Walking Alone – Original Writing

Dew clings to the harsh pale grass. The cool droplets of water stick to my bare legs as I brush past, silently, stealthily. Where am I going? It'll come back to me in a moment. I'll just follow my instinct. Right, if I'm automatically taking this direction to Wherever, then this is the right way. Wearing my jacket was a good idea. I had to rummage to find it. I can't remember the last time I wore it. I can't even remember when I was last out of town for a weekend. That would be nice; a weekend out with a few friends- not that I'd ask. They'd probably be busy anyway. Ok, I cannot get distracted. I shall walk on. Left, right, left, right. I'm starting to enjoy this monotony. Yes, this is rather pleasant, rather agreeable. I look around for some sort of landmark, or something to help me recognise where I am. I won't admit to being lost because that would call into the question of my destination, which, to be honest, is still unbeknownst to me. I'll just meander along this way. God, I'm knackered, I could use a chocolate bar. Yes, a chocolate bar is what I need, along with a nice drink. But not until I get there, I must keep on going. Oh, a house. It's a tall looming house, with ivy crawling over it, its brambles resembling long green tendrils, or fingers, curling crispy and brown at the tips. What's that scuttling across the front porch? A grubby, greasy blur darts past. I lean forward as if to grab it, but it's gone before I'm even close. I force myself upwards, and see a door in front of me. The faded red paint is flaking. I reach my hand towards it and absentmindedly begin to peel it back. I wonder why I've never seen this house before. I wonder why I haven't seen any of this area before whatsoever. A chill overcomes me, engulfing me in a stuttering shudder. It's cold, and late. It must be gone five in the morning by now. Oh well. A bleak throng of clouds tumble over the night's sky, devouring any lingering traces of warmth. I pull my jacket tighter around me and shiver again, glancing around, praying, pleading, for some form of refuge. The house is not an option, it's someone's home. I can't break in. Not now, anyway. I trudge towards a large wooden gate. I thwack it open, shocking myself as I do so. An ear-piercing screech of pain comes from the gate, like a toddler protesting against eating the remnants of her cereal. I guess my thwacking skills aren't quite up to par, the gate's stuck. What now? Onwards again? Alright, I'll stomp my feel around a bit to restore some warmth to my pathetic shell of a body. That's better, slightly. Argh, my eyes! Some plonker has his headlights on full and he's facing me head-on. Perhaps I should step out the way. Oh, he's slowing down. My rescuer, maybe? That would be nice†¦ What the hell do you think you were doing, standing in the middle of the road at this ungodly hour? † â€Å"I see spots†¦. † I whimper. The man's face is weathered and tired. It reminds me of Father Christmas, now he's a lovely bloke. A dreamy smile is wafting onto my face. The man looks at me as if I'm deranged and creepy, and then accelerates off into the night. I'm shivering. I am literally shivering. I desperately need shelter before I get pneumonia. That house. That old, ruinous house. I turn around, stumbling over a rock. There it is, standing tall and imposing, yet strangely familiar. Whoever owns it has made a hapless attempt at remodelling it, adding a modern extension and painting the wall. Well, some of it at least. The path has deep, cavernous cracks and so I have to be careful not to cut my bare feet on the fragments. A desolate flowerbox hangs by a window, the flowers long dead. I examine it closer, noting the what-used-to-be-dark-green-but-is-now-discoloured-pale-turquoise crusty paint on the criss-crossed wood. Again, I feel a faint wave of familiarity- like an echo from the past. With a shudder I glance around fleetingly for a side entrance. A swing. An old, plastic-y swing, with faded yellow rope, neglected and left to rot in the grass for the next millennia. A child's laughter, my laughter. A hot summer morning: we were having a barbeque. I swung on this swing. I lived in this house. The memories come flooding, hitting me with a wave of nausea. I look up at the house, my house, my poor, poor house. Mutilated, derelict, left piteously to ruin. It's ugly, horrific. My once beautiful house is looking like a dump. This grass was once green, and this porch was once magnificently up kept. Memories. I now know why I didn't recognise it at first. All those memories, those awful memories, blocked out for all these years. I clutch my head and keel over, onto the callous ground. There is an immense pressure on my head. Bottled up for all these years, it's finally unleashed on me again. I convulse and vomit, thus further disfiguring the house. Another sharp burst of pain in my side. I'm in agony, reliving the past. I'm dying. I'm dying at the place of my birth; whoever came up with the Circle of Life must be smug. I convulse one more time and pass out, my head in a fug of trapped memories, waiting to be recollected.

A Dirty Job Chapter 3

3 BENEATH THE NUMBER FORTY-ONE BUS It was two weeks before Charlie left the apartment and walked down to the auto-teller on Columbus Avenue where he first killed a guy. His weapon of choice was the number forty-one bus, on its way from the Trans Bay station, by the Bay Bridge, to the Presidio, by the Golden Gate Bridge. If you're going to get hit by a bus in San Francisco, you want to go with the forty-one, because you can pretty much figure on there being a nice bridge view. Charlie hadn't really counted on killing a guy that morning. He had hoped to get some twenties for the register at the thrift store, check his balance, and maybe pick up some yellow mustard at the deli. (Charlie was not a brown mustard kind of guy. Brown mustard was the condiment equivalent of skydiving – it was okay for race-car drivers and serial killers, but for Charlie, a fine line of French's yellow was all the spice that life required.) After the funeral, friends and relatives had left a mountain of cold cuts in Charlie's fridge, which was all he'd eaten for the past two weeks, but now he was down to ham, dark rye, and premixed Enfamil formula, none of which was tolerable without yellow mustard. He'd secured the yellow squeeze bottle and felt safer now with it in his jacket pocket, but when the bus hit the guy, mustard completely slipped Charlie's mind. It was a warm day in October, the light had gone autumn soft over the city, the summer fog had ceased its relentless crawl out of the Bay each morning, and there was just enough breeze that the few sailboats that dotted the Bay looked like they might have been posing for an Impressionist painter. In the split second that Charlie's victim realized that he was being run over, he might not have been happy about the event, but he couldn't have picked a nicer day for it. The guy's name was William Creek. He was thirty-two and worked as a market analyst in the financial district, where he had been headed that morning when he decided to stop at the auto-teller. He was wearing a light wool suit and running shoes, his work shoes were tucked into a leather satchel under his arm. The handle of a compact umbrella protruded from the side pocket of the satchel, and it was this that caught Charlie's attention, for while the handle of the umbrella appeared to be made of faux walnut burl, it was glowing a dull red as if it had been heated in a forge. Charlie stood in the ATM line trying not to notice, trying to appear uninterested, but he couldn't help but stare. It was glowing, for fuck's sake, didn't anyone see it? William Creek glanced over his shoulder as he slid his card into the machine, saw Charlie looking at him, then tried to will his suit coat to expand into great manta-ray wings to block Charlie's view as he keyed in his PIN number. Creek snatched his card and the expectorated cash from the machine, turned, and headed away quickly toward the corner. Charlie couldn't stand it any longer. The umbrella handle had begun to pulsate red, like a beating heart. As Creek reached the curb, Charlie said, â€Å"Excuse me. Excuse me, sir!† When Creek turned, Charlie said, â€Å"Your umbrella – â€Å" At that point, the number forty-one bus was coming through the intersection at Columbus and Vallejo at about thirty-five miles per hour, angling toward the curb for its next stop. Creek looked down at the satchel under his arm where Charlie was pointing, and the heel of his running shoe caught the slight rise of the curb. He started to lose his balance, the sort of thing we all might do on any given day while walking through the city, trip on a crack in the sidewalk and take a couple of quick steps to regain equilibrium, but William Creek took only one step. Back. Off the curb. You can't really sugarcoat it at this point, can you? The number forty-one bus creamed him. He flew a good fifty feet through the air before he hit the back window of a SAAB like a great gabardine sack of meat, then bounced back to the pavement and commenced to ooze fluids. His belongings – the satchel, the umbrella, a gold tie bar, a Tag Heuer watch – skittered on down the street, ricocheting off tires, shoes, manhole covers, some coming to rest nearly a block away. Charlie stood at the curb trying to breathe. He could hear a tooting sound, like someone was blowing a toy train whistle – it was all he could hear, then someone ran into him and he realized it was the sound of his own rhythmic whimpering. The guy – the guy with the umbrella – had just been wiped out of the world. People rushed, crowded around, a dozen were barking into cell phones, the bus driver nearly flattened Charlie as he rushed down the sidewalk toward the carnage. Charlie staggered after him. â€Å"I was just going to ask him – â€Å" No one looked at Charlie. It had taken all of his will, as well as a pep talk from his sister, to leave the apartment, and now this? â€Å"I was just going to tell him that his umbrella was on fire,† Charlie said, as if he was explaining to his accusers. But no one accused him, really. They ran by him, some headed toward the body, some away from it – they batted him around and looked back, baffled, like they'd collided with a rough air current or a ghost instead of a man. â€Å"The umbrella,† Charlie said, looking for the evidence. Then he spotted it, almost down at the next corner, lying in the gutter, still glowing red, pulsating like failing neon. â€Å"There! See!† But people were gathered around the dead man in a wide semicircle, their hands to their mouths, and no one was paying any attention to the frightened thin man spouting nonsense behind them. He threaded his way through the crowd toward the umbrella, determined now to confirm his conviction, too far in shock to be afraid. When he was only ten feet away from it he looked up the street to make sure another bus wasn't coming before he ventured off the curb. He looked back just as a delicate, tar-black hand snaked out of the storm drain and snatched the compact umbrella off the street. Charlie backed away, looking around to see if anyone had seen what he had seen, but no one had. No one even made eye contact. A policeman trotted by and Charlie grabbed his sleeve as he passed, but when the cop spun around and his eyes went wide with confusion, then what appeared to be real terror, Charlie let him go. â€Å"Sorry,† he said. â€Å"Sorry. I can see you've got work to do – sorry.† The cop shuddered and pushed through the crowd of onlookers toward the battered body of William Creek. Charlie started running, across Columbus and up Vallejo, until his breath and heartbeat in his ears drowned all the sounds of the street. When he was a block away from his shop a great shadow moved over him, like a low-flying aircraft or a huge bird, and with it Charlie felt a chill vibrate up his back. He lowered his head, pumped his arms, and rounded the corner of Mason just as the cable car was passing, full of smiling tourists who looked right through him. He glanced up, just for a second, and he thought he saw something above, disappearing over the roof of the six-story Victorian across the street, then he bolted through the front door of his shop. â€Å"Hey, boss,† Lily said. She was sixteen, pale, and a little bottom heavy – her grown-woman form still in flux between baby fat and baby bearing. Today her hair happened to be lavender: fifties-housewife helmet hair in Easter-basket cellophane pastel. Charlie was bent over, leaning against a case full of curios by the door, sucking in deep raspy gulps of secondhand store mustiness. â€Å"I – think – I – just – killed – a – guy,† he gasped. â€Å"Excellent,† Lily said, ignoring equally his message and his demeanor. â€Å"We're going to need change for the register.† â€Å"With a bus,† Charlie said. â€Å"Ray called in,† she said. Ray Macy was Charlie's other employee, a thirty-nine-year-old bachelor with an unhealthy lack of boundaries between the Internet and reality. â€Å"He's flying to Manila to meet the love of his life. A Ms. LoveYouLongTime. Ray's convinced that they are soul mates.† â€Å"There was something in the sewer,† Charlie said. Lily examined a chip in her black nail polish. â€Å"So I cut school to cover. I've been doing that since you've been, uh, gone. I'm going to need a note.† Charlie stood up and made his way to the counter. â€Å"Lily, did you hear what I said?† He grabbed her by the shoulders, but she spun out of his grasp. â€Å"Ouch! Fuck. Back off, Asher, you sado freak, that's a new tattoo.† She punched him in the arm, hard, and backed away, rubbing her own shoulder. â€Å"I heard, you. Cease your trippin', s'il vous plaà ®t.† Lately, since discovering Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal in a stack of used books in the back room, Lily had been peppering her speech with French phrases. â€Å"French better expresses the profound noirness of my existence,† she had said. Charlie put both hands on the counter to keep them from shaking, then spoke slowly and deliberately, like he was speaking to someone for whom English was a second language: â€Å"Lily, I'm having kind of a bad month, and I appreciate that you are throwing away your education so you can come here and alienate customers for me, but if you don't sit down and show me a little fucking human decency, then I'm going to have to let you go.† Lily sat down on the chrome-and-vinyl diner stool behind the register and pulled her long lavender bangs out of her eyes. â€Å"So you want me to pay close attention to your confession to murder? Take notes, maybe get an old cassette recorder off the shelf and get everything down on tape? You're saying that by trying to ignore your obvious distress, which I would have to later recall to the police, so I can be personally responsible for sending you to the gas chamber, that I'm being inconsiderate?† Charlie shuddered. â€Å"Jeez, Lily.† He was continually surprised at the speed and accuracy of her creepiness. She was like some creepiness child prodigy. But on the bright side, her extreme darkness made him realize that he probably wasn't going to go to the gas chamber. â€Å"It wasn't that kind of killing. There was something following me, and – â€Å" â€Å"Silence!† Lily put her hand up, â€Å"I'd rather not show my employee spirit by committing every detail of your heinous crime to my photographic memory to be recalled in court later. I'll just say that I saw you but you seemed normal for someone without a clue.† â€Å"You don't have a photographic memory.† â€Å"I do, too, and it's a curse. I can never forget the futility of – â€Å" â€Å"You forgot to take out the trash at least eight times last month.† â€Å"I didn't forget.† Charlie took a deep breath, the familiarity of arguing with Lily was actually calming him down. â€Å"Okay then, without looking, what color shirt are you wearing?† He raised an eyebrow like he had her there. Lily smiled and for a second he could see that she was just a kid, kind of cute and goofy under the fierce makeup and attitude. â€Å"Black.† â€Å"Lucky guess.† â€Å"You know I only own black.† She grinned. â€Å"Glad you didn't ask hair color, I just changed this morning.† â€Å"That's not good for you, you know. That dye has toxins.† Lily lifted the lavender wig to reveal her close-cut maroon locks underneath, then dropped it again. â€Å"I'm all natural.† She stood and patted the bar stool. â€Å"Sit, Asher. Confess. Bore me.† Lily leaned back against the counter, and tilted her head to look attentive, but with her dark eye makeup and lavender hair it came off more like a marionette with a broken string. Charlie came around the counter and sat on the stool. â€Å"I was just in line behind this William Creek guy, and I saw his umbrella glowing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And Charlie went through the whole story to her, the umbrella, the bus, the hand from the storm sewer, the bolt for home with the giant dark shadow above the rooftops, and when he was finished, Lily asked, â€Å"So how do you know his name?† â€Å"Huh?† Charlie said. Of all of the horrible, fantastic things she might have asked about, why that? â€Å"How do you know the guy's name?† Lily repeated. â€Å"You barely spoke to the guy before he bit it. You see it on his receipt or something?† â€Å"No, I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't have any idea how he knew the man's name, but suddenly there was a picture in his head of it written out in big, block letters. He leapt off the stool. â€Å"I gotta go, Lily.† He ran through the door into the stockroom and up the steps. â€Å"I still need a note for school,† Lily shouted from below, but Charlie was dashing through the kitchen, past a large Russian woman who was bouncing his baby daughter in her arms, and into the bedroom, where he snatched up the notepad he kept on his nightstand by the phone. There, in his own blocky handwriting, was written the name William Creek and, under it, the number 12. He sat down hard on the bed, holding the notepad like it was a vial of explosives. Behind him came the heavy steps of Mrs. Korjev as she followed him into the bedroom. â€Å"Mr. Asher, what is wrong? You run by like burning bear.† And Charlie, because he was a Beta Male, and there had evolved over millions of years a standard Beta response to things inexplicable, said, â€Å"Someone is fucking with me.† Lily was touching up her nail polish with a black Magic Marker when Stephan, the mailman, came through the shop door. â€Å"‘Sup, Darque?† Stephan said, sorting a stack of mail out of his bag. He was forty, short, muscular, and black. He wore wraparound sunglasses, which were almost always pushed back on his head over hair braided in tight cornrows. Lily had mixed feelings about him. She liked him because he called her Darque, short for Darquewillow Elventhing, the name under which she received mail at the shop, but because he was cheerful and seemed to like people, she deeply mistrusted him. â€Å"Need you to sign,† Stephan said, offering her an electronic pad, on which she scribbled Charles Baudelaire with great flourish and without even looking. Stephan plopped the mail on the counter. â€Å"Working alone again? So where is everyone?† â€Å"Ray's in the Philippines, Charlie's traumatized.† She sighed. â€Å"Weight of the world falls on me – â€Å" â€Å"Poor Charlie,† Stephan said. â€Å"They say that's the worst thing you can go through, losing a spouse.† â€Å"Yeah, there's that, too. Today he's traumatized because he saw a guy get hit by a bus up on Columbus.† â€Å"Heard about that. He gonna be okay?† â€Å"Well, fuck no, Stephan, he got hit by a bus.† Lily looked up from her nails for the first time. â€Å"I meant Charlie.† Stephan winked, despite her harsh tone. â€Å"Oh, he's Charlie.† â€Å"How's the baby?† â€Å"Evidently she leaks noxious substances.† Lily waved the Magic Marker under her nose as if it might mask the smell of ripened baby. â€Å"All good, then,† Stephan smiled. â€Å"That's it for today. You got anything for me?† â€Å"I took in some red vinyl platforms yesterday. Men's size ten.† Stephan collected vintage seventies pimp wear. Lily was to be on the lookout for anything that came through the shop. â€Å"How tall?† â€Å"Four inches.† â€Å"Low altitude,† Stephan said, as if that explained everything. â€Å"Take care, Darque.† Lily waved her Magic Marker at him as he left, and started sorting through the mail. There were mostly bills, a couple of flyers, but one thick black envelope that felt like a book or catalog. It was addressed to Charlie Asher â€Å"in care of† Asher's Secondhand and had a postmark from Night's Plutonian Shore, which evidently was in whatever state started with a U. (Lily found geography not only mind-numbingly boring, but also, in the age of the Internet, irrelevant.) Was it not addressed to the care of Asher's Secondhand? Lily reasoned. And was she, Lily Darquewillow Elventhing, not manning the counter, the sole employee – nay – the de facto manager, of said secondhand store? And wasn't it her right – nay – her responsibility to open this envelope and spare Charlie the irritation of the task? Onward, Elventhing! Your destiny is set, and if it be not destiny, then surely there is plausible deniability, which in the parlance of politics is the same thing. She drew a jewel-encrusted dagger from under the counter (the stones valued at over seventy-three cents) and slit the envelope, pulled out the book, and fell in love. The cover was shiny, like a children's picture book, with a colorful illustration of a grinning skeleton with tiny people impaled on his fingertips, and all of them appeared to be having the time of their lives, as if they were enjoying a carnival ride that just happened to involve having a gaping hole being punched through the chest. It was festive – lots of flowers and candy in primary colors, done in the style of Mexican folk art. The Great Big Book of Death, was the title, spelled out across the top of the cover in cheerful, human femur font letters. Lily opened the book to the first page, where a note was paper-clipped. This should explain everything. I'm sorry. – MF Lily removed the note and opened the book to the first chapter: â€Å"So Now You're Death: Here's What You'll Need.† And it was all she needed. This was, very possibly, the coolest book she had ever seen. And certainly not anything Charlie would be able to appreciate, especially in his current state of heightened neurosis. She slipped the book into her backpack, then tore the note and the envelope into tiny pieces and buried them at the bottom of the wastebasket.

Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father: A Tale of Redemption

Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a well written essay about a singular search for identity across cities and continents, region and race. The autobiography focuses on Obama’s need for redemption driven by an uncompromising desire to know his biological father. Barack, the father, was a Kenyan native whose absence informed Obama’s dreams and whose marriage to his white mother, Ann, determined his daily reality.It is a compelling story about the meaning of family, nuclear and extended, and a young man’s pursuit of an authentic self in the complex nexus of race, class, and gender as historically represented in America. The book, written in lively prose, takes the reader on a journey from Obama’s origins in Hawaii, to Indonesia, Occidental College in Los, Angeles, Columbia University in New York, and to Chicago where he begins his public service career while learning a few painful lessons about politics. In Chicag o, Obama evolves into a mature, self-conscious politician.These years, it seems, prepare Obama to accept his bi-racial self and to receive his inheritance in Africa where his father and grandfather have been buried. In Kenya, Obama discovers his unfamiliar family and the spirits of his ancestors bundled in a series of letters and memories as shared by his African Granny. In the end, Obama finds a way to â€Å"affirm [his] common destiny without pretending to speak to, or for all our various struggles† (Obama, 2004, xvi). Both text and subtext are about â€Å"a boys search for his father, and through that search a workable meaning for his life as a Black American† (Obama, 2004, xvi).Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father: A Tale of Redemption In recalling the deadly attack on September 11, 2001, Barack Obama confesses that for him â€Å"history returned that day with a vengeance† (Obama, 2001, x). Referencing William Falkner, Obama speaks of the past as neve r â€Å"dead or buried—it isn’t even past† because the collective past touches the individual in the present (Obama, 2001, x). His life, as presented in Dreams From My Father, is a reflexive and self-conscious memoir which facilitates Obama’s locating of a past that he did not know, one that he could not understand, and a history wanting in authenticity.From his earliest years, Obama’s thoughts and dreams had been interpreted through the prism of an absentee father whom he would never know. The book is organized into three sections consisting of nineteen chapters. Written in lively and description detail, it is a circuitous narrative with a clear beginning and end. In Part One, â€Å"Origins,† Obama provides a window into his formative years in Indonesia with Lolo, his mother’s second husband, with whom he learned how to fight, to â€Å"stay low [and] don’t give them a target† (p. 36).But it was at the Panahou Academy in Hawaii where issues of belonging or not, found its way into the innocence of his childhood. Obama confesses that during this time, his â€Å"sense that [he] did not belong continued to grow† (p. 60). As a teenager, Obama would escape by experimenting with various drugs. He would also, on occasion seek the advice of his grandfather’s friend, Frank, an eighty year old poet living in Waikiki. For example, when Frank learned that Obama was planning to attend Occidental College in Los Angeles, he made clear that Obama should understand that he would be â€Å"trained† and not educated there.He urged Obama to go to Occidental but to â€Å"keep [his] eyes open [and] stay awake† concerned that the experience would further separate him from his past (p. 97). Classmates at Occidental often took him to task for what appeared to have been self-indulgent and narcissistic tendencies. For example, Regina, another student involved in a campus protest, made it clear that Obama’s speech â€Å"was not about him† (p. 109). Her diatribe is worth noting: Well, let me tell you something, Mr. Obama. It’s not just about you. Its never just about you. It’s about people who need your help. Children who are depending on you.They’re not interested in your irony or your sophistication or your ego getting bruised. And neither am I. (p. 109) The confused Obama later decided to participate in an exchange program that allowed him to take classes at Columbia University in New York. Upon arriving in Manhattan, he experienced the fear and humiliation of homelessness until â€Å"redeemed† by Sadik, a friend with whom he later shared an apartment. It was while at Columbia, however, that Obama began to take his studies seriously and to explore his role as a reformer and a person who could create change. For these reasons, it appears, he decided to â€Å"[stop] getting high† (p. 120).In Part Two, â€Å"Chicago,† we fi nd Obama on the ground rallying for the poor, homeless, and unemployed. For example, critical to Obama’s success and instrumental to his moving to Chicago had been Marty Kaufman, a man of Jewish descent who had established the Calumet Community Religious Conference. This organization, encompassing twenty suburban churches and later joined by the Developing Communities Project affiliated with the city, brought blacks and whites together to discuss the â€Å"shame of unemployment, their fear of losing a house or of being cheated out of a pension – the common sense of having been betrayed† (p. 150).These organizations were a real time response to the alarming rate of unemployment due to layoffs and company closings on the Southside of Chicago. At the same time, Smitty’s Barbershop, a spot near Hyde Park where the men talked of â€Å"sports and women and yesterday’s headlines, conversation at once intimate and anonymous, among men who agreed to leave their troubles outside,† provided a space for Obama to test his rhetoric and his ability to assimilate without detection of his white heritage (p. 146).Obama’s encounters with Mary, a white single mother whose two children had been fathered by an absentee black man; his collaboration with organizers such as Angela, Shirley, Mona, and Will; as well as his ascendancy to the Presidency of the Harvard Law Review were an attempt to run from the past while constructing a future (pgs. 167-175). In spite of his successes, Obama remained distracted by an unexplained emptiness. In Part Three, â€Å"Kenya,† we find Obama acknowledging and acting on his need to connect with his past by traveling first to Europe and then Africa in search of his heritage.After Granny’s detailed story about the struggles of both his grandfather and father, Barack discovers a series of letters that answer many of his questions. At this point, the circle closes, the black hole is filled, a nd Obama realizes that he has been haunted by his father’s silence and shaped by his absence. Somewhere near their Kenyan graves, Obama purged himself of the past and departed his ancestral home a different person, a man who could face the truth of his past and future without fear of rejection. A memoir by definition is cathartic.Obama’s Dreams From My Father is worthy of analysis because rarely do we see so much of the realization of the American dream encompassed in the life of one person. The past returned with a vengeance while in Kenya where Obama and all of his fathers received the â€Å"promise of redemption† (p. 135). Relying on oral histories for the most part, Barack Obama’s story of race and inheritance may be one of the most honest and accurate autobiographical works in recent memory. References Obama, Barack. (2004). Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York: Crown Publishers.

Review Essay on Major Publication of a Movie Found Engaging or

Essay on Major Publication of a Found Engaging or Meaningful - Movie Review Example Michael is shown as big black kid from Memphis Tennessee. He is leading a troubled and a miserable life. His dad’s dead and his mom didn’t bother about him. He had no clue where his future was taking. Things turn around for him when he bumps into Leigh Ann. She takes him and for the first time Michael finds himself amidst normal things – for instance a house, having food to eat, a bed to sleep and some ray of home for his future. The stirking contrast shown between the lives led by Leigh’s family and Michael stirred very strong emotions in me. The ground reality of the divisions in our society between the upper echelons and the lower echelons could not help but make me feel bad for the state of poor Michael. He did nothing to deserve the kind of childhood and life he was leading. Unfortunately, he is just a depiction and fictitious character but there are many such cases out there that are malnutritioned, with no home to stay and with no hope for future. T he plight of those kids stood before me as Michael maneuvered his way into the track of the movie. It was heart-breaking to know the reality but even worse was inkling in the back of my mind that Michael is just a character and there are many others out there who literally go through this every day. You can’t help but wonder why some people are blessed with everything in the world (Ann’s family) while some don’t even have a roof above them. The disparity in the society raised a lot of questions in my mind. (The Blind-Side Rotten Tomatoes) While I loved the theme of the movie, it had some short –comings too. They did not characterize Leigh Ann deeply. It was never made clear what her motivations were. What was she feeling guilty about? For being so rich or for Michael being so unlucky? Was it guilt over her being white and Michael being black? He goes on to become a player in the NFL. What financial gain did she gain in bringing him down? What was her yout h like? Clearly, there are so many rich people out there but not everyone bothers to offer shelter to passersby in their house. What drove Leigh Ann to such an extent? There are such potholes in the track that need to make sense in the movie. Part of the reason why it garnered flak from most of the critics is because of such places where the movie failed to make sense. I also felt that the casting of the movie was inappropriate for Michael. Quinton Aaron was not the best choice. He didn’t generate a lot of emotions. Most of the time he stood there with a half smile on his face. It was very difficult to decipher his emotions through the course of the movie. Kathy Bates had nothing substantial to offer. Why she was even there made no sense too. However the aforementioned are the only glitches in the track. The Blind Side takes on a very different humanitarian theme. It was heart wrenching to see Michael trying to lead a normal life; doing little things and especially when he pl ayed football. The movie does not have extra-vagant sets or an extra-ordinary script that will fetch it an Oscar but it is good movie that takes on the plight of the unfortunate. It made me feel good to know that there are people out there who feel for the state of the under pledged and tried to depict it through a movie. The film-maker deserves a standing ovation for this no matter what his motive was. While performances are concerned, Sandra Bullock was spot-on. This was one of her career best performances. She carries herself very

The United States of America should legalize marijuana Research Paper

The United States of America should legalize marijuana - Research Paper Example Legalizing marijuana will contribute enormously to the economic growth of the US (Ingraham 3). The money generated from marijuana in most of the states in the US not taxed since it is considered illegal. Legalizing marijuana will make it taxable and, therefore, its contribution to the economy will be felt. In addition, money paid to officers by marijuana peddlers as bribes will be channeled to useful government projects. In essence, legalization of marijuana will aid in fighting corruption in the police force since all dealing in marijuana will be known to the government. Actually, Illegalization of marijuana is some states has resulted in the increase of black market activities. Marijuana peddlers earn enormous profits and it is almost impossible for them to stop the trade despite limitations by law. Apparently, the black market is harmful to the economy since there exist no apparatus to measure its revenue generation and benefits to the traders (Ostrowsk 12). Some people have criticized the legalization of marijuana by the federal government arguing that it will encourage the use of other drugs. Such kind of thoughts are fallacious and misleading. Through legalization, the government will have control of the use of marijuana. In addition, the government will have control over the quality of production. In this regard, the federal government should consider legalizing marijuana in order to have control over its use and production. In essence, legalizing marijuana can be very helpful in reducing overproduction and abuse by the young people. Sometimes people tend to engage in drug abuse to be against the law. In this case, legalizing marijuana will aid in making such people stop the practice since it would not appear illegal. Eventually, the use of marijuana will be reduced by a significant percentage. The number of

Midieval Literature Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Midieval Literature - Term Paper Example The given paper will discuss the sources for The Canterbury Tales, specifically The Clerk’s tale, and investigate the differences between the versions of the story provided by different authors. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer represents a great diversity of stories narrated by many people. This diversity brings to conclusion that the sources the author took for this literary creation are very different. Such conclusion in its turn makes us think of the causes Chaucers had for writing some of the stories met in The Canterbury Tales and his reasons for using definite sources. The most worth-researching connection is the bound between  the story called The Clerks Tale  and its source. The alterations made by the author of The Clerks Tale  to the tale of Griselda show Chaucers wish to make his own deep and profound investigation of the age-old problems connected with marriage by researching the way of thinking of a husband and a wife (Smith, 2008). The first source of the tale defined by Chaucer himself is the work of Petrarch. Some place in the tale seems to be exactly copied from the source. Chaucer not only reflects the thoughts of Petrarch but even uses his words in some sentences. However, Petrarch can’t be called the main source for The Canterbury Tales. There is another creation that played more important role. It is The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, mainly his story of Griselda that represents the main source for The Clerk’s Tale. Actually, Chaucer himself did not say any word about this source and this is not surprising – not only the clerk’s tale, but many other stories included in The Canterbury Tales have their origin in Boccaccios The Decameron. The similarity is so obvious that it can be even assumed that Chaucer communicated with Boccaccio, but preferred to conceal this fact (Smith, 2008). Two abovementioned creators are considered to be the sources used by Chaucer for The Clerks Tale. However, the

CIS Homework Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CIS Homework - Case Study Example It is pertinent to mention here that the guidelines and best practices varies with respect to the medium or category of the technology; for example, the guidelines for information security of the information systems would be not similar to the best practices or guidelines of the computer network, mobile devices, online collaboration and social sharing, internet protection, electronic device security etc (IBM, n.d). One of the most common information security best practices that I have found in all the above mentioned websites is to develop strong password protection for logging in / logging out of any system. One of the main reasons for emphasizing the strong passwords is that despite the development and implementation of latest technologies to protect secured information, the information can easily have unauthorized access if the user has not developed a strong password to secure its personal information. Moreover, most of the information leakage is due to the same reason, as a common hacker can attack to the vulnerability of weak password and break into your

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 15

Assignment Example According to Linda Alchin, William Shakespeare invested in the Globe Theatre and it was in his interest to write as many plays as possible! Six men became the joint owners of the Globe Theatre, the largest stakes were put up by the Burbage brothers. The initial investment by William Shakespeare made him a wealthy man and successful man due to his share of the large profits which were made at the Globe Theatre. The traditional camp (Stratfordian’s) maintains that the famous Bard was indeed a poet, playwright and an actor. Critics known as "Oxfordians" argue that a more likely contender may have been Edward De Vere (1550-1604), Christopher Marlowe, Sir Francis Bacon, Derby or even Queen Elizabeth herself! Polonius is councillor to King Claudius and the father of Ophelia and Laertes in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. He is especially known for his maxim-filled speech (â€Å"Neither a borrower nor a lender be†). His meddling garrulousness eventually costs him his life. Polonius hides himself behind an array in Gertrudes room, in his last attempt to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet deals roughly with his mother, causing her to cry for help. Polonius requests to help and is heard by Hamlet, who stabs through the array and kills him (due to mistaking him for Claudius). Fights between Catholics and Protestants led to the Civil War in 1642 between the aristocratic, royalist â€Å"Cavaliers† and puritan, parliamentarian â€Å"Roundheads†. The conflict ended with victory for parliamentary forces. In 1649 Charles I was captured and executed after formal trial for crimes against his people. The country became republic. The religious problems took place in Ireland a conflict between Catholics and Presbyterians. Anglican Church was restored, but the conflict between Monarch and Parliament was going on. 24. Identify the underlined words/phrases in the following passage from â€Å"The Great

Industrialization in the USA during the 19th century Essay

Industrialization in the USA during the 19th century - Essay Example This trade led to a surplus of raw materials into the United States causing the need to industrialize the manufacturing industries so that they could meet the external demand for their products. In addition, industrialization took place due to migration of large populations from England to the USA, which marked an influx of labor forces to work on the different sectors in USA. This was then coupled with rural-urban migration of the American population leading to creation of urban settlements that were well planned (Hirschman & Mogford, 2009). Consequently, the skilled and semi-skilled population took to commerce and other urban economic activities, which further saw industrialization take root in the USA. Advancements in transport and technology also saw industrialization take place due to the ability to move bulky goods within a shorter period in the case of transport. In regard to technology, mechanization of certain aspects of production saw industrialization take place due to the ease of manufacturing and processing of certain goods. Altogether, technology and trade were the most significant factors responsible for the industrialization of the USA during the 19th century because trade brought demand and technology eased production. Wizard of Oz The wizard of Oz goes as far as to present numerous angles to which the story of the Wizard of Oz can be translated and even understood by looking at it through different literary forms.

Dunnings eclectic Principle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dunnings eclectic Principle - Essay Example The given three principles have been taken from various theoretical approaches; hence John Dunning labeled his approach as ‘eclectic’. It was Dunning who in the year 1980 which was given in Dickens in the year 1992 that any company would like to get itself engaged in the production arena internationally if the following three conditions are present. (Dicken p.109)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1. Every company possesses few specific advantages which if not in possession by any competing companies belonging from other nationalities where the advantage should be owner-specific in nature. (Dicken p.109)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2. These kind of advantages are mostly exploited by certain companies itself rather than leasing or selling them to different companies. Citing it in different words, every company tries to internationalize the nature of ownership-specific advantages; and(Dicken p.109)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3. it is more profitable for every company in exploiting the assets in international market other than doing it in domestic areas. It is true that factors like location-specific plays an important role with internationalization of the very nature of owner-specific while determining whether and where the overseas production takes place. (Dicken p.109)      Ã‚  The Advantage of ownership-specific is an asset which is internal to the company itself. In this case knowledge of specific type, human skill or organization and all these do require proprietary right for its use, like any right which is legally protected. (Dicken p.109) Extent and pattern of the internationalization its value-chain operations abroad: Calypso Rose when she was 29 became renowned in the business of accessories and bags. This particular business is now six years now and it is aiming at young women and teenage girl. This is a age of globalization and in this time it is necessary to make the business global. Clippy bags are the brand name and have gained recognition. They have kept this thing in account that global expansion strategy is in needful of the present hour. Presently the business surrounds the Japan and European market. (GLE Group pp. 1-3) Calypso Rose the tycoon business woman has been successfully running the business since the age of 23. The particular brand name ‘Clippy’ now has been successful in carryimg out international venture in different markets thereby gaining the company to strengthen its fundamental base in UK. They could do so by taking the help from the team of London International of UK Investment and trade. (GLE Group pp. 1-3) The brand Clippy brand has established a good stronghold in UK market before they were recognized internationally in the year 2007 by London International Trade Adviser, Gail Williams. the advice given by Gail Williams in the strategic area was useful in the early stages of the company especially in the export journey which helped the company to bring f orth the brand Clippy in the international market. During the time of recession in the year 2008, Calypso in a very intelligent manner expanded and modified her business for survival in this weird market. (GLE Group pp. 1-3) Utilization of certain schemes, by Calypso, likes the Trade Access Program (TAP) and Passport for Export so that their product can be put up on international base. In addition, the assistance from an international adviser on trade has helped Clippy a lot in formalizing the export strategy for targeting the markets of Europe. The funding which the company received from TAP helped them in exhibiting in the European market. During this period Calypso met her European distributor. Being a small company it believed in cash flow so funding became invaluable. With the success, which it got initially, helped the compan

Discuss the risk management process and its interactions with the Essay

Discuss the risk management process and its interactions with the project lifecycle - Essay Example Risk management is a process that leads to identification of the uncertainties that may arise in the future and provide remedies and precautions for handling these risks. Risks faced by an organisation may create a negative impact on its assets and the reputation it has gained. The aim of Risk management is to identify the potential risks that the company might face and develop resources for mitigating the adverse effects of such losses. An organisation may face various types of risks like financial risks, operational risks, perimeter risks and lastly strategic risks. Financial risks may result in the losses related to cost of claims and liability of judgments (Conrow 2003). Operational risks may be faced by the organisation in the form of labor strikes and strategic risks involve risks related to changes in management or loss of reputation. Risk management has a pivotal role to play in effective project management. The following paper, will throw light on crucial objectives of risk management, the process of risk management and interactions between risk management the project lifecycle. Objectives of Risk Management The process of risk management aims at identification of the potentially hazardous and harmful situations. ... The purpose of risk management is to develop strategies and plans for managing and mitigating the potential risks faced by the organisation. In this manner, risk management aims at preventing the organisations from various types of risks that it may face in the long run and provide effective tools for setting appropriate strategies. Risk Management Process Assessment of risks has a fundamental process that involves five steps in implementing an appropriate system of control so that risks can be minimised. It helps in the identification and analysis of the various risks that are harmful for the workplace and negatively impact the organisation. Therefore, risk assessment is a straightforward examination of the dangerous elements that can harm the people, as well as the reputation of the organisation in the long run. So there is a need to take proper precautions for eliminating all kind of risks in order to minimise the fuss that is created in the functioning of the organisation (Culp 2 001). The first step of risk management process involves identification of hazards and the harmful effects that these hazards possess. For this purpose, it is necessary to identify how people would be affected by the potential danger that is created by the risks. It is required that proper ramifications are undertaken for mitigating the possibilities of such risks. Various strategies and tools are identified to be crucial, for mitigating the dangerous effects of the risks. At this level, sources through which risks can be avoided are analysed, and appropriate measures are undertaken to keep the things at place. These sources of risks can be internal or external to the organisation. An example of internal and external sources of risks can be the employees and the operational

African American In The 1920s Essay Example for Free

African American In The 1920s Essay The 1920s were a time of struggle, pride, fear, and creativity for African Americans. Following WWI, blacks fought for the conditions and rights that they were given while fighting in Europe. They fought through countless riots and murders to push for equality. They migrated across the country to escape the horrid conditions of the South. They created an entirely new cultural movement that spread like wild fire. African Americans of the 1920s created a momentous movement of political and cultural dominance that would eventually lead to their freedom. The Post World War I era was a difficult, yet prideful time for African Americans. While African Americans were fighting abroad, they were treated as equals to whites in Europe. Due to American generals refusing to command blacks, African Americans fought side by side with black and white French soldiers under French command. In addition, there were a few all black regiments, the most well known being the 369th Colored Infantry (p. 8). Upon returning home in November of 1918, African Americans faced â€Å"contradictory feelings of hope and frustration† (p. 7). They expected to be praised and rewarded for their sacrifices made during the war; however, they were met with nearly the opposite. This new mood among the African Americans became Flowers 1 known as the â€Å"New Negro. † Coined by black journalists, this term described the new attitude of post-war blacks and their will to fight against the white oppression. Unfortunately, the American public treated them the same as before the war. African American soldiers were in shock from the striking contrast of black social conditions between America and Europe. While the whites were praised for their sacrifices, the blacks were not. In one case, however, on February 7, 1919, a few thousand black soldiers marched through Manhattan, and were praised by both blacks and whites alike; however, most white Americans didn’t feel the same as those in New York. With blacks having a strong hope for equality, and whites having a strong fear of this equality, America was set up for some of the best and worst events of the 1920s. The â€Å"Red Summer†, coined by James Weldon Johnson, was a summer of hate crimes, violence, and even murder. On several occasions, both blacks and whites ended up injuring and killing one another. African Americans began to assert their new hope of equality. The first instance of this new attitude occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, when sailors killed a black civilian. A large fight broke out and several people, both blacks and whites, were killed. Riots began to appear throughout America. The worst riot broke out in Chicago and lasted five days. It all began when an African American swimmer drifted into waters between segregated beaches. A white man threw a rock at him and the black man ended up drowning. White police officers did nothing to arrest the white man. As the news spread, gang related violence quickly began to spread throughout neighborhoods. As tensions grew stronger, the violent crimes Flowers 2 became worse. Eventually, a mass riot broke out. Policemen fired upon several black men, and several thousand men became involved. In the end, 23 blacks and 15 whites were killed, and many more were injured. Unfortunately, the majority of the media downplayed these riots to try and keep everyone else under control, but The Crisis, the primary newspaper for the NAACP, published nearly every event, both good and bad. Over the summer, many other instances of violence occurred, leading to the Great Migration (p. 7-15) The lives of African Americans significantly changed during the 1920s. A large contributor to these changes was the mass migration of African Americans to the North and West known as the Great Migration. African Americans despised the Jim Crow laws, and tried everything in their power to either change or escape them. Many blacks living in the South gained much economic success after migrating to the North. Not only did the blacks want to migrate to the North for economic and civil gains, but they also wanted to escape the worsening conditions in the South caused by the Boll Weevil plague that ruined the cotton industry (p. 23-24). Upon arriving in the North, blacks began to build up their community. They built their own churches, which were significantly different from white churches. Their churches became a part of their lives, and became their community. The YMCA and the YWCA also began during this time period, promoting community as well. Western black immigrants came primarily from places like Jamaica, and were fairly new to the oppression of the whites in America. Because of this, they were not as afraid to start up new things. Flowers 3 On the political side of events, the NAACP was on the rise. By 1919, the NAACP had become the leading organization for black civil rights. Led by W. E. B. Du Bois, the NAACP constantly challenged â€Å"segregation and political equality. † (p. 57) A major success of this organization was the push for the Dyer Antilynching Bill. Even though the bill was never successfully passed, it brought lynching to the attention of the public, and eventually reduced the number of lynchings significantly (p. 60-63). While African Americans fought to make conditions better for themselves, some conditions remained poor. Some blacks began purchasing homes in â€Å"white† neighborhoods, but were faced with violence, especially from the rising Ku Klux Klan; therefore, ending the housing segregation quickly gained importance (p. 66-68). The white schools were far superior, due to the much higher wages and funding provided. In Southern states, studies showed that white teachers were paid nearly four times as much as black teachers, and the black school sizes and facilities were vastly inferior (p. 68). A third problem was the constant fight against the judicial system. On several occasions, blacks were wrongly accused of crimes, even when there was little to no evidence to prove anything at all. For example, two black men in Kentucky ended up in court for raping a white woman on â€Å"the flimsiest of evidence. † Even though no one identified the men, the all white jury spent just fifteen minutes to find them guilty, and the men were sentenced to death (p. 68). Aside from the political issues, African Americans in the North began a mass movement of cultural expansion, including literature, music, and art. This Flowers 4 movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance. The precursor to this movement was the Marcus Garvey movement. Garvey pushed for blacks to â€Å"reject the white society and build a separate life. † (p. 77) He believed that blacks should never conform to white society. He also led the somewhat unsuccessful â€Å"Back to Africa† movement, which was an attempt to have all blacks leave the country and live in Liberia instead. Following the Marcus Garvey movement was the well-known Harlem Renaissance. Even though renaissance is in the name, this movement was more of a birth than a rebirth. It all began during the Great Migration. As thousands of African Americans migrated to the North, many ended up settling in Harlem. This three square mile area became the largest concentration of black people in the world. Following the war, many writers celebrated this new life in the North, and praised the better conditions of the North in their writing. Many hoped that this mass outpouring of literature would â€Å"break down the walls of prejudice. † (p. 80) The most popular of these writers was the African American poet, Langston Hughes. Today, much of his work is considered classic literature. In addition to the mass influx of African American literature, jazz music was on the rise (p. 83-86) Jazz became a symbol of African Americans and the Harlem Renaissance. This product of music pulled concepts from â€Å"African rhythms, blues chord progressions, church spirituals, European melodies, and American marching band instrumentation. † (p. 86) Probably the most well known musician from this era was the trumpeter, Louis Armstrong. Even though jazz originated in New Orleans, it quickly spread to the East coast and eventually to Harlem. The Flowers 5 literature produced in Harlem was by far more successful than jazz, but there was certainly no shortage of jazz in Harlem. Both the jazz and literary greats became idols to many African Americans. They created a wave of inspiration in the black community that quickly spread throughout certain areas of America. The African American community fought through violence, held their pride, and created an entire cultural movement. Through the idea of the â€Å"New Negro† to the eventual Harlem Renaissance, African Americans became stronger and bolder in fighting against whites. Through the NAACP, African Americans gained a stronger stance in politics than ever before. Through riots, beatings, and even deaths, African Americans fought to be treated equally to whites, and paved the way for their eventual freedom and equality.

Appropriateness Of Tesco Enterprises Information Systems Information Technology Essay

Appropriateness Of Tesco Enterprises Information Systems Information Technology Essay The world is fast becoming a global village. The systems used to collect informations yesterday are different from those used today. More advanced and competitive information system are being produce everyday. Every business no matter how small, like a small retailer store, depends on high technology to store data. To them now it is a living tool and the still keep their doors open to welcome new form of change in information systems. Information system has now become the bread of life in every organizational operation. This paper is going to expatiate more on how information system operates to enhance business in our world today. Tesco enterprise will be use as the yard stick to better understand the development of Information systems. Findings 2.1 Information Systems. Definition. According to Kenneth and Jane Laudon, Information systems can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect to retrieve process, stores, distributes information to support decision making and control on an organization. Information systems are the systems of persons, data records and activities that process the data of information in a given organization, either through manual processes or automated processes. This system is consist of people, procedures, softwares, hardwares and data that helps in effective decision making. Philip Kotler says A marketing information system consist of people, equipments and procedures to gather, sort and analyze, evaluate and distribute needed, timely and accurate information to marketing decision makers. According to Erik BOHLIN, Stranford L. LEVIN, Nakil SUNG, Chang-HO YOON (2004), the effect of information technology systems on globalization, innovation, growth and productivity are immense. Information technology system has contributed immensely to the globalization of production and capital markets by reducing cost of information and communication. They stated that technology has made it easier for multinationals and other companies to spread production facilities all over the world, to coordinate international marketing campaigns and to ease collaboration in projects taking place in different continents. There are various types of information systems such as Office Information system, database management system, Decision supporting system and transaction processing system. Information systems are normally created to perform task for which the human brain can not handle well enough some of these task are controlling many business processes simultaneously, performing complex calculations and storing large amount of information. Many businesses invest huge amounts of money in information systems for the following reasons; For rapid production of goods and services To develop excellent and effective communication skills. Improve decision making Have operational excellence For competitives advantages For survival Customer and supplier intimacy. It saves time and money and makes life easy and comfortable. Levels of management. There are three hierarchical levels of management on an organization; the senior level management, the middle level management and the operational level of management. Senior Level Management. This is the highest level of management. They are concern with making good and effective decisions for the development of the enterprise. They supply answers to questions about the long term plans of the company such as what kind of products will the company be producing in the next five years or what method will they apply to improve their business. There are many kinds of information systems that managers at this level can use in order to ease the work and quickly too, some of the systems are seen as follows: Executive Support System. (ESS) It is a reporting software which helps senior managers transform data into useful summarize reports. It allows them quick assess to reports coming from different levels and different departments in the company such as staffing, billing, cost allocation, scheduling and many others. ESS is most useful to senior managers like Chief Executive Officers in order to enable the make decision easily. ESS forecast the future. ESS relies highly on information MIS and DSS database for decision making. It can not work in isolation less the company becomes dysfunctional. Middle Management. The main duty of the managers at this level is to monitor the activities of the subordinates, collect information from junior management and reassemble them and give the feedbacks or report to those at the senior management team. Their reports help in strategic planning thus leading to effective decision making to achieve their objectives. They are responsible for implementing the senior managers policies and plans to the workers. They also need to ensure that employees are well motivated and should act responsibly in maintaining company values. Management Information System (MIS) This system is meant to serve mostly middle managers. It helps them regulate the various operations in an organization. It helps in the internal control procedures. MIS are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operation activities in the organization. OBrien, J (1999). MIS as a system : It is a system that makes available the right information to the right person (senior managers) at the right time, place, form and at the right cost. It monitors daily sales, profit and lost accounts. It gathers feedbacks and current reports. It also answers all day to day questions about the company. Inputs of MIS: Customer Relationship Management (CRM), this a process created to handle the companys relationship or contact with its customers. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). This is a system that helps managers coordinate all the resources information and functions of a business. Transaction Process Management (TPS). It records all daily routines in a company. Recommended softwares for MIS: Database retrieve application Service control manager- a component of Microsoft Windows operating System. Software Configuration Management (SCM) used to track down and control changes in softwares. Decision Support System (DSS). It a group of information systems that support businesses and organizations in decision making activities. It helps most the middle class managers to make quick and effective decisions. It helps middle managers compile important information from a combination of business models, raw data, personal knowledge or documents to solve problems and then take decisions. Functions of DSS. It helps to solve unpredicted problems such as non-routine issues. Deducts external information like price change, government change in tax. It gathers and inventory of current information assets including legacy, dataware house and data marts. It produces comparative sales figures different periods. Finally it presents revenue figures base on new products sales assumptions. Fundamental Components. Knowledge base User interface The model ( decision content and user criteria). Holsapple and Whinston (1996) classify DSS in to six frame works Text-oriented DSS Database-oriented DSS Spreadsheet-oriented DSS Solver-oriented DSS Rule-oriented DSS Compound-oriented DSS DSS support base system can be divided into three categories; Personal support Group support Organization support First line managers as operational managers. They control the day to day services in an organization. They focus on manageing the processes to produce and distribute products and services to customers. Transaction Process System. This system serves the operational level managers. It helps them trace the daily routine in the company for example sales entry and delivery. It also helps the managers to monitor status of operations in relation to external environment. 3. Appropriateness of TESCO Enterprise Information Systems. TESCO plc is Britains largest retailer enterprise. Tesco provides grocery homeshopping services, consumer goods, telecommunication and financial services online. Online shopping is a highly use information system in Tesco. This information system is the direct buying of goods and services over the internet or other computer networks. Through this system, many businesses have developed due to online competition services. There are other websites besides Tesco that offer hosting services for online stores and small retailers these are Yahoo, Amazon.com and eBay. A collection of online stores are known as Virtual Shopping Malls. Become.com helps online shoppers make the ideal decision on shopping online. That is their mission. Security Measures Definition These are steps taken to protect information and information systems from unauthorized users, access, disclosure disruption, modification and destruction. Security measures are meant to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. Tesco has securing tags on its products. This is due to the rise of shoplifting caused by the economic crisis in the country. This was decided by the management team. Many UK businesses whether big or small, depend greatly on American District Telegraph (ADT) or simply ADT, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and Digital Video Recorders (DVR) as a source of integrated electronic security system. Tesco is one of those convenience supermarkets that depend highly on the services provided by the above security systems. These security systems provide fast alarm responses to burglary, fire attacks, violence and unnecessary disturbances in Tesco. These security systems reduce a safe and convenient environment for Tesco customers. They help reduce crime wave, protect people and property. Tesco also applies the use of security codes in their online services. This is to ensure that the online customer placing the order is actually in possession of a credit/ Debit card and that the amount of money in the card is legitimate. All these procedures is to prevent Credit/ Debit card fraud Also to trace and track down thieves who are in possessions of other peoples cards through well advance information technology. BMT Micro security software makes sures no database after online transaction is stored during online payment so hackers will not find their way easily into peoples accounts. That is why codes are needed so is will be hard for them to trace. Card Security Code (CSC) or Card Verification Value is another security feature for credit/debit transaction online providing online security against fraudulent cards. Recommended information security. Unified Threat Management (UTM), this is to prevent intruders and softwares from affecting Tesco delicate networks less the loose their data informations. Antivirus is also needed to check Tesco computers for the presence of virus that may crash the computers and loss database information that have not yet been processed. These antivirus needs constant updates. . Cloud Computing Cloud computing is the latest internet base computer system whereby shared resources such as softwares and information are provided to computers. It describes a new suppliement, consumption and delivery Information Technology model services based on the internet. It helps provides easy access to remote computing site provide by the internet. It is a less expensive form of computing. It avoids capital expenditures on hardwares, softwares and services because the pay only provider for they use. Consumption is billed on subscription basis with no upfront cost. Benefits: Low barrier to entry. Share infrastructure and cost Low management overheads Immediate access to a broad range of applications. The contract can be terminated at any time. According to Nicholas Carr, the strategic importance of information technology is diminishing as it has become standardized and less expensive. Issues against Cloud Computing. Although cloud computing is a less expensive system of computing, enterprises may pay more on operating expenses. Cloud computing has been highly criticized for its lack of privacy between users and their hosting companies. They hosting companies may monitor at will the communication and data stored in their systems. For example the National Security Agency (NSA) that works with American Telephone and Telgraph (AT T) and Verizon Communications, monitors all their phones which make people insecure for lack of privacy. There is no security in cloud computing but the Cloud Computing Alliance has been form to promote security assurances. Tesco is not using cloud computing services. But they can subscribe for it so as to spend less on information technology system. Conclusion. From the above information, we have seen how important information systems are in the development of an organization as it is being applied at every managerial level in a business. So it is recommended that business owners should continue searching for more advance information systems that will help ease their supply and distribution chain. Recommendations. Information system is the only way for businesses to survive the pressure and competition that they are facing. If there is a any business that has not yet be highly connected to advance information systems, then that business should make a strategic plan about implementing cloud computing for a start because it is less expensive and will help the business save for future unforeseen circumstances. References OBrien, J (1999) Management Information Systems- Manageing Information Systems in the Internet work Enterprise. Boston. Irwin MC Graw-Hill. ISBN 0071123733. Kenneth and Jane Laudon, Managing the Digital Firm, 8th Ed. Kotler, Philip, Keller, Kevin Lane (2006), Marketing Management, 12th edition. Pearson Education. Erik BOHLIN, Stranford L. Levin, Nakil SUNG, Chang-HO YOON (2004) Global Economy and Digital Society. Elsevier , Amsterdam. Nichlas Carr, (2008) Clouds and Storms.

Strategic HRM in Organisations

Strategic HRM in Organisations INTRODUCTION Human Resource Management (HRM) is one of the most importance function in any organisation. The basic function of HRM is managing the people, which in simple clarification is putting right people at right in right time. HRM involves the activities as recruitment and selection, training and development, reward and performance appraisal etc. of an employee. In this assignment, Care Quality Commission (CQC) will be taken as a chosen organisation. CQC is a government funded health care regulating body which is responsible for controlling and monitoring of health care service providers to make sure they abide by the standards and rules and regulations set by the government. Besides CQC is given authority to punish the service providers in case they do not meet the standards. Task 1.1. Definition of Strategic HRM in organisations: Human Resource Management (HRM) is one of the major functions in an organisation for managing people within organisation, focusing on the systems and policies of the organisation (Collings and Wood, 2009). HRM is primarily the systems and processes of recruitment, selection, training and development, appraisals and rewarding of the employees (Paauwe and Boon, 2009). Strategic HRM in todays context, is a necessity for organisations which, according to Wright and McMahan (1992) is a planned human resource deployment and activities that enable an organisation to pursue its goals. Various HRM models have been studied and proposed by different authors. Below is the discussion on some of them. Devanne et als Matching Model of Strategic HRM This model, proposed by Devanne et al (1984) is based on the philosophy of matching (or fit) of HR systems and organisational structure with the organisational strategy, where, HRM strategy and organisational structure follow and feed upon one another and are influenced by environmental forces. The limitation of this theory is that it assumes that organisational controllers act rationally. However, some theorists argue that strategic decisions need not necessarily based on rational calculation. As argued by Boxall (1992), excessive fitting can make a company inflexible and incapable of quickly adapting to external environment, failing to gain competitive advantage. Fig. 1 Devanne et al (1984)s Matching Model of Strategic HRM Hard/Soft Model of SHRM HRM, as postulated by Storey (1992), can be divided into Hard and Soft HRM. The hard model is characterised by top-down approach where employees have little freedom to act. It can be argued that hard HRM focuses on resource component of HR, as hard HRM is instrumental and employees are considered as commodities. In this model, the focus is in the numerical management of employees so that workforce can be closely matched with the requirement. In contrast, soft HRM deals with the human aspects and enhances commitment and involvement of the employees. Perhaps, more appropriately it can be said that people are led, instead of being managed and people are involved in decision making process. HR Strategies HR Strategies outlines what the organisation intends to do regarding HRM policies and how they should integrate with business strategy. Dyer and Reeves refers HR strategies as internally consistent human resource practices. The purpose of HR strategies is to provide communication means to the intentions about how the human resources will be managed. Many different strategies are prevalent depending on the organisation. However, broadly the HR strategies are categorized into Overarching HR strategies and Specific strategies. The Overarching HR strategies describe the organisational intentions about how people should be managed to ensure organisation can develop and retain its people so as to make them committed and engaged. The Specific HR strategies set out the organisations intentions in specific areas as talent management, continuous improvement, knowledge management, resourcing, reward and employee relations (Armstrong, 2006). There are various approaches to HR strategy that can be termed as resourced based, achieving high performance management, strategic fit, high commitment management and high involvement management. In CQC, it is seen that it primarily focuses on the development of its people through continuous training and development programs. The standards and rules and regulations that are updated according to the need and situation initiates further knowledge advancement in the workforce that strengthens the efficiency of the staff. This gives the notion that CQC adopts the specific HR strategy. Criteria for successful strategy: The successful strategy is the one which works with a sense in achieving what it plans to achieve, focusing to satisfy the needs of the business. The strategy need to be based on detailed analysis, not just mere thinking, and takes account the needs of employees and managers as well as those of stakeholders. As argued by Boxall and Purcell (2003), HR planning should focus on needs of the stakeholders involved in people management and the organisation. Task 1.2 Importance of HRM in organisations An organisation needs good human resources to build a good team of workforce. The main function of HRM includes recruiting people, give training, appraisals and motivate them as well as workplace safety and communication. Huselid, Jackson and Schuler (1997) did a study on human capital of the HR department by contrasting technical vs. strategic HR manager capabilities which led to the result that technical HRM effectiveness was not related to organisational performance. However, strategic effectiveness was related to employee performance, cash flow, and market value. Researches on Strategic HRM have often considered contingent relationships to achieve a fit between HR activities with strategic outcomes. Miles and Snow (1984) proposed a strategy typology (later described as contingency approach), that showed how corporate and business strategies could be matched with HR practices. This perspective means that a set of HR practice is dependent upon the organisations strategy. The import ance of HRM in improving organisational performance is paramount. The linking pin between vertical and horizontal alignment in strategic HRM is the person-environment fit. Moreover, Werbel and Demarie (2005) proposed vertical linking between HR systems with corporate strategies through organisational competencies and horizontal link with HRM practices as means to improve organisational performance. Strategic HRM, hence links HR practices with corporate strategy and is believed that the integration between business strategies and HRM reflects in effective management of human resources, thus improving organisational performance. Task 1.3 Framework of strategic HRM The discussion on the framework of strategic HRM, here is done on the Harvard framework. Developed by Beer et al (1984), this model studies the solution for the problems of the personnel management. The model of Harvard framework suggests that HRM consists of two characteristics: 1) line managers accepts more responsibilities to ensure alignment between personnel policies and competitive strategy; 2) the personnel policies govern how activities are developed and implemented that enhances reinforcement. As supported by Boxall (1992), this model has the advantages of incorporating range of stakeholders; acknowledges a wide range of situational factors; puts emphasis on strategic choice and includes the employee influence. Fig. 2. Harvard Model of HRM (Beer et al, 1984) The Harvard Framework outlines four HR policy areas: Employee influence; Human resource flows; Reward systems and Work systems. These, in turn lead to four Cs (HR policies that need to be achieved; Commitment, Congruence, Competence and Cost effectiveness. As argued by Beer et al (1984) the long term effects of benefits and HR policies has to be evaluated at individual, organisational and societal level, which in turn must be analysed using these four Cs. The Harvard model has considerable influence over the HRM practice, and the emphasis is particularly on the fact that HRM is the action of management rather that the personnel function, in particular. Task 2.1 Analysis of the Human Resource Process The human resource process fundamentally is the process of formulation, implementation and evaluation of the HR strategies. Strategy Formulation It is necessary to consider the interactive relationship between HRM and business strategy while defining approaches to formulation of HR strategies (Hendry and Pettigrew, 1990). The strategy formulation process is effected by various external and internal factors. As identified by Formbrun (1984) political, economical, socio-cultural and technological environment are the external factors that impact the formulation process. The changes in these factors can be brought by changes in economic conditions in specific sectors, better information processing, changes in workforce/demand forecasting and political influences which effect the settings of strategic direction. Organisational culture, employees and management, HR department and its expertise are the internal factors as identified by Truss and Gratton (1994). Strategy Implementation The success of strategy implementation is dependent on the competencies of the human resources. The linkage of vertical and horizontal fit conceptualized by Graton, Hope-Hailey, Stiles and Truss (1999) seem to fit here. In vertical fit, HRM systems like performance management, recruitment and selection, training and development need to be aligned with the HR strategy, whereas, in horizontal fit the HR strategy aligns with the people and the process. Evaluation is the final process of HR process that deals with review and evaluation of the Strategy Evaluation HRM systems effectiveness and the strategic integration. The results of HRM systems in achieving strategic objectives is considered as an important part of strategic HRM where, the alignment of HRM systems in achieving strategic objectives should be evaluated for determining the strategic integration of HRM (Tichy, Fombrun and Devanne, 1982). The information generated through evaluation process provide necessary ingredients for changes in implementation process and also, is important in the context of strategy formulation. The strategic HR process can be understood by the following flowchart developed by Bratton and Gold (2007). Fig.3. Strategic HR Process (Bratton and Gold, 2007) Task 2.2 Assessment of the roles in strategic HRM Different tier of workforce in an organisation has their definitive roles in executing HR strategies. The role of the top management is providing visionary leadership and define values and purposes to set direction. It develops the business strategies and provide directive guidelines in developing functional strategies for operations, finance, marketing, production, HR and customer service etc. The front line managers, as appreciated by Purcell et al (2003), are the ones that bring HR policies to life. Purcell et al state that front line managers have great amount of discretion as their aspect of work is dealing with people. It is unlikely that the discretion to avoid putting HR ideas into practice will convert ideas into reality. Hence, the reluctance in managers to carry out ideas often result into failure of performance management schemes. Ulrich (1998) views that HR executives, to be fully fledged strategic partners with senior management, should impel and guide serious discussion of how the company should be organized to carry out its strategy. It is necessary that HR must set clear priorities of its work since, a HR staff may be loaded with various initiates in sight like, global teamwork, payfor performance and learning development experiences. A strategic approach of HRM tends to trigger HR specialist in innovation where they introduce new procedures that can increase organisational effectiveness. Ulrich (1998) identifies four specific strategic roles of HR business partner, innovator, change agent and implementer. In CQC, The board of Directors develop and formulate the strategies of the organisation which is the basis for the Chief Executive to generate the HR strategies for CQC. The Chief Inspectors and Heads of concerned departments are responsible for execution and implementation of the strategies. The regular meetings and feedbacks from the employees as well as service users are considered in the process of evaluating the HR strategies. Task 2.3 Analysis of the development and implementation of HR strategies The process of developing HR strategy is a complex process. The HR leader has to set vision and goals for the HR team, thereby the HR team develops the HR strategy which is aligned with the organisations competitive advantage. It is of prime importance that the new HR strategy does not abandon the previous strategies, however, there should be manageable changes and the implementation should be measurable (Briscoe et al, 2012). The implementation plan is developed by HR team where all the employees and managers monitor the progress of the strategy and provide necessary feedbacks. The implementation of any strategy is a difficult part which needs to be approved from the top management and has to be managed by the dedicated team. As noted by Brewster et al (2011) top management do not expect for total change in the new strategy; they look for continuity with manageable changes. Financially the implementation is expensive to operate. The top management needs to be aware of the overall co st because the implementation can get disrupted if the financial part is not carefully managed. The development of the strategic HR plan is always in alignment with the organisations business strategy. Many times it is seen that the HR team take negligible consideration of the business strategies while developing HR strategy. This can result into lack of vision of the strategy and difficulty in the evaluation of the strategy (Golden and Ramanujam, 1985). The following chart represents the alignment and procedures in developing HR plan. Fig.4 HR and Business Strategy Task 3.1 Identifying range of HR strategies The human capital uniqueness and strategic value are considered as two important components in HR strategies. Organisations need to maintain different relationship with different types of people and develop different HR strategies to manage people differentially. Below is the discussion on different types of HR strategies as proposed by Lepak and Snell (1999). Commitment HR strategy: The commitment HR strategies are for the employees with high uniqueness and high strategic value. Such strategies focus on internal development and long term relationships which develops employees to build knowledge and skills that are of prime value to the organisation. Compliance HR strategy: This kind of strategy seems suitable for the employees with low strategic value and low uniqueness where, in order to reduce administrative expenses, he outsourcing strategies are taken like peripheral functions, employees on leave arrangements and use of temporary employees. Collaborative HR strategy: Where the employees have high uniqueness but low strategic value, the strategy focuses on developing potential value in the employees and preserve the unique skills of those employees. Both the employees and organisation collaborate in using the unique skills for a shared outcome. As discussed earlier, the range of strategies can be broadly differentiated into overarching HR strategies and specific HR strategies (Armstrong, 2006). The specific HR strategies focuses on developing the strategies for certain areas. Learning and development management: In the area of learning and development management, CQC has the strategic goal of maintaining and developing required skills though continuous development programs and regular trainings on the functional skills of the employees and regularly updated governmental rules and regulations regarding health care policies. Reward strategy: The purpose in developing reward strategy lies in maintaining a high degree of motivation among the employees in CQC. The appreciation and recognition of the employees on achievement of the expected outcomes has tremendous positive impact on the CQC employees. Employee relation strategy: The nature of the operative function of CQC requires it to have a well managed inter relationship among employees across many departments. CQC organises frequent meetings and workshop programs among the employees from different departments to generate high level of collaboration and cooperation among the employees. The feedback system in CQC enables the employees for raising their voices in different aspects of their job roles. Task 3.2 Assessment of HR strategies and their application in organisation As discussed earlier, there are different types of HR strategies which are developed according to the prevalent situations and areas that need to be addressed. It is not necessary that there is one most effective strategy that can be applied in all organisations or is applicable all the time in the same organisation. The development of the strategies vary according to the necessity of the current situation that the business strategy directs. Another aspect of HR strategy application can be in terms of Hierarchy of strategy where the HR strategies can be categorised as corporate , business and functional level of strategy (Bratton and Gold, 2007). The success of the HR strategy can be measured through the degree of achievement of the expected outcome. However, Bratton and Gold (2007) argues that here is no clear focus on test of HR strategies and performance link; the different models and strategies tends to assume the alignment between HR strategy and business strategy that will improve organisational competiveness and performance. As discussed by Golden and Ramanujam (1985), there needs to be alignment between HR strategy with that of business or organisational strategy. As the vision and culture of organisation directs the business strategy. the HR strategy should be compliant with the HR vision and HR goal. The HR strategy in CQC is primarily focused on the development of employees in the field of job efficiency and knowledge on the regularly updates of governmental policies of the health care service and its regulation. This can be assumed that CQC by adopting specific HR strategy, it focuses on people oriented activities. However, CQC being a government funded organisation, it does have the strategic approach in building rigid work norms and ethics, which at times, seems to create problem in managing day to day problems of the employees like delayed submission of inspection reports, lack of regular inspections of the service providers etc.

NAFTA Essay -- essays research papers fc

NAFTA Since the beginning of civilization, trade has been an important issue. Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas in search of a faster and safer trade route to India. We as Americans fought for our independence over trade related issues, such as tariffs and rules on with whom we were allowed to export and import goods. Our people have always fought for the rights and ability to buy and sell what they want at a reasonable price. The North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, is yet another attempt at this. NAFTA was signed on December 17, 1992 and put into effect on January 1, 1994 (SICE). It is a trade agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. This paper will explain all the finer points of the agreement, its affects on our economy, and some predictions to the future. I shall end with my opinion of NAFTA based on what I have learned while researching this paper. To discuss NAFTA with a greater understanding, it is important to realize why the three major governments on the North American continent would want to form a trade alliance. According to the law library at Southern Methodist University â€Å"its purpose was to remove tariff barriers between Canada, the United States and Mexico† (North). Removal of these barriers obviously promotes trade between these countries. It also promotes the buy and selling of goods between these countries by making those goods more easily accessible. Sellers can produce with lower costs and buyer can get the end product cheaper than if the tariffs were included in the price. But NAFTA had much loftier goals then just lowering cost and price. It was established â€Å"with the goal of fostering greater economic growth in Canada, the United States, and Mexico† (John). The ways in which NAFTA planned to create this spark in the economies of three different nations, was outlined in the actual NAFTA agreement text, in Article 102: Objectives. It states that the purpose of the agreement is to: eliminate barriers to trade in, and facilitate the cross-border movement of, goods and services between the territories[†¦], promote conditions of fair competition[†¦], increase substantially investment opportunities [†¦], provide adequate and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights [†¦], create effective procedures for the implementation and application of [NAFTA], [†¦] for the resolution of dispu... ...4. Economic Policy Institute. 03 Apr. 2004. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The John F. Henning Center for International Labor Relations: The North American Free Trade Agreement. 2003. The John F. Henning Center for International Labor Relations. 04 Apr. 2004. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Key Points to Remember. Economic Research: Federal Researve Bank of St. Louis. 02 Apr. 2004. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mumme, Stephen. â€Å"Nafta and Enviroment†. Foreign Policy In Focus. Volume 4. Number 26 (1999): 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Negatives of Trade. Economic Research: Federal Researve Bank of St. Louis. 02 Apr. 2004. 10.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  North American Free Trade Agreement. 01 Jul. 2003. SMU Underwood Law Library. 02 Apr. 2004 11.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Deepening Economic Integration and resposes to Competition†. Center for North American Studies. Jul. 2003. Texas A&M University. 10 Apr. 2004. 12.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SICE:North American Free Trade Agreement. SICE: Foreign Trade Information System. 06 Apr. 2004. 13.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Qualifying for NAFTA. FedEx. 05 Apr. 2004.

The Imagery of Fire in Virgil’s Aeneid Essay -- Allen Mandelbaum

The Imagery of Fire in Virgil’s Aeneid In discussing fire imagery in the Aeneid I will attempt in the course of this paper to bring in an analytic device to aid in assembling the wide array of symbols into a more uniform set of meaning. Consistently throughout the Aeneid, fire serves to provoke the characters to action. Action which otherwise it is not clear they would enter upon. Fire clears the way for the juggernaut plot to advance. Juno, first of all, described as burning - pondering (with her hatred of the Dardans) goes to Aeolus with the idea of sending the winds to create an under-handed storm to destroy the Trojans, at the sight of their fleeing ships and successful escape from the Greeks (I.75)1. Fire from the Greeks burns down Troy. Forced by necessity to flee for their lives, Aeneas can gain his fathers acquiescence only with the portent of two flaming omens. Cupid in the form of Ascanius induces Dido with a fated love for Aeneas, consummated by their union in the cave. Jupiter with these words on his lips send s Mercury down to a lingering Aeneas at Carthage. Mercury, carry across the speeding winds the words I urge: his lovely mother did not promise such a son to us; she did not save him twice from Grecian arms for this–but to be master of Italy a land that teems with empire...to place all earth within his laws. But if the brightness of such deeds is not enough to kindle him...does he–a father–begrudge Ascanius the walls of Rome? (IV.310-311) Mercury flies down to Aeneas and delivers these very words among others, Aeneas is struck dumb by this (and not for the last time) and afterwards He burns to flee from Carthage (IV.375). Much later , but significantly, the Fury Allecto is sent by Juno to Amata, wife of... ...ld end here, it is just this absence of this full light the dimness of the darkness visible which constitute Virgil's true and deliberate commentary on his world. Bachelard, Gaston. the Psychoanalysis of Fire. trans. Alan CM Ross,pref. Northrop Frye Boston: Beacon Press, 1964. (Orig pub. in French under the Title La Psychoanalyse du Feu 1938 by Librarie Gallimard) Eliade, Mircea. ch. 3 the Misfortunes of History, Ch. 4 the Terror of History Cosmos and History: the Myth of the Eternal Return. trans. Willard R. Trask. New York: Harper and Row, 1959 (Orig. pub. in French under the title Le Myth de Eternal Retour... 1949 by Librarie Gallimard) Johnson, W R. Darkness Visible, a study of Vergil’s Aeneid. Berkeley: Univ. California Press, 1976. Mandelbaum, Allen, the Aeneid of Virgil: a verse translation by Allen Mandelbaum. New York Bantam: Books, 1971-1981.

Unit 12

Unit 12: Business Online Assignment Brief 2012-2013 Edexcel BTEC Level 2 in Business ————————————————- Date assignment issued: 1 March 2013 ————————————————- Task submission closed: 29 April 2013 Contents Scenario3 Task 14 Task 25 Task 36 Task 47 Task 58 Task 6:9 Task 710 Task 711 Task 812 Task 913 Task 1014 ScenarioYou are the winner of a Young Enterprise Award. You are pleased that the large cash prize will help you to start your own local business in the Croydon area.Your choice of business will be one of the following: * Luxury car hire * Designer bags * Cosmetics for men * Travel agents * Clothes for babies and small childrenYou will need to design a website for your business to include the following: * An online request system for your customers * Location o f the business * Products or services available| Task 1 Front cover Design a Front Cover for your assignment. It should include the name of your business a relevant image and your name. Introduction Outline the purpose of the assignment and introduce the business you will write about Business IntroductionIntroduce the business you will be writing about by writing a report to include: * Name of the business * Type of ownership (ie sole trader, private Ltd etc) * Product/service being sold * Proposed location * Who are your customers * Identify the resources and equipments you would require to get started Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 11 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 2 ————————————————-P6: D escribe the benefits to your business of marketing your product or service online Write a report that will describe 3 benefits to your business & 3 benefits to your customers of marketing your product or service online Check you have done the following: Used paragraphs to structure your work * Proof read your work using * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 11 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 3 ————————————————- P1 Describe three different business organisations which operate online.Write a report using the following to help you: You must select a business from each of the following sectors: * Commercial * Educational * Government For each business you must also describe the purpose of their online presence you may use the following to help you: * Direct online selling of services * Government ser vices * Information * Advertising and marketing * Education Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 11 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 4 ————————————————- M1 : Compare the features of three business organisations operating online Prepare a power point presentation comparing three business organisations operating online include the following: * Compare the features of each business * Explain how effective the features are for each organisation ————————————————- D1: Make at least three recommendations for a business organization considering go ing onlinePrepare a power point presentation giving three recommendations for a business organization considering going online Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline:25 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 5 ————————————————- P2: Explain how each of the three businesses operate their activities online. ————————————————- Write a report using the following to help you: Brochure * Mail order * Inviting online transactions * Providing information only You must explain how each business use their website to engage and interact with users Check you h ave done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 18 March 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 6: ————————————————- P3: Explain the issues your small business would need to consider to go onlineWrite a report to explain 3 issues your small business would need to consider to go online. You should investigate the functional areas behind an online presence and how these interact to support the website Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 25 March 2013 Time De adline: 4pm Task 7 ————————————————- P5: Create web pages to meet the needs of your customersCreating a web page Create web pages to meet the needs of your customers you must include some of the following: * Word, power point or other suitable packages * Hyperlinks, graphics, background colours, images * Images from scanners, digital cameras, clip art etc When you have finished your design you must check the: * colour combinations, hyperlinks are functioning, content, formatting, images etc M3: Explain how the website assists in achieving the aims and objectives of the business user| Write a report to explain how the website assists in achieving the aims and objectives of the business user.You must explain why marketing online fits in with the aims, objectives and operation of the organization. Task Deadline:15 April 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 7 D3: Justify the use of di fferent features in the design of your website| Prepare a power point presentation to justify the use of different features in the design of your website and how it contributes to the success of the final creation. Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline:15 April 2013 Time Deadline: 5. 00pm Task 8 ————————————————- P4: Explain the operational risks for your business organisation operating online Write a report to explain 3 operational risks for your business organization operating online and the problems caused with the lack of face to face interaction. M2: Analyse the benefits to business and customers of conducting business online| Write a report to ana lyse the benefits to business and customers of conducting business online.You should analyse the features of the web pages you have created; explain their suitability and how the online presence will benefit the business and its customers. D2: Suggest ways in which your business could deal with the operational risks associated with an online presence| Prepare a power point presentation suggesting ways in which your business could deal with the operational risks associated with an online presence. You must identify the risks and the methods a business could use to stop them. Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not opied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 22 April 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 9 P7 Outline the impact of online business on society| Write a report to outline the impact of online business on society. You should include the following: * Global presence * Level of response * Financial advantages * Effects on customer convenience Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 22 April 2013 Time Deadline: 4pm Task 10 M4: Analyse the consequences on society of an increase in online business| Write a report to analyse the consequences on society of an increase in online business. Use an example of an existing business you are familiar with to analyse how people’s lives have been affected. D4: Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks to society of increasing business online| Write a report to evaluate the benefits and drawback to society of increasing business online.You must include in your report the impact of going online both now and in the future. Check you have done the following: * Used paragraphs to structure your work, using your own words – not copied and pasted * Proof read your work * Run Spell checker and Grammar checker (F7) * Save the document * Upload this document to Moodle Task Deadline: 29 April 2012 Time Deadline: 4pm Upskills linkTasks 1-10 you will be required to judge how much to write and the level of detail to include. You must present information in a logical sequence using paragraphs where appropriate. Write in complete sentences, using correct grammar and spelling. |