Niagara Falls :: essays research papers

There are many great wonders of the worlds, among them is the Niagara Falls located in Ontario. Niagara Falls is the jewel of geological history in the Niagara District. Did you ever wonder; how old is Niagara Falls? How did the Falls begin? What is the Niagara Escarpment? Niagara Falls is a major attraction site for tourists. This 12,000-year-old natural wonder attracts some 12 million tourists a year. Also, you can go behind the falls for a tour. Honeymooning couples have made their way to Niagara Falls for nearly 200 years. The Niagara Falls to offers some unique charms such as the water, that's the draw. Crashing, plunging, thundering without cease. (It did freeze once.) Although there are taller Falls, there are none wider. Here you also get three for the price of one: The raging rapids of Rainbow and Bridal Veil Falls (American) tumble over massive rock formations in a nearly perfect straight line; amazing Horseshoe Falls (Canadian) form a natural curve. Niagara Falls was formed as the glacier retreated. The upper Lakes began draining into the lower lakes at five to six locations across the Niagara Escarpment (like water pouring from a tap). Twelve thousand years ago, the Niagara River ultimately became the main water outlet over the Niagara Escarpment. The waters of a much larger Lake Erie began to flow over the escarpment into a larger Lake Iroquois (Lake Ontario). The water fell over the escarpment and Niagara Falls was born. The first humans arrived in Niagara Falls Region almost 12,000 years ago, just in time to witness the birth of the Falls. The land was different then, consisting of tundra and spruce forest. During this time Niagara Falls was inhabited by the Clovis people. A man by the name of Dr. Roy Spencer first discovered the birthsite of Niagara Falls in early December 1678 The first person to go over the Niagara Falls and survive was a 63 year old woman named Anne Taylor.

Professional Sports - NBA Should Enforce a Hard Salary Cap Essay exampl

The NBA Should Enforce a Hard Salary Cap      Ã‚   How many of you sports fans out there are sick of paying twenty-five dollars for a lousy seat at an NBA game? How many of you are sick of seeing the same teams in the finals every year? I'm sure there are thousands of you out there that feel this way, as do I. The way we can fix these problems is to demand that the NBA enforce a hard salary cap. A hard salary cap would lower ticket prices, allow for more teams to be more competitive and eliminate the possibility of any future lockouts. If the three things listed above aren't met, it's hard to say if the NBA will survive at all. I want to see the NBA survive, but not in the way things are being run now. A hard salary cap is the only way the fans and the players can coexist.    A hard salary cap will lower ticket prices. I, among many of friends am a die-hard NBA fan, but we can only afford to attend one or two games a year. The average ticket price in the NBA is twenty-five dollars and that doesn't include a pair of binoculars, which you'll need if you're sitting in a twenty-five-dollar seat. That can give you an idea of how much a court side seat might cost you. Some people wonder why tickets are so much. Maybe Mike Kahn, who is the CBS Sportsline Executive Editor, can tell us why ticket prices are so high. In one of his articles he notes. Players' salaries are escalating faster than revenue and it would be foolish not to throw a lid on it. Tickets are already out of sight for a middle class family. ( 2 ) That means to me that players are demanding more and more money and ticket prices have to go up to compensate for higher salaries. I n the Tampa Tribune, Bill Fay, a sports writer for the paper noted. Most of the teams h... ...salary cap will provide an answer for some of the most serious problems facing the NBA. It will lower ticket prices, allow more teams to be more competitive and eliminate the any future lockouts. If these problems can be fixed by enforcing a hard salary cap, I don't see why it shouldn't be done. The NBA should enforce a hard salary cap.    Works Cited Fay, Bill " Owners Need To Be Restrained", Tampa Tribune 5 July 1998, 1-2 Kahn, Mike," Latest News Could Stall Negotiations", October, 1998, n. pag. Online. World Wide Web <wysiwyg://71/http://cbs.sportsline.../page/cyberspy/oct98/spy101998.htm> Nov. 14, 98 Anonymous." Labor Issues", The Salt Lake Tribune 30 June 1998,1 MacMullan, Jackie," Lockout Limbo", July 1998, n. pag. Online. World Wide Web <http:www.cnnsi.com/features/1998/weekly/980720/nbalock_intro.html> Nov. 14,1998 Professional Sports - NBA Should Enforce a Hard Salary Cap Essay exampl The NBA Should Enforce a Hard Salary Cap      Ã‚   How many of you sports fans out there are sick of paying twenty-five dollars for a lousy seat at an NBA game? How many of you are sick of seeing the same teams in the finals every year? I'm sure there are thousands of you out there that feel this way, as do I. The way we can fix these problems is to demand that the NBA enforce a hard salary cap. A hard salary cap would lower ticket prices, allow for more teams to be more competitive and eliminate the possibility of any future lockouts. If the three things listed above aren't met, it's hard to say if the NBA will survive at all. I want to see the NBA survive, but not in the way things are being run now. A hard salary cap is the only way the fans and the players can coexist.    A hard salary cap will lower ticket prices. I, among many of friends am a die-hard NBA fan, but we can only afford to attend one or two games a year. The average ticket price in the NBA is twenty-five dollars and that doesn't include a pair of binoculars, which you'll need if you're sitting in a twenty-five-dollar seat. That can give you an idea of how much a court side seat might cost you. Some people wonder why tickets are so much. Maybe Mike Kahn, who is the CBS Sportsline Executive Editor, can tell us why ticket prices are so high. In one of his articles he notes. Players' salaries are escalating faster than revenue and it would be foolish not to throw a lid on it. Tickets are already out of sight for a middle class family. ( 2 ) That means to me that players are demanding more and more money and ticket prices have to go up to compensate for higher salaries. I n the Tampa Tribune, Bill Fay, a sports writer for the paper noted. Most of the teams h... ...salary cap will provide an answer for some of the most serious problems facing the NBA. It will lower ticket prices, allow more teams to be more competitive and eliminate the any future lockouts. If these problems can be fixed by enforcing a hard salary cap, I don't see why it shouldn't be done. The NBA should enforce a hard salary cap.    Works Cited Fay, Bill " Owners Need To Be Restrained", Tampa Tribune 5 July 1998, 1-2 Kahn, Mike," Latest News Could Stall Negotiations", October, 1998, n. pag. Online. World Wide Web <wysiwyg://71/http://cbs.sportsline.../page/cyberspy/oct98/spy101998.htm> Nov. 14, 98 Anonymous." Labor Issues", The Salt Lake Tribune 30 June 1998,1 MacMullan, Jackie," Lockout Limbo", July 1998, n. pag. Online. World Wide Web <http:www.cnnsi.com/features/1998/weekly/980720/nbalock_intro.html> Nov. 14,1998

Best Practice Cases in Branding Essay

Kevin Lane Keller (born 23 June 1956) is the E. B. Osborn Professor of Marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is most notable for having authored Strategic Brand Management (Prentice Hall, 1998, 2002 & 2008), a widely-used text on brand management. The book is focused on the â€Å"how to† and â€Å"why† of brand management, this strategy guide provides specific tactical guidelines for planning, building, measuring, and managing brand equity. He has published his research in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Journal of Consumer Research. In addition, Philip Kotler selected Keller to be his co-author on the most recent edition of Kotler’s market-leading text Marketing Management. Keller was formerly on the faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has served as a visiting professor at Duke University and the Australian Graduate School of Management. He is an alumnus of Cornell University, Carnegie-Mellon University and Duke University. In the private sector, Keller often acts as a consultant on branding, speaks at industry conferences, and helps to manage the rock band The Church. Keller currently resides in Etna, New Hampshire. Books by Kevin Lane Keller (chronological order) Kotler, Philip/Keller, Kevin Lane: Marketing Management, 13th edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall 2009. Keller, Kevin Lane: Strategic Brand Management, 3rd edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall 2008. Keller, Kevin Lane: Best Practice Cases in Branding, 3rd ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall 2008.

‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘An Encounter’ by James Joyce Essay

An analytical study of ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’, ‘An Encounter’ and ‘The Pedestrian’, focusing on the themes of paralysis, entrapment and isolation The texts chosen for this study are: ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘An Encounter’ by James Joyce which, I feel, are appropriate as they provide comprehensive coverage of the themes analysed whilst managing to cover a historical period of some seventy years1. Poe’s piece is a dark, Gothic work which deals, in great depth, with the notion of both mental and physical paralysis encompassed in an entrapping and isolated atmosphere. Joyce, on the other hand, takes a characteristically more diverse and subtle approach to the concept of paralysis, cunningly concealing the theme within the stagnant surroundings of his Dublin. Verbal ‘entrapment’ is furthermore offered in the form of a dubious elderly man. The story ‘An Encounter’ by James Joyce amply exhibits many stylistic features associated with the modernist author – for example the use of epiphany or writing through first person narrative, with inner monologue to highlight the consciousness of the protagonist and also subtly divulge the feelings of others to the perhaps more ‘aware’ readership. However, Poe, on the contrary, chooses to play the cards of shock and terror in a style which is far more explicit and gruesome in comparison with Joyce’s incorporation of ambiguity. The theme of paralysis is key to Joyce’s work – the notion is implicit throughout Dubliners as a whole. With this idea comes its antithesis – escape – or with respect to ‘An Encounter’ and many of the other stories, thwarted escape. It is because of the character’s desire to achieve this freedom, that when the day fails to reach its high expectations, the stagnation and restrictiveness of the surroundings are powerfully reinforced – perhaps even confirmed. From the outset of the tale, Joyce ponders the notion of escape. Characters searching for such an escape, often describe how they would wish to travel afar to achieve it. So important, it seems, is this idea that the protagonist of the initial story of Dubliners, can be quoted of aspiring to exotic, foreign fantasy: ‘I felt that I had been very far away, in some land where the customs were strange – in Persia, I thought.’ This feeling is openly exhibited in ‘An Encounter’, as Joyce’s first person narrator states; ‘Real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad.’ In the story, Joyce develops the theme in the form of an inner monologue – the thoughts of the protagonist dictating how his ‘Wild West’ adventures ‘opened doors of escape’. The method used is quite customary of the author- the thought processes of the boy (relating to escape) are ultimately what drive the tale, yet Joyce quietly conveys them through subtle, nondescript details. Joyce’s relationship with his hometown appears, like his works, slightly ambiguous. He may often be quoted of his distaste for the stagnant city2, succeeding in displaying it with an absence of enthusiasm, as a moribund, non-eventful hive. However, one feels that on reflection, after reading his work a subtle affection is undoubtedly apparent – perhaps Joyce’s time spent in exile3 incubated an innate longing for the city – Dublin’s entrapment being, perhaps, what fuelled this fascination with the petty happening of the city? Joyce’s relationship with the theme of entrapment in Dubliners is essential to the text: at times he appears intent, at others repelled. ‘An Encounter’ deals with methods of escape other than exotic foreign adventure, focusing on the attempt of two boys to ‘break out of the weariness’ of their everyday environment. Although, at first the prospect of adventure excites the young boys, there is constant undertone of anti-climax carefully intertwined into the story. Joyce writes from the first person point view, often through analepsis. It is perhaps because of this that a frequent air of frustration pursues the young schoolboys – it is as if the story is being recalled by a man embittered by the ‘restraining’ and ultimately paralysed city of Dublin. Quite often Joyce refuses to commit any fervent emotion to events, preferring to use lacklustre qualifying adverbs or adjectives; ‘†¦ We were all vaguely excited†¦ it was a mild sunny morning’ Joyce intently chooses to focus in on the most insipid details, usually choosing to focus on empirical sense experience – such as Mahoney’s grey suit or the ‘brown4 fishing fleet’- which works to suppress the buoyant atmosphere. This notion is also relative to the descriptive mood, which the author quite purposely generates through negative evocation of certain aspects: ‘†¦ The docile horses†¦ the drivers of groaning carts.’ This process of qualification through modifiers generates a subdued atmosphere parallel to that of the jaded inner-consciousness of the protagonists. The negativity which is now apparent in almost everything encountered appears to be an entrapping agent over the boys, who sulk into a resigned and somewhat resentful state, a state which is furthermore reiterated by the repetition of the adverb ‘too’: ‘It was too late and we were too tired to carry out our project of visiting the Pigeon House.’ Joyce has succeeded in presenting Dublin as an impotent city of circularity and entrapment. He is now anxious to erase the protagonist’s claim; ‘I was very happy’, from the audience’s memories, introducing words such as ‘solemn’, ‘sedulous’ and eventually even denotes the character’s thoughts as ‘jaded’. There is constant, yet suitable repetition of the adjective ‘tired’ – the day has become tedious, adventure and escape have proved elusive, and the encounter of a less than legendary sea-farer has confirmed that the protagonist will not find merriment in Dublin, forever doomed to live in the fantasies of comic book and literature. However, despite its lack of event, the day does provide the boys with one notable incident. Aspirations of escape having been superseded, Joyce begins a new paragraph focusing primarily on the silence and ‘stillness’ of the eventual situation: ‘There was nobody but ourselves in the field. [We had] lain on the bank for some time without speaking’. Through creating such an ominous, yet ‘dying’ atmosphere – sentences slowly becoming shorter, more concise (defeating imaginative possibility as displayed by the boys hitherto) and less picturesque use of vocabulary – Joyce signals the need for new themes to be introduced. He achieves this through the introduction of a curious elderly antagonist. The old man introduces the possibility of in-depth monologue and direct speech. In the conversation with the boys, he seemingly manages to entrap the young protagonist with his reference to literature – a topic of known interest to the boy – and also through cunningly incorporating a sinister ‘circular’ approach. Joyce is very keen to exploit the idea of circularity in his work and in this piece, the ‘monotonous’ voice of the antagonist and the way his voice ‘slowly circles round and round in the same orbit’, help to achieve the spellbinding quality of the man. This technique paralyses the narrator, who seemingly allows the man to give a discourse in the form of a monologue – mainly due to his apparent inability to interrupt. The politeness evident in the boy’s character is in hindsight, far from being useful. Joyce implicitly airs his personal views on the expensive Jesuit schooling that the protagonist has been subject to by placing the boy in a situation of danger. The resultant irony – learnt social skills being a hindrance – also helps highlight Joyce’s disregard for the church and its establishments. The worrying feature of the man’s discourse is the implicitly perverse way in which he speaks. He frequently refers to the ‘whipping’ of young boys, with one feels, over-excitable ardour. Joyce establishes the man’s odd approach through primarily using such adjectives as ‘magnetised’ and ‘circle’ in reference to his thought process. This creates the impression that he is intent on the subject. Secondly, a section of reported speech is introduced; ‘When a boy was rough and unruly there was nothing would do him any good but a good sound whipping†¦ what he wanted was to get a nice warm whipping.’ Joyce emphasises the mans positive outlook on the subject through the use of a positive lexical range; there is repetition of the word ‘good’ – firstly as a noun, secondly as an adjective – and also use of the adjective ‘nice’, which appears somewhat misplaced when used in conjunction with the concept of whipping. The protagonist’s isolation from sympathetic intellectuals due to young age means he is quick to warm to the old man when he talks of literature. In the epiphany, he even appears isolated from his closest friend, Mahoney, and it appears to me that the epiphany of the piece (from the young boy’s perspective) confirms that the older man has had a profound influence on his views – both intellectually and sexually. It appears that after entrapment, the isolation of the naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve child has left him susceptible to corruption and the ‘encounter’ has left the boy and the audience with the idea (with undoubted authorial intent) that the world is not such an innocent place. Such mental metamorphosis is more openly explicit in Edgar Allen Poe’s work, no epiphanies are evident, yet a first person narrative works to convey the progressively tortured thoughts of the protagonist to the reader. ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ is a piece typical of the nineteenth century ‘gothic horror’ genre. The main area of focus is that of psychological terror and mental torture of the protagonist, brought about through natural agents and physical entrapment and isolation. The style is typical of Poe, aesthetic – as opposed to scientific – and wholly grotesque. The piece is, in its simplest form, an account of the destruction of the protagonist’s psyche. Poe begins ‘in medias res’ by describing the trial of the man, the narrator intently focusing upon his gloomy and confused mental state. Syntax used is complex and verbose, helpfully describing the characters inner consciousness and displaying his tangled, entrapping thought processes. The lexical field and imagery employed is especially exotic and indulgent – Poe uses metaphorical language peppered with adverbs and adjectives as the candles before the man alter from ‘white slender angels’ to ‘meaningless spectres, with heads of flame’. Another technique which is commonly employed by Poe is that of repetition, in this particular story, Poe often relies on the syntactical position of verbs to gradually heighten tension, and prompt his audience. A good example of repetition may be found when the protagonist is awaiting his doom at the hands of the pendulum – each new paragraph commences with the preposition ‘down’: ‘Down – steadily down it crept†¦ Down – certainly relentlessly down!.. Down – still increasingly – still inevitably down!’ This repetition works to give extra strength to the nemesis and increase the tense, anxious and bleak atmosphere. The notion of ‘down’ is the most important in the authors mind, and the layout of the word on the page vividly reflects the terrifying motion of the blades descent and, more importantly, the ever more dejected mental state of the protagonist. A technique used by Poe – and also exhibited by Joyce- is that of prolepsis. The fact that the protagonist is often left thinking of what ‘may be’ suggests a certain degree of isolation – the surrounding atmosphere offering no apparent subjects for the character to focus on in the present. In ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’, Poe incorporates a feeling of perpetual unease into the thought processes of his protagonist. There are frequent examples of this which often come about directly before the ‘ghastly’ prospects of the character are realised; as in the heightened, almost hysterical language and excited syntax of: ‘The result of the slightest struggle, how deadly! Was it likely, moreover, that the minions of the torturer had not foreseen and provided for this probability? It is characteristic of Poe to use hyperbole, a technique which creates a melancholy, theatrical feeling – often seemingly increasing the grandeur. Hyperbole also escalates the terror and entrapment suffered by the protagonist, the indulgent language used portrays a somewhat exaggerated experience to the audience. This technique is supported by extensive use of adjective and adverb, commonly negative in effect, as when the protagonist is close to death by the pendulum; ‘The odour of the sharp steel forced itself into my nostrils. I prayed – I wearied heaven with my prayer for its more speedy descent. I grew frantically mad, and struggled to force myself upward against the sweep of the fearful scimitar. And then I fell suddenly calm, and lay smiling at the glittering death†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Psychological entrapment in the story is offered in the form of ‘The Pit’. To accomplish the desired atmosphere for such a tortured fate, Poe begins to describe the physical surroundings of the protagonist in some detail. The ‘subterranean world of darkness’ to which the man is instantly subject to is stereotypically associated with Poe’s genre of writing, the gloom becoming a perfect vehicle to carry an unnerving, mystifying atmosphere. Further concern for the antagonist is drawn from the constant reference to his ‘fatigued’ state and also the dangerously ‘moist and slippery’ characteristics of the chamber. The tension generated relies heavily on Poe’s use of syntax – the protagonist encounters ‘The Pit’ through a sequence of brief sentences: ‘I proceeded for many paces; but still all was blackness and vacancy. I breathed more freely.’ The length of the sentences and the fact that Poe does not feel it necessary to justify or convolute the thoughts of the protagonist – who currently sees his punishment as ‘[not] the most hideous of fates’ – represents relatively calm and clear thought processes. As the narrator becomes evermore aware of the horrific situation, Poe mirrors his mounting terror through increasingly complex syntax: ‘The difficulty, nevertheless, was but trivial; although, in the disorder of my fancy, it seemed at first insuperable.’ Poe’s evidently excessive accentuation of punctuation, creating furthermore verbose sentences, achieves a faster movement of thought and a growing sensation of confusion. Eventually, as the protagonist gradually uncovers the secrets of his confinement, a greater fear of entrapment and danger being incubated inside him is realised. Poe displays this through every quickening pace in complex sentences which are supported with dashes – giving the effect of total bemusement and terror in the protagonist, feelings which almost lead to the making of treacherous mistakes. Quite suddenly, with a simple sentence – perceptibly out of step with the ever-increasing complexity of the syntax – the climax of the character’s investigation is revealed; ‘I stepped on it, and fell violently on my face.’ With the inclusion of this short, astute sentence, Poe signals that complex syntax hitherto has given sufficient insight to the audience and that the tensi on has peaked. The fact that the piece is written in the form of a first person narrative always suggests – in a similar style to James Joyce’s reflective, possibly older narrator – that the protagonist is reminiscing about his exploits, and that ultimately the piece will not end in his death. This is, of course, the case when General Lasalle of the French army comes to the rescue. The ending is extremely interesting as Poe chooses, unlike the other events of the story, to dramatically reduce proceedings – deciding to summarise the rescue in a short paragraph. The said paragraph uses more restrained syntax – exclamation is succeeded by a simple statement which, in the context, appears almost bathetic. ‘The fiery walls rushed back!.. The French army had entered Toledo.’ It is not entirely clear why Poe has chosen to end the piece in an almost anticlimactic manner. Perhaps he chooses to condense the singular joyful occurrence of the narrative thus maintaining its stance as a work of horror. Many sources, however, maintain that the story’s closure was dictated by demanding time restrictions implemented by Poe’s publishers5. Another reason for Poe choosing a first person narrator is perhaps that this perspective gives us a stronger feeling of entrapment due to our constant awareness of the innermost feelings of the protagonist. The narrative does not, unlike a third person perspective, allow the audience to transcend the situation, providing direct access to the horror which is occurring on the page. There is also no direct speech in the story. This fact reinforces the idea of isolation in the way that the protagonist has no need to speak due to absolute solitude. The grotesque element of Poe’s work, which quite frequently works as a perversely aesthetic or romantic catalyst for the mental entrapment of the protagonist, is usually evident in the form of a tormentor drawn from nature.6 In ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’, psychological suffering is brought on by a swarm of rats. These animals bring negative connotation, as they are associated with such horror as The Plague. They are definitely an effective device which works to supplement the physical entrapment already being suffered by the protagonist at this time. At one point, Poe also uses ‘fearful images’ of skeleton forms and such, which ‘disfigure’ the surrounding walls. It is stated that these figures have been created by monks, suggesting that this environment is some kind of medieval building – not designed specifically for torture. It is therefore interesting to observe how Poe manages to alter these innocent images into emotionally petrifying fiends – working as the author will have wished, to terrify the protagonist and therefore, the readership. By introducing entrapment in the form of the wooden framework and hideous vermin, Poe has realised the importance of including both physical and metaphysical entrapment a work of the Gothic horror genre of which he is undeniably a master.    1 ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ was first published in 1843 for a collection named The Gift, later (revised) for the Broadway Journal in 1985. ‘An Encounter’ – taken from Dubliners – was written in 1904 yet published 1914. 2 In a letter to his English publisher, Grant Richards, he claimed that his intention was ‘to write a chapter of the moral history of my country and I chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to me the centre of paralysis.’ (Letters, II, 134). 3 During the summer of 1904, Joyce and his new-found love Nora Barnacle left Ireland for Europe. At ‘An Encounter’s’ time of writing, it is most likely that Joyce was living in Pola – Croatia. 4 The use of the adverb ‘brown’ is also evident to the same effect in the story ‘Araby’. Entrapment is projected through the ‘brown imperturbable faces’ of the housing. 5 SEE NOTE

Stick and Stones

†Sticks and Stones† by Trezza Azzopardi (2006) In the short story, we follow a man named Lewis. Lewis is the main character, who keeps dreaming about the same thing over and over. He dreams about him at the strand. He used to have a terrible experience there. He moved to the core of England, to escape from the terrible trauma. But now he has returned to his mother’s house, where he gets clear images in his mind. Lewis is a teacher, in the text it says, â€Å"The second envelope contains a note from the Headmaster†¦come in and discuss matters† This quote supports the statement about Lewis being a teacher.He seems to be a person who wants to change the way things are, but he has been taught by his mother, that he needs to blend in, and she also says â€Å"it’s the survival of the fittest†. The environment he has been raised in has stopped him from doing the things, which he wanted to do. That is expressed in the text where it says, â€Å"So metimes he imagines he’s the kind of person that challenges teachers like Stott and Walker, the kind that the Headmaster takes seriously. † He is not the kind of person who stands out. He was probably bullied in school when he was younger, because Lewis gets to identify himself in a boy called Paul Fry.Paul Fry is a boy who gets bullied by some boys. Lewis always feels the need to help him. No one had helped Lewis, back in the days; he also stopped telling about his problems to his mother, because he felt it was hopeless. She had told him that he just should fit in. In the text it says, â€Å"But he took her words literally, became expert at running away†¦ † He doesn’t face his problem, because that is the way he is raised. The author has used flashbacks in the text. The use of flashbacks makes the reader more informed. By using flashbacks, the story becomes more interesting and dynamic.The flashbacks also give the story a timeline and they widen the time. The story begins with a flashback about Lewis’ bad experience. This flashback is about him committing suicide. He is falling from the dunes at the strand. Another flashback is where he sees Paul Fry getting bullied, by some guys. The flashback affects the story. They give the story a meaning and reveal information about the character as well. By reading the flashbacks, we get to know Lewis better. His past tells us about why he is the way he is now, it defines him. E. g. Lewis wants to help Paul Fry, because Lewis once where victim like Paul Fry. In the ending of the story there is a quote, â€Å"Lewis puts his stones in his pocket. He will stop running he thinks. He has survived after all† This quote indicates that he is now ready to let go of his pebbles that he used to lick. He also comes to the strand when things are difficult as it says in the text, â€Å"When things were difficult, he would go to the strand and find his mother a new piece of quartz† He has now stopped is previous behaviour and he is changing. The themes in the short story is bullying and facing serious problems.The bullying part is because both Lewis and Paul Fry get bullied, and it ends up with them wanting to commit suicide. This is a serious problem, which Lewis is trying to escape from. He keeps running away from his problem. That has become his nature, because of the way his mother brought him up. That was the only solution he knew, but in the end of the story he comes to the conclusion that he must accept things and face them. By doing that he can move on. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. pg. 2 ll. 36-37 [ 2 ]. pg. 3 ll. 67 [ 3 ]. pg. 2-3 ll. 61-62 [ 4 ]. pg. 5 ll. 126-127 [ 5 ]. pg. 3 ll. 91-92

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Sport Obermeyer Ltd. To: Wally Obermeyer From: 341 Consulting Group Date: Re: Production Process Problem Sport Obermeyer Ltd has quite a few problems at the moment that stem from a lack of streamlining of its operations. One of the problems that the skiwear manufacturer currently faces is demand uncertainty and how to measure it considering the disparate forecasts the buying committee members have come up with. In addition, the long lead-times for the production process makes forecasting even more difficult. The second issue for Sport Obermeyer is determining how to allocate production between the factories in Hong Kong and China. Conclusion and Recommendation Inaccurate forecasting is a major problem facing Sport Obermeyer, which has been addressed in Appendices A and B. Appendix A shows how much should be produced in Hong Kong given the assumption that there is no limit to the capacity; however, we have been asked to comment only on the initial order quantity, and not the reorder quantity. In keeping with this constraint, and using the forecasts given by all the committee members, we believe that Appendix B is an accurate representation of the amount of each style that should be produced in Hong Kong. It should be noted that this is only a short-term solution to the problem and the model itself must be looked at. For more consistent, accurate forecasts, a weighted average method should be used to give those committee members who have been most accurate in the past more importance, instead of using a simple moving average. As long lead times contribute to the difficulty in forecasting demand, Sport Obermeyer should attempt to reduce lead times for its production. One of the root issues causing the length of lead time is the number of SKUs, as well as the variety of components used in their production. Simplifying the product line would involve stopping production of those products with the least demand, reducing suppliers as well as altering designs so that they share as many of the same components as possible. Using the demand forecast for the 10 women’s parkas in Appendix B, there are three products, which have forecasted demands of less than 357, after which the demand spikes up. By removing the bottommost products, Stephanie, Teri, Isis would be deleted, which would allow for a shorter lead time. Sport Obermeyer should also introduce an integrated computerized system connecting all the different supply chain links. This would help reduce the time spent processing orders and make more efficient use of the raw materials. A combination of actions mentioned above can help make a significant change in the forecasting process and will allow Sport Obermeyer to make full use of its existing capacity. The company plans to source products roughly 50% from China and the other 50% from Hong Kong factories this year is attainable. However, our recommendation is to assign products to Hong Kong and China factories based on quality and design. According to Appendix C, the cost difference when comparing 19 parkas produced at both factories is not significant; but the Hong Kong factory is much more efficient. The products in Hong Kong are of a higher quality, require lower repair rates, and are produced twice as fast as those produced in the Chinese factory. Another advantage to the factory in Hong Kong is the minimum order quantity of 600 units, which provides the management with more flexibility in terms of determining their initial production requests. Lower quality products should be produced in the Chinese factory to take advantage of their low labor costs. Evaluation Criteria The main goal of the recommendations is to streamline Sport Obermeyer’s business processes. One of the most important criteria is the speed of the planning and production cycle. Any alternative that can reduce this time, from its current threshold of approximately two years, should be strongly considered. With regards to market share, Columbia Sportswear is gaining market share by providing lower-priced, higher-volume-per-style products. Sport Obermeyer needs to try and cut costs, and streamline its number of SKUs to achieve market dominance. It positions itself as a middle to high end producer, and the quality level should continue to be taken into consideration when looking to cut costs. Alternatives With regards to the inaccurate forecasts, Obermeyer could analyze the demand for its products based on an advanced showing prior to the one in Vegas and compare it with actual purchases. While this alternative can potentially be implemented, its effectiveness and reliability would be unknown. Simplifying the product lines would have a more direct and immediate impact on the lead times. Another possible alternative would be to start producing the products with the most predictable demand in advance. However, before implementing this change, Sport Obermeyer should focus on making overall accurate demand forecasts based on the newly recommended weighted average method. Implementation. Our implementation process will begin immediately with Wendy Hemphill researching the specifications for an integrated computerized system that match the supply chain structure of the company. Because of the complex nature of such a project, Sport Obermeyer would have to invest in such a project in November 1992, to begin use in February of the year of completion. In January 1993, the Buying Committee should implement the weighted-average forecasting method to analyze product demand. Since this is not a large change form the simple moving average, it should be used to find the forecasted demand for 1993. The following month, the SKUs should be reviewed based on the forecast created to consider which product lines to drop. This will be a gradual process, beginning with the deletion of a minimum number of products. In May 1993, the Buying Committee should allocate different product styles between Hong Kong and China based on quality. This can be seen in Appendix D.

Advertising In A Modern World Marketing Essay

Advertising In A Modern World Marketing Essay Advertising in a modern world as today is still considered a very difficult task when the new media channels have reduced the barriers of market penetration and brand knowledge to the consumers. Rather at times the whole concept of launching the brand or a product in the market successfully and sustaining its position through out the times is dependant on how strong does the advertising holds its position in the brains of the consumer. With the amount of products, brands, marketing channels and the ways to inhabit the idea of a new product or the reminder of the old brand to a customer to achieve their sales through advertising is in debate since a long time and most famous among these all is the Strong Versus Weak Theory. Many theorists have argued on the effects of advertising as a Strong or a Weak theory as their center of discussion and among all most prominently the strong debate between by J. P. Jones (1990) and Ethrenberg (1999) is the most popular. The truth as most of the w riter emphasis that the outcome of advertising is untrue and not realistic its success and failure is dependant on the products, the market and the aim of the advertising which makes e every scenario different from the other. As quoted â€Å"Measuring the effectiveness of advertising is much harder than it may seem. To know weather an advertisement is working, you need to first be clear about what it is meant to do. Consumer goods manufacturers take a much simple point of view: that advertising is about creating and then nurturing brands† (The Economist, 1996). The Strong theory argues that the consumer through advertising can be persuaded to switch to a new brand or a product and can create the interest or change of the demands previously engaged, where as the Weak theory argues that the perception or the demand can not be changed but it can be reinforced or â€Å"nudged† to the consumer. There are many other models given which support the argument of Persuasion among which the most important is AIDA – Strong (1925) in addition to the support of the model the theories like Hierarchy of Effects – Lavidge and Steiner (1961) and DAGMAR are always discussed to support the Strong Theory of advertising. Where as, the Weak Theory of advertising purposes its points based on Habits Theory which is supported by the two models given by Ethrenberg (1974, 1997). To understand these arguments it is important to understand the models given in support of the theories and the assumptions given by Persuasion Theory. Persuasion theory assumes that the attitude can be changed through advertising; human beings are always making decisions actively on linear fashion i.e. learn, feel and do. That consumer can be persuaded by giving cues as they are less motivated at times to make active decisions on the information they have. Strong Advertising Likewise AIDA supports the Strong theory as the consumer through advertising is captured or has noticed the prod uct, which later when is interested in the product or the situation would desire would buy the product in resulting as the action. (Strong, 1925). Before that advertising was simply information providing, which maybe true or false or even at time misleading (Turner, 1952).