Globalization of Production in the Textile and Clothing Industries Essay

East European full reintegration into the world economy had already started during the eighties, but the end of the decade and the beginning of the nineties saw a sudden spurt in that direction. This has taken the form not only of a swift trade reorientation towards the West, especially the EU, but also of new forms of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), subcontracting and cooperation agreements with Western enterprises. As a consequence, Eastern Europe has become deeply involved in the larger process of globalisation of production characterizing the international economy, where firms’ operations are becoming much more complex and pervasive than traditional arms-length trade and traditional international investment, including both international production and sourcing. Therewith the process of transition to the market appears to be more and more intertwined with Western firms’ strategies. It is then of some interest to analyse the extent of such relocation, its various forms and the possible impact on both the relocating and the host countries. International relocation can be analysed from different points of view. The perspective of the present paper is to concentrate on one of the most important trade partners of Eastern Europe – Italy – and on two industrial sectors in which the latter is specialised in production and exports – textiles and clothing, which are also of paramount importance in Eastern Europe’s exports. A few data on production, employment, investment and foreign trade may suffice to show the enormous importance of these industries for Italy. In 1993 this country produced almost 40% of the entire EU production of textiles, including knitwear. The other major EU countries followed rather distanced: France (17% – including household textiles), Germany (16%) and the UK (11%). The correspondig employment for Italy was 30% of the EU total, taking into account also the firms with less than 20 employees. The second most important country – Germany – employed just half of that amount. Finally investment, both total and per head employed, reveals a similar pattern, these two countries being followed by France and the UK. The ranking is similar in the clothing industry. In 1993 Italy represented 41% of total EU production, 24% of total employment (including firms with less than 20 employees) and headed the investment ranking, both in absolute terms and on a per capita employed basis. It should be added, in this respect, the particular consumption habits of Italians, who devote to clothing a much higher share of their total consumer spending than the other European nationals. The importance of the internal market is only paralleled by the place of the two sectors in Italian foreign trade. During the last few years Italy has been the second or third world exporter both of textiles and of clothing products, if one excludes Hong Kong due to the paramount importance of its reexports. She is the first Western supplier of the G7 markets for clothing and first on a par with Germany for textiles. The industry presents the second, and growing, largest positive trade balance in Italian foreign trade. The two sectors together represent 11% of her total exports, but a much lesser share of her imports (5%). However imports tend to grow faster than exports. A growing number of competitors is gaining market shares in the EU, at the expense of the traditional leaders like Italy and Germany. Import penetration, which has roughly doubled in the last ten years, is but one of the factors that, starting from the late eighties, is exerting growing pressure on the whole industry at a EU level. Production is falling and labour productivity rising much faster than in average manufacturing. The result for the EU has been 639,000 jobs lost in 1988-94, equal to almost 30% of all job losses in the manufacturing industry. Italy was also hit, although less than other European countries for the reasons indicated later. What is the particular place of Eastern Europe in this process? The CEECs represent only roughly 3% of Italian total trade in textiles, but a much larger share in Italian imports of clothing – 15% -, their importance in Italian exports of the same being minor (2%) (table 1). Almost half of the Italian imports of clothing from Eastern Europe come from Romania and more than one fifth from Hungary, the rest being spread among the Czech and Slovak Republics, Bulgaria and Poland, in the order. Together with an increasing deficit for Italy, the share of clothing in total Italian imports from each CEEC has been increasing recently in all cases, and particularly so from Romania and Bulgaria, where it now stands at 41% and 27%, respectively, and from Hungary (12%). The two sectors behave asymmetrically: clothing looms from two to eight times larger in Italian imports than exports, while textiles are far more important in Italian exports, at the exception of exports to former Czechoslovakia. This was also the only country with which Italy ran a deficit in textiles (today with the Czech Republic). Previous studies conducted by the author (Graziani 1993, 1994a, 1994b, 1995) show a generalized relative specialization of the CEECs in most clothing products both on the EU and on the Italian market. Moreover, in both markets import penetration ratios for the same are on the increase. Does this mean that Italian textile and clothing industry is losing ground vis a vis East European producers? The question is whether international trade data – like surpluses and deficits, market shares, specialization indices and import penetration ratios – by themselves are to be considered reliable competitiveness indicators, if a substantial part of trade flows is in some way or other tied to the importing country. From this perspective, imports into the relocating country could ideally be divided into three distinct flows: a) ‘untied’ imports from foreign firms; b) imports derived from non-equity cooperation agreements (in particular from subcontracting) ; and c) FDI-related imports. International relocation of production – taken here to mean not only the physical delocalisation of production abroad, but also the organized sourcing from other countries – affects directly the two latter flows and is then crucial for interpreting the meaning of trade indicators and trends. 2) The Italian model until the mid-1980s International relocation has been almost completely absent in the Italian experience of textile and clothing production until at least the mid1980s. Contrary to the growing international redeployment of its main EU competitor – Germany -, Italian relations with foreign markets were mostly centered on arms-length exports. The few affiliates abroad of Italian bigger firms had just the task to support the sales network in the recipient country. This explains also why Italy did not incur into the same dramatic employment reduction suffered by Germany, wich lost half of it in the last twenty years. Besides limited FDI, Italian manufacturers did also avoid subcontracting abroad by obtaining its advantages on a purely domestic level. The logics of subcontracting are well known, all the more so in the textile and clothing industry. Through it, producers look for: 1) lower costs, since the subcontractors do not invoice for indirect costs; 2) more flexible and reactive supply, that can be disposed of in case of ceased necessity; and 3) eventually some expertise and know-how not available in-house. Subcontracting has always been important within Western Europe. According to a recent survey, in 1992 the clothing subcontracting sector employed in the EU 800,000 workers, including 200,000 artisans and 150,000 illicit workers (Mercer 1994). This is equal to roughly 26% of total EU employment in the textile and clothing industry. Nearly 30% were in Italy and 17% in the UK, the others following suit. Up to the mid1980s Italian producers could limit subcontracting almost exclusively within the national boundaries. The following features allowed its coming to life and its efficiency: a) the main and most original factor was represented by the so-called â€Å"industrial districts† (Becattini 1987 ).  Production was concentrating in a small area, with a myriad of interdependent small enterprises, horizontally and vertically specialized in each of the subsectors of the industry. Production of wool in Prato and Biella, silk in Como and knitting in Carpi are but a few examples of such districts. We are here in a typical Marshallian world of economies external to the enterprise, but internal to the industry, where all the firms, independently from their size, may reap the benefits from a certain clustering of activities. A traditional culture of industrial work, specialized skills both of workers and services, the possibility of rapid exchange of inventions and improvements, coupled with the widespread use of subcontracting, often to the lower paid workers of the so-called informal economy, were enhancing the locational advantages and decreasing the transaction costs, compensating in this way the higher official labour costs vis a vis lower-wage countries (Forti 1994a); b) most firms were family-run and rather small, a limited number of medium size, as compared to the average West European, while the few larger ones had not yet reached the minimum critical threshold below which a clothing manufacturer is not able to finance the very high costs of internationalization, some of which are typically ‘sunk’ costs ; c) the main outlet was represented by the national market, where a very fragmented retail network (in clothing) acted as a relative shelter from foreign competition, limiting the import penetration ratio to a level well under the EU average; d) progressively, Italian producers had chosen the product differentiation path (especially in clothing), by positioning themselves in the up-market segments, characterized by non price competition and a high fashion-, quality- and value-added content. As one knows, internationalisation of production is all the more convenient the larger the amounts to be produced and the more standardized the productive processes. ) finally, especially in the textile sector, Italian producers had continually fostered technological innovation, obtaining the highest productivity levels in the world, which allowed them to compete worldwide. 3) From domestic to international relocation: the new strategy of Italian firms. Apart from the progressive erosion of industrialized countries’ market shares, by the mid- 1980s new features were emerging in the textile and clothing sector. First of all on the international demand side. Consumption growth started to show the first signs of stagnation, while a general rethinking of the relative value of intrinsic quality as against style was in the making. More in general, a better quality/price relation was sought for. Price elasticity increased also for the high fashion- and quality-content goods. A further factor peculiar to Italy was also at work. Domestic demand started to flatten out at the end of the eighties, bringing it more in line with the demand patterns of the other industrialized countries. On the supply side, at the domestic level the concentration rate in both sectors was rapidly increasing, while large firms reorganized and diversified their production. At the same time, Italy became a very high cost country, moreover characterized by a rather rigid labour market. Abroad, emerging countries were progressively upgrading the quality of their products, through a continuous learning process. On the whole, price competitiveness tended to become more stringent. Increasing competition was stemming as well from the concentration processes affecting the distribution sector. Large distributors tended to place big orders and to intervene in the choice of styles, quality, timing and service standards (OETH 1994). A final contingent factor favourable to the internationalisation of production was due to the real appreciation of the lira between 1987 and 1992, which favoured international operations like FDI and subcontracting. As a consequence, Italian firms started to undergo a rather rapid shift from a purely commercial approach at the international level to a relocation approach. This path was followed not only by large, but also by medium and small enterprises. Relocation expressed itself in two main ways: non-equity cooperation agreements – licensing, management contracts, but above all subcontracting – with some FDI, in lower wage countries; equity agreements – mostly FDI in the form of acquisitions – at first in the most developed markets; These two main ways of redeployment obviously respond to different motivations. At the beginning, relocation in low-wage countries took mainly the form of international subcontracting. The only exception was represented by the textile group Miroglio, which already in 1971 had realized some FDI in Greece, Tunisia and Egypt. In a second phase, the same group has switched to an organization of production based on so called ‘platforms’, that have the task of undertaking some downstream operations in the clothing industry and of optimizing the relations with nearby subcontractors. We have already noted above that the most powerful force behind Italian firms’ subcontracting has certainly been the abatement of production costs (cost saving subcontracting). East Europeans subcontractors have been used only in a very minor way as carrying out special functions (specialty subcontracting) or else as capacity reservoirs in case of occasional demand surges (complementary subcontracting). It can also take various forms. The most widespread is at the start a simple agreement with a local producer in order to buy the final product. At most, the Italian firm bought locally or elsewhere the intermediate products necessary to the productive process. In other cases subcontracting involved the export of semifinished products and the reimport of the finished ones, both without or under the outward processing traffic (OPT) regime. Very similar in nature to the US operations of offshore assembly provisions in other fields of industry as well, OPT takes place when some phases of the textile and clothing production chain – typically: the sewing phase – are carried out by foreign subcontractors. The latter utilise fabrics provided (and owned) by the subcontracting firm, temporarily exported towards the processing country under an EC tariff exemption regime. Up to the entry into force of the Interim Agreements of the EAs customs tariffs were levied only on the value added abroad. Since then, they were abolished altogether. On the other hand, acquisitions in the most sophisticated markets allowed Italian producers to attain several objectives: a) to acquire prestigious brand names; b) to adhere more closely to the host nation’s consumers’ tastes, especially in the medium segments absorbing large amounts of production, and gain market shares from within, keeping a presence in strategic markets; c) possibly, to penetrate third markets and also reimport part of the production; and d) to use the international subcontracting network of the acquired company, especially if it is German. So Marzotto, one of the top textile group in Italy, has acquired the German clothing company Hugo Boss, with a lengthy experience of subcontracting abroad, mainly in Eastern Europe. The aim is to have in a few years half of its production abroad. Another big group, Miroglio, has secured smaller, but more numerous firms: the clothing companies Caroline Rohmer and Sym Claverie in France and Glaeser, Flick, Skarabeus and Gili in Germany, plus the German textile company Steiger&Deschler (Ulmia). Finally GFT acquired the third German clothing producer, Baumler.

Classroom Activity on Cultural Diversity Essay

Cultural diversity is the diverse culture having people of different races, cultures, religions, nationalities, ethnic groups and backgrounds making up a community. Cultural diversity is a term used to mean that a group or area contains people from many different cultures and backgrounds. These areas are considered diverse because everyone is unique and different.. The phrase cultural diversity can also refer to having different cultures respect each other’s differences. The phrase cultural diversity is also sometimes used to mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. India is a land of diversity in race, region, caste, language, mate, landform, flora and fauna and so on. From ancient time till day India has repainted this diversity from very ancient time. Mature has shaped the country so. Rightly this land has been termed as â€Å"the epitome of the world. † In our country we will find people from different races. People in each race have their own culture. By culture we mean the characteristics of an individual society or of some subgroups within this society. It includes values, beliefs, notions, acceptable and non acceptable behaviour and other socially constructed ideas that members of the culture are taught as true. We will agree that culture has an impact on socialization process of students. Religion, food habits, festivals,clothing, arts,music etc. play an important role in shaping children during school years. The diversity or individual differences manifest in the works, views, discipline etc. Each element shapes the children through socialization within the families, school and in child’s environment. As a teacher we should know when the racial awareness begin in child. The foundation of self awareness is started around the age of 2-3 years. They learn about themselves, their physical differences, skin colour and begin to apply the skin colour. Around age 4, children learn to identify clearly the differences among people. At the age 5 or 6 years, they started asking questions about their physical differences and also begin to understand these differences. At the age of 7 or 8 years, the children understand that a person’s skin colour will not wash off, rather it will remain same as the person grows up. They learn to understand that how a person can become a member of several different groups like family, classroom, a culture etc. This is the time when the parents and teachers provide them accurate information about cultural diversity. A teacher can take the following activity in the classroom for making his children aware about our cultural diversity. Teacher may asked the students to write their names, nicknames and the names of their Grandmother with which they addressed her at home.

Aanna Lukasik

Should focus on enhancing the auditor’s understanding of the auditors understanding of the client’s business and the transactions and events that have occurred since the last audit date. – 1 Planning 3. Should focus on identifying areas that may represent specific risks relevant to the audit. – 1. Planning 4. Do not result in detection of misstatements. – 4 Statement is not correct concerning anatical procedures 5. Designed to obtain evidential matter about particular assertions related to account balances or classed of transactions. – 2 Substantive testing 6. Generally use data aggregated at a lower level than the other stages. – 2 Substantive testing 7. Should include reading the financial statements and notes to consider the adequacy of evidence gathered – 3. Overall review 8. Involve reconciliation of confirmation replies with recorded book amounts – 4 Statement is not correct concerning analytical procedures 9. Use of preliminary or unadjusted working trial balance as a source of data – 1 Planning the audit 10. Expected to result in reduced level of detection risk – 2 Substantive testing Q-30 a) The minutes of each meeting refer to the minutes of previous meeting. In addition the auditor should obtain the next year’s minutes, probably for February 2010, to make sure the previous minutes referred to were those from September 16, 2009. b) Information relevant to 2009 Audit Audit Action Required February 15 1. Approval for increased distribution During analytical procedures, an Costs of $500 000. ncrease of $500000 should be expected for distribution costs 2. Unresolved tax dispute. Evaluate resolution of dispute and adequacy of disclosure in FS 3. Computer equipment donated. Determine that old equipment was correctly treated in 2008 in the statements and that appropriate deduction was taken 4. Annual cash dividend. Calculate total dividends to determine that dividend was correctly recorded. 5. Officers’ bonuses. Determine were paid in 2009. Consider the tax implications of unpaid bonuses to officers. September 16 1. 2009 Officers’ elected. Inform staff of possibility of related party transaction. 2. Officers’ salary information. Note information in audit files for 2010 audit. 3. Pension and profit sharing plan. Determine if the pension/profit sharing plan was approved. If so make sure all assets and liabilities have been correctly recorded. 4. Loan. Examine supporting documentation of loan and confirm loan information with bank. 5. Aquistation of new computers syst Determine of disposal of the 1 year old equipment and check the recording of the operations. 6. Auditor Selection Aanna Lukasik Should focus on enhancing the auditor’s understanding of the auditors understanding of the client’s business and the transactions and events that have occurred since the last audit date. – 1 Planning 3. Should focus on identifying areas that may represent specific risks relevant to the audit. – 1. Planning 4. Do not result in detection of misstatements. – 4 Statement is not correct concerning anatical procedures 5. Designed to obtain evidential matter about particular assertions related to account balances or classed of transactions. – 2 Substantive testing 6. Generally use data aggregated at a lower level than the other stages. – 2 Substantive testing 7. Should include reading the financial statements and notes to consider the adequacy of evidence gathered – 3. Overall review 8. Involve reconciliation of confirmation replies with recorded book amounts – 4 Statement is not correct concerning analytical procedures 9. Use of preliminary or unadjusted working trial balance as a source of data – 1 Planning the audit 10. Expected to result in reduced level of detection risk – 2 Substantive testing Q-30 a) The minutes of each meeting refer to the minutes of previous meeting. In addition the auditor should obtain the next year’s minutes, probably for February 2010, to make sure the previous minutes referred to were those from September 16, 2009. b) Information relevant to 2009 Audit Audit Action Required February 15 1. Approval for increased distribution During analytical procedures, an Costs of $500 000. ncrease of $500000 should be expected for distribution costs 2. Unresolved tax dispute. Evaluate resolution of dispute and adequacy of disclosure in FS 3. Computer equipment donated. Determine that old equipment was correctly treated in 2008 in the statements and that appropriate deduction was taken 4. Annual cash dividend. Calculate total dividends to determine that dividend was correctly recorded. 5. Officers’ bonuses. Determine were paid in 2009. Consider the tax implications of unpaid bonuses to officers. September 16 1. 2009 Officers’ elected. Inform staff of possibility of related party transaction. 2. Officers’ salary information. Note information in audit files for 2010 audit. 3. Pension and profit sharing plan. Determine if the pension/profit sharing plan was approved. If so make sure all assets and liabilities have been correctly recorded. 4. Loan. Examine supporting documentation of loan and confirm loan information with bank. 5. Aquistation of new computers syst Determine of disposal of the 1 year old equipment and check the recording of the operations. 6. Auditor Selection

Weapons of Mass Destruction Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Weapons of Mass Destruction - Research Paper Example encompasses activities, agencies, authorities and resources required to respond once it is recognized that Anthrax has been released as a result of terrorist activities. A. Immediate contact and consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Relevant samples of identified Bacillus anthracis will be isolated and prepared for evaluation to determine strain and potential lethality in coordination with CDC officials. E. Cleaning and disinfection of medical equipment will be considered and coordinated using the Principles of Standard Precautions guidelines. Immediate procurement of germicidal agents should be coordinated with relevant supply chain vendors and through consultation with local and state government actors. F. Pathology departments and laboratories providing clinical services must be informed of the relevant infectious dangers of post-mortem services, inclusive of procurement of eye protection instruments and masks. B. Coordination with the Food and Drug Administration to receive approvals to procure Anthrax vaccinations under the Emergency Use Authorization legislation for victims 18 and older. For children, approvals generated by the FDA under the Investigational New Drug protocol. A. Local law enforcement officers will maintain responsibility for coordinating isolation procedures, establishing barricades which prevent access into and outside of Anchorage during the disaster period. B. State authorities will declare a state of emergency, temporarily halting operations of the city public transit services, the Alaska railroad, and the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Coordination with the Department of Homeland Security will ensure that air traffic is properly re-routed and all waterway transport re-directed to other non-affected ports of call. A. Assign relevant health personnel to provide routine medical exams for injured responders or those illustrating symptoms of Anthrax exposure, consisting of

Discussing incentives to conserve marine biodiversity conservation Essay

Discussing incentives to conserve marine biodiversity conservation within the framework of impure public goods - Essay Example It is important to note that their benefits can be affected when the government decides not to offer the conservation. (Maxwell) Ordinarilly, an externality is the effect of an economic activity felt by those not directly involved in the economic activity. Positive externalities are often described as spillover effects to suggest their effects are felt by consumers who were not directly intended by their producers. The impure public goods such marine biodiversity and other environmental amenities are not to be supplied privately because the provider cannot capture the benefits and therefore no one can be excluded, so free riding is possible. Clearly, some aspects of marine bear the characteristics of a public good. Marine contributes to global biodiversity and enhances the well being of the majority of people. (Bulte) Ordinarily, no one has the appropriate incentive to provide marine habitat or otherwise protect marine as they cannot capture the full benefits from the needed investments. Market failure occurs because the amount of a public good is underprovided, and thus marginal social benefits exceed marginal social costs. In this case, more of the public good should be provided, but it is forthcoming only if society subsidizes a private supplier, or provides it publicly. (Bulte) On the other hand, negative externalities that include the government regulations impose costs on society that extend beyond the cost of production as originally intended by the producer. A producer of a negative externality who does not have to worry about its full cost is likely to produce an excessive harmful amount of the product.Ordinarilly, regulations and fines may deter the production of negative externalities. But the effects of regulation may be limited under conditions such as where negative externalities are so pervasive they encourage free riding attitudes, where negative externalities are so pervasive their producers could

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Research Proposal Example Thirty (30) women in the first trimester of gestation will be recruited from a local clinic to participate in this study. They will be randomly assigned to a control group and an experimental group. All the subjects will answer the Edinburgh Post Natal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Beck Depression Inventory- II (BDI-II) before and after they give birth and the Mother-Infant Attachment Scale (MIAS) as an additional post test after they give birth. The only difference will be that the experimental group will undergo CBT session once a week. Results will be compared to validate if CBT has been instrumental in helping the experimental group manage their PPS and attachment issues or not. Introduction This study purports to answer the research question: To what extent does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) help women with postpartum depression and difficulty with attachment to their infant as compared to women who do not receive CBT? Postpartum depression (PPT) affects a growing number of new mothers and its consequences for both mother and infant can be damaging. It usually occurs within four weeks after the birth of the infant (O’Hara, 1997), and affects one in every seven new mothers, reflecting a prevalence rate of 13% (Wisner et al., 2006; O’Hara & Swain, 1996). The seriousness of the impact of PPD has been alarming, making it an important public health problem (Cuijpers et al., 2008). To prevent PPS, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has been known to be an effective intervention. It is a psychotherapeutic approach of training an individual to think of positive things instead of dwelling on the negative. Thus, it may provide significant impact on women with postpartum depression and difficulties with attachment to their infants. CBT can help the new mothers to understand how their thinking and behaviour affect their emotional state and this in turn affects their feelings and ability to attach to their babies. Review of Literature Depression Depr ession is associated with â€Å"feelings of extreme sadness† which not only last for long periods of time, but it is also recurrent and may further develop into suicidal tendencies (NHS, 2010). It is usually manifested with negative behaviors stemming from negative emotions. Sometimes, the person experiencing it is not even aware that he or she is undergoing depression. Its concept as a serious and debilitating illness, one which has had great impact globally, has become recognised within general medicine and the public eye in more recent times (NHS, 2010). In 1996, the World Bank published a report on the global burden of disease implicating the importance for the realisation that the impact of depression worldwide is vast. In 1990, 11 million sufferers of depression were identified in the US alone (Scott et al, 2003) . Cognitive Behavior Therapy Aaron Beck, one of the proponents of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), agrees that much of our psychological problems are caused b y â€Å"cognitive distortions† due to our acknowledged human fallibility. Individuals who undergo depression have belief systems or assumptions that may have developed from their negative early experiences which were not resolved well. Thus the negative experiences may have lead to the development of dysfunctional beliefs about the world, which may easily be triggered certain events (Field, 2000). Beck (1987) came up with the concept of â€Å"negative cognitive triad† that describes the pattern that triggers depression. In the first component of the triad, the client exhibits a negative view of himself. He is convinced that he is to blame for whatever pathetic state he is currently in because of his personal inadequacies. Secondly, the client shows negative view of

Financial Statement Analysis Project Research Paper

Financial Statement Analysis Project - Research Paper Example In 2011 the cash and investment balances of the company rose to $125 million due to the initial public offering made in the year 1997. Financial Information of Company The company’s performance in case of the operating activities has been good enough but the same cannot be said as far as Amazon’s financial and investing activities are concerned because the company is showing a negative return of $482 million (financing activities) and $1930 million (investing activities) in 2011. This decrease was mainly the affect of the capital expenditures and the changes in the working capital over the year. Rising net sales of the company which by approximately 41% than the last year due to the effect of the exchange rates. But the effect of the rising sales were diluted due to the increase in the operating expenses of the company which resulted in the net income of Amazon to dip from $1152 million (2010) to $631 million (2011). Summary of the Firm Markets Market of operation for A mazon is mainly in North America, US and Canada. The common stock of Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) is dealt in Nasdaq Global Select Market. In 2010 amazon.com has witnessed a high of $185.65 in the fourth quarter and a low of $105.80 in the third quarter whereas in 2011 Amazon witnessed a high of $246.71 in the fourth quarter and a low of $160.59 in the first quarter. ... cation where the Amazon.com makes most of its business is North America, US, Canada, UK, France Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, China and soon is going to launch websites in Poland, Sweden and Netherlands. Amazon.com has its services stations in prime areas of North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. The global headquarters of Amason.com is situated in Seattle in Washington. Partners The main strategic partners of Amazon.com were America Online, Yahoo, Netscape, GeoCities, AltaVista, @Home and Prodigy maintaining a long-term relationship since the year 2007. Competitors The main competitors in the field of online trading in comparison to Amazon.com, Inc. are Apple Inc., Barnes & Noble, Inc. As the gross profit of Amazon is 22.76% whereas in case of Apple Inc. is 43.95% and Barnes & Noble’s, Inc. is 26.52%. Comparative Analysis The company chosen for the comparative analysis with the Amazon.com, Inc. are EBay, Inc. and Google, Inc. because both the companies of comparison b elong to the same industry (Catalogue and Mail Order Houses) dealing in the Nasdaq market. Net Income of Amazon.com, Inc. is $560 million whereas that of EBay, Inc. is $3.32 billion and Google, Inc. is $10.83 million. Thus being a giant in the field of online trading Amazon.com is a clear winner. The higher the price earnings ratio of the company higher is its growth rate. Price earnings ratio of Amazon.com, Inc. is 180.41, in comparison to EBay, Inc. which has a P/E ratio of 16.15 and Google, Inc. with a P/E ratio of 17.59. This proved that the stocks of Amazon.com, Inc. are much more preferable in comparison to EBay, Inc. and Google, Inc. The price to sales ratio of a company projects that lower the P/S ratio of the company the better it is as the investor has to pay less. Price to sales ratio

Globalisation and International Institutions Essay

Globalisation and International Institutions - Essay Example Globalization and enlightment Globalization and enlightment envisages ideas moving across the world with ease at any given time. The world, instead of promoting globalization, encouraged slave trade, especially the more developed nations. This is building up of economic slave trade which is not similar to the nature of debates that the current world needs to be engaged in. For instance, Adam Smith propagates government intervention and free trade across borders not minding the effects it may have on the economy of those countries (Stilglitz, 2002 p. 38). According to Professor Joseph, for industries to develop, the magnitude of development needs to be in line with the government policies. According to smith, when cities develop, the rural sector will be negatively affected or rather; will feel the impact at a great level. Joseph therefore, argues that, no development can occur automatically without a favorable government policy. Two decades ago, smith may have anticipated the ideas t hat reflected the ideas of globalization. Smith was aware of the marketing professions and limitations of the government that played a role in what happened after the policy setting (Smith, 1901) Globalization and enlightment has caused moral values problems and the confrontation of different societies that has resulted in people of diverse cultures mixing through migration. This is exactly what Joseph believes is a propeller of globalization and enlightment. He believes that the value of tolerance is necessary if we have to achieve this, because we need to learn living with people from diversified cultures and backgrounds without conflicts. Therefore, to enhance globalization, we need to establish some standards that all individuals need to conform to. They include, basic human rights, labor standards, and establishment of the rule of law that should be agreed upon by all the countries, for example, a rule against the torture of children (Stilglitz, 1993 p. 143). Globalization has a future and if we attempt to go beyond these confines, then we will be trying to ignore the values, which must be followed for a positive achievement. Convention of torture is undermining the international rule of law hence affecting the way we live together as the international community that the Bush administration failed to live up to. The world needs to push for the values like looking at the IMF imposations on basic economic world standards. He argues that tolerance leads us to live towards achieving different economic goals and globalization (Younis, 2008). Second is the set up rules that are set and imposed by the international community, for example, rationality and pragmatism which positively affect globalization. Adam smith rejected this ideologies was at the heart of the enlightment. He became the father of a new ideology of the free market ideology which turned out to a religion. Adam Smith’s argument promotes self-interest instead of promoting moral issues that may enhance enlightment and globalization. Professor Joseph subscribes to issues that do not compromise globalization, but rather enhances the well-being of the society leading to globalization. Self-interests do not lead to economic improvement but rather it pulls down the chances of economic efficiencies. The higher the profits accrued from the ventures, the better the business environment and basic social

Environmental Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Environmental Studies - Essay Example The ecological system totally depends on how it is being preserved and maintained. Global could have been prevented by taking the measures and following the plans.(Glantz 1999). Pollution is the main reason behind global warming. Smoke form vehicles, factories and manufacturing plants and forest fire are the major cause for pollution. All this lead to global warming which in turn was spoiled most of the species in the world. Discharge of toxic and poisonous gas from the industries also provoked global warming. The green house effect was disturbed due to this. The glaciers in many countries started melting because of these problems. There are various causes of global warming. Emission of gases like methane and gases like nitrous oxide mixed with the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide from the vehicles was also a cause. This problem was common in most of the countries. Deforestation contributed to this problem. Although most of the scientists around the world tried hard to educate people regarding global warming, this was vain. As people were not aware of global warming and its after effects, they did not try to protect the environment. (McDonough, Michael 2002). Temperature difference has affected the ecology. ... As this also differed, the ecology was altered. The sea level got increased which resulted in natural calamity like tsunami. Other natural disasters like volcanic eruptions and earth quake made earth uninhabitable. Due to global warming many species became extinct. But people never thought it would become such a threat. Nearly 40% of the species have been decimated. Global warming showed its nature with the evolvement of new diseases. (Quinn 1995).Many unnamed diseases started to spread and they did not have any proper medicines to cure it. Many people lost their lives during this time. From this, there was a gradual decrease in the population. By this time the level of sea started to rise, as the glaciers melted down and fell into the sea. Though many organizations tried to spread the awareness regarding global warming, only some were able to achieve their goal. They did not know the seriousness of global warming. Other disasters like volcano occurred in many countries. This too resulted in the increase of mortality rate. The diseases that started spreading due to global warming were mainly because of poisonous gas like methane which was emitted by many sources. Organic and inorganic wastes were also a major problem. Industries did not dispose their wastes properly. The factories let out their wastes into the water bodies. Some of the manufacturing plants dumped their wastes in open vast lands and some burnt these wastes. This polluted the atmosphere, which created holes in the ozone layer. Gases like CFC which are being used in refrigerators are the main cause for the problems in the ozone layer. Drought also contributed to the decline in the species. People did not have the facilities to cultivate their land to produce food.

The urgent need of Reformation of the Philippine Political Party System from Multi- Part to Two- Party Essay Example for Free

The urgent need of Reformation of the Philippine Political Party System from Multi- Part to Two- Party Essay REFERENCES Abueva, J. V. De Guzman, R. P. 1969. Foundations and Dynamics of Filipino Government and Politics. Manila: Bookmark, Inc. Aceron, J. 2009. Reforming the Philippine Political Party system: ideas and initiatives, debates and dynamics. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Almonte, Jose. 2007. To Put Our House in Order: We Must Level the Playing Field. Metro Manila, Philippines: Foundation for Economic Freedom Bernas, Joaquin. 2007. The Philippine Constitution for Ladies, Gentlemen and Others. Manila: Rex Book Store. Butwell, R. 1963. Southeast Asia Today and Tomorrow: A political analysis. Praeger Publisher Janda, K., Berry J. M. Goldman J.1992. The Challenge of Democracy in America.3rd edition. Houghton Mifflin Company Inc. Heywood, Andrew. 2002. Politics (Second Edition). Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Foundation. Hinton, H. C., Ike, N., Palmer, N. D., Callard, K., Wheeler, R. S., Kahin, G.1963. Major government of Asia.2nd edition. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. Kearney, R. N.1975. Politics and Modernization In South and Southeast Asia. Cambridge: Schenkman Publishing Companies, Inc. Lawson, Kay. 1989. The Human Polity: An Introduction to Political Science (Second Edition). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Nohlen, D. 1984. Elections and Electoral System. Bonn, Germany: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Rocamora, Joel. 1997. The Constitutional Amendment Debate: Reforming Political Institutions, Reshaping Political Culture. In Glenda Gloria (ed.). Shift. Quezon City: Ateneo Center for Social Policy and Public Affairs. Schwartz, R. L., Phoenix, T.2001. Learning Perl. Retrieved from http://ebookbrowse.com/llamas-english-phd-2001-pdf-d426724738 Weissenbach, K. 2010. Political parties and party types- Conceptual approaches to the institutionalization of political parties in transitional states: The case of the Philipines. Makati: Konrad- Adenauer- Stiftung Manila Office. Zaide, G. F.1957. Philippine Political and Cultural History. Vol. 2. Manila: Philippine Education Company. Zaide, G. F. Zaide S. M.1969. Government and Politics of the Republic of the Philippines. ALCA Publishing Co. The urgent need of Reformation of the Philippine Political Party System from Multi- Part to Two- Party* _______________________ *A library research paper submitted to Ms. Victoria Jean R. Ella in partial fulfillment of the requirements in ENG 2 (College Writing in English). Second Semester 2012-13. University of the Philippines Los Baà ±os, College, Laguna. Alexis De Tocqueville, a French political thinker, historian and the author of the book Democracy in America, told that, ‘In politics, shared hatreds are almost always the basis of friendships’ (as cited in Janda, 2002, p. 271). The definition and formation of a party system can be dissected in this quotation of De Tocqueville. The friendship referred in the quotation is a well-established one, unified by the ‘shared hatred’ that would mean the shared ideals and principle of a party. Thus, a political party is an  association of politicians seeking power in the government to exercise their ethics and ideology for the common good of citizens. A party is also like an embodiment of the voters’ needs and wishes to the government. They choose some of its members as representatives to be candidates during elections as to secure position in the government. These representatives now will present the agendas and programs to the voters and the characteristics of efficient socialization and mobilization of a party will be tested. The latter pertains to the addressing of public welfare while socialization and mobilization is the capacity to organize in order to help those in poor status. The electorate then will select the candidate in their hearts by ballot. Hence, a party can develop through the ideas in religion, business, agriculture and other aspects. (Heywood, 2002) Political parties in a network of relationships are called party system. It should be taken note that a party system is not merely a group of political parties. There is a certain standard to be considered before warranting if it is a party system or not. The number and size of the party is the first thing to be considered. It is relevant in the electoral process as it will serve as a reference to the chances of each party to gain power. Aside from this, the number of party is related to the naming of the different types of party systems. The second consideration is the relationship possessed among each party, if it is interconnected with harmony and cooperation or with discord and conflict. Stability and the degree of orderliness must be characterized by a genuine party system. (Heywood, 2002) In c ontemporary times, there are four main types of party system. Chinese Communist Party is an example of one- party system characterized by monopoly of government power. Two- party system is characterized by two parties competing for different positions in the government to secure power. This kind of system is practiced in USA and UK. Dominant party system is not really well- known due to some people confusing it to the one- party system. The difference is that parties are competing for power but there is a dominant party prevailing for a long period of time. The multiparty system is the type wherein there are more than two parties competing for power. (Heywood, 2002) Philippines is one of those countries using the multiparty system. There are many registered parties in the country but is characterized by low esteem and perceived as â€Å"selfish, dishonest, biased and incapable of recruiting quality leaders†Ã‚  (Lawson, 1989). The situation of political parties in the Philippines according to Rocamora â€Å"are not divided on the basis of long-term upper class interests, much less the interests of the lower classes†(Rocamora, 1997). Instead, â€Å"they are temporary and unstable coalitions of upper class fractions pieced together for elections and post-election battles for patronage. They come together only to put down assertions of lower class interests. The rest of the time they maneuver in particularistic horsetrading and the perennial search for deals.† According to Aceron (2009), Philippine parties are still far from reality as they are performing well the functions of candidate selection, leadership formation, interest aggregation and agenda development, for this reason, this library research paper was written to inform the Filipinos and to persuade them to take an urgent measure to address this big problem by reforming our party system from multi- party to a two- party system. The history of the party system in the country is notable due to Americans intervention during colonial rule (Butwell, 1963). Furthermore, it is said to be historically and culturally rich. The existence of party system can be traced during the Spanish regime. It was happened shortly after the â€Å"Cry of Balintawak† in August 26, 1896. The clash between Emilio Aguinaldo, warlord of Cavite and Andres Bonifacio, founder of Katipunan during the first presidential election created two political parties. The Magdiwang under Bonifacio while the Magdalo lead by Aguinaldo. Soon, the hostility between these to parties reached to its limit and caused the death of Andres Bonifacio . During the war of Philippine Independence (1899- 1902), a rivalry was formed between the ‘pacifists’ led by Dr. Pedro A. Paterno and Felipe Buencamino Sr. and the ‘irreconciliables’ led by Apolinario Mabini and Gen. Antonio Luna. The pacifists favored the American government while the irreconciliables still struggled to achieve independence. (Zaide, 1969) Americans established our party system into a well- organized one. In December 1900, the first political party called Federal Party formed with American authorization due to Federal Party favored the United States over the independence (Zaide, 1957). This party was later dissolved due to failure implementation of its earliest platforms. The remnants of the Federal Party joined together to formed the Partido Nacionalista which the  main objective is to obtain independence. Sergio Osmena was the first Nacionalista leader while Manuel Quezon was the second- in- command. The former Federal Party, now called Partido Progresista was utterly defeated before the elections. The Partido Nacionalista and Partido Progresista were the two major competing parties from 19907 until the early 1930’s. Later, the Progresista dissolved in 1931. Soon after, minor parties made an appearance which did not lasted too long. (Abueva, 1969) There was no opposition party during Japanese occupation (1942- 1946). After the World War II, Nacionalistas broke into two groups: the Nacionalista party and the Liberal party. Former president Elpidio Qurino represented the Liberal party in 1949 presidential election and won. Due to the rumor of denominating of Quirino, the Democratic party was formed in 1953. Carlos P. Romulo, a presidential candidate competed against Ramon Magsaysay of Nacionalista which lead to Magsaysay won the election. After Magsaysay’s death, his supporters formed a party called Progressive Party of the Philippines, later renamed Grand Alliance led by Pres. Carlos P. Garcia. The party was successful at first as it won about 20 percent of the vote in 1957 but in 1961, the national leaders of PPP- GA switched to the more organized Liberal party. Those leaders who switched run for national offices and won in the next elections. (Abueva, 1969) In 1961 presidential election between former presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Carlos Garcia served to reform the nature of Filipino politics specially our party system. Garcia was defeated due to Macapagal’s platforms resemblance to Magsaysay wherein they both believed that economic success in the country can be attained without the intervention of the government. The Nacionalista, however, seeked for rapid industrialization. (Abueva, 1969) In modern era, these parties are described as a â€Å"temporary political alliances† and the worst is being merely a â€Å"fans club† (Aceron, 2009). We cannot blame those people for their comment because this is the truth. Our party and party system can be called to such title but they are really far from what they should be to be able to play their significant role for the development of the Philippines. .Philippine parties are far more different of what political parties should be. It is characterized by a personality and money  based kind of politics with â€Å"selfish, dishonest, biased and incapable of recruiting quality leaders (Lawson, 1989). They do not fulfill the function of representing the people’s need and wishes and interest aggregation. Consequently, the public often views efforts aimed at party-strengthening as mere attempts to further entrench traditional politics and elite interests. This is perhaps the greatest challenge in changing the country’s party syste Philippines parties are described as a â€Å"temporary political alliances† and the worst is being merely a â€Å"fans club† (Aceron, 2009). We cannot blame those people for their comment because this is the truth. Our party and party system can be called to such title but they are really far from what they should be as they are seemingly forgot their significant role for the development of the Philippines. Given the way party politics is practiced in the Philippines, it is no surprise that the impact of political parties has not been favorable to democratization. â€Å"Because of its weaknesses, the party system,† according to Almonte, â€Å"has failed to offer meaningful policy choices—and so to provide for orderly change† (Almonte, 2007). If we follow Nohlen who defines the party system as â€Å"referring to number of parties, relative strength, ideological dimen sions and distances of competing parties† (Nohlen, 1984), the Philippine party system can thus be described as multi-party, fluid, non-ideological, non-participatory and not offering programmatic choices. The multi- party system composed of many political parties competing government position. Thus, this system reduced the opportunity to grab position. One of the important strengths of this system is that â€Å"they create internal checks and balances within government and exhibit a bias in favor of debate, conciliation and compromise† (Heywood, 2002). Coalition formation is the process of maintenance to make sure that the parties’ principles and ideas must be taken account. Unfortunately, this strength can be turned into a flaw if this coalition formation failed. Another problem is the lack of clear ideological alternatives due to a dominated political center. The Philippines as of now is still using the multi- party system. Since political parties were established, our country used the two- party system (Zaide, 1969). The truth is that the Philippines is the only country in which a two- party system has developed since Independence.(Butwell, 1963) It was shown in the history of our country’s party such as in the case of Ramon Magsaysay , a member of Liberal party but he was chosen as a presidential candidate for Nacionalista party. This same goes as well with the late Ferdinand Marcos who also was with the Liberal party but was chosen to be a candidate for the Nacionalistas. Therefore, our party system is characterized by an inter- party switching and this became a common thing among politicians until today.(Kearney, 1975) The two – party system is composed of two major parties seeking government power. Examples of countries using this kind of system are the USA and UK. USA’s Republicans and Democrats are the two major parties. Thus, entailing a greater chance to win. Two- party system is the surest way to achieve an effective, centralized government. This system might lead to a party government which is characterized by stability, choice and accountability. It is an ideal type of system of system to be re placed in the unorganized, decentralized party system. This prevailed in the UK in the 1950’s and 1960’s. But like the multi- party system, it also has its own flaw. One flaw is that what happens if the two major parties tend to be evenly matched collide. It might lead to the voters hesitations or doubts to which party will really represent them. Another flaw is the limited choice of only two programmes each party will propose during election campaigns. Thus, again will give a hard time for the voters to decide. (Heywood, 2002) Japan is another example of a country practicing the two- party system. Their system is highly centralized in terms of structure. The national offices are subdivided into prefectural and local party offices. ( Hinton, 1963) Another reason for changing from the multi- party into a two- party system is that the opposition candidates are using ‘space goat’. They proclaimed all the evil deeds that the administration and as they do so, people believed and sympathized with them. At the time they win in the election, they tend to overlook the simple but significant problems that must be immediately addressed such as land laws, divorce and etc. Thus, the country cannot sacrifice the level of democracy. (Weissenbach, 2010) Parties do not really select their own candidates but instead these candidates only using the party’s power and connections for their own advantage to win the election. (Aceron, 2009)Thus, there is wide gap between standard and  practice in terms of political party. Another concern in the Philippine elections is that it became the process of pure evil doings. Candidates from different parties tend to used money in order to win and voters unfortunately, was being the base of who will they vote and not on what a party’s platforms and leadership credentials. To address this problem, Philippine party- system will be devised into â€Å"personalistic politics and the rule of guns, gold, and goods, and would serve as ‘a ‘germ’ for a parliamentary form of government† (Schwartz, 2001) to achieved a real party – system. This experiment was not successful due to Comelec’s lack of concern for organizational credentials in registering party- list groups. Instead, our party system became more plaque of by issues and controversies. This experiment implies that the country must change into two- party system since the Philippines current party system is not effective enough to represent all Filipinos. This is due that our country has a plurality system which means that the highest number of votes is used to determine the winners. The multi- party system and the plurality system is negatively correlated. For instance, after the Martial Law Filipino voters’s trust for the delicacy of each presidential candidate. Evidences tell that plurality goes well with the two party system since the latter gives a wall of distinction between each parties. In fact, it is expected that a plurality/ majority electoral system will produce a two-party system (Nohlen, 1984). Hence, the combination of the Philippine multi- party system and plurality elections is a flaw combination. With this, parties could hardly develop; simply because the leadership of the government resulting from the elections does not reflect the party performance in the elections. If it was a multi-party system in a proportional representation electoral system, the number of votes garnered by the party determines the number of seats it occupies in the government. But in a plurality election with multi-party system, though an infinite number of political parties is allowed, the result of the elections would  only yield two kinds of parties: a losing party and a winning party. The link between the result of the elections and the configuration of leadership in government is diluted. Another solution they tried is the Republic Act No. 7941 or Party- List Act. It is a law which winners are determined based on the percentage of votes a party gets out of the total number of votes cast for the party list (Aceron, 2009). According to renowned constitutionalist Joaquin Bernas (2007): â€Å"The 1935 Constitution and the Philippine election law up to the 1987 Election Code gave a preferred position to the two major political parties. This was the two-party system. The clear impression, which had emerged from the constitutional scheme prior to the 1987 Constitution was that the electoral system planned and plotted to insure the perpetuation of the party in power. The 1987 Constitution once again makes a try at promoting a multi-party system or open party system. The party-list system, already discussed under Article VI, is meant to be an instrument for fostering the multi-party system. â€Å" As per the evidences presented, the current Philippine party system still lacks of genuine power to work for the common good of our country. Philippines used to be two- party system and as we all know those times were our country proved to be in a good in terms of economy and leadership. Therefore, Philippines must change to two- party system in order to achieve a centralized, effective and organized system that will work for the common good and well- being of their fellow Filipinos without sacrificing the level of democracy.

English Literature Essays Beauty Truth Art

English Literature Essays Beauty Truth Art Beauty Truth Art In his famous apostrophe to the â€Å"Grecian Urn†, the immortal poet, John Keats, wrote: â€Å"Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st, â€Å"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,†Ã¢â‚¬â€that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.† This very famous statement on Beauty and Truth and their interchangeability poses a very important question in the postmodern era. Art and its convention of the ‘Beauty’/‘Beautiful’ has imperceptibly changed over the decades, from something that should reflect the Ideal (and in reality, twice removed from it, as per Plato), or in essence complete and offering pleasure to the senses to something, that expresses the unique consciousness/angst of the creator. Art has thus rediscovered its definition for beauty. If beauty is truth, then it may dare to be grotesque too, for truth may be harsh or horrific. Beauty does not suggest something beautiful in the actual sense of the term, but that, which comes closer to the true expressions of the self and the vision of a generation’s psyche, that is fragmented, kitsch-like, complex and beyond the metanarratives of a suffocating conformity. Beauty has evolved into a freedom for expression. Contemporary art, especially questions the paradigms of aesthetic values, with artists like Chapman Brothers or Justin Novak producing artwork that are clearly meant to provoke reactions and challenge notions of beauty, that had it’s roots in Kant’s â€Å"Critique of Judgment† (1790). It contemplated on the â€Å"pure† aesthetic experience of art consisting of a â€Å"disinterested† observer, pleasing for its own sake and beyond any utility or morality. Now, the very word ‘pleasing’ may have different boundaries and contemporary art is trying to escalate their claims. If Marcel Duchamp made a fountain out of a urinal in 1917, that hurtled the Dadaist movement and that later amplified into a surrealist tendency looking into primitive art for their subconscious inspiration, to reveal the mental process, then the essential motivation behind the whole thing was subversion. If primitivism was motivating a new dimension by which beauty of the mind was revealed, then Picasso completely subjectified art and personal experience into a fourth dimension and created a cubist movement to claim a break down of a canon that no longer held on to techniques, symbols and least of all universal criteria for judging anything. There are many socio-ideological forces behind the same and the destructive World Wars had many reasons to question the notions behind the traditional idea of Beauty, and it addressed the subjective, transcendental and alienated psyche of modern man. Metaphysical hopelessness gave way from absurdity to beauty, while the meaninglessness of this ‘Being’, made beauty seem more akin to grotesque, either by derision or by the light of their tragic truth. What makes the question more intriguing is that, whether contemporary art has found a better form of beauty (constructed to please and create a certain discursive paradigm) in the grotesque, since it frees us from any moral and political/ideological constraints? Can it be linked to greater dimensions of teleological magnitude, or should it be treated as an alternative method of understanding true aesthetic, if not the complete aspect of aesthetic itself? Is grotesque possible without the knowledge of Beauty itself? I shall attempt to answer the following questions that I raised, with a few examples. One must first understand the idea behind perception and the dialogical force that surrounds it. If the world is raised as an illusion in one’s mind then the mind has been symbolically trained to read it as a language. This matrix of complex spontaneity is ‘paradigmatically’ and ‘syntagmatically’ (Roman Jakobson, 1987) being challenged, when Grotesque plays the part of Beauty. The Dystopia arises out of a shattered archetype that must restructure itself to include elements of the grotesque within the beauty, and reach towards the same aesthetic experience: the sublime. But interestingly what produces sublime is shock. But one must not confuse this with the cathartic experience of the ‘Tragic’ pity and terror, but something quite opposite to an ideal communicative situation that all such art produces. Thus this element of mimesis and/or representation of the ideal have given way to an â€Å"infinite subjectivity† (Hegel, Lectures on Fine Art, given in the 1820s), or the abyss of the human mind and condition. But the self is â€Å"interpellated† as per Lacan and later Althusser too estimated the impossibility of a single position from where one can judge, since the self was preconditioned with a lot of â€Å"logocentricism† (Derrida), which are again socio-culturally specific as per Barthes. Thus there is a complete inquiry into art through the artists’ personality or self (or selves). Justin Novak’s â€Å"disfigurine† often conforming to the bourgeoisie values, distort them to such an ironic extent that one cannot miss the counter realism that it offers. Often it serves to offer no alternative reality, but just launches one amidst a grotesque re-examination of old values and with its attendant disillusionment. Once the silent barrier between class and gender is dismantled, the escape is into nothingness – the sublime height of vast unending problems, and this underscores the definite presence and the horrors of undying conformism. If truth is beauty, then Novak’s artworks reveal the finer sides of it by shattering the comfortable and compartmentalized thought processes with which one can objectify art from a safe distance. The grotesque closeness of these truths, give beauty to the mind by releasing it from the shackles of confinement and overpowering illusions. Truth is not universal, but a power to accept the inextricable complexity of human behaviour, mind and his/her interrelationship with their social, cultural and historical environment. With Novak’s work one is left to ponder these very questions. Is Grotesque a rebellion? Or is it an inextricable element of beauty? Grayson Perry’s ceramic works portray this polemic, further, by making them superficially beautiful (as beauty has been notoriously claimed to have been) and underneath it remains the darker motives of an artist who tries to wrest with disturbing truths (or shall one call them home truths, with a larger social back drop to them) that question issues of public/private dialectic. His works that deserve mention here are, â€Å"Coming Out Dress 2000†, â€Å"We’ve Found the Body of your Child 2000†or the â€Å"Boring Cool People 1999† (reminds one of Eliot’s famous lines from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock â€Å"In the room the women come and go, Talking of Michaelangelo†). Not only does he deal with issues like cross-dressing, child abuse and social sterility (about spiritually hollow â€Å"cool† fashionistas or the demanding violence of the utilitarian age), but also, he plays with this abnormal interrelation between beauty and grotesque. He raises questions about taste and the sublime. In short he subverts the notion of beauty with beauty that is skin deep! Grotesque thus becomes Beauty that is kin deep in this works! Reality is a diabolical faà §ade and Perry questions whether hegemony denotes or connotes the medium of taste in art. Thus equating expression with grotesque beauty beyond the limited categories of high or low taste, his avant-garde expressionism becomes a solitary modicum of aesthetic experience, which is new and which is whole (if whole comprises of an aesthetic stance that offers no definite and certain understanding of art’s end but generates a range of teasing/shocking possibilities of that, which is an illusion in itself: Bourgeois ideology). Figure 1: Coming Out Dress, 2000. He poses as Claire, his feminine alter ego. All his works deal with these two sides to his sexuality quite deeply, especially in ‘Transvestite Brides of Christ 2000’ and ‘Contained Anger1999’, respectively, that questions the significance of male-role models. But what is interesting is that Perry is experimenting with representation, rather then pottery, and that is why his artwork combines issues of an innocent observer or rather tries to destroy the comfortable distance with which an observer may guard their subjective spaces. Transvestite to transgression, the Chapman Brothers question the inevitability or orthodox value of canonical (classical) artworks. This travesty or mockery of canonical lofty seriousness is reflected in their works, through devises of defaced and tortured figures, which for them amount to the complete picture of Beauty (of an era that is grotesque, in it’s realization of a past, present and future that cannot bear to sift through the beastly side of socio-cultural conditions, anymore or unlike the others). This becomes a subject behind their sculptures that bursts with mockery, tragedy exploding with grotesque farce. They usher in a new experiment with taste, bad taste and the notions of good taste. Art moves into the realms of public or mass ‘low’ category, which becomes an essential democratic medium for evoking or carrying forward a provocation to rouse the sense of that horrifying answerless void. With the Chapman brothers there is a sadist tone attached to their insult or reiteration of Goya’s influence especially in their recreation of his â€Å"Disasters of War†, which inflict bold horror. But the grandeur of that horror is reduced to a trivial and yet a sardonic sensation taste comes off them. They twist the sensation of violence into an aesthetic ground and arouse a variety of physical and mental demands for perceiving Beauty amidst such a squandering grotesqueness. Beauty here lies in the release from holding back appreciation, awe and complete shock. Violence does not stand-alone and nor does any other human emotion. â€Å"Sex, 2003† is thus desire, decay, diabolical, deliberate, freedom or defeat. Purity is not that far from its pornographic mockery of it and they are interrelated in their apparent verisimilitude. A true representation of kitsch art, their works like Fuckface and Zygotic Acceleration, roused shock as they attempted to portray the sexualisation of children due to the media and increased gender awareness. These treatments nevertheless push questions about morality that grotesque beauty actually challenges. Thus morality and beauty in its aesthetic straight forwardedness seem to flatten out newer boundaries of experiences, which the Chapman brothers challenge through their craftsmanship. Traditional Sculpture, especially in the hands of the Chapman Brothers and Justin Novak or Grayson Perry are objects of anti-canonical parody, grotesque imitations or thought-provoking reverse-discourses. All these postmodern artists are challenging aesthetic experience. All these artworks succumb to one the power of the grotesque that sublimates beauty with its truth, and they make us realize that truth is not about a fixed standard, but accepting the actual absence of it. What makes contemporary art more beastly in its beauty is the power to derive happiness (or sado-masochist satisfaction) out of this grotesqueness. The grotesque shocks but this is a pleasure in itself, because it is the very representation of the consciousness. Theatre and artwork met with experimentalism in the stage by Artaud, who made audience a spectator to cruelty that is harsh, exceptionally brutal and yet beautiful. By shattering estrangement and by creating something that allows no ‘objectivity’ (in the likes of Kant or Brecht) Artaud demands a complete involvement of the senses. Moreover, this is where art threatens to change the soul of the perceiver by its dominating beauty, which horrifies the perceiver with its verity and unique angst. Wittgenstein’s concept of seeing-as, allows contemporary art to shun master narratives completely and standout on their own purely as visual sensations. From British Avant-Garde art that confuses common and the uncommon (like use of mannequin by Chapman Brothers or genitals replaced by the faces in their remake of Goya’s Disasters of Wars series). Grotesquerie is about questioning the status quo, about unflinching self-criticism and about embracing outsiders. From Simon Carroll deconstructing the chronology of ceramic vases with his pastiches like â€Å"Thrown Square Pot2005†, engages the observers mind with complex questions that he poses through the irregular construction of his surfaces. The artists seem to dwell on the apparent hyperreality of contemporary situation, where art has become a vastly reproduced object – fractured beyond identity. Formlessness becomes the beauty without symmetry and deliberate cruelty an aesthetic grotesqueness. Thus the gap between what is apparent and what may actually exists gives the artists ample space to bridge this defined categories with crushing forces of expressions that though grotesque to the shocked senses is ultimately beautiful by virtue of its truth. Works Cited Eliot, T. S â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†. Eliot, Thomas Stearns. Prufrock and Other Observations. London: The Egoist, Ltd, 1917; Bartleby.com, 1996. www.bartleby.com/198/. [30.01.2007]. ON-LINE ED.: Published May 1996 by Bartleby.com; Copyright Bartleby.com, Inc. (Terms of Use). Hegel, Lectures on Fine Art, (edited by Hotho) â€Å"Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art,† Vol. 1.translated by T. M. Knox, 1973. < http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/ae/contents.htm > 30.01.2007. Jakobson, Roman. â€Å"Language in Literature†. Ed. Krystyna Pomorska and Stephen Rudy. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1987 Kant, Immanuel: The Critique of Judgement (1790), translated by Meredith, J. Adelaide: ebooks, 2004 Keats, John. Poetical Works. London: Macmillan, 1884; Bartleby.com, 1999http://www.bartleby.com/126/41.html. [29.01.2007]; Online-Ed: First published February 1993; published July 1999 by Bartleby.com; Copyright Bartleby.com, Inc.

The Beak Of The Finch :: essays research papers fc

The Bogus Logic of The Beak People who have served in the Armed Forces may be familiar with the expression, "If you can't dazzle then with your brilliance, baffle them with your baloney." The Beak of the Finch uses such laughable logic, it is remarkable that anyone would believe it. The book does such a terrible job of presenting a case for evolution and history, that the only logical conclusion is that the book's true intent is to disprove it. &nbsp; Jonathan Weiner, The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994. ISBN 0679400036. &nbsp; "It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof." --Thoreau, Walden This book claims to be about evolution, centered in the location made famous by Charles Darwin, the Galapagos Islands. I read this book on the recommendation of a good friend who knows I am interested in birds and thought I might get something out of it. Indeed, the few parts of the book actually about the Gouldian Finches of the Galapagos Islands are fascinating. The book records in detail some of the trials the Dr. Peter Grant family endured in studying these birds on a hot volcanic rock. However, the writers and editors of the book avoid simple logic and put a spin on history that is misleading. The facts and logic presented in The Beak of the Finch really make the book's author out to be a closet creationist. &nbsp; It just so happened that at the same time I read this book, I was reading The Storm Petrel and the Owl of Athena by Louis Halle. Half of The Storm Petrel is on the bird life of the Shetland Islands, another isolated natural system. Halle, though an evolutionist, devotes a whole chapter on how the Shetlands and other islands conserve species. (Halle. 1970, 155ff.) Where species have changed their habits, it is most often due to adaptation to humanity. He compares the wild starlings, house sparrows, and rock doves found on the Shetlands with the more domesticated versions of these birds found on the continents--and to some degree even in the main village of the Shetlands. The island birds are more like their original wild forebears. I mention this now because it will come back to haunt us later. &nbsp; Logical Fallacies By the first thirty or so pages I had found two logical fallacies and at least one historical inaccuracy in The Beak of the Finch.

Intellectual Property Protection Essay -- Law, Copyrights

Intellectual property protection has become increasingly popular in the last century. Many factors have probed interest in this area of the law. A few of those factors include musicians seeking protection of their musical talents through use of copyrights, companies seek to protect inventions of advanced production capabilities, companies create trademarks that differentiate their unique goods from competitors, and companies like Coca-Cola protect their undisclosed ingredients for their products through use of trade secrets. These examples are to gain an understanding of how and why intellectual property rights help companies seek advantages in the marketplace. Furthermore, as the world shrinks because of advancements in transportation and computer technology, intellectual property rights become a large part of entrepreneurship and product development. This paper will discuss the interesting and challenging topic of intellectual property protection. The four basic types of inte llectual property include copyrights, patents, trademarks and trade secrets; we will discuss the intellectual properties in the order in which they are listed. COPYRIGHTS: A copyright prohibits the unauthorized reproduction of creative works such as books, magazines, poems, drawings, paintings, musical compositions, sound recordings, films, and DVDs (Barnes, Dworkin & Richards, 2011). Though many people do file, copyrights do not require any special filing or process other than personal creativity, copyrights take formation automatically. Any creative works created prior to 1978 exist for 75 years. Creative works created after 1978 exist for the life of the author plus an additional seventy (70) years. Copyrights are given to an author/creato... ...esses expand into foreign countries, many businesses find there are already companies with the same trademark. However, focusing on the domestic market, recovery for trademark infringement must show that (1) it possesses the trademark; (2) the defendant used the mark in commerce; (3) the defendant’s use of the mark was to benefit; and (4) the infringer is confusing customers (Barnes, Dworkin & Richards, 2011). As China expands industrially and technologically, many U.S. and European companies fear trademark infringement. Most large companies have done well at establishing and maintaining international trademark protection (e.g., Coca-Cola, Apple, and McDonalds), whereas small to medium companies struggle with copycat goods and services. Not to get confused, trademark infringement happens domestically with products like Nike footwear and Ralph Lauren clothing.

Theme Writing Essay -- Education Teaching Writing Essays

Theme Writing When I look at the first paper that I did for this class, I can see that what I wrote was theme writing. As a matter of fact I think this is an example that could be used to show people what it is that they shouldn't do when trying to move away from theme writing. I have used all the elements that I was taught in high school, and I can't seem to get rid of them. When I look at this paper I see a loose intro as to what it is that I would like to accomplish, I see four to five paragraphs of information, and a conclusion. I think that when I wrote this, I did it automatically, and with out any further thought. All the other writing that I have had to do thus far has called for theme writing, and I have had a very hard time getting away from it. I think if I were to be given the same assignment again,I would write something that was completely different. I think the person I represent in this first paper, is a person who thought they were a good writer, and what the end product shows is that I'm not as good as I thought I was. By having another look at this paper, I can see that I have a long way to go before I can consider myself to be a good writer. The worst thing about this paper is that I did exactly what I wasn't supposed to do. I wrote a theme, and if I remember right, we weren't supposed to do that. I think that during this quarter I learned how to write papers that aren't as rigid as the ones that I have written in the past, but I still think I have a long way to go to get better. Besides, I don't think a writer is able to become a good writer in 12 weeks. I'm not even sure if I want to be a writer. I would rather analyze novels, and other writers works than my own. I think the best way to describe the re... ...o look at as writing like this, we all are at different levels, and no matter how hard some of us try, we will never get to the same level as the people ahead of us. Some of us are always going to be behind, and that's o.k. I'm only starting to come to terms with this idea, but I think this is something that I should keep in mind due to the fact that I'm extremely hard on myself, and I should realize that we all can't be at the same level. I guess for my final statements on this paper, I should be constructive instead of destructive. I think this is one of the better papers I have written this quarter in this class. But I do realize that I have some things that I need to work on. I know that I can only hope to move forward in my writing, and with patience, practice, and persistence, I'll get to where I want to be. But for now I will have to take what I can get.

Universal Grammar

Modern universal grammar is a result of the advancement of evolutionary psychology as portrayed by Charles Darwin's evolutionary theories. Darwin believed that evolutionary psychology gave the human race it’s â€Å"first systematic way of understanding ourselves†. Grammar, while varying by language, is understood to be a systematic and proper for humans to communicate with each other and its use a result of natural selection given the youtube video, â€Å"Charles Darwin’s Legacy†.In â€Å"Charles Darwin’s Legacy† Richard Levins, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, stated that, â€Å"there has always been a tradition which tended to look for a place for everything and everything in it’s place†. Grammar fits this description as a human tradition which has evolved based on the language and preference of the elite. For example, 19th century aristocrats utilized far more advanced grammar than the working class of the same era whom most likely used little to no grammar structure whatsoever.Before the separation of human beings by social and economic status, the only thing people needed to communicate with one another were words. Over the centuries communication in itself has become a dull trait. One can not simply communicate, but must have the skill of communication. This is the foundation of how universal grammar was developed. In addition, Darwin was a firm believer of the eugenics movements and as such believed that â€Å"important people bred important people. The logic behind this statement makes sense when related to language considering that one’s offspring would most likely speak the language of their parents. As such, if the elite were to develop a systematic form of written language, such as grammar, then their offspring would not only continue the usage of said grammar, but develop and add on to the established. In time grammar will continue to evolve and it’s developme nt will alter by each generation.

Phases of Tragedy in Blood Diamond †the Movie Essay

Complete innocence describes the hero to be dignified, because of their innocence. Their pride and strength is overpowered by something they cannot control. In the movie Blood Diamond, Soloman walks his son to school. Showing a typical, I deal way to show complete innocence. Also showing a perfect father/son relationship before all the rebels came. With this scene showing a father and his son sharing a joke on the way to school it is shown to be innocent fun, which is a perfect example of complete innocence at the beginning of the movie. When young and innocent people first encounter realities of adulthood it is known as inexperience. A central character will live so the action closes with an adjustment to mature experience. In the movie when Danny was young he was brought up believing that the war was just about fighting against communism. As you can see in the movie, Danny has now discovered the conflict diamonds are the reason for the war. When Danny tries to smuggle diamonds, and goes to see his friend at a vineyard it shows that he has learned and has mature experience. Continuing through the stages of tragedy we see a completion of an ideal. Despite a tragic end because of the successful victory, a sense of peace is shown after the hero’s death because of a final accomplishment. Ain the final scene with Danny you see that Soloman reunited with his son. Danny knew he would die, so he made amends by calling Maddie, and giving Soloman the diamond that he worked so hard to get. Even though Danny died some peace was restored and Soloman and Maddie gave him the credit he deserved when Maddie wrote her article. Even though our hero can complete his quests, he/she has their own faults. From innocence to experience throughout stories we see our hero’s fault, but by the time they realize their faults it is too late to change. Danny knew that diamond smuggling was illegal and also wrong, but he did it anyways. In the end Danny gets shot and is in extreme pain. He only then realizes that it was all because of him contributing in the diamond smuggling. Danny did manage to regain some loyalty when he handed Soloman the diamond and told Soloman and his son to leave him there to die, so that they could escape with the diamond together. The natural law, known as fate, also takes a toll on heroes. Overshadowing the heroes/heroines and allowing the audience to look down on the action. When Soloman was at the fence there were so many people that the chance of seeing his family was slim to none. Fate clearly took part when he happened to see his family on the other side of the fence. Fate was showing Soloman that his family was still alive, so he could still try to save them. To make the audience even more sympathetic we enter a world of shock and horror. Our hero receives punishment or torture, possibly humiliation, so deep they cannot achieve a heroic pose. At the start of the movie Soloman’s village was torn to pieces. Others in the village were shot or had their hands cut off. The young boys were taken to the mines. Unnecessary torture was demonstrated to his village which was truly a world of shock and horror.

Cesare Lombroso

Cesare Lombroso was the founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology. He rejected the established Classical School, which held that crime was a characteristic trait of human nature and that rational choices were the foundation of behavior. Lombroso, using a scientific approach and concepts drawn from physiognomy, early eugenics, psychiatry, and Social Darwinism, argued that criminality was inherited, and that the â€Å"born criminal† could be identified by physical defects, which confirmed a criminal as â€Å"savage,† or â€Å"atavistic. While his particular identifying characteristics are no longer considered valid, the idea of factors that predispose certain individuals to commit crime continues to be foundational to work in criminology. Together with his emphasis on the scientific method, this revolutionary approach has earned Lombroso the title â€Å"father† of scientific criminology He was later forced to considerably alter his views after extens ive study of the phenomenon of Eusapia Palladino, a famous spiritualist. He later wrote, â€Å"I am ashamed and grieved at having opposed with so much tenacity the possibility of the so-called spiritistic facts.Cesare Lombroso was famous in the nineteenth century because he claimed to have discovered the cause of crime and wrote books. In these books, Lombroso claimed that anatomical investigations of the post mortem bodies of criminals revealed that they were physically different from normal people. He maintained that criminals have stigmata (signs), and that these stigmata consist of abnormal dimensions of the skull and jaw. Lombroso even claimed that different criminals have different physical characteristics which he could discern.In time, and under the influence of his son-in-law, Guglielmo Ferrero, Lombroso included the view that social factors were also involved in the causation of crime and that all criminality is not inborn. â€Å"Born criminals† were thus viewed by in his earliest writings as a form of human sub-species. In his later writings, however, he began to regard them less as evolutionary throwbacks and more in terms of arrested development and degeneracy. He popularized the notion of a â€Å"born criminal† through biological determinism criminals have particular physiognomic attributes or deformities.Physiognomy attempts to estimate character and personality traits from physical features of the face or the body. In Lombroso's view, whereas most individuals evolve, the violent criminal had devolved, and therefore constituted a societal or evolutionary regression. He concentrated on a purported scientific methodology in order to identify criminal behavior and isolate individuals capable of the most violent types of crime. He advocated the study of individuals using measurements and statistical methods in compiling anthropological, social, and economic data.With successive research and more thorough statistical analysis, he modif ied his theories. He continued to define atavistic stigmata, and in addition, he identified two other types of criminal: the insane criminal, and the â€Å"criminaloid. † Although insane criminals bore some stigmata, they were not born criminals; rather they became criminal as a result â€Å"of an alteration of the brain, which completely upsets their moral nature. † Among the ranks of insane criminals were kleptomaniacs and child molesters.Criminaloids had none of the physical peculiarities of the born or insane criminal and became involved in crime later in life, and tended to commit less serious crimes. Criminaloids were further categorized as habitual criminals, who became so by contact with other criminals, the abuse of alcohol, or other â€Å"distressing circumstances. † He was also an advocate for humane treatment of criminals, arguing for the removal of atavistic, born criminals from society for their own and society's protection, for rehabilitation for those not born criminal, and against capital punishment.His work was always hampered by his Social Darwinist assumptions. In particular, he held the pre-genetic conception of evolution as â€Å"progress† from â€Å"lower life forms† to â€Å"higher life forms† together with an assumption that the more â€Å"advanced† human traits would dispose their owners to living peacefully within a hierarchical, urbanized society far different from the conditions under which human beings evolved. In attempting to predict criminality by the shapes of the skulls and other physical features of criminals, he had in effect created a new pseudoscience of forensic phrenology.While he was a pioneer of scientific criminology, and his work was one of the bases of the eugenics movement in the early twentieth century, his work is no longer considered as providing an adequate foundation for contemporary criminology. However, psychiatry and abnormal psychology have retained his ide a of locating crime completely within the individual and utterly divorced from the surrounding social conditions and structures. Lombroso developed the concept of the â€Å"atavistic,† or born, criminal, based on anthropometric measurements.Although the scientific validity of the concept has been questioned by other criminologists, Lombroso is still credited with turning attention from the legalistic study of crime to the scientific study of the criminal. This new scientific criminology valued the experimental method based on empirically discovered facts and their examination. The knowledge gained was to be achieved carefully, over time, through systematic observation and scientific analysis. In his later work, He was noted for advocating humane treatment of criminals and limitations on the use of the death penalty.

Analysis Of Setting In “The Lottery” Essay

Analysis of Setting in â€Å"The Lottery† Setting, the time, location, and objects in which the events of a literary work occur. This important factor is needed to help the reader familiarize himself with what he is reading. Many writers use setting to â€Å"establish a realistic background, transport us to strange and exotic places, or even to create a certain mood† (Paschal 4). For example, setting as described in â€Å"The Lottery† is a small present day town on a clear and sunny summer day. Shirley Jackson makes this known because it sets the mood in the beginning for the ironic turnaround at the end. With her intent to shock the reader she uses key points the first of such is the time period that the story takes place. Jackson’s story takes place during the beginning of summer right around the time that school is let out for summer recess. Second is the location of the lottery. She has the drawing held in the middle of town, the same place that they hold all of there family events. Third would be the actual black box that they put the ballots in, she uses this as a symbol of tradition. Jackson’s brilliant use of setting ironically shows her intent to instill shock in the minds of her readers. As we study further into the setting of Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† we come to the first key point which is the time period that the story takes place. Jackson states that it is June 27th, which can be associated with the summer solstice, or the longest day of summer. This day has also been known to have ritualistic overtones. The year is left open to give the reader the sense that the story is current. The time is set at around 10:00am and it says that the flowers are blossoming and that the grass is richly green (Paschal 124). This is to give the reader a feeling of serenity as Jackson wants the reader to feel as if this were an ideal town on an ideal day. She sets a time frame for the actual lottery to occur. Since the lottery last approximately two hours it must start at 10:00 so that they can be home in time for noon dinner (Paschal 124). This gives the reader the idea that this event is a common ritual and that they have a set schedule to go by. All of this sets the reader up for the ironic twist at the end of the story. In a sense Jackson uses this ideal town as a camouflage to hide her true intent. The next of Jackson’s key points is the actual location of the lottery. She  sets the lottery in the middle of town between the bank and the post office (website 1). This part of town is know as the Town Square and is the place where they hold most of there family activities (Paschal 124). Since the story is set in broad daylight you can visualize all the families congregating like one would for a local community picnic. It says that the children are breaking in boisterous play and the men are talking about planting and rain, tractors and taxes (website 1). The buildings that Jackson uses are symbolic and put across a strong message. The bank is a symbol of wealth or money, while on the other hand the post office is a symbol of government. One could say that the point being made here is that she uses these symbols in correlation with the lottery to say that whenever money and the government are involved there is corruption. At this point in the story Jackson would have the r eader to believe that a town that appears to be so normal couldn’t commit such an unthinkable action at the towns’ family meeting place in broad daylight. The third and final key point used is the black box. Jackson uses this as a symbol of many things, one being tradition. The box is described as being shabby, splintered, faded and even stained (Paschal 125). This symbol of tradition clearly shows how this society or culture is afraid of change. Not only does the black box symbolize tradition it symbolizes fear. As the box is introduced in the story it changes the mood of the people. Jackson states that as the box is placed on the stool, the villagers kept there distance (Paschal 125). â€Å"The box embodies all of the evil acts executed in the past and the ones to come† (website 2). One would think that if they were so afraid of this box why not make another one or even do away with the ritual completely. Perhaps their fear of change is stronger than their fear of fear itself. To these people the black box holds the key to life and death. Jackson’s use of the black box as a symbol demonstrates shock in that the people o f this society would rather hold on to a greater evil rather than loose a lesser one. As noted above in the analysis of setting in Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† we found that setting can be an important factor in any story because it sets an atmosphere that the reader can use to explain certain events within  a story. For example, in Steven Cranes â€Å"The Bride comes to Yellow Sky† the setting is in what is known as the Wild West. Without the reader knowing this they wouldn’t be able to relate to Scratchy wearing cowboy clothes and shooting his guns in the bar. Another example would be in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in which Shakespeare uses medieval Europe as the setting. Without knowledge of this you wouldn’t be able to explain why people would kill there own relatives just to gain power, or to even explain why it was common practice to consult a witch for advice. For some that was a common thing for people of Europe in that time period. In essence the appropriate use of setting to illustrate a writer’s i ntent in a story can be an effective way to have ones reader be able to relate to what he is reading. mWebsite 1- Various English Essays: Irony of Setting in â€Å"The Lottery† www.cheathouse.com/restricted/essays/ess1/348.html Website 2- Chuck III’s College Resources â€Å"† Theses & Dissertations â€Å"† lottery www.chuckiii.com/reports/theses_&_ Dissertations/lottery.shtml Paschal, Hugh H. A Formalistic Approach to Freshan Composition. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2000