Systems Development and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Systems Development and Management - Essay Example As Sveiby advises the "difference between learning organization theory and KM in [my] interpretation of it is the fact that KM includes the outer world, the customer, and how to approach the customer, which learning organization theory does not" (p 2). The interview touches on another important point about KM called the transfer of tacit knowledge with respect to computers and Sveiby makes an important point that the "challenge is to create tools that help us be more creative, for instance, thinking tools, more educational tools like simulations" (p 2). This type of change in KM forms the tools for other large corporations to take note of how effectual KM is in within the framework of each organization. At IBM, technologies are being developed for "technologies that can be applied to knowledge management and to assess their actual or potential contribution to the basic processes of knowledge creation and sharing within organizations" (Marwick, 2001) and such look

Homeland security preparedness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Homeland security preparedness - Essay Example This can be seen in the increasing budgetary allocation to intelligence over the past few years. The United States intelligence budget (excluding military intelligence program) in 2010 was $ 53 billion. In 2009 it was $ 49.8 billion. The budgetary allocation was $ 47 billion in 2008, $ 43.5 billion in 2007 and $ 40.9 billion in 2006. According to one study of Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, the Federal budgetary allocations (after adjusting for inflation) for Intelligence has increased by a third during the past decade. 8) To use the intelligence gathered, for making decision relating to national security that can lead to more effective and efficient utilization of the available economic and military resources of United States of America. The whole idea of using the umbrella term ‘home land security’ for defining security efforts to protect United States against terrorist attacks gained currency after the deadly and dastardly terrorist attacks on World Trade Center. The Homeland Security Act was passed in the year 2002. Under this act the new cabinet Department of Department for Homeland Security ( DHS ) was established. The National Strategy for Homeland Security defines homeland security as: â€Å" A concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks in United States of America; reduce the vulnerability of United States to terrorism ; minimization of damages caused from terrorist attacks; and to lead to immediate recovery from terrorist attacks, if they occur.† Before the September 11 attacks, the public policy on security made a distinction between domestic intelligence and foreign intelligence. The domestic intelligence activities were largely concerned with gathering intelligence for the purposes of law enforcement. The main objective behind Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA), 2004 was to integrate the foreign, military and domestic

Overview Of Walmart Cost Leadership

Overview Of Walmart Cost Leadership The low cost strategy emphasizes having the lowest costs, not necessarily the lowest price, in a market. A firm attempting to realize a low cost strategy should stress resources that facilitate efficiency. A firm that has successfully achieved a low cost position will have the lowest costs relative to competitors. A firm can use such a position to either lower its prices and gain market share and sales from rivals or keep its prices at the present market level and make relatively more profit per unit sold. The key idea is that cost and price are independent choices, and this strategy is focused on cost. The differentiation strategy focuses on developing a unique product or (equally useful) a perception of a unique product that customers are willing to pay a premium for. If a firm is not receiving a premium price for its goods or services it is NOT a differentiator. A firm seeking to follow a differentiation strategy should attempt to develop and enhance its resources that promote customer responsiveness, quality, and/or innovation. Note that costs are still important to a differentiator because it is possible that the costs of making the product unique will be greater than the premium consumers are willing to pay for it. The firm can choose to compete in the mass market with a broad scope, or in a defined, focused market segment with a narrow scope. In either case, the basis of competition will still be either cost leadership or differentiation. In adopting a narrow focus, the company ideally focuses on a few target markets (segmentation strategy or niche strategy). The choice of offering low prices or differentiated products/services should depend on the needs of the selected segment and the resources and capabilities of the firm. It is hoped that by focusing your marketing efforts on one or two narrow market segments and tailoring your marketing mix to these specialized markets, you can better meet the needs of that target market. The firm typically looks to gain a competitive advantage through product innovation and/or brand marketing rather than efficiency. Competitive Advantage Cost Uniqueness Broad Competitive Scope Narrow Our focus in this report is to showcase implementation of these strategies by picking examples of companies that have successfully used these strategies to gain competitive advantages. Walmart: Cost Leadership Founded by Sam Walton, the first Wal-Mart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. Seventeen years later, annual sales topped $1 billion. By the end of January 2002, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart), was the worlds largest retailer, with $218 billion in sales. Wal-Marts winning strategy in the U.S. was based on selling branded products at low cost. Each week, about 100 million customers visited a Wal-Mart store somewhere in the world. The company employed more than 1.3 million associates (Wal-Marts term for employees) worldwide through more than 3,200 stores in the United States and more than 1,100 units in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China, Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In 2001, Fortune magazine named Wal-Mart the third most admired company in America, and the Financial Times and PricewaterhouseCoopers ranked it as the eighth most admired company in the world. The following year, Wal-Mart was named number one on the Fortune 500 list and was presented with the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, a presidential award that recognized companies for outstanding achievement in employee and community relations. Wal-Mart enjoyed a 50 percent market share position in the discount retail industry. Procter Gamble, Clorox, and Johnson Johnson were among its nearly 3,000 suppliers. Though Wal-Mart may have been the top customer for consumer product manufacturers, it deliberately ensured it did not become too dependent on any one supplier; no single vendor constituted more than 4 percent of its overall purchase volume. About 85 percent of all the merchandise sold by Wal-Mart was shipped through its distribution system to its stores. (Competitors supplied to their retail outlets on average less than 50 percent of the merchandise through their own distribution centers.) The company owned a fleet of more than 3,000 trucks and 12,000 trailers. (Most competitors outsourced trucking.) Wal-Mart had implemented a satellite network system that allowed information to be shared between the companys wide network of stores, distribution centers, and suppliers. The system consolidated orders for goods, enabling the company to buy full truckload quantities without incurring the inventory costs. Wal-Marts Value Proposition Wal-Marts value proposition can be summed up as everyday low prices for a broad range of goods that are always in stock in convenient geographic locations. It is those aspects of the customer experience that the company overdelivers relative to competitors. Underperformance on other dimensions, such as ambience and sales help, is a strategic choice that generates cost savings, which fuel the companys price advantage. If the local mom-and-pop hardware store has survived, it also has a value proposition: convenience, proprietors who have known you for years, free coffee and doughnuts on Saturday mornings, and so on. Sears falls in the middle on many criteria. As a result, customers lack a lot of compelling reasons to shop there, which goes a long way toward explaining why the company is struggling to remain pro ¬Ã‚ table. Walmart in 2010 Growth opportunities continue. Price leadership continues to be the cornerstone of how it goes to market. Growth in the United States will come from additional penetration into more metropolitan markets, as well as from new formats and stronger integration with the online business. Walmart.com traffic exceeded one billion visits this past year, growing more than 15 percent over the previous year through Site-to-Storeà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ and home delivery. Leverage scale and reduce costs. Innovation, process improvements and strong management teams drove significant improvements in our business. Walmart repositioned the business to leverage operating expenses on a slower rate of sales growth this past year. Improved productivity through enhanced scheduling systems better matched associate staffing levels in stores to customer traffic. Stronger supply chain processes also improved inventory flow. Merchandising and planning systems contributed to lower inventory levels, which were also benefited by increased sell-through. Global sourcing initiatives now under way strengthen efforts to drive down the cost of goods and pass those savings on to customers. Improved returns. Walmart significantly increased its cash flow and return on invested capital in fiscal 2010. Gross margin improvements, tight expense control, strong inventory management and efficient capital allocation contributed to this improved performance. It reduced year-end inventory by $1.8 billion, or 7.6 percent, and increased inventory turns as well. Apples differentiation approach enhances the companys competitive advantage in the market. It favors Apple to continue down a path that not only maintains premium positioning but also enhances it. It is clearly doing this at the research and development (RD) level. The introduction of a new portable manufacturing process (the unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro) and a relatively fast-paced operating system release cycle are clearly a function of Apples ever-evolving differentiated positioning. The upcoming Mac OS X Snow Leopard (successor to Mac OS X Leopard) and iPhone OS 3.0 will continue to push the envelope and set the groundwork for continued innovation in the years to come. Apple has never shied away from starting over. It did this with the transition to Mac OS X, the transition to Intel processors, and the re-design of their portable Macs. Each enhancement widens the differentiation gap that competitors must narrow or copy in order to compete with Apple. The Company participates in several highly competitive markets. While it is widely recognized as a leading innovator in the markets where it competes, these markets are highly competitive and subject to aggressive pricing. To remain competitive, Apple believes that increased investment in research and development and marketing and advertising is necessary to maintain or expand its position in the markets where it competes. Digging deeper into the strategy, the trade-off protects Apples unique position. Competitors have two main ways to imitate an incumbent. A competitor can (1) reposition itself or (2) straddle, an approach that attempts to match the incumbents position while maintaining its existing position. By maintaining its price premium at the expense of unit volume, Apple has created an imitation barrier that competitors cannot easily cross. PC competitors cannot realistically enter Apples space by transforming themselves into a premium brand without alienating or pricing out existing customers. If a competitor decided to reposition or straddle it would have to compete with Apples decades long premium brand equity. Thus, PC vendors have two transformational issues working against them, time and cost. Apples competitors will not be able to transform their brand image overnight. Any such effort will take considerable amount of time on numerous dimensions ranging from product design to marketing. T his leads to the second issue, cost. Any transformation undertaken by a competitor will cost tens or perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in a sustained re-branding and advertising campaign. In todays marketplace, a cost of this magnitude is not feasible. From a trade-off perspective, Apple has systematically analyzed what not to do; attempt to compete at lower price points. Apples entry into retailing, for example, is designed to provide better point-of-sales service to customers wishing to purchase an Apple product than can be had from independent stores. By helping to raise the overall level of differentiation associated with Apples offering, the strategy is designed to strengthen Apples competitive position. Zara: Focused Differentiation Zara is a phenomenon in the textile industry; it was a start-up in Spain and gradually has evolved to be today a very successful leader quoted company in its industry. Zara, the most profitable brand of Inditex SA, the Spanish clothing retail group, opened its first store in 1975 in La Coruà ±a, Spain, they have expanded operations into 45 countries with 531 stores located in the most important shopping districts of more than 400 cities in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. Throughout this expansion Zara has remained focused on its core fashion philosophy that creativity and quality design together with a rapid response to market demands will yield profitable results. In order to realized these results Zara developed a business model that incorporated the following three goals for operations: develop a system the requires short lead times, decrease quantities produced to decrease inventory risk, and increase the number of available styles and/or choice. These goals helped to formulate a unique value proposition: to combine moderate prices with the ability to offer new clothing styles faster than its competitors. These three goals helped to sha pe Zaras current business model. Capabilities of Zara, or the required resources needed to exploit the opportunities and execute this conceptual strategy, are numerous for Zara. Zara maintains tight control over their production processes keeping design and manufacturing in-house or with some strategic partnerships located nearby Headquarters. Value drivers for Zara are both tangible and intangible in the benefits that are returned to all stakeholders. Tangibly, Inditex, the parent company of Zara, has 11.02% net margin on operations and their market capitalization (Equity market value) is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬13, 981 (in thousands) in 2002. Their net working capital (current assets current liabilities) is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬133 (in thousands) . Additionally, the success of Zara can be demonstrated through their outstanding financial performance. From 1996 to 2000, Inditex SA tripled their corporate profits and in 2001, a year of overall economic downturn in the retail industry, Inditex SA saw a 31% increase in profits. Int angibly, customer loyalty and brand recognition have provided significant value to Zara. The number of consumers they attract continues to rise and their brand is synonymous with the cutting edge of fashion at affordable prices. The successful implementation of Zaras business model provides great value to stakeholders and differentiates their business from their peers. Vertical integration: a distinctive feature of Zaras business model, has allowed the company to successfully develop a strong merchandising strategy. This strategy has led Zara to create a climate of scarcity and opportunity as well as a fast-fashion system. Zara manufactures 60% of its own products. By owning its in-house production, Zara is able to be flexible in the variety, amount, and frequency of the new styles they produce. Also, 85% of this production is done through the season, which allows the chain to constantly provide its costumer with very updated products. Traditional retailers lack this flexibility. Traditional retailers are obligated to place production orders to manufacturers overseas at least 6 months in advance of the season. Zara purchases its fabric in advance , much of it in grienge form this gives flexibility to colour print , to desired effect. Low current inventory: Regular customers know that new products are introduced every two weeks and most likely would not be available tomorrow. Therefore, Zaras scarcity climate allows the company to sell more items at full price. This strategy minimizes Zaras total cost because it reduces 15-20% of markdown merchandise compare to a traditional retailer. Zaras centralized distribution facility gives the chain a competitive advantage by minimizing the lead-time of their goods, distribution center is a place where merchandise is moved rather than stored. The current ratio shows that for every euro in short-term debt, Inditex has 1.02 million euros in current assets. HM however, has 3.40 million euros in current assets for every euro in short-term debt. The company designs and cuts its fabric in-house and it acquires fabrics in only four colors to keep costs low. Zara postpones dyeing and printing designs until close to manufacture, thereby reducing waste and minimizing the need to clear unsold inventories. Technology: Whether measured by IT workers as a percentage of total employees or total spending as a percentage of sales, ZaraÊ ¼s IT expenditure is less than one-fourth the fashion industry average. Zara excels by targeting technology investment at the points in its value chain where it will have the most significant impact, making sure that every dollar spend on tech has a payoff. It still uses the DOS system without much networking capability, whereas its competitors like Prada use RFID technology, Benneton uses SAP. Marketing Advertising: Zara also has an advantage over its competitors due to its low advertising costs. Zaras advertising investment is 0-.3% as compared to traditional retailers who expends 3 4%. Zara relies mainly on its stores to project their image. For that reason, Zara has a department, which exclusively works in acquiring global prime real estate locations. In addition, this department is responsible for the frequent refurbishing of store layouts, as well as the creation of a common window display for Zaras global stores. Controlling notorious bottlenecks along the supply chain is key to speed. For example dyeing and fit are critical processes within the supply chain. Zara is a large investor in a dye and finishing plant-a notorious bottleneck. Its control allows them to oversee the dyeing process. A further trouble spot is sewing. Even though Zara uses sub-contractors some subcontractors, it carries out the bulk of all cutting itself-a crucial process that determines fit. 60% of the manufacturing processes are outsourced in countries close to the Zara headquarters in Spain to help achieve a quick turnaround. Zara maintains a strong relationship with their contractors and suppliers-viewing them as part of the company. To successfully react to consumers demands, design decisions are delayed as long as possible. Typically, Zara pre-commits to 50%-60% of its production in advance of the season, whereas other clothing retailers commit to 80%-90%. Thus Zara reserves mill capacities to ensure production fac ilities are available when needed. Value Chain In todays competitive environment, Zara has shown that fine tuning the supply chain is no longer a strategic tool, but a necessity. It has shown that supply chain management can be managed provide sustainable competitive differentiation and positioning on the one hand and increase throughput, reduce inventories and operating expenses on the other. Zaras Product Offering Zaras unique capabilites allow it to cater to a focussed set of customers yet at a cost leadership position. Zara has a competitive advantage in logistics, with production just in time with better performance that its competitors, it also has the ability to renew all what is in their stores in few weeks. It also counts with storage in Europe, in Zaragoza that is close to the distribution centres. Product Offer Supply process High customisation Low volume High Margin High quality High volume High standardisation Low unit margin Low quality Flexible process High fashion: out of price Rigid Process ZARA MS :Out of fashion According to Porter, the reason so many firms suffer aggressive, margin eroding competition, is because theyve defined themselves according to operational effectiveness rather than strategic positioning. Operational effectiveness refers to performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them. Everyone wants to be better, but the danger in operational effectiveness is in sameness. At its heart Zara is building on a vertically integrated demand and supply chain, while most other textile chains rely on outsourcing and cheap labour in China. It enables company to short turnaround times and achieves greater flexibility, reducing stock to a minimum and diminishing fashion risk to the greatest possible extent. Ikea: Focused Cost Leadership Ikea is one of the known global home furniture and household goods retailer which is a privately owned company. It was established by Ingvar Kamarad Sweden and in year 2008 the company owned 244 Ikea stores in 24 nations and the management is still planning to open 23 new stores. The company has also 32 stores on 16 nations and these stores were still managed and owned by franchisees outside the Ikea Group which extends the global reach of Ikea to 35 territories overseas. The Ikea Group has also been able to diversify their products beyond furnishings and furniture into food products and prefabricated housing. The company has been able to ensure that they have franchise agreements among most of the overseas operations to ensure capitalization of local marketing expertise and practices of the franchisees. The concept and trademark of Ike is owned by Ikea Systems BV and the operations of the company are basically controlled by Ingka Holding. Primarily, the company is based on providing broad range of well-designed, functional home furnishing goods at an affordable cost to attract more customers. This concept of the Ikea is the foundation of their business operations which includes product designing, manufacturing, transportation, retailing, and assembling. The company sees to it that they work hard in attaining their business goals and providing quality products and services among their target market. Strategy Analysis In order to analyse the capabilities of IKEA, different marketing tools will be considered. This includes the SWOT Analysis, Porters Five Forces Model, and Core Competencies analysis. Capabilities Analysis According to Kim and Weaver (2000), the administration and management of a particular business organization entails full utilization of the resources of the company in order to lead, direct, and control operations to meet the set objectives. It can be said that IKEA has been able to use strategic approach to sustain their competitive advantage. One of the capabilities IKEA is how the leaders of the company do their business. Guided by their vision and mission, the leader and management of the industry clearly illustrate integrity in all their actions. The management has also strong commitment in promoting the company values and the value of diversity among the employees and staffs. In addition, the management of the company has been able to understand the priorities of the business and make every decision in line with the strategic direction by giving consideration to the effect on all aspects of the business and on other stakeholders. Another sustainable capability of the company is its continuous focus on the importance of both internal and external customers to ensure that these customers remain loyal to them. The company also makes it sure that they motivate, inspire, coach, guide, and support their staffs to realise the mission of the IKEA. Furthermore, the companys ability to identify and recognise contributors is another factor that sustains the companys competitive advantages. The ability of the management to diversify and differentiate their business strategy to dominate the global market can also be considered as the major capabilities of the IKEA. Swot Analysis In this report, the analysis of the current situation of Ikea will be done using different marketing tools. Herein, IKEA will be analysed through the use of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis. The purpose of this internal and external analysis is to see what the organization has to work with as it begins to position itself to deal with the opportunities and threats identified through the analysis of the external environments. Specifically, it helps identify what existing strengths and weaknesses might impact the organizations value creation capabilities. Strengths As mentioned, IKEA has been one of the leading brands in household furnitures in its global operations. One of its strength is its being a very profitable company, in both its domestic and international branches. In addition, IKEA is a global brand established upon a reputation of quality products and services with almost 10,000 product range and 244 stores in different regions. Furthermore, one of the strengths of IKEA is its strong ethical values integrated with its business strategy which include cost leadership and product differentiation. The strength of the company can also be attributed to their ability to distribute their product effectively in the global market. One of their strengths is their ability to diversify when the company has been able to launch their private label food items in 2005. The offerings of the company include Swedish dishes which include meatballs, smoked elk sausage, roll-mop herring, and crisp breads. Weaknesses Although IKEA encompass much strength, the company has also its weaknesses. One of the weaknesses of the companies is the notion that IKEA remain vulnerable to the plausibility that the creativity and product development may falter over time. In addition the company has also lacking the ability to look for a business portfolio for various regions, like in the case of IKEA so as to spread business risk. Opportunities With the management system and the marketing strategies implemented within IKEA as well as with the strengths that the company, it can be said that IKEA has bigger opportunities to still dominate the global market in terms of providing quality household furniture as well as food products and services to its residents, commercial and industrial clients or even have an opportunity to be the most competitive brands in the global market. With the continuous innovation of the company and the support that it shows to different needs of the region, the company can gain loyalty from their customers to make them more competitive in the marketplace. The continuous initiatives of the company in diversification of its revenue resources also open new opportunities to make the business become stronger to outgrow all its rival companies. Such opportunities will include the development of new products, leveraging the companys investment in the low cost leadership and differentiation, and other business opportunities in both non-core and core areas. In line with IKEA, the household furniture as well as food products and services have the opportunity to expand their market in the global level, and it can be said that IKEA is on its way ahead of its competitors in terms of international expanding. Threats One of the threats of that IKEA may face is the emergence of a new and stronger company which offered a more diversified household furniture as well as food products which is cheaper than the existing companies. If these companies will not be able to provide the latest trends in this kind of business industries, the company may experience some industrial threats. In order for the company to maximise its strengths and minimise or totally eliminate its weaknesses, the company must be able to use or impose a strategic management system that will help them enhance their business operations. Porters Five Forces Model It can be noted that an industry is a group of firms which market its products and services closely substituted from one another. According to Porter (1980), some firms tend to become more profitable and gain competitive advantage than their rivals companies. With this, a company like Ikea should always bear in mind that the industry will only survive in the global market by using a strategy that will sustain their competitive advantage and position. Through the use Porters Five Forces Model, the analysis of the industry aspects of the IKEA will be analysed. New Market Entrants The first element of Porters Five Forces Model includes threat of entrance of new industries. Apparently, the objective of IKEA is to build a position in the household furniture as well as food shops service industry and to be recognised as company which would always be competitive in the global market. IKEA is said to be a world-class companies in providing household furniture as well as food products and services in market environment. With this, it can be said that because of the existence of IKEA, having another household furniture as well as food shops is unnecessary unless, the new company which will emerge will have the appropriate and efficient marketing strategy to outgrow both leading companies. Hence, it can be said that the household furniture as well as food shop belongs to a higher entry obstruction because of the existence of competitive companies like the companies and their other rival industries. Supplier Power It can be noted that the conditions and the present system in the household furniture as well as food shop industries largely determines the extent in which effective competition can be achieved. The bargaining power of a supplier could be a threat for the profit of the company, and both IKEA is very much aware of it. In this manner, IKEA is trying to have a good contract with its supplier, herein; IKEA makes it sure that they are also benefited in the said contract while the suppliers enjoy the agreement with them. In this kind of business, there is a high level of competition in the household furniture as well as food brand supply market. Competitive Rivalry IKEA still enjoy their competitive position in the global market. In this analysis, it shows that the company still dominate the household furniture as well as food market by providing those quality and innovative services. This means that IKEA is still on top of the competition among other household furniture as well as food retail companies in world. The company enjoys its competitive position in the region and still trying to sustain its competitive advantage among its rivals. Buyer Power Porters also include in his model the concept of the bargaining power of Buyers. Hence, the management of IKEA makes sure of it that their clients and customers in all aspects will be satisfied for the quality service they provide. Specifically, the company has focused their marketing approach on the demands and needs of the buyer for a household furniture as well as food service source that satisfy them and heavily positioned their products in this segment. The company also uses their corporate responsibility as a good public image to make the company more appealing to their customers. The competitive aim of each company is to do significantly a better job of providing what buyers are looking for and, thereby enabling the firm to gain competitive advantage and out compete rivals within the marketplace (Thompson, Strickland Gamble, 2003). Threats of substitutes In terms of threats and substitutes, although the company is aware that there were threats for substitute products or retail household furniture as well as food shops because of its high demand in the global market, specifically now that companies offered household furniture as well as food alternative products and flavours which suit the needs of the household furniture as well as food market. The company has been able to continue to grow and expand their business in various parts of the world. It can be said that IKEA has been able to use various strategies which enable them to sustain their competitive position in the global market. Ikea Strategy IKEA follows the focused cost leadership strategy. Young buyers in search of stylish and fashionable furniture and household accessories at a low cost are IKEAs targeted market segment. For these customers, the firm offers home furnishings that combine good design, functionality and acceptable quality at low prices. According to the firm, low cost is always a priority. This applies to every phase of their activities. IKEA emphasises several activities to keep its costs low. For example, instead of relying primarily on third party manufacturers, the firms engineers design low-cost, modular furniture ready for assembly by customers. IKEA also positions its products in domestic settings. Typically, competitors furniture stores display multiple varieties of a single item in separate rooms, meaning that their customers examine living room sofas in one room, tables in another room, chairs in yet another location, and accessories somewhere else entirely. In contrast, IKEAs customers can view different furniture combinations (complete with sofas, chairs, tables, and so forth) in a single setting, which eliminates the need for sales associates or decorators to help the customer imagine how a furniture arrangement would look when placed in the customers home. This approach requires fewer sales personnel, allowing IKEA to keep its costs low. A third practice that helps keep IKEAs costs low is expect

major themes of the scarlet letter :: essays research papers

Many of the major themes of The Scarlet Letter are introduced in the opening scene. Some of these themes were sin, nature's kindness to the condemned and the dreary lifestyle of puritan society. The first chapter has little action but it sets up these major themes. The tone of the whole story was set in this chapter. The opening scene of The Scarlet Letter, many major themes were introduced. One of the major themes of The Scarket Letter was sin. Much of Puritan society was based on sin. The first thing built in the town was the prison. There was a gathering outside ofthe elaborate prison. The prison was a major emphasis in the town. This was portrayed in part by "...have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetary, and another portion as the site for the prison." The prison was the first priority for the town to build. Sin and crime was the major emphasis of the town. Sin was a major theme of The Scarlet Letter. Another major theme introduced in the forst chapter was nature's kindness to the condemned. The prison was very bleak and worn down and old. It was very unforgiving for the prisoners. The only sign of hope was a rosebush that grew near the prison. "But on one side of the porta land rooted almost on the threshhold, was a wild rosebush, covered, in this month of june, with its delicate jems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom." Nature was the only thing kind to the condemned. This theme was very important later in the book when Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl met in the forest. A major them in The Scarlet Letter was nature's kindness to the condomned.

Philippine Artifacts Essay

The Manunggul Jar is evidence of the spirituality of indigenous Filipinos. The Manunggul jar is cultural treasure found in the early 1960’s in Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Point, Palawan which is classified as a secondary burial jar, which means that only the bones of the corpse are placed inside. It has an elaborate design consisting of scrolls and curves on the top cover and is painted with hematite – a type of mineral that produces red coloring once subjected to heat. However, the most remarkable part of the jar is its lid which features two souls sailing to the afterworld in a death boat. The figure at the rear is holding a steering paddle, although the blade of the paddle is missing. The one in front is believed to be the soul of the person whose remains are inside the jar, since it has its arms folded across its chest which was the usual position of a corpse being prepared for burial. It also seems like the figures are wearing cloth bands tied over the crowns of their heads, more evidence of indigenous burial practices in the Philippines. The burial jar which is unrivaled in Southeast Asia and considered as the work of a master potter, signifies the belief of early Filipinos in life after death. It is dated to the late Neolithic Period, about 890-710 B.C. Laguna Copperplate Inscription The Laguna Copperplate Inscription is the oldest written document ever found in the Philippines, and one of very few available artifacts of precolonial times. According to the inscription on the plate, it was written during the Saka era 822 (which translates to April 21, 900 CE). Portions of the inscription are in Malay, Javanese, and Tagalog, as well as Sanskrit, which is not part of the Southeast Asian linguistic group. The copperplate is now in the posession of the National Museum of the Philippines. Inscription The copperplate was a document from a chief of Tundun saying that he has pardoned a person named Namwaran of a debt of 1 kati and 8 suwarna (926.4 grams) of gold. The text has been translated as follows: â€Å"Long Live! Year of Siyaka 822, month of Waisaka, according to astronomy. The fourth day of the waning moon, Monday. On this occasion, Lady Angkatan, and her brother whose name is Buka, the children of the Honourable Namwaran, were awarded a document of complete pardon from the Commander in Chief of Tundun, represented by the Lord Minister of Pailah, Jayadewa. By this order, through the scribe, the Honourable Namwaran has been forgiven of all and is released from his debts and arrears of 1 katà ® and 8 suwarna before the Honourable Lord Minister of Puliran, Ka Sumuran by the authority of the Lord Minister of Pailah. Because of his faithful service as a subject of the Chief, the Honourable and widely renowned Lord Minister of Binwangan recognized all the living relatives of Namwaran who were claimed by the Chief of Dewata, represented by the Chief of Medang. Yes, therefore the living descendants of the Honourable Namwaran are forgiven, indeed, of any and all debts of the Honourable Namwaran to the Chief of Dewata. This, in any case, shall declare to whomever henceforth that on some future day should there be a man who claims that no release from the debt of the Honourable†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Maitum Anthropomorphic Potteries In 1991, archeologists discovered anthropomorphic secondary burial jars in Ayub Cave, Pià ±ol. Maitum, Sarangani Province, in Mindanao, Philippines. Since this sensational finding, a number of archaeological excavations were conducted to recover these important artifacts. These excavation projects were either government or privately sponsored. These burial jars are made of earthenware and characterized by their design and form that looks like or suggests human figures with complete or partial facial characteristics. These are earthenware potteries with incisions and cut-out foot-rings. These humanlike forms were associated with metal implements like bracelets. Some jars are decorated with glass beads and shell scoop, spoon, and pendants. Among the anthropomorphic vessels are plain non-anthropomorphic burial jars. According to scientists, these secondary burial jars date back to the Metal Age. The artifacts were dated to 830 +/-60 B.P. (by a calibrated date of A.D. 70 to 370) and 1920 +/- 50 B.P. (by a calibrated date of 5 B.C. to 225 A.D.). Scientists determined the age of the jars by doing radiocarbon date tests on the soot samples taken from a small earthenware vessel. This small vessel was found inside one of the larger burial jar. Angono Petroglyphs The Angono Petroglyphs are 127 images carved into a wall of rock, and are estimated to date back to 3,000 BC. They were discovered in 1965 by Carlos â€Å"Botong† Francisco along the boundaries of Angono and Binangonan, Rizal. It is considered thye earliest prehistoric rock drawings. The site is a rock shelter or a shallow cave about 63 meters wide, 8 meters deep and 5 meters at its highest point. One hundred twenty seven human figures scattered on the wall were made by engraving lines using a piece of stone on the surface of the rock shelter. The cuts vary from ten centimeters down to faint lines figures. The figures consist of circular heads, with or without necks set on a rectangular or v-shaped body. The linear arms and legs are usually flexed. Some incisions on the rock wall are triangles, rectangles and circles. Rock art is closely linked with a system of belief of a particular group of people. It is symbolic, not decorative. According to Filipino anthropologist Jesus Peralta, â€Å"The engraved drawings are made without any reference to a baseline, suggesting that these were made during different points in time through a long period.†[ In 1996, the petroglyphs were included in the World Monuments Watch, drawing attention to the rock art’s conservation. Since their discovery, many of the carvings have been eroded, or destroyed by vandalism. Butuan Palaeograph The Butuan Palaeograph, also known as the Butuan Silver Strip is a piece of metal with inscriptions found in Butuan province in mid-1970s by a team of archaeologists from the National Museum. Treasure hunters who were looking for old ceramics and gold ornaments discovered this metal strip inside a wooden coffin. Coffins of the same characteristics, which dated back to the 14th and 15th centuries, were found in the site, however, according to Dr. Jesus Peralta, found inside were human fossils with artificially deformed skulls – a practice limited to Southern Philippines and unpopular in Luzon. Because of the similarities found between the coffins, it is reasonable for the archaeologists to assume that the latter came from that same era. But debates arose regarding the origin of the said artifact, but until now, it is considered to belong to Butuan where it was found. Dr. Boechari of Indonesia, said Peralta, identified the writings as very close to a Javanese script that existed from 12th to 15th century. This yet-to-be-decipher Butuan palaeograph is now in the hands of Proceso Gonzales, the city engineer of Butuan. Calatagan Pot The Calatagan Pot, excavated by treasure hunters in 1961, is considered to be the first pre-Spanish colonization artifact with traces of indigenous writing. Discovered at Calatagan, Batangas, the scripts are oriented in a left-to-right manner around the mouth of the pot which are separated by marks of five or seven symbols. Studies conducted in the Calatagan Pot arrived at a belief that its scripts is a form of Tanaga – a four-versed poetry with no rhyme – or a Mangyan Ambahan – a type of chanted poetry of seven syllables. The Butuan Ivory Seal Shown on the right is an ivory seal from Butuan. The upper representation is how a wax impression from the tool would look like. The lower view shows the face of the ivory seal except that it has been flipped (mirror image) to show the writing in its correct orientation. The combination of the positive impression and the negative but flipped view gives a better idea of what the writing looks like than either one alone. The ivory seal’s provenance is unknown to me. Antoon Postma reports that it was shown to him by Dr. Angel Bautista in 1990 at a conference in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He says that the seal was in Bautista’s custody but does not know whether it belonged to the National Museum or not. The writing is stylized Kavi, each letter being fitted into an oblong box so that it appears distorted. Postma states that the script is similar to that on the inscription of Puh Serang near Kediri dated 1002. He further indicates that the writing says â€Å"Butban,† which presumably stands for â€Å"Butwan† or â€Å"Butuan† since band w are frequently interchangeable. If this is correct, the three symbols need to transliterate as bu, t-ba, and n. Although I am not very familiar with this specific variation of the script, I find it hard to see the medial form of u in the first symbol and the t-baligature in the second symbol. Balangay . The Balangay is the first wooden watercraft ever excavated in Southeast Asia. Also known as the Butuan boat, this artifact is an evidence of early Philippinecraftsmanship and their early attempts to venture in open waters. The balangay boats were discovered in the late 1970s in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte by archaeologists from the National Museum. There were actually nine balangays recovered in the province. The first balangay, now preserved and displayed in a site museum in Libertad, Butuan City, was radiocarbon tested and was dated at year 320. The second boat was dated to 1250, and is now located at the Maritime Hall of the National Museum in Manila. The third balangay was transferred to the Butuan Regional Museum and is still undergoing preservation. The six other boats, which are yet to be excavated, remain in their original waterlogged condition which is proven to be the best way to preserve the said artifacts. Bronze Socketed Adzes and Moulds Socketed adzes made from bronze are characteristic of the Early Metal Age. Bronze socketed adzes were found in Batu Puti and Uyaw Caves in Palawan; Sanga-Sanga in Tawi-Tawi; and Batangas. These tools were dated from 300 B.C. to 500 B.C. Clay molds for casting these bronze adzes recovered in the caves indicate that the people during that time reused damaged bronze implements for making socketed adzes. The present implement known as wasay (axe) in central Philippines could have come from the bronze socketed adze of the Early Metal Age. Stone and Shell Adzes Prehistoric man used ground and polished stone tools. It is believed that a stone adze shaped like an upper front incisor could be found where lightning hit a tree. Today, these stone implements are associated with thunder and lightning. Locally they are called ngipe’t duldug (thunder tooth), tango han linti (lightning tooth), and dila latik (light-ning tongue). The polished stone adzes that are oval in cross-section were made and used by the people during the Early Neolithic period. Ground stone tools typical of the ‘Quadrangular Adze Culture’ on the other hand, were found in a late Neolithic jar burial site. They are believed to be used for woodworking. These are small, ground and polished adzes of fine grained stones which are rectangular or trapezoidal in cross-section. The stone adzes were found in Arku Cave, in Penablanca, Cagayan; Duyung Cave in Palawan; Dimolit, Isabela; and Candaba, Pampanga.

Celebration to Individualism in Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” Essay

What comes to mind when the idea of â€Å"Romantic Literature† enters your head? Immediate imageries consisting of two lovers, a rose, or even a starlit sky may come to mind. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, she disproved these imageries by creating her own scenario with grotesque images and lonely characters. Many have overlooked this novel as a romantic literature but it is actually one that contains the most elements of a romantic literature. Romantic literature emerged through a movement called Romanticism. Romanticism can be defined as a movement in art and literature that revolted against rigid social conventions. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelly stresses the importance of individualism in Romantic Literature by developing various narratives of the story to generate perspectives of the same environment through different narratives. Robert Walton begins the novel through an epistolary frame for the actual story to build on. We learn that Walton is on a journey to venture to an area where no man has gone before and is also in search for a close companion. Although he is amongst a huge crew of men, he felt as if he was on the voyage by himself. He narrates the story through several letters to his sister until we learned that he encountered a new friend, â€Å"Victor Frankenstein†. Frankenstein then began to tell his story as the narrative switched from Walton to Frankenstein, the main narrator of the book. As the story shifts to Victor Frankenstein, we begin to understand his life story as an individual that was much isolated from everyone else. With the congregation of his life studies, Frankenstein was able to bring life or artificially gave birth to a grotesque monster. At first he was proud of his work but he later abandoned the creature due to its hideous looks. The monster proceeds to kill the people that are closest to Victor in his life, leaving him totally alone. Though torn by remorse, shame, and guilt, Victor refuses to admit to anyone the horror of what he has created, even as he sees the ramifications of his creative act spiraling out of control. Frankenstein then finds himself next to the monster in a cave as the monster decides to describe the loneliness he had felt ever since he was â€Å"born†. The monster that Frankenstein created began narrating his life and the  cruelty he had to endure alone. It is born eight feet tall and enormously strong but still has a mind much like a newborn. Abandoned by his creator, it was confused as it tried to integrate himself into society, only to be shunned universally. Looking in the mirror, he realizes his physical grotesqueness, an aspect of his being blinded society to his initially gentle, kind nature. Seeking revenge on his creator, he kills Victor’s younger brother. After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster’s solitude, the monster murders Victor’s best friend and then his new wife. It was once in a gentle spirited nature, it had become angry and violent as it remained in solitude. The emphasis on the individual’s expression of emotion is displayed through out the novel. The development of the characters in the story is presented by each character alone. The split narratives of these three characters allowed the story to unravel all the mysteries that the other narrators left out. Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster isolated themselves from others as each one told their own story. The celebration of individualism in the novel permitted a better understanding of each character individually as each one of them are left alone in the end.

Ralph Waldo Emerson essays

Ralph Waldo Emerson essays Many writers created during the 18th century, but none influenced so many people as did Emerson. Emerson was confused with his place in society in the beginning of his life, but as his ideas of philosophy grew, so did his reputation. Emerson turned his back on past family generations when he walked out on his career in ministry. As he absorbed knowledge and ideas of other philosophers, so did his own mind begin to expand. Before Emerson realized it, he was a well know lecturist who had people listening to him and being strongly influenced by his thoughts. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a writer and leader of his own philosophy, gained his recognition and knowledge through his lectures, his religion, and his own ideas as a philosopher. Ralph Waldo Emersons great lectures were based around natures ordeals and his religious and philosophical beliefs. Emerson was said to be a great teacher and lecturist by the many who heard him speak. To hear him lecture in his best days must have been a rare experience, for he required much of his audiences in concentration and understanding - more than many of the pioneer communities... (Kunitz 254). Emerson was never given the full credit he deserved for his speeches and books. He was more in it for the sheer desire of doing it. ...When he was most famous he no more then $600 a year from his books, so to support his family, his only way to do this was by lecturing (Kunitz 253). Emerson was never a popular man, but he always drew crowds when he spoke of the religion, philosophy, and society of his era. He intrigued people with his sophisticated mind and his intellectual theories on the subjects he spoke of. The people spoke highly of him once they heard his modest ideas. To them, as finally to America, he typified Man Thinking, the ideal scholar who would in the end, as in Platos Republic, be the worlds ideal king (Kuni...

Essay on Human Rights Essays

Essay on Human Rights Essays Essay on Human Rights Essay Essay on Human Rights Essay India INDIAN CRIMINAL DEFENSE MANUAL The Role And Responsibility of a Legal Aid Lawyer Rights of the Accused and Exceptional Circumstances Client Interview Other Pretrial Matters Theory of the Case Various Defense Strategies Questioning the Witness Plea Bargaining/Guilty Plea Evidence Arguments CODES The Code of Criminal Procedure The Constitution of India The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 The Indian Penal Code, 1860 LEGAL RESOURCES Lawyer-Client Relationship India Country Summary Card Rights of the Accused Around the World Important Case Law regarding Defendants Rights in India LEGAL TRAINING RESOURCE CENTER eLearning Courses for Indian lawyers Background India has one of the worlds largest populations of pre-trial detainees with 249,796 people in overcrowded and unsanitary prisons. While in police custody, these Indian citizens are often subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation, and shock treatments all in violation of their fundamental constitutional rights. Subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, they are an example of human rights abuses on a colossal scale. Four people die in police or judicial custody every day from these abuses. Many of these deaths could be avoided if cases were swiftly resolved. However, each year more cases are filed in Indian courts than can ever be disposed of, creating a huge bottleneck in the criminal justice system. There are currently 26,752,193 pending cases in Indian courts and in some jurisdictions case loads are so high that it would take a thousand years to clear court dockets. Because of this backlog, detainees who cannot make bail are sometimes kept in pretrial detention longer than the maximum sentence they would have received if convicted. In one case, a man was held in pretrial detention for 54 years even though the maximum sentence for his crime was only 10 years. During these periods of pre-trial detention, arrestees are at the greatest risk of human rights abuses as victims have reported that the longer the period of detention, the more intense the violence against them becomes. These abuses are made worse and worse by the continuing deterioration of the Indian Police, one of the most ill-equipped police departments in the world. For every 1,037 Indian residents there is only one police officer. Asian average: 558, global average: 333). Understaffed, under-skilled and under-resourced, the police in many Indian states work long hours under filthy labor conditions. Junior officers face intense pressure from supervisors to solve cases quickly and efficiently. As a result, bribery, brutal torture, murders, illegal arrests and other human rights abuses have become the norm, rather than the exception. Recently, India has demonstrated an increased commitment to rule of law and citizens’ legal rights. Because of police abuses during interrogation, Article 22 of the Indian Constitution was added to prevent police from detaining citizens for longer than 24 hours without a special order from a magistrate. Though domestic law grants this fundamental legal right, there remains a tremendous gulf between the actual law and its implementation. Police officers regularly detain suspects for several days, post-dating arrest documents 24-hours before producing the defendant before the magistrate. Similarly, pretrial detainees are routinely denied due process rights taken for granted in the western world: notice of charges and an opportunity to contact family or lawyers. In many cases these prisoners – poor and marginally literate – are completely unaware they have any legal rights at all, further emboldening police officers. NGOs have been successful in lobbying Indian authorities to criminalize torture, organizing public awareness campaigns on the issue of torture and aiding the rehabilitation of torture victims. However, systematic police denial, obstruction, an absence of records and a lack of accountability continues to plague the system. Despite the fact that India has a limited legal aid system, the vast majority of pre-trial detainees never receive any legal representation, making this right illusory at best. Indias current legal aid system operates primarily in urban areas, and due to caste segregation many Indians do not receive access to legal aid at all. Each of Indias 28 states operates its own Legal Services Authority, resulting in an uncoordinated approach to Indias legal aid problems. Type of System A former British colony, India has a criminal justice system heavily influenced by the English common law system. There are, however, significant differences. For instance, India banned the use of jury trials in 1960. Sources of Defendants Rights Defendants rights are protected by the Constitution of India, the Criminal Procedure Code of 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872 which governs a suspects rights prior to trial. In addition, defendants rights are established by case law by regional and national courts. By law, Indian defendants retain a significant number of rights including the right to counsel[1], the right to silence [2], the right to a fair trial[3], the right to confront witnesses[4] and the right to a speedy trial[5] Defendants Rights Pre-Trial The arrest of a defendant must be made if a reasonable complaint has been made or credible information received or a reasonable suspicion exists that an individual committed a crime[6]. Police may conduct a search upon probable cause and the issuance of a search warrant. A defendant may be detained pending trial. For bailable offenses a Magistrate must notify the accused of his right to bail and prescribe the amount of bail. The defendant has the right to identify an individual to be informed of his or her arrest. [7]. An arrestee has the right to demand an Inspection Memo for documenting any injuries incurred during or after arrest and has the right to a medical examination every 48 hours. A defendant has the right to meet a lawyer during interrogation though not throughout the entire duration of the interrogation. Defendants in police custody must be produced before a Magistrate within 24 hours of arrest. [8] The right to counsel applies to all custodial interrogations as well as critical stages of the proceedings including post-indictment interrogations, arraignments, gulity pleas and trials. [9] Trial A defendant has the right to a fair trial in open court [10] as well as the right to confront witnesses [11]. Jury trials were abandoned in 1960 and all trials occur with the judge sitting as finder of both law and fact. Confessions to police are inadmissible as evidence. Confessions may be admissible if made to a Magistrate and only if the Magistrate examines the circumstances of the confession for possible police coercion or intimidation[12] Post-Conviction The Constitution of India prohibits an individual from being prosecuted and punished form the same offence more than once. [13] The Criminal Procedure Code states that every individual convicted in High Court may appeal to the Supreme Court. Any person convicted on a trial held by a Sessions Judge or Additional Sessions Judge or a trial in any other court in which the sentence of imprisonment is more than seven years may appeal to the High Court. The defendant must show that a miscarriage of justice jeapardized the fundamental fairness of the trial in order to secure reversal. [14] The Indian Supreme Court may enforce Constitution rights by Habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari [15] See Criminal Justice Systems Around the World QUICK FACTS There are 26,752,193 pending cases in Indian courts. In some jurisdictions case loads are so high that it would take a thousand years to clear court dockets. References ^ Constitution of India, Art. 22(1) ^ Constitution of India, Art. 20(3) Constitution of India, Art. 14 ^ India Evidence Act, Section 138 ^ Hussainara Khatoon Ors. V. Home Secretary, Bihar, Patna, (1980) I SCC 98 ^ Criminal Procedure Code, Sect. 41 ^ Criminal Procedure Code, Section 50A ^ Constitution of India, Article 22(2) ^ State of M. P. v. Shobharam, AIR 1966 SC 1910: (1966) Cri LJ 1521 ^ Criminal Procedure Code Sec. 327 ^ Indian Evidence Act Sec. 138 ^ Criminal Procedure Code, Sect. 164. ^ C onstitution of India, Art. 20(2). ^ For a full list of appealable issues see Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, Sections 460-466. ^ Constitution of India, Art. 32(2

Future Of Voice Search SEO With Jeremiah Smith From SimpleTiger

Future Of Voice Search SEO With Jeremiah Smith From SimpleTiger Is the future of voice search happening as we speak? Are we really in the middle of a voice search revolution? Are you part of the 41% of adults or 55% of teenagers who use voice search daily? By 2020, at least 50% of all Internet searches will be through images or speech. Today, we’re talking to Jeremiah Smith, founder and CEO of SimpleTiger. He breaks down how voice searches will impact SEO, algorithms, keywords, and research. Also, he shares how marketers can optimize their content in a voice search world. Pulse and perspective on current state of voice search Search Categories: General and transactional What’s the intent of voice search? Good answers, no advertising Indirect Commercial Intent: Customers become comfortable with and trust voice devices enough to conduct commercial searches to buy something Search engines using artificially intelligent rules and inputs to deduce output User engagement metrics trumping every other ranking metric in Google Google: Changing from a search engine to an answer engine? Evolution of old vs. new types of search; people need to rethink how they search Conversational marketing created to address surge of conversational searches Optimize content for voice search by answering searcher’s intent for any keyword Prepare for voice search by keeping things the same, read SEO documentation Links: SimpleTiger Google Study Comscores Presentation on Future of Voice Amazon’s Alexa Apple’s Siri Google Assistant Bing Write a review on iTunes and send a screenshot of it to receive a swag package! If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Jeremiah Smith: â€Å"Market domination, in terms of voice search as an interface, belongs to Amazon.† â€Å"I don’t think we need to be nervous and be scared because this artificially intelligent engine, at the end of the day, is doing something to produce a result for a company.† â€Å"Your SEO schemes aren’t going to work any more. Your need to actually start pleasing your customers. It’s a much more blunt game that were playing now.† â€Å"The way that we search for things also says a lot about the type of result that ought to occur.†

What is the most important learning for you in the material on Essay

What is the most important learning for you in the material on Hinduism In other words, explain one thing you have learned and why it is important, in your view - Essay Example These explanations became â€Å"a way of life† to achieve enlightenment that influenced modern society all over the world that words like karma, guru, dharma became part of our modern vocabulary. I learned the application of this concept which is really to seek for love (not the romantic one but the love for humanity), enlightenment, avoidance of conflict and world peace which are all geared towards enlightenment to improve the karma which is really the cycle of birth and rebirth or an effort to perpetually improve. This also partially explains what is common among all religion, that it is just humanly constructed for us to be enlightened through the guidance of some divine ideas. Through this important lesson about Buddhism, I also learned that self-improvement, learning and the effort to be better is part of divine plan for us to achieve enlightenment and peace within ourselves the people around

Anglican spirituality Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Anglican spirituality - Assignment Example During the reign of Henry VIII, in England was made Reformation, pretext for which was refusal of the Pope to the king to resolve the divorce with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. In response to the refusal of Pope, Henry VIII in 1534 issued the Act of Supremacy, by virtue of which the king was declared the head of the Church of England, and on the basis of which he independently issued his divorce through the British Parliament, bypassing sanctions of the Pope. Act of Supremacy confirmed the inviolability of all the Old Catholic doctrines and rituals; only head of the Church should have been changed - the place of the Pope in England took the king; episcopate was survived and became a pillar of absolutism. Thus, a new Church of England took a middle position between Catholicism and Protestantism. Anglicanism combines Catholic dogma of the saving power of the church with the Protestant doctrine of salvation by personal faith. A characteristic feature of the Church of England is i ts episcopal establishment, resembling Catholic one and claims to apostolic succession. In the area of dogmatics and ritual, the separation into two streams - the "high", gravitating towards Catholicism and the "low", Protestant dogmatics is noticeable. This feature allows the Anglican Church to enter into the ecumenical contacts with the Catholic Church, and with Protestant denominations. At the end of XIX - early XX century in England, there was quite a unique situation in the spiritual sense.

Book Report Asian Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Book Report Asian Americans - Essay Example Considerably, this fact is noticeably evident in her book thus aiming to show how much importance there is in need of being placed so as to be able to describe and define a society that lives within another society and how that particular matter affects the people in a rather direct manner. In the society, cultural diversity is an evident and become dominant concept wherein it commonly affects the social structures and processes in the society. This is mainly because cultural diversity significantly cause the society to be segregated into their respective social minority groups with their cultural differences serving as the gap and blocking wall between these groups. In addition, cultural diversity also has caused certain negative social problems such as discrimination and oppression worsening the difficulty of social separation. Because of which, the negative aspect of multiculturalism and the social tension it has produced should be sufficiently addressed. Different social groups and institutions are making different steps and approaches to bridge the gap of multiculturalism in every individual and social minority. ... addition, community groups are also establishing social groups and institutions that request participation from different cultural groups giving them a chance to communicate and relate to other groups tearing down themselves the walls created by multiculturalism. These programs and community efforts are established to promote communication and social involvement of each social minority in the campaign to address social unity. Multiculturalism in the present society serves as a hindering wall thus, this hindrance must be torn down using intercultural communication and social participation. Intervention must also be done in facilitating cooperative approaches to ensure its advantage. With this approach implemented, society as a whole would be one-step closer in making a harmonious relationship between culturally diversified social groups. With the growth of worldwide globalization systems, it could not be denied that many people are transferring from one country to another. Some for business reasons, some for educational reasons and others just transfer for tourism purposes. Whatever it is that the different races transfer places, it could not be denied that in many ways, the said progressive movement of the human society towards the future raises several points of consideration in the human identity belonging to a certain ethnic group. Along with the global development come the exchange of culture and other aspects of racial contributions such as language have been exchanged through immigration activities. This is the reason why it is very important for people to see to it that even though there is so much diversity in the world, language is still one of the keys by which a certain race's ethnicity could be identified amidst diversity. In many continents around the

Answering questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answering questions - Essay Example My writing experience during high school and college can only be described as fun. This is because, in many cases, even during other courses that required an essay, I would find it being so much enjoyable since I usually scoped high grades in those quizzes and assignments. Since writing is my passion, and with my studies now, I have a lot of experience in stories and poems. Since I began my college studies, I have written several poems and stories that I intend to publish in due course. My writing skills also involve writing dissertations and article writing. I usually write articles which are published in our state youth journal that gives me an avenue to explore my skills and talent. My future career is to be consultant in the field of marketing; therefore, my writing skills would be widely used in communicating with my clients and to the markets thereafter. Since marketing strategies involve wide interactions with the customers (people), I intend to sharpen my skills so that I would effectively communicate during my work

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Personal Statement Example My excellent interpersonal skills help me to communicate business information to my target audience by preparing crisp and well thought out presentations. I consider myself a social person for I like spending time with my families and friends. Being the part of the local community, I also like providing my assistance at local events and for other social causes. I am currently studying at Mt San Antonio College and this is my third year of school. Most of my subjects in the school are business related and therefore my interest in this particular field of study has grown with time. Within all this while I have learnt that my courses are much more than business management. They are providing an experience to the customer that is not less than exceptional; while motivating the employees to deliver their best by fulfilling their responsibilities. The basic responsibilities of the employees should be the maintenance of loyal customer base, providing exceptional customer service, guiding the customers on the product information and applications, handling new merchandise and working as a team to achieve mutual organizational objectives. All these factors contribute towards the success of an organization and therefore I have tried my level best to learn these skills through practical and theoretical knowledge. My father is an entrepreneur and is running his own business for almost 15 years. As a child I accompanied my father to various business meeting and negotiations. I heard my father and his employees discussing about the current economic conditions of the country and status of the stock market. Although as a kid I did not have much knowledge about all this but as I grew up, I started finding this subject interesting. I eagerly started waiting for my father to ask me to accompany me at the business meetings or negotiations. It was in the first year of my high school that I started watching businesses news for studying the position of several

Introduction to Executive Tools for Decision Making Essay

Introduction to Executive Tools for Decision Making - Essay Example However, Ford Automotive has invested on its operating activities more than what McDonald’s is spending. This shows that the company is looking forward to growth. The financial data showed that the three companies are doing well in terms of net income and cash flow in 2009 as compared to 2008. Although, Ford Automotive has experienced a negative income for two years in 2008 and 2007, it has returned to profitability by the end of 2009. Bank of America, on the other hand, experienced a decline in profit for 2008. This may be due to the financial crisis in the country. Bank of America receives a grade of A because of its high profitability and liquidity. It means that investor’s money put up in the firm is safe and earning. McDonald’s got a grade of B for sustaining a profitable business. However, there is less growth in term of net income for the past years. Ford Automotive receives a grade of C because the company experienced a negative net income and the growth of the company is

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Personal Statement Example My excellent interpersonal skills help me to communicate business information to my target audience by preparing crisp and well thought out presentations. I consider myself a social person for I like spending time with my families and friends. Being the part of the local community, I also like providing my assistance at local events and for other social causes. I am currently studying at Mt San Antonio College and this is my third year of school. Most of my subjects in the school are business related and therefore my interest in this particular field of study has grown with time. Within all this while I have learnt that my courses are much more than business management. They are providing an experience to the customer that is not less than exceptional; while motivating the employees to deliver their best by fulfilling their responsibilities. The basic responsibilities of the employees should be the maintenance of loyal customer base, providing exceptional customer service, guiding the customers on the product information and applications, handling new merchandise and working as a team to achieve mutual organizational objectives. All these factors contribute towards the success of an organization and therefore I have tried my level best to learn these skills through practical and theoretical knowledge. My father is an entrepreneur and is running his own business for almost 15 years. As a child I accompanied my father to various business meeting and negotiations. I heard my father and his employees discussing about the current economic conditions of the country and status of the stock market. Although as a kid I did not have much knowledge about all this but as I grew up, I started finding this subject interesting. I eagerly started waiting for my father to ask me to accompany me at the business meetings or negotiations. It was in the first year of my high school that I started watching businesses news for studying the position of several

He Loved Light, Free

He Loved Light, Freedom and Animals and Pneuomconiosis Essay Both poems are about death and the acceptance of death although are written from different perspectives and are different for the fact that in He loved light, freedom and animals by Mike Jenkins the young boys death was quite a shock, but it could have been prevented whereas in Pneumoconiosis written by Duncan Bush the mans death is inevitable, there is nothing he can do to change it. Both poems also have connection with coalmines. Pneumoconiosis is a disease caught from working down in the mines, and the background of He loved light, freedom and animals is about a mining disaster that happened in Aberfan where a slag heap on the side of a mountain collapsed and engulfed parts of the small town. The first poem I studied was Pneumoconiosis, and as the title suggests, the poem is about the killing lung disease that many coalminers suffered and died from. Pneumoconiosis was renames The Dust by the sufferers because it was mainly caused by inhalation of a lot of dust. The dust would get trapped in the lungs and made breathing difficult, and eventually killed after many years of effecting colliers lives. Duncan Bush wrote in the form of an old retired coalminer who is slowly dying from the disease. The elderly man is now feeling the effects of the disease more than ever. He shows his feelings towards the disease and reflects to his past. The poor man worked down in the mines for thirty years without realising the fatality of his coughing and breathing difficulties but now he begins to see the truth, hes now walking at a much slower pace and can not talk as fast and fluent. The constant repetition of the line I try not to think about it gives us the impression that in the back of his mind he cannot help the feeling of ominous foreboding that his life will soon be coming to an end. He is worried about when his death will come but doesnt want the remainder of his life to be a misery. The opening line, This is the Dust is an introduction to the illness, it simply tells us what the whole poem and the title is about. The second line then describes it as Black diamond dust. It is a good way of describing the dust from the coal, as coal is similar to diamond in many ways. They are both valuable, and a fair amount of coal sparkles, as diamonds do. We understand that the man came from the South Wales valleys; the poet shows this by adding boy at the end of the line and uses informal English to punctuate his accent which symbolizes the location of the industry. It is a personal poem, Darren Bush is writing in the first person as though he is the old man telling his story I had thirty years in it. This is affective because we can relate with his character better by understanding what he is going through and feeling. The man was happy in his work back in the day; he didnt have the slightest idea that one day working there would lead him to his death. A laughing red mouth He would be covered at work in black dirt, and his mouth would stand out, as it was the only clean part of him. We realize the first symptoms of his illness when he used to spit smuts black but obviously, he was unaware and didnt realize the cause of his spluttering. The poet uses alliteration to describe the young collier suffering, the hard constant s conveys the way the sound the man made and it stands out. In the second verse, the man continues telling us about the disease he suffers from and points out the fact that he accepts it and he bravely admits he will die with it. The poet cleverly uses the line its had forty years in me now which follows the line I had thirty years in it. This shows that he is quite old, because he retired ten years ago. The disease isnt only affecting his inside; his illness is visible like my blued scars. The scars are a part of him that wont go away, he can not erase them. The sufferer tells us how he gets by from day to day and how things have changed since hes been ill in the third verse. There are a few pauses in the third stanza which conveys the shortness of breath the man has. One step at a time; especially the stairs. It is quite jerky, as I can imagine his breathing and talking would be like. He then goes on to talk about his past and his experiences. His own brother also died of Pneumoconiosis, so he knows what he is facing. He explains that he saw his brothers last moment, which I think is very emotional. Although he seems calm, he must be quite frightened that he will be going through the same thing. He doesnt want to let the image of his brother that will always be with him scare him. The description the poet uses about the brothers last moment are very good, and give us a vivid image of how much he struggled worse than a hooked carp drowning in the air. The last three lines of the poem are very emotional and sad, he emphasises his slow walk and the occasional cough he lets out involuntary by telling people to know him as that man. This shows that the illness has effected him so much, he is different to a lot people when he used to be as healthy as the rest. After reading the poem, I admire the character in the poem because he can handle and accept his death, rather than complain and give up all hope. He is trying to lead his life as normal as possible and trying not to make the last of his life a misery which I respect. Another poem I studied was He loved light, freedom and animals. Mike Jenkins writes as if he is the father and he reminisces and remembers happy memories he shared with his son. He doesnt believe that his son is dead and in his mind the boy is still as lively as ever. The disaster of Aberfan happened on the 21st of October in 1966. The slagheap was balancing on a mountain overlooking the small village. The flood of waste had slipped and rushed down the mountain shattering homes, farms and the village school, which killed 116 young villagers. Critics say that the disaster should never had happened and young, innocent peoples lives such as the character in the poems son shouldnt have been lost. The poem contains many good descriptions that create strong images of both the child and the slag heap. This creates a good balance of positive and negative emotion in the poem. The images of the slagheap and the child are a complete contrast to one another; the descriptions of the boy are happy and beautiful foe example his eyes gleamed as gorse-flowers do now whereas the slagheap is described by the use of dark, depressing phrases such as tumour on the hillside burst and the black blood coal. The unpleasant phrase of the tumour growing on the top of the mountain reminds us of illness and gives us the thought people would want to stay as far away from it as possible. But tumours can be detected and defused, like the slagheap, it could have been manually moved but nobody had thought of the consequences until it was too late. The poet refers to the characters son throughout the poem, almost in every stanza which I believe makes the poem very interesting. It also shows that he will always think of his son, and will not give up the happy thoughts. He remembers the things he used to do when he was happiest. His son would be in the classroom waving an answer like a greeting. This emphasises how very enthusiastic and eager the boy was and obviously he was a pupil who enjoyed school, but it was there where he had died. When the poor boy was pulled out, the poet writes that his son must have been like a child collier, dragged out of one of Butes mines. A child collier would have been in a very dangerous job, and often lost their lives. They would come out of the mines hurt and covered in black dust but his son wasnt a collier, he was at school. School is meant to be a safe place, but not for the pupils on the day of the disaster. A good example of a simile in the poem is the one about the son and his mother shown in the last stanza. Ears attuned as a ewes in lambing. The connection the boy had with his mother was like no other, his mother can still hear his laugh and like and ewe and a lamb, she was attuned to her son. This is a good way of showing that they were close, and his mother is lost without him. She will always recognize his laugh, and can still hear it clearly in her head. The parents of the boy will always remember him as they last seen him, young, healthy and happy. They will be hearing his laughs springing down the slopes for a long time. Mike Jenkins uses personification in his poem to make it more alive and colourful. An example of him using personification is shown in the fourth verse, he creates a character out of the slagheap when the poet describes it s if it has a greedy belly that ate up all the children and villagers. The tone of the poem is conversational, the father tells us as the reader about his son, and about his sons death. Its a dramatic poem, and is very emotional. Both negative and Positive feelings are shown in the poem. Although the theme of the poem is sad, the lines about the boy are happy; they are lines that bring a smile to the readers faces. In a way this makes us feel even sorrier for the father and makes it more emotional. The lines about the slag heap are bitter, expressing the fathers feelings towards it. In my opinion, the fact that the poem begins with a line about the grave No grave can contain him and then ends with a line about the grave I try to foster the inscription, away from its stubborn stone is clever. It emphasizes the fact that he is in his grave and will not do the things that were mentioned in the middle of the poem, he will not be climbing a tree again or calling out names. I personally enjoyed reading this poem because I felt I could relate to the father, as it was from a personal point of view and can relate to the loss of someone special. It was very emotional and made me sympathize for the mother and father. It was unfair for the innocent, fragile boy to die in such a horrific accident and it made me angry that people had not thought of the consequences they were facing by putting the slagheap on top of the mountain. Both poems are very successful in creating sad emotions, and also anger and frustration. In He loved Light, Freedom and Animals, anger is created because the boy and his classmates were so young when they died, and they didnt deserve to have their lives taken away. In Pneumoconiosis, anger is created because the old man had been affected by the dust silently, and is expecting his death. This is very frustrating, as there is nothing we as the reader can do to change what has happened and what is going to happen. In my opinion, He love Light, Freedom, and Animals made the biggest impact to my emotions. As the child was only young, it is easy to relate to, and it makes the reader realize that life can be cut so short, although Pneumoconiosis is also very emotional, as the reader acknowledges the long term effects miners suffer. He has been, and is still fighting bravely but he knows he cant hold on forever.

Research on Pseudo Psychology Beliefs

Research on Pseudo Psychology Beliefs INTRODUCTION Pseudo psychology is branch under the studies of psychology. Pseudo psychology however it isn’t known for its reliability as it is not been scientifically proven to be a true. Although it isn’t scientifically proven yet, there are still a large number of people who still believe in it as it has grown to be what many people consider as a cultural phenomenon over the years. There are several forms of pseudo psychology and it can be classified into groups like astrology, phrenology, graphology and palmistry. Astrology is the study of stars, phrenology on the other hand focuses on the study of the human skull. Graphology studies the handwriting of people and finally palmistry is the study of the human palm. Over the years, horoscopes have been popularize and has become a part of people’s daily lives. Horoscope is a form of pseudo psychology as it grouped under Astrology, the study of stars. Horoscope is an astrological chart or diagram that is represented based on where the Sun, Moon, stars and planets are position. Horoscopes are divided into 12 categories like Pieces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius. The objective of the assignment is to find out why people believe in pseudo psychology. We selected to focus on astrology in this research is due to the familiarity of it to most students. A survey was conducted among 50 students at random within the Faculty of Social Science, Arts and Humanities. Each student were asked to answer a set of 15 questions per survey. However, there were a number of students who had to be briefed on what pseudo psychology is before proceeding with the questionnaire. Question Analysing Based on question 1, do you know about pseudo psychology, 72% of the students have answered yes whereas 28% of the students answered no. Majority of the students from FSAH know what is pseudo psychology. Based on question 2, which one of the below have you heard of, 42 students know about astrology while only 4 students know about phrenology. Majority of the students from FSAH know about astrology. Based on question 3, which one of the below are you most interested in, 80% of students answered astrology whereas 2% of student answered phrenology. Majority of the students from FSAH are more interested in astrology compared to phrenology. Based on question 4, where do you usually come across with pseudo psychology, 27 students answered social media while only 6 answered others. Majority of the students of FSAH come across with pseudo psychology when using social media. Based on question 5, on the scale of 1-10, how much do you believe in the content you have read, 38% of the students answered 5 while 2% of the students answered 1, 9 and 10 respectively. Majority of the students from FSAH think that the content they read from the mass media is only rated 5 from the scale 1 to 10 on their believes. Based on question 6, do you mostly read about positive or negative content, we have 84% of students answering positive and 16% of students answering negative. Majority of the students from FSAH read more of the positive content from the media on pseudo psychology. Positive content is when one praises another or give compliments. Examples of positive content that students might come across when reading the horoscope is that they might read about their lucky day or their secret admirer will talk to them. Negative content is when one gives discourage or disappointed content. Examples of negative content that students might come across when reading the horoscope is that they might read about their health is not really good today or reading about having a misunderstanding with friends. Based on question 7, how often do you come across with pseudo psychology, we have 36% of students answering once a month and only 10% of students answering everyday. Majority of the students from FSAH come across pseudo psychology once a month. Based on question 8, do you know the sign that you were born under, we have 88% of students answering yes and only 12% students answering no. Majority of the students from FSAH know the sign that they were born under. Based on question 9, do you agree that the characteristics associated with the sign accurately reflects your personality, we have 58% of students answering partly and 8% which is 4 answering no and another 8% which is 4 answering don’t know. Majority of the students from FSAH agree that the characteristics associated with the sign accurately reflects their personality. Based on question 10, do you read the horoscope columns in the newspapers, we have 86% of students answering yes and 14% of students answering no. Majority of the students from FSAH read the horoscope columns in the newspapers. Based on question 11, if you read your horoscope, which one of the following would you associate with doing so, there are 36 students chose for fun and only 1 student chose others. Majority of the students from FSAH read their horoscope because they think it is fun. Based on question 12, have you ever taken a horoscope quiz online, 60% of students answered yes whereas 40% of students answered no. Majority of the students from FSAH have taken a horoscope quiz online. Based on question 13, have you ever purchased any books or magazines related to horoscope, 60% of students answered no whereas 40% of students answered yes. Majority of the students from FSAH have not purchased any books or magazines related to horoscope. Based on question 14, if you are in a relationship, will you find out the signs of the people you are dating, 66% of the students answered yes while 34% answered no. Majority of the students from FSAH will find out the signs of the people they are dating. Based on question 1, on the scale of 1-10, how much has pseudo psychology made an impact in your life, 28% of the students answered 5 and none answered 9. Majority of the students from FSAH rated 5 on the scale of one to ten on how much has pseudo psychology made an impact in their lives. CONCLUSION Based on the research conducted, we are able to understand that a lot of students from the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities are aware of what pseudo psychology is, especially like astrology. We can also see that they choose to expose themselves to pseudo psychology through the media like the newspaper or when taking a quiz about it online; it is a voluntary action. However, we are able to conclude that a vast majority who are expose to it often tend to focus only on the positive information. This is similar form of confirmation bias, where if someone’s horoscope says that they’ll have horrible luck that day, they forget about it and choose to not believe it. However if the information shows that they’d be having good luck that day, they’d say that horoscopes really works. We can also see that the media plays a role at influencing pseudo psychology. To those who knew what pseudo psychology is, it is due to media exposure on pseudo psychology. Pseudo psychology can be found in a number of media like the newspaper, magazine, Internet, phone applications and more. This helps reinforce the fact that the media does play a role in influencing people. Based on the research, there are more than half that believe and strongly believe in pseudo psychology. It is possible that majority of students from FSAH agrees that pseudo psychology does make an impact in their lives. Hence, with the majority of the ones who heard about pseudo psychology and the higher values on the scale resulting from questions 5 and 15, we can safely deduce that people from FSAH are more inclined to believe the content that they are expose to; therefore making it possible to conclude that they do believe in pseudo psychology even though it is yet to be scientifically proven. Reference Martyn Shuttleworth(Jul 5, 2008). Survey Research Design. Retrieved Nov 22, 2014 from Explorable.com:https://explorable.com/survey-research-design Coon, D. Mitterer, J.O. (2007) Introduction to psychology. (11th ed.) Thompson/Wadsworth Kelly, Why Astrology Doesn’t Work, Psychological Reports, 82, 1998, pp. 527-546. Retrived from:http://www.karenmoulton.com/astrologysite/article3.htm Paul R. T., (1978). Why Astrology is a Pseudoscience.PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Volume one, Page 223-234. Retrived from: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/192639?uid=3738672uid=2134uid=2uid=70uid=4sid=21105285037323 I. W. Kelly, Modern Astrology: A Critique, Psychological Reports, 81, 1997, pp. 1035-1066. Retrived from:http://www.karenmoulton.com/astrologysite/article3.htm

Richard III - Did Richard Kill the Children? :: Richard II Richard III Essays

Did Richard III Kill the Children? Â   We really cannot know for certain. If there was a cover-up to protect the actual murderers, it was done exceedingly well and so thoroughly that we will never be able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt what really happened. In spite of what I see as very persuasive evidence that Richard did not kill the children, there are many very intelligent, highly successful, and unquestionably reputable historical scholars out there who believe that they have evidence that the king did commit the murders and that this evidence is equally as compelling as anything I believe. Â   But since you ask, let me give you my reasons. First, Richard did not have a strong enough need to kill the boys or enough of a reason. He seems to have successfully had them declared bastards legally--based on evidence of bigamy against his elder brother (their late father) Edward IV-- before he (Richard) ascended the throne. This action removed the boys from the line of succession to the throne of England. Killing them might thereby rid Richard of two people who later might try to prove their own right to inherit, but killing them also might alienate him from his own supporters as a murderer of his own family. This logic, however, does not save Richard from the charge of having had someone else--most commonly thought to be Buckingham--assassinate them secretly. I still do not feel this is likely, for reasons I will explain as I go. But Richard's successor, the usurper Henry Tudor, had all sorts of good reasons to kill off any Plantagenet heirs to the throne, the main one being that Henry was out to establish his own family--the Tudors--as the reigning dynasty. Henry celebrated his success in taking over the throne by hiring his own historian to write an account of how this all came about, and we are still relying on this account, even though we know that it is pro-Tudor propaganda. Â   Second, Richard's family is known to have been extremely close in their affections for each other. Richard's older brother, Edward IV, seems to have trusted Richard a great deal; when the younger sibling was a mere teenager, Edward had him commanding armies in the battles over the succession (a.k.a. The Wars of the Roses). When Edward made his will, he left Richard as Regent to protect the two sons--Edward, Prince of Wales and Richard of York--of the dying king and his wife Elizabeth.

Isolation in Brave New World Essay -- Brave New World

Isolation in Brave New World    "If one's different, one's bound to be lonely."   -John "The Savage" In the Brave New World, people who are different from the normal standard are alienated and isolated from society because of their individuality. The society of the Brave New World is structured and ordered – the government attempts to control everything. Alienation in the Brave New World can be categorized into three areas, appearance, intellect, and morals.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bernard Marx was alienated in the Brave New World because of his general appearance. As an Alpha Plus, Bernard was unusually short and ugly. Suggested by Fanny, Bernard's condition resulted from an error when he was still in a bottle, the workers "thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol into his blood surrogate." Bernard did not fit in the structured order of the Brave New World and was therefore shunned by others. The error resulted in Bernard developing outside the barriers of his caste level. His ugliness and short stature led Bernard to become a perpetual outsider, alienated by society. As an outsider, Bernard was cynical of the order and structure of the Brave New World. He eschewed Electric Golf, and other social amusements in favor of loneliness and solidarity activities, such as, thinking. Bernard attempted to find a way "to be happy in some other way," in his own way, not the established way.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition to alienation because of appearance, alienation can result from extreme intellect, or exceptional gifts of talent. Helmholtz Watson, an emotional engineer, was "a little too able" in his work. As Bernard was isolated from a physical defect, Helmholtz was isolated from mental excess. Despite being an "Escalato... ...re different and attempts to either ridicule, exemplify, or ignore them. In the Brave New World, society aims to preserve the homologous nature of living. With strict rules, crowd mentality and community actives the Brave New World attempts to get rid of the individual. Hypnopedia messages such as "When the individual feels, the community reels," and "Everybody belongs to everyone else," the Brave New World attempts to diminish the value of individuality and seeks instead to promote the idea of society first. Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are the few individuals of the Brave New World. They differ from the rest of society, because they recognize their uniqueness and realize that they are apart from society. It is because of their self-realization of their individuality that they are condemned to be ostracized from society and to live outside the Brave New World.