Broken Rites in Hamlet

In order to understand the role of the rites in Hamlet, one must conceptualize the ritual. The rites in Hamlet concern mainly marriage, mourning and funeral. It is crucial to distinguish their specific nature to detect how they participate in the tragedy. Arnold van Gennep identified and elaborated in his works that birth, puberty, marriage and death are the principal changes in life of an individual and that of the society. He defined and qualified them in the book of the same name as The Rites of Passage (Van Geppen).Every passage understands the successive phases of separation, liminality and re-corporation in order to allow the emotional adaptation of an individual to the transition. The transition can be particulary dangerous for the concord of the social life as its cataclysmal habitual order. Since the rites of passage are designed to avoid the possible disturbance when regulating each changing in the society, the broken rites of passage concieve the impetus for the desintegra tion.In the course of this effort to disclose the extent of the broken rites in Hamlet of how it can affect on disjonction in the play, I will analyse them as the very motor of the tragic in the play. The investigation of the broken rites in Hamlet as those that became infallible when taking in consideration the socio-cultural pecularities of the historical period of the 16th and early 17th centuries. The Plague and also the Protestant movement resulted in the abolishment of the funeral rites that could be the last and only possible defence against the all powerful, inexorable death.In the sequel, the deep and extreme human anxiety before the death rose. In the work of Michael Neil, The Issues of Death: Mortality and Identity in English Renaissance Tragedy, he made apparent how the loss of the ritual is connected with the loss of the identity. In these terms, the investigation of the broken rites is particularly relevant for the reconsideration of Hamlet because many inerpreters of the work have focused on Hamlet's character as the central axis of the tragedy (Coyle). In choosing to focus on rites, one gets a more complex understanding on what occurs in the play and how theproblematical interaction between cultural expectations and individual tendencies are tragically intertwined. Exploring the substance of the broken rites in Hamlet which explicitly stands for unmasking and accusation of the order based on the lies throw the new light upon the mechanism of the tragedy. PART I: Broken Rites as the Starting Point of the Tragic Impulse. The play is obsessed with death. Its very exposition is marked by mortal events: the old King of Denmark kills the old King of Norway, the majesty of buried Denmark (1. I. I.48) appears as a Ghost. However, the starting point of the tragic impulse is asserted by the broken rites of the funeral and marriage. The mirth in funeral and dierge in mariage/In equal scale weighing delight and dole (2. I. 2. 12). It is consequentially imp ortant to conceive that these two broken rites serve for the determinant in the inner disintegration of Hamlet. The dead King, Old Hamlet did not receive the proper mourning, due to him, hence the narration chain of his memory is broken. Especially when in a very short time, his wife marries his brother.Two months dead-nay not so much, not two A little month, or ere those shoes were old, With which she followed my poor father's body†¦ a beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourned longer-married with my uncle My father's brother†¦ the salt of most unrighteous tears†¦ incestuous sheets!(I. 2. 138-154) â€Å"No windy suspiration of forced breath, /No, nor the fritful river in the eye, /Nor the dejected havior of the visage†( I. 2. 79-81). Hamlet is alone to â€Å"give these mourning duties to your father† ( I. 2. 88) and to be dressed in black, while the rest of the court-including the queen-are already in the â€Å"remembrance of ourselvesâ₠¬  ( I. 2. 7 ) by admitting with pleasure the changes of hierarchy and moral behavior that Claudius institutes: â€Å"The funeral baked meats/Did coldly furnish forth th emarriage tables† ( I. 2. 180-181).The origin of the tragic must be detected properly. To do this, it is helpful to refer to Steiner's definition of tragedy which is defined as â€Å"the tragic personage is broken by forces which can neither be fully understood, nor overcome by rational prudence†¦ Tragedy is irreparable† (Dollimore). The irreparable begins with the irreparably broken rites of the funeral and marriage of Hamlet’s parents, the King and Queen of Denmark that Hamlet assumes on his own. Therefore before learning the truth from the Ghost, which will turn the tragedy into a revenge, the tragedy is set already.Before learning the truth , the hero's self is disjointed : O that this too too solid flesh would melt, /thaw and resolve itself into a dew,/Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter†¦ ( I. 2. 129-133). Some historical facts are necessary to evoke in order to understand the whole picture of the tragedy. Funeral and mourning rites were substantial in the Elizabethan period maingly in order to maintain the social order and the psychological defense against mortality (Tylliard).The Plague had brought in the brutal abolishment of funeral rites wherein the mass burials of all classes have no distinction in common pits without any hierarchy. The denial of the purgatory by Protestants resulted into â€Å"a painfully private apocalypse,† placing the deceased â€Å"beyond our help† (Neil). The tormenting thoughts that death strikes anyone at any moment and that â€Å"a king may go a progress through the guts of beggar† (4. 3. 30) roused extreme anxiety on the issues of death. This anxiety has developed into a profound meditation on mortality and identity.That is why the melancholic character Hamlet ha d always â€Å"his eyes turned into his very soul. † The certitude of anything, the balance were beyond any human power or will and hence any change seemed even more tormenting. The marriage to a deceased husband's brother was forbidden by the Church, whether Catholic or Protestant (Shakespear). Claudius introduces the unnatural marriage by the shift from our â€Å"sometimes sister† to â€Å"wife† ( I. 2. 8-14). Therefore it is an already irreparably broken marriage rite before learning that Gertrude was seduced and then committed adultery in the sacred marriage.The role of the rites of passage is to guarantee the smooth adaptation to change. But Hamlet was stuck in the phase of limination even before learning the truth from the Ghost. His limination phase was his mourning. He was between the live and the death, where the death was the material category. The impossibility of his passage out of mourning was reinforced by the fact that he already mentioned that he is the only mourned, hence twicely isolated. The phase of re-incorporation to the world of the dead is the most significant in the funeral rite (Van Geppen 210).Assurance was not given to Old Hamlet, as there was no separation and liminality. Separation: he was honored no relief, no purification: â€Å"Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,/Unhouseled, dis-appointed, unaneled, /No reckoning made, but sent to my account/With all my imperfections on my head. † Limination: no proper mourning. In the sequel, The King Hamlet was not re-incorporated and that is why he appears as a Ghost. He is ineffectual to reach â€Å"the country from wich nor traveller returns†( 3. 1. 80-81).Horatio's words about the Ghost seem unrelevant at first reading but in reality they are important for the perception of the tragedy structure. â€Å"What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord,/Or to the dreadful summit of cliff†¦ Which might deprive your soveregnty of reson/and draw you i nto madness? †( 1. 4. 48-53) The individuals that were not accorded with the proper funeral rites could never integrate into the world of the dead. This kind of dead was particularly dangerous as they were trying to penetrate there at the expense of the living beings. Usually they were marked by the desire of vengeance (Van Geppen 229-230).The passage out the liminality is possible only through the successful re-incorporation (Van Geppen 211). Can King Hamlet be re-incorporated if Hamlet revenges? Or does the chase to repair forever broken store the true mousetrap for the hero himself? The same the re-incorporation phase of mariage is never re-incorporated by Hamlet. His mother not only reintegrated in the social life, but she lives her new marriage in the amplitude of plaesures. Having been re-incorporated by others, the rite of marriage does not concern the court as it concerns Hamlet.The latter has not passed through the phases and that is why he finds himself ruptured from society. To reconstitute the inverted natural order of things, Hamlet must restore the broken chain of narration. His father must be remembered and Claudius must be punished. PART II Sleeping Dog But what restoring the memory that is restoring the broking rites inserts for the hero? Is his invocation for a retribution a possibility to reahibilitate the former natural order or is it a course towards an inevitable tragic end? One of the hero's attempts to restore the memory is the introducing of the Moustrap.The broken rites' great instigation of the unnatural is contrasting with the situation in the speech on Priam's slaughter. He maternity†¦ and for a robe,/About her lank and fall o'er-teemed loins, A blanket in th'alarum†¦ (2. 2. 498-99), wouild have made milch the burning eyes (2. 2. 508) is opposed to Gertrude's adulltry unrighteous tears( 1. 2. 155). Hecube mourning was so intense that the death or the Fortune's Wheel would treason have pronounced (2. 2. 502). It stre ssed the potent power of the rite. When the rite is devoutly respected, it can accomplish the miracles.After his successful attempt to reveal the truth, Hamlet does not kill Claudious during his attempt to pray because he must ensure the bad phase of separation for him and not to â€Å"send him to heaven. † He must be killed in â€Å"the blossom of his sin† as Old Hamlet to get stuck in the tormenting limination phase. Trying to resrore the irrepareble broken rites by restoring the memory of his father, the hero has desperately condemened to the tragic end. The atonement of the obscure past is impossible without the occurence of new tragic events. As a consequence, the individual crisis of Hamlet was becoming more contradictive and more tormenting.The successive broken rites were reperpetuted throughout the play: the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern deaths, the â€Å"hugger-mugger† way of Polonius burial which causes the disjunction in the minds of his children. It is relevant here to mark that Ophelia suffered quite the similar inner disintegration issued from the broken rites than that of Hamlet. Her father's death was insultingly dishonorable. The marriage that she prepared was abolished and hence, she can only be analyzed as stuck in the phase of the liminality. The songs in her madness speak out: â€Å"Larded with sweet flowers, /Which bewept to the grave did not go /With true-love showers.† â€Å"You promised me to wed†¦. Stricktly speaking, the death of innocent Ohelia is provoked by these two broken rites introducing a new variotion on â€Å"mirth in funeal and dierge in marriage:† â€Å"I thought thy bridebed to have decked, sweet maid† (5. 1. 154). The inexorable insistence on the irreparable collapse caused by the broken rites works up the tragedy. So considering Ophelia's death â€Å"doubtful,† the priest deprieves her from the correct obsequious rites: â€Å"Yet here she is allowed her virgin rit es†¦ †( 5. 1. 222); Hamlet: â€Å"And such maimed rites? This doth betoken/ The corpse they follow did with desp'rate hand† ( 5. 1. 209-210).Moreover, one of the Clown concludes that â€Å"if this had not been a gentlewoman, she have been buried out of Christian burial† (5. 1. 23-24). Ophelia's tragic accompined by the tokens of floral innocence end seems to be one of the most dramatic and the ambigues quarrel of Hamlet and Laertes on her coffin only exacerbates the task of restoring the rememberance. Claudious is speculating on the rite of mourning, when inciting Laertes agaings Hamlet. Was your father dear to you? /Or are you like the painting of sorrow,/A face without a heart? ( 4. 7. 95-96). The rite stakes in the sort: â€Å"To cut his throat i'th'church† ( 4. 7. 103).PART III: The effect on the identity or how the broken rites change the perception of life Exploring the anxieties and in particular the anxieties concerning the funeral and mournin g rites, the play is imminently influenced by the memento mori traditions. Making apparent the similitude of the skulls in the scene with the grave-diggers, Hamlet broods on the subject of death. The tragic emphasis intensified when unwillingly but opportunately the grief of Ophelia's death was fractured by the joking with the Yourick skull: â€Å"Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint and inch thick, to this favor she must come.Make her laugh at that†( 5. 1. 184-185). And accordingly if addressed to the living this joke would have brought rather melancholy than joy. Melancholy emerges with the awareness of the loss of a geocentric and athropocentric universe, the loss of the centre. In this mesh, â€Å"the melancholic finds the opportunity to re-centre himself† (Curti 156-157). Hamlet is trying to reconstitute himself through the restoration of the rememeberance which became his obsession. In the last scenes of the play, Hamlet was getting more and more aware of the imporance of the a good death also for himself.The issue of the suicide was left aside in the first two acts. Hamlet percieved that the good end may be guaranteed by noone, but oneself. â€Å"Readiness is all† (5. 2. 169). This equivocal statement accounts also for the excuses that Hamlet presents to Laertes before his possible end. â€Å"The soldiers' music and the rites of war/ Speak loudly for him† (5. 2. 352-53) can not truely be appease the initial disjointing of time and state. Even if the solemn obsequious march that ends the play indemnify on a certain level the lack of the accomplished rite, Fortinbras is a foreigner and the former enemy who had taken the rule in his hands.The cost of this â€Å"truly delivered† ( 5. 2. 338) restoration of a piece of memory is the tragic end of the whole kindom. Conlcusion Exploring the role of the broken rites in Hamlet as the motor of the tragic in the play cannot be a delusion, but is a broad fi eld of research of the precision in the approaches of the understanding of the tragedy. Alternatively, from the very broken cemectries of Caesar's Rome and to the groteskly solemn funeral rites on Hamlet's honor, the broken rites are confirmed to possessan an eldritch power to affect on the social as well as on the individual.Proving their susceptibility to unremitting reproduction of the new broken rites that bind us towards a more sophisticated account of the mechanism of the emergence of the successive tragic impulses in the play, the critical reading of the play from the broken rites axis. Bearing in mind the social and cultural context of the 16 th and early 17th centuries and in particular the memento mori and the arts of death traditions, the play does not impend the remorseless broken rites to gratify the tragedy. Works Cited Coyle, Martin. Hamlet. UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 1992.Curti, Lidia. Female Stories, Female Bodies. Narrative identity and Representation. New York: Macmi llan Press, 1998. Dollimore, Jonathan. Radical Tragedy: Religion, Ideology and Power in the Drama of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1984. Neil, Michael. Issues of Death: Mortality and Identity in English Renaissance Tragedy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. G. R. Hibbard. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987. Tylliard, Eustace M. W. The Elizabethan World Picture. US: Penguin, 1990. Van Geppen, Arnold. Les Rites de Passage.

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Computer Networks And Internet Protocol Television Essay Example for Free

Computer Networks And Internet Protocol Television Essay The advent of computer has changed the way the world moves. Distance factor is no longer a problem. The physical might appear a big place with things at far off places but the world in virtual form doesn’t believe in distance. Everything can be achieved within minutes if not seconds. The whole technology behind this mega change is based on computer and is termed as Information Technology. This technology has led to the creation of a cyber world or electronically generated world with the help of computers connected to each other through suitable wires. Now words like cybercafe, cyber chat, cyberspace, cyber shopping, etc. have started making rounds. People can send electronic mails to far off places within seconds. Details and information are getting transferred within few seconds. People in Shanghai and New York are just seconds away. Transferring data in electronic form is actually the fastest way to transfer things. It’s not only the message transfer that has been revolutionized but also the business world. There are virtual shopping malls with website offering you a range of products ranging from computer peripherals to groceries. Companies are now providing details of their product through their website and are accepting customers’ requests of information and now even orders for products are being accepted. Everything is available. Money transfer can easily be done through wire transfer techniques. People do not wait. This world is not ruled by armed soldiers or any nuclear weapon. It’s the information which rules. The physical world just has to react on the outcome. Its role is just for receiving and sending. This high performing virtual world has made significant change in the performance of the actual world (Tanenbaum, 2003). Things in real world are now easier to comprehend. Outsourcing has helped in accessing low cost labor in far off Asian nations like India and China. Multinational companies like Microsoft, IBM, GM. , GE etc. have offices in almost in each part of the world with performance of each of these units can be monitored from any of its offices. Their offices have been networked though LANs i. e. , Local Area Network and WANs i. e. , Wide Area Network. They have virtually made themselves available to their customers any time anywhere and just a click away (Tanenbaum, 2003). 2. Computer System Network of computers A computer system and network of computers are actually two different but interrelated things. A computer system is just a normal computer including peripherals and software necessary for the functioning of the device (Webopedia). But if we talk of Computer Network, it can be defined in a very simple way as a network of computers (Princeton). But giving full importance to all factors getting into act when we talk about network, the definition which actually makes complete sense is none other than the two or more computers connected together to share hardware, software and data and has been implemented according to some topology (Tanenbaum, 2003). The network can have all peripherals located within an office or building. This arrangement is often termed as Local Area Network or LAN (Tech, 2006). If the same is achieved in a wide area i. e. , computers connected to the network are located at places as diverse as countries in different continents, we can call the same as Wide Area Network or WAN (Cisco, 2006). Calling all computers and other intelligent parts of it as nodes, the term network topology can be defined as patterns of links connecting a pair of nodes of a network. 3. Internet Protocol IPTV Technology related television services which include uplink and transmission has seen some of very revolutionary inventions of modern science. The television delivery system has now moved from terrestrial transmission through analog signals to encrypted digital signals through internet as well as IPTV (Anderson, 2006). The entertainment world through television is now very much eager to move from TV being delivered through cable to Internet Protocol Television with content being viewed through technologies used for computer networks (Lu, 2006). The last decade of the 20th century witnessed the massive growth in Internet Protocol based services. Now with the fast development of hardware and software technologies, this internet world has now developed to accommodate services like VoIP and many other telecom products (Wikipedia, 2007). It is a system which delivers digital television services to registered subscribers in a managed network with address based technology. The unique IP address of a subscriber provides him a virtual address over a network and creates a connection between the service provider and the television (Wikipedia, 2007). 4. Television through IPTV: a new experience IPTV is going to give the most electrifying experience to its subscribers. It’s not just seamless TV viewing but also more interactive and personalized. Things like participation in a game show or any discussion board will only require the use of the remote while sitting on the couch. Now the user will not feel being bombarded with a long list of channels rather get a very creative option to receive them with a much richer experience (International Engineering Consortium, 2007). The two-way signal broadcasting system through the network over which IPTV depends, allows the viewers to make selection that too on demand with time shift option. The additional services which can also be incorporated with IPTV are the Web Browsing i. e. surfing the internet, gaming with a game console with the current system and finally the communication applications which can enable email, MMS, Chat, etc (Telecom Italia, 2006). Figure 1 (IPTV delivery Infrastructure) The Set-Top Box which has made this IPTV happen which at one end is connected to the TV set while the other end to an ADSL connection can easily be made to supply Broadcast TV services (BTV) as well as Video On Demand (VOD) services. This BTV facilitates the simultaneous reception by the users of a traditional TV channel. And using multicasting protocols IPTV can make available services which are similar to experiences of a traditional TV like Free-to-air or Pay TV or a Pay-Per-view service (Luarel Networks). The same IPTV can be used by service providers to provide the VOD service which is made available on request. The VOD service requires implementation through IP unicast protocols (Ericsson, 2006). The enhanced IPTV can also make Personal Video Recorder (PVR) services available. The local PVR makes way for video-recording on the STB hard-disk with another set of functions for live, pause and replay. Similarly the Network-based PVR stores the data on the operator’s server which is generally used for VOD (International Engineering Consortium, 2007). On technological point, the IPTV makes way for better utilization of available infrastructure like the bandwidth. Traditional transmission technology actually sends more than hundred channels simultaneously while the IPTV requires just one channel to be sent to the subscriber at a time. Every time the user selects a channel or a program, a new streaming takes place with data related to the newly selected channel (Anderson, 2006). 5. IPTV: More Advantages, More services More Business The IPTV will lead to a very new level of interactivity among Internet and data mainly as voice and video. A cable based TV network beams data in form of video mostly in MPEG format through an explicit bandwidth portion while the internet which enables high speed data transfer works on an IP based network and the data transfer is based on packets rather than streams. Both the technologies are technically very different. This IPTV is an amalgam of both the successful technologies. Being a data-centric application, the packets over this network can deliver both video as well as data (International Engineering Consortium, 2007). Figure 2: Telecommunications IPTV system solution The traditional cable network is often overloaded with more than 100 channels being transmitted simultaneously. So there is a limitation of maximum number of channels that can be made available to the subscriber. IPTV has a very clear advantage (Times News Network, 2006). Theoretically this technology can make almost infinite number of channels at the customer’s disposal. The transmission line actually transmitted a single channel which has been demanded by the customer. So the infrastructure usage per customer is negligible while opening a new era of almost every channel on the planet being made available to the user. The IP technology being a packet based product requires an acknowledgement to be sent to the source for every packet. This ensures that every packet sent by the source should remain intact and any loss of data will require resending of the same packet. This feature ensures very high quality of the product which the subscriber will receive (Anderson, 2006). The advantages associated to IPTV is not just conventional entertainment and advertisement based business but the technology can have its usage in developing new products which can make way to many other forms of businesses. The web based training is one of the many other possibilities. The IPTV network can be used to run different courses by making the videos of the classes available to the registered students (International Engineering Consortium, 2007). IPTV is the next big thing after telecom and internet. The business possibilities associated with this technology is almost as broad as the human thought. Almost all telecom companies are putting big money in exploration and marketing of this product (Blau, 2005). The business network and the corporate LAN’s may be greatest beneficiary with the delivery of videos and television content. The customized content delivery and the extremely secure network will reduce the theft cases to negligible. Customization facility will help the advertisers to understand the behavior of consumers and then will go for personalized ads that will translate into significant business returns (Iyer, 2005). 6. Conclusion The IPTV is going to be the next big thing in communication and media industry. With money pouring inform all big telecom companies IPTV is going to be a very serious business with entertainment becoming more and more customizable. The subscriber will experience a very different medium of entertainment with highest level of interactivity and almost innumerable possible services that too very much on his own wishes. 7. Bibliography Anderson, N. (2006) An introduction to IPTV. Available from http://arstechnica. com/guides/other/iptv. ars [Accessed 10 October 2007] Blau, J. (2005) Internet TV: Still Fuzzy, but Promising. IDG News ServiceAvailable from http://www. pcworld. com/news/article/0,aid,122138,00. asp [Accessed 10 October 2007] Cisco Systems, 2006. Wide Area Network. http://www. cisco. com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ito_doc/introwan. htm [Accessed 10 October 2007]

Financial Ratio Analysis On Company Performance Commerce Essay

Financial Ratio Analysis On Company Performance Commerce Essay Critically evaluating the financial analysis position of the two major UK based Companies BP plc and Royal Dutch Shell plc by calculating the ratios which seems to be an appropriate to bring-out the performance and the strategic financial management of the companies. BP PLC AT Glance BP is one of the worlds largest energy companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items with Core BP Brands are: Castrol Arco Aral Am Pm Wild bean cafà © Starting in 1908 with oil found in a rugged part of Persia after a long and difficult search. Still commencing its development in this 21st century with the long-term projects in Russia, the Gulf of Mexico, North America, Azerbaijan, Indonesia were it has a lot of oil and gas in the proverbial pipelines. The BP group operates across six continents, were products and services are available in more than 100 countries with 80,300 employees (at 31st Dec 2009).the sales and other operating revenues comes to $239 billion (2009).the number of service stations expanding to 22,400 with an active exploration and production in 30countries. SHELL PLC at Glance The parent company of the Shell group is Royal Dutch Shell plc, which is incorporated in England and Wales. Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies and headquarters are in The Hague, the Netherlands, were Chief Executive Officer is Peter Voser. Its aim is to meet the energy needs of society, in ways that are economically, socially and environmentally viable, now and in the future. The brand oils are: Shell Advance :-Shell Advance oils unique performance package is dedicated to bikes and bikers, backed by years of know-how and expertise in lubricants and biking experience. Shell Donax :-Shell Donax Heavy Duty Transmission fluids. Protecting the fleet and reducing the maintenance costs. Shell HelixHYPERLINK javascript:void(#):-Shell Helix motor oil contains active cleansing agents that continuously clean and protect the engine, allowing it to operate at its full potential. Shell Retinax :-The superior performance of Shell Retinax greases is recognised by many of the worlds leading truck manufacturers, many choosing Retinax as their factory-fill grease of first choice. Shell Rimula :-Shell Rimula is one of the worlds leading brands of heavy duty diesel engine oils with top quartile brand preference in many of the markets in which they operate. Shell Rotella :-Shell Rotella portfolio includes heavy duty diesel engine oils, coolants, multi grade oils, designed to provide excellent performance for vehicles, farm implements and construction equipment. Shell Spirax :-Shell Spirax is a leading brand of transmission and gear fluids. Shell Plc operates in above 90countries with 101,000 number of employees on sale of 145 billion litres of fuel. It produces 2% of worlds oil and 3% of worlds gas containing of 44,000 thousand shell service stations and above 35 refineries and chemical plants all over the world. What Is PIMS? Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy (PIMS) is a data base of the market profiles and business results of major American and European companies developed with intention of providing empirical evidence of which business strategies lead to success with in particular industries. Data from the study is used to craft strategies in strategic management and marketing strategy. The study identified several strategic variables that typically influence profitability. Some of the most important strategic variables studied were Market share Product quality Investment intensity Service quality The PIMS project was started by Sidney Schoeffler working at GE in the 1960s, then picked up by Harvards Management Science Institute in the early 1970s, and has been administered by the American Strategic Planning Institute since 1975. It was initiated by senior managers at GE who wanted to know why some of their business units were more profitable than others. With the help of Sidney Schoeffler they set up a research project in which each of their strategic business units reported their performance on dozens of variables. This was then expanded to outside companies in the early 1970s. The survey, between 1970 and 1983, involved 3,000 strategic business units (SBU), from 200 companies. Each SBU gave information on the market, within which they operated, the products they had brought to market and the efficiency of the strategies they had implemented. (http://www.economicexpert.com). The PIMS project analysed the data they had gathered to identify the options, problems, resources and opportunities faced by each SBU. According to Tellis and Golder (1996) claim that PIMS defined markets too narrowly. Respondents described their market very narrowly to give the appearance of high market share. This self reporting bias makes the conclusions suspect. They are also concerned that no defunct companies were included, leading to survival markets. (http://www.economicexpert.com). PIMS Between BP PLC and SHELL PLC BP operates at the frontiers of the energy industry wit world class assets, technology, and capability it knew how to meet the energy needs and deliver the long-term value. BP stays ahead of Shell in restructuring the efforts were the energy management have acknowledged more work is required and is to cut further 5,000 jobs globally in an effort of re-align the business to better meet the operational challenges into the global economic recovery. Shells third quarter 2009 earnings, on a current cost of supplies basis were $2.99 billon compared to $10.9 billion a year ago were the CCS earnings per share decreased by 72%in the same quarter and the cash flow operating activities also raised 42% from $12.6 billion (2009) to $7.35 billion (2008).When it comes to BP the profit fell to $4.98 billion compared to $10.03 billion an year earlier using the industry standard replacement cot profit calculation. The firm reduced the headcount by 3000 last year and is set to cut another 5,000 jobs by the end of 2009. Despite shells good operating performance in this difficult environment it is embarked on an ambitious programme of stringent measures to further improvement of performance .BP shares the remain favoured relative to shell for most buy and holds investors requiring the exposure to the firms relative progress in 2009 to maintain a trend. (http://seekingalpha.com). Performance P/L Sheet of BP PLC and SHELL PLC for the years 2009-08.   Transactions BP Shell 2009 2008 2009 2008 Revenue 239272 361143 278188 458361 Purchases 163772 266982 203075 359587 Gross profit 75500 94161 75113 98774 Production and manufacturing expenses 26954 35709 25301 25565 Selling and administrative expenses 14038 273441 18555 18136 Depreciation and amortization 12106 10985 14458 13656 Exploration expenses 1116 882 2178 1995 Net Interest and other income 5140 262095 6941 12579 Finance costs 1302 956 542 1181 Profit/loss before tax 25124 34283 21020 50820 Taxation 8365 12617 8302 24344 Profit/loss after tax for financial year 16759 21666 12718 26476 Fair Calculations of ratios are as follows Calculation of Selected Ratios for Companies Performance: Using the financial information of the companies the few selected ratios are calculated and explained as follows 1)  (ROCE) Return On Capital Employed =   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Company   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2009 YR   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2008 YR BP 15 22.35 SHELL 10.48 29.67 BP 2009= 15 BP 2008 = 22.35 Shell 2009=0.48 Shell 2008=29.67 Gross profit margin ratio tells the profit a company makes on its cost of sales or cost of goods sold. Here, BP shows an approx 7% fall in 2009 when compared to 2008. Shell shows a fall of 18% in 2009 which more compared to 2008. 2) Gross Profit Margin =   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Company   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2009 YR   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2008 YR BP 31.55 26.07 SHELL 27 21.55 BP 2009 = 31.55 Bp 2008= 26.07 Shell 2009 = 27 Shell 2008= 21.55 Gross profit margin ratio tells the profit a company makes on its cost of sales or cost of goods sold. Both the companies BP and Shell had show a result of 5.50% goods sold during 2009 which is quite better than the 2008. 3) Mark up =   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Company   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2009 YR   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2008 YR BP 46.10 35.27 SHELL 36.99 27.47 BP 2009=46.10 BP 2008= 35.27 Shell 2009= 36.99 Shell 2008= 27.47 Mark-up is the amount, or percentage, a trader adds to the cost price of goods, in order to achieve a profit. The mark-up is the profit percentage based on the cost of goods sold. Both the companies have showed an increase of 10% mark up price in 2009 than the previous year 2008. 4) Current ration =   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Company   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2009 YR   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2008 YR BP 1.14:1 0.95:1 SHELL 1.14:1 1.10:1 BP 2009= 1.14:1 Bp 2008= 0.95:1 Shell 2009=1.14:1 Shell 2008=1.10:1 Measuring the both companys efficiency and short-term liabilities gives out the current ratio of working capital. In the year 2009 BP and SHELL shows an equal ratio of efficiency than the year 2008. 5) ACID TEST RATIO =   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Company   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2009 YR   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2008 YR BP 0.76:1 0.17:1 SHELL 0.81:1 0.92:1 BP 2009 = 0.76:1 BP 2008= 0.17:1 SHELL 2009 = 0.81:1 SHELL 2008 =0.92:1 Quick or liquidity ratio is also known to be Acid test ratio. Working out with the current assets minus stock divided by current liabilities gives the value of the companys liquidity. This tells whether company have short term assets to cover the immediate liabilities without selling inventory. BP had given a quick raise of 0.60:1 between 2008-09 than the SHELL. Analytical Methods Suitable Horizontal Analysis: The analyzing of financial information for two or more years for a single company it is known as horizontal analysis. When comparing the amount in dollars computing percentage changes from year to year for all financial statement balances, such as cash and inventory. Trend analysis involves calculating each years financial statement balances as percentages of the first year known as the base year. For example the below horizontal analysis   table of the two companies are :- Horizontal Analysis 2009/2008 (%) BP Shell Revenue -33.75 -39.31 Purchases -38.66 -43.53 Gross profit -19.82 -23.95 Production and manufacturing expenses -24.52 -1.03 Selling, and administrative expenses -94.87 2.31 Depreciation and amortization 10.20 5.87 Exploration expenses 26.53 9.17 Net Interest and other income -98.04 -44.82 Finance costs 36.19 -54.11 Profit/loss before tax -26.72 -58.64 Taxation -33.70 -65.90 Profit/loss after tax for financial year -22.65 -51.96 Vertical Analysis: The term vertical analysis applies because each years figures are listed vertically on a financial statement. The total on the income statement is net sales revenue, while on the balance sheet it is total assets. This approach to financial statement analysis, also known as component percentages. Common-size balance sheets and income statements can be more easily compared, whether across the years for a single company or different companies.   Vertical Analysis 2009/2008 (%) BP Shell 2009 2008 2009 2008 Revenue 100 100 100 100 Purchases 68.45 73.93 73.00 78.45 Gross profit 31.55 26.07 27.00 21.55 Production and manufacturing expenses 11.27 9.89 9.09 5.58 Selling and administrative expenses 5.87 75.72 6.67 3.96 Depreciation and amortization 5.06 3.04 5.20 2.98 Exploration expenses 0.47 0.24 0.78 0.44 Net Interest and other income 2.15 72.57 2.50 2.74 Finance costs 0.54 0.26 0.19 0.26 Profit/loss before tax 10.50 9.49 7.56 11.09 Taxation 3.50 3.49 2.98 5.31 Profit/loss after tax for financial year 7.00 6.00 4.57 5.78 http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Profit:impact:of:marketing:strategy.html http://seekingalpha.com/article/170391-bp-stays-one-step-ahead-of-shell-in-restructuring-efforts

HR Management And Workplace Diversity

HR Management And Workplace Diversity As you know that diversity in the work force is one of the main object in employment favorable conditions, managing variety has been either ignored, poorly done or received little attention in some existing work organizations. To do workers some validity, many governments have tried legislating against different kind of ability to appreciate good quality or test in the workplace. However, research has demonstrated competence the defective and unfinished of such legislation since it still allows for employers to use statistically unbiased criteria in employee selection, recruitment and development providing it can be shown to be a valid qualification. Form the view of statement above, evaluate and analyze the diversity legal context (underlying set of ideas) in UK in relation to employment policy on equality issues and the do something as custom connected with the effective management of diversity. It is vital to understand the legal context for state of being equal and your legal duties not to recognize or identify difference in employment or the supplying of goods, facilities or services, as well as the favorable conditions, the law provides for implementing positive measures to help bring about impressively large equality at work. The law covers the six equality strands of age, restricted capability to perform particular activities, distinctiveness, gender (including pay and transvestites), religion or belief and nature of sexual preference in relation to employment and all but age in relation to services. To make sure that you obey with the law makes good business sense and helps you to minimize both reputational and connected with money risk resulting from costly existence of lawsuit. These guides provide a broad survey or summery of the law and cover all six diversity strands however are not a conclusive and final or most authoritative legal guide. For precise layout of instructions to look for legal consultants. Equality is about creating a fairer society, where everyone can take part and has the favorable condition to satisfy their capacity for development (DH, 2004). It is about recognizing designs of experience based on group recognize, and the challenging series of actions that limit individuals expressing possibility health and life chances. For example, occupational act of segregation. Women make up almost 75% of the NHS workforce but are concentrated in the lower-paid occupational areas: nursing, allied health professionals (AHPs), top level managers and subordinate    workers (DH, 2005). People from black and minority of particular origin comprise 39.1% of hospital medical staff yet they depend only 22.1% of all hospital medical consultants (DH, 2005). The state of being equal approach understands that our social identity in terms of gender, race, disability, age, social class, sexuality and religion will effect on our life experiences. Diversity literally means difference. When it is used as a contrast or addition to equality, it is about identifying individual as well as group differences, behaving people as individuals, and placing positive value on discrepancy in the people in area and in the workforce. In the past, employers and services have ignored many differences. However, individual and group of people from different culture should be taken into account therefore the needs of everyone and their needs are properly accounted for and understood react to within employment practice and service design and delivery. For the matter of diversity there is a proper way on which the organization can work out on the flexibility of employees and the flexibility of work and the development of business in recent years. For example, an employer may gave permition to an employee in flexible working pattern and accommodate child care arrangements, or a General Partition surgery may offer surgeries at the weekends in accommodate people which works the whole week. These approaches recognize that order to include many things and equal to all, organizations may need to respond distinctly to individuals/groups. Therefore, a previously planned engagement to equality in relevant facts to recognition of diversity which means that dissimilar can be equal. Why is equality and diversity important? Equal opportunity and diversity is becoming very important in all points of view of our lives and work for different reasons. †¢ We are living in a society of increasingly diversity and need to be able to respond suitable and thoughtful and sympathetic to this diversity. Around gender the healthcare setting will reflect this diversity, race and ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality, states and distinct age. †¢ Your organization believes that successful implementation of equality and diversity in all point of view of work make sure that pears, all kind of workers and students are valued, motivated and treated honestly. †¢ We have human rights and legal framework (underlying set of ideas) protecting employment practices and service delivery and we need to ensure we work within this and elude discrimination. The UK framework has two parts to it: the anti- discriminatory framework (which gives individuals a way to increase complaints of discrimination around employment and service delivery) and the duties of the people (which place a proactive duty on organizations to address important organization discrimination). Overview of anti-discriminatory framework †¢ Sex Discrimination Act 1975 †¢ Race Relations Act 1976 †¢ Disability Discrimination Act 1995 †¢ Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) and (Religious Belief) Regulations 2003 †¢ Equality Act 2006 (covers service delivery in relation to sexual orientation and religious belief) †¢ Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 In the area of employment diversity and the age limit is the most important thing other than service delivery. Disability Act 2001 The students who have any kind of disability they are explored with some appropriate adjustments in the Disability Act 2001 and Discrimination Act 1995.For this reason teachers are required to get more knowledge regarding the disabled student so that they could anticipate their core abilities in reputed organizations. Diversity: In any organization diversity is very important part of any business. To give equal opportunities to Women, men, people in relation to gender reassignment. If there are different people from different origin with diversified point of view, it can produce more chances to create different ideas that could be helpful for the organization to get their objectives. Anyone in relation to ethnic origin, nationality, color or culture. Age, Religious or Sex: In order to any specific religion of any believe, age, gender including men, women, gay men, bisexual and heterosexual people there are following legislative principles: †¢ Indirect discrimination †¢ Individual discrimination †¢ Reasonable adjustment †¢ Positive action †¢ Genuine Occupational Qualification †¢ Harassment †¢ Victimization. Moral Duties of Public: There are also some significant duties for which Public are bound. NHS bodies and trust, education sector, local authorities, security agencies and the health services department all come in the circle of these rules. It is possible only by the implementation of these rules in the organization to get focused and demonstrate the diversity in the organization The duties were brought in under the following legislation: Race Relations Amendment Act (2000); Equality Act (2006): Disability Discrimination Act (2005). Each of the public duties requires organizations to: †¢ publish the results of any work make pledge to do something. †¢ produce a (race, disability and gender) equality scheme †¢ Carry out impact evaluate on their functions, policies and practices †¢ carry out equalities monitoring and take action to redress any imbalance A brief detail is discussed below. Ethnic and Race Disability: Eradication of discrimination which is not in the provision. Eliminate unlawful discrimination. Establish and propagate the equal opportunities. Always make sure that when the employees are functioning at the job in any organization, there should not be any religious or any sex discrimination between men and women or which does not come under the discrimination legislation. In public life good attitude should be encouraged toward the anticipation of disabled people. Disabled people should be treated with more favors as compared to the other people. Since 1998 the UK has also included human rights within its legal framework. The Human Rights Act applies to all public right to command and bodies acting a public function. The Human Rights Acts places the following responsibility on your organization. †¢ Organizations must support and make safe to an individuals human rights. This means treating people moderately, with self respect and respect while safeguarding the rights of the big community. †¢ Organizations should apply essential part human rights values, such as equal opportunity, privacy, dignity, and involvement, to all organizational service planning and decision making. The Human Rights Act facilitates a complementary legal framework to the anti-discriminatory framework and the people duties.

Maxine Hong Kingston Understanding Her Life through The Woman Warrior E

Maxine Hong Kingston Understanding Her Life through The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston’s â€Å"The Woman Warrior† is novel composed of myths and memoirs that have shaped her life. Her mother’s talk-stories about her no name aunt, her own interpretation of Fa Mu Lan, the stories of ghosts in doom rooms and American culture have been the basis of her learning. She learned morals, truths, and principals that would be the basis of her individuality. Since her mother's talk-story was one of the major forces of her childhood and since she herself is now talking-story in writing this book, stories, factual and fictional, are an inherent part of Kingston's autobiography. Finding one's voice in order to talk-story, a metaphor for knowing oneself in order to attain the fullness of one's power, becomes one of the book's major themes. The story her mother told her, â€Å"No Name Woman,† is meant to deal with issues concerning a young woman’s life. I think that it is her mother telling her not to be a disgrace to the family’s name. Brave Orchid, Kingston’s mother, grew up in a small village in rural China where every action of the residents was common knowledge to the villagers. The villagers’ mentality then was to weed out the less productive and bad inhabitants that would put a strain on the already poor village. She states how her father would not admit to having a sister because of the humiliation she caused them. The man who got her aunt pregnant wanted to kill her because he did not want to be embarrassed, when actually it was his fault just as much hers. Kingston’s mother tells her this story because she wants her daughter to be the perfect female for their family. "Don't let your father know I told you. He denies her. Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her could happen to you. Don't humiliate us. You wouldn't like to be forgotten as if you had never been born. The villagers are watchful." This is frightening for Kingston because she feels that women are being watched to make sure they are behaving the right way for society. Kingston then shows us later in her own telling of Fa Mu Lan, that she is actually strong and doesn’t need to conform to society’s stereotypes. I also believe that the story about her â€Å"Father’s drowned-in-the-well sister† is a warning to be cautious of people trying to take advantage of her. Brave ... ...hing unfamiliar to them, something confusing. Instead of calling the Americans weird or strange, they would call them ghosts. Kingston also says that her aunt â€Å"haunted† her from childhood on. I think she says this because she didn’t understand her aunt’s ways. I don’t think that she was actually haunted; I think that she was just really confused. In Kingston’s book, the myths, talk-stories, and memoirs she puts together help her to understand her own life on her own terms. Whether she is trying to understand the Chinese culture that her mother teaches her or to understand the American culture she is growing up in, the stories are her way of accepting the life that she is born with. Kingston uses the negative influence on her life from her mother to help her understand what her mother expects and an insight into the Chinese traditions. She also uses myths life Fa Mu Lan to help make her will stronger. The stories of the ghosts in America help her to put a meaning on the confusion she is having. All through out the story, the stories and myths teach her about life, either good or bad, and teaches her to overcome her weaknesses to strive to be a modern day Warrior Woman.

Essay --

In today’s ever competitive global market, marketers are finding themselves having to grapple with an increasingly difficult issue about branding and their brands. Many marketing managers have to deal with questions of what are the most effective and efficient means to building a strong brand and sustaining it. Pick up any marketing textbook and most will define brands as a name, design, terms, symbol, or any combinative feature that identifies and differentiates one seller’s good or service from those of other sellers. (American Marketing Association) In other words, it is everything that a consumer can retain in their mind about the product or service produced by a particular organization. Brands are often evoked or symbolized using a variety of features belonging to the brand. These features represent all the past experience and expectation a consumer has received about that brand. When we think about brands in the likes of Apple, Bmw, Victoria Secret, and Disney, we not only read into them our experiences with the brand but their features triggers a mental model in our minds. It creates a certain perception of quality, expectations and position in our minds. They connect the products attributes and brand association between the corporations and users. (Biel, 1991) With that said, branding that could create a lasting impression into the minds of its consumers plays an important part for any successful business. It can be used to enhance business performance as brand themselves are used as an implied tool that can positively influence people’s buying behaviors and work as a driving force to convey the business’ message and stay in the customer’s mind. Consequently, studies have been made and the results showed that consumer’s ... ...uality. It was often times like those where it was difficult to measure how good a product is from an unfamiliar brand, hence loyalty was a way of reducing risk. (Simonson & Rosen, 2014). Consumers today are far better informed and likely to investigate the value of products than just to rely on intrinsic values of brands before purchase. Consumers are empowered to do their own research about whatever they want to buy. This trend started with Consumer Reports, which produced reports on objective studies about products and further enhanced with the rise of the internet, which has given ordinary consumers access to expert reviews, user feedback, and details about product data, in an assortment of product categories. A study conducted showed that in 2012, seventy-two per cent of consumers in the U.S look at online reviews before making major purchases (Coopers, 2012).

DropBox Case Essay

Dropbox was created in 2007 and launched to the public a year later. It was founded by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowski; who were classmates together at MIT in the early 2000’s. The created a product that allows you to sync you computers together by using a cloud to share files between the different computers. At the time of creation there were existing products in the market but they believed that they created a product that would simplify the process as well as make it secure and reliable for the customers. Their plan was to differentiate themselves form their competitors based off these factors. For a customer of Dropbox it allows them to easily and reliably share files between their computers or devices. They believed that the existing products were unreliable and would only allow u to share a certain amount of files. Their product would be reliable and easy to use for the customers. They would also get a free 2G worth of space or could but additional space if they needed to. This is something seen by a few competitors but not all of them. They also created a product that can be used for both business and personal use. Dropbox will do something that also differentiates itself form their competitor. They will use Amazons server to provide the customers space the store files. This will be rented from Amazon and will drastically decrease the amount of money they spend to provide space. Owning their own servers will be costly to purchase and maintain for Dropbox. They also only hired engineers to their company in the early going to be able to continue to improve the technology they are providing. To keep improving their product they offered beta testers the opportunity to test the product and see how they like it. They also listened to their customers after the launched to see what they liked and did not like. This led them to develop a feature of the product that allows the customer to provide feedback to the company. They also observed users using the product to see if it fit the needs of a  basic user, which turned out to be very beneficial to the company. Dropbox launched their product in 2008. While the product was still in beta it began to gain customers through various websites and technological competitions for startup companies. This allowed Dropbox to get their name out there to the people who most likely are already using similar products or have the need for this product. When they launched the product they used the freemium business model where they offered free use for up to 2G of space and you could pay a premium for more space. They wanted to grow rapidly in the market to gain as big of market share as possible in the shortest amount of time. They also found great success from word of mouth referrals and viral marketing campaigns. Dropbox’s biggest problem they needed to solve early on was their customer acquisition rate. They found that in the early going to cost about 300 dollars per customer they had pay. This was due to the amount of free space given away to the amount that people were paying for. This does not set them up to be successful financially if it didn’t improve. Dropbox was able to figure this out and lower their costs but utilizing more word of mouth referrals. Dropbox was fortunate enough to have backers that supported their company in the early going with enough money to keep the company going until they could gain the following needed to decrease costs. They have a greater opportunity for profit then most of their competitors because of their use of Amazon’s server instead of buying and maintaining their own, especially with the decreasing rate of renting server space.

Banquets and Confrenceing

1. 1 THE SIZE AND SCOPE OF CONFERENCE AND BANQUETING INDUSTRY IN THE UK Conference and banqueting is normally organizing an event, complete with main courses and desserts. It usually serves a purpose, such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration, small meetings, corporate gatherings, seminars, family occasions or weddings As of now, conferences are considered as one of the most essential and significant aspects in globalization as it bridge the gaps of various industries from one nation to another and it is helping many economies of various nations to be recognized all over the world.Accordingly, one of the most essential international conferences such as world expos is the World Expo conferences which are regarded as a large scale, non-commercial international expo. Since it is an essential and significant international conference such as world expo, the hosting for this must be applied for by a nation and approved by the international committee. The main goal of thi s event is to promote transfer and exchange of ideas as well as development of the global economy, science and technology, customs and culture and to allow exhibitors to promote as well as show off their achievements and enhance international relationship.A banquet (/? b k. w? t/; French: [b. k? ]) is a large meal or feast, complete with main courses and desserts. It usually serves a purpose such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration, and is often preceded or followed by speeches in honour of someone The idea of banqueting in the UK is ancient. In the 16th century, a banquet was very different from our modern perception and stems from the medieval ‘ceremony of the void'. After dinner, the guests would stand and drink sweet wine and spices while the table was cleared, or ‘voided’ (Later in the 17th century ‘void’ would be replaced with the French ‘dessert’).During the 16th century, guests would no longer stand in the grea t chamber whilst the table was cleared and the room prepared for entertainment, but would retire to the parlour or banqueting room. 1. 2 FACTORS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONFERENCE AND BANQUETING INDUSTRY IN THE UK As the idea of conferencing and banqueting developed, it could take place at any time during the day and have much more in common with the later practice of taking tea. Banqueting rooms varied greatly from house to house, but were generally on an intimate scale either in a garden oom or inside such as the small banqueting turrets in Longleat House. Modern banqueting has its roots in the traditions of the Greeks and Romans. The Greeks introduced the hors d’oeuvre course, to which the Romans added up to20 courses as they furthered the development of the banquet feast. From this elaborate format evolved the three-course medieval menu, which presented as many as 25 menu items with each course. The menu format revisions of the late-eighteenth and nineteen th centuries transformed the three primary courses with multiple dishes into a series of nine courses, each featuring an individual menu item.These revisions were incorporate-rated into menus throughout Europe and America in a variety of formats. The history of American banqueting begins with the feasts of the Native Americans. The menu formats of early colonial American banquets were primarily influenced by England. French cuisine and menu formats initially threaded their way to the colonies via English recipes and customs. The emigration of French royalists during the French Revolution accelerated the assimilation of both French cuisine and menus with American banqueting customs.Thomas Jefferson greatly aided the development of American banqueting during his years in the White House. His simplification of the menu and emphasis on wines were major elements in the development of a style of banqueting that prevailed over the next 165 years of White House functions. During the preside ncy of John Kennedy, banquets were enhanced by the contributions of Jacqueline Kennedy. Like Jefferson, Mrs Kennedy preferred menus of simple elegance that concentrated on a high quality of food and service.The records tracing the development of the banquet menu throughout the centuries provide a rich and exciting chronicle of food items, recipes, and traditions. Many of these food items and recipes endure in our contemporary food customs. Today in the UK, banquets serve many purposes from training sessions, to formal business dinners. Business banquets are a popular way to strengthen bonds between businessmen and their partners. It is common that a banquet is organized at the end of an academic conference.A luau is one variety of banquets originally used in Hawaii. The Nei Mongol provincial government in China levies a tax on banquets. 1. 3 THREE FACTORS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONFRENCE AND BANQUETING IN THE UK The banqueting and conference industry is also subject to many influences and factors The banqueting and conference businesses must take these influences and factors into account when planning their operations and delivering their services. The influences and factors on the industry can be categorised as: †¢Economy / commerce Technology †¢Legislation Let’s consider examples of each of these factors. ?Economic / Commerce- factors can influence demand for hospitality services. During a recession or periods of low economic growth, people don’t have as much disposable income as in times of an economic boom. People become more interested in value for money. Pubs and restaurants need to offer money-off vouchers and discounts to encourage people to eat out more. ?Technology- plays a role in how people access hospitality services.Customers can now book restaurant tables, hotel rooms or spa days 24/7 from their computers or phones. Most hospitality businesses need an online presence. ?Legislation- All industries must be concerned for the health and safety of their employees and customers, and must meet their legal obligations. Hospitality is no exception. Businesses are bound by the law. There is often a cost to the business in meeting its legal requirements, but this can save thousands of pounds in damages that might result from a negligence claim.

The Balek Scales: a Measurement of Injustice

The story â€Å"The Balek Scales† by Heinrich Bà ¶ll tells the experience of the narrator’s grandfather in the village upon which the Balek family had a firm grip. The Balek family, later known as Balek von Biligan, is part of the elite class, as the following quote describes: â€Å"the family who lived in the chateau and drove two carriages, who always maintained one boy from the village while he studied theology at the seminary in Prague† (Bà ¶ll 15-16).There are a lot more details, but given the following quotation, they can be seen as a prominent family from the elite class (Bà ¶ll 16). The scales—known as the Balek scales in the story—are the Baleks’ tool for trading mushrooms, herbs, and other tradable goods for money—marks and pfennigs. No one ever questions their sole possession of the scales.However, the narrator’s grandfather, Franz Brà ¼cher, discovers injustice within the measurement of the Balek scales. Even wit h this evidence, the efforts of villagers to seek justice are thwarted by the power and influence of the Balek von Biligan family, which Bà ¶ll portrays as a classic battle between the working and elite classes in â€Å"The Balek Scales.†Injustice is the recurring theme in the story as the Balek scales—the scales of justice for the villagers—favor the Balek von Biligan clan, as the story suggests in the following lines: â€Å"he pulled the five pebbles from his pocket, held them out to the young woman, and said, ‘This much, fifty-five grams, is short in every pound of your justice’† (Bà ¶ll 16).As the line states, the injustice that the narrator’s grandfather claims in front of Frau Balek von Biligan is the unequal or unfair measurement that the scales present for their foraged goods—mushrooms, herbs, and the like. Inevitably, the injustice results in a short bloody revolt with the Reeve’s gendarmes overpowering the pop ulation.Then everything goes back to normal, with the Balek von Biligan clan still on the driver seat—in control. The power of the Baleks is too strong for Franz Brà ¼cher’s, whose search for justice is seen as a futile attempt to overthrow the seemingly unfair rule of the Baleks over the village.Looking at it from a different angle, the village, along with the other two villages, could have avoided the short bloody revolt if Franz Brà ¼cher remained oblivious to the injustice that the Balek scales represented.Upon confronting this injustice, Franz experiences some tragic events, as stated in the following lines: â€Å"the reeve’s gendarmes arrived†¦shooting and stabbing as they came and removed the scales and the book by force. My grandfather’s little sister lost her life,† (Bà ¶ll 16-17) and â€Å"My grandfather’s parents had to leave the village, and the new grave of their little daughter† (Bà ¶ll 17).Franz Brà ¼cher expe riences two tragic moments in his lifetime which were caused by the Balek scales. These were his little sister’s death and their family’s constant migration. This could have been avoided by Franz if he remained ignorant to the injustice mentioned.A classic battle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat classes unfolds in the story of The Balek Scale. Relating the story to the social divisions of society, it is a fact—always has been—that the rich have control over those who are not because of the wealth they possess and their strong influence over the government; at least a portion of it is attracted to the wealthy of prominent families like the Baleks in the story.The scales of the story represent the injustice in the society—they favor the rich over the poor most of the time anyway. The scales may actually represent the justice system in society as they can sometimes be distorted in favor of those with money. The story represents this illness that is quite evident in past societies, as well as in today’s society. Regardless of how strong is the resolve of the acting â€Å"hero† or â€Å"deliverer of justice,† his efforts are usually just futile.Thus, the story entails a classic battle between the rich and the poor. This battle is always intensified by a mere claim for an injustice brought about by the rich, supposedly, which affects the poor many times over. As the following quotation suggests, the injustice that Franz Brà ¼cher and his family experience in the village is actually present in every place they went to: â€Å"but did not stay long anywhere because it pained them to see how everywhere the finger of justice swung falsely† (Bà ¶ll 17).This clearly shows how injustice is present everywhere and how great is its effect on those who are least fortunate—the poor. It will surely take a long time to cure this illness of society because those who know about this injustice remain o blivious to its presence in society; they are just watching it eat away the true concept of justice.The last two lines in the story are probably the most striking as the Brà ¼cher family and many others realize the gravity of injustice in society: â€Å"And those who wanted to listen can hear the tale of the Baleks von Biligan, whose justice lacked a tenth part. But there were few who listened† (Bà ¶ll 17). In this line, those who receive the painful end of the spear of injustice find it futile to express to the suffering they are feeling caused by the injustice. It is futile because rarely do people listen to their woes and cries for justice.Hardly anyone listens to them because of their place in society as the poor working class—during that time, the poor do not seem to have a strong voice in society. The rich and powerful simply have control over most of them. Any revolt or uprising seems to be thwarted most of the time; however, there are times when a revolt beco mes successful.Heinrich Bà ¶ll’s stor,y The Balek Scales, entails a seemingly unending battle between the rich and the poor as the latter would usually rise against the injustices that the former inflicts upon them and the society. However, it seems that the rich are too powerful and influential to be folded easily. It remains uncertain for the tide of this epic battle to change as many still remain oblivious to the injustices that occur within society.Work CitedBà ¶ll, Heinrich. â€Å"The Balek Scales.† A Walk in my World: International Short Stories about Youth. Eds. Anne Mazer. New York: Persea Books, 2000. 9–17.

Symbolism to the Journey

Whether we are reading a poem or a short story, there is a story to be found within. The writer is able to capture readers with their use of rhythm, characterization, or a fairy tale setting, among many other things throughout their writing. It is imagination that allows us, the readers of these stories and poems, to be able to fill in the blanks or mentally visualize what the writer wants us to see through use of descriptive words or symbolism. In the poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost, the short story â€Å"A Worn Path† by Eudora Welty, and the short story â€Å"Used To Live Here Once† by Jean Rhys I noticed a common theme. No matter what lonely journey we find ourselves on, we determine how the journey ends. The lonely journey that each of these literary pieces tells about is presented differently in each writing. In â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, Frost used â€Å"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood† which told me that there was a forthcoming journey; he also used â€Å"and sorry I could not travel both† as a way to share that he had to make this decision of which path to take. Frost also used the word â€Å"I† many times, which allowed me to imagine him alone. In â€Å"A Worn Path†, Welty used the word â€Å"she† throughout the piece which gave me the image of this woman walking alone. The character spoke to animals â€Å"’Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles’† and so forth. When the writer posed this conversation in the story, it gave me the feeling of loneliness. This woman was so lonely, she spoke to animals. The path that she was walking â€Å"ran up hill†. The idea that this path she was on was up a hill provided symbolism of a hard life. To me, walking up a hill would be hard work to get to the destination. Since the description of this woman had been of an aged woman, â€Å"her eyes blue with age† and her numberless branching wrinkles, it was a pity to find this woman walking alone up hill. In â€Å"Used To Live Here Once†, Rhys, too, used the word â€Å"she† many times to describe the character in the story. The usage of a singular word painted the picture of loneliness. â€Å"She was standing by the river† and â€Å"She came to the worn stone steps†. This woman was in this journey alone. In each piece of literary writing being discussed in this paper, the loneliness throughout the journey is clear. However, the ending to the journeys vary because of the choices the characters make. We will address this further on into the paper. The setting of a story or poem is what draws the reader in. I found myself reading â€Å"The Road Not Taken First†. The reason was that it starter out with almost a conflict of where the poem could take me. With the first line being â€Å"Two roads diverged in yellow wood†, I found myself wondering where the pathways would take me. As the poem began, I found it to be written in first person sine the writer used â€Å"I† as the main character term. Frost wrote â€Å"and be one traveler, long I stood†. This enabled me to actually step into the characters’, or the writer’s, shoes and see these pathways from his perspective. I like being able to feel as if I am in the story. Frost wrote about one path that it he could see where it â€Å"bent in the undergrowth†. He went on that the other path â€Å"was grassy and wanted wear†. This painted a picture for me of actual woods, split into two pathways, both different most likely ending in a different place. In the back of my mind, I had an idea that these were symbolic of something much bigger. The symbolism within the poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† was abundant. â€Å"Two roads diverged could be seen as two things, two jobs, two ideas, two of anything that one could choose between. The word â€Å"yellow†, as used to describe the two roads in which Frost could choose is symbolic of aging or decay. To me, it seemed as if Frost could have been in a mid-life crisis, in which he felt old and needed change, and he had two new roads, of which the pathways and endings were unknown, to choose from. One path had been the one he was on, but did not know where it would end. The other road was grassy, seemingly vibrant, and the ending, too, was unknown. Frost referred to the both paths as â€Å"in leaves no step had trodden black†. In his description, the use of the word â€Å"black† shows symbolism of death. It seemed as if Frost was analyzing his choices and was seeing that his alternative pathway, although it did look enticing, he wondered why no one else had come back if they had taken that path. He knew that either path would ultimately lead to death, as that was his fate. There came a turning point in the poem where Frost went from indecisiveness to having made up his mind of his choice. Instead of being in front of two paths â€Å"in a yellow wood† he ended the poem that he was in just â€Å"a wood† in which he had chosen to stay â€Å"on the first for another day†. It appeared to me that his analysis of the paths he could choose from lead him to understand that the unknown is not as enticing as the known. According to John Savoie, the contradiction lies within the idea that both paths were â€Å"equally lay† but Frost chose to take the path of least resistance which indeed is arguable as there is â€Å"a lack of distinction between the roads†. (Savoie, 2004) His journey, although seemingly lonely, was determined by the decisions he made or would make. The second piece I read drew me in because the setting was not one of mystery, but instead it was one of pity. Used to Live Here Once† was the second piece I chose to read. The setting was one of sadness. I could visualize this woman â€Å"standing by the river† and â€Å"remembering each one†. It gave me the idea that she had been there long before but had forgotten the beauty of the river over time. Sad beginnings to literary pieces are not something that normal ly draws me in. However, the story grew more intriguing to me as the setting moved to her old home. When she noticed that â€Å"the screw pine was gone†, I still felt the pity and sadness for the character. Since the writer chose to write in a third person perspective, it was difficult for me to actually identify with the character personally. Rhys wrote â€Å"it was strange to see a car standing in front of it†. The personification of this car â€Å"Standing† in front of her old house was difficult to be considered strange since it was not an actual feeling of the character but instead an observation by the writer. In fact, the idea that the writer was this close to the character made me think she was speaking of herself in third person. Elizabeth Abel wrote a piece on Jean Rhys saying that Rhys’ writings typically subject us to â€Å"sparse and repetitive narratives† and â€Å"are variations of themes of failure and rejection. (Abel, 1979) This could be, perhaps, how the writer was able to make me feel as if, although told in third person, I was able to identify with her more closely. I was able to feel was the pity that the writer felt for the character through the words, such as when she spoke â€Å"shyly† to the kids but they did not hear her. This, too, solidifies the idea of Abel that Rhys wrote of perhaps herself in yet another rejected scenario. It seemed as if the journey was lonely for this character. The words â€Å"she† tells me this and also the fact that the setting is very calm and serene but without emotion from the character. From beginning to end, Rhys used symbolism to allow me, the reader, to relate and perhaps dig deeper into the meaning of things. The character stood by the river, which is symbolic of life. She did not walk into the river, she stood by it. This is symbolic of the entire story itself, since in the end of the story we find that the woman was indeed already dead and looking back into her own life. This was a journey that the character took alone. The character then walks down a road. This road is very symbolic to this story. The description is that the road is â€Å"much wider than it used to be†. This indeed tells me that the character took her life for granted. She had never truly taken the time to see the beauty in the things around her; this is why the road seems so much wider to her now that she has passed on. The day â€Å"was a fine blue day†. The color blue is used to tell the reader that it was a peaceful day. Rhys wrote on to tell us that the character noticed the pine tree was missing from outside of her own home, as her journey led her to her old doorstep. This is symbolism of immortality. Her old house had been painted white, which provides the feeling of life or purity. The character’s observation of the boy and girl playing in the yard was one that I will never forget. The colors of the yellow grass as she approached them and the gray in the boy’s eyes as the character tried to speak to him. This is when I first realized that the character was indeed a ghost looking in on her old life. The usage of colors throughout â€Å"Used to Live Here Once† is what drew me into this story. At my initial read of this story, I just thought that the writer liked colors. When linking these colors to symbolism, it gave me a much deeper perspective on what Rhys was trying to tell me, the reader. The lonely journey that this character was on was reflective of the lonely journey she lived when she was alive. It, once again, confirms that the decisions we make in life are what determine the ending of our journey. The last piece, â€Å"A Worn Path† had a setting that would draw in any reader who appreciates in-depth detail that, although in third persona narrative, makes you, the reader, feel as if you are standing there in the story along with the character. The setting throughout this story is indeed a pathway through the woods. Welty started the story out with â€Å"a bright frozen day early in the morning†. I hate being cold, personally, but Welty’s initial setting description made me feel excited to see what would happen if I read on further about the events on the â€Å"frozen day†. According to journal writer, James Robert Sanders, â€Å"the story begins conspicuously on a cold December morning, and just as quickly we are made aware that there is an old black woman†. Suanders, 1992) Continuing my reading, I found the character, again noting the use of the singular â€Å"she† throughout the piece, to be â€Å"an old Negro woman† â€Å"along a path through the pinewoods†. Welty described this woman as â€Å"very old and small and she walked slowly†. The pity set in on me at this point to think that a lady of her age was walking alone in the woods. She carried a cane, â€Å"made from an umbrella†. The setting, although starting out in an exciting manor, had, at this point, turned more so into pitiful. She seemed destitute by this fact. There she was, in the woods alone, using an umbrella to swat through the brush to ensure there were not any animals hiding along her pathway. When Welty wrote that â€Å"the sun made the pine needles almost too bright to look up at†, it brought me back to the excited feeling again. It was as if the story had gone from exciting to pitiful and fearful back to exciting again. I felt like Welty was trying to keep a positive spin on a negative situation. Continuing on with the reading, I found the character again in a battle, but this time with thorns from a bush. Once she freed herself from the thorns, she said â€Å"sun so high† which again gave the offset to the negative event. Shortly after, the character was faced with a log that she must cross over a river. This woman could not catch a break on her journey but still she kept going with intent to succeed and make it to her destination. Within the story â€Å"A Worn Path†, the symbolism, the personification, and the tone are what made this story most appealing. The story, itself is interesting. However, when you add in the extra benefit of symbolism, the reader can get a more in-depth look and feel for what the writer is trying to make us feel. This story, told in third person narrative, starts out on a â€Å"bright frozen† morning. This symbolism provided me with a feeling of hopefulness. Although it was frozen outside, it was bright. The character walked down a path. It seemed she only had one path to walk down. Her only choice was actually going down that path or not to. Her eyes were blue which gave me the feeling of peacefulness. Her face was described with golden color beneath her wrinkles and yellow color under her dark cheekbones. This symbolism gave me the idea that although she was aged and seemingly poor, she still possessed dignity and pride. To describe the wrinkles on her face, Welty personified a little tree to be standing in the middle of the character’s forehead. Immediately, I was able to visualize this much better than I would have without this connection. The character continued on her path in the â€Å"sun† and cold, passing pine trees, thorns, and speaking to animals. The sun is symbolic of life. However, being winter outside, we know this by the use of the word â€Å"frozen† to describe the weather; we know that this is symbolic of death. I took this to mean that the character was dying but trying really hard to fight to stay alive. Along her path, these hurdles, the thorns, the logs and creeks, the path being uphill, passing through a cotton field, the field of dead corn, her speaking to animals and imagining people along her journey in the woods, this is all part of the symbolism of things she was fighting to stay alive. It was her struggle. She began dancing with a scarecrow, something that is supposed to scare away birds, or in this case death, and here she was dancing with it. It just shows her eagerness to stay alive and fight off the negativity, the death. Although she seems crazy throughout this journey, her own focus, the one thing that she stays sane in regard to, is life and her desire to stay alive. When the character started to walk through â€Å"trees silver in their dead leaves† it was certainly symbolic that death was shortly forthcoming. Just as I start to think she is about to die, she comes upon a spring and sweet gum and water. It was as if she was being given one more chance. She laid there on the ground and had a dream that â€Å"she reached her hand up, but nothing reached down and gave her a pull†. This dream symbolized to me that God was not ready to take her, not just yet. That is when the hunter found her. The hunter felt pity on her and I understand this because he says he would have given her money if he could. In town, she asked a lady to tie up her shoe for her before she reached her final destination. Her need to be presentable for her entrance into the medical building to get her grandson’s medicine shows that she still has class and self-respect. Her journey to the medical building, although alone and difficult, was made possible through the love for her grandson. Had she not made that trip, her grandson would have died. Each of these literary pieces was different by means of the nding to the journey in which the character had taken. â€Å"The Road Not Taken† was a solitary journey to make the decision of which path in life to take, the one we know or the one we do not know. â€Å"Used to Live Here Once† was another solitary journey of a life after it has already passed by; it was a lesson that we should not take for grante d the things in life, although simple. â€Å"A Worn Path† was one more solitary journey, but this one taught a lesson that love can conquer all. Each journey I read for this paper has taught a value life lesson. The journeys we take are altered by the decisions we make along the way.