Essay about Analysis Of Lies In Huckleberry Finn - 1717 Words

â€Å"That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth† (1). Those are among the first lines in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so it’s obvious from the very beginning that the truth, or lack thereof, is a major theme in the book. Huckleberry Finn is a liar throughout the whole novel but unlike other characters, his lies seem justified and moral to the reader because they are meant to protect himself and Jim and are not meant to hurt anybody. Mark Twain shows four types of lies in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: vicious and self-serving lies, harmless lies, childish lies, and Huck’s noble lies. An example of lying is presented right at the†¦show more content†¦Huck is disappointed and says, â€Å"So then I judged that all that stuff was only just one of Tom Sawyer’s lies† (14). Tom’s major lying, though, doesn’t start until chapter 33 and doesn’t end until the last part of the book. When asked to help Jim escape, instead of saving weeks and weeks of trouble by telling Huck that Jim is already free, Tom has to glorify rescuing Jim. He frightens the whole Phelps family and 15 men with shotguns through his childish games. He gets shot and puts poor Jim through all sorts of obstacles. His lying is definitely not portrayed as positive in any way. The most negative liars in the whole novel, though, are the Duke and the King. They are accomplished con-artists who make it their life to lie and trick the naà ¯ve public out of their money. In fact, they are introduced to Huck and Jim while they are fleeing from an angry mob: one for selling a paste to remove tartar from teeth that takes a good deal of the enamel off with it and the other because he was caught drunk after running a temperance sobriety revival meeting. Every lie of theirs is completely self-serving and wicked. The Duke and the King are truly antagonists because they are able to betray everyone, including the people who save them and take care of them, Jim and Huck. When their cons don’t work well, they sell Jim to the Phelps, telling them he is a runaway. But to the Duke and the King’s knowledge, Jim belongs to Huck.Show MoreRelatedhuck finn introduction7490 Words   |  30 Pages Huckleberry Finn’s Road to Maturation Huck states to Judge Thatcher Please take it, and dont ask me nothing—then I wont have to tell no lies† (16). That quote is said by Huck to Judge Thatcher when Huck finds his pap is in town and pap will try to take his money. The Maturation of Huckleberry Finn is important because its about Huck making the right decisions to help him and Jim to freedom. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, begins with Huck introducing himself. He is wild andRead MoreThe relation of form to content in Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1097 Words   |  4 PagesIn discussing the structure and substance of a novel, one would be remiss not to explore the narrative strategies through which its story is told. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) is autobiographic, ensuring a valuable narrative unity; each scene is delivered as-is rather than being described into fruition. It is a tale of boyish adventure floating along the Mississippi told as it would have appea red to the boy himself. Thus, the novel ascribes to one of several contrasting aesthetics foundRead MoreThe American Concept Of Self Creation1647 Words   |  7 Pagesavoid danger or ridding themselves of a past life, are two examples of the literary concept of Self-Creation. In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, we see the main character undergo several examples of â€Å"self-creation† during the course of the story for various motivations including those mentioned above. Throughout Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character changes in identity for several reasons to include those in which he protects himself and slave Jim. The book’s setting isRead MoreEssay Analysis of Lies in Huck Finn1742 Words   |  7 PagesAnalysis of Lies in Huckleberry Finn That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth (1). Those are among the first lines in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so its obvious from the very beginning that the truth, or lack thereof, is a major theme in the book. Huckleberry Finn is a liar throughout the whole novel but unlike other characters, his lies seem justified and moral to the reader because theyRead MoreHuckleberry Finn And The Gold Rush1726 Words   |  7 Pagesaudiences to enact positive change. Although one may see Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush as two completely separate and different works of high comedy, their similarities are much more visible upon analysis. Using satire as a critical tool, Twain and Chaplin call for social change that fits in line with the ideals of America, such as justice, equality and respect. By using satire in Huckleberry Finn and The Gold Rush, Twain and Chaplin argue that real American lifeRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Mark Twain s Huckleberry Finn1082 Words   |  5 PagesBen Choi Mr. Biber April 3, 2015 English III H A Literary Analysis on the Themes of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn David Hume, a Scottish philosopher of the 1700s, once said, Mankind are so much the same, in all times and places, that history informs us of nothing new or strange in this particular. Its chief use is only to discover the constant and universal principles of human nature. These â€Å"principles of human nature†, however, can be examined not only in history itself, but also in stories writtenRead MoreAn Analysis of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a Picaresque Tale2155 Words   |  9 PagesAn Analysis of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a Picaresque Tale A picaresque novel is based on a story that is typically satirical and illustrates with realistic and witty detail the adventures of a roguish hero of lower social standing who lives by their common sense in a corrupt society. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is an eminent example of picaresque literature. There are many aspects of the novel that portray picaresque through the history and personality of the mainRead MoreHuckleberry Finn Hoesty Quotes Analysis789 Words   |  4 PagesHuckleberry Finn Reading Analysis – Core Topic Passage Analysis of topic - Honesty â€Å"But Tom wanted to resk it; so we slid in there and got three candles, and Tom laid five cents on the table for pay.†(7) Both Tom and Huck are doing wrong on sneaking around yet Tom gives the impression of being an honest person since he takes the candles without anyone noticing but he leaves money on the table for pay instead of just leaving with the candles. â€Å"Jim always kept that five-centered piece around hisRead MoreThe Adventures Of Tom Sawyer . __________________. A Book1061 Words   |  5 Pagesdistinct from that in which he is bodily present with his elders, and in this lies its great charm and its universality, for boy nature, however human nature varies, is the same everywhere. This book review includes a summary of the book, an analysis of the book, and a character analysis. Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, wrote The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer in 1876 and its sequel, Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, in 1885. Twain’s body of work includes numerous articles, essays, novels, andRead MoreHuck Finn Essay1835 Words   |  8 PagesThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain By Brenda Tarin British Literature 2323 Lois Flanagan January 27, 2009 Tarin ii I. Introduction II. Biographical sketch of author A. Past to present B. Experiences and achievements III Plot analysis A. analysis of plot structure 1. Exposition 2. Complication 3. Crisis 4. Climax 5. Resolution B. Theme of plot IV

Essay on The Necklace - 953 Words

Ten years of suffering is the cost of having pleasure for only one night! In â€Å"The Necklace,† by Guy de Maupassant presents Mathilde Loisel, an attractive, charming but vacuous and selfish middle class lady transforms to selfness, poor, satisfied and hard-working lady. Even though, Mathidle owns a comfortable home and married to a faithful and kind husband, Monsieur Loisel, who seeks her happiness and satisfaction; she was ungrateful to the things that she had been given, because her greed and desire of wealth had captured her thoughts and blurred the real meaning of happiness in her perspective. Mathidle spends most of her time surfing in her day dreams of being wealthy and suffering from accepting the reality, because her imagination was†¦show more content†¦Guy de Maupassant had suggested clearly through the line of the story the difference between greed and dreams. Dreaming is pursuing and chasing a goal with passion, hopes, and huge efforts; while greed is a desire to acquire more than what one needs with a no effort. Mathilde could bring her dreams to reality by finding a job instead of deciding to stay home day dreaming of her thoughts. As the author had illustrated in many parts of the story Mathidle was never satisfied with her assets for example, when her husband offered her all of his saving to buy her a dress she asked for jewelries and when she had the chance to borrow some. She did not get contended with Madame Forestier’s jewelries, but she kept asking her to show her more until she noticed the most wonderful necklace of Madame Forestier’s jewelries. After losing the necklace, Mathidle social class was lower, but she seemed happier. In the story, the necklace had symbolized more than just jewelry or decoration. The necklace was a symbol of the dominant features of Mathidle’s personality such as selfishness, arrogance, superficial, and imitation. Mathidle always considered her happiness above her husband’s happiness. For example she spent the money that her husband had been saving to buy a gun over a dress to attend the party. Mathile’s arrogance and superficiality had ruined her happiness; she classified people based on their income. She alwaysShow MoreRelated The Necklace1898 Words   |  8 Pagesconsistently reflected the interests and activities of a people. Therefore, some themes have been dominant in World Literature from ancient times to the present. One such theme greed and generosity, which is explored in the French short story â€Å"The Necklace† by Guy de Maupassant. On August 5, 1850, Maupassant was born near Normandy, France, where he lived for the majority of his childhood. He was the first son of Laure Le Poittevin and Gustave de Maupassant, who were both from prestigious bourgeoisRead MoreEssay on The Necklace1342 Words   |  6 Pagesshort story The Necklace. Its protagonist, Mathilde Loisel, longing for a lavish lifestyle rather than her middle class way of life, falls under the spell of an priceless diamond. Dealing with her fate, some of Mathildes strong character traits soon become apparent. Examining these attributes, we discover that Mathilde Loisel definitely has a negative personality. The first of many character traits of Mathilde Loisel that Maupassant makes evident in the The Necklace is greed. SheRead More The Necklace Essay1346 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"The Necklace† Around the world, values are expressed differently. Some people think that life is about the little things that make them happy. Others feel the opposite way and that expenses are the way to live. In Guy de Maupassant’s short story, â€Å"The Necklace†, he develops a character, Madame Loisel, who illustrates her different style of assessments. Madame Loisel, a beautiful woman, lives in a wonderful home with all the necessary supplies needed to live. However, she is very unhappyRead MoreAnalysis of The Necklace Essay883 Words   |  4 PagesBickford English 1102 6 February 2006 Analysis of The Necklace Many women dream of living a rich life, full of luxury, riches and servants. In the short story The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant, a middle-class woman named Madame Loisel desires that life style very much. In The Necklace Madame Loisels vain desires cause many conflicts and her ultimate downfall. One small conflict in the story is Madame Loisel vs. her husband. He is always trying to make his wife satisfied and she neverRead MoreThe Necklace, Mr. Maupassant910 Words   |  4 PagesIn â€Å"The Necklace† Mr. Maupassant tells a story of a woman, Mrs. Loisel, who goes through many emotions over the loss of a necklace that ends up being a fake. As she goes through these situations Mr. Maupassant gives examples of literally elements that prove what kind of person she turns out to be. Throughout the story Mrs. Loisel is conflicted with many problems just to realize who she became and how she took advantage of what she already had in her life. When it turns out to be too late she thenRead MoreThe Diamond Necklace Script2414 Words   |  10 Pagesborrow some jewelries from her. SCENE 3: Forestier House Open Curtain Forestier: (went to a wardrobe with a mirror, took out a large jewel box, brought it back, opened it) Choose, my dear. Mathilde: (saw some bracelets, then a pearl necklace, then a Venetian gold cross set with precious stones. Tried on the ornaments before the mirror, hesitated and could not make up her mind to part with them, to give them back.) Havent you anymore? Forestier: WhyRead MoreThe Necklace by Guy de Maupassant1034 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Necklace.† Guy de Maupassant, a French writer, born in 1850, was considered one of France’s greatest short-story writers. His writings were mostly influenced by the divorce of his parents when he was thirteen years old and by great writers such as Shakespeare, Schopenhauer, and Flauber. His parent’s divorce caused his stories to depict unhappiness of matrimony, deceit, miscommunication, and a profound misunderstanding (Maupassant, Guy de, 1850-1893). In the short-story â€Å"The Necklace,† MadameRead MoreThe Necklace, By Guy De Maupassant999 Words   |  4 PagesMaupassant’s â€Å"The Necklace,† readers experience Mathilde Loisel’s life-changing event. Coming from nobility, de Maupassant tells the story of luxurious desire through the eyes of the middle class woman Mathilde. Mathilde constantly dreams of living the life of the upper clas s, and this prohibits her from acting in reality. Mathilde’s internal struggle for a sense of social royalty shows readers how quickly selfish pride destroys a person’s life. Throughout the course of â€Å"The Necklace,† Mathilde changesRead MoreThe Necklace, By Guy De Maupassant966 Words   |  4 PagesIn Guy De Maupassant’s â€Å"The Necklace,† Mathilde is a 19th century French woman who desires a wealthier lifestyle than she can acquire. She is completely indulged in the material possessions of life and is focused on the items she does not have rather than what she owns. It seems her happiness is entirely dependent on wealth and status. She neglects her husband and is never content with what he can offer. Eventually, Mathilde’s struggles of envy, selfishness, and materialism drive her to poverty.Read MoreThe Diamond Necklace, By Maupassant942 Words   |  4 Pagesand their generation stays rich all the time, while other born poor and all their stays poor all the times. However, there are other people who move from one class to another. Sometimes this mutation depends on the individual effort. In the Diamond Necklace, Guy de Maupassant describe the life of Mathilde who born poor and was not happy with her situation. Since she was unable to switch her social class, she tried for all occasion to appear as rich women. In this short story, Maupassant shows in different

What Is Awesome free essay sample

Secondly, hacks sack is also awesome because of the amount of different games that can be played with a hacks sack. Survivor is a game played with a hacks sack. Survivor is when every three drops someone is voted out of the circle. The last two people in the circle have a hack off. Or theres the games elimination, challenge, numbers, hockey hack and etc. The final thing that makes hacks sack Wesson is the competitions that people may enter.The competitions are worldwide, anyone may participate. The most recent competition is being held this Friday. It is being held in Breweries Lausanne, Baud, Switzerland at Less Pied a Gilles. You can learn lots playing hacks sack. Youll have so much fun with friends, family and other components. Hack sack is awesome and I think its something everyone should try as a new experience if they dont already hacks. We will write a custom essay sample on What Is Awesome or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Problems Young Writers May Face Essay Example

Problems Young Writers May Face Essay Some of many problems a young writer may face during the process of starting his or her essay starts right from the beginning. The beginning is one of the hardest parts of an essay for most people including myself; it has to have the main argument you will be talking about throughout the essay. Saying that, my essay today will be about â€Å"Problems Young Writers May Face† during the writing process of he or she’s essay. Getting started on an essay is often one of the first problems young writers run into. This is usually because we’ve gotten right into the writing without doing any pre-writing. What I’ve learned is you can save time by first identifying the purpose of your essay, then brainstorming points you might make to achieve your goal. Brainstorming works best if you dont rush your thoughts; write down every idea you think of even if you don’t think it will end up in your essay. Then you can take your thoughts you wrote down and find the most important points to address and start from there. We will write a custom essay sample on Problems Young Writers May Face specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Problems Young Writers May Face specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Problems Young Writers May Face specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Being the next most important thing you would start off with in the first paragraph would be your thesis statement.A thesis statement is a sentence, usually located at the end of the first or second paragraph that explains the essays main point. Without a clear thesis statement it can be more difficult to structure and organize your ideas. A good idea is to come up with your thesis statement before you begin writing the body of the essay, and then show it to teachers and fellow students for suggestions on how to make it more specific if needed. Continuing on to the body of the essay many young writers have the fear of failure because every student struggles with insecurities about their writing abilities. Either they just dont like to write or have had negative experiences in the past.They may be self-conscious about expressing themselves through writing thinking they are doing it wrong, all wrong. But, expressing your insecurities

Nigeria Political and Sociological Cleavages free essay sample

Applies an analysis of overlapping cleavages in the Nigerian political culture toward supporting a new political movement humorously entitled the Crusaders Party. This paper responds to the prompt, Design a proposal, for a person of substantial wealth, desiring to create a new political party / movement that would enjoy some initial success and have the possibility for long-term growth. Where would the new party fit in the existing array of parties and movements? How does the electoral system and institutional form of government (presidential, parliamentary, etc.) affect the start-up strategy? What should its ideological-programmatic emphasis be? Is there a particular regional base or demographic niche that would favor the party? What other parties might be good options to form a coalition In this way, the paper should be easily adapted for any analysis of Nigeria. Resentment of Northern radicalism will strengthen the Crusaders. Already, the Northern Peoples Democratic Party has successfully pushed for the implementation of sharia in nineteen Northern states. We will write a custom essay sample on Nigeria: Political and Sociological Cleavages or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page If successful, the Crusaders will improve Nigerias party system. Presently, Nigeria has three major parties, one for each ethnic group, a result that is atypical of presidential systems, which are typically characterized by two-party systems.

Compare and Contrast Elizabeth and Lydia in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice †Literature Essay

Compare and Contrast Elizabeth and Lydia in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice – Literature Essay Free Online Research Papers Compare and Contrast Elizabeth and Lydia in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice Literature Essays In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the five Bennet sisters clearly divide into two groups. Elizabeth is head of the well-behaved girls and her equivalent Lydia, represents the badly behaved. Lydia’s misbehaviour is a significant catalyst for Elizabeth uniting with Mr. Darcy; however, it was through accident rather than design. Although Elizabeth expresses some concern about Lydia’s future happiness after she elopes, these two sisters hardly communicate with each other during the story. Both Lydia and Elizabeth are the favourites of the parent they most resemble in personality. While Elizabeth is least liked by Mrs. Bennet, Lydia is her favourite and therefore overindulged. Lydia Bennet is the youngest daughter and behaves very foolishly throughout the novel. Her only interests are bonnets, balls and flirting with the soldiers stationed in town and she causes Elizabeth great embarrassment, behaving immodestly at the ball. Lydia’s description is of being less beautiful than either Jane or Elizabeth, but her youth and high spirits make her appealing. Mr. Bennet had married a woman he found sexually attractive without realizing she was an unintelligent woman and Lydia is similar to Mrs. Bennet at the same age. Mrs. Bennet’s favouritism towards Lydia and her comments on how she was once as energetic as Lydia reveals this similarity. Like her mother, Lydia has little common sense, no judgement, and no understanding of the consequences that her behaviour has on her family, especially her two older sisters. She is unrepentant after her elopement and never considered that such a scandal would disgrace the whole family and ruin any chance of good marriages for any of her sisters. Lydia is uneducated, vain, and selfish. She fails to consider that her sister Kitty, who adores her, is upset at not being included in the invitation to Brighton. â€Å"Wholly inattentive to her sister’s feelings, Lydia flew about the house in restless ecstasy†(178). Not only does Lydia lack good sense and decorum, she is a bad sister too. In contrast, Elizabeth is an intelligent, young woman with a razor-sharp wit and rich sense of humour. Elizabeth has the ability to laugh off her misfortunate and continues to be optimistic despite her situation. She is her father’s favourite and they enjoy a close relationship. Elizabeth demands respect and wishes to acquire the kind of marriage that will allow her to retain her individuality. While not completely disregarding the financial situation of potential suitors, she is determined to marry for love. Throughout the novel, Elizabeth learns lessons and changes the way she thinks about some situations. She admits her own faults and overcomes her prejudice against Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth regards Jane as more noble and kind-hearted than herself and she becomes aware of her own social and emotional prejudice as she watches her sister. When her friend Charlotte marries Mr. Collins, Elizabeth condemns the marriage as ridiculous but comes to understand and accept the position her friend was in. The marriage between Mr. Collins and Charlotte is based on economics rather than on love. Jane Austen is not endorsing this kind of marriage, rather she is pointing out that it is the only option for a woman in Charlotte’s position (Teachman 66). Jane Austen describes Elizabeth as â€Å"strong and intelligent, yet bewitching in a completely feminine way†. Her moral integrity is highly evident in her refusal of Darcy’s first marriage proposal. At the time, she believed Darcy to be arrogant and she was furious with him for ruining her adored sister Jane’s, chance at happiness. Elizabeth is very sensible and tries to curb the behaviour of her sister Lydia. She has the for-sight to realize that Lydia is too silly and irresponsible to visit Brighton and Elizabeth is rightly afraid of the consequences of her sister’s actions. She advises her father to withdraw his permission, â€Å"†¦she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family ridiculous†(179). It is interesting to note that Elizabeth went to her father with her concerns and not Lydia herself. The lack of interaction between Elizabeth and Lydia throughout the novel would suggest that they ar e not close at all. Elizabeth is a strong member of the Bennet family and she rushes to her family’s side when she hears of Lydia’s misconduct and the pain it is causing her family. Elizabeth’s closest relationship is with her older sister Jane; and they have a great friendship. Although Jane hides her feelings from most people, Elizabeth knows that she really loves Bingley and is hurt by his leaving. Elizabeth is deeply involved in helping Jane and Mr. Bingley unite and she cares deeply for the happiness of her sister Jane. So not only is Elizabeth a kind and sensible character, she is a good sister too. The worth of each character as a sister appears to influence their nuptials. The marriages of the two older Bennet girls seem to be ideal. Jane loves Mr. Bingley, and he is rich, kind and well liked by society. Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage is the best match of the novel. The series of events which they both experienced gave them the opportunity to understand one another and the time to reconcile their feelings for each other. Their mutual understanding is the foundation of their relationship and will lead them to a peaceful and lasting marriage. They have physical attraction, financial security, romance and companionship. In contrast, Lydia’s marriage is the worst of the bad marriages in the novel and they are given the least happiness of all the couples. Much like the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet their affection for each other is soon â€Å"sunk into indifference†(298). And despite the money that Darcy gave to Wickham, they are the couple in the worst financial situation. The best marriages in Pride and Prejudice are comparable to the best sibling relationships. Such relationships share the same warmth, honesty, loyalty, intelligence and understanding. Lydia’s marriage shows that love cannot be brought on by appearances, and must gradually develop between two people as they get to know one another. Love has been built up over a long period of time between the two sisters Jane and Elizabeth, as it has in the ideal marriage. Lydia’s elopement and marriage are typical of a relationship where physical desire has become more powerful than good sense. The wane of Wickham’s and Lydia’s passion is an inevitable outcome, and only a disastrous married life can be in front of them. Their marriage was based on appearances, good looks, and youthful exuberance. Without mutual love and respect, Lydia and Wickham’s marriage gradually disintegrates and Lydia becomes a regular visitor at her two elder sister’s homes when he r husband was gone to enjoy himself in London or Bath† (299). Through Lydia and Wickham’s relationship, Jane Austen illustrates that an impulsive marriage based on superficial qualities, swiftly cools and ends in discontent and unhappiness. Research Papers on Compare and Contrast Elizabeth and Lydia in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - Literature EssayComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoMind TravelHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesWhere Wild and West MeetAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropePersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyHip-Hop is Art

Iraq and Afghanistan War and the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Iraq and Afghanistan War and the US - Essay Example The war in Afghanistan is one of the major United States military offensives aimed at destroying the terrorists’ hideouts that had inflicted heavy damages on American interest around the globe. Iraq war was launched to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein accused by the government of possessing weapons of mass destruction with intention of using them to spread terror. Both wars were executed with highly sophisticated weapons that allowed the United States forces to demolish the enemy defenses with high precision aerial weaponry and at unprecedented rate. The quick demolition and annihilation of strategic enemy areas enabled subsequent entrance of the ground forces into the countries to finish off the remaining resistance (DOD, 2007). According to Anne(2004,p15), the execution of both wars heralded a new era of military tactics, which heavily relied on technologically enhanced devices in carrying out of both aerial and ground combat. This strategy was more precise, faster, an d resulted to lower number of military and civilian casualties. DOD (2007) noted that the war strategy in both wars was culmination of coordination high technology military hardware with enhanced communication devices that enabled them to strike with pinpoint precision.  

Consumer behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Consumer behaviour - Assignment Example True to John’s case, he had a need for replacing the television he had lost due to burglary. He got an insurance compensation, and this; therefore, put him at the point of need to find another television set. Mr John explains that he could not imagine staying any longer in that state of boredom without getting a TV set, and this prompted him to think of how to capture one. Need recognition entails identifying the need, which he or she has to satisfy. This marks the beginning of the buying process. Notably, the identification of the need is the foundation of the buying process, since the customer has to satisfy an existing need. In this case, the desire to watch movies or TV programs was the process of the need recognition that led to the identification of T.V as the only thing that would satisfy the need to watch movies and programs and reduce boredom. Notably, need recognition is the most significant stage of the buying process because without a need there is no purchase. The second step involves the search for relevant information on the product identified that can satisfy the need. In this case, the customer looks around to identify the best product that would satisfy the need (Singh, 2007). Notably, the customer seeks for the best product in the market that would solve their problem. In this case, the search for relevant information would involve a search for information on TV sets from distinct manufacturers in the market. Most customers search for information through friends, relatives, adverts, the internet and catalogs and other booklets (Armstrong, 2009). In his response on whether he searched for various products before settling on Sony T.V, he acknowledged that he browsed the internet in search of different models and brands. He gave the reason for this as the fact that he did not want to buy the same model he had lost to burglary since its spare parts were not readily available at the local electronic shops.

Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 20

Globalization - Essay Example Modern infrastructure development has helped bring the dream of globalization closer home. Today, Countries no longer make decisions on their own but guided by international policy. The collaboration between nation states of the world means that we are all responsible for the future of this world together. Globalization has economic grounds. Without the financial gain, there is no globalization. However, economies did not create globalization but globalization largely depends on them. Because of technological advancement, globalization is achievable today. International business can be done all thanks to technological progress easily. Technology infrastructure has improved the way we do business and has positive effects on globalization. (Castells, 2006) Business outside the global perspective kills the business driving home the point each company aims at achieving international standards. The nation state is central to regulating the approach to globalization. The world of today is marred by lots of problem. Most of these problems are an identity-related crisis. Religion is as a platform for the war in the Middle East. Religion is but one of the avenues for globalization and cannot be used to advance national let alone international agendas. It is impossible for a nation to read from a confined script on matters nation and at the same time embrace globalization. The Middle East continued conflict is as a result of shutting off globalization and embracing religious backdrops in everything they do. Such restrictions and backgrounds breed resistance not towards religion alone but fundamentalism Europe and America appreciate the fact that slavery helped built the societies we see today in Europe. Slaves from West Africa worked on sugar plantations in the Caribbean Islands. While the slaves provide the labor, the French provided capital and the English machinery and industry. The three worked hand in hand and eventually saw the industrial revolution.

Procter and Gamble Company with consumer goods

Procter and Gamble Company with consumer goods 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Procter Gamble Company (PG) is one of the top makers of consumer goods companies in the world. Among the famous billion dollars brands are Duracell, Oral-B, Gillette, Head Shoulder, Olay, Pampers, Pantene, and Wella. PG has three major categories of products, mainly beauty and grooming, health and well-being, and household care products. The organizations corporate mission is to touch and improve lives of the worlds consumers, now and for generations to come by providing branded products and services of superior quality and value (Procter Gamble 2011). PG has a unique corporate structure that is very different from major market leaders in the world. Its structure is one of the main pillars for its growing capability. PG has combined both the global scale benefit organization with the local focus of each particular country where its products are sold (Procter Gamble 2011). The corporate structure of PG consists of three major parts which are Global Business Units (GBUs), Market Development Organizations (MDOs), and Global Business Services (GBS). The GBUs focus mainly on branding, competitors and consumers. They are responsible for the shareholder returns and profitability of the company. MDOs are to know the consumers and retailers in the markets PG is competing and combine new ideas from GBUs into business plans that work in each country. The GBS in another hand is one of the four major pillars of the organization to support 127000 employees and 300 brands sold. GBS provide over 170 employee and business services including IT, finance, facilities, purchasing and employee services as well as business building solutions (Procter Gamble 2011). PG established five business strategies for its own (Procter Gamble 2011). The first strategy is to develop sustainable innovative products which are environmental friendly. Second strategy is to improve PGs operation to be more environmental friendly. Third strategy is to improve childrens lives via the organizations social responsibility programs. Fourth strategy is to engage and equip the employees of PG to build sustainability thinking and practices into their everyday work. Fifth strategy is to work transparently with the stakeholders. PG major business processes focuses on consumer production innovation and brand management. In order to achieve both of these, PG has its own intranet called Innovation Net (INET) to connect different departments ranging from RD, Engineering, Purchasing, Consumer Market knowledge, Patent/Legal and Business Information Systems. With the integration of AskMe Enterprise tools, PG will be able to leverage the information from each department to better monetize it (Realcom 2009). Knowledge workers of PG would be able to share their knowledge and collaborate to solve same problems encountered via INET. PG has strong relationship with Wal-Mart since 1980s because of the business process automation between the two and the collaboration carried out to work together better (Christopher Koch, 2002). PG is establishing efficient relationship between the industry and academia with research universities (Nathan 2011). 2.0 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) INFRASTRUCTURE In year 2003, Procter and Gamble (PG) has signed a 10 years contract, worth $3 billion with Hewlett-Packard (HP) to outsource her overall IT infrastructure. HP will run PGs data centers and information technology infrastructure, and also provide desktop and end-user support, and to oversee network management (Sandeep Junnarkar 2003). 2.1 Computer hardware platform PG has selected Hewlett-Packard (HP) as her IT infrastructure provider. Desktops and end-user support in PGs global operations over 180 countries are provided by HP. HP was selected for its global IT expertise, services quality and cost, and collaborative approach, as most importantly shared a same vision and values with PG, which PG strongly believe this will be able to accelerate innovation in PG (Palo Alto 2003). 2.2 Operating system. PG has started to get involved in high performance computing (HPC) to run simulations in research, design and testing before production since early of 1980s to increase productivity and reduce the production cost of company. However due to wide variety of products, and large number of researchers, product designer and test engineers in PG, the IT organization needs a more user friendly computer cluster. PG also faced difficulties in integrating software from different vendors as no any vendors can offer PG all the software they need in traditional (Microsoft Corporation 2008). In mid 2007, PG replaces its UNIX operating system with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition operating system. PG employed Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 to support its high performance technical and scientific applications with parallel processing to improve their performance. Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 not only improved the use of HPC and productivity in PG, but also improved cluster deployment and management by 20% (Microsoft Corporation 2008) 2.3 Enterprise software applications (SAP) PG runs its business using SAP ® software (SAP AG 2009). The key challenge faced by PG is, she has wide range of products and has a very complex sales order process. Emerging as a worlds premier consumer product company, PG puts her customer as priority and would like to give satisfaction to her customers by on-time-delivery (OTD). PG uses community definition groups (CDGs) from the Enterprise Services Community (ES Community) program provided by SAP, which create the sales order cockpit a single monitor that supports the everyday activities related to sales orders (SAP AG 2009). Through CDG and ES Community, productivity of PG improved by integrating functionality that required many scattered transactions into a single cockpit. 2.4 Networking and telecommunications The visionary stance of PG on product innovation and development to be a company that collaborates-inside and out-better than any other company in the world (Cisco Systems, Inc. 2008). Videoconferencing rooms were used for PG teams to collaborate internally and externally, but greater challenges are faced by PG due to unreliable technology which cause poor video and audio quality, and thus prevented effective collaboration. The problem is then solved when GBS work with CISCO to develop a video collaboration strategy based on the TelePresence solution. In mid of 2007, PG has expanded to more 40 Cisco CTS3000 TelePresence studios, also known as Video Collaboration Studios which enable team members in PG exchange idea and even have meetings in minutes (Cisco Systems, Inc. 2008). Through these, team members in PG are able to collaborate innovatively and smarter without travelling anywhere, decisions making are also accelerated. 2.5 Consultants and system integrators PG commits herself to achieve the goals of making the company more efficient while running it cost effectively and to have breakthrough opportunities in innovation by moving toward a digitized and visualized environment. PGs GBS created a network of customized workspace portals (decision cockpits) which stored latest business intelligence which benefits thousands of her employees who can access information to make real-time business decisions. The number of portals grew to 160 over time and had different platforms, technologies which increased the difficulty to manage and costly to maintain. Different user interface of cockpits made it hard for other users when using other cockpits. There were too many legacy reports generated from all these cockpits which slowed down the process of accessing needed information for the executives level. PG needed a new cockpit platform to be standardized and streamlined, provide easy access to a single source of accurate, real-time business information, enhance user experience, reduce the cost and inefficiencies related with cockpit development and maintenance, improve data integrity and the delivery of reports, accommodate web 2.0 features. PG turned to Accenture for help to develop and manage the new cockpit platform. Accenture together with PGs GBS redefined PGs Vision for enterprise information management, standardized and integrated systems for a simpler and faster organization. By this, the cockpits are delivered 5 times faster than before and 35 percent less development cost and 50 percent reusability (Accenture 2010). 2.6 Data management and storage Procter and Gamble selects SAND/DNA for SAP NLS Pilot Project in March 2008. SAND Technology Inc. is an international provider of intelligent enterprise information software. PG emerged as one of the world biggest consumers products company, has wide range of products with approximately135, 000 people in more than 180 countries (Procter Gamble 2011). Too many data to be stored and managed efficiently and cost effectively is the key challenge of PG (SAND 2008). SAND/DNA enables highly efficient data storage, with minimal administration requirement and integration with PG Enterprise Software Applications, SAP. Data stored are easily accessed from SAP NetWeaver BI 7.0 (SAND 2008). SAND also provides lower cost data storage over a long term (Yazdi Bagli). 2.7 Internet platform Key challenge in PG in internet platform is reaching out to consumers through digital world. PG sees digital world as an opportunity to reach out their brand to consumers, and build up connections with their consumers (Angelica Mari 2009) Microsoft.NET has interactive features and like touch, gestures, rich UI, and location awareness, enable PG to attract and connect with consumers. Besides being technically impressive, Microsoft.NET is cost effective and efficient development platform (Microsoft 2009). 3.0 CLOUD COMPUTING AND ITS BUSINESS BENEFITS AND COSTS 3.1 Cloud computing and its current trend Cloud refers to the Internet. Cloud computing is a model of computing where firms and individuals obtain computing power and software applications over the Internet, rather than purchasing their own hardware and software. (Laudon, K.C. Laudon, J.P.,2010). The hardware and software capabilities are provided as a service over the Internet by vendors such as salesforce.com. Through cloud computing, hardware and software are managed by vendors, including installations, configurations, testing, running, security, and updates (Salesforce.com 2011). In traditional way, different types of right software are needed in each and every computer in company to make sure all the staffs are able to carry out their work. The operational cost will be very high due to buying new software and providing license for software. However, this problem can be solved using cloud computing. Users are just required to log in to one application, which allows users to log into a Web-based service which hosts all the programs the user would need for his or her job. This made scaling up and down of software easier. In this way, cloud computing allows a company to increase their capacity or add capabilities on computing without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software (Eric Knorr Galen Gruman, n.d.). Currently in cloud computing, users are able to access to the application as long as an electronic device (i.e. PCs, netbooks, Smartphones) has access to the web. Users are able to keep up their work everywhere and easily. 3.2 Cloud computing solutions Salesforces.com Sales Cloud and Service Cloud are applicable to PG sales team and customer support team. Sales Cloud Enterprise edition with $125 per user a month will be applicable to the entire organization with features such as storing customer contacts, tracking customer interactions, integrating with Google apps, reports and analytics, sales forecasting and many more features which will be benefiting the sales team(Salesforce.com 2011). The Service Cloud Enterprise edition with US$135 per user a month will be able to improve PG customer support whether it is offline or online with web customization and integration. Web 2.0 integrations such as Twitter and Facebook will further enhance the productivity of PGs customer service by interacting with the customers in real time (Salesforce.com 2011). 3.3 B usiness benefits and cost of cloud computing Many organizations have changed their IT infrastructure to cloud computing due to cost and time effective. In cloud computing infrastructure, no hardware or software need to be installed, but all the business activities, includes customer relationship management (CRM), HR, accounting are able to be carried out by opening a browser, log in, customize the app, and start using it (Salesforce.com 2011). Other than that, IT teams will not be wasting their time on installations, maintenances and upgrading their software because all the updates are performed by vendors. Cloud computing enables a fast access to own data from different remote devices and able transfer and sharing file between users rapidly.All the changes made also will be synchronized in PCs and mobile devices (Rivka Tadjer 2010). Other than that, cloud computing allows easy and fast integration of applications, both traditional software and cloud computing infrastructure (Salesforce.com 2011). Thus, all co-workers are able to keep up their works easily. Business activities are not restricted in office workplace, but every worker can access and perform their work with any internet devices they have. Other benefit of cloud computing is we do not face the risk of loss of data as all the data and files are stored in the cloud. Complete disaster recovery is available and data will not lost during upgrades. Customizations and integrations of all the works and data are automatically preserved during an upgrade (Salesforce.com, 2011). By implementing cloud computing infrastructure, less man power needed to manage and update the hardware and software. This allows man power in IT department to focus on strategic activities with greater impact on the business. 4.0 RECOMMENDATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING ADOPTION It is recommended that PG to adopt the cloud computing for better business process and efficiency. Salesforces.com is recommended for PGs sales and customer service team for the sales order process while HP cloud solution is recommended for the companys IT infrastructure. Below are the reasons of why such recommendations are made. 4.1 Customer and supplier services: integrating SAP into Salesforce.com The sales order cockpit by SAP is important for PG sales order process. The limitation of the current situation is that the sales team and customer service team has to be in office in order to access to the cockpit and the teams have to go back and forth for pulling information from different platforms. By integrating the sales order cockpit into Salesforce.com, PGs employees would be able to access to sales process by SAP, CRM and other sales tracking in one platform at anywhere, anytime as long as they have the internet access. Upon applying such integration, PG will be able to save more on maintaining cost, integration cost, and time to have more productive sales process, better customer satisfaction as the employees are able to see the problems and solve them in the shortest time possible. The sales team is able to save more time in getting information and spending more time with the customers. 4.2 Achieving business strategy One of the business strategy PG has is to improve PGs operation to be more environmental friendly. Adopting cloud computing can help the company to achieve this strategy. It is said that many companies will move to cloud computing to consume 90% of the electricity from public utilizes instead of generating the same amount of their own electricity (Consero Insights 2010). 4.3 IT infrastructure and cost PG outsourced its IT Infrastructure to HP with $3billion over 10 years. HP will manage overall infrastructure in PG from data centers, general network management to desktop and end-user supports. In term of cost, cloud computing   can reduce the cost of IT hardware and services over the time as in cloud computing, payment are based on byte of usage (Cloud Computing IT 2010). Traditional IT Infrastructure is restricted to the limit of licensed user, which will cause inelasticity in scaling up the company (Zemanta 2009). Key component in cloud computing software as a service (SaaS) which enables company access on applications and large amount of computing power without purchasing it. SaaS can be operated by multiple computers at the same time yet no upgrades and contract renewal required ([emailprotected] Carey 2008) 4.4 Information Technology PG realize the importance of digital world, as a medium to touch the life of people. PG also implementing â€Å"cultural revolution† to train and develop IT staff with the skills necessary to blend IT with PGs businesses and provide IT innovation. PGs IT organization play a vital role in shaping the companys future and PG uses IT technology to identify market trends, anticipate business needs and create programs globally (Thomas Hoffman 2006). Key feature in cloud computing which is accessibility, availability and scalability (Tony Chung 2008) enable PG to obtain data to carry out market analysis conveniently. On the other hand, cloud computing is said to be limitless, flexible to scale up and down without affecting its performance and operational cost. 4.5 Competitor Firms IT Services Unilever, one of the strong competitors of PG boost their sales by focusing on the consumers rather than advertising and promotions (Russell Parsons, 2010). Unilever focus on one-to-one basis on respective group to ensure effective approach (Unilever 2011). Unilever partnership with BT to perform high quality and cost effective global network by delivering managed networks and communications solutions to customers around the world (Unilever 2002). 4.6 Competitor Firm: Unilever IT investment Unilever has an annual IT budget at about USD1128 million (Natasha 2010). Unilever invested into its global network which provides advanced messaging and security services in 2002 (Unilever 2002). Unilever also employed Business Objects data integration products by SAP to quickly integrate its numerous data sources to continue its growth strategy to consolidate brands, simplify processes, streamline supply chains, and increase revenues (Business Objects 2008). Compared to Unilever, investment of PG in IT is much lower. However, one good thing in Unilevers IT is Business object, which is able to load data, transform into useful data and load in data warehouse in short time where PG can consider in IT infrastructure. 5.0 CONCLUSION The findings in this report show that cloud computing is beneficial to PG in terms of cost saving, productivity, and efficiency. Salesforce.com SaaS will better help the sales and customer relationship management in PG through real time data anywhere as long as the employees have the internet connection. HP IaaS will be save more money in IT infrastructure as PG only pay for what is being used and will be able to scale up or down according to the usage anytime in future. It is strongly recommended that PG to adopt cloud computing solutions to help the company achieve better results.

propaganda techniques :: essays research papers

Name Calling: giving an idea a bad label, a negative term that sticks. Glittering Generally: opposite of name-calling, uses â€Å"good† words and phrases that have a positive â€Å"glittering† appeal. They are broad, vague, and often meaningless emotionally charged words. Transfer: uses symbols usually, to carry over the authority, sanction and prestige of something respected and revered over to something else in order to make the latter acceptable. Usually patriotism, religion, religion, and associating yourself with someone popular /famous and using that person’s â€Å"coat tails†. In above picture, featuring John Kerry and John Edwards, I see some transfer with the flag behind them. It seems to symbolize that they are still strong and honorable just like the flag. I think they are hoping to seem patriotic to our country despite all the nasty things they said about our president. Testimonial: having some famous, respected person say an idea (or person) is good (or bad). In the photo of Bush and Schwarzenegger, I think Bush is trying to use Arnold’s popularity and fame to get him a few votes not only in California but also around the nation. Plain Folks: Speaker tries to convince his audience that he and his ideas are good because they are of the people, the â€Å"Plain Folks†. Trying to make us think that he/she is just like us. In picture to the right, bush is seen conversating with the troops like one of the boys. Card stacking: involves arranging facts and arguments to be very one-sided. Usually involves leaving out significant information. In the above picture, this person is trying to force these kids into believing they should follow what he says. He is using force and not telling the entire story. Band Wagon: Everybody is following this program, so follow the crowd,† jump on the band wagon†. In picture to the right, it suggests that everyone should smoke marijuana because even the chipmunk is. The Big Lie: if something is repeated enough times, people begin to accept it as truth.

The Automotive Industry and Green Awareness

After suffering massive market losses to foreign cars which were considered to be fuel efficient, American automotive industry has reawakened to the green awareness campaign advocated by consumers, which is represent the future of the industry.There has been increased call by the consumers for the American auto industry to develop cars which emits less green house gases to save the environment.The industry has responded by putting efforts on development of electric cars and hybrid plug-in in vehicles to adapt to the market needs and to sustain the growth of the economy.Green technology presents the future and the American automotive industry must grow along this line to compete effectively in the market.With a large segment of their market lost to foreign automakers, the American auto industry and the government in general responded by taking measures to enforce a green auto industry. For example California passed a law which required 2% all the cars sold in the state to have zero em ission which led to the development of the electric cars (Kilkenny, 2006). However, conspiracy between leading auto makers like Ford and the oil industry led to the mysteriously death of the car (Shnayerson, 2006).Realizing that the future of the auto industry is green, the industry has responded by investing in research and design which has seen the development of hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars, electric cars, lithium batteries which will support the future green auto industry, and various innovations in auto components. These inventions are likely to see the end of the use of gasoline powered engines which have been the leading environmental polluter. (Kaho, 2008)The future of the auto industry is green. In order to compete effectively with other auto makers in the world, and ensure the contribution to the industry to economic growth and sustainability American auto industry must continue with their efforts in the development of a green auto industry. (Globe, 2008)The auto industr y green awareness is an important topic of concern to all Americans and the rest of the world. Our country is still the leading emitter of green house gases to the atmosphere and the auto industry has been one of the leading contributors to this emission.Reference:Globe, (2008): Future auto motive industry. Globe Foundation, March 2008Kaho, T. (2008):Â   2008 Washington Auto Show: Technology and green future. GREENCAR.comKilkenny, N. (2006): Who killed Electric Car? Accessed from http://www.reformation.org/who-killed-electric-car.pdf on 4th August 2008Shnayerson, M. (2006): The Inside Story of GM's Revolutionary Electric Vehicle. Random House publishers

Research Paper on Operating Systems

Research Paper on Operating Systems These days one of the most popular research paper writing topics are operating system research paper topics assigned by professors in college and university to the students who are majored in Computer science. Computers play a more important role in a life of an average person. Practically everyone has access or owns a PC, and is using it daily. In order to make progress of understanding developing and using the computer some students are required to write a research paper on one of the operating systems research paper topics. In order to succeed in writing a research paper on computer science – a student has to be able to seize the whole amount of information on the subject, conduct his own research, implement some novelty material (which is not so hard to find), and be able to express himself freely without any boundaries. There are millions of operating system research paper topics, where you can apply yourself to. The topics vary from old operating systems such as MS-DOS, Norton commander, Windows 3.1, Windows 3.11 through nowadays operating systems such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows XP, windows 2000, windows NT, windows 2003, Windows millenium, Windows vista, MAC OS, ect, to novelty operating systems such as Windows 7 (Vienna). There are various topic, starting from novelty features to troubleshooting. And the research part of this paper is quite easy,   as all you have to do – is hook up to the internet and surf through several forums and useful articles, and everything concerning the research part will be resolved. To write a good research paper on operating systems you should have excellent knowledge in computer science. The most common mistake of a operating system research paper writer, is that he tries to seize all information on the subject he is researching, while he needs to focus on a very specific aspect. It will take more than a 1000 pages to sezie all information on Windows XP, and each and every aspect of it, but if you focus on the file system of Windows XP – you may be able to fit within the  boundaries of the amount of pages you are supposed to write in. CustomWritings.com is eager to help and assist you with this rather difficult subject. Just inquire on the CustomWritings.com website, and the writer administrator will instantly reply.

Riordan Manufacturing Strategic Plan Essays

Riordan Manufacturing Strategic Plan Essays Riordan Manufacturing Strategic Plan Paper Riordan Manufacturing Strategic Plan Paper . Riordan Manufacturing Strategic Plan University of Phoenix Strategic Management MGT/498 Riordan Manufacturing Strategic Plan A world renowned plastics manufacturer employing nearly 550 workers worldwide, Riordan Manufacturing Co. a leader in the industry of plastic injection molding, has more than $1 billion in revenue. With operations based in California, Michigan, Georgia, and China, review of current resources within Riordan’s business structure reveal numerous areas in need of redefining to improve operational efficiency company-wide. Implementation of this proposed strategic plan will address issues areas of improvement including Ethical and social responsibility considerations Competitive advantages, strategies, improved innovation, and sustainability in domestic and international markets Strategy effectiveness measurement guidelines to be used Internal dynamics, cultural, and structural leadership Business continuity Assessment, feedback, and alternative directions as needed Since the founding of the company in 1991, Riordan manufacturing enjoys status as Fortune 1000 company and shares a number of competitive advantages with many other companies in various lines of business. Riordan shares the competitive advantages of direct selling along with customer, employee, and shareholder commitment with global Internet retailer Amazon. com and juvenile product and toy retailer Toys†R† Us. Riordan provides revenue and profitability growth as they provide products at the lowest cost along with a commitment to the communities Riordan serves. Riordan also shares the advantage of strong brand recognition in their industry just as Nike, Ford Motor Co. , Homes. com, and Federal Express have in their markets. Riordan is also known for their strength of quality in engineering on par with the Ford Motor Co. Strategic Plan Riordan was founded by Dr. Riordan, a professor in chemistry in 1991 (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). Over the years Riordan has expanded the business from development, to manufacturing and, to production. Riordan was able to accomplish this expansion by acquiring a manufacturing plant in Pontiac, Michigan, and an additional plant for production in Albany, Georgia. In 2000 Riordan took their operation global and opened a manufacturing plant in China. Riordan has been able to manage three locations successfully to date. However, Riordan recognizes the need to develop a strategic plan to increase profitability by establishing new accounting and marketing systems. A strategic plan must be realistic and attainable. Riordan’s strategic plan should serve as the framework for future decisions, it should inform, motivate, and involve their stakeholders. The strategic plan should include benchmarking and performance monitoring. The plan should stimulate change and become the building block to future plans within Riordan Manufacturing. Riordan’s strategic plan should address the finance and accounting department’s inability to obtain seamless data reporting within the three locations that cause delays in month end reporting (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). The ability to provide timely month end reporting to the board of directors is essential to recognizing potential financial threats and trends in the business. In addition the strategic plan should address the antiquated marketing system. Riordan has achieved several accolades over the years. However, most of this data is filed away and not easily accessible to the marketing department. The development of a marketing information system will give research and development the ability to use historical data for tracking units, volumes, and products sold for developing new marketing strategies (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). The Role of Ethical and Social Responsibility Ethical and social responsibility will have an intricate role in Riordan strategic management plan. Ethics involves knowing right from wrong and simply doing the right thing. Riordan must ensure they are reporting true and accurate financial records to all stakeholders. Today Riordan uses three separate accounting systems to compile financial data. This data is often re-entered by the headquarters office in San Jose. Manual entry of information is subject to reporting inaccuracies that may question Riordan’s ethics. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 mandated a number of reforms to enhance corporate responsibility, enhance financial disclosures and combat corporate and accounting fraud. Riordan has a social responsibility to ensure the manufacturing plants are producing quality materials. Riordan must ensure they establish an effective quality control program consisting of design reviews, engineering analysis, adequate recordkeeping of raw materials and finished goods, inspection of incoming materials, testing during the manufacturing process and finished part inspections. These records should be of sufficient detail to document the steps that were performed in manufacturing the product. Such records should include results of design reviews; supplier information, product testing and inspection; equipment calibrations; and product tracing information (AM Trust North America, 2010, p. 4). The records will assist in timely detection of safety hazards and trends within Riordan Manufacturing. Environmental Scan To better understand what Riordan’s competitive advantages are and which competitive strategies Riordan should use to improve innovation and sustainability, members of Team A must first perform an environmental scan. The simplest and most effective way of con ducting the scan is by performing a SWOT analysis on Riordan (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Riordan possesses manyuch strength’s as the team observeds fromin the internal environmental scan. The corporation’s brand is widely recognized in the automotive parts, aircraft, and appliance manufacturing industries as well as with the Department of Defense, beverage makers, and bottlers. The company manufactures its products on two different continents, so it can reach an international market and reduce some costs by manufacturing in a more underdeveloped country, China. This adds to Riordan’s ability to offer their products at lower prices while maintaining revenue and profitability growth. The manufacturing firm also boasts high standards of quality as it exceeds ISO 9000 standards (Apollo Group, Inc. 2008). Riordan has several weaknesses. The first is their costs of goods are directly related to the rising cost of oil. Because Riordan’s products are made from polymer and derived completely from oil, profit margins are greatly affected when oil prices rise. Riordan’s finance and accounting systems in each of their manufacturing branches are not com patible with one another. This has resulted in higher labor costs, costly monthly auditing, slow reaction time to financial dilemmas, compliance to government regulation strains, and high inventory costs (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). The external environmental scan shows some opportunities for Riordan. Consumer demand and capital spending remain steady in the midst of a global economic downturn. Globalization is also allowing manufacturing companies to lower operating costs by producing their products in underdeveloped countries where labor costs are much lower. Finally, Brazil is becoming the leading producer of bioplastics and recently has discovered technology to compete with current oil derived plastics prices (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). Threats to Riordan could be devastating to the company if not approached correctly. The downturn in the economy is affecting every industry and thus the supplier of polymer parts. Oil prices are rising each year and increasing the costs of producing plastic materials and parts. Finally, more consumers are pushing for environmental practices and products from large corporations (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). Competitive Advantages From this SWOT analysis, Team A observes Riordan’s competitive advantages. Like Toys R US and Amazon, Riordan provides low prices to its customers and maintains revenue and profit growth. The firm has strong brand awareness and provides the highest quality in manufacturing (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). Competitive Strategies and Measurement Guidelines To improve innovation and sustainability in both domestic and international applications, Riordan must approve and implement a few competitive strategies. Riordan managers must reduce inventory costs by 30% and lower labor costs in its existing plants and headquarters by 10%. This strategy can be accomplished by seamlessly integrating each Finance and Accounting department of each branch manufacturing plant and the corporate headquarters. By implementing a state-of-the-art ERP manufacturing, distribution, and financial software application software, Riordan can reach the above stated strategic goals (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). The cost of the integrated system is $1,350,000. Riordan’s CFO will need to make two payments of $250,000 over the next year, and the remaining will be financed through the bank with 8% interest, which will be paid over 60 months. The investment will include manager training and additional licensing for expansion. The system implementation and training will take one year. The second year will be used to observe opportunities to minimize labor and inventory costs. By year three, audits should be reduced by half, labor costs by 15%. Inventory cost will also drop to 30% by year three because invoices and accounting information will be delivered in real-time, which will allow the company to ship products quickly after they have been produced (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). Measurement guidelines must be in place to ensure these strategies effectiveness. By the end of the second year of deployment, labor costs should be minimized by 5% with the remaining 10% reduced by the end of the third year. Inventory costs should drop by 10% by the end of the second year and the remaining 20% by the end of the third year of implementation. These percentages will be monitored quarterly by the executive management with the current budgets, income statements, and balance sheets. The next proposed competitive strategy is to expand to new markets and increase the company customer base and revenue by 25% in five years. This will be accomplished by moving to a joint venture with Braskem, the world’s leading producer of bioplastics. Based in Brazil, this venture would allow the corporation to broaden its customer base by manufacturing products for the medical device, cosmetic, food packaging, and personal-hygiene industries. The move would also protect Riordan from fluctuating oil prices by diversifying its resources with plastics made from renewable resources, which are now competitively priced with oil-derived polymers. Providing products out of renewable resources or green products would allow the company to reach more environmentally conscious customers (Morales, Pulido, Ticas, 2009). The venture would cost $15 million dollars, which would be funded by Riordan Industries and would surpass the 12% hurdle rate. The investment includes infrastructure, logistics, labor, marketing, and additional machinery and supplies (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). The measurement guidelines to ensure the strategy’s effectiveness are based on a percentage of yearly growth added to the company’s current revenue growth from established locations. By the end of the second year of implementation, 2% growth must be recorded, 7% at the end of year three, 15% at the end of year four, and 25% by the end of year five. These benchmarks will be monitored by the executive management against current revenues. Metrics for new clients, life of existing clients, and lost clients will be monitored monthly to ensure strategy effectiveness. Cultural and Structural Leadership Cultural and structural leadership strategies need to be implemented at Riordan Manufacturing, â€Å"Strategy implementation is a process by which strategies and policies are put into action through the development of programs, budgets, and procedures. This process involves changes within the overall culture, structure, and management system of the entire organization† (Wheelen Hunger,  2008,  p. 1). The culture and structure of the organization must be compatible with the new strategy. The strategy implementation is reviewed by the top management team and is conducted by middle and lower lever managers of the organization. Leadership in an organization is vital at all levels of the organization. Ongoing communication is nec essary at all levels of the organization as Riordan moves forward to implement the strategic changes (Wheelen Hunger,  2008). The mission of an organization is the purpose for the company’s existence. The mission tells what the company does. The vision of an organization describes what the organization would like to become. The mission and vision should capture the culture of the organization (Wheelen Hunger,  2008). The current mission of Riordan consists of four parts: focus, customer relationship, employees, and future of the company. The focus of Riordan is Six Sigma, having the leading edge of research and development (RD), and exceeding ISO 9000 standards. Their focus also includes continuing to be the industry leaders in using polymer materials and identifying industry trends. The mission of their customer relationships is to strive to be a solution provider for their customers and not be part of customer challenges. The focuses of the long-term relationships are to maintain quality control, a responsive business, innovative solutions, and reasonable pricing. The mission for their employees is to maintain an innovative and team oriented working environment. The focus of their future is to achieve and maintain reasonable profitability to ensure that the financial and human capital of Riordan is available for sustained growth (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2008). Corporate culture should be considered when implementing the business strategy for Riordan, †Corporate culture is the collection of beliefs, expectations, and values learned and shared by a corporation’s members and transmitted from one generation of employees to another† (Wheelen Hunger,  2008,  p. 149). Intensity and integration are two attributes of corporate culture. The cultural intensity consists of the degree to which members of a unit accept the values and norms associated with the organization. The cultural integration is the extent to which the units throughout the organization share a common culture. The corporate culture on an organization reflects the mission and the values of the founder. The culture also reflects the organization’s values (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Divisional structure, functional structure, strategic business unit structure, and matrix structure are types of the organizational structures that could be considered by Riordan to implement their business strategy. Divisional and functional structures are examples of the basic organizational structures. In the divisional structure the employees tend to be functional specialist organized according to the product/market distinctions. The divisional structure is used in large corporations with many products lines in several related industries. In the functional structure the employees tend to be specialists in the business functions vital to that industry. The business functions include manufacturing, marketing, finance, and human resources. Functional structure is commonly used in medium-sized organizations with several product lines in one industry. The strategic business unit structure is groups or divisions composed of independent product/market segments. These groups are given the primary authority and responsibility for the management of their own functional areas of the organization. In the matrix structure the functional and product forms are combined at the same level of the organization. The matrix structure the employees have a functional manager and a product manager (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Team A has determined that the best organizational structure for Riordan to implement their business strategy would be the divisional organizational structure. Riordan products include plastic bottles, fans, heart valves, medical stents, and custom plastic parts. Riordan must manage a diverse product line in different industries. The divisional organizational structure will allow Riordan to decentralize the decision-making authority. Implementing the divisional organizational structure will allow Riordan to maintain their functional specialization in each division. Evaluation and Control Once the company’s strategies have been integrated into its operation, the final stage of strategic management is utilizing applications that will properly and accurately assess the performance outcome within a corporate, a divisional, and a functional viewpoint. Employing measures that will evaluate and control the implemented strategy by Riordan will enable the firm to ensure that the company is in the direction of reaching its goals by simply comparing its actual performance outcome with the expected results consisting of its performance data and its activity reports, which will provide the compulsory feedback for management to evaluate results and to take corrective action, as necessary (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Evaluation and Control Process The evaluation and control process will provide Riordan with a general outlook of the firm’s productivity. Primarily, it is usually initiated when a gap appears between a company’s financial objectives and the expected results of current activities (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Evaluation and control consist of a five step process that assesses and establish guidelines that will address the efficiency and the effectiveness of Riordan’s integrated plan. The five steps are 1) Determine what to measure, 2) Establish standards of performance, 3) Measure actual performance, 4) Compare actual performance with the standard, and 5) Take corrective action. In summary, the process evaluates and establishes a level of standards on the elements of concern of any new stratagem and then comparing its actual outcome with its level of standards. Should the outcome fall below the set standards, only then remedial actions would be necessary. Figure. 1 depicts the evaluation and control process:   [pic]Figure. 1 Measuring Performance Measuring productivity following Riordan’s integrated plan is done by evaluating the firm’s performance level. Utilizing the numeric values extracted from its activity and financial reports can calculate the effectiveness or lack of the company’s performance, in an effort to expose any unwanted flaws or unexpected discrepancies. There are specific tools that Riordan can use to measure performance in order to analyze its results within the present time or to foresee possible outcomes. Return on Investment (ROI), Earnings per Share (EPS), and Return on Equity (ROE) are tools typically used to evaluate the corporation’s or division’s ability to achieve the firm’s profitability objective (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Each tool can only calculate earnings during the present time and does not foresee likely profitability; however, ROI, EPS, and ROE are done only when all the accounted figures from the company’s financial and activity reports have been documented. In contrast, these feats would not be ideal when evaluating social responsibility or employee development (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). A more appropriate tool to better evaluate Riordan’s overall performance level is by utilizing a method known as steering control, which will research variables that will manipulate prospect profitability. Steering control is categorized into three subcategories, which are input controls, output controls, and behavior controls. Input controls oversee the company’s resources such as knowledge, skills, abilities, values, and motives of the employees. This will help assess of Riordan’s internal infrastructure. Behavior controls are company protocols based on the firm’s policies, rules, operating procedures, and orders from its management. Output controls focuses on areas of the business that are done in a specific way based on the effect of the behaviors through the use of objectives and performance targets (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Shareholder value is a present-day application that most companies employ to evaluate its performance. To help asses Riordan’s operation, this will be a valuable tool in order to estimate economic value, likely profitability, and strategic management effectiveness. Shareholder value is the present value of the anticipated future stream of cash flows from the business plus the value of the company if liquidated (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Cash flow is the element that is measured to determine the financial strength and stability of a company. In turn, to label a company financially sound, profits are weighed against the cost of capital. If Riordan’s profits outweigh the money invested as capital, the company will appear financially strong to its shareholders. There are two methods to measure shareholder value, which are, 1) economic value added (EVA), which assesses the dissimilarity between the pre-strategy and post-strategy values of a firm, and 2) market value added (MVA), which is the difference between the market value of a business and the capital provided by shareholders and lenders (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). In combination with the shareholder value method, Riordan will also employ a balanced scorecard. A balance scorecard is a combination of financial and operational measures that will entail data outlining the results of business actions that have occurred along with detailed information documenting customer satisfaction, internal processes, and the corporation’s innovation and improvement activities. These components are the drivers of future financial performance (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). There are four elements that make up a balanced scorecard, which are 1) Financial: How do we appear to shareholders 2) Customer: How do customers view us 3) Internal business perspective: What must we excel at, and 4) Innovation and learning: Can we continue to improve and create value (Wheelen Hunger, 2010)? Business Continuity Riordan struggles in the continuity of its finance and accounting systems in three locations, San Jose, Michigan, and Georgia, with the three locations running separate accounting systems. Although each system is effective separately running the core functions of general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, order entry, procurement, sales and purchasing history, invoicing and shipping, payroll, financial reporting, three other critical functions, EDI, bar code reading, and EDSS exist only in the San Jose office, where all data is summarized. This lack of continuity causes time-consuming internal audits and re-entry of data once received in the San Jose location. As San Jose is running a licensed ERP accounting and finance system, additional licenses need to be acquired for the Michigan and Georgia locations. This license purchase will eliminate the costly deciphering of data in San Jose and increase the value of the allotted budget allowance. Cost effectiveness is attained in a year three break-even point and cost savings from that point forward. Another area of continuity concern is the Riordan Human Resources (HR) function in two areas, job requirements and payroll. Numerous positions need a review in terms of job requirements to ensure qualified employees are in place to significantly reduce reporting errors. Additionally, performance appraisals (Riordan Employee Handbook, 2011) need to be moved to an employee’s anniversary date as opposed to the Riordan fiscal year, thereby staggering budget allocation along with increasing the pay period length to every two weeks to reduce time spent on payroll by 47%. Conclusion Riordan Manufacturing needs strategic plan implementation to strengthen competitive advantages which increase market and shareholder value. Implementation will reduce inventory cost by 30% in operational plants globally resulting in an addition 10% cost reduction in finance and accounting in the San Jose location. The long term goals of the strategy must be totally supported by Riordan’s executive management team and communicated strongly to the entire organization. It must be measured and controlled and adjustments must be made in light of any unforeseen occurrences. Installation and training in new systems and procedures must be timed to occur over two quarters with quarter three as a backup plan. Failure to implement a strategic as suggested places Riordan at risk for reduced profits, cost overruns, decreased market share, customer and employee dissatisfaction as well as that of shareholders. As a leader in the plastic injection molding industry, Riordan Manufacturing cannot afford anything less than full implementation of this strategic plan. References Wheelen, T. L. , Hunger, J. D. (2010). Concepts in strategic management and business policy (12th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Apollo Group, Inc. (2008). Virtual Organizations [Multimedia]. Retrieved from Apollo Group, Inc. , MGT498 website Morales, R. , Pulido, D. , Ticas, S. (2009,  April). The Brazilian Bioplastics Revolution. [emailprotected], (), 1-5. Apollo Group, Inc. (2008). Virtual Organizations [Multimedia]. Retrieved from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/business/Riordan/HR/Riordan%20Manufacturing%20Employee%20Handbook. pdf

Financial analysis of Community Health Systems and HCA, Inc Assignment

Financial analysis of Community Health Systems and HCA, Inc - Assignment Example There are many reasons for someone to explore a firm’s financial statements. Investors use it to explore potential returns on their capital investment, managers explore to assess performance, and the government reviews them for legal compliance. The final analysis for HCA & CHS will be presented from the prospective of the investor. In order for the investor to understand the return on an investment, he/she must examine the firm’s quality earnings. Quality earnings are different from profit. Profit could mean the firm is just breaking the even point that enables the firm from incurring losses. Maybe the profits are being absorbed by debt. Many firms hide debt in the financial statement notes. Consequently, investors willing to invest in a given organization should not evaluate the viability of the investment from the face value of the financial statements. Assessing a firm’s worth involves a deeper understanding of the firm and its industry. Ratio analyses are ve ry useful in that understanding. In the next few pages, you will find a vertical ratio and horizontal analysis for subject firms. HCA’s financial data was easy to comprehend due to the concise and clear presentation of the consolidated statements. In addition, the accompanying financial notes helped in understanding the origin of the figures in the financial statements. Most of its financial data are easily translated into terminology used in the Excel template. The financial data of HCA was presented in the millions while Community Health Services was listed in the thousands. To make the two firms’ financial statements more comparable, Community Health Services numbers were divided by 1000 to convert it to millions. Cost of goods sold for the firms is actually labeled â€Å"Revenues before the provision for doubtful†. The healthcare industry has a large provision for doubtful

History of Informatics and Areas of Practice - Entity Ranking Term Paper - 1

History of Informatics and Areas of Practice - Entity Ranking - Term Paper Example nformatics Association (AMIA), the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA). I will proceed to describe each group and give required reasoning as to why each is important to me. First to me is the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). One of its missions is to provide information on the electronic health records, compliance and reimbursement. Rather recent in its development (1989) by the merger of three older groups, the organization concentrates on the holistic study of informatics, with specific concentration in five specific areas. Translational Bioinformatics is basically that which deals with analyzing and finding new ways of storing medical data. Clinical Research Informatics involves the management of trials and discoveries related to health maintenance and disease prevention. Clinical Informatics is concerned with the application of information technology in the treatment arena. Not solely for physicians, its disciplines could also apply to other healthcare professionals such as dentists and veterinarians. Consumer Health Informatics is the branch concerned with the public information and educations and also is responsible for EMR. Publi c Health Informatics is where the CDC would be involved, as it is mainly concerned with such things as infectious diseases and bioterrorism (AMIA). Therefore it can be seen that the AMIA is involved in all areas of informatics and as it states in its own bylaws â€Å"AMIA aims to lead the way in transforming health care through trusted science, education, and the practice of informatics†. The core of their beliefs is the science of informatics, which in a nutshell is enhancing the health of the patients, while providing the best in quality and safety of care through the use of information technology. As a nonprofit, most of its monies can therefore be dedicated to promoting informatics. The AMIA also has its own journal,

See Assessment criteria below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

See Assessment criteria below - Essay Example To what extent are they (in)compatible with each other? To what extent do their accounts reinforce, undermine, coincide with or complement each other? To what extent are their accounts (or might their accounts be) combinable into a superior (or at least a more comprehensive) account of these historical dimensions of human thought and understanding? To what extent do their respective insights and oversights help us better to understand or to resolve issues about the historical dimensions of human thought and understanding? Hegel and Heidegger were both eminent philosophers of their respective times: Hegel (1770-1831), the earlier of the two, belongs to the school of Idealism whereas Heidegger (1889-1976) was one of the main exponents of 20th century Existentialism. Hegel sees the development of Being as an infinite development cycle triggered by the intention of becoming something what it is not at present, and this perpetual chain of development is marked by a point of coincidence of being and non-being, which, when united, form a higher entity. The former entity is therefore combined, through the factors of being and non-being, in a higher synthesis of the two. The development of Being therefore consists of three stages: being is the thesis, non-being the antithesis, and the becoming is the synthesis. These stages are repeated ad infinitum so that the new Being is again tested by the non-being and achieves a still higher stage in the melding of thesis and antithesis to a new stage of becoming. Being is therefore in a constant state of flux, it is rebuilding itself ad infinitum to achieve higher stages of itself. The former stages of Being are not nullified but re=evaluated, so in the development of the human personality we pass from one stat e to another, constantly evaluating and developing our personality, passing from state to state without nullifying the previous state, which is constantly dividing and recomposing itself.

Mini Usa Essay Example for Free

Mini Usa Essay Although there is millions of people watch the ads in TV, the most of â€Å"right† viewers miss it. For example, if only 1% of total viewers are potential consumers, the ad is not cost effective. Recall or hold the information. It is difficult for people to recall or hold the information if they are interested in the product currently or in future. Internet advertising and online customization Emphasize on internet advertising and make an online customization service to potential consumers to design their own unique motors. MINI USA may take full advantage of customization of cars. This may also find some unknown consumers. Pros: -Huge viewers. Internet advertising can be viewed by a lot of viewers. -Internet advertising had reached a tipping point and was about to enter a period of accelerated growth. -Low cost Cons: -Senior citizens are not online in the same numbers as younger generations. -People may ignore ads when they are browsing webpages. Most people do not browse webpage aimless and they have a goal to find what they want, so they may ignore the ads. Recommendation Internet advertising and online customization would be recommended due to several reasons. Firstly, internet advertising is cost effective since it has a lower cost and can be viewed by a lot of people. Secondly, the television advertising and printed ads are declined. However, internet advertising was about to grow. Thirdly, online customization would be interesting, so consumers may send their customized motors to their friends and it may create more participants and discover more potential consumers. Finally, the potential buyers of MINI are

African Reaction :: essays research papers

How the European Settlers Further Oppressed the Native Africans   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the last few readings and cases studies, women and the peasant farmers were the subject and target of much of the white European aggression. The whites saw the women and peasants as minor threats to their occupation of the land and used this idea to further the oppression in African states. Chapter 11   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Orange Free State the main target of the white oppression of blacks were women. Women were subjected to mental and physical abuse routinely in their everyday lives. To see that there were documented accounts of rape by police men and physical brutality towards women for simply not complying to the regulations set by the whites is sickening and disheartening for all of the human race. However, it is encouraging that even after twenty years of battling and trying to get some sort of relaxation of rules, that the resistance stayed strong and true.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the ‘native policy’ was passed which tried to keep women at home and working primarily for themselves and their children, there was a shortage of labor in the towns took the women out of the rural homes and into the urban setting of domestic employment. This meant more civilized work for black women, which as a result led to a stronger economy base.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This was not the end result of the oppression that the black women would receive. They were forced to carry passes and the black women united on May 28, 1913 to vow that no matter what actions that the whites did to them they refused to carry the passes. This is known as a passive resistance. A nonviolent display by the women that frustrated the whites more than anything. The whites tried to crush the resistance many times and succeeded, but only for a short time. This resistance was finally resolved and the women were allowed to live without carrying passes. The resistance by this group of black women set the standard for all women, all classes included, that when united, victory is a realistic and possible goal. Chapter 15   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Giriama resistance, there was a leader, someone that called all the women together to unite and to make a stand to the British oppression and that was Mekatalili. Mekatalili acted as a politician for the women bargaining and working for the rights of African women. The women realized that it was much easier to follow someone that had an understanding of their oppression.

Nineteenth Century Short Stories Essay

The highly censored and controlled Victorian society contained a large contrast, with a small proportion of the rich-elite, composed often of aristocrats and judges. The majority however, was extremely poor, often struggling to provide for their families let alone themselves. In the strictness of life at the time, many people delved into stories of the more humorous and less controlled sides of life. Authors did not put their characters into regular, day-to-day scenarios that would seem rather dull and boring, but created light, dramatically complex narratives that involved people in desperate situations, such as the man that must choose between three women hiding in his truck. In the first story, ‘Tony Kytes, Arch Deceiver’ by Thomas Hardy, a young man is in a situation in which he must choose a woman to marry, being the only attractive young man in this village, he has a lot of control and authority over these women. Throughout the story, the women are portrayed as gullible and desperate, as we see in the climax of the story in which three different women are hiding in the same car. In the end of the story, Tony loses control and seems to be less in command of the situation and becomes manipulated by the three women who are competing with each other in order to secure Tony as a husband. The women finally find out that they have all been promised to become Tony’s wife, and Unity and Hannah leave, pretending to be strong women who are unaffected by this heart-breaking situation. Tony is left with Milly, to which he proclaims ‘†¦It does seem as if fate had ordained it that it should be you and I, or nobody, and what must be must be†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This line is very important as it links in with the theme of fate which applies to the other stories. The next story is called ‘Old Mrs. Chundle’ by Thomas Hardy. It portrays and old woman who is very separated from the rest of her village. The author states that she has never even ventured past the next town from hers. One day, Mrs. Chundle is visited by the Curate who asks her for some food. Mrs. Chundle refuses to sit next to the curate, saying ‘Oh, faith, I don’t want to eat with my betters- not I’. The Curate persuades Mrs. Chundle to go to church; she tells him that she is nearly deaf and would not be able to hear anything. Throughout the rest of the story, we see the curate create various devices in an attempt to get Mrs. Chundle to go to church. However, Mrs. Chundle is forced to rely on the Curate until he eventually leads her to her death when she runs up the hill to get to church on time. The final story, the Stolen Bacillus by H.G Wells, tells us the story of an anarchist who visits a bacteriologist. During the visit, the sheer potential of the destruction caused by the bacteria that he witnesses sparks his anarchy, impelling the young man to steal a batch of the perceptually dangerous bacteria, thinking that he could destroy an entire city with its unfathomable power. The scientist and his wife pursue the man through the streets of London in informal clothes, onlooker cheer thinking this is fast fuelled race, this also gives us the impression that this bacteria is very dangerous. The anarchist stops and the scientists think it’s too late. The final twist in the ending of the story is that the man drinks the virus thinking that he has now gained the ability to destroy the entire country through the power of cholera, but instead he drank a special bacterium that is used to turn monkeys blue. In the same story, the Anarchist is portrayed as a confused but clever man that wants to cause as much devastation and destruction as possible to society. He quotes ‘†¦.those mere atomies, might multiply and devastate a city! Wonderful!’ From this you can clearly see that this man’s objectives are to cause as much destruction as possible to the city. A ‘†¦.slight gleam of satisfaction appeared on the pale man†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ after he at living cultures of this bacterium, with the author stating that ‘†¦morbid pleasure†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ appeared from the man as he was inspected by the scientist. This makes the reader aware that this man has not come to learn about bacteria, but rather to find out how to use them to cause devastation. The way the bacteriologist is portrayed is also important, as he believes that it is a burden to keep that bacteria once muttering, ‘†¦..I am obliged to †¦.’ .The message verbalised by the author is that people should be judged by their appearance if you do not know them and that we should never underestimate the power of nature. The main character in Old Mrs. Chundle is clearly old Mrs. Chundle. Mrs Chundle is an old, deaf woman, who is clearly quite happy living on her own, she has never ventured past the nearest town in her whole life. One day, she is visited by the curate who asks her for some food. It is then revealed to us that she is nearly deaf and has trouble hearing people. The curator asks her why she does not go to church and she explains her condition. Throughout the story, the Curate attempts to help her by thinking of various ways she would be able to hear the church services. In the end of the story, Mrs. Chundle is let down by the curate who promised to come over and read to her. The main character in Thomas Hardy’s story is obviously Tony Kytes, he is described as ‘†¦ ‘Twas a little, round, firm, tight face, with a seam here and there left by smallpox’ but this was not enough to ‘†¦hurt his looks in a woman’s eye†¦.’ He was the ‘women’s favourite’ and loved all of them. He was highly involved with ‘all the rest of the scandalous stuff’ and told to us by the author. The message from the story is clearly ‘Looks can be deceiving’ and that you cannot change fate. The relationships between the author and narrator’s attitudes towards women in ‘arch deceiver’ clearly shows us that at the time, mean were quite sexist towards women and believed that all of them were desperate and would do anything to get married, such as in this story where they fight over an clearly dishonest man. The main relationship in Old Mrs. Chundle is the relationship between here and the curate. It is a very strange relationship due to the fact that as soon as the curate came into Mrs. Chundle’s life she dies. However we can see that the curate has helped Mrs. Chundle die happy as she managed to hear the word of God. All of the stories I have mentioned contain unexpected endings which add humour or sadness into the stories. Thomas Hardy’s novels both contain very different endings. In ‘Arch Deceiver’, the ending was expected as we knew that nothing good would happen at the end of the situation that Tony was in. After a large argument between Tony and the three women at his house, the women leave and Milly is left to marry Tony. He tries to worm his way out of the situation that he has gotten himself in by saying that it was fate that they would get married. In his other story, Old Mrs. Chundle, the Curate breaks a promise he had made with the rector saying â€Å"She’s probably forgotten by this time that you promised.† The Curate eventually goes so Mrs. Chundle doesn’t get angry with him, and finds out that she has died. In the story by H.G. Wells, the twist would have seemed humorous at the time but the overall effect of the story has decreased over time. The twist is that after the anarchist drank the bacteria, thinking that he would cause immeasurable devastation, he begins to turn blue. The twist is not very effective and is quite stupid, which is quite unexpected from an author as great as H.G Wells. In conclusion, I believe that the narrative with the best use of drama through language was the stolen bacillus, this is because Wells can clearly describe to us what is happening, and it is told in a way which sounds realistic. The story with the best relationships is Old Mrs. Chundle as we are told the story of an old woman who died as soon as there were new influences in her life. The story with the best ending is the Stolen Baccilus as it was the most unexpected. Wells uses language in such a way that makes you believe that the anarchist would succeed, although the ending is stupid, it was the most surprising and contained a strange twist.