The bad things about Obama’s economic plan in foreign policy

To say the economic state of America is the most pressing need on the minds of most Americans today, would certainly not be too far from the truth. This is perhaps why both candidates realize that they have to say something at least on this subject. It is sad however to note that Obama’s plans depict a gross lack of understanding of our economic travails. Indeed, a group of respected economists noted recently that â€Å"Barack Obama’s economic proposals are wrong for the American economy†. Firstly, Obama proposes an overall increase in tax rates just as he admits that this proposal would not serve a weak economy. One wonders therefore how he thinks this would work in present day America. Or is this the strong economy Obama imagines for Americans? Increased tax rates would raise federal spending, bring about a slow in economic growth and of course result in massive job losses which of course heads us for another depression which we sure do not pray for. Again, Obama intends to end America’s trade ties the world over. Now, to decide against international trade is certainly not in our best interest, at least not in these times for the economists said â€Å"international trade is also a powerful source of strength in a weak economy†. Also, more jobs are created when we export our goods abroad and cheap products are also imported for the middle class and low income earners to especially to consume. It is this set of people that Obama’s plans would deprive of this veritable source of livelihood. As part of his plans, he also wishes to withdraw American forces from Iraq so as to free funds for the local economy. But we know that can not be true when an holistic view of the costs and benefits of the war would become after such rash withdrawal. In conclusion, Obama’s plans lack depth and appear destined to fail beyond redemption if allowed to run.

Research Critique Essay

This paper will review a quantitative study comparing the outcomes of physicians that use sterile versus nonsterile gloves during simple soft tissue lacerations repairs in the Emergency Room. It will address the protection of human participants, their risks/benefits, and a review of the study’s data collection, data analysis, and problem statement along with an interpretation of its findings. Article The article is from 2004, and was published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. It’s entitled â€Å"Sterile Versus Nonsterile Gloves for Repair of Uncomplicated Lacerations in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial†. Protection of Human Participants A random sampling of patients were taken from populations that presented to multi-center emergency rooms in the Toronto area, with simple soft tissue lacerations that required suture repair. Of the 1,100 people approached, 902 gave voluntary consent to participate in the study. Of those, 86 were excluded for a final total of 816. There were 245 patients who refused to participate, with 40% being children (the study enrolled any patient over the age of one). There was suggestion that the large amount of children who â€Å"refused† participation was related to â€Å"parental anxiety of entering their child into the study† (Perelman et al., 2004, p. 363). Specific physical, psychological, social or economic risks to patients were not addressed in this article, but a patient information sheet was given to participants before they signed the consent. The handout provided background information on wound management, infection, and the rationale for the study. There were no imm ediate or direct benefits for patients to be involved in this study. The protocol, patient consent form, and all other related information during  this trial were reviewed and approved by the ethic and review boards of all facilities involved. Data Collection Patients that arrived to one of three large community ER’s in the Toronto area, with a wound that was viewed to meet criteria, were provided written information on the rationale of the study and asked to participate. Inclusion criteria were addressed by a physician or resident that included assessing for complexity of laceration, location on the body, and if it had occurred within 3 hours from patient’s arrival. A signed a consent was obtained and data was collected through completion of a checklist noting the patient’s age, sex, site of laceration, type of injury, time of injury, time of injury from the time of repair, and technique of repair. The patient was given a self-addressed, pre-stamped envelope that was to be completed by the physician who took the sutures out. This physician filled out an explicit questionnaire using specific guidelines on wound assessment (pus, erythema, fever,) their clinical impressions (infection vs. no infection), and their management plan (topical/oral/IV antibiotic use, or need for referral to wound specialist). The follow up physician was unaware of which gloves were used in initial repair of the wound. The returned questionnaires where coded to collate with the initial assessment forms. There are several independent and dependent variables in this study. They include: not being able to run an equivalency trial related to the large sample size of the study, and the study was only partially blind (blind to the patients, not the physicians) because the sterile and nonsterile gloves are packaged differently. Also, the study could not 100% standardize the technique of wound repair by the physicians, although they did receive orientation on â€Å"ideal† wound repair techniques with irrigation, and a there was not a single follow up clinic site that could have provided more standardization in the evaluation of wound assessment during the follow up visit. No time period for data collection was specified in this article. Data Management and Analysis Statistical software was used in the analysis of data retrieved during this study. â€Å"Demographic and clinical data were presented descriptively as means, medians, or proportions with SDs where appropriate. The χ2 test was used to compare differences in infection rate between the 2 glove groups. A 2-tailed  P value less than .05 was considered significant† (Perelman et al., 2004, p. 364). There were 4 discrepancies noted in the data between the objective wound assessments and the follow up clinicians notions of the wound, with (2) being clarified by the researchers with the documenting physician, and the remaining 2 were placed in the â€Å"infected group†. Findings/Interpretation of Findings The researchers found that there is clear evidence to support that nonsterile gloves can be used in place of sterile gloves for simple laceration repairs in the Emergency Department, without an increase in wound infections. This writer believes that the findings are valid for several reasons. One, this study cites other previous studies that had similar outcomes in related topics such as: using tap water for cleaning/irrigating wounds, or the absence of gloves, caps or masks did not affect wound infection outcomes. Secondly, this has already become practice for many physicians in the United States. This is supported in the article by researchers when a preliminary survey of 18 ER physicians and 24 PCP showed 70% often used nonsterile technique in their repairs. Lastly, the study showed comparative infection rates of 6.1% for sterile glove use and 4.4% nonsterile glove use with a level of significance of 0.05. Limitations were defined above as variables. Implications for nursing are two-fold. One, nurses can help support this nonsterile technique and continue to ensure good wound cleansing and irrigation of wounds. Using this techniques can save hospitals up to $2000/year in ER’s that see an average of 10 suture repairs/day. Secondly, as previously mentioned, this study cites others that address wound care (ex: irrigating with tap water vs. sterile saline), so this research can be used in the future to study methods of successful wound management for nursing. Conclusion In conclusion, this was a successful study in showing that there was no increase in wound infections when nonsterile gloves are used while repairing simple lacerations in the Emergency Department. It is also showed that there can be economical savings for health care entities. References Grand Canyon University [GCU]. (2011). NRS433V.v10R research critique, part 2. Retrieved from: https://lc-ugrad1.gcu.edu Perelman, V. S., Francis, G. J., Rutledge, T., Foote, J., Martino, F., & Dranitsaris, G. (2004, March). Sterile versus nonsterile gloves for repair of uncomplicated lacerations in the Emergency Department: A randomized controlled trial. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 43, 362-370. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annemerged.2003.09.008

Managing Homework

The point of view in managing homework focused on teaching strategy used by the teacher, to convey students to learn subject matter that has been discussed in class. When motivating students to learn, there’s likely to be to be a few students, if not many, do not understand the subject matter. Likewise, effective teaching can be measured by amount of learning the students get. Teachers should find means to let students have greater learning acquired through teaching and learning process. Teaching strategy is one of the factors to consider in determining the degree of learning that takes place. One of the tasks of the teacher’s lesson plan is giving assignments or homework to students. Effective teacher corporate and plan well lesson and incorporate there in the lesson plan the quality homework to ensure thorough learning. Also, a good homework is the one that is structured in the planning ahead of time.  The role of the teacher in the classroom is a good planner and a manager of his or her own class. The teacher should see to it that giving homework would be a part of the teaching strategy that is imparted to students. A good teaching strategy is the one that includes to ensure students homework that are well and properly planned. A good homework reflects teacher’s effective means of managing the student learning process. Thus,† homework should contain consolidated skills†(Newsam, Peter, Teaching and Learning) already taught by the teacher and the students has a wide knowledge of the skills needed to make the homework accomplished. That skill that has been learned and mastered by students is the one to used in the making of the homework. It’s just a sort of applying those skills in real situation outside classroom, that is, the home. So that in they’re respective house, the parents acts as the substitutes in the absence of the teacher. There is still continuous learning that takes though there is absence of teacher’s guidance and motivation. Let us take for example skills acquired in learning counting numbers in mathematics subject. In the classroom teacher in math teaches the students how to count by using four operation skills. Objectively, students have mastered all those acquired skills in the teachers teaching in the classroom. But students of course don’t apply yet thoroughly those skills that have been acquired. Definitely, students should continuously learn at home by applying in real situation. These aspects, of continuous learning at home by making homework will help lessen errors, when the teacher gave the time of assessment to students. So definitely effective learning takes place on the students. There is no hard time for the teacher to teach the students when proper instruction in classroom is given. It is important that you let the students know that you believed on him or her and recognized the effort they’ve done. These statements addresses, â€Å"She needs to see you’re â€Å"in her corner† –they’re to listen, provide support and guidance, and seek help for her† (www.proteacher.com, cited by Speer, 2005), giving importance to the student’s homework. Also the assignment is in line with the present lessoning that teacher taught in the class. This reminds the students that homework should be accomplish since its important. References: 1. Newsam, Peter, Guest Essay. Retrieved October 1, 2006. Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from Microsoft Encarta Premium Suite 2005. 2. Speer, Pat, Editor in chief. July 1, 2005. Managing Change Requires Diligence, Homework and Systematic Approach to CEO’s Office. Retrieved October 1, 2006, from htt//www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/dispitem.cgi? item=36893&norate=up.            

Fundamentals of Strategic Communications and Public Relations Assignment - 1

Fundamentals of Strategic Communications and Public Relations - Assignment Example The department also acts as the chief source of contact between the media and the College staff and takes part in the arrangement of interviews with the journalists and issue press releases. The department is also responsible for the production of the college publications and the simultaneous management of the internal communications (Media & Public Relations, 2011). The paper will focus on the optimal strategies adapted from the viewpoint of the public relation consultant in bringing forth several aspects of the College and exposit it as one of the prime educational institutes. Stress will also be focused on the various strategies used in the promotion of policies which would attract more and more students as well as enhance the position of the college in the prevalent competitive scenario. The strategies will be explained in a recent speech of Barrack Obama that will attract at least 400 media representatives and robust media coverage. The realms of Public Relations (PR) generally circumscribes around the creation and establishment of the mutual understandings among the organizations and the public related to those institutes. The planning of public relations is not a haphazard process; rather it is a synthetically complex process which incorporates the basics of attention, impulsiveness, forecasts, analysis and focuses on the consequences. The PR planning also must ensure that not only the organization takes part in the understandings of the public but also in the real understanding of the public. The foremost task of the public relations is to ensure that the public concerned must understand those formulated policies. The Prin its core is an art because it chiefly incorporates the artistic skills, fine arts, language, writing, public speaking and so on.

Inflation and the cpi index Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Inflation and the cpi index - Research Paper Example Indeed, it affects financial planning and budgeting where it considers costs for goods and services, labor, and employee benefits (City Budget Office Web). In addition, inflation affects revenues as changes occur in the prices of taxable goods and services. Price inflation is normally confused with â€Å"Price Deflation† which is the percentage decrease in the price of the basket of products over a specific period. However, the question arises as to what measures the inflation rate. The Laspeyres formula applies in calculating the inflation rate that is defined by the consumer price index. This paper looks at the overwhelming evidence supporting that current inflation due to economic and political pressures has adversely effected the consumer price index The consumer price index (CPI) is generally the measure of the average change in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services over time. Indeed, the CPI represents all goods and service s purchased for consumption by a given population in a program that produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for available goods and services. ... Indeed, the CPI is best applied when the market has the intention to allow consumers to purchase goods and services at current market prices in equivalence to future purchases. However, the CPI may not be applicable to all population entities and is limited in measurement where it manifests sampling and non-sampling errors (Bureau of Labor Statistics Web). Inflation is caused by many factors that include economic, political, and human activities. The current inflation due to economic and political pressures has adversely affected the consumer price index. As stated herein, there are many causes of inflation where inflation can be long-term or short term. Economic pressures like the need to have more money in the market than the value of goods and services in the market and various shocks of the economy lead to inflation conditions in the economy. Indeed, economic shocks like increases in prices of imported raw materials, increases in costs of production, food and energy price shocks are common examples of the causes of Inflation. This form of inflation has diverse effects on the consumer price index. This is so because the market will not be in a position to effectively, adjust to the effects of the economic pressures. In addition, it causes many distortions in the economy that affect the purchasing power of the population. Moreover, this form of inflation hurts retirees living on a fixed income since when prices raises the retirees cannot buy their normal quantities as their income is fixed (Gerolamo Web). This is a direct effect on the Customer Price Index. In addition, this boosts the value of money presently compared to the future hence they will not save thus affecting the CPI. Indeed, when inflation surfaces, persons that include factories will

Intellectual Property Rights in Media Applications Essay

Intellectual Property Rights in Media Applications - Essay Example A "dramatic work" includes a work of dance or mime; while a "musical work" means a work consisting of music, exclusive of any words or action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with the music. Section 5(1) of the Act provides that "sound recording" means - (a) a recording of sounds, from which the sounds may be reproduced, or (b) a recording of the whole or any part of a literary, dramatic or musical work, from which sounds reproducing the work or part may be produced, regardless of the medium on which the recording is made or the method by which the sounds are reproduced or produced. In the given problem, copyright subsists in the lyrics of the song 'Harlequin', the musical composition (musical notes) of the same song, and the sound recording of the song. Copyright protection therefore subsists on the foregoing works such that any infringement thereof gives the copyright owner or author of the works a claim or cause of action against the Guys. Under Section 9 of the Act, the "author" means the person who creates the work and in case of a sound recording, that person (the author) shall be taken to be the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the making of the recording or film are undertaken. Thus, in the case of the lyrics of the song 'Harlequin', the writer of the song is the author of the literary work while the composer is the author of the musical work. In the given problem, therefore, Jones is the author of the lyrics of 'Harlequin' as a literary work while at the same time he, as composer of the song, is also the author of the musical work. The author of the sound recording of the song on the other hand is Arcadia, Jones' music publishing company. Parenthetically, if the Guys does not have a license from Arcadia to use the sound recording, then the Guys may also be liable for copyright infringement of Arcadia's sound recording. Nevertheless, Jones will therefore be advised that as copyright owner of both the lyrics and musical composition of the song, being the sole author of the said lyrics and musical composition, he may have a cause of action against the Guys for infringement of his copyright over in the literary and/or musical work. As copyright owner, I will advise Jones that under Section 16 of the Act, the owner of the copyright in a work has the exclusive right to do the following acts in the United Kingdom - (a) to copy the work; (b) to issue copies of the work to the public; (c) to perform, show or play the work in public; (d) to broadcast the work or include it in a cable programme service; and (e) to make an adaptation of the work or do any of the above in relation to an adaptation. Those acts are the "acts restricted by the copyright". Furthermore, under the same Section, copyright in a work is "infringed by a person who without the licence of the copyright owner does, or authorises another to do, any of the acts restricted by the copyright" "in relation to the work as a whole or any substantial part of it" "either directly or indirectly". In view of the foregoing provisions, I will advise Jones that the Guys will only be guilty of copyright infringement if the 6-second music sample from Jones's 'Harlequin' used by

Comparison between to art works Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparison between to art works - Essay Example The first painting was composed and painted by a post-impressionist artist seeking to apply modern art features to describe the innate landscape of his surroundings. Perhaps, the artist focused on uniqueness to bring out the outstanding layout of creation that is normally ignored, but observed by very few people. The first painting has been composed using thin brushstrokes that bring out the magnitude of each feature in the paintings object. The painting appears to be a small gathered and dried up bush swaying with the wind. This bush stands out from the rest of the landscape and above the rest of the vegetation surrounding its concentrated features. The paint used is thin impasto paint applied in a similar manner as sculptor strikes clay onto a relief. Abstraction plays a major role in defining the theme of the artwork. This is because the bush and vegetative outline of the artwork comes from an observation perspective, and interest perpetuated in the middle dried up and black bush. Uniqueness is another feature that is focused on by the artist who painted the first art piece. It is also valid to state that the painting’s objects can relate with the artist background or enthusiasm. Simple landscape formation has managed to penetrate the observation and concentration of a mid-1900s artist (Ruskin 236). The focus on the shadowing aspects of the black bush intrigues the people viewing this portrait. Besides the burnt out bush in the middle of the page, other distinctive features in the portrait is the day-aspect of the blue sky that lights up the surrounding vegetation. The features, objects and characteristics of each object in the painting are not overelaborate and embellished. The scene in the portrait is very real because the objects included are real and existing through authenticity. The scene is also able to offer a sensation of comfort and belonging

How do unemployment, under-employment and discouraged workers affect Research Paper

How do unemployment, under-employment and discouraged workers affect GDP in an economy - Research Paper Example The second one that is known as underemployment occurs when workers underutilize their skills in their current employment, and the last one takes place when individuals stop finding jobs because they are discouraged with their fruitless effort of finding one (Thompson 78). All these forms of unemployment lower the Gross Domestic of a country. This paper will analyze how unemployment, discouragement, and underemployment lower GDP. First of all, when individuals finish school, they start seeking employment in the labor market. Some become lucky and get jobs while others remain on the search. The state refers to those who fail to get employed at the existing wage rates as the unemployed. These individuals continue depending on their parents for funds that help them to survive and continue with the job search. The unemployed may also depend on their friends who were lucky to get jobs after school. This further increases the dependency ratio in the economy. This means that the individuals, who support the unemployed by giving them funds, reduce the amount of income that they save and invest (Thompson 81). They instead increase the amount of money that they set apart for consumption. The reduction in savings means that these individuals earn less interest than they used to earn before. The reduction in interest rate then means that they earn less income from investment activities and this reduces the overall incom e of a country. The effect of this unemployment is based on Okun’s law that states that a 1% increase in the rate of unemployment leads to a 2% decrease in the GDP (Boyes and Michael 226). The other form of unemployment takes place when workers discontinue their job search because of hopelessness. These individuals lose hope based on the belief that they will never secure a job in the labor market at the existing wage rates. The loss of hope makes these individuals to either continue depending on their relatives and friends or engage in

Database Design and Implementation Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Database Design and Implementation - Coursework Example In other words, though they share common attributes, full time employment may require extra attributes to be recorded. ix. Invoices are prepared per client and can be generated as a report at any time. b. Entity Relationship Model: From the above assumptions, the following business rules are identified: Business Rules: i. Each ARO centre can receive contracts from one or more companies and each company can send contracts to one or more ARO centres. ii. Each company can request for one or more CRPs but each CRP must be requested by one and only one company. iii. No two clients have a same CRP and no two CRPs exist for a same client. iv. Each CRP must have at least one service but each service can exist in one or many CRPs. v. Each client can have one or many dependant buts each dependant must have one and only one client. vi. Each ARO centre must employ one or more employees and each employee must be employed by one and only one centre. vii. Each employee can be assigned only one CRP and each CRP must be assigned to one and only one employee. The above assumptions and business rules are transferred into an enhanced ER data model as shown in below figure: Fig: ER model for ARO database schema c. Data Dictionary Entity ARO_CENTRES Holds details about each ARO centres ARO_EMPLOYEE Holds details about the full time and part time employees employed at each ARO centres COMPANY Holds details about all affiliated companies of ARO CRP Holds details about each Client Relocation Plan created by ARO after receiving Contract from the company SERVICES Relocation services offered by ARO CLIENT Holds details about the client associated with the CRP CLIENT_DEP Holds details about all dependants of each client CONTRACT Attribute CENTRE_ID CENTRE_NAME CENTRE_LOCATION... According to the research findings it can therefore be said that all SQL statements built for creating the tables and relationship constraints are discussed. SQL queries that can used to build the reports given in the requirement were also presented. Further a critical review on the proposed model is discussed in detail. The database for ARO was designed and implemented in SQL SERVER 2008. Initially, an ER diagram was designed that best describes the overall operation of ARO in terms of entities (tables) and the relationship between them. Later, the ER model was transformed to SQL statements for creating the tables and defining relationships. The tables were then populated with sample data. In order to recreate the real business scenario of handling CRP, few rows in the table were initially populated with cost as zero CRP and status of CRP as ‘N’ or ‘P’. The status was later updated to ‘Y’ and the CRP service cost with the actual cost. SQL queri es were also created and executed to produce some of the reports given in the requirement. Further, a VIEW that combines multiple tables to produce invoice report was built and executed. In addition, a brief overview of the model and various security issues that can be considered while creating very large databases along with possible solutions were discussed. Though the overall database design serves the purpose of the requirement, the design can be further enhanced by using appropriate optimisation techniques for maximum efficiency and overall throughput.

Analyzing Brazilian Movie Essay Example for Free

Analyzing Brazilian Movie Essay The movie â€Å"Behind the Sun† is a Brazilian film, entitles â€Å"Abril Despedacado† in Portuguese, based to the novel â€Å"Shattered April† originally written by multi awarded Albanian writer â€Å"Ismail Kadare†. The film was released in the year 2001, directed by a multi-talented and reputable Brazilian movie director â€Å"Walter Salles†, and produced by an Academy film producer â€Å"Arthur Cohn†. Although, the movie was not able to garner major movie awards and recognition, director Walter Salless Behind the Sun, had received a bunch of positive feedbacks from different movie critics and fanatics from countries across the globe. (IGN Entertainment, Inc. ) Nevertheless, the Brazilian motion picture â€Å"Behind the Sun† is said to be one of the successful movie, produced and done in Brazil. Technically, the movie Behind the Sun is a thematic drama and thrilling film, which tells the story between the bloods battle of two Brazilian families, who are battling for land rights. Essentially, the storyline of the film is a depiction of the family struggles, which shows the extent of family desire to revenge for their aggravated member of the clan, a result of personal and objective desire to own a merely useless and forgotten land. The movie shows the true color of elderly Brazilian family members to chase their desire to own a land, specifically, the movie tells the bloody battle tale of two Brazilian family, the â€Å"Breeves Family† and the â€Å"Ferreiras Family†, as they struggle for long been quarrel on the unproductive land. Moreover, the story line runs through the bloody family conflict, as the scenes are depictions of offensive actions against the two different oppositions in the movie. Most of the scenes in the movie, are the bloody picture of killing between the two young Brazilian gentlemen (teenagers) from both side of the family, as they act their revenge for their murdered family member, cause by their long been family quarrel over a destitute land. Nonetheless, the story line of the movie Behind the Sun is a depiction of the long been bloody tale for land rights, between two Brazilian families, the â€Å"Breeves† and the â€Å"Ferreiras†, and a struggle for honor. Moreover, the story of the movie â€Å"Behind the Sun† had happened way back 1910, as the Breeves and the Ferreiras argued for a merely useless land. The movie takes place in the â€Å"Northeast part of Brazil†, which is also known as the†badland†. Technically, the Northeast of part Brazil is the settings of the movie, where the two families quarrel over a property right of a dying sugarcane land. Since, the movie happened in the year 1910 and in the northeast of Brazil, the primary characters or the two families finds their way of living through the blessings of their land. Meaning, the Breeves and the Ferreiras makes their living through agriculture. In addition to this, the movie tells a profound family relationship, on which the Breeves and Ferreiras show in-depth family relationship and closed family links. Nevertheless, the movie is depiction of the true color of Brazilian family, which is united, loving and brave, ready to fight for their family members and honor. Movie Production, on the other hand, is awesomely amazing, as the directors, actors and the rest of the people responsible for the movie do their job really well for this project. Starting from camera angles, the director and camera man had done a great job, as the shots in the movie are appropriately done to give superb detail in every scene or event. The camera angles are perfect, as far as I can say that it gives the right shot, which the specific scene and happenings requires. Technically, the Cinematography of the movie is equally great as the camera angles and shot. The films cinematography gives fine details for every scene, as the movie introduces a profound definition of cinematography for the movie Behind the Sun. Since, the movie is a tale of bloody family battle, happened in the early 19th century (1910), in the Northeast part of Brazil, the lights and colors of the movie, supports, enhances and provide the needed emotions in every scenes. Nevertheless, The cinematography or the lighting and the color of the movie, makes the story, every scene and the whole film realistic, as if it was shoot way back 1910. Costumes props and the settings of the movie, on the other hand, are all timely and appropriate with the portrayal of 1910 era. The props men and the creative director, have definitely done their job at the very best they can. The costumes and the cultural settings of the movie, like early Brazilian agricultural materials are reproduce appropriate and was used accordingly. Even the food, are all timely to the 1910 era and the way of living as well as the whole surroundings are likely the same in the year 1910. The House of Sand, on the other hand, is another Brazilian film, which was released four years after â€Å"Behind the Sun†, in 2005. (Netflix, Inc. ) Just like the movie â€Å"Behind the Sun† by â€Å"Walter Salles†, The House of Sand is a movie, which also tells a family Brazilian family story. Essentially, these two Brazilian movies are both produced in the early 20th century and for that fact these two films had been successful on their own ways. Apart from being the same as Brazilian movies,† Behind the Sun† and â€Å" The House of Sand† both happened in the northern part of Brazil. In addition, these two Brazilian movies share a likely family tale in their story. Although, the movies â€Å"Behind the Sun† and â€Å"The House of Sand† are the alike in different aspects, these two Brazilian movies still vary in some manner. First, in the movie Behind the Sun, the focal point of the story is through the connection or relationship between the father and son, while on the movie The House of Sand, the storyline evolves essentially between the mother and daughter relationship. Second, The House of Sand has lighter conflict or dilemma in its story, while the movie Behind the Sun has more serious and critical family conflict or dilemma in its tale. Nevertheless, these two movies are effectively positive, on which a depiction of social and moral lessons on certain issues in our community today. Works Cited IGN Entertainment, Inc. (2008), Behind the Sun (2001): Retrieved May 13, 2008 from http://www. rottentomatoes. com/m/behind_the_sun/#synopsis Netflix, Inc. (2008), The House of Sand (2005): Retrieved May 13, 2008 from http://www. netflix. com/Movie/The_House_of_Sand/70043822? mqso=80012394

The Creation Of The Italian Stereotype

The Creation Of The Italian Stereotype The Italian mafia has been a prominent them in the media for centuries. The portrayal of mobsters and the mafia in the U.S.s motion picture industry has created a stereotype for Italians that is very well accepted in the American culture. In this paper I will discuss various films and TV that address the topic of the Italian mafia and the way in which these shows depict citizens of Italian origin. More specifically I will try to show how movies such as The Goodfather, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, and more recent works such as HBOs hit The Sopranos create a negative stereotype for Italian American man and women, glorifying them by their flashy lifestyles and relations to organized criminal activities. Movies of such sort have reached such popular success because they appeal to the public and, unfortunately, many Italian American citizens embrace these accusations and consider them part of their heritage, thus reinforcing the stereotype made by the movie industry in the eyes of citizens wi th different ethnical backgrounds. Since the very beginning, the Italian mafia, in the eyes of Americans has been a very wide spread cultural phenomena. The origin of the mafia is very hard to investigate and report, many experts have dated its origin back to a time of instability for the Italian nation. The cause of this disturbance was the instable relationship between the northern and southern regions of Italy. Southern Italy was often insulted and considered rural and uncivilized by the wealthier businessman of the North. This unjust treatment caused the southern citizens, especially the Sicilians, to resort to violent gangs for protection of the little land and wealth they owned. As time progressed, and the demand for these bands increased, these rebel groups united into larger, and much more organized, groups that lead to the creation of the mafia. The most famous of these groups, and perhaps the first, originated in Sicily and later became known as Cosa Nosta which many often use the term incorrectly referring it to the Italian mafia overall and not just as one of its sects. These groups prospered and grew on to the Italian people, infiltrating the unstable government after the unification of Italy in 1861. The mafia made its first appearance in the US between the 19th and 20th century, as this cultural phenomenon grew in America, the mafias portrayal in the media grew with it. The media created a name for the mafia in America. The people loved gangster movies, and the film industry capitalized on this assumption. In order to give their work a more realistic feel, directors, would often cast Italians as mobster characters thus building a stereotype of Italian Americans. As time evolved however, the simple stereotype morphed past the simple gangster image; in more recent works, Italian women were also effect; being viewed as old housewives or young bimbos. Men became viewed as lazy and uneducated like in the 1995 movie To Die For. In this example from the Italic Institute of Americas websi te, Nicole Kidmans character tricks three teens into killing her lowbrow Italian husband. The development between the Italian mafia and its presence in popular American culture could have not been possible without the five million Italians who left their home country for hope in a new life and a chance at a new beginning, (Wikipedia). Prior to the rise of the fascist regime to power, America was a prime destination for many Italians during the late 19th century. This expatriation grew exponentially in the early 20th century when it was recorded that over 800,000 Sicilians immigrated to the United States. During this time however, the Italian mafia was under attack by their own government, especially thanks to the works of Cesare Mori who made life impossible for many Mafiosi. Because of the anti mafia war imposed Mussolinis regime in the southern provinces of Italy, many of the members of Cosa Nostra and similar organizations fled to America. The American press immediately attacked this movement publishing headlines such as: The boot unloads its criminals upon the United States. Many of these Sicilians in fact had connections to the mafia but, in the most part, they were regular people just looking for a better life. Italian Mafiosi and regular citizens traveled to America to escape fascism, to escape persecution from criminal charges, and to start over. Many where thrown into a society already filed with criminal gangs. Purchasing fire weapons in the US at that time was a piece of cake. Add these two together and its simple to understand how the Italian mafia succeeded in America. Just as the mafia began to take power in America, the movie industry noticed an opportunity to make some profit as well. Americans became obsessed with the mafian lifestyle; the danger associated with the mafia and their disrespect for the law managed to frighten and keep Americans glued to their TV screen at the same time. Films like Little Cesar(1931), Public Enemy(1931), and Scarface(1932) were the very beginning to a brand new genre of films. As author George De Stefano points out in his book An Offer We Cant Refuse, the Italian mobster seemed to bring a different image to the mobster lifestyle, [however], and this image of a more powerful, organized criminal system caught the public eye and has stuck every since., (De Stefano 70-94). Some of the early movies of this genre were produced during the silent motion picture time period. Producers however, did not have a hard time looking for a plot that would capture their audience; they just used whatever the print gave them. The ear liest account of a gangster film that exists is the film The Black Hand (1906). The Black Hand was a silent movie which story line pictured Italian Americans using kidnapping and extortion to gain money, known as il pizzo, from a butcher they were protecting. The movie shows the Italian protagonists were not only shown as violent, but the Italian Americans in the film are shown to speak little to no English and drinking wine as if it were water. It was not until the 1930s with the release of Little Cesar and Scarface that the stereotype was created and linked Italian Americans with the gangster image. With the introduction of these films one can clearly see that with the changing image of the gangster, the American ______ towards Italian Americans was changing as well. These new characters were no longer drunk illiterates, these Italians dressed in fancy suits, spoke better English; in a sense, they were following the American dream. Still violent and reckless. Organizations favoring the destruction of this stereotype took the subject to heart and managed to abolish violence and crime in movies. However in 1968, the Production Code was dropped and replaced by the same MPAA system still out there today. Only four years after this change, came the first of a trilogy that would change the image of Italian Americans forever. The Godfather (1972), based on Mario Puzos novel was the hit success of the great American director Ford Francis Coppola. His work was such a success for the public that it won three Oscar nominations out of the ten categories it was voted for. The American people were literally obsessed with the violent, vulgar and classic gangster films. Francis Ford Coppola in an interview with author Peter Bondonella explained his clear reasons for pursuing this movie: I always wanted to use the Mafia as a metaphor for America. If you loo at the film, you see that its focused that way. The first line is I believe in America. I feel that the mafia is an incredible metaphor for this country. Both are totally capitalistic phenomena and basically have a profit motive, (Bondonella 239). Many critics argue, with merit, that The Godfather was the first film that really started the stereotype of Italian Americans. The film established a permanent connection in the minds of Americans between the mafia and Italian Americans. De Stefano describes his own experience after the release of the film: strangers would ask me if I knew the godfather whenever they red my last name. It was this film that reallycemented the stereotype into American culture., (De Stefano 105-106). Predictably enough, after the tremendous success of The Godfather, many more films, as long as commercial products, relating to its theme followed. Today The Godfather, both the films and the novel, continue to sell as if they were new releases, and the films can still be seen, by popular demand, on ordinary television. Martin Scorseses Goodfellas (1990), showed the mafia in New York in an extremely realistic way. Based on the life of real mobster Henry Hill, it shows the process of going from a nonentity to a success in the mafia organization. The film depicts brutal murder scenes, vulgar language, and vile treatment of women. However, a particularly different element is that it also shows the consequences of being too wrapped up in the mafia life and what it is like to become the rat. This film showed a much less glorified portrayal of the mafia, and yet, it appealed greatly to society. The most recent of Hollywoods award winning creation evoking the mafia is HBOs hit series The Sopranos first airing in 1999. The show takes great inspiration from Scorseses work and Coppolas masterpiece, characters in the show are often viewed idolizing Mafiosi from these directors respective films, reciting lines, copying stunts, and even comparing themselves. This idolization showed that Italian Americans not onl y identify themselves with these gangsters but also look up to them. Tony Soprano, the protagonist of the show, is of Italian American descent and part of the mafia. Besides his connection to the gangster life, he lives in a typical residential neighborhood for the average white American male, he is a family man just like everyone else. In the book Tony Sopranos America, David Simon, states that the viewer is always reminded that the one thing that stands Tony Soprano apart from the rest of society is that he is mobster. The [TV] series successfully brought the mafia to the 21st Century, renewed the use of mafia as a household word, and took one step further in fusing the image of Italians and Italian Americans. The media has led to this stereotypical image of Italian immigrants as gangsters. This stereotype is still very much alive today. However, it is noticeable that there does not seem to be as much controversial propaganda to the use of this negative connotation against Italian Americans as stereotypical use against other ethnic groups. Going back to the stereotype against Italian American women, these movies depicted the mafia wives as enabling and looking the other way in their husbands business affair. The mother in The Godfather plays the role of the housewife. Carmela Corleone never reacts to the actions of her husband and sons, always turning a blind eye. She is shown caring for her grandchildren and providing the family with a traditional Italian meal. She is essentially the stereotypical enabling Italian mother and wife in the mafia family. On the contrary, the character Kay in The Godfather is a complete juxtaposition to the character of Carmela. For a while, she acts just like Carmela, enabling her husband activities, but eventually she can no longer accept her husband as a cold blooded killer, as Michael Corleones sister, Connie, calls him after he murders her own husband. Kay represents the American wife who marries into an Italian family not knowing what she is about to face. She is victimized. This way , the audience, feels bad for her, torn between her love for her husband and her morals that can no longer tolerate the criminal activities of the family. The third major feminine character, Connie Corleone, is a completely different character. She is the stereotypical Italian relative that cannot escape the horrors of her own family. She starts out as a princess to her father, the godfather himself. After her brother, Michael, kills her husband she goes through a brief grieving period distancing her family from her family only to realize that she cannot escape her destiny. She eventually becomes an enabler of the behavior of the rest of the family and takes on the role of the matriarch. Just like her, Karen Hill, also plays the enabler who puts up with her husband, Henry Hills pursuit as a Mafioso in Goodfellas. One scene in particular comes to mind that depicts her as the typical mob wife. In a scene she narrates herself, Karen attends a party with the other mob wives during a drug scene, she tells the audience that all the women look beat up; in fact, they do: all wear too much makeup and overdone hair. Throughout the party, these mistreated wives, discuss the horrible tribulations of being married to a mobster as if it were typical housewife gossip. Most of the women in these movies are unemployed house makers who take the events as part of the package of marrying a mob.The show The Sopranos isnt the only example of the stereotype of Italian American being represented in more recent TV production. Characters like Arthur the Fonz Fonzarelli from Happy Days, Tony the taxi driver of Taxi, and Joey the all around dimwit of Friends all represent demeaning images of It alian Americans. All appear to be uneducated womanizers, and yet most may not even realize they are stereotypes of the Italian American male. These examples show that, sadly, our culture still finds humor in stereotyping ethnical groups. In 2002, The Italic institute of America conducted a study to analyze the movie industry and its relation to Italian-American based movies and the post Godfather movie industry. Their studies showed that out of the 1233 movies made about Italian Americans, 69% of them present Italian-American characters under a negative light, against 31% that show Italian-Americans as good human beings. Moreover, out of the movies made since the sound era that deal with mob characters, 88% were revolved around fictional characters, 293 of which came out after the Godfather. The Godfather is and will always remain the most important tie between Hollywood and the Italian-American stereotype.There is much research out there that show that the Italian immigration to the US didnt only bring so called Mafiosi but also great people who beneficially influenced the United States politically and economically. This research, however, does not eliminate the fact the entertainment industry will continue to pursu e the stereotype. As for the mafia, this means that it will only continue to be a part of Americas favorite entertainment as long as the culture of violence persists.

Career Opportunities in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Career Opportunities in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Introduction Given the continued volatility within the UK job market, the opportunities for a university graduate continue to evolve. Ultimately, the nature of the marketplace will continue to rise to meet social and economic challenges, thereby mandating that participants are aptly suited for the responsibilities of the future. Lau and Schaffer (1999) recognised that success in a career of choice offers personal needs fulfilment through long term evolution of workplace achievements and accomplishments, ultimately culminating in power acquisition for the properly situated professional. My long term objectives is to frame my career around such variables, supporting my professional goals and principles while at the same time ensuring that substantial growth and opportunity evolve through my career choice. The following five positions represent key industries within the current UK market, each challenging the participant to invoke a broad skill set to enhance their long term career objectives. Hotel Manager Given the variability within the hotel industry and the season-specific integration of tourism into an operating scheme, the potential for gaining logistical experience and expanding my management skill set within this environment is exemplary. The completion of my degree is an essential part of job acquisition within the hotel industry, and although the management position might not immediately avail itself to me, the long term goal of achieving this notorious job title will present motivational encouragement and strategy in my daily operations. As recognised by MacCannell (2002), the prevalence of tourist egoism in the hotel environment is one which challenges staff to bolster and support such powerful internal demand structures, aligning with tourist expectations to prospect for repeat business. As a hotel manager, my duties would include a coordination of all staff members affiliated with our guests, and therefore, exemplary service levels would need to be evolved from my directi on. The potential for substantial tourism growth considering the coming 2012 Olympic games offers opportunity for positioning within an expanding industry, one which would support my long term career objectives. Aligning my skills with an industry with such broad opportunities would also ensure that as alternate positions across the globe arise that I would be uniquely suited for that market by virtue of experience. Tourism Officer Perhaps the most widely sought opportunity for graduates and professionals of these five, this position entails an integration of a wide number of skill sets and strategic methods. Within the community, the tourism officer plays an essential role in guiding the expansion of tourist commerce and supporting local businesses and facilities through attractive event and festivals. In a recent study Desforges (2001) noted that financial reward is an extremely important variable within tourist endeavours, oftentimes relying on strategic politics to evolve into a socially beneficial medium. Optioning the personnel management abilities which I have learned over my brief, but well experienced positions in the UK work force, the officer position would require staff management, budget alignment, and full spectrum training programmes. This challenging, yet rewarding occupation would integrate my written abilities, planning foresight, and organisational skills to prepare and guide the tourist prog rammes of a particular local authority. The highly competitive nature of this position challenges me to fully develop my expectations and long term strategy prior to offering my CV for review. Ultimately, I believe that my creativity, local knowledge and interest, and resourcefulness will be assets in acquiring such a position. Over the course of the coming months at the university, it would be wise to participate in community events and begin to source industry relationships in order to ensure that opportunities arise upon graduation. Outdoor Pursuits Manager Perhaps the most interesting and personally rewarding position within this grouping is the one which would take me into the outdoors and fulfil my passion for adventurous activity. Requiring technical skill sets including budgeting, people management, and leadership, my commitment to these duties would be more than just job specific. In fact, assuming such a role, the physical challenges alone would encourage me to devise new methods of exercise and diet in order to maintain appropriate energy and stamina. Public speaking would become an inherent participle in this role, challenging me to step outside of my comfort zone and encourage participation through vocal support and direction. Forsyth (1997) recognised that sustainable tourism and environmental responsibility are essential factors in the new realm of eco-tourism. Through my role in outdoor pursuits, whether team building for groups or comporting a family reunion on a sightseeing hike, the need for environmental awareness and e ducation would be a skill set that must be further developed. While there is limited opportunity within this position to surmount a corporate ladder, the potential for entrepreneurism in the long term would enable me to pursue an objective of business ownership and coordination. Travel Agency Manager Perhaps one of the more intriguing positions listed here, this opportunity would rely on my knowledge of both the UK travel sector but international destinations as well. Ensuring that my breadth of venue understanding was at par with industry standards, familiarisation visits to new destinations would assist in developing my knowledge set. This job would incorporate a broad range of my skills including organisation, sales abilities, and management of a sales team. As targets become an increasingly important qualifier within this industry, recognising the methods behind sales and tourism opportunities will continue to enable my management of a team of sales professionals. Destination sourcing offers a unique perspective of consumer motivations and would continue to enable my utilisation of personal interests and professional resources over the long term scope of my career. Recognised by Gille and Riain (2002) the nature of globalisation entails a reorganisation of self and community, expanding horizons and encouraging international participation. In this role, it would be my responsibility to ensure that these connections are deeply entwined in the personal objectives of my clientele. Public Relations Account Executive The final career opportunity, and perhaps divergent from the others in terms of sector, the role of P.R. account executive would offer substantial opportunity to utilize my personality, range of communication skills, and intense drive for success to develop and support public relations campaigns. In this role, business to business sales and networking would become extremely important facets of my daily routine, encouraging a working understanding of purchasing motivations and the key challenges which face each industry in our society. Managing events and press conferences in addition to location coordination for photo shoots or media programmes would also integrate my organisational skill set as well as enhance my understanding of the workings of public scenarios. Hiring staff and event for these events would also challenge my human resource skill set and enable an organisational perspective which could translate into further career evolutions. Buck et al. (2003) challenge that the e mployment philosophy of a firm or corporation is â€Å"embedded within its organisational blueprint† thereby entailing a focus on strategy, media expectations, and client perspective when aligning staff with PR activities (p. 532). The public focus of this position is an exciting offering which would continue to involve my evolution as both speaker and participant within the scope of media relations and operations. This position would be both challenging and rewarding as the broad spectrum of daily operations would enable my participation in highly social and publicly visible events. Conclusion Each of these opportunities presents a substantially different perspective of how my post-university career could evolve. The nature of the UK job market is constant evolution; therefore, over the coming several months, there are many new positions which may develop and with them, the opportunity to enter at the cutting edge of industry. Regardless of destination, my path must be one which is both personally and professionally rewarding. From this expectation, I will carefully make my decision according to the merits of each position and their support of my goals. As long term career development is also an essential part of the reward spectrum, I must align myself with a strong industry in which I can continue to develop my professional skills. Networking and social development will further assist in identifying key participants who can offer sustainable choices in future career developments. While all five of these positions offer well suited principles for my inherent skill set, se veral such as hotel manager and travel agency manager and PR account executive are substantially more attractive due to their public focus and wide sphere of influence. While my future may remain uncertain, the opportunities afforded by my university graduation are not, and I look forward to their realisation over the coming year. References Buck, T; Filatotchev, I; Demina, N; Wright, M. (2003) â€Å"Insider Ownership, Human Resource Strategies and Performance in a Transition Economy.† Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 530-549 Desforges, Luke. (2001) â€Å"Tourism Consumption and the Imagination of Money.† Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 353-364. Gille, Z; Riain, S.O. (2002) â€Å"Global Ethnography.† Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 28, pp. 271-295. Lau, V; Shaffer, M. (1999) â€Å"Career Success and the Effects of Personality.† Career Development International, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 225-231. MacCannell, D. (2002) â€Å"The Ego Factor in Tourism.† The Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 29, No. 1, June.

A Doll’s House and Fathers and Sons Essay -- Comparative, Ibsen, Tur

Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons reflect two unique societal struggles. While both texts deal with a main character attempting to overcome society’s resistance to progress, they delineate from each other in the characters’ relative successes as well as divergent societal implications. The formal cause of these differences is ultimately societal mores as well as contrasting aims: Ibsen deals with feminism, whereas Turgenev discusses nihilism. However, both novels were written in the 19th century and dealt with local issues, where the implications beyond their respective societies were disregarded. Hence, these two texts both play an important role in their respective societies. However, these two texts are harbingers for two contrasting revolutions, where A Doll’s House and Fathers and Sons feature enlightened and darkened protagonists respectively. While both Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons and Ibsen’s A D oll’s House challenge traditional society’s thoughts and beliefs, the diction, character arcs, author’s tone and exposition reflect contrasting opinions on the successes of the two revolutionary attempts. Both Ibsen’s and Turgenev’s texts vary in the use and role of foreign languages. While Pavel Petrovich, a main character in Fathers and Sons, is a xenophile, the experiences of Nora Torvald in A Doll’s House are very limited. Pavel’s love of foreign cultures is portrayed through his use of French words, whereas Nora lacks worldly understanding and thusly lives in the proverbial doll’s house. Pavel describes liberalism as ‘trà ¨s distinguà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and says ‘bon soir’ when he goes to bed, whereas Nora emphasises the need â€Å"to reach any [some] understanding of herself and the things around her, she must learn to stand... ...e relatable to the popular audience. The two main characters – Bazarov and Nora – progress society to very different degrees. This is reflected by the absence of character development in Nikolai and Pavel as well as the radical changes in Nora’s persona. Nora’s power over Helmer contrasts how Russian society prevails over Bazarov. While Bazarov becomes sick and infirm, Nora asserts her independence over her familial duties. Ultimately, the degree of resolution of the two problems – female subordination and serfs’ indolence – varies between the two texts. While Arkady fails to address the serfs’ dissatisfaction, Nora emerges out of her doll’s house with an inquisitive mind. Therefore, Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House use the four aforementioned elements to contrast the relative successes and implications of the attempted revolutions.

AIDS, Prison, and Preventative Medicine: :: HIV Jail Violence Rape Papers

AIDS, Prison, and Preventative Medicine The word "prison" conjures up thoughts of a dark and deviant subculture, living in a chaotic and destructive environment out of the sight and mind of mainstream America. Hollywood has skewed our views of prisoners, painting them as a seemingly irreparable subclass of humans that are only further downgraded and downtrodden by prison lives filled with violence and rape. Certainly the life of a prisoner is tough, and violence is inevitably present in prison systems where gangs frequently play a prominent role in social organization (Conover 2000). However, misconceptions regarding prisons are numerous, and such misconceptions play an important role in how the AIDS problem in prisons is viewed. For example, one of the most vivid, if not widespread misconceptions surrounding prisons are the stories of forced sexual activity and gang rapes—a view likely to lead an outsider to suspect that little can be done to prevent transmission of HIV among prisoners. In reality, this aspect of prison has been overdramatized and overemphasized, perhaps as a deliberate effort to amplify the purported deterring effect that the threat of a prison sentence has on crime. In fact, Ted Conover reports in his first-hand account of the infamous Sing-Sing, one of New York's most troubled maximum security prisons, that while "prison rape still occurs in New York and elsewhere," by far the most common type of prison sex, "after the autoerotic, is certainly consensual." He goes on to say, "I would even guess that, at least at Sing, sex between officers and inmates is presently more common than forcible sex between inmates" (Conover 2000). Such an example is a prime reason why prison officials, p oliticians and the general public alike need to focus not on the stereotypes of prison behavior, official codes of conduct, and expected or even legal behaviors, but rather what is actually occurring behind prison walls—illegal or legal, for better or for worse. If rape isn't as widespread in prisons as the average moviegoer might be willing to believe—at the very least, it certainly isn't an everyday occurrence—and prisoners are not allowed to have sex or use drugs, then can one expect to see lower incidences of AIDS in prisons? NO! As Conover's statement indicates, much of what goes on in prison isn't "supposed" to take place. Prisoners have sex with each other—most often consensually, but in some instances forcibly—and even with guards; they take drugs, both injecting and non-injecting; they get tattoos; they participate in fights that often involve the shedding of blood.

A Case Study About Google Essay

DECLARATION The work contained in this assignment is my own and that all materials and sources used have been acknowledged. I/We have not copied or colluded in part or in whole, or otherwise plagiarised the work of other students. This assignment has not been submitted for previous assessment in any other subject or to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other unit, module, degree or diploma of a university or any other institute, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text. I/We confirm that I/we have read, understood and followed the guidelines for assignment submission and presentation provided by the lecturer. I/We understand that this assignment may be retained on the database and used to make comparisons with other assignments in future. I/We have made a copy of my assignment This work may be photocopied and/or communicated for the purpose of identifying plagiarism. I/We give permission for a copy of this marked assignment to be retained by the faculty of Business Management for the purpose of course reviews by external examiners and to be used as a resource by Majan College. I/We understand that unauthorized late submission without a valid written extension will be marked as per the college policy mentioned in the students handbook page 18 section 18.5. Introduction Google was founded in 1995 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and it was the first popular search engine in the world. They created this search engine so that users can find any website or document on the web based on keyword or exact searches. Google provides free services for their users. Other than the search engine, they can also search books on Google Book Search, news on Google News, videos on Google Video (YouTube) and maps on Google Maps Google has changed the way people look at and share information. This has made them a leading search engine on the web and a global technology leader. Back in the mid 90’s Brin and Page, Stanford University graduates, worked on developing this unique technology. Since then, Google has grown to become one of the most recognized brands in the world as well as one of the top Internet destinations. As of 2013, Google has 16800 employees working in more than 70 offices in more than 40 countries around the globe. Their headquarters is located in Mountain View, California, USA. Strategic management has many benefits to an organization. A company’s vision, mission and future goals are set from the strategic process. In addition, strategic management gives managers an advantage in allocating resources efficiently. Moreover, these strategies help give the firm a competitive advantage in the market. Statistics show that, on average, companies using strategic management are more successful. This assignment will aim to clarify the concept of strategic management in the global sense as well as focus on Google’s strategic management. In addition, the report will identify and explain the internal and external environmental analysis of Google. This means, PEST analysis, SWOT analysis and Porters Five Forces will be  explained in details. Literature Review Strategic management is defined as the process by which managers of the firm analyze the internal and external environments for the purpose of formulating strategies and allocating resources to develop a competitive advantage in an industry that allows for the successful achievement of organizational goals. Strategic management has an impact on initial goals, actions and recourses. Goals are set by managers to be completed within a certain period of time. Action plans must be clear to the group and they should start working on their targets accordingly. Recourses cannot be managed and allocated without proper understanding of goals and actions. Strategic decisions are taken by managers to help an organization reach its goals in the short term and long term development and future direction of the company. There are two processes that help the organization in evaluating their position in the market. Internal environment i.e. SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threa ts) is used to analyze the internal processes and structures of a business. Its implemented after the external environment (PEST analysis) are analyzed and clarified. External environment processes include the porter’s five forces that analyze the nature and extent of the competition within the industry. Macro environment are the changes in the industry in regards to political-legal, economic, technological, and social systems. Google’s business strategy has been proven to show that they follow the strategic management process and they are extremely successful at it. High brand value, high market share and complete control over the market show that Google’s business strategy should be a role model to all other companies. PEST Analysis of Google Inc. PEST analysis is used to determine the political, economical, social and technological factors in an external environment of an organization. These factors affect an organizations activities and performances. After researching Google’s macro economical factors using the PEST analysis model, the following was concluded: 1. Political Factors: Government stability is one of the major aspects in Google’s strategy. If the  market is stable, governments help businesses and so these businesses advertise more on Google, hence, benefitting Google. In addition, most of the governments do not have identified laws for online information sharing, thus, giving Google the opportunity to manipulate laws. However, China has created a barrier for Google by adding regulations that forbid Google from operating on their terms. For example, according to UKessays (2013), â€Å"Chinese Government launched a surveillance system called Golden Shield for monitoring civilian use of Internet.† On a positive note, most of the political factors affect Google negligibly. Some of these factors are taxation polices, employment laws and environment protection laws. 2. Economic Factors: Gross domestic products (GDP) have been on the rise since a very long time. They are increasing annually at the average rate of 3.20% reaching a high level of 17.20% at times. Countries like South Africa, India, China and United Kingdom have had increases in their GDP each year since the 70’s and this is a positive factor on Google. With the stable and continued growth of those countries, Google’s internal and external investments will always be high in numbers. Users search more; hence more advertisements are put on Google’s search engines. The amount of users around those counters can impact on Google positively and lead them to establish better services and more products for their users leading the it being a strength to Google economically. Interest rate can have a positive or negative impact on any organization. These impacts are decided depending on a company’s dealings. Google is a company that relies on investments, this means when interest rates i ncrease gradually in a country, Google benefits. In UK, the rate average is set to about 8.2%, in USA it stands at 6.1%, in South Africa at 13.3%, in India at 6.6% and in China at 6.4%. These numbers mean that companies in that region of the world will be able to take out loans and invest or support their company. The more companies have money, the more they will be willing to spend on advertisements; hence doing that through Google. This increases opportunities for Google in these markets. Inflation rate is a problem for the customers or buyers. However, companies benefit from it and it increases their overall income. In the past few years, USA, UK, India, China and South Africa have all recorded an average increase in  inflation rate of 2.5-9.5% annually. This means that raw materials in these countries are becoming more expensive every year. This causes the companies to increase the prices of their products and getting more cash out of it. This causes Google’s advertisements to increase as well as the number of clicks for each ad. The result is more profits for Google from these countries. 3. Technological Factors: In analyzing the technological factors affecting Google, the key aspects to consider are the level of basic infrastructure, rate of technological change, new discoveries and development, government spending on research, access to newest technology, technology incentives and technology legislations. Google is described as a technological company that helps innovate and improve the world with its new development. Technological factors play a major role in a company like Google and it is part of the company’s competitive strategy. Google is not only a search engine; it also provides many services, tools and products free of charge through www.google.com. Google’s IT infrastructure is a closely guarded secret because it is one of the company’s competitive advantages. Google has up to 450,000 servers spreads over at least 25 locations and it uses a customized version of Linux operating systems to give them control and flexibility in finding new discoveries. The success of Google is mainly due to its innovative concepts and technologies such as Pagerank in their search engine, Adwords as advertising system, AdSense program, Gmail, Google Spreadsheets & Docs, Google Map, Google Froogle, Google Analytics, Google Desktop, Google Earth, Google Gear, Google Page creator, Google groups, Google talk, Picasa and more. All these services and tools are proposed for free with the aim to make a users life easier, efficient, practical and entertaining. In order to remain the best in the field of technology, Google has bought a great number of start-up companies (131) that allows it to benefit from the dynamism and creativity that these companies bring. These companies range in variety of fields such as security, advertising, video, file sharing, shopping, mobile technology and many more. 4. Socio-Cultural Factors: Knowledge and information is a key factor of human development. Google is a  leader of society that is more and more global because its mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful to everyone. Socio-cultural factors for Google’s PEST analysis include traditions, values, societal trends, and society expectation of businesses. These society expectations can be grouped into: population demographic, income distribution, lifestyle change and level of education. Google is not limited to a certain demographic population; Google is a global company that offers global users with global services and global knowledge for free with only one condition of being connected to the Internet. Therefore there is no restriction on any specific demographic, culture or specific income distribution. This gives Google a very strong advantage in the market. Its tools are offered to everyone and hence anyone, anywhere in the world can advertise o n Google and increase their profits. Majority of third world countries that are prevailing with extreme poverty have access to Google through their mobile applications. Google’s culture is to offer users access to the world through a simple finger tap and this information offered by Google does not have a culture or a tradition to follow. This information can be good and helpful to one person while useless or offensive to others. This could be a negative aspect for Google. Google always strive to keep up with the social trends and lifestyle changes of its users in order to entertain and capture their attention with its services and tools while promoting customized advertisement. Google’s infrastructure is built to identifying its users’ trends and habits as well as the use of information to customize their search experiences with related results based on their habits and history. Google’s application memorizes all the data entered when searching for a something and saves personal information for 24 months. In reality, Google sells some information to advertising companies. Globalization of information has a negative impact on societies concerned about protecting their private data. Google has been highly criticized by Privacy International Association and accused of harmful acts towards people’s privacy. In the sense of politics, the preservation of information could lead to Google having better relationships with countries who do not like their privacy being violated; hence, more business and profits. In regards to social factors, Google’s tendency to sell out their customers may harm some of them. At the moment, Google is surviving, but the human race is  ever changing and if people are accepting the privacy violation now, they might not in the future. This could be a threat leading to a weakness in the future. Porters Five Forces for Google Inc. Porters five forces is a key model when trying to determine an organizations opportunities and threats. It is considered to be a tool when trying to analyze a company’s microeconomics. This is the internal affair related to an organization. The competition and power an organization has or can have in an industry. Porters’ five forces are heavily used when someone wants to buy a company and needs to understand the market in which the company operates. Supplier Power In this case, Google has an advantage as it operates regionally and has more than one supplier, if the relationship with one deteriorates the other can take its place. In addition, Google has eliminated competition by gaining the trust of Microsoft. All its tools are operated on its biggest competitor Microsoft systems. However, Microsoft and Apple could change their operating systems so that it does not support Google anymore leading to Google tools not working properly and causing a threat of forward integration. In this case, is it concluded that the supplier power is relatively low due to most of the information on the net being free. Barriers to Entry Niu, Zitong et al. (2012) defines the threats by explaining that in the search engine business, only hardware have switching costs while the service itself has absolutely no switch cost. In addition, Yahoo and Microsoft could stop using Google’s toolbars in their products and rather use their own. This and the fact that a better search engine could be developed and is not out of the question. However, all these negative aspects still do not change the high barriers to entry as all competitors in the market, especially Google, are in a very strong position financially. Competitive Rivalry In this type of rivalry, Zitong et al. (2012) mentions that brand identity can play a huge role in maximizing profits. Google has succeeded in this as their name â€Å"Google† has been added in dictionaries. Adding to advantages of Google, there are no defined government regulations as of yet and so  political environment can easily be manipulated to satisfy their wants. Yahoo and Microsoft are the only other major players and market shareholders. Hence, there is a rivalry between these three players. However, the UN or countries could start making trade restrictions to avoid having an oligarchy. Moreover, rivals in the search engine industry have similar technology and IT specialists in these companies and all around the world are always trying to improve search engine technologies in order to get ahead of the best, Google. Threat of Substitutes No switch costs and buyers preferences to the faster/more accurate search engines are two of the threats Google face. In addition, users are demanding more and better services for free to be loyal to Google. Advertisement revenues depend completely on number of clicks on a certain ad. If the number of loyal customers decreases, the total revenue decreases. Moreover, intelligent employees are rare in the market and losing one to the competition could affect Google negatively. However, these are all threats that are not able to affect Google because as of now all search engines have similar functions and are not considered a substitute product. Buyers Power According to Techwyse (2013), Google are the market shareholders. The pie chart below shows the market share as of July 2013. Graph 1: Search Engines Market Share/2011 The graph shows that Google have more than 75% of the market. In addition, Google is bringing to their users all their demands and for free. In this situation, however, the buying power is medium due to high demand on search engines and due to users relying heavily on search engines in their daily lives. SWOT Analysis of Google Inc. Strengths Google’s brand value stands at $55.317 million as of 2012 and they hold a high market share of 66% in the same year. These numbers, along with their various free services offered to customers, gives them a strong brand image that contributes to its strength. Google’s Strong financial position is shown in their yearly growth in revenues and cash flow. This strengthens  Google because it attracts investors to invest in the organization. In addition, they have many products that are also considered as an asset. The following graph shows the revenue growth of Google between 2003 and 2007: Graph 2: Google’s Revenue Growth Weaknesses On the other hand, in 2012 97% of Google’s revenues come from Advertisement. The lack of income diversification is considered as a weakness. Moreover, Google’s faces many lawsuits and the cost of dealing with those suits is a weakness. Oracle filed copyright infringement in 2010 and MastersObjects vs. Google in 2011 are some of these suits. These cause a decresase in the financial power of Google as well as reduce firm value. Opportunities Google practices forward and backward integration of companies. This means that Google buys out and adds companies to their portfolio. In 2011 alone, the added companies stand at around 25. Also, Google has a huge opportunity of taking over the mobile advertisement market and they have already started by buying out Motorola Mobility. Threats The high intensity of competition from Yahoo, Microsoft as well as traditional advertisement agencies like TV, radio and newspapers is considered as a threat to Google. In addition, Google could face the threat of being out casted by countries due to privacy issues. Conclusion All in all, Google has won countless awards, has maximized on profits, improved services, introduced new developments, eliminated most of the competition and dealt with their weaknesses. It is safe to say that Google’s business strategy is sophisticated but has come out with fruitful results. Although the world is not perfect, Google has more strengths and opportunities than threats and weaknesses. This is even proven on the Internet as someone has joked about Google by saying: â€Å"Only thing Google has failed to do, so far, is fail.† (N/A) References Blatstein, I.M. (2012). Strategic Planning: Predicting or Shaping the Future? Organization Development Journal, Vol. 30 Issues 2, pp. 32. Available at: http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/topics/strategic-management-planning.html#benefits (Accessed on 27 November 2013) StudyMode (2009). Business Analysis of Google Co. Available at: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Business-Analysis-Of-Google-Co-191594.htm (Accessed on 1 December 2013) Cox, M. Z., Daspit, J., McLaughlin, E. and Jones III, R.J. (2012). Strategic Management: Is It an Academic Discipline? Journal of Business Strategies, Vol. 29 Issue 1, pp. 27-28. Available at: http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/topics/strategic-management-planning.html#benefits (Accessed on 27 November 13) UK Essays. 2010. A SWOT and PESTEL analysis of Google. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/a-swot-and-pestel-analysis-of-google-inc-marketing-essay.php. [Accessed 29 November 13]. BBC News. 2006. Google censors itself for China. [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4645596.stm. [Accessed 29 November 13] Google Inc. 2013. Google Inc. Anno unces Third Quarter 2013 Results. [ONLINE] Available at: http://investor.google.com/earnings/2013/Q3_google_earnings.html. [Accessed 01 December 13] Matt Krantz. 2013. Investing: Who wins, loses with higher rates. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/06/15/higher-interest-rates-stocks-invest/2400513/. [Accessed 02 December 13]. Niu, Z. et al, 2012. Google Inc. Krause Fund Research, [Online]. 1/1, 1-10. Available at: http://tippie.uiowa.edu/krause/spring2012/goog_sp12.pdf [Accessed 02 December 2013]. Techwyse, (2013), Search Engine Market Share July 2013 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.techwyse.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/SEMS-pie-Juily.png [Accessed 03 December 13]. Ovidijus Jurevicius. 2013. SWOT analysis of Google. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/google-swot-analysis.html. [Accessed 28 November 13]. SquareSpace, (2007), Google Revenue Growth [ONLINE]. Available at: http://static.sq uarespace.com/static/4f35ce92cb1268ecfa7f8e07/t/4f9eb00de4b006f3923a4e25/1335799822004/google_revenue_growth.jpg?format=750w [Accessed 03 December 13].

Appealing to Children Through Marketing Persuasion

I have chosen 3 articles from the lecture of week 10. Elliott is the author of the first reading, his article ‘Packing Fun: Analyzing Supermarket Food Messages Targeted at Children’ talks about that in recent times, food marketing for kids is often dealt with, in a constrained fashion (Elliot, 2012). This is done through the use of marketing strategies appealing to children so that young consumers consume their products. In the article of ‘In Online Games, a Path to Young Consumers’, the author Richtel mentioned that how food companies use online games to encourage children purchase their product (Richtel, 2011).Gertner emphases that mother could play the vital role in marketing for children in the article ‘Hey Mom, Is IT O. K. If These Guys Market Stuff to Us? ’ (Gertner, 2004). This essay consists of the discussion and analysis of the strategies used in order to appeal and attract child consumer base by relating personal experiences in order t o support the arguments that are made. Throughout the reading from Elliott, it mainly focused on how food packaging and foods are targeted towards children to encourage consumption (Elliot, 2012). The technique of marketing â€Å"fun† is the key strategy used in appealing to child consumers.This has led companies to apply the use of interesting and attractive packaging methods for child related-food products (Elliot, 2012). Foods that target children usually contain bright colours, cartoon/ media figures, large written text and nutritional claims in order to attract the attention of children (Elliot, 2012). Many children’s food packages used these popular colours and cartoonish font or cartoon figures because it is a powerful way to showcase the identity and characteristics of child related foods. For example, when we walking around in the Loblaws, we can easily identity where is the children’s food section.Various containers printed Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, o r Spongebob on the package of products in order to appeal to the child consumers. Elliott also mentions that companies would like to name their products in interesting and humorous ways in order to appeal children (Elliot, 2012). Overall, Elliot suggests that packaging is a powerful communicator, because it delivers messages from products to customers (Elliot, 2012). In terms of children’s foods, ‘Fun’ is used in connection with product characteristics in order to appeal to kids.In my opinion, I agree with author as in this journal from personal experiences as a child and their realistic examples about child behavior with the art of persuasion on children’s food containers. As Elliot declared in the article, ‘fun’ is the key thesis found in the names of children’s food with their unusual outlooks and sometimes their unusual colours (Elliot, 2012). From my personal experience, the ‘Happy Meals’ combo for kids at McDonaldâ₠¬â„¢s could be a good example to represent the strategies Elliot mentioned in the article.When I went to the McDonald’s with my 10-year-old cousin during the past summer holiday, she always pestered her parent to buy a ‘Happy Meal’ for herself. However, she almost ate nothing after her getting the ‘Happy Meal’. It’s hilarious to analyze because the only reason she wanted to get the ‘Happy Meal’ was for the free Hello Kitty toy within the combo. In addition, due to the fact the ‘Hello Kitty’ toy models changed every week during the ‘Hello Kitty’ seasonal promotion, my cousin pestered her parent bring her to McDonald’s every week in order to collect all the various ‘Hello Kitty’s and make a collection.Through this example, it showcases how child-targeted marketing for food uses ‘fun’ strategy to appeal children, and encourages children to torment their parents to buy goods. Moreover, the children-food companies use online gaming tactics to persuade children to buy their products; these tactics such as multimedia games, online quizzes and cellphone apps, as Richtel (2011) mentioned in his article. Obviously, these online strategies are more powerful than TV, because TV advertisements have limited commercial time during children’s programming. However, there are no limited times for the internet (Richtel, 2011).In terms of online games, is not only just games that could appeal children a lot, it is also a vivid advertisement to help company sell their products to children (Richtel, 2011). For intense, my cousin play the online game which is called ‘gummy bear’ first, before she actually eat the gummy bear candy for the first time. I fully agree with Richtel’s statement from the reading, he also gives out a real example of a child called Lesly. Lesly really enjoyed an online game, which is produced by a food companies in order t o reaching children in the internet age (Richtel, 2011).However in my opinion videos take children to a further level of marketing where they are connected to the game by their actions unlike television where it only demands your hearing and visual attention, while video games demand your attention to play the game. As a result, so many parents believe that online game is disrupting their efforts to improve their children’s diets. From personal experience, I had a similar shopping experience, which was influenced by my favorite online game ‘Angry birds’. ‘Angry Birds’ has become a popular mobile game in recent years.Surprisingly, in 2011, the ‘Angry birds’ moon cake launch in Hong Kong during the traditional Chinese mid-autumn festival to share with the hundreds of millions of ‘Angry Birds’ fans worldwide. As an ‘angry birds’ fan, I also want to buy this special moon cake. Upon my arrival at the store, there wer e whole bunch of people already waiting in line; most of them were young people or children with their parents. Even though the ‘Angry Birds’ moon cake is more expensive than normal moon cake, it still sold out in a flash.Throughout the readings from Gertner, he talked about the marketing campaigns for a family restaurant-Ozon. In order to draw the public awareness and generate traffic for the Ozon brand, the restaurant arrived with 4 different campaigns (Gertner, 2004). Finally, they decided to use the campaign called ‘Mom is hero’ in their strategy to appeal kids (Gertner, 2004). The reason why they decided to use this strategy is because the mother of a family plays the role of ‘gate-keeper’ when purchasing stuffs for their children (Gertner, 2004).I remembered when I was a kid I always wanted ‘Pokemon’ toys, however the only thing I could do was to beg to my mom because I didn’t have any money to purchase them. I knew on ly my mom could decide whether or not to buy it for me because she had money, and she decided what was best for me, which at the time she thought ‘Pokemon’ was a waste of money. However, when mom bought the toys after I begged to her, I would assume my mother was really nice, just like a hero to satisfy my desire.According to the reading, Ozon dedicate to create a place where children would have fun and the moms also could also feel satisfied she made her kid/kids happy (Gertner, 2004). This means that when mothers bring their children to Ozon, or buys food from Ozon, their kids will be happy and see their mom as a hero. I believe it is a very effective campaign, because it is not only focus on the marketing for children, but also focus on satisfying children’s mom. In other words, even though some products are attracting children, mothers are the true significant figure, who could finally decide the purchasing decision.In conclusion, through all these kind of ap pealing children strategies, ‘mom is hero’ is the idea that I like the most, because it can be seen as a powerful win-win strategy focused on appealing not only the children but also decision-maker of the children- their mothers. Nevertheless, with the development with technology, the packaging strategy and online game are more far-reaching in recent times. Overall, in order to promote the packaging and online game strategy, I strongly suggest that they should also combine the idea of ‘mom is hero’ as well.

Leadership Lessons from D-Day: A Book Review

For this book review, I chose Victory Principles: Leadership Lessons from D-Day by Leonard Kloeber, Jr., a retired army officer.This book is not only a mere history book but it also provides a lesson on leadership principles based on what was applied by the Allied leaders during those crucial moments that characterized D-Day (also known as Operation Overlord) from the planning stage to the actual execution of the operation which was a success and eventually led to the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation.The first part is more of a historical narrative.   The Kloeber narrates the important events that were considered the defining moments of D-Day which are organized into chapters.   The prelude in included to set the tone and help put the reader on the proper perspective in approaching the book and what it is all about.Each chapter mentioned important leaders during the operation, not just for trivia but describing what they did that made success possible.   These are lead ers who were actually there with the men as they saw action.Such senior leaders were Brigadier General Norman Cota, assistant division commander of the 29th Infantry Division which landed on Omaha Beach and received the brunt of the fighting. It also featured junior leaders such as Lieutenant Richard Winters, of Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne who led the company to neutralize an enemy gun emplacement menacing the beaches (Kloeber, Jr., 2009, pp. 61-62, 83).   What these leaders had in common was they made crucial decisions under fire but since they were in the thick of the action, they had a grasp of the situation and came up with crucial decisions that led to victory.Part Two provides an analysis as Kloeber spelled out what he called â€Å"Victory Principles† which were applied by the above-mentioned leaders which were key to the success of D-Day. One example of these principles was resilience which was demonstrated by Generals Cota and Roosevelt when their m en were under fire.They did not panic and maintained their composure which was the glue that kept the men together even though they were taking casualties (Kloeber, Jr, 2009, pp. 208-209).Another principle discussed was making timely decisions as applied by Lieutenant Winters when he and his men carried out their mission which was successful (Kloeber, Jr, 2009, p. 186).   It can be seen that the author did a great job organizing his ideas by telling the story first and discussing the relevant principles.   He was able to establish a connection between the two parts.Part Three is what military leaders call the â€Å"Staff Ride† where military students would tour the battlefield to get a feel of what has happened though not necessarily during actual combat as part of applying the lessons learned in the classroom.The purpose here is to immerse them â€Å"spiritually† and by making them picture themselves being there and it is proven to be an effective method when unde rstanding the principles.   An appendix is added which provides supplemental details on D-Day.Overall, Kloeber’s book is not only for history students but also those who wish to be enlightened on leadership principles and the author has done a good job identifying them and showing how they were applied as well as mentioning their applicability in any kind of situation which need not be about combat.ReferenceKloeber Jr., L. (2009). Victory Principles: Leadership Lessons from D-Day. Garden City, New York: Morgan James Publishing, LLC..

Dramatic scene Essay

The courtroom scene of act two is described as the most dramatic scene of the play. How does Miller make it dramatic? In your opinion is it more dramatic than act 4?  The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller who was born on the 17th October 1915 in New York City, and wrote many plays including No Villain and All My Sons. The play is based on real events that happened in Salem Massachusetts, and even uses real people for characters in the play such as John Proctor and Abigail Williams, although some details like Abigail’s age has been changed to make the play more acceptable. In 1692 mass hysteria took over due to the witch trials as a group of girls started falling ill and accused people of being witch’s and claimed they where helping the devil, casting spells, sending their spirits out, and various other acts of witchcraft. By the time the trials where over, 140 people where accused in Salem alone and 19 where hanged, 13 died in jail and 1 man named Giles Co rey, who is a minor character in the play, was crushed to death. When Miller visited Salem he was able to look at the court papers, and other resources which helped him to write the play. The crucible was written during McCarthyism when Senator Joseph McCarthy, chairman of the HUAC (House of Un-American Activities Committee), started searching for Communist within the American public. People with grudges would accuse their own neighbours of being involved with communism. Senator McCarthy and special congressional committees would then investigate and the accused would have to go to court and be put on trial where it would be decided whether or not they would go to prison as a consequence, which has a similar structure of that to what happened in Salem. Miller had been interested in the witch trials in Salem since he had started writing plays at the University of Michigan and saw the parallel between the two events and wrote â€Å"The Crucible†. Critic’s newspaper etc immediately saw this as an act against the court, and so in 1956 he was called to court accused of being involved with communism. These chapters of his life where capturing those of a mixture of the characters in his play, as when Miller was asked to give names of those he had seen at a communist meeting, he refused even though it could of resulted in prison. Fortunately Miller did not go to prison. The trials had started to come to an end so that could of effected the result of his trial, but he was also married to Marilyn Monroe at the time who was a well known wealthy celebrity who had contacts who where high up in court and so, that may of also had an helped keep him out of prison. The play starts of inside Reverend Paris’s house. His daughter Betty is lying unconscious on the bed and he is praying at her bedside. The doctor has suggested that her illness may be unnatural, and there are rumours of witchcraft going round the village. Parris is scared to go down and talk to them as it could put his position as minister in jeopardy. We find out that Betty had been dancing in the woods with her cousin Abigail Williams, Tituba who is a black slave from Barbados, and other girls in the village, and Parris suspects that it was what caused Betty’s condition, and challenges Abigail about it. She tells him â€Å"it were only sport† and that Betty took fright and fainted when he jumped out at them. Ruth, the daughter of the Putnam’s is also ill and Mrs Putnam talks of her seven dead babies and tells us she thinks they where murdered by a witch. She introduces the theme of revenge as she believes Rebecca Nurse, who was her midwife and praised throughout the village, killed her babies and wants revenge on her for that. Once the girls are alone Abigail threatens them not to tell of what they did in the woods â€Å"Let either of you breath a word, or the edge of a word, about other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you†. Abigail goes on to talk about what happed to her parents, who where murdered in front of her by Indians â€Å"I’ve seen some reddish work done at night† and we feel so I sympathy for her, and understand why she would be so aggressive. Betty wakes up screaming and Abigail violently tries to shut her up. When John Proctor arrives on the scene Mary Warren is intimidated and he tells her to leave, the rest of the girls soon follow leaving Abigail and Proctor alone. Like Abigail John is also aggressive, especially towards Mary as at the end of act 2 he puts her in a position where she must choose between him and Abigail, and throws her to the floor where she is left in hysterics as she is being threatened by two powerful and aggressive people who are both threatening to hurt her is she doesn’t side with them â€Å"(In terror) I cannot I cannot they will turn on me -â€Å".