Theory of Motivation in Marketing - 1954 Words

Introduction Any fundamental knowledge about marketing should consider the fact that this process involves various psychological underpinnings, including motivation. The theory of motivation in marketing does not only pertain to a single theoretical construct, but to a number of premises that explain how marketers may respond to the motivational needs of consumers. Consumers purchase products and patronise services depending on how those products respond to their basic biological needs or to psychological needs for esteem, status, social recognition, belonging, and/or self-actualisation (Drummond, et al. 2008). A consumer’s actual motivation causes him or her to move or respond to the message of a promotion or advertisement and the type of response often determines the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of marketing strategies. By identifying consumer motivations, marketers help satisfy their needs, thereby facilitating the relationship between these consumers and business organ izations. In any case, knowledge about the general motivation theory, and its different sub-theories, allow marketers to develop marketing mix, strategies, and solutions to respond to the needs of various consumer demographics, aspirations, and goals. These insights are further elaborated in the succeeding sections of this paper. Theoretical Context Before examining some recent examples of marketing strategies, campaigns, and approaches that align with the theory of motivation, it is essential toShow MoreRelatedIntroduction To Motivation Theory And Its Influence On Marketing Essay1331 Words   |  6 PagesBrief introduction to motivation theory and its influence on marketing INTRODUCTION Marketing occupies a very important part in the development of the company. â€Å"Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create an exchange and satisfy individual and organizational objectives.†( American Marketing Association 2004) But how marketers know why consumers do what they do and what product they need? Having aRead MoreEvaluating Moral Issues Of Motivation Theories : Lessons From Marketing And Advertising Practices859 Words   |  4 PagesEvaluating Moral Issues in Motivation Theories: Lessons from Marketing and Advertising Practices is a review of motivation theories and practices. The academic journal is designed to assist the reader and companies with comprehensive practices used to benefit the organization. The administered research is considering â€Å"the moral meaning of classic motivational theories and practices and their implications for both theoreticians a nd practitioners† (Shultz, T., 2013 J, 26(1), p. 1). The research wasRead MoreThe Effect of Work Design on Other Organisational Functions and Activities Including Production, Finance, Human Resources, and Marketing Etc.1125 Words   |  5 PagesThe effect of Work Design on other organisational functions and activities including Production, Finance, Human Resources, and Marketing etc. Work Design is closely related to operations management and within this is will have the greatest effect on production, which is an operations function, rather than finance, human resources or marketing which are separate business functions. Production Productivity has been generally defined as a ratio of a measure of output to a measure of someRead MoreInvolvement And Motivation : An Important Tool For Defining The Behavior Of The Consumers Essay1097 Words   |  5 PagesInvolvement and Motivation is considered as an important tool for defining the behaviour of the consumers. It plays a vital role in across all kinds of marketing strategies. In this essay, the term Involvement, Motivation and its relationship between those two factors and further consumer behaviour theories such as self, attitudes and ethics will be analysed. It will begin with the definition of Involvement and link with Motivation will be examined. Then, types of Involvement will be discussed. InRead MoreHow Does Involvement Can Make Products Differentiate From Them?1452 Words   |  6 Pagesan important topic within marketing, and especially when discussing consumer behaviour. This essay aims to explain different types of involvement, using real life examples to illustrate the concepts. Competitors will always be competitors, so this ess ay will also highlight how involvement can make products differentiate from them. Lastly, a few other theories relevant to involvement are lightly discussed. Relating involvement with motivation Involvement and motivations go hand in hand when it comesRead MoreThe Different Theories of Motivation929 Words   |  4 PagesWithout motivation, a person might never get out of bed because for the average person, motivation is behind every single action. For psychologists, motivation means much more than that, too, as it is important to understand human motivation to understand human behavior. Motivation can be studied from a variety of psychological schools of thought including behaviorism, cognition, psychoanalysis, humanism, and cognitive-behavioral theory. There are many theories of motivation that can help psychologistsRead MoreLaw of Case Studies1514 Words   |  7 PagesStudies An Unmotivated Building Inspector Case Study By: Zulfatah Arif 1) Review the motivation theories discussed in this chapter. How would each one describe and explain the problems with Simon Lucas’s motivation? The theories that would be relevant to the problems with Simon Lucas’ motivation would be the McClelland’s Need Theory and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. For McClelland’s Need Theory, it is divided into three segments which is the need for achievement, the need for power, andRead MoreAn Analysis of Coca-Colas Blog: Cognitive Behavior and Motivation Theories856 Words   |  3 Pagesanalysis of Coca-Colas blog will focus on cognitive behavior and on motivation theories in analyzing the effectiveness of this particular communications tool. One aspect of cognitive behavior that Coca-Cola has long emphasized in its marketing is classical conditioning. Coca-Cola marketing presents the beverage as being thirst-quenching. The image of the person drinking a Coke to be refreshed is used with repetition in marketing campaigns and the result is to create a link in the mind of the customerRead MoreBusiness Environment Past Papers1115 Words   |  5 PagesLearning Outc ome 5 The learner will: Understand the marketing process including marketing strategy, marketing planning and market research. Assessment Criteria The learner can: 5.1 Explain the importance of the marketing process and define key marketing terms, including market segmentation, Product Life Cycle, marketing mix, niche market, mass market, Unique Selling Point. Indicative Content 5.1.1 Define and explain the importance of the marketing process. 5.1.2 Explain how a market for a productRead MoreThe Marketing Objectives And The Consumer Centric1643 Words   |  7 Pagesinstitute of marketing (CIM)ï ¼Å'â€Å"Marketing is the process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs profitably.† Marketing is a term gradually into people’s version; it also become to the company’s primary sector with the improvement of the economic development and the increased in household’s disposal income. Some firms realized that only pay attention to the internal capability to product quality and philosophy rather than focus on customer satisfaction and marketing tools are not

Funny in Farsi Free Essays

Funny in Farsi A Memior of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas is all about her life growing up in California after her dad is moved there but is company form Iran. Being born in Iran she had not learned much English so when she moved to the United State she slowly learned and was the translator for her mother a lot of the time. In her younger years she moved around about every two years and eventually she settled in America after her dad retired from the oil refinery in Iran. We will write a custom essay sample on Funny in Farsi or any similar topic only for you Order Now Since she was light skinned and had dark hair she could pass for an America as long as she did ot speak because of her accent, this abled her in many ways. After living in America for some time Firoozeh realizes that no one can really say her name the right way because the English language does not use the same sounds that are in the Persian language. Also by taking an America name she would no longer have to spend endless amounts of time trying to explain to people how to say her name. Since she looked like a young American girl with an American name she could pass for someone that had been born and raised there, that is until she had to open her mouth to say something. After people started to think that she was an American they started to say things that she had never known that they had been saying before, about immigrants from her country. Whilst she has changed her name some Americans that had been traveling in Iran had been taken captive and held for a period of time and while the news was going over the story people started to talk about the issue. By having the American name she heard things that the people really thought about the issues with Iran instead of the polite things they would say to stay off of the subject. Kazem, her father, got fired from his Job for being Iranian during this time and found it very difficult to find another Job. Eventually he stopped putting that he was Persian or Iranian all together and became Turkish, Just so that he could find a Job during Just a difficult time. After all of the problems with Iran went away she went to college at the University of California at Berkeley where she met her husband a Frenchman named Francois. Since Francois was not from the Middle East he was not part of all the craziness with Iran, but he could easily pass for an American because of his white skin. Also if he ad never said anything to anyone no one would ever know about his accent, but then again no big event happened in France that would turn the American people against them. Even though Firoozeh saw the darker side of the citizens in the United States, she did not seem to think that the country was anything less than a blessing, and stayed in the United States as an adult. American attitudes and biases toward immigrants different from country to country and from person to person, some think one way and others think the other way. Normally the things that factor into how a person see’s another person are how hat person was raised, what beliefs they have, and how strongly they feel about the subject. The biggest factor is the way they were raised because if you are in a household where the parents or grandparents talk about a certain race of people in a bad way, it’s the same as monkey see monkey do. If a child over hears there father talking about those stupid Persians, then that child is likely to go and repeat it to a friend, teacher, nanny, or another Persian themselves. Mainly the behavior towards immigrants has been learned whilst the child was growing up or even as an adult eople tend to believe things that they hear, and repeat them to other people which then lead to more people thinking the exact same way as the people that has said these things in the first place. Stereotypes about people happen on a day to day bias, someone sees some that has been wearing the same Jacket all winter and of they think that they are poor and probably cannot afford a new coat. When in all truth that person could Just be wearing their favorite coat or this one may be the warmest of all the coats they own, a person can never tell anything about a person by Just briefly seeing them in the same hings or at the same places. People think that is someone from one country will do something harsh, rash, dangerous, or illegal that all people from that country are going to do it, and that has never been the case. If someone from a small town goes and robs a bank does that mean that everyone in that town is now going to go and rob another bank somewhere else, no it does not. By grouping people together as being all the same that is Just putting them into one group for one reason are they going to be separate into which are more likely to do this and which are more likely to o that, the answer is no. Firoozeh Dumas was born in Iran and then around seven moved to the United States, but she never thought any less of the people her the whole time she stayed and now even as an adult she live in California. Even after all the hardships she faced form moving here not knowing English and having to translate for her mother, going back to Iran and then coming back again. She saw all of the bias and the problems that people have with other countries and immigrants, she grew up in a world where not everyone is accepted for whole they truly are. How to cite Funny in Farsi, Papers

Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak free essay sample

When the Kings of Leon emerged into the rock/ indie scene, eyebrows were raised so high they nearly reached the top of one’s head. What an entrance they made, with â€Å"Youth Young Manhood,† following the ice-breaking single â€Å"Red Morning Light.† What made them stand out from their fellow musicians, however, were the beards and the hair. Having cut their hair and shaved their beards, the Kings are back with an altogether more powerful album than its forever-praised predecessor. The Tennessee family foursome raised as sons of a preacher man deliver an outstanding second album with brand-new raving guitar riffs. Caleb Followill’s voice sounds like silky cream on sandpaper as he belts out â€Å"Day Old Blues† (he actually yodels, too). Cousin Matthew Followill’s lead guitar is impressive when mixed with Jared’s fast-moving bass playing which is especially highlighted in â€Å"Razz.† It is clear that drummer Nathan Followill has definitely learned some new tricks as his techniques differ with the mood of the music. We will write a custom essay sample on Kings of Leon Aha Shake Heartbreak or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The album definitely has depth. Comparing the Kings of Leon to the Strokes is not an incomprehensible association; listen to the beginning of â€Å"Soft† with its upbeat rhythm and Strokes-like guitar style. The song highlights the progress the Kings have made not only in their musicality but also in their writing. Overall, this is an impressive second album which drips with confidence. The Kings of Leon are still experimenting with different styles and as far as I can tell, they are doing a fantastic job.

Mothers Love Essays (823 words) - Literature, Culture,

Mothers Love The idea of a ghost story or horror story has long since been introduced into the world of American literature starting in the late 18th century. These works played with the idea of life after death and its effects on the present. The term gothic or gothic horror has been used to describe this form of literature. The literary meaning of the gothic style of is hard to define, but to give it a simple meaning the gothic is when the supernatural encounters the natural. In the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison this form of the gothic is used. The story involves Sethe, an ex-slave, whom the ghost of her dead daughter haunts. The ghost of this novel is a two year old who is young in age, yet strong in power. The character Sethe, is based on the real life story of the slave Margaret Garner. On Jan. 28, 1856, Garner killed her two-year-old daughter rather than have her sent back to slavery due to the fugitive slave law. Garner was later found guilty and sent back to the plantation she fled in Mississippi. The story of Beloved delves into the most painful part of the African American heritage, slavery. The memory of this horrifying time is presented in what Morrison calls "rememory"-- actively making the past real in the present. The novel is set during the Reconstruction(1870-1890) which follows the Civil War and emancipation. Much of the characters' pain occurs as they themselves try to "reconstruct" their families, communities and their own sense of identity. While this novel has been compared many times to that of a slave narrative, Morrison chooses to use the gothic to tell her story. Yes this novel does use slave narrative form, but it explores a greater range with the gothic. Morrison chooses to use the gothic because it allows her to explore the true effects of her characters and their effects on each other. Beloved comes back to haunt not only Sethe but everyone around her. She feels that her life has been taken away from her and for that reason she wants to "suck" the life out of Sethe, Paul D, and Denver. The novel is broken into three major parts. As part one opens Morrison introduces the house with, "124 was spiteful. Full of baby's venom. The woman knew it and so did the children" (Morrison 3). Immediately the reader is thrown into this house with a ghost that is spiteful. The only surviving members of the family are Denver, the child Sethe was carrying in her escape to freedom, and Sethe. With the gothic, Morrison is able to show just how horrifying slavery and its effects are. Morrison goes into great detail to describe the horrors of Sweet Home and the people who lived there. As the reader hears of these effects the emotion is relased. Sethe describes one account saying " after I left you, those boys came in there and took my milk. That's what they come for. Held me down and took it." ( Morrison, 16) Paul D instantly gets rid of the horrifying presence that has consumed this house for so long, and up to this point had only been physical as red light. With this sense of relief Paul D, Sethe, and Denver go to the local fair. Later they return home to find a mystical woman who is referred to as "Beloved". Denver identifies the woman as the returned ghost in now human flesh and receives her as a sister. This is where the novel begins to take on its own existence. Beloved becomes the focus of everyone's attention. Beloved has both mental and physical difficulties. Parts of her body threaten to fall off; some teeth do fall out. She has a scar on her throat. Her infrequent speech is childish. Although apparently she is a stranger, Beloved knows intimate things about Sethe, one of which includes the lullaby that Sethe sang to her babies. Denver takes a great liking to Beloved. Having been isolated for so many years, Denver finally feels that she has a friend. Soon, however, she is frightened to discover that the spirit is covertly attacking Sethe. For example, while pretending to massage Sethe neck, Beloved tries to choke her. Paul D on the other hand, dislikes Beloved but finds her sexually irresistible. Under some kind of spell or conjure, he has sex with her. The presence of this ghost now in human form thus disrupts every relationship. With this "rebirth" of Beloved, Sethe

Check Order Instruction And Attachment Example

Check Order Instruction And Attachment Example Check Order Instruction And Attachment – Article Example The Things to Do and Responsible Sports Program This things to do article is a very touching article. However, leaving emotions aside for abit. In a game every team aims to win. It is why the teams practice hard and sacrifice their time to practice, so as to win. It is, therefore, disappointing that after all that, to just throw the game like that.First, clearly coach Rohland was not a responsible coach. Quoting an excerpt from the responsible sports program article†¦Ã¢â‚¬  A responsible coach is not soft, a source of empty, unearned praises and satisfied with everyone just having fun.† If it were my verdict, I would not have passed up those free throws. Coach Rohland in this instance clearly forgot to respect the sports ROOTS which according to the responsible sports program article mean Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates and Self. He disrespected the rules and the official by at first trying to refuse to accept the free throws awarded to his team and then asking the senior captain to miss them.In addition, this was an opportunity to beat the big city team and he just let the opportunity pass him. Coach Rohland clearly does not have the drive to aim for winning and not settle for anything less. To prove this, and I quote from the things to do article†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Didn’t matter that the game was, or that this was a chance to beat the big city team.† According to the writer’s view, it was better to accept the technical fouls and hopefully go ahead and win the game. However, the team would still have after the game gone ahead and shown their support for the Milwaukee captain by applauding for him after the game and passing their condolences.On the other hand, the Milwaukee team made all the right choices especially Franklin by urging the coach not to cancel the game and to quote from the things to do article†¦ â€Å"Womack was going to cancel the game but Franklin told him he wanted the team to play.† Putting myself in Womack’s shoes, the Milwaukee coach, I would have made the same decisions. He placed education and character development before wins by allowing Franklin to play, even though it meant their opponents being awarded free throws. In addition, he allowed Franklin to fill his â€Å"emotional tanks† to improve performance and instill a love of the sport. This sentiment is felt when Franklin says and quoting from the things to do article†¦Ã¢â‚¬ I got kind of emotional, but it helped a lot to play. I felt like I had a lot of support out there.†In conclusion, I do not agree with the writer’s opinion, quoting from the things to do article†¦Ã¢â‚¬ None so good, though, as the moment a team and a player decided there were more important things than winning and having good stats.† It’s because, the two teams in the end were able to show how sports can be the ideal virtual classroom for teaching life lessons. This experience in the end helped the players especially the Milwaukee team, to be of high character, overcome adversity and function as productive team members.Work cited "Responsible Sports." Liberty Mutual Insurance. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2014.

Biography of Dalton Trumbo and the Hollywood Blacklist

Biography of Dalton Trumbo and the Hollywood Blacklist â€Å"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?† It was a question asked of dozens of people brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the 1940s and 1950s, and in October of 1947, it was put to Dalton Trumbo, one of Hollywood’s best-known and highest-paid screenwriters. Trumbo and nine others- dubbed the ‘Hollywood Ten’- refused to answer the question on First Amendment grounds This stand for principle came at a steep price: federal prison terms, fines, and worst of all, a place on the  Hollywood blacklist, a prohibition that kept them from working in their chosen profession. Dalton Trumbo spent much of the rest of his life climbing back to the top. The fall from grace was particularly hard for Trumbo, who had  struggled to establish a writing career  and had risen to the upper ranks of the Hollywood studio structure less than a decade earlier. Early Life James Dalton Trumbo was born in Montrose, Colorado on December 5, 1905 and grew up in the nearby town of Grand Junction. His father, Orus, was hardworking but struggled to achieve financial stability. Orus and Maud Trumbo often had difficulty supporting Dalton and his sisters. Trumbo became interested in writing early in life, working as a cub reporter for the Grand Junction newspaper while still in high school. He studied literature at the University of Colorado with the hope of becoming a novelist. Then, in 1925, Orus decided to move the family to Los Angeles in the hopes of finding more lucrative work, and Dalton decided to follow. Within a year of the move, Orus died of a blood disorder. Dalton got what he hoped would be a short-term job at the Davis Perfection Bread Company to help support the family. He ended up staying for eight years, working on novels and short stories in his spare moments. Few were published. His big break came in 1933, when he was offered a job writing for the Hollywood Spectator. This led to a job reading scripts for Warner Brothers in 1934, and by 1935, he was hired as a junior script writer in the B-Picture Unit. Later that year, his first novel, Eclipse, was published. Early Career For the next few years, Trumbo hopped from studio to studio as he mastered his new craft. By the late 1940s, he was earning as much as $4.000 a week- a major improvement over the $18 a week he had earned at the Perfection Bread Company. He wrote over a dozen movies between 1936 and 1945, including Five Came Back, Kitty Foyle, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, and A Guy Named Joe. His personal life also flourished. In 1938, he married a former drive-in waitress named Cleo Fincher, and they soon had a family: Christopher, Mitzi, and Nikola. Trumbo bought an isolated ranch in Ventura County as a retreat from Hollywood life. Joining the Communist Party Trumbo had a reputation in Hollywood as an outspoken critic of social injustice. Having been a member of the working class for much of his life, he was passionate about labor rights and civil rights. Like many of his liberal-leaning Hollywood peers, he was eventually drawn towards Communism. His decision to join the Communist Party in December 1943 was a casual one. While not a Marxist, he agreed with many of its general principles. â€Å"People joined the Communist Party for very good, humane reasons, in my view,† he once said. The early 1940s was the high point for Party membership in the United States; Trumbo was one of more than 80,000 â€Å"card-carrying† Communists of the era. He loathed the meetings, which he described as â€Å"dull beyond description and about as revolutionary in purpose as Wednesday evening testimonial services at the Christian Science Church,† but he passionately believed in the Party’s right to exist under a Constitution that afforded Americans the freedom to assemble and to speak. The Hollywood Ten Trumbo’s affiliation was well-known at the time, and he, like other Hollywood Communist Party members, was under FBI surveillance for several years. In September 1947, the family was at their remote ranch when FBI agents arrived with a subpoena to appear before the HUAC. Trumbo’s son Christopher, then seven, asked what was happening. â€Å"We are Communists,† Trumbo said, â€Å"and I have to go to Washington to answer questions about my Communism.† About 40 members of the Hollywood community were issued subpoenas. Most simply complied with HUAC investigators, but Trumbo, along with fellow screenwriters Alvah Bessie, Lester Cole, Albert Maltz, Ring Lardner, Jr., Samuel Ornitz, and John Howard Lawson, directors Edward Dmytryk and Herbert Biberman, and producer Adrian Scott, decided not comply. In a contentious hearing on October 28, 1947, Trumbo repeatedly refused to answer HUAC members’ questions on First Amendment grounds. For his intransigence, he was found in contempt of Congress. He was later convicted on the charges and sentenced to a year in prison. Prisoner #7551 It took three years for the case to work through the appeals process, but Trumbo’s actual punishment began as soon as he returned from the hearings. He and his peers were blacklisted from working for any of the major studios and shunned by many in the Hollywood community. It was a hard time for the family both financially and emotionally, as Cleo Trumbo told People in a 1993 interview. â€Å"We were broke, and we weren’t invited anywhere. People dropped away.† With legal fees draining his savings, Trumbo returned to his B-movie roots and began churning out scripts under various pseudonyms for small studios. He worked right up until the day in June 1950 when he shaved off his signature mustache and flew east to begin his year-long prison term. Trumbo, now known as Prisoner #7551 was sent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Kentucky. After almost 25 years of ceaseless work, Trumbo said that he felt â€Å"a sense of almost exhilarating relief† when the doors closed behind him. His stint at Ashland was filled with reading, writing, and light duties. Good behavior won him early release in April 1951. Breaking the Blacklist Trumbo moved the family to Mexico City after his release, hoping to get away from the notoriety and to stretch their reduced income a little further. They returned in 1954. Mitzi Trumbo later described the harassment of her new elementary school classmates when they found out who she was. Throughout the period, Trumbo continued to write for the screenplay black market. He would end up writing around 30 scripts under various pen names between 1947 and 1960. In one two-year span, he wrote 18 scripts at an average payout of $1,700 each. Some of these scripts were very successful. Among his work during this period was the classic romantic comedy Roman Holiday (1953) and The Brave One (1956). Both won Academy Awards for writing- awards that Trumbo couldn’t accept. Trumbo often passed on work to other struggling blacklisters, not only out of generosity but also  to flood the market with so many black-market scripts that the whole blacklist would look like a joke. Later Life and Legacy The blacklist continued to weaken throughout the 1950s. In 1960, director Otto Preminger insisted Trumbo receive a credit for writing the script for the Biblical blockbuster Exodus, and actor Kirk Douglas publicly announced Trumbo had written the script for the historical epic Spartacus. Trumbo adapted the script from a novel by Howard Fast, himself a blacklisted author. Trumbo was readmitted to the Writers Union and from that point on, he was able to write under his own name. In 1975, he received a belated Oscar statuette for The Brave One. He continued to work until he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1973, and died in Los Angeles on September 10, 1976 at the age of 70. By the time Trumbo died, the blacklist was long broken. Fast Facts Bio Full Name: James Dalton TrumboOccupation: Screenwriter, novelist, political activistBorn:  December 9, 1905 in Montrose, Colorado  Died:  September 10, 1976 in Los Angeles, CaliforniaEducation: Attended  University of Colorado and University of Southern California, no degreeSelected Screenplays: Roman Holiday, The Brave One, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Spartacus, Exodus Novels: Eclipse, Johnny Got His Gun, The Time of the ToadKey Accomplishments:  Joined  nine other Hollywood figures in resisting the anti-Communist House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Worked for years under assumed names until he was able to rejoin the Hollywood community.  Spouses Name: Cleo Fincher TrumboChildrens Names: Christopher Trumbo, Melissa Mitzi Trumbo, Nikola Trumbo Sources Ceplair, Larry.. Dalton Trumbo: Blacklisted Hollywood Radical. University Press of Kentucky, 2017.Cook, Bruce. Trumbo. Grand Central Publishing, 2015.

Compare and contrast salvation and the self Essay

Compare and contrast salvation and the self - Essay Example While Buddhism denies the existence of a soul or a distinct self, Hinduism affirms its existence in its most sacred texts like the Bhagavad Gita. According to Theravada Buddhism, there is no soul or consciousness that is separate from matter. The world's sufferings are caused by the attachment to our ego. According to Buddhism, even the notion of an immortal soul or that of a loving God are delusions. According to Teravada, one who gains insight passes through four stages .The fourth and final stage is that of the Arhat., "who has attained complete freedom ..The Arhat is free from all bonds including the desire for existence in formed or formless worlds, as well as ignorance, excitability and ambition"(Encyclopedia Britannica) The Sthitaprajna of the Bhagavad Gita exhibits similar traits. Salvation, whether it is the Nirvana of the Buddhist, or Moksha of the Hindu, is the highest goal one can aspire for. According to Theravada Buddhism, Nirvana is " beyond death,not caused, not born, not produced; it is beyond all becoming and devoid of all that makes up a human person"(Encyclopedia) It is the abode of supreme happiness, which is attained by one who has realized the Four Noble Truths. The four Noble Truths were told by the Buddha in his first sermon after his enlightenment.

Drug Use Among African-American Adolescent Females Essay

Drug Use Among African-American Adolescent Females - Essay Example In addition, substance use and abuse leads to poorer performance in school, premature dropping out, legal complications, and poor employment opportunities. These are precisely the problems that a young African-American female is ill equipped to confront in a world where race and gender may already place them at a disadvantage. African-American adolescent females have made great strides in confronting drug abuse, yet there are still several risk factors that they are routinely exposed to. Substance abuse has been identified as the nation's number one health problem. It is critical to address the problem of teenage drug use as most users begin using AOD before they turn 15 years old (Lewis et al., 2002, p.15). For the purposes of this paper, an adolescent is a person attending school in grades 13 through 18 years old. Reaching and intervening into this age bracket is one of the keys to the success of stemming the tide of drug addiction. It is decidedly relevant to understand the scope of the problem as well as the triggers and stressors that may lead a young black female to use drugs or relapse after a treatment program. The economical cost to society makes it financially imperative to intervene at a young age. An untreated drug problem costs society almost four times as much as would be spent on a residential treatment program (Lewis et al., 2002, p.56). There is also a great personal cost attached to the abuser of AOD. Physical health suffers not only from the drugs , but also from poor eating habits and the stress involved with the stigma of drug use. The legal status of teen use of drugs can destroy a young girl's life by disrupting the educational process and exposing them to other criminal activity. While substance abuse is a major threat to our public health, it is one that the nation cannot afford to ignore. Stressors that raise the risk of drug use are often not gender or race specific, though there are some notable exceptions. In general, females in their teen years tend to use slightly fewer drugs than their male counterparts. Nearly 50 percent of men and women have tried an illegal drug by their senior year of high school, and alcohol is the most popular drug of choice followed by marijuana (Johnston, O'Malley, Bachman, and Schulenberg, 2007, p.115). However, marijuana is the drug that is most regularly used, with 1 percent of 8th graders smoking it daily, and 5 percent of 12th graders using the drug daily (Johnston et al., 2007, p.90). In contrast to the typical stereotyping of the media, African-American teens use fewer drug and less often than their Caucasian or Hispanic cohorts (Johnston et al., 2007, p.132-135). This misperception may be due to the strong correlation between poverty and drug use, and the over-representation of African-Americans in the nation's penal system. Howe ver, the statistics clearly indicate that adolescent African-American females are one of the lowest using demographic groups. There are several pressures that come to bear on young African-American women to begin using drugs. Having an opportunity beyond high school has a significant impact on a student's decision to postpone experimenting and using drugs. Marijuana use by 8th graders is 50 percent lower among the students who are planning on attending a 4-year college (Johnston, et al., 2007,

Steinbecks Present and Development of the Character Curly Essay Example for Free

Steinbecks Present and Development of the Character Curly Essay How does Steinbeck present and develop the character of Curly’s wife in ‘Of Mice and Men’? 1) In the beginning of â€Å"Of Mice and Men† we readers are made to perceive Curly’s wife as a vain, trouble making bully who provokes people and intends on bringing their anger out, especially Lennie and is incapable of seeing the world from any perspective other than her own. We then realise by the end of the novel that she is only a sweet, innocent woman who just wanted to be cherished and wasn’t able to reach her dreams. 2) Steinbeck introduces Curly’s wife for the first time as a â€Å"girl† and not a women. This implies that she only appears to the people on the ranch as a young a naà ¯ve person. You could also interpret her being called a girl into not being respected by anyone. This could be seen as quiet odd as although she is the boss’s son’s wife she still hasn’t gained any respect from the men on the ranch. We are made extremely aware that she isn’t respected on the ranch when the men refer to her as â€Å"jailbait†, â€Å"tramp†, â€Å"tart†, â€Å"bitch† and at one point is even referred to as a â€Å"loo loo†, lulu also being the name of the dog on the ranch which could again reinforce the idea that they see her as unimportant and invaluable. 3) As we look into her being called a girl, it emphasises the fact that she is also vulnerable but she attempts to mask this by presenting herself in a seductive and flirtatious manner, i.e. being â€Å"heavily made up† wearing the colour red quiet often as Steinbeck describes her as wearing â€Å"red mules† and â€Å"full rouged lips†. Some readers could choose to perceive this as again being seductive whereas others may see this as red being associated with danger, with the idea developing throughout the novella. 4) Now although Steinbeck refers to her as heavily made up and vulnerable, the readers’ ideas may begin to change as we notice references in the book which make her appear unattractive both physically and mentally. Steinbeck refers to her hair as â€Å"hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages† which doesn’t sound very appealing. He also mention how â€Å"her voice had a nasal, brittle quality† which again gives us the impression that she had an annoying voice which could make her appear less attractive which will give the readers second thoughts on her appearance and how they visualize her, and whether she is actually attractive or whether she desires to be attractive in order to seduce and cause danger to the men on the ranch. 5) As we begin to go through the novella we notice a hierarchy which follows Curly’s wife. As mentioned before we would think that being the boss’s son’s wife, she would automatically have respect from everyone on the ranch however, we are made aware of the low status she has and the disrespect she suffers. Instead she appears to be a sex object to the men, whether or not this is due to the fact of how she presents herself. It appears even her own husband; Curly doesn’t have any respect for her. This could be due to the fact that instead of being a traditional stay at home wife she is out on the ranch and dressed incongress as well as flirting with the men on the ranch as shown when quoted that â€Å"she smiled archly and twisted her body†. However, we also see how although Slim is of lower status, it seems the men manage to ignore this as they show massive respect for him, which Steinbeck presents when he refers to him as â€Å"God-like†. 6) As we look at the low status that Curly’s wife encounters we realise that not once is she ever referred to by her name, but only as Curly’s wife. This implies she has no value, and is only seen as Curly’s possession which reinforces the idea that she is of the same value of the dog, as she is referred to as a â€Å"loo-loo† which is also the name given to the dog. 7) Now, when we look at the themes presented in â€Å"Of Mice and Men† we notice one is loneliness. We get an idea at the beginning of the book when we see that the place they are located in is â€Å"Soledad† which has the meaning of solitude and loneliness. By Curly’s wife being the only women on the ranch, readers may get the idea that she is lonely as is separated from the other men on the ranch. Even when Curly’s wife is at home with Curly she still feels loneliness as we are made aware that she didn’t actually love Curly and still doesn’t. She is in fact only with him because she wanted to get away from her â€Å"ol lady†. Throughout the novella Curly and his wife don’t seem to interact and Curly’s wife isn’t afraid to express the emotional distance between her and her husband, as she shared with the men on the ranch â€Å"he aint a nice guy†. 8) As Curly’s wife begins to develop out sympathy begins to lie with her. We begin to see the negative light that shines on her as her actions begin to cause disruption. As a person who faces prejudices, loneliness and segregation we would think that she would have sympathy for any other person who faces the same problems and in order to make herself feel bigger, she has to search for out those who appear less important. She cruelly cuts down Candy for his old age and meekness, Lennie for being a dum dum, and most harshly, she threatens Crooks with a hanging if he’s in contact with the men crushing his dreams of having a ranch full of chickens, berry patches and alfalfa. 9) Crook isn’t the only man in the book who has a dream, as we see the theme of dreams follows everyone throughout the novella. Many of their dreams relation to the American dream, which is to own a little bit on land, their own crops and animals. George’s dream has been shown when quoted â€Å"we’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winder, we’ll just say the hell with goin’ to work, and we’ll build up a fire in the stove and sit around it an’ listen to the rain comin’ down on the roof†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lennie’s dream is also shown when quoted â€Å"We could live offa the fatta the lan†. 10) Although we weren’t made away of Curly’s wife’s dream during the novel, as we reach the end of it the readers are made aware that her dream was to be in the pitches and start in shows and make it in Hollywood. She realised that this was her dream when she men someone (a male) claiming to be from Hollywood who told her that she would go far and was a natural. Sadly, we see how her dream was crushed when she blamed her â€Å"old lady† for stealing the letter she believes her wrote. 11) By us readers being made aware of her dreams, we begin to understand why her appearance is the way it is with her â€Å"red ostrich feathered mules†, her â€Å"heavily made-up† self and â€Å"roughed lips†. All she wanted was â€Å"all them nice clothes† and the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle which is why she dresses incongress to the ranch. 12) In the end, when Curly’s wife is lying dead she is then describe by Steinbeck as â€Å"pretty and simple†¦sweet and young†. This suggests that the reason of her appearance is relating to her loneliness and how she just wanted to be loved. This has an effect on us readers, as we go from seeing her as a seductive malicious person to a lonely, in search of love girl who didn’t mean any harm. Our sympathy then begins to go out to her, and the way she is treated by men in the novel goes from being due the fact that she is a trouble maker to just begin a victim of society. 13) This brings me to my conclusion that Curly’s wife is presented as a women who is a flirt and is in need on attention, but can also appear to be malicious, horrible and a danger to others. We see her character develop noticeably and her dreams are shared as her death takes place which makes us aware of how lonely, naà ¯ve and attractive she is. How she is not a girl, but a women who is in need of love and compassion and was only a victim to the segregation and prejudices which took place throughout the novel.

The Life and Work of Robert Browning :: essays papers

The Life and Work of Robert Browning Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812, in Camberwell, which is now a part of London. He had no real formal education so he was largely self educated. His father was a smart man with an extensive library. His mother was kindly, religious minded woman, who loved music and her brilliant son. He lived at his parents house almost until the time of his marriage. He attended a boarding school near Camberwell and spent a little bit of his time traveling to places like Russia and Italy. But he preferred to have his education at home, where he was tutored in foreign languages, boxing, music, and horsemanship, and where he read "omnivorously." At the age of 14 he first discovered Percy Shelly works and was strongly influenced by it. After reading Shelly, He made the decision to be an atheist and a liberal. But in a few years he grew away from atheism and the extreme phases of his liberalism. The things he learned from the books he read would largely influence his poems later in his life. His earlier poetry was regarded with indifference and largely misunderstood. It was not until the 1860's that he would at last gain publicity and would even be compared with Alfred Lord Tennyson, another very famous poet of the time. Some of his early poetry was influenced by his unusual education. The poet also had an anxious desire to avoid exposing himself explicitly to his readers. The first poem he wrote called Pauline, was written in 1883 at the age of twenty-one, but he did not sign it because of his fear of exposing himself to the public too much. Since Browning did not want to expose himself too personally, he decided to try his hand at writing plays. He was encouraged by the actor W.C. Macready. Browning began work on his first play, Strafford, a historical tragedy. Unfortunately, the play only lasted four nights when it was first put on in London in 1837. For ten more years, the young writer would continue to struggle to produce a play that would better hold the attention of the audience, but they all remained failures. Not only did Browning profit from this otherwise disheartening experience, but writing the dialogue for the characters helped him explore the "dramatic dialogue." The dramatic dialogue, "enabled him to, through imaginary speakers, to avoid explicit autobiography and yet did not demand that these speakers act out the story with the speed or simplifications that a stage production demands.

Deterioration of a Relationship Essay

Throughout the play, we can see the titular character’s, Juno Boyle and Jack Boyle, relationship deteriorate , and how dramatic events in their lives and the lives of their children, Johnny and Mary, cause the entire family to collapse. The play is set closely following the signing of the treaty dividing Ireland into sections and features the resulting conflict between the diehards who want a united, free Ireland, and the free-staters, who support the treaty, with this conflict representing the clash of fanatical nationalism and practicality, of idealism and a recognition that what the people truly wanted was peace. The play also explores some of the relevant ideas of the time, including the poverty of the working class in Dublin in the 1920‘s, and how this poverty affected the communities that lived within the tenements of Dublin at this time. In the first act we see a great deal of conflict between Juno and Boyle. The root of this conflict lies in Boyles inability to accept responsibility for supporting his family, as he refuses to seek work and spends his days drinking with his manipulative, scrounging friend Joxer. Juno is forced to act as wife, mother and sole source of income for the family, the prime motivation for this character being to keep her ragged family unit together â€Å"Who has kep th’ home together for the past few years – only me† This introduces us very early on to the theme of poverty in the play. The tension in the relationship is directly linked to poverty throughout the play, Boyle’s lack of responsibility causing conflict between him and Juno when their financial situation is bad. â€Å"Your poor wife slavin to keep the bit in your mouth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  We can see O’Casey present both the positive and negative aspects he perceives in poverty. We see him contrast the strength and ability that destitution can invoke through the character of Juno, and the pettiness and selfishness that only serves to further the poverty and drive apart the sense of community that collective poverty can create through the character of Boyle. However, the converse of this is also true. When, in the second act, the Boyles become apparently more affluent, we can see a greater degree of affection come to the fore of the relationship. The windfall of the will causes Juno to treat Boyle less as a child who must be nagged and scolded to perform any useful, or at least less detrimental, role in the family she holds so dear, and more as the head of his family, a role she previously fulfilled. This change in attitude is regarded by Boyle as him merely him finally getting the respect he believes he deserves. â€Å"I’m masther now, an’ I’m goin to remain masther† This period of happiness is quickly dispelled when it is revealed that Boyle has deceived the family, allowing them to continue to spend money that he knows they do not have and are never going to get. This demonstrates to us his inability to accept any form of responsibility and signals the end of the period of good luck for the Boyles and the culmination of the intertwining storylines of the play. In the third act the affection that marks Boyle and Juno’s relationship I the second act is dispelled entirely, only to be replaced by bitter conflict and the eventual dissolution of their entire family. Throughout the play, Juno’s main purpose is to support and hold together her family but in this final act all her efforts are worthless as the actions and attitudes of the other members of her family and those around them drag the family incontrovertibly apart. The first factor in this dissolution is Mary’s pregnancy. This in itself would have a bad effect on the family, with another family member to feed, clothe and house placing further strain on their finances, but it is Johnny and Boyle’s attitude to this pregnancy that does the most damage. She should be dhriven from the house she’s brought so much shame upon† Instead of trying to support his daughter through this difficult and emotionally strained situation, he instead seeks to drive her from the house and from the family. This anger’s Juno, and leads her to threaten Boyle that if Mary leaves the family then Juno will follow her, as he is attempting to destroy that which she holds to be the most valuable thing, her family, purely in order to protect his own reputation However, the final thing that convinces Juno the family is irreparably torn apart is Johnny’s death at the hands of his former comrades. This cements Juno’s decision to leave, she feel’s justified in leaving with Mary in order to help her raise her child (abortion not being an option at this time in such a heavily catholic country) as she is the only part of her family that is salvageable, with Johnny dead and her convinced that Boyle is beyond salvation. â€Å"Let your father furrage for himself now; I’ve done all I could an’ it was all no use – he’ll be hopeless till the end of his days. This is the final collapse of the relationship, and we see the final outcome of it. Boyle is left unchanged, as the closing scene of the play showing him sitting drunk with Joxer, oblivious to all the dramatic changes in his life,. Juno, on the other hand, is resolute in her changes, she has finally been given the strength to leave Boyle behind and move on, she is able to recognise him for what he is, not a child, as she appears to view him in act one, because a child has promise of maturing, but as a waster who will never change and will never do anything but hold her back.

Compare Single Life and Married Life

Essay #1 Values or Traditions that Identify Colombia Colombia is located in South America and borders with five different countries such as Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Colombia has been claim as â€Å"the tropical paradise†. Most Colombians are friendly, religious, and hardworking. First, in Colombia most people are friendly, happy, helpful, and caring. Although, people have been affected by the Drug War, Colombians don’t lose their positivisms, and willing to help and care for others.For instance, it is very common to hear people in the streets talking loud, laughing, and most of them have known between each other for years. Neighbors care for each other and help each other with food, or moral support. Colombians love to dance and eat great food in parties that most of the times are not special events; they are created in the spirit of happiness. Second, most Colombians were raised with Catholic believes in the past.Now in Colombia there are a variety of religions, however Colombia’s stronger believed is â€Å"El Nino Jesus†. Another important tradition for all Colombians is â€Å"The Christmas Season†. For example, From December sixteen to the twenty four families and friends get together to pray and remember the path of Jesus birthday by singing, eating, and having treats for the little kids. This is the most amazing time for almost everyone and most especial for young kids since they spend quality time with families and friends.Therefore, families choose a different home to do â€Å"La novena† because that particular house is offering dinner and treats for the guests. Therefore this tradition had passed from generation to generation. Lastly, most Colombians are hard working people, well known around the world for this quality. Most Colombians are well educated and professionals, and some of them have the opportunity to succeed in Colombia, while others travel to succeed in other countries.For exampl e, people often travel to the United States to improve their lives and even though they are professionals they end up working in different fields none related to their profession, while others advance their education by working extra hard to accomplish their responsibilities and excel. For example, Sofia Vergara is a well know Colombian actress who came to the United States to better her carrier and she has excel incredibly. In conclusion, Colombians are conspicuous by their values and traditions and because they are recognized by other countries as people that are most often happy, responsible and have great faith.

The Worlds 14 Most Haunted Cemeteries

The World's 14 Most Haunted Cemeteries Cemeteries around the world have gained a reputation for being haunted by ghosts for many reasons, including grave robbery, unmarked or forgotten burials, natural disasters that disturb resting places, or sometimes even because the deceased was not properly buried at all. Add all of that to the fact that graveyards are often dark, somber places and youve got the perfect setting for a ghost or two. Come explore some of the worlds most haunted cemeteries...but dont forget to hold your breath as you drive by, or you might breathe in the spirit of someone who has recently died! St. Louis Cemetery No. 1New Orleans, Louisiana Multiple ghosts are said to haunt the famous St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans, but one ghost dominates the others - Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. The ornate cemetery is the oldest cemetery in New Orleans - a place of ornate above-ground tombs and mausoleums, winding footpaths and crumbling memorials. Old Western Burial GroundBaltimore, Maryland The Old Western Burial Ground in Baltimore is the final resting place of Edgar Allan Poe, fifteen generals from the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, and other famous individuals. Part of the graveyard can now only be accessed by way of catacombs below Westminster Presbyterian Church where ghosts are said to walk... Resurrection CemeteryChicago, Illinois One of Americas favorite ghost stories is the tale of the vanishing hitchhiker, Resurrection Mary. Resurrection Cemetery, located in Justice, Illinois, has been home to this famous spirit since the 1930s. The famous burned and twisted bars at the gate of Resurrection Cemetery were removed to discourage onlookers Rookwood CemeterySydney, Australia Close to one million people lie in the beautiful, Victorian Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney, but it is the grave of the notorious Davenport Brothers, famous spiritualists, that is said to attract ghosts to the necropolis. Stull CemeteryStull, Kansas The quiet Stull Cemetery located between Topeka and Kansas City, in the town of Stull, Kansas, is listed by many haunting guides as one of the Seven Portals to Hell and one of the most haunted cemeteries in America. Steven Jansen, director of the Watkins Community Museum of History thinks the legends started as a fraternity prank in the 1970s, however, and have no basis in truth. The locals do their best to deter visitors on Halloween due to repeated vandalism in the cemetery, and it is even said that a local knocked down the burned-out church on the property - site of the supposed gateway to hell. Paris Catacombs  Paris, France Listed by many among the worlds most haunted places, the Paris Catacombs,  buried deep beneath the streets of Paris, hold the bones of over six million French dead, interred in the empty limestone quarries from 1785 through the 1800s. With so many bones stacked up everywhere you look, it seems impossible to believe that ghosts dont exist. Bachelors Grove Cemetery Chicago, IllinoisThis abandoned Chicago burial ground is the subject of numerous legends and ghostly tales. More than 100 different reports of strange phenomena at Bachelors Grove Cemetery have been collected, including actual apparitions, unexplained sights and sounds, and even glowing balls of light. El Campo Santo Cemetery San Diego, CaliforniaThe now-restored 1849 Roman Catholic burial ground known as El Campo Santo Cemetery  is a popular place for ghost sightings. Some of the graves here were covered over by a street, and others have been desecrated over the years, reportedly leaving the residents restless. Greenwood Cemetery Decatur, IllinoisOne of the most famous haunted cemeteries in the midwest, Greenwood Cemetery in Decatur, Illinois, is the site of numerous ghost stories and legends. The Civil War section is the most famous, said to be haunted by the ghosts of Confederate prisoners. Hollywood Forever Cemetery Los Angeles, CaliforniaFormerly known as Hollywood Memorial Park, this Los Angeles, California, cemetery to the stars is reportedly haunted by starlet Virginia Rappe, who allegedly died after a night of debauchery with comedian Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle. Clifton Webb is also reported to haunt his mausoleum at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and a Lady in Black is often seen in front of Rudolph Valentinos crypt. Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery Columbus, OhioFresh flowers often mysteriously appear on the grave of a Confederate soldier who is buried at Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery, believed to have been left behind by the famous Lady in Gray, The ghostly widow, who has been seen walking among the tombstones, lost her husband at the ​Confederate prison camp which existed on this spot during the Civil War. Silver Cliff Cemetery Silver Cliff, ColoradoGhost sightings in the haunted Silver Cliff Cemetery date back to the 1880s. Ghosts of pioneers are believed to be the cause of the blue balls of light that float over the graves. Stepp Cemetery Bloomington, IndianaA number of eerie legends and tales of paranormal activity have arisen from Stepp Cemetery, one of the most famous haunted cemeteries in the state of Indiana. The story is always a ghostly woman sitting watch over a gravesite, but the origins of the woman and her story seem to vary with each teller of the tale. Union Cemetery   Easton, ConnecticutA favorite cemetery for ghost photographers, Union Cemetery is most famous for the White Lady who has been seen by many walking through the cemetery at night. Other ghosts, including Indian spirits, are also said to haunt the graveyard.

Argument Paper on Exercise Essay Example for Free

Argument Paper on Exercise Essay 1-The Benefits of Exercise and Sports Participation for Kids- e Diet Star This article focuses how benefitical it is for young kids to participate in sports and to exercise regularly. It talks about how exercise and sports offer social relationships, physical challenges and honest competition. Also, exercise and sports can increase a child’s self-esteem and academic performance while preventing the chances of disease or drug use. All these things can help the development of children by not only making them healthy but giving them life experience. 2-Fitness Benefits For Teens- This article list the specifics on the benefits for teens to be fit. It says that physical activity doesn’t have to be time consuming but it is necessary for everyone. Some of the facts about teen exercise given by this article are that nearly half of American children ages twelve through twenty-one are not regularly active. About fourteen percent of young people report no physical activity at all. Also, only nineteen percent of all high school students are active for twenty minutes or more, five days a week. The main focuses point of the article are the physical activity helps build healthy bones, muscles and joints. It helps control weight, build lean muscle, and reduce fat. 3-Find Mind-Blowing Benefits of Exercise- This article tries to get a point across, it starts by saying that exercise isn’t all about getting toned abs and losing weight but that it makes you feel happy. There are five main points that this article talks about. The first once talks about how exercise reverses the detrimental effects of stress. Second, it talks about how exercise can help get rid of depression. Next, it is discussed how exercise can improve learning by increasing brain chemicals called growth factors. Furthermore, exercise builds self-esteem and improves your body image. Lastly, it leaves you feeling euphoric which means that the push and intensity of a workout makes you feel happy and excited. Argument Paper on Exercise. (2017, Jan 19).

Encounter Between Christianity And Other Religions During The 19th And Essay

Encounter Between Christianity And Other Religions During The 19th And 20th Century - Essay Example Christianity is considered as a proselytizing religion. This translates that the followers of these religions have a belief that it is their responsibility to share their religion and try to bring others to their religion. Early Christians emanated from the Jewish tradition, however,   they had a belief that the message and teaching of Jesus Christ were supposed to be for all people in the world. They used the transportation networks such as shipping routes, roads in spreading the message of Jesus throughout the Roman empire and areas of the Mediterranean region of North Africa, Western Asia, Southern Europe and the Mediterranean sea. Looking at the map of Christianity in Africa, it is apparent that Palestine, where Christianity first emerged is quite close to Africa in proximity. Owing to this aspect, there is no doubt that Christianity spread to North Africa and Egypt during the first century, especially in Alexandria, which later became a crucial center for the new religion. Pre sently, among Christian scholars and theologians of comparative religion, a great extent of ink has been spilled in an attempt of defining the relationship between Christianity and other non-Christian religions around the world. The fact that majority, if not all non-Christians religions are existing in proximity to the Christian religion, has lent the task of research a new urgency. Today, it is not a surprise to find churches among Buddhist, Hindu, Sick temples or synagogue.

Law of Accounting Coursework question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Law of Accounting Coursework question - Essay Example It is a well established principle that a contract can come into existence even if it is oral or has been concluded in an informal manner, however, it is important to note that there are certain conditions which must be satisfied for a legally binding contract to be existent. The starting point for the formation of a contract is that there must be an offer made and it should clearly not be an invitation to treat and subsequently there should be acceptance. The next aspect is that of the criterion of consideration, the intent to enter into legal relation the presence of certainty. For an effective evaluation of how a contract is to be concluded can be found in the case of Smith v Hughes1, whereby the subjective as well as the objective test was laid down so as to evaluate the existence of a valid and legally enforceable contract. The subjective test focuses on the intention of the parties who entered into the contract, while on the contrary the objective test looks into what had been said, done, not done by the parties and what the intention of saying or doing was. An important evaluation on the principles of offer and acceptance can be seen from the evaluation of Professor Atiyah, whereby it was reasoned that offer and acceptance is determined by of one of the methods which is ‘reason forwards’ and ‘reason backwards’. Reason forwards takes into account of offer and acceptance and their existence at first and then goes on to reason out and conclude on the dispute at hand and as for reason backwards the most reasonable solution is made out and it then turns around to ascertain from that offer and acceptance. The definition offer is unequivocal willingness by the offeror that is the person making offer to be bound by certain terms and conditions subject to acceptance of the offeree that is the peron to whom the offer is made. There has been a clear distinction which has been drawn by the courts on the area of invitation to treat and offer , however, there have been times when the differentiating was a mere thin line. Invitation to treat has been defined as an expression of willingness to induce another party to enter into negotiations and to make an offer, however, the boundary is, the fact that it is conditional and is therefore not an offer. The case of (Fisher v Bell)2 clearly defined the fact that invitation to treat is merely an expression of willingness of one party to enter into negotiations with another party thereby hoping that eventually offer and acceptance would take place and a valid and legally enforceable contract would come into existence. The thin line and the distinguishing features between an invitation to treat and offer can be seen from the cases of of Gibson v Manchester City Council3 and Storer v Manchester City Council4. The facts in Gibson were that the treasurer in his letter to Mr. Gibson stated that the council was willing to sell Mr. Gibson the house and needed him to make a formal applic ation. The courts looked into the circumstances of the case and in particular the price factor and held to be an invitation to treat. Contrary to Gibson, in Storer the courts held that a valid contract had been created because of the fact that the transaction had moved one step further and was prior to exchange of contracts. Even though it was a very thin line the courts distinguished between the

Charles Dickens Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Charles Dickens - Research Paper Example Dickens was a highly influential personality in the social reforms of Victorian England and his thoughts and ideas were infused with a keen sense of observation that clearly reflected the liberalism of the thirties. In all of his literary works he projected a great power over human emotions with an incomparable measure of human fun and frolic. His literary works were intended to bring about a positive change in the society and hence was centered around his experiences from his childhood, adolescence and all through his growing and maturing years. 1 During the 19th century, there were great thinkers like Karl Marx, Carlyle and Ruskin whose strongly formulated ideas laid the foundation for social reform. However, it was men such as Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy who through their literary work shed light on the abuses of the Industrial Age in Victorian England. Through his writing Dickens enlightened the masses about the abuses of urban life, while Hardy shed light on the devastation on rural life brought about by the Industrial Age. One of Dicken’s most influential novels was ‘Hard Times’ that got published in 1854. The chief premise of this novel was about â€Å"The Preston Lockout of 1853 -54† which highlighted the great labor dispute that took place in the weaving industry. Dickens supported the workers through his writings that surprisingly did not advocate the establishing of trade unions because he felt that such unions were only a symptom of the disease and not the cure. However, in later years trade unions played a major role by improving the lot of the working class. According to (Orwell, citing Macaulay, Dickens pg.6) -‘Hard Times’ has been condemned for its â€Å"sullen Socialism†. These great Victorians denounced the evils of modern society and brought about by the Industrial Revolution and had a vision of a better future and ushered in an era of gradual social change. During the 1760’s England experienced the communal system of agriculture, where the land was divided and cultivated by the Yeomen who worked for them. These Yeomen lived in clustered cottages and pastured their cattle on common pastures. They had wooden implements which were inadequate for their work and their methods of farming 2 were very ancient. Every Yeoman’s house was his factory where all his family members took part in the work. â€Å"Every family spun from its own flock the wool with which it was clothed.† (Wordsworth Guide, p. 60) It was these influences that ushered in a ray of hope in the sky for its citizens. He keenly studied the minds and hearts of the people and knowing what they desired, he reflected his thoughts through his works. He delved deep into the recesses of the minds of the low- bred man by exalting the virtues of chastity, piety and honesty in a way that was strange to them. Charles Dickens is considered to be the conscience of Victorian England. He was quite famous for portraying and exposing the wretchedness of the poor and the downtrodden and was also well known for venting his anger against heartless oppression. It was the reason of these qualities that made him an exceedingly successful author. He was also well known for having burlesqued the Americans by making fun of their airy obscurity of Transcendentalism that is quite evident in his serialized novel titled ‘Martin Chuzzlewit.’ (1842-44) In sharp contrast to the Industrial Age, (Defoe, Tour, pp. 155-156) explains about the idyllic atmosphere that prevailed during that time.

Marks and Spencer Mission, Objectives and Responsibilities

Marks and Spencer Mission, Objectives and Responsibilities Introduction Terms of Reference. The purpose of this assignment is purely for academic reasons; this assignment has been made primarily to complete the module of Business Environment under the course HNC Business (Management) which I am studying Aims and Objective The assignment attempts to identify mission, objectives and responsibilities of an organization with its environment. It investigates the economic, social and global environment in which the organization operates. It investigates the behavior of organization and the market environment. It explores the significance of International Trade and the European dimension for the UK business. Research Methods Mark Spencer Ltd web sites articles, news, case studies. Theoretical studies from different books and Handouts from my tutor. Personal academic knowledge about Business environment Mission, Objectives and Responsibilities of Mark Spencer with its environment Developing a vision, mission and values is the foundation for the log term success, as demonstrated by Collins Porras in Built to Last. Mark and Spencer mission statement as former times and still is Good quality for the penny whereby the penny turned bazaars into stores. Mission, Values, Key objectives and influence of stakeholders Vision A vision helps working in goal congruence. It comes from within as well as outside. It accomplishes the following Give a sense of the future Guides decision making and strategy Creates a platform with same purpose Laydown behavior guidelines Inspire emotion Reflects the values Mark and Spencer vision is to be the standard against which others are measured- Benchmarking Mission A Mission statement is a statement reflecting what the organisation business is and what key purpose is there. Mark and Spencer Mission are to make inspirational quality accessible to others. Values Values are the beliefs and norms of the organisation. They underpin policies, objectives and procedures as they acts as an anchor and reference point for all the activity in the organisation. Mark and Spencer Values are Quality, Service, innovation and trust amernassargooglepages.com/MS.pdf . Key Objectives Employee orientation Higher expectations that staff can contribute more to the organization. There is a need for succession management. As such developing a career path for employees. Its part of Mark and Spencer to attract, motivate and retain high caliber workforce to assist the transformation of the business and deliver improved performance. Organizational objectives Mark and Spencer is to regain their leadership in clothing and specialty food. This is to be achieving by translating their scale and authority into superior quality, value and appeal. Sales objectives Mark and Spencer belief that there is plenty of room for improvement in their sales per foot. They saw Return per foot as a key operational objective going forward. Stakeholders influence. Employees -Interested in Job security, financial benefits, and satisfaction Pursuit of systems goals rather than shareholders interest. Suppliers -Interested in Profitable sales, Payment for goods and Long term relationship -Response to risk refusal of credit, court action and wind down relationship Government Interested in Jobs, Training and Tax. -Response to risk Tax increases, Regulation and Legal action Pressure Groups Society Interested in Pollution, Rights and other. -Response to risk Publicity, Direct action, Sabotage and Pressure on Government. Achievement of stakeholders objectives by organization If a vision and mission is recognised by all stakeholders and affects every hiring, strategic decision and communication: its effect can be magic. (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })() To achieve Stakeholders objective an organisation should be able to separate their interest from each other and as such act according to the power they exert in the organisation. Responsibilities of organization and effective they are in satisfying them Mark and Spencer does satisfies their stakeholders efficiently Employees They have a welfare department established in 1930. Their financial interest are safeguarded by bonuses and increases in salary upon job performance Their package of benefits are extended, such as interest free loans granted Opportunity of buying shares for the company at bonus or rights issue. Suppliers Always used UK based suppliers, ensuring consistent quality Relationship to built reliance on suppliers Life long relationship. Mutual dependability respects the specification and standard. Social commitment Strong tradition of Corporate Social Responsibility Sponsorship of Charities and secondment programs Community development efforts Government social projects. Environment friendly -Mark and Spencer became the first retailer to remove all artificial colours and flavouring from its entire food and soft drinks range- April 2008 -Mark and Spencer became the first retailer to launch school wear made from recycled plastic bottle -Despite tough economic conditions Mark and Spencer stick to Plan A. As it gives them brand and differentiation and as AL Gore said a sustainable business can be profitable one http://plana.marksandspencer.com/media/pdf/planA-2010.pdf Economic, Social and Global environment The economic problem is mainly because of unlimited wants with limited resources. It is basically how nations decide to spread or allocate their resources effectively and efficiently to maximise the production goods and services. Economic System-Allocation and Effective use of resources. To deal with the question of scarcity different countries use different approaches or types of economic system. Market Economy Private parties (Individuals or businesses) own a vast majority of land, factories and other economic resources. Centrally Planned Economy Government owns most land, factories, and other economic resources and plans nearly all economic activity. The Mixed Economy Balance between market forces and state intervention. Certain activities need to be regulated by the state while others can be left to the influence of the market. It comprises: A free enterprise- where economic decisions reflects the market forces Public ownership control of key central industries Welfare sector provide a minimum level of medical social and educational services for all citizens regardless of wealth. Impact of social welfare and industrial policy initiatives and the wider community. Benefit and Pension Mark and Spencer Once youve worked for MS for a year you are qualified for the retirement plan where you can save up to 100% of your pay in the plan and the company will match it with double contribution (limited12%). It thus provide a secure retirement and with options to transfer your investment when you On top of these benefits, MS also offer our people: SAYE Scheme to all its employees Have more holidays the longer you stay with the company The company also subsidized benefits such as health and care and dental care. Particularly in the UK, the push by retailers to meet the demands of a growing number of ethical shoppers has raised the profile of the ethical practices of businesses. Marks and Spencer, for example, is inviting shoppers to look behind the label at the sustainability of its products, as well as its labor, fair trade and animal welfare practices http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ec333092-f937-11db-9b6b-000b5df10621.html Benefit and Pension Government Maternity allowance, Paternity allowance and adoption allowance Benefit for those who do not meet the requirements for statutory payments. Child Benefit Paid to whichever parents the child live with. Child Tax Credit Tax rebate for couple who has children Guardian allowance Tax free benefit for a child whom one is caring for but is not yours Disability Living allowance- Child who has care needs or mobility problems. Housing benefit If your total income is below threshold and you pay rent you might be qualified for housing benefit. State Pension Regular payment people claims when they get to certain age. Job seekers allowance People who are not working or working less than 16 hrs weekly can claim this benefit. http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/rewards_benefits The government also provide Fiscal and Monetary policies for stability. Fiscal policy tools used by the government to influence level of economic activity through changing taxation or govt. spending. It can be targeted to a particular group. Fiscal policy is ineffective when investment is sensitive to interest rates and attempts to offset the actions of the government. Monetary policy- is an attempt to control macro economic variables through use of interest rates. It is very weak when consumers are holding money rather than spending them when interest rates are very low Impact of macroeconomic policy and influence of global economy on UK organizations and stakeholders. PESTEL The External Environment Political Integration of EU AND Free Trade Agreement the market has opened up for British companies opening in Europe. Technology The introduction of e-commerce. M S promoting people to buy on line with incentives likes discount. It provides flexibility 24hr Economy Retail sector very sensitive to changes in the interest rates. Environmental Marks and Spencers commitment to the environment put them at them within the top ten green brands in the UK recently * Global Warming Social Changes in consumer taste and lifestyle give rise to new market and consumers but also threats in terms of social acceptance to alcohol Legal National Health and Safety National Minimum Wage Taxation Policy Use of renewable resources. SWOT ANALYSIS Mark Spencer STRENGHTS Reputation/Brand/Goodwill Market position Quality products Detail in supplier control Internet Shopping Simon Marks understanding of customers preferences and trends WEAKNESSES Lack of newness Clothing- segmentation Lagging to provide up to date fashionable clothes Using most British suppliers believing higher quality but low cost Competitors using overseas suppliers to cut cost OPPORTUNITIES Define target age group Store a new upbeat look Respond to customer taste and purchasing power Improve CRM systems to retain existing customers and target potential new customers. To go global and expand the business Use technology to improve their functioning and thus gain competitive advantage THREATS Loss of market share of intense competition Strong competition with Next same price product but more fashionable Discount stores like Matalan Threat from Giant Tesco and Sainsbury who penetrate in the market to supply added value. (http://bizcovering.com/major-companies/a-case-study-on-marks-and-spencer/2/) Stakeholders expectations developed according to changes in the market. For instance, MS brand loyalty concept is less likely to survive where there are several substitutes of same standard in the market. As such MS has to be creative and innovative and constantly reacting to the change in the buying behaviour of the consumers. Market structures, market forces and Competition commission and regulatory bodies Market structures deviate from model of perfect competition. MS which has long been in this perfect competition, a market situation of many sellers and many buyers with similar or substitutes product. The price is determined by supply and demand and producers are to sell their products at the price determined by the market. Being in such competition the firm should have the perfect resource to produce and distribute efficiently as it faces fierce competition. MS deviated from the perfect competition to an Oligopolistic market structure, with the heavy advertising campaign for its brand name. As they are selling same product like other key players like Tesco, Asda but differentiate with its brand. It relies strongly on brand awareness and loyalty in a competitive market; differentiate itself with the quality standard with other supermarket. Relationship between market forces and organizational responses. Porters Five Forces The Industry The five forces model provides a summary of the threats within the immediate industry. Suppliers Low in this Industry Dual Sourcing Strategies Rivalry Low Competitive In this Industry Bargaining Power Buyers Aggressive Pricing Strategy Substitute Premium Branded Food Sainsbury John Lewis New Entrants Low Price Low cost BHS/ASDA Porters Five Forces Behavior and competitive strategies, Competition commission and regulatory bodies. The consumers buying behaviour trends is reflected by an ageing population and the high number of women in the workforce. The increase in disposable income and the lifestyle changes recent years. The revolution of home internet users online shopping which call for multi-cultural marketing. (Deloitte:2005 Global powers of Retailing report).In the recent years because of fierce competition MS market share suffered a blow mainly their clothing segment. Unlike when you consider MS Competitor, Tescos strategies to penetrate the UK market. Tesco operated on the pile it High sell it Cheap formula the early 70s and thereafter launches the operation check out which cut prices across their product and differentiate themselves from their competitors. Then Tesco diversified there channel of distribution with Stores like Tesco extra, Tesco metro and as well as beginning to open petrol stations. The Competition Commission has asked the Government to impose an ombudsman on the grocery industry to rule on disputes between supermarkets and their suppliers. The request comes after it failed to agree a voluntary arrangement with major retailers Only Marks Spencer, Waitrose and Aldi backed the plan. The takeover of MS store card business of  £763m by HSBC has given the Office of Fair Trading to launch a competition investigation into the matter. Richard Fletcher, Executive Editor, Business Published: 8:20PM BST 04 Aug 2009 TELEGRAPH .CO.UK The Office of Fair Trading has launched a formal competition investigation into HSBCs  £763m takeover of Marks Spencers store-card business. The firm Freshfield might be under investigation for its work advising Philip Green for abortion bid for MS and the investigation will be carried out by the Law Society, which regulates the Britishs legal profession. International Trade and the European Dimension Importance of international trade, economic integration and global markets to UK business International trade is doing business across national borders and is the backbone of our modern computerized business world. These occurs mainly because of lower production costs in one region versus another, specialized industries, lack of surplus of natural resources and consumer tastes. Globalization is a process driven by international trade and investment. It is the trend towards greater economic, cultural, political and technological interdependence among national institutions and economies. The benefits of globalization are as follows: Reduces marketing costs New market opportunities Balance in level in income Access to low cost labor Access to technical expertise Access to production inputs. The main drivers for Globalization are: GATT WTO Regional Trade Agreements Technological Innovation As MS is growing global and international competition has presented new challenges. The company stress its global sourcing principles amongst its selected suppliers and further down the supply chain which sets a minimum acceptable entry standard. MS want their suppliers to raise their standard as well to reflect the internationally recognized standard thus differentiating them and enjoying the competitive edge. Impact of two policies of the European Union on the UK business organizations The Agricultural Policy has always been a tension between members state. The banned of the import of beef from the US by the EU. The EU responded illegally according to the WTO with a refusal to comply. The US retaliated by levying an import tax of $ 117 m on imports of food from the EU. (Source Undersatnding European Union 3rd edition Anforme 2002.) Such transactions would impact the UK US relationship, it would adversely affect the UK economy. Last year only one Banking company crash in the US and the effect is still felt and now one can imagine if the US starts implementing quotas, barriers and levying tax on imports from the UK. The EU directives affect the UK businesses; even the different bodies of the EU are not always unanimous about the directives set. For instance, Advocate General Leendert Geelhoed from the ECJ said that EU health foods directive infringe guidelines in his opinion. In the case brought forward by the industry groups the British Health Food Manufacture Association, National Association of Health Stores(NAHS) and Alliance for Natural Health(ANH) ahead of the ECJ. (Source :http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/441192- 13/04/05) The Economic implication for the UK of entry into EMU. The EMU was masterminded by Jacques Delores which is mainly single currency. The EMU is seen as a logical extension of the single market and as a way of making EU more competitive and powerful in the world market. The EURO ZONE consisting Lower cost for management of money Faster transactions across borders Elimination of exchange rate fluctuations. Market Transparency The impacts of EMU on UK economy are huge, since the major partners of the UK are members of the EMU. The Euro relative weaknesses against the pound and UK export to Europe more expensive and thus make it more difficult for UK businesses to sell their products. On the other side domestic consumers will buy imported rather than domestic goods. Government subjected the Five Economic tests before considering membership. Euro Zone economic structure compatible to UK Is the UK labor market flexible to meet the requirements of such development The effect of the Euro Zone on the financial investment in the UK. The effect of the single currency on the competitive position of the City of London. Will the EMU be able to promote such growth, stability and employment that the UK has accomplished by its own. 6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations MS has been a leading retailer in the UK, but went through a phase by 1988 which pushed the firm into crisis. By 2006 MS reposition themselves in the market but could not enjoy the iconic brand it once was. They were to face the UKS largest and most profitable retailer in 2006 TESCO. MS respond tot the challenge with a drastic changes in management structure. They have to achieve the right balance between the corporate values, strong market position and the innovation to stay competitive. They need to use their strength Brand and product quality to be enabled to sustain profitability and to be less vulnerable to changes in the market condition. MS is in a very highly competitive and sophisticated industry, as such the need to be aware of the fashion trends, customer increasing expectations and changing tastes are more than ever one of the most important factor for them to consider. The lowering of international barriers has encourage a vast choices of product available to customer

Modest Proposal :: essays research papers

Swift’s Argument   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many different ways to write an argumentative paper. An argumentative paper is a paper designed to push a reader toward an idea or feeling an author evokes (Skywire 332). An author will try to make ludicrous ideas seem more appealing to the reader. â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is a great example of this technique.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Johnathan Swift, an Irish clergyman, wrote an argumentative paper to mock the English. Swift’s paper was an eating Irish babies. This would sound like a ludicrous idea, but Swift makes it seem like it would help the economy. He uses many of the basic argumentative techniques to support this idea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This most obvious technique used by Swift was card stacking. He only talked about his side of the situation (Skywire 336). He made a baby seem like it would become a highly demanded dish. People around the world would pay dearly for it and the money would help Ireland’s economy (Swift 363-4). He never talked about the parent’s side. He hid how they would feel pain and heartache of a lost child. He keeps the reader’s mind thinking about the positive aspects, and never even touches on the negative ones. He even introduced slanting into his text.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Slanting is a writing technique that shows great approval or disapproval about a subject (Skywire 336). He made it seem that he loved the idea of eating a baby. It would be the new delicacy on all menus (Swift 364-5). With this opinion on the great demand for human flesh, he used a hasty generalization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Swift made a hasty generalization by basing his knowledge that everyone would love human flesh on an incident on the island of Formosa (Swift 365). Swift learned through a native of Formosa that when a child was put to death, his body was sold as a â€Å"Prime dainty† (Swift 365-6). He said how even the prime minister of the state had bought a girl put to death because of treason (Swift 365-6). So he deducts that since they like it then the whole world will.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Swift built the readers up by using numbers and showing how kids are a pain and just get in the way (Swift 364-5). He even went as far as to say that the kids he proposes to eat are children of beggars that can’t afford them anyway (Swift 364-5). Modest Proposal :: essays research papers Swift’s Argument   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many different ways to write an argumentative paper. An argumentative paper is a paper designed to push a reader toward an idea or feeling an author evokes (Skywire 332). An author will try to make ludicrous ideas seem more appealing to the reader. â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is a great example of this technique.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Johnathan Swift, an Irish clergyman, wrote an argumentative paper to mock the English. Swift’s paper was an eating Irish babies. This would sound like a ludicrous idea, but Swift makes it seem like it would help the economy. He uses many of the basic argumentative techniques to support this idea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This most obvious technique used by Swift was card stacking. He only talked about his side of the situation (Skywire 336). He made a baby seem like it would become a highly demanded dish. People around the world would pay dearly for it and the money would help Ireland’s economy (Swift 363-4). He never talked about the parent’s side. He hid how they would feel pain and heartache of a lost child. He keeps the reader’s mind thinking about the positive aspects, and never even touches on the negative ones. He even introduced slanting into his text.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Slanting is a writing technique that shows great approval or disapproval about a subject (Skywire 336). He made it seem that he loved the idea of eating a baby. It would be the new delicacy on all menus (Swift 364-5). With this opinion on the great demand for human flesh, he used a hasty generalization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Swift made a hasty generalization by basing his knowledge that everyone would love human flesh on an incident on the island of Formosa (Swift 365). Swift learned through a native of Formosa that when a child was put to death, his body was sold as a â€Å"Prime dainty† (Swift 365-6). He said how even the prime minister of the state had bought a girl put to death because of treason (Swift 365-6). So he deducts that since they like it then the whole world will.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Swift built the readers up by using numbers and showing how kids are a pain and just get in the way (Swift 364-5). He even went as far as to say that the kids he proposes to eat are children of beggars that can’t afford them anyway (Swift 364-5).

Hinduism Paper Essay

Hinduism as coined by European influence, is the world’s third largest religion with nearly one billion followers, about 14% of the Earths human population. There are many that theorize Hinduism is not like any other religion that encompasses a particular way of life; that Hinduism is without a defined founder, deity, nor is Hinduism stuck to a specific system of theology. However, there are those that argue Hinduism is monotheistic because it does recognize the one supreme being of Brahman. Then some view Hinduism as Trinitarian because Brahman is visualized as one God with the three persons of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Considering that Hinduism lacks a united belief system is a matter of scholarly theory based on the closest findings and perhaps the reason many people theorize that Hinduism is undefined religion. The makeup of Hinduism is of diverse beliefs and traditions of the 81% of Hindus residing in present day India translated from Vedic scripture that some scholars say date back to 10,000 BCE. The basic scriptures of Hinduism, referred as Shastras, are a collection of spiritual laws discovered by sages at different points in history. The Two types of sacred writings, Shruti (heard) and Smriti (memorized) comprise the Hindu scriptures. The sacred writings were passed on from generation to generation orally for centuries before they were written down in the Sanskrit language dating far back as 6,500 BC. The major and most popular Hindu texts include the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, but there are fundamental core of beliefs shared by all Hindus. The basic core of Hinduism believes that there is only one supreme Absolute called Brahman, although it does not advocate the worship of any one particular deity. The gods and goddesses of Hinduism can amount to millions, all representing the many aspects of Brahman that indicate Hinduism is characterized by multiple deities. The most fundamental of Hindu deities is the Trinity of Brahma (creator), Vishnu (or Krishna, meaning creator) and Shiva (destroyer). Yet, the supreme God of any sub-God or sub-Goddesses is that of Brahma, a monotheistic approach that can be compared with many carnations to God in the Christian Bible such as Moses, Abraham, and Jesus and perhaps ignites much debate on the type of religion Hinduism is. However, there are other basic cores of beliefs that Hindus share. Amongst the core beliefs shared by Hindus is the desire for liberation from earthly existence in which Dharma, Samsara, Karma, and Moksha are facets in reaching liberation. Dharma encompasses ethics and duty within a Hindu’s life. Karma is the actions with in one’s life and the consequences for those actions. When Karma goes unfulfilled, Samsara is experienced through the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The rebirth cycle is also known as reincarnation where a Hindu’s uncleansed soul cycles through life after life until the soul is cleansed enough to be with Brahman. While stuck in Samsara, the individual then becomes limited within time and space where monotony becomes a desire for escape from such misery. When a Hindu’s soul is cleansed enough to satisfy Brahman, Moksha is that escape from such earthly miseries. The desire for Moksha transformed Hinduism from a religion into a culture, but there is debate as to the cultural and societal influences that have made Hinduism vital to India. The cultural and societal influences of Hinduism is in a state of constant flow with the never ending possibilities as life on the earthly plane continues to flourish, yet there is debate on the historical significance that makes a Hinduism what it is today. The Aryan theory argues that Hinduism traces back to the Indus valley civilization of 4,000-2,200 BCE and was influenced by many Aryan Indo-European tribes who brought with them the religion of Vedism around 1,500 BCE. The Emerge theory challenges the Aryan invasion theory in stating the inconsistencies in timelines of Hebrew Scriptures and that of the Aryan invasion in comparison to the development of the four Veda that can be traced as far back as 6,500 BCE. Archeologists and religious historian have concluded through physical evidence of archeological finds along the Indus River and Indus valley show a continuality of the same group of people who traditionally developed Indian culture generation after generation with no evidence of Aryan influence. Another debate that continues amongst the modern day quarrel over theory is the caste system that dates back to 500 BCE. The Rig Veda defined four castes, or Varna’s; Brahmins were for religious leaders and educators, Kshatriyas for rulers and military, Vaishyas for farmers, landlords, and merchants, and Shudra for peasants, servants and workers. A fifth Varna was known as untouchables and anyone castigated from the Varna’s were the Dalit who were denigrated to pollutant jobs. According to Religioustolerance. org (2011), â€Å"although the caste system was abolished in 1949, it remains a significant force amongst Hindus throughout India. Aside from debate are the cultural rituals of the Hindu. According Living Religions by Mary Pat Fisher (2005), â€Å"there are sixteen rites prescribed in the ancient scriptures to purify and sanctify the person in his or her journey through life, including rites at the time of conception, the braiding of the pregnant mother’s hair, birth, name-giving, beginning of solid foods, starting education, investing boys with a sacred thread, first leaving the family house, starting studies of Vedas, marriage, and death. Sanatana Dharma is the current preferred title of what is better known as Hinduism where respect of one of the world’s oldest religions must be observed. The fact that there are many worshipped idols within Sanatana Dharma confuses the masses who contend that Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. Yet, it is the world overlooking the fact that other religions practice in denominations sectored by a difference of beliefs within the same core of beliefs.