Giving economic circumstances over the last five years of how Tesco, Literature review - 1

Giving economic circumstances over the last five years of how Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrisons have coped - Literature review Example I will analyze those data along with the theoretical aspects of that. This part will contain the consumer behaviour towards the retail chains for the last five years, brand loyalty of them. The companies’ strategy for maintain the loyal base of customer will also be analyzed as well as analyzing the impact of the strategies on the customers. The recession witnessed from the year 2008 to 2011 had a greater impact on the UK chain and retail market in general. Consequently, leading players in the retail market such as Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrison’s were equally affected. The general impact was occasioned by public (consumer) response to the imminent financial and economical changes. The global recession was characterized by increased prices due to inflation, higher oil prices from exporting countries in Asia and North Africa. Due to the overall changes, the consumers have become value based in terms of key commodities they value with view to the available disposable income (Gbadamosi and Nwankwo 2010). The implication of this change in behavior is that consumers are willing to pay higher prices for valuable commodities if they meet the required standards of quality. Further, the consumers seek to find alternative products which are affordable where quality is not their main concern. The chain stores have been forced to respond to this change in consumer behavior which is actively evident in their promotional strategies. Retail companies carry promotion with the view of convincing the consumer of the intended quality at low cost. Such is the need that Tesco announced an investment of  £500m to facilitate price cuts, Sainsbury has been forced to change from their long term slogan of trying something new to living well at low cost with the view of maintaining customer loyalty. There is low consumer confidence in the UK economy which is expected to fall further. This offers a great challenge to retail stores especially, Tesco,

Ethical Business Behavior Essay Example for Free

Ethical Business Behavior Essay For this paper I will be discussing Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) using Anglo-American and Primark case studies as examples. First, I will discuss what is meant by ethical business behavior. Second, I will discuss how Anglo-American and Primark apply ethics into their business practices. Third, I will discuss what the costs and benefits are to an organization when they behave ethically. Finally, I will choose one component from Svennson Woods’ model from â€Å"A Model of Business Ethics†, and discuss how it is relevant for Anglo-American. Ethical Business Behavior Ethical business behavior refers to an organizations actions and policies that are synergetic with doing the right thing (Sethi, 2003). Similar to the inherent laws of society that man has established that promote specific behaviors and actions that are deemed appropriate to build trust and relationships that last, it is similar in corporations. In order to operate ethically, organizations must also establish a clearly defined set of principles and a culture of ethical compliance that builds trust and confidence with their employees and their customers (Paine, 1994). Ethical business behavior is a combination of values and normative ethics, which drive an organization. Additionally, ethical business behavior is expected by society as a whole. Svennson Woods write, â€Å"Society does have expectations of business and of its business leaders† (Svennson Woods, 2008). Anglo-American and Primark are two companies that provide great strategies for practicing strong ethical busines s behaviors. Although both companies are in different industries, the fundamentals of their message of ethical compliance are similar in nature. Anglo American Anglo American, an international mining company operates throughout the world. According to the company, â€Å"It has extensive operations in Africa, where 76% of its employees live. It is also a major employer in Europe and employs nearly 7,000 people in the UK† (Anglo American, 2008). This company  is a major global producer and has an important role in this world economy. With the type of work this company does, and with the countries it operates in it is important for them to conduct their operations in an ethical manner. Anglo American applies corporate social responsibility through building communities in which they operate. According to the company’s ethical statement, â€Å"a long-term business such as ours will only thrive if it also takes into account the needs of other stakeholders such as governments, employees, suppliers, communities and customers.† (Anglo American, 2008) They also are focused on the safety of their employees. Operating in Africa can be dangerous at best and it is the responsibility of Anglo American to ensure its employees are working in a safe environment. The company has contributed to the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, which sets out principles and practices for ensuring that a company’s need to ensure the security of its employees and operations in volatile countries does not adversely impact upon the local population (Anglo American, 2008). Last, but not least, Anglo American is also dedicated to the environmental issues, combating corruption and promoting revenue transparency. Primark For Primark there business is to produce quality clothing items globally. The company is a part of the Associated British Foods (ABF), a diversified international food, ingredients and retail group. Primark has almost 200 stores across Ireland, the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Portugal (www.times100.uk.co/Primark). In relation to business ethics, Primark takes a strong position on their belief in their responsibility to be socially responsible and to practice strong ethical business decisions. As a producer of clothing with a global supply chain, Primark interacts with many 3rd party vendors from all across the world. The company has embraced the challenges of ensuring that all of its clothing supply sources come from an ethically driven manufacturing company (www.times100.uk.co/Primark). The company publicly stresses its ethical position in the following statement on its website, As an international brand with a global supply chain we have a  responsibility to act ethically. We embrace this responsibility as an opportunity to be a great force for good. Primark is committed to providing the best possible value for our customers, but not at the expense of the people who make our products (www.times100.uk.co/Primark). In addition, Primark takes many steps to ensure that ethical behavior occurs across its vast organization. As a global manufacturing company, Primark has over 600 major suppliers in over 16 countries, employing over 700,000 employees. Primark stresses the importance of human rights and appropriate employment conditions in all of their supplier locations as part of doing business with them. Primark also has an Ethical Trade Director whose job it is to oversee all global supplier operations and ensure ethical conditions exist in accordance to Primark standards. The Ethical Trade Director manages other ethics managers who are stationed across the globe to monitor all operations activities. Also, Primark is associated with being a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative which is a global network of companies, non government organizations, labor unions, and other organizations that focus on improving the lives of their workers across the globe (www.times100.uk.co/Primark). Primark bases its founding ethical principles on the International Labor Organizations (ILO) Code, which is an agency in the United Nations that combines representatives from governments, employers, and workers to help form the policies and programs for which they operate. Primark has also established its own corporate code of conduct that has been translated into 26 languages and is used at all locations to stress the importance of human rights, equality, and ethical behavior in the workforce (www.times100.uk.co/Primark). Costs and Benefits To Operating Ethically Every company has costs and benefits associated with doing business. Operating ethically also has its cost and benefits. First, when dealing with costs associated with doing business ethically, it’s important to note that competition must remain fair in order for social responsibility to develop. Friedman (1962, p. 133) contended that, ‘‘ there is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the  rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition, without deception or fraud†. Benefits of doing ethical business not only benefits the organization, but the customers, communities, and shareholders. In addition to these benefits, a strong ethical program promotes a strong public image, which is very important in today’s business climate. Murray and Vogel (1997) determined that when consumers were aware of the fact that an enterprise had made a great deal of effort to fulfill its social responsibilities, they were much more willing to purchase this enterprise’s products. Mohr and Webb (2005) asserted that an enterprise’s responsible behaviors had positive effects on consumers’ evaluation of this enterprise and their purchasing intention and that an enterprise’s lower level of ethics would significantly reduce this purchasing intention. Another benefit of doing ethical business is that not only it helps the business achieve its objectives of profits and reputation, but also helps manage other departments in the business. A business following ethics will have ethical programs that would identify values and would make sure that organizational behavior is in adherence to those values. This will be very useful for different other programs within the business such as quality management, strategic planning and diversity management (McNamara). Quality management places high importance on certain operating values for example trust among employees, reliability, measurement and feedback (McNamara). If a business has set ethical values the process of quality management will be more reliable and the business will be able to offer better quality to the consumers enhancing its image and increasing its profitability. Moreover ethics management techniques may be useful for managing strategic values such as expanding market share (M cNamara) and will make strategic decisions with utmost care while considering the broader effects. So ethics in business has a broader effect and is not limited to reputation, profits and growth. International Business with Integrity Svennson Woods’ international business with integrity model from â€Å"A Model of Business Ethics† applies well to Anglo American due to the nature of mining operations in foreign nations and the environmental issues associated. It is expected that multi nationals’ corporations act ethically, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also it is within their power to do so. Svennson Woods’ (2008) write, â€Å"Citizens of first world societies expect their corporations to display integrity in their international business dealings.† According to Anglo American, one of their goals is to â€Å"mine in ways that minimize environmental impacts is more expensive than extracting resources regardless of impact† (Anglo American, 2008). The Pebble Project in Alaska is a good example of the way that Anglo American takes account of the environment. There was some concerned that the mine could damage fish stocks and wildlife. Therefore, Anglo Amer ican consulted widely and through a structured process with local people, politicians, businesses and especially indigenous people. Anglo American has made it clear that it will only seek to proceed with the project if it can be done without damage to the local fisheries (Anglo American, 2008). The environment is a major concern for people and governments around the world. Corporations have immense amount of pressure to produce goods to meet demand, but at the same time they have to be conscience about the environment. Countries around the world have laws governing environmental protection and there are several agencies to protect it. Conclusion To conclude, ethical business behavior is a combination of values and normative ethics, which drive an organization. Corporate social responsibility is important not only because it is the right thing to do, it also affects the stakeholders. Anglo American and Primark are examples of how major corporations can meet shareholder expectations, while conducting operations in an ethical manner. The costs and benefits associated with doing business ethically are important to take into consideration when reviewing ethics policies; however it is better to look at the long term benefits versus the short term costs. References: Anglo American. (2008). Business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Retrieved from http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/new-downloads-pop.php?getFile=cHJpbWFyay9wcmltYXJrXzE1X2Z1bGwucGRm Friedman, M. (1962). Capitalism and freedom. (p. 133). Chicago, Il: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved November 30, 2011 from http://www.hh.se/download/18.70cf2e49129168da0158000103376/2007+Model-of-Business-Ethics.pdf McNamara, C. (n.d.). Complete guide to ethics management: An ethics toolkit for managers. Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/businessethics/ethics-guide.htm Primark. (2011). Providing consumers with ethically sourced garments. Retrieved from http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/new-downloads-pop.php?getFile=YW5nbG9fYW1lcmljYW4vYW5nbG9fYW1lcmljYW5fMTNfZnVsbC5wZGY Svensson, S., Woof, S. (2008). A model of business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, (77), 303-322: DOI 10.1007/s10551-007-9351-2. Retrieved November 30, 2011 from http://www.hh.se/download/18.70cf2e49129168da0158000103376/2007%2BModel-of-Business-Ethics.pdf Sethi, S. P.: 2003, _Globalization and the Good Corporation: A Need for Proactive Co-existence_, Journal of Business Ethics 43, 21-31. Paine, L. S.: 1994, Managing for Organizational Integrity_, Harvard Business Review March/April, 106-117. Murray, K. B., Vogel, C. M. (1997). Using a hierarchy of effects approach to gauge the effectiveness of CSR to generate goodwill towards the firm: Financial versus non-financial impacts. Journal of Business Research, 38(2), 141–160. Mohr, L. A., Webb, D. J. (2005). The effects of corporate social responsibility and price on consumer responses. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39(1), 121–147.

The Characteristics Of Octavian History Essay

The Characteristics Of Octavian History Essay Augustus, during the time of his reign as princeps of the Roman people, cultivated for himself an image of military prowess, generosity, virtue, and clemency. Octavian, before known as Augustus was thought to be one of the most important leaders in Roman history. His character as a leader, gangster and statesman was brought up through tough competition .Also being the adopted son of Julius Caesar, has brought up more character in him than before as he had to live up to people exception as next Caesar . Even historians today, when compared to his adoptive father Julius Caesar, Augustus, did more for the country than did him. The characteristics of Octavian (later known as Augustus) quickly grew as more prominent political figure, just after the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Octavian, although only 18 at the time, had little in the way of merit to go off of other than his relation to Caesar. He relied heavily on this connection which can be seen through various methods of propaganda which were heavily promoted at the time. One of the chief methods propaganda used in ancient Rome both during and outside of this time period was through the public. This was done by introducing coins, games and also by improving standard of living which was done by construction of public building and monuments in his name. He created the denarii, a silver coin that made trade between different parts of the empire much easier. Trade also became faster when Augustus eliminated all taxed goods which merged the Roman lands into one large economy. He also created faster transportation between cities by roads. The last important contribution was setting up the civil service. These services were open to anybody of all ranks in the army and were made to work for a job as a slave. This institution took care of Romes grain supply, road repairs, the postal system, and all the other daily work of running the empire. Under Augustus great accomplishments and advancements which were made over the years has led Roman Empire to flourish. Yet in researching Augustus, one must pose the question, was he truly a great leader whose true aim to love Rome and its people at the heart of his decisions or was it masterfully manipulating and achieving what he wanted? Or could it be possibly accomplish both? In many ways, Augustus has left a deeper imprint on the world than Julius Caesar ever did. Despite having an imperialistic approach, he understood the concept of institutions and democracy and drove them forward. Yet the man, Caesar Augustus, remains a figure of shadows that gets lost behind the details of his achievements and propaganda of the time. Over the course of his career Augustus did much to manipulate his image in order to serve the needs of his country. He managed to sufficiently and relatively quickly gain power and restore peace to Rome. His image continued to morph and change throughout his life going through the extremes of relatively unknown, to ruthless vengeance-bringer, to the pious, just leader of a restored republic. Another aspect is the way in which Octavian (later known as Augustus) was use of the army which led to important formations and maintenance of power. Octavian primary aim was to avenge traitor who killed Julius Caesar. He first gained the support of the senate by creating an enmity between him and Antony. This helped Octavian over time which helped him to become more popular .The popularity helped him to take revenge on Cicero and Brutus. Thus, Octavian formed an alliance with Marcus Antonius and Marcus Lepidus leading to the second triumvirate. The first actions by the members were to kill the great speaker and writer Cicero along with other senators and traitors. The next move was to avenge the murders of Julius Caesar mainly Brutus and Cassius. They defeated and killed Brutus and Cassius at the battle of Philippi in Macedonia in 42 B.C. The Second Triumvirate were now dominant in the republic, but this did not last very long. Next person who fell into Octavians list was Marcus Lep idus and Antony. Marcus Lepidus tried to overthrow Octavian, but failed and was stripped of his title. Octavian confined Lepidus to house arrest and Lepidus later died. This event has left Antony and Octavian to divide the whole empire which was under the control of the senate. Octavian assumed control of the Roman forces in the West and Antony controlled the Roman forces in the East. Inevitably, the battle for control of the whole empire between Octavian and Marcus Antonius was ensured. This battle would have become the largest civil war Rome had ever seen. Marcus Antonius was supported by the pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra as they prepared to land their forces and navy at the battle of Actium on September 2, 31 BC in an attempt to overthrow Octavian. The naval forces of Octavian, commanded by the General Agrippa, came to be victorious. The Battle of Actium is thought of as one of the most decisive battles ever fought because it established Octavians position as master of the entire G reco-Roman world .Octavian now had the funds from the conquest of Egypt to pay his army and he also had increased the size of his own army due to the defection of Antonius; army to his side. Octavian was now the sole commander of Rome and returned to Rome in victory.   The creation of a new image was a crucial step to change Octavian to Augustus, who had committed some violent acts as a Triumvir and held power illegally. At the heart of this position in the state was laying the army. It had been a major player in the chaotic events of the Late Republic and it had carried Augustus to power. Concern for its proper maintenance and for the effective channelling of its loyalties was therefore one of the chief goals of the Augustan settlement. In achieving these goals, Augustuss actions were a rousing success, since the army was tamed as a force in imperial politics for the better part of a century. This proved that Augustus was triumvir and his participation in the butchery, has led many to think that this man would seemingly stop at nothing to achieve lasting political primacy. But, we have the seemingly seen that this man had become benevolent monarch which was seen as latter part of his reign, as he was hailed as pater patriae (father of the fatherland) in 2 BCE. We have the man from a very provincial Italian background who rose to control Rome, who passed a range of conservative laws on marriage and the procreation of the governing classes, yet who was also the man whom, as Suetonius reports Not even his friends could deny that he often committed adultery  [1]  . These dichotomies pivot around the 27 BCE. Octavian the evil triumvir was replaced by Augustus, the benevolent leader of the (restored) Republic who ruled with universal consent His rule was pre-destined and was viewed favourably by the Gods. He had a divine ancestry and all Roman history had been leading up to the new Golden Age of peace, prosperity, piety, morality and justice which he ushered in. The image of Augustus changed significantly throughout his life. He started off as little more than the son of Caesar and he came to earn the respect and faith of his nation. He manipulated his image over the course of his life in order to be that which the people needed in order to believe in the future of Rome and a time or peace instead of civil war. He avoided the arrogant flaws of his father in favour of maintain the friendship of the senate but ended up just as powerful as the dictator. As a long-term ruler, he established a new system of government that managed the image of his rule as part of strategy for success. Augustus must have been one of the single most successful manipulators of his own image as he stands as comparison to the spin-doctors of the modern political scene. He was a conservative father figure, shepherding the nation into a new golden age and a propagandist. Most of his rule was based on by creating, by design, and by trial and error which created a new system of government and as well as a new governing regime. Even though his power through Brutal force, yet one would claim his rule came with a universal consent.

Art and History Displayed at the Pompeii Exhibition at LACMA Essay

The Pompeii exhibition at LACMA was an astounding visualization of history. The exhibition provided all sorts of objects; from sculptures, glass figures, painted art, and more. These art pieces specify the kind of life that was taking place in the Bay of Naples during the second century. As we know the cities around the Bay of Naples, which include Pompeii and Herculaneum, became tourist attractions when the cities were excavated after they were buried from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. However, the comprehension of how the art pieces made their way into the museum is just a little fact of the history behind them. With this exhibition we are able to feel like we are back in time and living in the exhilarating time of Pompeii. At the start of the exhibition we are presented with various busts and sculptures of certain, and presumably famous, figures. It is when we see the sculpture of Aphrodite (see Fig. 1) that we start sensing the significance of the exhibition. These sculptures were the norm during the second century in the Bay of Naples, and by viewing the intricate details in each art piece we understand how worthy each work meant to each of the artists. The sculpture of Aphrodite portrayed a serene greeting to the exhibitors. She stood in the middle welcoming us with a soft and warm smile. Through this sculpture we view how the Pompeii artist was following the Greek perception of the human body such as what we see in Polykleitos’ sculpture, Doryphoros; Aphrodite stands with the weight shifted on to her left foot portraying the cross balance of the human body. Once we appreciate the first art room we are then presented with various pieces of the gardens that were found around the Bay of Naples. In, w... ...hristen Kobke were on display including The Forum at Pompeii. The Forum painting depicts a tragic scene of Pompeii as it sits torn and destructed. Novels and photo albums also are displayed at the end of the exhibition. However, one of the last sculptures on view, Nydia, The Blind Girl of Pompeii (see Fig. 4), provides us with the fact that many people were truly inspired by the great tragic story of Pompeii. The sculpture of Nydia expresses the sadness and horror that many had experienced during that time. The Pompeii exhibition featured a number of objects, and how these objects were showed to the public presented a story. We were welcomed by the people into the home and gardens. Later we were given our parting with the photo albums and illuminated Pompeii art. This exhibition shows how much information and history can be presented in a few pieces of art.

Homeland Security Activity †Civil Liberties Essay

Individuals’ rights of American people provided and guaranteed under fourth amendments of American constitution, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), limited powers of security and law enforcement agencies are some of the obstacles that impede the way of the law enforment agencies to disrupt terrorist plots and prevent attacks inside the United States. But the other point of view is that these legal and constitutional provisions are not hindrance to security but are in accordance with cherished American ideals of personal freedom, right of privacy and the constitutional provision for no illegal and unjustified intrusion in the lives of American national. Bush administration defends new presidential orders and law-making on the grounds that old legal structures like FISA impede the speedy and agile actions needed to acquire the information about the activities of terrorists and their agents and to disrupt the acts of terrorism(Risen & Lichtblau, 2005). Another important aspect of this controversy is the violation of privacy rights provided under fourth amendments. For example, Bush order enabling NSA to conduct warrantless wiretapping is a violation of Fourth Amendment that protects the right of American Citizens against unreasonable surveillance. We all are well aware of the fact that Goverrnment’s intentions are good. Its sole motive is to authorize the agencies with necessary powers for speedy interception of terrorists’ activities. But there is a proper and lawful way to capacitate the security agencies with these authorities i. e. to formulate new laws if the previous ones are obsolete and not capable of handling the critical situation. And if the present surveillance system requires modifications and amendments, it must not be modified at the cost of the rights of privacy provided by fourth amendment.

Last Child in the Woods Essay

In this article, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv describes the importance that children have the ability to grow up and experience as their parents did through the back seat of a car. Louv’s purpose is to compel parents to stop giving in to technological advances and to start persuading their children to embrace the world. He uses his personal experiences to convey his point of view and he uses short simple sentences. Throughout the essay he is a strong advocate when making sure children enjoy reality instead of living in this technological age. He most frequently uses short simple sentences. This brevity keeps the audience intrigued and keeps the flow of the piece going. In the article he says, â€Å"The highways edges may not be postcard perfect,† (47-48). Its simplicity makes its understandable to all ages, so it’s relatable by both parents and their children. Its effect on the audience is to try and persuade them to say no to all the technology for their children and to show them what the world has to offer. Louv uses personal experiences from childhood as his second rhetorical strategy. An example from the text is the entire last paragraph when he is talking about all the things he saw from the back seat of his car as a child. Here are a few things he said , â€Å"We saw birds on the wires and combines in the field.† and â€Å"We held our little plastic cars against the glass and [pretended that they, too, were racing towards some unknown destination.† He uses this as to play with the readers emotional side, ethos. The reason behind it is that by play with their emotions it will persuade them to believe that his principles are ethically correct. Louv concludes his article by stating how even though life in the back seat can be boring and mundane; it can also shape us into who we are today.

Research General Surgery Essay

Research General Surgery Essay Research: General Surgery Essay Surgical Nurse In today’s world in terms of education and profession nursing is one of the major scopes. The study about the health care of the families, publics and individuals is known as nursing. Before in the 19th century nursing was very difficult and know as dirty profession and in middle of 19th century many patients died of surgery and it was dangerous ( Khan, 2012). There are various sectors of studies and specialist in the nursing career. I graduated as a nursing student from University Of Western Sydney and I am a registered nurse now. I am planning to study further as a surgical nurse specializing on general surgery. Surgery is one of the difficult and challenging tasks to perform in the medical area. The area of study where the nurses help the patient during the surgery period, before and after the surgery is known as surgical nursing. I have the personality to take care of the people who are facing the hard times and I am very kind, loving and caring towards the people. During my undergraduate studies I used to work on age care looking after the old people and I found it very interesting and learned how to interact with the patients. When I was studying in 8th grade I had appendix and I had to go through the surgery. At that time I was so nervous and afraid because it was my first time but at the same time one of the nurses who were looking after me provided me the strength. The nurse was a very kind and caring person, she told me not to be afraid and described all the procedures and told she would look after me the whole time. Although, I was so afraid by the convincing and loving suggestion f rom her somehow I was ready for the surgery. I was so impressed by her personality and from that moment I wanted to be the nurse in future and help the needy people like she did to me. As, my background I am from Nepal where boys are not allowed to study nursing so I came to Australia to study nursing and chase my dream. Now I am a registered nurse and for further study I want to specialize on general surgery under surgical nursing so I can help the patients who are going under the surgery and treat them better in the near future. The treatment of the injuries, abnormality and diseases using the operative system is known as general surgery. General surgery is a vast area of study and I am willing to complete my master’s degree in this area. Mainly I will be looking after the patients who are admitted for the surgery and looking after them during the surgical time. I will be helping the doctors with some surgical instruments and looking after the vital parts of the surgery. During the surgery patients should go through different tests like, blood tests, urine tests, x-rays and we have to collect the results and report it to the doctors. I will be looking for the patient mainly on pre-surgery and post-surgery. So I will be looking on those

On Behalf Of vs. In Behalf Of

On Behalf Of vs. In Behalf Of On Behalf Of vs. In Behalf Of On Behalf Of vs. In Behalf Of By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, Is there a difference in the use of these two prepositional phrases? I get mixed up a lot of times. I’d appreciate your clarifying this in one of your posts. â€Å"On behalf of† means, â€Å"as representing,† and â€Å"in behalf of† means â€Å"for the advantage of.† People or agencies who act as representatives of others, act â€Å"on behalf of†: The ACLU brought suit against the city on behalf of three residents.    People whose intention is merely to be helpful act â€Å"in behalf of†: The residents along the border collected food in behalf of the migrants. Merriam-Webster does not draw a distinction between the phrases, but includes both in its entry for behalf: â€Å"in behalf of or on behalf of preposition: in the interest of,  as the representative of,  for the benefit of. Ex. â€Å"This letter is written in behalf of my client.† The OED, on the other hand, deplores such a merger of meaning: In recent use we often find on behalf in the sense of in behalf, to the loss of an important distinction. According to the OED, on behalf of means, â€Å"on the part of (another),† with the notion of official agency; in behalf of means, â€Å"in the interest of, as a friend or defender of, for the benefit of.† The connotation is the notion of interposition. The Chicago Manual of Style supports the distinction for American speakers in its â€Å"Good Usage versus common usage† section: In behalf of means â€Å"in the interest or for the benefit of.† Ex. â€Å"The decision is in behalf of the patient.† On behalf of means â€Å"acting as agent or representative of.† Ex. â€Å"On behalf of Mr. Scott, I would like to express heartfelt thanks.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Inquire vs Enquire20 Pairs of One-Word and Two-Word FormsWhile vs. Whilst

Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Planning - Essay Example The company also has a wide product offering from savory sandwiches to desserts, CD’s to about every variety of coffee combination available, as such the company is able to offer something to accommodate almost all tastes. As it is the case that the firm focuses on using extremely high quality coffee products in many ways the company has segmented themselves in the market as a premium brand. In this respect the company has semi-positioned themselves as a company that offers an affordable luxury. Weaknesses: As the company is not franchised and simply utilizes a successful business model, it may be a bit ambitious for the company to project opening an additional 26,500 stores whilst still maintaining a high degree of control over product quality and individual store financial success. Opportunities: According to the international Coffee Organization (2007) the global consumption of coffee is a growing trend with per capita consumption expected to reach stay at 1.3 kilograms annually up from just 1 kilogram in 1996. Furthermore in a number of markets there is very little restriction on the establishment of small business entities such as a coffee shop. As such it may be the case that Starbucks may not face any strong opposition by pursuing a policy of expansion into new markets in places such as Asia and Latin America. Threats: According to McRoskey (2008) it is the case that there is increased competition from traditional cafà © based coffee vendors but also McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts. As it is also the case that there is a high degree of new entrants in the coffee market, furthermore a massive new expansion policy may prove to be financially unfeasible in already heavily saturated markets. Lastly, it is the case that as Starbucks is an American company, sales could be influenced by influenced in some countries by the current political climate. In terms of Howard Schultz actually achieving his goal of reaching 23 billion in sales I personally believe that

Operational planning - arts and events management Assignment

Operational planning - arts and events management - Assignment Example This organisation is a non profit organisation governed by a board of directors who represent key stakeholders who provide a significant amount of funding such as; the local authority, the Arts council, EU Social Development Fund, two national banks, and two charitable trusts who are concerned with groups of people that are socially excluded. These four key points will be discussed through a number of imperative sources such as the most recent government census 2001 that can be found over the internet as well as websites such as, upmystreet.com and mintell.com. This will then help to compile a detailed plan of strategic objectives that will then be used by the 'Theatre Royal'. The various elements of operational planning have been discussed as part of the case study of Theatre Royal. It may be seen that the various aspects of operational planning have been tied together under the various headings as follows. Berkshire Sub-Region Context Map (refer to Appendix 1.0) shows Reading just to the west of the city of London. As you can see Reading is a prime location for any already existing or new organisations, as it has easy access to top motorways in the south west of England such as the M3 and M4 giving easy access to the M25. The location is also within 25 minutes drive from one of Europe's largest trading estates fuelling many new jobs in southern England in the town of Slough. Reading is a very multicultural town consisting mainly of Christians (62.63%) however there are many others from a number of religious backgrounds such as Muslims (4.0%), Hindu's(0.99%), and people who state themselves as having no religion (22.0%), (Refer to Appendix 1.1). The total population of Reading is 143,069 people and of these 129,900 people were born within Europe and 123,080 of these originated in the UK. The population sets in Reading consist of various ethnicities and age groups. Furthermore there are 6,196 people from Asia and 3,632 people from Africa. There are also small minority groups within the Reading area as only 5 people are from Western Europe (Luxembourg), 11 from Western Africa in Congo and 17 people from Oceania (for further statistics refer to Appendix 1.2). This

Environmental Effects Statement for the proposed (Persistent Organic Research Proposal

Environmental Effects Statement for the proposed (Persistent Organic Compounds) storage and treatment facility - Research Proposal Example This article’s main aim is tooutline a few things such as how the development is likely to impact on the environment; ways in which the impacts could be identified and measures that would be put in place to mitigate the social and economic impacts of the project on the environment.Within the SEE, a suitable location for the development of the project should be suggested and details outlined. Background The development plan featured here is the setting up of POP (Persistent Organic Compound) storage and treatment facility is which is to be built near Mortlake, Victoria. The purpose of building this facility is to dispose Australia’s 500,000 tonne stockpile of organ chlorines such as DDT, Dieldrin and Endrin, polychlorinated biphenyls, hexachlorobenzene, dioxins and furans. The company that has proposed the storage and treatment facility received information that they will have to go through the environmental effect process before approval could be given for this project. With the support of both the State and Federal Governments the process will be heard under Victoria’s Environmental Effects Act (1978) and the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999). Body The Queensland Environmental act protection act 1994 is a statute that provides legislations, standard procedures, codes and control approvals when setting up projects so as to monitor and manage operations on site. Given the size of the project, a lot of organisation should be done and clear-cut strategies be put in place. Some of the things the project managers should outline include how to relocate or compensate owners of the 1000 acres of land where the project is going to be built and the cost implications it will have on the stakeholders of the project. Operations involved and the estimated period of time required for setting up the project is also vital. Scrutiny of the site should also be done to verify whether there are any hindrances to the project such as underlying mining tenements. The numbers of people required to provide labour should outlined (BERTRAM, 2005, p201). There are a number of implications; either social or economic, that could arise as a result of setting up the project. For instance, looking at the topography of the land, excavators will have to dig deeper into the ground which could result in for example release of air emissions from underneath that may be hazardous to humans. It is important that both personnel working on the site and other nearby residents be informed on such dangers and protective clothing be distributed so as to mitigate the effects such dangerous chemicals could have on individuals. The dug up soil could also contain dangerous chemicals leading to contamination and it is recommended that it is disposed in the right manner. The proposed construction for all temporary landforms is also likely to cause possible erosion as the area is cleared of vegetation. Clearing or demolishing of the h ouses within the site may likely lead to stockpiles and limit access to certain pathways. In the wake of the construction, it is also likely that some parts of the neighboring land’s fertility or productivity be constrained.â€Å"JOUMARD, p34,† argues that in order to ensure that the land remain fertile or at least a little productive, the

Media or america Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media or america - Essay Example Because the constant repetition of ideas in a society can easily lead to hegemony of values and cultural expression, it is important to be vigilant as to the effect of media in daily life and the way that it shapes concepts of self-identity. The effect of mass-media is found in all modern education systems and entertainment activities for the majority of society. In many instances, such as public opinion polls, marketing, and commercial advertising campaigns, nationalism and patriotism are used in branding a product for consumption. But more commonly, America knows that when it comes to advertising, sex appeal sells products best. Yet, advertising can also be important in building self-identity patterns that are unrealistic or unhealthy for individuals to relate to personally. For example, women are typically shown in contemporary media representations with an unconventional, ultra-thin body as the ideal body type. Similarly, men are built with broad shoulders, enormous muscles, and zero percent body fat. This creates an expectation in the individual to shape his personal appearance to be comparable to that of a male or female superhero in order to gain acceptance. When visualizing this type of sex appeal personally, people often try to be accepted in society by imitating this â€Å"ideal image,† despite the fact that is first posited by the commercial stereotype. The â€Å"ideal image† leads to the striving for perfection in what is considered physically beautiful in the culture or society at large, but the problem is that this system also simultaneously and implicitly values the ideal above all others. The advertising in mass-media of today exposes American society repeatedly to an ideal body image and creates the idea that the individual must meet these standards. When the ideal is adopted individually, negative outcomes may occur such as eating disorders, depression, obsession, and low self-esteem. Following this paradigm, it is clear that oth er mental health problems can potentially arise from the internal conflict between media patterns of approved or applauded identity and the Self’s own reality and experience. Thus, the media environment to a great degree determines the education and sustenance of an individual mentally and spiritually in today’s world, as well as being the means by which a person searches for and establishes their own personal identity or sense of Self. Complex images on how women and men should grow up to look like are introduced at the earliest ages of human development. For example, children at the age of five are often given influences in the form of toy dolls known as the â€Å"Barbies† or â€Å"G.I. Joe† action figures in America. The Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls are designed based on a body image that is impractical, creating an almost fanatical impression which drives subconsciously the way people believe adults should appear and dress. Barbie’s measurements a re nearly physically impossible for most women to achieve physically, but they are learned to be desired. Society needs to provide healthier and more realistic social models to children during their formative years of education and mind development.

Contract Creation and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Contract Creation and Management - Essay Example It also shows how serious the leasing contract is being broken. The executives of Quick Takes video are extremely much surprised on learning of the news of the lawsuit. They argue that the contract was not viable since they did not sign it as they are the owners of the company and that they had not authorized Janet, the secretary to sign any contract that was binding them with Non-Linear Pro in the leasing of the equipment. The Quick Takes Videos’ attorney argues that Janet was acting as an agent to the company, and thus the argument cannot work since an agent is permitted to conduct business on behalf of the principal who was away during that time. The executives also try to argue that Non-Linear Pro brought faulty junk equipment and hurriedly gave the secretary the contract to sign. Janet said that she signed the contract because she taught it was a delivery. The equipment that was brought was to be on a trial basis for a month, and then they would sign the lease. That was s upposed to be the agreement that was made by the Quick Takes Video executives and Non-Linear Pro. ... This shows how the Non linear Pro is misrepresenting its equipment and its product in general. The other issue is that the secretary of Quick Takes Video, Janet acted on behalf of the company’s executives in the level of an agent and signed the lease by mistake thinking it was a delivery paper that she signs all the time. She did not take her time to read what was in the paper before signing it. This in turn, is souring up the two company’s relationship and it is making it worse. One of Quick Takes Video executive Hal says that piece of equipment that was supplied by Non Linear was a piece of junk and that the equipment that was brought was supposed to be one month trial equipment and not the real lease. Administering of Contracts In this case, the executives of the Quick Takes Video did not define to Janet on who was responsible to signing off some specific contracts in the company. During creation of contracts and managing them, business owners are supposed to define to their employees on who is responsible for signing contracts that bind the company to legal terms. Quick Take Video should define to Janet on what her authority in the company actually is. She should be told on what contracts she is responsible for signing and which contracts are her natures of signing. In the video, the executive of Quick Takes is to blame since they directed the Non Linear Pro to finish all the arrangements with Janet. They did not however, limit the sales person that specific contractual signing was to be made by the executives alone. This is where the problem arose from. The Non Linear Pro sales person might have thought that Janet had the authority to sign off these contracts. On looking at both companies allegations against each other, they both have strong cases against

Undercover Boss Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Undercover Boss - Assignment Example The expected salary for the described job position is around $40,000 to start on average. In order to determine and collect the information about the job position’s responsibilities, duties, necessary skills, outcomes and work environment of the job of the Catering director a job analyses is prepared. A Catering director is responsible for all types of operations and duties of the catering faculty (Andrews, 1980). A Catering Director is supposed to look for the overall management of the catering segment in a restaurant. The expected salary for the described job position is around $28,000 to start. In particular a Catering Director has to, The information of the staff and employees collected for the job analysis for the job positions or vacancies required for the new hiring in our company is through the observation and interviews. These two methods are considered as the most authentic for the data collection. The other authentic, one-on-one method is to interview. It helps connect the observations with the talking of the employees. Set of questions should be specifically based on observations and they work best (OMeara, 2013). The job analysis plays an essential role in identifying the functions of the jobs in our company. It also helps assist and identify reasonable accommodations made by our company’s policies. The policies and laws of our company avoid misclassification of employees to prevent the legal fees, fines and payback. It follows the â€Å"Fair Labor Standards Act† and this way our employees remain aware of the job functions and duties the employees are doing. The employees are compensated on a salary basis rate, which is not lesser than $455 per week. Salary test is also conducted for this purpose (Sims & Veres, 1995). The job description is kept updated as a job analysis is

Media or america Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media or america - Essay Example Because the constant repetition of ideas in a society can easily lead to hegemony of values and cultural expression, it is important to be vigilant as to the effect of media in daily life and the way that it shapes concepts of self-identity. The effect of mass-media is found in all modern education systems and entertainment activities for the majority of society. In many instances, such as public opinion polls, marketing, and commercial advertising campaigns, nationalism and patriotism are used in branding a product for consumption. But more commonly, America knows that when it comes to advertising, sex appeal sells products best. Yet, advertising can also be important in building self-identity patterns that are unrealistic or unhealthy for individuals to relate to personally. For example, women are typically shown in contemporary media representations with an unconventional, ultra-thin body as the ideal body type. Similarly, men are built with broad shoulders, enormous muscles, and zero percent body fat. This creates an expectation in the individual to shape his personal appearance to be comparable to that of a male or female superhero in order to gain acceptance. When visualizing this type of sex appeal personally, people often try to be accepted in society by imitating this â€Å"ideal image,† despite the fact that is first posited by the commercial stereotype. The â€Å"ideal image† leads to the striving for perfection in what is considered physically beautiful in the culture or society at large, but the problem is that this system also simultaneously and implicitly values the ideal above all others. The advertising in mass-media of today exposes American society repeatedly to an ideal body image and creates the idea that the individual must meet these standards. When the ideal is adopted individually, negative outcomes may occur such as eating disorders, depression, obsession, and low self-esteem. Following this paradigm, it is clear that oth er mental health problems can potentially arise from the internal conflict between media patterns of approved or applauded identity and the Self’s own reality and experience. Thus, the media environment to a great degree determines the education and sustenance of an individual mentally and spiritually in today’s world, as well as being the means by which a person searches for and establishes their own personal identity or sense of Self. Complex images on how women and men should grow up to look like are introduced at the earliest ages of human development. For example, children at the age of five are often given influences in the form of toy dolls known as the â€Å"Barbies† or â€Å"G.I. Joe† action figures in America. The Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls are designed based on a body image that is impractical, creating an almost fanatical impression which drives subconsciously the way people believe adults should appear and dress. Barbie’s measurements a re nearly physically impossible for most women to achieve physically, but they are learned to be desired. Society needs to provide healthier and more realistic social models to children during their formative years of education and mind development.

Undercover Boss Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Undercover Boss - Assignment Example The expected salary for the described job position is around $40,000 to start on average. In order to determine and collect the information about the job position’s responsibilities, duties, necessary skills, outcomes and work environment of the job of the Catering director a job analyses is prepared. A Catering director is responsible for all types of operations and duties of the catering faculty (Andrews, 1980). A Catering Director is supposed to look for the overall management of the catering segment in a restaurant. The expected salary for the described job position is around $28,000 to start. In particular a Catering Director has to, The information of the staff and employees collected for the job analysis for the job positions or vacancies required for the new hiring in our company is through the observation and interviews. These two methods are considered as the most authentic for the data collection. The other authentic, one-on-one method is to interview. It helps connect the observations with the talking of the employees. Set of questions should be specifically based on observations and they work best (OMeara, 2013). The job analysis plays an essential role in identifying the functions of the jobs in our company. It also helps assist and identify reasonable accommodations made by our company’s policies. The policies and laws of our company avoid misclassification of employees to prevent the legal fees, fines and payback. It follows the â€Å"Fair Labor Standards Act† and this way our employees remain aware of the job functions and duties the employees are doing. The employees are compensated on a salary basis rate, which is not lesser than $455 per week. Salary test is also conducted for this purpose (Sims & Veres, 1995). The job description is kept updated as a job analysis is

Winning Elections Essay Example for Free

Winning Elections Essay b) Traditionally, winning elections has been an aim of political parties subordinate to representing political views. However, more recently parties have been adjusting their ideology, possibly to make them more desirable to the majority of the electorate and thus gain political office. As suggested by McKie, recent elections have been less between competing philosophies, much more about which set of managers was likely to get better results. Both Labour, and the Conservatives have moved considerably towards the centre of the political spectrum in the past couple of decades, and if there are fundamental differences between the two parties, then at least one of them is failing to reflect properly the concerns of the middle ground voter. This convergence of party ideology is most probably a move by both parties to make them more attractive to middle England. It is perhaps now only extremist parties that are intent on representing political principles, and this may be a reason for the recent rise in popularity of parties such as the BNP. In the last election, 57% of manifesto pledges for the main parties were non-partisan and couldnt be countered be other parties, this is a mark of the lack of choice the electorate is presented with and illustrates how parties are no longer representing strong political views with each party catering for a different section of society. In 1992 all three major parties were pro-Maastricht, which proves that parties are just pursuing policies that will appeal to the majority of the electorate. Labour used to represent the views of the working class, and their ideology was distinctly socialist, but under Tony Blair, and previously Neil Kinnock, Labour has tried to distance itself from its core supporters and trade unions, as that relationship was a vote loser. This reinvention of Labour ideology has been very prominent in recent issues such as Labours intransigence in not raising the salary for firemen and not having a good relationship with the Fire Brigades Union. The reform of the party came after 17 years of Conservative rule, and it was accomplished by the abandonment of many of its distinctive policies that it had fought and lost of in previous elections. When Tony Blair dropped clause four, it was in order to change the party, and when party reform was fully complete, Labour returned to power. However, some of Labours policy changes may have been due to the shrinking working class, which used to make up the majority of their support. This change in social structure may also be attributable to the Conservatives move towards the centre, as social boundaries have shrunk, the middle class which they traditionally represented is not as easily defined anymore. In the period 1945-1979, policy differences between the two major parties were generally peripheral, and thus both major parties governed for roughly 17 years each. In the two elections where there were substantial and essential differences in social and economic policy (1945 1983), one of the two parties plunged to catastrophic defeat. This was due to both parties projecting the party ideology through policy, thus effectively representing political principles even if it was not going to get them elected. However, there are still some policies that distinguish the major parties from each other. The parties set ideological goals in order to establish the best way to run the country; therefore parties are offering representation of the major strands of opinion. Labours electoral success is partly dependent upon offering a clear and distinctive vision of the nations future, their recent move away from the left has perhaps been in the interest of the electorate, and it would lose Labour political credibility if the electorate suspected that their new stance was the result of opportunistic caution. If one was to argue that political parties simply wished to get elected and this is why they have similar policy, then perhaps it should be questioned why there used to be a very distinct difference between the major parties. This can only be because of changing social structures mentioned previously. Ultimately, there is no way of knowing whether parties simply wish to get elected rather than represent political principles. However, it is likely that getting elected is at the top of their agenda, and perhaps they wish to represent distinct principles when they are in power, however the current Labour government has been acting much like a Conservative government would on issues such as Iraq, and university tuition fees. This perhaps highlights the changing society that we live in which has different political needs than it has in the past century, and political parties have adapted to provide the best options for the electorates needs.

Photography Essays Monstrous Imagery

Photography Essays Monstrous Imagery Chasing the Dragon: Capturing the Significance of the Monstrous Chapter One: What is a monster? There are perhaps two kinds of monster: the monster that sprung from our own hands and changed into something uncontrollable, and the monster that is experienced as alien, preternatural, generally an unfathomable creature, and frightening because of its mystery. It is impossible to decide which is more frightening, since both suggest an Other, something resistant to human power, and while the first kind draws attention to man’s mortal limits and potential for self-destruction, the second highlights the extent of human ignorance and insignificance in relation to external forces. Both kinds of monster, however, share an ability to induce extraordinary fear, and both have a solid foundation in mythology, since man has always feared what he could not explain and has translated his fears into metaphorical shapes of fearful creatures since time began. Both man-made and alien monsters, too, share a self-referential semiotic structure in literature, art, psychology and mythology. In t he history of the human subconscious, fears have always preceded monsters. Monsters are representative. They are representative of all the things we are unable to control, and the uncontrollable fear that is generated by these things. They are representative, then, on more than one level, as they are simultaneously our fear and the object of our fear. All (â€Å"bad†) monsters are synonymous with fear – our fearand as such the monstrosity we perceive in even â€Å"external† beasts like aliens, dragons, sea monsters and circus freaks, is something generated by us, the beholder. They are also representative of anything threatening, as Robert Thomas’ definition in â€Å"The Concept of Fear,† explains â€Å"not only what is likely to threaten life, injure our bodies, cause physical pain, which is seen as   ‘dangerous’ or ‘threatening.’ The monster retains an almost unique power to represent, subjectively, something different to whoever beholds it. But its representative power operates on a universal level too: in Judith Halberstam’s book Skin Shows (1995) she seems to suggest that the semiotics of a monster’s meaning should maintain a certain fluidity, as its interpretation is so unstable, and contingent upon social, political and religious climates. Halberstam expounds on the role of literary and cinematic texts in channelling our fear of monsters, since â€Å"the production of fear in a literary text (as opposed to a cinematic text) emanates from a vertiginous excess of meaning† While one might expect to find that cinema multiplies the possibilities for monstrosity, the nature of the visual always, in fact, operates a kind of self censorship, whereby our visual register reaches a limit of visibility surprisingly fast. It is our imaginations that make the invisible nature of monsters, the very essence of their unknown-ness, so enduringly frightening. As Paul Yoder eloquently expresses it, â€Å"What we cannot see frightens us most. Reason competes with   imagination to establish boundaries around the external stimuli and, thus,   clearly establishes a means of remaining separated from that which harms us.   But reason will ultimately prove ineffective without a frame of reference grounded in a context of physical reality to establish a solidified boundary between the real and the unreal, the natural and the supernatural. Without this definitive context, reason is unable to mark the separation between two modes of perception, so as an audience or a reader, we are forced to hesitate, resulting   in a moment of suspense, the first stage in   externalizing the feeling and producing an externally constructed emotion of   fear.† The monster walks the line between life and death, and the most terrifying monsters transform others into fearful beings too, removing their essence, or everything they cherished. Medusa, for example, had no natural animation herself, just wriggling snakes that performed a grotesque impersonation of the natural and winsome effects of wind through hair.   In some ways she epitomises monstrousness, as her fearful power was an extension of her fearful quality – her deathly stillness. Medusa, of course, used petrification to turn others to stone, and inadvertently brought about her own end through the reflection of her enemy’s shield. Thus Medusa is a warning to all monsters: eventually, the supernatural force of the deadly stillness will be turned onto itself by the superior power of animated defences of the natural. My aim in this study is to juxtapose the metaphorical â€Å"monsters† that have permeated our language and mythologies with the visual interpretations of the monstrous, as it has been translated into photography and the assumptions of pop culture. The ultimate goal in this study is to arrive at some definition of â€Å"monster† based on a societal interpretation of the outsider and examine how fear of the â€Å"Other† is internalized. It is the manner that we, as a society, perceive our â€Å"Other†, which will ultimately control the paths our visual representations of monsters take, as mythical archetypes within the horrors of our minds. Chapter Two: Creating and defining the monstrous: the codes of photography Monsters have long been obeisant to a certain visual code, albeit a very difficult one to define. Sometimes they are brightly coloured, sometimes scaled up or down, humanoid, hairy, toothy, slimey, legless, millipedal, whatever they look like, they look exaggerated, surprising, startling, unexpected. If we read about them, the mental image is a perplexingly blurry one; if we see them in horror movies, their most frightening moment is always just before they appear. Monsters vary so wildly in their representation because the visual properties of the monster are actually incidental to its fear-producing power. The monster can look like anything, the more surprising the better – a chair; a beachball; the Prime Minister because the fear is our fear, and the fear created the monster: it was there first, deep inside us. The visual arrangement of the monster is merely a trigger to that primal fear. It seems to me that the writer with the most monstrous pen is Herman Melville, and the photographer with the most monstrous eye is Ansel Adams. Both contrast light and dark incessantly: for Melville with his extraordinary white whale, pallor is something to be afraid or suspicious of, perhaps even suggesting the diabolical. Whiteness is both, â€Å"the most meaningful symbol of spiritual things, nay, the very veil of the Christian deity,† and â€Å"the intensifying agent in things the most appalling to mankind†. In a world controlled by Christian orthodoxy, the whiteness of purity, the shroud, and death, lead to life everlasting. On the sea, however, white represents a loss of hope, for it â€Å"shadows forth the heartless voids and immensities of the universe and thus stabs us from behind with the thought of annihilation.† A photograph remains an abstraction, even in its most primitive state as a sort of document or record and Adams’s skill lies in his ability to conceal his role as contriver, abstracter, imaginist, within the rhetorical apparatus of scientifically objective reality. He shuttles, perpetually, between the reality of texture and the affectation of emphasised texture; his is a statement about the difference between something existing and something being noticed, which partly accounts for his famous privileging of black and white. When unnecessary distractions arise from ranges of colours are removed, the impact of an image can be multiplied. In efforts to define- or perhaps contain it, the practice of photography has been laboriously distinguished from other visual forms and practices, particularly painting and film. Adams is interesting because he refuses the forces of classification, not static enough for photography, too theatrical and contrived for regular representational convention. In the article Looking at Photographs, Victor Burgin writes: â€Å"The signifying system of photography, like that of classical painting, at once depicted a scene and the gaze of the spectator, an object and a viewing subject. Whatever the object depicted, the manner of its depiction accords with laws of geometric projection which imply a unique point of view. It is the position of point-of-view, occupied in fact by the camera, which is bestowed upon the spectator.† Even more emphatically than painting, photography maps an animated, infinitely subjective and ever changing world into a two dimensional, static image of a finite moment.   Classical and highly stylised black and white images, such as those that have made Adams most famous, take the abstraction one step further by removing all colour from our inescapably multicoloured world. What remains is one of two things which really amount to the same: an alien – monstrous landscape, or our own landscape from an Other’s point of view. The use of colour in photography has been shunned repeatedly by many purists working to a realist agenda. Compared to black and white it is considered more superficial, crassly realistic, mundane, less abstract, ultimately less artistic. Altering light and shade in the darkroom enables a degree of artistic dishonesty. The camera may not lie, but the photographer very frequently does, especially the photographer with an artistic agenda. Whenever he dodges shadow detail and fires up highlights, increasing contrast or altering tone, Adams exercises and demonstrates a contrivance that amounts to a sort of visual poetry. Adams is on record confessing to severe manipulationof Moonrise over Hernandez, but more significant still is probably his interest in striking, unusual, dehumanised scenes and subjects which lend themselves so well to monochrome representation. These subjects I would characterise as â€Å"monstrous†: their stillness the only feature protecting us from terror †“ the brink of fear kept just out of reach by the amazing stationary quality of the images. Monsters are frightening when they are animated, but this is also when they are at their weakest, as we have seen. Adams’ works have the frozen, petrified, feel of a final visual imprint of a paralysed, dying beast. The night scene is extraordinarily affecting, partly because, as a genre, it is most famous for high contrast monochrome. It is the only time in our world really does seem black and white, so the image is almost an accurate representation, but not quite. It is the slightly alienating quality of this image, the slight lack of fit between representation and mental expectation, which makes it so beautiful. Many of Adams’s images are arresting because they are tuned to the timing of our mental calculations: they are ready to predict and confound our expectations by subtle acts of artifice and they play constantly, and good-naturedly, on the moment of our realisation. The monochrome of Adams is not a symptom of self-aggrandising pride in his iconic â€Å"artist† status, but a device to play with emphasis and expectation, a way of forcing us to look at the world in different ways. The British scientist and psychology pioneer, Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911), was responsible for many studies we might now associate with â€Å"monstrous† photography in a different sense. Galton generated controversy in many ways even in his own time; as an early eugenicist he was the first to study the nature-nurture debate through the use of real pairs of twins. Galton’s Eugenics experiments in the 1870s had the ostensible aim of â€Å"improving† the human race by selecting individuals with desirable traits and encouraging them to breed, while simultaneously to check the birth-rate of the Unfit. Perhaps his most famous means of studying behavioural traits across different social demographics was photography. Galton aimed to surpass individual behavioural idiosyncrasies and arrive at generalisations about human behaviour, through a crudely arranging a number of photographs into a composite. His most famous study of this sort aspired to investigating criminal behaviour – and this was the study which most clearly demonstrated both a fear of and damaging assumptions made about Victorian society’s â€Å"Other†: the monstrous convict. Galton took a number of face-shots of men convicted of murder, manslaughter and other serious crimes, then carefully printed them all to the same dimensions. By photographing a number of them, then carefully aligning the images onto the same photographic plate, a composite photograph was assembled. Rather than Galtons enabling him to produce a clear image of a criminal face, Galton’s results produced pictures that of men with a generic kind of working class look. Galton’s â€Å"monster† seemed to be created from the false confidence of new technologies and that afforded by the new shamanism surrounding his â€Å"science†. His results seemed to show that any member of the lower classes was a potential criminal and advised that selective breeding could be used to replace the lower classes by those from superior stock. An extension of the same reasoning and method, and extraordinary bias towards the visual, could come to the conclusion that some racial groups were inherently superior to others, and indeed this was what happened, as Eugenics, while starting as an attempt to scientifically improve the human condition was of course later used to support Nazi policies of extermination of Jews, gypsies and others. Photography theory has traced something undeniably monstrous integral to the abstract, literary property of the photograph. After his father’s death, Paul Auster was compelled to sort through the house full of the objects left behind. Despite the fact that all his father’s artefacts, everything from an electric razor, to tools and cancelled cheques—bore a kind of ghostly trace of their owner, Auster prefers to focus on the photographs he finds stored in a cupboard in the bedroom. It is as if he hopes they might reveal some information about his father that unusually real, through their power to capture his image. Roland Barthes’s work Camera Lucida affords Auster’s grim quest with some context. After a determined effort to define photography â€Å"in itself,† the second half of his book sees Barthes turning to a kind of personal dialogue with a photograph of his recently deceased mother. While sorting a stack of photographs of his mother, Bar thes notices that â€Å"none of them seemed to me really ‘right’†that is, although he â€Å"recognized a region of her face, a certain relation of her nose and forehead, the movement of her arms, her hands† Barthes can’t â€Å"find† his mother’s essential â€Å"being† in any of her pictures. Barthes’s task then changes from sorting photos to â€Å"looking for the truth of the face I had loved† in the stack of images. There is something intrinsically alien about the meaning of photographs, and to this extent they are monsters to us, and our memories. Auster, too, seems to be seeking â€Å"truth† in the photographs of his lost parent. He writes, â€Å"It seemed that they could tell me things I had never known before, reveal some previously hidden truth† Unlike Barthes, who is looking for something he knows about his mother but can’t find in her images, Auster hopes that his father’s photographs will betray some evidence of a private man, some part of his father that had been carefully concealed from the world. The â€Å"very essence† of photography, according to Barthes, is that it shows what has been. Chapter three: Reacting to monstrous imagery Many spaces are terrifying to us, and soon become populated by â€Å"monsters† of the cosmic psyche. The arctic wasteland is crawling with yetis, every dark corner has a ghost, and every desert is thick with monstrous mirages, terrifying to the extent that they represent a void, a nothingness, at best, the fear of the unknown. They are alien landscapes- mammals struggle to survive, and the plants we do find in deserts barely seem designed to aid our survival. There is a certain security about filling the void with sign-posts, even if, in the ultimate post-modern irony, those signs only point to themselves. In this sense the iconography of the desert shares a metaphorical shape with Barthes’ self-reflexive definition of photography; it is as if the horrors of the desert, the horrors of the self-created metaphor, and the fearful void constructed by the photograph that signifies nothing are all connected and perhaps even the same. Auge’s words explain the problem of imaging the desert, If a place can be defined as relational, historical and concerned with identity then a space which cannot be defined as relational, historical or concerned with identity is a non place. The spaces which negate are unbearable and must be somehow psychically redeemed. Laura Cinti attempts this by attaching hair to the spineless cactus, for the cactus itself has of course beco me yet another iconographic space of complicated nothingness. Cinti’s work, if it demonstrates or states anything, demonstrates or states the extent to which the desert symbolism has been anxiously harvested from the plant. What looks like nothingness is mere misunderstanding, and what looks like improvement and liberation is naà ¯ve, appalling, abuse. Yet we are all guilty of some of this. None of us can bear the silence of the desert or make sense of the mute perpendicular. Michael Fried’s work in Realism, Writing, Disfiguration makes much of the damaging and paradoxical symmetry that exists between the hand and the eye. That is, the way we see the world is affected by the way we recreate it, but the way we reproduce it damages the way we see it. The whole theory operates on a larger metaphor controlled by vertical/horizontal semiotics. The desert cactus image is always a vertical formation on a horizontal axis: the opposition of life and death is present visually and immediately. But the desert is unique, as a horizontal space. We would normally expect a great expanse of flat ground to be bursting with life and promise, to oppose and define the sky. The desert, however, rejects life. Those who think cacti ugly must perceive them as canker sores, signifiers only of scorched earth. The desert space is an inversion of all th at we, as animals, have come to associate with health   and life. The cacti in the vista, then, can be interpreted in two almost completely opposing ways. Either they are the anti-tree, the anti-life, or they are vegetation and water, albeit in a different form- and consequently just as alienated from the sandy plains as we are. Despite the obvious oppositions, the desert is more like the sea than it appears. While the water reflects light, the desert reflects heat- and the art historian Michael Fried cites reflections as the connection between the inner and the outer. To the extent that they are concerned with reflections, indoor and outdoor scenes are treated as having the same character and affect. I feel sure the notion can equally be applied to a pair of iconographically opposing images. Interior and exterior scenes are, to Fried, clear metaphors for the inside and outside of the body, so perhaps the â€Å"external† hostility of the desert might set alongside the â€Å"internal† of the humane well-vegetated landscape. Perhaps the images represent a horizontality that reflect along a flat axis. The reflection must always be slightly imperfect for the object to be seen at all- and it is interference on the vertical axis that disrupts the reflection and reveals the illusion. In the desert, th is interference is embodied by cacti, which are surely the most authentic part of the landscape. Conclusions We have seen how monsters can be created and destroyed, and discovered that it is more interesting to explore their legacy as metaphorical forces in our language and psyches. In closing, I would like to look briefly at the example of Narcissus, whose monstrous transformation into a flower is richly representative and relevant, and resonates with much of the discourse surrounding art and spectatorship today. Turning to ancient mythology, we often find a wealth of instances where change itself is the terrifying aspect of the monstrous. Ovid’s metamorphoses provide a catalogue of such stories, and, more interestingly, represent the different ways that the metaphors of monstrosity are used to generate fear and alienation. Narcissus and Echo is a particularly rich example, among several in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, of a beautiful youth who died as a result of spurning sex. In Ovids retelling of the myth, Narcissus is the son of Cephissus, the river god and the nymph Liriope. The seer Tiresias foretold that the child would live to an old age if it did not look at itself. While many nymphs and girls fell in love with him, he rejected them all. One such nymphs, Echo, became so distraught that she withdrew to a lonely spot and faded until all that was left was a plaintive whisper. Meanwhile the rejected girls’ prayers for vengeance reached the goddess Nemesis, who caused Narcissus to fall in love with his own reflection. He remained transfixed by his reflection until he died. It is possible that the connection between Echo and Narcissus was an invention of Ovid, since there do not seem to be any earlier instances of the Narcissus myth which incorporate Echo. This myth lends itself to extensive and adventurous literary interpretation. When Narcissus eliminated the distance between his image and its reflection by touching the water with his face, the distance disappeared and took the image with it, as the water rippled and broke the reflected into pieces. The desire, however, remained, not disappearing with any distance covered by his attempts to escape it, and his difficulty with his passion for himself was not solved. The story is compelling to artists because it is about the power of sight, its dangers and its rewards. For Narcissus, salvation is possible as extension of distance, not as elimination of it. If he can cease to see his own image he will be saved but is precisely the need to see his face that is compelling and destroying him. As Angel Angelov writes, â€Å"Narcissus’ face is a metonymy of integrity, enraptured by its reflected self. The general paradox upon which the story is built comprises various details – in this case, the simultaneity of shapelessness and fixed contour – Narcissus’ image on the water surface was cut like chiseled Paros marble. Certainly, we can think about Alexandrinian influence (getting petrified because of amazement) but also about the Roman practice of sculpting, creating firm outlines. However, the presence in a definite social environment considered eternal, is a characteristic that is contrary to the out-social transience of Narcissus’ reflection.† In Narcissus: the mirror of the text. Philip Hardie explores various ideas around Narcissus as a post-modern signifier. The surface of water, that fragile barrier, becomes a Lacanian mirror and operates as an interface between Self and Other, dividing reality and illusion, as Narcissus, just like the reader, confronts an image that can never be real, but representative only of the viewer’s unfulfilled desire. Hardie argues that the story of Narcissus and Echo is Ovid’s cautionary treatise on the dangerously deluding, deceptively subjective property of sight and sound. Narcissus as Lucretian fool and Lucretian lover will be the victim of simulacral delusions, a frustrated lover situated ironically in a bountiful, pastoral landscape filled with false promise; inappropriately wistful even after his acknowledgement that the Other can only ever be a hollow reflection of the Self. According to this reading, all hope of something extraneous to the self, something objective, to love and life, is prohibited by this tale’s morality. The story is essentially tragic and ontologically didactic: indeed Ovid’s Theban histories are infused with the theme of empty signifiers and the dangers of useless introspection. Indeed the story’s equation of the bewitching power of sight with the sight of oneself has inspired recent writers to construct a kind of literary psychosis to describe the subjective subject, â€Å"The eye would be about the I, the subject, part of a monocular system perpetuating an illusion of wholeness, an Imaginary dyad, a tradition of the eye/I that would move through Kant, Husserl, and Merleau-Ponty, while the ear would be aligned with the other, with a fragmentary existence cut across by the Symbolic, by having subjectivity determined by and through an other,† It has been said that the product of every metamorphosis is an absent presence, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Narcissus/Echo episode, a story irresistible to artists transfixed with the metaphysical paradoxes and word games. One artist well known for his precocious interest in semiotics was Nicholas Poussin. Poussin’s Echo and Narcissus depicts, unusually, a trio of figures in a triangular formation. Narcissus lies prone across the base, limp but muscular, his face a mask of sadness, his eyes empty. Echo behind him resembles a Greek statue, History, perhaps, again posing strangely in a balleric semaphor of sorrow. In fact, for all the story’s appeal Echo and Narcissus poses an obvious challenge to artists: Echo is said to have wasted away until only her voice was left. But a voice is rather difficult to represent in painting. From the outset, then, the story demands that mimetic pictorial realism must be suspended. The story gives artists like Poussin free license to create symbolic, literary pieces, with figures whose bodies are sculpted and whose faces are masks. We have seen how the image lends itself to ontological paradoxes, and it could be argued that the putti, the third figure in th is image, is a kind of representation of the artist’s presence inside his own artificial world. The putti carries a flaming torch, and stands next to a spear, clear indicators, Michael Fried would argue, of the artist’s palette and paintbrush. The art historian Michael Fried’s writing synchronises very well with the Echo and Narcissus myth, as it could well be characterized as the doomed ambition to structure impossible desire. Poussin’s works present a displaced metaphor for the mental and physical effort of painting. Thus Fried’s theory takes the anti-mimetic definition of realism one step further- although painting does not have to relate to what it depicts, it will resist immediacy, but relate in specific indirect ways to the person who depicts it. For Poussin, the impossible, yet desired, merger is one of inscriber and inscribed; for Ovid it is one of reader and listener. An erotics of the word and image is then as inevitable as one of ear and eye, and we find the transformation that characterizes the monster has as much to do with desire as it has to do with fear. This notion is borne out by Kristeva’s definition of the abject. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines abject as Brought low, miserable; craven, degraded, despicable, self abasing, describing abjection as a state of misery or degradation, definitions which can be understood more fully through their expression: religious hatred, incest, womens bodies, human sacrifice, bodily waste, death, cannibalism, murder, decay, and perversion are aspects of humanity that society considers abject. As Barbara Creed sees it, â€Å"The place of the abject is where meaning collapses, the place where I am not. The abject threatens life, it must be radically excluded from the place of the living subject, propelled away from the body and deposited on the other side of an imaginary border which separates the self from that which threatens the self.† Hence the abject is something we deliberately exclude to preserve our illusion of a meaningful world. In Powers Of Horror:An Essay On Abjection, Kristeva identifies that we first experience abjection at the point of separation from the mother. This idea is drawn from Lacans psychoanalytical theory as she identifies abjection as symptomatic of a revolt against that which gave us our own existence. As Samantha Pentony explains it, â€Å"At this point the child enters the symbolic realm, or law of the father. Thus, when we as adults confront the abject we simultaneously fear and identify with it. It provokes us into recalling a state of being prior to signification (or the law of the father) where we feel a sense of helplessness. The self is threatened by something that is not part of us in terms of identity and non-identity, human and non-human.† Kristeva definition of the abject aligns it to what I have described as the â€Å"Other†,   The abject has only one quality of the object and that is being opposed to I. There will always be a connection between the abject and the subject: they define one another. When we find ourselves flailing in the world of the abject, we lose our sense of subjectivity, our imaginary borders disintegrate, and the abject becomes a real threat because there is no alterior – no sense of reality or self – to neutralise the threat or remind us of its illusory nature. So Kristevas theory of abjection is concerned with those suspended realms, changing forms, states of transition or transformation, â€Å"The abject is located in a liminal state that is on the margins of two positions. This state is particularly interesting to Kristeva because of the link between psychoanalysis and the subconscious mind.† Like Narcissus facing his reflection, or Medusa facing hers, we are attracted and repelled simultaneously by the abject. It induces nausea in our bodies and fear in our hearts. For Kristeva, these feelings arise from memories, specifically the first memory of separation from our mother. There is a thrill about horror and the macabre, and monsters represent ourselves in a state of change – when Kristeva describes one aspect of the abject as jouissance she suggests that through exciting in the abject, One thus understands why so many victims of the abject are its fascinated victims if not its submissive and willing ones. And furthermore, The abject is perverse because it neither gives up nor assumes a prohibition, a rule, or law; but turns them aside, misleads, corrupts; uses them, takes advantage of them, the better to deny them,† The abject, then, the monstrous, is metaphorically powerful as a force of manipulation, even more sinister in its unknowable nature, because we suspect it is up to no good. Yet for all its subversion, perversion and fear, we are excited by the abject, drawn to the monstrous, and we always will be because it comes from inside us. Bibliography Angelov, Angel Images Transformation/Disappearance online here: http://www3.unibo.it/parol/articles/angelov.htmThe Original/The Print/The Copy: Installations Of Nadezhda Lyahova Auge, Marc, â€Å"From Places to Non-Places† in Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity UK: Verso Books, 1995. Auster, The Invention of Solitude, UK: Faber and Faber Ltd, 1989. Bann, Stephen (ed) Frankenstein, Creation and Monstrosity US:Reaktion Books Ltd, 1994. Barthes, Camera LucidaReflections on Photography UK: Vintage (Vintage Classics), 1993. Creed, Barbara The Monstrous-feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis (Popular Fiction S.) UK: Routledge,an imprint of Taylor Francis Books Ltd, 1993. Creed, B. Horror And The Monstrous Feminine : An Imaginary Abjection . London Routledge, 1993. Halberstam, Judith. Skin Shows. Durham: Duke UP, 1995. Hardie, Philip Ovids Poetics of Illusion Cambridge:   Cambridge University Press, 2002.   Pp. viii, 365 Hargreaves and Hamilton The Beautiful and t

Buildings :: essays research papers

to hold the concrete foundation above in place. The next obstacle in erecting a superskyscraper, and perhaps the biggest one, is wind. Tall buildings actually sway in the breeze, in much the same way that a diving board bends under the weight of a diver. Building an edifice that doesn't topple over in the wind is easy enough. The real challenge is keeping the structure so stiff that it doesn't swing too far, cracking partitions, shattering windows and making the upper occupants seasick. As a rule, the top of skyscraper should never drift more than 1/400 of its height at a wind velocity of 150 km/h. Older buildings, like the Empire State Building, were built so that their core withstood all bending stresses. But structural engineers have since found that by shifting the bracing and support to the perimeter of a building, it can better resist high winds. The most advanced buildings are constructed like a hollow tube, with thin, outer columns spaced tightly together and welded to broad horizontal beams. Toronto's First Canadian Place and New York's World Trade Center towers are all giant, framed tubes. A superskyscraper would undoubtedly need extra rigidity, which you could add by bracing its framework with giant diagonal beams. You'll see this at Chicago's John Hancock Center where the architect has incorporated diagonal braces right into the look of the building, exposing five huge X's on each side to public view. Alternatively, you might design your building like a broadcasting tower, and tie it to the ground with heavy, sloping guy wires extending from the four corners of the roof to the ground. A control mechanism at the end of each cable would act like a fishing reel, drawing in the cable whenever the sway of the building caused it to slacken. Tall buildings also encounter the problem of vortex shedding, a phenomenon that occurs as the wind swirls around the front corners of the building, forming a series of eddies or vortices. At certain wind speeds, these vortices vibrate the building, threatening to shake it apart. In New York City's Citicorp Center, engineers have tackled vortex shedding with a 400-tonne concrete block that slides around in a special room on one of the

Flannery O’Connor: The Southern Catholic Essay -- Authors

To many critics, Flannery O’Connor was aâ€Å"very devout catholic, [of the] (thirteenth century, [O’Connor described] herself),† suggests Mark Bosco a Jesuit priest, professor of Theology and English studies at Loyola University Chicago (qtd in Bosco 41). Along with being a native Georgian, O’Connor experienced life, albeit short lived, during an era of racial conflict. Although, she considered herself from another century, she was acutely aware of her twentieth century southern world, and furthermore she expressed it through her short stories. As Robert Drake a writer and Prof. at the University of Texas explains â€Å"[she wrote of what she] knew [to be] at her own doorstep† (Drake, â€Å"Apocalyptic Perception† 32), meaning that her strong religious values, southern roots and the societal issues of her times influences her writing. The aspects of O’Connor’s life that are prevalently revealed as influences, are her strong rel igious values, southern roots and societal issues which are portrayed, in â€Å"Good Country People† and â€Å"Everything That Rises Must Converge,† through her characters. One aspect of O’Connor’s life that is revealed as an influence, in writing the characters, in both short stories, is her strong religious values. As Drake points out, â€Å"she was catholic in the oldest and truest sense of the word†¦ [And was] faithful† to her Christian principles, which was evident in the redemption of the protagonists (Drake 32). For example in â€Å"Good Country People,† the point of redemption comes for Joy when she realizes that instead of her seducing Manly, as she had planned, he has made her suffer by stealing her wood leg, mocking her intelligence, then leaving her helpless in a barn. Joy thought herself to be intellectually superior to Manly,... ...isiana State University Press.1980. xxvii. Print Drake, Robert. â€Å"Apocalyptic Perception.† Flannery O’Connor: A Memorial. Ed. J.J. Quinn, S.J. Scranton: University of Scranton Press, 1996. 29, 32-33. Print Hyman, Stanley. â€Å"Flannery O’Connor.† Seven American Women Writers of the Twentieth Century: An Introduction. Ed. Maureen Howard. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977. 323. Print Meyers, Sr. Bertrande. â€Å"Ways of Interpretation.† Flannery O’Connor: A Memorial. Ed. J.J. Quinn, S.J. Scranton: University of Scranton Press, 1996. 19. Print Paulson, Suzanne. â€Å"Racial Conflict.† Flannery O’Connor: A Study of the Short Story Fiction. North Dakota: Minot State University. 1988. 69. Print Shackelford, D. Dean. "Flannery O’Connor." Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition (2001): 1-7. Literary Reference Center. Web. 28 Apr. 2012.

Lack of Mother and Reunion in Victorian Times

LACK OF MOTHER AND METAPHORS OF REUNION IN OLIVER TWIST AND JANE EYRE The aim of this paper is to discuss the psychological effects of being motherless and orphanhood and metaphors of reunion under social class distinction observation on the characters of two well known Victorian novels; Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist. Orphanhood means having no parents but in Victorian society this term also refers to â€Å"one who has deprived of only one parent† as Laura Peters states. As a result of this, motherlessness and orphanhood were considered the same in the Victorian Era. To write a life, in the Victorian period , is to write the story of the loss of mother† says Caroline Dever. In other words, Victorian fiction mostly tells us the piteous stories of little motherless,orphan children who are vulnerable and disadvantaged. The importance of family and blood relations are significant aspects of Victorian Era. So these little orphans should have defend themselves against disadvantag es of being alone in this material world, also they had to get over their psychological traumas mostly by themselves. According to Dever, mother is the symbol of the unity,safety and order in a child's life. Within the death of mother, the hero/heroine finds himself in a very dangerous , chaotic situation. In addition to that, the female protagonist has to face with erotic danger. Mostly in Victorian novels, maternal lossis used a path to set the young protoganist free to construct selfhood independently of parental constraint. The lack of parents leads the protagonist to start his quest in a disadvantaged position and he finds his inner strength to assert his personality. Orphans are in search of identity in social, psychological and personal dimensions. Lacan's â€Å"mirror phase† is the very first step of being a person. When a baby first sees himself on the mirror, at first he tries to control and play it. When the baby understands that this is a reflection,he realizes that he is not a part ofmother, on the contrary, he has another personality. Until now,the baby thinks himself like a body part of his mother. With the mirror stage, he sees himself as a whole being and this realizationis very important for his identification. On the other hand,this realization creates alienation. Understanding her mother is a seperate object makes him realise that this object is not under his control. Starting from now,he searches identificatory images to fill this lack,such as representations,doubles and other. In order to understand and achieve the main goals of Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist, we should have a glance at Charles Dicken's and Charlotte Bronte's early lives. Charlotte Bronte was born in 1816, the third daughter of the Rev. Patrick Bronte and his wife Maria. Her brother Patrick Branwell was born in 1817, and her sisters Emily and Anne in 1818 and 1820. In 1820, too, the Bronte family moved to Haworth, Mrs. Bronte dying the following year. In 1824 the four eldest Bronte daughters were enrolled as pupils at the Clergy Daughter's School at Cowan Bridge. The following year Maria and Elizabeth, the two eldest daughters, became ill, left the school and died: Charlotte and Emily, understandably, were brought home. In 1826 Mr. Bronte brought home a box of wooden soldiers for Branwell to play with. Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, and Ann, playing with the soldiers, conceived of and began to write in great detail about an imaginary world which they called Angria. In 1831 Charlotte became a pupil at the school at Roe Head, but she left school the following year to teach her sisters at home. She returned returns to Roe Head School in 1835 as a governess: for a time her sister Emily attended the same school as a pupil, but became homesick and returned to Haworth. Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, the son of John and Elizabeth Dickens. John Dickens was a clerk in the Naval Pay Office. He had a poor head for finances, and in 1824 found himself imprisoned for debt. His wife and children, with the exception of Charles, who was put to work at Warren's Blacking factory, joined him in the Marshalsea Prison. When the family finances were put at least partly to rights and his father was released, the twelve-year-old Dickens, already scarred psychologically by the experience, was further wounded by his mother's insistence that he continue to work at the factory. His father, however, rescued him from that fate, and between 1824 and 1827 Dickens was a day pupil at a school in London. At fifteen, he found employment as an office boy at an attorney's, while he studied shorthand at night. His brief stint at the Blacking Factory haunted him all of his life — he spoke of it only to his wife and to his closest friend, John Foster— but the dark secret became a source both of creative energy and of the preoccupation with the themes of alienation and betrayal which would emerge, most notably, in David Copperfield and in Great Expectations. Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist both grew up as orphans. They both struggled with poverty. Growing up in misery, because they were lower class, both Jane and Oliver did what they needed to do to survive. Oliver joined the pick-pocketers to earn money to live. Jane went through school and applied herself, so she would not end up unhappy and in poverty. Jane and Oliver had similar obstacles while trying to basically survive. Both Jane and Oliver, as children, were lower class. The plot of Jane Eyre follows the form of a Bildungsroman, which tells the story of a child’s maturation and focuses on the emotions and experiences that accompany and incite his or her growth to adulthood. In Jane Eyre, there are five distinct stages of development, each linked to a particular place: Jane’s childhood at Gateshead, her education at the Lowood School, her time as Adele’s governess at Thornfield, her time with the Rivers family at Morton and at Moor House, and her reunion with and marriage to Rochester at Ferndean. From these experiences, Jane becomes the mature woman who narrates the novel retrospectively Jane has no real parents and family, but only her dead uncle's wife and her cousins. Jane's childhood focuses on who she is and where she belongs to. She always looks for someone to identify herself because she faces the world with the â€Å"primal â€Å"lack† The psychologist Carl Jung was interested in the â€Å"collective unconscious† or the primordial images and ideas that reside in every human being's psyche. often appearing in the forms of dreams,visions and fantasies , these images provoke strong emotions that are beyond the explanation of reason. In Jane Eyre, the bounds of reality continually expand, so that dreams and visions have as much validity as a reason,providing access to the inner recesses of Jane's and Rochester's psyches. Their relationship also has a supernatural component. Throughout the novel, Jane is described as a â€Å"fairy†. Sitting in the red-room, she labels herself a â€Å"tiny phantom,half fairy,half imp†. As a fairy, Jane identifies herself as a special,magical creature. Her dreams have a prophetic character, suggesting their almost supernatural ability to predict future. In a dream foreshadowing the direction of her relationship with Rochester, she is â€Å"tossed on a buoyant but unquiet sea†. Jane's dream warns her that their relationship will be rocky, bringing chaos and passion to her life. Not only Jane is a mythical creature, but the narrative she creates also has a mythic element, mixing realism and fantasy. We see the first instance of this as Jane sits nervously in the red-room and imagines a gleam of light shining on the wall; for her,this indicates a vision â€Å"from another world† As Jane's departure from Gateshead was marked by her pseudo-supernatural experience in the red-room, her movement away from Lowood also has a paranormal component. Meditatingupon the best means for discovering anew job, Jane is visited by a â€Å"kind fairy† who offers her a solution. This psychic counsellor gives her very spesific advice: Place an advertisement in the local newspaper, with answers addressed to J. E. , and do it immediately. The fairy's plan works, and Jane soon discovers the job at Thornfield. As a gypsy woman, Rochester aligned himself with mystical knowledge. During his telling of her fortune, Rochester seems to have peered directly into Jane's heart, leaning her deep into a dram-state she likens to â€Å"a web of mystification†. He magically weaves a web around Jane with words, and appears to have watched every movement of her heart, like an â€Å"unseen spirit†. During this scene, he wears a red cloak, showing that he has taken over the position of Red Riding Hood that Jane held earlier. The position he gives Mason also has mystical powers, giving Mason the strength he lacks for an hour or so, hinting at Rochester's mysterious possibly supernatural powers. In emphasizing the uniqueness of Jane and Rocester's love, Bronte gives their meetings a mythical feel, so that they are depicted as archetypes of true lovers. Her association of Rochesters's horde and dog with the Gytrash places their initial meeting in an almost fairytale-like setting. Later, Rochesters reveals that at this initial meeting, he thought Jane was a fairy who had bewitched his horse. The lovers' reunion at the end of the novel also has a psychic component. As she is about to accept St. John's wishes, Jane experiences a sensation as â€Å" sharp, as strange , as shocking† as an electric shock. Then she heards Rochester's voice calling her name. The voice comes from nowhere,speaking â€Å"in pain and woe,wildly,urgently†. So powerful is this voice that Jane cries, â€Å"I am coming† and runs out of the door into the garden, but she discovers no sign of Rochester. She rejects the notion that this is the evilish voice of the witchcraft, but feels that it comes from benevolent nature, not a miracle , but nature's best effort to help her, as if the forces of nature are assisting this very special relationship. She introduces the ideal of a telepathic bond between the lovers. This psychic sympathy leads Jane to hear Rochester's frantic call for her,and for Rochester to pick her response out of the wind. In fact, he even correctly intuits that her response came fromsome mountainous place. Through the novel's supernatural elements, Jane and Rochester become archetypes of ideal lovers, supporting Jane's exorbitant claim that noone â€Å"was ever nearer to her mate than I am†. These mythic elements transforms their relationship from ordinary to extraordinary. The ending of Jane Eyre is perhaps the most obvious â€Å"happy† ending of the books in Victorian Era. The ending, which is like a beginning when Rochester and Jane are reunited at the house at Ferndean , details the manifold ways in which Jane and Mr. Rochester's lives and souls evolve and change after their reunion, through their own work and by the hand of God. They mature as individuals, but also grow exceptionally close as a couple, coming to work together with â€Å"perfect concord† (Bronte, 384. ) As the novel concludes, miracles are worked, love and sight are restored, a child is born and a new haven of domestic bliss is established in Jane and Rochester's home. Emerging as an ideal Victorian companion, wife and mother, Jane stands as the perfect woman that Bertha, the mad woman in the attic and Mr. Rochester's first wife, could never be. She and Rochester establish the domestic bliss that could not found with Bertha, and come to prize it above all else but God. The end of Jane Eyre starts with a beginning: Jane, who calls Rochester â€Å"master,† and Rochester, who calls Jane â€Å"darling,† come together once more, and this time for good. Seeing him for the first time in years, Jane is in â€Å"rapture† (367), although she initially keeps her presence concealed from Rochester. When she finally presents herself to Rochester, the couple is together once more, It is an ideal reunion. With her return, Rochester's life is instantly changed: Rochester's heart renewed, the couple goes on to define themselves a new as companions, and then lovers. Jane Eyre is critical of Victorian England’s strict social hierarchy. Bronte’s exploration of the complicated social position of governesses is perhaps the novel’s most important treatment of this theme. Like Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, Jane is a figure of ambiguous class standing and, consequently, a source of extreme tension for the characters around her. Jane’s manners, sophistication, and education are those of an aristocrat, because Victorian governesses, who tutored children in etiquette as well as academics, were expected to possess the â€Å"culture† of the aristocracy. Yet, as paid employees, they were more or less treated as servants; thus, Jane remains penniless and powerless while at Thornfield. Jane’s understanding of the double standard crystallizes when she becomes aware of her feelings for Rochester; she is his intellectual, but not his social, equal. Even before the crisis surrounding Bertha Mason, Jane is hesitant to marry Rochester because she senses that she would feel indebted to him for â€Å"condescending† to marry her. Jane’s distress, which appears most strongly in Chapter 17, seems to be Bronte’s critique of Victorian class attitudes. Jane herself speaks out against class prejudice at certain moments in the book. For example, in Chapter 23 she asks Rochester: â€Å"Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! —I have as much soul as you—and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. † However, it is also important to note that nowhere in Jane Eyre are society’s boundaries bent. Ultimately, Jane is only able to marry Rochester as his equal because she has almost magically come into her own inheritance from her uncle. Jane struggles continually to achieve equality and to overcome oppression. In addition to class hierarchy, she must fight against patriarchal domination—against those who believe women to be inferior to men and try to treat them as such. Three central male figures threaten her desire for equality and dignity: Mr. Brocklehurst, Edward Rochester, and St. John Rivers. All three are misogynistic on some level. Each tries to keep Jane in a submissive position, where she is unable to express her own thoughts and feelings. In her quest for independence and self-knowledge, Jane must escape Brocklehurst, reject St. John, and come to Rochester only after ensuring that they may marry as equals. This last condition is met once Jane proves herself able to function, through the time she spends at Moor House, in a community and in a family. She will not depend solely on Rochester for love and she can be financially independent. Furthermore, Rochester is blind at the novel’s end and thus dependent upon Jane to be his â€Å"prop and guide. In Chapter 12, Jane articulates what was for her time a radically feminist philosophy: Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffe r; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. Dickens sets Oliver Twist in early 19th-century England, a time when long-held ideas and beliefs came under serious scrutiny. Profound changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, religious uncertainty, scientific advancement, and political and social upheaval caused many Victorians to reexamine many aspects of their society and culture. Industrialization drove many farmworkers into the cities, where poor labor conditions and inadequate housing condemned most of them to poverty. The unprecedented increase in urban population fostered new and overwhelming problems of sanitation, overcrowding, poverty, disease, and crime in the huge slums occupied by impoverished workers, the unemployed, and the unfortunate. London slums bred the sort of crime Dickens portrays in Oliver Twist. The novel is set against the background of the New Poor Law of 1834, which established a system of workhouses for those who, because of poverty, sickness, mental disorder, or age, could not provide for themselves. Young Oliver Twist, an orphan, spends his first nine years in a â€Å"baby farm,† a workhouse for children in which only the hardiest survive. When Oliver goes to London, he innocently falls in with a gang of youthful thieves and pickpockets headed by a vile criminal named Fagin. Dickens renders a powerful and generally realistic portrait of this criminal underworld, with all its sordidness and sin. He later contrasts the squalor and cruelty of the workhouse and the city slums with the peace and love Oliver finds in the country at the Maylies’ home. Oliver Twist The novel’s protagonist is an orphan born in a workhouse, and Dickens uses his situation to criticize public policy toward the poor in 1830s England. Oliver is between nine and twelve years old when the main action of the novel occurs. Though treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, he is a pious, innocent child, and his charms draw the attention of several wealthy benefactors. His true identity is the central mystery of the novel As the child hero of a melodramatic novel of social protest, Oliver Twist is meant to appeal more to our sentiments than to our literary sensibilities. On many levels, Oliver is not a believable character, because although he is raised in corrupt surroundings, his purity and virtue are absolute. Throughout the novel, Dickens uses Oliver’s character to challenge the Victorian idea that paupers and criminals are already evil at birth, arguing instead that a corrupt environment is the source of vice. At the same time, Oliver’s incorruptibility undermines some of Dickens’s assertions. Oliver is shocked and horrified when he sees the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates pick a stranger’s pocket and again when he is forced to participate in a burglary. Oliver’s moral scruples about the sanctity of property seem inborn in him, just as Dickens’s opponents thought that corruption is inborn in poor people. Furthermore, other pauper children use rough Cockney slang, but Oliver, oddly enough, speaks in proper King’s English. His grammatical fastidiousness is also inexplicable, as Oliver presumably is not well-educated. Even when he is abused and manipulated, Oliver does not become angry or indignant. When Sikes and Crackit force him to assist in a robbery, Oliver merely begs to be allowed to â€Å"run away and die in the fields. Oliver does not present a complex picture of a person torn between good and evil—instead, he is goodness incarnate. [pic] Even if we might feel that Dickens’s social criticism would have been more effective if he had focused on a more complex poor character, like the Artful Dodger or Nancy, the audience for whom Dickens was writing might not have been receptive to such a portra yal. Dickens’s Victorian middle-class readers were likely to hold opinions on the poor that were only a little less extreme than those expressed by Mr. Bumble, the beadle who treats paupers with great cruelty. In fact, Oliver Twist was criticized for portraying thieves and prostitutes at all. Given the strict morals of Dickens’s audience, it may have seemed necessary for him to make Oliver a saintlike figure. Because Oliver appealed to Victorian readers’ sentiments, his story may have stood a better chance of effectively challenging their prejudices Throughout Oliver Twist, Dickens criticizes the Victorian stereotype of the poor as criminals from birth. However, after a strident critique of the representation of the poor as hereditary criminals, he portrays Monks as a criminal whose nature has been determined since birth. Brownlow tells Monks, â€Å"You . . . from your cradle were gall and bitterness to your own father’s heart, and . . . all evil passions, vice, and profligacy, festered [in you]. † Monks’s evil character seems less the product of his own decisions than of his birth. Oliver Twist is full of mistaken, assumed, and changed identities. Oliver joins his final domestic scene by assuming yet another identity. Once the mystery of his real identity is revealed, he quickly exchanges it for another, becoming Brownlow’s adopted son. After all the fuss and the labyrinthine conspiracies to conceal Oliver’s identity, it is ironic that he gives it up almost as soon as he discovers it. The final chapters quickly deliver the justice that has been delayed throughout the novel. Fagin dies on the gallows. Sikes hangs himself by accident—it is as though the hand of fate or a higher authority reaches out to execute him. Mr. and Mrs. Bumble are deprived of the right to ever hold public office again. They descend into poverty and suffer the same privations they had forced on paupers in the past. Monks never reforms, nor does life show him any mercy. True to Brownlow’s characterization of him as bad from birth, he continues his idle, evil ways and dies in an American prison. For him, there is no redemption. Like Noah, he serves as a foil—a character whose attributes contrast with, and thereby accentuate, those of another—to Oliver’s character. He is as evil, twisted, and mean while Oliver is good, virtuous, and kind. Oliver and all of his friends, of course, enjoy a blissful, fairy-tale ending. Everyone takes up residence in the same neighborhood and lives together like one big, happy family. Perhaps the strangest part of the concluding section of Oliver Twist is Leeford’s condition for Oliver’s inheritance. Leeford states in his will that, if his child were a son, he would inherit his estate â€Å"only on the stipulation that in his minority he should never have stained his name with any public act of dishonor, meanness, cowardice, or wrong. † It seems strange that a father would consign his child to lifelong poverty as well as the stigma of illegitimacy if the son ever committed a single wrong in childhood. In the same way that the court is willing to punish Oliver for crimes committed by another, Leeford is ready to punish Oliver for any small misdeed merely because he hated his first son, Monks, so much. One contradiction that critics of Oliver Twist have pointed out is that although Dickens spends much of the novel openly attacking retributive justice, the conclusion of the novel is quick to deliver such justice. At the story’s end, crimes are punished harshly, and devilish characters are still hereditary devils to the very end. The only real change is that Oliver is now acknowledged as a hereditary angel rather than a hereditary devil. No one, it seems, can escape the identity dealt to him or her at birth. The real crime of characters like Mr. Bumble and Fagin may not have been mistreating a defenseless child—it may have been mistreating a child who was born for a better life. Yet Dickens’s crusade for forgiveness and tolerance is upheld by his treatment of more minor characters, like Nancy, whose memory is sanctified, and Charley Bates, who redeems himself and enters honest society. These characters’ fates demonstrate that the individual can indeed rise above his or her circumstances, and that an unfortunate birth does not have to guarantee an unfortunate life and legacy. Oliver Twist is a story about the battles of good versus evil, with the evil continually trying to corrupt and exploit the good. It portrays the power of Love, Hate, Greed, and Revenge and how each can affect the people involved. The love between Rose and Harry in the end conquers all the obstacles between them. The hate that Monks feels for Oliver and the greed he feels towards his inheritance eventually destroys him. The revenge that Sikes inflicts on Nancy drives him almost insane and eventually to accidental suicide. Dickens' wide array of touching characters emphasizes the virtues of sacrifice, compromise, charity, and loyalty. Most importantly, though the system for the poor is not changed, the good in Dickens' novel outweighs the evil, and the main characters that are part of this good live happily ever after Poverty is a prominent concern in Oliver Twist. Throughout the novel, Dickens enlarges on this theme, describing slums so decrepit that whole rows of houses are on the point of ruin. In an early chapter, Oliver attends a pauper's funeral with Mr. Sowerberry and sees a whole family crowded together in one miserable room. This ubiquitous misery makes Oliver's few encounters with charity and love more poignant. Oliver owes his life several times over to kindness both large and small. The apparent plague of poverty that Dickens describes also conveyed to his middle-class readers how much of the London population was stricken with poverty and disease. Nonetheless, in Oliver Twist he delivers a somewhat mixed message about social caste and social injustice. Oliver's illegitimate workhouse origins place him at the nadir of society; as an orphan without friends, he is routinely despised. His â€Å"sturdy spirit† keeps him alive despite the torment he must endure. Most of his associates, however, deserve their place among society's dregs and seem very much at home in the depths. Noah Claypole, a charity boy like Oliver, is idle, stupid, and cowardly; Sikes is a thug; Fagin lives by corrupting children; and the Artful Dodger seems born for a life of crime. Many of the middle-class people Oliver encounters—Mrs. Sowerberry, Mr. Bumble, and the savagely hypocritical â€Å"gentlemen† of the workhouse board, for example; are, if anything, worse. Oliver, on the other hand, who has an air of refinement remarkable for a workhouse boy, proves to be of gentle birth. Although he has been abused and neglected all his life, he recoils, aghast, at the idea of victimizing anyone else. This apparently hereditary gentlemanliness makes Oliver Twist something of a challenging tale, not just an indictment of social injustice. Oliver, born for better things, struggles to survive in the savage world of the underclass before finally being rescued by his family and returned to his proper place—a commodious country house. In both novels,the protagonists managed to survive in spite of their lack of disadvantages. Jane,who never saw her parents,finds herself positive role-models and with the inspirationof these models she manages to reach her happy ending even there is a strict class distinction. Some critics say, Jane's success comes from her motherlessness. Marianne Hirsch explains this and says â€Å"The heroine attemping to cut herself off from a constraining past, to invent a new story, her own story, and eager to avoid the typically devastatingfate of her mother (Hirsch 44) Oliver, who suffered a lot and managed to stay pure and clean, got the divine judgement and possesses a family now and he is away happy with his family ———————– Throughout the novel, Jane is described as a â€Å"fairy. † Read more: http://www. cliffsnotes. com/study_guide/literature/Jane-Eyre-Critical-Essays-A-Jungian-Approach-to-Jane-Eyre. id-23,pageNum-725. html#ixzz0ogTEssy5