Hamlet Essay: Deception

Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Bomb Makers who gets Blown Sky High by their own Weapons Lies and deception are some of the many actions that have disastrous consequences. For the most part, they destroy trust and leave the people closest to us feeling vulnerable. In Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's many plays, the theme of lies and deception is very significant. This play shows that every character that lies and practices the act of deception is ultimately punished for doing so by their treacherous deaths. Hamlet has lied and practiced deception several times which has prolonged his primary goal and also causes his death. Additionally, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s unskilled acts of dishonesty and disloyalty towards Hamlet have all backfired; as a result, this is the cause of their ironic deaths. Furthermore, Polonius’ selfish act of using others to his own advantage has all polished the table for his treacherous death. In this play, characters who manipulate the act of lie and deception eventually end up facing their own death. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark and the protagonist of the play, performs many deceptive acts that all leads up to his death. After he has conferred with the ghost who claims to be his father’s spirit, old King Hamlet, he is shocked when he finds out the truth about his tragic death. In response, he pretends to be insane. He feigns his insanity to distract his mother, Gertrude, his uncle and step father, King Claudius and their attendants from his true intentions of gathering information to eventually expose Claudius for the murder of his father. It is evident that he is pretending to be crazy because he mentions it several times to his friends. He explains to them in Act 1, Scene 5 that he will â€Å"put an antic disposition on† (191). The word ‘antic’ means ‘clown’ or an actor who plays a comic role and requires absurdly ridiculous behavior. In other words, he will pretend to be a madman in order to achieve his goal. Additionally, for the purpose of love, Hamlet lies to Ophelia about his love for her during one of their conversations in Act 3, Scene 1. Hamlet: I did love you once. Ophelia: Indeed my lord, you made me believe so. Hamlet: You should not have believ’d me, for virtue cannot so Inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I lov’d you not. Ophelia: I was the more deceiv’d (123-129). In this heartbreaking scene, we cannot truly say how much of Hamlet’s words are true and how much of an act he has put on. This is because he seems to know that Ophelia will report his behavior to her father, Polonius, who will then disclose the report to King Claudius. However, we can see through his corruptive and deceptive act because he denies that he has ever loved Ophelia right after claiming that he has loved her once. One could then argue that Hamlet is purposely pretending to be an insane lover. Furthermore, in Act 3 Scene 2, Hamlet organizes and directs a delusive play called â€Å"The Mousetrap† before the royal audience. The play itself is an elaborated deception because Hamlet tries to determine Claudius’ guilt through it. The play depicts the murder of Duke Gonzago in Vienna by the antagonist Lucianus, thus mirroring Claudius’ assassination of old King Hamlet. Like Claudius, Lucianus, the player pours poison in Gonzago’s ears and soon after marries his wife, Baptista. Hamlet is convinced of his uncle’s guilt when Claudius gets agitated and rises from his seat. Shortly after, he orders his attendants to â€Å"[Bring him] some light† (3. 2. 261). This play has prolonged Hamlet’s goal of avenging his father’s death. If Hamlet has believed the ghost during their first encounter and has avenged his father’s death earlier, Hamlet could have had a prosperous life ahead of him. However, unfortunately, he chooses to slowly analyze the truth before taking any reckless actions; therefore, this causes him to lose his life at the end of the play. In relation to Carl Jung’s Archetypal Theory, Hamlet is not merely a hero; he is a tragic hero who has died in vain while accomplishing his goal of avenging his father’s death. He is a hero who makes sure his story would be known that he has conquered the ambitious Claudius. However, in the process, he lost everyone he loves including his own life. Hamlet is in fact a tragic hero. According to Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, a tragic hero is a great person who has the potential for greatness but is defeated. This protagonist must come into conflict with a force who or which directly opposes to what he should want. He must also suffer from a tragic flaw, which inevitably brings about his own downfall. In Hamlet, Hamlet is the protagonist who suffers from the flaw of inaction while he is faced against Claudius. To conclude, because of Hamlet’s great inability to act earlier, his lies and deceptive acts have all prolonged his primary goal which has resulted in his tragic death. Hamlet’s childhood friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern both try to deceive Hamlet. However, their unskilled uses of dishonesty and disloyalty have resulted in their ironic death. They are introduced in the beginning of Act 2, Scene 2 as Hamlet’s childhood friends who are sent for by King Claudius for their services. When they first meet Hamlet and are asked the reason for their arrival, they answer: â€Å"To visit you, my lord, no other occasion† (2. 2. 8). However, Hamlet has already seen through their attempted act of trying to fool him and then replies: â€Å"You were sent/for, and there is a kind of confession in your looks, which/ you modesties have not craft enough colour. I know the/good King and Queen have sent for you† (2. 2. 285-288). Through this reply, it is evident tha t Hamlet has the ability to see through someone’s deceptive act because he knows that they would not have come to Denmark without a reason. He also alludes that they must have done something wrong to be punished by Fortune since they are here in the Denmark which he considers to be prison. Additionally, Guildenstern again tries to get information about Hamlet’s disorder after the play, ‘The Mousetrap’. When Rosencrantz approaches Hamlet to talk about his â€Å"distemper† and that he should â€Å"[tell his] griefs to [his] friend†, Hamlet furiously replies: Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me. You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass; and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot make it speak. Why, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me (3. 2. 325, 349-357). Their attempt to get Hamlet to confide in them has failed and as a result, Hamlet makes an analogy between playing a musical instrument and deception to demonstrate why his friends cannot â€Å"play† on him. This is because they are simply not skilled enough. Furthermore, when Hamlet finds out about the command letter that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are carrying to the King of England instructing to have him killed, he steals the letter and rewrites it to command the death of â€Å"the bearers of this note,† which is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Then, without remorse, puts the note back in their possession. They brought upon themselves their ironic deaths because of their failure of being honest and loyal towards their friend Hamlet. In relation to Jung’s Archetypal Theory, both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the shape shifters in the play Hamlet. A shape shifter is a type of character whose identity or allegiance changes and is often unclear. Their personality has changed from loyal childhood friends to deceptive and backstabbing snakes. They have changed sides over the course of their friendship with Hamlet because they are looking to put themselves in a good position with King Claudius and are hoping for â€Å"a king's remembrance† or reward from him in exchange for their services as he has promised in Act 2, Scene 2. In conclusion, their ironic deaths are the price they pay for being dishonest and disloyal towards a good friend. Another character that uses deceit often as a means of investigation is Polonius. These acts of personal conduct have resulted in his death. Upon Laertes’ departure to France, Polonius deceives his own son when he sends Reynaldo after him. In Act 2 Scene 1, Polonius tells Reynaldo: Marry, sir, here’s my drift, And I believe it is a fetch of warrant. You laying these slight sullies on my son, As’twere a thing a little soiled I’th’working, Mark you, Your party is converse, him you would sound, Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes The youth you breathe of guilty, be assured He closes with you in this consequence ‘Good sir,’ or so, or ‘friend,’ or ‘gentleman,’ According to the phrase or the addition Of man and country (43-54). Here, hoping that deception may be the best way to find out the truth, Polonius orders his servant Reynaldo to spread rumours about his son and to pretend to know Laertes so that he can find out the truth about his son’s whereabouts from his friends. He is also hoping that Laertes will, in due time, open up to Reynaldo about his secrets and Reynaldo can then report back to Polonius. Furthermore, Polonius deceives his daughter, Ophelia by using her love for Hamlet for the King’s benefit. King Claudius, in the presence of Polonius, says: For we have closely sent for Hamlet hilter That he, as’twere by accident, may here Affront Ophelia. Her father and myself, lawful espials, Will so bestow ourselves that, seeing unseen, We may of their encounter frankly judge, And gather by him, as he is behaved, If’t be th’addliction of his love or not That thus he suffers for (3. 1. 33-41). Here, both King Claudius and Polonius are planning to use Ophelia and her love to determine whether Hamlet’s behavior is the result of the affliction of his love for Ophelia. Also, from this scene, we can see that Polonius does not care for his daughter because he has agreed to use her in order to get closer to Claudius. To him, she is like a mere pawn in a chess game that is only used to protect the king, Polonius. In connection to the Jungian Literary Theory, Polonius represents a shadowed character in the play. The ‘shadow’ is the psychic space in a person’s mind where they store their darker impulses in addition to unpleasant thoughts and memories. In Polonius’ case, these two examples show his darker side as someone who would spy on his own son and use his daughter’s love for the man she loves to his own advantages. Moreover, Polonius is the representation of a failed mentor. A mentor is defined as someone, usually older and more experienced, who advices and leads a younger, less experienced person into the right path. As a father, he gives outstanding advices to Laertes. For example, in Act 1, Scene 3, before Laertes’ departure, Polonius explains to him about how he should behave with honor and uprightness. He also admonishes his son to be sociable but not necessarily friendly with everyone. However, along with many other advices from lines 63 through lines 84, Polonius himself does not act in accordance to his own words, hence the phrase, failed entor. Instead, he usually uses others such as Reynaldo and Ophelia to spy and pry on other people’s business. This kind of behavior is not upright and definitely not honorable. In the end, he is ultimately punished and pays for his exploitive actions by the means of his own death. Throughout this play, it is evident that lying and deceiving others usually have disastrous endings. Shakespeare tries to shows his readers that the lies and deception that Hamlet performs towards his parents and his lover as a result of his inability to act sooner has resulted in his tragic death. He also shows how one’s unskillful use of dishonesty and disloyalty can lead to death. Lastly, he shows that deceiving others for one’s own benefits is not at all beneficial as it can also end one’s life. Overall, the theme of deception is prevalent in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and many characters use this act. However, it is evident that deception is not the path someone should take in order to complete a goal. It goes without saying that our actions could create unintended consequences in our lives. That consequence may be one’s death which can cease someone’s life and everything in it.

Bpr †Erp Essay

In a plain language, what does it mean to an organization that is underperforming? Business Process Reengineering is a management approach focusing at brining improvements by enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of business process. The fundamental rethinking and radical design of a business process, its structure and related management systems, to offer key or partial improvements in performance. Business process reengineering is key element to the underperforming organizations because they need to bring change in their business processes to offer efficient and effective services to its consumers, and to make the organization profitable. BPR enforce managers to rethink and re-align their work processes in accordance with the consumer’s demands with flexibility. Managers then using BPR redesign their work processes and made them more customer-focused to bring back quality to the organization. This will enable an underperforming organization to alter its business processes and offer new improved with enhanced quality products or services to its consumers. This will bring back the customer loyalty to the organization. Question # 2: Why can IT be one of the biggest obstacles for BPR? Information Technology (IT) can be one of the biggest obstacles if they are handled with care while carrying out BPR. If the IT is not properly aligned with business goal, then the resultant process will not produce desired results. The heritage of the legacy systems present in the organization is another IT obstacle. Legacy systems might not be under control due to the fact that they do not have enough documentation, historical measurements, and change control processes. Legacy system’s scope and complexities which are not known must be taken at the same priority as the organizational and cultural structures during the process reengineering. These are the few obstacles posed by the IT to the BPR. Question # 3: What went wrong with the ERP implementation? Note four (4) major issues.

Political Communication and Media Reportage Essay

Political Communication and Media Reportage - Essay Example Therefore, a certain candidate should be differentiated from another one. It is no longer enough for politicians to have solid political platforms and to have experience in public service. Politicians these days need to have mass appeal and be celebrities in their own right. Sometimes, the competent political candidates lose out to less competitive ones because of the inability to recognize this. "To become a celebrity requires recognition as a star player in the field of sports, entertainment, fashion, or politics (Kellner 2003)." Our celebrities today are not only concerned about their professionalism and their performance in their fields of specialty, but of the image they project and the way they present themselves. Politicians have turned into media celebrities and their lifestyles have become as important as their policies. Style and presentation, as well as emotions, not only substance, are important. This is what Lilleker (2006) calls the "aestheticisation" of political communication. We're used to movie stars and talents being concerned about projecting a certain kind of image to the public. But now, even the politicians need to be concerned about their image and the way they appear in public to stay ahead of the game. This shows that the public perception of those who appear in the media are not accidental, but are somehow planned or executed. With the seemingly large scope of the media and the limitless possibilities, the political actors and the media are still able to offer what seems to be a personal encounter to their audience. According to Nass & Reeves' Media Equation Theory (1996), people respond unconsciously and automatically to communication media as if it were human. It is possible, therefore, for the individual to engage in interpersonal communication with the media, however impersonal it may seem. For instance, people know that there is no way that computers or television sets would respond to them, and yet they talk to them as if they were real people. A number of people think that they already know a certain actress or celebrity as well as they know their closest friends, simply by tuning in to the latter's interviews and watching anything with the celebrity on it. This very nature of interpersonal communication between the individual and the media could have resulted to extreme adoration or hate toward the celebrity. But still, more often than not, it is easier to make it work for the celebrity. Based on these observations, politicians now opt to guest on popular talk shows. They want to seem like plain folks, one of the people, as well as to appear nice and attractive. As what we've seen in the former president Ronald Reagan's case, suffering from a debilitating disease or the idea of being vulnerable and human, appeal to the public. Reagan, the first president, who was an actor by profession, had a good plotline for his presidency. He advocated the triumph of market capitalism and the defeat of communism in the Cold War. Yet, during his time, the wealth distribution became uneven, with the wealth going upward, increasing the divide between the rich and the poor. His efforts to strengthen the military cost the United States a lot of money as well as the savings and loan scandal. But despite of this, his ratings were high. Perhaps, his economic failure was overlooked by the

Competition Law in the European Union and the United Kingdom Essay - 10

Competition Law in the European Union and the United Kingdom - Essay Example Kingdom laws that relate to the infringement of competition laws by some of the world’s biggest oil companies including BP Plc, Statoil ASA, and Royal Dutch Shell. More emphasis is conferred upon the relevant facts and legal principles regarding competition law. Â  The Competition law was formulated with the intention of safeguarding consumer and state interests from unfair business practices by firms in Great Britain. (Prosser; 2005) This was necessitated by the threat posed by unscrupulous collusions aimed at maximizing market shares and revenues by individual firms that may lead to boated price levels or supply of inferior quality goods and services. For instance, an increase in the price of crude oil by your company will directly lead to increased costs of production, transport, energy and consumer products and services in order to cater for additional overhead costs. Â  The United Kingdom had its maiden law against unfair Competition in 1998.It was subjected to further adjustments later on in Enterprise Act of 2002 to incorporate new ideas and discard contentious clauses. The formation of the European Commission, the present-day European Union, which sought to cater for interests of member countries also made immense contributions to the ongoing protective policy changes among member states. Under its social and economic pillar, it fashioned the Competition law which later on gained prominence becoming part of The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Â  Britain joined the European Union and consequently adopted the statute on Competition which as stated above was applicable to all the member states. This combined with the Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002 governs the conduct of businesses within the United Kingdom. The articles 101 and 102 provide the policy guidelines for the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union whereas chapters I and II outline the provisions of the Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002.

Role of Reflection and Reflective Practices in Organisation's Enhanced Essay

Role of Reflection and Reflective Practices in Organisation's Enhanced Performance - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the environment in which the businesses are operating these days has changed drastically from simple and less competitive form to extremely dynamic and ever-changing type. Hence, in order to survive in today’s competitive environment, the managers have to ensure that the way in which business activities are being conducted in the organization gets changed simply from responding to changes, the managers need to focus on developing a learning organization. Everyone in the organization needs to understand that collectively they can bring change in the business operations and by their support to the management they will be able to enhance the productivity of the organization. In order to make a learning organization, it is the responsibility of management and employees of the organization to divert their focus from reflective practitioner at an individual level to reflective form of organization. In the last couple of years, many re searchers have conducted studies on the role of reflection and reflective practices in the organization’s performance; some studies have focused on the theories of such practices while some have studied their implications in various forms of organizations. However, the most extensive works have been done by Vince and Walsh who has focussed on the traditional and modern ways for implications of reflection and reflective practices in all types of organizations that are working in distinctive fields. Hence, it is rightly stated by Walsh that it is crucial for the management and managers of the organisation to equip themselves with the various forms of reflective practices that are happening in the real world and make changes in their organisations so that they are compatible with the latest market trends and the structure supports the format required for organisational learning. The researchers have been unable to give the exact definition of the term ‘Reflection’ a s it is composed of numerous concepts. The primary aim of reflection is to help the thinkers do the critical analysis of the situations or problems that are being encountered in the organizations. The managers are encouraged to identify the problem areas, think about the remedial situations available and then select and implement the strategy along with proper evaluation tools. According to Clift and Houston, cited by Solomon, the reflection definition has its foundations from the Western culture that induces the managers to analyze the situation and come up with the problem-solving approach and avoid negotiation, illumination or deliberation. Walsh in the study indicated that reflection is something that can be learned and for that the managers need to undergo the learning processes so that they can encourage such workplace learning environment within the organization. The view is also supported by Johns who stated that the reflection approach helps the businesses to remain alert a ll the time and instead of just sitting in idle situation, it motivates them to work out the plan.

Budgets Cuts and Nursing Staffing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Budgets Cuts and Nursing Staffing - Essay Example It shall discuss the economic crisis and budget cuts in terms of their ability to impact negatively in the general health care delivery of patients and of hospitals. Discussion Due to the protracted and still lingering economic crisis, legislators and other administrators have implemented budget cuts in the health care sector. These budget cuts have affected all aspects of health delivery, from staffing ratios, salaries of staff, to the purchase of equipment and hospital supplies. In terms of nursing staff, budget cuts have translated to fewer nurses being hired and lower pay for nurses hired; it also translates to nurses caring for an overwhelming number of patients – more than they can safely and adequately care for. The application of financial management the resolution of the health care issue in this case has gone through the stages of planning, controlling, organizing, and finally decision-making (Baker and Baker, 2011). It is unfortunate to note how the health financing process has resulted to budget cuts in health care and in this case, in the nursing profession. Inadequate nursing staff caring for an overwhelming number of patients is one of the major contributory factors to nursing burnout, and such burnout often leads to medical errors in the practice. There seems to be an agreed consensus on the relationship between nurse staffing and improved patient outcomes. In other words, with higher patient staffing levels, better patient outcomes seem to be more apparent (Garrett, 2008). The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality sets forth that nursing burnout can often compromise health care services. Chronic fatigue, as well as limited sleep and lack of rested sleep are common issues among nurses and other health personnel. In the documented case of Julie Thao, accounts reveal that she worked two 16 hour shifts back to back and at one point fell asleep at a hospital cot. Upon awaking, she administered the wrong medicine to a patient. Unfortunate ly, this led to her patient’s death (Garrett, 2008). She pled no contest to criminal neglect and was sent to jail for such neglect. Human errors impacts significantly on medical care (Kane, et.al., 2007). Not many studies have been carried out on the relationship of fatigue and on the decreased quality of health care. Studies in other fields of practice however exemplify how fatigue can slow down reaction time, how it can cause omissions, reduce problem solving ability, decrease motivation, and reduce a worker’s energy for assigned tasks (Garrett, 2008). Fatigue has been seen as the cause of errors in construction workplaces, oil fields, and even on airplanes (due to sleeping or exhausted traffic controllers). It is not therefore a far-fetched idea for such fatigue to translate to medical errors. Even if studies on this issue are limited, such errors have been accepted as possible eventualities by overworked medical and nursing practitioners themselves. Budget cuts in nursing cause fewer nurses to be hired. This means shortage of staff to fill in patient needs in the hospitals. In order to resolve this problem, hospital administrators are often prompted to impose mandatory overtime among their employees. Such overtime is often required during unplanned and emergency procedures in the clinical setting (Buerhaus, et.al., 2007). Shift changes which do not yield available relief nurses

Analysis of the poor country Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Analysis of the poor country - Essay Example Pakistan does not have a well-developed industrial sector but some of the important industries are Cotton Textile, Woolen Textile, Cement, Sugar factories, Fertilizers, Leather, and paper industries (F. K. Khan). Political History of Pakistan Pakistan came into being on 14 August 1947, with two parts. West Pakistan constituted NWFP, Punjab, Baluchistan and Sindh, whereas East Pakistan constituted of East Bengal. The founder of the nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was the first Governor General. Pakistan was declared as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (official name) with the adoption of parliamentary democratic system of government in 1956 when the first constitution was promulgated. From 1956-1965, the political situation remained unstable with the country’s first Martial Law enforced in 1958. In 1965, Pakistan and India engaged in war over the Kashmir dispute for the first time (Afzal). Pakistan and India fought again in 1971, which resulted in East Pakistan declaring itself as an independent nation to be called Bangladesh. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto formed Pakistan People’s Party and became President of Pakistan and a new Pakistan Constitution was formed in 1973. 1n 1977, Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul Haq promulgated Marshall Law and became the president and Z.A Bhutto was hanged. From 1985, when the Marshall Law was lifted to 1999 Pakistan saw two political leaders become prime ministers alternatively twice. Military Rule was one again established in 1999, and the Army General Musharraf declared himself President in 2001. In 2008, Musharraf stepped down and democracy was restored (H. Khan). Economic History of Pakistan Soon after independence Pakistan’s economy went into recession. The economy suffered in the 1950’s due to weak industrial base and lack of private organizations. By 1960’s, the economy started recovering but in 1970’s the economy fell again due to separation of East Pakistan. It took 12 years to recover from the second recession but that too was short lived. The reason behind this is the corruption and communal unrest (Jaffrelot). In 1998, economic sanctions by the West as Pakistan conducted its first nuclear test also affected the economy. During the time, when General Pervez Musharraf assumed his power he devoted his team to manage the economic crises. During this period, there was considerable progress in achieving macro-economic stability. There was a positive GDP growth rate, fiscal deficits improved, external debts, revenues, exports, and foreign exchange reserves all showed improvement. However, poverty and unemployment increased. The overall picture that emerges from a dispassionate examination of these indicators is that the country made significant economic achievements but had a disappointing record of social development (S. Khan). After 2008, Musharraf resigned a new Government led by Asif Ali Zardari was established. The GDP growth, which had been 5.0 % dropped to just 0.4 % (2008-09) . By October 2008, the inflation reached the highest level of 25 percent. The oil and other commodities prices showed an unprecedented increase. In addition to this, the natural climate in 2010 and 2011 also added to the economic suffering. Extreme power shortages were causing huge losses. Even though, the growth rate of the economy was 6%, there were the worst crises in public enterprises, energy sufferings, and economic mismanagement during these years (United Nations) Current Economy Pakistan’

Ethics Problem of Class Skipping Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethics Problem of Class Skipping - Term Paper Example The most obvious violation of an ethical principle that his action violated is the principle of nonmaleficence which posits that one ought not to harm others. My friend is not only harming others (his parents and school administrators who were in good faith to provide him with a good education) but he is also harming himself although he may not realize it yet. He is harming himself in several ways. In the short term, he would be grounded and scolded if his parents will know about his cutting classes. Later, his performance in school will surely be affected and it will not be for long that school administrators will find it out that he had been cutting classes and that could put him in trouble. Ultimately, even if he would be able to get away with the short and not so immediate repercussion of skipping class, he will surely harm himself by denying himself the opportunity to prepare for his future. The second moral problem that my friend created is his lying to his parents and getting allowances using school as a front. I need not cite philosophical basis how being untruthful is incorrect because lying is fundamentally wrong by any moral standards. I told my friend that one way or another, his parents or school administrators will find out about his skipping classes. I also told him that it is not fair to his parents who were under the impression that he was going to school with the money they gave him when in fact, it was otherwise. I also told him that ultimately, he is just harming himself because he was skipping lessons that he was supposed to learn and that will begin a vicious cycle of having difficulty understanding complex lessons in the future. Initially, I was detached to whatever my friend was doing because I already did my part as a friend which is to give him sound advice and it is his life anyway.  

Hard and soft skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hard and soft skills - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that every organization aims at hiring the best candidate. Job candidates possess hard and soft skills. Hard skills include accountancy, finance, programming and so forth. Soft skills include self-confidence, stress management people skills and so forth. These skills are important in an organization for proper correlation of employees. Hard skills are learned in school through training and reading book. These skills cannot be learned on the job since they require professional qualification. For instance, for one to become a qualified accountant they need learn accountancy in school be tested and pass exams.This leads one to be a certified public accountant. Hard skills require a high intelligence quotient since their application require great analytical skills critical thinking and organizational skills. In addition, the rules applied in these skills remain the same regardless of the company and circumstances where they are applied. For exa mple, the procedure of preparing a published financial statement of a company is similar regardless of the size and location of an incorporated company. A professional accountant thus needs to follow the international financial reporting standards when preparing the financial statements. The soft skills are self-taught skills which depend on one’s emotional quotient. They are the skills that enable a person to relate and work well with people. These skills include the interpersonal skills, self-confidence, stress management and people skills.

Part 1- To what extent can laws adequately combat terrorism Part 2- Essay

Part 1- To what extent can laws adequately combat terrorism Part 2- With refernce to the case of A(FC) V The Secretary of state for the Home Department [2004] - Essay Example s: â€Å"the following offences†¦ which are intentionally committed by an individual or a group against one or more countries, their institutions or people with the aim of intimidating them and seriously altering or destroying the political, economic or social structures of those countries will be punishable as terrorist offences." http://www.una-uk.org/archive/terrorism/terrorismhr.html Terrorism is perhaps the greatest danger mankind is facing today and it has become an enemy of human rights. Refugees and asylum seekers somehow seem to be seething under a sense of ill use and some of the countries to which they belong are now considered to be the breeding grounds of terrorismi. Public protection, national security and individual rights are clashing in Acts made for facing terrorism. This might even result in detention or deportation of people who are rather remotely connected with terrorism, or their refugee status could be revoked on suspicion. But war against terrorism has attained an expansive nature and encompassed the entire universe. David Blunkett, previous Home Secretary of UK, with good reasons, wanted the anti terror measures to be linked with combating illegal immigration, traffickers and granting of asylum. Most of the Western Governments and some of the Eastern nations like India, Nepal, and Srilanka are preoccupied with tackling terrorist activities. Adequately combating terrorism is not perhaps a proper phrase to be used. Terrorism and terrorist activities can never be eradicated fully, whatever could be the laws or however strict could be the security arrangements. A clever criminal can always find a loophole or two in the strong fabricii. In United Kingdom, there are many laws in place that should be able to effectively discourage terrorism. EU laws too cover UK laws and these laws over impose each other, and they should be able to create sufficient barrier against terrorism. But as we can see from recent events like London bombings, even though

Prejudices in Our World Essay Example for Free

Prejudices in Our World Essay Both Brent Staples in â€Å"Black Men and Public Places† and Judith Cofer in â€Å"The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria† seem to be illustrating the prejudices some people have. They both explain how the way they look gets them treated by others. Brent Staples, because he is black in perceived as a criminal; Judith Cofer is a Latina and is mistaken for a waitress. Both stories give numerous examples of prejudice. In addition, each writer has a larger purpose, a deeper reason for writing their story: Brent Staples’ reason for writing his story is to express to the reader how these prejudices affected him as well as other black men all over the country and how society, not just white people fear young black males. Judith Cofer’s reason for writing her story is to us the misconceptions and stereotypes many people have of Latin women. Brent Staples begins his essay by saying, â€Å"My first victim was a woman—white, well dressed, probably in her late twenties. He makes it seem as if he really attacks this woman when the only crime he has committed is being black and taking a stroll late at night. No one seems to look at him as the person he really was at the time; a graduate student at the University of Chicago who as he puts it is a, â€Å"softy who is scarcely able to take a knife to a raw chicken—let alone hold one to a person’s throat†. He expresses the feeling of rage at always being perceived as a criminal. He describes how many people, no matter what color, react when he walks by. He tells up how people lock their car doors as he walks past them, how they cross the street, and how some women clutch onto their purses when they walk by him. Mr. Staples understands the fear as well as the real danger that everyone faces everyday however, he still feels alienated about constantly be perceived as a criminal. He talks about his childhood and being that he grew up in a rough town in Pennsylvania he never fully realized the fear that people felt towards young black males. In his conclusion paragraphs, he tell us that he has learned to smother the rage that he felt at always being perceived as a criminal as well as telling us that he has taken some precautions to make himself more approachable. He gives people space so that they do not feel threatened by him as well as whistling to reduce tension. I do not believe that someone should change who they are to put others at ease nevertheless, people will always have some sort of fear no matter what one does, prejudice will always exist. Similarly to Brent Staples, Judith Cofer starts her essay by telling us about an incident that happened to her on a bus in England, where a young man approached her and began singing â€Å"Maria† from West Side Story. She tells us of other situations where people have looked at her as being â€Å"easy† and as a teenager, her friends and their mothers felt that the cloths she wore were, â€Å"too mature and flashy†. Judith Cofer’s main theme is to show the misconceptions as well as the stereotypes people have of Latin women. She uses examples like how the media uses certain words to describe Latin women, words like: hot tamale, sizzling, and smoldering; how, many Latin women that work in factories are victims of sexual harassment and that people think they are maids or waitresses. She expresses feelings of anger and discontent because of how Latin women as well as she are treated by people. One of the incidents that affected her the most was when she went to a luncheon to read one of her poems an older woman mistook her for a waitress and tries to order a cup of coffee from her. She says she understands that the woman was not intentionally trying to be cruel yet; she became very angry at the woman. In her conclusion Cofer that she is one of the lucky Latinas, many of them do not have the privilege to receive and education or have the accesses to society that she has. She says, â€Å"For them life is as constant struggle against the misconceptions perpetuated by the myth of the Latina. † Cofer wants to replace the stereotypes with the realities of Latin women. She also tells us of a poem that she wrote where it seems to me that she is kind of ribbing society. Reflecting on both their private lives as men and women and on the public lives as reveled in the headnotes to both stories; we can see that Staples and Cofer today are successful writers. Staples has written for the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago magazine, Down Beat magazine, Ms. , New York Times Magazine, and Harper’s; he continues to try and shed light on racism and violence in our world. Cofer has written many books, she is an award winning poet, and is currently the Franklin professor of English and Creative Writing at The University of Georgia; she continues to try to do away with the stereotypes of Latin women through her writing. These two writers are trying to show us that stereotypes and prejudice are not just jokes that we tell each and laugh about, but rather they can and will hurt those being stereotyped. The racist jokes, thoughts, and stereotypes we hear have a bigger impact than to makes us laugh or be fearful, they help to spread racism. We need to try and look deeper and the color of someone skin; we are all human, we all have our strengths, we all have our weaknesses, but we cannot let one of our weaknesses be our susceptibility to take part in racism not matter how good natured we may think it is.

Strategic Analysis Of Ryanair Competitive Advantage Management Essay

Strategic Analysis Of Ryanair Competitive Advantage Management Essay Since its inception in 1985, Ryanair has grown to become the market leading European low-cost airline. This paper is an analysis of the Ryanair case study (OHiggins, 2007) and seeks to evaluate the sustainability of the strategy employed by Ryanair. It also seeks to identify areas for improvement and make recommendations given the available information. It will do this by first discussing the current strategy and performance. An analysis of the environment will then be carried out through a PESTEL analysis to identify the salient influences likely to impact on future strategy and a contextualisation of the aviation industry through the application of Porters five forces. This will be applied to the Ryanair case to see how this might have informed their current business and competitive strategy and their position in the market given the opportunities and threats revealed. The paper will then proceed with an evaluation of stakeholder management as a start point to the evaluation of the sustainability of the current strategy and recommendations on the direction and future strategy the airline might adopt. The conclusion summarises the whole piece. Ryanairs Strategic Posture From the case, it can be seen that Ryanairs corporate strategy is one of growth and expansion and its business strategy through which it seeks to gain competitive advantage is cost leadership. This is reflected in its consideration of the markets it chooses to operate in and its service offering. From the case, it is evident that the targeted market segment consists of European price sensitive customers and Ryanair positioned itself as the cheapest short haul airline. To achieve this, the airline adopted a low-price strategy which is contingent upon maintaining a low cost operation whilst achieving operating efficiency in order to satisfy customers. Ever decreasing costs was Ryanairs mantra (Johnson et al, 2008:699) showing that much focus was given to keeping costs and thus prices low and not necessarily on achieving operational efficiency, a fact confirmed by the results of the poll by TripAdvisor. It is for this reason that Ryanair constantly examined every area of its operations seeking areas to implement cost reductions or eliminations. These initiatives include: the rationalising of its fleet to minimise staff training, aircraft maintenance and fuel costs introducing a web-based self service for passengers for ticketing, check-in and priority boarding purposes to reduce the need for client facing staff and printing costs charging passengers for checked in luggage to encourage travel with fewer bags and improve on speed sticking to point to point (P2P) routes so as to eliminate passenger transfer costs servicing only short-haul routes to reduce the need for value added services to passengers. utilising secondary and regional airports to reduce airport charges. The CEO Michael O Leary also quite frequently vocalised his criticism of airport authorities and other systems especially in areas that would have a negative impact on costs. The airline was also particularly focused on generating ancillary revenues hence its constant seeking of areas to charge its passengers for any value added service like baggage, onboard meals and even for the use of a wheelchair. The policies adopted in this regard are those which had the most impact on their customer service. The underlying premise being that they positioned themselves as offering transportation and customers must bear the cost of any other service they require. The airlines strategic direction includes a mix of market penetration through which it seeks to increase its market share in its existing markets using its low fare offerings and market development by moving into other viable European markets sticking to its policy on P2P routes. Current Performance The evidence of the success of this strategy in its basic form can be seen in the financial results and in the fact that the airline has the highest market share of European low-cost carriers in terms of passenger numbers. (exhibit 2 of the case study) and in their reputation of having the best fares (OHiggins, 2007). Financially, the strategy is clearly working for them. Not only have they increased their revenue, they have also succeeded in reducing their costs thus giving them a higher profit margin year on year. Table 1 in the appendix shows that there was a 28% increase in total operating revenues from Apr 2005 to Mar 2006, however by September 2006 (half of the next fiscal year) the airline had already generated 74% of the full year revenue of the previous year. Table 3 (in the appendix) also shows that their expenses in comparison to total operating revenues also reduced thus resulting in a higher operating profit margin. This is a confirmation that not only were they carrying more passengers, their cost reducing policies were also working for them to improve their profit margin. Exhibit 1c in the case shows that some of these areas include marketing costs/scheduled revenue down by 15%, airport costs for passengers down by 7% and average staff costs down by 5% and from 2005 to 2006. In the same period, passenger numbers had increased by 26%. Ancillary revenues account for approximately 15 to 17% of revenue generated. The profitability ratios for Ryanair (table 2 in the appendix) shows a gradual increase in net operating margin. However, return on total assets and return on shareholders equity (ROE) remained constant. MACRO ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES PESTEL ANALYSIS The following PESTEL analysis identifies the key drivers for change in the macro environmental (external to the industry) factors identified in the case. Each of these macro environmental factors can influence Ryanairs strategy by being either an opportunity (O), a Threat (T) or both (B) and thus the level of success they attain. Political Government support for national carriers (T) Increasing need for security (T) Government policies and regulations e.g. The EU regulation on compensation of inconvenienced customers (T) Economic Market growth especially with expansion of the EU by addition of more countries (O) The volatility of fuel prices and currency exchange rates (B) Socio-Cultural Changes in passenger expectations and attitudes e.g. rising passenger expectations of some form of value added service even with the lowest prices (T) Long security checks and luggage restriction due security concerns leading customers to choose alternate travel methods like trains (T) Technological Technological advancements e.g. more fuel efficient engines with reduced carbon emissions.(B) Environmental Pollution issues e.g. concerns on greenhouse gases and carbon emissions and their impact on the environment (B) Energy consumption concerns (B) Legal Labour laws in differing countries affecting things like uniformity of employee contracts (T) Specific country legislations e.g. preferential airport rights for some carriers like Air France and the French airports.(T) Stringent health and safety regulations (T) MICRO ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES (INDUSTRY ANALYSIS) PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS This analysis will look at the overall competitiveness of the industry citing examples from the case for clarity. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Fuel: There are quite a number of aviation fuel suppliers however given the volatility in fuel prices, strong relationships need to be built in order to maximise the value of hedging contracts thus making supplier power high. Ryanairs fuel cost was 37% of its operating costs in 2006, 8% more than in 2005 (OHiggins, 2007). The airline will have to hedge their fuel costs. This requires experience and knowledge (OHiggins, 2007). Aircraft: Power is also high here due to high switching costs there being only 2 dominant players Boeing and Airbus. The capital requirements are also high in aircraft acquisition. Ryanairs fleet commonality policy to use only Boeing 737 planes might give them a cost advantage but it gives Boeing high power over Ryanair. Since pilots and cabin crew are all trained based on Boeing aircraft, switching costs for Ryanair to use Airbus or any other aircraft manufacturer are very high as staff would have to be trained again. Bargaining Power of Buyers This is relatively high due to low switching costs as price is the major driver and customers can easily switch to another low-fare airline. Threat of New Entrants Large initial capital investment in aircrafts is the main barrier in this industry. Unit costs for new entrants will be higher than for established airlines because of experience curve effects (Johnson et al, 2008), not only in terms of investment in non-current assets, but also the services provided by aircrafts suppliers. Other threats to new entrants include plans to tax aviation fuel within the EU by 2010, the proposed emissions trading scheme and legislation on customer compensation with a delay or cancellation of a flight. Experience curve effects give Ryanair cost advantage over any new entrants due to established relationships and existing contracts e.g. Ryanair and Boeing. Threat of Substitute Products Trains are an alternative means of transportation. This is especially critical to the short-haul and low fare airlines because evolutionary train technology is continually making train travel faster and more comfortable, and its price/performance ratio (Johnson et al, 2008) are perceived to be higher. Competitive Rivalry The case posits that the budget or low- cost airline segment is attractive based on the large number of entrants and rivals. However, of note is that as many as 50 went bankrupt indicating that getting in is easier than staying in. This indicates that competitive rivalry is extremely high and survival and profitability is based on establishing competitive advantage over rivals (MBA SAB Course Outline). The strategic groups map below illustrates Ryanairs positioning in the market based on competitive strategy. Low cost/No frills Mid Market/ Hybrid Full Service Within the strategic group, airlines which do low-cost and no frills are competing with each other. Mobility for airlines to move between groups is low. Therefore, competitive rivalry should be considered within this context. Large number of new entrants and rivals in this industry, with Ryanair and EasyJet having 55.8% market share. Competition among the other low-fare airlines could be intense due to similar size (OHiggins, 2007), but there is difficulty challenging these big two. Lack of significant differentiation between low-fare airlines, and business mode can be learnt and copied easily resulting in high pressure on price competition, which in turn constrains profitability (Johnson et al, 2008). Negotiations to maximise the benefits of the fuel price hedging will require lots of experience. The airline which is better able to hedge its fuel price will gain competitive advantage over the others in this regard. STAKEHOLDER EXPERIENCE WITH RYANAIR Consumers The results of the 2004 poll by Trip Advisor showed Ryanair was voted the worlds least favourite airline by customers. The lowest votes were in service quality specifically,, complains against Ryanair ranys in flight time and poor leg roomlegrom, Johnson et al, 2008. Otherm consumers about the airlude:wcurity, poor luggageowever scored well onRyanair was scored as the best fares. airline. Shareholders Generally, Ryanair has a lower price to earnings ratio than its peers like Easyjet. This can be seen in the fact that ROE remained fairly constant. There is however no information in the case on if Ryanair kept to its promise to remedy the situation of failing to distribute a huge cash pile to investors.own Employees They had several unsettled industrial disputes with their employees. Their employees were not allowed to have unions to represent their interest. There were complaints of staff been bullied to sign contracts against their will and there were legal actions against Ryanair for employee contract misconducts. There were complaints of poor pay and working conditions from employees. All this despite the airlines claim that their average pay was higher than any other major European airline. Media The press criticized the airline for excessive insurance charges, poor treatment of customers whose flights were cancelled, obsessive focus on price and profit with disregard to customer service. Chief of these was on, itstreatment of physically challenged passengers and charges instituted for facilities (wheelchairs) taken on board by them.for p Governments and Regulatory Bodies Ryanair had ongoing verbal battles and pending litigations with regulatory authorities. The Norwegian Consumer Protection authority had fined Ryanair sixty four thousand Euros for charging customers excessive administration fees for handling ticket cancellations. The CEO Michael OLeary had certainly put himself in the bad books of several EU commissioners who thought him arrogant, abrasive and irritating. EVALUATION: THE SUSTAINABILITY OF RYANAIRS STRATEGY team we think that the stra the short and long term and long term areis quite re will always be that segment of customers that will seek the lowest priced offerings. However, there is nd it also has a much scopeforof flexibility and agility to rious areas of the macrond micro environmentmicroenvironment especially in light of the cnstantly cons of customers. The implication of the current strategyies is quite evident in the case study, which reflect that even though thacro factors were least favourable for the company, it still however company performed performed beyond the expectations of the sharer profits. One of the key strengths of the company was in the appointment of CEO Michael OLeary as CEO., whplayed a vital role not only in understanding the dynamics of of the lines industrybut also ensured implementation of the strategy and ensuing ed key stra the company efectively. However, even though there was an indication that he was prepared to leave in 2008, there is no evidence in the case to suggest the grooming o an equally capable successor to take Ryanair to the next level.Indis should be an area of serious consideration. The sustainability of the strategy in terms of low prices is quite obvious. However, innovation and agility is very important for the rom fe as other firms may try to capture the market by adopting the same low price strategy but adding with some degree of dentiation to improve on customer satisfaction. It can be seen in the case study that the Ryanair approach is not customer centric., This is a potential thret in the future given that customers are becoming more demanding in their expectations from service providers.which can be considered as the public image of the company. Due to this over period company may lose the image in public. RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations are based on the key opportunities and threats identified in the macro environment and the issues identified with its stakeholder management and the suggestions on enhancing the sustainability of its strategy. Ryanair should continue with its growth and expansion strategy due to the market growth. The 30 aircrafts to be delivered from September 2006 is a great start to this. It should also continue with its market expansion as EU member states increase and stick to its point-to-point strategy. If fuel prices continue to rise, Ryanair should adopt charging a reasonable surcharge in order to offset some of the expense especially is all the other airlines are doing this. Fuel surcharges are becoming widely accepted by customers who are aware of the volatility of its prices and how it affects airlines. The term reasonable is used as they need to do this whilst still offering the lowest prices available for passengers. They could also carry out Public enlightenment campaigns to inform stakeholders of their challenges with airport, fuel and other charges to gain sympathy. Continue with the acquisition of new fuel efficient and environmental friendly aircrafts which will in the long run reduce their liability on the soon to be proposed emissions bill. It will also improve on their public image with regards to CSR issues. Continue to challenge unreasonable taxes levied by Governments but in a more consultative manner. Reduce its focus on generating ancillary revenue but instead focus on costless or low cost initiatives to improve customer perceptions and thus satisfaction. In this regard the airline should also segment the identified opportunities to generate ancillary revenues and assess the long term impact on the company e.g. not charging wheelchair passengers for the use of their wheelchairs could have been used to improve the image of the company in terms of customer care Improve their relationship with employees and employment conditions (pay, benefits and cut down restrictions) to reduce staff turnover which will further reduce staff costs in the long run. Assign resources to improve their public and brand image, this can be outsourced to professionals. Engage in cheap advertisement like providing promotional tickets for Journalists and regulatory bodies to see the improvement in their operations. This will improve both their brand and public image. Perhaps the biggest recommendation is in the grooming of and eventual appointment of a new CEO with a more charismatic personality than Michael OLeary whose first priority would be the settlement of outstanding litigation and improving the airlines relationship with stakeholders. One whose outlook is that outright confrontation is not the only way to manage expected or required change. Conclusion According to Grant (2010), on performance diagnosis: if profit performance is unsatisfactory then there is a need to identify the sources of poor performance in order to take corrective action. However, with the Ryanair case, it is obvious that there is satisfactory profit performance and this may lead to a form of inertia with regards to addressing other issues which in the long run could lead to losses. Ryanair will have to look into the future identifying factors that would threaten its performance or could even create opportunities for increased profit. According to Grant (2010:49), there is a need to look into the ultimate drivers of profitability and to ask pertinent questions: What will be happening in the industry in terms of competition and customer demand? Which companies will possess the capabilities needed to establish competitive advantage in tomorrows markets? Grant (2010:65) also posits that the prerequisite for profit is the creation of value for the customer. We have been limited in the case due to a lack of information on whether or not Ryanair uses a balanced scorecard to set and evaluate performance targets as the 4 elements of the balanced scorecard will ensure that they have a well rounded implementation of their strategy in every area of their business and would also establish targets and provide a mode of evaluation consistent with their strategy. This would tie in current policies and all recommendations made into one cohesive document for the company. Appendix Table : Revenue comparison for Ryanair 2005 to 2006 Currency is Euros Half-year to 30 Sept. 2006 Proportion of Half year to Full year Full year to 31 Mar 2006 Growth or Decline vly Full year to 31 Mar 2005 Operating revenues Scheduled revenues 1,092,102 76% 1,433,377 27% 1,128,116 Ancillary revenues 164,321 63% 259,153 36% 190,921 Total operating revenues 1,256,423 74% 1,692,530 28% 1,319,037 Source: Johnson et al, 2008 p. 696 Table : Profitability Ratios for Ryanair Column1 Half-year to 30 Sep. 2006 Full year to 31 Mar 2006 Full year to 31 Mar 2005 Profitability Ratios Net Operating Margin 26% 18% 21% Return on Total Assets 7% 7% 7% Return on Equity 14% 15% 16% Formulae Used: Proportion of half year to full year (%) = x 100 Growth or Decline vly = x 100 Net Operating Margin(%) = x 100 Return on Total Assets (%) = x 100 Return on Equity (%) = x 100 Table : Common-size statement analysis for Ryanair expenses 2005 2006 Currency is Euros Half-year to 30 Sep. 06 Expense as % of Revenue Full year to 31 Mar.06 Expense as % of Revenue Full year to 31 Mar.05 Expense as % of Revenue Total operating revenues 1,256,423 1,692,530 1,319,037 Operating expenses Staff costs 113,844 9% 171,412 10% 141,673 11% Depreciation 71,622 6% 124,405 7% 110,357 8% Fuel and oil 337,042 27% 462,466 27% 265,276 20% Maintenance, materials and repairs 21,313 2% 37,417 2% 26,280 2% Marketing and distribution costs 11,608 1% 13,912 1% 19,622 1% Aircraft rentals 25,394 2% 47,376 3% 21,546 2% Route charges 98,384 8% 164,577 10% 135,672 10% Airport and handling charges 139,097 11% 216,301 13% 178,384 14% Other 52,312 4% 79,618 5% 79,489 6% Total operating expenses 870,616 69% 1,317,484 78% 978,299 74% Operating profit -continuing operations 385,807 31% 375,046 22% 340,738 26% Source: Johnson et al, 2008 p.696

Explain and describe what a limiting factor is

Explain and describe what a limiting factor is Limiting factor is any factor that restricts a company or an organisations activities. In simple words, a limiting factor is the factor which is limited or not freely available to the company. Limiting factors in an organisation can be labour time, raw material, machine hours or space. For example, when sales demand excess the productivity capacity, the company do not have enough resources to produce the product, the scarce resource will be the factor that restricts the companys activities. The production constraints can be removing and additional resources can be acquired when the scarce resources are existed. Hence, the scarce resources should be identified to make sure the company has enough resources to produce their products as many as their wish. By using limiting factor, we can maximize the profit when obtained the greatest possible contribution to profit each time. Example1: A B C Contribution per unit of output RM 24 RM 20 RM 12 Machine hours required per unit of output 6 hours 2 hours 1 hours Estimated sales demand 3,000 units 3,000 units 3,000 units Required machine hours 18,000 hours 6,000 hours 3,000 hours The machine hour is limited to 18,000 hours for the period because of the breakdown of one machine. Consider Example 1. From the example 1, we know that the company required total 27,000 machine hours to produce the total sales demand of the product A, B and C that they estimated. However, the company only has 18,000 machine hours for the period because of the breakdown of one machine. In this situation, companys activities are limited in the available of machine hours. When we looking at the available information, we will think that the company should produce the product A first since the contribution per profit for product A is the highest but this assumption can be wrong. This is because produce a product A required 6 machine hours, whereas product B required 2 machine hours and product C required 1 machine hours only. The company can concentrates on producing 3,000 units of product B and C respectively and still have machine hours left to produce product A. In other words, if the company only concentrates on produce the product A, there will no machine hours left to the company to produce B and C. In order to maximize the companys profit, we should use limiting factor to calculate the greatest possible contribution per profit for each product and rank profitability of the product to obtain the optimum production plan. (b) Explain the techniques that have been developed to assist in business decision- making when single or multiple limiting factors are encountered (16 marks) Single limiting factor- Limiting factor analysis When single limiting factor are encountered, we have to use limiting factor analysis to help companies to identify the scarce resources and maximize profit by using the best combination of available resource. In limiting factor analysis, we should identify the bottleneck resources first. Secondly, we should calculate the contribution per unit for each product. Next, we should calculate the contribution per unit of the bottleneck resource for each product. After we get the contribution per unit of bottleneck resource, we can rank the products of the contribution per unit of bottleneck resource. Finally, we can allocate the resources from the highest contribution per profit to the lowest contribution per profit by the ranking. By doing so, we can obtained the greatest possible profit when resources are limited by single limiting factor. Example 2: X Y Machine hours per units 3 hours 4 hours Sales demand 2,000 units 3000 units RM RM Selling price 32 50 Less : Direct Material 10 20 Direct Labour 5 8 Variable Overhead 5 8 20 36 Contribution 12 14 The supply of materials for the period is unlimited, but the machine hours are limited to 15,000 hours. In order to maximize the profit, we should using limiting factor analysis to solve the problem when there is only one limiting factor. Step 1: Identify the bottleneck resource. At sales demand level: Sales demand Machine hours per unit Total machine hours X 2,000 units 3 hours 6,000 hours Y 3,000 units 4 hours 12,000 hours 18,000 hours Thus, machine hours are the limiting factor. Step 2: Calculate the contribution per unit for each product. The contribution has been given at the above. X Y Contribution per unit RM 12 RM 14 Step 3: Calculate the contribution per unit of the bottleneck resource for each product. To calculate the contribution per unit of the bottleneck resource for each product, the formulae is: Contribution per units of the machine hours = Contribution Machine hours Product X = RM 12 3 hours = RM 4.00 Product Y = RM 14 4 hours = RM 3.50 Step 4: Rank the products from the highest contribution per machine hour to lowest contribution per machine hour. Production should be concentrated on product X first, up to maximum sales available, then product Y. Step 5: Finally, allocate the available resources using that ranking that we decided at step 4 and calculate the maximum contribution. Production plan Units produced Machine hours per unit Total machine hours Balance of machine hours 15,000 hours Product X 2,000 units 3 hours 6,000 hours 9,000 hours Product Y 2,250 units 4 hours 9,000 hours So, the maximum contribution is as follow: RM Product X ( 2,000 units x RM 12) 24,000 Product Y (2,250 units x RM 14) 31,500 55,500 Multiple limiting factors- Linear programming We can use limiting factor analysis when there is one limiting factor. However, when there is more than one of scare resources which restricts organisations activities, we can use linear programming to solve the problem. Firstly, we must defined the variances when we using linear programming. After this, we can define and formulate the objective. Thirdly, we can formulate the constraints to formulating the problem. Next, we must draw a graph to identify the feasible region and we can get the optimum production plan from the graph. Finally, we can solve the problem and get the maximum contribution by doing so. Example 3: A B Contribution per unit RM 20 RM 10 Machine hours per unit 6 hours 3 hours Kilos per unit 4 kilos 8 kilos Maximum available : Machine hours = 18,000 hours Kilos = 24,000 kilos What should be the production plan? To answer the example 3, we should use linear programming to get the optimum production plan because there is two or more of scarce resources. Step 1: Define the variances Let x = the number of units of the product A. y = the number of units of the product B. Step 2: Define and formulate the objective function. The objective is to maximize the contribution C, given by: Maximum contribution = 20 x + 10 y Step 3: formulate the constraints. The limitations here are machine hours and kilos. For the machine hours, product A required 6 hours and product B required 3 hours machine hours. So, total machine hours required = 6 x + 3 y For the kilos, product A required 4 kilos and product B required 8 kilos. So, total kilos required = 4 x + 8 y Constraints Utilised Available Machine hours 6 x + 3 y Ë‚ 18,000 Kilos 4 x + 8 y Ë‚ 24,000 Step 4: Draw a graph and identify a feasible region. For the equation 6 x + 3 y = 18,000 machine hours When x = 0, y = 18,000/ 3 = 6,000 When y = 0, x = 18,000/ 6 = 3,000 Draw a straight line between the point (0, 6000) and (3000, 0) on the graph to represent the line for machine hours constraint. For the equation 4 x + 8 y = 24,000 kilos When x = 0, y = 24,000/ 8 = 3,000 When y = 0, x = 24,000/ 4 = 6,000 Draw a straight line between the point (0, 3000) and (6000, 0) on the graph to represent the line for kilos constraint. The constraints can be show as below: The original constraints were Step 5: Determine the optimal solution Calculate the contribution earned at each point P, Q and R Point P = RM 20 (0) + RM 10 (3,000) = RM 30,000 Point Q = RM 20 (2,000) + RM10 (2,000) = RM 60,000 Point R = RM 20 (1,500) + RM10 (0) = RM 30,000 Point Q gives the maximum contribution. Step 6: Answer the question The optimal point is at x = 2,000 and y = 2,000. This gives a maximum contribution of C = (20 x 2,000) + (10 x 2,000) = RM60, 000 (c) Explain the management idea known as throughput accounting. State and justify your opinion on whether or not throughput accounting and limiting factors are the same thing. (18 marks) To reduce companys cost and improves the profitability, every companys managers are using cost accounting to help them on decision-making. Theory of constraints (TOC) or Throughput accounting (TA) is another method for decision making others than Standard Based Costing, Activity Based Costing and Marginal Costing. TOC/TA is new management accounting approach based on factors identification when constraints are restricts companies to achieving their goals and hence reduces companys profits. Throughput accounting is used when there are only few constraints, normally just one. The constraint can be a resource, company policy or management mindset. According to Goldratts ideas, TOC is forecasting on a limit capacity at certain critical points in any production plan. TOC can maximise organisations profit by increases the speed of producing through an organisation to eliminating bottlenecks. Additionally, throughput accounting is not costing because it does not allocate all expenses (variable and fixed expenses, including overheads) to the products and services. Thus, throughput accounting helps managers to get better management decision in order to improve organisations profits by three measurements. They are: Throughput (T) is the rate that company produces goal units. When the goal units are money, throughput is net sales (S) less total variable costs (TVC), usually is cost of raw materials ( T = S TVC ). However, T exists when there is only one product or service sold. Besides, finished goods of inventory in a warehouse are not count because it has not yet sold. Operating expenses (OE) is all others expenses except the total variables cost that used to calculate the throughput. Basically, OE is total cost to operating the production system. Fixed or partially fixed costs no difference in throughput accounting. On the contrary, there only have either total variable cost or operating expenses in throughput accounting. Examples for OE include maintenance, utilities, rental, etc. Investment (I) is total amount of money that invest in a new system to enhance its ability to improve the capacity, for examples machinery, inventory, building, and other assets and liabilities. Therefore, throughput accounting use difference formulas to make difference types of accounting decisions by combined the throughput, total variable costs and operating expenses: Net profit  (NP) = Throughput Operating Expense = T-OE Return on investment  (ROI) = Net profit / Investment = NP/I Productivity  (P) = Throughput / Operating expense = T/OE Investment turns  (IT) = Throughput / Investment = T/I We can use the above formulas when making a decision that related to changes in revenue, expenses or investments to get the right decision, which must generate a positive answer from one out of three questions below: Does it increase throughput? Does it reduce operating expense? Does it improve the return on investment? Finally, there are five steps in the TOC to help managers maximize the throughput which causes them to achieve organisations goals. The five steps are as follows: Identify the system constraints. There is an internal constraint? For example, in production, engineering or planning. There is an external constraint? For example, in the market. The constraints a resource or a policy? Decide how to maximise the output from the constraint. Prepare all other activities subject to this decision. While Non-constraints need to be subject to constraints. Consider the appropriate level of resources once the resource constraint has been identified. Therefore, the capacity constraints can be improved. Enhance the systems constraints. Once the constraint has been corrected, return to Step 1 to determine the next most serious constraints and duplication. In my opinion, throughput accounting and limiting factor is not the same thing but there are similarities and differences in between throughput accounting and limiting factor. For example, throughput accounting and limiting factor are using to assist companies to identify bottleneck resources instead to maximize companies profits. However, throughput accounting is used when there are very few constraints; often just one but limiting factor is used when there are one or more than one constraints. Besides, limiting factor is focus on working to obtain greatest contributions while throughput accounting is focus on the premise that the limited capacity in some critical point of any production plan. In addition, limiting factor maximise the organisations profit by using the best combination of available resources but throughput accounting is maximise the profit by increase the producing speed through organisation to eliminate bottlenecks. Throughput accounting calculates the products throughput as the selling price minus all variable costs. Variable costs or in another words cost of materials in throughout accounting included direct material costs only, labour and overhead costs are fixed and categories to total factory costs. In contrast, limiting factor calculated by sales price minus variable costs to get the contribution but variable costs in limiting factor are including the labour and overhead costs, this is difference from throughput accounting.

Portrayal of Native Americans in Film Essay -- Native American Stereot

When Columbus first set foot in the New World, he believed that he had arrived in the islands just off the coast of Cipango, known today as China. Thinking this, he called the people that he met Indians, as they lived on the islands that he falsely believed were the Indies. The term Indian spread back to Europe, as did the term Indies, and to this day, Native Americans are known as Indians, and the Caribbean islands are referred to as the West Indies. The Indians populated a much greater area than Columbus could have imagined, covering the land of two Continents. The Native people of these lands, known already by a term in their languages that roughly meant "the people", were now thrown into one large group called Indians, which stretched nearly pole to pole. The Indians were an invented people. The place they inhabited was not the Indies, and their culture varied from tribe to tribe. The Indian in film is also an invented population of people. No distinction between reality and the imagination are made in these movies. The portrayal of the Native American, and the Native American ways of life were displayed incorrectly in film, and warped the image of the Native American in the eyes of all Americans, especially their descendants. The movies studied vary, from those dealing with Columbus' first encounter with these fascinating people, up through to the end of the 19th century. The films viewed include: 1492 (1992), Christopher Columbus (1985), Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992), The Last of The Mohicans (1992), Apache (1954), Dances With Wolves (1990), Crazy Horse (1996), A Man Called Horse (1970), A Man Called Horse III (1982), Soldier Blue (1970), Buffalo Bill and The Indians (1976), and Black Robe (1991). Th... ... L. Native American Images and Stereotypes. 1996. http://www.millersv.edu/~columbus/search/papers/garner ~1.html Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com Last of the Mohicans, The. Dir. Michael Mann. With Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeline Stowe. 20th Century Fox. 1992. 122 min. Mission, The. Dir. Roland Joffe. With Jeremy Irons and Robert Deniro. Warner. 1986. 125 min. Pathfinder, The. Dir. Donald Shabib. With Kevin Dillon and Graham Greene. Leather Stocking. 1996. 84 min. Soldier Blue. Dir. Ralph Nelson. With Candice Bergen and Peter Strauss. AVCO. 1970. 114 min. Spence, Lewis. Myths and Legends of the North American Indians. London: George G. Harrap & Company, 1914. Tecumseh. Dir. Larry Elikann. With Jesse Borrego. 1995. Wilson, Samuel M. Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press,1990. Portrayal of Native Americans in Film Essay -- Native American Stereot When Columbus first set foot in the New World, he believed that he had arrived in the islands just off the coast of Cipango, known today as China. Thinking this, he called the people that he met Indians, as they lived on the islands that he falsely believed were the Indies. The term Indian spread back to Europe, as did the term Indies, and to this day, Native Americans are known as Indians, and the Caribbean islands are referred to as the West Indies. The Indians populated a much greater area than Columbus could have imagined, covering the land of two Continents. The Native people of these lands, known already by a term in their languages that roughly meant "the people", were now thrown into one large group called Indians, which stretched nearly pole to pole. The Indians were an invented people. The place they inhabited was not the Indies, and their culture varied from tribe to tribe. The Indian in film is also an invented population of people. No distinction between reality and the imagination are made in these movies. The portrayal of the Native American, and the Native American ways of life were displayed incorrectly in film, and warped the image of the Native American in the eyes of all Americans, especially their descendants. The movies studied vary, from those dealing with Columbus' first encounter with these fascinating people, up through to the end of the 19th century. The films viewed include: 1492 (1992), Christopher Columbus (1985), Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992), The Last of The Mohicans (1992), Apache (1954), Dances With Wolves (1990), Crazy Horse (1996), A Man Called Horse (1970), A Man Called Horse III (1982), Soldier Blue (1970), Buffalo Bill and The Indians (1976), and Black Robe (1991). Th... ... L. Native American Images and Stereotypes. 1996. http://www.millersv.edu/~columbus/search/papers/garner ~1.html Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com Last of the Mohicans, The. Dir. Michael Mann. With Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeline Stowe. 20th Century Fox. 1992. 122 min. Mission, The. Dir. Roland Joffe. With Jeremy Irons and Robert Deniro. Warner. 1986. 125 min. Pathfinder, The. Dir. Donald Shabib. With Kevin Dillon and Graham Greene. Leather Stocking. 1996. 84 min. Soldier Blue. Dir. Ralph Nelson. With Candice Bergen and Peter Strauss. AVCO. 1970. 114 min. Spence, Lewis. Myths and Legends of the North American Indians. London: George G. Harrap & Company, 1914. Tecumseh. Dir. Larry Elikann. With Jesse Borrego. 1995. Wilson, Samuel M. Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press,1990.

The Machine Gun Essay -- Weapon, Volley Guns, Gatlings Gun

No other weapon in my opinion has changed the face of the battlefield as has the machine gun. It's design and and association with mass death makes it a great and powerful weapon. Two men, Hiram Maxim and Richard Gatling, made huge impacts in the development of the Machine Gun and bringing it to use in the military. These two brilliant men designed capable and reliable versions of Machine guns in a time when everyone was making unreliable models. However before we get into discussion about the inventions of Hiram Maxim and Richard Gatling, it's important to understand how machine guns were developed. â€Å"Volley Guns† (Chivers, 2010, p.26) or also known as â€Å"Organ Guns† (Ellis, 1975, p.10) were first attempts at increasing firepower by adding several barrels at the firing itself, rather than simply attempting to increase the rate of fire. â€Å"Gunsmiths had long ago learned to place barrels side by side on frames to create firearms capable of discharging projectiles in rapid succession. These unwieldy devices, or volley guns, were capable in theory of blasting a hole in a line of advancing soldiers† (Chivers, 2010, p.26). An example of such weapons can be seen on July 28, 1835 when Giuseppe Fieshi unleashed terror on King Louis-Phillipe in Paris, France. He fired his 25 barrel â€Å"volley gun†, killing 18 of the king's entourage and grazing the King's skull. The weapon was ineffective however. Four of the barrels failed and another four ruptured. Two other barrels had exploded inside, grievously wounding Giuseppe. (Chivers, 2010, p. 27) These kinds of weapons were impractical for military use, but attracted many people to the arms race for weapons that could sweep the battlefield. â€Å"They had limitations in practice, among them slow re... ...rounds per minute, all with just the pull of the trigger. The recoil operation was a milestone in machine gun development. Warfare had truly changed. â€Å"Point a machine, and killing men was like killing bugs† (Chivers, 2010, p.85). It used new forms of cartridges which were placed on a belt that was automatically fed into the gun via the recoil operation. By World War I, most countries involved had used the Maxim Machine gun. Russia, Britain, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland bought Maxim machine guns. Russia and Germany each had about 16,000 Maxim guns. The United States however remained true to the Gatling (Chivers, 2010, p.90). They were either not yet interested in the Maxim or could not due to the fact it was still under orders to purchase American-made arms. Machine guns had made their mark, and their deadly force was becoming even more apparent.

Pascals Wager and Global Warming :: Climate Change, Greenhouse Gases

Since measurements began in 1958 -- and it can be assumed to have been the case since the industrial revolution -- emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere has risen steadily as a result of the burning of fossil fuels (Quay, pp 2344). Although there is much argument over the implications of increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, there are several points that almost all scientists would agree on: firstly, carbon dioxide acts to absorb radiated heat; if present in our atmosphere will do just that to some extent. Second, the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is rising. Third, the temperature of the planet is rising - although the amount of this increase and the causes of this rise are subject to disagreement (Philander, pp 193). When I was at school in Vermont, one of my teachers explained to me Pascal's Wager. According to this teacher, the philosopher and mathematician Pascal had tried to establish the costs and benefits of believing in God. He saw it in this way: you can either believe in God or not. If you do believe in God, and there is in fact no God, then you will perhaps have spent some extra energy unnecessarily abstaining from certain pleasures and wasting your Sunday mornings in Church, but overall you did not give up too much. And, it could be argued, you may have actually treated your fellow men more kindly then you would have otherwise. If, however, there is a God, and you believed in him, then you get eternal salvation. On the other hand, you could choose not to believe in God. If there is no God, then you are fine. You can sin all you like, you can allow yourself transgressions and forbidden acts, and the only punishments you will face will be those of this life. If, however, you lived thusly and there is a God, then you face an eternity of torture and unbearable misery. So, Pascal reasoned, one would do best to believe in God and act accordingly. That way, if you're wrong, the worst thing that could happen is that you were more pious and caring then you may have otherwise been. If you do not believe in God and you turn out to be wrong, the risks become terrifying. My teacher suggested that I apply this same logic to global warming. It is a matter of playing the odds.

Cost of Goods Checkpoint Essay

A multi-step income statement for a trading business highlights the fact that between 40% and 60% of revenue from sales is accounted for as the cost of goods sold. The cost of goods attributed to a company’s products is expensed as the company sells these goods. There are several ways to calculate COGS but one of the more basic ways is to start with the beginning inventory for the period and add the total amount of purchases made during the period then deducting the ending inventory. (According to Kimmel, Weygandt, and Kieso), cost of goods sold is found by taking the cost of goods available for sale (beginning merchandise inventory + net purchase), less the ending merchandise inventory (p. 244). In a wholesale or retail trading business, merchandise held for resale in the normal course of business is the largest asset owned by the organization. For this reason it is vital that accurate up-to-date records be maintained when goods are acquired and inventories taken. Finished goods and or merchandise makes up cost of goods sold. There are two classifications of inventory: merchandiser or manufacturer. In a merchandiser company inventory consists of many items all different. Whereas, a manufacturer, some inventory may not be ready (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, p. 282). Examples of items that make up cost of goods include; produce, clothing, electronics, items that can be resold from manufacture to a company to the customer. This means when the business acquires a finished product, the cost of the product goes into an inventory asset account. The customer will then purchase the product, finished good, the business transfers the cost of the product from the inventory asset account to the cost of goods sold expense account because the product is no longer in the business’s inventory (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, p. 282). References Kimmel, P. D. , Weygandt, J. J. , & Kieso, D. E. (2011). Financial accounting: Tools for business decision making (6th ed. ). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database

How far do you agree that Jane Austens novel Pride and Prejudice is no more than an entertaining study of the surface of polite society?

In ‘Pride and Prejudice there certainly is a great deal of comedy, and will appeal to many readers for what Claire Tomalin calls ‘its good-humoured comedy, its sunny heroine, its dream denouement'. The two main characters appear to be part of what Vivien Jones calls a typical ‘rags-to-riches love story', maintaining happiness after a series of vicissitudes, which might incline readers to think it rather superficial. The critic talks about the surface trivia of Austen's society, which seems to comprise only of balls, scarlet coats and Muslin gowns, but she probes beneath the surface of her society, and concerns herself with the real confinement of the lives of women in her period. Jane Austen explores how women were victims of a patriarchal society, by presenting the unfairness of the entail. She presents Mr. Collins as a fool, by bluntly stating through the critical objective narrative that he ‘was not a sensible man'. By this we see that it is ridiculous that such an imbecile should be able to turn out the two rational sisters Jane and Elizabeth from their own home, since should they not be married they could be facing the same options as Jane Fairfax in Austen's ‘Emma', left to ‘the governess trade', with it's sinister echo of ‘the slave trade'. Also, and perhaps more importantly, she explores not only how women were victims in society, but through Wickham how they were powerless, direct victims of men. The unsettling story of him and Georgiana Darcy shows women as quite powerless, as he exploited her innocence and memory, because ‘her affectionate heart retained a strong impression of his kindness to her as a child'. Her guardians would have been her only protection at Ramsgate, and even they could not be trusted, as the scheme was ‘undoubtably by design' of Mrs. Younge, its evil epitomized by the calculation of the scheme to force Georgiana into the lifelong trap of marriage. Georgiana was only fifteen, and the story line of the serial philanderer Mr. Wickham exposes a very dark and therefore much deeper side to the novel, as he moves next onto Miss King with her i10,000 fortune, then finally onto 16 year old Lydia whom he also sets out to ruin. Much unlike the typical villain of a ‘surface' comedy Wickham learns no lesson, after Georgiana's distress seeming not have developed any moral scruple as he continues to prey on young girls leaving A. G. Sulloway to conc lude ‘Wickham is not capable of moral learning'. As he sets out to ruin Lydia, much echoing Austen's Frederick Tilney of ‘Northanger Abbey' with his treatment of Isabella Thorpe, he puts her whole family's reputation in danger. Had he succeeded their fates would certainly have looked bleak, which relates ‘Pride and Prejudice' to David Diaches' observation that Austen's ‘novel's are usually described as social comedies, but the fact is that some come close to tragedy†¦ ‘, and in fact, though it did end with the best case scenario for Lydia, she was left to spend her life trapped in a loveless marriage, as ‘his affection for her soon sunk into indifference'. Mr Collins proves there are much more to even the comic characters than their surface politeness. His language in his letter revealed him to be pompous, clearly vein and a snob as he boasts of his connection to Lady Catherine, proudly declaring ‘it shall be my earnest endeavour to demean myself with grateful respect towards her ladyship', and his platitudes of wishing ‘to heal the breach', offer ‘an olive branch' and establish the blessing of peace in all families' reveal his vanity. His roe as a comical figure come through as Austen treats him with scathing irony, especially when exposing his sycophancy as the first thing he is reported of saying in the novel is that ‘he had heard much of their [the Bennet sisters'] beauty, but †¦ ame had fallen short of the truth'. Austen tells us ‘this gallantry was not much to the taste of some of his readers', highlighting his obsequiency with the objective narrative. However, his proposal to Elizabeth reveals something much crueler and darker beneath this facade. He knows of the importance of money ‘ in a narrow, desperate, feminine world of financial constraint' (Robert Polhemous), he and plays on this by explaining that he would not ask for any money from Mr Bennet, reminding her ‘I am well aware that it could not be complied with'. In the same way Charlotte finds herself in a position of little choice, and because of her little fortune she finds herself forced to marry the fool, as ‘it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune'. Jane Austen points out the cruelty of this situation with a scathing tone of criticism of her society, using abstract evaluative language to emphasise her point that ‘however uncertain of giving happiness, [marriage] must be their pleasantest preservative from want'. Once more Collins ceases an opportunity to exploit financial dependency, and Robert Polhemus states that ‘Charlotte's cast must concern anyone who thinks seriously about the history of women', summarising her situation as ‘a kind of socially respectable prostitution'. Mr Bennet's jokes against his wife highlight him also as a comic figure, as from the beginning of the novel we learn that he frequently teases her with amused contempt, as he asks ‘What can be the meaning of that emphatic exclamation? of her distress, knowing perfectly well what is troubling her. There is a dry whit in his characteristically sarcastic tone, and his weapon against her is irony, which on the surface amuses the reader, but there seems something more to him. Later Elizabeth reflects on this, and imbedded within the objective narrative, in the free indirect style offers a careful analysis of Mr Bennet's faults, using abstract nouns to emphasise the rationality of her disapproval of his â₠¬Ëœcontinual breach of conjugal obligation and decorum'. The narrator suggests that where he exposes his wife to ridicule, he should have at least ‘preserved the respectability of his daughters, even if incapable of enlarging the mind of his wife'. Here Austen points to the importance of education, and her serious tone points to the importance of morals in her novel, demonstrated by parents who set no example for their children, leading A. G. Sulloway to go so far as to call them ‘parents who are morally irresponsible towards daughters'. Mrs. Bennet can also make us laugh with her illogical, trivial mind, which Austen reveals to us with her characteristically ironic coloured narrative, as ‘she was more alive to the disgrace, which the want of new clothes must reflect on her daughter's nuptials, than to any sense of shame at her eloping and living with Wickham, a fortnight before they took place'. This also misleads her daughters, as there can be no surprise Lydia ends up, as Robert Polhemus observed ‘a shallow materialist', but her character is worth more to the novel than just a silly woman or bad parent, in fact she also illustrates more serious aspects of the novel, as the situation with the entail leave her struggling to get five daughters married as soon as possible. We almost feel pathos for her with this stress, as immediately we are told ‘the business of her life was to get her daughters married', with the use of the word ‘business' underlining it's necessity. Jane Austen does not only concern herself with marriages which entrap poor or plain girls, but also explores how an individual can receive personal fulfillment. As our protagonist, Vivien Jones sees that Elizabeth ‘believes †¦ n individual happiness as a legitimate goal' in marriage, and this leads her to refuse two proposals before obtaining enough evidence that it is right for her to settle with one man. Henry Tilney of Jane Austen's ‘Northanger Abbey' said ‘Man has the advantage of choice, women only the power of refusal', and exerting this power came completely unexpectedly to Mr. Collins, whom believed she did ‘secretly mean to accept', Mr Darcy, who we are told ‘had no doubt of a favourable answer'. Elizabeth insists in both cases this because of a lack of ‘desire', proving her search for a husband also one for rational happiness, an idea which Austen presents as the only way for Claire Tomalin's ‘dream denouement'. To gain happiness he also demonstrated a eveloement throughout the novel, as he was educated from pride and prejudice to his own rational happiness. This is demonstrated as he goes from seeing her family connections as a ‘degradation' to allowing Mr Gardiner, the Uncle in trade, to become ‘always on the most intimate terms' come the end of the novel. So, through development of morals and search that delves below surface trivialities our protagonists are allowed their happy ending, which is much in contrast to those characters with little choice of few morals. We see that through the use of her comic characters Austen actually demonstrates a much more sinister side to her society, and the constraint felt by women of the time is evidence that she is reporting on much more than just a ‘polite society'.

Love between People Essay

In the novel The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks, love is portrayed in many ways. By looking at the characters, Taylor McAden, Kyle Holton, Denise Holton and Mitch Kindle, it is clear that love is inevitable and although they try to ignore fate, it will be very difficult to overcome. This is shown through the lives of Kyle and Denise, Taylor and Denise, and Mitch and Taylor. The characters in the novel all reveal the theme of being rescued by love; as a result it proves that although there are people who try to ignore their fate, there are those who are willing to follow their fate, knowing that there will many difficult obstacles to overcome. Kyle and Denise are one of the many characters in the novel The Rescue to help portray the theme of love through their relationship with one other and their actions towards each other. Denise helps to reveal the theme throughout the novel with many different characters. Denise reveals the theme of love through her son Kyle, by the way she interacts with him, and this is also known, when Denise is thinking, â€Å"You’ve got to help me find my baby! He’s only four.† (Sparks 22). This quote states that Denise has a very close relationship with her son, Kyle and she cares very deeply for his well-being. This quote also states that since Denise is very concerned about finding her child, that she is a mother who has a special bond with her child and that she is a parent who is willing to do anything for her child. Kyle also helps to reveal the theme through his actions and words. This is known, when Kyle says, â€Å"I wuff you, Money† which is translated into â€Å"I love you, Mommy† (274). This quote states that Kyle indeed, loves his mother very much, because saying you love somebody, is the most precious thing you can say to somebody. The quote also states that Kyle is expressing his feelings and emotions to his mom, who he loves very much. Both Kyle and Denise help to portray the theme of love towards each other; this is also portrayed between the relationship between Denise and Taylor. Denise and Taylor are also one of the many characters who help to uncover the theme of love. They help to uncover the theme of love in their relationship towards each other sexually, and verbally. Denise bares the theme of love towards Taylor, by the way that they interact with each other, and their sexual relationship. This is known when Taylor tells Denise, â€Å"I care about you more than I ever cared about anyone† (269). This quotation states that Taylor really cares for Denise, and that he wants to let her know that he is there for her. Denise helps to reveal the theme, when she shows Taylor that she loves him and cares for him, when she gives him a kiss (278). That states that both Denise and Taylor have a deeper relationship, where the theme of love is expressed between the two of them more. Taylor and Denise both add on to help reveal that the theme of the novel is love. This is also portrayed through the relationship between Mitch and Taylor. Taylor and Mitch are another set of characters that help to reveal the theme of love through their relationship. The author helps to uncover the theme of love, through the relationship statues of the two males. This is known, when Mitch tells Taylor, â€Å"I’ll always forgive you Taylor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (236) this states that Mitch loves Taylor so much that he is willing to forgive him no matter what he does. It also states that their relationship is very strong and that they are always there for one another. Taylor also helps to reveal the theme of love, when he says, â€Å"Mitch was like a brother to me† (246). This quote states that Taylor loves Mitch so much, that he considers Mitch as his brother; as part o his family. This proves that the author reveals the message through the characters, so that the readers can have a better understanding of what the theme is going to be, or about. In the novel The Rescue, the characters show that love is inevitable, and no matter what they try to do, it will always be there, and that there is no way to avoid it. Although love exists in the world, there are people in this world who will try to avoid their fate. It is inevitable, because there will always be love surrounding us, and no matter how hard we try to push it away and ignore it, it will always find its way back to us.