The Kite Maker free essay sample

About the lesson In this short story Risking Bond describes the simple and easy life of earlier days when even a kite maker had a social prestige and the people had once and affection for each other. The writer remembers the sweet charm of old days through the character of old Manhood, the kite maker. When the kite old days through the character of old Manhood, the kite maker. In those days kite maker was young, he was honored for his art of kite making. In those days kite playing was the hobby of the Anabas and people were not hurried and worried. But when Manhood became old, the people lost their interest in kite flying.They were busy in getting and spending. They did not care for the old kite maker. In the end of the story a feeling of pathos is created. The death of the Kite Maker signifies the death of the values and life style of the days gone by. We will write a custom essay sample on The Kite Maker or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page * An ancient banyan which had grown through the cracks of an abandoned mosque was the only tree In the street Known as Gall Ram Nathan. And little Alls kite had caught In Its branches. The boy, barefoot and clad only only In a torn shirt, ran along the cobbled stones of the narrow street to where his grandfather sat nodding dreamily in the sunshine of their back courtyard. Grandfather! Shouted the boy. The kite has gone l The old man woke from his daydream with a start and, raising his head, displayed a beard which would have en white had it not been dyed red emends leaves. Did the twine break? He asked. l known that kite-twine Is not what It used to be, No, Grandfather, the kite Is stuck in the banyan tree. The old man chuckled, You have yet to learn how to fly a kite properly, my child. And I am too old to teach you, thats the pity of it. But you shall have another. He had Just finished making a new kite from bamboo, paper and thin silk, and it lay in the sun, firming up.It was a pale pink kite, with a small green tail. The old man handed it to All, and the boy raised himself on his toes and kissed his grandfathers hollowed out cheek. I will not lose this one, he said. This kite will fly Like a bird. And he turned on his heels and skipped out of the courtyard. The old man remained dreaming in the sun. His kite-shop had gone, the premises having been sold many years ago to a Junk dealer. But he still made kites for his own amusement and as playthings for his grandson, All. Not many people bought kites these days. Adults disdained them and children preferred to spend their money at the movies. Moreover, there were few open spaces left for flying kites. The city had river-bank. But the old man remembered a time when grown-ups flew kites from the aiding, and great battles were fought, the kites swerving and swooping in the sky, tangling with each other, Emil the string of one was cut. Then the beaten but liberated kite would float away into the blue unknown. There was a good deal of betting, and money frequently changed hands. Kite-flying was then the sport of kings. The old man remembered how the Nab himself would come down to the river-bank with his retinue to Join in this noble pastime. In those days, there was time to spend an idle hour with a gay, dancing strip of paper. Now everyone hurried, hurried in a heat of hope, and delicate things like kites and daydreams were ramped underfoot. Manhood, the kite maker, had been well known throughout the city in the prime of his life. Some of his more elaborate kites sold for as much as three or four rupees. At the request of the Nab he had once made a very special kind of kite, unlike any that had been seen in the strict. It consisted of a series of small, very light paper discs, trailing on as thin bamboo frame.To the extremity of each disc he tied a sprig of grass for balance. The surface of the foremost disc was slightly convex, and a fantastic face was painted on it, with the two eyes made of small mirrors. The discs, decreasing in size from head to tail, gave the kite the appearance of an crawling serpent. It required great skill to raise this cumbersome device from the ground, and only Manhood could manage it. Everyone had, of course, heard of the dragon kite that Manhood had built; and word went round that it possessed supernatural powers.A large crowd assembled on the Maida to watch its first public launching in the presence of the Nab. At the first attempt it did not budge from the ground. The disc made a plaintive, presenting sound, and the sun was trapped in the little mirrors, making the kite a living, complaining creature. Then the wind came from the right direction and the dragon kite soared into the sky, wriggling its way higher and higher; with the sun still glinting in its devil-eyes. When sit went very high, it pulled fiercely on the twine, and Manhoods young scans had to help him with the reel.But still the kite pulled, determined to be free, to live a life of its own. Yes, those were more leisurely days. But the Nab had died years ago; his descendants were almost as poor as Manhood himself kite-maker, like poets, once had their patrons; Manhood now had none. No one asked him his mane and occupation, simply because there were too any people in the gal. and nobody could be bothered about neighbors. When he was younger and had fallen sick, everyone in the neighborhood had come to ask after hid health.Now, when his days were drawing to a close, no one visited him. Most of his old friends were dead. His sons had grown up; one was working in a local garage, the other had stayed in Pakistan where he was at the time of partition. The children who had bought kites from him ten years ago were now adults struggling for a living; they did not have time for the old man his memories. Having grown up in a swift-changing, competitive world, they looked at the old kite-maker tit the same indifference as they showed towards the banyan tree. Here taken for granted as permanent fixtures that were of no concern to the mass of humanity that surrounded them. No longer did people gather under the banyan tree to discuss their problems and their plans; only in the summer months did someone grandson. It was good that his son worked close by, and he and the daughter-in-law could live in Manhoods house. It gladdened his heart to watch the boy at play in the winter sunshine, growing under his eyes like a young and well-nourished sapling putting forth new leaves each day. There is a great affinity between trees and men.They grow the same pace, of they are not hurt, or starved, or cut down. In their youth, they are resplendent creatures, and in their declining years, they stoop a little. They remember, they stretch their brittle limbs in the sun, and, with a sigh, shed their last leaves. Manhood was like the banyan, his hands gnarled and twisted like the roots of the ancient tree. All was like the young mimosa planted at the end of the courtyard. In two years both he and the tree would acquire the strength and confidence that are characteristic of youth.The voices in the street grew fainter, and Manhood wondered if he was going to fall asleep and dream, as he so often did, of beautiful, powerful kite resembling the great white bird of the Hindus, Guard, God Vishnu famous steed. He would like to make a wonderful new kite for little, All. He had nothing else to leave the boy. He heard Alias voice in the distance, but did not realized that the boy was calling out to him. The voice seemed to come from very far away. All was at the courtyard door; asking if his mother had as yet returned from the bazaar. When Manhood did not answer, the boy came award, repeating his question.The sunlight was slanting across the old mans head, and a small white butterfly was perched on his flowing beard. Manhood was silent; and when All put his small brown hand on the old mans shoulder, he got no response. The boy heard a faint sound, like the rubbing of marbles in his pocket. Suddenly afraid, All turned and moved to the door, and then ran down the street shouting for his mother. And in the banyan tree, a sudden gust of wind caught the torn kite and lifted it into the air, carrying it far above the struggling, sweating city, into the blue sky.

Cargo Vessel Size Classifications

Cargo Vessel Size Classifications Cargo shipping is a low margin business model that requires vessels to be fully loaded in order to sustain profitable operations. When a ship is in the design phase it is almost always structured in a specific classification of naval architecture and built to serve a specific route or purpose. Vessels that are built to pass through specific bottlenecks while carrying the maximum amount of cargo are termed â€Å"-max†. For example, a freighter designed to pass through the Panama Canal are called Panamax. This means that the ship will fit into a minimum bounding box that matches the dimensions of the smallest locks in the canal. A bounding box is measured in three dimensions and includes areas under water and above the ship in addition to maximum length and width. In a maritime specific case, the dimensions of the bounding box have some different but still familiar names. Draft is the measurement from the surface of the water to the bottom. The beam is the width of a vessel at its’ widest point. Length is measured as the overall length of a ship but in some cases, maximum dimensions might consider the length at the waterline which can differ significantly from length overall (LOA) because of the Deadrise of the hull. The final measurement is Air Draft which is the measure of the maximum height above the waterline of any structure on the ship. Other terms you will see are Gross Tonnage (GT) and Dead Weight Tonnage (DWT) and while many perceive this as a measure of weight it is actually described best as a measure of the volume of the vessel’s hull. Weight only factors in when an equivalent weight of water displaced by the hull needs to be expressed. Now let’s get to the definitions. Ship Size Definitions Most of these definitions pertain to cargo vessels but they can be applied to any kind of ship. Military and cruise ships can also be classified under these definitions but the most common usage concerns cargo ships. Aframax- This classification almost always refers to an oil tanker although it is occasionally applied to other bulk commodities. These vessels serve oil producing areas with limited port resources or where man-made canals lead to terminals that load raw petroleum products. The size limitations in this class are few. The main restriction is the beam of a vessel which in this case cannot exceed 32.3 Meters or 106 feet. The tonnage of this type of vessel is approximately 120,000 DWT. Capesize- Here is one of the instances where the naming scheme is different but the concept is the same. A Capesize class of ship is limited by the depth of the Suez Canal which is currently 62 feet or about 19 meters. The soft geology of the region has allowed the canal to be dredged to a greater depth since it was first built and it possible the canal will be dredged again in the future so this classification may change its maximum draft limit. Capesize vessels are large bulk carriers and tankers that get their name from the route they must take to bypass the Suez Canal. This route takes the past the Cape of Good Hope in Africa or Cape Horn off of South America depending on the final destination of the ship. The displacement of these vessels can range from 150,000 to as much as 400,000 DWT. Chinamax- Chinamax is a little bit different since it is determined by the size of port facilities rather than physical obstructions. This term is not only applied to ships but also to port facilities themselves. Ports that can accommodate these very large vessels are referred to as Chinamax compatible. These ports do not necessarily need to be anywhere near China they only need to meet the draft requirements of dry bulk carriers in the 350,000 to 400,000 DWT range while not exceeding 24 meters or 79 feet of draft, 65 meters or 213 feet of beam, and 360 meters 1,180 feet of overall length. Malaccamax- Here is another situation for naval architects where the main restriction is draft of the vessel. The Strait of Malacca has a depth of 25 meters or 82 feet so ships of this class must not exceed this depth at the lowest point of the tidal cycle. Vessels serving this route can gain capacity in the design phase by increasing beam and length at the waterline in order to carry a greater capacity in a limited draft situation. Panamax- This class is the most commonly recognized to most people since it refers to the Panama Canal which is quite famous in its own right. The current size limitations are 294 meters or 965 feet in length, 32 meters or 106 feet of beam, 12 meters or 39.5 feet of draft, and 58 meters or 190 feet of air draft so vessels can fit under the Bridge of the Americas. The canal opened in 1914 and by 1930 there were already plans to enlarge the locks to pass larger vessels. In 2014 a third larger set of locks will begin operations and define a new class of vessels called New Panamax. New Panamax has size limitations of 366 meters or 1200 feet in overall length, 49 meters or about 160 feet of beam, and a draft of 15 meters or 50 feet. The air draft will remain the same under the Bridge of the Americas which is now the main limiting factor for large vessels passing through the canal. Seawaymax- This class of vessels is designed to achieve the maximum size for passage through the Saint Lawrence Seaway inbound or outbound from the Great Lakes system. The locks of the Seaway are the limiting factor and can receive ships no larger than 225.5 meters or 740 feet of overall length, about 24 meters or 78 feet of beam, about 8 meters or 26 feet of draft, and an air draft of 35.5 meters or 116 feet above the water. Larger vessels operate on the lakes but they are unable to reach the sea because of the bottleneck at the locks. Supermax, Handymax- Once again this is a class of ships that is not restricted by a specific set of locks or bridges but instead, it refers to cargo capacity and the ability to use ports. Ports are often designated to be Supermax or Handymax compatible. Supermax as you probably guessed is the largest of the vessels with a size of around 50,000 to 60,000 DWT and can be as long as 200 meters or 656 feet. Handymax vessels are slightly smaller and have a displacement of 40,000 to 50,000 DWT. These ships are usually at least 150 meters or 492 feet. Suezmax- The Suez Canal’s dimensions are the limiting factor for ship size in this case. Since there are no locks along the one hundred plus miles of the canal the only limitations are draft and air draft. The canal has a useful draft of 19 meters or 62 feet and vessels are limited by the height of the Suez Canal Bridge which has a clearance of 68 meters or 223 feet.

Ionic and Covalent Bonding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ionic and Covalent Bonding - Essay Example Formation of ionic bond takes when an electron is transferred from a non metal to metal making the two atoms have partial positive and negative charge hence they attract one another. Reaction between non-metals and metals results into electrons being transferred from the metal to non-metal and, therefore, the metal and non-metal forms ions. On the other hand, the compound formed is called an ionic compound (Gaskell 2008, p. 17). In the above example, sodium atom loses an electron to the chlorine atom. Therefore, sodium atom, therefore, becomes partially positively charged while the chlorine atom becomes partially negatively charged hence an ionic bond is formed (Gaskell 2008, p. 18). Ionic bonds do not have a definite shape while covalent bonds have definite shapes that can be predicted. In addition, covalent bonds can be broken to the original atoms which made the molecule because the atoms are close to one another so as to share electrons (Engel and Reid 2012, p.43). While, ionic bonds are solid, covalent bonds molecules are gaseous or liquids. Compounds that have covalent bonds have a lower melting point than ionic bonds because they have weak van der waals forces that do not require a high amount of energy. On the other hand, ionic compound has higher melting points because their bonds are stable and hence high amount of energy is required to the bonds (Atkins & Paula 2012, p.54). Ionic bonds also form crystalline atoms and in solution or molten state they conduct electricity and are also polar bonds. Therefore, most of them dissolve in water but are insoluble in solvents that are not polar (Silbey et al. 2004 p.30). Ionic bonds are formed between a metal and non-metal atoms. For the formation of the bond to occur, the atoms must have high difference in electron negativity and it is made when the metal atom loses an electron to the non-metal making it

Public Administration- Program Development Coursework

Public Administration- Program Development - Coursework Example purpose of the introduction of the Department of Human Resources in the company is to ensure that there is workforce diversity across all departments as the purpose of the department is always to ensure that all the matters regarding the employees as a company’s assets are taken care of. In this project that the introduction of the department is proposed, it is very important to ensure that the success or the level to which the initiative is effective is examined or evaluated. In this chapter, we are going to analyze the changes that are apparent in the introduction following the introduction of the department. This is going to be done by having the trend analysis of the average level of workforce diversity within the organization. This table shows an hypothetical trend analysis of the average level of workforce diversity for the company before and after the introduction or implementation of the department of human resources. In this hypothetical example, we find that the trend in the data shows that the workforce diversity ‘s level with the organization saw an increase from slightly to moderately during the two different periods of transition on average. However, the post data shows that the introduction of the Department of Human Resources greatly accelerated the rate of the increase to which the organization was becoming more diversity racially or ethnically. On top of reviewing the overall workforce diversity level for the organization, trend analysis can be done for individual departments. This analysis will help in examining the level or extend to which the individual departments have succeeded in hiring more qualified minority candidates and also the level to which they have been in rise in the overall workforce diversity level within their structures. In addition, the comparative trend analysis can be done to examine the performance across the departments. This can always be done both at micro and macro levels. The departments that have been chosen

Individual assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Individual - Assignment Example ValackienÄâ€" and VirbickaitÄâ€" (2011) define a crisis is a sudden or unplanned phenomenon that may impede on its major product line, have negative implications on its financial performance, harm its consumers or negatively affect its employees’ well-being, or taint public trust or reputation of the organization. Crises are unknown threats to system survival, often characterised by limited time of reaction and response through human intervention. Crises faced by organisations may be environmental, financial or technological. Organisations experience different forms of crises in contemporary business situations. In response, organizations adopt strategies to monitor, rectify, and balance the situations in an attempt maintain public trust. A crisis may cause loss in legitimacy, which occurs in diverse forms depending on the nature of the problem (Coombs & Holladay, 2012). Crises threaten the social and cultural values including common beliefs of stakeholders and public trust in the organization’s business (Miller, 2014). An organisation is termed legal if its actions are appropriate and comply with the socially applied norms, values and beliefs within the social domain. Stakeholders perceive crises as a breach to the organisational norms and values, therefore, eroding the organisation’s reputation and legitimacy. Crisis always strikes when the management of an organization is uncertain or prepared for them. Swift action, therefore, is necessary to respond the situation before they escalate to the worst. An example is the April 20th 2010 BP oil spill crisis in the Mexican Gulf during deep water drilling activity (Freudenburg & Gramling, 2011). The deep-water drilling rig explosion caused massive contamination of the seawater by of millions of gallons of unprocessed. In addition, since BP was the principal and key contributor to the technology behind the deep-sea oil drilling and was solely

Strategic Review of LOreal External Environment

Strategic Review of LOreal External Environment This essay firstly introduce LOreal and their main operations in recent years, and then emphasize to analysis their external environment, such as P.E.S.T analysis, five forces analysis, sector level analysis and product life cycles analysis. And in the end analysis the opportunities and threats which the company faces over next 3-5 years 2. Company and Product Overview The LOREAL Group is the worlds largest cosmetics and beauty company and it headquartered in the Paris suburb of Clichy, France. LOREAL has developed activities in the field of cosmetics, concentrating on hair color, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfumes and hair care. LOREAL is active in the dermatological and pharmaceutical fields. LOREAL is also the top nanotechnology patent-holder in the United States. à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%E2%80%99Orealà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° It operates in over 130 countries. It markets 18 brands through two divisions, cosmetics and dermatology. The cosmetics division of LOREAL has four segments: professional products, consumer products, luxury products and active cosmetics. The dermatology segment includes dermatological and pharmaceutical activities of the company. LOREAL got its start in the hair-color business, but the company soon branched out into other cleansing and beauty products. LOREAL now markets over 500 brands and many thousands of individual products in all sectors of the beauty business: hair color, permanents, styling aids, body and skin care, cleansers and fragrances. They are found in all distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to hyper and supermarkets, health/beauty outlets, pharmacies and direct mail. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Oreal) 3. External environmental analysis 3.1 P.E.S.T Analysis PEST analysis stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis and describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management. 3.1.1 Political and Legal Forces The political challenge is that LOreal should conform to all the different government leadership styles in various countries it operates within. LOreal faced a decline in the dermatology branch led by its Galderma brand due to new legislations governing drugs (Euromonitor, 2005). The EU law affects LOreal. LOreal is restricted in their use of certain kinds of chemicals, such as Phthalates which is carcinogenic (The Rules Governing Cosmetic Products in the European Union). LOreal is obligated to produce safe products that do not contain any harmful substances. Also, legislation for advertising is also affecting LOreal. LOreal has to follow the rules set by Advertising Standards Authority. For example, advertisements cannot be misleading that over-exaggerating the functions of a product (The Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988). Recent policy developments in the European Union (EU), that is the safety of cosmetics is directed standards. Seventh Amendment cosmetics directive finally approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, It is expected an immediate ban on animal testing products and a total ban on animal testing of cosmetics raw materials, no later than six years to implement the directive. (Anonymous,http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu/more_information/download/ecvam2.pdfà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° In addition, It needs an immediate ban on new cosmetics sales (of finished products and raw materials) and the experimental animal alternative methods have been tested in ecvam and accept the existence of the ban on the sale of cosmetics, on human health affected to a certain extent. It is thought that LOreal should fully understand these policies, and to avoid a violation of these policies and regulations, strictly control chemical products and related banned substances content 3.1.2 Economic Environment Analysis LOreal should adapt to all the different economic environments and problems in all countries it operates in. For example in 2004, LOreal was affected by the continued weakness of the dollar and other currencies. Economic crisis is a bad news for LOreal, The world GDP is fall sharply from 2007 to 2009, The economic downturn will be a great chanllege for the development of LOreal Although the growth last year is below that in 2008 due to the financial crisis, it is fortunate that it still met the target, said Paolo Gasparrini, president of LOreal China, at the 6th China Young Women in Science Fellowship Award Ceremony sponsored by LOreal in Beijing Tuesday. In the first three quarters of 2009, LOreals total gross sales increased 0.7 percent compared to last year, of which growth in Asia, where the Chinese market is a large contributor, totaled 21.2 percent, he said. (http://msn.huanqiu.com/bizchina/2010-01/700911.html) 3.1.3 Social Environment Analysis The culture of countries in which a business operates can be of particular importance. The culture of a country consists of the values, attitudes and beliefs of its people. (David Campbell, George Stonehouse and Bill Houston: 119). For example, with modern standard of living continues to improve and the level education get higher and higher, the social increasingly recognize the external image, and people are increasingly focusing on the image appearance, the demand of quality and effectiveness of cosmetic and related skin care products become higher and higher. 3.14 Technological Environment Analysis Changes in technology affect the products available to consumers and business, the quality of the products and their functionality. (David Campbell, George Stonehouse and Bill Houston. 124). Todays society is constantly changing, technology updates means that the product updates, cosmetic update speed, short product life cycles, a cosmetics market, we should immediately prepare for the next period. As the technology develops, people can be more channels to purchase products, business and customer contacts more and more ordinary. So technology is the enterprise competitive advantage. Along with the development of science and technologyà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’ the latest scientific and technological achievements and advanced technologies rapidly apply in cosmetics industries, particularly biotechnology, nanometer technology, information technology, electronics technology, which provide a lot of opportunities for the development of cosmetics industry. LOreal has strong research and development (RD) capability, According to new technological development, the company registered 529 patents related to cosmetics and dermatology in 2005. (http://dbic.datamonitor.com/companies/company ) 3.2 Five Forces Analysis According to Porters five forces which determine the nature of competition within an industry. The five forces are: The threat of new entrants to the industry; The threat of substitute products; The power of buyers or customers; The power of suppliers; (to business in the industry) Rivalry among businesses in the industry. Force 1: It is thought that because cosmetic industry needs products quality inspection for safety, and large investments which including technology and a great deal of capital, it is difficult to enter the cosmetic industry. However, at present, there is few entrants can threat LOREAL. Force 2: By reason of many personal cosmetics may contain a series of potentially toxic compounds, including artificial membrane. One research found cosmetics containing some spices and xylene which easily lead to the abortion of pregnant women. Many facial cream are also contain compounds which similar with the role of female hormones. So the threat of substitutes is using pure natural products. Force 3: According to a survey commissioned by New Woman magazine and published in April 2006, the average woman is estimated to spend a staggering  £182,528 on beauty products between the ages of 18 and 80. 5,000 women were questioned, (Anonymous, http://www.keynote.co.uk/kn2k1) eight in ten of whom said they wore make-up every day and almost half of whom admitted that they would not leave the house without it. So the power of buyers is very strong, which is very favorable to LOREAL. Force 4: LOREAL products were sold in many large department stores or supermarkets. The suppliers are all have strong bargaining power. So LOrà ©al should develop a close partnership with suppliers, in order to sell products better. Force 5: The global cosmetics business is intensely competitive, with a few big corporations and a large number of small companies vying for market share. The company competes against global companies such as Avon, Està ©e Lauder, Procter Gamble, Revlon, and a number of smaller companies as well. Of late, those bigger companies sharpened their focus on the market of beauty and personal care products. Increased competition may lead LOrà ©al to price reductions, reduced profit margins and loss of market share. 3.3 Strategic Space/Group Analysis A business can rarely confine its analysis to the level of the industry and markets in which it operates. It must also pay particular attention to its closest competitors who are known as its strategic group. PRICE BRANDING INTENSITY LOW HIGH LOW HIGH Està ©e Lauder Avon Revlon P G LOrà ©al From the strategy groups above, it is obviously that LOrà ©al has a high branding intensity and medium price, therefore compare with other competitor LOrà ©al has competitive advantage. 3.4 Life Cycles Analysis Generally speaking, cosmetic products are in the maturity period of the product life cycle. In this period users tend to saturation and users repeat purchase reliance. In competitive condition competitor fight to maintain market share, but it is difficulty in gaining market share. All competitors emphasis on low cost (efficiency). LOrà ©al should pay attention to the quality of products and improve the packing, in order to keep old customers and attract new customers. 4. Opportunity and threat analysis over next 3-5 years 4.1 Opportunities It is thought that LOrà ©al faces the following opportunities and threats, these main changes will influence the companys planning over the next 3-5years. First of all, it is thought that the opportunity of LOREAL is aging population. The most developed countries are already highly aging society, aged 60 or older in the proportion of the population is above 15%, and for example the percentage of the US population who are over 55 years is forecast to increase from 20% in 2007 to 33% in 2027. (Anonymous, http://dbic.datamonitor.com/companies/company ) This is likely to increase demand for anti-aging products. LOREAL successfully launched many anti-aging products in 2007, including RevitaLift Double Lifting, Collagen Filler, and Lancomes Renergie Morpholift. As aging baby boomers attempt to preserve their looks through anti-aging products, LOREAL will not be short of opportunities. The second opportunity is proposed acquisition of Body Shop. As the rapidly growing of personal care products market, demand for the products is rising as consumers shift to products which are safer and more eco-friendly. The natural personal care products market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 12% a year, to reach an estimated $1 billion in 2010. (Anonymous, http://dbic.datamonitor.com/companies/company) The proposed acquisition of the UK-based Body Shop International, a company founded by Anita Roddick that uses primarily organically-derived ingredients, would allow LOREAL to capitalize on the growing demand for natural personal care products. Thirdly, the growth of India and China. LOREAL could offset weak performance in Western Europe by expanding its presence in fast-growing markets such as India and China. The company already has a presence in these two countries, whose economies are forecasted to grow at a high rate in the coming years. In 2007, the companys sales in China grew by 27% while sales in India expanded by 46%. (Anonymous,http://dbic.datamonitor.com/companies/company)Further expansion in China and India may help LOREAL overcome sluggish growth in Western Europe. 4.2 Threats Howeverà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’it is thought that there are three main threats which will influence LOREAL. Firstly, Economic crisis is a bad news for LOreal, The economic downturn will be a great chanllege for the development of LOreal The secondly, the competition is intense in the market. The global cosmetics business is intensely competitive, with a few big corporations and a large number of small companies vying for market share. The company competes against global companies such as Revlon, Estee Lauder and Procter Gamble, (Anonymous, http://dbic.datamonitor.com/companies/company ) in addition to a number of smaller companies. Recently, some big companies have sharpened their focus on beauty and personal care products market, as well as emerging markets. Increased competition could result in price reductions, reduced profit margins and loss of market share. The third one are new regulations. Several consumer protection groups are voicing concerns over the presence of harmful chemical ingredients in cosmetic products. A recent study showed that about one-third of cosmetic products contain known carcinogens. (http://dbic.datamonitor.com/companies/company ) Due to increasing public pressure, in US the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to impose stringent quality norms on cosmetic products. (Anonymous, http://dbic.datamonitor.com/companies/company ) New regulations may delay the launch of new products and result in higher product development expenditure, not to mention the possible effects of the adverse publicity generated by the new regulations. The last one is counterfeiting. The counterfeiting of popular cosmetic products has increased in recent years. Increasing sales of counterfeit products negatively impact the companys sale. Low quality counterfeits also reduce consumer confidence in the products of a company. More important, the companys key differentiator, exclusivity, is damaged by counterfeiting operations. Widespread counterfeits reduce the exclusiveness of the companys brands. Counterfeit products not only deprive the company of revenues, but also dilute the reputation of the brand. 5. Conclusion According the discuss above, it is conclusion that among LOrà ©als external environment, it is thought that the competition of cosmetic and fragrance market become more and more drastic, especially faced with strong competitors, and it is thought that there are opportunities and threats to LOrà ©al, the company should take advantage of these opportunities and to etain its status as the leader of cosmetic and fragrance industry. Word :1779

A Psychological Profile Of Holden Caufield :: essays research papers fc

Thesis: Holden Caufield is a hostile, negatively charged character that suffers from depression which stems from a desire not to grow up and a lack of closure in his brothers death."If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like . . . "(pg. 1) These first words that Holden Caufield communicates during his tell of events that brought him to his breakdown, show the pent up hostility that still lingers. This pattern of speech, the constant expression of negativity, is a character trait of Holden that shows his inner anguish. Holden also feels a continual need for affirmation of what he just said with phrases such as, "He really would."(pg. 25) or "It really isn't." (Pg. 89) This continual need for approval shows a lowered level of self-assurance. This lowered self-assurance probably stems from his self-awareness that he is an unreliable source. The reason he is unreliable is due to his deceitful narrative of occurrences. This is seen repeatedly as Holden builds an individual up as good or righteous such as Stradlater, (pg. 25) then tears him down later. (pg 43) This inability to give truthful accounts of individuals could stem from his constant digression from the point at hand. Holden freely admits to this trait on page 183 when he says "The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It's more interesting and all.""Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone."(pg. 122) This phrase Holden made while discussing how things were different each time he went to the museum, stems from an inability to accept that he must grow up. The thought of growing up has driven Holden into bouts of depression as inhis discussion on page 133, " It'd be entirely different. I said. I was getting depressed as hell again." This nonconformist desire has led Holden to have illusions of grandeur as a fictional savior, "The Catcher in the Rye."(pg. 173) The catcher in the rye is undoubtedly a metaphor, for keeping children from falling into the same norm as adults. The inability of Holden to accept growing up and the depression caused by it has made Holden suicidal, "what I really felt like, though, was committing suicide.

Life of Pi Analysis Essay

Having just experienced the sinking of his family’s ship, and being put onto a life boat with only a hyena, Pi felt completely lost and alone. Then he met a familiar face from his family’s zoo, Pi saw the Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker onboard. His first reaction was to save the life of Richard Parker so that he may have a companion, and a protector aboard the lifeboat. Suddenly Pi realizes just what he is doing. He is saving the life of Richard Parker, by welcoming him, a 450 pound Bengal tiger, onto the small lifeboat. He experiences a change of heart when helping the tiger onto the boat. Pi realizes that he is now posing a threat on his own life. With Richard Parker on the boat, Pi is faced with not only the fight to survive stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but the fight to survive living with a meat eating tiger. The change of heart that Pi experiences might possibly mean that he is an impulsive thinker. It may mean that he often does something on impulse without thinking it through, and then later regrets his actions. Though he was having bad experiences onboard, Pi maintains his religious beliefs while on the life boat through his daily prayers. He takes time aside each day to say the prayers that he always would say. In one instance, he turns where he believes Mecca is located, and prays his traditional prayers towards Mecca. Pi also often states that he will include specific animals in his prayers, such as the zebra aboard his lifeboat, and the first fish that he ever killed. With Pi keeping his ritual prayers going, it helped him to survive. He made comparisons between that of Orange Juice, the orangutan, and the Virgin Mary, and would also often bring up Jesus on the cross. Truly, Pi’s religious faith remained strong throughout his journey on the Pacific Ocean.

Free Essays on Analysis of the Letter to the Galations

Analysis of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians It is presumed that Paul’s letter to the Galatians was probably written around 55 A.D. This particular letter deals with question whether gentiles must become Jewish before they can become Christian. The problem came about when Judaizing teachers in Galatia declared that Christians not only had to have faith in Jesus Christ, but also that they were obligated to keep the Mosaic law. Paul insisted that a person only has to have faith in Christ and does not have to perform good works, ritual works, ect. According to Paul, Jesus appeared to him and told him to preach the good news to the Gentiles (Paul 264). Paul uses scripture to explain why Gentiles should not be required to be circumcised, or obey Jewish Law; however, there are no direct quotes in scripture that say this. One would wonder why Paul, someone who grew-up in a good Jewish family, would not follow in the footsteps of Jewish Christian Missionaries, and require Christian converts to become Jews first. He certainly had to fight to have his belief accepted. Paul tried to follow the example of the original apostles by converting whoever was willing to listen. He must have understood human nature better than the other apostles preaching circumcision to the gentiles. Perhaps he thought that Gentiles would accept Christianity more easily if it were natural to their lifestyle because the thought of circumcision, and strict dietary laws could scare gentiles from converting to Christianity, which would not be good (Ellis! 51-54). It seems that the "Judaziers" preached a God that was hard to please. Paul's major problem confronted in his letter to the Galatians is the preaching of the Judaziers. Apparently, men who preach circumcision and the Law had been trying to mislead the Galatians, and change their beliefs away from Paul's preaching’s (Paul 264). This angered him that the Galatians are so easily convinced. So, the l... Free Essays on Analysis of the Letter to the Galations Free Essays on Analysis of the Letter to the Galations Analysis of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians It is presumed that Paul’s letter to the Galatians was probably written around 55 A.D. This particular letter deals with question whether gentiles must become Jewish before they can become Christian. The problem came about when Judaizing teachers in Galatia declared that Christians not only had to have faith in Jesus Christ, but also that they were obligated to keep the Mosaic law. Paul insisted that a person only has to have faith in Christ and does not have to perform good works, ritual works, ect. According to Paul, Jesus appeared to him and told him to preach the good news to the Gentiles (Paul 264). Paul uses scripture to explain why Gentiles should not be required to be circumcised, or obey Jewish Law; however, there are no direct quotes in scripture that say this. One would wonder why Paul, someone who grew-up in a good Jewish family, would not follow in the footsteps of Jewish Christian Missionaries, and require Christian converts to become Jews first. He certainly had to fight to have his belief accepted. Paul tried to follow the example of the original apostles by converting whoever was willing to listen. He must have understood human nature better than the other apostles preaching circumcision to the gentiles. Perhaps he thought that Gentiles would accept Christianity more easily if it were natural to their lifestyle because the thought of circumcision, and strict dietary laws could scare gentiles from converting to Christianity, which would not be good (Ellis! 51-54). It seems that the "Judaziers" preached a God that was hard to please. Paul's major problem confronted in his letter to the Galatians is the preaching of the Judaziers. Apparently, men who preach circumcision and the Law had been trying to mislead the Galatians, and change their beliefs away from Paul's preaching’s (Paul 264). This angered him that the Galatians are so easily convinced. So, the l...

A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert Study Guide

A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert Study Guide â€Å"A Simple Heart† by Gustave Flaubert describes the life, the affections, and the fantasies of a diligent, kindhearted servant named Fà ©licità ©. This detailed story opens with an overview of Fà ©licità ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s working life- most of which has been spent serving a middle-class widow named Madame Aubain, â€Å"who, it must be said, was not the easiest of people to get on with† (3). However, during her fifty years with Madame Aubain, Fà ©licità © has proved herself to be an excellent housekeeper. As the third-person narrator of â€Å"A Simple Heart† states: â€Å"No one could have been more persistent when it came to haggling over prices and, as for cleanliness, the spotless state of her saucepans was the despair of all the other serving maids† (4). Though a model servant, Fà ©licità © had to endure hardship and heartbreak early in life. She lost her parents at a young age and had a few brutal employers before she met Madame Aubain. In her teenage years, Fà ©licità © also struck up a romance with a â€Å"fairly well off† young man named Thà ©odore- only to find herself in agony when Thà ©odore abandoned her for an older, wealthier woman (5-7). Soon after this, Fà ©licità © was hired to look after Madame Aubain and the two young Aubain children, Paul and Virginie. Fà ©licità © formed a series of deep attachments during her fifty years of service. She became devoted to Virginie, and closely followed Virginie’s church activities: â€Å"She copied the religious observances of Virginie, fasting when she fasted and going to confession whenever she did† (15). She also became fond of her nephew Victor, a sailor whose travels â€Å"took him to Morlaix, to Dunkirk and to Brighton and after each trip, he brought back a present for Fà ©licità ©Ã¢â‚¬  (18). Yet Victor dies of yellow fever during a voyage to Cuba, and the sensitive and sickly Virginie also dies young. The years pass, â€Å"one very much like another, marked only by the annual recurrence of the church festivals,† until Fà ©licità © finds a new outlet for her â€Å"natural kind-heartedness† (26-28). A visiting noblewoman gives Madame Aubain a parrot- a noisy, stubborn parrot named Loulou- and Fà ©licità © wholeheartedly begins looking after the bird. Fà ©licità © starts to go deaf and suffers from â€Å"imaginary buzzing noises in her head† as she grows older, yet the parrot is a great comfort- â€Å"almost a son to her; she simply doted on him† (31). When Loulou dies, Fà ©licità © sends him to a taxidermist and is delighted with the â€Å"quite magnificent† results (33). But the years ahead are lonely; Madame Aubain dies, leaving Fà ©licità © a pension and (in effect) the Aubain house, since â€Å"nobody came to rent the house and nobody came to buy it† (37). Fà ©licità ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s health deteriorates, though she still keeps informed about religious ceremonies. Shortly before her death, she contributes the stuffed Loulou to a local church display. She dies as a church procession is underway, and in her final moments envisions â€Å"a huge parrot hovering above her head as the heavens parted to receive her† (40). Background and Contexts Flaubert’s Inspirations: By his own account, Flaubert was inspired to write â€Å"A Simple Heart† by his friend and confidante, the novelist George Sand. Sand had urged Flaubert to abandon his typically harsh and satiric treatment of his characters for a more compassionate way of writing about suffering, and the story of Fà ©licità © is apparently the result of this effort. Fà ©licità © herself was based on the Flaubert family’s longtime maidservant Julie. And in order to master the character of Loulou, Flaubert installed a stuffed parrot on his writing desk. As he noted during the composition of â€Å"A Simple Heart†, the sight of the taxidermy parrot â€Å"is beginning to annoy me. But I’m keeping him there, to fill my mind with the idea of parrothood.† Some of these sources and motivations help to explain the themes of suffering and loss that are so prevalent in â€Å"A Simple Heart†. The story was begun around 1875 and appeared in book form in 1877. In the meantime, Flaubert had run up against financial difficulties, had watched as Julie was reduced to blind old age, and had lost George Sand (who died in 1875). Flaubert would eventually write to Sand’s son, describing the role that Sand had played in the composition of â€Å"A Simple Heart†: â€Å"I had begun â€Å"A Simple Heart† with her in mind and exclusively to please her. She died when I was in the middle of my work.† For Flaubert, the untimely loss of Sand had a larger message of melancholy: â€Å"So is it with all our dreams.† Realism in the 19th Century: Flaubert was not the only major 19th-century author to focus on simple, commonplace, and often powerless characters. Flaubert was the successor of two French novelists- Stendhal and Balzac- who excelled at portraying middle- and upper-middle-class characters in an unadorned, brutally honest manner. In England, George Eliot depicted hardworking but far-from-heroic farmers and tradesmen in rural novels such as Adam Bede, Silas Marner, and Middlemarch; while Charles Dickens portrayed the downtrodden, impoverished residents of cities and industrial towns in the novels Bleak House and Hard Times. In Russia, the subjects of choice were perhaps more unusual: children, animals, and madmen were a few of the characters depicted by such writers as Gogol, Turgenev, and Tolstoy. Even though everyday, contemporary settings were a key element of the 19th-century realist novel, there were major realist works- including several of Flaubert’s- that depicted exotic locations and strange events. â€Å"A Simple Heart† itself was published in the collection Three Tales, and Flaubert’s other two tales are very different: â€Å"The Legend of St. Julien the Hospitaller†, which abounds in grotesque description and tells a story of adventure, tragedy, and redemption; and â€Å"Herodias†, which turns a lush Middle Eastern setting into a theater for grand religious debates. To a large extent, Flaubert’s brand of realism was based not on the subject matter, but on the use of minutely-rendered details, on an aura of historical accuracy, and on the psychological plausibility of his plots and characters. Those plots and characters could involve a simple servant, a renowned medieval saint, or aristocrats from ancient times. Key Topics Flaubert’s Depiction of Fà ©licità ©: By his own account, Flaubert designed â€Å"A Simple Heart† as â€Å"quite simply the tale of the obscure life of a poor country girl, devout but not given to mysticism† and took a thoroughly straightforward approach to his material: â€Å"It is in no way ironic (though you might suppose it to be so) but on the contrary very serious and very sad. I want to move my readers to pity, I want to make sensitive souls weep, being one myself.† Fà ©licità © is indeed a loyal servant and a pious woman, and Flaubert keeps a chronicle of her responses to major losses and disappointments. But it is still possible to read Flaubert’s text as an ironic commentary on Fà ©licità ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s life. Early on, for instance, Fà ©licità © is described in the following terms: â€Å"Her face was thin and her voice was shrill. At twenty-five, people took her to be as old as forty. After her fiftieth birthday, it became impossible to say what age she was at all. She hardly ever spoke, and her upright stance and deliberate movements gave her the appearance of a woman made out of wood, driven as if by clockwork† (4-5). Though Fà ©licità ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s unappealing appearance can earn a reader’s pity, there is also a touch of dark humor to Flaubert’s description of how strangely Fà ©licità © has aged. Flaubert also gives an earthy, comic aura to one of the great objects of Fà ©licità ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s devotion and admiration, the parrot Loulou: â€Å"Unfortunately, he had the tiresome habit of chewing his perch and he kept plucking out his feathers, scattering his droppings everywhere and splashing the water from his bath† (29). Although Flaubert invites us to pity Fà ©licità ©, he also tempts us to regard her attachments and her values as ill-advised, if not absurd. Travel, Adventure, Imagination: Even though Fà ©licità © never travels too far, and even though Fà ©licità ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s knowledge of geography is extremely limited, images of travel and references to exotic locations figure prominently in â€Å"A Simple Heart†. When her nephew Victor is at sea, Fà ©licità © vividly imagines his adventures: â€Å"Prompted by her recollection of the pictures in the geography book, she imagined him being eaten by savages, captured by monkeys in a forest or dying on some deserted beach† (20). As she grows older, Fà ©licità © becomes fascinated with Loulou the parrot- who â€Å"came from America†- and decorates her room so that it resembles â€Å"something halfway between a chapel and a bazaar† (28, 34). Fà ©licità © is clearly intrigued by the world beyond the Aubains’ social circle, yet she is incapable of venturing out into it. Even trips that take her slightly outside her familiar settings- her efforts to see Victor off on his voyage (18-19), her journey to Honfleur (32-33)- unnerve her considerably. A Few Discussion Questions 1) How closely does â€Å"A Simple Heart† follow the principles of 19th-century realism? Can you find any paragraphs or passages that are excellent specimens of a â€Å"realist† way of writing? Can you find any places where Flaubert departs from traditional realism? 2) Consider your initial reactions to â€Å"A Simple Heart† and to Fà ©licità © herself. Did you perceive the character of Fà ©licità © as admirable or ignorant, as hard to read or totally straightforward? How do you think Flaubert wants us to react to this character- and what do you think Flaubert himself thought of Fà ©licità ©? 3) Fà ©licità © loses many of the people who are closest to her, from Victor to Virginie to Madame Aubain. Why is the theme of loss so prevalent in â€Å"A Simple Heart†? Is the story meant to be read as a tragedy, as a statement of the way life really is, or as something else completely? 4) What role do references to travel and adventure play in â€Å"A Simple Heart†? Are these references meant to show how little Fà ©licità © really knows about the world, or do they lend her existence a special air of excitement and dignity? Consider a few specific passages and what they say about the life Fà ©licità © leads. Note on Citations All page numbers refer to Roger Whitehouses translation of Gustave Flauberts Three Tales, which contains the full text of A Simple Heart (introduction and notes by Geoffrey Wall; Penguin Books, 2005).

Politics of Screen Practise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Politics of Screen Practise - Essay Example Both Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin that featured the USSR in 1952 and Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers that focused on Algeria in 1966 are some of the renowned revolutionary films (Rosenstone, 2002). These films were produced after the occurrence of revolution in the countries. Goskino, the USSR State Committee for cinematography developed The Battleship Potemkin while Casbah Films managed by Saadi Yacef, produced The Battle of Algiers. The films entail of a stage that focuses on revolutionary struggle of battles that were lost. These were essential in the development of a new collective identity and also marked the historic activities that occurred during the period. However we note that despite propagandistic objectives, the films entail of a wide variety of interpretation. The revolutionary films have a fundamental characteristic that focuses on the anti-colonial liberation movements. This develops through a sense of self-assurance and definition of their culture after many years of colonial rule (Rosenstone, 2002). Revolution films are termed to be stocktaking; they have the ability of creating a clear perception of its reflection to the society. This is evident in the scenario where the people protesting in Cair Tahrir square identified themselves on the videos that were projected on large screens in their camps. According to Battleship Potemkin, Sergei Eisenstein depicts the prior revolution of the Russians that occurred in the year 1905. This was a film that was highly recommended by many individuals. The viewers were captured by the creativity of the film even with the occurrence of the Cold War since it entailed of a mutiny based in czar’s naval vessel. The film focused on a exhilarating description based on combined revolution and a virtual subject describing how the editing of the film executed excitement, sympathy and revolutionary anger. The themes of the film are

Drama- Glengarry Glen Ross a play by David Mamet Essay

Drama- Glengarry Glen Ross a play by David Mamet - Essay Example The drama contains many idioms that also emphasize the moral teachings that the author talks about in the book. In the drama, the characters use pauses and stammers that make the language vibrant (Mamet 73). The personality of the characters in the drama often changes and it both repulses and amuses the audience. The characters in the drama also have a comic effect because of their exaggerated personalities. I believe that the drama is a piece that reminds people on the need of not losing their humanity and morality. This is especially those caused by the current hardship of the economic world. The drama clearly depicts the life of people struggling to become financially stable. The script of the author uses some styles that make it extremely difficult to execute in a play. These styles are like the use of idioms and stammers (Mamet 73). However, the actors that play the roles should be able to execute the script with all the idioms and the musical language