Innovation, knowledge and learning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Innovation, knowledge and learning - Assignment Example Same is the case with students all around the world. They spend quite a while over the Internet and thus explore the intricate details that they have conducted over Facebook (Wilks and Pearce, 2011). This paper specifically takes a look at how Facebook forms a vital link between the teachers and their students through the knowledge management domains, and the role of this social networking tool within the norms and routines of the teenagers who will grow up to experience a totally unique and different life from what their forefathers saw. Facebook is a social platform where these students meet, discuss and share ideas, videos and do their postings. For the knowledge management stakeholders, e.g. teachers, it gives them a platform to understand how their students think of the world around them, what they are doing in their normal, day to day lives, and how they think and act in the wake of changing circumstances. It is a fact that Facebook has become an everyday routine, so much so th at it will shape up the coming times in a number of positive ways (McMellon, 2011). The negativities include the fact that people now interact with one another physically less and meet more often on the Internet, through Facebook (Shepherd, 2011). However for the sake of this discussion, the basis of Facebook being a help for the teachers around the world would be made note of (Desenberg, 2000). This will ask for the teachers to remain vigilant and alert as per their actions and thus showcase their truest selves through persistence and devotion (Weston, 2011). Facebook is a social learning tool as it gives out so much information that one can take hours at stretch to fathom. Same is the case for the teachers who are on the look-out for new trends and fads that have come up within the ranks of the students as well as within their own lives (Helvie-Mason, 2011). Concerning specifically within the limits of knowledge management and innovation, Facebook helps the teachers in the classro om as they already know what their students have been up to in the recent times. They can feel pride in knowing beforehand which students are enjoying their life to the maximum and which students have been visiting leisure places of late. All these pointers give them an idea that their students have busy lives just like their own (Greenfield, 2008). Similarly, the ones who are unwell and unable to attend school can also be found out through their status updates, pictures that are posted or shared across their walls, and so on and so forth (Han, 2001). Basically the teachers are finding reasons why their students are proactively driven, and what makes them feel different in the differing times within the classrooms and indeed in the school (Pike, Butler and Bateman, 2011). Facebook is suggestive because it tells the viewers what the profiles are telling them. It asks of the teachers to remain glued to their Home screen and find out who is doing what and which student is coming up wit h the best ideas within his field of life, and so on (Sams and Elliman, 2011). In essence, Facebook helps create that vital bridge between the students and the teachers which are required in this day and age (Halverson, 2011). Even at times, students can message their teachers and find out about certain things which are not related with their academic lives. This has a very interactive feel about the whole affair that comes about due to the presence of

Launch Of Green Tea In UAE: Marketing Plan

Launch Of Green Tea In UAE: Marketing Plan A marketing plan provides a sound framework for developing the marketing strategy for a product. It has a list of action items like sales objective, budget requirement, resource requirement etc. It is a very important part of the overall business plan. In the first submission, we had already talked at length about the cultural and economic analysis of the market and features of the product. This submission will carry forward from where we left in the last assignment. We will take a closer look at the intricacies of running a business like understanding the target market, designing a suitable promotion strategy, having an overview of distribution and production process etc. The last part explained in detail the benefits of the green tea. It also explains how it protects the body against the most important carcinogens or tumors that can attack the body which is: indirect chemical carcinogens, physical carcinogens and direct chemical carcinogens. We also analyze how to market the product and how will it work in the UAE. Such as: Culture analysis in the UAE, economic analysis in the UAE and competitive market analysis in the UAE. Traditional approach to look at any product based marketing involves understanding of: Financial data- Factors like what will be the estimated product cost, distribution cost, expenses etc. Product data- It involves understanding of product pricing and other formalities like packaging etc. Sales and distribution data It involves what should be the sale targets and associated costs and revenues. Advertising and sales promotion data which caters to promotion strategy for the product. Thus preparing a good marketing plan can be a very complex process. But in a nutshell the aim of any marketing plan is very simple, which is to understand the factors and situation which have an impact on successful running of the business. We have looked at the complete marketing plan from the perspective of our product-Green Tea hp. This will be a new product in UAE market. As a result the challenge with this product is to start afresh with all marketing strategies. This project deals with various aspects of a marketing plan. To begin with it addresses the marketing objectives. Marketing objectives encompass setting realistic sales and profit expectations. This involves analysis of the total market for the product and the share for our product. Besides it also involves understanding the target consumer. Next section talks about marketing strategies. Marketing strategies outlines programs which will help us reach the expected sales and profit targets outlined in marketing objectives. This involves how much and when to spend on advertising and other promotional activities. Next we have discussed the implementation intricacies for our business. Tasks such as distribution from USA to UAE and price determination for the product are dealt with in this phase. These tasks are closely related to the financial statements and budgets. For any new business, it is very critical that a close check should be kept on the budget allocated and required. It is always good to have a planned budget before embarking on any new venture. Last but not the least we have also looked at the resources required to sustainably run our new business. Understanding the mode of generating financial resources, personnel resource and production capacity have been dealt in great detail. Marketing Plan Marketing Objectives Target Markets A target market is a specific group of people which a business thinks as their potential customers. They have similar characteristics like age, demographics, income etc. They also have similar buying patterns and can be classified as a separate category. The business tries to target this category when developing marketing strategies for its products or services and all of its marketing messages and campaigns are dedicated towards the target market. To develop a powerful marketing plan, we should answer following questions regarding the target market: How well do we understand the needs of our target market? Can we relate to what our target consumers need and what we have to offer? Are there any ways by which we can offer highly customized products for different groups? What product should be made generic and what should be offered to a broad set of consumers? A well defined target market can build the success of any company. While making products available to a huge market looks attractive, we would like to target specific customers to make ourselves known in the market. This is because green tea is new product in UAE and is not well known. In our previous submission, we had highlighted that we would specifically target the age group of 15-50.This was based on the consumption pattern of this group. Demographics As we know UAE has a large foreign expatriate population. The total population of the UAE is estimated at 2.3 million people. Only about 20 percent which represent 460,000 people of these are UAE locals. The rest are foreign workers. We would target all the people for our product. The Age breakup of UAE is as follows    0à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢19 years: 27.4% (female 40,328,895, male 42,667,761 😉 20à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢64 years: 60.1% (female 90,813,578, male 89,881,041 😉 65 years and over: 12.6% (female 21,991,195, male 15,858,477) The above breakup highlights the huge proportion of working age group population in UAE. Lifestyle Lifestyle is one important key factor used in determining which segments are used to target customers. Some important information in this section is there which includes how the Emirates market lives, their hobbies, their interests and their extracurricular activities. Emirates are living in extremely hot climate and they use tea as part of greeting to their guests most of the time. Frequency Its important to try and find out how frequently target segment will use the offered product or service. Specifically, businesses should always determine if theyre looking for on time sale and be in premium segment or to target more customers more often through new and innovative marketing techniques. Emirates have decent per capita income and they usually prefer the large packs and try using new products that come in the market. One of the major factors which contributes to their type of behavior is the diversity in their population. Exposure to various cultures makes them easily accept and experiment new products more often. Desires / Needs Business should be surely discovering the general need of the country they are planning to enter with new product. They should be aware of the basic desire and need of the emirates before launching Green Tea Hp here. Another point is that UAE development taking care of health sector is participating in the general issue by health and is making awareness campaigns about the importance of using the green tea and replaces the unhealthy food habits by using the healthy products. This will lead to decrease in the obesity and the diseases in the country. Therefore we can say that there is desire and need of Emirates which is developing towards this product of Green Tea hp. Expected Sales and Profit Expectation Sales and Profit objectives define the projected amount of goods to be sold. Thus it is very important for the success of any business that realistic objectives should be set. Once the sales objectives are set, everything else like marketing budget, channels to be used, number of sales personnel to hire etc. is based on these objectives or expected sales figures. For our product i.e. green tea we would look to cater to different tastes of the expatriate population. According to our research, we found that total UAE tea sales volumes showed a growth of 9% in 2009, or at 4,472 tons. (www.hktdc.com). Thus the change in tea sales from 2008 to 2009 is 369 tons. The below table summarizes the sales figures for the next year. Expected Sales Table    Growth in Sales in 2009 4472 Percentage Growth in 2009 9% Sale in 2009 49,688 Sales in 2008 49688/1.09=45585 Change in Sale from 2008 to 2009 4103 Projected Sales in 2012(assuming same growth rate) 49688+(4103*3)=61997 This market is primarily controlled by Lipton (www.usa2uae.com, 2009). Most of the new players like Green Tea Hp would aim at getting a minor market share to begin with. Based on the estimates from other new players like entering into this segment, like wagh bakri from India, we would look to target at least 1 percent (www.usa2uae.com, 2009) According to people in tea industry, UAE is looking for new and fresh taste in the tea segment. Already available products do not cater to the expectations of the people. Since the migrant population comes from different backgrounds, they have different tastes. Thus our green tea with many flavors would be able to fulfill this need to some extent. Thus we can hope to hit at least 1 percent of the market share. Thus 1 percent of projected sales in 2012 is 620 tons (approx). To calculate the profit margin we would take industry standards for gross profit margin and cash profit margin. We would take conservative estimates by assuming values lower a leading player in this industry. For our purpose we have taken Tata Tea data (www.moneycontrol.com) and calculated accordingly for green tea. Market Share Average Price of tea in last year Total revenue 620 Ton 3451.5 dollars/ton 620*3451.5=2139942 dollars We have assumed the market price of tea at 3541.52 dollars per ton Company Gross Profit Margin Cash Profit Margin Profit Dollars Tata Tea Beverage 10 Percent 9 Percent NA Green Tea Hp (UAE) 8.7 percent 8.7 percent 2139942*.087 = 186174 Promotion Mix Advertising Objective Objective of advertisement will be to attract health conscious customers towards the green. Since the green tea belongs to premium segment therefore more stress will be given to attract urban area consumers who are willing to try something new. Actually if we try to segment people of UAE, we can segregate people into two categories. One who prefers to try new products available in the market and they are usually called experimenters. Other category try to retain their own family retained brand which will bar them from experimenting any new product. Our work, as a green tea promoter, should attract these early experimenters and make a mark among them. Because the late buyer or safe buyers usually change their buying decision only when are too much exposed to any new product and when they really get to know that product is fine and can be used and have superior benefit as compared to their already using product. Hence, we are going to keep our target consumers to the premium family product thing. It will include kids, teenagers, fathers and Mothers. But the main target will be the teenagers who really care about their health. Teenagers generally have the tendency to experiment with totally new product. They try to use whatever there is in fashion. They want to be different from old generation and there they try every new thing which makes them different from their previous generation. That is why it is suggestible to make them a target customer and make our ad strategy as per their symbol of change. Therefore to target teenager and people in their twenties is be our prime strategy target. We need to position our product as youth icon thing. We have to make its image to look as fashionable and belonging to premium class. To make this we will be using some Hollywood star as an endorser which is youth icon in the eyes of Emirates. Media Mix We are going to use the media mix in a way to reach every single people in Emirates in order to make them of this new product in the market. Since ours is the first company launching this product in UAE therefore it will be our tough task to educate and inform consumers about the health benefits and differentiation from the entire existing product available in the United Arab Emirate market. Therefore we need to use following promotion media mix: Advertisement in magazines, newspapers and television. TV program. Kiosks. Billboards. Banners. The way we going to use this are to make this promotion in various phases. In first phase in which product need to be made aware in the UAE market is to use the media which is most widely used in the United Arab Emirates. Therefore we are going to take the initial advertisement through the use of the maximum reach basis. Since we all know that television is the best mode to reach to maximum population in minimum time. This will accompanied with the Message Message which green tea should be cashing is to convey a royal brand Image and keep a youth icon associated with product. Idea is to convey the health benefit and Premium product category among youth. Message should be something like conveying New and Young: Tried me!!. Cost Advertisement Newspaper Advertisement    20000 TV Advertisement    30000 Kiosk Advertisement    10000 Magazine Advertisement    10000 Billboard    10000 Banners    10000 Promotions 10000          Advertising Expense    $ 100,000.00 Sales Promotion Objective Objective of sales promotion will be to attract more and more customer in very first year. This should be done with the help of affordable small packaging of size as small as 100g. This should be the smallest package that should be available to the customer because smaller than this package will affect the brand image which is the last thing company want to do. Premiums Gift with purchase is the very common promotion techniques used by marketers for promoting the product. It is used in a way to associate our product with something of real use to the segment we are targeting. Since here we are targeting the youths therefore we can say that if we need to give some goodies free with our green tea product we need to offer something which is of real use to the teenagers and adults. A small teddy bear or a fancy branded pen with the 1 kg pack will attract consumer towards our product. Coupon Other way to attract the shopper towards our product is to let them buy the product with some free movie coupon. This thing which is really famous among the teenagers is to offer them free movie tickets on lucky draw to some consumer. Something like free movie coupons to every 5th shoppers can create a magic. This is cheap from the point of publicity and can work a lot in gaining momentum for the product. Cost Cost allotted to all this promotional strategy will be very less compared to advertisement expense we are incurring on the product. The main reason for this is because our main aim is to achieve more of awareness and less of selling. We want to do marketing rather than selling. We are going to produce what is needed there not we will sell whatever we have produced. Total Cost allotted to promotion will be $10000 annually. Personal Selling At this stage personal selling will be avoided by Green Tea HP. This is totally new product in the market. Surely personal will help in sale but we are avoiding this to check our brand image deterioration. We are planning to use this in B2B strategies but not in the business to customers strategy. Other Promotional Method All promotional strategy which we are planning is already described in above. As of now Green Tea hp product will not be experimented with some strange promotional technique. It can work but we dont want to take risk for this totally new product in United Arab Emirates market. Distribution: From Origin to Destination Port Selection United States is bounded by sea on both sides. In the west, it has Pacific Ocean whereas on the east side, it has Atlantic Ocean. UAE on the other hand lies northwest of the Arabian Sea. Origin Since the manufacturing of Green Tea happens in Utah, we are interested in looking for major trading ports near Utah. Utah lies towards the western side of US. Thus two major ports nearby are Port of San Francisco, California It lies on the western edge of the San Francisco Bay with a total trade capacity of 2,654,714 short tons. This is a major port with high amount of export trade. Port of Coos Bay .Oregon It is located on the Pacific coast, with major cities nearby. E.g. It Washington to the north and California to the south. This port too has high trading volume and is a good option since it had many logistics operator in nearby states. Destination UAE has seaports throughout the region. The major ports are Port Jebel Ali, Port Khor Fakkan , Port Rashid, Port Saeed ,Port Khalid and Port Zayed. Packaging Packaging is required to protect the products from damage during transit and also during storage. Packaging also plays a crucial role in information transmission and sales. Marking and Labeling Regulations On any package, many types of labels are used. These may include trademarks, product certifications and food authority approvals etc. To make full use of packaging, we intend to publicize the health benefits of green tea through labeling. Approvals from health authorities and results of study on green tea can be highlighted through package. Containerization During shipping of containers, one needs to take care of identification and bar codes and RFID numbers for easy tracking and shipment of goods. Another important aspect to consider is the container standards. There are many container system standards worldwide. It is essential that the same standards are used by both the trading partners for easy identification of goods. Costs Packaging represents a significant portion of the total cost on a product. For example, in tea industry, it is estimated that the cost of packaging can be as high as 30% of the total cost. This is primarily due to special type of packaging required to keep the tea fresh and increase the shelf life. Another cost consideration in packaging is that it is extremely expensive to create a new packaging design including graphics and structure. Thus the choice of packaging should be a very thought out process. For our product, GreenTea HP, we would make investments in generating a stable packaging system. We would restrict our packaging costs to 10 percent over the long term. This includes the countrys industrial, agricultural, and animal products. The competent ministries and departments approve the bill and issue a certificate of origin for all national products meant for exportation. A copy of these documents should be submitted upon processing an export application. The customs authorities employ the temporary deposit system in order to simplify and facilitate the procedures for the importers. A deposit is an amount of money that the customs collects pending payment of the customs duties or presentation of the original documents. Price Determination Transportation Cost Transportation Cost will be there but that will be borne by wholesaler only. The wholesaler needs to have enough margins as commission in order to bear this cost and still not make any losses. After the wholesaler the further transportation cost will borne by retailer. Because of all this, both the retailer and the wholesaler are getting hefty commission. Handling Expenses Handling Expenses will be borne by company itself as most of these handling charges are there as freight cost are from factory to onboard travelling. Custom Duties Custom duty is paid by company only as it is importing the raw tea leafs from elsewhere. The amount of custom duty generally depends upon the amount of import that is done. Company is paying $50000 as custom fees for the product for very first year on annual basis. Whole and Retail Mark Up and Discounts Final Price Product Cost    $ 2,020,000.00 Selling price (Profit Margin 8.7%)    $ 2,195,740.00 Selling Quantity we are targeting (Ton)    620 Company Price       Selling price per ton    $ 3,541.52 Selling price per Kg    $ 3.54 Selling price per 250g Pack    $ 0.89 Selling Price per 100g pack    $ 0.035 Wholesale Price (@13% WS Commission)       Selling price per Kg    $ 4.00 Selling price per 250g Pack    $ 1.00 Selling Price per 100g pack    $ 0.04 Retail Price (@12.5% Retail Commission)       Selling price per Kg    $ 4.50 Selling price per 250g Pack    $ 1.13 Selling Price per 100g pack    $ 0.05 Pro-formal financial Statement and Budget Marketing Budget Advertisement/Promotion Expense Advertisement Newspaper Advertisement 20000 TV Advertisement 30000 Kiosk Advertisement 10000 Magazine Advertisement 10000 Billboard 10000 Banners 10000 Promotion 10000 Advertising Expense $ 100,000.00 Distribution Expense Distribution Cost Store Payroll 20000 Store Management 10000 Rent 10000 Utilities 10000 Depreciation 10000 Repair 20000 Maintenance 13000 Total Distribution Expense 93,000.00 Product Cost Processing Raw Green tea cost Raw product (1000 ton) 1,000,000.00 Processing Variable Cost 230,000.00 Processing Fixed Cost 270,000.00 Final Green Tea product (620 ton) $ 1,500,000.00 Product Cost Percentage of Selling Cost Green Tea Product Cost(620 ton) $ 1,500,000.00 74.3% Custom expense $ 50,000.00 2.5% Packaging Cost $ 200,000.00 9.9% Selling Expense $ 73,000.00 3.6% Advertising Expense $ 100,000.00 5.0% Distribution Expense $ 93,000.00 4.6% Misc Expense $ 4,000.00 0.2% $ 2,020,000.00 Selling price (Profit Margin 8.7%) $ 2,195,740.00 Final Price Product Cost $ 2,020,000.00 Selling price(Profit Margin 8.7%) $ 2,195,740.00 Selling Quantity we are targeting (Ton) 620 Selling price per ton $ 3,541.52 Selling price per Kg $ 3.54 Selling price per 250g Pack $ 0.89 Selling Price per 100g pack $ 0.04 Other Cost Misc Expense $ 4,000.00 Pro forma annual profit and loss statement (Profit year) Profit And Loss Statement Income Revenue    $ 2,195,740.00 Expense          Cost of Goods Sold    1,000,000.00    Processing Variable Expense    230,000.00    Processing Fixed expense    270,000.00    Custom expense    $ 50,000.00    Packaging Cost    $ 200,000.00    Selling Expense    $ 73,000.00    Advertising Expense    $ 100,000.00    Distribution Expense    $ 93,000.00    Misc Expense    $ 4,000.00    Total Expense    2,020,000.00          EBIT       $ 175,740.00 Interest       $ 25,000.00 EBT       $ 150,740.00 Tax @ 20%       $ 30,148.00 Net Income       $ 120,592.00 Resource Requirements Finances In a product life cycle, different financial needs arise at different points in time .The funding stages of a business are as follows: Seed capital It is the amount you need initially to set up and plan your business activities. Start-up capital It is the amount of money required to maintain operational activities like buying raw material, processing etc in the first year. It is also called working capital Mezzanine (expansion) capital It is required to expand the current facilities. e.g. to upscale the production to full installed capacity or to buy a new larger business. For our product, Green Tea, finances will be required to start business operations, logistics and distribution, to pay for customs, for setting up packaging facilities and so on. We need a sum of around 500,000 dollars as calculated in above sections, of which 230,000 is variable cost and 270,000 are fixed cost. Capital funding can be of two types Debt Capital and Equity Capital. Debt capital means taking a loan which can be paid back over a period of time. This gives an easy way to maintain control over the company as well as get funds. The most common type of debt funding for a new business like ours is secured loans. To start any business, the first and foremost option that comes to mind is to avail business loans. A business can also avail secured loans from banks by keeping some property as collateral with the bank. Amount of secured business loans depends on value of the security kept with the lender. Generally a secured loan can fetch an amount of 50,000 to 100,000 dollars. It can be paid back in a period of 5-30 years depending on the terms and conditions. Equity capital is another way of funding in which people or firms become a part of the company. In this way they earn a portion of your profits in ways of dividends or can make huge money when the company goes public. Thus to determine the type of funding, we need to ask, that whether we are comfortable paying monthly installments or we would like to give up ownership rights in our company. Along with this, we need to ask following questions: Does my business qualify for debt financing? Am I willing to lose the secured collateral if the business fails? Am I willing to share the confidential financial information of my company? Some of other choices for funding a business include: Personal savings. Borrowing from family and friends. Making a partner and using his personal funds. Approaching a commercial finance company. Getting venture-capital fund. Thus to raise the funds of 1500,000 dollars, we can make following arrangements. Funds Breakup    Seed Capital 500,000 Dollars Secured Loans at 5 Percent 500,000 Dollars Equity Capital for 10% stake in Company 500,000 Dollars Personnel Every organization should be clear about its human resource needs. Thus planning can help in getting the right number of people at the right place. This kind of planning is largely dependent on the organizations overall goals. Forecasting of personnel depends on the following factors: Mission of the organization. Projected Turnover. Quality of employee skills. Technological advances in production and packaging. Personnel can be acquired from any of the following two sources Internal External Internal recruitment refers to promotion of employees from within the organization to fill the gaps. This involves listing of an employees education and skill set and based on that making recommendation for promotion. A company also considers performance levels of employees over past years. External Supply of qualified candidates refers to getting the required personnel from outside the organization. This involves having a good knowledge about the supply conditions in different occupations and awareness about the general business environment. The information about such conditions and availability of personnel can be found in: Monthly updates of national bank. Publications of various associations. Publications of various employment agencies. Since ours is a new product, we would primarily be focusing on external sources to fill our personnel needs. Also we would like to estimate the number of personnel required on the basis of ratio analysis. It involves forecasting the employee numbers based on the ratio of some factor like sales volume to the number of people required per unit of sales. Our product has sales of 620 ton. Production Capacity It refers to the volume of products which can be manufactured in a plant or factory with a given amount of resources. Production capacity depends on the efficiency of machines and workforce. It is essential that highly efficient processes should be put in place for the same. Another important concept to consider while deciding on the production capacity is capacity utilization. It gives a relationship between the actual production that happens in a plant with the total installed capacity and potential production. For Green Tea HP, we would be targeting an actual production capacity of around 650 ton in the first year. But we plan to have installed capacity around 1500 ton. We would scale up the production in a phased manner. Good production planning will help make better decisions in terms of sales, profit, expenses etc. To calculate production capacity, we should consider various factors like number of facilities, number of employees and equipment etc. Also number of employee required (discussed in previous section on personnel planning) plays a crucial part in the same. We need to determine the number of hours per week for employees. For our product, we assume an industry standard of 40 hours per week. The time spent in breaks, lunch time etc would be deducted from this time to calculate actual time spent on the production. Once we have actual time spent on production and the number of employees employed, we can calculate the actual production. Actual Production = Actual hours spent in production * Number of Employees Sources Tea Processing Article Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Tea Manufacturing firm inputs Website: http://www.enjoyingtea.com/teaprocessing1.html Technology Trends in Tea Manufacturing Article Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Tea Manufacturing firm inputs Website: http://www.teauction.com/home/techtrend.asp

The Effects of Education on Fiscal Responsibility Essay -- Financial M

The world is recovering from financial crisis that started in 2007. The cause of the crisis was failure of American Mortgage Company. The effect has spread all over the world; however the world seems to be recovering. This is not the first time that the world has suffered such a crisis. There was the great depression of 1920s. The point that is in people’s mind; economists, politicians, and social scientist is how they can prevent the occurrence of such a crisis in future. Among the many recommendation brought out, there is the role that education can play. Our education system can be moulded to educate students and society in general on how they can prevent such an occurrence in the future. Secondary school life is the initial stage that a child moulding can start. It ensures that there is a base of a human being that can be shaped to influence the life of the child in future (Alloy & Ahrens, 2008). This paper will focus on how education can be used to combat future occurrenc e of such crisis. Development and enforcement of a money management principles The principle that human beings have are moulded by early life development. At high school a child is given some money to manage and spend. This is the period that they are given pocket money to spend at school and are allowed to make individual decisions toward things that affect their lives. In schools children should be taught on how to manage the finances they have, they should be trained on how to make decisions which have an impact on the finances they have. The little money they are given by their parents should be the one to start molding their behavior towards good financial management and making priorities. One of the most important things that people should aim at is t... ...simism for the future: Biased use of statistically relevant information in predictions for self versus others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(2), 366-378. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.52.2.366 Ambachtshee, K., Beartty, D. and Booth, L. (2008). The financial crisis and rescue. What went wrong? Why? What lesson can be learnt? Toronto: university of Toronto Melzert, H. (1995). Review of "Curriculum-adjustment in the Secondary School". Journal of Educational Psychology, 16(9), 638. doi:10.1037/h0068007. Morris, P. (1997). School knowledge, the state and the market: an analysis of the Hong Kong secondary school curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 29(3), 329-350. doi:10.1080/002202797184071. Park ,R. cona, K. and Fingess, M. (2008). The crisis of global environment governance: towards a new political economy of sustainability. New York: Prentice Hall

From Modernism to Post-Modernism

The Modernists wanted to free art from the constraints of classicism and to promote critical, free thought but whether or not they succeeded is still a matter of debate.   It began with Manet’s Impressionism on to the outrageousness of Dali’s Surrealist Manifesto. It was an intellectual attack on classical thought. Modernism and its successor, Post-Modernism indulged the artistic world in the subject of intellectual critical thinking and individualism and could be seen as the bravest contradiction to what art was previously believed to be. Modernism infiltrated every form of thought including philosophy, law, music, literature and architecture. It wanted the world to have their own thoughts and not believe what they were told to believe. Yet how different was Post-Modernism from Modernism? Did it succeed in changing the way people think and is it really ‘art for art’s sake? In this essay we examine these questions with reference to artist who were prominent Modernists. By definition ‘modernism’ is â€Å"period dating from roughly the 1860’s through the 1970’s and is used to describe the style and ideology of art produced during that era.†(Witcombe, 1997). Therefore this era of art included styles such as Impressionism, Surrealism and Realism. It is a broad spectrum from which to work. Arguably, Monet was the father of Impressionism, who saw the value of art no longer in reproducing the subject in detail and to perfection, but rather to capture the moment in time that could never be captured again. Professor Witcombe of Sweet Briar College says that it is generally agreed that Edouard Manet was the first of the ‘modernist’ painters (Witcombe, 1997). Classical artists had been preoccupied with classical subjects, particularly in the ‘Romantic’ period such as Delacroix and David (Witcombe, 1997). Modernism appeared to have failed in the early 20th Century, with the collapse of the Communist movement. It seems that at that stage looking at Surrealism for example, free thought and freedom of expression was about to be tested again with the onset of the World Wars. Yet where Modernism itself began and where it ended is still largely a mystery to most people. For instance, looking at the work of Cezanne in the early stages of the Modernist period, the essential ‘breaking down’ of subjects to their smallest most geometric states gave rise to a form of minimalism that contradicted the complexity of the Modernist age. Sigmund Freud ushered in the ‘new age’ of mental evaluation with world-shaking consequences and his ideas stretched from philosophical thought through to the film industry. Acceptably known to have influenced the work of painter Salvador Dali and film-maker Alfred Hitchcock, Freud’s ‘modern’ thought was seeking to ‘free’ the mind of the constraints of classically accepted reality. Essentially (as with the Cezanne’s art), this meant breaking humanity down to its smallest and simplest parts. As Witcombe describes it, â€Å"it should be clear that modernist culture is Western in its orientation, capitalist in its determining economic tendency, bourgeois in its class character, white in its racial complexion, and masculine in its dominant gender.†(Witcombe, 1997). As art became freed of the bonds of classical feudal law, so society attempted to pursue ‘liberalism’ with Karl Marx’s Utopia rising and falling abruptly with the failure of Communist Russia. There was at this stage too a profound interest in understanding the human interaction. The old idea of science as a purely empirical discipline gave rise to the human element in the work of sociologist Max Weber (Ludington, 2000). Artists no longer wished to conform to a particular style of art but preferred to create their own signature style. Even in the Impressionist school, a distinguishing factor could be found in each of the artists making them individual: Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas and Van Gogh. Picasso’s solid external outline and geometric shape can be seen distinctly in the work of Paul Cezanne, meaning that his idea was not entirely original but influenced by previous artists. The idea of being unique and ‘inventing’ a new art was and always will be contested by the reality that and ‘influence’ ‘recreates’ the already created. Modernism was meant to free the artist of this exact emotion as well as being representative of the present social climate. This could be seen effectively in the work of Gustav Klimt and Antoni Gaudi in the early 1900’s. The Art Nouveau period specifically identified the new-found freedom of money and if there was none, to at least pretend there was. Casa Battlo (1906-1908), Antoni Gaudi architectural piece, resembled the carefree nature of the Art Nouveau period. Being completely fantasy and out of this world it appears it could have been made from an assortment of candy rather than brick and mortar. The dream-like realm for which Surrealism became known is subtly different to this in its pure indulgence and decadence. Previously the Church had been the patron of the arts, meaning that most of the art that was endorsed was done so with the understanding that it would be classical in nature, therefore ranking Gaudi as particularly rebellious in this aspect. The Renaissance architect Brunelleschi, who’s Dome of the Cathedral in Florence can be seen as poles apart from Gaudi’s offering, was controlled by the needs of the Church rather than pure self-indulgent imagination like Gaudi’s. Another aspect of Modernism that came into dramatic play was the advent of photography. With this reproduction of images it was no longer necessary to reproduce subjects as they were in reality or to record events. It did not take long for philosophical writers such as Roland Barthes to recognise that even with these remarkable prints of the past, they could never truly represent the subject they captured. With a photograph of his mother he was convinced that yes, this was his mother but, no it was also not his mother. It was in effect a picture of his mother. Rene Magritte in this era also painted his famous pipe entitled Ce n’est pas une pipe, which said that while it was a pipe, it also wasn’t. The reasoning behind this was that if you cannot actually smoke it, it cannot be a pipe. The question was to what extent does Modernist ‘unpacking’’ become ‘over unpacking’? The ‘unpacking’ process of Modernism in terms of art is perhaps best seen in the work of Salvador Dali. â€Å"[Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams was] one of the capital discoveries of my life†¦I was seized with a real vice of self-interpretation, not only of my dreams but of everything that happened to me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The Great Artists. Vol 73: 2311). The Persistence Of Memory 1931, by Salvador Dali is oil on canvas and is 9  ½ inches by 13 inches in size. It shows a series of stopwatches melted over the motifs and there is ‘double imagery’. It includes a side profile of Dali himself. Completely Surrealist, Dali worked alongside Breton on the Surrealist Manifesto which attempted to free mankind of the constraints of the mind. â€Å"Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the word Memory begins.†(Breton 1924). This was the core of Modernist thinking, that man should by all intents and purposes link beyond the real (or imagined reality) to what he really is (unpack himself). Like Freudian psychology the belief in Surrealism is that repressed memory locates itself in the subconscious constantly. This was called the superego, the responsibility of man to appease this memory leads to unexplained and unresolved dreams that often recur (Freud.1949:77). Compare this to the era we now live in, (the Post-modern era into which we have slipped) and the difference is that we are now trying to free ourselves from the constraints that Modernism has put on us. Post-Modern artists still toy with the idea that what is chiefly within us is expressed through creativity. But now the addition of technology to the equation makes us the ‘controller’ of the said creativity. Computer technology replaces the need for composed qualities in artwork (specifically graphic) meaning that there has to be a marriage of technological advancement and artistry in order for the artist to survive. Going back in time to the first expressions of rebellion in art such as Grunewald and Bosch, who represented dreams in their art and compare this to Dali who interprets the dreams. It becomes clear that what is believed to be an entirely new movement in art is really only a manifestation of experiments used in the past. With World War I & II the former quest for world domination attempted once again to put the world of art under the scrutiny of the powers that be but did not succeed. This means that the completed change was here to stay, that the movement from Impressionism to Surrealism and through to Pop Art and Op Art was free to mobilize itself into the future. â€Å"Earth to earth ashes to ashes dust to dust†, 1970, Lawrence Weiner, Guggenheim Museum, was what Post-modernism has offered us. In comparison to the fine art of the past few centuries, this piece does not seem to amount to much, but then it is an example of what humanity has become and therefore holds specific importance. A plain grey, white and black plaque with the words ‘earth to earth ashes to ashes dust to dust’ written across it reveals to us an human race that is really and honestly empty. It is not entirely correct to say Modernism has succeeded in its purpose, but to say that it has failed is also untrue and perhaps a little unfair. Times have changed and continue to do so. The greatest archives we have in memory of the evolution of man are in our art. Modernism as an ideal failed, communism failed and to a degree Freud failed, but the gift they gave us was a solid movement into a time that has been littered with the ‘new’. Modernism failed in that it became the cult-like movement of constraint that it tried so hard to break. It succeeded in producing an art that was truly indicative of the individual. Modernism is, regardless of its successes and failures, a distinct mark in history in the same way that the Renaissance was to the 1400’s-1500’s. We no longer paint young ladies on swings with farthingales and voluminous skirts, because they do not exist in our world. We hardly go to war in kilts and with battleaxes either because so much of our time has changed. The continuum of thought and critical thinking still plagues us with the knowledge that there are some things we will never explain or understand. However the world changes, our creativity is always there. Sources: Breton, Andre. 1924. The Surrealist Manifesto. (http://www.screensite.org/courses/Jbutler/T340/SurManifesto/ManifestoOfSurrealism.htm) Freud, S. 1949.The Ego and the Id. (The Hogarth Press Ltd: London) Ludington, Townsend. 2000. A Modern Mosaic: Art and Modernism in the United States. The University of North Carolina Press. http://uncpress.unc.edu/chapters/ludington_modern.html The Great Artists.1986. Vol 73: Dali.(Marshall Cavendish Ltd: London) Witcombe, Christopher Professor. 1997. â€Å" Art &Artists: The Roots of Modernism.† Part One: What is Art? Sweet Briar College. http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/artartists/modernism.html Witcombe, Christopher Professor. 1997. â€Å"Art & Artists: Modernism and Post Modernism.† Part 4: What is Art? Sweet Briar College. http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/artartists/modpostmod.html                                    

Hanging Tongues

In the article â€Å"Hanging Tongues: A Sociological Encounter with the Assembly line† Thompson (1983) there are many connections between the Physical structure of the beef processing plant and the social structure of those working within it. The layout, design and decor of the beef plant both directly and metaphorically impact on the social structure within the plant, pertaining to (among other examples) a sense of isolation, hierarchies, formalisation and standardisation. The physical layout of the beef processing plant appears to be similar to many other assembly line factories, the ‘kill floor’ as Thompson refers to it, being a large open space with work stations located around the area. Thompson describes an â€Å"Overhead stainless steel rail†¦ curved its way around every work station in the plant. † We see that although physically all the different work stations on the ‘kill floor’ are connected, the connection is mechanical, part of the layout of the factory. Despite the open plan space in the factory there is much isolation among the workers, even though they are all working on the same production line. Although most workers know each other on sight, it is unlikely that they would know more than first names due to the nature of the work they are doing. Each worker on Thompson’s ‘offal’ station was expected to handle 187 tongues per hour, plus cleaning of racks and trays. This is quite a high work rate and there is little time for small-talk with co-workers. This rate required from workers creates a division between the workers who have little time to stop, besides designated breaks and management who seemingly ‘sit behind their desks all day’. Also concerned with the layout of the factory was the separation of the ‘kill floor’ with the executive offices. This layout in the factory underlines the hierarchy of the social structure within the plant. At the bottom of the ladder we have the workers. They work on the ‘kill floor’ which is the dirtiest, most dangerous and most monotonous job. The Management and executives of the company are at the top of the hierarchy, they are separated physically from the ‘kill floor’ as they cannot be seen to get dirty themselves. This would make them subordinates to their ‘equals’ in the business world. Little is noted of the management in â€Å"Hanging Tongues† except that they â€Å"Rarely ventured† to the ’kill floor’ where Thompson’s research took place. Their offices are separate, keeping them isolated from the dirty, dangerous work on the factory floor. The other physical separation in the beef plant was between the inspectors and the workers. There is understandable animosity between the two groups. As they start the inspectors are on a lower wage than the workers. This is presumably because the nature of the inspector’s job is a lot less dangerous, and less physically demanding than that of the ‘beefers’. The only interaction between inspectors and workers is of a negative nature, as the inspector will be telling the worker that the work is not of a high enough standard, this slows the progress of the workers and causes resentment towards the inspectors. Due to this negative interaction, inspectors are kept separate from workers eating â€Å"in a separate lunchroom† according to Thompson. The design and decor of the beef processing plant also contribute to the social structure of the workers. Almost everything on the ‘kill floor’ is made of stainless steel, the benches, knives, tubs etc. This sterile equipment makes a sterile working environment, which makes the workers feel that their workplace is even more impersonal. Some other aspects of decor and design also lead the workers to this isolated mindset. Sealed cement floors and Ceramic tile walls are cold and impersonal. Everything is cleaned down at every break and shift change, as if the workers had never been there. There is no sense of individualism for the workers, instead we see in action the â€Å"metaphor of the organisation as a machine† Morgan (1998). Whereby the workers are not considered as individuals, but as functioning parts of a machine, objects that do their part in order to create a finished product (in this case a butchered cow). Another example of the decor observed by Thompson was that of the safety posters plastered over the walls, reminding workers that they should be wearing safety equipment, and working carefully at all times. This decor around the workspace (where we can imagine that management have pictures of their families instead) creates another division between â€Å"us† (the workers) and â€Å"them† (management). The posters also serve to remind the workers that their jobs are undeniably dangerous, workers being forced to face the fact that every day they are working they are in physical danger from the jobs they do. One last observation about the decor in the factory is the lack of clocks. Management try to control certain aspects of the workers day, this is one way in which they do it. By not letting workers know that their break / end of shift is going to arrive management are trying to avoid the inevitable ‘slacking off’ before the end of a shift, or ducking out early. This control is one thing that workers have tried to regain, as the person at the start of the production line starts â€Å"clanging his knife against the metal† when the break in the line appears. The knife banging gets passed from station to station and Thompson said he knew that â€Å"it was exactly 35 minutes until the end of the line would reach me†. Even though it is really just a symbolic way of gaining some control back, it is an important form of communication between the normally isolated workers. Formalisation, pertaining to rules and procedures implemented at the beef processing plant are an important dimension of organisational social structure. Hatch (2006), states that â€Å"formalization tends to reduce the amount of discretion employees have in performing their work tasks†. The physical structures that the beef plant has that connect with this statement are numerous. The posters about wearing safety equipment are one example; the sterile, dangerous equipment they use is another. Formalisation, according to Hatch, also helps to determine pay levels. In Thompson’s â€Å"Hanging Tongues† we see a specific example of this in the reference note stating that the ‘shackler’ is paid 10cents per hour more than the workers because of the more dangerous nature of his job, dealing with flying hooves, and hooks and chains. Standardisation is a dimension of organisational social structure that is inherent in Thompson’s â€Å"Hanging Tongues†. Much mention is made of the monotony of the work. The workers do the same job, in the same way, day after day. Their surroundings and equipment are always the same. It is this ombination of standardised work and surroundings that connects the social and physical structures in this beef plant. The work may be efficient, but the monotony and the dangerous aspects of the job are crucial factors in the high turnover of staff in assembly line jobs. There are many connections between the physical and social structures of the beef processing plant that Thompson has stud ied. Hierarchies and divisions of labour are common practice in social structure, as in many organisations they are the easiest way to get work done effectively. The same is true of physical structures based upon keeping management away from the dirty work, or ‘kill floor’. What is important is that we can see how these structures impact upon each other making the business what it is. References Hatch, M. J. (with Cunliffe, A) (2006). Organisation Theory: modern, symbolic, postmodern perspectives. (2nd Ed. ). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Morgan, G. (1998). Images of organisation: The executive edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage pp 3-13. Thompson, W. E. (1983). Hanging Tongues: A sociological encounter with the assembly line. Qualitative Sociology 6 (3), 215-237.

Disability is not Inability Essays

Disability is not Inability Essays Disability is not Inability Essay Disability is not Inability Essay Why, pa, why me? Shiva cried out as he held a picture of his mother In his hand while his father tried to comfort him. Its okay. Son, everything is going to be fine, his father said with a little sniffle. No, how she could dead Just so? Dye say she was getting better! Shiva shouted. Shiva and his father, Angus, had Just come from the funeral of his mother, Janice, who had died after being treated for months for an aggressive tumor on her leg. He was the second of her two sons and, because he was a Downs Syndrome child, she devoted herself to his care and she had the sources to educate him because she was a trained teacher. It took him 2 years to walk and, even at 14, his speech was not clear. He had actually said his first words at 6 after much coaching. He was a hyperactive child, noisy, clumsy and restless but his mother was determined that he should develop every ounce of his potential. In this she was greatly helped by the special school he attended. He attended Lady Hooky Special School from the age of six months in the Early Intervention Programmer where his mother, a physiotherapist and volunteers did exercises to stimulate his brain. Then, as he grew, he was trained with speech therapy, occupational therapy, functional academics, social skills and basic life skills. Shiva had settled down nicely and was beginning to learn the lessons he was being taught when the tragedy struck. He was 14 and alone with his father who had played very little part in his life up to then and his brother who was about to leave for university. He was comfortable at Lady Hooky School where everybody knew him and he would have been happy to remain there but his father had other ideas. Im withdrawing Shiva from this school, he told the astonished principal who pointed out that Shiva still had a lot to learn. But Sir thats not the best idea because Shiva still has a lot more he can learn here. He should stay in school, said the principal trying to convince Kevin. No. Shiva is no longer attending this school, Kevin said while handing her the forms to confirm It. There was no way to convince him because, what he did not reveal, was that he w as unwilling to transport the child back and forth to Lady Hooky when his own school where he was the principal was on the other side of town. His plan which he immediately put into effect was to put Shiva to work in his school as a janitor. That way there was no transportation problem, Shiva would learn a skill and make some money. That Is exactly what happened. Angus got him a Job at Central Park School, assigned a worker to train him and Shiva before long mastered the simple, repetitive tasks involved in keeping a school clean. He took great pride in keeping the school spotless and would often pop into his fathers office to ask Pa, how you find I doing? His father would smile and say, Son, you doing great. I reel proud of you. During the Christmas vacation there was no work of any sort for Silva to do. So his father looked into getting him a Christmas job which was not an easy task as Shiva had a slight disadvantage. Then Kevin remembered that he was good friends with Keith Khan, owner of Keith Khans Bookstore, as they went to the same school, Queens Royal College and they talked occasionally. So he gave hell a call. Eye Keith my boy, was d scene? Said Kevin. I good boy. What going on? Replied Keith. Could come and work in the shop? Said Kevin. Yea of course he can come! Replied Keith happily. Tanks boy tanks a lot. Said Kevin gratefully. Shivas Job was to unpack the books onto the shelves and his weekly salary was pretty good which had him buoyant and his father was very proud of him. He kept that Job until school started back when he returned to his other Job. Angus and Shiva grew quite close. They went everywhere together. They went to cricket fete matches, running in the park, to the beach and even to the bar. Shiva began to imitate his fathers mannerisms as his father drank a beer, Just so he drank a coke asking for it o be beastly cold! By imitation and training, he was learning to be a man. Then Angus retired from his Job so Shiva retired also but while Angus was 60, Shiva was only 22 and needed to continue working. So Angus took Shivas savings and started a business which they called Shivas Cleaners. They bought a pick-up truck and a power washer and mops and brooms and Angus used his contacts to get Jobs. Now and he and Shiva were in business. Shiva loved working in and with water, he was good at what he did and he made an honest living. Disability is clearly not inability.

Lincoln and Jefferson Davis essays

Lincoln and Jefferson Davis essays In this report I compare two great historical figures: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, steered the Union to victory in the American Civil War and abolished slavery, and the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis. Abraham Lincoln was the President of the Union, and Jefferson Davis struggled to lead the Confederacy to independence in the U.S. Civil War. Lincoln was treasured by the African Americans and was considered an earthly incarnation of the Savior of mankind (DeGregorio 20-25). On the other hand, Davis was both admired and hated. Lincoln had a different view of how the U.S. should be in abolishing slavery. Davis was a politician, president of the Confederate States of America, and also a successful planter. He had beliefs for the South to continue in the old ways with slavery and plantations. Both Lincoln and Davis had strong feelings for the protection of their land (Arnold 55-57). Both Abraham and Jefferson Davis shared several differences and similarities. Lincoln was known to have an easy going and joking type attitude. In contrast, Davis had a temper such that when challenged, he simply could not back down (DeGregorio 89). Davis had been a fire-eater before Abraham Lincolns election, but the prospect of Civil War made him gloomy and depressed. Fifty-three years old in 1861, he suffered from a variety of ailments such as fever, neuralgia, and inflamed eye, poor digestion, insomnia, and stress. Lincoln also suffered from illnesses during the war. He had severe cases of headaches and stress. Both presidents had a lot of pressure of them due to the fact of defending their region. Lincoln had difficulties growing up because of the deaths early in his childhood, poverty, and little education. Davis; however, studied at a Roman Catholic school in Kentucky and at Transylvania University, and entered West Point in 1824. Davis seemed to have had an outreaching envir onment to his suc...

The U.S. Midterm Elections and Their Importance

The U.S. Midterm Elections and Their Importance The U.S. midterm elections give Americans the opportunity to rearrange the political makeup of the U.S. Congress in both the Senate and the House of Representatives  every two years. Examples of Midterm Election Impact Falling right in the middle of the four-year term of the President of the United States, the midterm elections are often viewed as an opportunity to express satisfaction or frustration with the presidents performance. In practice, it is not uncommon for the minority political party (the party not controlling the White House) to gain seats in Congress during the midterm election. In each midterm election, one-third of the 100 Senators (who serve six-year terms), and all 435 Members of the House of Representatives (who serve for two years) are up for reelection. Election of Representatives Since becoming federal law in 1911, the number of members in the U.S. House of Representatives has remained at 435. All 435 representatives are up for reelection in each mid-term congressional election. The number of representatives from each state is determined by the states population as reported in the decennial U.S. Census. Through a process called apportionment, each state is divided into a number of congressional districts. One representative is elected from each congressional district. While all registered voters in a state may vote for senators, only the registered voters residing in the congressional district that the candidate will represent may vote for representatives. As required by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, to be elected as a U.S. Representative a person must be at least 25 years of age when sworn in, have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and must be a resident of the state from which he or she is elected. Election of Senators There is a total of 100 U.S. Senators, two representing each of the 50 states. In the midterm election, approximately one-third of the senators (who serve for six years) is up for reelection. Because their six-year terms are staggered, both senators from a given state are never up for reelection at the same time. Prior to 1913 and the ratification of the 17th Amendment, U.S. Senators were selected by their state legislatures, rather than by a direct vote of the people they would represent. The Founding Fathers felt that since the senators represented an entire state, they should be elected by a vote of the state legislature. Today, two senators are elected to represent each state and all registered voters in the state may vote for senators. Election winners are determined by the plurality rule. This means the candidate who gets the most votes wins the election. For example, in an election with three candidates, one candidate may receive only 38 percent of the vote, another 32 percent, and the third 30 percent. Although no candidate has received more than 50 percent of the votes, the candidate with 38 percent wins because he or she won the most, or a plurality of, votes. In order to run for the Senate, Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution requires that a person be at least 30 years old by the time he or she takes the oath of office, be a citizen of the United States for at least nine years, and be a resident of the state from which he or she is elected. In Federalist No. 62, James Madison justified these more stringent qualifications for senators by arguing that the senatorial trust called for a greater extent of information and stability of character. About the Primary Elections In most states, primary elections are held to determine which congressional candidates will be on the final mid-term election ballot in November. If a partys candidate is unopposed, there may not be a primary election for that office. Third-party candidates are chosen by their partys rules, while independent candidates may nominate themselves. Independent candidates and those representing minor parties must meet various state requirements to be placed on the general election ballot. For example, they may be required to present a petition bearing the signatures of a certain number of registered voters.

Water Issues in California Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Water Issues in California - Essay Example Since the start of record keeping on the availability of the water resources in Southern California in the late 1800s, the water crisis in the area has worsened over the years. This is attributable to the growing population of the region and the false sense of security that the citizens have concerning the availability of the water resource because of the good job done by the water managers to ensure that the fountains still shoot water and the landscapes appear as healthy as ever. The city officials have pointed out that two decades ago an estimated two-thirds of the water was imported. Currently, it has reduced to half. In the same way, according to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; the total retail water demand in the area has reduced from 4 million acre feet between 1989 and 1990 to 3.30 million acre feet between 2010 and 2011. This shows that the Southern California residents have recognized the significance of water. In order to increase the supply of wate r in Southern California, the authorities have invested in recycling plants for water, plans are underway to clean up the contamination so that more ground water can be utilized, and implementation of mandatory water conservation programs (Gould). For many years, Southern California has been faced the issue of drought. However, only recently has it become a national call for attention. Although California is right next to the ocean, it is not easy enough just to get water from there and spread it amongst the masses. Since the ocean is full of saltwater, it becomes toxic to the body when too much is consumed. The only water our bodies are able to consume is fresh water, either from springs or recycled tap. Because California is growing and will continue to grow, the amount of water is becoming scarce. According to "The Telegraph", a trusted newspaper,

Quality Indicators Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Components of a Valid Contract Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Components of a Valid Contract - Research Paper Example Certain kinds of contracts require documentation. These contracts have to acquire signatories from the involved parties under the rule of law to be abiding. Contracts are falling under this category abide by statue of frauds and vary from one place to another within varied jurisdiction. A promise or offer needs to be in a contract to render its validity. Offer is, usually, the first element in a contract to ensure that the contract is legally valid to be acceptable. There is a distinct difference in the offer to be an option or an advertisement. Making of an offer requires the availability of two or more parties, and these parties should be ready to agree to a mutual consent in agreement. The constituents of the offer should be open to both parties, and the return value should be acceptable. After presenting a contract offer, acceptance is a crucial validation element (Liuzzo, 2010). Acceptance should only prevail when the offer is clear and within the bounds of the law. Acceptance either can be in the form of writing if it is within the statue of fraud or verbally accepted. For example, promises made in marriages are acceptable in a condition that there is a written draft of the agreement made. In another form of contract for the sale of the car, the seller may gi ve an offer of $20,000. If the buyer accepts, the offer there is a definite creation of a binding contract in a written format. It is worth noting that counter offer has no classification as a form an acceptance. It is, usually, a form of rejection for the offer in place (Gillies, 2004). In a perfect example, if the car buyer counter-offers a purchase of $100,000 it counts as a typical rejection of the initial sale offer. In the case of the counter acceptance by the seller, the contract may automatically face its completion. However, in the case of rejection

Fatima Chooljian and the X-ray Patient Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fatima Chooljian and the X-ray Patient - Essay Example He might have said that if somebody is as particular about practicing religion as the Muslim radiographer supposedly was considering the fact that she wore Hijab at the workplace, he/she must not be in such professions that impart the need for close encounters between members of opposite genders. Irrespective of whatever the older patient discusses about his initial thoughts or perceptions about his encounter with the Muslim radiographer, there is great likelihood of his discussion going in favor of the Muslim radiographer since the commencement of the discussion upon Jesus. He might say that bringing up the topic of Jesus for discussion was very odd at that moment considering that he was having an X-ray done from a stranger who was a Muslim radiographer, but in spite of that, the Muslim radiographer’s response to his question and the discussion that followed was very gentle and meaningful. He might even appreciate the fact that the Muslim radiographer said, â€Å"I may be wr ong, sir, but that’s how I understand it† because this reflects that the Muslim radiographer was not offensive or criticizing in her response to the older patient’s refusal to accept her definition of Jesus.

W3HIAEffective project management in an organizational context Assignment

W3HIAEffective project management in an organizational context - Assignment Example 4. Outline Methods That You Would Consider In Building an Effective Project Team 6 References 7 Q.1. Evaluate How the Different Project Interface (I.E., With Rest of the Organisation and With the Outside World) Are Different When Managing A Virtual Project Team Compared To Managing A ‘Collocated’ Project Team Project management is regarded as one of the crucial activities of an organisation which tends to plan, organize and execute available resources towards the attainment of organisational targets. This particular approach can also be seen in Starbucks Corporation wherein the company develops both virtual and collocated teams for ensuring smooth conduct of effective project management related practices within the organisation. However, the organisation has the need to develop different strategies in order to maintain the two aforementioned teams. In managing virtual project team, the organisation needs to manage goals, build effectual communication and keep people moti vated in a diverse way. Setting clear goals is important in managing virtual teams for the purpose of facilitating the teams to clarify any sort of doubt. Additionally, proper communication is also a key variable which can be used in managing virtual teams in the context of project management. ... The company manages these teams through analyzing their daily activities (Trautsch, 2003). Q. 2. Synthesize Views from Your Wider Academic Reading on How You Might Best Communicate and Coordinate Your Virtual Project Team As mentioned in the above discussion, proper communication is one of the vital variables which is quite useful in managing a virtual project team effectively. It can be affirmed in this similar concern that proper communication can be possible with the adherence of certain useful approaches in dealing with virtual project team. One of the approaches is the implementation of electronic communication which includes e-mail and telecommunication among others. Through this approach, the organisation needs to interact periodically with virtual team members which will ensure building proper communication. Furthermore, the approach of communication will also include building greater relationship of trust with the virtual team members along with clearly stating them about th e expectations of the organisation. Apart from this, the organisation will also need to adopt effective communication techniques that involve less time. Coordination is a problem in virtual project team as the team is not located close to the organisation on a regular basis. In order to strengthen this aspect, the organisation needs to design its project clearly and precisely. It is also important that virtual team understands what the actual needs of the project and how to proceed for the same. This will ensure forming greater coordination amid every member of the virtual project teams (Witthaus & et. al., 2008). Q.3. Comment in Your Paper on the Relevance of the Problems and Suggestions Shown On Page 232. Show How Your Wider

Physical and Mental Effects of Down Syndrome Research Paper

Physical and Mental Effects of Down Syndrome - Research Paper Example According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Down syndrome can be found in approximately 1 child in every 800-1,000 births and is a life-long condition. Seeking to explain the aspects of Down syndrome to the lay reader, the following will discuss Down syndrome in a thorough and comprehensive attempt to understand this disorder. The following research paper will commence with an overview of the condition, the factors which may lead to the occurrence of Down syndrome and discuss the ramifications of this condition on the life of an affected child as well as on later life. This research paper will begin with a concise introduction to Down syndrome as an inherited condition and will explore the health ramifications found among people with this condition. Following this, an exploration of the physical and mental effects of Down syndrome will provide much insight into the ramifications of this condition on the lives of the people it affects. After a concise an alysis of the multitude of health ramifications of this disorder, an overview of the relationship between dementia and Down syndrome will focus on the correlation between these two important health issues. This will be followed by a thorough overview of the ethical issues surrounding Down syndrome and the increased likelihood of elective abortion when this condition is present. Seeking to provide a thorough introduction to guide this analysis, this research paper now turns to an introduction to Down syndrome (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2009; Selikowitz 2007). Down syndrome is caused by a random event which occurs during the formation of reproductive cells during the early stages of a pregnancy. It has traditionally been believed that there is a link between maternal age at the time of conception and the incidence of Down syndrome among newborn babies.

W3HIAEffective project management in an organizational context Assignment

W3HIAEffective project management in an organizational context - Assignment Example 4. Outline Methods That You Would Consider In Building an Effective Project Team 6 References 7 Q.1. Evaluate How the Different Project Interface (I.E., With Rest of the Organisation and With the Outside World) Are Different When Managing A Virtual Project Team Compared To Managing A ‘Collocated’ Project Team Project management is regarded as one of the crucial activities of an organisation which tends to plan, organize and execute available resources towards the attainment of organisational targets. This particular approach can also be seen in Starbucks Corporation wherein the company develops both virtual and collocated teams for ensuring smooth conduct of effective project management related practices within the organisation. However, the organisation has the need to develop different strategies in order to maintain the two aforementioned teams. In managing virtual project team, the organisation needs to manage goals, build effectual communication and keep people moti vated in a diverse way. Setting clear goals is important in managing virtual teams for the purpose of facilitating the teams to clarify any sort of doubt. Additionally, proper communication is also a key variable which can be used in managing virtual teams in the context of project management. ... The company manages these teams through analyzing their daily activities (Trautsch, 2003). Q. 2. Synthesize Views from Your Wider Academic Reading on How You Might Best Communicate and Coordinate Your Virtual Project Team As mentioned in the above discussion, proper communication is one of the vital variables which is quite useful in managing a virtual project team effectively. It can be affirmed in this similar concern that proper communication can be possible with the adherence of certain useful approaches in dealing with virtual project team. One of the approaches is the implementation of electronic communication which includes e-mail and telecommunication among others. Through this approach, the organisation needs to interact periodically with virtual team members which will ensure building proper communication. Furthermore, the approach of communication will also include building greater relationship of trust with the virtual team members along with clearly stating them about th e expectations of the organisation. Apart from this, the organisation will also need to adopt effective communication techniques that involve less time. Coordination is a problem in virtual project team as the team is not located close to the organisation on a regular basis. In order to strengthen this aspect, the organisation needs to design its project clearly and precisely. It is also important that virtual team understands what the actual needs of the project and how to proceed for the same. This will ensure forming greater coordination amid every member of the virtual project teams (Witthaus & et. al., 2008). Q.3. Comment in Your Paper on the Relevance of the Problems and Suggestions Shown On Page 232. Show How Your Wider

Alcohol consumption Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Alcohol consumption - Literature review Example The personality factors of young people have an influence on the drinking motive. One of the reasons for motivating a young person to drink is anxiety. A person with anxiety most often has fear and feels difficulty in coping with lives. So they drink in order to ease their situation and get some relaxation. Anxiety can be due to many reasons like relationship problems, stress or illness. While drinking gives a soothing effect, the person may gain control over inner experience. According to ( Hardy,2011) In the study, which included a nationally representative sample of 34,653 American adults, 13% of the people who had consumed alcohol or drugs in the previous year said theyd done so to reduce their anxiety, fear, or panic about a situation. When people are young they have less ability to cope up with anxiety, fear and panic and hence they get motivated to consume alcohol. Social reasons are another motivation which induces alcohol consumption among young people. People across the culture drink alcohol for social or enhancement reasons as a sense of enjoyment. In many culture around people drink on festivals, rituals occasions, custom requisite and gatherings. In European and American culture drinking wine is a daily affair and youngsters get more inclined to drink alcohol at tender age. When young people gather for functions, party, festivals and on weekend they tend to join their friends who are drinking and often get motivated. So every gathering they get motivated to drink if some of the friends in the group are drinking and it slowly becomes a habit. As per Hoops( 2011, pg.135-142) â€Å"It is widely believed that peer pressure has many effects on students, particularity in the use of drugs and alcohol†. Young people also drink alcohol to enhance their personality. At young age people go through much transition on emotional and physical basis and alcohol is a way to give them emotional strength. Also young people think that drinking

Exile As Motif In Lenrie Peters English Literature Essay

Exile As Motif In Lenrie Peters English Literature Essay Christopher Babatunde Ogunyemi is a PhD research fellow at the Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. He was educated at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria. He holds a Master degree in Comparative Literature from Dalarna University and he lectures English and Literature at Joseph Ayo Babalola University Ikeji Arakeji, Osun State in Nigeria. He is the author of Male Autobiographical Narratives and Gender Imperatives, Topical Issues in Literature and Globalization and Narratology and Contemporary Fiction which were all published by VDM-Publisher and Lap-Lambert Academic Publishing in Germany. He has leading papers in international journals of high repute. Dr. Niyi Akingbe teaches Comparative Literature, African Literature and Protest studies at the Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun State, Nigeria. He has written two critical works: Social Protest and the Literary Imagination in Nigerian Novels and Myth, Orality and Tradition in Ben Okris Literary Landscape. His articles have appeared in leading journals on African Literature. Abosede Adebola Otemuyiwa is a lecturer in the Department of English, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji- Arakeji, Osun State, Nigeria. She has published some articles in some scholarly journals. Living Anonymity: Exile as Motif in Lenrie Peters He Walks Alone Christopher Babatunde Ogunyemi Department of English Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Nigeria. [emailprotected] and Niyi Akingbe Department of English Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Nigeria [emailprotected] Abosede Adebola Otemuyiwa Department of English Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Nigeria [emailprotected] Introduction Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted. And while it is true that literature and history contain heroic romantic, glorious, even triumphant episodes in an exiles life, these are no more than efforts meant to overcome the achievements of exile permanently undermined by the loss of something left behind for ever. (Edward Said, 2001:137) Edward Saids submission above best explains the fundamentals about writings on Exile which portends either self-identity or collective identity of a group of people who live in a continuum. This kind of writing either informs, educates or entertains but the major motif here is to criticize and to sarcastically inform the people within the literary ethos about the exigency of exile, its psychological effects, sociological effects and even its political effects on African people. Exile writing visualizes issues that bother on alienation and the quest for freedom. Writers throughout the ages have been using their literary works of arts to show various reactions that bother with exile. Some x-ray physical exile others psychological exile which grossly affects the psyche of the writer or the character in question. Migration and forced migration are panacea to alienation and exile. Writings emanating from such feelings are nostalgic and thought provoking. Many writers have used their works to buttress the feelings of exile in time and space. The experience of exile literature in Lithuania is predicated on the apocalyptic second coming of the soviet armies in Lithuania. This threw away many intellectual and professional away into exile. Poets arose to react critically to these plights. Examples of such poets are Kazys Bradunas (b.1917), Jonas Mekas (b.1922), Algirdas Landsbergs (b.1924) among others from all parts of the world. Our concern in this paper is to examine exile as motif in Lenrie Peters poetry that is entitled He Walks Alone The poem explains various reasons Africans go on exile and their impressions when they feel nostalgic. Feelings for their roots, their families and their cultures give rise to some sensitive impressions in their works of arts. However, the work uses textual analy sis to explain how Lenrie Peters uses irony and metaphor to portray the image of exile politically, psychologically, economically and physically as recurring motifs in his poetry. His wealth of imagery is situated within the axis of literary application in order to explain what informs migration literature in Africa. This paper is visualized in six movements: the first being the introduction throws a searchlight into the concept of migration and its attendant example in Lithuania and Africa. The second probes into what constitutes the textual analysis approach; the third views exile as motif in African poetry; the fourth delves into Lenrie Peters preoccupation of exile; the fifth movement conceptualises the application of the textual analysis to the poem in question and the sixth, being the last movement concludes the work. The paper conceptualises the textual analysis approach to demonstrate the intrinsic value of migration and exile in the body of the text. Daniel Chandler has don e some excellent application of the textual approach to the mass media. This approach allows concrete insight into the understanding of poetry as it moves in time and space. The Textual Analysis Approach There are two main forms of the textual analysis of popular culture artefacts: interpretive and content analysis. This paper shall employ these two variations in its corpus. Interpretive Textual Analyses This include: semiotics, rhetorical analysis, ideological analysis, and psychoanalytic approaches, among many others. These types of analysis seek to get beneath the surface (denotative) meanings and examine more implicit (connotative) social meanings. These textual analysis approaches often view culture as a narrative or story-telling process in which particular texts or cultural artefacts (i.e., a pop song or a TV program) consciously or unconsciously link themselves to larger stories at play in the society. A key here is how texts create subject positions (identities) for those who use them. Content analysis is a more quantitative approach that broadly surveys things like how many instances of violence occur on a typical evening of prime time TV viewing, or how many Asian American women appear in a days worth of TV commercials. This information, especially when linked to more qualitative kinds of analysis, can be very valuable in moving beyond the analysts always somewhat subjective observations (http://culturalpolitics.net/popular_culture/textual_analysis). According to Jan Ifversen in Text, Discourse, Concept: Approaches to Textual Analysis, he explains the textual theory using the Foucauldian discourse analysis and Begriffsgechichte which can be fruitfully combined to develop a textual analysis in any literary work, he takes into cognizance and demonstrates that account both pragmatic and semantic dimensions of language is the task of source criticism to establish this claim. However: Textual analysis, on the other hand is concerned with the linguistic forms of past representations. It must get to grips with the representational chain that links memory to testimony and testimony to writing. Some approaches are applied to textual analysis of historical documents. they touch aspects within textual analysis that particularly concern historical material and literary horizon (KONTUR nr. 7 2003: 60) Meaning-oriented content analysis and interpretive and critical text analysis approaches share a subjective ontological status of human action and behaviour and a methodological commitment to capturing the actual meaning and interpretations of organisational actors involved in corporate narrative reporting. Corporate narrative documents are regarded as a medium for meaning construction for organisational actors. However, text analysis approaches from the interpretive and the critical perspectives acknowledge the researchers subjectivity. Literary works provide overview of the research perspectives and corresponding text analysis approaches which are further in literature. It shows the choice of text analysis approach to be determined by the research paradigm in which the researcher locates him/herself, which, in turn, consists of a specific combination of the researchers epistemological stance and the belief regarding the ontological status of human action and behaviour. (Merkl-Davie s, 2009: 5). We shall apply the textual approach to the poetry of Lenrie Peters in order to understand its evaluative interpretation in migration literature. Exile as Motif in African Poetry Poetry usually employs the use of epigrammatic statements, lyrics, concrete images which graphically delineate incontrovertible truths in life and social justice (Maduka and Eyoh, 2000:14). Based on this, poets such as Williams Wordsworth, John Keats, Shakespeare, Yeats etc use their poetry to explicate various motifs from innocence to experience, nature and love, unbridled quest for social justice and so on. Exile is an example of such subject matter that poetry axiomatically lends its credence on because it deployed terse words and encoded metaphor in the illumination of thematic preoccupation. Poets could successfully communicate their feelings without been harmed or without been intimidated by the societal framework or instrument of power that lacks literary imagination. Similarly, poets easily call the attention of audience to the plight of exile in order to bring about new life and new experiences. It boils down to what is exile. According to Jacqueline Corness in a paper entitled Alienation and Freedom- A study of Dostoevskys Notes From Underground as it relates to the Theme of Exile, she defines exile from the perspective of Said when she opines that: Exile is not, after all, a matter of choice: you are born into it, or it happens to you. For this reason, exile is often thought to be the most psychological difficult state of removal from, for example, ones country. While some people are separated from their homeland because they have freely chosen to live elsewhere, exiles are considered to be at mercy of external forces (2). Exile is a serious human condition that makes many poets to show their concern and also demonstrate how they feel. Wole Soyinkas Telephone Conversation is a capsule presentation of psychological exile experienced in England when he was refused an accommodation simply because he is a black man. Arthur Nortje`s Autopsy is a poem that visualises the evil effects of exile on children who were naturally born into it, they feel isolated and perverted. Buhadur Tejani`s Leaving the Country is a poem in Africa that showcases the evils behind political exile and alienation. The spirit of nothingness, hollow expectations and practical dislocations are the feelings that emanate from people. African poets reflect exile situation as motif in their poetic canon. Lenrie Peters and Exile Preoccupations in Poetry Although, Lenrie Peters is not a victim of political exile, his exile motif in poetry is predicated on the psychological exile and alienation he experiences in Britain. The same feelings Soyinka experiences which makes him to write the Telephone Conversation Before 1965, Peters studies and lives in Cambridge, after the independence of Gambia his country, he came home to help restructure the political and economic situation. His poem He Walks Alone is a typical example of exile and alienation people suffer in foreign land. His biography shows that: Lenrie Peters was born in Bathurst (at the time a British colony), now Banjul, Gambia on September 1, 1932. Poet,narrator, publisher, medical surgeon and opera singer. Author of the poetry books: Katchikali; Satellites; and Collected Poems and the novel The Second Round, 1965. All his works were published by Heinemann, in London, in the collection African writers series. After making his first studies in Bathurst and in Sierra Leone, he travelled to Cambridge to study Natural Sciences at Trinity College. In England, he was the president of the Union of African Students. He also worked as a publisher for one of the earliest Gambian newspapers, The Gambia Echo. As well as Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and other writers, he belongs to the first generation of the Anglophone West African Writers in being recognized as such and being published abroad. He is an enthusiast defender of the panafricanism. A cosmopolitan poet, his densely packed, minimalist stanza structures fit in the broad univ ersal spectrum of human experience: aging and death, the risks of love, the loneliness of exile. In his book Satellites (1967), the poet-doctors detachment is a metaphor for the uprooted individuals painful existential isolation; his scalpel penetrating at the cutting chaotic edge of things an image for the imaginative piercing and spiritual penetration which are the real goals of the poets quest. Although he gets furious with the frustration of the African underdevelopment, he reflects about blind and sickening models of progress that do not show a continuity with the past and destroy more than what they preserve. In his only novel The Second Round, a physicist trained in Great Britain and victim of the so called massacre of the soul brought by westernization, returns to the capital of his homeland filled up with noble ideas about the progress of Africa, but ends accepting a job in a remote jungle hospital and therefore taking roots in the traditional experience (xvii International Poetry Festival of Modelling) He Walks Alone is a poem that shows degree of alienation African students suffer in Europe. As a result of this alienation in their system, they feel exiled and Peters asks them to go home. The poem is a rich experience from the poet who having studied abroad is critical of the hypocritical behaviours which is sometimes found in Europe. An African student is given quality education but refused employment by the system that educates him. The poem is sarcastic because it tries to ridicule the harsh weather and the harsh behaviours Africans face in diaspora. As a result of alienation, some Africans have lost their roots. They want to behave like the Europeans but it is not possible because their physiological traits were not tailored towards the European individualism. Africans are collective in nature, so when they demonstrate Eurocentric feelings, the Europeans could not accept them, the Africans quickly run back home in order to eat in unison, speak in one accord, love themselves and struggle together in African communalism. Textual Analysis of Exile in He Walks Alone The poem is written in seven stanzas of unequal five lines. The poet addresses exile as motif because man is an integral factor in society- Exile has caused many untold pain, isolation and rejection. The first stanza reports: He walks alone head bowed with memories Exiled in the park some playful thing of long ago glues him to a shop window The poet creates an image of an African man in Europe who is looking for an identity. He is not accepted into the system though he is a legal resident. He cannot vote and be voted for; he cannot seek employment in choice places. He walks alone thinking about home, thinking about his family. Most times he goes around with his head bowed to the colour and psychological differences that exist between him and his host community. At the park, he is always given some distance as if he is a mini-human. The situation on the train is the worst, nobody sits beside him. He feels exiled and alienated. The choice of words here shows that Lenrie Peter employs some coded meanings with words like head bowed in memories. The exile is confronted by a denial by the host communitys culture. But also there is a feeling of belonging to a different but alien culture that has no recognition, and which does not accord him any relevance in the colonial metropolis of London. Hence, his head is bowed with memor ies and longing for African warmth usually underscored by: communal gathering, scores of festivals, the warmth of comradeship and shared labour, joy of harvest and a recollection of the sparkling African blue weather of the dry season. An underlining feature of the exiles flirtation with memory is his concern for warmth and tenderness sufficiently present in Africa, a memory which unobtrusively can not be obliterated by a stretch of distance from Africa. In the second stanza, the issue of exile seems more manifest Faded suit sharp lined loosely held by his proud heart shoes scaled with polish cannot comprehend; too much to tell of harsh experiences The African tries to emulate the European but he cannot really fit into the system. The exiles consciousness is sharpened against the backdrop of the drudgery of everyday life in London, reverberated by faded suit, shoes scaled with polish which betrays an instalmental living on the fringes of English society. This is a description placed at the disposal of an exceptional sincerity and a compelling purpose of coping with the debilitating English weather. The choice of being cladded in faded suit and a pair of shoes scaled with polish is bewildering to the exile. But how is the exile in English society expected to cope with isolation, harsh weather and cultural shock? How is he to describe and set his experiences within an historical condition which can only be understood by himself? The exile realises that only memory can be employed as a weapon of liberation to break through the walls of isolation and racial discrimination ineluctably grounded in English social milieu. Memory consti tutes a bastion of recollection of negative experiences for the exile in the poem. The applications of concrete images such as proud heart shoes scaled with polish are contrasting. As an immigrant he is proud to have journeyed to other part of the world, but in the end cannot fit into the new environment. Irony is another instrument the poet uses to make his poem satiric in nature. Maduka sheds more light on this concept: The word irony means so many things to many people that its no longer very useful as a critical idiom. The protean character of its use has resulted in an array of terms associated with it. Thus, one frequently hears of such expressions as Verbal Irony. Irony of Situation, Sophoclean Irony, Irony of Life, Euripi dean Irony, Tragic Irony, Cosmic Irony, Dramatic Irony, Irony of Things, Irony of Circumstances, Irony of Character ( 139, The Intellectual and Power Structure) Peters complicates dominant racial renditions of African exiles life in Europe by challenging oversimplified historical facts. The poem problematizes a disturbing emotional turmoil to produce a poetic effect in which racial narratives are recognised as the stereotypical occurrences, but have been complicated to the point where it can no longer be definitive. Migration breeds alienation, wherein contentious ideological perspectives of the racism are organised into a fluid and recuperative narrative, which urges the reader to apprehend the ways in which ambiguous representations of the exile which yield a more nuanced and complex literary vision of the African racial condition than that rendered by historical documentations. In this poem, many of these ironies are applicable. The most important are: irony of situation, irony of life, dramatic irony, irony of circumstances and irony of character. This is because exile explores all these feelings in the life of the African whose character is very critical in the poem. Stanzas three and four explain more: No coward he respository of rejected talents an ounce of earth silted weightily in his heart. the breaking point is looking back In this stanza, Peters commences a poetic evaluation of the significance of western education to contemporary African students. Inspite of the difficulties generated by the racially stratified England, the persona does not disintegrate with the threats of racism. But has to maintain a stoical fidelity to his pursuit of western education, whose immense reward will translate to the transformation of his African society. And more so, he can not afford to pack his bags and return to Africa, because the breaking point is looking back. But has to cope with the social, psychological and economic stress of England as to acquire western education at all cost. This necessitates that he deplores courage as a tool of postmodernist sensibility, towards surmounting these travails. The treatment of a sensitive socio-political issue of racism in this poem underscores James Reevess observation that, what poetry does to the mass of ordinary experience is to make permanent and memorable whatever in it is vital and significant(88). Peters in this poem ostensibly criticises racial discrimination, and amplifies the plight of African students in their determination to confront this social malaise. Crossed the Rubicon Race, nationality, ideology, religion arrowed from earth to moon founder of a new brotherhood an hero he not of our nation born Here, the character in the poem is undergoing some rejections. He is grossly isolated, crossing the Rubicon is a metaphor for Atlantic Ocean. The poet is calling an attention that this character who flew across the Atlantic is now been exiled physically and psychologically. He battles racism, nationality stratification resulting into modern slavery, religious differences, ideological divergences, post-nationalism and globalization. Language to this poem is very crucial to the understanding of exile and its attendant evils. Peter concurs that African students must embrace alienation as it is transitory yet mandatory for the pursuit of western education. This reverberates Jacques Derridas explanation that reality, and historical representation of events that attempts to document reality must be inscribed in contradiction and ambivalence. Derrida insists: If we have been insisting so much since the beginning on the logic of the ghost, it is because it points toward a thinking of the event that necessarily exceeds a binary or dialectical logic, the logic that distinguishes or opposes effectivity or actuality (either present, empirical,living-or-not) and ideality (regulating or absolute non-presence). (italics original 78) Suffice to say that Derridas logic of the ghost explicates the ways in which He Walks Alone Articulates a similar contradiction that bifurcates binaries of racism to establish a more problematic historical representation of exile. The poet chooses both the connotative and denotative language to portray the colourful images and metaphors which he explores in the handling of exile as motif in the poem He Walks Alone Stanzas five, six and seven substantiate this assertion. Lenrie Peters mastery of the English language allows for an unbiased evaluation of communities imagined through language, which neither obscures specificity nor emphasize notions of fixed identity. Such evaluation succinctly foregrounds the questioning and critical evaluation of the disadvantaged position of the exile. Known no tenderness skin a mosaic of scars heart in fixed deposit safe from ridicule, decomposing Marionette-strings linked with stars Exile go home under your bed a bowl of tears leave back streets nightmares evenings kneeling in pews brassy noises of homely fires Dream and wait coarse cauctus of desert wastes perhaps tomorrow sunflowers fading in the heat will lie insensate at your feet In this poem, the choice of both connotative language and denotative language is to present the motif of exile in its natural state. The poet wants to prevent ambiguity by using everydays language as connotative and implied language as denotative. The image of poverty is too conspicuous in the poem. The character lives in isolated area, some areas are exclusively reserved for immigrants and some jobs are also exclusively reserved for immigrants. Such jobs include cleaning, flushing of toilets, etc. Lenrie Peters is extremely critical about the use of language in the poem. Although he sounds very harsh, maverick and mechanical when he says exile go home. The poet seems to be worried about frustrations, psychological intimidation people in exile go through. Although this is self exile, he admonishes the Africans that they should seriously start thinking about home for the sake of development and posterity. Similarly, the arrays of metaphors which are situational make the motif of exile interesting to study. Though exile is a social factor, the poet is calling attention that instead of constant endurance and travails, affected persons can make it good at home. Although man is powerless in the face of uncontrollable phenomenon, the poet achieves success in his artistic craft and the handling of the theme of exile as motif in He Walks Alone The title of the poem is symbolic because it expresses the exile experience and it emphasises individualism which is not part of African culture and tradition. Above all, it is a contribution to African literature because African literature, indeed the literature of black civilization, in modern times, has moved from the literature of protest to the literature of assertion and emancipation, which also indicates self-examination (Black Aesthetics, ix). Of paramount significance is the musical theatricality which the poem employs in its structure, which gives the poem an aesthetic bravura and imaginative splendour. The significance of this regular patterning is to show that exile is a continuous phenomenon in the life of people. As African people move from one place to the other, other people too may consider relocation from one locale to the other. They would begin to consider balancing with the socio-geographical factor of the environment they find themselves in. In the course of thi s, nostalgia, pain and acceptance problem sails in. The end rhyme employed by Lenrie Peters could be considered original because it neither conforms to Elizabethan nor the English type. The tone of the poem is melancholic. That is the situation exile encourages. The poet is exhibiting a practical manifestation of what it is to be in exile. The expectations are usually very high but the system is not accommodating to satisfy all the yearnings revolving in the mind. The audience would perceive He Walks Alone as a didactic poem. A didactic poem is a poem that teaches and explains the rudiments about human society and predicament. The motif of exile is an over ­- riding factor in this poem. The poem exegetically breaks down and overturns the European jaundiced understanding of African cultural milieu, by resisting a widely accepted, and otiose depiction of the African students sojourn in Europe as blissful, celebratory and quintessential. But Peters through a complex exteriorization of his experience in London, depicts the thorny convolutions of exile. Conclusion The motif of exile is the main preoccupation that Lenrie Peters examines in exhaustive chunk. He uses rich imagery to demonstrate this, bearing in mind that Africans are people of historical evolution in the word of Boyin Svetlana. This poem is very sensitive to the plight of exile and identity. The use of ordinary language is to denote clear image of understanding so that the issue of ambiguity would not arise. To sum up, Lenrie Peters He Walks Alone is an exemplification of exile experience coupled with the question of identity and how these factors have dire consequences on the people. The rich artistic creation is a contribution to African literature.