'Compare and contrast the intended and emergent approach to strategic Essay

'Compare and contrast the intended and emergent approach to strategic management' and compare this to Dixons - Essay Example Mintzberg has lectured for several years on management and has authored several books on strategic management. The article is useful in researching Dixon’s strategy formulation process. Mintzberg article is geared at highlighting how the management can implement strategies that ensure organisational competitive edge. Pretorius and Maritz (2011) agree with Mintzberg that strategies should be based on the business environment. However, Ansoff (1991) disagrees with Mintzberg by critiquing the sample used in design school theory and asserting that strategies should not focus on the entire organization. Mintzberg conquers with Mintzberg and Waters (1985), that some strategies are emergent while other are deliberate. Concludes by asserting that strategy formulation should be controlled and executives must have the responsibility in the formulation. The article is useful in understanding modern strategy formulation in organisations since it focuses on the factors that should be consi dered in strategy formulation and responsibility of executives. I my view, the article offer a constructive approach to strategy formulation. 2. Ansoff, H., (1991). Critique of Henry Mintzberg's 'The design school: reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management,' Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12, PP 449-461. ... Ansoff explains how managers can manage changes in the environment through incremental strategies. Ansoff disagrees with Mintzberg and Waters (1985) and Pretorius and Maritz (2011), by concluding that it is impractical to formulate a strategy in an uncertain business environment. Ansoff provides an essential background for reviewing the history of strategy formulation in organisation. Kipping and Cailluet (2010) Aluminum industry case study confirms his views since managers have only implemented incremental strategies. Ansoff provides valuable criticism of design school since according to him it failed both prescriptive and descriptive observations. Ansoff suggests that managers should rely on trial and error and gradual strategies in low turbulent environment. I disagree with Ansoff since he did not offer any suggestions on strategy formulation in rapidly changing environments. 3. Mintzberg, H., and Waters, J. A., (1985) Of Strategies Deliberate and Emergent, Strategic Management Jo urnal, Vol. 6, PP 257-272. Mintzberg and Waters (1985) provide the framework of different strategic choices in the organisation. The article is aimed at highlighting different strategic formulation approaches. Some critical aspects of strategy formulation outlined by Mintzberg and Waters include types of strategies. Both Mintzberg and Waters are both reputable business authors. The article is useful in researching Dixon’s strategy formulation process. The paper offers both intended and emergent strategies like entrepreneurial strategy, ideological strategy, Consensus strategy, and Imposed strategy that are helpful in studying strategy formulation

Enforcement of entertainment laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Enforcement of entertainment laws - Essay Example Compensation Agents earn a compensation for their services at between 5% and 15% of the artist gross earnings from bookings, engagement, or employment secured by the agent. The commission given to the agent may vary depending on the type of work, length of time, popularity of the artist, and state laws. Some state laws stipulate that agents and talent agencies must obtain licences before obtaining commissions, and may be charge a particular maximum amount. Before agents represent an artist, they have to sign contracts (Ronald, 2008). According to Harrison, (2007), attorneys usually assist the artists in handling any contractual negotiations on their behalf, to be certain that the terms of an agreement such as fees and duration are favourable to the artist. Talent agents can sometimes act as managers with no licence and experience, and may negotiate contracts such as recording, publishing, or merchandising contracts for the artist, is like practising law without a licence which can je opardize the artist’s career. Contracts in the music entertainment industry can involve extremely complex legal issues such as a variety of rights, and usually have long term effects on the artist’s career. Conflict of interest may arise where an agent is being paid commission on the artist’s contract. This may make the agents focus on the advance money, at the expense of what they may assume as many details concerning the artist’s royalty calculations, publishing, creative control, production, merchandising, and other long term career issues of the artist. 2.3 Enforcement of entertainment laws State laws, such as California and New York require talent agents to obtain a licence as a form of the artist... This "Music Industry Management (Entertainment Law: Portfolio)" essay outlines the main components of entertainment law. The participation of lawyers in the media has made the media law develop much faster thereby leading to the development of entertainm ent law. Entertainment law refers to a combination of various traditional laws that focus on the provision of legal services to the players in the entertainment industry. The entertainment law combines various slaws such as company law, contract law, and sales of goods law. It is also noteworthy that, artist just setting in business, or fully established in the entertainment industry should consider having an entertainment lawyer in addition to having proper knowledge of their rights as an artist. The entertainment law firms all have different practices as most of the entertainment lawyers have varying areas of specialisation. It is therefore the onus of the artist to identify their needs be it litigation need (litigation attorneys) and or transactional needs (for the transactional attorneys). While the litigation attorney only specialise in defensive and offensive legal action, the transactional attorney s are responsible for facilitating entertainment deals, negotiations, strategi c initiatives as wells as other contractual issues. It is also advisable for artist to running contracts with entertainment law firms in order to enjoy complete legal coverage and legal representation. This should happen before and after legal issues arise because one entertainment lawyer may not provide the perfect coverage.

The African Union And Its Potential Politics Essay

The African Union And Its Potential Politics Essay On the 23rd of April 2007, an article was published in the New York Times entitled Africas Crisis of Democracy, which discussed the troubled presidential elections in Nigeria. According to analysts and observers, Nigeria was moving down a worrying path. Politicians and voters alike were becoming more and more disillusioned and started to lose confidence in the Nigerian political system and in democracy as a whole. Peter Lewis, director of African Studies Program at the John Hopkins University, was one of the researchers that conducted a survey on African public opinion and he ascertained that the political scenes in different African countries differed strongly from one another, especially during elections and in their aftermath. He stated that some countries have vibrant political scenes, while others go through the routine of elections but governance doesnt seem to improve (New York Times 2007).Lewis used the information generated through the survey to confirm the claim that people s confidence in democracy has drastically decreased. The results of survey showed that there was a 13 percent decrease, from 58 percent to 45 percent, in trust in a democratic political system since 2001 (New York Times 2007). Nigerias 2007 presidential elections were plagued by chaos, violence and fraud. These phenomena are not only present in Nigerian politics, but form a reoccurring theme in African politics in general. Many African democracies, according to Western standards, can be characterized as failed. In an article written by Ali Mazrui, states are claimed to be failed when they are unable to meet the following six criteria: exercise sovereign control over their territory; supervise their resources; effectively and rationally extract revenue from people, goods and services; build and maintain an adequate national infrastructure; provide for basic services like sanitation, education and healthcare; and lastly, states are bookmarked as failed if they are unable to bring up the capacity for governance and maintenance of law and order (Mazrui 1995: 28-29). Keeping these criteria in mind, it may be cautiously concluded that many African states are in trouble. The Angolan government can be drawn upon a s a relevant example; the government lost sovereign control over many regions of the country and as a result of this, the government also lost control over many of its resources, infrastructure and revenue (Mazrui 1995: 29). Apart from Angola, many other African states are unable to effectively control many of their countrys resources and set up an effective tax system. The consequences of these failings are that states become paralyzed by the lack of income and therefore cannot exercise their duty to provide basic services for their people, or even worse, a crisis of governance ensues. In the search for an overarching solution to these national problems, many scholars and heads of state have looked in the direction of the African Union (AU) to offer some relief and support. But what kind of organization is the AU and how can it be expected to help in solving structural political, economic and social problems that African states have? In this paper, an attempt will be made to answer these questions. Understanding Africas History It is important to understand the historical background of the African continent before even attempting to formulate a possible solution for the structural political and economic problems that the African states face today. Before colonialism and the formation of African nation states, the different regions of the continent were ruled by tribes with different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. Due to these differences, the tribes were often in conflict with each other over, amongst others, their territorial boundaries. Therefore, it could be said that there were already significant political centers and territorial division based on the heritage of common identity. During the scramble for Africa, the African continent was divided along the straight edge of a ruler, completely disregarding the already existing political formations and territorial divisions. Logically, the political elites of pre-colonial Africa had different political practices which strongly differed from those of the West, specifically on their concept of sovereignty. First of all, in the different regions of pre-colonial Africa control was exercised over people rather than land and secondly, political practices tended to be shared amongst the different political elites. That being said, it was not uncommon for different communities to have allegiances to a number of political centers (Herbst 1996-1997: 127-128). The political landscape of pre-colonial Africa was a web of territorial boundaries, defined by ethnic differences, and political allegiances to more than one political center. With the coming of Western imperialism these already existing divisions were abruptly disturbed. The initial transition from colonial status to independence in many African states proceeded quite swiftly and without major problems. This relatively peaceful transition can be attributed to the fact that in the last years of colonization, many of the leading African political figures were, for most parts, already in charge of their countries affairs (Emerson 1962: 277). After the abolition of colonialism, it was widely assumed that Africans would undo the boundaries that were set by the imperialists, but this did not happen. Also, the political structures introduced by the colonial intruders stayed intact. There were a few important reasons for why the expected territorial and political change did not occur in African countries. The first was that the leading political figures needed the state structure left behind by the West, because if the structure of the Western state was removed, there were no fitting alternatives that could compensate for it (Emerson 1962: 276). The only eff ective political structures present in Africa were the tribes, but these were of too small a scale to be of any significance (Emerson 1962: 276). Second, the inherited state system was in itself very fragile because of the absence of old-established political entities and robust communities which could lend stability the states (Emerson 1962: 279). Nevertheless, allowing the tribes to take over power as dominant elements, would have spiraled African countries into a state partial, if not total anarchy (Emerson 1962: 279). After colonialism, African states were left with a fractured internal situation. Many different tribes had been lumped together in attempt to achieve an easy governable unit, but in doing so, colonialism left behind great internal divisions that needed to be overcome in order for the states to function effectively. Apart from internal unity, the political elites of many new African states tried to achieve African unity through the ideology of Pan-Africanism. The most simplest and satisfactory definition of the phenomenon Pan-Africanism is that all Africans have a spiritual affinity with each other and that, having suffered together in the past, they must march together into a new and brighter future (Emerson 1962: 280). This idea of a united Africa and a shared African destiny sparked the initiative of the organization of Africas political elites into an intergovernmental organization. They joined forces in what was first known as the Organization of African Unity (OAU). However, the establishment of the OAU did not come to pass without a struggle, for there were definite differences in the objectives of the political elites that participated. There was a distinct schism between the post-colonial African states who envisioned an African partnership; the states were divided into two groups, the Casablanca and the Monrovia group. These two groups had slightly different ideological backgrounds, with the Casablanca group being more radical and the Monrovia group taking in moderate position. The Casablanca group envisioned a new Political Kingdom in which the participating states gave up most of their sovereignty, whilst the Monrovia group held firmly to the concepts of state sovereignty and self-determi nation in a partnership with other African countries. After long and numerous deliberations, these groups were dissolved by the establishment of the OAU in 1963 in Addis Ababa (BBC News 2001). However, in 2002 the OAU was replaced by a new organization, the AU, because the OAU was judged to be no longer adequate for the region (Packer and Rukare 2002: 365). The Constitutive Act of the African Union entered into force on May 26, 2001. The OAU as well as the AU were in part set up to help overcome the ethnic and social cleavages within the different African states, but before continuing with a further analysis of the AU and in which way it differs from the OAU and other intergovernmental organizations, it is important to broaden our understanding of these ethnic and social differences, and in which way they undermine a strong and legitimate state structure. In the case of Africa, overcoming these cleavages has proven to be quite difficult. The colonial era has left a deep mark on the African continent; because the imperialists divided the continent without taking the already existing divisions into account, many of the post-colonial African states are plagued by civil wars and unrest. The lack of an overarching national identity and the weak nature of the state system do not help in resolving the problem. What is needed is the reactivation of communalism; a common denominator which many, if not all Africans can rel ate to. According to Julius Nyerere, this may be found by introducing the ideas and beliefs of African socialism to all African communities. In a speech he made on the 13th of July 1966, Nyerere spoke of the difficulties that the formation of African unity faces. The development of the individual nation states will always be more important than the development of an African unity, because of the obligations that national governments have towards their people. This does not only pertain to political development, but also to the development of the national economy. So, when national governments take steps to develop themselves, it is inevitable that they will be taking a step way from African unity (Nyerere 1965 1967: 210). Nevertheless, Nyerere still believed that unity within and between states was possible; internal conflict and disunity can be overcome by the promotion of nationhood (Nyerere 1965 1967: 209) and an African unity can be achieved by deliberately moving to unity in every int er-state action (Nyerere 1965 1967: 210). In the Arusha Declaration of 1967, the precise ideology that formed the bases for African socialism were laid down. A few of the most important elements of the Declaration were: the absence of exploitation, the major means of production and exchange were in the hands of the peasants and the workers, the existence of a democracy and the conviction that socialism was a belief and not just an ideology (Nyerere 1965 1967: 233-234). There are many more important statements in the Arusha Declaration, the one just as important as the other, but they all amount to the following: respect thy neighbor as you would want to be respected, because all men are equal irrespective of race, religion or status and all share the responsibility of building up a strong nation state, through hard work and intelligence, that is free from poverty and inequality. Research Question The main purpose of this paper is to first of all understand what type of organization the AU is and if it can be compared to any existing inter-governmental or supra-national organizations. As the saying goes, with which one of these geese does the AU flock? After determining its nature, a further analysis of the Unions potential will be set out. The concrete research question is formulated as follows: What type of organization is the African Union and in which way can it contribute in solving any of the structural political, economic, and social problems Africa has? Employing a predominantly qualitative methodology, which will take the form of a literary analysis, this paper will try to answer the research question by first answering a few sub categories or questions. First, the AU and its goals will be compared to that of its predecessor: the OAU. After that, a short comparison with the UN and the EU will be made in order to determine what kind of structure the AU has. Then, the potential of the AU will be discussed by focusing on its Charter and the areas in which it succeeds and those where it fails. By using academic papers, commission reports of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, the official website of different organizations, books and other sources, the objectives of this paper will hopefully be achieved. Comparing structures From the Organization of African Unity to the African Union The OAU On 25th of May, the OAU was established in Addis Ababa on the stool of Pan-Africanist ideals (Department of International Relations and Cooperation 2002). The basic ideas that underpinned the establishment of the organization was that African states needed to be strongly united against colonial oppression and racism, and also needed to improve the lives of the African peoples. Starting off with 32 member states, the OAU grew over the years to eventually gain a total of 53 member states. Unfortunately, by its fifteenth anniversary, the organization was seen to have failed in achieving its set goals: responding to serious intra-African conflicts and to act against foreign intervention (Packer and Rukare 2002: 365). Also, the OAU was plagued by an internal schism between radical (the Casablanca group) and moderate member states (the Monrovia group). Adding to this list of setbacks was the fact that many member states were troubled by a worsening economic situation. There was a drastic a nd immediate need for reform mainly because the contemporary challenges of the continent had changed. By 1988, the goal of eradicating colonialism and bringing forth independence in Africa was almost completely achieved. Still, the economic crisis was a very significant problem which was not being dealt with adequately, mainly due to two important principles in the OAU charter. The first was the sovereign equality of all member states and the second was the non-interference in the international affairs of states (The OAU Charter 1963: 4). According to experts, these two principles needed to be revised (Packer and Rukare 2002: 367). To say the least, the OAU was thwarted by the boundaries set by its own charter. The insistence of the OAU to maintain the territorial boundaries that were set by the colonizers prevented it from taking action in territorial claims, but also the insistence of upholding the two principles stated above restricted the OAU in intervening in many of its member states to stop economic degradation. The organization was also structurally and functionally weak, particularly with regard to the secretariat and the secretary-general (Packer and Rukare 2002: 369). The insignificant authority of the secretary-general made it impossible for him to supervise peacekeeping operations and act as negotiator in resolving conflicts. Furthermore, it was extremely difficult to achieve consensus in the OAU Assembly, because the member states were often unable to transcend their national interests (Packer and Rukare 2002: 369). The final problem that the OAU faced was chronic underfunding. In spite of all these problems and the proposal for the reform of the OAU, the African political elites chose to establish a new organization (the AU) instead of reforming the OAUs structure and revising its Charter. The important question that comes to mind is whether the AU can overcome the weaknesses of that the OAU and its Charter faced. The AU In 2002, the AU was established and replaced the OAU. The principle goal of the AU was to protect the security of the continent, rather than the sovereignty of individual states (Hanson 2009: 1). This is the first and foremost difference between the AU and the OAU, but the AU also plays an increasingly high-profile role in peacekeeping (Hanson 2009); another area where the OAU failed. The main objectives of the AU are the increase of development; combat poverty and corruption; and ending as many of Africas problem as possible (Hanson 2009). As one of the only international organizations in the world, the AU recognizes the right to intervene in the affairs of its member states on humanitarian and human rights grounds (Hanson 2009). These guidelines were based on the recommendations of a report entitled: The Responsibility to Protect. The report stated that sovereign state have the responsibility to protect their own citizen from avoidable catastrophe from mass murder and rape, from starvation- but when they are unwilling or unable to do so, that responsibility must be borne by the broader community of states (ICISS 2001: VIII). This key principle sets the AU apart from all other international organizations, including its predecessor the OAU. The European Union and the United Nations The European Union (EU) is an economic and political international organization founded under its current name in 1993. The objectives of the EU are the promotion of economic and social progress and the representation and assertion of the European identity on the international scene (NATO publications 2001). The EU hopes to achieve and maintain economic progress through the creation of a boarder-free Europe with an economic and monetary union, strongly represented by a single currency. On the issue of social progress, the EU promotes economic and social cohesion between its member states (NATO publications 2001). The EU asserts its identity on the international scene through a Common Foreign and Security policy as well as a common defense policy (NATO publications 2001). A commonality share with the AU is the basic principles of respect for national identities, democracy and fundamental human rights (NATO publications 2001). The United Nations (UN), founded in 1945 after the Second World War, is an international organization that tries to maintain international peace and security; develop friendly relations between nations; and promote social progress and better living standards (UN: website). The UN also tries to safeguard the human rights of all the world citizens (UN: website). The UN has a unique international character that assists in the Union in reaching every corner of the world. Apart from peacekeeping and international security, the UN also works on a broad range of fundamental issues from sustainable development to the promotion of democracy (UN: website). While both the EU and the UN are both inter-governmental organizations, the EU takes on the form of a more supra-national organization. Both of these organizations were also created through the decision of different states to cooperate in order to serve over-arching purposes in different issue areas. Nevertheless, the UN is able to tackle more problems than the EU, because it is not bound to one specific area of the globe. Also, the EU has the power to sanction its European member states to comply with the made agreements, by for instance threatening with economic sanctions. While the UN strives to achieve equality and respect for human rights, the EU is mainly concerned with regional economic integration. The African Union tends to resemble the UN more that the EU. Even though the AU can only have member states within a certain geographical area like the EU, the AU still lacks the power to force its member states into compliance due to the lack of legitimacy. This legitimacy can only be attained if and when member states agree to give up a part of their sovereignty to the AU. Also, the issue areas with which that AU is concerned include other issue beside economic integration. In concurrence with the UNs objectives, the AU also takes on the responsibility of peacekeeping role and promotes social progress and unity within and between the different African states. Even though the AU was intended to be somewhat of a supra-national organization, it still has a long way to going before it is able to reach its fully functional and reaches its true potential. The African Unions Potential and Shortcomings As stated above, the main objective of the AU is to protect the security of the African continent and promote African unity. The AU has embarked on a number of peacekeeping missions under the inquisitive eyes of Western observers, who were not too convinced of the ability of the AU peacekeepers. Amongst the achievements of the AU are a number of successful interventions in a few of the member states (Hanson 2009). The 2008 intervention in Anjouan resulted in the successful expulsion of the Islands separatist leader (Hanson 2009), and the 2003 intervention in Burundi by the AU was acknowledged as a success by the international community. Still, the AU has more shortcomings than it has successes. The short life span and experience of the AU in peacekeeping lead to an unsuccessful intervention in Somalia and Sudan. This failure can be attributed to the lack of sufficient political and material support. Like the OAU, the AU faced a number of organizational and financial barriers as well as the same tremendous challenges with respect to poverty and civil war. The inability to effectively organize regional economic communities, on which the AU was also dependent for funds, was another one of the numerous shortcomings of this relatively young organization (Hanson 2009). As things stand, the AU is still somewhat fragile but has all the makings of an effective organization. In order to achieve its full potential a number of obstacles need to be overcome: the first and most important being the financial boundaries that it faces. In order to overcome this boundary, that AU needs to invest in strengthening the economic community on which it is reliant for funds. Furthermore, it needs to find new ways of generating fund from the international community. The second obstacle that stands in the way of an effective AU is the successful cooperation between the political elites of the different member states. Only when consensus is reached between the political elites of the member states, can the AU act in uniformity. Conclusion: Answering the Research Question The research question that this paper intends to answer is: What type of organization is the African Union and in which way can it contribute in solving any of the structural political, economic, and social problems Africa has? Before initiating the analysis on the similarities and differences between the AU and other international organizations, the relevance of ethnic and social differences within the different African states was discussed. This was an important starting point, because the problems that ensued from these ethnic and social cleavages were partially the reason for the establishment of the AU. The fragile state systems, left behind by the imperialists, were unable to fortify their legitimacy strengthen their institutional structure, partially due to the absence of internal unity. One solution to this problem was put forth by Julius Nyerere in the form of African socialism, which advocated national communalism which would unite Africans at the national levels and unit Africa as a whole. After ascertaining the relevance of the social and ethnic cleavages, the AU, OAU, EU and the UN were compare with each other in order to uncover what kind of organization the AU was. The AU was discovered to share the most resemblance with the UN and therefore, like the UN, tends to be more of an inter-governmental organization than a supra-national one. In answering the next part of the research question in which way the AU can contribute in solving any of the structural, economic and social problems of Africa the potential and shortcomings of the AU were discussed. The AU has a very promising structure, but the organization still has a long way to go before it is fully functional. Therefore, it can be cautiously concluded that if the with the coming of years and through the overcoming of the many obstacles it faced, the AU will be able to make a relevant contribution to solving some of Africas many problem.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn :: essays research papers

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1.Period: The period that is most evident in this novel is that of realism. Realism is a style of writing, developed in the nineteenth century, that attempts to depict life accurately without idealizing or romanticizing it. Mark Twain depicts the adventures and life of Huck Finn in a realistic, straight-forward way. He did not try to  ³idealize ² or  ³romanticize ² his characters or their surroundings; instead he described them exactly how they would be in real life. Realists did not write about the long ago or far away, the realists concentrate often on contemporary life and on middle- and lower-class lives in particular (such as Huck Finns). Evidence of the Romantic period is also found in this novel in that romantics tend to seek nature as a solace from problems caused by society and the big city. In this novel Huck turns to the Mississippi River (nature) as an escape from society, as does Jim for an escape from his slavery. Huck Finn also shows evidence of romanticism with its inst ances with the supernatural. 2.Style One of Mark Twain ¹s most effective uses of style in this novel is his first person point of view. In a first person point of view one of the characters tells the story, using first-person pronouns such as I and we. With this point of view the reader knows only what the narrator knows. The Adventure ¹s of Huckleberry Finn is told by the novel ¹s main character, Huck Finn. This point of view allows us to hear Huck ¹s distinct voice and dialect, further familiarizing the reader with Huck ¹s culture and surroundings. The skill with witch Twain elevates the dialect of an illiterate village boy to the highest levels of poetry established the spoken American idiom as a literary language.

The Mexican Peso Crisis of December 1994

There are three different types of foreign exchange regimes that can be used by developing countries once their currency has stabilized. The first one is called the managed float. Also called the dirty float, the managed float is a system when exchange rates are able to change due to the nature of the market, but leaves the option for the government to intervene if the fluctuation is not desired. It is the regime that has been used by the monetary system since 1973. The second regime is called the crawling band. The crawling band, in this case, would combine Mexico’s crawling peg with a wider band. The crawling band is a compromise between a system of entirely fluctuating exchange rates and those that are inflexible. The parity levels would be adjusted either up or down as a moving average of the actual exchange rates that would fluctuate on a wider band. The exchange rate would be only allowed to move a maximum percentage. The amount of the percentage is called the annual crawling peg. The wider band that would cover the crawling peg would allow for the actual exchange rate to fluctuate. The third regime is called the floating exchange rate system. Also called the flexible exchange rate system, the exchange rate fluctuates based solely on market forces in this regime. A floating system allows countries to have independent monetary and fiscal policies. Also, central banks would not have to hold onto a large international reserve to back a fixed exchange rate system. Capital flight was one of the main reasons for Mexico’s financial collapse of the peso. Capital flight is when assets and money flow out of a country due to an economic event that doesn’t assure investors things are okay. Capital flight differs from capital flow because capital flight occurs when investors feel that prices are about to fall and it becomes a race to get your money out before the prices fall. The assassination of presidential candidate Luis Colosio definitely played a factor in the capital flight out of Mexico. In 1994, the United States, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and a few others created a rescue package for Mexico. The United States put up $20 billion of the $50 billion for Mexico. The IMF guaranteed a credit agreement with Mexico for about $17. 7 billion. The Bank of International Settlements offered $10 to Mexico and The Bank of Canada offered about $1 billion. It was not just Mexico mismanagement that caused this crisis. The assassination of the presidential candidate was something that could not have been avoided and it caused to crisis to worsen even more. It seems like that event was the â€Å"last straw on the camel’s back†, so to say. In order to prevent this crisis from happening in the future, Mexico should pay closer attention to its current account balance. Now that this has happened once, Mexico should know what to look for in order to stop it before it gets even worse. Overall, the aid package was risky on the United States to do. No one was certain that Mexico would be able to pay back the money. The United States could just not do anything though. We have close ties with Mexico through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We weren’t just going to let Mexico fail. Just like the IMF helped Mexico back in 1994, they are currently lending to countries in need today. Countries with emerging markets such as Belarus, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine are receiving capital from the IMF. Almost always, low-income countries are also receiving money from the IMF.

Homework: Harmful or Helpful

Is Homework Harmful or Helpful to Students? The student body hates nothing more than finding out that, on top of the work assigned in class, there is an additional 10 questions to be completed at home. The big question that has arisen lately is: Is homework helpful to students, or does it create unnecessary stress? I personally have to say that homework is not helping us students learn anything more. First of all, homework causes students to become stressed out or even depressed. Second of all, it does not expand the student’s learning much. Third of all, too much of it can effect the student’s home life.Forth of all, doing too much homework can have negative effects on the body. As a student myself, I find that getting homework is somewhat helpful, but only to a certain degree. Many nights, students have pages upon pages of homework to complete and it’s difficult to get it all done within the specified timeframe. Having to deal with homework is very bad when you also have to complete important projects or assignments. This is because, if you don’t get your homework done, you get into trouble and could be penalized, but if you don’t get your assignments done, your grades will go down drastically.Getting both tasks done at the same time is troubling for most students and most of the time students will just bail on their work and give up because of the amount of stress. There have even been studies that prove that too much homework causes depression in children, especially from the ages of 14 – 19. Many people-especially teachers-will have you believe that homework is essential to a student’s success and helps to expand their learning skills and knowledge. However, this is not entirely true. I am going to use math as an example.If a student does all of his or her homework for math, writes the unit test, and passes, yes I suppose they have learned something. However, the information they have learned will only stay fresh in their mind for a short amount of time. Eventually they will completely forget about whatever they learned and will need to be retaught everything next year. So, in truth, they really haven’t learned anything, only memorized what they had to until they no longer needed it. Many topics learned throughout the school year are never even used in real life scenarios.For example, unless you have decided to take up biology as an occupation, many people will not use any kind of science in their lives. When a student comes home from school, most of the time they almost immediately start on their homework. If there is a great amount of work to be finished for the next day, they will work all through the evening and night trying to finish, usually skipping out on dinner or family time. When that student isn’t present very often and spends little time with the family, that cause problems between them and leads to fighting and weakened relationships. Read also  Homework Solutions – Chapter 3If the homework issue is consistent, parents may feel the need to speak to the teacher or even the principal, stating that their child has been neglecting to do much or anything except try to finish work. A few parents may even begin arguing with their child, wondering why they have so much homework and why they can’t spend time with their family for once. Arguing will create more stress for the student and will affect their performance in school. In extreme cases, too much homework can result in negative consequences on the body and mind.As well as stress, a heavy workload can cause everything from mild to strong body pains, to mental health issues, to physical inactivity, to sleep loss. If there is only a half hour or so of homework to be completed then it isn’t a huge concern. Although, oftentimes there is more than that and it has negative effects. Leaning over a desk for a long amount of time can cause back, neck, h and and joint pains that could last for days. If the subject being worked on involves a lot of thinking and brainwork, the student can suffer from headaches and dizziness.If the student is constantly sitting and doing work, they probably aren’t getting much physical activity and that could lead to obesity or sometimes malnutrition if they are skipping supper to finish. The most common negative effect of too much homework is mainly stress and lack of sleep. This happens because the child is worried that they need to complete everything or else the teacher will penalize them, so they stay up all night perfecting the assignment or task.There are an endless amount of reasons for why homework is bad for students, and there are many reasons to counter this argument. If you choose to believe the latter, then that is your choice; but think about this: Is homework really so important to the world that the health and wellbeing of students has to be put into jeopardy? Children donâ€⠄¢t need stress, family issues, and constant torment at this time. The issue really isn’t worth ruining our youth’s short amount of time to be carefree and have fun before they have to face the harsh reality of adulthood.

ASDA’s motivation techniques Essay Example

ASDA’s motivation techniques Essay Example ASDA’s motivation techniques Paper ASDA’s motivation techniques Paper McGregor is the final theorist of motivations and he carried out research into the two different styles of management. He identified that there are two different types, Theory Y and Theory X managers. These two have different views about employees’ attitudes to work. A management style is the typical characteristics and behaviours of a manager over a period of time. The Theory X manager will be inclined to be autocratic- telling employees what needs to be done, punishing and telling off when the step out of line and giving rewards for carrying out tasks to a good standard. Theory Y managers will be more democratic, giving more responsibility to employees and trusting them to work independently. A Theory X manager is most likely to create a workplace based on simply meeting Maslow’s lower needs, and focusing on what Herzberg termed movement and hygiene factors. For example making sure that the workplace is safe and that workers have acceptable toilet and washing facilities. Within ASDA there are both types of managers for the various departments, all of the staff are motivated individually depending on what type of person they are, for example if a Theory X manager is based around checkouts as this requires more set procedures and instructions, however a Theory Y manager would be those who work on fruit and vegetable who only require simply movement and require good hygiene factors. Herzberg Along with Maslow, Herzberg believed in a two-factor theory of motivation. He said that there were certain factors that at business could introduce that would directly motivate employs to work harder. However there were also factors that would de-motivate an employee if not present but not in themselves actually motivate employees to work harder such as hygiene factors. Motivators are more concerned with the actual job it’s self and will look out for certain things such as promotions and extra responsibility. Herzberg believed that businesses should motivate employees by adopting a democratic approach to management and by improving the nature and content of the actual job through certain methods. These are: job enlargement where the workers have a variety of tasks to perform, job enrichment which involved workers being given a wider range of more complexes, interesting challenging work and empowerment where they are delegated a higher amount of authority. ASDA clearly take this theorist into account as they ensure that the staff all have the highest amount of work to do and are never free. This ensures that all the staff is motivated at all times. In addition ASDA ensure that their staff has a large workload to keep them occupied at all times. This will therefore act as a great motivator. Methodology To complete this coursework, I will use a selection of resources to be certain that I get the best possible picture of what motivational strategies ASDA use. I have e-mailed ASDA asking whether they could provide me with information on how they motivate staff and they replied giving me a telephone number where I can have any questions answered, this will be one of my major recourses of information along with the internet and books. Finally, I also have a family member who has been involved in human recourses management of ASDA and I will ask her what various steps ASDA take to create a well-motivated environment. She will be a great source of information as everything will be valid and true unlike websites which can often not be truthful. Finally I will use the A-level business book which will enable me to understand a variety of motivational strategies, combining all of these I should hopefully come to a legitimate statement of how staff are motivated within this establishment. ASDA’s motivation techniques ASDA Stores Ltd. is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, (via the Vodafone Network), ASDA Mobile. Its head office is at ASDA House in Leeds, West Yorkshire. ASDA became a subsidiary of the American retail giant Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer in 1999, and is the UKs second largest chain by market share after Tesco. In December 2010, ASDA’s share of the UK grocery market stood at 16.5%. With this business being one of the largest supermarkets in the world, they also have stores in America; I feel that this would be an excellent company to observe on the motivation techniques as they are such a well-known company. Certain stores have around 523 employees therefore they have much practise on how to motivate each employee to ensure that they produce work to the highest standards. ASDA is a hierarchical structure because it has a lot of layers and also a lot of people reporting into more than one person before that information get to the boss. A hierarchical structure has many levels. Each level is controlled by one person. A hierarchical company tends to be a very big company just like ASDA is. In a hierarchical instructions are generally passed down from one person to another until it gets to the bottom of the hierarchical structure. If there was a problem in a hierarchical structure it would move up through the structure again from one person to another until it gets to where it is supported to be. Strengths of a Hierarchical structure in a hierarchical structure there is a close control of workers. Workers in ASDA will know exactly what they have to do so they dont wait around until they are told what they have to do. There is a small span of control. A span of control is when an amount of people report to one person. Also there is a better chance for promotion. One weaknesses of hierarchical structure information is slow moving. There may be poor communication between departments. Also workers may not feel involved in the business and they may not feel motivated to work. The types of communication used in a Hierarchical structure. The type of communication used is hierarchical will be more written communication. It will be written communication because the information will have a long way to go before it gets to the person. If it was verbal then when the message gets passed on it will change along the way. Any problems in communication and how I can solve it the problem with communication in hierarchical will be: communication will be slow, might not reach its destination and the information might change. I am going to focus specifically on the employees within ASDA stores and how they are motivated due to all of the reasons above, and also as they are highly known for their strategies employed to stimulate their staff. As there are many employees working within the stores, I will be able to gain a true insight into how they motivate and what scheme’s and approaches they take. It is important for ASDA to motivate their staff as it can have an effect on the output of their entire business and concerns both quantity and quality of products. If they do not motivate their staff then they will not feel inspired to carry out work to their highest potential, this can have major implications as not only will it reduce the amount of production but it will also produce negative customer service, as a result they will produce an un-enthusiastic and off-putting image for the entire business, this could lead to potential customers shopping at competitors such as Tesco or Sainsbury’s, for this reason it is essential that ASDA motivate their staff to the highest possible way. It is the mission statement of ASDA, To be the world’s leading supermarket. It has many aims and objective. ASDA believe that by following its aims and objectives, it can successfully turn their mission statement into a reality. Aims In relation to other supermarkets, ASDA is one of the fastest growing supermarket chains. However in order to maintain its lead position, ASDA states several main aims which it constantly strives to achieve.

IVF essays

IVF essays In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) translates to the term in glass (vitro) fertilisation essentially it is a technique whereby egg cells are fertilized outside the mother's body due to conception being impossible by normal sexual intercourse. There are many issues concerned when discussing the topic of IVF, this report aims to analyse these issues in detail. It intends to cover the history, facts, controversies and ethics and values concerned with IVF treatment. In order for pregnancy to occur, an egg has to be released from the ovary (female) and unite with a sperm (male) during sexual intercourse. Normally this coming together, called fertilization, occurs within the fallopian tube, which joins the uterus (womb) to the ovary. However, in some circumstances natural conception cannot occur due to factors affecting the couples fertility. In Vitro Fertilisation allows for the union of the female egg and the male sperm cell, the union which usually occurs in the fallopian tubes instead is carried out in a laboratory after eggs and sperm have been collected, from the male and female. In Vitro Fertilisation is a fertility procedure, which first succeeded with the first test tube baby being born in 1978; the discovery was made by Dr Patrick Steptoe (an embryologist) and Dr Robert Edwards (a gynaecologist), in England. The first successful IVF treatment in the US took place in 1981, and there have been approximately 500,000 babies born world-wide with the aid of IVF treatment since then. The birth of Louise Brown, the first child born from IVF in 1978, was an important landmark in the management of infertility. When IVF was discovered it was initially designed to treat couples with damaged or absent fallopian tubes, but with its improved success rates IVF has been functional for patients with other causes of infertility, such as tumours, cysts, unexplained infertility and male infertility. In the early...

Analysis of Feathers, a Short Story by Raymond Carver

Analysis of 'Feathers,' a Short Story by Raymond Carver American poet and author Raymond Carver (1938 - 1988) is one of those rare writers who is known, like  Alice Munro, primarily for his work in the short story form. Due to his economical use of language, Carver is often associated with a literary movement known as minimalism, but he himself objected to the term. In a 1983 interview, he said, Theres something about minimalist that smacks of smallness of vision and execution that I dont like. Feathers is the opening story of Carvers 1983 collection, Cathedral, in which he began to move away from the minimalist style. Plot of Feathers SPOILER ALERT: If you dont want to know what happens in the story, dont read this section. The narrator, Jack, and his wife, Fran, are invited to dinner at the home of Bud and Olla. Bud and Jack are friends from work, but no one else in the story has met before. Fran is not enthusiastic about going.   Bud and Olla live in the country and have a baby and a pet peacock. Jack, Fran, and Bud watch television while Olla prepares dinner and occasionally tends to the baby, who is fussing in another room. Fran notices a plaster cast of very crooked teeth sitting on top of the television. When Olla enters the room, she explains that Bud paid for her to have braces, so she keeps the cast to remind me how much I owe Bud. During dinner, the baby begins fussing again, so Olla brings him to the table. He is shockingly  ugly, but  Fran holds him  and delights in him in spite of his appearance. The peacock is permitted inside the house and plays gently with the baby. Later that night, Jack and Fran conceive a child even though they had not previously wanted children. As the years pass, their marriage sours and their child demonstrates a conniving streak. Fran blames their problems on Bud and Olla even though she saw them only on that one night. Wishes Wishes play a prominent role in the story. Jack explains that he and Fran regularly wished out loud for things we didnt have, like a new car or the chance to spend a couple of weeks in Canada. They dont wish for children because they dont want children. It is clear that the wishes arent serious. Jack acknowledges as much when he describes approaching Bud and Ollas house: I said, I wish we had us a place out here. It was just an idle thought, another wish that wouldnt amount to anything. In contrast, Olla is a character who has actually made her wishes come true. Or rather, she and Bud together have made her wishes come true. She tells Jack and Fran: I always dreamed of having me a peacock. Since I was a girl and found a picture of one in a magazine. The peacock is loud and exotic. Neither Jack nor Fran has ever seen one before, and it is much more dramatic than any of the idle wishes theyve been making. Yet Olla, an unassuming woman with an ugly baby and teeth that needed straightening, has made it a part of her life. Blame Though Jack would place the date later, Fran believes their marriage began to deteriorate precisely on the night they had dinner at Bud and Ollas, and she blames Bud and Olla for it. Jack explains: Goddamn those people and their ugly baby, Fran will say, for no apparent reason, while were watching TV late at night. Carver never makes it clear exactly what Fran blames them for, nor does he make it clear exactly why the dinner gathering inspires Jack and Fran to have a baby. Perhaps its because Bud and Olla seem so happy with their strange, squawking-peacock, ugly-baby lives. Fran and Jack dont think they want the particulars - a child, a house in the country, and certainly not a peacock - yet perhaps they find they do want the contentedness that Bud and Olla seem to have. And in some ways, Olla does give the impression that her happiness is a direct result of the particulars of her situation. Olla compliments Fran on her naturally straight teeth while she herself had required braces - and Buds devotion - to fix her crooked smile. At one point, Olla says, You wait until you get our own baby, Fran. Youll see. And as Fran and Jack are leaving, Olla even hands Fran some peacock feathers to take home. Gratitude But  Fran seems to be missing one fundamental element that Olla has: gratitude. When Olla explains how grateful she is to Bud for straightening her teeth (and, more generally, giving her a better life), Fran doesnt hear her because she is picking through the can of nuts, helping herself to the cashews. The impression is that Fran is self-centered, so focused on her own needs that she cant even hear someone elses expression of gratitude. Similarly, it seems symbolic that when Bud says grace, Olla is the only one who says amen. Where Happiness Comes From Jack does note one wish that came true: What I wished for was that Id never forget or otherwise let go of that evening. Thats one wish of mine that came true. And it was bad luck for me that it did. The evening seemed very special to him, and it left him feeling good about almost everything in my life. But he and Fran may have miscalculated where that good feeling was coming from, thinking it came from having things, like a baby, rather than feeling things, like love and appreciation.

Historical Land Qwnership as Depicted in the Movie, the Field by Jim Essay

Historical Land Qwnership as Depicted in the Movie, the Field by Jim Sherindan - Essay Example The setting of the movie is in a small country village located in the southwestern part of Ireland. Bull McCabe is an individualist who has spent several hard years of labor cultivating a small rented land. He nurtures it from barren rock into fertile land, which becomes beneficial. Bull has always claimed the land his and had dreamed of buying it, as it is being put up currently for auction. McCabes intimidate pose intimidation of several townspeople out of bidding in auction to the auctioneer Mick Flanagan. Galwayman Dee is from England where he has been living for several years with his plan for the field. The play reaches its climax McCabes comes face to face Dee. The encounter ends in struggle and finally death. This essay will look into the succinct analysis of the play with regard to the Irish view of land ownership and home. To begin with, the first scene talks of the man carrying out the cultivations on a vast land, which he claims to be his. This gives the illustration on t he Irish land ownership rights. The action shows that laws regarding land ownership in Ireland are not legally organized or planned to facilitate peace among societal members (Baker 34). The man simply start working tirelessly on a barren land, which to him, is an empty unutilized land which should be put into appropriate use. This is the reason behind the conflict that arises between the two Irish men. Dee had believed that he the land was his even in his absence. To him, he had the ownership which qualified him as the legal owner of the place, therefore, the idea of another man thinking of the land as a free place and unused property is illegal. The fact that the widows make a step to put the land in auction without considering McCabe’s work is unlawful itself. Allowing a citizen to work on a large rocky land turning it into a fertile land, and auctioning it, is not a fair deal and shows some shortcomings in the Irish land (Deane 67). The law does not consider much the plig hts of the low class people in the region. The bright lighting in the play serves the role of stressing some ideas in the film. For instance, the director has used bright light to accentuate the suffering and oppression of the low class individuals in the Irish society. He has done the same in all other cases representing the ways in which people of high social class live in comparison to those of low classes. The sound patterns in the play is that of higher tones with speech and low tones of background sound. This is meant to ensure that the listeners and viewers get enough comprehension of the video, in terms of its thematic contents. Historically, Ireland land ownership was characterized by English elite rule. The rule involved the division of the country into large estates, and authority was passed down to the supporters of Scottish Protestants. This is reported to have been a political plot to bring down Ireland and wipe out the issue of Roman Catholicism in Britain. It is indi cated too in the historical texts that majority of the notable landowners were absent; and could more often employ agents who were of Ireland origin to take care of the land. The agents could, in turn, become tenants who had no tangible security of tenure and thus they could be chased out in case their rent went to arrears or otherwise. The management of estates was always poor as the tenants lacked motivation and the necessary incentive to develop or improve the land

Financial Reporting for Sainsbury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Reporting for Sainsbury - Essay Example Income 640 585 Revenue 21,102 19,964 Net Profit Margin (Net Income / Revenue) 3.03% 2.93% (Sainsbury’s Annual Report 2011) The net profit margin indicates that over the past two year period, the company has increased its earning per dollar of revenue earned as it net profit margin percentage has increased from 2.93% in 2010 to 3.03% in 2011.additionally, for the current year, we can see that the company has earned 3 cents in net profit or net income against each dollar of revenue that it has earned in 2011. These net profit margin figures are also indicative of the fact that the company has been able to grow and improve its pricing strategy, reduce its operational costs and reduce its liability costs (interest to be paid) over the year which had led to an increase of 0.1% over the year (Ratio – Profit Margin, 2012, 3 Financial Ratios, 2012) Stockholders Equity Ratio: Details 2011 2010 Total Liabilities 5,475 5,679 Stockholders Equity 4,221 4,157 Stockholders Equity Rati o (Total Liabilities / Stockholders Equity) 1.30 1.37 (Sainsbury’s Annual Report 2011) The stockholders equity ratio indicates that the company has leveraged its equity and taken loans and established liabilities against it. The ratio is indicative of the number of times the company has leveraged itself over its equity. This implies that in 2011, the company has leveraged about 1.3 times its equity which has actually reduced from the previous year when it was 1.37 in 2010. A high ratio of stockholders equity indicates that the company has an aggressive financing mode and would like to grow through financial leverage instead of organic growth through buildup of retained earnings. For an organization that is in the retail sector, leverage ratios are generally ranging from 1.5 to 1.68 which means that... Center of discussion in this paper is Sainsbury Supermarket Ltd. Is a child company of Sainsbury’s PLC which is also commonly known as Sainsbury’s and is also the third largest retail outlet in the United Kingdom with a market share ranging to about 17%. Sainsbury’s has a long and hard history with several brand and organizational re-launches and which dates back to the 19th century in the Victorian Era. It became the largest retail store in London in the early 1920’s and is considered as a pioneer for self service in a retail store. In the early 1990’s, Tesco and Asda became larger than Sainsbury’s and took over its market share letting it slide down to the third position in the retail industry. In 2010-11, Sainsbury launched several sponsorship programs, the most popular of which is the sponsorship for 2012 Paralympics. In 2011, Sainsbury’s also opened its 1000th store which is based in Scotland and marks a major milestone for the co mpany and for the entire Sainsbury’s group. The financial analysis for Sainsbury’s includes two major ratios which are Net Profit Margin and Stockholder’s Equity Ratio. The case in point was the annual report for 2010-11 for Sainsbury’s Supermarket Ltd. which is one of the largest retail stores in the United Kingdom. The analysis of its ratios indicates that the company has shown great promise and its net profit margin has shown an improvement over the two year time period while its leverage is also significantly lower than an average of the retail companies.

Bantam Soft Drinks Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Bantam Soft Drinks - Assignment Example Furthermore, this can lead to disruption in production, loss of job skills and dramatic incur on cost of hiring new staffs. The four factors which states why employees leaves any specific firm like Bantam Soft Drinks are organizational commitment, work climate, employee motivation and communication. It is described as comparative strength of involvement and identification of an individual in a specific firm. Studies concluded that employees with high level of commitment are less likely to leave their organizations. According to Steers, the more level of commitment can lessen desire of termination for organization. Furthermore, it is believed that these exceedingly committed and dedicated employees are supposed to have strong desire at work, high intent to stay with the company and optimistic attitude towards employment. Moreover, Steers determined that employee turnover is inversely and expressively proportional to employee commitment. On the other hand, employees with less commitment level can perceive current job as opportunity to find better prospect in other organizations. In this present scenario on Bantam Soft Drinks, it can be proposed that this traditional soft drinks company is on low staff turnover. The continual rise of prices has increased the sign of lack of motiva tion and anxiety towards the work. This resulted rapid shift of employee turnover from low to high. Some of the employees fear that rapid upsurge of soft drinks prices may lead to employee reduction. Moreover, the indication of less enthusiasm and rise of anxiety has increased staff turnover of the soft drinks company by 5 percentages. The underlying credence of the study is that commitment can have positive impact on workforce retention and job performance. The working condition of an organization is vital for reduction of staff turnover. It appears that organization must introduce supportive working climate and learning environment where employees can work and learn. Research shows

Edward Estlin Cummings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Edward Estlin Cummings - Essay Example four lean hounds crouched low and smiling the merry deer ran before. †¦my heart fell dead before (Cummings lines 1-5/ 31-35). The last line varies at the end of the poem from â€Å"the merry deer ran before† to â€Å"my heart fell dead before.† Even with this slight variation, the repeated lines have a magic effect of overturning the theme of the poem from tragic to that of vitality and life. Two most evident details in this repeated verse is the use of colors and numbers for the purpose of description. The persona is describing the green garb of his lover and the golden color of the horse as well as silver dawn. These details chronicle the beautiful atmosphere of the lovers at the time. There are also numbers, which are repeated throughout the poem. In this specific stanza, the persona talks of â€Å"four lean hounds† of deer (Cummings, line 4). The numbers and the colors are a combination of beauty and terror, especially when the carrier resembles the war carriers that take soldiers to war (Bloom 22). At some point in the end when the lines are repeated, the poem draws the beauty of the described place and the lover by engulfing them in an atmosphere of death. The poem describes from the start a chronological event where it first describes the chase and the death of the persona and the collapse of his lover. These images are alluded to but when the repeated lines appear the poem takes the form of vitality and life. As the two lines unite the poem, the lovers are unified in elation. The colors green is the color of life and connects the lovers who are partakers in the succession of life and fatality. B: Edward Estlin Cummings. Xaipe/Seventy-one poems The poem selected from this collection is titled â€Å"I thank You God for most this amazing.† The poem is like praise lyric made whole by playing with words, grammar, punctuation and syntax (Bloom 28). For example, there is lack of spacing and punctuation, which make the speaker, speak without breathing; thus showing the intensity of his overwhelming joy and appreciation. With only four stanzas, the first stanza captures the spirit of the rest of the piece, and it goes thus: i thank You God for most this amazing day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes (Cummings, lines 1-4) In this stanza, the speaker describes the day as amazing with the â€Å"spirit of trees† and a sky of â€Å"blue true dream† with â€Å"everything† ordinary and inestimable and â€Å"yes.† By writing continuously without spacing, regardless of the presence of punctuation, the poet renders the speaker breathless. Reading the poem kills it and gives it a new life afterwards when it is reborn as the speaker reunites and communicates with Mother Nature. Like a small child, the speaker describes the new life in terms of his newly founded cognizance because he is rebor n. The first stanza is precedence to what has already happened, and the speaker is joyous of the renewed sun, life, love and wings; including the earth itself. The praise is merely a subjective experience because the speaker renders everything new because of his personal renewal. With rebirth or a new perspective in life, things become new and one is able to picture things from a different point of view. The persona establishes a personal deity, â€Å"

Reviving Ophelia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reviving Ophelia - Essay Example For example, she sees contemporary society as a ‘girl-poisoning’ one, which essentially forces young girls to turn into â€Å"female impersonators who fit their whole selves into small, crowded spaces". Instead of letting the girl find her true calling through a process of exploration and experiment, the strictures of American society narrows down the scope of their individual expression. The author cites numerous anecdotal examples in the book, by way of which she throws light on key psychological insights on female adolescence. Reviving Ophelia does not stop with illustrations of the state of young women in the United States. The book goes further and suggests methods and principles through which adolescents could retrieve lost ground. The authenticity for Pipher’s analysis comes from the fact that she is an experienced psycho-therapist, who specializes in teenage issues and problems. Toward the end of the book, Pipher provides a list of remedial measures that are based on insights she gained during her professional practice. The book is centered on this crucial question: â€Å"Why are American adolescent girls falling prey to depression, eating disorders, and suicide attempts at an alarming rate?†. The answer for this serious question lies in the fact that we live in a society which places emphasis on superficial aspects of an individual such as their looks, sex appeal, etc. Such expectations are not only shallow but are also psychologically deficient, in that, there are many more facets to a teenage girl than external appearance. The author asserts that as long as this dismal state of culture persists, girls in our country will find it hard to find their true selves. According to Pipher, parents have a key role to play in the revival process. Through a process of educating themselves on concepts of psychology, parents can liberate their

How will The London 2012 Olympic Games affect the U.K. economy Essay

How will The London 2012 Olympic Games affect the U.K. economy - Essay Example The United Kingdom economy has been among the best performing economies in the world for a long time. During the period that lasted from 1990 to 2008, the U.K. economy comfortably managed a 2.3% GDP growth factor. However, in recent times, the economic state of the United Kingdom has been performing poorly (House of Commons, 2009:33). This has elicited doubt among critics that the economy may be taking a down ward turn, and that the United Kingdom may be facing imminent recession. Recent research has revealed that the United Kingdom did not manage to gain substantial growth in 2011. Records collected from the research show that the U.K. financial system only managed a skimpy 0.8% development in 2011. In calculation, the main reason behind the growth was the 0.2% plunge that happened towards the end of the year (Fussey, 2011: 79). This has driven researchers to scheme a very small band of escalation to happen in 2012, amounting to about 0.4%. The analysts forecast that the financial s ystem will undergo a double decline before it starts budding back to its former circumstances. However, the wealth faces a latent growth aid in the form of the 2012 Olympics. London is set to host the 2012 Olympic Games, an event that possesses the potential to favor the U.K. economy greatly, and on an optimistic note in terms of direct and indirect revenue (House of Commons, 2009:47).... The battle took place at the crest of a mountain that shadowed a gorge in the southwestern region of Greece. Zeus managed to conquer over his father in the battle. As a result, the Greece citizens put up a shrine and built an enormous statuette in the gorge in a bid o honor him. The name of the gorge was Olympia. Soon after, the citizens began conducting religious ceremonies with the main agenda being the reverent worship and adoration of Zeus. This was in an attempt to try to gain Zeus’ famed strength and athletic capabilities. Folklore has it that these ceremonies led to the idea of starting the Olympic Games. Though the actual date when the first Olympic event took place is still in doubt, the first recorded event took place in 776 BC. The games consisted of only one occasion, the 190-meter race, which a chef, Coroebus, won. This marked the initial Olympiad. The Olympiad was the name given to the four-year duration by which the Greek citizens traced their history (Guttman, 2003:198). As time went by, athletic contests gained so much significance to the Greek people that the occasions now tended to influence a peaceful nature on the military states. For example, Sparta was famous for its strict military rule and intensive battle training of its population. It reached a point where the Sparta administration would patiently wait for the successful completion of the games’ events before engaging in battle with rival states. Soon after, other cities imitated this unwritten rule. The initial consecutive thirteen games offered only one event, which was the one-stade run (Young, 2004:129). However, as time passed, the then administration gradually

Reviving Ophelia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reviving Ophelia - Essay Example For example, she sees contemporary society as a ‘girl-poisoning’ one, which essentially forces young girls to turn into â€Å"female impersonators who fit their whole selves into small, crowded spaces". Instead of letting the girl find her true calling through a process of exploration and experiment, the strictures of American society narrows down the scope of their individual expression. The author cites numerous anecdotal examples in the book, by way of which she throws light on key psychological insights on female adolescence. Reviving Ophelia does not stop with illustrations of the state of young women in the United States. The book goes further and suggests methods and principles through which adolescents could retrieve lost ground. The authenticity for Pipher’s analysis comes from the fact that she is an experienced psycho-therapist, who specializes in teenage issues and problems. Toward the end of the book, Pipher provides a list of remedial measures that are based on insights she gained during her professional practice. The book is centered on this crucial question: â€Å"Why are American adolescent girls falling prey to depression, eating disorders, and suicide attempts at an alarming rate?†. The answer for this serious question lies in the fact that we live in a society which places emphasis on superficial aspects of an individual such as their looks, sex appeal, etc. Such expectations are not only shallow but are also psychologically deficient, in that, there are many more facets to a teenage girl than external appearance. The author asserts that as long as this dismal state of culture persists, girls in our country will find it hard to find their true selves. According to Pipher, parents have a key role to play in the revival process. Through a process of educating themselves on concepts of psychology, parents can liberate their

Our Daily Bread Essay Example for Free

Our Daily Bread Essay Our Daily Bread, as the title suggests this is not about bread, as I hoped it was. Rather its about people earning their bread, their livelihood. The term ‘bread’ is derived from the larger term ‘bread-winner’ as the one who is the primary provider of the household, and the ‘daily bread’ is simply referring their daily livelihood. As my time spent in the US, I often used to wonder how the different food companies were able to produce mass amount of food to keep the population fed. This movie is the answer and the revelation of how food is produced in Europe and the Western hemisphere. The film starts off as we get a glimpse of daily sanitation rituals being carried off at a meat farm. The different scenes show us to transportation of livestock, machine assisted watering of plants, and a conveyor belt at a poultry farm where they separate the males from the female chickens (I know this as I have seen this done before in a different setting). The machinery at poultry farm shows precision and efficiency as it sorts the young chicks into moving bins. The vaccination routine is also machine assisted which increases efficiency and production for the poultry farm. After few seconds, the young chicks have grown and we are shown the worker feeding them. The shot transitions into a break room where the worker is on a break with bread and tea, all alone. Next, we get the scene from a vegetable farm. A tractor picks the potatoes from the ground. Next shot, the workers prepare and wear protective gears to apply pesticides and fertilizers to the plants. But most of the work is done by machine assistance, needing almost no human intervention. It seems as the vegetables are being grown inside a greenhouse setting which allows vegetables to be grown all year long, without any weather restrictions. The only human labour being done is picking of the ripened vegetables. After work, the worker seem to be enjoying a small break, again alone. Now we see a bull and a cow where it seems breeding is in process. A closer look and we find that the workers are actually collecting the sperm. We find the sperm is transferred to medical examinations, I dont know exact ly why but possibility could be to efficiently use the sperms to fertilize every fertile egg they can afford without any loss. And of course, we see a healthy calf being born. But it is pretty amusing to see how the cow was cut open and the calf was pulled out, how could that really be possible? How much medication could the animal be on since it wasn’t moving or making any noise as such? And are there any advantages of this type of birth for animal? Next, we see a series of shots of men in tractors who are doing farm work with machine assistance. This shows the efficiency that is earned by machine which helps humans achieve more with less time spent and more time to spend on luxury, or more work. We return back to the poultry farm, the egg farming room to be exact. The eggs are hatched and due to the design, they are conveniently accessible by the farmers to pick. A worker is shown to be holding a chicken as he walks around the egg farm, possibly to warn other hens who dont lay eggs. In actual note, he maybe was checking for chickens which are dead. In the next shot, the workers are transported to a huge plantation to harvest crops growing under the ground, only time where tractors arent used. This is possibly the first time where machine use is limited to just watering the plants. Now we are shown our way to a pig farm. They are transported on a line into a machine where they are slaughtered by a machine. The human labour is limited to keep the line moving and in order. The machines are also used for most of the heavy work as boiling the skin and dissecting the pigs open. The human job is limited to cleaning up whatever else the machines may have left out and separating internal parts. We are also shown the marvel of modern technology with a biplane is used to fertilize the crops. There are also shots of heavy machinery usage in farms. Then we see a moving harvest truck where the outside workers are picking the vegetables and inside simply packaging them. Now we move to a cow-ranch. The cows are milked by machines in a rotating carousel. The cows dont seem to mind so much, as it seems to be part of their daily routine. Next, a visit to the deep underground salt mines where machines are used to do most of the heavy work such as carrying out the salt from place to place and outside the mine itself. A transition moves from underground to underwater as we see a fish-farm where hundreds and hundreds of fishes are seen in a small area. This also makes it easier for the huge pipe to suck out the fishes from the water and into the boat. They are transported to a factory where humans align the fishes to feed into the machines. Apparently the machines havent learned to distinguish the fish head from the tail, yet. The fishes are cut and cleaned by series of machines and then moved onto another human where he puts them on another machine to move them to another section. Here, the worker seems pretty bored of the routine task he has, perhaps feel ing like the machine at this point because of his job task. Next we see bunch of workers cleaning the fish for final prep before shipping them out. Now we come to a pig-farm. The two series of shots seems interesting as the first represented insemination of pigs by tube and next shows the piglets born in captivity, just like ‘The Matrix’. Just like in the movies, they grow up and the next shot seems as if the male pigs were being castrated. One can only understand why so, as they dont want to overproduce and give out the employees any bonuses. Or maybe not. The next series of shots show how chicken and cattle are prepared for consumption; as they are killed by the machines with little or less human effort required in the process. The final shot shows the end of the day routine- how everything is cleaned and sanitized for the next day of work. Despite all this, the workers in all places couldnt wait for their daily bread, their hard earned break from their work. Perhaps the routine manner of their tasks has become so innate to them that they dont seem to mind how their own food is being produced. For me, it was a bit amusing and shocking to see the conditions of animals but maybe after a few more views, I wouldnt mind it either. This movie shows the heavy usage of machinery used in the production of food, be it salt, pigs, chicken, vegetables, fish, or pigs. It was also amusing, in a way, to see how breeding had gone into the next level by scientific usage to effectively get their result financially and also in economic ways to feed the ever growing world population. It seemed as almost if humans were not the only ones alienated from nature, but also the animals which were being artificially inseminated and mutilated against their wills. The workers didn’t seem to care much for what they were doing either, as long as it made their breads. It seemed as they had been trained to do this for so long that they were used to it- like machines with machine hearts and machine minds. In another view, the unnatural size of the bulls in the breeding house seemed as if they were so-much genetically engineered to produce the maximum amount of meat possible. Perhaps they had mixed something in the dry grass that was being blown into their small cages they were put-in. The growing population also has seemed to affect the unnatural process by which plants were grown with usages of pesticides and fertilizers. The use of greenhouses portrays, in a way, the plant’s alienation from nature as it was now possible to grow all plants in any weather or conditions. The absence of narration or subtitles leaves the movie-watcher to make their own conclusion and perspective. The filmmaker, as I understand, doesn’t want to change our habits but simply be aware of the ways in how the planet is being fed. If anything, this should be seen by as many people as possible to make them aware of the status of food production and the status of the subjects which are involved in the food production i.e. humans, plants and animals alike. I must say some of the scenes in the movie are quiet disturbing but that is the current status of our population and food production required to feed them.

Location Privacy in Wireless Networks

Location Privacy in Wireless Networks ARUN TEJA KANUKOLU Introduction: In the past decade we have an enormous development of different wireless technologies a lot of wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth are being implemented. With the development of wireless technologies and the convenience they provide in the aspects of space and time they are being widely used and there comes numerous security issues. A lot of work has been done in the areas of wireless network security but all of which has done only on securing the content or data that is being transferred between devices. The Location privacy has been ignored from the initial stages of development of wireless networks. If the location privacy has been ignored, the users of the wireless networks has to face serious problems. The attacker may not steal data because we use a lot of security techniques like encryption to protect the data but the user and the physical location of the user is always in danger. The attacker may take advantage of this and may threaten him physically or mentally. In order to preserve the location privacy of the user, here I propose a transactional based model in which all the send and receive operations performed from an user are not related to each other hence the location privacy is preserved. TRACKING THE USERS LOCATION: Many localization algorithms have been implemented and are in use which can be used to trace the approximate location of the user based on the packets sent and received. A users many transmissions will simply be correlated if all the transmissions come from an equivalent supply address, and therefore the aggressor will read the supply addresses from every packet. During this section, we have a tendency to demonstrate another supply of knowledge by assumptive that associate degree aggressor cannot decode a users packets, however still needs to be ready to track users around the network. For instance, a user could use sturdy coding, or the aggressor could have insufficient sophistication to create custom Hardware for packet secret writing, however will live the signal and noise levels at a spread of locations. Existing localization algorithms permit every transmission to be narrowed right down to a specific location. These individual transmissions will then be correlate using a quality model, as we have a tendency to describe below. Here I discuss some of the existing algorithms. LOCALIZATION USING RSS (received signal strength): Received signal strength is the reliable and free of cost way of tracking the user’s location. Where, PT Transmitted power calculated in dB RSS is the received signal strength in dB P(d0) is the Path loss in dBm at a distance of d0 N is the Path loss exponent There are several other ways of tracking the user location. Many of the previous researchers used the probability functions to find the location of the user. Although the exact location cannot be found using these probability models an almost approximate location can be easily found. Suppose we trace a location and there are 10 suspects, we can filter them to find the original wireless user that is being attacked. Controlling access at base stations: Since the readying of base stations has an associated price, the network operator should be stipendiary for the employment of the network. One way of achieving this results to want every licensed network node to carry a bit of secure hardware with a isosceles key shared by all network users. A network of affordable size cannot utterly believe on this mechanism to stay a determined aggressor from collaborating in the network. As a result, we have a tendency to explore techniques for confirmative that a user is a component of the network. We use blind signatures in an exceedingly manner that parallels their use in electronic cash: a legitimate user generates variety of public keys, each of that we have a tendency to decision Associate in Nursing identity. The user blinds them (so the network supplier will sign them while not seeing them), and presents them to the network supplier. The network supplier signs these keys and returns them to the user, United Nations agency unblinds them. every key signed in this manner could be a kind of certificate that proves that the identity corresponds to a legitimate user, although the actual user cannot be determined. Secured routing: In order to forestall a malicious node from disrupting routing, the ad hoc networking analysis community continues to explore secure routing protocols Any of those protocols might be slightly modied to figure inside our spec. Depending on user necessities, AN anonymous routing protocol, such as ANODR, might give additional fascinating properties. To show however wed adapt a secure routing protocol to our design, we must take into account AN on-demand routing protocol. We must allow a base station to reply to any Route Discovery; but, because there are a restricted range of base stations and their keys are easily pre-distributed, they will simply send and demonstrate RREPs. We should additionally adapt the prevailing protocols to settle on routes which will traverse  a base station; in hop-by-hop routing, one technique is to own  a node forward the packet to the nearer of the destination node or the  nearest base station, unless the packet is distributed by a base station, in  which case we tend to neer route it to a base station. once a base station receives  a packet, it forwards it to the suitable base station supported  the destinations geographical address. the bottom station with that  the destination is associated then encapsulates the packet so forwarding  nodes apprehend that the packet has already traversed the bottom  station. Periodic protocols will use constant forwarding logic. UNLINKABLE WRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS: In this section I propose a transaction based model in which any send and receive functions are not co-related to each other which preserves the location privacy of the user hence our goal is accomplished. Location can only be tracked if the senders address is the same for a period of time. We create a phenomena called random silent period for a node. In that time the sender will not send any thing. The mobile node keep on changing its addresses between different transactions it performs. It can be in synchronization with the base station and mobile station. When a user starts data exchange between other node, it keep on updating the change of address for every send and receive operation and it also makes aware of the new change in address with the receiver. For this system implementation, we should make changes in everything like user registration with the base station and addressing and giving the access to the mobile users. For addressing these nodes we completely change our ip addressing scheme from ipv4 to ipv6. If we use the ipv4 addresses, they are limited in number and hence they may cause collisions. These ipv6 addresses comprised of base station addresses and a reference variable to the users identity. A legitimate user generates variety of public keys, each of that we have a tendency to decision AN identity. The user blinds them so the network supplier will sign them while not seeing them, and presents them to the network supplier. The network supplier signs these keys and returns them to the user, UN agency unblinds them. Every key signed in this method could be a certificate that proves that the identity corresponds to a legitimate user, although the actual user cant be determined. REFERENCES: http://www.comm.toronto.edu/~kostas/Publications2008/pub/proceed/133.pdf http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~wouyang/Received%20Signal%20Strength-Based%20Wireless%20Localization%20via%20Semidefinite%20Programming.pdf http://www.ee.washington.edu/research/nsl/Imote/vanderstoep_thesis.pdf http://jeroendoggen.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/ecumict2010presentation.pdf

Fighting the War on Terrorism Essay -- Terror Terrorists 9/11 Essays

It has been said that the easiest way to discredit someone in the political field is to accuse them of possessing "Machiavellian morals." Until recently, today's political arena has been consumed by such illusive and controversial topics as human rights and the environment. Thus, it is easy to see why being referred to as a disciple of the austere Machiavellian principle could result in the untimely death of a political career. However, as of September 11th, the times have changed and so should the mindset with which politicians approach such elusive topics. This tragedy was not, however, suffered in vain. Underneath this enveloping shroud of sadness, there were a few blessings in disguise. Outwardly, the nation acquired a renewed sense of unity and the spirit of nationalism was re-ignited. However, there was another consequence left behind by that fateful day that was not witnessed in the displays of American flags or candle light vigils. In this moment of utter despair, the United States was afforded an opportunity to re-assert itself as the avenger of justice and defender of liberty. As the trailblazer, the United States has earned the right and privilege to set the precedents in this unconventional war against terror. The ambiguity surrounding the issue of terrorism has been in large part responsible for the failure of past attempts at international cooperation on this matter. It is time to pursue alternative methodology. As Machiavelli implies, "The [state] is expected to devise his own, 'new,' remedies if the old ones will not suffice"(Parel, 10). Surprisingly, the solution to this proverbial problem is found in one of the most traditional and perhaps, polemical political ideologies. The most promising pr... ...In order to successfully combat terrorism, the United States must adopt a modified mindset similar to that of the terrorists. Specifically, it must begin see the world as a fight between good versus evil. However, it must remember to be prudent in its conduct of foreign policy. But above all the United States must bear in mind, "It is better to be feared, than to be loved. But that it is also "better to be loved than hated" (Machiavelli). Bibliography Books: Betts, Richard, K. Conflict After the Cold War. New York: Longman Press, 2001. Machiavelli, Niccà ³lo. The Prince. Trans. H. C. Mansfeld. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1985. Parel, Anthony. The Political Calculus: Essays on Machiavelli’s Philosophy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972. Internet: http://www.religion-on-line.org http://www.newsmax.com

The Religious Dimension of Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe Essay

The Religious Dimension of Robinson Crusoe  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Robinson Crusoe’s discovery of the work ethic on the small island goes hand in hand with a spiritual awakening.   Robinson Crusoe is not a very profound religious thinker, although religion is part of his education and transformation.   He claims he reads the Bible, and he is prepared to quote it from time to time.   But he doesn’t puzzle over it or even get involved in the narrative or character attractions of the stories.   The Bible for him appears to be something like a Dale Carnegie handbook of maxims to keep the work on schedule and to stifle any possible complaints or longings for a different situation.   Still, the religious dimension is central to Robinson Crusoe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Robinson Crusoe’s interpretation of his life links the financial success directly and repeatedly with his growth in religious awareness.   This is not an intellectual conversion but, simply put, an awareness that he has, in some ways, received God’s grace and is under His care.   The growing profitability of his efforts is proof of such a spiritual reward.   This awareness fills him with a sense of guilt for his former life and a great desire to be relieved of that guilt.   The desire to be relieved from that feeling of guilt, in fact, is much stronger than Robinson Crusoe’s desire to be delivered from the island. Now I looked back upon my past life with such horror, and my sins appeared so dreadful, that my soul sought nothing of God but deliverance from the load of guilt that bore down all my comfort.   As for my solitary life; it was nothing; I did not so much as pray to be delivered from it or think of it; it was all of no considerations in comparison to this; and I added this part here to ... ... The inhabitants of the New World were there to be ignored, like Friday’s father, used as servants, like Friday, or killed, like the cannibals.   The important part of the Puritan encounter with the New World was what Robinson Crusoe shows us, the spiritual testing of the solitary Protestant spirit, a life-long ordeal in which he achieved success (or the closest thing to a manifestation of success) by stamping his will on the new land, staking out territory as his property through backbreaking toil, without any concessions to anyone or anything, least of all to the land or to its original inhabitants.   That was the Puritan’s calling; that was the reason God has placed us on this earth: to put to our personal uses the material and people available, to ignore what does not fit in with such projects, and to remove quickly and ruthlessly anything that stands in our way.

Ambrose Bierce’s World

American Literature has had many different and dynamic styles of writing throughout its relatively short history. It seems though that we remember the writers who style and world intrigued us the most. The ones who people never really knew what the author was thinking or why he was writing what he was. The writers who wrote the gothic and almost scary stories of the late 19th century stick out in many peoples mind. Many people recall Edgar Allen Poe, but the other Author that may not get as much attention is Ambrose Bierce.He has a very distinct style to create an even more distinct world for his stories. The world that Ambrose Bierce creates is one of despair and uncertainty, where his characters always seem to have a fate that they would rather not fulfill. His characters always seem to have a bad outcome and a hopeless end. â€Å"An Arrest† is a short story that Ambrose Bierce wrote that falls into his world of despair perfectly. The first sentence of this short story goes as follows, â€Å"Having murdered his brother-in-law, Orrin Brower of Kentucky was a fugitive from justice†.Already after the first sentence Bierce shows you that the character is already doomed. Also Bierce shows us with this first sentence that Orrin was trying to avoid his fate. Ambrose goes on to explain that the fugitive escaped the county jail by hitting a guard with an iron pipe. He also tells us why Orrin had escaped the jail; he escaped because he was awaiting trial. By Bierce telling the reader that Orrin was awaiting trial for murder and escapes, he is showing us that he is desperate and trying to escape his fate.It does not take Bierce long to create his world and he knows very well how to do it. A second story that demonstrates Ambrose Bierce’s world is â€Å"A Wireless Message†. This story really outlines the uncertainty and confusion that lives in the writing world of Ambrose. The story opens up with Bierce telling us that William Holt, the main c haracter, has just recently moved to New York from Chicago in the last year. The main reason why William has moved was that him and his wife where having troubles.It’s not a bad reason but the way Bierce tells us this is how he starts to create his world. Ambrose simply just tells us â€Å"Mr. Holt had had trouble with his wife†. He uses this line to start to create his world by only giving us a little bit of information; he leaves us confused and uncertain. Bierce hadn’t told us how much his wife meant to him or what kind of troubles they were having, all he does is leave us with questions to be asked. Ambrose Bierce is good at creating confusion and uncertainty in his world and stories.The examples from the short stories of Ambrose Bierce are only the tip of the iceberg in how he creates his world as a writer. His world is always one that has despair or some sort of confusion and a great style that makes his stories very successful. Ambrose Bierce also always seems to have an awful and hopeless ending for his characters. As American Literature continues to be studied so will the authors who’s styles interest us the most and Bierce is just one of those many great Authors.