Michael Ondaatje’s “Elizabeth” Essay

Michael Ondaatje’s â€Å"Elizabeth† portrays the life of the English Queen Elizabeth I. Ondaatje fuses prose and poetry, fact and fiction, realism and surrealism. The effect of this fusion creates a high degree of dramatic realism. It illustrates the progression and transition from childhood to adulthood. The Poem opens with a young Elizabeth harvesting apples with her father (King Henry VIII) and Uncle Jack (fictional character); preceded by a trip to the zoo. The atmosphere suddenly shifts from going to the zoo, to ice fishing with Philip (King of Spain) on a cold winter day. Abruptly, the atmosphere and time shifts again to describing Mary’s (Elizabeth’s stepsister) teeth. Then jumps to a dancing scene with Elizabeth’s confidant, Tom (Lord Thomas Seymour), which is followed by the execution of Tom. Finally, the poem ends with a rather short description of Elizabeth writing poems with another confidant, the Earl of Essex. The narrative lines and descriptive passages employed in â€Å"Elizabeth† do not flow logically and coherently from point A to point B. The names do not appear to be in historical and chronological order; however, they fit into a generalized image of the political mayhem, betrayal, and punishments of that time. Elizabeth’s stepsister â€Å"ËÅ"Bloody’ Mary Tudor, Mary’s husband Philip II of Spain, the unfortunate Lord Tom Seymour, and her late favorite, the Earl of Essex, were all executed. Ondaatje’s â€Å"Elizabeth† alters from child-voice through adolescent-voice to adult-voice, catching the tone of each stage of maturity. Ondaatje’s imitation of the tones shows how Elizabeth must, through debilitating maturity and complex situations, sacrifice passion to power, as how a young ruler would have to. For example in stanza three, Philip â€Å"broke the ice†(19) and â€Å"then he [Philip] kissed me [Elizabeth]†(22), suggests that love is deceitful, and is to be avoided. Furthermore in stanza five, â€Å"I kept the love in my palm till it blistered†(34) connotes that love is painful and not time-worthy. Death is present and apparent in last stanzas as both threat and momento mori (remembrance for the dead), even to the young mischievous girl who â€Å"hid the apple in my room/ till it shrunk like a face/  growing eyes and teeth ribs†(7-9). The symbolic references to â€Å"apple†(2) and â€Å"snake†(12) conjure up the relationship between Elizabeth’s life to that of Adam’s and Eve’s. The evil, deceptive snake in Adam and Eve convinces Eve to eat the apple, which in the end leads to her downfall. Elizabeth’s father, King Henry VIII of England, compliments and sides with snake in the zoo, by describing it as â€Å"Smart†(16). This siding of the snake might indicate to the readers of the residing evil within him. In stanza three, the image of ice fishing and eating raw, uncooked fish implies a primitive and uncivilized way of living. A primitive life is a dangerous one. The correlation between the snake, the father, and the primitiveness can lead to a sense of danger in Elizabeth’s life. Elizabeth senses the danger and evades it by becoming sly and controlling. This is indicated by the tonal transition in as she slides from thoughts of â€Å"Tom, soft laughing†(28) and â€Å"turning / with the rhythm of the sun on warped branches, / who’d hold my breast and watch it move like a snail / leaving his quick urgent love in my palm†(30-34), to his beheading, and finally to her later â€Å"cool†(44) flirtations â€Å"with white young Essex (45). Nevertheless, Elizabeth’s control of voice captures the readers’ attention. â€Å"Elizabeth† is one example of Ondaatje’s attempts to defy traditional poetry writing. And he achieves it in the incoherency of events, the un-rhythmic lines and the irregular stanzas.

Poverty: Minimum Wage and Economical Unstable Childhood

College Essay Carlos Urias 9/1/2011 Robert Leighton once stated, â€Å"Poverty keeps the vision pure. † I fully understand and can relate to this quote as it pertains to my life. Exposure to economic difficulties at a young age helped shape the person I would grow up to be. Being economically troubled is an experience that has changed my character and has stimulated the decisions I have made throughout my life. Through the hardships of living an economical unstable childhood I have learned to embrace opportunities, the importance of perseverance, and become a charitable person.The cause for being at an economic disadvantage can be traced back to when my parents immigrated to the United States. Because my parents were immigrants, they had no documentation and had to work vigorous hours for minimum wage. They moved into California, and this is where I was born. We lived in a poor neighborhood and there was only enough money for the things we needed and not for what we wanted. Ri sing rent prices and minimum salaries were among the contributing factors that led to my family struggling to stay economically stable.My parents had to each get multiple jobs to try and make us enough money to proceed on living here. The lack of money resulted in problems at home, work, and the neighborhood. Alongside my family, although just a child, I also suffered the consequences of living in these conditions. Because we were living like this, I witnessed a lot of violence, hate, and many hard times. I understood that we were at a disadvantage and learned from my experiences as I witnessed how my family tried to cope with all the problems.Although there was not any money to throw around, I learned many valuable lessons from my family, my environment, and the situations we were living in. As a result of having an economically unstable childhood, I have learned to embrace opportunities. When my family and I were living under the economic pressures of California, it was clear to m e that we did not have opportunities of any kind open to us. It is because of this that we were living the way we were. As I grew older, I realized that there were so many opportunities for me and the options were limitless.Because I remember the hard times in which I came from, I do not take this for granted and take advantage of every beneficial opportunity that is presented to me. My experiences taught me that not everyone has opportunities available to them and the ones that do should be thankful and not take it for granted. These hard economic times led me to see the importance of having perseverance. I admired the way my parents would work so hard day after day and their hopes and dreams would never be crushed.I realized that you cannot give up on what you desire the most. As a child, I always told myself I would pull us out off the hard times; however, I had no idea how. I know now that the key is perseverance. I also understand now that having perseverance helps you keep pus hing forward and makes you never question your goal, but instead keep striving for it. Without perseverance we never would have gotten through the economic troubles and the conflicts that came along with that.Lastly, being economically unstable has shaped me into the charitable person I am today. As a kid I came to understand that many people did not have everything they wanted and that they too faced extremely hard times and struggled to live. Because I can relate, I have sympathy towards everyone who lives in those conditions, or even worse than that. My childhood showed me that there are some things you have no control over and sometimes living in poverty is one of them.For this reason, I try to help as much as I can and extend my hand to those who need it the most. Living in an economically unstable childhood helped me to appreciate opportunities that may rise, realize the importance of perseverance, and become a helpful person towards the needy. Taking into consideration that n ot everyone has the opportunities that are available to me, I take advantage of them. Perseverance is needed to harness these opportunities and make the most out of them. Because I know where I have come from, I know where I am going.

A Business overview of Aluminium Bahrain

A Business overview of Aluminium Bahrain Culture is a term that is hard to express clearly, but people tend to sense it when they feel it. â€Å"Basically, organizational culture is the personality of the organization. Culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs (artifacts) of organization members and their behaviors. Members of an organization soon come to sense the particular culture of an organization.†Ã‚   [ 1 ]   Organizational cultures are classified into seven distinct cultural dimensions that portray the company’s mission, objectives, strategies and vision. Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), one of the largest aluminum producers in the world is known for its strong organizational culture. Alba’s culture is characterized by several dimensions like people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, and stability. This essay will demonstrate the variety of dimensions through Alba’s momentous historical performance and inspiring vision. Company History â€Å"The sto ry of Alba marks the inception of industrial diversification in the Gulf. The company’s ongoing success as a primary producer of high-grade aluminium has brought significant economic benefits to the region and has taken the country technologically into the 21st Century. In the mid 1960s, the Bahrain Government was seeking to diversify its economic base from a heavy dependence on oil. The aim was to establish a suitable industry which would provide valuable export earnings, develop the country’s resources and create training and employment opportunities. Bahrain was well situated geographically between the source of raw materials, particularly alumina from Australia, and the markets for primary aluminium in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Bahrain’s prime advantage was its plentiful supply of gas from the Khuff field to meet the high energy requirements of aluminium production.†Ã‚   [ 2 ]    People Orientation Alba is known for its people oriented organizat ional culture. Most of the decisions and actions take into account the company’s significant stakeholders like employees, customers, suppliers and the Bahraini society. Fostering a stable workforce through Bahrainization Bahrainization is an important economic policy of the Government of Bahrain, and the Company has exceeded the government’s stated target levels of Bahrainization. Consequently, the Company’s permanent staff includes a high proportion of Bahraini citizens. Currently, over 87% of its permanent employees are citizens of Bahrain. Employees As at June 30, 2010, the Company employed 2,706 full-time equivalent employees. The following table sets forth the aggregate number of people employed by each of its departments. Breakdown of Employees by Department Department Bahraini Nationals Expatriates Total Chief Executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 13 60 Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 26 218 Calciner & Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455 105 560 Cast House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 38 415 Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4 25 Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 2 39 Metal Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930 64 994 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 74 254 Sourcing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 23 141 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,357 349 2,706 Employee Benefits Alba provides many services to employees including â€Å"comprehensive Medical Centre, subsidized canteens, an attractive savings benefit scheme, a well-equipped sports and leisure club, a unique housing scheme, transportation to work for all non-supervisory employees and a number of reward schemes including the Good Suggestion Scheme, Attendance Award and Gold Card scheme†Ã‚   [ 3 ]    Alba savings benefit scheme The Company also operates a contributory savings scheme for its Bahraini employees, the Alba Savings and Benefit Scheme (â€Å"ASBS†). The employees’ contributions are deducted from their salaries and the Company makes an additional contribution to each employee’s savings. The scheme is established as a trust and is administered by trustees representing the employees and the Company. The trustees manage the risks relating to the scheme’s assets by appr oving the entities in which the scheme can invest and by setting limits for investment in individual entities. The Company’s board of directors may consider allowing Bahraini national employees to borrow from the ASBS to fund the purchase of Ordinary Shares in the Limited Offering to Bahraini citizens. â€Å"The Company’s board of directors is also considering a proposal to purchase Ordinary Shares in the Ordinary Share Offering, up to an aggregate of 3,000,000 Ordinary Shares, using its own funds, and to hold such Ordinary Shares in treasury until distribution at a future date to eligible employees.†Ã‚   [ 4 ]   Under the proposed plan, each of its current employees would be granted a fixed sum of Ordinary Shares â€Å"contingent upon such employee’s continuous employment and good standing with the Company during a specified future period, and subject to certain other conditions.†Ã‚   [ 5 ]

Gay marriage should not be legalized Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gay marriage should not be legalized - Essay Example The adoption rights of same sex couples are a hotly debated topic in many countries now. Many arguments in favour and against the adoption rights are prevailing now. Supporters of such adoption believe that it is injustice to deny the adoption rights to gay couples because of their natural inability to conceive. Many parentless street children may get protection and the society is allowing the gay couples to adopt children. But it is difficult for a gay couple to provide the motherly love to the adopted children. The love and care extended by two fathers cannot be equated against the love and care provided by a mother. In the absence of mother’s love, the adopted children may not develop properly and may become antisocial elements in future which are the core reason for the critics to argue against the adoption efforts of gay couples. The gay couple should realize that the society never forced them to engage in such an anti-natural relationship and hence they have no right to argue in favour of adoption. â€Å"Obviously, gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children† (Why gay marriage should not be legalized). It is difficult for a society to survive with the help of gay community alone. Nature has enforced the marriage between different sexes in order to sustain human life on earth. Legalizing of gay marriage is against the laws of the nature which is not desirable. Straight marriages may become meaningless if we encourage the same sex marriages or gay marriages. No religion seems to be in favour of gay marriages. In other words, people can lead a free life at their own will as far their life do not cause any harm to the society. Legalizing of gay marriage will encourage people to think in terms leading a crazy life. Our society is built on the strength of the natural laws. Any attempt to dislodge the natural laws has been ended up in big failures so far and hence gay

Communication Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Communication Theories - Essay Example In this case, the sender assumes prime responsibility for the intimacy between the two friends because if he/she did not forward the request, the two would not have been friends. Of all the friends we have on Facebook, we tend to interact with the ones commenting on our statuses more than others. We reply their comments and they reply our replies. Being listed in the friend’s list is different from chatting with a friend on-line. Of course, the latter approach promotes intimacy between friends. Hence, the feedback effect of CMC has the second-largest relational impact. The receiver effect has the third-largest relational impact. On Facebook, we receive notifications, invitations to events, and invitations to games. Most of the invitations are received because the sender â€Å"sends to all† in the friends’ list. The channel effect’s relational impact is the least It does not matter whether a message is received through email, online chat or message. What pr omotes intimacy is the fact that a message or comment is

Persistence of Christianity in Post communist china Research Paper

Persistence of Christianity in Post communist china - Research Paper Example However, despite the hostility against Christianity, the religion evolved and was practiced underground in order to survive. Therefore, the revolution did not result in any shift in Christianity, but the religion persisted even after this revolution. As early as 17th century, Christian missionaries of the Roman Catholics belonging to the Jesuit order had been actively involved in China while the protestant missionary arrived in the 19th century.4 Conversion of the Chinese to Christianity was difficult in that it was linked to western imperialism. Approximately 3 to 4 million Chinese had been converted to Christianity by 1949, less than 1% of the entire population; after the collapse of the monarchial rule, fights erupted largely fueled by a need to determine the next form of governance different from the Monarchs, and in which Christians were heavily involved.5 Monarchs used religion to control their territories and neglected its moral teachings. The rise of Communism acted as a barr ier to the spread of Christianity stating religion as â€Å"opium of the people† from Max philosophy Before the 1949 revolution, Christians were estimated to be about 700,000 in China.6 In the 1940s, many Chinese Christians were behind calls to rid China off foreign influence, with a selected group of Chinese Church leaders preparing a document that was later to be known as â€Å"Christian Manifesto.†7 For example, because of their steadfast loyalty to the pope, Catholics faced great persecution from the early 1950s and 1960s, with all foreign missions being expelled from China.8 The number of Catholics in 1949 was estimated to be about 4 million in China. The severe persecution of Catholicism led to cold relationship between Vatican and the Communist country. In fact, the relations are still shaky as the Chinese Catholic church continued to ordain a bishop without Papal approval as the communist regime still requires the native Catholics to choose between devotion to the pope, and obedience to the communist authorities.9 Religion was viewed as a strong factor of change that could have threatened the status quo as introduced by the communist regime; it was mainly viewed as a liberal force in China after the 1949 revolution. Though contributing only a small portion, Christianity was particularly indentified as a big risk that could cause problems to the communist regime. Christianity was particularly introduced in China from the Western and European regions, and was thus seen as a perpetuation of western ideologies in the communist country. Having been introduced by foreigners with strong establishments in European countries and offering education, medicine, and food to the locals, it earned much hate and suspicion from the communist rulers. Clarke offers a concise differentiation of what constitutes public and private realm. Such a distinction has to rely on the dichotomous distinction between the private and public.10 Therefore, in terms of reli gion in China, private realm would constitute

David Cole interviews with Dr Franciszek Piper (Reaction paper) Movie Review

David Cole interviews with Dr Franciszek Piper (Reaction paper) - Movie Review Example , Franciszek Piper, and from the interview that is exclusively found online, a lot of inconsistencies concerning Holocaust claims are revealed (Rees 43). After interrogating Piper for long, Piper admits that the gas chambers that are widely acclaimed to have been used in killing Jews were only created after the Second World War. Piper asserts that the ‘’gas chamber’’ was originally an air raid shelter which had walls and a ‘’chimney’’ added to it after the war. Therefore, from this, the stories we hear about Jews being tortured in gas chambers in concentration camps in Poland have been quashed by this interview. From this, it is evident that David Cole had his reasons for believing that no Jew was gassed in Auschwitz. Hence, this video lambastes the questionable propaganda concerning this area of Poland. Therefore, the video by Cole, asserts that the official history told about the Holocaust is a tale that is based on lies, war-time propaganda and myths (Rees

Class Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Class Activity - Essay Example This essay focuses on group work process, that under proper conditions, encourages peer learning and peer support and many studies validate the efficacy of peer learning. Under less than ideal conditions, group work can become the vehicle for acrimony, conflict and freeloading. It may also impose a host of unexpected stresses on, for example, students with overcrowded schedules living long distances from the University. This essay refers to the effectiveness of a team in achieving the set goals while taking into great consideration, the contribution of each member of the team. There are various criteria and steps that are presented in this report to determine whether the team followed the right measures to achieve their aims and goals. It also determines the performance level of the team and the author in the making of the said project. The groups’ task was to create a tower using only the materials given to the team which were the straws, sticky tape and scissors. The team wa s to brainstorm and come up with a creative plan and an idea as to how to make a tower made of straws the best they could in 60 mins. How the tower would look like, given the creativity of each team using the maximum resources was up to the team. The tallest, the most stable and most creative group were to be awarded the number one. The researcher states that the main purpose of the activity is to assess the competencies per course guide, as well as understand the different models and theories to be applied in real life situation.

Is There a Separation of The Professions of Barrister and Solicitor Essay

Is There a Separation of The Professions of Barrister and Solicitor - Essay Example Barristers inform the court of important laws, statutes and precedents, draft legal pleadings, argue or support and provide opinion whichever suits his belief that justice will be served. They may also assist for a party when asked to by a solicitor and serve as intermediaries between clients and counsellors. They are divided into Queen’s Counsel or QC and junior barristers with the QC appointed by the Lord Chancellor. There has been seen a shortage of QC so that they demand â€Å"extremely high fees† making litigations cost high (Legal Directory, 2011, P 5). Solicitors on the other hand deal directly with the clients and are allowed to advertise their service. They conduct and manage daily administration of preparing, reviewing and drafting merits of a legal case and appoint barristers. Reeves (1986) has argued that the separation was necessary to maintain a fresh and objective perspective for client which becomes rare where the professions are merged; judges were appo inted from senior and experienced barristers expected as independent and therefore sustain the role in the judiciary; access of small firms to all specialist barristers allows them to compete with higher chances in any legal proceedings; the barristers are expected to provide a more appropriate advice to client where claims or defence may be conducted improperly. In addition, it was pointed out that the lawyer profession has expanded to being a broker, financier, entrepreneur, accountant, land agent, and others they may so wish, whereas the barrister has been limited to law and advocacy (Cohen, 1988). On the other hand, the proponents to the merge advance legitimate and strong points. The Economist of London observed that â€Å"†¦Some barristers are not specialists, some solicitors are. Some solicitors are better advocates than many barristers,† (1983, p 25). In addition, the Financial Times (1986) also pointed out that there is a much more rigorous training and educatio n requirement for solicitors making them more qualified specialists so that it is expected of them to perform well for the benefit of their clients, which is the main reason why they were chosen and paid for in the first place. The separation has been seen as historical in nature with the notion that the barristers assist generalist solicitors. One historical fact that Cohen (1988) emphasised was that, â€Å"Legal historians do not discuss the question of the solicitor’s part in the denial of the right of audience in the courts to attorneys,† (p 13). But the Financial Times (1986) insisted that, â€Å"It is ridiculous to assert that, after six months’ pupillage, a barrister is better equipped to appear in a court than an experienced solicitor,† (p 20). The absurdity is highlighted further with the fact that solicitors have a right of audience in the European Court of Justice considered as a more senior court than the High Court, Court of Appeal or House o f Lords (Law Society, 1983). Even Sir Gordon Borrie admitted to the difficulty of the situation, himself being a barrister. â€Å"It seems to me that the arguments in favour of the [barristers’ monopoly on pleading in the High Court] are difficult to sustain on their merits,† (Law Society, 1983, p 193). Reeves (1986) also pointed out that that the multiplicity of legal advisers makes litigations costs higher; and that there is the question of objectivity between the solicitor who has referred a barrister to a client and the solicitor who may conduct improper actions.

Project management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Project management - Coursework Example According to Snedaker & Rogers (2006), for a project to be successful, it needs to have carefully designed programs, which provide a direction for the achievement of the project goals and objectives. In this regard, a program can be described as a series of different items, events or performances that guide the project’s implementation. Another important aspect of effective business management is portfolio management, which combines management activities for projects and programs. Portfolio management can be defined as the process of central management for one or many portfolios (Bonham 2005). These portfolios include such aspects as identifying, giving priority, authorizing and later management and controlling of programs, projects and different tasks that are linked towards achieving the broad goals of the business. As a manager in ABC Company, I have been tasked with ensuring that the company becomes successful in its operations. To achieve this, I have had to identify smaller projects that can be managed effectively in achieving the company’s mission and vision. Being a company that deals in software development, the staff has been grouped according to their professional experience and specialization into teams that manage certain projects (Bonham 2005). One of the projects being undertaken involves development of websites and online tools for our client. This project is undertaken by a team of technology experts, who come up with programs that guide the implementation of strategies in mangling the projects. A series of projects being undertaken in the company make up its portfolio. As a manager, my responsibility of often empowering the particular project managers to be successful in their projects, thus making the company successful. Each of these elements have people that head them, with a hierarchical structure of leadership that aids in communication and information flow vertically or horizontally for the success of the company. Wide

Affirmative Action PRO vs. CON Essay Example for Free

Affirmative Action PRO vs. CON Essay The 108th Congress of the United States brought up the debate of whether to allow public institutions to adopt the Affirmative Action, allowing minorities to have higher opportunities than the majority. Although no specific stand was approached, it clearly shows the growing interest of people on the act of Affirmative Action. I am pro Affirmative Action when dealing with public institutions. However, I believe a private institution should practice equality. Affirmative Action compensates for the past faults and biased treatments toward minorities, provides ample opportunities to unprivileged people who currently cant be accepted to institutions, and could rid of the biased view many people still have on minorities. Looking back on American history, we can clearly see many prejudiced acts and viewpoints towards the minorities. The most obvious example is with African Americans. Now at present times, Affirmative Action can and will compensate to a degree the hurts and pains minorities suffered. Although people call America the land of opportunity, many people, consisting largely of minorities, never get a chance to succeed. Many colleges screen applicants with a biased standard, calling it tradition. Companies and institutions prevent employees from receiving full privileges, shouting company regulations. Affirmative Action can tear down those obstacles and false standards giving those underprivileged new opportunities. When Asians fluctuated to the United States during the gold rush, many locals responded violently thinking they will take all the jobs there were. Even today, a number of people still hold biased views toward the minorities. It is evident on the existing practices of the Ku Klux Klan. Affirmative Action can change much of those biased views and allow the minorities to be accepted in the eyes of others. Although Affirmative Action should apply to public institutions, equality should be practiced in private institutions. Equal treatments should allow others to participate on making a non-discriminatory system. Equality, not favoritism, should be standards on private institutions. However, on the overall view, I stand pro on Affirmative Action.

Global Youth Culture Essay Example for Free

Global Youth Culture Essay Culture obviously varies all around the world from country to country, but the basics are always the same. What makes up culture? Does culture change based on the age of the people or the different generations? Culture consists of language, entertainment through mediums such as music, movies, literature, etc. , fashion, art, food, and more. Culture most definitely changes depending on where you are in the world. For example, it can be as simple as spoken word. The language we speak here in American is vastly different then language spoken over in China or France, and that is one of the fundamental building blocks of culture differences. One thing that is really great and unique about the United States of America is that we have such a diverse mix of people and cultures. America has often been referred to as the â€Å"melting pot† because of the variety of people we have living here. Our culture as a nation has been shaped and molded from all of the people from other places in the world. As a young adult in America, I pay a lot of attention to many parts of our culture such as music, movies, books, and fashion. After exploring the web for blogs from different countries, I found that that doesn’t change throughout the globe. A twenty-year-old student that lives over in London, England is a lot more like me than you might guess. This one blog called â€Å"London Culture Blog† especially caught my attention. I stopped on this blog and started scrolling through some of the posts and realized that a lot of what they are talking about are things that my friends and I talk about too. This was pleasant surprise because ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted to go to England and be just like the British. I thought it was so cool having an accent, wearing cute uniforms to school and having a leading royalty. Although that is still a dream I’ve yet to live out, it was really interesting looking at this blog and seeing that I’m not that far off. Some of the posts on the blog were about things that we talk about in America too, for instance, the movie/ musical Les Miserables as well as International superstar, Justin Bieber. It is very cool to me that there are those parts of our culture that is shared by people all over the world. I find it very comforting and interesting that I could be listening to a Bieber song at the same time as someone across the world. However, as to be expected, parts of the blogs were about artists I have never heard of, and those posts were just as fascinating. I found myself reading about a certain British musician and getting so intrigued that I had to go look up their music. I read a post about a young male musician named Jake Bugg. He was born and raised in England and his music often reflects that. The blogger said, â€Å"His influences stretch back 40 years – he’s got some of the basic song structures of early Beatles’ tracks and there’s more than a hint of the Bob Dylan troubadour style too. He also takes inspiration from the more recent generation of Britpop; at times, he sounds like an early, acoustic version of Oasis. † When I listened to some of his songs, they sound completely different than songs you would hear on everyday radio in America and that’s just because the difference of culture. In my opinion, British music is a lot more meaningful and deep and actually causes you to think and relate to the lyrics unlike some American music. Global youth culture around the world is a lot more similar than I thought I would find. I expected it to be a lot different but the fact is that we feed off each other. We use other cultures to constantly shape and change our own and vice versa. Whether it’s fashion, music, cuisine, or dance, we take ideas and use them to create a new addition to our culture. That’s what ties this whole world together and keeps us so connected.

Impact of Social Class on Education

Impact of Social Class on Education Assess and explain the impact of social class inequalities on education outcomes In this essay I will explain and evaluate the impact of social class inequalities on education and its outcomes. Sociologists see society as a stratification system that is based on factors such as; hierarchy of power, privilege and wealth, which leads into social inequalities. Inequality is about who gets what, how they get it and why they get it. Social inequality is about class, gender and ethnicity, it is characterised by the presence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social groups. There are two main views of social inequalities in education within sociology; the functionalists and the marxists. The functionalists believe that the education system is meritocratic because if you work hard, you get rewards. Emile Durkheim believes that education contributes to social solidarity which is essential for society as it binds society together. It has provided norms and values, a sense of history and a feeling of belonging in society. Durkheim also believed that education contributes to individual’s specialised skills as these are taught with education and being passed on from parents. The education system teaches individuals the skills and knowledge required to enable an individual to do the job. Talcott Parsons developed further into Durkheim’s theory and suggests that education is a secondary socialisation where schools build on the primary socialisation, which is taught by parents. That education system develops on value consensus and prepares children for their adult roles. He believed that education helps with individual achievement as it rewards high achievers wi th praise, it offers equal opportunity for individuals to a chance of success. He also believes that schools are a miniature version of society which prepares them for adult roles and assists with role allocation as it helps them discover their talents and expands them further. However functionalists were criticised as there is evidence that certain groups underachieve in schools which suggests that individuals do not have equal opportunities, their talent is was not effectively developed or the role allocation is not effective. The marxists believe that the education system operate as an ideological tool. Louis Althusser believed that schools prepare individuals for their roles in jobs, are taught to except future exploitation and are provided with education and qualification to match their job roles. He believes that the education system brainwashes and manipulates individuals. Bowles and Gintis argue against Parsons’s role allocation theory as they suggest individuals who get the highest qualifications and the top jobs do so because they work hard and do as they’re told. They found the individuals with the high grades where obedient, hardworking and conforming and are rewarded with high grades as they are the qualities required for adult work. It is said that the higher a person’s social class, the higher their educational qualification, which has been proved over the past 50 years by sociological research and government statistics. For example statistic in 2012/13 show that in London, pupils living in the area of Westminster achieve 86.6% in achieving 5+ A*-C grades, compared to pupils living in the area of Newham achieve 79.1%. Although both areas are within inner London the results show a difference due to class social factors within educational attainment. It is also said that a parent’s social class has a greater impact on how a child preforms at school, research by the University of London’s Institute of Education found that parent(s) who are in professional and managerial jobs were at least eight months ahead of pupils who parent(s) were unemployed. They took into consideration such factors as ethnicity and family size. The education system has been suggested as being biased and designed for whi te, middle class children and ignoring the needs for the working class and ethnic minority. However it is argued that there is a similar range of ability in every social class and factors within society such as low expectations, lack of deferred gratification and economical issues are the reasons for failure in working class. Working class children tend to experience economical hardship than any other class, because it has been linked to material deprivation, such as lack of money and things money could buy is the reason for working class underachievement. Sociologists believe that the children are unable to obtain needed educational items such as computer with internet, desks and books which is a disadvantage for them as well as the costs of education such as tuition fees meaning that people within the working class believe they cannot afford to attend further education. Parsons believed that middle class children from a young age receive more attention and encouragement from their parent(s), which gives them a higher attainment for when they begin school. However J Douglas believed that the working class children’s parent(s), do not understand what their children needs are to succeed in education. He believed that the interest displayed by parent(s) in the children’s attainment contributed to their education. Also the attitudes of the parent(s) to the teachers becomes apparent and this can encourage a teacher to treat one pupil different from another. Social class subcultures such as the differences between the norms and values suggests differences in attainment according to some sociologists. Barry Sugarman believed that working class subculture was fatalistic as they accepted the situation and did nothing to improve it, it was present-time orientated as there was no planning for the future. He also suggested concerns with immediate gratification as there was no sacrifices for the future, whereas the middle class saw things differently. These differences contribute to the attitude in education and will lead to lack of enthusiasm and mind-set to succeed. Other sociologists believe that cultural deprivation such as an absence of certain norms, values, attitudes and skills that are needed for educational success and this is why the working class were also underachieving. However Basil Bernstein believed there are different speech patterns between different classes. He developed the cultural deprivation theory where he suggested that speech patterns of those at the bottom class are inferior. He suggested that working class children adopt a restricted speech code and the education system adopts an elaborated speech code. He also believes that children suffer due to a language barrier, restricting the teacher to be able to teach and the children being unable to learn, which then causes underachievement. Pierre Bourdieu agrees that the working class are discriminated because they are unable to grasps the teachers meaning of grammar, tone, accent and the delivery of teaching. Bourdieu states that the higher people’s position in the class system, the greater the amount of dominant culture they have. This culture is referred as superior as they have power which forms the basis of the education system. He argues that the higher class cultures are better when compared to the working class, because of the perceived superiority where the middle class believe the working class have themselves to blame for the failure in education. Bourdieu believes that children born into the middle class have a built in advantage as their culture is closer to the school culture which gives them an advantage to succeed, such as their language is closer to the teachers which gives them more of an understanding of what’s being taught. According to Bourdieu the dominant culture are seen as cultural capital, because it is converted into material rewards such as high status jobs and high salaries. He concludes that education is cultural and social reproduction as the ed ucation system reproduces the dominant culture which reproduces class system. By doing this is creates education success and failure which justifies the positions of those at the top and bottom. However Bourdieu believes that middle class should not assume that the higher class is better as the failures are measured in exam success, which is in fault with the education system and not the culture. He argues that individuals learn by what they see in life and what they expect, he states that different social groups have different chance and experiences in life. For example studying Spanish art, middle class children can go there and see it, whereas working class have to visualise it. Diane Reay states that it is the mothers who make cultural capital work for their children as she believes that all mother are active in their children’s education, that working class mother’s work just as hard as middle class mothers. She suggested that middle class mothers had more educational qualification and knew how the system worked and used cultural capital to good effect such as helping with homework. Because of this working class mothers believed that they lacked the knowledge to be able to help with their children. Reay argued that middle class women had more material capital by employing cleaners it allowed them time to help their children, working class women didn’t have this as well as being able to afford private tuition. According to Reay it’s the mothers that help with educational attainment, their effectiveness depends on the amount of cultural capital and this depends on social class. There is evidence that suggests that working class pupils are discriminated against middle class pupils for example pupils are always being assessed, they’re labelled as able and less able, placed into sets, entered for individual examinations and denied access to parts of school curriculum. It is suggested that middle class children are classed as able which is a disadvantage for working class. Once a pupil has been labelled they tend to respond or interpret that label which is a self-fulfilling prophecy and will continue to see themselves as that label. However it’s argued that this has no effect on pupil’s achievement, they believe that class differences in attainment are due to what happens outside of school. On the other hand others say it is a combination of differences in school as well as outside. Statistic in 2012/13 show that girls achieve 86.5% in achieving 5+ A*-C grades, compared to boys who achieve 79.6% in achieving 5+ A*-C grades. Bibliography Department of Education, (2014, February 14th). Statistic – national statistics GCSE and equivalent attainment by pupil characteristics. Gov.uk. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-and-equivalent-attainment-by-pupil-characteristics-2012-to-2013. Retrieved 23rd February 2014 Haralambos, M., Richardson, J., Taylor, P., Yeo, A. (2010). Sociology in focus (2nd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. History learning site. (n.d). Social class and achievement. Available: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/social_class_achievement.htm. Retrieved 23rd February 2014 History learning site. (n.d). Pierre Bourdieu. Available: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/pierre_bourdieu.htm. Retrieved 23rd February 2014 Shepard, J. (2010, December 7th). Social class has more effect on children than good parenting, study finds. The guardian. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/dec/07/social-class-parenting-study. Retrieved 23rd February 2014

Aphra Behn Essay -- Literary Analysis, The Rover

Aphra Behn, who is the first female to achieve status of a professional playwright attempted to alter and influence the literary cannon through her writing, which was a precarious occupation but allowed literature to evolve in a wider range. Behn was also one of the wittiest and entertaining as evidenced through her most renowned play, The Rover, which is a restoration, yet dark comedy set in 17th century Italy while under the colonial reign of Spain. The large cast of characters becomes embroiled in scenes and consist a mix of themes of infidelity, seduction, misrepresentation, and elaborate swordplay, which create tension and confusion in addition to many comedic episodes. The play expresses its author's objections to the vulnerability of women in Restoration society. Perhaps ironically, it also appeals to the prurient interests of the audience by putting women in morally compromising situations. Based loosely on contemporary Thomas Killigrew's 1564 unperformed play, Thomaso, or Th e Wanderer (1664), Behn's play is less lewd and more profound. The Rover has been widely acclaimed by critics to be a feminist play, in particular a proto-feminist play which defined by The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms as ‘a philosophical tradition that anticipated modern feminist concepts and the discussion of women’s issues when the term feminist was nonexistent prior to the twentieth century. The writing is concerned with the unique experience of being a woman or alternatively writing designed to challenge existing preconceptions of gender.’ (Baldick, 2009: 128) In The Rover, Behn places characters in morally corrupted situations and circumstances to force audiences to reconsider preconceptions, inspiring the new movement in feminist thi... ...uality keeps her from happiness. Through Angellica, Hellena, and Florinda, Behn reveals that the libertine female has no place in late Stuart society. The playwright’s observation comes as a wistful warning at a time when women seemed to push the limits of tradition. Actresses appearing on stage might feel they had found a career of bodily expression, but from Behn’s experience as a woman with male colleagues, the freedom is a faà §ade. ‘Women on stage faced fetishization and loss of status. Behn’s commentary on women’s position in the late Stuart period serves to point out the double standard of libertinism in court life and the public sphere.’ (Staves, 2004: 73) By exposing and mocking the Puritanical and Cavalier restraints imposed on women, she encourages viewers to reevaluate women’s limited roles in the new age by giving her female characters a louder voice.

Constantinoples Fall Essay -- Ancient History

Diocletian’s reforms established the rule of four, called the Tetrarchy, where in four emperors controlled the newly redistricted Roman Empire. Unbeknownst to Diocletian this particular reform would be a recipe for civil war. In the year 306, one year after Diocletian abdicated, Constantine I elevated to imperial rule over the western Empire after the passing of his father and then Augustus; Constantius. During Constantine’s reign he quickly gained popularity and consolidated his power while the rest of the emperors competed and quarreled amongst each other. Eventually the empire was overtaken strategically by two emperors Licinius and Constantine. This peace did not last long however, and in the year of 324 Licinius surrendered to Constantine after the battle of Chrysopolis. Eighteen years after his rise to Augustus Constantine had sole power of the Empire and earned the respect and admiration of his soldiers and people. By the time Constantine came to rule the Empire in its entirety, was in shambles. The Capital city of Rome was a shadow of its former self, â€Å"Constantine abandoned the attempt to hold the world empire together. There was no longer an eternal Rome served by subject peoples. There could be only salvage† (Lamb 18). Constantine looked east toward Byzantium. The Byzantines were an isolated bunch that never really had a role in The Roman Empires growth, yet there was no overlooking Constantine’s certainty. Haste fully, structures were erected and a fortified wall was constructed around the city and in the year 330, during the 276 Olympiad, it was dedicated as â€Å"The almost forgotten name of Anthusa† (Lamb 20). The locals knew it as Constantine’s City or Constantinopolis. Constantine now had a home for his emp... ... With advances in technology today one can only wonder what kind of â€Å"Basilica cannon† our generation will see in use, although the nuclear bomb is incontrovertibly at the forefront of this analogy. Constantinople, a city that was comparable to no other, and unfortunately a poster child to the ravages of technological advancement in warfare. Works Cited Harris, Jonathan. Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium. New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2007. 40,52,108,112. Print. Lamb, Harold. Constantinople: The Birth of an Empire. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1957. 18,20. Print. Panorthodox, Neobyzantine. About the Great Church. Neobyzantine Movement, 2005. Web. . Runciman, Steven. The Fall of Constantinople. New York: The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1965. 128,133. Print.

Literature - Postmodernism, Economic Domination, and the Function of Art :: Literature Essays Literary Criticism

Postmodernism: Economic Domination and the Function of Art    Does aesthetic creativity relate to or influence reality? Does art possess the capacity to heal society? These questions seem implicit to Walker Percy's understanding of literature and art in general. Literature is a thought-involved process concerned with communication; it selves as a moral guidepost to commend society as well as correct it. Literature represents and describes; it presents readers with a method of articulating and resolving problems in society.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "So it is clear that redescribing a world is the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   necessary first step towards changing it" (Rushdie   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   18).       Art, in one sense, creates its own political agenda. Percy pursues his diagnostic theory of literature having reckoned with the basic relationship between language and life. Percy seems to answer the initial two questions posed with a resounding yes.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The issue of art's impact upon a society is not quite so easily resolved, however. Not every person writes or thinks about art with the same set of assumptions. In order to strike at the heart of the question "what is the purpose of art?" we must first identify, understand and appreciate certain fundamental assumptions inquiries, mediating contexts, surrounding the political nature of art and the role of the artist in authentic creativity. I would like to frame my discussion within the apparent struggle between two ideological contexts: modernism and postmodernism. Using Percy's diagnostic theory of literature to facilitate the discussion, we can examine how modem and postmodern assumptions attempt to shape the purpose of aesthetic creativity.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Percy's approach to art is inherently modern. He is concerned with unity and truth and achieving them through the creative process. Modernism claims to Speak to some form of ideological absolute, a universal quality. All things ultimately move to reveal a unified whole, a universe bathed in Truth. Reason is the primary tool of the modernist. It is privileged above all other human faculties. Reason allows humanity to possess knowledge, to know, to assimilate, to unify. Truth and knowledge are hopelessly intertwined. The search for knowledge is thus the search for truth as well. Percy mirrors this modern reverence for the power of human thought, when he claims that literature is essentially cognitive. Art is an expansion and extension of the mind. Art is thus actively involved in the search for Truth.

How I will achieve academic and personal success at Eastern

I define college as a key to my future; it's more than just a school, but a way of life. The chance one takes in succeeding in the world now is fiercer than ever. The surreal life that some one could ever hope for would be to become rich and famous in Beverly Hills. In all truth I don't want to be like everybody else, I am my own person in my little world. I wish for that world of mine to expand and reach out for everyone to see how important a college education is. Without education there is no knowledge of what is there and not there. No understanding of the truth, and reality the world has to offer. My world may not be as big in all reality but what I dream of is bigger than all the galaxies combined. The one dream I've had since I was a little girl is to go away to college, and make my academic life explode. To go far beyond the depths of Schaumburg and really get to know all that Eastern has to offer in Graphic Design. I have always had a passion about Art; I like to create my own ideas more often than duplicating projects that have already been done. Art is like English, there is no plagiarizing other author's books, yet we still read them and write essays interpreting the meaning of their work. There is no shortcut through life, but always a back way in which there is no end. I've learned that I can only progress from practice. I really haven't taken all the courses that my past schools have offered in Art. I was hoping that Eastern would give me that opportunity to progress in my drawing and design. I love to draw, take photographs, and write. I am not a professional drawer, just a miner doodler. I take pictures of beautiful scenes because I like to and want to remember every lovely moment I live through. I cannot write novels, they boar me to sleep, I can write imaginary tales of whatever I choose. I am a very creative person and would love to express my creative thoughts with the world. I want to achieve my goals into life, and also never let myself down. By moving away from my family, and living on my own, I shall experience what college has to offer. Currently I am still living at home at my part-time job. I have a normal routine and normal life. I want to live on my own and start my life. There is not end to ones achievement, and I am only beginning. I want a crazy busy world that's full of excitement. After college I want to travel the world and see what really exceeds the United States. I'm not going to throw away my goals locked away behind a desk where I am nowhere to be heard. I have to be out there moving, inventing, and learning from other artists even after college is over. My ticket to start my journey would be this school. I am a huge perfectionist when it comes down to anything, I will try until I get into this school. I never give up on life and that's why Eastern shouldn't give up on me. I will work hard and succeed to be the best at what I do. Truly After all you only live once, but try to live twice.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Is Gawain and Epitome?

Every group has its idols, those people who serve as the epitome of the group’s values. Cowboys look up to Lane Frost, basketball players look up to Michael Jordan, and Arthurian knights look up to King Arthur. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the greatest Arthurian romances written in England, Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew, takes on a challenge to exchange â€Å"one strike for another† with the Green Knight (line 287).Despite all of the bad experiences and temptations he fights along the way, after the battle with the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is definitely still admirable as the epitome of the Arthurian Knight as he wears a green girdle in remembrance of his mistakes(Sir Gawain). Gawain believes in a chivalric code, in which is very admirable. Gawain is a young knight who knows the chivalric code well, and knows that he is supposed to exhibit, as the Duke of Burgundy say’s â€Å"faith, charity, justice, sagacity, prudence, temperance, resolution , truth, liberality, diligence, hope, and valor†(Knight’s code of Chivalry).These can be summed up to the most admirable rules of the chivalric code: honor, loyalty and Christianity. Gawain is admirable for these qualities in which he possesses. He shows loyalty to both his earthly kings and heavenly king. The knights are â€Å"renowned after the name of Christ† and â€Å"their king [is] most high in pride (Sir Gawain, 52). He must honor his uncle, King Arthur, his host, and God, in everything he does. Gawain shows his loyalty towards King Arthur by taking the challenge made by the Green Knight.Gawain tells Author that he will take the battle because, â€Å"[he] [is] the weakest [†¦] and the least loss, if [he] live[s] not† (Sir Gawain, lines 354-55). He is so loyal toward the king that he is willing to sacrifice his own life for his uncle, because his uncle would be a much bigger loss. Gawain honors his uncle by not giving up; this would have disapp ointed his uncle tremendously because as a part of the chivalric code, it is a knight’s duty to be truthful.He shows loyalty to both his uncle and the Green Knight when he honors the Green Knights wish for him to meet him at the â€Å"Green Chapel† on New Year’s morning for â€Å"a nimble knock in return† (Sir Gawain,lines451-453). Gawain’s loyalty to King Arthur also extends to his behavior toward his host. Everyday Gawain is to exchange with the host whatever he received from that day. When Gawain tells the host, â€Å"while I remain in your mansion, your command I will obey,† he shows extreme honor towards the host (Sir Gawain, line 1093).Along with his loyalty to his host and earthly lord, he puts his faith in God as he prays to the Virgin Mary. â€Å"When Gawain sets out on his journey to find the Green Chapel, he finds himself lost, and only after praying to the Virgin Mary does he find his way† (â€Å"Sir Gawain†). By pr aying during hard times such as when he needed lodging, and when â€Å"†¦he doffed his helm, and with honor he thanked Jesus†¦Ã¢â‚¬  for giving him lodging, he shows his honor and faithfulness to God (Sir Gawain, line 773). Every choice Gawain makes exemplifies his effort in staying true to the code of chivalry.Gawain is admirable for never giving up. He succeeds at passing the trials that test his devotion and faith in Christianity. One critic of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight characterizes nature as â€Å"rough and indifferent† and states that, nature invades and disrupts order in the major events of the narrative† (â€Å"Sir Gawain†). This nature includes both the nature such as wildlife and nature such as Mother Nature. Along the way to his appointment with the Green knight, Gawain encountered many harsh occasions where he could have just given up.He faces harsh conditions such as, wars with worms, wolves, wood- trolls, bulls, bears, boars, and o gres (Sir Gawain, lines 720-23). It later goes on to mention that â€Å"death had met often† (Sir Gawain, line 725). Things will get a lot worse before they get better for Gawain, in this situation. Gawain is in a constant battle, but he refuses to give in, knowing that even after all of these cruel catastrophes, he still has to meet with the Green Knight. This is extreme loyalty, for him to keep going without lodging, all by himself, and in the cold weather (Sir Gawain, lines 712-735). Nature! (â€Å"Sir Gawain†).In this case Mother Nature causes the problems that Gawain must face. Even after all of the mishaps invented by nature along the way, Gawain still must take on more mishaps as he is overcome by Bertilak’s wife and her seductiveness. It is only nature for a guy, especially a single guy, to lust for a seductive woman when she is constantly â€Å"tempting him often, so as to allure him to love-making. † (Sir Gawain, lines 1550-51). Each day when th e host’s wife comes in his bed room and kisses him, Gawain remains loyal to the host by giving him the kisses in return for what the host had killed that day (â€Å"Sir Gawain†).By pushing through the nature, bad weather, lonely trip, and temptations of the host’s wife, Gawain is admirable for never giving up as well as remaining loyal to his host. Gawain’s response to all of the mishaps along the way to meet the Green Knight and when he does meet with him is incredibly admirable. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain struggle’s â€Å"to meet the appointment and his adventures along the way demonstrate [his] spirit of chivalry and loyalty. † (â€Å"Sir Gawain†). Consequently, he fails this test of loyalty, honesty, Christianity, and chivalry as a whole, when he takes the girdle and doesn’t give it to the host.He â€Å"values survival over virtue† (â€Å"Sir Gawain†). The knight tells Gawain, â€Å"As a pearl than white pease is prized more highly, / so is Gawain, in good faith, than other gallant knights,/ but in this you lacked, sir, a little, and of loyalty came short†(Sir Gawain lines 2365-67). Gawain has made this long trip to meet the Green Knight, been through many near death experiences, has been kissing his host’s wife, and when he is offered a girdle that will prevent him from being killed, nature kicks in again; this time causing him to fail the test of his loyalty to his host or Green Knight.He takes the girdle like any man would do and does not give it to the host. By doing this he values survival over being an honest and loyal knight. He is also placing his faith in a girdle â€Å"instead of praying to Mary†. (â€Å"Sir Gawain†) As a critic says, â€Å"he employs reason to do something less than courageous—evade death in a dishonest way. † (â€Å"Sir Gawain†) Not only is Gawain failing at being honest, but also at being loyal to both the Green Knight and King Arthur. As a knight, cheating and lying are not acceptable, â€Å"but because [he] loved [his] own life: the less [the Green Knight] blame[d] [him]. (Sir Gawain lines, 2369) As the Green Knight explains to Gawain how everything he had encountered since he had stayed in Bertilak was a test, Gawain adds humility to the chivalric code. He confesses to the knight and returns to him, his wife’s’ girdle. As Kevin Gustavon says, â€Å"Like the Green Knight’s accusation, Gawain’s subsequent confession draws on penitential language way that rede? nes chivalric masculinity, so that it includes imperfection and fear, as well as a sense of humility that arises from recognition of one’s own weakness rather than from mere politeness. (Gustavon, 628) The Knight forgives Gawain by saying, â€Å"Thou hast confessed thee so clean and acknowledged thine errors, / [†¦] and I give thee, sir, the girdle with gold at its hems/â € ¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢twill be a plain reminder of the chance of the Green Chapel between chivalrous knights. †(Sir Gawain, lines 2394-2400) By confessing, Gawain recognized his weakness and tried to make it right; this helps to exemplify Gawain’s honesty, and adds humility to the chivalric code. Gawain says of the girdle, â€Å"but as a token of my trespass I shall turn to it often†¦ruefully recalling the failure and the frailty of the flesh so perverse. (Sir Gawain lines, 2434-2436) Gawain chooses to wear the girdle in remembrance of his sins, making him even more admirable for his simplicity, at no point does he try to deny or overlook his mistake; he is very straightforward once the Green Knight tells him of the tests. Gawain is admirable not only to the reader of this story, but also to his brotherhood and everyone at the round table. (Sir Gawain, lines 2517-2518) The people of the round table can now honor Gawain as a knight who has risen to be just as big of an infl uence as King Arthur.When Gawain returns home to King Arthur, they all decide to wear green girdles like Gawain. Even though Gawain fails, his family, brotherhood, and the ladies of the Round Table still look upon Gawain as the ideal knight. They respect him and honor him, â€Å"and this for love of that knight as a livery [they] wear [a green girdle]:† (Sir Gawain, line 2520). For Gawain to confess and want to wear the girdle for his â€Å"grief and disgrace†, he has made himself an admirable epitome, so that others honor him (â€Å"Sir Gawain†). †¦ Every knight of Brotherhood a baldric should have, / a band of bright green obliquely about him:† (Sir Gawain, lines 2518-2519). After the all of the hardships and meeting with the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is seen as equal to King Arthur by the round table. Gawain is still admirable for: the code he believes in, the code he follows, his ability to never give up on his code, and the way he responds to all of his misfortunes. But, he is admired even more for learning humility.Cowboys continue to look up to Lane Frost even though he might not have always rode 8 seconds, and basketball players look up to Michael Jordan regardless of how many missed shots he had, because each bull ride or basketball game taught them something. Arthurian knights see King Arthur and Sir Gawain as admirable epitomes for the humility that Gawain has learned to carry with him. Works Cited Baswell, Christopher and Schotter, Anne. â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight†. Master of British Literature. Vol. A. Eds. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar.New York: Longman- Pearson, 2008. 144-202. Print. Gustavon, Kevin. â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight†. A companion to medieval English Literature and Culture 1350-1500 . Eds. Peter Brown. (2007): 628. Web. 10 October 2012. < http://www. scribd. com/doc/47311463/29/Sir-Gawain-and-the-Green-Knight> â€Å"Knights code of Chivalry. † middle-age s. n. p. n. d. Web. 9 October 2012. < http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/747/08/>. â€Å"Sir Gawain. † Arthurian Adventure. n. p. 2004. Web. 9 October 2012. < http://arthurianadventure. com/sir_gawain. htm>.

Investigation into customer service at Safeway Willerby Essay

On Monday the 17th of February my Business group went to the Safeway Superstore in Willerby to interview the customer services manager, Andy Bostock. This was good customer service for us as it is a busy store and he gave up time for us, and with also been customers it was good that he acknowledged us. While we was at the store we were going to carry out an overt and covert investigation (see appendix 1) which means that we was to ask Andy Bostock some questions and we where going to carry out several observations throughout the store. This is where Safeway, Willerby is located: The Safeway store tries to ensure that all customers wants and needs are catered for and they have such things as: * Toilets * Florists * Photo processing * Cafe * Home entertainment department- which sells such things as CDs and TVs * Kosher food * In store banking * Bakery * Meat * Fish * Fruit and Veg * The deli * Chilled * Italian * Beers, wine and spirits * Frozen Food * Health and beauty * Lottery * Organic food * Passport photos booth The importance of customer service to Safeway is that with the store dealing with 20-23 thousand people on a weekly basis it is important that they deal with each customers needs and expectations. If this does not happen it will mean that customers may go else where to a rival store. When new recruits start at Safeway they are given and induction talk which covers every aspects of the job description. They are given work books to fill in and the management will check them to make sure that they understand everything what is asked from them. They do not have off the job training as everything they need to know is within the store so there is no need for them to go anywhere else. The only off the job training is for managers and they may need training in a new aspect of customer service or need re-training for example. They do not re-train their staff which means that they may not gain as much knowledge as they may need. This could be that they do not want to spend any money on retrain ing them, which in the long run is bad because it will mean that employees will not know what they are doing and when customers have a problem may find it difficult to deal with them on the spot. Their training is from 12-16 weeks and they cover every aspect on what department that are going to work on. They only let their employees work on one department because it means that they know the department really well and can deal with every problem, which comes up. This is a good point because all of their staff will know everything about the department and will work hard on it and make sure that all the work is done correctly. The bad point of doing this is that if a customer comes up to a member of staff who does not know anything about the department which the customer wants information on it may annoy the customer cost they will want the problem dealt with quickly. Read more:  Customer Service Investigation Safeway deal with any problems quickly as the always make sure that their is a spare employee to deal with the problem. Also if a customers comes up and asks them where something is within the store, they are trained to ask the customer whether they want them to take them or tell them. This is because the customer may want to make some other purchases before they go to the item what they are looking for, and the thing what they are asking for may be at the other side of the store and it may annoy the customer if they are taken their before making other purchases because they will have to go back on them self’s. When customers pay for their goods they get a receipt and this has information which is relevant to their purchases, but on the Safeway receipt it has the following information: * The store opening times- this means that customer will be able to see the next time the store is open. * Who the customer services manager is- this means that if the customer has a problem they can contact Andy Bostock as quickly as possible. * Who the till operator is- if you have a problem with something then you can report to the customer services manager and they can then deal with the person or give them more training if needed. * Advertising the Safeway magazine- it is making customers aware of the magazine so that they can pick it up. It also has the date, time, address and telephone number at the bottom of the receipt. This is so customers know when they made the purchase and if their is a problem they can contact the store my mail or telephone. (See appendix 2). This related to customer service because if the service what they get is bad, the customer services manager will know who did this and if they have done this before they will be able to discipline them. The information what the customer gets on the receipt is important to only to them but to the customer service manager. If the machine breaks down it will mean that it will effect the customer-employee relations. The methods of payments what Safeway have are cash, card and cheque. So this means what ever the customer wishes to pay with Safeway can deal with it. So this is good because if they only expect cash for example it will mean that if Safeway are not catering for all customers they will start to go elsewhere. Safeway do not offer a home delivery whether it will be by people doing it through the phone or via the Internet. This is because Safeway have never been interested in it and would rather spend their money on investing in other things which will be more beneficial to the employees and customers. With other competing companies such as Sainsburys offering this service it may be wise if they did look into it and if they did not get many customers then stop doing it. It would make it easier for older people to order online or via the phone, this would also be beneficial for people that are in a wheelchair as it means that they do not have to leave their home. Safeway do not have any members of staff who are trained in dealing with foreign customers, as they do not usually get a lot of them. If Safeway did decide to train someone in this it will mean that it will give them a good reputation will foreign people for understanding their needs. When a disabled customer comes into the store, Safeway make sure that they have all the assistance they need. They ask them if they would like a member of staff to help them shop, which is like a personal shopper this is because for example if a wheelchair customer comes in and the can not reach the top shelf for an item the personal shopper will be along side them to get the item. The cater for disabled customers by offering: 1. 6 Disabled parking spaces at the front of the car park so it doesn’t mean that they have to travel far to get their. 2. Have wide isles so that it is comfortable for wheelchairs to get through. 3. They have special trolleys which are trolleys that can just fit into an electric wheelchair so it means that they can carry on shopping easily. They also offer smaller trolleys for their customer who have a disability. 4. They have a disabled toilet at the front of the store. Safeway have realized that a lot of disabled people do come into the store, so they have made it easier for them to shop by offering these types of services for the disabled customers to use. Safeway decided to no longer have the crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che and make way for the home entertainment department this is because the home entertainment department will effect everyone as the crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che will only effect people who are bringing in small children. The crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che also lost its popularity with customers and Safeway where losing money on it and it seemed the right place to put it because customers have to walk through the whole store to get to the department. At the tills at the front of the store each one has a change draw and this is easy for the staff to use as if they need change quickly they have access to it and it means that customers will not get distressed. Safeway make sure that they have adequate staffing levels at all times and they do this by knowing what they sold the same time last week and giving the employees the hours on the tills. For example on a Saturday morning they may take à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10,000 so they will need more people on the tills to cater for all the customers, but on a Monday morning they may only take à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1000 so they will not need to have all the tills on, they may only need about 4. When it was Christmas they gave their customers who where waiting in the cue free mince pies which meant that they where offering a good customer service to all of their customers. Every department in the store has its own employees so if they is a promotion on alcohol for example it will mean that they will need more staff to get all the alcohol out onto the shop floor. They also have a night shift who work 10-7 which means that they get all of the stock from the stock room out for the morning and to make room for the delivery the next morning. This is good for the customers as they are getting the freshest products at any given time because as soon as it arrives it will be put out. When we looked at the stock room it was untidy which meant that it might be difficult for everyone to know where everything goes. They did not have a stock room manager, which for a store of that size is a bad thing, as not every member of staff is doing their job correctly. If a stock room manager was introduced it will improve the amount of damaged goods as well as improving the quality of the stock room. With their being no stock room manager it will be made easier for the staff to steal products and whilst we was their he said that there were a lot of unsolved theft and that they lose a lot of money in the Willerby store, and this could be the reason for this. They have eight cameras in the store and one main one on the alcohol department this is because this is the most common theft. This means that it is giving the customers a lot of security and makes them feel more save when they are their and they also have a security guard who works six days a week. When they call code 50 over the tannoy all male members of staff go to the front of the store to stop the thief, this is because if their is more than one the security guard will not be able to deal with them. This is done to make the customers feel more safe when they are shopping at the store. Their health and safety procedures are gone through on the day they get their training. It is important that all staff know the health and safety procedure incase of an emergency such as a fire. When it was the firefighter strike they where given extra training which consisted of videos and leaflets what Safeway came up with to make sure that they where aware of everything what was going on. They also put posters up in the staff room and in the stock room to always keep them aware of the dangers. They made sure that everything was double-checked to cover their backs. This was excellent customer service as they knew that fire fighters may not be able to get to the store incase of a fire, so they make sure that everything is checked for the safety of the customers. When the fire alarm goes off they can detect where about it is in the store and they will then go and see if it was set of deliberately or it was just a prank, and if it was deliberately they will then evacuate the store. Safeway’s buildings are not insured so this means that with the money what they save they can invest into other things what will benefit the company. But if their is a fire within a store and it gets burnt down they will lose a lot of money and last year two stores went down with fire and it meant that they got no money. So they have to take money from elsewhere. They also have a hazard book which employees fill in if they think there is a problem and this is checked everyday. It means that if there is a problem the management can deal with them quickly to benefit the customers and keep them safe. They have 1st aiders in the store all the time which means that if a problem does arise with a customer been injured they can deal with it quickly and correctly. The 1st aid facilities what are in the store are mainly for the employees not the customers. Safeway communicate with their customers by having the following things: * Tannoys- if a child is lost for example they could tannoy the child’s parent or guardian to come and pick them up * Leaflets advertising their special offers- making the customers aware of what they have to offer. These usually come through the post box with the free supplement newspaper what residents get. (see appendix 3) * Walkie-talkies between employees- they can contact each other if a problem comes up and can be easily dealt with. * Notice board- this informs the customers of any events coming up and what they are for. The ways in which Safeway assess and monitor the quality of customer service are that they used to have an ABC card and this could recognize how much money a certain customer spends in Safeway over a period of time. It was a point scheme where if you spent over a amount of money you would get points which in the long run would mean that you will get offers and free things depending on how much money you have spent. They stopped doing this when a new board of director came in and said that it was a waste of money and that money could be spent elsewhere. When we asked Andy on what he thought of it he said the same, and the money what would be saved in producing the cards could be spent on more productive things, but why does store cards work for other supermarkets such as Sainsburys and Tesco? ABC Card: Safeway used to have mystery shoppers but then that stopped because a mystery shopper was not a true reflection on the store as they have two mystery shoppers a month and the Willerby store gets 20-23 thousand customers a week. So the stopped doing this because they started to realize that it was not working. Safeway carried out a survey to get some feed back on what the customers though on the store and what the good and bad points. (see appendix 4) They survey was done by 60 people on Friday 5th April to Sunday 7th April. The survey covers the following things: 1. Hygiene 2. Staff 3. Checkouts 4. Solutions to improving staff service 5. Best in fresh 6. Items which where of a poor quality 7. Product and price 8. Availability 9. Who the shoppers are 10. Where else they shop 11. Suggestions for improvement The survey is then analyzed by head office and the management team of the Willerby store and they will talk about the results and what they are going to do with them and how to make improvements. This is very good customer service because it is giving the customers a chance to express any opinions they may have of the store whether it is good or bad. Also if they do make a suggestion or say what they think and the next time they go in it is dealt with it will make the customers feel as if they have say on what goes on within the store. The customer services desk is at the front of the store as soon as you walk in, which means that it saves the customer walking through the store and hopefully the problem can be dealt with by the people at the customer services desk. Customer complaints are dealt with by either phone, letter of face to face. They do not offer an email service where they can directly email the store with any problems which may need looking at as email is one of the most common ways of communicating. If a customer does complain Any Bostock (customer services manager) will personally deal with the complaint this is because this time he will know that it is dealt with correctly and the other point is why has the customer complaint and what can be done for this customer complaint to come about again. If its a face to face problem he will go to the customer services desk and try and ask the customer what the situation is and come to some compromise. If its on the phone, the customer services desk will try and deal with it then but if its a major problem Andy will take the call and deal with it appropriately. Then finally he will reply to any letter, which is sent to him regarding a customer complaint. The most common complaint is that customers are cueing to long at the tills. They try and deal with this by having enough staff to cover if there is a rush on and this is worked out by using the week before figures. If all tills are on and customers are still complaining the only way you can deal with them is by apologizing to them because their is nothing more you can do at that moment in time. They also had a suggestion box where customers could put in any suggestions or how the felt it would work better, but they had to stop doing this because it turned into a customer complaint box and they did not want this. Safeway need to come up with a new suggestion scheme as it is important for Safeway to understand what the customer wants and the best way is through suggestion schemes because it is easy to do and cheap to operate. Whilst I was at the store I carried out my own observations and I came up with the following results. The car park was shared with Iceland, Focus, Poundstretcher, Jonathan James, Francios and wickes. This meant that by having the store on a retail park it meant that customers could do other types of shopping if they needed to. Safeway did have its owns trolley parks that where scattered around the car park, which meant that customers did not have to walk back with their trolley where ever they are parked because it if they are old, they will not want to be walking back to Safeway with their trolley if they are parked at the other side of the car park. Other benefits what the car park had where: * 16 Child and parent parking spaces- these where directly outside the store so it a parent comes with a small child, the child is not running around the car park, they can just go straight into the store * 6 disabled parking spaces- These where next to the child and parent parking which are directly outside the store. Disabled people may find it had to walk across a big car park but with these parking spaces been their it is making it easier for them to cope. I personally feel 6 spaces is not enough, this is because quite a lot of retired people may be classed as disabled and they have the most free time as they do not have to go to work, so with expanding the parking spaces for the disabled they may create a new customer segment. * 2 Zebra crossings- These where going towards the front of the store where the entrances where. This is good customer service because if their is a lot of traffic and you can not make it across the road with the zebra crossings been their, it will make it easier for the customer. Safeway provide a variety of different trolleys for every type of customer. This is because if they have different types of trolleys it means that if customers only want a small shop their is small trolleys. The advantage of Safeway trolleys are that you do not have to put a pound in, this is good because a customer may not have a pound coin in change and if they dint they would have to go and get it changed before they even started the shopping. With the trolleys not having a pound put in them it means that they could get stolen and this would mean a loss in profits for the company because each trolley costs about à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50 to make. Also around the surrounding area there is always trolleys just dumped because they is no need to return them back to Safeway. All the trolleys are kept under a shelter which means if it does rain the trolleys are still dry so the customers do not have to dry them down. Types of trolleys: * Large trolleys * Medium trolleys * Small trolleys * One seat baby trolleys * Two seat baby trolleys * One seat child trolleys * Two seat child trolleys * Wheelchair trolleys * Baskets They also have a post box which is outside the store with a stamp machine inside the store (which was out of order), but the customer can also buy stamps from the confectionery desk which is next to the customer service desk. With Safeway selling stamps it means that if a customer wished to send somebody a birthday card they could get the stamp and post it all within the store. The post box is emptied several times a day to make sure that the post is delivered on time. Along with stamp machine they where a phone card machine and a savings stamp machine. The phone card machine only sold BT Cellnet cards which meant that if customers wanted to get a different one they would have to go to the confectionery desk because they do not sell the cards at each till. This is bad customer service because they may just want to do all their shopping at once and if they have to go somewhere else in the store it may distress them. With the savings stamps this is a booklet what customers can get and they can collect them over a period of time, usually up to Christmas so when it comes to do their Christmas shopping they will have an amount of money what they will spend. A savings booklet is a good idea because if a customer is buying a stamp a week, you know that they are going to come back at Christmas and spend it and hopefully more to do their Christmas shopping. The toilets what Safeway have are: 1. Ladies 2. Men’s 3. Disabled 4. Baby Change The toilets are at the front of the store which means that you can go to toilets before you start your shopping or after it, but if you go after shopping it will mean that you will have to leave you shopping unattended because their is no secure place where you can leave your shopping. When I went into the toilets I was not impressed with the standard of them, this is because as soon as I walked into them their was a smell which was very of putting and meant that I wanted to be as quick as possible. This is bad customer service because their was nothing done about it, if their was some sort of air conditioning in their it would make it easier. The floor was also very dirty and their was water all over the floor underneath the sink, which meant that the toilets are very rarely checked by the employees because in some toilets there is a sheet up to say when it was last checked and if there where any damages. If the toilets are not checked regularly it may stop customers from using them because of the standard of them. When I went into the toilets their where a lot of damages like holes in the wall and their where no bins so people where just dropping their rubbish on the floor. This gave the toilets and overall tacky feel to it and I personally would not use them again. If the toilets are not improved it may put customers of from using the store all together. The music of the store was aimed at the more older people, this is because this is their main target audience because you hardly get children or teenagers shopping in supermarkets. The music is controlled my head office which means that Safeway Willerby have no control which if the majority of customers are different from other stores they may wish to change the music slightly to make them come back. The music what they do play is very upbeat music, this is so that customers are feeling happy when they are shopping their. Whilst we where we was looking in the Entertainment department and we across and adult video which was on the second to bottom shelf which is easy for a small child to get hold of it. On the back of it had sexual images on it which meant that the child would be seeing them. This is very bad customer service because it is of adult content and its easy for the child to get hold of. On Safeway’s Website, the opening page is filled with information regarding a certain thing what is happening so for example the thing what is happening this month is Mothers day, so the opening is filled with information regarding Mothers day. (see appendix 5). They also have special offers what is making the customers aware of, so that they can purchase them. This can be food related or just other items such as dry cleaning and photo processing. They also have a recipe of the week, which is described in great detail as well as all their other recipes what you can look at online. Their Website is excellent customer because it is giving potential customers a chance to see what is happening within Safeway, and it is offering advice on the recipes that the customers may wish to make. Their Website also includes: * Store guide- this shows you where the nearest store is and how many miles away it is from your house. * Everything what is included in their stores from their specialized food to their service, which is not food related. * Company information- from the history of the company to the activities at the moment. * Drinks guide- this covers all the drinks from fizzy drinks to alcohol and expert advice is given. Overall Safeway’s Website is excellent because it covers all the information what you will need. Analysis of customer service: I am now going to analyze what the advantage and disadvantages are of Safeway Willerby in terms of customer service: Advantages Disadvantages With Safeway doing a survey it means that they are getting customer feedback which in the long run will benefit the company because with the results of the survey will they can improve the things what has gone wrong. There is no incentive of doing this and it is quite time consuming so the customers may rush it just to get through it, so if an incentive was launched they may be able to get more accurate results. The majority of their staff where of a mature age which meant that they had more experience with customers so they would know what they want. Also with employing older people it means that the management team will know that they are not coming into work with a hangover and they know that they are going to work well and not let them down, with the experience they have with customers. The toilets where a major disadvantage to Safeway Willerby this is because of the overall standard of them was poor. This gives the impression that Safeway Willerby are unhygienic and care very little about the standard of their customer service. If an employee checked the toilets every morning and afternoon, it could improve the standard a bit and it would reassure the customers that something is been done about them. With the security guard working 6 days a week, customers will start to pick up on when he is not their and they might try and get away with things such as theft. With him also working 6 days he will start to get tired and may not do his job properly. If another security guard was introduced it will mean that their is always a security guard in the store, this will assure the customers that they are safe with these security guards in operation.

Philip Morris Essay

1.How would you describe Marlboro’s competitive position in early 1993? Marlboro, the leading cigarette brand for Philip Morris, was the dominant player in the premium priced market. While RJR was the second largest player in the market, RJR’s cigarette brands were fragmented. At the end of 1992, Marlboro had 24.4% unit market share, while each of the RJR brand cigarettes had less than 7% market share. Philip Morris, at 53% operating contribution margin, was significantly more profitable than RJR, at 34% operating contribution margin. Marlboro was essentially backed by the biggest, most profitable player – Philip Morris. Philip Morris was also the consistent market share leader, at least since 1988, over RJR and other much smaller companies. The industry had sustained profitability over time. There we can conclude that there are significant barriers to entry in the cigarette market. Additionally, the need for a strong distribution network with retailers and wholesalers added to the barriers to entry into the market. Threat Discussed on more detail later, Marlboro was facing stuff competition in the 90s from discount brands, particularly RJR brands. While Marlboro, a premium brand, suffered a steadily declining market share since 1989, discount brands were quickly gaining market share. 2.What is Marlboro’s marketing strategy at this time? Marlboro positioned itself as a premium brand cigarette. While it played in the discount segment as well, it was second to RJR brands in the discount segment. Marlboro spent a significant amount of money in advertising and promotions to command its premium pricing. Marlboro became synonymous with Iconic imagery such as the â€Å"Marlboro man† and wild western country images. This led to Marlboro’s strong hold amongst young men. Marlboro outspent its competitors in advertising – spending $3.5 million per percent market share in 1992, compared to $2.1 million spend per percent market share by RJR. (RJR was focused on the discount segment by 1992) Marlboro also used its market power to engage in â€Å"Trade loading†, essentially forcing retailers to forward buy and to stock up on Marlboros just before a price increase. This probably encouraged retailers to allocate more shelf space to Marlboro to get their inventories moving from their warehouses. 3.How does this compare to R.J. Reynolds? RJR focused on its discount brand. RJR had built it self to the discount segment market share leader with 33% discount segment share by 1992. RJR carried about 200 brands under its umbrella. While they had national brands, they also created individual brands for each retailer, resulting in a string distribution system. This was probably well received by the retailers since a cigarette was one of the most profitable products sold in stores. RJR not only cut price to increase discount market share, but also invested in price promotions. Their growth in the 90s had come by taking market share from premium brands during a recessionary period. 4.What accounts for Philip Morris’ dramatic shift in strategy in April 1993? What are its goals? 6. What kind of industry future does Philip Morris anticipate? Market shift (Consumer behavior and regulation) The 1990’s was a recessionary period in the US. While cigarette smokers were believed to be loyal to their brands (and are generally very sticky consumers), there was a marked shift in the emergence of discount brands. In a span of 11 years (1981- 1992), the market share for discount brands in the US went from 0 to 30%. Meanwhile, Marlboro was steadily loosing market share, loosing 2 market share percentage points from 1989 to 1992. Additionally, the regulatory climate was putting an upward pressure on price. While government taxes were on the rise, restrictions on advertising of cigarettes were emerging, both of which made selling cigarettes more expensive. It can be argued that with the rising awareness amongst consumer on the hazards of smoking this upward pressure on price from a regulatory perspective would persist in the medium term. RJR Phillp Morris was also presumably worried about the aggressive price cuts and promotions by RJR to increase its market share. Goals of Philip Morris Strategy Philip Morris needed a aggressive competitive response to tacklethe threats of: declining market share, increasing share of discount brands, regulation, and RJR’s promotions and price cuts. They decided to aggressively attack the existing discount brands and make the Philip Morris brand significantly more price competitive. Philip Morris effectively cut price by 20%, creating 2 tiers of cigarette pricing (from 3 tiers before). Their premium products were now significantly more competitive, compared with the discount brands due to their reduced price and existing strong brand image. Philip Morris were betting that a large portion of consumers would compare their premium product as price competitive with the discount brands, and would chose Marlboro due to its superior brand image and comparable prices. They essentially wanted to win the pricing game and lead with their brand. Surprisingly, they slightly increased the price of their discount brand by a mere 6 cents. This was probably to restrict the range in which the pricing war could be played by other players. Industry Outlook for Philip Morris Surely with the consumer behavior shift and the increasingly hostile regulatory climate described above, Philip Morris views the industry margins becoming thinner and realizes it will get progressively harder to get new consumers. Therefore attracting heavy smokers becomes key for growth and long term profitability. Additionally, Marlboro views the market as price sensitive, especially for heavy smokers. Attracting and retaining this segment is not only a branding game but also a pricing game as well since there is a high frequency of repeat purchases. 5.How should R.J. Reynolds respond? In my opinion, RJR needs to â€Å"make good† (option 3 below) with Philip Morris. The three options for RJR are: Fight with a further price cut or increase in advertising: not only will this option further erode industry margins, but also RJR will probably get crushed in a price/advertising war against the much larger and more efficient Philip Morris. Do nothing: and risk loss of its discount market share dominance to Philip Morris. Price increase (â€Å"make good†): Philip Morris is clearly signaling that it will play aggressively in the discount segment, and in the war for consumers moving or likely to move to the discount segment. With a slight price increase, RJR can signal to Philip Morris that it does not want to engage in a further price war, and it will maintain industry profitability. Such collaborative behavior is probably best for both players in the industry. Additionally, since RJR has a strong distribution with personalized brands for retail outlets, it should focus on building its capability in such brands. The localized brands are arguably a slightly different turf than only fighting the game as big national brands (where Marlboro is very strong with its dominant brand imagery), and local retail branding is RJRs stronghold.