Monday, September 30, 2019

Macbeth Explication: “If it were done when ’tis done” Essay

The final scene of the first act opens up with a powerful soliloquy presented by Macbeth, If it were done when tis done (I.7.1-28). Shakespeare uses various literary techniques to express the ideas rushing through Macbeths mind prior to the murder of Duncan in his home. In previous scenes, Macbeth has been told prophecies of his future predicting him as king of Scotland, Duncans current position. Macbeth, with the aid of his wife, sees this task accomplishable only by the murder of the current king. This soliloquy presents itself at a crucial point of decision, only hours before the opportune minute of attack The soliloquy opens with Macbeths ideas on how he would hope the murder to be. If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well / It were done quickly (I.7.1-2). These two lines show how indecisive Macbeth is about committing the crime. He is saying that if the murder be done, it should be done fast. The if shows that Macbeth is unsure that he wants to follow through with the initial plan. Shakespeare also shows that Macbeth wishes to get it over and done with, showing haste and not thinking it out properly. If the assassination / Could trammel up the consequence, and catch / With his surcease success; that but this blow / Might be the be-all and the end-all here, / But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, / We’d jump the life to come. (I.7.2-7). Here, Shakespeare uses a metaphor to compare the murder as something that could be caught and once caught; it would not yield any consequences. He then goes on to say that in the real-world, this cannot be true. Shakespeare craft fully shows that Macbeth knows that their will be consequences to the murder and that thinking that everything will be okay is not a logical thought. Macbeth continues, But in these cases / We still have judgment here, that we but teach / Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return / To plague th’ inventor: this even-handed justice / Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice / To our own lips. (I.7.7-12). Macbeth states that he still has the choice whether to commit the murder or not to. Shakespeare uses a metaphor to compare the murder with bloody instructions being taught. Macbeth also says that the person who commits the murder (or teaches the bloody instructions), come back to the murderer (or inventor). By saying  this, Shakespeare throws in the element of Macbeth foreshadowing his own demise. He then goes on to compare the return of the misdeeds through the imagery of a poisoned cup. He speaks of how the poisoned chalice, although used on others, will once again come around to his own lips. Macbeth begins to give and weigh reasons for and against Duncans murder. He’s here in double trust: / First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, / Strong both against the deed; (I.7.12-14). Macbeth states that Duncan trusts him in two ways, first of which as his loyal solider. Macbeth then explains how he is expected to be loyal to his king and protect him; not the contrary. In these lines, Shakespeare includes the irony that Macbeth plans on doing what he is supposed to prevent. Macbeth continues, then, as his host, / Who should against his murderer shut the door, / Not bear the knife myself. (I.7.14-16). Here, Macbeth states that he is, secondly, Duncans host. Therefore, Macbeth should be protecting Duncan against a murderer, rather than killing Duncan himself. Shakespeare uses the same irony as in the preceding lines. Macbeth continues with reasons against the murder. Besides, this Duncan / Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been / So clear in his great office (I.7.16-18). Here Macbeth states that Duncan has always been good to him and never abused his power. Macbeth now switches over to the topic of what will happen if Duncan is murdered. that his virtues / Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against / The deep damnation of his taking-off (I.7.18-20). Shakespeare uses personification and a simile to compare what will happen to Duncans virtues after the murder. He describes Duncans virtues as angels, who with spread the news of his murder to all. He proceeds, And pity, like a naked newborn babe, / Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed / Upon the sightless couriers of the air, / Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, (I.7.21-24). Shakespeare again uses a simile to compare the pity of the people over Duncans death to a newborn  baby. Shakespeare then uses imagery to convey a picture of how fast and gracefully the news will spread; a baby, a common representation of innocence, whisking through the air, telling everyone about the deed that took place. In the succeeding line, Macbeth predicts, That tears shall drown the wind. (I.7.25). Here, Shakespeare uses vivid imagery to describe the mood of the people after the death. People will be distraught over this occurrence and will weep as rain falls from the sky. In the conclusive lines of the soliloquy, Macbeth poses the sole reason he has for the murder, I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself / And falls on th’ other. (I.7.25-28). Macbeth here says that he has absolutely no reason to kill Duncan, save for his ambition. In his final sentence, Shakespeare then personifies his ambition as overleaping which falls over itself. Macbeths ambition overleaping and falling also foreshadows Macbeths death. After the soliloquy, Macbeth changes his mind and no longer wishes to kill Duncan. But with the persuasion of his wife, changes his stance again and goes through with the murder. All of the events, the spreading of the news of the murder, the consequences of the assassination, people hysteria and Macbeths own downfall, which Macbeth foreshadowed in his soliloquy, do prove accurate.

Sensorial

Maria Montessori described the sensorial materials as the â€Å"key to the universe† Discuss this statement and give examples to support your discussion. â€Å"The senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge. Our apparatus for educating the senses offers the child a key to guide his explorations of the world, they cast a light upon it which makes visible to him more things in greater detail than he could see in the dark, or uneducated state. â€Å"(1. Montessori Maria, the Absorbent page 190, chapter 17). Montessori believed that sensorial experiences began from birth to six. At this stage, children learn and develop by using their five senses which help in making mental order in their environment. These five senses are visual sense the child learns how to visually discriminate differences between similar objects and differing objects. Second is tactile sense, the child learns through his sense of touch. â€Å"Although the sense of touch is spread throughout the surface of the body, the Exercises given to the children are limited to the tips of the fingers, and particularly, to those of the right hand. (Montessori, Maria (1997) The Discovery of the Child) This allows the child to really focus on what he is feeling, through a concentration of a small part of his body. In the Stereognostic Sense Exercises, the child learns to feel objects and make recognitions based on what he feels. â€Å"When the hand and arm are moved about an object, an impression of movement is added to that touch. Such an impression is attributed to a special, sixth sense, which is called a muscular sense, and which permits many impressions to be stored in a â€Å"muscular memory†, which recalls movements that have been made. (Montessori, Maria (1997) the Discovery of the Child, Oxford, England: Clio Press) . In the Baric sense, the child learns to feel the difference of pressure or weight of different objects, this sense is heightened through the use of a blindfold or of closing your eyes . In the Thermic Sense, the child works to refine his sense of temperature. In the Olfactory and Gustatory Sense Exercises, the child is given a key to his smelling and tasting sense. Although not all smells or tastes are given to the child in these Exercises, the child does work to distinguish one smell from another or one taste from another. He can then take these senses, and apply them to other smells or tastes in his environment. In the Auditory Sense Exercises, the child discriminates between different sounds. In doing these different Exercises, the child will refine and make him more sensitive to the sounds in his environment; there are four kinds of sounds human, animal, natural and mechanical sounds. Dr. Montessori felt that this was the ideal period in the child’s life to introduce him the equipment that would sharpen his senses and facilitate his comprehension of the many impressions he receives through them. So that Sensorial lessons enable the child to learn him by using his hands and his mind. We find that Dr. Benjamin Franklin once said â€Å"tell me and I forget. Teach me and remember. Involve me and learn†. In order to serve this purpose; Dr. Maria Montessori introduced a subject called ‘Sensorial', it comes from the word sense or senses. As there are no new experiences for the child to take from the Sensorial work where the materials are specially designed to enable the child to use his senses to explore different attributes of the world†¦ he child is able to concentrate on the refinement of all his senses, from visual to stereognostic. Dr. Montessori based her method of teaching young children considering the fact that a child between two to six years passes through the ‘sensitive period' for the refinement of sense along with the others and they can be helped in the development of the senses while they are in this formative period. â€Å"It is necessary t o begin the education of the senses in the formative period, if we wish to perfect this sense development with the education which is to follow. The education of the senses should be begun methodically in infancy, and should continue during the entire period of instruction which is to prepare the individual for life in society. † (Montessori Maria, internet) Dr. Montessori describe Sensorial education as â€Å"the key to the universe† because it revealing to the children, a deeper knowledge about the outside world. All of the material is aesthetically pleasing. They attract the child’s attention to the objects and allow the child to manipulate the materials with easy way. The material must be complete. This allows the child who is working with the material to finish through the whole piece of work without having to stop and find a missing piece. All of the material is limited. The first use of the term limited refers to the fact that there is only one of each material in the environment. This calls for other students to build on their patience. The second use of the word limited is in reference to the idea that not all of one quality or piece of information is given to the child. This child is not given every color in the world, but only a select few. This gives the child the keys to the information so it peaks his curiosity and leads him to learn more out of his own interest. Most importantly, all of the material could be called â€Å"materialized abstractions†. This means that though Montessori’s Sensorial materials, abstract concepts are made into concrete materials. â€Å"The sensorial materials comprise a series of objects which are grouped together according to some physical quality which they have, such as colour, shape, size, sound, texture, weight, temperature, and so forth. Every single group of objects represents the same quality but in different degrees; there is consequently a regular gradual distinction between the various objects and, when this is possible, one that is mathematically fixed. Every series of objects is graded so that there is a maximum and a minimum, which determines its limits, or which, more properly, are fixed by the use which a child makes of them† (Montessori Maria, The Discovery of Childhood, Page. 100 chapter 6). Dr. Montessori believed in the same ideal and with her development of Sensorial teaching brought a new concept to teaching the world throughout her Sensorial materials. So that the sensorial materials in the Montessori classroom enable the child to become aware of details by revealing to him strongly contrasting sensations like black and white and progressing to various gradations of this sensation such as; the many different shades of red in the colour tablets as an example, facilitate his knowledge of colours and eventually his understanding of the abstraction of a certain colour and finally the abstraction of color itself. The sensorial equipment, worked on systematically, builds a rooted and comprehensive foundation for the child's intellectual future. This is why Montessori has appropriately named the sensorial materials as â€Å"the key to the universe†. We find that the sensorial materials related with the environment around the child, he try to discover on his own how to make things he see in the environment, he often want to make his own books and do so with tools of ruler and stapler, make his own constructive triangles, or geometric solids. He often explores different ways of making the same end product – e. g. making a cylinder with paper, and then trying with clay. The other areas of the curriculum for the children of this age are related with the ‘sensorial’ materials such as mathematics, language and culture. The sensorial materials respond to the way that the child learns at this age through the senses rather than the intellect. There are materials for the refinement of each sense, with each activity isolating one particular quality, for example; color, size, sound, taste or weight. We can take a pink tower as an example, it made up of ten pink cubes of varying sizes. In 3 year-old the child constructs a tower with the largest cube on the bottom and the smallest on top. This material isolates the concept of size. The cubes are all the same colour and texture; the only difference is their size. Other materials isolate different concepts: colour tablets for colour, geometry materials for form and so on. As the child's exploration continues, the materials interrelate and build upon each other. Later, in the primary years, new aspects of some materials unfold. When studying volume, for example, the child may return to the pink tower and discover that its cubes progress incrementally from one cubic centimeter to one cubic decimetre. At the pre-school age when the child is use the sensory information, these materials help the child to order and make sense of his world and heighten his perception and wonder of it. Through working with the different sensorial materials the child has refined his discrimination of size to the point where he wants to know how much one object is bigger than other one. The mathematic materials flow naturally from here. When a child reaches this point, he needs to introduce to concrete representations of mathematical concepts and given language to describe these, for example: large, long, thick, heavy. They are required to sort, pair, grade and sequence using all of their senses – visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory and olfactory. Through these activities they develop the ability to solve mathematical problems for example: decimal system, geometry and algebra –by compare, contrast, and make judgments. The same applies with language. The subtle preparation the child has been given in this environment such as songs, stories, poems, or the control over the movement of the hand through knobbed cylinders and geometric cabinet, they allow the child from 4 and 5 year olds to effortlessly start to write and read. Montessori education has been using a set of ‘sandpaper letters’ individual boards with the primary symbol for each of the 26 letters as the sounds in the English language. Three year-old children see and feel these symbols and make the corresponding sound, bsorbing the combination of sound and symbol through three different senses (auditory-visual and tactile sense. Finally, the cultural materials bring to the child his world and the animals, plants and people within it. Like everything offered to the child at this age, the materials are sensory-based and are introduced to the child in an orderly way; first the world, then the plants; the child is introduced to the botanical classification in plants and their parts through classified cards, and an experience of how leaves can be classified by their shape through the leaf cabinet. Through these, the child is given keys to enhance his exploration of the outdoor environment and garden, and ultimately the world. The child starts to notice shapes of leaves as he walks in the park, and this deepens his appreciation of his environment. The sensorial materials also are the extension for the world of animals, then mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish; in the same way as with the world of plants, the child is given presentations of animal classification through the classified cards. Through his exploration he finds the keys to understanding the characteristics of each family and this is applied to his locality. The sensorial materials extend to geography: The children discover how our world can be divided into land and water, and how these two can further be classified by their shape – land into islands, peninsulas, isthmuses and capes; water into lake, gulf, strait and bay. These offer a key to the young mind so attuned to order and pattern, and children start to appreciate even the lakes and islands they discover in their local parks. They also explore how our world is divided into continents, and how each continent is divided into countries, and towns and so on. In this way they get an appreciation of where their ‘place’ is in the world. The education of senses makes men observers. The child who has worked with the sensorial materials has not only acquired a greater skill in the use of senses but also guides his exploration of the outside world. The aim of sense training is not only that a child shall know the colours forms and textures but also that he refines his sense through an exercise of attention and through comparison. The Sensorial Materials have been given many names: materialized abstractions, key to universe, path to culture. The goal of sensorial is to aid a child refine his senses so they can learn more from his environment and grow spiritually and physically. This is done through manipulation with carefully designed materials and direct experience with the world around them. The Sensorial technique is a multi-faceted method of learning. Through the use of singular quality focus activities the child’s senses are awakened. The sensory revelation that is experienced by the child during this period leads to a greater intellectual capability. The sensorial practice sets the groundwork for further intellectual growth. The crucial roles the senses have in education are illustrated through the connection between the various sensorial experiences the child has and all of the activities in the Sensorial environment. Because of Montessori’s focus on sensorial exploration and the Sensitive Periods for crucial brain development, there may be no computers for children’s use in the Children’s House environment. However, through the Montessori materials the children are building strong foundations to be able to learn to use this technology when appropriate. They are learning how to think, solve problem and create. It is striking how several pioneers and highly successful individuals in this field have Montessori backgrounds (e. g. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, inventors of Google; Will Wright, inventor of The Sims). They even attribute their success in innovation to their childhood years in a Montessori classroom. BIBLOGRAPHY Montessori Maria: The secret of childhood. Montessori Maria: absorbent mind. Montessori Maria, quotes, Internet) Montessori Maria: discovery of the childhood

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Clarice Lispector’s Women Characters Essay

I sat before my glass one day, And conjured up a vision bare, Unlike the aspects glad and gay, That erst were found reflected there- The vision of a woman, wild With more than womanly despair.[1] The Italian feminist writer Elsa Morante stated that: â€Å"One woman’s agony in her room is something so insignificant that it casts no shadow across the great universe†[2]. However true this might be, Clarice Lispector manages to give voice to her female character’s feelings in a such overwhelming way that the reader’s own universe cannot remain indifferent. Reading Lispector’s works, especially her short stories, is like plunging into an apparently innocuous moment of a woman’s life but rapidly and unavoidably be dragged into the unreachable depths and the darkest recesses of her psychology. It never turns out to be a merely pleasure trip. Influenced by existentialist authors, Lispector’s over-riding concern revolves around woman condition in its entirety[3]. It is a definitely complex and multi-faceted matter, which encompasses all the issues of the human condition exasperated by the womanhood’s burdens. Alongside with the unbearable awareness towards the absurdity of life and its revealed lack of meaning, the writer has to deal with the role of the women in a male oriented society, their existential sufferings and failures, the sense of relationships and isolation, their unfulfilled aspirations given up to conform to an imposed social scheme, the ideas of family and alienation, their forlorn hopes and submissiveness. The reader is prompted to ask himself: ‘to what extent is the woman allowed to be herself before becoming the objectification of somebody else’s aspirations?’ The concept of identity is therefore the pivot of all this speculation: Clarice explores the dynamics of self-discovery, the different and always traumatic ways in which her characters find or are forced to face their true authentic self and the conflict these achievements generate in their life. In this essay, I will pay close attention to the object of the mirror, a recurrent image in Lispector’s fiction, where it occupies a key role in the process of â€Å"autoconhecimento e expressà £o, contemplaà §Ãƒ £o e aà §Ãƒ £o, conhecimento das coisas e relaà §Ãƒ µes inter-subjetivas†[4]. In the consideration of this point, I will draw on the psychological theories that explained the phenomenon of visual self-identification, highlighting the correspondences in the behaviour of the woman characters. I will also refer to the literary criticism that handled with the Lispectorian â€Å"potà ªncia mà ¡gica do olhar†[5]. Then, I will focus on the range of feminine figures portrayed in Laà §os de famà ­lia, pointing out how they underwent the experience of self-awareness, what they have in common and where they are different. Finally, I will take into account Clarice’s short article â€Å"Espelho mà ¡gico†, which I found to be a particularly valu able contribution to this analysis and a sort of locking ring to this paper. Let’s start by considering the leitmotif of the mirror and the importance of sight. To try to unfold the copious polysemic connotations that the mirror bears, it is worth briefly considering it under a psychoanalytic point of view. Several are the currents that acknowledged the mirror to be one the most powerful tool in the process of the analysis and identification of the self. Jaques Lacan theorised the famous concept of the â€Å"mirror stage†: the child starts to identify with the reflection of itself, discerning the â€Å"I† in the mirror and the â€Å"I† outside the mirror. Along with OLTRE!!! The identification, however, comes the sense of alienation, due to the perception of the mirror image as an Other self. Experiencing this splitting, the subject keeps searching a constant confirmation of its identity from/by/in the confrontation with other people and objects. By the visual contacts, as a sort of multiplicity of mirrors, the sense of selfhood ca n be reinforced by returned gazes of recognition[6]. The idea that the people interacting with the subject act as mirrors for itself has also been substantiated by Charles Horton Cooley. He went further and advanced the social psychological concept of the looking-glass self, according to which ‘identity is created out of the tension between natural impulses that the individual must actively develop and the social structures that the individual must actively appropriate’[7]. He points out that there are three stages through which a person goes: she/he imagines how she must appear to others, she/he imagines the judgment of that appearance, she/he develops her/him self through the judgments of others[8]. But what happens when the social structures develop a diffused and subjugating system of judgements and bias that deeply interfere with the expression of the individual impulses? The result is deep manipulation of somebody’s own self, where self-denial tendencies usually prevail as a compromise between the two tensions. This is actually what happen to Clarice’s women characters. When they look in the mirror, they see (or glimpse) themselves how they truly are, but also how they are not allowed, or do not dare, to be. This social conditioning is clearly summarised by John Berger: ‘To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men. The social presence of woman has developed as a result of their ingenuity in living under such tutelage within such limited space. But this has been at the cost of a woman’s self being split into two. A woman must continually watch herself [†¦] because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life’[9] Bearing in mind these concepts, let’s now delve into the feminine universe of Laà §os de famà ­lia. The first aspects to remark is that Lispector’s characters are never stereotypical women. They cannot be enclosed in any womanly clichà ©, even if they share the same experiences and they sometimes seem to be facets of the same person. Clarice introduces the reader to different women, or again different stages in life of only one: daughter, adolescent, wife, mistress, mother, grandmother. Emotional detachment is one of the thing they have in common. They all show unsolvable inability to connect with others in a deep and meaningful way. Although being present and even physically close to their families, they are not emotionally present in the relationships. They dissociate, both experiencing emotional numbing, both restraining their own true feeling. Moreover, they do not find a reliable interlocutor in their partners or friends, because the image that the latter project on them is distorted and limited to the role they unconsciously or not impose on them. As previously illustrated, the achievement of self-identity requires an interchanging dialogical recognition between one I and one other that acknowledge that I as a whole[10]. Clarice’s women are left alone. Nevertheless, even when they seem to live the identity they have been given (therefore being self-denial), their true inner self, their real subjectivity suddenly bursts out. There is a kind of fil rouge that pools all the short stories: the narrative nucleus is represented by a moment of conflictive tension, an interior crisis, a rupture. At times, it is sufficient the most trifling event to trigger an epiphany, an instant of dramatic awareness. Everything that has been kept suppressed explode in a flood of thoughts, reminiscences and revelations. The body abruptly paralyses and time stands still: life is revealed, meaning is lost, the measure of identity and freedom are found. But understanding is a responsibility, and Clarice pushes her characters to their limits. They hang on the balance between stepping back or going beyond: utterly disoriented, they face the danger of living. Regarding this point, Professor Earl E. Fitz explains that: ‘they come to grips with themselves, with who and what they really are and, finally, react to this unexpectedly experienced flash of insight by either rejecting the â€Å"new self† that would emerge or by actually undertaking the creation of a new self, a new and authentic identity. [†¦] But the price of real freedom is always high and appears in Lispector’s fiction as the discomforting and solipsistic realisation that we are all alone, isolated in our solitude, and tormented by the need to communicate’[11]. Epiphanies, alienation and incommunicability show close affinities with the literary world depicted by Sartre and Camus. The encounter of the conscience with the reality, more specifically with the experience of the Absurd and the sense of meaningless of life, always generate unease in the protagonists. Even if Lispector has asserted that her naà ºsea is not the nausà ©e of Sartre[12], the epiphanic moments are associated with upsetting feelings: nausea and daze in Amor, anger in Feliz Aniversà ¡rio, hatred in O bà ºfalo, fear in Preciosidade, nausea and sadness in Devaneio e embriaguez duma rapariga ,nausea and derangement in Imitaà §Ãƒ £o da rosa. Moreover, Lispector’s characters experience these unconscious outburst via their sense of sight, similarly to Sartrian protagonists. In Amor, Ana’s reality suddenly falls apart with the simple view of a blind man chewing a chewing gum on the tram. The sudden braking of the tram is like a tug to her subconscious, the detonator of her repressed unhappiness and her existential in-satisfaction. The woman feels an emotional collapse, she is overwhelmed by nausea and compassion. A moment later, she feels emptied and alienated as she wanders through the Jardim Bà ´tanico. When she manages to get home, her husband takes her by the hand, â€Å"sem olhar para trà ¡s, afastando-a do perigo de viver†[13]. So she comes back to her previous existence, but she has now become aware that she loves her world with repugnance, loathing. She represents the women who are conscious of the fact that something essential is missing in their life, that what they are surrounded by is not what they really wanted, is not enough to fulfil them. At the end of the day she look at herself in the mirror, â€Å"por um instante sem nenhum mundo no coraà §Ãƒ £o. Antes de se deitar, como se apagasse uma vela, soprou a pequena flama do dia.†[14] The process is alike in O bà ºfalo. The unnamed protagonist is destroyed by unreciprocated love. ‘Eu te odeio, disse a mulher, muito depressa, a um homem que nà £o a amava. Mas a mulher sà ³ sabia amar e perdoar, e ‘se aquela mulher perdoasse mais uma vez, uma sà ³ vez que fosse, sua vida estaria perdida’. In order to bear the pain, she tries to learn how to hate by the wild nature of the animals. Wandering in a zoo, she encounters a buffalo (something close to the male sexual symbology). â€Å"Ela nà £o olhou a cara. [†¦] Olhou os seus olhos. E os olhos do bà ºfalo, os olhos olharam seus olhos†. The climax is achieved by the visual contact between their eyes. She feels so jarred that she faints. The condition of woman victim of love finds its catharsis in this epiphany closed to sexual ecstasy. Visual contact and self-perception take on another nuance in Preciosidade. The protagonist is an adolescent girl, who tries to avoid having anyone look at her. She feels she must protect an ambiguous preciousness she owns. Either it is referred to her virginity or simply to her being a girl, by eschewing male’s gazes she knows she will keep from becoming an objectification of their desire. More complex are the eye contacts in the short story Laà §os de famà ­lia. The title includes the emblematic essence of family relationships. The semantic ambivalence of laà §os can either be seen in a positive way, â€Å"love bonds†, or in a negative one, like â€Å"binding chains†. The protagonist Catarina and her mother epitomise this ambivalence, in living their strained relationship as a mother and as an adult daughter. Sentiments are no longer expressed, love mixes with hate, visual contact is unbearable. Waiting for the train to leave, the mother looks at herself in pocket mirror to fill the emptiness left by the lack of communication with Catarina. Once home, Catarina take a walk with her son, tying him to her in another noxious kind of love binding. Very important is the figure of the husband, left out, excluded. He need her, but awkwardly tries to exercise his apparent power to show off his role. Another strongly symbolic story is Imitaà §Ãƒ £o da rosa. The protagonist is Laura, a woman who experienced a rupture, both physical with a nervous breakdown, both social, not being able to adhere again at the role of wife she used to perform before her illness. The character is therefore divided between two attitudes: the â€Å"impersonal† woman, who tries to be obedient to the established pattern of being a wife, and the â€Å"personal† woman, that breaks the contract and the social expectation codes. Roberto Corrà ªa dos Santos[15] analyses the duplicity of Laura’s nature and the reflection it has on the relationship with her husband. Corrà ªa dos Santos divides her feelings and her behaviours in two moments: the â€Å"Tempo de obedià ªncia† and the â€Å"Tempo de ruptura†. During the â€Å"Tempo de obedià ªncia†, the attitude of her husband towards Laura shows a man â€Å"esquecido de sua mulher, em paz, recostado com bandono† whereas Laura is â€Å"submissa, atende o marido de braà §o dado, fala sobre coisas de mulheres†. During the â€Å"tempo de ruptura†, the husband turns out to be â€Å"cansado e perplexo, mudo de preocupaà §Ãƒ £o, tà ­mido, com um hà ¡lito infeliz†, while she becomes â€Å"super-humana, tranqà ¼ila em seu isolamento brilhante, como un barco tranqà ¼ilo, de perfeià §Ãƒ £o acordata†[16]. Like the example of Carlota’s husband, Laura’s husband metaphorically shrinks the more and more his wife finds her dimension of self-confidence. Fitz, E. Earl sums up: â€Å"Consistent with Lispector’s view that each of us fight a battle for control of the chaos that envelops us, she shows poignantly how the woman in the story is growing in terms of consciousness and self-understanding (tangled as this itself is) while the man with whom she is living [†¦] is stupidly and dully trapped in his own uninteresting view of reality, [†¦] dominated by the spurious â€Å"clarity† of his conventional thought, his socially prescribed clichà ©s and unoriginal thinking†[17] In addition to these considerations, it is relevant to stress that the concept of the mirror as fundamental tool in the process of self-perception has also been taken up by Clarice outside her fictional work. Espelho mà ¡gico is short article she wrote when she contributed to Dià ¡rio da Noite. It was published in 1960, in a culumn entitled â€Å"Sà ³ para mulheres†, which suggests a hidden feminine complicity that strengthens the message the author wants to conveyed: Nà £o à © sà ³ o espelho da madrasta de Branca de Neve que à © mà ¡gico. A verdade à © que todo espelho tem a mesma magia. [†¦] Vocà ª nà £o hà ¡ de perguntar: â€Å"Quem à © mais bela do que eu†. O melhor à © perguntar ao espelho: â€Å"Como posso ficar mais bela do que eu?† Eis os ingredientes para um espelho mà ¡gico: 1) um espelho propriamente dito, de preferà ªncia daqueles de corpo inteiro; 2) vocà ª mesma diante do espelho; 3) coragem. [†¦] Coragem para se ver, em vez de se imaginar. Sà ³ depois de se enxergar realmente, à © que vocà ª poderà ¡ comeà §ar a se imaginar. [†¦]Mas lembre-se: a imaginaà §Ãƒ £o sà ³ nos serve quando baseada na realidade. Seu â€Å"material de trabalho† à © a realidade a respeito de vocà ª mesma. Nà £o vou lhe dizer o que vocà ª deve fazer para melhorar de aparà ªncia. Nà £o tenho a pretensà £o de ensinar peixe a nadar. E sà ³ uma coisa à © que vocà ª nà £o sabe: que vocà ª sabe nadar. Quero dizer, se vocà ª tiver confianà §a em vocà ª mesma, descobrirà ¡ que sabe muito mais do que pensa. Mas, de qualquer modo, estarei aqui para ajudar a vocà ª a nà £o esquecer que sabe. Here, Clarice recurs to the archetype of the magic mirror in the fairy tale, positioning the question of identity in an apparently simple layer of interpretation. The strength of this passage, though, resides in the shifting of the cultural pattern of the identification of the self: the answer is not any more given by the mirror, but acknowledged directly by the person who mirrors herself. Who is answering is indeed the same woman who asked, providing herself with the true measure of her renewed â€Å"I† descried alone, without the need of something (or somebody) else who sees her from the outside. This is the new espelho mà ¡gico Clarice hopes for, where the magic comes from the other side on the glass: the person. More than an article, it becomes a suggestion, an exhortation. It takes some efforts, some coragem para se ver, se enxergar, but this is necessary in order to build a new parameter for the individual existence, a new pattern of legitimisation of the self. It is the only way for women to ged rid of the old and tight social and cultural paradigms and to confront themselves with new references based on their quotidian choices and prerogatives. A new perspective is offered, where beauty stops being a primary attribute and leaves its place to self-confidence and fortitude. This new woman holds in her hands a â€Å"material de trabalho†, the realidade a respeito de si mesma. She could represent a new possible social feminine figure, who believes in her capability to promote a change and to be in charge of her own destiny. While in her stories she often left her characters helpless and powerless in front of their mirrors, in the real world Clarice let this mirror become a threshold towards a higher dimension, like an open portal in front of the woman. The article end is contract-like: women will try to operate this transformation and the author will watch over her, with her novels and stories. For the aforementioned reasons, there is no doubt that Lispector’s fictional universe is as wide and deep as the themes it deals with. To understand how her complex feminine characters perceive themselves, it is necessary to take into account the issue of the human condition in its entirety, applied to the point of view of women. Nonetheless, every story she wrote encompasses a multitude of smaller senses and significances, so that more than one reading is needed in order to disclose all of them. Every reader can easily agree with Hà ©là ¨ne Cixous, who stated that: â€Å"Clarice’s text, like Kafka’s, are not narratives. They contain a secret, a lesson. But this secret and this lesson are dispersed in the verbal space in such a way that the meaning cannot be apprehended at a first reading.†[18] Psychoanalytic perspective helps to explain her literary explorations of the question of identity, the importance of sight, and the self-perception her characters achieve in their reflection in the mirror or in someone else’s eyes. The in-depth analysis of the women in Laà §os de famà ­lia also provides a comprehensive picture of Clarice’s profound sensibility and complex psychology. The plot, the setting, the description of the characters and their relational dynamics epitomises Lispectorian imaginary. As far as the mirror is concerned, it undoubtedly hold an important position in Clarice’s symbolism and recurs also in her non-fictional works. The article Espelho mà ¡gico represents a significant contribution in the comprehension of her Weltanschauung, and creates a concrete link between her imaginative world and the tangible reality. ———————– [1] Mary Elizabeth Coleridge The Other Side of a Mirror, 1896 [2] Elsa Morante, Arturo’s Island, p. 187 [3] Lispector does not actually represent all women in her text, but she rather focuses on the ones she belongs to and presumably knows the most: the middle-class white urban women. With the expression â€Å"woman condition in its entirety† I mean the whole range of feminine experiences a given woman can go through during her life. [4] Nunes, Benedito, Clarice Lispector. Sà £o Paulo: Edià §Ãƒ µes Quà ­ron, 1973 p. 95 [5] Ibid, p. 95 [6] Lacan, Jaques, The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. London: Penguin. 1994 p 70-72 [7] Cooley, Charles H. On Self and Social Organization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998 p 20 [8] Cooley, Charles H. Human Nature and the Social Order. New York: Scribner’s, 1902. pp. 183-184 [9] Berger, John, Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1972 [10] See also: Psychology of Self. Kohut, Heinz The Analysis of the Self. New York: International Universities Press, 1971 [11] Fitz, E. Earl Clarice Lispector. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985, p. 48 [12] Lowe, Elizabeth. The Passion According to C.L.: Elizabeth Lowe interviews Clarice Lispector. Review, 24: p 36 [13] Lispector, Clarice, Laà §os de Famà ­lia. Rio de Janeiro: Livraria Josà © Olympio Editora S.A., 1976 p 24 [14] Ibid, p 26 [15] Corrà ªa dos Santos, Roberto Lendo Clarice Lispector. Sà £o Paulo: Atual Editora LTDA, 1986 p. 21 [16] Lispector, Clarice, Laà §os de Famà ­lia. Rio de Janeiro: Livraria Josà © Olympio Editora S.A., 1976 p 36-40 [17] Fitz, E. Earl Clarice Lispector. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985, p. 44 [18] Cixous, Hà ©là ¨ne, Reading with Clarice Lispector. Trans. By Verena Andermatt Conley. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990 p 98

A study of Reading Habits Analysis Essay

Poetry The theme of the poem is that trying to ignoring reality does not solve any problems. The speaker dives deeps into books to hide from his day to day problems. However, he does no benefit from this when his eyes go bad from reading. In the end, the speakers problems caught up with him and he could no longer escape from them in books. He unfortunately turned to alcohol to solve his problems. Larkin demonstrates the theme by hinting the character traits of his persona. Also Larkin uses elements such as tone, metaphors, similes, allusion and symbols to create a deeper understanding of the theme. â€Å"A Study of Reading Habits† is somewhat of dry title, but as the poem progresses, it starts to make more and more sense. The poem is about the progression of a mans life, from his childhood to his adult life. He grew up loving books because he could escape from reality. However, reading books became a habit to escape everyday hardships. But overtime the books started reminding him of his own life and he could no longer escape. In his youth, the speaker would use reading to get away from different things such as school and bullies. He did not care if reading ruined his eyes because in books he could imagine anything and escape reality. He could imagine being cool and fighting the bullies â€Å"twice my size† (line 6). Later on, during adolescence, the speaker liked reading darker books. His eyes were starting to go bad from reading so he had to wear â€Å"inch-thick specs† (7). He enjoyed the evilness of his books. With his â€Å"cloak and fangs† (9) , he would have sex with women and humiliate them . Now, in the present, the speaker doesn’t read anymore because the stories are too closely related to his issues. He can no longer escape his problems regarding his lousy life. As a result, the speaker condemns books altogether stating that they â€Å"are a load of crap† (18) and turns to alcohol to resolve his problems. He recommends to â€Å"get stewed† (17) instead of reading. The speaker in this poem speaks in first person. The imaginative person envisions a fantasy world where he could be cool and â€Å"deal out the old right hook† to his bullies (5). The speaker is also lonely. In the final stanza the speaker realizes that he doesn’t know how to face reality. His whole entire youth was created through fictional books and now the more mature  books, highlight his lonesome. Additionally, the speaker is resentful. During his childhood, books were of so much value to him. They were worth â€Å"ruining my eyes† (3). But the books in that time were fictional, and most likely of superheroes and other fictional idols. Later on, the speaker realizes he is not equipped for reality and believes â€Å"books are a load of crap† (18). The speaker’s tone is disappointed and bitter. There was a smooth, euphonic quality to the words in the beginning stanza. This emphasized how easygoing and fantasy-like childhood can be. Also, there was alliteration in line 6. The text â€Å"dirty dogs† was symbolism of the persona’s bullies. This alliteration illuminated upon the name calling present in youth. Additionally, the poem contained a rhyme scheme within stanzas. The poem is about the speaker’s life progression. Each stanza represents a different stage in life. The first stanza represents his childhood, the second stanza represents the speaker’s adolescence and in the final stanza the speaker comes to terms with reality that he can no longer hide behind books. He realizes that his world is less fulfilling than the fantasies portrayed in books. He feels betrayed by books and his tone becomes bitter. As the speakers life progresses throughout the stanzas, his views on books become contradictory. The very first line in the poem pertains to the speakers’s love â€Å"of getting [his] nose in a book† (1). On the contrary, the final stanza represents the speaker’s new feelings towards books. Compared to the first line, the very last line states that the speaker believes books are a worthless â€Å"load of crap† (18). In this poem Larking uses literary devices such as a metaphor and a simile. The line â€Å"the chap who’s yellow and keeps the store, seem far too familiar† (15-17) functions as imagery. The speaker is characterizing the character is his stories as the color yellow. The color yellow has negative connotations such as cowardice, faithlessness and betrayal, which is exactly how the speaker is feeling about his book at this stage in his life. This metaphor produces the effect of a cowardly or faithless character, who evidently relates to the speaker. The authors use of a simile is also  present in the poem. The simile is obvious in line 12, where the speaker talks about how he thought of women. He did not think much of them and â€Å"broke them up like meringues† in his fantasized worlds. He compares women to meringues, a light, airy, sweet desert. This simile functions as his desire for sexual encounters with women. The poetic device of allusion is also evident in the poem. Allusion is created in the second stanza when the speaker makes the allusion to vampires when describing his interest in dark fictional books. The words â€Å"cloak† and â€Å"fangs† function as characteristics usually related to vampires as well as the word â€Å"sex†, representing his sexual maturity. The speaker’s taste in fictional text matures, along with his sexual interests. Symbolism is evident in the poem. The most obvious symbolism is the poem structure itself. The poem is three stanzas long, each symbolizing a different stage in his life. The first stanza is clearly represents his childhood. The speaker has typical childhood bullies and his tone even seems to be that of a child. As a kid, he reads escape these bullies and to feel better about himself. The second stanza represents his adolescence stage in life. The speakers tone is much more mature and dark as he talks about evil and sex. He also admires the symbol of a vampire and has a stronger sexual drive. Finally the last stanza symbolizes his later years. He starts to realize that he cant escape his problems anymore and even relates himself to the weak characters in his books. Also symbolism is evident when the speaker describes the books he dislikes during adulthood. Lines 13 to 17 talk about characters in books that are cowards or fall short. In line 17, the speaker is uncomfortable with these books because the characters â€Å"seem far too familiar†. The characters in these books function as symbols of the speaker and his lousy life.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Personal Characteristics of Nick Thomas, Charles Henry, and Chairman Lup In Wisdom Sits in Places

The significance of place-names is compounded in the personal characteristics of Nick Thompson, Charles Henry, and Chairman Lup. Although their personal characteristics differ significantly in terms of attitudes and approach to reality, their behavioral orientation are relatively the same. The subscription to a single set of norms (the rules attached to the place-names) ensures a relatively predictable pattern of behavior from the three characters.Hence, one can assume that the behavioral orientation of the three characters stemmed not from their intrinsic characteristics but rather to their personal interpretations of ‘reality. Here, reality takes the form of adjunctive reference to the past, the legacy of place-names. There is a need, however, to look into the personal characteristics (behavioral) of the characters to provide credence to the above-mentioned proposition. Charles is a traditionalist, an individual who clings to the general beliefs and rules of ancient customs. His minimal exposure to the vagrancies of modern life did not affect his behavioral orientation towards customs and tradition. In fact, most of his actions indicate a persona that embraces the beauty and glorious existence of place-names.In page 10 of the book, Charles said to Mosley: What he’s doing isn’t right. It’s not good. He seems to be in a hurry. Why is he in a hurry? It’s disrespectful. Our ancestors made this name. They made it just as it is. They made it for a reason. They spoke it first, a long time ago! He’s repeating the speech of our ancestors. He doesn’t know that. Tell him he’s repeating the speech of our ancestors. Charles’ obsession with mental images and speeches of his ancestors created a personal impression of sturdiness in his character.He refuses to allow changes that will affect his beliefs on place-names. Nick Thompson behavioral orientation is similar to that of Charles Henry. An old man who delighted in telling humorous and often embarrassing stories, his expression is quite mischievous and intimidating. In the tribe though, he is known as the true â€Å"Slim Coyote. † Thompson’s character can be described in four words: serious, generous, intelligent, and outspoken. In anthropology, the character of Nick Thompson exemplifies the character of an ideal elder who teaches the younger generation the essence of existence.In page 43 of the book, he said, â€Å"Start with the names. I will teach you like before. Come back tomorrow morning†¦ White men need paper maps. We have maps on our minds. † Due reference again is made to the highly revered place-names. The Western Apache’s reverence to place-names are generally rooted from the historical value of the place-names themselves. This historical value is imbued in the personal beliefs of every Apache. It can be said that Nick Thompson, by virtue of his age, has strong personal attachment to this histori cal value.In fact, his understanding bear more influence to his behavioral orientation than his actual belief in the place-names themselves. His motto in life is: â€Å"Learn the names† (a deep understanding of the place-names). Chairman Lup’s character is generally similar to that of Thompson. His obsession with stories about place-names is the primary foundation of his behavioral orientation. For the most, an understanding of his character forces one to assume that he is a strict traditionalist. His personal belief about place-names is actually greater than Charles Henry and almost equal to that of Nick Thompson.

Qualitative Research Appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Qualitative Research Appraisal - Essay Example The researchers presented a clear rationale for the research, setting it in context of any current issues and knowledge of the topic to date. Aside from this they have presented adequate information for the review of related literature to back up readers regarding any existing or past researches with the same topic. The review of related literature of the research article is a focused summary of what has already been published regarding the question or problem for which there is a gap in knowledge. The literature of the research article gives the readers' a picture of what is already known or has already been studied in relation to the problem and identifies where the gaps in knowledge may be. (Caldwell, 2005) The literature review in the research being critiqued does not necessarily only include published research studies. It also may include published reports about issues related to practice or a description of a theory. (Babbie, 2004) A theory is a written description of how several factors may relate to and affect one each other. The factors described in a theory are usually abstract: that cannot be readily observed and immediately defined and recognized by everyone. The research report of the article used discusses a theory in its introduction section, the study tests and further explains the relationships proposed in that theory. The meta-category perspective is used in the research report. (Fischer, 2005) It is expected that the study will be based on this, and that is to examine some aspect of life events and perceptions affect the variables in the research. The literature review should reflect the current state of knowledge relevant to the study and identify any gaps or conflicts. It should include key or classic studies on the topic as well as up to date literature. There should be a balance of primary and secondary sources Related studies, on the other hand, are studies, inquiries, or investigations already conducted to which the present proposed study is related or has some bearing or similarity. They are usually unpublished materials such as manuscripts, theses, and dissertations. (Creswell, 2003) Since the study is based on existing theory, then the researcher already has an idea of what relationships to be found. These ideas are stated in the form of a hypothesis, a prediction regarding the relationships or effects of selected factors on other factors. For any study to include a hypothesis there must be some knowledge bout a problem of interest so that the researchers can propose or predict that certain relationships or effects may occur. The research provided two sections for the hypotheses: Life stage (age) hypotheses and Country culture hypotheses. (Fawcett, 2004) Identify ethical issues related to the study and how they were/were not addressed. Ethical issues pertinent to the study are discussed. The researchers identified how the rights of informants have been protected and informed consent obtained. The patients who participated in the study were informed regarding the purpose of the research and approval was sought from them prior to the interviews. Health service research committees were responsible for getting the permission of these patients. (Fowler, 2002) The information regarding and confidentiality of the study were

Friday, September 27, 2019

The World of Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The World of Management - Research Paper Example The increase of corporations did present demand for additional financial information that will enable the successful undertaking of the business financial activities. The study of accounting and â€Å"book keeping† became significantly relevant in numerous learning institutions (Walker 246). The financial undertakings of the businesses had to be carefully evaluated to assist in the verification of imperative decisions. The soaring growth of the corporations necessitated the employment of accountants to enlighten the executive on the financial situation of the firm. According to Whye (165), in 1881, there was the formation of the American Association of Public Accountants (AAPA). This institution was to establish the mannerisms to portray in the undertaking of the accounting profession. In America, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AIPCA) was established (Whye 166). The ethical structures that would manage the accounting field were established in 1907. This became the guideline of the associations of the accountant to the employer and fellow workmates. This effort led to the formation of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which would formulate accounting principles, and ethical architecture of accounting. Accounting is evolving everyday and the accounting principles are subject to various alterations that will be significant to the existing market. According to Jones (361), this will assist in delivery of comprehensive financial documents to the corporation explaining their economic standing and the financial resources viable for exploitation. This enables the management to amplify the firm’s earnings through diversification of their interests. The accounting occupation is evolving into various specialized units since the responsibilities of the accountants are advancing. Forensic accounting is one of the noteworthy

Human Resources Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Human Resources Management - Essay Example Training is the most applicable tool that Tesco can use to educate its employees. The company must invest heavily on training and development process for motivational reasons. It is important to understand what make, satisfies or dissatisfies employees. Additionally, the company should carefully analyze and plan its training needs to have a tremendous influence and impact on the employee’s performance (McDowall & Mark 2010, p610). Tesco must establish the group that needs training, areas that need improvement, and the resources required for the training process to be effective. Indeed, companies that pay a great attention and invest a lot in their training and development process, often have the best results such as an increase in work performance, productivity, morale, and satisfaction just to name a few. Solutions to having the best training and development process depends more on the communication strategies used. In other words, communication must be the main drive to orga nizational development and encourages employees to generate and learn from one another. Some of the potential applications and strategies that Tesco may adopt to take full advantage of modern technology and enhance their training and development process might include the following. The most important strategy is the capacity or ability to broadcast messages from different offices across the world. The innovation of technology reduces the cost of international travel, thus allowing executives to be in meetings virtually and interact effectively (Cherniss, Grimm & Liautaud 2010, p415). With this, technology can be used to enhance communication in training and development by breaking distance barriers that may hinder effective interaction. Technology boosts communication process in the sense that, trainers do not have to travel in miles training trainees. The trainer only needs to record the message and send it to the company or the organization in need. Tesco should embrace this strat egy to boost its communication in training and development. For instance, the holographic technology is a potential technological tool that would benefit Tesco. Employers could use this technology to increase company meetings, internal communication and learning, and development. According to Kissack & Callahan (2010, p366), the systems of holographic technology is supplied by a projector or an LED screen that enhances reflected images on the onstage. The company should embrace this technology to enhance a great impact in communication process. Most companies experience challenges in getting their message across and understanding the people that need to learn. Thus, it is important to connect to people emotionally by making them understand what is expected of them in the workplace. The company must embrace the investment of technology such as holographic against the savings on international accommodations and flights. By utilizing the modern technology, Tesco’s employees woul d be more connected to learning process. Still, employers would be in a better position to enlist technologies that help them stay connected to experts across the globe. Instead of hiring experts to come and train the organization, Tesco would only need to broadcast messages by different experts and stay connected, enriched, and motivated

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Public Employees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Employees - Essay Example This essay discusses the benefits of the patronage system versus the merit system for public employee. First, the patronage system refers to a system where public employees are hired or dismissed based on the support of an individual candidate or the political system. When a candidate belonging to a certain political party wins an election, they have the right to appoint a given number of individuals into public positions (Farazmand, 2007). This is the real meaning of the patronage system that is commonly referred to as the spoils system. The appointment of these individuals is based on political support rather than merit as the appointment criteria. Although the patronage system exists across the various levels in the US government, the number of positions offered through this system has reduced drastically since the 1880s. In fact, the system existed in the US until 1883 with the enactment of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. In 1820, congress set a limit of the federal administrators to four years and this lead to an increase in the public employees’ turnover (Dautrich and Yalof, 2013). By the 1860s, the patronage system and the civil war had led to increased corruption and widespread inefficiency in the public service and had spread to low rank government positions. There are numerous benefits associated with the patronage or spoilers system. To start with, the system helps put in place a well-organized political system that rewards campaign workers. The system also puts individuals who agree with the political agenda in power thus promotion cooperation, trust and loyalty within the public service. The system ensures continuous turnover and this brings new individuals and ideas into the system. This system was replaced by the Merit system when the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 was enacted (Dautrich and Yalof, 2013). The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 specified that public jobs

Reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reading - Essay Example Additionally, individuals treat the disabled and homeless in society with compassion while they can offer them job opportunities that give them the chance to buy the food themselves (OBrien 56). This essay asserts that the disabled and homeless in society should be treated with respect and compassion in society by giving them equal opportunities in various sectors including the job market owing to the fact that they can give an equal contribution in society if they are granted equal opportunities. The American Disability Act (ADA) is an all-inclusive federal civil rights decree that protects the rights of the individuals with disabilities. It influences various sectors including state and local government programs, employment, public services including transportation and access to places of public accommodation such as businesses, restaurants and other places of public accommodation (Fielder 67). The act was enacted in 1990 following continued existence of unnecessary and unfair prejudice that denied people with various disabilities the chance to compete on an equal platform with normal individuals (Colker 67). There were proposed changes on the act that were effected in 2009 after the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) was signed into law. In the article ‘Homeless’, Anna Quindlen gives a different view on homelessness. She describes her encounter with a homeless woman. The woman produces a number of pictures of a house showing that she had a home (Quindlen). However, the woman was wearing a raincoat with creases on it. This shows that at some in life, the woman had a home and her life was in order. Generally, the article discusses the plight of the homeless in society. The homeless should be treated with dignity and given the required help to get on their feet. The homeless lack a permanent residence owing to the fact that there are limited shelters. A recent research

Implementation & Analysis of Public Policy Essay

Implementation & Analysis of Public Policy - Essay Example e 2004 general elections before the voters to 2006 and later 2008 with an election outcome of 52.7 percent voting in favor of the project (Albalate 15). This approval was for the first segment of the proposed railway system that was dubbed Proposition 1A. As Albalate asserts, the entire project was estimated to cost forty billion dollars, however, the authority responsible for the execution of the plan releases a novel cost estimation ranging between $98.5 billion and $118 billion. The system is anticipated to complete in 2035 whereby it will carry 120,000 riders each day at a speed of 200 miles per hour, if it gets built successfully (16). Despite the gobs of benefits anticipated from the proposed rail system, there has been criticism hitherto. The proposed rail system intends to meet California’s transportation needs of the 21st century. The 800-mile running rail is purposed to connect the major regions of the state such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. With the congestion in the transport systems, it is feasible to implement a system that will help in reducing both the inconveniences and time taken to travel. The state of California experiences severe air pollutions, and to eliminate this, the proposed rail system aims at achieving a cleaner environment wiping out the auto travel, which is the main agent of air pollution. The elimination of autos from the transport system will also reduce the state’s reliance on foreign oils. For other means of transport, the high-speed rail project will enhance connectivity. The rail system is also calculated at contributing to the state’s economic development and job creation for the persistently heightened unemployment characterized population. Besides, the high- speed rail system aspires to protect the preserved, ecologically sensitive, and agricultural lands by reducing the per passenger emissions, during travel, across the state of California (Jones 228). After the completion of the project, Californians have much

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Cultural Makeup of Early Civilizations Assignment

Cultural Makeup of Early Civilizations - Assignment Example Religion and worship provided a means by which early civilizations could give explanations of mysterious issues in their existence (Chisholm & Millard, 1991). These forces played a part because a unit’s culture is highlighted as a demonstration that is present in religion, art, and customs.   Several social issues occurred as a result of the cultural makeup. They include invasions, conquests, and wars. A civilization’s religious and spiritual convictions, forms of occupation, artifacts, literacy, and political activities may cause those social issues. In addition, social concerns also entailed the economic difficulties that were a threat to the early civilizations. Moreover, there was a development of ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism arose because of the emergence of social class. Ethnocentrism may include small units of people between civilizations and societies and within a community. For instance, a number of groups in the history of Iraq, going back to the period of Mesopotamia, have created autonomous social groups (Fernà ¡ndez-Armesto, 2000). Moreover, invasions resulted in the production of more food and development of armies. Weapons were also developed due to the development of tools.   Cultural influences may be closely associated with the forces that played a part to the cultural structure of early civilizations. In the initial stages, the foremost cultural influences entailed the need for shelter for their household, food, warmth, and clothing. Later, security, food, region, and housing became cultural influences. Nonetheless, the foremost cultural inspirations on early civilizations include ritual behavior, religious and spiritual beliefs, and art. These cultural influences are popular to the civilization or group and are moved on from one generation to another (Chisholm & Millard, 1991).

Understanding Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Understanding Argument - Essay Example The author’s argument can be summarised in one sentence as follows; Guns should be banned for civilians in the United States because they are too dangerous and kill too many people to be safe for non-professionals to use. She goes about supporting this point firstly by arguing that the Second Amendment of the American constitution does not confer upon American civilians the right to own a gun. Ivins quotes from the Second amendment, which states that guns can be kept by ‘members of a well regulated militia’. (4) This, she argues, does not mean that the average man on the street automatically has the right to own a gun, but rather that this right is specifically limited by the Second Amendment to the police and security forces. In Ivins’ view, ‘fourteen-year-old boys are not part of a well regulated militia. Wacky members of a religious cult are not members of a well regulated militia.’ (4) The licensing of guns to members of the public, therefo re, goes against the Second Amendment. Thomas Jefferson, quips Ivins, surely wasn’t aiming to uphold the right of gangs to kill innocent members of the public in drive-by shootings. Ivins then moves on to the argument that things other than guns kill people, but they are not made illegal. Her example is the car. A car, so the pro-gun lobby argument goes, is just as likely to kill you as a gun. There are many irresponsible drivers who kill people in traffic accidents, just like there are irresponsible gun owners who go out and shoot people, but the car hasn’t been outlawed. Ivins’ response to this line of attack is that we ‘licence them [i.e. cars] and their owners, restrict their use to presumably sane and sober adults and keep track of who sells them to whom’. (8) She argues that at the very least the same should be done for guns. In Ivins’ argument

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Marketing on the internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing on the internet - Essay Example Amazon.com hit off as an online bookstore. However they soon diversified their portfolio and ventured into selling DVDS, CDs, and MP3 downloads software’s, games, electronics, food, toys, furniture and apparel. They started spreading out from United States and established bases in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and China. Amazon’s target audience: Amazon has segmented its target market on the basis of various variables. Their target market is segmented on the basis of demographic, geographic, and psychographic variables. Demographically talking, Amazon attracts customers who have constant access to the internet. In a recent survey conducted by Cyber Atlas, 55% men and 49% women amongst the internet using population admitted that Amazon.com is their favourite site for shopping. (CyberAtlas ; 2001)Geographically speaking, Amazon.com is most widely used in the United States and everywhere else in the world where there is Internet access. At the moment 2 9 million people in 160 countries are using the site. Amazon provides its customers with an engaging and a satisfying experience on their site. This ensures that the customers return to their site. It works on building customer loyalty by enabling features like personal customization of the web page for each of its customers. Amazon’s business strategies: Amazon built its competitive edge on three core strategies. These were: 1. Cost Leadership 2. Customer differentiation 3. Focus Under its cost leadership strategy Amazon has stood out by offering rock-bottom prices. It provides good quality products at low prices. Its prices can’t be matched by its competitors. This makes it an obvious choice for customers. Under the second strategy, Amazon offers current and prospective customers differentiation via convenience. It is one of the largest e-stores at the moment. Its product assortment is huge. It capitalizes on its huge product assortment, fast and efficient delivery a nd efficient services. It has focused on 4 primary areas for its focus strategy. These include the 1. Product focus. 2. Customer focus 3. Technology focus 4. Distribution focus As mentioned before, Amazon has a huge product assortment. Its product assortment has always attracted customers. Technology has always been central to Amazon’s business. It is an e-commerce business, a virtual market place, where every transaction is done online. Amazon’s E-marketing Strategy: Goal and Objectives: In 2008 Amazon’s vision was defined and re-phrased to mark complete focus on customer experience. It said â€Å"relently focus on customer experience by offering our customers low prices, convenience and a wide selection of merchandise.† The vision was to offer the Earth’s biggest consortium of products and to be the most customer centric company. This was Amazon’s core marketing message and it communicated its online value proposition both onsite and offsi te. (Chaffey) Amazon ensured that it offered lowest prices for most of the popular products that it was offering. However it also included less popular products that commanded high prices in the market. As a result it was able to squeeze margins for itself. Amazon’s primary objective was to be customer friendly and offer convenience to its customer. This was why it started offering free-shipping services soon. Another core objective at Amazon has been the fulfillment of promises and ensuring that customers are well-communicated and well-informed. Amazon did

Week 3-4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Week 3-4 - Assignment Example Quality literacy learning happens when students are offered the opportunities to appreciate recreational and creative aspect of the entire literature and other kinds of texts (Nixon, Comber, with Grant, & Wells, 2010). The curriculum should therefore allow students to fully participate in the society. The program should involve among other forms of support an emphasis on independent reading and independent writing alongside critical literacy to achieve independent learning for diverse learners. This should be crowned by a proper ongoing assessment that involves the following: running records, observation surveys, observation checklists, rubrics, anecdotal records, and marking scales. Using an ‘inquiry stance’ permits teachers to analyze the dynamics and complexities of their classroom communities as well as to design curriculum basing on their knowledge/understanding of students in their circumstances (Nixon, Comber, with Grant, & Wells, 2010). This means, teacher-researchers in schools teaching diverse students bring social circumstance into the foreground; they take into social circumstance to be more than the ‘background’ to the lives of their students’. This approach makes the cultural and linguistic diversity of families a property rather than a deficit. The discussion here follows the work of a teacher who combines critical approach literacy with a property model of cultural diversity (Laura & Carol, 2008). This involves, foregrounding students’ cultural and linguistic resources in the curriculum to generate high quality literature results for diverse learners. The school I teach, it serves a diverse community of students. This includes significant numbers of languages speakers other than English in each classroom. This means that in there are collaborations between teachers to help linguistically and culturally diverse students to develop their literacy in English and other learning

Monday, September 23, 2019

Autism College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Autism College - Essay Example Autism is the best recognized and most frequently occurring form of a group of disorders collectively known as the pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). "It is diagnosed on the basis of abnormal social development, abnormal communicative development, and the presence of narrow, restricted interests, and repetitive activity, along with limited imaginative ability" (Baron-Cohen 1999). Autism is the result of an abnormality in the structure and function of the brain. Although technology still does not allow researchers to see much of how nerve cells grow or come together in the brain, or how information is passed from nerve to nerve, there is increasing evidence that the problems associated with autism and the other forms of PDD are the result of structural differences in the brain that arise during pregnancy--either due to something that injures the brain or due to a genetic factor that interferes with typical brain growth (Frith 1993). The capacity to understand that others think the same way you do is a capacity called "theory of mind". Autistic children are very slow to develop even a partial theory of mind, and many never really develop it at all. Hand-leading is also used by other language-handicapped children, and by deaf children, but when they hand-lead, they combine gaze between the parent and the object with the hand-leading, making it a more social activity. Closely related to the observation that autistic children do not point or develop a theory of mind at the usual time is the observation that autistic children lack social referencing. Social referencing is an early form of social behavior that every parent recognizes: Usually social referencing first appears when the baby is about six to eight months old. "The theory of mind suggests that the key social, communicative and imaginative impairments which characterize this disorder result from an inability to represent mental states" (Frith et al 1994, p . 108). In thinking about the nonverbal communication of an autistic child, it is important to distinguish between nonverbal cues that the responsive parent just knows how to read (like a little boy who keeps playing, but holds the front of his pants when he has to go potty) versus intentional messages that the child is sending to the adult (like a little boy who looks at his mom with a pained expression and wiggles up and down while holding the front of his pants). True nonverbal communication involves a type of "mind-reading"--knowing that what you're thinking is somehow going to be conveyed to someone else through you facial expressions or gestures, and without the use of words. The main limitation of this theory is that simply put, a theory of mind is the belief or "theory" you hold that others have a "mind" capable of understanding things the same way your mind does. A lack of theory of mind results in unawareness of others' thoughts and feelings, and so contributes to the lack of interest on the part of autistic children in sharing their triumphs and failures with significant adults (Frith and Happe, 1994). Another theory of autism is the extreme male brain theory. "The model depends on the notion of there being a "male brain", defined psychometrically" (Baron-Cohen 1999, p. 24). Researchers suppose that females and males and differ in cognition: "females are show faster levels

Drinking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Drinking - Research Paper Example Supporting Arguments Nowadays, an alliance has been formed youth and drinking. It is not only spoiling the youth’s health but also causing a great deal of immorality in them. They are destroying themselves by filling their body with such fluids. Youth is now unable to present itself as a healthy part of society; rather, the young have lost their focus of life and become irresponsible. In the past, school was an institution which was a place for the young to nurture their abilities and talents. But now it has become a place of fun funded by parents. They just have found a place where they can party and do whatever they want to (Should the Legal Drinking Age Be Raised to 25 to Eliminate Deadly College Partying?). The health experts of University of Otago conducted a study showing correlation between suicides, homicides, and age of drinking (Elder). People who start drinking early in their lives have a higher tendency to commit suicide or kill others (Elder). Same study found out that there is a decrease in suicide ratio among people who began drinking alcohol late in life (Elder). This is an effective supporting evidence for increasing the minimum age of drinking. ... In this way, this habit which spreads through company can be avoided to some extent. Youngsters can concentrate more on studies and achieving ambitions of their life. Research also shows that adults react quite differently to alcohol as compared to youth (Knudsen). Adults have more sense of when to stop drinking as compared to the young; also, they do not drink as frequently as school going youngsters (Knudsen). Brain development of adults is more stable as compared to youngsters, so they do not go to extreme extents for partying. If drinking is started at early age, there is more probability that a person will endure depression and will be psychologically distant from the society (Knudsen). Drinking has more hazardous effect on developing brains of the young (Knudsen). Some scholars say that youngsters are not sensible and responsible enough to understand the purpose of alcohol even at the age of 21 because alcohol is the most abused drug (Lianne H.). So, according to some scholars, the minimum drinking age should be raised to 23 because brain keeps on developing until the age of 23 (Lianne H.). Also, at the age of 23, people graduate and are ready to start their professional lives. So, there are less chances of spreading this habit in the whole group. At the age of 21, most people are at university and colleges enjoying and partying with friends and more of their attention is towards enjoying life and breaking rules (Lianne H.). Automobile accidents are also very common and there are many cases of drunk driver ruining a number of lives, which results in an endless trauma (Lianne H.). Adults at the age of 23 have mature minds and they are conscious enough not to drive after drinking (Lianne H.). However, teenagers do not have this

Sunday, September 22, 2019

DISNEYLAND IN QATAR Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

DISNEYLAND IN QATAR - Case Study Example Market segmentation and target market have been analyzed as part of market analysis. These will form the basis for the development of positioning strategies that are necessary for the appropriate marketing mix to be achieved. The 4ps, which represents Product, Place, Price and Promotion, have been discussed as part of the marketing mix that will be significant for the theme park to establish a unique position in the Qatari market. The strategic fit between the company’s capabilities, resources and the opportunity has been discussed. These are indicators of competitiveness that justify the need for expansion in to the Qatari market. The implementation plan highlights the chronology of events that will lead to the establishment of a fully functional theme park in Qatar. It has been included in the marketing plan as a significant lead to the implementation of proposed activities to accomplish particular objectives over a particular period of time. Each activity corresponds to an objective and output. The implementation plan indicates that establishment and functioning of the theme park will take a period of 14 months. The control strategies that will be employed have been highlighted. These are the actions that the management will be involved in to ensure that the objectives are accomplished according to the implementation plan. Introduction... Disneyland will establish a 500 hectare park with 10 divisions offering different entertainment activities including horse rides, music, live plays, video and wildlife viewing as well as nature trails. This marketing plan aims at maintaining annual revenue of $3 billion. This will be equivalent to 30% of all revenue generated by all five existing Disney’s theme parks in 2011 (White, 2004). Objectives 1. Maintaining 24 hour services during peak season to maintain high sales 2. Increasing the time customers spend in the park through offering half day free for every two days spent at Disneyland during off-peak 3. Promoting institutional visitation by offering special cost reduction during off-peak 4. Encouraging visitation by locals through discounts 5. Establish customer relation management (CRM) to enable the management to keep in touch with clients 6. To increase income by taking advantage of increased number of customers and tourists as a result of Qatar being the host for FI FA Word Cup in 2022 Mission The overall mission of the organization is to maintain leadership among the global providers of entertainment, and more specifically to establish an ultra modern theme park that will outshine any other theme park in the Qatari entertainment industry. The new theme park in Qatar will offer customer focused services to ensure that people get the best value for their money. Market Analysis Market Segmentation Market segmentation has been an important tool for the success of Disneyland theme parks. It involves division of the market in to various segments that consist of groups of consumers with common characteristics. This practice allows the management to know the

Is Jealousy Ever a Good Thing Essay Example for Free

Is Jealousy Ever a Good Thing Essay Jealousy has always been one of the meanest quality of mankind. What is worse is that, it is almost inevitable. In one way or another, jealousy enters our lives, naturally and sometimes unconsciously, creating suffering for ourselves and others. As events from history and daily life have shown, human’s failure to stay away from this instinct has led to ruined relationships, suffering for everyone involved, and even demoralization. Let’s take Cesare Borgia as an example of how dangerous jealousy is to human. As the oldest son of the powerful Pope Alexander VI of Vatican, Cesare is said to have everything, from wealth to land and power. Compared to his brother Giovanni, however, Cesare himself felt inferior. He was sick of seeing Giovanni taking away from him beautiful women and more affection from the Pope, as well as losing more important military duties and national honor in to his brother. In situations like this, it is human nature to feel jealous, but Cesare’s extreme envy led him to kill his brother. Now having gained absolute power, it is ironic that Cesare was still not happy. His father was so upset that he imprisoned himself in a palace for a long time, and Cesare was detested by Giovanni’s wife and many family members. From the story, it is startling how jealousy can make people do crazy things and turn brotherhood into rivalry, degrading moral values and causing agony to everyone. Daily life proves to be a huge source of evidences for the negative effects of jealousy. I feel sad to see the way some of my friends at school treat each other like rivals. Because of excessive competitiveness in academics, the scene of some classmates making fun of somebody else’s low grade is not uncommon. I am astonished at the way many students turn so indifferent whenever I ask them for help with my homework, and the way they wish each other to fail exams so that they can climb to the top of the class. People may argue that being jealous of others’ success gives them extra determination. They must have not realized that friendship is more important than superficial achievements. By being jealous, they actually develop a selfish attitude, and sacrifice what may have become their lifelong friendships. Among the many ways to achieve our goals, being jealous is absolutely the worst one, for proofs from both history and daily life have shown that it can destroy friendships and creates rivalry. Unless people can avoid it and take others’ success as a model and motivation for themselves to make progress, they will never have what they want.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

3d System and 3d Printing Essay Example for Free

3d System and 3d Printing Essay As a radical innovation, 3D printing has been introduced to market over 30 years since 1980s. This technology revolution doesn’t only change the process of molding; it also adapts its industry to go green by reducing wasting materials. In the contrast, object is produced by traditional technology (subtractive process) generates surplus cut material. In the early period of development, it was applied in hobbyist uses and industry uses such as design visualization, prototyping, architecture, education, and healthcare. In 2000s, along with mass launches of portable 3D printers from several companies, 3D printer has stepped on consumer product market; also, printed objects have been transformed from components or prototypes to finished goods. The personal 3D printer is incremental innovation of 3D printing. Basically, it was developed from industry 3D printer by design, size, and accessibility. Cube ® as 3D Systems’ first personal 3D printer is part of company’s strategy which is to accelerate 3D printer penetration. Five growth strategies See more: Homeless satire essay * Expand on-demand-parts services * Accelerate 3D printer penetration * Grow healthcare revenue * Consumer and retail * Create Seamless digital scan, design and print platform 3D Systems acquired Rapidform which is a leading global provider of 3D scan-to CAD and inspection software tools, located in Seoul, South Korea in 9 October 2012. 3D Systems is going to achieve its fifth growth initiative: to create a seamless, digital scan, design and print platform for the benefit of its customers. 3D Systems would broaden their range of capabilities with complementary products and technology, and extend its coverage and breadth globally with a significant foothold in South Korea and Japan. Technological Opportunities and Innovation The company has been playing as a leading provider in 3D printing business for over 25 years. It mainly focuses on business purposes e.g. making a rapid prototyping and manufacturing part. The research and development team of the company work closely with marketing department and foresee an opportunity gap in the current market. The team has an idea to entering into â€Å"home personal 3D printing† market by launching a new product line called Cube ® which allows people to print real object in three dimensions. Concurrent with introducing Cubify.com as a marketplace and meeting place where artists, designers, children and makers can sell their 3D designs and anyone can Cube ® in Product Life Cycle According to Product Life Cycle strategy, 3D Systems and its Cube ® have been successfully proving the Introduction stage and are ongoing with Growth stage. The attention has been captured by hyping up the publicity and put the personal home 3D printing into recognition. All sources of public media e.g. Magazine, Newspaper, YouTube, News, Trade Event are widely presenting the debut of company innovation of home personal 3D printer and has been awarded as the winner of â€Å"Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award 2012†. 3D Systems Focusing Strategies In order to move along from Introduction period to Growth, the company has put its focus into 4 main company strategies which one of them is â€Å"Accelerate 3D printer penetration†. It is emphasis on expanding company distribution channel through reseller and subsidiary around the world which currently the company only offers click-and-mortar store. Cube ® in Adoption Curve and its Development Culture Since the personal home 3D printer is new to market, with its intuitive experience offering to consumer, it is not difficult for Innovators group of people to adopt the printing technology. Therefore, with its product features—Simplicity of Plug and Play, WiFi printing support, and more pattern available to download on cubify.com, it would not be an obscurity for Early Adopters to adopt the system as well. Furthermore, Cube ® 3D printer is currently likely positioned on the upper right side of the 3D Systems’ Development Culture model where it is considered to be such a completely new and breakthrough product of the year. The company will constantly improve the printer itself as seen in the company annual report under research and development expenses increased by $5.7 million, or 58.1%, to $15.4 million in the first nine months of 2012 from $9.7 million in the first nine months of 2011 3D Systems Development Culture Cube ® and its complementary product The selling point of the Cube ® 3D printer is not only the machine itself but the company also offer a cloud service community—Cubify.com. - Cubify turns mobile device, PC or tablet into a powerful mobile digital canvas to unleash creativity and bring ideas to life in 3D. On Cubify.com, user can find coloring book, cloud gaming and share creativity in 3D experience. The site also offers intuitive 3D Apps, rich 3D printable content libraries of games, puzzles, and any other collections for creation, purchase, share, or even sell for money. Additionally, the website also provides online printing service and has the printed object ship it right to customer later by air mail. Therefore, this service has driven the company to hold competitive advantage over competitors. People are increasing the awareness of cloud service where everything can be done over the air. The company can create the value of its product by offering a place where community begins which increasing in customer lock-in strategy and generate more revenue to company in long run. What company strategies beyond launch Cube ®: Be fast mover The world’s first personal 3D printer was launched by Stratasys in 2009. At the same time, 3D systems also launched its first personal 3D printer to become one of fast movers to better understand the barriers to broad utilization. As technology world, time is everything. 3D systems entered the market early means to quickly build large installed based as many as its industry section, and keep its leading position in 3D printing technology. They are now working on a multi-front strategy to democratize access and accelerate the adoption of 3D printing for the student, the hobbyist and ultimately, the consumer. The real keys are utility and affordability. Cube is part of its plan. Razor-blade strategy The launch of Cube reflects company’s penetration strategy that attempts to make customers to lock in with its products. The price of Cube is affordable, in addition to its high quality of product and service such as friendly-use application, various materials and colors, platform named Cubify.com where users can download and upload sources. Printer won’t be only product customer will purchase. Once printer is purchased, customer needs to keep purchasing other complementary products such as materials, also service such as applications. They will continuously make profit for company; even the revenue of materials and service is greater than the revenue of machine. RD As a technology company, innovation is critical, and one of the key drives of innovation is research and development. 3D systems’ expense in RD is increasing gradually to ensure its leadership through technology and business innovation. Table: 1. 3Dsystems-2012 Financial Statement Protect innovation Only developing and introducing new technology and product that will meet the customers need is not sufficient to be successful. To gain profit and increase market share, the company need to protect the product and service and development and manufacturing phase copying by competitors and new entrants. 3D Systems consider their technology platforms and materials as proprietary and try to protect them through copyrights, patents, trademarks and trade secrets. 3D Systems has worked steadily over the years to develop the market, protect its position with a portfolio of hundreds of patents, and to improve its machinery, software and materials. This has resulted in improvements in accuracy, surface finish and material properties that have been instrumental in expanding the rapid prototyping market as a whole. At December 31, 2011, 3D Systems held 725 patents and 257 pending patent applications worldwide, including applications covering inventions contained in our recently introduced printers. 3D Systems has also entered into licensing or cross-licensing arrangements with various companies in the United States and in other countries that enable those companies to utilize the technologies in their products or that enable 3D Systems to use their technologies in the products. Under certain of these licenses, they are entitled to receive, or obligated to pay, royalties for the sale of licensed products in the U.S. or in other countries. 3D Systems gain the competitive advantages from these patents and licenses and their success depends largely on the marketing, business development and applications know-how and on their ongoing research and development efforts. Although 3D Systems protect their intellectual property rights, the secrecy of their digital content, confidential information, trade secrets and unlicensed copying through a variety of techniques, the success of 3D Systems will motivate the competitors to copy what they are doing. When the competitors come with up with the technology and product with the same customer need, it will be harmful to their business. The loss of trade secret protection could make it easier for third parties to compete with their products by copying previously confidential features, which could adversely affect 3D Systems revenue and operating margins. Strategic acquisition 3D Systems has made and will continue to make strategic acquisitions in future also. 3D has acquired a number of technologies and competitor companies over the years. It purchased Keltool ® technology from 3M several years ago to address high volume injection mold-making applications. In rapid succession in 2001, it acquired OptoForm SARL (France), RPC Ltd. OptoForms technology was aimed at additive manufacturing applications and RPC was acquired to help the company replace its long-term relationship with resin supplier Vantico. 3D Systems completed twelve acquisitions in 2011 and the Z Corp and Vidar acquisitions in 2012. 3D Systems consolidated its entire personal and professional 3D printer businesses into a single unit. This acquisition integrates Z Corp and Vidar products and services with 3D Systems’ extensive portfolio, uniquely positioning 3D Systems for accelerated growth in the dynamic, rapidly expanding 3D content-to-print space. The transaction completes 3D Systems’ range of product capabilities, fills price gaps with complementary products and technology and doubles its reseller coverage globally. Z Corporation Z Corp provides 3D technologies used to create new products and services more effectively than any other ways, compressing the design cycle, generating new concepts, communicating clearly, fostering collaboration, and reducing errors. Z Corp solutions span the entire 3D CAD/BIM design process from concept through design verification. Z Corp is committed to making their solutions the fastest, easiest, most accessible and most valuable. Vidar Systems Corporation Vidar Systems is a leading provider of optical imaging technology specializing in medical and dental imaging markets. Built upon a solid foundation of innovation and an unwavering dedication to quality, the company is the worldwide leader and number one manufacturer of medical film digitizers. â€Å"This is a historic, game-changing event for our customers and stockholders. Today we gained complementary full color and high speed printing technology, increased our marketplace presence significantly in verticals beyond product development and direct manufacturing, assembled the largest and most-well prepared reseller channel in 3D printing, and catalyzed our healthcare solutions business,† said Abe Reichental, President and CEO of 3D Systems. â€Å"Concurrent with the completion of this transaction today, we have taken immediate, decisive steps to unleash the combined revenue growth potential and deliver the value creation inherent in this acquisition for the benefit of customers and shareholders alike.† 3D Systems plan to evaluate acquisition opportunities in the future in an effort to expand the business and enhance stockholder value. â€Å"Acquisitions involve certain risks and uncertainties including: * Difficulty in integrating newly acquired businesses and operations in an efficient and cost-effective manner, which may also impact our ability to realize the potential benefits associated with the acquisition; * The risk that significant unanticipated costs or other problems associated with integration may be encountered; * The challenges in achieving strategic objectives, cost savings and other anticipated benefits; * The risk that our marketplaces do not evolve as anticipated and that the technologies acquired do not prove to be those needed to be successful in the marketplaces that we serve; * The risk that we assume significant liabilities that exceed the limitations of any applicable indemnification provisions or the financial resources of any indemnifying party; * The inability to maintain a relationship with key customers, vendors and other business partners of the acquired business. Acquisition for the development of Cube * 3D Systems acquired Bit from Bytes (UK) which is one of the more successful of start-up companies producing open-source equipment in 2010. Both companies achieved from this acquisition. BFB has got the patent and technical issues as well as means to accelerate the pace of its development. It also provided 3D Systems with a window on very low price and easier to enter in cost sensitive fields such as education. In 2011, 3D followed up that acquisition and purchased BotMill, an even smaller US company producing RepRap derivative and the purchase of widen their offerings for those customers looking for machine at the lowest cost. At the start of the 2012, 3D introduced a third major initiative in the low cost, the Cube 3D printer presented as a key component in a new web-based consumer community the company has dubbed Cubifyâ„ ¢. It remains to be seen how 3D Systems will integrate these efforts, or whether the entities will maintain their individual identities. What benefits and risks of 3D systems in the future? Enjoy benefits 3D systems make mass targets by providing wide range of product portfolio in perspective of price and performance. In the meantime, its 7 print engines are technical standard in 3D printing industries. It means it can capture the majority of customers. Cube is a good trial to penetrate 3D printer to personal use. In addition, effective adoption of emerged new technology and booming market would urge 3D systems to gain large market share and profits while building its leadership. The powerful materials and services can diversify the revenue generation of the company; they build its competitiveness among market. Potential risks: Global economic, political and social conditions might increase costs, harm the ability of company to do business, change the market trend. Cube is still not dominant design yet; the competitors can easily take over its market position by launching higher performance machine with lower price. The company may incur substantial costs enforcing or acquiring intellectual property rights and defending against third party claims as a result of litigation or other proceedings. In some case, it may not be able to protect them from unauthorized copying, use or disclosure. In rapid changing technology world, it will be always possible that radically new technology emerges and destroy current one. If so, the company and its product will face huge difficulty. Recommendations: To gain greater market share with higher profit, we suggest 3D systems to improve in the following aspects: 1. Price 3D Systems could further reduce price of 3D printers to penetrate into market. If do so, company can build large installed base. Over time, when company gains sufficient user, it could start to reduce price of materials to follow penetration plan. On the other hand, it’s to ease users’ concern, and lift company’s reputation. 2. Product development 3D Systems should bring more advanced products with higher specifications to fulfill diversity of printing requirements. Printing product size, types of materials and level of printing details are main specifications customers care. Therefore product developments in general are to make bigger product size, more types of materials, and higher level of details. 3. Service The complexity of use and lack of 3D creations are key barriers of purchase. In order to ease use experience, we suggest 3D systems to develop a new application itself or gain it from acquisition. The application is complementary product which can convert 2D images into 3D creations. Of course, company might face copyright problems. In this case, it can communicate with a group of giant companies to sign a contract to gain information such as size, material, and color of their products. Certainly, the copyright problems will be solved. This service is not free to customers; they need to pay to download. Those giant companies will also gain big percentage of fee from download. 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