Molar Mass - Chemistry Test Questions

Effective Communication With Patients And Patients

Effective communication with patients is essential to nursing. Failure to communicate well with a patient not only effects the nurse-patient relationship but also can interfere with patient outcomes (Kourkouta Papathanasiou, 2014). Orlando believed that communication was essential to interactions in the patient-nurse relationship in order to understand their needs and provide effective care (Parker Smith, 2010). Orlando’s theory was based on the fact that patients do not clearly present the nature of their distress (Schmieding, 1984). In order to determine the patient’s needs Orlando’s theory supports an interactive nurse-patient relationship that is individualized to the patient (Parker Smith, 2010). Orlando was the first nursing†¦show more content†¦During her time at Yale University, Orlando also became a research associate and principal project investigator of the National Institute of Mental Health (Parker Smith, 2010). Her first study â€Å" Integration of Mental Health Concepts in a Basic Curriculum† was the nursing model used as the foundation for the curriculum of mental health and psychiatric nursing in Yale University (Current Nursing, 2013). Her first book The Dynamic Nurse-Patient Relationship: Function, Process and Principles (1961) was based on this research (Parker Smith, 2010). Orlando also served as a clinical nurse consultant at McClean Hospital, Massachusetts (Current Nursing, 2013). In this role she studied nurses interactions with patients and coworkers and how these interactions affected nursing practice (Parker Smith, 2010). McClean Hospital, based on these studies and her nursing model, developed and initiated a nursing education and training program (Parker Smith, 2010). Her second book The Discipline and Teaching of Nursing Process (1972) was based on her evaluation of this program (Current Nursing, 2013). Orlando’s Nursing Process Discipline theory was created from her studies and observations between a nurse and a patient (Parker Smith, 2010). The theory ultimately looks at the purpose and function of nursing. The theory is established based on

Deception Point Page 88 Free Essays

Tolland considered it. The Mariana Trench was seven miles down, one of the last truly unexplored regions on the planet. Only a handful of robotic probes had ever ventured that deep, and most had collapsed well before they reached the bottom. We will write a custom essay sample on Deception Point Page 88 or any similar topic only for you Order Now The water pressure in the trench was enormous-an astounding eighteen thousand pounds per square inch, as opposed to a mere twenty-four pounds on the ocean’s surface. Oceanographers still had very little understanding of the geologic forces at the deepest ocean floor. â€Å"So, this guy Pollock thinks the Mariana Trench can make rocks with chondrulelike features?† â€Å"It’s an extremely obscure theory,† Xavia said. â€Å"In fact, it’s never even been formally published. I only happened to stumble across Pollock’s personal notes on the Web by chance last month when I was doing research on fluid-rock interactions for our upcoming megaplume show. Otherwise, I never would have heard of it.† â€Å"The theory has never been published,† Corky said, â€Å"because it’s ridiculous. You need heat to form chondrules. There’s no way water pressure could rearrange the crystalline structure of a rock.† â€Å"Pressure,† Xavia fired back, â€Å"happens to be the single biggest contributor to geologic change on our planet. A little something called a metamorphic rock? Geology 101?† Corky scowled. Tolland realized Xavia had a point. Although heat did play a role in some of earth’s metamorphic geology, most metamorphic rocks were formed by extreme pressure. Incredibly, rocks deep in the earth’s crust were under so much pressure that they acted more like thick molasses than solid rock, becoming elastic and undergoing chemical changes as they did. Nonetheless, Dr. Pollock’s theory still seemed like a stretch. â€Å"Xavia,† Tolland said. â€Å"I’ve never heard of water pressure alone chemically altering a rock. You’re the geologist, what’s your take?† â€Å"Well,† she said, flipping through her notes, â€Å"it sounds like water pressure isn’t the only factor.† Xavia found a passage and read Pollock’s notes verbatim. â€Å"‘Oceanic crust in the Mariana Trench, already under enormous hydrostatic pressurization, can find itself further compressed by tectonic forces from the region’s subduction zones.'† Of course, Tolland thought. The Mariana Trench, in addition to being crushed under seven miles of water, was a subduction zone-the compression line where the Pacific and Indian plates moved toward one another and collided. Combined pressures in the trench could be enormous, and because the area was so remote and dangerous to study, if there were chondrules down there, chances of anyone knowing about it were very slim. Xavia kept reading. â€Å"‘Combined hydrostatic and tectonic pressures could potentially force crust into an elastic or semiliquid state, allowing lighter elements to fuse into chondrulelike structures thought to occur only in space.'† Corky rolled his eyes. â€Å"Impossible.† Tolland glanced at Corky. â€Å"Is there any alternative explanation for the chondrules in the rock Dr. Pollock found?† â€Å"Easy,† Corky said. â€Å"Pollock found an actual meteorite. Meteorites fall into the ocean all the time. Pollock would not have suspected it was a meteorite because the fusion crust would have eroded away from years under the water, making it look like a normal rock.† Corky turned to Xavia. â€Å"I don’t suppose Pollock had the brains to measure the nickel content, did he?† â€Å"Actually, yes,† Xavia fired back, flipping through the notes again. â€Å"Pollock writes: ‘I was surprised to find the nickel content of the specimen falling within a midrange value not usually associated with terrestrial rocks.'† Tolland and Rachel exchanged startled looks. Xavia continued reading. â€Å"‘Although the quantity of nickel does not fall within the normally acceptable midrange window for meteoritic origin, it is surprisingly close.'† Rachel looked troubled. â€Å"How close? Is there any way this ocean rock could be mistaken for a meteorite?† Xavia shook her head. â€Å"I’m not a chemical petrologist, but as I understand it, there are numerous chemical differences between the rock Pollock found and actual meteorites.† â€Å"What are those differences?† Tolland pressed. Xavia turned her attention to a graph in her notes. â€Å"According to this, one difference is in the chemical structure of the chondrules themselves. It looks like the titanium/zirconium ratios differ. The titanium/ zirconium ratio in the chondrules of the ocean sample showed ultradepleted zirconium.† She looked up. â€Å"Only two parts per million.† â€Å"Two ppm?† Corky blurted. â€Å"Meteorites have thousands of times that!† â€Å"Exactly,† Xavia replied. â€Å"Which is why Pollock thinks his sample’s chondrules are not from space.† Tolland leaned over and whispered to Corky, â€Å"Did NASA happen to measure the titanium/zirconium ratio in the Milne rock?† â€Å"Of course not,† Corky sputtered. â€Å"Nobody would ever measure that. It’s like looking at a car and measuring the tires’ rubber content to confirm you’re looking at a car!† Tolland heaved a sigh and looked back at Xavia. â€Å"If we give you a rock sample with chondrules in it, can you run a test to determine whether these inclusions are meteoric chondrules or†¦ one of Pollock’s deep ocean compression things?† Xavia shrugged. â€Å"I suppose. The electron microprobe’s accuracy should be close enough. What’s this all about, anyway?† Tolland turned to Corky. â€Å"Give it to her.† Corky reluctantly pulled the meteorite sample from his pocket and held it out for Xavia. Xavia’s brow furrowed as she took the stone disk. She eyed the fusion crust and then the fossil embedded in the rock. â€Å"My God!† she said, her head rocketing upward. â€Å"This isn’t part of†¦?† â€Å"Yeah,† Tolland said. â€Å"Unfortunately it is.† 106 Alone in her office, Gabrielle Ashe stood at the window, wondering what to do next. Less than an hour ago, she had left NASA feeling full of excitement to share Chris Harper’s PODS fraud with the senator. Now, she wasn’t so sure. According to Yolanda, two independent ABC reporters suspected Sexton of taking SFF bribes. Furthermore, Gabrielle had just learned that Sexton actually knew she had snuck into his apartment during the SFF meeting, and yet he had said nothing to her about it? Gabrielle sighed. Her taxi had long since departed, and although she would call another in a few minutes, she knew there was something she had to do first. Am I really going to try this? Gabrielle frowned, knowing she didn’t have a choice. She no longer knew whom to trust. Stepping out of her office, she made her way back into the secretarial lobby and into a wide hallway on the opposite side. At the far end she could see the massive oak doors of Sexton’s office flanked by two flags-Old Glory on the right and the Delaware flag on the left. His doors, like those of most senate offices in the building, were steel reinforced and secured by conventional keys, an electronic key pad entry, and an alarm system. She knew if she could get inside, even if for only a few minutes, all the answers would be revealed. Moving now toward the heavily secured doors, Gabrielle had no illusions of getting through them. She had other plans. Ten feet from Sexton’s office, Gabrielle turned sharply to the right and entered the ladies’ room. The fluorescents came on automatically, reflecting harshly off the white tile. As her eyes adjusted, Gabrielle paused, seeing herself in the mirror. As usual, her features looked softer than she’d hoped. Delicate almost. She always felt stronger than she looked. Are you sure you are ready to do this? How to cite Deception Point Page 88, Essay examples

Contribute to Cultural Sensitivity †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Contribute to Cultural Sensitivity. Answer: Introduction: Recruitment selection, work life balance and managing diversity are the challenging activities of human resource management. The paper will focus on reflection upon the above-stated topics. Recruitment can be defined as attracting a pool of talent to the organisation (Banu and Devi, 2014). Selection can be defined as choosing the best suitable candidate from the above pool of talent (Ekwoaba, Ikeije, and Ufoma, 2015). Work life balance is a situation of attaining equilibrium in work commitments and personal responsibilities (Haar, Russo, Sue and Ollier-Malaterre, 2014). Workforce diversity can be described as the similarities and differences that exist among the workforce. These can be in terms of culture, physical abilities gender, race, nationality, religion and sexual orientation (Saxena, 2014). I learned about them and their various applications during my college. In my college, we were given a project. The project included tasks related to arts, management and information technology. There were five team leads and five assistant team leads in the class. Team leads had to recruit and select students from rest of the college and one assistant were given to them for any kind of help. Initially by learning about the process of recruitment and selection I though this is an easy process but after working on it practically I realised the process is much more challenging than it seems. This basic reason which made the task challenging was competition in the class for hiring the best ones and deciding whether the particular candidate will be able to accomplish the task or not. I had to face this challenge the college level but I realised that in the real market places the completion would at much greater skill making the process challenging for managers. I and my assistant, first o f all, drafted what are the requirements of the project and what type of work needs to be done. After drafting the job requirements I designed various posters in electronic format to attract students from different departments. I highlighted the benefits that students can get by participating in our project and how could this experience be helpful to them. I circulated this opportunity with the help of social media. The next thing that was required to be done was sourcing. Sourcing here was not much challenging as I had to pick the students only from the college. I tried to reach suitable candidates through social media and also with the referrals of our friends. After this, I received applications from the interested students. My focus was more on the recruitment task so that I can get a large number of potential candidates. For selection to be effective it is necessary to have a large number of potential candidates to choose from. It is also very important to ensure that the selection procedure should be fair so that organisation has chances to attract talented workforce in the coming future. (Nabi, Wei, Husheng, Shabbir, Altaf, and Zhao, 2014). According to applications, I did the initial screening. I choose the applications that can fulfil the tasks of the project and rejected the rest. After the initial screening, I had a telephonic conversation with the selected candidates. On the basis of telephonic conversation, some more candidates were rejected due to different reasons. A lot of selected candidates was now called for personal interview. Drafting the questionnaire for the personal interview was the much challenging task. I drafted the questionnaire for the jobs related to my subject knowledge and took help from the people of other departments for rest of the interview questionnaires. On the day o f the final interview, I was more nervous than the students but I gathered the strength and went ahead for the process. I interviewed different candidates with different skill set and aspirations. After the interview process, I gave a deep thought to each candidate and on the basis of the aggregate of their positives and negatives I selected the best suitable candidates. I communicated them about this over the phone and gave them the time of two days to respond. Out of the candidates that I had selected few were hired by others also. Majority of the students accepted the offer whereas few denied. At the time of the interview, I had also prepared the list of next best alternatives. I approached those candidates and gave them the offer. Those candidates accepted the offer. Next day I organised the meeting of selected team members and introduced them to each other and their respective tasks. The procedure that I career helped me to learn various things. I helped me to develop my interp ersonal skills. I learned how to get over nervousness and move ahead. The experience taught me the polite way of refusing the people, so that scope for approaching them in future still remains. This practical experience gave me a basic idea of what are the potential issues that can occur and how managers handle various issues at an organisational level. It also gave me a basic practical knowledge of the process. My next experience with the recruitment and selection was at the time of my internship. The process but on a vast scale, something that was new to me was the system of recruitment of the organisation. The organisation had e recruitment system. This system recruits the people online with the use of web technologies. For the organisations dealing in a competitive world, it is regarded as a boon. It provides ease and various other advantages over traditional methods (Lakshmi, 2014).While handling the e recruitment system I learned how the process of recruitment can be made easy with the use of technology. I also analysed that the cost that was incurred in the traditional recruitment process was much higher than the e recruitment process. The only drawback that I found with the system is that checking the authenticity in the online recruitment process is challenging. Also, it is solely dependent on the internet, therefore, any disturbance in the technology can affect the process. During my internship, I came across the issues of managing workforce diversity and various work life balance related issues of the organisation. I was an intern in the HR department of the organisation. My organisation was an MNC and the employees it belonged to various nations, ethnicity and races. Interning in the HRM department of the organisation helped me to know how diversity can be useful for the organisation and how it can create issues for the organisation. My task was basically to assist my manager and clearly, observe what he does in different situations. Our organisation had an issue that leaves policy of the company was allowed leaves only on the occasions and national holidays of the native country. This created the problem for employees who belonged to other cultures and nationalities. This resulted in a reduced organisational commitment from the expatriates. To overcome this issue manager came with the policy of voluntary leaves for all. According to this policy, employees were given a fixed number of leaves which they can take voluntarily. This created harmony amongst the diverse workforce. Their organisational commitment also increased as they thought that organisation also respects and understands their needs. Throughout my training period, I observed that diverse workforce was beneficial in bringing the creativity and innovation to the organisation. I have seen people coming up with different productive ideas on a particular thing or situation. The challenges that were encountered are fighting discrimination. I have experienced a situation where new employees were discrimination on the basis of language. The majority population in the organisation was English speaking wher eas the newly appointed employees were Spanish speaking. They felt discrimination in the organisation. They were not involved in the groups. They were treated as left outs. This created the feeling of humility among the Spanish speaking group. To overcome this issue my manager made some efforts that prove fruitful. First of all, he had a discussion about the issue with the English speaking population. He explained to them what the other group is going through. He also organised various ice breaking activities to improve the communication between the groups. These activities gradually brought the positive results for the organisation. From the efforts of my manager, I learned how challenges in managing diversity in the organisation can be met. I also noticed that cultural sensitivity is a very important quality that a manager should possess. Cultural sensitivity can be defined as identifying the cultural difference and respecting those differences. It can also be defined as acceptation and integration of differences (Arell-Sundberg, Horghag en, Hansen, and Jacobsen, 2017). I also learned that in culturally diverse workforce employees may get offended very quickly. For instance, we have two employees one from Japan and other from the USA. The gesture of hugging is very common in the USA, but when the employee from the USA did this with Japanese employee he got offended. Here none of the parties was at fault. To avoid such kinds of issue in the future my manager asked me to prepare a power point presentation for employees. The presentation consisted of the different social and cultural practices of people of different nationalities. It consisted of common gestures in different nations and their respective meanings. The employees were given knowledge of each others culture to establish harmony among them. The presentation also contained guide lines about what is the accepted culture in the organisation, so that knowingly or unknowingly employees do not hurt each other. This was helpful to employees as well as enhanced my learning. I also came to know abou t various cultures. This experience also developed my insights about managing the diverse workforce in the organisation. After the issue of managing the diverse workforce the other major issue that raises challenges in the organisation work life balance of employees. In the organisation where I was a trainee many employees complain about they did not get their personal space, they are stuck or disturbed by professional work anytime. This adversely affects employees performance because they are the stress level in employees is increased. Younger people cannot work like their parents did. Todays generation demands more freedom and control of their life, they want private space and have various other priorities like friends, family, health and many others (Ramsdal, 2016). In my organisation, I have seen a female employee resigning because anytime disturbance from the office creates troubles for her. She was from the marketing department and required to handle clients. She had to handle the clients other than hours of her shift. She was not able to give time to her family and herself. She managed t for two months but finally to resign after two months and the reason was clear. After that incident management of the organisation realised the importance of work life balance. My manager invited the suggestions from the whole team. The major decisions that were taken in this regard were no employee will be call for work after his shift, they will not be asked to stay in office for longer hours, they were allowed some leaves that they can take within the prior notice period, some employees were also given dinner or holiday packages and weekly fun activities were also conducted in organisation. I was one who has to seek opinions of everyone and then report to the manager. After implementation of these decisions the results were positive the employees were more satisfied and stress level was low. It can be concluded that globalisation as introduced to various challenges and opportunities. The thing is similar for human resource management; there are challenges as well as opportunities. Overall my college and internship experience was helpful in providing me with the practical learning about potential challenges that can arise in recruitment and selection, in managing the workforce and managing work life balance of employees. It provided me with the learning experience of how to deal with those issues and how to convert negatives into positives. My learning will definitely help me in my future jobs. I learnt that every issue can be dealt it just requires timely concern from the side of manager. References Arell-Sundberg, M., Horghagen, S., Hansen, T.E.A. and Jacobsen, C.P., 2017. Creative activities in an international context contribute to cultural sensitivity, awareness and personal development.Journal of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences, (2). Banu, P.V. and Devi, B. R., 2014. Introduction to Recruitment. SSRG International Journal of Economics and Management Studies, 1(2), pp. 8-13. Ekwoaba, J.O., Ikeije, U.U. and Ufoma, N., 2015. The impact of recruitment and selection criteria on organizational performance.Global Journal of Human Resource Management,3(2), pp.22-23. Haar, J.M., Russo, M., Sue, A. and Ollier-Malaterre, A., 2014. Outcomes of worklife balance on job satisfaction, life satisfaction and mental health: A study across seven cultures.Journal of Vocational Behavior,85(3), pp.361-373. Lakshmi, S.L., 2014. E-Recruitment: A boom to the organizations in the competitive world.Journal of Business and Management, pp.2319-7668. Nabi, G., Wei, S., Husheng, X., Shabbir, M., Altaf, M. and Zhao, S., 2014. Effective Recruitment and Selection Procedures: an Analytical Study Based on Public Sector Universities of Pakistan.Public Policy and Administration Research,4(10), pp.12-20. Ramsdal, H., 2016.Flexible organizations and the new working life: A European perspective. Routledge. Saxena, A., 2014. Workforce diversity: A key to improve productivity.Procedia Economics and Finance,11, pp.76-85.

Pragmatic Development

Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Literature Review Methods Discussion of Results Conclusion References Abstract The present study is the actual replication of the study of Chang (2010) on the analysis of developmental pragmatics and evolution of speech acts of L2 learners with the increased proficiency levels in English. The speech act of apology was analyzed with the help of tools and analysis instruments similar to those of Chang (2010), but with the introduction of a new sample of L2 learners with the levels from moderate to proficient.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Pragmatic Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The purpose of the study was to enlarge the body of knowledge in developmental pragmatics and to investigate the order of linguistic acquisition in combination with the theoretical account of interlanguage pragmatics. The article specifically deals with the acquisitional p ragmatics field, investigating the development of such pragmatic competencies as expressing an apology in the L2 at various proficiency levels. The conclusion reached in the present study is fully consistent with the replicated study of Chang (2010) on the direct impact the increase of linguistic proficiency produces on the speech act competencies and variability. Introduction The current attention to interlanguage pragmatics results in the necessity to conduct deeper, more grounded and expanded research in the field of language acquisition and pragmatic performance of L2 learners. There is much research being held nowadays in the field of developmental pragmatics, though the field itself is rather young, and findings in the discussed area of scholarly attention are scarce. There is much incongruence between the actual pragmatic performance and the development of pragmatic competence, as it is discussed from various angles in the currently available studies. Hence, more attention is now paid to the developmental pragmatics as a science able to help unveil the hidden cognitive and learning processes occurring in the L2 learners’ knowledge base during the English language studies. The most significant findings in the field pertain to the studies of apology, request, and gratitude expression evolution by L2 learners. However, only students with high proficiency levels have so far been subject to research; different age groups and specific speech acts have to be researched to achieve a much more profound understanding of the evolutionary processes in self-expression and variability of speech acts of L2 learners in the process of language acquisition.Advertising Looking for research paper on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The present study is the continuation of Chang’s (2010) work on identifying the apology expressions found in the responses of Chinese students. While the focus of the present study is on the same study design and instruments, it offers a clear step forward in enriching the idea of developmental pragmatics because it intends to provide data on other age groups, enabling the further comparison and generalization of results in communion with the results of Chang (2010). Literature Review The present study takes the interlanguage pragmatics findings and interlanguage competencies as the theoretical framework for the research. The works on which the theoretical and practical inferences are based are the one of Cheng (2005) that represents a cross-sectional study of interlanguage pragmatic development of gratitude speech acts, the study of Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1986) dedicated to the theoretical and applied domains of pragmatic failure, and the work of Cohen (2004) explicitly explaining the subject of developmental pragmatics and pragmatic ability of L2 learners. Such researchers as Bataller (2010) who investigated the immersion technique as a contributing factor to the development of interlanguage competence, and Trosborg (1987) discovering the importance of sociolinguistic competence in the formatting of communicative appropriateness awareness have also contributed to the theoretical basis of the present research. The book of Trosborg (1995) on interlanguage competence offered much theoretical material for consideration in the framework of the present research. The scholar decomposed the notion of the communicative competence and outlined the main components contributing to the formation of interlanguage proficiency for L2 learners. These essential components include the linguistic competence (the mastery of the target language code), the socio-linguistic competence (informing the L2 learner about the socio-cultural rules of the native-speaking society), the socio-pragmatic competence (enabling the L2 learner to assess the appropriateness of contextual meanings), and the strategic competence (helping the speaker to brid ge the gaps in language knowledge and fluency by other communicative strategies) (Trosborg, 1995).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Pragmatic Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Some other findings of Trosborg (1995) are of great value for the whole field of developmental pragmatics research; the author outlines the psycholinguistic competences that enhance the L2 learner’s interlanguage proficiency acquisition, including the knowledge and skills component. Methods Participants. As the purpose of the present work was not to create a new body of knowledge on the pragmatic development of L2 learners, but to extend the existing body of research on the issue, a group of L2 respondents was chosen for the collection of qualitative and quantitative data for the study. The present group of 12 students represents a new age category as compared to the study of Chang (2010), thus enabling the compar ison of results obtained in the present study with those of the original study’s author. There are various levels of proficiency within the group resulting from various backgrounds of respondents (China, Taiwan etc.) and hours per week previously allocated to the English language studies. The proficiency of the respondents is from intermediate to advanced (according to the researcher’s estimate), and they represent older ages than the respondents used by Chang (2010) do. The respondent sample is based on Taiwanese and Chinese immigrants to the USA, mostly female (n=11), with only one male. The respondents have been living and studying English in the USA for a different number of years (from 1 to 22 years), and started studying English at school in their native settings at the age of 10-17 years old. Only one woman reported studying English on her own, at home, from 32 years old; she is 46 years old, which implies that she has been studying English for about 14 years un til the moment of the study. To assess the proficiency levels evident in respondents participating in the present study, one can see the self-reported proficiency levels indicated by them in the questionnaires, systematized according to the respondents and categories of competencies. The figures in the present table should be decoded the following way: 1 – Very poor; 2 – Poor; 3 – Fair; 4 – Functional; 5 – Good; 6 – Very good; 7 – Native-like. Table 1. Proficiency Levels of Respondents.Advertising Looking for research paper on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Reading proficiency 5 – 6 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 7 Writing proficiency 5 – 6 4 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 Speaking fluency 6 – 6 5 4 4 6 6 5 5 5 7 Listening proficiency 5 – 6 5 6 4 6 5 5 5 5 7 Instrument Design. Since the present study replicates the study of Chang (2010), the instrument design of discourse completion tasks has been borrowed from the original study. The construction of tasks included consideration of participants’ understanding of scenarios and their ability to respond to them adequately. The scenarios were altered slightly, eliminating the figure of the teacher and substituting it by an abstract high-status partner, either an elderly person or some other respectable acquaintance. However, the four scenarios were generally retained and included bumping into people, losing a borrowed book, being late or rude to someone. Each scenario was used two times, with one variant including the peer relationship of a st udent to another student, and the second variant containing the student – high-status person relationship. Description of context is provided to each scenario, with the opportunity to give the answers to open-ended role-play questions. The unified set of scenarios applied in the present work may be seen in Table 2. Table 2. Scenarios for the discourse completion task questionnaire. Item Speaker-Hearer Apology Situation 1 Student-co-worker You lost a book that you borrowed from a co-worker. 2 Student-supervisor You lost some paperwork that you should submit to your supervisor. 3 Student-supervisor You complained to your co-worker about your supervisor being very demanding. The moment you finished complaining, you found that your supervisor has been standing behind you and heard what you said. 4 Student-friend You complained to your friend about another friend – Judy’s English being very poor. The moment you finished complaining, you found that Judy has been standing behind you and heard what you said. 5 Student-co-worker You were one hour late for a scheduled meeting with your co-workers. 6 Student-friend You were one hour late for a planned get-together with some friends. 7 Student-high-status person You bumped into an elderly person on the street and he/she fell down. 8 Student-friend You bumped into a close friend and he/she fell down. Data Collection. The method of data collection was chosen similarly to the one of Chang (2010) – it is the discourse completion task questionnaire (DCT). The DCT is still seen as the most effective tool for the students to produce an L2 apology reflecting their linguistic proficiency, and for teachers to investigate the pragmatic competency in L2 apology. The DCT also involves written replies, which adds material for consideration in the process of data analysis, driving some competence conclusions from the given replies and grammar, spelling and other mistakes students may mak e. The first stage of the DCT questionnaire fulfillment included the completion of the form with biographical data pertaining to the study; the students were to indicate the country of their birth, the period of studying English both at home and in the USA, and finally they had to state by which means they thought the prime portion of language acquisition occurred in their life. The second portion of data they needed to provide was their self-assessment on four competencies, including writing proficiency, speaking fluency, listening and reading proficiency as well. The DCT for the present study was distributed to participants asked to write down that they would respond in English to eight role-play situations. Similarly to Chang (2010), no rejoinder was available for the students. The percentage of replies equals 100%, expect the second respondent who did not indicate her proficiency levels in the studied competencies. Data Analysis. The theoretical findings on analyzing the speech act of apology were used to generate the coding scheme for analysis; Chang (2010) consulted a professional in the sphere of coding, thus ensuring the unified coding scheme for speech act evaluation, and ensured the reliability rate of 91%. The discussed coding scheme completely fits the requirements of the present study replicating the one of Change (2010), therefore the same coding scheme will be used; it may be seen in Table 3. Table 3. The Coding Scheme of Apology Strategies of the present study. Source: from Chang (2010), p. 413. Upon coding the data, the researcher intended to conduct similar analysis procedures as those ones applied by Chang (2010) – the frequency of apology strategies usage, and the content of strategies used by respondents. To assist the first data analysis task, all apology strategies were grouped into ‘IFID’ and ‘Adjunct’ categories, according to the pattern utilized by Rose (2000). Frequency of each strategy’s usag e was calculated on the background of the whole number of strategies used by all respondents in all situations. Secondly, the frequency of each strategy’s occurrence in the responses of each participant was counted to identify the most frequent and widespread apologies. Finally, the number of apologies used as well as the number of strategies used in general by category was calculated to generate a rating scale of popularity and usage of certain apology strategies by the indicated group of respondents. To answer the second question, the researcher needed to assess the order of each strategy’s usage in certain proposed scenarios. In this case, each scenario was researched for the number of various strategies applied by respondents, with the proper summary of the results on the expansion of apology repertoire with the growing proficiency level. It was necessary to disregard the contextual requirements of the scenario offered for the sake of answering the present research question. Therefore, ignoring the situational context, the variety of strategies was arrived at by using two means also borrowed from the study of Rose (2000) – first of all, the usage of each certain apology was counted across all eight scenarios, with the proper rating scale generation to see the emergence of each strategy in the whole questionnaire context. Secondly, the occurrence of each particular strategy was assessed in each separate scenario, to investigate the patterns of occurrences and to produce relevant inferences on apology usage aimed in the present study. Discussion of Results Frequency of apology strategies. As it has already been mentioned, the approach generated by Rose (2000) and borrowed by Chang (2010) is also applicable for the present study; the apology strategies were broadly divided into two categories, IFIDs and adjuncts, to calculate and compare their usage in all scenarios disregarding the context. The analysis of coded qualitative data showed t hat the number of IFIDs used is really high (66; 28.4%) as compared to any other apology used. However, it is also evident that adjuncts are used by the present group of respondents are also varied, and they are utilized in multiple contexts, with the most popular ones being the intensifier, repair offering, and concern (13.3%, 12% and 10.4% respectively). This finding supports the conclusion of Chang (2010) that students with higher proficiency levels employ many more adjuncts in their expression of an apology than smaller children and people with lower proficiency levels do. It is hard to say whether the usage of the discussed adjuncts is influenced by the contextual specificity of scenarios, since no tendency of such kind could be observed, as one can see in Table 4. Table 4 also shows the distribution of each strategy in each given scenario, giving the figures from 6 to 12 strategies applied in each scenario. The figures 6 and 7 prevail in the majority of scenarios, leaving only scenarios 4 and 5 with the largest number of apologies invented by the respondents. Scenario 6 shows the implementation of 8 various strategies, which implies that it is the third most diverse situation for respondents to make an apology. Though the results are not the direct breakthrough in the number of apologies investigated by Chang (2010) and showing that high school students gave from 8 to 14 different apologies in each scenario as compared to schoolchildren of the 3rd grade who stopped at 8 strategies in scenario 8 being the most diverse in responses, it is still clear that the evolution of apology implementation is in place. The present finding may be derived from the fact that the respondents with higher proficiency levels managed to use from 3 to 5 strategies to respond to each scenario, which implies a certain measure of progress in self-expression. However, as it has already been mentioned, the IFID type of apology has been detected as the most frequently emerging react ion, which is consistent with the findings of Chang (2010) stating that IFIDs were dominant in all grades researched, and were used indiscriminately often by representatives of each focus group. The fact that they are common for all groups investigated by Chang (2010 and in the present study presupposes the universality and the first apology coming to mind to all L2 learners (which is also natural for native speakers as well). However, the correlation of the 1st IFID â€Å"I am sorry† or â€Å"Sorry† met 63 times in the responses with only 3 occurrences of the 2nd IFID â€Å"Please forgive me† also draws a parallel with the former research of Chang (2010) indicating it to be rare and practically non-occurring in the written and oral practice. Table 4. Comparison of the use of apology strategies in eight scenarios. Reaction/ Strategy Scenario1 Sc.2 Sc.3 Sc.4 Sc.5 Sc.6 Sc.7 Sc.8 Total IFID Regret/ Apology 8 6 5 7 10 9 9 9 63 Forgiveness 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 Admission of fact 9 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 17 Blame 4 2 1 1 0 2 0 0 10 Lack of Intent 0 0 2 3 1 0 2 2 10 Acknowledgment 0 1 2 3 3 2 0 0 11 Intensifier 8 4 0 1 4 3 6 6 32 Repair 10 10 2 1 1 3 2 0 29 Forbearance 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Concern 0 0 1 2 2 0 10 10 25 Explanation 0 1 2 1 1 7 0 2 14 Minimize 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 1 7 Justification 0 0 1 2 2 2 1 2 10 Alerter 0 2 2 2 2 0 1 0 9 Total no. of strat. 41/6 32/7 18/9 27/12 30/11 30/8 31/7 32/7 241 Proceeding to the discussion of adjuncts, one has to note that they are surely both proficiency and situational, since the inventory of apologies used in the scenarios 7 and 8, as compared to the scenarios 1 and 2, will be completely different for all group members disregarding their proficiency level. Thus, for example, the most commonly met strategy for the scenario 7 and 8 is concern for the bumped person, with the majority of respondents showing equal concern for the elderly person and the close friend. The present study provides further evidence of this fact because it shows the incidence of concern apologies usage the highest in the 7th and 8th scenarios (10 times in each). Sub-strategies of ‘admission of the fact’ and ‘lack of intent’ were commonly used in the scenarios 1 and 2, which is also consistent with the findings of Chang (2010). The figures 10 and 11 for acknowledgement and lack of intent apologies respectively show that the respondents from the present respondents’ group applied the apology revealing their responsibility for the incident practically in every situation, though not every respondent did that. Intensifier being on the second place after apology and regret shows that the higher proficiency level group often adds intensifiers to the apologies voiced, which is fully consistent with the findings of Chang (2010) stating that the increase of intensifier usage was observed only with higher grades of respondents, being totally unpopular with the 3rd grade s tudents, and being much more common in the 10th grade. Table 5. The comparison of respondents’ usage of various apology strategies. Reaction/ strategy R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 R 5 R 6 R 7 R 8 R 9 R 10 R 11 R 12 IFID Regret/ Apology 0 6 8 5 4 3 7 7 8 7 6 2 Forgiveness 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 Admission of fact 1 2 2 0 1 6 2 3 0 0 4 3 Blame 2 0 3 0 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 1 Lack of Intent 0 1 3 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 Acknowledgment 1 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 Intensifier 2 1 5 4 2 1 2 4 3 5 2 1 Repair 0 2 1 2 3 2 3 6 3 4 2 2 Forbearance 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Concern 2 2 3 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 0 2 Explanation 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 4 2 2 0 1 Minimize 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Justification 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 0 1 0 Alerter 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 Total no. of strat. 12/8 18/8 33/11 16/7 16/8 24/12 23/9 31/9 21/7 21/6 19/7 13/8 The content of the apology strategies. Proceeding to the discussion of the apology content, one needs to note that the regret-apology forms were mostly used in 90% o f situations first, then followed by other categories of apologies; they were used in the forms â€Å"Sorry†, â€Å"I am sorry†, â€Å"I am so sorry†, and â€Å"I am very sorry†. The phrase â€Å"I apologize† was met only twice, which implies the indisputable popularity of â€Å"sorry† and its derivatives in voicing an apology. No misinterpretations were noted in the responses of the discussed sample, with no usage of ‘excuse me’ phrase in the described scenarios. The strategy of ‘admission of the fact’ is used more often in all scenarios by the present group of respondents, which supports the hypothesis of Chang (2010) on the evolutionary usage of apology forms by students with higher proficiency levels. As a matter of fact, admission of the fact is recognized as a more complex form of an apology, hence its more frequent usage supports the idea of the findings arrived at in the present group being a logical support and continuation of Chang’s (2010) research. The ‘lack of intent’ strategy was also used predominantly in the scenarios 1 and 2, as well as 7 and 8. The overwhelming incidence of that strategy’s correct usage supports the idea of the developmental patterns of apology as a speech act of L2 learners. Table 6. Frequency of apologies implemented by respondents in all scenarios. Regret/apology 26.14% Intensifier 13.3% Repair 12% Concern 10.4% Admission of fact 6.27% Explanation 5.8% Acknowledgement 4.56% Blame 4.15% Lack of intent 4.15% Justification 4.15% The innovative apology tool of older groups – emergence of avoidance strategies. The present study revealed an interesting tendency in the responses of the present sample that had not been previously investigated by other researchers. While no rejoinder was available for the usage in the DCT questionnaire generated for the present study, no deviations from the coding scheme wer e expected. However, the incidence of avoidance strategies was viewed in several scenarios applied by 3 respondents. One of the respondents reacted the following way to the scenario 4, when the friend of hers heard her complaining about the poor English she had: â€Å"Sorry, I have to go†. It is a clear avoidance of the need to give apologies. Another situation was observed in the scenario 8: â€Å"Oh, I am so happy to see you that I bumped you. We have to see each other more often!†. It is the strategy of turning the offence into a humorous situation and avoiding saying anything similar to an apology. Scenario 4 also showed several responses similar to assuming that the friend Judy did not understand any of the complaints because her English was really bad, which means that no fault in the situation was detected by respondents. Avoidance of complaints is also widely spread in scenarios 5 and 6, where the respondents voiced their hope that nobody had noticed their abse nce and lateness. 3 respondents stated that in case nobody asked them about lateness, they would just join in and say nothing. Such absence of the wish to apologize may be presupposed by the age of respondents, experience in life and the unwillingness to pose themselves in a weaker position by searching explanations, justifications, and offering repairs. However, another most common strategy used in the same scenario was offering to pay the bill, without even mentioning an apology, which notes the practical attitude to lateness, and the wish to compensate the fault with food and drinks, and not an apology for the offense and lack of respect. Conclusion The present study represents the continuation of research in the field of L2 learners’ communicative competency development research on the example of the speech act of apology. The findings refer to the developmental processes in the apology reflection field of Taiwanese and Chinese L2 learners of moderate to high proficiency levels, and contribute to the findings of Chang (2010) on the expansion and variability of apology strategies applied by various proficiency groups of L2 learners. The study was based on the written DCT data collected from L2 learners in the classroom, taking a step forward in the interlanguage pragmatic development research. The discussion of results obtained in the course of the present study indicates that students extend and enrich their apology strategies, use more complex strategies more readily in various scenarios with the higher proficiency levels of English knowledge. However, the research produced seems rather isolated from the common body of research in the developmental pragmatics, as the necessity to introduce the longitudinal and cross-sectional studies in a combination was repeatedly indicated by researchers and practitioners of the field. Lack of the ability to compare the L2 data with a similar sample of L1 speakers represents the major limitation of the research, thus preventing it from generalizations. Context specificity research is also potentially beneficial for acquiring better understanding of the internal incentives of L2 learners to choose the apology strategies, so it has to be attributed more attention in the future research. References Bataller, R. (2010). Making a Request for a Service in Spanish: Pragmatic Development in the Study Abroad Setting. Foreign Language Annals, Vol. 43, Iss. 1, pp. 160–175. Blum-Kulka, S., Olshtain, E. (1986). Too many words: length of utterance and pragmatic failure. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, no. 8, 165–180. Chang, Y.- F. (2010). ‘I no say you say is boring’: the development of pragmatic competence in L2 apology. Language Sciences, no. 32, pp. 408–424. Cheng, S.W. (2005). An exploratory cross-sectional study of interlanguage pragmatic development of expressions of gratitude by Chinese learners of English. PhD Diss., University of Iowa. Retrieved from htt ps://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/104/ Cohen, A.D. (2004). The interface between interlanguage pragmatics and assessment. Proceedings of the 3rd Annual JALT Pan-SIG Conference. May 22-23, 2004. Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo Keizai University. Rose, K. (2000). An exploratory cross-sectional study of interlanguage pragmatic development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, no. 22, pp. 27–67. Trosborg, A. (1987). Apology strategies in natives/non-natives. Journal of Pragmatics , no. 1, pp. 147–167. Trosborg, A. (1995). Interlanguage Pragmatics: Requests, Complaints, and Apologies. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. This research paper on Pragmatic Development was written and submitted by user Mallory Oneil to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Padre Pio Is Perhaps The Most Well Known Religion Essay Essays

Padre Pio Is Perhaps The Most Well Known Religion Essay Essays Padre Pio Is Perhaps The Most Well Known Religion Essay Essay Padre Pio Is Perhaps The Most Well Known Religion Essay Essay Francesco Forgione was born May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcina, Italy. His parents were Grazio and Maria. He lived with his parents, an older brother Michele, and three younger sisters, Felicita, Pellegrina, and Grazia. Three other kids died in babyhood, including Francesco, for whom Padre Pio was named. The Forgiones were a really spiritual household, and in his place as a immature male child, his religion was nurtured. In his childhood, Francesco s great religion was apparent. He loved to sing anthem and play church in his younger old ages, and consecrated himself to Jesus when he was five. As an grownup, Pio commented that Jesus, Mary, and his guardian angel appeared to him. He besides claimed to hold suffered onslaughts by the Satan. In 1897, Francesco s parents foremost learned of his desire to be a priest. A Capuchin monastic was going to acquire contributions, and Francesco was drawn to the adult male, and told his parents that he wanted to be a mendicant. The Forgiones went to Morcone to inquire if the Capuchins would take their boy. They were interested, but Francesco did non hold the needed instruction, merely holding three old ages of public schooling ( EWTN ) . In order to pay the private coach needed for Francesco, his male parent went to America to work, and during this clip he was confirmed. He completed the instruction demands for the Capuchin order, and at 15 he became a minor Capuchin, and took the name Pio, after the frequenter saint of Pietrelcina, Saint Pius V. He was called Fra, intending brother, until he became a priest. Then on August 10, 1910, the 23 twelvemonth old Fra Pio was ordained a priest by Archbishop Paolo Schinosi. On August 14, he celebrated his first mass. On September 7, 1910, as Padre Pio was praying in the Piana Romana, Jesus and Mary appeared to him and gave him the lesions of Christ, the stigmata. He prayed for God to take away the lesions visibly, but for the agony to remain. God answered his supplications and took the lesions off, until old ages subsequently, when Pope Benedict XV urged all Christians to pray for an terminal to the war. On July 27, Padre Pio offered himself as a victim for the terminal of th e war. Between August 5 -7, he had a vision in which Christ appeared and pierced his side. The experience has been identified as a transverberation or piercing of the bosom bespeaking a brotherhood with God. A few hebdomads subsequently, the same being who appeared to him on August 5 appeared once more. It was the hurt Christ. Padre Pio received the seeable stigmata, the five lesions of Christ, which would remain with him for the balance of his life. The intelligence of the stigmata spread around the universe by early 1919, and legion physicists examined his lesions, though he was non interested. Pio accepted the lesions as a gift from God, but would hold preferred to endure the hurting of Jesus without the universe knowing ( EWTN ) . As said by the Eternal Word Television Network, in the mid-1960s, Padre Pio s wellness began to deteriorate, but he continued to state Mass and receive confessions. On the 50th day of remembrance of the stigmata Padre Pio celebrated Mass, and the following twenty-four hours, he was excessively tired to state Mass or hear confessions. On September 22, he managed to state Mass and people had to fight to hear him. Merely after midnight on September 23, Padre Pio called his higher-up and renewed his vows, and at 2:30a.m. , Padre Pio died a natural decease. On his deathbed, he held the rosary beads, but was excessively weak to state the prayer beads. Harmonizing to Leo s Design, he repeated the names Jesus, Maria until he died, when he opened his eyes really broad and said, I see two female parents! ( Leo s Design ) He is believed to hold meant Mary and his ain female parent. With his last breath, he whispered Maria! so the great mysterious, priest, and saint, Padre Pio, laid his capu t down to rest for the concluding clip, after a life full of enduring and hapless wellness, physical lesions, and marvelous religious lesions. As he had predicted, he lived ill but died healthy, with the stigmata healed and his organic structure in all right status, although cryptically drained of all blood harmonizing to physicians. His feast twenty-four hours is the twenty-four hours of his decease, September 23. Saint Padre Pio was canonized on June 16, 2002, by Pope John Paul I at the terminal of a long procedure that lasted 33 old ages, seven months, and twelve yearss. The canonisation procedure started on November 4, 1968. He was attributed with miracles of mending many people, including immature chidren, being in two topographic points at one clip or going to topographic points in seconds, and his most celebrated Markss, the stigmata ( Discover Catholic Miracles ) . On September 26, 1968, over a 100 thousand people gathered at San Giovanni Rotondo to pay their respects to this holy adult male. He was buried in the crypt prepared for him in the Church of Our Lady of Grace. ( EWTN ) . In his life-time, the great Padre Pio took portion in 100s of multitudes, and did things no other adult male could make. He came from a little state town, and became a really celebrated and well-known priest and saint. He was 81 old ages old when he died.

Law Of Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Law Of Privacy - Essay Example This evaluation fundamentally misses the conceptual approach to tort law advanced by Warren and Brandeis in finding a right to privacy and elaborating some aspects ÃŽ ¿f that right. They did not identify a new tort, but rather a new right that ought to be protected by tort law. That new right in turn was derived from an old right, perhaps a natural right, namely the right to be let alone. In light ÃŽ ¿f these origins, it would have been surprising if the tort protection given to privacy remained confined within the narrow bounds ÃŽ ¿f public disclosure. The very theory ÃŽ ¿f torts upon which privacy was based implied its fluidity. I have sought in the preceding sections to show how Warren and Brandeis viewed tort law as the law defining and protecting rights, and how this view was at odds with other conceptions ÃŽ ¿f tort law that emerged at the end ÃŽ ¿f the nineteenth century and eventually prevailed. Holmess defendant-based instrumentalist vision provided the conceptual foundation ÃŽ ¿f tort law well into the twentieth century. Strict liability largely gave way to negligence, even in such bastions ÃŽ ¿f rights-based thinking as property. The common law, and most particularly the law ÃŽ ¿f torts, became the domain ÃŽ ¿f reasonableness rather than rights. Intentional torts, once the focus ÃŽ ¿f torts, receded to near irrelevance. Indeed, despite occasional manifestations ÃŽ ¿f life, intentional torts have remained in a formal structure much like the writ system from which they are descended. This in essence has been the fate ÃŽ ¿f privacy. Promulgated as part ÃŽ ¿f a jurisprudence ÃŽ ¿f rights, with strong natural law overtones, the privacy tort had no intellectual place in modern tort law. Rights now belong to the language ÃŽ ¿f public law discourse rather than private law discourse. Prossers 1960 article stands as the modern source ÃŽ ¿f the privacy tort. Prossers analysis is a return to the essentials ÃŽ ¿f the writ system that continue to

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Assignment - Essay Example The directors can get an external expert to help in their deliberations (Melbinger 7). The board of directors who are making the executive pay decisions should consist of individuals who are able to reflect diverse viewpoints, but they should be too many. This will enable the directors to consider different options and choose from the best one. The right number of board members in the executive payment committee should also know what is required of them and be ready to do the right thing. They should be afraid to make decisions which touch on the company’s executives, as long as their decisions are in the best interests of the company as a whole (Reda, Reifler and Thatcher 5). The Social Security Act of 1935 was passed during President Roosevelt’s first term as part of his New Deal program. The Act was passed in the back drop of rising poverty and unemployment levels after the Great Depression. The Act was drafted to take care of the needs of those mostly affected by the financial crisis at the time. These people included: the poor, the unemployed, widows, fatherless children and orphans (Attarian 85). According to Attarian, wage and salary workers who were under the age of 65 and employed in commerce and industry sectors within the US were covered in this act. However, domestic workers in private homes, agricultural laborers, casual laborers, ship crew members and officers, Federal Government employees, individuals working in state and local governments, NGO employees and those who were self employed were could not enjoy the benefits of this act

Cause and Effect Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cause and Effect Paper - Essay Example As the demand increased across the spectrum, housing demand was also rising. This led to an inflation of house prices which in turn attracted more and more people to buy houses as investment in property began to be considered as an investment that was bound to yield a good return. Due to the increasing demand in the economy, the US government maintained a low rate of interest so that banks could lend more – and the banks were more than willing to lend to finance this consumer demand as it meant greater profits for them. Statistics suggest that the total loans outstanding for banks increased from 99% of GDP in 2000 to 132% of GDP in 2007. Mortgage loans also saw a similar increase in lending – from 48% of GDP in 2000 to 73% of GDP in 2007 (McKinsey, 2010). During this period, as bank lending increased, the focus of banks began to shift from looking at the fundamentals of lending to looking at volumes and profitability of loans. Therefore, they started lending heavily to subprime borrowers - borrowers with a poor credit rating - and these borrowers were attractive for banks as they could charge a higher rate of interest to these customers. In order to hedge against these risky loans, the banks also started selling Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) which were bonds payable against receipt of housing loan installments. The increasing demand of loans led to an increase in interest rates for lending. As a consequence, financing and refinancing became costlier and loans were no longer easily available to pay installments or to fund further demand. This caused a reduction in demand in the housing sector as well. With a reduced demand, the prices of houses stopped increasing – in fact, they began to fall. Now, subprime borrowers found it increasingly difficult to sustain their installment payments as the value of their assets (house prices) began to run below their liabilities (loans outstanding). This further caused them to default on their payments . This defaulting of payments had two important effects – banks lost the money they had lent and had to write off the loans, and MBS were no longer paying the return they promised to pay. As a result, insurers and investment banks who had promised payments in case of failure of these MBS incurred huge losses. All financial institutions had to suffer these losses and the worst hit were banks like Citibank, insurers like AIG, and investment banks like Lehman Brothers. Due to these losses, consumers lost confidence in several of these financial institution and most banks saw a bank-run – when depositors line up outside banks to demand their deposits. In the end, some of these companies had to shut down, and many other financial institutions had to be bailed out by the US government to keep them running. All of this, led to a severe downturn in the US economy. Another important implication of this downturn was that the credit rating agencies were blamed for not being proac tive and reviewing properly their ratings for the financial companies. This downturn led to companies reducing their costs to stay profitable. They did so by firing their staff and by stopping their recruitment. Consequently, unemployment started to increase in the US economy reaching 9% which led to further lowering of consumer confidence and demand. In order to prevent the situation from getting worse, the central bank reduced its interest rate to near zero level and increased the money supply heavily. However, due to

Nokia vs Apple Case Study

Nokia vs Apple Case Study The Board of Apple iTunes has requested a report that seeks to examine the key macro and micro environmental factors within the music download industry and provide significant information regarding the current threat of Nokia entering the music download market. Also, recent trends should be observed and a strategy has to be developed that will limit Nokias impact and protect Apples market share within Europe. In order to do so, we used significant instruments to analyse the market and we formulated a strategy accordingly. 2.1 Apples Mission Statement: Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to student, educators, creative professionals and condumers arounf the world through its innovative hardware, software and iternet offerings. Apple continious to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the online phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone. 2.2 Apples strategy: Apple inc. is a vertically integrated company, manufacturing and supplying all hardware and software as well as its own operating systems. Apple Inc. chose this strategy so they could retain profit and ensure profit is not lost by financing other companys profit margins. The practice behind this theory is to heavily finance research and development and have have the necessary means of production to cover all areas of the business. Marketing and advertising are also a key component in Apple Inc.s strategy to have a better market position. 2.3 Apples market: To exactly define Apples market is nearly impossible as the company takes part in the multimedia download market by offering a wide range of services like music, ringtones, games, Podcasts and movies (most popular is their iTunes service) as well as having recently entered the mobile phone market with its new iPhone. The multimedia download market is described by Mintel as anything that can be copied from the Internet to a PC, other portable devices (mobile phones, PDA), game consoles or multimedia devices (Mintel, 2007). This includes music, video/television programmes, games, wallpapers, icons and ringtones. For our report we will focus on the music part which is of special interest to the Board of Apple iTunes although some consideration about the whole multimedia download market will have to be done, as Apple provides a variety of multimedia services and a reduction of the market to the music download market might be to narrow sometimes. Apple is not yet part of the mobile download market (unlike Nokia that has entered this market with its new Ovi service and the launch of its N-Series devices) as this market is strictly defined by Mintel as products that are downloaded to a mobile phone, including ongoing subscription purchases or single one-off downloads. These products include icons, wallpaper, ringtones, music, news or video clips, jokes and games. These services are for mobile phones only and similar items downloaded to a PC are excluded (Mintel, 2005) . The mobile phones market is being defined by Mintel as handset manufacturers and network service providers (Mintel, 2007). 3. Overview of the multimedia download market: This overview has been generated on the base of a Mintel report about uploading and downloading in the UK in 2007 and the figures provided only show the UK market. Since it can be assumed that the UK market does not differ dramatically from the Europeen market since network providers, third party providers and mobile manufacturers taking part in this market are accessed through the world wide web and therfore are also being used from Europeen customers, the facts given can be transformed to the Europeen market. The multimedia download market and especially the music download market is a fast changing and fast growing emergent market that is characterised by high fragmentation as more and more players such as mobile phone manufacturers, network- and third party providers enter the market. Market Size and Segmentation: The UK value for the download market in 2006 has increased 179% above 2002 to  £343 million and especially the growth of music downloads is acting as a main driver for the market and is overtaking mobile phone downloads that have been the largest segment of the market in the past. Mintel forecasts further expansion of the market between 2007 and 2009. Market Share: The multimedia download market is a highly fragmented market with many players, that is being dominated by Apple iTunes with nearly 80% market share. Third-party providers like Napster, MonsterMob, iTouch and Zed are also an imporant source of the market, although in the case of mobile downloads network providers are significant too. Key Points of the Internal Market Environment: An increasing desire of consumers to benefit from new technology can clearly be recognized and especially in the music download market, consumer interest has increased due to innovative product launches, such as the Apple iPod. Also, theres a trend for technology devices to blend functions that have been associated with only one product, as recent examples like the Apple iPhone or the freshly announced Google Gphone show. Key Points of the External Market Environment: The current lack of legislation regarding copyright issues, encourages people away from legal download services. A trend being recognized by Mintel is that ad-supported content is getting more and more accepted from customers as they are more willing to download from official sources if the content is free. The Future: Mintel predicts that rather being an add-on downloading will become an activity carried out on most devices. As a result mobile Internet surfing will increasingly become mass market! 4. Key factors to success for Apple: The companys wide and always up-to-date range of downloadable files. The companies fresh and exiting presentation of services and devices that delivers the attitude towards the customer that downloading is fun. Design and fashion have proved highly important for the company, as their products are being regarded as hip and stylish. The ease of use for its products and services. The companys innovative technologies. Strong branding that attracts new customers, keeps older ones and creates additional value. Highly effective advertising Many formal and informal cooperations with big multinational firms 5. PESTEL-Analysis: Economical aspects: Consumers currently feel very safe about their financial situation and about their prosper life. As a result to that, they are willing to spent more in fast moving goods and luxury. However, costs evole to be the most important factor for customers when it comes to purchasing a mobile phone and additional services as well as downloads. Socio-cultural aspects: Theres a trend in the mulimedia download market towards targeting younger consumer groups, since these groups show higher interest in downloading and are less restrictive towards new technologies. Despite this trend Apple have to consider that older consumer groups are usually wealthier than younger people and have more money to spent and it is also important for the furture to meditate that the overall population is growing older. Technical aspects: The wide range of fast changing high-tech/high-quality download possibilities, encourages consumers to download but it also puts more pressure on competing firms, as they have to stay up-to-date with the newest technologies. Considerable developments in the mobile phone market (3G handsets becoming reality and expanded features available to the customer) will push the multimedia download market into new spheres and will open up great opportunities for Apple. Still, since Apple is taking part in a highly competitive market with new technologies arising and changing in a very fast rate product-life-cycles are short and companies have to invest strongly in RD in order to stay competitive and to fullfil the market demand. Legal aspects: Issues of copyrights and illegal downloads greatly affect the music download industry and are a major problem for active legal providers. A former lack of legislation in this area has encouraged consumers away from commercial downloading services and as a response to this, new technologies have been introduced that protect the copyright of owners and prevent customers to download and share files illegaly. Digital Rights Managment (DRM) was created to controll the number of copies that can be made from a download and although for the music industry there are many positive aspects to DRM, there are surely as many negative for the consumer. Therefore, some companies have already planned to open big portals on DRM-Free tracks, that will legally enable the consumer to download files without being limited to a certain number of computers, portable digital devices and CD burns for a reaonable price. Moreover DRM-Free tracks can be played on any MP3 capable device! Although Ap ple has already updated its offer with DRM-Free tracks, the choice for customers is still very limited, as Apple could only strike deals with EMI that allow them to offer DRM-Free tracks. Also, Apples DRM-Free tracks are more expensive than those of its competitiors which could become a major problem in the future, if the company doesnt adapt its pricing to the market. 6. Porters 5 Forces: Substitute products: A substitute product is not a direct alternative to the product a company is selling. For example, the new Sony Walkman media player is not a substitute for the iPod Touch, it is a competitor. However, a personal CD player or MP3 player could be if certain aspects of the market were to change, e.g. price and there was a high elasticity of demand. In the case of iTunes, with music there is a wide range of options for buying music and therefore are many substitutes within the music industry, for example tapes, CDs, vinyl and DVDs. All of these are easily accessible and just as convenient as downloading from the internet. The benefit which iTunes has is that you do not have to buy whole albums; you can download songs individually and at a fraction of the cost of a single song on another format. Also you are able to buy movies, TV shows, audio books and Podcasts, all available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Reports by Mintel have shown that sale price and the volume of sales is falling for non digital media, consequently as a result of internet downloading. Album sales are in dramatic decline; largely due to a boost in single downloads. High definition gaming and music channels have also deflected consumers away from buying into the music industry. However, for the future, it is likely that technological innovation will replace popular digital mediums and formats but we asume that this is not a very big threat for Apple, as the company has proved to always be up-to-date with the newest technologie and will do so in the future. The Threat of new Entrants: Already, there are hundreds of media downloading sites available to use on the internet. Some are legal and some are not. It is more difficult to block and put barriers up for illegal entrants into the market because they are not abiding by the law and therefore do not have patents, licences or the rights to distribute media, but still do. With legitimate start up companies, there are capital requirements, possible patents licences to obtain and ultimately the prospect of competing with already well established and reputable companies such as iTunes. Mintel predicts that there will be an influx of new companies willing to invest in the online downloading industry. A big threat for Apple constitutes the entrance of Amazon into the market. The company announced the launch of a new music download portal that offers a wide range of DRM-Free tracks to a reasonable price. Since there are many advantages to DRM-Free tracks, like the fact that users can legaly co py the files without being restricted to a certain number of copies, consumers are expected to highly welcome the new download store. Apple has to be aware of the fact, that it could loose both new and old customers by restricting them to Digital Rights Management tracks that can only be played on Apples iPod and not on any MP3 capable device, as it is the case with Amazon. Another threat of new entrants Apple has to face is, that the download industry is likely to change towards add-driven downloads, which means that customers wont have to pay for their downloads if they agree to watching adds. Google will launch its own mobile phone, the G-Phone. Googles strategy is to give its services for free to customers and than sell adds to pay for them. Apart from that, Nokias launch of the new Ovi Store together with its new N-Series will be the greates threat of new entrance as it will allow customers to directly download files to their mobile which Apples iPhone currently doesnt do. Bargaining Power Of Customers: Due to the vast range of direct alternatives and substitutes, iTunes needs to price competitively as well as maintaining reputation and range availability. Consumers are easily swayed to alternative products, especially the ease and free use of illegal downloading sites and therefore need to be drawn in to using legal downloading sites like iTunes. Consumers have great power due to their ability to buy from any one competitor in the music industry and can therefore potentially dictate prices by constantly buying from the cheapest company, thus forcing competitors to reduce prices. Obviously one customer would not make a difference, but collectively customers are strong. As for the Apple iPhone, it has to be considered that network providers have great power over the company, as they could decide not to sell the iPhone or put pressure on the company that forces them to pay a certain amount of their revenues to the provider. At the moment, Apple has rest ricted itself to one provider, O2, and therefore greatly depends on them selling the iPhone but this will surely change over time. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Similarly to bargaining power of customers, there is the bargaining power of suppliers. iTunes have to submit to the requirements of the consumer market to be competitive, but on the other hand have the ability to bargain with their suppliers due to the size and reputation of the company, thus they are a supplier and a customer. Due to the volume of sales that iTunes have, it would be foolish for companies such as SonyBMG, Universal, Warner and EMI to not compromise on the costs and rights to distribute their music, as their success in the music download market highly depends on the successful distribution of their music, mainly through Apple. This fact clearly limits the bargaining power of suppliers to a certain degree, although Apple has to consider that without their music iTunes could not function as efficiently as the market demands. Therefore a compromise must arise that suits both companies, a possible agreement could be initial fees plus percen tage of sales. Intensity of Rivalry: Although the amount of companies operating in the music download market is pretty high, Apple is the clear market leader. Still the multimedia download market is a market in its growth phase with fast changing technologies and many new companies entering the market. At the moment, it seems very unlikely that a company could seriously threaten Apples market position but the company has to be aware of the fact that there are other big multinational companies trying to enter the market with new technologies and ways of offering their services. 7. The Industry Life Cycle: The multimedia download market is a market in its growth phase that is being stimulated by an increasing desire of customers to benefit from multimedia technology and services. Technical innovations are leading to an increasing number of consumers seeking to interact through the internet and to download their music. The market value of the music download market has shown very strong and is going to rise even more in the future as customers familiarise themselves more and more with the internet and are increasingly aware of innovative technologies. Especially the youth segment pays great interest to the digital download of music and holds out good prospects for long-term growth. At the same time more and more firms are entering the music download market and prices for technology and services are expected to fall. Add-driven content services and the entrance of firms offering download services from online portals directly to the mobile will bring new perspectives into the market and co nstitute a threat and a opportunity at the same time. 8. Four Links Model Lynch: Informal co-operative links: Google: There are many informal ties that form the alliance between Google and iTunes. The reasoning for the alliance has long been speculated and many believe it is to overthrow the dominant leader in the market; Microsoft. With Google developing an Office type package and Apple inc. already having an operating system well established, an alliance could be the key to outsmarting Microsoft and decrease their market share. The main features that form the alliance are as follows: Google currently have a video application that has been made available for users to browse freely but cannot download from. Therefore a link to the iTunes website where consumers can download the video can be made available. The link is perfect because customers can view on Google Video and then download from iTunes if they wish. iTunes can be integrated into the Google toolbar or software pack. Also, Google have a sponsored search for the iTunes website where users are directed to the iTunes website and a sma ll fee is provided to Google from the company for the service. CEO of Google Eric Schmidt is currently sitting on the board of Directors for Apple inc. due to the past possible development of the Google iPhone, but this development never really took off. However, he has said recently that Apple and Google are doing more and more things together and there is a possible tablet style personal computer on the horizon. We have similar goals and similar competitors. Though there is no formal agreement or alliance yet. Starbucks: Currently only available in the USA, when in a Starbucks Coffee Shop, any iPod touch, iPhone or PC with iTunes on can connect to the iTunes website for free. There is a Starbucks option on the webpage that can allow you to see the current song that is playing and also the last 10 tracks played. Songs can be previewed and downloaded and will automatically sync to your PC when next connected. This is convenient for the customer and benefits both Starbucks and Apple. Formal co-operative links: Nike: Bringing sports and music together, Apple and Nike have produced the Nike+iPod which is designed to give the ultimate workout experience. In order to benefit from this, the customer must own a pair of Nike+ trainers (Nike+Air Zoom Moire), an iPod and the Nike+iPod sport kit which is what connects the trainers to the iPod. It is connected via wireless receivers. The idea was realised when Apple CEO Steve Jobs conducted research that showed 50% of the 50 million who bought iPods last year used them during a workout. Both companies define their core markets by lifestyle, (Kraft, 2006). Nikes target audience a sports culture and for Apples target audience it is the creativity culture. Both have come together to create a new profile, thus being the lifestyle and technology that has founded the partnership. The two huge brands have come together to create a fusion brand that will attract massive attention. Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola and iTunes teamed up to promote the release of a coke branded music website that had iTunes services integrated into the website. The website would be available across Europe and allow viewers to see the latest up and coming artists and to download podcasts from iTunes. Were excited to announce this partnership with AppleTogether we are creating a unique and exciting platform that gives young people a voice and allows them to refresh their music experience every day. (Dominique Reiniche, president of Coca-Cola European Union Group, 2006) 70 million free songs would be downloaded from iTunes in the promotion due to special codes printed on coke bottles. The strategic decision was made by Coca-Cola to join with iTunes because of the failure of its own digital downloading website MyCokeMusic, which lost out to iTunes quite badly. The alliance means that Coca-Cola can sell music but it is only iPod compatible due to DRM restrictive measures. Network Operators:Apples strategy was potentially to play the network operators off each other to ensure they got the best deal possible. Apple decided to go for the biggest operators in each of the countrys that they were supplying the phone in: UK O2; France Orange; Germany T-Mobile. O2 secured their deal by offering 40% of any revenues made from the iPhone and possibly more in commission and other areas. The tactics employed have left Apple highly unfavourable with other Network operators. (Wray, 2007) Complementors: It is the complementors who add the value to a company without there actually being agreements or strict negotiations. Companies such as SonyBMG, EMI, Universal and Warner all benefit iTunes because obviously if it wasnt for these companies iTunes would not function as well as it does and would not generate anywhere near the amount of money that it currently does. Ultimately, Steve Jobs listened to the concerns that music companies had regarding illegal downloading, piracy etc. He came up with the idea for iTunes and this was basically an external source for music companies to make money in the digital downloading industry with minimal effort. It wasnt strictly a way of how it would help Apple, but how it would help the music producers and the industry. Therefore the collaboration of iTunes with the big players in the music industry complemented each other. 9. SWOT-Analyses: Strengths: Apple is the clear market leader in the music downloadand steady financial performance. Revenues have grown from $5,742 million in 2002 to $19,315 million in 2006 and the companys net profit has increased from $65 million in 2002 to $1,989 million in 2006 (Datamonitor, 2007). Steady financial growth shows the good financial state of the company and builds the base for future growth and expansion. Also, the company has a very strong branding and enjoys a high level of brand recognition and brand awarness that allows the company to differentiate its offers and stimulate sales. Another strengths of the company is defined by its successful distribution of the iPod and its software iTunes. With every iPod sold, the consumer automaticaly installs iTunes on his pc, as it is only possible to download music from Apples original software to an iPod. Moreover, Apple procucts are being considered as hip, stylish and fashionable which is increasingly becoming important for consumers. F urthermore, Apple devices and software attract customers for their convinience, their ease of use and for always being up-to-date with the newest technology. Apple has also collaborated with large brand companies like Nike, Starbucks, CocaCola and Google,which has had beneficial impacts on both Apple and their partners and has created a new profile, e.g. linking sports and music culture. Weaknesses: First off all there is to say that although the interconnection between the iPod/iPhone and iTunes has been a key factor to Apples success this restriction could become a problem in the future, as more and more customers are looking for devices and online portals that allow them to download MP3s to any MP3 capable device. Moreover, Apple has only a very limited offer of DRM-Free tracks on iTunes, which can be defined as a strong weakness since an increasing number of customers fancy DRM-Free downloads. Another weakness for Apple lies in its pricing, especially for its iPhone. A Mintel research about the mobile phone market in the UK defined pricing and costs to be the most important factor when it comes to purchasing a phone (Mintel, 2007). Also, the iPhone currently doesnt allow the costumer to directly download files to the mobile, which, compared to the new Nokia N-Series, is a enormous weakness, since it could prevent customers to buy the Apple device and go for the N okia handset instead. This could lead to a loss of Apples market share to its competitor Nokia. Also, technically, the iPhone isnt quiet as good as its competitor the Nokia N95, as it runs on a slower mobile data service and comes only with a 2 Megapixel camera. Another weakness for Apple is, that theyve only chosen one operator in each country where the iPhone is available and thus has restricted the consumers choice of network operators. Threats: The comanys biggest threat probably constitutes the entrance of Nokia into the digital download market. By providing the opportunity to directly download files to a handset device, Nokia could gain some of Apples a market share in the digital download market, since customers are increasingly fancying mobile downloads that dont restrict them to a bulky pc or laptop. The mobile download market is one of the most opportunity-rich markets the world has ever seen, as Nokias Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo states (Halper,2007), and if Apple doesnt catch up fast on this opportunity it is running risk to loose its superiour market position to Nokia. Another threat for Apple constitutes the launch of online portals that are specialized in marketing DRM-Free tracks. More and more customers are looking for music that doesnt restrict them to a certain number of copies or to a special device as it is the case with iTunes and the iPod. Although Apple is currently trying to improve it s choice of DRM-Free tracks, it still lacks the greater choice and lower price of companies such as Amazon which could lead to custmers switching over from Apple to those in terms of DRM more convinincing sites. Also the threat of illegal download sites would have an negative impact, due to the availability of free digital content that could sway customers away from Apples iTunes. Opportunities: Although currently especially the youth customer segment is seen as the major target group for downloading, as these customers seem to be less restrictive towards new technologies, providing more substantial and sophisticated products and services for older and wealthier people could proof very profitable for Apple. With the launch of its iPhone Apple has already done an important move into the mobile phone market that might allow the company to challenge its biggest threat Nokia on their home market. As more and more customers are increasingly becoming aware of innovative techologies and of the benefits arising out of Internet downloading Apple should now take advantage of the great opportunities arising from the fast growing mobile phone download market by making its services directly downloadable to its iPhone as its rival Nokia has already done. Also, the upcoming change in the digital download industry towards ad-supported content could be an opportunity for Apple , if the company manages to strike advertising deals with companies that allow Apple to offer services for free to customers who agree to watching ads. This could bring a whole new bunch of customers to the company. Although these customers wont have to pay for the add-supported services, they will probably buy an iPod or an iPhone or another Apple hardware device. 10. 1 About Nokia: Although having its origins in the wood-pulp industry the finnish handset manufacturer Nokia has become a global leader in the manufacturing of mobiles and mobile networks and is now the market leader in the mobile phone market with 36% of the worlds market share. In 2006 the company sold 290 million units and therefore it sells more phones than its three nearest competitors combined. More recently the company has made a move into the mobile download market, which was considered by Nokias president and chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo to be one of the opportunity- rich markets of all time (Fildes, 2007), by launching its new multimedia online portal Ovi, which consists of the three components Nokia Music Store, N-Gage Service and Nokia Maps and acts as gateway for consumers to Nokia services. The company has done this as an answer to the announcement of Apple that it would launch a new iphone and therefore enter the mobile phone market, which constitutes a serious threat to the f innish handset manufacturer in its home market. Nokia is now going from a purely hardware-driven company to the service sector and is becoming a player in the multimedia solutions market. 10.2 Nokias Mission Statement: Nokia focuses on bringing people together by providing consumers with human technology that fulfills peoples need to communicate and share. Nokia aims to provide technology that is intuitive, beautiful and a joy to use. The companys strategy relies on growing, transforming and building its business to ensure its future success and it sees the internet as its main quest, due to the continously changing communications industry with the internet at the center of this transformation. The companys vision is a world where everyone can be connected. 10.3 Nokias new N-Series compared to Apples iPhone: Nokia has launched its new N-Series which consists of the totally new N81 device and an upgrated version of its flagship N95. The N81 is a music-orienated handset which enabels the consumer to directly download songs from the Nokia Music Store to the mobile. This opportunity makes the handset superior to Apples new Iphone as consumers no longer rely on a PC or iPod but can directly download their files to the mobile. The N81 has a 8GB memory with the capacity to store 6000 music tracks, which is about the same as the new Iphone, and it uses a 3G connectivity. The Apple iPhone uses a slow mobile data service called EDGE and that makes it about four times slower than the N81. The new N81 will cost about EUR 360 and is therefore slightly cheaper than the Apple iPhone which comes about EUR 399. The upgrated version of Nokias flagship N95 is being marketed as a multimedia device and could take on the highly praised iPhone. It comes with 8 GB of storage, a 2.8 inch screen and 3G connectivi ty and will feature a 5 Megapixel camera, which is a lot, compared to the rather dissapointing 2 Megapixel camera of the iPhone. The N95 costs about EUR 419 and is therefor sligthly more expensive than the iPhone. Technically the Nokia N-series appears to be better than the Apple iPhone since it offers a faster connectivity and a better camera but what makes it really superior to the iPhone is the fact, that the consumer can download files from the Nokia Music Store directly to the mobile. Still the highly anticipated iPhone looks more fashionable and its got the greater consumer attention since many costumers are already familiar with the Apple iPod and Apple iTunes and cant wait for the

How the Media Distorts Male Self-Perception Essay -- Exploratory Essay

How the Media Distorts Male Self-Perception Women are insecure. They constantly diet and scrutinize their bodies. They fall victims to the anorexically thin models appearing in the media. Why do men have it so easy? For years these questions are what women asked themselves. In a world where appearance is everything, women have been the main source of all the hype concerning the image and body. Advertisements have been criticized for years about putting the pressures of the â€Å"perfect† body into the heads of millions of women. Up until a few years ago, it was believed that only women had the eyes of society on them. Now the scales are balancing. More men are beginning to feel pressured, by the same society, to have a muscular body and to portray a perfect male image. However, some men are taking this pressure to the extremes. The media is having a negative effect on the way men view their bodies making them feel as if they need to look like the models shown, which can often result in muscle dysm orphia. Through exposure to the media, primarily advertisements and movies, the physical appearance of the male body has drastically changed, from barely seeing the torso to men in their briefs. In past decades, the male body was portrayed in a â€Å"rugged† sort of way (Luciano 4). It didn’t matter how many muscles the man had or the degree of atonement, but the way that the man carried himself. He was his own seller in a busy market. If he wanted to appear tough and manly, the way he presented and carried himself would make all the difference. For example, in the first two Rocky films, Rocky, played by Sylvester Stallone, is â€Å"beefy† yet buff (Law). He is the idol of women portrayed as ... ...s in Magazines.† Journal and Mass Communication Quarterly. Autumn 2002: 697-711. ABI/INFORM Global. Proquest Horn Lib., Babson Park, MA. 11 Feb.. 2003 . Luciano, Lynne. Looking Good: Male Body Image in Modern America. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001. Olivardia, Roberto. â€Å"Muscle Dysmorphia in Male Weightlifter: A Case Control Study.† American Journal of Psychiatry. Aug 2000: 1291-6. ABI/INFORM Global. Proquest Horn Lib., Babson Park, MA. 11 Feb 2003 . Pope, H.G.. â€Å"Muscle Dysmorphia: a New Syndrome in Weightlifter.† British Journal Of Sports Medicine. Oct. 2002: 375-8 Expanded Academic ASAP. Infotrac. Horn Lib., Babson Park, MA 11 Feb 2003

Burmese Days: an Example of Imperialism

Burmese Days: An Example of Imperialism Nineteenth century industrialization brought new riches and power to Western Europe, driving the expansion of opportunities and the building of empires in undeveloped territories. Although the developed countries brought many modern technologies to under-developed nations, they also brought fierce racism and European arrogance. Burmese Days by George Orwell was written in 1834 as a satirical view of English imperial life in Burma. Orwell provides a realistic observation of the arrogance the English demonstrated towards the natives and how they justified their actions. Europeans brought many new technologies to the countries that they imperialized. They built railroads and other types of infrastructure, and they brought new technology in weaponry and manufacturing. However, it seems that their extreme arrogance had the most impact on the native people. Cecil Rhoads epitomizes the attitude of all Europeans when he says â€Å"I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is† (Hunt et al 802). Although Orwell’s characters in Burmese Days are English, the attitude was not exclusive to the English. Hunt et al discusses how King Leopold of Belgium claimed the Congo region of central Africa â€Å"inflicting on local Africans unparalleled acts of cruelty† (801). The fact that the Europeans thought themselves superior to all other races seems to give them permission to treat the native people in any manner they choose. Ellis is an example of an extreme racist in Orwell’s work. Ellis is a member of the European Club, a manager at the timber company, and is the most outspoken and obviously racist character in the novel. He spews forth a diatribe of foul language and name calling directed towards the Burmese people at every opportunity. No one can reason with him or change his attitude, as he is completely blind to any endearing qualities of the native people. He is very resentful of Flory, the protagonist, who has an affection for the Burmese and who considers Burma his home. Although Flory has a fondness towards the Burmese people, he still considers himself superior to them which is especially demonstrated through his interactions his Mistress, Ma Hla May. On the day he meets Elizabeth, when Ma Hla May shows up he tells her â€Å"Go away this instant. If you make any trouble I will afterwards take a bamboo and beat you till not one of your ribs is whole† (Orwell 87). It is doubtful that he would carry through with the beating, but the threat demonstrates his feeling of superiority. The attitudes of the English are wrong, but perhaps understandable. They assume that because the Burmese are not educated in the same manner as the English, they are not as intelligent. Since the country is not industrialized they have no ambition. Since they are mild mannered and do not fight the English (who have guns), they have surrendered to their natural place in society. Since their skin is brown instead of white, they are not beautiful. One must question how history would change if the Europeans of the 19th century and all people up to today would choose to learn and understand the cultures of others rather than pass judgments and make assumptions. Just as struggles between the upper and lower class were born from a lack of understanding for the other man’s condition in the early days of industrialization, the same is true for the times of imperialism. The English in Burmese Days have taken control of the area with no consideration to the plight of the native people. They are stronger and in their own world they are smarter. The strong dominate the weak, and the weak have no choice but to submit. One can be hopeful that strong societies will learn the rewards of building others up through education and sharing rather than tearing others down through dominance and discrimination. In the end, Burmese Days is a sad story. The protagonist, John Flory commits suicide over the loss of the woman he loves. However, the saddest part of the story is that the English never really discover the error of their superior attitude. Although these are fictional characters, it is clear that they will go through life with their self-righteous attitudes, and will never know what the Burmese can teach them. They have convinced themselves so thoroughly that their actions are justified; there is no hope for change for them, but there is still hope for us. Work Cited Hunt, Lynn et al. The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures. Boston. Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2007. Orwell, George. Burmese Days. New York. Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. 1950.