Streets in Today’s Age

Dissertation Subject: Streets in Today’s Age Introduction: On a wider range, a metropolis is the base of invention, a platform for advancement of world, the stopper of power and hub for all societal, cultural and economic public assistance. Broadly, the metropolis provides solutions to show and unanticipated jobs, because things and phenomena take topographic point in the metropolis – a conglobation of clerisy. The metropolis grows and develops when it is in theodolite ; better the velocity, faster is its rate of advancement. And so is the construct of roads, where the fastest moving options are idealized. A street, though provides traffic motion, is a modest interlingual rendition of a route. Defined by borders of edifices, their fenestrations, adorned with tree lines, public activity is the trademark of a street. A Street marks the theodolite of the metropolis, yet, with the utmost solution happening step of edifice roads, our metropoliss have seen an upward tendency of change overing streets into roads. The thought of streets, in Indian scenario, can non be imagined without the informal activities of economic sector – the shoemaker, the seller, the tea stall, etc. these form the service countries every bit good as absolutely act as a back uping function to an synergistic life in the society. Now, because of the tendency of formalising every sector of economic system and transition of streets into roads, we lose the most of import usher to our societal life. On the contrary, because of the gait of our life, the ‘leftover pieces of streets’ on the present twenty-four hours roads simply warrant their character. For it is imperative that velocity governs the growing of the metropolis and the day-to-day life of its dwellers. Therefore, the really ‘solutions’ to the jobs of the metropolis, are disguised ‘problems’ of the turning metropolis. The thought of this thesis is to place the existent practically feasible stretches of street which can be or hold a range of set uping back into streetscapes. I would look into such stretches of streets and critically analyse its features employed in and around the country ; of how are its border conditions, how the street permeates into activities related specifically of the country. Therefore, while keeping the kernel of streets, this thesis aims to reevaluate the function of streets in the urban cloth of the metropolis activities in today’s visible radiation. Purposes:To understand the function of streets in today’s context.To measure up streets as practical entity to last the demands of the hereafter.To understand the practical deductions and Scopess of streets revivalAim:To research the multiple roles a street dramas in today’s urban context, stressing the usage of streets.To place the indispensable stretches of complete street and its kernel in the part around it.To understand the features of these specimen stretches.To analyse their border conditions, their Scopess of permeableness, degree of integrating with the societal facets of its users, etc.LITERATURE REVIEW: Patrick Geddes and the Metropolis, Partho Dutta The really ‘modern’ construct of urban planning became a outstanding country of treatment in the planning societies and diaries throughout the western universe, when the determination to switch the capital of colonial India from Calcutta to Delhi was taken in 1911. Other urban centres in colonial India of some distinguished bequests excessively came under the scanner of urban contrivers and the discourse of modern planning permeated in many Indian towns and metropoliss. Partho Dutta presents this paper in the 20Thursdaycentury puting to look at the ongoing contextual alterations in the colonial universe with regard to the metropolis of Calcutta. Colonial metropoliss were looked at with a common yarn of concerns and attitudes laid down by the British Empire – that was of the bonus to migration into metropoliss and the jobs of overcrowding and insanitation due to the rapid growing of mill based industries. This led to blight in 1896 and the primary concern of the colonial authorities was to safeguard the countries with important European populations. Thus modern planning in India had its root in the 19th century pandemics ( Gupta N, 1981 ) . Improvement Trusts were set up and the town planning motion gathered a impulse. Though, altering metropoliss meant altering people and therefore in bend meant altering society itself ( Topalov C, 1990 ) . After the efforts of the province to sanitise the family clashed with the traditional Indian impressions of pureness and pollution ( Dutta P, 2012 ) , the colonial town contrivers took an easy manner out by automatically implementing the Haussmannian theoretical account – of cutting wide wrappings of roads across the life colonies for efficient traffic circulation. Here in, Datta introduces Patrick Geddes as a contriver who is ‘culturally informed’ ( Goodfriend D, 1979 ) . Geddes believed that the capitalist modernisation has brought sea-changes, but had been unable to obliterate critical cultural symbols ( Chakraborthy S ) . He argued that the programs of the hereafter could merely be drawn on a thorough disentangling survey of the societal cast of the community. He put forth the ‘the diagnostic or civic survey’ procedure of recovery to ‘feel’ the organic signifier of the metropolis. A complimentary ‘conservative surgery’ to his civic study provided merely the needful intercessions, therefore bettering maximally by minimum devastation. He quotes, Tyrwhitt J ( 1947 ) : â€Å"†¦the method of Conservative Surgery.. , first it shows that the new streets prove non to be truly required since, by merely enlarging the bing lanes, ample communications already exist ; secondly that, with the add-on of some vacant secret plans and the remotion of a few of the most bedraggled and unsanitary houses, these lanes can be greatly improved and every house brought within the range of fresh air every bit good as of stuff sanitation – a point on which the more pretentious method invariably fails, as is apparent on every plan.† With the rules of Geddes in topographic point, Partho Dutta trains his gun on the Burrabazar, cardinal Calcutta’s most engorged and of import concern territory ; Geddes’ foremost proper to-be committee in colonial city. Datta describes Barrabazar as, â€Å"†¦ the country was diverse and included stores, godowns, residential edifices and bustis, though commercialisation had lent the whole ward a typical character. Overbuilt with narrow streets, which made it cryptic and impenetrable to authorities bureaus, its insanitation worried decision makers because of its close propinquity to the centre of authorities ( Writers Building ) . †¦ By reconstructing order in this ward, the authorities contrivers wanted to make a buffer between the Indian vicinities to the North and British 1s in the South. †¦ ( by the ) proposed Central Railway Station.† The CIT ( Calcutta Improvement Trust ) indicated that the ‘allocation’ of streets, cloacas and railroad lines seemed the lone manner to order the metropolis ( Boyer C, 1994 ) . Thus a destruction temper was set in the heads of the functionaries. When all other European disciplinary proficient functionaries had called in for a destruction, Patrick Geddes was called in for his study, as a town contriver, on the Barrabazar destruction thrust. As Ram Guha ( 2005 ) points out, Geddes confronted two major strains in modern planning at odds with each other. â€Å"†¦ the close association of concern demands to urban planning: the proliferation of capital had ever meant to restructuring of spaces†¦ and the other being the curse of modern be aftering how to rehouse the displaced working categories without arousing category conflict.† His study recommended three parametric quantities ; foremost, the debut of new street should aline east- West axis, the natural motion of goods and traffic flow. Second, the north eastern portion of Barrabazar was to retain its residential character and to develop the west country into modern concern Centre. Third, the minimum destruction of unsanitary belongings to happen, would be rebuild maintaining traditional urban signifiers in head to maintain the character of the territory intact. The CIT programs were motorized conveyance based, but harmonizing to Geddes, betterment in prosaic circulation was the current demand within Barrabazar, since grounds of mass circulation by pes, human portage and manus driven carts was excessively apparent. He was really vocal on the saving and extension of lanes, as Dutta quotes Geddes ( 1919 ) : â€Å"A lane after all is a paving without a route beside it, and some people value its soundlessness ; while its narrow breadth and shadiness gives coolness also.† His program showed hierarchy of roads – lanes for walkers, streets for assorted traffic, and roads for intra-city communicating. This would avoid choke offing up of individual avenues with motors, worlds, animate beings, thereby haltering mobility. His separation of traffic maps enabled faster velocity for vehicles and mobility for commercialism, still continuing the bing channels of communicating. Among some other natural intercessions discussed in his paper, Partho Dutta high spots on Geddes’ strategy for little unfastened infinites between houses – where he suggested planting of few trees to keep the holiness of these little countries and promote people to maintain them clean ( Geddes P, 1919 ) . His thought to do survive an unfastened infinite was to incorporate it with the community instead than go forthing it as a healthful ‘void† , as Parkss and gardens. Towards the terminal, Dutta puts frontward critics to Geddes’ work yet how his attempts could non stand tall to the might of the colonial powers meant for suppressing the province. Even though the paper is a record of Patrick Geddes’ work on Barra Bazar, Partho Dutta had to the full been successful in showing the Geddesian attack to street forms and public kingdom, by preservation of traditional ethos in town planning. His thought of non giving in to meaningless modernisation fad and seeking the optimum from the remainder inspires a manner towards look intoing the inquiries in my thesis. Autochthonal Modernities, Negotiating Architecture and Urbanism, Jyoti Hosagrahar A book written on the urban history of Delhi,Autochthonal Modernitiesis ambitious in its attempt to show the important alterations in the societal and physical surroundings of Delhi, in a period of a century between 1857 and 1947. Harmonizing to Jyoti Hosagrahar, these alterations though â€Å"modern† in their attack, were toned to autochthonal prescriptions, thereby coining the term, â€Å"Indigenous Modernities† ( Appadurai A, 1996 ) . The modernisation in Delhi was non an infliction from outside, but a homegrown endeavor germinating from within bing societal cloth. The modernisation of Delhi is seen in a intercrossed signifier, non ideal unidirectional type as envisaged by the planetary infliction of modernness. Infrastructure development, usage of new engineerings, debut of fresh public establishments, and growing of new lodging typologies are the illustrations of these intercrossed signifiers. Every alteration in the societal imposts and physical infinites was chal lenged, bargained, abandoned, and adjusted. The terminal consequence of which was non a picket or a lacking version of European modernism, but something which imbibed traditional and modern, old and new ; coexistence adopted anxiously ( Gupta N, 1981 ) . Hosagrahar establishes the metropolis of Delhi as a cultural landscape and sets the temper of the reader in the clip frame which rendered the glances of modernness in it. In five chapters she traces the decomposition of the domestic infinites ofhavelis ;the backdown of the community from the public kingdom ; the dislocation of traditional wellness and healthful systems ; denationalization ; and the commodification of community belongings. A brawny monetary value of modernisation was to be paid as it combined urban reforms with profit-seeking motivations. The many imposed societal alterations were cancerous and had the possible to destruct the societal cloth. However, the colonised dwellers proved resilient and appropriated modernness in ways they saw tantrum, guaranting their endurance and heightening their life chances. Delhi survived the going of feudal system, the birth of patriotism, and the attainment of independency, all in less than a century. The book highlights the monetary value that the metropolis paid and its dirty additions in private and public domains. In the wake of the Mutiny/First War of Independence ( 1857 ) ,havelis, abodes of landowning aristocracy, suffered from disregard and were converted into warehouses and smaller residential units ( Verma P and Shankar S, 1992 ) . These big houses had been the pillar of vicinities, because the residents supported craftsmans and their trades. At the same clip, the lifting entrepreneurial categories sought to populate in intercrossed versions of courtyard lodging and European-style cottages. Although the courtyards shrank and drawn-out households fragmented, older life styles did non vanish wholly. Attempts to bring forth public infinites as apublic goodwere contested passionately, accustomed as the occupants were to utilizing available land for their ain intents. Enforcement of bylaws and other ordinances met with considerable opposition since affairs refering belongings rights and territorial invasions had antecedently been resolved within the community or arbitrated by the seniors. New urban infinites generated by the edifice of establishments such as the town hall became the locales for nationalist presentations, so a sort of civic kingdom, independent of spiritual or royal associations, did emerge, even though it had a conflict-ridden generation. New medical systems of cognition and the pattern of their engineerings produced infinites and built signifiers — infirmaries and dispensaries — that did non wholly displace the stores ofhakimsandvaids, practicians ofunaniandayurvedicsystems of traditional medical specialty. Similarly municipal services including pipe d-water supply, sewerage systems, and trash aggregation did non ensue in the ostracism of sweepers. Hosagrahar draws upon municipal archives and her ain interviews with Delhi occupants to compose an urban narration that is handsomely illustrated with historic maps and exposure. The earlier chapters onhavelis, streets, and geographicss of wellness brand for more interesting reading than the last two chapters on land development and new lodging undertakings meant to make a â€Å" modern † citizen. In the narrative Hosagrahar sketches out for us, neither the coloniser nor the colonised appears to move out of baronial motivations, although the capable population deserves our understanding in their efforts to do sense of rapid societal alterations and adapt to them. While there was no straight-out rejection of modernness ( except possibly the last despairing gesture of rebellion in 1857 ) , there was considerable opposition to bumbling autocratic steps every bit good as reformer dockets. Private involvements, more frequently than non, triumphed over public good. In the 21st century, a new embodiment of colonialism, globalisation, is one time once more altering the urban landscape of Delhi. Just as sectors such as Civil Lines, Cantonment, and New Delhi consumed a far greater figure of resources and were dependent upon old Delhi for services, so make the new satellite metropoliss of Gurgaon and Noida depend upon older subdivisions of the metropolis. And merely as New Delhi ‘s landscape was â€Å" modern † in its definition, resting upon its differences from Shahjahanbad/old Delhi, so make these new developments aspire to a feel and image that isplanetary, derived from Western paradigms ( King A, 2004 ) .Dualities abound in post-independence Delhi. Municipal services in most subdivisions remain unequal, chunky settlements proliferate, there is an acute H2O deficit, and most citizens do non hold entree to healthful systems. This landscape of poverty is juxtaposed with a landscape of luxury in shopping promenades, skyscrapers, and hu ge verdure. With hindsight, it is alluring to categorise the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century attempts as a failed or uncomplete undertaking of modernness, destined to prevail in its mutant signifier into the following century ( Sinha A, 2007 ) . Possibly the flight of modernness would hold been different had its undertakings been implemented with greater sensitiveness to cultural codifications and customary patterns ; we should be after for the hereafter consequently. REFERENCE List: Gupta Narayani, 1981, Delhi Between Two Empires, 1803-1931: Society Government and Urban Growth, Oxford University Press, Delhi. Topalov Christian, August, 1990,‘From the â€Å"social question† to â€Å"urban problems† : Reformers and the working categories at the bend of 20th century’ ,International Social Science Journal, No.125. Dutta Partho, 2012, Patrick Geddes and the Metropolis, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, pg. 3 Goodfriend Doughlas E, winter, 1979, ‘Nagar Yoga: The Culturally Informed Town Planning of Patrick Geddes in India 1914- 24’ ,Human Organization38, No. 4. Insight by late Prof. Satyesh Chakraborthy, Calcutta Tyrwhitt Jacqueline, 1947, Ed. Patrick Geddes in India, Lund Humphries, London, pg. 41 Guha Ram,2001, Patrick Geddes and Ecological Town Planning in India, a talk at the Urban Design Research Institute, Bombay, October 5, 2001. Boyer M. Christian, 1994,Dreaming the Rational City: The Myth of American City Planning, Cambridge, Mass. , MIT Press, 1983, pg 288 Geddes Patrick, Barra Bazar Improvement, A Report ( Calcutta: Corporation Press, 1919 ) pg 12 Geddes Patrick, Barra Bazar Improvement, A Report ( Calcutta: Corporation Press, 1919 ) pg.32 Hosagrahar Jyoti, 2005, Autochthonal Modernities: Negotiating Architecture and Urbanism, Routledge, London. Appadurai Arjun, 1996,Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, pg3 Gupta Narayani, 1981, Delhi Between Two Empires, 1803-1931: Society Government and Urban Growth, Oxford University Press, Delhi. Verma Pawan and Shankar Sandeep, 1992,Sign of the zodiacs at Dusk: the Havelis of Old Delhi; Spantech Publications, New Delhi. Sinha Amita, Report on Hosagrahar’s Delhi Identity, February 2007 King Anthony, 2004,Spaces of Global Culture: Architecture, Urbanism, Identity, Routledge, New York.

Chik-Fil-a Case Analysis

{draw:frame} CASE ANALYSIS Principals of Management December 11, 2008 Abstract Chick-fil-a restaurant is a family owned chain. Truett Cathy has been in the restaurant business for 62 years and now has 1,400 restaurants in 37 states including Washington D. C. {text:bibliography-mark} . As of 2007, Chick-fil-A’s reached sales of $2. 64 billion which showed an improvement of 16. 09% increase in sales from 2006 {text:bibliography-mark} . Table of Contents I. Introduction and Background Abstract †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 II. Literature Review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4-7 A. Major research area one: History of Chick-fil-A†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 B. Major research area two: Mission Statement†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 C. Major research area three: SWOT Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5-7 D. Major research area four: Industry Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 E. Major research area five: Financial Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 E. Conclusion:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦. 7 III. References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 Literature Review History of Chick-fil-A: In the small Atlanta suburb of Hapeville in 1946, Truett Cathy opened the Dwarf Grill and later named it Dwarf House. In 1961, Good Brothers Poultry offered Cathy to come up with a chicken sandwich that met up to airline size requirements. He then invented the original Chicken Sandwich in 1964 when his regular customers finally told him â€Å"We like it. Don’t change it again. † {text:bibliography-mark} When he was deciding on the name to trade mark, he thought about the chicken filet he used. He then shortened it with a capital â€Å"A† at the end to stand for top quality. In 1967 he opened up his first mall restaurant in the Greenbrair Mall in Atlanta. In 1973, he offered $1000 team member scholarships for his employees to further their education. In 1982 it was the 1st fast food chain nationally to sell chicken nuggets. In 1992, Georgia Tech and Clemons University were the first Universities to have a Chick-fil-a restaurant on campus. According to Truett Cathy’s biography that I looked up on his website, he has been in the restaurant business for 62 years and now has 1,400 restaurants in 37 states including Washington D. C. text:bibliography-mark} . Mission Statement: â€Å"Be America’s Best Quick-Service Restaurant† {text:bibliography-mark} . *S. W. O. T. ANALYSIS*: Strengths: Name Brand Recognition: Chick-fil-A officially opened in an Atlanta mall in 1967. In 1995, Chick-fil-A introduced the infamous renegade cows known for the â€Å"Eat Mor Chickin† campaigns. {text:bibliography-mark} . Customer Service:Chic-fil-A, prid es itself on pleasing the customer, and it shows. Anytime I have ever visited any Chic-fil-A restaurant, I have been served with the greeting ending in â€Å"my pleasure†. They have won 30 customer service awards in the past 12 years, and among those the Business Week/J. D. Power has awarded them top 25 â€Å"Customer Service Champs† {text:bibliography-mark} . Employee Retention: Regarding the Closed on Sunday Policy, Chick-fil-A mentioned in a press release online â€Å"there must be something special about how Chick-fil-A feels about its people. † I do believe that being closed on Sunday’s gives their employees the opportunity to spend quality time with their families and/or go to church. Community Involvement: Chic-fil-A does not stop with the employee or the customer, they also help charities such as the â€Å"Chick-fil-A Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America† which raises money for various children hospitals. Nutritio_n: _With chicken being the main thing on the menu, Chick-fil-A uses trans-fat and cholesterol free peanut oil to deep fry their chicken and French fries. They also have 10 menu items that have 10 or fewer grams of fat {text:bibliography-mark} . Weaknesses _Closed on Sunday Policy_: Although Mr. Cathy prides himself and does not regret the â€Å"Closed on Sunday Policy†, this is still a potential day to make revenues. In 2007, sales reached $2. 64 billion {text:bibliography-mark} , and I can only imagine how much sales would be if they were open on Sunday. Religion at work: Since Mr. Cathy has such strong Christian beliefs, some people who are not religious may find that intimidating or awkward to work for. For example, in October of 2002, Chick-fil-a was slapped with a lawsuit for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 {text:bibliography-mark} . The lawsuit came after Aziz Latif was fired one day after training in which his attorney claims that the following events took place: â€Å"’_Everyone said a prayer, one at a time, to Jesus Christ’he said’When it came to our client, who is Muslim, he didn’t say anything. There was an awkward silence. Then eventually the next person started praying to Jesus Christ. The next day he was fired. ’† {text:bibliography-mark} _ I could not find the verdict of this trial, but this is one way that religion at work can be a weakness to the company. Only selling chicken: Chick-fil-A sells only chicken which is another weakness. By not offering beef, pork, or fish Chick-fil-A is not expanding their target market to the people who choose not to eat chicken. The people who choose to eat these other meats are lost customers that could have been potential customers had they offered them these other products. Opportunity Growth: In 2007, Chick-fil-A had more than 1,380 restaurants in 37 states, and with a unique $5000 sub-lease franchise opportunity, I do not see this number getting any smaller any time soon. Innovation: Chick-fil-A has definitely grown since their one mall restaurant. They now have approximately 375 major mall restaurants, 728 stand-alone locations, 29 drive-thru-only restaurants, 11 Chick-fil-A Dwarf House Restaurants, and 2 ‘50s diner-themed Truett’s Grill Restaurants {text:bibliography-mark} . Education: Chick-fil-A also has several employee scholarship programs available that date all the way back to 1973. They have offered more than $23. 5 million to over 23,300 employees. The scholarships are the Team Member Scholarship program, S. Truett Cathy Scholar Awards, and also the WinShape Foundation. This to me says that they want valuable team members who can bring new ideas to the table, and not have to outsource for more educated personnel to fill the shoes of the high command positions. Threats: Lower Priced Fast Food Restaurants Meat Variety Restaurants C. Industry Environment: Chick-fil-A is a fast food chain constantly striving to be the top of its game. Although it only serves chicken on the menu and is closed on Sunday’s, it has no problems keeping up with its competitors in revenue. *D. Financial Analysis*: As of 2007, Chick-fil-A’s reached sales of $2. 64 billion which showed an improvement of 16. 09% increase in sales from 2006 {text:bibliography-mark} . E. Conclusion: In conclusion, I think Chick-fil-A is a successful family owned restaurant chain. I believe that an egger entrepreneur could make a big profit from its initial franchise startup cost of $5,000. I believe that Truett Cathy is a generous owner who gives back to the community. I have learned a lot from this case study and would probably start my own Chick-fil-A restaurant if I had the money at this time. References:

Analyse the Role and Use of Initial and Diagnostic Assessment in Agreeing Individual Learning Goals

Initial AssessmentAll learners are entitled to undergo a period of initial assessment. Initial assessment is the process of identifying an individual’s learning and support needs to enable the design of an individual learning plan which will provide the structure for their learning. In other words, it determines the learner’s starting point for their learning programme.Learning need are the skills, knowledge and competence which a learner needs to acquire during the course of their learning programme. Support needs are the additional help that a learner requires to enable; them to address barriers which may otherwise prevent them from fulfilling their learning programme. Initial assessment is a critical process because it represents the first stage in the learning cycle. Failure to accurately identify an individual’s learning needs may result in a learning plan and a learning programme, which does not address learning needs. The subsequent evaluation of learning and training is unlikely therefore to show any benefit to the learner. Initial assessment commences at point of entry, from the contact with the prospective leaner and continues until the point that of the individual learning plan is completed. Further learning and support needs will inevitably be identified through the review process and should be reflected in updates to individual learning plans. Initial assessment should take place over a number of days or weeks. It should not be confined to one session. The result from the initial would indicate what level of Maths and English the learner is working towards in which they are be enrolled on.DiagnosticOnce a learner has completed the initial assessment their level has been set. They will then continue to complete a diagnostic. A distinct form of measurement. Its purpose is to ascertain, prior to instruction, each student’s strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills. Establishing these permits the instructor to remediate students and adjust the curriculum to meet each learner’s unique needs. Therefore, gives a more detail breakdown of what the learner would need to improve on to enable them to achieve the current level set. The student should complete a brief essay explaining why it is important to identify and meet the individual needs of learners and how to use initial and diagnostic assessment in agreeing individual learning goals. (350 words minimum).

Should Social Security Be Required or voluntary Essay

Should Social Security Be Required or voluntary - Essay Example Social security is an entitlement program whereby the Congress can make changes to the benefits and eligibility of workers thus workers paying in to the social security system do not necessarily have right to receive any guaranteed benefits at the end of retirement3. Currently, billions of US dollars are spend in financing the programs through deductions on payrolls of employees and government expenditure. The social security programs also cover the unemployed and those incapable of getting employment due to disability and other disadvantages. There is an intense debate on whether social security should be a required or voluntary due to the mandatory payroll deductions and the high government tax revenues that are spend in financing the programs4. Social security is a major political issue that has attracted strong opinions across the US demographic segments. Proponents of social security maintain that it should be required while opponents of the system assert that it should be volun tary5. The debate of social security is centered on various major philosophical arguments such as the right of ownership and choice of private investment alternatives that will guarantee personal retirement income. In addition, another controversial argument that surrounds the social security is the right of the government to collect payroll taxes and finances social security and importance of wealth redistribution in the society. Accordingly, intergenerational rights such as right of those living today and the ability to impose financial burden to future generations is also a topic of intense debate in determining whether it should be required or voluntary6. Some people argue that social security is a charitable safety net while others hold that it is an earned benefit program. The other controversial debate attached to the topic is the trade-off between private wealth creation and social insurance. Thesis statement: social security should be voluntary. Opponents of social security assert that it should be voluntary since Americans will not be capable of sustaining the needs of the social security system in the future and the growing middle class should have the freedom to invest for their retirement7. Middle-income individuals pay a high proportion of their income to the program in order to secure their retirement thus hindering any opportunities for making personal viable savings and investments. Since the social security systems does not create any meaningful wealth, the benefits that individuals get after retirement are just financed by the current tax payers thus making the social security system unsustainable8. For instance, Medicare and social security accounted for 38 percent of the federal spending in 2012 fiscal year and estimates point out that the current federal spending on the programs will exceed the federal GDP growth by 2030. Accordingly, the US is currently experiencing low employment rate and increasingly aging population, thus the projecte d collections from employment will be less than the high spending that will be caused by the high number of aged individual. Accounting to the 2013 edition of the annual trustee’s reports of Medicare and Social security, the reports indicate that the trust funds must be abolished. The report indicates that 2012 Medicare benefits and social securi

Gender Stereotyping of American First Ladies Term Paper

Gender Stereotyping of American First Ladies - Term Paper Example They summarized previous studies on the way that the media reported Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton and Barbara Bush and agreed with the observation that journalists tend to use one of four different â€Å"frames† for viewing the first ladies, namely as an escort for her husband, as a style-setter for fashionable society, in a â€Å"noblesse oblige† role doing charity works or taking a political role as a policy advisor. Earlier studies had shown that the more politically involved the presidential wife was, the less positive the new reporting was. Houchin and Winfield then analyzed media coverage of the wives of the presidential president and vice presidential candidates in the 2000 presidential election, hoping to establish what frame analyzed  used and how the First and Second Ladies’ roles are evolving. The data used in this study included personality profiles, new features, interviews, opinion columns, and campaign updates. It is clear that the wives were involved in the whole electioneering process. At first, the escort role was stressed, and then over time, an element of sacrifice was introduced, since some of these wives had given up high powered careers to support their electioneering husbands. By the end of the election campaign, the press had developed a new frame: â€Å"The Anti-Hillary.† What this study shows is that Hillary Clinton, a strong, capable politician in her own right, is seen as a negative asset to a president. One cannot help wondering what the situation would be if the roles were reversed, for example, if a woman were running for office and her husband came under press scrutiny. This is not a scenario which occurs very often, and when one looks at international examples, such as Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain, and Indira Gandhi in India, one finds that the press is not interested in their husbands as much because they are either dead or seen as irrelevant.

Accounts Manipulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Accounts Manipulation - Essay Example It is a rosier picture that what it actually is. Window-dressing is accomplished in general ways - by not making adequate provisions though prudence would require them for expenses and potential losses, by taking into account income even before its actual accrual, by playing around with inter-corporate adjustments etc."Security analysts earn their money basically in part, by advising investors of both private and institutional organizations on how to invest their funds. They may judge some companies to have good future prospects which are not fully reflected in the company's share price; therefore, their recommendation will be to buy the company's shares. Alternatively, they may judge other companies to have poor future prospects which are not reflected in their share prices; therefore, their recommendation will be to sell the company's shares. While security analysts carry out their own independent research into companies they can come to different conclusions about a company's futu re prospects. However, in most cases there tends to be a reasonable degree of consensus in these forecasts (simon, 1998)"."The primary purpose of financial statements is to show the underlying economic performance of a company. The balance sheet provides a snapshot of the assets, liabilities and capital of the business; and the income statement, or profit-and-loss account, shows the difference between total revenues and total expenses. The auditors analyze and assure that these present a fair view, acknowledging the subjective nature of some of the measures behind the accounts (Economist.com, 2002)". Financial statements are prepared for the purpose of presenting a periodical review or report on progress by management and deal with the status of investment in the new business and the results achieved during the period under review. They reflect a combination of recorded facts, accounting conventions and personal judgements, and the judgements and conventions applied affect them materially. The soundness of the judgement necessarily depends on the competence and integrity of those who make them and on their adherence to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and Conventions. Since each use of accounts may have a different focus in viewing the financial statement, it is necessary that the accounting statements are not biased in favour of anyone interested group. It is therefore, necessary for an accountant to ensure that the accounts represent a "true and fair" picture of the affairs of business. It may be often difficult to draw a clear line between true and untrue, and fair and unfair accounts; yet if the accountant prepares the financial statements free from any bias in favour of any user group and remains faithful to his self - conscience, chances are that the accounts thus prepared will be true and fair. As accou7ntants are human and prone to errors there would be the probability that the accounts presented are indeed less than true and fair. A reader of accounts must therefore, develop sufficient capability to see through such accounts or read between the lines to offset the biased presentation of accounts. The case of WorldCom The concept of evolution of WorldCom as a company happened in the year 1983 in Mississippi. The person behind this evolution is Bill Fields. He named the company as Long Distance Discount Services (LDDS). After some years the company was renamed as WorldCom. Since then the company grew step by step and transformed itself as a giant in the telecommunication world. The company is famous for its acquisitions of a number of small companies. The company landed in stage where no further large scale acquisitions were allowed by the

Compare and Contrast Herbal medicine and Nutritional therapy Essay

Compare and Contrast Herbal medicine and Nutritional therapy - Essay Example In addition, complementary medicine incorporates alternative medicine applied for curative and therapeutic purposes, instead of the western medicine (Robson, 2003). Other important component of complementary medicine according to Robson, (2003) includes indigenous practices and medicines traditionally used for medical intervention in addition to integrative medicine, which involves using both western medicine and complementary medicine to cure diseases. In view of these dimensions, Robson (2003) argues that complementary medicine is an inclusive term, incorporating both complementary medicines and therapies. In health care, Mark and Brown (2007) note that the major concerns of complementary medicine are maintenance of health and curing diseases. Therefore, different medicines and therapies not regarded by mainstream medical practice are included in the practice. These include herbal medicine, acupuncture, reflexology, aromatherapy, nutritional therapy, hypnotherapy, massage therapy, yoga, homeopathy, osteopathy among others (Mark, & Brown, 2007). According to Blackman, et al. (2009), many health care professionals are increasingly applying both complementary and conventional medicine and therapy in their practices and this has resulted to high incidents of overlap between the two. In this regard, Fass (2001) formulated four domains of complementary medicine considering the existence of some intersections while applying medical practices. These domains include mind and body medicine, practices based on biological applications, energy medicine, and body based (manipulative) practices (Fass, 2001). Mind - body medicine in complementary medicine involves the application of diverse methods intended to improve the power of the mind to affect the functions of the body and symptoms (Damery, et al. 2009). Examples of mind-body

Informal Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Informal Assessment - Essay Example It so turns out that, critical reasoning, is in itself difficult a task. It is a skill, and like any skill, it is expected that it can be acquired and sustained with practice. As majority of individuals seeking to learn as well as explore different sectors in the market, with the main aim of making it in life, it is necessary to also learn that, the first step comes from ones individual effort itself. It can be argued that, with reference to the goals that majority of the students aspire to achieve, it can be narrowed down to, success as the bottom-line (Daniels, 2009). The fact that, opinion in terms of career preferences is concerned plays a major role in the case study. Opinion tends to vary from one individual to another, thus broadening the scope of learning involved. It is thus only necessary that each individual receive fair and necessary knowledge as expected. Nothing less of which is considered reasonable. Ambition too falls into question, as it is this, which draws the separating line between the success levels expected. Individuals may follow this particular course, in pursuit for bigger dream realization. In a separate scenario, the issue of an individual’s background may also facilitate what facilitates the coming together of random people, as in topic. It is only fair that boundaries limited to background issues are kept, to ascertain that equality is widespread amongst everyone. It is thus acceptable, to come up with strategies within reason, that aim at delivering to all the random individuals in a more or less equal manner. In a move to deliver every single detail as elaborated, use of emotional appeals would play a huge role in this. These are also referred to as the appeals to pathos. They are powerful tools for influence what individuals think, as well as believe. Everyone, especially at such a critical moment, makes decisions. Some of these decisions are of huge importance, some being based on ones

The Woman at the Tomb Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Woman at the Tomb - Essay Example The faith in Jesus’ resurrection plays a central feature in the Christian tradition. In such case, there is the need to investigate the origin and meaning of the belief in Jesus’ resurrection. The oldest text in the New Testament that says something about the resurrection can be found in the first letter of Paul to the Christian community in Corinth that was written around the year 56 C.E. The passage reminds the Corinthians of the proclamation of Paul regarding the resurrection of Jesus. Such reminder by Paul also indicates how early the resurrection belief was. The text starts with â€Å"I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received† (1 Cor. 15:3). This indicates that what follows is not purely Paul’s composition. Paul quoted a very old creedal statement. There are many theories behind regarding how Paul might have received this basic Christian proclamation. Some scholars say that he received the main formula at Damascus when he w ent there upon being converted to Christianity about 36 C.E. Others would state that Paul got all or some of this material from his first visit to the Christian community of Jerusalem in 39 C.E. The formula from which Paul quotes contains two important elements about the resurrection: he was raised and he appeared (Loewe 101). ... The author of the gospel supplies his audience various indications of time. Furthermore the names of the women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome were mentioned. When the women arrived in the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in white. The young man made a three-part speech. Firstly, he addressed the women’s feelings. Secondly, he explains why the tomb is empty. According to him, Jesus had been raised. Thirdly, the young man gave the women a job to do that is, to tell the male disciples that Jesus will see them in Galilee. Mark also established what transpired between the young man and the three women placing its emphasis on the reaction of the women to the young man. For Mark, the women’s response to the good news of the resurrection was a disappointment. Overcome with fear, the women run away and did not tell anyone what they experienced. Matthew followed Mark in this narrative of the empty tomb. Salome was taken out of the picture leaving Mary Magd alene and â€Å"the other Mary.† For Matthew the reason of the women in was simply to see the tomb. Another major change in the version of Matthew is the dramatic scene were the opening of the stone of the tomb coincided with an earthquake. In contrast with the earlier account of Mark, the author of Matthew describes the reaction of the women to the resurrection on a positive note. The women left the tomb with fear and great joy then ran to tell the other disciples. Luke’s version of the empty tomb bonds with Mark regarding the purpose of the women in visiting the tomb that is to anoint Jesus with spices. The number of women increases: Joanna replaces Salome and there were other unnamed women as well. The young man in Matthew’s edition turns into an angel and eventually

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

Statistic - Essay Example Among the sample we questioned, a majority of them, 66.7% representing 20 individuals were of the opinion that type II diabetes mellitus is a dangerous disease. Only 1 subject represents a meager 3.3 of the total sample population disagreed. This indicates that diabetes mellitus, type II is feared by more than half of the population as a dangerous disease and only a significantly low proportion of the total population are of the opinion that the disease is not that dangerous. This information is well represented in the Table 1 below. The causes of type II diabetes were listed as genetic factors, obesity, a poor diet or, in some cases, vitamin D insufficiency. Consequently, the study sought to identify from the sample population what was their opinion on the cause of the diabetes among these four factors. Interestingly, more than half, 56.7%, representing 17 subjects in the sample linked type II diabetes to obesity. However, a few individuals linked the disease to a poor diet or genetic factors. It should be noted that vitamin D and poor diet may be intertwined since both have to do with one’s eating habits. In this regard, 30% of the subjects of this study linked these two factors to the disease. Therefore, inferring from these statistics, it is true that obesity leads as a major cause of type II diabetes mellitus with poor diet coming a distance second (see Table 2 below). Personal measures taken to prevent type II diabetes were also investigated in this study. These factors majored on habits/behaviors aimed at preventing type II diabetes, namely, exercise, diet, and enough sleep (sleeping early). Of the personal initiatives, 14 subjects, representing 46.7% of the survey subjects, exercised so as to curb the disease, whereas only 23.3% were of the opinion that sleeping early could prevent type II diabetes mellitus (see below Table 3, a pie chart

Justice is a theme of all great literature Essay Example for Free

Justice is a theme of all great literature Essay Justice comes from actions and decisions being balanced, in that when someone does a good thing, they are rewarded, and when they do something bad, they are punished. It is the gods primary role to hand out justice and make sure everybody is treated fairly. This theme appears immediately in the Odyssey, as Zeus is considering the story of Aegisthus, who courted Agamemnons wife and then killed Agamemnon. Aegisthus was killed for this treacherous act. This story of justice shows us instantly that the Odyssey will be strongly structured around it. May all who act as he did share his fate! says Athene. This shows how openly the gods in the Odyssey despised the works of those who went against the will of the gods. Both Nestor and Menelaus repeat this story of Aegisthus, and as god fearing men, they know how important it is to stay on their right side because they know what happens as a result of an imbalance in terms of justice. The Aeneid opens however and were told that the poem is based on the founding of Rome and the main string of justice seems to be coming from one scorned goddess, who simply doesnt want her favourite city to be destroyed. The balance she tries to restore is simply an act of revenge rather than actual justice, and rather than convincing the other gods its the right thing to do, she simply bribes Aeolus. Justice is however looked upon a little while later as Venus goes to Jupiter and asks why the Trojans are being made to suffer after doing nothing wrong. Jupiter tells her not to fear as justice will be done and Rome will be founded. Such behaviour seems to recur constantly throughout the Aeneid. For example, in book 8 we learn of the betrayal that a Tuscan tribe suffered at the hands of Mezentius, and in book 9 he continues his evil ways killing Trojans. The Gods have decided to stay out of the battle and so the following events have nothing to do with the justice that is familiar in epic poems. Both Mezentius and his son Lausus are killed, by Aeneid. I see these deaths as acts of revenge rather than justice, although Lausus death is more deserving. The death of his son is Mezentius true punishment. I see these deaths as acts of revenge because Mezentius tried to kill Aeneid, as well as all the other innocent people and the treachery he brought upon the aforementioned Tuscan tribe, and so Aeneas kills them. The fact that the innocent Lausus dies shows that the justice portrayed in the Aeneid is much more malicious, and it doesnt just affect the culprit. Theres also the case of the unfortunate people in the underworld that must wait 100 years to cross the river, through no fault of their own. Justice really does seem obscure in the Aeneid. Another instance of this is when the people of Carthage feel Didos death was just, simply because she fell in love with the wrong man, and through no fault of her own. I believe Turnus death to be the best example of the incomprehensible justice served in the Aeneid. His justice only prevails once they see fit, once it fits in with their plans. In the end, it becomes obvious that while justice is a powerful motivator and regulator in the lives of mortals, it is the will of the immortals that truly controls their lives, and their disfigured system of justice On the other hand, there are moments when actual justice is served. Examples include the groups beyond the river in the underworld and the story of Hercules and the giant for example. He goes to extreme lengths to kill the giant for all the robbery and murder hes committed, and its just that Hercules puts a stop to it, even though its brought about by someone who isnt quite immortal, and so possibly not what the gods perceive as justice. Although weve already established that the gods perspective is fairly warped in the Aeneid. The other case of actual justice involves king Minos, who spends eternity hearing the cases of people, unjustly executed, and finally getting the plea their cases. They are finally being treated fairly, even if it is beyond life. In the Odyssey however, deaths and misfortunes seem to come about through the idea of justice, and nothing else- no malicious or unfair punishments seem to prevail i. e. there seems to be a point behind them, rather than them just being malicious acts of immortals. For example, Zeus becomes angered at Odysseus because his men eat the sun gods cattle, despite being warned not to; however he doesnt let Odysseus die, because the sun god only asks that the crew be punished, because after all, Odysseus did warn them. However he does unavoidably get caught in the cross fire and this is how he winds up on Calypsos island in the first place. Another example is Poseidon. He makes Odysseus aqua adventures a nightmare because he impairs Poseidons son Polyphemus vision, which goes against the rules of Xenia really. It is of course, Odysseus own fault because he becomes arrogant about what he did to Polyphemus, by telling him his name, after hes left. Therefore its just and fair to punish him. Even though hes such a great hero, he does a wrong act and is punished as any other man would be. Then of course, there is the case of the suitors; the epic conclusion to the Odyssey. Odysseus finally returns to find all the suitors and some of the maids running riot in his home, having raunchy sex, eating all the food, and drinking away his wealth. Odysseus is of course a bit bothered by this, so he decides, and Athene, who borrows Mentors image again, agrees that he, Telemachus and a couple of close friends will pick up their weapons and launch them through any part of the suitors they see fit. The fact that Athene helps proves that the act is just. Rarely do gods help out in a way that we can perceive as just in the Aeneid, because most of the time, the punishments are just vicious or over-exaggerated. So anyway, Telemachus sees to it that the ill-mannered maids are hung until they stop twitching, and Odysseus destroys all the suitors so that he and Penelope can live happily ever after, as they justly deserve. By the end of homers poem, everyone has been served the justice theyve earned, both good and bad. I think its fair to say that justice is very important in both plays, but as a modern day reader, its easier to understand the justice in the Odyssey because at times, the events in the Aeneid seem so obscure.

Recreation, Leisure and Play Essay Example for Free

Recreation, Leisure and Play Essay The idea of leisure has been in existence for many centuries and has come to have many different meanings depending on the period in history or the civilization that it originated from. From as early as Ancient Greece, Rome or Babylonia, the term we now know as leisure has existed in some form or another. As has been widely noted in introductory recreation texts, schole was both the ancient Greek word for leisure meaning, â€Å"serious activity without the pressure of necessity† and is the root of the English word for school (Godbey, 2003). To the ancient Greeks, leisure, education, and culture were intertwined. In other words, learning was available only for the rich, people with the wealth to afford free time. Leisure, as we know it today, has changed from the original meaning of the word. From what I have read and found in various books and articles, Leisure can be defined in 3 different ways: leisure defined as a state of being or a state of mind, leisure defined as an activity, and leisure defined as time. I will discuss the various definitions of leisure today and then discuss my issues with each definition. Leisure Defined as a State of Mind Leisure defined as a state of mind is, in my mind, the least often used definition of the word. The way to understand this concept would be use it in the context such as â€Å"someone who is at leisure†; meaning freedom from anxiety, obligation, or constraint or having an internal locus of control. Locus of Control refers to an individuals perception of main causes of events in life. More simply, having an internal locus of control means that you believe that you are the master of your own destiny. John Neulinger (1974) states: Leisure has one and only one essential criterion, and that is the condition of perceived freedom. Any activity carried out freely, without constraint or compulsion, may be considered to be leisure. â€Å"To leisure† implies being engaged in any activity as a free agent and of one’s own choice. (p. 12) Now I want you to keep in mind this idea of leisure as any activity of one’s own free willed decision because I am going to touch on it again during the leisure defined as time. Leisure Defined as an Activity Leisure defined as an activity is used widely as well. Most people would agree that leisure activity is something that is fun and enjoyable during a non-working time. This idea makes it difficult to pinpoint a leisure activity though. Understanding if the activity is performed for intrinsic or extrinsic purposes may be the deciding factor whether the activity is leisure or not. The distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic properties plays an essential role in stating several interesting philosophical problems. Why am I performing this action? If you are doing the activity because you enjoy it, then you are performing it for its intrinsic value. If you do not want to participate in an activity, but you know that you will benefit from the activity, you are performing it for its extrinsic value. An example would be a person who practices on the piano because they like to play, versus a person who practices piano because they want to win a music contest. Who of the two is experiencing leisure as an activity? Most people would agree that the first person is definitely experiencing leisure as an activity. The second person is where the debate lays. It is the same exact activity as the first person, but the motivation for performing the activity is different. I feel that as long as you, as a free willed individual, choose to perform any activity then you are experiencing leisure as an activity because you are fulfilling your desires. I feel that the only time when you are may not experience leisure is when you are dying. If you have lived a long life and eventually die from old age, I do not believe that you made the decision out of free will to pass away. Although, if a person commits suicide, does that persons free willed decision make the act of dying a leisure activity? Some good questions to ask: If your career is your passion, are you always at leisure? Conversely, is a person without a job always at leisure? Musicians, professional athletes, and the homeless are all specific examples of situations that may help answer these questions. Leisure Defined as Time Leisure defined as time may be the most commonly understood meaning of the word today because of its positive connotations (Martin, 1975). People often use the word leisure and the term free time interchangeably. On the surface this definition seems fine, but as you delve deeper and ask difficult questions, it starts to become less clear. What is free time? Free time is defined as time free of obligations or responsibilities, or time to do with what you please. As Neulinger stated his definition of leisure, performing the activity out of free will is the deciding factor for whether it is leisure or not. This idea brings this thought to mind. All human beings have been blessed with the gift of free will; a consciousness of who we are and of the decisions we make. Without consciousness we would still be aware of what is going on around us, but we would react to it in a reflexive, instinctive way. With consciousness, we can deliberately weigh what the senses tell us, and respond accordingly. If this definition holds true, shouldn’t all of life be considered leisure? Every decision, every action, comes from our decisions of our own free will. If we continue with this thought, some questions arise: †¢ Are there any instances in life that would prevent you from experiencing free will? †¢ Do we always make decisions based on our desires? †¢ Do having priorities that are not in sync with our desires negate our free will? These questions came after having a conversation with my friend. She told me that when you are a parent, you have obligations to your children that may interfere with your free time. This is where the damn breaks open and it is up to the individual to decide. Her question was, â€Å"What if my needs as a parent cannot be fulfilled because I have work to make sure my kids are fed and clothed? † I feel that even though you have the responsibility as a parent to provide for your children, you made the decision to have a child knowing full well the obligations and responsibilities that would ultimately come with that decision. Free time, who would have thought two little words, would bring up so many questions? My Definition of Leisure After contemplating on the various definitions of the term leisure I propose the following: Leisure is the phenomenon experienced by all self aware beings whose decisions are based out of free will, whether those decisions are made in the conscious or subconscious mind of the individual. Recreation Recreation is any activity which is relaxing to humans or provides diversions from their normal routine, and in many ways is also a therapeutic refreshment of ones body or mind. Any activity can potentially be a recreational one. Vacations to exotic islands, sporting events, meditation, watching television, or playing monopoly are all forms of recreation. A key factor to the activity being considered a recreational activity is whether or not it is pleasurable. If the activity is not pleasurable then the activity cannot be considered recreational because it is not rejuvenating to the body or mind. For example, a couple travels to the Caribbean for a second honeymoon. They have planned the vacation far in advance and the tickets and reservations are non-refundable. Upon arriving, the weather is awful and the couple is unable to participate in any of the activities they had planned for the trip. Even though the fact they were engaging in a commercial recreational activity, the weather prevented them from having an enjoyable time and therefore the vacation was not recreating to oneself or another. With the information provided, this vacation would not be classified as recreation. Fairchild defined recreation as â€Å"any activity pursued during leisure, either individual or collective, that is free and pleasurable, having its own immediate appeal, not impelled by a delayed reward beyond itself† (Fairchild, 1944). Another aspect of recreation was presented by Gray and Greben (1974) as: an emotional condition within an individual human being that flows from a feeling of well-being and self-satisfaction. It is characterized by feeling of mastery, achievement, exhilaration, acceptance, success, personal worth, and pleasure. It reinforces positive self-image. Recreation is a response to aesthetic experience, achievement of personal goals, or positive feedback from others. It is independent of activity, leisure, or personal acceptance. (p. 23) This definition is not focused on the activity itself, but on the individual’s reaction to the activity; the individuals state of mind. I would agree that this definition touches the heart of the subject much better. I stated earlier that any activity has the potential of being a recreational activity. This is true because it depends on how the individual feels about the activity. Most people experience pleasure during activities like exercise, sports, relaxing, and vacationing. If you think along these lines then it is easy to understand why some activities are generalized as recreational and why some are not. Although some people consider work pleasurable, most people do not love their job. This is why I believe that work is not universally accepted as recreational. My Definition of Recreation After contemplating on the various definitions of the term recreation I propose the following: Recreation is a positive state of mind achieved during any physical or non-physical activities characterized by feelings which are rejuvenating and recreating to the body and spirit. Play Leisure and recreation as I discussed them are states of mind experienced by an individual. Play, although related to these concepts, is different in the fact that it is a means to achieve this positive state of mind which all living beings desire. Play has existed since the beginning of time. Johan Huizinga (1950) described the characteristics of play as: †¢ Voluntary behavior †¢ Stepping outside of â€Å"ordinary life† †¢ Secluded and limited in time and space †¢ Not serious but absorbs the player intensely †¢ Bounded by rules †¢ Promoting formation of social groups that surround themselves with secrecy As you read the characteristics, you realize that they appear in all forms of play. Although play is a common occurrence within all ages of life, it is a concept that it liked to immaturity in today’s society. The Instinctual Aspect of Play. Play is a puzzle to scientists. Why do animals spend so much time and energy doing such silly things that seem to have no purpose? The struggle for survival in nature is deadly serious. What place is there for activities that dont help animals eat, grow, and reproduce? Play is also very risky. Animals can break bones, pull muscles, or get bitten too hard. In a study of 14 Siberian ibexes (wild goats), more than one-third were hurt badly enough during play to cause limps-a serious concern in the race for survival. And animals can become so wrapped up in play that they are unaware of danger. One study showed that 80 percent of the deaths among young fur seals occurred because the playing pups didnt see predators coming! (Braaf 2003,  ¶ 4) Why is play worth the risk? Many scientists believe its essential for survival-as important as food or sleep. Why Play? Most scientists believe that when animals play, they are practicing skills theyll need later in life. This is why different kinds of animals play in different ways. Young predators, such as wolves, lions, and bears, play by stalking, pouncing, biting, and shaking their heads from side to side. Theyre honing their skills for when they will run down, catch, and kill prey. When a wolf pup chases its own tail, bites it, and yanks it back and forth, the pup is rehearsing skills itll need one day as a hunter. Research shows that smarter animals spend more time playing. Elephants play more than horses. Chimps play more than macaques. Wolves play more than rabbits. And parrots play more than either ducks or sparrows. Smarter animals also play in more creative and complex ways. Not surprisingly, humans and chimpanzees are among the most playful species. (Braaf 2003,  ¶ 9) Here are three questions to start with: Why do humans play? Is play something that is learned, or is it instinctual? And what purpose does it serve in humans? To answer the first question, Godbey (2003) presents the following: If you put a person in a dark tank of water heated to same temperature as their body in a dark room devoid of sound, their need for stimulation will be so great that they will usually start to hallucinate. If you are walking down the street with nothing much absorbing your attention, you may start to notice cracks in the sidewalk and make up a game in which you have to avoid stepping on them. (p. 46) In conclusion, humans need stimulation. If the mind is idle then the person will seek out the stimulation in his or her surroundings. Whether or play is instinctual or learned, I believe that it is both. Most games that we play are learned, such as baseball, hide and seek, or even make believe games such as house. Obviously, not all forms of play are taught though. As in the example from Godbey, a person will make up a form of play if there are no other options for stimulation. Finally to understand the purpose of play in humans we must first discuss the four forms of play developed by Caillois (1958). †¢ The pursuit of vertigo in which one tries to momentarily destroy the stability of perception, escaping reality for the moment. †¢ Games of chance †¢ Make Believe †¢ Contests which require appropriate training, the application of skill, and the desire to win As in animals in the wild, play is used to hone a person’s skill for later in life. Some examples of this are interacting with other children on the playground, which will increase social skills, hitting rocks with a stick, which will increase hand-eye coordination, and cloud watching, which will develop a persons imagination. My Definition of Play After contemplating on the various definitions of the term play I propose the following: Play is voluntary behavior, bounded by rules, experienced by both human and non-human beings, which stimulates the mind and body, prepares an individual for similar future situations, and allows for personal growth within the individual. How Leisure, Recreation, and Play Relate Now that I have discussed my definitions of leisure, recreation, and play, I will explain how my definitions are related to one another. As I stated earlier, Leisure is the phenomenon experienced by all self aware beings whose decisions are based out of free will, whether those decisions are made in the conscious or subconscious mind of the individual. Life, to me, is leisure because of our ability to act out of free will. The question should not be, â€Å"Is this activity a leisure activity? †, but rather, â€Å"Is this activity considered good or bad leisure? † Recreation, I feel, is a subset of leisure. All of recreation can be considered leisure, but not the converse. Recreation is a positive state of mind achieved during any physical or non-physical activities characterized by feelings which are rejuvenating and recreating to the body and spirit. The reason that not all of leisure can be considered recreation is because not all of life is recreating to the mind and spirit. Play is a subset of recreation. Similar to leisure and Recreation, all of play is recreation, but not the converse. Play is voluntary behavior, bounded by rules, experienced by both human and non-human beings, which stimulates the mind and body, prepares an individual for similar future situations, and allows for personal growth within the individual. The main difference is that play is bounded by rules where recreation is not. Some examples of recreation that are not considered play would be meditation, reading, or watching TV. If you look at the following diagram, I think it makes it easier to understand the relationship between all three of the concepts. [pic] Leisure is all encompassing. Within it lays recreation and play. Although they are both within leisure there are still some aspects of leisure that are not considered recreation. This blue arrow points to this area. The red arrow points to the area that is recreational but does not classify as play. Quality of Life The well-being or quality of life of a person is an important concern when trying to understand leisure, recreation, and play in an individual’s life. Understanding quality of life is today particularly important in health care, where monetary measures do not readily apply. Decisions on what research or treatments to invest the most in are closely related to their effect of a patients quality of life. There are many components to well-being. A large part is standard of living, the amount of money and access to goods and services that a person has; these numbers are fairly easily measured. Others components like freedom, happiness, art, environmental health, and innovation are far harder to measure and are generally considered to be more important. There are two main strategies we can adopt to improve the quality of life in our everyday lives. The first is to try making external conditions match our goals. The second is to change how we experience external conditions to make them fit our goals better. Neither of the strategies is effective when used alone. Changing external conditions might seem to work at first, but if a person is not in control of his or her consciousness, the old fears or desires will soon return, reviving previous anxieties. (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 89) For instance, feeling secure is an important component of happiness. The sense of security can be improved by purchasing a gun for home protection, placing security locks on the front door, having an alarm unit installed, or moving to a safer neighborhood. All of these actions would fall under making our external conditions fit our goals better. One also has to understand that perfect safety is, in all reality, not possible and risks are inevitable. Once a person understands this then the threat of insecurity will not have as great of a chance of having a person live in fear; ultimately ruining ones quality of life. In society today, wealth, status and power have become symbols of happiness. People often assume that the rich and famous have very rewarding lives just because of their status. We often assume that life would be better if we were in other peoples shoes. The reality of the situation is that quality of life does not depend directly on what others think about us or what we own, but rather how we feel about ourselves and what happens to us in our everyday lives. Some people today suffer from affluenza, the bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. It is an epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. In layman’s terms, affluenza is experienced when people have the mentality that their possessions is what defines them as an individual. This is not to say that having nice things, being famous, or being is peak physical condition are irrelevant to happiness. These things can be genuine blessings but only if they make us feel better without having to sacrifice other important aspects of our life. Research on happiness suggests that in general, there is a mild correlation between wealth and well-being. Given these observations, instead of worrying about how to make a million dollars or how to win friends and influence people, it seems more beneficial to find out how everyday life can be made more harmonious and more satisfying, and thus achieve by a direct route what cannot be reached through the pursuit of symbolic goals (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 91). How Leisure, Recreation and Play Affect Quality of Life Everyone is familiar with stress. We experience it in varying forms and degrees every day. In small doses, stress can actually be beneficial to us. It is only when the stress becomes too great, affecting our physical or mental functioning, that it becomes a problem. The stress response of the body is meant to protect and support us. To maintain stability or homeostasis, the body is constantly adjusting to its surroundings. When a physical or mental event threatens this equilibrium, we react to it. This process is often referred to as the fight or flight response. We prepare for physical action in order to confront or flee a threat. When it is part of a natural reaction to challenge or danger, the body’s response is called positive stress. However, when you feel out of control or under intense pressure, you may experience the physical, emotional, or relational symptoms brought on by negative stress. Stress can cause both physical and emotional in an individual’s life. Stress adversely affects reproduction, sexual behavior, and growth. Stress inhibits the immune system, making you more vulnerable to colds, flu, fatigue and infections. Leisure, recreation and play are natural ways to reduce negative stress that builds up in the body therefore improving ones quality of life. The human body is like any other system in nature. If we don’t have ways to vent our stress from everyday life through activities that are pleasurable, we will start to experience the negative side effects of stress. Final Thoughts My thoughts on the subject of leisure, recreation, and play before this paper could not be further from where my thoughts are now. I feel that too much emphasis is placed on unimportant things today. Society, more so than ever, has gotten into the habit of treating the symptoms of people, instead of treating the individual. I feel that having a better understanding of the concepts of recreation, leisure, and play and the role they play in your life will ultimately lead to a happier and hopefully longer life. Refrences Braaf, E. (2003). Why animals love to play. Retrieved September 20, 2006, from Find Articles Website: http://www. findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa4128/ is_200311/ai_n9307508/pg_1 Caillois, R. (1958). Man, play and games. Glencoe, IL: The Free press. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York, NY. Harper and Row. Fairchild, H. (1944). Dictionary of sociology (pp. 251-252). New York, NY: Philosophical Library. Godbey, G. (2003). Leisure in your life: An exploration. State College, PA: Venture Publishing. Gray, D. and Greben, S. (1974, July). Future Perspectives. Parks and recreation, 61, 49 Hiuzinga, J. (1950). Homo ludens: A study of the play element in culture. Boston, MA: Beacon Press Martin, A. (1975, March). Leisure and our inner resources. Parks and Recreation, 69. 1-16 Neulinger, J. (1974). The psychology of leisure: Research approaches to the study of leisure. Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas Publishers.

Business Intelligence to Maximise Profits

Business Intelligence to Maximise Profits Objective (Industry over view, BI summary) I have chosen this topic because the decisions made in oil and gas companies have a huge impact on global economy and overall environment. Requirements of the developed economy for liquid natural gas and oil both as fuel and as in raw materials for the chemical industry is steadily increasing. Demand lifting has led to sharp increase in the prices for oil and for hydrocarbon raw materials as a whole, which has caused increase in extraction of these products in all countries possessing deposits of hydrocarbons. The oil and gas sector became the main donor of financial resources for the state budget of the country. This topic will cover how Business Intelligence (BI) tools support management to consolidate procedures and to maximize profits, through cutting costs and data integration. BI along with data warehouses and business analytics represent that toolkit which allows oil gas companies to take a maximum of the information from the available primary data, to reveal the basic trend s and to construct forecasting models, i.e., finally, to transform the available company data into a source of additional profit. In addition to BI, terms like business performance management (BPM), business process management (also BPM), corporate performance management (CPM), and business activity monitoring (BAM), have also emerged. All of these are a part of BI. They are all dependent on BI tools, but it should be noted that BI is not dependent on them. In my understanding BI-projects need to be considered not only as object of reduction of expenses, but also as the tool of development which can bring profit to company. Functions of analytics and forecasting which are intended for the decision of strategic questions, will help to place priorities during crisis time, to define principal causes of expenses and potential sources of growth. Having found out them such company can work over deduction of favourable clients and increase of profitableness of business at the expense of attraction of the new. Only with the help of BI it is possible to carry out forecasting of situation, setting different conditions and receiving results of forecasts depending on the set parameters. The primary application of BI in oil and gas companies is to help management consolidate operations and cut costs. The basic goals have been to shorten the time required to create reports and analyses, improve the accuracy of information and create a single information repository. The most common application areas for BI have been to provide financial reports and analyses, and support business operations with a special focus on ERP. In our days the modern large oil and gas companies represent vertically integrated companies. Vertical integration describes the ownership or control by a firm of different stages of the production process, e.g., petroleum refining firms owning downstream the terminal storage and retail gasoline distribution facilities and upstream the crude oil field wells and transportation pipelines. It can be achieved through MA (mergers and acquisitions) or investment. Upstream is a term which describes the exploration and production sectors within the oil and gas in dustry. Downstream, in the context of the oil and gas industry, applies to the refining and marketing sectors of the industry. Oil and gas products are commodities and are, therefore, competitive based on price. This makes the industry cost-conscious and highly dependent upon the price of crude oil, the basic business driver in the industry and the raw material for production (Skriletz, 2002). Purpose of the research The increased requirements to efficiency and quality of accepted decisions at all levels of operations in oil gas companies leads to finding of decision-making support techniques. It assumes possession of the actual universal information on a condition and tendencies of development of business by methods and BI means. Thus the volume of the information which is necessary for considering for formation of optimum well-founded decisions steadily grows. It leads to a situation when it becomes effectively impossible to operate the company without use of modern means of information support. Transactional data is good for keeping track of what is happening in an organization, but is not well suited to finding out why things are happening or predicting future performance. In other words, after years of putting potentially valuable financial data into your corporate databases, it is now time to put the tools in place to get the data out of the same systems and organize it in useful ways to s upport the decision-making process. The purpose of the research is to show that BI is such a tool which gives the chance to the organisations to transform the accumulated data in the information on business, and then the information into additional source of profit. The research question is how the value of BI should be considered in the context of profitable business action. BI has become an expected business competency for improving decision-making effectiveness. Leading enterprises are establishing competency in aspects of BI such as decision modelling and support so that all workers, managers and executives can take the most effective action in a given business situation. Lacking worthy BI tools oil companies risks to stay competitive or even to sustain in a business. What is more I want to apply my research outcomes in KMG, the problem is that BI is not so developed in Kazakhstan, so I hope my knowledge will be gainful to my company as employer and to me as employee. Literature There is currently enough media attention focusing on this subject and about this topic. A majority of these can be found in IT magazines, newspaper articles and on the internet, but the credibility of these sources is questionable. They can also be written by people who dont know a lot about the subject and have formed an opinion based on minimum information. IT magazines articles are often written in a biased way in terms of being in favour of one vendor, such as company propaganda or from the point of view of the writer. This data can be misleading, articles written by Gartner and TDWI analysts have more credibility and raise important questions and viewpoints which I believe should be considered in my report. Below is the list of books and resources I am willing to use during my research: The Profit Impact of Business Intelligence (2007), Williams S., Williams N.. Morgam Kaufmann Publishers This book contains plenty of mini-cases and useful information for my project. Business Intelligence, The Savvy Managers Guide (2009), D.Loshin, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers This book provides a knowledge base for the decision makers to determine the value of integrating BI into the company. In this book I want to look at the modern view of the collection and integration of transactional and reference data as a valuable resource that can be used for analytical purposes. BI Success Factors: Tools for Aligning your Business in the Global Economy (2009), O.Parr Rud, John Wiley Sons Financial BI : Trends, Technology, Software Selection and Implementation (2002), Nils Rasmussen, Paul S. Goldy, Per O. Solli, Publisher: John Wiley Sons; 1 edition This book will help me to review how managers can quickly and easily analyse the financial data in the corporate databases in order to be able to make more intelligent decisions about the future. Consequently it will help me to analyse the impact of BI financial tools. TDWI Best Practices Reports Series This series is designed to educate technical and business professionals about new BI technologies, concepts, or approaches that address a significant problem or issue. Research for the reports is conducted via interviews with industry experts and leading-edge user companies and is supplemented by surveys of BI professionals. Gartner Inc. Gartner source is the most comprehensive collection of analysis and advice for the users and vendors of technology. Methodology In my research I want to follow multi -method, which will contain: Interview: To get more practical point of view I am going to interview those who work on implementation of BI tools and use SAP-ERP in gas transportation, to be more precise financial department in KazMunayGas and KazTransGas. KazMunayGas is the state-owned oil and gas company of Kazakhstan and KazTransGas one of KazMunayGaz subsidiaries responsible for gas transportation. Trend analysis: Phenomena that are or have been in the process of change are examined to identify and report the directions of trends and to make interpretations and forecasts. Literature: As I mentioned previously Qualitative data sources (TDWI and Gartner) will contain different cases in my research. Conducting qualitative research requires an open attitude in order to understand how others experience their situation. Qualitative research is characterised by the fact that the researcher works on the basis of an open question Qualitative research represents the general name for a group of investigative procedures with common characteristics. Also, qualitative research is empirical in the same sense as other recognized forms of scientific inquiry. It relies on observation. Qualitative research encompasses several forms of the investigation. They all share this characteristic: The data used do not accommodate readily to quantification, specification, objectification, or classification. Because of that, common statistical procedures cannot be used for data display or analysis. Typical of such data might be reports of participant observation or the texts of in-depth and relatively unstructured interviews. Project plan and schedule

Free Great Gatsby Essays: Sensational, Blatant, Ugly and Pointless :: Great Gatsby Essays

The Many Flaws of The Great Gatsby There are a few, very rare, moments where Fitzgerald allows some insights in the characters of his novel, The Great Gatsby. These occasions should be marked red. Most of the time, the story annoys the reader with imaginary pictures of the Golden 20’s, which really were never that golden, or images of our hero, Gatsby. All the wonderful things that critics see in the story: the novel of manners, love, American Dream, and romance have been interpreted into the story long after the fact. There are some slight hints towards these topics, but they are not really developed by Fitzgerald (e.g. the love between J. Gatz and Daisy Fay). The missing relationship between Gatsby and Daisy is but one of the flaws of the novel. Fitzgerald shows a lack of care in developing Gatsby as a person of the "New Money", dreaming all the day, having and being tasteless in everything he has and is, in addition to being a criminal (though there ´s no real evidence for that), and developing Daisy as a character, coming from a well-known family "Old Money" and being not guilty ("white", to use Fitzgerald ´s riduculas color symbolism). It was just impossible for a mediocre writer like Fitzgerald was, to develop a relationship between such different persons (though they have one thing in common: their lack of taste). The Great Gatsby is an absurd story. One cannot consider this â€Å"masterpiece† as a love story - the only love is one by a shy daydreamer, admiring a lady from the upperclass and doing every possible stupid thing to get her, but who, after not having succeeded, becomes a "tragic hero". Just blindly applying ancient and worn storylines doesn’t make a good book. One cannot consider it as a plain record of lifestyle in the 20 ´s because it simply is not. To suppose that it is a symbol for the American Dream (which isn ´t dreamt by Americans only) it is just ridiculous. These things are not definable by some characters written on a virgin white (color symbolism !!!) sheet of paper. The same goes for those who consider The Great Gatsby as a romantic novel: Ripping off people who buy alcohol, accumulating that dark (color symbolism !!!) money and then filling a pool with it, just to impress a teen love is not very romantic in the opinion of most people.

Love in The Beauty and the Beast and Shrek Essay -- Movies Fairytales

Love in The Beauty and the Beast and Shrek Love is a common theme not only in the entertainment industry, but as well as in life. Love sells, and people in the movie industries understand this and gain from the profit. Movies often portray love between two people who are both beautiful, and not always the best person they can be on the inside. In Disney’s The Beauty and the Beast and Dreamworks’ Shrek not only do they have two people fall in love, but also they show how love is blind. When Lord Farquaad condemned all of the fairy tale creatures to Shrek’s (an ogre) swamp, he makes his way to the castle, with his trusty side-kick Donkey, to demand their removal. While there, he won a fight against the best knights of the land, and won the chance to go on a quest for Lord Farquaad. The quest was to go save Princess Fiona from the highest tower, where a dragon was guarding her. After successfully rescuing the princess, it was time for Shrek to deliver her to Lord Farquaad. During the journey back, both Princess Fiona and Shrek fall for each other. After over hearing a conversation between the princess and Donkey, Shrek felt betrayed and unloved. During the wedding, Shrek found out that she too is an ogre, though only at night, and that she loved him for who he is. Shrek interrupts the wedding to give Princess Fiona, true loves first kiss, which turns her into an ogre forever. The two fall in love and get married. Not only did they fall in love, but Donkey and the Dragon fell in love as well. Love was the major theme for Beauty and the Beast. The love for a father, a beast/ man, and for one’s self. Papa, an inventor that does not yet have a following, took a wrong turn and came upon a ca... ...he could not. As well Lord Farquaad did not ever love Fiona but just wanted to marry her in order to become a king and not just a lord, and when Shrek expressed his love for Fiona and their wedding, Lord Farquaad could not understand how a Princess could fall in love with an ogre. Love conquered all things in both movies. Nothing could stand in the way of love, no one no matter what the circumstance could come between Bell and the Beast, and Shrek and Princess Fiona. Though when their love was revealed both the Beast and Princess Fiona changed to take true love’s form, they loved and were loved for whom they were. The movies show a good example in life, how we should not date someone just because of what they look like, looks fade, but personalities are forever.

Elements Of Fiction :: essays research papers

Elements of Fiction When you read a story, you are reading a work of fiction. FICTION is writing that comes from an author’s imagination. Although the author makes the story up, he or she might base it on real events. Fiction writers write either short stories or novels. A SHORT STORY usually revolves around a single idea and is short enough to be read in one sitting. A NOVEL is much longer and more complex. Understanding Fiction CHARACTERS are the people, animals, or imaginary creatures that take part in the actions of the story. Usually, a short story centers on events in the life of one person or animal. He or she is the main CHARACTER. Generally, there are also one or more MINOR CHARACTERS in the story. Minor characters sometimes provide part of the background of the story. More often, however, minor characters interact with the main character and with another. Their words and actions help to move the plot along. The SETTING is the time and place at which the events of the happen. The time may be the past, the present, or the future; day or night; and any season. A story may be set in a small down or a large city, in a jungle or an ocean. The sequence of events in a story is called the PLOT. The plot is the writer’s blueprint for what happens in the story, when it happens, and to whom it happens. One event causes another, and so on until the end of the story. Generally, plots are built around a CONFLICT-a problem or struggle between two or more opposing forces. Conflicts can be as serious as a boy’s attempt to cope with his father’s illness or as humorous as a teacher’s struggle with a foreign language. The struggle between two opposing forces is called a CONFLICT. Every story has it. The conflict makes you keep reading the story to learn the outcome of the struggle. When one character fights another character or battles nature, the conflict is referred to as EXTERNAL CONFLICT. When the struggle takes place within the character, it is an INTERNAL CONFLICT. Although the development of each plot is different, traditional fiction generally follows a pattern that includes the following stages: EXPOSITION - Exposition sets the stage for the story. Characters are introduced, the setting is described, and the conflict begins to unfold. COMPLICATIONS - As the story continues, the plot gets more complex.

American Immigration 1607-1830 Essay

Ever since its founding in 1776, and even before then, the United States has attracted immigrants from around the world. For well over two centuries, people have flocked under this nation’s protective wings as opportunists, sojourners, missionaries, refugees, and even illegal aliens. With the Statue of Liberty greeting Europeans entering Ellis Island, and The Golden Gate Bridge greeting Chinese and other Asians into San Francisco, the U. S. has long since been a refuge of the world, with opportunities abound and freedom for all. Over time, millions around the world have found emigrating to the U. S. as the only alternative to starvation, death, or a life full of hardship and suffering. With thousands from nations spanning the globe, America has become a mosaic of people, culture, and hope. The Regulations and Laws In 1862, the first measure restricting immigration enacted by Congress was a law forbidding American vessels to transport Chinese immigrants to the U. S. 20 years later in 1882, Congress upped the constraint, passing the Chinese Exclusion Act restricting all Chinese immigrants entry into the U.  S. At about the same time, acts passed by Congress in 1875, 1882, and 1892 provided for the examination of immigrants and for the exclusion from the U. S. of convicts, polygamists, prostitutes, person suffering from loathsome or contagious, diseases, and persons liable to become public charges. Also passed were the Aline Contract Labor Laws of 1885, 1887, 1888, and 1891, prohibiting the immigration to the U. S. of persons entering the country to work under contracts made before their arrival. The English Out of all the ethnic groups in the world, most consider the English to have had to most crucial role in paving the way for U. S. immigration. The English were the ones to establish colonies of which the United States of America sprung from. Their offspring formed the largest component of the Republic and the foundations they laid influenced all subsequent newcomers. The first successful permanent English settlement was Jamestown, founded in 1607 by the Virginia Company. Jamestown was founded on May 14, 1607, by a small group led by Captain Christopher Newport, who was hired by the London Company to transport colonists. Many settlers died from famine and disease in the winter of 1609-10. The survivors were encouraged to stay in Jamestown by the arrival of new settlers and supplies the following June. In 1612 tobacco growing was started. The colony prospered and became the capital of Virginia. In 1619 the first representative assembly in America was held here. In the same year, at Jamestown, the first black slaves were introduced into the original 13 colonies. The village was often attacked by Native Americans. In 1622, 350 colonists were killed; 500 in 1644. Colonists rebelling against the rule of Governor William Berkeley burned Jamestown in the seat of government was moved to the Middle Plantation (now Williamsburg) in 1699, and Jamestown was deserted. The National Park Service and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (which owns 9 hectares/23 acres of the island), have excavated and restored the area. The Jamestown Archaeological Laboratory contains relics unearthed by National Park Service excavations. Jamestown Festival Park, adjacent to the national park, has full-scale replicas of early ships and a re-creation of James Fort (1607). Pavilions depict Native American and English cultures. (Microsoft, 1998) Immigration to New England began with the migration of Pilgrims who established Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts Bay in 1620. In 1629, a large mount of English Puritans with charter and a mission to set up a Puritan commonwealth establish a settlement on the Massachusetts Bay. The following decade from 1630 to 1640 marked the period of time known as the Great Migration. During this time, Massachusetts’s population skyrocketed with the migration of approximately 21,000 immigrants to New England, about a third of them being Britons. However, by 1660, large-scale migration from Britain to New England rapidly decreased and immigration to the New World was officially discouraged. But during 1700’s, Britain began to restrict emigration out of England to the U. S. In 1718, the British Parliament prohibited immigration of skilled workers from the British Isles to migrate to the U. S. and in 1775, an outbreak of revolutionary violence stops immigration from Britain. From that point on, only a trickle of British immigrants came to the USA, compared to the rest of western Europe. The Germans Around the year 1700, many Germans were fleeing their homeland to find an easier life in other European countries, the Western Hemisphere, and Australia due to extremely violent conditions. Unlike most immigrants, German immigrants mostly did not immigrate for political reasons. In fact, the country was repeatedly being attacked by armies of various nationalities. Inhabitants of the southwestern part, especially, were constantly robbed and tortured. Entire villages were often burnt down and their inhabitants killed. During the flood of emigrants from Germany, its rulers tried to stop the flow, but to little effect. In fact, the flow increased, and in 1709 about 15,000 Germans left for Britain, and 3,000 crossed the Atlantic to New York. In 1745, there were an estimated 45,000 Germans living in Pennsylvania alone. After the year 1800, Germans still poured into the US, but for different reasons than the earlier generations. Modernization and population growth forced many Germans from their respective family businesses. Also, modernization made immigrating more convenient and faster with inventions such as the steam boat and steam train. Many Germans took long, complicated, but cheap routes through Great Britain by way of train and boat to get to the United States. In the United States, most Germans lived on the countryside. Only about two fifths lived in cities larger than 25,000 people. In 1870, German-born farmers made up one third of the agricultural industry in the region. This does not include most Pennsylvanian Germans who were born native to the US. German farmers didn’t just stay in the east. Large numbers of German farmers could be found in the Midwest and in Texas. Some even went as far west as Anaheim, California. West coast German farmers, though, didn’t live up to the east coast stereotype of a German farmer. Most of the west coast farmers would sacrifice fertile land for a closer location to other Germans. Also, in cities, Germans would cluster together to form communities not unlike the Chinese Chinatowns. These replications of Germany would house prominent German businesses such as the lager beer industry. German entrepreneurs such as bakers, butchers, cabinetmakers, cigar makers, distillers, machinists, and tailors also could be found in abundance in these â€Å"Miniature-Germany† towns. German women, however, were less likely than the average American woman to enter the labor force. Very few German women could be found holding jobs in a factory, or as a clerk. Instead, they sought after work as bakers, domestic workers, hotel keepers, janitors, laundry workers, nurses, peddlers, saloon keepers, and tailors. Not all Germans got along in large groups, though. During much of the nineteenth century, divisions among Germans seemed more significant those between German Americans and other groups. These divisions were based on geography, on ideology, and on religion. The first two were most apparent before 1871, when the push for German unification tended to unite most but certainly not all German Americans in feelings of pride in their fatherland and its achievements. Initially, German immigrants tended to identify themselves as Bavarians, Wurttembergers, Saxons, and so on, although intellectuals and those who politicized yearned for some kind of German unification. Most of these were liberals of one kind or another, who dreamed of a more-or-less democratic Germany. Even so, when unification did come to Bismarckian, autocratic terms after the wars of unification, all but the most ideologically committed German Americans rejoiced: Liberals and conservatives, as well as the more numerically important apolitical, were united in a feeling of pride. (Roger Daniels, 1990) Religious differences were more enduring. Most German immigrants were Protestants, with Lutheranism by far the most denomination; perhaps a third of German immigrants were Catholics, and around 250,000 were Jewish. With the Lutheran community in the United States there was considerable friction. Nineteenth-century German Lutheran immigrants found that the existing German Lutheran churches in the US had developed into what, to them, were unwelcome tendencies. Most had been Americanized enough so that English was used for all or part of their services. Even worse, doctrine had been liberalized. The older churches and their offshoots, established by immigrants who had come before the Revolution, had come closer to Reformed and even Anglican churches and in many instances had adopted preaching styles similar to that of the Methodists. These trends were, not surprisingly, more pronounced in the cities than in the country. In New York and Philadelphia, for example, Lutheran bodies had adopted new constitutions in which all reference to the Augsburg Confession had disappeared. The result was, eventually, schism. By 1847, under the leadership of a recent immigrant pastor, C. F. W. Walther, whose enemies called him â€Å"the Lutheran pope of the West,† the newer Lutheran arrivals who wished to maintain the old-style doctrine had organized the Missouri Synod. Over the years it has remained the bulwark of the more conservative American Lutherans, regardless of where they live. The Italians During the mass emigration from Italy during the century between 1876 to 1976, the U. S. was the largest single recipient of Italian immigrants in the world. However, their impact was not as great as countries like Argentina and Brazil. That was due to the fact that hundreds of thousands of immigrants from nations all over the world were migrating to the U. S. at the same time and American born natives already made up the majority ethnic group. The Italians did play a major role though, socially with individuals rising to national stature in many different fields. In 1850, less than 4,000 Italians were reportedly in the U. S. However in 1880, merely four years after the influx of Italian immigrants migrated, the population skyrocketed to 44,000, and by 1900, 484,027. From 1880 to 1900, southern Italian immigrants became the predominant Italian immigrant and stayed that way throughout the mass migration. Despite the increase numbers, the Italians were not the largest foreign-origin group in American cities. Outnumbered by groups migrating for decades before them. Italians only made-up 1. 5% of the U. S. population at its peak. In the U. S. where the abundance of cheap land could no longer be found, the mostly agricultural Italians in Italy, became mostly urban. Starting from the bottom of the occupational ladder working up, they worked jobs such as shoe shinning, ragpicking, sewer cleaning, and whatever hard, dirty, dangerous jobs others didn’t want. Even children worked at an early age, as in Italy, even at the expense of their educations. The Italians were known for rarely accepting charity or resorting to prostitution for money, another reflection of patterns in Italy. As in many other places in the world, Italians in America clustered into groups related to their place of origin. For example, the Neapolitans and Sicilians settled in different parts of New York, and even people from different parts of Sicily settled on different streets. However, what seldom occurred in U. S. were Italians enclaves, or all-Italians neighborhoods. The Italians would disperse themselves in other immigrant groups, such as, the Irish, the Jews, the Germans, and the Poles, while remaining in their clusters. Also, immigrants usually settled in different regions of U. S. based in where they came from in Italy. The Sicilians resided in New Orleans, the Neapolitans and Calabrians in Minnesota, and mostly northern Italians in California. However most of the Italians were concentrated in the mid Atlantic states in 1910 with 472,000 in New York and nearly 200,000 in Pennsylvania at the time. The living conditions for the Italians tended to be over crowded and filthy all over the U. S.. Italian laborers also tended to skimp on food in a desperate attempt to save money. However, after time and new generations of Italians, the dirtiness of their homes disappeared along with the complaint of weak Italians from lack of nutrition. The Italians were noted for their diligence and sobriety as workmen. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, Italians often became fishermen, shoemakers, waiters, fruit sellers, and tradesmen. Most were unskilled laborers though, working in mines and construction jobs. Over the years, the Italians rose up the economic scale but acquiring job skills in blue-collar job rather than by becoming educated and entering that profession. The Irish The Irish were unfortunately divided during much of the nineteenth century and was therefore helpless in the face of its grave problems. The Act of Union of 1803 incorporated the island into British polity, but was useless in easing the difficult situation of the people.. With an overly large population as the result of the Napoleanic Wars, the Irish soon became impoverished. And with the religious prejudice of Protestant Masters to the Catholic Irish, plus political subordination, many had no alternative by to emigrate to the United States for relief. Between 1820 and 1860, the Irish were never less than a third of all immigrants. The British Passenger Acts attempted to deflect the immigration from the British Isles to Canada instead of the U.  S. , making the fare a cheap 15 shilling compared to the 4 or 5 pound fare to New York. Many Irish soon found it convenient to take the affordable trip to Canada, where they could buy cheap fares to the U. S. , or cheaper yet, they could walk across the border. By 1840, the Irish constituted nearly half of all entering immigrants, and New England found it self heavily foreign born. By 1950, the Irish consisted of one fifth of all foreign born in the originally homogenous region. In 1845, the great potato rot touched off a mass migration. The disaster eliminated the sole ubsistence of millions of peasants, thrusting them over the edge of starvation. For five weary years, the crops remained undependable, and famine swept through the land. Untold thousands perished, and the survivors, destitute of hope, wished only to get away (Handlin, 1972). The only mode of escape was emigration. Starving families that could not pay landlords faced no alternative but to leave the country in hopes of a better future. And thus the steadily scaling number of Irish who entered the U. S. between 1820 and 1830 skyrocketed in the 1840s, nearly 2 million came in that decade. The flow persisted increasingly for another five years, as the first immigrants began to earn the means of sending for relatives and friends. The decade after 1855 showed a subside in the movement, but smaller numbers continued to arrive after the Civil War. Altogether, almost 3. 5 million Irishmen entered the U. S. between 1820 and 1880. Emigrating to the U. S. wasn’t the magical solution for most of the immigrants. Peasants arrived without resources, or capital to start farms or businesses. Few of them ever accumulated the resources to make any meaningful choice about their way of life. Fortunately for them, the expansion of the American economy created heavy demands for muscle grunt. The great canals, which were the first links in the national transportation system were still being dug in the 1820s and 1830s, and in the time between 1830 and 1880, thousands of miles of rail were being laid. With no bulldozers existing at the time, the pick and the shovel were the only earth-moving equipment at the time. And the Irish laborers were the mainstay of the construction gangs that did this grueling work. In towns along the sites of work, groups of Irish formed their small communities to live in. By the middle of the nineteenth century, as American cities were undergoing rapid growth and beginning to develop an infrastructure and creating the governmental machinery and personnel necessary to run it, the Irish and their children got their first foothold- on the ground floor. Irish policemen and firemen are not just stereotypes: Irish all but monopolized those jobs when they were being created in the post-Civil War years, and even today Irish names are clearly over-represented in those occupations (Daniels, 1990). Irish workmen not only began laying the horsecar and streetcar tracks, but were some of the first drivers and conductors. The first generations worked largely at unskilled and semiskilled occupations, but their children found themselves working at increasingly skilled trades. By 1900, when Irish American mend made up about a thirteenth of the male labor force, they were almost a third of the plumbers, steamfitters, and boilermakers. Industry working Irish soon found themselves lifted up into boss and straw-boss positions as common laborers more and more arrived from southern and eastern Europe- Italians, Slavs, and Hungarians. In years after 1860, Irish Immigration persisted. More than 2. 6 million Irish came in the decades after 1860. However, larger numbers of immigrants from elsewhere masked the inflow of Irish people. Those Irish who did continue to flow into the U. S. tended to settle in the already existing Irish communities, where Catholic Churches had been built, and cultural traditions were carried out. However materialistically poor they were, the Irish were rich in cultural resources, developing institutions that helped them face hardship without despair. Cultural events such as St.  Patrick’s Day were regarded by most Americans as evidence of the separateness of these immigrants, but helped hold the Irish culture together. Their desire for self-expression showed that the Irish understood their group identity. Poor as they were, they drew strength from a culture that explained their situation in the world and provided spiritual resources to face if not to solve the problem. Aside from the church, the most important media of that culture were the press and the stage. All Irish newspapers had either a nationalistic or a religious base, some published as church organs, other drawing support from patriotic societies. Their newspapers interpreted news, accommodated information, and printed popular poems and stories. The stage was even more appealing because it did not demand literacy, presenting to attentive audiences dramas as real as life but not as painful. By the late 1800s, the painful initial Irish transplantation into American society had ended. Second and third generation born and educated in the U. S. replaced the immigrants, but their heritage still stemmed from the peasants’ flight from Ireland and of the hardships of striking new roots in the New World.