Discuss Ways in Which Edward Thomas Presents Memory in ‘Aspens’.

â€Å"Empty as sky, with every other sound No ceasing, calls there ghosts from their abode† Discuss ways in which Thomas presents memory in ‘Aspens’. In your answer, explore the effects of language, imagery and verse form, and consider how this poem relates to other poems by Thomas that you have studied. Memory is presented as either a way of life or a community of change, as demonstrated in ‘Aspens’, ‘Old Man’, ‘Aldestrop’. He does this through the variety of techniques such as change in form, use of imagery and alternations in the tone of each poem to explore memory.As well as this, Thomas explicates the devastation of emptiness due to the consequence of war, which is portrayed through the use of soft consonantal sounds or the use of sibilance to carry the silence through the poem as it does in the places described in each poem. Quatrain A, B, A, B combined with the iambic pentameter shows regularity in the stresses of the beat, which reflects the motion of the Aspens as they sway consistently in the breeze. Alternatively, the regularity in the rhythm could reflect the beat of the hammer of the Blacksmith’s, as mentioned in the second stanza to emphasise how the vignette was once active, busy and lively.This is also seen in the sonnet by Robert Frost, Acquainted with the Night, where iambic pentameter could have been used to reflect the constant depressive state the poet experienced at the time. This contrasts with another of Thomas’ poems, ‘Tears’, where his thoughts are disjointed and disorganised as he tries to recollect his memories. Thus the use of free verse and an 18 line stanza, unbroken, is appropriate as it reflects how he struggles to remember. Despite this, the whole stanza is in iambic pentameter but Thomas has used this technique in order to reflect what is going on in his memory.For example, the last 6 lines of the stanza regulate, as all are of the same lengt h, which expresses the formality of the soldiers marching and their systematic organisation. In comparison, ‘Old Man’ has an irregular structure and this use of free verse conveys Thomas’ uncertainty in dealing with the subject of memory. It would be deemed applicable to say that the struggle to reminisce is present in ‘Aldestrop’ as Thomas uses the hyphen at the end of the first line to show the pause in his recollection, as seen similarly and previously in the first line of ‘Tears’ as the use of two hyphens portrays Thomas’ thought process.The theme of emptiness is seen throughout Thomas’ poems. The wartime poet writes of his memory of livelihood and activity in villages, such as the one described in ‘Aspens’, and then how it begins to disappear as a result of war. This is shown as the village is left with a ‘lightless pane and footless road’ causing the village to appear as ‘empty as skyâ €™ and this simile gives a sense of vastness of the effects of the war, emphasising on the emptiness in the poem. Further, the mention of the ‘cross-roads to a ghostly room’ explicates that the village is so empty that it is leading nowhere.This metaphor is ironic as cross-roads are suggestively open gateways and a sense of choice in direction. However this connotation is altered as Thomas uses the metaphor ‘ghostly room’, to portray the vacant village and this is supported by the cross-roads as they lead to emptiness and isolation. This is also seen in ‘Old Man’ as the paradox ‘only an avenue, dark, nameless, without end’ gives a sense of no lead despite the fact that an avenue should lead somewhere. It is clear here that Thomas’ state of depression is reflected in this last line as the imagery conjures connotations of death, gloom and finality.The emptiness is also portrayed in ‘Aspens’ as Thomas describes the ‘ghosts from their abode’, which suggests he is referring to the ghostly memories of the village, comparing them to how things have changed. We also see emptiness in ‘Aldestrop’ as Thomas explains how the unexpected stop is ‘bare’. The reason for this could be because the train was not due to stop at Aldestrop; on the other hand it could indicate the effects of wartime, particularly desolation. Loss of memory is seen in many of Thomas’ poems through different ways.Edna Longley, critic, points out that the part of the mind that remembers is the same part of the mind that generates poetry- the subconscious and comments that in ‘Old Man’ ‘perhaps / thinking perhaps of nothing’ is a rhetorically cunning line break. The verb ‘think’ is central to the poem as is the verb ‘remember’. Particularly in ‘Old Man’ Thomas uses the metaphor ‘I have mislaid the key’ to p resent his attempt of recollecting his first memory of the plant, Lads-Love. He portrays this as tantalising as he can ‘think of nothing’ when sniffing the herb, which suggests he finds loss of memory as frustrating.This is shown from the anaphora of ‘no’ at the end of the poem as it rightly expresses that the more he tries to remember the less likely the memory will reappear, which further shows his frustration of struggling to regain his memory. Despite this, Thomas makes it clear that the memory brings him sentimentality and this is clearly important to him. He shows that although the smell of the bush is ‘bitter’ he admires the plant because it brings back memories of his daughter. In comparison, Thomas also mentions that names are important in ‘Aldestrop’ as ‘I remember Aldestrop -/ The name’ suggests that the name brings every detail for him.A sense of change in community is seen in various poems by Thomas, due t o the effects of war. Most specifically, ‘Aspens’ shows clearly how vibrant and animated the village was once before through the onomatopoeic sounds ‘clink, the hum, the roar’ as they reflect the vivacity that was once present before the war. This is contrasted as the silence is emphasised through the dominance of sibilance through ‘a silent smithy’ and ‘a silent inn’, which emphasises the hollow atmosphere.The silence is further shown by the sibilance in the penultimate line ‘ceaselessly, unreasonably grieves’, which allows the silence of the trees to continue through to the end of the poem. A sense of change is also seen in ‘Aldestrop’ as Thomas uses the metaphor of ‘all the birds’ to represent the people of England as they suffer from the effects of the war as a whole. The fact that Thomas mentions countryside towns such as Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire shows how much Thomas values tradit ional English scenery and therefore shows his devastation of the effects of war.Thomas uses lots of different techniques in order to portray memory through a communal change, emptiness and as a way of life. Through his language, structure and symbolism within his poems, the reader is able to understand Thomas’ thoughts about memory (those being that it is frustrating to have ‘mislaid the key’ and how memories can change over time) and relate their own experiences with Thomas’ due to his profound and truthful portrayal of memory.

Kohls 2013 Annual Report Essay

The decision to buy, sell or hold Kohl’s stock is a difficult one. Their 2012 financial statements reflect a descending trend in cash, which may be a positive indication of the company reinvesting funds back into the company and distributing dividends to shareholders. However, their financial statements also reflect an increase in total liabilities, which may be a negative indication of more leverage being used to finance the company. The more leverage the company has the greater the financial risk. In the final analysis, investors should buy Kohl’s stock. Kohl’s stock is affordably priced and the company has extraordinary growth potential. Outlined below are the factors that were taken into consideration before deciding if this was a financially healthy company to invest in. DuPont return on investment (ROI) can simply be defined as: â€Å"A primary measure of a firm’s profitability. † (Berman, 2006) DuPont ROI is an â€Å"expansion of the basic ROI calculation that factors in profitability from sales and the utilization of assets to generate revenue. † (Marshall,2011) Calculations of Kohl’s ROI revealed that the firm gained an 8% profit for every one dollar invested and slightly reduced to 7% in 2012. This illustration of ROI is demonstrated in exhibit 1. 1. The gradual decrease in the DuPont ROI is primarily driven by the shifts in net income and average total assets. Net income for Kohl’s slightly dwindled from 2011-2012. This calculation of net income is illustrated in exhibit 4. 1. As the cost of goods sold and expenses increased net income reduced. The contributing factors directly related to these factors will be further explained. After the United States emerged from a recession, sales increased 2% from 2010-2011 to $18 billion dollars. The incline was attributed to the growth of Kohl’s online E-Commerce shopping site. The site experienced $ 1 billion in revenue, a $269 million increase from 2010. The Huffington Post reported shoppers spent an estimated â€Å"$1 billion dollars in the week following Thanksgiving†, breaking previous online shopping sales. (Barr, 2012)Kohl’s E-commerce shopping sales increased because of the optional size availability and merchandise selection not offered in the retail store. The sales of their â€Å"private and exclusive brands† consisted of 50% of net sales. These items have higher margins; therefore the company makes a greater profit on them. Increased spending on marketing and advertisement contributed to the increase in sales. Moreover, in 2012 revenue numbers reflected continued growth that was cultivated by strong E-commerce sales. Despite strong E-commerce sales retail stores produced less than stellar results. The sluggish retail store sales were brought forth by the slow holiday shopping season in 2012. Shoppers were cautious on spending during the holiday season, as the government’s â€Å"fiscal cliff† raised concern. (Barr, 2012). Retail locations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region suffered a loss due to hurricane Sandy that caused destruction to the area. Finally, throughout the United States warmer climates caused the retailer to experience a decline in the sales of seasonal apparel, due to increased temperatures. In addition, as mentioned above the COGS also affected the firm’s net income. The COGS began to steadily trend up from 2010-2012. This calculation of COGS is illustrated in exhibit 4. 1. During the first six months of 2012, the company experienced a hike in apparel cost from manufactures. The hike in apparel cost was contributed to higher cotton prices. In June 2012, the price of cotton increased as â€Å"demand outpaced supplies† (Laya, 2012) these costs were passed along to shoppers resulting in mark-ups on merchandise. In addition, distribution expenses also increased from $187 million in 2010 to $245 million in 2012. The additional expense is a direct result of higher gas prices and the expansion of their E-commerce site. According to the U. S Energy Information administration, â€Å"the average price per gallon of gas in the United States in 2010 was $2. 70†. â€Å"The average price per gallon of gas in the United States in 2012 was $3. 54. † (U. S. Energy Informantion Administration, 2012)Oil prices continued to increase as the demand for crude oil intensifies. Moreover, the slight increase in Kohl’s average total assets has impacted their Du Pont ROI. Attributing to the decrease is the increased inventory and significant shrinkage in cash. Inventory turnover â€Å"measures how many times inventory turns over in a year. † (Berman, 2006) On average Kohl’s turned inventory 3. 81 times in 2010, as compared to 3. 53 times in 2012. This calculation of inventory turnover is illustrated in exhibit1. On average, the higher the ratio the better the company is at managing inventory it also gives them a better cash position. However, the company anticipated higher sales, but due to external factors mentioned above the company was unable to quickly convert inventory into sales as expected. To move inventory Kohl’s offered discount pricing on merchandise in the last six months of 2012. In anticipation of the 2012 holiday season, Kohl’s spent $523 million on inventory. This investment contributed to the reduction of cash, which adversely impacted average total assets. However, additional factors that aided in the depletion of cash will be explained below. The company has been successful in the past at managing inventory; however it is important to understand because it is a significant driver in the ROI ratio. Kohl’s ROI is important because it is a positive indication that the company is profiting from investments. Additionally, an analysis of the cash flow statement revealed Kohl’s has maintained a positive cash flow over the past three years, despite significant changes in operating, investing and financing expenses. Cash flows in operating activities considerably reduced from $2,139 million in 2011 to $1,265 in 2012. Impacting operating cash flow was the increased spending on inventory to meet anticipated seasonal demand, which has been explained above. Also affecting operating activities was the additional spending towards depreciation and amortization. The inclination of depreciation and amortization can be accredited to computer software and hardware for new stores, remodels and the E-commerce center in Texas. The decline in income from operations due to the factors mentioned is a positive indication to investors that the company is reinvesting profits to promote future growth. Furthermore, investing activities have weakened although Kohl’s has continued to invest in the acquisition of property and equipment. The common size financial statement in the appendix illustrates that property and equipment consisted of 63. 80% of Kohl’s total asset. In 2011, Kohl’s invested $927million dollars into the acquisition of property and equipment and only invested $785 million in 2012. In 2012, Kohl’s had fewer remodels and store opening, however the company continued to expand. Acquiring property and equipment is important to investors because it implies future growth. As Kohl’s continues to expand, so will their potential for growth in production and revenue. This will ultimately increase the value of the company and the profitability potential for the investor. Finally, financing activities has affected cash flows due to the increase in treasury stock, debt repayment and payment of dividends. Kohl’s repurchased 46 billion shares of common stock for $2. 3 billion in 2011 and 26 million shares for $1.2 billion in 2012. The repurchase of stock depleted the amount of cash and increased treasury stock, which in turn impacted financing activities. Treasury stock repurchase is important to investors because it increases earning per share (EPS). EPS has increased throughout 2012, which means more money for investors. Also the issuance of dividends a ffected financing activity. In 2012, Kohl’s paid cash dividends of $300 million dollars during. This is important to investors because it is an additional source of income, in addition to the increased stock value or capital appreciation. Furthermore, investing activities were also affected by the repayment of $400 million dollars of long term debt in 2011, which shows the company’s efforts to pay down debt and reduce interest payments on long term debt. Following the economic recession in 2011 banks were eager to extend credit with reduced interest rates to help encourage consumer spending. After the repayment of $400 million in long-term debt, Kohl’s was granted $650 million of debt with a lower interest rate. The statement of changes of shareholder’s equity displayed in exhibit 5.1 illustrates the increased dependency on debt to finance the company. In 2012, 57% of Kohl’s assets were financed throughcredit and 43% of the assets were financed by investors. As compared to 2011, 54% of the company’s assets were financed through credit and only 46% was financed by investors. The increase in liabilities directly resulting from the increase in long-term debt, increase in treasury stock which impacted shareholders equity and the decline in total assets all contributed to the percentage changes in 2012. Based on the statement of shareholders equity it is indicated that the company is relying more on credit to finance the company. In addition, the debt to equity ratio (measures how much debt the company has for every dollar of shareholder’s equity) for Kohl’s in 2010 was 0. 89 and significantly increased to 1. 30 in 2012, which shows that the company has more debt than equity. According to the Financial Intelligence text, â€Å"debt to equity ratios considerably larger than one has more debt than equity. † (Berman, 2006) This high debt to equity ratio in 2012 could present the company with difficulties acquiring more debt to raise cash. However, the increased amount of leverage taken on by Kohl’s comes as no surprise as â€Å"more companies are being forced into high financial leverage positions to survive competitive pressure. † (Marshall, 2011) Despite the amount of leverage, based on the current ratio Kohl’s will have the ability to meet its obligations with vendors and creditors. According to Marshall, McManus and Viele, â€Å"Well managed corporations have made the efforts to streamline operations by reducing current ratio to 1. 0-1. 5 or even lower. † (Marshall, 2011) Target’s declining ratio shows that Kohl’s is meeting industry standards in terms of the current ratio. The current ratio according to the Authors of Financial Intelligence, the current ratio â€Å"measures the company’s current assets against their current liabilities† to see how quickly they will be able to pay off their short-term debt. (Berman, 2006)In 2010, Kohl’s had a current ratio of 2. 03 and in 2012 a current ratio of 1. 86. The slight decrease in the current ratio is due to a smaller cash balance, which has been explained above. Kohl’s is not the only retailer experiencing a declining current ratio. Competitor Target had a current ratio of 1. 70 in 2010 and 1. 16 in 2012. Target’s current ratio increased because of the significant amount of cash on hand . Illustrated in exhibit 6. 1 In the midst of the recession retailers were clinging to cash to avoid bankruptcy or financial loss as most business were experiencing during this time. Based on the scale of Kohl’s operations the current ratio in comparison to Target demonstrates the retails growing dependency on leverage to remain competitive in the market. In 2010, Target invested $1,729 million dollars in expenditures for property and equipment. In 2011, the company increased spending to $2,129 million. The increase in 2011 is due to acquisition of 189 â€Å"Zeller sites† totaling $1,861 million. (10-k, 2012) Target also sold 54 Canadian sites for $225 million and invested $74 in start-up for Target stores in Canada. These investments impacted cash. The firm reported a cash balance of $1712 in 2010, which declined to $794 million in 2011 and remained flat in 2012 after the investments. In comparison to Kohl’s, the company operates on a much larger scale. Target has expanded their operations to groceries, electronics and other household items not available for sale at Kohl’s. Target also includes â€Å"highly liquid short-term investments† in their cash balance. (10-k, 2012), on the other hand Kohl’s does not include these items in the cash balance. The depletion of cash is primarily due to investments, which in turn decreased the total current assets for Target. However Target has account receivables, which is something that Kohl’s does not have. Target accounts receivable has contributed to the Target’s current assets. In addition, Target paid $869 million in dividends in 2012 and $750 million in 2011. The repayment of dividends reduced the firm’s cash and current assets. Target has a significant amount of current liabilities, due to an incline in accounts payable. Accounts payable increased from $6,857 million in 2011 to $7056 million in 2012. The significant increase can be attributed to â€Å"book overdrafts. † Based on Target and Kohl’s ratio it is clear that more firms are depending on leverage to finance operations and promote future sales growth. Moreover, after a careful assessment the estimated growth rate for Kohl’s department 2012 is 2. 5%. This projection was determined by subtracting 2011 revenue from 2012’s revenue then dividing the sum by 2012’s revenue. Sales are expected to grow based on historical sales trends. In addition, retail sales are up 10% in the United States. The growth in sales can be contributed to the creation of jobs and reduction in unemployment in the United States. According Bloomberg, retailers are expected to see a â€Å"3. 9% increase in sales over the holiday season, with majority of the sales being generated online. † (Rupp, 2013) With continued investments in the expansion of the E-commerce online shopping site Kohl’s will experience a significant growth in sales. Cost of goods sold for 2013 is estimated to account for 63.8% of sales. The estimate is relatively consistent with the previous years. As the cost of fuel continues to increase in the United States, the cost to transport goods will also increase for Kohl’s, as explained above. Operating expense is estimated to remain consistent with the previous years, declining slightly. The company plans to continue increasing marketing effor ts to increase sales. The increased sales would offset the increase in distribution cost that’s trending up as gas prices climb and store payroll as the company continues to grow. Income tax rates will remain fairly consistent with previous years Furthermore, after carefully reviewing Kohl’s financial statements, management discussion, financial statements and balance sheet it was revealed that non-reoccurring or extraordinary items did not apply to the firm. The decision to encourage the purchase of Kohl’s stock was discovered during the research of the company’s 10-k. After carefully reviewing financial statements and balance sheet I accurately calculated the firm’s ratios to help determine the financial health of the company. Using the information from the company’s income statement and balance sheet I manually calculated and composed a common size financial statement to better analyze and pinpoint value changes over the past three years. After identifying the driving factors that contributed to the fluctuation in values using the materials reviewed, I was able to make a sound decision on the investment in the company. In conclusion, the purchase of Kohl’s stock will be a valuable asset as time progresses. Kohl’s has managed to increase revenue each year through strategic planning and robust marketing efforts. The increase has awarded them with a return allowing them to reinvest in the growth of the company. The growth potential has been exhibited through the acquisition of property and equipment and the expansion of the E-commerce shopping site. Despite an unexpected upset in the sales forecast, which depleted cash and increased inventory the firm maintained a positive cash flow. This is a great stock to purchase low with the potential to sell high or hold to reap the benefits of increased EPS and additional income from dividends. Kohl’s has the proven capabilities to continue to invest in the future of the company and in its shareholders

Canadian troops must be in Afghanistan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Interpersonal Communicatio Letter of advice Ashford University Research Paper

Interpersonal Communicatio Letter of advice Ashford University - Research Paper Example Every kind of communication is complex due to the existence of various variables in it. According to King (2000), â€Å"theorists note that whenever we communicate there are really at least six "people" involved: 1) who you think you are; 2) who you think the other person is; 30 who you think the other person thinks you are; 4) who the other person thinks /she is; 5) who the other person thinks you are; and 6) who the other person thinks you think s/he is†. d) Interpersonal communication is contextual: It is not possible for an interpersonal communication to occur on an isolated platform. There are different context on which interpersonal communication occurs. These are relational, psychological, situational and cultural context. It would also be necessary for you to understand that apart from principles there are certain misconceptions about interpersonal communication which will help you in having a better understanding of the whole phenomenon. You should know that the concept of interpersonal relationship has been made as a magical process to solve relationship issue by social media and network. However in real sense, interpersonal communication is not a very joyful process in a relationship. I would like to tell you that as believed, interpersonal communication is not a concept which is based on commonsense. If it has been so, then we would not have had so many problems related with it. Apart from common sense, interpersonal communication needs an extensive use of skill and tactics. This could be explained by telling that the females and males look at any relationship issue from a different perspective. So the common sense of both is different and looking at a problem from various angles can create more problems. You both also need to understand that in order to practice a good interpersonal communication, one need to understand the barriers related to it. For

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Lighting Critique - Essay Example The placing of lights at the stage has been a success to the musical play. However, some times the lights have caused some hitches during different performances. According to a number of people, many different lights are involved in the musical and create complexity in the operation. For example, the scene of be our guest involves computerized pop up candles. If the computer fails, the scene cannot take place as it is supposed to and information the candles bring cannot be achieved. The musical, beauty and the beast has been written with many short and different scenes. In theatre, the scenes have been differentiated to show day and night by use of light. At the beginning, light is used to show the stage arrangement hence creating a high-quality view for the audience to study the stage setting. In this scene, light is used to illuminate the stage. Light has also been used to emphasize different moments that differ in their moods. When the beast and belle have a romantic scene, there is a lavender lighting. This lighting has been able to emphasize on the romantic scene despite having a human being and a beast act this part. When the merchant is lost in the forest, he finds himself in front of a palace where he is forced to seek for shelter. In theater, lights are usually used to show the difference between the forest and the palace. Lights used for the palace bring a dazzling look into the building providing the audience with a beautiful view. Light can be used to establish the altering position in time and space during a performance. This is shown in the scenes that have to run concurrently on stage. Light has been used to emphasize the scenes as they run. Dim lights are used on the dormant scenes and brighter ones on the current scene. For the musical, this has been a success. In the musical, lighting has been perfectly used to emphasize different times of the day. Blue has been used to show scenes created in the night, whereas red and orange has been used to

Features of contract law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Features of contract law - Coursework Example An invitation to treat is an expression of willingness to enter into negotiations that may in future materialize in a contract. Therefore, an invitation to treat is the preliminary step that precedes a contract, and that may or may not turn into a contract. The case of Gibson v Manchester City Council (1979) is illustrative in this regard. As the distinction have now become clear between an offer and invitation to treat – the question whether the advertisement in the newspaper placed by Ahmed amounts to an offer or an invitation to treat. According to the rule contained in Pattridge v Crittenden (1968) an advertisement does not amount to an offer, instead it is an invitation to treat. However, an exception to this rule is contained in Carlill v Carbolic Smokeball that advertisements could, in certain situation, turn into an offer themselves and would just beckon an expression of acceptance to seal the contract. Ahmed’s advertisement in this situation amounts to a unilat eral offer – an offer that only requires acceptance. Evidence of this found in the words ‘acceptance to be confirmed by 22nd July’. ... A conclusion can be drawn from this case that postal rule, an antiquated rule indeed, is only applicable to non-instantaneous forms of communication. Therefore, by analogy it could be held that postal rule will not apply to emails, which is virtually instantaneous will not governed by this rule. Lord Denning further held in this case that acceptance by telex machine took place where it was received, rather than where it was sent. This approach has been confirmed by the House of Lords in The Brimmes (1975) and Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl (1983). However, these two cases particularly deal with the issue of time of acceptance. In The Brimnes (1975) the issue was whether a withdrawal of the contract was effective when it was received or when it was actually read. Megaw LJ unequivocally held that acceptance is effective and valid when it is expected to be read not when it is actually read. Which in turn means that acceptance would be valid when it is received not when the recipient, thro ugh some fault of his own, failed to read it on time when it was expected to read. Megaw LJ put the judgment in the following words:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"if a notice arrives at the address of the person be notified, at such a time and by such a means of communication that it would in the normal course of business come to the attention of that person on its arrival, that person cannot rely on some failure of himself or his servants to act in a normal businesslike manner in respect of taking cognisance of the communication†. However, in the present situation the acceptance by email has been received at Ahmed’s PC at 5:39pm and that is beyond office hours. It cannot be expected to have been read by Ahmed beyond office hours, but it could be argued that the

Mockingjay Written by Suzanne Collins Essay Example for Free

Mockingjay Written by Suzanne Collins Essay B.Mockingjay, written by Suzanne Collins, is the third and final book to the hit series, The Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen has ventured through the Hunger Games and the third Quarter Quell, and has been rescued by the rebels in District 13 and has been convinced to become â€Å"the Mockingjay,† which happens to be the symbol of the rebellion in Panem. As she takes lead of the rebellion Katniss demands that the leader of the district, President Coin, allow freedom to all Quarter Quell participants, including Peeta who has been manipulated and brain- washed by the Capitol. Katniss also demands that only she has the right to kill President Snow, leader of Panem. Aggravated and annoyed Katniss is kept in the dark from battles and works to create propaganda for the rebellion. Peetas brainwashing deeply effects and disturbs Katniss, but he slowly begins to improve after much treatment and therapy which had included major cake decorating. His friend from his childhood, Delly Cartwright, helps with his recovery by bringing up lost fond memories of their past lives. Not long after Peeta has become well enough to train with Katniss and her propaganda unit, in which they are then sent off on a mission to the Capitol. The rebels gain and convince and gain control of the districts and are able to begin an ambush on the Capitol. A propaganda filming in a safe Capitol neighborhood goes wrong, and Katniss and her team go deeper into the city with the hope of finding and killing President Snow. Many members of Katnisss team are killed, and Katniss is left alone and pushes toward Snow’s mansion, which has supposedly been opened to shelter Capitol children, but is actually intended to trap the kids and use them as human shields for President Snow. As she reaches the mansion, a hover plane with markings of the Capitol drops supply parachutes to the children which then explode, killing many of the children. A medical team ma de up of rebels, which also involves her younger sister Primrose, attempt to care for the wounded children but more parachutes are dropped and kill the rest of the children along with the medics. Katniss more raged than ever is determined to find Snow in order to avenge not only the District’s, but also her sister. After the victory of the rebels it has been decided that a Hunger Games will be held for the children in the Capitol. While recovering from the same explosion that killed her sister, Katniss accidentally runs into President Snow who is under house arrest. Snow tells her that he did not order the assault that killed Prim, saying he would have escaped if he had access to a hover plane. Katniss assumes it was Gale, but as he denies it she cannot help but face her doubt and finally comes up with the conclusion that President Coin had ordered the assault. At Snow’s execution, Katniss becomes aggravated and shoots Coin instead. The watchers of the execution become angry and begin to run around aimlessly stomping on President Snow until he is dead. Katniss is ordered back to District 12 after trying to commit suicide and after many months Peeta comes to join her and they both fall in love again with eachother and with Haymitch’s help write a book about the Hunger Games and tributes to keep their memory. C.Themes: 1.Bravery, a majorly used trait in the novel. Katniss along with the rest of the rebellion must stand up to the Capitol and take back their lives. Katniss must be brave in order to make the rebellion successful and to create a stronger world. 2. Loyalty, is a major themed used in Mockingjay. Katniss shows her loyalty to her family and all her loved ones. She expresses her loyalty to Peeta by showing her hope towards him to get better and wishing for him to become better. 3. Determination, is highly needed to be a character in the entire series of The Hunger Games. Katniss was determined to avenge not only her sister and the rest of her family, but the entire world. All of the districts depended on her as the lead of the rebellion to stop President Snow. D.Katniss was faced with the problem of leading the rebellion against the Capitol. â€Å"Yeah, so this is the deal. I’ll be you Mockingjay.† (Collins 38) Katniss takes up the role as the â€Å"Mockingjay† and becomes the face of the rebellion. Katniss changes from the beginning of not only Mockingjay, but also throughout the entire series of The Hunger Games. Katniss not only has become the face of the rebellion, but she has led all of Panem against the Capitol and had defeated it. â€Å"I’ll tell them how I survive it. I’ll tell them that on bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything because I’m afraid it could be taken away.† (Collins 390) Suzanne Collins used very specific wording to describe the characters and setting in the book Mockingjay. â€Å"My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games. I escaped. The Capitol hates me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Collins 4) Though Collins doesn’t go too much into detail to describe characters or setting she does explain events and characters in an very succinct manner. A major symbol in Mockingjay is the â€Å"Mockingjay.† Katniss represents the Mockingjay, which symbolizes the rebellion against the Capitol. The jabberjay was a bird that was used by the Capitol as spies but was compromised by rebels. The Capitol had realized they were being fed false information by the rebels and were left alone in the wild where they mated with mockingbirds hence the name Mockingjay. â€Å"I take a deep breath. My arms rise slightly as if recalling the black-and-white wings Cinna gave me then come to rest at my sides†¦ â€Å"Im going to be the Mockingjay.† (Collins 31) E.The book Mockingjay was a very entertaining book and was also a part of a very entertaining series. This book was recommended by a family member and the dialogue and the descriptions were captivating. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the genre and tell them that his series was a great one. The book was very absorbing and seemed to end too fast.

Cosmopolitanism Ethics In A World Of Strangers Philosophy Essay

Cosmopolitanism Ethics In A World Of Strangers Philosophy Essay The book, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, is a clear and well-written book which is enjoyable to read. K. A. Appiah is himself a citizen of the world: a professor of philosophy at Princeton, with a Ghanian father and an English mother, he was raised in Ghana and educated in England, and also lived in Africa, Europe and North America. After reading this book, I have to say that Appiah skillfully blends his philosophical ideas with anecdotes about his own life and background. It brings us too many places and we come to know him a little and also his father, mother, and various other kinsfolk and tribe members. He introduces us to many traditions, practices and ideas of his African ancestry to clarify his ideas on human interactions, conversations, and globalisation. It reassesses the case for reviving an ancient stream of thought in a world full of strangers, and finds that Cosmopolitanism is a universal trait of humankind. The overall scheme of the book concerns the p rinciples of the existence of different people bound by a simple nexus of common values and humanity.   1.1 Introduction: Marking Conversation Appiah starts with the fact that our ancestors lived in small tribes where they interacted with a small set of people who they knew. Others were of rival tribes and to be viewed with suspicion. Information about other ways of life didnt really flow into the village. That was in the old days. Nowadays, our human world is getting smaller now, because people have more access to each other than ever before in history. We are getting to know and access each other through migration, international trade, tourism, and the worldwide web of information, which comes from radio, television, telephones, and especially the internet. This mass media and the amazing cyberspace give us plenty of opportunities not only that we can affect the lives of others everywhere but that we can to learn about life anywhere, too'(p xiii). The world is getting smaller and we are living in a new global tribe in the face of the world globalization. How are we to deal with these new circumstances? What ideas and institutions can help us to live together in this global village? Appiah addresses the notion of cosmopolitanism, that is the challenge to take minds and hearts formed over the long millennia of living in local troops and equip them with ideas and institutions that will allow us to live together as the global tribe we have become'(p xiii). The notion actually combines two inter-related strands: One is the idea that we have obligations to others, obligations that stretch beyond those to whom we are related by the ties of kith and kin, or even the more formal ties of shared citizenship'(p xv). The other is that we take seriously the value not just of human life but of particular human lives, which means taking an interest in the practices and beliefs that lend them significance (p xv). Appiah believes that it is an obligation to understand those with whom we share this planet. People are different, and there is much to learn from our differences. Because there are so many human possibilities worth exploring, we neither expect nor desire that every person or every society should converge on a single mode of life. Appiah also stresses that whatever our obligations are to others (or theirs to us) they often have the right to go their own way (p xv), it is respect for difference. According to Appiah, cosmopolitanism is more accommodating of diversity than the current liberal consensus but does not fall into moral relativism. Cosmopolitanism embodies two core values: universal concern for all humanity above family and nation and a respect for legitimate difference. Appiah recognizes that these two values clash, and as such cosmopolitanism is the name not of the solution but of the challenge (p. xv). Appiah takes a step further to summarise the challenges, which are: (1) to avoid falling into moral relativism while respecting difference; (2) to find a middle way between an unrooted abstract universalism and self-interested nationalism; (3) to recognise that cultural difference has been exaggerated by an order of magnitude (p. xix); and (4) to work for conversation, in the sense both of association and exchange of ideas, while realising that humanity will never arrive at an agreed hierarchy of universal values. Cosmopolitanism is a process involving the human co mmunity in habits of co-existence, of conversation in its older meaning, of living together, association (p. xix). The crux of getting along is to recognise that while one might live with integrity in accordance with ones own beliefs, one does not need to share the same rationale with someone else to develop this habit of conservation. In the interpretation of cosmopolitanism, Appiah is sympathetic to the view that local loyalties and allegiances are important because they determine who we are. So he encourages us to embrace both local and universal loyalties and allegiances and denies that they necessarily come into conflict with each other. He holds that we need to take sides neither with the nationalist who abandons all foreigners nor with the hard-core cosmopolitan who regards friends and fellow citizens with icy impartiality. The position worth defending might be called (in both senses) a partial cosmopolitanism. So he stakes out his middle ground of partial cosmopolitanism more by talking about what its not. On the positive side, we get a lot of generalities: its important to talk with people from other cultures, to maintain mutual respect, to learn about other ways of life. We need the curiosity inherent in a partial cosmopolitan outlook so that we can get used to one another and live peacefully together. We do not, he stresses, need to share underlying values or agree on everything. 1.2 The Shattered Mirror Appiah argues that looking at the world clearly shows that there are a variety of ways of life and thought. Human beings are different and that we can learn from each others differences (p4). When we are exposed to the range of human customs and beliefs, a cosmopolitan openness to the world is perfectly consistent with picking and choosing among the options you find in your search (p5). However, such exposure to different human customs and beliefs hardly leaves the traveler unattached from his own. Thus, not all disagreements can be resolved and it urges us to accept differences. (pp.4-7) Appiah holds that a complex truth is like images of the shattered mirroreach shard of which reflects one part of a complex truth from its own particular angle. He supposed the deepest mistake is to think that your little shard of mirror can reflect the whole. Actually, Appiah points out that there is no singular truth. In that case, theres no one shattered mirror; there are lots of mirrors, lots of moral truths, and we can at best agree to differ (p11), therefore, we need to embrace pluralism, and adopt a live-and let-live attitude. Appiah cites works by ethnographers, and draws a number of persuasive parallels to establish universality and shared values (good and bad). He stresses that people in far-flung places are the same in that [they] have gods, food, language, dance music, carvings, medicines, family lives, rituals, jokes and childrens tales.   They smiled, slept, had sex and children, wept, and in the end, died (p.14). Another commonality according to Appiah, is that a lot of what we take to be right or wrong is simply a matter of customs.   His argument about ideas and concepts which are common to most cultures in the world, draws further on acts like good parenting, as well as taboo, which exists in his native Ghana (akywandee), or in Igbo land (nso), but is Polynesian in origin. 1.3 The Escape from Positivism Appiah writes of relativism, positivism, and particular the fact and value distinction in this chapter. Appiah claims that the influence of positivism has led to value relativism by splitting values (or ends) from facts about the world (or means), in other words, what philosophers have called the naturalistic fallacy, or the inability to derive an ought from an is. Appiah avers that relativism and positivism often get in the way of the cosmopolitan project and undermine conversation across boundaries. Because every people finds its own ways (to be) good (p16), this conversation is important. It helps us to know others who are different and to learn from them. Simply put, if when we disagree we are both right, then there is nothing to talk about. if we cannot learn from one another what it is right to think and feel and do, then conversation between us will be pointless (p31). From a positivist slant, Appiah observes that what is custom is linked to values, which in the end, guide our acts, thoughts and our feelings (p 25). It is in this context that he underscores that being kind is an attribute of experience more than any other variable since people learn to be kind by being treated kindly and noticing it.   Appiah also emphasises the way our values are shaped by conversations with others, in which we try to shape each others views and feelings, but relativism of that sort isnt a way to encourage conversation, its just a reason to fall silent (p 31) because of the relativists toleration. 1.4 Facts on the Ground The chapter is an attack on the positivist notion of fact. Appiah argues that facts are not as solid as we may suppose. He tries to show that facts are on no more solid ground than values. He uses the example of trying to persuade a traditional Asante (his kinfolk) that witchcraft cannot harm people, to show that facts largely depend on what you already believe and what ideas you already have. 1.5 Moral Disagreement In this chapter, Appiah goes on to look at the various ways we can come in conflict over values, which are more likely to arise between people from different societies. They are: (1) no shared vocabulary of evaluation. Value terms are essentially contestable and they will always be argued about both across cultures and within them. (2) Even when we share the same moral vocabulary, conflict over values might come in varying interpretations of the same vocabulary and (3) giving the same values different weight. However none of this is insurmountable: we can agree to do things without agreeing on why (p67), but more important is Appiahs point, pace Samuel Huntingdon, that most conflict is not articulated through warring values in the first place. In fact, intense conflict may arise through dispute over the meaning of the same values (p67), e.g. on abortion, American pro-lifers and pro-abortionists both respect the sanctity of life, but differ on why it is precious and on when life begin s. To better understand this point, Appiah gives us other example that, the US and Iraq being at war is not because the people of the two countries have different values. But this is not a point the politicians in Washington would readily accept, certainly, not the ideologues.  Here, Appiah analyses that the Golden Rule-what you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others- requires that we should take other peoples interests seriously, take them into account. Appiah suggests that encouraging cosmopolitan engagement, presupposes the acceptance of disagreement.   Perhaps, this is why cosmopolitans endorse as a key aim, that we learn about other peoples situations and then use our imagination to walk in their Moccasins (p.68). He also exposes the failings of the Golden Rule as a principle to live by. Its just that we cant claim that the way is easy. 1.6 The Primacy of Practice Appiah argues that even though moral disagreements can happen and are real, crosscultural conversations about values do not have to end in disagreement, because it is often possible to agree about what to do even when we do not agree on the reasons behind it. For example, we can live in peace and harmony without agreeing on the underlying values. (pp.69-81) Appiah discourages us from insisting on reaching agreements on values by means of reasoned arguments and persuasion. These very often fail to move people. Moreover, if we make this insistence, then we will lose what is worthwhile about conversations across boundaries. As Appiah avers, conversation is hardly guaranteed to lead to agreement about what to think and feel. Yet we go wrong if we think the point of conversation is to persuade, and imagine it proceeding as a debate, in which points are scored for the Proposition and the Opposition. Often enough, as Faust said, in the beginning is the deed: practices and not principles are what enable us to live together in peace (pp.84-85).When Appiah proposes conversations between people, what he has in mind by conversation is really an engagement with the experience and the ideas of others (p85). In this sense, conversations do not have to lead to consensus about anything, especially not values; its enough that it helps people get used to one another (p85). 1.7 Imaginary Strangers Appiah argues that the points of entry to crosscultural conversations are things that are shared by those who are in the conversation. They do not need to be universal; all they need to be is what these particular people have in common (p97). And human beings everywhere have so much in common. These include everyday activities, such as buying things, eating, reading the paper, laughing, going to movies, parties and funerals. They also include universal values such as kindness and generosity. He argues that these can be entry points to cross cultural conversations, because once we have found enough (things which) we share, there is the further possibility that we will be able to enjoy discovering things we do not yet share'(p97), and we can open up more to other ways of thinking, feeling and acting. That is one of the payoffs of cosmopolitan curiosity. Appiah also notes that the problem of cross-cultural communication can seem immensely difficult in theory, when we are trying to imagine making sense of a stranger in the abstract. But the great lesson of anthropology is that when the stranger is no longer imaginary, but real and present, sharing a human social life, you may like or dislike him, you may agree or disagree; but, if it is what you both want, you can make sense of each other in the end (pp.98-99). 1.8 Cosmopolitan Contamination In the seventh chapter called Cosmopolitan Contamination, Appiah argues against those who criticize globalization for producing homogeneity and getting rid of cultural differences. He claims that globalization is also a threat to homogeneity because it creates new forms of difference (p101-105). He thinks that instead of the talk of preserving diversity and trapping people in conditions they want to escape from, we have got to let people choose for themselves. He mentions that cosmopolitans think human variety matters because people are entitled to the options they need to shape their lives in partnership with others (p104). Appiah also writes of the trouble with cultural imperialism, he believes that people in each place make their own uses even of the most famous global commodities (p113). Such as the fact that Levis are worn on every continent. In some places they are informal wear; in others they are dressy'(p113).They are not blank tablets on which global capitalism can write wh atever it wants, they are not fools but they can resist. That is why something does not ever change, like the identity of a society can survive when cultures are made of continuities and changes. 1.9 Whose Culture Is It, Anyway? Appiah begins by pointing out that some of the museums of the world, particularly in the West, have large collections of objects and artefacts which were looted from poor and developing countries. He then asks: who owns these cultural artefacts and properties? Our first answer may be that since they make up the cultural heritage of a people, they belong to the people and culture from whom they were taken. Appiah disputes this and argues that the right way is to take not a national but a cosmopolitan perspective: to ask what system of international rules about objects of this sort will respect the many legitimate human interests at stake (pp.126-127). If some cultural artefacts are of potential value to all human beings, they should belong to all of humanity. He thinks that when they make a contribution to world culture, they should be protected by being made available to those who would benefit from experiencing them and put into the trusteeship of humanity (pp.130-134). Appiah argue s that rather than focusing on returning stolen art and putting a lot of money and effort into it, it may serve the interest of those whose artefacts were stolen better to be exposed to a decent collection of art from around the world, like people everywhere else. 1.10 The Counter-Cosmopolitanism Appiahs writing on Believers without Borders as in Doctors without Borders is instructive in explaining universalism as well as its driving motives and consequences: They believe in human dignity across nationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ share ideals with people in many countries, speaking many languagesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ they would never go to war for (a) country, but they will enlist (in a) campaign against any nation that gets in the way of universal justice.   They are young, global Muslim fundamentalist; they are the recruiting ground of Al Qaeda (pp. 137-138). Appiah goes on to suggest that such fundamentalism exemplifies the universal ethics, which inverts the picture of Cosmopolitanism and in the absence of toleration, turns easily to murder (p141).  For example, Islamic and Christian fundamentalists who seek a community of those who share their faith and reject all national and local allegiances have no tolerance for religious difference. We should be wary of and reject universal community, because they can lead to bloodbaths, which is one lesson we can learn from the sad history of Christian religious warfare in Europe (p141). Then Appiah turns to argue that their universalism is contrary to cosmopolitanism which embraces pluralism and promotes the view that our knowledge is imperfect and provisional and that we might learn something from those we disagree with. As he writes: to say what, in principle, distinguishes the cosmopolitan from the counter-cosmopolitan, we plainly need to go beyond talk of truth and tolerance. One distinctively cosmopolitan commitment is to pluralism. Cosmopolitans think that there are many values worth living by and that you cannot live by all of them. So we hope and expect that different people and different societies will embody different values. (But they have to be values worth living by.) Another aspect of cosmopolitanism is what philosophers call fallibilism the sense that our knowledge is imperfect, provisional, subject to revision in the face of new evidence (p 144). If cosmopolitanism is, in a slogan, universality plus difference, there are the other enemies of cosmopolitanism. They reject universality altogether, and claim that not everyone matters. One such inescapable obligation is this: when you do something that harms someone else, you must be able to justify it. Those we think of are willing to claim that not everyone matters. They tell us why. Such and such people are destroying our nation; they are inferior; It is not actually that they dont matter; its that they have earned our hatred or contempt. They deserve what we are doing to them (pp.150-152). Appiah avers that the real challenge to cosmopolitanism isnt the belief that other people dont matter at all; its the belief that they dont matter very much. Its easy to get agreement that we have some obligations to strangers. We cant do terrible thing to them. (p153) 1.11 Kindness to Strangers Appiah looks at the question of what do we owe strangers? His answer is mainly negative. Appiah begins by referring the viewpoints of Peter Singer and Peter Unger. The Singer principle (from the works of Peter Singer) states: If you can prevent something bad from happening at the cost of something less bad, you ought to do it (p 160). Unger takes it a step further by stating that it would be immoral not to donate all of ones wealth to organizations, such as UNICEF and Oxfam, which benefit less fortunate people. Based on these beliefs, Singer and Unger would likely agree that it would be wrong to spend money on the opera if that money could otherwise be used to save the life of a child (p159-162). Appiah, however, doesnt agree with that decision. He believes that Singer and Unger are missing a key piece of morality and human nature: It is illogical-and just plain wrong- to assume that a person values all lives equally. In reality, a person is likely to value the people around them, su ch as family and friends, and even themselves, over those whom they have never met. Thats not to say that such a person does not care about other, unknown people; it is only to reaffirm the fact that humans prefer familiarity. Cosmopolitanism cannot and does not demand from us to have more sympathy and concern for strangers than those close to us. In addition, Singer and Ungers principles are vague and without exceptions. They dont seem to consider all possible situations and they fail to account for human nature. As Appiah mentions, if everyone spent all of their money to save starving children and none on activities they enjoy, the world would be a flat and dreary place. (p 166) No one would want to live at all if they werent able to do things other than saving other peoples lives. People need entertainment and joy in their lives in order to be happy and successful. These thinkers are mistaken to burden us with incredible obligations which would dramatically reduce the quality of our lives (pp.156-166). It is much more helpful, as Appiah believes, to contribute, in whatever way possible, to a cause that will focus on improving the general living conditions of a location, which, in turn, will eliminate the hunger of the children living there. Providing clean water or a better education system to Third World children will do more for their future than simply feeding them for a day, which, as Appiah points out, may actually be detrimental to the farmers and the economy of the area. And it wouldnt necessarily require all of ones wealth to be donated to the cause in order to make it happen. As Appiah points out, Singer and Unger seem to imply that all values can be measured in a single thin currency of goodness and badness and those decisions should be made based on a comparison of the amounts of this currency for each possible outcome (p 166). That theory is a misguided and an inaccurate one, as it fails to account for outside forces. All decisions must be made by considering the many variables involved; this morality price, as one might call it, is only one such variable. According to Appiah, whatever our obligations are to strangers, they must not be too burdensome because these are not the only obligations that matter. As such, Appiah is correct in his conclusions that neither the Singer principle nor Ungers beliefs should be the sole guiding force in ones decision-making process. While it may be appropriate to assign the morality price a heavy weight when it comes to making a decision, it is impossible to force the human mind to think only of such a value. As Appia h argues, human values and decision making processes should be based on more than just one specific rule-designed by one specific human. The world is too complex for one sentence to handle. Appiah also makes an argument based on the saying that the end justifies the means. Slavery, in and of itself, is wrong; the existence of the pyramids or of the United States, however, is not. Plus, it is unreasonable to assume that giving away all of ones wealth will cause any permanent change. It is more likely that doing so would simply prolong the possibly-dreadful life of a starving child for a set period of time. After that, the living conditions of the child would simply return to their previous state. 2 Evaluations 2.1 The Notion of Cosmopolitanism Appiahs chosen word to describe this task in this book is cosmopolitanism. This term can be traced back to the founding father of the Cynic movement in Ancient Greece,  Diogenes of Sinope  (c. 412 B.C.). Of Diogenes it is said: Asked where he came from, he answered: I am a citizen of the world (kosmopolità ªs)  [1]  . The word of Cosmopolitan derives from Greek  cosmos  (the  Universe) and  polis (city). Appiah picks this term to suggest the possibility of a cosmopolitan community in which individuals from varying locations (physical, economic, etc.) enter relationships of mutual respect despite their differing beliefs (moral, religious, political, etc.). According to the meaning which is intended , he finds cosmopolitan superior to globalization, which is an overused word that can mean everything from a marketing strategy to an economic thesis, or multiculturalism, which he says is another shape shifter, which so often designates the disease it purports to cure. App iah admits that cosmopolitanism can have elitist connotations. But its actually a term rooted more in the idea of cosmos the universe: talk of cosmopolitanism originally signaled a rejection of the conventional view that every civilized person belonged to a community among communities. In order to better understand the notion of Cosmopolitanism in the book, it is necessary to make a brief survey of the differences in meaning among some conceptions, which are: relativism, universalism, nationalism, patriotism and liberalism. Relativism refers to any of several descriptive, meta-ethical, or normative positions  regarding the differences in moral or ethical judgments between different people and cultures. Universalism is the meta-ethical position that some system of ethics, or a universal ethic, applies universally, that is, for all similarly situated individuals, regardless of culture, race, sex, religion, nationality, sexuality, or other distinguishing feature. Nationalism  involves a strong identification of ones social identity with that of a  nation  or state.  Patriotism  is love and devotion to ones country.  Liberalism is the belief in the importance of  liberty  and  equality. And, Cosmopolitanism is in a slogan, universality plus differen ce (p151). 2.2 Relativism and Cosmopolitanism Relativists claim that not everything is local custom, and they argue that education must be morally neutral, and that all values are situational and negotiable. Appiah thinks it is mercifully fading out. Appiah rejects cultural relativism, he pushes it further toward obsolescence and denies a key tenet of relativism, which he describes as the basic suspicion that moral claims just reflect local preferences rather than universal truths. Before relativisms destruction, its proponents relied on the comfortable certainty that tolerance trumped all other values. For relativists, dealing with multiple cultures was easy: Just tolerate everything. But in the absence of that idea, how do we relate to what Appiah calls a world of strangers? Since there are some values that are, and should be, universal, do we deliberately rinse away all expressions of cultural diversity that dont uphold those universals? If values are universal, how can we maintain them while still respecting cultural distinctness? How can we avoid the pitfall those relativists feared, that of imposing our values on others? Appiah makes it work. He avers that Cosmopolitanism helps us find ways to consider such conceptual complexities. As mentioned before, Appiahs cosmopolitanism intertwines two ideas, obligations to others and value of particular human lives. For the cosmopolitan, then, no local loyalty can ever justify forgetting that each human being has r esponsibilities to every other. Those responsibilities are best played out in conversations across differences where the language of values helps us coordinate our lives with one another. 2.3 Globalization Appiah talks about globalization in chapter 7. He is dismissive of those who are critical of globalization and focuses only on one aspect of their criticisms, namely their worry that globalization wipes out local cultures. So he does not address the worry that the global financial institutions and multinational corporations want to expand the world markets for their own interests and that they undercut and weaken local governments, laws, and decision-making. Western industrial nations promote free trade, but this in fact benefits them and makes them richer and more powerful. The agriculture and export subsidies in the West are one of the main causes of agricultural decline in many developing countries. So globalization per petuates and worsens the unequal balance of power between rich industrial and poor developing countries, rather than addressing it in any way. Appiah casts the critics of globalization as people who are afraid of change, but some of the critics are legitimately con cerned with global justice and local sovereignty. 2.4 Cosmopolitan Justice Cosmopolitan justice is discussed in Chapter10, but it is a little weak. One of the main components of Appiahs cosmopolitanism is ethical commitment to strangers. But his view of what this amounts to is very thin. Instead of speculating about what commitments we incur if we want to make the world a substantially better place, Appiah comes up with a list of constraints. He is very critical of the idea of world government as a vehicle for upholding and guaranteeing peoples basic rights. For Appiah the primary mechanism for ensuring basic rights is the nation-state. Appiah then warns us about those who want to burden us with too much and urge us to overlook our obligations to those close to us and to our own self and projects. It is difficult to see how the concerns which underpin cosmopolitan ethics or justice can be addressed solely in the context of national politics. Those who are passionate about cosmopolitan justice are concerned about extreme poverty, tyranny, oppression, and environmental degradation. Seriously addressing these seems to also require working with international organizations which go beyond national borders and forming connections and associations with others elsewhere who have similar goals. Moreover, despite Appiahs legitimate worries about establishing a world government, it is clear that world governing bodies and institutions, such as United Nations and World Bank, already exist, deal with cosmopolitan justice issues, and have much power. At the least, making the world more just would demand that these institutions become more democratic and fair and do a better job of protecting peoples rights. 2.5 Global Conversation Cosmopolitanism works because values like courtesy, hospitality, generosity and reciprocity are widely shared, alongside other basic concepts and social customs, to enable differences to be explored. Appiah thinks that we share enough to work through human differences. Commonality allows for a global conversation. In the end, attaining a state of peaceful, diverse co-existence is more important to cosmopolitanism than resolving all conflict over human values either philosophically or politically. Appiah calls for a global conversation to make our world suitable for coexistence and living well. But he does not refer to appropriate ways. When we look for some enlightenment in the context of Chinese Confucianism, we can find that Confucian toleration has some characteristics of engagement in such conversations; the characteristics are: openness to t

Adam Bede Example Of Literary Realism English Literature Essay

Adam Bede Example Of Literary Realism English Literature Essay Adam Bede is written by George Eliot, whose real name was Mary Ann Evans, and it was published in 1859. It was published with a pseudonymous, even if she was a well published and highly respected scholar of that period. The novel has remained in print from that time and is used in university studies of 19th century English Literature.  [1]  When we talk about realism, we mean the mode of writing that gives the impression of recording or reflectingfaithfully an actual way of life. The term refers, most of the times confusingly, both to a literary method and to a more general attitude. But what it interests us here, is the literary method which is based on detailed accuracy of description (i.e. Verisimilitude- which is very important in this period).  [2]   Adam Bede is believed that it is one of the best examples of literary realism in England and English literature. Realism, as we said above, has to do with recording the life exactly as it is. So, writers do not have to imagine characters and plots that could fit in the real world. Furthermore, realists (and here George Eliot) focus more on the characters than on the plot. Aslo, realist literature appeared in England in 1840 and remained for about fifty years. It had many differences from the previous movement, Romanticism, and people in the beginning found it difficult to deal with the new idea of Realism and its meaning. In Adam Bede George Eliot creates the false illusion of a steady and immemorial rural world. We can say that it is a realistic novel, first of all, because of the manifesto on realism in Chapter 17 and because of the plentifully observed details, which are really important in a realist novel. It also charts the consequences of moral action. The world of Adam Bede is immemorial and the village that George Eliot had chosen for her book is really very difficult to change, rather than a city, and many of the conditions of change would come from the outside (e.g. From cities). If fiction has to have the kind of validity that implied by the scientific word experiment, as a means of discovering what really would happen in certain circumstances and not what one might wish to happen, the novelists imagination must at least be as rigorously disciplined as the scientists observation. So, George Eliot must first of all, establish that the world in which the events of the novel take place, really is the world in which we live in, governed by the same natural laws that govern human existence in the world we know. If she did not convince us of this, we could hardly take her findings seriously. And we can recognize in a novel, the real world we live in à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ as we recognize people and places we know à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ not so much by their measurable extent of problems as by a whole range of variable impressions that we are often hardly aware of noticing.  [3]   The first requirment for a true fiction is the hard presence of a recognizably real world, and as we can see in many points George Eliot supplies it throught the novel. For example, when she describes the workshop of carpenter (Adams wprkshop), she tries to give us the sense of how difficult it is this work, by the use of details and descriptions. Also, in the description of the dairy in which Hetty Sorrel makes butter, we have a symphony in colours and textures. These details, make us feel like we watch the whole scene and smell the fresh butter. Adam Bede offers the radical contrast of a world shaped through and through by moral judgement and moral evaluation. Technique is that which selects among the multitude of possible qualities, organizes them in the finite world of the novel, and holds them in a shape that can catch the light of our own awareness, which without shapes to fall upon, is ignorant. Technique is like the convex or concave surface of the spoon, and the different turnings ans inclinations to which it is liable. Technique lengthens or foreshortens, and while the rudimentary relationships of common experience remain still recognizable, it reveals astonishing bulges of significance, magnifies certain parts of the anatomy of life, of whose potentialities we had perhaps not been aware, humbles others. So, the massively slow movement of Adam Bede is one such shape making technique. It is true that we are generally persuaded of the actual slow movement of rural life, and it is rural life à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ the life of villagers, tenant farmers à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ that George Eliot describes.  [4]   Actually, as we can see up to now, George Eliot uses many descriptions, many images and many details in order to succeed her purpose: to write a realistic novel. She also uses facts from common people who live in the country-side and they are much more sensitive to the changes of life. Of course George Eliot has done very well her job and we continue. Ian Adams article, The Structure of Realisms in Adam Bede mentions these: Whatever traps for the unwary lie in the term realism, few would quarrel over its appropriateness for Adam Bede. The characters in the novel are ordinary in either social class or native endowment and frequently in both, its tragic action grows out of a commonplace seduction, and its setting is humble and representatively agrarian. Perhaps, even more important is the treatment of these subjects: there is a high degree of consistency and historical accuracy in details of time and place, the background is richly and minutely crowded with particulars, and the account of characters motives always stresses ordinary causes, rationally explicable. He also mention that: The distinction between realism of subject and realism of procedure is an important one. Both kinds of realism exist in Adam Bede, as they do in most realistic novels, detailed presentation tending to go hand in hand with the selection of commonplace an d usually unfamiliar and unconventional subject. Realism of subject in the novel has perhaps had the most thorough treatment, particularly in discussion of the rustic background and the unheroic nature of the central characters. Ian Adam believes that Adam Bede is really a realist novel.  [5]   Another key of the realistic novel of Adam Bede is the description of the natural beauty of Englishs countryside, especially in scenes of sadness or evil. For example, when Hetty tries to find Captain Donnithorne, the countryside is very luxurious and the day is beautiful . Many people would think that this appearance of the day, represents also the beauty of Hetty; the outside,but also the outside beauty. But George Eliot here, tries to mislead us and she encourages us to look beyond the surface of people and things to their deeper characteristics. So, Eliot as we can see, tries to pass to the readers some messages about the people in the real life and she wants to make her readers more conscious. In Adam Bede George Eliot also tries to represent the life of the 19th century in England and especially in the countryside. As we can see from the novel, people faced many difficulties and the community was pretty strict. Even if some people were good some times they had to become evil and face the real life and the problems. George Eliot was also very careful about the use of language. She used the every-day language of that period in order to make the novel more persuasive about it realistic style. An example of the difficulties that people faced in the society of 19th century is the life of Adam. Adam is a hard man who learns, first through the death of his father and then through the suffering of an inferior being whom he loves, sympathy towards weakness. But what the idea of Adam represents in ones mind is not such a development, but something much more static. What it remains to the readers about him, are the qualities that he has from the first, summed up in his words to Arthur. (Ive seen pretty clear, ever since I could cast up a sum, as you can never do whats wrong without breeding sin and trouble more than you can ever see (Chapter 16) ). As we can see, Adam is a massive representation of the central Eliotic belief, but his dramatic existence, his learning through suffering, even his suffering itself, are by comparison notional.  [6]   As it mentioned in many books, the story of Adam Bede was actually the representation of the real life of George Eliot. In the beginning when people learned about that were a bit confused and afraid. It was pretty hard for them to believe that everything or pretty everything that was written in Adam Bede was in reality the life of George Eliot. This clue, could show us why the novel had so many details and descriptions. Also, because at first, the book was published anonymously, most of the readers believed that it was written by a man. Finally, to sum up, we could say that Adam Bede is one of the first realist book in England. It represents reality in many different ways, using many descriptions, a lot of details,use of everyday language, representations of landscapes full of colours and smell. Using the right methods and techniques George Eliot managed to write a realist novel which flurried not only because it was the story of the real life of George Eliot, but also because it was from the first novels with a realist context and it was pretty difficult for the readers of that period to understand it and understand its meaning. Unfortunately, there were many who fight George Eliot and Adam Bede but when the years pasted, they understood the value of this novel and they used it also in university studies. Only from this decision we can see how important was this novel for English Literature and more specific, about the Realist Literature of England.

Romeo And Juliet 9 :: essays research papers

OVERVIEW ON ROMEO, JULIET, NURSE, MOTHER AND FATHER (JULIET’S) ROMEO: In the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’, we see many aspects of Romeo’s personality and character. There is a link between all of his personalities; they are all severely extreme personalities e.g.:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the start of the play, we see that he is a ‘wet drip’ he is depressed and miserable because of his infatuated love for Rosaline but it is unrequited love from Rosaline. This mood of his goes to the extreme- he does not go out during daytime only at night, he weeps, and he locks himself out from all light and talks of his misfortune.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After this, he is happy and joking around in the square, this creates a huge affect in change of nature in his personality. Romeo was the one who started off the joking with “Here’s goodly gear A sail, a sail'; This is not usually like Romeo, as all the joking and micky taking is left to Mercutio. You might expect on Romeo to be prying on everyone who walks past because of the messenger, but instead he is joking – this might be because he doesn’t want anyone else to know about the marriage OR that he is to excited. Shortly after this, he changes back to serious when he is talking to Nurse about the marriage.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He still is joyful towards the marriage scene and at the marriage scene he takes the extreme again - he acts like he has not seen Juliet for years, they can’t wait to get there hands on each other – kissing, Friar Laurence had to separate them. Once they are married, he visits Tybalt and Mercutio in the square; he is misunderstood by Tybalt when he says how he loves him. Mercutio reacts with laughing thinking that it is a wind-up and Tybalt is annoyed and wishes to fight, Romeo refuses and Mercutio steps in and fights – this leads to his death.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Romeo becomes violent and aggressive in this scene; he wants Tybalt killed no matter the cost. Tybalt was shocked when he saw the blood on his sword which suggests that he did not mean to do it, and it was really in a way Romeo’s fault for coming in the way but he doesn’t realise this. When he and Tybalt fight he kills him (we cannot be sure if it was by mistake when Tybalt fell on the sword because Shakespeare does not say).

Capital Punishment is Too Lenient for Sick and Vile Criminals :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Capital Punishment is Too Lenient for Sick and Vile Criminals      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I always considered the death penalty as an issue which I never had to concern myself with.   First of all I'm not planning to commit any vial crimes, and   I don't think anyone I care about has evil plans either.   Secondly, I've never been conscious or concerned with the lives of criminals.   When we began speaking on the subject, I thought we were only going to talk about the institution of racism in capital punishment, and was quite unaware of the feeling this subject would arouse in me.   Needless to say, I have formed some opinions on the issue which confused even me.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I always considered myself pro-capital punishment.   I was of the mind that if someone killed me, I would like my death avenged, but pondering on the issue of cultural differences has made me doubt my prior convictions.   First of all, I am against the use of the lethal injection.   I understand that it is cleaner, but if the law wants to inflict death as a punishment, it must understand that death is not a pretty thing.   Criminals are painlessly put to sleep, and die in the same manner that Dr. Kavorkian's patients choose. Personally, if I was faced with the option of living the remainder of my life in isolation, perpetually haunted by pain and images of terror, I would absolutely chose to die by lethal injection.   There is no true punishment in this method, except the fear of going to hell, which I strongly doubt is of much concern to most convicts on death row.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Assuming that the judicial processes which convict these individuals are legitimate, the only common bond within this group is that they are all mortal, and hold no respect for human life.   These delinquents are on death row, because they have committed a crime of such ghastly proportions, that society has deemed them unfit to live.   They deliberately and nonchalantly depraved another human of their life.   They emphatically partook in reprehensible malice of inhuman dimensions, never bothered by their conscience.   They are sick and vile individuals who do not acknowledge social conventions such as religion and the law.   They have broken the law, and in leaving it they removed themselves from the protection of the law.   The 8th Amendment should no longer apply to these sick dements who deserve none of my compassion.   Yet, the bleeding hearts continue to defend them and oppose capital punishment because it is too cruel. In an article in the Chicago Tribune, the Roman Catholic church vented its

An Analysis of Anti-technology Themes in The Machine Stops and WALL-E E

In 1909 E.M. Forster wrote the ground-breaking short story â€Å"The Machine Stops†, it foretold of a dystopian society where mankind entrusted itself to a machine which took care of al their wants and needs, and ultimately lead to their demise. In Forster’s â€Å"The Machine Stops†, he illustrates the need for man to become less dependent on machines and technology for their livelihoods and life in general. In Disney’s â€Å"WALL-E† we se many of these themes again. In both cases humans have become so inept at taking care of themselves that the loss of the machine or machines that care for them would be catastrophic and deadly. Humans have invested so much trust and power into these machines that they no longer have any real control, in addition their dependence on technology has severely distanced them from nature and more importantly their own human nature. In both stories one of the major themes is the autonomy of the â€Å"Machine†, and the lack of control the humans have over them. In â€Å"The Machine Stops† this theme is best illustrated through the â€Å"Mending Apparatus† (Reader, 153), it automatically â€Å"mends† any problem it sees, including retrieving Kuno when he ventures to the surface as well as killing one of the surface dwellers who â€Å"was entangled by the worms, and, †¦, was killed by one of them piercing her throat.†. This shows the ruthless autonomy of the machine. Later in the story we see how little the people who inhabit â€Å"The Machine† have over it, when it begins to break down, they have so little understanding o its workings that they are powerless to fix it, without the â€Å"Mending Apparatus† to fix â€Å"The Machine† they are unable to save themselves. In Disney’s â€Å"WALL-E† the ship aboard which the humans are living is c ontroll... ...oth depictions people communicate almost exclusively through machines, in â€Å"The Machine Stops† face to face contact is rare and essentially feared. In â€Å"WALL-E† people are shown talking to each other on screens while they are right next to each other and they seem completely lost when it comes to face to face conversations. In conclusion, â€Å"The Machine Stops† and â€Å"WALL-E† both use anti-technological themes to illustrate the dangers of technological advance, in particular our dependence on machines and technology for our survival. They showed that the combination of a dependence on an autonomous and out-of-control machine, a disconnection from nature, and an extreme loss of humanity can have disastrous consequences for us and our society. The question now is whether or not we can learn from these works and works like these and prevent a dark and inhuman future.

Blue Nile and Diamond Retailing Essay

1.What are some key success factors in diamond retailing? How do Blue Nile, Zales, and Tiffany compare on those dimensions? Key drivers of customer purchases in diamond retailing include quality and range of products offered, reputation, professional advice offered, and customer perception and emotional bonds, including a positive buying experience and customer service. Success is also dependent upon obtaining economies of scale through such avenues as preferential access to resources, an effective supply chain and marketing strategy, as well as an ability to control facilities and operating costs and manage inventory effectively. Blue Nile’s, Zales’, and Tiffany’s key success factors in dealing with customers are related to the characteristics of their individual target markets. Blue Nile, for example, offers high quality diamonds and fine jewelry online that are comparable to Tiffany’s but with markups that are lower than Tiffany’s and Zales’. Blue Nile, which was founded in 1999, focuses on customers who want good value and who prefer to shop conveniently from home and without incurring high pressure sales tactics. They also provide customers with easy-to-understand jewelry education, as well as the ability to design custom jewelry. However, its customers must forego a hands-on purchasing experience as well as the instant delivery offered by Tiffany’s and Zales’ retail locations. Tiffany, which opened in 1834, is an independent, specialty jeweler that offers premium-priced diamond rings, gemstone and fine jewelry, watches, and crystal and sterling silver serving pieces. Tiffany’s exclusivity and prestigious brand image, extensive service, and fashionable locations allow it to maintain and gain luxury market share domestically and globally. In contrast, Zales, a specialty retailer of diamond fashion jewelry and diamond rings in the U.S. since 1924, has high name-brand recognition and appeal to value-conscious shoppers. Zales’ chain of retail venues for its middle-class target customers includes Zales Jewelers, Gordon’s, and Piercing Pagoda’s mall-based kiosks that appeal to teenagers. Zales offers more moderately priced and promotion-driven products compared to Blue Nile and Tiffany. It also competes with discounters such as Costco. Economies of scale and sourcing are achieved differently by each company. Blue Nile has the most cost-effective business model because of exclusive supplier relationships that allow the online retailer to offer a manufacturer’s diamond inventory without purchasing it until needed. In addition to low warehouse and inventory costs, Blue Nile avoids the facilities investment expense and operating costs of the bricks-and-mortar retailers. U.S. retailer Zales is able to obtain economies of scale because of its large number of stores, but high inventory costs due to extreme changes in product offerings and marketing strategy in 2006-2007 confused its traditional customers and severely hurt its bottom line. Tiffany sustains high profit margins through its globally dispersed locations and online presence, established third- party sourcing as well as in-house manufacturing which provided 60 percent of its products, and by utilizing centralized inventory management to maintain tight con trol over its supply chain and reduce operational risk. 2.What do you think of the fact that Blue Nile carries over 30,000 stones priced at $2,500 or higher while almost 60 percent of the products sold from the Tiffany Website are priced at around $200? Which of the two product categories is better suited to the strengths of the online channel? Blue Nile is able to successfully offer diamonds priced up to $1 million or more online by emphasizing the large variety of certified high-quality stones available and a markup that is significantly lower than that of its store-front competitors. The main source of Blue Nile’s competitive advantage over traditional, store-based retail jewelers is that it has lower facilities cost and inventory expense. Only one central warehouse is needed to stock its entire inventory although outbound transportation costs are high because it provides customers free overnight shipping. Additionally, through exclusive supply relationships, the firm is allowed to display for sale the inventory of some of the world’s largest diamond manufacturers/wholesalers. Selling high-priced diamonds online works for Blue Nile because its competitive strategy is based on the priorities of its target market customers. These online customers want high-quality diamonds, but place strong emphasis on receiv ing good value for the cost and on product variety, are willing to wait for their jewelry, and often prefer to customize their purchases. In comparison, Tiffany successfully uses a combination of over 180 exclusive worldwide retail stores and an online channel to benefit from the strengths of both channels. Approximately 48 percent of the company’s net sales come from products containing diamonds, with more than half of retail sales coming from high-end jewelry with an average sale price of over $3,000. Its online offerings, however, focus on non-gemstone, sterling silver jewelry with an average price of $200. The company offers a wide variety of these low demand items with high demand uncertainty, and they account for more than half of its online sales. Online sales are facilitated by Tiffany’s already-in-place centralized inventory management system, in-house manufacturing, and strong supply chain and information infrastructure. These lower-priced products increase the firm’s potential customer base and improve margins by reducing operating costs. Tiffany’s sales of sterling silver jewelry priced around $200 are more suited for the strengths of the online channel than are Blue Nile’s thousands of stones priced at $2,500 and above. With the growing popularity of e-business, competition with Blue Nile’s sole business model is increasing. In addition, with its well-to-do but price-conscious customer base, the company is more affected by the effects on difficult economic times on purchasing behavior than is Tiffany with its less price-sensitive global customers who demand luxury goods at any price. Blue Nile is also more susceptible to the rising costs of diamonds and of labor because it does not purchase the majority of its diamonds until a customer decides on a purchase. 3.Given that Tiffany stores have thrived with their focus on selling high-end jewelry, what do you think of the failure of Zales with its upscale strategy in 2006? Tiffany’s upscale strategy, affluent customer base, and business model evolved over a period of more than 100 years, and changes such as adding an online distribution channel were made gradually and as an extension of Tiffany’s current business practices. Zales, on the other hand, handled a strategic shift to upscale retailing within a time period of one year and failed drastically as shown by the following chain of events. Feeling the pressure from discounters Wal-Mart and Costco, Zales decided to give up its long-time strategy of selling promotion-driven diamond fashion jewelry and diamond rings in order to pursue high-end customers. In this 2005 ambitious move to become more upscale, Zales invested heavily in higher-priced diamond and gold jewelry with higher margins and dumped its inventory of lower-value pieces. Led by an ambitious CEO, this new strategy initially sounded as if it would work. However, trying abruptly to undo an 81-year-old strategy and brand reputation for selling moderately-priced items was doomed to fail. The company lost many of its traditional customers who were put off by the suddenly higher prices, and it did not win the new ones it had targeted. As a result, Zales abandoned its new strategy in 2006, hired a new CEO, and began transitioning a return to its traditional strategy of attracting the value-oriented customer. This change involved selling off nearly $50 million in discontinued upscale inventory and spending nearly $120 million on new moderately-priced inventory. The actions severely affected Zales’ bottom line for at least the next two years, not to mention alienating its middle-class customer base. The situation was further compounded by rising fuel prices and falling home prices in 2007 which caused a decrease in consumer discretionary spending. 4.What do you think of Tiffany’s decision to open smaller retail outlets, focusing on high-end products, to reach smaller affluent areas in the United States? Opening small, fashionable retail outlets in smaller affluent cities is a good move for Tiffany. Doing so provides the company a quicker, more cost-effective way to expand its store base and its target-market reach in the United States. A smaller store format offers lower operating costs and a shorter payback period on capital investment, both of which help increase margins and returns. With it strong brand equity attracting well-to-do customers and with efficiencies in terms of a high ¬Ã‚ ¬-margin product mix, lower inventories are required, faster turnover results, sales per square foot are higher, and overall store productivity is increased. 5.Which of the three companies do you think was best structured to deal with the downturn in 2009? Zales was most affected by the 2009 economic downturn in the U.S. which severely damaged the country’s retail jewelry industry. The Texas-based company, with retail stores located only in North America, was more vulnerable to adverse U.S. market conditions than the geographically-dispersed Tiffany and Blue Nile. The company was still trying to regain market share among its middle-class customers and handle merchandising issues in light of its failed strategy begun several years earlier to go upscale. Additionally, a new CEO in 2006 who began the company’s return to its traditional strategy based on diamond fashion jewelry and moderately-priced diamond rings, had not been able to restore the company to profitability. Blue Nile, with its already low operating costs and small inventory holdings, was in a better position than Zales to weather the economic downtown. Because Blue Nile does not purchase the majority of its diamonds until a customer places an order, its bottom line was not as severely impacted by customers who began purchasing less expensive jewelry and by those who stopped buying completely because of strong price-sensitivity. Before the downturn, the company had already increased its international Web site presence by launching sites in Canada and the United Kingdom and opened an office in Dublin. The Dublin office offered free shipping to several western European nations, while the U.S. office handled shipping to Asian-Pacific countries. In spite of the above, Blue Nile saw its first decline in sales in the third quarter of 2008. Tiffany, as a jeweler and specialty retailer, was the best structured of the three companies to deal with the 2009 U.S. economic downtown. There is not as strong a correlation between its sales and consumer confidence levels as there is with Blue Nile’s customers. With over 100 stores in international markets, Tiffany’s operations are much more globally diversified than Blue Nile’s. In addition to its extensive global and domestic retail outlets, Tiffany also has the benefit of its e-business distribution channel and of catalog sales. With its strong business model and high margins on a broad range of offerings, tightly controlled supply chain, and the exceptional power of its brand image, Tiffany fared better than Zales and Blue Nile during the economic downturn. 6.What advice would you give to each of the three companies regarding their strategy and structure? In light of the previous answers, I would recommend the following: 1) Zales needs to expand to markets in other than North America to lessen the severity of the effects of future economic downturns in the U.S. With its longstanding presence in the U.S. retail jewelry industry, it should also focus on reinforcing the value of its brand with consumers in its target market. Zales should increase its marketing efforts and continue to expand its e-commerce business. This will generate revenue and improve its margins by lowering operating costs. 2) Blue Nile should continue focusing on its low price for high-quality diamonds and on its unique online customer experience to further differentiate itself from Tiffany’s and other retail jewelry competitors. It definitely needs to expand its international presence by launching more country-specific Web sites, as well as continue enhancing its current Web site. Just as importantly, it needs to diversify its marketing efforts to online communities and to the public in general to increase its brand name recognition and appeal. 3) Tiffany should continue to increase its small-store formats in the U.S. and develop a stronger presence in its direct selling channel. It needs to grow its sizable international operations, particularly the fast-growing Asian luxury market, in addition to entering untapped emerging markets. With the increasing cost of diamonds and gold, it might assess the advisability of participating in sales promotions which it has never before done. Most importantly, Tiffany should continue increasing its supply chain efficiency and protecting its brand equity at call costs.