Monday, September 30, 2019

What would be the Global Benefit?

The gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ has been growing steadily over time. The statistics are heartrending. Of the world’s adult population, 2% own greater than 50% of the world’s household wealth. Additionally, the upper 1% of the world’s adult population, as of the year 2000, owned about 40% of all the worlds’ assets. Further, 10% of the world’s richest people account for 85% of the world’s wealth. Sadly, the bottom 50% of the world’s adult population only manages 1% of the world’s wealth.These statistics can only be described as dismal (Davies, Sandstrom, Shorrocks & Wolff, 2006). According to the World Economic and Social Survey carried out in the year 2006, the growth of the world’s developing countries is dependent on domestic policies as well as the regional environment and global economic environment (Reducing International Inequality, 2006). Since it was found that developing c ountries are growing at a much less rate than their developed counterparts as far as technological advances are concerned, changes need to be made to make growth and development feasible.These developing countries are finding it difficult to come up with new activities that will strengthen the countries economy (Reducing International Inequality, 2006). Some of the changes that need to be made include the following: There is a need for macroeconomic stability with does not just mean low inflation, but includes the avoidance of fluctuations in business cycles as well as financial crises and external imbalances. This will increase investment and encourage growth within the country (Reducing International Inequality, 2006).The developing countries will also need to create new institutional reforms, guarantee property rights and create new markets. Institutional frameworks and regulations that are needful for the flourishing of markets must also be provided. The necessary public resourc es to ensure a thriving market should be put in place and rules must be fair across the board (Reducing International Inequality, 2006). Globalization has done a great job of opening up governments to the idea of a free-market. This in turn has opened up new opportunities in global trade as well as investment.With new markets comes a new potential for production to meet the demand, hence more income for the individual and the country (What is globalization? ). Globalization may help reduce the economic imbalances by renegotiating barriers that may be there in commerce, thereby establishing favorable agreements that will encourage trade in services, goods and investment. This is great for fostering foreign partnership with different corporations setting up shop in a developing country of choice bringing, employment opportunities and skills transfer to the people of the land which they can use in the future.This then increases their household wealth and raises the standards of the peo ple closing the inequality gap. Technology also has a great role to play. The internet for instance has made it possible for many people in developing countries to engage in e-commerce (What is globalization? ). This has transformed the economic lives of many people, especially computer literate youth. The advantages of information technology are vast and touch the lives of investors, consumers and businesses. People in any nation are able to learn about opportunities in a timely manner, which allows them to pursue the said opportunities faster.Additionally, the analysis of economic trends is faster. Collaboration and communication with partners in far away countries is instant and assets can be transferred at the click of a button. All these are ways that globalization opens up developing countries to opportunities all over the world and if maximized, these opportunities can lead to economic uplifting. (What is globalization? ). One cannot forget those that have no access to the in ternet though, or cannot afford it. According to the World Development Report 2007, majority of the worlds poor depend on agriculture for their livelihood.75% of the poor people in the world live in rural areas, of these 86% are dependent on agriculture (Boyne, 2007). Therefore one cannot speak of the development of wealth equality without addressing the issue of agriculture. According to this report, in order to meet the millennium development goal of reducing poverty and hunger by 50% by the year 2015 in these poor developing countries, agricultural development is a must. In order to make agriculture the mainstay of rural development it is important that the local authorities in any country make the environment suitable and supportive.Additionally, fair rules trade both nationally and internationally must be established, mitigating climatic changes as well as adopting to them and benefiting the poor (Boyne, 2007). The US being counted among the developed and richest countries in t he world is often called upon to assist or give aid to countries that are less fortunate. The money used for such funding is gained from the American tax payer. If the nations of the world were more stable due to equality in wealth distribution, it goes without saying that many of those countries would require only a fraction of the said funding or none at all.The US could then use the funds to carry out other projects or fund social programs such as welfare for those within the country that need the help. Additionally, social security funds would not be used to fund other programs leading to a deficit and fear as the baby boomers reach retirement age. More funding would go into research, fortifying the military or homeland defense, as well as many other projects that would be beneficial to the country. This would ease political tensions and bickering and allow elected officials to work without distraction.Internationally, it would enable to worlds countries to interact as equals. T he dominance asserted by the nations lending aid to poor countries would cease. This would reduce anti American sentiment in many of these poor nations. The opening of global markets is the best way to deal with the issue of unequal wealth distribution. Setting fair international trade regulations will be of great benefit towards this endeavor and agriculture, the main livelihood of the very poor, must be addressed.Benefits of this will be enormous to the US as it will enable the country to retain majority, if not all donor funds which can then be utilized for the benefits of the American people, who earned the money in the first place. References Boyne, I. (2007, October 21). Investment, Inequality Growing Globally. Global Policy Forum. Retrieved March 27, 2009. http://www. globalpolicy. org/socecon/inequal/income/2007/1021invest. htm Davies, J. B. , Sandstrom, S. , Shorrocks, A & Wolff,E. N. (2006, December 5). The world distribution of household wealth.World Institute for Develop ment Economics Research of the United Nations University (UN-WIDER). Retrieved March 27, 2009. http://www. globalpolicy. org/socecon/inequal/income/2006/1206unufull. pdf Reducing international inequality – UN report. (2006, July). Global Policy Forum. Retrieved March 27, 2009. http://www. globalpolicy. org/socecon/inequal/income/2006/0715southbulletin. htm What is globalization? Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved March 27, 2009. http://www. globalization101. org/What_is_Globalization. html? PHPSESSID=359a52eea34f319e3d9e49a50fe9ae0e

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Nice Guys Always Finish Last

Nice guys is a term in the popular culture and general public discourse describing a male, young or adult, with friendly yet unassertive personality traits in the context of a relationship with a woman. Nice guy is said to be who puts their interest aside and out others first, avoids confrontation, does favors, gives emotional support, tried to stay out of trouble and generally be nice towards women. Although many people would agree with the generalization of â€Å"nice guys always finish last† I would disagree and side with nice guys because bad guys may get the girls and sleep around but in the end of the day they end up with the nice guy. There is a discrepancy between preference and the actual action of women in choices in men. They say that they want â€Å"nice guys† but in reality, they go for â€Å"bad boys† or â€Å"jerks† in the end. Stephan Desrochers claims, in a 1995 article in the journal Sex Roles, that many â€Å"sensitive† men, based on personal experience, do not believe women actually want â€Å"nice guys†. Desrochers, 1995). And Urbaniak & Kilmann write that, â€Å"Although women often portray themselves as wanting to date kind, sensitive, and emotionally expressive men, the nice guy stereotype contends that, when actually presented with a choice between such a ‘nice guy' and an unkind, insensitive, emotionally-c losed, ‘macho man' or ‘jerk,' they invariably reject the nice guy in favor of his ‘so-called' macho competitor. † (Urbaniak & Kilmann, 2003). They all both say that what they want and what they actually do is totally different. Women say they want â€Å"nice guys† but they want nice guys to be attractive, well built but those guys are either taken or jerks. Then they go for the jerks, who are attractive and challenge themselves to make them to become nice guys but that rarely happens. Nice guys do not always finish last. The difference is how one defines or take word â€Å"last† as. Bad boys or jerks do always get the girls because they know the game and most of them are attractive in different ways but when one looks at long-term, many can see that women tend to choose nice guys. Herold and Milhausen claim that â€Å"while ‘nice guys' may not be competitive in terms of numbers of sexual partners, they tend to be more successful with respect to longer-term, committed relationships. † (Herold & Milhausen, 1999). No women wants to be treated badly or be used and that what bad boys or jerks do. Thats is why they prefer nice guys and be will to go out on second date or go in a relationship with them. McDaniel constructed vignettes of dates with a stereotypical â€Å"nice guy† vs. a stereotypical â€Å"fun/sexy guy,† and attempted to make them both sound positive. Participants reported a greater likelihood of wanting a second date with the â€Å"nice guy† rather than with the â€Å"fun/sexy guy. † (McDaniel, 2005). People may think that nice guys finish last but for to them the â€Å"last† is the goal for the women. The women may take a detour but most of them reach the goal to the nice guy. It is like the story of the rabbit and the tortoise, the rabbit is the jerk and tortoise the nice guy. My best friend is a bad boy who gets all the girls he wants and I was always the nice guy. He always told me to be like him but I could not and never be someone who I am not and comfortable with. I always thought that generalization was true until recently but not anymore. It took me three years but I am finally in a relationship and I am happy. From past to present, the women's preference has not changed and that means something. Women do and always will desire nice guys because they care and think about them. Thats is what women is looking for at the end of the day. Nice guys does not finish, they finish first.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

An empirical analysis of the components of retailer customer loyalty Essay

An empirical analysis of the components of retailer customer loyalty programs - Essay Example ks into one of the ways of capturing customer for loyalty and retention for the continuous competitive advantage of a business enterprise – through a retailer customer loyalty program. The concept of customer loyalty program is simple and yet complicated because of the multiple activities related to it but the goal is always the same – to encourage repeat business. Often, the business enterprises or the retailers, as they are the focus of this study offer a membership club to its customers. The members are then entitled to benefits, perks, privileges, discount schemes or whatever activities and benefits that the company has lined up exclusive to these member-customers. As the study by Fiorito, Gable and Tople stated: â€Å"one means of achieving loyalty, from the activities engaged in by retailers (e.g. measuring customer satisfaction; handling complaints) to the benefits being offered (e.g. providing financial incentives to customers; sending customers thank you notes) that contribute to maintaining a long-lasting, permanent relationship with customers† (Fiorito, Gable and Tople, 2006, p 32). to determine the benefits offered to customers and activities taken by retailers whether or not they have formal customer loyalty programs, whether there are differences in the benefits/activities of retailers with and without formal loyalty programs whether specific benefits/activities of retailers can predict whether or not they have formal loyalty programs (Fiorito, Gable and Tople, 2006, p 32). It also wanted to know the evaluation of the existing customer loyalty programs by its perceived success through meeting the enterprise’s expectations and increase in sales and if the program will be implemented continuously (2006, p 34). Thus, these are three specific areas explored by the study. Primarily, it was aimed to know the specific benefits and activities that were designed for the customers in line with the customer loyalty schemes even if the retailers do

Friday, September 27, 2019

The Unlucky Hugo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Unlucky Hugo - Essay Example The Unlucky Hugo Once upon a time, in a beautiful city, there lived a king who had ten beautiful daughters and every one in that city desired to marry them. The king became very famous because of his beautiful daughters and this gave him a great task of making sure that they were safe. To guarantee their security, he employed strong armed soldiers to guard the main entrance to the palace. He also made sure that every window in the room where his daughters slept was secured. The king also ordered two strong soldiers to stand outside the door of the room. However, despite the tight security, the king was very worried by the fact that every morning he could come to the room; he found his daughters’ shoes worn out and looking untidy. â€Å"Could someone be sneaking with my daughters?† the king could ask himself several times. This disturbed the king so much and he could not sleep well at night. After figuring out what could be the problem after a long time, he concluded that his daughters a lways went out for dancing at night with stranger. How could his happen when I have strong soldiers in my palace? Could they be asleep at night?† the king could fall in a deep thought and ask himself these questions. When the king consulted his wise men, no one including the most experienced, could correctly tell how the shoes managed to get dirty and worn out every morning or where the daughters went every night. (Selznick 28). After one week, the king was so impatient to know the truth and decided to make a big announcement to all the people in the city. The king one day said, â€Å"Anyone who tells me the top-secrets behind my daughters’ disappearance at night will be free to have one of his favorite daughters for a wife.† Further, the king said, â€Å"anyone who fails for three days will be executed.† The first person to make an attempt of finding-out the secrets was a prince in the neighboring kingdom and had tried to marry one of the daughters severa l times. Before he could start the mission, it was normal for the palace to prepare a big party at night for anyone who attempted the mission in order to get motivation (Selznick 33). The party consisted of a variety of meals and plenty of wine. After the party, the prince prepared himself very well and was ready to begin the task. When it was time for the king’s daughter to sleep, the prince was very confident of finding out the truth and getting one of the most beautiful girls that he lived to admire. The guard directed the prince to the daughters’ room where he decided to stay outside the door keenly and observe everything that could happen that night. However, the prince fell in a dip sleep and failed to spy anything that happened that night, all he saw when he woke up was the dirty shoes that the king talked about. The following day he decided to repeat the mission, this time being very keen than before but he still failed to find out the truth. At the end of the three days, the prince had not found the answer and he was killed just like the king had instructed that anyone who failed for three days was to be executed. The following weeks, several other handsome gentlemen also attempted the mission and were prepared a great party before starting the task but no one managed to find out the great secrets of king’s daughters disappearance (Selznick 77). It occurred that a middle aged and a very creative man had to solve all of the King’s problems by finding out the truth. Unfortunately, the man had lost his wife in a car accident the previous week but his only son known as Hugo had survived the accident. The man was so creative and was working in the city’s museum as a film creator and he also produced other forms of art work such as drawings, curving and very beautiful ornament. He loved his job and worked very hard in order to support his son Hugo. The death of his wife gave him a great challenge as a single parent in rais ing Hugo (Selznick 64). One day as Hugo’s father was passing by the kingdom, he encountered an old

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Application Report 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Application Report 2 - Essay Example In other words, if there is inflation and the price of commodities is high the Federal Reserve has to lower the interest rates to make the cost of living affordable and consequently ease on commodity prices. The reverse is also true, in that the Federal Reserve can increase interest rates to avoid inflation. In this case, the Federal Reserve is grappling with the issue of whether to increase interest rates at a time when the economy is falling apart. At this juncture, the Federal Reserve should not even think about increasing interest rates because the cost of living is already unbearable. Increasing the interest rate would only make the situation worse. This is because consumers would not be able to afford borrowing from the banks. High interest rates discourage people from borrowing from the bank. This is because the federal funds rate is also high too. The federal funds rate is the rate at which other banks borrow money from the federal bank (How Interest Rates affect the stock market, 2009). Therefore, increasing interest would not only affect customer borrowing but would also hurt the local banks that make money by lending loans to their customers. In addition, high interest rates would also mean higher mortgage payments. This is because the mortgage paid out by customers would go up because of high interest rates. Auto loans on the other hand would be expensive because of higher interest rates. The loan payments made every month are usually a product of interest rates and the principal amount therefore would go up as a result. The interest rates could also have some far-reaching implications when it comes to businesses, which are seeking to expand. High interest rates would discourage business from expanding due to unfavorable rates and this could have a ripple effect on the economy. This could have a negative effect on the economy as a whole. The stock market survival depends on perception. In a period when the interest rates investors, tend to be

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Leading in emergent and changed environment Case Study

Leading in emergent and changed environment - Case Study Example This was facilitated by high demand levels that existed in other counties that were not producers of the dairy products. The amount of exports made by Bega cheese is as much as the sales made in the domestic market. Bega cheese has been able to keep their customers and suppliers updated using national and international media. It has also been able to make a contribution to career development opportunities to a large number of people and has been able to employ more than 1700 people from different regions. The model that is applicable in Bega Cheese Company is Kotter’s eight-step change model. This model is efficient in planning and sustaining any change implementation (Bridgeland and Zahavi, 2009). The eight steps involved in the model are establishment if a sense of urgency, creation of a guiding coalition, development of a change strategy, communication of the change strategy, empowerment of employees for action and generation of short term wins. The next step is consolidation of the gains and production of more change, and anchoring the new changes into the culture of the company (Kaplan, 2012).The first step is identifying the sense of urgency. This is usually a situation in the company that will need to be attended to urgently. In the case of Bega cheese, the urgency might be seen as the situation whereby the suppliers of the dairy products discovered that the marketing for their products was not so successful and they discovered the urgency for chance, which enabled them to focus on forming a cooperative society. Another urgency for change in the company may be observed in the situation whereby Bega cheese discovered the demand for cheese in the other countries and made changes from basically selling to the domestic market to extending to the export market (Sabri et al, 2007). Development of a change strategy is another step in the model that will involve coming up with a strategy for the change that is designed for the company. Designing the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Sustainable Scottish Urban Property Development Coursework

Sustainable Scottish Urban Property Development - Coursework Example The Scottish Government has proposed a sustainable urban development strategy for the development of thriving and healthy communities. Such communities should be well planned, well connected and well maintained for making it attractive for inhabitants. The strategy supports an active effort in shaping local services and the local physical and cultural environment. The needs of everyone in the community should be considered and taken into account.The underlying policy behind the land reform is the community right to buy land in rural Scotland. Communities wishing to exercise the right to buy must have sustainable development as the heart of the community, and plans for the land. According to Pillai (2010), the most econocentric approach has been the focus on sustainable economic growth. Also, the community right to buy has its own sustainable development agenda. A diverse range of community ownership plans has been considered. These include the creation of sports facilities for the pr eservation of castles, lighthouses, and villages. Several economic, social and environmental objectives have been approved. It is widely held that communities failing to adopt the right approach will not succeed in using the legislation. Three themes have been critically examined in light of the strategy.Extensive land use rights are an integral attribute of property entitlements and ownership in the UK. Several legal and policy instruments have resulted in incremental reform. According to Rodgers (2009), some of these have been influenced by UK’s accession to the European Community and associated laws such as the European Union environmental law and Common Agricultural Policy. Some changes include the modification in allocation land-based utility in property rights. As land use policy increasingly has an increasing focus on the promotion of environmental stewardship, especially the countryside. General duty of environmental stewardship has become an attribute of land ownersh ip. This includes a consideration of recognition of larger community interests and sustainable management of land.  

Monday, September 23, 2019

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example Top management is the one that usually determines the corporate culture. Corporate culture involves the main aims of an organization, the strategies that will be employed in meeting those aims and the way the stakeholders should behave while striving to achieve those aims. It takes the effort of the top management to maintain its culture, this is by interacting a lot and communicating effectively, especially to employees of what is expected of them, according to Auxillium West (2008). The culture can be either weak or strong. Weak is where the employees fail to identify with the values of the organization hence need to be pushed to carry out tasks from the organization’s point of view. While the converse is true for strong cultures as people tend to think as a group on the direction to be taken during decision making. Various methods have been employed in grouping cultural change. Some of them include Geert Hofstede who argues that organizational culture is influenced by natio nal and regional cultural groupings such as the different levels of power in the organization (power-distance orientation) , risk degree (uncertainty avoidance), individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity and time horizon (Long term vs. short term). Charles Handy groups include the power culture where power is centered in the hands of a few, role culture, task culture centered around the job to be done, person culture where the individual is deemed to be superior to the organization. Edgar Schein, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor argues that culture is the most difficult thing to change in an organization, more than the products, services, leadership, and other characteristics of an organization. In Schein’s model, the physical attributes of the organization that are tangible such as the buildings, awards, employee dressing etc belong to the first level. The culture of the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Massimo Vignelli Essay Example for Free

Massimo Vignelli Essay In this modern day of computers and information technology, creating and designing an amazing object or place will be much easier due to the graphic design programs that are available to help modern day artist and designers. Nevertheless, it still involves the knowledge, skills, and experience of the designer. The talent of the designer to recreate a detailed yet beautiful design for a particular object is the one that are being paid for. One of the respected and successful designers in New York is Massimo Vignelli. He dedicated his life in designing and almost involved in various areas that requires his skills in creating and organizing beauty out of nothing. This well-known designer was born in Milan, Italy. He took up his bachelors’ degree in architecture at the Milan Polytechnic from 1950 to 1953 before completing it at the Universita di Architettura in Venice where he met his wife, Leila Vignelli. Massimo Vignelli’s first professional work was at Venini where he used to be a glassware designer. He taught at the Chicago Institute of Design from 1958 up to 1960 while his wife, Leila, worked as an architect for Skidmore, Owing and Merrill in New York. With their intention to still be connected to their homeland, they returned to Milan and open a practice institution for design which was named Leila and Massimo Vignelli Office for Design and Architecture. In 1965, Vignelli came to Chicago where he arranged a meeting with Ralph Eckerstrom, once a design director at Container Corporation of America (CCA) and a good friend. In this meeting came the idea of establishing a new design firm. Then, Unimark International was born with its co-founders Vignelli and Eckerstrom. With their similar viewpoints and principles in design, Vignelli and Eckerstrom took the challenge in the corporate design world. The firm’s vision: combining American marketing techniques with European modernist design within the same organization, creating an international firm that would get its strength through the best designs in the world, refinement of communications and educating the American design market. The beginning of Unimark International would not be successful without the people who believed in the concept of the two founders. Among those people who join the team of Vignelli and Eckerstrom were Bob Noorda, Larry Klein, James Fogelman, Robert Moldafsky, and at that time the respected design specialist Herbert Bayer. In 1971, Massimo Vignelli together with his wife, Leila Vignelli, founded the Vignelli Associates in New York. At the early years of the design firm, they have attained many corporate projects from Knoll, American Airlines, Bloomingdales, Xerox, Lancia, Cinzano, United Colors of Benetton, International Design Center New York and Ford Motors. Additional contracts from Venini, Steuben, and Sasaki for glassware design were also taken by the firm. Vignelli Associates was also responsible for the design of the showrooms of Artemide and Hauserman. Soon, Vignelli put his attention in designing furniture for Sunar, Posenthal, Morphos and Knoll. Among the well-known works of Vignelli are the Handkerchief Chair and Paper Clip table of Knoll. With the reputation of the Vignelli as a designer of versatility with illustrious design characteristic of clean work and the reputation of using bold lines and pure color in their design, they took the responsibility in designing the New York Subway signage. The Vignelli Associates first design the subway in 1968. Vignelli together with Bob Noorda planned to make a signage based on simple principle of delivering the necessary information to the people through the use of the Helvetica Medium which was then an exotic medium from Switzerland. The New York Standard Medium was used in the design due to the unavailability of the first proposed medium. After four years, Vignelli proposed a new design of the New York subway that replaced his previous work. This time, no more obscured angle of train routes instead all angles are set to 45 and 90 degree angle. Each stop was represented by a dot and each train line was represented by a color. The final work was a beauty of design art yet it still taken geographical correctness. Internationally, Massimo Vignelli’s works were published to various museums and art galleries. Among the notable museums and galleries that houses Vignelli’s work are the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York. His works can also be seen at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Montreal and at Die Neue Sammlung in Munich. He also became a lecturer in design at premier universities in the United States. Vignelli assumed many positions in various organizations in the US. These include the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the Alliance Graphique Internationale as president in both organizations. He was also the past vice president of the Architectural League in the US and a member of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). Vignelli’s work was also been aired worldwide through the two feature-length television programs. A Europe tour of his work between 1989 and 1993 allow some places to discover and see his magnificent art works. Vignelli received many awards and appreciation for his art works. Among Vignelli’s many awards are as follows: Gran Premio Triennale di Milano (1964), Compasso d’Oro (1964, 1998) from the Italian Association for Industrial Design, Industrial Arts Medal of the American Institute of Architects (1973), Visionary Award from the Museum of Art and Design (2004), and the most recent is the Architecture Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2005. His latest work was the e-book entitled â€Å"The Vignelli Canon† which was released in January 2009. The copy of this modern version of Vignelli’s work can be downloaded for free from his website. References Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work. Retrieved April 5, 2009 @ http://www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/1982/?id=255 â€Å"Massimo Vignelli of vignelli associates†. Designboom (2000). Retrieved April 6, 2009 @ http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/vignelli.html Unimark International. Retrieved April 6, 2009 @ http://www.unimark-international.com/beginnings1.html#beginnings1

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Hunting song Essay Example for Free

Hunting song Essay This story, â€Å"Hunting Song†, helps us envision the deer hunting tactics of the Navajo people. Although the true moral of this story is terrifying, the author of this poem wrote it in a way that it sounds almost peaceful. He uses beautiful, environmental imagery such as the mountains and dewy flowers to help us picture this scene better in our minds. This story teaches us about the Navajo song writing tradition, their appreciation towards the deer, and their hunting tactics. A major aspect of the Navajo culture is song writing. The people practically wrote songs for most of their activities, such as hunting. They have many, many songs that describe the many different facets of life. The song, Hunting Song is one of the more superior songs out of all the rest. That is because it was said by the Navajo bards, that the deer transformed itself into human. This explains why the hunter of this story was very content with killing this deer. It shows how the hunter may have felt proud to have caught an animal that is so incredible. The tribe’s appreciation for the deer is amazing. This song is basically a sacred verse for killing the deer. It’s incredible how the Navajo people are so thankful. For instance, people nowadays, in Korean society, kill cows and pigs. However, they do not particularly feel appreciative towards them. This song helps us understand how the Navajo are one with nature. It teaches the importance of the animals and helps us value what we receive in life. Although there is insufficient information in this story to figure out how they hunt, we can get a general consensus of it. In the last stanza, the author stated how he killed the deer by the â€Å"luck of (his) chase. † This last part helps me picture a man holding a spear, chasing the deer. However, we do not know if that is how the deer actually died. The fun part of this is that the author left the hunting techniques out so that his audience may imagine many other ways the hunter could have murdered the deer. From evaluating this hunting song, I was convinced that we all should appreciate and take value of our surroundings. I was surprisingly very inspired by the Navajo culture. It made me think of the time when I went hunting with my friend’s family back in the States. Although I didn’t recite a sacred verse to the elk we killed, I now know that I should the next time I go hunting. I feel as though I’ve learned so much about the people of Navajo and their traditions. Hunting Song teaches us about the Navajo song writing tradition, their appreciation toward the deer, and their awesome hunting tactics.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Currency Exposure to Hedging Currency Risks

Currency Exposure to Hedging Currency Risks Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS, we shall now address the many stipulations regarding issues such as currency exposure and hedging decisions of the AIFS Company. Looking at the theory and practices of Archer-Lock within the company, with the information given we shall now analyze and interpret the report of AIFS. Using the financial Instruments of the foreign exchange market, the effect these instruments have on hedging will further be discussed, as well as the result of these instruments on the hedging decision. It is important to note that Becky Tabaczynski, CFO for the groups high school travel division ACIS, portrayed the idea a good hedging result is gained due to good relationships across the board. Whilst in some companies, hedging is considered a financial decision, independent of the business needs here; were trying to match the business needs. Now with the information provided in the case study, combined with knowledge of hedging options, the topic of currency exposure will be discussed. Q1. What gives rise to the currency exposure at AIFS? Currency exposure is the extent to which the future cash flows of an enterprise, arising from domestic and foreign currency denominated transactions involving assets and liabilities, and generating revenues and expenses are susceptible to variations in foreign currency exchange rates (International Federation of Accountants, 2010). Currency exposure at AIFS can be caused by 3 risks: the bottom-line risk, volume risk and competitive pricing risk. These 3 risks happen at AIFS because of the AIFSs hedging policies, so before analysing these 3 risks it is necessary to analyse AIFSs hedging policies. AIFSs Hedging Policies AIFS starts to hedge foreign currencies between 6 months and 2 years before the main pricing date, and uses forward contracts and currency options to hedge currency; the main hedging technique is forward contracts. Then AIFS uses these currencies to pay its customers expense abroad. AIFS charges USD by catalogue-based price from its customers, so no matter how the exchange rates change in the spot market, AIFS never changes its price in that period. AIFS uses forward contract to hedge before it has completed its sales cycle. So AIFS has to predict its business then hedge based on its prediction, but the situation that the number AIFS pays equals to the number AIFS buys is very hard to carry out. When the currencies that AIFS has bought are smaller than it has to pay, AIFS has to buy some more currencies by using currency options. When the currencies it has bought are greater than it has to pay, currency exposure happens. The Bottom- Line Risk Exchange rate is always fluctuant. EURO is one of the main currencies that AIFS needs to hedge. Looking at the graph, the exchange rate between USD and EURO in January was highest in 2010, which was 1.427$/à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬, and the exchange rate in June was the lowest, which was only 1.221$/à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬, the difference between highest and lowest is 0.206à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬/$, so when purchasing large amounts of EURO by using USD, the large difference of price will appear. The main hedging technique of AIFS is forward contracts, so if the exchange rate at the contract date is higher than the exchange rate at the settlement date, AIFS is at a disadvantage (maybe AIFS can choose currency options at this time, but it needs to pay premium, so the cost may be not reduced so much). When this situation happens, AIFSs cost will be higher and it will lose profit. 2010- American Dollars to 1 EUR Average Rates January 1.42721 USD (20 days average) February 1.36857 USD (20 days average) March 1.35685 USD (23 days average) April 1.34095 USD (21 days average) May 1.25653 USD (21 days average) June 1.22085 USD (22 days average) July 1.277 USD (22 days average) August 1.29029 USD (21 days average) September 1.3067 USD (22 days average) October 1.38978 USD (21 days average) November 1.38806 USD (12 days average) From X- rate.com, 2010 The Volume Risk When AIFS uses forward contract to hedge currencies, it doesnt know the number of customers it will get in this period. AIFS has been doing culture and educational exchanges for more than 40 years and got a very good praise and has a large number of customers, every year many young people go abroad via AFIS. Because its so popular, its hard to say how many customers will be increased next time. Also, war, terrorism and policies and other uncertainties will affect peoples mind, these factors will make more people prefer to stay at home rather than go abroad, and in that case the number of customers will be decreased. So its hard to predict the number of customers, its hard to say whether the number of customers will increase or decrease. In negative situations where there will be a lack of customers, the foreign currencies that have been bought will not be used; this is when currency exposure is evident. The Competitive Pricing Risk When AIFS is purchasing and using currencies, its competitors are doing it as well. These companies may contract with banks in lower exchange rates, which makes their charges lower than AIFS and therefore makes AIFS less competitive. Customers may buy currencies from other companies, and so AIFSs currencies cant be sold up and currency exposure happens. The changes of transportation fees (like train, boat, plane ticket), living fees, hotel fees can also give rise to the currency exposure. When these fees reduced, AIFS will pay less and may not use all of the currencies it has bought. According to AIFSs hedging policies, it has to predict the exchange rate fluctuant, the number of customers, which may be different with the final exchange rate and the volume when selling currencies, so the currency exposure happens. The actions of AIFSs competitors may make AIFS less competitive resulting in minimum sales of the currencies bought, further resulting in currency exposure. So the bottom-line risk, the volume risk and the competitive pricing risk will give rise to the currency exposure at AIFS. Also, the changes of fees may cause currency exposure. Q2. What would happen if Archer-Lock and Tabaczynski did not hedge at all? According to the case, The American Institute for Foreign Students (AIFS) organizes students who study abroad and the cultural exchange programs. It has two major divisions which are Archer-Lock managed The Study Abroad College and the High School Travel division, whose finances Tabaczynski managed. The problem faced by AIFS is the revenues of the company are mainly in US dollars, but most of their costs are in British pounds and Euros. AIFS sets guaranteed prices for its exchanges before its final sales figures are known. Therefore, for AIFS, the foreign exchange hedging is the key important area. The managers use currency hedging to protect their bottom line and cope with changes in exchange rates. But if Archer-Lock and Tabaczynski did not hedge at all, it would mean full exposure to the currency risk, the company could lose a lot of money if USD depreciated. Maybe the company can produce good results and have a really good profit when the USD appreciated if they did not hedge at all, as there are no other losses to erase their total revenue. However, they cannot know what the future sales volume and future exchange rate are, and so they may need to face losing a tremendous amount of money if USD depreciated. The cost base of the company would increase, and the revenues in USD will remain the same, this means their profitability would be erased. Also, AIFS needs to preserve their price guarantee policy. If they did not hedge at all, the company may incur losses by following this policy. Moreover, there may be a difference between final sales volumes and projected sales volume, and this exposes the company to having either more or less of the foreign currency depending on the final sales volume. For instance, as we know from the case, every year AIFS expected 25,000 students in their project. If the currency exchange rate decreased to USD 1.01/EUR, the company could save USD 5.25 million, however, if the exchange rate increased to USD 1.48/EUR, the company lose USD 6.5 million. Q3. 100% hedge with option and 100% hedge with forward The data shows above, When 100% hedge with option, currency rate 1.01, and the outcome is higher than total cost, the company can gain the profit. Rate becomes to 1.22 and 1.48, the outcome is lower than total cost, and the company has risk and a loss of money. When 100% hedge with forward, the fixed rate is locked in 1.22, the outcome is 0. That is means no risk and no profit. Q4. Using the forecast final sales volume of 25,000, the following are the possible outcomes relative to the zero impact scenario described in the case. Zero impact happened with rate (1.22) when they use forward contract were the same as project costs. When dollar becomes weak (1.48) it would cause a negative impact by a loss of money. When dollar becomes strong (1.01) it would cause a positive impact through gain of profit. When the USD is strong (1.01), the more options there are to hedge, the lower the cost. When USD is weak (1.48) the more options there are to hedge, the more the cost. Q5) what hedging decision would you advocate? Should we not hedge at all? As AIFS guaranteed its prices would not change before the next catalogue, if the USD goes weak, AIFS need to more USD to pay for its overseas cost ¸ however the price cannot be changed, which means AIFS will lose money. To eliminate this risk, AIFS better hedge. What do you advocate? (Advantages and Disadvantages) The forward contract is a simple arrangement widely used by the companies to manage the exchange rate risk. It can guarantee the amount of currency AIFS would receive in the expiry date of the contract, so it can get larger profits with forward contracts if AIFS count on a favourable exchange rate. The company can also avoid the 5% option premium, but it is not easy to get the counter party who would agree to fix the time period and the future exchange rate which would result in illiquidity. Thus being bilateral private contracts, the forwards have to be executed. The option contract can eliminate the downside risk and being more flexible, it can be seen as a combination of covered interest arbitrage depending on the difference in currency options and interest rates; it gives the company the right to sell or purchase a currency at an agreed exchange rate, but not the obligation. With the option contracts AIFS can hold the currency until the favourable exchange rate arises, so it would be more secure for the company. However, the premium cost is the disadvantage of option, and it has to be paid up front. Both forward contract and option contact work if the company is tight on cash and cannot spend 5% option premium in this case the forwards contract is a better choice. However, if AIFS has sufficient funds and foresees changes in exchange rates, then it should use option. AIFS does not have to exercise the contract when currency moves to unfavourable exchange rates. What happens if sales volumes are lower (10000) or higher (30000) than expected (25000)? According to appendix 3 and 4: The sales volume increase to 30000, exchange rate is 1.01. AIFS Company can gain the profit. Exchange rate is 1.22 and 1.48, AIFS Company exist risk loss the money; but when use 100% forward to hedge Company can avoids risk and there is no profit. The sales volume is decrease to 10000, the total cost is 1000* 10000= à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬10000000 There are 3 possible situations that will happen at this time. = 0.4 = 40% According to the calculation above, when AIFSs currency hedge is covered less than 40% of its prediction (it predicts 25000 sales volumes), AIFS needs to buy some more currency to reach à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬10000000 by using spot trading rate; when AIFSs currency hedge is covered at 40%, the currency it buys is equal to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬10000000; when the currency hedge covered over 40%, AIFS cant use all of the EUR it has bought, so AIFS has to sell the extra EUR or save them and use them in the next period. 1.48 1.01 10000 30000 Source: AIFS case There will be 4 outcomes with the in the money and out of money positions and high and low sales volume (30000 or 10000). Square 1 shows low sales volume (10000) with strong USD that when the company is out of money (1.01USD/EUR). AIFS has an excess of currency. In this case, if it locked into surplus forward contracts then it would lose money. So the option contract is more favourable. AIFS does not execute the contract, it just lets it expire. In square 2 shows low sales volume (10000) with weak USD, The requirement of the currency is below the projection (25000), and the exchange rate is high (1.48USD/EUR). If AIFS uses forward contract the gain is larger compared to when it uses options contract because the options contract costs 5% of the nominal USD strike price. In square 3 the exchange rate moved out of money (1.01USD/EUR) and the sales go higher (30000) than expected. So AIFS doesnt have to buy euro at higher rate, therefore, the Options contract is better, as the extra volume they need (5000), can be bought at the spot rate. The increase of the Spot and Fixed rates and the difference of the volume of sales are the reason for company loss. The tricky square 4 shows when the exchange rate moved in the money (1.48 USD/EUR) and AIFSs sales volume came in higher (30000) than projections, which means the company need more currency (5000), however, the exchange rate is high. In this case, Forward contracts should be used and the extra volume at the spot rates should be bought. The increase of sales may offset the downside. For companies that work with more than one currency, several hedging techniques are available to guard against foreign exchange fluctuations. After studying and addressing the case study of AIFS, it can be concluded that the changes in fees can be the cause to currency exposure. The fact that the companys revenues are in USD, and costs in GBP and Euros may result in a rise to currency exposure. After analyzing the affects of financial instruments such as forward and option contracts will have on the company, it has been decided that the company would be at a better advantage with Forward contract in order to prevent risks. AIFS charges USD by catalogue-based prices from its customer, and as the company guaranteed the prices will not change, if the rate of the USD decreases then the company will be at a loss as they will have to cover other expenses with the currency they have bought, and in order to prevent this risk, the company would be in a better position if they hedged. REFERENCES: International Federation of Accountants, 2010, http://www.mia.org.my/handbook/guide/imap/imap_3.htm#Business%20Implications [Accessed on 4/11/2010] X-rate.com, 2010, http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/EUR/hist2010.html [Accessed on 16/11/2010]

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Merchant Of Venice :: Free Merchant of Venice Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When William Shakespear wrote, The merchant Of Venice, he made a female character that has a huge influence on the play. In most of his work, the women don’t have much power and are not very smart. In the Merchant Of Venice, Portia is a woman that saves the life of a man using her head. Another woman created by Shakespear that is a lot alike with Portia is Beatrice, from Much Ado about Nothing. Both of these ladies add to the main theme of the plays because of their brains, and smart remarks, as well as being careing. The Women share many qualities as well as differences. Portia seems to Be one of Shakespear’s greatest Characters Because of her great looks and intelligence her high moral seriousness plays a role in her character as well. Portia is known throughout the world because of her amazing qualities. She seems to be able to handle any situation with her wit. In Most of Shakespear’s plays the women are made to be less then the men. In the Fourth act after Portia has saved the life of Antonio, She uses her wit just as Beatrice would she says, â€Å" I see sir, you are liberal in offers. You taught me first to beg...† . Portia is thought of as an angel having no flaws, which you can tell when Bassanio describes her to Antonio and says, â€Å" In Belmont is a lady richly left, and she is fair and fairer the that word, of wonderous virtues. Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth, For the four winds blow in from every coast, renowned suitors , and her sunny locks hang hang on her temples like a golden fleece, which makes her seat of Belmont Colchis’ strond and many Jasons come in quest of her.† Portia is basically the perfect renaissance lady. She is not ambitious, she is restrictive . She is way modest, She does not hold herself above others. Her generosity makes her want to have more wealth, so that she can help out more amongst the people she cares about. Besides saving the life of Antonio, portia is also used to have the theme of deceptive appearances. Throughout the play, Shakespear uses his characters from the play to show the audience or reader that a character cannot be judged by how the appear to the eye, and the person can truley be something different inside. So basically what it is saying is

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Alexander Calder Essay -- essays research papers

Alexander Calder was one of the most innovative and original American artists of the twentieth century. In 1926, Calder arrived in Paris and devoted himself to a project called the Circus that occupied him for over five years. This contains characters and animals made out of wire, scraps of cloth, wood, cork, labels, bits of scrap metal and pieces of rubber. Calder transported his little theater in suitcases and performed it for his friends. During his performances, Calder invented ways to simulate the flight of birds: â€Å"These are little bits of white paper, with a hole and slight weight on each one, which flutter down several variously coiled thin steel wires which I jiggle so that they flutter down like doves†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Alexander Calder, An Autobiography with Pictures [New York: Pantheon, 1966], p.92) The Circus is the laboratory of Calder’s work; in it he experimented with new formulas and techniques. "By 1930," sculptor historian Wayne Craven has writte n, Calder's "Circus had become one of the real successes of the art world of Montparnasse, as well as among the Paris intellectuals. Jean Cocteau, Fernand Leger, Joan Miro, Piet Mondrian, Jean Arp... and others were captivated by it, whereas none of them paid much attention to Calder's wood carvings. Such encouragement undoubtedly led him to try more serious experiments in wire sculptures." During this same period he developed wire figures such as Josephine Baker, The Negress, and the Portrait of Edgar Varese, w... Alexander Calder Essay -- essays research papers Alexander Calder was one of the most innovative and original American artists of the twentieth century. In 1926, Calder arrived in Paris and devoted himself to a project called the Circus that occupied him for over five years. This contains characters and animals made out of wire, scraps of cloth, wood, cork, labels, bits of scrap metal and pieces of rubber. Calder transported his little theater in suitcases and performed it for his friends. During his performances, Calder invented ways to simulate the flight of birds: â€Å"These are little bits of white paper, with a hole and slight weight on each one, which flutter down several variously coiled thin steel wires which I jiggle so that they flutter down like doves†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Alexander Calder, An Autobiography with Pictures [New York: Pantheon, 1966], p.92) The Circus is the laboratory of Calder’s work; in it he experimented with new formulas and techniques. "By 1930," sculptor historian Wayne Craven has writte n, Calder's "Circus had become one of the real successes of the art world of Montparnasse, as well as among the Paris intellectuals. Jean Cocteau, Fernand Leger, Joan Miro, Piet Mondrian, Jean Arp... and others were captivated by it, whereas none of them paid much attention to Calder's wood carvings. Such encouragement undoubtedly led him to try more serious experiments in wire sculptures." During this same period he developed wire figures such as Josephine Baker, The Negress, and the Portrait of Edgar Varese, w...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Transformation in “An Imaginary Life”

Tables Made into Trees Transformation is one of principal themes of David Malouf’s short novel An Imaginary Life. Sent to a barbarian village in the outskirts of the Roman Empire, Ovid is forced to make changes to himself to find even the smallest bits of happiness. He starts to notice and absorb nature which, in turn, helps teaches him about himself. He first starts to notice his mental state improving from bleak to bright. He also begins to observe his surroundings and allow them to open his eyes and improve his attitude.These surroundings have a beautiful and powerful effect on Ovid and he learns that they can teach him more about his own emotions and thoughts than society ever could. The Boy is also a part of Ovid’s transformation. He is a tool and a link between human society and nature. While Ovid tries to teach the Boy about human culture, it is the Boy that teaches Ovid about being human. Malouf uses many tools including Ovid’s mind, nature, and the Boy t o facilitate Ovid’s transformation throughout the novel.One of the major aspects of Ovid’s transformation is based on his mental state and his outlook on his situation. The first glimpse we get into his thoughts comes in the opening paragraphs when he is describing what seem to be his surroundings. He portrays the setting as a bleak and dull place with nothing worth mention and no hope to be had but he ends his description with â€Å"But I am describing a state of mind, no place†(16). This shocks the reader and exposes Ovid’s current state of mind. This bleak, pessimistic description is then contrasted to a joyful, beautiful description of a scarlet poppy.The contrast provides insight into the importance of changes in the natural environment, as Ovid is change from being troubled by the bleakness and emptiness of life that surrounds him to being overcome with joy from the color of the poppy. While he is on this high of emotions, he questions whether the p eople from his old life in Rome would look poorly upon him for the exaggerated happiness he feels because of the flower. This shows the separation of his natural surroundings and society. It also marks the beginning of his transformation to natural world acceptance.Ovid’s identity is also molded by his surroundings. He starts to adapt to his new home and become more in tune with the people and the landscape. An example is when he starts to learn hunting from the village people. It brings him closer to nature which, in turn, teaches him aspects about himself. He finds himself able to purely express himself physically and emotionally rather than being caught up in Roman traditions. He learns that nature has the ability to teach men about human existence. The societies, like him, are shaped by their surroundings.In Rome, he was surrounded by civilized and advanced culture. This culture had formed by changing the nature that surrounded them. They built great buildings and intrica te roads; thus distancing themselves from nature. This not only changed the way they lived, but the people that lived there. On the other hand, the barbarians that Ovid was exiled to live with are much closer to nature. They live more modestly and are more in tune with the environment. When the poet is engulfed by this society, he changes naturally to fit in over time. Even the language changes Ovid.His point of realization of the language’s affects on him is when he decides to teach the boy the barbarian dialect. â€Å"I have come to a decision. The language I shall teach the Child is the language of these people I have come among, and not after all my own. And in making that decision I know I have made another. I shall never go back to Rome†¦ So I admit openly to myself what I have long known in my heart. I belong to this place now. I have made it mine. I am entering the dimensions of my self† (94-95). This is a major turning point in Ovid’s transformatio n.It is when he makes the decision to shed his old life and replace it for his new on one. He is fully submerging himself in this new existence and is opening himself up willingly for change. The Boy is another tool of transformation during the novel. Once again, it can be accredited to the environment and conditions he and Ovid are in. Ovid strives for a sense of belonging and unity with all the elements and tries to force the same upon the boy. After some time he becomes fascinated with the Boy’s ability mimic the sounds of nature.Ovid starts to admire the Boy’s personality and is intrigued by the fact that he has mastered life in nature. Nature and wilderness made by God are what the boy has faced and lived through while all Ovid has done is survive a society made by mere men. The Boy and Ovid are very similar though. They are both affected and react to changes in their environment. When first captured, the Boy reacts violently and is tied up with cloths. This is sy mbolic as it signifies both the physical and mental restraints caused by the conformity of civilized society.These bonds hold him back just as Ovid’s cultivation impedes him. Later on in the wintertime, the Boy’s sickness reflects both the physical sickness caused by captivity and the lack of freedom that men endure in order to work against, not with, the elements and nature. Conversely, when the Boy is finally released into his natural habitat, he is happy to return and is even willing to care for Ovid in it because he thrives there. At the end of the novel, when he is in the field, he finds ultimate satisfaction and freedom from what he used to be.The vast openness and immensity of the land which once scared him becomes his source of food and drink. Through his progression and changes, he finds himself at and endpoint in which he is satisfied in mind, body, and spirit. The vast openness and immensity of the land which once scared him became his source of food and dri nk. The natural environment impacts Ovid so much that age and small details of life no longer bother him. He sees that the existence of human life is everlasting. He is transformed to the point of total satisfaction. His final statement sums up his conversion to his new self, â€Å"I am there. He benefits from belonging to the wilderness and not being defined by society. Ovid makes a complete transformation over the course of this novel. He is influenced by his surroundings and finds himself being changed by them. These conversions first happen in his mind, then through nature and language, and finally through the Boy. Ovid finds himself changing as the book progresses and reaches a point of complete happiness and contentment at the end of the novel.? Works Cited Malouf, David. An Imaginary Life. New York. Vintage Books, 1996. Print

Monday, September 16, 2019

“Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx Essay

â€Å"Brokeback Mountain†Annie Proulx was born on August 22, 1935, in Norwich, Connecticut, into a family of farmers, mill workers, inventors, and artists whose ancestors had lived there for three centuries. Because of her father’s career in textiles, Proulx’s family constantly moved, so she lived in several states, including North Carolina, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Vermont in 1969 and then went on to graduate from Concordia University with a Master’s degree in Art in 1973 (Info Please). Starting as a Journalist, her first published work of fiction was â€Å"The Costums Lounge† and she subsequently published stories in Gray’s Sporting Journal in the late 1970s, eventually publishing her first collection in 1988 and her first novel in 1992. Proulx has twice won the O. Henry Prize for the year’s best short story (Info Please). In 1998, she won for â€Å"Brokeback Mountain,† which had appeared in The New Yorker on October 13, 1997. Proulx won again the following year for â€Å"The Mud Below,† which appeared in The New Yorker June 22 and 29, 1999. Both appear in her 1999 collection of short stories, Close Range: Wyoming Stories. Proulx emphasizes a heartbreaking tale of two homosexual individuals who struggle to be together, bound by the norms and rules of society. I found â€Å"Brokeback Mountain† to be a very real and compassionate tale of two cowboys who unexpectedly found love in each other. In a most peaceful setting, away from the world, two cowboys embody one of the most disquieting issues affecting our entire culture. The pain experienced by every character is believable as is the anger. Proulx does a great job of letting Ennis’s confusion and his accompanying anger percolate beneath the cloak of social conformity. It is a garment that doesn’t fit, yet he is terrified to remove it. Proulx helps depict the depth of pain experienced when the object of love is socially unacceptable, and the anger one experiences when forced to live dishonestly. Proulx is the narrator of â€Å"Brokeback Mountain†. She tells the story of Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist’s summer on Brokeback Mountain, and the many years after that, and the deep love they develop for one another in an intolerant world. The point of view of the story is third person omniscient. The narration is real in tone and employs description and dialogue to examine the actions, emotions and thoughts of the characters. Proulx describes a sequence of events from a beginning point in time, when the characters are introduced in the year 1963 in Wyoming, to the end of the story nearly 20 years later. Throughout the story, Ennis and Jack reunite for brief liaisons on camping trips in remote settings over the course of 20 years. Proulx uses setting details to heighten the thematic significance of the story. The most effective use of setting as symbol occurs when she juxtaposes harsh and beautiful images of the landscape’s cruel beauty to suggest the difficult nature of Ennis’s and Jack’s relationship. The story starts out with Ennis Del Mar getting a job on the mountain as a sheep herder with Jack Twist. Day after day, Ennis tends the camp while Jack herds the sheep and sleeps out on the mountain with them. One day, when Jack complains about his â€Å"commutin four hours a day,† he accepts Ennis’s offer to switch jobs. Every evening, they share supper by the campfire, â€Å"talking horses and rodeo, rough stock events, wrecks and injuries sustained,† (Proulx 75) and other details of their hard lives in the West. Toward the end of the summer when they shift the camp, the distance Ennis has to ride out to the sheep grows longer and he begins to stay later at the camp at night. One evening, after the two sing drunken songs by the campfire, Ennis decides it is too late to go out to the sheep and so beds down at the campsite. After his shivering wakes Jack, he insists that Ennis share his bedroll. Soon after, the two have sex, something Ennis had never done before. Their sexual activity becomes more frequent in the following days while they both insist that neither of them is â€Å"queer.† One day the foreman, Joe Aguirre, watches them together through his binoculars. At the end of the summer, When Jack asks Ennis if he is coming back to the mountain the next summer, Ennis tells him that he will be getting married in December and then will try to find work on a ranch. Jack determines to go back home and then maybe to Texas, and the two say an awkward goodbye. As Ennis drives away, his gut wrenches and he feels â€Å"as bad as he ever had†. Ennis marries Alma  and their first child, Alma Jr., is born a year later and after their second child is born, Alma convinces Ennis to get a place in town, so she doesn’t have to deal with anymore â€Å"lonesome ranches.† Four summers after their first on Brokeback Mountain, Jack visits Ennis. When Jack first arrives, he and Ennis share a passionate embrace, watched by Alma. When Jack meets Alma, he announces that he too is married and has a baby boy. After a few awkward moments, Ennis and Jack leave, pick up a bottle of whiskey and head for a motel where they spend the night together. They talk of how they missed each other and Jack suggests that he married his wife, Lureen, because she came from a wealthy family. Ennis admits that he has been thinking about whether he is gay, but insists that he is not because though he does not enjoy sex with women, he has not been with any other man. Jack declares the same. After the two express their passion for each other, Ennis determines that nothing can be done since they both have families and warns Jack that if they are seen together, they may be killed. The only future Ennis can see for the two of them is to get together once in a while, explaining â€Å"if you can’t fix it you got to stand it.† After a while, Ennis and Alma begin to grow apart and she starts to resent him for not finding a stea dy job, and always going with Jack on fishing trips. Eventually, they divorce and Alma remarries but stays in touch with Ennis and lets him visit their children. During the following years, Ennis and Jack occasionally meet on different ranges throughout the West. One night, they catch each other up on their lives, both admitting affairs with women and problems with their own children. After complaining about the infrequency of their time together, Jack suggests that they move to Mexico, but Ennis declines, insisting that he has to stay and work. Months later, when Ennis receives back a postcard he had sent to Jack marked â€Å"DECEASED,† he calls Lureen, who informs him that Jack was killed when a tire blew up in his face. Ennis suspects, however, that he was murdered after he was caught with another man. He makes a trip to see Jack’s parents and offers to take Jack’s ashes up to Brokeback Mountain, where Jack had told Lureen that he wanted to be buried. During the visit, Ennis goes up to Jack’s room where he finds Jack’s shirt, which is covered in Ennis’s blood. Inside the shirt, he finds one of his own. Ennis then buries his face in Jack’s shirt, hoping to be able to smell his scent, but there is nothing there. Before Ennis leaves, Mr. Twist informs him that  Jack’s ashes will be buried in the family plot. Ennis would have dreams of Jack and visions of their time in Brokeback Mountain, which fills him with both sorrow and joy. The protagonist of the story are Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar. Proulx gives a good description of both stating â€Å"They were raised on small, poor ranches in opposite corners of the state, Jack Twist in Lightning Flat, up on the Montana border, Ennis del Mar from around Sage, near the Utah line, both high school drop out country boys with no prospects, brought up to hard work and privation, both rough mannered, rough spoken, inured to the stoic life†(Proulx 74.) The antagonist of the story would be the locals and society for killing Jack because they didn’t find it acceptable for a man to be living with another man. I think both Ennis and Jack changed because they were both very masculine, rough, cowboys who had never been with a man before until they had a sexual encounter with each other and realized they were in love. This change is very believable because there are many people in our society today who are homosexual, marry their partners, and even take pride in be ing gay. The story’s use of language is informal. Informal language is characterized by spontaneous speech and situations that describe natural or â€Å"real life†. It’s used by family and friends, which proves the story has informal dialogue with casual conversation. The external conflict of the story is Man versus Society. Jack and Ennis must hide their relationship because of its immoral content. Thus, they live a life hiding from their true feelings. At times they even tried to deny their nature. Because of the threat of being ostracized and possible killed, these men led a life separate from their love for one another. In the end, their prejudice, along with everyone else’s, killed Jack. The internal conflict of the story is Man versus Himself. Proulx sketches a picture of two men who live in a constant struggle with their ideas of morality and presents a devastating study of Jack and Ennis’ subsequent struggle with both their families and their work as they try to come to terms with their sexual relationship. In exploring the intimacies and sexual pleasures emerging from  this masculine world, Proulx captures the destruction and isolation, which comes from both men’s disapproval of their homosexual tendencies. Proulx identifies this conflict when she writes, â€Å"There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it† (Proulx 79). Throughout the story the reader sees Jack and Ennis deal with the fact that they do not approve of their own feelings. The moral norm in the American West was that homosexuals are perverts. Ennis lives his adult life plagued by the remembrance of a man who was brutally killed because people thought him to be a homosexual. In essence these two live a life that could have been a lot happier if there weren’t prejudices that prevented them from being together. What I find most interesting is that it wasn’t other people’s prejudices that kept them apart; these men are kept apart by their own morals. They truly believed that their homosexuality was immoral. The climax of the story is when Ennis sends Jack a postcard about getting together in November and it got sent back to him stamped â€Å"DECEASED†. After Ennis visits Jack’s parents and they tell him of Jack trying to fix up a ranch for him and another man, Ennis realizes that it wasn’t the tire that blew out that killed him. The locals murdered him for being homosexual and there was no resolution. As Ennis said, â€Å"If you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it†. I found that Proulx used the descriptive settings as a symbol. The most effective use of setting as symbol occurs when she describes harsh and beautiful images of the landscape’s cruel beauty to suggest the difficult nature of Ennis’s and Jack’s relationship. For example, she describes the â€Å"sweetened† cold air of the mountain on their first morning with the phallic â€Å"rearing lodge pole pines massed in slabs of somber malachite†(Proulx 74). When Ennis and Jack begin their sexual relationship, Proulx captures its harsh and exhilarating duality when she describes Jack and Ennis as â€Å"flying in the euphoric, bitter air† (Proulx 76) on the mountain. The title of the story is â€Å"Brokeback Mountain†. The title is the name of the mountain where Ennis and Jack worked together when they first met.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Brokeback Mountain† represents all the memories the two cowboys had together and where their intimacy and love for each other deepened. I believe the story only had one significant meaning which was that although love is prescriptively understood by people as a feeling between a man and a woman, as the evolution of human beings continues, love should be looked in another way. Any two people, no matter what gender or race, can find love. Shame is a major theme in the story. Ennis’s internalization of the belief that homosexuality is indecent and punishable by death, causes him to be ashamed about the intensity of his feelings for Jack. At the beginning of their relationship on the mountain, he insists that he is not â€Å"queer,† that their feelings for each other are not indicative of his sexual orientation. His shame, coupled with his need to maintain his marriage in the face of public scrutiny, causes him to lie continually to Alma about his feelings for Jack, insisting that when she catches the two in a heated embrace, their actions are a result of their not having seen each other for years. His internalized homophobia makes him unable to accept himself or act congruently. Ennis needs to maintain the illusion of a conventional life, even if that life denies him the one person he desires most. The plot of this short story mirrors many experiences that gays have had to deal with in today’s society, such as banding gay marriages or homosexual hate crimes. There have been many incidents where homosexuals have been threatened, abused, and even killed because people don’t agree with their lifestyles. Although I was very skeptical about reading this story at first, I found it to be very eye opening and real. Proulx does a wonderful job of telling a tale of two men who develop a deep love for each other but who are forced to live separate lives in an intolerant world. I think the story will help people empathize diversity in each other and become more tolerant. Works Cited â€Å"Annie Proulx Biography.† Info Please. 2007. Information Please Database. 13 Oct. 2008 . Proulx, Annie. â€Å"Brokeback Mountain.† The New Yorker 13 Oct. 1997: 74-85.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

What is the Calm Waters Metaphor? Essay

Until recently the calm waters metaphor dominated the thinking of practicing managers and academics. The prevailing model for handling change in calm waters is best illustrated in Kurt Lewin’s three step description of the change process. According to Lewin, successful change requires unfreezing the status quo, changing to a new sate, and freezing the new change to make it permanent. The status quo can be considered an equilibrium state. Unfreezing is necessary to move from this equilibrium. It can be achieved in one of three ways: 1) The driving forces, which direct behavior away from the status quo, can be increased.†¨2) The restraining forces, which hinder movement from the existing equilibrium, can be decreased.†¨3) The two approaches can be combined. Exhibit The change Process Unfreezing Changing Refreezing Once unfreezing has been accomplished the change itself can be implemented . However, the mere introduction of change does not ensure that it take hold. The new situation, therefore, needs to be refrozen so that it can be sustained over time. Unless this last step is attended to, it is likely that the change will be short lived and employees will revert to the previous equilibrium state. The objective of refreezing the entire equilibrium state, then, is to stabilize the new situation by balancing the driving and restraining forces. Note how Lewin’s three step process treats change as a break in the organization’s equilibrium state. The status quo has been distributed, and change is necessary to establish a new equilibrium state. This view might have been appropriate to the relatively calm waters metaphor is increasingly obsolete as a description of the kinds of seas that current managers have to navigate. How does the White Water rapids Metaphor of change functions?†¨This metaphor takes into consideration the fact environments are both uncertain and dynamic. To get a feeling for what managing change might be like when you have to continually maneuver in uninterrupted rapids, imagine attending a college in which courses vary in length so when you sign up, you don’t know whether a course will last for 2 weeks or 30 weeks. Furthermore, the instructor can end a course any time he  or she wants, with no prior warning. If that isn’t bad enough the length of the class session changes each time – sometimes it lasts 20 minutes, other times it runs for 3 hours and the time of the next class meeting is set by the instructor during the previous class. Oh yes, there is one more thing. The exams are all unannounced, so you have to be ready for a test at any time. To succeed in this college, you would have to be incredibly flexible and be able to respond quickly to every changing condition. Students who are too structured or slow on their feet would not survive. A growing number of managers are coming to accept that their job is much like what a student would face in such a college. The stability and predictability of the claim waters do not exist. Disruptions in the status quo are not occasional and temporary, to be followed by a return to calm waters. Many of today’s managers never get out of the rapids. They face constant change, bordering on chaos. These managers are being forced to play a game they have never played before, which is governed by rules created as the game progresses. Is the white water rapids metaphor merely an overstatement? No, take the case of General Motors. In the intensely competitive automotive manufacturing business, a company has to be prepared for any possibility. Cars are being surpassed by sport utility vehicles. Gasoline engines still cause fury among environmentalists who desire a more environment friendly source of power for vehicles. Government regulators demand ever increasing gasoline mileage. Customers want new and unique styles more frequently and competition in the industry is fierce. Although General Motors has typically on big competitors new entrants into the marketplace – Kia and Scion pick away at market share. For General Motors to succeed, it must change and continuously improve and revamp everything that it does. Answer: The calm waters view of organizational change envisions the organization as a large ship crossing a calm sea. The ship’s captain and crew know exactly where they are going because they have made the trip many times before. Change comes in the form of an occasional storm, a brief distraction in an otherwise calm and predictable trip. In the calm waters metaphor, change is seen as an occasional disruption in the normal flow of events. It is best illustrated by Kurt Lewin’s 3-step description of the change process. According to Lewin, successful change can be planned and requires unfreezing the status quo, changing to a new state, and refreezing to make the change permanent. The status quo can be considered an equilibrium state. To move from this equilibrium, unfreezing is necessary. Unfreezing can be thought of as preparing for the needed change. It can be achieved by increasing the driving forces, which are forces pushing for change; by decreasing the restraining forces, which are forces that resist change and push behavior toward the status quo; or by combining the two approaches. Once unfreezing is done, the change itself can be implemented. However, merely introducing change does not ensure that it will take hold. The new situation needs to be refrozen so that it can be sustained over time. Unless this last step is done, there is a strong chance that employees will revert back to the old ways of doing things. The objective of refreezing, then, is to stabilize the new situation by reinforcing the new behaviors. Lewin’s 3-step process treats change as a move away from the organization’s current equilibrium state. It is a calm waters scenario where an occasional disruption means changing to deal with the disruption. Once the disruption has been dealt with, however, things can continue on under the new changed situation.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Lady Macbeth Analysis Essay

Lady Macbeth has a manipulative, vindictive nature. She is a very controlling character yet we see her troubled mind reveal itself as the play progresses although as a character, in my opinion, when her mind unravels and her actions of insanity later occurs in the play I do not feel an ounce of sympathy for the murderous malicious actions of Macbeth’s temptress that lead him to doom and destruction. Therefore Lady Macbeth is just like a serpent that poisons her prey. In the opening scenes of the play it is clear to see how acutely in love Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are. When Macbeth is told the prophecy by the witches he immediately writes a letter to Lady Macbeth telling her of this news. Macbeth addresses Lady Macbeth as â€Å"my dearest partner of greatness† act 1 scene 5; this shows the magnitude of his love for her. He thoroughly respects her and reports to her, â€Å"deliver thee† not failing to tell her any new information. The first time we meet Lady Macbeth it doesn’t give the reader a great perspective. She immediately becomes captivated in Macbeths letter and the prophecy of him being King, and conjures up a plan to kill Duncan, it is later revealed they are mutual friends, as he addresses her as â€Å"honored hostess† act 1 scene 6. This cold hearted nature and deep desire for social status and thriving ambition makes her desert any feelings of guilt and remorse, (for the time being). She is confident and strong, she fears Macbeth is not evil enough to execute a friend to reach the final goal of high status we hear this in her soliloquy, â€Å"too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way,† act 1 scene 5 she prays for help â€Å"metaphysical aid† act 1 scene 5 to help Macbeth become ruthless. She fears he is â€Å"without ambition† act 1 scene 5 and so would not carry out the deed properly. Lady Macbeth even would do the murder herself as she prays to become manlier â€Å"unsex me† act 1 scenes 5-7, she prays that she will have no conscience and to be filled with poison. This shows the extent of her ambitious mind. It also reveals that although how evil she is, she still needs an extra push to give her confidence, this doesn’t mean however that she is an innocent flower, she is still an evil serpent at the fact that she wishes to be even more evil and filled with malice. When she first meets Macbeth she begins to goad and persuade him to do the deed she administrates ideas of looking above suspicion. She tells him â€Å"look like th’innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t.† act 1 scene 5, Shakespeare uses very expressive language here with contrasting imagery of a flower (which represents good) and a serpent (which represents evil). This could also be interpreted as a metaphor for Macbeth’s relationship with his wife in that when Lady Macbeth is plotting murderous schemes and manipulating her husband, Macbeth is presented in a good and vulnerable light. The same applies for when Macbeth decides to take the murders further later on in the book and the audience gains sympathy for his wife. Macbeth is left with little to say and is interrupted by his wife on several occasions in that scene, providing the audience with a clear insight into Shakespeare’s intentions for the hierarchy within the relationship. That hierarchy being where Macbeth is more or less controlled by what Lady Macbeth tells him to do, almost like a spell of her own. This provides strong evidence for those who believe that Lady Macbeth is like a serpent. Lady Macbeth shows more serpent techniques as she hides her malevolent plans while greeting her guest, the King, at her household. She is skilled with her welcome of politeness towards Duncan as she has already planned that Duncan will die, â€Å"fatal battlements,† act 1 scene 5 yet she can mask her wickedness and still seem courteous towards Duncan. Progressing through the book from the start Lady Macbeth now symbolizes the character of wickedness to her full extent, like a snake that targets its prey and is not satisfied until the aim is achieved. In Act 1 scene 7 we see how Lady Macbeth belittles her husband in an attempt for him to agree whole heartedly to kill the king of Scotland. She tries to make him feel weak and cowardly. She uses foul phrases with appalling imagery such as telling Macbeth that while she was breast feeding her baby she would: â€Å"while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn you had done to this.† She tries to come over as very menacing and heartless at this point in the play, making a point of the fact that if she had promised to kill her own child she would do so. The role of women at the time when Shakespeare wrote this play was that women were mothers and supported their husbands, there main objective would be to look after the home. A Shakespearian audience would be appalled that Lady Macbeth is neither and that she even threatens a life of a child. This shows how Lady Macbeth would have done almost anything to persuade Macbeth however, after the murder of Duncan, she contradicts herself ra ther strongly as she comments on not being able to kill her father. In Act 2 scene 2 Lady Macbeth shows strength. Macbeth returns from killing the king to discuss the event with his wife. Shakespeare uses this as an opportunity for the audience to feel sympathy as we see his grief and guilt. We also get to see a very new side to Lady Macbeth, she admits that if he had not looked like her own father she would have done the deed herself, showing that underneath her hard exterior, there are elements of compassion and guilt that though she expresses little, she still feels them just like any other human being. The audience then can see her snap out of her sensitive phase and channel her emotions into reassuring and controlling her husband. She tells him to dismiss his hallucinations about the dagger and to return them to frame the guards who were guarding Duncan’s room. â€Å"These deeds must not be thought, after these ways; so, it will make us mad.† The audience could consider this as foreshadowing of what occurs as the play progresses as both Lady Macbeth and her husband experience mental disturbances because of the horrific crimes they committed. Hands are used as a metaphor throughout this scene and as an extended metaphor throughout the play. Macbeth refers to his as â€Å"hangman’s hands† and uses phrases such as â€Å"ravelled sleeve of care†, whereas Lady Macbeth is far more literal and tells him to â€Å"wash this filthy witness from your hand.† This could be interpreted as the hands representing guilt and so each character handles the guilt in different ways; Macbeth is very open about his guilt and remorse by using dramatic devices such as personification and metaphors, for example: â€Å"Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more.† Lady Macbeth, however, deals with her culpability in a different way in that she pretends to feel nothing towards the situation but it obviously haunts her as we see in her final scene in Act 5 scene 1 where she sleep walks and hallucinates. Shakespeare illustrates this well when Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth for being so gentle: â€Å"My hands are of your colour, but I shame, to wear a heart so white.† She also says rather flippantly, â€Å"A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it then! Your constancy hath left you unattended.† Shakespeare’s intention for this scene, I think, was to show us that there is a sensitive, guilty side underneath her shell of ambition and malevolence. Conversely the depth of evil she has shown so far throughout the play cannot make her an innocent flower but an evil and manipulative serpent. When Macduff discovers Duncan’s murder with great astonishment, he alerts the whole castle including Banquo, Malcolm and Donaldbain of the king’s death and so Lady Macbeth enters. She acts very much â€Å"like th’innocent flower† by pretending to be oblivious to what had happened in the previous scene, â€Å"What’s the business that such a hideous trumpet calls to parley, the sleepers of the house?† Then with immense dramatic irony, Macduff replies calling her â€Å"gentle lady† and commenting on the fact that the talk of murderous deeds is too tender for a woman’s ears. The audience would find this somewhat amusing as they know that Lady Macbeth is responsible for persuading Macbeth to commit the murder of Duncan and so would not in any way find the subject too sensitive or painful. Lady Macbeth is very much out of control in this scene, she is surprised to find out that Macbeth killed the two attendants which weren’t in her plan and she begins to falter. In the Macbeth’s relationship this is somewhat very different from the beginning, Macbeth did not consult Lady Macbeth of killing the attendants and this shows their relationship distancing. Lady Macbeth shows her fragility by fainting, although it is unknown to the audience if she genuinely fainted or if it is an act. Lady Macbeth experiences a loss of power and control in Act 3 scene 2, where Macbeth arranges his next murder without her involvement. Shakespeare has her character showing compassion to her husband’s ‘sorriest fancies’ when he complains of insecurity about his dangerous thoughts and deeds. She tries to make him forget what has happened by instructing him: â€Å"Using those thoughts which should indeed have died, with them think on? Things without all remedy should be without regard; what’s done is done.† But Lady Macbeth has lost some of her control, her serpent like naturisms have become wilted but like a serpent, it always remains. Lady Macbeth presents herself as the gracious hostess once more as she invites the lords to dinner in Act 3 scene 4. At the beginning of the scene the audience is presented with the news of Banquo’s slaughter. Lady Macbeth suspects this but is not directly informed as her husband has somewhat distanced himself from her, implying that he does not need her influences for villainous thoughts any more, he can do it all by himself now. This scene manages to arouse some sympathy for Lady Macbeth as we see her power lessening downfall. This could be what ultimately leads to her suspected suicide. The audience gets to understand that Shakespeare did not want to present Lady Macbeth as a character who takes pleasure in the sight of bloodshed and gore, but one who craves power and enforces her ambitions upon those she can manipulate. We also see a role reversal here for the second time in the play. She already has upset the natural order of marital hierarchy from the beginning of the play where she presents herself in the dominant role which was extremely uncommon for that period. Then as the play progresses she becomes part of a downward spiral where she loses power and the status within the marriage as she becomes the more recessive figure next to her now dominant husband. Which in essence, could her suicide later on in the play be reflected upon the idea that Lady Macbeth needs to be the dominate figure? I think that she becomes so broken by her husband’s horrific actions that even she wouldn’t commit and she can’t take anymore of the division between the once close couple this could be seen as an innocent flower but considering everything that has happened throughout the play, she can certainly not be called innocent. The ghost of Banquo makes an appearance at the dinner table in this scene but of course only Macbeth can see (another one of his deluded hallucinations like the dagger). He becomes extremely unsettled by this and begins to shout at the ghost with a fiery passion that stuns the rest of his guests. â€Å"Thou canst not say I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me!† Ross initiates the lords standing up and leaving their new king in peace to rest and collect himself but Lady Macbeth being â€Å"th’innocent flower† that she pretends to be assures the lords that he is fine and is just unwell. The audience feels some sort of consideration for her as we can see her husband’s mental health deteriorates and her power disintegrate. She snaps at Macbeth â€Å"Are you a man?† as she quite obviously feels utterly embarrassed by his reactions to the ghost. She tries to use this as an opportunity to regain her status above Macbeth which is understandable as she f eels defeated but is selfish considering her husband’s state, she shows serpent qualities, the need to be in control of her prey. In the most dramatic scene in Lady Macbeth’s presence on stage, the audience is given the opportunity to see the real Lady Macbeth as her subconscious takes over her physical state. Having no further matters to occupy her mind as Macbeth no longer tells her his plans, she begins to dwell on the past, slipping further and further from reality until she eventually completely loses her hold on sanity and takes her own life. At the beginning of her last scene, Act 5 scene 1, the doctor and gentlewoman are analyzing her recent behavior, â€Å"She has light by her continually, ’tis her command.† As light is a common metaphor for purity this insinuates that she doesn’t want to be considered evil and wants to redeem herself but can’t because she is too involved to dig herself out now and so her subconscious speaks the words she cannot. â€Å"Out damned spot! Out, I say! One, two. Why then ’tis time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear? Who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?† A Shakespearian audience would have recognized the spot as the devil’s mark and would have reacted with horror as they saw this scene being played; this shows that once again she can be called a serpent. Shakespeare has used very disjointed language with punctuation separating every short phrase. This translates to her being very edgy and emotionally unstable. She then reels off a list of other people for which she feels responsible for their deaths as well as her husband. She refers back to the common theme of hands which has occurred throughout the play. â€Å"What, will these hands ne’er be clean?† â€Å"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O.† She still refers to her hands as being â€Å"little† and the need for them to be ‘sweetened’ and so this indicates the want for her to be filled with good and that she is feeling genuine guilt and mental anguish. This anguish finally leads to her suicide by unspecified means. Shakespeare probably chose not to present the death of Lady Macbeth on stage to add to the impact of her exit and last scene and also to be slightly ambiguous. I think a dying scene would have been effective for Lady Macbeth’s last scene; she could perhaps have given a soliloquy explaining how she truly was feeling. To let her portray her malice side and let the audience be satisfied to call her an evil serpent. The significance of Lady Macbeth being an evil woman becoming tortured with guilt and grief is off great importance to a Shakespearian audience, in that time they believed in witchcraft and in my opinion Lady Macbeth could be portrayed as how people who are evil and malicious never get away with the deed. I think a Shakespearian audience would think witchcraft would have been involved in Lady Macbeth’s downfall and this would be very real and true for them. She was certainly a bold character for going against the ‘Chain of Being’ in which God was considered to be ultimately at the top with monarchs under that and other members of society such as lords and townsfolk following after, but at the bottom were women and so she was courageous to consider herself to be above even monarchy! Though wrong, especially considering what was said if the chain of being was to be disrupted, that chaos would arise, disrupting the natural order of life on earth and in the heavens which is seen as inexcusable a definite serpent quality. To conclude, it is evident that Shakespeare had Lady Macbeth’s emotional state disintegrate as the play proceeded to in effect show the downfall of a control freak. In the first two acts we have little sympathy for Lady Macbeth as Shakespeare only provides the audience with her vindictive exterior, at this time we cannot see what she is truly thinking and feeling. It is only as the play progresses that we understand why she turns out to be the way that she is, that she has a very ambitious character and so enforces that upon her husband. She feels that Macbeth becoming king will benefit them both and sees killing the existing king as the fastest way to get to the throne. She then becomes gradually defeated as Macbeth’s ambition and obsession with becoming king begins to soar and spiral. She is then over-ridden with guilt and eventually feels that she cannot bear the guilt that torments her troubled mind and so decides to end it all. Had her ambition not overridden her sense of morality, she could have been a respectable, intelligent woman who complemented her husband’s abilities to form a perfect partnership. However, she ended up becoming a tortured, immoral, dejected soul, and disliked by many people becoming a serpent.