Macbeth Summary

'Macbeth' Summary William Shakespeare’s Macbeth takes place in Scotland in the 11th century AD, and it tells the story of Macbeth, thane of Glamis, and of his ambition to become king. This Shakespearian tragedy is loosely based on historical sources, namely Holinshed’s Chronicles, and there is historical documentation on several characters, including Macbeth, Duncan, and Malcolm. It’s unclear whether the character of Banquo really existed. While the Chronicles depict him as an accomplice to Macbeth’s murderous actions, Shakespeare portrays him as an innocent character. Overall, Macbeth is not known for its historical accuracy, but for the portrayal of the effects of blind ambition in people. Act I Scottish generals Macbeth and Banquo have just defeated the allied forces of Norway and Ireland, which were led by the traitorous Macdonwald. As Macbeth and Banquo wander onto a heath, they are greeted by the Three Witches, who offer them prophecies. Banquo challenges them first, so they address Macbeth: they hail him as Thane of Glamis,† his current title and then Thane of Cawdor, adding that he will also be king. Banquo then asks of his own fortunes, the witches respond enigmatically, saying that he will be less than Macbeth, yet happier, less successful, yet more. Most importantly, they tell him that he will father a line of kings, though he himself will not be one. The witches vanish soon after, and the two men wonder at these pronouncements. Then, however, another thane, Ross, arrives and informs Macbeth that he has been bestowed the title of Thane of Cawdor.  This means that the first prophecy is fulfilled, and Macbeth’s initial skepticism turns into ambition. King Duncan welcomes and praises Macbeth and Banquo, and declares that he will spend the night at Macbeths castle at  Inverness; he also names his son Malcolm as his heir. Macbeth sends a message ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her about the witches prophecies. Lady Macbeth unwaveringly wishes for her husband to murder the king so he can usurp the throne, to the point that she answers his objections by casting doubts on his manhood. Eventually, she manages to convince him to kill the king that same night. The two get Duncans two chamberlains drunk so that the next morning they can easily blame the chamberlains for the murder.  Ã‚     Act II   Still plagued by doubts and by hallucinations, including a bloody dagger, Macbeth stabs King Duncan in his sleep. He is so upset that Lady Macbeth has to take charge, and frames Duncans sleeping servants for the murder by placing bloody daggers on them. The following morning, Lennox, a Scottish nobleman, and Macduff, the loyal Thane of Fife, arrive at Inverness, and Macduff is the one who discovers Duncans body. Macbeth murders the guards so they cannot profess their innocence, but claims he did so in a fit of anger over their misdeeds. Duncans sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing they might be targets too, but their flight frames them as suspects. As a consequence, Macbeth assumes the throne as the new King of Scotland as a kinsman of the dead king. On this occasion, Banquo recalls the witches prophecy about how his own descendants would inherit the throne. This makes him suspicious of Macbeth.   Act III Meanwhile Macbeth, who remembers the prophecy concerning Banquo, remains uneasy, so he invites him to a royal banquet, where he discovers that Banquo and his young son, Fleance, will be riding out that night. Suspecting Banquo of being suspicious of him, Macbeth arranges to have him and Fleance murdered by hiring assassins, who succeed in killing Banquo, but not Fleance. This enrages Macbeth, as he fears that his power won’t be safe as long as a heir of Banquo lives.  At a banquet, Macbeth is visited by Banquos ghost who sits in Macbeths place. Macbeth’s reaction startles the guests, as the ghost is only visible to him: they see their king panicking at an empty chair. Lady Macbeth has to tell them that her husband is merely afflicted with a familiar and harmless malady. The ghost departs and returns once more, causing the same riotous anger and fear in Macbeth. This time, Lady Macbeth tells the lords to leave, and they do so.   Act IV   Macbeth pays visits to the witches again in order to learn the truth of their prophecies to him. In response to that, they conjure horrible apparitions: an armored head, which tells him to beware of Macduff;  a bloody child telling him that no one born of a woman will be able to harm him; next, a crowned child holding a tree stating that Macbeth will be safe until Great Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill. Since all men are born from women and forests cannot move, Macbeth is initially relieved. Macbeth also asks whether Banquos sons will ever reign in Scotland. The witches conjure a procession of eight crowned kings, all similar in appearance to Banquo, the last one carrying a mirror reflecting even more kings: they are all Banquos descendants having acquired kingship in numerous countries. After the witches leave, Macbeth learns that Macduff has fled to England, and so Macbeth orders Macduffs castle be seized, and also sends murderers to slaughter Macduff and his family. Although Macduff is no longer there, Lady Macduff and his family are murdered  Ã‚   Act V   Lady Macbeth becomes overcome with guilt for the crimes she and her husband committed. She has taken to sleepwalking, and after entering the stage holding a candle, she laments the murders of Duncan, Banquo, and Lady Macduff, while also trying to wash off imaginary bloodstains from her hands. In England, Macduff learns of the slaughtering of his own family, and, stricken with grief, vows revenge. Together with Prince Malcolm, Duncans son, who raised an army in England, he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeths forces against Dunsinane Castle. While encamped in Birnam Wood, the soldiers are ordered to cut down and carry tree limbs to camouflage their numbers. Part of the witches’ prophecy comes true.  Before Macbeths opponents arrive, he learns that Lady Macbeth has killed herself, causing him to sink into despair. He eventually faces Macduff, initially without fear, since he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Macduff declares that he was from his mothers womb / Untimely rippd (V 8.15–16). The second prophecy is thus fulfilled, and Macbeth is eventually killed and beheaded by Macduff. The order is restored and Malcolm is crowned King of Scotland. As for the Witches’ prophecy concerning Banquo’s descendants, it is true in that James I of England, previously James VI of Scotland, descended from Banquo.

5 Types of Problems with Parenthetical Punctuation

5 Types of Problems with Parenthetical Punctuation 5 Types of Problems with Parenthetical Punctuation 5 Types of Problems with Parenthetical Punctuation By Mark Nichol Introducing additional but nonessential information into a sentence complicates the reader’s task when punctuation is misused. Here are five sentences that illustrate various punctuation problems associated with creating parenthetical elements in a statement. (Note that parenthetical, here and in other posts on this site, does not refer literally to the use of the punctuation marks called parentheses; it applies to the use of any punctuation to set off any amplifying or explanatory word, phrase, or sentence, such as this phrase you are reading right now, or â€Å"here and in other posts on this site.†) 1. Nextdoor, the popular neighborhood social-networking site that people use to share neighborly news too often reflects the racial biases and prejudices of its users. When an appositive of a noun or a noun phrase- an appositive is a word or phrase equivalent in meaning to the noun- precedes or follows the noun, the description must be treated as a self-contained phrase bracketed by punctuation: â€Å"Nextdoor, the popular neighborhood social-networking site that people use to share neighborly news, too often reflects the racial biases and prejudices of its users.† 2. Six objects in the icy Kuiper Belt, or Twilight Zone at the far reaches of the solar system, appear to be influenced by an as-yet-undiscovered planet. Here, the punctuation erroneously identifies â€Å"Twilight Zone at the far reaches of the solar system† as the appositive of â€Å"Kuiper Belt,† but only â€Å"Twilight Zone† serves that function; â€Å"at the far reaches of the solar system† is merely another parenthetical phrase, which must also be set off from the rest of the sentence: â€Å"Six objects in the icy Kuiper Belt, or Twilight Zone, at the far reaches of the solar system, appear to be influenced by an as-yet-undiscovered planet.† Better yet, diminish the interruption of the alternate name of the Kuiper Belt by using actually parentheses: â€Å"Six objects in the icy Kuiper Belt (also known as the Twilight Zone), at the far reaches of the solar system, appear to be influenced by an as-yet-undiscovered planet.† (Retain both commas bracketing â€Å"at the far reaches of the solar system.†) 3. He discovered one of these six objects more than a decade ago, Sedna, a large minor planet way out there on the solar system’s frontier. This sentence’s punctuation suggests that Sedna is a parenthetical. However, the phrase following Sedna is an appositive, a type of parenthetical. To give readers a sense of relative importance, one of the two commas should be changed to another punctuation mark to erase the implication that they have the same organizational weight. The clearest solution is to use a colon in place of the first comma to set up the description of what â€Å"one of these six objects† is: â€Å"He discovered one of these six objects more than a decade ago: Sedna, a large minor planet way out there on the solar system’s frontier.† 4. Twitter’s product head Kevin Weil, media head Katie Jacobs Stanton, senior vice president of engineering Alex Roetter, and Vine head Jason Toff are all leaving the company. To associate the series of appositives in this sentence, all names should be set off with commas, but that more than doubles the number of punctuation marks, which clutters the sentence. Better yet, simply change the possessive form of the company name to its base form, so that â€Å"Twitter product head† and the subsequent equivalent titles become simple descriptive phrases, thus eliminating the need for parenthetical pairs of commas: â€Å"Twitter product head Kevin Weil, media head Katie Jacobs Stanton, senior vice president of engineering Alex Roetter, and Vine head Jason Toff are all leaving the company.† 5. Engineering- figuring out how to do something- is the motivation, while repetition- making the same type of components over and over again- slows him down. Using more than one set of dashes to bracket parenthetical comments in one sentence may confuse the reader, so use parentheses instead when two or more parallel parenthetical elements are involved: â€Å"Engineering (figuring out how to do something) is the motivation, while repetition (making the same type of components over and over again) slows him down.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Synonyms for â€Å"Angry†Among vs. Amongst10 Terms for the Common People

DQ Questions 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DQ Questions 5 - Essay Example Personal ethics is also applicable in both personal and professional environment while professional ethics is limited to a profession. In a professional environment, personal ethics is applicable as long as it does not contravene any of professional ethics provisions while professional ethics is not applicable outside the profession even if it is not contradictory to a personal ethics’ provision (Harris, Pritchard and Rabins, 2008). In case of a decision by my employers to which I am ethically opposed, I would respond by applying utilitarianism ethics towards a decision to comply with the decision or to oppose it. Based on the theory’s provisions for decisions that maximize benefits to a majority of stakeholders to a case, I would consider every stakeholder and determine effects of the decision that the employer has made and effects of application of my ethical value. A review of benefits and harm of each position would follow and I would adopt the option that maximizes benefits. if the employer’s decision has more benefits to a majority of stakeholders then I would implement it. Otherwise, I would try to convince the employer against the decision. If they refuse to change their position then I would resign and inform relevant moral authorities of the case (Trevino and Nelson,

Fieldwork plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fieldwork plan - Essay Example 2009: 73). The realm of civil society in Saudi was for long a neglected field and least studied have been conducted in this region among others of Middle East and GCC countries. Activists and intellectuals advocating for developments and reforms concerning human rights as social actors have gradually been effectively active since early 2000s. The increased advocacies on human rights have subsequently increased the space for people to pressure governments from bellow thereby representing a greater challenge (Alhargan, 2012). This PhD thesis aims to investigate the nature of civil society in Saudi Arabia and examines the suitability of the civil society theories and to what extent such theories can be applied to the Saudi context. Moreover, this research aims at determining whether the same theories should modify and develop to guide those who are interested in this field. Notably, this fieldwork aims at collecting primary qualitative data on civil society in Saudi Arabia. Such data will be collected in various forms and structures; furthermore, that data will contain depicting functions it performs, the influence it has upon the broad society and the ruling powers, and the effectiveness by which it discharges these functions. The fieldwork also aims to gather in-depth information about the role of the religious leadership in the development of civil society, and their influence on political authority. The research shall also obtain information about tribal regional and sectarian identities and their impact on civil society. Numerous studies have since concentrated on the relationship between civil society and religion. This has been so for long time particularly since the Roman Catholic Church concentrated its focus on marginalized areas and politically unstable regions. According to Alhargan, local actors advocating civil rights mainly arose from the religious establishment, unaffiliated government clerics, independent rights activists

What Is Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi's Relevance on Economy, Ideology and Dissertation

What Is Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi's Relevance on Economy, Ideology and Religion in Modern Day India - Dissertation Example For instance, he took part in political protests in South Africa against the ill-treatment of Indians in that region by the prevailing government. Gandhi believed that the weak should not be oppressed by those in power and was against any political system that was oppressive1 Although Gandhi was actively persuading Indians to resist British ideologies, he was against any form of violence. He encouraged Indians to protest peacefully against British political and economic systems as well as the British approach to religion and morality. Gandhi’s ideologies led to his imprisonment on several occasions. However, many leaders made reference to his ideologies that promoted cohesion, peace and love among individuals and religions. He was assassinated for his belief by a fellow Hindu who was against his beliefs about the Muslims.2 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi made a significant contribution to India’s economy through his ideologies and campaign for an independent economy. Many In dians supported his religious, political and economic beliefs. Gandhi was against discrimination and violation of human rights. He campaigned for unity and resistance against westernisation. His efforts yield fruits and India’s economy achieved significant levels of growth and independence. This paper examines Gandhi’s ideologies, religious beliefs and economic contribution to determine his relevance to modern India. The Relevance of Gandhi’s Economic Ideas, Ideologies and Religious Beliefs to Modern India Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi played an important role in freeing India from British colonialism. Gandhi had a political vision of a free country that had control over all its sectors including social, economic, and political sectors in India. Gandhi’s vision had a moral and economic perspective of what India would be as a free country.4 Gandhi’s personal philosophies and beliefs were adopted in many political systems across the world. For instance, human rights activists in the United States based their movements on Gandhi’s philosophies. The relevance of Gandhi’s philosophies and beliefs to modern societies has been ignored until recently. Political analysts and historians are examining the state of nations to determine if Gand hi’s ideologies are still applicable to modern societies. Gandhi was determined to lay down a foundation that would unite Indians towards achieving their economic freedom. His ideology was to prepare Indians for a self-sustaining economy.5 Gandhi was against adopting a Western economic model and according to him; such a model would not help Indian establish an egalitarian and independent economy. Gandhi argued that with the high population growth rate and poverty levels in India, a consumer economy as suggested by western countries was inappropriate. His idea of an independent economy in India was based on conservation and systematic exploitation of natural resources. Consumerism would harm India’s given its demographics and Gandhi advocated for limited consumption of the scarce resources in the country. One of Gandhi’s concerns about India’s economy was the state of the agricultural sector. He believed that agriculture would help India achieve significan t economic growth. However, his idea of a sustainable agricultural sector involved exploiting the readily available human resources as opposed to importing technology from the west.6 Gandhi’s speeches on India’s economic welfare indicated his passion for the nationals to recognise and exploit India’

Service Quality In Restaurants

Service Quality In Restaurants By conducting a literature review, the reader gets a better understanding of the question in hand. According to LeCompte et al(2003,p.124), conducting a literature review is a means of demonstrating an authors knowledge about a particular field of study, including vocabulary, theories, key variables and phenomena, and its methods and history. The research question which is addressed is service quality in restaurants, to which the literature review would focus to wherever necessary, with wide areas of service quality in general being looked into. Service Quality is not only an object of wide interest among organizations, but also is a topic that is widely discussed by researchers. Since it doesnt possess characteristics such as products do, service quality has never been easy to define. Researches have proposed different characteristics in terms of its dimensions, but few have been used. One of the most widely used model is based on the comparison between the expectations and perceptions of the customer about an organizations service. Parasuraman et al.(1985) created a model to measure service quality called the Gap Model. This was later used as a basis for creating the SERVQUAL model which is a 22-item scale used to measure service quality. It had a great impact on later works and evolved as one of the predominant tools t o be used across organizations. Restaurant is a field where SERVQUAL is used extensively for measuring their service quality. In the following section, the service quality literature is explained in detailed and later on, its linkage to the restaurant industry is looked into. 1. SERVICE QUALITY The service management literature argues that customer satisfaction is the result of a customers perception of the value received, where value equals perceived service quality relative to price (Hallowell, 1996, p. 29). 1.1 DEFINITION OF SERVICE In order to understand what Service Quality is, it is essential that the term Service is defined. Grà ¶nroos(2001) claims that services are processes and not physical entities or goods, and that service firms have processes that interact rather than products. According to Stromgren(2007, p.12) , a service is an activity or series of activities of a more or less intangible nature than normal, but not necessarily , take place in the interaction between the customer and service employees and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to the customer problems. 1.2 DEFINITION OF QUALITY There are plenty of definitions of quality that are prescribed by different authors. According to Juran(1988), quality can be defined as the fitting to the intended use of the entity and thereby meeting the expected standards. In the case of an entity not fitting its intended use and expectations, the customers can bill it as of poor quality. Crosby(1979) prescribed quality as `conformance to requirements`; Garvin(1988) found internal and external failures of the entity and measured quality by the count of the failures. However, Parasuraman et al(1985) claims that quality cannot be defined using a product-based approach when dealing with service sectors and hence came forward with the term Service Quality. Considering that my research topic and questions is based on service quality, the explanation provided by Parasuraman et al(1985) is used. 1.3 DEFINITION OF SERVICE QUALITY The concept of service quality and its theories and practicality has been considered very important by the academics and practitioners over the past few decades because it acts as a chief contributor to customer satisfaction and profitability (Parasuraman et al,1985). Thus service quality has become as important factor for all organizations that need to survive in a competitive market. The definition of service quality as conceptualized in various literatures on service, centres on the quality perceived, and is defined as the judgement made by the customer about an entitys overall excellence or superiority (Parasuraman et al., 1988). In accordance with the finding of Ghobadian et al(1994),service generally has four characteristics which are different from manufacturing goods. The four characteristics are described below: Inseparability of production and consumption: This characteristic of services refers to the fact that production and consumption of service is inseparable as they are in contact with each other (Parasuraman et al.,1985). The service provider in turn becomes an important component of the service and is assessed by the consumers (Zeithaml et al., 2003). In the process, the consumers become co-producers of the service (Edvardsson,2005). In the service industry, the producers create the services which simultaneously involve its consumption. There is no room for complacency and quality shortfalls cannot be covered at this point. To illustrate, the service is being constructed at the same time that the customer is receiving it. Intangibility: Services are fundamentally intangible which means that it is impossible for the customers to physically see, smell or touch the product before the purchase is made. Services can easily be copied as a result of intangibility, because most of the services are not patented (Zeithaml et al.,2003). Intangibility results not only in difficulty to manage services, but it becomes hard for the consumers to evaluate(Lovelock et al.,2004). Hence, the customer turns to other alternatives such as obvious signs of quality such as reputation, physical tangibles, and word of mouth from previous users. In services, word of mouth and reputation have the most importance, and thus drives the service provider to deliver services right and flawless, the first time. Perishability : Service cannot be inventoried for later use which means that it impossible to have a final check like manufactured goods. According to Zeithaml et al.(2003), careful planning has to be made to manage services, as they cannot be resold or re-inventoried. Hill(1977,p.318), in his article, mentions that services can be seen as a change in the condition of a person, or of a good belonging to some economic unit, which is brought about as the result of the activity of some other economic. Another dimension to this was added by Lovelock et al.(2004) that stated that goods could be more complex to manage as the costs are incurred for its storage. So, service operations must get the right service first time. Heterogeneity: It involves service consistency and accuracy. Due to the fact that delivery of service usually involves a contact between provider and consumer, thus the behaviour of service provider can influence the perception of the customer. Moreover the accuracy of the information and the ability to interpret customers expectation correctly has a great influence on customers perception of service quality. However, expectations may change during delivery process. For this reason, service providers have to rely heavily on the ability of their staff to understand customers demand and respond in a suitable way. Service can be divided into two dimensions, the functional quality and the technical quality (Gronroos,1984). The technical quality essentially deals with what or what service is provided and functional quality deals with how or how the service is delivered. Another conceptual model which was brought forward by Lehtinen et al. (1991) comprises of physical, interactive and corporate qualities of an organization. Interactive quality deals with the overall interaction of the customers with the elements of the firm. Corporate quality deals with the image customers have about the firm. Physical quality deals with the physical good which is consumed during a service process, food at a restaurant for example and also the physical elements which make up the facilities of the restaurant. Going further deep into the service quality literature, Parasuraman et al. (1985) used 10 dimensions to explain service quality which were tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, courtesy, credibility, compet ence, access, communication, security and understanding. This model was later reduced to a scale of 5 dimensions after a process of reliability and validity testing (Parasuraman et al. , 1988). 2. CUSTOMER LOYALTY The satisfaction of the customers is one of the main aims in any business, the restaurant business in this case. Businesses recognize that maintaining current customers is much easier than winning over new ones to replace the loss (McColl-Kennedy Schneider, 2000). It is mandatory for restaurants to strategize their services to suit the ever-changing dining needs and lifestyles of customers, if they have to increase loyalty from customers. (Min et al,2002). Individuals dining expectations have evolved over the years due to changing social environment, better education, the development of culinary culture, healthy dieting awareness and cultural influences(Markovic, S .et al ,2010 p.182). According to Wishna (2000), customers, in future, would expand their dining horizons to a new level. They would need new experiences to satisfy their ever-changing requirements. Probably the most extensively debated topic about service quality field is the constructs of service quality and the related customer satisfaction (Johnston,1995). Many researches have come to a conclusion that they are two different entities but the relation between the two entities is still questioned(Cronin et al.1992). Parasuraman et al(1988,p16), suggested that perceived service quality is a global judgement, or attitude, relating to the superiority of the service, whereas satisfaction is related to a specific transaction. Parasuraman et al(1995) identified from their research that satisfaction is clearly linked to each specific transaction. They also mention that customers may be satisfied with the particular transaction but might not identify the firm as a high quality one. On one hand, there are other researches which support the argument that customer satisfaction is an antecedent of service quality(Bitner,1990). Bolton et al.(1991) suggest that satisfaction is derived from disconfirmation and becomes an important factor which influences customers opinion of the service quality. However, recent researches claim that service quality is the antecedent of satisfaction, in opposition to the arguments from the earlier works. According to Zeithaml et al(2003) states that while customer satisfaction is a broader concept, service quality is a component that comprises of customer satisfaction along with other components which includes price, product quality, personal factors and situational factors. 3. SERVICE QUALITY MODELS The use of technology can provide an organization with the needed thrust to enhance its service quality. There are several conceptual models of service quality available, which helps the management in identifying quality issues. By making sure these issues do not re-surface, it increases the possibility of improving the organizations profitability, efficiency and overall performance ( Parasuraman et al,1988). 3.1 THE GAP MODEL Service quality, unlike goods quality, cannot be measured in terms of the number of defects. It is an elusive component which is difficult to measure ( Parasuraman et al,1988). In their earlier research in 1985, Parasuraman et al. identified that service quality rises from the comparison of the expected quality and the perceived quality of service performed. They explored the concept of service quality by taking focus group interviews. The conceptual model which was identified as a result of the research consisted of five gaps in the desired service.The first four gaps is part of the perceptions and tasks in providing services, by the management. The last gap is the overall expectations from the customers. They formed a new service quality model which was based on the gaps between the expected and perceived quality. This is known as the GAP Model. Fig 1. Illustrates the model. The five Gaps that were identified are ( Parasuraman et al., 1985) : Knowledge GAP, Standards GAP, Delivery GAP, Communications GAP. GAP 1 : The Knowledge GAP is the difference in the level of expectation of the customer and the organizations perceptions of the customers expectations. In some cases, the management fails in understanding what the customers want. The dimensions identified by the management as important and which constitutes good service might not be the things that the customers look for. GAP 2 : The Standards GAP is the difference in organizations perceptions of the customers expectations and the service quality standards. The management find it difficult to deliver services according to the customers expectations due to lack of resources or other conditions which are not favourable. But they understand what the customers want. GAP 3 : The Delivery GAP is the difference between the organizations service delivery and its related communication with the customer. Staff performance towards delivery of the service plays a huge part in the customers perception of the service quality. But it can be inconsistent, even though the standards are specified. The quality of service delivery can be affected due to variability among providers. GAP 4 : The Communications GAP is the difference between the organizations service delivery and the communicated information about the service to the customers. This gap occurs when a firm fails to deliver the promised services. The consequences of overpromising in that the expectations of the customers are high and when the actual service is received, their perceptions of service quality sink. GAP 5: Overall experience of the service is the main point of focus here. The first four gaps form the perception of service that the customers receive whereas the fifth gap stands for the customers expectations compared to their perceptions, ie their view on the service quality. The diagram is illustrated in Fig 1. Fig.1 The GAP Model The GAP model is the most widely used and is one of the most important contributions to service quality literature (Brown et al. 1995). Gaps 1 to 4 shows how the service is delivered, while Gap 5 depicts the overall difference between the expected and perceived service with respect to the customer. Gap 5 is the most influential in the SERVQUAL model (Parasuraman et al, 1985). 3.2 SERVQUAL Measuring the quality of services in a restaurant is a daunting task as both the service outcome and service delivery is to be assessed. According to Wu et al. (2009), service encounters in restaurants comprise of three components: environmental elements (e.g. design, music,lighting), employees (e.g. professional skills, reliability) and customers (e.g. interaction with other customers). Environmental elements consist of the design of the restaurant interiors, the music being played and the lighting which is used. Employees form the core part of the service which helps to perform the service. To understand all characteristics of the restaurant service quality an appropriate measurement instrument should be developed. SERVQUAL is an instrument that is used to assess the customers perception of the service quality of a service. It is a multi-scale instrument, which took its shape from the GAP model originally, and later was developed further in the 1980s. The instrument contains two sections. One section consists of 22 items that measure consumers expectations. The other section includes 22 corresponding items that measure consumers perceptions of the service they received. The 22 statements represent the five service dimensions that consumers use to evaluate service quality: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Markovic, S., 2010, p.183). According to Parasuraman et al. (1988), Tangibles: Comprises of physical settings, the equipment used and the appearance of the employees Reliability: the ability of the employees to deliver the promised level of service Responsiveness: the ability of the employees to be willing to help out the customers and serve customers without any delay Assurance: is the level of knowledge the employees possess and their courtesy towards the customers, together with their ability to build trust and express their confidence Empathy: is the providing of individualized attention to the customers and be caring towards them. In SERVQUAL, the service quality measurement is based on the comparison of customers expectations and their perceptions of delivered service. The difference between expectations and perceptions scores is called the SERVQUAL gap. A negative gap indicates that received service did not met customers expectations. On the contrary, a positive gap indicates that customers perceived that service delivery exceeded their expectations. SERVQUAL is used as an instrument to diagnose an organizations weaknesses and strength in terms of service quality and uncover them. It creates a systematic, multi-stage process that is based on the dimensions identified and entities which correspond to that organization (Zeithaml et al., 1988). It can be used in businesses of any kind and provides a basis structure owing to its expectations-perceptions model, comprising statements for all the five different dimensions. 3.3 LIMITATIONS OF SERVQUAL Many organizations have used SERVQUAL for measuring their service quality with considerable amount of success, although there have been certain problems which have been identified. These problems are : Dimensions of the model Parasuraman et al.(1991) claimed that the five dimensions is SERVQUAL used to assess service quality can be used in all service contexts. However there were differences in opinion among other researchers. Buttle(1996) argued that the dimensions change with respect to numbers and the factors as SERVQUAL is used in different service contexts. According a research conducted in a retail setting by Finn et al.(1991), SERVQUAL dimensions are not generic. Babakus et al.(1992) noted that the dimensions can be simple or complex depending on the type of industries it is used in. A major argument to Parasuraman et al. was by Carman(1990), where he did not agree with the combining of the 10 original dimensions to five as he thinks the collapsed dimensions could have been important in certain areas and hence should be looked into as a separate dimension. Expectation of the service Expectation in a service context essentially means the desired level of service that a customer would like to receive ( Parasuraman et al., 1988). It is the minimum level of service quality that the provider should provide. But due to the ambiguous nature, it can be interpreted in different ways. While some may rate expectations according to their expected ideal or optimal performance, others may rate it as a minimum tolerable performance (Teas,1993). Issues with GAP scores The high rating of expectations by customers in the SERVQUAL setup leads to negative scores which immediately start questioning the analytical utility and interpretation of the concept (Smith, 1995). Process Focus According to Buttle(1996), SERVQUAL deals with only the process or the method by which services are delivered but not the quality of the final output that is provided. When service quality is assessed, both process and output should be used in SERVQUAL as both together can give the prediction of the choice that the customer would make rather than one without the other(Richard et al.,1993). Pricing Price plays an important role in determining the customers expectations and perceived quality(Smith,1995). He states that according to some customers, excellent food service comes with high price while lower prices are associated with restaurants which are targeting a lesser market. Hence, according to Smith(1995), price should be considered when measuring service quality. SERVQUAL is only one of those instruments which is used in measuring service quality. And going by the words of Asubonteng et al.(1996), until a model which is capable of better measurement evolves, SERVQUAL will be dominant. I am using SERVQUAL as the tool to measure service quality in the restaurants I am focussing on. 4. SERVICE QUALITY IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY Expectations are defined as what the customer beliefs of the service that would be provided and is the main standard against which the actual performance is measured (Zeithaml, V. and Bitner, M., J. 2003). There are five types of expectations of the customers- (i) minimum tolerable expectations (ii) acceptable expectations (iii) experience-based norms (iv) normative should expectations (v) ideal expectations(Zeithaml, V. and Bitner, M., J. 2003) According to Garvin(1987), the common attributes of service quality are Performance, features, conformance, aesthetics, reliability, durability, serviceability and perceived quality. Parasuraman et al. (1990) developed a five-dimensional framework of service quality which consisted of tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy to analyse service quality. However, GroÈnroos (1990) came up with a framework of his own which consisted of six elements in measuring the perceived value of services. These are explained in Table 1. There are many factors that may influence customers assessments of restaurant quality. Previous researches suggested that food quality, physical environment and service are the major components of overall restaurant service quality (Dulen 1999; Susskind Chan 2000). Among these attributes, food quality is the most important dimension of the restaurant experience (Sulek Hensley 2004). What is more, it is an essential requirement to satisfy the needs and expectations of restaurant customers (Peri 2006). Although there is no consensus on the individual attributes that constitute food quality, the researchers focus on presentation, healthy options, taste, freshness and temperature (Namkung Jang 2008). Several studies have cited the importance of service quality for customer satisfaction with a service encounter (Stevens et al. 1995; Qu 1997). Additionally, in restaurants settings, service quality is an important determinant of customer satisfaction (Kim et al.2009) and return intention (Kivela et al. 2000). Stevens et al. (1995) developed an instrument called DINESERV which was based on the SERVQUAL. It was created to measure the perceptions of the customers about the restaurants service quality. It was used by many as a very reliable and simple tool for finding out the customers view on service quality. It consisted of 29 items, which fell into the five service quality dimensions. It is used in assessing different types of restaurants. Through the findings, it is known that the customers give the highest priority to reliability. Further researchers like Heung et al.(2000) have identified that the customers expectations vary depending on the restaurants. They used DINESERV to compare and contrast certain restaurants at an airport and found out that the expectations vary with different restaurants. However none of the tools have included food quality as a possible dimension. According to Andaleeb et al.(2006), SERVQUAL should include food quality as a service quality dimension as food quality covers the entire section of food service attributes. This was supported by Namkung et al.(2007) who valued the importance of food quality in measuring service quality as they identified in their research that it was the main factor which influenced customer satisfaction. They claim food quality constitute of presentation, variety, healthy options, taste, freshness and temperature(Namkung et al., 2007). Against this backdrop, the main aim of the research, the use of technology in improving service quality in restaurants is looked into. 5. USE OF EXISTING TECHNOLOGY IN RESTAURANTS TO AID SERVICE QUALITY The use of technology is increasing in all aspects of the restaurant industrys operations and management. Technology is traditionally viewed as the key component in industries. In recent years, technological developments have acted as the key catalyst in improving service operations and providing the customers with enhanced experiences at restaurants. According to Berry(1995), technology should be used as a servant rather than acting as the master. It should be used to add value to the service offered to the customers, not to completely replace the role of service. Technology offers a better method of performing the service, which eventually benefits the firm, the customers and the employees. It provides a better image to the firm, better dining experiences to the customers and varied and easy way of performing service, to the employees. To cite an example, McDonalds, the chain of restaurants maintain their business by deploying simple technologies to aid services. Devices like food timers and vegetable cutting machines are used to maintain the consistency of various products. When the management considers the type of technology to be adopted, they should also take into account, the reaction of the customers to it, apart from the expenses and benefits that the restaurant might face. It is worthwhile to note that, a new technology will not be of significance if it does not satisfy the customer. By using technology, it benefits both the customers and the restaurant management. 5.1 Benefits to customers Improved convenience The term service convenience deals with the desired time and effort the customers are ready to invest in dining out. An increase in service convenience is directly related to an increase in customer satisfaction (Holdern et al., 2008). Technology can be used to improve access convenience which deals with the relative ease with which an order can be placed, transaction convenience which deals with speeding up the payments and benefit convenience which deals with controlling the pace of their time at the restaurant (Dixon et al.,2009). Increased control Control is defined as the need to demonstrate ones competence, superiority, and mastery over the environment( Hui et al., 2002). From past researches, it has been proved that customers feel more satisfied when they feel they have substantial control over their service encounter( Ariely et al., 2000). Hence, when implementing new technologies, it is important to choose such that the majority of the control the service encounters remains with the customer. 5.2 Benefits to the restaurant management Service speed Increased speed of service can lead to more satisfaction and higher revenues, as more customers can be served. This is where use of technology steps up. The time taken for taking orders, communicating the orders to the kitchen, managing the tables, transaction times can all be reduced by the use of technology. Hand-held electronic devices like ipad and HP touchpad are widely used in restaurants. Orders taken through these devices can be directly sent to the electronic display board in the kitchen, so that there is no delay between taking the order and food preparation, which speeds up the service, and eventually better customer satisfaction. The tables in the restaurant can be managed by using advanced table managing softwares that are prevalent these days. This can help in effectively controlling queuing. Transactions and payments can be made faster by using handheld credit card machines at the table to ensure there are no delays. While faster service always leads to better satisfaction, it should be managed properly so that the customers must not feel the notion that they are being rushed through the service. Reduction in labour cost- Usage of technology helps in reducing cost incurred due to large number of staff. Usage of self-service kiosk and online and off-line reservations help reduce labor charges. Also, kitchen equipments like automatic dishwasher, plate warmer helps reduce costs incurred for staffs. A steady increase in volume and revenue A new trend in the modern restaurant industry is to create attractive websites and create their own accounts in various social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. Customers can access information from these pages and can also subscribe to updates from these restaurants about the latest offerings, menu and special events if any. Online reservations provide the restaurants with a separate channel which makes the restaurant feel more accessible and also through which customers can be attracted. Previous researchers have found out 59% of the restaurants which uses online reservations encounter a steady increase in sales(Lang,2006). Other research identified that customers even make online reservations even during hours outside the working hours of the restaurant, which means the restaurants are capturing business during periods which they normally did not expect to( Layton, 2006; Ross, 2006). Improved service and product Technology if used appropriately, can aid restaurants to provide improved and consistent service to customers. Past researches have shown that an increase in the perceived product quality and service quality have led to an increase in the restaurants profit and better customer satisfaction ( Rust et al.,1995). The areas in a restaurant where technology are used can be divided into five section, namely(Dixon et al.(2009)): Queue management Menu Internet-based content Kiosk Transactions The usage is depicted in a tabular form in the next page. Category Technology used Relevance Queue Management 1.Table management software 2.Pagers given to the customers 3.Hand-held order-taking devices while waiting in the queue Pagers alert the customers seated in the waiting area when their table is ready Hand-held devices help to take the orders from the waiting customers and transfer it directly to the kitchen so as to minimize the delay of food preparation Menu Virtual menus available online which contains details of the nutritional values Virtual menus available at the table Customers can decide on the menu when ordering online based on the nutritional value Customers seated at a table gets to know the content of the food and its nutritional values before ordering Internet-based content Online table and food reservation system Websites to connect to the customers about new offers, special discounts and new items on the menu Accounts on social networks to create a sense of belonging to the customers Online ordering helps in reducing the waiting time for food at the restaurant Customers get to know the latest happenings at the restaurant and understand the new things on offer Urges customers to become part of the restaurants online family Kiosk Ordering food through kiosk Making payments through kiosk Ordering through kiosk helps the customers to order through a touch screen device, without other staff contact Making payments using kiosks add the personal touch to each customer Transcations Payment using hand-held credit card machines,SMS and NFC(Near-field communication) Makes payment much faster than the traditional cash or taking-card-to-counter method Table 1 : Usage of existing technology(Dixon et al.200

To put on their clothes made one a sahib too: Mimicry and the Carnivale

To put on their clothes made one a sahib too: Mimicry and the Carnivalesque in Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable The character of Bakha, in Anand’s Untouchable, is drawn from the lowest caste in Indian society, that of sweeper, or cleaner of human ordure. Despite his unpromising station in life, the central figure in the novel operates at a variety of levels in order to critique the status quo of caste in India. Well aware of his position at the nadir of Indian society, Bakha is able-via his untouchability-to interrogate issues well above his station in life, such as caste and its inequities, economics and the role of the colonizer. Due to the very characteristics of the character's position, Anand is able to examine issues such as society’s revulsion at untouchablility; some local, innate societal sympathy for Bakha's plight, and the fact that in the 1930s Gandhi used his Harijans-untouchables-as a symbol for change in Indian society. This essay examines the modes by which Anand deploys mimicry and the carnivalesque to critique Indian society in the 1930s. The author has constructed a mimic-man, fundamentally carnivalesque in the Bakhtinian sense, who is simultaneously parodic and subversive. Indeed, the linguistic similarity Bakha/Bakhtin is in itself superficial yet tempting. For Bakhtin, "Carnivalesque literature uses elements of parody, mimicry, bodily humour and grotesque display to achieve the ends of carnival, that is, to jostle ‘from below’ the univocal, elevated language of high art and decorous society". During the course of his day, Bakha causes widespread unease, not merely at his physical presence. Although he is aware of the "six thousand years of racial and class superiority"(16) that bears down on him, as he... ...remarkable breadth of issues, and it is only to be hoped that one day this text will be regarded as a useful tool in a past campaign, rather than as part of a continuing and unfinished project. Useful links: Dalit Liberation Education Trust: http://www.pcsadvt.com/dlet The Imperial Archive. http://www.qub.ac.uk/english/imperial/imperial.htm India Survey, Biography: http://www.indiasurvey.com/biodata/mulkrajanand.htm Literature in English of the Indian Subcontinent in the Postcolonial Web: http://landow.stg.brown.edu/post/india/anand/anandov.html Bibliography Anand, Mulk Raj Untouchable London: Penguin Books, 1940 Ashcroft, Bill, Griffiths, Gareth, and Tiffin, Helen. Key Concepts in Post-Colonial Studies. London: Routledge, 1998. Ashcroft, Bill, Griffiths, Gareth, and Tiffin, Helen. The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 1995.

Cultural Analysis of Brazil Essay

A key to manage effectively across national and cultural boundaries, which is critical to the success (Browaeys and Price, 2011), lies in the understanding the different means of in various cultures (Trompenaars, 1993). Hence, basic cultural analysis should be conducted to better plan the new manufacturing business unit in Brazil where there are many differences from the Swedish culture. The famous analytic models from Hofstede (1980) and Trompenaars (1993) are applied to identify the key distinct dimensions of the two national cultures in terms of their management implications. Cultural Analysis The most influential factors chosen from Hofstede’s model are PD and UA, with the largest gap in scores and significant differences from table 1. Table 1 Different Scores of Brazil and Sweden in the national cultural dimensions Power DistanceUncertainty AvoidanceIndividualismMasculinity Brazil69763849 Sweden3129715 Source: Hofstede (1980, p315) Firstly, PD refers to the interpersonal power or influence between the powerful member of an organization and the least powerful one (Browaeys and Price, 2011). It, however, reflects the human inequality with a range of aspects, including rewards, wealth, prestige and privileges, etc., in the hierarchies of the organization. Normally, a higher high PD value implies the requirements of a centralised and direct decision-making process rather than plural participations of members in different levels (Velo, 2012). Brazil is, as many as around one time larger in land size and populations of Sweden (Findthedata, 2012), which contribute to the centralisation trends of organisations. Meanwhile, the large PD of Brazil means inequalities of power and wealth are however likely tolerated (Stephen, 2006) since the resources are concentrated. For instance, Azevedo (2009) concluded that most companies from Sà £o Paulo Stock Exchange has strong power concentration characteristics in terms of fact t hat most controlling shareholders or their relatives hold or chaired CEO positions. However, Brazil also suffers from, in return,  burdensome bureaucracy and deep social imbalances (James, 2011). Reversely, Sweden companies are more democracy, less hierarchical and even, for employee able to make comment to their managers (Porter, 2006). Secondly, the UA represents the degree to which a culture prefers risky, flexible and new situations over conversational, rigid and regular status (Browaeys and Price, 2011). UA, as Hofstede (1980) noted, indeed suggests, uncertainty about the future and cope with it through technology, law and religion. Commonly, a high UA scores means the national residents are unlike to do risky things and try to avoid changes (Velo, 2012), which directs the activities in working are supposed to be planned with less ambitious and stable employees (Hofstede, 1980). The managers are expected to be more task-oriented and involved in more details to control, if not eliminate, the uncertainty in work (Hofstede, 1980). Oppositely, Sweden companies are high possibile to have adverse attitude towards risk with different attributes in management (Porter, 2006). Predominantly Catholic population in Brazil reinforces the philosophy of the existence of an absolute ‘Truth’, that those individuals, thereby, should make efforts to lower this level of uncertainty (Vincent, 2003). Instead, in order to prevent the unexpected, the ultimate goal of this society is to control everything by means with adopted and implemented strict rules, laws, policies, and regulations (Stephen, 2006). Brazil companies are operating under a highly complex and expensive tax with a regulatory environment (James, 2011) aimed at reducing uncertainty in business circumstances. Also, Brazilian companies are showing growing interests in implementing modern enterprise risk management techniques (Ernst & Young, 2012). In comparison, the Sweden companies are welcome the relaxed atmosphere in which managers are interpersonal and strategy centred and flexible in style whereas employees are ambitious with high turnover probability (Hofstede, 1980; Porter, 2006). The most vital factor taken from Trompenaars’ framework is individualism versus collectivism, which means people in certain culture are oriented to the self or common goals and objectives (Browaeys and Price, 2011). These two elements affects the international management in negotiation, decision-making and motivation and are often related to religions (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997). Catholics are likely to do group work while Protestants rely more on themselves. Brazil is a typical  collectivist community that places family at the center of its social system and depend heavily on relationships (Malinak 2012). Accordingly, Brazilians are of loyalty and duty to their group, especially within their extended families (James, 2011). The firms are anticipated to care employees like family member. For example, a job are considered when it includes mandatorily paid vacations, Fundo de Garantia do Tempo de Servià §o, at least one meal for employees working eight hours and the 13th salary (Novais 2012). Sweden companies are generally quite different. The common Swedish word â€Å"lagom† are used to inform the importance of one’s own performances in workplace (Porter, 2006). MOST IMPORTANT DIMENSION IN THIS CONTEXT Among all the dimensions in these two models, individualism should be the most important one that calls for intensified attention when setting up a new manufacturing business unit in Brazil. From a theoretical level, individualism is contained in both Hofstede’s and Trompenaars’ model and is suggested by some scholars (e.g., Dunnette & Hough, 1990) as the essential dimension to analyse culture. Because a large number of studies have proved the impact of individualism on the behaviour of members belong to a social group (e.g., Smith & Bond, 1999; Ashmos & McDaniel, 1996). Moreover, individualism usually has impact on some other dimensions in the models. For instance, people belong to collectivist culture and individualist culture is suitable to different motivation method (Hofstede, 1980). In this case, the most significant reason is the big gap between Sweden and Brazil in individualism. Just as mentioned above, Brazil gets 38 points while Sweden scores 71 in Hofstedeâ €™s analysis (Hofstede, 1980). In Sweden culture, individuals usually are regarded as the end achieved by the improvements of communal arrangements (Hampden-Turner & Trompenaars, 1994). On the contrary, groups are regarded as end in Brazil culture achieved by the improvements of individual abilities (Hofstede, 1980). It can be reflected by the splendent performance of group sports in Brazil such as soccer (Wikipedia, 2012). The difference in individualism would lead to various factors that require more attention in management. Organizational structure usually takes the brunt of this change. People in Brazil would prefer group work rather than individual work. The group leader or the older and powerful member of a group is expected to offer help to younger colleagues (Hofstede, 1980). It also leads  to the changes in reward system. Since people in Brazil often motivated by group interests rather than their own, it would be better to set group goals and reward members on the basis of the group achievements. Decision making process is another significant different caused by individualism. In Sweden, people view themselves as being empowered to make the decisions needed to meet one’s own goals thus the decision making is very quickly. When it comes to group decisions, voting is a common method. However, Brazilians sometimes would give up their personal interests to collective interests thus decisions usually are not based on democratic voting (O’Keefe, 2004). Moreover, Brazil people are usually integrated into strong, cohesive groups thus they attach great importance to relationships. Businessmen should pay more attention to develop good relationships to their potential distributors and government officials. Senior manager should spend as more time as possible with chatting and making jokes. Similarly, making a call or talking to someone in person is preferred to writing e-mails. To sum up, the big gap between Sweden and Brazil in individualism demonstrates that it is the essential dimension to analyse culture as it would lead to various difference in organization structure, decision making process and the importance of relationships. Thus, from both theoretical and practical level, individualism is the most important dimension in this case. CONCLUSION In conclusion, there are several significant cultural gaps between Sweden and Brazil including power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, neutral versus emotional and attitudes to the environments. Individualism comes out to be the most important dimension because of the considerable gap between the two countries in their attitudes towards collective interests and personal honour. And this difference would have a significant impact on transnational management. Thus, the management method should be sharpened in order to consider them when extending business in emerging economies of Brazil. This allows to avoid misunderstandings caused by cultural reasons and to improve the efficiency of management and communication in new manufacturing business unit. References Ashmos, D.P. & McDaniel, R.R. (1996) Understanding the Participation of Critical Task Specialists in Strategic Decision Making*. Decision Sciences. [Online] 27 (1), 103–121. Available from: doi:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00845.x. Azevedo, S. M. G. (2009). Os papà ©is do Conselho de Administraà §Ãƒ £o em empresas listadas no Brasil. Master’s Dissertation, Faculdade de Economia, Administraà §Ãƒ £o e Contabilidade, University of Sà £o Paulo, Sà £o Paulo. Retrieved 2012-11-03, from http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/12/12139/tde-11092009-141955/ Browaeys, M-J and Price, R, (2011) Understanding Cross-Cultural Management (2nd Ed.), Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. Dunnette, M. & Hough, L. (1990) Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology. 2nd edition. Palo Alto, Consulting Psychologists Press. Ernst & Young (2012). Risk-based capital and governance in Latin America: Emerging regulations (Report). London: Ernst & Young Global Limit. Findthedata (2012). [Online]. Available from: [Accessed: 01 November 2012]. Hampden-Turner, C. & Trompenaars, A. (1994) Seven cultures of capitalism†¯: value systems for creating wealth in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Sweden, and the Netherlands. London, Piatkus. Hofstede, G.H. (1980) Cultures consequences†¯: international differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills†¯; London, Sage. James G. (2011). Business Basics in Brazil, Big opportunities, challenges go hand in hand. Journal of Accountancy [online]. Available from: [Accessed: 01 November 2012]. Malinak C. (2012). Doing Business in Brazil (report). London: Communicaid Group Ltd. Novais Andrà ©a (2012). Common Benefits in Brazil. The Brazil Business [online]. Available from: [Accessed: 01 November 2012]. O’Keefe, H. and O’Keefe, W.,M., (2004) Business behaviors in Brazil and the USA: Understanding the gaps. International Journal of Social Economics, 31(5), pp. 614-622. Porter A. (2006). ‘Taking care of business in Sweden’. Sweden.se [online]. Available from: [Accessed: 01 November 2012]. Smith, P.B. & Bond, M.H. (1999) Social psychology across cultures. 2nd ed. Boston, Mass, Allyn & Bacon. Stephen T. (2006). ‘Geert Hofstede Analysis for Brazil’. Cyborlink [online]. Available from: [Accessed: 01 November 2012]. Trompenaars F. and Hampden-Turner C. (1997). Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business (2nd ed). London: Nicholas Brealey. Velo, V. (2012). Cross-cultural management. New York, Business Expert Press. Vincent, J. S. (2003). Culture and customs of Brazil. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. Wikipedia (2012) Brazil national football team – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. . [Online]. 2012. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team [Accessed: 3 November 2012].

Thomas Nast- Political Cartoons Essays

Thomas Nast- Political Cartoons Essays Thomas Nast- Political Cartoons Paper Thomas Nast- Political Cartoons Paper In this paper, the idea that the middle class Americans were the pushing Orca behind the progressive, imperialistic, and socialist movements will be argued. This working-class, including the illiterate labor class and foreigners, were influenced more by the cartoons and engravings of Thomas Nasty than by the articles of journalists, newspaper publications, or the speeches of political leaders. From immediately after the Civil War to the beginning of the Progressive era, Annas drawings affected America politically and socially. Nasty, a German immigrant and perhaps one of Americas most well-known cartoonists, was one of these working- class men. During the Civil War, Nasty was known for Romantic, reminiscent wash drawings. These drawings portrayed the sentiment of people regarding the war. Also, they showed Annas Idealistic views about the objectives of the war. But as the war continued, Nasty matured politically and grew more policy-minded. The cause of the union came together more strongly with emancipation and equal citizenship. Nasty was able to portray the political and social meaning of the war better than words could express; he and many other middle class Americans became a national force during this time of American nationhood. Before Nasty began cartooning, his wood engravings showed American scenes from the Civil War to the turn of the century. He highlighted all of the major political processes, elections, and scandals in the government with his engravings. The major issues that the American people faced after the war along with the corruption and power of political party machines and bosses was the unknown question of how the American government would resolve the political and social Issues that confronted freed Black men, Immigrants, the working- class, and corporate capitalists. Nasty and other working- class Americans came more politically aware during the Civil War. Supporting Lincoln policies of saving the Union and emancipating the slaves, Nasty had a strong appeal to a vision in which all races and ethnic groups would live together peacefully as American citizens. Nasty was committed to portraying the subtleties of the War to Americans. He drew his cartoons with great passion as he tried to show the immoralities of the American people towards Blacks, Indians, and Chinese immigrants. Politically, Nasty used his cartoons to help Abraham Lincoln win his presidential election in 1864. Since Nasty opposed both slavery and secession, he portrayed the President as a strong, brave and soft- spoken leader even though newspapers and magazines described him as a coward. Sing his talent and popularity to support Lincoln cause, Nasty drew Compromise with the South on September 3, 1804. The cartoon was widely circulated for use in President Lincoln campaign and it criticized the Democratic platform; Lincoln salad Tanat Nasty was ten Test recruiting sergeant nee Ana. (Paine 69) The Democrats portrayed the war as a failure, bashed emancipation, and advocated a cease- fire and negotiations with the Confederacy. Nasty, a strong Republican Party supporter, also helped Rutherford B. Hayes and Ulysses Grant to win their presidential elections. Once when asked who the foremost figure was in civic life to have emerged during the period of the Civil War, Grant said, l think, Thomas Nasty. He did as much as any one man could to preserve the Union and bring the war to an end. After Hayes had won his presidential election in 1876 against Samuel Tildes by a narrow margin, he commented that Nasty was the most powerful single- handed aid we had. When Nasty changed parties in the presidential election of 1884 to support Grover Cleveland with his work, Cleveland became the first Democratic president since 1856. After this election, Nasty became known as the president maker. America was full of subject matter for Nasty. Scandals were everywhere during the time in which the country was becoming an industrial nation. Railroads were spreading, factories were being built, and cities were fast becoming crowded with immigrants that supplied cheap labor. As America changed, middle class Americans strongly began to push forward progressive and socialist events. Their platforms consisted of ideas to throw out political corruption and political machines such as New Works Tammany Hall. Tammany Hall was an organization that had merged with the Democratic Party together with the Society of SST. Tammany and led city politics in New York City. Tammany Hall worked with the Mayors office to gather votes and place their leaders in important elections. In the same manner, the Republicans cooperated with the Union League Club in order to achieve the same goal. In 1860, William Tweed became the leader of Tammany Hall ND during this time the Tweed Ring played host to a series of reoccurring scandals; an estimated one hundred to two hundred million dollars were swindled from New York City. William Tweed became known as Boss Tweed all around America as he stole from the pockets of unsuspecting tax payers. Boss Tweed was so powerful that when Nasty began his campaign in Harpers Weekly against him, Harper Brothers lost their contract to provide New York schools with books because they refused to stop the circulation of Annas publications. Nasty also refused a five hundred thousand alular bribe to end his campaign. Nasty depicts Boss Tweeds quote, muff have the liberty of voting for anyone you please; but we have the liberty of counting in anyway we please, in Going Through the Form of Universal Suffrage. In The Brains, he drew a picture of Boss Tweed, but replaces his head with a bag of money, and the caption reads, Well, what are you going to do about it? Nasty also invented the term Tammany Tiger, as he portrayed a ferocious tiger poised proudly at the center of a huge coliseum. The tiger stands over slaughtered Columbia, the robed symbol of American liberty, and growl s defiantly at the viewer while an enormous crowd watches from the stands. He provoked Americans with these drawings in order to obtain their support in his attempt to overthrow the Tweed Ring. Soon afterwards the public outcry became unbearable and Boss Tweed is quoted as telling Nasty at one point, Lets stop those damned pictures. I dont care so much what the papers write about me- my constituents cant read, but damn it, they can see pictures. Boss Tweed was finally arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison by the courts after his trial. It was mainly ten outcry AT ten American puddle Tanat Azalea Boss I weed. However, Tweed managed to escape from prison in less than a year with the help of his contacts and he fled to Spain disguised as an American sailor. He was caught by the Spanish police; they recognized him by Thomas Nasty drawings of Tweed that had been circulated throughout Europe. In the sasss, Nasty drew cartoons that attacked the Irish- Americans and Catholics, who were against progressivism because of their anti- black attitude, support for the Democratic Party, and because of their prominence in Boss Tweeds Tammany Hall. Not until President Woodrow Wilson did the Democratic Party have a progressive movement as part of their platform. After he had brought down the Tweed Ring, Nasty continued to fight against corruption as he depicted an angry Justice trampling over a snake- infested man representing inflation, lies, corruption, and fraud in The Duty of the Hour on April 1, 1876. After the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865, Andrew Johnson became President. Nasty used his artistic skill to fight against his policies. He stirred the emotions of the Northeastern American middle class as he drew a cartoon with President Johnson kicking out the Freedmans Bureau by means of his veto, with scattered Blacks coming out of it. Attempting to show Americans the crudeness of Johnson, Nasty drew Pardon Colombia, in which he shows Confederate politicians and generals applying for pardons, which would give them the right to vote and hold office. He contrasts them with a black Union soldier who has lost his leg and does not have the right to vote. Also, he drew Emancipation as he sought to link emancipation to patriotism with the cheering female figure of Columbia, an early symbol of the United States. Familiar to cost Americans, Nasty referred to his cartoons as Shakespearean plays as he tried to appeal the American middle class public to support his ideas. He was successful and in Reconstruction and How It Works, he portrayed Andrew Johnson as Ago and a black Union veteran as Othello. In another one of his Shakespearean referenced cartoons, Nasty shows Jeff Davis as Ago and Hiram Revels as the Moor. Revels became the first black senator and he occupied Jeff Davis seat. Nasty quotes, For that I do suspect the lusty moor hath leapt into my seat; the thought whereof doth like a poisonous mineral grew my inwards from Othello. When General Grant was held captive by Johnnys policies and a Supreme Court decision which called into question the authority of military trials for civilians when civil courts were open, Nasty depicted him as Prometheus. During the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, he parodied The Death of Caesar by portraying the Republican leaders conducting the trial in The Political of the Bogus Caesar. His cartoons of the new influx of Chinese immigrants show how they were mistreated when they came to America even though Chinese labor was the key to the building and completion of many railroads in the West. In The Comet of Chinese Labor, he shows the arrival of the strike- busting Chinese people. Pacific Chivalry portrays a California ruffian whipping and pulling the hair of John Chainman, who was the symbol of the Chinese immigrants that had come to America, and The Chinese Question shows Columbia defending John China man from American attacks. In 1874, Nasty shows men drinking with a skeleton at a bar; this anti-alcohol cartoon was called, The Bar of Destruction. He drew these cartoons in order to help middle class Americans understand the intricacies of the overspent, realize their own wrongdoings, and to take initiative with the progressive, socialist, Ana Imperialistic movements America Ana Racine Its crescendo as far as becoming an imperialistic nation and Annas cartoons of Uncle Sam influenced the minds of Americans toward that direction even more. Uncle Cams Thanksgiving Dinner marks the highpoint of Annas Reconstruction idealism. He drew this on November 20, 1869. It shows Uncle Sam and Columbia hosting all the people of the world who had been attached to the United States by its promise of self- government and democracy. Cartoons of Uncle Sam influenced Americans to allow the U. S. Government to make some imperialistic moves in Latin America. Earlier in 1885, Nasty shows the more powerful countries fighting for territory in the weaker countries in his cartoon, The Worlds Plunderers. A few decades after this picture World War I was taking place in Europe and posters of Uncle Sam influenced Americans to go to war for the sake of their country. In World War II, Uncle Sam posters circulated all around America as many volunteers were recruited to go fight in the battle lines alongside the allied soldiers. Nasty popularized the elephant as the symbol of the Republican Party and the donkey as the symbol of the Democratic Party; a staunch Republican, he liked the elephant as a symbol of his own party because it had been known as an animal for its dignity, strength, and intelligence since as far back as Roman times. The donkey had appeared as a symbol for the Democratic Party in the asses when Andrew Jackson was President; Nasty used his skill to enhance and popularize it. Socially, Annas most famous achievement is most likely his Christmas Drawings. In 1862, his Christmas drawings marked the first appearance of the Santa Claus we all know today. To most Americans, Santa was known as a more religious-type figure before Nasty depicted him as a citizen of the world. Because Santa Claus home was the North Pole, he did not belong to any one country. The idea that Santa had a workshop and elves to help him also came about from the works of Nasty. In Santa Claus in Camp depicts blue- caped soldiers waiting for Santa to give them their gifts. Nasty was inspired to produce seventy six Christmas engravings over the next twenty four years. Nasty put it all into visual form: a sleigh, minder, Jolly old elves, filling the stockings hung by the chimney, and so forth. By the late sasss when Annas Santa Claus gained popularity, Christmas day was legally established as December 25 in all states and territories in the United States. This concept of Christmas and the holidays brought families and people closer together as they took breaks from their Jobs and went on vacations or spent time with their families. Christmas also began the move to commercial and economic interests. Stores began including drawings of Santa in their ads and tying it with Christmas sales and promotions. It is hard to tell what Christmas and the customs that go along with it would be like today without Annas Christmas drawings. Nasty influenced America greatly in both the social and political aspects of American life. His engravings and cartoons influenced the American working class by challenging them to stand against the Establishment in order to preserve their interests. His cartoons helped America to realize the extent that progressive and socialist movements had on the contemporary issues far more than writings or speeches did.

Great response essay writing tips

Great response essay writing tips Response essay Writing a response essay may be rather interesting. The most important is to know how to produce it in the right way. A characteristic feature of such type of paper is expressing your opinion about the debated matter. For this reason, students do not experience great difficulties with preparing this work. However, it may just seem to them. You should realize that there are some rules which you should follow to write an essay of top quality. In this way, you will indeed avoid problems with preparing it. Sometimes, students do not pay meticulous attention to writing a summary and response essay. The point is that they consider it very easy. As a result, they face some problems which they cannot solve quickly. Do you want to know how to succeed in doing this assignment? All you need to do is to understand how to construct your paper properly. How to Write a Response Essay Do you know how to write a response essay? It is common for students to ask questions like, â€Å"What is a response essay?† This article should clear things up for you. In a nutshell, a response essay – also known as a reaction essay – involves watching a movie/video clip or reading text such as a book, poem or article and then discussing how it makes you feel. Of course, as you express your opinion you will need to provide evidence to support your arguments. As you examine the medium, you should consider the following questions: In general, what is your reaction to the medium? Does the author or creator of the content succeed in carrying out their objectives? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the video/literature? As you reflect, what are the takeaways of carrying out this response essay? Now that you have a general idea about how to write a response essay, let us discuss the process in more detail.Tips for Starting a Response Essay You have been assigned to watch a movie or read an article/book and then discuss the emotions that it evokes using sound logic and critical thinking skills. If you do not know how to write a response essay, you could easily confuse it for a book review or comprehension exercise. But a response essay is an entirely different type of task, as will be explained. There is no universal approach to writing a response essay, although your instructor might ask you to focus on specific aspects of the text or answer a list of questions as part of your response. As you go about this task, you are encouraged to express your opinions and even incorporate personal knowledge, especially if events in the narrative remind you of experiences in your own life that are applicable. However, you must ensure that the essay is coherent and logically structured, not merely a stream of consciousness. This means it needs to include an introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs containing your arguments, and a conclusion that wraps everything up nicely. Since the main point of the response essay is to discuss how the text or video is applicable to your own life, you must ensure that the topics addressed in the piece are, in fact, intertwined with your personal experiences. One of the challenging things about writing a response paper is that you must find inspiration in the given text or video, whether or not you enjoyed it. You must also be sincere in your response, as superficial or forced observations will be abundantly apparent. Useful Tips on Writing a Response Essay Express your viewpoint on the issue. What is your opinion about the read work? Did you like it? Are you ready to take the author’s position? If you disagree with the ideas discussed by the author, you need to explain why. What do you feel after reading the chosen story? If you answer these questions, you will know how to move one and write an exclusive paper. Make a plan It should be admitted that this type of paper differs from other works. Nevertheless, you still need to make a coherent structure and right response essay format. Therefore, your piece of writing should include at least three parts. They are an introductory section, summary of the read literature sources, and your point of view about it. By the way, your opinion about the analyzed work is a thesis statement of your paper. Research methods When producing a personal response essay, you will mainly discuss the author’s ideas and present your viewpoint on it. The most efficient approach is to illustrate the difference between your opinion and that of the author. Thus, you should analyze the author’s position. Then, explain why your point of view differs from that of the author’s. Defend your position You should provide powerful arguments to support your opinion. Does the author cover all points of the story? Are the descriptions vivid? Note that you should present illustrative examples to develop each idea of your critical response essay. Edit your paper This is the last, but very important step you should take to complete your response essay. It is necessary to edit your work. You may ask your friend to look through the paper and tell if it is easy to read. Different Types of Response Essays As noted, while virtually all response essays include the same objectives – namely discussing how you feel about a text and using personal examples to support your arguments – your approach will depend on the guidelines that your instructor provides. Here are some ways in which you might be asked to express your opinion: Discussing the concepts in the video or text and whether you agree or disagree with the information Discussing thoughts presented in the medium and relating the directly to your own personal experiences with the matter Relating the information from one text or video with other text/video that you have read/viewed Assessing how the medium tries to influence the audience and discussing whether the creator/author is effective in carrying it out. As you write a response essay, you will want to identify and draw strong parallels between the work being analyzed and your own personal experiences. However, you should be highly specific in your writing. For instance, it is not enough to discuss the narrative’s broad theme of redemption or perseverance. Instead, you should use actual quotes or summarize scenes/paragraphs that support your arguments. For this reason, you should first read the text or view the video all the way through, taking notes in the process and generating ideas about how you can apply the situations and concepts to your life. Response Essay Structure As you read/view the medium, always keep in mind that it was created for a purpose. It could be that the author or filmmaker is trying to make a point. They might be arguing for a certain position. They might support certain values or beliefs. When you write the response paper, it is essential that you both inform the reader about the creator’s intentions in writing the book or making the movie. This demonstrates that you have not only read the book or watched the movie, but have also given the content a lot of thought. Having done this, it is now time to start writing your paper. Introduction The response paper is exactly like almost every type of essay in that it begins with an introduction and well-defined thesis statement. Like almost every type of essay in that it begins with an introduction and well-defined thesis statement. The introduction should be brief and while it gives the reader a preview about what to expect, you do not want to reveal too much. After all, that is what the next part of the paper will achieve. Here are the three objectives of the intro: To capture the reader’s attention To provide some background about the topic being addressed in the story To present your thesis Body The body contains the meat of the paper. In a conventional essay, this consists of three paragraphs, each one devoted to a single argument that is tied back to the thesis. Your evaluation and analysis should be clear and well thought out. While your paper needs to be academic, it does not have to be dry. You are welcome to employ a few literary techniques as you make your points including through onomatopoeia, metaphors, similes, assonance, and any other methods that will make the response essay more interesting and emotional. Conclusion No essay is complete without a proper conclusion. A lot of students make the mistake of merely summarizing what they have written and leave it at that. But this part of the paper involves much more than that. You want your essay to leave a lasting impression on the reader. To achieve this, you should discuss why your response essay was important and how it make a contribution to discourse. Give the Response Essay a Try If you lack experience with writing response essays, it might seem like a daunting task. But the key is to practice, hone your writing and evaluating skills, and be patient. Nobody becomes a talented writer overnight. Furthermore, your professor is not going to expect you to have the abilities of a Pulitzer Prize recipient. So try your best and eventually you will get the hang of it! Response Essay (Love Is a Fallacy) Max Shulmans examples of fallacies presented in his short story can push the readers to various conclusions. One can decide that the story is anti-man, another that it is anti-woman. Anyway, the structure of the story together with its interesting twist in the end brings a deep message that makes the readers broaden their minds. To my mind, numerous details are used to prove that people and their deeds are often misjudged as well the story that could seem anti-woman, in reality, is not, and its perception as such is just another fallacy. To begin with, one should pay attention to the representation of women in the story. The author depicts the character of Polly Epsy as a girl, who excited the emotions. She was beautiful and gracious, but unworthy of the smart and serious Shulman, was superior to her in many ways. With regard to the fact that the author represented a beautiful woman as very unintelligent, the representation of females in Love Is a Fallacy can be defined as biased and disrespectful. At the same time, it is essential to pay attention that, from the beginning of the essay, the readers can understand that the author is not only anti-women. He is anti-everyone for he considered himself better that others in all ways. The main character that reflects Shulmans views is arrogant, self-absorbed, perspicacious, acute, and astute, but also emotional type, unstable, impressionable. In such a way, one can see that the author is not set against some specific group defined by gender or other criteria. His prejudice root from his views of the others as inferior beings, not from gender. Moreover, the irony that Shulman was wrong and that Polly appeared to be more intelligent than he thought and outsmarted him is another evidence of the fact that considering the short story as anti-women as very superficial. Therefore, the story can be defined as equally anti-man and anti-woman or for everyone and against the stereotypes. Emphasizing that fallacies are the ways to hide the human intelligence, but also reveal it is a way to make people think more deeply and be unbiased in their judgments.

Exchange and markets Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Exchange and markets - Term Paper Example It is very difficult to maintain these macro-economic objectives and at times they are even in conflict of each other. (Sloman, 670) Exchange rates fluctuations are a major reason for balance of payment fluctuations. Before we understand the system of exchange rates we need to understand the method of balance of payments. Balance of payments means a record of all transactions made between one particular country and all other countries  during a  specified period of time (www.investopedia.com). BOP  compares the dollar difference of the amount of exports and imports, which includes all financial exports and imports. A negative balance of payments means that more money is flowing out of the country than coming in, and a positive BOP means that more money is coming into the country. Balance of Payment can be said as a huge accounts book for the country. It also acts as an indicator of political and economic stability. A positive BOP may mean that the country’s functioning i s going in a positive direction with foreign investment and funds coming in and limited resources in the form of cash going out. What are nominal exchange rates? Nominal exchange rate is simply the rate at which one currency is exchanged for other. This may mean for example it is quoted that one dollar is equal to 0.6 of a pound sterling. This may mean that the nominal exchange rate of a dollar to the pound is $1= 0.6 pound. Changes in the nominal exchange rates between two countries will have an effect on all the transaction prices of goods bought and sold between those two countries. This means that it is extremely important for these rates to be stables as these are bilateral rates (Bamford et al, 115). In a free market the exchange rate is determined by the market forces of demand and supply. This is quite similar to the determination of all other prices because where the supply and demand curves meet that is the market rate of the currency. For this lets consider the market pri ce of Euros against dollars. The demand for euro will be a downward sloping demand curve. This is because when the price of euro is high in terms of US dollar, then the euro zone goods and services are expensive to US customers. This means that they will have to may more dollars in exchange for euros. This will result in a low demand for euro zone goods and services in the US. Thus few pounds are demanded on the foreign exchange market. As the value of the euro falls against the dollar US customers are able to get more pounds thereby increasing the demand of pounds on the foreign exchange market (Bamford et al, 117). The supply curve of Euro is upward sloping. When the Euro is low against the Dollar, then US goods are expensive in the Euro Zone and as a result less Euros are supplied in the market to buy US goods. On the other hand if the value of the Euro rises then US goods will become cheaper allowing more people in the Euro zone to buy these goods and rising the supply of Euros. Where these demand and supply curves meet the market exchange rate of Euro against Dollar is determined as shorn in the diagram below. ( Diagram taken from Determination of Exchange Rates, http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/73/EHEP0006/EHEP000673-2.pdf). At all prices above the equilibrium exchange rate the Euros supplied will be greater than the Euros demanded and vice versa. Any changes in the supply or demand of a currency will result in a depreciation or appreciation of the

Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Immigration - Essay Example While some argue that the migrants are adversely affecting the economy as the inequality between the rich and poor has widened, it is strongly believed that any reforms to drive these migrants would disrupt the economy as the wages would rise and both the employers and the migrants would suffer. Immigrants and low-skilled immigrant workers are concentrated in a few states and in those states, in a few metropolitan areas (Chiswick, 2006). Immigrants are usually drawn to expanding cities particularly to cities with historical enclaves of earlier immigrants (Card, 2007). There is an unbalanced skill distribution and it has been observed that high-immigration cities have more low-skilled people in their local population. America is not being overrun by immigrants. The immigrants residing in the US make up for only one percent of the American population. Besides, the migrants do not enter the country illegally. Most enter legally but overstay on student or visitor visa (Cole, 1994). This only demonstrates the flaws in the US administration. Moreover, immigrants do not fill jobs but create jobs. They do not take the jobs from the Americans and there is no evidence to support this view. In fact the immigrants start their own businesses and employ both immigrants and natives. Chiswick argues that immigrants are localized and concentrated in certain areas but the jobs that migrants perform are still being done in other areas or states and a large number of these low-skilled workers are native to the United States (Chiswick, 2006). The census of 2000 shows that males between 25 and 64 years employed that year, of those with less than a high school diploma, 64% were born in the US and 36% were foreign born. Even those that have graduated from high school have not acquired any other skills essential for higher earnings and there are no low-skill jobs that American workers would or would not do. This only