Thursday, September 3, 2020

Logo Research Evaluation Essay Example

Logo Research Evaluation Essay It has just one shading which makes it simple recognisable.The style of the text style is one of a kind, and the C is wavy, perhaps representing the chocolate being blended. Other than the word Cadbury there are two glasses with milk being emptied out of them into what resembles a bowl of chocolate which is being blended. This mix is effortlessly recollected. It has a green shape out of sight which resembles a couple of glasses, and where they cover at the center its darker green. Over the center of the shape it says Specsavers in an enormous educational textual style, and afterward Opticians in a littler text style underneath. The rest of the pieces of the word Specsavers are underlined. All the composing is in white which makes it stand apart on the hued foundation. This is effectively unmistakable in light of the fact that Specsavers is an opticians and when you see the glasses shape you naturally partner it with Specsavers. This logo has no content, only an image. It is of two pi ctures, they are in 3D and are PC illustrations. The front one is in a turquoise green shading, and the foundation one is in a lighter green. This logo is so effectively unmistakable, even without words, since it is so notable and handily recollected because of its effortlessness. This logo is effectively perceived in light of its interesting style. It is constantly introduced in a striking italic text style, and is frequently appeared as white on a dull foundation shading. For this situation its white laid out in dark which makes the word stick out. It would presumably be a progressively powerful logo on the off chance that it had a picture with it. This logo is straightforward yet compelling. Its a dark hover on a square with a hot pink foundation. Inside the dark circle is a heart with some scissors staying into it, in a basic white diagram. Underneath the heart is the word scarling. in a serious plain, white text style. The white on dark on hot pink is a vital mix of colo

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Payment security Essay

A business going on the web can confront numerous diffuculties. These issues incorporate installment security; new markets; blunders in requesting; loss of individual data; unfriendly assaults; staying up with the latest; language issues/issues; equipment disappointment; shortages on help and budgetary issues. Installment Security At the point when a client purchases an item by either obligation or charge card they are be confiding in the business with their own subtleties to be remained careful and confidentioal. Merchants are additionally undependable in light of the fact that they could be a casualty of Card Not Present (CNP) misrepresentation, this is the place somebody is utilizing somebody else’s card subtleties to purchase merchandise on the web. They might not have the card truly on them, yet all they need is only the subtleties of the card to have the option to buy. This can be remained careful by explicit security norms. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) this scrambles the data in a program eg: Internet Explorer which ensures the customers who can see a latch image and furthermore a ‘https’ on the location bar.SET (Secure Electronic Transfer) additionally ensures the dealer since the Mastercard organization approves the card to demonstrate that the individual utilizing the card is genuin e. The vender doesn't have a clue about the card number, just to the card’s giving bank. New Markets This is the place a site is accessible all over and the organization could be managing purchasers in new markets. Additionally with various social desires, accuring with new guidelines and furthermore legitimate necessities ought to be managed. The business may not comprehend the prevalence of its site, or the quantity of requests it will get or even the expenses of running the online tasks or all the more so the conveying products. In the event that the business doesn’t meet requests immediately it will quickly lose clients and may even be left with unsold stock or even battle to reimburse cash acquired to have the option to fund the site advancement. Mistakes in requesting Request structures online are to be intended to naturally check fot any blunders by addressing sudden passages and boxes left clear. Additionally they ought to be intended to remind the shopper in the event that they forget about any data Loss of individual data An online compay isn't permitted to put private data on its site or uncover client subtleties to different clients or watchers. This is the reason sites incorporate a protection strategy which says how client data is utilized by just the business. All companys that keep and furthermore process hidden data must enroll with the Information Commissioner’s Office and need to follow with the Data Protection Act 1998 which implies that the information must be all exact, secure and ought not be saved for longer than would normally be appropriate. There are manu aways information can be lost like through human mistake, equipment disappointment, or misfortune or burglary and programming debasement just as PC infection. An every day framework back-ups a business to empower the reinstall in its framework inside 24 hours of any issue happening. Antagonistic assaults Business are helpless against programmers or different kinds of cybercrime. Budgetary extortion happens when a client or business is precluded from securing cash that is theirs. Staying up with the latest Businessess need to refresh their site now and again to ensure that the data they have is exact and dependable eg: item depictions and costs. All organizations have a legitimate necessity to give pricise and forward-thinking data. Most sites have a disclaimer provision to ensure the issue if a client makes a move dependent on wrong data. Language issues/issues A few purchasers from worldwide online business may not comprehend. These can be fixed by the organizations utilizing a neighborhood operator who spends significant time in abroad deals or they can have enquiries interpreted by a specialist. Equipment disappointment All individuals who use PCs rely upon their Internet Service Provider. On the off chance that that is lost, at that point it can cause numerous issues for the business particularly if it’s disconnected for long. Numerous organizations have back-up servers that they can switch in the event that one server goes down. Programming issues might be brought about by programming blunders or through an infection. To stop this the, business introduces an enemy of infection programming and system security. Shortages on help Staff might be worried that their employments could be changed or vanish. Most companises have a call place to answer client inquiries. The staff currently may feel that they might not have a lot of individual contact with buyers as they presently can arrange things on the web or email the organization in the event that they need data or they could contact a call community on the off chance that they have an inquiry. Money related Issues Setting up a little site should be possible not costly but rather organizations who like to complete huge measures of organizations on the web or utilize their site as an extreamly significant method of advancing their business can be costly. Additionally, figuring the assessed money related advantages is hard. The set-up costs incorporates enrolling the space name, to have the option to arrang for an ISP to have the webpage (if not being done in-house), paying the organization having pros to structure the site, the advertising and limited time costs (with the goal that potential clients can recognize the site) and is nessary any staff preparing prerequisites. All organizations go online to make more exchange. There might be an issue if there is a huge progression of enthusiasm for the business. This could make the site crash or can make it run gradually and if there isn't a lot of stock or not very many staff to process them, at that point the requests and enquiries may not be managed. Simply by purchasing increasingly stock or in any event, utilizing more staff could bring about an awful income issues. On the off chance that the business gets an awful notoriety on the web, it will lose clients instead of addition any. Assignment 2 (P6, M2) Business benefits The statistical surveying data from online enquires are completely gotten and investigated for a wide range of reasons. The logs and treats gather all the data on location use; eventhough clients can see their programs to close the treats and furthermore numerous destinations don’t use them. Logs, be that as it may, are made by all sites this is on the grounds that they are the records that are made by the web server. Records incorporate the quantity of hits it has made, the quantity of guests it had or even extraordinary clients to a site, and to what extent they have remained on the site. Some ISPs take a gander at their log record information for purchasers while others give a product and the compnay produces its own reports. Enlistment shapes likewise allowe the business to get some answers concerning the who isâ visiting their site, where the peson lives and furthermore what they need. The onnline statistical surveying can go from little spring up polls (which evaluate a user’s online encounter) to create longer client support surveys which is sent by email and afterward once they are finished, they are taken a gander at to give more market data. The site action programming discovers which web indexes get clients onto the site; additionally which pages are famous and furthermore which points of arrival bring about clients going off the site eg: a protracted structure or even enrollment page. Approaching a totally different markets can incorporate having a remote areas, for example, country territories or even Highlands and the Islands of Scotland (in the event that they have Internet get to). Another business sectors could likewise have clients which have incapacities who may have problems(mobility) or clients who are recuperating from medical procedure or who camt go out as they are sick with a cold or influenza. So having the web gives simple and snappier access to a huge scope of data and fine evaluated items from their own homes. Under the Disability Discrimination Act, individuals responsible for sites are to have legitimate obligation to ensure that the administrations they give on the Internet is accessible for impaired individuals. Clients which have travel troubles for example moms with youthful children, the old. Implying that the clients won't have the option to go the shops genuinely with respect to the bother it would cause them so it would be reasonable for them to purchase on the web. It would likewise be snappier and simpler to purchase things on the web and furthermore get data from the Internet. Approaching from a wide scope of gadgets can likewise cause site to be seen from anyplace. Telephones with web accses, PCs and a Wi-Fi hotspot when they are not at home. Client Benefits Having a more extensive decision is an extraordinary advantage for individuals who live in modest community or even rustic territories as they can see data on the web and they can likewise observe what products are accessible in store as they don’t live in places the stores aren’t accessible. Comfort is a monstrous advantage in light of the fact that having the web, it is increasingly simpler to look and to arrange online than to need to make a trip to the shop. Every single online business are likewise useful to the individuals who return home late from their work or the individuals who are essentially excessively occupied in the day to shop. Sites that are accessible every minute of every day helps the individuals who areâ busy as it would be simpler for them to arrange online to make their life less pressure. It likewise benefits occupied families as all they have to so is basically sit with their PC/telephone/PC and simply shop there and afterward. Individuals with inabilities or extraordinary needs can likewise profit by the online organizations as they additionally don’t need to go to the shops for a considerable length of time just to search for one thing as they may get drained, so online organizations make their life simpler. There are a few different ways to pay safely eg: over the web, through log subtleties and PayPal. Errand 3 (D2) Dangers Arrangements Installment security Improving the security of the cardholder †they have entered the right pin number, additionally asking them what their keep going installment on the card was to ensure it is the genuine cardholder before any affirmations Unfamiliar markets Having a choice where your site is accessible in a wide range of dialects . Additionally having the money of various nations. Blunders in requesting Having

Friday, August 21, 2020

Mary Prince Biography Free Essays

Subsequent to perusing Mary Prince collection of memoirs a West Indian slave, I was motivated by her story that I knew for it would be extraordinary for my last task paper.My theory is despite the fact that, Mary Prince life improved when she moved to England †she brought in cash, got her book distributed, got better treatment from a business not a slave proprietor †She never accomplished her objective to be a free individual according to the law after she left her slave proprietor Mr. Wood, she didn’t picked up her opportunity and kick the bucket a slave. We will compose a custom exposition test on Mary Prince Biography or then again any comparative subject just for you Request Now Mary Prince was conceived in Brackish Pond, Bermuda in 1788, her mom was subjugated in the family unit of Mr. Charles Myners and father was a sawyer. She was purchased alongside her mom by old chief Darrel and given to his grandkid, little Betsey. After the demise of her lord she was sold a few bosses who abused her to the point that she had enough and chosen to leave her slave proprietor Mr. Wood to look for help to pick up her opportunity in London with the Anti-Slavery society. Sovereign had before looked for the assistance of the Anti-Slavery Society, who had gotten a lawyer’s conclusion that, while she was free in Britain, this would not influence her lawful status as a slave if she somehow managed to come back to Antigua. While she wished to be brought together with her significant other, she was normally hesitant to hazard an arrival to subjugation, especially as she had plentiful motivation to fear the malevolence and hostility of the Woods. Rehashed endeavors were made by Pringle and the Anti†Slavery Society to convince John Wood to consent to sell Prince her opportunity, however he endured in his refusals. In 1829 Pringle additionally composed the accommodation of a request from Prince to the British Parliament trying to have her announced free. The most effective method to refer to Mary Prince Biography, Essay models

Monday, June 8, 2020

Anne Bradstreet Wife, Mother and Poet - Literature Essay Samples

In her anthology The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up In America (1650), Anne Bradstreet focuses on her most dominant concerns, the family and the woman’s roles as wife and mother. Based on Biblical authority, wifehood and motherhood are not only roles but also sacred, spiritual values which are deeply embedded in society. As a Puritan woman, Bradstreet upholds these family values. Owing to belief in the sanctity of marriage, she manifests unwavering devotion to her husband and, in her poems, makes many marital and wifely references. As a mother, her dedication and love for her offspring are unmistakable as she infuses imagery of the mother in her poems. Anne Bradstreet’s poetry reveals the treasured values of wifehood and motherhood as she abides by the standards and principles concerning family typical of the Puritan woman. Bradstreet’s poems express the most sacred and inviolable oneness in the conjugal relationship. These tenets, which are biblically supported, are reflected in Bradstreet’s poems, â€Å"Before the Birth of One of Her Children,† â€Å"To My Dear and Loving Husband,† and â€Å"A Letter to Her Husband†. According to author Amanda Porterfield, â€Å"Puritan ministers [†¦] invested relationships between husbands and wives with religious meaning. Through this religious interpretation of the relationship between husbands and wives, Puritans established marriages as the basic unit of social order† (4). The Bible, the scriptural authority of Puritans, affirms that â€Å"man shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh† (The King James Version Bible, Gen. 2:24). Emphasizing the unity and bond of the married couple, Christ says that â€Å"they twain shall be one flesh: so than they are no more twain, but one flesh† (Mark 10:8 ). Furthermore, in tandem with the theme of marital unity, the Apostle Paul states that husband and wife â€Å"shall be one flesh† (Eph. 5:31). Likewise, Bradstreet, in her poems, underlines the oneness and loving bond between her and her husband. In the poem, â€Å"Before the Birth of One of Her Children,† Bradstreet refers to â€Å"that knot [†¦] that made us one†(L. 11) The inextricable bond that unifies man and woman in the conjugal relationship draws them together in such a way that both parties are fused as one not only in body but also in mind and spirit. Bradstreet celebrates this union between her and her husband in â€Å"To My Dear and Loving Husband†, as she writes, â€Å"for if ever two were one, then we† (L.1). â€Å"A Letter to Her Husband† reechoes marital oneness for even though husband and wife are geographically distanced from one another, they are still â€Å"both but one† (L. 26). Bradstreet indicates here no t only a spiritual unity but also a carnal one. Bradstreet draws from the paragon of conjugal oneness, Adam and Eve, to celebrate the passionate union between her and her husband. In the Garden of Eden, as Adam is introduced to his wife Eve, he proclaims her as the â€Å"flesh of [his] flesh and bone of [his] bones† (Gen. 2:23). Likewise, Bradstreet exults in the marital union and calls herself â€Å"flesh of [his] flesh and bone of [his] bones† (L. 25). The ideal union between man and wife is consummated in the act of sexual intercourse and lasts in a faithful, monogamous marriage. The incorporation of Biblical doctrines on marriage into her works consolidates principles of pure love, oneness, and chastity. A natural act of marriage is procreation, hence, Bradstreet goes on to celebrate motherhood. Bradstreet’s poetry is pregnant with images of the mother which include conception, child-bearing, and child-rearing. According to the article, Negotiating Theology and Gynecology, â€Å"The potency of motherhood as a metaphor becomes apparent in Bradstreet’s own writing [†¦] in the discussion of Bradstreet as a woman poet, the mother metaphor has special force since it blends the occupations of mother and poet† (Lutes 310). She loves her children, and affectionately calls them her â€Å"little babes† (Before the Birth), â€Å"true living pictures of their father’s face† (A Letter L.X), â€Å"fruits [†¦] which (she) bore† (A Letter ), and â€Å"fair flowers† (In Memory of My Dear Grandchild). It must be noted that during her lifetime Bradstreet bore eight children. For the most part, she rejoices in her children, however, with the joys of motherhood come its attendant sorrows. Unfortunately, in her life and poetry, there is an undercurrent of tragedy since mortality is high among expectant mothers during pregnancy and childbirth. Death among pregnant mothers is so common that Bradstreet, when she is with child, makes preparations to die by writing a farewell poem to her husband titled, â€Å"Before the Birth of One of Her Children.† Another catastrophe of motherhood is the bitter experience of a child’s death. During Bradstreet’s time, infant mortality is also common and from this harsh reality, she is not exempt. Evidence of this tragic circumstance is the dedication of two poems to her deceased children and grandchildren: â€Å"In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased Aug 1665, Being a Year and a Half Old,† and â€Å"On My Dear Grandchild Simon Bradstreet, Who Died on 16 November, 1669, being but a Month, and One Day Old.† These endearing titles convey Bradstreet’s sentiments of maternal love for her children and grandchildren and add force to the threats in motherhood. Despite these adversities in motherhood, the image of the mother figure continues to recur in her poems. Bradstreet infuses her poetry with maternal imagery and references. In â€Å"The Prologue To Her Book,† Bradstreet alludes to Calliope, the most prominent of the nine Greek Muses of Poetry. According to myth, Calliope was a wife and mother just like Bradstreet. This allusion is certainly apt because Bradstreet herself, as a wife and mother, is endowed with the poetic gift for â€Å"poesy made Calliope’s own child† (L.33). Hence Bradstreet creates imagery of a pregnant muse Calliope, giving birth to poems and reinforcing the motherhood theme. In â€Å"The Author to Her Book,† Bradstreet likens her criticized and misprinted poems to a bastard, orphan â€Å"ill-form’d offspring† (L.1). The conception and publication of her poems are compared to a â€Å"birth† (L. 2) and give solid images of motherhood, childbirth and nurture. As the mother anxiously and painstakingly fixes her dirty, unkempt child, so does Bradstreet attempt to amend her misprinted poems. She washes the face, rubs out the spots, dresses, and stretches the joints of the uneven feet (L. 10-20). Here, the child’s feet refers to the iambic pentameter foot of the poem. Hence one can clearly see the references and images of motherhood in Bradstreet’s poems. In Bradstreet’s society, the ideals of wife and mother are embedded in the Biblical paragon of wifehood and motherhood as defined in Prov. 31: 10 – 29: Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her[†¦]She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life[†¦]she worketh willingly with her hands[†¦]she looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. This passage gives details about the quintessential virtuous woman and effectively sums up the stellar qualities of a virtuous Christian woman in the private sphere. She industriously sees after the home’s needs, maintaining her honour and integrity as a wife, mother, and consummate homemaker. Undoubtedly in Bradstreet’s society, these are the traits which characterize the upright woman. Before Bradstreetâ€℠¢s collection of poems can even be officially published, recognized and respected, the beginning lines affirm that by way of recommendation, Bradstreet, as a poet, does not neglect her domestic duties. The preface, which closely mirrors the Biblical female quintessence, states that, It is the Work of a Woman, honoured, and esteemed where she lives, for her gracious demeanor, her eminent parts, her pious conversation, her courteous disposition, her exact diligence in her place, and discreet managing of her family occasions† (Reid 1998). In sum, Bradstreet – a true Calliope – proved a wise muse who cares for and loves her family remaining true to her duties as wife and mother, yet excelling in poetry and literature. Wifely allusions and maternal imagery reinforce the importance of being a wife and mother – as she sublimates her own experience into her poetry. In her society, there are the expected roles that every woman has to fulfill such as taking care of her husband and children. Her poetic works mainly relate motherhood and wifehood in the Puritan context. In Bradstreet’s world, the woman is confined to the private/domestic sphere. The marital and maternal imageries are utilized to highlight the close relationship between the author and her work and to impress the reader with the gravity with which she treats her role as spouse and mother. Works Cited: Lauter, Paul. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Houghton. Mifflin Company Boston Press, New York. 2004. 996-98. Lutes, Jean Marie. Negotiating Theology and Gynecology: Anne Bradstreet’s Representations of the Female Body. Signs, Vol. 22, No. 2, Winter 1997. 309- 40. Porterfield, Amanda. Female Piety in Puritan New England: The Emergence of Religious Humanism. 1992. 4-6. Reid, Bethany. Unfit for Light: Anne Bradstreet’s Monstrous Birth. The New England Quarterly, Vol. 71, No. 4. Dec. 1998. 517 – 42.

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Majestic Wine PLC - Report on Business Performance - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3105 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Level High school Did you like this example? Majestic Wine PLC, Report on Business Performance Executive Summary Majestic Wine Plc. opened its original wine warehouse in 1980. This Wood Green, North London warehouse merged in 1991 with Wizard Wine, which, at that time belonged to Iceland, the frozen food group, (Sunday Times, 2010, p1). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Majestic Wine PLC Report on Business Performance" essay for you Create order Majestic Wine was listed on the Alternative Investment Market in 1996. It acquired Lay Wheeler In 2009, a specialist in Burgundy and Bordeaux products (Sunday Times, 2010, p1). The retailing of wines, beers and spirits is its principal business activity (Majestic Group, 2009, p1). This business report analyses the group performance for two financial years, to 29th. March, 2010. It recommends, on the basis of appropriate performance ratios, (detailed in Appendices 1 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 4), that shareholders should buy more shares. Shareholders should augment their investment significantly if the group management shows an aggressive and focused plan for achievement of its objective of retailing from 250 stores, along with the deployment of a more aggressive capital gearing ratio and sharper operations management. 1. Introduction Majestic has grown more than 12 fold from 1985, when it had only 12 shops, to 152 shops in 2010. It aims to expand its shop strength to 250 during the coming decade (Sunday Times, 2010, p1). Its sales are at a 10 year high, a result of the discarding of its policy of retailing only 12-bottle cases. Off-licences, (establishments selling alcohol for consumption off the premises), could in the 1980s operate only for a few hours every day, and even fewer over weekends. Warehouses circumvented this rule by posturing as wholesalers, thus compelling their customers to buy bulk 12-bottle cases (Goodway, 2010, p1). Steven Lewis, the feisty CEO of Majestic, tested and subsequently rolled out, from November 2009, a model allowing customers to buy lots of 6 bottles at a time (Goodway, 2010, p1). The policy was instrumental in increasing the number of customers by 54000 to 472000 in the course of a year (LSE, 2010, p1). The objective of this Business Report is to recommend to the sha reholders of Majestic Wine PLC on augmentation or reduction of their investment in the company. 2. Analysis 2.1. Group Operations The detailed computations in respect of the following ratios, relating to profitability, short-term liquidity and working capital, and long-term solvency are detailed in Appendix 1 3. Profitability Ratios Appendix 1: (LSE, 2010) Year 2010 2009 (1) Gross Profit Ratio 21.3% 20.6% (2) Net Profit Ratio 4.8% 1.6% (3) Return on Investment (ROI) 21.0% 6.9% Short Term Liquidity Working Capital Ratios Appendix 2: (LSE, 2010) Year 2010 2009 (1) Liquidity of Receivables Days 18 21 (2) Liquidity of Payables Days 99 113 (3) Current Ratio 0.99 0.94 (4) Acid-Test/Quick Ratio 0.30 0.27 (5) Cash Ratio 0.090 0.061 Long Term Solvency Ratios Appendix 3: (LSE, 2010). Year 2010 2009 (1) Debt Equity Ratio 0.15 0.18 (2) Capital Gearing Ratio 0.13 0.15 (3) Interest Cover Ratio 35.6 34.6 The profitability ratios of the company reflect a marked improvement in terms of revenues, cost of sales and ROI. Most organisations opt to keep their debt low and cut their debt at the earliest (Jablonsky Barsky, 2001). Whilst such inclinations arise from the need to be conventional and secure in business, excessive eagerness to diminish debt frequently leads to poor utilisation of obtainable debt, higher costs and uneconomical capital gearing (Jablonsky Barsky, 2001, p 7-15). The long-term debts ratios reflect under capitalisation. The low gearing ratio reflects risk adverse tendencies, which can lead to slow growth in future. The practically unchanged working capital ratios reflect the maintenance of sub-optimal liquidity levels. The weak acid-test ratio can lead to a difficult situation if the need for liquidity arises on account of contingencies that need to be swiftly addressed. 2.2. Group Performance The group turnover for the 52 week period ending 29th March, 2010 at  £33.2m was up 15.6 percent, with the profit before tax at  £16.0m rocketing by an incredible 117 percent (LSE, 2010, p1). Appendix 4 summarises the group performance, as reported in the Preliminary Results for 2010. The Group has experienced strong cash generation during 2010, with operational cash-flows of  £21.2m during the year. This figure is  £5.7m more than the  £15.5m generated during the previous year, and has essentially come about from the improvement in the underlying profit before tax during 2010. The Distribution and Administrative Costs have increased by 15.6 percent during 2009-10 as compared to the previous year. The EBIT (Earnings before finance costs and taxation) rose by 118.3 percent during the same period. The Profit before Taxation (PBT) grew sharply from  £7.4m to  £16.0m during 2009-10 year, registering an increase of 117 percent. The sales to private customers, which make up the mainstay of the business, have shored up well, even though sales to corporate customers has been unsatisfactory. The companys French operations have been hurt by a stronger Euro (Majestic Group, 2009, p1). This contributed to an exceptional non-cash charge of  £5.33m in 2009, which arose from the writing-down of the carrying value of the companys French retailing operations, Wine and Beer World (Majestic Group, 2009, p1). The companys purchase policy of reducing the minimum purchase of 12 bottles to 6 has led to excellent results, even as it needs to be recognised that it may be difficult to replicate this years soaring profits next year, because of the challenges involved in manoeuvring even more supermarket customers through its shop entrances (ODoherty Kuchler, 2010, p1). Majestic is nevertheless working towards seizing mid-market space with a number of value-adding schemes like developing sales to gastro pub s, increasing its wine-tasting programmes, and growing its fine wines business (ODoherty Kuchler, 2010, p1). Majestics market share at 3.4% leaves abundant room for growth (ODoherty Kuchler, 2010, p1). Its share is trading at approximately 14 times its forecast earnings for 2011, higher than the average of its peer retailers, which are trading at an average of 12 to 13 times. Majestic, ODoherty Kuchler, (2010, p1) feel merits the premium and some more. The companys results are remarkable, considering that the underlying profit growth of 26 percent in 2010 has been achieved after accounting for the reduction of  £5.3m in the carrying value of the French operations (Hemming, 2010, p1). The business is well positioned to capitalise on its core strengths as the economic environment starts improving (Majestic Group, 2009, p1). The companys acquisition of Lay and Wheelers fine wine business in 2009 has contributed  £12.4m to 2010 sales (LSE, 2010, p1). It is to the credit of the group that the total dividend for the year has been raised by 5.1 percent, to 10.3p per share, against last years 9.8p, despite continuing market pressures (LSE, 2010, p1). The underlying basic earnings per share (EPS) for 2010 at 18.4p were 31.4% higher than the 2009s 14.0p. The underlying diluted EPS for the same period at 18.3p rose 30.7% against the previous years figure of 14.0p. The basic EPS for 2010 at 18.4p was 247.2% more than the 2009s 5.3p. The diluted EPS for 2010 at 18.3p was 245.3% more than the 5.3p achieved in 2009 (LSE, 2010, p1). The average transaction expenditure at  £129 for 2010 is 4 percent lower than 2009, despite a growth of 14.6 percent to 1.7m in transaction numbers (LSE, 2010, p1). The UK like-for-like sales for the 10 week period from 30th.March, 2010 to 7th.June, 2010 rose 7.3 percent (LSE, 2010, p1). The company is expected to improve its sales in future. The retailers professional credentials and good service levels have produced considerable loyalty amongst its patrons, which will be of assistance in the present economic climate. Majestic will also probably not be impacted by the recommended changes to alcohol pricing as its focus is more on the superiority of its offering than on its price (TradingMarkets.com, 2010, p1). It is recommended that shareholders should steadily increase their investments. Larger positions should be taken if the group management shows persistent and aggressive efforts to achieve its growth target of 250 sites within a decade and change its conservative capital gearing. The company however needs to address its short term liquidity in order to be ready for short-term contingencies. 2.3. Mission Statement An exhaustive search of corporate information on the company reveals that Majestic does not have a well-defined official mission statement. The company nevertheless aims to continually increase its retail outlets and open more than 250 in the coming 10 years. The company also strives to provide high quality wine and excellent service to its customers. The achievement of these objectives can be considered to be its mission. The companys strategy focuses on increasing retail outlets and providing excellent value across product and price ranges and extraordinary customer service (Majestic Group, 2009, p1). The companys commitment to its mission is demonstrated by the steady increase in the number of retail outlets over the years and the numerous quality and performance awards it has won in a competitive scenario. The company has increased the number of outlets from 12 to 150 in the last 15 years. It was awarded the High Street Chain of the Year, in 2008, by the International W ine Challenge Awards. The Group was also awarded The Specialist Wine Chain of the Year by Decanter magazine in 2008 (Majestic Group, 2010, p1). The companys strength in customer services emanates from its policy of recruiting and retaining high quality graduate level staff, its continual investment in comprehensive training programmes, (widely accredited as best in the wine industry), and its focus on customer service, product knowledge and management (Majestic Group, 2010, p1). Majestic augments its specialist credentials by focusing on staff training. New staff members are encouraged to obtain the Wine and Spirits Education Trusts (WSET) Advanced Certificate in six months. Several employees train further. Approximately 150 staff members presently have, or are qualifying for the WSET Diploma, even as 7 of Majestics personnel received Excellence Awards from WSET in January 2010 (TradingMarkets.com, 2010, p1). Majestic distinguishes itself from its competitors is by cul tivating strong customer relationships (TradingMarkets.com, 2010, p1). The company hosts numerous events, like wine tastings, and courses to enhance customer knowledge of wine (TradingMarkets.com, 2010, p1). Such approaches, combined with high service levels, have facilitated the retailer in trading its clientele up the value chain (TradingMarkets.com, 2010, p1). Majestic aims to enhance its fine wine credentials by putting up fine wine display sections in all its stores in the next two years. Approximately around 50 percent of its present stores have such sections (TradingMarkets.com, 2010, p1). 2.4. Environmental Policies Official communication by Majestic is noticeably silent on its environmental policies. Study of information available on the companys marketing strategy however reveals that the company is actively committed to a sustainable environmental policy of following green policies in its marketing operations (PRLog, 2010, p1). The company stocks a carefully grown assortment of red and white organic wines. Such wines are created from organically produced grapes, developed to ensure taste and value for money, and are suitable for vegans and vegetarians (PRLog, 2010, p1). Majestics online marketing manager, Jamie McRonald explains that organic wine production is difficult and expensive since grapes are vulnerable to weather and animals. Such constraints make farmers disinclined to organic grape production (PRLog, 2010, p1). Organic wine is the ultimate part of the organic riddle, with fungicide and pesticide-free grapes maturing slowly on sun-soaked vineyards sans chemical safety, intervention or stimulation (PRLog, 2010). Whilst organic wines are by and large rarely stocked by the bulk of wine retailers because of their higher costs, Majestic actively stocks and sells organic wines. Such support will encourage farmers to take up organic farming and grow grapes without the use of environmentally damaging chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The company locates its stores off High Streets. Whilst this decision stems from its policy of keeping rentals low, it helps in reducing petrol expensive traffic jams in busy shopping areas. Majestic should however aggressively adopt and publicise environment friendly policies because of its influential position in the supply chain. A relevant area of focus could be the collection, reprocessing and disposal of recyclable waste material. 2.5. Competitor Analysis: Strengths and Weaknesses The retail wine market in the UK is intensely competitive; it is highly fragmented and basically serviced by supermarkets and off-license retailers (Management Today, 2007, p1). Majestic thus faces competition from other off-license retailers and supermarkets. Supermarkets have over the years continuously increased their share of the wine market (Management Today, 2007, p1). Led by Tescos and ASDA-Walmart, supermarkets are increasing their sales of wines at the cost of off-license establishments, whose numbers fell from 5430 to 4400 between 2004 and 2009 (Management Today, 2007, p1). The recent winding up of the off-licence chain First Quench, a direct outcome of intense competition from supermarkets, led to the loss of 6000 jobs (Management Today, 2007, p1). Whilst Majestic competes with supermarkets and off-licence chains and shops, its major competition obviously arises from supermarkets like Tesco, ASDA, Sainsburys and Waitrose (How, 2006, p1). This competitive analysi s of strengths and weaknesses treats supermarkets as one generic form of competition, even though there could be differences in the strategies, capabilities and weaknesses of individual supermarket chains (How, 2006, p1). The national supermarket chains provide formidable competition to majestic wines. Their physical spread is immense and they are present in all High Streets, as well as in smaller towns and in rural settlements (Management Today, 2007, p1). They stock a huge variety of foods and household items as well as wines and attract far more footfalls than specialised wine retailers like Majestic. Such larger numbers of footfalls translate into greater sales because people tend to club food and wine purchases (Management Today, 2007, p1). Supermarkets are also by and large better located and many of them have substantial parking facilities, which help in attracting customers. Supermarkets also have the advantage of lower overheads, very substantial buying and stockin g capacity, and bargaining power over suppliers. This enables them to offer better prices and work with lower margins (Management Today, 2007, p1). Whilst supermarkets have much strength, it needs to be recognised that wines are only one of their many products and management attention towards selling of wines in supermarkets is far more diluted than in Majestic, a company which literally breathes and lives wine. The difference in attention and commitment thus leads to comparatively lesser market aggression and customer service. Supermarket employees are certainly less conversant with wines than those of Majestic. It is also possible that the smaller supermarket outlets may not have all customer wine preferences. Majestic is dedicated to the retailing of wines. The companys strength arises from its very substantial management and staff capabilities in the sourcing, stocking and retailing of wines (TradingMarkets.com, 2010, p1). The companys employees are extensively trained in different aspects of wine retailing, and it strives to stock an extensive range of wines, including those made from organically grown grapes (PRLog, 2010, p1). The company however suffers, in comparison to supermarkets, from fewer and unfavourably placed outlets, higher overheads, and lesser footfalls (ODoherty Kuchler, 2010, p1). The company counters this by locating its outlets off High Streets and uses its financial strength to buy wisely and extensively (ODoherty Kuchler, 2010, p1). It delivers at home and engages in numerous customer friendly activities to build customer loyalty (ODoherty Kuchler, 2010, p1). References Comiskey, E. E., Mulford, C. W., 2000. Guide to financial reporting and analysis, New York: John Wiley Sons. Davey, J., 2009, Majestic Wine first-half profit up 9 pct, news.stv.tv, Available at: news.stv.tv//137498-majestic-wine-firsthalf-profit-up-9-pct/ United Kingdom (accessed July 03, 2010). Goodway, N., 2010. Majestic Wines simple strategy tramples on supermarkets, London Evening Standard, Available at: https://www.thisislondon.co.uk/markets/article-23846082-majestic-wines-simple-strategy-tramples-on-supermarkets.do (accessed July 01, 2010). Greenwise, 2010. Lightweight bottle helps wine industry cut CO2 and waste, Greenwise Staff, Available at: https://www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk/news/lightweight-bottle-helps-wine-industry-cut-co2-and-waste-1453.aspx (accessed July 01, 2010). Hall, J., 2010. Tax rises drive wine makers out of UK, Telegraph.Co.uk, Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7488682/Tax-rises-drive-wine-makers -out-of-UK.html (accessed July 01, 2010). Hemming, R., 2010. Majestic Wine profits skyrocket, JancisRobinson.com, Available at: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201006143.html (accessed July 01, 2010). Hoovers.com, 2010. Company Description Majestic Wine PLC, Hoovers Inc, Available at: https://www.hoovers.com/company/Majestic_Wine_PLC/rtftxci-1.html (accessed July 01, 2010). How, T., 2006, Majestic Wines: Tim How, www.growingbusiness.co.uk, Available at: www.growingbusiness.co.uk à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ º à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ º Success Stories (accessed July 03, 2010). Jablonsky, S. F., Barsky, N. P., 2001, The Managers Guide to Financial Statement Analysis (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley Sons. LSE, 2010. Preliminary Results, Regulatory Story, RNS London Stock Exchange plc, Available at : https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-news/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=10530622 (accessed July 01, 2010). Majestic Group, 2009. Annual Report and Acco unts 2009, Majestic Wine PLC, Available at: https://maj-cms.snowvalley.com/upload/pdfs/Investors/results2009.pdf (accessed July 01, 2010). Management Today, 2007, The death of the off-licence, Available at: www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/978758/the-death-off-licence/(accessed July 03, 2010). ODoherty, J. Kuchler, H., 2010. Majestic Wine benefits from new approach, The Financial Times Ltd. FT.com, Available at: https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ca12d6a8-777d-11df-802a-00144feabdc0.html (accessed July 01, 2010). PRLog, 2010. Have You Tasted Our Simply Sublime Organic Wines? PRLog.com, Available at: https://www.prlog.org/10513815-have-you-tasted-our-simply-sublime-organic-wines.html (accessed July 02, 2010). Robinson, J., 2010. When a bottle is better than a case, The Financial Times, June 12, 2010, Available at: https://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/925f00f0-74e0-11df-aed7-00144feabdc0.html (accessed July 01, 2010). Robinson, J., 2007, Britains independent wine merchants mushroom, Avail able at: www.jancisrobinson.com à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ º Free for all (accessed July 03, 2010). Siciliano, G., 2003. Finance for the non-financial manager, New York: McGraw-Hill. Starups, 2010, Off-licence, Available at: www.startups.co.uk à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ º à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ º Business buyer guides(accessed July 03, 2010). The Sunday Times, 2010. Briefing: Majestic Wine, The Sunday Times, Times Newspapers Ltd., June 13, 2010, Available at: business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry/article7148907.ece (accessed July 01, 2010). TradingMarkets.com, 2010. Majestic Wine results reveal vintage year, TradingMarkets.com, Available at : https://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/mjwnf_majestic-wine-results-reveal-vintage-year-982636.html (accessed July 01, 2010). Wilson, A., 2010. Majestic Wine sales havent lost their fizz, Telegraph.co.uk, Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7734138/Majestic-Wine-sales-havent-lost-their-fizz.html (ac cessed July 01, 2010). Appendices Appendix 1: Profitability Ratios (LSE, 2010) Year 2010 2009 Sales  £000 233220 201794 Cost of Sales  £000 183528 160148 Gross Profit Margin  £000 49,692 41,646 (1) Gross Profit Ratio Gross Profit Margin/Sales 21.3% 20.6% Profit after Taxation  £000 11280 3,262 (2) Net Profit Ratio Net Profit /Sales 4.8% 1.6% Net Worth  £000 53,648 47,616 (3) Return on Investment (ROI) Profit after Tax/Net Worth 21.0% 6.9% Appendix 2: Short Term Liquidity Working Capital Ratios (LSE, 2010) Year 2010 2009 Current Assets Inventories  £000 38511 37752 Trade Other Receivables  £000 11594 11531 Financial Instruments at Fair Value  £000 233 834 Cash and Cash Equivalents  £000 4774 2572 55,112 52,689 Current Liabilities Trade Other Payables  £000 49778 49724 Bank Overdraft  £000 2453 3950 Current Tax Liabilities  £000 2461 1515 Other Current Liabilities  £000 1079 899 55,771 56,088 (1) Liquidity of Receivables Days Accounts Receivables * 18 21 Days in year / Annual Sales (2) Liquidity of Payables Days Accounts Payables * 99 113 Days in year / Cost of Sales (3) Current Ratio Current Assets/Current Liabilities 0.99 0.94 (4) Acid-Test/Quick Ratio Current Assets less Inventories / Current Liabilities 0.30 0.27 (5) Cash Ratio Cash + Marketable Securities / Current Liabilities 0.090 0.061 Appendix 3: Long Term Solvency Ratios (LSE, 2010) Year 2010 2009 Long Term Debt  £000 7810 8495 Shareholders Funds  £000 53648 47616 LT Debt + Shareholders Funds  £000 61,458 56,111 (1) Debt Equity Ratio Total Debt / Shareholders Funds 0.15 0.18 (2) Capital Gearing Ratio L.T. Borrowing / (L.T. Borrowing + Shareholders Funds 0.13 0.15 Earnings Before Interest Tax (EBIT)  £000 16466 7542 Interest Costs  £000 462 218 (3) Interest Cover Ratio EBIT / Interest Costs 35.6 34.6 Appendix 4: Company Operational Performance (LSE, 2010) Year 2009 2010 Variance  £000  £000  £000 Sales 201794 233220 15.6% Cost of Sales -160148 -183528 14.6% Gross Profit 41,646 49,692 19.3% Distribution and Administrative Costs -29404 -34003 15.6% Goodwill Impairment Charge -5331 -100.0% Other Operating Incomes 631 777 23.1% Operating Profit 7,542 16,466 118.3% Profit on Disposal of Property Profit before finance costs and taxation (EBIT) 7,542 16,466 118.3% Finance Revenue 55 7 -87.3% Finance Costs -218 -462 111.9% Profit before taxation (PBT) 7,379 16,011 117.0% Income Tax -4117 -4731 14.9% Profit after Taxation (PAT) 3,262 11,280 245.8%

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Multiple Intelligences Self Assessment Quiz - 844 Words

I choose to take the Multiple Intelligences Self-Assessment quiz. When I taught preschool and as the trainer for my department I have learned that there are many different methods in which people learn. I have learned to adapt how I teach and train based on what is required by the learner. Due to this I was curious to determine the variety of learning methods that work best for me. I discovered that I have a broad range of ways in which I learn best. I have always excelled at learning and find that I learn fairly quickly, so this is not surprising to me. What did surprise me was that my highest percentage was naturalistic. One question that I often ask is, â€Å"Why?† I enjoy having a knowledge of how things work and the ability to understand a variety of subjects, but did not realize how highly it impacted my learning. The few categories where I scored low were music and body kinesthetic. Neither of these surprise me much. When I work and am trying to concentrate I find th at music and movement is very distracting. I have learned to eliminate them when focus and concentration is crucial. The rest of the categories I scored from 49% to 63%. I feel this explains my ability to learn a broad spectrum of things quickly no matter what the method of learning is. The two areas where I scored the highest were interpersonal and intrapersonal. This explains my drive for success, ability to gain insight into a variety of situations and people, my solid foundation in who I am and whatShow MoreRelatedDon t Always Trust Everything You Read Essay1594 Words   |  7 Pagesin this instance is self assessments. The ones that are supposed to help you better understand something about yourself or how you behave. Growing up in the public school system, there are countless different teaching methods. The student is usually left up to the mercy of the instructor. 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(Pe) Physical Education (Essay, Sac) Training Diary free essay sample

I designed a training program that i carried out over a 6 week period which aimed at strengthening my upper body and core. I exercised for 60 minutes each day and after ever workout i collected the data and recorded it in a diary which described the exact exercise, number of sets, reps and duration. Before the training program i did a series of post tests which involved a 7 stage ab tests, 1RM bench press and a 1 minute push up test. For the ab test i got to stage 5 which meant i could do 1 sit up and touch my elbows to my knees, with the bench press i could lift a max of 92. kg and with push ups i could do 40 in a minute. After i had finished my program i once again conducted a series of post tests to see how much i had improved. With my ab test i got to stage 6 which meant I could do the same but with a 2. 5kg weight held behind my head, with the bench press i got to 100kgs which is an increase of 7. 5kg and my push up test i got to 47 in a minute. I found that my greatest weekness came from my natural weight tests, with my push ups and sit ups. I belive these were more difficult due to my large weight as i weighted in at 105kg. But after i had finished my program i had put on 3kg due to an increase of muscle mass and a loss of fat. The reason i choose these tests was because they were specific to the exercises i was about to undertake for example with a push up it focuses on the core and all upper body muscles. Before each work out i did a series of proprioceptive neuromuscular facioitation stretches which i held for 6 seconds each stretch and after each workout i did a series of static stretches to help prevent the risk of injury. When i started doing my exercises the energy systems that i used changed between the anaerobic and aerobic energy systems. As i did exercises that invloved 10 reps, fast twitch fibres and a duration of less than 15 seconds i worked anaerobically but when i did my core intival training my body used interplay. As i started out my body was working anaerobically but as my heart rate rose to over 80% max heart rate and the workout went for longer than 2 minutes my body started working aerobically and used slow twitch fibre as well as when my exercise intensified to around 85% max HR the onset of hydrogen ions accumalated in certain muscles due to the inabillity to continue my workout and muscle pump in the active areas. After a couple of weeks of training aerobicaly my muscles got trained to be able to pospone the high accumalation of h+. The reason i choose the exercises i did was because each demonstrated a differnt muscular contraction or a mixture of each. flys, planks, sit-ups and push ups used isometric contractions, biceap curls, bench/chest and shoulder presses used concentric contractions and with pull downs and shoulder pull ups used eccentric contractions. All exercises were specific to the muscular area i was trying to improve, each day i worked on one part of the body for example on a Monday i would focus just on my chest and on a wendsday i would work on my biceps. The reason i choose to do my program like that was because it was easier to remember what area to work on and gave each muscle grouple a huge workout instead of doing 5 different areas each day. With reference to my diary each workout showed progresive overload either with an increase in weigth or frequency and after a day or two i explained how my body showed the signs of delayed onset muscular soreness due to the overload. The only issue i ran into with my workout was that some days i wouldnt have a spotter which made my workouts quiet difficult. After i had finished my six week trainig program my muscular strength had increased dramatically with my biceap strength increased 7. 5kg, chest strength increased 7. kg, core strenght increased 2. 5kg and i was able to dely the onset of hydrogen ions from 25 reps to 35+ reps, etc. The whole process was more than enjoyable. I learnt many different exercises from other experience weight lifters and many pointers to help improve my skills. The program has helped me outside of weight lifting, such as being able to pass and throw further while playing basketball. I might of improved my program by working with a friend to make the work out more enjoyable and to help assist me in lifting.

Monday, April 20, 2020

Totalitarian Government Essay Thesis Example For Students

Totalitarian Government Essay Thesis Those who would trade their liberties for a little safety deserve neitherliberty nor safety. That quote by Benjamin Franklin described mindset thatleads to totalitarian government. The British novelist, George Orwell is knownfor his chilling governmental satire. Animal Farm, his other well-known novel isa look into the past, his novel 1984 was a eerie prophecy into the not sodistant future. This view of a negative Utopia has become so well known thatpeople who believe in his theory are called Orwellian. But do we exist in amanner similar to the prophecy of the world in which he claimed to be what lifewould be like in 1984? The answer is No, but in just a few years we could. We will write a custom essay on Totalitarian Government Thesis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Ironically one of the greatest differences in our society and the society ofOrwell, is that in 1984, the gene which leads to sex has been suppressed. For Inour society promiscuity and suggestiveness have gotten maybe not more common butcertainly more public. When Orwell published 1984, this seemed to be a logicalconclusion that such an event might happen. For in the Post- World War II,generation sex was expressly hidden. For example on television the Rock musicianElvis Presley was not shown below the hips because it was considered far toosuggestive. In this aspect Our Society more resembles the other most famousnovel of a negative utopia, Aldous Huxleys Brave New World. However we doshare some similarities. Part of the power base in 1984 has its powerexclusively through the deception of the people. Winston for example accepts thefact that two plus two does in fact equal five. As we know, two plus twoequals four. The most important way in which we can prevent turnining into anOrwellia n society is to not be able to be misled. To prevent the society ofwhich we live from becoming Orwellian we must stave off apathy. For it is aslippery slope and if we take the first step down it we could live in anOrwellian totalitarian state. Closing, we do not as of today live in thesociety, which Orwell predicted. We still maintain a level of personal freedomin the United States greater than that described in 1984. However other nationsof this world, the Peoples Republic of China comes to mind, where they live in asemi-Orwellian world. Even though we tend to say it cant happen here,it can. Thats what they would have said in Germany in the twenties or Russiain the Pre-World War One era. It can happen here and it shall if we do notremember the lesson of the American President Thomas Jefferson The Price ofliberty is Eternal Vigilance.

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Misrepresentations of African Americans in the Media essays

Misrepresentations of African Americans in the Media essays Misrepresentations of African Americans in the Movies It seems that the entertainment industry has helped to shape the way that African Americans are viewed by modern day America. As a white male who has little or no experience within an actual black family unit, I am not sure exactly how accurate media portrayals are. However, I am fully aware of the stereotypes that often plague the African American race. Myths and untruths about the work ethic and sexual ferocity of Black males, the unskilled or careless parenting of Black mothers and fathers, and the general moral deterioration of the Black family as a whole run rampant in todays films, television shows, and other forms of media. Through real life interactions and experience, books and classes, and common sense, I have put these stereotypes to rest for myself. I know that they are not accurate. Unfortunately, there are many who do fall victim to the stereotypes, and there are many more who experience prejudice and pain because of them. After watching some movies that are currently popular, it seems to me that the majority of current films that are aimed at an African American audience fill and support these negative stereotypes of African Americans. When Hollywood pitches an idea for a film, it is aimed towards a specific audience. Some of these movies are specifically aimed towards African American teens. These films usually star African American actors and actresses, sometimes popular rap stars, and they usually take place in an urban setting. I have seen two such comedy movies recently; Friday, starring Ice Cube, and How High, starring Method Man and Redman. Because these movies star popular rap artists, they are meant to attract those artists core audience, African American teens. However, upon viewing these films, I was disturbed rather than amused. Because of the extremely high number of racial stereotypes that these movies held, I co...

Friday, February 28, 2020

Media ethics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Media ethics - Research Paper Example The media is important in information dissemination in the society. However, this would never be realized if some ethics are not observed. There are several areas where ethics is observed in the media sector. I am a journalist by profession hence I have a vast knowledge with regards to the ethical and legal implications in this career. As journalists, we act as the eye and the mind of the public. It is through our work that the public get to know the happenings in the nation and the world as a whole. We are the role models of several people, more so the teenagers, who tend to dress, act and behave the way we do. I must admit that journalism is one of the complex careers because everyone is watching, any slightest mistake or misconduct will go into record. This may make one lose his/her job or even arrested depending on the seriousness and nature of the misconduct. There are set of ethics and law that is meant to guide us while we interact with the public. The difference between law a nd ethics is that ethics is the good characters accepted by both man and God, but their violation has no legal consequences, while law is a set of regulations whose violation has some legal implications like an arrest or charges. ... This is mainly common in the political arena where a certain political leader may use his/her power to influence the news read to the public. Certain journalists may also decide to manipulate news content on the basis of personal interest. There is no specific law describing specific legal consequences to such act, but one may lose the public favor and lose his/her job. External stakeholders like advertising companies may cut their links with such media company. Social researchers indicate that major civil and international wars have been sparked by the manipulation of the actual facts. The public will have no time to evaluate the news but take it the way it is being read. Manipulating the news is like lying to the public which not only unethical but demoralizing. For instance, think of a situation a certain media house have used to announce hunger in a certain part of the country so that other citizens to rescue the situation, only to later realize that the hunger was faked so that some regional leaders could make personal gains. This would kill the trust between the public and the media company. The truth is another ethical issue in the journalism. The main aim of the media sector is keeping the public on the truthful side. A certain government may hide some issues from the public out of personal greed, but is the role of the media to reveal truth to the nation and the world as a whole. Media without truth is considered dead because it serves its purpose. The current constitutions of several democratic nations regard media as an independent entity and freedom of expression. This enables the media to report any situation the way it is. Language is another important ethical matter in the media sector. Ant media

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Crime Scene Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crime Scene - Research Paper Example Even though they are the most common, they are also the most easily contaminated and therefore, must be handled literally with kid gloves. When a crime scene investigator is called upon to collect hair sample evidence, he can do this a number of ways. However, the most common method is to ; â€Å"use the fingers or tweezers to pick up hair, place in paper bundles or coin envelopes which should then be folded and sealed in larger envelopes. Label the outer sealed envelope.† In instances when the hair is found to be mixed with blood or other items at the crime scene, it is important to preserve all the types of evidence present. Therefore, in order to collect the hair sample while attached to say, a bloodstain, a CSI might find himself leaving the hair intact where it dried up or got mixed up in because of the method by which it is recovered and packed ; â€Å"If the object is small, mark it, wrap it, and seal it in an envelope. If the object is large, wrap the area containing the hair in paper to prevent loss of hairs during shipment. â€Å" (â€Å"†Evidence Collection Guidelines†) Tests that can be performed on a hair sample include Fresh Blood on the other hand, â€Å"... needs to be absorbed in a gauze pad or sterile cloth and allowed to dry thoroughly†. If whole pieces of clothing are retrieved, â€Å"label and roll in paper or place in a brown paper bag or box and seal and label container. Place only one item in each container. Do not use plastic containers., then allow it to dry at room temperature at the crime lab.† (â€Å"†Evidence Collection Guidelines†) These types of evidence cannot be exposed to sunlight as it will contaminate the blood. Dried blood on the other hand, requires that the clothing be wrapped in clean containers in the same manner as fresh blood. If the blood is found on small objects, the object should be wrapped, labeled, and sealed in a box before being shipped to the laboratory. (†Å"†Evidence Collection Guidelines†). It is important to not mix blood stains and instead place any stains retrieved from table or counter tops in separate envelopes. It is important to not retrieve the blood evidence with moistened cloth or tissue paper because its chemical composition will influence the freshly recovered evidence. One of the tests can be performed on both dry and liquid samples would be DNA matching and blood chemical analysis for those suspected of being poisoned. When recovering firearms, it is important to wear latex gloves in order to preserve any DNA, trace, or fingerprints on the gun. Remember to treat it as a loaded gun even though the visual evidence indicates the cartridge is empty. Remember that there may be unfired bullets in the chamber and therefore, the weapon should not be shipped by any method for safety reasons. Prior to sending the gun to the lab, it is of the utmost importance that the serial number, make and model, caliber and model markings are properly recorded because â€Å"Marking firearms is important since duplicate serial numbers are sometimes found on different guns of the same make and general type.† (â€Å"†Evidence Collection Guidelines†) When a gun is recovered at the crime scene, shell casings from the bullets won't be far behind. As with the gun itself, latex gloves are the order of the day when recovering the bullet casings. The bullets should be wrapped in paper or dropped into the small evidence bag that are properly labeled. Once a while, labeled pill boxes and envelopes may

Friday, January 31, 2020

Cognitive science Essay Example for Free

Cognitive science Essay Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics, but has no autonomous domain of its own. [1][2] The preferred object of stylistic studies is literature, but not exclusively high literature but also other forms of written texts such as text from the domains of advertising, pop culture, politics or religion. [3] Stylistics also attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language, such as socialisation, the production and reception of meaning, critical discourse analysis and literary criticism. Other features of stylistics include the use of dialogue, including regional accents and people’s dialects, descriptive language, the use of grammar, such as the active voice or passive voice, the distribution of sentence lengths, the use of particular language registers, etc. In addition, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the form and effects within a particular variety of language. Therefore, stylistics looks at what is ‘going on’ within the language; what the linguistic associations are that the style of language reveals. * | Early twentieth century The analysis of literary style goes back to Classical rhetoric, but modern stylistics has its roots in Russian Formalism,[4] and the related Prague School, in the early twentieth century. In 1909, Charles Ballys Traite de stylistique francaise had proposed stylistics as a distinct academic discipline to complement Saussurean linguistics. For Bally, Saussures linguistics by itself couldnt fully describe the language of personal expression. [5] Ballys programme fitted well with the aims of the Prague School. [6] Building on the ideas of the Russian Formalists, the Prague School developed the concept of foregrounding, whereby poetic language stands out from the background of non-literary language by means of deviation (from the norms of everyday language) or parallelism. [7] According to the Prague School, the background language isnt fixed, and the relationship between poetic and everyday language is always shifting. [8] Late twentieth century Roman Jakobson had been an active member of the Russian Formalists and the Prague School, before emigrating to America in the 1940s. He brought together Russian Formalism and American New Criticism in his Closing Statement at a conference on stylistics at Indiana University in 1958. [9] Published as Linguistics and Poetics in 1960, Jakobsons lecture is often credited with being the first coherent formulation of stylistics, and his argument was that the study of poetic language should be a sub-branch of linguistics. [10] The poetic function was one of six general functions of language he described in the lecture. Michael Halliday is an important figure in the development of British stylistics. [11] His 1971 study Linguistic Function and Literary Style: An Inquiry into the Language of William Goldings The Inheritors is a key essay. [12] One of Hallidays contributions has been the use of the term register to explain the connections between language and its context. [13] For Halliday register is distinct from dialect. Dialect refers to the habitual language of a particular user in a specific geographical or social context. Register describes the choices made by the user,[14] choices which depend on three variables: field (what the participants are actually engaged in doing, for instance, discussing a specific subject or topic),[15] tenor (who is taking part in the exchange) and mode (the use to which the language is being put). Fowler comments that different fields produce different language, most obviously at the level of vocabulary (Fowler. 1996, 192) The linguist David Crystal points out that Halliday’s ‘tenor’ stands as a roughly equivalent term for ‘style’, which is a more specific alternative used by linguists to avoid ambiguity. (Crystal. 1985, 292) Halliday’s third category, mode, is what he refers to as the symbolic organisation of the situation. Downes recognises two distinct aspects within the category of mode and suggests that not only does it describe the relation to the medium: written, spoken, and so on, but also describes the genre of the text. (Downes. 1998, 316) Halliday refers to genre as pre-coded language, language that has not simply been used before, but that predetermines the selection of textual meanings. The linguist William Downes makes the point that the principal characteristic of register, no matter how peculiar or diverse, is that it is obvious and immediately recognisable. (Downes. 1998, 309) Literary stylistics In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Crystal observes that, in practice, most stylistic analysis has attempted to deal with the complex and ‘valued’ language within literature, i. e.  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœliterary stylistics’. He goes on to say that in such examination the scope is sometimes narrowed to concentrate on the more striking features of literary language, for instance, its ‘deviant’ and abnormal features, rather than the broader structures that are found in whole texts or discourses. For example, the compact language of poetry is more likely to reveal the secrets of its construction to the stylistician than is the language of plays and novels. (Crystal. 1987, 71). Poetry As well as conventional styles of language there are the unconventional – the most obvious of which is poetry. In Practical Stylistics, HG Widdowson examines the traditional form of the epitaph, as found on headstones in a cemetery. For example: His memory is dear today As in the hour he passed away. (Ernest C. Draper ‘Ern’. Died 4. 1. 38) (Widdowson. 1992, 6) Widdowson makes the point that such sentiments are usually not very interesting and suggests that they may even be dismissed as ‘crude verbal carvings’ and crude verbal disturbance (Widdowson, 3). Nevertheless, Widdowson recognises that they are a very real attempt to convey feelings of human loss and preserve affectionate recollections of a beloved friend or family member. However, what may be seen as poetic in this language is not so much in the formulaic phraseology but in where it appears. The verse may be given undue reverence precisely because of the sombre situation in which it is placed. Widdowson suggests that, unlike words set in stone in a graveyard, poetry is unorthodox language that vibrates with inter-textual implications. (Widdowson. 1992, 4) Two problems with a stylistic analysis of poetry are noted by PM Wetherill in Literary Text: An Examination of Critical Methods. The first is that there may be an over-preoccupation with one particular feature that may well minimise the significance of others that are equally important. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) The second is that any attempt to see a text as simply a collection of stylistic elements will tend to ignore other ways whereby meaning is produced. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) Implicature In ‘Poetic Effects’ from Literary Pragmatics, the linguist Adrian Pilkington analyses the idea of ‘implicature’, as instigated in the previous work of Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson. Implicature may be divided into two categories: ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ implicature, yet between the two extremes there are a variety of other alternatives. The strongest implicature is what is emphatically implied by the speaker or writer, while weaker implicatures are the wider possibilities of meaning that the hearer or reader may conclude. Pilkington’s ‘poetic effects’, as he terms the concept, are those that achieve most relevance through a wide array of weak implicatures and not those meanings that are simply ‘read in’ by the hearer or reader. Yet the distinguishing instant at which weak implicatures and the hearer or reader’s conjecture of meaning diverge remains highly subjective. As Pilkington says: ‘there is no clear cut-off point between assumptions which the speaker certainly endorses and assumptions derived purely on the hearer’s responsibility. ’ (Pilkington. 1991, 53) In addition, the stylistic qualities of poetry can be seen as an accompaniment to Pilkington’s poetic effects in understanding a poems meaning. Stylistics is a valuable if long-winded approach to criticism, and compels attention to the poems details. Two of the three simple exercises performed here show that the poem is deficient in structure, and needs to be radically recast. The third sheds light on its content. Introduction Stylistics applies linguistics to literature in the hope of arriving at analyses which are more broadly based, rigorous and objective. {1} The pioneers were the Prague and Russian schools, but their approaches have been appropriated and extended in recent years by radical theory. Stylistics can be evaluative (i. e.judge the literary worth on stylistic criteria), but more commonly attempts to simply analyze and describe the workings of texts which have already been selected as noteworthy on other grounds. Analyses can appear objective, detailed and technical, even requiring computer assistance, but some caution is needed. Linguistics is currently a battlefield of contending theories, with no settlement in sight. Many critics have no formal training in linguistics, or even proper reading, and are apt to build on theories (commonly those of Saussure or Jacobson) that are inappropriate and/or no longer accepted. Some of the commonest terms, e. g. deep structure, foregrounding, have little or no experimental support. {2} Linguistics has rather different objectives, moreover: to study languages in their entirety and generality, not their use in art forms. Stylistic excellence — intelligence, originality, density and variety of verbal devices — play their part in literature, but aesthetics has long recognized that other aspects are equally important: fidelity to experience, emotional shaping, significant content. Stylistics may well be popular because it regards literature as simply part of language and therefore (neglecting the aesthetic dimension) without a privileged status, which allows the literary canon to be replaced by one more politically or sociologically acceptable. {3} Why then employ stylistics at all? Because form is important in poetry, and stylistics has the largest armoury of analytical weapons. Moreover, stylistics need not be reductive and simplistic. There is no need to embrace Jacobsons theory that poetry is characterized by the projection of the paradigmatic axis onto the syntagmatic one. {4} Nor accept Bradfords theory of a double spiral: {5} literature has too richly varied a history to be fitted into such a straitjacket. Stylistics suggests why certain devices are effective, but does not offer recipes, any more than theories of musical harmony explains away the gifts of individual composers. Some stylistic analysis is to be found in most types of literary criticism, and differences between the traditional, New Criticism and Stylistics approaches are often matters of emphasis. Style is a term of approbation in everyday use (that woman has style, etc.), and may be so for traditional and New Criticism. But where the first would judge a poem by reference to typical work of the period (Jacobean, Romantic, Modernist, etc. ), or according to genre, the New Criticism would probably simply note the conventions, explain what was unclear to a modern audience, and then pass on to a detailed analysis in terms of verbal density, complexity, ambiguity, etc. To the Stylistic critic, however, style means simply how something is expressed, which can be studied in all language, aesthetic and non-aesthetic. {6} Stylistics is a  very technical subject, which hardly makes for engrossing, or indeed uncontentious, {7} reading. The treatment here is very simple: just the bare bones, with some references cited. Under various categories the poem is analyzed in a dry manner, the more salient indications noted, and some recommendations made in Conclusions. Published Examples of Stylistic Literary Criticism G. N. Leechs A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry (1969) Laura Browns Alexander Pope (1985) Roy Lewiss On Reading French Verse: A Study in Poetic Form (1982) George Wrights Shakespeares Metrical Art. (1988) Richard Bradfords A Linguistic History of English Poetry (1993) Poem The Architects But, as youd expect, they are very Impatient, the buildings, having much in them Of the heavy surf of the North Sea, flurrying The grit, lifting the pebbles, flinging them With a hoarse roar against the aggregate They are composed of — the cliffs higher of course, More burdensome, underwritten as It were with past days overcast And glinting, obdurate, part of the Silicate of tough lives, distant and intricate As the whirring bureaucrats let in And settled with coffee in the concrete pallets, Awaiting the post and the department meeting — Except that these do not know it, at least do not Seem to, being busy, generally. So perhaps it is only on those cloudless, almost Vacuumed afternoons with tier upon tier Of concrete like rib-bones packed above them, And they light-headed with the blue airiness Spinning around, and muzzy, a neuralgia Calling at random like frail relations, a phone Ringing in a distant office they cannot get to, That they become attentive, or we do — these Divisions persisting, indeed what we talk about, We, constructing these webs of buildings which, Caulked like great whales about us, are always. Aware that some trick of the light or weather Will dress them as friends, pleading and flailing — And fill with placid but unbearable melodies Us in deep hinterlands of incurved glass.  © C. John Holcombe 1997 Metre Though apparently iambic, with five stresses to the line, the metre shows many reversals and substitutions. Put at its simplest, with: / representing a strong stress \ representing a weak stress x representing no stress, and trying to fit lines into a pentameters, we have -| /| x| x| x| /| -| \| x| /| x| | But| as| youd| ex| pect| | they| are| ve| ry| x| /| x| x| /| x| /| x| \| x| x| Im| pat| ient| the| build| ings,| hav| ing| much| in| them| x| x| \| x| /| x| x| \| /| /| x x| Of| the| heav| y| surf| of| the| North| Sea,| flurr| ying| x| /| -| /| x| x| /| x| /| x| \| The| grit,| | lift| ing| the| pebbl| es,| fling| ing| them| \| x| /| -| /| x| \| x| /| x| \| With| a| hoarse| | roar| a| gainst| the| agg| re| gate| x| \| x| /| \| x| /| /| x| x| /| They| are| com| posed| of,| the| cliffs| high| er| of| course| \| /| x| \| -| /| x| / | x| \| | More| burd| en| some,| | un| der| writ| ten| as| | x| /| x| /| -| /| -| /| x| /| | It| were| with| past| | days| | o| ver| cast| | x| /| x| \| /| x| \| -| /| x| x| And | glit| ter| ing,| ob| du| rate,| | part| of| the| -| /| x x x| /| -| /| -| /| x x| /| x x| | Sil| icate of| tough| | lives| | dist| ant and| in| tricate| -| \| x| /| x| /| x| \| -| /| x| | As| the| whir| ring| bu| reau| crats| | let| in| x| /| x x| /| x| \| x| /| x| /| x| And | set| tled with| cof| fee| in| the| con| crete| pal| lets| x| /| x x| /| x| \| x| /| x| /| x| A| wait| ing the| post| and| the| de| part| ment| meet| ing| x| \| x| /| \ x | /| x| x| \| /| x| Ex| cept| that| these| do not| know| it, | at| least| do| not| -| /| x| /| x| /| x| /| x| \| x| | Seem| to| be| ing| bus| y| gen| ER| all| y| \| x| /| x x| /| x| \| x| /| x| /| x| So| per| haps| it is| on| ly| on| those| cloud| less| al| most| -| /| x| /| x| \| x| /| x x| \| /| x| | Vac| uumed| af| ter| noons| with| ti| ER u| pon| ti| ER| x| /| x| \| /| /| -| /| x| /| x| | Of| con| Crete| like| rib| bones| | packed| a| bove| them| | x| /| \| /| x| \| x| /| /| x| \| | And | they| light| head| ed,| with| the| blue| air| i| ness| | -| /| x x| /| x| /| x| \| x| /| x x| | | Spin| ning a| round| and| muz| zy,| a| neu| ral| gia| | -| /| x x| /| x x| /| x| /| x x| /| | | Cal| ling at| ran| dom like| frail| re| lat| ions a| phone| | -| /| x x x| /| x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | Ring| ing in a| dist| ant| of| fice they| can| not| get| to| x| /| x| /| x| /| x x| /| /-| \| | That| they| be| come| at| ten| tive, or| we| do| these| | x| /| x x| /| x x| /| \| x| /| x| /| Di| vis| ions per| sist| ing, in| deed| what| we| talk| a| bout| -| /| x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| \| | | We,| con| struct| ing these| webs| of| build| ings| which| | -| /| x| /| \| /| x| /| x x| /| x| | Caulk| Ed | like| great| whales| a| bout| us are| al| ways| x| /| x x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | | A| ware| that some| trick| of the| light| or| weath| ER| | | \| /| x x| /| -| /| x x| /| x| | | Will| dress| them as| friends| | plead| ing and| flail| ing| | | x| /| x| /| x| \| x| /| x x| /| x x| And| fill| with| plac| id| but | UN| bear| able | mel| odies| -| /| x| \| -| /| x x x| /| \| /| | | Us | in| deep| | hint| erlands of| in| curved| glass| | Poets learn to trust their senses, but even to the experienced writer these (tedious) exercises can pinpoint what the ear suspects is faulty, suggest where improvements lie, and show how the metre is making for variety, broad consistency, shaping of the argument and emotive appeal. Though other scansions are certainly possible in the lines above, the most striking feature will remain their irregularity. Many lines can only roughly be called pentameters; Lines 16 and 17 are strictly hexameters; and lines 27 and 28 are tetrameters. In fact, the lines do not read like blank verse. The rhythm is not iambic in many areas, but trochaic, and indeed insistently dactylic in lines 9 and 10, 21 and 22 and 28. Line 27 is predominantly anapaestic, and line 3 could (just) be scanned: x x| / x| /| x x \| /| | /| x x | Of the| heavy| surf| of the North| Sea| | flurr| ying| Reflective or meditative verse is generally written in the iambic pentameter, and for good reason — the benefit of past examples, readers expectations, and because the iambic is the closest to everyday speech: flexible, unemphatic, expressing a wide range of social registers. Blank verse for the stage may be very irregular but this, predominantly, is a quiet poem, with the falling rhythms inducing a mood of reflection if not melancholy. What is being attempted? Suppose we set out the argument (refer to rhetorical and other analyses), tabbing and reverse tabbing as the reflections as they seem more or less private: {8} 1. But, as youd expect, 2. they are very impatient, the buildings, 3. having much in them of the heavy surf of the North Sea, 4. flurrying the grit, 5. lifting the pebbles, 6. flinging them with a hoarse roar against the aggregate they are composed of — the 7. cliffs higher of course, more 8. burdensome, 9. underwritten as it were with past days 10. overcast and glinting, 11. obdurate, 12. part of the silicate of tough lives, 13. distant and intricate as 14. the whirring bureaucrats 15. let in and settled with coffee in the concrete pallets, awaiting the post and the department meeting — 16. except that these do not know it, 17. at least do not seem to, being busy, 18. generally. 19. So perhaps it is only on those cloudless, almost vacuumed afternoons with tier upon tier of concrete like rib — bones packed above them, and 20. they light-headed 21. with the blue airiness spinning around, and 22. muzzy, a 23. neuralgia calling at random like 24. frail relations, a 25. phone ringing in a distant office they cannot get to, that 26. They become attentive, 27. or we do — 28. these divisions persisting, 29. indeed what we talk about, 30. we, constructing these webs of buildings which 31. caulked like great whales about us, are 32. always aware that some trick of the light or weather will dress them as friends, 33. pleading and flailing — and 34. fill with placid but unbearable melodies 35. us in deep hinterlands of incurved glass. The structure should now be clear. Where Eliot created new forms by stringing together unremarkable pentameters, {8} this poem attempts the reverse: to recast an irregular ode-like structure as pentameters. And not over-successfully: many of the rhythms seemed unduly confined. But once returned to the form of an eighteenth century Pindaric ode, however unfashionable today, the lines regain a structure and integrity. Each starts with a marked stress and then tails away, a feature emphasized by the sound patterns. {9} Sound Patterning To these sound patterns we now turn, adapting the International Phonetic Alphabet to HTML restrictions: 1. But | as | youd | expect | u | a | U | e e | b t | z | y d | ksp kt | 2. They | are | very | impatient | the | buildings | A | a(r) | e E | i A e | e | i i | th | | v r | mp sh nt | th | b ld ngz | 3. Having | much | in | them | of | the | heavy | surf | of | the | North | Sea | a i | u | i | e | o | e | e | e(r) | o | e | aw | E | h v ng | m ch | n | th m | v | th | h v | s f | v | th | n th | s | 4. flurrying | the | grit | u E i | e | i | fl r ng | th | gr t | 5. lifting | the | pebbles | i i | e | e | l ft ng | th | p b lz | 6. flinging | them | with | a | hoarse | roar | against | the | aggregate | they | are | composed | of | i i | e | i | e | aw | aw | e A | e | a E A | A | a(r) | o O | o | fl ng ng | th m | w th | | h s | r | g nst | th | gr g t | th | | k MP zd | v | 7. the | cliffs | higher | of | course | more | e | i | I e | o | aw | aw | th | kl fs | h | v | s | m | 8. burdensome | u(r) e e | b d ns m | 9. underwritten | as | it | were | with | past | days | u e i e | a | i | (e)r | i | a(r) | A | nd r t n | z | t | w | w | p st | d z | 10. overcast | and | glinting | O e(r) a(r) | a | i i | v k St | nd | gl NT ng | 11. obdurate | o U A | bd r t | 12. part | of | the | silicate | of | tough | lives | (a)r | o | e | i i A | o | u | I | p t | f | th | s l k t | v | t f | l vz | 13. distant | and | intricate | i a | a | i i e | d St NT | nd | NT r k t | 14. as | the | whirring | bureaucrats | a | e | e(r) i | U O a | z | th | w r ng | b r kr ts | 15. let | in | and | settled | with | coffee | in | the | concrete | pallets | e | i | a | e ie | i | o E | i | e | o E | a e | l t | n | nd | s tl d | w th | k f | n | th | k Kr t | p l Ts | awaiting | the | post | and | the | department | meeting | e A i | e | O | a | e | E e | E i | w t ng | th | p St | nd | th | d p tm NT | m t ng | 16. except | that | these | do | not | know | it | e e | a | E | U | o | O | i | ks pt | th | th z | d | n t | n | t | 17. at | least | do | not | seem | to | being | busy | a | E | U | o | E | U | E i | i E | t | l St | d | n t | s m | t | b ng | b z /td | 18.generally | e e a E | j nr l | 19. so | perhaps | it | is | only | on | those | cloudless | almost | vacuumed | afternoons | O | e(r) a | i | i | O | o | O | ou e | aw O | a U | a(r) e oo | s | p h ps | t | z | nl | n | th z | kl dl s | lm St | v k md | ft n nz | with | tier | upon | tier | of | concrete | like | rib | bones | packed | above | them | and | i | E e(r) | e o | E e(r) | o | o E | I | i | O | a | e u | e | a | w th | t | p n | t | v | k nkr t | l k | r b | b nz | p Kt | b v | th m | nd | 20. they | light | headed | A | I | e e | th | l t | h d d | 21. with | the | blue | airiness | spinning | around | and | i | e | U | (A)r i e | i i | e ou | a | w th | th | bl | r n s | sp n ng | r nd | nd | 22. muzzy | a | u E | e | m z | | 23. neuralgia | calling | at | random | like | U a E a | aw i | a | a o | I | n r lj | k l ng | t | r nd m | l k | 24. frail | relations | a | A | e A e | e | fr l | r l zh nz | | 25. phone | ringing | in | a | distant | office | they | cannot | get | to | that | O | i i | i | e | i a | o i | A | a o | e | oo | a | | f n | r ng ng | n | | d St NT | f s | th | k n t | g t | t | th | | 26. they | become | attentive | A | E u | a e i | th | b k m | t NT v | 27. or | we | do | aw | E | oo | | w | d | 28. these | divisions | persisting | E | i i e | e(r) i i | th z | d v zh nz | p s St ng | 29. indeed | what | we | talk | about | i E | o | E | aw | e ou | in d | wh t | w | t k | b t | 30. we | constructing | these | webs | of | buildings | which | E | o u i | E | e | o | i i | i | w | k nz str Kt ng | th z | w bs | v | b ld ngz | wh Ch | 31. caulked | like | great | whales | about | us | are | aw | I | A | A | e ou | u | a(r) | k kd | l k | gr t | w lz | b t | s | | 32. always | aware | that | some | trick | of | the | light | or | weather | will | dress | them | as | friends | aw A | e (A)r | a | u | i | o | e | I | aw | e e(r) | i | e | e | a | e | lw z | w | th t | s m | tr k | v | th | l t | | w th | w l | dr s | th m | z | Fr ndz | 33. pleading | and | flailing | E i | a | A i | pl d ng | nd | fl l ng | 34. will | fill | with | placid | but | unbearable | melodies | i | i | i | a i | u | u A(r) a e | e O E | f l | w th | PL s d | b t | n b r b l | m l d z | | 35. us | in | deep | hinterlands | of | incurved | glass | u | i | E | i e a | o | i e(r) | a(r) | s | n | d p | h NT l ndz | v | nk v d | GL s | Sound in poetry is an immensely complicated and contentious subject. Of the seventeen different employments listed by Masson {10} we consider seven: 1. Structural emphasis All sections are structurally emphasized to some extent, but note the use (in decreasing hardness) of * plosive consonants in sections 1, 5, 6, 7, 10-13, 19, 28-50; 31 and 35. * fricative and aspirate consonants in sections 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 19, 25, 28, 32, 35. * liquid and nasal consonants in sections 3, 4, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 31-35. Also: * predominance of front vowels — in all sections but 6, 7, 11, 16, 17, 19 and 31. * predominance of vowels in intermediate positions — only sections 16 and 17 having several high vowels and section 3 low vowels. 2. Tagging of sections Note sections 1, 7, 13 and 15. 3. Indirect support of argument by related echoes * Widely used, most obviously in sections 3-7, 12-13, and 15. 4. Illustrative mime: mouth movements apes expression * Sections 2, 6, 11-13, 19, 31 and 35. 5. Illustrative painting * Sections 3-6, 10-13, 15, 19 and 33. Most sections are closely patterned in consonants. Those which arent (and therefore need attention if consistency is to be maintained) are perhaps 8, 9, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 and 27. Originally the poem was cast in the form of irregular pentameters. But if this is set aside in favour of the 35 sections listed above, how are these sections to be linked in a self-evident and pleasing form? A little is accomplished by alliteration: * f in sections 3 to 7. * s and t in sections 12 to 15 * w in sections 29 to 32 And also by the predominance of front and intermediate level vowels, but these do not amount to much. Certainly we do not find that the overall shaping of the poem emphasizes the argument or content. Sociolinguistics Language is not a neutral medium but comes with the contexts, ideologies and social intentions of its speakers written in. Words are living entities, things which are constantly being employed and only half taken over: carrying opinions, assertions, beliefs, information, emotions and intentions of others, which we partially accept and modify. In this sense speech is dialogic, has an internal polemic, and Bakhtins insights into the multi-layered nature of language (heteroglossia) can be extended to poetry. {11} Much of Postmodernist writing tries to be very unliterary, incorporating the raw material of everyday speech and writing into its creations. This poem seems rather different, a somewhat remote tone and elevated diction applying throughout. Let us see whats achieved by grouping under the various inflections of the speaking voice. * urgently confidential But, as youd expect, cliffs higher, of course, that they become attentive or we do * obsessively repetitious flurrying the grit, lifting the pebbles, flinging them burdensome, underwritten overcast and glinting, obdurate * over-clever silicate of tough lives  distant and intricate constructing these webs of buildings distracted and/or light-headed except that these do not know it at least do not seem to with the blue airiness spinning around calling at random like frail relations * melancholic and/or reflective some trick of the light or weather will dress them as friends pleading and flailing and fill with placid but unbearable melodies. The exercise hardly provides revelation. Heteroglossia is an interweaving of voices, moreover, not shifts of tone or reference. And yet there is something very odd about the opening line. Why should we expect the buildings to be very impatient? This is more than the orators trick of attracting attention, since the animate nature of buildings and their constituents is referred to throughout the poem. To be more exact, the attitude of the inhabitants — observers, bureaucrats, architects — to the buildings is developed by the poem, and is paralleled by the tone. But why the confidential and repetitious attitude at the beginning. Why should we be buttonholed in this manner? Why the But, which seems to point to an earlier conversation, and the urgency with which that earlier conversation is being refuted or covered up? Because the blame for something is being shifted to the buildings. What error has been committed we do not know, but in mitigation we are shown the effect of the buildings on other inhabitants. Or perhaps we are. In fact the whirring bureaucrats seem to grow out of the fabric of buildings, and we do not really know if the we, constructing these webs of buildings is meant literally or metaphorically. The poems title suggests literally, but perhaps these constructions are only of the mind: sections 17, 20-29, 32 and 34 refer to attitudes rather than actions, and there is an ethereal or otherworldly atmosphere to the later section of the poem. So we return to heteroglossia, which is not simply borrowed voices, but involves an internal polemic, {12} that private dialogue we conduct between our private thoughts and their acceptable public expression. The dialogue is surely here between the brute physicality of a nature made overpoweringly real and the fail brevity of human lives. That physicality is threatening and unnerving. If the we of the later section of the poem is indeed architects then that physicality is harnessed to practical ends. If the constructing is purely mental then the treatment is through attitudes, mindsets, philosophies. But in neither case does it emasculate the energy of the physical world. Architects may leave monuments behind them, but they are also imprisoned in those monuments (us in deep hinterlands) and hearing all the time the homesick voice of their constituents. Conclusions: Suggested Improvements The greatest difficulty lies in the poems structure. An pentameter form has been used to give a superficial unity, but this wrenches the rhythm, obscures the sound patterns and does nothing for the argument. If recast in sections defined by rhythm and sound pattern the form is too irregular to have artistic autonomy. A return could be made to the eighteenth century Pindaric ode in strict metre and rhyme, but would require extensive and skilful rewriting, and probably appear artificial. A prose poem might be the answer, but the rhythms would need to be more fluid and subtly syncopated. Otherwise, blank verse should be attempted, and the metre adjusted accordingly. The internal polemic is a valuable dimension of the poem, but more could be done to make the voices distinct. http://www. textetc. com/criticism/stylistics. html1. On StylisticsIs cognitive stylistics the future of stylistics? To answer this question in the essay that follows, I will briefly discuss Elena Semino and Jonathan Culpeper’s Cognitive Stylistics (2003), Paul Simpson’s Stylistics (2004), and a recent essay by Michael Burke (2005). However, because questions are like trains – one may hide another – any discussion of the future of stylistics raises intractable questions about stylistics itself. French students of stylistics, for example, will come across definitions of the discipline like the following. According to Brigitte Buffard-Moret, â€Å"si les definitions de [la stylistique] – que certains refusent de considerer comme une scien