Interview and Modern World

‘You Will Be Hearing From Us Shortly' – notes by E S Bhavani Following is the presentation notes on Perspective IV Semester lesson ‘You will be Hearing from us Shortly' a poem by U A Fanthrope. The presentation was made for II year JPEng class by E S Bhavani on 24 Nov. ————————————————————————————— Institutionalising the Individual An analysis of ‘You Will Be Hearing From Us Shortly’ U. A. Fanthorpe (Click here for the text of the poem) A little bit about the author†¦ Ursula Aksham Fanthorpe was born in Kent. Having studied at Oxford she went on to train as a teacher becoming the Head of the Department at Cheltenham Ladies College (1962-1970) who dropped out after training as a councillor to become a clerk in a hospital for neuropsychiatry disorders. Her poems since then started reflecting experiences of the patients. Her first collection of poems were published when she was 49. Her poems seem to question authority and show compassion to people at the same time. Her most successful poems have been in monologue while others have a great deal of humour and dialogue in them unlike the usual structure of poetry we are used to. Most of her poems are of two voices. Other dominant themes in her writings are war and it’s effects on children, the nature of Englishness and the British character and history. It was in 1989 that she became a full-time writer who gives readings of her work mostly in the UK and at times abroad. She became the first woman to be nominated for the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry and has been awarded many fellowships. In 2003 she was awarded the 2003 Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry. An Overview: The underlying theme used to analyse the text is the concept of ‘modern’ or rather the factors that complete or contribute to a modern lifestyle. This particular theme has especially been chosen because personally I have been very fascinated with the word ‘modern’ as it has been something that quite frankly has not found an universally appeal. Ask a layman what it means to be ‘modern’ the answer can vary enough to drive a human being mad (unless that is what modernity intends to do), in a general sense perhaps one can classify being modern in terms of a time-span or choose to take another harder stance and explore. And it is in this intention that I hope to explore the text. Keeping that in mind, we will first look at the poem and try to summarize in relation to the world today with the underlying presumption that we are all evolved human beings living in a modern world. The summary will also lay the foundation to help better understand the different concepts and theories to be discussed. Having once given a common understanding of the text, it becomes necessary to find different means of being able to engage with the text and this is precisely what we shall be doing in different modes of reading. Of course, the different means provided here are not given as ultimatums rather hope to reveal scope for further models of interpreting the piece. With three different modes of reading established, our focus moves onto the dominant themes that revolve around the poem which will help appreciate the text in various forms. One of the major revelations of poetry-reading can be achieved by evaluating the title given to it from a generic sense, therefore we shall try and decipher what You Will Be Hearing From Us Shortly refers to with emphasis on the word ‘shortly’ as it seems to stick to the original codes of understanding concepts of being modern in terms of time-relevance. It becomes inevitable but to look at the structuring of the text to find hidden meanings (atleast conceivable hidden meanings) once analysed focussing on the word ‘shortly’. Our concluding part of the analysis throws light on the different layers that exist within the piece aiming to break the traditional moulds of analysing a text. It seeks to prove that a particular writing can be highlighted in more ways than just one especially given the freedom in the Modern World. A Summarised Perspective: The poem showcases the concept of an interview, giving prominence to perhaps the negative aspects. The poet challenges fundamental concepts of interviewing and reveals it in a dialogic form. An interesting theory would be to understand that though it is presented in a dialogue form nowhere in the entire poem do we hear the interviewee’s voice although both their mind-sets and personalities are revealed to some extent. The interviewer focuses on several aspects of the interviewee that makes one wonder if this is the standard norms for how an interview is held. The interviewer somehow seems distracted as he goes about the interview in a manner that can be debated. Once we hear all the questions the interviewer asks we are left with a question ourselves – what is really important? And what does it take for a successful interview? Where is the emphasis given upon in this competitive world? When analysing these factors we come across the basis: that each one of them are very vulnerable to time. Every aspect that the interviewer focuses on the candidate could differ greatly at different time periods. Someone who graduated first in his class in 1996 could relatively prove â€Å"unintelligent† when compared to someone who graduated in 2006. When dealing with such a volatile situation it makes you wonder if Fanthorpe is really trying to project that these constitute the essence that makes what the modern world is and this very necessity to erase the lines drawn between one’s personal and professional life exposes domination of the modern world. We find this domination becoming crystal clear as the interviewer is able to convince the interviewee that his existence is a pity by the end of the poem. We shall understand this power-play better when we deal with the different themes within the poem but underlying modern concepts of functioning can be seen by psychological manipulation of many sorts. Modes of Reading: It often occurs to me that any text is usually dealt in one particular fashion ignoring all the other possibilities. So, starting with the basics I’m hoping to introduce ways of reading the same text in distinctive patterns. Attempting this, here are three patterns my mind was able to lay out. 1. A Monologue Reading Having established very confidently that this is a dialogic poem it would be rather hard to treat it as a monologue but not unimaginable. If one chooses to treat it in this manner we are again provided with two more options; to understand it as a monologue of the interviewer or the interviewee himself. If we are considering it as a monologue of the interviewer one can assume that social restrictions do not give him the liberty of saying the things out loud and thus it can be concluded as manifestations of his own mind. What we can focus around here are the social implications that could provoke an interviewer to wonder about. Another monologue perspective could be to analyse it from the point of view of an amateur and his apprehensions about the interview. This can simply be put off as nervousness or understand it by reflecting on the causes for such apprehensions. Both of these to some level show us an unrealistic perspective and irrational fears one might have. What is crucial here is that what one might consider unrealistic can turn out to be not so and perhaps we are moving towards a rather unrealistic future. 2. The Silenced Interviewee This mode has been especially chosen due to the lack of representation of the interviewee. We find that there is no voice given to the interviewee, we are left to believe the notions made by the interviewer as the ultimate truth. What does this signify? Giving absolute power to the interviewer who represents a major part of the organization whose words we blindly believe. This casual scenario exposes personal invasion made by the modern world, where individuals are given fewer opportunities to showcase themselves from their point of view rather forced to accept it in relation to societal norms. This of course leads to what I like to call â€Å"virtual representations† of each of us. Projection of ourselves in a corporate world changes from what we are to what we are suppose to be and this hopeful process of changing reflects the virtual representations that we make of ourselves every single day. And during this struggle to meet the ideal virtual representation we encounter a loss, loss of our personal identity that seems trivial in comparison to the large organization that exists. 3. From A Young Interviewee In a rather simplistic sense one can read it as nothing but apprehensions that a young interviewee has, a reflection of general concerns that one might have before his first interview. When analysing it from this mode we are forced to consider the social pressures that lead one to dwell under such tension. I have chosen to treat it in this specific manner mainly because the idea of the poem being apprehensions of an amateur does not seem absurd but what contradicts this simple explanation is the interviewee being –married, children- in the poem. This is the intriguing aspect of which I wish to explore where perhaps it is meant to show that everyone is treated as an amateur and it does not change much for an older experienced applicant or a new-comer and how both are treated in the same manner. Either that or it could simply be seen in terms of time-relevance as mentioned in the summarized perspective. Dominant Themes: Three themes have been chosen keeping in mind the most irrelevant concepts or rather the most ignored aspects of this poem. Not claiming that no one has understood this piece of text in this manner but attempting to bring together seemingly irrelevant pieces of information to form what can be called one important perspective. 1. Power Relations â€Å"Power is everywhere†¦becomes it comes from everywhere† – Michele Focault The above quote shall serve as the foundation for the rest of my argument. It seems only obvious to pick power relations as one of the dominant themes in the poem after having mentioned everything above. The entire concept of power requires no historical background or knowledge to analyse as in every sphere of human act there have been power; of course some more preferable than the others. And power can be understood in many ways, all of which can be applied to the text. In relation to the poem, power relations needs to be understood in terms of the corporate world where hierarchy and monitored functioning are in their zenith. It would seem rather stupid to ignore such a concept in the corporate world. Power relations become interesting especially while trying to relate to the corporate or modern world from the past, as we have evolved we have evolved within ourselves the very ideals of how we use or abuse power. One such understanding can be achieved by Alvin Toffler’s theory of power in historical sense; the beginning of power can be recognized as barbaric, where man could portray his domination only in primitive expressions or in other words through violence. This of course went through many changes although even today we find this dominates our impulse and history stands as the book of truth to reveal to us how exhibition of being powerful transformed from violence to wealth. Although one can argue very confidently that for quite a long period of time they both worked closely with one another to great lengths. As time passed by, we now arrive to our present state where power is displayed through a fluid concept termed as â€Å"intelligence† otherwise known as knowledge or information. The transformation that has taken place over the years makes power relations especially a delicate topic to engage with as it has now moved from a plain one dimensional model to a three dimensional functioning aspect of a society. Where at times all the three previously mentioned tools of power are used but in greatly differing indirect means. Another mode of looking at it comes from the Classic Study by French and Raven (1959) where they ntroduced five bases of power; positional (where power is issued based on the position you hold), referent (power understood as how influential or how convincing one is able to build loyalty around him), expert (power based on the expertise one holds over a subject), coercive (in terms of primitive means, violence) and reward (if one is able to give or withheld rewards of any kind). An additional base was added a little later rightly termed as the Informational base that reflects a society in the face of an aftermath of information explosion. Thus, information becomes power and power is very generously available to anyone who chooses to find it. Understanding power relations in this mode becomes increasingly difficult to define in precise terms. We can perhaps say Foucault’s quote finally establishes itself in modern society. When everyone has equal opportunities to find the power that they want, it becomes a universal characteristic of man. Now, it becomes dangerous as trends in power change drastically leaving man completely vulnerable to the dictates of the modern world.

Classroom Community Investigative Paper Essay

Feeling a sense of community is important for almost anyone. Even now, in college, the students in the Elementary Education Program at Utah Valley University are in cohorts. Why? To help us find others who we have common interests with, and who can help us learn and grow into great teachers. Because being in an environment where we feel safe as well as feeling a sense of belonging is important. Developing a classroom community for elementary students is imperative. A student who feels comfortable in the classroom will be able to learn and grow because they will not be afraid to make mistakes in front of others, and they will learn to appreciate the opinions of others. The sooner a child learns to work with and value others, the better. This not only benefits a person during their school years, but is an important part of success later in life. One tool we have learned about this semester to improve classroom community is morning meetings. Though I have not personally seen an elementary classroom morning meeting in action, the evidence of its success that I have seen and heard from our guest speaker, Sylvia Allan, as well as what I have read in our text books and researched online, has convinced me to try morning meetings in my own classroom. Our morning meeting packet states that morning meetings build a classroom community, which may improve student test scores. That is great reason to try them. Earlier in the semester when we were introduced to morning meetings, I was so excited. My goal as a teacher has always been to value every student. I was thrilled to have been given a tool that would do just that. My focus for morning meetings will be to help each child in my classroom realize how important and irreplaceable they are. Morning meetings will help to create an atmosphere of trust, which is essential for optimal student learning. The responsive classroom. org states that morning meetings â€Å"Build community, increase student investment, and improve academic and social skills. † That is exactly what I hope to do with them. Using the morning meeting tool in our own college classroom has been an effective tool for me as a student. Because I transferred from another cohort this semester, I did not know anyone else in our cohort. Participating in morning meeting has given me the opportunity to learn more about the other people in our class. Learning about the similarities I share with these people has allowed me to make connections with some of the students in my class, and has made me feel more comfortable and more willing to participate. I plan to use the morning meeting format as it is presented in the morning meeting packet with a few modifications. The greeting, sharing, group activity, and news and announcements portions are all important for the children to get to know one another and feel comfortable in the classroom. However, I will probably just write the news and announcements on the board and briefly go over it with the class because I plan to be teaching older grades. I would also like to add memorization of a poem each day, as well as a fun saying a la Silvia Allan. I like these ideas because it gives me the opportunity to prove to my principal that morning meetings are not only effective in building a classroom community, they are academic as well. I plan to initiate full morning meetings into my classroom on the first day of school. Because I have not actually used them in an elementary classroom setting yet, I am not sure if I will do every component every day. For example, the greeting may have to be on Mondays only due to time constraints. I also may not do a group activity every day. I may use this time as an opportunity to work on a concept I noticed the entire class had a hard time with. For example, if most of the class had a difficult time learning a math concept the day before, I would have a student with a good understanding of the concept explain it to the class while we are in morning meeting while the positive classroom community juice is flowing. Hopefully, the students who are having a difficult time with the concept will feel less threatened because we are working on the concept during morning meeting time, not math time. So how does a classroom community lead to differentiation in the classroom? Having a classroom where students feel accepted and accepting allows the teacher to be able to make accommodations for students who need it because the rest of the class understands why they need it. One of my favorite â€Å"Hallmarks of a Differentiated Classroom† that describes this in detail is â€Å"shared responsibility for the classroom between teacher and students, in the goal of making it work for everyone†. When students feel comfortable in the classroom and care about their fellow classmates, students are willing to share their strengths with the rest of the class for the betterment of others. They also realize their limits and are willing to strengthen them by learning from other students. A classroom community is a very important part of a successful classroom. It gives students a place where they feel comfortable and are not afraid to make mistakes. Students who feel comfortable in the classroom are more willing to make mistakes and learn from them, thus giving them a better opportunity to achieve their full potential. I am excited to use morning meetings in my classroom to build a successful classroom community.

Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott Essay

Take a moment and imagine a family of six traveling from city to city in order to survive, their only home, a car. Suddenly as their driving along a women speeds into them crashing, and wrecking their home. They are all then taken to a hospital, where the family discovers that the mother has progressive cancer in her lymph nodes. After this discovery, the father decides to skip town leaving his wife, three young children and elderly mother homeless. Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott is an exceptional novel. Endicott won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best book in Canada and the Caribbean for Good to a Fault. Why might you ask? Each character is so extraordinarily developed and so well described it feels as if you know them yourself. Their emotions, thoughts and actions are so personal that at the end of the novel Endicott has created a wonderful and realistic person. Their conflicts are so profound, that they are crippling to the characters that suffer under them. And a theme that so important that the book is named after it. Like most novels Good To A Fault has a variety characters with an array of personalities, thoughts and behaviors. What sets it aside from others, is the vivid characterization of not only the fundamental characters of the story, but even the characters that are only introduced once. The rotation of perspectives gives the novel a whole new view on each character’s true personality and on the conflicts they face. As Mary Jo Murphy from the New York Times said, â€Å"it’s the quieter introspective dramas, provided by Endicott’s skillful rotation among the characters’ points of view, that hold your attention.† Each character’s thoughts are described by the author in exact correspondence with their personalities. For example; Paul, who is a pastor, often indirectly makes allusions to faith. Like when he and Darwin are fixing up Clara’s basement Paul says, â€Å"Today is a time for rejuvenation â€Å"pg.153 or when he is speaking to Clara about her generosity towards the Gage’s he says â€Å"You sacrificed yourself for others† pg.329 Through this, Endicott solidifies Paul’s personality, tying him to his religion. Making Paul a symbol of Christianity which brings into question the faith of many characters. Allowing the reader to experience the many sides of faith. Apart from that , appearance and reputation help to build complete characters. Take the protagonist Clara , Paul describes her as â€Å"†¦single, childless of course, took care with her appearance, fortyish, Christian, and not in good spirits for some time since her mothers death.† pg.26. This information helps develop a rounded character. It isn’t enough just to say that Clara is a nice person, so that is why she takes care of the Gage family. The author uses her faith, age and relationship status to give reason for her generous actions. It helps the reader gain a better understanding of Clara’s personality, and accordingly builds a relationship between the reader and the protagonist. Above all things what sets this book aside from any other is the conflicts. Unlike most books the conflict of this story introduces itself in the very first paragraph, â€Å"The other car came from nowhere, speeding through on the yellow, going so fast it was almost safely past when Clara’s car caught it.†pg. 7. Because of this you would think that there would be no rising action, no excitement and no great lesson for the protagonist to learn, but you would be wrong. This conflict originally appears as if it will have the most impact, but it does not. In fact it stems off into several other conflicts that characters struggle with individually, and as a group. For instance, Lorraine’s diagnosis with cancer. This leads to her husband, Clayton, struggling to find his family a safe home, which he fails to do on his own. This leaves him bitter because instead of him finding a solution through hard work, he is left to stay with the very women who put them in the situation, Clara. As he says when confronting Clara at the hospital, â€Å"Hard on you? Hard to sit and watch the results of what you did?†pg23. He decides to deal with this by leaving the family. His actions burden Clara with the care of the family he left behind. Leading to Clara’s guilt of driving the children’s father away and leaving the mother all alone. Ultimately she struggles with the idea that she cares for the Gage family either out of guilt or to fill the empty spaces not only in her spare rooms, but in her life. It only took Endicott one simple incident to create a million other problems throughout the novel. Each conflict faced, allows the reader to understand more about each character’s role in the story. Finally molding the novel into the theme. The theme I took from this novel was ; personal satisfaction of goodwill is the only payment for charity,for if it’s not, the deeds bring no true meaning. However when I contacted Marina Endicott on twitter she described the theme as follows; â€Å"How the debt of charity is redeemed; Love your neighbour as yourself.† After Clara divorces her husband, she is left wounded by their short, detached marriage. Her parents then become ill and she must care for them. But soon they both die leaving Clara alone with all their possessions and burdens. When Clara opens up her home to the Gage family and a friend’s daughter, she must decide whether her actions are truly pure and for others benefit, or greedy and only being used to fill the void left by her parents and husband. So she questions herself, â€Å"I see what they need, but I am unwilling to help.†pg 25 When Clara takes in the Gage family she originally believes she is doing it to make up for the car accident she caused. As the visit becomes longer Clara grows more and more attached to the family as she brings them into her life. Caring for them soon becomes less of an obligation, and more of a desire as she grows to truly love the Gage’s like they were her own. She becomes so attached that she does not wish that they leave her home, and when they do she is deeply angered. â€Å"She did not want anything, except Pearce back, and Dolly, and Trevor; except the life she had left this afternoon, to run over and help Lorraine- to help her again!†pg.327 .This theme is a great topic that adds depth the novel. The whole story Clara is faced with deciding whether what she does is out of loneliness or out of good will. It is a topic that we should all consider when we decide to do something charitable. And yet another reason why I believe this is a wonderful piece of litterature. Ultimately this book incorporates everything that makes a good, memorable novel . It’s realistic, likeable and relatable characters keep the reader the attached to the story. These characters face conflicts that challenge them physically and emotional but lead them to fulfilling rewards. Finally these elements are all summed up to create a concrete theme of charity versus selfishness, a topic rarely touched on in our society. These elements of the novel piece the story together as a whole and make it strong enough to last the test of time. This is a great novel.

The Innovation and Learning Perspective of the Balanced Scorecard Research Paper

The Innovation and Learning Perspective of the Balanced Scorecard - Research Paper Example There are two main causes of variances in a business’s budget. One of the main causes is spending more than the budget allows. This could be due to the fact that the management budgeted for less than required; there was mismanagement of funds or general poor planning. Secondly, there may be an unexpected emergency in a business that may cause a major rift in the use of funds from the budget (Berry et. al. 2006). Mechanical damages to a major processing asset, for instance, could lead to an urgent purchase of another one in order to maintain the expected level of production. As an example, the Manchester Meerkat Company (MMC) suffered a blow when floods drained the fibre filling. This caused emergency spending that may have resulted in variance in the budget. This would cause destabilization in the budget hence a variance. These variances can either cause adverse effects to an organization if ignored or lead to success in business if noted and improved. This is because there ex ist two categories of variances namely favourable and unfavourable variances. The favourable variances occur where the results of business operations are better as compared to the expected results. On the other hand, the unfavourable variances occur whenever the end results of business operations are worse than expected results. Therefore, managers always carry out variance analysis in order to the look-after-the fact at what caused the difference. Furthermore, according to Blocher & Cokins (2005), this analysis helps the management to pinpoint the effects the variances have to the business and how to correct or improve on them.

Assessment analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assessment analysis - Essay Example In the new expectations though, the items titled "Background" and "Statement of the problem" become one content item and the items titled "Purpose" and "Research questions" also become one content item. Also, the current first chapter has an additional content item titled "School Fighting using Deadly Weapons", whose content should exist as part of the first chapter's introduction described in the new expectations, and another item titled "Significance of the study", whose content should exist as part of the content item "Purpose and research questions" (2007, p. 3, 6). At the same time, the current first chapter lacks the item titled "Content of the action research study/project" which should come between the items "Purpose and research questions" and "Definitions of terms" (2007, p. 7-8). Regarding the order of content items in the first chapter, a difference can be seen. In the currently written chapter, the order is as follows: Assumptions, Delimitation, Definitions (of terms), and Summary, while in the new expectations, the order is as follows: Content of the action research study/project, Definitions of terms, and Summary.

#10 El Nino Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

#10 El Nino - Essay Example In normal years, ocean current flows to the north towards the Equator down the western coast of South America. The water on the ocean surface was being drawn away from the continent and to be replaced by cold nutrient-rich water pushed upwards from the ocean depth. This process is known as upwelling. During this season, a good harvest is being anticipated by fishermen of the area. Further, colder weather is experienced by the people living in this area since the ocean surface is cold during this time. During El Nià ±o year, the warm pool of water flows eastward until it spreads in the entire Pacific Ocean. For this reason, the cool water of the South American coast is replaced by warmer waters, thus weakening the upwelling process (Trenberth 1997). In effect, the surface of the sea temperature rises beyond the normal range. This occurrence means heavy rainfall and eventual flooding in some South American countries and drought and very dry season in Indonesia, Australia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and Northeastern South America with altered patterns of tropical storms in the tropical belt (Enfield n.d.). Global warming is also a great contributor to this kind of phenomena. The coastal warming is being associated with a more widespread irregular ocean warming to the International Dateline and it is this Pacific basin-wide phenomenon that forms the link with strange global climate patterns. This component joined to El Nià ±o is called the Southern Oscillation (Trenberth 1997). ENSO (El Nino-Southern Oscillation) is the phenomenon where the atmosphere and ocean collaborates together. The El Nino phenomenon is the warm phase of ENSO, and its opposite, La Nià ±a, the occurrence where cooling of the tropical Pacific takes place corresponds to the cold phase of ENSO. The El Nià ±o, or ENSO for scientists, can be considered as a normal occurrence based on nature patterns studied by some scientists. But still, it greatly affects global climate

U.K.FILM INDUSTRY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

U.K.FILM INDUSTRY - Essay Example On waking up, The Bride sets out on a bloody trail of vengeance killing her ex-colleagues one-by-one, leaving Bill for the end, thus deriving the eponymous name of the movie. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, the movie is divided into ten chapters, five per volume. Chronological fragmentation leaves the viewer guessing till the start of Volume 2 (Chapter six: Massacre at Two Pines) as to the exact motivations behind The Bride's gory path of violence. Most reviews were positive with some critics calling it a masterpiece. Detractors pointed to its questionable morality, pop-culture dialog and graphic depictions of extreme violence. Many scenes were filmed on location in China, Japan and North America and completed over eight months of shooting. Produced by Miramax Films a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Disney), it had an initial budget of US $42 million which shot to $60 million plus under the direction of Miramax' golden boy -Tarantino. Miramax, founded by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein in 1979, started life as a independent film distribution company before being acquired by Disney in 1993 for $80 million. From the beginning, the Weinstein brothers focused on the independent film segment, generally shunned by the big studios due to the perceived lack of commercial viability. A string of stellar hits made them an acquisition target for Disney and Harvey Weinstein grew to become the "darling" distributor of the experimental and independent feature film world and ultimately emerged as one of the most powerful and influential moguls in Hollywood.2 Kill Bill was distributed in the UK by Buena Vista International, the global distribution arm of Disney. Research Methods: The primary source of information in researching this paper has been the Internet. Material on subjects of popular culture like movies is exhaustively available, giving one a wide range of perspectives to study and analyze. One of the dangers with Internet based research is the larger scope for factual errors due to source inaccuracies. This has been largely mitigated by cross verifying the information from different sources. For example, the Harry Weinstein biography referenced here has been reviewed at Wikipedia3 as well as IMDB (Internet Movie Database)4 and Yahoo! Movies5. Evidence of Commercial Relevance: Originally, Kill Bill was written and filmed as a single movie extending slightly over four hours. Harvey Weinstein fearing audience fatigue over such a long movie hit upon the idea of editing it and shrewdly released it as two films during the last quarter of 2003 and the first quarter of 2004. The timing proved to be a stroke of marketing genius. The films featured in the top ranks in two consecutive years in addition to raking in a huge commercial gross. They were a big success ranking in the top 25 at the UK box office in both years of release, with combined worldwide receipts exceeding US $331 million6 ( 190 million). In the UK, their combined box office gross was over 20 million7. Video rental and DVD sales have also shown very strong numbers with rental figures touching $25 million (as of 25th April 2004) and first day US DVD sales reaching $40 million. Background: Movie genre classification is problematic in that most movies have long since crossed over from a rigid formulaic approach to entertainment with central themes spanning

Journal week 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Journal week 4 - Assignment Example Based on the above perspective, this paper discusses the evolution that marriage has undergone since 1950s, with equally changing roles for men and women in marriages, an aspect that has significantly been influenced by the changing practices in the decades such as TV shows and fashion. The 1950s depicted a decade of changes in families and their modes of operation. Such, was a period after the end of World War II and, therefore, time to start up life anew. However, a serious problem arose, as there were numerous images to depict from in determining the kind of family befitted a couple, most especially from the numerous TV shows and magazines (Lamb, 2011). Media, through its communication aspect, has determined the kinds of families’ people establish since the 1950s, with women as the main targets. The 21st century on its part is the digital age and the magazines, and TV shows play a significant role in determining the kinds of decisions people make in marriages and the roles they play. In the 1950s, women had defined futures of one getting married, having children, and being a good homemaker to the husband and the kids. However, lately, something seems amiss, and the gender roles and attitudes have changed with most women beginning the fight for autonomy (Lamb, 2011). Such an aspect has had a shift with a fundamental alteration towards the establishment of gender equality for both the women and the men (Berger, 2012). TV shows such as ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ in the 1990s, depicts a clear picture of how run family matters have changed over time. In such shows, the man is central in the house, with all the concentrations on him; however, a problem the wife in the house who seems to attract attention equal to that of a man. In the previous TV shows, the traditional marriages depicted roles of femininity and masculinity performed conservatively, in which the man leads the home both economically and socially while the woman stays

Southland by Nina Revoyr Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Southland by Nina Revoyr - Essay Example In a socialistic form, the novel represents three ethnic groups, i.e. Asians, Blacks and Mexicans. It also illustrates the behavior of these ethnic groups compliant with various situations arising during the exploration of the mystery. Consequently, it highlights both the utopian and the dystopian verges of the races in a well-furnished manner (Nina, R., â€Å"Southland†). Several characters can be identified in the novel performing their individual characteristics according to the situations and instances. Among them the two major characters of the story are Jackie Ishida and James Lanier. Jackie Ishida was the grand daughter of Frank Sakai, an Asian settled in Los Angles with a store in the area. Frank Sakai had passed away quite ‘unexpectedly’, just before ten days of Jackie Ishida’s arrival to the city after receiving the call from her aunt Louis. Jackie Ishida, by her birth belonged to the Asian race and can be identified as an Asian-American. The girl was also a final year law student in the UCLA law school. On the other hand, James Lanier was an African-American and related to one of the three victims who was found murdered in Frank Sakai’s store (Nina, R., â€Å"Southland†). Throughout the novel there were several incidents where the ethnic qualities of these characters have been visualized. For example, the first interview of Jackie Ishida and James Lanier revealed the various paradoxes of the two young minds in terms of ethnicity and gender. As can be witnessed in the situation, Jackie seemed to be quite an individualist and conservative as well for which her ethnicity and gender plays a significant role. Notably, in her first meet, the girl hesitated to be alone with James after Laura had left her in his office, although she liked him. On the contrary, James proved to be quite a conformist by his behavior where he approaches in front of Jackie and depicts to be interested in her through the words of Laura. Thi s contradictory form of behavior depicted from the end of Jackie and James were evidently the influence of their ethnic groups and their genders as well (Nina, R., â€Å"Southland†). Another unique characteristic of the novel which in turn influences the encounters and the responses of the two characters was that it was to a certain extent based on the plot of 1992 riots. It is in this context, that the novel raises various consequences of an ethnic society during the period. For instance, Jackie’s astonishment when the true fact of her grandfather, Frank behind leaving Crenshaw was revealed and also when she witnessed a majority of blacks in his funeral depicted both the virtues and deficiencies of an ethnic society (Nina, R., â€Å"Southland†). 2. The Rework of the Novel under the Context of the Image of Los Angeles as the Site of the ‘American Dream’s Several authors had contextualized the site of ‘American Dream’ highlighting variou s instances which occurred after World War II, which

Corporate Social Responsibility Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corporate Social Responsibility - Research Paper Example As an international franchise, this is an opportunity to participate in counseling and such-like initiatives that will help to alleviate this drug abuse menace. First and foremost, as for a franchise in the hotel industry, the relevance of drug abuse is rife and the implications are severe. When the youth abuse drugs, insecurity, crimes and vandalism are the likeliest results of their actions with hotels (ICAP, 2004). As a hotel with such highly recognized international standards, the benefits of dealing with the menace will be immense. The youth will be rehabilitated while the company will help to make the locality a safe haven for its visitors. It will also provide a chance for guests to invest in the area thereby providing a great leverage for raising the standards of living of the local people (Benabou and Tirole, 2010). The youth will engage in meaningful social and economic activities, hence assuring the industry of its continuity. This is a low-cost initiative, given the benef its expected at the end of it all. Given that most of the Marriot employees are from within the locality, the initiative has a high chance of success. The employees will lead the initiative while directing the management team to areas with the greatest need for resources and specialized attention. This will also act as a way of recognizing the employees’ efforts, hence maintaining loyalty within the workforce. Therefore, less money will be used to contract people to take part in the whole process. The company will save money that could have been used for advertisements since the employees will act as the advertisers in the locality (Benabou and Tirole, 2010). Once its kicks off, the project will require lesser monetary contributions from the company. This is so because the number of sponsors is expected to increase and support this noble cause. The youth will also have their initiatives from which they will gain money and sustain themselves. The implementation will be as foll ows. Employees from the locality will be given a chance to map out the areas that require the company’s intervention. After the areas have been identified, the neediest of them all will be picked as the first to receive assistance (Thompson, 2005). This will act as the stepping stone to all other areas since the success or failure of the first initiative will determine the approaches used to tackle the remaining ones, and thus mapping the initiative’s success path. The hotel will then include the costs of hiring the counseling personnel to train the works on how to go about this issue and what factors to look out for when seeking to help individuals affected by drug abuse. This is crucial as it increases awareness and allows each to use their skills and any prior information to ensure the initiative succeeds (ICAP, 2004). The creation of rehabilitation centers is also important as a way of ensuring that those young people who wish to get help can have a place where the y can run to without being judged or mistreated. To ensure the company benefits from this initiative, there are several aspects that need to be done from the initial stages. The employees must first be brought on board for full participation to be accorded. Those who will be at work will also

Chinese Nationalist Party Essay Example for Free

Chinese Nationalist Party Essay On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese Communist Party declared victory over the Nationalist Party (Guomindang) and brought an end to four brutally long years of Civil War. The Communist victory in the Civil War has however, created significant debate among historians, namely: was a Communist victory inevitable and if so is it more sensible to see the Chinese Civil War as a Communist victory or as a Nationalist defeat?When researching these questions it becomes blatantly obvious that the Guomindang government led by Chiang Kai-Shek was riddled with problems and they are very much the cause of their own downfall. Widespread government corruption, spiraling inflation, loss of public confidence and intractable poverty are just a few of the failings the Guomindang afflicted upon the Chinese people. These monumental failings make a Communist victory seem almost inevitable, in that they just happened to be there to assume power as the Nationalists lost support and drowned in their own mistakes. In this sense it is more sensible to view the Civil War as a Nationalist defeat, rather than a Communist victory. On the other hand, the Communists were able to turn dismal rural poverty and the Japanese invasion into assets, using them to convince villagers that radical change was imperative and that the Communist Party was best qualified to bring about this change. Seen in this light, superior strategy and organisational methods allowed the Communists to achieve victory and not just move into a vacuum as suggested by Barnett (Barnett, 1965: 1). There is certainly an element of inevitability with regard to the Communist victory, however, in this essay I will argue that not only was the outcome of the Chinese Civil War not preordained, but I will also critically evaluate the reasons the Guomindang lost the Civil War and explain that given their policy mistakes, the Civil War should be seen as a Nationalist defeat rather than a Communist victory. If the Nationalists had been willing to adapt and had they initiated some changes in their strategies, the Communist Party, no matter what its internal organisation or external strategies, would not have been able to bring revolution to China. This theory is not supported by Kubek, who argues that the cause of the  Nationalist defeat was due to a lack of aid from the United States, declaring sovietisation of China and Manchuria could be the only logical outcome of post-war United States policy in China (Kubek, 1965: 62). This view point is unduly simplistic and overvalues Americas role in China, an opinion supported by Chang, who believes the Guomindang governments failure was due not so much to lack of American support, but to its inherent defects (Chang, 1965: 40). Before analysing these inherent defects and the reasons that the Nationalist Party lost the Civil War, it is important to understand the fundamentals of the situation in China at the end of World War Two; specifically the consequences of the eight year war with Japan that totally exhausted the Guomindang militarily, economically and spiritually. Hsu argues that the war with Japan is the single most important cause for the downfall of the Nationalists and had there been no Japanese war, the situation in China would have been very different (Hsu, 1990: 734). Many of the Guomindangs problems such as factionalism, corruption and leadership were prevalent prior to the Sino-Japanese War; however it was during the last phases of the Sino-Japanese War that these problems reached crisis proportions and in hindsight it seems impossible that the Guomindang could have overcome these problems to defeat the Communists (Service, 1965: 29). Chang also believes that the Guomindang faced insurmountable problems prior to the Civil War, stating that the government of Chiang Kai-Shek was built on quicksand and clay. How can it stand? Is it any wonder that it fell like a house of cards when it had to face the Communist crisis? (Chang, C. 1965: 41). Westad, (2003: 7) however argues that in spite of the Guomindangs weaknesses, the outcome of the post-war conflict with the Communists was no way predetermined in 1945. At the end of the Sino-Japanese War the Guomindang held significant advantages over the Communists, with its widely recognised legitimate government controlling China, giving it the power to tax and conscript. On the other hand, the Communists could not match the Guomindangs troops in terms of training and equipment and could be  outgunned and outmanoeuvred in all major regions of the country (Westad, 2003: 8). Furthermore, the Communist party was hardly represented in the cities at all, which of course was the power base of the Guomindang. However, the Communists also had successes resulting from the war with Japan including increasing their area of control and practiced evolving their strategies of protracted guerrilla warfare against the Japanese which in turn generated public support. Despite this the partys main forces were still located in North-west China and they were not in such a powerful position that a civil war with the Guomindang would be a mere formality in securing control of the country. The Civil War is therefore simply not a case of the imminent decline of the Guomindang and the Communists irresistible rise. Rather the Sino-Japanese War provided the framework for the decisions and strategies that would ultimately lead to Nationalist defeat. The war with Japan left the Guomindang decimated and they did need to undergo reform in order to survive; however the factionalism and corruption within the Guomindang resulted in increasingly repressive controls being implemented upon the war weary Chinese people. At a time when new strategies were needed, the government instead continued its repressive controls and when war again broke out, the government lost even more support and collapsed with cataclysmic speed. This was due in no small part to the leadership of the Guomindang, whose perpetuation of their own power dominated over all other considerations (Service, 1965: 28). The arrogance and mismanagement of the Guomindang alienated the Chinese people and caused a loss of public confidence and respect. This loss of respect not only resulted in the Nationalists losing influence in their own power bases, but made it easier for the Communists to exploit this public disharmony and encourage the Chinese people to think that a change in administration would bring about a change in their fortunes. An example of the Guomindangs poor leadership strategies can be seen in their occupation of former Japanese colonies (Service, 1965: 29). The Chinese citizens within these Japanese occupied territories had waited eight  years for the return of Nationalist rule, but instead of being treated as victims of war, they were exploited. The Guomindang leaders did not return their land but acquired it as their own property; moreover, they virtually eliminated the monetary assets of these people. This was caused by the currency in the occupied territories going through extreme inflation as the government only offered the exorbitant exchange rate of two hundred to one; when a more reasonable rate would have been half that much (Phillips, 1996: 158). Furthermore, the puppet leaders that had been installed by the Japanese often kept their positions or became members of the Guomindang. Poor policy decisions such as this would lead to the downfall of the Guomindang, as it is impossible to fight a n effective war without the support of the people and the economic policies of the government alienated millions of suffering people. The Guomindangs economic problems were not limited to the territories formerly occupied by the Japanese. All over China inflation was an exceptionally large problem, for as the increases seen during the Japanese War were allowed to spiral out of control during the Civil War. Service, (1965: 29) argues that this is a direct result of corruption within the Guomindang, and that they refused to take any effective steps to check inflation or implement agricultural reforms for fear of losing the support of the landlord class in China. In view of this, the Guomindang developed urban industry at the expense of agricultural and financed this by simply printing more bank notes. Their economic mismanagement was disastrous for the majority of the Chinese people and meant that by 1948 government expenditure had become thirty times larger when compared to its pre-war level; the budget deficit had also blown out to thirty times it pre-war level and inflation was increasing at the rate of thirty per cent a month (Chang, K. 1965: 23). The Nationalist government faced imminent financial doom and the Chinese people were becoming aware of the selfish nature of their government whose economic policies and financial mismanagement destroyed the livelihood of hundreds of millions of Chinese. The failings of the Guomindang would provide the Communist party with ample opportunities to exploit the discontent of the Chinese people. This was one of the reasons for the Communist victory in that they were able to gain the support of people from the rural areas who the Guomindang had alienated. An example of this can be seen in the rural land reforms implemented in newly gained territories. In these areas the Communists promoted production and ensured supplies by creating a self-sufficient economy. To rouse the productive enthusiasm of the peasants, they launched a campaign to reduce rent and interest. Peasant associations and other organisations were urged to demand and enforce a 25 percent rent reduction, with a rent ceiling set at 37.5 percent of the crops. The interest rate on loans was limited to 1.5 percent a month, or 18 percent a year, much lower that the excessive rate formerly charged by the landlords (Westad, 2003: 11 and Fielding, 1999: 134). They were able to achieve these reforms without confiscating large amounts of land, as considerable redistribution of land to the peasants was accomplished by impo sing graduated taxes in such a way that larger landholders voluntarily sold land because it was no longer profitable. It is arguable that the Communists had no intention of eliminating the economic power of the landlords, but instead they showed the peasants that they could exercise their power locally and play an active role in the war against a government that some had come to despise. The Communists gave the peasants what they wanted: an army of friendly troops who not only did not steal their crops but helped them bring in the harvest and who implemented popular but gradual economic reforms (Ebrey, 1996: 289). This is in stark contrast to the Guomindang who did not understand the peasants and showed no interest in aiding them. They failed to see the revolutionary potential of the peasant masses and unlike the Communist Party never attempted to organise them. This situation was best summarised by Hsu: the stone that one builder had rejected became the cornerstone of the others house (Hsu, 1990: 738). However, many of the most important cause of the Nationalist defeat during the Civil War were military ones. Despite emerging from the Japanese War better equipped and trained, the Nationalist Army was a tired force (Hsu, 1990: 734). This war-weariness was felt throughout China and there was  widespread recognition that full scale civil war would be a tragedy for the country. It is therefore, not surprising that the Guomindangs persistence in military aggression towards the Communists, who were Chinese after all, failed to arouse the same patriotic loyalty as when the enemies were Japanese (Stuart, 1965: 19). Given this situation the Nationalist Army needed good leadership and to gain the support of the people; they were unsuccessful on both counts. This was largely due to the leadership system created by Chiang Kai-Shek that was a congerie of conservative political cliques concerned primarily with maintaining their own power (Service, 1965: 30). Furthermore, the highest military posts were reserved for those who like Chiang Kai-Shek had graduated from the Whampoa military academy and this often meant that more talented officers were turned away. General Barr of the United States said of the Guomindang leadership in 1949 that, their military debacles in my opinion can all be attributed to the worlds worst leadership and many other morale destroying factors that lead to a complete loss of will to fight (Barr, 1949: x quoted in Bianco, 1971: 180). In fact, many battles were lost by the Nationalists without a fight, as hundreds of thousands of troops simply defected or surrendered to the Communists (Barnett, 1965: 5). An example of this may be seen during the Huai-Huai Campaign, where poor military leadership caused the Nationalist troops to become surrounded and resulted in an irreparable loss of manpower without a fight (Phillips, 1996: 158). Rather than undertaking offensives to seek out and destroy the main mobile guerrilla units of the Communists, they holed up for the most part in isolated, vulnerable, defensive positions allowing the Communists to concentrate their forces and attack and overwhelm Nationalists positions one by one (Barnett, 1965: 5). This strategy played into the hands of the Communists whose primary goal was to reduce the numbers of the Nationalist army. They were not concerned with holding specific geographic areas and this allowed them to be a lot more flexible in their attacks. Moreover, the Communist troops were ordered to avoid large battles and to engage the enemy only when there was a high probability of victory. Mao Zedong argued that the only way guerrilla warfare could succeed  is if the army had the support of the people, and the Communists certainly had this (Mao Zedong, 1940: x cited in Bianco, 1971: 184). The Communists successfully achieved this through the use of propaganda. They portrayed themselves as defenders of the nation and the Guomindang as enemies of all levels of society, from peasant to scholar (Chang, C. 1965: 40). Chiang Kai-shek himself admitted that the Nationalists failure in propaganda was a major defect in our struggle against Communism (Kai-shek, 1965: 77). Despite this, the Nationalist army had many opportunities to seriously weaken the Communists. However, their leadership too often committed crucial tactical mistakes, which were the result of lack of communication and disputes within the party caused by the factionalism that riddled the Guomindang leadership (Westad, 2003: 11). Clique politics and factionalism would eventually lead to the situation where unified action to either solve the problems in Nationalist held territory or to fight against the Communists became virtually impossible (Barnett, 1965: 6). This is in stark contrast to the leadership of the Communist armies, whose generals were not concerned with personal gain, but instead co-operated with each other and gained the support of the Chinese people and worked towards a united goal (Westad, 2003: 9). These superior military tactics and aforementioned economic reforms brought the Communists wide spread support and ultimately victory. However, this victory would never have been achievable were it not for the military, economic and social failings of the Guomindang. Chiang Kai-Shek himself admitted major defects in organisation and technique in the Nationalists war against Communism, however he argued that these defects were remediable, so long as our strategy and policy were correct, I believe we still could have won (Kai-Shek, 1965: 82). It is in this light that the Chinese Civil War should be viewed not as a Communist victory, but as a Nationalist defeat. There is no doubt that the war against Japan was a crushing blow to the Nationalists economic and military power, however it was not fatal. The  Nationalist government could have continued to consolidate its power and authority by the sheer weight of its military strength and financial resources (Tsou, 1965: 28). Even though the Nationalist government was far from popular, it was the most powerful military and economic force in China and could have survived if it had been willing to regain the support of the people. Defeat to the Communists was therefore, far from inevitable, and the Nationalists were very much the engineers of their own demise. BIBLIOGRAPHY Barnett, A. (1965), Multiple factors, in Pichon Loh (ed.) The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse? D.C. Heath Company, BostonBianco, Lucien. (1971), Origins of the Chinese Revolution, 1915-1949 Stanford University Press, StanfordChang, Carsun. (1965), Chiang Kai-shek and Kuomintang dictatorship, in PichonLoh (ed.) The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse? D.C. Heath Company, BostonChang, Kia-Ngua. (1965) War and Inflation in Pichon Loh (ed.) The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse? D.C. Heath Company, BostonEbrey, Patricia. (1996), Cambridge Illustrated History: China, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, EnglandFielding, Mark Morcombe, Margot. (1999), The Spirit of Change China in Revolution McGraw Hill Book Company, Roseville, NSWHsu, Immanuel C.Y. (1990), The Rise of Modern China Oxford University Press, New YorkKai-shek, Chiang 1965, Communist designs and Kuomintang blunders, inPichon Loh (ed.) The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest o r Collapse?, D.C. Heath Company, BostonKubek, Anthony 1965, Communist subversion and American appeasement, inPichon Loh (ed.) The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse?, D.C. Heath Company, BostonPhillips, Richard. (1996) China since 1911 St Martins Press, New York. Service, John S. 1965, The enthronement of reaction, in Pichon Loh (ed.)The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse?, D.C. Heath Company,BostonStuart, John L. (1965), Popular Discontent and Creeping Paralysis, in Pichon Loh (ed.)The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse?, D.C. Heath Company,BostonTsou, Tang 1965, Contradictions between program and practise, in PichonLoh (ed.) The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse?, D.C. Heath Company, BostonWestad, Odd Arne 2003, Decisive Encounters: the Chinese Civil War 1946 -1950, Stanford University Press, California

Timeless or Everlasting God Essay Example for Free

Timeless or Everlasting God Essay The definition of an everlasting God would be a God that has existed throughout time and space, linked to God’s characteristic of being omnipresent, basically meaning that He is present everywhere at all times. This would mean that he is a personal God as he is immanent and is involved with humanity. This back up events like miracles and revelations within the world, as they are caused by God so are evidence of his personal relationship with humans. The definition of a timeless God would mean that God exists outside of time. This links to the characteristic of God which some believers believe he is; transcendent. This means that God exists outside of time and space so therefore has an impersonal relationship with humanity, meaning He would not be able to influence humanity in the form of miracles or revelations. This view is commonly thought by believers of deism, who believe that an omnipotent God created the world, but then left it to ‘do its own thing and learn from its own mistakes’ and no longer looks over it. There are more benefits to an everlasting God, mainly because it would explain how miracles occur. However it also means that there can be revelations in the form of praying as a personal God may answer one’s prayers as He is within the universe. Another advantage would be that a personal God can also try to teach us right from wrong and would discipline us like a parental figure. This is shown in Genesis chapter 1, where God is also shown to have more human-like characteristics and he punishes Adam and Eve much like a parental figure showing his personal relationship with humans. Also the biggest benefit would be that it be proof that Jesus was the Son of God. However an advantage of having a timeless God would be that as God exists outside time and space then he would see all events and therefore he would know everything; past, present and future. This would mean that he would be an omniscient God.

Coca Cola New Product Analysis

Coca Cola New Product Analysis The Coca-Cola Companys core undertaking is to benefit and refresh everyone it reaches. Founded in 1886, we are the worlds leading manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, which are used to produce nearly 400 beverage brands that make up for our wide portfolio. Our corporate headquarters are established in Atlanta, and we are holding local operations in over 200 countries around the world. Our activities cover all sectors of the beverage industry. We are the second leading player in functional and Asian specialty drinks, while ranking number one in value for the ready-to-drink tea sector (ref.1, p.1). description of the new product, strategic role in the future position of the company Bubble Buzz will be a bottled beverage and will be positioned as the only ready-to-drink Bubble Tea product available on the market. The beverage will have a green tea base with enhanced fruit flavors (passion fruit, strawberry and lime) as well as tapioca pearls. It will bring an entirely unique drinking experience to its consumers. It will present itself as a funky and unusual alternative to traditional tea while providing the great taste of authentic fruit juice in an attractive and convenient packaging. The strategic role of Bubble Buzz for The Coca-Cola Company is centered around three objectives: To stay at the forefront as the market leader in innovative product introductions and successful product launches; To strengthen and satisfy the needs of the more adventurous Generation Y consumers with a new eye-catching and functional product. To become the market leader in the functional drinks segment with increased market shares. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Consumption: The sales volume for the functional drinks segment (ref. D2) in UK has reached $342.2 millions in 2004 for a volume of 125.9 million liters (ref.2). This product segment has shown a steady growth since 1999: an increase of 13.5% over a period of 6 years (Appendix A). The consumption rate per capita in 2004 has reached 3.94 liters, which represents a 4.0% increase compared to 1999 .The growth of this particular market is largely due to a slow shift in consumer trends. Trends: Through the early 1960s, soft drinks were synonymous with colas in the mind of consumers. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, other beverages (from bottled water to tea) became more popular. Coca-Cola and Pepsi responded by expanding their offerings through alliances (e.g. Coke Nestea) and acquisitions (e.g. Coke Minute Maid), but also by focusing efforts on portfolio diversification. Today, while the soft drink industrys value has increased in 2004, the volume sales of carbonated soft drinks has declined due to a large proportion of consumers who are opting for the trend towards healthier alternatives in the functional drink segment (energy drinks, smoothies, milk juice drinks, sports drinks) as well as bottled juices and water .Companies have been actively engaged in new product developments in order to counter the growing concerns about negative health impacts of high-fructose drinks, but also to increase the demand in a market where product offerings are quickly maturing .New flavor introductions and health-conscious formulations have been launched in an attempt to offset the decline in carbonated soft drink sales .The functional market is expected to show sustained growth and consumer interest in the future years as cons umption shifts to trendier, healthier and more sophisticated products . SWOT ANALYSIS (Strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats) Strengths Brand strength Effective stride in new markets Results of operations Strong existing distribution channels Weaknesses Reliant upon line extensions Reliant upon particular carbonated drinks Brand dilution Entrance into difficult non-core categories Saturation of carbonated soft drink segment Opportunities New product introductions Brand is attractive to global partners Strong competition Threats Potential health issues Free trade STRENGTHS Brand strength The Coca-Cola Company is the largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world. The Coca-Cola brand is unarguably one of the most recognizable brands in the 200 countries where it sells its products. The strong brand name is one of the basis for the companys competitive advantage on several of its core markets. Effective strides in new markets Coca-Cola has partnered with several companies (such as the joint venture with Nestlà ©) in order to increase the ability to react to demands and changes in the markets of iced tea, coffee and juices. The developing markets are more complex than the carbonated soft drinks. Results of operations In 2004, net-operating revenues totaled approximately $21.9 billion, an 8% increase from 2002. Gross profit totaled $14.3 billion in 2004. The company generated $5,968 million from its operating activities and re-invests heavily into its business. The ability to generate significant cash flows is one of the its key strengths (ref.16). Strong existing distribution channels Coca-Cola has operations worldwide and is well established in its distribution channels (such as store retailers or vending machines). Therefore, a new product launch can typically rely on the existing distribution system in order to reach the majority of its target market while requiring no major supply / delivery developments. WEAKNESSES Relying upon line extensions Coca-Cola is relying on brand extensions increase sales in specific lines, particularly its long-time carbonated soft drink products (i.e. the introduction of Vanilla Coke helped maintain sales for the core Cola beverages). However, there is a strong risk of cannibalizing existing sales in the long term (for example, Bubble Tea might deter on sales for iced tea). Reliant upon particular carbonated drinks The long-time presence of Coca-Colas Coke beverage has established this particular line as a flagship product. While the core Coke products bring a solid base of sales and loyalty to the company, consumers expectations also become more and more anchored and single-lined, taking away freedom in the areas of line diversification and product modifications (taste, packaging, price). Brand dilution The tremendous amount of existing brands and new product being introduced by the company could diminish the value and differentiating strength of each product that is being manufactured. Entrance into difficult non-core categories The Coca-Cola Company is a truly global multinational business giant. While some categories of products are distributed in many areas of the globe (Coke, Powerade, etc.), geographical needs already require that these global brands are heavily adapted to their target region. Furthermore, many smaller and diversified product lines are more or less popular in one particular region over another. Therefore, the process of diversifying the production and marketing each product involves costly investments. These capital requirements typically increase as the product becomes heavily focused (for example, since the Coca-Cola brand is highly recognizable worldwide, marketing a bottle of Coke in Japan would be less difficult than marketing a bottle of Qoo in that same country Qoo being a lesser-known non-carbonated drink which was one of Coca-Colas newest brand introduction in 1999). Saturation of carbonated soft drink segment Due to the countless number of brands available on the market, it becomes increasingly difficult in the soft drinks segment to innovate and create new products that genuinely stand out from their competition. And as we have seen, an analysis of the industry has shown that growth in the soft drinks market becomes difficult and challenging when the conditions and consumer trends cause a market demand that stays stagnant. OPPORTUNITIES New product introductions The functional drinks market is one that particularly allows more innovation opportunities and gives greater freedom for creativity in the design, production, manufacturing, distribution, promotion and retailing choices and processes. Brand is attractive to global partners Because of the companys size (including value, brand name and operating revenues) and wide portfolio base, Coca-Cola enjoys a strong purchasing power over its suppliers, and also attracts large partnerships with various levels of consumer reach (e.g. Burger King, movie studio promotions, sponsorship agreements, etc.). Existing brand awareness also provides an international playing field for powerful marketing strategies. THREATS Strong competition Coca-Cola is competing in a global market that is characterized by an oligopoly between several (but few in numbers) competitors. The fight for market shares and sales in crowded markets becomes a complex one. Potential health issues The current trend of consumer and consumers groups awareness towards goods and services is both beneficial and threatening for companies in the food and beverages industry. Over the last few years, concerns over health issues have risen in the media through an expanded and ever-growing network of knowledge outputs (journals, TV channels, internet and so on). The move of the younger generation towards a healthier lifestyle call for careful planning and decision-making in new product developments. Large companies can also easily become the target of consumers apprehension. Free trade In an era of globalization, large international competitors can come out with comparative advantages (the constant fight to remain the first mover and market leader in a long-term spectrum). Issues arise when dealing with price competition and economic growth. Trade organizations are also faced with public pressure which can disrupt operations in one or more areas of the company. TARGET MARKET Segment identification: RTD (Ready-to-drink) bottled Bubble Tea, to be established within the Functional Drinks sector Segment needs: The product will cater to both physiological needs (hydrating and nutritional value) and social needs (perception of a social, fun drink with a sense of belonging within peer consumer groups) (ref.11, p.127). Segment trends: The current trends include a shift away from junk foods and carbonated drinks, a growing interest for healthier / beneficial products for the mind and body (ref. 10), the trend towards the availability of on-the-go products for those with an active lifestyle, as well as the trend for personalization through customization (or for beverages, through variety-seeking in a wide introduction of flavours ref.6). Segment growth potential: Statistical reports anticipate a segment growth of 1.72% over the next 9 years (2015) for the 10-29 years old subsets (ref.12). Refer to Appendix E. Size of the segment (population): 8,688,300 (329,600 L). Refer to Appendix E. Positioning strategy: The only RTD bottled bubble tea available. Funky eye-catching bottle, functional packaging, premium-priced, cool, new and unusual, unique drinking experience, aspects of play (tapioca pearls, oversized colored straw), variety of flavors, sweet, refreshing, for hip young people, healthier alternative to heavy-sugar drinks. The objectives of the marketing plan are strategically centered around 3 criteria: to create a strong consumer awareness towards a completely new bubble tea product from Coca-Cola, to establish a wide brand recognition through the capture of market shares in the functional drinks segment, and to become the top market leader in that particular segment within the forecasted sales figures. PRODUCT STRATEGY The core Bubble Tea beverage in a pre-bottled, ready-to-drink format. The actual product Packaging and labeling: see figure below Branding: colorful, aspect of play, round shaped, prominent Bubble Buzz logo written in modern font, catchphrases such as Think outside the Bubble and Get Your Buzz. Trade name: Bubble Buzzà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, a Coca-Cola product Brand personality: energy, funky, cool, functional, original, funny, healthy, etc. Brand equity: Coca-Cola provides a quality, consistent, innovative and accessible soft drink reputation. Augmented product Nutritional information, Status (social drink), Features promoting the website, Health benefit of a green tea base (ref.17) Marketing considerations Product life cycle: Bubble Buzz is a low-learning product. With a strong marketing campaign, sales [will] begin immediately and the benefits of the purchase are readily understood (ref.11, p.301). Since Bubble Buzz is prone to product imitation, Coca-Colas strategy is to broaden distribution quickly, which is currently feasible thanks to the companys high manufacturing capacity. Product class: Food beverage à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Soft Drinks à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Functional Drinks (refer to Appendix D2 for a break-down of the functional drinks market). Bubble Buzz follows the practice of product modification (ref.11, p.304): Coca-Cola is introducing an existing beverage (bubble tea) but redefines the drink with a new, more convenient package. Bubble Tea will now become a widely available drink in multiple retailing (distribution) channels. PRICE STRATEGY The price strategy that will be undertaken should consider the following aspects: Consumer demand The product lifecycle Potential substitutes Customer demand Customer demand is a crucial factor which is driven by tastes, income and availability of others similar products at a different price (mentioned later in the potential substitutes section). For a lot of consumers, value and price are highly related: the higher the price, the higher the value. Consequently, Coca-Colas intention to position Bubble Buzz as a unique, innovative and attractive product gives it a certain control over Bubble Buzz price. To be able to implement higher pricing though, the minimization of the non-monetary costs to customers should also be include along with awareness of the product (notably by advertising) and value (benefits) . The product lifecycle The company should take advantage also to the fact that the newer the product and the earlier in its lifecycle the higher the price can usually be. It ensures a high profit margin as the early adopters buy the product and the firm seeks to recoup development costs quickly and it also brings a certain prestige to the product. Potential substitutes Coca-Cola is constrained by the monopolistic market in which it competes. The main characteristic however is product differentiation. Other constraints (See Appendix M) PROMOTION STRATEGY Objectives: To initiate strong awareness about the launch of Bubble Buzz throughout Generation Y (10-29 years old) consumers as well as their parents. To win market shares over our top functional drinks competitor, PepsiCo. Message: The promotional outputs will convey the clear message that Bubble Buzz is a healthy drink for sporty and young people who simply enjoy taking care of their body and life. Concepts: Think outside the bubble: Be Bold, Be Original, Be Different, Be Yourself. A good spirit in a good body. For the out-of-the-ordinary individuals who like to challenge themselves. Media selection: Before choosing the appropriate medias, it is important to note that Generation Y consumers only give partial attention to media. However, they can be reached through integrated programs. They are typically using more than one communication media at a time; a behaviour that is often called multitasking. This group of consumers doesnt give its full attention to one single message, but rather uses continuous partial attention to scan the media. Marketers can still communicate with Generation Y by using a variety of targeted promotional tools. Another important tactic to reach our target market is through Viral or Buzz marketing, which Coca-Cola will heavily use in this campaign (campus, contests). Advertising: Refer to APPENDIX H for detailed explanations Output Examples Television MTV, Much Music, VrakTV, YTV Radio MIX96, CKOI 96.9, 94.7 FM, Universities Magazines For girls: Cosmo, Elle For boys: Sports Illustrated (or Kids edition) Internet Banners on select websites (gaming, sports, etc.) Official promotional website: www.BubbleBuzz.ca Outdoors Billboards and prints in select areas including: Campuses, transportation (bus, metro, stations) Tourist areas in high seasonal periods Outskirts of key cities in geographical reach Others Not relevant Personal selling Direct contact with retailers, sales kit strategies to be explained later in the text. Public relations Stands or special displays and events in schools, malls, sports events (i.e. 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games), sponsorship activities Publicity Conferences, press releases (print and online), buzz marketing through TV coverage Promotional Mix: Consumer oriented: Contests: Win another Bubble Buzz flavour, Uncover a secret code underneath the bottle cap and win sporting goods and electronics by logging on the website, Win a trip for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. (Arguments: It will increase consumer purchases and encourage consumer involvement with the product). Samples: distributed in supermarkets, school/universities. Samples are a way to avoid product resistance since people are not used to find bubbles in their drinks. Arguments: It will encourage new product purchases and it represents low risk for consumers since they get it for free. They have nothing to loose by trying it. Point-of-purchase: in supermarkets (to reach the parents of generation Y). Arguments: It is also a mean to increase product trial and provides a good product visibility. Others: In subsequent years, engage in product placement in TV shows or movies. Trade oriented: Allowances and discounts: case allowance (Arguments: The free goods approach will be used so it can encourage retailers to buy more of the product to get a certain amount for free). Cooperative advertising: to encourage retailers to buy our product and to maintain our high level of advertisement that consumers expect from Coca-Cola. Other considerations: Scheduling of the advertising: Pulse scheduling (promotional presence year-round, but emphasized and intensified before and during summer). IMC (integrated marketing communication) Target Audience: Intermediary: personal selling will be more often used Ultimate consumer: Coca-Cola will use more of mass media because the amount of potential buyers is large. PLACE (DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY) Bubble Buzz will be distributed through these channels: supermarkets, convenience stores, independent food stores, discount stores, multiple grocers, vending machines, direct sales. China is the target country were going to expand our product. Reasons: With a total population of 1,313,015,000 in the end of 2005 and 327,714,000 in our target market (age 10 to 25 years old), compared with the total population of Canada304,453 million, there definitely is a great potential worth to work on. absolute expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages is expected to increase from 1,777 billion in 2005 to 2,154 billion in 2010 (though the proportion of consumer expenditure on this part is decreasing from 28.39% to 25.75% ) Soft drinks industry is one of the fast growing industries in China, especially fruit/vegetable juice, RTD tea, and Asian speciality drinks and bottled water have shown a sharp increase during 1998 to 2003. Bubble tea was originated in Taiwan. Soon after its introduction in China, it became one of the most popular beverages sold in tea stores on the streets due to the similar taste and similar cultural background. So, it is a good chance for us to enter into this market. Since we are the top sponsor for the upcoming Beijing Olympic in 2008. With more opportunities to expose to the public, it is going to benefit our sale there. Our entry-strategy for entering China is through licensing. Reasons: We have already provided licenses for manufacturing our products in China (licensing the bottlers and supply them with our syrup required for producing). Therefore, added in one or two more products in our production chain would not be that difficult. It is relatively low risk when compared with direct investment there. It is low cost to export our new products there since we can maintain lower labour cost and lower material cost if we produce our products locally, especially in China. Changes to be made: Price: Price sold in China is going to change to accommodate the local desire. As we set our price sold in Canada $2.00. Compared to the price sold in the bubble tea store ($ 3.50), it is about 57.14%. So, with the information we gathered from the tea store in China  [1]  , the price sold there would be 57.14% of what sold in the tea store$12 Yuen in China currency. Then, it would be around $7 Yuen, about CAD$1  [2]  . Naming the product: In order to be recognized and accepted more easily for the local market, we need not only translate our product name but also make sure theres not hidden unintended meaning that would damage our product. Develop other flavours that would attract the local market: Since milk based bubble tea sell better in China, we will add in this product line. Also, we will avoid using too many artificial colors as they are not appreciated as much as in Canada. Moreover, people in China are becoming more and more health concerned, especially the amount of sugar and additives added in the drinks. We will make some changes in the ingredients used to appeal the local market, i.e. less sugary drinks. Promotion: In contrast to the radio ads in Canada, we will use more TV and Web advertisement there due to the highly exposed environment in China. Also, we will put more emphasis on the ads on the public transportation such as underground/subway system and bus service due to the more frequent use of the public transport service there. Also, since the outdoor display screen is quite popular in big cities, we will also take advantage of it

Doris Duke :: Essays Papers

Doris Duke Many people may think that money is the key to happiness, but Too Rich, written by Pony Duke and Jason Thomas proves this theory wrong. Doris Duke was one of the richest people in the world, in fact at her time, she was the richest woman in the world, but money does not make all people happy. Actually, being rich could lead to and extremely lonely life, such as Doris Duke’s. Well, of course money can buy a person any and every material item that they want, but some things are priceless. Even the MasterCard commercial says so, â€Å"Your child’s first baseball game, priceless. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.† Money cannot buy happiness and companionship. The reason that a biography was written about Doris Duke is because she was the richest woman in the world. Her family and she used their money towards worthy causes. Doris’ father founded Duke University and Doris helped to preserve national forests and monuments. The Duke fortune started with the American Tobacco Company. At one point their tobacco company was a monopoly, but then others formed. When Doris was born she was referred to as the one million-dollar tyke. This became true when her father, Buck Duke died. The message conveyed in this novel is that money can buy most things, but it cannot buy happiness. Happiness is the one thing that Doris Duke craved and needed in her life more than anything else in the world. She was very lonely and trusted too many people. The most important lesson that her father taught her that she did not follow was not to trust anyone. The dedication of the book reads, â€Å"This book is dedicated to Doris Duke, who should have believed the person who told her ‘never trust anyone’†(iv). Doris wanted to be loved. She tried to find real affection from so many people, but found mostly fortune hunters. Doris also grew up alone and isolated. All of the people she allowed into her life did not love her for her, which she found out sooner or later, but later much more often than sooner. Doris is portrayed as a lonely loving woman, who would do almost anything for anyone if she offered before she was asked.

The Critique of Conceiving Logic as a Propadeutic :: Logic Ontology Philosophy Essays

The Critique of Conceiving Logic as a Propadeutic Introduction: Does logic assume an ontology? What is the relationship between logic and ontology? In contemporary philosophy common answers have been ‘No’ to the first and ‘None’ to the second question. This is because the principles of logic, to borrow Kantian terminology, are understood as regulative rather than constitutive of objects. For a principle to be regulative means that it provides us with a methodology that belongs somehow to the nature of our thinking, but not to that of the world, as constitutive principles do.[i] In this way, a regulative conception of logic represents logic as an â€Å"instrument† of reason that takes for granted a formal set of rules, rules which have no bearing on â€Å"reality† and that are â€Å"invented† as tools to guide our thought.[ii] It is no curiosity that as a result most contemporary logic text-books present logic as formal or informal system of rules meant to regulate our thinking. But why s hould we presuppose that logic is a regulative â€Å"instrument† devoid of ontological status? The aim here is to show that this presupposition regarding the nature of logic has very tenuous grounds and that a more plausible conception is a constitutive one, where logic is seen to express the structure of the world as mathematics might. This will be argued first by articulating Kant’s arguments for the separation of logic and ontology based on his criticism of pure reason and logic as providing principles constitutive of objects. Next, a Hegelian criticism of this criticism will be provided, as a defence of pure reason, to present subsequently his conception of reason and logic as the fountain of constitutive principles. This will be attempted by showing (a) Hegel’s conception of logic, (b) of thought, and (c) of objective thought. Finally, this position will be challenged with the charge of psychologism to show that nonetheless an ontological view of logic is more plausible than a regulative one. I. Kant: Finite Experience and The Critique Of Pure Reason 1.1. The Regulative Logical Employment of Reason Kant’s first Critique is an impressive analysis of the theoretical mind, an attempt to discover its nature, capacity for knowledge, and limits.

Americans Have the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Essay -- Constitutional

Americans Have the Right to Keep and Bear Arms   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Our rights as Americans started to take shape when the Constitution of the United States was drawn up by the delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Three years later, a very important part of American history called the Bill of Rights was added. The Bill of Rights is looked upon and interpreted every day. It gives the citizens of the United States many of the rights and freedoms that we value today, and some of those are in jeopardy. One right that is at stake is our right to bear arms, which is addressed in the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment is a highly debatable topic, and many legal scholars and the Supreme Court have yet to resolve the issues and controversy dealing with the Amendment. Until a decision can be made, the law will remain as it is currently interpreted. The citizens of the United States of America have the right to keep and bear arms.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The controversy about the Second Amendment is derived from how it is worded (Jordan). The debate about the wording can be broken into two different arguments. To understand the arguments it is important to know how the Amendment is worded. The Second Amendment states, â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed (qtd. in Anastaplo 61).† The first argument is that some people view the Second Amendment as two separate rights. The right of the people to keep and bear arms can be interpreted with the idea that each individual has the right to keep and bear arms; whereas, it could be a collective right giving just the members of the Militia the right to have guns (Gold). It is believed that the original meaning of the right to bear arms and the militia in the same Amendment was because in the early times of America the citizens needed weapons to guarantee th eir freedom and prevent the government from forming a dictatorship (Edel xi). The second debate is that the Amendment is one statement, therefore meaning that the militia has the right to bear arms. The problem of understanding the meaning of the Second Amendment has been brought before many courts all across America and has been ruled upon in different ways at different times. However, the Supreme Court has never declared it illegal to own guns.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the years, t... ...iminals would be able to get guns illegally if they wanted them (Smith 25). It comes down to the age old saying of â€Å"guns do not kill people, people kill people.† The ability to keep and bear arms is also a right given to the American people by the Bill of Rights and was reinstated when one of the framers, Thomas Jefferson, said, â€Å"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.† Works Cited Anastaplo, George. The Amendments to the Constitution: A Commentary. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 1995. Chidsey, Donald Barr. The Birth of the Constitution: An Informed History. New York: Crown, 1964. Edel, Wilbur. Gun Control: Threat to Liberty or Defense Against Anarchy?. London: Praeger, 1995. Gold, Bruce. â€Å"The 2nd Amendment: A Historical Understanding.† Keep and Bear Arms.com. 5 April 2004 Hickok, Eugene W., ed. The Bill of Rights: Original Meaning and Current Understanding. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1991. Jordan, Stan. â€Å"The Common Sense 2nd Amendment.† Keep and Bear Arms.com. 2001. 5 April 2004 Klein, Chuck. â€Å"What the Second Amendment Says.† The Cincinnati Enquirer 28 March 2001: B7. 5 April 2004 Smith, Guy. Gun Facts Version 2.0. 2000. 1 April 2004

Preliminary Research Design

Individual Research Project-Part 1 Godfrey Boyd American Intercontinental University Abstract There are theoretical and philosophical differences between â€Å"formal research† and â€Å"business proposals†. The advantages and disadvantages related to both can be a benefit depending upon the problem studied. Research is not fully understood in business. This paper will attempt to highlight reasons for limited utilization of research in business. Small businesses are less likely to conduct marketing research. Amy E. Knaup, an economist with the Office of Employment statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2005, 44% of all new business failed in the first 2 years. Individual Research Project-Preliminary Research Design In business, formal research and business proposals have significant differences and some similarities. It is very important to understand the purposes and goals of each. What are some commonalities? Research and business proposals have similar components. Backround information must be identified for both formal research and the business proposal. (American Journal of Small Business, Vol. IX, No. 4, Spring 1985. ) When someone conducts formal research or a business proposal, they have similar goals. Research and business proposals are conducted to find solutions, or solve problems. What are some differences? A formal research proposal differs significantly. Both proposals may appear similar. The purpose of formal research is mainly to find data to solve problems or help businesses make improved decisions on daily operations, or use of the best product. Apple’s iPod was a huge financial success in the early to middle 2000s. In 2008, iPod sales dropped significantly. (Business Week). Apple introduced and upgraded the iPod after a significant market study indicated that the economy and practicality of use were indicators of decreased iPod sales. The business proposal will focus more on the product and make it more successful. The attitude toward market research from small businesses is also a possible reason for businesses failing in less than two years. (Barnes Journal of Small Busienss Management). The formal research problem can focus on problems that sociological, and present clear concepts. Theory is also a hallmark of formal research. The problem studied and evaluated can be compared to previous research. Business proposals are more time sensitive. One of the goals of the business proposal is to research and find a solution to why a product is not doing well in a particular market. Time is of essence in business in order for the business to be successful. The formal research may not have a time constraint but the goal is to find a solution or solve a problem. What are some capabilities of one in contrast with the capabilities of the other? Formal research has the capability to pinpoint data through correct analysis. Hypotheses are validated through appropriate statistical analysis. Business proposals often suggest new products or services with the goal being to make money for the business. The formal research study has the capability to approach the issue theoretically and suggest a practical solution in just what to do to make money. A formal research study will provide valuable conclusions and insight. Formal research highlights complexities, context and emphasizes research. Rigor is the result of carefully collected data and strong accurate investigations. Formal research has to have testability. This means that data was collected correctly and sample sizes were adequate. A capability of a business proposal is the proposal can be done in relatively shorter time period. The business proposal will focus on a product or a business related problem that needs a solution in order to make money. Method Participant (subject) characteristics Sampling procedures Sample size, power, and precision Measures and covariates Research design Experimental manipulations or interventions Results Recruitment Statistics and data analysis Ancillary analyses Participant flow Intervention or manipulation fidelity Baseline data Adverse events Discussion References

Perspectives on play: learning for life Essay

This paper illustrates in detail how learning can be achieved through play. Depth research has been carried out on the correlation between play and its positive benefits on early childhood learning, growth and development. Through this research it has been established that there is a positive connection between creative language and play and the social development of a child. Play has emotional benefits on a child such as enjoyment, relaxation, and fun, love of life, tension reduction and self expression. Developmental benefits of play include cognitive development where imagination, creativity, problem solving, mastery of concepts and perspective taking improves. Socially the child grows which can be seen through co-operation, sharing, turn-taking, and conflict resolution and leadership skills development. The language of the kid also develops that is in terms of communication skills, vocabulary and narration (Brock 2009 p.6-7) In this issue to bring out the details pretty clear, sharp in-depth look at two chapters has been done, the first chapter being; Authoring books, plays and identities in writing workshops. Key practice: Approximated writing. The first chapter also involves the sub-topic; discourse of creative expression (Gordon 2009 p.23). The second chapter to look at is the: Toy as Identity texts, children as consumers and players. The first chapter mostly handles introduction to writing where kids are taken through a workshop where they mainly engage in writing. The climax of it is when the kid finally authors a book and has a chance to sit on the authors chair and read the book to the class and to be admired and questioned at the end of the writing workshop. The rationale behind choosing this chapter on developing writing is that written communication is a very key skill in life and everyone should have it as a priority developing the skill and becoming an expert in communicating really well thro ugh writing. It is thus a privilege and great pleasure learning how a kid or an individual at large develops this skill and also to reflect and see how probably people did begin at it or ought to begin (Gordon 2009 p.25) Approximated writing is the key arguments in this chapter which symbolizes or represents a range of ways in which children can deliberate within their inner self between their personally invented forms of language understanding and the culturally determined rules for language. Approximated writing is close to the real writing language which embraces errors, incorrect spellings. It is used by children to formulate meaningful messages through their use of their emerging mastery of the language. In the writing workshop the kids initiated their own writing projects and as they wrote they designed and illustrated images and prints for puppet plays, pages for kids-printed books, cards to relatives and friends, storyboards and journals. Graphophonic conventions such as using alphabetic symbols like â€Å"tuk† to represent the word took, putting bigger spaces between words, placing marks on words and organizing them in a pattern are very much use in this case. Authoring in the worksho p happened when the kids wrote, drew, told and dramatized the texts they had written down. Finally in regard to authoring the kids connected texts for the kids-produced books that they presented to the others through reading aloud from the author`s chair or even short plays that were acted for the class and videotaped (Marzollo 2011 p.39-40) A number of realizations came from these workshops or activity that was centered on kid’s literacy. The first one being that children are capable writers who are able to actively create and co-create meaning and such activities can be very instrumental in bringing out their literacy proficiency this is so because it is in such that they are challenged to explore all genres of written communication and also get a chance to freely air their ideas through their conversations and writings (Elkind, 2009; p.46). The idea of getting a chance to sit on the author`s chair, present the book to the class, to be questioned and admired at the end of the writing workshop motivated the kids to really come up with a well-illustrated book. Discourse of creative expression also happens in the conference where free expression of ideas and feelings in the workshop through routine or regular practices is done. The children are always encouraged to share their opinions with their peers and anything they feel the need to air during the workshop. This discourse of creative expression empowers autonomy in writing decisions during the workshop and clearly refers to the kids as a writer mostly because they have written their own creations (Guinagh 2009 p.32). The above situation is really different from a school situation which cannot really be called free expression because the kid is directed, monitored and controlled by the teacher on what to write about. The children also have the permission during the workshop to abandon the projects they were working on at their own discretion without permission from the teacher. In the case of a child also consulting with other children in the case of seeking their assistance and opinions also decides to change their projects and ignore the one they were doing or make revisions on it is still quite appropriate. The methodology used in this chapter or writing workshop to teach the children how to write is something really great and enjoyable both for them and their instructor. The different number of plays that are used to teach them how to write and encourage them to pursue understanding the genres of written communication are very appropriate for them both for their easier understanding and to make it really interesting to the children without boredom at all. Learning writing is presented in a very simplified way that makes the child to want to do it again and again. The above writing activity or workshop further proves the point that learning happens very effectively through play (Silberg 2009 p.23). In the second chapter close attention is paid to the chapter on Toy as Identity texts, children as consumers and players. First it is good to state that the rationale behind picking this chapter as the second one to look at to anyone it would mostly be out of curiosity to know and understand the following questions: The reason why kids and toys are almost inseparable? How comes that children want to spend as much as possible time with their toys, which is the language that really exist if any between toys and kids? Dolls in line with toys are texts designed specifically to enable the children to recognise with ease the manner in which it can be used in a play. They are associated with popular children animated films and also television programs which encourage children to play certain character roles and familiar scripts. These toys act as texts calling forth for â€Å"possible worlds† which brings about certain character roles, dialogue and stories (Silberg 2009 p.31) Dolls i n a way are used to communicate identity and expectations in and from the society, for example the text or identity of a â€Å"cool girl† is communicated through the doll`s features such as its hairstyle, clothing and makeup. Popular dolls communicate complex such as concerning taste, social status, culture, roles and position in society and taste. This complex message requires the reader in this case the children to coordinate these messages and understand them (Tizard 2010 p. 55) The methodology of using toys and dolls to communicate certain texts to the children and ensure that they learn something sounds quite funny. It is after pondering about this manner of using play to teach or facilitate learning to the very young ones that a person will come to the conclusion that it is one of the most amazing ways of learning through play which is really an awesome method. Kids are in a position to learn so much through toys and dolls without even their knowledge that they are learning and this knowledge sticks in their minds for the rest of their lives. As a wrap up this paper has made it clear through the above examples how learning is done through play. Therefore one would comfortably conclude that it is a matter of fact that children learn through play and exposure to plays enable them to develop their intellectual, social and emotional skills. Plays should thus be a part and parcel of a child`s life so that the child may grow and develop holistically failure to which the development of the child will be hindered (Wood 2013 p.5). More and more learning and play ought to be embraced and others developed so as to ease learning especially amongst children who are easily bored and has low concentration ability and retention capacity of what they learn. The importance and value of learning through play can therefore not be underestimated. References Brock, A. (2009). Perspectives on play: learning for life. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman. Elkind, D. (2009). The power of play: learning what comes naturally. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Lifelong ;. Gordon, I. J., Guinagh, B., & Jester, R. E. (2009). Child learning through child play; learning activities for two and three year olds. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Marzollo, J., & Lloyd, J. (2011). Learning through play ([1st ed.). New York: Harper & Row. Silberg, J. (2009). Learning games: exploring the senses through play. Beltsville, Md.: Gryphon House. Tizard, B., & Hughes, M. (2010). Young children learning (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.. Tizard, B., & Hughes, M. (2010). Young children learning (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.. Wood, E. (2013). Play, learning and the early childhood curriculum (3rd ed.). London: SAGE. Source document