A Strategic Analysis of Qantas and the Australian Airline Industry Essay

The following paper provides an analysis and evaluation of the current market position of Qantas and the Australian Airline Industry. By assessing the company both internally and externally, this report will assess Qantas’ strengths and weaknesses. In addition to this, the report will focus on the specific elements that enable Qantas to obtain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Our team has established that Qantas is facing direct competition from new market entrants as well as threats from it’s own development – Jetstar. As a result, Qantas has lost some of the market share over recent years. However, while the treat of new entrants has affected Qantas, new opportunities have become available and have encouraged the airline to think outside the square. The Global Financial Crisis presented many industries with a challenge and Qantas was not excluded from this. In addition to this, the September 11 attacks in 2001 largely affected the industry as customers became reluctant to travel. Consequently, it is clear that Qantas has been faced with a variety of challenges that have resultantly prompted them to think of alternative ways to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. Partnering with Tourism Australia, developing Qantas as a brand, and painting the boeings to advertise an Australian lifestyle have all been successful at achieving a competitive advantage. It is recommended that Qantas continues to compete with new market entrants by focusing on developing the brand further and generating greater loyalty. Qantas & the Airline industry Qantas Airways Limited is an Australian public company that obtains its revenue predominately from the operation of airlines. The company operates mainly in Australia, New Zealand and Asia and is also established in the UK and the USA. Globally, Qantas employs over 35,700 individuals. At June 30, 2010, international airlines in Australia were reported to be worth $14, 924, 000, 000, with Qantas estimated to hold 25.60% of the market share. From the same study, the domestic airline industry in Australia was reported to be worth $12,801,000,000 with Qantas accounting for 73.50% of the market share. (IbisWorld, 2010) Over recent years, the drastic increase in fuel prices coupled with the global economic crisis has resulted in the increased cost of airfares. Low income, high unemployment levels and unavoidable disasters like the recent ash cloud have seen the demand for air travel in Australia reduce significantly. Specifically, the Qantas Group’s industry revenue declined an estimated 1.8% per annum over the five years through 2009-10. (IbisWorld, 2011). However, it has been forcasted that the industry with grow by 9% over 2011-2012, reaching a revenue of $13,400,000,000. The potential growth has been attributed to several factors, for example, increases in business related travel and the growing popularity of cheaper airlines. (IbisWorld, 2011) See Fig. 1 Qantas’ flying business operates under two main brands, Qantas and Jetstar. Jetstar was first launched in 2004 and is Qantas’ cheaper airline. (IbisWorld, 2010) Qantas revenue from international flying is reported to be far weaker than it’s domestic business. While international flying accounted for 22.5% of revenue over 2009-2010 for Qantas, this figure was considerably higher 2004-2005. New market entrants and strong competitors were said to be responsible for this decline. In particular, the development of Jetstar and the ability to fly internationally at low-cost saw Qantas’ international flight business drop from 46.3% of industry total in 2004-2005 to 23.0% in 2010-2011. (IbisWorld, 2010) Conversly, Qantas’ domestic flights generate approximately 70.4% of total sales and are increasing slowly. However, while the domestic flight popularity is increasing, the growth rate is slow in comparison to the industry. This is due to the fact that Qantas has lost some of the market share over recent years with the entrance of new competitors, for example, Virgin Airlines and Tiger Airways. In addition to this, the entrance of Jetstar into the market and the recent financial crisis saw more passengers targeting the low-cost airline over Qantas. The following investigation will include an analysis of Qantas’ external environment by utilizing a Porter analysis of the industry’s competitive forces. In addition to this, the report will include an analysis of the internal environment at Qantas by conducting a value chain analysis and identifying the resources and capabilities that provide Qantas with a competitive advantage over its rivals. * Please note: All dollar values listed throughout the report are in Australian dollars. External Analysis When determining the external forces that affect the domestic airline industry there are four areas that need to be discussed; political, environmental, social and technological. In discussing these areas we will be able to determine what strengths and weaknesses arise for Qantas as a result. During 1990 the Australian government decided to deregulate the domestic airline industry (Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics, 1995). This has opened up the opportunities for new airlines to do business in Australia. For Qantas this could be seen as a threat as there are going to be new players in the market as it has opened doors for low-cost carriers to enter. However, it may also be an opportunity for Qantas to differentiate themselves from the rest of the domestic airlines and be the only one offering a premium service. The most recent and economically crippling factor that has influenced the airline industry is the Global Financial Crisis (GFC)(Nuguid, 2011). According to the House Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (2009)  the tourism industry in Australia was hit the hardest which declined at a worse rate than the rest of the economy. As a direct result of this the airline industry specifically has also seen a significant downturn. This presents a potential weakness or threat for Qantas who may come to feel that their premium price for quality service is not enough to get the customers to fly with them. Probably the most recent and most prominent social change that has affected the airline industry was the September 11 terrorist attacks in America(Ito & Lee, 2005). Although this was not in Australia it still had a large impact on people’s preferences when it came to domestic and international travel. This along with an aging population is slowing down the airline industry as the concern for safety of passengers has risen. This could be a potential opportunity for Qantas to offer, in addition to great quality, a higher safety rating for their flights and help them achieve an advantage against the opposition. There are always new technologies available to improve service and quality; an example of such is the introduction of the regional jet(Brueckner & Pai, 2007). This new technology provided better service quality and higher flight frequency to the airline industry. All new technologies represent an opportunity for Qantas to increase the quality of their services. This particular technology also provides Qantas with the opportunity to increase their flight frequency. The government regulations of the airline industry in Australia are very lax in comparison to other countries leading to fewer barriers to entry, particularly at the low-cost end of the market. This makes it far easier for potential entrants to enter into the market. So far since the deregulation in 1990 two new major domestic airlines have entered and done so successfully; Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways (Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics, 1995 and Bureau of Intrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, 2010). Although there have also been a number of entrants that have failed to sustain their place in the airline industry this is not considered as Porter looks only at the threat of new entrants, not whether entry actually occurs (Porter, 2008). Pilots have a huge influence over what goes on in the industry as evidenced by the 1989 pilot strike(Schulte & Zhu, 2005). Even though the pilots were unsuccessful in this instance this shows that pilots are much more likely to be able to achieve change in the industry if they choose. Currently there are only two  major suppliers of airplanes, Boeing and Airbus. Being the only two major suppliers in the industry gives them a lot of power to determine prices and quality. Passengers have a lot less power in the airline industry as they generally don’t get a whole lot of choice or say in what happens. Firstly, there are high switching costs associated with changing to another airline. Secondly, there is not much difference from one airline to another especially if the airline is competing on quality or service(Investopedia News and Articles, 2010). For the domestic airline industry there really isn’t any major substitutes. The automobile industry and possibly the locomotive industry have the most influence here but if you are travelling from Sydney to Perth there really is no alternative to the airplane. The main determinants that make air travel non-substitutable include; time taken to travel, the cost of travel, personal preference and convenience(Investopedia News and Articles, 2010). There a four major domestic airliners that have the majority of the market share in Australia; Qantas, Virgin Blue, Tiger Airways and Jetstar (Dixon, 2006). With Qantas announcing recently that they are going to focus more closely on international services rather than domestic this could change the market share mix for the remaining three competitors. In considering the various forces that determine industry competition we can also draw a conclusion as to the profitability of the industry. Due to the aforementioned forces we can say that the profitability of the airline industry is quite low, which is also evidenced by Porter (2008). With respect to Qantas we can say that the threats of new entrants in the market is not quite as high for them as they are offering a premium service, not low-cost and so the barriers to entry for premium services are much higher. Internal Analysis Value Chain Analysis â€Å"Value is the amount that buyers are willing to pay what for a firm provides them and the quantity it can sell.† (Osegowitsch, 2011: 82) Conducting a value chain analysis, a concept popularized by Michael Porter, offers insight and understanding of a business’ activities that give it sustainable, competitive advantage. Qantas’ offerings to the market, according to its mission statement as of its Annual Report 2010, is safe,  airline travel at reasonable prices to both international destinations and domestic ones, through its complementary brand Jetstar. The Qantas Group asserts that it strives for a sustainable future through a two-brand strategy (that of Qantas and Jetstar) supported by its portfolio of business investments. This internal analysis will seek to examine The Qantas Group’s strategy through assessing its primary activities and its support activities. They use Altà ©a Inventory, which is an inventory management product. This system for example, has helped Qantas monitor rates and fares with immediacy. â€Å"Altà ©a Inventory provides instant data on demand and bookings to adjust pricing policy as potential passenger loads rise or fall. Altà ©a enables Qantas decide where to make seats available at certain price levels† (Amadeus Case Study) According to CIO John Willett; Design clarity means that major schedule changes are relatively easy to accommodate, allowing more efficient use of time of Qantas technical staff. The flexibility that came with Altà ©a allows Qantas to concentrate on revenue and how to improve it throughout the year. (Amadeus Case Study) With regard to onsite inventory, Qantas has extensive inventory availability â€Å"to support maintenance and overhaul programs for a wide range of customer engineering requirements.†   Operations Qantas is divided into 3 groups; Commercial, Customer and Marketing, and Operations. Its Operations group comprises engineering, airports, catering, flight operations, operations planning and control and Qantas Aviation Services. These To keep their operations running efficiently, Qantas has its own engineering division, called ‘Qantas Engineering’ Yield Management Often used in airline, hotel and advertising industries. Involves the concept of Qantas offering a ‘perishable’ good – being their airplane seat that if isn’t sold prior to flight, will ‘perish’. â€Å"For airlines, yield managers use widely accepted statistical tools to forecast seat demand, taking into account historical data and seasonal variables. For example, there is heavy demand on domestic routes during weekday peak periods and to leisure destinations during holiday periods, but there may be troughs in demand at other times. Each flight has its own individual forecast. Yield managers look at factors as diverse as economic swings which affect longer-term demand, seasonal schedule changes and changes in aircraft capacity to achieve an optimal mix of fares. In today’s environment, and without yield management, airlines would find it more difficult to make a profit and customers would be denied the broad range of fares and services offered.† (Qantas Fact Files) Marketing and sales Qantas have their own ‘customer and marketing’ division. They have heavy involvement in marketing and view it as critically important. The â€Å"Still Call Australia Home† was re-launched given slump in profits in 2009. The original campaign cost $6m but in 2009 when it was re-launched, they â€Å"deliberately just filmed in Australia and we have used the international footage we have from previous campaigns to manage the costs associated with it† (The Australian, 2011) according to CEO Alan Joyce. * Qantas appointed new head of Marketing in 2009 (http://www.bandt.com.au/news/qantas-makes-marketing-move) Qantas’ secondary activities Procurement Normally, Qantas seeks proposals from various suppliers – so as to maintain a level of competition amongst suppliers in an attempt at receiving the best offer. However occasionally, they do only seek the services of a single supplier. As is consistent with their procurement process, Qantas ask for formal bids or tenders and once they have been received, commence negotiations with prospective suppliers. At times, this can replace the tendering process, but normally it is done alongside it, as  a further step in their competitive benchmarking process. (Qantas Procurement Report: p. 1)Ultimately, their aim is to source the best service from suppliers, at the most competitive price, in a manner that is understood and fair according to all participants. Human Resource Management The Qantas Group employs approximately 37,000 people, 90% of which are based in Australia. (Qantas Website) The magnitude of Qantas’ operations and its abundance of employees have forced Qantas to develop competitive Human Resources (HR) strategies and maintain competitive advantage. HR is divided into four sections in The Qantas Group: 1. Corporate This includes responsibilities such as remuneration, employee benefits, industrial relations and other key tasks that essentially make this group in charge of forming strategies that will be carried through the other levels of HR 2. Business Segments HR teams within particular business segments of The Qantas Group, who deliver and implement the strategies as formulated at the Corporate level 3. Shared Services The central support unit that offers to assist employees, respond to inquiries and essentially offer support in all the typical HR responsibilities such as recruitment and remuneration 4. Learning and Development This branch relates to the development of training programs to teach, train and further improve Qantas employees. This layout of HR responsibilities is proven to be an effective structure for many large companies and has served Qantas effectively. Information Technology The Qantas Group’s IT division is predominantly based at a head office in Mascot, Sydney. The IT division consults and works within the areas such as: * Project and Program Management * Business Systems Analysis * Testing and Quality Assurance * Services and Relationship Management * Architecture (Qantas Website – Information Technology) Infrastructure Qantas’ infrastructure is immense and naturally demanding of high volume and efficiency given the company’s line of business. With a fleet of 254 aircraft, the maintenance of â€Å"superior infrastructure† (Qantas 2010 Annual Report, p. 9) , as coined by The Qantas Group, is imperative. The company manages the aircraft, in addition to 14 international lounges as well as several multi-tiered domestic lounges. The renewal of the fleet as well as other infrastructure is made possible through an â€Å"investment-grade credit rating†, making Qantas a desirable borrower for lenders. Furthermore, the company consistently experiences strong cash-flows and as such, is able to monitor and ensure high liquidity. The Qantas Group’s infrastructure is supported by a system of effective borrowing and investing, as well as maintained liquidity so its non-current assets and existing infrastructure is secure and kept up-to-date. Qantas’ Resources and Capabilities When analyzed simply, The Qantas Group boasts many capabilities/resources that potentially offer it competitive advantage, including; * Resources: * Airport locations/hangers * Engineering facilities * Trained personnel * In-flight food (Neil Perry’s involvement) * Qantas lounges/restaurants * Storage facilities for inventory, ranging from machinery to uniforms * Training facilities for flight attendants and pilots * Capabilities: * New IT systems to promote more efficient operations – such as the evolution of e-tickets * New development in cost effective service (e.g. with food,  cutting costs on ingredients or perhaps where the food is prepared) * New developments for the ‘frequent flyer’ scheme to adapt to competitors’ similar concepts – such as the Chairman’s Lounge * Fleet development: â€Å"The airline has been constantly growing since its inception as a result of increasing fleets. Qantas has been purchasing Boeing aircraft makes like the 747-400.‘ Bibliography 1. Brueckner, J., & Pai, V. (2007). Technological Innovation in the Airline Industry: The Impact of Regional Jets. International Journal of Industrial Organization , 27 (1), 110-120 2. Bureau of Intrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics. (2010). Avline 2009-10. Canberra: Australian Government. 3. Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics. (1995). Deregulation of Domestic Aviation in Australia. Canberra: Australian Government. 4. Dixon, G. (2006, February 23). Qantas not afraid of competition. The Age . 5. Douglas, E., & Cunningham, L. (1992). Competitive Strategies in Australia’s airline deregulation experience. School of Business Discussion Paper , Paper 28. 6. House Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. (2009). The Global Financial Grisis and regional Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. 7. Investopedia News and Articles. (2010). The Industry Handbook: The Airline Industry. Retrieved August 17, 20 11, from http://www.investopedia.com/features/industryhandbook/airline.asp#axzz1VGZxffGH 8. Ito, H., & Lee, D. (2005). Comparing the impact of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks on International Airline Demand. International Journal of the Economics of Business , 12 (2), 225-249. 9. Nuguid, A. (2011). IBIS World Industry Report I6402 Domestic Airlines in Australia. IBIS World. 10. Porter, M. (2008). The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review , 78-91. 11. Schulte, P., & Zhu, Y. (2005). Globalisation and Labour Relations in Australian Airlines Industry: A Case Study of Pilot Experience. In A. Gupta (Ed.), 4th Global Conference on Business & Economics Proceedings (pp. 1:1-19). Lynchburg, United States of America: Association for Business and Economics Research. 12. Osegowitsch, T., Strategic Management, McGraw-Hill AusTralia, NSW, 2011, p.

Bag of Bones CHAPTER EIGHT

Buddy Jellison was just the same, all right same dirty cooks' whites and splotchy white apron, same flyaway gray hair under a paper cap stained with either beef-blood or strawberry juice. Even, from the look, the same oatmeal-cookie crumbs caught in his ragged mustache. He was maybe fifty-five and maybe seventy, which in some genetically favored men seems to be still within the farthest borders of middle age. He was huge and shambly probably six-four, three hundred pounds and just as full of grace, wit, and joie de vivre as he had been four years before. ‘You want a menu or do you remember?' he grunted, as if I'd last been in yesterday. ‘You still make the Villageburger Deluxe?' ‘Does a crow still shit in the pine tops?' Pale eyes regarding me. No condolences, which was fine by me. ‘Most likely. I'll have one with everything a Villageburger, not a crow plus a chocolate frappe. Good to see you again.' I offered my hand. He looked surprised but touched it with his own. Unlike the whites, the apron, and the hat, the hand was clean. Even the nails were clean. ‘Yuh,' he said, then turned to the sallow woman chopping onions beside the grill. ‘Villageburger, Audrey,' he said. ‘Drag it through the garden.' I'm ordinarily a sit-at-the-counter kind of guy, but that day I took a booth near the cooler and waited for Buddy to yell that it was ready Audrey short-orders, but she doesn't waitress. I wanted to think, and Buddy's was a good place to do it. There were a couple of locals eating sandwiches and drinking sodas straight from the can, but that was about it; people with summer cottages would have to be starving to eat at the Village Cafe, and even then you'd likely have to haul them through the door kicking and screaming. The floor was faded green linoleum with a rolling topography of hills and valleys. Like Buddy's uniform, it was none too clean (the summer people who came in probably failed to notice his hands). The woodwork was greasy and dark. Above it, where the plaster started, there were a number of bumper-stickers Buddy's idea of decoration. HORN BROKEN WATCH FOR FINGER. WIFE AND DOG MISSING. REWARD FOR DOG. THERE'S NO TOWN DRUNK HERE, WE ALL TAKE TURNS. Humor is almost always anger with its makeup on, I think, but in little towns the makeup tends to be thin. Three overhead fans paddled apathetically at the hot air, and to the left of the soft-drink cooler were two dangling strips of flypaper, both liberally stippled with wildlife, some of it still struggling feebly. If you could look at those and still eat, your digestion was probably doing okay. I thought about a similarity of names which was surely, had to be, a coincidence. I thought about a young, pretty girl who had become a mother at sixteen or seventeen and a widow at nineteen or twenty. I thought about inadvertently touching her breast, and how the world judged men in their forties who suddenly discovered the fascinating world of young women and their accessories. Most of all I thought of the queer thing that had happened to me when Mattie had told me the kid's name that sense that my mouth and throat were suddenly flooded with cold, mineral-tangy water. That rush. When my burger was ready, Buddy had to call twice. When I went over to get it, he said: ‘You back to stay or to clear out?' ‘Why?' I asked. ‘Did you miss me, Buddy?' ‘Nup,' he said, ‘but at least you're from in-state. Did you know that ‘Massachusetts' is Piscataqua for ‘asshole'?' ‘You're as funny as ever,' I said. ‘Yuh. I'm going on fuckin Letterman. Explain to him why God gave seagulls wings.' ‘Why was that, Buddy?' ‘So they could beat the fuckin Frenchmen to the dump.' I got a newspaper from the rack and a straw for my frappe. Then I detoured to the pay phone and, tucking my paper under my arm, opened the phone book. You could actually walk around with it if you wanted; it wasn't tethered to the phone. Who, after all, would want to steal a Castle County telephone directory? There were over twenty Devores, which didn't surprise me very much it's one of those names, like Pelkey or Bowie or Toothaker, that you kept coming across if you lived down here. I imagine it's the same everywhere some families breed more and travel less, that's all. There was a Devore listing for ‘RD Wsp HI1 Rd,' but it wasn't for a Mattie, Mathilda, Martha, or M. It was for Lance. I looked at the front of the phone book and saw it was a 1997 model, printed and mailed while Mattie's husband was still in the land of the living. Okay . . . but there was something else about that name. Devore, Devore, let us now praise famous Devores; wherefore art thou Devore? But it wouldn't come, whatever it was. I ate my burger, drank my liquefied ice cream, and tried not to look at what was caught on the flypaper. While I was waiting for the sallow, silent Audrey to give me my change (you could still eat all week in the Village Cafe for fifty dollars . . . if your blood-vessels could stand it, that was), I read the sticker pasted to the cash register. It was another Buddy Jellison special: CYBERSPACE SCARED ME SO BAD I DOWNLOADED IN MY PANTS. This didn't exactly convulse me with mirth, but it did provide the key for solving one of the day's mysteries: why the name Devore had seemed not just familiar but evocative. I was financially well off, rich by the standards of many. There was at least one person with ties to the TR, however, who was rich by the standards of everybody, and filthy rich by the standards of most year-round residents of the lakes region. If, that was, he was still eating, breathing, and walking around. ‘Audrey, is Max Devore still alive?' She gave me a little smile. ‘Oh, ayuh. But we don't see him in here too often.' That got the laugh out of me that all of Buddy's joke stickers hadn't been able to elicit. Audrey, who had always been yellowish and who now looked like a candidate for a liver transplant, snickered herself. Buddy gave us a librarian's prim glare from the far end of the counter, where he was reading a flyer about the holiday NASCAR race at Oxford Plains. I drove back the way I had come. A big hamburger is a bad meal to eat in the middle of a hot day; it leaves you feeling sleepy and heavy-witted. All I wanted was to go home (I'd been there less than twenty-four hours and was already thinking of it as home), flop on the bed in the north bedroom under the revolving fan, and sleep for a couple of hours. When I passed Wasp Hill Road, I slowed down. The laundry was hanging listlessly on the lines, and there was a scatter of toys in the front yard, but the Scout was gone. Mattie and Kyra had donned their suities, I imagined, and headed on down to the public beachie. I'd liked them both, and quite a lot. Mattie's short-lived marriage had probably hooked her somehow to Max Devore . . . but looking at the rusty doublewide trailer with its dirt driveway and balding front yard, remembering Mattie's baggy shorts and Kmart smock top, I had to doubt that the hook was a strong one. Before retiring to Palm Springs in the late eighties, Maxwell William Devore had been a driving force in the computer revolution. It's primarily a young people's revolution, but Devore did okay for a golden oldie knew the playing-field and understood the rules. He started when memory was stored on magnetic tape instead of in computer chips and a warehouse-sized cruncher called UNIVAC was state-of-the-art. He was fluent in COBOL and spoke FORTRAN like a native. As the field expanded beyond his ability to keep up, expanded to the point where it began to define the world, he bought the talent he needed to keep growing. His company, Visions, had created scanning programs which could upload hard copy onto floppy disks almost instantaneously; it created graphic-imaging programs which had become the industry standard; it created Pixel Easel, which allowed laptop users to mouse-paint . . . to actually fingerpaint, if their gadget came equipped with what Jo had called ‘the clitoral cursor.' Devore had invented none of this later stuff, but he'd understood that it could be invented and had hired people to do it. He held dozens of patents and co-held hundreds more. He was supposedly worth something like six hundred million dollars, depending on how technology stocks were doing on any given day. On the TR he was reputed to be crusty and unpleasant. No surprise there; to a Nazarene, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? And folks said he was eccentric, of course. Listen to the old-timers who remember the rich and successful in their salad days (and all the old-timers claim they do), and you'll hear that they ate the wallpaper, fucked the dog, and showed up at church suppers wearing nothing but their pee-stained BVDS. Even if all that was true in Devore's case, and even if he was Scrooge McDuck in the bargain, I doubted that he'd allow two of his closer relatives to live in a doublewide trailer. I drove up the lane above the lake, then paused at the head of my driveway, looking at the sign there: SARA LAUGHS burned into a length of varnished board nailed to a handy tree. It's the way they do things down here. Looking at it brought back the last dream of the Manderley series. In that dream someone had slapped a radio-station sticker on the sign, the way you're always seeing stickers slapped on turnpike toll-collection baskets in the exact-change lanes. I got out of my car, went to the sign, and studied it. No sticker. The sunflowers had been down there, growing out of the stoop I had a photo in my suitcase that proved it but there was no radio-station sticker on the house sign. Proving exactly what? Come on, Noonan, get a grip. I started back to the car the door was open, the Beach Boys spilling out of the speakers then changed my mind and went back to the sign again. In the dream, the sticker had been pasted just above the RA of SARA and the LAU of LAUGHS. I touched my fingers to that spot and thought they came away feeling slightly sticky. Of course that could have been the feel of varnish on a hot day. Or my imagination. I drove down to the house, parked, set the emergency brake (on the slopes around Dark Score and the dozen or so other lakes in western Maine, you always set your brake), and listened to the rest of ‘Don't Worry, Baby,' which I've always thought was the best of the Beach Boys' songs, great not in spite of the sappy lyrics but because of them. If you knew how much I love you, baby, Brian Wilson sings, nothing could go wrong with you. And oh folks, wouldn't that be a world. I sat there listening and looked at the cabinet set against the right side of the stoop. We kept our garbage in there to foil the neighborhood raccoons. Even cans with snap-down lids won't always do that; if the coons are hungry enough, they somehow manage the lids with their clever little hands. You're not going to do what you're thinking of doing, I told myself. I mean . . . are you? It seemed I was or that I was at least going to have a go. When the Beach Boys gave way to Rare Earth, I got out of the car, opened the storage cabinet, and pulled out two plastic garbage cans. There was a guy named Stan Proulx who came down to yank the trash twice a week (or there was four years ago, I reminded myself), one of Bill Dean's farflung network of part-timers working for cash off the books, but I didn't think Stan would have been down to collect the current accumulation of swill because of the holiday, and I was right. There were two plastic garbage bags in each can. I hauled them out (cursing myself for a fool even while I was doing it) and untwisted the yellow ties. I really don't think I was so obsessed that I would have dumped a bunch of wet garbage out on my stoop if it had come to that (of course I'll never know for sure, and maybe that's for the best), but it didn't. No one had lived in the house for four years, remember, and it's occupancy that produces garbage everything from coffee-grounds to used sanitary napkins. The stuff in these bags was dry trash swept together and carted out by Brenda Meserve's cleaning crew. There were nine vacuum-cleaner disposal bags containing forty-eight months of dust, dirt, and dead flies. There were wads of paper towels, some smelling of aromatic furniture polish and others of the sharper but still pleasant aroma of Windex. There was a moldy mattress pad and a silk jacket which had that unmistakable dined-upon-by-moths look. The jacket certainly caused me no regrets; a mistake of my young manhood, it looked like something from the Beatles' ‘I Am the Walrus' era. Goo-goo-joob, baby. There was a box filled with broken glass . . . another filled with unrecognizable (and presumably out-of-date) plumbing fixtures . . . a torn and filthy square of carpet . . . done-to-death dishtowels, faded and ragged . . . the old oven-gloves I'd used when cooking burgers and chicken on the barbecue . . . The sticker was in a twist at the bottom of the second bag. I'd known I would find it from the moment I'd felt that faintly tacky patch on the sign, I'd known but I'd needed to see it for myself. The same way old Doubting Thomas had needed to get the blood under his fingernails, I suppose. I placed my find on a board of the sunwarmed stoop and smoothed it out with my hand. It was shredded around the edges. I guessed Bill had probably used a putty-knife to scrape it off. He hadn't wanted Mr. Noonan to come back to the lake after four years and discover some beered-up kid had slapped a radio-station sticker on his driveway sign. Gorry, no, ‘t'wouldn't be proper, deah. So off it had come and into the trash it had gone and here it was again, another piece of my nightmare unearthed and not much the worse for wear. I ran my fingers over it. WBLM, 102.9, PORTLAND'S ROCK AND ROLL BLIMP. I told myself didn't have to be afraid. That it meant nothing, just as all the rest of it meant nothing. Then I got the broom out of the cabinet, swept all the trash together, and dumped it back in the plastic bags. The sticker went in with the rest. I went inside meaning to shower the dust and grime away, then spied my own bathing suitie, still lying in one of my open suitcases, and decided to go swimming instead. The suit was a jolly number, covered with spouting whales, that I had purchased in Key Largo. I thought my pal in the Bosox cap would have approved. I checked my watch and saw that I had finished my Villageburger forty-five minutes ago. Close enough for government work, Kemo sabe, especially after engaging in an energetic game of Trash-Bag Treasure Hunt. I pulled on my suit and walked down the railroad-tie steps which lead from Sara to the water. My flip-flops snapped and flapped. A few late mosquitoes hummed. The lake gleamed in front of me, still and inviting under that low humid sky. Running north and south along its edge, bordering the entire east side of the lake, was a right-of-way path (it's called ‘common property' in the deeds) which folks on the TR simply call The Street. If one were to turn left onto The Street at the foot of my steps, one could walk all the way down to the Dark Score Marina, passing Warrington's and Buddy Jellison's scuzzy little eatery on the way . . . not to mention four dozen summer cottages, discreetly tucked into sloping groves of spruce and pine. Turn right and you could walk to Halo Bay, although it would take you a day to do it with The Street overgrown the way it is now. I stood there for a moment on the path, then ran forward and leaped into the water. Even as I flew through the air with the greatest of ease, it occurred to me that the last time I had jumped in like this, I had been holding my wife's hand. Touching down was almost a catastrophe. The water was cold enough to remind me that I was forty, not fourteen, and for a moment my heart stopped dead in my chest. As Dark Score Lake closed over my head, I felt quite sure that I wasn't going to come up alive. I'd be found drifting facedown between the swimming float and my little stretch of The Street, a victim of cold water and a greasy Villageburger. They'd carve Your Mother Always Said To Wait At Least An Hour on my tombstone. Then my feet landed in the stones and slimy weedstuff growing along the bottom, my heart kick-started, and I shoved upward like a guy planning to slam-dunk home the last score of a close basketball game. As I returned to the air, I gasped. Water went in my mouth and I coughed it back out, patting one hand against my chest in an effort to encourage my heart come on, baby, keep going, you can do it. I came back down standing waist-deep in the lake and with my mouth full of that cold taste lakewater with an undertinge of minerals, the kind you'd have to correct for when you washed your clothes. It was exactly what I had tasted while standing on the shoulder of Route 68. It was what I had tasted when Mattie Devore told me her daughter's name. I made a psychological connection, that's all. From the similarity of the names to my dead wife to this lake. Which ‘Which I have tasted a time or two before,' I said out loud. As if to underline the fact, I scooped up a palmful of water some of the cleanest and clearest in the state, according to the analysis reports I and all the other members of the so-called Western Lakes Association get each year and drank it down. There was no revelation, no sudden weird flashes in my head. It was just Dark Score, first in my mouth and then in my stomach. I swam out to the float, climbed the three-rung ladder on the side, and flopped on the hot boards, feeling suddenly very glad I had come. In spite of everything. Tomorrow I would start putting together some sort of life down here . . . trying to, anyway. For now it was enough to be lying with my head in the crook of one arm, on the verge of a doze, confident that the day's adventures were over. As it happened, that was not quite true. During our first summer on the TR, Jo and I discovered it was possible to see the Castle Rock fireworks show from the deck overlooking the lake. I remembered this just as it was drawing down toward dark, and thought that this year I would spend that time in the living room, watching a movie on the video player. Reliving all the Fourth of July twilights we had spent out there, drinking beer and laughing as the big ones went off, would be a bad idea. I was lonely enough without that, lonely in a way of which I had not been conscious in Derry. Then I wondered what I had come down here for, if not to finally face Johanna's memory all of it and put it to loving rest. Certainly the possibility of writing again had never seemed more distant than it did that night. There was no beer I'd forgotten to get a sixpack either at the General Store or at the Village Cafe but there was soda, courtesy of Brenda Meserve. I got a can of Pepsi and settled in to watch the lightshow, hoping it wouldn't hurt too much. Hoping, I supposed, that I wouldn't cry. Not that I was kidding myself; there were more tears here, all right. I'd just have to get through them. The first explosion of the night had just gone off a spangly burst of blue with the bang travelling far behind when the phone rang. It made me jump as the faint explosion from Castle Rock had not. I decided it was probably Bill Dean, calling long-distance to see if I was settling in all right. In the summer before Jo died, we'd gotten a wireless phone so we could prowl the downstairs while we talked, a thing we both liked to do. I went through the sliding glass door into the living room, punched the pickup button, and said, ‘Hello, this is Mike,' as I went back to my deck-chair and sat down. Far across the lake, exploding below the low clouds hanging over Castle View, were green and yellow starbursts, followed by soundless flashes that would eventually reach me as noise. For a moment there was nothing from the phone, and then a man's raspy voice an elderly voice but not Bill Dean's said, ‘Noonan? Mr. Noonan?' ‘Yes?' A huge spangle of gold lit up the west, shivering the low clouds with brief filigree. It made me think of the award shows you see on television, all those beautiful women in shining dresses. ‘Devore.' ‘Yes?' I said again, cautiously. ‘Max Devore.' We don't see him in here too often, Audrey had said. I had taken that for Yankee wit, but apparently she'd been serious. Wonders never ceased. Okay, what next? I was at a total loss for conversational gambits. I thought of asking him how he'd gotten my number, which was unlisted, but what would be the point? When you were worth over half a billion dollars if this really was the Max Devore I was talking to you could get any old unlisted number you wanted. I settled for saying yes again, this time without the little uptilt at the end. Another silence followed. When I broke it and began asking questions, he would be in charge of the conversation . . . if we could be said to be having a conversation at that point. A good gambit, but I had the advantage of my long association with Harold Oblowski to fall back on Harold, master of the pregnant pause. I sat tight, cunning little cordless phone to my ear, and watched the show in the west. Red bursting into blue, green into gold; unseen women walked the clouds in glowing award-show evening dresses. ‘I understand you met my daughter-in-law today,' he said at last. He sounded annoyed. ‘I may have done,' I said, trying not to sound surprised. ‘May I ask why you're calling, Mr. Devore?' ‘I understand there was an incident.' White lights danced in the sky they could have been exploding spacecraft. Then, trailing after, the bangs. I've discovered the secret of time travel, I thought. It's an auditory phenomenon. My hand was holding the phone far too tightly, and I made it relax. Maxwell Devore. Half a billion dollars. Not in Palm Springs, as I had supposed, but close right here on the TR, if the characteristic under-hum on the line could be trusted. ‘I'm concerned for my granddaughter.' His voice was raspier than ever. He was angry, and it showed this was a man who hadn't had to conceal his emotions in a lot of years. ‘I understand my daughter-in-law's attention wandered again. It wanders often.' Now half a dozen colored starbursts lit the night, blooming like flowers in an old Disney nature film. I could imagine the crowds gathered on Castle View sitting cross-legged on their blankets, eating ice cream cones and drinking beer and all going Oooooh at the same time. That's what makes any successful work of art, I think-everybody goes Oooooh at the same time. ‘You're scared of this guy, aren't you? Jo asked. Okay, maybe you're right to be scared. A man who feels he can be angry whenever he wants to at whoever he wants to . . . that's a man who can be dangerous. Then Mattie's voice: Mr. Noonan, I'm not a bad mother. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Of course that's what most bad mothers say in such circumstances, I imagined . . . but I had believed her. Also, goddammit, my number was unlisted. I had been sitting here with a soda, watching the fireworks, bothering nobody, and this guy had ‘Mr. Devore, I don't have any idea what ‘ ‘Don't give me that, with all due respect don't give me that, Mr. Noonan, you were seen talking to them.' He sounded as I imagine Joe Mccarthy sounded to those poor schmucks who ended up being branded dirty commies when they came before his committee. Be careful, Mike, Jo said. Beware of Maxwell's silver hammer. ‘I did see and speak to a woman and a little girl this morning,' I said. ‘I presume they're the ones you're talking about.' ‘No, you saw a toddler walking on the road alone,' he said. ‘And then you saw a woman chasing after her. My daughter-in-law, in that old thing she drives. The child could have been run down. Why are you protecting that young woman, Mr. Noonan? Did she promise you something? You're certainly doing the child no favors, I can tell you that much.' She promised to take me back to her trailer and then take me around the world, I thought of saying. She promised to keep her mouth open the whole time if I'd keep mine shut is that what you want to hear? Yes, Jo said. Very likely that is what he wants to hear. Very likely what he wants to believe. Don't let him provoke you into a burst of your sophomore sarcasm, Mike you could regret it. Why was I bothering to protect Mattie Devore, anyway? I didn't know. Didn't have the slightest idea of what I might be getting into here, for that matter. I only knew that she had looked tired, and the child hadn't been bruised or frightened or sullen. ‘There was a car. An old Jeep.' ‘That's more like it.' Satisfaction. And sharp interest. Greed, almost. ‘What did ‘ ‘I guess I assumed they came in the car together,' I said. There was a certain giddy pleasure in discovering my capacity for invention had not deserted me I felt like a pitcher who can no longer do it in front of a crowd, but who can still throw a pretty good slider in the old back yard. ‘The little girl might have had some daisies.' All the careful qualifications, as if I were testifying in court instead of sitting on my deck. Harold would have been proud. Well, no. Harold would have been horrified that I was having such a conversation at all. ‘I think I assumed they were picking wildflowers. My memory of the incident isn't all that clear, unfortunately. I'm a writer, Mr. Devore, and when I'm driving I often drift off into my own private ‘ ‘You're lying.' The anger was right out in the open now, bright and pulsing like a boil. As I had suspected, it hadn't taken much effort to escort this guy past the social niceties. ‘Mr. Devore. The computer Devore, I assume?' ‘You assume correctly.' Jo always grew cooler in tone and expression as her not inconsiderable temper grew hotter. Now I heard myself emulating her in a way that was frankly eerie. ‘Mr. Devore, I'm not accustomed to being called in the evening by men I don't know, nor do I intend to prolong the conversation when a man who does so calls me a liar. Good evening, sir.' ‘If everything was fine, then why did you stop?' ‘I've been away from the TR for some time, and I wanted to know if the Village Cafe was still open. Oh, by the way I don't know where you got my telephone number, but I know where you can put it. Good night.' I broke the connection with my thumb and then just looked at the phone, as if I had never seen such a gadget in my life. The hand holding it was trembling. My heart was beating hard; I could feel it in my neck and wrists as well as my chest. I wondered if I could have told Devore to stick my phone number up his ass if I hadn't had a few million rattling around in the bank myself. The Battle of the Titans, dear, Jo said in her cool voice. And all over a teenage girl in a trailer. She didn't even have any breasts to speak of. I laughed out loud. War of the Titans? Hardly. Some old robber baron from the turn of the century had said, ‘These days a man with a million dollars thinks he's rich.' Devore would likely have the same opinion of me, and in the wider scheme of things he would be right. Now the western sky was alight with unnatural, pulsing color. It was the finale. ‘What was that all about?' I asked. No answer; only a loon calling across the lake. Protesting all the unaccustomed noise in the sky, as likely as not. I got up, went inside, and put the phone back in its charging cradle, realizing as I did that I was expecting it to ring again, expecting Devore to start spouting movie cliches: If you get in my way I'll and I'm warning you, friend, not to and Let me give you a piece of good advice before you. The phone didn't ring. I poured the rest of my soda down my gullet, which was understandably dry, and decided to go to bed. At least there hadn't been any weeping and wailing out there on the deck; Devore had pulled me out of myself. In a weird way, I was grateful to him. I went into the north bedroom, undressed, and lay down. I thought about the little girl, Kyra, and the mother who could have been her older sister. Devore was pissed at Mattie, that much was clear, and if I was a financial nonentity to the guy, what must she be to him? And what kind of resources would she have if he had taken against her? That was a pretty nasty thought, actually, and it was the one I fell asleep on. I got up three hours later to eliminate the can of soda I had unwisely downed before retiring, and as I stood before the bowl, pissing with one eye open, I heard the sobbing again. A child somewhere in the dark, lost and frightened . . . or perhaps just pretending to be lost and frightened. ‘Don't,' I said. I was standing naked before the toilet bowl, my back alive with gooseflesh. ‘Please don't start up with this shit, it's scary.' The crying dwindled as it had before, seeming to diminish like something carried down a tunnel. I went back to bed, turned on my side, and closed my eyes. ‘It was a dream,' I said. ‘Just another Manderley dream.' I knew better, but I also knew I was going back to sleep, and right then that seemed like the important thing. As I drifted off, I thought in a voice that was purely my own: She is alive. Sara is alive. And I understood something, too: she belonged to me. I had reclaimed her. For good or ill, I had come home.

An examination of the cowardice of the character Johnny in A prayer for Owen Meany

An examination of the cowardice of the character Johnny in A prayer for Owen Meany In John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, protagonist Johnny experiences outward conformity while inwardly questioning throughout the duration of his entire life. An exemplar of cowardice, Johnny uses passive aggression and the voices of others to disguise his inability to take a stand. The tendency of Johnny to silently question while taking no action creates the trait of cowardice that dominates his character throughout the entirety of the novel. It is said that â€Å"actions, not words, create change†. Johnny, although inwardly critical of the Vietnam War, not only took no actions to create a change, but was not even vocal or expressive about his feelings. In a time dominated by protests, rallies, and demonstrations, Johnny could not even bring himself to voice his distain for the war, expressing that â€Å"even when the Anglicans asked me what I thought of Prime Minister Pearson’s â€Å"old point of view†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. I actually said I agreed! Eve though- as I’ve admitted- I’d never met a harsh deserter, not one† (463). The generation of the Vietnam soldiers, upon return to America, worked to create an America that supported and listened to those who had, previously, not been listened to. Arizona Senator John McCain is just one example. McCain, unsatisfied with the war and the treatment of those who served, ran for office to combat these issues with more productive policy. Johnny never s hared his opinion, let alone took action to combat the problems in society that he saw. Because Johnny was inwardly critical of the Vietnam War, but did not take any actions to create change, he was a coward. Prior to the Vietnam War, Johnny conformed to agree with his classmates within the Academy, leaving the questioning to Owen and The Voice. â€Å"I did, or tried to do, everything Owen did† (287), said Johnny, dependent on Owen to be outspoken due to his inability to use language and speak well. As Johnny struggled throughout his educational career to succeed in English, reading, and writing, he was willing to give Owen the power to speak on his behalf. â€Å"The Voice was our voice; he championed our causes; he made us proud of ourselves in an atmosphere that belittled and intimidated us† (295). Johnny was dependent on Owen to vocally question events and standards, even though Johnny shared the same criticisms and questions Owen did about society. Johnny was too much of a coward and simply lacked the confidence and ability to say so. He settled for conformity, never voicing his true feelings. Thus, the inward criticism and outward conformity spurred from his dependence on Owen and struggle in English and made Johnny a coward. Johnny is also a coward because he cared more about impressing people than standing up for his own beliefs. This standard led him to a life of inward criticism, and outward conformity. â€Å"I never actually said— to any of my Canadian friends— that I suspected these deserters were no more likely to become â€Å"public charges† than I was likely to become such a charge. By then, Canon Campbell has introduced me to old Teddybear Kilgore, who had hired me to teach at Bishop Strachan. We Wheelwrights have always benefited from our connections† (463). While working in a church and dedicating his life to teaching both English and the value of Christ, Johnny preaches morality and Christian superiority. However, this message conflicts with his actions as he inwardly criticized the war that represented the opposite of morality, while outwardly conforming in his words of support. Johnny placed more value on his societal status and networking abilities, thus hinderi ng his ability to stand up for what is right, even if it means standing alone, leading to a lifetime of conformity. Johnny’s interpretation of history and political issues showcases his cowardice. â€Å"When some of the Grace Church on-the Hill Anglicans asked me what I thought of Prime Minister Pearson’s â€Å"old point of view†Ã¢â‚¬â€ that the deserters (as opposed to the war resisters) were in a category of U.S. citizens to be discouraged form coming to Canada- I actually said I agreed! Even though- as I’ve admitted I’d never met a harsh deserter, not one† (463). The â€Å"Church on-the Hill Anglicans† is a reference to John Winthrop’s speech, A City on a Hill, from the founding and settlement of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop said that â€Å"America was to be a City on a Hill†, a model of superiority and moral purity. The phrase was used by both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan in major speeches. Johnny does not hide his love for Kennedy and despise for Reagan; his views strongly reflect the environments in which he was in- the popular opinion of the Academy strongly favored Kennedy, while the views of Canada in his time there did not support Reagan because of America’s involvement in Vietnam. The fact that both men had the same outlook on America shows Johnny’s cowardice as he is unable to go against what is popular and accepted in his environment. Johnny is a product of his environment as he cherry picks who he will criticize and who he will admire, thrusting him into a cycle of outward conformity. Over the course of his life, Johnny conformed to be like those surrounding him, while questioning society inwardly. A lifetime of silent protest and dependence on those around him to voice their opinions and teach him what to think caused him to be a coward and unable to form and voice his own opinions.

How did segregation, political machines, trusts, and immigration Essay

How did segregation, political machines, trusts, and immigration impact America from the end of Reconstruction through the Prog - Essay Example The majority of the Progressives supported the Prohibition movement as it was seen tantamount to undermining the local boss’ political power in saloons. (Timberlake, 1970) This era also coincides with the promotion of women’s suffrage in order to bring the â€Å"purer† female based vote into the political arena. (Southern, 1968) The Progressive movement is also better known for its emphasis on enhancing efficiency in all sectors. This change was brought about in large part by identifying older work methodologies which were subsequently modernised by promoting scientific methods. The political reform of the Progressive movement was led by many different people. The aspects of local government, medicine, finance, education, industry, churches, railroads, insurance and numerous other areas were reformed. The Progressive movement is particularly notable for introducing the social sciences to the purely scientific method and then developing them accordingly. The field s of political science, history and economics can be seen as major benefactors of the Progressive reform movements.

Re-write of Curriculum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Re-write of Curriculum - Essay Example The element of time contributed to the great success of the workshop. Teaching the workshop in a five-day intensive allowed me to present the information in a more thorough and I believe cohesive way. I feel that the set up of the workshop, being intensive, created an outlet which allowed the participants to leave behind their â€Å"normal life† and delve into this process of yoga and leadership. The participants came ready and expecting this type of process to happen. They showed enthusiasm and eagerness to learn as much as they can during this five-day immersion in yoga and the Integrated Yogic Leadership Model. Because they had the same purpose, an instant connection was formed amongst the participants that greatly contributed to the development of a peaceful and harmonious relationship within the group. I feel that this five-day intensive workshop gave enough time for students to walk away from the mundane cares of the world, to listen and learn of new tools to support the m on their journey to becoming a leader. At the end of the workshop they returned to their own worlds confident and renewed, armed with a new perspective on leadership. To better understand the curriculum I will describe each day’s intention and briefly explain the experiences. Again, referring to the section of Emerging Adults where I explained the importance of highly experiential exercises for this age group. This five-day intensive workshop was held on June 6-10, 2010 at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, the largest holistic retreat center in North America. This group of 19 emerging adults gathered to delve into this curriculum. Throughout the entire workshop the participants would go through an experiential exercise then move into a dyad or triad share and then come back to the larger group and have a group share. The sessions were: morning session 8:30-11:30am; afternoon session 1:30-4:00. Yoga sessions were scheduled in the afternoons at 4:15-5:45 and in the

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

Mktg - Essay Example When the correct market for Pradaxa has been identified, the product would be easily sold. In case, the company is attracting few people who are in dire need of Pradaxa, it is important to search for a remedy by focusing on large and correct market segments. In addition, it is good to have a clear understanding of the target market who in this case are patients with atrial fibrillation. The more the market is understood, there is high possibility of developing trust in customers who purchase the product. In addition, it is important to identify the age of your market so as to avoid targeting wrong age (Moehlman 46). For instance, Pradaxa product would target people aged sixty and above because most people of this age in U.S suffer from atrial fibrillation. The company should make an assessment to establish if the customers are satisfied with the product, if not, then the company should attempt to find a solution to their needs by improving on its product. Another important aspect of target market is that the company needs to look at the available competition. By doing this, Pradaxa product should be supplied to under-served markets. It is prudent to assess the strength and weakness of your competitors and try to find mechanism that can be different from them. Pradaxa has for long time faced competition from Warfarin. There is need to utilize opportunities such new uses in surgery patients and eliminate threats such as bad publicity dealing with side effects so as to compete favorable with Warfarin and attract more

Observers Paradox and Ways to minimize its Impact in Collection of Essay

Observers Paradox and Ways to minimize its Impact in Collection of Live Speech Data - Essay Example Therefore, the collection of live speech data is an indispensable data collection method that makes the overarching aims of sociolinguistic study attainable. For instance, speech data helps the researcher unravel elements of the social milieu and shared perspectives that define a community. However, the awareness that the participants are under observation impacts on the way they speak and what they speak about, an effect called the Observer’s Paradox. A famed sociolinguist, William Labov, was the first to discuss the paradox in detail. Labov observed that the use of systemized observation had an impact on the way respondents made use of their sociolinguistic abilities, in a way that could profoundly distort the nature of the data collected. This, he noted, could dent the validity of the research in question. This research seeks to discuss the Observer’s Paradox in the context of collecting speech data and explore some ways in which a researcher can roll back some of it s negative effects in sociolinguistic research. INTRODUCTION Observer’s Paradox is a term attributable to the linguistic researcher, William Labov. The term describes the situation whereby the observation of an event by a researcher in a controlled experimental situation fundamentally alters the natural way in which the event occurs. This transformation, especially in sociolinguistic behavior, impedes the collection of accurate data on the subject. Consequently, the effect arouses much concern in the linguistic research community. According to Labov (1), linguistic research should aim to reveal how people talk without the influence of systematic observation, even though data is unobtainable without systematic observation (Labov, 1). Hence, Observer’s Paradox poses a challenge to sociolinguistic researchers, and ways to circumvent the hurdle are necessary to maintain the validity of research with regard to accuracy and ethical codes that govern empirical research. One of the broad aims of sociolinguistic research is to observe lin guistic elements in a community. The elements under empirical scrutiny occur normally, although they are usually unnoticeable outside the confines of systematic controlled observations (Sheffield university, 1). This necessitates the introduction of statistical research methods such as data collection through recording of live speech data. By extension, this means the introduction of a third party to the social setup within which these linguistic factors occur. The disruptions of the natural conditions that define sociolinguistic elements in a community are not dismissible, and can influence the intimate understanding of a community’s sociolinguistic landscape. Sociolinguistic studies are rarely quantifiable, therefore qualitative data collection method remains the best option for many researchers. Speech data is one of the strongest methods through which sociolinguistic data is obtainable. Unfortunately, the method of data collection is one of the major in which the effect o f Observer’s Paradox happens. Since the effect's initial observation in Labov’s seminal work on qualitative sociolinguistic work, Observer’s Paradox has attracted considerable attention from the linguistic research community (Labov, 92). Presently, the issues pertaining to the paradox and the consequential ways in which the effects of the effect are eliminable in sociolinguistic research are plentiful. This research seeks to discuss the various issues that are attributable to Observer’s Paradox, and some of the ways in which the negative attributes of the

The main causes of slavery and solution to the problem of slavery Essay

The main causes of slavery and solution to the problem of slavery - Essay Example The present research has identified that before Abraham Lincoln’s election into office, United States was a haven of peace and stability. There was no race, ethnicity or any form of social diversification. All people were equal, and no region north or south was superior to the other. Concealment by the governing departments offered an incredibly fertile environment for the growth of slavery. Heads of government, including the secretary of state who should be on the frontage of protecting all persons, concealed all information regarding the growth of slavery and civil wars in the country. The information was censured to meet a predetermined objective which was to cover up for slavery and the lords of the civil wars. The irony of these problems is that everyone knew about the problem apart from the heads of governments. This is a clear indication that the head of government had undisclosed interest. The civil wars and the rebellions that have been witnessed between the northern and the southern people are politically motivated. This is because of the disunity that has been created between the northern and the southern. The southern politicians are disappointed by the northern abolitionist since they feel that they are not handling slavery and civil wars in the right manner. The politicians are inciting their subjects by providing for them ammunition. The politicians have continued taking most of the positions and resources to be their own sources of wealth. The common citizens are the victims of wars and slavery while the politicians are the beneficiaries in both the southern and the northern regions. Most of the powers of the country were accorded to few individuals. The individuals decided how, who, when, and why things are done. Their decisions are final and irrevocable even at the courts of law.

Presbyterian Church in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Presbyterian Church in the US - Essay Example The Presbyterian Church of the United States, or PCUS, separated from the Old School Presbyterianism, or the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, or PCUSA, during the beginning of the Civil War in the United States in May 1861. This is because the Old School Presbyterian Church declared that loyalty to the United States should be a national duty. The PCUS, however, retained its â€Å"Old School† heritage despite the split, and only changed in the 20th century as a response to the demands of the changing south. Prior to this change and especially during the war, it was known as the Presbyterian Church of the Confederate States of America (â€Å"A Brief History†). All throughout the early 20th century, the issues surrounding the PCUS included talks of unity with the Northern Presbyterians or the PCUSA and the denomination that succeeded it, namely the United Presbyterian Church in the USA, or the UPCUSA. However, the only moment that the PCUS and the UPCUSA worked together was during the Consultation on Church Union in 1962. During this time, the PCUS joined the UPCUSA, the United Church of Christ, the United Methodists and the Episcopalians in carrying out the endeavor (â€Å"A Brief History†). The PCUS further split into three factions during the civil rights movement. The liberal group wanted the church to be directly involved in the promotion of racial desegregation and voting in society. The moderates wanted a church consensus on the matter first. The conservatives, on the other hand, did not want the PCUS to be involved in social issues since the 19th century theologian James Henley Thornwell once stated in the doctrines of the Church that the church courts of the Presbyterian Church should not get involved with social reform issues (â€Å"A Brief History†). The conservatives of the Presbyterian Church then began the institution of the Presbyterian Church in

City bank Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

City bank - Research Paper Example Despite business operations having an immense impact on the global economy, the economy as well can be said to have impacted on the businesses hence a two way affair. The global economy is surrounded by political, economic and social forces that must be highlighted in the bid to describe how the Bank’s business has influenced the economy (Starrett 2009). The free operation environments that have been advanced, environment that capital is freely movable and barriers to trade have also been eliminated hence free flow of finances. As a result of business operations and wellness in coordination, the global scene has realized a massive growth for businesses to become multinational corporations. Inventions and innovations as a result of idea generations globally have created a lot of new commodities. Moreover, management efficiency of the Bank due to businesses being in a position to attract highly qualified staff from every corner of the universe and in bulk. Labor cost in the global economy have also since reduced due to the unlimited supply of the labor itself as well as its mobility has made it easily accessible and readily available for most business ventures and the question which remains is its affordability. International political decisions, otherwise called foreign policies are highly dictated largely by world economic power houses. This power is achieved depending on the control that such countries posses in the world business arena, the US where the bank originates commands the bigger share of the world economy. In the past countries have been witnessed to collude and come together on the basis of their GDP. The so called G8 or G10 of the current is composed by the world economic forces and they influence all the decisions undertaken upon the surface of the earth. Such decisions are normally geared to only favor the bank and their operations (Starrett 2009). International wars and crimes have normally been propagated due to the fight of supremacy

Mcbride Financial Service Essay Example for Free

Mcbride Financial Service Essay The purpose of this paper is to develop a marketing plan for McBride Financial Service. The paper will include what type of market research McBride should undertake. The various types of media Mcbride should use in the marketing plan. This paper will cover McBride’s target markets and explain why they are targets for McBride Financial Service. This paper will also cover what the considerations are for McBride to conduct a portion of their marketing on the Internet. Market research is a technique used to determine the acceptance of a product or service within different demographics. In the book Marketing: An Introduction market research is defined as [a systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization](Armstrong, 2011). A company can use market research to develop a target audience to help them pinpoint a specific demographic to market in. There are several forms of market research that McBride can use to help develop their marketing plan. The first would be online market research that will consist of Internet surveys and online focus groups. Online market research is easy for people in every demographic to participate in from home eliminating the need to travel to participate in focus groups. Internet surveys are taken online and the person filling out the surveys avoid the hassle of mailing the surveys back by simply clicking submit. Telephone interviewing is one of the fastest ways for a company to gather information for market research. Telephone interviewing is more personable than mail or Internet surveys and would be recommended for McBride Financial Services. An effective marketing plan should include using various types of media to advertise the goods or services a company offers. Types of media include radio, television, outdoor media, Internet, magazines, and newspapers. McBride Financial Service has many options to choose from concerning marketing media to advertise their organization. Television ads are seen by the most people, but they are also cost the most money to obtain a prime spot. Radio can target specific audiences at a lower cost but a company needs to buy time on several stations to obtain good reach. It is recommended that McBride incorporate a mixture of media in their marketing plan. These following types of media will be included television, radio, Internet and, magazines. Television as mentioned earlier in this paper is the best form of advertising so McBribe cannot hope to have a good marketing plan without it. Television ads will not be the main form of media because of the high cost. Because one of McBride’s target markets is retirees they will be buying ad space in retirement magazines like AARP. This will allow McBride to focus in on retired people or are getting close to retirement. Newspapers are a dying form of media so McBride will avoid buying ad space in any of them. This section of the paper will focus in on why Mcbride should consider conducting a major portion of their marketing via the Internet. The Internet is a major influence in society today with millions of people surfing the web every hour. This is an opportunity that McBride needs to take advantage of to capture the attention of an ever-growing population on the Internet. Buying ad space on a website is inexpensive compared to television and radio that is a major advantage for McBride. Ad space on major Internet sites is a â€Å"double edge sword† for McBride’s marketing plan. The first is that people will see the ads every time a person opens his or hers favorite website. The second would be a direct link to McBride’s website allowing even more exsposer for the company’s services. This section of the paper will cover McBride’s target market. Entrepreneur. com defines a target market as a specific group of consumers at which a company aims its products and services (Target Market, 2011). The site continues to write that target customers are those most likely to buy from a company. McBride has a target market shown on the home page of their website and it consists of professionals purchasing primary or secondary properties, retirees purchasing primary or secondary properties and families or individuals purchasing recreational properties. It seems like every adult in the world would fit into McBride’s target market that is not a bad target market, but it may be a wise move to narrow it down. Sticking with retired and professionals purchasing property would allow McBride to maintain a manageable target market. If the target market is too big McBride would have to cater their marketing media budget to too broad a campaign. McBride’s target market is anybody who is looking to buy property whether it be primary or secondary. In conclusion this paper has described a marketing plan that can be implemented by McBride Financial Service. The marketing plan will include market research strategies such as Internet surveys and telephone interviews aimed at collecting information. The media will play a part in McBride’s market in the form of television, radio, and Internet ads. The considerations for McBride to conduct a portion of their marketing online were covered in this paper. Finally the target markets for McBride Financial Service were discussed at the end of this paper.

Speech Structures Essay Example for Free

Speech Structures Essay As I listened, what I saw as essential in the understanding of the cases was knowing the name of the case and the state or court that was involved, the procedural history, the facts, the legal issue or issues raised in the case by the defendant and prosecutor, the courts holding, the courts reasoning and the disposition. If one of these items was left out you do not get the whole picture and the dilemma at hand. With out some of these parts it would be hard to follow where one part ends and the other part begins. One person that I listened to that I believe had a good speech structure was her case was on Pennhurst State School v Halderman (1981) which dealt with the Mental Institution and Patients rights. She began by telling us what her speech was about and the things that were found within the speech. She then began by telling us an interesting bit of the history of Pennhurst leading to the case. She had all her information set up according to the directions and also did a good job in transitioning from one topic to another providing the correct information. Out of all the speeches I heard I feel like my own speech could have been better. My speech was on Lawrence v. Texas (2003) which dealt with sex and privacy. I feel like I rushed my speech a bit and did not notice some of my mistakes. I believe my speech needed a tighter organizational structure which would have helped me during my presentation because some of my topics were placed in places they should not have been. During all of the presentations I personally do not think that any one of the students failed to follow directions. I believe that everyone did a great job in writing and presenting their speeches. Some were put better then others and some just like myself lacked a bit of structure. But other then that I believe everyone followed the directions as best as they could. Civil liberties and Constitutional rights After listening to the presentations I learned a bit about our country. I learned that even in our recent times there are still some states that had or still have laws that go against individuals constitutional rights. As well as I learned how each and everyone of these important cases changed the aws and the visions of many people till this very day. What impressed me was the courage that many of these individuals had to stand up to segregation, racism, discrimination, and other horrible things. What also impressed me was in the case of Plessy vs Ferguson and how a guy that was almost completely white put him self out there as black to put a point across since in his community he was considered black because of his one ancestor. He was labeled as â€Å"Creole of Color† and arrested for sitting in the â€Å"white car†. One thing that still sticks in my mind is the case of Thompson V Ok. It is unbelievable how a 15 year old child could commit such a brutal murder with no remorse what so ever and not be sent to death because of his age even though he committed such a heinous crime. After everything the discussions at the end of our speeches were very helpful. They helped in further explaining the situations as well as they helped put current issues into perspective with the cases that we wrote about. It was quite interesting in seeing how these cases formed what we are now and where this country is headed. And for the most part I feel like they are headed in the right direction.

Analysis Of The Wanderer

Analysis Of The Wanderer The heroic traditions of The Wanderer were based on Fate and God. He was believed that they controlled peoples lives and could put men into positions where it seems impossible for them to emerge with honor.They are judged by their choice which they carry out their chosen aim, never looking back. The courage to resist ones fate brought about the idea of Fame, which is something greater than Fate: the strength of will and the courage of human beings, and the memory which could preserve their deeds. If he resisted his fate, he had to have courage because it often meant facing great physical hardships, knowing that he would most likely die. But the Wanderer would rather die in an early, courageous death, trying to achieve Fame rather than sitting back and doing nothing, because Fame dies never for him. The lonely wanderer prays often for compassion And from mercy from Lord God; but for a long time. Destiny decrees that with a heavy heart he must dip. His oars into icy waters, working his pasaje over the sea. He must follow the paths of exile.Fate is inexorable! . The Wanderers religion included the belief of an afterlife in Heaven or Hell; where one went depended on the sins he had committed during his earthly life. Because where one went in his afterlife resulted from his actions, Christians did not believe in the pagan concept of Fate. Instead they trusted in the justice of God. Defeat and misfortune were easier to understand in this religion. If one suffered on earth, but led a good life devoted to God; thats why the wanderer believed that he would be rewarded for his suffering in the Heaven. Memorial is the praise of living men After his death, that he must depart He shall have done good deeds on earth against The malice of his foes, and noble works Against the devil, that the sons of men May praise after him, and his glory live For ever with the angels in the splendor. (lines 90-93) Where has the horse gone? Where the man? Where the giver of gold? Where is he feasting place? I mourn the gleaming cup, the warrior in his corselet. The glory of the prince. As regards to the setting, feelings of the wanderer after death of his lord distinguish two kinds of settings: a physical setting, which implies loneliness of place without his Lord, a lonely place rounded by dark waves, sea birds, etc. And a spiritual setting, which makes reference to the loneliness of wanderers heart, who remembers his friend: his Lord and God. For the wanderer, all the delights of the physical world are gone. He has no mead hall to call his own, no lord to serve, and no fellow kinsmen to protect him. His entire world has been transformed into an unknown and mysterious entity. He realizes that the only true companion to one who is exiled is cruel sorrow and he decides that he is no longer going to look to the past and feed sorrows flame, but rather look to the future and extinguish sorrow from his mind. Their only hope is to eventually come to a new kingdom where they are welcomed and able to reestablish their life as a fellow man of the mead hall. The wanderer fully understands that his fate is fixed. He will travel relentlessly in search of a new people using hope as his only means of salvation. He who has had long to forgot the counsel of a beloved lord knows indeed how, when sorrow and sleep together bind the poor dweller-alone, it will seem to him in his mind that he is embracing and kissing his liege lord and laying his hands and his head on his knee, as it some times was in the old days when he took part in the gift-giving. This passage show us that the wanderers sorrow makes him realizad that he is becoming his own victim by allowing sorrow to bind him alone while he sleeps. He must stop lamenting about his old lord and find a new one which will never desert him and always be there when he needs him. He will soon come to the realization that the only lord he will ever find which will welcome him with open arms is Christ. The wanderer is basically casting away his want of a physical world and concentrating on the establishment of a spiritual escape route from all the hurt and pain which has afflicted him. It took being exiled for him to gain the wisdom of knowing that true contentment comes from within. this middle-earth each day fails and falls. He knows that he must strive to gain the acceptance of a higher being than that of the known world; or human existence continues to defeat him. And he now must strive to become a part of the the Heavens: No man may indeed become wise before he has had his share of wisdom in this worlds kingdom The code of a comitatus would care for the Wanderer; he allowed to dine in Mead Halls, and if a he was loyal to his lord, the lord would reward his subject with treasures. The Wanderer is mimetic when the speakers reflect on the dining halls and rewards during the Anglo-Saxon times. Whether observation or personal experience, these are events that actually occurred in Anglo-Saxon time. They are not simply stanzas of fiction written by an imaginative author; this poem is reflections of the life of the Anglo-Saxon culture, experiences of the people, the situations that are written, namely, the exiles and separation from lords, are indeed trae of the Wanderer. As pagan, they believed in many gods, but they also believed strongly in pagan heroic traditions that ruled their society and literature. The wanderer seems to think that by doing good works and getting to heaven, one will gain fame for doing so. He also still believes in the pagan philosophy of Fate: Yet fate is mightier, the Lord is more powerful than any man can know..Even though he thinks the one and only true God creates ones destiny; thats why he can not escape from the traditions of the Anglo-Saxon time. As a conclusion The Wanderer, an elegiac poem give us, as readers in modern days world a glimpse about how life was for the Anglo-Saxons in the early centuries. This experience or observation of the time show how the Anglo-Saxon society was organized and the importance of the lord to his comitatus; traditions and the belief of God and Fate; the Wanderer asks about beliefs of his religion, and show the main struggle of the culture during that time: the transition from Paganism to Christianity.

Triangular trade :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Slaves and slave trade has been an important part of history for a very long time. In the years of the British thirteen colonies in North America, slaves and slave trade was a very important part of its development. It even carried on to almost 200 years of the United States history. The slave trade of the thirteen colonies was an important part of the colonies as well as Europe and Africa. In order to supply the thirteen colonies efficiently through trade, Europe developed the method of triangular trade. It is referred to as triangular trade because it consists of trade with Africa, the thirteen colonies, and England. These three areas are commonly called the trades â€Å"three legs.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first leg of this trade was merchants from Europe bringing refined goods to Africa to trade for slaves. The merchants traded with chiefs and high authority leaders. The chiefs pretty much could and would trade whomever they pleased, there was no restriction regarding who the slaves were.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the second leg of this trade slaves were transported to the West Indies, this leg was called the middle passage. This part was horrible for the slaves. About 50% of all the slaves on one ship would not make it to the West Indies because of disease or brutal mistreatment. Hundreds of men, woman and children were cramped together for most of the journey, occasionally able move an almost decent amount.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the third leg of the journey slaves were traded for sugar, molasses and other products. Those products were shipped to Europe or other European colonies in the Americas. The slaves in the West Indies were then sold to whomever wanted to buy some.

Mirror by Sylvia Plath, 789-790. :: English Literature

Mirror by Sylvia Plath, 789-790. Why Silvia Plath wrote a poem about a mirror? Sylvia Plath was born on 27 October 1932, at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital. She was an excellent student in high school. Her first poem appeared when she was eight. Once graduated from high school, She entered Smith College in 1950 on a scholarship. On 24 August 1953, she attempted suicide swallowing sleeping pills. Sylvia was readmitted to Smith College for the spring-semester 1954 after receiving electro shock therapy treatment for her recovery. She graduated with honors from Smith College winning a Fulbright scholarship at Cambridge, England. There she found Ted Hughes and got married with him on 16 June 1956. The year of 1958 was very stressful for their relationship. On the last day of school she found her husband cheating on her with a young student. In April1960, Frieda Rebecca (their first child) was born. Later that year Plath became pregnant again and in February she had a miscarriage. She also had an appendectomy, which left her stitched & hospitalized for a number of weeks. On 17 January 1962 Plath Nicholas Farrar (their second child) was born. Late in September the married couple decided for a legal separation. In October Plath wrote over 25 poems and they were the best. In November she and her children moved to London where they had no telephone and the heat was no enough for the cold. Plath spent most of her time in London very lonely. The winter from 1962 to 1963 was recorded as one of the coldest in London ever. Sewer pipes froze and there was plenty of ice and snow on the ground. She and her children got sick leading her to a depression. On 11 February 1963, Plath took her own life. She placed her head in a gas oven and died of gas intoxication. Why Silvia wrote a poem about a mirror? Silvia wrote this poem the same year she committed suicide. The reason why she wrote a poem about a mirror is because at that time she was doing a deep introspection and she did not like what she saw, she was afraid of growing older. She also mentioned her fear of growing older in another journal that she wrote. Quotations for support: When Plath was young she looked at the mirror and see herself superficially; she did not look deep into herself: "I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike" (789). But as Plath ages, She begins to look into herself deeper than just

Oprah Winfrey Essays -- essays research papers

"The Oprah Winfrey Show". Her show is known to not only all over the United States, but also known to all around the world. Today she is known as the America's most famous and powerful woman. Every woman in America envies her great fortune and her intelligence. But Oprah insists that she is not special or gifted. She had overcome many hurdles and reached to the top of America's national T.V host. What makes her so popular and most loved entertainer in the United States? Oprah Winfrey, a talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist, and business woman is the chairwoman of HARPO entertainment in Chicago. She joins the elite company of Lucille Ball and Mary Pickford, as the only woman in T.V and film to own their own production studios. Through HARPO productions, she produces and hosts America's number one popular show, "The Oprah Winfrey show". (Oprah Winfrey talk show bio 1997 p.1) Today many woman in America envies her life; her popularity, intelligence and her great fortunes. Though her success was gained from her hard work and education. She did not have any special background to be a most loved woman in America. She has overcame number of obstacles that most people have encountered in their own lives. She had to deal with poverty, sexual abuse, racism as a child, and her lifelong battle with weight. Oprah Gail Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi on January 29, 1954. As a child, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then moved back to Nashville. She has lived through poverty, repeated sexual abuse, and a sentence to a juvenile delinquent home. (Hyde 1997 p.57) Oprah was crowned Miss. Black Tennessee at age 19. In 1973. She left Tennessee State University and became a newscaster for WTVF in Nashville. Three years later, Oprah became a news anchor in Baltimore at an ABC station but after 9 months, she was pulled off the air because of an emotional ad-lib delivery. She eventually ended up in Chicago hosting a morning show called "AM Chicago". In less than a year, the show became number one and was expanded to one hour and re-named "The Oprah Winfrey Show". (http://pilot.msu.edu/user/bresnah2/oprahbio.htm 1997 p.1) From there, she has been an actress in the "Color Purple", "The women of Breuster place" and "There are no children here".(Oprah Winfrey)Today, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is the highest rated talk show in T.V history, and ... ...not, though many women are hoping her to remain in the show and share her power and intelligence with them. Oprah's effect on T.V is so great that since she started to appear on the show, many similar talk shows increased dramatically. And most of these talk show hosts are very popular just like Oprah. Though I believe no one among them can influence American women just like Oprah did. REFERENCES 1. Benezra, K. (1997). Products pitch talk hosts. Media week, pp. 6.2. Dickerson, D (1997). A womans's woman. U.S News & World Report. pp.10. 3. Hyde, W.S (1991). Television and Radio Announcing. Boston:Houghton Mifflin Company. 4. Schlosser, J (1997). Oprah watch. Broadcasting & Cable. pp. 10.5. Stanley, T.L (1997). What they've got. Media week. pp. 34-35.6. http://pilot.msu.edu/user/bresnah2/oprabio.htm. (1997). Oprah Winfrey. pp1.7. http://www.datalist.idsite.com/oprah-table.html. (1997). Oprah Winfrey. pp1.8. http://www.tvtalkshows.com/oprah/bio/. (1997). Oprah Winfrey Talk Show Bio. pp1-2.

Foucault – Power/Knowledge

Foucault’s theorisation of the power/knowledge relationship Foucault in theorizing the relationship between power and knowledge basically focused on how power operated in the institutions and in its techniques. The point is how power was supported by knowledge in the functioning of institutions of punishment. â€Å"He places the body at the centre of the struggles between different formations of power/knowledge. The techniques of regulation are applied to the body† (Wheterell et al. , 2001: 78) Power is the ability to control others or one’s entity. Accordingly it can be defined as a kind of strength or as an authority. There are various theorisations about the meaning of this term in sociology thus it would be hard to give a comprehensive definition. Is power a relationship? What kind of outcome does it produce? Can it modify behaviour and can it reduce the power of others? (Waters, 1994: 217) All of these questions can be answered in a different way. The point might be over whom and upon what can this power be exercised. Foucault frequently uses power and knowledge together in the phrase power/knowledge. He claims these two are inseparable. A general expression exists which conjoins the two into â€Å"knowledge is power. † Foucault reverses the logic of this expression in arguing that possession of knowledge does not give one power but gaining power means having knowledge at the same time as â€Å"knowledge is already deeply invested with power† thus it is better to agree on â€Å"power is knowledge†. (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 643) Knowledge can be expounded as the awareness of some fact or as a skill that the individual achieved or inherited. In Foucault’s interpretation both idea turned up in the analysis of the â€Å"Panopticon† and the â€Å"plague stricken town†. Being aware of the events happened somewhere is knowledge and this knowledge gives power to those whom got to know about that events although this knowledge could not have been acquired in the lack of power as there would not have been any opportunity to get into a position which allows the observation to get to know something. That is the basis of Foucault’s idea about knowledge and power as oneness and the reason for why is important to think other about the â€Å"power is knowledge† and â€Å"knowledge is power† correspondence. Discipline and Punish (1975) is Foucault’s best genealogical investigation. Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 643) At the beginning he describes a public torture which was a totally accepted from of punishment in the 18th century. Dramatically introduces the whole process without attitudinizing as those days public execution was a common event, the illustrated torture was as real as he presents it. As norms and attitudes changed in lat ter centuries public tortures has become not popular anymore, people were sentenced to go to prison where a completely different penalty system has been running. Foucault describes typical activities and every day life of the inmates. The point of these two presentations is to show that the changes of methods of punishment correlate with cultural and social changes in the all-time society. (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 648) In the second part he â€Å"draws a parallel between the aggressive mechanism used by plague-stricken cities in the late seventeenth century and Bentham’s Panopticon which was intended to be the model for the perfectly rational and efficient prison. † (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 648) The point of these comparisons is to reveal how knowledge developed and how this development influenced the society. As knowledge grows and becomes deeper the new understanding of the social and physical world â€Å"generates new locations for the application of power†. (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 646) Foucault describes two old mechanisms which was widely used, the public execution as an old form of punishment and the actions against plague that emerged in a town. A new type of punishment became popular which aims to punish the soul not the body as it was common before. There is no more physical torture but torture of the soul. These two old mechanisms alien to the latter methods: the usage of new strict rules that determines the prisoner’s life and the new method of control, the idea of the Panopticon which put surveillance from only one place forward. When plague turned up the old system followed the then methods of observation and surveillance, plague was everywhere thus the supporting power must have been mobilized. In this case â€Å"power is mobilized; it makes itself everywhere present and visible; it invents new mechanism; it separates; it immobilizes† etc. o make people act as it was expected in these conditions (because of the plague almost every interactions must have been stopped in the interest of getting rid of the disease). (Foucault, 1975) The Panopticon instead of exercising power from several sides emphasises the importance and perfection of the surveillance focus from one place. The Panopticon is a building which has an annual part in the periphery and a tower in the centre. Next to omitting little details its most important feature is the ability to see into every cells without being visible. The panoptic mechanism arranges spatial unities that make it possible to see constantly and to recognize immediately. † (Calhoun et al. , 2007: 209) The consciousness of being watched make people put on their best behaviour, their best way of acting thus the inmates do not commit any further crimes as it usually occurs that could happen without being watched. The operation of this building gives the opportunity to work with less employees because only a few overseers necessary being in the tower to check all the cells continuously. This way only a few supervisors needed to control these employees thus it is more economical. The supervision of the plague-stricken town would have cost a lot as a complex system ran which needed a big amount of labour force. As techniques develop and new forms of penalty system emerge costs become lesser. Knowledge grows and makes institutions more efficient as knowledge itself is efficient. â€Å"As knowledge grows the techniques of discipline and surveillance multiply such that power takes on an ever-increasing number of forms. † (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 646) The question is if knowledge produces more power or comes from power. The major effect of the Panopticon is to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power. â€Å" (Calhoun et al. , 2007: 210) Accordingly power is what is functioning all the time and knowledge could not be without presence of power. Although as Faucault (1975) claims: â€Å"power and knowledge directly imply one another; there is no power relation without the correlati ve constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations†. Thus knowledge and power can not exist independently from each other. Benthams laid down two principles about power relating to the Panopticon: it must be visible and unverifiable. The inmates will constantly have before their eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which they are spied upon and must never know whether they are being looked, but they must be sure that they may always be so. (Calhoun et al. , 2007: 210) These two principles give the opportunity to exercise power over the prisoners. The other very important thing is that this system is not only successful in prison but in every kind of institutions. Could be practiced in school or even in an office, people became successfully regulated by the power if vision. The idea of the Panopticon is a metaphor for the general presence of a new penalty system which is called the disciplinary society by Foucault. (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 644) This society is disciplined by being constantly watched and punished by excluded them from normal society. Criminals and those whom do not follow the laid down rules are not punished in front of public anymore. There is no need to express power visibly to gain belief in it. Waters, 1994: 231-232) â€Å"Panopticonseque surveillance has become so effective that individuals now sanction and normalize their own behaviour without any prompting, surveilling and disciplining themselves as if they were simultaneously the inmate and guard of their own self-produced Panopticon. † (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 646) What if that surveillance is not that effective and something breaks the discipline? The w hole system can lose its power when turns out that this observation is not accurate. Surveillance must be continuous all the time otherwise people lose their belief in the power of it. Once someone realises that can commit an offence or just do something against the rules without being caught the whole system can be questioned. The best example for this is public cameras all over the streets nowadays, although people know that they are visible whatever they do still commit crimes and do unacceptable things. The offender can not be completely sure about being watched or not. The same situation prevails in a school or office where the employees and students know that they can be lucky and might be not watched. If once punishment does not take place the individual can take under consideration the fact of being always watched thus disciplined behaviour is not guaranteed anymore. Foucault’s genealogical investigation is about to look on how power/knowledge and forms of punishment changed during the past few centuries. â€Å"Until turn of the nineteenth century criminal deviance was controlled by public attacks on the offender’s body. † (Waters, 1994: 231) Public execution was quite common in the 18th Century (although it is still ongoing even today in some countries), â€Å"Foucault identifies such punishments as political rituals†. Waters, 1994: 231) Torture was the expression of power, presented how the offender is punished if commits an offence against the only sovereign power. This sovereign power was one â€Å"centralized authority, like a king†. (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 643) According to Foucault punishment went through another two stages since pub lic tortures (which is the first stage). This form of punishment is considered unacceptable nowadays, but not because it goes too far, â€Å"rather it is because punishment and the power that guides it have taken new, more acceptable forms. (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 643) Punishment became invisible and kinder to the body, to be disciplined was the point rather than to be punished. The second stage of penal practices was based on surveillance and discipline what was aimed to harm the mind. (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 644) Public execution can be considered as a terrible kind of punishment, but torture of the mind is the worst. Physical pain could have been unbearable during these public tortures but psychical pain over years and years is tougher as it has no end. With the birth of prison power started to practice the new, less crucial form of penalty which may be more sinister than it seems. Foucault’s three stages can be distinguished by the time period when that form of punishment were popular, by the basis of authority/power was in power, and by the methods how these punishments were practiced. In the 18th Century, as it was mentioned before, the penalty system was leaded by a central authority which could have been a king or one single corporation of the government. The method was a kind of â€Å"public corporal punishment† that is in Foucault’s Discipline and Punish the public execution, the public torture. (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 646 Table 15. 2) In addition this torture took place in public. Later on among so many changes torture as a public spectacle disappeared. (Foucault, 1975) The second phase of punishment emerged in the 19th-20th Century when the basis of power was a decentralized institution. Methods were based on surveillance and discipline like in Bentham’s Panopticon or in the plague-stricken town. Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 646 Table 15. 2) Today, in the 21th Century we are in the third stage of punishment where there are multiple principles about the authority of the penalty system, multiple self-regulations exist and power is diffusive. The trend of the second phase is intensified in the third. â€Å"Power has become destructed and individualized†, â€Å"disciplinary individuals† turned up . â€Å"No longer are social structures and specific institutions necessary for the exercise of power and the meting out of punishment. (Appelrouth and Edles, 2008: 646) In Discipline and punish Foucault analyses the ways how the offender is disciplined in different punishment regimes. In early times punishments were crude, â€Å"prisons were places into which the public could wander†. (Wheterell et al. , 2001: 78) The latter form of regulation and power became private. Inmates were closed into prisons with an invisible system. Public could not see into these institutions anymore. Punishment became individualized and â€Å"the body has become a site of a new kind of disciplinary regime. Of course this body is not simply the natural body which all human beings possess at all times. † (Wheterell et al. , 2001: 78) Knowledge determines this body, the knowledge about the offence and offender. â€Å"This body is produced within discourse †¦ the state of knowledge about crime and criminal, what counts as true about how to change or deter criminal behaviour†¦ This is a radically historicized conception of the body. † (Wheterell et al. , 2001: 78) Foucault carried out a genealogical analysis of punishment and discipline. This analysis, among others, was based on the power/knowledge relationship which was at least as altering as the forms of the penalty systems were showed in the historical review. Various techniques were used to punish and these techniques were influenced by the exercised power in one place one time. The perfect institution to practice power and discipline/punish offenders is the building of the Panopticon. According to Foucault this building is the answer for all questions turned up with other methods of punishment. Bibliography Appelrouth, Scott and Laura Desfor Edles. 2007. Classical and contemporary sociological theory: text and readings. Pine Forge Press: 641-665. Calhoun, Craig J. , Joseph Gerteis and James Moody. 2007. Contemporary sociological theory. Wiley-Blackwell: 209-216. Foucault, Michel. 1995. Discipline & punish. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Waters, Malcolm. 1994. Modern sociological theory. SAGE: 217-233. Wetherell, Margaret, Stephanie Taylor, Simeon Yates. 2001. Discourse theory and practice: a reader. SAGE.