Internet Gaming Addiction Essay

Computer games are software which developed with an interesting plot, amazing graphics and unreal concepts which you may only see in those games, fantasy movies or animated movies. There are many types of computer games. There are some games that are really addictive making players unhappy if they were offered just a nick of time for playing. Some computer games drive and put the player at the highest level of eagerness to finish the game and wait for the next version. These games are addicting for only a short period of time, and stops after finishing it. The bad thing here is when the player starts to look for another game similar to his previous game. This surely is a sign of addiction. These computer games have characteristics that may or may not be experienced in real life. The difference of these games from the real world is that it makes the user do virtual things that people don’t do in real life. These games are designed to entertain people and one of its objectives is to make people hooked to it. If there are more people hooked, then the producers of the games get more profit. How did these games appeal to the people? Some games may not have done its objective but there are some that greatly caught the attention and time of the people who played it. Another thing is that these games offer competition. It is the same competition that we experience in real life. If the player performs well over the other players in the game, he feels satisfaction. In order to stand among the rest, a player needs to play hard or devote more time. It is just like when we want to standout in class, we have to study harder or when we like to be the most outstanding player in our favorite sports, we have to practice more. A person gets satisfaction after achieving something that he or she wants. This achievement is easy to acquire in computer games as compared to real life. You just sit down, run the game, and enjoy yourself while achieving your goals. However, computer games are far from our real world. You may relate to them, but the real thing is really different. Sometimes, the things that happen to your character in a role playing game may resemble the exact opposite of what is happening to yourself. When your character in the game gets richer, it does not follow that it could happen to the real you. Actually, it does the other thing – you become poorer. Getting addicted to these computer games may be enjoyable but there are serious consequences. Addiction always leads to negative effects. It renders a person irresponsible and makes him forget more important things he should do, and worse, people who are close to him. Sometimes life itself could be just thrown away like a disposable item. A South Korean man was reported dead after playing online game continuously. The death was caused by heart failure due to exhaustion, lack of sleep, and not eating enough (BBC News, 2005). Not sleeping or lack of sleep leads to failure or weakens the capability of our body to resist sickness. And gamers always force themselves to play up to the point that they even lose the time for sleeping. If normal people who lack sleep do not feel good sometimes, then this fact also applies to the gamers. Playing computer games is not for free. It uses electricity, some needs Internet connection, and sometimes you have to pay the game servers to play their online game. Living our daily lives is not for free either. We need resources to support our needs. We need to work to earn resources. Lucky are those teenagers supported by their parents. And obviously those parents will not support for addiction to computer games. It is also a reality that we may earn money from playing games because there are things in a computer game especially in online games that can be traded off with real money. But this money is not enough to support our needs. Addiction to computer games, generally, will not do good effects to the people. If you want to play computer games, you can play them. But be sure to remember not to fall on its trap on becoming addict to it. It has never been good to be an addict on computer games or anything. The only problem is, sometimes, you tend to ignore things because it is being blocked by something attractive or enjoyable. Being responsible is the key to avoid addiction. You better think of yourself, your family and your future. Do not let yourself get entangled in the roots of addiction. You should balance all the things that you do. Do not forget to be happy or do necessary things for your own life. You should know and set priorities in life. You should ask yourself what is important. Think critically, responsibly and do not stop with that. Whatever might be the result of that thinking, carry that on. Just plant in your mind that being an addict to whatever is not good. References: BBC News. 2005. S Korean dies after games session. Retrieved May 1, 2007. http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/technology/4137782. stm.

Henry Mintzberg Essay

Business Strategy 1.0 Introduction In the recent years the views of ‘strategic management’ has changed significantly. It has been critically studied and classified as a field of managerial practice that should have been given more thought. (Knights and Morgan, 1991) There are two essential parts to strategy, actions that are planned ahead and developed carefully according to many factors once implemented. A proper strategy created and implement to a company would give a competitive advantage over other companies. This report will address the position of the article in a wider debate as different scholars have different opinions in strategy. It will discuss about the theoretical underpinnings, strengths and weakness in Henry Mintzberg’s article â€Å"Crafting Strategy.† 2.0 Position and Theoretical Underpinnings According to Levy, Alvesson and Willmott most of the â€Å"current thinking is anchored by the work of Michael Porter and Henry Mintzberg.â€Å" (Levy, Alvesson and Willmott, 2003) Henry Mintzberg’s Crafting Strategy is based on research that was conducted over numerous years that focused on several organisations that have taken various decisions over a period of time. The decisions made by organisations were taken into account and put together as different types of strategy. His thesis was â€Å"the crafting image better captures the process by which effective strategies to come to be.† However â€Å"the planning image, long popular in the literature, distorts these processes and thereby misguides organisations that embrace it unreservedly.† (Mintzberg, 1987) The article appears to focus on an emergent approach to strategy. Mintzberg states, â€Å"a key to managing strategy is the ability to detect emerging patterns and help them take shape.† This is suggested through the fact that the role of a manager â€Å"is not just to preconceive specific strategies but  also to recognize their emergence elsewhere in the organization and intervene when appropriate† (Mintzberg, 1987). One of the earlier influential writers of strategy Philip Selznick who supported this theory wrote about the ‘character’ of an organization being separate and integrates â€Å"commitments to ways of acting and responding.† (Selznick 1957) Ghosal, Barlett et al also suggest this point by mentioning â€Å"it’s the focus in traditional strategy on value appropriation rather then value creation.† (Ghosal, Barlett et al, 1999) Mintzberg’s theory captures a mix of Richard Whittington’s classical and processual school of strategy. This is modelled in the article as the potter is characterized as a craftsman strategist. In Whittington’s model ‘developing and defining’ falls under Michael Porters classical ‘deliberate’ approach to strategy and thinking lies within Henry Mintzberg’s approach to emergent strategy. In the view of strategy Porter (1980; 1985), Andrews (1971) and Chandler (1962), the prescriptive approach to strategy is shown for its dependence on analysis and planning. This is also view is also supported by Graetz who suggests that strategic thinking is already considered necessary process closely linked to strategic planning. (Graetz, 2002) Wilson goes further by mentioning, â€Å"strategic thinking should replace strategic planning.† (Wilson. L., 1994) Heracleous proposes that strategic planning and strategic thinking is two distinct b ut related processes, strategic planning is analysis and strategic thinking involves synthesis. (Heracleous, 1998) Many scholars including Mintzberg who emphasizes heavily on the processes of learning, compromising and adjustment is that strategy is a process. He suggests that the planning and then implementing strategy is unsustainable for long term. (Mintzberg, 1990) In 1994 Mintzberg provided some evidence of the failure of planning. 3.0 Strengths Mintzberg’s does identify â€Å"there is no such thing as purely deliberate strategy or purely emergent one.† This is further emphasized when he states â€Å" all strategy making walks on two feet, one deliberate and the other emergent.† This suggest that deliberate and emergent is intertwined which is emphasized when Mintzberg mentions, â€Å"deliberate and emergent strategy form the end points of a continuum along which the strategies that are crafted in  the real world maybe found.† (Mintzberg, 1987) Mintzberg treated strategy differently from traditional literatures that only focused on one type of strategy. While other scholars associated themselves in four schools of strategy Henry Mintzberg defined ten schools of strategy. (Mintzberg, 1998) Crafting Strategy is positioned in the learning and design school. In this he suggested strategy as a ‘ploy’, which gives company a competitive advantage, as the strategy is misleading therefore, unpredictable thus competitors are unable to know what the company is planning. This is supported by Rumelt who mentions â€Å"one person’s strategies are another’s tactics – that what is strategic depends on where you sit.† (Rumelt, 1979) Crafting strategy shows flexibility and therefore makes it more prepared to implement. Henry Mintzberg states â€Å"strategies can be ‘form’ as well as ‘formulated.’ (Mintzberg 1987) It suggests that there is no standard approach to strategy thus every company or individual can use it as it is tailored to the company needs. According to Kipping as it is flexible it allows â€Å"freedom to craft their best strategy† (Kipping, 2010) 3.1 Weakness In this article Henry Mintzberg based his research on mass production companies such as Honda, Volkswagenwerk and General Motors. His conclusions about strategy derived from assessing these major companies may not be applicable to other companies as some managers are not competent to the strategy. This is mentioned by Noe who states â€Å"Emergent strategies†¦rely on the organization’s ability to learn from the actual experiences of employees at all levels† (Noe et al., 2003) Whittington states †mechanisms ensure that the strategy process remains objective rather than being captured by a particular management faction.† This suggests that managers are able to draw from extensive and less detectable sources of power. (Whittington, 1993). Mintzberg argues that the reality of strategy is not a planned organizational phenomenon but better characterized as an emergent. (Mintzberg et al., 1998) However Mintzberg fails to address these additional conditions suggested by Whittington that  are thought to be potentially vital points in strategic management. Stoney mentions that â€Å" In the strategic management model, responsibility for corporate level decision-making rests with a core or strategic elite who are discharged from the day-to-day responsibilities of operational activities, these being devolved to the lowest possible level of control.† (Stoney 1998) Supported by Anthony and Dearden mentioning that strategic planning is a function in the executive level that is designed to ensure that the direction is followed as set. (Anthony & Dearden 1976) This will help companies maintain a competitive advantage however as it is only based on executive level views lower ranked staff in the companies is ignored. This is suggested by Alvesson and Willmott who states, â€Å"broader power relations privilege the interests and viewpoints of some groups while silencing and marginalizing others. â€Å" (Alvesson and Willmott, 1996) Henry Mintzberg himself mentions this view by stating â€Å"senior management sets of broad guidelines a nd the leaves specifics to other lower down in the organization. (Mintzberg ,1974) As a few of Mintzberg’s theory is based on the processual school of strategy in Whittington’s model Levy, Alvesson and Willmott mentions it â€Å"provides a sceptical perspective on established classical and rational perspectives.† (Levy, Alvesson and Willmott, 2003) However it fails to explore in a wider perspective of domination or analyze the managerial assumptions. Alvesson and Willmott further states that in the processual school of strategy, Mintzberg’s view of power fails to look â€Å"within an intra-organizational perspective that eschews consideration of broader social and political structures.† (Alvesson and Willmott, 1966) This suggests that Mintzberg does not take into consideration many other factors that may be important to his view of strategy. 4.0 Conclusion Mintzberg does appear to focus most of his ideas towards emergent strategy however he does address that there can be no such thing as just deliberate or emergent strategy. (Mintzberg 1987) They both need to intertwine in order for the strategy to work. Crafting strategy is based on long-term learning, â€Å"errors become opportunities and limitations stimulate creativity†Ã‚  (Mintzberg 1987) This is what â€Å"causes the moulds streams of decision into patterns† as suggested by Hedbery and Jonsson. (Hedbery and Jonsson, 1977) 5.0 References Alvesson, M. and Willmott, H. (1996) Making Sense of Management: A Critical Introduction. London: Sage. Andrews, K.R. (1971) The Concept of Corporate Strategy. Homewood, IL: Irwin. Anthony, R & Dearden, J. (1976), Management control systems. Illinois: Homewood: Richard D Irwin. B. Hedbery and S. A. Jonsson, â€Å"Strategy Formulation as a Discontinuous Process,† International Studies of Management and Organisation, 7/2 (1977): 90 Chandler, A.D. (1962) Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. David Ley, Mats Alvesson, Hugh Willmott. (2003). Critical Approaches to Strategic Management. In: Mats Alvesson, Hugh Willmott Studying management critically. Cornwall: Sage Publications. 92-110. Graetz, F. (2002). Strategic thinking versus strategic planning: towards understanding the complementaries. Management Decision, 40 (5), pg 456-462. Ghoshal, S., C. A. Barlett, et al. (1999). A New Manifesto for Management. Sloan Management Review 40 (3): 9-20. Heracleous, L. (1998). Strategic thinking or strategic planning? Long Range Planning, 31 (3), pg 481-487. Kipping. M. & Caillutet, L. (2010) ‘Mintzberg’s Emergent and Deliberate Strategies: Tracking Alcan’s Activities in Europe, 1928-2007’, Business History Review, 8 (4), pp.79-104. Knights, D. and Morgan, G. (1991) Corporate strategy, organisations, and subjectivity: A critique. Organisation Studies. 12(2): 251-73. Mintzberg, H. 1987. Crafting Strategy. Harvard Business Review 65 (July – August): 66-75. Mintzberg, H. (1990) The design school: Reconsidering the basic premise of strategic management. Strategic Management Journal. 11: 171-95. Mintzberg, H. (1994) The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning. New York: Free Press. Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2003) Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 4th ed, New York: McGraw-Hill. Porter, M.E. (1980) Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New York: Free Press. P. Selznick, Leadership in Administration: A Sociological Interpretation (New York, NY; Harper & Row, 1957) p.47. A subsequent paper by the author (in process) on the â€Å"design school† of strategy formation shows the link of Selznick’s early work to the writings of Kenneth Andrews in the Harvard policy textbook. K.R. Andrews, The Concept of Corporate Strategy, Revised Edition (Homewood, IL: Down Jones-Irwin, 1987). Porter, M.E. (1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: Free Press. R. P. Rumelt, â€Å"Evaluation of Strategy: Theory and Models,† in D.E. Schendel and C. W. Hofer, eds., Strategic Management: A New View of Business Policy and Planning (Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1979), pp.196-212. Stoney, C. (1998) Lifting the lid on strategic management: A sociological narrative. Electronic Journal of Radical Organization Theory 4(1). Whittington, R. (1993) What is Strategy – and Does it Matter? London: Routledge. Wilson. L. (1994). Strategic planning isn’t dead – It changed. Long Range Planning, 27 (4), pg 12-24.

Poy Sang Long

Poy Sang Long is a rite of passage practiced in Thailand and Myanmar. It`s three days and it involves kids age 7 to 14 dressed like Buddha’s son. The children ride on an adults back for two days and on the third day they go to a monastery where they have to live for at least a week or more. I think this is a great custom for all these children because they have fun participating in the festival for two days and after that they decide if they want to stay in the monastery for more the a week so it’s their decision if they want to become monks. I also think that the custom show grown in these kids because their knowledge increases and they come back from the monastery as new people who know more about their own religion . I would definitely do this rite of passage because it would give me a clear understating of how Buddhist live and I will learn martial arts along the way. If I really had a chance to do it I would be excited and interested in changing up my daily routine. The only thing that would give me trouble would be the 6 hours of meditating daily. I think the true purpose of this rite is to show uniqueness in Buddhism because I have never even heard of any right of passage close to that one. One of the main purposes is also to respect Buddha who stated that this will be a rite of passage for all the young children. The benefits of this right of passage are that people will gather to a commune event, kids will have fun and they will learn about their religion and they will experience what is like to live with monks. I also think that this right of passage can be harmful because of the discrimination against women. In a way it’s great that children learn so many new things but it’s only for boys so the girls are not allowed. And if I was a girl and I see my male friend and my brother let’s say for example I would ask myself why. Why am I different, why can’t I have fun like them and why can’t a become a monk. All this thoughts will stay in the girls mind and later on affect her by maybe lowering her self esteem and changing her beliefs about males. The three stage process about right of passage is to change from what you are to something new, to remove yourself from the society temporarily and to be re-admitted as a new person in the society. In Poy Sang Long the children change from being goofs to being smaller goofs in way because they learn about Zen meditation and they learn to control their emotions better. They are removed from the society by going to a monastery for a period of time and they are re-admitted back after the period is done. I think that this rite of passage follows the threes stage process but it varies because some of the children may become real monks.

Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 8

Art - Essay Example   Art started before anyone had even recognized it. It was like in the cave man times when things were written on walls and it was passed on by others in the tribe by an example of what others had done or their own interpretation. It started 40000 years ago as a form of people expressing their thoughts. Research shows that artwork began at the same time when human beings advanced in making tools (James, 87). In this case, artwork started as a way of keeping records for future references. It is used to let the current generation know how their culture should be.SurrealismSurrealism is a recent painting style that shows different images together to provide a startling effect. The images are usually illogical with dreamlike standards about them. Such is like the given picture.This is another modern art style where the artist knows that an idea is very important that the artwork itself. In the given picture the conceptual artists believe that it will be completed by the people viewing it.Pop artThis happened as a reaction to expression that happened in 1950s and the British at that time believed it was art that was further taken to the current time. In the case of the given picture, the main reason of the artist is to let the current generation know what happened in the past .This is painting which really looks like a photograph. It is normally influenced by pop art and it is like a reaction to expressionism like the picture given really looks like a photograph.

Compare and evaluate multiculturalism and assimilation as alternative Essay

Compare and evaluate multiculturalism and assimilation as alternative approaches to dealing with immigrant populations. Use evid - Essay Example The rate of immigration has doubled in the last five decades alone, accounting for the greater proportion of workers in the industrialized nations of the world (Shah, 2008, para. 4). The estimated number of international immigrants represented about three percent of the global total population. Many of these immigrants either came from Asia or Africa, and most of them are undocumented migrant workers using illegal means or channels to gain entry. Half of all immigrants are women; other than the reasons cited earlier, immigrants also choose to leave their own countries due to ethnic persecution (if they belong to a minority), avoidance of military or armed conflicts, and political harassment. A new reason recently cited as driver for increases in immigration is increased globalization, in which their original home countries suffered from open trade policies, making them losers due to greater economic inequality (ibid. para. 8). Some people also immigrate for better educational opportu nities while others do so for a good retirement place in another country, such as a warmer climate and lower costs of living. An improvement in transportation technologies, cheaper travel rates, and shorter travel times have in many ways also contributed to the heightened phenomenon of global immigration today. Discussion The United Nations considers international migration as one of the basic human rights, and the sacred right to freedom of travel and movement is included in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Relatedly, basic human rights apply to everybody, whether as an immigrant or not; the U. N. agency charged with carrying out this mandate is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (or UNESCO) to encourage all member states to respect all rights of immigrants at par or level with that of its own native citizens (Ban, 2007, para. 1) and to promote the speedy, orderly, and peaceful integration of migrants to society in general. It is quite i ronic how many Western countries had previously urged Russia and China, in the past decades, to allow their citizens to move freely and migrate if they want to go, but now these Western countries are reluctant to accept more migrants and put up hindrances, controls, or new laws to limit immigration. Admittedly, there are benefits to free immigration such as lower labor costs that help the host country, contribute to cultural diversity of society, enhance mutual understanding, alleviate labor shortages, and increase the talent pool of the nation (Fassi, 2011). Moreover, countries with declining populations also benefit from new people. But on the other hand, some people resist immigrants because of competition for scarce jobs, cultural adulteration or influences, social adjustments, increased demands on social services like health care, policing, sanitation, food, housing, educational facilities, welfare and pension benefits, among others (Sterba 2009). In some European countries, a new element of the drawbacks of immigration has been added, that of cultural conflicts, social intolerance, and religious extremism. Some immigrants resist integration, and prefer ethnic segregation. Precisely due to these existing and other incipient problems related to new immigrants, various countries have tried several approaches towards achieving faster

Financial Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Reporting - Essay Example The recent financial crisis as well as the leading corporate scandals of past however, cast a doubt over the information presented in the financial statements. It has been argued that the financial statements do not provide the information which can satisfy the requirements of the shareholders and investors. The overall quality of reporting and the loopholes in the existing regulations and standards therefore provide an opportunity to the managers to report the matter in a manner which may not satisfy the overall requirements of the shareholders and investors.( Weil,2011). This paper will discuss as to whether the annual report of a limited company satisfy the needs of shareholders and other investors. Annual Reports and Financial Reporting Every limited liability company is required to present its annual financial statements outlining the position of its assets and liabilities, profit and loss as well as the cash flow position. Apart from the three key financial statements, annual r eports of the firms also include notes to the accounts which provide different estimates and explanations of how different estimates were made and under what assumptions and standards. Standards set out by International Accounting Standards Board as well as the US GAAP are two of the major standards which are being followed by the firms internationally. Except US Generally accepted accounting principles, standards outlined by IASB are followed internationally where US GAAP is followed by American companies. Though there are some critical differences between the two set of standards however, there are extensive efforts being undertaken to converge both the standards and develop a unifying and single standards to be followed by all the firms globally. It is also important to note that the every limited liability company has to submit its annual accounts to the regulatory body as well as to present them to the shareholders. As such annual reports serve as the most important document th rough which shareholders can actually assess the performance of the management and assess the long term and short term future of the firm. (Jones, 1998). The recent financial crisis as well as the corporate scandals like Enron and WorldCom however, created an strong debate as to whether the financial reporting made in the annual reports actually serves the interests of the shareholders and other investors or not? Financial Reporting and Shareholders’ Interests Despite the fact that there are extensive set of rules and regulations under which annual accounts of the limited liability companies are made however, the failure of the firms to disclose all the information has initiated a debate as to whether the annual reports provide the kind of information which serves the interests of the shareholders and other investors. One of the important concepts to be explored in this regard is the agency problem which outlines that the managers make decisions which may not necessarily be i n favor of shareholders and add value to the firm. Under this assumption, the information presented in the annual reports therefore may entirely represent the interests of

Does business have a responsibility to provide employees with more Essay

Does business have a responsibility to provide employees with more satisfying work lives Or to better accommodate their family needs - Essay Example Employees need to work and associated with a place that lack the irritants, inconveniences and also frustrations within their productive workplaces (Adler, 2012). The business need create the office as a welcoming communal area for talented employees to come up with big ideas and also deliver excellence. Happiness should never be shunned at the place of work, it should never be the objective of the business. This is the actual quality of a work setting that can assist the employees to find satisfaction and meaning in their work place and develop a sustainable productivity. Rather than focusing on the subjective needs, management need to develop a tone for the culture of the company and to make sure that the workplace and business fully focusses on the hope, drive, and also dream for the employees (Adler, 2012). For this reason, satisfaction for the work lives need to be the main area of the office

Contract Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Contract Law - Essay Example It becomes sufficient incorporation if the other party knows the existence of the clause Wishart (2005, p. 78). The exclusion should also conform to the relevant statutes that are the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulation 1999. Legislation The legislations that govern the limitation clauses are Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulation 1999 and the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. Exclusion clause 1. Urban Farm Products Limited does not restrict liability for damage, loss, death, or injury caused by its negligence. 2. URBAN FARM PRODUCTS LIMITED SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO VISITORS FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE OF PERSONAL BELONGINGS AND INJURY DUE TO THE VISITORS NEGLIGENCE DURING THE VISIT. Explanatory notes Clause 1 limits the ambition of the exclusion clause which is essential to ensure that the exclusion of liability clause does not fail or is rendered unenforceable by operation of section 2(1) of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. Section two (1) of the Unfair Contract Terms Act provides that exclusion of liability in negligence cannot be restricted in the course of business for personal injury or death by a provision in the contract. It becomes unreasonable to restrict the liability in negligence of Urban Farm Products Limited, clause 1 deals with this element. The liability of Urban Farm Products Limited cannot be restricted. ... The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 at section 11 provides for the prerequisites of reasonableness; it provides that for a term to be included, it should be a fair and a reasonable one in relation to the circumstances known or ought to be known. Subsection two goes ahead to clarify the guidelines applied in the determination of reasonableness. Subsection (4) provides that where the provision seeks to exclude liability but seeks to limit the liability, the court should look at it from two points: the extent of insurance cover for the party to relying on the exclusion clause and the resources available to meet the liability. Subsection (5) states it is up to the party wants to rely on the clause, to prove sufficient notice of the existence of the clause. The party intending to rely on the exclusion clause should make sure they did enough to draw attention to that clause: (1) There should be proper and sufficient notice where the contract has an exclusion clause incorporate into it. If t he exclusion clause sits at the back of the document, a note to that effect should be in front of the document. (2) The other must be aware of the exclusion clause before entering into the contract. (3) The notice provided should be reasonably sufficient. Reasonableness and sufficiency depend on the parties' situation and the circumstances. In its decisions on matters of exclusion clauses, the courts have held that attention be brought to the existence of these clauses by clear words on the contract. Clause 2 is the proper exclusion clause and aims at limiting the scope of Urban Farm Products Limited liability by the exclusion of aspects of loss or damage. Section 2 (2) provides that liability for negligence can be

Personal Application Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Application Paper - Essay Example I felt that the ineffective communication in the company was one of the causes of the strike. During the strike employees formed groups where they were being updated by their representative on the decision made by the top management team regarding their grievances. In addition, officials from the workers union attended the meeting where they promised the employees on their roles to ensure that their grievances are addressed. Lack of availability of the top managers in the meeting indicated lack of commitment to amicably solve the problems facing the employees. In the day to day running of a company, it is prudent for managers to effectively manage their human force in order to avoid labor turn over and regular strikes. One of the major theories that employers should use in order to motivate their employees is theory X-Y. This theory that was developed by Douglas McGregor constitutes rules that managers must adopt to manage the workers (Ulrich 23). The adoption of theory X that depicts use authority in management, was one of the major causes of the employee’s strike in our company. This resulted to employees avoiding responsibility. In order to avoid future strikes it is essential to emulate theory Y. The adoption of theory Y will make the employees to be focused at attaining the objectives of the company and their own goals. This results to employee’s motivation and increased productivity. As a department manager, I have a duty to motivate other employees in order to improve their productivity. Due to the losses and the reduced sales that our company made during the strike, I will emulate three strategies to avoid strikes in future. First, I will engage other workers in making of decision that is related to their rate of commissions. Secondly, I will hold regular meetings with workers where they will be allowed to air all their grievances and ideas. Thirdly, I will ensure equal treatment of employees regardless of their cultural background or race. Proper

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 12

Strategic Management - Essay Example The most controversial acquisition of Patrick by toll Holding in Austrilia though through acrimonious court cases is to improve the losistic effecieny of the company and the industry, technically align it with supply chain management and improved customer responsiveness. The acquisition was aimed to invest in future infrastructure, increase industriy syngeries, leverage scale of economics, improve competitive positioning and thereby reduce operational and management costs. The business of airlines being very volatile and Toll’s competitor having the majority shareholding in Virgin Blue,overcapacity in the shipping business and problematic rail business it was difficult for Toll to establish a firm foothold toward leadership position in the logistics industry. Toll had only two alternatives to either to merge with some bigger international transport company to achieve its strategic goal or acquire related business of high standing to get business opportunities to expand further and consolidate its position. Toll had the vision to get advantage by acquiring Patrick but still there were several internal risk involved. Whether the acquisition would generate synergy and integrated cost saving. Whether investment in an aging infrastructure of Patrick corporation would prove productive or turn negative in future. Will the acquisition build competitive advantage for Toll’s business in the logistic industry. Patrick corporation themselves needed to be reorganized and restructured with injection of massive funds of $1.1 billion to stablize. These were challenging questions for the leadership to answer. However, the oportunity in the industry after acquisition was great to hold about 15% of the market share with the revenues of both the transport giants that was about $5.1 billion in 2005. This market share would transform them to formidable position in the domestic and international transport and storage market. Toll and Patrick both had

The study of physics has had Essay Example for Free

The study of physics has had Essay Introduction The study of physics has had a large impact on the development of road safety. The study of Newtons Laws, impulse and momentum help to reduce initial momentum or decrease impulse (rate of change of momentum) to protect passengers. Technological advances and studies of vehicle crashes increase the automobile industrys understanding of the forces involved and ways of reducing effects of collisions. Within vehicles, many car safety devices are installed, such as seat belts, air bags, crumple zones and head rests. Modern road design reduces the initial or rate of change of momentum and consequently the impact of collision through crash barriers, speed zones and speed humps. Car safety devices Seatbelts Seatbelts are designed so that passengers are restrained instead of continuing to move forward at the cars speed when the brakes of a moving vehicle are applied. In this situation, there is a tendency for a body to resist changes to its motion, called inertia. (Newtons first law) The stopping force is applied to the more durable parts of the body such as hips, chest and shoulder. This is instead of the human head crashing into windshield if no seat belt is worn. Inertia reel seatbelts Inertia reel seatbelts have a cylinder that stores extra belt material on a spool. The spool turns freely normally for movement. In the event of a sudden change in velocity, a pendulum in the reel plunges forward to lock and restrain the occupant. It is named inertia reel due to the inertia of the pendulum to cause belt locking. Different types of seatbelt The lap seatbelt is tightened over the pelvis and absorbs force over a sizeable area. However they do not prevent the head and upper body from lurching forward in response to deceleration and are inadequate especially for front passengers, who risk hitting the windscreen. The lap sash seatbelt combines a lap seatbelt over the pelvis as well as over one shoulder across the chest. This greatly limits movement of the upper body and head as well as spreading the stopping force over a larger area. Shoulder harnesses restrain upper torso movement even further. Two are belts fall over the shoulders and an optional strap lies over the sternum. It is effective in the way force is spread over both shoulders compared to one shoulder in lap sash. Shoulder harnesses are usually used in child restraint systems and racing cars. The nylon webbing material in seatbelts is slightly flexible so that the stop is not as abrupt. Airbags Airbags provide an extra degree of protection in a collision by cushioning passengers in a collision, greatly limiting fatalities and serious injury. They are designed to increase the time interval during which the drivers momentum decreases in a collision to decrease the net force of the driver. They inflate when crash sensors detect large deceleration. Sensors then ignite the sodium azide, producing sodium compounds and nitrogen gas for a reactive explosion. The airbags inflate rapidly to cushion the impact of the passenger against the steering wheel, dashboard or windshield. Airbags are to be used with seatbelts, not as a replacement. A disadvantage of airbags is they provide no protection against side-on hits, only frontal collisions. More expensive cars are developing side airbags to combat this. Head rests Padded headrests provide protection in rear end collisions. When a car is rear-ended, a large net force pushes the car and it accelerates forward. The inertia, based on Newtons first law, pushes the passenger into the seat. Without a head rest for support, the head remains at rest until the spine pulls it forward. This sudden, sharp acceleration for the head causes it to fling back and results in hyperextension and whiplash injuries. Crumple Zones Many cars are designed to crumple at the front and rear. Crumple zones increase the time interval during which the momentum of the car changes during a collision, thus lessening the forces. Newtons second law (f=ma) can be applied, as increased ? time will result in a decreasing rate of deceleration a and consequently reduce force. Crumple zones are built using the integration of steel and fiberglass in the front and rear end assemblies of the automobile. Rigid structures between crumple zones protect the passenger compartment. In a collision, the crumple zones deform to slow the actual impact. The car doesnt regain all its original kinetic energy, as some of this is converted to heat and sound energy to reduce damage to passenger area through smaller forces. As crumple zones are placed in strategic locations, the collapse is controlled and energy from impact is directed away from passenger area. Road design Speed humps and low speed zones. Local councils introduced Speed Humps to reduce the overall speed of cars. Evidence shows that slower moving cars cause less damage to occupants if a crash results. It has been estimated that risk of death or serious brain damage doubles with every 16km/h over 80km/h. Speed humps restrict drivers from speeding as hitting the hump too fast can cause car damage. Low speed zones also reduce the speed of cars. A reduction of speed will reduce the chance of an accident as drivers have more time to react as well as decreasing the change in momentum and associated inertial forces in collisions. The police enforces speed signs and limit zones and speeding is monitored by speed cameras. In NSW, the general urban limit is 60 km/h for roads in built up areas where there are pedestrians. Crash Barriers Crash barriers are road design features that absorb the impact of collisions. They are constructed out of steel, concrete or wire. Some types of rigid crash barriers cannot absorb much of the kinetic energy of the vehicle, but keep the vehicle on the road and prevent crashing into more dangerous roadside hazards or cars from opposite direction. Crash barriers should be relatively weak with energy absorbing structures so that they can deform easily and transfer large amounts of kinetic energy to them in collisions. For barriers shielding against hazards such as trees, they need to be a fair distance away, as space is needed for it to deform. When a vehicle collides, the barriers deform and stop the vehicle through a plowing action, keeping the reaction forces relatively low. The impulse (change in momentum) is reduced, as the vehicle takes longer to slow down. The disadvantage of crash barriers is they may cause vehicle damage (crumpling) and rigid ones may deflect a car into the opposite lane. The advance of road safety The development of vehicles with greater size, power and momentum has resulted in the need for improvements in car safety devices and modern road design. The study of physics has allowed safety features in both the interior and exterior of cars to prevent large forces acting on passengers in collisions. This is why researchers and engineers are continually turning to laws of physics for advice. Road design features reduce initial velocity to reduce the risk of accidents as well as its impact on the passenger. Automotive safety companies are continuing to develop devices to improve vehicle safety, including inflatable seatbelts, 4-point seatbelts and knee airbags to name a few. With the large percentage of the population driving forces, momentum, impulse and energy are all factors that must be controlled as our lives depend on it.

The Authorship Controversy Essay Example for Free

The Authorship Controversy Essay Another contender for the authorship of Shakespeare’s works is Francis Bacon. One of the major reasons for this belief is the existence of a document which bears the names of Shakespeare and Bacon. The Northumberland Manuscript consists of list of speeches and other manuscripts which have been signed â€Å"By Francis William Shakespeare†. Bacon has been known to highlight aspects of a hidden or disguised life. In â€Å"The Essay of Friendship† Bacon writes: There be some whose lives are as if they perpetually played a part upon a stage, disguised to all others, open only to themselves. In a letter written to his friend John Davies, Bacon writes: So desiring you to be good to concealed poets, I continue, yours very assured, Fr. Bacon. Francis Bacon’s vocabulary has been found to be extremely similar to each other. Another reason why several scholars believe that Francis Bacon is actually the author behind Shakespeare’s work is the fact that Bacon never directly mentioned Shakespeare’s name or quoted anything from Shakespeare’s plays. Moreover, many believe that when comparing the writings of most contemporary authors, no one comes close to Shakespeare’s style of prose and verse as Bacon. In fact a large number of words and phrases that are found in Shakespeare’s books can be attributed to Bacon’s notebook â€Å"Promus† which consists of hundreds and thousands of words and phrases that appeared for the first time in the English Language. (BBC UK) However, those who have argued that Bacon could not be Shakespeare have done so on the basis of the fact that Bacon himself has such a large collection of his own works, it is difficult to imagine that he would have had the time or the need to write under a different name. (Shakespeare Resource Center) The third contender is Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford whose work has shown similarities to that of Shakespeare. His early verse and letters have been known to contain words and phrases similar to that of Shakespeare. Moreover, the content of Shakespeare’s plays and poems indicate an in-depth knowledge of key persons in Elizabeth’s court and events related to them. De Vere was known to posses this information. De Vere has been strongly advocated to be the true author of Shakespeare’s plays. Several scholars have highlighted the similarity between De Vere’s guardian William Cecil and the character of Polonius in Hamlet. (Shakespeare Resource Center) Similarly, De Vere once wrote s poem and a letter to introduce Cardamus Comfort, a book by Thomas Bedingfield and one of the most important source book for Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Another coincidence is the character of Malvolio in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night which shows a striking resemblance to Christopher Hatton, a key enemy of De Vere. Thus, in many of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, one can find characters and events similar to De Vere’s real life. In fact, the plot and characters of Hamlet are so similar to De Vere’s life that some scholars have even gone so far as to say that the play is practically an autobiography of De Vere. (Shakespeare-Oxford) Although no play can be attributed to De Vere, his verse and letters show a distinct similarity to Shakespeare. Although no one has been able to give any definite proof of who out of the many contenders was indeed the true author of Shakespeare’s work, nevertheless this debate has been one of the most extensive in literary history. Whoever wrote Shakespeare’s works had to have extensive knowledge on a large variety of subjects including law, music, foreign languages, classics, sports, aristocratic manners etc. Nothing that is known about William Shakespeare indicates that he possessed all this information and knowledge. Similarly, Shakespeare’s connection with the theater was never clearly established and there was nothing to document his career as an actor such as any past roles or any plays that he might have performed in. Moreover, there are no clear and legible signatures that can be attributed to Shakespeare. Historically, there are six practically illegible signatures, each different from the other and each of them from the latter period of his life i. e. three on his will, one on a deposition, and two on some property documents. Not a single signature has been seen with any of his literature. (The Beginner’s Guide) Stratfordians have been consistently downplaying these debates and believe that since so many contenders have been considered to be the true Shakespeare, the notion is absurd to begin with. There cannot be so many possible candidates to substitute one person (approximately eight Elizabethans have been considered for this role) and thus there really is no logic for this premise and none of the so-called contenders are Shakespeare. (The Beginner’s Guide) Overall, there are several arguments which assert that Shakespeare did not write the plays and sonnets that have been attributed to him. He did not have the background or breeding to do so; did not have the education to write such lyrics and prose; did not have the depth his plays possess which only a University educated individual would have. Moreover, his name is spelt Shaksper on his birth certificate and the authenticity of his signatures has also been questioned. There is no reasonable explanation as to why he retired to Stratford at the peak of his career. There is also no logic of why he was not painted during his lifetime or the fact that his death entry in the registry lists him as a Gent instead of a dramatist, playwright or poet. The debate has never been concluded and one cannot be sure when or how it will. (The Authorship Controversy) Bibliography 1. Information about Shakespeare from the Shakespeare Resource Center. Available online at http://www. bardweb. net/debates. html 2. Gross, John. Will the Real Shakespeare Please Stand Up? Commentary, Vol. 119, March 2005

The Commodification And Commercialization Of Youth Culture Cultural Studies Essay

The Commodification And Commercialization Of Youth Culture Cultural Studies Essay Youth is the promise of possibility. It is the freedom to act on impulse. It is a time to establish identity and desire. At least that is what youth presently represents in dominant Western culture. Youth, as a concept rather than an age group, is often used as a signifier to represent freedom, efficiency, promise, possibility, rebellion, strength, endurance, potential, beauty, freshness, innocence. Youth keeps on meaning different things at different times. Youth as an age rather than a concept is a time to situate firmly the rules and expectations of consumer culture and our social world. Youth is a stage when these powerful rules and expectations are strongly dictated by communication disseminators such as advertising, music, movies, television, and magazines. These rules work through a consumerist ideology to serve corporations by producing meaning. These meanings that represent and signify youth have been engendered and mapped closely onto the understanding of the term youth. Im ages in advertisements are utilized to maintain these notions of youth. Their power is very pervasive in our increasingly visually based culture. This engendering of meaning comes at a cost to the group deemed youth themselves as well as to those attempting to achieve or maintain youth. The quest to find and capture cool is an integral part of youth subculture. Coolness is a concept that is widely accepted to mean a kind of popularity, mystique and sacredness, which inspires and motivates desire and appreciation. What is cool is evasive and elusive, both for young people and for corporations. As a subculture, youth is a site of variance. Corporations are increasingly appropriating the signifiers of cool, as produced by youth culture, to facilitate the selling of commodity goods to the masses, specifically targeting the young people with whom these meanings originated. Dick Hebdige, in his book Subculture: The Meaning of Style, discusses the origin and function of subculture as a rea ction to dominant culture with a continuing (and struggling) position as opposite and counter. Corporations are consistently attempting to bridge the gap between underground youth subculture that is creating cool, and the ever-accepting mass youth culture that is consuming cool. There is an efficient system of observing, appropriating, standardizing and commercializing youth culture to the population at large. This proficient machine seeks out marketable subcultures to establish cultural ideals and maintain them, while selling commodity goods that reflect an ideology of what youth is supposed to be and look like, as well as how the consumer is supposed to participate within this paradigm. The tenets of youth culture in terms of social exchange, economic status and individual value change quickly. With the use of cool hunting, a highly complex system of exploitative research and target marketing, corporations can closely follow these changes and capitalize on their popularity and mea ning. This system of selling culture is significant in terms of the power and potential of the media, conglomerate and corporation to exploit, co-opt and appropriate the experience and expectation of what it means to be a young person in our contemporary social world. The consequences of this selling include the corporation becoming the institution that we increasingly turn to, instead of government, to exercise power, to define our communities, to build up our economy, to identify ourselves as participants and to solve our social, environmental and personal problems. In the chapter titled Youth as an Industrial Ideal, Ewan discusses the symbolic role of youth as signifying a fresh innocence with very favorable prospects for the future (139). This view comes within the context of the development of industrialization. Ewan explores the influence of industrialization of the position of the family in society. He discusses the effects of leisure time and surplus wages on social culture, focusing in some parts on the situation of youth. With industrialization and the increase of hard factory work, youth quickly became privileged as an ideal to sustain and uphold. Work in the domestic or private sphere, deemed womens work, quickly became devalued as the necessity to earn a wage outside of the home in the public sphere increased (Ewan 119). Youth, and the ability to work the necessary long hours with maintained endurance became a central qualification for employment (Ewan 141). Young men were able to find jobs relatively easily because of their stamina a nd strength. As a result, young men commenced their participation in consumerism. Advertising played a large role in perpetuating consumption and the realization of consumer goods through the production of false needs (Ewan 139). Ewan argues that the skill shift from artisan to labourer directly reflects a shift in authority from the patriarchal family to the corporation or the advertiser (140). This shift is especially momentous in the development of consumerism. Advertising, consumer culture, and realization encouraged people to buy mass produced commodity goods, which could easily be and historically were produced within the home. With independently earned wages, young people previously expected to help with the familys daily chores and tasks necessary for survival, began to be increasingly encouraged by business to see themselves as consumers of material goods rather than as producers of such goods (Ewan 139). These social and cultural changes associated with industrialization would set the stage for future embodiments of consumer culture, particularly for you ng people. Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin in their Frontline program Merchants Of Cool, discuss contemporary youth culture today as a very powerful, evasive market unto themselves, demanding and being subjected to a large amount of unique advertising that attempts ever-changing approaches to specifically target and tailor market to youth. In their documentary, Goodman and Dretzin explore the complex relationship teenagers and young people have with the media they consume, and very similarly the elaborate fixation the media have with teenagers and youth. Both as the target market, as well as the signifier of youth, youth-culture is pursued aggressively. Goodman and Dretzins thesis poses that the medias power and influence utilize commodity fetishism to establish and maintain ideological notions of desire and performance, both for and of young people in order to standardize, commodify and commercialize youth culture, or the culture of cool. Goodman and Dretzin offer the notion that the media an d advertisers achieve this control by infiltrating, observing, studying and appropriating the culture of youth as it is, and then attempt to change it into what ever will sell the most commodity goods to mass market young people. As Goodman and Dretzins film suggests, commodifying goods is often done with a cross-platform in mind to sell even more commodity goods and maintain a strong level of authority. For instance, many television shows produced by the WB television network exemplify Goodman and Dretzins point. Shows such as Felicity or Dawsons Creek take advantage of their youth based audience with both subtle and overt product placements accented by youth dominated images and performances during the program. The commercials broadcast in the show often compliment the commodity goods featured in the program. At the end of the show, before the credits roll, there is a cleverly situated advertisement for all of the artists music appearing in that specific episode. Also, the soundtrack advertisement informs the viewer that all CDs may be purchased at the WB.com website. Advertising like in this campaign is multi-tasking; it is selling more than one thing at a time, touching on more than one potential sense of lack at a time. The division of age, specifically childhood, into unique and different identifying segments is a relatively new and highly effective practice. In our recent social history, it is only within the past century that businesses have placed emphasis on fragments of young life giving youth status as a separate category with names like toddler, child, tween, adolescent, teenager or young adult. Marcel Danesi, in his book, Cool: The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence cites Stanley G. Hall as emphasizing adolescence as a location of study in 1904 (3), and the 1950s as the decade the term teenager gained general currency within mainstream culture (4). The term tween is a very new concept referring to pre-teenagers. It plays on the semantics of the word between  [1]  . The tween, to advertisers, behaves unequivocally like the teen. The corporation views both the tween and the teen as sites of differentiation in terms of marketing and potentially appropriate commodity goods. Danesi explains t hat before the 1950s, the teenager didnt exist as a category unto itself. This variation in segmentation of age group can at least partially be attributed to industrialization and the influence and effect of division of time, of work, and of living into separate exclusive periods designated by the clock (Glickman 100). Stuart Ewan argues that the development and social construction of the category teenager is paralleled by a shift from familial authority to business authority and that the development of consumption is performed by segmenting life into highly specialized fragments that privilege youth and maintain spatial and social differences (140). The teenager and tween, as Goodman and Dretzin offer, occupy these same spaces, maintaining them with even more concrete rooting and even more segmentation and specialization of social, spatial, and sexual difference than when the social influence of industrialization was first encountered. By seeking new and different ways of creating target market groups to capitalize on, the corporation seeks to further fragment groups of consumers to sell to on every angle imaginable. This means that populations such as youth will be segmented into groups such as the teenager and the tween. It means that individuals will be segmented into groups such as music fan, and fashionista. Fashionista, another new addition to post-modern vocabulary, refers to an individual, usually a girl or woman who is devoted to all things fashion related. Fragmentation increases the number of people in an audience and the number of times an audience can be re-appropriated. The segmentation ensures that every individual is being sold to in more than one market, and as more than one kind of consumer. The tween is an excellent example of this, as it identifies a new market segment to create commodity goods specifically for, and to advertise to. The corporation creates these highly specialized fragmentations so that every possible avenue of commodification and commercialization are explored and exploited to sell commodity goods and to create an ideology of a good consumer. Further on Theador Adorno approaches a similar concept in music, an ideology of the ideal listener. Both Ewan and Goodman and Dretzin agree on the differentiation between the conception, approach, targeting, and advertising to girls and boys. The spatial segmentation of the sex-gender economy Ewan speaks of, instituted with the outset of advertising, is firmly upheld and perpetuated today as Goodman and Dretzin explore in their examination of youth culture. Ewan explains the industrial systems reification of separation with the establishment of the domestic sphere as private and predominantly populated by women while the working sphere as public and predominantly populated by men. Susan Porter Benson, in Gender, Generation, and Consumption in the United States sustains a similar view perpetuating the gendering of production as male and consumption as female. (226). Advertising works to establish, reify, and perpetuate ideological sexual, social and spatial differences, with industrialization putting emphasis and privilege on surplus value being productive versus use value being con sumptive. Emphasis and privilege do not reside with production to the same extent as at the outset of industrialization. In consumer culture, use value and consumption are now favored as expressions of power; emphasis and privilege are placed on the ability to obtain commodity goods demonstrative of wealth and interest. At the time of industrialization, however, the result of the industrial system reifying separations was an elevation of mens work outside the home while simultaneously devaluing womens reproductive realm in the home (Ewan 118-9). I would argue that this system of value is closely related to the social celebration of industrialization and the privileging of production, while attempting to downplay the importance of consumption. A capitalist ideology will operate most efficiently when its participants are supporting its tenets whole-heartedly. If privilege lies with production and not consumption, it can be predicted and assumed that people will want to be immersed in that realm, in production, able to manifest some of its power. Power, a patriarchal location was and is a male dominated expression. With industrialization and the recent shift in authority from familial patriarchy to the corporation, men were eager to maintain some kind of power position (Ewan 140). Consumption was new, and unfamiliar. In a patriarchal framework, anything that privileged work other than mens was avoided. Men felt emasculated enough with industrial authority becoming powerful; they did not want to sacrifice power positions otherwise. Consumption, in a capitalist ideology is therefore secondary, and delegated to those not in power, women. In a capitalist framework our social world privileges capital-producing work above all else; thus, as womens effort in the home is not capital producing, it is negated as non-work. In contemporary consumer culture, this power exchange is not the case. Consumption is paramount, for both men and women, and is a site of power. Benson also outlines the circumstance during industrial exchange in which boys were able to spend their own wages, while girls had to contribute to the patriarchal family (227-8). Differences between the sexes do not stop there. Goodman and Dretzin explain established terms for the ideological character advertisers present to young people to aspire to be and incorporate into their being. For boys, it is the mook, an irresponsible and capricious character that manifests qualities of goofiness and the pursuit of pleasure. The term to describe the girls character is midriff. It connotes a sexualized yet innocent girl who can achieve anything she wants to through her beauty. These concepts offered to young people by corporations to strive to be are inherently unattainable. Like cool, these characters are forever vague and constantly changing to maintain their inherent appeal, as well as their preferred position as something to emulate. Both the mook and midriff abstractions are highly in dividualized and segmented concepts that reify expectations of what it means to be a young and cool teenager today. These contemporary notions which aim to define youth are highly invested and pursued heavily by scores of young people. They are difficult to achieve, however. It is precisely the difficulty in manifesting these personas that makes them so perfect for an ideology of consumerism. Although young people may and will try to incorporate aspects of the mook or the midriff into their life, the mook and midriff are set up in such a way as to be impossible to acquire. The preoccupation our culture has with the importance of celebrity is an excellent example of this point. Although young boys may want to be like Fred Durst of the rock group Limp Bizkit, and young girls may want to be like Jennifer Lopez, they cannot be exactly like them. Young people are able, however, to buy the commodity goods that the celebrities endorse and therefore become some of what the mook and the midriff mean. These conceptions of youth and produced meanings are very effective in their attempt to command interpretat ion and to shape significance. It is the goal of corporations to keep this separation between the desire of mass youth culture to possess cool and the reality that cool cant be owned through possession or commodity goods, an invisible gap. It is corporations goal that consumers understand that by purchasing commodity goods, they are participating in the very system that can bestow to them a feeling of becoming what they want. Purchasing commodity goods that reflect a feeling of what they desire is the admission to being a part of it and becoming what they want. They are becoming the objects they are buying, they are becoming cool. It is then the corporations task to convince young people to believe that they are cool by buying their product. Consumption then acts like culture. It allows individuals to share a consciousness solely through acquiring by purchase. Consumption, however, is neither culture nor a community activity. It is an individualizing process masquerading as culture. As explored further on, Jean Ba udrillard, in his piece, The System of Objects, discusses how individuals realize through consumption (15). This realization then means individuals perform, for the corporation, the desired result of acquiring to cooperate in consumer culture. Because our commodities so effectively act as social communicators, status symbols and indicators of taste, there is clear motivation to consume the specific goods that convey the most appropriate and desired details of who we are and what we like. It is a representation or a perspective of our social identity, transmitted through commodity goods. This communication is performed through the acquiring of new and different commodity goods whose engendered meaning we hope to share with the world through ownership and display. This, however, puts consumers in a position of constant want and need for new objects and apparel. Colin Campbell, in his article The Desire For the New, explores concepts of desire, various kinds of new, and their relation to consumerism. Campbell describes the Veblen-Simmel model of modern consumption as a regulated and involved process of obtaining objects that communicate position, intuition and perception, as an inherent system of rapid obsolescence to maintai n superiority, and as a hierarchy of style with elite classes constantly embracing the fresh and novel (50-1). Colin Campbell examines the Veblen-Simmel trickle down nature of fashions approach to trends, as originating with high art and an aristocratic division and then being imitated and adopted by lower classes (48). Campbell, however, also writes about the limitations of the Veblin-Simmel system, and about how trends do not exclusively originate with the elite, but also from so-called lower classes (51). Campbell quotes Paul Blumberg as indicating the appropriation of underground subculture to be emulated in couture, and in turn, mainstream mass fashion (51). This appropriation is seemingly relevant to youth culture and the co-optation performed by the corporation. By utilizing cool hunting, the corporation is executing the same kind of exploitation of expression and trends of young people to sell to the mainstream that Campbell quotes Blumberg as illustrating. Campbells article investigates Veblens theory of conspicuous consumption to maintain competition through consumption of communicative commodity goods, and its design to keep participants in a pattern of procurement in order to maintain participation itself (Campbell 49). Pierre Bourdieu, in the introduction of his Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, writes about cultural competency and having the appropriate knowledge to be able to understand a cultural object or practice (2). Again these authors position is consistent with the appropriation of youth culture. By employing cool hunting, corporations are able to commandeer familiar and informed signs of cool from underground youth-culture to sell back to mainstream youth in order to maintain cooperation of consumption. Part of the institution of consumption, as Campbell illustrates, is the relatively quick onset of age, worthlessness and abandonment of commodity goods (50). Campbell informs us of the ongoing desire and experience of want that disappears when possession occurs. This cycle of longing is practical for the selling of commodity goods; however, it places the consumer in a position of constantly searching for satisfaction through consumption. This structure of rapid, abrupt and swift obsolescence is not unfamiliar to a structure of cool. Both have a period of desire and emulation, and both change invariably. I would endeavor to say that the ideology of cool so suitably works with, and for, consumerism for these very reasons. There is a highly intricate network of tools in place to gauge, observe, measure and survey youth culture, getting more complex all the time. In Cool: The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence, Danesi quotes Stanley G. Hall as establishing adolescence as a unique segment to examine and study (3). In Captains of Consciousness, Ewan explains the introduction and establishment of the category teenager as being dependent on the evolution of consumerism. This development is the origin of the study of youth as a fragment as a group unto themselves. Since then, as the documentary The Merchants of Cool explores, the study of youth as a group has become highly specialized undertaking, with the bottom line being profit. Today, youth are a huge market. They have a significant disposable income of their own, and they have parents buying them additional commodity goods. The corporate gaze, the position the corporation takes and its involvement with selling to the youth market, is highly prominent and becomes a more specialized organism all the time. Cool hunting, the locating, documenting, and appropriating of underground popularity among teenagers and young people, is extremely big business as Goodman and Dretzins film illustrates. It is beneficial for corporations and advertising agencies to know and understand the youth market, so that they will be able to target them as efficiently as possible to sell the most commodity goods. Goodman and Drezin show that corporations achieve this intent by utilizing their tools, a number of investigative methods including focus groups, surveys, and market research. As The Merchants of Cool features, on behalf of corporations, marketing firms such as Cornerstone recruit strong charactered and popular young people to be representatives for them to help convince their friends to participate in purchasing their respective commodity goods. These representatives are compensated either monetarily, or with commodity goods themselves. This process, deemed under-the-radar marketing (Goodman and Dretzin) is executed on behalf of the corporation to aid in building brand loyalty among young people. The representatives are hired, at least partially, based on their ability to convey word-of-mouth advertising to a significant group of young people. This practice is capitalizing on the hope that young people will trust and believe another young person rather than the media in the expectation that more commodity goods will be consumed (Goodman and Dretzin). The youth market, a highly prized target group is idealized as a number of young people unified by their knowledge and participation in subculture. Dick Hebdige introduces the meaning of subculture as a subversive refusal and rebellion against dominant culture, having conflict contained in ideology and signification (3). Hebdige describes the site of subculture as a struggle for possession of the sign which extends to even the most mundane areas of everyday life (17). Objects, concepts, vernacular, et cetera are assigned to or take on meanings that both reflect and deny the meanings bestowed by dominant culture. For example, this process can be seen historically through the hand gesture containing two fingers held in a V; held one way the gesture is understood to mean Victory in war, while turned around, this hand gesture is seen to signify peace. As Hebdige describes, this appropriation of one kind of sign and its transformation into another oppositional sign works as a function o f underground subculture (2). Similarly, and more recently, the words cheddar, cheddah, or cheese can be used to signify the traditional understanding as a dairy product, but also these words have been appropriated to refer to money. The rap artist Jay-Z uses this signification on Vol. 3 The Life Times of S. Carter, in his song Big Pimpin. The lyrics, Big pimpin, spendin cheese, refer to the use of cheese as money. Hebdige offers the notion that this process of signification is utilized by subculture to communicate (18). In order to maintain ideology and sell commodity goods, corporations can also exercise this signification process to seek out signs apropos to young people and incorporate them in their marketing schemes and campaigns. This inclusion of signs is completed in the expectancy of attracting mass youth market. Corporations rely on the consumers ability and desire to collapse the gap between the ideal of what they want the corporation designed representation of the individual and the reality of who they are. Media images are increasingly strict in their representations of ideals of beauty, of power, of health and of cool. Judith Williamson, in her book Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising, talks about the mirror phase in advertisements that works to show a representation of a created image and concept that the individual can both locate his or herself in, and extend that location by attempting to become through consumption, altering their appearance or identity in some fashion (60). The discontinuity between this manufactured ideal identity and the reality of day-to-day existence does exist, however difficult to identify and endure. Young people, as well as women (and more recently, men), are expected to participate within this highly regulated paradigm and positio n themselves with the created image, rather than with a more attainable reality. Advertisers aim to have consumers define their own unique identity and personality solely through consumption and the commodity goods we purchase (Baudrillard 14). It is the goal of the corporation that consumers will establish, build, and express an identity through the type of commodity goods we wear, use and consume. In consumer culture objects are used as social communicators, giving the individual an opportunity to become a part of what they desire, or in some cases as the corporation and advertisers insist, to become the thing itself. Through an ideology of competition, connotations are attached to objects, concepts are engendered to them and meaning is produced. It is advertisers aim that individuals will capitalize on these produced meanings by buying commodity goods that closely reflect what people want to express about themselves, as well as what they want to communicate to others. Jean Baudrillard explores the potential of objects as social communicators and commodity goods as a code, each with a specific connotation (23). Baudrillard offers that by picking and choosing various competing objects we place ourselves into established like categories (20). He extends that individuality, uniqueness and distinctness is not to be found in commodity goods, as advertisers would have us believe. The meaning attached to commodity goods is engendered through a process of signification; these desired meanings for commodity goods are appropriated through the use of cool hunting. Advertisers seek to capture and claim the meanings produced by youth culture for the commodity goods they produce, so as to secure the youth market for their products. It is a tight and highly engineered and maintained cycle. Advertisers will go to great lengths to find cool and employ found or produced signification to their products. In terms of meaning being engendered to objects, the effect of this can be understood through and examination of the companies Louis Vuitton and Kate Spade. Both Vuitton and Spade are fashion design houses that specialize in accessories and purses. Louis Vuitton, a well-established house that sells to wealthy and accomplished women possesses connotations of luxury, comfort and affluence. Kate Spade is a relatively new design house that sells to young, trendy women and has connotations of chic, taste and femininity. These design houses sell a very similar product; however through the signs and significations used and operated by each company, the produc t is understood very differently. Both Louis Vuitton and Kate Spade are highly invested in the connotations they exude through their products. It is not just a commodity good they are selling with the name and brand Louis Vuitton, or Kate Spade. They are also selling an identity of who and what they are, and in turn who you are for owning their merchandise. It is interesting to note that in recent seasons, Louis Vuitton has secured designer Stephen Sprouse and the use of his graffiti typeface for some of their products. This graffiti type has added a more urban and young connotation to those Vuitton products. This typeface has been appropriated by other corporations and a very similar graffiti typeface is utilized on recording artist No Doubts latest album Rock Steady, not to mention countless knock-off type products that also use the graffiti. Louis Vuitton is able to maintian a very high class identity, while adding another dynamic to their complex market. It is interesting to note the current trend of product diversification and market expansion. Martha Stewart has her mail-order company Martha By Mail, her products are available at K-Mart and she has an incredibly lucrative book series and magazine. Marthas Hampton neighbour Puff Daddy, more recently known as P Diddy, is another interesting example. P Diddy has a successful rap career; his close relationship to the late Notorious B.I.G. helped catapult his album sales and fan interest. P Diddy also has a prosperous position as a record producer. He produces many other rap, R B, and pop artists work, contributing to his growing empire. P Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, is also undertaking the auspicious role of fashion designer with his line of mens wear titled Sean John. Also, P Diddy has recently entered the domain of acting including a role in the 2001 film, Monsters Ball. As featured on the Bad Boy Entertainment website, P Diddy is also venturing in restaurants, and predict ably enough youth market consulting. P Diddy himself, and his conglomerate Bad Boy Entertainment, is expanding his horizons to increase profitability. Like P Diddy, Louis Vuitton and Kate Spade are expanding into other markets. Louis Vuitton, in addition to purses and luggage, is now designing and marketing shoes, and clothing. Kate Spade has expanded their catalogue to include shoes, clothing, stationary, pajamas and skin care products above and beyond purses and luggage. Stephen Sprouse, the graffiti typeface designer Vuitton has used for a number of their products, is now designing a line of clothing and accessories for the discount department store Target in the United States. Product diversification recently, it seems, is essential and obligatory to maintain a level of competition and admission to large market exposure. It appears that these corporations are attempting to saturate the markets that they are able to flourish in, in order to exploit the potential to create capital and incr

Gender Stereotypes :: essays papers

Gender Stereotypes Today, every one of us is spending more of his leisure time watching TV, listening to the radio or reading newspapers and magazines. The shows on the TV and the articles in the newspapers influence our decision process, shaping our perceptions for the world. Besides the positive fact that we are better informed and in touch with the latest news, we should be aware that accepting this enormous flow of information and allowing it to make our mind can be dangerous. The TVs infiltrate our lives, guiding us what are we supposed to wear, how are we supposed to look and act. Children, because of lack of mature judging values, are more susceptible to the influence of the television. They tend to accept everything they see on TV as real. Kids often identify with movie characters and comics figures much more than the elder generation does. It is the role of the parents to teach them that not everythink that glitters is gold and to give them a better perception of the world. That of course does not mean that parents are affected less by the TV. On the contrary, they are often more affected than their kids, of course not by cartoons, but by shows that contain information about serious subjects such as parenthood. Concerned with being good parents, people are accumulating a lot of information on the subject. As the information can be very helpful, sometimes it can be destructive. That is the case when it comes to the problem of "tomboys" and "sissies." What are these two terms used for? The term "tomboy" is used when referring to a girl who is masculine, and the term "sissy" is used when referring to a boy who is feminine. We need to state what we consider feminine and what is masculine. According to the established sense in the society, femininity and masculinity are tightly bound to gender. Men are supposed to be masculine. They are expected to be strong, rough, to have high stamina. They are not supposed to wear skirts(the Scots are an exception) but trousers, and should avoid colors like pink and violet. These are "feminine" colors. The man in the family is usually the person who should provide money and build a career. On the othere hand, women are supposed to be tender and loving mothers and wives, to wear skirts and to walk on higheels.

Overwhelmed by Marigolds :: Marigolds

Overwhelmed by Marigolds [ADM1]  Ã‚  Ã‚      I'll be honest; I picked this short story first because of the bright, blooming title, "Marigolds."   But when I read the story, I felt torn, like the marigolds that were when destroyed by Lizabeth[ADM2].   Throughout this story I felt overwhelmed with reality;[ADM3] I was showered with confusion, contradictions, and it seems as though I read this story of harsh truth in a dream.   Lizabeth's character is so close to myself, yet so far away, that I detest her, especially for her furious outrage taken out on a sliver of hope surrounded by despondency, yet I feel compassionate towards her.[ADM4]   I leaped furiously into the mounds of marigolds and pulled madly, trampling and pulling and destroying the perfect yellow blooms.[ADM5]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When she madly demolished the beautiful marigolds, I wanted to scream;[ADM6] she had ruined the only things ravishing[ADM7] and worthwhile, taking her anger and confusion out on something that seemed so perfect.   I felt like the marigolds because far too often I have been in a similar situation.   For example, I play the saxophone well, making it into Wind Ensemble (the highest[ADM8] band) as a freshman.   Many call me "perfect,"[ADM9] and because I can play better than they can, they hate me.   They treat me rudely,[ADM10] and they don't even know me except for my ability to play an instrument.   I feel dejected and trampled over socially because [ADM11]I happen to be able to be gifted in an area.   Some also detest me because of my grades, making assumptions before knowing me [ADM12]that because I get decent grades, I am perfect and too good for everyone.   Instead of seeing past me[ADM13], they make fun of me and put me down for achieving my highest goals.   So when Lizabeth tore at the flowers, smoldering[ADM14] them and killing them because they were full of hope and bloom, which she had none of[ADM15], I felt angry with her for handling her situation in this way.   She killed innocent life that thrived and stood out, because it possessed things that she wanted and that she was being deprived of[ADM16].   Because of this terrible reaction to this scene, I think that it is safe to assume [ADM17]I am not sympathetic towards anyone who hurts others, physically or mentally, for being happier or full of hope or more talented than them because they feel hopeless, fearful, or even feel confused and overwhelmed.

IVF - In Vitro Fertilization :: essays research papers

10, 000 Australian couples are treated with IVF each year. The expensive and rather risky program (costing around $4000 excluding overheads) allows infertile couples to achieve pregnancy when conventional therapy has failed or is unacceptable. The procedure involves placing eggs that have been fertilised in a cultured dish directly into the uterus. A successful procedure will go as follows: - Couples are counselled about their situation and informed on the procedure, their obligations and rights. - Medical history, physical examination and other related tests are taken to determine candidacy. - The woman receives hormone injections (Human Menopausal Gonadotropin and recombinant Follicle-Stimulating Hormone) to stimulate development of the ovarian follicles which contain eggs. Frequent blood tests are taken to monitor hormone secretion from the ovary and pituitary gland. - When eggs are ripe, they are retrieved by transvaginal needle aspiration, guided by ultrasound. At the same time, semen samples from the husband (or donor) are obtained. The most active and healthy sperm are selected by forcing them to swim through a culture medium. - The egg and sperm are placed together in a suitable medium for fertilisation to occur in a culture dish. If fertilisation does not occur after 72 hours, the oocytes (incompletely developed eggs) and sperm are disposed of. The resulting embryos are observed for the next few days. - A small plastic tube is inserted through cervix to place embryos into the uterus. The patient is able to go home a few hours later with minimal discomfort. During the first two weeks after embryonic transfer, hormones (such as Progesterone or HCG) may be administered. The procedure above can bring either joy or disappointment. A successful patient from the Atlanta Reproductive Healthcare Center states: “For all of us, hearing that we are pregnant will be the most wonderful news. But remember, as easily as they told you that you are pregnant, it can be just as easy for them to tell you that you have lost your child.'; Of the 10,000 people treated each year in Australia, there is a 92% failure rate. More often than not, something goes wrong and couples are left with a hefty medical bill, no pregnancy and compounded emotional stress. Every stage of IVF contains and element of risk, from the administration of drugs to the actual birth of the child. Woman who undergo IVF are at risk of experiencing serious side effects. Many of these are caused by the

Agribusiness – Essay

The word agriculture indicate plowing a field, planting seed, harvesting a crop, milking cows, or feeding livestock. Until recently, this was a fairly accurate picture. But to days’ agriculture is radically different. Agriculture has evolved in to agribusiness and has become a vast and complex system that reaches for beyond the farm to include all those who are involved in bringing food and fiber to consumers. Agribusiness include not only those that farm the land but also the people and firms that provide the inputs (for ex. Seed, chemicals, credit etc. ), process the output (for ex. Milk, grain, meat etc. , manufacture the food products (for ex. icc cream, bread, breakfast cereals etc. ), and transport and sell the food products to consumers (for ex. restaurants, supermarkets). Agribusiness system has undergone a rapid transformation as new industries have evolve and traditional farming operations have grown larger and more specialized. The transformation did not happen over night, but came slowly as a response to a variety of forces. Knowing something about how agribusiness came about makes it easier to understand how this system operates today and how it is likely to change in the future. Initially agriculture being the major venture it was easy to become a farmer, but productivity was low. Average farmer produced enough food to feed just four people. As a consequence most farmers were nearly totally self-sufficient. They produced most of the inputs they needed for production, such as seed, draft animals, feed and simple farm equipment. Farm families processed the commodities they grew to make their own food and clothing. They consumed or used just about everything they produced. The small amount of output not consumed on the farm was sold for cash. These items were used to feed and cloth the minor portion of the country’s population that lived in villages and cities. A few agricultural products made their way into the export market and were sold to buyers is other countries. Farmers found it increasingly profitable to concentrate on production and began to purchase inputs they formerly made themselves. This trend enabled others to build business that focused on meeting the need for inputs used in production agriculture such as seed, fencing, machinery and so on. These farms involved into the industries that make up the â€Å"agricultural inputs sector†. Input farms are major part of agribusiness and produce variety of technologically based products that account for approximately 75 per cent of all the inputs used in production agriculture. At the same time the agriculture input sector was evolving, a similar evaluation was taking place a commodity processing and food manufacturing moved off the farm. The form of most commodities (wheat, rice, milk, livestock and so on) must be changed to make them more useful and convenient for consumers. For ex. consumers would rather buy flour than grind the wheat themselves before backing a cake. They are willing to pay extra for the convenience of buying the processed commodity (flour) instead of the raw agriculture commodity (wheat). During the same period technological advance were being made in food preservation method. Up until this time the perishable nature of most agriculture commodities meant that they were available only at harvest. Advance in food processing have made it possible to get those commodities all throughout the year. Today even most farm families use purchased food and fiber products rather than doing the processing themselves. The farms that meet the consumers demand for greater processing and convenience also constitute a major part of agribusiness and are referred to as the processing manufacturing sector. It is apparent that the definition of agriculture had to be expanded to include more than production. Farmers rely on the input industries to provide the products and service they need to produce agricultural commodities. They also rely on commodity processors, food manufactures, and ultimately food distributors and retailers to purchase their raw agricultural commodities and to process and deliver them to the consumer for final sale. The result is the food and fiber system. The food and fiber system is increasingly being referred to as â€Å"agribusiness†. The term agribusiness was first introduced by Davis and Goldberg in 1957. it represents three part system made up of (1) the agricultural input sector (2) the production sector and (3) the processing-manufacturing sector. The capture the full meaning of the term â€Å"agribusiness† it is important to visualizes these there sectors as interrelated parts of a system in which the success of each part depends heavily on the proper functioning of the other two.

Shivaji

Chhatrapati Shivaji Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was the founder of the Maratha Empire in western India. He is considered to be one of the greatest warriors of his time and even today, stories of his exploits are narrated as a part of the folklore. King Shivaji used the guerrilla tactics to capture a part of, the then, dominant Mughal empire. Read this biography to get more information on the warrior and his life history: Early Life Shivaji was born on 19th February 1630, to Sahaji and his wife, Jijabai, in the Shivneri Fort, situated almost 60 km to the north of Pune.He was named as Shiva, after the local Goddess Shivai, to whom his mother Jijabai had prayed for a son. After being defeated by the combined forces of the Mughals and Adil Shah, Sahaji was offered a jagir near the present-day Bangalore. However, he was allowed to keep his holdings in Pune. So, Sahaji left his son Shivaji to manage the Pune holdings, under the care of his mother Jijabai. With a small council of ministers, Shivaji began managing his estate. His ministers included Shamrao Nilkanth as Peshwa, Balkrishna Pant as Muzumdar, Raghunath Ballal as Sabnis and Sonopant as Dabir.At the same time, Kanhoji Jedhe and Baji Pasalkar were appointed to look after Shivaji's training. In the year 1644, Shivaji undertook full administrative responsibilities of his estate. Thus was started his career as an independent young prince of a small kingdom. His mother, Jijabai, was instrumental in instilling in Shivaji's mind a love for independence and distaste for external political domination. Career The first aggression in the life of Shivaji came at the age of sixteen, when he seized the Torna fort of Bijapur kingdom. By 1647, he had gained control over Kondana and Rajgad forts, with complete power of the Pune region.With time, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj secured the forts in the Western Ghats as well as those along the Konkan coast. Shivaji also fought against the army of Adilshah at Purandhar. In November 1 659, he fought the battle of Pratapgarh and defeated Afzal Khan. Immediately after this success, King Shivaji occupied the area stretching upto the Panhala fort. The battle of Kolhapur took place in December 1659. In the battle, Shivaji crushed the army of Bijapuri general, Rustemjaman. In 1660, Siddi Johar's huge and daunting army attacked him at Panhala fort.Shivaji managed to escape from the fort. However, he soon launched an attack on Siddi Johar. The result was the surrender of Panhala and a truce between Shivaji and Adilshah. After the death of Adilshah, Aurangzeb attacked Golconda and Bijapur. Shivaji used guerilla-style tactics and captured more and more of the Bijapuri and Mughal territories. However, by 1663, he had lost most of his conquests to the Mughal army. In the next few years, Shivaji again started seizing forts belonging to both Mughals as well as those of Bijapur. Aurangzeb sent Jai Singh, his Hindu general, to capture Shivaji.Shivaji surrendered to Jai Singh at Purander in 1665 and agreed becoming a Mughal vassal. In 1666, he managed to escape form his house arrest in Agra and lay low for the next few years. However, in January 1670, Shivaji launched an attack on Mughal garrisons in Maharashtra. Within a period of six months, he won back most of his lost empire. The period of 1670 to 1674 was spent by Shivaji Maharaj in expanding his empire at the cost of the Mughals. In 1670, Shivaji launched an assault, under his General – Tanaji Malusare, to capture Kondana fort on the outskirts of Pune.The battle was won but he lost Tanaji. In the honor of Tanaji, the Kondana fort was renamed as Sinhagad. Shivaji was formally crowned as Chatrapati (meaning the Chief, Head or King of Kshatriyas) in June 1674 at the Raigad fort. He was given the title of Kshatriya Kulavantas Simhasanadheeshwar Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The end of 1676 saw Shivaji commencing attacks in the southern parts of India. Death and Succession Shivaji breathed his last o n 3rd April 1680 in the Raigad fort, the capital for Maratha Empire. He was succeeded by his elder son, Sambhaji.

Salvation

Initial thesis statement: Is salvation â€Å"by faith alone† (according to Luther) or must there be a â€Å"cooperation of faith and works† in salvation (according to the Roman Catholic tradition)? My initial answer to this question before I began this study was that of the Roman Catholic tradition, one must have the combination of both faith and works. Although faith plays a big part of salvation, I tend to believe without both works and faith you may not receive it. 2) First view: Salvation is â€Å"by faith alone† is held to be true by many people.Perhaps the most popular figure from the European Reformation, Martin Luther, noted for his doctrine of justification by faith alone was one who believed that only faith was needed for salvation, and he also held true that God provided everything that is necessary for justification. In 1528 Luther spoke out about salvation saying, â€Å"This faith alone, when based upon the sure promises of God, must save us; as our text clearly explains. And in the light of it all, they must become fools who have taught us other ways to become godly. †¦Man may forever do as he will, he can never enter heaven unless God takes the first step with his Word, which offers him divine grace and enlightens his heart so as to get upon the right way. † Another important person who was on the side of salvation through faith alone is Paul. He uses a passage from Ephesians to support of his idea. â€Å"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith-and this is not from yourself, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. † He puts the emphasis on the fact that salvation is by faith alone.Paul later goes on to say â€Å"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. † That being said, we as humans are created to do good works, but reach salvation through faith alone. Yet another passage suggesting tha t we must only have faith is â€Å"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. † 3) Opposing view: In contrast to Luther’s view, the Roman Catholic view states that salvation is by a â€Å"cooperation of faith and works. James 2:17-18: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, â€Å"You have faith; I have deeds. † Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. This creates a big contradictory in the bible. Although some may say deeds are not needed, in this very passage we are told without them our justification ceases to exist. One verse that simply breaks down and gives a great example of salvation through faith and works is James 2:20-26 that states: â€Å"20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?Was not our father Abraham considered ri ghteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, â€Å"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,† and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 6 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. † In this passage are two great examples of two different people that receive salvation through both their work and faith in God. They didn’t know exactly what was going to happen when they listened to the word of God and did as he told them, but through faith in him they were able to do so and reach j ustification. They had never seen God but were put in the position to decide whether or not he existed. 4) â€Å"Critical Realist†: With respect to this doctrine I agree with the Roman Catholic tradition that salvation must have a cooperation of faith and works.The reason I still hold this to be true is that throughout the bible and other readings the support behind the idea of works and faith both being crucial to receiving salvation is much stronger than those of Luther. Luther made some great points that through faith, works is automatically going to be inclusive. He also made the point that God makes the first step to giving you all the things necessary to obtain salvation. However, I believe that if someone is faithful in the lord God and wants to be welcome to salvation, then in the rocess of life the works will come naturally to that person. On the other hand if someone is said to be faithful in God and do something harmful or bad to another person, then that so-called faithful person has gone against his/her faith in doing so causing them to fade away from salvation. I have learned from Luther’s view that there are many supportive articles and passages. I have also learned that there are great ideas in both of these arguments, however when it comes down to choosing one of the following the Roman Catholic tradition.My initial has not been strengthened nor weakened after doing the research and studying both sides. Both sides hold a firm argument, but the Roman Catholic view just seemed to catch my attention more. 5) Final Thesis Statement: This doctrine helps answering the initial question by giving information about both of the opinions and going into detailed arguments. I would say that the answer to the initial question is the to obtain salvation, one must have a combination of faith and works.Work Cited â€Å"On Faith & Coming to Christ, by Martin Luther. † <http://homepage. mac. om/shanerosenthal/reformationink/mlonfaith. htm>. McGrath, Alister E. Historical Theology: an Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998. Print. Ankerberg, John, and John Weldon. Protestants & Catholics: Do They Now Agree? Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1995. Print. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. McGrath, Alister E. Historical Theology: an Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998. Print. [ 2 ]. â€Å"On Faith & Coming to Christ, by Martin Luther. † . [ 3 ]. Ephesians 2:8-9 [ 4 ]. Ephesians 2:10 Salvation A. Name the central character, protagonist – The main character is Langston Huges. (The author) B. Describe his/her key qualities or personality traits (complicated, stereotype, unique, round, flat, etc. ): Langston Huges is seemed as he’s full of integrity, honest to himself, sensitive, and observant. C. Who is another important character in the story, an antagonist? – Other important characters mentioned in this story are the Aunt, his friend Westley, and the pastor. II. Setting or time and place: Identify where and when the story takes place – The place is at bible church when Huges was 13 years old. III. Plot: A. What structure or design does the sequence of events follow: chronological, spatial, or order of importance? – The structure that is used in this story is chronological. A. Discuss the opening, rising action, climax (twist, surprise, turning point, and unexpected development), resolution and the denouement – The story started out in church and Huges was put into a special meeting to be seen by Jesus. You were told you were saved when you saw a light and before you knew it all the kids except Huges and Westley were remaining not being able to see the light. Westley got tired and pretended to be saved and Huges remained there for a while until he made a decision to be like Westley and got up to be pretended to be saved. Climax: When he cries late at night in bed. IV. Conflict/resolution (individual vs. individual; individual vs. society; individual vs. nature; individual vs. self? ): Huges is dealing with society so it would be individual vs society. A. What major problem is the main character faced with? Huges was attempting to be seen by Jesus and was trying to wait for a light to be saved. He’s taking things too literally. B. How does the main character attempt to solve this major problem? Langston Huges gets up and says he saw a light from Jesus. He tries to solve it by making confessions. V. Point of view: (First person, third person observer, third person omniscient? )- First person VI. Message or lesson: Can you think of appropriate expressions, proverbs or maxims that capsulate the main lesson? (Stand your ground): When you want to introduce an abstract subject to a child, you have to approach it easy and not so literal. VII. Theme: controlling or main idea: (brevity of life, loneliness, human suffering as a result of world conflicts, etc. The theme is about religion. (Religious experience as related by a child)