Mr. Rogers Essay

I grew up in a community named North Miami located. My upbringing developed my core beliefs of religion, family, loyalty, compassion and honesty. It also taught me that all things worthwhile require hard work. Becoming a Neonatal Nurse through school will prove challenging and intense, but has the lifelong reward of a career that has meaning and value to me. My goal is to become a Neonatal nurse specialist to obtain professional, hands on experiences in Neonatal care units. My interest in nursing started when I was 6 years old, when I volunteered to help my aunt at the clinic she worked in as a nurse. Over the summers, I learned a lot about healthcare, nurturing, and empowerment. I also discovered through the interactions with the residents how therapeutic and comforting an encouraging smile, a friendly conversation and a helpful hand could be. I established strong relationships with several of the residents. I especially treasured my time with Charlene, a funny 56 year old resident. She showed me that helping others is one of life’s greatest gifts. For that wisdom, I will always be grateful. Eager to learn more, I shadowed my aunt during her daily rounds at a local clinic she worked in, observing her genuine care as she completed her daily routine. She proved she knew as much about the person as she did about the health concern; I was impressed by the connection she had with each of her patients. My experience took an unexpected turn about midday when I participated in the labor and delivery of a baby to a mother that was in her late 20s. As the delivery neared, I stepped away to make room for the medical team However, the mother was quick to call me back to her side asking me to help her hold her legs as she delivered. It was at that moment that I realized the connection I had made with her, even though I was a complete stranger only hours before. This experience solidified my desire to pursue nursing. Upon arriving in high school I’ve learned that I was going to be able to learn the standardize steps of taking care of my future patients on my own. It took a few minutes for me to compose myself, then I said, â€Å"Okay, where do I start? † As the days passed, my confidence grew with every task that I’ve completed. Training and instinct immediately took over and my adrenaline was surging. No pulse. No breathing. No responsiveness. I started chest compressions, those are the things I’ve learned in act of becoming Neonatal nurse. My upbringing and education thus far have helped define who I am, and who I would like to become. My hard work and dedication to helping others can be furthered by continuing on through high school and college where I will gain a new level of knowledge and skill that will be represented in the field in places where these are needed the most.

Concert Paper About Blue Man Group

Sarah DeMattio LA 321-801 Concert Paper 2/2/13 Though I had often heard of them growing up, I never really knew who, or what, Blue Man Group was. When my nineteenth birthday came along earlier this past January, my best friend decided that in celebration of my birthday, we would be solving our own age-long mystery about Blue Man Group. We were going to a show to see what exactly it was that these blue men did. My initial reaction was certainly less than satisfied when my best friend told me that she got us tickets to see Blue Man Group for my birthday.I remembered a discussion we had had a few months prior when we spoke avidly about how our parents always made references to something called â€Å"the blue man group† as we were growing up, and that we still to that day had no idea what it was or why it was being referenced in the first place. Though still not completely convinced, I bit my tongue, thanked my friend for the gesture, told her I could not wait to see the show, and calmed myself with the thought that at least finally, my questions of the smurph band would be answered. On January 6th, 2013, my friend Kaya and I made our way downtown.We had tickets to see the 8 p. m. show of Blue Man Group at the Astor Place Theater. Upon arrival to the venue, my reservations about the experience became even more acute; the theater looked like some kind of underground grunge dungeon I’ve heard about and warned of. We entered the theater lobby where I immediately noticed the concession and souvenir stand, because aside from the usual assortments of cookies, popcorns and soft drinks, the top recommended item to buy was a poncho. My suspicions instantly hit their zenith. â€Å"Kaya, what the heck did you bring me to?! Kaya laughed off my remark and once we were seated, elaborated about the ponchos. She told me that contrary to typical shows, where the closer your seat is to the stage in orchestra, the more expensive the seat becomes, Blue Man Group actuall y offers a discounted price for the first 5 rows of Orchestra. The â€Å"splash zone,† if you will. And that of course, explains the need for ponchos. Our seats happened to be the first row behind the last row of the â€Å"splash zone†, so obviously I spent the entire show holding my breath a little in fear that bodily fluids of any kind would make their way to me. They didn’t, thankfully.Blue Man Group consisted of three men that were all bald, blue, wore black clothing, and had extremely large mouth capacities. My favorite moment of the entire 105-minute show is hard to decide, both honestly and to my surprise. One of my top favorite and most impressed moments of the show was each time the men played their large bongo-type, garbage receptacles as drums. Two men played their own drums simultaneously while the third man stood in the middle of the two and squirted different colored liquids onto the drums, thus splashing colorful water everywhere and creating some kind of a rainbow waterfall.It was both visually fantastic and musically pleasing. The Blue Man Group’s abilities varied, but certainly never failed to impress. I cannot really describe what they played, or even did. They seem to have a knack for making instruments out of anything but instruments, and creating art with anything but art supplies. The combination of the sarcastic, poking-fun-at-society nature of the Blue Man Group along with their quirky abilities, talents, and looks, was what made the entire experience such a pleasantly surprising and enjoyable one.I am not a big fan of freaky looking characters that do odd things, spit into the audience, and chew Captain Crunch cereal in harmony, but for Blue Man Group, I made the exception and would again and again in a heartbeat. The show was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It is a different and interesting approach to having fun, and I am determined to make any other doubters in my life see what Blue Man Gro up is all about for themselves.

Venture Capital Funding Essay

The determinants of Venture Capital Funding: Performance of US Venture Capital Firms against European VCsProblem Statement:Over the last decade, many researchers have praised the influence of Venture Capital (VC) as a key driver of entrepreneurism, start-ups, innovation and economic growth (Da Rin et al., 2006; Cumming, 2014). VC has long been studied and observed in the United States, it is for these positive reasons that the EU have outlined the development of VC as a major policy priority (EVCA, 2001). It is only within the last 20 years that the European Market has moved from being perceived as an â€Å"emerging market† in terms of VC, and that even by the start of the 21st Century, the aggregated investment volume was ˆ12 billion which was less than 25% of the American investment volume at that time (Hege et al., 2003; EVCA, 2001). Due to the relatively recent development of VC in Europe, there is a large gap in the existing research as to the effectiveness and influe nces of VC in Europe. Certainly Popov & Roosenboom, (2013) bemoan the fact that the majority of existing research into venture capital typically focuses its attention on the United States. Thus, there is a real shortage of effective empirical studies into the behaviours and qualities of European VC. Jeng and Wells (2000) support this view, explaining that factors such as the contracting, organisation of VC firms, exit decisions, and â€Å"the peculiarities of Europe† are not fully understood, nor has the features that European markets share with American ones have not been made in strong detail. Thus, this dissertation will provide a comparative study into the American VCs and European VCs. This micro-level study will to address the gap in existing research of the rate of return for VC in the US and the EU, possible the most influential emerging markets for venture financing.Purpose Statement:This research will look to examine the performance of US venture capital firms again st European venture capital firms to identify whether a gap exists between the two groups and to determine whether European VCs ca improve the rates of return from total investment based on funding frequency and other variables. The main objectives of this dissertation are: To determine if there is a gap in the levels of performance amongst American VC and European VC paying particular attention to the type of exit and rate of return. To explore whether any gap could be the result of major differences in the contractual relationship between VCs and startups in these regions or from the use of key tools that assert an active role of VCs in the process of value creation. To identify any relevant policy determinants including regional tax, investment protection/treaty, Intellectual property rights, and financial regulation. To determine whether US VCs have better screening skills than European VCs and whether this produces a higher degree of turning initial investments and funding frequency into successful ventures. Importance of the Study This research looks to address the gap in the existing research into the emergence of VC in European markets, and looks to benchmark this against VCs in the United States. Researchers, data providers, and trade associations have all observed the notable gap in existing research into VC in Europe (Da Rin et al., 2006; Cumming, 2014). Trade associations have even pointed to this gap in understanding as a primary factor that causes them to hesitate with early-stage financing. This dissertation study will also be significant as it will look to provide a critical, microeconomic analysis of the main drivers and influence of successful VCs in America and observe these against VCs in Europe, exploring contractual features and firm characteristics to define and quantify the determinants of VC returns. This will look to address the gap in existing research in the European VC sector and provide a greater understanding of VCs in Europe. Proposed Research Method A combination of quantitate and qualitative research tools will be used to complete this study. Research data will be found using a range of sources, including the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developmen (OECD) and other key institutions with data on several policy factors. These data sources will provide information on an expansive range of portfolio organizations, key investments and valuations. Quantitative data analysis will be completed using the statistical package software SPSS. The statistical package software benefits the cleaning and transformation of the data. Following the completion of the data collection stage, the researcher will analyse the raw data and assemble the results into a data matrix. This data matrix with contain the details of the study with key information sorted into columns, variable and values. The data matrix will then be used for statistical calculations and used for the analysis of the results. This dataset will allows the researcher to study organisation’s performance in terms of Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the investment amongst the initial investment to the final value of the firm. This study will also aim to quantify the influence of VCs on project profitability in Europe and compare this to the United states. A valuation-based measure of the rate of return will be used to examine the characteristics of European VCs against US VCs. independent variables to be studied will include age (the time elapsed since the VC raised the first fund), Regional (does the VC only invest in their own country), Companies (the number of companies in the VCs portfolio), Duration (the average investment duration in years), and, finally, the taxation policies of the US and Europe. The following equation will be used to calculate estimated values (V1) for the first stage valuation for all European organizations: Qi = V1i=I1i. Here Qi represents the initial value for company, whereas i is the multiple of the initial investment. The average Qj ratio will be determined of all selected studies. Research Hypotheses The research will also use the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: European VCs performance is positively correlated with the rate of return of the investment between the initial investment and the final valuation of the project/firm. Hypothesis 2: increased continuity of VCs engenders a stronger relationship which reduces barriers to financing and will increase returns. Hypothesis 3: European Venture-backed companies could benefit from the presence of alternative investments besides independent VCs. ReferencesBlack, B. S., Gilson, R. J. (1998) ‘Venture capital and the structure of capital markets: banks versus stock markets, Journal of Financial Economics, 47, pp. 243-277. Cumming, D. (2014) Public economics gone wild: Lessons from venture capital, International Review of Financial Analysis, 36, pp. 251-260. Da Rin, M., Nicodano, G., Sembenelli, A. (2006) ‘Public Policy and the reaction of active venture capital markets’, in Journal of Public Economics, 90, pp. 1699-1723. EVCA (2001) A Survey of Private Equity and Venture Capital in Europe, Yearbook 2001 Green, J. (2004) â€Å"Venture capital at a new crossroads†, Journal of Management Development, 23(10), pp. 972 – 976. Hege, U., Palomino, F., Schwienbacher, A. (2003) Determinants of Venture Capital Performance: Europe and the United States, LSE Working Paper, 1, pp. 1-40. Jeng, L. A., Wells, P. C. (2000) ‘The determinants of venture capital funding: evidence across countries’, Journal of Corporate Finance, 6, pp. 241-289. Popov, A., Roosenboom, P. (2013) ‘Venture Capital and New Business Creation’, Journal of Banking & Finance, 37, pp. 4695-4710.

Objective Relations Theory

Projective Identification copyright 1996 Hannah Fox, CSW, BCD All rights reserved – may not be reproduced without permission of Hannah Fox ([email  protected] com) This document can be found at: http://www. object-relations. com This presentation will explore several concepts and techniques within the Object Relations theory of family therapy which, if understood, provides a framework for looking at couples and families. Before talking about this approach to family therapy, I would like to explain what object relations theory is all about.Object Relations Theory was originated in England by a group of British psychoanalysts, including Klein, Balint, Fairburn, Winnicott, and Guntrip. Object relations theory was a break from Freud's drive model, and differs from it as follows: Freud's model held that a newborn infant is driven by animal instincts, such as hunger, thirst, and pleasure, but cannot relate to others. Relationships with others only develop later in the course of sa tisfying those needs. In this sense, Freud's model considers relationships to be secondary.In contrast, object relations theory maintains that the infant can relate to others at a very early age and that relationships with others are, therefore, primary. The drive to attach oneself to an object is considered to be the major motivating force. Since we are talking about object relations theory, this is a good time to ask what an object is. In object relations theory, the word object is used with a very specific meaning. It's not literally a physical person, but an internal mental structure that is formed throughout early development.This mental structure is built through a series of experiences with significant others through a psychic process called introjection. Because an infant's earliest experiences are usually with its mother, she is usually the first internal object formed by the infant. Eventually, the father and other significant people also become internalized objects. Intro jection, the process of creating internal mental objects, leads to another process called splitting. Splitting occurs because the infant cannot tolerate certain feelings such as rage and longing, which occur in all normal development.As a result, the infant has to split off parts of itself and repress them. What happens to those repressed split-off parts? They are dealt with through another important process, called projective identification. Projective identification itself is a very specific part of object relations theory. It is a defense mechanism which was conceptualized by Melanie Klein in 1946, having evolved from her extensive study and work with children. According to Klein, projective identification consists of splitting off parts of the self, projecting them into another person, and then identifying with them in the other person.For example, the earliest relationship the infant has with its mother is feeding and touching, but the mother is not always able to respond quick ly enough to the infant's need. Since the natural rage and longing the infant feels at such times are intolerable, to survive these feelings the infant â€Å"splits them off† and represses them from its consciousness. The â€Å"split off†feelings can be thought of as other parts of the self (ego). When such splitting takes place, the infant is free of the rage but has placed that part of itself inside the mother.To make itself whole again it must identify with the mother. The mother may or may not allow herself to become the cntainer for the infant's negative feelings. Even if she doesn't, the projective identification still occurs. The above process begins in the first half year of life, known as the paranoid-schizoid position. It is characterized by an ability to distinguish good feelings from bad, but an inability to distinguish the mother from the self. Depending on how consistent the mothering is, the infant may or may not progress to a higher level of development known as the depressive position.In the depressive position, which starts at about eight months of age, the child takes back its bad feelings from the mother and separates from her. The mother is now seen as a separate object, with both good and bad feelings of her own. The infant is aware of its own good and bad feelings. For a child to reach this level of development, the earlier mothering must be consistent. The mother must have accepted most of the child's projected feelings. A child who reaches the depressive position will, in adulthood, be capable of experiencing, at best, such feelings as empathy, or will at least become neurotic.In contrast, if the mothering is not consistent, the child can't take back its projected feelings and splitting continues both inside and outside the child. It remains in the paranoid-schizoid position or, at best, a precarious form of the depressive position. This type of development is associated with borderline personalities. In the above infant- mother example, the repressed parts of the self, if unresolved, will remain repressed into adulthood. Those parts will govern the choice of marital partner and the nature of marital relationships, and by extension the nature of relationships with children.By the time the couple or family come to therapy the projective identification process has likely progressed to the point of being obvious to the therapist, and will be seen in the members' behavior toward each other. This is usually not so in individual therapy because it often takes time to build the transference relationship with the therapist. So what does this mean for the therapist? What does a therapist have to know in order to work with a family, using the object relations approach? The therapist needs to be trained in individual developmental heory from infancy to aging and to understand that the internal object world is built up in a child, modified in an adult and re-enacted in the family. The family has a developmental life cycle of its own, and as it goes through its series of tasks from early nurturing of its new members, to emancipation of its adolescents, to taking care of its aging members, the family's adaptation is challenged at every stage by unresolved issues in the adult members' early life cycle. Conflicts within any of its individual family members may threaten to disrupt the adaption previously achieved.If any member is unable to adapt to new development, pathology, like projective identification, becomes a stumbling block to future healthy development. The clinical approach is to develop, with the family, an understanding of the nature and origins of their current interactional difficulties, starting from their experience in the here- and-now of the therapeutic sessions, and exploring the unconscious intrapsychic and interpersonal conflicts that are preventing further healthy development. Interpretation and insight are thus the agents of family change.By uncovering the projective ide ntifications that take place among family members, and having individuals take back their split-off parts, members can be freed to continue healthy development. If further therapy is indicated, individual therapy would be a recommendation. Symptom reduction in individuals is not necessarily a goal here. In fact, individual family members may become more symptomatic as projective identificationsare taken back and the members become more anxious. To do this, the therapist needs the following four capabilities: . The ability to provide a â€Å"holding environment†for the family – a place which is consistent – so that eventually the family comes to feel comfortable enough to be themselves in the presence of the therapist. 2. An ability to understand the â€Å"theme†of each session, so that a broad theme can be identified over the course of treatment. 3. An ability to interpret the latent content of patients' manifest statements. 4. An understanding of unconsc ious processes like transference and countertransference.Given those tools, it is the therapist's job to uncover the projective identifications in the family that prevent the children from having a healthy development. Once these projections are uncovered, and the split-off parts given back to the family members they belong to, children are freer to continue healthy development. Having introduced projective identification, I'd like to show how this process operates later in life-in couples and families-and is a framework for doing couple and family therapy. I'm going to present two cases-one of a couple and one of a family-to show how projective identification works.A male patient of mine with little ambition fell in love with a woman who subsequently pushed him to be ambitious. As it turned out, the woman had been repressing her own ambition under pressure from a father who didn't believe women should work. This woman was quite intelligent and obtained a professional degree, yet sh e chose to stifle her ambition in order to please her father. She remained dependent on her father, both emotionally and financially. The husband, my patient, was a professional but quite unambitious. His family's philosophy was that one is lucky to have a job and pay the bills.His father had held the same low paying job for twenty years although he, too, had a professional degree. So why did these two people get married? Since it was unacceptable for her to be ambitious, the wife needed someone to contain those feelings for her. My patient was the ideal object because, although he had an inner ambition, he had no parental support for these strivings. Therefore, he was predisposed to accept and collude in his wife's projection. What is the effect of projective identification when a couple has children?The following example shows how parents use their children as objects. Fern was a woman in her second marriage with two adolescent children. When Fern was a child, her mother favored h er brother. The message she received from her mother was that men were important and had to be taken care of, while women were stupid and born to serve men. Both of Fern's husbands agreed with her mother's philosophy, so Fern spent most of her married life serving them. When the family came to see me, both children were having emotional problems. The son was a heavy user of pot and cocaine.His sister had emotional and learning problems in school. Fern had projected into her son that males were special and needed to be taken care of. It's not hard to see why the son colluded with his mother. The rewards of accepting her projected feelings were too hard to resist, so when he reached adolescence he satisfied his excessive dependency needs with drugs. The message Fern's daughter received was that she was unimportant and stupid. Why did Fern project these feelings onto her daughter? Fern grew up unable to develop her own career goals because her other ignored her wishes to go to college. For Fern to feel sufficiently competent and achieve some career success, she had to get rid of feelings that she was stupid and unimportant. So she projected those feelings on to her daughter and was then able to start a small business. To avoid being totally rejected by her mother, the daughter colluded by remaining stupid and unimportant to herself. Fern's reenactment with her daughter of her mother's relationship with her is a form of projective identification called â€Å"identification with the aggressor,†because Fern is acting as if she is her own mother and her daughter is her (when she was a child).Fern's relationship to her son is also similar to the relationship Fern's mother had to Fern's brother. Because Fern is treating her children so differently, when they grow up they will have very different views of this family. This explains why, in therapy, siblings often talk about the same family very differently. Notice how unresolved feelings from childhood, which Fern split off and repressed, greatly affected her relationship with both children. What do you think is going on in her second marriage? Now I will present an actual transcript of part of a session I recently had with this family.As you will see, it illustrates the process of projective identification and will serve as a basis for further discussion. T: Fern, I wonder, when Donald was talking about being like Roberta and John asked him a question how did you feel? F: What do you mean how did I feel? T: When John asked Donald when he figured out that he was like Roberta and Donald said just now. J: How do you feel about him saying just now. T: And you changed the subject and I wondered what you were feeling. F: I don't know. I T: Donald owned up to some feelings that he was like his father and that part of what he saw in Roberta was like himself.F: Donald is definitely part of D: No but what she's saying is that you changed the subject. That is why she's wondering if you have some feeli ngs about that. T: Exactly. You seemed to have moved away from what was going on here. John was talking to Donald R: She doesn't want us to be like our father. T: Maybe that was upsetting to you? R: He wasn't good to her. D: Subconsciously maybe. It's deep but it's there. F: Well, I don't like Martin, naturally. It's true. I don't like him – I don't think he's a nice person. R: You don't like him at all? D: She loves him but doesn't like himF: I loved him but I never liked him as a person. I never thought he was a good person; that he really cared about me, that he took care of me, that he was ever concerned with me. I remember a couple of things that – I remember having a bloody nose one night when I was pregnant and he went out to play racketball and left me alone. Things like that – He was mean to me – he had no compassion for me. D: That's one thing, I'm not like my father. F: I'm not saying – I'm trying to say I see certain characteristics of their father in them. T: How does that make you feel?F: How does that make me feel? I don't know. I guess part of it, not too good because I would rather them be above that, that is, above that anger, why can't they rise above that anger. I don't want them to be like that because it didn't get Martin anyplace in life. J: I have a very deep question. F: I don't know if I want to answer it. J: You may not but how can you find that with Roberta and Donald being so much alike in prsonality, like Martin, how do you separate Donald's being like Martin and accepting it from Roberta and saying Roberta is just like her father and not accepting it?F: Because Donald never directed his anger at me as a person, as a human being. In other words he never – he might have been angry but he never said to me – he never was mean to me, whereas Roberta has been mean to me, attacked me as a person, Donald never attacked me as a person. T: Donald attacked himself as a person. D: Hmm. T: By t aking drugs. F: But he never attacked me as a person. D: Never, I'm not a mean person. I don't have that mean streak in me. T: You sure? F: You may have it in you D: I don't have a mean streak. F: Sure, everyone T: Who did you direct that meanness to?Roberta directs it out to her mother and who did you direct it to? D: I direct it to her. T: No R: No you directed it at yourself. D: Myself, yeah – I'm mean to myself. F: You were destructive to yourself. T: So what D: But that's different from being destructive to other human beings. F: No, maybe you would have been better off being mean to me or somebody else. Or to your father. R: Let's get back to Uncle John's question. J: No this is part of the answer. D: Yeah – I'm mean to myself. I still am. But I don't destroy myself with anything – with any kind of substances, but I still am.R: What do you mean, you still are? D: I'm hard on myself, critical of myself. R: See, you would never think that of Donald because h e walks around like he's above the world. He does. T: But why would somebody walk – D: But I've been working on that very heavily now T: But why would someone D: That's the way I am; it's the way I am. T: Why would someone walk around like that. D: It's very basic – when I was on drugs and everything like that and I'm fully aware of it, aware that I'm conceited and like I have that air about me – I'm fully aware of it.When I was on drugs I had that part to me but it wasn't as strong as it is now. T: You weren't aware of it then? D: I wasn't really in control of the fact that I control my conceitedness now – I choose to put that on because I have nothing, I have nothing else now. T: Right D: It seems it's like my only defense, to be arrogant and to be conceited because I don't have anything else to back me up so I figure that wall. R: Why do you need – I don't need anything. D: Roberta – because when I was on the drugs and everything like tha t, it was a great wall for me to keep everybody out.Now I want everybody to think big things. Discussion Now let's look at the latent content of this session and identify the projective identifications. Fern was angry at Roberta and not at Donald — why? As John pointed out with his question, Fern saw Roberta and Donald very differently, because of her projective identifications into them. Fern saw Roberta as bad and stupid, just as her mother viewed her when she was a child. She put all her badness and negative feelings into Roberta. Roberta then acted out Fern's feelings by being emotionally disturbed and acting stupid.Her emotional problems exacerbated what had been a genuine perceptual impairment. Because of her projective identification, Fern saw Donald as the good son who needed special attention and care, which was what Fern had seen between her own mother and her brother. Because Donald was not fully accepted by his mother, especially for those qualities that were like his natural father, he acted out his mother's feelings. He was good to her but repressed the rejected parts, turning them against himself by secretly taking drugs. Yet, his mother continued to hold him in high regard, even after his habit had been found out.What Fern did was re-create the family constellation in which she had grown up. Because both children were carrying out their mother's inner life, they were unable to grow and develop their own healthy structures. The next step in therapy was to get Fern to take back the split-off parts of herself: the devaluing of her daughter and the overvaluing of her son. This should help the children take back the part of themselves which they split off and repressed. In subsequent sessions, Fern and I explored what it was like growing up with her mother.She explained that her mother told her that she was stupid and that her brother was special. Fern's daughter told Fern that she was doing the same thing as her mother and that the daughter felt stupid. Fern responded that she had never meant to treat her daughter as stupid. She also realized that her son had many problems and was not so special. In doing so, Fern reclaimed her split-off parts, freeing her daughter to continue a healthier development. Her son was able to leave home and become more independent.

Character Analysis of Creon

After all of the confusion and corruption occurred, there is a new king for Thebes and that is Creon. In the Greek play, Antigone written by Sophocles, shows that Creon was a man of great complexity. He values friendship but Creon feels that friendship would not keep his city standing therefore â€Å"no one values friendship more highly than [he]; but [they] must remember that friends made at the risk of wrecking [their] Ship are not real friends at all. † (Sc. 1 L. 32-35) Creon is a strong person and he believes in the reality of the society and how there needs to be laws and regulations in order to conduct correctly. For example, he set the laws and he has to abide by the law so he has to punish Antigone. Creon does not believe that love is a force strong enough to fix problems but it is one of the causes of the problems, â€Å"go join them, then; if you /must have your love,/ Find it in hell! † (Sc. 2 L. 119-120) He doesn't have passion for the law breakers because that only leads to corruption but Creon has respect for the true warriors, â€Å"But whoever shows by word and deed that he is on the side of the State– he shall have my respect while he is living, and my reverence when he is dead,† (Sc. L. 52-55) instead of those who rebel against their own city. One example would be Eteocles and Polyneices, according to Creon, only Eteocles dies as a true warrior because he sided with his own city while his own brother, Polyneices, chose to rebel. Creon does not want to acknowledge Polyneices and so Polyneices is left to die a shameful death. Finally, Creon seems to be the type of man who holds grudges or even stubborn. He does not allow people to make amends once the mistake has been made. Creon is persistent that he is doing the right thing and â€Å"an enemy is an enemy, even dead. † (Sc. 2 L. 117) Creon is a character with many traits, like his value of friendship, and his respect to the warriors defending his city. Other traits may not be the best but they make Creon who he is, he does not believe in using love as an excuse to rebel, and he is stubborn because he thinks that once an enemy, always an enemy. There are many different traits of Creon that make him easier to distinguish from others.

Comparison of Ingre's 'Grande Odalisque' and Titan's 'Venus of Urbino' Essay

Comparison of Ingre's 'Grande Odalisque' and Titan's 'Venus of Urbino' - Essay Example The depiction of the female nudity in history of art exists in plenty; as does the archetype from which these nudes got styled. Titian and Ingres were deliberated as some of the most significant artists of their time; accredited with being broad - minded and conservative (Gardner 290). Noting the painters and paintings, they stand as genius on their own considering their individual contributions which are monumental to the corresponding movements. Through identifying these works through their separate form content and context, the two works will be compared and contrasted. It remains easy to describe Ingres as a consistent supporter of the Neo - Classical stylishness from his period in David's studio to the mid19th century. Ingres returned to Neo - Classics after having overruled the lessons of David, his teacher, and after having set the foundation for the emotional Romanticism expressiveness, the new style of young Delacroix and Gericault that Ingres would ultimately defend. Ingres' early Romantic penchants can be seen most legendarily in his work â€Å"La Grande Odalisque† painted in 1814. On Ingres’, Grande Odalisque, a languid nude is outlaid in a sumptuous interior. On its first glance this nude appears to follow in the convention of the Venetian masters, for instance, Venus of Urbino (1538) by Titian. However, upon closer scrutiny, it seems that this is not a classical setting. Instead, Ingres has generated a distant eroticism emphasized by its exotic context. This work is full of sensuality, idealization and mystery. The background seems quite undefined with a purported black portion that makes it more attractive. The different shades of bluish clothing and decorations make the picture more striking to the viewer. The woman’s gaze, like Titan’s Venus, is directed straight towards the spectator and the fan made of peacock feathers in her hand looks as if it has just been used. Odalisque position and size gives a deeper meaning although, it is much more than a naked lady staring at the viewer. She reflects her life as a concubine, on her duties . She is believed to have been part of the sultan’s harem, she was there to satiate the lascivious pleasures of the sultan, despite what she may want or feel. She reflects a woman with deep thoughts, complex feelings and emotions (Lewis 328). In the cognizance of a 19th century French male observer, the sort of individual for whom this picture was made from, the odalisque would have made up not only a harem slave, being itself a fallacy, but a set of desires and fears connected to the long aggression history between Islamic Asia and Christian Europe. Certainly, Ingres' porcelain sexuality is acceptable even to a progressively prudish French culture due to its subject's distance. While the Renaissance painter Titan veiled his eroticism in myths, Ingres covered his piece of desire in a murky exoticism. Some art historians suggest that colonial politics played a role too on the work. France was expanding its African and Eastern possessions, often brutally at this time (Gardner 4 41). The myth of the barbarian served the French who would then claim a moral authoritative. Incidentally, on clear look, anyone can notice something "wrong" with the figure's anatomy. Titian is deliberated to have been an outstanding Venetian painter of the 16th - century, and the former of the Venetian colorist and painterly tradition. He remains one of the significant figures in the Western art history. Tiziano Vercelli got born in the northern Venice, in 1477. He got trained by both Giorgione and Bellini, and after

BUSINESS ECONOMICS COURSEWORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

BUSINESS ECONOMICS COURSEWORK - Essay Example With cost-plus pricing, the firm can just increase the price. Price increase is possible due to the fact that at some point, the production costs of a product may not be clear in advance. This literally may have significant advantage in cases of supply contracts. Although cost-plus pricing strategy may have advantages, it also has remarkable drawbacks which include the following: ignoring the demand, image, and market positioning; favouring historical accounting costs rather than replacement value; applying standard output level to allocate fixed costs; offering few incentives for efficiency, as costs are passed off to customers; ignoring the role of customers and the value they drive; and creating a competitive disadvantage using average costs (Brickley, Smith & Zimmerman, 2009; BPP Learning Media, 2009, p.302; Holden & Burton, 2010). Perhaps, the most striking of all of these is on how the costs are clearly passed off to customers. Cost-plus pricing may therefore not that competitive in a marketplace where there are new entrants, especially those willing to compete with price by and lowering down their price offerings to generate a market share or acceptance. At some point, cost-plus pricing may trigger a less affinity (less demand) for a certain service or product offering in the long run as competition arises. Cost-plus pricing is a safer pricing strategy on the part of Bhagat Incorporated due to production costs that may not be clear beforehand. It is a natural practice that when a manufacturing company set the price of a good, the cost of labour is always taken into account (Brickley, Smith & Zimmerman, 2009; Krauss & Johnson, 2006, p.211; Campbell, 2003, p.167). Labour costs are categorised either direct or indirect (Sears, Sears & Clough, 2010, p.46). The indirect labour costs can be reduced (Appelbaum, 200, p151; Roderhorst, 2009, p.80). If Bhagat has so much increase in its indirect labour costs, then this could be

Toyota Brand Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Toyota Brand Analysis - Essay Example Fortification - the brand should carry a consistent image over time to reinforce its place in the consumer's mind and develop a special relationship with the consumer. Brand extensions can further fortify the brand, but only with related products having a perceived fit in the mind of the consumer. A company may have many brand names, but each group should fit well together. When Toyota wanted to compete in the luxury car market, a new brand called Lexus was created. This avoided muddying the established Toyota brand name, which represents value and economy, and removed any possible negative preconceptions about the Lexus name being cheap. The divergent fortunes of two automobiles made by the same manufacturer offer an unintended study of the power of brand strategy to alter behavior. Since 1989, both the Toyota Corolla and the Geo Prizm have been made by New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), a joint venture of General Motors and Toyota. While the two cars are virtual twins, the Corolla has had consistently stronger sales despite a higher price. How come "The strength of Toyota's brand allowed it to charge more," says The Economist. "Buyers thought a Toyota would be superior to a GM car in the same class, and so happily paid more." The effect of brand equity on profit and growth is striking. ... "Buyers thought a Toyota would be superior to a GM car in the same class, and so happily paid more." The effect of brand equity on profit and growth is striking. While both cars cost the same to make-about $10,300-Toyota sold 200,000 Corollas to dealers at $11,000 each, while GM managed to move only 80,000 Geo Prizms at $10,700 between 1990 and 1994, The Economist notes. The result: "Toyota made $128 million more than GM in operating profits from NUMMI, while its dealers made $107 million more than those of GM from the plant's products." Toyota Motor Corp. (TM ) is on pace to be the world's No. 1 auto maker by 2008. It produces nearly one of every six cars sold in the U.S., including nine models in the South and Midwest, where it employs 32,000 Americans. Even New York livery cab fleets, once largely made up of leathery Lincolns, now feature Toyota's Prius, the hit hybrid taking coastal cities by storm. Toyota largely remains "terra incognita" to American investors, while GM can still attract buyers even as it flirts with bankruptcy. "Toyota stock doesn't have the 'mind share' of GM or Ford," says John M. Novak, an auto analyst at Chicago's Morningstar Inc. "There's a perception that you can't invest in it [because] it's a Japanese company -- that you would require a special account." ( Business week) Toyota Strengths: In 2003 Toyota knocked its rivals Ford into third spot, to become the World's second largest carmaker with 6.78 million units. The company is still behind rivals General Motors with 8.59 million units in the same period. Its strong industry position is based upon a number of factors including a diversified product range, highly targeted marketing and a commitment to lean manufacturing and quality. The company makes a large range of

Supreme Court Rulings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supreme Court Rulings - Essay Example Perhaps the most important aspect of this case is that the decision of the court to convict Johnson was against his right to symbolic speech, and was in the interest of ‘keeping the peace’ and retaining the flag as a symbol of unity. The fact that Johnson was acting in the interest of freedom of speech, using the desecration of the flag to illustrate his perspective, was considered by some (but by no means all; the final decision by the Supreme Court was 5-4 in Johnson’s favor) to be against the First Amendment. The First Amendment was brought into question here because it suggests that any individual in the United States has the freedom of speech, but the issue here is that flag-burning is not a vocal act but a physical one. It was questionable for some whether Johnson’s act should have been protected by the First Amendment or not (). The decision of the Supreme Court led to the invalidation of laws prohibiting the burning of the flag in 48 out of the 50 s tates. The majority evidently found that flag-burning was inappropriate in many cases but not a legal issue, as Johnson would have been free to burn the flag in private. Additionally, flag-burning was not found to be a unique act, in that it should not be separated from the rulings of the First Amendment simply because it is not a vocal act; it is a act symbolic of freedom of speech. Those who were against the choice felt, however, that Johnson was being inappropriate, and that the flag is a sacred or revered object that needs to be protected. Many also felt that as flag-burning had the potential to cause outrage, it was in the interest of peace to ensure that punishment was given. The importance of this case is that it shows that freedom of speech is alive within the United States, despite the fact that this aspect of the First Amendment seems to protect acts that many Americans find unsavory. It is difficult to say which side was in the right here, as is evidenced by how close the ruling of the Supreme Court is. It seems sensible to protect the flag as it is an emblem of the United States, but freedom of speech is another sacred emblem. It seems necessary to uphold the values of both, although perhaps freedom is more valuable than the simple imagery of the flag. Lee v Weisman Lee v Weisman is one of the most important cases in U.S. history because it was the first Supreme Court case regarding the freedom of religion and prayer in schools. Weisman, the father of a child graduating from Nathan Bishop Middle School, sought a restraining order on a rabbi who was due to speak at his daughter’s graduation ceremony. This was refused, and the parents decided to attend the ceremony, despite the fact that it was voluntary. After the ceremony, the family continued to seek litigation, and the vote was decided 5-4 in the Weisman’s favor. The main reason for this decision is that the constitution forbids all types of coerced prayer (not just forced), despite the fact that this prayer was written to be nonsectarian and inclusive. The fact that the Weisman family had a choice in whether to attend the graduation ceremony was also not found to be a suitable defense, because it is such an important occasion that, despite the fact the choice was there, no real choice was offered. The thought of the opposition was that the prayer was ensured to illustrate the

Portfolio Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Portfolio Management - Essay Example The strategies on the other hand demands awareness of the market conditions and stock volatilities to decide on the investment strategies in order to maximize the returns. Since risk in investments is unavoidable, the management of portfolio helps to mitigate the risk with appropriate investment strategies. The various investment strategies for formation of a portfolio are given below. Diversification The investment in assets is characterized by risk and return. These are two types of risk, namely the systematic risk and the unsystematic risk. The systematic risks are the risks that appear due to uncertainties in the market condition. The unsystematic risks are due to the fluctuation of the performance of individual companies. The diversification strategy is used in portfolio investments in order to reduce the unsystematic risk. Through the formation of a portfolio containing investments on a wide range of assets reduce the risk of the overall portfolio due to positive and negative e ffects of the individual assets. The diversification strategy helps to obtain optimum return through diversification of risk. ... stematic market risk could not be mitigated, the use of non-correlating assets helps to reduce the overall risk of the portfolio with the optimization of returns. Leap Puts and other Option The use of Put options and the Long Term Equity Anticipation securities are alternative investment strategies adopted by the investor. There may be cases where the returns of the portfolio have increased in short period of time and is likely to fall due to market volatility. However, there may be anticipations of future rise of returns. The objective behind adoption of this strategy is to secure the higher returns obtained and at the same time not withdraw from the position of investment. The use of Put options enables the investor to enter into a contract of selling the security at a particular price on a future date. Thus the investor could hold on to their investments without allowing the gains achieved to be depleted. The LEAP Puts are used as long term investment strategies with the same obje ctive. Stop Losses This is another investment strategy in order to protect the portfolio from the risk of fall in the value of shares. The use of stop losses means that the stock would be automatically sold if the price of the share falls to the pre-fixed value of stop losses. The use of stop losses sells the low performing shares and provides an impulse to the investor to investment in shares that could replace the sold share in the portfolio. Dividends The use of information on dividend payments by the companies form part of the investment strategies. Especially in cases of market downturn, the information on dividend is used by risk-averse investors and an important to hedge their portfolio. The dividends paid by the companies are interpreted by the investors as indicators of strong

Discuss four reasons for the increase in International Joint Venture Essay

Discuss four reasons for the increase in International Joint Venture arrangements and support your analysis with specific examples from any business sector - Essay Example ventures are often formed between two entities to achieve certain economic objective and after achievement of such objectives they are often liquidated. Joint ventures are common in different industries and are formed for different purposes as all the parties to the Joint venture contribute one way or another for the purpose of achieving the objective. Joint ventures are therefore important in the sense that their formation allows companies to utilize each other’s strengths in achieving the desired strategic objectives. There are various benefits that organizations can derive from join ventures including sharing of technology and R&D facilities, developing new markets and sharing of risks spread over different markets as well as the expansion into new markets. However, despite the fact that international joint ventures offer such benefits but their failure ratio is significantly larger because most major international joint ventures failed to perform. This paper will discuss different reasons as to why international joint ventures are formed and potential benefits they provide to respective organizations by citing example from different business sectors where International joint ventures have actually been formed. â€Å"In general, a joint venture (â€Å"JV†) is an association of two or more entities (whether corporate, government, individual or otherwise) combining property and expertise to carry out a single business enterprise and having a joint proprietary interest, a joint right to control and a sharing of profits and losses.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"(Vaughan, 2009). The above definition indicates that a joint venture can be formed between different entities regardless of their legal status by taking benefit from each other’s expertise and property to perform a single business objective. However, all the entities in the joint venture also settle for gaining joint right to control the venture as well as share profits and losses arising out of taking that business activity. It

Alcohol Control Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alcohol Control Issue - Essay Example Heavy drinking causes lethal damage to the body where it is a risk factor for diseases like cancer, liver cirrhosis, and heart problems. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse also has negative and devastating social consequences. Alcoholics have high chances of getting divorced, are more vulnerable to domestic violence, struggle much with employment and live in absurd poverty (Boyle, 2013). One effect that an alcohol abuser cannot escape is the effect on personal relationships. The problem of alcoholism puts enormous strains to all the people surrounding the alcoholic. It mostly tasks family members and close friends with covering the alcoholic. The burden is covered between people who do not take alcohol and children suffer from trauma in case the alcoholic is a parent or caregiver. Alcohol abuse has damaging effects on the brain that include memory lapses, blackouts and other types of brain damage. With these adverse effects of alcoholism and alcohol abuse, alcohol control ways were established to minimize the effects on society (Boyle, 2013). Alcoholism is said to be a fatal illness whose medical cure is yet to be known. Alcohol control has been enacted right from its production, marketing as well as consumption. The control measures may also have effects on limiting competition and create a partial monopoly. This will in return increase profits for the ones that remain in the market. With some considerations, alcohol controls may, therefore, put some economic interests at stake. Professional means of alcohol control through rehab centers could also act effectively in reducing alcohol-related dangers (Boyle, 2013). The controls are therefore inevitable in this modern society. Some alcohol control methods include; Price of alcohol plays a major role in influencing the level of consumption and its subsequent related harm.

Humanities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 10

Humanities - Essay Example Apparently, tale one and tale three exemplify the theme of search for power as characters in the tales strain to achieve power. Tale one’s storyteller was Panfillo. The story reflects back during 400 AD. The hidden message was to criticize the Roman Catholic Church as it was practicing unlawful acts against individuals who had not subscribed to the Roman Catholic religion. The story is about a wicked businessperson named Ser Cepparello, however, most people referred to him as Ciapelleto due to his delinquent behavior. Ciapelleto had travel to Burgundy for business purposes and a favor to his friend Musciatto Franzesi. Unfortunately, Ciapelleto falls ill during his stay at Burgundy. Luckily, the Florentile brothers took and housed him until he recovered. Ciapelleto took advantage of the Florentile brothers and lies to them about his story. Unknowingly, the Friar believed him and revered him as a saint. In the story, the teller explains how people unknowingly upraise the Roman Catholic Church without knowing the evil part of the church (Kuhns, 516). The author expresses the theme of power by delineating how individuals, regardless of their action, strain to achieve power. Ciapelleto represents the Roman Catholic Church. He explains that the Roman Catholic Church is an unjust church as the leaders subject the believers to lies in order to achieve power and authority. Tale three in the Decameron also demonstrates the theme of search for power. The author for tale three was Filomena. Filomena expressed the theme of search for power using the co-existence among the Jews, Medieval, Boccaccio, and the Renaissance authors. Filomena had experienced the relationship levels among the groups (Kuhns, 512). For this reason, he wanted to depict the actual image of the ties. Apparently, most individuals among the groups had little or no information concerning the

Anwar Elsadat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Anwar Elsadat - Essay Example The second figure was Kemel Ataturk, who is known to have created the modern state of Turkey, by liberating it from the Ottoman Empire. Ataturk managed to lead Turkey from colonization and mainly, for impressively establishing a number of crucial civil service reforms. This shows that Sadat admired leaders who put citizen interests first. The third figure was Mohandas Gandhi. While touring Egypt in 1932, Gandhi preached what he was famously known for, the power of peaceful fight for justice. This shows that Sadat was an admirer of people who advocated for peace in combating a vice in society. The final figure was Adolf Hitler, and this was because Hitler was a rival to the British. Sadat was an anti- colonialist, thus he hated the British for what they were doing to his fellow countrymen (Meital 12). Sadat attended a military school, where he was taught math and science, and learned to analyze battles. This shows that Sadat was exposed to military training at a very young age, and was among the very first to have this privilege. His postings due to military training led him to meet with other young officers including Gamel Abdel Nasser, who was to become the first president of Egypt. Sadat with his revolutionary group, was determined to overthrow British rule. His active participation landed him in jail twice. Later on after taking over as president, Saddat at the aftermath of the Six Day War with Egypt, offered Israel a peace treaty. Here, we see how Sadat emulated his mentors. By going to jail due to his liberation efforts, he emulated Zahran’s courage, and by building Egypt and his efforts pertaining to the Suez Canal, he emulated Ataturk. By negotiating a peace deal with Egypt, he demonstrated his love for peace like Gandhi, and by his passionate dislike of the Britis h, he emulated his mentor, Hitler (Meital

Content Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Content Analysis - Essay Example This essay shall revolve around the thesis that news coverage in two websites would be different because of the specific social, cultural, and political undertones impacting on the website. Examples from evidence gathered shall help support this thesis. This essay shall gather its evidence for 10 days by browsing through news websites to peruse political and other news. Specific news items shall be chosen and then compared to other perspectives or news items from other websites. This process shall be carried out with different websites from western and Asian settings choosing within the time period for data gathering. A comparative analysis of the news articles shall follow this data gathering process. Main Body News terms and definitions There are different terms which need to be defined before this comparative analysis can proceed. Firstly, news agenda refers to the list of news items or topics which editors would choose to follow. The news values on the other hand refer to the imp ortance which is allocated on a certain news item. Sources are the individuals and other relevant items where the information would be gathered. Aljazeera and BBC These two news outlets are considered trusted international networks with the British Broadcasting Corporation being the most extensive news outlet in the world. It is considered a public corporation with measures undertaken in order to ensure its independence from the government (Briggs, 1985). It transmits to millions of homes worldwide, including hotels, resorts, and is now easily accessed via phones. Aljazeera on the other hand is a news outlet based on Qatar and was designed mostly to focus on Arab news and events (Seib, 2008). It is also the largest news outlet in the Middle East, mostly offering an Asian, mostly Middle East Asian perspective on the news. It also runs 24 hours a day with coverage in other countries expanding through the internet (Seib, 2008). This news outlet mostly highlights a less western influenc ed perspective on current events and affairs. Aljazeera and CNN In comparing the content of Aljazeera and CNN, the Aljazeera news provides a more international variety in its news while the CNN is more US and western focused (Flournoy and Stewart, 1997). Where other perspectives on the news are sought, the reader needs to go to the regional levels of their news outlet, including CNN News Asia where the Asian news can be seen. For Aljazeera, the focus is understandably the Middle East, however, they also include the international news in their front pages (Maalouf, 2008). News Agenda The news agenda is dominated by the Syria issue. In news outlets like CNN and Aljazeera, the threat of a nuclear arms threat from Syria has been discussed, and the position of the US on the issue has been dominant in the news agenda as several related articles have been seen in the past 10 days in these news outlets. The news agenda also includes various discussions and opinions on the Syria issue from t he perspective of the US and the rest of the world, including Britain, Russia, and Syria itself. The brewing nuclear threat has been emphasized in the articles, and seems to mimic the same pathway by which the Second Gulf War with Iraq eventually unfolded, with UN nuclear inspections being suggested by the international community and demands by the US President for the international community to take more decisive actions on the issue. UN inspections have been carried out on Syria, however, the international

Home Visit Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Home Visit Activity - Essay Example The mother is 25 years old named Jane. My friend recommended me to interview her for this task. In the planning process of this activity, I called a week in advance to see if she was willing to be interviewed. She agreed to the visit and we decided to carry out the activity on February 1 at 9 am. Although the time was set as per her consent I made a call before visiting her to make sure that the time is still suitable for her. The visit I visited Jane on the specified time. The visit started with a pleasant greeting to her and the baby. I went to wash my hands before holding the baby to give the impression of hygiene importance. To make the atmosphere friendly and light I introduced myself concisely and gave her a hand sanitizer as a gift for visitors. As per the phone conversation I expected a friendly but shy lady. However, Jane felt comfortable with me discussing her problems and circumstances. The purpose of the visit was to explore the facts which may be causing the baby girl to lose weight. The mother clearly stated that the baby was not gaining weight despite of her struggles and visits to different local doctors. The place where she lived was a small underdeveloped area with less educated and poor people surrounding it. She told about the frequent changes in medications in order to resolve this issue.

Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Organizational Behavior - Essay Example Everyone on the team was very responsible. As the team leader I assigned my teammates different tasks each with a specific timeline for delivery. All the deliverables of my teammates were completed on time. Completing tasks on time is extremely important to ensure a project does not fall behind. This team was very effective and creative. One of the reasons that the team had so many good ideas was due to the diverse composition of the team. Whenever any member of the team had trouble with their assignment the other team members would provide assistance. There was great teamwork among the members of the team. During the two weeks that the team worked together the members of the team never argued with each other and there was never any friction. Arguments among team members are typically counterproductive. The team was able to achieve synergy. Synergy occurs when the whole is greater than the sum of its

Diet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Diet - Essay Example Humans are omnivorous in nature, but both psychological and social factors have a significant influence on the dietary habits of individuals or a community, some of which may be useful and others harmful. For the purpose of this paper, ethnic/cultural and educational factors will be examined under the social angle, while memory and attitude factors will be discussed under the psychological aspect. Such factors strongly influence the deliberate choice of food intake. Indeed, diet has its detrimental effects on health when not undertaken properly and as per guidance from professionals. Individuals wishing to undergo a diet will be restricting themselves in what they drink and eat aiming at losing weight or becoming healthier (Conner & Norman 2005). Although healthy dieting averts complications like diabetes, the partakers may also fall victim to various negative outcomes like the weakening of the immune system. Such negative results deter the body’s ability to manage the changes dieting causes and how well it adapts to new behaviors. The understanding of the variables encountered in the body enables dieting people to decide their failure or success. For example, calories are essential in providing energy and supporting bodily functions. However, if consumed excessively during a diet, they not only increase the body’s fat content, but body weight as well. A deficit leads to lack of energy and constant fatigue. Carbohydrates are also a source of energy, but failure to distinguish between healthy sources is detrimental. Rather than getting the supply from sugary foods like sweets and soft drinks, they should be obtained in a more readily available form like corn, rice and cereals. Over indulging and under indulging in certain nutrients leads to either dangerous and unhealthy weight gain or loss. Life threatening conditions then set in, such as binge eating, bulimia and anorexia. In anorexia, a dieter is tormented by the fear of getting overweight, and in bulimia, a dieter usually ends up in recurring cycles of purging and binge eating. The dieter abuses diuretics and laxatives in a bid to acquire desired looks. Below is an examination of social and psychological factors and their influence on health. Cultural/ethnic Factors Growing up in distinctive traditions, cultural values and beliefs determines diet choices and how food is prepared among diverse communities in diverse sections of the world, with each ethnic group having their own culturally based food habits (Shepherd 1999). Therefore, different cultures, which are further embedded in ethnicity and religion, produce varied health risks in different people. As an example, African Americans are prone to diabetes and heart diseases mainly due to their cuisine. On the other hand, although they cannot be completely written off, such diseases are less prevalent among the East Asian cultures as their cuisine is mainly composed of vegetables, seafood and low-fat foods (Rubin 2004). This is because some diets are already a part of some nations’ culture. Migrating populations may, however, be an exception, as seen among South Asian women who moved to Scotland and recorded an increased intake of fats that was associated with a higher body mass index and more incidences of heart disease. In the same fashion, food is a key aspect of the Mexican

Gucci, Louis Vuitton And Vertu Essay Example for Free

Gucci, Louis Vuitton And Vertu Essay Creating luxury brands is a difficult marketing exercise. It requires heavy investment in marketing communications, excellent product/service quality, but above all these brands have to try to remain fashionable, which is notoriously difficult. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu are three successful so-called luxury brands, that retail to the high-end market. Both Gucci and Louis Vuitton are well-established brands that have been around for decades, even centuries. However Vertu, is a relatively new kid on the block, having only entered the luxury communications marketplace in 2000. Vertu sells expensive mobile phones that retail for thousands of pounds. Only a handful of brands can create a high status appeal among the world’s super rich (e.g. Ferrari, Rolex, etc.). These brands have to adopt innovative marketing strategies in order to succeed in this dynamic environment. What do they do differently to create this luxury appeal? Marketers are moving from the traditional marketing mix approach towards greater use of experiential marketing. This is where customers are treated as both rational and emotional individuals that seek ‘experiences’ from products. The key is to engage customers in a memorable experience around the product/service, developing a relationship with customers and creating an affinity with them. The central aim of experiential marketing is to create an emotional attachment between the brand and the customer. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu provide this experience through their unique product image and features, their outstanding service, their exclusive retail environment, their pricing, their selective channels of distribution, their distincive packaging and the overall benefits associated with their unique brand images. To promote a product to the high-market it is important that the customers have the right experience so that the desired feelings, images and perspectives beco me linked with the product/service and their marketing programme. It is necessary for the brand to convey a personality that the customer can relate to, or wish to aspire to and then communicate this to others.  Consumers of these brands feel that they too are fashion and design conscious, that they too are wealthy, and that they are part of the â€Å"in-crowd†. In many cases, luxury brands are tapping into the â€Å"aspirational† buyer market; luxury brands are offering products at different price points in the hope that sometime during the customers’ lifetime they will trade up to their more exclusive ranges. However, the risk of ‘democratising’ the brand is that they may lose their aura of exclusivity – as it can be obtained by anyone. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu rely on the imagery of their products to appeal to the high-end market. The prestigious pricing of their products creates a high quality image and positions the goods in the mind of the consumer as a status symbol. The success of Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu can be attributed to quality of service, brand image, retail environment, management structure and above all their ability to combine these factors to create an exclusive experience. We will now take a closer look at how these companies became what they are today, while focusing on unique product features and image, their brand imagery, retail environments and channels of distribution. Gucci Gucci has experienced many changes since it opened its first luggage company in Florence in 1921. At first, it mainly sold only luxury leather goods. Within a few years the store became popular among international and affluent clientele. By the 1950’s Gucci’s global presence was established with its first store in the US in New York. By the 1970’s stores were opened in London, Paris, Palm Beach, Hong Kong and Tokyo. It has become a truly global luxury brand. Today, Gucci has over 415 stores worldwide and in 2008 alone, reported sales of  £3.4 billion (an increase of 5.5% on the previous year). Gucci was also ranked number 41 in the Interbrand ‘Best Global Brand’Survey 2009. The high fashion industry is notoriously competitive with rivals such as Hermes, Dior, Chanel, and Prada, all vying for a slice of the action. This increased competition has resulted in the Gucci group becoming a multi-brand company, which consists of several well known brands, such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Yves Saint Laurent. While the Gucci brand represents the core business of the Gucci Group (accounting for 65% of total revenue), the Gucci Empire now consists of eleven leading brands and the channel of distribution differs for each. For example, Yves Saint Laurent uses not only directly operated stores but also points of sale in leading  department stores mainly based in Europe to reach a wider range of customers. A major influence on the success of Gucci in the 90’s can be attributed to the appointment of leading designer Tom Ford. He joined Gucci in 1990 as the company’s Womenswear Designer and became Creative Director of Gucci. With Tom Ford’s vision, Gucci’s image was reinvented. He was responsible for product lines, store image and store design. In March 1995, Tom Ford’s first collection caught the attention of the press by utilising sex and glamour. Within a year of Tom Ford’s launch of his new collection, Gucci’s profits rose by 90% and the company is now worth nearly $500 million. However, Ford vacated his position in the Gucci Group in 2004 due to issues of control in the renewal of contracts, issues which could not be resolved between the two parties. 32-year-old Frida Giannini, who originally joined Gucci in 2002 as Handbag Design Director now serves as Creative Director for the entire Gucci brand and to date she served the company well, transforming Gucci classics into modern, successful designs. In addition to the role she plays in the creation of new Gucci products, Giannini immerses herself in other aspects of the business; she has taken an active role in developing new design concepts for Gucci stores, as well as taking responsibility for the creative direction of all advertising campaigns. She has also been responsible for the brand’s increased use of celebrities to promote the brand, including Drew Barrymore and Clare Danes for their jewellery campaigns and singers Rihanna and Madonna for their Unicef initiatives. So what is the key to Gucci’s success? The essence of Gucci is its exclusivity. The brand portrays a sexy and vibrant image, which is communicated through their designs, fashion shows and advertising. The importance of the Gucci brand’s positioning is that it is distinctive and has an aura of exclusivity amongst its target audience. The image and aura of prestige surrounding Gucci gives added value to their products. This is created through advertising, innovative designers and the whole experience of buying Gucci. Gucci uses controversial advertising such  as the promotion of their perfume ‘Opium’ with a naked image of Sophie Dahl. This caused uproar in Britain and was banned by the advertising standards, as it accounted for a third of all complaints about poster adverts. However this campaign managed to win advertising awards throughout Europe. Gucci’s advertisement in Vogue also created controversy with an image of a woman with the letter ‘G’ imprinted in her pubic hair. These illustrations helped gain media coverage for the campaigns and boosted brand awareness. Typically, the Gucci brand tries to appeal to women in their 20’s or 30’s with high quality, fashionable products, and those who aspire to be part of the jet set lifestyle. This image attracts people who feel they can relate to this profile or who wish to aspire to this image. Gucci achieves this in many ways; stores are located on expensive high street locations, thus attracting affluent consumers. The window displays are provocative and the interior has a free flow layout as its visually appealing and allows consumers to browse comfortably. The dà ©cor is rich and classic to add to the atmosphere of the store. The salespeople are model-like, smartly dressed all in black and ready to assist consumers in any way. Even the security guard is suitably dressed to add to the image. The distinctive Gucci packaging concludes the experience. Gucci has directly operated stores to ensure that they retain control over their products and can build their image around these stores. About 70% of sales are done in Gucci stores alone. It is also possible to view and purchase Gucci products online, thus reaching a far greater target audience. Louis Vuitton The famous brand started out back in the 1850’s. The founder was made famous for crafting luggage for Napoleon. From theses roots the brand has become synonymous with luggage and in particular handbags. Louis Vuitton is very much the envy of the industry, recording an operating margin of 45%, whilst the industry average is only 25% for luxury accessories. The company is famous for its handbags, but also sells a range of wallets, briefcases, eyeglass cases etc. The brand is estimate to be worth approximately $19 billion. Louis Vuitton stand out from their peers through their relentless focus on product quality. All products are extensively tested to make sure that they can withstand wear and tear, and that there are no imperfections. The company has blended mechanisation and handmade craftsmanship into their products, boosting their productivity, maintaining that high level of product quality, whilst still holding onto the allure of handmade quality. All Louis Vuitton products contain the eponymous LV initials and many of the products use the brown Damier and Monogram Canvas materials, which were first used by the company in the 80’s. The company markets its products through its own stores, which allows it to control quality and pricing. In maintaining the prestige image of the Louis Vuitton brand, the company operates a pricing integrity strategy amongst its entire distribution network; a Louis Vuitton bag is never reduced in price and there are no sale periods. The company offers customised products such as personal engraving on hand luggage pieces, boosting its appeal further. Furthermore, the company sponsors elite sporting events such as yachting and motorsport events. This is in effort to match the audience of sponsorship property with the target audience of the brand itself. Like other premium brands, such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton has also turned to the use of celebrity’s to market the brand, with the likes of Madonna, Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bundchen featuring in advertising campaigns. Over recent years, the brand has tried to modernise its image by utilising the talents of young designers and artists to rejuvenate the image of some of their products, whilst maintaining the classic designs. An example of this was the use of designer Marc Jacobs who created a limited edition handbag range with featured graffiti over the monogram pattern in 2001. Other limited editions patterns created by designers for the brand include the Monogram Multicolore range and the Cherry Blossom Range, which were only made available to VIP customers, further enhancing the exclusivity of the brand. Hermes, a key rival of Louis Vuitton, create even greater exclusivity by having a three-year waiting list before one of their bags can be obtained. These bags are handcrafted, adding to their appeal even further. The reinvention and rejuvenation of Louis Vuitton in more recent years has assisted the brand in attracting a younger target audience, thereby increasing customer base. However no one designer has eclipsed the powerful brand image of Louis Vuitton itself, unlike other design brands. Vertu Vertu is a unique luxury brand specialising in top of the range, deluxe mobile phones. Established in 2000, the Vertu brand was a big gamble for Nokia, its parent company, to take. Nokia, previously the world’s most successful mobile phone manufacturer, developed this new brand as a way of creating an exclusive luxury brand in mobile telephony. However, Nokia does not publicise the linkage between Nokia and Vertu and therefore does not gain from any brand linkages or associations. In essence, their products are jewellery-like mobile telephones. Vertu headquarters are located in the United Kingdom with several offices situated worldwide including: Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. As a new entrant to  the market, Vertu’s main focus was on creating product awareness among the elite and to create a brand that is exclusive and luxurious. Vertu utilises craftsmanship, precision engineering, high-end technology and a unique personal service dimension to create a dis tinctive luxury brand. Vertu’s concept is to make mobile phones in the same vein as prestigious watch brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe. Mobile phones typically retail for around  £100  £400 pounds, however Vertu is aimed at the top end of the market, those who can afford to spend thousands on a mobile phone. For example, the most expensive model ever made by the brand is the Signature Cobra, which retailed at a massive â‚ ¬217,000! The most expensive ‘regular’ model made by Vertu is the Signature Diamond, at a more affordable â‚ ¬62,000. These phones are typically made using precious metals like gold, silver or platinum along with fine Italian leather for better grip and have jewelled bearings. When people buy a Vertu they are buying a badge of exclusivity, luxury and uniqueness. It was believed that if watches, pens or even wallets can be transformed into luxury brands, then why not a mobile phone. With mobile phone penetration constantly on the increase and having surpassed 100% in Europe alone, phone manufacturers need new strategies to get people to buy newer phones. Newer technology was a prime motivator in consumers buying a new phone. Vertu have taken a different approach; they want their phones to be status symbols. For a technology product, this is a first, as products lose their value very quickly, with constant technological advances offering new and improved product features. Rather than launch their new product range at technology shows, which is the industry norm, Vertu instead prefers to become associated with fashion shows, launching for example their new range during Paris fashion week. Thus this brand is aiming to create a fashion brand rather than a technology brand, in an attempt to woo people through its fashion status. A big selling point associated with these phones is the Vertu Concierge Service. Vertu Concierge provides specialised travel assistance, allowing users to access and reserve restaurants, hotels, concert tickets and much  more. Having a Vertu mobile phone allows users to access this exclusive concierge service, 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world, where they will try to assist the every whim of the user. This service is free for the first year, but you have to pay a subsequent subscription of  £500 per annum to use the service. Vertu also offers a customisation service thus truly differentiating itself and allowing the firm to earn even higher margins. Also the company offers free upgradability when new technology emerges. The company has established flagship stores in exclusive shopping districts, so that it was close to other exclusive brands, thus benefiting from a halo effect. Vertu has developed a unique buying experience by creating a â€Å"gallery-like† feel to its retail environments. In order to create this new level of luxury to mobile communication retailing, Vertu focused an enormous amount of attention onto store layout. Each display case is made from architectural glass, limestone textures and floors combined with warm lighting, ultimately enhancing the ambience of the store. Minimalist design was used in order to create the illusion of space. In keeping with the element of exclusivity, original artworks were commissioned and exhibited throughout the stores. Selections of short films are also projected in-store. By offering a first class personal service combined with extensive product knowledge, Vertu has enhanced their image of reliability and expertise. Vertu announced the opening of its flagship stores in Paris and Singapore in October 2002. It has since opened new channels of distribution, with over 600 retail outlets worldwide and 400 employees and it intends to continue to build on this. Along with their stores in Paris and Singapore, Vertu has Client Suites in London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore and also has points of sale located in some of the world’s leading department stores and fine jewellers. The company were extremely selective when choosing suitable retail channels. They sought department stores that catered for an international client base, and who target very affluent shoppers. Stores must have a global reputation of offering quality and luxury across all product ranges and whose philosophy of high product knowledge and excellent personal service are consistent with that of Vertu’s. For example, Vertu entered into a partnership with a renowned Hong Kong jeweller, King Fook  Jewellery. The introduction of these new speciality stores has made the Vertu range of phones more accessible to its exclusive client base in Hong Kong. As a direct result of this new partnership, Vertu’s Signature Collection is now available in a range of precious metals, such as gold and platinum. To date the company has entered into a number of joint ventures such as Vertu and Goldsmiths located at Harrods in London, Trafford Centre in Manchester, and Bluewater, Kent. This partnership was established to gain greater market share in the UK marketplace. Vertu phones are also available to purchase through their website. With the aid of this distribution channel, customers can now personalise their mobile phone to their own individual tastes Conclusion In order to retain product exclusivity it is clear that you need to provide an excellent product and exceptional service experience, as this creates an emotional attachment between the customer and the brand. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu have made this experience possible through their distinct products and services, their prestigious pricing (thus indicating their superb quality), their exclusive retail environment and their selective channels of distribution. Maintaining that fashion status and aura of exclusivity is of primary concern to these exclusive luxury brands. For example, the fashion brand Burberry has now become synonymous with the infamous â€Å"chav† subculture in Britain. This once fashion icon brand of the country elite has now be adopted as the brand of choice for thousands of working class Britons, devaluing the brand amongst the fashion elite. The emergence of the so-called â€Å"chav† subculture has garnered the Burberry brand unwanted press coverage. The Ben Sherman brand also fought hard to overcome its association with ‘yob’ culture; similarly Doc Martins were associated with skinheads. By extending their brands to items such as baseball caps, perfumes etc. it can diminish the exclusiveness of a label, sacrificing the brand equity for increased revenue. It is evident that Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu use different promotional  strategies. For instance, Gucci incorporates controversial issues into their marketing strategy to promote brand imagery, Louis Vuitton utilises celebrity endorsements, whereas Vertu concentrates on the benefits and quality of product features. However, all brands are consistent when it comes to retail environment and channels of distribution. The store design and layout plays a crucial role in creating an image of exclusivity to appeal to the high-end market. It is essential to have alignment of the prospective target market expectations of a store offering and the identity that the brand wants to communicate. Companies targeting the high-end market must create the illusion of exclusivity, while generating a seductive atmosphere, appealing to the senses. Once blended together, these elements will help form a pleasurable and distinctive experience that will differentiate your product line from that of your competitors. Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Vertu use exclusive channels of distribution to ensure greater control. This control enables them to exercise greater flexibility on their product ranges and the ability to adjust to the changing market efficiently. This adds to the image of exclusivity and quality of the products. Therefore it can be concluded that in order for a product to develop and retain its exclusivity, marketers must create an overall experience that appeals to and attracts the high-end market.

Hindu wedding ceremony Essay Example for Free

Hindu wedding ceremony Essay With reference to a Hindu wedding ceremony, describe and explain the many points of symbolism. Ritual is very important within the Hindu religion. If ritual is performed correctly, good karma will follow and if not, the opposite will occur. There are whole books dedicated to ritual such as the Veda, the oldest scripture in the world. Key factors in making the right match include the partner being Hindu, also preferably from the same caste and compatible horoscopically. Also, the horoscopes show what the best date for the wedding to take place is. Although India is a large country and weddings vary, most key points are shared. In India the wedding itself would be at the brides home but in England a hall is booked. In preparation for the wedding, henna is used to decorate her hands and feet lasting many weeks symbolising her entry into her marriage. A red spot is painted called a tilaka showing she has been blessed by god. She is wearing a red sari, the colour of happiness, with gold jewellery, the best she can afford and black paint around her eyes called kajal. The groom gives her a ring that she wears on her toe. The groom will wear a kurta-pajana; a lose fitting top and trousers and a veil of beads. The bride and grooms parents will worship Ganesh and the family deities asking them to be present at the wedding and make sure everything goes to plan. Throughout the ceremony itself the priest keeps a fire burning by pouring ghee into the flames symbolising the presence of the Gods. He also throws rice and spices into the fire symbolising fertility. The bride offers puja to the deities and then goes into a separate room to offer private worship to Parvati and Shiva asking for a long marriage and children, preferably sons. When the groom arrives at the place of the wedding, the brides mother and the priest meet him at the entrance with a sacred light to ward off any evil spirits. The priest prays to Vishnu and Lakshmi and together, the priest and brides mother lead the groom into the place of the wedding. The brides dad then gives him honey symbolising a sweet welcome and the priest recites a mantra from the Yajur-Veda. The brides family give her away to the grooms family. This can be compared to the Christian Wedding in which the brides father gives her way to the groom, the difference being, Hindu weddings are not just about the people getting married, but also each of their families who are as much involved. The bride and groom stand facing each other while the priest ties cloth around grooms neck and attaches it to brides sari representing unity. Then blessings are sung and the guests shower rice over the couple. The father of the bride then places her right hand into the palm of the groom. The father then asks the groom to follow his dharma -religious duty, artha -earning money in an honest manner and karma -the enjoyment of pleasures, with moderation. The groom says to the bride I hold your hand in the spirit of the dharma we are both husband and wife. The wife then steps onto a stone. This symbolises her decision to try to get though all problems they may come across throughout their marriage. Then the couple takes seven steps around the sacred fire (saptapadi); this is essential according to the Law Code of Manu. Each step represents a different thing: food, power, prosperity, wisdom, children, health and friendship. While taking these steps the husband says to the wife With utmost love to each other may we walk togetherMay we make our minds united, of the same vows and of the same thoughts. I am the wind and you are the melody. I am the melody and you are the words and on the last step the couple say in unison Into my will I take thy heart. Thy heart shall follow mine. And the heart of mine be yours. The brides bothers pour barley into the couples hands that are then poured into the scared fire symbolising the fact that they will work together for the benefit of society. The husband then marks his wifes parting with red kum-kum powder. -This is the sign of a married woman. The groom places a black necklace called a mangalsutra around the brides neck representing the union between the two families. Also, black beads are used to ward off evil spirits. If the wedding is in daytime the couple will look at the sun to be blessed, if it is night-time they will look at the Polestar, asking that their love will shine as bright and last as long. Elders and the priest ending the ceremony then bless the couple and the guests then take part in a huge feast. When the wife enters her husbands house for the first time she must kick over a metal pot of grain into the house symbolising prosperity. Finally, the bride is given a new first name showing her new beginning. 1) ii) In a Hindu society what activities, arrangements, and advertisements might eventually lead to a marriage? According to Hindu scriptures, basically, you must not search for your own partner, and when you do want a partner it must be the one your family arranges for you to marry. Therefore strictly speaking courtship is not to be done. In the past, matches have been made between two people before they were even born. Child marriage would often take place, and still does although it has been made illegal. The legal age of marriage in India is 18 for girls and 21 for boys. Because of this law being passed, the people in question now have more choice in their partner. When looking for a suitable partner, usually, the person in questions parents will begin their search by telling their friends who will then circulate the news to other families, telling them details of looks, varna, age, caste, education, financial situation and if it is a more modern arrangement, personality and interests. In the past, the man would visit the girls house and she would come in with her eyes downcast for a few seconds and then leave again. In these more modern times, both families will meet and sit down to talk about it. If the two people seem compatible serious negotiations will take place. Both families will get their family priests to study the horoscopes of the two people and if they match, a suitable date for the wedding may be chosen. Then the two families may agree to let them court with restrictions. If a suitable partner cannot be found, the family may decide to turn to placing an advertisement in the newspaper, or turn to an agency. Advertisements in papers for brides or grooms are very common in India. Sometimes someone will meet somebody they would like to marry at college, work, or a similar environment. Because the majority of the time someone is attracted to another person with the same kind of background, their parents will approve of the marriage because the person chosen has come from the same caste etc. If a match is decided, a dowry must be agreed. -This is an illegal practice, but is still sometimes done. A dowry is a payment given to the grooms family by the brides family because the grooms family now has to look after and pay for the bride. Because of the weddings expense, the bride may find it quite difficult to get together enough money to pay what the groom has asked for and the marriage may therefore be called off. Some Hindu families now demand dowry free weddings. Finally, once all has been agreed, the wedding will take place. 2) a) Explain why, from a religious perspective, i) it is considered important for a Hindu to marry a Hindu, Within the Hindu religion it is considered very important for a Hindu to marry another Hindu. The main reason for this is because marriage in Hinduism is not seen as a lifestyle choice but a duty and religious stage of life, from student, the first ashrama, to householder, the second ashrama according to the Varna-ashrama-dharma. When married, a Hindu has the opportunity to achieve three goals: A release from all basic human desires through marriage and having children. A contribution to society though hard work. The duty of carrying out whatever demands his particular caste places upon him. The 13th saskara is reached when a Hindu marries. Marriage in Hinduism is quite obviously a religious action. Therefore in not marrying a Hindu, you cannot easily for-fill these tasks given to you. You can preserve the purity of your religion and caste by marrying in the traditional way. By marrying a Hindu, you will have your horoscopes compared, will have the same religious state of mind, and are therefore compatible. If two Hindus marry, the families will get along and there will be no feuds. You will keep your parents happy by marrying a fellow Hindu in the correct manner. If you do not, there may be a major disagreement in which your family may not ever fully forgive you. They may even believe that in abandoning the correct tradition of marriage, you are abandoning the Hindu religion. If you marry a Hindu you will gain respect from the Hindu society whereas if you dont there may be a lot of disrespect and gossip about you. Your children will be brought up to believe the Hindu faith and will not be confused of which parent religion he or she should follow. He or she will learn all the correct rituals. The eldest son will light his fathers funeral pyre as Hinduism states. The Hindu marriage, as shown in question one, is full of symbolism and if this ritual is formed correctly good karma will follow. In fact large parts of Hinduism itself are all about ritual and tradition. So if you do not marry a Hindu, all this will be lost, bad Karma will follow and you will never be released from samara, the series of births, deaths and re-births and atman will never be rejoined with Brahmin. -This is a Hindus main goal and therefore it is essential to marry a Hindu. ii) being married is important in Hindu society, Being married is important in the Hindu society. This is because marriage in Hinduism is not seen as a lifestyle choice but a duty and religious stage of life, from student, the first ashrama, to householder, the second ashrama according to the Varna-ashrama-dharma. When married, a Hindu has the opportunity to achieve three goals: A release from all basic human desires through marriage and having children. A contribution to society though hard work. The duty of carrying out whatever demands his particular caste places upon him. The 13th saskara is reached when a Hindu marries. Marriage in Hinduism is quite obviously a religious action. Therefore in not marrying, it is impossible to for-fill your dharma. By having a Hindu marriage correctly good karma will follow. Large parts of Hinduism itself are all about ritual and tradition. So if you do not marry, all this will be lost, bad Karma will follow and you will never be released from samara, the series of births, deaths and re-births and atman will never be rejoined with Brahmin. -This is a Hindus main goal and therefore it is essential to marry. iii) it is important to consult with all members of the family when the marriage is being arranged. It is important to consult all members of the family when a marriage is being arranged. The main reason for this is because when a marriage takes place is not just between the bride and groom but both families as well. Also by asking all members of the family you can ensure a good match in marriage. If anything goes wrong there will be shame upon the family and therefore all must be consulted. 2) b) Explain the response of Hinduism to the moral problems of courtship. According to Hindu scriptures, basically, you must not search for your own partner, and when you do want a partner it must be the one your family arranges for you to marry. Therefore strictly speaking courtship is not to be done. Romance, traditionally was only for the Gods. There are certain exceptions however, as Hinduism has had to change with the times and become more flexible and acceptant of modern practices. For instance, once an arranged marriage has been agreed to and the couple are engaged they can announce it and can therefore openly walk in the street holding hands and go to the cinema or such like unaccompanied without being gossiped about by Hindu society. They may not sleep together or mover in together before marriage though. This is because according to the Varna-ashrama-dharma sex is restricted to the householder stage of life and must not be performed in any of the other three stages of life. 3) In Hinduism, marriages are arranged. Do you agree or disagree with the system? Give reasons for your answer. Why would a Hindu agree or disagree with you? Although love marriages are becoming more common within Hinduism, the majority of the time, parents arrange their childrens marriages for them. Marriage is not seen as an optional lifestyle extra but a religious stage in life and therefore it is said that you should love the one you marry, not marry the one you love. Elders are said to be older and therefore wiser and more experienced whereas their children are said to be immature and do not know enough about the world to make a sound choice when it comes to life partners. On the other hand, if your parents make the wrong match and you and your husband have a complete personality clash once your married you have to spend the rest of your life trying to grow to love someone that you really dont get on with. A Hindu would argue then that your horoscopes are compatible with your partners and therefore why wouldnt you get along? If you let your family arrange your marriage for you, you will make them happy. If you do not, there may be a major disagreement in which your family may not ever fully forgive you. They may even believe that in abandoning the tradition of arranged marriages, you are abandoning the Hindu religion. If you have an arranged marriage you will gain respect from the Hindu society whereas if you dont there may be a lot of disrespect and gossip about you. I feel a very important aspect of a relationship is trust. A problem that may arise when marring someone that you do not know all that well is that the two of you will probably not immediately trust each other and the relationship will suffer because of it. Also, sexually, you do not know each other yet are expected to immediately have a healthy sex life as oppose to gently easing into these things. You may feel awkward in being physical with someone you do not have solid trust in. In support of arranged marriages, a person searching for the perfect partner: the one may never find this person. -This person may not even exist. If you have an arranged marriage you know you will have a wedding and not spend half of your life looking for a husband/wife. With the wedding itself, there are many traditional symbolic gestures that must be performed and little room left for individuality. On the other hand a Hindu marriage is full of symbolism and if this ritual is formed correctly good karma will follow. In fact large parts of Hinduism itself are all about ritual and tradition. So if you do not marry in the correct manner, all this will be lost, bad Karma will follow and you will never be released from samara, the series of births, deaths and re-births and atman will never be rejoined with Brahmin. -This is a Hindus main goal and therefore it is essential to have an arranged marriage. You do not really know this person you will spend the rest of your life with. Your husband/wife may have a problem such as gambling, a health condition or an alcohol addiction that you did not previously know about. In love marriages, you have usually been with and lived with your partner for several years before getting married and you therefore will almost certainly know every detail about him/her. After weighing up the points for and against marriage, although I can see from a Hindus point of view why arranged marriages are a good thing, I have one major disagreement. A Hindus main argument for arranged marriages is that it is a religious stage of life and not a lifestyle choice. As I am not Hindu, I do not believe this or other Hindu beliefs to be true. Therefore I personally disagree with arranged marriages. I feel that to marry, you must first be in a loving, longstanding relationship with a strong bond of trust and love. Marriage, to me, is something that shows commitment and love between two people and I find the concept of arranged marriages quite absurd. If to me, marriage is a gesture showing a couples love and therefore surely the couple must be in love before taking vows of their love to one another?