Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Charles Dickens & Oliver Twist Essay
Oliver is mistreated by the Sowerberrys and after having a fight with Noah Claypole he runs away to the dangerous place London, no place for young orphans like Oliver. It was a dangerous place because young orphans had no chance of surviving in the large city. A lot of intoxicated men and drug addicts were out in the open lose to do as they pleased, Oliver could have also got molested. On one of Jack Dawkins travels also known as the Artful Doger an employee of Fagin he caught his eye on Oliver. He takes Oliver to meet one of the worst characters Fagin. Fagin takes in children who are homeless and trains them to pick pocket for him in his den which has other young children living there including the Artful Doger. The Dodgers description is that ââ¬Å"he had about him all the airs and manners of a manâ⬠this suggests that he was not allowed to be a child. He has had to grow up fast, because of what has happened to him in his life. He has been on the streets and had to learn how to survive, which has led to him becoming one of Faginââ¬â¢s boys and making money from other peoples possessions. Fagin is a: criminal and corrupter of young children he teaches them to pick pock for him. The two main corrupt characters in the novel ââ¬Å"Oliver Twistâ⬠are Fagin and Bill Sykes. Faginââ¬â¢s Den isnââ¬â¢t a very clean place and with the area his den is based in, has a lot of thieves and prostitutes roaming around in. This is not a place for young boys it has sick, twisted minded people like Fagin who is a prime example. He corrupts young children and shows them that stealing possessions from others isnââ¬â¢t a crime. Fagin shows Oliver some tricks he uses to make money. Jack and another of Faginââ¬â¢s boys demonstrates to Oliver how the job is done, they pretend to steal a handkerchief and spectacle case from Faginââ¬â¢s pocket without him noticing. Fagin tells Oliver to, ââ¬ËMake ââ¬â¢em your models. ââ¬Ë Fagin wants Oliver to be just like the other boys he asks Oliver ââ¬Å"Youââ¬â¢d like to be able to make pocket-handkerchiefs as easy as Charley Bates, wouldnââ¬â¢t you, my dear? Not knowing the true meaning of what has been showed to him Oliver replies ââ¬Å"very much indeed, if youââ¬â¢ll teach me sirâ⬠Dickens shows us the readers how innocent Oliver was and how corrupt he was too. Fagin tells Oliver his boys must be Oliverââ¬â¢s role models. Bill Sikes is introduced to Oliver and Oliver is sent to do a job with him. Oliver gets caught when trying to break in the house his then shoot and Bill leaves Oliver alone to defend for himself. This is not fair Oliver shouldnââ¬â¢t be treated like this for other peoples needs his treated like a slave. Bill Sikes is corrupt because he takes children to do his jobs for him; he uses and abuses them just like Nancy the prostitute. This is unfair because Oliver is being pushed about and should be treated with respect. Bill isnââ¬â¢t a committed person towards the boys, his selfish, and inconsiderate he was only out for himself. Bill is a violent man and a murderer he has no feelings for anyone. Oliver doesnââ¬â¢t become corrupted because he realizes what Fagin is doing is wrong and causes people to suffer have unbearable feelings. Corruption can happen to anyone especially if youââ¬â¢re young and naive. We learn in this book how unfair and corrupt the society was through Oliver because a young boy was submitted to torture and pain. Corruption is an evil and devious thing that causes abhorrence and misery. England showed this by vital laws being brought in the society, to make people aware of what they were doing was it right or wrong. People were treated as prisoners and they were prohibited to have healthy food and have a spectacular life. If they were filled with self-esteem they would want to carry on, be determined in life and enjoy it; in todayââ¬â¢s society they would be very appreciative.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
A Day in the Life of David M. Foster
A day in the life of David M. Foster begins early. The alarm clocks begin sounding at 0445 Monday morning, even though I donââ¬â¢t get up until almost 0530. I am a deep sleeper and have a hard time waking up. My wife, Sarah, is not a heavy sleeper and is constantly awoken by my myriad of alarm sounds while I attempt to wake up enough to get out of bed. At 0530, I get up, turning off all the alarms so as not to aggravate my wife further. In a face-saving gesture, Sarah says nothing and acts as though she were asleep the entire time.Face-saving behaviors are ââ¬Å"techniques used to salvage a performance (interaction) that is going sourâ⬠(Henslin, 2011, p. 114). Sarah has acted this way so that I donââ¬â¢t feel badly about waking her, even though we both know that my inability to get up quickly irks her each and every morning. I have to catch the bus, so I rapidly get dressed and grab my bag. When I get to the bus stop, there are several people there, but because the tempe rature is so low (about 20 degrees), no one says much. We generally keep to ourselves that early in the morning anyway.I do nod to those who are senior to me in rank and position in the military, as is customary for the services. One is expected to give the ââ¬Å"greeting of the dayâ⬠, basically a ââ¬Å"good morningâ⬠to those who are senior in rank to you. Because I am of a junior rank, even as a seasoned NCO, I play that role. I have been playing that role for more than 15 years at this point and have come to acknowledge that it is part of my self-concept (Henslin, 2011, p114). At 0550, the bus arrives, late as usual. Just as soon as I sit down on the bus, I shoot off a text message to my supervisor, SFC Cooper, letting her know that Iââ¬â¢m on the bus.The reason for this is two-fold. One, accountability formation is at 0630 (the bus ride is 20 minutes, minimum) and two, to let her know that Iââ¬â¢m on the bus and didnââ¬â¢t just oversleep. The US Military ing rains certain standards of action into you as resocialization. Resocialization is ââ¬Å"the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviorsâ⬠(Henslin, 2011, p86). These standards become norms. Norms are ââ¬Å"expectations or rules of behavior that reflect and enforce behaviorâ⬠(Henslin, 2011, p46).One of hese norms is that you must arrive 10 minutes prior to any formation. This is not a more, but a folkway. Not arriving at the appointed time violates a more. A folkway is a ââ¬Å"norm that is not strictly enforcedâ⬠(Henslin, 2011, p49), while a more is a ââ¬Å"norm that is strictly enforced because it is thought essential to core values or to the well-being of the groupâ⬠(Henslin, 2011, p49). At 0615, we arrived at the gate to Patch Barracks, the military Kaserne, or installation. The civilian guard is a Local National, so I greet him with a ââ¬Å"Guten Morgenâ⬠(German for Good Morning).If he had been one of the few American guards, I would have just spoken in English. At 0635, after our accountability formation, I change into my uniform for the day, the Army Combat Uniform. The Uniform helps to indentify the subculture that we all belong to. Each service has itsââ¬â¢ own uniform and itsââ¬â¢ own subculture. A subculture results from ââ¬Å"the values and related behaviors of a group that distinguish its members from the larger cultureâ⬠(Henslin, 2011, p49). The US Military is a subculture of the United States of America and the US Army is a subculture of the US Military.Fast forward to after breakfast, its 0800 and I arrive (ten minutes early) for the Equal Opportunity Leader (EOL) Course that I am attending this week. Here I meet SFC Trussell, the instructor for the course and also the Equal Opportunity Advisor (EOA) for the Stuttgart, Germany area. SFC Trussell is my senior, so I defer to him and address him as ââ¬Å"Sergeantâ⬠, which is in line with our folkways and mores. During the first part of the training today the students are all required to create a ââ¬Å"badgeâ⬠. This is done using a graphic and 5 words to describe your characteristics, list your demographic information, and group affiliations.The point of this exercise is as an ââ¬Å"Ice-breakerâ⬠but also to help others understand how you relate to the world around you. The rest of the day is dry and boring. Having 15 years of experience, most of the course material in the EOL course is not new to me. Sarah has driven down to Patch Barracks and dropped off the car, so I donââ¬â¢t have to catch the bus home tonight. At 1715, I swing by the office and check in with SFC Cooper and answer a few emails to my counterpart at our higher headquarters. Nothing new, mostly routine stuff. At 1740, itââ¬â¢s into the car and off for the 40 minute drive home.Traffic is much worse in the evening than in the morning. I get home at 1820, walk through the front door, and immediately drop everything because here comes Molly. Molly is 4 years old and runs for me as soon as I open the door, yelling ââ¬Å"Daddyââ¬â¢s homeâ⬠! I grab her off the floor and give her hugs and kisses, transitioning from my role as ââ¬Å"Soldierâ⬠to my roles of ââ¬Å"Fatherâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Husbandâ⬠. This goes on with Molly for about 5 minutes before she begins to lose interest (as 4 year olds generally do) and I put her down, giving Sarah a kiss and asking how her day was.Our interaction is not very detailed as we both need time to decompress from our recent role changes. Sarah has gone from mother mode to wife mode as I have just entered the father role and can assist in taking care of the children. About 30 minutes later, dinner is ready and out pops Ellie. Ellie is 13 and regardless of the questions asked, her responses are seldom more than a word or two, ââ¬Å"typicalâ⬠behavior for a teenager. At 1920, dinner is over and itââ¬â¢s washing up time. At this point, everyone dri fts off to do whatever we normally do, sticking with our own routines.I log into my online game, Eve Online, and chat with my friends there. Molly goes back to her ââ¬Å"before bedâ⬠cartoons, Ellie disappears back into her room to do whatever teenagers do in their rooms, and Sarah logs onto her computer to chat with friends on Facebook and read the English newspapers online. I play Eve Online until 2200, the appointed time for my group to play, chatting about work, news, and such while engaging in space combat. At this point itââ¬â¢s time for me to pack my bag again for the next day, preparing to start all over. At 2245, itââ¬â¢s into bed and lights out. Day done!As I typed my Journal, I realized that the majority of my day is consumed by playing the role of Soldier. The structure of the US Military is such that almost every facet of your daily life, from the time you wake up, to the clothes you where, to the way you address people, is determined prior to the situation. Out of a 17 hour day, more than 12 hours of it is consumed by the ââ¬Å"Soldierâ⬠role. Because I have been in the US Military for 15 years, I am fully indoctrinated and invested in this system, whether I realize it or not. I also realized that there is a specific moment when I transition from the Soldier role.Specifically, this is the moment I walk through the door and am ââ¬Å"attackedâ⬠by my youngest daughter. If not for her, I might get ââ¬Å"stuckâ⬠in the Soldier role, unable to do anything else. The importance of keeping this ââ¬Å"Soldierâ⬠role at the forefront every day is simple: it provides the livelihood for me and my family. Without the US Military, and my participation in it, I would be forced to find alternate means to care for my family. I posses skills to do so now, but only because the US Military taught them to me. I was socialized in adulthood in the US Military. A day in my life is likely similar to most.The discerning factor is probab ly the US Military ties, though many of my classmates are also members of a military subculture. The subculture of the US Military dominates my daily life by design. The US Military requires individuals to be prepared to do extraordinary things and so requires a higher level of commitment (and indoctrination) than a job at McDonaldââ¬â¢s might. The role of Soldier is a vast part of ââ¬Å"who I amâ⬠, but I am also ââ¬Å"Fatherâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Husbandâ⬠, as well as ââ¬Å"friendâ⬠, ââ¬Å"coworkerâ⬠, ââ¬Å"peerâ⬠, and ââ¬Å"superiorâ⬠to many, many people. I wouldnââ¬â¢t change a thingâ⬠¦. well, maybe the 0445 alarm clock. Journal All times in 24 hour clock. 8 February 2013 0445Alarm Sounds 0530Get out of Bed without waking wife any more than alarm has already. 0530-0545Dress in US Army Improved Physical Fitness Uniform (IPFU) 0545Grab bag, packed night before, and head to bus-stop.Temperature well below freezing with snow on the ground. N od to others at bus-stop, no one really speaks, too cold. Several of the people at the bus-stop are higher ranking (which is normal). 0550Bus arrives, late as usual. Sent text message to SFC Cooper (Supervisor and Platoon Sergeant) saying ââ¬Å"On the Busâ⬠. 0550-0620Bus ride to Patch Barracks. Pulled hat down and slept (which is also normal). 615Showed ID Card to Gate Guard, said ââ¬Å"Good Morningâ⬠in German since the guard is a German national. 0620Depart bus at second stop and walk to gym for first formation. 0625Drop bag in locker room, head to formation. Make sure supervisor/Platoon Sergeant see that I am present. Get brief for day from Detachment Sergeant (Upcoming events, etc. ). Fall out of formation because I am not doing Physical Training, reminded Platoon Sergeant/Detachment Sergeant that I had EO Course this week. 0635Back into Locker room to change into Army Combat Uniform (ACUââ¬â¢s).0635-0715Shower, Shave, change, etc. 0715Depart Gym to Kantine for br eakfast. 735Arrive Kantine, order eggs, sausage, Brotchen, coffee in German because the cook is a German national that has been working there for a significant period of time. 0740Pay for Breakfast in Euro instead of US Dollars 0750Drop tray and head to Equal Opportunity Leader (EOL) Course across the parking lot. 0800Met SFC Trussell, the instructor and also the Stuttgart Garrison Equal Opportunity Advisor (EOA). 0830During first block of training must complete the ââ¬Å"Badgeâ⬠exercise. Required to use 5 words and a picture to describe characteristics, demographic data, and group affiliation (annotated below).Stood up in front of class of 24 other Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOââ¬â¢s) and explained my ââ¬Å"Badgeâ⬠. I know several of them, some from my Unit and some from other units in the area. Schedule for the class is tight, trying to finish 6 days of training in 5. Keep most of my comments to myself so as not to drag out the class with empty discussion. 0900-11 30Some interaction with classmates, though not much. Itââ¬â¢s day one of the course and we are just getting to know one another, as well as keep up with the fast pace of the rather dry subject matter.Couple of ââ¬Å"smoke breaksâ⬠thrown in, but not on any schedule (Iââ¬â¢m a pack a day habit). 1048Sent ââ¬Å"I Love Youâ⬠text to wife. Got same in response. 1130Break for lunch. Walk to food-court. Lunch at Burger King. Remark to clerk about high prices and how they are similar to US Prices. Had a chicken sandwich, fries, and sweet tea. 1245Head back to class. 1300-1700Instruction resumes, not much deviation from the morning block. 1630Got a text from the wife, car has been left at work for me to take home so I donââ¬â¢t have to ride the bus. Reply with ââ¬Å"Thanks Babeâ⬠1700Class ends, pack up and leave classroom.Speak with SFC Williams (from my unit) briefly about the class and whether or not to go back to office before heading home. 1715Enter office to check email and find SFC Cooper still there (Workday ends at 1700). She asks me about class and I explain that itââ¬â¢s fast paced but dry. I have been in the Army 15 years, I know all of the course material from previous training. Checked email and responded to several requests for information from my counterpart (SFC Stewart) at the level above me (BDE). 1740Log-off computer and go to car. 1745-1820Traffic and drive home.825Enter home, Molly (4) runs to me yelling ââ¬Å"Daddy, Daddy! â⬠. Pick her up and give her a big hug and kiss. She immediately begins telling me about her day, though most of her responses are ââ¬Å"I donââ¬â¢t rememberâ⬠to questions I ask. 1830Put Molly down and kiss wife, ask her how her day was. Response is ââ¬Å"not badâ⬠. She asks how my day was and I respond with ââ¬Å"long and boring. Class is dry. â⬠1830-1845Change into regular clothes. 1845Check personal email, nothing important, mostly spam. 1850Sit down to dinner, eati ng English Shepardââ¬â¢s Pie. Molly complains and Ellie (13) comes out of her room long enough to eat.Try to start conversation and basically get one word answers. Typical Teenager responses. 1920Dinner finished, clear table and rinse dishes. Back onto computer to play. 1930Log in to Eve Online (MMORPG) and greet my ââ¬Å"friendsâ⬠. 4 people who live in the same town are my ââ¬Å"corps matesâ⬠. 1930-2200Rambling conversation about work and Eve, all during co-op play using very expensive (in-game) items to earn massive amounts of in-game currency. 2200ââ¬Å"eve timeâ⬠ends, log off. 2215-2240Pack bag for tomorrow, say good night to wife (who stays up later than me). 2245Lights out and to sleep.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Kahlil Gibran Essay
But Gibran was primarily a poet and a mystic in whom thought, as in every good poet and good mystic, is a state of being rather than a state of mind. A student of Gibranââ¬â¢s philosophy, therefore, finds himself more concerned not with his ideas but with his disposition; not with his theory of love but with Gibran the lover. That Gibran had started his literary career as a Lebanese emigrant in America, passionately yearning for his homeland, twentieth-century and intellectual may, perhaps give a basic clue to his disposition framework. To be an emigrant is to be an alien. But to be an emigrant mystical alienation is added poet is to be thrice alienated. To geographical from both conventional human society at large, and estrangement also the whole world of spatio-temporal existence. Therefore such a poet is gripped by a triple longing: a longing for the country of his birth, for a utopian human society of the imagination in which he can feel at home, and for a higher world of metaphysical truth. This Gibran with the basis for his artistic creatitriple longing provided vity. Its development from one stage of his work to another is only a variation in emphasis and not in kind; three strings of his harp re always to be detected and towards the end of his life they achieve * Al-Majm? ââ¬Ëah al K? milahli Muââ¬â¢allaf? t Gibr? nKhal? lGibr? n,Beirut 1949-50 Sand and Foam, New York 1926 ThePropbet, New York 1923 The Forerunner,New York 1920 Jesus the Sonof Man, New York 1928 The Earth Gods,New York 1931 1 TheProphet, 33. p. 56 almost perfect harmony in his master-piece, The Prophet, where the home country of the prophet Almustafa, the utopian state of human existence and the metaphysical world of higher truth become one and the same. To The Prophet as well as to the rest of Gibranââ¬â¢s works, Music can be considered as a prelude. Published eleven years after Gibranââ¬â¢s emigration to Boston as a youth of eleven, this essay of about thirteen pages marks the authorââ¬â¢s debut into the world of letters. Though entitled Music, this booklet is more of a schoolboyââ¬â¢s prosaic ode to on it. As such, it tells us more music than an objective dissertation about Gibran, the emotional boy, than about his subject. The Gibran it reveals is a flowery sentimentalist who, saturated with a vague sees in music a floating sister-spirit, an ethereal nostalgic sadness, of all that a nostalgic heart is not and yet yearns to be. embodiment of the whole essay, both in style and in spirit, is the Representative following quotation, in which he addresses music: ââ¬Å"Oh you, wine of the heart that uplifts its drinker to the heights of the world of imagination;-you ethereal waves bearing the soulââ¬â¢s phantoms; you sea of sensibility and tenderness; to your waves we lend our soul, and to your uttermost depths we trust our hearts. Carry those hearts away beyond the world of matter and show us what is hidden deep in the world of the unknown. ââ¬Å"ââ¬Ë Between Mztsic of 1905 and The Prophet of 1923, Gibranââ¬â¢s writings as well as his thought seem to have passed through two stages: the youthful period of his early Arabic works, Nymphs of the Wally, Spirits Rebellious, Broken Wings and A Tear and a Smile, published between 1907 and 1914, and the relatively more mature stage of Processions, The Tempests, The Madman, his first work in English, and The Forerunner, his second, all leading up to The Prophet. It is only natural that in his youthful stage Gibranââ¬â¢s longing in Chinatown, Boston, where he first settled, for Lebanon, the country of the first impressionable years of his life, should dominate the two other strings in his harp. Nymphs of the Vallg is a collection of three short stories; Spirits Rebellious consists of another four, while Broken names and Wings can easily pass for a long short story. Overlooking dates, the three books can safely be considered as one volume of eight collected short stories that are similar in both style and conception, even to the point of redundancy; in all of them Lebanon, as the unique 1 See ââ¬Å"al M? ? qaâ⬠al-Majm? ââ¬Ëah in al-K? milah (The Complete Works), vol. I, p. 57. 57 of mystic natural beauty, provides the setting. The different heroes, though their names and situations vary from story to story, are Khalil Gibran in essence one and the same. They are unmistakably the youth himself, who at times does not even bother to conceal his identity, speaking in the first person singular in Broken Wings and as Khalil in ââ¬Å"Khalil the Hereticâ⬠of Spirits Rebellious. This first-person hero is typically to be found challenging pretenders to the possession of the body and soul of his beloved Lebanon. These pretenders in the nineteenth and early twentieth century are, in Gibranââ¬â¢s reckoning, the feudal lords of Lebanese aristocracy and the church order. The stories are therefore almost invariably woven in such a way as to bring Gibran the hero, or a Gibran-modelled hero, into direct conflict with of one or another of those groups. representatives In Broken Wings, Gibran the youth and Salma Karameh fall in love. But the local archbishop frustrates their love by forcibly marrying Salma to his nephew. Thus Gibran finds the opportunity, whilst his love of the virgin beauty of Lebanon, to pour out his singing anger on the church and its hierarchy. In Spirits Rebellious, Iihalil the heretic is expelled from a monastery in Mount Lebanon into a raging winter blizzard, because he was too Christian to be tolerated by the abbot and his fellow monks. Rescued at the last moment by a widow and her beautiful daughter in a Lebanese hamlet and secretly given refuge in their cottage, he soon makes the mother an admirer of his ideals of a primitive anticlerical Christianity and the daughter a disciple and a devoted lover. When he is discovered and captured by the local feudal lord and brought to trial before him as a heretic and an outlaw, he stands among the multitudes of humble Lebanese villagers and tenants and speaks like a Christ at his second coming. Won over by his defence, which he turns into an offensive against the allied despotism of the church and the feudal system, the simple and poverty-stricken villagers rally round him. As a consequence the local lord commits suicide, the priest takes to flight, Khalil marries the daughter of his rescuer, and the whole village lives ever afterwards in a blissful state of natural piety, amity and justice. John the Madmanâ⬠in Nymphs of the Valley is almost a duplicate of Khalil the heretic. Detained with his calves by the abbot and monks of a monastery simply because the calves have intruded on its property, John, the poor calf-keeper, accuses his persecutors and all other men of the church of being the enemies of Christ, the modern pharisees land 58 on the poverty, misery and goodness of the very people prospering like himself in whom Christ abides. ââ¬Å"Come forth again, o living out of your Christ,â⬠he calls, ââ¬Å"and chase these religion-merchants For they have turned those temples into dungeons where the temples. nakes of their cunning and villainy lie coiled. â⬠1 Because he was social order uniinspired with sincere truth under a domineering to sincerity and truth, John was dismissed as a formly antagonistic madman. It is easy to label Gibran in this early stage of his career as a social reformer and a rebel, as he was indeed labelled by many students of his works in the Arab world. His heroes, whose main weapons are their eloquent tongues, are always engaged in struggles that are of a social nature. There are almost invariably three factors here: innocent romantic love, frustrated by a society that subjugates love to worldly selfish interests, a church order that claims wealth, power and absolute authority in the name of Christ but is in fact utterly antichrist, and a ruthlessly inhuman feudal system. However, in spite of the apparent climate of social revolt in his stories Gibran remains far from deserving the title of social reformer. To be a reformer in revolt against something is to be in possession of a positive alternative. But nowhere do Gibranââ¬â¢s heroes strike us as having any real alternative. The alternatives, if any, are nothing but the negation of what the heroes revolt against. Thus their alternative for a corrupt love is no corrupt love, the sort of utopian love that we are made to see in Broken Lf/ings; the alternative for a feudal system is no feudal system, or the kind of systemless society we end up with in Spirits Rebellious; and the alternative for a Christless church is a Christ without any kind of church, madman in the kind of role in which John has found himself. Not being in possession of an alternative, a social reformer in revolt is instantly transformed from a hero into a social misfit. Thus Gibranââ¬â¢s heroes have invariably been heretics, madmen, wanderers, and even prophets and Gods. As such they all Boston, drawn represent Gibran the emigrant misfit in Chinatown, in his imagination and longing to Lebanon, his childhoodââ¬â¢s fairyland, who is not so much concerned w ith the ills that corrupt its society as with the corrupt society that defiles its beauty. What kind of Lebanon Gibran has in mind becomes clearer in a relatively late essay in Arabic, in which his ideal of Lebanon and that of the antagonists whom he portrays in his stories are set against one another. vol. 1 Al-Majm? ââ¬Ëahal-K? mila, I, p. 101. 59 The best that Gibran the rebel could tell those corrupters of Lebanese society in this essay entitled ââ¬Å"You Have Your Lebanon and I have Mineâ⬠is not how to make Lebanon a better society, but how beautiful is Lebanon without any society at all. He writes: ââ¬Å"You have your Lebanon and its problems, and I have my Lebanon and its beauty. You have your Lebanon with all that it has of various interests and concerns, while I have my Lebanon with all that it has of aspirations and dreams â⬠¦ Your Lebanon is a political riddle that time to resolve, while my Lebanon is hills rising in awe and attempts Your Lebanon is ports, industry majesty towards the blue sky â⬠¦ and commerce, while my Lebanon is a far removed idea, a burning emotion, and an ethereal word whispered by earth into the ear of heaven â⬠¦ Your Lebanon is religious sects and parties, while my Lebanon is youngsters climbing rocks, running with rivulets and ball in open squares. Your Lebanon is speeches, lectures and playing while my Lebanon is songs of nightingales, discussions, swaying branches of oak and poplar, and echoes of shepherd flutes reverber1 ating in caves and grottoes. â⬠It is no wonder that this kind of rebel should wind up his so-called social revolt at this stage of his career with the publication of a book of collected prose poems entitled A Tear and a Smile. The tears, which are much more abundant here than the smiles, are those of Gibran the misfit rather than of the rebel in Boston, singing in an exceedingly touching way of his frustrated love and estrangement, his loneliness, homesickness and melancholy. The smiles, on the other hand, are the expression of those hitherto intermittent but now more numerous moments in the life of Gibran the emigrant when the land of mystic beauty, ceases to be a geographical Lebanon, in his imagination into expression, and is gradually metamorphosed a metaphysical After such rudimentary as his homeland. ttempts short story ââ¬Å"The Ash of Generations and the Eternal Fireâ⬠in Nymphs Gibran has of the Valley, expressive of his belief in reincarnation, managed in his prose poems of A Tear and a Smile to give his homesickness a clear platonic twist. His alienation has become that of the human soul entrapped in the foreign world of physical existence, and his homesickness has become the yearning of t he soul so estranged for rehabilitation in the higher world of metaphysical truth whence it has originally descended. It is for this reason that human life is 1 Ibid. , vol. III, pp. 202-203. 60 expressed by a tear and a smile: a tear for the departure and alienation The historic analogy and a smile for the prospect of a home-coming. of the sea in this respect becomes common from now on in Gibranââ¬â¢s writings: rain is the weeping of water that falls over hills and dales from the mother sea, while running brooks sound the estranged ââ¬Å"Such is the soulâ⬠, says Gibran in one of happy song of home-coming. rom the universal soul it takes its his prose poems. ââ¬Å"Separated course in the world of matter passing like a cloud over the mountains of sorrow and the plains of happiness until it is met by the breezes of death, whereby it is brought back to where it originally belongs, to the sea of love and beauty, to god. â⬠1 When Gibranââ¬â¢s homeland, the object of his longing, was Lebanon, his anger was directed against those who in his view had defiled its beauty. But now that his homeland had gradually assumed a metaphysical Platonic meaning, his attack was no longer centred on local influences clergy, church dogma, feudalism and the other corrupting in Lebanon, but rather on the shamefully defiled image that man, the emigrant in the world of physical existence, has made of the world of God, his original homeland. Not only Lebanese society, but rather human society at large has become the main target of Gibranââ¬â¢s the second stage of his career. isgust and bitterness throughout This kind of disgust constitutes the central theme in Gibranââ¬â¢s long Arabic poem Processions of 1919 and his book of collected Arabic essays The Tempests of 1920, his last work in Arabic, as well as in his first two works in English, The Madman of 1918, and The Forerunner of 1920, both of which are collected parables and prose poems. The hero in Gibranââ¬â¢s poetico-fictional title-piece in The Tempests, Youssof al-Fakhry in his cottage among the forbiddi ng mountains, becomes a mystery to the awe-stricken Only to neighbourhood. Gibran the narrator, seeking refuge in the cottage one stormy evening, does he reveal the secret of his heroic silence and seclusion. ââ¬Å"It is a certain awakening in the uttermost depth of the soul,â⬠he says, ââ¬Å"a certain idea which takes a manââ¬â¢s conscience by surprise at a moment and opens his vision whereby he sees life â⬠¦ projecof forgetfulness, ted like a tower of light between earth and infinity. â⬠2 Looking at the rest of men from the tower of life, from his giant God-self which he has so recognized at a rare moment of awakening, Youssof al-Fakhry sees them in their forgetful day-to-day earthly 1 Ibid. vol. II, p. 95. 2 Ibid. , vol. III, p. 111. 61 to existence, at the bottom of the tower. In their placid unwillingness lift their eyes to what is divine in their natures, they appear to him as disgusting pigmies, hypocrites and cowards. ââ¬Å"I have deserted peopleâ⬠, he explains to his guest, ââ¬Å"because I have found myself a wheel turnin g he right among wheels invariably turning left. â⬠ââ¬Å"No, my brother,â⬠adds, ââ¬Å"I have not sought seclusion for prayer or hermitic practices. Rather have I sought it in escape from people and their laws, teachings and customs, from their ideas, noises and wailings. I have sought seclusion so as not to see the faces of men selling their souls to buy with the price thereof what is below their souls in value and honour In ââ¬Å"The Grave-Diggerâ⬠, another poetico-fictional piece in The these men who have sold their souls, and who constitute in Tempests, Gibranââ¬â¢s reckoning the rest of human society, are dismissed as dead, though in the words of the hero, modelled in the lines of Youssof alFakhry, ââ¬Å"finding none to bury them, they remain on the face of the 2 earth in stinking disintegrationâ⬠. The heroââ¬â¢s advice to Gibran the narrator is that for a man who has awakened to his giant God-self the best service he can render society is digging graves. ââ¬Å"From that hour up to the presentâ⬠, Gibran concludes, ââ¬Å"I have been digging graves and burying the dead, but the dead are many and I am alone with nobody to help me. â⬠3 To be the only sane man among fools is to appear as the only fool among sane men. If life, as Youssof al-Fakhry says, is a tower whose bottom is the earth and whose top is the world of the infinite, then to clamour for the infinite in oneââ¬â¢s life is to be considered an outcast and a fool by the rest of men clinging to the bottom of the tower. This is first English work, The precisely how the Madman in Gibranââ¬â¢s his title. His masks stolen, he was walking naked, as Madman, gained every traveller from the physical to the metaphysical is bound to be. Seeing his nakedness, someone on a house-top cried: ââ¬Å"He is a madman. Looking up, the sun, his higher self, kissed his naked face for the first time. He fell in love with the sun and wanted his masks, his no longer. Thereafter he was always physical and social attachments, known as the Madman, and as a madman he was at war against human society. Processions, Gibranââ¬â¢s long poem in Arabic, is a dialogue between two voices. Upon close analysis, the two voices seem to belong to one and 1 Ibid. , vol. III, 106. p. 2 Ibid. , vol. III, p. 11. 3 Ibid. , vol. III, 15. p. 62 the same man: another of those Gibranian madmen, or men who have become Gods unto themselves. This man would at one time cast his at people living at the bottom of the tower, and eyes downwards raise his voice in derision and sarcasm, poking fun at consequently their unreality, satirizing their Gods, creeds and practices, and ridiculing their values, ever doomed, blind as they are, to be at loggerheads. At another instant he would turn his eyes to his own sublime world beyond good and evil, where dualities interpenetrate giving way to unity, and then he would raise his voice in praise of life absolute and universal. is to achieve serenity and peace. That To achieve self-fulfilment Gibran and his heroes are still mad Gods, grave-diggers and enemies of mankind, filled with bitterness despite their claim of having arrived at the summit of lifeââ¬â¢s tower, reveals that Gibranââ¬â¢s self-fulfilment this second stage of his work is still a matter of wishful throughout rather than an accomplished fact. Too thinking and make-believe with his own painful loneliness in his transcendental preoccupied quest, Gibran the madman or superman, it seems, has failed hitherto at the summit, but also to not only to feel the joy of self-realization recognize the ragedy of his fellow-men supposedly lost in the mire instead of love and compassion, down below. Consequently people could only inspire in him bitterness and disgust. The stage of anger and disgust was succeeded in Gibranââ¬â¢s development by a third stage, that of The Prophet, his chef dââ¬â¢? tlvre, Jesus the Son of Man and The Earth Gods. The link is to be found in The Forerun ner of 1920, his book of collected poems and parables. To believe, as Gibran did, that life is a tower whose base is earth and whose summit is the infinite is also to believe that life is one and indivisible. For the man on top of lifeââ¬â¢s tower to reject those who are beneath, as Gibran had been doing up to this point, is to undermine his own height and become lower than the lowest he rejects. Thus one of Gibranââ¬â¢s poems in The Forerunner says, as though in atonement for all his Nietzschean revolt: ââ¬Å"Too young am I and too outraged to be my freer self. ââ¬Å"And how shall I become my freer self unless I slay my burdened selves, or unless all men become free? â⬠â⬠¦ How shall the eagle in me soar against the sun until my fledglings leave the nest which I with my own beak have built for them. 1 1 TheForerunner,p. 7. 63 Gibranââ¬â¢s belief in the unity of life, which has hitherto made only and at times confused appearances in his writings, has intermittent now become, with all its implications with regard to human life and conduct, the prevailing theme of the rest of his works. If life is one and infinite, then man is the infinite in embryo, just as a seed is in itself the whole tree in embryo. ââ¬Å"Every seedâ⬠, says Gibran in one of his later works, ââ¬Å"is a longing. 1 This longing is presumably the longing of the tree in the seed for in the actual tree that it had previously been. Every self-fulfilment seed therefore bears within itself the longing, the self-fulfilment and the means by which this can be achieved. To transfer the analogy to man is to say that every man as a conscious being is a divine seed; is life absolute and infinite in embryo. Every man, therefore, according to Gibran, is a longing : the longing of the divine in man for man the divine whom he had previously been. But, to quote Gibran again, ââ¬Å"No longing remains unfulfilled. â⬠2 Like the seed, he Therefore every man is destined for Godhood. bears within him the longing, the fulfilment which is God, and the road leading to this fulfilment. It is in this context that Gibran declares in The Forerurcner, ââ¬Å"You are your own forerunner, and the tower have built are but the foundations of your giant self. â⬠3 you Seeing man in this light, Gibran can no longer afford to be a gravedigger. A new stage has opened in his career. Men are divine and, therefore, deathless. If they remain in the mire of their earthly existence, it is not because they are mean and disgusting, but because the divine in them, like the fire in a piece of wood, is dormant though it needs only a slight spark to be released into a blaze of light. it is not a grave-digger that men need, but an Consequently, a Socratic mid-wife, who would help man release the God in igniter; himself into the self that is one with God. Therefore in this new stage Gibran the grave-digger and the madman gives way to Gibran the and the igniter. rophet In The Prophet of 1923, Almustafa ââ¬Å"who was a dawn unto his own dayâ⬠sees his ship, for which he had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese, returning to ââ¬Å"bear him back to the isle of his birthâ⬠. The people of Orphalese leave their daily work and crowd around him in the city square to bid him farewell and beg for something of his 1 Sandand Foam, p. 16. 1 Ibid. , p. 25. 1 TheForerunner,p. 7. 64 he answers their various befor e he leaves, whereupon knowledge on subjects of their own choosing. uestions It is not hard to see that Almustafa the Prophet is Gibran himself, who in 1923 had already spent almost twelve years in New York city, the city of Orphalese, having moved there from Boston in 1912, and that the isle of his birth is Lebanon to which he had longed to return. But looking deeper still Almustafa can further symbolize the man who, in Gibranââ¬â¢s reckoning, has become his freer self; who has realized the passage in himself from the human to the divine, and is therefore ripe for emancipation and reunion with life absolute. His ship is death that has come to bear him to the isle of his birth, the Platonic world of metaphysical reality. As to the people of Orphalese, they stand for human society at large in which men, exiled in their spatio-temporal existence from their true selves, that is, from God, are in need in their God-ward journey of the guiding prophetic hand that would lead them from what is human in them to the divine. Having made that journey himself, Almustafa presents himself in his sermons the book as that guide. throughout Stripped of its poetical trappings, Gibranââ¬â¢s teaching in The Prophet is found to rest on the single idea that life is one and infinite. As a living being, man in his temporal existence is only a shadow of his real self. To be oneââ¬â¢s real self is to be one with the infinite to which man is related. Self-realization, therefore, lies in going out of inseparably oneââ¬â¢s spatio-temporal dimensions, so that the self is broadened to the manââ¬â¢s only extent of including everyone and all things. Consequently in self-realization, to his greater self, lies in love. Hence love is the path theme of the opening sermon of Almustafa to the people of Orphalese. No man can say ââ¬Å"Iâ⬠truly without meaning the totality of things apart from which he cannot be or be conceived. Still less can one love oneself truly without loving everyone and all things. So love is at once an emancipation and a crucifixion: an emancipation because it releases man from his narrow confinement and brings him to that whereby he feels one with the stage of broader self-consciousness with God; a crucifixion because to grow into the broader self infinite, is to shatter the smaller self which was the seed and confinement. For even as Thus true self-assertion is bound to be a self-negation. love crowns youâ⬠, says Almustafa to his hearers, ââ¬Å"so shall he crucify 1 you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. â⬠1 TheProphet, p. 15. 65 love, which is our guide to our larger self, is insepConsequently arable from pain. ââ¬Å"Your painâ⬠, says Almustafa, ââ¬Å"is the breaking of Even as the stone of the the shell that encloses your understanding. fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know 1 pain. â⬠Thus conceived, pain becomes at once a kind of joy. It is the joy of the seed dying as a tree in embryo in a process of becoming a tree in full. and unheeded which is really painful. It is only pain misunderstood self is God, then anything that gives us pain is a witness If our larger that our self is not yet broad enough to contain it. For to contain all is is thus an to be in love and at peace with all. Pain truly understood to growth and therefore to joy. ââ¬Å"Your joyâ⬠, says Almustafa, impetus ââ¬Å"is your sorrow unmasked. The deeper that sorrow carves into your 2 being, the more joy you can contain. â⬠If pain and joy are inseparable, so are life and death. In a universe that is infinite nothing can die except the finite, and nothing finite can be other than the infinite in disguise. Death understood is the pouring of the finite into the infinite, the passage of the God in man into the man in God. ââ¬Å"Life and death are oneâ⬠, says Almustafa, ââ¬Å"even as the And what is to cease breathing, but to river and the sea are one â⬠¦ free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and 3 seek God unencumbered. â⬠If life and death are one even as joy and pain, it must follow that life is not the opposite of death nor death the opposite of life. For to live is to grow and to grow is to exist in a continuous process of dying. Therefore every death is a rebirth into a higher state of being, in the sense of ââ¬Å"the child is father to the manâ⬠. Thus in a Wordsworthian chain of birth and rebirth man persists in his God-ward continuous of himself until ascent, gaining at each step a broader consciousness he finally ends at the absolute. ââ¬Å"It is a flame spirit in youâ⬠, says Almustafa, ââ¬Å"ever gathering more of itself. â⬠4 Similarly, nothing can happen to us which is not in fact self-invited, If God is our greater self, then nothing can and self-entertained. efall us from without. Says Almustafa: 1 Ibid. , p. 60. 2 Ibid. , p. 35. 3 Ibid. , pp. 90-91. 4 Ibid. , p. 97. 66 ââ¬Å"The And And And murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder, the robbed is not blameless in being robbed. the righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked, the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon. â⠬Å"1 If God is our greater self then there can be no good in the infinite universe which is not the good of every man, nor can there be any ââ¬Å"Like a processionâ⬠, evil for which anyone can abjure responsibility. Almustafa, ââ¬Å"you walk together towards your God self. â⬠says ââ¬Å"â⬠¦ even as the holy and righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you, so the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also. And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all. ââ¬Å"22 It would follow that the spiritual elevation of a Christ is part and parcel of the material villainy of a Judas Iscariot. For in God Christ and Judas are one and inseparable. No man, therefore, no matter how elevated, can be emancipated into his larger self alone. An eagle, however high it can soar, is always bound to come down again to its fledgelings in the nest and is until they too become strong of wing, doomed to remain earthbound and the same is true of an elevated human soul or a prophet. So long as there remains even one speck of bestiality in any man no other human soul, no matter how near to God it may be, can be finally Like the released emancipated and escape the wheel of reincarnation. n Platoââ¬â¢s allegory, he will again return to the philosopher-prisoner cave, so long as his fellows are still there in darkness and in chains. Gibranââ¬â¢s Prophet, as he prepares to board his ship, says: ââ¬Å"Should my voice fade in your ears, and my love vanish in your memory, then I will come again. A little while, and my longing shall gather dust and foam for another body. A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bea r me. ââ¬Å"3 In literary terms, this moment of rest upon the wind for Almustafa was brief indeed. Only five years elapsed on his departure from 1 Ibid. , p. 47. 2 Ibid. , pp. 46-47. 3 Ibid. , 105. p. 67 Orphalese before he was given birth again; not by another woman, as he had foretold, but by Gibran himself. His name this time was not Almustafa but Jesus. Jesus the Son of Man, Gibranââ¬â¢s second book after The Prophet, appeared in 1928, the first being only a short collection of aphorisms under the title of Sand and Foam. To the student of Gibranââ¬â¢s literary art, Jesus the Son of Man may offer some novelty, but not so to the student of his thought. Gibran in this book tries to portray Christ as he understands him by inviting to speak of him each from his a number of Christââ¬â¢s contemporaries own point of view. Their views combined in the mind of the reader are intended to bring out the desired portrait. But names, places and situations apart, the Jesus so portrayed in the the book is not so much of the Biblical Christ, as he is the old Biblical a new development Gibranian Almustafa. transformed into another Like Nazarene who Almustafa he is described as ââ¬Å"The chosen and the belovedâ⬠, after several previous rebirths is come and will come again to help lead men to their larger selves. He is not a God who has taken human form, but an ordinary man of ordinary birth who has been able through spiritual sublimation to elevate himself from the human to the divine. His several returns to earth are the several returns of the eagle who would not taste the full freedom of space before all his fledgedesireâ⬠, says lings are taught to fly. ââ¬Å"Were it not for a motherââ¬â¢s Gibranââ¬â¢s Jesus, ââ¬Å"I would have stripped me of the swaddling-clothes and escaped back to space. And were it not for sorrow in all of you, . I would not have stayed to weep. I Therefore Gibranââ¬â¢s Jesus was neither meek nor humble nor characterized by pity. His return to earth is the return of a winged spirit, intent on appealing not to human frailties, but to the power in man which is capable of lifting him from the finite to the infinite. One reporter on Jesus says, ââ¬Å"I am sickened and the bowels within call Jesus humble and me stir and rise when I hear the faint-hearted an d when the that they may justify their own faint-heartedness; meek, for comfort and companionship, down-trodden, speak of Jesus as a worm shining by their side. Yes, my heart is sickened by such men. It is the mighty hunter I would preach, and the mountainous spirit 2 unconquerable. â⬠Gibranââ¬â¢s Jesus is even made to re-utter the Lordââ¬â¢s prayer in a way 1 Jesus The Sonof Man, p. 19. 2 Ibid. , p. 4. 68 to the heart and lips of Almustafa, appropriate teaching man to himself to the point of becoming one with the all-inclusive: enlarge ââ¬Å"Our father in earth and heaven, sacred is Thy name. Thy will be done with us, even as in space â⬠¦.. In Thy compassion forgive us and enlarge us to forgive one another. Guide us towards Thee and stretch down Thy hand to us in darkness. For Thine is the kingdom, and in Thee is our power and our fulfilment To dwell further on the character and teachings of Jesus as conIn The Prophet, Gibran the ceived by Gibran is to risk redundancy. thinker reaches his climax. His post-Prophet works, with the possible exception of The Earth Gods of 1931, the last book published in his lifetime, have almost nothing new to offer. s a collection of The Wanderer of 1932, published posthumously, and sayings much in the style and spirit of The Forerunner of parables 1920, published three years before The Prophet. As to The Garden of the in 1933, it should be dismissed Prophet, also published posthumously as a fake and a forgery. Gibran, who had planned The Garden outright state of being and of the Prophet to be an expression of Almustafaââ¬â¢s after he had arrived in the isle of his birth from the city of teachings Orphalese, had only time left to write two or three short passages for that book. Other passages were added, some of which are translations from Gibranââ¬â¢s early Arabic works, and some possibly written by another pen in imitation of Gibranââ¬â¢s style. The result was a book to Gibran, in which Gibranââ¬â¢s attributed are poetry and thought to a most unhappy state of chaos and confusion. brought This leaves us with The Earth Gods as the complete work with which Gibranââ¬â¢s career comes to its conclusion. And a fitting conclusion it is indeed. The book is a long prose poem where, in the words of Gibran, ââ¬Å"The three earth-born Gods, the Master Titans of Lifeâ⬠hold a discourse on the destiny of man. is career was a poet of alienation and Gibran, who throughout strikes us in The Prophet and in Jeszrs the Son of Man, Almuslonging, tafaââ¬â¢s duplicate, as having arrived at his long-cherished state of intellectual rest and spiritual fulfilment. Almustafa and Christ, who in Gibranââ¬â¢s reckoning are earth-born Gods, reveal human destiny as being manââ¬â¢s gradual ascent through love and spiritual sublimation 1 Ibid. , p. 60. 69 towards ultimate reunion with God, the absolute and the infinite. It is possible that Gibran began to have second thoughts about the philosophy of his prophet towards the end of his life. Otherwise why is it that instead of one earth God, one human destiny, he now presents us with three who apparently are in disagreement ? Shortly after Jesus the Son of Man, (libran, who had for some time been fighting a chronic illness, came to realize that the fates were not on his side. Like Almustafa, he must have seen his ship coming in the mist to take him to the isle of his birth and in the lonely journey of towards death, armed as he was with the mystic convictions Almustafa, he must have often stopped to examine the implications of his philosophy. In his farewell address to the people of Orphalese, Almustafa saw his departure as ââ¬Å"A little while, a moment of rest upon the windâ⬠. But what of this endless cycle of births and rebirths? If manââ¬â¢s ultimate destiny as a finite being is to unite with the infinite, then that destiny is a virtual impossibility. For the road to the infinite is infinite, and manââ¬â¢s quest as a traveller through reincarnation is bound to be endless and fruitless. ââ¬Ë Therefore comes the voice of Gibranââ¬â¢s first God: ââ¬Å"Weary is my spirit of all there is. I would not move a hand to create a world Nor to erase one. I would not live could I but die, For the weight of aeons is upon me, And the ceaseless moan of the seas exhaust my sleep. Could I but lose the primal aim And vanish like a wasted sun; Could I but strip my divinity of its purpose And breathe my immortality into space And be no more; Could I but be consumed and pass from timeââ¬â¢s memory Into the emptiness of nowhere. ââ¬Å"ââ¬Ë In another place this same God says: ââ¬Å"For all that I am, and all that there is on earth, And all that shall be, inviteth not my soul. Silent is thy face, And in thine eyes the shadows of night are sleeping. But terrible is thy silence, And thou art terrible. ââ¬Å"2 1 The Earth Gods, 3. p. 2 Ibid. , pp. 5-6. 70 If man in his ascent to the infinite is likened to a mountain-climber, then these moments of gloom and helplessness only occur when he casts his eyes towards the infinitely removed summit beyond. It is not so when he casts his eyes downwards and sees the heights he has already scaled. The loneliness and gloom then give way to optimism and reassurance. For a journey that can be started is a journey that can be concluded. Gibran on his lonely voyage must have turned to see There we hear the this other implication in Almustafaââ¬â¢s philosophy. voice of the second God, whose eyes are turned optimistically downwards. His philosophy is that the height of the summit is a part of the lowliness of the valley beneath. That the valley is now transcended is a reassurance that the summit can be considered as already conquered. For to reach the summit is to reach the highest point to which a valley could raise its depth. Manââ¬â¢s journey to God is therefore a journey inwards and not an external quest. The second God says to the first: ââ¬Å"We are the beyond and we are the most high And between us and the boundless eternity Is naught save our unshaped passion And the motive thereof. You invoke the unknown, And the unknown clad with moving mist Dwells in your own soul. Yea, in your own soul your redeemer lies asleep And in sleep sees what your waking eye does not see. â⬠¦ Forbear and look down upon the world. Behold the unweaned children of your love. The earth is your abode, and the earth is your throne; And high beyond manââ¬â¢s furtherest hope Your hand upholds his destiny. ââ¬Å"ââ¬Ë Yet in Gibranââ¬â¢s lonely journey towards death, a voice not so pessimistic as that of his first God nor so optimistic as that of the second from the youthful past of is heard. This voice, coming perhaps Broken Wings and A Tear and a Smile, though not part of Almustafaââ¬â¢s voice, is yet not out of harmony with it. It is the voice of someone who has come to realize that man has so busied himself philosophizing to live it. Rather than the climber about life that he has forgotten terrified by the towering height of the summit or reassured by the lowliness of the valley, here is a love-intoxicated youth in the spring meadows 1 Ibid. , on the mountainside. p. 22. 71 ââ¬Å"There is a wedding in the valley. ââ¬Å"Brothers, my brothers,â⬠the third God rebukes his two fellows, ââ¬Å"A day too vast for recording. â⬠¦ We shall pass into the twilight; Perchance to wake to the dawn of another world. But love shall stay, And his finger-marks shall not be erased. The blessed forge burns, The sparks rise, and each spark is a sun. Better it is for us, and wiser, To seek a shadowed nook and sleep in our earth divinity And let love, human and frail, command the coming day. ââ¬Å"ââ¬Ë Thus Gibran concludes his life-long alienation. His thought in the twilight of his days seems to have swung back to his youth where it first started. It is a complete cycle, in conformity, though perhaps unconsciously, The tenacious cedar tree which was with his idea of reincarnation. Gibran the Prophet went back again to the seed that it was: to love, to wake to the dawn of another world. ââ¬Å"2 human and frail-ââ¬Å"Perchance N. NAIMY 1 Ibid. , pp. 25-26. 2 Ibid. , pp. 38-41.
Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 12
Organizational Behavior - Essay Example Ganesan was on temporary assignment at Kurunegala and was hoping to return to the central office in Colombo. In this case there is no communication about the appointment because the district manager is not aware, and the letter was from the top management. The scenario is depressing because the former manager was not demoted, promoted and neither was he transferred to another branch. In this situation, one feels insecure about the job and is not sure when he/she will lose the position. Insufficent flow of information by the top management and the district managerââ¬â¢s office exhibits lack of efficiency in the organization. As argued by Ferreira, Erasmus & Groenewald (2009), communication is the foundation of all relationships (p.94). The successful organization performance relies on the efficient transfer of details. Communication influences the operations of an organization and affects decision-making. It is, therefore, evident that the bankââ¬â¢s top management viewed Ganesan as the most appropriate individual to take over the position of the branch manager. From his experience of interacting with the community during his field assignments, he possessed a lot of information about what happened in the society. It is easy for him to be cautious when making decisions about loans. According to Taussig (2007), a successful bank manager must have the quality of excellent judgment (p.350). He/she must be able to make a good judge of businesses, as well as people . As the branch manager, I would establish the most efficient mode of communication. The Colombo National Bank did not have modern means of communication that contributed to a lot of time wastage. The organization needs a well-defined communication network that will enable communication and information to flow to the target group. The bank comprises of various people integrating internally and externally. Therefore, it is paramount to
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Cadbury (Pre and Post Merger Performance Evaluation) Coursework
Cadbury (Pre and Post Merger Performance Evaluation) - Coursework Example Prior to the acquisition, the Cadbury operations and activities were narrowly streamlined along a consistent pattern. They were limited to the main stream markets, with no major expansion in the new and unexplored markets, with focus on core strategy, and little element of innovation on display, although this all served well and Cadbury still enjoyed success, fame and glory in the market, yet there is no limit to success and glory, and more can be added any time. This was to be added in form of the Kraftââ¬â¢s overtake, that adopted a change in management style, the business patterns, the partnerships and expansion policy and much more that in other words gave a totally new life to Cadbury in different angles.Being one of the most notable English companies, it was very unlikely to be taken over by any foreign company; however the fears turned true in 2010 when an American based company ââ¬Å"Kraftâ⬠took over and introduced relatively new patterns and management styles. The takeover was received in a mixed way but mostly with a relatively negative trend in social sphere. As a result of the recent change, management style, and the patterns and rules of engagement have seen a slight change with regard to the previous patterns that were operational in past. ... Recent change of Command: Being one of the most notable English companies, it was very unlikely to be taken over by any foreign company; however the fears turned true in 2010 when an American based company ââ¬Å"Kraftâ⬠took over (Cadbury, 2010) and introduced relatively new patterns and management styles. The takeover was received in a mixed way but mostly with a relatively negative trend in social sphere. As a result of the recent change, management style, and the patterns and rules of engagement have seen a slight change with regard to the previous patterns that were operational in past. Managing style: An international organization such as Cadbury needs a clearly defined management style and organizational activities to allow successful operational functions. Realizing its importance, Cadbury has a democratic and hierarchical management style. Each of the member enjoys complete freedom and opportunity in contributing towards the organization and making it the worldââ¬â¢s top most chocolate selling and producing industry and organization. Hierarchy in ranks: Hierarchy is an evident form of management and leadership in most major organizations in present day. The hierarchy broadly divides the organizations in to three layers, namely top management, middle management and lower staff. Hierarchy at Cadbury is also distributed in the same manner, with top management performing the role of decision making, policy envisaging and declaration of the S.O.Ps and dealings with the international organizations and stake holders, the middle management in the industry is inducted to ensure that the top and lower management are kept intact. Post merger-acquisition scenario: Kraft engages into professional, selective and specialized processes that make them world famous and
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Financial Covenants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Financial Covenants - Essay Example (Mckean, 2005; Law, 2005; Moles and Terry 1997). For example, Junk Bonds whether secured or unsecured are always subordinate to debts to banks and Subordinated debt that ranks behind other issues of the same class is referred to as junior debt. (Law, 2005). Mezzanine finance, a typical example of subordinated debt is funding that possesses both equity and debt characteristics and it is usually provided by specialists' financial institutions. This funding like other forms of subordinated debt carries a very high risk of default and as a result earns a higher rate of return than pure debt although less than equity. Mezzanine finance can be secured or unsecured. (Smullen and Hand, 2005). Due to its mixed nature of both equity and debt characteristics, investors have the opportunity to earn interest alongside their equity stake in the company. (Terry and Brian, 2000). Mezzanine financing is also attractive to banks since it offers interest higher than that paid for senior debt especially in environments where competition makes it difficult for them to provide funding at the normal lending rate thus encouraging banks to embark on mezzanine financing as a means of earning higher returns. (Terry and Brian, 2000). The borrowing base of potential takeovers in the UK has increased as a result of increase willingness by UK lenders or investors to provide mezzanine finance. For example, bids for the Gateway and Magnet companies in the UK involved very large amounts of subordinated debt and as such reflect the importance of mezzanine finance to borrowers in large acquisitions, were financing required is beyond the limits set by equity and senior debt providers in their own lending criteria. (Terry and Brian, 2000). Terry and Brian (2000) assert that because inclusion of mezzanine debt allows a lower equity share as a percentage of the total funds provided than straight equity investment, equity investors prefer such inclusion in deal structures since it will improve returns to the equity shareholders. Including mezzanine in a deal reduces the investment required from equity investors by a percentage, which is higher than a reduction in their ultimate shareholding and therefore increases the overall return on investment. Mezzanine finance has also been used as a strategy for leveraged buy-outs, corporate takeovers and other acquisitions. The first instance of using mezzanine finance in such a way was in the United States of America. (Terry and Brian, 2000). The first instance in the United Kingdom was for the buy-out of Evans Halshaw. (Terry and Brian, 2000). Because of the separation of ownership from control and also as a result of information asymmetry between debt holders and the management of the company, it is has become a common practice that the loan agreement or indenture contains ratio covenants and other covenants so as to prevent the debt holders from losing their money in the event of insolvency or bankruptcy liquidation. In the preceding paragraph, we take a closer look at some of the covenants and assess their validity in actually providing protection to lenders or debt holders. Covenants and Events of Default Terry and Brian (2000) define Covenants as promises by the borrower to do or not to do certain things during the term of the debt facility. Events of Default are defined events which, if
Friday, July 26, 2019
Paper on groups in your high school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Paper on groups in your high school - Essay Example These relationships refer to the processes that are learned in school. They ââ¬Å"refer to the social and psychological underpinnings of the system, how people come together in schools and divide and subdivide into groupsâ⬠(Crosno 38). On one side you could see cliques that are relatively more popular than others. They compose of both guys and girls where the closest girls usually sit next to each other and chatter or next to the guy most likely have a relationship with. Then there are groups that associate with each other mostly because of their common interests like those who like a particular brand or music or those who belong to the same club. There are also groups that are somewhat in the middle. They are not exactly the most popular but they are familiar faces and most of them have an interesting story about them that you know. They are approachable compared to others and they tend to put balance on the cafeteria and the entire school just because they are more tolerant of the different people. They would rather remain neutral instead of favouring an opinion over
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Importance of self analysis and continuous self development Essay
Importance of self analysis and continuous self development - Essay Example Analysts argue that individuals are bound to have flaws in their personalities; a factor that may cause a lot of predicaments in their lines of work. It is worse still, when individuals notice the possibility of hitches and not make any efforts to improve on their weaknesses. In line to this argument, therefore, it is important that self-analysis and self-development be regarded as the best paraphernalia towards successful business operations by managers. According to Colbert and Bono (2005, pp.200), self-analysis is a methodology that an individual undertakes in an endeavor to understand their own individualities, emotions and conducts. Through self-analysis, individuals are able to weigh their weakness, avoid culpabilities that may emanate from their weaknesses, as are able to handle them. On the other hand, it is only through, self-analysis that, individuals can utilize their strengths to the maximum. Continuous self- development Self-development is a term used to refer to the str ategies applied by managers to remain relevant in various occupations. Rees and Porter (2008, pp.274) argue that, continuous self-development is a process of search for answers and feedback, as well as, setting goals that are directed towards coming up with purposes of development of individuals. Self-development is self-directed and requires the individual to be dynamic in order, to grasp concepts that relate to their line of duty. Future manager with self ââ¬â analysis and continuous self ââ¬â development According to Meyer (2001, pp.7) self-analysis allows managers establish the roots of their weaknesses whilst in their jobs. Upon detection of managersââ¬â¢ quandaries, managers are able to devise the best measures, in an attempt to find the best solutions to their problems. Analysts argue that, it is through self-analysis that individuals are able to fit in various settings and interact with fellow workmates. If individuals have no self-identity, it automatically becom es an uphill task trying to establish a rapport between them and the other workmates. It is also through self-analysis that, individuals have total control of their actions. In this way, managers are able to access all forms of feedback form fellow workmates, and then devise a working plan on time. Managers acquire strength from self-analysis. Gold and Mumford (2004, pp.148) argue that, through self-awareness, managers are made aware of their weak points, work on the weaknesses, consequently, gain strength to run the organization. In the course of working, learning cannot be alienated form the venture. Most managers do not realize their potential and capabilities unless they undergo a series of self-analysis. Once managers go through a series of self-analysis, managers are in a better position to handle tough situations in their organizations by devising the best work plans to self-predicaments. In essence, self-analysis, allows managers have more strength to handle tough situations that may occur in the future. Self-analysis allows managers familiarize themselves with their work places and discern the sections that need modifications (Rothstein, 2010 pp.35). Upon familiarization, managers take up the responsibility of ensuring that employees are conversant with the goals and objectives of the organization. Communication on the goals of the organization is not possible if the managers are aware of their strengths and weaknesses. In this context, therefore, self analysis is credited to an establishment of professional rapport between managers and employees. In turn, the mission of the company can be easily interpreted and
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Population Demographics data for non US countries Essay
Population Demographics data for non US countries - Essay Example Analysis of the graph shows that South Africa does not have a steady increase in her population. During the millennium year, the country had a population of forty five million people that increased steadily to about forty nine million in two thousand and five (Ominde and Ejiogu 2012). This represents an increase in population of about four million. However, from two thousand and five to two thousand and ten, the population of South Africa increased to fifty one million people. This shows an additional two million people. In fact, the last census survey reveals a growth rate of negative zero point zero five. Over the same period of five years, the population growth was negative. This trend does not reflect what happens in other African countries bearing in mind that the country enjoys a stable economic, social, and political environment. The causes and Impact South Africa is a country on the list of the fastest growing economies. This enables to provide high quality services to the citizens. The country has improved her infrastructure increasing the rate of rural to urban migration. This affects the birth and death rates. The birth rate has increased following provision of the quality maternal healthcare, which reduces the death rate. The availability of family planning services counters this trend. Education also plays a major role in checking the population of South Africa.... Education also plays a major role in checking the population of South Africa. South Africans have adequate reproductive health information. They understand the right time to bear children and this reduces the fertility rate as most women spent time in school hence they bear children when after their teenage ages. This is not the case in other countries in Africa such as Kenya. Comparatively, there many women in Kenya who become mothers around the age of fifteen as they do not go to school and they still stick to traditions as opposed to South Africans. The low population growth rate makes South Africa capable of sustaining food demands of her people. Families also get involved in economically productive activities and this gives time to the government to invest in other non-food projects such as the development of IT. The population of South Africa is more educated when compared to other Africans countries as both the citizens and the government have adequate disposable income for en lightenment. Kenya Total population (x 1000) Population aged 0ââ¬â14 (%) Population aged 15ââ¬â64 (%) Population aged 65+ (%) 1965 9 505 48.4 48.0 3.6 1970 11 252 49.1 47.5 3.4 1975 13 486 49.6 47.1 3.3 1980 16 268 50.0 47.1 3.0 1985 19 655 50.0 47.2 2.8 1990 23 447 49.0 48.3 2.7 1995 27 426 46.5 50.8 2.7 2000 31 254 44.3 52.9 2.8 2005 35 615 42.7 54.5 2.8 2015 43 513 42.5 54.9 2.7 (Ominde 2012) Tracing the status Kenya is a country in found in East Africa in the southern Great Lakes region. The country is largely multi-ethnic. The country had a population of thirty-eight million people basing on the national population census conducted by the government in two thousand and nine. The country conducts a national census every ten years with the last one in two thousand and nine and the next
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Concept analys Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Concept analys - Assignment Example They are proven to have logical connections, physical connections and causal relations (Sassen, 2000, p. 240). Concepts must provide explanations to certain phenomena or events using intuitive thinking which may provide a better understanding using reasons, symbols and cause-and-effect. In addition, concepts have been created by people to represent things to provide meanings to them so that people may get explanations leading to understanding (Novacek and Smrz, 2006, p. 70). In short, concepts do not need to be physically tested as they can be products of intuitive thinking. Concepts are developed when certain phenomena exist with little or no explanations (Dashiff, 2010). People look for the explanations for the events that happen around them so they can better act and solve if ever problems exist. New concepts may also be formed when the established concepts are already out-of-date which require ground-breaking explanations to adapt to the current state of the phenomena (Dashiff, 2010). Change has been constant and some concepts may not be able to adjust to the environment and development so new concepts must be created. Concepts may also come out when there are gaps between practice and research (Dashiff, 2010). Research has been present to provide evidences and support to improve the practice of certain professions. In nursing, it has been necessary to have concept analysis to provide further development for the practice of that profession. Concepts provide the framework for nurses and nursing students to understand certain phenomena in their profession by providing meaning and connections with abstract ideas (Fitzpatrick and Kazer, 2012). For concept analysis to be successful, various traditional approaches have been developed. Concept analysis started with the approach created by Wilson which is composed of 11 steps (Meleis, 2012, p. 372). The steps must come to conclusion in choosing the words that best fit the meaning and concept applied
Differentiating Between Services and Goods Marketing Essay
Differentiating Between Services and Goods Marketing - Essay Example tics of services, to wit: (1) intangible, (2) inseparability in terms of delivery and consumption, (3) heterogeneous in kind, and (4) perishable as it cannot be saved, stored, or returned. Having delineated services, goods naturally are servicesââ¬â¢ antithesis, meaning, they are tangible, are distinctly separate in kind, and can be stored, saved, and returned as needed. The intangibility of services simply describes their quality of not being able to touch and thus cannot be evaluated in terms of its physical availability prior to purchase. Services are inseparable that the organization offering it needs the assistance of a customer representative as contact to provide explanation and detailed information on the offered service. Likewise, the characteristic of inseparability takes into account its inability to cater to the specific needs of the customer. Services are also considered heterogeneous in kind since they are highly variable with dissimilar parts or elements. Finally, the perishability characteristic of services implies that they can not be stored, saved, or returned. The fast pace of technological developments in the last century drastically influenced diverse facets of customer service. With the predominance of business organizations using the internet, more organizations have resorted to a mobile workforce where customersââ¬â¢ needs are being serviced by electronic means. As technological improvements continue, more service features are offered through the internet, through virtual teams, teleconferencing, and the like. The benefits of technology are: unlimited time to access service providers regardless of location of the customers, queuing time is eliminated, more secure in terms of doing business at the convenience of oneââ¬â¢s home. On the other hand, technology has totally eradicated the concept of direct reciprocity in soliciting immediate response to inquiries and transactions. Also the element of differences in time across the globe could delay
Monday, July 22, 2019
A Description of the Sumerian Society Essay Example for Free
A Description of the Sumerian Society Essay ?Sumerian society migrated into the Middle East and settled in the Mesopotamian area around 4000 B. C. E. , resulting in the settlement of that civilization. Sumerians contributed the city-states concept, created an essential writing system, strengthened their connection to their religion, and also recorded the worldââ¬â¢s oldest story. The addition to Sumerââ¬â¢s city-states idea had a booming affect in their political structure. They were more organized than most political systems in other civilizations. With this, the Sumerian society was able to regulate religion and enforce laws in a better manner. Their concept later became a tradition of regional rule, basically creating an early bureaucracy for other societies to adopt and learn from. After several centuries of Sumerââ¬â¢s settlement, writing, the most significant invention in millenniaââ¬â¢s, was introduced into Sumerian society. See more:à Perseverance essay Although it was very sudden, the addition to such a revolutionary idea made their culture even more prosperous. Things led to another, and soon enough, the Sumerian society had an entire alphabet that was referred to as cuneiform, in the palm of their hands. They began to record their history and culture, later resulting in the worldââ¬â¢s oldest story, the Epic of Gilgamesh and much more from their culture. Sumerââ¬â¢s introduction to cuneiform bloomed into an economical boost throughout their entire society. Their invention helped to promote trade and manufacturing. They were able to communicate much more flawlessly, leading to trades as far as India. Not only did it support the trading system, but it did wonders in recording much of Sumerian history. Sumerââ¬â¢s settlement meant many prosperous things. Their ideas and inventions of cuneiform, city-states, ziggurats, job specialization, etc. , led to great achievements that other civilizations adopted and duplicated.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Marketing For Chanel And Ports
Marketing For Chanel And Ports Chanel, one of the most premier luxury product company (Thorogood, ND) that is from France, was established by Gabrielle Chanel who was the most influential designer of the twentieth century (Chanelworld, 2006) in 1910. The design style of Chanel inclines toward unadorned to instead of gorgeous (Yournewfragrance, 2010). The first design of Gabrielle was hats which were sold to fashionable mistresses in a meeting. It was an opportunity that making numerous fashionable noblewomen know her products. Except for hats, costume, jewelry, perfume and textile were devised for women (Womenshistory, 2010). 1.1.2 Ports Figure 2 the symbol of Ports (Imgsrc, nd) I make clothes for a woman who is intelligent: a woman who is doesnt want to wear things that will distract from her Luke Tanabe (PORTS founder) Ports was founded by Luke Tanabe in Canada in 1961. He dreamed of establishing company about luxury clothes in virtue of the social reform which led to the design style of clothes to be transformed radically (Ports-intl, 2010a). His first design was the NO.10 blouse which inaugurated the new fashion epoch. The blouse was popular in Canada, the UK, and Australia because of plain and exquisite tailoring (Ports-intl, 2010a). 1.2 Theory 1.2.1 Market Mix Marketing Mix is that element of a firms marketing strategies which are designed to meet the needs of its customers, including product, price, place and promotion (Hall et all, 2008:p75). It means that companies must use reasonable prices and complete promotions to sell correct products in the right places (Hall et all, 2008:p75) 1.2.2 Market Segmentation Market segmentation means that companies stand on marketing research to confirm and classify the purchasers which have parallel needs, embracing geographically, demographically, psychographically, and behaviourally. (Hall et all, 2008:p66) 1.3 Aims According to Cnga.org (2009), China will become the third biggest market of luxury during 5 years. Therefore, in this report, Chanel and Ports are analysed about the Market Mix and the demographics of Market segmentation in China. Furthermore, aspects of these two companies are compared and contrasted. Finally, there are the conclusion and recommendations to Chanel and Ports. Findings 2.1 Market Mix 2.1.1 Product 2.1.1.1 Chanel Product is one of factors in Marketing Mix. Chanel offers fashionable, luxurious and stylish products (935.ibm, 2002); and further, the materials of Chanels apparels and leathers are admired by consumers on account of retaining the stuff stronger (Yournewfragrance, 2010). What is more, Chanel sternly restrains the design, manufacture, consignment, and commercial to promise the best criterion of the product (935.ibm, 2002). 2.1.1.2 Ports The attires of Ports, which are use the best fabric from Italy, are celebrated because of shirts (Ftchinese, 2007), such as the plain and exquisite NO.10 blouse. Moreover, the packaging is one of the best methods to show the products for companies. The colour of Portss shopping paper bag was changed black into brown which is Portss symbol. 2.1.2 Price 2.1.2.1 Chanel Price is another aspect for Market Mix. The price of Chanel must far higher than other ordinary similar companies owing to two premier causes. For one thing, Chanel is an international luxury brand so that its material is quality and the careful tailoring which is second reason. For example, According to Ib100 (2008), a shirt of Chanel is sold approximately RMB 2,600 in China; however the shirt of Ports is sold RMB 1,799 (Ports-intl, 2010b). 2.1.2.2 Ports The prices of Portss merchandises are reasonable when compared to other luxury brands. According to (Ports-intl, 2010c), the prices of shirts are between RMB 1,100 and 2,000 in China, however, the prices are 30%-50% lower than other luxury companies for similar quality and style, which can encourage consumers to spend. (Blog.sina, 2009) 2.1.3 Place 2.1.3.1 Chanel The place is the third part in the Marketing Mix. Cn.chanel (nd) shows that there are 17 Chanel boutiques to be managed in China, and most of them are located in upscale shopping centers or in stores that have numerous purchasers. Major airports also have Chanel boutiques. In addition, Chanel plans to sell its products on the Internet. 2.1.3.2 Ports Ftchinese (2007) report that Ports has 370 stores all over the world; nevertheless, approximately 82% of its stores are built in major cities of China because the Chinese are its favorite customers, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen ( Portsdesign, 2005: P4). Furthermore, these stores are located in large shopping centers with a heavy flow of consumer traffic. Finally, products of Ports also are sold on the Internet (Ports-intl, 2010d). 2.1.4 Promotion 2.1.4.1 Chanel The last element is promotion, which can help companies sell their products. There are two different promotional measures of Chanel. First of all, the attire of Chanel is demonstrated in movies (Womenshistory, 2010). Apart from movies, famous actors are invited to occupy spokesmodels, such as Nicole Kidman who can make the products become classical (Yournewfragrance, 2010). 2.1.4.2 Ports There are three different manners to be used by Ports. To begin with, Ports is one of the largest advertisers in the PRC that is a fashion magazineà ¯Ã ¼Ãâ Portsdesign, 2005:p9). Secondly, the clothes were worn in movies, such as The Devil Wears Prada. Thirdly, it is the best manner that Ports contribute RMB500, 000 to Chinese Red Cross because of Wenchuan earthquake in 2008. It not only helps victims, but can also increase the image of Ports. 2.2 Market Segmentation The primary aspect of Marketing Segmentation is demographics which will be introduced, comprising six parts, such as age, income, gender, social class, religion and ethnic grouping (Hall et all, 2008:p67-69) 2.2.1 Chanel Chanel stands on gender, income and lifestyle to segment its market. To start with, the feminine products are the most important orientation for Chanel, although Karl Lagerfeld, the head designer of Chanel after Gabrielle Chanel, began to design the merchandise for males in 1981 (Yournewfragrance, 2010). Besides, most of consumers are gentlewomen who do not need to possess vocations and always attend different banquets which are their lifestyles; hence Chanel has no misgivings about the social class of its consumers, and it barely attaches importance to the income because the cost of Chanel is high. Luxuryinstitute (2007) shows, consumers of Chanel have an income above RMB 2,002,000. 2.2.2 Ports Market segmentations, such as age, income, lifestyle and social class, are used by Ports to decide the scope of purchasers. Above all, the audiences of ports aged between 25 and 45 (Portsdesign, 2005:p5), thus Ports does not produce the apparels of children or elderly humans, and it merely designs for adults which are its orientation. The income, lifestyle and social class are, moreover, the main aspects to classify the consumers. It is a chance for Ports that increasingly women have their own occupations in China because Ports identifies the consumers who have high income over RMB 100,000 every year, living and working in large modern cities, such as manager, lawyer which occupation request well education (blog.sina, 2009). Discussion 3.1 Compare and contract Market Mix of two companies 3.1.1 Product Both Chanel and Ports use the quality fabric to design the luxury products for females; nevertheless, Chanel severely dominates designs and manufactures to ensure the barely flawless products, hence consumers are inclined to treasure its products which are symbol of purchasers status. Ports is different from Chanel, it tends to design the attires for career women. 3.1.2 Price Furthermore, the cost of Ports is lower than Chanels because of two reasons. For a start, Chanel is more celebrated than Ports; moreover, the cost of Ports are lower than other luxury brands because the products of Ports are made in China so that barely deliver the minimum importing tax to Chinese government and there has a low labor cost in China (blog.sina 2009). As a result, the productions cost are lower, the prices are lower too. 3.1.3 Place The largest difference between Chanel and Ports of Sale Place is that only 17 Chanel boutiques are managed in China; in contrast, the Portss main marketing is in China. However, Chanel is similar to Ports because they sell their merchandises in the large shopping centers or on the Internet. 3.1.4 Promotion The similar promotions of Chanel and ports are that their apparels were used in the movies, and invited famous actors to occupy their spokesmodels. Whereas, it is the large different that Ports donates money to humans who encounter disaster, such as Whenchuan earthquake. 3.2 Compare and contract Market Segmentation of two companies. After Market segmentations of Chanel and Ports were analyzed. Income and lifestyle, which are element of segmentation, are the similar for those two companies because both them are international luxury goods so that the prices are higher than other common clothes companies. However, some factors of segmentation are different between Chanel and Ports. The biggest dissimilarity is that Ports produces the goods for females and males who aged 25-45; on the contrary, the women are main consumers for Chanel which company do not worried about the age, therefore the elderly women, such as Queen Elizabeth II, also can wear the attire of Chanel. Consequently, Ports segments the marketing though age; in comparison, the gender is the main segmentation for Chanel. Conclusion All in all, even though Chanel is more famous than Ports, Chanel is luxury brands with Ports; they have different or similar manners to operate their companies, such as promotion. While Ports and Chanel showed the clothes in the movies, Ports also use other significance ways to promote which is a large different for Chanel. Recommendations Chanel depends on movies and actors to promote their products; however, Chanel can study Ports, using money to help impoverished humans which is one of the best ways. It can increase image of Chanel, making human consider that Chanel has the common aspects too, and assist others. In addition, ports still need to use more advertising to increase the celebrity rating because it is not extremely well-know in worldwide.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Affirmative Action Is the Wrong Action Essay -- Argumentative Persuasi
Affirmative Action Is the Wrong Action The United States of America has long been a country divided by race. Hate has pervaded her existence since her conception, and now todayââ¬â¢s society is forced to deal with those issues. Minorities have suffered at the hands of the white male majority for centuries as the social activities of the old war were brought to the new colonies, only to ferment and continue to affect the lives of all who lived within her borders. There is no doubting that this continued discrimination is a problem; however, the question arises with how to deal with it. Legislation has been passed to remedy the situation, yet has been seemingly ineffective. Affirmative action has caused problems without fulfilling its purpose. The downfall of affirmative action is that it is the wrong action; the United States society has problems, including an underlying tension of hate, but they cannot be fixed by the governmentââ¬â¢s laws; they will be fixed when society changes how it views its members. Affirmative action was put into affect with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Eastland 22). The purposes of affirmative action are noble at best-in theory they would serve to end the discriminatory practices so rampant in the American society. The goals were to repair or negate the effects of past discrimination, move towards diversity in both the private and public sector, to encourage representation in the work force, and to increase the economic levels of both women and minorities (Doverspike 3). The outlined goals of affirmative action are what we need for this country. The United States society needs to change the way it sees and treats its citizens. The methods that affirmative action uses, however, are not conducive to ac... ...l Perspective. Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, 1982. Doverspike, Dennis, Mary Anne Taylor, and Winfried Arthur, Jr. Affirmative Action: A Psychological Perspective. Huntington: Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2000. Eastland, Terry. Ending Affirmative Action: The Case for Colorblind Justice. New York: Harper Collins, 1996. Puddington, Arch. ââ¬Å"Affirmative Actino Should Be Eliminated.â⬠Affirmative Action. Ed. Bruno Leone. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1996. 70-83. Rosenfeld, Michel. Affirmative Action and Justice: A Philosophical and Constitutional Inquiry. New Haven: Yale. 1991. Skrentny, John David. The Ironies of Affirmative Action: Politics, Culture, and Justice in America. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Urofsky, Melvin I. Affirmative Action on Trial: Sex Discrimination in Johnson v. Santa. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1997.
Vengeance and Forgiveness in Shakespeares The Tempest Essay -- Tempes
Vengeance and Forgiveness in Shakespeare's The Tempest There are many elements in Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, which one cannot reconcile with the real world. The main theme in The Tempest is illusion, and the main focus is the experiment by Prospero. The Tempest, it is clear, features an experiment by Prospero. He has not brought the Europeans to the vicinity of the island, but when they do come close to it, he has, through the power of illusion, lured them into his very special realm. The experiment first of all breaks up their social solidarity, for they land in different groups: Ferdinand by himself, the court group, Stephano and Trinculo by themselves, and the sailors remain asleep. The magic leads them by separate paths until they all meet in the circle drawn by Prospero in front of his cave. There he removes the spell of the illusions; the human family recognizes each other, and together they resolve to return to Italy, leaving behind the powers of the magic associated with the island. Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Before considering the purpose of Prospero's experiment, we should note how central to all his magic Ariel is. And Ariel is not human but a magical spirit who has been released from natural bondage (being riven up in a tree) by Prospero's book learning. The earlier inhabitants of the island, Sycorax and Caliban, had no sense of how to use Ariel, and so they simply imprisoned him in the world which governs them, raw nature. Prospero's power depends, in large part, on Ariel's release and willing service. In that sense, Ariel can be seen as some imaginative power which makes the effects of the theatre (like lightning in the masts of the boat) possible. One of the great attractions of this view of the play as a celeb... ... vengeance. (5.1. 18-28) Here, the imaginative sympathy for the sufferings of others leads to an active intervention based upon "virtue" rather than "vengeance." This is a key recognition in the play: virtue expressed in forgiveness is a higher human attribute than vengeance. And in the conclusion of the play, Prospero does not even mention the list of crimes against him. He simply offers to forgive and accept what has happened to him, in a spirit of reconciliation. Unlike other Shakespeare plays, the ending of The Tempest requires neither the death nor the punishment of any of the parties. Works Cited and Consulted: Gervinus, G.G. "The Tempest." The Shakespeare Criticism Volume 8. Gale Research Inc., Detroit. 1989: 304-307. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997.
Friday, July 19, 2019
The Internetââ¬â¢s Impact on Stock Trading Essay -- Cause Effect Essays
"The Internetââ¬â¢s Impact on Stock Trading" Before the internet, stock trading was done exclusively through brokers. Now that computers and technology have apparent strongholds in the realm of stock trading, more people have access to the market. This essay shares some experiences that online stock trading services and day traders have had due to the radical movement of online trading. The essay commences with a fictional anecdote that describes one manââ¬â¢s unfortunate experience through online trading. It then moves to some non-fictional examples. One company was forced to leave the prospect of trading behind and had to close its services. Another has found refuge in expanding its holdings by moving its primary focus away from online trading services after gaining its initial capital exclusively through this form of business. Individual investors have also gained and lost through internet stock trading. In one example, a retired nurse moves her retirement fund into the stock market in order to make money. And in another, a man invests in technological stock but realizes that they are not as strong as he once thought two years prior. Each of these entities has been affected by the decline in the stock market, and not all were winners. Using research gathered from other publications, this essayââ¬â¢s goal is to focus on the importance of online stock trading and to demonstrate, through analysis, the claim that the industry is vulnerable to an extended decline in the stock market. It was going to be a sure fire way to make some quick money. In the late 1990ââ¬â¢s, high technology and internet stocks were experiencing tremendous gains and a new way of trading stock was being developed. Online trading was in its ... ...sh. ââ¬Å"Gains Allure; Fed up with Advice to Stay Put, Some Investors are Looking to Make a Quicker Buck.â⬠13 Aug 2002. LexisNexis Database. 29 Oct 2002. <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document/>. Glassman, James K. ââ¬Å"Tech-Bashers Miss the Point.â⬠24 Feb. 2002. LexisNexis Database. 29 Oct. 2002. < http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document/>. Kanaley, Reid. ââ¬Å"Herd has Veered Away from Online Investing.â⬠15 Oct. 2002. LexisNexis Database. 29 Oct. 2002. <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document/>. Tunick, Britt. ââ¬Å"The Financial Supermarket.â⬠17 June 2002. LexisNexis Database. 29 Oct. 2002. < http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document/>. Wong, A.Y.L. ââ¬Å"Ceasing of the Companyââ¬â¢s Online Share Trading.â⬠12 July 2002. LexisNexis Database. 29 Oct. 2002. < http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document/>.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Germany Culture Essay
Have you ever wondered where the Christmas tree came from? Along time ago, in the early 700ââ¬â¢s a monk, called St. Boniface, was preaching to a group of Germanic Druids. The Druids idolized oak trees. And in order to stop the Druids idolatry of oak trees, the monk chopped down a huge one. Crashing down to the earth, the tree crushed everything in its path, except for a small fir sapling. The monk declared that this was a miracle that this one single sapling wasnââ¬â¢t killed and concluded, ââ¬Å"Let this be called the tree of the Christ Child.â⬠And this is how to custom of having a tree during the Christmas season came to be. It was started by the Germans, and moved to Europe, who brought it to America. [Marples] German Americans have had a very large impact on the American society. One of the largest reasons could be that people with German ancestry comprise about 51 million people, which makes up 17% of all of the U.Sââ¬â¢s population. Thatââ¬â¢s roughly one fifth of all Americaââ¬â¢s population where one of their ancestors originated from Germany. [American] Germans started coming to the British Colonies of the New World, now the northeastern part of America, in the 1680s. Many immigrants from German continued to come to America during the 19th century. Many immigrated to America because of shortage of land, and religious or political oppression in Europe. [Zane] Even in recent times, Germans have helped shape America into what it is today. German Americans have influenced almost every field of American society, including science, architecture, industry, sports, entertainment, theology, government, and the military. Generals Baron von Steuben, John Pershing, Dwight Eisenhower, and Norman Schwarzkopf commanded the United States Army in the American Revolutionary War, World War I, World War II, and the Persian Gulf War. John D. Rockefeller, William Boeing, Walter Chrysler, George Westinghouse, and Donald Trump have also been an important part of American industry and business. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jack Nicklaus, Doris Day, and Leonardo DiCaprio became famous athletes or actors. And finally Albert Einstein and Wernher von Braun, two German Americans, greatly effected America and the whole world. Many famous, well known, and people who have changed America greatly have been German Americans. [German] German Americans have also changed the American food greatly also. Germans brought hog dogs and hamburgers to the Americaââ¬â¢s, which is now known as the ââ¬Å"American Foodâ⬠, or the food that people think of when they hear America. They also have the beer brewing dominated for most of America. German immigrants Eberhard, Anheuser, Adolphus Busch, and others have greatly changed Americaââ¬â¢s beer market. [Mittelman] [Home of the Hamburger] Overall, the effect that German Americans have had on America is huge. They have helped shake America in many ways including holiday traditions, science, sports, entertainment, and government. America is not made of one people, but of many. And their ideaââ¬â¢s and traditions all mixed together is what makes this such a great country.
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