Toenails in the corner Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Toenails in the corner - Case Study Example The nurse carrying out the cleaning role half-heartedly is therefore justified because it is not in her job-description and there is a better qualified individual to carry out the cleaning role other than her. The situation was managed poorly by both the doctor and the nurse because the roles of the nurse were clearly specified but the doctor wanted her to perform additional roles not specified and not in line with her career simply because she is a woman and is therefore supposed to clean up despite the private practice having a janitor to carry out that work. In any organization, if the members of the organization are to work in harmony and without any employee or even the employer complaining, the roles and duties of each and every individual have to be clearly specified. If the roles are not clearly defined, there is bound to be role confusion or role disambiguity and which in turn leads to stress on one party at the expense of the other (s). The nurse did not have the will power to stand up against her boss the doctor and tell her about the chores she was carrying out that were not in her job description. This may be majorly because the employer-employee relationship in that organization was purely work-related and hence making it hard for the employees to air out their grievances or opinion to their employer. In such a situation, the nurse was afraid of fighting for her working rights because she may fear the implications that might result. This is a poor way to manage such a situation because the employee (nurse) will continue suffering alone and which in the end may result to poor performance on her job due to the stress and the job dissatisfaction she is deriving from her unspecified chores. On the other hand, the doctor will continue complaining about Nurse Walsh’s attitude without knowing the real reason behind it and maybe in the

Customer Loyalty in the Restaurant Industry: Nandos

Customer Loyalty in the Restaurant Industry: Nandos Topic: How customer loyalty can be increased in the restaurant industry? The case of Nandos. Why customer loyalty is important? What Nandos is doing and how it can be better develop? Loyalty marketing, loyalty programs, how to manage it? Techniques? Benefits? Problems? Conclusion. Loyalty Marketing: Definitions Of Customer Loyalty The main change concerns in the organization of marketing activities are certainly one of the more remarkable doctrines marketing. The concept of traditional marketing put at the centre of its priorities the creation of a preference for the service, the needs and desires of consumers. The marketing approach, as observed in the theory and practice in recent years focused more on the notion of exchange and the relationship is the focus of analysis. More recent approaches of marketing focus on the customer and make the quality of the relationship the key to loyalty. Indeed, a quality relationship inhibits choice and represses the effect of preferences. Thus, the relationship with the client becomes a primary concern managerial and academic. The market-oriented generates necessary behaviours to create superior value delivered to customers (Kohli and Jaworski 1990) and place the interests of the client first (Deshpande et al. 1993) for a continue satisfaction, permanent, which undergone constant refinement. This satisfaction is no longer about the only service provided by the company, but includes elements of the relationship, such as trust and commitment. For this, we seek an ongoing relationship and oriented in the long term in the context of a relationship marketing (Dwyer, Schurr et Oh 1987, Sheth et Parvatiyar 1994) and in this context that develops loyalty policies (Dawkins and Reichheld 1990). Kyner and Jacoby (1973) define loyalty as follows: Loyalty is defined as a behavioural response bias because non-random (not spontaneous) expressed over time by an entity decision, finding one or several brands taken in an overall, according to a decision process.† In this definition, loyalty requires: A repeat purchase behaviour resulting from several background variables and complement each other; A positive attitude of consumers that must be controlled or directed. This attitude reveals a favourable perception towards the brand, service, differentiating it to the loyalty from routine behaviour. For others loyalty rooted quality and delivered on the positive gap between perceived expectations and post-purchase evaluation. For Shapiro and Varian (1999) loyalty is to the consumer when efforts to change brand, product or supplier are too large to expect a significant gain change. The authors of this school of thought attempt to explain loyalty by exit barriers that prevent a kind of free choice of the client (a client may be considered faithful to a company only because it has characteristics of geographical proximity). Another school of thought on the loyalty is that which gave birth to the management of customer relationship management (CRM) with the emergence of ideas of Life Time Value. It aims to analyze the lifetime value of its current contribution but also on the basis of its potential to better allocate the resources of the company. It is now for an analysis in terms of portfolio of clients (each client has a value for the company that can be measured by the margin gen erated). Customer loyalty can be defined as the tendency of a customer to choose one company or product/service over another for a particular need. Customer/s can be described as being brand loyal because they tend to choose a certain brand of product more often than others. Customer loyalty is evident when it is the customers who make choices and take actions. Customer may express high satisfaction levels in a survey with a product or company, but there is a big difference between satisfaction and loyalty (Kumar (2008). Loyalty is shown by the actions of the customer, who can be satisfied and still not be loyal. The satisfaction with the product is ultimately a condition for loyalty. In fact, satisfaction is necessary for loyalty but not sufficient. It is true that the satisfaction is not only based on the product and service but also the relationship with the staff. Satisfaction towards the product concerns intrinsic attributes: quality, features, design, durability, benefit. Ultimately, th e quality-price emerges as a global assessment. The service specifically covers guaranteed delivery, solving problems and handling complaints. It introduced the relational aspects of accessibility, courtesy, competence and communication. Experience has shown that the first reason why customers leave a company with whom they do business, is that they do not feel that their needs are important to the company, and vice versa for the remaining loyal to the company for a long time, they feel valued and important. This perception and feeling to be considered is the emotional bridge between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Ghaury and Cateora 2006). Companies use a series of programs as relationship marketing, Database marketing, permission marketing or customer relationship management (CRM). Loyalty has a direct effect on sales of a company, and even better on its profits. However, the increased level of loyalty stems directly from the attitude and behaviour staff to clients. Motivation staff is the most powerful vector loyalty which itself contributes to profits. Meanwhile, business processes influence largely on how the staff behave with customers. It is in the interest of the company to develop a long-term relationship with clients where both parties benefit each other. It is much less costly for the company to keep its existing customers than to seek new ones. The scale of customer loyalty has 5 types of customers starting with: Suspect: A suspect is someone who comes across the companies promotion. They are a potential suspect for the company. Prospect: If the person is interested in the promotion they become a potential prospect. Customers: A customer is someone who purchases either the product or service. Clients: Clients are those who come back to the company. Advocates: Promotes the business on the companys behalf. They are so happy about the product/service that they tell others. (http://www.learnmarketing.net/ladder.htm Accessed on 02/08/2009) Marketing And Loyalty There are many definitions of marketing applying to loyalty programs. Several of them have focused these objectives in view of the value of the customer more profitable for the company. Today, programs and loyalty cards are found everywhere on standard credit cards, restaurants, etc Loyalty programs are widespread in all sectors that deliver goods or services used. They rely on marketing databases built from information from the loyalty cards that identify the client and record information about its behaviour. Their rules often refer to the use of methods from the traditional promotional techniques, encouraging consumers to increase and sustain their purchases in order to obtain a reward. In this context, they can be distinguished from the sales promotion of their defensive focus to longer term. The objective of the promotion is offensive, and when it stops, there is nothing that prevents consumers to come back to their old habits (Ehrenberg et al. 1994). In contrast, a loyalty progr am seeks to preserve market share by locking consumers through tangible benefits deferred (promotional techniques) or intangible (individualization, privileges, etc) and acts somewhat like a permanent promotion in the long term. The effectiveness of a loyalty program thus depends on its characteristics and tangible benefits but also intangible, that is to say, the expected value of the potential relationship that is likely to generate and develop. The consumer joining a loyalty program seeks, in making their purchases at shopkeepers, obtaining dividends, gifts. The trader in investing in this program seeks to seduce and imprison the consumer. This method, better known as retention, is actually a rather simple technique by which the consumer is faced with the efforts invested in the bonus points and is losing everything in case of abandonment of the program. A loyalty program is a relationship between the customer and the merchant in which, technically, the 2 parties have benefits. I n promoting their businesses, traders undertake several actions to attract customers. For the management of immediate rewards, they offer special discount store. By managing customer loyalty program, they offer rewards delayed. In contrast to the sales promotion where earnings appear at the same time as the cost or effort, this ratio is reversed in the context of delayed rewards, since an individual must first make an effort to more or less long term for earnings in the future. Investigations on human behaviour have shown that some individuals possess a strong motivation to engage in efforts leading to the award of future earnings (Atkinson 1957, Nicholls 1989). It is this aspect that loyalty programs appropriated in the construction of systems with delayed gratification the aim of managing the length of the relationship (retention) and discrimination. (Meyer-Waarden (2002). P. 2-88). Curiously this strong motivation is akin to the quest for a reward. In other words, the effort is motivated by greed. Some experts say that consumer motivation fades over time as more becomes aware that the bonus is spaced in time, the more likely he become discouraged with the efforts required for obtaining the reward. (Meyer-Waarden (2002), P 2-89) Thus, programs must allow consumers to obtain the benefits of the program while also locking in this program. To counter this behavioural aspect, 2 types of programs are offered: proportional and landing. The first principle is to proportionately reward the best customers. The second system encourages them to consume more to reach the next threshold points providing more benefits. Thus, it offers a minimum of points to small unprofitable consumers, maximum points for customers who are very profitable, and few points to very large consumers who buy anyway. (Meyer-Waarden (2002). P. 2-89) Greed is thus increased to obtain a value of gift supported by the consumers effort. The number of points necessary for obtaining a reward is related to the amount invested in the market by the consumer. By cons, consumer choice to join or not this kind of program that demonstrates the lure of gain accessible to long-term investment requires not only money but also time. There are several types of loyalty programs. Some programs offer a specific product free after a number of agreed purchase (coffee, compact disk, etc..) Or reductions applicable on each purchase while the issuers of credit cards offer privileges such as trave l insurance and car insurance during a rental. Some cards also allow a percentage discount or return money. In practice the system of loyalty cards is simple. It is generally sufficient to consumers to use when buying the card issued or accepted by the merchant to qualify for benefits. The card companies also offer credit to their customers bonus points programs. Unlike cards issued by participating merchants, using credit cards leads automatically, no matter where it is used, the accumulation of points and can sometimes match the accumulation of these points to another program loyalty. It is important to mention the strategy department stores growing strongly consumers use their credit cards to earn double the points they would get by paying cash or get loyalty points better at the price of an interest rate up to 28.8%. More specifically, programs that offer frequent flyer points accumulated encourage consumers to use the card as often as possible when making purchases to earn poin ts available for every penny spent, which will be redeemable against products or services available through a catalogue of premium or cons of coupons or discounts available with designated partners. (Benavent. Christopher. and Lars Meyer-Waarden. 2001. Loyalty Programs: Strategies and Practices). Some loyalty card segment their customers by offering them the opportunity to pay an additional fee to join an enhanced program that offers them a better ratio spent pounds / points accumulated. The holders can be considered as incidental to their privileged relationship with the issuer of the card. From the outset, the consumer, by joining the loyalty program, provides data that feed the database of the issuing company. Subsequently, all transactions for which the loyalty card is used by the consumer are stored in this database comes to prepare a record of its habits. The program relies on both the declarative, where the consumer fills out the questionnaire affiliation, but also on buying behaviour, thanks to its history. (Frenove, A.S. Hivet, N. Joly, P and Josquin, C. 2003. Topic: The Ethics of supermarkets). The ultimate goal of these programs, in addition to customer retention is to allow traders to analyze the data collected in order to increase the value of the customers shopping cart. The Concept Of Customer Life Cycle And Types Of Loyalty The Concept Of Customer Life Cycle: One of the key concepts of customer-oriented marketing is the life cycle dynamics of the customer, based on the idea that the flows of revenues and costs vary over time as requirements change in customer / business relations, contrary to the classical analysis and static demand. The first feature of the approach is that it is done individually and not aggregated, underscoring again the importance of marketing database, made possible thanks to the performance of information technology. Another interesting aspect is that the analysis is performed dynamically. The main idea is that the opinion of a client may occur more or less intense, and we can assume that it is forming a cycle. Practically, these cycles represent changes in purchasing power, but also modes, changing preferences, the phenomena of learning and forgetting. These cycles depend on several factors: the first is age. During the aging characteristics of opinion trends, tastes and attitudes can occur. Aging is characterized by a higher loyalty, more conservative, more risk aversion. Another factor is the generation based on the assumption that successive generations have value systems and own beliefs relatively distinct from others. This generation effect partially covers the different types of experiences. This manifests itself in innovative behaviours that vary with the gap between innovation and generation. This management based on cycles of life is clear to solve three problems: acquiring the customer, maintain, expand consumption and profitability. According to Dwyer, Schurr and Oh (1987), in the sense of relationship marketing, the life cycles of the relationship between a brand, product and a consumer have three distinct phases characterized by changes over time the amount used: (1) initialization or acquisition, (2) maturation or development and (3) breaking. The beginning of the cycle is quite understandable and is in customer acquisition, with a time of discovery of the other as a potential partner. Both parties calculate the attraction of the relationship, the costs and benefits of continuing it. Marked by the process of adoption and learning, this phase is characterized by a positive rate of consumption growth, but with high costs. In a second phase, presumably the consumers level of consumption stabilizes after having fully explored the use of the service. The expectations of the relationship and its benefits are confirmed, which leads to a continuation trade and then the notion of commitment, which results in the ignorance of competitive offers. Incomes of the company increase first and then level off as costs decrease. Finally, a third cycle is where a revival / reactivation, retention or separation from the client must be considered because the contribution weakens. The decrease in sales of service may occur at any time or gradual ly, indicating a process of wear or a more brutal, reflecting the substitution phenomena. Indeed, the dissolution occurs when the unmet expectations of increased transaction costs, the weakening of the switching costs of changing needs. Both partners must make a trade off between the benefits and costs brought by the relationship to decide whether or not its continuation. Any company engaged in the marketing approach dynamic client needs to adapt its strategy according to these phases. Three types of strategies should be considered in terms of life cycles that match: The customer acquisition, The loyalty and customer retention, And the augmentation of customer loyalty which represent a real challenge. Abandonment is considered when the costs of retention are higher than income generated by the client. (Abandonment=Costs loyalty > Income generated by the client). Once the company has determined the position of the life cycle by customer segment, it becomes clearly evident that this strategy must lead to an individualized approach to lead to a balanced allocation of resources. The problem is that each individual has a different value each time t for the company, which requires segmentation based on the potential and value of customers. Types Of Loyalty Customer loyalty is the result of well-managed customer retention programs. Before developing these successful programs, its important to know there are two types of loyalty: behavioural loyalty and the emotional loyalty. Behavioural loyalty is the loyalty to a brand demonstrated by repeat sales and responses to marketing campaigns by the customer. He behaves exactly like the company wants, by purchasing good or service. Behavioural loyaltys measures include response rate to direct marketing to the customer base. Emotional loyalty is the loyalty to a brand driven by favourable perceptions, opinions and giving recommendations. The customer feels empathy and attachment to a company or brand and he is willing to recommend it around him. It is better for the company if the customer has the both types of loyalty, but when its not the case specific strategies are developed to achieve both. (Chauffey, Chadwick, Mayer, Johnston (2006)). Benefits Of Efficient Customer Loyalty Management First, a loyal customer will continue its purchases over the years. Its purchase volume should also normally increase simply by economic growth and inflation. It should accept offers for complementary products and additional (Cross-Selling and Up-Selling). In any event, transaction costs should not increase proportionately. Consequently, they will decrease as a percentage of the cost and improve profitability (Kumar (2008)). Finally, a satisfied customer refers an average of 3 customers should in the best case follow the same progression. A study by the Harvard Business School published in the journal of the same name, shows an improvement in the percentage of loyal customers by 5% per year for 5 years to double, not sales, but profits.(CRM Odyssey Inc (2003)www.crmodyssey.com Accessed on the 09/08/2009 Another benefit from customer loyalty is it creates allow to the company to protect its markets from competitors; the more the customer is satisfied, the less he will be to buy to another product or service to the competitors. Automatically barriers are created against the competitors trying to enter in the market(s) (Ghaury and Cateora (2006)). Finally the word of mouth behaviour of loyal customer increase brand awareness. Customer share their positive feelings and experiences with their friends, family or mates when they are loyal to the company or product. They still purchase to the company and recommend it to others. It means a reduction of advertising cost; the money can be used to boost the word of mouth by making strategies to reward loyal customers. Reichheld goes even further in 1996 in his book The effect of loyalty by writing: the benefits of loyal customers are increasing over time and can recruit new consumers at reduced cost by using the legal Customer faithful because it is supposed to be a good speaker for the company.† It also shows in his work as a loyal customer makes purchases more often, he tends to buy for a higher amount and is less sensitive to the variable price. He becomes a captive of the company and therefore gives a kind of barrier to entry for potential competitors. The work of the TARP (Technical Assistance Program Reseach) supports these observations. They show that winning a new customer returns four to five times more expensive than keeping a customer is already active. Jones and Sasser (Jones 1995) focused on the relationship satisfaction / loyalty and showed a sense of satisfaction may not necessarily result fidelity as a loyal customer may nevertheless want to take advantage of a promotion with another supplier, test another product or refer to another offer. By cons, they also show a sense of dissatisfaction may cause disloyalty if dissatisfaction is not taken into account by the company. These gains must obviously be taken with caution because they rely heavily on industries. There is however no doubt that customer retention can benefit a significant leverage effect on profitability. The main reasons are: lower costs for customer acquisition, the net margin updated on the life of the customer to cover these costs; reduced management costs, a loyal customer knows the business better and less prone to use his front office to make purchases (reservations) effect of recommendation; Increased revenue per customer The Cost Of Lost Customers: A defensive marketing is cheaper than an offensive marketing, which often requires a direct confrontation with the competition. The cost of keeping a customer is five times less than the cost of converting a prospect, and it can cost up to sixteen times more to achieve with the new customer, the profitability of a customer acquired. So its the rate of customer retention rate that is essential, and not the attraction. The company must carefully monitor the defection of customers and minimize the amplitude. There are four stages: Define and measure retention. This may be the reuse of the services. Know the different reasons for discontinuation, and identify those which can be remedied. Estimate the lost profit per customer lost. Calculate how much it would reduce defections. Profitability: We have already mentioned the theory of Reichheld and Sasser that a company can improve profitability by 25% to 85% by reducing its rate of defection by 5%. Thus, loyal customers are often more profitable than occasional customers. Specifically, in the service activities and the Business to Business, customers of a company tend to increase their purchase from the company as they know it and appreciate it better. A positive word of mouth: In many cases, loyal customers of a business will spontaneously promote to their surroundings, and become, through word of mouth, very effective recruiters because disinterested and credible. For all these reasons, the loyal customer service of a company is considered a real capital, called the customer capital. Retention and its challenges: This new focus puts the customer and his control in centre of our concerns. Given the incredible proliferation of professional works in the field, it seems essential to discuss strategic issues and objectives of retention, by reviewing customer orientation and loyalty policies to give a definition and a clear positioning of loyalty. The retention strategy: Loyalty, recognized as indispensable goal of any customer relationship strategy, not confined to mere promotional programs: Some rules must be respected. Rule 1: Be selective: Customers do not all contribute equally to the profitability of the company. Therefore, retention should be selectively adapting any loyalty action from an analysis of customer value. Rule 2: Propose an attractive loyalty offer and truly innovative. The loyalty offers are numerous, but not all have the same impact. The company can arbitrate according to its objectives between different options: Immediate benefits often focus on value and price (price preference ); Privileges, providing intangible benefits to customers (priority systems, assistance ); Rewards delayed in time, seeking to establish lasting relationships with customers the most profitable and likely to extend their relationship with the company. Whatever the choice of the selected offer, interest for customers is based on five attributes, determining its overall perceived value: The perceived value of any premium or net worth; Attractiveness; Accessibility through time; The freedom given to the customer in the choice of options; Simplicity of the offer. Rule 3: Anticipating the costs: The need to assess the costs in advance of any approach to loyalty is essential. Too often, a company focused on profits resulting from the proposed strategy, without taking into account the costs generated before and repeatedly. These costs may be related to both the growing number of customers affected, and ways and means of dealing with relationships with clients, sometimes completely new to the company. Rule 4: Consolidate and exploit customer information: The challenges that the company have just highlighted described the need to build its strategy of strong customer loyalty for the company. Two main lines of action are considered: †¢ The opportunity to integrate operational databases (sales / billing, marketing ) in a baseline. †¢ The interest of exploiting every opportunity to contact customers to gather information about them. This database will allow the tracking of the customer relationship over time, and identification of customer profiles profitable and unprofitable, which will determine the choice of targets to retain. Problems Linked To Customer Loyalty Difficulties In Marketing: Obtaining a good efficiency requires a good understanding of customer behaviour and causes of abandonment. One must distinguish the causes of termination which are inevitable (and often unpredictable) from other, more or less predictable and can be combated. The causes are unavoidable, for example: a change of personal or professional lifestyle, financial problems, death Preventable causes are: inadequate tariff, a history of poor service and complaints. The challenge is to build something, based on information often dispersed. In anticipation of the termination for inadequate tariff, must be able to say what was the invoice for each client if they had chosen the optimum rate? How much would he have saved? From what current difference between invoice and optimum bill is there a risk? To anticipate the claims for termination, you must classify all types of call to customer service (there are easily hundreds) and identify those that increase the probability of termination. We must also take account of differences in behaviour related to age, family status, and place of residence and recover to the extent possible this information. Difficulties In Management Retention also poses problems of management, for example the coexistence of a culture of acquisition and a culture of loyalty: In a young market, corporate culture is naturally directed towards the acquisition. This orientation manifests itself in several ways, for example, budgets are allocated primarily to sales, what is important here is the market share of sales. In these circumstances it is difficult to make a place to loyalty because it is cultural opposition on both fronts: its budget is in competition with the acquisition, because what is important here is the retention of customers and not flow of customers. Difficulties In The Organization: When the market is young, the sales should be focused on conquering, the measure of the rate of effectiveness is still difficult, and loyalty is part of the Marketing. Then improving customer knowledge, customer service records terminations, understand the causes, loyalty becomes profitable and worthy of large budgets, customer service becomes legitimate to ensure loyalty. In consumer, all sale actions are public, as far as loyalty is confidential. Loyalty is indeed a clear competitive advantage. It allows to keep or to take market share in all discretion. Confidentiality is necessary for a second reason: do not create perverse behaviour on the part of customers, who know the rules of the game could benefit for future benefits. (Jean Baptiste COUMAU and Henri WIDMER, La Jaune et la Rouge,2002) Rejection Of Customers: The approach of loyalty can lead to bias by virtue of its objectives: there is concern that the benefits accorded to consumers more loyal to the product or service concerned and not the enterprise. There is a risk of great loss of power marketing consent. Moreover, the strong competition leads to a generalization of loyalty operations that can not only cause fatigue but also a rejection of the approach by customers. The multiplicity of material resources such as loyalty cards generalized in various companies in portfolios causes both a reaction to the trivialization of operation for the customer and a loss of power to the business on target. The implementation of a loyalty operation is tricky: the company must choose carefully because the target must be loyal customers, those holders of profits. This targeting is difficult and requires the development of a database of well-informed. This base is also used to monitor quantitatively and qualitatively loyal customers. These are consider ations of costs related to these investments in information that may be a limit. (Fotso Tagne Achille Rostand, La fidelisation client http://www.ougagner.fr/fidelisation.html Accessed on the 09/09/2009) Means And Factors Influencing Loyalty Factors Influencing Loyalty If they are well structured and well implemented, customer loyalty programs cited above can bring measurable benefits to the company that would stand out positively of competition by reducing costs and in the same time increase its income. This situation is favoured by: Attracting new customers; A high retention rate of existing customers for a long period; Increasing the frequency of visits by the existing customers; Increasing expenditure on new and existing customers; Making customers in good conditions so they feel appreciated and satisfied then they promote products or services through word of mouth around them. (Memberson (2008) http://www.memberson.com/Loyalty/CustomerLoyalty.aspx Accessed on 01/08/2009) Some factors are essential to create and maintain the Customer loyalty. Showing 6 success factors that make some companies

Essay --

In a Peloponnesian town of Phlius, Echecrates encounters Phaedo, one of the men present during Socrates' final hours. Echecrates presses Phaedo to tell what happened. A number of Socrates' friends were gathered in his cell, including his old friend Crito and two Pythagorean philosophers, Simmias and Cebes. The account begins with Socrates proposing that though suicide is wrong, a true philosopher should look forward to death. The soul, Socrates asserts, is immortal and the philosopher spends his life training it to detach itself from the needs of the body. In Phaedo by Plato, Socrates provides four arguments for this claim: the opposites, recollection, affinity between the forms and the soul, and the argument that essentially brings life with it can never die. Plato uses the from opposites to support his idea uses the first argument for the immortality of the soul. Socrates repondes with two general statements,list statements then applies these hypotheses to life, death, and the soul. Socrates’ first general statement is that change is between contraries. The hard becomes soft and objects which are soft hardens or becomes hard. The cold becomes hot and the hot becomes cold. The sick become healthy and the healthy become sick. All things, come to be from their opposite; for example, a tall man becomes tall only because he was short before. Similarly, death is the opposite of life, and so living things come to be out of dead things and vice versa. This implies that there is a cycle of life and death. Thus, when we die, we do not stay dead, but come back to life after a period of time. The second general statement is that if both contraries continue to exist. In the world, there must be change in both directions. Therefore, if ther... ...e soul participates in the Form of Life. Like fire, the soul will have to resist its opposite, the Form of Death, to exist. Furthermore, for a soul to exist, it has the ontological necessity of being undying immortal just as the number 3 to be considered odd has the ontological necessity of being uneven. Therefore, while the soul is contained inside the body and the body is subject to death, the soul eschews death in order to exist from one life to the next. In conclusion, In Phaedo, Plato is using Socrates to put his own philosophical views. Socrates relies on four arguments to convince his friends of the soul's immortality. Also, Plato demonstrates that how Socrates uses human reason. Socrates uses Plato's theory of Forms is pivotal in Socrates' final attempt to prove the immortality of the soul. By using four arguments for to prove the immorality of the soul. Essay -- In a Peloponnesian town of Phlius, Echecrates encounters Phaedo, one of the men present during Socrates' final hours. Echecrates presses Phaedo to tell what happened. A number of Socrates' friends were gathered in his cell, including his old friend Crito and two Pythagorean philosophers, Simmias and Cebes. The account begins with Socrates proposing that though suicide is wrong, a true philosopher should look forward to death. The soul, Socrates asserts, is immortal and the philosopher spends his life training it to detach itself from the needs of the body. In Phaedo by Plato, Socrates provides four arguments for this claim: the opposites, recollection, affinity between the forms and the soul, and the argument that essentially brings life with it can never die. Plato uses the from opposites to support his idea uses the first argument for the immortality of the soul. Socrates repondes with two general statements,list statements then applies these hypotheses to life, death, and the soul. Socrates’ first general statement is that change is between contraries. The hard becomes soft and objects which are soft hardens or becomes hard. The cold becomes hot and the hot becomes cold. The sick become healthy and the healthy become sick. All things, come to be from their opposite; for example, a tall man becomes tall only because he was short before. Similarly, death is the opposite of life, and so living things come to be out of dead things and vice versa. This implies that there is a cycle of life and death. Thus, when we die, we do not stay dead, but come back to life after a period of time. The second general statement is that if both contraries continue to exist. In the world, there must be change in both directions. Therefore, if ther... ...e soul participates in the Form of Life. Like fire, the soul will have to resist its opposite, the Form of Death, to exist. Furthermore, for a soul to exist, it has the ontological necessity of being undying immortal just as the number 3 to be considered odd has the ontological necessity of being uneven. Therefore, while the soul is contained inside the body and the body is subject to death, the soul eschews death in order to exist from one life to the next. In conclusion, In Phaedo, Plato is using Socrates to put his own philosophical views. Socrates relies on four arguments to convince his friends of the soul's immortality. Also, Plato demonstrates that how Socrates uses human reason. Socrates uses Plato's theory of Forms is pivotal in Socrates' final attempt to prove the immortality of the soul. By using four arguments for to prove the immorality of the soul.

Value and Integrity

The OEIG is responsible for ensuring and maintaining integrity in state government, please explain what integrity means to you and how your skills and/or experiences will help this office achieve its mission. Please attach the statement to your application.Merriam-Webster dictionary defines integrity as, firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility; the quality or state of being complete or undivided. Although this is correct this isn’t exactly the complete meaning of this word. For every situation, every job, and every position this word â€Å"integrity† is defined differently. The position at which I am applying for is an Administrative Assistant, with this comes great responsibility, handling and having access to sensitive information any candidate must possess some level of morals and values.In my previous positions as a bank teller I’ve come in contact with highly valuable information from social security numbers to endle ss financial details not to mention large amounts of money. And I can attest to the fact that none of that irreplaceable information was ever mishandled or compromised, not just because it was my job or duty but out of respect not only for myself but for those that would be affected. If there isn’t one thing I’ve learned so far in life, I’ve learned that every decision made has a monopoly affect whether the outcome is good or bad. Integrity is having the ability to be selfless, being confident in yourself that you can make decisions that will not only affect you but staff, the company brand and customers.

Explaining of the Sociological Perspectives in Health and Social Care

There are 3 main perspectives: †¢ The Structural/Functional Perspective – Relationship between parts of society, i.e. how aspects of society are functional and adaptive. – Macro – all aspects of society contribute to the way society functions as a whole. For example the government pays for school teachers and schools and bin collection etc. and in return citizens pay tax. The country couldn’t run without the citizens paying tax. People who believe in this theory believe that member of society have to work together and agree on what will be best for society as a whole. †¢ The Conflict Perspective – Competition for scarce resources, i.e. how the elite control the poor and weak. – Macro – this theory focuses on the negative aspects and conflicted areas of society, the ever changing areas. – Society is ever struggling and inevitably changing sometimes it is beneficial and other times it is negative and violent. Inequality is widely spread. To one partner this is the symbol of eternal love.To the other a mere financial expense. †¢ Symbolic/Interaction Perspective – Use of symbols, i.e. face to face interactions. – Micro – how people interact with each other and how they interpret symbols and the details of everyday life. People are seen to attach meanings to symbols, and then act up on these meanings. Words are not static they have a meaning or meanings but the way in which the sender means/says the word could be taken differently by the receiver. Micro – level of analysis is of small social patternsMacro – level of analysis is of large social patternsThe principal of sociological perspective are:Functionalism- an important part of some accounts of functionalism is the idea of multiple realisation. Since, according to standard functionalist theories, mental states are the corresponding functional role, mental states can be sufficiently explained without taking i nto account the underlying physical medium (e.g. the brain, neurons, etc.) that realizes such states; one need only take into account the higher-level functions in the cognitive system.Marxism- is an economic political theory by which law is considered an instrument of oppression and control, and which the ruling class uses against the working class. Marxism holds at its core a critical analysis of capitalism and a theory of social change. The powerful and innovative analytical methods Marx introduced have influenced a broad range of disciplines.Feminism- has altered predominant perspectives in a wide range of areas within Western society, ranging from culture to law. Feminist activists have campaigned for women's legal rights (rights of contract, property rights, voting rights); for women's right to bodily integrity and autonomy, for abortion rights. A social institution can be defined as an organizational system which functions to satisfy basic social needs by providing safe and s uitable environment. Institutions such as: government – public servicesreligion – place of worship education – schools economics – areas family – social servicesPrimary socialisation is when you learn the basic day to day norms and values through socialisation. This occurs during childhood. Secondary socialisation is when learning what is the appropriate behavior as a member of a smaller group within the larger society. To learn how to react to the situation you find yourself in. This occurs with teenagers and adults, and involves smaller changes than those occurring in primary socialisation. WHO (world health organisation): definition of HealthHealth is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. 3 main factors that influence healthGeneticsPhysical environmentSocial environment – an individual’s choice and peer pressure of ‘friends’ e.g. doing drugs may b e forced by peers. Home, lifestyle, nutrition and income all affect health also. Concepts of healthPersonal responsibility – if you keep yourself clean and tidy (covering up cuts) then you minimize the risk of infection. If you do exercise and eat good food you build up your immune system. Health as the absence of illness – if you remain in a healthy state then it’s unlikely for you to become ill. All of these affect a person’s health.Concepts of ill-health Ill health as a disease – if a disease can be cured it can only be done by medicine or treatment Ill health as a disorder – a disorder can be treated sometimes and can be done by changing your lifestyle or with help from medicine or treatment.Definitions of disability Impairment = a loss or abnormality of physical bodily structure or function, of logic-psychic origin, or physiological or anatomical origin Disability = any limitation or function loss deriving from impairment that prevents the performance of an activity in the time-lapse considered normal for a human being Handicap = the disadvantaged condition deriving from impairment or disability limiting a person performing a role considered normal in respect of their age, sex and social and cultural factors The medical model sees a person’s impairment as the cause of disability. The person with a disability to adapt to society instead of society adapting to them. Socio-medical modelRecognises links between social life and the body. The social model is based on the premise that people are not disabled because of illness or impairment. Instead, they are disabled because of how society is constructed.MEDICAL MODEL SOCIAL MODEL Disability is a deficiency or abnormality. Disability is a difference. Being disabled is negative. Being disabled, in itself, is neutral. Disability resides in the individual.Disability derives from interaction between the individual and society. The remedy for disability-related proble ms is cure or normalization of the individual. The remedy for disability-related problems are a change in the interaction between the individual and society. The agent of remedy is the professional.The agent of remedy can be the individual, an advocate, or anyone who affects the arrangements between the individual and society. Even though people who have disabilities are very different, we are all different ages, races, and different kinds of disabilities, we still share a lot of things in common – such as a common history and common experiences of being discriminated against (being treated different because of our disability). MedicalisationTendency of normal life stages, experience and events as needing medical intervention because they are seen to be risky and problematic. Clinical iceberg – medical issues, the amount recognised etc. is just like the tip of an ice berg

Platos Atlantis as Told in His Socratic Dialogues

Plato's Atlantis as Told in His Socratic Dialogues The original story of the lost island of Atlantis comes to us from two Socratic dialogues called Timaeus and Critias, both written about 360 BCE by the Greek philosopher Plato. Together the dialogues are a festival speech, prepared by Plato to be told on the day of the Panathenaea, in honor of the goddess Athena. They describe a meeting of men who had met the previous day to hear Socrates describe the ideal state. A Socratic Dialogue According to the dialogues, Socrates asked three men to meet him on this day: Timaeus of Locri, Hermocrates of Syracuse, and Critias of Athens. Socrates asked the men to tell him stories about how ancient Athens interacted with other states. The first to report was Critias, who told how his grandfather had met with the Athenian poet and lawgiver  Solon, one of the Seven Sages. Solon had been to Egypt where priests had compared Egypt and Athens and talked about the gods and legends of both lands. One such Egyptian story was about Atlantis. The Atlantis tale is part of a  Socratic dialogue, not a historical treatise. The story is preceded by an account of Helios the sun gods son Phaethon yoking horses to his fathers chariot and then driving them through the sky and scorching the earth. Rather than exact reporting of past events, the Atlantis story describes an impossible set of circumstances which were designed by Plato to represent how a miniature utopia failed and became a lesson to us defining the proper behavior of a state. The Tale According to the Egyptians, or rather what Plato described Critias reporting what his grandfather was told by Solon who heard it from the Egyptians, once upon a time, there was a mighty power based on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. This empire was called Atlantis, and it ruled over several other islands and parts of the continents of Africa and Europe. Atlantis was arranged in concentric rings of alternating water and land. The soil was rich, said Critias, the engineers technically accomplished, the architecture extravagant with baths, harbor installations, and barracks. The central plain outside the city had canals and a magnificent irrigation system. Atlantis had kings and a civil administration, as well as an organized military. Their rituals matched Athens for bull-baiting, sacrifice, and prayer. But then it waged an unprovoked imperialistic war on the remainder of Asia and Europe. When Atlantis attacked, Athens showed its excellence as the leader of the Greeks, the much smaller city-state the only power to stand against Atlantis. Alone, Athens triumphed over the invading Atlantean forces, defeating the enemy, preventing the free from being enslaved, and freeing those who had been enslaved. After the battle, there were violent earthquakes and floods, and Atlantis sank into the sea, and all the Athenian warriors were swallowed up by the earth. Is Atlantis Based on a Real Island? The Atlantis story is clearly a parable: Platos myth is of two cities which compete with each other, not on legal grounds but rather cultural and political confrontation and ultimately war. A small but just city (an Ur-Athens) triumphs over a mighty aggressor (Atlantis). The story also features a cultural war between wealth and modesty, between a maritime and an agrarian society, and between an engineering science and a spiritual force. Atlantis as a concentric-ringed island in the Atlantic which sank under the sea is almost certainly a fiction based on some ancient political realities. Scholars have suggested that the idea of Atlantis as an aggressive barbarian civilization is a reference to either Persia or Carthage, both of them military powers who had imperialistic notions. The explosive disappearance of an island might have been a reference to the eruption of Minoan Santorini. Atlantis as a tale really should be considered a myth, and one that closely correlates with Platos notions of The Republic examining the deteriorating cycle of life in a state. Sources DuÃ… ¡anic S. 1982. Platos Atlantis. LAntiquità © Classique 51:25-52.Morgan KA. 1998. Designer History: Platos Atlantis Story and Fourth-Century Ideology. The Journal of Hellenic Studies 118:101-118.Rosenmeyer TG. 1956. Platos Atlantis Myth: Timaeus or Critias? Phoenix 10(4):163-172.

Transpiration Lab Report Essays

Transpiration Lab Report Essays Transpiration Lab Report Paper Transpiration Lab Report Paper When water is transported from the roots to the mesosphere cells in the leaves, it is evaporates out the stomata, called transpiration, to create a lower osmotic potential. Osmotic potential is the part of the water potential of a tissue that results from the presence of solute particles. Even though the stomata open to release water, it also brings in carbon dioxide to produce sugar and oxygen through a process of photosynthesis. The water absorbed by the roots is moved by osmosis, root pressure, adhesion, and cohesion from high to low areas of water potential. From the roots, water is transported with osmosis with a pressure pulling the water and minerals up towards the leaves. It is the transpiration pull moving it up with the help of cohesion and adhesion. Transpiration decreases the water potential causing water to move in and pull upward into the leaves and other areas of low water potential. Loss of water through transpiration can be facilitated by the opening and closing of the stomata depending on environmental condition. The rate of transpiration depends on several environmental factors such as light, humidity, temperature, ND air movement, while the rate of evaporation depends on the water potential gradient, which is contributed by gravity, pressure, and solute concentration. The purpose of this experiment is to measure pressure changes on the different types of environmental factors that affect the rate of transpiration. Hypothesis If the temperature of an environment increases, then the rate of transpiration in plants will increase and will reduce the surface area of leaves. Materials This lab requires a Labiates, Fernier Gas Pressure Sensor, utility clamps, ring tan, a leaf with its stem, plastic tubing clamps, a pipette, a refrigerator, 300 millimeter beaker, plastic syringe, water, and graphing paper. Procedures First, connect the utility clamp on the ring stand with the Gas Pressure Sensor. Then, connect the plastic syringe to one end of the 36-42 centimeter plastic tube. Place the other end of the tube in a 300 millimeter beaker of water. Then, use the syringe to draw water up into the tube until it is full. After that, connect the plastic tubing clamp on the tube. While bending the tube to make it into a U awards the sky, remove the syringe without spilling any water. Then, put the leaf with its stem in the opening of the tube with the end with the plastic tubing clamp. Carefully push the stem down of tube without spilling, and then squeeze the clamp shut. Then, connect the plastic tube to the Gas Pressure Sensor. There should be a mark on the tube at the starting water to remember for refill later on. Then, the Sensor should be connected to the Labiates. Collect data for fifteen minutes for the pressure. Then, place the leaf onto graphing paper and trace it. Find the number of surface area. After that, place the leaf in a refrigerator. Clean up the materials and return the next day. Take the leaf out of the refrigerator and set up the equipment again. Connect in the Labiates, and then find the data of the pressure for fifteen minutes. Then, place the leaf onto graphing paper and trace it. After that, calculate the surface area of the refrigerated leaf. Remember to record down other classmates variables of their different environmental conditions. Plants have adaptations to enable them to increase and decrease water lost including the shedding of leaves in colder temperatures, the peeing and closing of the stomata, thicker cuticles, and different shape of leaves depending on the environment. An advantage of closed stomata on a plant is that the plant loses water through the stomata; however to save the water it can close it. A disadvantage is that the open stomata takes in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, but when it is closed it cannot take in carbon dioxide. The light and the fan decreased the water potential in the leaves and water moved up the stem by the transpiration pull. Conclusions During this experiment, it was found out that as temperature increases, the remonstration increased as well and as temperature decreases, the transpiration decreased as well. Therefore, this supports the hypothesis. For the class, it was found out that as sunlight increased, transpiration increased. As wind increased, transpiration increased. As humidity increased, however, transpiration decreased. These conditions led to the increased water potential gradient which causes the transpiration pull to be stronger. The control plant for all of these conditions should be the one with the most normal and stable environment. In this experiment, there were a few experimental errors such as measurement errors and incorrect us of equipment. The sensor valve was connected to the plastic tubing too early, and therefore the lab had to be restarted. There were also some technical difficulties with the Labiates because the time length was set differently than the instructions. To improve this experiment, there should two experimental temperature conditions. One was the refrigerator and the other one should be beside a heater. This will allow one to see the difference temperature changes of hot, room temperature, and cold.

Book Report Template Guidelines to Writing a Winning Book Report

Book Report Template Guidelines to Writing a Winning Book Report A book report is a document that merely summarizes and narrates the events mentioned in the book. For this reason, a  book report is very close in meaning to a book summary. There is also another thing called a book review, in order not to confuse the two, please read about what makes them different. Looking for book report ideas? Here are the most popular ones! TOP 25 BOOK REPORT IDEAS Whenever you have a book report to write, please make sure you follow this simple 10-step book report template. Simply answer the questions below and you will end up having a full-scale book report: HOW TO WRITE A BOOK REPORT In this situation, your most credible source of information is the assignment outline that you receive from your professor/teacher. These assignment criteria will differ from institution to institution and from professor to professor; however, they are your most reliable guidelines. Therefore, when we work on book report writing, we ask for the original assignment criteria and base our work on them. This ensures a high-quality outcome as well as customer satisfaction. Place an order and get a professionally written book report in time!

The Relationship Between The Middle And Working Classes Essay

The Relationship Between The Middle And Working Classes - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that around the turn of the twentieth century, there was so much inequality that the middle class and the working class could not afford the same standards of living. However, some members of the middle class stretched their hands to help those who were in the working class. Addams explains how as a child belonging to the middle class helped the working class children not to feel bad about their situation when her father told her to wear a cloth that other kids wear so that she can be equal with them. This attitude helped the members of the working class in the twentieth century to feel that they belong to the same society and can share equally with other members of the society. Addams uses her life example to suggest that living among the poor is an opportunity to improve their lives in many ways. She says, â€Å"There were other genuine reasons for living among the poor than that of practicing medicine upon them†. Improved live ref ers to several factors that make someone attain higher standards of living including increased wages, more food, better health, higher social status, more comfort, and higher financing standing in general. Addams says that people in the streets in East London were very poor and that the middle class tried to help them in mitigating their problems. Those poor people did not have enough food to eat and gathered in the streets at night to buy vegetables which were almost rotten, others eating them raw.

How and why have the concepts of new waves or new generations been Essay - 1

How and why have the concepts of new waves or new generations been used in writing the histories of European or world cinema - Essay Example The review of world and Taiwanese cinema, in particular, reveals that there is an inherent relationship between historical intricacies and the melancholy of being Taiwanese, as demonstrated by the films produced under the Taiwanese new wave of Cinema. In particular, the 1980s and 90s were the years that the writers of Taiwanese film used the media to communicate the cultural identity of the people, and also the time that the new wave and genre came to the attention of the world. The historical identities revealed in the cinematic presentation include the country’s connection to China, including their divergence on the legitimacy of China as a culture and a nation-state. The historical relations reflected through the new wave of cinema include the relocation of MinTang’s government, after the defeat that took place during the 1949s in China. In the view of Lu and Yeh, it is necessary to explore deeply, the language used in cinema, as well as the issues that identify it, including symbolism and language.1 This approach is particularly applicable to the exploration of resistance movies, as these are predominant in the new wave of cinema produced in Taiwan. In essence, the concepts of the new wave were used, because cinema is a symbolic language that is fashioned using cimenatic codes. These codes include lighting, performance, editing, sound and camera shooting, among others. The combined usage of these codes makes cinema a highly effective channel for the expression of identities at the various levels, including cultural, political, national or individualistic. The second qualifier for the usage of cinema is that the language used in cinema can be used to express the identities of the people. For example, it can be used in highlighting the theme of historical instability, as a reflection of political communication or meaning. In the particular case of Taiwan, language is likely to be

Marketing Concentration within Extended Academic Programs (EAP) PowerPoint Presentation

Marketing Concentration within Extended Academic Programs (EAP) - PowerPoint Presentation Example This university offers a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) program through its EAP program. This BSBA has seven courses: accounting, banking and finance, General Business, marketing, information systems, international business, and management. The major marketing concentration this institution offers is the ‘General’ specialization. The other four concentrations are; Data mining and social marketing, healthcare marketing, call center/CRM and tourism/Sport. Due to the dynamic nature of today’s marketing environment, most universities and students are searching for courses and specializations that will assure them of immediate placements in the job market. Most of the concentrations in the Marketing specializations were designed to meet the dynamic and ever changing needs of the economy. Specializations like healthcare marketing; a rare and unique combination, was seen necessary to meet the needs of the dynamic healthcare environment due to the n umerous reforms that have been seen. Due to these facts, this paper provides a feasibility study that assesses UIW EAP’s ability and viability to offer healthcare marketing specialization within its BSBA Program. ... This paper provides a feasibility study assessing UIW EAP’s ability and viability to offer healthcare marketing specialization within its BSBA Program. Healthcare Marketing Healthcare marketing has provided an avenue through which advancements in health-protecting services like insurance and medicine can be widely known (Fortenberry, 2010). The current shift of provision of healthcare information from provider-dominated to patient-directed makes healthcare marketing a necessity in today’s world. According to Fortenberry (2011), success strategies in healthcare have their roots in result-based healthcare marketing (p. 87). Healthcare marketing provides an effective avenue through which healthcare entities can promote themselves through utilizing a variety of methods to entice their customers to purchase and consume their health products. In this information frenzy age, majority of people can self-diagnose themselves, a strategy which helps to reduce the strain on healthc are institutions (Vitberg, 2006). In this respect healthcare marketing is a necessity in this present age. Concerning UIW EAP’s ability and viability of offering healthcare marketing on top of its current general marketing concentration, the following aspects were realized. These facts were obtained from; interviews conducted where the students and lectures were involved, job searches, empirical research and through analysis of data within the city of San Antonio. Realization of Market Issues a. Likelihood of Finding a Job Of the specializations in marketing that is; data mining and social marketing, healthcare marketing, call center/CRM, general and tourism/Sport; healthcare marketing and tourism/sport marketing majors, offers high chances for undergraduates to find jobs in

What was the Multi-Fibre Agreement China and the Multi-Fibre Agreement Essay

What was the Multi-Fibre Agreement China and the Multi-Fibre Agreement - Essay Example In 1962, a Long Term Agreement (LTA) regarding international trade in cotton textiles was signed. It replaced the one-year Short Term Agreement that existed at the time. LTA underwent several renewals and was subsequently replaced by the Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA) in 1974, which was expanded to cover exports of synthetic fibres and woolen products, besides cotton. MFA came into force to allocate export quotas to the low cost developing countries, limiting the amount of imports to countries whose domestic industries were facing serious challenge from rapidly increasing imports. It sought to expand trade, reduce barriers to trade and progressively liberalise world trade. The MFA regime existed for 25 years, until 1994 when the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations resulted in the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). The ATC sought to phase out all quota restrictions in four phases spread over a period of 10 years. The first three partial phase-outs were in January 1995, January 1998 and January 2002. The final one is due on January 01, 2005. This came into force along with the WTO framework for multilateral trade in 1995: stipulated that the quota system for textile exports and imports under the Multi-Fibres Agreement (MFA) was finally phased out on January 1, 2005. More specifically, in terms of the agreement, the transition period, which began in 1995, would be operative for ten years and, by the end of that time, all textiles and apparel articles will have to be brought under the GATT discipline, subject to the same rules, as are the products of other sectors. China and the Multi-Fibre Agreement: - China was a participant country of the MFA, the implications of the end of the MFA regime on world trade generally in textiles and apparel, also the projected impact on the Chinese textile and apparel industry. To set the perspective, the MFA was negotiated under GATT 1947 and was functional from 1974 to 1994. In the eyes of the USITC, the agreement was intended to deal with domestic market disruption in importing countries: that is, developed economies - while allowing the exporting, or developing, nations to expand their textile and apparel trade as much as possible. This was achieved by the MFA through the instrument of negotiating bilateral agreements on export quotas. Cotton fibre is considered as an agricultural product and therefore covered by the WTO agreement on agriculture. All other cotton-based products, such as yarn, weaves and other textile products were subject, until January 2005 to the Multi-fibres Agreement. That agreement which came into force in 1974 was intended to protect the textile industries of developed countries from the growing exports of developing countries by way of a system of quotas. The European Union's Cotton Textile Policy: - The EU cotton regime was put in place in 1981 when Greece joined the European Economic Community. The accession of Spain and Portugal in 1986 enlarged the number of countries covered by the WTO agreement on cotton. Aid was paid to cotton ginners on condition that cotton producers benefited from a minimum price per tone of cottonseeds. This system made it possible to protect producers from variations in world prices while enabling companies to sell cotton fiber at the international price. The aid per tone of cottonseeds was equal to the difference between the guide price (fixed every year) and the world market price. The payment of aid was limited to a maximum guaranteed quantity (MGQ) set annually. From 1987, a guide price cut-off system was introduced to protect growers from the risk of very big falls in the minimum price. The original cut-off was 15% but

Film analysis on the film a league of their own Research Paper

Film analysis on the film a league of their own - Research Paper Example In their absence baseball had no future and its suspension was on the cards. In this delirious time Philip K. Wrigley who was the owner of Chicago Cubs thought of a solution to keep baseball alive in America. He proposed an idea which was the All American Girls Softball League which would be a booster for the men coming home from war service. This league ended up being transformed into a pro baseball league for girls in America. 2 This film revolves around two sisters from Oregon who play baseball passionately. Then Ernie Capadino is sent to recruit players from various cities of America. Capadino visits a softball game in rural  Oregon and likes a catcher called Dottie (Genna Davis). The recruiter offers her a tryout, but she refuses as she is in favor of working in her family’s dairy farm. Kit who is an ambitious girl and little sister of Dottie is all up to try for the series. After a few debacles various recruited girls get to Chicago where Jimmy Duggan (Tom Hanks) is set to be their manager. This enthralling movie is a historical tale of two sisters that join the first women’s baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amidst their own growing rivalry. This movie provides a recap on various historical points. This film works brilliantly historically because it addresses quite a few things. The main historical points made in the movie are the setting of the movie, the ending of the men’s baseball league, the initiation of a women’s league, recruiting of women from various places and also the league’s popularity. The league began in 1943 during the ongoing World War II among the superpowers of the world. The absence of the men from the baseball circuit proved to be a threat to the game’s cessation in a country where the game was a favorite leisurely activity. The film also rightly describes the historical event of talented women being recruited from around the country.

History of Slavery in the Caribbean and West Africa Essay

History of Slavery in the Caribbean and West Africa - Essay Example In the strictest sense of the word, "slaves" are people who are not only owned, but are also not paid, and who have no rights. The word comes from Latin term sclavus, which is thought, was originally referring to slavs, peoples from Eastern Europe, including parts of the Byzantine Empire. However, the current usage of the word serfdom is not usually synonymous with slavery, because serfs are considered to have had some rights. The International Labor Organization (ILO) considers slavery as a form of forced labor. It defines "forced labor" to be "all work or service which is extracted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily", albeit with certain exceptions: military service, convicts, emergencies and minor community services (Slavery). Historically, slaves were most of the time humans of a different ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex or race than the dominant or aspiration ally dominant group; typically taken prisoner because of warfare, capture meant death or slavery if no one paid ransom. Societies characterized by poverty, population pressures, and cultural and technological lag are frequently exporters of slaves to more developed nations (Slavery). In ancient times, Greco-Roman slavery may have been related to the practice of infanticide. Unwanted infants were exposed to nature to die; slave traders, who raised them as slaves, then often rescued these. In many cultures, persons convicted of serious crimes could be sold into slavery. The proceeds from this sale were often used to compensate the victims (Slavery). The Slave life The daily life of a slave was never easy. Slaves either work on the field or in the house for house slaves, all the cooking and cleaning was done by hand. They were often the ones to take care of any children of their master. Although slaves received better food in few times, their working days were longer because of lights in the house. Slaves who work in the fields work from day until dawn. The work was back breaking, and overseers often did not care if a slave was worked to death (Bushong).Until the early 1800, slaves were cheap. If one died, they would just go to the slave market and buy another one.If a slave was thought to be disrespectful or did not do their work correctly, punishment was often brutal. Being beaten or whipped becomes a normal experience for most slaves. One slave girl, who eventually escaped slavery, was hit in the head with something heavy that the overseer threw at her. She nearly died, but recovered after several months. She suffered from terrible headache s the rest of her life. Other slaves were punished with starvation, sold to a harder master, or possibly sent to a slave breaker (Bushong). Conditions aboard the slave ships were even harsher. Slaves were stuck into the hull and chained to one another in order to stop revolts. Only one out of five slaves will survive the journey from Africa to America. Slaves who caught up with incurable diseases such as smallpox will be immediately thrown overboard (Dowling). Those who survived the long harsh journey will face even more pain on the plantations. Many of the plantation owners had returned to Europe, leaving their holdings in America to be managed by overseers who were often unstable or unsavory. Upon arrival, family members are

Film analysis on the film a league of their own Research Paper

Film analysis on the film a league of their own - Research Paper Example In their absence baseball had no future and its suspension was on the cards. In this delirious time Philip K. Wrigley who was the owner of Chicago Cubs thought of a solution to keep baseball alive in America. He proposed an idea which was the All American Girls Softball League which would be a booster for the men coming home from war service. This league ended up being transformed into a pro baseball league for girls in America. 2 This film revolves around two sisters from Oregon who play baseball passionately. Then Ernie Capadino is sent to recruit players from various cities of America. Capadino visits a softball game in rural  Oregon and likes a catcher called Dottie (Genna Davis). The recruiter offers her a tryout, but she refuses as she is in favor of working in her family’s dairy farm. Kit who is an ambitious girl and little sister of Dottie is all up to try for the series. After a few debacles various recruited girls get to Chicago where Jimmy Duggan (Tom Hanks) is set to be their manager. This enthralling movie is a historical tale of two sisters that join the first women’s baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amidst their own growing rivalry. This movie provides a recap on various historical points. This film works brilliantly historically because it addresses quite a few things. The main historical points made in the movie are the setting of the movie, the ending of the men’s baseball league, the initiation of a women’s league, recruiting of women from various places and also the league’s popularity. The league began in 1943 during the ongoing World War II among the superpowers of the world. The absence of the men from the baseball circuit proved to be a threat to the game’s cessation in a country where the game was a favorite leisurely activity. The film also rightly describes the historical event of talented women being recruited from around the country.

Corporate Social Responsibility Plans and Communications Strategy Literature review

Corporate Social Responsibility Plans and Communications Strategy - Literature review Example A CSR communications strategy provides the potential to generate stakeholder participation, which can yield the discussion, production, and dissemination of meaningful ethical norms and practices. Sensemaking enables different stakeholder groups to openly and comprehensively discuss CSR issues and problems. Stakeholders refer to anyone who will be/are affected by the organization’s goals and actions. Sensemaking allows stakeholders to â€Å"make sense of things in organizations while in conversation with others while reading communications from others while exchanging ideas with others†. Sensemaking expands ways of thinking and doing through collaboration and questioning groupthink processes. Moreover, despite apprehension for CSR intentions, Ihlen, Bartlett, and May (2011) asserted that companies must exert full effort in expressing CSR intentions because it can engender stakeholder participation. They noted that communication theory offers models for stakeholder invol vement and collaboration, including those that deal with conflict and yet build consensus (Ihlen et al, 2011, p.12). Recognizing that companies have self-interests and finding ways to balance that with stakeholder interests are integral to the communication process. Aside from sensemaking, stakeholder theory can improve stakeholder participation. CSR communications treat stakeholders as value-producing in the long run, where value includes financial and social aspects (Morsing & Schultz, 2006, p.324). CSR concerns the critical balance between financial and non-financial goals of organizations.

Battle Of Thermopylae Was Fought History Essay

Battle Of Thermopylae Was Fought History Essay The main source that described the battle of Thermopylae is the book VII of Herodotus. He was a Greek historian, and in his book he generally favors the Greeks. But he also writes about the greatness of the Persian Empire. There are also some doubts in the story told by Herodotus. For example, in one part Herodotus states that 2.6 million people were the total Persian armies in the battle. But modern scholars reject this claim and they state that the figures given are unrealistic and it is as the result of miscalculations or exaggerations that sources put to favor the victor side. King Xeroxes was so frustrated because his father, Darius who attacked the Greeks in 490 BC, shamelessly defeated in the battle of Marathon. After the battle Darius wanted to reinforce and attack the Greeks again, but the rebellion in Egypt got his attentions off the Greeks and before he could deal with the Egyptian, he died in 486 BC. Xeroxes then crushed the Egyptian and turned his attention to the Greeks. He started his long term plan, which lasted for couple of years, to be prepared for the war. At that time even the Greeks knew that the battle is inevitable. Xeroxes decided that Hellespont, which is a narrow strait, connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, is the way that he could get to Greece. So he ordered that Hellespont should be bridged by ships so his army could cross to Europe. By early 480 the massive army of Persia was ready to invade Europe, and the preparation was complete. The Persian army crossed Hellespont on two bridges which were made of ships. Athenians were aware of the Persian threat and they were preparing for the war with Persians in the middle of 480 BC. It was at 482 when Themistocles, who was an Athenian politician and general, suggested that the best way to defend against the Persian is by building triremes, which were an ancient vessel and a type of galley. But the Athenians did not have enough workers to defend against the enormous army of Persia so they asked the other Greek states for help. A congress met in the late autumn of 481 BC, and an alliance was formed between the Greek states. The congress was very important and remarkable because some of the states were in war at that time, so the alliance helps the union between the Greeks. The congress met again in the spring of 480, and this time they decided to block Xeroxes advance to Europe. The congress sends the army containing 10,000 hoplites, which were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed as spearmen and fought in phalanx formation, to The Vale of Tempe, which is a gorge in northern Thessaly, Greece, located between Olympus to the north and Ossa to the south. However the planed did not work and the army retreated because Alexander I of Macedon warned them that the Persian army is overwhelming and they could bypass them easily. The Persian army was marching through Greece with the help of Greek spy in august of 480 BC. They were in luck because by the law Spartan army were forbidden to have military activity because of a festival called Carneia. It was also the Olympic Games season and it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to any war. Under this circumstances king Leonidas took 300 men and around 1,000 Phoceans, which were the support troops, with the orders of the Ephors, leaders of ancient Sparta, and shared power with the Spartan kings to launch an expedition and gather as many Greek soldier as possible and await the arrival of the main Spartan army. Herodotus told a legend that Leonidas consulted Oracle at Delphi, the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, before and the oracle told Leonidas that he is going to certain death, so Leonidas only took 300 men with a living son. By the time Leonidas arrived at Thermopylae, he had more than 7,000 men contingents from various cities. He chose to defend the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae called the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“middle gateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  because there was a defensive wall constructed by Phocians in there. He was afraid that mountain track nearby Thermopylae could be used to outflank the pass, so he put around 1,000 men on the heights. Finally, the Persian army led by the god-king Xeroxes approached Thermopylae. The total number is unknown and Herodotus number is unrealistic. Modern scholars estimate the total number of Persian army had been around 70,000 to 300,000. At first Xeroxes wanted to negotiate with Leonidas, so he sent an emissary to him. Leonidas refused the offer of Persians to resettle in another area and in a famous response he said: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“come and take themà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . After that the war became inevitable and after four days, which Xeroxes thought the Greeks were going to disperse, he sent his troops to kill Leonidas and crush his army. At the first day of the battle, Xeroxes ordered five thousand archers to attack the Greeks with their arrows, but the bronze shield of the Greeks deflected the arrows and eventually no one got hurt. After Xeroxes realized that the archers could not to any damage to Leonidas army, he ordered Medes and Cissians, which were around 10,000 soldiers to attack and bring prisoners before him. They Spartans and other Greeks crushed them with an easy victory. Xerxes then shocked by the result sent his best troops, the Immortals. They defeated horribly and had no more success than the other group. The reason Spartans could defeat the Persian army so easily is the tactical advantage at Thermopylae. One of the reasons was that Persians were too many on numbers and the battlefield was too tight, and the only weapons that they had were daggers and short spears for hand to hand combat. Persians were not fighting the way they had been trained and they were not equipped for such close fighting so the Greek army wiped them out easily. Another reason could be that Greeks were fighting for their lands, and defending their homes and their family so they had more intangible edge. On the other hand, half of the Persian army was slaves and to make them fight the Greeks the commanders lashed them with whips. On the second day of the battle, Xeroxes again sent some troops to attack the Greeks. After Greeks drew them off with light injuries, Xeroxes stopped and withdrew to his camp without any plan. However, everything changed at the end of the second day. His name was Ephialtes, which coming to mean nightmare in the Greek language, and he was a Trachinian traitor. Greed and rewards made him to betray the Greek army and informed Xeroxes of the mountain path around Thermopylae. After that a Persian army under command of a general named Hydarnes attacked the pass. The 1,000 Phocians guarding the pass were surprised by the Persian attack and they retreat to higher grounds to regroup after a brief resistance. However the Persian army advanced through the pass and did not chase them. On the third and final day of the battle,

The Marketing And Sales Departments :: Business Marketing

Marketing and sales department is responsible for making sure customers know about the business. This may include market research, advertising and sales promotions, the creation and development of a website (although it maintenance maybe undertaken by I.T support staff). The sales departments responsible for selling the items to the customer and keeping sales records. The areas of responsibility are Market Research, Promotional Activities and Sales. Market research aims to find out customers needs and views on new products and services also old products and service, Promotional Activities is because businesses need to promote their products and services otherwise customers would be aware that they exist, the range of available methods including advertising, sales promotion etc, sales, merchants are employed by companies making house hold products to visit supermarkets to persuade them to stock their brands. The advantages of the marketing and sales department is that they will research information find new trends that will sell, also promote products that are attractive as well as best selling. The problems that occur within the marking and sales department are the research being wrong so instead of profit they lose, products could be out of date and rotten also the advertisements for a product will cost money The marketing and sales department helps achieve the aims and objective of EA^T by making profit margins larger and to increase stock if products sell fast and by that happening it could happen it could help them reach their target price. The departments communicate two ways internally and externally, I will give two examples of internal and external communication. Internally they communicate by informing customer’s service department of a new product that they will sell and this would be communicated either by telephone or e-mail, they would communicated it this way because this are the ways that new products are most seen or heard because they are not really avoidable i.

Computer Intelligence :: essays research papers fc

Can computers think independently and do they have â€Å"minds†? This question has been the topic of countless, bad movies since the 1950s as well as a number of science fiction novels. We all believe that we have minds. It is something that is taken for granted but what exactly is a mind and are humans the only to possess them? Ever since the invention of the computer, they have been a mystery, even to the smartest of scientists. With the ongoing development of artificial intelligence and high population of computer literate people, the possibility of computers with minds must be re-evaluated. The initial question that must be answered before tackling the mind/computer problem is how do you define a mind? This is something that philosophers have been trying to answer for hundreds of years, long before the invention of the computer. Renee Descartes supported the concept of ‘dualism’ which is the belief that the mind is a separate non-physical entity associated with the body during its life. On the other hand, behaviorism holds the notion that the mind does not exist but rather patterns of behavior and our pre-dispositions to such behavior. Functionalism is another school of thought that has come to light recently and draws its theory from computer technology. Functionalism believes that the mind is simply a program and the body, its hardware. With all the different theories, none of them have been able to answer the question on whether computers are similar enough to the human brain to have intelligence. The think the simplest definition for intelligence is the ability to adapt. You can tell a computer to go to a specific IP address but if IBM’s address is no longer www.ibm.com, the computer does not know how to find the new one. More specifically, it can be said that intelligence is the to take into consideration the circumstances of completing a certain task. Alan Turing, a mathematician, sought to answer the question on whether or not computers possess intelligence. The Turing Test asked people to communicate with something or someone that they could not see. The people engaged in the communication were then asked identify whether they were talking to a machine or a human. If the test subjects thought themselves to be conversing with a human when they were really engaged with a machine, then the computer was thought to have intelligence. This test is inherently flawed.

Axe commercial

The current Axe print advertisement in question is part of a global campaign to promote its new line of â€Å"Peace† products, trying to strike down the sexist image It had previously. Axe partnered with a non-profit organization called Peace One Day and alms to promote peace In the world by an anti-war agenda and also gender equality. An end to the gender wars. This Is an example of using polymers through the slogan â€Å"Make Love, Not War†, which Is the use of the phrase to Incorporate multiple meanings.The ad is directed at both males and females, unlike other Axe advertisements in the past, and so both men and women are considered the inscribed reader. According to the deputy executive director of Axe in London, David Kolkhoz, â€Å"It's a theme we've been playing with for a while now, the equilibrium of the sexes. This is Just the first time we've done it in this more serious way. † (Nude, 2014, Para. 9) The idea that Axe is moving into different territory by attempting to equalize men and women sexually is emergent discourse.Scripts of lust and hyper sexuality are giving way to scripts of â€Å"Make Love, Not War†. This can be seen as a desirable outcome for a female audience of the Peace products. If this Is a successful outcome, women's views on Axe will shift, they will purchase the products for their partners and profits will Increase. When the deputy executive director was asked If this new message of love and equality Instead of lust and gender wars was possible or believable in an Axe campaign, he stated that â€Å"the brand has been slowly evolving for a while now. † (Nude, 2014, Para. ) using war in an advertisement campaign is an ambitious marketing tool that Axe tries to combine gracefully with peace and sexuality. The scene of the ad is based in a war zone on a beach featuring an array of different scenarios. There are soldiers, fighter Jets, helicopters, a soldier with a flame thrower and smoke seeping into the sky in the background. Amidst all the chaos, there are waterfalls, couples in hammocks, people swimming, and airplanes in the sky are formed In the shape off heart. In the middle of the ad there is a women in a brightly colored dress In the arms off soldier.There Is a couple falling from the helicopter together, a couple flirting by a tank, and woman massaging a man on the beach sand. Filters are a profit motive and, In this case, one motive Is using war In the campaign. It is particularly affective because we are currently involved in a war. Promoting peace, by calling the product line Peace, is an active attempt of lifestyle communication. Making the hippie peace movement a cool comeback for the company. Ensuring consumers that Axe is trying to be part of the solution and not the problem.This creates a self-surveillance by which some consumers will purchase the Peace products to feel good about themselves using a product that promotes peace. This is a positive social ideology that many people strive for. Consumer's social position on this issue, war, create a negotiated reading of the product, and they purchase more. The reader Ex.'s senior director, Matthew McCarthy states, â€Å"Young people care deeply about the future. This generation Is socially conscious and more digitally connected than ever. † (Nude, 2014, Para. 0) The ewe Axe advertisement does not fully deviate from Its previous campaigns. The positioning of women in the ad is still very similar to previous ads, however, it's just these soldiers. They are not shown in uniform like the men, but they are in play clothes and are scantily clad in short shorts. There is a women on top of man massaging him and another in the arms of a soldier. To some, this is still a very sexist Axe ad. This is seen as an oppositional reading and in direct conflict with the social ideologies that the Axe executives are trying to portray.The reception of the ad is probably mixed due to split political ideolog ies in the world. Many people would take this campaign face value and feel that it is promoting world peace. Many people might view this as an attempt for Axe to finally end sexism in their ad campaigns. Others will see this as Just another sexist advertisement littered with sexism but Just shown in a different light. Analyzing media using these ideological methods is extremely interesting when you delve into detail and dissect every notion of an ad or an entire campaign.Looking at the ad from different ideological perspectives is eye-opening and interesting. Researching other ads was entertaining and the entire process is engaging. These are all positive aspects of the process. Sometimes difficulties arise when trying to decipher what ideologies are accidentally placed in an ad or what is purely intentional. Axe could have a specific agenda that may or may not be interpreted by certain audiences. This is a con when trying to analyze accurately. Overall, the ideological method of an alyzing media is very useful and thorough.

Despite Atwood’s portrayal of Gilead as soulless and destructive she has nevertheless succeeded in giving the reader a sense of optimism

‘The Handmaid's Tale' is set in the futuristic republic of Gilead. Everybody has somebody controlling what they do and only a minority have control over other people. In the first chapter alone we learn of the system of control within the Handmaids' residence. There are the angels, who are responsible for the Aunts, who have responsibility for the handmaids, i. e. the narrator. This system has the sole purpose, reproduction: â€Å"we are for breeding purposes†¦ There is supposed to be nothing entertaining about us, no room is to be permitted for the flowering of secret lusts†¦ We are two-legged wombs, that's all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices. † The narrator of takes on a role based on the Biblical story of Jacob's wives; when they failed to conceive, he fathered children by their handmaids. In a world in which the fertility of both sexes has dropped dramatically, it is the role for which young women who have demonstrated their ability to bear children are destined, rather to the chagrin of the Wives who have to house them. For this regime to function effectively it is important that a high level of control is exerted and more essentially, that the people within the regime understand there purpose. They are not there to build relationships, they are there for reproduction and any other aspect of life is irrelevant. Ironically the regime is developed for sex yet any attributes you would normally apply to a sexual relationship have been removed. There is no conversation, no intimacy, no pleasure or appreciation of yourself or your partner; in fact there is no relationship with your partner or anyone else. Physical contact must be kept to what is necessary and the act of sex itself is simply necessary for reproduction. For the regime to work there can be no feelings. To prevent feelings developing within people towards others Gilead works to remove anything that makes the person unique, this is why the regime has been described as â€Å"soulless† as by taking away peoples' personalities you are practically taking away their soul. This is similar to the system in Aldous Huxley's â€Å"Brave New World† where the concept of love has been destroyed. The idea of falling in love with someone has been made almost impossible, as there is no opportunity for this to happen, everybody been made as soulless as possible. There must be no character, individuality or expression of self to avoid people getting into any form of relationship. The women are literally branded with numbers a code that ties them to the regime. They are made to wear uniforms (in describing the uniforms Atwood appears to me making a link to the similarity to the German and Canadian prisoners of war uniforms from World War Two) and are renamed in attempt to completely depersonalise them. They are treated as cattle, as a group with no thought of their own. This leaves the reader questioning their interpretation of the narrator, we sometimes see her as an individual taking minor rebellion against the regime, and yet at other times we see her as one of many that are all in the same helpless situation. The high level of control they hold over their people enhances Gilead's destructive manner. Even the narrator's name â€Å"Offred† has been composed by the regime. The novel explains this unusual noun as being a word â€Å"that is composed of the possessive preposition and the first name of the name of the gentlemen in question. † However most readers pick up on the play on the word â€Å"offered† she is offered around the gentlemen in society. No individual or group is strong enough to overthrow the regime and this is the focal point of the regime's strength. They can enforce and law no matter how unjust because there is no one strong enough to oppose it. However at no point is the reader led to believe that the narrator has given up hope and that there is no purpose for her anymore. This is of a conscious effort by Atwood to create a positive perspective of the situation through her narrative technique, imagery and by surrounding the character with situations where they could potentially rebel. The harsh regime of Gilead is emphasised by Atwood offering the reader a comparison of the narrator's current situation and her previous one, it has been suggested that this is Atwood supporting the theory that fear causes regression, not progression. These comparisons are possible because of the flashback technique that occurs throughout the novel. For example, Offred contrasts the way she used to think about her body to the way she thinks about it now: ‘I used to thin of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplish of my will †¦ now the flesh arranges itself differently. I'm a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping. Where as in the story, Offred uses the flashbacks as a way of escaping, a more practical level Atwood uses them to reveal to the reader the reasons behind the current situation and how the novel possibly relates to our lives. One critic commented, â€Å"1the essential element of a cautionary tale is recognition†. The reader is very aware that Offred once lived a life similar to their own, this heightens their compassion towards the handmaid's and in some ways the novel acts as a warning, for what could potentially occur in our own future. By allowing us to see Offred's past and compare it with the life she has been forced to live now it is obvious how much destruction the regime has caused. For the novel to progress it is essential Atwood creates optimism, because Offred herself has to say positive in order to cope with the situations, she cannot give up therefore Atwood cannot let the reader think she has given up. Minor acts of rebellion are ways of showing the reader that the system has flaws, there is a gap and if Offered works hard enough she can get through the gaps in the system. For example, no communication is meant to happen between the handmaids and yet Offred and Moira find a way of talking through a hole in the wall, which poses as a hole in the system. However, Atwood creates the feeling of empowerment and hope through these rebellions but she never goes as far as to say there definitely is hope. It is possible that Offred is aware than any act of rebellion is simply a coping tactic and the regime will not fall, she will leave eventually and the regime will go on unshaken. Offred's relationship with the commander acts as â€Å"something else to think about†, as the reader we do not dwell on the state of the society as we are now concerned with the relationship Offred is forming, of course this is due to the narrative style of the novel, we are guided towards thinking about Offred and the commander because that is what Offred is thinking about and we are reading her thoughts, in the form of a dialogue to her audience. However it is ambiguous as the whether the commander forms an attachment with many of his handmaids, so Offred's relationship with Nick is far more pivotal to her story as it is as close as she could have to the sort of relationship she could have formed before the regime, the sort that she had with her husband Luke. The risk she eventually takes with him we know could be the end of her but at the time it's a chance for a better standard of life, of course again this could be perceived as Offred falling under the control of Gilead's regime by going out of her way to have a child and conforming to their rules. Gilead's destructive power is emphasised by showing the extremes it will force people to go to, to succumb to their demands. An essential part to the regime is the fact that everyone is a victim; everybody has had to sacrifice something and give up part of their old life. Even those that still have a small amount of control have given up more than they have gained. Serena Joy is portrayed as a malicious character by Offred, yet she has lost her relationship with her husband, she has no contact with anyone and has to live in a regime that has her husband sleeping with many different women. Atwood uses process and reconstruction when writing and the reader is often reminded that â€Å"truth† is only a matter of the teller's perspective. If the reader is never sure of the true details then they are allowed to picture the worst possible situations, and the best. Time shifts and short scenes add to the ambiguity of the story and the reader may question how factually based the story actually is and how true to life Offred's description of other characters are. Moira is a classic example, it could be she was never as strong or rebellious as Offred claimed she was, she was maybe a role model for Offred and her character was exaggerated because Offred need her role model to be strong. However it is not only the reader that is unsure of the truth, Offred has very little facts at her disposal. The only time the handmaid's are educated is when they are listening to the Bible being read or watching the â€Å"news. † In the same way the Ministry of Truth created the news in George Orwell's â€Å"1984† there is suggestion the news the handmaids are shown is fabricated. By acknowledging this fact Offred has rebelled against the regime. However she also accepts that â€Å"any news is better than none† and she simply has to believe the news because there is nothing else to go by. It is the only source of knowledge. Gilead's controls are so tight she is forced to believe what she hears. This too is similar to â€Å"1984† and the concept created by George Orwell of doublethink which is to acknowledge two conflicting truths at once. Offred accepts the news is probably false and yet she also believes it is true because she has to. This is similar to the relationship between the reader and the narrator; we accept that what here cannot be entirely true yet we have to believe it. Offred herself does not know what has happened to her daughter or her husband therefore she is able to cling on to the hope that they are alive, as it has not been confirmed otherwise. The reader does the same with Offred's existence at the end of the novel, we hope she is alive and the ambiguity of the ending allows us to do so. Quite often in the novel Atwood creates a sense of hope later to take it away again, or create optimism with an underlying tone of doubt. When Offred discovers the note in the cupboard â€Å"nolite te bastardes carborundorum† she is filled with hope, reading it as a message left for her by the last person that lived here, she is reading which she is not allowed to do as language has been abolished and this all adds to the positive feeling of going against the regime. However Offred then builds up the message to by more significant than it is and is let down when the commander translates it as â€Å"don't let the bastards grind you down. At the end, we discover that Offred's story was not founding the form of a manuscript but as a recording on a cassette player. This is confusing for the reader as the strict structure of the regime would not have made it possible to have access to a cassette player. One suggestion is that Offred did escape and managed to record her story at a later point. However even if Offred had been writing this would have been a constant form of rebellion, as language had been abolished. It has been suggested that Offred's storytelling is an act of resistance to Gilead, just as her tale itself is an act of resistance to masculinist fiction conventions, including that archetypal patriarchal text, the Old Testament. In many ways the historical notes are more essential to the meaning of the novel than Offred's story. On a positive note, the historical notes assure the reader that the regime of Gilead was overthrown and society returned to normal, Offred's story has been found in the form of cassette recordings, this suggests she did escaped and managed to get her writing on to tape. However, Offred's story is found but it is not heard or understood. Male historians have tried to impose their perception of it on to it and created a title for it. The regime has apparently not changed their sexist attitudes, history has taught them nothing. The professors are abusing Offred as Gilead did by removing her authority from the telling of her own story, they seem more worried at the fact there is nothing more about the Commander and his true identity. Ironically he does just what Offred predicts would happen to the story of the Handmaid's â€Å"from the point of view of future history, we'll be invisible. The modern day historians have depersonailised her just as much as the regime did by taking away her voice and forcing reader is brought into a second vision of the future and is forced to judge what they have just read. Atwood's historical notes satirise American society as it stands today, where as Gilead is based on an international range of models, which include not only historical examples but contemporary political carnage in Iran, Latin America and more recently Iraq and Afghanistan. Denay Nunavit† (deny none of it) seems to be Atwood's message out of the past to the future, giving the reader a sense of shared moral responsibility for our own futures. This is effective as the pre Gilead society is very similar to our own society today. The novel was first published in 1986 â€Å"the age of the R – strain syphilis and Aids epidemic† Aids had just being brought to the publics attention and there was a massive campaign to prevent it's spread. A second reason we are given for the need of a society such as Gilead was â€Å"various nuclear power plant accidents†¦ hemical and biological warfare, stock piles and toxic waste disposal sites† all readers will recognise these issues and can map them on to real life incidents such as Chernobyl. Similarly to â€Å"1984,† Atwood's novel seems to be an extension of real fears her audience would have had. This was noted by one reader who commented that: â€Å"what is especially meaningful is the fact that the book was published in the 80's, long before many of the concepts were as relevant as they are now. 2 Ironically once the regime has been abolished there is no longer the optimistic tone in Atwood's writing, suggesting that even though Gilead was destructive, the intention of the society was good and there was room for hope, however we can now see that life after Gilead reverted to pre Gilead ways and there has been no progression, development of understanding a nd this is a far more negative situation to be faced because it suggests man will never learn.