Fermentation of Carbohydrates: Ethanol from Sucrose Essay

Objective: To demonstrate a fermentation process, isolate the ethanol produced by fractional distillation, determine the composition of the ethanol solution recovered, and make stoichiometric and yield calculations. Procedures: Fermentation Weigh out 20.0 g of sucrose and place it into a 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask. Add 100 mL of water and gently shake until all the sucrose has dissolved. To this solution add 0.60 g of dipotassium hydrogen phosphate (K), 1.8 g of sodium phosphate hydrate (Na3PO4ï‚ ·12HO) and 2.0 g of dried baker’s yeast. Vigorously shake the contents to mix them thoroughly. The Erlenmeyer flask is fitted with a one-hole rubber stopper containing a short piece of glass tubing. Latex tubing (8 -12 in.) is attached to the glass tubing. An overhand knot is loosely tied in the tubing. The low part of the loop is filled with just enough water so that the passage is blocked, but gas from the fermenting chamber will be able to push the water out of the way and escape (brewers call this an airlock). This setup excludes air (and oxygen) from the system (which allows anaerobic oxidation) and prevents further oxidation (by aerobic oxidation) of the ethanol to acetic acid. Label the fermentation setup with you r name and place the flask in the incubator chamber Isolation by Fractional Distillation Do not shake the flask; avoid disturbing the sediment on the bottom! Get your flask from the incubator bath or chamber. Carefully remove the rubber stopper from the 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask. Prepare a vacuum filtration assembly using two 250-mL side-arm filter flasks, a 5.5-cm Buchner funnel (with a Filtervac or neoprene adapter), and two lengths (each 12 in.) of vacuum tubing. [N.B. We use the second flask so between the aspirator and our filter flask so that the filtrate will not become contaminated if tap water is pulled back through the hose.] Place a piece of filter paper into the Buchner funnel so that it covers all the holes and lies flat. Into a  250-mL beaker, place 100 mL of water and one tablespoon of Celite. Stir vigorously and pour the mixture into the Buchner funnel while the water is running and a vacuum is applied. A thin layer of the Celite Filter Aid will form on the filter paper. Discard the water collected in the filter flask. Do not suck too much air through the filter pad; if it dries, it may crack and be unusable. Carefully decant the liquid in the fermentation flask above the sediment through the Celite Filter Aid, using suction. This technique traps the small yeast particles in the Celite Filter Aid but lets through water, ethanol, and any other liquid impurities. This liquid filtrate will be distilled. Obtain a distillation setup and assemble the glassware for distillation. Note the placement of the thermometer bulb in the adapter take-off to the condenser. Securely clamp the apparatus and condenser, and secure joints with plastic clips. Use a small dab of silicone grease on all the standard-taper joints as you connect them. Collect the distillate in a graduated cylinder. Use a round-bottom distilling flask that will be filled approximately one-half to twothirds full; a 250-mL round-bottom flask should do. Add 2-3 boiling stones to the flask. Use a heating mantle for the heat source and a Variac to control the heat. Your mantle may have a built in voltage controller. Gradually turn up the heat until the liquid in the distillation flask begins to boil. As the vapors rise in the head, you will see liquid condensing; this ring of condensate will rise in the column. Control the setting on the Variac so that the condensate rises slowly through the column and at an even rate. (If the rate is too fast, the column will flood.) The temperature readings at the distillation head will rise; when the temperature reaches (about) 78 °C, begin to collect the liquid that distills. Discard any liquid distilling before this temperature is reached. Collect liquid distilling between 78 and 90 °C. Collect 10-15 mL of distillate. Turn off the heat source and remove the heating mantle from the distillation flask. Weigh a 50-mL beaker to the nearest 0.001 g. With a 10-mL volumetric pipet, transfer 10 mL of distillate to the beaker (V). Do not pipet with your mouth; use a pipet bulb. Reweigh the beaker and liquid (5), and by difference, determine the weight of the distillate. Determine the density,  and by referring to the graph, determine the percent composition of the ethanol.

Slasher Films in the Pakistani Cinema

Pakistan is a developing country that has been struggling for decades in its many eras, ranging from business to the cinema. Despite the tussle, it has managed to develop its film and television industry rapidly. â€Å"Lollywood† is a term that was coined back in the day to glamorously describe the cinema culture of Pakistan. Though, as we all know, in comparison to Bollywood and Hollywood, Lollywood, in majority has not been much popular. Nevertheless, upon profoundly observing the television industry of Pakistan, one learns that it is much more refined and efficacious in contrast to the film sector.Particularly, in the present times, the drama or television industry, as you may call it, is flourishing not just locally but all around the globe, reaching out to many Pakistanis and providing them with twenty four hours of fruitful entertainment. Pakistani Cinema has touched upon a variety of genres which predominantly revolve around documentaries, dramas, thrillers, horror, rom ance and action. This paper will, however, depict and deliberate upon a subgenre of horror films; slasher films in Pakistan.A slasher film is preeminently defined as a horror film which involves the use of an unearthly weapon such as an axe by a psychopathic slaughterer who mainly pertains to aggressively slaying a number of victims. These movies follow specific cinematic techniques where close-ups and special effects are used in a variety of ways, primarily representing women as sexual objects. The conception of showing the â€Å"Final Girl† rescuing herself is the foremost ideology a slasher film ordinarily focuses on.Over the years, Lollywood has managed to accomplish the two most successful horror films using the true slasher and storyline techniques; Zinda Laash (â€Å"Dracula in Pakistan/The Living Corpse†) and Zibah Khana (â€Å"Hell’s Ground†) produced in 1967 and 2007 respectively. It is interesting to know that the recent production; Hellâ€℠¢s Ground makes continuous relations with the thirty year old film; Zinda Laash. However, the two devour excessive amount of differences; in regard to the slasher film techniques and gender based critique which will be discussed in this essay. Dracula in Pakistan† was filmed in the late 60’s; however, when released, it sprang a cascade of fear amongst the Pakistanis. According to (The Indian Express, 2012), a woman from the audience was agonized by a heart attack. It was also the first movie produced in Pakistan to be categorized as â€Å"X-rated† along with being screened at two international film festivals. (IMDB) Zinda Laash is considered as a plagiarized production; an elucidation of Hammer’s Classic â€Å"Dracula. † (The HotSpot Online) The plot begins with a scientist; Dr.Tabani accomplishing his test experiment to gain immortality followed by the introduction of his assistant; a buxom woman who discovers the â€Å"dead body† of the sci entist and decides to store it in a coffin. To her astonishment, the corpse comes to life and she is his first victim. The story continues with a somnolent traveller, Dr. Aqil who does not consider the rumors of the existence of the immortals to be true, entering the mansion of the â€Å"Khabees Rooh†. Though, he soon discovers the veracity and chooses to end the cycle of plague, but is evidently futile.The film further revolves around a Dr. Aqil’s wife-to-be; Shabnam, who is also a victim of Dr. Tabani and how immortality fails her appallingly. As petrifying Zinda Laash might have been in the 60’s, it most certainly isn’t disturbing in relation to the modern day standards. One might find it rigorously monotonous but humorous at the same time as it depicts alluring and peculiar dances by women. Zinda Laash strongly caters to the â€Å"Male Gaze† throughout the hundred minutes of its run time; from the introduction to the climax and the conclusion.T hroughout the course, the audience experiences a range of dance numbers by either one or many women. The initial portrayal of the sexuality of women instigates when the assistant is lured by her â€Å"dead† boss in the middle of the dark hours. The woman is dressed in a knee length night gown with revealed skin and cleavage; identifying her as a sex object. For being a Pakistani production of the 60’s era, the cinematic techniques capturing the body of the woman can definitely be labeled as â€Å"obscene. The attack demonstrates sensuality in the facial expressions of the woman with the sluggish movement of closeness between the victim and the attacker pouring a sense of sexual tension amongst the audience. Followed by the frightening shrieks of the woman, violence against women is highlighted significantly; a woman is powerless in front of a man. Later, as the weary traveller arrives and adjusts comfortably at the mansion after a warm welcome by Dr. Tabani, one notic es Dr. Aqil setting a photo frame of his beloved fiancee he truly misses. Dr.Tabani enters his room to ensure comfort and malignly admires the photo by calling it â€Å"Khoobsurat. † It is enigmatically bizarre how Dr. Tabani ignores to make Dr. Aqil his next victim who is right there and instead wishes to suck blood out of a woman. Malevolent thoughts instantly stutter through the attacker’s head about the woman; further enhancing the violence against women. As the night gets gloomy and murky, one notices Dr. Aqil being effortlessly distracted by the giggles of a woman; the vampire bride. He gets up to follow the chuckles; his facial expressions visibly expose his urge for sexual desire.Discovering the origin of the chortles, Dr. Aqil finds a mysterious female, dancing with â€Å"voluptuous sensuality† (The HotSpot Online) dressed in a lightly lined white dress to attract him towards her. There is undeniably a connotation attached to the actions of the woman in this scene; she uses her sexuality to fulfill her need to feed upon the man for survival. The man finally submits himself to her and is attacked by the vampire bride. This explains how the religion of Islam fears the power of female sexual attraction over men.Imam Ghazali’s interpretation is also highlighted during this part of the film; female aggression is tuned outwards and she sexually entices men. Captivatingly, this occurrence is intermittent by Dr. Tabani; the vampire, who pushes the woman; once again showing the physical power of man over woman. Wretchedly, Dr. Aqil is masticated and is fated to earn immortality. Nonetheless, before fronting his destiny, he tries to put an end to the outrageous veracity by using a â€Å"knife† as the weapon of destruction, but fails terribly. Incongruously, a dance number is presented right after Dr.Aqil becomes a casualty of immortality. This dance sequence is similar to the many others shown during the film at odd intervals. This particular sequence comprised of a woman dancing dressed in a half sleeve top and pants in front of a crowd of men in majority. Vulgarity strikes not only in her clothing this time, but in the movement of her physique in sync with the song lyrics which were chanted by a man as he made hand gestures pointing towards the dancer; â€Å"Udhar Jawani, Idhar Nasha. † The lyrics clearly indicate the drunken men relishing the â€Å"jawaani† of the female performing.The theme of sexuality is reinforced with the entrance of Dr. Aqil’s brother as he is interrupted with another dance number, this time comprising of many women dancing for their own entertainment instead of one woman dancing to entertain a crowd. This dance comprises of Dr. Aqil’s fiancee, Shabnam dressed in shalwar kameez; the national dress of Pakistan, dancing with her friends. However, the fitting of the clothing catered to the male gaze once again. The shirts are of normal length but tremend ously body-hugging from the hip, hence outlining he body shape. These women also wore perfectly winged eyeliners and hair done gracefully, further emphasizing the gender socialization of women; how they are required to dress up. The theme of men giving in for the sexuality of women is reversed when Shabnam desperately waits for Dr. Tabani to suck her blood. On his arrival, Shabnam lies down on her bed in an inviting posture outlining her curvaceous body and reveals her neck; women objectification. Once again, sexual tension is built as Dr. Tabani goes close to her neck and feeds on her.The difference between the earlier attacks and this once is that Shabnam was willingly letting Dr. Tabani feed on her; she felt pleasure. The photograph below shows her exact position on the bed. (The HotSpot Online) There is also a female child in the narrative who Shabnam intends to feed on. The question here evolves as to why there was not a male child instead of a female child named â€Å"Babyâ⠂¬ ? Baby constantly made relations with Shabnam throughout the course of the film, for example, she teased Shabnam by snatching Dr. Aqil’s photograph from her hand and ran away.The film comes towards a climax where the family discovers the Dracula Shabnam who intended to trick Baby and suck her blood out. Shabnam’s brother confronts her as she convinces him to hug her; she decides to feed on him. This plot comes to an end when Aqil’s brother acts as the macho man and pushes Shabnam away and stabs her to death by a dagger. Patriarchy is promoted via this prospect as well. Nonetheless, a dance sequence is a must input at the pinnacle; this time a female wearing a sequin dress entertaining a group of men by dancing. Most importantly, we notice that the dupatta in many of these dance numbers is eliminated.The movie further progresses with the development of an aim to eradicate the immortals by Shabnam’s brother and Dr. Aqil’s brother. Zibah Khaana or Hell’s Ground, on the other hand, follows a completely different narrative with underlining various subjects such as Gender Roles, Social Concerns and Pakistani Culture. It truly depicts the use of slasher film techniques like showing the world from the eyes of the attacker and use of the â€Å"Final Girl† notion. It is an Urdu-English slasher film directed by Omar Khan in only 30 days and has won many awards at Film Festivals around the Globe. Wikipedia) Zibah Khaana is a journey of five teenage friends who decide to take a short cut through a place known as â€Å"Dozakh Pur† to attend a rock concert. On their way, they face many difficulties such as the toxic water, zombies, a daunting hitchhiker, a witch and a man dressed in a burkha with an ancient spiky weapon which makes the movie a modern gore flick. The diversity in characters chosen makes the film even more exhilarating. The movie begins with a boy having an accident upon seeing a Burkha Man standing i n the middle of the road with a medieval weapon.However, the first victim is massacred with a spade, in comparison to Zinda Laash, where the first victim was a woman attacked by fangs. In the case of Hell’s Ground, woman objectification is hardly given any attention. The film sets the surroundings of Pakistan by showing detailed shots about the culture of Pakistan; daily activities. Gender socialization is highlighted when Roxy, a modern American girl is introduced and specifically asks her maid for a â€Å"pink† colored shirt to wear as she has to spend the night at her friend â€Å"Ayesha’s† house.Pakistani culture is further laid stress upon when the maid reacts in astonishment to Roxy, being a girl and spending the night at a friends’ house. Next, a low class Christian boy, Simon is presented with his parents; where the father uses abusive language to degrade his son. In relation to Zinda Laash, here we experience that the wife; Simon’s mother screams back to her husband in support of her child. Patriarchy is not laid stress upon; it does exist but not to a critical extent in the modern day and this is what Zibah Khaana probably aimed to demonstrate.As the introduction progresses, the audience meets the Final Girl, Ayesha. Her first appearance in a traditional shalwar kameez serving her mother tea immediately clicks; she is different from the previous two characters introduced. Once more, the Pakistani Culture and Gender Bias are tinted when Ayesha seeks permission from her mother to go on a â€Å"school trip† for the night. Receiving a hesitant reaction from her mother and commentary upon how her father would be against this act if he were alive, instantaneously converses with the Pakistani audience as to how girls should not be let out for the night.It emphasizes upon traditional beliefs on gender socialization; girls should spend the night at their own house and not elsewhere. However, there are a lot of modern families in today’s time who are also against girls spending the night elsewhere. In the Pakistani society, it is definitely considered as indecent. Inevitably, Ayesha lies to stay out for the night to go to a rock concert. However, her socialization restricts her from doing things that she has been taught are wrong; for example later in the film all her friends smoke hashish, but she doesn’t.Ayesha also wears an â€Å"Allah Hu Akbar† necklace throughout the course of the film. We also observe, upon exiting the house Ayesha gets rid of her books and grabs a pair of jeans and t-shirt to change later for the trip; Ayesha belongs to a local ordinary family. Later, when she changes her attire from a traditional one to modern, her friends are surprised. Roxy, Ayesha, Simon and another boy OJ meet at the ice cream parlor, â€Å"Hot Spot† and wait for the last character of the film; Vicky to arrive with transport. He brings a van with old fashioned Pakist ani Horror Film Paintings, one of which consisted of a plump woman posing.Pointing out the sexuality in the old times; OJ instantly reacts to the painting of the woman as â€Å"sexy. † This shows that young boys are easily drawn towards sexuality with being open about their desires. The friends continue to head out and on their way are disturbed by a group of transgenders while waiting for the traffic signal to go green. An effective use of queer theory has been applied as the reaction of the teenagers is shown. Transgenders are a huge part of the Pakistani society and are treated with disgrace.They are usually perceived as infuriating while they beg at the traffic signals; the reaction of Vicky and the body language of the transgenders have clearly been captured. As the transgenders approached and touched Vicky, his facial expressions stressed upon irritation and repulsion. Youth culture has been shown via sarcastic conversations amongst the five friends. Roxy is an American -Pakistani modern girl who did not hesitate to smoke hashish in comparison to the Final Girl, Ayesha who denies the offer and feels uncomfortable. Roxy and OJ have a conversation about the socio-economic situation of Pakistan.This was amusing to observe as women in the earlier day were not included in such conversations, and today we see a positive change in the role of women. In Roxy’s imaginary world, she â€Å"can’t wait to get out of this sticky shithole. † Use of abusive language by both the genders has been highlighted, which serves as a change in the norm of our society as all such instances are censored by the censor board of Pakistan. Hell’s Ground, was however, successful in mirroring the reality. From zombies, a freaky hitchhiker and a witch to the serial killer in a burkha, Zibah Khana covers it all.Generally, older women are always associated with darkness, magic and evil. Hell’s ground uses the same ideology and uses an unusual strang e woman in the story who is involved in the village killings. The hitchhiker and the main psychopathic killer Burkhaman which the teenagers come across are the old woman’s children. Earlier in the film, the teenagers have managed to escape from the creepy hitchhiker by throwing him out of the van and crushing him in the process. Motherly instincts are shown when the mother finds her injured son and commands the Burkhaman to cut them up into â€Å"botis. The old woman also continuously addressed the Burkhaman as her daughter; further highlighting the use of queer theory. The Burkhaman is in reality a man, but is continuously referred as a female; this is because the old woman always wanted a daughter but never had one. I believe, the use of such a dogma is an indirect reference to the LGBT community in Pakistan. Throughout the film, the serial killer being the main lead remains silent. According to my analogy, it has been done purposely to lay stress upon the fact that societ y wants the LGBT community to remain silent and act as the underdog of the society.Being a slasher film, the plot revolves around The Final Girl throughout. Before the zombie attacks, she senses incongruity but chooses to ignore and stays determined. This is the most ideal strategy used in the production of slasher films. Her psychological turmoil is continuously tested till the very end where she saves herself. In completion, Ayesha is the only individual left who has not been successfully victimized. Slasher films intend to show women in terror, and Zibah Khana explicitly follows this rule. It shows both the women, Roxy and Ayesha, in terror, running for their lives and screaming.The only difference is that Ayesha is the final girl and remains determined to save herself. Another stratagem used in Zibah Khana is the eradication of all the irrelevant characters one by one leaving the Final Girl as the last victim. This is to build tension amongst the audience to experience the rever sal of gender roles. When Ayesha faces the Burkhaman, she fights back for herself and saves herself by getting hold of a spade and a stone, and smashes the head of the man dressed in a Burkha. There is no man to rescue her; she is her own hero. A hidden side of the innocent girl is shown; she makes sure to kill the attacker.Typically, in slasher films, the Final Girl is given intense strength and masculinity all of a sudden with the urge to protect her rather than being dependent upon a man to save the day. There are many differences we observe between the two films. Firstly, we notice that the first victim in Zinda Laash is a woman where she is shown as a sexual object. However, in Zibah Khana, the first victim is a boy; OJ. Secondly, Zibah Khana adopts the technique of showing the world from the attacker’s eyes to its fullest whereas Zinda Laash hardly makes use of it.Thirdly, another distinctive feature of a slasher film is to show women in terror; building the tension and finally reaching the climax. Zibah Khana renders this trepidation to a great extent in comparison to Zinda Laash, where the women feeling fear is shown minimally in comparison to Zibah Khana. Lastly, the concept of Final Girl is completely ignored in Zinda Laash, assuming that Shabnam was the main girl who was expected to save herself and not enter the realm of death; that too by being stabbed by a man. Zibah Khana, on the other hand, stresses all the attention on the Final Girl, Ayesha.In the end she is the only survivor. Horror film is a genre which has come a long way in the Pakistani Cinema. It started off with showing women as sex objects to the girl becoming the main lead and surviving on her own terms. To conclude, I absolutely agree with Omar Khan, the director of Zibah Khana as he claims, â€Å"Horror is at its most effective when it taps into real fears. Our real fears are connected to things that are sensitive politically and difficult to discuss. † (Telegraph, UK , 2007) 3286 Words Bibliography (n. d. ). Retrieved November 27, 2012, from IMDB: http://www. imdb. om/title/tt0360232/trivia Telegraph, UK. (2007, August 11). Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://www. telegraph. co. uk/culture/film/starsandstories/3667146/Zibahkhana-Beware-zombies-wearing-saris. html The Indian Express. (2012, July 2). Retrieved December 4, 2012, from The Indian Express: http://www. indianexpress. com/news/be-scared-very-scared/969038/0 The HotSpot Online. (n. d. ). Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://www. thehotspotonline. com/moviespot/bolly/reviews/xyz/zindalaash. htm Wikipedia. (n. d. ). Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Zibahkhana

Should sick people pay more for health insurance Research Paper

Should sick people pay more for health insurance - Research Paper Example However, I do not think sick people should pay more for health insurance. This is because doing so would create several ethical issues that may in turn lead to crisis. It is worth noting that the value of life cannot be quantified by money. Making sick people to pay more for health insurance would create some shadow of discrimination amongst the people in the society. The feeling of not being wanted would set in the sick. Surely the sick need the support of the society to keep them psychological and emotionally strong. They need this support more than the healthy. When such a thing happens, we would be killing these people by making demanding much from them instead of supporting them. Besides, sickness is not a permanent condition thus it is wrong to assume that if someone is sick today, then they will be sick tomorrow. It is therefore unnecessary to make people pay more when their conditions are not permanent. It will therefore inhuman to subject the sick in more expenses when they need our

Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Communication - Essay Example The results that are achieved by means of the community policing totally depends on the police officers set of perceptions of the ethics and also this very well plays an important role in the training of the other junior officers as well. This is especially done in order to cut short on the misconduct done by junior officers. Thus when teaching the students and also when giving lectures to the needed person who are dealing with criminal justice such articles can very well be collected from many types of related journals and newspapers. By means of all these sources one can really get so many examples of very irritating issues like gratuities, bribery, corruption, loyalty and also whistle blowing and also many such related issues which can cause such a strain in the public. All these related issues are very serious of their kind and can cause many kinds of social problems. Thus the studies and the resultant hypothesis of many police officers have resulted in collection of enough data that has really meant that there are several key elements that any police officer needs to possess and these can very well be classified into the most five common elements and these are service, honesty or integrity, loyalty and service. Thus the policy of zero tolerance could very well be tested and also will be very effective since they always highlight an effective means of taking the very much needed stringent actions that very well tends to curtail the criminal instinct of most of the people. In many cases the Zero tolerant policies are often tended to be more superficial and hence results in it become reality very rare. Thus there is much statistical evidence that states that there are many negatives that is disadvantages and also many sorts of positives that is advantages related to the zero tolerance policy. Also the implementation of the zero tolerance policy is very tough and almost all the departments offer stiff resistance to its implementation

Sports and Entertainment Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sports and Entertainment Management - Essay Example This paper portrays the current situation of unemployment in the United States and the best way to handle the problem using various economic models. The paper also looks at the government and monetary policies put in place in attempt to fight against the problem. The US unemployment problem has been raising recently attracting attention to both the Federal Government and private investors. Strategies to fight the problem are currently in place to freeze the increasing percentage of unemployment rate in the global economic leader. Despite the fact that the US is the largest economy in the world, global economic pressures and bad economic policies could be the major causes of the employment problem currently facing the country. A recent household survey indicated that the unemployment condition in the United has risen by 0.1 per cent in May 2013 to 7.6 per cent. The situation was however worse in October 2009 than it is currently. Compared to the rate of unemployment in 2009, the situa tion had fallen to 2.4 per cent but it is now rising according to recent surveys (The US Department of Numbers 2013). Article tackling Unemployment Guardian News and Media Limited. 2013. US jobless claims rise modestly as economic growth revised down. Retrieved June 24, 2013, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/may/30/us-jobless-claims-economic-growth This article by the Guardian News and Media Limited points out that regardless of the US economic growth with a modest 2.4% this year, there is still a significant rise in the number of Americans seeking for jobs indicating the current unemployment increase from 338,000 five years ago to the current 354,000. The article postulates that most employers are now steadily hiring, making an average of 208,000 jobs available every month different from the previous reported statistics of 138,000 in the recent couple of months past (Guardian News and Media Limited 2013). With this statistics, it is observed as positive adjustment towar ds employment, which leaves unemployment down fall from 10% of the year 2009 to the current 7.5%. However, this decrease is as result of many people especially the youth has given up seeking for jobs and the government will count one as unemployed if he/she is actively looking for employment. Government spending continues to be the major area of weakness to US economy with also other as global weakness and higher taxes. Notably, economists assert that decline in the economy is not as severe as many people may think. Home construction is top performer in the economy growth which itself is growing at a double digit of 12.1% (Guardian News and Media Limited 2013). There is increased hiring in the private sector reduced prices in consumer goods and recorded high stock gains that maintain consumer spending high. Increased demand in consumers has prompted businesses to faster restocking rate indicating growth in business inventories. . Discussion Unemployment is normally treated as a shor t-term economic phenomenon, which affects fluctuations. The problem is often neglected in neoclassical growth models. Fiscal policies, which can be explained as an economic components initiating effect on one of the various components of aggregate demand, has a different effect on both GDP and employment. This happens when making application of the Keynesian demand-driven models or the Neo-classical supply driven models (Magnani 2013 ). Differences arise when dealing with problems associated with low economic growth and high public debts (Magnani 2013 ). The US has been working hard t ensure a minimum public debt and initiate mechanisms and strategies for job creation. Efforts of the US government to create

Eveline James Joyce Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Eveline James Joyce - Research Paper Example Dust is everywhere in her room in spite of the fact that she has been mopping and dusting for years. She is a part of this dusty atmosphere, just another object in her room. Thesis: a psychological development of this woman is intensely influenced by the external subjection to her self-restraint and her obsession with her father. A Flow of Life or a Stasis of Oblivion When love rushes in her life, she does not have any choice but to follow this external acclaim. She follows her lover, and it is difficult to imagine, but this calm woman has managed to board a ship about to set sail across the ocean. There is a high speed animated development of her life. Nevertheless, she gives up and is occupied by her vivid imagination, when she is dreaming about her lover, who is grasping her head and she is experiencing her inner passion and desire. In her real world, she lets these dreams be only in her mind, but she is resistant to the wind of change for sure. A gentle and a passive female natur e, she turns into a subjective animal, and it looks like she has no choice but only continue her passive life. â€Å"Eveline† in Dubliners reminds us about the importance of small pieces and images in our lives. It is possible to claim that the whole life is a big puzzle and different episodes in our lives are merely puzzle elements. Joyce saturates his manner of narration in this piece from Dubliners with vivid descriptions and luxurious emotions, rich impressions and endless feelings and perceptions. Even readers can experience his bright idealistic world through the small segments and episodes of his stories. It is possible to consider "Eveline" from different perspectives. On the one hand, in "Eveline" domesticity is clearly associated with details, with metonymy and synecdoche. The detail that will become Eveline's signature is the "odour of dusty cretonne" (Mosher 408). In this article the author clearly underlines that housewives and their housekeeping is associated wi th special smells and episodes of their lives. This woman always cleans up, and the curtains of crettone are her Everest. She always tries to put up with difficulties and deal with inevitable dust in those curtains. Her home is a museum of memories for her and nothing more. There are many different objects connected with her life, but it is better for her to get rid of them, like Italians get rid of old furniture on the New Year. Her female nature and her role of a housewife are developed in accordance with commonly accepted social templates, but in the real world she plays a very pitiful role because she has to count her meager funds. We can see that the "purse" is a metonymy of her role as housekeeper for her family. She is imprisoned in her home and her housekeeping obligations bear her down. She counts every nickel in her purse, and visiting market is really depressing and intriguing for her. Frank suggests getting rid of her imprisonment and offers a trip to Buenos Aires with h im. He says that his home is there. "Home" is a metaphor about her another life. It is a direct juxtaposition to her daily life and she hesitates whether to try on a new role or not. Joyce introduces and apt euphemism  for  "sexually  aroused"  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ "pleasantly confused" (Joyce 45). He shows that feelings are common for her and her love is just another background for her possible development. Moreover, it looks like this woman

Freuds Ideas Remain Influential Even When They Seem Implausible Essay

Freuds Ideas Remain Influential Even When They Seem Implausible - Essay Example According to Freud, the ego comes about during the infancy stage of human development and the goal of this aspect of mental development is to find satisfaction for the desires of the id but in a manner which is safe (Freud, 2010). While the id is mostly dominated by the instincts of the individual, the ego is dominated by reality and despite the fact that it works towards the fulfilment of the desires of the id, the ego can be said to be based on the control of these desires so that they do not get out of hand. The ego, therefore, functions not only in the unconscious level but also in the conscious level and this ensures that there is a balance between the two. The superego, on the other hand, develops during early childhood when the child comes to identify with the parent of the same sex, and this parent becomes the compass for the child’s moral development. It is the superego which is responsible for the development and upholding of moral values among individuals as a means of ensuring that they behave in a manner which is in accordance with the values and norms of the society. Moreover, it is responsible for the feelings of guilt which afflict individuals when they commit acts which go against the values of the society (Freud, 2013), and this enables them to correct their mistakes. According to Freud, there comes a time when there are conflicts between the id and the superego and when this occurs, it is normally the role of the ego to act as a mediator and to decide the best course of action that can be undertaken to solve the conflict. It is because of this that in some cases, the ego puts in place defence mechanisms which are designed to ensure that it is not overwhelmed by anxiety and this enables it to make the right decision about what to do.  It has been declared that the theories brought forth by Freud, while very good at providing explanations for behaviour, are not quite good at making predictions for the possible occurrence of such behavi our. It is for this reason that there has arisen a belief that Freud’s theories are not scientific because they can neither be proven false nor true. An example of such a scenario is the determination of what takes place in the unconscious mind because of the fact that this is something which cannot be tested or measured in an objective manner (Levin, 2010). It is because of this that it is believed that the theories propagated by Freud are neither scientific nor do they have objectivity. Because of the relatively few samples that he used, it has been declared that Freud’s studies and results were unrepresentative of the general population since he mainly made studies of himself, his patients and only one child. Since most of the studies consisted of his patients, mostly women of middle age.  

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 97

Summary - Essay Example The Home, which was located in the heart of Victoria, was regarded as the safe haven for Chinese prostitutes and other Chinese females who were thought to be at risk of falling into prostitution but later open door for Japanese women and children. This was intended to protect Asian women from being transformed by the by the missionaries. The white women largely influenced the behaviors and attitude of the Asian women especially in areas of marriage and domesticity. There were several issues that triggered the transformation and the white domesticity especially through the enactment of racial and gendered performances. The article also explains a high profile kidnapping that involved a cross racial encounters as well as policing and gendered boundaries in an unsanctioned cross-racial contact. It is apparent that discourses of domesticity and Christian related marriage largely contributed to the kidnapping. The police and other responsible institution did not do proper investigation concerning the issue of kidnapping and this became a major scandal that affected the Home. The Home enabled careful management and intimate cross-cultural contact that triggered racial constructions of the period in British Columbia. Menzie who was a suspect in the kidnapping saga contaminated the white community. The state of marriage and the intermixing Chinese and European populations were greatly affected by the incidences between the two groups. It is therefore worth noting that the Victoria’s Chinese Rescue Home acted as a domestic space and the women’s moral authority was used to allow the various practices that took place. Marriage, for instance, was considered significant and acted as part of women’s domain as far as Christianity is concerned. People who ran the Home greatly contributed to various racial discourses and the article shows how moral entrepreneurs operated in difficult ways. The entrepreneurs

Feasibility of Foreign Retail Firms Entering India Case Study

Feasibility of Foreign Retail Firms Entering India - Case Study Example While formulating the strategies, the organizations’ leader and the management team will firstly look at the factors that may aid them to make a successful entry. After analyzing the positive factors, the firms will or should have to analyze the challenges that may impede their entry. As every foreign market or country will have different political, social, economic and legal conditions as well as different customers, competitors, prospective employees, etc, etc, there will be many challenges, which will block the firms’ success. Also, there will be country specific challenges as well as industry-specific challenges in those foreign markets. For example, the Asian country of India has some distinct aspects, which will surely act as an advantage as well as a challenge for the new firms, who are planning to enter it. Likewise, the retail industry in India also has some inbuilt favourable factors as well as impediments particularly in the political, social, legal and economic spheres, which may facilitate or impede foreign-invested retail firms’ entry. This paper will analyse India and the opportunities and risks, it presents for the retail firms. Globalization is having major impacts on the economic sphere of many developing countries like India, working as a catalyst for economic development. Globalization turned out to be a godsend opportunity to these countries. That is, these countries opened up their markets and invited foreign companies with a slew of schemes and benefits. India has also become part of the global plans of many organizations mainly due to globalization. That is, when globalization or liberation made its entry into in the early 1990s, it opened the door for foreign companies including retail firms (but with caps) to reach India, benefiting both the Indian people and the companies. India has been pursuing the Mode 1 globalization strategy since the economic reforms began under P.V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh in 1991. Despite several changes of government and difficulties in implementation, the essential aspects of this international economic strategy have been maintained (Sen 2000).  

Complaint Management in Social Media - A Comparative Linguistic Essay

Complaint Management in Social Media - A Comparative Linguistic analysis between Company Websites and Facebook - Essay Example Research findings indicate that complaints are rarely responded to and usually only where the language used is complimentary to and/or helpful to the firm. Therefore, contrary to Hirschman’s theory of exit-voice, companies are not taking advantage of defensive marketing tools calculated to retain customers. Social media is defined as any online forum or site on which users may exchange information, opinions or knowledge. In other words the term social media refers to websites in which users are able to freely post to those websites. Brunty and Helenek define social media as a â€Å"social medium† which facilitates communications between users and communications between users and those who created or manage the website or page. Social media also includes a forum in which users can exchange content. Social media websites provide a variety of ways for users to communicate and include email, message boards, instant messaging, video or audio chatting. The idea is to provide a â€Å"sense of community among users†. ... In this regard, businesses are looking at various ways in which they can benefit from social media via social networking tools such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.3 Businesses are now entering unchartered territories in that they can now engage consumer-to-consumer discussions through various online social networking strategies. These communications are uncensored for the most part and permit the consumers to speak to one another freely about businesses and their products. Social media also provides a platform for consumers to speak directly to business management.4 From the perspective of business, the â€Å"quality of user-general content† can range from â€Å"excellent to abuse and spam.†5 Previously, consumers merely went online to explore content and information relative to a business and its products and/or services. Increasingly, consumers are adding their own content to a company’s profile, blogs or websites.6 Thus social media has the capacity to impac t a business’s reputation, sales and might even impact its success.7 This is all the more important because social media tools are increasing alongside internet users who are gathering at social network sites. For example a Pew Report demonstrates that young adults in the US between the ages of 18 and 29 have increased the use of social networks online via cellular telephones. Between 2006 and 2008 online social networking via cellular telephones, among young adults in the US increased by 10% (from 55% to 65%).8 Overall, access points to social networking via the internet have increased exponentially over the years. Globally, users engaged in social networking increased from 54% to 77% by

The Blind Side Essay Example for Free

The Blind Side Essay ‘Our surroundings can be both threatening and comforting. Discuss in relation to the behaviour of Michael Oher in the film.’ Some settings we encounter in our lives are both familiar and dangerous to us. John Lee Hancock shows this particularly well through the character of Michael Oher in ‘The Blind Side’. Settings such as the Touhy house, the Christian school and the suburb of Hurt Village, where Michael’s mother lives, serve as examples of these contradictory places. Briarcrest Christian School is a place where Michael originally feels threatened, but becomes a place of comfort for him as the movie progresses. When he first moves to the school, Michael does not know anyone, and is daunted by the lack of diversity in the students. He does not seem to understand the work, or wish to do it, and his teachers do not try to help him. This is evident in his poem ‘White Walls’, which is found in the rubbish by one of his teachers. In his writing Michael outlines that â€Å"[he looks] and [he sees] white everywhere, white walls, white floors, and a lot of white people.† Here Hancock refers to Michael’s race and how lonely he feels at the school. Michael also says that he ‘[has] no idea of anything [the teachers] are talking about’ and that they ‘[expect him] to do the problems on [his] own’, implying that he is not confident with working independently. The scene where the teachers hear his poem is when things start to change. They realise that Michael needs help, and start to provide him with it; letting him take tests orally and giving him extra support. The teachers discover that ‘Michael Oher is not stupid’ and his grades start improving. This implies that he does want to learn, and is becoming more acclimatised to the work and school. Through his friendship with SJ, he becomes more socially accepted and school is no longer so lonely for him. As the film progresses, Michael grows to be comfortable at the school, and with his grade improvement, feels like he belongs with his peers. Another place Michael finds both comforting and threatening is the suburb where he grew up. He lived there with his mother during his early childhood, and yet ironically it is one of the places where Michael is most likely to be hurt. He feels a sense of duty to his mother, and returns to her despite.

Alex and Patrick - Separated at birth Essay Example for Free

Alex and Patrick Separated at birth Essay For my project, I have chosen to compare and analyse the characterisation of two of literatures most psychotic characters, Alex from A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, and Patrick Bateman from American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Patrick and Alex are from, and live in two completely different worlds, but what I aim to prove is that if you look past the superficial differences of the stories, the base characteristics and emotions of the two characters are the same. The Books Both American Psycho and A Clockwork Orange are considered to be satires and black comedies. Ellis version of 80s New York and a Wall Street executive gone insane is considered a satire of the 80s obsession with greed, money, power, women, drugs and getting a reservation at Dorsia. It is about Patrick bateman, a successful stockbroker, who by day goes to work, discusses fashion tips with his friends and goes to the most expensive restaurants, and by night, is a psychopathic mass murder. It is derivative of, and has been praised as the darkest satire since A Clockwork Orange, Burgess vision of a future run by martial law with teenage criminals running amok is considered a satire on State Censorship, the government and free will. It is about Alex, a fifteen year old boy who goes out raping, stealing and murdering, until he is arrested. When in jail, the state tries to reform him, but end up turning him into nothing more than A Clockwork Orange, a person with no free will, no choice, and no life. Have the government gone too far? Both books have been viewed as misogynistic, discriminating against social classes, and in some parts racist, but regardless of this the books are still considered cult classics. Lifestyle and Friends Patrick and Alex are both given backgrounds, complete with friends and lifestyles. In American Psycho, Ellis depicts Patricks lifestyle as restaurants, designer clothes, attractive women, cocaine and martinis. In contrast, Burgess shows Alex as being from a poor family, a convict, and a victim of the system. Patricks lifestyle is written about much more than Alexs, as Ellis intersperses Patricks deeds with passages about work, the difficulty of getting a reservation at a good restaurant, and which tie he should wear to match his new Valentino suit. Burgess does write about Alexs life in some detail, such as the purchasing of a new record, what he is wearing The heighth (not a spelling mistake) of Nadsat fashion, and his favourite places (The Korova milk bar for some Moloko plus). The extract from American Psycho marked Friends describes the beginning of an evening out for Patrick. Notice how Ellis starts talking about what everyone is wearing as though it is relevant to the story line, however it is relevant to the theme, showing the 80s obsession with designer labels. It seems as though Patrick feels it is neccesary to identify where everyones clothes are from. The following page shows Patrick giving out fashion tips and everyone listening as though he is a fashion guru. In the extract, Ellis shows the banter between Patrick and his friends, McDermott, Van Patten and Price. Patrick doesnt mention any of his deeds to his friends, or as part of the narration at this point. There doesnt seem to be any kind of a hierarchy within the group, everyone seems to be equal, although we do tend to see Patrick as the main person in the group, due to the first person narration. In contrast, Alex is the leader of his little group, and this is apparent from the start, as Alex bosses around the other three, especially Dim, whom he bullies constantly (I think he came up with the name in reference to his intelligent). Alex also describes what he is wearing, but only three times when it is neccesary, and not in as much detail as Patrick goes into. Although Alex works with his friends, or droogs, they dont seem to discuss their crimes between them. Paradoxically, Patrick, who works alone, brings up his crimes in conversations with his friends and fianci e, but they are either not listening, take it as a joke, or are too drunk to understand or remember! Alexs lifestyle is reflective of the chronological setting of the book, as it is set in one possible future, where it seems martial law rules, and everyone who is old enough to work has to work. Alex is only 15, and is not old enough to work, so he goes out stealing to earn money. Although, when you strip away the superficial characteristics, you can see that Patrick is just an upscale, 80s yuppie version of Alex, as both of them are brash, arrogant, brutal, self-involved and obsessed with music, appearances, and violence. Music Both Patrick and Alex have an obsession with music. Patrick listens to more contemporary styles of music, such as Huey Lewis and the News, Whitney Houston and Genesis, whereas Alex favours the more classical music of Beethoven and Handel. Music seems to affect both Patrick and Alex in different ways. In American Psycho, Ellis has written entire chapters devoted to the above bands, so the inclusion of music in the novel may be something personal to Ellis, because hes done his research, although it does also add to the 1980s feel of the book. Apart from this, the chapters do seem somewhat irrelevant to the story, as the preceding and following chapters have nothing to do with the music. Both Patrick and Alex feel it necessary to list and describe their sound systems. Ellis uses two whole pages describing a consignment of top of the range technology that arrives at Patricks house. This is showing the reader Patricks wealth, rather than his love for music, whereas in A Clockwork Orange, Alex describes his stereo as The pride of my jeezny. Later on in the book, he criticises two girls stereos, then says Come with me and hear all proper, meaning that his stereo is far superior to theirs. Patrick merely reviews and talks about the music, whereas Alex becomes engulfed in it, which is why he describes listening to classical music is gorgeousness and gorgeosity made flesh. He also uses other words such as bliss, heaven, Wonder of Wonders, proving that music to him is not just music, but an emotional thing, and as though he physically feels something. Alex compares listening to music like being on drugs. Later in the book, after being treated with the Ludivico Technique, Alex is inadvertently conditioned against all emotional music, and after being forced to listen to Otto Skadeligs third symphony, he tries to kill himself. It is the ultimate irony that the one thing he loved so passionately is the thing that causes him to attempt suicide.

Tourism in Italy History

Tourism in Italy History Tourism is one of the most important and vital sectors in Italy. Italy is probably one of the first countries that made tourism what it is today. International travel first became important under the Roman Empire. Latin was the common language day. The word feria first appeared in the ancient Rome, which means festival and it took the meaning of vacation. The Latin festival was the first mobile holiday, far from ones residence. Domestic tourism flourished within the Roman Empires heartland, it attracted thousands to the city and country all over the empire which included most if the Mediterranean, North Africa, mainland Great Britain and the parts of the Middle East. Traders and merchants came to Italy from several parts of the world. However tourism in Italy could have started from as way back as the gladiator fights in ancient Rome. As years passed the ceremonies were promoted and thousands of people flocked to Italy to see these bloody warfares. These events were always held in the Colosseum, which was also a major attraction. The people came from all over the Roman Empire and regions of Africa, Italy, and Rome. The games were a way of entertaining the wealthy as well as the common people. When the Empire fell, Rome governed the governed the growing Christianity and it remained one of European greatest religious centers and places of pilgrimage. These pilgrimages started the early forms of religious tourism. Renaissance became very popular in the 16th and early 17th century and many students came to Italy to study Italian architecture. The beginning of the Grant Tour was the peak of real tourism in Italy in the second half of the 17th century. Italy was considered the most popular destination. British travelled most parts of Europe, most famously, Italy to study architecture and culture of those places. These students were accompanied by a tutor and this trip often lasted 3 years or more. Travel for the reasons of education was encouraged but the fact that under Elizabeth I a special license had to be obtained in order to travel abroad. While the Grand tour was educational, as with the spas, the appeal soon became social, and pleasure-seeking young men of leisure travelled, to enjoy the rival cultures and social life of Europe. Every city in Italy was a sight to see and was the major attraction in the 17th century. However, by 1840, when rail transport was introduced and visiting Italy was no longer considered something for the elite, the first form of mass-tourism was introduced. Places such as Venice and Sicily still remained the top attraction. The first sea side resorts, such as those in the Ligurian coast. Those around Venice, coastal Tuscany and the Amalfi coast became popular. Grand Hotels and holiday resorts began to be built and islands such as Capri, Ischia, Procida and Elba became more popular and were mostly visited by wealthy foreigners and academics. By 1913, tourism had become an opportunity, and there was about 90,000 British visitors, this is because of natural and historical characteristics of the country. The Italian State Tourist Office was created in 1919, and was given a mandate to gather different data and information in order to make a legislative proposal that will help to promote the countrys domestic tourism, thus focusing on the international tourism, as well as to f acilitate different bank credit for the hotels. Tourism in Italy remained very popular until the late 1920- early 1930s, when, with the Great Depression and the economic crisis, several could no longer visit the country and the increasing political instability in the country meant that less and less tourist came. With the impact of the Great Depression during 1929, the economic and political uncertainty between the two worlds was the primary reason of the first intervention of the national government of Italy to get involved in the tourism industry. After a big slump in the number of tourist, tourism became popular again in Italy with the Italian economic miracle raised living standards and also the popularity of the Italian films brought back tourism to the country. The country had completed its postwar economic reconstruction during 1958 that helps to restructure the country from an agriculture-based to an industry-centered economy. It had helped to maintain the stability of the t ourism industry. During the said year, the international tourism industry of the country increased to $8.7 billion. Cheap Hotels were built in 1960s, and anyone could afford a holiday somewhere along the Italian coast. Mountain Holidays and skiing had a mass-popularity in the late 1960s. Despite the significant slump of tourist in the late 1970s and early 1980s because of the economic crises and political instability, by the late 1980 and early 1990s, the tourism regained in popularity. Now at the beginning of the 21st century tourism in Italy faced a number of challenges, the September 11 attacks in the US, made many tourists scared to travel and the economic meltdown in 2008 caused a significant drop in Tourism worldwide and Italy is now in state of recovery. Life Cycle Analysis Launch/Discovery Many tourist visited Italy for centuries, but the first actual tourist was said to have visited during the Grand Tour in the 17th and 18th century. Roman Empire was also a major pull factor that attracted thousands of people from around the world. People also came to Italy to witness the bloody warfare which was held in the Colosseum and this attracted many people also. When the Empire fell, many pilgrims would come to Italy and this could have been the early form of religious tourism. Italy, at this time was said to be a favorite destination by many. However, about 90,000 visited the country because of its natural and historical characteristics. In 1919, tourism had become an opportunity and the Italian State Office was created to promote international tourism and assist with different bank credits. Growth During 1958, Italy had finished its postwar economic reconstruction and the country moved from agriculture based to an industry- centered economy. Tourism became popular again, with the Italian economic miracle and raised living standard, and the popularity of Italian Films such as La Dolce Vita abroad and this brought back tourism in the country tremendously. In the late 1960s there was a mass influx of tourist, who came to the island because of the popularity of mountain holidays and skiing, which was offered for the elite in the 1930s. Many hotel chains became interested in the economy as a result of the management of government regarding the tourism industry. During the years of 1985 until 1995 the revenue for the industry increased extensively from 8.7 billion to 27.4billion. Moreover the country was ranked as top 4 country destinations from 1980 to 1996. By this time the annual growth rate for each year was 2.5% and the country enjoyed a considerable market share at this time. The development helped Italy to move from third to second rank for tourism receipts among the global top tourism earners, having an outstanding growth rate of 8.4%. Maturity From the period of 1996 2006 Italy saw a 10 year maturity growth rate in the tourism sector. Slight Progress has been made in 2006 and 2007 and there was a 3% increase in visitors after several years of maturity. Saturation In the years of 2007- 2008 was a steady rate of tourist coming to the country. Year Arrivals of tourist 2007 43.7 million 2008 42.7 million 2009 43.2 million Although the figure shows a fluctuation of the arrivals of tourists, on average it is a steady flow of tourist arriving in Italy at that time period, therefore showing the relative stagnation of the destination. Decline/Rejuvenation Decline Due to the economic global crisis, different visitors and foreigners are looking for countries to visit that are reasonable in cheap prices, However Italy is one of the most expensive destinations in Europe which have resulted in a 25% decline in British visitors coming to the country during 2008. The fall has been worst for local business owners in the tourism industry, who watched business falter by 50% over the past year. Also hotel owners said that visitors are now shortening their stays which would result in a decline in revenue. Venice was a major attraction, but due to the sinking ground level, rising sea level, pollution in the lagoon in which it is located, atmospheric pollution, congestion on the main canals from motorized traffic and increase flooding, there was a huge decline in tourist arrivals presently. Rejuvenation Italy has made a number of efforts to rejuvenate its tourism industry. Earlier this year Italy created a new marketing brand with a new logo and slogan. http://www.italymag.co.uk/images/italy-logo.jpg .Italy leaves its mark Italys local economy is now trying keeping their prices competitive for many and they hope that the bargains would attract more tourists to the country. Also since Italy won the 2006 FIFA world cup tourist regained a new interest in coming to the country once gain. Italy also brought back a reintroduction of films in the year 2008 to regain popularity. Present Situation Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world and the country receives approximately 43.7 million tourists a year. These tourists visit mainly for Italys prosperous culture, history, art, cuisine and fashion. After the recession affected tourism and Italys economy greatly in 2008, the tourism industry in Italy today is beginning to flourish again. Cities like Milan which have become popular tourist destinations saw a rise in tourists since it became known as the business and fashion capital of Italy. Rome which is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world and is third most visited city in the European Union also saw a rise. While the world economic crisis forces many consumers to change spending habits, at least the religious tourism in Rome is left unchanged, the Vatican City, the spiritual home to the worlds 1.1 billion Catholics, boasts more than 30,000 churches and sanctuaries according to the countrys Ministry of Culture. According to United Nations Worl d Tourism Organization statistics, seven of the worlds 10 most visited Christian sanctuaries are in Rome. Other regions which generate masses of tourists include: the romantic city of Venice, Tuscany, Naples and the popular tourist island of Sicily. The Italian Government Tourist Board (ENIT) has made efforts to promote all year round tourism with the countrys many equipped beaches, sport and ski facilities, 65 percent of the worlds artworks and historical monuments, and agri-tourism farms where tourists enjoy the land production, like wine, and olive oil and fruits. There are approximately 40,000 hotels in order to cater to Italy high influx of tourists coming to Italy daily. Italian tourism operators are increasingly engaged in improving the quality of their product and in promoting Italy as a destination. Italy may not take up much space geographically on the globe, but it consistently ranks among the top vacation destinations on the planet. Tourism is considered as one of the most important and vital industries in Italy. It is one of Italys most developing and most profitable industrial sectors, with estimated revenue of $42.7 billion. Tourism is one of the fastest growing and profitable sectors of the Italys economy. The industry plays a strategic role and has a major impact on Italys economy because of this constant influx of tourists. Tourism in Italy is one of the countrys biggest income sources. Italys Gross Domestic Product in 2009 reached $1.8 trillion, 69% is represented by the services sector, whose strong point is tourism, approximately 29% is owing to the automobile industry, engineering industry, apparel/textiles industry and the construction industry and the remaining 2% is derived from agriculture. The geographical distribution of the nations wealth is as follows: approximately 31.8% of Italys Gross Domestic Product is produced in the Northwest regions of the country, 22.3% in the Northeast regions, 21% in the regions of Central Italy, and finally, approximately 24.8% can be attributed to the regions of Southern Italy. In 2009 the expenditures by international inbound visitors (tourist receipts) made Italy the fourth highest tourism earner. The everyday tourists in Italy spends varying amounts daily and the average daily spend will vary widely based on seasonal variations and desired destinations. The fact is that some tourists may enjoy a great two-week adventure in Italy and spend less than $4,000, while others may let a commercial tour company make the decisions for them and end up spending $15,000. Italy isnt cheap, although however compared with the UK and northern Europe the situation is not so bad. What you spend on accommodation will depend on various factors, such as location, season (August which is the peak), the degree of comfort you want. The cheapest pensione (small hotel) is unlikely to cost less than à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬25 for a basic single or à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬40 for a double room. You can stumble across comfortable rooms with their own bathroom from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬50 to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬80 . Midrange hotels in the more expensive places such as Rome, Florence and Venice can easily cost from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬80 to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬150 for singles or à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬120 to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬200 for doubles. Eating out is just as varied in Venice and Milan , while tourist magnets such as Florence and Rome offer surprisingly affordable options. On average you should reckon on at least à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬20 to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬50 for a meal (two courses, dessert and house wine). Backpackers usually stick religiously to youth hostels, they snacking at midday and travelling slowly, spending approximately à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬40 to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬50 per day. Your average midrange daily budget, including a sandwich for lunch and a simple dinner, as well as budgeting for a couple of sights and travel, might come to anything from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬100 to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬150 a day. Many tourists come to Italy for many different reasons whether it is for leisure or business the average length of stay according to the UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics is 3.81 days. Tourism represents an opportunity but also a fascinating challenge for the country in terms of economic growth, international image and improvement of relations with other nations. However, tourism is important because of its economic and employment potential, it is a sector that employs nearly three million persons which is equal to approximately 12 percent of the total work force and is expected to increase in many years to come. Italy is also the ideal tourist job destination. There are ski resort jobs in the Alps in the North part of the country in the winter, beach resort jobs in the summer, and restaurant and hotel jobs all year long. There is also a huge demand for city guides in Rome, Venice, Pompeii, and many others during the summer. Tourism also contributes to the prospect of wealth and opportun ities to the less developed minor regions in Italy in order for them to progress economically. With the expansion of international tourism, along with the countrys enormous potential, Italy has to maintain and upgrade its tourism industry over the next years to maintain and expand its market share and provide economic growth. Market Analysis of Tourism in Italy With more than 43.7 million tourists a year, Italy is the fourth highest tourist earner, and fifth most visited country in the world behind France, Spain, United States and China. . Domestic tourism, or the travel of Italians within their own country, is the markets largest sector. The majority of foreign tourists coming into Italy originate in Europe. Germany in particular is a major source market for tourism in Italy. Figure 3 gives a fairly good idea of how big the German market is in Italy. According to UNWTO World Tourism Barometer for January 2010, Italy was one of the very few countries that maintained their market share in terms of foreign tourist arrivals, remaining firmly among the top five most successful destinations worldwide. Figure 3 shows a Pie chart representing 10 major source markets of tourist and their respective percentages. Source: Invitalia elaboration of Istat data, Capacity of accommodation facilities , March 2010 Figure one further re-iterates the largest percentage of tourists coming into Italy are in fact Europeans. Italy has always been one of the most desired and visited travel destinations worldwide. In relation to the age group of the Italian tourist market, Italy attracts many young people between 20-30 years old. ADDD INFO ON THE YOUTH MARKET However, 55% of the Italian tourist market is over 55 years old. The summer of 2010 has shown that Italy is definitely recovering from the worldwide economic crisis and is enjoying an increase of visitors from many of its major source markets in comparison to the previous year. According to ENIT , there is an upturn in international markets in relation to Italy, opting for shorter holidays, favoring of all inclusive formulas that make it possible to better evaluate the prices in relation to the product purchased, and increased interest in holidays in contact with nature. Arrivals from the USA are showing a favoring index of about 25%, to art cities, lakes and mountains. South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina also show a rise of at least 20%. As far as the Asian and Oceania markets are concerned, Japan shows a growth trend towards Italy as a destination. The art cities and best known seaside resorts are confirmed as the favoring destinations. In India, on the tourist front, the height of the season ended in April and was without a do ubt marked by an excellent increase in tourist demand for the Europe product in general, and specifically for what Italy has to offer (+20%). In terms of the European market, there are also positive signs for the car travel segment to neighboring destinations, while there is a downturn in air travel. As previously stated, Italy enjoys a leadership position on the German market. Summer of 2010 has shown an increase of 5% of German arrivals when compared to 2009. Italy also saw a slight increase in sales among Austrian tourists (+5%). The positive trend for Italy on the markets in Belgium (+10%) and Holland(+3%) continues while Spanish tourism outlets have seen a drop in bookings. Italys Unites Kingdom market is showing a growth in demand for lesser known destinations in rural areas of Italy while the French market is favoring sea and beach offers like Sicily and other areas such as Tuscany and Lazio, for its cultural attractions. Charter flights to Italy have also increased for Russia, coming from Moscow. According to ENIT, the packages sold have shown an increase of more than 30%, while tourists coming from the Czech Repub lic favor coach tours to seaside centers and big art cities. People mainly come to Italy for its rich art, cuisine, history, fashion and culture, its beautiful coastline and beaches, its mountains and priceless ancient monuments, especially those from the Greek and Roman civilizations. UIC data on inbound tourism in Italy indicated that travellers expenditure was connected with the following reasons; cultural, environmental, social and visits to family and friends Figure 4 Figure 4 shows a pie chart indicating various reasons travellers expenditure in Italy and their respective percentages This information gives us an idea of Italys target markets and how they would choose to proportionately allocate funds aiming at these markets. Although the information in figure 2 gives us a good idea of the reasons people go to Italy, it isnt as detailed as it could be. *Add some info different markets such as wine and food tourist, cultural etc* The sports tourism market in Italy is a growing one. Football fans in particular venture into Italy to watch the seasonal Italian Serie A football matches. Occasionally , Italy is blessed with UEFA champions league football matches .The UEFA champions league has one of the biggest followings in football. In addition to this, Italy were the winners of the 2006 FIFA world cup finals. That in itself draws sports fans to the country of Italy. Italy also caters to huge fashion tourist market. Milan is seen as the fashion capital of the world. Fashion designers and fashion followers alike flock to Milan in numbers for the various fashion shows and exhibits. Religious Tourism is one of the major market segments of tourism in Italy. While the world economic crisis forces many consumers to change spending habits, this economic sector has so far been barely touched. Official figures are hard to come by because visitors to Italy are not required to indicate whether or not their vacation is religious in nature. However, tour operators and travel agents say that the number of religious tourists in Italy hasnt changed much. Michael Patano, the director of Aurea , a 6-year-old trade fair for agencies that market religious tours, said Religious pilgrims still want to have the same experiences. The high point for religious tourism in Rome is Easter, which takes place on Sunday. The Vatican says that if the weather is good, attendance at the Easter Mass in St. Peters Square usually surpasses 100,000 people. Although there are few official figures indicating the importance of religious tourists to the tourism market, it can be assumed that religious tourism has a significant market share of tourism in Italy. All in all, Italys market has been relatively constant over the years and there are areas where Italy can try to diversify their appeal and also penetrate further into existing markets. After all, Italy has a wide range of fascinating attractions that can appeal to a cross section of tourist markets. Product Analysis A product can be defined as a good or service offered with the purpose of satisfying a want or need. Italy itself, so rich in history, art, architecture, religion, fashion, cuisine, music and landscape, is a very diverse product since it has so much to offer, to many different markets with its many amenities and attractions. Here, we will identify and examine just what Italy has to offer. An attraction refers to one thing being drawn or enticed to another. In Italy, there are many, many lures that draw foreigners and even locals to the many parts of the country. One of these attractions is the Colesseum, which is located in Rome. The ruins of what once was a great amphitheatre used to host gladiator duels and public spectacles still remains very popular today. This mammoth of a structure sees an estimated 4 million visitors yearly, many of whom come to sight-see, learn about its history and study its marvelous architecture. 800px-The_Colosseum_during_Christmas.jpg Photo Of The Colloseum In Rome Also located in Rome, is the Vatican City which is actually considered a separate state within Rome. This city is ruled by The Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome and leader of The Roman Catholic Church worldwide. Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity and has the largest religious following in the world with approximately 1.1 billion persons. However many Christians and Non-Christians visit the Vatican City yearly touring its museums and hoping to see The Pope. Still in Rome we find Pompeii, a unique attraction in a partially buried town. Pompeii was destroyed and buried by a volcanic eruption and was rediscovered in 1599, but with the excavation of the ash, we see preserved parts of a city in the pinnacle of the Roman Empire. Rome is additionally known for the Spanish Steps or Scalinata Spagna; the longest and widest staircase in Europe, which links The Spanish Embassy located in the piazza below to the French church; Trinità   dei Monti, above. Also popular is the Tr evi Fountain, the largest Baroque fountain in the city which is well known and often featured in movies. Rome also boasts of popular restaurants such as the Antica Pesa La Pergola and hotels such as the Bernini Bristol and the Westin Excelsior. Another popular Region in Italy is Tuscany which is renowned for its heartwarming landscapes, brilliant wine and art, and its luxurious villas. In Tuscany we can find the City of Pisa which is the home of The Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower is actually the bell tower to the citys cathedral and began construction in 1173, taking nearly 200 years to complete. Shortly after construction began, the tower started to lean to the right due to the poor construction of the foundation. Today, millions of visitors come to Pisa to see the towers distinct architecture and signature lean. Tuscany is also where we find the province of Florence, home of many elegant squares, renaissance palaces, cathedrals, museums and galleries. Most popular of these galleries is the Uffizi Gallery, where the works of popular artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci can all be found. One of da Vincis most popular works, The Last Supper can be found in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. This is world renowned painting of Jesus and his disciples before he was betrayed and is frequented by visitors of the region. Milan is also popular for its magnificent football stadium, the San Siro. This stadium is home to A.C Milan and F.C Internazionale Milan which are two the biggest football clubs in Europe with millions of fans worldwide. Moreover, Milan is best known for fashion and design, and is regarded as one of the fashion capitals of the world. Major Italian brands such as Valentino, Gucci, Armani, Prada and DG all now have headquarters in Milan making their selves more accessible to the citys high end fashion market. The City of Venice is known for its gothic architecture, tourism and romantic lure, and is also known as The Floating City, The City of Bridges or The City of Canals. The city has been given these names since it is comprised of 117 islands joined together by 409 bridges, and the main mode of transport is by boat. Its common in Venice to see couples being rowed along in a gondola; classical Venetian boat. Travel by waterways is the most popular method of travel in Venice since there are no real roads but only walkways and bridges. In regions near the Mediterranean, the country is very popular for its waters. However, not only does Italy have white sandy beaches as we can find on the Amalfi Coast, but also thermal waters with healing properties. This has led to the development of thermal spas and even resorts around the country which are encouraging for medicinal tourism. Italy also has a rich history in classical and symphonic music and stemming from this come their love for operatic singing and ballet dancing. Many shows and recitals are held annually all over Italy by the opera houses which have seasons for both symphonic singing and ballet. Furthermore, the Vatican is not the only place which has a religious pull but rather its a nationwide affair with visitors coming from far and near to explore Italys many cathedrals. Other notable attractions in Italy are its mountainous snow covered regions with perfect conditions for camping and alpine skiing, its many nature parks and reserves and the unique experiences offered on the islands on Sardinia and Sicily. italy-ski-resorts.jpg Photo Of a The Alps Millions of tourists visit Italy yearly and due to the course of recovery the country is currently on, millions more could be added to the total, but Italy can be said to be prepared now having over 40 000 hotels. These hotels vary in standard from 1 star to 5 star deluxe, and in Milan, Italy has set the benchmark being the first country in the world to have a 7 star hotel; Town House Galleria. Additionally, Italy has its own distinct cuisine and beverages, and has a holistic cooking style combining healthy with delicious. Their love for pasta, cheeses, sauces, meats, vegetables, fish, pizza, gelato, coffee and wine has set them apart. This love has spread worldwide with Italian cafes and restaurants being found in most countries, however, this hasnt stopped visitors from coming to Italy to have a firsthand taste of their cuisine. Present day Italy has hundreds of thousands of eating facilities ranging from cafes to pizzerias to fine dining restaurants. Moreover, with this cuisine a good wine can always be expected, and why not since Italy is one of the foremost wine producers in the world with its signature Rosso (red) and Bianco (white) wine. This extensive high level production can be attributed to Italys rich soil and climate. Vineyards can be found all around the nation in regions such as Aosta Valley, Lombardy, Tuscany, Sicily and Venito. The wine industry is a massive contributor to the Italian economy both on its own and through tourism. Italy has made itself very accessible having 30 major airports and 43 major seaports; 2004. Additionally, Italy has an extensive and highly maintained road network making transport between cities easy, which encourages local travel. Italians also have large bus fleets to service the public from town to town, and city to city; SITA, but in Venice there is a waterbus fleet. Visitors crossing the borders are also accommodated with the border crossings connecting to France, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia being opened 24 hours daily. Furthermore, Italy has an established railway system comprising of both electric trains and locomotives which run through the country and connect with bordering countries, and a water fleet of ferries to service the inland rivers and canals. Promotional Strategies The objects of the promotion and communication activities are Italys image and its overall tourism product. ENIT is the institution in charge of promoting Italys tourism product. ENIT pursues its institutional goals through activities such as studying international markets and in particular the connotations and trends in demand for individual and organized tourism. ENIT is also constantly monitoring the development of tourism demand. Italys tourism board is constantly involved in planning designed operating strategies in agreement with Italian tourisms public and private players. This includes the Ministry of Production Activities, Regions, central public administrations boards, professional associations, and producers of services for tourism i.e. transport, hospitality, food service, public businesses, and so on. One of the most important aspects of promoting tourism in Italy is developing planning objectives employing, for each market or homogenous consumption area, just the right combination of a number of operating tools. These tools could be in the form of; Multimedia communication Mass media advertising Print, multimedia, and audiovisual production Creating and managing data and image banks Traditional and telematic information distribution Material distribution Press relations in Italy and overseas Sectoral analysis and business strategy consulting service for the Regions and private Italian operators Organizing marketing meetings between Italian supply and foreign demand Organizing seminars for professional users Providing assistance to visits by Italian economic operators abroad ,and by foreign economic operators in Italy Meetings with administrative authorities, opinion makers, personalities, and representatives of cultural and artistic areas in the various foreign nations where ENIT offices are located Organizing and taking part in fairs, expositions, exhibitions, and large-scale

Essay examples --

â€Å"Toepasbaarheid PRINCE2 binnen de IT† Inhoudsopgave 1. INLEIDING 3 2. TIJD 4 3. KWALITEIT 6 4. KOSTEN EN BATEN 8 5. CHANGE 9 6. RISK 11 7. BRONNEN 13 1. Inleiding De methode PRINCE2 is de opvolger van de methode PRINCE, die in de jaren tachtig primair werd ontwikkeld voor ICT-projecten. Deze methoden zijn ontwikkeld door het bundelen van praktijkervaringen, zogenaamde best-practices, en werd vooral binnen de ICT-industrie gebruikt. PRINCE2 is in 1996 op de markt gebracht als een verbeterde en uitgebreide versie van PRINCE en bedoeld als projectmanagementmethode die voor alle types van projecten, dus niet enkel IT, kan gebruikt worden. Dit document geeft een inzicht in de toepasbaarheid van PRINCE2 in de IT. De volgende 5 onderwerpen worden geanalyseerd: †¢ Tijd †¢ Kwaliteit †¢ Kosten/Baten †¢ Change †¢ Risk 2. Tijd Bij het toepassen van PRINCE2 als projectmanagementmethode wordt er veel aandacht besteed aan tijd. In bijna elke fase komt het onderdeel tijd aan bod. Bij het opstellen van de PID wordt er een Product Breakdown Structure gemaakt. De Product Breakdown Structure geeft een hià «rarchisch overzicht van de producten die opgeleverd dienen te worden. Nadat de PBS gemaakt is worden alle onderdelen beschreven met een toelichting. Hierna wordt er een activiteitenoverzicht gemaakt. Aan de activiteitenoverzicht wordt begonnen met het maken van een estimated planning. Hierin wordt er een schatting gemaakt hoeveel tijd er nodig is om de producten te realiseren. Dit wordt per product gedaan. Hieronder is een voorbeeld van een estimated planning te zien: Afbeelding bron: PID Projectgroep INF3D1 IPBIT7 Nadat de estimated planning is gemaakt wordt er een scheduled planning gemaakt. Bij de scheduled pl... ...niceren† continu uitgevoerd. Er moet niet alleen gecommuniceerd worden tussen de vorige 4 stappen, er moet ook gecommuniceerd worden over risico’s binnen het project en buiten het project naar bijvoorbeeld belanghebbenden. De volgende managementproducten zijn uitstekend geschikt voor dit communicatieaspect: †¢ Checkpoint rapporten †¢ Highlight rapporten †¢ Fase-end rapporten †¢ End project rapport †¢ Lesson learned rapporten 7. Bronnen Janssen, P. & Jean-Pierre V. C. (2011). Projectmanagement volgens PRINCE2. Amsterdam: Pearson Education. PRINCE2. (08-01-2014). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Geraadpleegd 14-04-2014, van http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PRINCE2&oldid=589775143 Quint. (z.d.). Quint Best Practices. In Quint Wellington Redwood: Best Practices - PRINCE2 ®. Geraadpleegd 14-04-2014, van http://www.quintgroup.com/be/Best-Practices/PRINCE2/.

Could Schizophrenia Be The Answer To The Mysterious Vampire Legend :: essays research papers fc

Could Schizophrenia be the Answer to the Mysterious Vampire Legend? The vampire legend and many behaviors and experiences of schizophrenics seem to share many common traits. The traits that are most recognizable are "fears of being enclosed, periods of semistarvation or complete starvation, which can be associated with periodic gorging, reversal of the day-night cycle, and a preoccupation with or dread of mirrors" (Kayton 304). Though the term 'schizophrenia' or 'demence precoce' was only introduced in 1852 (Boyle 43), behaviors of people affected by this illness have been documented much earlier. The concept of a dead person returning in his living physical form and feeding on the living is considered a vampire. The vampire is believed to also be capable of transmitting his vampirism to those he infect or bite. Kayton recognizes that though this belief has been found in early writings of the Babylonians, Semites, and Egyptians, the most famous vampire scare swept Europe in 1730. This vampire epidemic lasted approximately five years (305). The legend consistency continues with adolescent and young adult schizophrenia. It is presented to us that young suicide victims were most likely believed to become vampires and attack members of their families (Kayton 304-05). Suicide was not an uncommon event among schizophrenic patients (Boyle 255). Suicide patients are a very important part of this equation because according to the legend in England suicides were buried with a stake pierced in or near the heart. This was to ensure that that the ghost of the person would not come back and haunt the living, to prevent the suicide victim from becoming a vampire (Kayton 305). In Dracula, Lucy was killed after she had already started to haunt the living. She was killed after with a stake driven through her heart as a "duty to others" and to the dead, so that she may truly be "passed away", as "God's true dead" (266, 277-279). Some documented cases of vampirism indicate that sometimes the psychodynamics' of vampires can erupt into materialized behavioral psychopathology (Kayton 304). For example, Vincenz Verzeni an Italian in 1872, a Frenchman named Leger in 1827, and a German Fritz Haarman demonstrate to the rare appearance of clinical vampirism (Kayton 306). Haarman himself killed approximately 24 adolescent males. This is interesting since many believe that vampires only attack those of the opposite sex. Even Bram Stoker's Dracula disproves this belief when the Count (Dracula) informs the three vampire women that Jonathan belongs to him (55).

Indian Boarding School Essay -- essays research papers

"Compressed emotions," that is the explanation a teacher once gave to the ongoing question, "What is poetry?" He said it was someone's deepest emotions, as if you were reading them right out of that person's mind, which in that case would not consist of any words at all. If someone tells you a story, it is usually like a shell. Rarely are all of the deepest and most personal emotions revealed effectively. A poem of that story would be like the inside of the shell. It personifies situations, and symbolizes and compares emotions with other things in life. Louise Erdrich's poem Indian Boarding School puts the emotions of a person or group of people in a setting around a railroad track. The feelings experienced are compared to things from the setting, which takes on human characteristics. Louise Erdrich was born part German, part American Indian. Since the title and other references in the poem refer to Indian people, it is most likely that this poem was very personal to her. The boarding school may have been a real place she went to, or where mistreatment of her people was not uncommon, or it could simply be a tool she used to express racism towards them in general. With that fact, the reader must remember that although the words are from the runaways' point of view, there are not necessarily any real runaways. From the point of view at which this is told, the runaways are eager to find their way home. They do not necessarily really try to runaway, it may just be in their fantasies, "Home's the place we head for in our sleep." (line 1). The first use of personification is in the line, "The rails, old lacerations that we love,"(line 4). It is not yet quite clear why Erdrich would compare the train tracks with old lacerations until the lines, "shoot parallel across the face and break just under the Turtle Mountains." (lines 5-6). Mountains are definite things that are physical in nature. Train tracks on a face are hard to imagine, so it leads us to believe it has some deeper meaning. This reveals that the children want to run away from the boarding school for more serious matters than just good old home-sickness. The "old lacerations" may represent wounds on their own faces, internal or external. Visually, train tracks look like wounds that were stitche d and scarred. The Turtle Mountains must relate ... ...d when it dried. That was the time when they remembered "delicate" injuries. Injuries that a child gets while playing or falling, not from bigotry or violence. Now those things are only memories. It is very likely that Louise Erdrich experienced some kind of racism or prejudice in her lifetime. Segregation laws were still in use while she was growing up in the fifties, and in the sixties, many of the same people still felt racist, with or without the laws. Boarding schools were not an exception to this fact either. School authorities probably did take advantage of the fact that boarding schools are away from home and not under the watchful eye of any parent. This poem demonstrates the truth of what it really felt and feels like to have lived through such bad treatment. It is disturbing to think that instead of just learning at school, Louise Erdrich, amongst other children, may have learned what it felt like to be hated. At such early ages, they taught these children that the way they were treated was how the world was supposed to be. It displays the painful scars embedded so deeply into a child, from a time that should have been the most nurturing part of his/her life. Indian Boarding School Essay -- essays research papers "Compressed emotions," that is the explanation a teacher once gave to the ongoing question, "What is poetry?" He said it was someone's deepest emotions, as if you were reading them right out of that person's mind, which in that case would not consist of any words at all. If someone tells you a story, it is usually like a shell. Rarely are all of the deepest and most personal emotions revealed effectively. A poem of that story would be like the inside of the shell. It personifies situations, and symbolizes and compares emotions with other things in life. Louise Erdrich's poem Indian Boarding School puts the emotions of a person or group of people in a setting around a railroad track. The feelings experienced are compared to things from the setting, which takes on human characteristics. Louise Erdrich was born part German, part American Indian. Since the title and other references in the poem refer to Indian people, it is most likely that this poem was very personal to her. The boarding school may have been a real place she went to, or where mistreatment of her people was not uncommon, or it could simply be a tool she used to express racism towards them in general. With that fact, the reader must remember that although the words are from the runaways' point of view, there are not necessarily any real runaways. From the point of view at which this is told, the runaways are eager to find their way home. They do not necessarily really try to runaway, it may just be in their fantasies, "Home's the place we head for in our sleep." (line 1). The first use of personification is in the line, "The rails, old lacerations that we love,"(line 4). It is not yet quite clear why Erdrich would compare the train tracks with old lacerations until the lines, "shoot parallel across the face and break just under the Turtle Mountains." (lines 5-6). Mountains are definite things that are physical in nature. Train tracks on a face are hard to imagine, so it leads us to believe it has some deeper meaning. This reveals that the children want to run away from the boarding school for more serious matters than just good old home-sickness. The "old lacerations" may represent wounds on their own faces, internal or external. Visually, train tracks look like wounds that were stitche d and scarred. The Turtle Mountains must relate ... ...d when it dried. That was the time when they remembered "delicate" injuries. Injuries that a child gets while playing or falling, not from bigotry or violence. Now those things are only memories. It is very likely that Louise Erdrich experienced some kind of racism or prejudice in her lifetime. Segregation laws were still in use while she was growing up in the fifties, and in the sixties, many of the same people still felt racist, with or without the laws. Boarding schools were not an exception to this fact either. School authorities probably did take advantage of the fact that boarding schools are away from home and not under the watchful eye of any parent. This poem demonstrates the truth of what it really felt and feels like to have lived through such bad treatment. It is disturbing to think that instead of just learning at school, Louise Erdrich, amongst other children, may have learned what it felt like to be hated. At such early ages, they taught these children that the way they were treated was how the world was supposed to be. It displays the painful scars embedded so deeply into a child, from a time that should have been the most nurturing part of his/her life.

A Review of the Employee Relations in the British Airways

According to One World (n. d. ), a global union of the world’s ten biggest airlines, the British Airways, which is a founder member of the alliance, is the largest airline in the United Kingdom and is the leading international airline in the world. It has always been the first on the line at everything it did – they were the first to provide jet and super passenger services, and fully-flat beds, and the first to carry out â€Å"weather-beating autolandings†. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and clearly evaluate the quality of employee relations within the British Airways.It will cover the context of employee relations, employee relations and employee relations strategies with the said organisation. In addition, theories and theoretical perspectives will be used to explain the kind of employee relations in the British Airways. However, to begin with, two definitions of Employee Relations will be provided. Employee Relations Defined According to Heery and No on (2001), â€Å"Employee Relations is a common title for the industrial relations function within personnel management and is also sometimes used as an alternative label for the academic field of industrial relations.†On the other hand, according to the NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre Office of Human Relations (2001), â€Å"Employee Relations involves the body of work concerned with maintaining employer-employee relationships that contribute to satisfactory productivity, motivation and morale†¦is concerned with preventing and resolving problems involving individuals which arise out of or affect work situations. † Both definitions treated Employee Relations as a part of something that is bigger – a function of industrial relations and a â€Å"body of work†.Also, both pointed out that Employee Relations deals with the people that works at a company or organisation – the employer and employee. Lastly, both have the same purpose and tha t is to manage the relationships of these people with one another as both definitions aims on the development of the company or the organisation. However, Heery and Noon’s definition of Employee Relations is more inclined as a term that refers to a certain function of industrial relations that is concerned to managing personnel in a company, organisation or a simple workplace.It gives another face to industrial relations, making it appear that it has a broad scope, it shows that the industrial relations does not only focuses on trade union but also with employee management (Heery & Noon 2001). In other words, Employee Relations, in Heery and Noon’s definition, appears to be a function under industrial relations. On the other hand, the definition of NASA focuses on the very significance of Employee Relations and not regarding it as a â€Å"branch† of industrial relations.Although it pointed out that it is a â€Å"body of work† which can be understood as a part of work that focuses on a specific task which is preserving the relationship of the employer and the employee with one another in order to sustain a healthy work environment. Context of Employee Relations and the Balance of Power Though Employee Relations always deals with the employer-employee relationship, its manner of management will vary whether in every country an environment, even between a company and an organisation. In this paper, the focus would be on an organisational context.According to Heathfield (2007), organisations should maximise their employees’ strengths or they will transfer somewhere else. The employers should make their employees feel that they are useful in the organisation in order for them to gather confidence and self-worth. They should trust them since they have a certain kind of maturity that can handle important matters in the organisation and, also, when a work is done, the employees should be given compliments and positive reactions. In a ddition, since employees are important is organisations, thus, they should not ignore them (Capital Outsourcing Solutions n. d. ).They should also be treated equally and with respect in order for them to give out â€Å"positive attitudes† in the organisation that can greatly help its â€Å"productivity, competitiveness and profits†. According to Capital Outsourcing Solutions (n. d. ), agendas like providing employee handbook, suggestion programmes, policy manuals, employee performance appraisals, employee assistance program, performance incentives, wage surveys, social activities, and management/employee committees are effective in boosting up the morale of the employees and to establish an environment of teamwork.Teamwork is important in an organisation since it enables the organisation to achieve things that cannot be done by a single person alone (Heathfield 2007). British Airways is proud to say that they are involved in every aspect of the Human Resources. One of the topmost priorities of the Human Resources of the British Airways is to treat each and every one with respect and with paramount professionalism. Another significant aspect they wish to maintain good staff morale, in addition, they make sure that every employee will work as a team through a â€Å"clear management structure† to assist them all throughout (British Airways Recruitment, n. d. ).The organisation also certify that their managers are flexible enough to take on the changes that constantly occur, in addition, they also help out in simplifying their working process in order to enable their employees to help the organisation manage its performance. They threw in their every effort on these matters to give good quality of service to their customers and to motivate the employees to work at their best. According to the British Airways Recruitment (n. d. ), the organisation values and promotes diversity and equality even at the point of recruitment.They believe that in o rder to achieve the value of respect, which is very important to an employer-employee relationship, they are responsible to treat each other equally when it comes to every opportunities. The British Airways also aims to maximise the employee’s full potential in their training and career development methods. They are proud to say that they have every extraordinary training resources which consists of computer-based interactive learning centres, library facilities, reference materials, audiotapes and video-based learning (British Airways Recruitment, n. d. ).in addition to the learning facilities, there are also various programmes that aims to develop one’s leadership skills, team-building skills , presentation and negotiation skills, etc. As for rewards and benefits, the organisation provides reduced air fare travel and travel discounts, holiday entitlements, pension and private healthcare schemes, profit share schemes, bonuses, employee share schemes, sports and social amenities and a chance to join British Airway clubs, and subsidised staff restaurant (British Airways Recruitment, n. d. ). They also keep an eye on the wages in all their industries and assure the sufficiency of the salaries.Actions mentioned above are necessary as proven by the motivations theories. There are many motivation theories since the act of motivating varies from person to person. Motivation is the most common and effective way in accomplishing work and in improving oneself and the organisation. Among the theories of motivation are Theory X that is attributed to Sigmund Freud, Theory Y by Douglas McGregor, Theory Z by Abraham Maslow, the Hygiene/Motivation Theory by Frederick Herzberg, Contingency Approach that is being supported by Fred Luthans, Expectancy Theory of Victor Vroom, and other theories by Chris Argyis, Rensis Likert (Accel Team 2008).Theory X assumes that people do not like to work at all and that in order for them to work is through giving them a reward o r through coercion and punishment while Theory Y is just the opposite, according to McGregor, people on the contrary likes to work in order for them to achieve self-discipline and self-development. On the other hand, Maslow’s Theory Z states that people has needs that they need to satisfy – â€Å"physiological needs, safety needs, love needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs† – and he only fulfils them by working hard.Still based from the human needs is the Hygiene/Motivation Theory of Herzberg whom divided the needs into two groups – â€Å"animal needs† (supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions and salary) and â€Å"human needs† (recognition, work, responsibility and advancement). According to Herzberg, people work to accomplish the mentioned needs and by fulfilling them one by one do they get even more motivated to work for â€Å"work accomplishment† is their â€Å"self-enlightened interests†.W hen it comes to Argyris, organisations should fully utilise their employees by involving them in decision making in order for them to be satisfied in their workplace since, according to Heathfield (2007), employees should feel relevant in the organisation and that can be only achieve in involving them in making important decisions. In connection to Argyris’ theory, Likert also agree that decision making should be done by a group involving the employees in it in order to achieve outstanding outcomes sine being able to participate in such are great way to be motivated.However, Luthans supported the Contingency Approach and believed that not all practices fit every job and organisations, thus, flexibility in leadership should be needed. Likewise, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory talks about that an employees’ rewards also varies, some will want an increase in salary while other would want promotion, that means, employers should rewards employees with something that is imp ortant to them. In the past, employees prayed and wished for them to be chosen by the employer, however, due to the changing times, it is now the vice versa.According to Rousseau and Shperling (2003), the shift in the balance of power was due to the rise of high-technology and the sudden increase of dependence of organisations in the employees. In addition, the shift was also caused by the development of the global economic conditions which result for opportunities to widen for employees in the field of the information technology, finance, sales, marketing and general management (New South Wales Higher Certificate Education 1999).The shift of the balance of power in the employer-employee relations is said to be due to the growth of knowledge-based organisations, beginning of an organisation to appreciated the intellectual and relational assets of human, and sudden necessity for them to hold on to important employees and to draw talented ones towards them (Rousseau & Shperling 2003). There is already an extra need for organisations to make themselves as interesting as possible for employees to consider them working for them.According to the New South Wales Higher Certificate Education (1999), the labour market is no longer controlled by the employers since it is already been taken over by the employees. British Airways is also affect of this shift in the balance of power; they always use their business’ diversity and the excitement one can experience in an airline industry in order to attract employees for they know that graduates or employees in general are looking for an organisation where they can develop a lot of skills and a competitive and challenging environment.They accept anyone regardless of age, sex, status, race, sexual orientation, religion and whether you are disabled or not. By doing this, they are confident to be able to gather the most talented and capable people for the job they provide. Employee Relations Issues Like in other environme nts, there would always be issues and conflicts, thus, Employee Relations is no exception. Conflicts in Employee Relations will always be present and the best thing for the â€Å"manager† – the one who maintains the relationship of the employer and employee – is to resolve it as early as possible so that it would not affect the organisation’s productivity.These conflicts exists due to the diversity of people working in the organisation, no individuals are the same, thus, disagreements are most like to occur due to differences. According to Kelly Services (2008), conflicts in a workplace can waste a huge amount of time and can really affect the performance of the organisation through lost productivity, perception costs and team erosion. On a more personal note, conflicts can result to withdrawal (physically and emotionally), job resignation, cutting of personal relations and violence (Rau-Foster 2000).However, conflicts do not always bring negativity to th e organisation for it also helps to strengthen the relationship of each people that are involved. It can improve their creativity, productivity, decision making skills, performance and interpersonal relationships (Kelly Services 2008; Graves 2007). According to Graves (2007), the conflicts that materialised can be classified into three: task conflict, process conflict and relationship conflict.Conflicts comes from disagreements over â€Å"business ideas, decisions and actions† difference in personality, vague classification of responsibility, limited resources and private interests or can easily be classified into thee – task conflict, process conflict and relationship conflict. (Kelly Services 2008; Rau-Foster 2000). The conflicts from the said causes with the exception of the personality differences are easy to solve through compromise, however, personality clashes are entirely a different matter for its resolution lies within the person.A change to a person’ s behaviour and attitude is needed, unfortunately, turning a person into another is never an easy task, and so the best solution is for the person to remain civil towards the others (Kelly Services 2008). Since British Airways is a diverse organisation with diverse employees, most conflicts may come out because of age, disability, unbalance lifestyle, gender, harassment and bullying, race, religion and sexual orientation.According to the British Airways (n. d. ), in order to maintain a positive Employee Relations, the organisation challenged all the suppositions and stereotypes regarding about age, gave additional trainings to disabled employees to maximise their potential, provides flexible working options to help the employees to balance their professional and home life, established numerous flexible working initiatives for women, guaranteed that employees know their policy regarding harassment and bullying to continue promote respect in the organisation as well as dignity, listen ed to the ideas of employees from racial minorities, provided prayer facilities and published monthly religious festivals newsletters for employees with different religions and beliefs, lastly, they offered inclusive working environment for every employees which includes those with different sexual orientation.The British Airways also joined other organisations that are concerned with disabled, racial minorities, harassment and bullying, other religions, and different sexual orientation. Employee Relations Strategies In order to maintain a positive relationship between the employer and the employee different strategies are used.According to New Zealand Qualifications Authority (2003), strategies are developed based on the external and organisational environment, current status of the organisation’s Employee Relations, influences and changes in the organisation, wants of the employees, logical conclusion, and in the process of the organisation’s decision making. To impl ement these strategies, resources should be considered, and is based on the organisational policies and legal practice. Once a strategy is implemented, it should be assessed whether it is effective or not and this can be done quantitatively (analysis and statistics) and qualitatively (survey and opinions). Changes within a strategy are necessary if problems surfaced. Back in the year 1974-1981 when the British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways came together to form the British Airways, one of the major problems that they encountered was about the cultural background of the employees.In the merging of the two organisations, one culture is required to embrace the methods and practices of the other and it is here that the organisation got its biggest problem. In order to solve this cultural conflict, a Staff Development Initiative was applied, a cultural training to help the employees to do their jobs efficiently and to help them to be motivated to do their best (British Airways Case Study, 2008). In addition, the British Airways used its strategy called â€Å"Putting People First as Putting People First Again† and gave updated courses to the personnel to improve the relationship of the employees to one another for the organisation experienced another set of problems during a management change during the early 1990s.Back to the present, there is the Diversity Strategy of the organisation, which was discussed earlier, where they cater to any employees regardless of age, religion, sex, sexual orientation and also to disabled ones. To see where the British Airways is now, it is safe to say that the strategies that the organisation developed and implemented at effective and helped them to be the largest airlines in the world. The Staff Development Initiative helped to solve the problem of cultural clash that was brought by the merging of two organisations and the â€Å"Putting People First as Putting People First Again† strategy contributed in to resolve the conflicts brought by the change of management.Lastly, at present, the Diversity Strategy is currently helping the organisation to gather all the talented people to work for them. The Employee Relations of the British Airways helped them to sustain its status in the airline industries. From maximising the potential of its employees, to respecting and giving them the benefits they needed and deserved, and to resolving possible conflict at the early point in time, the employees are always motivated to work with the team for the improvement of service and productivity of the organisation. Reference:Accel Team. 2008. Employee motivations. Retrieved April 25, 2008 from http://www. accel- team. com/motivation/theory_02. html British Airways. n. d. 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