Death of a Salesman- Essay-Reflection Essay

In Death of Salesman, the conflicts that the characters face through out in the play, can be interpreted as reflections of the problems in America’s society today. The majority, if not all of these problems can be traced back to Willy Loman as the source. Willy Loman’s longing to be successful (either actually through himself or through his sons) was the origin of all the other problems, and was the reason he could not control himself and he ruined his life and his family. The most obvious societal problem face in the play is greed. Willy’s obsession with having money is a perfect symbol of the larges part of society, the part whose lives revolve around acquiring money, and having â€Å"the best†. The people have unrealistic expectations just like Willy. In Act 1, Willy is hallucinating about his brother Ben and he says, â€Å"The man knew what he wanted and went out and got it! Walked into a jungle, and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he’s rich!† (41). Willy and countless people in today’s society, have unrealistic expectations, and are never honestly satisfied. They are willing to do anything to get to the top, even if it means hurting others, and most of the time they are left with nothing. Just like Willy in the garden, muttering, â€Å"Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground†; because they have done nothing substantial with their lives and have not â€Å"planted† anything (122). They used all their time concerned with money and neglected to invest in anything concrete, like real love, and having a family. They have no real lives outside of materialistic things, just like Willy. Willy’s constant disregard for others and their lives is another example of a problem America’s society faces being represented in the play. In today’s society, it is seen as expectable to push others down, and put your self first. In Death of a Salesman, Willy does this constantly when it comes time to be honest and care for his family. Willy’s actions greatly affected his family, and were the reason for many of Biff, Happy and Linda’s problems. When he was fired, Willy said, â€Å"I was fired and I am looking for a little good news to tell your mother, because the woman has waited and suffered†(107). Willy, like many people with any sort of conscience today, feels bad and wants to tell Linda that he was fired (something that will  drastically effect his entire family, especially considering their already pending financial problems), but this want is smothered by his need to have â€Å"good news†. This want is essentially just a ploy to make him feel better about himself, so once again Willy puts Linda second to his own needs, which is really the reason for all the waiting and suffering she had to do. This disregard, is also obvious in today’s society, one person’s actions can affect the whole community. Like in the case of all the terrible decisions George Bush. George Bush made decisions for the country, that were not for the common good, but his good, and now America is left picking up the pieces now that he’s gone. Many people argue that a major problem with the order of today’s society is that people no longer respect their elders. Arthur Miller, obviously saw this occurring even in the 1950 when he wrote the book. Willy raised Biff and Happy, putting all in hopes, dreams and inhabitations into them. But when they were old enough no to have to depend on them anymore, they walked away from him. Linda even acknowledges it and says, â€Å"It sounds old fashioned and silly but I tell you he put his whole life into you and you’ve turned your backs on him†(60). Biff and Happy used their father to become who they were, but when he needed them to live, they walked away from him. This is even more obvious of the problems faced today when looked at as if Willy represents all the older people in our society. The elderly are looked down upon, are thought to be crazy, and have their jobs, license and overall most real concessions, taken away for no reason other than age. We discriminat e against people who should be our equals and treated with respect. Peer pressure, is not just something that effects school aged children on the playground. Adults are pressured every day by, family, friends, co-workers into doing things that do not necessarily want to do. This is a tremendous problem in society because most of the time when people are doing something they do not want to do they are going to be upset. This feeling of being upset, usually leads to emotions that are more drastic such as being stressed and just completely lost and unhappy. Willy’s pressure on the Biff and Happy is the perfect example of this pressure to do things you normally would not do. Willy constantly says through out the play, â€Å"the man who makes  an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want†, this pressure to be well liked is what pushed Biff to neglect his school work and Happy to only care about pleasing woman and his father (30). Willy always pushed the boys to have and to be the greatest at everything they did. But in the end Willy’s pressure pushed the boys to make reckless decisions and made them feel like they could never do enough to please their father. Biff took to stealing and even admits that his father’s pressure got to him in Act 2 when he says, â€Å"I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody!† (131). Pressure can sometimes be positive, like when it pressure pushes you to give your best effort, and sometimes negative, like when it causes you to conform excessively. As in the case of Happy, who by the end of the play, even after his father kills himself is determined to follow in Willy’s foot steps and even says, â€Å"It’s the only dream you can have – to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I’m gonna win it for him† (139). The biggest complaint that is heard from adults about today’s youth is the constant feeling of entitlement. Even when unjustified. Willy’s outlook on his life is a perfect example on teen’s unjustified feelings of entitlement in today’s culture. In the scene where he goes to talk to Howard about his job, Willy says, â€Å"You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away-a man is not a piece of fruit.† (82). Willy feels that Howard (the son of the father who had formerly promised Willy that he would be rewarded for his service to the company) has gone back on the word of his father by forgetting the salesman in his golden years, throwing away the peel after eating the orange, so to speak. But what Willy does not realize is that Howard owes him nothing, and neither did his father. Anything people do out of kindness is simply that, kindness. Students sometimes think that just because they received a good mark in a class that it will automatically be the same the next quarter, and aren’t always willing to do the work needed to earn the grade. But what Willy and countless others don’t realize is that no one is owed anything. During and argument Willy has with his son, Biff makes the comment, â€Å"Pop! I’m a dime a dozen, and so are you!† This infuriates Willy who counterattacks, â€Å"I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are  Biff Loman!† (132). Seen through Willy and people thought the world, entitlement is an illusion that blinds our work/life ethic and us. Death of a Salesman shows both family and societiatal conflicts; however, these conflicts are definitely more powerful when looked at as societal problems .It forces you to evaluate the ethics and principles of the culture we live in. and how they eventually reflect the things we truly hold important. However the reflection is not just the problems, but also all the damage that results from making those the most valued things. Death of a Salesman is a disheartening play but it is an honest reflection of our society. Bibliography: Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: 1949. Print.

Media Representatin of Women in Sport

Major Essay Current society is built upon stereotypes and constructions that are predetermined by previous generations’ views. One of the most recognised historical constructions is the patriarchal theory, that the female is subservient to the male. However, this construction of gender power is slowly equalising, with the rise of feminist groups in the latter part of the 20th century giving reason for this occurring. Nevertheless, gender battles are still occurring, particularly in the sporting industry, which remains male dominated. Female sport has been given much notoriety over their uproar in the past decade, but is finding in a male controlled industry it is difficult for women to receive help from governing bodies. Female sport is marginalised compared to male sport, largely due to the sexualisation of the athletes themselves. Professionally they are receiving very little media coverage in comparison to males and in an amateur sense; females are being stereotyped as a result of the images of ‘athletic’ sexualised women displayed in magazines such as Zoo, Sports Illustrated and Alpha. The media has evolved female sport into sexually appealing entertainment and doesn’t give the sports that have not been sexualised, enough coverage. (Maria Sharapova Bikini) The media have constructed their own image of what a female athlete ultimately looks like by posting images in their magazines, â€Å"characteristics favoured in visual media are those commonly associated with feminine beauty, such as smiling, unblemished skin, slender and toned physique, and long blonde hair† (Schell n. d. ). Maria Sharapova pictured below is the perfect example, and even though she isn’t the number one female tennis player and hasn’t been for some time, she is still one of the most popular and most followed players in the women’s circuit, she was the highest paid female athlete in the world come 2006, earning more from endorsements than prize money (Carr 2006). We see in Australia the sexualisation of sports like Netball, where women in the ANZ Championship wear skin tight, short dresses to play, making it appealing to male audiences. We often see at the Australian Open, similar length dresses or skirts that leave little to the imagination. Venus Williams sent the media into frenzy in 2010 with her skin colour underwear visible as soon as she moved around the court, to which she designed herself (Eurosport 2010). Tennis uniforms are becoming a fashion statement more and more every year, which is always judged by the media when someone wears something even slightly risky or sexy. Anna Kournikova was the pioneer in making tennis ‘sexy’ with her risque photographs in the magazine Sports Illustrated (Cover pictured below). Former tennis player and feminist rights activist Billie Jean King gave a response to the Anna Kournikova Sport illustrated photographs with this, â€Å"It doesn't bother me at all if some of the guys come out to watch women's tennis because they want to see a beautiful woman. Who could hold that against Anna? Still, it's unfortunate when others with a high skill factor don't win the endorsements. Sure, the good-looking guys get more endorsements, but the difference in men's sports is that the ugly ones get their share, too. †(Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles 2000) In America, ‘sexploitation’ is taken to another level at a professional level, particularly in the sports of wrestling and in the gridiron league Lingerie Football League. In these competitions, females wear very little, going down to the bare minimum. Pictured below is an image of the Lingerie Football League, clearly the uniforms (Lingerie Football League 2009)(Anna Kournikova 2000) leave little to be desired, but are used to entertain to a male dominated audience. These sports are both considered to be female sports in their own right, but we also see the sexualisation of women in male sports, particularly in professional sides in the form of cheerleaders. Cheerleaders provide entertainment during the sporting breaks, which we often see during breaks in male sports, providing a view of females in general as sexual objects and inferior to the male ‘athletes’. So from our perspective it is clear that the media has constructed a view that the amateur female athlete must be ‘sexy’ in order to be able to succeed, we don’t read in magazines or see photographs of less attractive female athletes, they have excluded them for what in their mind is good reason, sex sells. However it is creating an unrealistic image of the perfect female athlete, they are not judged by how good they are at hitting, catching, shooting, running or jumping, but by how much they can get paid for taking their clothes off. (Caple, Greenwood Lumby 2010) Another cause for concern over female sport is that professionally they are not getting anywhere near enough media coverage and money as their male counterparts. The media cover male sport in far more depth; in fact a study in 2006 by South Australian Premier’s Council for Women found just 4. per cent of coverage was about female sport () and on Foxtel approximately 10 per cent was about female sport (Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts 2006). The chart below shows the volume of news coverage that all the different sports receive, which not surprisingly shows Tennis as being pretty much the main female sport that is being covered, with very little else in comparison to male sport, even horses gain more exposure than females. So while females are being splayed all over the magazines in compromising poses and clothing, they receive very little coverage of them competing within their sports. So even though the â€Å"Australian women’s swimming team at the 2004 Olympic games secured more medals than their male counterparts. The women’s hockey team, the Hockeyroos have frequently dominated international competition, winning Olympic gold and international championships on many occasions. The Australian women’s netball team has won eight of eleven world championships†(Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts 2006), we still don’t see these teams play, other than at major sporting competitions like the Olympic and Commonwealth games. The lack of exposure can be hurtful to professional female athletes, in an interview with former Australian netball player explains her pain, â€Å"’I went very close to an emotional breakdown’ Ellis said, describing a time when she was struggling to combine her work as a solicitor, a marriage and the daily demands of club training and competing for Australia. (Magnay 2006) So while professional male sportsman have sport as their only profession earning a large salary in doing so, most women who compete at the top levels of their sports don’t actually receive any payment for their services, or if they do, they definitely couldn’t live of it, so majority of them have normal day jobs, which in itself would be stressful, but in conjunction with family, training and games, they must lead extremely demanding lives, which hardly seems reasonable. The inability of female sport to be fully professional and given similar or equal coverage in the media leaves the representation of women very much being subservient in a male dominated industry. The representation of the ultimate female ‘athlete’ projected as a result of the sexualisation that has occurred in higher level sport today has created a flow on effect into the amateur level of sport. Solmon et al. (2003) found that college-aged women who perceive a sport as gender-neutral are more confident about participating than are women who identify a sport as masculine. †(Hardin and Greer 2009, 207) Which is a direct result from media exposure, they see sports on television almost every day; recognize that it is a male sport as the athletes are male and then deem it too masculine to try. There is also the issue of sexuality discrimination when a female becomes involved with sport; because we see the masculine sports on television, any participation in such by a female has become deemed as homosexual, constructed by our culture and media, â€Å"so when a female is called a ‘dyke’ or ‘lesbian’ in a derogatory manner, she may alter her actions and dress to be ‘more feminine,’ downplay her athletic talents, or avoid sport altogether†(Schell n. d. ). This has become a common problem with women’s amateur sport, particularly sports that are deemed to be too masculine for women to try such as cricket (Burroughs, Seebohm and Ashburn 1995, 29) and Australian Rules football (Hillier 2006, 18) that there is an automatic stereotype of being homosexual. The social construction that female participants are labelled as homosexual in male dominated sports is a media formed fallacy. The reason why this has occurred is that in past societies, homosexuality was frowned upon and when a female athlete is found to be a lesbian, then the media reveals it to the world, the stereotype builds. This happened to the Australian women’s cricket team in the opposite fashion when â€Å"it was reported that female cricketer, Denise Annetts, had been dropped from the Australian team and had alleged that her sacking was due to her heterosexual preference and marital status. †( Burroughs, Seebohm and Ashburn 1995, 29) This built the reputation than women’s cricket still holds to this day. Nowadays there has been a movement towards helping women’s sport grow more. There have been the new Australian digital television channels which allowed channel Ten to show Netball during the day on their channel ‘One’. ABC still broadcast lawn bowls and women’s Basketball fairly often, and just this year, channel Nine started broadcasting female Twenty20 cricket that was played before the men’s game. So there has been improvement in the coverage regard, however women across the globe are still victims of sexploitation, which is undermining the coverage solution because we are still able to receive the media’s representation of females in sport as marginalised and subservient to a male industry. Until this is solved and females stand up against this, then there is little chance they have in improving their image in the sporting industry. Reference List Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles. 2000. Sportsletter. 12 (1,2): 2009. Quoted in Messner 2002, 100. Anna Kournikova. Image. 2000. http://sportsillustrated. cnn. com/vault/cover/toc/9744/index. htm (accessed May 20, 2011). Australia. Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts. 2006. About time! Women in sport and recreation in Australia. Volume 1. Canberra: Senate Printing Unit. Burroughs, A. , L. Seebohm, and L. Ashburn. 1995. Sporting Traditions. The Journal of the Australian Society for Sports History 12 (1): 29. Google. www. google. om. au (accessed 21 May 2011). Caple, H. , K, Greenwood and C, Lumby. Image. 2010. http://www. ausport. gov. au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/356209/Towards_a_Level_Playing_Field_LR. pdf (accessed May 20, 2011) Carr, J. 2006. Maria Sharapova has become the sport’s most marketable icon. http://mariasharapova. wetpaint. com/page/Endorsements (accessed May 20, 2011). Eurosport. 2010. Australian Open – Cheeky Venus outfit shocks crowd. http://uk. eurosport. yahoo. com/24012010/58/australian-open-cheeky-venus-outfit-shocks-crowd. html (accessed May 23, 2011). Hardin, M. , J. D. Greer. 2009. The Influence of Gender-Role Socialization, Media Use and Sports Participation on Perceptions of Gender-Appropriate Sports. Journal of Sport Behavior 32 (2): 207. Questia. www. questia. com (accessed 19 May 2011). Hillier, L. 2006. Safe Spaces: The upside of the image problem for same sex attracted young women playing Australian Rules football. International Journal of Football Studies 8 (2): 18. Google. www. google. com. au (accessed 21 May 2011). Lingerie Football League. Image. 2009. http://www. stuff. co. nz/sport/2834471/New-Lingerie-Football-League-under-debate (accessed May 20, 2011). Magnay, J. 2006. Women deserve sporting chance: Ellis. http://www. smh. com. au/news/sport/women-deserve-sporting-chance-ellis/2006/08/02/1154198205721. html (accessed 20 May 2011). Maria Sharapova Bikini. Image. n. d. http://www. dailybum. com/ (accessed May 20, 2011). Messner, M. 2002. Taking the Field: Women, Men and Sports. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Schell, B. n. d. (Dis)Empowering Images? Media Representations of Women in Sport. http://www. womenssportsfoundation. org/Content/Articles/Issues/Media-and-Publicity/D/DisEmpowering-Images–Media-Representations-of-Women-in-Sport. aspx (accessed May 20, 2011). Short Research Essay Reflection What strengths and weaknesses did you identify in your Short Research Essay? My short research essay was not quite as good as what I had hoped, the topic Sexual Abuse in Sport: With a focus on the AFL was too narrow, it was not a smart decision to give myself such a small focus, which basically narrowed myself down to Australian texts only, which wasn’t easy. I did find a fair arrange of resources, but perhaps didn’t utilise them as much, and just relied on my own theory. The need to rely on stereotypes and overuse of emotive language also hampered my essay. How did you use the tutor’s feedback to improve your work for the Major Essay? I firstly acknowledged the fact that my essay used too much emotive language and made it a conscious focus to not try and use it so much, to what effect I am not sure, it is a habit in my writing that needs fixing for the future. I also rewrote my whole essay, broadening the topic to women in sport, which meant I could find an array of sources. I also have cleared up my analysis and hopefully the referencing has improved. All in all I believe that this essay is a far improvement on the short research essay.

Age Constraints on Second-Language Acquisition

Age Constraints on Second-Language Acquisition Introduction: The main topic of this study is to see if the age in which a child immigrates to America has any affect on their relationship with English. The authors tested native Korean speakers, all of whom moved to the United States at various ages on their understanding of English syntax and phonology. They were testing them to see if the critical period hypothesis stands. The critical period hypothesis rests on the belief that as a person matures, their brain begins to become lessÂÂ   plastic, and as the brain loses neural plasticity, it also loses its second language learning ability.ÂÂ   (Scovel, 1988; Patkowski, 1980, 1990). However, others believe that second language learning ability is related to how often the second language is actually implemented into conversations (Oyama, 1979; Flege, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1998b; Bialystok, 1997). The authors are trying to see which of these two theories are valid; the maturational theory or the interactive theory. While bot h theories have yielded supporting evidence, there is not enough data to know which theory is more valid. Also, it is difficult to test the critical period theory because there can be multiple factors contributing to why a child is unable to acquire language past a certain age. The authors hypothesis is that age of arrival does have an affect on the relationship they will have with English as their second language. Methods: The authors tested 240 native Korean speakers. All of these people had immigrated to America between the ages of 1 and 3, and had lived in America for at least 8 years. Their age at the time of testing ranged from 17 to 47 years old. There were also 24 native English speakers in the study, and their ages ranged from 20-45. They used the discontinuity theory for this study. The discontinuity theory is the idea that development occurs in a series of distinct stages rather than gradually in a continuous process. The participants were split into 10 groups based o n their age of arrival to the United States. Most of the participants completed high school in the United States, and many also went on to higher education in the US as well. Participants were tested on an individual basis by bilingual Korean-English research assistants in an hour and a half study session. The participants were asked to repeat English sentences that were later examined by 22.05 kHz where they were normalized for peak intensity. They were thenÂÂ   judged by native English speakers for degree of foreign accent by having them rate the sentences on a scale 1-9 from strong foreign accent to no accent. Now to test their morphosyntax, the participants were asked to take a 144 item grammaticality judgement test. In the test, they had a recording of a man speaking both grammatical and ungrammatical sentences, and the participants had to judge which were grammatical, and which were not. These were the two methods used to test if age of arrival had any effect on the relat ionship of learning English as a second language. Discussion: The aim of this study was to see if the age in which a person moved to the United States had any impact on their relationship with learning English as a second language. In the study, the authors tested 240 Native Korean speakers to see if their age of arrival affected the way they learned English as their second language. They were tested on their phonology by examining their accent for degree of foreign accent as well as their understanding of English morphology by having the participants take a 144 item grammaticality judgment test. The results showed that age of arrival had more of an impact on the participants morphosyntactic understanding compared to their phonological understanding. Based off the data, we could conclude that age of arrival definitely affects a persons relationship with learning English as a second language. This finding definitely supports the idea that a critical period exists when it comes to learning a second language. One problem with the study is that it does not explain why morphosyntactic understanding was affected more than phonological understanding. There could be a number of reasons contributing to this, and it is still unknown exactly why this is the case. I think that this study really helped to prove that there is a correlation between the age of arrival and ability to pick up a second language. However, more research needs to be conducted in order to understand exactly what factors are causing difficulties to arise in being able to learn a second language after a certain age. Also, more research could be done to find out exactly what age it is that second language learning ability starts to decrease. References: Flege, J. E., Yeni-Komshian, G. H., & Liu, S. (1999). Age Constraints on Second-Language Acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language , 41, 78-104

Time to tame the targeted tax tinkering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Time to tame the targeted tax tinkering - Essay Example Besides, he feels that the government fails to account for the use of the high tax revenue in its social responsibilities. There are no significant social changes that would be expected from the high profit that the government acquires from the tax system. To this point, he argues that there is need to contain this problem by revising tax policy to ensure that the liability is reduced and that the government uses tax income in an effective manner. The argument of the author is that the federal tax system needs immediate attention if it has to achieve the intended changes within the society. Simpson (2014) finds a number of issues in the development of federal tax structure. Firstly, he criticizes federal tax structure that has little breaks designed to target different classes of people. The finance minister in the country is proud of a tax system that uses too much capital in collection of tax. He feels that it would be wise for the government to use the money used in tax collection to lower the income tax. Secondly, he raises concern on the government’s reforms that have shifted tax from the consumer to income earners. While he recognizes that these changes have come as a result of the urge of the government to create better tax policies, he finds that such structures ignore the principles of a sound tax policy. In his view, such tax policies are discriminative and lack credibility due to their favoritism. Developing tax policies that target classes treats the same people differently, which is against the principles of a sound tax system (Simpson, 2014). There fore, he feels that there is need to reform the tax policies to ensure that they are fair to all the members of the public and to ensure that equal income earners are treated in the same way. Next, the article presents another weakness in the federal tax system in the US. The author recognizes that a tax system is one of the mechanisms that the government uses to close the wealth gap in the

Jonas Salk Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Jonas Salk - Research Paper Example Salk was the oldest of three children, having two younger brothers by the names of Herman and Lee. Despite the fact that Salk’s parents, being Russian-Jewish immigrants, had not been able to receive substantial and formal education, Salk was raised to be an intellectual, brilliant young man. Salk attended the local public schools of New York, but when it was time for him to begin high school at the young age of thirteen, he was sent to Townsend Harris High School. This high school was a free alternative to the expensive private schools for intellectually gifted students, catering to intellectually talented males of immigrant parents, just like Salk (McPherson 11). While in high school, Salk quickly became known for his intelligence and his desperate want to learn; he was constantly reading and he was one of the few students at the school who completed his four-year education in the required three, whereas most of his classmates dropped out before the three years were up. This success enabled Salk to attend City College of New York, which is one of the most competitive colleges in the United States. While Salk was in college, he worked for and obtained his Bachelor of Science degree. Salk originally attended the college with the hopes of one day becoming a lawyer, but his mother encouraged him to take an interest in the medical field instead. After his years at CCNY, Salk was accepted into New York University School of Medicine. Although Salk remained strong in his dislike of studying medicine, he found an interest in the research and scientific aspects of the medical field. He studied biochemistry and then eventually made his primary focus bacteriology, claiming that his â€Å"desire was to help humankind in general rather than single patients (Bookchin & Schumacher 72).† When Salk was in his final year at the medical school, he did a work study program in the laboratory of Doctor Thomas Francis, who was noted for having discovered the Type B infl uenza virus. Francis’ influence was great over Salk, and Salk became addicted to the field of virology. After medical school, Salk obtained an internship at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital and continued to work in Francis’ laboratory whenever he got the chance. After his time at Mount Sinai, Salk sought for a more permanent research job, but had difficulty in doing so because of his Jewish heritage. He was unable to be hired at Mount Sinai, as this went against their rules, and Francis had moved and could not help Salk in his job-seeking endeavors. However, Francis had extra grant money and was able to give Salk a job, enabling him to work on an army-commissioned project to develop an influenza vaccine. It was during this time that Salk â€Å"discovered and isolated one of the flu strains that was included in the final vaccine (Sherrow 31).† In 1947, Salk set out to find an institution that would allow him to take charge of his own laboratory. He was offe red space at the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine. After obtaining numerous grants, he was able to create the laboratory he required to continue his research on flu vaccines. Not too long after, Salk was offered a job to work with the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and aid the other researchers in creating a polio vaccination, a position that Salk was only too eager to accept. Polio had been a disease that stalked the human species since 1835 and Salk was desperate to rid the world of the devastation it caused. In the years leading up to 1955, Salk worked relentlessly to discover a safe and effective vaccination to treat the polio disease. People were so optimistic about the science that Salk was doing that, six months prior to the completion and approval of

Talking Styles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Talking Styles - Essay Example Besides, two people in a relationship may evince different compatibility between their talking styles at different times, depending on the phase their relationship is going through, the politics involved in the relationships, the levels of stress one or both of them are facing. Relationships to a great extent are about give and take. It is practically not possible that the two people involved in a relationship, whether it is family or friendship happen to be emotionally and mentally on the same plane at any particular time. Mature people do understand that sometimes the people with whom they relate to get so stressed up and negative that they do resort to incompatible and disparate talking styles. Yet, it does not mean that they do not share a strong relationship. Rather it is at such times that the saner partners are required to show tact and presence of mind that sometimes go a long way in distressing and relieving the other partner in that relationship. This is something that is well corroborated by commonsense and general experience. Personally speaking, I believe that the results facilitated by the language style matching website to me (0.8) were not quite accurate (Online Research Consortium from Universities around the World, 2012). I was communicating with a close friend the desire to have dinner with her on a weekday. Considering the fact that she is quiet stressed up on her career side right now and that she had a busy night that day, it was quiet natural to expect a slightly passive response from her. In fact her act of conveying to me her stressed state evinced a closer level of intimacy between us, than predicted by the language style matching scores. In fact I tried to ascertain the veracity of these scores by talking to my friend about this issue after a couple of hours. Whereas the language style matching website indicated that we did not share a strong bond, actually speaking, my friend told me that she was really

Branched Chain Amino Acids and their Effect on Sports Performance Article

Branched Chain Amino Acids and their Effect on Sports Performance - Article Example Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) are amino acids whose molecular structure is made up of branched aliphatic side chains. Three amino acids occurring in humans, viz. valine, leucine, and isoleucine, are essential BCAAs. They are essential because they are not synthesized by the body and have to be supplied through diet. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which in turn, are the building blocks of the body. A high proportion of muscle tissue is built of BCAAs. Therefore, these are of high utility in increasing muscle mass, especially for those who undertake strength training. Since BCAAs are essential amino acids, they have to be supplied either through diet or through dietary supplements. All food sources that are rich in proteins have sufficient amounts of BCAAs. Commonly available food sources that are rich in BCAAs include dairy products, eggs, whey, chicken, and meat, especially red meat. During strength training and strenuous exercise, a high amount of BCAAs are broken down and used up. Oxidation of these amino acids occurs in skeletal muscles. Though BCAAs are not used as a source of energy in the body under normal conditions, they do contribute to energy generation during heavy and strenuous exercise. The subsequent breakdown of these amino acids for energy generation during heavy exercise leads to muscle damage and tear. Therefore, restoring them with the help of protein supplements is extremely necessary to make up for the loss of proteins. Innumerable studies have investigated the effects of BCAAs on the performance of athletes.

Outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Outline - Essay Example uote: â€Å"Genetic studies have shown that the particular set of weight-regulating genes that a person has is by far the most important factor in determining how much that person will weigh† (The Daily Beast, 2009, p. 1). Obesity is also a result of the activities and habits of an individual. Factors like the type of food one likes, and the amount of exercise one does to burn the fat have an important role in determining one’s body-mass-index. Eating at junk food is a common cause of obesity. Obesity exposes an individual to myriad of problems of personal health and relationships, and socioeconomic risks. Foremost, obese people are vulnerable to potential life threatening diseases owing to a low immune system. These include insulin resistance, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, high cholesterol, heart attack, gallstones, gout, osteoarthritis and cancer. Moreover, obese individuals face a number of challenges such as the risk of losing their jobs. Obesity affects the productivity of an individual as they find it harder to cope with the strenuous work load. Surgery is an effective and better but costlier option of getting rid of obesity for chronic obese patients than drug treatment, but obese people can afford it if health insurance premiums for them are raised. a. Quote info: â€Å"some employers have opened fitness centres, conducted health education programs and even have provided incentives for employees who participate in proven weight loss programs† (Ceniceros 2). Obesity is growing in the USA and is the cause of many health and socioeconomic risks for the people. To fight obesity, several ways can be adopted some of which include raising the insurance premiums for the obese people, and taxing obese people more. These measures are demotivating and discouraging factors for people to gain weight. In addition, surgery can be used to remove fat. Employers must provide their employees with subsidized gyms whose use should be made obligatory upon

River Island Strategic Marketing Report (Russian Federation) Research Paper

River Island Strategic Marketing Report (Russian Federation) - Research Paper Example Conclusions 14 Works cited 15 Name of the student Name of professor Course name Date River Island Strategic Marketing Report (Russian Federation) 1. Introduction & Overview River Island is one of the renowned and popular high street brands that operates internationally and has its stores in different countries. This company is headquartered in London and has its presence in many countries, including, many European countries, Russia and the countries in the Middle East. The company has a strong brand presence in Russia due to several factors; the rising interest of the Russian customers in international brands, the quality of products offered by the company and affordable range of prices (Karadakis, Kaplanidou and Karlis 175). Certain subtle changes are visible in the characteristics of the Russian market for consumer products. In recent years, Russian customers are becoming more interested in consuming products of brands have an international presence. This provides the opportunity t o the global brands to increase their operations in Russia (Bacon, â€Å"Reaching Russia’s lucrative layer†). River Island is considering certain strategic changes in order to utilize the new developments in customers’ preferences (Riverisland, 2013). ... River Island provides a good opportunity to make a marketing analysis of the company and develop a marketing plan that would help the company to make further progress in its growth path. 2. Marketing Audit Macro environment Analysis – PESTLE PESTEL analysis of Russian Federation would help in understanding the external macroeconomic environment of the country. This would facilitate understanding of the strategies and business policies of the company. Political Economic Social Technological Environmental Legal Internal conflicts Corruption Different political divisions External conflicts with several powerful economies; like the USA and the UK Rich natural reserves Export oriented economy; depends on export of oil and natural gas One of the largest GDPs in the world in terms of size of GDP Volatile exchange rate High price inflation Unequal income distribution Low foreign direct investment Higher proportion of skilled work force than unskilled work force Diversity in work force is high Presence of social unrest due to diversity in workforce as well as political diversities Existence of class divisions and social discrimination Low level of life expectancy Russia has strong industrial background Possess some of the most powerful scientific research frameworks in heavy industries and defence sectors (Carlsen and Andersson 86) However, IT communication processes are not well developed in all regions within the vast expanse of the country (Helms and Nixon 220) Displays low awareness regarding environment and ecology Industrial activities within the country creates various environmental concerns Unfavourable climatic conditions can sometimes act as barriers to trade Wide geographical territory is sometimes unmanageable New legal obligations Laws

Engineering and Technology versus the natural Environment Essay

Engineering and Technology versus the natural Environment - Essay Example More recently of course, particularly during the late 19th century and early 20th century, a great array of scientific and technical discoveries were made which directly affected the way in which mankind viewed its environment as something to be changed to meet its needs and desires more conveniently. With engineering innovations came bigger houses, transportation systems, increased infrastructure and urban development. All of these things, once made apparent to mankind, did not remain novelties for long, but soon became seen as essential and a practical and fundamental aspect to civilised living, without which, human needs were not being met. The famous psychologist, Abraham Maslow explains this shift in thought in his ‘hierarchy of needs’ theory (1973). This theory explains that human needs are based upon which needs have already been met. At the bottom of the hierarchy, are the more physical human needs of shelter and nourishment. When these are difficult to come by, they are essentially all that is felt to be ‘needed’ by the individual. It is only when these needs are met, that the person feels a need for something else, which according to this theory, would be things like friendship and family. At the top of the hierarchy, are much more emotional needs such as self-actualisation, professional achievement and similar. The point is, as the world became built up and urbanised, and more tools and aesthetic factors thus became more common, people’s needs and expectations fundamentally changed.... de apparent to mankind, did not remain novelties for long, but soon became seen as essential and a practical and fundamental aspect to civilised living, without which, human needs were not being met. The famous psychologist, Abraham Maslow explains this shift in thought in his ‘hierarchy of needs’ theory (1973). This theory explains that human needs are based upon which needs have already been met. At the bottom of the hierarchy, are the more physical human needs of shelter and nourishment. When these are difficult to come by, they are essentially all that is felt to be ‘needed’ by the individual. It is only when these needs are met, that the person feels a need for something else, which according to this theory, would be things like friendship and family. At the top of the hierarchy, are much more emotional needs such as self-actualisation, professional achievement and similar. The point is, as the world became built up and urbanised, and more tools and aes thetic factors thus became more common, people’s needs and expectations fundamentally changed. Quite paradoxically, as the world has radically shifted in its desires to become increasingly civilised, archeologically impressive and technologically convenient, so too has the global interest in maintaining the natural environment. In recent decades, the adverse impact that technology and engineering has had upon the natural environment has become increasingly apparent and worrisome, as rainforest destruction is widespread and climate changes have reached shocking levels. Environmental groups have long been urging people to acknowledge the crucial importance of maintaining the natural environment, not just because of the vital role that its elements play in sustaining life, but because of its beauty and

Monopoly and monopolistic competition Essay Example for Free

Monopoly and monopolistic competition Essay To understand the difference between these market structures, you have to understand what these market structures are. We start off discussing the oligopoly market. One type of imperfectly competitive market is an oligopoly which is a market structure in which only a few sellers offer similar or identical products. (Mankiw, 2012) this means that a small number of companies dominate the industry and have to compete with one another with price and service. In my opinion, this market is very competitive so most of the firms in this market have to have a strong point in quantity and customer service to win over their consumers. Some good examples of these companies in this market would be movies, health insurance providers, and phone carrier. In a monopoly sellers dominate the entire market and have the ability to set their own prices. This means that one of the main differences between a monopoly and a oligopoly is price because the price of a monopoly is going to be higher since they have no real competition. Now some great examples of these companies that are a monopoly are: Microsoft, Google (even thou you have others like Bing) etc. These corporate giants make millions of dollars with their products because in a monopoly the customer has no choice but to pay the price that the firm has set. Now the last one that I’m going to discuss is a monopolistic competition. Another type of imperfectly competitive market is a monopolistic competition, which is a market structure in which several or many sellers each produce similar, but different products. (Mankiw, 2012) Each of the producers can set its price and quantity without affecting the market as a whole. Some good examples of these firms would be your fast food restaurants (Mc Donald’s, Burger King, and Sonic). These restaurants all sell burgers, but the product doesn’t taste or cost the same. We have learned from reading this essay that in a monopolistic market uses their dominance to set their prices, so that they can maximize their profits. In my opinion, it seems that the man difference is that one market has to be competitive with other sellers and the others don’t really have any competition so they can do pretty much as much as the government would let them. So if I have to enter a market it would be monopoly for the simple fact that it has the majority control and you don’t have to really worry about competition, and make a good day for profits.

The Effect of Different Levels of Radiation in Growth of Plants Essay Example for Free

The Effect of Different Levels of Radiation in Growth of Plants Essay ABSTRACT The effect of different levels of radiation was determined using four set-ups-10kR, 30kR, 50 kR, and the control (no radiation). The four set-ups were observed for nine weeks and growth (in cm), germination, and survival rate was measured. Results showed that at the right level of radiation level (10 kR), radiation have a positive effect on the plant growth and has the same germination and survival rate from the control set up. The 30 kR set up and 50 kR set up are relatively smaller in growth than the control set up. Thus, increasing the radiation level above 10 kr corn inhibits its growth in terms of height and decreases the percent germination ofcorn (Zea mays L.) but with right amount of radiation at 10 kr radiation has a positive effects in terms of growth. INTRODUCTION According to (Mendioro, Laude, Barrion, Diaz, Mendoza, Ramirez, 2010), Mutations are changes in the genetic material that are heritable and essentially permanent. Mutations either may be spontaneous, or induced by physical or chemical agents. Ionizing radiation such as X-rays, protons, neutrons and alpha, beta, and gamma rays from radioactive sources like radium and cobalt-90, X-rays and other ionizing radiation is one of the common mutagenic agents that break DNA strand which produce chromosome breaks rather than base changes (Ramirerz, Mendioro, Laude, 2010). Ionizing radiation can penetrate tissues and undergo ionization forming ions. These ions undergo chemical reactions to have a stable chemical configuration. While doing these, ions produce breaks in chromosomes, (DNA) which induce mutation (Das, 2006). The biological effect of ionizing radiation depends mainly on the amount of energy absorbed by the biological system of which, of course, the chromosomes are the most target (Harten, 1998). However according to Wort (1941) as cited by (Sax, 1955) wheat seeds irradiated with low doses of X rays produced larger plants than the control. The study aimed to determine the effect of different levels of radiation on plant growth in corn (Zea mays L.). The specific objectives were: 1.To  observe the effects of different levels of radiation on plant growth in termes of height, germination, and survivability, and 2.To explain the observe effects of radiation in corn (Zea mays L.) to its growth. MATERIALS AND METHODS To assess the result of different levels of radiation in plant growth of corn, corn seeds were irradiated at varying doses: 10 kR,30 kR, and 50 kR. These irradiated seeds were at the same time and the same place including the control set-up. For nine weeks, the data for plant growth (cm), germination rate(%), survivability rate (%) were collected and tabulated. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION As seen in Table 1, results show that the the set-up that was irradiated with 30 kR and 50 kR ended the lowest percent germination while the set-up that was irradiated with 10 kR was the same with the control based on percent germination which is 100%. At the first date of observation, the lowest in average height is the set-up that was irradiated with 50 kR. With the same date and place of planting, you can conclude that radiation has an effect to the plant growth, germination, and survival of the plant. You can see at the Graph 1 that the control set-up and the 10 kR set-up are almost the same but in the end of the graph, the 10 kR set-up was the highest in terms of average plant height.  At 50 kR, the plant cannot survive anymore due to the radiation and no data was recorded because the survival rate is 0% means all the plants in the 50 kR was dead.  Unlike in the 10 kR, 30 kR set-ups was relatively lower than 10 kR setup in terms of plant growth, survival rate and germination rate. Plants have some resistant to some radiation because plants do not have lotions and sunblocks and they need sunlight for photosynthesis and we know that the sun emits UV  rays. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION The effect of different levels of radiation was observed by irradiating corn seed using three different setups-10 kR, 30 kR, and 50 kR. Data was collected and shown. Thus, there is a certain level of radiation that can make a plant grow more. In this experiment, we conclude that at 10 kR, corn plants grow better because of mutation. Furthermore, this experiment is subjected to further reseach to improve the conclusion that at certain level radiation, plants grow better. Bibliography Das, L. D. (2006). Genetics and Plant Breeding. New Age International Ltd. Harten, A. M. (1998). Mutation Breeding: Theory and Practical Applications. Cambridge University Press. Mendioro, M. S., Laude, R. P., Barrion, A. A., Diaz, M. Q., Mendoza, J. C., Ramirez, D. A. (2010). Genetics: Laboratory Manual 12th Revision. 7 Lakes Printing Press. Ramirerz, D. A., Mendioro, M. S., Laude, R. P. (2010). Lectures in Genetics Ninth Edition. 7 Lakes Printing Press. Sax, K. (1955). The Effect of Ionizing Radiation on Plant Growth. American Journal of Botany, 360-364.

Adapting Global Marketing Strategies To The Indian Context

Adapting Global Marketing Strategies To The Indian Context In this report, we look at how the global marketing strategies should be adopted to suit the Indian Customers. We initially look at the Global marketing strategies which can help the marketing managers to boost their sales in different parts of the world. In these strategies, the report covers various aspects of the marketing mix like product, promotion, price, branding, distribution etc. Then the report explains about our country India in terms of its demographics, Culture, Rural/Urban Divide, the decision makers etc and covers the aspects which differentiate our country from the rest of the world. Then the report explains how the global marketing strategies should be adopted to the Indian context with respect to the global marketing strategies which was explained initially. Then the report takes the case study of HUL and how it has modified the marketing strategy to suit the Indian needs and the report critically analyzes the strategies adopted by HUL. Introduction This study examines the global marketing strategies and how those strategies should be adapted to the Indian customers. Then we take the case study of HUL and critically analyze the strategies which it followed. As Prospective future managers of Multi National FMCG Companies operating in India, we might often have to tackle situations where we have to adopt their marketing strategies to India. This study would be of help to the budding managers to prepare themselves to tackle the marketing challenges which they might face in their careers. HUL being one of the multinational companies which has been present in India for a long time and which has been able to capture the minds of each and every Indian serves as the perfect case study to analyze the marketing strategies followed by an MNC in India. In this report, we would be analyzing the strategies of HUL and critically analyze the marketing strategies which they adopted in India. Methodology Our study The Adaptation of Global Marketing Strategies to the Indian Context essentially has the following major parts to it: Understanding the Marketing strategies that firms undertake when they expand Globally: The Marketing Mix Consideration of Local factors (Political, Economic, Social etc) The considered differences from the domestic strategy Understanding the Target market i.e. India The Situation (Conditions Suitable/Unsuitable for marketing) Demography Evaluating the Potential Economic Status Identifying the major buyers (Middle Class in the Indian context) Understanding the specifics: How the Indian market is different and how differently do the consumers behave Combination: Going through the above 2 steps and finding out how to incorporate the Indian specifics within a companys marketing strategy while in international expansion phase A case study of Unilever: To substantiate our study we did a case study on Unilever to find out what Unilever did right and wrong in its Indian subsidiary: HUL ANALYSIS Marketing Globally In whichever part of the world a company operates, the objective of marketing is to create, communicate and deliver value to the customers. But the methodology by which this process is carried out should be adapted to the country in which the company operates to market the product effectively to the customers. It is imperative for any Global marketing manager to feel and touch the hearts of the local customers to make his/her brands a success in the country in which the company operates. In this section, we describe the various marketing strategies which can be employed for Global Marketing and then we will analyze how various elements of the marketing mix like Product, pricing, promotion, Branding and distribution should be fine tuned to suit various geographies/countries. Global marketing Strategies The application of various Marketing Strategies will depend upon the orientation of the company towards a particular market. i.e., how the firm views a particular market. The various marketing orientations are explained below followed by various ways to segment the markets internationally. Orientations The various orientations can be classified as A Chinese Coke Bill Board: Notice the use of Chinese language and ActorsProduction orientation wherein the company focuses on maximizing the efficiency or quality of the product with very little spend on marketing, E.g. commodities like oil etc Sales orientation wherein a firm sells abroad what it sells in the domestic market. E.g. products like laptops, Tennis rackets etc Customer Orientation wherein the company modifies its product as well as marketing strategies to suit the customers needs. E.g. Mac Donalds made modifications in its product line in India to suit the preferences of the Indian Customer. Strategic Orientation which combines all the above mentioned orientations. Here the Marketing managers make slight modifications to their core product or marketing strategy without deviating from their expertise. E.g., A Pantene Sachet is made to suit the customers in developing countries even though the core product, shampoo remains the same. Segmentation There are basically three approaches to segmentation which are mentioned below By Country: A firm may first select a country based on certain parameters like GDP growth, Per capita consumption etc and then decide upon which segments to target in the particular country and decide upon the marketing mix and the promotional strategies to target those segments By Segment: In this case, the company would look at the global customers as a whole and then segment them. After segmenting, the company would choose to enter those countries which has a substantial number of customers in that segment By Country and segment: In this case, the company would find out the multiple segments within all the countries, find out the similar segments in multiple countries which can be targeted and enter the countries in which the segments which can be targeted exist. Product Often in many cases, when a company introduces its product in a foreign market, it would have to make modifications in its products for various reasons some of which are listed below. Legal/Environmental standards Often Legal/Environmental requirements forces companies to make alteration in its products to suit a particular country. For e.g., Environment Safety standards set by some countries for automobiles make it necessary for any firm willing to enter into those countries to make necessary changes in their products. Packaging requirements Pepsi Bottles in Japan. Notice the unique flavors and shape to suit Japanese CustomersSome countries might have some rules which insist on displaying warning information as in the case of cigarettes or detailed information of the contents in case of food products. This might force companies to use different countries. Language also could force companies to use different packaging for different countries. Social/Cultural Considerations Often companies would have to make minor modifications in the product for various countries to accommodate the social and cultural preferences of the country. For e.g, it is said The japanese eat with their eyes. So many firms improves the aesthetic dimension in their food products to attract Japanese customers. Economic Considerations Economic considerations like Income, Infrastructure etc forces companies to make changes in their product. For e.g, Nokia made some models meant for the developing countries to suit their rugged terrains. Decision on Product Alteration To decide whether a product should be altered for a particular country or not, the company should estimate the incremental profit which can be bought in by product alterations and the cost involved in alterations. If the incremental profit is higher than the cost involved, the company should go for the product alteration. Global Pricing Strategies Pricing, One of the elements of the marketing mix is very essential to ensure that it can generate sufficient sales for the company and able to provide sufficient margins for the company. When compared to pricing a product domestically, International pricing is much more complex due to the following factors Government Regulations: Government regulations like Tariffs, Quota, Price Ceiling and Floors makes it difficult for firms to price a product uniformly across the globe. Market Diversity: The diversity of markets among various countries can be taken advantage of to price a product at a premium in some markets. For e.g., Gold Jewellery is much admired in India than in other parts of the world and hence can be sold at a premium. Price Escalation due to Exports: When a company exports a product to another country, various costs like shipping costs, customs duty etc might result in escalation of costs. To retain the price competency, the company might have to sell its products to the intermediaries at a lower cost. Forex Volatility: When a firm sells its products abroad, it is exposed to the risk of the foreign currency losing its value in future. In a monopolistic market, the firm can manage the volatility by increasing the prices in such cases. But in highly competitive markets, firms should go for currency derivatives to manage the currency risk. Pricing Strategies In pricing a product, the company should take into account the competitive scenario in the target market. If its less competitive, the firm can have much discretion in setting prices. It can use the following strategies in such market Skimming strategy: This strategy involves charging a high price for the product to target the customers willing to pay the premium and then lowering the price over the time. Penetration strategy: This strategy involves introducing the product at a low price to penetrate the market Cost-plus strategy: This involves pricing the product at a particular price so as to maintain a desirable margin. Pricing should also take into account the stereo types customers have about products originating from certain countries. For e,g a German Car would be able to command a premium which a car manufacturer from a developing country would not be able to. Firms should also ensure that the price difference between two countries should not be higher than the cost involved in bringing the product to the higher priced country from the lower priced country as a spillover might occur otherwise. Global Promotion Strategies Promotion refers to the communication of messages intended to increase the sales of the product. In the case of Global promotion, managers often have to decide on the following strategies Push/Pull Strategy A push strategy refers to promoting the product by using direct selling strategies like distributing brochures, promotion via salesman, promotion at mass gatherings by distributing free samples. A Pull strategy refers to promotion by using the medium like newspaper, television, magazines etc. The decision of push/pull should be made taking into account various factors like the reach of mass media like TV, how educated the customers are and the distribution network. Higher spend on pull strategy is recommended when the reach of the mass media is high and the customers are well educated. Higher spend on push strategy is recommended in countries where the distribution network is well developed, customers are not highly educated and the reach of mass media is less. It is always advisable to go for a mix of both strategies. Standardization Vs Localization In many of the ads, some amount of localization would be required for various countries as the languages and the culture differs between countries. But at the same time, firms should ensure that it doesnt create confusion in the minds of the customers by portraying itself differently in different countries. It is preferable to localize the constituents of promotion like language, actors etc but it is preferable to keep the theme consistent across countries. The firms can also use some mediums like product placement in Hollywood movies to effectively promote the brand across the entire globe in an effective manner. For e.g. the recent movie Iron Man 2 featured an assortment of 54 brands in it. The firms should also consider the legality and the culture of the country into account when designing ads. For e.g. display of nudity or violence will not go well with all cultures and governments. Global Branding Strategies Product Placement of Honey Puffs in the movie Kick Ass released in 2010A Brand represents an identifying mark for products or services of a company. Consumers develop a perception about various brands and the firms can use this brand perception of the customers to their advantage. But in international marketing, linguistic issues as well as cultural issues can make it difficult for firms to maintain a uniform brand identity throughout the globe. For e.g. some of the brand names might resemble abusive words in certain languages which might force the firms to tweak their brand names to suit the local customer. Also in case of acquisitions, the acquiring company might choose to go by the domestic brand identity to retain the goodwill which was created over the years. E.g. Citibank after the acquisition of Banamex in Mexico decided to retain the brand identity of Banamex which proved to be a successful strategy. International Distribution Strategies A company can benefit from a great product and a great marketing campaign to support the product only if there is a good distribution system in place to make the product available to the customer. A firm might either go for standardizing or localizing the distribution system in different countries. But standardization would work only in those countries where the distribution structure is similar. Else, a localized distribution system is preferred. For e.g. In Developed countries most of the FMCG sales would happen via big retail chains whereas in developing countries, small kirana stores play a critical role in distributing the products to the nook and corner of the country. In International distribution, most firms also have to make the decision of whether to outsource distribution or do it on its own. The following guidelines should be followed for making the decision on outsourcing distribution Political Stability: When entering a country where political stability is less, it would be advisable to outsource distribution rather than investing in own distribution network Product Characteristics: In the case of complex or high technology products which require good after sales service, it is desirable to have the firms own distribution network. When planning to enter a country, the firms should also take into account the hidden costs involved in distribution like the infrastructure of the country, the number of distribution levels, inefficiencies in retail networks, inventory stock outs etc. Gap Analysis Gap AnalysisAfter entering a country, if a company finds it not being able to achieve the expected sales, it can use Gap Analysis to take corrective actions necessary to improve its sales. The Company should first estimate the market potential for its products which is represented by the total height of all the boxes. The height till point X represents the actual sales of all the firms combined. The bottom most box represent the companys current sales. The difference between X and Y represents the sales lost to competitors. Usage gap represents the difference between the sales potential and the actual sales of the product. If the usage gap is high, the company can improve its sales by making the public more aware of the product in general. The Distribution gap represents the sales lost to its competitors because the firm is not able to distribute in certain locations which is serviced by its competitors. If the distribution gap is high, the company can improve its sales by widening its distribution network. The product line gap represents the sales lost to its competitors because the competitors are able to come up with product variations which the company unable to. This gap can be closed by investing in R D, understanding the customer needs and promoting innovation in its local organization. Finally, Competitive gap is the loss in sales which cannot be explained due to the other two reasons. This could be because the competitors have better marketing campaigns, has better good will or is able to sell it at a lower price. Investing in marketing promotions and lowering prices would be of help in closing this gap. The Indian Context Quick Facts India An Overview A population in excess of 1 billion The 4th largest economy in the world in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) The largest democracy with a stable government An independent judiciary system Plentiful natural Resources A private sector that can return significant gains on foreign direct investment Strong Entrepreneurship interest among Indians World class quality products across domains India An Overview A population in excess of 1 billion The 4th largest economy in the world in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) The largest democracy with a stable government An independent judiciary system Plentiful natural Resources A private sector that can return significant gains on foreign direct investment Strong Entrepreneurship interest among Indians World class quality products across domains India on the Upsurge Indias huge population: A Huge Market as well? Figure 1 India PopulationIndia, with a population of 1.14 billion people (According to World Bank estimates), is the second most populated country in the world. This huge population means a huge market size for most multinational firms wishing to expand its operations in India. This however, has only partial merit. Though the number of people living in the country is large, we have to consider other factors as well. Only 64% of the people are in the age group 15-64. This makes this group the only active buyers. There are other factors which need to be looked at as well, when evaluating a potential market: The Purchasing Power of the inhabitants, their buying thought process and educational status etc. Nevertheless, India, in spite of all these factors, still provides a huge market place for firms to sell their products in. Literacy Rates: The Educated Buyer Literacy rates in India are rising as can be seen from the figure. India is striving hard to provide good education to children. Setting up premier educational institutes like the IIMs, IITs and NITs has given an impetus to the education levels in the nation. Kerala has become the first state to achieve 100% literacy. Indian scholars have achieved a name for themselves globally. Figure 2 India Literacy Rates (%)We can therefore say that though a lot still needs to be done in the educational sphere, India is well on its way to claim a strong position in international terms. The impact that education has on consumer behaviour is immense. A literate consumer is an informed consumer. He can easily read between the lines and establish on his own whether a particular product will be beneficia or not. With the immense choice available in the market, an informed customer can always make an educated choice. He will also be open to new ideas, new technologies and new products and will be able to adapt to them easily. Economic Conditions: Ability to buy India has been witnessing massive drops in unemployment rate which rings in good news for global marketers as well. Decrease in unemployment would mean an increase in living standards which would in turn mean that people have the ability to buy more. Marketers have an opportunity to sell more to Indian customers. With drop in unemployment rate, the sectors most likely to grow are those dealing with basic necessities. Figure 3 India: Unemployment Rate (%)Therefore the retail sector is likely to grow the most, riding high on growth in FMCG. Along with increased purchasing power at an individual level, the overall economic growth has a huge impact on the ability to buy. Indian GDP, in purchasing power parity terms, has been on the upsurge except for the past two years (which was majorly due to the global economic downturn and the sub-prime crisis). An improving economy of a country also indicates the improved buyer status of its residents. Figure 4 India GDP (PPP) (Billion $) Thus, we can see that with the factors of population, literacy and rising economic status on its side, India presents itself as a lucrative market for firms, national as well as international. Consumer Behaviour in India: Unique Patterns India as a market, though lucrative, poses challenges of its own. The consumption behavior of Indians in some manners is quite similar to other countries, but the culture and diversity in India pose specific problem statements that are unique to India. Impact of Cultural Diversity India is a country immersed in diversity. The sheer difference in the people of India, based on caste, creed, religion, gender, economic status etc, makes the life of a marketer very difficult. It is his responsibility that a perfect product mix, customized to the satisfaction of each and every member of the society (as a potential buyer) reaches the market. For example, some part of the population is non-vegetarian while others (Jains, some Hindus) are Vegetarian. Nestle produces its 2-minute instant noodles called Maggi in vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian (Chicken) variants to cater to all segments of the market. Females/ Housewives as decision makers Women in India are the major decision makers for all consumer purchases even though it might be men who do the actual buying. Ultimately it is the women who use most of the consumer products, Washing Soap, Detergent, Cosmetics etc. It is therefore important to understand the needs of the female customers before coming up with a marketing strategy. Rise of the Middle Class The major drivers of the Indian Economy are, without a doubt, people from the Middle Class. The Indian middle class has been growing and according to studies by McKinsey it will grow to 40-60% of the population. The Low-Income classes hardly have the purchasing power to drive an economy while Higher Classes are more into personalized buying rather than standardized retail shopping. The Middle Class, on the other hand, has become more empowered. With an upswing in educational status, decrease in unemployment, and rise in average annual incomes, the Middle Class has higher disposable incomes which it uses to increase its standard of living by purchasing more and more. This is virtually a retailers dream come true! Brand Loyalty versus Desire for new options Traditionally, Indian customers have been very loyal to their brand. We all would have seen their grandparents, or granduncles/aunts buying the same brand of Toothpaste or Hair Oil from the market even though better products exist on the shelves. This was very helpful for established brands to retain their customer and posed difficulties (in terms of entry barriers) for upcoming and small firms. This mentality is changing fast. The new generation, or the Gen-Y, is very brand conscious and evaluates all its options before making any purchase. They keep in mind their notion of Cool before buying a thing as simple as a toothbrush. Brand Loyalty is a thing of the past. Kids and Teens today will change their brand as fast as the wind. Shift from Kirana Shops to Large retailers The increase in the number of options that are available to the consumer, in terms of brand, product quality, colors, packaging and what not, has created another paradigm shift in consumer behavior. Gone are the days of the Kirana Shops with limited varieties of products stored on their shelves. People these days want to have the entire range of products in front of their eyes so that they can pick and choose. They want to experience the product by holding it in their hands before making the final decision whether to buy or not. This has created solid opportunity for FMCG companies so that they can showcase their product and make sure their product catches the customers eye. They no longer have to be at the mercy of established players for market share. Durability as a necessary quality Indian customers have traditionally desired durable and rugged products. They buy products with the intention of long time use and do not believe much in use-and-throw items. For example, it is only recently that the use and throw paper cups and plates are catching on. Indians generally dont prefer them as they find them to be more expensive. Another example would be the case of the Nokia-1100 phone, marketed with the tagline Made for India. Nokia 1100 was a sturdy phone, waterproof rubber coated and stain resistant, ideal for Indian farmers and truck drivers who do rough work every day and stand a chance of spoiling their phone. Larger/Joint Families and Bulk Purchases Families in India are larger compared to their international counterparts. Some of the households run as joint families. The major effect that this has is bulk buying. People will buy goods for the entire family in one shot. This means that companies need to come up with large, super saver packs for their products. On the other hand, there exist a significant number of students, bachelors and small households that prefer smaller packaging and refills. The challenge for firms is to establish the right package size and the amount to produce in each size. Impulsive buying With increased disposable income due to higher salaries, newly earning professionals (people straight out of college) tend to do a lot of impulsive shopping i.e. buying something that is not required only because it caught your eye. With more and more youngsters joining the impulsive buyers brigade, India is a sellers heaven. Adapting to The Indian context Core Product Basic Product Expected Product Augmented Product Potential Product India, as a market, poses unique opportunities and challenges to companies contemplating an entry. With a rapidly growing middle class and a promising growth rate, India is a lucrative destination for companies facing saturation in demand back home. A foray in Indian market, on the other hand, is not without its own perils. Companies who have ignored the unique Indian context in its marketing strategy have failed miserably while those who have given due attention to its type and taste have reaped enormous profits. Following are some of the factors which differentiate Indian context from the global one and must be taken into account by companies before entering Indian markets: India lives in villages: With 85% of India living in villages having about half of Indias buying potential, a company planning an entry in India(particularly FMCG) has to strategize for rural marketing. It cant think of succeeding by focusing on metros alone. All 4Ps need to be customized while tapping this market: Product: As per Kotler, there are various levels of product offering as one adds value to the core product (shown in the adj. fig) With low per capita incomes and a widening economic disparity between urban and rural India, the rural customer is highly price conscious and looks for the basic features. So, only basic or expected product should be marketed in rural India. Moreover the rural customer looks for durability and sturdiness in the product Promotion: An advertisement designed to promote a product in a metro or an urban set up needs to be customized to rural audience for it be effective in appeal to rural customers. Moreover, traditional media needs to be employed to make the advertisement reach rural audience. The use of numerous languages and dialects across the country warrants further customization of the promotion program .Literacy level being very low in rural India, conveying the message to the rural customer requires an entirely different approach. Pricing: With a highly price sensitive population, companies usually resort to aggressive pricing to succeed in rural markets. They yearn to achieve huge volumes to offset the low margins. Place: Distribution poses a serious challenge while marketing in rural India. To make more ground-contacts with the rural customers some channels which can be used are RMVS (Rural Marketing Vehicles) which are basically company delivery vans which are used both for promotion and sales. As per Indian Market Research Bureau, annual sales at melas in Indian rural countryside is around 3500 crore which offer a lucrative marketing ground for companies having rural aspirations. Infrastructure: As compared to western countries, India has a poor logistics infrastructure posing as a serious supply chain bottleneck. The distribution system has to be adapted to take care of this constraint .Inventory levels down the value chain cannot be allowed to go too low. While companies can reap the benefits of keeping a lean inventory in countries where there is a strong logistics network. By proper use of technology like monitoring POS data and analyzing it centrally, however, can give a competitive advantage in such situations. Other infrastructural issues include power deficit and poor internet penetration. The Cultural Aspect: As per Carl Jung Culture is the collective unconscious that is built over centuries and passed from generation to generation. Failure to appreciate the cultural differences between markets can make even behemoths to fail miserably(e.g. Disneyland in Germany).To complicate the situation more, the heterogeneity in India with respect to culture is immense and moving from one corner of the country to another is like changing a nation. No doubt there are commonalities as well. Let us evaluate India on Hofstedes cultural dimensions(which by large is the most widely accepted model for studying cultural differences) All these differences have huge implications on marketing strategy of a company e.g. an advertisement designed for a population having high masculinity index may not appeal an audience with low masculinity Index. Segmentation and Demographics: The usual demographic bases of segmentation like age, income, education etc. progressed to non demographic bases like values ,tastes and preferences .Rediscovering the elementary bases of segmentation taking into account the ground level realities can work wonders instead e.g. Introduction of Emami Fair and Handsome for men was based on the discovery that men were using the fairness cream meant for women and hence there was an unmet demand. Another example is the introduction of Allen Solly Women by Madura Garments based

Much Ado About Nothing - A Feminist Perspective Essay -- Feminism Fem

A Feminist Perspective of Much Ado About Nothing  Ã‚      Much Ado About Nothing, though a critically acclaimed play, seems to be truly a fuss of trivial details and sexist thinking. The title fits the play itself, in the sense that it is a case of a great amount of nothing, which perhaps can be assumed to be a mistake on William Shakespeare's part. The characters in the comedy are not realistic, and those that could have been were transformed throughout the course of events depicted. The most trouble with the play, however, seems to come from the representation of the female characters, particularly in comparison with the males. It seems almost that the female characters are written off, rather than merely written out. The male characters of the play are given higher roles, and their characters are followed more faithfully, further proving its chauvinistic composition. The title of the play even suggests a sexist nature in its possible Elizabethan reference to the female genitalia. The play seems to reflect the common thought of its era concerning the social stat...

What Is One Worth? Essay -- Philosophy

What Is One Worth? In the depths of an individual’s being, lies his or her self-worth. Self-worth molds individuals into who they are, what they want to become. Self-worth lies at the heart of self-esteem. Self-esteem is, Palladino (1994) a blend of â€Å"self-confidence, self-worth, and self-respect. It involves respecting others, [along with] feeling a sense of harmony and peace within yourself† (sec.1p.1). The secret to higher self-esteem is the incentive to take accountability for one’s viewpoints, such as his or her aspirations, ethics, capabilities, and curiosities and to understand that these things combined is what makes them who they are (Palladino, 1994). However, the quest of higher self-esteem at times will cause sacrifices to be made by the individual to education, relationships, self-regulation, mental and physical health, as well as other concerns (Crocker & Knight, 2005). Palladino, (1994) noted that â€Å"self-esteem reflects [who each individual is] to everyone with whom [they] come into contact with (sec.1p.1). Self-esteem does not remain the same throughout an individual’s lifetime. There are many circumstances that come and go that causes self-esteem to also change. As stated by Palladino, (1994) â€Å"self-esteem is both conscious and unconscious. It is an ongoing assessment of who someone is; a belief about what they can and cannot do† (sec.1p. 1). For example, when a person buys a house, self-esteem will be high. If a person loses his or her house due to foreclosure, self-esteem can be low. Carl Rogers, one of the most influential psychologists in the 20th century, stated that [self-worth can be viewed as a gauge from high to low. There are times in one’s life where they are capable of handling the ba... ... life. However, each individual if they choose to do so can take charge over his or her life, and he or she can create better alternatives for themselves. References Crocker, Jennifer & Knight, Katherine M. (2005). Contingencies of Self Worth. Current Directions in Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell). Vol. 14 (Issue 4), pages 4, 200-203. McLeod, S.A. (2007). Simply Psychology; Carl Rogers. Retrieved April 26, 2012 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html Palladino, Connie D. (1994). Developing Self Esteem: A Guide for Positive Success. Menlo Park, California: Crisp Publications. Vohs, Kathleen D (Editor); Finkel, Eli J. (2006). Self and Relationships: Connecting Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Processes. New York, NY, USA: Guilford Press. Retrieved from: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/Doc?id=10172290&ppg=48

The Material Nature of Spirituality Essay examples -- Spirit Spiritual

The Material Nature of Spirituality It was observed from the 'time to think' experiments done in Biology 103 lab, that thinking is material. Thinking was associated with material changes and activities in the brain and the connected nervous system. This promulgates the brain=behavior notion. According to this notion, all aspects of human behavior and experiences are functions of a material structure, the brain. Who one is, is determined by his or her brain. Nevertheless, many people continue to believe in a 'higher power' that guides and controls human action and behavior. In a sense, religion and spirituality was developed to understand and explore questions about 'who we are' and 'what is the purpose of life'. Whether one is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu, religious thinking and belief attempt to ground human experiences and thoughts in the spiritual and ethereal. Religious experiences are considered 'otherworldly' and not material. Heightened spiritual behavior through prayer, meditation or yoga is considered to lead to a state of 'transcendence', 'inner peace' or a 'nearness to God' depending on which faith you follow. Hence, the notion of spirituality and religion is based on an ethereal component. However could the ethereal and spiritual be embodied by a material structure, the brain? Recent scientific research has provided observations, which suggest spirituality, and religious experience has a biological basis. Scientific observations suggest there are specific physiological aspects to spiritual behavior like meditation, prayer, and yoga. Many people nowadays follow transcendental meditation, prayer, and yoga to enhance their spiritual and physical well being. These spiritual pra... ...rch/tm_charts/1Phys.html 3) The Effects of Meditation on the Brain Activity , http://members.aol.com/InstSSM/parietal.HTML 4) Searching for the God within,, a past Newsweek article. http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/brynmawr_main?http_rc=400&class=session&sev=temp&type=session&cause=http%3A%2F%2Fweb4.infotrac.galegroup.com%2Fitw%2Finfomark%2F678%2F198%2F19025812w4%2Fpurl%3Drc1_EAIM_0_A69411041%26dyn%3D12!xrn_10_0_A69411041%3Fsw_aep%3Dbrynmawr_main&cont=&msg=No+Session+cookies&sserv=no 5) The Humanizing Brain: Where Religion and Neuroscience Meet, http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/brynmawr_main?http_rc=400&class=session&sev=temp&type=session&cause=http%3A%2F%2Fweb4.infotrac.galegroup.com%2Fitw%2Finfomark%2F678%2F198%2F19025812w4%2Fpurl%3Drc1_EAIM_0_A53739125%26dyn%3D19!xrn_5_0_A53739125%3Fsw_aep%3Dbrynmawr_main&cont=&msg=No+Session+cookies&sserv=no

Sylvia Plath: The Imperfect Perfectionist

Sylvia Plath's poetry is an expression of â€Å"a personal and despairing grief†. She had the gift of recreating her own past experiences in a complex form, so as to remove them from her present, that it started to seem like an obsession. Within this obsession her poems show a regular pattern of self-centeredness. It was this characteristic that lead her far from any â€Å"self-discovery† and â€Å"self-definition†, and drove her to her death, â€Å"an art† as she words it. Plath readily exploits her emotions through the personified language to build a sinister and super-natural atmosphere, in attempt of creating a â€Å"valiantly unremitting campaign against the black hole of depression and suicide†. However, her attempts went to waste when she committed suicide in the February of 1963. Plath's poetry enables the reader to unravel and look deep into her victimised mind. It was for this talent that she had received much praise, but much more criticism. Plath's poetry mirrors the life of Plath, and to make sense of her poetry it is important to try and have an understanding of Plath, to see things through her perspective. This is what most critics' lack, and so I have taken a step to try and understand her. It is for this reason I will take into consideration the perspective of psychoanalysts to aid me in my understanding of her, in particular the theories of Sigmund Freud, and the view of Marxists, to give me varied opinions. There are many themes common in her poems, each of which have equal importance, but I have chosen to analyse the themes of colour, family and relationships, and the self-inflicted pains she puts upon herself. Relationships were always a weak point in Plath's life. She has always felt disappointed by the relationships she had with others, especially that between her mother, father and husband. Her poems, which are partly stimulated by them, particularly â€Å"Daddy†, â€Å"Medusa† and â€Å"Tulips†, are a powerful source of â€Å"murderous art†, where she was allowed to expose her bitterness towards them. She uses reoccurring imagery associated with the three protagonists in her life, and poetry in attempt of breaking free from the chains of a â€Å"tortured mind of the heroine†. The relationship between Plath and her mother was very ineffectual, or that is how she exemplifies it through the use of her poetry. â€Å"Medusa†, which is said to be based on her mother is like a fantasy tale gone wrong. Plath creates a grotesque fictional jellyfish like character personified by the character of her mother. There is not even a little love being expressed in this poem, unlike ‘Daddy'. â€Å"Who do you think you are?†¦A communion wafer? Blubbery Mary? This is a hate poem, as the lines show no affection expressing hatred to such a level that the language used is so blunt and rude that it is hard to distinguish any relation between them. They also represent proof of the suppressed anger, which has brought Plath down in her life. The poem is made of many flashbulb memories, which are created at a time of high emotion. Memories of this kind are thought to be very accurate and so we cannot challenge Plath's recollection of these events to prove that they are false, however, throughout her poems, Plath shows a habit of inflicting pain upon herself in exaggeration of the cause and affect. She uses the same technique of reminiscing about the past, whilst exploiting the pain and suffering she underwent in â€Å"Daddy†. Another psychodynamic approach originates from explanations of attachment. Freud put forward an account, known as ‘cupboard love', based on the child's attachment with its mother. He states that the reason the child is attached with its mother is because they know that their mother will provide them with their needs without delay. These high expectations from a mother may also be the reason for Plath's anger towards her mother. Plath may have blamed her mother for the death of her father, and built hatred for her for the fact that she was unable to bring her, her dad back. Stan Smith, a Marxist has similar views. He believes â€Å"a writer is a creature of circumstance†, and Plath was a creature of emotional torment. Her father's death drove her to insanity, making her more and more obsessed with her father's death. Plath always recalled her dad through the imagery of the foot. She felt that the foot was to be blamed for the death of her father and used it as an excuse to build revulsion against him. â€Å"In which I have lived like a foot†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ The boot in the face† Daddy is a good example of her disillusions about her father. These quotes taken from â€Å"Daddy† show her misrepresentations of her father as a brutal and obsessive man, however it is learnt from many sources that his character was often described as â€Å"authoritarian† and maintained a relationship with his children with very little involvement, and so her distraught behaviour can be excused when she conveys her immense abhorrence. The line â€Å"If I've killed one man, I've killed two† shows that she has destroyed the image of her father, and the ability to see good in anyone. Many Marxists believe this is â€Å"entirely unfair† and that she cannot blame the mistakes of one person to generalise everyone else. This is how she creates a negative image of everyone around her, including her family, by reflecting her sweeping statement upon the world. The way in which she conveys a very pessimistic illustration of her father repeatedly shows that she is fixated on the torture she thinks her father has inflicted upon her. This defence mechanism she uses in â€Å"Daddy† and â€Å"Medusa† is explained in the ‘personality theory', which states that any experiences through childhood, which are of excessive, pain or pleasure become fixated in the mind. Later on in life it leads to repression (when the mind tries to block out any of those threatening thoughts). I also agree with this psychological explanation, however, some of this diagnosis does not seem to be the case for Plath. Instead of eradicating these thoughts from her mind, she keeps reminding herself of them. Plath's imagery is so constant throughout her poems that it seems she is trying to remove these thoughts and incidents from her mind and life by writing them down, but is unable to, which explains the repetition in her poems. Unlike psychoanalysts, many Marxists have a very different view, that we cannot depend on Plath's interpretation of her parents, as Stan Smith words it, â€Å"a product of her own time and place†. I too agree with their opinion. In her poems, Sylvia deeply focuses on their faults but does not pay any attention to her own. A popular Marxist theory is that Plath and her problems with her parents is part of a much bigger problem. Compared with other issues her trouble is insignificant, and so for her to exaggerate these issues is unfair. ‘Daddy' is somewhat Plath's finale, to eliminate her dad from her mind and life. It seems to me that whilst recollecting memories of her father, Plath was unable to recall enough and was forced to elaborate from the small amount she has. Gradually the recollections became very heavily buried under the elaborations, and the poem becomes a stranger to her, or so that is how it seems to the reader. However, for Plath, the more disguised her poetry, the more personal her poems become. And this is why it is necessary to try and understand her, so you can dig beneath the top layer to reveal her inside. She very cleverly hides her affection for her father in the same way. It is crucial to see beneath the cruel and callous layer to see that under all of this so-called hate for her dad, Plath still has some love for him, yet all this suppressed anger and, torture, created by the imagery, can be justified. To be able to give an explanation for anger, whilst investigating her real feeling towards her father, it is necessary to examine the imagery she uses. â€Å"Any more, black shoe. In which I have lived like a foot† The foot and shoe metaphors have a lot of importance in Plath's work, as she is able to relate to them very easily to help her present her feelings. As this quote shows, the boot is â€Å"a symbol of her, suffocated and stuck†, and also of the fear of which she had to live with whilst her father was alive. His dominant status in the house oppressed Plath, and even whilst he was alive he wasn't able to give her the love that a young child needed. They also represent the initial discovery of the diabetes, that later killed him, because he was reluctant to have his leg amputated. By using these images Al Alvarez believes that â€Å"in ‘Daddy' she goes right down to the deep spring of her sickness and describes it purely†. I find this quite absurd that Alvarez has judged Plath's work as an account of her sickness, rather than an exclamation from a child who has been deprived of fatherly love and affection. It doesn't seem as if he has taken into consideration her emot ions, and has made no attempt to try and understand her perspective. ‘Daddy' is a cry of pain from a daughter who expresses incredulous psychological trauma because a father will not return unconditional love by surviving for her sake. Plath too, like any other individual should have the right to express this trauma, which is what most critics like Alvarez are forgetting and not allowing her to do. Many analysts also compare Plath's behaviour to the Electra complex. I disagree with this theory and don't think that Plath's feelings for her father should not be interpreted in a sexual form. Despite these in depth analyses, could it not be that Plath only uses the black shoe imagery as an extension of the Holocaust imagery, or even only as a link associated to her father? Liz Hood, a Marxist, believes that this over-depth study of the â€Å"black shoe† â€Å"may infact be an example of adding ones own interpretation to something which may in essence be a great deal more simple†. I think this opinion should be taken very seriously when trying to investigate Plath' relationships and life. The â€Å"black shoe† could simply represent the initial discovery of her father's diabetes, but is very misleading to many. It is these factors, which make the understanding of Plath nearly impossible. Despite the hate being shown, I agree with Alvarez, concluding that ‘Daddy' is a love poem. The brutality of the poem makes the idea of ‘Daddy' being a love poem very obvious, but yet not so obvious. Examples of the double innuendo are shown in many places throughout the poem, but are intertwined in all the vicious imagery. â€Å"I used to pray to recover you. Ach du†¦or Achoo†¦your gobbledygoo† Plath refers to her father as ‘du'. Although by using ‘du' Plath dissociates her relationship, instead by using Daddy, â€Å"there is still some kind of cooing tenderness in thus which complicates the other more savage note of resentment†, thinks Alvarez and myself. This is because Plath is torn between viewing her father in the eyes of a child and in the eyes of an adult, as you can see from the quotes above. Certain words are very childish, and make reference to Plath as a child. â€Å"She is still a daughter who never grew out of the stage that all daughters go through, thinking they're fathers are the closest thing to God†, that she is still daddy's little princess, and so by using these words and by referring to her father as ‘daddy' she is compensating for the loss of her childhood without her father. Opposing these thoughts is Hugh Kenner, another psychoanalyst, who believes â€Å"there's a lot of nonsense being talked about in these poems†. Nevertheless, he also thinks she deserves to be accredited for her creativity. Kenner has separated her creativity and emotions into two categories, where as I think this is impossible to do. Her poetry and the sensation of the poetry are portrayed through her creativity, which are her emotions. ‘Daddy' and ‘Medusa' both show the complementing balance between the two. The way in which she contrasts her self made anguish with what may be seen as much more sever suffering, so simply is proof of her ability to express her own pain through literature whilst weaving in her personal grievance. This ability helps Plath to dissolve herself into her work to such an extent that she progressively exposes her feelings with more and more depth, and gradually self-destructs in ‘Daddy'. The most common imagery that she used to do th is is associated with the Holocaust and religion. Psychoanalyst Alvarez suggests that by using the Holocaust imagery, â€Å"what she does in the poem is, with a weird detachment, to turn the violence against herself so as to show that she can equal her oppressors with her self-inflicted oppression†. This is definitely the case in ‘Daddy'. Throughout ‘Daddy', Plath compares the many conflicts in her life with images of World War 2. She creates suffering all around her, and â€Å"when suffering is there whatever you do, by inflicting upon yourself you achieve your identity, you set yourself free†. This is created by the use of the Holocaust imagery. Plath causes her own aggression by contrasting everything involved in her poem with this imagery. In her mind, there is enough comparison for her to be able to convince herself that she is â€Å"a Jew†, and by doing this has the ability to bombard every pain, in every sense, not only that of the Holocaust, upon herself, which takes her self-inflicted suffer ing to the highest level. The black shoe can also be interpreted as â€Å"an extension of the Holocaust and Nazi† imagery and by doing this Plath also gives an impression of her father as a Nazi. I think it is unfair of Plath to and compare her anger and suffering with that of the Holocaust, however, Plath's poetry is very â€Å"spiritual† and whilst criticising her work we need to take in mind that this is the â€Å"mind of the tortured heroine†. Sharing the same view is Leon Wieselter, a Marxist, who too thinks, â€Å"Whatever her father did to her, it could not have been what the Germans did to the Jews†; he goes on to say, â€Å"The metaphor is inappropriate†. I do not agree with this opinion of his. We as readers, and outsiders will be unable to experience Plath's emotions, and so do not have the right to criticise her emotions which are portrayed through her imagery. What we may see as bearable anguish, may be comparable to murder for Plath (in the case of being separated from her father), and we have established from previous analysis and just by reading her poetry that her fathers death seriously scarred Plath mentally. Furthermore I think that Plath feels some attachment to the Jews, because of her original nationality. Challenging this opinion is Stan Smith, another Marxist, who feels â€Å"it would be wrong to see Plath's use of the imagery in the concentration camp simply as unacceptable†. Another very blunt try at this technique is shown throughout ‘Lady Lazarus'. â€Å"In ‘Lady Lazarus' the†¦cultural resonance of the original story is harnessed to a vehemently self- justifying purpose, so that the supra-personal dimensions of knowledge-to which myth typically gives access-are slighted in favour of the intense personal need of the poet†, as Hugh Kenner describes this. This is a very accurate account of Plath in ‘Lady Lazarus'. Here she causes to experience this torture in a very direct way. We can see this from the first stanza. â€Å"I have done it again. One year in every ten I manage it-† These powerful lines show that Plath's self-made agonies are her drugs. She is self generating and to get energy to write she imposes pain upon herself. By doing this she also manages to gain everyone's attention of which she feels she was deprived from when she was younger, or maybe even all her life. Again in ‘Lady Lazarus' she involves some holocaust imagery and some reference to her father's foot. However there is not much imagery of this sort in ‘Lady Lazarus' but the language used is more frank, and revolved around her as a person. In a sense its is a summary of her life, a brief autobiography. By repeating the upsetting events in her life she reminds herself of them, and in a way by doing this she is causing herself to drown again in her own history. Another kind of imagery, which I think scares Plath is that of colour. It seems like Plath had a phobia of the colour red. Although this is a different imagery in its own respect, I think that Plath looks too deep into the various connotations of the colour red. Red associates itself with many assorted connotations, including love and passion, hatred and anger, jealousy, roses and blood. These are just a few of the many. When scanning through these words, you are able to connect them with the various events and emotions in Plath's life. This is why she tries to avoid red in her poems, in my opinion. However, there are exceptions. Plath feels she is able to use red as another sort of imagery to put across her feelings. This line taken from ‘Tulip' is an example of the exceptions she makes. â€Å"The tulips are too red†¦their redness talks to my wounds†¦upsetting me with their sudden tongues and their colour, a dozen red lead sinkers round my neck†¦the vivid tulips eat my oxygen.† These quotes show us to what extent the colour red causes her harm. In ‘Tulips' Plath personifies the tulips, by making them able to physically hurt her, as shown by the quotes. However, as soon as she brings to light the redness of the tulip, her audience become aware of the negativity of the tulips, and a very tense atmosphere is created. By characterising the tulips she feels like everyone is victimising her, and so again brings a feeling of fear and oppression upon her. She uses red to replace someone, of whom she is writing about. The tulips are harmless, but the redness attacks her mind. â€Å"The patient attempts to escape by every possible means. First he says nothing comes into his head, then that so much comes into his head that he can't grasp any of it†¦at last he admits that he really cannot say anything, he is so ashamed to†¦so it goes on, with untold variations. I think this quote said by Freud is perfect to conclude Plath. The paper is Plath's couch, and the pen her doctor. Poetry is mostly created for the sake of releasing pent up emotions, that one finds impossible to keep inside them, similar to crying out, rather than creating poems for the sake of art. However, the main question, which will trouble many minds for generations to come, is, was Sylvia's outcry disguised behind a false persona?