Drama on Stage and Screen

Drama on Stage and Screen Numerous attempts have been made to create screen versions of William Shakespeare’s plays. This paper is aimed at discussing one of such adaptations, namely the movie Twelfth Night or What You Will directed by Trevor Nunn. The film-makers had to make the comedy accessible to the modern audience without oversimplifying its plot, language, and themes. This is the main challenge that they faced.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Drama on Stage and Screen specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In particular, they had to create a fast-paced plot and retain the most important scenes. Furthermore, it was necessary to make sure that the actions and motives of the main characters were fully understandable to the viewers. Finally, the film-makers had to retain the beauty of William Shakespeare’s verses. They had to bridge the gap between the author’s language and the language of the audience. Despite the challenge s, this screen adaptation succeeds one of the main themes explored by the playwright, for example the artificial nature of gender differences. This is why Trevor Nunn’s film is a good adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedy and it is worth attention. First of all, Trevor Nunn wanted to make sure that the audience could easily of the movie the plot of the movie; this is why he rearranged the scenes and added new ones. It should be noted that Shakespeare’s play starts immediately on the island of Illyria. The author describes the conversation between Orsino and Curio (Shakespeare 1). Only later the readers can fully grasp the twists of the plot and the comedy of errors. In contrast, the film opens with the description of Viola and Sebastian’s voyage and the subsequent shipwreck (Twelfth Night: Or What You Will). In this way, the film-makers tried to emphasize the point that the brother and sister were separated by a certain irresistible force. Later they have to confront different comic situations that could be explained by errors and misunderstanding. Moreover, Trevor Nunn decided to incorporate the voice-over narration in the movie. The narration is told by Feste’s who knows more about actions and intentions of other people (Twelfth Night or What You Will). Overall, Feste can be called an omniscient character. One can say that in this way, the film-makers attempted to unify different scene of the Shakespeare’s play. Overall, Trevor Nunn managed to make the following scenes and dialogues more lucid. Therefore, by introducing the third-person narration they were better able to achieve this goal.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Furthermore, the creators of the film tried to describe a social and cultural environment that could be more understandable to contemporary viewers. To order to Shakespeare’s plays, readers and viewers have to have some background knowledge of the Elizabethan society, its norms and values. These norms may not be familiar to modern viewers. This is one of the reasons why the action takes places in the nineteenth century Europe, rather than Elizabethan period. Even the main character’s clothing indicates that they could not possible live in the sixteen or seventeenth century England (Twelfth Night: Or What You Will). Besides, one can mention the film contains the music of the Edwardian era (Brusberg-Kiermeier and Helbig 156). This is a direct reference to the nineteenth century England. In this way, the film-makers were able to show that the situations described by William Shakespeare’s play can be applicable to people who live in different societies and cultures. This is why this movie can be regarded as a success. Thus, one has to admit that Trevor Nunn had to make some alterations in the plot and setting; nevertheless, these changes did n ot prevent the film-makers from exploring the main theme of the comedy, in particular, the artificial nature of gender roles and common stereotypes about men and women. This is why this screen version is worth considering. Secondly, the creators of the film had to remain within certain time limits that are set for commercial movies. Certainly, these limits are not strictly determined by some external authority, but directors have to remember that it is difficult to keep the viewers’ attention if the movie lasts for more three hours. This is another challenge that Trevor Nunn had to face while adapting the movie. Shakespeare’s play includes five acts and nineteen scenes. It could be difficult to include all of them into the film. This is why some scenes were excluded from the movie, for instance, the first conversation between Orsino and Curio. One should bear in mind that this movie lasts for 134 minutes. By strictly following Shakespeare’s play, Trevor Nunn wou ld have exceeded the time limits. Overall, one can say that the plot of this film is very fast-paced and it keeps the attention of the audience. This is this film enjoys popularity among many viewers. So, Trevor Nunn’s editing decisions were quite successful. His movie can give viewers a good idea about the original text and this is one of its main advantages.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Drama on Stage and Screen specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Another aspect that should be discussed is the difference between the language of William Shakespeare and the language used in the movie. While writing his plays, William Shakespeare used words and expressions that could be understandable to people living in the Elizabethan society, but they may be misinterpreted by contemporary speakers of English. For instance, the place contains such as a phrase â€Å"I have taken great pains to con it† (Shakespeare 50). In contrast, the film-makers decided to substitute the verb â€Å"con† for â€Å"learn† (Twelfth Night: Or What You Will). The thing is that at the time of Shakespeare the verb â€Å"to con† did not have a negative meaning of fraud or swindle. This example indicates that Shakespearian language should be sometimes altered or adjusted; otherwise, modern viewers can misinterpret his line. Therefore, Trevor Nunn and his colleagues had to make sure that dialogues are properly understood by contemporary viewers. However, the director remained more or less faithful to Shakespeare’s language, and the viewers can appreciate the beauty of the verse. So, one should not suppose that Trevor Nunn completely modernized the original text of Shakespeare’s comedy. Thus, the screen adaptation proved to be successful, at least to some degree. Nevertheless, these differences do not mean that this film is inferior to the play. One should remember that the behavior of c haracters is expressed differently on stage and screen. For example, contemporary cinematographers can visualize the tempest mentioned by William Shakespeare in his play. There are several aspects of the film that make it worth attention. In particular, one can speak about the performance of Imogen Stubbs, Toby Stephen and Helena Bonham Carter. They perfectly impersonated Viola, Orsino, and Olivia. Special attention should be paid to Imogen Stubbs and Toby Stephen who were able to describe the comic situations arising out of the similarity between the brother and sister. Overall, these performers are able to reflect the experiences of the siblings. Additionally, one should not forget about the performance of Helena Bonham Carter who plays Olivia. This actress shows how love can affect and transform even the most reticent and reserved person. Skillful performance is probably the main strength of the film because actors were able to render the motives behind the behavior of the main c haracters.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They were able to convey Shakespeare’s irony and the complexity of his characters. These actors greatly contributed to the success of the film. As it has been noted before, this adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy retained the vibrancy of the original text. This is another reason why this movie achieved critical recognition and popularity among viewers. Overall, one can argue that Trevor Nunn and his colleagues were able to overcome the challenges related to the screen adaptation. There are some differences between the original text and its screen adaptation, but these differences do not prevent the viewers from enjoying William Shakespeare’s ideas and language. The movie was successful in rendering the authors’ sense of comedy and paradox. Moreover, the actors were able to convey the beauty of the original text and the complexity of the character’s behavior. The sexuality plays an important part in the film. Trevor Nunn was able to demonstrate that in many cases, gender differences are social constructs that have nothing to do with the internal traits of a person. So, Trevor Nunn’s adaptation is a good attempt to translate Shakespeare’s comedy into the language of cinematography. Brusberg-Kiermeier, Stefani, and J. Helbig. Shakespeare in the Media: From the  Globe Theatre to the World Wide Web, New York: Peter Lang, 2010. Print. Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, New York: Harold Bloom, 2007. Print. Twelfth Night: Or What You Will. Ex. Prod. Stephen Evans. London: BBC Films. 1996. DVD.

How to Convince Your Team to Use (And Love) CoSchedule

How to Convince Your Team to Use (And Love) So you’re feeling pretty great. Why? Because you FINALLY found a new, shiny, amazing tool that’s gonna save your life. (Hint: It’s ). Now all you gotta do is convince your team to hop on board. The problem:  They are tough to convince. Change-averse. Old school. â€Å"Don’t have the time.† Basically, you’ve got a TOUGH sell ahead of you.  (Whatever your reason may be). BUT luckily the peeps here at decided to do the hard work for you. After researching the best tactics to convince others and conducting interviews with REAL customers who’ve struggled to convince their teams†¦ we’ve put together a plan (AND a presentation template for you to use) that’s going to make this process a whole lot LESS painful. How to Convince Your Team to Love (And Use) @Part 1: Become The Expert You’ve finally found the tool thats about to change your (work) life.  BUT in order to convince your team effectively, youve got to  become the EXPERT in everything that is . Why? Because you gotta be ready for the pushback, so you need to equip yourself with data, facts, and plenty of â€Å"how-to’s.† To get you equipped with all the knowledge you need, we’re going to jump right into the how-to’s and highlights of . Plus, at the end of each section, we’ve prepared some handy talking points for you  so you can easily summarize the highlights when you start talking to your team. Highlight #1: Consolidation (AKA Your One-Stop Marketing Shop) You already know this, but one of the best time-saving aspects of is the ability to CONSOLIDATE. You can finally say goodbye to that planning spreadsheet that is growing more unwieldy by the day. No more copy/paste. No more overwhelming tabs open on your computer. It’s everything you need, in one easy-to-use marketing hub. The first aspect you should get comfortable with isMarketing Campaigns. This feature will become your go-to for proactively planning roadmaps and allocating (+ maximizing) resources effectively. Plus, Marketing Campaigns eliminates all that wasted time that people spend tracking down content, which means more time can be spent on the EXECUTION of projects. To start, choose the project option called Marketing Campaigns. Its the top item on the list when adding a new project to your calendar. Next, add a title to your marketing campaign, color labels, as well as start and end dates. Next, add each individual content item to your project – from emails to social campaigns, to podcasts and blog posts. Everything that needs to go live as a part of this wider marketing project can all be coordinated directly in . So to recap, why is marketing campaigns so great? Answer:  It takes organizing the next marketing campaign, feature launch, event, etc., to the next level. And ALL smart marketers are serious fans of anything to make organization easier. Next up KANBAN and TEAM MANAGEMENT DASHBOARD. These babies are amazing (and you probs agree) because†¦ you can collaborate better AND save time. No more endless status updates and lost time tracking down whos doing what and when. Enter Team Management Dashboard.   It gives you a granular peek at all the individual tasks each member of your team is responsible for on any given day. You can see real-time updated as tasks are checked off and when items get missed. So your project timelines will never fall-apart due to missed deadlines or dropped balls. Say someones on vacation or out sick, the team management dashboard makes it easy to reshuffle workload and reassign tasks with drag and drop functionality. Your team will thank you because theyll know exactly where to turn every day to know what they need to get done for the day. Zero meetings necessary. Just their tasks and priorities clearly visualized in an easy dashboard. Heres how to find your Team Management Dashboard in . Step 1: Hover over the hamburger menu in the top left-hand corner. Step 2: On the bottom left-hand side, youll see an option called team. Step 3:  Easily see every task and project your team is working on, as well as a status bar to quickly see how far along a project is. The next linchpin to getting all your marketing projects organized is the Kanban view. Hover over the hamburger menu and choose the project option. The Kanban view can be customized to your unique workflow. You and everyone on your team will be able to see what stage every project is in and know when it moves from one stage to the next. Yep, it’s that easy. Basically, your team is going to start falling in love with the tool as much as you. And with that†¦ You have finally earned your first talking point: Consolidate your marketing toolset AND workflow. Create a unified workflow for every project with ’s all in one marketing calendar. Proactively plan out your entire roadmap, get real-time visibility, and maximize your resources inside a collaborative, cross-functional calendar for it all! So now that we’ve covered how consolidates your marketing process, you’re one step closer to being a champion. Highlight #2: Communication [is Key] Anyone that’s ever been in a fast-moving team knows that half the battle is clear communication. Heck, just communication AT ALL. You’re all so busy you’re lucky just to turn in that project update on time. And that’s where will really start to resonate with your teammates. So, let’s dig into how makes communication about 1000X easier. Firstlet’s talk about consistent team workflows.  (Because who doesn’t love a good, effective workflowam I right?!) The highlights: Plan and assign tasks and get your content approved and published Execute faster across distributed teams Keep your team members up to date, and avoid email! Know the exact stage of each [and every] project The biggest sell here is that your team can actually build project workflows right into the team calendar. Next on the list is how to build a workflow: Open a new piece of content Select the task template icon and +New Template Name your template, and hit Next Add each of your tasks Assign each task to a team member Establish the # of days before or after publish that the task is due You’re all set to Sell the magic that is workflow templates (and honestly, the beauty that is assigning tasks) and Know how to create them like a pro. So, to continue with the awesome communication features within . Let’s talk about CHAT.  Basically, in-app chat eliminates all the wasted time  spent combing through an inbox searching for a project update. So within each project, there is a tab where all involved team members can give updates or leave notes for the group. So here’s how to access and use chat: Head into any piece of content On the right side of the screen, click the message icon  tab And BOOM. You can start chit-chattin’ away. You can even attach documents directly in the discussion feature. And if your team is constantly buried in emailsthis is going to be a major selling point. (Just THINK of all the hours everyone spends searching their inbox!) Another communication feature is the ability to add discussion directly in social messages. We know making changes to social images, copy etc. can mean a lot of back and forth. Maybe youve even tried to send screenshots of social messages back and forth for approval. Thats not ideal. To start, open your social campaign or individual social message and choose the conversation bubble at the bottom of the post. Then, @ mention someone with the desired changes. No back and forth. No screenshots. Just collaborating and planning social media messages made easy. So now that you’re a communicating-in-pro, here’s your second talking point: Execute faster across distributed teams. Stay in the loop on every project without getting stuck in the weeds of searching a lengthy email chain or cluttered inbox. Easily share files, comments, and project details with everyone directly within . Highlight #3: Get To Know The [Amazing] Social Tools So now that you’re already well on your way to becoming a expert we’re going to talk about the social tools. (Because you know that your team is going to LOVE them.) First, here’s how to build a social campaign: Head to your master calendar view Click the  + to access content types Select  Social Campaign Add the link you want to promote Plan ALL your messages for every social network Also, be sure to explain that you can add a social campaign to ANY piece of content, so your social media messages are no longer disconnected from the actual project. One less tool to manage and your social media manager can finally have the full picture behind their social messages. 👠 Simply head into the piece of content you want to promote, and start adding in messages in the Social Campaign section  of the editor. Next upsocial templates and social helpers! Here’s the how-to for  setting up social templates: Open a piece of content Select the social template icon within the Social Campaign section Select + New Template  and give your template a name Customize it to incorporate any of your social profiles Build a schedule that shares your content for days, weeks or even MONTHS For a more detailed how-to, check out our Social Templates Help Doc  :) Can you feel the time-savings yet?! Now, here’s how to create a social helper: Head into any social campaign Select the social helper icon, and click +New Helper From here, you can create standard social helpers (synced from WordPress) or custom text helpers, image helpers, or even video helpers Need a more detailed run-down? Head to our Social Helpers Help Doc  :) And now that you know how to set those up it will be 1000X easier to explain to your team that they are going to save TONS of man hours with . The last piece? ReQueue: the most intelligent way to automate your social media. Here’s a sweet video to show your team how ReQueue to optimizes your social strategy:    As far as actually setting it up, here’s the lowdown: Head to the ReQueue dashboard in your calendar menu Create a ReQueue group Add any messages associated with the group Let take care of the rest So now that you’ve earned your third talking point: Boost engagement with powerful  social media tools. Improve your overall brand strategy with ’s powerful social promotion. Keep everything in one place, schedule dozens of social messages in seconds, and collaborate with your team using built-in approval based workflows! Highlight #4: Prove Your ROI (Finally) One of the biggest challenges that marketing teams face is proving their ROI. It’s hard to track everything and honestly  it’s tedious. The analytics struggle is real and if your team is willing to admit it’s pretty un-fun and they want something that can make it all better†¦ Then they are going to be PUMPED about the Top Content Report, the Social Engagement Report, and  the Team Performance Report. First, head to your calendar menu and select Analytics. So now that you know where to find your reportslet’s get into the nitty-gritty of what each report means and how you can customize them to your advantage: Top Project Report Description: See ALL your most popular content and compare your performance. This report helps you  find and easily re-share your most engaging content. Social Engagement Report Description: See the performance of each social network, account, and specific messages. How to Customize: Set a date range. Search for a specific message. Select overall engagement, or view engagement by each social network. Select overall top messages, or top messages by network.Team Performance Report Description: Get a snapshot of your team’s entire performance, performance by project, or the performance of a specific team member. How to Customize: Set a date range Search for a specific project, piece of content, or team member. Select a specific team member and view a granular view of their performance (including all completed, overdue or incomplete tasks)And with that†¦ Here’s your final talking point: Prove your ROI with data-driven results. No more warm fuzzies! Prove the value of all your hard work with real data. Utilize ’s most advanced analytics to measure your success! Part 2:   Convince Your Team So now you’re a expert. Plus, you’re armed with some pretty thorough + effective talking points. Which means it’s time to move onto the next and most difficult step in the process†¦ convincing your team. We’ve laid out a 3-step process for you, along with a few resources (like this  sweet presentation template), to get your team on the train. Step 1: Convert Some Allies Before you can show the whole team  whatcha got, you need to find some allies. Because if you can initially convince just a couple of people that is *the* tool. So the first step is to identify your potential allies. For example, your coworker who always has your back or that one person who is always talking about efficiency. Next, show them this vid: Step 2: Share With The Rest Of Your Team Okay. So you’ve done EVERYTHING right up to this point. *two thumbs up* But now it’s time to share with the rest of your team. First, identify the way you want to position . For example, if your team is ALWAYS short on time†¦ or just plain overworked. Or, if your team is sick and tired of the overwhelming amount of tools they have to use to get their job done. Here’s a list of potential concerns that you might hear from your team, and the response you can give them: Step 3: Start Settin’ It Up THE FINAL STEP. To complete the whole â€Å"convincing your team† process you’ve got to get people to try the tool. Let them realize how AMAZING by having them try the tool. And if people are still hesitant about it (because they still aren’t totally sold on the idea), you can say â€Å"we are just trying it out right now.† Take the time to help them with any issue they may be experiencing. And if you can’t figure it out, you can direct them to this link  and we’ll make sure to answer their question. Remember: We’re here for ya. So to recap: First, you need to take the time to LEARN the ins-and-outs of . Next, you can use the 3-step process (and this handy presentation  template) to *strategically* convince your team that is the tool they never knew they needed.

Will China Be The Next Superpower Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Will China Be The Next Superpower - Essay Example China will be the next super power as it is the biggest Asian country and has emerged magnificently economically all around the globe. The pros of China becoming the next super power support their discussion through means of economy, trade, and technology and labor force. By nominal GDP, China is the second largest economy with a growth rate average of almost double figures for over three decades. It is the fastest growing economy, and it is concluded by many analysts that by the year 2020, it will be the largest economy of the world surpassing its rival country. America’s growth rate in comparison with China is very low, and it is also indulged in two wars, which makes it impossible to compete and lose its lead soon. In the trade, China is the largest exporter and second largest importer, which enhance its Balance of Trade, which is fruitful for its economy. China is also in contract with many other nations and does free trade with them, which increases its imports and exports and develops good relations with them. It has made prompt advancement in areas like infrastructure and high-tech manufacturing. In recent decades, China has also developed swiftly in science and technology with the help of its government, as it is considered socio-economic development of the country and also its national prestige. China is the most populous country, with the largest labor force, which helps the boom in their economy and is one of the reasons that will lead China in becoming the next super power. The people who are in favor to the debate that China will become the next super power give the above reasons for their support, as they are certainly the pros towards the topic. The group of cons of this topic strongly feels that China will not leave behind America and become the next super power. They believe that nations cannot become a super power

Justice and Home Affairs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Justice and Home Affairs - Essay Example An intergovernmental and supranational union of 25 democratic countries , the European Union was founded under that name in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty). Nevertheless, several aspects of the Union did exist prior to that date through a series of predecessor relationships, which dates back to 1951. Today, the Union has a common single market, which consist of a customs union, a single currency (the euro) managed by the European Central Bank (adopted by 12 of the 25 member states), a Common Agricultural Policy, a common trade policy, a Common Fisheries Policy, and a Common Foreign and Security Policy. Passport and customs checks were done away with at most of the EU's internal borders, creating a single space of mobility for EU citizens to live, travel, work and invest. Justice ministers and Interior ministers are brought together by the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and Interior ministers almost once every two months to talk about the development and enforcement of cooperation and common policies in this area. The creation of an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, is a main objective of the EU Treaty. Majority of the things in this field are unanimously decided with a consultation of the European Parliament. ... In 1990, Germany, France and the Benelux countries signed the Schengen Agreement, which was a major step toward cooperation among the Member States in this area. In the years that followed, many Member States acceded to the Schengen Agreement. The objective of the agreement was to introduce genuine freedom of movement of persons without being controlled at internal borders, while providing for desperate measures in the areas of external border controls, visa policy, police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal affairs. The Treaty on European Union, enforced in November 1993, took a further step by including Justice and Home Affairs in its institutional framework, thus adding a further dimension to the construction of Europe. In May 1999 the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty included the Schengen rules into the institutional framework of the European Union. One of the major aims of the Treaty is to retain and develop the Union as an area of freedom, security and justice, in which there would be free movement for individuals coupled with appropriate measures relating to the control of external borders, asylum, immigration, as well as the prevention and fight against crime. The Maastricht Treaty on European Union, which was enforced in 1993, came up with a new legal basis for police and judicial cooperation as well as cooperation in home affairs by completing the Community structure with a third pillar. Cooperation encompasses seven areas of common interest: asylum, the crossing of external borders, immigration, fight against drugs and drug addiction, battling international scam, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal affairs and police and customs cooperation. Because these are often extremely sensitive spheres,

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Essay Example for Free

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Essay Laotong: type of relationship within the Chinese culture that bonded two girls together for eternity as kindred sisters. Lisa See’s novel, â€Å"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan†, takes us through the journey of 19th- century Chine in which girls had their feet found, meaning crushing their bones to the size of lily flowers. This ritual was considered beauty for a women and a thrilling sensation for men to look at. Staring the binding at the age of six and excruciating painful process that took two years to complete, Lily tells her story as an eighty year old woman. Lily was the second daughter to a poor farming family, but later encounters the privilege to be married out to a wealthy family in the village of Tongkou. Lily was married out to a wealthy noble man, whom she might have loved. But Lily had no bigger love other than her laotong, sworn sister, Snow Flower. The two were matched together at the age of seven, when together they promised each other, through a contract that they would always be laotong. Both endured the agony of footbinding, married out and shared their most inner thoughts and loving ways of motherhood. Lisa See writes delicately, telling the life of these two remarkable girls on their journey to pleasing their husbands, and mother in laws. Love and Friendship keep Snow Flower’s and Lily’s spirits alive when they are not together. Once married out, they didn’t see each other as often as they would have loved to, but their thoughts were jotted down in a silk fan, which included their whole journey together written in nu shu-secret writing for women. Lily and Snow Flower become â€Å"old same†, perfect match. Even though Snow Flower came from a higher family , Snow Flower was married out to a butcher, her first son was weak, and her second passed away. Her husband beats her and her mother in law was cruel. Hoping sympathy from her laotong, Snow Flower gets criticism and â€Å"just keep trying† in return. As Snow Flower arouses new friends, Lily finds this as betrayal; therefore Lily stops any communication with Snow Flower, leaving her devastated, and empty. Even though Lily and Snow Flower experienced happiness, tragedies, and different events, Lily felt betrayed by her laotong so Lily keeps her distance and stops writing back. As Snow Flower’s death approaches Lily goes to Snow Flower and rejoins her, later discovering that Snow Flower did not become a sworn sister, like Lily thought, therefore there was no betrayal. As and eighty year old, Lily remembers Snow Flower. Trying to condemn her mistake Lily watches over Snow Flower’s children, as much as she can like she promised Snow Flower on her death bed. Lily calls out to Snow Flower even after she is dead. â€Å"But if the dead continue to have the needs and desire of the living, then I’m reaching out to Snow Flower†¦. Please hear my words. Please forgive me. † Snow Flower and the Secret Fan keeps the story plot alive, maintaining the theme of love and friendship, always feeling like you are reading Lily’s personal diary. Reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See does a remarkable job of taking you back in time to your childhood friends. I wonder if Lisa See wrote Snow Flower and the Secret Fan thinking of a close friend as well. Also, I would have loved if somewhere in the book, an entry or a piece of writing from Snow Flower was discovered so we can learn more about her own inner thoughts. In my opinion, this book is full of perfection. Throughout the book I recalled my sister. The bond that we share was very similar to the one of these â€Å"mandarin ducks†. What if Snow Flower’s father had not taken the pipe? Would she and Lily still be matched as soul sisters? Lisa See’s style of writing is a master piece in this book. Like The Washington Post Book World reviewed, â€Å" A triumph on every level, a beautiful, heartbreaking story. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan fascinated me. I recommend this book for the soul that understands what it feels like to love someone as much as you love yourself. Filled with different emotions that make you feel and experience the different obstacles that are brought upon Lily and Snow Flower. It is defiantly a love story. However, it is more than that. It involves friendship, kindness, understanding, and tragedy all in one read. â€Å"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is fascinating. †- The Indianapolis Star.

Comparing Four Electronic Tuners Essay -- Compare Contrast Comparison

Comparing Four Electronic Tuners One in every 10,000 Unites States citizens are born with what doctors refer to as perfect pitch and those born with this ability are able to accurately identify any note they hear. In other words, a person with pitch perfect has built-in tonal memory that allows them to correctly label pitches. Unfortunately, most musicians lack this ability, and they work very hard to develop what is known as relative pitch. Relative pitch refers to a musician’s ability to identify pitches in relation to one or two memorized pitches. Therefore a person with relative pitch might memorize what an â€Å"A† sounds like and use that pitch as a marker to identify additional pitches heard. Unlike perfect pitch, relative pitch is not instantaneous, and it can become compromised if the musician does not continue to practice the skill. Fortunately, technology is making it far easier for musicians to strive for the perfection expected of live music today, and where once musicians had to rel y entirely on their own senses to identify and play pitches in tune, devices known as tuners are helping to correct and develop the occasionally unreliable senses of humans. A tuner is simply electronic device that can except an audio input and translate it into some type of visual aid for the musician. The most common displays consist of either a strobe or some sort of LED/LCD display that indicates the pitch played and whether or not the pitch is accurate. The accuracy of the pitch is measured in cents. For instance if a ‘C’ is played into the tuner, twenty cents sharp would mean that on a scale of 0 – 100, the pitch being played is 20/100 or 1/5 higher than what is considered to be an accurate ‘C’. This also implies that the... ...ge where as the Seiko and Korg have no such guarantees. When evaluated on sensitivity, the Peterson is the clear winner of the four. Finally, it is difficult to objectively rate the value of each tuner. Certain features are more important and useful to some individuals while not to others. Therefore what may seem like a reasonable price to one person may seem unreasonable to another. However, it seems that the Sabine is the best product for the price it is being sold at ($29.99). Despite the fact that it is the only tuner that has a sub 8-octave range, it features a built-in metronome which when bought separately would most likely cost $35.00 (price of a metronome with comparable features). Therefore the recommended personal tuner is the Sabine tuner/metronome. For supplemental photos, tables, and graphs, please see the accompanying PowerPoint slideshow.

Performance Management systems Essay

1. What is the main goal of a Performance Management System? Performance management systems are designed to improve both individual and organisational performance by identifying what skills are needed to perform a role, providing regular feedback and assisting the employees in their career development. The overall aim is to equip staff with the competencies and commitment to deliver on shared organisational goals . 2. Why is it necessary to develop and implement a Performance Management System? A well developed performance management system assist to develop staff and can result in significantly improved output and performance, which ultimately leads to improved results for the organisation. Without a well developed and implemented performance management system, an organisation can risk poor staff performance and a high turnover of staff due to lack of support. 3. What are the three stages of Performance Management? †¢ planning for performance – setting performance goals, establishing performance standards and setting performance expectations, identifying developmental goals in work (action) plans †¢ performance appraisal – observing, documenting and assessing performance †¢ performance improvement – providing regular feedback, review performance appraisal, rewarding excellent performance 4. List the four groups who are involved in Performance Management? †¢ your team †¢ you, as a supervisor †¢ human resource professional †¢ union representatives. 5. Why is it necessary to ensure that performance management and review processes are consistent with business objectives and policies? Staff performance plans must be based on the overall aims and objectives of the organisation so as to ensure that each staff member is working cohesively towards the same goal. They must also adhere to organisational policies so as to ensure that they are fair and consistent across the organisation. This also assures that they comply with legislation (that is, presuming that the policies set out stipulate this). 6. Write a paragraph explaining why you think performance evaluations are necessary and the method/s that you consider best to be utilized. I think the importance of performance evaluations is twofold. In my experience, working in an extremely under-resourced organisation, it has been very difficult for me in the past to gain feedback from my supervisors about my performance. One to one time with a manager is rare. This has at times resulted in frustration because I have felt as though I have not been able to gain direction in my work. I fear that at times this may be the case for the staff that I supervise also. Therefore, I believe that on one level performance management systems are extremely important as a method of support for staff. On a more obvious note, performance management systems can also lead to improved output and performance of individuals, which ultimately leads to improved results for the organisation. In terms of what method I believe to be most effective, I believe that there are some core principles that must be followed. The plans should be developed with staff so as to ensure owndership, implementation must be consistent and timely (3 month reviews shouldn’t be undertaken at 7 months! ). 7. Why is it important that both managers and employees receive suitable training in how to handle performance review interviews? Without training about how to handle performance review interviews, there is a very big risk that the appraisal will not be effective and even more concerning is that it could prove counterproductive and damage the supervisor/employee relationship. Training equips managers and team leaders with skills to conduct positive appraisals. It assist employees to understand the new relationships and how performance issues are openly discussed and resolved. Training sessions also can assist employee to see how their work links to the goals of the organisation. 8. Explain why and how often you think performance appraisals should be held? I believe performance appraisals should be held after 3 months in a role and then every 6 months following this. I write this in the context of the organisation for which I work. One to one time with your manager is difficult in our organisation and I believe that in the past this has led to staff feeling very unsupported. There has been quite a high turnover of staff in some programs and I believe that this could be addressed by stronger support systems in place from management. While some may argue that appraisals at such regular intervals can be difficult for managers to implement due to time constraints, I believe firmly that this investment will be returned in increased staff output. 9. Why is it important to recognize the contribution of your work group members and why should you do this? Recognising the contribution of group members is an important method of motivating staff. It reinforces positive contributions and shows their importance to the organisation. If the contribution of staff members is not recognised, it risks losing the motivation of a team who may feel that their work is for no purpose and is not appreciated. We all need a thanks! 10. List three pieces of legislation that are related to performance management †¢ Fair Work Act (2009) †¢ Workplace Health and Safety Act (1995) †¢ Awards/Enterprise Bargaining Agreements/Union Collective Agreements. 11. How would you devise a training plan incorporating both monitoring and coaching for individuals with poor performance? It is important to spend time to time to try and understand why a staff member may have poor performance. This is important in determining what action to take – be that formal training or coaching. The following points – from the course book – I would certainly include in any coaching I was to undertake: †¢Good coaches challenge employees and ask questions that help the employee to discover how to improve. †¢Coach when you wish to focus attention on any specific aspect of the employee’s performance. †¢A coaching meeting should focus on just one or two aspects of performance. †¢Any more than that and employees won’t remember the main impact of your meeting. †¢Keep coaching conversations brief and between 5 to 10 minutes long. †¢Being an effective coach requires understanding what motivates the members of your team. Remember that people are motivated in different ways. Be sensitive to the things that drive your people to perform. †¢When things are performing well, take the time to understand what is working and why. †¢Good coaching is guiding, not telling or doing. †¢Allow the employee to own the problem and its solutions. Ask them: ‘How finally feels as though she is getting somewhere. In terms of monitoring, I would plan more regular catch ups with the staff member (perhaps monthly) to discuss progress. I would continue to implement reviews at the times stipulated by organisational policy. I would also ask for regular feedback from the staff member. 12. How can you provide support services if required? †¢Provide details of union representatives †¢HR representative details †¢Training options †¢Set up future one-to-one meetings †¢Work manuals †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"buddy† system in which staff member is teed up with competent staff member 13. If the individual continues to perform below expectations what process would be necessary to implement? If the poor performance continues, it may be necessary to give a written warning to the staff member. This is discussed further in question 20. 14. Why is it necessary to document and record performance? Documenting and recording performance can lower the risk if a person chooses to challenge a negative appraisal. Holding records of poor performance may assist to cover an organisation legally if the employee raises an unfair dismissal claim Documenting good performance is also important so as to avoid claims of favouritism for example of undeserving staff members. Documenting performance also makes it much easier when the time for appraisals comes around, particularly for managers who are managing a large number of staff. 15. Explain the term â€Å"interpersonal conflict† Interpersonal conflict is the most apparent form of conflict for workplace participants. It is a disagreement or differing views between two or more people over a particular idea, thought, or action.. Also language and personality styles often clash, which can create conflict in the workplace. ref http://www. mediate. com/articles/donaisB2. cfm 16. How does interpersonal conflict affect the workplace? Interpersonal conflict is is easy enough to observe in the form of office politics, gossip, and rumours. It can lead to a negative work environment, with groups forming within the workplace. Unless these conflicts are resolved, they can lead to a very challenging and unfriendly workplace. In more extreme cases, interpersonal conflict can lead to charges of harassment and discrimination or at least the feeling that such things exist.

Forms of abuse which may be experienced by adults Essay

Describe forms of abuse which may be experienced by adults (P1) Abuse, defined by the department of health is described as â€Å"a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights by any other person or persons† and those most at risk are described as ‘vulnerable adults’. A vulnerable adult would be someone who is unable to defend themselves or understand what is going on due to having cognitive or physical disabilities, frail older adults, substance abusers and more. There 9 main types of abuse that may be experience by adults and these are physical, sexual, psychological, financial, neglect, institutional, discrimination, self-harm and domestic violence. Physical abuse can be described as any physical contact but it depends on the force used, the nature of the contact and the intention behind the action. People who may physically abuse vulnerable adults are care workers within a nursing home who get frustrated and lose their temper because a service user is being difficult or is acting in retaliation. Physical abuse can include hitting, punching, kicking, pinching and slapping which are all the sorts of actions involved in bullying. Care workers may use these actions as form of retaliation from a confused service user hitting them, however this unacceptable. An example/scenario of physical abuse would be: Nigel refuses to be washed by the care worker despite the workers best efforts and out of frustration from the worker trying to wash him he tips the bowl of water all over the floor with some of the water hitting the worker. The worker loses her temper and hits Nigel to try and teach him a lesson not to do that next time. Signs of physical abuse to look out for are unexplained bruising, burns, abrasions or fractures which seem suspicious or have not been reported in an accident report form. Sexual abuse can be described as anything from inappropriate touching to rape. It is inappropriate and in some cases illegal for a professional to engage in a sexual relationship with someone in their care. People who may sexually abuse can include family and friends if the adult is in domiciliary care An example/scenario of sexual abuse would be: Sally is an adult with a learning disability which causes her brain age to be younger than her physical age. A care worker at the day centre she attends  tells her that he is going to marry her and asks him to perform sexual acts on him. Due to her limited understanding of the situation she may do what the care worker asks thinking they are going to get married but due to her learning difficulties she is unable to understand that a) she is being taken advantage of and b) unable to give her full consent. Signs of sexual abuse to look out for are any genital or anal infections, difficulty with walking or sitting as well as bruising on the inner thighs or hips or any of these signs along with bruising to the wrists or arms where force has been used to detain an individual. Neglect can be described as a failure to provide proper care and attention to an individual and can sometimes be self-imposed due to mental health problems. This would be done is they are unable to motivate themselves and therefore have poor hygiene levels. An example/scenario of neglect would be: An elderly man named Michael lives alone in his home after having a stroke and is cared for by his 23 year old son due to having limited mobility. Michael’s son has spent the weekend away partying with friends and hasn’t arranged another person to check in on him and prepare meals or give him his medication. This means that he has gone without hot meals and has had to eat sandwiches or crisps pre made in the fridge as well as not take any medication he requires. This would be neglect as a form of abuse. Signs of neglect to look out for are neglected bedsores, malnutrition, medication left in the Dosette box and a lack of clean clothing. Financial abuse is an illegal or improper use of an elder’s assets and can also be referred to as exploitation. Financial abuse is often done by family members or friends as well as domiciliary care staff. It is does happen but is least common in a nursing home as service users do not have their assets in the nursing home. An example or scenario of financial abuse would be: Laura an elderly lady has a care worker come over to her home 3 times a day to check that she is washed, dressed and fed etc. Laura leaves her purse in the bowl in the hallway which she has always done for years and is now a habit. She notices that she doesn’t have as much money in their as she thought she did and worries that she is becoming forgetful when in fact one of her carers is helping themselves to her money without Laura realising.  Other forms of financial abuse can include cashing cheques without permission of the account holder, taking money or property and coercing or deceiving the adult into signing legal documents that sign over their assets. Signs of financial abuse to look out for are a lack of bank statements, missing assets or property and be cautious if the carer has a substance habit.

Shoes and Bags Company

Shoes and Bags Company Introduction Fashion industry is one of the most developed industries around the world. Many firms have come up in this industry because it is very lucrative. In the United Kingdom, this industry is one of the most attractive, employing a large number of the country’s populace, especially in the private sector. Some of the commodities that have received a lot of attention are bags and shoes (Eggert Ulaga 2002, p. 78).Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Shoes and Bags Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These items have become the most commonly purchased items from among the male and female customers. For men, shoes would always be the determinant of one’s class. For this reason, they would shop around; looking for a pair that would reflect a class he would want to identify with. The retailers of this product must therefore know the quality that this section of the market would be looking for. This market segment does not value bags so much. However, they also buy this product, especially the laptop bags or briefcases that would help them during the short journeys. On the other hand, women are the major market segment for bags. They value this product because, just like men, this would always be the symbol of their status (Barnes, Blake Pinder 2009, p. 93). They would want a product that meets their specifications. They would also need shoes to match such bags they purchase. The attractiveness of this industry and the open market structure in this country that allows free entry of firms into this industry has seen an influx of firms into this industry. These firms have mastered the art of trade. Furthermore, they are very competitive. Shoe and Bag Company operates in this field. Although considered one of the leading firms in this industry, this firm finds itself in a very competitive market, with new firms emerging into this industry. There has been a need to ensure that th e firm remains competitive in this industry. Shoes and Bags Company Shoes and Bags Company is a medium sized retail firm that has specialized on the fashion products, especially shoes and bags. This firm operates 50 stores in the entire country. The firm has 3000 part-time employees, and 2000 full-time employees based in various stores. This firm is very dominant in London, where it has 20 stores.Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In Manchester, Wales and Edinburg, it has 10 stores each. At each store, there are 100 employees, 40 of which are full time, while 60 are part time employees, and a senior manager heads each store. The firm has its head office at Paddington, where there is 100 temporary and 200 permanent staff, of which, twenty are considered senior managers. At the top management, there are four directors and the Chief Executive Officer of the firm. The directors head Finance, Human Resource, Customer Service and Retail Outlet Departments. This firm has always been very competitive in this market. The four units have been coordinating very closely to ensure that the firm is prosperous in this increasingly competitive market. One of the greatest strength has been its experience in this industry. This firm has been in existence for a long period and as such, it is able to predict market forces easily and how this would affect the industry, hence the firm. It knows measures to take in case such occurrences take place. However, the emergence of new technologies has caused a complete disruption. Emerging technologies have brought in new forces that are completely new in this industry. As Milroy (1983, p. 90) notes, currently, there are no such things as permanent competitive advantage. What a firm may consider as a competitive advantage today would be its main undoing in tomorrow’s market. As such, there is needed to be flexible in this market in order to manage market dynamics. This proposal is intended to help this company improve its effectiveness across all the departments in its quest to transform its entire outlook in order to be more competitive in this industry.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Shoes and Bags Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Proposed Activity This proposal is meant to help this firm transform its operations, in a bid to ensure that it is in a position to manage the increasing market competition. In specific, this proposal intends to explain how this firm can integrate emerging technologies into all its operations. As Ulaga and Chacour (2001, p. 75) assert, no firm can manage market competition if it fails to adopt emerging technologies. Emerging technologies hold the answer to the majority of current problems that many firms face in their operations. It is important to note that not all the emerging techn ologies are good and applicable to such a firm as this. Some of the emerging technologies are very destructive, and can cause complete disruption to a firm if employed (Gilbert 2001, p. 63). Another factor to consider about emerging technologies is time taken to implement it. Being too early (technology enthusiasts) may be dangerous because a firm may not have time to determine how effective a given new technology is. Similarly, late adoption is dangerous because the technology may be irrelevant by the time it would be implemented by the firm. Customer service would be the first to adopt new technologies. Customers are very important to this firm. They are the defining force concerning the firm’s success. For this reason, they should be taken care of well if the firm expects to retain the current customers, or retain existing ones. As Bailey (1996, p. 36) says, technology has redefined the marketing approach. Internet marketing has gained more relevance. Through websites, com panies are able to reach out for the customers and even conduct a complete transaction. Shoes and Bags Company needs to develop an interactive website for this department. Interactive in that customer can make inquiries and receive feedback within a reasonably good time. This would attract the internet addicts who happen to visit these sites. The website should also sustain a complete transaction by allowing customers to place their order directly through the internet, pay for the product online, and then get this product delivered.Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This would demand that the websites be complete shops. Complete shops in the essence that it should have variety of products in each line, each product having its own unique code that a customer would choose. Once the product is picked by one customer, it is replaced immediately in the ‘shelve’ with the code that would be uniquely its (Lindgreen Finn 2005, p. 63). The websites should also allow customers put in complain or complements that would to the firm. This would help the research and development section and the quality assurance unit know how the firm’s products are viewed in the market. This website should also be in a position to inform customers of possible promotional campaigns or direct benefits that a firm could have put in place for them. The next unit that would implement emerging technologies is the Retail Outlets. These outlets need modern technologies that would help them manage their stock. The outlets should adopt new stock taking programs th at would help it determine which products are available for and which needs to be replenished (Payne Holt 2001, p. 40). This programs is designed in such a way that each product that is taken into the store as a new product is fed into the system. The system would then track its movement within the store. This will not only eliminate possible pilferage, but also help the firm know the rate of stock turnover. Through this, it would be in a position to determine which category of products makes the bulk of sales. The Finance Department would also need to develop new technologies that would help it manage its duties as per the expectation. The finance unit would require close monitoring of the sales that takes place both in the online market and in the stores. This department is very sensitive. All the departments look onto it to allocate appropriate funds that would enable them run their duties (Piercy 2009, p. 52). This department depends mostly on the finance generated from the sal es process. This firm should be in a position to track down all sales that have taken place and reconcile the accounts to determine any fraud that could have occurred at any of the processes of the firm. This unit may need to outsource professional auditors at this stage. Human Resource would also need to employ new strategies in order to ensure that it performs its tasks to the expectation of the firm. As Cunningham (2000, p. 29) says, human resource and technology are two extremes that may not function as a collaborative unit. One unit would always displace the other. In most of the cases, technology has been seen as a replacement of human resource. However, as Fifield (2007, p. 38) observes these two units should function hand in hand. They should complement each other. As such, the human resource would be required to develop an understanding of the new technologies and how they are applied in market in the normal running of the firm’s activities. Relevant institutional Re sources and Sustainability Relevant institutions would do the above activities, and they would require a given amount of money to implement them and ensure sustainability. The Chief Executive Officer would be at the center of all the activities of this firm. This is because he, as the focal point of the firm, would need to approve these projects after the research and development unit has evaluated them and made recommendations to this regard. The various heads of departments would be concerned with the activities of their departments, save for the finance department, which would be involved in the operations of all other departments by virtues of its role in the firm. In the development of a website for the firm, the customer service department would need to be financed and it would require involvement of all the departments. Other departments would need to be involved in the development of the website because this website would form the company image to the outside community. This task should not be left to one department (Ward 1999, p. 85). Moreover, this department should involve other departments in the development of the website (especially the Retail Outlets Department), because the website is expected to be in a position to support online sales. It would be necessary to harmonize the sales that take place online and those that take place at the stores. The website should also direct its customers to the nearest outlet in case they need to see the items physically. The Finance Department would need to allocate finance for this project in the initial face. This project would be self sustaining after a given period of time. Through advertisements that other institutions would be making through this website, and the sales generated from online sales, this firm would be in a position to generate a lot of revenue through this. The project of the Retail Outlets is specifically for them. Other departments are may not find direct relevance to it as it majorly c oncerns the management of stocks within the stores. The other concerned party in this case would be the Finance Department which would need to fund the project. This project may be a little more expensive than other proposed projects above. However, it would be very helpful in the long run because by eliminating pilferage, it eliminates profit reduction caused by unscrupulous employees. It would also facilitate ease of recording sales rate for each line of products (Weiss 1994, p. 87). Through this, it would be easy to plan on which line of production to increase investment on. This project would need regular funding at intervals as maintenance fee. The proposed activity of the Finance department specifically affects the unit singly and as such, may not need to involve other departments. The main expense for this department would be the cost of paying the outsourced firms to carry out the auditing task. In the proposed activity of the Human Resource Department, there would be a need to incorporate all the departments. According to Ahmed and Rafiq (2002, p. 26), the Personnel Department affects all other departments of the firm. All the departments have employees who are under the Human Resource Department. When ensuring that employees adopt new technologies, it would be done in line with their respective departments. Hence, employee appraisal would be done in their respective units. Evaluation According to Atkinson (1990, p. 39), projects would be evaluated to determine their effectiveness in achieving the objectives they were intended to meet. The aim of the above proposed projects was to ensure that the firm is transformed to reflect the current market structure in order to be in a position to compete effectively with other firms. The projects must therefore be evaluated to determine if they meet the above objective. Different units would do evaluation of the proposed project. The quality assurance team would evaluate the first proposed project. This team wo uld ensure that the websites functions to its intended purpose. This team would assess the performance of this website from various fronts. All the departments of the business would need the website for various functions. The demands of these departments should be met by this website. it is only through this that the website would be said to be performing as per the expectation of the firm. The other departments would also take part in the evaluation of this website. They will be expected to report on the impact of the website to their various duties. In the proposed project of the sock management at the retail stores, the quality assurance unit in conjunction with the retail outlet management will do the evaluation. The focus in this evaluation would be how well this program is able to track stock of the firm once they get into the retail outlets (Woodruff 1997, p. 49). The program must be a security on its own, and it should not be a program that can easily be manipulate by the em ployees. Another aspect that would be of interest during the evaluation process is the employees’ attitude towards this new system. The notion that should arise is that this program is meant to study movement of stock within the stores in order to help in ascertaining the rate of stock turnover and other management records concerning the stock. The employees should not feel that the new program is meant to ensure that they do not carry any item from the shop. This may discourage them for they would feel that the management does not have trust on them. In the finance department, there would be the need to evaluate how well the firm is able to track down sales in order to ensure that they get the right amount they should receive from other departments. The auditing team may help in this. In the human resource department, of interest during the evaluation process would be how well the employees are adapting to the new technologies that the firm is employing at its various units. There would be the need to ensure that employees are well updated on issues relating to the technology. Justification of the Above Approach The above approach would be very important to this firm. As noted in the introductory part, this market is very competitive. New firms are coming into existence with new methods of production, or just new and better products. This industry is very sensitive to emerging technologies. As Bryman (2001, p. 61) states, fashion wears like shoe and bag have very short life span. Once in the market, it may take a short while before another firm comes out with new designs of the products. As is always the case, the market would always move to the new products, which to them, they will consider to offer more value than the existing products. As such, there would be need to ensure that the firm keeps pace with others in advancing their products. Best (2009, p. 72) says that currently, firms may not survive if they fail to manage market forces. Managing ma rket forces in this case implies that the firm is able to produce new products as often as would be necessary in order to remain competitive. This can best be achieved through managing the emerging technologies. By adopting the emerging technologies as stated above, the firm would find it easy to manage emerging technologies. This would help it remain competitive. Timeline The timeline for the adoption of the above-proposed projects per department can best be represented in the Gantt chart below. List of References Ahmed, K Rafiq, M 2002, Internal Marketing tools and concepts for customer-focused management, Butterworth Heinemann Elsevier, Oxford. Atkinson, P 1990, The Ethnographic Imagination: Textual Constructions of Reality Routledge, London. Bailey, A 1996, A Guide to Field Research, California, Forge Press, Pine. Barnes, C, Blake, H Pinder, D 2009, Creating Delivering your Value Proposition, Kogan Page, London. Best, RJ 2009, Market-Based Management Strategies for Growing C ustomer value and Profitability, New Jersey, Pearson. Bryman, A 2001,Social Research Methods, OUP, Oxford. Cunningham, B 2000, The stress management sourcebook, Free Press, Los Angeles. Eggert, A Ulaga, W 2002, â€Å"Customer-perceived value: a substitute for satisfaction in business markets?† Journal of Business Industrial Marketing, Vol. 17, no. 2, pp 107-125. Fifield, P 2007, Marketing Strategy: The Difference between Marketing and Markets, Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford. Gilbert, N 2001, Researching Social Life, Sage, London. Lindgreen, A Finn, W 2005, â€Å"Value in business markets: What do we know? Where are we going? Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 34, no. 2, pp 732- 748. Milroy, L 1983, Observing and Analyzing Natural Language, Blackwell, Oxford. Payne, A Holt, S 2001, â€Å"Diagnosing Customer Value: Integrating the Value Process and Relationship Marketing†, British Journal of Management, Vol. 12, no. 2, pp 159 182. Piercy, NF 2009, Market -Led Strategic Change, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford. Ulaga, W Chacour, S 2001, â€Å"Measuring customer-perceived value in business markets: a prerequisite for marketing strategy development and implementation†, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 30, no. 6, pp 525 540. Ward, K 1999, Cyber-ethnography, and the emergence of the virtually new community, Journal of Information Technology 14: 95-105. Weiss, R 1994, Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies, The Free Press, New York. Woodruff, RB 1997, â€Å"Customer Value: The Next Source for Competitive Advantage†, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Sciences, Vol. 25, no. 2, pp 139-154.

Admiral Barbarossa of the Ottoman Empire

Admiral Barbarossa of the Ottoman Empire He began his naval career as a Barbary pirate, alongside his brothers, raiding Christian coastal villages and seizing ships across the Mediterranean. Khair-ed-Din, also known as Hayreddin Barbarossa, was so successful as a corsair that he managed to become the ruler of Algiers, and then the chief admiral of the Ottoman Turkish navy under Suleiman the Magnificent. Barbarossa started life as a simple potters son and rose to lasting piratical fame. Early Life Khair-ed-Din was born sometime in the late 1470s or early 1480s in the village of Palaiokipos, on the Ottoman-controlled Greek island of Midilli. His mother Katerina was likely a Greek Christian, while his father Yakup is of uncertain ethnicity - different sources state that he was Turkish, Greek, or Albanian. In any case, Khair was the third of their four sons. Yakup was a potter, who purchased a boat to help him sell his goods all around the island and beyond. His sons all learned to sail as part of the family business. As young men, sons Ilyas and Aruj operated their fathers boat, while Khair bought a ship of his own; they all began operating as privateers in the Mediterranean.   Between 1504 and 1510, Aruj used his fleet of ships to help ferry Moorish Muslim refugees from Spain to North Africa after the Christian Reconquista and the fall of Granada. The refugees referred to him as Baba Aruj or Father Aruj, but Christians heard the name as Barbarossa, which is Italian for Redbeard.  As it happened, Aruj and Khair both had red beards, so the western nickname stuck.   In 1516, Khair and his older brother Aruj led a sea and land invasion of Algiers, then under Spanish domination. The local amir, Salim al-Tumi, had invited them to come and free his city, with assistance from the Ottoman Empire. The brothers defeated the Spanish and drove them from the city, and then assassinated the amir.   Aruj took power as the new Sultan of Algiers, but his position was not secure. He accepted an offer from the Ottoman sultan Selim I to make Algiers part of the Ottoman Empire; Aruj became the Bey of Algiers, a tributary ruler under Istanbuls control. The Spanish killed Aruj in 1518, however, at the capture of Tlemcen, and Khair took on both the beyship of Algiers and the nickname Barbarossa.   Bey of Algiers In 1520, Sultan Selim I died and a new sultan took the Ottoman throne. He was Suleiman, called The Lawgiver in Turkey and The Magnificent by Europeans. In return for Ottoman protection from Spain, Barbarossa offered Suleiman the use of his pirate fleet. The new bey was an organizational mastermind, and soon Algiers was the center of privateer activity for all of North Africa. Barbarossa became the de facto ruler of all the so-called Barbary pirates  and began to build up a significant land-based army as well. Barbarossas fleet captured a number of Spanish ships returning from the Americas laden with gold. It also raided coastal Spain, Italy, and France, carrying off loot and also Christians who would be sold as slaves. In 1522, Barbarossas ships assisted in the Ottoman conquest of the island of Rhodes, which had been a stronghold for the troublesome Knights of St. John, also called Knights Hospitaller, an order left over from the Crusades. In the fall of 1529, Barbarossa helped an additional 70,000 Moors flee from Andalusia, southern Spain, which was in the grips of the Spanish Inquisition. Throughout the 1530s, Barbarossa continued to capture Christian shipping, seize towns, and raid Christian settlements all around the Mediterranean. In 1534, his ships sailed right up to the River Tiber, causing panic in Rome. To answer the threat he posed, Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire appointed famed Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, who began to capture Ottoman towns along the southern Greek coast. Barbarossa responded in 1537 by seizing a number of Venetian-controlled islands for Istanbul.   Events came to a head in 1538.  Pope Paul III organized a Holy League made up of the Papal States, Spain, the Knights of Malta, and the Republics of Genoa and Venice. Together, they assembled a fleet of 157 galleys under Andrea Dorias command, with the mission of defeating Barbarossa and the Ottoman fleet. Barbarossa had just 122 galleys when the two forces met off of Preveza. The Battle of Preveza, on September 28, 1538, was a smashing victory for Hayreddin Barbarossa.  Despite their smaller numbers, the Ottoman fleet took the offensive and crashed through Dorias attempt at encirclement. The Ottomans sank ten of the Holy Leagues ships, captured 36 more, and burned three, without losing a single ship themselves. They also captured about 3,000 Christian sailors, at a cost of 400 Turkish dead and 800 wounded. The following day, despite urging from the other captains to stay and fight, Doria ordered the survivors of the Holy Leagues fleet to withdraw. Barbarossa continued on to Istanbul, where Suleiman received him at the Topkapi Palace and promoted him to Kapudan-i Derya or Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy, and Beylerbey or Governor of governors of Ottoman North Africa.  Suleiman also gave Barbarossa the governorship of Rhodes, fittingly enough. The Grand Admiral The victory at Preveza gave the Ottoman Empire dominance in the Mediterranean Sea that lasted for more than thirty years. Barbarossa took advantage of that dominance to clear all of the islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas of Christian fortifications. Venice sued for peace in October of 1540, acknowledging Ottoman suzerainty over those lands and paying war indemnities. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, tried in 1540 to tempt Barbarossa to become the top admiral of his fleet, but Barbarossa was not willing to be recruited. Charles personally led a siege on Algiers the following fall, but stormy weather and Barbarossas formidable defenses wreaked havoc on the Holy Roman fleet  and sent them sailing for home. This attack on his home base led Barbarossa to adopt an even more aggressive stance, raiding throughout the western Mediterranean Sea. The Ottoman Empire was allied with France by this time, in what the other Christian nations called The Unholy Alliance, working in opposition to Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Barbarossa and his ships defended southern France from Spanish attack several times between 1540 and 1544. He also made a number of daring raids on Italy. The Ottoman fleet was recalled in 1544  when Suleiman and Charles V reached a truce.  In 1545, Barbarossa went on his last expedition, sailing to raid the Spanish mainland and offshore islands. Death and Legacy The great Ottoman admiral retired to his palace in Istanbul in 1545, after appointing his son to rule Algiers. As a retirement project, Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha dictated his memoirs in five, hand-written volumes. Barbarossa died in 1546.  He is buried on the European side of the Bosporus Straits. His statue, which stands next to his mausoleum, includes this verse: Whence on the seas horizon comes that roar? / Can it be Barbarossa now returning / From Tunis or Algiers or from the isles? / Two hundred ships ride on the waves / Coming from lands the rising crescent lights / O blessed ships, from what seas are you come? Hayreddin Barbarossa left behind a great Ottoman navy, which continued to support the empires great power status for centuries to come. It stood as a monument to his skills in organization and administration, as well as naval warfare. Indeed, in the years following his death, the Ottoman navy ventured out into the Atlantic and into the Indian Ocean to project Turkish power in distant lands.

Media Education in Elementary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Media Education in Elementary - Essay Example The students should be capacitated to read media messages and also create their own media messages. I definitely agree with Bill Bigelow that advertisements to a very large extent promote wrong perceptions. They make the viewer very uncomfortable by threatening the esteem of the viewer who start believing in the false claims and overlook the actual product. Advertisements are designed with only one rationale- maximum profit to the company. Therefore, they make all sorts of false claims to attract the viewer. However, a viewer with sufficient knowledge of semiotics can never be deceived. This is because semiotics help the viewer unfold the actual meanings hidden in the ads. I liked his approach of teaching global studies and the one in which students wrote about the effects of ads on their personality. The newly emerged interest in the field of masculinity study has undoubtedly offered a variety of genres like magazines, journals, albums, videos, ads etc. However I would like to menti on the not-so-good effects of this growing research- firstly, the potential psychologically damaging effects of violent ads on young adolescent boys. Secondly, the well toned attractive body of male models threatens the self esteem of the male audience.