Buchi Emechetas The Joys of Motherhood as an African Feminist Text Ess

Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood as an African Feminist Text Upon my first reading of Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood, I immediately rejoiced--in this novel, I had finally encountered an account of a female protagonist in colonial and postcolonial African life. In my hands rested a work that gave names and voices to the silent, forgotten mothers and co-wives of novels by male African writers such as Chinua Achebe. Emecheta, I felt, provided a much-needed glimpse into the world of the African woman, a world harsher than that of the African male because woman is doubly marginalized. As a female in Africa, the opposite of male, woman suffers sexual oppression; as an African, the opposite of white in an ever-colonized nation, the African woman also suffers racial oppression. Nnu Ego, Emecheta's protagonist, became at once for me the poster female of Africa, a representative of all subjugated African women, and her story alerted me to all the wrongs committed against African women, wrongs that could only be righted through feminist discours e. As with many surface readings I have performed as a student of literature, however, my perspective on The Joys of Motherhood began to evolve. First, I realized and accepted Nnu Ego's failure to react against oppressive forces in order to bring about change for herself and the daughters of Africa; I consoled myself, reasoning that the novel still deserves the feminist label because it calls attention to the plight of the African woman and because its author and protagonist are female. Rereading the novel, however, also triggered the silencing of my initial response. I focused on such passages as the dying wish of Ona, Nnu Ego's mother, who implored Agbadi, Nnu Ego's father, ... ...econd African Writers Conference, Stockholm, 1986. Ed. Kirsten Holst Petersen. Upsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1998. 173-202. ---. The Joys of Motherhood. New York: George Braziller, 1979. Nnoromele, Salome C. "Representing the African Woman: Subjectivity and Self in The Joys of Motherhood." Critique 43.2 (2002): 178-190. Ogundipe-Leslie, Molora. "The Female Writer and Her Commitment." Women in African Literature Today. Ed. Eldred Durosimi Jones. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1987. 5-14. Okeke, Phil E. "Reconfiguring Tradition: Women's Rights and Social Status in Contemporary Nigeria." Africa Today 47.1 (2000): 49-63. Schipper, Mineke. "Mother Africa on a Pedestal: The Male Heritage in African Literature and Criticism." Women in African Literature Today. Ed. Eldred Durosimi Jones. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1987. 35-53.

Walt Disney World

Case Study: Walt Disney World Question 1: Suppose competing attractions, such as Sea World and Universal Studios, lower their prices of adminission. How should WDW respond? The issue of competitive price is close to the supply and demand one. As long as people willing to pay whatever the price parks set, especially WDW, why would they change? WDW provides such a high-quality offer than it is impossible to lower his prices; it could try to keep them steady. Even if the company decides to lower prices, it should do it in a significant way in order to attract more customers.For instance a $5 reduction in the price of admission would provoke any major changes. They would probably have to drop price below their competitors to make true gain. Besides, from a branding stand point, lowering prices sends a mixed message to consumers (adults with purchasing power) : indeed in customers mind, it would signal something goes wrong. Actually the price is an essential part of firms positioning and it would be difficult for WDW to position itself as the premiere theme park with lower prices than competitors; it is also un-strategic to re-position.WDW strategy has not to do with the credo â€Å"cheapest always win†. The corporation has to play on differentiation and keep playing its leadership positioning; it means making your product unique in some ways to maintain your competitiveness. The following paragraph deal with all WDW differentiation factors. WDW uniqueness criteria -Marketing: WDW propose a complete offer for adults and/or children (families). The variety of this offer (several theme parks such as EPCOT or Animal Kingdom, other activities such as golf or wildlife, several hostels and prices segments†¦) makes customers able to customize their vacations.WDW provides multi-experience. -Communication: the firm must keep using a multi-channel and multi-media strategy to spread its marketing messages including as many new technologies as possible. -Innovation & Ideas generation: WDW must preserve theâ€Å"environnement for supportive conficts† it created through its meetings: Gong Show, Charettes with architects and theme park designers, Movie Development meetings. – Common sense & Discipline: This is the practical part of WDW uniqueness because necessary to test ideas, especially from a fiscal and financial point of view. Indeed ood ideas need time that is the reason why WDW creative process goes against quick actions and audience research. -Creativity: As M. Eisner said â€Å"Together conflict & common sense yield creativity†. We can add that WDW culture of diversity and fun take parts in the creative process: diverse point of views and individualism lead to frictions, conflicts, debates that are essential to get great solutions. -Facilities and Employees: in facts, WDW employees competent, well-trained and friendly. That is a crucially important factor because most of them are directly in contact with customers.No need to justify how essential the sense of contact is in business. Furthermore, all the attractions in theme parks are totally safe; all the facilities (hostels, restaurants included) are clean, linked each other (monorail, boats†¦) and electrically connected.. We notice also that WDW is technologically competent: it is a leader in product development, equipments design and maintenance, industrial engineering†¦for instance WDW design and manage perfectly attractions waiting lines: customers are sensitive about the time they have to use rides. All these aspects are visible for customers Branding Image: all the previous criteria are parts of the branding image; WDW brand is the amount of thousands and thousands small actions (â€Å"pointillist painting†). In particular Mickey and Disney characters, the castle are the symbol that contains all the stories the company created, the dreams and thoughts it suggest to children. Thus, if competitors lower their p rices, WDW should not change its prices and by the same time keep guarding its brand trough all the strategic decisions especially for marketing: WDW messages should be focused on the quality of the product.Question 2: How can WDW utilize customer information better to increase its volume of business? First and foremost, we should have in mind the term â€Å"forecasts† when we deal with customer information topics. Indeed WDW, due to his forecasts department, accumulates data on consumer’s attendance but also consumer’s behavior. All the other departments of the firm (like Labor Management, Maintenance, Finance, Park Theme Design) have access to this precious information which will be used for a set of management decisions to increase volumes and profits.That information can be predicted daily, weekly, monthly or for several years (till five years). In order to understand how customer information is utilized, a look at the forecasting process is necessary; 1- Wh at are the data sources? There are 3 main sources: -The guests in theme parks, hostels, restaurants†¦this is the more direct source. -The employees. For this category we could say that it has nothing to do with consumer information.Actually it has for at least two reasons: first employees can be directly in contact with guests and their recommendations are precious; secondly we could see each employee as a consumer into the firm and improve their working environnement leads to improve final customer satisfaction. – The travel industry professionals because they have their own data bases. 2- How WDW get them? Through surveys (questionnaires, interviews, focus group techniques†¦). All kind of topics could be dealt with but the two most important are customers experiences future Travel Plan. 3- How WDW process these data?Thanks to such models as judgmental, economic, moving-average models, regression analysis, monthly forecasting mode. Each model take into account a ce rtain number of variables like gross domestic product, cross-exchange rates, airline specials†¦ 4- Forecasts This is a major step in the decision- making process. All these consumer information and their analysis by models enable WDW to forecast consumer behavior (attendance in particular). Thus WDW can manage demand taking proper decisions about the capacity planning, the number of required employees, the due quantity of food and beverage†¦Question 3: What weaknesses or limitations do you see in WDW strategy? Ops Strat s WDW strategy is coherente but we can observe some accurate failures especially in operations strategy. Let’s remind the operations process framework and colour in blue the specific â€Å"failing fields†: Product Design Process Design Location/ Layout Cap. planning/Forecasts Work Organization Operations execution Of course other fields like merchandising or Facilities development are concerned. In the following paragraphs we focused on all of those black points. Prices of admissionFirstly, we can put forward the fact that WDW does not compete on prices (especially price of admission). From a positioning point of view it is logical: WDW is a leader in entertainment industry and bet on quality, innovation and uniqueness. But in time of global economical crisis, customers may desire a lower cost product; and there are serious competitors able to propose such offer: Sea World, Universal Studios†¦Of course children are attracted by WDW and can convinced relatives but the final decision remains to adults who get the purchasing power. Hotel development strategyThen we should notice the expanding strategy for WDW hostels: it does not deal with short term demands. Long term demand is not so much reliable when economy is disrupted. Thus Disney occupancy rates above 90% much of the year which is not sufficient anymore. Synergies & organization -Another point is the fact that WDW meet some difficulties to create synergies because of its top management. It is a problem of hierarchy, organization, authority delegation and culture. Actually the main problem could be that it is hard to delegate autonomy, to create empowerment among the group. We should notice that the hierarchy reorganization tends to create duplications (cf: example of a person running movies in Italy reporting to two executives): several hierarchical levels are added. Actually WDW is a hybrid structure; it is in time of mutation or transition.Profits & Losses – WDW experienced losses in home-video earnings because of strategic decisions that lengthen the release cycle for certain animated movie classics. It could be a problem of product development (cf: The product Development Funnel and especially Products Design step) or process engineering. The consumer products department also knew difficulties. Actually it is a matter of merchandising, especially concerning licensed-characters. This problem deals directly with consumer behavior (in-store purchases, on-line purchases†¦). -Concerning the Interactive media division, Disney experienced huge losses (source: Disney Fiscal Year Results). Actually the group invested in self-published video games (video games that are published by their author) and it needs more times to be profitable. -It goes the same for Internet (Go. com, Disney. com, ESPN. com†¦).It is s a crucial business field but investments cost a lot. To conclude we could qualify WDW weaknesses and limitations as mainly cyclical strategic problems . They are not structural even though it could deal with the organization (organization chart) and we can afford to say that those difficulties are temporary. The only structural change that has affected deeply the company concerned consumers attitude. â€Å"Disney still knows how to sweep people off their feet†, better than anyone else but the corporation needs to take into account new habits and expectations. Walt Disney World Case Study: Walt Disney World Question 1: Suppose competing attractions, such as Sea World and Universal Studios, lower their prices of adminission. How should WDW respond? The issue of competitive price is close to the supply and demand one. As long as people willing to pay whatever the price parks set, especially WDW, why would they change? WDW provides such a high-quality offer than it is impossible to lower his prices; it could try to keep them steady. Even if the company decides to lower prices, it should do it in a significant way in order to attract more customers.For instance a $5 reduction in the price of admission would provoke any major changes. They would probably have to drop price below their competitors to make true gain. Besides, from a branding stand point, lowering prices sends a mixed message to consumers (adults with purchasing power) : indeed in customers mind, it would signal something goes wrong. Actually the price is an essential part of firms positioning and it would be difficult for WDW to position itself as the premiere theme park with lower prices than competitors; it is also un-strategic to re-position.WDW strategy has not to do with the credo â€Å"cheapest always win†. The corporation has to play on differentiation and keep playing its leadership positioning; it means making your product unique in some ways to maintain your competitiveness. The following paragraph deal with all WDW differentiation factors. WDW uniqueness criteria -Marketing: WDW propose a complete offer for adults and/or children (families). The variety of this offer (several theme parks such as EPCOT or Animal Kingdom, other activities such as golf or wildlife, several hostels and prices segments†¦) makes customers able to customize their vacations.WDW provides multi-experience. -Communication: the firm must keep using a multi-channel and multi-media strategy to spread its marketing messages including as many new technologies as possible. -Innovation & Ideas generation: WDW must preserve theâ€Å"environnement for supportive conficts† it created through its meetings: Gong Show, Charettes with architects and theme park designers, Movie Development meetings. – Common sense & Discipline: This is the practical part of WDW uniqueness because necessary to test ideas, especially from a fiscal and financial point of view. Indeed ood ideas need time that is the reason why WDW creative process goes against quick actions and audience research. -Creativity: As M. Eisner said â€Å"Together conflict & common sense yield creativity†. We can add that WDW culture of diversity and fun take parts in the creative process: diverse point of views and individualism lead to frictions, conflicts, debates that are essential to get great solutions. -Facilities and Employees: in facts, WDW employees competent, well-trained and friendly. That is a crucially important factor because most of them are directly in contact with customers.No need to justify how essential the sense of contact is in business. Furthermore, all the attractions in theme parks are totally safe; all the facilities (hostels, restaurants included) are clean, linked each other (monorail, boats†¦) and electrically connected.. We notice also that WDW is technologically competent: it is a leader in product development, equipments design and maintenance, industrial engineering†¦for instance WDW design and manage perfectly attractions waiting lines: customers are sensitive about the time they have to use rides. All these aspects are visible for customers Branding Image: all the previous criteria are parts of the branding image; WDW brand is the amount of thousands and thousands small actions (â€Å"pointillist painting†). In particular Mickey and Disney characters, the castle are the symbol that contains all the stories the company created, the dreams and thoughts it suggest to children. Thus, if competitors lower their p rices, WDW should not change its prices and by the same time keep guarding its brand trough all the strategic decisions especially for marketing: WDW messages should be focused on the quality of the product.Question 2: How can WDW utilize customer information better to increase its volume of business? First and foremost, we should have in mind the term â€Å"forecasts† when we deal with customer information topics. Indeed WDW, due to his forecasts department, accumulates data on consumer’s attendance but also consumer’s behavior. All the other departments of the firm (like Labor Management, Maintenance, Finance, Park Theme Design) have access to this precious information which will be used for a set of management decisions to increase volumes and profits.That information can be predicted daily, weekly, monthly or for several years (till five years). In order to understand how customer information is utilized, a look at the forecasting process is necessary; 1- Wh at are the data sources? There are 3 main sources: -The guests in theme parks, hostels, restaurants†¦this is the more direct source. -The employees. For this category we could say that it has nothing to do with consumer information.Actually it has for at least two reasons: first employees can be directly in contact with guests and their recommendations are precious; secondly we could see each employee as a consumer into the firm and improve their working environnement leads to improve final customer satisfaction. – The travel industry professionals because they have their own data bases. 2- How WDW get them? Through surveys (questionnaires, interviews, focus group techniques†¦). All kind of topics could be dealt with but the two most important are customers experiences future Travel Plan. 3- How WDW process these data?Thanks to such models as judgmental, economic, moving-average models, regression analysis, monthly forecasting mode. Each model take into account a ce rtain number of variables like gross domestic product, cross-exchange rates, airline specials†¦ 4- Forecasts This is a major step in the decision- making process. All these consumer information and their analysis by models enable WDW to forecast consumer behavior (attendance in particular). Thus WDW can manage demand taking proper decisions about the capacity planning, the number of required employees, the due quantity of food and beverage†¦Question 3: What weaknesses or limitations do you see in WDW strategy? Ops Strat s WDW strategy is coherente but we can observe some accurate failures especially in operations strategy. Let’s remind the operations process framework and colour in blue the specific â€Å"failing fields†: Product Design Process Design Location/ Layout Cap. planning/Forecasts Work Organization Operations execution Of course other fields like merchandising or Facilities development are concerned. In the following paragraphs we focused on all of those black points. Prices of admissionFirstly, we can put forward the fact that WDW does not compete on prices (especially price of admission). From a positioning point of view it is logical: WDW is a leader in entertainment industry and bet on quality, innovation and uniqueness. But in time of global economical crisis, customers may desire a lower cost product; and there are serious competitors able to propose such offer: Sea World, Universal Studios†¦Of course children are attracted by WDW and can convinced relatives but the final decision remains to adults who get the purchasing power. Hotel development strategyThen we should notice the expanding strategy for WDW hostels: it does not deal with short term demands. Long term demand is not so much reliable when economy is disrupted. Thus Disney occupancy rates above 90% much of the year which is not sufficient anymore. Synergies & organization -Another point is the fact that WDW meet some difficulties to create synergies because of its top management. It is a problem of hierarchy, organization, authority delegation and culture. Actually the main problem could be that it is hard to delegate autonomy, to create empowerment among the group. We should notice that the hierarchy reorganization tends to create duplications (cf: example of a person running movies in Italy reporting to two executives): several hierarchical levels are added. Actually WDW is a hybrid structure; it is in time of mutation or transition.Profits & Losses – WDW experienced losses in home-video earnings because of strategic decisions that lengthen the release cycle for certain animated movie classics. It could be a problem of product development (cf: The product Development Funnel and especially Products Design step) or process engineering. The consumer products department also knew difficulties. Actually it is a matter of merchandising, especially concerning licensed-characters. This problem deals directly with consumer behavior (in-store purchases, on-line purchases†¦). -Concerning the Interactive media division, Disney experienced huge losses (source: Disney Fiscal Year Results). Actually the group invested in self-published video games (video games that are published by their author) and it needs more times to be profitable. -It goes the same for Internet (Go. com, Disney. com, ESPN. com†¦).It is s a crucial business field but investments cost a lot. To conclude we could qualify WDW weaknesses and limitations as mainly cyclical strategic problems . They are not structural even though it could deal with the organization (organization chart) and we can afford to say that those difficulties are temporary. The only structural change that has affected deeply the company concerned consumers attitude. â€Å"Disney still knows how to sweep people off their feet†, better than anyone else but the corporation needs to take into account new habits and expectations.

How Successfully The Dramatic Device of Disguise is used in ”As You Like It”? Essay

In ‘As You Like It’, the dramatic device of disguise is very important, because of the dramatic opportunities it presents. Shakespeare opens two opportunities: the characters can say what they would otherwise be unable to say, and hear what they would otherwise be unable to hear. The main character who uses disguise is Rosalind, although Celia does too, to a lesser extent. We first see these two characters in Act I Scene 2. In this scene, we find out background information of the characters, for example that Rosalind’s father, the Duke, was banished. We also see Orlando and Rosalind fall in love, after they meet for the first time at the wrestling match in the gardens of the palace. Rosalind gives Orlando her necklace, giving him a sign that she has fallen in love with him. Rosalind: Wear this for me, Rosalind: Sir, you have wrestled well, and overthrown More than your enemies. Orlando also admits to himself that he has fallen in love with her, but gives no indication of such to Rosalind, as he remained silent. Orlando: What passion hangs these weights upon my tongue? I cannot speak to her, yet she urg’d conference. O poor Orlando, thou art overthrown! In Act I Scene 3, Rosalind admits to Celia how much she loves Orlando, and that she is not merely ‘playing’ at falling in love, as they had discussed in the precious scene. Celia’s father, the Duke, then interrupts them, to banish Rosalind. The reasons for his actions are that the people pity Rosalind, because she has lost her father. Also, they admire her â€Å"silence and patience.† So, under the pretence that Rosalind is a traitor, he banishes her, to make Celia â€Å"show more bright and seem more virtuous when she is gone.† However, Celia objects to this, as she loves Rosalind dearly. So, she decides to join Rosalind in her banishment, and that they will go to the forest of Arden, to search for her uncle, Rosalind’s father. They decide to take Touchstone with them, for safety and company. In those times, it was dangerous to travel, especially for rich women. The women realise this, and like Rosalind says â€Å"beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold†. So, Rosalind decides to disguise herself as a male because she is â€Å"more than common tall†. She decides to call herself Ganymede. Ganymede was a Trojan boy, with whom Jove fell in love with, appointed him cupbearer of the Gods, and became immortal. This name is very appropriate since Ganymede was an effeminate boy, while Rosalind would be a woman dressed as a male. Celia decides to disguise herself as a shepherdess, called Aliena, meaning ‘the stranger.’ This name is also appropriate, as it is representative of the way she will act in the country compared to at court; she will not be used to it. The two names are taken from the book â€Å"Rosalynde†, written in 1590 by Thomas Lodge. This could be intentional, or coincidental. We first see Rosalind in disguise in Act II Scene 4, when she realises that now she is disguised as a man, she has to inherit male qualities and act â€Å"courageous to petticoat†. In this scene, Shakespeare explores the male and female side of Rosalind for the first time. In appearance, she is masculine, able to take responsibility for â€Å"the weaker vessel†. However, inside she is feminine, and needy of the support she gives to Celia. Touchstone also mentions that â€Å"when I was at home, I was in a better place† stimulating thoughts about the divide between the rich and the poor of Shakespeare’s time. In ‘As You Like It’, Shakespeare compares the two societies of that time- the rich and the poor. There wasn’t usually a middleclass. In the life at court, ladies did not work for their living. They usually grew up, and were married at a fairly young age, until they died. However, poor women usually had to help at the house, by cooking, cleaning, etc. and were also usually married off as soon as possible. Further on in the play, in Act III Scene 2 Touchstone also debates the merits of the two different lives with Corin, a shepherd. As we know, Celia and Rosalind come from an upper class, rich, royal families, but have to pretend to be poor, working class people when they go to the forest of Arden. Undoubtedly, they would have made mistakes occasionally, showing their true heritage. This would probably seem comical to the audience, because they found it unusual for the two backgrounds to mix. For example, in Act III Scene 2, when Orlando is speaking with Rosalind, he mentions that ‘her accent is something finer than you could purchase in so removed a dwelling.† Fortunately for her, Rosalind quickly thinks of an excuse, â€Å"an old religious uncle of mine taught me to speak†, which Orlando believes. In this act, the weary travellers purchase a cottage and a flock of sheep from Corin. This quick financial exchange might seem humorous to the audience, as it is very unrealistic and theatrical. The audience can also see that strangers, for example Corin, are fooled by Rosalind’s disguise In Act III Scene Two, Celia teases Rosalind, who wants to find out who wrote the poems about her, and nailed them to trees. She reminds Celia that she is a woman, although she is â€Å"caparisoned like a man†. This might also be a reminder to the audience that Ganymede is female. Finally, when Celia admits that she knows the poet is Orlando, Rosalind, dressed as Ganymede, is distressed. She is distressed because she knows she won’t be able to let him woo her if he thinks she is a man, Ganymede, instead of his love, Rosalind. Rosalind: Alas the day! what shall I do with my doublet and hose? However, she then realises that in a man’s attire, she is able to â€Å"speak to him (Orlando) like a saucy lackey†, which she then does for the rest of the play. She teases him about his love, and says he does not look like â€Å"a man in love.† Throughout this scene, Rosalind’s motive to disguise herself as a man has now changed from practical reasons to personal ones; to find out how much Orlando loves her, and perhaps to educate him, on how to love her. For example, in Act IV Scene 1, when Orlando is an hour late for their meeting, she shows that if he would have done that to Rosalind, â€Å"Cupid hath clapped him o’ the shoulder.† Through her disguise, which she uses to her full advantage, she playfully suggests to him that she will pretend to be Rosalind so he can woo her. This Orlando feels able to do, so he can say what he wanted to say when they first met, in Act I Scene 2, and she can hear what she never expected to hear, because they are not bound by social expectations, as Orlando does not know Ganymede is Rosalind. Their relationship stays fun and lively, because he can be open and honest, and express his emotions, and she can willingly accept his proposals, for example in Act IV Scene 1: Rosalind: But come, now I will be your Rosalind in a more coming-on disposition; and ask me what you will, I will grant it. Orlando: Then love me, Rosalind. Rosalind: Yes, faith, I will, Fridays and Saturdays and all. In the play Shakespeare questions the rigid rules of society’s wooing of that time, since he wrote the play with the idea of a traditional romance; (an archetype) a boy meets a girl, they fall in love, and marry happily ever after after overcoming several obstacles and misunderstandings. However, Shakespeare was forward thinking of his time, letting Rosalind orchestrate the wooing, which was very unconventional. As we can see from Act III Scene 4, Rosalind is a very strong and intelligent character, as she has tricked Orlando into wooing her, even though she is dressed as a man. She is also very witty, a characteristic she only feels able to express properly when she is disguised. She is perhaps the wittiest person in the play, apart from Touchstone, who is a professional comedian, after having been a fool or jester at the court for many years. In Shakespeare’s time, royal men at court showed their wittiness by putting down a fool. He is someone we call a ‘stooge’ nowadays. However, Touchstone’s jokes and puns are less friendly than Rosalind’s, who’s aim is simply to tease or humour people, and not make fun of them, like Touchstone does. Today, Rosalind’s role is a sought-after part, since it is one of Shakespeare’s only good main female characters. The reason for this is that the roles of his time were pre-dominantly male, as there were no female actresses then, and men had to act female parts, which would not have been desirable. This adds humour to the play, from the audience’s perspective, because the players with female roles, e.g. Celia and Rosalind, were young adolescent males. So, Ganymede was a teenage boy, acting a female (Rosalind), dressed up as a man. A particularly humorous moment is when Orlando attempts to kiss Ganymede, for two reasons. One is that the player acting Orlando is attempting to kiss his true love, Rosalind, even though he doesn’t know this. But, from the audience’s point of view, this is also funny since the actor Orlando is attempting to kiss another man. Even now, cross-dressing is found humorous, explaining why people watch cabarets and pantomimes. Further on in the play, in Act III Scene 4, we see Rosalind and Celia alone together. Alone with Celia, Rosalind does not pretend to act masculine, instead she talks about her love to Orlando in a feminine way, and Celia teases her. Rosalind: Never talk to me: I will weep. Celia: Do, I prithee; but yet have the grace to consider that tears do not become a man. Then, Corin comes in, and invites them to see Phebe and Silvius together. They do so gladly, and Rosalind takes another opportunity to use her disguise to her full advantage: she insults Phebe, somewhat cruelly. â€Å"What thought you have no beauty- As by my faith, I see no more in you Than without candle may go dark to bed† However, this has an adverse effect, since Phebe falls head over heels in love with Ganymede, who in fact is Rosalind. This is another way Shakespeare has brought comedy to the play using the dramatic device of disguise, for Rosalind is, like she says, â€Å"unable to return the love.† From this we also see that Shakespeare did not think about relationships of the same sex, presumably because that would be too forward of his time. Also, it was illegal to demonstrate homosexual relationships; Oscar Wilde was put in jail, 200 years later for his gay relationships. Using the dramatic device of disguise, Shakespeare also uses Rosalind to expose the shallowness and absurdity of conventional modes of wooing, in Act 4 Scene 1. This is when Ganymede mocks Orlando, which was very unconventional of that time, since normal women did not act like that; they were supposed to be very gentle, docile, etc. However, in Act IV Scene 3, Shakespeare does make Rosalind seem more feminine again, since Ganymede faints, after hearing Orlando was hurt. Fainting was not seen as a manly tribute, which nearly gives away to Oliver than Ganymede is a woman. â€Å"You lack a man’s heart.† When Ganymede awakens again, Rosalind admits that she is tired of disguising herself, and hiding her feelings, â€Å"I would I were at home.† This is not the only time Rosalind makes the mistake of showing her female characteristics. In Act III Scene 2, Rosalind nearly gives away that she is female while Corin is there because Touchstone makes up an offensive poem about Rosalind and she reacts to it vehemently. Rosalind: Let no face be kept in mind, But the fair of Rosalind. Touchstone: †¦it is the right butter-woman’s rank to market. Rosalind: Out, fool! We must not forget that other characters than Rosalind use disguise; Touchstone also disguises himself. He does not disguise himself physically, but he disguises his true intentions of marriage with Audrey: sex. Touchstone is a very humorous character in the play, often joking or making puns. He is probably used by Shakespeare to contrast the different types of love and marriage: Touchstone is marrying Audrey for sex, and Audrey is marrying him so she can become a respected woman. This contrasts against Orlando and Rosalind’s relationship, that was love at first sight, the like as Oliver and Celia. In this scene, we also see that Celia uses disguise. Originally her motive to disguise herself was for protection. However, she uses her disguise as a helpless weak maiden to get food and shelter, in Act II Scene 4. Also, in Act IV Scene 3, she does not tell Oliver who she really is. If she had told him she was the Duke’s daughter, he might not have fallen in love with her, or pushed his feelings aside to bring her back to the court. However, she keeps her disguise until the very end of the play, when all the couples get married. Finally, in the end of the play, Rosalind brings all the couples together to be married, in a triumphant denouement. In the epilogue, she also adds humour through disguise, although she is no longer acting the part of Ganymede. The epilogue is humorous, since she says â€Å"If I were a woman,† which reminds the audience that she is in fact a cross-dressing man, or would have been when it was first performed. Nowadays that is not true, and it is one of the only lines written by Shakespeare that does not transcend time. This is because Rosalind is now played by an actress, as acting is a very reputable profession. However, in 1599, the year the play was written, women were not allowed to become actresses. This inspires thoughts about the way women were and are treated, and how society has changed through time. In Shakespeare’s time, women were supposed to be gentle, subservient, passive, etc. They were expected to marry, bear children, and raise them. They were constrained by society’s rigid rules, especially women at court, like Celia and Rosalind, and had little freedom. Men had much more freedom, and could show their wit, intelligence and humour when they liked. However, it was seen as unfit for females to do the same. Even today, in modern countries in the western world, the two sexes are treated differently, but less so than in other countries such as Islamic ones. Women have more rights nowadays, and laws to protect those rights than in the 1600’s. I think that Shakespeare has used the device of disguise very successfully, since he has not only added humour to the written play, but also through cross-dressing added humour. I think that I would have thought this play funny if I had the same sense of humour as people did then, and understood more of the puns and subtle jokes, that are typical of the Elizabethan times but are not found comical now.

Would it matter if religion disappeared by the end of the 21st century Essays

Would it matter if religion disappeared by the end of the 21st century Essays Would it matter if religion disappeared by the end of the 21st century Essay Would it matter if religion disappeared by the end of the 21st century Essay Religion has many effects on life and politics for example, people that follow one religion cant for example necessary eat the same food as somebody who doesnt follow any religion. This essay, will touch upon problems and benefits of following a religion, coming to a conclusion weather I think it would matter if religion disappeared by the end of the 21st century.Currently, there are many, many religions around the world, some such as Christianity (or similar religions) have literally billions of followers. Religion can, on one hand give followers strength and security within themselves; followers are involved in usually a large community of like-minded individuals.However, religion can also have a down side; followers can often be limited in their lives. For example, drinking, many religions ban drinking along with before marriage sex and also some food. Some times this is not a problem, because followers want to be as loyal to their religion as possible. But for others who do not get the choice of religion they follow may perhaps not agree with the limits.Religion can offer criminals an alternative, in Christianity; no matter what you have done, you can be forgiven. Criminals might perhaps return to crime if religion became a figment of our imagination in the following hundred years or so. Many prisons have an access a church or a prayer room of some kind, for this reason is why criminals often turn to a faith for forgiveness.However some activist religions believe that killings; such as a suicide bombing is a good thing. People are convinced by teachers or preachers that they will live forever in paradise if they complete such a killing. Said people are known as martyrs to the people of that particular religion.Arguments of faith can often spark, because of conflict of belief. Many people get persecuted of their religion every year. People are often too scared to stay in their own homes or even countries and flee to become citizens of another country, these people are known as asylum seekers.Personally, I feel that religion should be in the choice of the follower if they wish to further their beliefs. I think that so much controversy would arise if religion was totally gone, I dont see any point in trying to wipe it out. I feel that if people want to pursue a religion they should be able to without feeling worried of persecution, and even death because of their beliefs. I myself dont follow any religion, because I have no idea if there is on or several greater power(s). Perhaps the real question should be, is religion likely to disappear by the end of the 21st century, that way; a discussion of religious importance; and the stoppage of religious persecution could be ceased. At the end of the day, nobody could tell the future, who knows; tomorrow we could all be forced to join the Jedi religion!

An Ideal Ethical Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An Ideal Ethical Organization - Essay Example Ethical behavior in organizations is in focus today. It is important to recognize that it is not just a few rotten apples that spoil the broth, but the personal values of employers, employees and the environment that play a vital role in encouraging ethical conduct. Broadly, three pieces of a jumbled puzzle are to be put in place to promote ethical behavior (Mayer, 2011), viz. Ethical leadership, ethical practices and ethical environment. It is also pertinent to mention that the management and employees of an organization can be groomed and trained to develop high ethical standards. Ethical behavior follows a top down approach. If the leadership and the top management follow sound practices, it percolates to the lower formations encouraging most employees to follow suit (Butts, 2007). Keeping the best interests of the organization, employees and customer in mind is of primary importance when the management takes any decision. Key behavioral factors to build a high ethical standard include conduct of personal life in an ethical manner, make fair decisions and being trustworthy. In addition, prompt disciplining of employees violating the ethical codes, discussing business ethics and values with employees and above all the ability to make decisions based on the question, What is the right thing to do? go a long way in building a highly ethical organization. Practices are activities repeated and recognized in an organization. At least six critical practices have been identified through research for building a highly ethical organization which include recruitment, training, Policies, Rewards, Accountability and Decision-making (Collins, 2009). The process of recruitment and selection must be ethical. Recruit employees with strong ethical values. Ethics training is essential for providing proper orientation to all employees. Attendance of these training classes must be mandatory for all employees. The importance of ethics while performing their job is to be given

The Analgesic Effects of Acupuncture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Analgesic Effects of Acupuncture - Assignment Example The paragraph shows an aspect of the medical field that has been rarely studied and is never properly understood. However, as mentioned in the paragraph, Acupuncture has started the to evolve from its roots in Asia to other developed parts of the world. The paragraph is well- written and is focused on the main topic at hand. It does not dwell on other irrelevant facts and figures. The feature of the paragraph that is to be greatly appreciated is the citation of two articles which shows the effects of acupuncture on both animal and humans alike. The studies cited in the paragraph have been explained in the detailed description. The main problem that the researcher noticed in the paragraph is the lack of justification to the main topic. The two articles that are mentioned in the paragraph although selected very well are little less to justify the analgesic effects. The author can add a few more of the relevant articles to prove his point. Furthermore, the author can select such article s which are backed by numbers and figures but the two articles that are already mentioned do not mention the amount or extent of decrease in analgesic pain. Another problem that the researcher found is that the paragraph has a number of problems which include grammatical errors and punctuation errors. These errors should be reviewed before submission. The author can also change some words and find more suitable alternatives for certain words. For e.g. in L3 of the paragraph the word â€Å"part† can be replaced with â€Å"component† or any other suitable word. The third problem that the researcher thinks may cause difficulties among the audience is the use of certain terminologies that are quite difficult to decipher for the general public. The author should add explanations for certain terminologies like Yanglinquan, Yinlinquan, Zhusanli, Dubi, Kunlun, Xuanzhong, Sanyinjiao and Taixi. The fourth problem is that the two articles that are mentioned in the paragraph are n ot well written or descriptive, the methodology should be more well-defined and the results should be based on a certain number and figure rather than the subject’s word of mouth. The mechanism of pain reduction should be elaborately explained as well.

Questionnaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Questionnaire - Essay Example The support from Medea’s boyfriend Jason will benefit Medea a lot as is evident from the table. The average monthly cash inflow has increased by a significant amount and now she has sufficient amount of ready cash. This allows Medea to finance her bicycle as the bicycle will cost her  £400 to 600 while the cash available with her now is far exceeding the expected cost of that bicycle. This alternative has a very positive impact on the financial position of Medea. Her yearly income increases by almost three times while the monthly cash flow improves a little less than 5 times. Through this support from her boyfriend, she is now able to finance her bicycle that was desperately needed by her in order to save her commuting costs. Comparing the above table for incomes with and without Jason (and Argo), we can see that the gross income increases by almost double of Medea’s individual income. Despite this significant increase in the income, all the expenses could increase only by smaller amounts except food expenses which show an increase of double the amount that was when Medea was alone. This relatively less increase in total expenses compared to the increase in the total gross income results in a considerable increase in the net income for the year. Similarly, the cash flows conditions also get better considerably and now Medea has monthly cash almost 5 times of what she had before support from her boyfriend Jason. Without Jason’s support it was not possible for her to finance her bicycle and save commuting cost but now she has 1640 Euros on average after paying for all her expenses which enables her to buy the desired bicycle even if costs her the highest expected price of 600 Euros. Now, when we assume that Polly chooses for option A and also that the interest rate remains constant throughout the period of mortgage; using the saving and borrowing calculator, we arrive at the following results: b) It is quite obvious that if the mortgage period and