Flannery O’Connor Essay

Flannery O’Connor was a devout Catholic on the protestant south. All her life she was a white crow, the rest of her life she was diagnosed by lupus and has spent on the farm in Georgia with her mother. Religion was a huge part of her life besides writing, O’Connor gave lectures on faith and literature about her religion and once she said: â€Å"I feel that if I were not a Catholic I would have no reason to write, no reason to see, no reason ever to feel horrified or even to enjoy anything. † (Niederauer, George H. Flannery O’Connor’s vision of faith, church and modern consciousness† Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thoughts. 27 Sep. 2007.   Lane Center Lecture Series. 19 Oct. 2011) It is obvious if a person interested in something it will reflects on his or hers life. Flannery O’Connor was a catholic and we see how her religious belief reflects on every storyline. Flannery was interested in raising peacocks, and enclose feather of this beautiful birds into every letter. Through the letters which was edited after her death by Ellie Fitzgerald it is shown the way how Flannery searching for a God. Flannery was a Roman Catholics on the south, but her stories are about Protestants who are searching for the Truth. She wants to show a grace in every main character, devotion to the Christ and to force her characters to suffer, go through the pain and violent to reach grace. In Revelation we have met with a main character Mrs. Turpin who is very faithful to the Christ not to a God. Here Flannery O’Connor reminds about herself in this character. Because she believed in Incarnation doctrine which Church taught that God become a human and converts to a Jesus. Mrs.  Turpin always talking with Jesus asking questions, arguing with him about problems that has appeared in her life. The main character in this story not a true believer, she is just talking that she is so good and very religious person, but she is not. She doesn’t have this gift called faith in her heart; probably she lost faith as she loose her appetite. Mrs. Turpin doesn’t realize is how much religion cost and she understands that is better to believe than no to believe. Flannery was worry about the thought that people do not understand how religion is important and how it’s worth. Mrs. Turpin character is the figure of a person that Flannery O’Connor don’t wanted to be. Mrs. Turpin is a self-righteous, very shallow thinking person she doesn’t look into people’s inner world she is judging them by their race and the way they look alike. Mrs. Turpin is egocentric which is not allowed in any of religions how she can convince herself in true believing if she is thinking she is better than every person in this waiting room. Such things as: is it better to be a white trash or a Negro woman will never came to her narrow mind if she would be a true believer. Mrs. Turpin has been wrestling with grace, Flannery O’Connor believed that we all does she puts her characters into the situations which allows them to fight for grace she thought grace change us and to wrestle with grace means that you don’t want to change yourself in order to became a true believer. Here it is a scene in the story when Mrs. Turpin sitting in the waiting room and hears a song she doesn’t catch every word but she caught the spirit of this song, which makes her thoughts sober. She starts to think that she is very helpful women and it doesn’t matter which race or social class she would placed to it is rather to be kind and ugly woman than to be rich and not a good woman. Through the story it is shown the way Mrs. Turpin changing her mind, her thoughts became sober it seems like she is transforms as the story goes. But still Mrs. Turpin thinking she is better than everyone she is towering over everyone and she is a decent believer and she is showing to visitors in the waiting room the way how grateful to a Jesus she is for everything that she has. And exactly at this moment the book stroke her by an ugly girl and Flannery O’Connor uses this moment as a moment of violence to forward her character into a way religious people supposed to be to reach a grace. This ugly girl called Mr. Turpin a wart hog which was very offending to her she is a clean and goes to church regularly and this is what redeems her. This moment is a breaking point in the story that makes Mr. Turpin to think about her inner world and not to lie to her. These words are message from the God she received to reach revelation. She is judging people and she will be judged by a God as others. The last scene in the story reveals this judgment, when Mrs. Turpin imagine heaven scene where she saw whole companies in heaven. She didn’t expect it; she thought she and people from her social class deserve to be in heaven but not a white trash or black people and freaks. This is a new class Mr. Turpin highlight during the story and includes in this class the ugly girl who attacked her. All this social classes that were divided into groups by Mrs. Turpin were tumbled into heaven. White trash, black people in white robes, freaks leaping like frogs and bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people to whom Mrs. Turpin concern herself and her husband Claud. Mrs. Turpin was kind of a woman who knows exactly what she thinks who sees a lot and understands nothing; she was a good religious woman who has never tried to look deeper into religion aspects. At the end of the story it is eternal time giving to Mrs. Turpin to think about her mistakes and her attitudes to religion to people and finally find grace and to receive revelation from God. Flannery O’Connor’s characters go through short and harsh lifecycle as a challenge and searching for revelation. She was a white crown in front of thousands of Protestants who wants to show through her short stories the Truth that her characters are searching for during their short life in the stories. Her rare inherited decease lupus misunderstanding from the Protestant society, loneliness the fact that she was never married, her spiritual life all this facts goes through her veins to the pen and expressed as a basement for writing her stories.

Dumaguete City Boulevard: A Breeding Ground for Prostitution

Prostitution is a never ending war like abortion which is considered as an immoral activity in the society. Dumaguete is known for its women who sell sexual services which has been going on for years now. In October 1997, the Marina Clinic of the SUMC organized these women into the Magdalena group. They studied the prostitute’s psychological as well as their socio-economic status (Flores, 2001, p. 3). Persons prostitute themselves when they grant sexual favours to others in exchange for money, gifts, or other payment and in doing so, use their bodies as commodities.Prostitutes may be of either sex, but throughout history the majorities have been women, reflecting both the traditional socioeconomic dependence of women and the tendency to exploit female sexuality. Prostitution in Dumaguete is the highest increasing illegal activity in the city which takes place in the boulevard and cause tourists to flood the area. This paper presents the discussion of local prostitution happeni ng in the City of Dumaguete and the reason why this business exists nowadays. The first part of the research paper presents the overview of the topic which is Local Prostitution.Next, the paper presentation will discuss the main causes why women commit themselves to this business and be followed by its effects. The third part of the paper presentation is the discussion of the arguments against the local prostitution as a high increasing illegal activity. And to end the paper presentation, an interview with sex workers and a Marina Clinic member was conducted to add their criticism against the subject. The paper claims that local prostitution in Dumaguete is an increasing illegal activity that needs to be stopped.Prostitution is one of the branches of the sex industry. The legal status of prostitution varies from country to country, from being permissible but unregulated, to a punishable crime or to a regulated profession. Estimates place the annual revenue generated from the global prostitution industry to be over $100billion. Prostitution is the business or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and is a kind of sex worker, and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms.Many women earn their living as sex workers in one or another branch of the sex industry such as pornography, nude dancing, telephone sex, computer pornography and prostitution which categorized women into different ugly stereotypes such as being drug addicts or disease carriers. Women who entered the sex industry are women at work–supporting children as single parents, trying to save money to go to school, surviving economically in a job market that underpays women at every economic level.As we look straight to the lives of these prostitutes, being an economic failure causes women to enter sex industry. For these women to survive their daily liv es, women decide to commit themselves in that kind of industry, they do not want this choice but it is the last option that they could have. Today, there are different forms in which prostitution thrives such as street prostitution, bars, brothels, akyat-barko, â€Å"massage parlors†, escort services, sex tourism, cybersex, local and international sex trafficking and even on the internet (McTavish, 2012).Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution. In escort prostitution, the act may take place at the customer’s residence or in a hotel room, or at the escort’s residence. Another form is street prostitution. Sex tourism refers to traveling especially from developed to underdeveloped nations, to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. Some rich clients may pay for long term contract that may last years. Wherever they find evidence of human culture, they find evidence of prostitution.When the earliest known human societies emerged in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia, the sex trade evolved alongside temples, customs, markets and laws. Beginning in the third millennium B. C, the Sumerians, the first major inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia, worshiped the goddess Ishtar, a deity that would remain a constant throughout Mesopotamia’s Babylonian and Assyrian empires. Ishtar was the goddess of love and war, symbolized by the planet Venus, and was born anew as a maiden every morning only to become a ‘whore’ every evening – the etymology of the word lying in the Indo-European root meaning ‘desire.’Ironically, Mesopotamian religious practices gave birth to the prostitution trade, as women in Ishtar’s service would help men who offered money to her temples with the ‘sacred’ powers of their bodies. Achieving a priority of communication with the goddess from their fertility, only women enjoyed this religious position. Thus Ishtar temples became knowledge centres conc erning birth, birth control, and sexuality. Priestesses became the nurses and sacred sex therapists of these early societies.Men of all rank could hire these women and, in turn, make an offering to the goddess from whose temple the prostitute came. The king would also take part in certain sacred sex rituals with the high priestesses in conjunction with grain harvests: the fertility of the earth was secured through a ritual that celebrated the fertility of the womb. The king, regent of the earth, and priestess, regent of the goddess, coupled in this highly symbolic manner that celebrates the sexual process that brought both grain and people into being. Thus Ishtar became known as the protector of all prostitutes.Prostitution, or at least the religious prostitution involved in these sacred sex rituals, existed without taboo or prohibition, as evidenced in some of our species’ earliest literary works (Fanni, 2013). Drug addiction, severe poverty, low self-esteem, and emotional p roblems are the known causes why people enter prostitution. The most important reason however is money. Some of them don’t have decent jobs, need to support their family or some other specific things. But these reasons aren’t enough for a woman to become a prostitute. Someone might have introduced her into the business of prostitution (Thio & Taylor, 2012, p.192).Prostitution is very much related to poverty, by the chronic unemployment and the lack of economic opportunities, it indirectly reflects our country’s poor economic performance and poor priorization of needs and goods. Because the government cannot provide job to everyone especially to those uneducated ones, these people cannot be able to sustain their daily needs to survive life. Prostitution has never been their choice, yet this is the remaining option to women who need to earn money to fulfil their own personal needs and to support their family.If there are only employment choices for the poor and un educated, there would also be a decrease in women who are entering prostitution. Another reason why women become prostitutes is because they lack parental guidance. Irresponsible parenthood has also been cited as one of the causes why young boys and girls are driven into prostitution. The City government and DSWD created a task force which gives these women some livelihood incentives, spiritual formation, and theatre arts workshop, peer education and counselling (Flores, 2001, p. 3).The family is the one who extends to the family member the benefits of moral guidance, self-discipline, and religious instruction. Parents also have the duty to know their children’s friends and their activities in order to prevent the latter from falling into bad company. But the fact is, most prostitutes had their first experience from a direct family member. This means that the first who violated their body is a family member; it could either be the father, uncle, step-father or even their brot her. Women choose to become prostitutes because their parents were no longer there to protect them.Women have been tricked into prostitution with guarantees of decent job opportunities either in the cities or abroad or have been kidnapped and then forced to work as a prostitute. Not all prostitutes come into the profession because of the idea that they are going to earn money and provide sex satisfaction for the men. Some are victims of illegal prosecutors who promised to give them good jobs but unfortunately they were tricked and pushed to work for these recruiters as prostitutes. These women have become victims of human trafficking. There are a lot of known effects when women, men, and children involve themselves in prostitution.Our study focuses on three of these known effects which are Sexually Transmitted Diseases, unwanted pregnancy, and low self-esteem. First, we will discuss STD; Sexually transmitted diseases (STD), also referred to as sexually transmitted infections (STI) a nd venereal diseases (VD), are illnesses that have a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of sexual behaviour, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex. Prostitution is physically harmful to women in prostitution. STDs are alarmingly high among women in prostitution.Second, unwanted pregnancy might also occur among prostitutes. Unintended pregnancies are pregnancies that were unwanted at the time of conception. There are a lot of methods in which unwanted pregnancy could be avoided; it could be by the use of contraceptives or Withdrawal (Pull Out Method). But if prostitutes get pregnant, most of them turn to abortion. Some might push through with their pregnancy but will later on send their children into adoption. Third, Low self-esteem connects directly to prostitution and porn. It’s easy to prey upon and manipulate a person of low self-esteem.Prostitution need not necessarily cause low self-esteem. It might do so if the sex-worker fee ls that he or she has entered prostitution for economic reasons, because they have no other option, or because they have been forced into it against their will. For many clients, low self-esteem may be a factor in their decision to use a sex-worker. Their guilt afterwards may only worsen their self-esteem issues. A life of prostitution may reduce the chances of having an intimate relationship outside of work and limit the possibility of being able to respond sexually with a partner in an authentic way.In the Philippines, there are some arguments against the oldest profession. The law makers suggest that prostitution must be legalized such as in some countries in Europe in which the sex industry had been legalized. The recent International Labor Organization (ILO) which urges the government to officially recognize sex industry has not elicited much reaction to date. The report actually wants the government to apply labor regulation and standards â€Å"Where prostitution is recognize d as legal works.â€Å"But some has the stand that prostitution must never be legalized in the Philippines. Under the Revised Penal Code, prostitution is classified as a crime against moral, punishable by a fine for the first offenders and jail sentences and fines for repeaters. Franklin Llaguno, in a column in another paper, notes that the ILO Report may give new life to the case of decriminalization of prostitution because as it stated in the Revised Penal Code, prostitution is classified as crime against oral and punishable and jail sentences for the offenders.(Manila Bulletin, 1998).The Gabriela Women’s Group strongly disagreed in the Legalization of Prostitution. According to them, prostitution is a human rights violation. It is among the recognized forms of violence committed against women and children. It is not work or occupation that women undertake by choice. Viewed in the Philippine setting, it is a situation, most often characterized by physical abuse, exploitati on and discrimination which women and children endure when they are forced by circumstances to be prostituted.They also added that the legalization of prostitution is tantamount to the legalization of exploitation and of the violence that commonly exist within the system (Philippine Star, 1998). Legalization creates a situation where prostituted women and children are legally subjected to slave-like conditions. The notion that patrons or clients are legally buying sexual services does not in any way dignify or uplift how society looks at women and children. Another argument against prostitution is the rampant child prostitution.Children nowadays are pressured by their parents to work on mainland cities in order to alleviate poverty. Most of these children work as prostitutes and are being sold in brothels or on the streets to foreigners. If the child prostitute doesn’t reach her daily quota, he/she would be beaten by the recruiter or pimp. Father Shay Cullen helped smuggle a television camera inside a jail that showed hundreds of children as young as 5 locked in cages stacked a half-dozen high. Most were child prostitutes, caught in that country’s rampant sex tourism trade.(Kielburger & Kielburger, 2007).Trice stated that â€Å"these traffickers and pimps, they know what they’re doing, such as the manipulation, the brainwashing,† she said. â€Å"They make the girls believe that the only way the girl can be successful is through (the pimps) direction. Otherwise, the girls are worthless and they have no value† (Trice, 2011). The researchers strongly believe that prostitution must not be legalized in our country because more and more tourists and even fellow Filipinos would continue to look at women as mere sex objects.Innocent children should not be victimized by this kind of profession. The researchers conducted an interview on 2 female sex workers named Ludy and Bebot, and to an acting coordinator of the SU Marina Mission Cli nic, Dr. Fe Sucip-Wale. Dr. Wale stated that the main causes of prostitution are poverty, low education, broken homes, and sexual abuse. Health is affected when women get into the sex trade; they develop sexually transmitted diseases and are vulnerable to HIV / AIDS. However, medical assistance is available for these women if they acquire STDs.These women can go to the City Health Office for examination and treatment for free or subsidized. The age bracket of women who does prostitution in Dumaguete City ranges from 15-50 years old. They usually have an income of P5, 000-P15, 000 per month. Statistically, there are about 100-200 prostitutes in the whole city (Wale, 2013). When the prostitutes were asked the same questions, they stated that â€Å"katong una, katong wala pa mi na organize, ni tungtung mi tanan ug 50, mga 19-50 ang edad sa mga gatrabaho ug ingun ani, depende ang among income, depende rapud ang customers.Kadaghanan sa mga kauban namu diri naay mga anak. Pwede man mu bu long ug laing trabaho pero lain-lain man gud ug sitwasyon sa pagpuyo sa pamilya. Naa mi live-in partners ang uban mga balo, ang uban naay bana pero magbulag ky manakit man. Naay mga customers pud nga sakit kaayu mang-storya, abi ingun ani nalang amung trabaho sayun nalang kaayu ilang panglantaw. Naa man puy uban nga mu sabot sa sitwasyon. Pare-pareho raman ang among mga customers, daghan mang Pilipino ug mga foreigners pud.Mas daghang foreigners basta November-February kay mao man nay tig bakasyon sa mga foreigners diri; uban ky muhatag ug pagkaon o tip. Naa man pud mi mga tambal like suppositories, pills ug uban pa. Pero ug seryoso na jud ang sakit, muadto mis City Health Office o ang uban mu adto jud ug private nga doctor. † (Bebot & Ludy, 2013). In conclusion, this research paper has shown that prostitution is the highest increasing illegal activity in Dumaguete City which is occurring in the boulevard and causing tourists constant coming in the area.

Stratigic Plan for Public Health Organization Coursework

Stratigic Plan for Public Health Organization - Coursework Example STRATEGIC PLAN FOR LAKE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT Our Vision: Our vision is to promote and protect the health of Waukegan Illinois through assessment, policy development, and assurance. Our Mission statement: The mission of the Lake County Health Department is to promote and protect the health of Illinois residents through networking and collaborative actions that raise public awareness, build a constituency, and influences legislation and policies concerning public health issues affecting northern Illinois.   Our Values: We believe that services must be available without barriers. No resident should be turned away due to an inability to pay. We also believe in providing services in an environment of mutual respect, free of discrimination or any bias (Lakecountyil.gov, 2013). Our core competencies a) This department came into existence in 1956, established by referendum. Back then, it had a small bunch of people. However, today it boasts of over one-thousand professional assisting i n all aspects of health, with an approximate working budget of seventy-million US dollars. b) Of all the human service providers under the Lake County, we are the biggest, with a twelve member Health Board governing this department. c) Nationwide, we rank among the top six of all two-thousand, eight hundred and sixty four health departments at the local level. d) We are members under the Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium, an organization that serves the Chicago city and the Winnebago, Mchenry, Kendall, Lake, Kane, Cook, Dupage, and Will counties in terms of complex health matters. The Environmental Scan. An environmental scan is the systematic way of finding out and interpreting the external environment to know the trends and factors of change, and their likely impacts on an organization in the future. Economic aspects Increase or entry of new security risks will affect the ability to respond to emergencies. This will affect this department in that we may not respond to eme rgencies resulting from crime and health risks as we lack the training of responding to security risks. Global economic transformation on Health care due to advance in competition may find workers not adequately prepared for new work processes. Impacts of globalization of Health care owing to economic integration and liberalization of trade globally will mean that workers have to deal with more potentially dangerous diseases. Social/ demographic aspects High risk groups such as foreign workers, older and new workers will affect the workplace. This is because language and cultural barriers, lack of training as well as the work organization mean a possibility in increase of injuries or work blunders. The raising of the educational and general worker bar in qualifying as a health worker means injury rates will reduce because of better training and more workers that are competent. Aging of the American population will affect the workforce in that chronic injuries and illnesses may incre ase. In addition, older workers take longer to recover from such. Legal/ policy aspects Increase in the enforcement of health and safety regulations by the government means pushing towards greater compliance that will help in better competence and more output. Smoking ban in workplaces and public spaces means workers will no longer get exposure to

Oracle database Recovery Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Oracle database Recovery - Research Paper Example The mounting technique helps a database to read files without opening them. The Oracle tries to initialize each and every control files available in the initORACLE_SID.ora  file, if the files are replicated. The any control file is broken the mounting techniques fails. In order to configure a database, first we need to run svrmgrl, and secondly connect it to the database and finally enter (Preston, 1999): startup mount. â€Å"$  svrmgrl SVRMGR >  connect internal; Connected. SVRMGR >  startup mount; Statement processed† If the above procedure accomplished then the output must seems to be like this (Preston, 1999): â€Å"SVRMGR >  startup mount; ORACLE instance started. Total System Global Area 5130648 bytes Fixed Size 44924 bytes Variable Size 4151836 bytes Database Buffers 409600 bytes Redo Buffers 524288 bytes Database mounted† The mounting of the database if turn successful then step 10 must be performed. On the contrary, if the mounting process fails than the output seems like this (Preston, 1999): â€Å"SVRMGR >  startup mount; Total System Global Area 5130648 bytes Fixed Size 44924 bytes Variable Size 4151836 bytes Database Buffer to s 409600 bytes Redo Buffers 524288 bytes ORACLE instance started. ... Moreover, these files can easily be recreated if required. The core element regarding data and information portrays impact on more than one control files that are missing. This is due to the fact that Oracle abandons the mounting files that come across failure. Hence, the files are missing if the mounting procedure fails. Therefore, before taking any action, first we need to determine the seriousness of the problem. This can be done by researching on the situation. Initial research includes the names of the missing control files by doing configORACLE_SID.ora  file subsequently to the word  control files. It looks somewhat like this (Preston, 1999): â€Å"control_files = (/db/Oracle/a/oradata/crash/control01.ctl, /db/Oracle/b/oradata/crash/control02.ctl, /db/Oracle/c/oradata/crash/control03.ctl)† (Rajan, 2006 ) The control file name that is criticized by Oracle should be found. This can be found by searching for this phrase control file that is maintained in the alert logs. Moreover, the alert log can be found in particular location such as ‘background_dump_dest’ and ‘configinstance.ora’ file. In general, it is present in the file named as ORACLE_BASE/ORACLE_SID/admin/bdump’directory. A file named as ‘alert_ORACLE_SID.log’ must be present in directory. The error looks like this (Preston, 1999): alter database mount exclusive ORA-00202: controlfile: '/db/a/oradata/crash/control01.ctl' ORA-27037: unable to obtain file status SVR4 Error: 2: No such file or directory† The name of all the control files along with crashed file names, it is relatively easier to analyze the complexity of the issue. This can be achieved by listing control files with their comparison with the size and time of any change and

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Geology week 8 discussion question 2 - Essay Example Mineral resources are a form of nonrenewable natural resources in the form of rocks from the ground. These are usually coal, copper, iron, lead, natural gas, oil, silver, tin and uranium (Anderson, 2010). These are considered nonrenewable because they could not be easily replenished and would take millions of years to create. The two major problems associated with the use of fossil fuels are: (1) potential environmental harm of its by-products such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide which are known to be contributory to climate change and global warming; and (2) dangers to human health due to its by-products such as nitrogen oxides which increases preponderance to respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular problems (Sustainable Table, n.d.). Anderson, P. (2010, September 23). Mineral Resources: Renewable & Nonrenewable. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from schoolworkhelper.com:

Word Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Word Project - Assignment Example I will also learn an instrument with the main preference being a piano as I have always wished to learn to play a piano or guitar. I love volleyball and I will be joining a sports team this summer as one of the activities I will undertake this summer. Other activities I hope to undertake this summer is to take a new exercise and join gym during the preparations or practice sessions for volleyball games. After the day’s activities, when I will not be engrossed in a novel, I would like to watch some latest action movies to unwind and relax after a tough day. I would like to organize an activity with my friends and visit a rocky place, a mountain, or a tourist destination in the vicinity and camp for three days as a means of spending time together and learning from each other. This cannot be possible during class periods and this summer will be appropriate for my friends and me. Towards the end of summer, I would like to get hold of notes and papers on the fall’s classes as a means of organizing myself and familiarizing myself for the classes before hand to avoid frustration and save on time during t he

Report on Media Legal Issues (Digital Movie Revolution) Research Paper

Report on Media Legal Issues (Digital Movie Revolution) - Research Paper Example In fact, a good number could not make independent films until they attended a certain school to acquire the equipment or they grew up with the set. In the past, most people faced challenges until they went to Hollywood to land a job on a movie set of the needed equipment. Conversely, today in as much as there is a lot of networking and dues paying to venture in the movie business, the internet radically has altered what looks like and more especially change has been in the accessibility (Silver, 2003). It has simplified almost for everyone to do video project and have seen as wished. This is possible since the advent of less expensive digital technology. Websites like Vimeo and YouTube have played a role in allowing anyone with camera to post a video. The computers made it possible to edit enabling anyone tweak their projects or other peoples projects to make them even look much better. As a result, many aspiring filmmakers, who would otherwise have lacked the resources to be seen, can now go public on their own. The movie industry probably will soon take the lead from the independent colleagues that have made significant steps towards digital filmmaking (Prince, 2012). This facilitates the digital revolution found in every setting of the movie industry. Indeed, this is a landmark development concerning the evolution in the field of entertainment. Allowing customers to be able to access and even own movies digitally by downloading via broadband internet connections has allowed them more power to be entertained to their satisfaction. Unfortunately, in the period when the movie industry was in aid of embracing digital distribution onl y a handful of the companies already had started the trend which did not include the video clip download sites (Silver, 2003). Already video streaming and the download sites have been able to provide content including the

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Advantages and Disadvantages of a Market Entry Strategy for SMEs - Essay Example The risks associated with entry into a new and unfamiliar market can be reduced by applying pertinent market entry strategies. Under this strategy, exporting can be divided into two parts such as indirect exporting as well as direct exporting. Indirect exporting is referred as decreasing the producer’s risk by selling the manufacturer’s product in the foreign market with the help of others. On the other hand, direct exporting signifies that a company controls the export activities as well as sells the manufactured products directly to the foreign market. Therefore, in the direct exporting strategy producers have more control on the activities of a foreign market (Tielmann, 2010). In this paper, the benefits and the disadvantages of a foreign market entry approach about exporting of small and medium enterprises (SME’s) as well as multinational enterprise (MNE’s) are discussed. Evaluating the advantages as well as the disadvantages of market entry strategy is most important in order to develop SME’s exporting. Entry strategy of exporting for SME’s can be defined as sale of goods produced by the SME’s in the foreign market with the help of agents and distributors (Bendt & Skropska, 2011). The selection of optimal entry mode strategy is imperative for SMEs in the international marketing context in order to make their presence felt in the competitive foreign markets where there are a number of existing competitors present. SMEs have been observed to possess quite simple objectives as well as organisational structures. SMEs’ key aim is to make growth as well as development, which can be ensured by maximising the anticipated profit level. However, SME’s face resource and information constraints (Decker & Zhao, 2004).

Perceptual Maps in Marketing Simulation Summary Essay Example for Free

Perceptual Maps in Marketing Simulation Summary Essay Perceptual maps help to improve a companys current product on the market by mapping consumer expectation of the product. The motorcycle company Thorr Motors perceptual maps were used to create a marketing plan to aid in maintaining a high brand image of their motorcycles. The Marketing Dictionary defines perceptual maps as a process by which consumers perceptions of an existing product are charted (n.d., para. 1). In this paper the three phases of the simulation, the situation, recommended solution, and results will be discussed. In addition there will be a discussion on relationship between differentiation and positioning of products or services and the impact of the product life cycle on marketing. Phase I (201)Sales of the Cruiser Thorr are decreasing. This is so because the Cruiser Thorrs target consumers are aging and their tastes have begun to outgrow the lifestyle that Cruiser Thorr symbolizes. In addition to this issue, younger consumers are more interested in lower priced motorcycles due to their lower personal disposable incomes and they do not indentify with Cruiser Thorrs lifestyle image. This scenario wanted to determine the Cruiser Thors position in the market by choosing four relevant parameters that will reflect the highest potential. For phase I the parameters that were chosen were lifestyle image, services offered, price, and quality engineering. Lifestyle image was chosen since the image for the Cruiser Thorr was being outgrown by the aging target audience and was not identifiable with younger consumers. Since the Cruiser Thorrs lifestyle image is set very high any vital information gathered will be highly useful to maintain that level of image so that it satisfies both an older and younger audience. Services offered was another parameter chosen because compared to their competitors the services offered by the Cruiser Thorr are limited. The more frills a product comes with, the more it may heighten the desire for it. The third parameter that was chosen was price. Price was chosen because for many consumers price is one of the most important factors in making a buying decision. Furthermore, it was stated earlier that younger consumers were more interested in lower priced motorcycles. Finding out how much is too much as well as how low can you go without diluting brand image will be important in determining the  appropriate price tag to spark consumer interest. The last parameter chosen was quality engineering. This was chosen because of the fact that the Cruiser Thorr will not be able to maintain a high brand image without this feature (University of Phoenix, 2004). The decision to use lifestyle image, services offered, price, and quality engineering were the appropriate parameters to use. The parameters that were chosen were fundamental to the perceptual map and gave the best perspective as opposed to the other options. Phase II The position of the Cruiser Thorr is determined by the perceptual map and this position has not helped sales. This scenario calls for the marketing manager to create a marketing plan that will either reposition the Cruiser Thorr or launch a new motorcycle. Upon researching threats and weaknesses of Thorr Motorcycles, the decision was made to launch a new motorcycle, the RRoth, which will grab the attention of younger consumers. With the new launch the marketing mix needed to be determined. The price for the new RRoth was set between $13,000 and $15,000. This price range was chosen because earlier surveys conducted showed that the younger consumers were more interested in lower priced motorcycles. The types of promotions chosen were sponsored events at Daytona, offering insurance and protection plans, free test rides, publicize through Hollywood films, and providing giveaway merchandise. These were all chosen because of the high amount of appeal these types of promotional methods would have on younger consumers. The places chosen to promote the RRoth were the internet (Manufacturers Web site), Dealers, and Distributors. These options were chosen because of the accessibility to younger consumers, especially the internet. The services chosen were training to dealers, customization options, and financial services. Training to dealers was chosen so that the dealers can provide detailed and accurate information about the products sold. Customization options were chosen because this would add to the cool and youthful image of the RRoth. Financial services were chosen because the younger consumers indicated an interest in financing options. Choosing to launch a new motorcycle turned out to be a good decision. The marketing mix options chosen were the most optimal for the formulation of a differentiation strategy. Phase III It has been a year since the marketing plan was implemented and it is now time to determine if the plans have or have not been a success. Consumer perceptions of the Cruiser Thorr and the RRoth have been surveyed and a perceptual map will show whether or not the marketing activities have been a success. The marketing manager has to interpret market research to plot brand attributes of Cruiser Thorr. In addition, attributes relevant to the RRoth need to be chosen and interpreted to create RRoths perceptual map. The Cruiser Thorr was rated in lifestyle image at 9 because initially this was rated very high. A nine would be most appropriate. For price a rate of 4 was chosen because consumers saw this particular motorcycle as pricey compared to other brands. A rating of 4 or 5 would be appropriate. Services offered are rated at a 7 because services for the Cruiser Thorr is limited compared to competitors but were revamped because of consumer response. A rating of 7 is most appropriate. Quality engineering was rated at 8 because consumers think that Cruiser Thorrs engine is the best. A rating of 8 is very appropriate. The RRoth was rated at a 7 for lifestyle image because like other Thorr motorcycles consumers are already considering it a status symbol. The rating chosen was the appropriate choice. Price was rated at 8 because the RRoth is cheaper than the Cruiser Thorr in order to target a younger consumer. An 8 rating is appropriate. Cool was chosen for the RRoth because of the younger audience and a rating of 8 was chosen. A rating of 8 was most appropriate. Relationship between differentiation and positioning of products or servicesDifferentiation of product is according to Investopedia a marketing process that showcases the differences between products (Investopedia, .n.d., para. 1). Positioning of products is the consumer perception of a product or service as compared to its competition (Lake, n.d., para. 1). The relationship is that in order for a company to be a leader in that particular industry not only do they have to differentiate themselves from  the competition, but they must also secure a position in the market that when consumers needs need to be met, that company will be number one on the list in consumers minds. The repositioning of the product in the simulation is what I had expected. It was expected because one of the main issues was the changing perceptions of the consumers and there was nothing wrong with the physical product. Tastes were changing but the product was still of high quality. Like many companies they offered a fresh new product and for Thorr Motorcycles this attracted younger consumers. But they did not totally scrap efforts on the Cruiser Thorr and worked on revamping the image. Product Life Cycle The impact the product life cycle has on marketing is that business need to plan their products around the product life cycle. Knowing where the product is on the cycle, marketing strategies can be adjusted to maintain profitability. A particular firms marketing mix usually must change during the product life cycle (Perreault et al, 2004, pg. 270). In the simulation the Cruiser Thorr was in the decline stage of the life cycle as their sales were declining rapidly. The declining sales were because the older audiences tastes were outgrowing the Cruiser Thorr and younger consumers were put off by the high price. Because Cruiser Thorr was in decline stage, a new motorcycle, the RRoth was introduced to the life cycle and aimed at a different target group to revamp sales and consumer perception. ConclusionThe perceptual map helped to determine consumer expectations for Thorr Motorcycles. Precise parameters were determined to hone in on exactly what they wanted and expected from the company. This ultimately is what enabled Thorr Motorcycles to reposition consumer perceptions back to where Thorr motors wanted. In this paper the three phases of the simulation, the situation, recommended solution, and results were discussed. In addition there was a discussion on relationship between differentiation and positioning of products or services and the impact of the product life cycle on marketing. References: Differentiation. (n.d.). Definition. Retrieved on February 16, 2008  from,http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/product_differentiation.aspLake, L. (n.d.). Product Positioning Definition. Retrieved on February 16, 2008 from,http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingglossary/g/prodpostdef.htmPerceptual mapping. (n.d.). Dictionary of Marketing Terms. Retrieved February 16,2008, from Answers.com Web site:http://www.answers.com/topic/perceptual-mappingPerreault, W.D., McCarthy, E.J. (2004). Basic Marketing: A Global-ManagerialApproach. McGraw-Hill CompaniesUniversity of Phoenix. (2006). General Marketing. Retrieved February 16, 2008, fromUniversity of Phoenix, Resource, Simulation, MKT421-Marketing Web site:https://mycampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/vendors/tata/UBAMsims/general_marketing/general_marketing_perceptual_maps_simulation.html

Ethical Decision Making: Nike Case Study

Ethical Decision Making: Nike Case Study 1. OBJECTIVE The main objective of writing this report is to help students gain a deeper understanding regarding the course CBEB 3101 Business Ethics. Through this course, we get to learn how to make ethical decisions in a company. Some of the principles that we have learned are the principle of utilitarianism and principle of rights. By writing this report, we get to learn how to apply the theories learned in lectures into real life cases and situations. Different situations have different theories and principles. We also get to learn the proper steps in the decision making model, which are determine the facts, identify the ethical issues involve, identify stakeholders and consider the situation from their point of view, consider available alternative, consider how a decision affects stakeholders, make a decision and monitor outcomes. Besides that, we get to build stronger relationships among our group members. All the time spent together discussing and analyzing the case study helps to strengthen our bond and molds us into becoming a more responsible person in the future. We also get to see the corporate world from a different point of view, whereby being ethical is very important. 2. INTRODUCTION Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman are the founders of Blue Ribbon Sports in the year 1964. Later, it was renamed as Nike in the year 1978 whereby it received its name from the Greek goddess of victory. Nike has become the worlds major supplier for athletic shoes and sport apparels. As to remain competitive in the market, Nike searched for cheaper resources and markets. Therefore, Nike had shifted its production to lower manufacturing cost countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Later in the 1980s, production had moved to Southern China. However, as Japans economic started expanding, the manufacturing cost increased. Therefore, Nike shifted its contracts to Vietnam, Indonesia and China. Starting from the mid 1990s, there were criticisms from human right protectors and media regarding labour health and safety conditions, low wages and discrimination in the hiring and firing process. Therefore, Nike started to take actions as to rescue its reputation. Since 1991, Nikes corporate social responsibility practices started evolving. As time passed, Nike revised its code of conduct and became more ethical in its manufacturing practices. In 1998, Nikes revenues and stock prices had decreased dramatically. Due to that, Nike laid off 1600 workers. Nike then immediately started to launch several public relations campaigns as to reduce the damage to its reputation. A code of conduct was implemented with Global Alliances to review all of Nikes factories. On August 1996, Nike Corporation joined the Apparel Industry Partnership to draft a code of conduct for the usage of the whole industry. In 1998, audit tools were developed to increase the transparency in order to evaluate the compliance with the company standard, Nikes Code Leadership Standards by those subcontractors. In addition, Bike had disclosed the names and locations of its subcontractors factories in the year 2000. The reason for disclosing its supply chain was to enhance monitoring and make changes. The Corporate Responsibility Board was developed during the year 2001. The purpose of the board is to review the policies and activities and therefore, make recommendations to the board of directors regarding labour and environmental practices. The organizational environment of Nike is a competitive market. In order to remain competitive, Nike had moved the production to poorer nation countries where low cost labour was attainable. Therefore, Nike subcontracted its production to other countries without proper regulation on the working conditions of workers and wages. Simple time line of events Year Descriptions 1964 Phil Knight and William Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports. 1965 Jeff Johnson signed an agreement with Blue Ribbon Sports to be a full time employee. 1966 Jeff Johnson opens the first Blue Ribbon Sports retail outlet in Santa Monica, California. Phil Knight and William Bowerman signed a formal written Partnership. 1967 Company was incorporated and named as Blue Ribbon Sports Inc. 1971 Swoosh trademark is created by a graphic student named Carolyn Davidson for a fee of $35. Jeff Johnson dreams of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. 1972 Litigation on distribution and broke the business relationship between Blue Ribbon Sports and Onitsuka Tiger. 1973 Romanian tennis star Ilie Nastase was the first professional athlete who signed the endorsement contract with Blue Ribbon Sports to wear Nike Shoes. 1977 Blue Ribbon Sports starts the first US track and training club called Athletics West. 1978 Blue Ribbon Sports officially change its name to Nike. 1981 Nike begins promotional efforts in China by supplying the national basketball team with sports apparel and footwear. 1988 Nike acquired Cole Haan which is the producer of mens and womens footwear, outerwear and accessories. 1993 Nike introduced a program called Reuse A Shoe which collects athletic shoes and makes athletic courts and fields. 1995 Reuse A Shoe began to collect old shoes from Nike retail stores. 1998 Phil Knight set standards for Nike subcontracted factories: minimum age, air quality, mandatory education programs, expansion of microloan program, factory monitoring and increase the transparency of Nikes corporate social responsibility practices. 1999 Bill Bowerman died at the age of 88. 2001 Nike developed a Corporate Responsibility (CR) Board to review the policies and make recommendations to the board of directors on labour and environment practices. 2002 Nike partnered with National Recycling Coalition to set up the drop off stations in Europe and Australia. 2004 Phil Knight stepped down as CEO and president of Nike but continues to work as chairman in Nike. 2. ISSUES AND ANALYSIS Issue 1: Nikes Manufacturing Practices on Sweatshop Summary To be competitive in the market as well as keeping the manufacturing costs low, Nike had shifted its contract to low labour cost countries such as China, Vietnam Indonesia, Pakistan and etc. Nikes reputation was damaged especially due to accusations on human and labour rights violations by labour rights activists and the mainstream media. The accusations were deficiencies in working environment, health and safety conditions and low wages and indiscriminate in hiring and firing practices in the factories. Roberta Baskins CBS had reported about the conditions in Nikes manufacturing factories in Indonesia. Even though subcontracted work to poor nations had created employment, the pay was merely $1.60 a day to Vietnam factory workers when the living wage is around $3 per day (Hill, 2009). In this situation, is it ethical for Nike to treat its labourers this way? Analysis We can evaluate the practices by using these principles: Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a moral theory whereby we should act in ways that produce the most pleasure or happiness for the greatest number of people affected by our actions. By using utilitarian reasoning, the following are the good and bad consequences: Good Consequences Bad Consequences Increase profitability of the company. Labourers welfare are ignored. Shareholders wealth is maximised. Company reputation has been affected badly by those practices. Customers loyalty towards the company becomes a doubt. From the overall consequences, even though increasing profit of the company can ensure the shareholders wealth, it is more important to take care of their employees welfare and gain trust and maintain a profitable relationship with its customers. This is because employees and customers are the primary stakeholders of the company who have the ability to influence the business of the company and especially those whose continual association is necessary for a firms survival. Therefore, in the long term, it is found that the unethical practices of Nike had negatively influenced stakeholders and changed the perception of the shareholders towards the company. Principle of Rights The basic human rights under Kantian are the rights that are the result of particular roles, special relationships or specific circumstances. Nike as an employer should consider the rights of its employees to have a safe working environment and a competitive wage instead of being a sweatshop labour. Although Nike is doing a much better job with foreign labour relations compared to other corporations, Nike should not be comparing itself to other companies. Rather, it should be holding itself to the absolute highest ethical standards it can attain. Principle of Duty Based on this principle, rightness of our actions depends on whether we perform our duties. If we fail to carry out our duties in the society, our acts are considered unethical or wrong. In our opinion, we feel that all the contractual factories in developing countries or any further subcontracted out work of Nike has a moral duty to ensure the health and financial well-being of all the people who work for it. Categorical Imperative Principle of universalizability mentions that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. Nikes management team should put themselves in the labourers shoes and they will find out that they would not want their employers to violate their rights to have safe working conditions and fair wages. As a result, Nikes practice on sweatshop labour is wrong. Therefore, it has to work on its corporate responsibilities to make sure its practices have improved. Besides that, principle of ends means that we must respect humanity and never exploit others to achieve our own benefit or purpose. Nikes act of exploiting other human beings such as the sweatshop practice is to serve its own interest which is to maintain low manufacturing cost. Principle of Equal Liberty Each person has an equal right to be treated equally under the principle of equal liberty. Obviously, Rawls would disagree with Nikes labour and business practices as it is unethical for Nike to overwork its employees or perhaps pay them meager wages just so it can supply shoes to America. Besides that, in order to fulfill the expectation as an employer, it is necessary to appreciate individual diversity and become more dedicated to offering equal opportunity to each individual. Issue 2: Nikes Manufacturing Practices on Child Labours Summary In this issue, Nikes contracted factories hire children to work overtime at below minimum pay as the children are not capable to make right decisions and unable to differentiate pros and cons of certain matters. Hence, children have been exploited to work for the subcontracted factories. The issue being is: whether it is ethical for Nike to hire child labours to reduce manufacturing cost? Analysis Utilitarianism Based on utilitarianism, below is the comparison of good and bad consequences of this issue: Good Consequences Bad Consequences Nike gets cheap labour and low cost facilities and therefore, low cost of production allows Nike to set lower price on its product to attract more consumers. Children suffer psychological and physical harms. Bring in foreign investments and job opportunities and therefore, alleviate poverty level for the countries that Nike are operating in. Denied opportunities for childrens education. Extremely low pay still cannot alleviate poverty of the countries. From the overall consequences to the entire society, Nike had violated the theory of utilitarianism As one of the largest multinational companies, Nike should have carefully evaluated the outcome of using low cost labours. From the analysis, hiring child labours to serve its own interest to keep low labour cost is unethical. Principle of Rights Children have their right to get their education instead of working as they are under age according to the law of the country. Therefore, Nike should not hire child labour which violates their right to stay in school and receive education. Categorical Imperative Under the principle of universalizability, Nike should put itself into the situation of the child and will realize that it also does not want to work under such working conditions with such a low pay. Nike also should not exploit the children to serve its own interest to keep the low labour cost because the act is unethical according to the principle of means. Principle of Equal Liberty Children in Nikes contracted factories countries should be given an equal opportunity and treated as the children in other country as they are underage to work and supposed to have their education. Issue 3: Contract between Nike and University of North Carolina Summary In order to work on CSR after the incident which deeply affected the companys reputation, Nike had entered into a social contract with the University of North Carolina. Nikes contract requires all UNC athletes to wear its brand. In this issue, whether is it ethical to bind all UNC athletes under the contract? Analysis Utilitarianism Based on this concept, there are some benefits from the contract, such as, Nike has pumped in money which brings pleasure to the athletic department and the student athletes by virtue of wearing Nikes brand, improving Nikes reputation and rebuilding their confidence in public. However, the university should consider how the contract would affect the academic integrity and goals of the institution. It is more important to look at the issue from the perspective of athletes and the institution which will bring more consequences to the firm. Rawls theory of individual liberty Under this theory, it will disagree with the contract for the lone reason being the athletes have lost their individual rights to chose whether or not to wear Nikes brand. Even if the institution has maximized pleasure for itself, at the same time it infringes on the choice of its athletes. There is no right for the social institution to take away a basic individual right. Besides that, Nike also should not restrict the individuals right to have their own choice to wear other companys brand. Principle of Duty According to this principle, the University also has a moral responsibility to itself and Nike. It is morally obligated to use its position of power to encourage Nike to work harder to improve its business practices. Besides that, it also has a moral obligation to back out of a contract with any corporation that lacks ethical business integrity. Issue 4: Enhancing Nikes images by using endorsers Summary In this issue, Nike has signed with some well-known athletes as its endorsers to project a better athletic image for itself. For example. Nike has signed an endorser contract with famous basketball legend, Micheal Jordan. According to the contract, Nike has created more revenue from his fans with launching more new series of producst. In return, Nike paid 20 million per year to Micheal Jordan as its endorser. At the same time, labourers at its contract factories were paid low wages which was just above the minimum standard. In this issue, is it ethical for Nike to pay its labors and endorses unfairly? Analysis Utilitarianism Based on this principle, it solely benefits the company and the endorser while the labourers suffer from low wages. It is more beneficial to every party if Nike can use the money paid to the endorser and spend some on its employees welfare. Therefore, we think that Nike is unethical to pay its endorser such a large amount of money instead of taking care of its employees welfare. Principle of Right Under this issue, the employees have the right to get fair wages and deserve to get better treatment. Principle of Universalizability It is unethical for Nike to treat its employees as an end for themselves and never only as a mean to its own ends. Principle of Justice Employees should have fair wages and deserve to get their welfare whereby Nike should treat them equally with its endorsers. It is unfair to pay the endorsers so high but not taking care of its employees welfare. Actions taken From the case study we know that the corporate culture in Nike did not have a strong ethical focus which was to encourage its employees of the factories in many other countries to practice the ethical behaviours in the past. However, Nike then implements some efforts to instil ethical behaviours and practices and later became an ethical corporate in the industry after going through some critical period with negative issues on its business practices. In our opinion, we feel that Nike has used the integrity-based approach which is a value-driven approach with emphasis on employee responsibility for ethical conduct. It is a better approach which the employees are instructed to act with integrity and conduct business dealings honestly. Besides that, Nike may set goals of an integrity-based approach as it is a broader and more expansive application to the firm. For example, maintaining brands and reputation by ensuring the good quality of products and honesty to its consumers, and creating a better working environment for employees whereby the safety of employees is emphasized. Furthermore, we think that currently Nike focuses on the stakeholder theory instead of shareholder theory in its firm. All the stakeholders groups and their well being should be taken into account whenever the company wishes to take any significant managerial decision but not merely focus on financial and economic relationships with owners. In the past decade, Nike has taken CSR as its social contract. For example, University of North Carolina had entered into a corporate sponsorship agreement with Nike. On the other hand, Nike also undertook CSR because of its enlightened self-interest where CSR activities bring commercial returns to the firm. Especially after the damage by the media to the companys reputation, Nike started to undertake CSR activities in order to enhance its reputation and rebuild its good image. However, Nike now meets its standard for being a good corporate citizen after making progress for years. Corporate Social Responsibility It is a reactive concept where businesses try to do the minimum to fulfil the expectation of stakeholders. In the article, there are some discussions on Nikes CSR practices: Environmental Sustainability Nike had developed ReUse-A-Shoe Program and then expanded it by partnering with the National Recycling Coalition to promote environmental-friendly practices and encourage consumer about this issue. Code of Conduct This is the first step taken by Nike to improve the working conditions in its factories. It complies with the principle of justice, fulfils the duties as an employer to reach the desired level of employer responsibility. Other than comply with the laws and regulations, the company also strives to satisfy the expectation as a leader. Factory Transparency This is the corporate social responsiveness undertaken by Nike as it is the proactive actions where the firm anticipate the needs of stakeholders and try to fulfil those needs before the stakeholders demand them to do so. Nike had publicly disclosed its supply chain as it believes that can be more successful in monitoring and making changes as once issues have been uncovered, not only in its own factories but in an industry-wide basis. Furthermore, implementation of Balanced Scorecard for its suppliers helps the firm better assess factory compliance with the code of conduct. Corporate Responsibility Board Nike developed a Corporate Responsibility Board in 2001 to review policies and activities and make recommendations to the board of directors regarding certain important fields. Through the effort of the CR board, there were significant improvements in its business practices whereby the employees are now aware of their rights and have the opportunity to be educated and well-trained. Philanthropy Each year, Nike proactively donates product and contribution in cash to non-profit organizations and NGOs creating social changes through sports disaster relief efforts around the world. Nowadays, Nike has focused on innovation, collaboration, transparency and advocacy to prepare the company to thrive in a sustainable economy. There are some important initiatives for the company that are included in the CR report which includes Considered Design, GreenXchange (GX), Lean and Human Resource Management (HRM), Sport for Social Change, Energy and Climate Change Strategy. In 2008, Nike launched a footwear energy efficiency program with five contract manufacturers. Nikes commitment to collaboration on this project has shown excellent early results where the contract factories absolute CO2 footprint was down 6 percent despite a 9 percent increase in production. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS Due to the ethical issues discussed in the Nike case, we have come up with several recommendations on how to solve the problems occurred throughout the case. We hope that this can also serve as a guideline to other companies as well. First of all, the company management should be stricter on the rules and standards set by themselves. This will make sure that they follow or obey the rules of the company. In this case, the top management of Nike in the US should ensure that all the other retail outlets or factories all around the world follow a standard procedure in everything that they do. This will help them in monitoring all the other outlets around the world. This can also help avoid the issue of poor conditions, child labour, widespread harassment and abuse that has happened in some countries. When other manufacturers all over the world know the standard and code of ethics that they should follow, they will not do what they have done that caused all the issues to arise. This is because they have a guideline to follow and they know that whatever procedure that they are doing will be monitored by the top management. The top management should make sure that they provide a healthy and safe workplace for all its em ployees. This is because their employees have the right to be in a healthy and safe workplace. A poor condition of the workplace is wrong and is one of the main allegations that Nike had to deal with. Next, the management team and employees should also be sent for training once in awhile. This is important as it helps to establish a better corporate culture. This culture shapes the people who are members of the organization as it is a blend of ideas, beliefs, customs, traditional practices, company values, and shared meanings that help define and guide normal behaviour for everyone who work in a company. It is important to continuously train its employees so that the employees become more disciplined and responsible. They will always think of the best interest of the company and not be easily influenced by other factors that might bring the company down. This will help them have a sense of accountability and responsibility towards the company. One of the main issues that Nike was facing was child labour. Therefore, we have come up with an idea that might help solve this problem. Nike began to offshore its production of footwear and other sporting equipment because it wanted to remain competitive and keep manufacturing cost at a low. To solve this, instead of using child labour, Nike can actually install and use machines in it production. At the beginning it might be a little costly but in the long run, it will help the company save a lot of money. It is not only faster, but it also helps Nike save money in the long run and the management does not have to worry about any child labour allegations or poor working conditions. Besides that, the top management of Nike can also perform employee monitoring. The kind of employee monitoring meant over here is checking out the work done by the employees. They could perhaps send some spies or third parties to see how the employees perform their work but at the same time not let the employees know that they are being watched. Lastly, the ethics and compliance system should also be improved. Currently, there is only one person in charge of ten factories and inspection is only done for about 25 percent of the factories. The top management should make sure that it inspects every factory. This can be done by setting up a chart or timeline whereby they have already discussed and come to an agreement on when and which factory should be inspected throughout the year. This is a more systematic approach and the management must make sure that they follow what they have drawn up. CONCLUSION Running a company as big as Nike is definitely not an easy job as the management has to satisfy not only the shareholders of the company, but the stakeholders too. No matter what has happened in the past, Nike has learned its lesson. Remaining competitive and keeping manufacturing costs at a low should not be the only objective of the company. Due to its negligence in certain areas, Nikes allegations of poor conditions and child labour has become a global issue. This is not only bad for Nikes image but it has permanently tarnished its reputation. However, Nike never gave up and has continued to win back the hearts of its stakeholders by carrying out a lot of CSR. Even though it may still have a long way to go in the area of corporate responsibility, it can be seen that it is slowly receiving good responses from the industry. Nike will always continue to be a major brand throughout the whole world.

The Importance of a Role Model in The Adventures of Huckberry Finn by M

â€Å"The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me† (Twain 1). The role of a parent is important in a person’s life, as they learn the acceptable way to live their lives, and even how to act spiritually. As people begin to grow up, they remember the traits and guidelines given by their guardians, and use them to establish their own beliefs and shape their actions. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain exemplifies the influence of morals and religion that the Widow Douglas teaches young Huck and he returns to throughout the novel. Mark Twain begins by describing Huck staying in the Widow’s home and conforming to the social norm of civilized behavior he says he â€Å"was getting sort of used to the widow’s ways, too, and they warn’t so raspy on me† (Twain 19). Huckleberry is beginning to appreciate the lifestyle of the widow. He begins to like his education, and the love that he receives from the woman. He learns how to be a more respectable human being as he sees the goodness of the Widow’s ways, but as the good characteristics begin to appear they are hindered by the maleficent aspects of his poor initial upbringing. Huck recounts "Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the Widow to let me. But she wouldn't. She said it was a mean practice and wasn't clean, and I must try to not do it anymore" (Twain 2). The Widow passively attempts to control Huck and force him to conform to the society that he has been attempting to avoid by sneaking away. The idea of smoking represen ts all the things that Huck use to do in his old life, however the things that are comfortable to Huck are not accepted by the world, and society endeavors to remove the controversial subject or make it change to fit... ...shows that the boy wishes to be accepted into the religion of the Widow and will do things to help him reach the next life. Huckleberry also remembers that the good people help even the criminals and that he should try to help all sorts of people who are in need. The Widow’s teachings of Christianity have a lasting affect on Huckleberry Finn as he tries to live his life according to the rules he was given and experiences the impact of prayer. The Importance of Widow in Mark Twain’s novel is shown as Huck Finn experiences the rules and spiritual guidelines the widow has taught him, and they impact his actions in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. People often use the morals they remember from the role models they had when growing up. But, however people remember the teachings of their role models, ultimately they are free to make their own decisions in their lives. The Importance of a Role Model in The Adventures of Huckberry Finn by M â€Å"The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me† (Twain 1). The role of a parent is important in a person’s life, as they learn the acceptable way to live their lives, and even how to act spiritually. As people begin to grow up, they remember the traits and guidelines given by their guardians, and use them to establish their own beliefs and shape their actions. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain exemplifies the influence of morals and religion that the Widow Douglas teaches young Huck and he returns to throughout the novel. Mark Twain begins by describing Huck staying in the Widow’s home and conforming to the social norm of civilized behavior he says he â€Å"was getting sort of used to the widow’s ways, too, and they warn’t so raspy on me† (Twain 19). Huckleberry is beginning to appreciate the lifestyle of the widow. He begins to like his education, and the love that he receives from the woman. He learns how to be a more respectable human being as he sees the goodness of the Widow’s ways, but as the good characteristics begin to appear they are hindered by the maleficent aspects of his poor initial upbringing. Huck recounts "Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the Widow to let me. But she wouldn't. She said it was a mean practice and wasn't clean, and I must try to not do it anymore" (Twain 2). The Widow passively attempts to control Huck and force him to conform to the society that he has been attempting to avoid by sneaking away. The idea of smoking represen ts all the things that Huck use to do in his old life, however the things that are comfortable to Huck are not accepted by the world, and society endeavors to remove the controversial subject or make it change to fit... ...shows that the boy wishes to be accepted into the religion of the Widow and will do things to help him reach the next life. Huckleberry also remembers that the good people help even the criminals and that he should try to help all sorts of people who are in need. The Widow’s teachings of Christianity have a lasting affect on Huckleberry Finn as he tries to live his life according to the rules he was given and experiences the impact of prayer. The Importance of Widow in Mark Twain’s novel is shown as Huck Finn experiences the rules and spiritual guidelines the widow has taught him, and they impact his actions in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. People often use the morals they remember from the role models they had when growing up. But, however people remember the teachings of their role models, ultimately they are free to make their own decisions in their lives.

Depression And Self-Loathing Essays -- essays research papers

Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Depression strikes a large number of people around the world. It can be brought on by many things, such as childhood trauma, social issues, and drug use. The one thing that sets depression apart from many other mental afflictions is that everyone who has it may have it for different reasons and are taking different steps to remedy it. Some seek psychoanalysis while some rely on a pill to make them feel better. Others turn to self-medication, in the case of depression known as self-loathing, self-mutilation, and suicide. There are endless studies regarding depression being performed worldwide which become very specific in nature. An interesting aspect of depression that sets it apart from other psychological difficulties is that depression can be brought on a person by themselves. If people allow themselves to be victims of self-loathing, depression and its symptoms are sure to be close behind. A Literature Review on Depression and Self-Loathing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Research over years past indicates that depression is a more common affliction amongst the American people than most are led to believe. Depression is a multi-faceted adversity, as there are many things that are able to spawn it, and many things are able to come from it as well. Depression can be medically defined as a disease, and there are a number of treatments that medical professionals believe can remedy or abate the symptoms of it, although there have been numerous complaints about medical treatments designed to aid in a person’s struggles with depression. While self-loathing is a common precursor to depression, it rarely stops there. Next comes the full-fledged depression which in some cases is followed by self-mutilation or suicide attempts. Anti-depressant medication and psychoanalysis commonly follow. It has been found that there are some outside sources that may influence depression in a person that would not seem to have any link whatsoever to t he condition. Regardless, depression is an affliction that has been around for ages, and unless revolutionary findings are made, it can be inferred that it will be an infirmity that will plague people for time to come as well. Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A major culprit behind the concept of self-loathing is today’s media influence on the American populace. Today’s information techno... ...d has high hopes for the future, they are not likely to sink into a depression deep enough to merit psychoanalysis or anti-depressant medication prescriptions. Past events are crucial in determining whether or not a person may be diagnosed with depression in the future, for it is very rare that a fortunate person who has not had to cope with loss will find themselves suffering from symptoms of depression. One can also not expect to feel like they did before the affliction once they start taking medication to help. It is extremely rare that a person is one hundred percent satisfied with how they feel during the courses of medication to alleviate depression. It is also more likely a person will attempt suicide or self-mutilation if they are diagnosed with depression and are prescribed anti-depressants. This is one warning sign compiled with many others in what may cause youth to want to end their life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Depression is a rather simple infirmity when it is broken down. It is not always brought about by inborn psychological problems like other mental diseases are. As simple as it may be, it is a problem that plagues a very large number of people worldwide.

Use of Doubt To Persuade Essay -- Successful Persuasion Essays

Persuasion goes on around us everyday, all the time, on television, on advertisements, even in conversations with friends. Perhaps because of this, much has been written on how to persuade more effectively. Most of this literature is built upon the notion that to persuade is to urge successfully and completely. Going along these lines, certainty and confidence are logical complements to effective persuasion, since we cannot hope to convince others when we are ourselves in doubt. Doubt, therefore, is felt to be at the other end of the spectrum and antithetical to persuasion. But the art of persuasion is a human art, and so it is a living art, which cannot be satisfactorily summed up between the covers of self-improvement guides. In reality, successful persuasion can somewhat deviate from the conventional criteria of certainty; in fact, even doubt can be used to persuade. This exciting possibility appears unlikely from the start, because there is an inherent paradox in the notion that doubt can persuade. This contradiction is even clearer when we consider persuasion in the form of a speech given to a large audience. To be able to hold his own in front of a crowd, the speaker, surely, must be certain of himself and what he wants to say. But there is a possible approach by which orators can round the corner of persuading with doubt, and even make doubt work to their advantage. Given that the doubt is a shared concern of both the speaker and his audience, a candid confession of uncertainty may open new emotional inroads into the audience. By serving as a common denominator and a common challenge to both parties, a shared doubt when brought into the open can direct the combined energies of the listeners towards finding a workable so... ...nd genuine than an outward show of sorrow. In this case, to contrive is to constrict. Doubt as an instinct embedded in persuasion transcends common rhetoric as it moves beyond the rational sphere of intellect into the domain of unbridled emotions. For this reason, and also because it was with an intention to explore persuasion beyond conventional notions that we set out to study the use of doubt in the first place, it is impossible and indeed unnecessary to encapsulate the skill of persuading with doubt within any sort of generalising guidelines. To subject this practice to prescriptive limits is to sever its lifeline-the vital element of spontaneity that moves with circumstances. As Lee lamented, "sometimes, history takes many devious turns"; it was exactly through one such quirk of history that his speech in 1965 achieved such astonishing payoffs ("Press" 9).

Figure of Speech in A Valediction Essay

John Donne’s â€Å"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning† is an amazing love poem with beautiful figurative language, a farewell to Donne’s wife before their long partition. The writer assures his loved the parting will do no harm and praises on their endless love. With his competent writing style using extended metaphors, comparisons along with connotation and denotation throughout the poem, Donne expresses his belief in the strength of their angelic love to get through the physical separation. In 1611, John Donne had to leave for a Europe trip, leaving behind his pregnant wife (Brackett). He wrote this poem as a farewell pledging his wife on their reunion and suggesting her not to be sorrowful. The writer uses several methods of figure of speech, among which are the donatives of vocabulary of the poem. The word â€Å"valediction† in the title is the act of bidding farewell, mourning is grieving or crying for a loss, â€Å"laity† in line 8 refers to common, ordinary people, â€Å"sublunary† (line 13) refers to being below the moon and â€Å"elemented† (16) is being the component of something. These denotations play an important role in the poem to mask the meaning of the word, forcing its audience to pay close attention to every detail. Besides these words, extended metaphor links numerous imageries and comparisons in the poem creating the most famous love poem of Donne’s works. Donne begins the poem with the â€Å"virtuous men† (1) image. He compares the separation between lovers to souls parting their bodies, life coming to death. These â€Å"virtuous men† (1) are immortal in the living’s memory, even though their souls may have left their physical covers. As the memory remains, they will still be there with their beloved ones. Therefore they die without fear, facing death with peace and courage. Donne uses this comparison to announce to his wife, that the love they share is far too great, too profound to be affected by mere physical separation. He also says in his sermons: â€Å"Death, is the Divorce of body and soul; Resurrection is the Re-union. . . .† (Freccero). They have no fear of separation like those decent men have no fear for death. The union of body and soul after death will serve as a symbol of reunion of the lovers later on in the poem. In the second stanza, the poet asks his wife to â€Å"melt, and make no noise/ No  tear-floods, nor sight-tempests move;† (5-6). The word â€Å"melt† symbolizes the unity of two people become one, not two separated individuals. The poet tells his dear wife to shed no tears, for that action is only for the â€Å"laity â€Å"(8). This parting forbids mourning, as the couple has such dedicated meaning; Donne praised his love to be above of those common people. If they publicly display their grief, he feels it would taint the love he shares with his wife by being no better than the love of ordinary people. Donne pleads with his lady to accept his departure. Then the writer moves from the â€Å"laity† people to a larger view of the whole universe (Brackett). â€Å"But the trepidation of the spheres,/ Though greater far, is innocent† (11-12). â€Å"Trepidation of the spheres† is meant to talk about the moving of the Earth and other planets. In Donne’s time people still believe the Earth is the center of the universe, and other planets move around it (Brackett). Although men wonder about the nature of these movements of the universe, and blame â€Å"harms and fear† (9) on those planets, the truth is the nature is â€Å"innocent† (12). Men with their weakness suffer from their own mistakes, not from influence of the stars or such matters. As Donne and his love have reached the level of angelic love, which has a symbol of a perfect circle, they are of no guilt for all misfortune and mistakes the normal people have (Freccero). This metaphor refers to the main image of the poem, the compass. This symbol in later reference also has a stable stand in the center, with another part moving around it creating a perfect circle. The everlasting spinning of the Earth is like the lover’s romance,In the fourth stanza, Donne ranks the â€Å"dull sublunary lovers† (13) as the ones who cannot truthfully understand the depth of love like his and his wife’s since he place his romance to the level of the universe, these â€Å"under the moon† relationship â€Å"whose soul is sense† (14) cannot bear absence of their partner. They simply have a physical bond, among them lacks the spiritual connection that keeps the relationship unwavering through time and space. He sees this type of love as weak in essence, because it is not based correctly on the bonding of two souls, but more on the bonding of two bodies. It cannot endure such an absence as Donne must take from his spouse, as it would â€Å". . . remove/ those things which elemented it† (16). They do not have the bond even when being apart and as a result would not be able to stand the trials of distance. They would be torn apart by absence because they are  no longer together to cement the feelings that they once possessed. Donne and his wife have the type of romance that is â€Å"so much refined† (17), they cannot even understand it. Their relationship is not only about missing the eyes, the lover’s lip or the warmth of their hands. Their feeling here is the loss of a part of themselves. Though the feeling is hard to bear, believing in the other’s return helps them get through the separation. In the next stanza Donne creates another spectacular metaphor. â€Å"Our two souls, therefore, which are one† (21) declares them as two living bodies but sharing one heart and one soul. The separation will only be â€Å"a reach, but expansion† (23), compared to â€Å"gold to airy thinness beat† (24). Gold can be expanded and condensed over and over again, but it will never break. The strength of gold is also the strength of the love between the couple. Like gold, it cannot be severed or torn by expansion. The most important symbol, the key link of the chain of metaphors appears in the seventh stanza:If they be two, they are two soAs stiff twin compasses are two:Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show, To move, but doth, if th’ other do (25-28). Like the compass is made of a center and a rotating foot that â€Å"makes no show to move, but doth, if th’ other do† (27-28), the lovers stay connected through the soul though their bodies are apart. Although the center and the foot are stretched out, they are still joined at the beginning. However as the center foot stays still, when the other moves away it still â€Å"leans and hearkens† (31). The unrelated mathematical device suddenly becomes a dramatic metaphor describing the couple’s situation. The lady staying at home as the center, waiting and missing her man, longing after every step her husband takes, with part of her soul watching over him. Meanwhile the man, as the moving foot drawing out, still has a part of him lingering back at home with his love. No matter how far the geographic distance between them, they are as one with their love bond. Together they make a perfect circle, the angelic love model as an Aristotelian circle (Tate). Notably a circle with a point in the center also is the seventeenth century symbol for gold (Divine), as mentioned earlier it stands for the ability to stretch out but not to break of the soul. Seeing no loss in the parting, the couple  pictures their happy reunion: â€Å"thy firmness makes my circle just, and makes me end where I began† (35-36). Like a circle, the lovers will end up together. They have to experience separation, but after the separation comes uniting. Once a circle is formed, the beginning point and the ending point become one. The poem is full of original ideas and associations; it is complex, and highly intellectual. John Donne incredibly creates unique figurative language in his work, making â€Å"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning† his most famous love poem. Along with using the rich imagery and metaphors skillfully he dedicates the poem to his beloved wife with a beautiful message: the deserving soul will return to the awaiting body, as the traveler will return to his darling (Freccero). Works Cited Brackett, Virginia†Ã¢â‚¬ËœA Valediction Forbidding Mourning’.† Facts On File Companion toBritish Poetry, 17th and 18th Centuries. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=CBP1029&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 17, 2009). Divine, Jay Dean. â€Å"Compass and Circle in Donne’s ‘A Valediction: ForbiddenMourning,'† Papers on Language and Literature 9, no. 1 (Winter 1973): pp. 78-80. Quoted as â€Å"The Symbolic Importance of the Compass† in Harold Bloom, ed. John Donne, Bloom’s Major Poets. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 1998. (Updated 2007.) Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=BMPJD30&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 17, 2009). Donne, John. â€Å"A Valediction Forbidding Mourning†. 1611. Rpt. in Compact LiteratureReading Reacting Writing. By Kirszner and Mandell. 6th ed. 2007. Freccero, John. â€Å"Donne’s ‘Valediction: Forbidding Mourning'† from English LiteraryHistory 30, no. 3 (March 1963): pp. 336-38. Quoted as â€Å"The Circle of Love† in Harold Bloom, ed. John Donne, Bloom’s Major Poets. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 1998. (Updated 2007.) Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=BMPJD32&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 17, 2009). Tate, Allen. Essays of Four Decades (Chicago: Swallow Press, 1968): pp. 247-49. Quoted as â€Å"Movement in the ‘Valediction'† in Harold Bloom, ed. John Donne, Bloom’s Major Poets. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 1998. (Updated 2007.) Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=BMPJD33&SingleRecord=True (accessed June 17, 2009).

Distinctive Voices Essay

Through the use of techniques, writers are evidently able to create a wide range of distinctive voices and bring people and their experiences to life. When distinctive voices are created, it helps the reader to understand and perhaps even relate to the character of the text. The use of distinctive voices ensures people to be created and their experiences to be brought to life. â€Å"The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender†, written by Marele Day, is strategically able to create distinctive voices and experiences throughout the novel by incorporating a variety of characters including Claudia Valentine, a female investigator in big city Sydney, Australia, and Harry Lavender, the antagonist of the novel and the boss of Sydney’s underworld. Day’s strong and clever use of techniques, effectively create a range of significant, distinctive voices. In contrast, â€Å"Weapons Training† by Bruce Dawe is able to create a very strong, distinctive voice that brings to li fe the character of a strong-minded, stern drill sergeant, as he delivers a monologue to all the young new recruits. Both texts have used a deliberate choice of techniques, and creation of the distinctive voices within the texts. Claudia Valentine is the main character of Marele Day’s hard boiled crime fiction novel; ‘The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender’. Claudia’s character is quite significant as there are very few detective novels written and published that have a female private investigator as the main character. For the entirety of the novel, the style is set in first person narrative voice. This indicates the reader with be seeing the events through the character’s eyes and hearing about them through her distinctive voice. Through the setting of Sydney and visual images such as the empty bottle of whisky, ashtrays of cigarettes, the naked light bulb and the blond in the bed, Day establishes a racy, contemporary urban city scene with the pessimistic and derisive voice of the narrator to be our guide. Throughout the opening scene, we are ignorant of the narrators sex and name. This is  purposely done to play with the responders assumptions in response to gender stereo types and to build the tough, determined and witty voice of Claudia Valentine. Claudia’s voice changes throughout the novel. The opening passage establishes Claudia’s voice as being that of a typical private investigator. This is to aid to the crime fiction genre idea. This anchors the reader’s perception of the character as firmly part of the crime fiction genre. Her tone is formal when speaking in a professional capacity, for example, when speaking to the Levack family; â€Å"I’ll come straight to the point Mrs Levack. I’m investigating the death of Mark Bannister , who lived over there in that flat.†. This formal, straight-forward and firm voice is Claudia’s public voice. However, behind the strong ‘private investigator’ wall she holds up, Claudia has a very private voice which is hardly exposed to anyone but herself. We see this change in voice when she is with Steve Angell. Her language changes and softens somewhat in her interactions with Steve. She comments throughout the text; â€Å"The brightest thing about the day was that Steve had dropped into it†. Claudia’s ‘private’ voice also has a hint of seductiveness when she is communicating with Steve; â€Å"He was stunning. As tall as me, if not taller, with eyes like the pools you find beneath waterfalls. It was all I could do to stop myself taking off all my clothes and diving in.†. Claudia’s private voice also reveals a lot of love, worry and attachment to her two children her live with her ex-husband Gary. This is revealed through a phone call Claudia makes to Gary after she fears for her children’s safety; â€Å"To hear their voices, to know my flesh and blood was safe. My babies.†. In Day’s novel, another character with a distinctive voice is revealed, however this ‘distinctive voice’ is much different to the voice of Claudia. Harry Lavender, the antagonist of the novel, is the boss of Sydney’s crime underworld. Harry’s voice is distinctive in the poetic tone of the language used. The use of imagery and figurative language allows the reader to perceive Lavender as being a sophisticated and powerful character; ‘The people hold sprigs of lavender, like rosemary on Anzac day.’. Harry Lavender’s voice is powerful and evocative, as he describes how he will be  remembered when he dies, and how he has higher power over police and authority; ‘police allow me safe passage’. Even though Harry is dying, his body decaying, in the same way he has brought about the moral decay of the city, his voice is still ominous and commanding. Harry is a powerful man who has built his fame on an empire of corruption. He is used to being in control and ironically, we see Lavender unable to control the most important aspect of his life, his own body. Day uses various techniques in this passage to convey the voice of the crime boss, Harry Lavender. Day uses poetic and figurative language such as: ‘It is my image that is reflected in that glass.’ Day also uses metaphor in: ‘It is my body crumbling, not the city.’ to describe the way that the cancer is consuming and destroying Lavender’s body. Consecutive, short, and simple sentences are used to construct Lavender’s voice. And finally, repetition is used in the final line to reinforce Lavender’s command over the city and his influence in this place; ‘ They will remember me, oh yes, they will remember.’. In contrast, related text: Weapons Training by Bruce Dawe is able to bring a drill sergeant to life as well as his past experience through a distinctive voice. Dawe’s poem opens in the middle of a sentence, in the middle of the drill sergeant’s monologue. This device captures our attention and gives a sense of immediacy of being on the spot. This is effective as we are not just being told about the sergeant, we can actually hear him. The sergeant questions the young soldiers but doesn’t wait for answers. He talks so fast that recruits can hardly take in let alone think about it. This is effective as the soldiers and the readers have to learn to react reflexively. The thinking is done for the readers/soldiers and they have to absorb what is said without thinking about it and do what they are told. The drill sergeant speaks in a fairly broad Australian idiom, using the language and clichà ©d humour of the average Australian. Some of the colloquialisms used, such as ‘you’ve copped the bloody lot’ or ‘worse luck’ are specifically Australian. The dramatic quality used also helps to create a distinctive voice within the poem. He is the ‘typical’ bullying, sarcastic drill sergeant, so it’s easy for us to vividly imagine him and his voice. His language is colloquial; ‘are you a queer?, that’s right grab and check/the magazine man’ . His language is also full of clichà ©s including  sexual references; ‘your trusty weapon, a mob of little yellows’. Dawe’s techniques provide a very distinctive and strong voice for the poem. Through a strong use of techniques including Australian idiom, colloquialism and tone, both Marele Day and Bruce Dawe are effectively able to bring people and their experiences to life through distinctive voice.