Holmes. â€Å"Problems of reconversions and stabilization were exacerbated by the political tensions created in course of 1919. Those tensions which had been present at the front between officers and soldiers were reproduced in civilian life in much of the same terms. Socialist party organizers never failed to point out that the war had been a useless slaughter, as they had always maintained, and that the Italian State before a heavy responsibility for this. † (Holmes pg 268-269) Works Cited Holmes, George. (2001) The Oxford Illustrated History Stone, A. A. (2000). Escape from Auschwitz: ‘Life Is Beautiful’ turned the Holocaust into a sentimental fable. Psychiatric Times. 17(4).

Response to George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant

Although many people believe that racism has disappeared from our minds after all those solutions of trying to set equal rights in the world’s history, it still exists today, and will probably never vanish from our thinking. Some may clearly express it, whereas others may express racism unnoticeably, even to themselves. George Orwell, in â€Å"Shooting an Elephant†, tells a story of his past when he killed an elephant in order to please the Burmese crowd. At the time, Orwell was a white Indian Imperial Police officer who was disliked by the country's natives due to the fact that he was European. One day, he heard of an elephant's doing of ravaging the town, so he ran to the scene with a rifle. When he finally arrived, he found himself observing a peacefully feeding elephant while a huge crowd of Burmans gathered excitedly to observe his future action. Even though he does not feel it right to shoot the elephant, he has this huge, unavoidable pressure from the Burmese crowd. Eventually, his final decision was to shoot the elephant and satisfy the natives' hunger for excitement. Although the situation must have been difficult from Orwell's perspective, his action of killing the elephant cannot be justified. George Orwell's situation was definitely burdensome, looking from his perspective. He had his beliefs and feelings; yet, he vividly felt the pressure dawning on him as the natives assembled at the scene, eagerly and impatiently waiting for him to simply shoot the elephant. Especially for a person who â€Å"was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British,† he must have experienced an unbearable moment of making a decision. We all experience such burdensome pressure numerous times, starting from school as a kid. Students have such thing called peer pressure, where you are usually forced to do make a decision of whether or not to follow others' ways. Whether in academic studies, sports, or social life, they always tend to end up following others' beliefs and ways. For instance, peer pressure is the reason why the number of students who smoke since young age is rapidly increasing. However, conforming to others' beliefs and ways means that person is lacking self-confidence and self-respect. In order to survive this world at least a little more joyfully, people must follow their own beliefs and practices as many times as possible. Even though he had his belief about killing the elephant, Orwell purely abandoned the idea of following his way, and concentrated on how to please the natives. Only after he carried out the action did he admit that he â€Å"had done it solely to avoid looking a fool,† meaning he had no self-confidence or self-respect. In fact, by doing so what he decided to do, Orwell became a fool who was too afraid to speak out his belief: that the elephant does not deserve to be killed. As Orwell states, â€Å"he wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. † Basically, people first hide their belief and conform to others’, then without knowing, they become to be one of them completely, losing their true selves. Following our own moral beliefs does not mean we must be ignorant of all outside beliefs. In other words, ignoring rules while living in a country with differing beliefs and laws is definitely a foolish act. For example, when I lived in Saudi Arabia, the national law forced us to wear black veils – called abbaya – like the local women outside home, and both the law and their belief forbid us to drink any kind of alcohol. Needless to say, we should not be fools as to go against any national laws to end up in prison, but our personal beliefs must still be kept safe. Furthermore, although Orwell faces a difficult situation, where he can either unnecessarily kill the elephant or decide not to, based on his own moral beliefs, he should have realized that he was the powerful one. Orwell explains his situation, â€Å"To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing – no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at. But I did not want to shoot the elephant. † It was a situation in which he could not help but act according to the natives’ expectations. Nevertheless, readers must not forget that he was the one in control and power, with the rifle in his hands, and the natives could neither physically harm him nor report that he did the wrong thing. This meant that he really could have protected his moral values, and be ignorant of what others desperately wanted him to do since he believed the action to be wrong. The result of standing up to our own beliefs and practices can mean conflict with others who have different ones. But another consequence is faith in ourselves, self-confidence in our identity and ability to carry out those beliefs. Maintaining these will help us survive our lives more successfully, although probably not easily; on the other hand, if we continue to conform to others’ beliefs, we will come to depend only on others and have no self-respect. Overall, the action of killing the elephant by George Orwell is not justified because, despite his moral belief about not killing the elephant, he went straight against it and shot the elephant, winning the natives’ expectations, and overcoming the boundary between them, but losing his true self and his beliefs.

Miller delivers tension Essay

Act two opens with a scene of great contrast to the climax at the end of Act one where the curtain falls on â€Å"their ecstatic cries†. In Act two, we begin to learn the relationship between John and Elizabeth in more detail. Miller creates a sense of tension and conflict between John and Elizabeth by using detailed stage directions to communicate to the audience how the actors are feeling and their thought tracks through their movement on stage and their facial expressions. The tension during Act two is made even more dramatic by contrasting with the coldness and quietness at the start of Act two. At the beginning of Act two, Miller has purposely included very detailed stage directions about how Proctor’s house should appear on stage. Firstly, Proctor’s common room is â€Å"low, dark and rather long† which although is common for a Puritan living room, it suggest an unpleasant atmosphere within the household. â€Å"As the curtain rises, the room is empty† is also included within the opening set of stage directions. The room is empty and still which again creates a contrast to the hysteria of Betty and Abigail’s accusations of witchcraft and the heated argument between John and Elizabeth. One reason for Miller to create this contrast could be that he wanted to make the peaceful start to Act two make the ending of Act one and the argument between John and Elizabeth seem more dramatic and to make parts of Act two with John and Elizabeth seem more controversial. As John enters the living room, he â€Å"halts† as he hears Elizabeth singing. Miller may have added this â€Å"halts† because John is not knowing what to expect Elizabeth to be like with him because of the unsaid words that still lie between them about John’s affair with Abigail, or because he is enjoying listening to Elizabeth’s singing. John could also be worried that Elizabeth may question his whereabouts of that afternoon because he is late returning home. Elizabeth’s first words are, â€Å"What keeps you so late? † which suggests to the audience that Elizabeth has a lack of trust in John because of John’s affair. John gives a credible explanation, â€Å"I were planting far out to the forest edge. † and then tries to start a conversation. However, Elizabeth’s responses are laconic, â€Å"Aye. â€Å", â€Å"That’s well. † and â€Å"Aye, it would. † which suggests that Elizabeth does not want to talk to John. This could be because Elizabeth is still hurt because of the relations between John and Abigail or because Elizabeth’s mind is elsewhere because of all the accusations of witchcraft circulating through out Salem at this time.

Gun control is an important part of controlling violence in our Research Paper

Gun control is an important part of controlling violence in our society - Research Paper Example It is important to place a balance between opponents and supporters of stringent gun laws. I neither support nor oppose this debate just like few Americans and the rest of the World. It is a fact that most people are used to gun culture and, I point this to the biased manipulation of the National Riffle Association, and at the same time discouraging that most Americans are placing gun ownership as a top priority. I do not deem someone must own a gun in order to be safe. Most of people who are civilized believe that possessing a gun poses them and their families a great risk. Unfortunately, a criminal is more likely to use your personal gun against you in the event of a squabble with him. People who are intelligent believe that it is even safer to dial 911 than own a gun. It is important to train with your gun regularly, or spend a full day shooting with a qualified instructor. Although this is a time consuming and expensive practice, it is the responsibility of the gun owner to follo w these simple but vital directions. As a student I need adequate security, and have owned guns for many years. The reason as to why I possess guns is to protect myself and family since the police may not respond quickly when called. Guns are important for self-defence given that it may not be possible for the police to arrive quickly if someone raids your premises or attacks you. Although you will blame the police for lack of co-operation, but this is not their problem. I possess a gun as well and really understand the significance of a gun to an individual. I do not believe there is any one who would wish for a world without guns. The world without guns could only be suitable if there could be no violence. Guns protect people from aggressive men who are always striving to do anything they want. This is where a man can commit a serious crime without the intervention of any one. Guards who are not armed are the most people at risk; a few weeks ago a prison guard was stabbed to death by an armed lone prisoner. This is an ultimate proof that gun ownership is very imperative for self defence. Another incident of lack of gun ownership is an attack involving several assailants. I can confidently conclude that a world without guns is not safe to both the rich and poor. It is a reality that owning a gun goes along way with responsibility, but regrettable that most guns kept in the home are most likely used by the owners to threaten family members or to commit suicide instead of self-defence. Gun control is increasingly creating serious attention from the United States of America government and the rest of the world after the appalling mass execution that took place in Connecticut many years ago. I do believe the most important factor to consider when focusing on this particular policy is the magnitude of damage caused by guns and its risks to people. Numerous people have died due to gun violence in the past. Currently the united states of America accounts for approxi mately 8,000 murders with firearms every year .According to the World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Disease, it states about 1,100,000 years of vigorous life is lost every year due to deliberate brutality. The research further states that approximately two thirds of this are equivalent to 650,000 years, which is about 1% of the entire trouble of disease and grievance in the United States. The research also suggests suicide accounts for years of healthy life lost than murder. According to Wiblin,

Letter Of Appeal Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter Of Appeal - Personal Statement Example However, it has been a contributing factor in my poor GPA scores up until now. This feeling of homesickness was exacerbated by being taught in a language other than my mother tongue. While my proficiency in English is very good, using it rather than my native language in full-time discourse does, as I’m sure you understand, take quite some getting used to. The period of adjustment this necessitated obviously had a direct effect on my academic results, but I have since accelerated my studies in English, and have been reading much more material and working harder at mastering the language, so that my studies should not suffer in the future. All of these factors left me with feelings of confusion, and a lack of direction and motivation. Not knowing what my goals were, either academically or in terms of a career, certainly meant that I had difficulty focusing on the work in hand. However, I have since resolved to work as hard as I can in order to get everything I can out of the academic experience on offer at New Haven. a I have, furthermore, not always been in an emotional state conducive to productive study. I come from a very close-knit family, and in the time I have been in the United States, two uncles, both of whom had been prominent figures in my life as I was growing up, and who were very dear to me, have sadly passed away. The feeling of desolation that such a loss left me with was only worsened by being so far away from my family group at this time of personal crisis. Of course, I would not claim that any of these factors, as important as they have been in bringing about the current situation, are completely responsible. I am willing to acknowledge that I have been guilty of putting a distinct lack of effort into some areas of my work. Of this I am not proud. However, I am writing to you to appeal for a reconsideration of my case in light of all of the above. I want

What Might Succession Be A Critical Point in the Development of the Essay

What Might Succession Be A Critical Point in the Development of the Family Owned-And-Managed SME - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises are the commercial organization that is related by marriage or blood and resolution creation is entirely influenced by several family generations. It is believed to be the oldest system of business organization that has advantages of commitment to quality and focuses in long term. It is critical for understanding circumstances that leads to unhealthy and healthy family SME. The family-owned SME is considered as common and oldest model of economic business organization. There are a massive majority of companies from multinational listed and corner shop listed administrations that can be regarded as the family owned small and medium-sized enterprises. The five critical points that involve at the development of family businesses are social capital, human capital, patient financial capital, low cost of governance and survivability capital. The inner circle and human capital are considered as the first resource and the primary element. In the form of external relationships and networking, the valuable social capital has been brought by the family members. The threat of liquidation is lessened by effective family relationships with managers and investors. The firms have an opportunity to provide emergency loans and free labor for survivability capital of their family members. In perspective to infrastructure dimension, the strengths of family firms are innovative, informal, entrepreneurial and flexible. The organizational structure is believed to be effective and simple. This is primarily because the hierarchical position of family-owned SME is simple. Family members have the better understanding of each other. This enables to family businesses to expand globally. Most of the family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises are considered to have compact informal training. The mixture of younger and older individuals adds something new to the family business operation. The family members involved in SME are believed to be more committed to help a business grow and survive. The employee relations for family businesses are better.

The Marketing Plan (optional company your pick) Research Paper

The Marketing Plan (optional company your pick) - Research Paper Example 1- 6). McDonalds primarily targets children and young adults for its products. This as a result identifies three major categories of the company’s audience. The first category is parents who take their children to restaurants. Another category consists of grown up children and youths who visit the stores on their own. Adults on tight work arrangements also form part of the company’s target population (McDonalds, p. 3). McDonalds’ pricing strategy is based on continuous research that identifies customers’ perceived value of its products. The company, as a result, builds its image and develops loyalty and utility among its customers. This is then used to determine prices at which customers are willing to pay for the products. Though the food industry is competitive, the company does not adopt pure price reduction because of it has marketing disadvantages (McDonalds, p. 5). The company is majorly a retail enterprise and focuses its distribution channels to its outlets. Strategic location of its outlets is therefore the main element of its product distribution (McDonalds, p. 1). McDonalds adopts a diversified approach to promoting its products. Its promotional initiatives include advertisements, â€Å"sales promotions, point of sales display, merchandising, direct mail, telemarketing and loyalty schemes† among others (McDonalds, p. 5). Advertising also employs different media forms that include print media in posters and magazines, audio media such as radio stations, and audiovisual media (McDonalds, p. 5). McDonalds major marketing strengths include its brand imaging and research based marketing strategies. Its major weakness is lack of innovation that leads to monotony in its product mix (McDonalds, p. 3). Wallace and Forte explains that a good market plan is economical, precise, â€Å"simple and easily understood, informative and customer oriented†

If no law is broken, is there anything wrong with dumping If so, when Essay

If no law is broken, is there anything wrong with dumping If so, when is it wrong - Essay Example According to Case 1.1, it is evident that the materials disposed of in the other countries are illegal in the US. Once there is an identification of products and goods as hazardous, all humans require warning about the damages associated with their use. Observation points out that the manufacturers in the US have no considerations regarding the human health because they disposed of the pajamas even after the CPSC labeled them as deadly to the health of the children. The toxicity in the pajamas causes kidney cancers to the children that foster their suffering, and it is wrong to allow their use. It is wrong to cause deaths knowingly to the fellow humans. For example, the baby pacifiers led to deaths of innocent children despite their banning. The case of exporting contaminated wheat and barley initiated deaths of 400 Iraqis while hospitalizing 5,000 others. The instance followed the export of the banned organic mercury fungicide from the US. The exporters had knowledge about the contamination of the wheat and barley but went ahead to sell them to the other nations. The morals hold that it is wrong to initiate death to the fellow individuals but proposes the spread a word of caution. Regardless of no laws broken, it is cruel to cause human suffering and sudden death. Morals should be self-guiding to keep the human race in

Marketing Plan Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing Plan - Coursework Example At the same time, one can enjoy the great taste of a carbonated drink with perfect nutritional intake. VegShot is being launched by Unilever. The name ‘Unilever’ is familiar to everyone. The name itself represents reliability and ensures quality. Unilever is a British-Dutch multi-national corporation, established in 1890s, which is operating in nearly 180 countries, possessing more than 400 brands. It has 167000 employees, as of 2010, belonging to 22 different nationalities. It is a global market leader in all Food categories including Savory, Spreads, Dressings, Tea and Ice Cream as well as in Mass Skin Care and Deodorants and has very strong positions in different Home and Personal Care categories. Its portfolio ranges from nutritionally balanced foods to indulgent ice creams, affordable soaps, luxurious shampoos and everyday household care products. The vision of Unilever is based upon the four pillars: To create a better future every day. To help people feel good, lo ok good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. To inspire people to take small everyday actions that can add up to a big difference for the world.

Prayer in Counseling Essay Example for Free

Prayer in Counseling Essay In Eriksen and Weld’s journal article, the writers contend that spirituality and prayer is being utilized more and more by mental health practitioners and counselors. The concept of prayer within the counseling session is something that was considered for a long time but the actual use of spirituality practices is more frequently being used today. This particular article is based upon the data retrieved from two tests that were done on first time counselees and their practitioners. All of the counselees were Christians and results were based on what their expectations were regarding prayer and spirituality inventions. The test also surveyed what the beliefs and practices were of the counselors. Ultimately, the test showed that most counselees preferred the introduction of prayer within the sessions. They wished audible prayer was initiated by the counselor. Additionally, the test results also showed that clients expected prayer and even prefer that counselors or practitioners pray for them outside the prayer sessions as well. Another interesting thing that the test results showed was that religious natured conservatives preferred prayer more than the liberals of a religious nature. Overall, the studies from this article resulted in a confirmation that prayer is therapeutic and healthy for the clients. According to the article, spirituality has already been linked to a sturdy well-being and even secular counselors have used prayer intervention in sessions. There are many therapists that do not believe in mixing psychology with theology, however; the results seem to point to the fact that prayer intervention and spirituality produces effectiveness in psychotherapy sessions. There has been some controversy about using prayer in counseling such as improper use of prayer in counseling. In some cases, practitioners may not be trained properly to incorporate prayer and this could result in a damaged relationship between client and counselor. In some cases there are counselors that may not value prayer within the session but their clients may find it important. On the contrary, one of the studies showed that there were more counselors that valued prayer than their counselees. With these barriers to consider, research and examination of spirituality and prayer in counseling will be pursued further. Interaction It was quite amazing to see how high of a percentage of practitioners actually incorporate prayer with the counseling. There was a time when educators did not suggest using prayer or spirituality in the counseling sessions due to the delicacy of the subject of religion. Also, as a former secular counselor, there was some concern that many of the clients were not Christians and there may be offense taken by the client. After reading this journal article, it is enlightening to find out that many clients prefer prayer especially since many counselors are Christians now. Since there is very little research on the subject of prayer intervention, further research is crucial so that counselors can learn the proper way to incorporate prayer into the therapy session. Although the authors covered a pair of research studies on how effective prayer is to the success of the counseling session, it wasn’t sufficient enough to say that the majority of people who come to counseling prefer prayer. The article covered a lot about proven effectiveness of spirituality with counseling but there needs to be more on how to properly incorporate the two entities. Prayer is enlightening to many counselors but it is still a sensitive subject and needs to be weaned in the right way. It is this author’s assertion that prayer can be enlightening and beneficial to the mental health from personal experiences. The application of prayer and Biblical scriptures has been so uplifting for many clients but there are many out there that do not know the benefits of prayer. Dialogue is crucial when initiating prayer in the counseling session so the counselor needs to be well educated on the techniques. Spirituality and prayer has been utilized by this counselor and has been an integral tool in problem solving and keeping clients happy. As a Christian counselor, prayer for the client can be done after sessions whether the client wants it or not but during sessions should be carefully applied. It is because of this article that this author will study and investigate how to incorporate prayer carefully into the counseling session. Application It is because of this article that this author will study and investigate how to incorporate prayer carefully into the counseling session. Eriksen and Weld’s journal is an important tool and this author has definitely learned a lot from this reading. A client that comes in for grief counseling or depression would benefit from the therapeutic use of prayer. This author would carefully incorporate the Biblical scriptures as well as prayer on and off sessions because it is expected of a Christian. Since religion of any form is very sensitive for many people, this counselor will make sure to learn the best way to initiate it and use it throughout the counseling sessions. Another benefit in utilizing prayer is the trust building of the client for the practitioner so therefore; this author will utilize prayer to promote a great relationship. This author will make sure that the client is confident enough to share their feelings about prayer and spirituality. First and foremost, it will be disclosed in the very beginning that the author is a Christian. After listening to the client and finding his or her comfort level, Spirituality will somehow be introduced in the session whether it is in the form of reading Biblical scriptures or facilitating a prayer. In the past, this author has used prayer with counselees in and after sessions, but now realizes the sensitivity of how to apply it. It has been welcomed by both non-Christians and Christians but the article has shed the light on how detrimental an improper application of Spirituality and prayer can be to the counseling relationship.

The Rationales And Strategies For Change Management Essay

The Rationales And Strategies For Change Management Essay In this highly competitive global market organizations are pron to any change in global economic environment. The rise of highly efficient global and domestic competitors, the rapid technological development and global economic downturn like that of 2007, are some of external and internal pressures that have forced organizations to change the way they manage their business processes. In order to increase their efficiency, minimize their operation cost and increase their competitiveness, organizations are going through changes such as Downsizing, implementing new technology or merger. Considering the current economic downturn many organizations took drastic measure to insure their survival in the global market by downsizing their operation to the level where they can stay competitive. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview on the rationale behind organizations going through change and the strategy implemented by organization. Accordingly, the paper examined the rationale and strategies used by changing organizations: GM Holden, Ford and Fletcher building supply, due the current economic crisis. Organizational change-Downsizing For decades because of instability in the global business environment organizations often finds themselves facing the need to change their way of operations. The current economic crisis which started in 2007 was a good scenario where many organizations had to take Transformative change to counter slowing global economy (Brown and Harvey 2001). The demand for product and services worldwide slammed to the lowest level which forced organizations to downsize their operations and employee number in order to minimize their operational costs. In 2009 car manufacturing company GM-Holden downsized its vehicle production to 310 a day. Holden closed its afternoon shift and operate only one shift per day. Even though Holden downsized its vehicle production it managed to keep its 3000 workforce at Elizabeth plant. The production line operates in two teams, each working one week on and one week off (The Age 2009). Similarly Ford car manufacturing company cut a round 350 employees in 2008 and close d it Geelong engine manufacturing plant in 2010 (The Age 2008). The other organization to downsize in 2009 was Fletcher Building Supply Company where a bout 2500 staff members was slashed across all operations inline with falling demand for building material around the world (The Australian 2009). From the above example we can clearly see that downsizing was the strategy implemented in countering the challenges these organizations were facing in the global market. Downsizing is a set of activities designed to improve organizations performance and by scaling down business processes, workforce and operational costs (Farrell and Mavondo 2005). In case of Holden the company prefer to keep its employee while it reduces the output while Ford and Fletcher prefer to downsize their employee and close down some of their operations. The rational for the change including external and internal pressures? According Chief executive Jonathan Ling of Fletcher (2009), due to slowing down in construction of residential houses around the world the company have taken a range of initiative to scale down manufacturing capacity of the company by retrenching workers and closing down braches to keep the profit margin. This was echoed by Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary (2008) who claims that the demand in six-cylinder vehicle and further deterioration in global economy forced Ford to shade some employee and closed down its engine manufacturing plant in Geelong. According to Holdenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Spokesman Scott Whiffing (2009), Holden downsized its volume of production due to the falling demand of its V6 vehicles and the scraping of its G8 US lucrative export deal by its Parent company General Motors (GM). In addition, the increasing demand for smaller and fuel efficient cars in global market forced Holden to shift from manufacturing bigger fuel consuming cars to small cars that are economical for consumers. From the above reasons given by these organizations, global financial crisis was the external factor causing companies to take drastic transformative changes in order to survive in this highly competitive global market. The internal reason is the need to satisfy their shareholders by cutting costs to keep the profit margin. In addition, these organizations fail to have vision in to the demand of the market place. Car manufacturing companies like Holden and Ford failed to notice the shift in demand before the financial crisis hit the global market. This allows companies like to Toyota to easily out pace Holden and Ford and become dominant in the market place. Change Strategy used by Organization There are different strategies to implement planned organizational changes. It could be either incremental or transformative change strategy. In the case of Holden the company has implemented Participative change which is incremental transformation. During downsizing employees were participating in the planning of the change and they show willingness to work one week on and off to help the company challenge the current economic slowdown. Holden managed to keep it work force which will enables the company to cope with production of new small cars in 2010 (The Age 2009). In the case of Ford it uses Dictorial transformation strategy to implement its transformative change from being only a large car maker to add small car to its line-up by 2011. Similarly Fletcher is undergoing Dictorial transformation by downsizing its employee and closing down its manufacturing to insure its balance sheet is up float. According to Fletcher, it would also impose a freeze on remaining staff salaries and directors fees for 2010. 2.0 Comparing the Rationales and Strategies Are there commonalities that emerge? Despite of different strategies companies could implement during in need of change to secure their survival, there is a trend emerging where downsizing seem the only solution exercised by many CEO during time of crisis. Most organizations cut back their work processes or their worker during economic down turn, however researches shows down sizing is becoming a common practice regardless of the status of the economic environment(Jeffrey and Pfeffer 2010). Only one in six organizations interviewed in 1995 responded not to have downsized between 1993 and 1995(Bordia, Hobman, Paulsen, and Tourish, 2004). For example Fletcher decision to downsize their production and manpower, seems that the company was following what other organization was doing in the global market. The organization was reacting to the temporary problem arisen during the financial crisis. The shrinking market for large vehicles around the world forced car manufacturing company like Ford to lay off their worker and close down their worker. The downsizing was in response to drop in demand and due to shift of product market. Similarly Holden reacted to the crisis by cutting down product size. In all cases above, downsizing was the solution use by these organizations to cut their operational cost. It seems that they all have the same reason why they implement downsizing as strategy to face the financial but they have different way implementing it. Are some rationales and strategies presented as more legitimate than the others? In your option why might be the case? Some of the rationale and strategy presented are more legitimate than the others. If we take in the case of Holden the organization seem to understand the rationale well when they implemented downsizing as their strategy. It is important they cut down their production volume however since the problem is temporary the solution is also temporary. Holden use the situation as their advantage to structure their business processes and prepare for the future competition in the global market. The reason behind not to let go of their worker was firstly the organization valued the skilled workers who would necessary when the company introduce new small car model in 2010. For that reason the company avoided not only the cost involving laying of workers but also rehiring (Jeffrey, and Pfeffer, 2010). Secondly Holden understood the extent to which downsizing could impact the moral of the workers that are staying behind. According annual investigative industry report subsequent reductions in manpo wer have negative impact on performance (Farrell, and Mavondo, 2005). In addition Holden took involuntary downsizing with the participation and consultations of its employee. This helped Holden to minimize employee distrust on the organization. In contrary Fletcher Pty seems to care about fixing their balance sheet. The company seems to miss that the current slump in residential housing was not as result of over supply instead was due to financial crisis. The demand for residential construction is still high but it slowed down due to affordability. When the demand is high again Fletcher will be in bad position compare to its competitors. Where as Ford didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have choice it needed to cut down staff and downsize its production at Geelong plant was due to aging model of its four-wheel model and its small car was imported as the result it was necessary in long-term to downsize it business processes. There fore Ford took downsizing associated with long-term business processes restructuring (Farrell, and Mavondo, 2005). There fore its legitimate to implement downsizing in the time of crisis however it should not only focused on the current issue but the long-term strategy to gain competitive advantage in the global market. To what extent are single or multiple rationale and strategy utilised? What conclusion can you draw from these? There are circumstances in which layoffs are necessary for a firm to survive. Some time changes due to technological implementation makes downsizing feel like only solution. In the current economic crisis downsizing was a major strategy to be implemented by many organization. The external and internal pressure that generated from this crisis was the reason behind these changes. In many cases organization are mainly interested in finding an immediate solution to the crisis rather than long-term solution. This is because organizations are mainly concerned with the shareholder interest rather than the local economy or interest of employee (Burdos, 2002). In case of Holden, Ford and Fletcher downsizing was the only strategy implemented to cut cost of operation and restructuring purpose. This shows that in time crisis cost cutting is the prime target of an organization to stay competitive in the global market.

What Is Healthy Lifestyle Physical Education Essay

What Is Healthy Lifestyle Physical Education Essay Healthy lifestyle, which means healthy physical and mental health, may be one of the treasures that everyone is chasing. AIA Singapore today announced findings of the AIA Healthy Living Index Survey which show that almost all Singaporeans agree healthy living is important. However, citizens living in the modern society may not lead a healthy lifestyle, because people might be stuck with heavy work and pressure. The poor eating diet, sedentary habit and lack of rest directly result in the unhealthy condition. Seriously, the unhealthy lifestyle may cause disease and mortality. Understanding healthy lifestyle is urgent. What is healthy lifestyle? Healthy lifestyle is the way of living which keep mans health in a good condition. A healthy lifestyle always consists of a good diet, adequate exercise and sufficient quality rest. 1. A good diet Eating healthily does not mean to intake strict amount nutrition every day, to stay unrealistically thin, or to separate you from favorite food. A good diet consists of healthy drinking diet and eating diet. A health corporation called Mayo Clinic (2012) said the adequate water intake for a healthy man is roughly 2.2 liters per day which is far more than 7 bottles. Water can be carrier of the chemical materials in our bodies. If you do not intake enough water, your body will not carry out the particular functions and easily result in tiredness. According to Pandalache (2012) healthy eating is having food feeling great, having more energy, stabilizing your mood, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible. 2. Adequate exercise Exercise can be an important and functional tool ranging from releasing stress and depression to preventing disease and strengthening bodies. Healthy exercise habit means proper amount and time. Research news from Roberts (2010) suggests that 15 minutes exercise a day can boost life expectancy by three years and cut death risk by 14%. Heavy exercise may not benefit your body. According to research (Bumgardner, 2012) on lung function, body rhythms, temperature, and hormone levels, the best time to exercise is around 6 pm. If you can keep a normal exercise habit every day, healthy body is not far away. 3. Sufficient quality rest. Chasing health lifestyle, healthy sleeping is one of the most essential factors. Generally speaking, sleeping is a process for our nerve and body to recover. According to an article (Smith, Robinson Segal, 2012), keeping a regular sleep schedule and eating right and getting exercise can easily give you a high quality sleep. Adults should sleep at least 6 hours a day to keep body getting enough rest. Keeping healthy needs lots of knowledge. Are the people educated well healthier? We carry out a research to find the lifestyle of undergraduates at National University of Singapore (NUS). 2. Methodology The interviewers were divided into 6 groups which were in charge of different faculties. Each group went to a particular faculty and selected respondents randomly. Respondents included 103 undergraduate-student volunteers, some of whom are attending the exchange courses in NUS. Initially, the participants were requested to complete a questionnaire (appendix 1). Afterwards, they were interviewed a few questions; and finally all the data were collected together and analyzed. Here is the information of respondents ¼Ã… ¡ And the relevant questionnaire is attached in the Appendix 1. 3. Results and Discussion The purpose of this research is to find how healthy NUS undergraduates are. As a healthy lifestyle is determined by dietary habits, exercise routines and rest patterns, the report will introduce the results in three parts. 3.1 Dietary habits Our data about drinking water are as follow: Figure 3.1.1 How many bottles of water do you drink every day? (250ml per bottle) Figure 3.1.2 how often do you eat breakfast? Figure 3.1.1 shows the response to the question How many bottles of water do you drink every day? (250ml per bottle) As we can see, only 9.71% of the respondents said that they drank more than 7 bottles. In contrast, 90.29% said less than 7 bottles. This latter finding (percentage) is alarming; especially nearly half chose less than 4 bottles. According to Mayo Clinic (2012), the adequate water intake for a healthy man is roughly 2.2 liters per day which is far more than 7 bottles. Water is the base of life, and it can be carrier of the chemical materials in our bodies. Additionally, when you do not intake enough water, your body will not carry out the particular functions and easily result in tiredness. Hence, there are needy to be better persuading undergraduates to drink more water. The table 3.1.2 shows the results of the question How often do you eat breakfast? The column on the very left indicates that 9 out of 103 interviewers never eat breakfast. In contrast, the very right column shows that nearly 37% respondents have breakfast very regularly. It can be seen from the column that most respondents chose the medium extent. University undergraduates might often surrounded by various tasks, ranging from presentation to research report. The heavy assignments may contribute to the irregular breakfast. Particularly, maybe the engineer students are blessed with the heaviest work, fewest engineer undergraduates have breakfast regularly. In addition, breakfast provided the energy for the whole morning; hence, undergraduates need to consume breakfast more regularly. 3.2 Exercise routines Our data about exercise time are as follow in figure 3.2.1 Figure 3.2.1 what time do you often exercise? Figure 3.2.2 how often do you exercise every week? The subject of this table Figure 3.2.1 is the time when do the graduates exercise mostly. And Figure 3.2.2 shows the response of the frequency of exercise. As we can see, around 45.63% of the respondents exercise at 3:00-9:00pm. However, there still exists several students chose morning or late at night. Also the gram shows 51.46% of the interviewees said they exercise once a week or less than that. It can be seen in general, NUS undergraduates exercise between 3:00 pm to 9:00, as the arrangement of the lectures may contribute to this. Probably because the compulsory courses may usually arranged in the morning or at noon, and the respondents may be free in the evening. Luckily, this might be one of the causes of graduates healthy exercise habit, as according to scientific research, doing exercise in this period may benefit most of people. However, the frequency may be alarming, as according to BBC news (Roberts, 2010), exercise 15 minutes every day is minimum for health. Again, the h eavy school work may contribute to this frustrating frequency. To conclude, there is a need for NUS undergraduates to exercise more. 3.3 Sleep patterns Our data about sleep are as follow: Figure 3.3 do you often wake up during the night? If yes, how many times do you wake up from sleep on average? From figure 3.3, we can see that the data are presented in descending order, with the highest number listed at the very left column and the lowest number listed at the very right column. More than 65% respondents never woke up and the rest mainly chose woke up 1-2 times. These findings is extremely satisfying, especially most undergraduates never woke up which means high sleeping quality. Again, the heavy work may contribute to the high sleeping quality, as NUS students generally sleep late with tired body and easily to fall asleep. Scientifically (Smith, Robinson Segal, 2012), almost everyone wakes up at night, but few can remember later unless people with mental disease. Hence, the NUS undergraduates sleeping quality is extreme high. 4. Conclusion In conclusion, the results of this study provide some amazing insights into the healthy lifestyle of NUS undergraduate students, including the diet, exercise and sleeping. Contrary to what we predicted, the undergraduates may not be so healthy. Though the academic work is important, heath is much more essential. On the other hand, if one is taking a long test or working long hours at a tedious task that requires strong body, one may be break down without healthy body. The mixed results of this study suggest that undergraduates should concentrate more on their health. 5. Reference AIA. (2011). Despite low Healthy Living Index score, Singaporeans desire remains strong for a better quality of life for themselves and their families AIA Healthy Living Index survey also shows Singaporeans believe companies should play a bigger role in helping their employees lead healthier lives Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.aia.com.sg/en/resources/cf07bb004afd24878492d4fe179089c3/AIA_healthy_living_index_survey_findings_sg.pdf Mayo Clinic. (2012). Water: How much should you drink every day? Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283 Pandalache, A.(2012). HEALTHY EATING WHAT IS IT? Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://collegetimes.ie/healthy-eating-what-is-it/ Roberts, M. (2011). 15-minute daily exercise is bare minimum for health. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14526853 Bumgardner, W. (2012). The Best Time of Day to Walk and  Exercise. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://walking.about.com/cs/beginners/a/besttime.htm Smith, M., Robinson, L. Segal, R. (2012). How to Sleep Better TIPS FOR GETTING A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm 6. Appendix Appendix 1 The interview questionnaire Survey on Lifestyle of NUS Undergraduates We are pre-matriculation students in the SM2 program (NUS) doing our research project as partial fulfillment of our English module. The objective of the survey is to gather information on the lifestyles of NUS undergraduates. (Please circle the correct options) Faculty: __________________ Gender: M / F Nationality: Singaporean / Others __________________ Race: Chinese/Malay/Indian/others _____________ Year: 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th How long do your meals usually last? (tick the appropriate box) Breakfast Lunch Dinner Less than 20 min 20 to 40 min 40 to 60 min More than 60 min How much water do you drink every day? (assume a bottle = 250 ml) Less than 4 bottles 4 to 7 bottles More than 7 bottles Do you eat the following meals every day? (you may circle as many as apply) Breakfast between breakfast and lunch Lunch Afternoon tea Dinner Food taken late at night Are you regular in eating your breakfast? Never eat it 1 2 3 4 5 Very regular Mostly, what time do you exercise in a day? 4a.m.10a.m. 10a.m.3p.m. 3p.m.9p.m. 9p.m.12p.m. Others. When is it?____________ How long do you exercise each time on average? Less than 15 minutes 15-30 minutes 30-90 minutes More than 90 minutes How many times do you do sports every week? A. 0 ~ 1 time B. 2 ~ 4 times C. 5 ~ 7 times D. More than 7 times Which group of sports do you prefer? Group A: Walking, Jogging, Skating, Swimming, Cycling, Taiji, Body Mechanics; Group B: Racing, Weightlifting, Muscle Training, Long Jump High Jump, Basketball, Soccer, Tennis, almost all kinds of oppositional movements Greatly prefer Group A 1 2 3 4 5 Greatly Prefer Group B How much of your day do you spend sitting? 11. Do you often wake up during the night? If yes, how many times do you wake up from sleep on average? A. I never wake up during the night. B. Wake up 1-2 times. C. Wake up 3-4 times. D. More than 4 times. How much time do you need to fall asleep? A. less than 7 minutes B. 7 -30 minutes C. 30-60 minutes D. more than an hour 13. Do you play with computer or your cellphone in bed before sleeping? A. everyday B. very often but not everyday C. sometimes D. seldom or never Thank you very much for your participation!

censorhf We Should Not Ban the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

We Should Not Ban the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn There is a current debate that the description of Jim in the novel "Huckleberry Finn" is racist leading to some schools banning it from their libraries. Jim's character is described as an uneducated and simple sounding; illiterate slave and some people have looked upon this characterization as racist. Jim is depicted as a slave in the south during a period when slavery was common place and widely accepted as the way of life. Slaves of this time period were not provided any formal education; never allowed any independent thought and were constantly mistreated and abused. The author in my opinion is merely describing how a slave spoke in those days and was trying to give you the true feeling behind his thought, while writing this tale. Despite a few instances in which Jim's description might be misconstrued as being racist, such as the use of the word "nigger", the reader should be able to understand that this is a fictional portrayal of two boys, one white and one black, d uring a time when slavery was common place. There is an obvious contrast of the mind set depicted in Twain's novel compared to then and now. The use of the word "nigger" is most certainly a very slanderous slang term that is not socially acceptable in present times. The dialect in which Jim is speaking indicates how Jim spoke do to his lack of education and refinement that white people refused to provide to slaves. This provision was not permitted as white slave owners viewed blacks as property and as being unable to learn proper grammar and structure of the English language. Some historians have stated that this was also so because it allowed the white's to maintain control over their slaves in order to "keep the upper hand", so to speak. We as a modern society should maintain an open mind when dealing with literary works such as Huckleberry Finn and bare in mind that novels such as these are written during socially diverse and sometimes opposite ways of thinking. We should not ban a literary work such as Huckleberry Finn simply because it is not accepted by modern day standards.

Starbucks Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Star Bucks Problem Statement Howard Shultz and the senior management at Starbucks have to decide how to react to the opportunities that are being made available because of their rapid growth. The decision for a strategic growth plan has to be made in the near future. This will prove to be key for Starbucks reaching their long-term goal of becoming the most recognized and respected brand of coffee in the world. Situation Analysis Starbucks is currently the industry leader in specialty coffee. They purchased more high quality coffee beans than anyone else in the world and keep in good standings with the producers to ensure they get the best beans. Getting the best beans is only the first part, Starbucks also has a â€Å"closed loop system† that protects the beans from oxygen immediately after roasting to the time of packaging. They did this through their invention of a one-way valve which let the natural gasses escape but keeping oxygen out. This gave them the unique ability to ensure freshness and extended the shelf life to 26 weeks. Starbucks isn’t only about the coffee, it’s also about a place where people can escape to enjoy music, reflect, read, or just chat. It is a total coffee experience. The retail outlet has been responsible for much of Starbucks growth and has contributed substantially to their brand equity. The Starbucks case doesn’t mention many weaknesses. The main one, however, is their supply chain operations. This hasn’t caused any problems yet but they mention that handling four business units is becoming challenging. They have yet to come up with a long-term solution for such possible problems. As mention earlier Starbucks has many opportunities of which it can take advantage. These include a joint venture with McDonald’s, where the restaurant giant would supply its customers with Starbucks coffee. Another is the bottled Frappuccino product that Pepsi and Starbucks have created. This has had a very positive response in the test markets and posses to be a lucrative option. Starbucks could also look at the vertical integration possibility of producing its own beans. This could prove to be very successful if they can capture a significant amount of the production they could become a price setter in the coffee commodities. Also because small coffee retail outlets are so trendy it is possible for them to set ... ...nal locations in the heaviest coffee drinking countries. This has to be done quickly as to get the jump on other that may also be considering this type of a move. At the same time they should be selling franchise right for the coffee carts. This will provide an increased cash flow as well. During all of this Starbucks should be looking at coffee producers who are in financial trouble or are looking at selling their farms. This has to be done discretely as not to cause unnecessary bad press. After they run a couple of these coffee producing farms for a few years they should be able to see how the whole operation works and determine its viability. Once it’s proven viable they should send out simultaneous offers to the biggest producers as to catch them and other coffee companies off guard. Starbucks also should be getting into the bottled Frappuccino as soon as possible. They should leave the introduction of the product up to Pepsi because of their past experience. They should leave their entry into the grocery store market until some of these other strategies are implemented. This will prove to be the best strategy for Starbucks being able to reach their long-term gaol.

Brief Shoe Horn Sonata Essay

A wise man once said, â€Å"In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends†. Two women who go through horrific scenes of war and ill treatment of the Japanese but their friendship is what gives them purpose, comfort and strength to carry on. Though after fifty years of the War and of being separated they have no ill feelings toward the Japs but are emotionally torn by their separation. This is the story of The Shoe Horn Sonata. The Shoe-Horn Sonata is characterised by having a two act structure, two main time frames, two settings and two main characters. The two sets are: the television studio and the motel room. These are visually presented depersonalised and simple, allowing theatrical flexibility. The interplay of dialogue, music, sound effects and projected images work together to create wartime setting and an extra emotional dimension to the play. The audience’s proximity to the stage enhances the intimacy created by the bareness of the stage and the re-connection of the two main characters: Bridie an Australian Army Nurse & Sheila a British Civilian. The broad emotional feel of the play is embedded in the dialogue of the script that uses idiomatic expression and juxtaposition to individualise the characters personalities and backgrounds. Descriptive Language is used to recapture the past, exposing fears, secrets and hopes. Humour is also used to soften some of the horrors of the past. The conversational tone of the interview sessions add explicit detail while establishing the creditability of the witnesses. Music complements the visual action of the text. The lyrics of songs and the chosen music illuminates multiple interpretations of ‘sonata’ within the play in that the music often functions to relay historical events and the more personal story of Bridie and Sheila. Even when the numbers in their choir decimated they continued for they thought it was up to them to carry on. We sang our sonata whenever we could so the camp would know there was still music left†. Music therefore became pivotal to their survival, a symbol of willpower and determination. This is seen in Act One, Scene 3 with the singing of ‘Jerusalem’. It highlights the historical context of the scene and it is also sung by Bridie and Sheila to help them get through their ordeal of waiting in the water when their ship had been sunk. These projected images reinforce the historical accuracy of what is being said. It allows the audience to visualise not only the action between the two main protagonists but also of the projected images. These images juxtapose and resonate deeply within the responder. These images are a background to the dialogue and show a glimpse in the past containing photographs of ships burning in Singapore Harbour, the Japanese invasion and the malnutrition of prisoners at war. They effectively communicate information and ideas as well as linking the past to the present. Light is another among the many other visual devices used in the play to help develop themes and characters. It is used simply and effectively to create atmosphere within the text, as well as to draw attention to the characters. This is done through the interplay of light and dark, via spotlighting, blackouts and fade outs. When Bridie and Sheila are emotionally separated they are often lit separately, whereas once reconciled by the end of the play, they are lit in partnership. This also highlights the power of the theme friendship in the play. As they dance, the lights gradually fade while the spotlight shines on the shoe horn. This visually indicates its symbolic importance, as an object that brought them together, forced them apart and then in the end reunited them. Therefore it is evident through the various effective visual and literary techniques, that this distinctively visual texts convey distinctive experiences and therefore change the way we view visual elements and our perception of them.

Is Single Life or Married Life Better Essay

In my culture, you used to be required to be married in order to be treated as a grown up or an adult. That concept had been in my culture for more than a thousand years. As time changed, that concept has somewhat changed too. Nowadays, being married in an option. Many people prefer to stay single and are living happily with their choices, but many others disagree. They think that you need to be married to achieve ultimate happiness. So, what are the differences between being married and being single? The three most popular arguments between a married life and a single life are freedom, social ife and finance. Let’s start with the first difference: freedom, since it is the first thing you give up when you marry to someone. Coming along with marriage is responsibilities, it means that you have to take care of your partner, your children, you cannot just decide to do anything on your own anymore. You can’t take off and do anything you want anymore, because most of your time will be dedicated to your family. So, whenever you want to go out with your friends, you need to ask your partner for permission. Things are ifferent when you are single. When you are single, you have full control over your life, you are not bound to any responsibility but your own. If you need to take a break from the stress from your work, you can just take off by yourself. When you want to go out with your friends, you don’t need to ask anyone’s permissions. In contrast, you have busy life taking care of you parent and your children, and you don’t get enough time to go out and enjoy yourself. If you’re married, you don’t have to worry about your social life. It won’t be a hassle if you ecide to go out or need someone to hang out with because your partner will always be there. Since you and your parent have become a package, your amount of friends will become double concluding your partner’s source of friends. You get to meet more people with more choices of activity. But, things are much more difficult for a single person than a married couple in social life. People who are single always have to worry about their companion whenever they are out. They don’t have such a stable friend or partner every time they go out. Instead, they need to call many friends before they find a suitable partner for the night, or they need to spend more time making new friends. Also their choices of activity are limited and predictable since there are only some activity for single person. So in comparison, people who are married will save time in finding a partner for their social activity with a lot more choices. Last but not least, finance. It is very controversy topic whether you will save more money staying single or earn more money being a married couple. According to Tom Van Riper on Forbes. com, married couples have the advantage in the short term compared to single life, where only 9. 3% of monthly gross income goes for rent compared with 23% for single, 5. 6% vs. 8. 3% for food, 1% vs. 1. 8% for cable television, and 1. 2% vs. 2. 8% for telephone bill. In addition, auto insurers place married couple in a lower risk class, saving them money on car insurance. On the other hand, once the children enter the picture, which can bring a married couple in financial trouble, a child’s cost can goes up to $4000 per onth ascending in ages. Despite the expenses, single people actually do better in buying houses. Annually, standard deduction for a single person is $4,750 per year, where married couple stands at $7,950 per year. Moreover, married couple tend to start saving for retirement early on, while singles generally wait until they’re 40, which means singles have more free cash in their pocket than married couple. As I stated in the introduction, nowadays, being single or married is a choice, which many eople choose differently according to the perks they encountered. But beyond the perks, you need to choose wisely with another point of view where you can acknowledge advantage and disadvantage of being single or married. Married life comes with responsibility, where you need make the correct decisions every day and taking care of your partner and your children; while single life offers freedom, escape from the burden of responsibilities, but lonely in the late years of your life. It has been always a tough decision.

One Today- Poem Analysis Essay

Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama’s second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled â€Å"One Today† that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who’s daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is. Blanco uses several rhetorical devices throughout â€Å"One Today†, more so in the first few stanzas. An example of figurative language he used was the repetition of certain words or similar words in order to create a flow within the poem. My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors† is a line in the poem that best represents this. Blanco also uses personification to give a better description of the beauty that he is describing, such as â€Å"plum blush of dusk†. Another use of figurative language found in stanza four is the repetition of the word â€Å"hands† which he uses to represent the many hard-working hands of America and the things they do to contribute to the well-being of the country. The word choice in the poem is a big part of what I think ties the whole poem together, and creates a theme that carries through each stanza. As you read the poem you will notice the excessive use of the word â€Å"one† which is most often featured at the beginning of a stanza and followed by something that connects everyone in the country together. An example of this is the first line in the fourth stanza of the poem, which reads â€Å"One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat and hands†¦ . Another example is the use of words that represent movement. â€Å"Rose, charging, crescendoing, teeming, launching, jetting† are all words used throughout the poem that outline the daily movement that occurs in the lives of American citizens. In the sixth stanza of the poem Blanco gives examples of the many different ways that you may hear U. S residents say hello. I think that he did this to represent the many different cultures that make up the population of the United States, and the vast amount of languages that they speak. I think the tone and voice that this poem has is that of pride and patriotism. The author does this by outlining the good qualities that the United States has to offer. However he does this is in such away that it does not sound like bragging, because he does not boast about all of the beauty or things that America is known for but rather the people who work to make it this way and how these things bring them together. â€Å"One Today† is of course written in a formal manner because of the occasion that that it was written for. That is why it does not contain any humour, abbreveations or informal language. I think that the voice that the author used in this poem fit the occasion perfectly because it was straight forward, easily understandable and relatable to any American citizen. The sentence structure of this poem is unlike a lot of poems that you might see where the lines are of equal length and contain the same amount of sylables. Rather than taking that approach, Blanco’s poem contained senteneces, and lines that were all of different length. For example, in the second stanza blanco included two very long lines that included dashes and comma’s because he was creating a list. Some of the very short lines feautured throughout the poem occur beacause the sentence was too long to fit into the line before and was continued in the next line. After I applied all of these craft techniques to the poem â€Å"One Today† it helped me to better understand why the author wrote it the way that he did.

Eliminating Prejudice and Discrimination Inside the Classroom Essay

The rich and colorful diversity of today’s society is very evident to many classrooms in most parts of the world. It is indeed that mere educating of the children is no longer enough nowadays as such the educational setting is even more revolutionized. Since the students of this generation are exemplified with different learning styles and habits, level of intelligence, cultural orientation and socio-economic background, there must be high observance on the implementation of multicultural education in every classroom of the world. The schools and learning environments must work for all the aspects and must consider the diverse cultures of the communities they serve. Nevertheless, the observance of multicultural education to some countries remains a dilemma for many administrators and teachers as well as on the part of the students. The administrators and teachers encounter problems on the integration of the curriculum and other activities in order to suffice the various needs of the different orientation of the students. The students, on the other hand, suffer dilemma on the equal treatment of the teacher and other students in terms of the curriculum and relationship among them which commonly leads to great prejudice and discrimination inside the classroom. One of the great challenges of today’s classroom in terms of this multicultural education approach is the inclusive education for the special students in the community. Many educators find difficulties on the inclusion of the special students together with the normal students since it is presumed that they have a significant difference in terms of learning styles and habits, level of intelligence and skills, and many others. Hence, it is very essential for the different educational institutions to have an in-depth understanding on the importance of multicultural approach in education as well as the inclusive education for the special students. This paper tries to provide a thorough discussion of the paradigm of multicultural education, the inclusive education for special students and the strategies for the administrators and teacher to successfully observe and maintain multicultural education for the special students. Pros and Cons of Multicultural Education Over the past three decades, multicultural education has been recognized as one of the avenues for educational reform (Ramsey, et. al. 2003). Multicultural education is defined as an educational reform movement which incorporates the idea that all students, regardless of gender, social class, and ethnic, racial, or cultural characteristics, should have an equal opportunity to acquire education in school (Banks & Banks 2009). It is through the concept of equal opportunities that learners find social democracy and fairness inside the classroom. Multicultural education is considered to be very advantageous since it provides various opportunities not only for the teachers and administrators but also for the learners (Mitchell & Salsbury 1996). One of the advantages of observing multicultural education in the classroom is the elimination of racism and sexism among the students. Through teaching the culturally different approach, there will be an attempt to raise the academic achievement of the students of color through culturally relevant instruction (Sleeter 1996). It should be noted always that eventhough students have differences, there should be equal opportunities inside the classroom as such education is a right of everyone. The aim of the schools should be to encourage the full development of the students regardless of the diverse racial, ethnic and gender groups of the students (Banks 1997). Educators, hence, must eliminate all structures of education that impede learning of the ethnic minorities and women. There should be equal opportunities between the man and woman or between the rich and poor so that there would be a sense of multi-culturally responsive classroom approach in the schools. This is thus the reason why all countries must observe equal opportunities to all students regardless of gender and cultural orientation. For instance, the students whether boys or girls are given the opportunity to participate in all the activities of the classroom such as recitation, discussion, project making and the like. Multicultural education approach, moreover, promotes the idea of democracy in a pluralistic society. It is through this approach of education, students learn to value cultural knowledge and differences (Sleeter 1996). This is a good value that the students might learn with the multicultural approach. As they understand the diversity of the educational setting, they are implicitly learning also the sense of democracy and fairness within themselves which will be very helpful to the students when they are ready to face the realities of the society. The teacher should encourage multicultural approach in the school since it does not only teach the students to respect each other but it also allows them to have better understanding on the concept of democracy and fairness which are considered to be good virtues. Nevertheless, the practice of multicultural education is not that easy because there are a lot of considerations which need to be taken. In the multicultural classroom, there must be a culturally responsive curriculum to suffice the needs of the different students. The teacher should prepare a lesson which will consider the subject matter as well as the diverse culture of the students. For instance, the teacher may present a view of mathematical thinking that incorporates the ways in which culture and mathematics are related and intertwined (Nielson 1991). In sciences, the study of environments can be done from the perspectives of the diversity of cultural understanding. Eventhough this would mean additional and laborious tasks on the part of the teachers, it is better as compared to mono-cultural approach as such there will be a high manifestation of learning not only in the subject matter but also in the culture of their respective orientations. While the students are learning the subject matter that they need to accomplish, they are likewise acquiring a sense of the understanding the different cultures that the different students posses in their classroom. In this sense, the teacher avoids discrimination with respect to the cultural orientation of the students. In the teaching and learning process of the multicultural approach, likewise, there is a need for various teaching strategies to cater the various learning needs of the different learners inside the classroom. In this case, the teachers must consider that students are confined with the multiple intelligences and each type needs different teaching maxims (Armstrong 2000). When teaching a particular subject, the teacher must not only use devices which are intended for the visual learners but also to the other types of learners such as auditory, tactile, and the like. For instance, the teacher may provide visual aid for the visual learners, recordings and sounds for the auditory and practical application for the tactile type of learners. Through this, there would be less discrimination in the different types of learners. The students find no discrimination as such all of them are being addressed with their different learning needs. Along with the diversity of the curriculum and the teaching strategies to suffice the needs of the diverse culturally responsive learners are the diverse culturally oriented stakeholders of the education. The change in the school setting from mono-cultural to multicultural approach should be a hand in hand effort of all the stakeholders of the education which include, aside from the students, teachers, administrators, parents, community leaders and government. The teachers should be the ones to observe multicultural approach of education inside the school through observance of the anti-discrimination acts not only in the school but as well as in the whole community. However, the teacher cannot alone do all the tasks to maintain fairness and justice inside the school. The other stakeholders of education should also take their parts in maintaining an education with an environment free from prejudice, racism and discrimination. Education of today’s generation should incorporate multitude of voices in multicultural society so that there would be effective observance of multiculturalism (Banks 1997). This means that education should be treated as a thing tantamount to equality and fairness. And the country successfully achieved this goal through the collaborative efforts of the teachers, administrators and the other stakeholders of education in the community. Multicultural education is considered to be very advantageous to the educational system of the country since it provides and promotes an educational reform which is beneficial to every stakeholder of education. But nonetheless, observance to this educational reform is not an easy task. The main problem, perhaps, that a teacher may encounter in observing and maintaining multicultural approach to education is the curriculum as well as the teaching strategies for this kind of classroom set up. To maintain multicultural education requires different curriculum to suffice the needs of both normal and special students. The same holds true with the teaching strategies that will be sued in order to execute the lesson everyday. Careful planning of the teaching methodologies and strategies for each lesson is a prerequisite for the successful observance of multicultural education. Likewise, it is very difficult for the teacher to carry out multicultural education approach inside the classroom especially if the students are unresponsive. In order to successfully incorporate multicultural approach in the classroom, the students should have also participation during the class or session. And also, not only the students but the administrators are also needed to take their part in the reformation of the educational set up. This entails that the success of the multicultural education lies on the collaborative effort of the students, teacher, administrators and the community. However, though it requires too much persistence and hard work not only on the part of the teachers but as well as on the part of the students, administrators, community leaders and government, multicultural education is a great revolution in the country as such it will not only develop and enhance the educational setting itself but it will also enlighten the perception of the world to justice, fairness and equality. The Need for An Inclusive Multicultural Classroom for the Disabled Students Aside from a classroom with diverse gender, socio-economic standing, socio-cultural orientation and religion, multicultural approach in education is very much needed specifically in the classrooms with special and disabled students. It has been found out that special students like the disabled ones find a great dilemma inside a classroom that does not observe multicultural approach over years. The problem is believed to be a result of the lack of equality and fairness among the disabled students. In most universities and colleges, special students find â€Å"academic fatigue† due to their inability to adapt to the academic requirements that the educational institutions are requiring them as well as the pressure that the environment brings them as disabled ones (Barnes 2007). In this case, the disabled students find dilemma in their respective educational institution because they are not given equal opportunities inside the classroom. The teachers and administrators do not consider the various aspects of the students such as their socio-cultural orientations, social classes, levels of cognition, and many others. In order to resolve this problem, there must be a total reformation in every classroom of the country. Teachers and administrators should practice multicultural approach in an inclusive education for the disabled students. Hence, an inclusive education that observes multicultural education must be strictly observed in order to solve the said problem and revolutionize the old concept of education for the betterment of the disabled students. Inclusive education is built on the premise that all students should be valued for their unique abilities and included as essential members of a school community (Causton-Theoharis & Theoharis 2008). Inclusion, in addition, is considered to be an active process which entails an unabashed announcement that leads to a public and political declaration and celebration of difference. Inclusion requires continuous proactive response in order to maintain inclusive educational culture. This educational idea is typically found in multicultural urban schools where cultural and linguistics barriers serves as a daily challenge inside the classroom (Corbett 2001). Through the inclusive education that permits multicultural education for the disabled ones, students will not suffer from the burden of â€Å"academic fatigue† brought about by the negligence to the different and unique abilities of the disabled students compared to the normal students. To be able to successfully carry out inclusive multicultural education inside the classroom, power and voice are particularly important aspects in this educational reformation (Slee 2008). The relationships between the disabled, the typical students and the professionals in the educational institution are considered to be central considerations to the development of multicultural education. There should be a hand on hand cooperation between these elements so that the educational reformation will become smooth-sailing. Hence, it is very difficult to observe and maintain multicultural education approach in the classroom since there are a lot of considerations that need proper and careful attention. Nonetheless, multicultural education would be very beneficial to all stakeholders of education when successfully carried out. Among the advantages that an inclusive multicultural education brings to a classroom is the sense of belongingness of the disabled students which is considered to be a basic need for each person. Disabled children begin with the commonalities they have with the other children and typically show the urge that they can and they want to belong in different ways. One of which is their desire to become part and to belong in the school context. They really want to have the same opportunities and experiences just like the non-disabled peers. In this context, it would very be helpful if the students with disabilities are mingled and mixed with other pupils whom they feel they have more in common since through them they find comfort and belongingness. Through the interaction of the disabled students with the normal ones, they will definitely experience the sense of belongingness and peer support which are very essential for developing social skills and self-esteem. It is indeed beneficial on the part of the students since the sense of belongingness is one of the important aspects under Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Pride, et. al. 2009). If this need is satisfied properly, there would be greater chance for the students to learn and explore more about their talents and skills. Sociological researches and surveys, however, have shown that education nowadays is much more likely to confirm existing inequality and discrimination than to help in eliminating and eradicating them (Larskaia-Smirnova & Loshakova 2004). It is found out that the ability of the handicapped children to obtain a good and quality education is intervened by various structural limitations linked to social inequality. Teachers in most schools pay more attention to the best and most capable students while the handicapped ones are placed on the bottom of the school hierarchy. Disabled students are frequently ignored and the focus of attention is given to the more capable students. This results to unintentional discrimination within the context of the school system. And this practice is indeed very disadvantageous to the part of the disabled students. Limitations of the Multicultural Education for Special Students Some criticized that the success of the multicultural education among the disabled students does not materialize because of the limitations from the teachers. Some teachers do not perceive special education as a means in order to help the students with disabilities. In some cases, the teachers are the ones who serve as the source of prejudice and discrimination inside the classroom. If a teacher, for instance, responds to a disabled student in a manner that the said student will be perceived as different from the typical ones, the other students would also perceive them as different among the others. In this manner, the disabled students are unintentionally discriminated by the teacher and the students inside the classroom. Because of the modeling seen by the students from the teacher, the typical students might used to discriminate the disabled ones and think that the disabled students are really different from them. This would lead the students to the sense of inequality, discrimination and prejudice among themselves. In this case, the teacher serves as a model to the students. The typical students learn their behavior through observation and imitation of peers as well as through reference to authority figures. This is called social referencing theory which suggests that an individual gains information about social setting from a familiar or trusted person (De Schauwer 2009). The teachers, nevertheless, should be the ones to promote equality inside the classroom in order to make multicultural education successful. Since they are the most authoritative figures inside the classroom, the teachers should serve as an example to the students so that the latter will develop sense of equality among themselves. To be able to contribute to the success of the multicultural education, the teacher should have the in-depth understanding of the paradigm of multicultural education. This would eliminate the chance of unintentional discrimination inside the classroom. Studies revealed that teachers with special education coursework and teachers who had received training in special education had more positive attitudes towards inclusive multicultural education as compared to the teachers who lacked in-service training in special education (Drowning, et. al. 2007).