Hedda gabler Essay

Drama has no single definition and does not have a common meaning that can be applied to the wide range of texts, plays, acts, and various others that can be called drama. However, drama is â€Å"by far the most economical means of expression† (Esslin, 1976). The subjects expressed in drama are extensive and diverse and can be declared dramatically or subtly. A common and almost essential subject matter expressed in drama is the representation of social issues. Drama can be manipulated and used as a powerful political weapon; as propaganda. Indeed, during periods such as war, cinema and theatre were used commonly as a form of propaganda in order to gain the attention and support of the public. Perhaps then, drama’s representation of social issues differs from that of propaganda only in the way drama is used. Propaganda’s representation of social issues is often limited because of it being censored, controlled, in the hands of mainly the government. Its purpose is to persuade and convince a targeted audience of a central idea. Nonetheless, it can reflect social issues such as poverty, war, famine, or perhaps equality, democracy, peace. In Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler, Ibsen is able to use this piece of drama as a tool to comment on social values and issues; these issues being about women and their place in a ‘double-standard society’. His message is subtle but strong. While this piece of drama represents a substantial social issue, it could also be used as propaganda to argue Ibsen’s views on women. Subsequently, Hedda Gabler, as a piece of drama representing social issues, differs only from the way propaganda may have represented it in that it is drama and its aim is to express not persuade. It also differs in the way it is used: as drama or as propaganda. The diverse forms of drama are able to express many different themes and issues, including many different social issues. These include marriage, gender and sexual equality, politics, war, crime, racism and discrimination, poverty, religion, and class division. Drama is a universal form of expression and communication that can contribute to social changes by the issues it discusses. The social issues that drama represents can often be controversial and the author, playwright, or poet must try to either convince the audience of the argument they are trying to make or present the audience with a final idea or the issue itself causing them to truly reflect on it. In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the greedy Jew Shylock suffers the hatred and injustice which Jews were treated with. The play is able to represent the treatment of a racial minority and a significant social issue. Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, represents social issues such as the position of women in a Victorian marriage, while in Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession, the social issue of prostitution is represented. Shakespeare wrote through Hamlet, that theatre holds â€Å"the mirror up to nature† however, Martin Esslin writes that it is society, rather, that theatre holds a mirror to. Drama is able to influence society greatly by the social issues it represents. While these issues may sometimes be controversial, the impact of drama is more immediate, direct, and powerful, contributing to great social change. Propaganda is a certain form of message presentation usually aiming to persuade and convince an audience of an issue or idea. Sometimes it deliberately delivers false or deceiving information which supports the interests of those in power or those who are endeavoring to seize power while it may discredit those who abuse their power such as a corrupt government or simply an opposition group. Propaganda was commonly used in times of war or hardship. In this respect, it is able to represent social issues such as war, peace, poverty, or equality. However, propaganda’s representation of social issues is limited because it is a biased piece of information which only shows one side of an often multi-sided issue. One of the principal examples of propaganda was during the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933 to the end of World War Two. The Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda sent out powerful propaganda in order to win the hearts and minds of the masses. This propaganda represented social issues such as discrimination and hatred towards the Jews, strong patriotism, anti-Communism, and national socialism. As this Nazi propaganda was extremely biased, it fails to represent other social issues such as the violence of the Nazi regime and the â€Å"Final Solution† to the Jewish problem- their persecution and slaughter. Meanwhile, Chinese propaganda from the last two to three decades represents social issues such as loyalty to the Communist government while it fails to represent social issues like extreme poverty. The social issues it represents are limited because it is biased. In Soviet Russia, propaganda represented political discipline and economic prosperity, and social issues such as a happy working society and national literacy to strengthen Communism. It does not represent social issues such as the class divisions, religion, and social differences and inequalities. As the aim of propaganda is to persuade, only one side of an argument will be shown. Therefore, propaganda’s representation of social issues will be limited because it depends on the purpose and the creator to decide to what extent social issues may be represented. The way in which drama represents social issues may be different to that of propaganda, but drama can also be used as a form of propaganda. Drama in the form of theatre and cinema was used commonly as a propaganda tool in places like Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in the 1960s. The German plays and movies often had issues of anti-Semitism and the rule of the Aryan race. Propaganda films such as Triumph of the Will were aimed at the population of Germans who were considered Aryans, of the issue of anti-Semitism and the enemy the Jews were, while also reinforcing the purity of the Aryan race. Another way drama has been used as propaganda has been through the ‘pageant’, one of the earliest forms of drama. The pageant is, in simplest terms, â€Å"a play on wheels†. However, in the United States in the 1900s, pageants were used to bring awareness to social issues in the form of propaganda. Silk workers went on strike in 1913 in New Jersey with the pageant exposing the strike and also gaining the attention of the media. Other strikes with similar purposes came to be known as the â€Å"Drama of Democracy†. They began to be used as political propaganda representing social issues such as work and wages, working conditions and hours. When drama is used as propaganda, its representation of social issues is limited in comparison to when it is simply drama. This is because drama and propaganda have different objectives and will represent the same thing differently.

Exploited Latin Women

The European conquest of the New World altered the lives of indigenous women. European women did not arrive to the New World only for years after the initial invasions. Indian women were continuously exploited in the form of labor, catering, and sexual gratification. Elite Indian women were able to gain a somewhat privileged position through their liaisons with the European men. As more and more European women began to arrive in the New World, Indian women were confined to the bottom of the ethnic and class hierarchy. â€Å"A particular concern of the colonists was that their â€Å"purity of blood† be preserved, meaning that no black or Indian people could enter into the family lineage. This in return caused careful controlling of women†s behavior. Under the regulation of patria potestad, women remained under the legal authority of their fathers until marriage, when authority was transferred to their husbands.† During the nineteenth century women†s public life was limited. Women also still remained legally minors. There were some advances in education which helped some women to enter into professions. There were also alterations of civic codes which ultimately abolished the patria potestad laws in many countries. Latin American women entered the 20th century with better education and legal status but with still restricted roles. Women initiated campaigns for equal political and civil rights. But despite some gains they continued to be discriminated, shaped by machismo, and poor women faced the double duty of family and employment. â€Å"According to historical records almost 30 percent of households in the city of Sao Paulo in 1765, were headed by women that were single, married whose husbands were absent, or widows. By 1802, this rose to 44 percent, falling to 39 percent by 1836.† This was due to the need of male labor migration in an economy based primarily on plantation agriculture. Taking the average age of female heads it is noticed that the female heads are an average of 7 years older than male heads. Many of the female heads are widows. Female heads earn less income than their male counter parts and on an average have less education than the males. One of the most notable characteristics of today†s poverty in Latin America is the growing number of women among the poor. â€Å"Today about 20 percent of the poorest households in Latin America are headed by women, but in some cities the percentage rises to almost 38 percent. A review of 22 studies of women-headed households in Latin America reveals that there is a strong correlation between female head-ship and poverty, and that such households are increasing in number.† There are many reasons why we are seeing a rise in the number of households headed by women which are in poverty. Women have less access to land, credit and technologies, therefore women farmers have to work longer hours and they have fewer assets and lower incomes than men farmers. Female headed households are likely to be poorer than male-headed households because they have fewer working members of the family, they have lower average wage earnings, less access to jobs and productive resources. Most Latin American women have less education than men. These are some of the key reasons why we are seeing a increase in poor households headed by women. There are more and more women working as wage laborers. † Fruit companies in Chile rely exclusively on women for harvesting, processing, and packing fruit. In Columbia women cultivate and pack flowers. In general they are paid less than men. In Honduras for example women are paid 70 percent of the male wage for performing the same tasks in tobacco cultivation.† It is clear that the women who do participate in the labor force and have the same education level as men are discriminated from men. Discrimination is clearly an important factor. It is not so much that female -headed households have lower incomes because of them having more children or fewer adults, but clearly the head of the household being a female, earns less. Because there are many women who lack education and skills, women in formal sector employment tend to be clustered in jobs that offer little potential for training or advancement. â€Å"In Brazil, Chile, and Peru over 50 percent of economically active women work in the service sector (1988).† Most of the women who do have better paying jobs in the formal sector are self employed. Usually self-employment doesn†t have much growth potential. The problem with women in the workforce doesn†t stop there. In households where there is a male head of the house, a women†s income is still highly depended on. Female income is often a secondary or tertiary source of income. Many rural families rely upon the work of its female members for most of its food. Traditionally the money earned by men is used only for corn and firewood, forcing the wife to develop her own income in order to provide for other family necessities. With less and less land becoming available for cultivation and unable to produce enough corn for the year, the men are forced to find additional income in order to supplement what they can grow. Female economic development has been hampered by the fact that women have found themselves utilizing traditional skills and market connections first established by their mothers and grandmothers. Rarely has a women ventured into learning a new kind of work. â€Å"Complete reliance on traditional skills has limited the economic growth of women.† Women seem to be moving away from the traditional family businesses. Within the last generation the women are going from traditional women†s work to more modern employment. The traditional model is one in which the daughters help their mothers with their family business and in the process learn enough to initiate the same type of business after they marry. The daughter usually starts helping her mother with her business around the age of nine or ten doing small but helpful jobs. By the time the daughter reaches puberty she is a competent and efficient worker. It is at this time that their daughters are a valuable asset. During the daughters teenage years the business is at its peak production. † When the daughter marries at 19 or 20 the mother daughter arrangement ends as the new bride turns her attention to her new home, and then the mother must rely on the younger daughters† to help with the family business. Then the older daughter becomes an asset to her new mother-in-law. The use of family members is very important for their business. Children replace workers that otherwise may need to be hired to run the business. Family members usually are more efficient and the families probably could not bare the financial expense of hired workers. Women in the work force have problems, but they also have problems within their families as well. The female as we have seen is depended on for financial income. At the same time the female has extended responsibilities and concerns at home. Along with working outside the home the female is generally the care taker in raising the children and doing domestic chores around the home. In general the females control the families domestic budget but this seems to be dropping with the rising standard of living of the town. â€Å"Stable marriages are rare, women believe, due to the inevitable failings of men whom they consider to be hopelessly unreliable.† Women of Latin America believe men do their best to live up to their insensitive macho behavior. Men believe they do not need to explain their intemperate behavior. Many Latin American men grow up to expect servitude and obedience from their wives. â€Å"Women are socialized to fulfill their subordinate, long-suffering roles passively, accepting male responsibility, wickedness, and foolishness as their destiny. Thus, women enter into a marital union expecting the worse from their spouses.† â€Å"Expected to succumb to his domination, she is both defenseless and immobilized.† More and more Latin American women with time are acting to protect their own interests. â€Å"More educated women are demanding more equality in marriage through the use of birth control. While they value the maternal role they are understanding the rising costs of having children and want more from the marital relationship than motherhood. They want their husbands to respect and trust them, and to forego extramarital affairs and other forms of abuse.† Today in Rio de Janeiro there are five police stations that exist solely to handle crimes against women. â€Å"While Brazil has advanced from military dictatorship toward democracy violence against women remains endemic. The first national study of the problem, in 1992, reported an average of 337 assaults on women daily.† Feminists in Brazil in 1985 made a serious gain with the establishment of the women†s police stations. Feminists moved for this because they believe male policemen don†t take wife beating seriously. â€Å"They see it as a domestic argument that has nothing to do with them and is certainly not a crime.† On paper, Brazil†s women have made great gains in recent years. The country†s 1988 constitution bans discrimination against women, requires the state to combat violence against them and mandates 120 days of maternity leave. In reality there still remains traditional theories of women†s behavior and much discrimination.

Case study of demonstrating learning in practice

Case study of demonstrating learning in practice The purpose of this assignment is to provide evidence that will demonstrate my learning in practice. It will contain four reflective accounts that will display my ability to meet the learning outcomes of this module. Amulya (no date) describes reflection as a process of exploring your own actions and experiences, and further states that the purpose of reflection is to develop learning. Johns (2004), expands on this and describes different layers of reflection, for example reflection in action. This type of reflection occurs at the time of experience, pausing to make sense of the situation and proceeding to a desired conclusion. I will be reflecting on experiences, which is defined by Johns (2004 p 50) as â€Å"learning through experiences†, thus changing perceptions of myself, practice and gaining new insights. Benner (2001) supports learning from experience and states that through experiences it enables the nurse to move from, competent to proficient, further stating that th e proficient nurse will be able to hone in on the most important problems. These learning outcomes will be addressed in turn, discussing what I have learned and highlighting areas for future development. Further evidence can be viewed in Section 2, Appendix’s 1 to four and Section 3; these documents are my learning contracts from the placement I completed. Learning outcome 1 is to recognise and explain the inter-related nature of aetiology, pathophysiology and clinical features of named conditions that cause health care problems. The appropriate evidence based management required and the anticipated outcomes. Campbell (2006) states an understanding of physiology and pathophysiology is deemed necessary in the understanding of treatment and the management of patients, thus improving patient care. Dunning (2003) supports this view and says the nurses understanding of pathophysiology and classification of the disease process such as diabetes improves the care they provide. This i s a reflective account, of an episode of care, which I was involved in. My patient had been admitted for ketoacidosis. Diabetes UK (no date) describes ketoacidosis as acidity of the blood caused by excessive amounts of ketones. Johnson (2004) expands on this and states it occurs from the lack of glucose entering the cell which is used as energy. As a result the body then uses its own store of fat as an alternative for energy and this use of energy produces an acid known as ketones. Dunning (2003) describes clinical features as hyperglycaemia, which is a result of decreased use of glucose by the cells and the increased glucose produced by the liver; dehydration and electrolyte loss resulting from polyuria and lastly acidosis is due to the breakdown of fatty acids and production of ketones. They go on to say that symptoms include, increased thirst, this is the bodies attempt to flush out the ketones; fatigue, abdominal pain, kussmauls breathing and tachycardia. As the ketones rise the person may also start to vomit, however vomiting reduces the urine output thus reducing the flushing out of ketones. As a result a coma will develop and this if left untreated can be fatal. Diabetes National Service Framework: Standard (2002) states treatment for ketoasidosis , consists of the administration of insulin, potassium and fluids. Brunner & Suddarths (2004) says fluids are given intravenously to manage dehydration, insulin would be given as a 5 unit bolus every hour, however the amount of insulin to be administered is calculated by the amount of glucose detected in the blood. This is what is referred to as an insulin sliding scale, the set amounts are shown on the insulin recording documentation. Potassium is also given to manage the electrolyte loss.

Iran's Vulnerability Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Iran's Vulnerability Assessment - Essay Example The battle of control is weakening Iran’s government and there is no clue if this destabilization will lessen down. Iran is also facing ethnic threats as an internal destabilizing problem. There is religious dictatorship in the country which is the death of democracy. The so-called theocratic leaders and divine officials have been governing the country for many years. Theocracy is the rule. So, free thought and expression is restricted. The official religion is Islam but Shia’s are given preference which means that Iran grades its citizens as first class or second class. We do not see any non-Persian Iranian in political power. Non-Farsi nationalities cannot use their language or culture within the country, for example in education. There also exists sexual apartheid in Iran which oppresses women’s rights. â€Å"As far as the issue of religion, frankly the issue for Iran is not any religion or ideology, not even Shia religion†, writes Gandhi. Non-Muslims or minorities who do not adhere to the official religion face many threats like kidnappings and killings. Freedom of religion does not prevail which leads to persecution of the non-Muslims. The strictness in the adoption of religion by radical Muslims has created a rift between the citizens and the religion. Since, as previously stated, the religion prefers the Shia’s, this leads to the creation of sects and groups which further weakens the country’s stability. According to Radio Zamaneh, â€Å"a group of 110 activists in Iran has issued a statement condemning the military threats against their country†. Perceived military threats have continued to pose dangers to the country’s integrity for years. The undemocratic leaders have been using military interventions to use war to achieve their objectives of oppressing people’s rights and requirements. Ahmadinjead has been telling the world that Iran is not

Ethics and Law in Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethics and Law in Nursing - Essay Example This paper will focus on the professional, ethical, and legal implications of the case scenario. Patient analysis Evidently, the patient is under severe depression. An untreated clinical depression may generally last from six to 24 months. Clinical psychologists opine that the chance of recurrence of this disorder is high unless the symptoms have not been resolved properly with treatment. Clinical reports reflect that the condition of major depression often co-occurs with a sequence of other psychiatric problems including lifetime anxiety. Richards (2011), indicates that anxiety symptoms will worsen the depressive illness with a slow pace recovery, increased risk of reoccurrence, greater health problems, and increased suicide tendency. It is also seen that individuals with severe depression may develop cardiovascular diseases if they do not obtain effective treatment on time. In the view of experts in clinical psychology, people with severe depression would not be willing to follow m edical recommendations for eliminating the chances of cardiovascular diseases, and this situation may further increase their risk. In short, people suffering from a major depressive disorder must get proper treatment to completely recover from the disorder. Similarly, the individual has been recently diagnosed with leukaemia and it greatly increases his risk as this disease may lead to complications including repeated infections that are potential to reduce the immunity of the patient. Physicians opine that kidney failure and a fall in number of neutrophils will be the common complications of leukaemia. Finally, the case context tells that the patient is currently undergoing an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in a psychiatric care setting. The ECT treatment can have a great influence on the patient’s memory, general cognition, and brain structure and hence he may face troubles with normal thinking and decision making. Legal implications From the patient analysis, it is obviou s that the patient is suffering from a severe depression and leukaemia and he may also get impacted by the side effects of ECT treatment. However, the patient is not in an extreme critical situation and he has the ability to see and hear events around him and respond to it verbally. Hence, the nursing staff cannot legally plan a nasogastric (NG) tube insertion for force-feeding the patient. According to Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC), nurses must treat patients as separate individuals and respect their dignity. While stating the significance of treating individual differences, the NMC specifically says that a nurse has to act as an advocate for the patient and assist them to access relevant health and social care information. The case scenario indicates that the person had not been properly informed about why NG tube insertion became necessary for him. Hence the nurses’ practice is the violation of the code of conduct of the NMC. The NMC guidelines for NG tube insertion cl early say that care providers must obtain consent from the patient if he has the ability to express his views. In the given context, the nursing staff obtained consent from the patient’s relatives even if the patient had the ability to express his interests. Hence, the nurses violated the rule of NMC

Latest technology in battery for electrical vehicles Research Paper

Latest technology in battery for electrical vehicles - Research Paper Example Moreover, these cells need to be frequently recharged. Since the discovery of electric cars, countless breakthroughs in technology have been made over the previous decade. These innovations are aimed at translating into commercial batteries that store energy and are cost effective. Improving the electric drive vehicle batteries, such as plug-in electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles is critical enhancing the environmental, economic, and social sustainability (Czapnik et al., 2015). In essence, changing to light-duty hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles may reduce a country’s dependence on foreign oil by approximately 60% and also reduce emission of greenhouse gas by about 50% (Czapnik et al., 2015). However, these reductions are dependent on the particular mix of technologies employed. With the numerous electric vehicles that are being made available on the market, efforts to make further improvements in electric vehicle batteries would not only make these cars more affordable but also more convenient to consumers. The vehicle technologies office has come up with numerous initiatives that focus on reducing the weight, cost, and volume of the batteries, while concurrently improving the performance of the electric vehicle batteries in terms of durability, energy, and power (Harris, 2012). The ability of these cells to tolerate cruel conditions is also improved. Besides light duty vehicles, manufacturers of some heavy duty vehicles are emulating hybridization of heavy and medium duty vehicles to enhance fuel economy. Realizing the goals of these researchers in these areas as well as commercializing innovative energy storage technologies enables more individuals to buy and use these electric drive vehicles (Harris, 2012). Moreover, this latest technology in electric vehicle batteries helps the energy department to meet the electric vehicle needs. This makes the United States the first nation globally, to produce affordable plug-in

The requirements of IAS 38 in respect of Research and Development Essay

The requirements of IAS 38 in respect of Research and Development expenditure are theoretically dubious and practically unnec - Essay Example The entity intends to complete the intangible asset and thereafter, use and sell it. The entity has the ability to use or sell the asset. The entity can explain the ways of generating future economic benefits by means of these intangible assets. The entity has adequate financial, technical and other utilities and resources in order to use and sell the intangible asset. The entity can demonstrate its ability to determine and measure the expenditure that can be attributed to the intangible asset during its development (IFRS, 2012). However, in the recent past, the implementation of IAS 38 in respect of research and development expenditure has been under some sort of controversy. Leaders and researchers all around the world have regarded the implementation of IAS 38 in this field as being dubious and practically unnecessary. They believe that research and development expenditures should be treated as an expense and should be recorded in the income statement and its amounts should be dis closed in accordance with the accounts. This idea has formed the basis of research for this study and the following section will involve a critical evaluation of the idea explained above and its feasibility. Evaluation Over the last few years, the fact explains that, the relation between accounting and the extent of investment in activities giving rise to intangible assets has been an area of constant debates. One example of such activity includes the expenditures that arise from a research and development. The general concern that people have shown regarding this particular activity and its link with accounting is the fact that some of the expenditures create economic assets and that the extent of mandated disclosure of these expenditures within the financial statement is limited. IAS 38 requires entities to recognize expenditures on intangible assets, only if they fulfil the abovementioned criteria. The compulsory disclosure of these expenditures within the financial statements is limited. However, authors and leaders have severely discouraged this aspect of IAS 38, as they believe that these expenditures should be treated as proper expenses and should be fully disclosed in the accounting reports. This is primarily because, inappropriate accounting measurement practices characterized by the inadequate disclosure of expenditures arising from research and development activities, may lead to the failure of stock markets in fully reflecting the benefits of the R&D activities in the market value of firm (Dedman et al., 2009). The author also stated that stock markets have sometimes underestimated the value of R&D activities and thus, a proper disclosure of information related to R&D expenditures is of utmost importance. On the contrary, Lev (2008) cites Skinner’s summary which contradicts various theories suggesting the negativities associated with accounting for intangibles. The author quotes that, â€Å"there is no evidence that the accounting or disclo sure treatment of intangibles in and of itself results in systematically lower valuations for these firms† (Lev, 2008, p. 209). However, the author simultaneously highlights the importance of proper disclosure of R&D expenditures in the firm’s income statement. The author explains that, firms that specialize in R&D

Critical Thinking Week 5 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Critical Thinking Week 5 - Research Paper Example The downsizing was managed successfully in a way that job cuts were necessary and it was in the employee’s best interest to accept a buy out for their job. Events to handle the situation were what had to be done and managed in the best manner. The management leading up to the downsizing could have been handled better and prevented such a large loss. Challenges still remain in the auto industry in the sense that the auto industry has a lot of making up to do. Since filing bankruptcy, consumers and employees can no longer put their trust in the industry. The Force Field analysis website shows great tools that can be used to change initiative. The tool could be used in a change initiative at work for many different scenarios. The tool would be used during a strategic analysis project. A SWOT analysis could be performed and used as a tool to analyze whether or not there is more or less opposing forces for the change. The SWOT analysis will show strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. These different areas can show where there is the less resistance and the most intensity. This can be very beneficial to changing initiative in the work place and can apply to many

Similarities and differences between japan's keiretsu and south Essay

Similarities and differences between japan's keiretsu and south korea's chaebol - Essay Example These enterprises were established by the Meiji government in the late nineteenth century, as a way to invigorate Japan’s industrialization. Therefore, the main reason for the formation of these business enterprises was to respond to failures in the market. Companies owned by these zaibatsu’s were vertically organized and owned by families and sometimes, holding companies. According to Rosati (1993), trading companies and banks were the most powerful industries among the zaibatsu. This is because they controlled the distribution of goods and operations among the zaibatsu’s. The zaibatsu were abolished at the end of the Second World War by the Allied Occupation Forces, when their shares were allocated to the Japanese public, in order to promote competition and equality. Rosati points out that â€Å"during this period, however, the private sector had little funding capacity, and corporations among themselves unable to raise the capital they needed† (1993, p. 85). It was during this time that the practice of raising funds through loans from banks was embraced. Due to the low prices of shares and accumulation of capital in the private sector, corporations were exposed to acquisitions. This was further compounded by the fact that the stock owning capacity of banks was limited by the 1947 Antimonopoly Act (Rosati, 1993). Consequently, corporations had to invest somewhat equal amounts of capital among themselves to create stability among shareholders although there was no physical exchange of the money. In the 1960s, Japan joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and this led to a relaxation of capital transaction policies by the government. Since the owners of the corporations feared being taken over by foreign investors, they conducted cross ownership that brought back the links that had existed among zaibatsu groups prior to the Second World War and this led to the formation of Keiretsu groups. Keiretsu gro ups were very significant in rejuvenating the economy of Japan after the Second World War. Small industries in Japan were able to develop, despite the fact that Japan’s economy was detached for the world markets and highly monitored. Examples of keiretsus include Mitsui and Mitsubishi. South Korea's Chaebols: Origins and Features Chaebols were established by the Japanese colonial rule in Korea during the 1920s and 1930s. In fact, Korea’s Chaebols were formed in a similar way to the Japanese keiretsus. The main reason for the establishment of Chaebols was so that Japan could benefit from Korea’s economic development. The establishment of chaebols began when Japan set up privately owned businesses in Korea, but strictly controlled business procedures, license applications, and credit. Japanese rule in Korea eventually came to an end, and this gave the Korean’s freedom to adjust the business procedures and processes of the Chaebols. Dubois (2004) points out that â€Å"the effort was coordinated by president Park Chung Hee, the president of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1976† (p. 42). Under the concept of chaebols, conglomerates usually controlled by a family were formed under a sole holding company. Each company held another company’s shares and through this, they were all interlinked. The chaebols however had no financial institutions and this required financial support from the government, since South Korea’s banks are joined together and controlled by the government.

Information system security Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Information system security - Research Paper Example The later sections of the discussion highlighted the security types focusing on the encryption and decryption aspects. The findings from the study revealed that effective information security system is crucial in terms of safeguarding the interests of an organization and ensuring its competitiveness and sustainability in the present competitive market scenario. It was ascertained that while creating ISS, it is crucial to consider the threat aspects so as to ensure the reliable and secure information system. ‘Information Security System (InfoSec)’, in technological terms can be describe as an interconnected security based system which specifically aims towards safeguarding the crucial digitized form of information from being unauthorized accessed by type of unreliable source or individual1. Such type of unreliable access might significantly hamper the stored digitized data in term of ‘disclosure’, ‘modification’, ‘crashing’ or even ‘disrupting’ it2. This concept of ‘Information Security System’ have gained significant amount of preference within the past few years3. This is mostly because of the changing pattern of marketing trend and the competition level; industries are becoming more and more concerned regarding confinement of their organizational information to prevent the competitors from imitating it. Adding to that, due to the digitization and ecommerce related concepts, majority of the organizational based information are transformed into digitized form for effective storage and evaluation, which further increases the chances of online security issue occurrences4. As a result, almost all organizations in the present scenario are establishing own security domains. The prime intention is to preserve the integrity as well as the information privacy factor. All these have gradually contributed in terms of bringing about

Chronicle of a Death Foretold Essay Example for Free

Chronicle of a Death Foretold Essay Animals: Humor, Symbolism, and other Literary Devices in Chronicle of a Death Foretold In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, utilizes the motif of animals as symbols: pigs for ironic humor, rabbits as foreshadowing, and many other animals to aid in description, characterization, and establishment of theme. ?Marquez uses pigs as motifs the novel. He makes a big deal out of the knives that Pablo and Pedro use while describing the murder. â€Å"The Vicario twins went to the bin in the pigsty where they kept their sacrificial tools and picked out the two best knives: one for quartering, ten inches long and two and a half inches wide, and the other for trimming, seven inches long and one and a half inches wide. They wrapped them in a rag and went to sharpen them at the meat market. † Marquez then goes into great detail about how they are pig knives used for killing pigs. This adds insult to injury for Santiago, being an Arab, thus being part of is a culture that considers pigs to be filthy. This is an example of the author’s ironic style of humor. ?Marquez provides an additional bit of ironic humor while Nasar is being slaughtered during the murder scene. â€Å"Trying to finish it once and for all, Pedro Vicario sought his heart, but he looked for it almost in the armpit, where pigs have it. † This further develops the cruel, ironic humor established by killing Nasar with pig knives, and is now being killed like a pig as well. Another use of pigs in the novel occurs when the Vicarios insist on having the wedding at their home, and in doing so are forced to have the ceremony in the pigpen. â€Å"‘[The] daughters would be married in the pigpen or they wouldn’t be married at all’†¦ The twins took the pigs off elsewhere and sanitized the pigsty with quicklime. † The Arab culture considers pigs to be filthy creatures, so Marquez continues to play on this belief by using the pigsty as a metaphor for the impurity of the marriage. Additionally, the parents rely upon the brothers to clean up both before the marriage, and after it’s destroyed by their sister’s untraditional actions, adding to the metaphor. Marquez also utilizes a rabbit similarly to the pig. Santiago walks into the kitchen for breakfast where Victoria Guzman, â€Å"had been quartering three rabbits for lunch. † â€Å"[Victoria Guzman] couldn’t avoid a wave of fright as she remembered Santiago Nasar’s horror when she pulled out the insides of a rabbit by the roots and threw the steaming guts to the dogs. † In this scene not only is Marquez is foreshadowing the killing of Nasar, but he’s also using irony to emphasize details of his violent and cruel demise. Marquez then adds to additional irony by showing Nasar’s opposition to this treatment of living or dead things when Guzman wonders how â€Å"a man accustomed to killing defenseless animals could suddenly express such horror†¦ She went on feeding the dogs with the insides of the other rabbits, just to embitter Santiago Nasar’s breakfast. † The emotions expressed by Nasar in this scene add to his and Victoria Guzman’s characterization: Nasar’s opposition to violence, and Guzman’s hidden despise for Nasar. Dogs are also a motif used by Marquez in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. One of the first scenes that Marquez utilizes the dogs in is the previously mentioned scene with Victoria Guzman feeding the guts of the rabbits to the dogs. But before she does this, Nasar tells her with regards to her actions, â€Å" ‘Don’t be a savage†¦ Make believe it was a human being. ’† This scene foreshadows Nasar’s killing, but then Marquez uses the dogs in a similar way on page 73, after the actual killing has occurred: â€Å"The dogs, aroused by the smell of death, increased the uneasiness. They hadn’t stopped howling since I [the narrator] went into the house, when Santiago Nasar was still in his death throes in the kitchen and I found Divina Flor weeping in great howls and holding them off with a stick. ‘Help me,’ she shouted to me. ‘What they want is to eat his guts. ’† The parallels between the two scenes add to the ironic humor Marquez creates. The dogs are often also used as a motif for the people in the town, especially regarding to their gossip and the way word spreads. As the Vicario brothers are leaving their house to sharpen their knives in preparation for killing Nasar, â€Å"they left by way of the pigpen gate, with their knives unwrapped, trailed by the uproar of the dogs in the yards. † It’s as if the dogs are people gossiping and spreading the word that Nasar is to be killed. This motif continues on page 67, where â€Å"The dogs barked at [Santiago Nasar] as usual when they heard him come in, but he calmed them down in the half light with the tinkling of his keys. † In this instance it’s as if people have the intent of warning Nasar, but nobody seems to be able to, and the word is continuing to spread to everyone but him. The dogs also represent the population when they are â€Å"aroused by the smell of death. † The people throughout the story get excited with the idea of a murder, and while many are opposed to the actual act of killing Nasar, they still find excitement in the event and act in accordance with their feelings: they spread the word like wildfire, nobody takes time to warn Nasar until it is too late, and then they gather to watch the act. They treat the entire thing like some exciting, thrilling event, not like a tragic and cruel act, as one would expect. They act like dogs with their animalistic group reactions to the events that take place. Marquez sums up these animalistic reactions on the last page of the book, as Nasar is walking through the neighbors’ house carrying his entrails. Poncho Lanao, the neighbor, recalls â€Å"‘the terrible smell of shit. ’† This recollection carries two related meanings. The first being the entire event ‘smelled bad’. It showed a terrible side of human behavior and leaves bad impressions on people who hear of it. This relates to the second, which comes back to people acting like animals. Animals are often described as smelling bad, or ‘like shit’, and from the way Nasar was killed to the way the people in the story acted, this entire event was extremely animalistic. Birds, in particular falcons, are also a motif in the story. In the dedication of Chronicle of a Death Foretold there is a quote from Gil Vicente, â€Å"The pursuit of love is like falconry. † This could mean that like in falconry, where the falcon learns to accept its role under its master, a woman must learn to accept its role as wife and lover under her husband. This belief, however, is one of tradition, and this novel is constantly bringing into question whether or not tradition is good or bad, right or wrong. This quote could also mean that it is up to somebody to go out and find a suitable lover, one will not just show up, just as a falconer must go out and seek a falcon. Another use of the falcon is on page 65, where the narrator, a friend of Nasar’s, warns him he should not sleep with Maria Alejandro Cervantes, someone who slept with many men his age. He tells Nasar, â€Å" ‘A falcon who chases a warlike crane can only hope for a life of pain. ’† This is again relating the falcon to love. This time, however, the falcon is the one doing the pursuing. Santiago’s friend is warning him that should he choose to be with this woman who sleeps with many men, he can expect to be hurt as a result. Similarly to the falcon, Marquez uses a hawk to characterize Nasar. When Nasar grabs Divina Flor in the front room, Marquez describes his hand as â€Å"the butcher hawk hand. † This goes back to the falcon motif with love. The description of Nasar as a hawk again is used on page 90: â€Å"He was a sparrow hawk. He went about alone, just like his father, nipping the bud of any wayward virgin who began showing up in those woods. † This similar to the last, compares Nasar to a hawk, a predatory animal that survives by preying on helpless animals. Nasar is being described as a man who goes from virgin to virgin, taking advantage of them, but never actually engaging in extended relationships with any of them. Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses animals as motifs frequently throughout Chronicle of a Death Foretold to aid in his establishment of theme, characterization, emphasis of events, foreshadowing, and as means of humor. He utilizes a variety of animals, in particular the pig, rabbit, and birds to carry out this variety of literary functions.

E-Book vs Books Essay Example for Free

E-Book vs Books Essay Nowadays, the world of books has greatly developed; that is why reading a book is easier than in the past. Now, heavy books are not a problem to carry and read them because e-books are virtual books. The way books are read has evolved dramatically. Thanks to e-books, there is another option to read a book. As a result, there are no more invalid excuses for not reading. Both e-books and books have several similarities and differences, which has created new reading options. To begin with, people can read either printed books electronic books, which makes them similar in some aspects. Printed books contain the same information as e-books do; in other words, what people read from e-books can be also read from conventional books. As readers can easily buy a printed book in a bookstore, they can buy an electronic book on the Internet. Also, printed books are sold on the Internet; however, people have to pay a shipping fee to get the book on their hands. Throughout history, printed books have played an important role in society, for they have been the first way of learning. Similarly, the popularity of e-books has increased tremendously and they have become significant in the past few years. Online books have become an important approach to educate children. Wherefore e-books and regular books are essentially important for readers, they have developed in order to meet the needs of a modern society. On the other hand, online books and printed books are very different for some reasons. To read an e-book people need to have an electronic device; in contrast, to read a regular book people just need to have the printed sheets. Unlike readers of books made of paper, e-readers need electrical energy to read an e-book. Another particular difference is that e-books can be shared having the advantage of keeping them on one’s electronic device. However, if people lend physical books, they become unavailable; thus people cannot resort to them as they please. In contrast to printed books, which need more space to carry and keep them, virtual books are easily portable. For example, people can carry a lot of e-books in an ipad, kindle, or another special electronic device and read them wherever they are. Another difference between these kinds of books is that online books help to preserve the environment because they do not use paper as conventional books do. To conclude, printed books or e-books play an important role in society since they facilitate the learning process. Moreover, regular books or online books could teach people better than teachers do. Virtual books have developed the books in a modern way; consequently, they have become extremely useful. Even though there are some similarities and differences between printed books and electronic books, both of them can be very beneficial for people.

Eric Schmidt Leadership Qualities Analysis

Eric Schmidt Leadership Qualities Analysis 1. Introduction: In this assignment, I am going to analyze the leadership style of Eric Emerson Schmidt which one was the CEO of the famous internet company Google comprehensively. Over the period of 2001 to 2011, Eric Schmidt leaded the Google company to become one of the most variable companies and the most popular companies in the world. The initial Google is just a searching engine website company, Eric Schmidt likes a magician made a miracle in this company that build up as a industry pioneer. The business philosophy of Eric Schmidt: As Harold Koontz said: â€Å"Management is an art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can perform and individuals and can cp-operate towards attainment of group goals. † The full title of CEO is chief executive officer, a important responsibility of CEO is to management the whole company in a positive direction. Every large companies have a evident style as same as their CEO, the CEO runs the company in their own personal style. Eric Schmidt used socio-human approach in his organizational process. And this style was not only used in Google company, but also he used in his first company-SUN which is a same internet technological company as Google and it is famous of JAVA. Because Eric thinks both are same type company, he can use similar style to lead the company. The socio-human approach is a opposite way to technical rational approaches, it is more flexible and humanized to treat employees. the Google is not a traditional company, it depends on its power of innovation. In order to let the employee have better innovative thinking, Eric used this solution to make more advantages for the company. In detail, Eric use a mode which is small team managemen t mode. He made each team have different duty in every areas. That mode is more effective than the old school management mode in real business practice. This approach has following favors :Frist one is that it allows the company to have bigger possible to attempt, let the company has newborn things as much as possible, so the change of success will be lager. There are many famous companies dying because lock of innovation such as Yahoo and IBM. Secondly, this approaches can make employees build up their sense of responsibility as the masters of this company, let them not feel working in a big company. And Eric give the decision-making power to the team, in the process of development, the team mates can have their right to change and improve the product, that also is a benefit thing for their customer. As the famous management education master Peter Ferdinand Drucker said â€Å"The man who focuses on contribution and who takes responsibility for results no matter how junior is in th e most literal sense of the phrase, ‘top management’†. This is also Eric’s goal for using this mode. Thirdly, to reduce the cost of internal coordination, they believe that fast is better than slow in the Google company. The small team management mode can develop more products in shorter time because the team can use their decision-making power to make quick decision, to the failure of adjustment will be repaired easily and quickly. Comparing with other IT companies like Microsoft. When the Microsoft company developed the new windows system, there was a large group members which is several hundreds people to join this subject, it lead to take over years and progress slowly. This is a major point of the Google company can exceed the Microsoft company. The small working team can improve effectively and it is better than the large working group in this specific industry. A good idea will not become effective unless the action commitments have been built into t he decision from the begining. This kind of organization structure is organismic and duo to the Google is a information technology company, duo to that situation, Eric thinks it can help company have better advantage in IT industry environment. The faster update is Google’s powerful weapon to win their competition. The leadership of Eric Schmidt: The definition of leadership is ‘Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement ‘(Stogdill. 1950). The effect of leadership is that make strong motivated to the staffs, let staffs work in unity and achieve goals. According to trait theories of leadership, the leadership is relate to leader’s personality, In Stogdill’s five traits Model: Intelligence, Dominance, Self-confidence, High level of energy, and Task-relevant knowledge. Based on Eric Schmidt’s career , cover news and public speech, Eric at least has intelligence, dominance, and Task-relevant knowledge, these three models can find obvious evidences from his business career. It also can mean Eric has agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Firstly, it is clear to see his self-confidence because he believe his employees, he can give the right of decision-making to every teams. Secondly, his openness to experience is also easy to find, during his CEO career in Google these ten years, the Google company developed many newborn product not only in their search function such as Chrome, Android, and so on. Third one is his conscientiousness, as a survey about 313 private company choosing their CEO, there are 215 successes, in these 215 CEO, Almost of them have conscientiousness. That means how conscientiousness important to a successful CEO. Eric Schmidt has been a leader in three big IT company, all of them become famous and successful in their profession area especially these companies have a higher maker value. Eric’s conscientiousness is proved by he having a strong sense of organization, and word hard. He organises the google engineering team in 70:20:10, it means seventy percent group focus on their product in th e area of search function, twenty percent team work on product in other development area like Android, then the least ten percent team works in newborn things like pilotless automobile. Until now the Google still use this structure when they develop product. In the other hand, there has another theory about leadership:Behavioral of theories of leadership. There are two fundamental types of leader behaviours : ‘Initiating structure’ and ‘consideration’. Initiating structure refers to behaviour which focuses on the achievement of objectives and includes clear supervision and role clarification, planning of work and a results orientation. Consideration includes behaviours which encourage collaboration and focus on supportive network, group welfare and the maintenance of job satisfaction. (Brooks, 2009) Eric Schmidt is a consideration structure in this theory. There are some points to prove that. Primarily, Eric give a wonderful and comfortable working environment, this working environment has been first most popular working environment in the world for four years at American Fortune magazine. This is a evident welfare for employees. Secondly, Eric insists to give the power of decision-making to each work team, he is highly trusted to his professional employees, at mean time, the employee get a stronger sense of encourage than a good working environment. Eric get a vehement support from his employees during company developing time virtually. Above two theories of leadership can not explain the leadership style of Eric Schmidt well, in order to give more thoughtful explanation. We appoint the third theory-Situational theories. One of situational theories is Fiedler contingency theory. This model asks the estimate of both the leader’s style and three broad characteristics of the situation:leader-group member relations, task structure, and position power. Primarily, In leader-member relations of Eric and his employees, it easy to prove they are real great, as the organization structure which Eric made, he and his employees have highly trusted with each other. That also can relet to situational leadership theory, his subordinates have enough ability to achieve his requirements, and he do not need to give too much guide to them. Secondly, the task structure is very clear in Google until now, Eric insists his 70:20:10 structure for the engineering development group. Thirdly, the position power of Eric is not very stong, because he give a part power of decision-making to every engineering development teams. Conclusion: All in all, Eric Schmidt is a intelligent, professional, and accommodating leader. As we know that the Google culture is freedom and innovation since two originator of Google Sergey Brin and Larry Page starting the Google company until Eric been invited to be a CEO of this company, this culture never change. Eric’s experience is also perfect for the Google, first advantage is that he has a B. S. degree in electrical engineering at Princeton University and a phd degree in EECS at the university of California, Berkeley. These professional knowledge makes big different with normal CEO for the Google company. Second one is his ideal working experiences, before he came to the Google, the companies that he worked are all IT companies. Effectiveness is a habit, that is a complex of practices. The most significant thing is that he can run these companies very well and make outstanding achievement. Eric Schmidt makes the two originator believe he is the prefect role for The Google CEO. No matter using what theories to analyse the leadership of Eric Schmidt, he has proved that he is a suitable leader for this company during his career of Google CEO. Comparing with the famous Steve Jobs, Eric is not charming and distinctive as Jobs, but his leadership style is more appropriate for the Google Company. References: Koontz H. The management theory jungle[J]. Academy of Management Journal, 1961, 4(3): 174-188. Drucker P F. People and performance: The best of Peter Drucker on management[M]. Routledge, 1995. Stogdill R M. Leadership, membership and organization[J]. Psychological bulletin, 1950, 47(1): 1. lan Brooks (2009). organisational behaviour. 4th ed. Essex: Person Education Limited. p167.

Scientific Advance: Friend or Foe? :: Science Technology Essays

Scientific Advance: Friend or Foe? Scientists and non-scientists see the advances of technology in different ways. Scientists, like J. Michael Bishop, look at the possibilities technology offers while non-scientists, like Jeremy Rifkin and Mary Shelley, look at the potential chaos that could be caused by it. J. Michael Bishop is a professor of microbiology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also winner of the Nobel Prize. He wrote, "Enemies of Promise" because he wanted to dispel the misconceptions that many people have about science, since he feels that these could have serious consequences for all Americans. Jeremy Rifkin is a well-known social activist who organized the 1968 March on the Pentagon and brought public attention to alleged U.S. war crimes in Vietnam. He is president of the nonprofit Foundation on Economic Trends. He is both criticized and admired for his condemnation on Biotechnology. Mary Shelley was the daughter of 2 influential people and became an influential writer herself in the early 1800s. Mary Shelley created a monstrous, powerful myth, which she used to warn ambitious scientists of the potential dangers contained in their creations. Her creation, Frankenstein, will forever be known as the monster that was created by Victor Frankenstein. The monster, a creature without a name of its own, that took the identity of its maker. Bishop argues that "Resistance to science is born out of fear." He blames ignorance of breeding this fear, and he blames ignorance of being, "our deepest malady" (241). Rifkin and Shelley on the other hand, accuse science of having the potential to evolve into something grotesque, monstrous and frightening. Bishop would say that this fear is born of ignorance while Rifkin and Shelley would argue it to stem from the potentiality of catastrophe, from the inability of man to predict the adaptability of nature, from the inability of man to anticipate the benefits that are likely to result from such experiments, and from the danger of acquiring knowledge and becoming greater than "his" (man's) nature will allow (321). J Michael Bishop in "Enemies of Promise" argues that we live in an age of scientific triumph in which science is mistrusted and under attack. He claims that some of the opposition to science comes from familiar sources. Some of these stem from religious fanatics who constantly push for creationism education in the public arena. These groups have a theological foundation to their opposition to the advances of science.

The Life and Work of Edgar Allan Poe Essay -- essays research papers

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to parents who were traveling actors. His father David Poe Jr. died probably in 1810. Elizabeth Hopkins Poe died in 1811, leaving three children. Edgar was taken into the home of a merchant from Richmond named John Allan. The remaining children were cared for by others. Poe's brother William died young and sister Rosalie later became insane. At the age of five Poe could recite passages of English poetry. Later one of his teachers in Richmond said: "While the other boys wrote mere mechanical verses, Poe wrote genuine poetry; the boy was a born poet." Poe was brought up partly in England (1815-20), where he attended Manor School at Stoke Newington. Later it became the setting for his story 'William Wilson'. Since Poe was never legally adopted, he took Allan's name for his middle name. Poe attended the University of Virginia (1826-27), but was expelled for not paying his gambling debts. His expulsion led to a quarrel with All an, who refused to pay the debts. Allan later disowned him. In 1826 Poe became engaged to Elmira Royster, but her parents broke off the engagement. During his stay at the university, Poe wrote some stories, but not much is known of his beginning works. In 1827 Poe joined the U.S. Army as a common soldier under an assumed name, Edgar A. Perry. He was sent to Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, which provided settings for his tales 'The Gold Bug' (1843) and 'The Balloon Hoax' (1844). Tamerlane and O... The Life and Work of Edgar Allan Poe Essay -- essays research papers Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to parents who were traveling actors. His father David Poe Jr. died probably in 1810. Elizabeth Hopkins Poe died in 1811, leaving three children. Edgar was taken into the home of a merchant from Richmond named John Allan. The remaining children were cared for by others. Poe's brother William died young and sister Rosalie later became insane. At the age of five Poe could recite passages of English poetry. Later one of his teachers in Richmond said: "While the other boys wrote mere mechanical verses, Poe wrote genuine poetry; the boy was a born poet." Poe was brought up partly in England (1815-20), where he attended Manor School at Stoke Newington. Later it became the setting for his story 'William Wilson'. Since Poe was never legally adopted, he took Allan's name for his middle name. Poe attended the University of Virginia (1826-27), but was expelled for not paying his gambling debts. His expulsion led to a quarrel with All an, who refused to pay the debts. Allan later disowned him. In 1826 Poe became engaged to Elmira Royster, but her parents broke off the engagement. During his stay at the university, Poe wrote some stories, but not much is known of his beginning works. In 1827 Poe joined the U.S. Army as a common soldier under an assumed name, Edgar A. Perry. He was sent to Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, which provided settings for his tales 'The Gold Bug' (1843) and 'The Balloon Hoax' (1844). Tamerlane and O...

Analysis of Patches: Quilt and Community in Alice Walkers Everyday Use

Analysis of Patches: Quilt and Community in Alice Walker's Everyday Use In a critique titled â€Å"Patches: Quilt and Community in Alice Walker’s ‘Everyday Use’† (Short Story Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers, 1990), the authors reveal that tradition and the explanation of holiness were key elements throughout the story. The writers began the analysis by discussing the significance of a quilt; a quilt is a complete piece of artwork that is essentially made up of fragments. These patchwork quilts, when effectively put together, exposed a way of life. The Africans traditional way of life was one of sacredness and usefulness. By using scraps from old clothes they were able to create a masterpiece that could be passed down from one generation to the next. The title â€Å"Everyday Use† implies that quilts, while they may be priceless heirlooms, are also made to function. The Johnson’s are a typical African family that has settled in America. The mother, and narrator of the story, is a working woman who often imagines herself as someone else, someone who her children would not be ashamed to be seen with. While awaiting the arrival of Dee, her eldest daughter and a â€Å"goddess† (415) in the eyes of her family, she dreams of being on a TV program where a host reunites long lost family members. As she greets her daughter who has been away at college, she is not only one hundred pounds thinner but is beautiful in the eyes of her children. Howeve...

Reality TV Is Fake Essay

Imagine this. A producer came to you and said: â€Å"Hi, I would love for you to be in a reality TV program.† So you asked what it means to be in a reality TV program. He’d answer with â€Å"all you need to do is act normally. Just do what you normally would do, but the exception that a camera crew will be following you around.† You agreed, and the camera men, producer, director and writer started following you around. And when they’re filming you and your friends having dinner together, they suddenly stopped and asked you to start talking about a certain boy in your school. You agreed, and started talking about some boy you know. And then the director and writer asked you to pretend you like the guy and squeal and spaz about him. But the thing is, you don’t like this guy. And you don’t want to squeal and spaz about him. You both are only friends but the director asked you to pretend that you like him. So is that what reality TV is? Isn’t it about real life people doing real life stuff in a real life situation? But why are the producers and directors and writers asking you to do stuff that you don’t normally do? Why are they making something up to make it sound more interesting? Reality television is a television program genre that presents unscripted situations, documents actual events and usually features unknown instead of professional actors. What they do is the reality TV stars do whatever that they’re doing, just like what we normally do. But with the exception that there are cameras filming everything. Such shows usually have participants that double as the show’s narrator. They are interviewed about the situation and the participants talk about how they feel about it and what they think about the situation. Another type of reality TV shows are competition based reality shows. They often have additional common elements such as participant being eliminated per episode, with a panel of judges, and the concept of immunity from elimination. The participants or challengers are put into tests and missions with the possibility of being eliminated or punished. And a prize is always on the line. Is the reality TV shows really real? Are these reality programs fabricated and staged or are they genuine? If they are fabricated, how much then are they fake and how much are they real? Body All these reality programs are very successful not only in U.S but also all over the world. They are well known to people of every age, race, education, and language. They show how relatable these stars are to the viewers and how alike these stars are to the viewers. But are they real? Are these reality shows real? And if it’s not, how fake are these shows? Pawn Stars chronicles the daily activities at a high end pawn shop, where staffs of the store interacts with customers who bring in a variety of artefacts to sell or pawn and who are shown haggling over the price and discussing its historical background, with narration provided by the Harrisons. There are proofs in which these reality TV are not real. For example in Pawn Stars, there was an episode where a man named Rod who brought in his 1960 Les Paul Custom guitar. And he claimed that he had gotten the guitar during his tour with the bands Toto and Triumph. But with further investigations, it was later found out that the whole thing was completely staged. The Les Paul Custom guitar was actually from a local Las Vegas vintage guitar store, Cowtown Guitars. The â€Å"customer† Rod, was actually an employee of that store. And the â€Å"expert† that was also in the show was also another employee/manager (centraltendencies.com). Another episode named Time Machines in season 1; the customer simply named Jim is actually Jim Waters, a local Las Vegas comedian and actor. He’s one of the founders of a Las Vegas group called Film and Television artists of Las Vegas. What was seen as a customer with an antique was actually an actor hired to stage an episode. As for the competition-based reality programs, one of the most famous one is American Idol. It is a singing competition and after the preliminary rounds, the live shows start. And each week, a contestant will be eliminated through the votes of the public. Even with judges to give reviews of the participant’s performance that night, it is the public who will decide who would leave and be eliminated. There are testimonies from an American Idol participant who have came out to testify how it really is when auditioning for the show. How all that we see on TV is not what it really is like. She’s known as Maria Saint, and in her writings are very explicit accounts of what she encountered during her audition process. At one point, all the contestants were asked to learn a new song: Billionaire by Bruno Mars and Travis McCoy, to test their ability to learn a new song fast. And what is shown on TV is a bunch of people singing the same song in front of the judges. But if you look carefully at the clip, you’ll notice that there was not a frame that shows the contestants and the judges in the same room. In actual fact, they are recorded at different times. According to Maria Saint, it was actually taped â€Å"to make that ridiculous compilation of people singing the same song privately, some good, and some bad (Saint).† And at the final round before really going in to meet the judges, she accounted an event whereby an â€Å"adorable but strange little blonde haired boy, dressed kind of how you’d expect to see Forrest Gump, nice white dress shirt, slacks, and loafers, passionately waving an American Flag for the cameras† screeching the song â€Å"Smile.† And at that particular round, if a contestant is cut, and they act crazy, they will be put back in so that they can air the reaction on the show. And when â€Å"flagboy† were cut, he started crying hysterically. Cameras immediately swarmed over him, and were brought back into the audition room. A few minutes later, he came out proudly with his large sticker than indicates that he passed that round (Saint). Amazing Race is another competition based reality TV show that is very famous around the globe. It is a game show in which teams of two people, race around the world with other teams. Each team are given missions and are needed to complete these missions in order to be able to go to ‘pit stops’ where the last team to arrive would either be eliminated or be faced with disadvantages in the next round. Popular race show, Amazing Race is also not as it seems. What is shown on television has also been controlled by the producers and directors. The clothes that they wear, the expressions that they have on their faces and every scene has been altered so it would be shown on TV the right way and with the right angle. The world of entertainment is making changes to spice up their programs. It was then the reality TV shows were introduced. And the audiences loved it. From a reality show of singing, acting, modelling, sports, magic, and even to parenting, audiences from all walks of life enjoys it. Closing In conclusion, as popular as these reality programs are, many of them are staged and controlled behind the scenes. What should not have scripts are actually scripted. And what should be natural and real are actually fake and created by directors and producers. And with so many demands in this genre, there would be more reality TV shows and they would still not be ‘real.’

Mercury Footwear Questions Essay

1. Is Mercury an appropriate target for AGI? Why or why not? Yes, we do think so. In the case, we could find some characteristics of footwear industry: (1) It is a mature, highly competitive industry marked by low growth, but stable profit margin. (2) Performance of individual firms could be quite volatile for they need to anticipate and exploit fashion trend. (3) Except some global footwear brands, athletic and casual shoes market is still fragmented, which means each company could has its own market because of its characteristic. (4) In this market, it is important for the brand image, specialized engineering for performance and price. (5) Life cycle is short. (6) Inventory management and production lead times are critical for the success. (7) Main sale channels are department stores, independent specialty retailers, sporting goods stores, boutiques and wholesalers. (8) Most of the firms outsource the manufactures in China. Below are some characteristics for Mercury and AGI we need to focus on during the analysis: AGI Mercury Target Customer Target customers are urban and suburban family members aged 25 to 45. Youth market, mainly 15 to 25. History Among the first companies to offer fashionable walking, hiking and boating footwear. Its mother company decided to extend the brand by creating complementary line of apparel. Because of the poor performance, it was decided to sold. Style Logo is marked with prosperous, active and fashion-conscious lifestyle. Its main customers are not interest in its apparel. Financial performance Among the most profitable firms. Had poor performance after acquisition by WCF. Revenue contribution 42% of revenue from athletic shoes and balance from casual footwear. Revenue and operating income were 470.3 million and 60.4 million in 2006. Revenue and EBITDA were 431.1 million and 51.8 million.. Products Athletic shoes developed from high-performance footwear to athletic fashion wear. Four main segments: men’s and women’s athletic and casual footwear. Casual shoes focus on mainstream market. In order to emphasizing individual products, it began to monitor styles and images from global culture Focus on smaller portfolio of classic products with longer lifecycles and could maintain simple production and supply chains. Sales channels Mainly sold in department stores, specialty retailers, wholesalers and independent distributors. Small percentage is sold through website. Department stores, specialty stores, catalogs, discount retailers and internet. Inventory management Good at inventory management in the industry. Inventory management performance is worse than the average level. Outsource Outsource manufacture in China. Outsource main materials in foreign suppliers. Advantages &Disadvantages It takes small size as its competitive disadvantages. And it faced with some problems in the consolidation of manufacturers. Price cuts and promotion in apparel line hurts operating margins but helped to the growth in sales. Sales growth is lower than the average because of there is little discount in  price. We could learn that managers of AGI want to enlarge the scale of its company and gain larger market share because of the stable profit margin. And since the revenue is almost the same, it is a good choice to merge with Mercury, which means that revenue would be doubled after acquisition. And these two companies have some similar factors, such as : (1) They could use the same sale channels after acquisition, and internet channel could be enlarged. (2) They could combine manufacturers to get a powerful bargain in suppliers. (3) The product segments are almost the same, which means that there should be little work to do after acquisition in product adjustment. (4) Thanks to the profitable ability of AGI, it is much easier to make a better financial performance of Mercury. (5) It is good for them to increase the performance of inventory management if they merge together. (6) Although their target customers are different, especially in ages, which means that style and brand are different in the very beginning, this factor could turn into an advantage for the new company could have a fully segment of customers with a wider age ranges. Therefore, take into above factors into account; we think that Mercury should be an appropriate target for AGI. 2. Review the projections formulated by Liedtke. Are they appropriate? How would you recommend modifying them? In the case, we could find that Liedtke used historical averages to assume the overhead-to-revenue ratio. However, historical data is usually useless for future. Some studies found there is little evidence that firms grew fast continued to grow fast in the next period. And sometimes there are even negative correlations between growth rates in the two periods. Besides, smaller firms tend to be more volatile than others, which we could find the same characteristics in these two firms we are talking about. And just as we mentioned in the question 1, revenue may be doubled after  acquisition, it just fits the theory that it is difficult to maintain historical growth rates as firms double or triple in size. Therefore, based on the above analysis, we think that it is not reasonable to use historical data for future projections. And sometimes, analyst should be better than the historical growth. Considering that there are five main channels for analyst forecasts: firm-specific information, macroeconomic information, information revealed by competitors on future prospects, private information about the firm and public information other than earnings, we think Liedtke could find more information from above channles to get more accurate assumption. And since performance of Mercury is poorer than the average of the industry, it is better to use industry average level for the benchmarking of Mercury when predicting, instead of a discount rate of AGI for example. And from the comparison of 2007 to 2006, we can find Liedtke’s forecast need great input from AGI to support the development of Mercury, whether he has taken this into consideration? And he estimate debt/equity ratio remains the same as AGI, that is also unreasonable, for it is not possible to change that in short period. 3. Estimate the value of Mercury using a discounted cash flow approach and Liedtke’s base case projections. ï ¼Ë†1ï ¼â€°first of all, to calculate the cash flows from 2007 to 2011, Net Income – (Capital Expenditures – Depreciation) – Changes in non-cash Working Capital = Free Cash flow to Firm We can get the result. Free Cash flow -17,192 26,867 21,740 25,158 29,319 (2) then we need to calculate the terminal value. a. Cost of Capital For cost of capital, we know the debt ratio is 20%, and cost of debt is 6%, we need to find the cost of equity. We assume the cost of equity equal return on equity, we can calculate the historical return on equity from 2007- 2011 is as below, Return on equity 12.8% 14.1% 14.5% 14.8% 14.9% We take 14% as reference. Based on the formula: Cost of Capital =debt ratio *cost of debt +equity ratio * cost of equity, We can get the cost of Capital in 2012, 12.7% b. growth rate in future We can find during the period from 2007- 2011, the growth rate of net income is not stable, so we assume from 2012, Mercury enter into stable and slow development stage. And it is necessary to calculate the cash flow in 2012. From 2007- 2011, the growth rate ranged from 4.74%- 16.3%, we assume the growth in future will be not that high. We can find during the period from 2008- 2011, the reinvestment rate 15.57%- 37.1%, we just take a middle one 24.37%, by multi reinvestment rate and cost of capital (assume cost of capital =return on capital), to reach growth rate afterwards= 3.09%. c. based on the growth rate is 3.09%, we can get EBIT in 2012 is 39,930.. We have assumed ROC=WACC Terminal Value=EBIT n+1*(1-t)/cost of Capital, we can get Terminal Value in 2011 is 315,237. (3)Present value of cash flows: We have get the cash flows of 2007-2011 and terminal value in 2011, and the cost of capital is 12.7%, we can get the respective present value of them and reach the total present value 226,514, which is the estimate Firm value of Mercury. (4) Alternative method to calculate cost of capital, then value of Mercury: a. beta We have learnt from Exhibit 3 of peer companies information in this business, we can calculate cost of capital in alternative ways. Unlevered beta for business= Beta comparable firms/[1+(1-t)(D/E ratio comparable firms)] From information provided in Exhibit, we can get average Beta and D/E ratio, is 1.56, 24.9% respectively. Therefore Unlevered beta for business= 1.35 We know the D/E ratio and tax rate of Mercury, then get levered beta for Mercury =1.52 b. risk free rate and risk premium we assume risk free rate is 5%, and risk premium as the historically one 4.3%. The cost of equity will be 11.5%. Then the cost of capital will be 10.6%. c. expect g and terminal value in 2011 expect g and terminal value in 2011 will be 2.6% and 374,576 respectively. d. total present value of Mercury Total value of Mercury will be 247,479, which is the estimate Firm value of Mercury under the alternative method. In my opinion, the value calculated via alternative method will be more reliable. 4. Do you regard the value you obtained as conservative or aggressive? Why? I think my valuation is conservative, the reason is as follows: (1) Under the  basic method, the expected g is much lower than the average g from 2007-2011, even lower the lowest one within this period and the reinvested rate is lower than the average one from 2007-2011 and also not a high one in general business, and we can also found the EBIT Margin is lower than the average one in that business. (2) (3) Under alternative method, the expected g is much lower as 2.6%, the risk free rate is also a medium one, and the risk premium is a historical one, which is much higher than recent risk premium in USA. 5. How would you analyze possible synergies or other sources of value not reflected in Liedtke’s base case assumptions? We have conduct some simulation in the spreadsheet, we can find the present value of Mercury is very sensitive to cost of capital, under basic model if the cost of capital reduce to 10%, the value will rise up to 304,882. As for debt ratio and expect g, it is not so sensitive, but has some influence. To my surprise, the reinvestment rate is not sensitive to the outcome, I have not figure out the reason. Under the alternative model, beta, risk free rate and risk premium are all sensitive to the outcome, but not significant as capital in basic model. As for synergy, the management of inventory has not shown great synergic effect to the outcome, for from 2007 to 2011, inventory level has not reduced. I think if AGI can reduce the cost of capital, which will show the great synergic effect to the acquisition.

A Closer Look on Sir Gawain

For Literature lovers, Sir Gawain is best known as the nephew of King Arthur. He is the son of King Arthur’s sister Morgaus and King Lot. He is a Knight of the Round Table. His brothers are Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth and Mordred. He is loyal to his king and to his family. He is a magnificent warrior but has a temper. He is also a ladies’ man. There are some works where his strength depends on the sun. Some stories claim that he is really strong during the afternoon when the sun shines at its best and is weak at night because the sun sets.There are two sides of Sir Gawain when it comes to his duties as a knight and as a family man. He balances both roles well. For example, he is loyal to King Arthur and obeys his commands. However, when Guinevere was slated to be burned at the stake and Sir Gawain was asked by King Arthur to stand post, the Knight nobly said no to the command. His respect for women outweighed his loyalty to his liege. There was also a time when his loyalt y to his friend Lancelot was outweighed by his loyalty to his family.This was when his brothers (except for Mordred) were killed during the battle between Lancelot and King Arthur. But when Mordred overturned the kingdom of Camelot and Sir Gawain was breathing his last, he sought forgiveness from Lancelot and asked him to defeat Mordred in his stead. Sir Gawain is popular in a number of literary works all over Europe. He is often seen as the model of chivalry. Most protagonists are compared and contrasted to him. A lot of French romances portray Gawain in different ways. Sometimes he is the hero.There are other times, he is the loyal wingman of the hero. He is also popularly known as the knight who searched for the Grail. Here, he is seen at his best light. His intentions are pure. It is reminiscent to him stopping his brothers Agravain and Mordred in plotting the downfall of Lancelot and Guinevere by revealing their love affair. During the Post-Vulgate Cycle, Gawain was portrayed a s a murderer. He was no longer the hero but the villain. This generic evil canceled out his records as the noble knight when literature about him is discussed.Therefore, to the eyes of Literature lovers, Gawain is an honorable champion but has flaws. For the Literature in Britain and Scotland, Gawain is a respectable and admired hero. He is also the main man when it comes to romantic stories and lyrical poems. His reputation is not tarnished because French Literature refuse to show Sir Gawain in a negative light. As a matter of fact, in Middle English Literature, he is the central character in a great work â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. † In â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight†, he is an excellent knight but has human traits.He also has flaws. He may be witty, virtuous and respectful of women but there are times that he is also subdued to jealousy. In the end, his love for women frees his wife Dame Ragnelle from her curse of ugliness. The depiction of Sir Gaw ain in glowing lights continued toward the Vulgate and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. The problem is that there were other literatures that stained his reputation, particular the negative characteristics that were attributed to him by Thomas Malory’s â€Å"The Death of Arthur. †Literary scholars compare and contrast the sides of Sir Gawain in every literature he appeared in. Perhaps what makes Sir Gawain genuine is that readers have an idea of his shortcomings but see that he is eager to make up for them (as mentioned in the earlier paragraphs of this essay. ) Therefore, we balance the whole anatomy of Sir Gawain. Just like us, Sir Gawain can be a gentleman and a brute. He can be loyal to his family and friends but turn his back on them the minute his ethics and beliefs are attacked. In the end, it’s all about weighing the pros and the cons of the knight.

12 Literary Piece

12 Literary piece that have Influenced the World 1. The Bible or the Sacred writings: This has become the basis of Christianity originating from Palestine and Greece 2. Koran: The Muslim bible originating from Arabia 3. The Iliad and the Odyssey: These have been the source of Myths and Legends of Greece. They were written by Homer. 4. The Mahabharata: The Longest epic of the world. It contains the history of religion in India. 5. Canterburry: it depicts the religion and customs of English in early days. This originated from England and written by Chaucer. 6.Uncle Tom's Cabin: written by Harriet Beecher Stowe of US. This depicted the sad fate of slaves. This became the basis of democracy. 7. The Divine Comedy: (A Dante of Italy). This shows the religion and customs of early Italians. 8. El' Cid Comedy: This shows the cultural characteristics of Spaniards and their national theory. 9. The Song of Roland: This includes the Doce Pares and Ronces Valles of France. It tells about the Golde n Age of Christianity in France. 10. The Book of the Dead: This includes the cult of Osiris and the Mythology and theology of Egypt. 1. The Book of the Days: This was written by Confucius of China. This became the basis of Christian Religion. 12. One thousand and One Night of the Arabian Nights: from Arabia and Persia(Iran). It shows the ways of government of industries and of society of Arabia's and Persians TOP 20 epics of the world 1. The Iliad by Homer (Greek) – Iliad is one of the most celebrated and well known epics of the world. It is believed to be written by in 9th century BC by Homer. This poem is based on the legend of Trojan war. Iliad means the tale of ilios or the tale of troy.It narrates the story of the Greek struggle to rescue Helen, from Trojans, the wrath of Achilles and subsequent destruction of Troy. 2. Mahabharata by Vyasa (Sanskrit) – Mahabharata is one of the great Indian epic compiled around 8th century BC. This epic poem has about one lakh cou plets in Sanskrit and it can be considered as the longest epic poem of the world. This ancient epic deals with the rivalry between cousins – Kauravas and Pandavas – of a great ruling family of India . The armies of the two groups meet at the battleground at Kurushetra in which the Pandavas can destroy the Kauravas.The epic consists of thousands of mythical and historical stories 3. The Odyssey by Homer (Greek) – Odyssey is believed to be written in 9th century B. C by Homer the great Greek poet. It describes the exploits of the Odysseus during his homecoming after the fall of Troy. This great epic follows the Aristotelian conventions of epic poem. The poem describes the obstacles faced by Odysseus, varied tests of gods that he had undergone, his affair with nymph Calypso on the homecoming voyage, and his return to his kingdom. 4. Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (Italian epic) Orlando Furioso is a famous epic with full of supernatural, allegorical and romanti c adventures. The main theme of the epic is the war between Christians and pagans. Even though Ariosto, the writer, has depended much on the Graeco -Roman literary tradition of earlier writers for characters and incidents, it is a great epic poem due to his smooth versification and technical facility which make the poem vigorous and brilliant, with ironic and humorous contrasts. 5. Ramayana by Valmiki (Sanskrit) – Ramayana is a great Indian epic poem written in 5th century BC.It is the oldest and most popular epic of Indian sub continent, believed to be written by Valmiki. It is written in Sanskrit, one of the earliest Indo – European languages, and has around 2400 couplets in seven sections. Ramayana means â€Å"the journey of Rama†. It depicts the conflict between Rama, the incarnation of God Vishnu, and Ravana who can be taken as the representative of evil forces and the final victory of the God incarnated Rama in safeguarding the Dharma (Universal moral orde r). 6. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Italian epic) Divine Comedy is a celebrated epic poem written by Dante in 14th century. The narrator is lost in a forest. The poet narrator meets Virgil who guides him through the world after death. Virgil takes him through Hell. They go through the base of the purgatory and he can see the terraces of it where the sins of those who are ultimately to be saved are cleansed away. Then Beatrice guides him to the ultimate heaven. The poem ends with his moment of illumination and the vision of trinity. 7. Beowulf Anonymous (Old English) – Beowulf, one of the earliest epic of the world, is based on a Scandinavian legend.It was written around 750 AD by an anonymous writer and it has about 3000 lines. Beowulf, the great warrior hero, saves Horthgar, the king of Danes, from the attack of Grendel, a terrible monster, by killing it. Grendel's mother attacks him to avenge the death of his son. In the fight, Beowulf kills the mother – mon ster also, but he gets a mortal wound in the fight and succumbs to it. This epic, the most celebrated survival from Old English  literature, is also the earliest extant poem in a modern European language. 8. Paradise Lost by John Milton (English) Paradise Lost is one of the greatest English literary epic based on the theme of fall of man given in the old Testament and it was written in 17th century by John Milton. The great poet wrote it † to justify the ways of god to man†. The epic poem begins with the the Satan's devilish plans to to take revenge against god for his expulsion from heaven. Some critics has opined that Milton's Satan is the hero of the epic poem due to the excellent depiction and exposition of that character. This epic is celebrated for Milton's grand style, his interpretation of Biblical myth and Christian doctrine. . Shahname by Firdousi (Persian) – Shah Name is great Persian epic based on the historical and mythical accounts of around fifty Persian kings. Shah Name means â€Å"book of kings†. The epic begins the mythical creation of Persia and ends in the narration of the stories of historical kings. The most famous story of Shah Name is about the legendary king of Rostam and Sohrab, his son. 10. Aeneid by Virgil (Latin) – Aeneid is a great epic which is based on the legend of Aeneas. It is Roman nationalistic and patriotic poem which narrates the evolution of great Roman mpire. This poem shows great dramatic skill of high order and power of description. Aeneas decides to establish a secure kingdom for his people in Italy. During the long and perilous voyage for it their ships are wreaked on the coast of Africa. The Dido of Carthage invites them which prolongs their voyage. In the next voyage, they reach Latinum, ruled by Latinus. Aeneas marries his daughter Lavinia after killing Turanus, another suitor of her. He establishes a city of lavinium which becomes a base for great Roman empire later. 11. Theogo ny (Greek mythology) Theogony is a Greek epic poem which describe the mythical cosmogony. It can be used as a sorce book of Greek myhology which tells about the origin of cosmos and it evolution. 12. The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser – The Faerie Queene is considered as the first epic poem in modern English literature. This allegoric poem is arranged as a story for a twelve day feast, held by the queen of the fairyland. It is a national epic of England aimed at glorifying Queen Elizabeth. 13. The Epic of Gilgamesh – The epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest epic poem of the world.It tells the story of Gilgamesh, the ruler of Uruk and his companion Enkidu whose exploits are the described. The epic is equally fascinating for the window it opened to the ancient Sumerian and Babylonian cultures. 14. Buddhacarita by Asvaghosha (Indian epic poetry ) – Buddhacharita is considered as an authoritative work on Buddha's life. It describes the birth, early life , renun ciation, and teaching of Buddha. It is written in Sanskrit and has originally 28 cantos in which only 13 have been properly preserved. 15. Pharsalia by Lucan (Roman history) The Pharsalia is a celebrated Roman epic poem based on the Battle of Pharsalus which was occurred in 48 B. C. It depicts the civil war between forces led by Julius Caesar and the forces of Pompey the Great. This historical poem is considered as one of the greatest epic poem in the Latin literature. 16. Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – The theme of this great work is man's desire to transcend his physical limitations and his search for answers for eternal questions of mankind. 17. Raghuvamsa – Raghuvamsa describes the lives of the kings of the solar dynasty.It consists of 19 cantos. The epic chronicles the life of Rama and his ancestors. It is considered that Sanskrit epics have attained perfection in Raghuvamsa. 18. The Paradise Regained – The Paradise Regained is an epic poem from the master writer John Milton. It is not a sequel to Paradise Lost. The theme is the story of three temptations as revealed in the gospel of St. Luke. This epic is composed at the suggestion of Thomas Edward. 19. Don Juan – Don Juan is a the most effective and vigorous satire in the English literature.This poem reviews the social , political and economic condition of the Europe. It is a a kind of picturesque novel written in verse. The hero, don Juan ,wanders from one place to another and records his six adventures. Don Juan has visited Greece, Turkey, Russia, and England. 20. The Tale of Heiku – This is one of the most renounced Japanese epic poem based on the Buddhist law of impermanence. It tells the feud between two Japanese clans with elements of traditional folk narrative. Taira and Minemoto are the two clans mentioned in this great classic of medieval Japanese literature.