Monday, December 30, 2019

Work vs. Employment vs. Occupation - 2030 Words

Work refers to: Human labor Employment, a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee House work, cleaning the rooms and furnishings of a home Labor (economics), measure of the work done by human beings Manual labour, physical work done by people Wage labour, in which a worker sells their labor and an employer buys it Work (project management), the effort applied to produce a deliverable or accomplish a task Working the system, using the rules and procedures meant to protect a system, instead to manipulate that system work A task assigned by yourself or someone else which you feel obligated to complete. noun 1.exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.†¦show more content†¦The Saxons were subsistence farmers. (Farmers grew enough to feed themselves and their families and very little else). At times during the Saxon era there were terrible famines in England when poor people starved to death. Some Saxons were craftsmen. There were blacksmiths, bronze smiths and potters. At first Saxon potters made vessels by hand but in the 7th century the potters wheel was introduced). Other craftsmen made things like combs from bone and antler or horn. There were also many leather workers and Saxon craftsmen also made elaborate jewellery for the rich. In the Middle Ages the land was divided into 3 huge fields. Each year 2 were sown with crops while one was left fallow (unused) to allow it to recover. Each peasant had some strips of land in each field. Most peasants owned only one ox so they had to join with other families to obtain the team of oxen needed to pull a plough. After ploughing the land was sown. Men sowed grain and women planted peas and beans. Most peasants also owned a few cows, goats and sheep. Cows and goats gave milk and cheese. Most peasants also kept chickens for eggs. They also kept pigs. Peasants were allowed to graze their livestock on common land. In the autumn they let their pigs roam in the woods to eat acorns and beechnuts. However they did not have enough food to keep many animals through the winter. Most of the livestock was slaughtered in autumn and the meat was salted to preserve it. After 1500 industry gradually grewShow MoreRelatedHrm Practices And How They Benefit Employers And Employees Essay727 Words   |  3 Pagesand fulfillment since representatives are offered an opportunity to talk about their work execution. This, thus, will lead them to perform more prominent in inventive exercises. for bosses advantages of execution examination is that, in the surge and clamor of day by day working life, it offers an uncommon possibility for a director and subordinate to have time out for a one-on-one discourse of imperative work issues that may not generally be tended to (Performance-appraisal.com, 2016) Career managementRead MoreHow Health Is A Complex Status1626 Words   |  7 Pagessocial support, income, social status, education, literacy, employment, working conditions, social and physical environments, personal practices, coping skills, gender, culture, and available health services (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2011). America’s Health Rankings (Shi Singh, 2011) state that health is the result of four controllable and modifiable components: behaviors, the community environment in which people live and work, the clinical health care received, and public and health policiesRead More A Career in Massage Therapy Essay1180 Words   |  5 Pagesas many options when it comes to a career in massage as there are people in the field. It can be a full or part-time occupation. There are a variety of places to do massage, many kinds of massage to do, and many different types of patients. Let’s take a closer look at some of the options. Starting with two main options, a massage therapist can start their own business or work for someone else. However, there are many positives and negatives to both sides. One positive to running your own massageRead MoreA Resume On Massage Therapy1187 Words   |  5 Pagesmany options when it comes to a career in massage as there are people in the field. It can be a full or part-time occupation. There are a variety of places to do massage, many kinds of massage to do, and many different types of patients. Let’s take a closer look at some of the options. Starting with two main options, a massage therapist can start their own business or work for someone else. However, there are many positives and negatives to both sides. One positive to running your ownRead MoreA Study On Child And Family Development Essay1530 Words   |  7 PagesA degree in Child and Family Development is offered through the college of Education Human Development and opens the door to the social work field with various different career opportunities (Child and Family Development | Academics | Western Michigan University, n.d.). The ultimate goal of obtaining this degree and working in the social work field is to help improve the quality of life of individuals and their families within a dynamic community. The profession of a Social Worker originatedRead MoreGender Wage Gap And Gender Inequality1697 Words   |  7 Pagesto be paid less wages than men, but this paper will argue in the U.S. today the gender wage gap still exists. The definition of gender wage gap as stated by the U.S. government is defined as women who work full time or salary based jobs who receive less earnings than their male counterparts who work equal level jobs (â€Å"Equal Pay,† n.d.).[] This analysis will focus on the years of 2012 to 2014, and in these years it is clear that the gender wage gap exists. The topic of gender wage gap sociologicallyRead MoreDevelopment of Nursing Practice in the Past Two Centuries1654 Words   |  7 PagesPast Two Centuries: Similar to other professions, the nursing practice has developed significantly in the previous two centuries. The development is evident in the delivery of care that is currently dependent on a range of professionals required to work together. The need for diverse number of professionals in modern healthcare settings is for the effective functioning of the practice at the highest level that leads to the provision of quality care services to patients. The transformation of the nursingRead More Collective Bargaining and Labour Market Outcomes for Canadian Working Women4675 Words   |  19 Pagesbargaining on earnings, low pay, and earnings inequality, and Part II provides some background description of the labour market position of Canadian working women. Particular attention is paid to the situation of the majority of women who continue to work in lower paid, often insecure and part-time, clerical, sales, and service jobs. The central conclusion of the empirical analysis in Part III , mainly based on data from Statistics Canadas 1995 Survey of Working Arrangements, is that collective bargainingRead MoreWomen s Social Issues And Concerns1292 Words   |  6 PagesWomen living in poverty during the early adulthood stage face a lot of obstacles when trying to establish a career identity. Women during the ages of 24-34 years old are influenced by work and interpersonal relationships. Poverty is the root of almost all America’s social issues and concerns. It is prominent to the factors of education, social development, and the economic well beings as adults. Poverty contributes to the inequalities of race, language, culture and place in the United States. Read MoreThe Policies Of Government During The 1980 S1569 Words   |  7 Pageslivelihood after the 1980 the policies of Government was rather concerned with the developmental work all along and even ignoring the basic human rights of people or the mass at large. Such policies were given importance and the government of that time tried very hard to forcibly evict people and to displace them to fulfill the developmental needs. one such case which came during the 1980s OLGA TELLIS VS. BOMBAY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, in this case through the section 7 of BOMBAY MUNICIPAL LAW, then

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Tuition on the Rise A Cause of Turmoil - 1111 Words

Tuition on the Rise: A Cause of Turmoil Today colleges are growing more and more necessary for attaining a solid path towards a successful career, yet the rapidly increasing cost of tuition is driving students away from their dream of attending college, due to the preposterous amount of money that is now being demanded by colleges across the nation and world as a whole. It is sad to see students being turned away from a successful future due to the money-hungry nature of the universities that dot the globe. More and more impossible it is becoming to have a â€Å"rags-to-riches† scenario that used to highlight the American Dream, as if a student doesn’t have the riches to afford a higher education and the tuition that is drug upon its†¦show more content†¦It was found out that the removal of in-state tuition resulted in substantial decreases in total enrollment, resulting in less students able to fulfill their dream of being able to go to college in order to pur sue a successful career of their choosing. In effect, this greatly limits students’ choices in their future goals and education. Despite the vast amounts of negatives associated with the advent of the rapidly increasing tuition situation, there is at least one positive impact. â€Å"Using a regression discontinuity design on data from Bocconi University in Italy, we show that a 1,000 euro increase in continuation tuition reduces the probability of late graduation by 5.2% when the benchmark probability is 80%† (Garibaldi). As shown in the study, when tuition is raised in large amounts, the probability of students graduating late also decreases. This happens because students are afraid to stay in college even longer as the massive amounts of tuition would make them collapse under its weight, so the students decide not to change majors in order to escape the costs associated with extending their years in college. The decrease in delayed graduates is very good for the global economy, as new graduates will be out in the real world faster, making them capable of filling jobs to empower our economy. Poor students are most greatly affected by the swift rise in tuition, and this is especiallyShow MoreRelatedRising College Tuition1114 Words   |  4 PagesTuition on the Rise: A Cause of Turmoil Today colleges are growing more and more necessary for attaining a solid path towards a successful career, yet the rapidly increasing cost of tuition is driving students away from their dream of attending college, due to the preposterous amount of money that is now being demanded by colleges across the nation and world as a whole. It is sad to see students being turned away from a successful future due to the money-hungry nature of the universities that dotRead MoreIs College An Option For All Students? Essay1655 Words   |  7 Pagesamount, they will be paying back the loan for 10 years or longer, at monthly payments of around $350. And with almost $100,000 to pay back, many more people have been forced to enroll in loans than ever before. Student loans are the second leading cause of debt, only preceded by mortgages, holding a 1.2 trillion dollar stake in our economy, paying almost 51.5 billion dollars in interest a year. This crisis would usually be solved by grants such as scho larships, which do not need to be payed back,Read MoreAnalysis Of Sidhwa s Ice Candy- M Partition Based Fictional Autobiography1533 Words   |  7 Pagesof different religions and even by the men from their own religion (and indeed sometimes by men of their own religion.)† (Butalia) The Partition Literature: The tragedy of the partition encounter has given rise to fictional explorations with an attempt to define the inner turmoil and social complexes that plagued the subcontinent. The vast volume of partition fiction in English, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and many other languages of the subcontinent faithfully records the disaster in wakeRead MoreStudent Debt Crisis And Its Effects On The Economy Of The United States1828 Words   |  8 Pagessubstitutable. In the event that it is considered to be complementary, an early investment in human capital during the development phase has a tendency to increase investments in later phases. On the other hand, if it is regarded to be substitutable, any rise in early investment in human capital has a tendency to shift investments during the later phases of development. However, most research tends to support the view that education has positive return as a form of investment. In this regard, there is aRead MoreEssay on Poverty Situation in Zambi a2617 Words   |  11 Pagesdefinition of poverty. The essay will then outline the poverty situation in Zambia today and will focus on the issues of Health, HIV/AIDS, Education, Women and Children, Rural Poverty and Urban poverty. The last part of the essay will focus on the causes of Poverty and what measures can be taken to reduce absolute poverty for the poorest. Zambia today is one of the poorest nations on earth and ranks as 156th out of 174 countries in terms of poverty (Jean Shaoul, 2002). The impact of poverty canRead MoreEssay about The Results of Children in Fatherless Homes16087 Words   |  65 PagesAfter a surge in divorces following the Second World War, the rate leveled off. Only 11 percent of children born in the 1950s would by the time they turned eighteen see their parents separate or divorce. Out-of-wedlock childbirth barely figured as a cause of family disruption. In the 1950s and early 1960s, five percent of the nations births were out of wedlock. Blacks were more likely than whites to bear children outside marriage, but the majority of black children born in the twenty years after theRead MoreCase Solutions for Corporate Finance Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffe 9th Edition25033 Words   |  101 Pages Age is obviously an important factor. The younger an individual is, the more time there is for the (hopefully) increased salar y to offset the cost of the decision to return to school for an MBA. The cost includes both the explicit costs such as tuition, as well as the opportunity cost of the lost salary. 2. Perhaps the most important nonquantifiable factors would be whether or not he is married and if he has any children. With a spouse and/or children, he may be less inclined to return for anRead MoreEstee Lauder Companies : Ethical Strategy Analysis9260 Words   |  38 Pagesinflation, interest rates, energy costs, global economies, and consumer confidence. One economic factor that has affected many industries is the current global economic crisis. No sector of business, domestically and abroad, has been spared from this turmoil. The Estee Lauder Companies along with its major competitors operate in a globalized economy. The ELC presently generates cashflows from its ongoing operations and accesses global credit markets through various financing activities. The current volatilityRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pages...................................................... 447 Exercises .......................................................................................................................................... 449 CHAPTER 14 Reasoning about Causes and Their Effects ................................................... 465 Correlations......................................................................................................................................... 465 Significant CorrelationsRead MoreChange Management49917 Words   |  200 Pagesresources. Your only sustainable competitive weapon is your people. How do you intend managing them in the next millennium? The same way as you did in the last? What is important, however, is recognition that change occurs continuously, has numerous causes, and needs to be addressed all the time. The planned change is not impossible, but it is often difficult. The key point is that change is an ongoing process, and it is incorrect to think that a visionary end state can be reached in a highly programmed

Friday, December 13, 2019

Sample Lesson Using the Inductive Approach Free Essays

sample lesson: simple future June 5th, 2012 Introduction: This sample lesson is made for beginners (kids) for explaining simple future with an inductive approach. Using some visual aids to get the attention of the students through examples like, dialogs, conversations, images and videos. Teaching in a generative situation, which follows the real world is used in order to generate a real environment to make students experience like in the real life. We will write a custom essay sample on Sample Lesson Using the Inductive Approach or any similar topic only for you Order Now Making students apply the language in the real situation is the most crucial. This means that the purpose of learning language is to realize how to use it correctly in a right situation. Natural language acquisition means that learning a language at an environment of non-intervention, the best approach of experimental learning is that situates the learner at the environment which is full of our foreign language, and it’s as the acquisition of our first language. Simple Lesson: Teaching simple future through dialogs. (begginers) The teacher shows a video of a trip, taken from a website to the students, using it as the introduction of the simple future with appropriate vocabulary to the group. Places, food, activities). Step 1. The teacher plays a little conversation about a trip. Mary: What will you do in your summer vacations? Paul: I will go to the beach with my family. Mary: Will you go to a Mexican beach? Paul: Yes, I will. I will travel to Cancun. And what will you travel the next vacations? Mary: No, I won’t. I just will stay here. Paul: Oh, I will bring you something from Cancun. Mary: thanks! Then the teacher asks them: what are they talking about? * Last weekend * Next weekend * Every weekend Then he gives some seconds to the students to think about the answer. Step 2. Here, the Teacher shows an image in this case it would be a beach and ask students to say some ideas according to the image. For example: Travel by car Take pictures Swim Eat seafood, etc. Then the teacher writes the list of words or sentences on the board. Step 3. The teacher writes on the board, the following: I will (say the ideas they gave) You He she I will (say the ideas they gave) You He she The teacher is going to read the first one: ‘ I will travel by car’ Then the students are going to continue with the following examples to form a simple future sentence with the information they gave. After that, the teacher asks them to repeat with he the sentences. Step 4. In this step, the students create some sentence using real information like what will they do the next weekend, to evaluate the knowledge learned. Discussion: In this sample lesson, chosen a video of a trip leaves students watch and understand the context and they can realized what the video is about. The teacher also chose an image that is so useful in this case, because it leaves students to think about activities or use their imagination to produce ideas related to the image. Asking students to read sentences using the rule but not provide it them like an explanation leaves them to discover the rule applied, and notice about the new item and may lead them to work out the rules by induction. In step 1 the rule is a little provided, without an explanation, for the students and they can realize that they’re talking about next activities. And listening skill is required to attend the attention to students to the form. In steps 2 and 3 students are more closely to describe activities used to talk about future. And in step 4 students are capable to demonstrate of the new item. Evaluation E-factor: in terms of efficacy this sample lesson is efficient if the vocabulary provided is comprehensible or the video used is adaptable for kids. It is also essential that the video and the conversation are intelligible by reference and context. A problem here is that the internet couldn’t work so that would make difficult the class. This detracts from the ease of preparation. If the video and the conversation are too long it will require a lot of time, reducing the economy factor. And in terms of efficacy the contextual support they gave with the ideas related to the image, the conversation and the video scores highly in terms of efficacy. A-factor: students will be familiar with the conversation because it was with appropriate vocabulary for beginners (kids). The use of dialogs, videos, images matches learners of how language is used in the real world. Also through inductive approach students can discover the rule through examples. Conclusion This sample lesson was referred with the inductive approach in which students learned through experience and discover by themselves. The rule so in this case they fit their mental structures than in a deductive approach. And students are more involved in the learning process. Using this approach is easier for beginners to learn new rules because they interact more participating, and are more likely to work in the activities presented. And learn through experience that is the natural route to learning. How to cite Sample Lesson Using the Inductive Approach, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Google Case Study

Question: Discuss about theGoogle Case Study. Answer: Introduction The case study is from technological sector. This sector is highly competitive sector in which leaders and managers have to manage the conflict among various stakeholders. The case study is about Google Inc. Background The case study is about the Aristotle project of Google Inc. Three key stakeholders as per the case study are Julia, Matt and Google Inc. (or project Aristotle). The company launched this project in the year 2012. This project was launched to assess the team dynamics among the various teams at Google Inc. Julia was the part of this project. The common observation of the project was that the project where team members used to interact outside the office hours was more productive as compared to the project where the team members were strangers. Julia was a lead researcher in this project. She wanted to know the norms and attributes that mattered most for team dynamics. The case study describes two types of teams. The first type is team A where all the members are professionals. The second type is team B where informal relationship is high among the team members. For Project Aristotle, the research pointed to particular norms that are vital to success. Julia and her colleagues had figur ed out which norms were most critical. One of the employees of Google, Matt was intrigued by the findings of Julia. Matt has an unusual background while joining Google Inc. Recently he started a new project in the company and he wanted to ensure that the team norms are effective in the organization. He approached Julia and Project Aristotle for help. Julia did an initial survey and determined that the team dynamics was not good and people were happy only at an outer level. Matt was not happy with the survey of the result as he always felt that the team is a closed group where all the employees support each other. Issues and Problems The two major issues as inferred from the case study can be discussed as: Issue 1: Negative Team Dynamics in Matts Team The biggest problem for Matt was that his team was not a closed group. The team members liked Matt. However, the culture of the team was not good and it reduced the overall effectiveness of the group. The survey revealed that the team members agreed that there were weaknesses in the team and group dynamics was weak in the team as people provided poor score when asked about the team dynamics. Po Lirong (2014) argued that negative team dynamics is like rust that can make the entire organization or team ineffective. Issue 2: Communication Barriers in the Leadership Style of Matt It appears that Matt was a good person. However, he may not be a good leader. The communication or the interaction among the team members was not good. Moreover, Matt had a wrong perception of his team. He was able to identify the problem only with the help of survey. Therefore, it can be said that Matt lacked the leadership attribute of vision that the leaders must have. It can be said that Matt was not able to satisfy the interests of all the stakeholders in the organization. Torrente Salanova (2012) highlighted that the lack of communication in the team can reduce the productive levels of team members. Possible Solutions The key solutions for the above-identified issue can be discussed as: Issue 1: Negative team dynamics in Matts team Proposed Solution 1: Frequent communication Democratic leadership The problem of negative dynamics could be resolved with frequent communication. It is important that Matt should focus on establishing the informal communication channels along with the formal communication channels. The informal communication channels would enable the team members to understand other team members (Liu Cross, 2016). It would reduce the negativity in the team and all the team members would gel well and ultimately it would set the platform of positive team dynamics for Matt. Collins Gibson (2016) argued that democratic style of leadership would work well when the employees or the team members realize their duty and roles and responsibilities. It is important that Matt should have a good rapport with all the team members so that all the team members in the team can work without any handholding. This alternative suggests that the Matt should give more rights to the team members. This type of style allows for more individuals to participate in the decision-making, and offer more autonomy for employees as results in a higher level of employee engagement and higher morale. The role of democratic leadership style would be to overcome the individual beliefs and perception of the people that act as the barriers to positive tam dynamics. It is important that the decision should be made collectively in the team. The inputs of different team members should be values and Matt should motivate the team members to bring their points forward. This would be the basis of the good team dynamics in the team. Advantages: The democratic leadership style from Matt would make team members motivated as they would realize that their inputs are being values. The frequent communication through informal channels would create good cohesion among the team members Disadvantages The excess of informal communication in the team members can reduce the productivity level of team Issue 2: Communication barriers in the leadership style of Matt Proposed Solution 2: Organizational design to establish team norms and healthy team dynamics Matt should have a lean or flat team where the team members can cut the red tape and interact with other team members freely. This organization design would be the Organic Organizations that are flatter and more flexible than mechanistic organizations with this type of organization structure it is more designed for the younger generation as their work environment is more relaxed yet more productive. Organic structures are effective in organizations that rely on learning, innovation, and flexibility. Diversification and evolving the organizational structure over time is a very important aspect in creating a strong organizational structure. As firms age, they often expand their business scope (Gallagher, 2013). It is important to mention that eventually, Matt would have to adhere to the structure of Google only. Dolata Schwabe (2014) argued that it is important that the structure of team should focus on established group norms in the team. Matt should realize that the team should have common norms so that the work could be productive in nature. The effectiveness of the entire team can suffer if the team, as a whole, does not have a common norms and practices (Naseri Gilbert, 2014). Typically, the leaders would have a main role to play to establish the common norms in the team. In fact, it is a good practice the norms should be established in top-down manner. The team norms would act as the guidelines that should be followed by different team members. It would help Matt to generate a common set of objectives for all the team members. The three key team norms that should be part of the organizational design are communication, decision-making and conflict management (Gillespie Gwinner, 2013). It is expected that the focus on these three norms would improve the team dynamics in the team. Advantages The organizational design with the focus on team norms and group dynamics would make Google Inc. more flexible and lean. With the new organizational design, the team members would be able to establish an open culture in the organization (McEvoy, 2012). Disadvantages Google Inc. has an established organizational design and the organization would be required to change its organizational design with this recommendations. The change management could be difficult as there is always a possibility that some of the employees would not support the change (Slocum, 2015). Conclusion The above paper discusses two proposed solutions for Matt. The first solution focuses of effective communication and democratic leadership style. The second solution is that Matt and Google Inc. should have the organizational design that supports the team norms and effective team dynamics. This is the way forward for Matt to overcome the existing negative team dynamics and to improve efficiency and labor productivity. The key recommendations for Google Inc. and the strategies that should be used in short term and long term can be discussed as: Short-Term action The company should immediately bring the change agents that would work to make flexible teams at Google Inc. with the focus on established team norms and group dynamics. Medium-Term action The company should take inputs from employees to make a lean and flexible organizational culture within different teams. Long-Term Action Plan In the long term, the management of Google Inc. should analyze various organizational designs that could benefit Google to have highly effective team. With the entire action plan, Google Inc. would be benefited in long term. The action plan would need some investment in short term. However, the overall productivity of Google Inc. would improve in long term. References Amin-Naseri, M. and Gilbert, S., 2014. A System Dynamics Approach to Building Team Trust Models: Exploring the Challenges.Pedagogy That Makes A Difference: Exploring Domain-Independent Principles across Instructional Management Research within the ITS Community, p.49. Buller, P. F. McEvoy, G. (2012). Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight.Human Resource Management Review. 22 (1), 43-56. Collins, C.G., Gibson, C.B., Quigley, N.R. and Parker, S.K., 2016. Unpacking team dynamics with growth modeling An approach to test, refine, and integrate theory.Organizational Psychology Review,6(1), pp.63-91. Dolata, M. and Schwabe, G., 2014, May. Call for action: designing for harmony in creative teams. InInternational Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems(pp. 273-288). Springer International Publishing. Gallagher, K. (2013)Skills Development for Business and Management Students: Study and Employability.UK: Oxford University. Gillespie, B.M., Gwinner, K., Chaboyer, W. and Fairweather, N., 2013. Team communications in surgerycreating a culture of safety.Journal of interprofessional care,27(5), pp.387-393. Germain, M. and McGuire, D. (2014) The Role Of Swift Trust inVirtualTeams and Implications forHumanResourceDevelopment.,Advances in DevelopingHumanResources, 16(3). Liu, W.H. and Cross, J.A., 2016. A comprehensive model of project team technical performance.International Journal of Project Management,34(7), pp.1150-1166. Po, H., Lirong, L. and Wei, H., 2014. Shared Leadership, Vertical Leadership and Team Creativity: A Dual-Perspective Study.Journal of Management,6, p.005. Slocum, D. (2015). Seven Tyrannies That Creative Leaders Must Overcome. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/berlinschoolofcreativeleadership/2015/04/01/seven-tyrannies-that-creative-leaders-must-overcome/#33d75dfd1b0b Torrente, P., Salanova, M., Llorens, S. and Schaufeli, W.B., 2012. Teams make it work: How team work engagement mediates between social resources and performance in teams.Psicothema,24(1), pp.106-112.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Why Every Writer Needs to Understand the Marketing Funnel

If you want to create content that gets results, you need to make sure it connects with readers. This means writing content that potential customers would be looking for at the right time in their buying journey. For example, a salesy message that pushes readers to buy when they don’t know anything about a company or product is probably not going to be very effective. However, that same message could be incredibly effective when the reader is already seriously considering a purchase. To create content that answers the questions readers have at particular points in their buying journey, you need to map out your content strategy in parallel to the marketing funnel for a product. Free Actionable Bonus: Get the complete guide Creating Content for All 4 Stages of The Buyer Journey Defining a Marketing Funnel While every business may have some unique nuances in their customer buying journey, they all follow a general awareness, consideration and conversion track. If you or your client doesn’t already have a good idea of the sales funnel you’re writing for, try to get a hold of website analytics to see where people are coming from, what content they are interacting with most, what they do after reading and how they are navigating toward a purchase. The type and composition of your content is going to be different at each stage and it’s important to know what works best in general and what will work best with your particular target readers from getting their initial attention to securing a sale. Top of the Funnel: Awareness During this initial stage of the funnel, brand awareness is a major goal. So, you’re looking to catch people’s attention with something they would like to know that’s related to the product but not necessarily all about a product. Usually, you’re trying to educate and establish a company as a trusted brand in the space. Middle of the Funnel: Consideration When a reader is interested in possibly purchasing your product, they’ll want to know more details. This is the ideal time to give more specific information showcasing a product’s value through case studies, testimonials, product information sheets and detailed how-to content. You want to show the reader that the product can provide solutions to their issue and you want to demonstrate how your offer differs from the competition. Bottom of the Funnel: Conversion The moment of truth! A prospect knows the value of a product and is ready to become a customer. At this point, it’s time to alleviate any remaining hesitation. This is where you want to reinforce the value being offered, address any risks that might be bothering the shopper and create a sense of urgency with your call to action. This is where many offer free trials, discounts and limited-time offers to minimize the perceived risk of purchasing. Security seals, ratings and testimonials are all helpful in securing the trust to hit check out. Putting it All Together When it comes to marketing content, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s important to tailor content for each stage of the marketing funnel, providing readers with the information they need as they move forward in their buyer’s journey. When you understand your audience and know what they may need to hear, you can help move your readers deeper into the funnel and turn more prospects into customers.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche essays

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche essays Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was born in Rocken, Prussian, in 1844. He was named in honor of Prussian king, Fredrick Wilhelm IV, whose birthday, October 15, he shared. Nietzsches father, and his mother, franziska oenler Nietzsche, was the daughter of a Lutheran minister when Nietzsche was only five years old, his father died from what was called softening of the brain, after a year of mental instability. The rest of Nietzsche childhood was spent in a household of women, including his mother, his sister, his paternal grandmother and two maiden aunts. Nietzsches notorious rejoicing in Zarathustras (or the madmans) explains the declaration of the Death of God in the Zarathustra prologue. When Zarathustra was thirty years old he left his home and the lake of his home and went into the mountains. There he enjoyed his spirits and his solitude, and for ten years he did not tire of it. But at last a change came over his heart, and one morning he rose with the dawn, stepped before the sun, and spoke to its thus. One day Zarathustra said to the stars, like you I must go under- go down, as is said by man, to whom I want to descend. So bless me then, you quiet eye that can look even upon an all- too great happiness without envy! Bless the cup that want to overflow, that the water may flow from it golden and carry everywhere that reflection of your delight. Behold, this cop wants to become empty again, and Zarathustra wants to become man again. Thus Zarathustra began to go under. Zarathustra descended alone from the mountains, encountering no one. But when he came into the forest, all at once there stood before him an old man who had left his holy cottage to look for roots in the woods. And thus spoke the old man to Zarathustra. Zarathustra has changed; Zarathustra is an awakened one; what do you now want among the sleepers? The ol...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Movie and book review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Movie and book review - Essay Example In this case, the researcher would like to make a comparative essay critically analyzing the main arguments that were forwarded both by the film â€Å"Freedom Riders† and the book â€Å"The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1992.† The researcher would try to identify not only the main thesis of these narratives, but as well as how the authors and the producers of both of these narratives perceived the civil rights movement, which is considered as one of the most important chapters of black history in the United States. What was the point of view of the producer of the film and the author of the book? Are both of these narratives objectives? What are the different biases that these narratives carried? How these narratives do build their arguments, and was it enough to actually persuade both their viewers and their readers? These are just some fop the question that the researcher of this paper would like to find out. The film â€Å"Freedom Riders† This film, produc ed by CBS, actually tried to depict the civil rights movement through the eyes of a group of racially diverse American citizens that rode a bus in order to violate the segregation policies that was being implemented by the inherently racist Southern States (Crook n. p.). Describing the different experiences that was undergone by the participants in that bus ride, the documentary argued that a peaceful campaign for racial equality, when done persuasively and with sheer determination, could overcome even the most violent resistance put up (Crook n. p.). The producers of this film supported this argument by showing the experience of the said bus ride, wherein those â€Å"Freedom Fighters† â€Å"willfully but peacefully violate(d) the segregationist policies routinely enforced in restaurants, bus depots and restroom facilities† (Crook n. p.). In this case, even though the first bus ride project failed because of the violence that was inflicted by the inherently racist Klan members in the racist Deep South, these â€Å"Freedom Fighters† still pursued on and made a second bus ride, reasoning that by not doing so a â€Å"message would have been sent that you could stop a (peaceful) campaign by inflicting massive violence, and it would have been really hard to overcome that message† (Crook n. p.). Of course, the producers of this movie viewed the civil rights movement from the point of view of those â€Å"Freedom Fighters,† putting emphasis on their important contribution to end racism in the racist region of the United States. However, despite having this point of view, the documentary was relatively objective, putting emphasis on the first hand experience of the actual participants in the said event. Given that the documentary presented first-hand, eyewitness accounts, the researcher thinks that the producers have put up a solid backing to their arguments, despite having some biases against the racial segregationist, which was view ed as malice and a rotten part of American society. In this case, the researcher believes that this narrative is very persuasive in forwarding its argument. The

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Strategic management study case analysis of AvtoVAZ Essay

Strategic management study case analysis of AvtoVAZ - Essay Example The internal strength and weaknesses of AvtoVAZ including the best ways on how these weaknesses can be converted into strength will also be tackled. Considering the given situation of AvtoVAZ, it is advisable for the company to enter into merger and acquisitions. This strategy will enable the company to meet all the needed requirements such as: having a sufficient fund for a total restructuring, competent leaders and individuals assigned to run the business, and having a group of engineering and car designing experts within the business organization among others within the shortest possible time. In order to prevent losing control over the company, it is very crucial for the company owner to pay close attention to the negotiations of the merger plan. A win-win negotiation with the chosen partner should push through. AvtoVAZ or Volzhsky Automobilny Zavod (VAZ) was established back in 1966. The Russian government used to have a strong hold over AvtoVAZ since it was a state-owned company. For some time, the Russian government imposed strict rule that the local citizens could only purchase cars made by AvtoVAZ to protect its sales and profitability. After AvtoVAZ upgraded its technology in early 1990s, the company began to increase its prices. This made the Russians to switch over the use of imported cars. The company started to lose its market share to imported cars. Four years later, the Russian government decided to privatize the company. Since then, the Russian government withdrew its support to AvtoVAZ. In fact, high taxes made the company experience financial difficulties as early as in mid-1990s. Over the succeeding years, the market share of AvtoVAZ slides down from 90% to 60% in 2004. (Shlyornin, 2004) The tight competition in the Russian car market is expected to become stronger due to the entrants of foreign automobile manufacturers such as General Motors, BMW, Kia motors, France’s Renault, and Japan’s

Monday, November 18, 2019

Critique two research propsals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critique two research propsals - Essay Example This logical, sequential review enables the reader to follow the historical progress of this line of investigation. In discussing the study by Jonson-Reid, Fuller reports on the results that are relevant to his own study. This previous study indicated that children who were in care for less than three months before being returned to their families had increased risk of substantiated maltreatment recurrence. It is clearly stated that the purpose of this research is to â€Å"examine the factors that might predict short-term maltreatment recurrence following reunification exits from substitute care.† Fuller does this by combining administrative data with detailed information collected from case record reviews. However, no hypothesis is provided other than an assumption that the Jonson-Reid study was correct in reporting the increased risk to children in short-term care. The purpose of the study is reported, though, as providing an assistive guide to caseworkers’ decision-making at the reunification milestone while making their safety assessment. The method for this research is described as being a case-control study. It is described as selecting two groups of participants: one group is selected based on their experience of the outcome of interest – in this case maltreatment recurrence within 60 days of reunification – and the comparison group selected who have not experienced the outcome. This type of study was appropriate for the element being researched because it is particularly useful to examine the effects of a given agent in relation to an occurrence, such as maltreatment following reunification. In addition, case-control studies can match cases with controls by such things as age (children under age 5 have been shown to suffer maltreatment recurrence more often than children ages 5-10), family income levels (low income families have shown greater recurrence than

Friday, November 15, 2019

Rationale For Leadership Development

Rationale For Leadership Development This assignment will be assessed through the students own reflection towards leadership developments in future. This assessment helps student evaluate their current leadership abilities and create their own leadership development plan. 1. Develop a Personal Leadership Development Plan (LDP). 10 marks You are expected to develop a plan for improving your leadership ability. This plan could set two goals for your personal leadership development in future. It should also help you take more responsibility for your own future and life. The two samples of LDP layout are as following Ldp 1 (5 marks) Identify opportunities you have for leadership development (SHORT TERM) [1 mark] In reality, there are many opportunities to develop your leadership skills, both within your organization and externally. You just need to know where to look. Opportunities also exist outside the workplace. If you belong to a computer science or IT association, offer to serve on a committee. Or volunteer with a non profit organization, where you can develop your leadership abilities with a group that would welcome your assistance. Quality leaders are always in demand at IT organizations. You already have the advantage of experience within and knowledge about your firm, so by improving your leadership skills, youll make yourself even more qualified for advancement. Your rationale for leadership development [1 mark] Successful management requires more than just assigning tasks to the team. It calls for a leader who can inspire team members to achieve their full potential. People want to be guided by a person they respect, someone who has a clear sense of direction. To be that person, there are certain things that you must BE, KNOW and DO. And thats what developing leadership skills is all about. This could be a real eye opener, and the key to making changes to your leadership style. Employ a 360 degree approach wherein you receive feedback from your team members and peers. Let your team in on the objective behind the survey. A relaxed and open environment will help draw out their honest opinion. Take complete responsibility for how you are heard. Always rephrase your message to make it sound positive. Effective communication is a fine art. An integral part of developing leadership skills is to learn to respect your teams capabilities. Let the te am members take decisions on certain issues. Your team must believe in your integrity, and that you really mean what you say. Distribute tasks among group members depending on the situation and individual strengths. You become a better leader by involving more people in the leadership process. Your prime responsibility is to ensure success and development of the team. Focus on building their skills as this will enhance motivation and team performance. Describe your strategies for leadership development [1 mark] Tailor personal and 360-degree assessments to the business strategy. The first place to start is the assessments you use in any LD program, as these are the front end of leadership development work. For instance, maybe change is an important implication of your business strategy. Identify parts of existing assessments that can be emphasized and relate. Select development goals related to the business strategy. When people identify goals, have them describe in their plan how the goal ties back to the business strategy. This activity gets people thinking about how goals relate to the business and why they should tackle a particular development goal. Tie training to the business strategy. In general, you have a choice of training topics and the design of the training. With the topic choice made, you can design the training to be based on the business strategy. He or she can describe exactly how the training relates to the current business strategy. Select Action Learning projects directly related to the business strategy. Many organizations use Action Learning as part of their LD efforts. This allows participants to practice their development goals. The key decision is selecting the projects. Select those that best fit and push forward the business strategy. Create a hybrid LD strategy. The prior four strategies are independent. That gives you the opportunity to string them together. Depending on your particular situation, you may be able to combine all four strategies and take action in each area. Or maybe it is just tackling two of them. Timeframe required to accomplish your development(s) [0.5 marks] Bill Gates had an early interest in software and began programming computers at the age of thirteen. In 1973, Bill Gates became a student at Harvard University, where he meet Steve Ballmer (now Microsofts chief executive officer). While still a Harvard undergraduate, Bill Gates wrote a version of the programming language. Bill Gates company Microsoft became famous for their computer operating systems and killer business deals. For example, Bill Gates talked IBM into letting Microsoft retain the licensing rights to MS-DOS an operating system, that IBM needed for their new personal computer. Gates proceeded to make a fortune from the licensing of MS-DOS. Bill Gates company Microsoft became famous for their computer operating systems and killer business deals. For example, Bill Gates talked IBM into letting Microsoft retain the licensing rights to MS-DOS an operating system, that IBM needed for their new personal computer. Gates proceeded to make a fortune from the licensing of MS-DOS. Evaluation (How will you measure what you have accomplished?) [1 mark] In contrast, evaluation for program improvement reflects an approach we refer to as real-time evaluation or RTE. At the Packard Foundation, real-time means balancing monitoring and evaluation to effectively support learning and continuous improvement as our grant making strategies are implemented. In practice, this approach extends beyond evaluation, and represents our overall strategy to develop an appropriate monitoring, evaluation, and learning system for each subprogram. We integrate real-time monitoring and evaluation to regularly facilitate opportunities for learning and bring timely evaluation data-in accessible formats-to the table for reflection and use in decision making. Rather than focus solely on evaluation, we have been encouraging a culture that thinks evaluative throughout the grant making lifecycle of planning, implementation, monitoring, assessment, and course correction Resourcing required [0.5 marks] Ldp 2 (5 marks) Identify opportunities you have for leadership development (LONG TERM) [1 mark] By making the Leadership Development Institute available at your organizations site, you have the opportunity to positively affect the organization. Any of our open-registration programs can be tailored to fit your organizations requirements, or we will create a program that mixes the elements your organization needs. Our goal is to provide you and your organization with long-term foundation to create productive, results-oriented workplace relationships. Education and training efforts are best when considered as ongoing at all levels of the organization. Your rationale for leadership development [1 mark] It is almost impossible to find good feedback,green bay packers jersey5, which you can trust,green bay packers jersey8, but there are a few golden rules which will aid you to work your way through either good or bad criticism Lets touch on the heavier,green bay packers jersey2, more important and life changing decisions that we can make but dontstressed-by-wulfpst files,green bay packers jersey8, make sure you close the Outlook,green bay packers jersey3, as the files will not be copied What are you worried anymore? The sound that Razor e100 makes? You really don? have to worry about that; this Razor e100 is not going to make the noise when your child rides on it If these heavy structures are checked on a regular basis then it would help avoid any major technical defect in the futureOnce upon time,93552, garages were for cars Apart from being a personal chef,green bay packers jersey2, he also writes for different national culinary pub lications, hosts a TV show called Culinary Adventures,green bay packers jersey4, and can be heard on many radio stations in the upper Midwest as he talks about the fine art of barbecuing and grilling Moreover, there is no credit check process So Randy intended to go FSU on a full football scholarship He had been living with his grandmother,green bay packers jersey9, and it was said he was unhappy about this,green bay packers jersey9, wanting to live with his mother Qubilah in Texas While facilities have been put in place to allow soldiers on break to call their families and friends,green bay packers jersey9, these do not seem to make up for the lost timecom An MMA fighter must maintain his strength,green bay packers jersey8, power and endurance at an even level during the matchmy-ownPeople with fibromyalgia also may benefit from a combination of physical and occupational therapy,green bay packers jersey0, by learning pain management and coping techniques,green bay packers jersey9, and by properly balancing rest and activity Describe your strategies for leadership development [1 mark] . The definition of business strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal or set of goals or objectives. Strategy is managements game plan for strengthening the performance of the enterprise. It states how business should be conduct to achieve the desired goals. Without a strategy management has no roadmap to guide them. Creating a business strategy is a core management function.It must be said that having a good strategy and executing the strategy well, does not guarantee success. Organisations can face unforeseen circumstances and adverse conditions through no fault of their own. Timeframe required to accomplish your development(s) [0.5 marks] . Having a professional development plan is an important part of career development. A development plan will lay out your career objectives and the path you will take towards achieving them. It will also set up clear expectations between you and your manager.sit down by yourself and identify your career goals and objectives within your organization. Clearly write out your one-year and five-year career goals and what you need to do in order to achieve them. If you need additional support from your management and peers to achieve those goals, identify the people who will be keys in your career development. Evaluation (How will you measure what you have accomplished?) [1 mark] Resourcing required [0.5 marks]

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

gay people Essay -- essays research papers

The topic I picked is Homosexual people should have the right and the freedom like what straight people have in this world. I think this topic is very controversial because in the U.S. Most homosexual people especially males, get discriminated because of what they feel: having attractiveness to their same sex. Most people in the U.S. are str8 and most people think that being gay or lesbian is wrong and it is not right to show it off and be proud of it. Another point why this topic is very controversial is when gay people marry each other. Many people believe and many religions believe it is very wrong to marry the same sex person. For example in the Roman Catholic followings. The church is totally against gay and lesbian relationships, because it if you do follow the gay and lesbian side its considered a big sin because in the teachings of GOD and Jesus you have to be with the opposite sex so you can make life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The 2 perspectives that are drawn on this topic is that the 1st perspective is that you see the topic as very reasonable. For instance you do agree with the topic and you do want to follow what it says. The 2nd perspective is that you disagree with the topic and say that gay and lesbians should have the rights or as much freedom as straight people because they are â€Å"different† than most people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The side that I want to represent is the one that I am with the perspective that sees that gay and lesbians should have the freedom to do whatever they want and with whom ever they want.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To me I am not gay myself, and I do not have any problems with these kinds of people. As long as they do not touch I’m cool with them. The reason I support the 1st perspective is because in this country the U.S. it is a free country and you can do whatever you want that is not crime committed or have to do anything that kills other people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Homosexual people do not have the freedom, yet they still fight for their right to be homosexual. People around the U.S. are against the homosexual concept. What I do not understand is why do you have to be against this gay and lesbian concept in the 1st place? 1st of all what to do homosexuals have to do in your life; they do not interfere into you personal life. So why do you have to discriminate and make fun of the peo... ...ot see the side of whom they are inside, but they only see what they are.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A lot of people judge each other by a different number of things. But the most discrimination next to racism is homosexuality. The reason a lot of people think it is wrong because they think it is sick and it is not normal for other people to see homosexuals kissing or engaging in sexual intercourse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall Homosexuals have it hard in the U.S. but not only here but around the world, some countries or religions kill people if they are gay. What I think about that is that I think it’s very wrong and people do not realize that being gay is very hard, and they can’t be put in their shoes to see how it is. The whole problem is that people of different aspects or view have been discriminated because of what they believe in and what they want to act in. So what I want to say is that homosexuals should have the same equal rights and the same amount of freedom as straight people because in this world it does not matter who, what you are, but it does matter how you contribute to this world and how people make it a better place.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Monday, November 11, 2019

My Bestfriend

What do you think with your best friend’s appearance, personality and the feeling you have they to be your friend? In my opinion, â€Å"Friend† is really important for me. I can live without computer and TV but I can’t live without †friend† the person who is sharing my mood with me whenever I’m happy or sad and I found â€Å"her† my really best friend who has nice appearance , good personality and I’m very happy that I can be friend with her. My best friend is Vianney.She’s cute, good looking and not talk too much with the person that she isn’t known very well. When you see her first time you might think she’s hard to get along with but actually if you understand her well, you will know that it isn’t like what you see. She has a good smile, big eyes and pretty long hair that will let people want to be friend with her when they see her. In addition, Vianney is a responsible person. She always takes care of her jobs well and finishes the work on time. She’s hard working and organized.She can manage the time very well and everything is in her schedule. Moreover, she’s reliable sometime I’ll talk to her some secrets and she can keep the secret very well and won’t talk to others. I think she is a really nice friend. What is more, Vianney is a really good friend for me. She’s the person who understands me well. She’s always beside me when I’m upset, listen to me and help me every time when I need help. When I have problem she will give me some advices and help me to solve the problem.Even when I don’t understand in the lesson she explained patiently for me to understand every time. I think I’m really lucky that I have met Vianney and I’m very happy we are friend and I think we will be friend forever. To summarizes, I think Vianney is a nice person. She has good appearance, personality and I’m very happy that I can be friend with Vianney who is cute, responsible and always help me in everything. Finally, I think friend is really important for me and I hope we can be friend forever.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Free Essays on New Sociology

MacBeth - Analysis of Fear Fear , this motivates people to do many things, no matter if they are right or wrong. In the play Macbeth it was fear that was the main motivating factor that influenced the outcome of the play. This can be proved by the subsequent murders that followed after Duncan's,... Teaching With Fear Uncertainty is a very unsettling feeling for the human psyche to manage. Nathaniel Hawthorne explores how insecurity can overwhelm even the most sensible people in his book The Minister’s Black Veil. Mr. Hooper isolated himself from his community with a simple piece of cloth which in turn inspired... Homophobia Fear or Hate Homophobia, the fear , dislike or hatred of lesbians and gay men, is becoming a big problem in America today. Most people that have homophobia are uneducated about what goes on in the gay community. Since homophobes, persons who exhibit homophobia, are uneducated. They discriminate against peop... Elisabeth Kubler-Ross â€Å"On the fear of Death,† A few days ago in the class we read the article â€Å"On the fear of Death,†Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. I never thought about death before, because I’m young and full of energy. After lesson I think about death all the time. This is a big desperation in my life. I feel so terrible and it seems to me that ... MacBeth - Analysis of Fear- MacBeth - Analysis of Fear - Fear , this motivates us to do many things no matter if they are right or wrong. In the play Macbeth it was fear that was the main motivating factor that influenced the outcome of the play. This can be proved by the subsequent murders that followed after Duncan's, ... Fear and Religion in Lucretius Religion is one of Lucretius’ favorite topics to argue against in his poem â€Å"On the Nature of Things.† What religion does to man and the fear of the life after death that is instilled on the living is unjust per Lucretius. For while the nature of the gods must necessarily of itself enj... Free Essays on New Sociology Free Essays on New Sociology MacBeth - Analysis of Fear Fear , this motivates people to do many things, no matter if they are right or wrong. In the play Macbeth it was fear that was the main motivating factor that influenced the outcome of the play. This can be proved by the subsequent murders that followed after Duncan's,... Teaching With Fear Uncertainty is a very unsettling feeling for the human psyche to manage. Nathaniel Hawthorne explores how insecurity can overwhelm even the most sensible people in his book The Minister’s Black Veil. Mr. Hooper isolated himself from his community with a simple piece of cloth which in turn inspired... Homophobia Fear or Hate Homophobia, the fear , dislike or hatred of lesbians and gay men, is becoming a big problem in America today. Most people that have homophobia are uneducated about what goes on in the gay community. Since homophobes, persons who exhibit homophobia, are uneducated. They discriminate against peop... Elisabeth Kubler-Ross â€Å"On the fear of Death,† A few days ago in the class we read the article â€Å"On the fear of Death,†Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. I never thought about death before, because I’m young and full of energy. After lesson I think about death all the time. This is a big desperation in my life. I feel so terrible and it seems to me that ... MacBeth - Analysis of Fear- MacBeth - Analysis of Fear - Fear , this motivates us to do many things no matter if they are right or wrong. In the play Macbeth it was fear that was the main motivating factor that influenced the outcome of the play. This can be proved by the subsequent murders that followed after Duncan's, ... Fear and Religion in Lucretius Religion is one of Lucretius’ favorite topics to argue against in his poem â€Å"On the Nature of Things.† What religion does to man and the fear of the life after death that is instilled on the living is unjust per Lucretius. For while the nature of the gods must necessarily of itself enj...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Free Essays on Magona

To My Children’s Children by Sindiwe Magona is an autobiography that creatively illustrates her development into womanhood while integrating her limitations due to apartheid. Amazingly Magona tells of her loving childhood with an optimistic tone even though she and her family had to overcome struggles dealing with poverty, death, schooling, pregnancy, politics and racism. Apartheid may have cynically affected many aspects of Sindiwe’s life, but she never allowed her determination or spirit to be defeated. There were many facets of Magona’s life that were affected by Apartheid, one of them being the educational system. Under the rules of a Bantu education, the government believed that Black Africans should only be educated for their opportunities in life and that there was no place for them above the level of certain forms of labor. (Magona) Luckily, Sindiwe just missed the year that this form of thought was put into effect, so she was able to graduate high school and go on to earn a degree as a teacher. This did however, affect her teaching career. There were too many students, not enough books, and the grade levels were all mixed. Although she tried to teach some the basics, most of the time it seemed futile in trying to organize the abilities of the students, or even teach lessons. Then there was her salary, or lack there of. Magona had a degree and earned very little. â€Å"Yes, teacher’s salaries, a decade and a half after I had started teaching, were still so low a s to elicit scorn from everybody, from lowly domestic workers to common criminals. When I had entered the field of education, to say I had been astounded at the pittance African teachers earned would be an understatement.† (Magona, 96) Another part of Magona’s life affected by Apartheid was her environment; where she grew up. Black African’s were forced to move to homelands, which were designated areas. These places were usually pits of poverty. â€Å" Blaau... Free Essays on Magona Free Essays on Magona To My Children’s Children by Sindiwe Magona is an autobiography that creatively illustrates her development into womanhood while integrating her limitations due to apartheid. Amazingly Magona tells of her loving childhood with an optimistic tone even though she and her family had to overcome struggles dealing with poverty, death, schooling, pregnancy, politics and racism. Apartheid may have cynically affected many aspects of Sindiwe’s life, but she never allowed her determination or spirit to be defeated. There were many facets of Magona’s life that were affected by Apartheid, one of them being the educational system. Under the rules of a Bantu education, the government believed that Black Africans should only be educated for their opportunities in life and that there was no place for them above the level of certain forms of labor. (Magona) Luckily, Sindiwe just missed the year that this form of thought was put into effect, so she was able to graduate high school and go on to earn a degree as a teacher. This did however, affect her teaching career. There were too many students, not enough books, and the grade levels were all mixed. Although she tried to teach some the basics, most of the time it seemed futile in trying to organize the abilities of the students, or even teach lessons. Then there was her salary, or lack there of. Magona had a degree and earned very little. â€Å"Yes, teacher’s salaries, a decade and a half after I had started teaching, were still so low a s to elicit scorn from everybody, from lowly domestic workers to common criminals. When I had entered the field of education, to say I had been astounded at the pittance African teachers earned would be an understatement.† (Magona, 96) Another part of Magona’s life affected by Apartheid was her environment; where she grew up. Black African’s were forced to move to homelands, which were designated areas. These places were usually pits of poverty. â€Å" Blaau...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Summarizing an Article with an accompaning outline Essay

Summarizing an Article with an accompaning outline - Essay Example This helps in reducing money supply in the economy and a reduced money supply results in lower inflation and thus reduce any risk of devaluation. Other Russian states are also facing problems of rapid dollarization; most payments even on micro level are increasingly being made in dollars. Another method of hedging against currency risk being adopted by banks is lending in dollars. This however creates problems for borrowers who have loans in dollars and business reserves in GEL. Their risk is dramatically increased which makes it difficult to survive in an already recessionary environment (Gardner, 2009). This will also reduce taxes for the Georgian government. This is because as the losses of currency devaluation increase on the income statement, the taxable income is automatically decreased. The high budget deficit of 9.4 percent of the countrys gross domestic product is also a major obstacle to stability of GEL. The IMF however still insists that Georgian national bank is equipped with all necessary tools to protect the national currency. The high reserves base of GEL being held by the national bank has reached 2,109,000,000 GEL (Gardner, 2009). This is very important in order to keep stability in the currency value. The bank can use these reserves to control exchange rate fluctuations in the market. That will however be a controlled economy, the National bank has pledged that it will not temper with the free floating market. The free exchange rate environment will continue to function. IMF has insisted that Georgian economy cannot sustain a totally market controlled exchange rate system. The National Bank will have to intervene in order to control shocks created by continuous temporary fluctuations. The current strategies being adopted by Georgian government and National Bank are a positive step in providing stability to both economy and currency. The banking sector has shown resilience against

Friday, November 1, 2019

Week One Individual Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week One Individual Assignment - Essay Example the threats, the weaknesses the opportunities and the strengths. In diagnosing opportunities and threats, the manager should reflect on Michael Porter’s model for competitive forces in order to diagnose the competitive forces in the particular industry. These forces are very important since they can affect the business profit potential, growth rate or even survival. The business plan should assess these forces. These are the following: competitors, new entrants, customers, suppliers and substitute goods or services. Since the baby clothing store is a start-up business, the new entrants force is not of particular importance for this stage. From the competitors’ side the business owner should check the rivalry among competitors and more specifically should examine the number of firms there are in the particular industry, the rate of the industry growth and the level of fixed costs. The baby clothing store may face the danger of the customers’ bargaining power since the goods it provides are standard and undifferentiated i.e. the customers can find the same or similar ones to other shops and therefore they may force down the prices or buy more goods or services for the same price. A possible solution here would be to offer excellent customer service but this is going to be developed in strategies. The next step in planning is setting goals. The goals should be realistic, challenging but achievable and they can act as a benchmark so the manager can see if s/he meets his/her targets. The goal should be both strategic and financial. Then, the manager should develop and implement strategies. The strategies should be based on extensive market analysis, examination of opportunities and threats and contingency plans if things do not go as expected. From the three strategies i.e. market penetration, market development and product development strategy, it seems that the

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Business entity part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business entity part 2 - Essay Example Realistic goal means that set objectives are within reach and can be achievable. Cash increase as a goal that can be achieved by starting a saving plan, thus identifying the financial capability of the corporation. Revenue growth is a financial goal necessary for a corporation’s growth (Krus, 2005). The long term goal means steady elevation of sales that lead to income increase. This can be achieved by setting aside crisis funds. This ensures the corporation has a back up and encounters no lose in the income. This enhances a corporation’s income which results to revenue growth that is fundamental in the financial unit. Returns increase is a long term financial goal that a corporation can set. Return increase means profit increase in a corporation. The returns increase objective should be specific, which implies that the corporation should put precise figures in an orderly manner. (Krus, 2005). The goal should be achievable without the corporation being under pressure to enable it fulfil the goal. This goal can be achieved by creating a budget that will identify credits and

Monday, October 28, 2019

VARK Analysis Essay Example for Free

VARK Analysis Essay Learning is a process that may occur consciously or unconsciously. Differences in the process through which different people accept/acquire information, process and interpret it, greatly influences the way individuals will react to the same stimuli. These differences carry on with an individual into the educational system and depending on an individual’s preference, their performance in school is greatly influenced-both academically and socially. There are several learning modes that individuals may ascribe to, the common ones being visual representation, audio representation, reading and writing and activity. This paper seeks to discuss these modes as brought out through the VARK analysis and give recommendations on how to make the best out of a particular learning mode. Learning Style To understand a concept, some people may prefer to observe others doing the same thing, others may prefer to be involved while others may prefer to read about it or be told about it by another person who they may regard as having a better understanding. These are learning styles that we employ to gather and process information. According to Keefe (1979), a learning style can be defined as â€Å"the composite of characteristic cognitive, affective, and physiological factors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how a learner perceives, interacts with, and responds to the learning environment. † As an individual, I particularly prefer to learn by being involved physically or doing something practically. This helps in embedding a concept or procedure to memory and allow for troubleshooting. Information gathered from literature is visualized and sometimes put in form of diagrams or patterns that can be easy to remember. Charts and graphs also serve as easy ways to grasp ideas being presented. In class setting, I prefer to look up information on my own, reading from different sources until a concept is understood. Occasionally I may enquire of others after exhausting all other avenues. Comparison of learning strategies According to the VARK analysis, individuals are considered to be able to take in and process information in through four channels; visual, aural, reading/writing or kinesthetic. No single way can be considered better than the others but understanding ones acceptance and processing channel can help in developing a study strategy to help the individual be able to improve the speed and learning efficiency. Any combination of the above learning preferences results in a multimodal (VARK) learning preference which may -in my opinion- be deemed more desirable than the single preference learning style. Being multimodal, having all preferences, allows the learner to be able to cope with learning challenges better as they are able to switch between preferences to the one most applicable in a given situation. This mode though may become a hindrance in itself in that the individual may be unable to decide fast enough onto which mode to switch into thereby resulting in delay in decision making or being out of sync with the learning environment. Following VARK analysis I am considered as multimodal with higher preference to kinesthetic, visual and reading/writing and least to aural which I consider as a true evaluation. Further analysis classifies me as a whole-sense multimodal individual – score over 25 – who makes use of several strategies before making a final decision (Fleming N. D. , 2010). This in itself is identified as a weakness due to the indecisive nature that results from taking to long to decide when presented with information through only one channel. Changes needed Though slowness in decision making is being viewed as a weakness, in some instances it is an advantage in that it prevents rash decision making and allows more time for reflection on any given topic. A most critical change required is in self-confidence, a capacity to take risk and act on the information at hand. This I consider as the most critical since in hospital setting, incase of a casualty case, there is not enough time to verify all information and instant decisions have to be made to save a patient. Another would be to determine the objectives of learning a particular subject and this would allow for faster decision making as it would allow for assumption to be made when only trying to get an idea (Bradford K. , Stewart K. L. , 1992) Summarization VARK analysis though not a learning strategy in itself, is a helpful tool in identifying ones own weaknesses and thus be in a position to identify the course of action to be taken. Instances where an individual is not able to integrate into a new learning environment can easily be dealt with since the individual knowing their strengths and weaknesses would easily try to adapt themselves to the environment or if possible change it to their preferred one. It also increases ones confidence when learning as clarification may be sought in a way the learner feels most comfortable with. Conclusion Though this analysis does give one a powerful tool with which to strategize their studies, it is important to understand that the outcome of studies depends entirely on that individual’s willingness to change their strategies to take advantage of their strengths and work on their weaknesses. It is also to be understood that learning styles in themselves are just preferences that an individual has and are not sure guarantees that presented with information in such a way they will instantly understand it. Although everyone has a preferred way of learning, it is possible for everyone to combine several strategies in order t achieve a set learning goal. ? References Flemiming N. D. (2010). VARK: A review of those who are multimodal. Accessed July 11, 2010 from http://www. vark-learn.com/english/page_content/multimodality. htm Keefe, J. W. (1979). Learning style: An overview. In NASSPs Student learning styles:Diagnosing and prescribing programs (pp. 1-17). Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals. Overview of Learning Styles, (2010). Accessed July 11, 2010 from http://www. learning-styles-online. com/overview/ Stewart, K. L. , and Felicetti, L. A. (1992). Learning styles of marketing majors. Educational Research Quarterly, 15(2), 15-23.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

How Harper Lee makes Mayella Ewell a Vulnerable yet Contemptible Character in To Kill a Mockingbird :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

It is Mayella's deceit that brings Tom Robinson to trial. Though she may not be forgiven for this lie, Atticus and Scout feel sympathy for her because of the terrible poverty in which she lives. Whenever Scout feels sorry for Mayella we do as well as we are viewing the trial from her point of view. When Tom Robinson?s trial begins, evidence begins to show that Tom Robinson is actually innocent. When Mr Ewell takes the stand we see that he is not a soft hearted person because he is blaming Tom Robinson for something that he has not done, ?I seen that nigger yonder ruttin? on my Mayella? This shows a man?s racism and inhumanity towards another man. Tom Robinson hasn?t done the community any wrong but is a social outcast for being black which is not his fault. We also learn a bit about Mr Ewell. Lee states earlier on, ?The varmints had a lean of it, for the Ewell?s gave the dump through gleaning every day? This suggests that the Ewells live of the town?s dump which isn?t a very hygienic way of living, but then again Mr Ewell is an unemployed alcoholic. As we are told earlier, ?No public health officer could free them from congenital defeats, various worms and diseases indigenous to filthy surroundings? Mr Ewell is a terrible father due to his abusiveness and neglect. He doesn?t care for or look after his children and so Mayella, his eldest daughter, has to carry out his job. ?Nobody was quite sure ho many children were on the place. Some people said six, others said nine? With lots of children to take care of Mayella was only able to get two to three years of education and she had no friends. This is why when Atticus asks her about her friends she thinks he is making fun of her. After having to live a life like this we don?t know why Mayella would like to defend her hard-hearted father, but she probably did this because she was scared of what he would do to her if she told the truth. We feel sympathetic towards her at this point but there is still a sense of hatred towards her as she is letting an innocent person being jailed who actually helped her a lot when no one did. Atticus questions Mayella very differently compared to the way he questions Bob Ewell. Through Atticus? language we learn that he does sympathise with Mayella and he does realise she is a victim of her father?

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Changing Gender Roles in William Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- Macbet

Changing Gender Roles in William Shakespeare's Macbeth  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Much attention has been paid to the theme of "manliness" as it appears throughout Macbeth. In his introduction to Macbeth in The Riverside Shakespeare, Frank Kermode contends that the play is "about the eclipse of civility and manhood, [and] the temporary triumph of evil" (1307). Stephen Greenblatt emphasizes the same idea in The Norton Shakespeare, crediting Lady Macbeth for encouraging her husband through both "sexual taunting" and "the terrible force of her determination" (2557-58). Macbeth responds to his wife with "a clear sense of the proper boundaries of his identity as a male and as a human being, [telling her] 'I dare do all that may become a man;/Who dares do more is none' (I.7.46-47)" (2558). Both Kermode's and Greenblatt's notions focus upon how Macbeth's masculinity is recognized and defined -- by Macbeth himself as well as by the potentially influential people who surround him. The critics who introduce the play in these major anthologies perceive the same weakness in Macbeth's character as the apparently evil forces who play upon it do: Macbeth's masculinity becomes the psychological vehicle through which he becomes incensed, inspired, and finally incited to action. If Macbeth's "manliness" is to be questioned, it is not likely to occur within the male-dominated world of battlefields and military victories which Shakespeare introduces in Act I, Scene 2. In this passage, the bleeding Captain praises Macbeth's heroism, contending . . . brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name!-- Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valour's minion Carved out his passage till he faced the slave, Which ne... ... Universities Modern Language Association 70 (Nov. 1988): 366-85. Dolan, Frances. The Taming of the Shrew: Texts and Contexts. Boston: Bedford, 1996. Greenblatt, Stephen. "Introduction to Macbeth." The Norton Shakespeare. New York: Norton, 1997. 2555-63. Hawkins, Michael. "History, politics, and Macbeth." Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. London: Routledge, 1982. 155-88. Kermode, Frank. "Introduction to Macbeth." The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton, 1974. 1307-11. Stallybrass, Peter. "Macbeth and Witchcraft." Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. London: Routledge, 1982. 189-209. Williamson, Marily L. "Violence and Gender Ideology." Shakespeare Left and Right. Ed. Ivo Kamps et al. New York: Routledge, 1991. 157-66. Winstanley, Lilian. Macbeth, King Lear, and Contemporary History. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Hampton Machine Tool Company Essay

From the point of view as the bank creditor, Jerry Eckwood, a determination must be made of whether Hampton Machine Tool Company should receive an extension of their original loan of $1 million, as well as an additional loan of $350,000. After research and careful consideration and extraneous research and forecasting, we, St. Louis National Bank, as well as myself, Jerry Eckwood, have determined to reject Hampton Machine Tool Company’s loan request, as well as the loan extension request. Based off of conducting a financial analysis, primarily on the cash budget, our forecasting has shown that Hampton Machine Tool Company would not be able to fully repay their loan of $1.35 million by the end of the year (1979). However, we have determined that Hampton Machine Tool Company would be able to fully repay their loan in January. Therefore, we are offering a proposal to extend the loan for another month, but with an increased interest rate. Not only will this allow you to repay your loans in full, but it will also provide you with the necessary funding that you are requesting. The re-negotiation of the terms of the loans would include the following: the deadline of the payment would increase to January, while the interest rate would increase to 1.75%. This will ensure that the loan will be repaid on time and will allow Hampton Machine Tool Company to purchase their new equipment to assist with operation needs. In order to make our decision, we reviewed Hampton Machine Tool Company’s financial ratios, as well as their cash budget. While analyzing the profitability ratio, it came to our attention that these ratios were unstable, but showed signs of significant improvement. The ratios that stuck out to us were the significant increase in operating profit margin and gross profit margin. This increase was based mainly off of the historical trend compared to the project financial statements. While the gross profit margin had its only decrease in September, we can safely trace this to the reduction of WIP inventory of $1,320 during this month. This reduction in WIP concludes that Hampton Machine Tool Company would be operating at a loss of -13% during the month of September. However, we must take into account that profitability will greatly increase three months  prior due to the backlog in inventory and customer orders. Therefore, we determined that Hampton Machine Tool Company would be an acceptable client to extend credit to. When determining liquidity, we based our determinations off of the project financial statements. These concluded that Hampton Machine Tool Company’s quick ration is currently below 1, and has been for some time. A quick ratio below 1 shows that a company’s liabilities are greater than its assets, which can lead to a greater chance of depending on inventory to cover some obligations for payment. Our main conclusion to reject Hampton Machine Tool Company’s offer was determined based off of their current cash budget. As shown in Exhibit B, we determined that Hampton Machine Tool Company would perform well once their equipment was improved with the loan. It was also concluded from this exhibit that additional borrowings would not be necessary to fund operations due to their potential ending cash balances. Exhibit D shows that Hampton Machine Tool Company would still have a possibility of a negative cash balance in December if they postponed paying dividends. When factoring in the December sales and the accounts receivable from them, Hampton Machine Tool Company would still be unable to fully repay the loan in December. Extending the loan to January would make the most sense, allowing them time to accumulate the appropriate cash to repay the loan in full. As stated above, our decision to reject Hampton Machine Tool Company’s loan extension request was primarily based off of their current cash budget. Our proposal is to extend the loan to January, with an interest rate increase to 1.75%. The acceptance of this proposal will grant Hampton Machine Tool Company excess time to repay the loan, which will simultaneously remove it from their liabilities. As for the St. Louis National Bank, we feel confident that providing an extension into January will allow Hampton Machine Tool Company sufficient time to turn profits and fully repay their loan. Along with this, the bank will receive additional payments due to the increase in the interest rate. Furthermore, if Hampton Machine Tool Company is unable to repay the loan in January, penalties would incur, based on the discretion of the bank and amount still owned by Hampton Machine Tool Company.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Galileo, Science And The Church

Galileo, Science and the Church By: Jerome J. Langford Galileo, Science and the Church, by Jerome J. Langford, are about the trails and tribulations of Galileo and the Roman Catholic Church. Langford wrote this book to let people know that there was a double fault in the conflict between Galileo and the church. The church did not agree with Galileo’s ideas, mostly his theories associated with Copernican. The intentions of Langford is to bring the truth of Galileo’s trails to his readers, and to show that ultimately Galileo was correct in his theories and was not trying to go against the church’s beliefs. Galileo was trying to seek truth in science, and wanted to be known as a historical scientific figure. Galileo was one of the truly greatest of scientist of all time. His discoveries and inventions place him up at the top with, Newton, Einstein, and a few more. Langford shows in the book, that in the beginning of the sixteenth century the geocentric view was accepted in majority by theologians and scientist alike, but by the end of the century scientific ideas began to emerge that was different. Through a series of events, by the end of the sixteenth century, the church had developed a stubborn dedication to the status quo; which tolerated no suggestions of flaws in their beliefs. From this book I gathered that Langford wrote the book to express how the church was wrong, and Galileo was right on his theories. I learned that long ago you had to pretty much go with the flow. You had to do what the church told you to do. Mainly because they could read and you couldn’t. You couldn’t tell right from wrong in the real world because the church told you what was considered right and wrong. You had to go with what they said no matter if you believe it or not. Once Galileo came in there with his theories on the earth and the sun, and inertia and the scientific point of view, the church was scared. Galileo kn... Free Essays on Galileo, Science And The Church Free Essays on Galileo, Science And The Church Galileo, Science and the Church By: Jerome J. Langford Galileo, Science and the Church, by Jerome J. Langford, are about the trails and tribulations of Galileo and the Roman Catholic Church. Langford wrote this book to let people know that there was a double fault in the conflict between Galileo and the church. The church did not agree with Galileo’s ideas, mostly his theories associated with Copernican. The intentions of Langford is to bring the truth of Galileo’s trails to his readers, and to show that ultimately Galileo was correct in his theories and was not trying to go against the church’s beliefs. Galileo was trying to seek truth in science, and wanted to be known as a historical scientific figure. Galileo was one of the truly greatest of scientist of all time. His discoveries and inventions place him up at the top with, Newton, Einstein, and a few more. Langford shows in the book, that in the beginning of the sixteenth century the geocentric view was accepted in majority by theologians and scientist alike, but by the end of the century scientific ideas began to emerge that was different. Through a series of events, by the end of the sixteenth century, the church had developed a stubborn dedication to the status quo; which tolerated no suggestions of flaws in their beliefs. From this book I gathered that Langford wrote the book to express how the church was wrong, and Galileo was right on his theories. I learned that long ago you had to pretty much go with the flow. You had to do what the church told you to do. Mainly because they could read and you couldn’t. You couldn’t tell right from wrong in the real world because the church told you what was considered right and wrong. You had to go with what they said no matter if you believe it or not. Once Galileo came in there with his theories on the earth and the sun, and inertia and the scientific point of view, the church was scared. Galileo kn...

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Black Catâ€Plot, Symbols, Themes, and Key Quotes

The Black Cat- Plot, Symbols, Themes, and Key Quotes The  Black Cat, one  of  Edgar Allan Poes  most memorable stories, is a classic example of the gothic  literature genre that debuted in the Saturday Evening Post on August 19, 1843. Written in the form of a first-person narrative, Poe employed multiple themes of insanity, superstition, and alcoholism to impart a palpable sense of horror and foreboding to this tale, while at the same time, deftly advancing his plot and building his characters. Its no surprise that The Black Cat is often linked with The  Tell-Tale Heart, since both of Poes stories share several disturbing plot devices including murder and damning messages from the grave- real or imagined. Plot  Summary The nameless protagonist/narrator begins his story by letting the readers know that he was once a nice, average man. He had a pleasant home, was married to a pleasant wife, and had an abiding love for animals. All that was to change, however, when he fell under the influence of demon alcohol. The first symptom of his descent into addiction and eventual madness manifests with his escalating maltreatment of the family pets. The only creature to escape the mans initial wrath is a beloved black cat named Pluto, but one night after a serious bout of heavy drinking, Pluto angers him for some minor infraction, and in a drunken fury, the man seizes the cat, which promptly bites him. The narrator retaliates by cutting out one of the Plutos eyes. While the cats wound eventually heals, the relationship between the man and his pet has been destroyed. Eventually, the narrator, filled with self-loathing, comes to detest the cat as a symbol of his own weakness, and in a moment of further insanity, hangs the poor creature by the neck from a tree beside the house where its left to perish.  Shortly thereafter, the house burns down. While the narrator, his wife, and a servant escape, the only thing left standing is a single blackened interior wall- on which, to his horror, the man sees the image of a cat hanging by a noose around its neck. Thinking to assuage his guilt, the protagonist begins searching out a second black cat to replace Pluto. One night, in a tavern, he eventually finds just such a cat, which accompanies him to the house he now shares with his wife, albeit under greatly reduced circumstances. Soon enough, the madness- abetted by gin- returns. The narrator begins not only to detest the new cat- which is always underfoot- but to fear it. What remains of his reason keeps him from harming the animal, until the day the mans wife asks him to accompany her on an errand to the cellar. The cat runs ahead, nearly tripping his master on the stairs. The man becomes enraged. He picks up an ax, meaning to murder the animal, but when his wife grabs the handle to stop him, he pivots, killing her with a blow to the head. Rather than break down with remorse, the man hastily hides his wifes body by walling it up with bricks behind a false facade in the cellar. The cat thats been tormenting him seems to have disappeared. Relieved, he begins to think hes gotten away with his crime and all will finally be well–until the police eventually show up to search the house. They find nothing but as theyre headed up the cellar stairs preparing to leave, the narrator stops them, and with false bravado, he boasts how well the house is built, tapping on the wall thats hiding the body of his dead wife. From within comes a sound of unmistakable anguish. Upon hearing the cries, the authorities demolish the false wall, only to find the wifes corpse, and on top of it, the missing cat. I had walled the monster up within the tomb! he wails- not realizing that in fact, he and not the cat, is the actual villain of the story. Symbols Symbols are a key component of Poes dark tale, particularly the following ones. The black cat:  More than just the title character, the black cat is also an important symbol. Like the bad omen of legend, the narrator believes Pluto and his successor have led him down the path toward insanity and immorality.  Alcohol: While the narrator begins to view the black cat as an outward manifestation of everything the narrator views as evil and unholy, blaming the animal for all his woes, it is his addiction to drinking, more than anything else, that seems to be the true reason for the narrators mental decline.House and home: Home sweet home is supposed to be a place of safety and security, however, in this story, it becomes a dark and tragic place of madness and murder. The narrator kills his favorite pet, tries to kill its replacement, and goes on to kill his own wife. Even the relationships that should have been the central focus of his healthy and happy home fall victim to his deteriorating mental  state.  Prison: When the story opens, the narrator is physica lly in prison, however, his mind was already imprisoned by the shackles of madness, paranoia, and alcohol-induced delusions long before he was apprehended for his crimes.   The wife: The wife could have been a grounding force in the narrators life.  He describes her as having that humanity of feeling. Rather than saving him, or at least escaping with her own life, she becomes a horrible example of innocence betrayed. Loyal, faithful, and kind, she never leaves her husband no matter how low he sinks into the depths of depravity. Instead, it is he who is in a sense unfaithful to his marriage vows. His mistress, however, is not another woman, but rather his obsession with drinking and the inner demons his drinking unleashes as symbolically personified by the black cat. He forsakes the woman he loves- and eventually kills her because he cant break the hold of his destructive obsession. Major Themes Love and hate are two key themes in the story.  The narrator at first loves his pets and his wife, but as madness takes hold of him, he comes to loathe or dismiss everything that should be of the utmost importance to him. Other major themes include: Justice and truth:  The narrator tries to hide the truth by walling up his wifes body but the voice of the black cat helps bring him to justice.Superstition:  The black cat is an omen of bad luck, a theme that runs throughout literature.  Murder and death:  Death is the central focus of the entire story. The question is what causes the narrator to become a killer.Illusion versus reality:  Does the alcohol release the narrators inner demons, or is it merely an excuse for his horrendous acts of violence? Is the black cat merely a cat, or something embued with a greater power to bring about justice or exact revenge?Loyalty perverted: A pet is often seen as a loyal and faithful partner in life but the escalating hallucinations the narrator experiences propel him into murderous rages, first with Pluto and then with the cat the replaces him. The pets he once held in highest affection become the thing he most loathes. As the mans sanity unravels, his wife, whom he also purports to love, becomes someone who merely inhabits his home rather than shares his life. She ceases to be a real person, and when she does, she is expendable. When she dies, rather than feel the horror of killing someone he cares for, the mans first response is to hide the evidence of his crime. Key Quotes Poes use of language enhance the storys chilling impact. His stark prose is  the reason this and other of his tales have endured. Key quotes from Poes work echo its themes. On reality vs. illusion: For the  most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief.   On loyalty: There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man.   On superstition: In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who at heart was not a little tinctured with superstition, made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise.   On alcoholism: ...my disease grew upon me- for what disease is like Alcohol!- and at  length  even Pluto, who was now becoming old, and consequently somewhat peevish- even Pluto began to experience the effects of my ill temper.   On transformation and descent into insanity: I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fiber of my frame.   On murder: This spirit of perverseness, I say, came to my final overthrow. It was this unfathomable longing of the soul to vex itself- to offer violence to its own nature- to do wrong for the wrongs sake only- that urged me to continue and finally to consummate the injury I had inflicted upon the unoffending brute.   On evil: Beneath the pressure of torments such as these, the feeble remnant of the good within me succumbed. Evil thoughts became my sole intimates- the darkest and most evil of thoughts.   Questions for Study and Discussion Once students have read The Black Cat, teachers can use the following questions to spark discussion or as the basis for an exam or written assignment: Why do you think Poe chose The Black Cat as the title for this story?What are the major conflicts? What types of conflict (physical, moral, intellectual, or emotional) do you see in this story?What does Poe do to reveal character in the story?What are some themes in the story?How does Poe employ symbolism?Is the narrator consistent in his actions? Is he a fully developed character?Do you find the narrator likable? Would you want to meet him?Do you find the narrator reliable? Do you trust what he says to be true?How would you describe the narrators relationship with animals? How does it differ from his relationships with people?Does the story end the way you expected it to?What is the central  purpose of the story? Why is this purpose important or meaningful?Why is the story usually considered a work of horror literature?Would you consider this appropriate reading for Halloween?How essential is setting to the story? Could the story have taken place anywhere else?What are some of the controversial elements of the story? Were they necessary? What is the role of women in the text?Would you recommend this story to a friend?If Poe had not ended the story as he did, what do you think might have happened next?How have views on alcoholism, superstition, and insanity changed since this story was written?How might a modern writer approach a similar story?