Thursday, October 31, 2019

Critically discuss the adoption of EMS as a vehicle to achieve Essay

Critically discuss the adoption of EMS as a vehicle to achieve sustainability of company operations - Essay Example Environmental management is in a perspective of sustainable development. Environmental management systems are based on reference standards. The most widespread is ISO 14001. There is also the European Regulation EMAS, based on ISO 14001, but with additional requirements (among others, the public environmental statement) (IEMA’s Environmentalist 2008). The startlingly certified ISO 4001 possesses several benefits that include the significant cost, long, and short term advantages still they were implemented, and it was found there are more ways to improve it. The standard ISO 14001 is the most widely used standards in the series of standards ISO 14000 concerning the environmental management. It was conducted by the International Organization for Standardization, known internationally by the acronym ISO is automatically included in the naming standards (IEMA’s Environmentalist 2008). ... specifically requires the implementation of the basic environmental feedback before establishing the EMS while ISO 14001 recommends that such a practice is really beneficial to establish the EMS, and it identifies the consequences and signifies the environmental factors (International Standard Organization 2012). The EMAS requires the preparation of an environmental statement, to be available publicly. This statement must be externally verified to ensure the reliability of the information. No requirement of the environmental statement in ISO 14001 Originally, the EMAS applied only to the industrial sector (mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water supply, and solid and liquid waste), but has since expanded its borders considerably and now includes service industries and governments local (International Standard Organization 2012: Isodanisman 2012). ISO 14001 can be functional to existing business processes or particular actions, which take place within the compa ny while the EMAS only applies to a "place of operations" The EMAS provides that a company must "fulfill all relevant requirements relating to the environment" while ISO 14001 only states that there must be a "commitment to comply" environmental legislation and regulations (International Standard Organization 2012; Isodanisman 2012). The EMAS provides that the audit of a management system and environmental performance should be done, or completed the audit cycle, at least every three years while the ISO 14001 does not specify the frequency of audits The EMAS environmental policy states that must include a commitment to continual improvement in environmental performance, with a view to reduce impacts to levels not exceeding those corresponding to economically viable application of best

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Select a big data problem, evaluate what was discovered and explain Essay

Select a big data problem, evaluate what was discovered and explain how it supports the business including any challenges, oppor - Essay Example With these units being used, people faced trouble to get part of the data or use it to develop a trend of events or occurrences in an environment which can be used to ensure it becomes useful to its owner (Sathi, 2012, p4). Some of the organisations that use big data include meteorological organisations, biological and environmental research complex physics simulations among others. These find it difficult to establish amicable to capture, store transmit and analyse some of their data that are collected from different events and analyse them to have necessary deductions. Units for measuring the amounts of data have continued to be invented with time and they are moving from simple to extremely complex and large figures that require large capacity to store. To understand the problem of big data, it is good to focus on the analysis of the issues of data analysis as could be realised in different organisations within the world (O'Reilly Radar Team et al, 2012, p8). Big data problem caus es and exposition In the past, people used to measure data in megabytes and in those times, 100 megabytes of data were considered a very large. With time, there data increased and gigabytes were used to measure data, this paved way for terabyte, petabytes and the latest invention of the units of measurement of data is the Exabyte. ... The big data has not gone without considerable problems in the way it ought to be handled and processed to explain phenomenon and trends in business or in any other organisation. Some problems experienced in handling big data include collecting, processing, analysing and storing of the meaningful data for future use (Ohlhorst, 2013, p11). However, in order to expound the problems of big data, analysis of the same offers an insight into the difficulty of handling that kind of data and the risks thereof. Why analysis of big data is a problem Analysis of big data is problematic because there are limited methods, which can be used to store large amount of data in the same place and process desirable results using it. For this reason, analysis is one of the problems of big data in that it is difficult to combine the different bits that are making the big data. As a result, analysis of such data of great magnitude becomes difficult because there are few devices that accommodate data to a c ertain capacity and is type. It is tasking to engage in analysing big data because in their unstructured form, they indicate that people have taken part in an event but the information is decentralized into a common place for effective analysis (Best, 2008, p63). How big data is analysed To enable ease of analysis, scientist start by classifying the data into groups and categories, this can be easily analysed to give the required information. The method of analysing big data by structuring is a scientific invention that is designed to ensure that organisations do not have to delete their data from their database. Companies categorise their information into clusters that are representing data for

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Effects of Structural Adjustment Programs

The Effects of Structural Adjustment Programs INTRODUCTION At independence, most African countries had their economies rely heavily on the production of primary commodities especially agriculture. However due to a sharp increase of market prices of agricultural products such as cocoa, tea, coffee and many more in the global market in the 1970s. Many economies of African countries grew significantly for example the real GDP of Kenya grew by 6.5% a year, by about 15% in Zambia in 1964-73 (Adepoju, 1993). African governments responded to their newly acquired fortune by increasing government expenditures in their respective countries thus less government savings. As the world was plunged into the oil crisis of the 1970s, when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) increased world oil prices so as to generate more income which they invested in the banks of developed countries. As a result, these banks embarked on a mission to loan African countries so as to facilitate the purchase of products and services offered to African countries by developed industries. Therefore African countries were encouraged and manipulated into borrowing huge sums of money from western banks. However the money borrowed by African banks ended up in the pockets of corrupt government officials, unnecessary projects or on luxuries by leaders and very little was invested so as to attain sustainable economic growth (Toussaint and Comanne 1995: 15). Moreover, the loans given to African countries were accompanied with very low interest rates. However, the situation changed drastically as the United States of America and European states increased interest rates so as to stop inflation. Hence, African countries that had borrowed money from Western banks had to pay back their loans with huge amounts of interest. These culminated into inability to pay up the loans by African countries and therefore were forced to take up new loans to pay up the increased interests (George 1995: 21 cook). As a result of the need to take up new loans by developing countries, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank developed the structural adjustment programs, economic policies as condition for the provision of loans in the late 1970s. This paper will therefore aim to give a brief overview of the Structural Adjustment Programs, by putting into focus the key components and objectives of the programs. Furthermore, the paper will highlight on Structural Adjustment Programs in Kenya, the effects of the programs in Kenya and finally draw a conclusion of the overall effects of Structural Adjustment Programs in Africa. OVERVIEW OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGAMS Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) according to leftwitch (1996) is defined as a set of institutional and economic measures intended to solve the macroeconomic problems facing developing countries by correcting a country’s borrowing deficit, reducing the intervention of governments in the economy and opening up the state’s economy to the world market. The SAPs designed by the Bretton woods institution, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and later embraced by other major international financial institutions, were believed to consist of policies that would bring about reduction of poverty and sustainable economic growth. As underlined in the World health Organization website (2014), Structural Adjustment Programs echoes the neo-liberal ideology which pushes for globalization; hence was aimed at realizing a long-term economic growth in poor countries by encouraging the restructure and reduction of government intervention in the economy. Therefore, the components Structural Adjustment Programs as advocated by the IMF and the World Bank include: the devaluation of local currency, balance of payments management, government reduction of social services through cutting of public spending, social spending and budget deficit, reduction of tax on high earners, reduction of inflation, suppression of wages, lowering of import tariffs, tightened monetary policy. Governments were also encouraged or sometimes forced to lessen their role in the economy, hence privatize state-run industries, deregulate businesses and open up their economies to foreign competition so as to increase free trade. The Structural Adjustment Programs was a financing mechanism of the international monetary fund to support macroeconomic policies and reforms in low-income countries through low interest subsidizations and loans. According to (Finch 1985 cook), Structural Adjustment Programs were intended to provide long-term solutions to economic problems facing developing countries around the world by facilitating the achievement of sustained growth and economic stability. They were also designed to eliminate unsustainable external and internal imbalances of a countries economy. Finch further argues that, the champions of SAPs, believe it was a forward-looking and long-term solution to underdevelopment in Africa and Latin America, as it seek to increase the elasticity of an economy to have the ability to respond to changes, stimulate efficiency utilization and allocation of resources, elimination of trade deficits and finally balance the expenditure and revenue of the government. Therefore the prog rams were created as a result of the failures of the Band-Aid projects and programs which mostly responded to crises instead of enchanting a pre-emptive stance which would look into preventing crises before they arise. STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS IN KENYA Kenya gained independence in 1963, a period when the global economy was expanding and stable. This was as a result of the high prices of primary commodities that Kenya exported for example tea and coffee, therefore the country acquired a huge sum of foreign exchange which it reserved and thus could afford to deal any instability in the economy. Consequently, it can be deduced that the first decade after Kenya gained independence was a period of high aspirations and economic prosperity (Swamy 1994). The economic sector of Kenya in the first 10 years after independence had made tremendous progress, this is depicted by the fact that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had grown by 6.6%. Hence investments and savings for its per capita income were relatively high, thus Kenya could provide a better life for its citizens. For instance there was a tremendous increase in the number of schools between 1963 and 1982. Health services were improved with an increase of hospitals leading to an increase of life expectancy from 44 years at independence to 68 years in the 1980s whereas infant mortality had dropped significantly from about 220 deaths per 1000 new born to 70 per 1000 new born. With the facts mentioned, it is evident that Kenya was actually doing better than most sub-Saharan countries (Swamy 1994:196). However, as the world went into recession in the 1970s with the inflating oil prices, Kenya economic problems started after an experiment in expansionary fiscal policies which brought about a severe rundown of reserves. Like other African countries, the 1973 oil crisis worsened the living conditions of Kenyans. The situation was worsened with the dropping of prices of Kenya’s main export products, poor technology, high population growth, drought, and collapse of East African Community. In a bid to cub to emerging economic problems, Kenya successfully applied for a structural adjustment loan from the World Bank in 1980. The loan was aimed at helping Kenya correct the economic imbalances of its economy; implement institutional reforms for a sustainable and balanced economic growth. As Mwega and Kabubo 1994 argue, the loan was meant to finance structural changes in the industrial sector, promote the efficient use of external assets and enhance effectiveness of public assets. Moreover, the loan was given with conditions which required Kenya to reduce budget deficit, promote exports, liberalize trade, reform interest rate regime and cut down its funding on social services. The first structural adjustment loan was followed by another loan in in 1982 which was intended to accomplish similar objectives as the first loan. In 1986, Kenya applied for its third structural adjustment loans was aimed at implementing reforms in the agriculture sector so as to improve production, provide finances for the importation of agricultural inputs, improve agricultural research institutes and support reforms of parastatals in the restructure of publics assets and expenditure programs (Rono, 2002). Another structural loan was signed in 1988 which introduced reforms in the social service sectors especially in health and education. The policy reforms agreed upon included the introduction of cost-sharing in the provision of social services. This is where beneficiaries of services such as education and health were to pay for them either partially or fully. The reforms forced the government to withdraw its funding from health and education. Furthermore the policies forced the g overnment to retrench many civil servants in a bid to cut down its expenditure on the salaries of civil servants (Rono, 2002). EFFECTS OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS IN KENYA Structural adjustment programs have encompassed withdrawal or reduction of government expenditures on social services and basic needs mainly in the health, agriculture and education sectors. Competition from subsidized imported goods has been a major challenge for local products in Kenya due to the competition they bring about. As a result of this, the poor are continuously being exposed to austere socio-economic risks for instance retrenchment and unemployment. The effects of structural adjustment products cut across a number of sectors in the Kenyan society, however this paper will focus on the effects of structural adjustment programs on education, health, agriculture, and politics Education After independence, Kenya had been making remarkable progress in the education sector. This being measured by the number of education institutions, the rate of enrollment in universities, secondary and primary school, in addition to this, is also the level of literacy rate in the country. Education, at the time of independence was an inspiration to the human capital ideology, therefore was regarded as an important tool for economic and socio-political transformations for post-colonial Kenya. Hence the government took the sole responsibility of financing, controlling and providing free education to the citizens (Obamba, 2009). Education being given its due importance by the government, its key feature was the rapid growth of enrollment at every level of education institutions, leading to an increase in educational expenditure. For example, recurrent expenditure on education amplified from 15% in 1960s to about 40% in 1980s (Rono, 2002). However in the 1980s, after the Kenyan government started taking structural adjustment loans, there was significant swing in government funding of higher education arose due to the emergence of neoliberal economic policies of the structural adjustment programs that played a major role in policy-making of higher education. The government was forced to withdraw funding on education and further introduced tuition cost-sharing tuition fees (Obamba, 2009). The introduction of school fees led to an increased number of school dropouts, low enrollment, underdevelopment and inequality in that only the children of well off Kenyans could afford education at the expense of the poor Kenyan families. The students who failed to complete their education, failed to get employed hence the continuous degradation of standard of living in Kenya (Rono, 2002). Health Health being an important aspect of the socio-economic development of a country, Kenya after its independence embarked to address the issues of inequality brought about by the colonial development and administration. Therefore, the provision of health to all the citizens was a priority of the government. This commitment was evident with the fact that, the government provided free health services to members of the public. Moreover the public was encouraged to take part in construction of clinics, hospitals and medical training. This increased health personnel and medical structures in the country. As a result, life expectancy increased from 44 years at independence to 68 years in the 1980s whereas infant mortality dropped significantly from about 220 deaths per 1000 new born to 70 per 1000 new born (Rono, 2002). However, the economic pressures brought about in the 1980s by the structural adjustment programs placed a lot of pressure on the government’s expenditure. Subsequently, the government responded by cutting down on social services especially in health. The government introduced cost sharing whereby the beneficiaries of health services were to pay some amount of money before receiving health services for the medication and the government catering the cost of medical personnel. Thereafter medical quality has been deteriorating, thus affecting Kenyans and especially the poor and the vulnerable groups. This has led to the reduction of life expectancy rate of 68 years in the 1970s to 61 years in 2012 (Data: Life expectancy at birth, total (years), 2014) . Agriculture The structural adjustment programs on agriculture were meant to introduce reforms that would provide incentives of increased production to farmers. Although, there were improved policy reforms on implementation, agriculture and food production has been declining. SAPs were meant to remove government control and monopoly in agricultural products marketing, pricing, imports and distribution. Decontrol of prices, trade liberalization and deregulation of market encouraged the participation of the private sector in the production and distribution of agricultural products. However trade liberalization worked out to be a disadvantage of local farmers as it allowed for cheaper imports of subsidized agricultural commodities from western countries. This culminated in the collapse of certain agricultural industries in Kenya for example cotton (Nyangito, 2003). Politics Structural adjustment programs have had a mixed impact on the political arena of Kenya. It would be unfair to overlook the positive effects the programs have had on politics in the country. It is true to say that the program enforced by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund ushered in of political pluralism, greater democracy, respect for human rights and accountability of the government to the citizens. However the positive effects came accompanied with a list of negative impacts too. The programs are accused of heightening tribal tensions, polarizing communities and further increased ferocious ethnic clashes that have resulted in the death of hundreds of people and a lot being displaced as well. Moreover, the programs are said to have lessened national leaders to tribal chiefs leading to the infusion of tribalism in all sectors of development thus being an obstacle to growth and development (Rono, 2002). CONCLUSION Within the African context, the impacts of the structural adjustment programs have been a controversial issue. Presently, just about 20 years after the programs were introduced in Africa, they continue to be detested by the people because they were conveyed by a number of conditions that have worsened the living conditions of Africans. Scholars have argued that these conditions are based on economic models that are not fit for the social structure and situation of Africa. The programs were intended to improve the economy in the long run but in the short run, the social aspect of human development especially in the provision of social services has been ignored and suffered tremendously. African scholars should therefore with solutions to counter the problem brought about by structural adjustment programs rather than letting western scholars experiment programs with no reference to the social-cultural background of Africans. BIBLIOGRAPHY Adepoju, A. (1993). The Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Population of Africa. In A. Adepoju, The Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Population of Africa (pp. 1-6). London: Villiers Publication. Data: Life expectancy at birth, total (years). (2014, November 21). Retrieved from The World Bank Group : http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN Leftwich, A. (1996). â€Å"Two Cheers for Democracy? Democracy and the Developmental State.† In Leftwich, A. (ed) Democracy and Development: Theory and Practice. Polity Press: Cambridge. Mwega, F.W. and Ndulu K. (1994). Economic Adjustment Policies. In Barkan, J.D. Beyond Capitalism verses Socialism in Kenya and Tanzania, Nairobi, East African Educational Publishers. Nyangito, H.O. (2003). Agricultural Trade Reforms in Kenya under the World Trade Organization Framework. KIPPRA PP No. 25 Obamba, M. O. (2009). Myth and ceremony: Contested Marketization and Internationalization Regimes in Kenyas Higher education. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 7(3), 125–149. Programs:World Health Organisation. (2014, November 21). Retrieved from World Health Organisation: http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story084/en/ Rono, J. K. (2002). The Impact of the Structural Adjustment Programmes on Kenyan Society. Journal of Social Development in Africa, 17(1), 81-98. Swammy, G. (1994). Adjustment in Africa: Lessons from Country Case Studies, Washington, DC, the World Bank Toussaint, E. and Comanne, D. (1995): Globalization and Debt. Notebooks for Study and Research 24/25. 1

Friday, October 25, 2019

Summary of Educating Rita :: essays research papers

Main characters are Frank who is a university lecturer and Rita who is a hair dresser. Rita wants to be educated she decides to take an Open University course. The main theme of the play is to be educated. At the start of the scene we hear a conversation between Frank and someone else on the other end of the phone. We hear him arguing if he will go to the pub or not. â€Å"What do u mean I determined to go to the pub? I don’t need determination to go to the pub†. This shows his sarcasm. Showing that he doesn’t care this shows us that he doesn’t care about his partner and he’s a caring person. Frank also doesn’t want to teach at Open University he only does it for the money. He thinks there is no point in teaching Open University because all his students will be stupid. ‘Some silly woman’s attempt to get into the mind of Henry James’ this shows he is prejudice before he starts teaching. He thinks she is going to be stupid because she didn’t get enough education. He is only doing this for the money. He doesn’t care about the job, all wants is the money to go to the pub. Then we see Rita enter the room. She barges through the room because it’s jammed. She doesn’t use the correct grammar. ‘I’m comin in aren’t I’. She speaks in colloquial English, this makes us think that she doesn’t have a good education and shows that she is working class. She speaks in a scouse accent, she swears a lot showing that she doesn’t care about offending anyone, and she is loud and enthusiastic about learning. She wants to learn because she wants a change. When Rita tries to get into the room she can’t because the handle is jammed .she manages to open it and barge in. â€Å"it’s the stupid bleeding handle†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦you wanna get that fixed†. She doesn’t wait around to fix the problems she gets them done. She isn’t lazy she wants to move things along like in life. Rita doesn’t like her life so instead of waiting around she decides to change it and get educated. She is trying to get better in life but she has to struggle to get something in life you have to work hard. Whereas frank is ignoring his problems and is drinking instead of trying to fix his problems.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Job Hunt Based on the Education Stream

Exploratory Essay Being in college is a great opportunity to study the major everyone has always dreamed of. I am sure that not everyone that is in college at the moment knows exactly what direction to go with their specific major. By doing some research on my major I plan to gain some knowledge of what type of job opportunities my accounting major can offer me. At this moment I do not know exactly what different jobs I can pursue with my major. I am also sure that there are a several jobs that can deal with accounting that I will learn about. As I started my research on my major I came to one job title that every person with accounting experience start off with to make a way onto higher positions. This job title is called an accounting clerk. An accounting clerk usually deals with activities like preparing for basic management and ledger maintenance. One essential and basic duty they have to do is assume much responsibility to perform assigned accounting and related clerical support functions. This is where they maintain files, type a variety of reports or documents, print account payable checks and insert checks to mail daily, and prepare worksheets to the general ledger system. A second duty they maintain is resolving accounting or documentation problems by tracking and investigating these problems (Accounting Clerk 1). A third is establishing coordination with the company’s personal and effective communication. This duty deals with assisting and maintaining contact with any other departments to convey any transactions, keep the management informed about any problems or area activities, and involving themselves in any meetings (Accounting Clerk 1-2). A last duty they are responsible for is ensuring the place in which they work is maintained secure and complete any special projects assigned (Accounting Clerk 2). An accountant clerk has many responsibilities they have to take care of at all times. This Google PDF document informed me about the certain responsibilities an accountant clerk has to achieve to maintain this certain position. It showed me the great significance it can play in my life if I chose to go into this position and the things I would have to over go. For example, I can hold the responsibility of maintaining and over looking documents for a company or even finding any issues with any of the documents. It also informed me that becoming an accounting clerk can be a great first step to start off with, so that sooner or later I would be able to pursue bigger and greater things. Starting with this job title could better prepare me for any future positions I would like to get into. Being an accounting clerk sure is one good job title that I would keep in mind, but there are also a couple more that have caught my interest. A second job title that can be a possibility for me to look into that can as well deal with a great amount of responsibilities is bookkeeping. Bookkeepers are responsible for taking many records of the transactions for a company’s business. They must also be able to maintain the records within a certain computer program or given ledger. The type of records bookkeepers need to maintain can include those which calculate accounts payable and receivable, expenditures, receipts, and profit and loss (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Bookkeepers have a lot of tasks they have to do so having a wide range of skills will be the only way they would be able to handle this type of job. A bookkeeper may choose to work for a small business or a large company. Either job they choose to work for requires some sort of the same tasks, but if they liked to work for a large company they would have to have much more experience with the task bookkeepers encounter (Bureau of Labor Statistics). If they do not have the great amount of experience than working for a large business would not be a good fit for them and working for a small business would be a much more comfortable start for them. This bookkeeping job deals with a lot double tasking skills that can be complicated to master. The Bureau of Labor Statistics website has gained me a little knowledge about bookkeeping and what it consist of. From this website I took an understanding that a bookkeeper needs to feel comfortable working with a computer at all times because it is one main source they work with. They also have many responsibilities to take into account and in order to accomplish them they have to have the right amount of experience to be successful in this job. Knowing that they work a lot with computers was one main thing that I like about this job. To calculate, put in records and type out data has caught a little of my interest because having experience with computers is something I can perform well with. A last job title that I looked into that caught my attention was a tax specialist. A tax specialist is the person who fills out tax return forms for many clients. Their ultimate goal is to reduce their client’s tax debt by including any possible deductions. They have to conduct many interviews with each client in order to get important personal and financial information. Their duty does not only limit to reporting on tax returns, but they could also have the responsibility of informing their company of any expenditure that has any association with the business transactions (Solis). Tax specialist can also have the option to work year round or only during the season of taxes. To work year round they would have to be working with a business and to work during the season they can do it to earn themselves extra money.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Soul Food

When you think of soul food what is the first thing to come to mind? I think of southern foods as flavorful spicy foods like gumbo or jambalaya. Soul food has been around since the slave days and is described as a type of foods that are associated with African-American culture in the southern United States. Soul food recipes were typically a reflection of the chef’s creativity, after the abolition of slavery, most African Americans lived in poverty, so recipes continued to make use of cheaper ingredients.Of course, this isn’t entirely a black/white issue. Historically, there hasn’t been much of a difference between the foods eaten by poor black Southerners and poor white Southerners. They usually used meats like chicken, liver etc. newly freed slaves used this type of cooking to their advantage because they didn’t have much money to live with. Since slaves weren’t aloud to read or write, recipes were passed down orally for several generations.There were no widely distributed soul food cookbooks until the late 1960s and early 1970s. Around the 60s and 70s black-owned soul food restaurants began to appear in New Orleans, Birmingham, and other southern cities. presently soul food restaurants from fried chicken and fish â€Å"shacks† to upscale dining establishments-are in every African-American community in the nation, especially in cities with large black populations, such as Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Washington, DC .Over centuries, soul food has been cooked and seasoned with pork products, and fried dishes are usually cooked with hydrogenated vegetable oil like Crisco which is a trans fat. Unfortunately, regular consumption of these ingredients without significant exercise or activity to work the calories off often contributes to disproportionately high occurrences of obesity, hypertension, cardiac/circulatory problems and/or diabetes.It has also been a factor in African-Americans often having a sho rtened lifespan. More modern methods of cooking soul food include using more healthful alternatives for frying (liquid vegetable oil or canola oil) and cooking/stewing using smoked turkey instead of pork. This is why over time soul food has been cooked with more healthy ingredients. Now, soul food is the one of the most common foods across the country and is associated with comfort and happiness for a lot of people.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana English Literature Essay Essays

The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana English Literature Essay Essays The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana English Literature Essay Paper The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana English Literature Essay Paper Umberto Eco uses a batch of intertextual mentions in his book The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. In this essay I am traveling to concentrate on a few of those intertextual mentions, while besides naming a few more at the terminal of the text. My Cryptic Flame of Queen Loana extract begins towards the center of Chapter 7 Eight Days in the Attic, and ends the page before Chapter 8. The first of the intertextual mention that I am traveling to concentrate on is Eco and Disney which is writes on extensively in this book. I found three mentions to Disney on page 134 of Chapter 7 Eight Day in the Attic. Umberto Eco liked to utilize a batch of Disney and intertextual mentions in his narrative. As I researched to happen out why he would utilize Disney as a mention in his narrative changed my position from the first clip I read the lines in the narrative. My excerpt negotiations about Pinocchio and Snow White, which we know are fantasy characters that we have all come to love. In his Ess ay Travles in Hyperreality, Eco talks about the two Disney s, Disneyland and Disney World, and how they are the absolute sham metropoliss, with how they re-create a batch of the imitation of metropoliss and of the automatons they have created. He does happen the true hyperreality because at Disney everything is brighter, larger and more entertaining than mundane life, but besides say that world can be dissatisfactory. As I read this portion of the essays that it changed my position of how I read my extracts from the narrative of The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. I thought when he was adverting these Disney characters that is was something happy and exciting, but as I read his essay it made me believe he was composing about how world can me dissatisfactory. Another thing that Eco said bout Disney made me believe more about why this mention is in the text and how he intended it to be used. Eco said, The Main Street frontages are presented to us as plaything houses and ask fo r us to come in them, but their inside is ever a cloaked supermarket, where you buy compulsively, believing that you are still playing ( 1 ) . I know that in Mysterious Flame of Queen Lonoa, he is speaking about certain characters of Disney films but to me everything Disney even the subject Parkss are the same. That last quotation mark he said Disney is a supermarket in camouflage makes me believe that he meant for the Disney character mentions to be himself in a large supermarket seeking to purchase material to acquire his memory back. The following intertextual mention I will speak about is the chief characters name of Yambo, which is besides talked about on pages 134 through 136 of Chapter 7 Eight Days in the Attic. In text Yambo is the chief character besides he is rare books trader who has suffered, from what we read in the text, a peculiar sort of cardiac event, the consequence of this cardiac event is amnesia. Yambo retains much of the information that he has read and seen in his books, but following to nil of his personal history, go forthing his friends and household as aliens to him, and in bend he has no cognition of his yesteryear, for which he does non cognize what he likes or disfavors in the universe. Eco uses Yambo as an intertextual mention because Yambo is a pen name of Enrico Novelli of Ciuffettino by Yambo demoing Ciuffettino s hideous hairstyle. Where as in Italian Ciuffettion means quaff, tussock of hair, and cowlick. I can do a connexion with this intertextual mention because in the text Yam bo negotiations about his hair and within my page Numberss on page 134, he is doing mention to these things. Eco says Cuiffettino, the capturing small male child with the quaff of a fairy-tale assassin: An huge quaff that gave him a funny visual aspect, doing him to resemble a plume dust storm ( Eco 134 ) . Then Yambo goes on to state that this is how he wanted to be and how that this is the ground he was born. As I read this text and so found out what the mention of Yambo truly was I could understand why the moniker of Yambo was put into topographic point for the chief character in this narrative. Eco besides makes the mention in another one of his narratives, Foucault s Pendulum. The chief character in that narrative makes a remark about his hair, so we see that Eco brings in the Cuiffettino term into drama in both narratives bring in the intertextuality between the two narratives. The moniker is besides from amusing Le Avventure Di Ciuffettion. The moniker was picked becaus e Yambo liked this amusing. The 3rd intertextual mention that interested me in my extract was the mention of Sherlock Holmes in the text. This intertextual mention comes up on page 152 in Chapter 7 Eight Days in the Attic. Sherlock Holmes is the celebrated investigator with an intense oculus, hawked nose, and the hallmark chapeau and pipe. Holmes observation and inherent aptitude personified, and even though he takes a spot of a back place to Watson in this narrative, we ever experience his presence. Holmes was a investigator that was really rational and really adept in his manner to work outing really hard instances. This mention was when I read it in the text was one that I could understand because Holmes is a detective seeking to work out offenses and ever is envisioned sitting about different topographic points with a missive or by a fire, while Yambo is his ain investigators seeking to happen his lost memory that has been taken off from him. In Cryptic Flame of Queen Lonoa, Eco says At that really minut e Sherlock Holmes was me, purpose on retracing and retracing distant events which he had no anterior cognition, while staying at place, close away, possibly even in an Attic ( 152 ) . At this minute Yambo feels a connexion with Sherlock Holmes. I feel like Eco put this in his novel because the narrative is sort of like a detective narrative, Yambo seeking to happen his lost memory by traveling through his parents Attic to happen his memories. Yambo is besides seeking to battle that fog, which he makes mention to on page 152. Then we get one of the four voices in the narrative, the italic text and it s a reading from the Sherlock Holmes narrative, A Study in Scarlet. The italic text negotiations about the fog. It says heavy drizzly fog and Foggy, cloudy forenoon, here we see the connexion between the that text and Eco s text because both characters, Yambo and Sherlock Holmes, are both seeking to battle that fog that is dejecting liquors and doing problem for each person. I think that this was one of the bigger intertextual mentions in my extract from the narrative of Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. I say this because it is a large connexion between characters and what these characters are making in their certain narratives. Yambo is being that investigator like Holmes, utilizing his acute ability of text to assist happen the lost memory of his personal life. ( 1204 ) Appendix Jack London s Martin Eden, this is found on page 129 of Chapter 7 Eight Days in the Attic. Jack London s semiautobiographical novel about a fighting immature author, is considered by many to be the writer s most mature work. And together there with Fantomas were the narratives of Rocambole, another offense Godhead Found on page 133 of Chapter 7. The Rocambole novels were written by Pierre Alexis Ponson du Terrail, get downing in 1857 ; the Fantomas novels were written by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain in 1911-13 Wellclose Square . an back street a theatre where the cocottes who frequent the boxes are shoeless. Found on page 133 in Chapter 7. In Foucault s Pendulum, chapter 64, Belbo describes a dream in which he is rolling in a Paris which becomes Barcelona, and so London. Disney: Pinocchio and Snow White. Found on page 134 of Chapter 7 Yambo: moniker of chief character in Cryptic Flame of Queen Loana besides the amusing Le Avventrue Di Ciuffettino. This is found on pages134-136 in Chapter 7. Salgari, Sandokan: images found on pages 147-149. Sherlock Holmes: A connexion between Sherlock and Yambo in a detective sense. This is found on pages 150-151. de te fabula storyteller: Found on page 150 in Chapter 7 Funes the Memorious: Text written by Borges. This mention is on page 154. The Magic Mountain: Novel by Thomas Mann. Found on page 155 of Chapter 7.

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Mosque Essays

The Mosque Essays The Mosque Essay The Mosque Essay The mosque is the Muslim place of worship, which in Arabic is refered to as the Masjid this means place of prostration because Muslims bow low to God when praying. Mosques can be set up anywhere you place a prayer mat and kneel down to prostrate yourself and pray to Allah. It does not necessarily need to be a building but it is necessary to go to a mosque during festival times as it helps the Muslim community to join together and become closer. Another distinctive feature of a mosque is the Islamic symbol of the moon and star. This represents how the light of the moon and stars guide men through the desert, which links in with the idea that, the moon and stars guide Muslims through life. Male Muslims will prayer five times a day in the mosque, female Muslims do not need to attend the mosque to prayer as much as it is seen as their duty to hold and keep the house together so they often pray at home. The Friday prayer in the mosque, called the jumah is the most important. ALL MALE Muslims in the area will try and join together for that prayer. It shows Muslims uniting themselves throughout the world. Most mosques have one or more slender towers called minarets. In Arab villages, a man would stand on the balcony at the top facing Mecca and call to the other Muslims to prayer. He is called a Muezzin but nowadays in Arab villages, a recording or a loudspeaker will be used instead. Most mosques have a dome on the outside which is important in hotter countries because it allows the air to flow around the building more easily. But its main purpose in this country is to make the voice louder when someone is speaking and it also becomes a distinctive feature of the mosque. To Muslims the shape of the dome represents God and the eternity of life. It also shows the significance of Allah compared to the size of us as it represents Allah creator of the universe looking down on us. In the mosque that we visited there was no dome or minaret because it was a converted hotel this also means that the call to prayer (adhan) was made within the mosque and was loud enough to be heard no matter where you were in the mosque. Every Mosque must have somewhere for Muslims to wash themselves before going to pray. Big mosques perhaps in other countries may have a large open-air pool or water fountain. But in this country and in the smaller mosques there tends to be small bathroom facilities and sometimes there is a cloakroom. Muslims must always have somewhere to put their shoes because they have to take them off before entering the mosque to stop dirt and dust entering the holy building. On our visit to Bournemouth mosque we noticed that there was a small room to put your shoes and coat pegs to put any belongings on before entering the mosque. In the mosque there were two separate wudu areas, one for the woman and one for the men. Each Muslim must perform the ritual washings before praying so that they are clean when they are praying to Allah. The significance of them being clean on the outside symbolises them being clean on the inside as they have the right intent or niyyah to pray to Allah Below are some of the ritual washings all Muslims must perform: Inside the mosque it is very bare, there are no seats (except for medical reasons when the person will sit on a small stool and perform the prayer movements mentally rather than physically) and people either pray on their own mats or on the carpet provided. It does not necessarily matter if all the prayer movements are perfect because it is the intention (niyyah) to prayer that counts. Muslims will devote their time and focus completely on Allah, which is the intention of prayer. Muslims have nothing to distract them from their prayer but at Bournemouth Mosque there were two Medallions which helped Muslims to focus on their prayer. The medallions remind them that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah . As well as ritual communal prayer Muslims also perform a personal prayer which is called the dua and can be recited before or after the ritual communal prayer. Muhammad had stopped people praying to idols because he was afraid that people may go back to worship them. This is called idolatry or Shirk in Islam and is the greatest sin to all Muslims as they believe that Allah can forgive all sins except shirk. This is why there are no paintings or statues in the mosque. Muslims are not allowed to draw animals or people because they believe that only God can create them. Mosque walls may be decorated with patterns some are mosacis others are words written in calligraphy, which are usually passages taken from the Quran. This applied to Bournemouth Mosque, as there was an embroided calligraphy pattern that was made from real gold thread(probably to represent the significance and value of the writing) and was taken from the doorway of the Kabah. This specific piece of tapestry is called Kiswah and is very sacred to Muslims it also contained the first few passages from the Quran and it contained some of the 99 names of Allah. It is also situated in the holy city of Mecca where no non-Muslims are allowed especially in Ramadan. As well as this there were many pictures of the holy mosque in Median which is Known as the Prophets Mosque and has a great value to Muslims as it was where the seal of the prophets Muhammad (pbuh) was born, lived and died (in Medina). In some Mosques there are geometric paintings or designs on the walls they are significant to Muslims as the patterns within them have significant meanings. The patterns are based on a circle which represents the eternity of Allah because the patterns nd circles will go on forever and ever. The prayer hall is the most important part of the mosque and there is not usually much to see apart from a lot of space that is essential for large numbers of Muslims to come and perform their prayers with all the movements. The prayer hall can also be used for many other different purposes like funeral services and a coumintey centre but it is never used for weddings even at the rear occasions when the wedding takes place in the mosque. When Muslims lay down their mats to prayer they lay them down so that they point towards Kaba in Mecca. Each of the prayer movement has a significant meaning and all are a very important part of the routine. Below are the sequence of the movements and the meaning which Muslims must perform when the pray. The direction in which they face is called the qiblah and they always know where to face as there is an alcove on the wall which is called the Mihrab. The Mirhab doesnt just point to Mecca but it also helps to make the imams voice who leads the prayer louder. He will usually face it with his back towards the rest of the Muslims who are worshipping Allah Also in the mosque there is the mimbar which is a set of three stairs to raise the person who is preaching at that point which is usually the imam. The mimbar is only used when the imam is preaching at the jumah. In addition to the main features of the mosque there is also a charity box in which Muslims can donate any amount of money to the mosque. They do not have to donate money all the time but at least once a year, as giving 2. 5% of your annual wage to charity is one of the 5 pillars of Islam that all Muslims must try to complete. The Islamic word for the charity box is Zakah and it means exactly what it says. Overall the prayer hall is probably the most important part of the mosque. In addition to this there is the community room which is used for socialising and getting to know each other and a classroom to educate the young Muslims so that they can teach them the right what to follow there religion etc. In the community room there is also a copy of the Quran which is the direct word of Allah and the hadith which contains the teachings and examples of Muhammad these are the two Islamic holy books. many mosques these books will be kept on the highest shelf but it is not essential. However it is essential to wash yourself before picking up the book and it must be treated with a lot of respect so nothing should ever be placed on top of it. The Mosque is usually set out something like the following: On the right there is the mimbar it has three steps and the Iman will stand on the second. The main reason for thi s is that it is a tradition which Muslims like to follow In this picture there are two microphones at different heights, one for standing prayer positions and one for the e very low prayer positions which in Islam are called Salah. Finally in the Mosque there is a prayer clock to indicate what times the prayers are done as it they change throughout the year according to the sightings of the moon and the times of dawn and dusk. Most mosques will have a board but in Bournemouth mosque they had brought a digital clock in order to make it easier and more understandable when reading and changing the times.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary

A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary Every individual holds stereotypes. A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology (pg. 730) as: ‘a relatively fixed and oversimplified generalisation about a group or class of people, usually focusing on negative or unfavourable characteristics’. When people put too much faith in stereotypical descriptions of people they can become prejudiced and can often discriminate against other groups. This can be very harmful and has led to countless atrocities, such as the racial purging of the Jews by the Nazis. Prejudices still are being fought through laws, such as Equal Opportunities legislation. However, the subject being discussed is not whether stereotypes are harmful or justifiable; it is whether they have a practical purpose, or are wasteful. It is generally the common consensus that stereotyping and prejudice should not continue. However without stereotypes we may find the social world a lot harder to perceive and understand. We rely on stereotypes to h elp us function in society. With such a diverse population, the environment we live in could be very confusing. Unfortunately stereotypes may block out a lot of what makes our society so diverse and just group people into simple categories. They may also affect peoples’ choices in life. Career paths people may want to take could seem inappropriate for someone in their group and so are avoided. From an evolutionary standpoint, stereotypes must have a use because they exist. People start creating stereotypes from a very young age and they are hard to break. However, having a purpose doesn’t exclude the fact that stereotypes are wasteful. The main beneficial use of stereotypes is that they greatly speed up cognitive processing. The world is full of people, they all look unique and the all behave differently. If each person chose to actively perceive and evaluate every individual they encountered, there wouldn’t be much time for anything else. This is why stereotype s exist. People can glance around a room, see a spectrum of faces and not have to stop to think about each person. This frees up the brain for more important tasks. Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen (1994) as cited by Taylor, Peplau, & Sears (pg. 184). conducted an experiment to see if the priming of stereotypes can leave the brain freer to process other information. Students were presented with a list of trait words for an individual and, at the same time, information about Indonesia. Half of these students were first given a group label for the individual, e.g. Black or Italian. Those given the group label remembered more traits that were label consistent and more information about Indonesia. This demonstrates that stereotypes make the social world a lot easier to process and are definitely very useful. However, this oversimplification of the world we see can lead us to prejudice against other groups, and can lead to discrimination. People often look only at the negative characteristic s of a group. In doing this we may waste the important contributions that these different groups’ perspectives can offer. Taylor, Fiske, Eticoff, & Ruderman (1978) as cited by Taylor et al. (pg. 185) asked participants to observe a conversation between people of a mix of races. When asked to remember which individual made certain contributions the participants would often only be able to remember the race of the individual. This shows that people often place far too much emphasis on group membership and can ignore the attributes of the individual. This can lead people to ignore information that comes from a source that they may deem inferior.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Speech in Cyberspace and Internet Governance Essay

Speech in Cyberspace and Internet Governance - Essay Example In the situation, of Langdon versus Google, among others (Pd f), the plaintiff charged Google, Microsoft plus Yahoo for their letdown to run ads. These allied to the plaintiff's Web sites, which ostensibly exposed fraud committed by North Carolina administration officials and reported carnage supposedly done by the Chinese regime. The plaintiff quarrelled that the denial of the defendants dishonoured his foremost amendment plus other legal rights (Sinrod, 2007). What's more, the plaintiff alleged that all through Internet search engines are preserved by private firms, they fundamentally are public mediums, like malls with shopping centers, moreover, so are subject to the 1st amendment. The arbiter blew that tiff out of the water, stipulating that the plaintiff botched to appropriately affirm a claim for breach of his open speech rights in the 1st amendment, specifically given that the defendants are concealed, for-profit firms, not subject to legitimate free speech guarantees. The co urt judged "false" the plaintiff's squabble that someway the defendants were governmental "nation actors" who were required to defend the plaintiff's freedom of speech. In his ruling, the arbiter noted that the United States highest Court earlier had ruled that personal services that have been united to the public, like shopping hubs, do not offer a usual forum for the public to convey their views. The jury’s verdict with revere to the plaintiff's falsified speech rights is not terribly startling. The fraction of the judgment I found most appealing was the jury’s decision that the defendant’s search engines have 1st amendment privileges not to run the plaintiff's advertisements. Google squabbled in the protection of the dispute that, to run the plaintiff's ads, as called for, would oblige Google to talk in a way deemed suitable by the plaintiff; however, it would stop Google from talking in manners that the plaintiff would not appreciate. In a will, Google did n ot desire to be controlled by someone else as to the speech content it sends. Definitely, visualize a world wherever the law obligated they post whichever third-party substance. Over instant, the search engines plus Information Service Providers would mislay their ability to safeguard the uniqueness of the spots they seek to uphold (Knight, 2002, web). Bibliography Sinrod, J. 2007. Perspective: The freedom to disallow speech in cyberspace. Retrieved on November 3, 2011, from Knight, D. 2002. Writer and Editor of Science Fiction, Retrieved on November 3, 2011, from DQ2 Internet governance is the advancement and application by administrations, the private sector as well as the general public, in their particular roles, of shared ideologies, norms, rules, resolution making protocols, and programs that outline the progress and use of internet, (Pizzaleo, 2009, web).  

A Inter Industry and Intra Industry Trade The Hackescher-Ohlin Model Assignment

A Inter Industry and Intra Industry Trade The Hackescher-Ohlin Model - Assignment Example On the other hand, the intra industry trade refers to the exchange of the products of the same kind of products and services between different countries. The intra industry trade could occur between the countries that have similar relative amount of factor of production whereas the inter industry trade occurs between the countries that have different production factors. Intra industry trade results in the economies of scale and allows lower cost of production while providing the customers wide range of choices. It is not focused on gaining competitive advantage. The standard industrial classifications have provided the estimated that around 25 percent of the volume of world trade has been contributed by the intra industry trade. The inter industry trade is the trade between the countries where the export and import of different types of goods and services occur between the countries. The inter industry trade us based upon the differences on the production factors held by the industries of different countries. The countries export the products that they could produce in relative large amount due to intensive capital whereas they import the products that they could not produce themselves due to lack of intensive capital and production factors required for the production of these products. The inter industry trade does not include the exchange of goods between the countries in the same classification. The intra industry trade refers to the trade of the goods and services of the same classification between the countries.... The inter industry trade us based upon the differences on the production factors held by the industries of different countries. The countries export the products that they could produce in relative large amount due to intensive capital whereas they import the products that they could not produce themselves due to lack of intensive capital and production factors required for the production of these products. The inter industry trade does not include the exchange of goods between the countries in the same classification (Bela, 1981, p1109). The intra industry trade on the other hand refers to the trade of the goods and services of the same classification between the countries. The products of same classification are exported and imported by the countries in the process of intra industry trade. The notion of intra industry trade is based upon the economies of scale and similarity of the production factor endowment. The intra industry trade is lead by different factors for instance, the countries use to important a product in some season and then export the same product in another season during which they could product it abundantly. Similarly, some countries export a product from one border and at the same time it import the same product at another border due to the cost involved in the transportation of these products within the country from one end to another (Aquino, 2000, p275). The intra industry trade focuses upon the economies of the scale because it proposes the import of the goods from the other countries they could be manufactured at home but their production cost would be greater at home and from other countries the same products could be attained at comparatively lower rates. The world community is witnessing growing

Journal 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal 8 - Essay Example The medium in which Rehnquist used is oil on aluminum, providing it a different texture. Additionally, F-111 fully wraps around four different walls, taking up a lot of space and the area is completely filled with a variety of images. B: The painting itself is appears to be a grouping of icons from the time period, most especially easily determined by the girl under the 60s style hair dryer. Additionally, the scale on which it was painted is enormous, filling up an entire space. The image of the airplane passes through many other objects that do not seem to relate to it at all in terms of context but include the girl, what appears to be an advertisement for spaghetti and then an explosive cloud. This piece of art is contemporary and ahead of its time but could possibly reflect the issues during that time such as the war in Vietnam and shows that while there was a war going on, there are other pieces of American nostalgia also

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Features of power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Features of power - Essay Example " or ""Everyone will be just as it was," drawing on to the themes of Modern ennui or the famous Eliot line ""In the room the women come and go/ Talking of Michelangelo". The boredom is with a wasted life where the Victorian or Aristocratic order becomes a sham. The powerful imposition of an abeyance of organic cycles full of decadent spectral traditions in Chekhov, and the "ghost" of the Victorian order posing acute psychological and intellectual repercussions in Nora's marks themood of Ibsen's play. The context of power in Ibsen's play is more imminent since it outright satirizes the Victorian marital set-up and the kind of power-relation is shared between a husband and his wife. It did subvert the idea of the 'angel in the house'. The play satirises the helplessness of Victorian women, financially and legally dependent their husbands and were considered legal property of her husband. Her property or wealth too belonged to her husband. There was very little financial independence she was not expected to earn for her own living. This patriarchal imposition was masked behind an idea of good-will. The cold rationality of Torvald Helmer and his patronozing attitude towards Nora is extremely apt in giving the account of the kind of power and hierarchy he engages to help Nora content with an illusion about her home and life. Her eating macaroons and lying about them are just shallow exchanges that have greater ideological practices at play behind them. Torvald is the shaping power wh o must teach, guide, rescue and advice Nora under the excuse of romantic love which has no basis in anything apart for in creating and restoring a hierarchy where he must appear to represent greater experience, knowledge, intellect and above all benevolence. His appearance masks a deep selfishness (for his own integrity) when he refuses to oblige his beloved Nora by refusing to let in Krogstad. There is a great urge working within Torvald to control appearances within his household and with his relationship. The epiphany about her real self emerges only when Torvald falls short of his role as a protector. Krogstad's blackmail reveals the other side of Nora. It shows her acumen for business, and the desperation to maintain the status quo of her substandard life. She realises that his continuous playful tone with her, disciplining attitude signify Torvald's actual expectations out of her. She is never his equal, sharing his intellectual comanionship. She is another decoration in the " Doll's" house, with a stunted mental life. Nora questions the possession of authority and intellectual power granted to her even for raising her children. She was thus not indispensable in her substance. Nora has lived a derogatory life only to conform to an ideal that does not even exist and says: "I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald". Nora becomes a person with a greater purpose. Her ideals about motherhood take a backseat when she realizes that she is estranged by the religion and the law and fits nowhere. Torvald's desperate plea to make Nora accept her "roles" was a pathetic attempt to appease her reveals his hypocrisy. Choosing integrity over love becomes a crucial question when Nora chooses the prior thus establishing that Torvald's selfishness to maintain his own integrity even at the expense of their marriage

Individual Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Individual Portfolio - Essay Example capture the customer mindset so that they can be thinking about the company products at all times through the items they possess at home (Estes, Gibbert, Guest, & Mazursk, 2012, p. 97). This can well be explained by use of the customer-based brand equity model that brings together the requirements for a publicly renowned brand in the market. The relationship is supposed to exist between the brand salience and the final resonance that the consumers have in their minds. The objectives of every process above are; creation of active loyalty, rational emotional connections and a deep set brand awareness. To therefore measure the sources of brand equity, the management team especially the brand managers must take into account the facts that they must be aware of how consumers shop and use their products and the actual knowledge that the customers have on these products (Aaker, 2003, p. 253). Adidas AG has extensively used the theorized procedures above to create relevance of their brands in the market with keen awareness that they face stiff competition from other companies like Puma and Nike. The company understands that creation of an attachment to its products by the customers is a procedure. The symbol below represents the company logo that represents the brand imagery as indicated on the logo model above. The image appears on all the brands produces by the company. The three stripes are the ultimate identity of the company. Apparently the company ventures into production of sports attire and facilities. When the customers use these, there is a sense of cohesion between the product and the customer. A theoretical perspective of this issue brings to mind two ways of capturing the customer mindsets; through qualitative and quantitative ways. Adidas Company has used both qualitative and quantitative techniques as sources of measuring their brand equity. For instance, taking the example of the product below, the customer is supposed to be able to create an association

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Journal 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal 8 - Essay Example The medium in which Rehnquist used is oil on aluminum, providing it a different texture. Additionally, F-111 fully wraps around four different walls, taking up a lot of space and the area is completely filled with a variety of images. B: The painting itself is appears to be a grouping of icons from the time period, most especially easily determined by the girl under the 60s style hair dryer. Additionally, the scale on which it was painted is enormous, filling up an entire space. The image of the airplane passes through many other objects that do not seem to relate to it at all in terms of context but include the girl, what appears to be an advertisement for spaghetti and then an explosive cloud. This piece of art is contemporary and ahead of its time but could possibly reflect the issues during that time such as the war in Vietnam and shows that while there was a war going on, there are other pieces of American nostalgia also

Individual Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Individual Portfolio - Essay Example capture the customer mindset so that they can be thinking about the company products at all times through the items they possess at home (Estes, Gibbert, Guest, & Mazursk, 2012, p. 97). This can well be explained by use of the customer-based brand equity model that brings together the requirements for a publicly renowned brand in the market. The relationship is supposed to exist between the brand salience and the final resonance that the consumers have in their minds. The objectives of every process above are; creation of active loyalty, rational emotional connections and a deep set brand awareness. To therefore measure the sources of brand equity, the management team especially the brand managers must take into account the facts that they must be aware of how consumers shop and use their products and the actual knowledge that the customers have on these products (Aaker, 2003, p. 253). Adidas AG has extensively used the theorized procedures above to create relevance of their brands in the market with keen awareness that they face stiff competition from other companies like Puma and Nike. The company understands that creation of an attachment to its products by the customers is a procedure. The symbol below represents the company logo that represents the brand imagery as indicated on the logo model above. The image appears on all the brands produces by the company. The three stripes are the ultimate identity of the company. Apparently the company ventures into production of sports attire and facilities. When the customers use these, there is a sense of cohesion between the product and the customer. A theoretical perspective of this issue brings to mind two ways of capturing the customer mindsets; through qualitative and quantitative ways. Adidas Company has used both qualitative and quantitative techniques as sources of measuring their brand equity. For instance, taking the example of the product below, the customer is supposed to be able to create an association

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Gay male culture Essay Example for Free

Gay male culture Essay American culture has focused much more heavily on gay men than on other members of the LGBT community. This may be due to larger numbers of men than women and it may also be due to gay men having more resources available to them to justify, explore and perform their sexuality. The western culture as a whole still sees men and male experience as the central experience in culture, even if the men in question are transgressing established gender norms. Gay culture relies upon secret symbols and codes woven into an overall straight context. The association of gay men with opera, ballet, professional sports, , musical theater, the Golden Age of Hollywood, and interior design began with wealthy homosexual men using the straight themes of these media to send their own signals. In the Marilyn Monroe film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a musical [filmfreakcentral. net] number features a woman singing while muscled men in revealing costumes dance around her. The mens costumes were designed by a man, the dance was choreographed by a man, and the dancers seem more interested in each other than in the female star, but her reassuring presence gets the sequence past the censors and fits it into an overall heterocentric theme. Today gay male culture is publicly acknowledged. Celebrities such as Liza Minnelli spent [topix. net] a significant amount of their social time with urban gay men, who were now popularly viewed as sophisticated and stylish by the jet set. Celebrities themselves were open about their relationships. Gay men cant be identified by the way they look or what kind of music they like. There are gay men in every field and all sorts of fashions and music. Lesbian culture A lesbian is a woman who is romantically and sexually attracted only to other women. The history of lesbian culture over the last half-century has been linked to the evolution of feminism. Older stereotypes of lesbian women stressed a dichotomy between women who adhered to stereotypical male gender stereotypes (butch) and stereotypical female gender stereotypes (femme), and that typical lesbian couples consisted of butch/femme couples. Today, some lesbian women adhere to being either butch or femme, but these categories are much less rigid and there is no express expectation that a lesbian couple be butch/femme. There is a sub-culture within the lesbian community called Aristasia, where lesbians in the community adhere to exaggerated levels of femininity. In this culture, there are two genders, blonde and brunette, although they are unrelated to actual hair color. Brunettes are femme, yet blondes are even more so. Also notable are diesel dykes, extremely butch women who use male forms of dress and behavior, and who often work as truck drivers. Lipstick lesbian refers to feminine women who are attracted only to other feminine women. Bisexual culture In modern western culture Bisexual people are in the peculiar situation of receiving hatred or distrust [Lunde 1990] or even outright denial of their existence from some elements of both the straight and lesbian and gay populations. There is of course some element of general anti-LGBT feeling, but some people insist that bisexual people are unsure of their true feelings, that they are experimenting or going through a phase and that they eventually will or should decide or discover which (singular) sex they are sexually attracted to. One popular misconception is that [Lunde 1990] bisexuals find all humans sexually attractive. That is no truer than the idea that, say, all straight men would find all women sexually attractive. More people of all kinds are becoming aware that there are some people who find attractive sexual partners among both men and women sometimes equally, sometimes favoring one sex in particular . Distinctions exist between sexual orientation (attraction, inclination, preference, or desire), gender identity (self-identification or self-concept) and sexual behavior (the sex of ones actual sexual partners). For example, someone who may find people of either sex attractive might in practice have relationships only with people of one particular sex. Many bisexual people consider themselves to be part of the LGBT or Queer community [Barris, 2007]. In an effort to create both more visibility, and a symbol for the bisexual community to gather behind, Michael Page created the bisexual pride flag. The bisexual flag, which has a pink or red stripe at the top for homosexuality, a blue one on the bottom for heterosexuality and a purple one in the middle to represent bisexuality, as purple is from the combination of red and blue [Lunde 1990]. Transgender culture The study of transgender culture is complicated by the many and various ways in which cultures deal with gender [hrc. org]. For example, in many cultures, people who are attracted to people of the same sex — that is those who in contemporary Western culture would identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual — are classed as a third gender, together with people who would in the West be classified as transgender or transsexual. Also in the contemporary West, there are usually [hrc.org] several different groups of transgender and transsexual people, some of which are extremely exclusive, like groups only for transsexual women who explicitly want sex reassignment surgery or male, heterosexual only cross-dressers. Transmens groups are often, but not always, more inclusive. Groups aiming at all transgender people, both transmen and transwomen, have in most cases appeared only in the last few years. Some transgender or transsexual women and men however do not classify as being part of any specific trans culture. However there is a distinction between transgender and transsexual people who make their past known to others . Some wish to live according to their gender identity and not reveal this past, stating that they should be able to live in their true gender role in a normal way, and be in control of whom they choose to tell their past to. Epistemology of the closet. The expression being in the closet is used to describe keeping secret ones sexual behavior or orientation, most commonly homosexuality or bisexuality, but also including the gender identity of transgender and transsexual people [branconolilas.no. sapo. pt]. Being in the closet is more than being private, it is a life-shaping pattern of concealment where gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender individuals hide their sexuality/gender-identity in the most important areas of life, with family, friends, and at work. Individuals may marry or avoid certain jobs in order to avoid suspicion and exposure. Some will even claim to be heterosexual when asked directly. It is the power of the closet to shape the core of an individuals life that has made homosexuality into a significant personal, social, and political drama in twentieth-century America. (Seidman 2003, p. 25). Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, in her book Epistemology of the closet, majorly focuses on male homosexuality. She is also an intellectual who is interested in gay and lesbian studies, queer studies, gender studies, and feminism. Sedgwick (Seidman 2003, p. 25) â€Å"proposes that many of the major thoughts and knowledge in twentieth-century Western culture as a whole are structured—indeed fractured—by the now endemic crisis of homo/heterosexual definition, indicatively male, dating from the end of the nineteenth century†. Incoherent ideas about homosexuality inform the way men are acculturated in the modern West, and (Seidman 2003, p. 25) since this is so, this incoherence has come to mark society generally. Incoherence characterizes the attitude toward homosexuality in the West and is beyond debate. examples, are gay men ridiculous figures of fun or are they sexual monsters who prey on young children? ; is the homosexual a limp-wrested effeminate unsuited for the armed forces, or the lothario of the showers who will gaze upon and/or rape his fellow servicemen? ; Is sexuality an orientation or is it a choice?; are homosexuals born or are they made? ; essentialism or social constructionism? ; nature/nurture?. These are all part of the effect of this crisis in modern sexual definition. Sedgwick believes that it is impossible to adjudicate between these (Seidman 2003, p. 25). In describing in general terms the mass of contradictions that adhere to homosexuality, she proposes that one consider it in terms of an opposition between a minoritizing view and a universalizing one. A minoritizing view takes the position that homosexuality is of primary importance to a relatively small group of actual homosexuals. A universalizing view takes the position that homosexuality is of importance to persons across a wide range of sexualities. Under the universalizing view, one can put nurture, social-construction, choice and a warrant for social â€Å"engineering† to eradicate homosexuality(Seidman 2003, p. 25). Sedgwick says that the current debate in queer theory, between â€Å"constructivist† and â€Å"essentialist† understandings of homosexuality is the most recent link(Seidman 2003, p. 25). She goes on to conclude that the continuation of this debate is itself the most important feature of recent understandings of sex. The aim of the book is to explore the incoherent dispensation under which we now live. Through an examination of a number of mostly late nineteenth century literary and philosophical works, including (Seidman 2003, p. 25). Melvilles BILLY BUDD, Wildes THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, various works of Nietzsche, James THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE, Thackerays LOVEL THE WIDOWER, and Prousts REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST, Sedgwick discovers a number of pairs of opposing terms (binarisms) which she then shows to be inconsistent with and dependent upon each other. I found it fascinating to follow her explication of the ways in which these terms were related. Among the pairings that she assembles and dissects for our consideration are secrecy/disclosure, private/public, masculine/feminine, majority/minority, innocence/initiation, natural/artificial, new/old, growth/decadence, urbane/provincial, health/illness, same/different, cognition/paranoia, art/kitsch, sincerity/sentimentality, and voluntarity/addiction (Seidman 2003, p.25). She asserts that a true understanding of the force of the opposition of these terms must be grounded in the realization and acceptance that the content of all of these terms was determined around the turn of the century amid and through anxious questioning over who and what was homosexual. These opposing terms, all of which operate today, therefore have a residue of the homo/hetero definitional crisis(Seidman 2003, p. 25). In addition, Sedgwick perhaps delivers the coup de grace(Seidman 2003, p. 25), if such was needed, to sleek, masculine, modernist objective criticism. She demonstrates that modernist criticism finds its genesis in the homo/hetero definitional crisis and both its flight into and prizing of abstraction is a direct reflection of its homophobia.

Monday, October 14, 2019

The Great Gatsby Analysis

The Great Gatsby Analysis As a profound commentary on the American dream and a reflection of the period in which it was written, F. Scott Fitzgeralds American classic, The Great Gatsby, remains an enduring work in the American literature canon. Though the novel is relatively simple in terms of plot, the symbolism and intricacies related to that plot provide meaning and context to the reader (Gross and Gross 5). Articulating these intricacies and the basic mechanisms of the plot, however, are holistically tied to the point of view from which the story is told. The entire story is told through the eyes of the 29 year old Nick Carraway. As a result, the reader is left to determine if Nicks account is romanticized or if it is told with the necessary realism to be considered unbiased and therefore taken at face value. The process of this meaning making requires an analysis of Carraway and the way in which his point of view is expressed throughout the story. The nature of the narrative, however, provides other clue s useful to making such decisions. In this capacity, Carraway also sometimes switches to the third person, which allows for other perspectives to be considered by other characters interacting throughout the novel. Based on Carraways perception alone, Gatsby is presented as a mysterious and tragically romantic figure. This point of view is passed on to the reader; however, the addition of the third person elements also allow for commentary by other characters. This balancing process used by the author, demonstrates Gatsby for what he truly was, a complicated, tragic, romantic figure that was consumed with becoming what he thought constituted success in his respective era. Also having flaws and questionable morality, the point of view literary mechanism employed by Fitzgerald is more of a commentary on the American dream than a value judgement on Gatsby alone. Nick Carraway: A Character Analysis To understand the point of view expressed in the novel, it is first necessary to understan d who Nick Carraway is as the narrator. Carraway is man who is newly relocated to West Egg, which is a fictional place based on Fitzgeralds home of Great Neck, New York (Columbia 230). West Egg is a home to the newly rich and it is geographically located on the North Shore of Long Island (230). Bordering the Long Island Sound and close enough to New York City to be an escape for the rich, the culture of the area is affluent and a microcosm of values associated with socialites. Carraway, however, is enterprising and not yet rich himself. Having a degree from Yale and experience serving in the American military during the Great War, Carraway has the balance of a worldly person and the pedigree of an Ivy League university. Based on this two factors, Carraway is presented as a balanced character whose point of view should be taken seriously. His relocation to West Egg was connected to a desire to learn the bond business in New York City. As Daisy Buchanans cousin (Gatsbys love interest) and a neighbor of Gatsby, he naturally became part of the society movement present in the area at that time. The primary function of Carraway in Fitzgeralds tale is to translate the mysterious mans [Gatsbys] dramatic gestures into a revelation of their hidden significance (Bloom 178). Whether or not this occurs is a matter of reader perception. According to Bloom, Nick is essentially private; personality appears in public performance.[Gatsby and Nicks] individuals essential qualities remain forever hidden (178). Bloom continues, Fitzgerald makes it clear that to know another person in any substantial way lies somewhere between a leap of imaginative faith and the sheerly impossible (178). It is in the this tradition where the mystery in the Gatsby character proliferates. Though some is known about Carraways past, his character is rather benign and only seen through social interactions and his perspective on Gatsby. This leaves much to the imagination of the reader and is part of the meaning making process in Fitzgeralds point of view mechanism. Nick Carraway: Viewing Gatsby From a Romantic Perspective Gatsby can be viewed by the reader and is viewed by varying characters throughout the story as a lot of things. He could be considered a driven man, a tragic figure, an amoral character, a grossly misunderstood man or any combination thereof. As romantic figure, however, Gatsby is nearly entirely the creation of Carraways point of view (Bloom 178). Early in the novel, Carraway described the movements of the title character, Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens (Fitzgerald 20). Based on this description and word choices alone, the point of view expressed by Carraway is clearly one of admiration and infatuation. Nick, through his point of view, serves as a translator of the dreams and social ambitions of the people who surround him (Giltrow and Stouck 476). As a result, designating Carraway as having a romantic view toward Gatsby is a reflection of all of the characters that live in West Egg. These characters looked at their lives, their ambitions, their potential and the material nature of their entire social microcosm romantically. It is easily reflected in the narrative that the characters overestimated the importance of themselves, their actions and their entire existence. In comparison to world events like World War I, the social ambitions of these residents seem benign; yet, these people are consumed by their designations of success. This is designated by Barrett as The unreality of reality for these people (150). In this capacity, for Carraway to be the translator of the mood and ambitions of those around him, he had to see Gatsby through the eyes of a romantic. Gatsby, in this capacity, was the extreme example of what this social world could spawn. Point of View: Third Person and Character Dialogue The way in which Fitzgerald employs point of view affords the supplemental insights of those characters sur rounding Gatsby and the third person sequences that are strewn sporadically and calculated throughout the novel. In party conversation that occurred between a female party goer, Jordan and Lucille, the following was said of Gatsby, Theres something funny about a fellow thatll do a thing like thatHe doesnt want any trouble with anybody (Fitzgerald 43). This quote is in reference to an event where Gatsby replaced the dress of girl who torn her dress at one of his parties. This act is not being heralded as a grandiose gesture by Gatsby; instead, it is being looked upon with scrutiny. This point of view reveals that Gatsby had ulterior motives for many of his actions. Gatsby was less concerned about the girls dress in this situation and more about his reputation in the social scene in which he was trying to assimilate. Assimilation into this social scene meant acceptance and the potential for winning Daisys affection. Gatsby was not born into money, as a result, he had to find ways to e arn a reputation and to earn the amount of capital that was necessary to live in the type of luxury that was common on the North Shore of Long Island at this time. His reputation was built around maneuvers like the one described by the aforementioned example and the parties that he had. In terms of the parties, they were just a built in mechanism of the desired social circle. Carraway explained, I believe on the first night I went to Gatsbys house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited they went there (41). Building his wealth provided another designation about Gatsbys by any means necessary approach to social mobility. Gatsby was and had earned his money in the trade of illegal alcohol at the time. Set during the era of prohibition, Gatsby was able to fund his aspirations through criminal means. This would ultimately lead to his undoing as once this was common knowledge it would forever tarnish his reputation. For Daisy, despite feelings she may have had for him, she could only be with Gatsby if he were of the right social standing and reputation, his criminal enterprise reintroduced a reputation wedge forever that was temporally lifted when he returned to her life as a man with means. Despite the mystery and the scrutiny other characters placed on Gatsbys behavior, he was earning a positive reputation before his enterprise was ultimately discovered toward the end of the novel. Henry Gatz explained to Carraway about Gatsby, He knew he had a big future in front of him. And ever since he made a success he was very generous to me (Fitzgerald 172). While these point of views present conflicting imagery of Gatsby, they present a unified critique of the American Dream, as it is this mechanism that ultimately drove Gatsby to pursue the life that would ultimately lead to his undoing at the end of the novel. Point of View and the American Dream Gatsby ending up shot in his swimming pool at the conclusion of the novel firmly classifies the novel as a tragedy. Through the eyes of Nick Carraway, F. Scott Fitzgerald writes his own obituary of the American dream through the eyes and voice of Nick Carraway (Barrett 150). This makes the meaning of the entire novel one that is equivalent to an Anti-fairy tale 150). The pursuit of the empty American Dream is sandwiched between the conditions of the Great War and the Great Depression (Canterbery 297). The social Darwinistic nature of the life that Gatsby wanted to live ended up costing him his life (297). Through the sum of the point of view, the reader is left at the conclusion of the novel with a firm sense that it had all been for nothing. The victory, even if it had been achieved by Gatsby, would have been empty and somewhat convoluted. Had Gatsby achieved the matrimony of Daisy it would have been as much a product of him being a man of reputation and society as much as it would have been out of genuine love for the character. Love and social standing were one in the same in this dream and this sets a critique by the author of entire process. According to Layng, By novels end, Gatsby is the ghost-literally dead, his past with Daisy lost and Nick emerges as the apostle protagonist (93). As an apostle type figure, it is Carraway who is left to warn the people reading the tale about the negative potential of the American dream. The novel is very much American and many of the dynamics and intricacies of the novel are connected with these subtleties that are often lost on foreign readers (Dyson 45). Though steeped in tragedy, there is hope that can be connected with the point of view. Carraway has the potential to either leave the scene or to stay in the scene himself but serve as a warning to others venturing down the same path. Gatsbys death, therefore, has the potential to not have been in vain. According to Hawkes, For many years hope has been a word that has been lost, forgotten, and banished to the margins of romantic longing and wi shful thinking (20). In reality, the point of view used by the author expresses the unfinished American Epic (20). Using the words of Fitzgerald, Hawkes explained, But thats not matter-to-morrow we will run faster, stretch our arms fartherAnd one fine morning- are once again being heard (20). Though Gatsby and the romance associated with his dream may be problematic, that does not mean that are more responsible and less empty dream is not possible. Point of view in The Great Gatsby demonstrates a flawed dream that can be used to contrast a positive one that is only limited by the readers imagination. Point of View Conclusion The link between The Great Gatsby and the American dream is one that will be present for generations to come in any discussion of the American literary tradition. Fitzgeralds perspective on a flawed and empty American dream is articulated primarily through the point of view expressed by protagonists, Nick Carraway. Carraway, though romantically linked to the ent ire social scene of his era, is a reliable narrator that weaves his commentary in with third person dialogue that provides a very round multifaceted perspective of Jay Gatsby. Carraway is not wrong to romanticize Gatsby; however, alone this would not be enough to understand the full scope of the character. Gatsby was driven and he was willing to step outside of traditionally held values of the time when it suited his needs. Making a value judgement on Gatsby, on the other hand, requires making a judgement on the entire concept of the American dream during this particular time period. Fitzgerald skillfully establishes complexity of the entire pursuit of wealth and reputation through compelling point of view narrative.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Greenwashing in Media Essay -- Ethical Issues, Misleading Customers

Research ProjectGreenwashing in Media In this day and age companies have mastered the technique of misleading customers by fabricating false claims about a green product or service that they swear to provide. This insincere display of information is called ‘Greenwashing’, a spin-off of ‘Whitewashing’. Greenwashing could be said to be a global phenomenon and it’s commonly seen in advertisements, on products packing, websites, emails, speeches, and videos (just to name a few). Greenwashing is a thought out process, a planned and typically well designed campaign. There is a wide range of reasons why companies are eager to partake in greenwashing; divert attention for regulatory change, to persuade critics or consumers, expand the company's market, and to make the company seem appealing. The goal of this paper is to provide three examples of ‘greenwashing’ and to relate these examples to Downing et al. concepts. To help further explain these misleading claims, a well recognized company by the media is called Terrachoice. â€Å"The Terrachoice Environment Marketing Consulting practice converts knowledge of markets, science and marketing into winning, client-centered solutions to help sustainability leaders deliver results† (â€Å"The "six sins," 2007). Terrachoice has conducted a study of the â€Å"Environmental Claims in North American Consumer Markets† and found shocking results that made them want to give warning to potential consumers about the ‘six sins of greenwashing. The Terrachoice Company was designed to improve the communication between the purchasers and consumers, helping to enhance, strengthen, and prove market relationship. Companies that carry out greenwashing commonly use the words, ‘green’, ‘energy efficient’, and ‘clean’ to expo... ...efit† (p. xx). More and more individuals will run into greenwashing ads from the news to even advertising; however it’s important to recognize the exaggeration, persuasiveness and omission of information in these ads. It’s evident that any form of media is filled with manipulation; pulling the perception, actions, fears, desires, and values out of the consumer. In our text Downing et al. begins saying, â€Å"empiricist communications research†¦are concerned more with questions, problems, and perspectives than with the mere recitation of detailed facts. Indeed, critical scholars would argue that facts by themselves are impossible to interpret if they are not placed into some model or theory about how the media and society work† (xxviii). I think this sums up why we all should be critical in a positive manner, and should use the theories that help us analyze media material.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Mary Flannery O’Connor Essay -- Literary

Mary Flannery O’Connor, the writer of many short stories known for their cruel endings and religious themes, wrote â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† in 1955. â€Å"Her works combine flat realism with grotesque situations; violence occurs without apparent reason or preparation.† (Roberts 429). â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† is about a southern family’s trip to Florida which takes a dramatic turn. This story was written in O’Connor’s first collection of short stories. â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† is a compelling story of tragedy that utilizes humor and irony to draw the reader’s attention, and two major characters to convey the authors central theme. Throughout the short story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† O’Connor uses humor to enhance her story and set a tone for the reader. Margaret Whitt states that â€Å"Because of the specificity of detail of dress and family interaction, the story is also funny in a grotesque way† (Whitt 44). O’Connor’s humorous description and situations are used all through her stories including â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† (Wilson â€Å"A Good†). For Example, John Wesley tells his grandma, â€Å"if you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?†. At that point his little sister June Star makes her way into the conversation and says, â€Å"She wouldn’t stay home to be queen for a day†. June Star later adds, â€Å"She wouldn’t stay at home for a million bucks†, to further exaggerate on her point. Even though grandma expresses how she does not want to go to Florida and would rather v isit her connections in East Tennessee, she is still the first person in the automobile the next day for their three day trip to Florida. Another humorous situation happens while the family is driving through Georgia and the ... ...'One Of My Babies': The Misfit and the Grandmother." Studies in Short Fiction 33.1 (Winter 1996): 107-118. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 61. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. Keil, Katherine. "O'Connor's 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find.'." Explicator 65.1 (Fall 2006): 44-47. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Vol. 111. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. Nester, Nancy L. "O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find." The Explicator 64.2 (2006): 115+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. Whitt, Margaret. Understanding Flannery O'Connor. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina, 1995. Print. Wilson, Kathleen, ed. Short Stories for Students. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.