Fiction and Literature Outdoor Literature Essay

â€Å"When I read great literature, great drama, speeches, or sermons, I feel that the human mind has not achieved anything greater than the ability to share feelings and thoughts through language. â€Å"- James Earl Jones The major types of literature across the world are English, Greek, Latin, Roman, African, Indian, American, French, Irish, Spain, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Sanskrit, Nepali, Russian and Canadian literature. Literature is a well-considered form of a language that influences the minds of readers of all age. Italian Renaissance is the age of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, whereas Greece Literature mostly comprises the literature of Greek Gods and Goddesses. Romanticism of Wordsworth is the literature which is oriented towards nature and can be considered to be reverse of classicism. Today’s era of Modernism and Post modernism uses artificial language based on ambiguity, satire and parody. Some authors choose long composition methods to link more than one story. Moreover, literature being a part of scientific language is also used to analyze grammar, usage, lexis and semantics. Kinds of Literature Fictional Literature. Drama: Drama is the theatrical dialog performed on stage, it consists of 5 acts. Tragedy, comedy and melodrama are the sub types of drama. e. g William Shakespeare, an Elizabethan dramatist composed the plays Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear that are famous because of its combination of tragedy and comedy. Problem play, farce, fantasy, monologue and comedy of manners are some kinds of drama. Tragedy: It is a story of the major character who faces bad luck. Tragedy, elements of horrors and struggle usually concludes with the death of a person. The Illiad and The Odyssey by Homer are the two famous Greek tragedies. Comedy: The lead character overcomes the conflicts and overall look of the comedy is full of laughter and the issues are handled very lightly. The elements used in the comedy are romanticism, exaggeration, surprises and a comic view of life. Melodrama: Melodrama is a blend of two nouns – ‘melody’ and ‘drama’. It is a musical play most popular by 1840. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is one of the most popular plays describing cruelty of labor life. It has happy ending like comedy. Tragicomedy: The play that begins with serious mode but has a happy ending is tragicomedy. Prose Literature  History, journalism, philosophy, fiction and fantasy writings, scientific writings, children’s literature authors and writers are included in Prose Literature. Myth Myths are the fairy tales with lots of adventure, magic and it lacks scientific proof. Nursery rhymes, songs and lullabies are forms of myths that strike the interest of children. Creative and nature myth are stories of the stars and moon. Magic tales are wonderful tales of quests and fantasy. Hero myths are ideal heroes of adventure. Short story The small commercial fiction, true or imaginary, smaller than a novel is known as short story. Short stories are well-grouped that followed the sequence of easy and no complexity in beginning, concrete theme, some dialogs and ends with resolution. They are oral and short-lived which have gossip, joke, fable, myth, parable, hearsay and legend. Novel Novel can be based on comic, crime, detective, adventurous, romantic or political story divided into many parts. The major kinds of novels are: Allegory: The symbolic story revolves around two meanings. What the writer says directly is totally different from the conveyed meanings at the end. Political and Historical allegory are two forms of Allegory. Comedy: Satire is very common form in comedy novels and tries to focus on the facts of the society and their desires. Epistolary: The collection of letters or mails is the epistolary novels. Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and Henry Fielding’s Joseph Andrew are the few examples of Epistolary novels. Feminist: These types of novels are written by women writers around the world to describe the place of women in a male dominated society. E. g Virginia Woolf’s â€Å"A Room of one’s Own†. Gothic: Gothic fiction is the combination of both horror and romance. Melodrama and parody were grouped in the Gothic literature in its early stages. Ironic: Ironic novels are known for excessive use of narrative technique. It is satire on the contemporary society about cultural, social and political issues. Realism: The realistic novels are based on the truths of ordinary society and their problems. It focuses on the plot, structure and the characters of the novel. Romance: Love and relationship topics are handled optimistically in the romantic novels. It originated in western countries; basically the story revolves around love affairs of main characters. Some popular sub categories of romantic novels are paranormal, erotic, suspense, multicultural and inspirational romance. Narration: In narrative style, writer becomes the third person who narrates whole story around the characters. Naturalism: Naturalism is based on the theory of Darwin. Picaresque: It is opposite to romance novels as it involves ideals, themes and principles that refuse the so-called prejudices of the society. Psychological: It’s the psychological prospective of mind with a resolution. Satire: Satirical novels criticize the contemporary society. The most famous novels are Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim (1954), George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Randell Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution (1954). Stream of Consciousness: James Joyce’s stream of consciousness is all about the thought coming up in the minds of the readers. A novel also constitutes categories on social and political aspects like proletarian, psychological, protest novel, government, didactic, materialist novel, allegorical novel, novel of engagement, naturalistic novel, Marxist novel, radical novel, revolutionary novel, anti-war novel, utopian novel, futuristic novel, anarchist novel, problem novel, social philosophy novel, novel of ideas, problem play and speculative novel. Folk Tale  Folk Tales are traditional stories that have been creating interest since ancient times. The children and old persons like religious story, magic and superstition as well. Fable, tall tales, cumulative, trickster and proverbs are the sub categories of folk tales. Mythology or legend is the ancient religious stories of origin and human civilization such as story of Robin Hood. Types of poetry Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in the tranquility. Greek poetry is found in free verse and we have rhymes in the Persian poem. Are you wondering how to write a poem, here are the followings forms of poem? Sonnet: Sonnet is the short poem of 14 lines grouped into Shakespearean and Italian sonnets. Ballad: The poems that are on the subject matter of love and sung by the poet or group of singers as telling readers a story. Elegy: This type of poem is the lamenting of the death of a person or his near one. Elegy Written in Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray is one of the famous poems marked as sad poems of the ages. Ode: Ode is the formal and long poem serious in nature. Allegory: Allegory is the famous form of poetry and is loved by the readers because of its two symbolic meanings. One is the literal meaning and another is the deep meaning. Epic and Mock epic: Epics are the narrative poems that convey moral and culture of that period. The Odyssey and Iliad are one of the largest philosophical epics written by Samuel Butler. Rape of the Lock is the great mock epic focusing on the minor incident of cutting of a curl. Lyric: It has Greek origin that gives a melody of imagery. It is the direct appeal of a poet to the readers about any incident or historical events. Lyrics are most of the time similar to ode or sonnets in the form. Nonfiction Literature: Nonfiction Literature is opposite to fiction as it is informative and comprises the interesting facts with analysis and illustrations. Main types of Non- fiction literature Autobiography and Biography An autobiography is the story of the author’s own life. ‘Family Life at the White House’ by Bill Clinton is focused on his life and achievements. ‘Wings of fire’ by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Mein kampf of Adolph Hitler are the autobiography books on real life. Essay Generally the authors’ point of view about any particular topic in a detailed way is an essay. Essay has simple way of narrating the main subject; therefore they are descriptive, lengthy, subject oriented and comparative. Different types of essay: Personal essay, expository essay type, response essay, process essay, persuasive essay, argumentative essay, critical essay type, interview essay, reflective essay type, evaluation, observation essay, comparison type of essay, application essay, compare and contrast essay and narrative essay type. Literary criticism It is the critical study of a piece of literature. Here critics apply different theories, evaluation, discussion and explanation to the text or an essay to give total judgments. Plato, Aristotle, T. S. Eliot, Saussure and Frye are some of the famous critics. Travel literature It is the narration of any tour or foreign journey with the description of the events, dates, places, sights and author’s views. Francis Bacon’s natural philosophies in the middle of Seventeenth century is one famous example of travel literature. Diary Diaries are the incidents recorded by the author without any means of publishing them. It is the rough work of one’s daily routine, happenings, memorable days or events in their life. E. g. Anne Frank’s ‘Diary of a Young Girl’ was published by her father in 1940s; it’s a story of a girl trapped during German invade Amsterdam. Diaries consists of business letters, newsletters, weather listing. In today’s world of Internet, writers write in blogs, forums, polls and social networking sites to convey their thoughts. This also is a form of diary writing. Some profound forms of diaries are online diary, travel, sleep, tagebuch, fictional, dream and death diaries. Journal Journal is one of types of diaries that records infinite information. They are of following types: Personal: It is for personal analysis. In this journal one can write his goal, daily thoughts, events and situations. Academic: It is for students who do research or dissertation on particular subjects. Creative journals: Creative journals are the imaginative writing of a story, poem or narrative. Trade: Trade journals are used by industrial purposes where they dictate practical information. Dialectical: This journal is use by students to write on double column notebook. They can write facts, experiments, and observation on the left side and right side can be a series of thoughts and response with an end. Newspaper It is a collection of daily or weekly news of politics, sports, leisure, fashion, movies and business. Magazine Magazines can be the current affairs or opinions well collected covering various content. Frame Narrative The psychoanalysis of human mind is present in a frame narrative. Here we find another story within the main story. Some of the popular narratives are Pegasus, Wuthering Heights, The Flying Horse, The Three Pigs, A Time to keep and the Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays. Outdoor literature Outdoor literature is the literature of adventure that gives whole exploration of an event. Exciting moments of life such as horse riding, fishing, trekking can be a part of literature. Some outdoor books are ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ by Mark Twain, ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis, ‘Voyages’ by Richard Hakluyt and ‘A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush’ by Eric Newby. Narrative form of Literature Today we find movies, audio and video CD’s and Cassettes that present current literature in use. Digital poetry is an upcoming trend too. Comic books, cartoons, eBook and Internet games are the learning methods for children. Literature includes centuries, human nature, cultures and souls. Isn’t it?

Riordan Manufacturing

Running Head: Process Design for Riordan Manufacturing Process Design for Riordan Manufacturing: Inception to Production Planning Writer’s Name Course Name, Semester No, Class Level Supervisor Name September 23, 2009 Introduction The present paper discusses the proposal package for Riordan which handles each step of electric fans from inception to production. It includes the material requirement planning phase of fans being manufactured at the China Plant. There is further analysis of existing process for the production of the Riordan electric fans. It provides the basic outline for designing the new process to remove the bottleneck in the process to optimize it for meeting the demands of customer by supply-chain concepts. Production forecast for the Riordan electric fans is discussed along with implementation plan of Lean Production using Gantt Charts. Finally, cover letter describes the coordination of aggregate operations planning and suggested TQM process to define the strategic objective of the company. The MRP for the Manufacturing of the Riordan Electric Fans The China plant of Riordan Manufacturing is the production unit which applies material requirement planning to meet the time-phased requirement of material for assembled units or fan production operations. Raw materials are collected at receiving departments. These are processed to make it suitable for molding departments. The molded unit acts as input for trimming department which can be selectively used for creating further parts. Sometimes, it can become waste by-products. The trimmed parts are assembled at the assembly department to create higher components. These components are handled at packaging department. The shipping department supplies the packaged units of electric fans for distribution unit. (University of Phoenix, 2009). There are scrap materials from each department which is creating a concern for the firm. There is need of minimizing the waste products from each operational unit to reduce the cost of fan production. The manufacturing unit in Hangzhou, China uses these spare parts to create customized products. There are issues in achieving the periodic orders to supply the number of fans as the production plan is based on yearly demand of electric fans. The lack of definite pattern in order leaves the gap in assessing the exact material requirement on the short notice. The management team of company is concentrating on the optimization strategy to improve the process of MRP based on process variability involved in the supply, demand and production of Riordian electric fans. A New Process Design for the Production of the Riordan Electric Fans The current process of Riordian Manufacturing's China plant operation is based on the quantity of fans to be produced. The local company is supposed to provide the required stock of motors based on the production forecast. But this method of operation is able to deliver only 93% of the stock on time. The company can opt for alternative manufacturers along with existing unit to meet the forecasted production of motors. This will increase the competitiveness among the manufacturing unit and delivery schedule will not have slippages. There are other options of keeping the readymade supplies of motors as inventory unit in Riordian inventory itself. But it will increase the inventory cost. Since plastic polymer used in electric fans has plenty of supplies, the lower stock of plastic polymer can balance the cost to reduce the financial burden due to extra stock of motors. Flow Chart for Existing Production Process of Riordian Electric Fans In above paragraph, few options have been considered for improving the existing production process of Riordian Electric fans. The key processes involved in the material plan requirements and the supply chain process in China manufacturing unit can improve the efficiency of production plan in cost effective manner. Lean production using just-in-time system can be very effective in operation processes along with better strategic planning for meeting the demand of customer. A supply chain for the electric fans The Supply Chain Management process is at the very center of all the core operational processes of a company. It plays the role of a central nervous system regulating the product flow by managing the associated information flow that runs through a company. It has very strong linkages with major core processes like product development management, purchasing management and customer relationship management. For instance, the linkage between the Riordian Electric fan development management process and the Supply Chain Management process is bi-directional: on one side, the product development process feeds the Supply Chain Management process with the electric fans introduction plans and engineering change notices on bill of materials and routings, while in return the Supply Chain Management process provides the product development process with the supply chain constraints that need to be considered when scheduling the development of fans, in order to make sure that these products will hit the market at the right time. It will provide the Riordan Manufacturing an edge in the market over other rival companies. (Chase, 2006). Outsourcing is one of the approach to offshoot the responsibility and decision criteria to other companies which can take care of the several components of the supply-chain. The inventory management process can reduce the cost of operating firm’s own distribution center from remote location which is huge relief in handling the logistics (Polakoff, 2009). Global product sourcing and mass customization is also one of the feasible options which provides the procurement process with the future purchasing requirements that have been derived from the demand and production plans, while the procurement process provides in return visibility on supply constraints – in other words quotas imposed by suppliers – that need to be considered to generate valid supply chain plans. It also reduces the cost of procurement which is available at lower price in other countries. â€Å"Companies must turn a resilient supply chain into a competitive advantage† (Industrial Week, p. 0, 2009). The supply chain process can concentrate on inventory management process in the system to fulfill the order requested (Chase, 2006). Riordan focuses on management of inventory from raw material to completion of finished product. It is necessary for tracking the quality and need of inventory in timely manner to extract optimum performance from supply-ch ain process. The network topology of supply-chain should be well-connected in identifying the adequate supply of materials for production of electric fans as well as forecasting the future production sales (Chase, 2006). The categorization of product helps in ordering the right amount of parts from the concerned supplier. The improvement in measurement process is deciding factor in raising the customer satisfaction index with sufficient cost reduction which is the primary objective of the Riordian business strategy. A production forecast for the Riordan electric fans The plant’s production forecast is based on the theory of moving averages. China’s manufacturing unit takes care of electric motors and plastic polymers required for production of fans. The demands for next year production are calculated on the basis of average sales for the last three years which is projected for the coming year (Riordan, 2006). This plant also takes care of customized version of electric fans for individual customer on small scale. The estimation of cost for planning, scheduling, production and delivery is based on order requirement of yearly production rather than forecasted early to meet the demands in effective manner. (Riordan, 2006). These products are supplied to US customers. Adoption of lean production process is supposed to be the best business strategy to respond to the market needs to introduce the right product at right time in right place with right quantity to follow perfect workflow of execution by reducing waste and flexibility to respond to the changes (Shields, 1999). An Implementation Plan for the Riordan Electric Fans [pic] Plan for Lean Production can be implemented in two phases. First phase will be called Project A which is duration of implementation for pilot project. It has been divided into four tasks. Task A1 will consist of team formation and top management approval with basic outline for project and definition of roles and responsibilities for the implementation of project. Task A2 consists of selection of tool for implementation for pilot project which will be used in Phase 2 also for Project B. Training on tools and requirement gathering for the lean production in China plant will happen between 19th February, 2010 and 18th March, 2010. Task A3 consists of actual implementation of Lean production applying JIT from 26th March, 2010 to 24th April 2010. Total quality management process is under Task A4. It will be the duration of quality control and troubleshooting in production support. Project B will be the actual implementation of Lean Production in the China Manufacturing plant on the holistic basis. It will follow similar process to pilot project A. Task B1 will be the extension of pilot project in real production environment which will require gathering of requirement for workshop between 19th March, 2010 to 14th April, 2010. Task B2 consists of implementation of functionality using JIT system from 16th April, 2010 to 12th June, 2010. Task B3 of TQM and maintenance will happen between 16th May, 2010 and 14th July, 2010. A Cover Letter detailing how you will coordinate aggregate operations planning and TQM for the Riordan electric fans Date:- Sender’s Address:- Recipient’s Address:- Dear CEO, We are pleased to introduce the proposal for implementation of Lean production and TQM for improving the Process Design of Riordan Manufacturing. There are various options to track the current operational process in the firm. The selection of right tools for Lean Production and quality can provide insight regarding the material requirement planning and strategy to meet the demands of periodic order besides the current forecasting based on yearly demand. There will be two phase of implementation. Pilot project will identify all the bottlenecks in the process of forecast demand and production plan to achieve the balance to satisfy the quantity of Riordian electric fans ordered by the customer. The final implementation will extrapolate the results of pilot project to forecast the demand of next year in optimal way. Defect prevention, quality issues, enhancement in production process, cost reduction and other project parameters will be captured by applying the concepts of six sigma using pareto charts and other relevant statistical measurement analysis. Please let me know your feedback on the proposal. If there are any changes required or suggestions for altering the structure, please e-mail me [email  protected] com or call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX. Sincerely, ——————- References Chase, Richard B. , Jacobs, F. R. , & Aquilano, Nichlas J. (2006). Operations management for competitive advantage (11th ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill. Krajewski, Lee J. , & Ritzman, Larry P. (2005), Operations Management: Processes and Value Chains. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Shields, T. (1999). Tutorials – lean production / lean manufacturing. Defense Aquisition University. Retrieved September 23, 2009, from http://www. dau. mil/educdept/mm_dept_resources/navbar/lean/01rdg-lean. asp University of Phoenix (2009). Riordan manufacturing virtual organization. Retrieved September 23, 2009, from Apollo Group, Inc. , Week Four, OPS571- Operations Management. ———————– Order for plastic polymer from local supplier N END Produce the Riordan Electric Fan Is plastic polymer available? Use the motors for manufacturing Order the no of motors required for meeting the supply Is supply of Motors enough? Manufacturing of Electric Fans at Riordan START Y Y N Riordan Manufacturing They are a company they will strive to keep focus on what is important and to continue to create trainees as they are needed to continue to compete against rivals they have and to show how they can perform. Ordain Manufacturing is a company focused on being the leader in manufacturing polymer materials for companies like automotive and aircraft parts manufacturers and beverage makers and bottlers. Achieving and maintaining a healthy profit helps the company ensure that they have enough financial strength, and the right amount of employees available for sustained growth.Based on what they currently manufacture and market to and their goals the company Is Implementing a differentiation focus strategy. In the differentiation focus strategy, Ordain alms to set themselves apart from any competitors within all of their target market segments. The specialized needs of these segments mean that there are opportunities to provide products that differ from competitors who may be trying to targe t a broader group of customers. Ordain has already made some strides in expanding their operations globally with the acquisition of the China plant in 2000.The company should continue using the differentiation focus strategy to improve the innovation and sustainability of the business. If Ordain stays on track with providing new polymer products to meet the current and future needs of its customers as well as attracting new clients with those Innovations. It will help to ensure the future success of the company. Ordain Manufacturing Is a worldwide plastics manufacturer that employs more than 500 people. Ordain manufactures products such as plastic beverage containers, custom plastic parts in its plants in China.The company's mission incorporates in remaining a leader in the plastic industry and staying focused on identifying industry trends (Ordain Manufacturing, 2012). Ordain promised to produce quality by exercising Six Sigma ideas and surpassing ISO 9000 standards allowing the co rporation to produce the remedy for customers' requests instead of the problem. The achievement of Ordain Manufacturing rests within its knowledgeable employees and braced by an innovative and team openness work environment.The first key factor that provides Ordain a competitive advantage Is Its strategic planning. Strategic planning permits the company to malting a competitive advantage above Its competitors because the organization have the knowledge track trends and produce new and creative reduces. Ordain Corporation offers innovative products to companies in the meal Title Ana Department AT Detente. I Nils Detent TTS ten company Dye performing business as a one-stop company for customers who have several demands.Ordain research and development team produces unique designs and merchandises produced for the future such as a pyramid shaped bottle. The pyramid bottle revolutionized the industry, as Ordain possesses exclusivity (Ordain Manufacturing, 2012). Developing a special prod uct like the pyramid bottle permits the Ordain Company to sustain a competitive advantage. One more initiative for the company comprise of establishing environmentally friendly practices within the corporation.As the pressure to be environmentally friendly rises, Ordain has tackled the challenge and created a plan to aid the environment. Like Wall-Mart, going green is a movement forward with concern to Radian's social obligation and becoming environmentally friendly holds benefits for plastics companies. Areas that Radian's business strategy would be affected in the global market would be creating a PEST analysis to determine different aspects of the area they were considering expanding. A PEST analysis is an analysis of the environment's politics, their economy, and any technological trends in the area.Global marketing plans would be key elements in a global strategy. The plan would decide on the countries and even the means to concentrate their activities. Building up good loyal c ustomer support would be involved in these activities. Ordain would also have to investigate the financial aspect of global expansion. The company would have to determine that the necessary funds would be available for the expansion and also that the necessary employees would be available for training purposes in the new country. Riordan Manufacturing The company was founded by Dr. Riordan, a professor of chemistry he started Riordan plastics, Inc in 1991. Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics, medical supplies, stents, automotive parts, appliance manufacture's parts, airplane parts, and beverage containers manufacturer. Riordan has 500 employees with a projected annual earnings of $46 million and a fortune of 1000 enterprises with revenues of $1 billion. Riordan Manufacturing has 4 worldwide locations Albany Georgia, Pontiac Michigan, Hangzhou China, and the company headquarters in San Jose.In the following paragraphs we will be describing formal and informal power structures, the effective organization structures, effects on employee behavior, the characteristics of employee behavior, potential sources, and a evaluation of Riordan Manufacturing. Formal and Informal Power Structures.Riordan Manufacturing is formed by a formal and informal power structures. Riordan, formal power structure was established in the corporation to recognized the organizational chart and legitimate power which correspond to the formal authority that controls organizational resources in the corporation. Riordan informal power is divided into individual departments, each department is led and managed by an employee who has more knowledge than others in that department.The power and political structure of Riordan Manufacturing influence their employees behavior by collaborating and involving certain levels of hierarchy requiring employees to influence their power and political structure with others in the organization to accomplish goals or desired effects and behaviors. Effective Organizational StructureAccording to â€Å"Riordan Tracking And Order System† (Copyright 2003, 2004, 2006  © by Apollo Group, Inc.). â€Å"The head office of Riordan Manufacturer's is in  San Jose, California and it has employed more than five hundred people having other companies in Georgia, Michigan, and China.† Riordan Manufacturin g goal is to instrument a development that will be used by all employees, the organizational structure is right for the operation of bureaucratic structure. This configuration will acknowledge the organization to regulate process across all levels of hierarchy. The advantage of bureaucratic structure includes a minimum duplication of personnel, equipment, and employees who have the chance to talk the same language. Effects on Employee BehaviorThe bureaucratic structure prepares simplicity and consistency in hierarchy. This forms the organizational command and sets prospects to all employees allowing them to remove any insufficiency of knowledge. A fear that most employees face is to be irritated with several levels of hierarchy especially if employees believe that they are not heard or appreciated. The characteristics that influences the corporate culture for the employee behavior in Riordan Manufacturing are integrity, ethics, and compliance. Moreover, the atmosphere that is not co ncrete to employees but with a concept that includes values or beliefs that a company cultivates over time.Corporate culture develop the company’s tasks and strategies, with long-term expectations of progresses in a company’s profit. However corporate culture also comes from a company’s top administration, older companies can develop a culture that may be different from the typically defined business concept. If the company have a strong culture may be possible to get all employees on the same page and make the company grow stronger than before the culture existed. Riordan Manufacturing, will change but also will develop strategies to manages resistance to change, the steps or areas that will be used to develop the change management right involve Capturing and leveraging the desire and optimistic emotion surrounding a change that may prevent resistance from happen.The next one is expect it, the company will Project employees and change management that way resist ance may be less expected. The company needs to address formally will be ready to prepare, manage, and Reinforce the change. Also will be important to identify the root causes, and engage the â€Å"right† resistance managers.Communication PlanIn Riordan Manufacturing, communication is a fundamental to raise the level of understanding implementation of a change. Delivering information is concerning the change successfully as a essential to use several proposals or media resources to transmit the same message and decide who will publicize Riordan Manufacturing need for change. CEO and President, Dr. Michael Riordan is the most efficient communicator.Employees need to hear about the upcoming changes from their direct supervisor. The largest problem is to develop written messages that will describe organizational values and principles, setting expectations for employees to complete strategies, meet expectations, and accomplish organizational goals. The implication should clarify the upcoming change, the process of the change, the responsibility of all employees, and the operations of this modification. Appropriate ChannelsThe following step will clarify communication channels. Riordan Manufacturing directs in United States and China, and as a result arranging face-to-face communication is moderately difficult. In addition to the development of advance technology Riordan Manufacturing can use the internet, e-mail, online meetings, and meetings to communicate the approaching modification.Potential BarriersThe preliminary communication requires a mechanism to discover potential paths of resistance to benefit employees with their surveys or assessments allowing leadership to establish how each employee obtain the message including the issues of the employee throughout the development stage. An example, the struggle to change may be provoked by the conflicting message.Employees will question the development process or challenge. That is why it's important for ma nagement team to be consistent with the way they communicate towards their employees. Alongside, it is an opportunity to control the barriers that block individuals to communicate effectively. A different barrier that is effective to communication is overload information. Once a received message has too much data or is printed in a language hard for the receiver to comprehend the barrier will be ignored. To  prevent the problem the message should be brief and to the point.Riordan Manufacturing change from face to face communication to uses the advance communication like internet, email, and online meetings. this areas may be affect because the communication face to face is more specifically and better expresses with gestures and tone, and the message can be well deliberated, instead with this recently change the communication can be misunderstood. With an email it may create confusion by the way is read. Riordan find the need from the change because is really hard to travel to chi na frequently to discusses different themes and issues that require quickly respond, also because is more easy to send an email with an answer about a minimum problem and discusses the new ideas over an online chat or meeting, Managers will compromise to take visits to china to once an while to discuss important data that requires specific attention.

Marketing and Product Life Cycle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing and Product Life Cycle - Essay Example In addition, these will also aid the company in informing customers on the usage of the new product. During the launching, in-store promotions will also be used in order to allow the customers to experience and be educated of Key Ring. Questions will be entertained and freebies will also be given to participants. During the growth stage, it is expected that the product will already be popular in the market but competitors are trying to catch up by making their own campaigns. Procter and Gamble will counter this by giving higher discounts to the company's products. Bundling and in-store promotions will still be utilized. Noting the strong brand equity of Procter and Gamble, it is expected that buyers will still gravitate to its products and will be seeking more ways to get discounts. Sales is expected to taper off during maturity when demand slowly stabilizes. Procter and Gamble can stimulate the use of Key Ring by including its new product lines in the discount coupons. Since the company is very much aggressive in introducing new product variants, it is very much advisable to entice customers in buying these products by allowing them to purchase at a discount.

How do you Pay for Performance in a downward economy Essay

How do you Pay for Performance in a downward economy - Essay Example A stock option plan gives the employee the opportunity to buy the stock of the company they work for at a discounted price. The workers typically obtain instant capital gains when they exercise their stock options. A good attribute of stock options is that the wealth of the company is being shared with the people that create the corporate empire. The pension plans of companies should not include any investment in common stocks of the firm. One of the lessons from the demise of Enron was the necessity for diversification in employee pension plans. The shaky economy is causing a lot of problems for the workforce in America. Massive layoffs, downsizing, and divesture strategies are hurting the economy. The unemployment rate in the United States in September 2011 was 9.1% (Bls, 2011). People have become hesitant of asking for raises when employees don’t automatically give them because they fear being singled out for future downsizing initiatives. "The communication of economic challenges is an opportune time for financially stable companies to tell their employees that they are taking care of them† (Ceridian, 2011). Loyalty from both sides has decreased a lot in the 21st century. Employees are more willing than ever to quit a job in search for a better employment opportunity. An example of a current labor confrontation among a union and an ownership team is the National Basketball League labor dispute. The NBA players are in lockout because the owners want lower the salaries of its employees. The NBA owners instead of offering higher salaries are looking to decrease the total compensation of the players by a minimum of 12.28% (Myfoxboston, 2011). The entertainment sporting industry has been hit hard by the recession. Last year NBA owners lost $300 million. Employees across every industry are seeing their salaries stagnant compared to the traditional

Employee Benefits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Employee Benefits - Essay Example In 1998 and 2000, other revisions on worker remuneration were effected. There was a proposition in 2002 to modify employee share based compensation. Actuarial gains and losses concerning employee benefits were acknowledged in 2004. In 2007, ceilings were introduced into defined benefit assets and funding requirements. In 2009, the ceilings on defined benefit assets and funding requirements were published as exposure drafts and discount rate for employee benefits using market yield corporate bonds was proposed. IAS 19 final interpretations were also published in 2009. The objective of IAS 19 Employee Benefits is to provide guidelines to both business and non-business organizations on how to measure, present and disclose the expenses of providing employee benefits. IAS 19 covers all known employee related expenditures. The employee benefits are expenses incurred by entities in exchange of services rendered by their employees. They include salaries and wages, profit sharing plans, compensated absences, leaves, deferred compensation programs, bonuses and free or subsidized good or services given to employees. It also covers various benefits paid to employees. The benefits are medical and life insurance benefits, pensions, house benefits, jubilee benefits, post employment medical and life insurance as well as termination benefits (Deloitte 2010c). IAS 19: Employee benefits suggest that organizations should acknowledge a liability or an expense resulting from consuming the service of an employee in the year in which the service was consumed. Therefore, IASB and IAS 19 recognize expenses incurred on the employee benefits on the year in which it occurred. The measurements, presentation and disclosures covers definite accounting period only. Measurement is defined as an action to obtain a magnitude of a given item or process. Therefore, employee benefits measurement is an attempt to assign value to what employees

Walmart Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Walmart - Case Study Example Instead, their ways of doing business never impressed the Germans therefore; the company lost the market to the local firms (p. 4).Wal-Mart decision to join the German market without carrying an analysis to understand their culture was an enormous mistake. Walton could have thought about the difference between Germans culture and the Wal-Mart ways of doing business. This could have helped him come up with ways of integrating the Wal-Mart culture with the German culture (p. 5). This could have helped them understand the best approaches to adopt in order to grasp the German market. He could have thought of the effect of the language barrier between customers and the American heritage employees. The best move that Wal-Mart was to follow was to get German origin employees who usually understood the cultural and custom practices of the Germans. This could have helped them to offer services effectively as per the cultural principles of the customers. With this, Wal-Mart could have succeeded in maintaining their identity without offending the German customers. Following the recommended six steps, an organization research group, will have enough time to interact with the people thus helping them to understand their needs and consumtion behavior, thus creating a deep relationship with the locals which would help the company. This will enable them to have a better relationship with the employees when the time comes to launch their business overseas (p. 6). Secondly, they can have reviewers to check for any cultural variation between the company culture and the people’s culture. This will help the company take the foreign culture in its operations to avoid resistance from the people. Wal-Mart experience has helped us to know that if any company wants to improve communication, it first has to use the local people who understand the customers’

Enhancing the Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Enhancing the Marketing Plan - Essay Example Further, the macro environmental factors will also be considered in the paper to understand the significant trend which can impact on the business of the company. Company’s Competitor Geno's Sports Apparel deals in athletic footwear and apparel products and seeks to achieve higher sales and good brand reputation. The athletic footwear and apparel industry is considered as highly competitive as there are several big players in the market where Geno’s Sports Apparel operates. The major competitor of Geno’s Sports Apparel in terms of athletic footwear products is Finish Line which operates in the similar marketing segment. Besides Finish Line, Geno’s Sports Apparel also faces a direct competition from other athletic goods providing organizations such as Payless ShoeSource, Dick’s Sporting Goods among others. The major strengths of Finish Line, one of the biggest competitors is the ability to understand the preferences of customers and act accordingly. Thus, the company offers coupons and discounts to the customers to increase sales. Finish line is much concerned about promoting latest products to the customers. The major weakness of Finish Line has been the number of retail outlets. The number of stores of Finish Line is less which creates difficulty for the company to distribute products effectively. Besides, providing newest products can also cost more and are inefficient in this business environment as many customers can concentrate on saving money and purchasing inexpensive products due to economic downturn (Sweeney, 2009). The other competitors named Payless ShoeSource have good geographic location which provides the company a competitive advantage. Its business is expanded in almost 50 counties within the international market. Payless ShoeSource has great financial strength which helps to spread the business globally. Besides, the sales in women’s shoe category are strong and the company has also strong position in t he market of the USA. The major weakness of Payless ShoeSource is higher fixed cost which led to lower profit margin. Furthermore, the company experienced huge amount of loss due to surplus inventory. The business of Payless ShoeSource is highly reliant on third party producers which make the company much vulnerable to survive in the competitive market (Cullin, 2007). Differentiation of Products Differentiation is necessary in order to improve the business and develop a unique brand identity. The main differentiation of Geno’s Sports Apparel with respect to the other competitors is the innovative marketing strategy. Geno’s Sports Apparel will provide tailored retailing programs and develop exclusive store atmosphere which replicates a distinct retailing style than other rivals. The effective enactment of this strategy helps the company to increase the customer base and preserve brand reliability. Geno’s Sports Apparel can also differentiates the brand from close st competitor Finish Line through providing customers with ranges of athletic attires which are designed according to their requirement. The company needs to offer focused collection of sports equipments to the customers which is the other differentiating factor (Sweeney, 2009). Through the advanced marketing communication strategies, such as implementing good customer service model, Geno’

Thorntons plc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Thorntons plc - Essay Example The stores offer premium and hand-crafted boxed chocolates, hampers, gift boxes, corporate gifts, and seasonal candies. Some of the Thornton shops double as cafes where patrons can get coffee, pastries, and sandwiches. The company sells sweets through its catalog and via its Web site, as well as through retailers. In addition, the company operates coffee shops under the name Caf Thorntons. Thorntons, a UK chain of chocolatiers, has implemented G.O.L.D., a suite of retail management software from Aldata, a leading provider of software solutions for the global retail industry, to support its business growth and forward strategy. In 1911, Joseph William Thornton opened the first Thorntons shop in Sheffield, England. Nearly 100 years later Thorntons plc now has an annual turnover of more than 160million, over 350 own shops and over 200 Franchises. The product ranges now include Ice Cream, Cakes, Biscuits, Chilled Chocolates as well as the more traditional Fudge, Toffee and Chocolates. Historically a manufacturer, Thorntons had built up its business based around production rather retailing. Stores were a later development, during the eighties, and existing systems were developed rather than revamped. Jim McLauchlan, Thorntons Program Manager, explains, "Our ordering ... A selection of Thorntons stores also includes an in-store Caf. The company produces Thorntons-branded products for many retailers including Tesco, and also makes selected own-brand products for Marks & Spencer and Boots. Historically a manufacturer, Thorntons had built up its business based around production rather retailing. Stores were a later development, during the eighties, and existing systems were developed rather than revamped. Thorntons' existing IT infrastructure had therefore been built up over many years and comprised a variety of systems with limited integration between them. Jim McLauchlan, Thorntons Program Manager, explains, "Our ordering system was over 20 years old and had been heavily customized over this time without full supporting documentation, so it became almost impossible to make further modifications. In addition to this, we had a number of unsupported platforms that gave unwanted risk. The third factor was that these systems no longer supported our future strategy. Replenishment was handled manually and was based not on store demand- more on the 'knowledge' of the store manager. Orders were actually phoned through from the stores to a Thorntons telesales team. As a result, Thorntons was unable to react quickly enough, to adjust production to match demand in the stores. For a business that is effectively a fashion retailer, needing to monitor, match and predict trends, the systems gap required urgent attention. Solution Thorntons did not hurry to make a decision, because most vendors it considered did not have systems specifically for a business that was retail, franchise, commercial and manufacturing. The company is currently vertically integrated and has developed different systems to cope with the

Values and Personality Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Values and Personality Reflection Paper - Essay Example Every day we do in our life requires funding that life would be unimaginable without it. To ensure that there is enough funding to be able to do the things I would like to do, a trust fund would be nice source of fund. And to sustain my everyday expenditures such as eating out, buying school supplies and other things, it would be very convenient to have a worry free charge. Trust fund without the means to spend it through a convenient charge would be pointless so a charge card should come with the trust fund. Finally, it is very important for me to have my own big house not only as a means of shelter but also to call it my home. These values made me strive to study harder to be able to get a good education. My parents were instrumental in the formation of these values by stressing that without a good education, I will not even have a chance of having financial stability because the world is based on knowledge and skills. These values will affect me in choosing a major in college or a career by ensuring that the course I will take must teach financial know how and that the career I will have must earn well to afford financial security. I took the ESTJ personality test to have an objective hypothesis on my personality type. My hypothesis on my personality type is that I am an Introvert-Sensor-Feeler-Judger. It means that I tend to be reflective, reserved and private. I draw my energy from my own thoughts and the time I spend alone and do not need people around me all the time. It also says I live for the present and rely on facts and handle practical matters pretty well which I think is very accurate assessment of me. I am also a feeler which is basically sensitive to the feelings of other people which I am. I am also a judger who prefer a lifestyle that decisive, planned and orderly. This personality type reflects well in my interaction with people as I am very considerate with

Family and brotherhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Family and brotherhood - Essay Example But these words have become encompassing terms that it can connote a whole new different perspective that points toward unswerving loyalty, camaraderie and unity. â€Å"Infernal Affairs† has taken brotherhood toward a realm which yields multiple perspectives that all the notions of being one in a common goal and purpose in life makes a brotherhood, in crime and in justice, possible. Simultaneously, the film has taken a new look in outlining the existing perception of what a Chinese family is and how it should be then molds it in such a way that relationships may not be of blood but it remains to be thicker than water. This is not a new concept in terms of movie themes but the lack of family relationships in the Hong Kong blockbuster and the focus on alternative relations put a different strain on traditional relationships as commonly seen in Chinese culture and gears towards a modern conceptualization of family. The modification of a western genre involving the battle of good versus evil is something taken to new heights with this movie. The film has garnered international and local awards as proof of its success, critically and financially. â€Å"Many commentators have also raised questions about the export success story of recent Chinese cinema. They worry that Chinese filmmakers pander to Western audiences and that Western audiences and scholars appropriate and distort Chinese films for Orientalist and neo-imperialist ends† (Berry and Farquhar 204). ... Conversely, Ming has been perfecting his role as an ambitious cop by keeping his records immaculate when all along he has been a protege of triad kingpin Sam and his well thought-out scheme to penetrate the police force by enlisting young men to the Police Academy. Both Yan and Ming were tasked to find out who the infiltrator is within their respective groups. Whoever finds out first the other’s counterpart could mean the destructive end to one’s life and another’s career. Triad boss Sam takes the necessity of finding out who the mole is seriously. He executes a routine one-on-one conversation with each member of the group, asking them how many years they have worked for him and complimenting them for their contributions. He tells Yan that of all the brothers he trusts him the most. But some doubt had been cast on him earlier when Sam smashes Yan’s arm cask looking for a bugging device as their transaction with the Thais was tipped off to the OCTB, prompti ng them to throw the drugs into the water. The goose chase starts as both sides realized the other knew their every move to the very detail. Yan survived his boss’ suspicions narrowly and continued earning his respect. Keung, another triad member, later on confides that Sam talked to him in the same manner and asked if he would be willing to shoot any of his brothers if he finds out he is a mole and to which he answered yes to without hesitation. Later on as Keung was in the troughs of death, his final words endured to be an advice to Yan as his brother, â€Å"Remember this, if you see someone doing something but at the same time watching you... then he is a cop† (Infernal Affairs).

The Rise of Vampires Essay Example for Free

The Rise of Vampires Essay Vampires have become prominent protagonists and antagonists in numerous books, poems, movies and television series. As such, their origin and basis have become quite vague. The rise of the concept of vampires is capable of many interpretations in various cultures and localities. However, this scattering of cultural roots only serves to promote the theory that vampires are real. This paper will show that vampirism is nothing more than a misunderstood medical condition manifesting in particular groups of persons. Moreover, vampirism has evolved to become simply a literary tool for creative writers and film makers. At the present time a vampire is typically characterized as a creature that feasts on the blood of humans (Barber, 6). Literature has adorned vampires with several other features other than the typical drinking of blood. From the different interpretations of authors it may be shown that a vampire was believed to have fangs, to be vulnerable to sunlight, and to be immortal (Bunson, 131). During the early descriptions of vampires they were also characterized as having purplish bruises on their skin or as having dark skin. In recent literary descriptions however the vampire has taken on a simple depiction as having pale white skin. The most popular depiction of a vampire is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Dracula was portrayed as an antagonist in the story and he became quite feared because of his prowess in victimizing those whose blood he sought. In later years the vampire would also play the role of protagonist either fighting against its own kind, such as in the 1998 movie Blade. The vampire would also be pitted against other folklore creatures such as the werewolf, as in the 2003 movie Underworld or in the Stephenie Meyer saga Twilight. Despite the changes that vampires have undergone the literary creations have to be set aside to understand whether there is factual or historical basis to support the claims propounded. It was found that a Romanian prince, Vlad, had once used unusual methods of executing his enemies by having their heads chopped off and impaled on top of a long pole (Florescu, 148-149). The blood dripping down the pole would then be collected into goblets from which Vlad the Impaler would drink (Florescu, 149). He is said to have partly inspired the creation of the character Count Dracula. The Countess Dracula is far removed from Vlad the Impaler. Elizabeth Bathory was said to have participated in the killing of numerous virgins and women (McNally, 59). The killing of 600 women were imputed upon Bathory although she was only convicted for the killing of 80 (McNally, 59). Rumors as to her purpose for doing so grew and expanded to involve vampire-like attributions. Apart from the imputation of vampire evolution on such historic figures, vampirism has also been theorized to be related to the onset of porphyrias. This is an illness which manifests with purplish bruising on the skin and with heightened sensitivity to sunlight (Warren, Rohl, Hunt, 54). Because these symptoms were closely related and similar to the characterizations of early vampires, patients suffering from this illness were often subjected to suspicion, fear, and stigma. However, the associations between vampirism and porphyrias have been largely disqualified and greatly contested. The symptoms related to vampire characteristics are few and paint a limited picture of what porphyrias truly is. Vlad the Impaler was found to have suffered from this disease, showing why people may have established a connection between vampires and the disease. However, many historical figures were found to have suffered from the disease as well and the only attributable cause was the in-breeding practices of nobles in the old days. Porphyrias is a genetic disorder and so the probability of manifestation is increased when both parents have histories of the disease in their bloodline (McNally, 148). King George III is suspected of having suffered from this disease as evidenced by his actions evidencing delusion and insanity (Warren et al. , 294). This theory finds a stronger foothold in light of the lineage of King George III. Mary Queen of Scots, a direct ascendant of King George III was found to have had well documented attacks attributable to porphyrias, as did her father James V of Scotland (Warren et al. , 285). The above discussions show that vampirism is no more than a series of atrocities conducted by historical figures and related diseases associated with them. The misconstruing of the relations between the atrocities and diseases have led to the evolution of a mythical creature known as the vampire. However, despite the historical bases, there is no evidence to show that the vampire of lore exists or ever existed. The incontrovertible conclusion is that vampires are mere character tools in literature and filmmaking injecting mystery into a setting similar to our own surroundings. Works Cited Barber, Paul. Vampires, Burial and Death: Folklore and Reality. New York: Yale University Press, 1988. Bunson, Matthew. The Vampire Encyclopedia. London: Thames Hudson, 1993. Florescu, Radu R. , and McNally, Raymond T. In Search of Dracula. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. McNally, Raymond T. Dracula Was a Woman: In Search of the Blood Countess of Transylvania. New York: McGraw Hill, 1983. Warren, Martin, Rohl, John C. G. , and Hunt, David C. Purple secret: genes, madness and the Royal houses of Europe. London: Bantam, 1998.

The Cause and Effects of the Great Depression Essay Example for Free

The Cause and Effects of the Great Depression Essay Many people speculate that the stock market crash of 1929 was the main cause of The Great Depression. In fact, The Great Depression was caused by a series of factors, and the effects of the depression were felt for many years after the stock market crash of 1929. By looking at the stock market crash of 1929, bank failures, reduction of purchasing, American economic policy with Europe, and drought conditions, it becomes apparent that The Great Depression was caused by more than just the stock market crash. The effects were detrimental beyond the financial crisis experienced during this time period. The first and most obvious known factor in the development of The Great Depression is the stock market crash of 1929. The Money Alert website states that, â€Å"When the stock market crashed in 1929, it didn’t happen on a single day. Instead, the stock market continued to plummet over the course of a few days setting in motion one of the most devastating periods in the history of the United States† (The Money Alert). Many investors would buy stocks on a margin where they would purchase the stocks with borrowed money. This was a great option for buyers when the stock market was on the rise. However, when the stocks plummeted, the financial institutions that had loaned the money for the stock purchase went to collect the capital that had been loaned out and were unable to do so. This, in effect, caused banks to lose money as a result of being unable to collect on the debt, and the investors were unable to collect their losses. In addition to private investors, banks and businesses were investing in margin loans as well. So, these poor investment strategies led the banking industry to lose the majority of their assets, including money from bank customers that had no knowledge that their money was being used for this purpose. Since no government regulations were in place to protect investors and banks in this circumstance, this ultimately led to the effect of the stock market crash, which paved the way for America to go into The Great Depression. The banking industry’s reaction to the stock market crash, would be the next major cause of the Great Depression. The banking industry as a whole after the stock market crashed was going bankrupt due to not being able to carry the â€Å"bad debt† that was created from using customer money to buy stock. Because the banks were out of money, they were unable to cover customer withdrawals from their bank, causing many bank customers to lose all of their savings. With the uncertainty of the future of the banking industry, many people withdrew all of their savings, which caused more than 9,000 banks to close their doors and go out of business (Kelly). Due to the effects of the Great Depression, and the collapse of the banking industry, the government created regulations to prevent similar failure in the future. For Example, the SEC, (or Securities Exchange Commission), which regulates the sell and trade of stocks, bonds and other investments was created as a result of The Great Depression. The FDIC (or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), was created to insure bank accounts so that that the consumer would be protected if the bank were to go out of business (Kelly). The Great Depressions effect on the banking industry led to many useful changes to the banking industry and helped restore confidence in banks in the American people. The next major factor that contributed to the Great Depression was the reduction of goods being purchased during the time period. After the stock market crashed, consumers from all economic classes in America were uncertain of the stability of the economy, and stopped purchasing consumer goods. The effect of not purchasing goods caused many companies to begin to produce a surplus, or an excess of goods, which caused companies to reduce their unneeded workforce (Kelly). Since so many people were out of work, they too were unable to purchase goods, and soon a domino effect was created and many companies went out of business. During this time period, many people purchased goods on payment plans, similar to the modern credit system we use today, and their inability to pay caused many companies to repossess the purchased goods. This caused companies to have additional inventory of products that contributed to the lack of need to manufacture additional products (Kelly). By this time, more than 25% of the workforce was now out of work, and due to the overproduction of goods and overstock of inventory, there weren’t enough consumers to purchase these goods (Kelly). Another major contributing factor to The Great Depression was America’s economic policy with Europe. During the midst of the depression, the government decided to create the Smoot-Hawley Tariff to help protect American companies by taxing import goods from Europe. The government initially created the Smoot-Hawley Tariff to protect America by making foreign agricultural goods more expensive than domestic products so that foreign goods would cost more than local grown goods(Kelly). Due to many revisions during the initial stages of the tariff, many other American businesses were included in its protection. The effect of the tariff on trade with Europe caused unstable relations with European countries. Also, many of the European nations began to boycott goods sold by American companies in an act of retaliation for the tariff (Kelly). Having this tariff in effect during the Great Depression caused a prolonged recovery in the American economy due to the decline in Europe purchasing consumer goods from America, in addition to the decline of domestic goods purchases. The final major contributing factor in the great depression was the massive drought that took place during the 1930s. Though the drought wasn’t a direct cause to the depression, it did, however, add to the turmoil that was taking place during this time period. The drought of the 1930s had a very drastic effect on many reigns of the United States which caused both economic and ecologic problems to the country. The economic problems caused by the Great Depression were mostly concentrated in the Mississippi valley, where farmers were unable to pay the tax on the land and most were left no choice but to sell their farms for no profit. This caused a decline in agriculture goods available in America, due to the lack of farming during this time period (Kelly). The ecological effects of the drought, combined with the effects of over-farming the land, caused the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl was caused by over-farming the land and not correctly rotating the crops. By not rotating the crops correctly, the top soil became damaged. Because of the damages to the top soil, the land became infertile, and many people were forced to abandon their land or sell off their property. The timing of the drought, along with the effects that it had on the economy, forced the Great Depression further into turmoil and made recovery even more out of reach for the country (Bonnifield). The stock market crash did, however, act as the match that lit the fire that was The Great Depression. Along with the stock market, the cause of the depression was also contributed to the banking industry’s inability to cover losses sustained during the stock market crash. Also, the reduction of manufacturing and purchasing goods caused a toxic cycle of workers not being able to work, in turn not being able to consume goods, which further sank the country into financial hardship. With the tariffs in effect with Europe, the consumption of America’s goods by foreign nations greatly decreased, which caused the country to fall further behind in recovery of the economic turn-down. In addition to these circumstances, the timing of the drought that occurred in this time period caused many of the farmers supporting our agriculture to fold, and created one of the largest man-made natural disasters in history. Careful of these factors shows that it took more than a crisis in the stock market to cause America to go into the greatest economic slump ever experienced in the history of our country.

The Creation Of Mods And Rockers

The Creation Of Mods And Rockers In the 1960s, as well as today, the highest incidence of violent and property crime is among the poor and unemployed, specifically the super-exploited sectors of the working class (Downes and Rock, 2007: p. 241). What is the reason behind this? Both the Mods and the Rockers were mainly working class. Cohen mean that because these youth groups were mainly working class and that meant that they had less opportunities than them of higher class, they also were not seen to have any specific talents and they did not have any money. Cohen (2009) states that since the Mods and Rockers did not have any social contacts, except for themselves, in society they had to create their own activities which them to take part in deviance. Cohen focuses on the systematic demonising and scapegoating of the Mods and Rockers. Mass media portrayed the two youth groups as animals on several occasions. This demonology of the Mods and Rockers lead to them being seen and referred to as folk devils. Cohen explains further that the youth groups were explained in the mass media as bored, arrogant and they were portrayed as enjoying the situations in several British holiday resorts (Cohen, 2009). Cohen writes that mass medias role in the moral panic is massive. According to Cohen is manufactured news not uncommon, the mass media is both exaggerating and misleading. When reading this book it feels like Cohen thinks that the mass media is guilty of both misreporting and disorienting the readers. He states that the media presentation or Inventory of the Mods and Rockers event is crucial in determining the later stages of the reaction (Cohen, 2009: p. 18). Therefore he was concerned that most of the media coverage was too stereotypical to be true (Cohen, 2009: p. 18). One example of this is: all the dance halls near the seafront were smashed when every local resident knows that there is only one dance hall near the front (Cohen, 2009: p. 19). The methodologies that Cohen uses are interviews, observations and documentary sources. In 1965 interviews were held with the local community (e.g. shopkeepers and taxi drivers), people on holidays and editors of the newspapers. The documentary sources came from both local and national newspapers. The theory that Cohen uses throughout the book is the symbolic interactionism. He presents a number of theorists and their adaptations of the symbolic interactionism, such as; the transactional approach to deviance (Becken), the primary and secondary deviance (Lemert), the deviancy amplification theory (Ditton) and the dramaturgical analogy by Gottman. The two, to me, most outstanding theories are Beckens and Lemerts. The first one concentrates on media as a creator of labels that leads to an increased deviance. Cohen explains this as a vicious circle; deviance leads to a public reaction and that creates more deviance and that leads to more public reaction. Lemert in his turn mean that the public reaction to the primary reaction might lead to a secondary, increased, deviance. Cohen puts weight on that primary deviance does not necessarily lead to secondary deviance; (Cohen, 2009: p. ooo). The four aspects of the symbolic interactionism do all play a part in the different disaster phases in the Disaster Research. These phases are closely described in the book and are as follows: 1. The Initial Problem; in this case working class youth. 2. Excessive fringe delinquency the youth made their own fun because they did not have much else to do. 3. Social reaction the mass media starts to write about their behaviour. 4. Operation of control culture the police and the courts starts to get involved. 5. Increased deviance the social control leads to even more deviance. Cohen proves this theory in the book because when reading it you can clearly see the truth in it with help of the information that he provides the reader. Folk Devils and Moral Panics is convincing and the majority of theories provided by it are good sociology because they are undoubtedly flexible and therefore it can be used on a number of different situations involving folk devils and moral panics. But, as stated in Mc Robbie and Thornton (1995); as the mass media expands more and more and there is not only journalists that can make their voices widely heard maybe folk devils are not going to be created as fast as before. Today anyone can put their opinions out there and debate because of the development and spreading of internet. In a wider spectrum demonising might not occur as easily as before, because more individuals and groups can influence the process of judging and stereotyping (McRobbie and Thornton, 1995). In McRobbies and Thorntons more recent work of sociology they argue that Cohen acknowledges that social control is uneven and much less mechanistic than the model of deviancy amplification suggests (McRobbie and Thornton, 1995: p. 561). They also state that: it is now time that every stage in the process of constructing a moral panic, as well as the social relations which support it, should be revised (McRobbie and Thornton, 1995: p. 559). So perhaps this means that there is no more folk devils, at least not in groups: We argue that folk devils are less marginalized than they once were; they not only find themselves vociferously and articulately supported in the same mass media that castigates them, but their interests are also defended by their own niche and micro-media (McRobbie and Thornton, 1995: p. 559). I definitely think that this book is good sociological imagination because it links individuals to the more social societal situations and events. To use sociological imagination an ability to see the relationship between private lives and society is important, as well as being critical and think one step further. I think that Cohen does exactly this. When the reasons behind the deviant behaviour of the Mods and Rockers are discussed, Cohen takes the history, both of the deviant youth and the British society overall, into account. Cohen explains the historical circumstances so that the sociology of media and deviance can easily be understood. In fact, he dedicated the entire last chapter (6) to this. Cohen also presents several micro/macro studies, such as the Mods and Rockers in relation to the mass media and the societal situation in the coast cities that was covered in the media. Other examples, covered in this book, and looked on at from a micro versus macro perspective are: Muslim terrorists, paedophiles, suspicious asylum seekers and troublesome young people, so called hoodies. These are all perceived as deviant in the media, they are also seen as deviant by the society (Cohen, 2009). In this way, this text clearly explains the links between micro and macro levels described in this book. Cohen is connecting personal troubles with social issues in a very manageable way. C. Wright Mills writes that so be able to completely understand the sociological imagination you need to be able to see both personal troubles and societal issues and the relationship between these; troubles occur within the character of the individual (Mills, 1959: p. 8) and issues are a public matter (Mills, 1959: p. 8). This book is seen as a classic and important work of sociology because it is timeless. Cohen is focusing on the Mods and Rockers, but his thoughts and the sociological theories that he discusses can be applied to a range of different crimes, situations and panics in our society. Folk Devils and Moral Panics can for instance explain the controversy around more recent societal events such as the escalating immigration, the fear of terrorism and the growing Islamophobia after the terrorist attacks in 2001. Therefore, Cohen has written a classic piece of sociology that it is original and probably not like many other sociological pieces because of its width (McRobbie and Thornton, 1995: p. 561). The example of Mods and Rockers show us that stereotyping, prejudice and labelling often creates situations that are worse than the original situation. The argument is clearly that social control and social reaction strengthens deviance, like a vicious circle. The book allows us to see how media affects us and that is important. McRobbie and Thornton (1995) write that it will always be up to date because it is a study of deviance and mass media that will always be a part of any society. Referencing in the text Cohen?

Beckett’s Writings :: Literary Analysis, Beckett, Winnie

1. How can you apply the Latin phrase Esse est percipi to a specific and concrete analysis of Beckett’s material? Esse est percipi, or To be is to be seen, is a very profound statement which Beckett seems to use as one of the major themes of his playwriting. Beckett’s Collection of Shorter Plays often have no beginning or end and build good examples of to be is to be seen. Beckett’s utilizes the senses in his writing. With the use of the sense of seeing, and the sense of hearing, Beckett builds his characters very being and thus brings forth the idea of to be is to be seen.. In Happy Days, Beckett created the character of Winnie who is trapped and buried in a mound of dirt. Beckett has written Winnie as being a great deal focused on seeing. During the play, Winnie is constantly doing things that emphasize the act of seeing. She is putting on and removing her glasses, reading the tube of toothpaste, reading the handle of the brush and other such acts. By seeing each item, and reading the writing on it, she justifies its existence and in reading and seeing each item she exists. Her eyes are used as props, opened and shut, demonstrating â€Å"that one sees the other the other sees the one† (28). This declaration is very powerful example of each person justifies the other by seeing the other. Without one seeing the other, there is no one to see the one. In this simple statement, Winnie proclaims the very act of existence. Winnie makes many other statements about the act of seeing, during the play, when talking with her husband Willie, as in â₠¬Å"Could you see me, Willie do you think, from where you are, if you were to raise your eyes to me [†¦] Lift your eyes to me† (28). Winnie needs Willie to look at her to verify that she is still there by seeing him, and him seeing her. Being stuck in the same routine of her day-to-day living can be a prison. By sharing that day with someone, even if it is just hearing or being seen, it gives Winnie a reason to go on and â€Å"to be†. Winnie articulates the feeling of disappearing in a blink of an eye by stating â€Å"Strange feeling that someone is looking at me.

A Life Worth Living in Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five :: Slaughterhouse-Five Essays

A Life Worth Living in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut (1922- ) is an author with a unique perspective on life. He sees in a vivid technicolor things in this world that the rest of humanity may only see in black and white. By the same token he sees life as a rather dark subject, it's the ultimate joke at our expense (Lundquist 1). His life experience has been one of hardship. His mother committed suicide in 1942. Two years later he was captured by Nazis in World War II's epic Battle of the Bulge. In 1943 he survived the massively destructive fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. He returned with the distinguished Purple Heart. In 1958 his sister and brother-in-law died, leaving him to raise their children, along with his own (Campbell 2). Despite these hardships, however, to Vonnegut life is still worth living. It shows through in his novels. Vonnegut utilizes black humor and irony to show many recurring themes noted in his works which are we, as a race, must learn to keep happy illusions over evil ones and that a soothing lie is sometimes the best truth (Lundquist 1). To say that Vonnegut feels life is worth living despite the horrors of the world is to say that Vonnegut really longs for the life of his childhood. It was a life of family and good, Midwestern upbringing. Wholesome morals like self-respect and pacifism were fed to him along with other staples of the Midwest. America was an idealistic, pacifistic nation at the time. I was taught in the sixth grade to be proud that we had a standing army of just over a hundred thousand men and that generals had nothing to say about what was done in Washington. I was taught to be proud of that and to pity

Macular Degeneration :: Eye Disorders Vision Essays

Macular Degeneration Robert, a 65 year-old male, has trouble reading fine detail, especially out of his central vision. He complains that his vision is blurred and that it is harder to see while operating a motor vehicle. In addition, sometimes objects appear wavy or crooked, which impairs his vision. His worst symptoms were that he occasionally lost the ability to distinguish between the features of familiar faces and he had a localized blind spot. Robert is not alone; many people suffer from symptoms related to loss and distortion of the visual field. He suffers from macular degeneration, the leading cause of decreased vision loss in the United States, especially for people over the age of 50 (Philippi, 2000). Macular degeneration also known as late, aged-related maculopathy is an eye disorder which causes a decrease in the visual field known as the retinal macula (Medical Encyclopedia, 2000). The majority of people who are affected are people over the age of 65, but occasionally it develops earlier in people 40-50 years old (Philippi, 2000). The majority of the visual loss is located in the central part of the visual field, while the peripheral vision is unharmed. There are also two types of macular degeneration, the "wet" and "dry" forms. The "dry" form of this disease is the most popular, affecting 90% of the cases (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 1997). Macular degeneration in general can affect many people in minor or drastic ways. People who experience this form often complain of vision loss when they are in dim light, especially when they are reading. The "dry" type is often characterized by a more gradual loss of vision compared to the "wet" type. Signs of this disease include an increase in drusen, which is an accumulation of a yellow-white substance, in the underside of the macular retina. A loss of cells can be seen in the macula. The macula is our sensitive sight region, where intricate detail can be seen. Thus, vision in this area is helpful and necessary to drive, read, focus on small details, and recognize familiar faces. The macula is located in the back of the eye known as the retina. The macula is only about 5 mm in diameter, and includes the fovea, which gives us our detailed central vision. If a person suffers from the "dry" form in one eye they will be more likely to develop it in the other eye as well.

Elizabethan Gardening

Aspects of Elizabethan Gardening and Landscape Architecture The reign of Elizabeth I was a golden era in English history, a time which abounded in men of genius. Among the many branches of art, science, and economy, to which they turned their attention, none profited more from the power of their wits, than did the art of gardening. Not having shared her father’s personality, nor his desire to not let the people live in more beautiful surroundings than his own, Elizabeth encouraged this art and persuaded her subjects to build delightfully-complex and extravagant gardens by proposing visits. The queen and her retinue would travel across the country and award the proprietors of the gardens she particularly liked. She also encouraged noblemen to support researchers, writers and other great minds who took on the task of contributing to the improvement of landscape architecture in one way or another. Lord Burghley was the patron of John Gerard, a remarkable English herbalist who published a list of rare plants cultivated in his garden at Holborn, still extant in the British Museum, and the famous work Great Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes. To Sir Walter Raleigh, a notable poet and aristocrat of the time, we owe the introduction of tobacco and of our most useful vegetable, the potato. An age of navigation and exploring, the Elizabethan era prided itself with the culture of various new flowers and plants (many of which were medicinal herbs) brought from India, America, the Canary Islands and other newly-discovered parts of the world. While re-editing Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles, in 1587, William Harrison states that he has seen over four hundred new species of plants entrusted to British soil and that, day by day, the people begin to think of them as belonging to their country. Lord Salisbury, Lord Burleigh’s son, commissioned a family of highly-skilled and educated Dutch gardeners (the Tradescants) to travel and bring back for his garden foreign species that could have been acclimatized. Written in his lively conversational English style, full of his own personal ideas and fancies, Francis Bacon’s Essay on Gardens is familiar to everyone. Always practical and focused on what it was possible to do, Bacon wanted to put forward a scheme in better taste for the gardens he saw about him. During Elizabeth I’s reign, the persecution of the Protestants on the Continent drove many of them to find a safe refuge in England. They brought with them some of the foreign ideas about gardening, and thus helped to improve the condition of Horticulture. The Elizabethan garden was the outcome of the older fashions in English gardens, combined with the new ideas imported from France, Italy, and Holland. The result was a purely national style, better suited to this country than a slavish imitation of the terraced gardens of Italy, or of those of Holland, with their canals and fish-ponds. There was no breaking-away from old forms and customs, no sudden change. The primitive medieval garden grew into the pleasure garden of the early Tudors, which, by a process of slow and gradual development, eventually became the more elaborate garden of the Elizabethan era. What one currently understands by a â€Å"formal† or â€Å"old-fashioned† garden, is one of this type. However, as genuine and unaltered Elizabethan gardens are rare, it is generally the further development of the same style a hundred years later, which is known as a â€Å"formal old English garden†. The garden of this period was laid out strictly in connection with the house. The architect who designed the house, was also responsible with designing the garden. There are some drawings extant by John Thorpe, one of the most celebrated architects of the time, of both houses and the gardens attached to them. The garden was held to be no mere adjunct to a house, or a confusion of green swards, paths, and flower-beds, but the designing of a garden was supposed to require even more skill than the planning of a house. â€Å"Men come to build stately sooner than to garden finely; as if gardening were the greater perfection†, states Bacon in his essay, underlying the general idea of the period. Sir Hugh Platt's opinion seems to have been the exception that proves the rule, as most other writers were particular in describing the correct form for a garden, but he writes: â€Å"I shall not trouble the reader with any curious rules for shaping and fashioning of a garden or orchard how long, broad or high, the Beds, Hedges, or Borders should be contrived†¦ Every Drawer or Embroiderer, almost each Dancing Master, may pretend to such niceties; in regard they call for very small invention, and lesse learning. In front of the house there was typically a terrace, from which the plan of the garden could be studied. Flights of steps and broad straight walks, called â€Å"forthrights† connected the parts of the garden, as well as the garden with the house. Smaller walks ran parallel with the terrace, and the spaces between were filled with grass plots, mazes, or knotted beds. The â€Å"forthrights† corresponded to the plan of the building, while the patterns in the b eds and mazes harmonized with the details of the architecture. The peculiar geometric tracery which surmounted so many Elizabethan houses, found its counterpart in the designs of the flower-beds. William Lawson, a north-countryman of the time, of whom little is known except for his own experiences which he put down in his work, A New Orchard and Garden, mentioned that â€Å"the form that men like in general is a square†. This shape was chosen in preference to â€Å"an orbicular, a triangle, or an oblong, because it doth best agree with a man's dwelling†, as Shakespeare tells us in his play, Measure for Measure. This sort of house gardens we can get a fleeting glimpse every now and then in Shakespeare’s plays, literary works in which he mentions details such as the knotted patterns of the beds, the high brick or stone wall with which the square garden was usually enclosed, the arbour of box where eavesdroppers could find good cover etc. Another common custom regarded covering the walls with rosemary. According to John Parkinson, an important English botanist of the time, at Hampton Court rosemary was â€Å"so planted and nailed to the walls as to cover them entirely. Gerard and Parkinson both refer to the custom of planting against brick walls. In the North of England, Lawson tells us, the garden-walls were made of dry earth, and it was usual â€Å"to plant thereon wallflowers and divers sweet-smelling plants†. With the seventeenth century, the interest in gardens began to make an appearance in belles lettres, quite independently of real practical work and theoretical professi onal advice. One of the most visionary spirits of the age, Francis Bacon, was the first to direct attention to the matter in this way, though he was neither architect, nor gardener. Bacon formulated several noteworthy plans for organizing gardens: â€Å"The garden is best to be square, encompassed on all four sides with a stately arched hedge. The arches to be upon pillars of carpenter's work, of some ten foot high, and six foot broad, and the spaces between of the same dimension with the breadth of the arch. † This â€Å"fair hedge† of Bacon's ideal garden was to be raised upon a bank, set with flowers, and little turrets above the arches, with a space to receive â€Å"a cage of birds† – â€Å"and over every space between the arches, some other little figure, with broad plates of round colored glass, gilt, for the sun to play upon†. It is not likely that such fantastical ornaments to a hedge were usual, though it reminds one of the arched arcades and does not seem to be at all a new idea of Bacon's. When discussing in Gardener’s Labyrinth the various models of fencing a round garden, Thomas Hill, a well-known astrologer of the time, describes palings of â€Å"drie thorne† and willow, which he calls a â€Å"dead or rough enclosure†. He refers to the Romans for examples of the alternative of digging a ditch to surround the garden, but â€Å"the general way† is a â€Å"natural enclosure†, a hedge of â€Å"white thorne artely laid in a few years with diligence it waxed so thick and strong, that hardly any person can enter into the ground, sauing by the garden-door; yet in sundry garden grounds, the hedges are framed with the privet tree, although far weaker in resistance, which at this day are made the stronger through yearly cutting, both above and by the sides†. He gives a quaint method for planting a hedge. The gardener is to collect the berries of briar, brambles, white-thorne, gooseberries and barberries, steep the seeds in a mixture of meal, and set them to keep until the spring, in an old rope, â€Å"a long worn rope†¦ being in a manner starke rotten†. â€Å"Then, in the spring, to plant the rope in two furrows, a foot and a half deep, and three feet apart†¦ The seeds thus covered with diligence shall appear within a month, either more or less, which in a few years will grow to a most strong defense of the garden or field†. These old gardeners had great confidence in all their operations, and but rarely in their works do we find any allusion to possible failure. Yews were greatly use for hedges, but more for walks and shelter within the gardens, than to form the outer enclosure. In the larger gardens there were two or three gates in the walls, well designed, with magnificent stone piers surmounted with balls or the owner's crest, and wrought-iron gates of elaborate pattern; or else there was one fine gate at the principal entrance, the rest being smaller and less pretentious, merely â€Å"a planked gate† or â€Å"little door†. The main principle of a garden was still that it should be a â€Å"girth†, a yard, or enclosure; the idea of such a thing as a practically unenclosed garden had not, as yet, entered men's minds. But because the garden was surrounded with a high wall, and those inside wished to look beyond, a terrace was contrived. As in the Middle Ages, we find an eminence within the walls, as a point from which to look over them; so at the time, the restricted view from the mount did not satisfy, and to get a more extended range over the park beyond and the garden within, a terrace as raised along one side of the square of the wall. Some pieces of information regarding these aspects we can find in Sir Henry Wotton’s writings on architecture: â€Å"I have seen a garden into which the first access was a high walk like a terrace, from whence might be taken a general view of the whole plot below. † De Caux, the designer of the Earl of Pembroke's garden at Wilton, made such a terrace there â€Å"for the more advantage of beholding those plots†. Another is described at Kenilworth, in 1575, by Robert Langham: â€Å"hard all along by the castle wall is reared a pleasant terrace, ten feet high and twelve feet broad, even under foot, and fresh of fine grass†. The terraces, as a rule, were wide and of handsome proportions, with stone steps either at the ends or in the centre, and were raised above the garden either by a sloping grass bank, or brick or stone wall. At Kirby, in Northamptonshire, a magnificent Elizabethan house, nowadays rapidly falling into decay, all that remains of a once beautiful garden, â€Å"enrich'd with a great variety of plants† (as John Morton portrays it in his Natural History of Northamptonshire), is a terrace running the whole length of the western wall of the garden. At Drayton, an Elizabethan house in the same county as Kirby, there is a wide terrace against the outer wall of the garden with a summer-house at each end, as well as a terrace in front of the house, and other examples exist. The â€Å"forthrights†, or walks which formed the main lines of the garden design, were â€Å"spacious and fair†. Bacon describes the width of the path by which the mount is to be ascended as wide â€Å"enough for four to walk abreast†, and the main walks were wider still, broad and long, and covered with â€Å"gravel, sand or turf†. There were two kinds of walks, those in the open part of the garden, with beds geometrically arranged on either side, and sheltered walks laid out between high clipped hedges, or between the main enclosure wall and a hedge. There were also the â€Å"covert walks†, or â€Å"shade alleys†, in which the trees met in an arch over the path. Some of the walks were turfed, and some were planted with sweet-smelling herbs. â€Å"Those which perfume the air most delightfully, not passed by as the rest, but being trodden upon and crushed, are three that is, burnet, wild thyme and water-mints; therefore you are to set whole alleys of them to have the pleasure when you walk or tread†. Thomas Hill, in one chapter of his book, mentions that the â€Å"walks of the garden ground, the allies even trodden out, and leveled by a line, as either hree or four foot abroad, may cleanly be sifted over with river or sea sand, to the end that showers of rain falling, may not offend the walkers (at that instant) in them, by the earth cleaving or clogging to their feet†. Parkinson also has something to say about walks: â€Å"The fairer and larger your allies and walks be, the more grace your garden shall have, the less harm the herbs and flowers shall receive, by passing by them that grow next unto the allies sides, and the better shall your weeders cleanse both the bed and the allies†. The hedges on either side the walks were made of various plants box, yew, cypress, privet, thorne, fruit trees, roses, briars, juniper, rosemary, hornbeam, cornel, â€Å"misereon† and pyracantha. â€Å"Every man taketh what liketh him best, as either privet alone or sweet Bryar, and whitethorn interlaced together, and Roses of one, two, or more sorts placed here and there amongst them. Some plant cornel trees and plash them or keep them low to form them into a hedge; and some again take a low prickly shrub that abided always green, called in Latin Pyracantha†. Regarding the cypress, Parkinson mentions that, for the goodly proportion it has, â€Å"as also for his ever green head, it is and hath been of great account with all princes, both beyond and on this side of the sea, to plant them in rows on both sides of some spacious walke, which, by reason of their high growing, and little spreading, must be planted the thicker together, and so they give a pleasant and sweet shadow†. Gerard, writing of the same plant, says: â€Å"It grows likewise in diverse places in England, where it hath been planted, as at Sion, a place near London, sometime a house of nuns; it grows also at Greenwich and at other places; and likewise at Hampstead in the garden of Master Waide, one of the Clarkes of his Majesty’s Privy Council†. Another interesting aspect of the period’s gardening literature was the fact that, in several writings, there began to appear ideas for protecting and sheltering delicate and exotic plants, which a little later developed into orangeries and greenhouses, and finally into the hothouse and stove. Sir Hugh Platt, particularly, in the second part of The Garden of Eden, not printed until 1660, recurrently mentions the possibility of growing plants in the house, and making use of the fires in the rooms to force gillyflowers and carnations into early bloom. â€Å"I have known Mr. Jacob of the Glassehouse†, he writes, â€Å"to have carnations all the winter by the benefit of a room that was near his glasshouse fire†. Holinshed, while admiring the rchards of his day, states that he has seen capers, oranges and lemons, and heard of wild olives growing here, but he does not say how they were preserved from cold. Gerard also describes both oranges and lemons, while also being, too honest, however, to pretend that they grow in England. A few oranges, nonetheless, were successfully reared in this country. In his treatise on the Orchard, Parkinson focuses on describing the surprising looking after and tending of the Orange tree, as opposed to the Citron and the Lemmon trees. The former used to be kept in great square boxes and lift there to and fro by iron hooks attached to the sides in order to move them into a house or close gallery in the winter time. Other writers suggest that, if planted against a concave-shaped wall, lined with lead or tin to cause reflection, they might happily bear their fruit in the cold climate if these walls did stand so conveniently, as they might also be continually warmed with kitchen fires. The experiment of growing lemons was tried by Lord Burghley. There are some interesting letters extant in which the history of the way in which the tree was procured is preserved. Sir William Cecil wrote to Sir Thomas Windebank around 1561, requesting to have a lemon, a pomegranate and a myrt tree procured for him, along with the instructions on how they should be kept, because he desired to enrich his collection of exotic vegetation (collection which the orange tree was already part of). Although these foreign species of trees became widespread many years later, having been regarded as rarities for half a century, these fist instances of their importation are useful for us in forming a general idea about the level of cultural and scientific development the Elizabethans had reached. An indisputable proof of the progress gardening was making during this period was the growing importance of those practicing the craft in and around London, until at length, at the beginning of King James I’s reign, they attained the dignified position of a Company of the City of London, incorporated by Royal charter. In that year all those â€Å"persons inhabiting within the Cittie of London and six miles compass thereof doe take upon them to use and practice the trade, craft or misterie of gardening, planting, grafting, setting, sowing, cutting, arboring, mounting, covering, fencing and removing of plants, herbs, seeds, fruit trees, stock sett, and of contriving the conveyances to the same belonging, were incorporated by the name of Master Wardens, Assistants and Comynaltie of the Company of Gardiners of London†. The botanical interest of Elizabethan England was shared by most countries of the time, aspect which led to the creation of a strong bond in commerce and political relations. In consequence, this great delight in growing flowers for domestic decoration was a marked feature in English life at this period. Many travelers who visited the kingdom found themselves absolutely charmed with the English comfort and architectural artistry. In one of his works, published in The Touchstone of Complexions, Thomas Newton, an illustrious scholar of the time, quotes the Dutch explorer and physician Levimus Leminius, who came to England around 1560: â€Å"Their chambers and parlors strewn over with sweet herbs refreshed me; their nosegays finely intermingled with sundry sorts of fragrant flours, in their bed chambers and privy rooms with comfortable smell cheered me up and entirely delighted all the senses†.