Essay on Cosmic Irony in The Odyssey - 615 Words

The first element of cosmic irony is fate, and fate has a role in book nine of The Odyssey. It typically involves a powerful deity (or something fate itself) with the ability and desire to manipulate or even control events in a character’s life. Fate is demonstrated from many characters. An example of fate is when Odysseus, son of Laertes, blinds Polyphemus, one of the cyclops, after Telemus, Eurymus’ son, tells Polyphemus this. â€Å"Oh no, no-that prophecy years ago . . ./it all comes home to me with a vengeance now!/We once had a prophet here, a great tall man,/Telemus, Eurymus’ son, a master at reading signs,/who grew old in his trade among his fellow-Cyclops./All this, he warned me, would come to pass someday-/that I’d be blinded here†¦show more content†¦The reality of the situation is that Odysseus must see the Cyclops, which shows his false sense of freewill. Another example is when Odysseus thinks he is being smart when he chooses no t to kill Polyphemus and blind him instead, â€Å"who’d brave it out with me/to hoist our stake and grind it into his eye/when sleep had overcome him?† (9.371-373). In reality, he must not kill the Cyclops because he must blind him instead since that was what Telemus said it would happen. This defines false sense of freewill because Odysseus thinks that he is brave and smart for coming up with that plan, but he has no other choice than blinding Polyphemus even though he does not know. Really it is a sad example of a cat toying with a mouse; fate is in control of the situation, and Odysseus falsely believes that he can escape the danger and avoid destruction. Cosmic irony also involves two characters playing a game of cat and mouse. It can be defined by the deity of toys with the character much as a cat might with a mouse; the outcome is clear to the disinterested observer, but the mouse hopes desperately for escape. An example of this is between Odysseus and Poly phemus when they keep battling back and forth while Odysseus and his crew are leaving the island. At first Odysseus showing his pride taunts at the Cyclops, â€Å"So, Cyclops, no weak coward it was whose crew/you bent to devour there in your vaulted cave-/you with your brute force!Show MoreRelatedShakespeares use of the Renaissance Idea of Fatalism and Imagery in King Lear3108 Words   |  13 PagesShakespeares use of the Renaissance Idea of Fatalism and Imagery in King Lear In a play about individual tragedies, fatalism plays an important part. Shakespeare effectively uses cosmic imagery to define his characters and to explore the idea of journeys linked to self-discovery by relating it to the imagery of rotating circles. Shakespeare uses Renaissance theology to explain character motivation. In the 16th century there was a great belief in astronomy. People believedRead MoreAnalysis Of Stanley Kubrick s The And The Post Strangelove Films4422 Words   |  18 Pages polar opposites but made up of the same spectrum. This duality of colour echoes the duality of man in Full Metal Jacket and 2001 and on a less obvious way his other films. Kubrick returned to color film stock for his masterpiece â€Å"2001: A Space Odyssey.† In the Hal 9000 computer room scene, Kubrick stages actor Keir Dulea (Dr. Dave Bowman) in an ominously red room. The actor’s face is lit with a blue-green light. This draws your eye naturally to his face. Kubrick’s groundbreaking film would heavilyRead MoreThe Films of Stanley Kubrick Essay2151 Words   |  9 Pagesinto cinematic concepts due to certain construction processes used in the making of his films. This distinguishes Stanley Kubrick as a film maker and also places his films in their own genre. Analysing the two films 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971) the production processes will be examined to determine how they bring about the construction of a Kubrick film. The codes and conventions of film making and their purpose will also be identified asRead More The Thought-experiments in Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five or the Childrens Crusade: A Duty Da3375 Words   |  14 Pagesfirst person or third person? Such questions perhaps come to mind for readers who seek scientific justification to the premise of Slaughterhouse Five. Thus when one compares Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five with The Martian Chronicles or 2001: A Space Odyssey, one can see that Slaughterhouse Five was never intended to be a work of science-fiction. Then why does Vonnegut risk detaching the reader, without the reward of writing a legitimate science fiction novel? When one examines the first chapter of

Criticism Against the Modern Medicalization Free Essays

Today the world in which we live in has faced steady medicalization of daily existence. Critics argue whether this leads to a favorable or a non favorable outcome. The establishment and development in medicine has become a major threat to health. We will write a custom essay sample on Criticism Against the Modern Medicalization or any similar topic only for you Order Now Dependence on efficient health care affects all social relations. In rich countries medical colonization has reached sickening proportions whereas poor countries are quickly following suit. Medicalization, that â€Å"is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions and problems, and thus come under the authority of doctors and other health professionals to study, diagnose, prevent or treat. † (wikipedia. org). In the modern world people feel dependant towards medical treatment no matter how minor it is. Whether the doctor is effective or not, it is an illusion what seems to be there in peoples’ hearts that they actually are being cured. Useless medical treatments, doctor-inflicted injuries, leave the patients helpless and as they are already defenceless and still consider themselves to be dependent on doctors. Modern Health care system has grown beyond limits in an unfavorable way. This can be said to happen due to 3 reasons. It must produce clinical damages which outweigh its potential benefits; it cannot but dim the political conditions which execute the society unhealthy; and it tends to assume the power of the individual to heal himself and to shape his or her environment. When it comes to producing medicine, Industrial progress is more being put into concern rather than personal growth. Such medicine is but a device to convince those who are sick and tired of society that it is they who are ill, incompetent and in need of technical repair. Most people are already doubtful about medicine and only need evidence to affirm their uncertainty. Doctors already find it necessary to boost their credibility by demanding that many treatments now common be officially prohibited. Medical performances which are considered as necessary are often so basic that restrictions are put on to them and are not acceptable to many politicians. Medications are costly and contain a high risk, which sometimes makes them not worth to be used. The world that we live in has experienced dramatic changes in the diseases afflicting population. Facts have proved that now a day’s early deaths are caused due to different diseases rather than accidents, violence, or suicide. During the past century deaths have been mainly due to different diseases for example malaria, typhoid, tuberculosis, measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, scarlet fever and many more. But the death rate has been fairly decreased due to the introduction of antibiotics and widespread immunization. Improved housing and better nutrition are also one of the factors that have caused the death rate to fall and keep people away from various deadly diseases. Past century has also experienced major malnutrition syndromes, such as rickets and pellagra. But these have been soon replaced by modern epidemics such as coronary heart disease, emphysema, bronchitis and obesity, hypertension, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and the so called mental disorders. In a way, the elimination of old forms of mortality has increased life expectancy which now suffers from the new diseases. The trend experienced of the diseases afflicting the population shows that the environment is the primary determinant of the state of general health of the society. The food we eat, the houses we live in, the working conditions, neighbourhood coherence, as well as the cultural mechanisms, which make it possible to keep us stable, and play a major role in deciding how healthy we feel and at what age we tend to die. The life expectancy is no doubt increased due to more healthy way of living, but more and more diseases that are affecting people is not due to the number of doctors available, or the medical treatment. The new techniques available to recognize and treat unhealthy conditions by surgical interventions redefine but do not reduce despair. It is not surprising to see that where certain diseases have become rare, the number of doctors exceeds the need of people as compared to the places where those diseases are more to be found. Doctors tend to work in places where the climate is healthy, where the water is clean, and where people work and can pay for their services. Useless medical treatments also take place in cases where they are not necessarily needed. During the last century there have been many, but limited number of medical procedures that have indeed become effective and beneficial for the people. Those medical treatments which are designed for widespread diseases are comparatively cheaper than the ones used for unique or diseases that do not exist on a high scale. The cheap medical treatments are only in the case where they are monopolized for personal use, and they require a minimum of personal skills, materials or hotel services from hospitals. Many dangerous diseases such as malaria, paralytic poliomyelitis, whooping cough, and measles, medicines to cure these diseases have shown considerable progress. But for most other infections, medicine can show no comparable results. For many diseases medicine has a short term effect but for the long term, it tends to be unsuitable or ineffective. Heart diseases, different types of cancers are highly curable, but there are some stages of these diseases at which the diseases gets hard or impossible to be cured. Breast cancer for example is curable but in some cases it is impossible to be cured no matter how frequently medical checkups are being performed. Surgery and chemotherapy for rare congenital and rheumatic heart disease has increased the chances for an active life for some of those who suffer from these conditions. The drug treatment of high blood pressure is effective for the few in whom it is a diseased condition and can do a serious harm to those in whom it is not. But no matters how careful we are or how frequent checkups are being down, doctor inflicted injuries are also getting very common. People suffer from illness that is caused by professional medical treatments. This doctor-made disease is also known as Iatrogenesis. Medicines are widely used for the smallest of diseases. But their unwanted side effects have increased with their effectiveness and widespread use. Several people now a day’s swallow medically prescribed chemical. Some take a wrong drug, others get a contaminated or old batch, others take several drugs which are dangerous or take them in dangerous combinations, and others receive injections with improperly sterilized syringes or brittle needles. Many drugs are also addictive or mutilating, or also mutagenic. Other drugs contribute to the breeding of drug-resistant strains of bacteria. Unnecessary surgeries are normally performed these days. Diseases that are not to happen, a person gets effected because of over medical treatment. The side effects of medications are more than the benefits gained from them. Malpractice, which is known as carelessness is neglected and is not given much of an importance even though it is something to be put into concern. While performing medical surgeries on which lives are dependant, sometimes malpractice even causes a loss in human life. Doctors are being transformed into technicians applying scientific rules to classes of patients. What had formally been considered an abuse of confidence and a moral fault can now be rationalized into the occasional breakdown of the equipment and operators. Malpractice is considered a technical problem not an ethical problem anymore. Undesirable side effects or mistaken or unintentional use of medication has left many patients as helpless and defenceless. Damages are done to the patients due to the doctors carelessness or exploitation and also in the case when the doctor attempts to protect himself against the patients eventual legal action of malpractice. Many people who are inflicted with specific diseases are not allowed to work leaving them helpless and are unable to live their life to the most and earn themselves a good living. Many people start living their lives in a way they think is health wise better and beneficial for them, but at a later stage it turns out to be as harmful and makes them fall into illness. Modern medicalization has faced critics and in a way they prove to be right and unethical for the society. Medical nemesis can only be reversed through mutual self care, if not than the world will be bound to suffer from this dilemma that prevails. How to cite Criticism Against the Modern Medicalization, Essay examples

Curtain Call The Hits by Eminem free essay sample

If you are looking for great rap, filled with creative lyrics, sick rhymes, and strong emotion, â€Å"Curtain Call: The Hits† (2005) by Eminem is the way to go. Here is some background information about the genius rapper Eminem. Eminem is from Detroit, Michigan. He had spent most of his teenage and adult years in a trailer park, with very little money. He began going to rap battles that was right in the hardcore underground of Detroit. This album contains some of my all time favorite songs, such as â€Å"Stan† â€Å"Lose Yourself† and â€Å"Like Toy Soldiers.† It includes the best hits in 2 other of his albums, â€Å"The Eminem Show† (2002) and â€Å"Encore† (2004). Eminem has 3 different identities, which he portrays himself in with different names. I think this is because he is schizophrenic, and bipolar. First, Slim Shady. Slim is the funny guy, the guy that loves to share his opinions. He has been through lots, but he is over it by now. We will write a custom essay sample on Curtain Call: The Hits by Eminem or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He portrays this side in some songs like â€Å"The Real Slim Shady† (obviously), and â€Å"My Name Is.† His second charisma, is what he is most known for, Eminem. He also has been through tough times, but trying to portray all of his feelings and deep secrets through music and purely music. He portrays himself in some songs, such as â€Å"Stan,† and â€Å"Mockingbird.† His final nature, is Marshall Mathers (Eminem’s real name). He has, again, been through lots. He doesn’t really like anyone. He is angry at everyone because he is still expressing himself through his times he has been betrayed, and shot at. When he was younger, Marshall had misunderstanding with his mom that he ran away from. He portrays himself as Marshall Mathers in some songs like â€Å"Cleaning Out My Closet† and â€Å"Guilty Conscience† In my opinion, this album is better than most of his other albums, such as â€Å"Acid Attack† (2000) and â€Å"W.T. F.† (2011). Although this is one of his best, there has been better albums, such as â€Å"The Marshall Mathers LP 2† (2013) and â€Å"The Underground Collection† (1997). This album is one of my all time favorite albums, and I rate it 5/5 stars.

Internets Impact on Children free essay sample

A paper which discusses why minors should be protected from the evils circulating on the Net. A paper which discusses the evils of the Internet and its impact on minors. The Internet is fast becoming a very powerful medium, which is being used for a wide variety of purposes, but there are some serious issues related to internet access, such as pornography and child predators. This paper addresses these issues and others. Apart from pornographic material being available to minors, there are some other harmful activities, which can become famous among young children due to Internet. For example many people are of the view that children would be able to able cigarettes over the Internet while underage smoking is banned in the country. They feel that due to the Internets inability to find out the true age of the consumers, children can indulge in some harmful activities such as smoking and drinking. We will write a custom essay sample on Internets Impact on Children or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A survey was conducted among college students to find out if they ever bought alcohol from the Internet sites. While 100 percent of the females said they had never bought alcohol over the Net and 5 percent of male students admitted to have purchased alcohol on the Internet. 36 percent of the males said they had not been asked for an I.D. when buying age-restricted material on the Net. But they majority agreed to have purchased some adult material from the Net, which raises the question of safety for children again. Is it possible for children and teenagers to buy age-restricted material on the Net?

The Myth About Learning How to Make Ricin from the Internet

The Myth About Learning How to Make Ricin from the Internet As the story unfolds about the man associated with the ricin found in the Las Vegas hotel room, questions arise as to what he was doing with the ricin and the castor beans. The answers to those question are unknown. It is not even certain the man knew about the ricin in the room. Since he remains in a coma, those questions will have to wait. What We Know So far we know the occupant of the hotel room who was hospitalized for respiratory problems was a 57-year-old-man. There were three pets found in the room. One pet is deceased, apparently due to lack of food and water and not from ricin poisoning. The other two animals are fine. According to a CNN report, in addition to a vial containing ricin, the room also contained castor beans, guns, and an anarchist type textbook.   Bad Advice When I started writing about the chemistry behind AMCs Breaking Bad tv show, I learned that it really is true you can learn how to make crystal meth from instructions freely available on the Internet. Would anyone want to use those instructions? Id hope not... I tried to describe all the reasons making meth is dangerous to yourself and others. The question has arisen as to whether a person could learn to make ricin from information freely available on the internet. Im not going to give you a definitive no since I didnt follow every single link on the subject, but I will say the top links that supposedly tell you how to purify ricin using lye and acetone contain many factual errors. Probably the only good advice given in the instructions is to remove the coat from the seeds. Also, any website that tells you ricin can be obtained from castor oil is wrong. Castor oil is essentially free from the toxin. If you are a terrorist or looking to purify the toxin for other purposes, youre a stu pid terrorist if you think instructions posted on the web by an anonymous source are reliable or that duplicating erroneous instructions across multiple websites magically makes the instructions correct. Can you learn how to make ricin from a Google search? I didnt see any accurate instructions. Can you poison yourself with castor beans? You could, but you can poison yourself with rhubarb or death cap mushrooms, too. In my opinion, ricin is sensationalized because its so very toxic. Would I stay in the Las Vegas hotel room after they clean it up? No. Am I worried about wackos suddenly making ricin because its newsy? No. Even if they wanted to, the instructions are not readily available.Update on Ricin in Las VegasRicin Found at a Las Vegas MotelRicin RCA from Castor Beans | What You Need to Know about Chemical Weapons

3 Types of Scare Quotes

3 Types of Scare Quotes 3 Types of Scare Quotes 3 Types of Scare Quotes By Mark Nichol Framing a word or phrase in scare quotes, or quotation marks used for emphasis, can be an effective tool for signaling editorial distance- that is, subtly and succinctly clarifying that the word or phrase is not of the writer’s choosing or that it is euphemistic or otherwise specious or spurious. However, too often, scare quotes are gratuitous or redundant, as shown in the examples below: 1. They must look to the senior management to help them acquire this â€Å"big picture† view. This sentence features gratuitous use of scare quotes- gratuitous, because the writer seems to mistakenly assume that any idiom, no matter how quotidian, must be enclosed in quotation marks to signal that the meaning is not literal. The marks are unnecessary with most established idiom: â€Å"They must look to the senior management to help them acquire this big-picture view.† 2. The guidelines set forth the separate responsibilities for management and so-called â€Å"front-line† units. Here, the scare quotes are redundant. The quotation marks serve to inform the reader that the writer did not generate a word or phrase; rather, he or she is merely reporting a usage that someone else employed. But so-called signals this fact to the reader, so it is superfluous to use scare quotes as well. When such redundancy occurs, the writer (or editor) should opt to delete the scare quotes and retain so-called: â€Å"The guidelines set forth the separate responsibilities for management and so-called front-line units.† 3. That same budget funded quote-unquote â€Å"crisis pregnancy centers.† Using the phrase quote-unquote in speech is understandable, because scare quotes are not visible in speech- another approach is to use air quotes, hand gestures that suggest quotation marks- but in writing, doing so is an intrusive alternative to so-called: â€Å"That same budget funded so-called crisis pregnancy centers.† (In this case, however, because the writer is criticizing the use of the euphemistic phrase â€Å"crisis pregnancy centers† for a type of facility associated with deceptive advertising and misleading information, use of scare quotes in lieu of so-called is also appropriate.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Homograph Examples50 Idioms About Roads and PathsMankind vs. Humankind

Fieldnotes Write-up Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fieldnotes Write-up - Assignment Example Initially, there were about three or four young people from the nearby community who guided our tour and I recall how eager they exchanged delightful phrases on introducing the garden with its history. It was quite amazing how one of them entertained me in my query of the freeway which interestingly runs alongside and beneath the garden. They pointed out that to some thirty nine gardeners, the Solano Canyon Garden has become an oasis, feeding and slaking thirst of a newly-found diverse mother nature gone concrete yet surprisingly organic. Surrounding the garden’s entrance, I noticed the inlays of tiles in certain portions, including the steps, which had seemingly been scientifically structured on purpose to allow proper growth of plants throughout their place. Back then, without a tour guide, I could imagine how little would be known of each plant type in view which, in reality, serves more than a single sense – aesthetic to sight and healthy taste to palate of urban living. It hardly occurred to us that the scenic fields are a lush vegetation of organic produce as we generally felt that Solano Canyon Garden is more of a park, lovely in its own way, exhibiting colorful flowers and herbs of peculiar species chiefly rendered as they are for tourist attraction. We were three-fourths way through with our journey when we met with the interactive Al Renner, the Master Gardener, who had humbly and cheerfully walked the class through paths leading to farm culture of dominant greens making us grin with awe upon seeing exotic plants of various unique appearances and whose green color sometimes comes beyond typical shades. As if to be one with real nature, I could sense that the majority of us had been drawn to its beauty featured in the well-tended beds of flowers and vegetables that are further enhanced by the refreshing swish of the river’s noise from the background and

Critically discuss the ethical arguments for and against the Essay

Critically discuss the ethical arguments for and against the legalisation of euthanasia - Essay Example Genetic views strongly believe that life starts at fertilization stage whereas embryological views argue that life begins at the point of gestation (Gilbert, 2011; Blazer & Zimmer, 2005, pp. 1 – 20). As compared to genetic and embryological views, some people argue that life begins at birth (ibid). Regardless of how life starts, health care professionals are trained to conserve human lives by alleviating their suffering whenever they are terminally ill. As much as possible, medical care professionals should prolong the lives of the patients unless there is an advance order stating that the patient instructed a â€Å"do not resuscitate† (DNR) decision together with the patient’s signature (Salmasy, Sood, & Ury, 2008). Death is the end part of the life cycle which nobody can avoid. Aside from a combination of pain, depression, and psychological disturbances, the fact that the economic cost of medical intervention for terminally ill patients is very expensive for mo st people with average income increases the number of cases wherein a terminally ill patient would seek for medical assistance to end their lives at the soonest possible time. Euthanasia is all about â€Å"intentional killing of a dependent human being, by act or omission, for the patient’s alleged legal benefits† (Ciabal, 2003, p. 129). ... euthanasia is considered as â€Å"good death† since this option allows a terminally ill patient to live the last few minutes of their lives more comfortable (ibid). Focusing on ethical cases whereby terminally ill patients are seeking for euthanasia, this report will discuss whether or not a terminally ill patient has the right to refuse medical treatment. In reference to the sanctity of life and quality of life perspective, this report will discuss why life should be prioritized more than death. As part of going through the main discussion, whether or not the patients have the right to request for an ineffective medical treatment will be answered together with the clinicians’ obligations to meet the patients’ request. After discussing the significance of advance directives in terminating the lives of terminally ill patients, some barriers that could prevent the patients from writing an advance directive will be identified and tackled in details. The Right of a T erminally Ill Patient to Refuse Medical Treatment Under the informed consent guidelines, the doctors and nurses should properly inform the patients about the main purpose, advantages, and disadvantages of each prescribed drug and other medical care intervention such as the use of life-sustaining treatment like tube feeding devices, mechanical breathing ventilation and dialysis machines, and/or diagnosing devices like x-ray and CT scan (Kaufmann & Ruhli, 2010; Ganzini et al., 2003). On top of this, each medical care professional is also required to respect and observe the patient’s autonomy by allowing them to make their personal decision when it comes to selecting the care and medical treatment they prefer (Walker, 2009; Stirrat & Gill, 2005). Given that each patient has the right to accept or not to

Business Studies Easter Project Essay Example for Free

Business Studies Easter Project Essay Introductinon As you probably already know Asda is one of the leading food superstores in Britain today. Asda is part of the Wal-Mart group however before this Asda was on its own. Asda has been part of the Wal-Mart retailers since 1999. Asda was formed in 1965 by a group of farmers from Yorkshire, today Asda has 245 stores, with 19 depots across the U.K. Asdas aim is to sell its products 10-15% cheaper than its main competitors. Asda sells a variety of products including fresh food, grocery, clothing, home, leisure and entertainment goods. In my report I have gained my information form the Asda website and I also interviewed the store manager of the Asda store in Longsight. In my report I will discuss the following performance indicators: Labour Turnover, Labour Productivity, Absenteeism and the Morale of workers. Performance of Company Asda has recently been valued at being worth à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1.3 billion, which includes all its assets. Anyway I think that it will be too complicated to discuss the performance indicators on such a large scale. This is why I am going to just concentrate on the performance of the Asda store in Longsight. When I asked Sue (the manager) if labour turnover was high, she replied by saying that it is an average level. (i.e. not too high and not too low). I then said to her that this must mean that staff must feel demotivated and therefore leave. She replied by saying that it was because they employed a lot of young students and this was the reason for a lot of people leaving because they couldnt fit the shifts in with their work. I believe that this means that although labour turnover is high, it is not an extremely bad point. When we discussed the labour productivity of the workers, she said that the staff, work very hard in every department whether it is the deliveries, clothing, music or work on the checkout. Many products were sold in each department but obviously some were sold much more than others. The labour productivity really determines how many products are sold, as items are obviously not being produced at the store they are being sold there. She also mentioned that everyday there are at least 2 people who are around the store to just help customers or provide tasters of foods. I believe that this helps to increase productivity, because customers may feel more welcome and more sales may be made. I then asked what the turnover of the store was each day. Sue replied by saying that on the weekends they generally make more money and she said that last Saturday they had a turnover of approximately à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½500,000. I believe that this clearly shows that labour productivity is high at the Asda store in Longsight. I then went on to talk about absenteeism. Sue said that this was generally low without any notice, and that there were hardly any people who didnt give notice when they were going to have a day off. But she also said that absenteeism was a good point because it gives workers a change because they can swap shifts with one another. I agree and believe absenteeism with notice is not so bad. Sue said the the morale of workers was generally high. She said that staff were paid at a time rate starting from à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½4.15 per hour. The following incentives could be motivating factors for the staff at Asda: Tell the team- putting your ideas across Stars- can be cashed in for gifts. ABCD- A certificate for dedicated workers. Bonus payments- for reaching certain targets Share plan Private Healthcare Discount on new cars Travel insurance Staff Discount Card I believe that the following incentives will make workers feel motivated. This is because it makes the workers feel that they are being recognised and that there work is appreciated. It is not only the financial incentives that are important for motivation. It is also for example the certificate for working hard which could motivate. And even the fact that workers can put their ideas across, which may make them feel a real part of the company. There are some improvements that could be made to the performance indicators. Firstly as we know labour turnover at the Longsight store is at an average level as many workers are students. We can solve this problem by allowing the shifts to fit in with the workers education, by offering them certain shifts. And then there is the labour productivity which is already very high, so I believe that this should just be kept at a constant level. And workers should just continue with the good work. Absenteeism is a problem when the workers dont come into work without any notice. To solve this problem I believe that managers should phone up absent workers to see where they are. And if they persist in not coming into work then this must mean that they feel demotivated, so managers should try to find out what the problem is. I know that the incentives that Asda offers are very good, but I generally believe that managers should talk to their staff a little more and just give them general assurance that they are doing the job in the right way and to show that their work is appreciated. Conclusion I believe that as Asda is worth over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1.3 billion this must mean that they are not going too wrong. And another fact that shows that Asda is doing well is that it was voted the best company to work for in the year 2000 by the Times Newspaper. And in 2001 it was also voted supermarket of the year.

hit and run :: essays research papers

It’s like I’m dead. But I’m not, I guess I’m just dead to my surroundings or everyone is just trying to make me feel that way. I walk through the crowed halls at my school, no one turns a head, no one smiles, it’s like I’m walking through a bunch of ghosts, or am I really the ghost? There are so many questions that I try to answer in the back of my head while I’m taking these steps to home room. Everyone usually feels sorry for the person who has no friends or is considered a freak. Not in my case, no one ever talks to me, so I never talk to them. I am what you would consider a nobody, a freak, a loner. Yet really I’m none of those, because no one even knows my name. People call it the New Year, a new year to change things you don’t like about yourself. Yet it’s really hard for me to do that, because I don’t even think I know myself. All I know is that I go to school get good grades, except in math, run cross country, go home, wash my hands, do my homework, and lay in bed, I never actually fall asleep. My parents say I have a problem, a mental one. I say it’s because I’m related to them. They’ll never understand me, and I’ll never understand them, that’s just the way it’s going to be. They have to deal with it, even if they say they can’t. JANUARY 2, 2007 I’m hesitating. I can’t feel a thing. I took something this morning. I can’t tell a soul, even though there is no one to tell. I look down the hall to first period. Seems like there’s three miles between me and the door, like I’m running a race. Breath I tell myself, just breath, stop thinking, just breath. I’ve made it, to my destination, if you call it a destination in itself. The school day is such a blur to me, nothing merely interesting. Same thing everyday, no one speaks to me, no one looks at me, nothing. My eyes hurt; I’m staring too hard at something, or someone in that matter. The only good thing about being ignored is that you can do stuff and people won’t notice but if you were normal, people would notice in a minute.

Aphra Behn – Gender Economics in the Rover

TERM PAPER Gender Economics of Restoration and Aphra Behn INTRODUCTION The Restoration era allowed women to step into what was historically an essentially masculine space, that of literary and theatrical production. As women stepped on stage, they entered a market- they were commodities displayed to attract a larger crowd towards the theatre.Thus even though through writing or acting a woman could gain financial independence, unlike men they weren’t selling their work, they were ostensibly selling a part of themselves. A woman could not escape commodification even if she didn’t enter this particular market – matrimony and the nunnery were also means of buying and selling of women’s ‘wares’. The hymen itself was a commodity, as a woman could only marry if she was a virgin.In fact arguably in Restoration Comedy no witty unmarried was without ‘property and a maidenhead’. Thus, arguably, a woman could not escape being a prostitute in the Restoration Period. As a woman author who thus reflected the trend of women actors entering the world of theatrical production, Aphra Behn was continually negotiating the dichotomy of economic freedom and control of women in this market-space. Thus her work would be the ideal case study to understand the gender economics of the Restoration Period.In this context, I would like to position Aphra Behn’s works, The Rover Part I and II, The Feign’d Curtizans, The Luckey Chance, The Forced Marriage: or The Jealous Bridegroom and ‘The Golden Age† to understand the place of women in the economics of the Restoration Era and how they negotiated in the market-space they were now stepping into. WOMEN’S PROBLEMATIZED INTRODUCTION IN THE MARKET The restoration of Charles II to the throne brought a almost deliberate reversal of the previously prevalent Puritan ethic. There was a new kind of apparent sexual freedom.He introduced the practice of actresses playing female roles. However, actresses earned far less than actors, thus had to resort to being mistresses. Also, publishing by the women was tantamount to prostitution. Typically, the Restoration comedies portrayed the lives of hedonistic young men who filled their leisure hours with drinking, whoring, theatre and â€Å"wit†. They needed money but had no inclination to actually earn it and preferred procuring it through marriage to an heiress. As in the typical Restoration comedy, men seek sex and money, the girls want a say in the choice of a marriage partner.Thus evidently the heroine is allowed freedom of thought but her freedom of action is confined to ensuring that she is a virgin when she gets married to the man of her choice. As a successful professional playwright, Aphra Behn definitely wrote plays which are typical of the Restoration, yet she manages to comment on a topic which touched her very closely: the true status of women in the society as they begin to participate a little more actively in the constructs of gender economics. POSITIONING APHRA BEHN The prologue of The Rover, claimed to be written by â€Å"A person of quality†, states: As for the author of this coming playI asked him what he thought fit I should say (pp 4) It was only in the third issue of the first edition in 1677 that Aphra Behn authorship. This was because she was always attacked for poaching on the territory of male playwrights. In fact, as quoted in Angeline Goreau, Reconstructing Aphra (New York: The Dial Press, 1980) Aphra Behn once famously said: The Woman damns the poet Indeed, the fact that Aphra Behn could earn a living writing for the theatre was precisely what condemned her. The muckraking satirist Robert Gould wrote ypical stander in a short piece addressed to Behn that concluded with this couplet: For Punk and poetess agree so Par, You cannot be This and not be That. Robert Gould’s verse, with its equation of ‘poetess’ and ‘punkà ¢â‚¬â„¢, provides some evidence of the culture of gender in Restoration England. In her case, however, the status of professional writer indicated immodesty: the author, like her texts, became a commodity. Thus one notices that she stages this relationship between female creativity and public realm or between what Robert Gould, in euphemisms, refers to as ‘this’ and ‘that’, in her works. THE VIRGINAL COMMODITY AND FETISHDowry system among propertied classes had been in place since 16th century, but by the end of the 17th century the women to men ratio was 13:10, thus cash portions had to grow to attract worthy suitors. The value of women fell by almost 50%, marriage by choice, became almost unthinkable. Thus in economic terms, women through marriage had evident exchange value; that is, the virgin became a commodity not only as breeder of the legal heir but for her portion. Women in the seventeenth-century marriage market took on the phantasmagoric destiny o f commodities: they seemed no more than objects or things.The issue arises repeatedly in plays and verse of the period: not only are marriages loveless, but, once married, women lose both independent identity and control of their fortunes. Women’s lack of access to institutions of knowledge spurred protest from writers as it reduced them to things, rather than educated individuals. Also the cultural narrative of portion, jointure, and legal dependency in which the women of this time is written about is clearly not as subject but as object of exchange.Also, as discussed earlier, when Aphra Behn wrote her seventeen play (1670-1689), the theatrical hierarchy, like all cultural institutions, was patriarchal in control and participation. Aristocratic or upper-class males generally wrote the plays, purchased tickets, and formed the coteries of critics and ‘witlings’ whose disruptive presence is remarked on in countless play prologues and epilogues. Also, in its machine ry and properties, the Restoration stage was now arguably more dreamlike, seductive, and commodity intensive. Here the idea of a fetish becomes important.A fetish, by Freud’s description is the male impulse to eroticize objects or female body parts, which derives from a disavowal of a material lack (of the penis on the mother’s body). The second understanding of the word is through Marx’s account of the felicitation of the commodity: at the moment of exchange, the commodity appears to be separate from the workers who product it; the ‘special social character of private labours’ disavowed. This idea is relevant because on the stage, the Restoration actress, is nothing but an ornament in the male gaze.This attitude is apparent as Thomas Shadwell links the new phenomenon of female performers with painted theatrical scenes, both innovative commodities for audience consumption: Had we not for yr pleasure found new wayes You still had rusty Arras had, and thredbare playes: Not Scenes nor Woomen had they had their will, But some with grizl’d Beards had acted Woomen still. What this actually meant in the culture’s sexual economy is perhaps more accurately suggested by meta-theatrical references in plays’ prologues and epilogues.The actress playing Flirt in Wycheley’s The Gentleman Dancing master satirically invited the â€Å"good men o’ th’ Exchange’ from the pit into the backstage tiring-room You we would rather see between our Scenes† Thus rather than producing a performance, the actress emerges as a spectacle unto herself, a painted representation to lure the male spectator. In her professional duplicity, in her desirability, in her often public status of kept mistress, she is frequently equated with a prostitute, thus acquiring the definite status of a commodity.APHRA BEHN’S PARTICIPATION IN COMMODIFICATION AND FETISHISATION The Rover (1677) and The Second Part of The Rover (1681) are Behn’s only plays to label a character a courtesan. In her wholly original The Feigned Curtezans (1679), virgins impersonate famous Roman courtesans and near-debauches occur, but marriages settle the confusion of plots and the financial stink of prostitution is hastily cleared away. However it is germane note that even if courtesans figure by name in only three plays, the commodification of women in the marriage market is Aphra Behn’s first and most persistent theme.Beginning appropriately enough with The Forced Marriage: or The Jealous Bridegrom (1670), all of Behn’s seventeen known plays deal to some extent with women backed by dowries or portions who are forced by their fathers into marriage in exchange for jointure, an agreed-upon income to be settled on the wife should she be widowed. Aphra Behn concentrated on exposing the exploitation of women in the exchange economy, adding vividly to contemporary discourse on the oppressions of marriage . ‘Who would marry,’ asks Behn’s Ariadne (The Second Part of the Rover), ‘who wou’d be chaffer’d thus, and sold to Slavery? In the context of fetishization, it is easy to note the metonymic connection between the painted actress and the painted scenes in the theatre, therefore it is not surprising that the first woman to earn money circulating her own representations had a (somewhat combative) relationship with the theatre apparatus. Aphra Behn, more than any other Restoration playwright, explores the fetish/commodity status. She utilizes the conventional objects of Restoration plays – the marriage market, sexual intrigue, masquerade, flamboyance – even as she signals their contradictory meanings for women.It is ostensibly a contradiction of all feminist expectation to discover that Aphra Behn contributed to that visual pleasure by choosing to exploit the fetish/commodity status of the actress. The stage offered two playing space s, the forestage used especially for comedy, where actor and audience were in intimate proximity, and the upstage or scenic stage, with wing-and-shutter settings, producing the exotic effects needed for ‘discovery scenes’ of heroic tragedy.Writing mostly comedies, Aphra Behn might be expected to follow comic convention and use the forestage area, but as Peter Holland notes, she was ‘positively obsessive’ about discovery scenes. Holland counts 31 discoveries in ten comedies, most of which are bedroom scenes featuring a female character ‘in undress’. Thus displayed, the female performer becomes a fetish object, affording the male spectator the pleasure of being seduced by and, simultaneously, of being protected from the effects of sexual difference.Thus, in Behn’s texts, the conflict between (as she puts it) her ‘defenceless’ woman’s body and her ‘masculine part’(of being a writer), is staged in her insiste nce, in play after play, on the equation between female body and fetish, fetish and commodity-the body in her ‘scenes’. Like the actress, the woman dramatist is sexualized, circulated, denied a â€Å"subject position† in the theatre hierarchy. This unstable, contradictory image of authority emerges in as early as Behn’s first play’s prologue (to The Forced Marriage, or The Jealous Bridegroom, 1670).In this, an actress who, pointing to the Ladies’ praises both them and presumably the woman author: Can any see that glorious sight and say A woman shall not prove Victor today? The ‘glorious sight’, is, once again, the fetishised representation of the female, standing on the forestage, sitting in the pit, and soon to be inscribed as author of a printed play. THE ROVER The Rover is a fascinating study in the context of this paper as it not only thematises the marketing of women in marriage and prostitution, it demonstrates (quite liter ally) the ideological contradictions of the apparatus Behn inherited and the society for which she wrote.Prostitution of both genders In Angellica, Hellena, Florinda and Lucetta – Behn shows the fate and inescapable commodification of all women. However the idea is also problematized and even turned on its head. The man is also equated to a commodity in this carnival world. Angellica equates dowry to prostitution money, thus saying that a man sells his own self in the marriage market, for a woman’s â€Å"fortune†: Pray tell me, sir, are you not guilty of the same mercenary crime?When a lady is proposed to you for a wife, you never ask, how fair-discreet-or virtuous she is; but what’s her Fortune-which, if but small, you cry-she will not do my business-and basely leave her, thou she languish for you-say, is not this as poor. (pp 38) Thus we see that Angellica’s prostitution image is cross gendered, for men are designated â€Å"mercenary† in n egotiating sexual contracts between husband and wife. Indeed, Willmore himself appears prostituted in accepting five hundred crowns from Angellica, and in the subplot, Blunt’s barbarous treatment by Lucetta parallels Angellica’s by Willmore.The Portrait of Angellica The first references to Angellica situate her beyond the market in which we expect her to function. She is not behind an exotic vizard, or ‘discovered’ in her bedchamber after the parting of the scenes, but is first seen as a portrait. She is introduced by Belvile, as: A famous courtesan, that’s to be sold’ (p. 23). For a mindful audience, this immediately raises a question, to be sold by whom? Released by the earlier keeper’s death, Angellica and Moretta are two women who seem to be in business for themselves.At this point, however, Blunt reminds us again of the object status of the woman, as of her painted signs: I’m sure we’re no chapmen for the commodity ( p. 28). On the other hand, Angellica’s self portrait has been compared to that of a Petrarchan mistress who attempts to turn her sexuality into an alternative form of power, since she has been excluded from the marital marketplace. Wilmore’s â€Å"appeal of love† attracts her and not unlike ladies in marital market, she gives up herself and her gold. If one analyzes this situation, it can be said that this was an inescapable fate.As Angellica watches men gaze upon her portrait, she is, first and foremost, a sight, an object to be claimed. Only in Behn’s text is this phenomenon made so evident, the paintings here function as fetishes, as substitute objects for the female body. Indeed, the portrait which advertises her charms is arguably a sign of submission to the male spectator, offering up the female figure as an eroticized object which exists to serve his pleasure. Thus evidently Wilmore can reduce Angellica’s representation from an icon of autho rity to a pornographic image (a fetish) and claim the right â€Å"of possession, which I will maintain†.He is responding to something very real in the portrait. The same sense of power of a transcendent male authority is also registered by Willmore’s gaze and the stealing of the potrait. In effect Angellica is then doubly commodified-first because she puts her body into exchange, and second because this body is equated with, indeed interchangeable with, the art object. Thus then the woman â€Å"that’s to be sold† is then even sold by theatre itself, which, like the portrait equates woman with an art object to be displayed and attract an audience. Like Willmore, the theatre operates with the king’s patent and authorization.The masquerade of portraits and ‘discovery scenes’, do not demonstrate freedom, but to flaunt the charms that guarantee and uphold male power. In fact in the wooing/bargaining scene with Wilmore it becomes clear that Angellica wants to step out of the exchange economy symbolized by the painting: Canst thou believe [these yielding joys] will be entirely time, / without considering they were mercenary? (p. 39) By eliminating her value-form, Angellica attempts to return her body to a state of nature, to take herself out of circulation in the market. However, s Aphra Behn poignantly points out through her texts, Angellica will fail due to the ecomonic structure which circulates all women as marketable objects. The Virgins This brings us to the other two â€Å"leading women† in the play, both virgins and of high birth, Hellena and Florinda. Ironically, the virgins’ first costume, the gypsy masquerade, represents their actual standing in the marriage market – exotic retailers of fortunes (dowry and ‘maidenhead’). Their masquerade defers but does not alter the structure of gender economics which sold a woman’s body.On this level, as often discussed by critics, t he play presents a dramatic world dominated by the two principal patriarchal definitions of women, the whore and the virgin, but in which the boundary separating one category from the other has become blurred. First there is the elder born, Florinda. The properties which sustain Florinda’s status as an autonomous subject free to choose her own marriage partner are largely those for which the men in her family want to â€Å"protect† her; it is her beauty, rank and fortune that make her such a prized asset on the marriage market.It is Florida’s rebellion against the commodification of forced marriage that destabilizes her position within patriarchy, for a while. However, she seeks to maintain this position as it gives her the agency to somewhat choose her husband. This is why Florinda remains inscribed within male discourse and chides her sister for being â€Å"curious in a discourse of love† despite being a maid â€Å"designed for a nun†. At the sam e time, she is degraded to the level of an object, a commodity, however precious, in a coercive structure of exchange.Because her self-esteem derives entirely from her status as a lady, she is able to measure her human value only by patriarchal standards. Her near rapes show this predicament. Men (Wilmore, Blunt, her own brother) seem to be chronically incapable of accepting the Florinda’s â€Å"No† as something which means â€Å"No†. On this level, the scenes are written with Behn’s male spectators in mind and accommodate the most complacent of responses to Florinda’s predicament. Then there is Hellena.The idea of Hellena being a female Rover is highly problematized as she is a woman and can be a Rover only in her words and not actual action. In fact all Behn attempts to do through her is minimize the difference between the status of the virgin and the whore as both Hellena and Angellica as advertise themselves in a way. According to the critic Na ncy Copeland, Hellena’s self-blazon in the first scene functions like Angellica’s pictures hung out of lure buyers of her body (â€Å"Angellica advertises herself publicly; Hellena’s self advertisement†¦ takes place within the privacy of her home†).This difference is eroded, however, when Hellena is blazoned at the beginning of Act V. Also, We learn that Hellena’s portion derives from her uncle, the old man who kept Angellica Bianca; thus the gold Willmore receives from the courtesan has the same source as that which he will earn by marrying the virgin. It is not only through Hellena and Angellica that similarity between virgin and whore develops. For instance, both Florinda and Lucetta also advertise themselves publicly.Florinda passes a jeweled miniature of herself (another portrait) to Belvile, who then circulates it among his companions. Lucetta, the cunning whore, parades herself provocatively before her propective new dupe: This is Stran ger, I know by his gazing; if he be brisk, he’I venture to follow me; and then if I understand my Trade, he’s mine. Also at night in the garden ‘in undress’, Florinda, carrying a little box of jewels-a double metonym for dowry and maidenhead, is also clearly reducing herself to an object of exchange.Thus while Angellica attempts to step out of the surface, material and exchange connotations of a painting, the virgins of the marriage plot are talking ‘business’ and learning the powers of deferral and unveiling. CONCLUSION A woman then, arguably, was nothing more than an object. She seemingly couldn’t escape being bought, sold, bargained for, fantasized about, fetishized and gazed at. However, contradictorily, even though her unbroken hymen (or â€Å"virgin heart†), â€Å"portion† (or â€Å"gold†) made her a valuable commodity-it made the man a commodity too as he sold himself for dowry or generally money and sex.Yet somehow the Restoration man remained in the subject position, in both the marriage market and the world of literary and theatrical production. This is what puts a woman in a no-win situation in both the private and the public sphere and Aphra Behn brings out this very discrepancy of norms and attitudes in her texts. Her texts expose the ugly bias in the celebration of new found sexual liberty in her time. Here she shows that the gender economics of the Restoration era are complicated but they definitely squarely position the woman as a commodity.Aphra Behn’s women may, to a limited extend, try to escape this fate she does not gloss over the fact that these women will fail to do so till the entire market is restructured. BIBLIOGRAPHY Behn, Aphra. â€Å"The Rover. † Prakash, Asha S Kanwar & Anand. The Rover : Worldview Critical Edition. Delhi: Worldview Publications, 2000. 6-108. Diamond, Elin. â€Å"Gestus and Signature in Aphra Behn’s Rover. † (1989). JST OR. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. Gallagher, Catherine. â€Å"Who was that Masked Woman? The Prostitute and the Playwight in the Comedies of Aphra Behn. † Women's Studies (1988). Pancheco, Anita. Rape and The Female Subject in Aphra Behn’s The Rover† (1998). JSTOR. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. Prakash, Anand. â€Å"Designing Women Socially and Market-Wise : Glimpses of the Restoration Strategy in The Rover. † Prakash, Asha S Kanwar & Anand. The Rover. Delhi: Worldview Publications, 2000. 162-177. Spencer, Jane, ‘The Rover and the Eighteenth Century’, Aphra Behn Studies, ed. Janet Todd, (Cambridge, 1996). Stephen, Szilagyi. â€Å"The Sexual Politics of Behn’s Rover: After Patriarchy† (1998). JSTOR. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. Naina Thirani B. A. (Hons) in English, II Year (4th Semester) 2013.

Performance Appraisal System Essay

Performance Appraisal System Antronette S. Hancock Axia College of University of Phoenix A performance appraisal system is a very important part of any successful organization. Both employees and organizational management and leaders benefit from a well-structured performance appraisal system. These systems offer feedback and rewards to employees who perform well, while at the same time holding employees accountable for their performance. The following report will describe the purpose, benefits, and elements of a good performance appraisal system, and outline a unique performace appraisal system for a human service organization. The purpose of a performance appraisal system is to provide an evaluation and feedback on an employee’s performance. Most organizations perform appraisals yearly and may call the appraisal by other terms-such as a review. Even if appraisals are performed annually, management should have weekly consultations or meetings with staff to ensure each employee is kept up-to-date with policies and each employee knows what is expected of him or her. A manager should not wait until the end of a year to let an employee know that there has been a performance problem for the last eight months. Problems should be addressed as they arise to prevent any surprises during the appraisal process. The evaluation portion of an appraisal system is normally performed by management. During this portion, management evaluates an employee’s performance to determine if there are any areas that need improvement. Ideally, all employees should be meeting or exceeding organizational standards. If an employee is not meeting standards, or has not met standards at some point within the previous year, his or her appraisal may have suggestions for improvement or there may be other consequences as a result of poor performace. The feedback portion of an appraisal system normally takes place between management and the employee who is being appraised. According to Caruth and Humphreys, appraisals should be formalized according to organizational procedure (2008). Feedback should be conducted in a private setting to ensure that the information being passed on is confidential. The manager should thoroughly explain the employee’s appraisal and encourage the employee to ask questions. The manager should also be attentive to what the employee says so the the employee does not feel like his or her comments or concerns are not important. From an employee viewpoint, the purpose of a performace appraisal is very different than that of the organization. According to Cash, the employee wants to know four things: what do you want me to do, how well have I done it, how can I improve my performance, and reward me for doing well (1993). These are the questions and expectations an employees need to know in order to perform his or her job well. Managers should make sure employees are aware of expectations each and every day while working. From the organizational viewpoint, one of the main purposes of an employee appraisal system is accountability. Employees need to be held accountable for their performance at all times. A good appraisal system outlines each employee’s responsibilities and performance rates to show accountability. This is especially important in organizations that have areas with overlapping responsibilities. Each employee needs to know specifically what he or she is held accountable for. There are many benefits of a good performance appraisal system. One of the benefits is that the appraisal process allows managers to have one-on-one time with employees that they may not get to have on a daily basis. Another benefit is that any existing problems can be addressed and, hopefully, solutions can be made so that the problem can be corrected. Appraisals also encourage employees to perform better in the future so that the next appraisal will be positive. Consider the following unique appraisal system for a human service organization. Each employee will be evaluated yearly. The evaluation will be based on three areas: work performance, attendance, and innovation. Work performace will acquire the biggest portion of the appraisal score because there are many factors involved. Work performance will be based on organizational standards, accuracy rates, timeliness standards, and customer satisfaction. Attendance scores will be based on the employee’s attendance history for the previous year. And Innovation scores will be given based on any ideas the employee has come up with to improve organizational processes or cut organizational costs. Once the scores are determined, a final appraisal score is given to the employee. Employees can compare these scores from year to year to see if his or her performance is acceptable for the organization. Employee appraisal systems are very beneficial for both employees and the organization. Appraisals provide feedback to employees concerning their performance and also holds each employee accountable.

Research Paper on Media

Research Paper on Media Media is an important part of our daily lives. One aspect of our lives that media has a major impact on is politics, especially the presidency. The media affects the president from his campaign all the way through his term. The media is vital to helping the president shape his image communicates with the public, and set the agenda. The media is an essential tool in becoming a successful President. When a President interacts with the media he will soon benefit from this interaction. The effects the media has on the President begin when the President is campaigning. The President has a staff that helps the President form an image that is appealing to the voting public. The staff works with the media to communicate the image of the Presidential hopeful to the public. The staff attempts to â€Å" (1) control news coverage by controlling media access, setting the media’s agenda, creating pseudo events; (2) blur the distinction between news and commercials in order to increase the credibility of the commercial’s message; (3) exploit the linguistic categories reflecting criteria for newsworthiness and conventions of news presentations through which journalists view campaigns; (4) insulate the candidate from attack; and (5) enlist the help of journalists in responding to attacks† (Jamieson 229) If the staff uses the media wisely then it can help ensure that the Presidential candidate will have a good image with the public. It is difficult for candidates to travel to every city in the country so the media is the only opportunity the public has to become familiar with the candidates.   The media also sees the campaign for president a s an important news event drawing in an audience of people interested in the elections. In other words, the media and the candidates â€Å"need† each other. (Barber 51) During the campaign process it is vital that candidates have an attitude that is appealing to the public. The campaign period is very short and causes a major obstacle for candidates. It becomes difficult to change the attitudes the public may already have on the candidates. This has caused many candidates to announce they are running earlier than in prior years. (Jamieson 218) The form of media that most people use early in campaigns is newspaper. The candidates must make sure that they are coming off as a credible candidate early in the campaign.(Graber 49) An important tool in conducting a good campaign is capitalizing on past experiences. Candidates often mention their prior successes to ensure the public that they are qualified to be president. (Jamieson 218) Candidates try to convey their â€Å"message† to many different medias. Most candidates try to use one idea or achievement and focus their campaign on that single message. This single message is often condensed into a slogan.(Jamieson 217) By creating a slogan the candidates have made it easier for voters to remember one important fact about the candidate. When voters see that slogan in the media then they will be reminded of what particular candidates stand for and can help them decide who to vote for. The media is an excellent way for candidates to campaign and convey ideas to the public. By using media the candidates can make sure all concerned citizens can become familiar with the candidate. The campaign staff works with the media to help the public decide who the best candidate is. Another important goal of campaigning is to create an image that is appealing to the public. As Jamieson wrote, â€Å"Indeed, major campaign goals are creating a positive, electable image of the candidate, ensuring that the image is communicated consistently through out the campaign, and that it is underscored by news coverage.†(229) The President is the easiest branch of government for the media to create an image for. Congress is difficult to personalize due to its number of members, the Supreme Court is â€Å"aloof† and the bureaucracy is boring. (Dye 302) The presidency gives the media an opportunity to â€Å"dramatize and personalize government.†(Dye 302) The president uses this opportunity to show the media that he is a good candidate for President. The first President to use the media to exhibit his personality to the public was Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt was notorious for his fire-side chats. Roosevelt used these chats to gain support for his progra m ideas.(Dye 300) Today it is common for the President to look to the media as a way to gain support for his ideas and to create an image that is voter friendly. The President soon relies on media to help gain support for any of his ideas.(Dye 308) Candidates must have the right image to be President, and the media helps the candidates create their image. Once a candidate has a certain image it is hard to change that image, making it more important to create a proper image initially. â€Å"In an age of media technology, visibility, and symbolic skills are essential to presidential power. To govern effectively, a president not only must have power resources but must be perceived as powerful.†(Dye 300) The President is a figure of authority and strength. Candidates must show the public that they are strong and powerful people. Candidates are able to use the media to create this image. One example of the media creating a negative image is in the case of Jimmy Carter. Carter was portrayed as â€Å"weak, indecisive, and unable to control people or situation.† (Dye 310) The media was responsible for creating this image for Carter, who was unsuccessful in winning a second term of office. Dye suggests that this image was one reason why Carter was unable to be reelected. The President can use the media to create a positive image. It is important for the President and any candidates to symbolize the idea the public has of the President. The President must not only symbolize power but also â€Å"unity and social stability.†(Dye 308) The writers of the Constitution did not expect the President to become a symbolic figure head of government. However, this is what the President has become to the American public.(Dye 300) The media has become the way the President and any candidates can create the image the voters expect of the President. If the President realizes this opportunity he can use the media to create an image that will help him be elected for a second term. Jamieson wrote, â€Å"voter’s decisions are based more on what they hear on the news than what they see on commercials.†(237) However, commercials can be useful tools in campaigns for the presidency. Candidates usually be gin airing commercials about three months before an election and as election day approaches, the commercials are more frequent.(Jamieson 218) Commercials sometimes take in account that newspapers have more credibility. They do this by â€Å"reprinting and distributing favorable media coverage of the candidate or by reproducing newspaper editorials endorsing the candidate.†(Jamieson 237) Jamieson gives an example of how effective newspaper endorsements. In 1978 the â€Å"Baltimore Sun endorsed Maryland gubernational candidate, Harry Hughes, and salvaged his foundering campaign. Candidates typically translate endorsements by newspapers into paid advertisements by multicopying the endorsement and distributing it as a flier, paying to have it reprinted as a newspaper ad, reading it in a radio ad, or crawling it across the television screen in a commercial.†(226) The candidates can use two forms of media to benefit their campaigns. Commercials can also help manipulate publi c opinion of a candidate. They can do this through slice-of-life commercials. These commercials resemble news clips. This way the candidates are again capitalizing on the notion that newspapers hold more credibility than commercials. â€Å"These commercials walk the viewer through part of the candidate’s day, permitting voters to eavesdrop on exchanges with important people, overhear warm human exchanges with constituents or would-be supporters, and see the candidate with family.† (Jamieson 237) These commercials help form an image of the candidate as a â€Å"people person† and a caring individual. Commercials are another form of media that can help shape a candidate’s campaign and form a positive image for the presidential hopeful. Media attention tends to focus on challengers. According to Shaw this is because â€Å"our governing day-to-day rule is the watchdog theory, which means reporters are most likely to watch those who might be challenging that power.†(907) Even though the incumbent has more power with agenda setting and framing the challenger can have an edge in advertising. The challenger can use events during the current President’s term against him. This is because the challenger wants  to †indict the status quo and pin the blame for the ills of the system on the incumbent, these indictments are most effective when they are visually underscored, consequently, the candidate will tape ads in slum ousing to establish that the incumbent’s promises of change have been unfulfilled. Political ads will also feature testimony from the disenchanted- those who are unhappy at the way in which government is being run.†( Jamieson 219) Commercials can help give presidential challe ngers the same chance at office as the incumbent. As Jamieson wrote â€Å"Political ads must affirm that we can be agents of change, that voting causes change, that politicians in office can make a difference, that problems are solvable. In the process of affirming these premises, political ads reinforce our belief in our political system.†(219) From the start of the campaign commercials and media switch the spotlight between the incumbent and the challenger. Commercials are helpful to both types of candidates. The effect of the media on the President continues after the campaign and elections through the entire term. Even after the media has helped create an image for a President it can continue to help the President through ensuring him public support. As previously stated Franklin D. Roosevelt used the radio to gain suppport for economic programs through his fire-side chats. Another popular way that the President can manipulate public opinion using the media is through pseudo- events. Pseudo events are â€Å"staged events designed for media coverage.†(Jamieson 233) Pseudo- events are evidence that the President realizes the influence of media. By creating pseudo- events the President is able to show the public ways he is benefitting the country. These staged events are good examples that the President and media work together to influence the public’s opinions of the President and government. The media also affects the President through honeymoon periods. The honeymoon period is the period at the beginning of a President’s term including â€Å"high popularity in public opinion polls and positive reports by the mass media.†(Dye 309) Honeymoon periods are very beneficial to the President. It gives newly elected people time to adjust to being in office and gives them room for initial mistakes. This is a perfect example of the media working to benefit the President. The media does not have to give the President this brief honeymoon period but they choose to help the newly elected Presidents. This also emphasizes the idea that the President and the media work together to help each other. The media also set and frame the political agenda of society. By using the media the President can set the opinions and agenda of society. â€Å"Newspapers are the prime movers in organizing the public agenda. They largely set the stage of public concern, But television news is not wholly without influence. It has some short-term impact on the composition of the public agenda. Perhaps the way to decide and contrast these influences is to label the role of the newspaper as agenda-setting and the role of television as spotlighting.†(Graber 48) The media chooses the stories they feel the public should be interested in. This is an effective way for the President to interact with the public and shape their opinions. The President can use the media to focus on issues he feels are important. The newspapers only set the agenda for certain types of issues.(Graber 46) However, the President cannot totally shape public opinion through the media. The media tells the audiences â€Å"what to think about, although not what to think.†(Shaw 903) The public is able to form their own opinions about the issues that are on the top of the agenda. Shaw also believes that the press provides a â€Å"limited and rotating set of public issues, around which the political and social system can engage in dialogue.†(903) Jamieson agrees with Shaw’s view on media and setting the agenda. Jamieson writes, â€Å"the news media does not tell us what to think as much as what to think about.†(232) However, Jamieson does add that the incumbent has more control with agenda setting than a challenger.(232) Agenda setting by the media is very helpful to the President. The President can control what the media discusses by holding press conferences about certain events they feel are of public interest. Whatever events the President has been successful in handling the President can interact with the media to make on the top of the public’s political agendas. Framing is also important function of the media’s agenda setting. Gamson and Modigilani agreed that framing was â€Å"a centralized idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events. The frame suggests what the controversy is about, the essence of the issue†(Scheufele 106) When the media sets the agenda they are picking what events to discuss with the public. With framing the media goes a step further by setting what was important about a certain event. Like agenda setting framing can also be useful for a president. With framing the President is given the opportunity to pick and choose what aspects of events should be stressed as most important. For example, if there is a school shooting an anti-gun President can help the media frame the issue to focus on gun control instead of school security. This benefits the President by forcing the public to look for a solution to gun violence. This gives the President the opportunity to gather support for hi s new gun control bill. With framing the media works with the President to benefit the President while shaping public opinion on certain issues. Dye wrote the media can bring the president directly â€Å"in contact with the masses.†(302) The media and the president work together to influence eachother. (Barber 26) This ability to influence one another begins early in the presidential campaigns. It continues until the end of the term. The media is very beneficial to the President, it can help the President shape his image, set and frame the agenda, and gain support during his term.

Car Accident Essay Example for Free (#3)

Car Accident Essay Peter is nice man and a hard worker, but he is careless about his wife and family, his wife Carteria take care all the housework, he has been two month did not go home , he was on a business trip, when he arrived at home, Carteria is not at home , he look at his watch , it is already seven pm, Carteria should be at home with diner really. He makes a phone call to his wife, but no one pick up. He grap a buttle of water sit on sofa turn on the TV wait his wife to come home. he is tired from the work. Eventually he fall in sleep on sofa. When he wake up it already ten am at morning and he realize Carteria has not come home. He start to worry about her, keep calling her but no one pick up the phone. It was never happen befor, he try to find any number relate to Carteria,except her number he can not find anything, all the number are about his work, what is happen to her, he start nerves. He never care about her like that. He just tell himself she is going to be ok, she may just hang out with some friend, and forget about time, because Peter is not with her all the time, maybe she just feel longly sometime. All he has to do just be patience wait. He decide to sit on sofa to release his nerves, at same time he turn on the TV, he peer at photo just on the TV stander, he never know there is a photo. The picture is he and Carteria with lovely smile on the park. A news attract his attention, it is a car accident happen on a few block a way from his home yesterday. â€Å"Oh no no no, not her† Peter say . â€Å"A 42 years old man die in the accident† he shut off the TV and say â€Å"thanks god it is not happen her† he feels so release, he take out photo album and look at it. It remind his good memory with Carteria. He has been long time did not go out with his wife. Now he think about when she come back, he going to have a trip with her. Suddenly the door is open Carteria come back, Peter stand up from sofa and walk to the door, look at her with a happy face, he wants to say happy to see you again, but he does not finish what he say, because Carteria s face looks so sad something bad happen to her and the face can tell she has been cry, the tear still on her eyes. Then Peter just say â€Å"Hi what is happen to you† he does not answer it. She just take off her shoes, â€Å"where have you been ? † Peter say, she does not even look at him and walk straight to the room lock the door. Peter can hear Carteria is crying so hard in the room. Peter has no idear what is going on. He knock the door â€Å"what is happen to you† Peter ask, she does not answer it. Peter sits beside the door, wait when she gets better come out and ask her what happen about her. How long has she cry, peter can not remember Carterian come out ,she still does not talk to peter. She gets in to the car, peter sit beside her. Carteria drive the car. Finally they arrived at a funeral, â€Å"whom funeral is that† say peter. The most of member are his family and friends. When they walk close, Peter shock by the funeral. That is his own funeral, his name on the tombstone. Carteria cry again. Flash back Peter suddenly remember the car accident happen a few blocks a way from his home. It is he on his way go home hit by a car, and Carteria spend all night with him. He does not know she love him so much, but right now he has no chance to love her back. Car Accident. (2016, Dec 14).

Coke and Pepsi War Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Coke and Pepsi War - Article Example The analysis of the case study brings to light the problems both the companies have had with their concentrate producers, bottlers, and retailers while also highlighting the throat cut competition between Coke and Pepsi. The strategies deployed by the companies are the same: cost leadership and differentiation strategies. The strategic management model also reveals that the problems with the company were related to the supply chain and the diversification strategies into other non-cola drinks. The solution to the problems later discussed in detail is about stabilizing the growth and sales while at the same time re-branding its products to better appeal to the consumers. Coke and Pepsi are the two main competitors in the beverage industry globally. Both the companies have been at war since their inception. The situation is such that both companies, Coke and Pepsi, are at each other’s throats in order to gain most market share in the world especially the United States. Coke and Pepsi, each are trying to come up with innovative products and ideas in pursuit to increase the market share. The effectiveness and creativity of Pepsi and Coke’s strategic advantage will determine the ultimate winner with respect to sales, profits, market share and customer loyalty. The case study ‘Cola Wars Continue Coke and Pepsi in the Twenty-First Century’ present the scenario of both the companies internal and external strategies that have caused each company to battle on for such a long period. Over the years since the inception of both the companies, Pepsi and Coke have faced many issues and challenges that have led them to change their strategies. The main strategic issue for both the company has always lied in their quest for achieving the greater market share. Due to this point, the firms have constantly modified their bottling, pricing and branding strategies as new competition increased and gaining more market share became a life source for the Pepsi and Coke (Yoffie, 2004).