gay literature :: essays research papers

While sexual difference may not exist between lesbians all other forms of difference do. These include differences of identity: race, class origins, employment status, age, religion, physical abilities - and while we may struggle against these differences within our individual ‘spaces’ they have a material and institutional reality that cannot be wished away What, to you, seems important about the terms gay and lesbian in literature? In the face of a homophobic society we need creative and critical processes that draw out the complexity of lesbian lives and same sex choices, not a retreat into the comforting myths of heroines and unfractured, impeachable identities This quote addresses directly the primary difficulty of the issue. The terms gay and lesbian are useful in literature in that they allow a group of people who have been marginalised and even persecuted to become visible. They enable a way of life and a set of identities, harmonious or conflicting, to be presented, to be questioned, to be understood and accepted. As categories they create ‘space’ in which there may develop a more evolved understanding of texts and they also create a genre within which many lesbian and gay writers are comfortable with being placed. A gendered reading of a text can reveal undercurrents and depths which might otherwise not be apparent. These categories also make ‘space’ for the author within the text which leads to a closer tie between the author and the reader in the reading process. However the danger which this sort of terminology presents is that of homogenising ways both of reading and writing a text. In creating a category one is always not only creating an inclusive zone but in doing so also excluding certain elements. The risk is run of stultifying the creative process through the exclusion by a minority group of the minority groups within. As Bonnie Zimmerman writes in her essay ‘Lesbians like this and that’ By positing the lesbian as ‘excess’ in the patriarchal system we may fail to note the identities that function as ‘excess’ within our own newly created lesbian community. There is a risk of adopting a separatist approach, of placing the categories of gay and lesbian literature outside the mainstream and creating a gay canon but in doing so retaining the underlying values of that ‘patriarchal system.’ How does one avoid replicating the masculinist cultural error of taking the dominant for the universal

Outline for the Good Earth Essay

One Man’s survival and triumph over the land and nature leads to a prosperous life. Thesis: Man’s triumph over the land and nature rewards with wealth and profit and respect from other. II. Introduction- How Wang Lang is connected to the earth and his strong relationship with it and how his good work ethics and moral judgments guide him on becoming one with his land. How Wang Lung tries to establish a connection with the land, the rewards and wealth from having a strong connection with the earth, and the respect from other while leading to a prosperous life. A. Establishing a connection- How Wang Lung attempts to have a strong connection with the earth. 1. Wang Lung starts connecting with the land a. Farms through own physical labor at first but O-Lan help his after they are together. b. He maintains his farm constantly through the changing seasons. 2. Wang Lung respect for nature guides him through his future success, How the nourishing power of the land comforts Wang Lung. b. The Earth producing for Wang Lung for his hard work and dedication B. Disasters for the land- How the nature damages Wang Lung connection with the Earth 1. Wang Lung and his family trying to survive against the elements of nature a. Wang Lung tries to survive from the famine that has struck the village because of the drought and is forced to move away from his land for a while. b. The flood affects Wang Lungs crops but because of his success from farming he is unaffected but becomes severed from his connection with the Earth. Wang Lung is forced to sever his connection with the earth because of nature a. When the famine struck Wang Lung is forced to move away from his land severing his connection and losing his strength to stay upon the land. b. Almost coming to the decision upon selling his daughter to return to the land corrupts Wang Lung moral judgments. C. Triumph over nature and the land- How Wang Lung connection with the land is restored and the wealth he is rewarded with. 1. Wang Lungs connection with the Earth is stronger than before. When returning from the city with money him able to purchase property and profit from his expanding land he has gained because of the Earth providing him with more resources. b. Through hard work he has become more profitable and wealthier than before and is able to provide for his family. 2. Wang Lung leading a prosperous lifestyle with the current wealth he has gained. a. He is able to become wealthier and afford many lavished items in his household and lead a good lavished life while he is now old. b. He becomes well respected within his village and is looked upon as one of the great family’s to the villagers.

Porter’s 5 Forces Essay

The model of the Five Competitive Forces was developed by Michael E. Porter in his book „Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitorsâ€Å"in 1980. Since that time it has become an important tool for analyzing an organizations industry structure in strategic processes. Porter’s model is based up on the insight that a corporate strategy should meet the opportunities and threats in the organizations external environment. Competitive strategy should be developed based upon forecasting of the available information on the developing competitive environment and other threats faced .Porter was able to identify five competitive forces that that shapes the different industry and market. Porter five forces do was able to interpret the intensity of the competition and also the profitability and attractiveness of an industry. The corporate strategy is devised to improve the position of the respective industry in there market position as well as in brand form. Porter’s model provides the analysis of the driving forces in an industry. Based on the information derived from the Five Forces Analysis, management can decide on how to influence or to exploit particular characteristics of their industry. The Five Competitive Forces The Five Competitive Forces are typically described as follows: 1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers Suppliers comprises of all the sources for inputs that are needed in order to provide/produce goods or services. Supplier bargaining power is likely to be high when: 1. The market is dominated by a few large suppliers rather than a fragmented source of supply, 2. There are no substitutes for the particular input, 3. The suppliers customers are fragmented, so their bargaining power is low, 4. The switching costs from one supplier to another are high, 5. There is the possibility of the supplier integrating forwards in order to obtain higher prices and margins. This threat is especially high when 6. The buying industry has a higher profitability than the supplying industry, 7. Forward integration provides economies of scale for the supplier, 8. The buying industry hinders the supplying industry in their development (e.g. reluctance to accept new releases of products), 9. The buying industry has low barriers to entry. In these situations, the buying industry does face a high pressure on margins from their suppliers. The relationship to powerful suppliers can enormously reduce strategic options for the organization. 2 Bargaining Power of Customers Similarly, the bargaining power of customers determines how much customers can influence pressure on margins and volumes. Customers bargaining power is likely to be high when 1. They buy large volumes, there is a concentration of buyers, 2. The supplying industry comprises a large number of small operators 3. The supplying industry operates with high fixed costs, 4. The product is undifferentiated and can be replaces by substitutes, 5. Switching to an alternative product is relatively simple and is not related to high costs, 6. Customers have low margins and are price-sensitive, 7. Customers could produce the product themselves, 8. The product is not of strategically importance for the customer, 9. The customer knows about the production costs of the product 10. There is the possibility for the customer integrating backwards. 3 Threat of New Entrants If the competition in an industry is higher, the easier it is for other companies to enter this industry. In such situations, new entrants could create major determinants of the market environment (e.g. market shares, prices, customer loyalty) at any time. There is always pressure for reaction and adjustment for existing players in the industry. The threat of new entries will depend on the extent to which there are barriers to entry. These are typically 1. Economies of scale (minimum size requirements for profitable operations), 2. High initial investments and fixed costs, 3. Cost advantages of existing players due to experience curve effects of operation with fully depreciated assets, 4. Brand loyalty of customers 5. Protected intellectual property like patents, licenses etc, 6. Scarcity of important resources, e.g. qualified expert staff 7. Access to raw materials is controlled by existing players, 8. Distribution channels are controlled by existing players, 9. Existing players have close customer relations, e.g. from long-term service contracts, 10. High switching costs for customers 11. Legislation and government action 4 Threat of Substitutes A threat from substitutes exists if there is an alternative product with lower prices of better performance parameters for the same purpose. This could attract a significant proportion of market volume and hence reduce the sales volume for existing players. This category also relates to complementary products. Similarly to the threat of new entrants, the treat of substitutes is determined by factors like 1. Brand loyalty of customers, 2. Close customer relationships, 3. Switching costs for customers, 4. The relative price for performance of substitutes, 5. Current trends. 5 Competitive Rivalry between Existing Players This force describes the intensity of competition between existing players (companies) in an industry. High competitive pressure results in pressure on pricing, margins, and also, on profitability for every single company in the industry. Competition between existing players is likely to be high when 1. There are many players of about the same size, 2. Players have similar strategies 3. There is not much differentiation between players and their products, hence, there is much price competition 4. Low market growth rates (growth of a particular company is possible only at the expense of a competitor), 5. Barriers for exit are high (e.g. expensive and highly specialized equipment). Use of the Information from Five Forces Analysis Five Forces Analysis can provide valuable information for three aspects of corporate planning: Statistical Analysis: The Five Forces Analysis allows the user to determine the attractiveness of an industry. Also, it provides visibility on profitability. Thus, it helps to decide about the entry or exit from an industry or a market segment. Moreover, the model can be used to compare the impact of competitive forces on the own organization with their impact on competitors. Competitors may have different options to react to changes in competitive forces from their different resources and competences. This may influence the structure of the whole industry. Dynamical Analysis: If done along with a PEST-Analysis, which provides the drivers for change in an industry, Five Forces Analysis can help to give insights on the potential future attractiveness of the industry. Expected political, economical, socio-demographical and technological changes can influence the five competitive forces and thus have impact on industry structures. In general term to determine potential changes in competitive forces. Analysis of Options: With this knowledge on intensity and power of competitive forces, organizations could develop options to control them in a way so to improve  their own competitive position. The result could be a new strategic decision, e.g. a new positioning, differentiation for competitive products of strategic partnerships. Thus, Porters model of Five Competitive Forces gives a systematic and structured analysis on market and their structure and what likely be competitive situation. The model can be used on particular companies, market segments, industries or regions. Hence, it is needed to determine the scope of the market to be analyzed in a first step. Then, all relevant forces for this market are identified and analyzed. Though, it is not necessary to analyze all elements of all competitive forces with the same depth. The Five Forces Model is based on microeconomics. It also takes into account the supply and demand, complementary products and substitutes, the relationship between volume of production and cost of production, and market structures like monopoly, oligopoly or perfect competition etc. Influencing the Power of Five Forces After the analysis of current and potential future state of the five competitive forces, Users can search for options on how these forces influences in their organization’s interest. Although industry-specific business models will limit options, the own strategy can create different impact of competitive forces on organizations. The objective is to reduce the influence of competitive forces. The following figure provides some examples. They are of general nature. Hence, they have to be adjusted to each organization’s specific situation. The options of an organization are determined not only by the external market environment, but also by its own internal resources, competences and objectives. 4.1 Reducing the Bargaining Power of Suppliers 4.2 Reducing the Bargaining Power of Customers 1. Partnering 2. Supply chain management 3. Supply chain training 4. Increase dependency 5. Build knowledge of supplier costs and methods 6.   Take over a supplier 1. Partnering 2. Supply chain management 3. Increase loyalty 4. Increase incentives and value added 5. Move purchase decision away from price 6. Cut put powerful intermediaries (go directly to customer) 4.3 Reducing the Treat of New Entrants 4.4 Reducing the Threat of Substitutes 1. Increase minimum efficient scales of operations 2. Create a marketing / brand image (loyalty as a barrier) 3. Patents, protection of intellectual property 4. Alliances with linked products / services 5. Tie up with suppliers 6. Tie up with distributors 7. Retaliation tactics 1. Legal actions 2. Increase switching costs 3. Alliances 4. Customer surveys to learn about their preferences 5. Enter substitute market and influence from within 6. Accentuate differences (real or perceived) Drawbacks Porter’s model of Five Competitive Forces has been subject of critique for many years. Its main weakness results from which year it was developed. In the early eighties, the global economy. was characterized by cyclical growth Thus, primary objectives consisted of profitability and survival. A major prerequisite for achieving these objectives has been optimizing strategy in relation to the external environment. In early days, development  in most industries has been fairly stable and predictable, compared with today’s dynamics. In general, the meaningfulness of this model is reduced by the following factors: a. In the economic sense, the model assumes a classic perfect market. The more an industry is regulated, the less meaningful insights the model can deliver. b. The model is best applicable for analysis of simple market structures. A comprehensive description and analysis of all five forces gets very difficult in complex industries with multiple interrelations, product groups, by-products and segments. A too narrow focus on particular segments of such industries, however, bears the risk of missing important elements. c. The model assumes relatively static market structures. This is hardly the case in today’s dynamic markets. Technological breakthroughs and dynamic market entrants from start-ups or other industries may completely change business models, entry barriers and relationships along the supply chain within short times. The Five Forces model may have some use for later analysis of the new situation; but it will hardly provide much meaningful advice for preventive actions. d. The model is based on the idea of competition. It assumes that companies try to achieve competitive advantages over other players in the markets as well as over suppliers or customers. With this focus, it dos not really take into consideration strategies like strategic alliances, electronic linking of information systems of all companies along a value chain, virtual enterprise-networks or others. Overall, Porters Five Forces Model still has some major limitations in today’s market environment. It is not able to take into account new business models and the dynamics of markets. The value of Porters model is more that it enables managers to think about the current situation of their industry in a structured, easy-to-understand way – as a starting point for further analysis. Case Analysis Facebook Facebook (formerly [thefacebook]) is an online social networking service headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Its name comes from a colloquialism for the directory given to students at some American  universities.] Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow Harvard University studentsEduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The founders had initially limited the website’s membership to Harvard students, but later expanded it to colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, andStanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities and later to their high-school students Porters Five Force analysis on Facebook 1. The Power of Consumer Here customers are those company which are advertising in facebook. Being a large social network , it attracts a large number of advertisers who want to advertise in the platform. Hence, , the bargaining power of customer is low. , in later years if there is a new competion emergence power balance can vary. 2. The power of supplier: Users are the suppliers,As of 2012 report the users numbers are more than 1 billion globally. the power of suppliers is low. Here the suppliers have no other customer , that is there is no other availiable social sites hence they have to stand by facebook for the time being. 3. The threat of substitute products There are many upcoming products which is providing servie similar to that of facebook. Products such as Skype, WhatsApp, Google+, etc. are always a danger being substitutes for Facebook. Hence, the threat of substitute product is high. To maintain dominance, they always have to stay ahead of the tech ,also the trend and outperform possible substitute products. 4. The threat of new entrants The chance of new entray is high. There are always disruptive innovations happening in the social space. As a result new similar products keep creeping. Facebook especially needs to improve its product 5. The competitive rivalry: The field of social network is highly competitive. The most recent example was when Google launched social network Google+ that could be accessed by all Gmail users through the web as well as Android devices. Although Google+ has not been greatly successful in outwitting Facebook, we cannot rightly predict what lies ahead in future. Hence, the competitive rivalry that Facebook faces is high. REFERENCES http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook http://www.slideshare.net/manan/firm-strategy-analysis-facebook http://www.businessballs.com/portersfiveforcesofcompetition.htm

Kennedy’s New Frontier

The New Frontier a term used by John F. Kennedy in his inaugural speech in 1960 that revealed Presidents Kennedy's intention to create programs to aid in economic, International and social issues with a clear focus on key points such as Increasing the economy, creating international aid programs, adding to national defense, and the creation of a more ambitious space program. Although met with resistance from congress President Kennedy was able to fulfill some of the Initiatives mapped In his acceptance speech.Economically, he was able to pass bills providing financial lad to depressed Industrial and rural areas (Davidson, 2005), Increased the minimum wage and blocked big business from price gauging. Socially, he was an advocate for call rights for minorities and women. Internationally, President Kennedy accomplished two major agendas with creation of the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress. The peace Corps concentration was education In poorer nations and the Alliance forProgre ss focused on assisting Latin American with health and education. President Kennedy increased the armed forces ground troops and signed an agreement with the Soviet union to limit nuclear testing to underground only. He also advocated the expansion of the U. S. Space program including challenging congress to authorize a manned space mission to the moon in efforts to surpass the Russian cosmonaut orbiting the world after Kennedy's inauguration.Despite resistance from Congress ND his untimely death President Kennedy's New Frontier Program in many ways was considered a great success by influencing reform socially, economically. Internationally and politically. References Davidson, J. (2005). Nations of nations: A concise narrative of the American republic. New York: McGraw-Hill. New Frontier. (2012, March 24). In Wisped, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:33, April 13, 2012, from http://en. Wisped. Org/w/index. PH? Title-New Kennedy’s New Frontier The New Frontier a term used by John F. Kennedy in his inaugural speech in 1960 that revealed Presidents Kennedy's intention to create programs to aid in economic, International and social issues with a clear focus on key points such as Increasing the economy, creating international aid programs, adding to national defense, and the creation of a more ambitious space program. Although met with resistance from congress President Kennedy was able to fulfill some of the Initiatives mapped In his acceptance speech.Economically, he was able to pass bills providing financial lad to depressed Industrial and rural areas (Davidson, 2005), Increased the minimum wage and blocked big business from price gauging. Socially, he was an advocate for call rights for minorities and women. Internationally, President Kennedy accomplished two major agendas with creation of the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress. The peace Corps concentration was education In poorer nations and the Alliance forProgre ss focused on assisting Latin American with health and education. President Kennedy increased the armed forces ground troops and signed an agreement with the Soviet union to limit nuclear testing to underground only. He also advocated the expansion of the U. S. Space program including challenging congress to authorize a manned space mission to the moon in efforts to surpass the Russian cosmonaut orbiting the world after Kennedy's inauguration.Despite resistance from Congress ND his untimely death President Kennedy's New Frontier Program in many ways was considered a great success by influencing reform socially, economically. Internationally and politically. References Davidson, J. (2005). Nations of nations: A concise narrative of the American republic. New York: McGraw-Hill. New Frontier. (2012, March 24). In Wisped, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:33, April 13, 2012, from http://en. Wisped. Org/w/index. PH? Title-New

Ethics andPublic Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethics andPublic Administration - Essay Example The author of the paper "Ethics and Public Administration" assumes that morality defines the way in which one differentiates their intentions, how they arrive at their decisions and choose actions that their consciousness perceives to be right over what is wrong (Kakabadse, Korac-Kakabadse & Kouizmin 2003). Politics, on the other hand, entails the practice of structured control over people on an individual or civic level by those in governance positions. The functions of politics range from making laws to negotiating with opposing political views in order to promote one’s views, to exercising force against enemies (which may include warfare). On the social level, politics is practiced from family units, clans, tribes and societies. On a broader scale, it is inherently present in local governments, institutions, states and international levels (Kakabadse, Korac-Kakabadse & Kouizmin 2003). In view of morality and politics, Machiavelli, an Italian writer, humanist, philosopher, d iplomat and politician of the renaissance period, argued that the requirements of the two are not compatible. Although there are upright, incorruptible politicians, it is common knowledge that most require help from influential individuals or corporate bodies to get past the preliminary stages of elections. However, this help is more often than not to be paid back, which forms the basis of argument of this paper, which will support the argument that the requirements of a moral and political life are incompatible.... When factional conduct is pursued, it always compromises the goal of common welfare which politicians are ideally meant to achieve. Evidently, factions are, therefore, the results of both public and private corruption among the citizens. Machiavelli believed that to avoid the corruption, one had to choose between two sets of virtues. Whoever chose personal morality would have to give up any vision of an unwavering and prosperous society where everyone flourishes on what is rightfully earned. On the other hand, whoever chose politics would have to give up all hopes of quenching personal anxiety. One sees that Machiavelli’s thinking shows that although the ultimate goal of personal morality and politics may be the same, they are driven by entirely different sets of values that contradict each other and may lack rational, achievable solutions (James 2003). After officiating in the Florentine Republic as secretary to the chancery and being responsible for military and diplomatic a ffairs, Machiavelli’s arguments must have been informed by actual experiences. One of his popular writings, The Prince, was done after the recovery of power by the Medici, who were not in power during the time he served as secretary to the chancery. From The Prince, one can draw a picture of Machiavelli’s view of political rule without influence of ethics or morals, where the politicians are completely conscious of the institution of politics in exercising power effectively. Like many political philosophers, Machiavelli believes there is a correlation between authority and moral uprightness. However, he goes further to point out that the relationship is different when it comes to â€Å"legitimate† authority. Exercising political power can

Protecting the border Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Protecting the border - Essay Example Those who favor amnesty for illegal aliens, specifically those crossing the southern border do not seem to realize that a crime has been committed and not, as they might have you believe, one without a victim. The massive numbers of illegal aliens pouring across mainly the southern border has and continues to cause substantial economic, social and physical harms to legal citizens. These harms occur predominantly to those who are among the most vulnerable segments of the population, minorities, children and the poor. Simply enforcing the laws presently on the books and deporting illegal aliens is an economic necessity that would also result in decreased crime rates. Illegal immigrants have already broken the law upon arrival into the country and a considerable number break more including selling drugs, theft, murder, rape, etc. while in the country. Illegal immigrants receive more from public monies than they contribute which lowers the standard of living for legal citizens. Illegal immigrants contribute greatly to the overall population growth and health care, education and employment are the most impacted. Salaries are driven down by illegal immigrants willing to work for much less while their children, illegal and legal, overcrowd the schools. It’s the U.S. taxpayer who is sent the bill for their health care services as well. In addition, the large influx of illegal aliens burdens the already inadequate number of units classified as affordable housing and other welfare resources such as energy, water and land usage. Those that support amnesty of illegal aliens currently in the U.S. argue that deportations would result in the splitting of families. Children born in this country could stay but their illegal parents would have to leave. They also express that it would be unfair for a child that has lived in the U.S. all their life to be suddenly thrust into the conditions of a third world country.

Accounting assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accounting assessment - Essay Example Therefore, Direct Labor Hours Rate (DLHR) is preferred for use in calculation the full cost of production. Costs based on DLH solely depends on how human labor is handled hence to improve on such costs, the direct human labor must be accorded the welfare it deserves so that they are efficient in their operations. Costs based on machine hours on the other hand can be managed based on how efficient and effective the machines are allowed to operate hence reducing the costs or making them manageable. If these costs are not improved, they may inflate cutting into the returns of the operations. a. It is not possible to classify all costs in either an organization as fixed or variable costs. This is because depending on the context in which the resource is used, there are many costs, which display a multitude of cost behavior (Bhimani 2012). Hence, the categorization of a cost is dependent on the assumptions made by the analyst. b. Fixed costs are costs, which remain constant irrespective of the activity level while variable costs will often change depending on the level of activity (Bhimani 2012). The classification of any of the above costs wrongly will mean that the costs calculations by the organization will be based on wrong data. This may in turn lead to wrong decisions being made by the management, which is detrimental to the operations of the organization. c. Contribution and profits are majorly different most so when they are taken from the income statement due to two major reasons. One, cost of goods sold may include both fixed and variable costs while the calculation of contribution is only based on sales revenue minus variable costs. Secondly, the calculation of contribution should include both selling and administration expenses which in the case of the income statement they come after gross margin