Gillette Essay Example for Free

Gillette Essay Case Analysis for Gillette: Product and Marketing Innovation 9/11/2012 Abstract Gillette is seeking means to retain dominance in market share they have lead for the last century. Along with sustaining market share Gillette has continued focus on expanding worldwide into less saturated markets. In this analysis multiple alternatives will be explored in order to make a recommendation on steps that would favor Gillette’s organization in meeting their aspirations. Situation Analysis Product quality and efficient marketing are the core value propositions that set the pace for Gillette’s success. With continued innovation in both product development and marketing strategies Gillette has been able to retain a commanding worldwide market share in a highly competitive, but mature, razor and blade market. Strong market share allowed Gillette to sustain profits even through economic droughts in recent years. On the flip side, Gillette’s innovation success also posed challenges. In order to maintain their market share, a dependency on continuous product improvement formed over time. Now Gillette will need to determine how to balance investment in research and development along with other areas of the organization. At times their own innovation of new product lines impacted their leading product lines in the market. During the 1990s Gillette found themselves cannibalizing their own successful products when trying to out due the competition. Even though internal competition shifted sales from one product line to another, Gillette’s sales were able to re-coop development costs. Expanding market share around the world also revealed challenges with varying religious and culture beliefs. Western influences have started to generate growth with European woman as younger generations watch American movies and television that depict women with sleek underarms and legs. Gillette’s latest innovation, the Fusion 5(+1) blade, was back in 2006. Since then Schick, Gillette’s leading competitor has not responded with their own break through. Gillette should be wondering what Schick might do next. Problem As the market Gillette has lead for so long became mature, their growth ultimately declined due to market saturation and increase competition. Fluctuations occurred only when newer, more innovative products were introduced. This put more pressure on development advancements and marketing tactics. Many analysts believe that Gillette and Schick, leaders in razors and blades, have reached the end of meaningful product innovation [1]. In 2006 when the Fusion 5(+1) blade was introduced, it exploded off the shelves. Gillette sold more than 4 billion Fusion razors with in the first two months. The Fusion’s initial success was quickly fleeting as sales reports showed that razors were outselling the cartridge refills. This was very concerning to Gillette as it is well-known that razor manufacturers earn most of their profits from refills, not the initial razor purchase. Critics also questioned why five blades were needed to get the best shave when Gillette had touted its three-bladed Mach3 as †the best a man can get. † â€Å"Consumer reports conclude that there were no additional performance benefits provided by the five-bladed Fusion, especially when compared to the Mach3† [1 pg391]. Economic recession also impacted sales as Gillette’s products went up in price due to a need to re-coop development costs. How can Gillette continue to maintain or grow market share in a mature market and keep future strategies aligned with customer wants? Alternatives Continue product line and marketing without major change. No additional research and development costs would need to be spent, which in return reduces the need to raise prices for maintaining their profit margin. However the risk looming would be competitor innovation impacting current market share. Schick may produce a new innovative product that would sway consumers from purchasing Gillette’s products. As stated in the case Gillette must find new ways to innovatively out-produce or out-market the competition. Investing in research and development to create new product line or enhance current products adds considerable expenses. Development costs will need to be re-cooped. This will keep competitors in check, but will be challenging to keep pricing competitive. Compliment current leading product lines that keep consumers happy. Promoting Christmas, Father’s day and Mother’s day gift grooming kits that meets more of the consumer’s needs will also introduce consumers to other product lines Gillette has to offer. Focus marketing potential growth opportunities globally by challenging resistance in product awareness and interests. As a Gillette razor consumer, I have encountered an inconvenience that I think can be solved and build customer loyalty. I’ve been using Mach 3 razors for over fifteen years, and when purchasing refills I have found it difficult to find blades that are compatible with the razor handle that I own. Thinking out of the box, what if Gillette were to make razor handles that are compatible with any of Gillette’s product line of refills? This would then provide consumers the freedom to purchase from a variety of Gillette’s product lines without having to spend extra money on a handle that works with the particular product refill. Owning a Gillette universal handle would also encourage customers to stay with Gillette refills as converting to another brand would cost more with the initial required handle purchase. Implementation From the case I would assume Gillette will continue to â€Å"innovatively out-produce or out-market the competition† [1]. I believe moving forward with developing a universal handle with Gillette refills would accomplish this. This would require investment into developing a new handle and rollout of the product. Here is an approximate timeline to complete.

Mr and Mrs Andrews Painting Analysis

Mr and Mrs Andrews Painting Analysis I chose to make the comparison between Gainsboroughs Mr Mrs Andrews and Shonebares Mr Mrs Andrews Without Their Heads because although the titles are similar and the concept is similar, there are distinct differences. The fundamental differences stem from the fact that Shonebare used mannequins, whereas Gainsborough painted in oil on canvas. Shonebare has excluded the landscape whereas Gainsborough has included his beloved landscape which is an important part of his paintings. These two artists are from two different backgrounds, different races and 235 years apart. The two pieces are an ocean apart: Gainsboroughs painting is hung in The National Gallery, London while Shonebares work is installed in The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Similarities The important differences in the two pieces are Gainsborough has a landscape in the background, whereas Shonebare has excluded this which alters the subject completely. For Gainsborough, the landscape was extremely important and by combining portraiture with landscape, this helped him to cover his love of landscape and at the same time earned a living, but it also gave us an historical insight into the landscapes in that period. Gainsboroughs sitters almost appear secondary, with the Andrews sitting under the oak tree and just about appearing in the portrait. The fact that Shonebare excludes the landscape is significant as the landscape depicts the wealth and status of Mr Andrews and by excluding this, Shonebare has appropriated a degree of this power and wealth. Gainsborough cursed the face business but Shonebares pieces without heads would not have worked in Gainsboroughs time for the simple fact that portraiture was popular in the mid 18th century. Portraitures were a way of indic ating to the world that a person had arrived. The face/eyes are the one thing that helps to give a human being identity it is like the window of a persons character and soul and by excluding this, there is an emptiness in Shonebares story, although one could argue that by being faceless the viewers can decide on the characters for themselves. Another significant factor in Shonebares Mr Mrs Andrew is by not having any heads, the eyes are drawn immediately to the beautiful vibrant fabrics. The Dutch Wax fabrics are important signifiers of Africa in Shonebares installation and although this is associated with Africa, it is in fact printed fabric based on Indonesians batik, manufactured in the Netherlands, Britain and other countries and exported to West Africa. This cloth has proved to be a rich and adaptable material, both literally and metaphorically, and it is vibrant and theatrical, although this particular installation is incongruous as the material does not marry up with the pe riod designs of the mid 18th century as it would have been highly unlikely gentlemen and ladies would have dressed in clothing from the sub-Continent, even though some of these materials are extremely expensive. Include in here Shonebares technique(why did he use material?)/Gainsboroughs brushstrokes (how has he managed to achieve such reality in his fabric? There is also something quite unsavoury about decapitated heads with the bodies still looking alive and I find the Shonebares mannequins quite surreal and disturbing having looked at this several times. Why however did Shonebare use headless characters? One of the reasons I expect could well be he wanted the characters to be mysterious but it is more likely that because Gainsboroughs painting is a celebration of deference and by being headless, Shonebare has somehow deflated their status. The eyes of Gainsboroughs Mr Mrs Andrews are staring straight at viewers, inviting them into their world. Expand here. In comparison to her neck, however, Gainsboroughs Mrs Andrews has extremely narrow shoulders which seems out of proportion to the rest of her body, and I wonder if this was naturally so or if it was to underscore that she was the subordinate of the two. Mrs Andrews faint smile indicates decorum although her narrow shoulders and posture reveals a degree of subjugation and possibly domination by her confident, no-nonsense husband. Shonebares Mrs Andrews posture has revealed a more confident looking woman with the shoulders being broader and the fact that the couple looks more equal has automatically transformed Shonebares mannequins into the 21st century. Gainsboroughs painting on the other hand is an anachronism of the past with the man standing next to his belongings: his wife, dog and gun and his land ownership in the background. Expand on Gainsborough here. Althou gh Shonebares installation is inside a building and there is just a plain background, he has managed to conjure up a feeling of a couple being outside of a building and the Rococo style bench could well have assisted in making this possible. When I look at Shonebares piece, I am thinking landed gentry but on looking again, my eyes tells me that there is incongruity as these bright colours would be classified as far too garish for these upwardly mobile folks in the middle of the English countryside. It shows Mrs Andrews in fine silk clothing, sitting on a Rococo style bench, sitting primly, while Mr Andrews is portrayed as a casually dressed gentleman with a dog and a gun, standing proudly before his sprawling land. Expand on both Mr Andrews clothes, figure and posture. I saw Mr Mrs Andrews at the National Gallery in late November 2009 and it is a relatively small oil on canvas, measuring 69.8 x 119.4 cms. It lacked that stiffness and grandeur associated with huge canvasses of that period. The young couple are shown in their Suffolk surroundings and it shows a distinctive style of portraiture, which does convey a degree of spontaneity and casualness, although that is not strictly true as the painting is highly organised. Robert Andrews would have been eager to display his latest agricultural advancement with the mechanical seed drill which was unusual in the mid-18 th century. Expand on Gainsboroughs landscape. Why did Shonebare not have a landscape/background? Why did he chose to have a 3-d installation? Could he have achieved a realistic landscape of that size in post-Modern Britain? Both artists are from completely different backgrounds and eras and to understand these pieces a little better, it is important to look in further details at their lives. Yinka Shonebare MBE was born 234 years later, in London in 1962 to Nigerian parents and lived in Battersea until his parents relocated to Lagos when he was 3. His father, a lawyer, wanted him to also study law but at 17 Shonebare returned to London and at 19 he chose to study art. He received his BA from Byam Shaw (now part of Central St Martins College of Art Design) and his MA from Goldsmith College, London University. A month into his art course he became seriously ill with a rare viral infection which attacked his spine and left him temporarily paralysed. He is now partially paralysed and walks using a stick. While at art school Shonebare was questioned by a lecturer about his choice of subject matter and why was it not more African? This started his journey of using Dutch Wax fabric as an apt metaphor for the entangled relationship between Africa and Europe in his installations. It has proved to be a rich and adaptable material, with the flexibility to be used in his installations, his paintings and in other projects he has undertaken. Shonebare works across the media of painting, sculpture, photography and filmmaking and has won several prizes, shortlisted for the Turner prize in 2004 and has been awarded the commission to make a work for the Trafalgar Square Fourth plinth in 2010. In 2005 he was awarded the MBE an award he has chosen to use as part of his artistic identity and uses this wherever his name is written. Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1727, fifth son of a cloth merchant. Having a keen interest in drawing as a child, at the tender age of 13, he was sent to London to study art in 1740. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy, but unlike his contemporary, Joshua Reynolds, he was never knighted. Gainsboroughs natural preference was always for landscape painting, but it was impossible for an English artist to make a living painting landscapes and so in 1748 he moved back to Suffolk where be became known as a portrait painter. He hated portrait painting and, like Reynolds, this was his main form of income but he felt it bounded him to the wishes of his sitters. .Nothing is worse than gentlemen I do portraits to live and landscapes because I love them, Gainsborough once said to a friend. In another letter to a friend he complained about the pressure of society portraiture, which he described as the cursd Face Business. Gainsborough was one of the most important English artists of his time. He was impressed by the natural rhythm of Dutch landscape paintings and became a dedicated admirer of Van Dyck. The focus of country life as a centre of power and privilege was faithfully reflected in Gainsboroughs art, and in Mr Mrs Andrews the landscape reflected this power and self-esteem. In this painting, his most famous, it shows Robert Andrews, Gainsboroughs childhood friend, with his wife Frances on their estate. They had been married on 10th November 1748 when he was 23 and she was 16 and it is believed that this was painted soon after their marriage. Robert Andrews inherited half of his fathers estate and the other half of the neighbouring pieces of land from his wifes father, William Carter. In Mr Mrs Andrews Gainsborough succeeded in painting both a portrait of the client and of the landscape which is natural and in fact it is possible to relocate the very tree under which the Andrews sat. Unlike the French artificial geometric gardens, he was concerned with freeing painting from any kind of stylisation although Gainsborough sometimes included his own landscape from his imagination.

Attitudes Towards Minorities With Mental Illness Social Work Essay

Attitudes Towards Minorities With Mental Illness Social Work Essay Members of ethnic minority groups are faced with several barriers that prevent them from adequately participating in treatment for mental illness. Mental illnesses are commonly overlooked and untreated due to the negative connotations that surround them. Minorities with lower socioeconomic status frequently have poor physical health, which creates vulnerability to mental illness pooled with a lack of affordable treatment and accessible resources. Stigma along with various beliefs and attitudes generates discrimination and social distancing behaviors towards persons with mental illness, as a result of the direct affects of ignorance, negative attitudes, and common beliefs. This often results in discrepancy and underutilization of service amongst minority populations. Mental Illness is a disorder of the brain that affects a persons mood, thinking and behavior (Cohen 2002, NIMH). Mental disorders are all around us, however, in many cases some are overlooked. According to the National Institute of Mental Health an estimated 26.2 percent of Americans, ages 18 and older, suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder each year; an estimated 45 percent of those with any diagnosable mental disorder meet criteria for 2 or more disorders (NIMH 2010). Serious mental illnesses interrupt a persons ability to carry out essential aspects of daily life. There are several different types of mental illnesses some of which are more severe than others, however, the most common disorders are depression, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, bipolar disorders, phobias, eating disorders, substance abuse, dementia, and schizophrenia (Kobau 2008). Causes of mental illness range from inherited traits and genetics to biological, environmental and social cultural factors to life experiences, such as excessive stress. When mental illnesses are left untreated, it can cause emotional, physical and behavioral health problems (Cohen, 2002; Whitley, 2010). However, due to stigmas and various negative connotations surrounding mental illness people often try to reject, ignore or self medicate the illness in a state of denial (Cohen, 2002). Moreover, poverty is an important moderator of the correlation between serious mental illness and social problems (Draine, 2002). African Americans as well as minorities are more prone to suffer from significant and persistent disparities within the mental health system (Whitley, 2010). This research paper will examine racial differences of both men and women suffering from common mental illness disorders and their usage of mental health services associated with stigmas. Minorities suffering from menta l illness are often less likely to access service from a mental health professional, and will more often receive poor quality care or drop out upon admittance (Whitley, 2010). Stigma and Discrimination The term stigma originally derives from the ancient Greek practice where criminals were branded, leaving them with a mark referred to as a stigma that allowed them to be easily identified (Gibson 2008). Persons with a stigma were usually rejected from society, viewed as outcast, and devalued by society similar to persons suffering from mental illness. Due to the stigma attached to persons tormented by mental illness, it forms a lack of personal contact with persons suffering from these disorders; resulting in a lack of knowledge, which in turn leads to prejudices, negative attitudes and stereotypes towards them (Alegria 2002, Guimà ³n 2010). Stigmatization of persons suffering with mental illness stems from socio-cultural, ethnic, religious, and economic factors (Guimà ³n, 2010). Stereotype-based negative attitudes and prejudices towards mental illness develop early in life, originating from cultural, historical and media depictions (Sartorius Schulze, 2005; Bauman, 2007; Guimà ³ n 2010). Prejudices, discrimination and social distance are frequent consequences of the stigmatization that follows mental illness. The effect of stigma permeates through many aspects of the lives mentally ill patients, resulting in discrimination by means of denial of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. For example, adequate housing, employment, education, health, freedom of opinion and expression can all be affected either directly or indirectly triggered by mental illness (Guimà ³n, 2010). Due to expectations of stable norms and values that shape todays society social distance becomes a direct effect of stigma related to mental illness (Baumann, 2007). When severe mental illness results in unusual or abnormal behavior the desire for separation and social distance becomes essential. Several social psychiatrists propose that society itself is sick and that stigmas and the diagnostic process are simply attempts to label individuals who try to free themselves from societ ys general organization (Guimà ³n, 2010). Stigma associated with mental illness exists across the general population. However, they hold acute significance amongst minority populations. Studies have found racial and ethnic differences regarding stigmatizing attitudes surrounding people with mental illness, which often influences discrimination and negative attitudes toward seeking treatment for mental illnesses (Alegria 2002, Faye 2005, Bolden 2005, Anglin, 2006). Minorities endure double stigma as a result of discriminatory practices along with having to deal with the burden of living with a mental disorder (Faye 2005, Shim 2009). Double stigma is created by ethnic minority group membership, which confronts the individual with significant barriers (Faye 2005). Researchers have theorized that African Americans, Caribbean blacks and persons from other ethnic minority groups hold more negative attitudes than Caucasians (Anglin, 2006; Shim, 2009; Whitley 2010). Stigmatizing attitudes in most cases acts as a barrier and deters i ndividuals from seeking care in order to avoid the label and shame of mental illness that result when people are associated with mental health care (Gary, 2005; Anglin, 2006). Quality of Treatment Care Furthermore, stigmatizing views are not strictly limited to the general population or in the context of social relationships with friends, relatives or employers; stereotypes also occur in the contact with general health professionals (Guimà ³n 2010, Ross Goldner 2009). A vast number of general medical nurses share negative attitudes and commonly held stereotypical beliefs of mental illness. Studies have shown that mental health psychiatry patients needs are not viewed as a priority by general medical nurses (Ross Goldner 2009). Thus they have more constructive things to handle such as looking after someone who is really sick, and more deserving while mentally ill patients are simply taking up space preventing a patient in need from a receiving a bed (Ross Goldner 2009). General nurses often stigmatize and present negative attitudes towards mental health psychiatry patients due to a lack of knowledge in addition to media generated and historical misrepresentations of persons with mental illness as violent and bizarre (Gary 2005; Ross Goldner, 2009; Guimà ³n, 2010). Affordable treatment and accessible resources is also a discrepancy when it comes to seeking psychiatric services. Minorities are at risk for not receiving adequate mental health care, given the lower socioeconomic status (Gary 2005). They often lack health insurance and are not capable to pay for services (Roberts 2008). This creates a circle of poverty is created when serious mental disorders go untreated resulting in individuals becoming unable to fully participate in education and work opportunities (Roberts 2008). Family resources are often depleted due to poverty, drastically effecting families struggling to provide care, and costly treatment for their loved ones (Gary 2005). Minorities with mental illness are less likely to receive treatment for mental illness. However, when they do receive treatment the care is more likely to be of poor quality (Shim 2009). Because African Americans and minorities seek treatment during a crisis the care they receive is normally crisis oriented, episodic and less likely to enhance long term recovery.(Bolden 2008) Social position plays major role in both mental illness and service use (Alegria 2002, Roberts 2008, Whitley 2010). Living in poor socioeconomic conditions encourage suffering distress and a greater risk of becoming diagnosed with a mental illness, with a lower chance of obtaining proper treatment (Roberts 2008, Whitley 2010). Minorities are overrepresented in underserved communities often lacking insurance or the ability to pay for services (Alegria 2002, Roberts 2008, Whitley 2010). Therefore, due to African Americans as well as other minorities previous experience with lower quality mental healthcare due to r acist experiences they are often discouraged from seeking care (Algeria 2002). Treatment Views and Outcomes In order to avoid anticipated discrimination and prejudice due to their condition, many people suffering with mental illness fail to seek treatment for early symptoms. One in four Americans will be affected by a mental health disorder in their lives. However, two out of three persons will seek help from a professional (Roberts, 2008). Minorities often seek late treatment during a crisis at the emergency room or from a primary care physician opposed to a psychiatrist or other specialty mental health professionals (Shim 2009, Bolden 2005). Studies have shown that specifically African Americans and minorities underutilize voluntary professional mental health services, driven by the uncertainty of the effectiveness of treatment (Anglin 2008, Jagedeo 2009), viewing the mental health clinic as a place to be fearfully avoided rather than a provider of service (Whitley 2010). Several researchers have hypothesized that certain demographics are more likely to feel uncomfortable speaking with a mental health professionals. Research has shown that a possible explanation for the differences of minorities seeking and receiving treatment for mental illness is a consequence of mistrust among patients (Alegria 2002). It has been argued that African American patients believe that their mental health experience of anguish is a religious or moral issue opposed to a psychiatric concern (Whitley 2010). African Americans prefer to receive informal counseling from church officials and ministers, which in turn prolongs delays in clinical treatment (Bolden 2005, Anglin 2008, Whitley 2010). Deidre M. Anglins research also suggests that African Americans are more likely to seek services from extended family networks. Anglin stresses the importance of family involvement and religion in African American Culture, which correlates to psychiatric rehabilitation related to stigma and family involvement, where families often discourage persons suffering with mental illness from seeking treatment (Whitley 2010). In contrast to the stigma associated with mental illness researchers have found that African Americans are more likely to believe that metal health professionals or a spiritual leader can help individuals suffering from mental disorders, however, studies consistently show that African Americans under utilize voluntary mental health services(Anglin 2008). Research has found that African Americans along with other minorities often believe that mental illness conditions will improve on their own, or that the condition is not serious (Anglin 2008, Roberts 2008, Shim 2009). Research has suggested that minorities believe that mild symptoms of mental illness are normal experiences, due to socioeconomic problems and daily experiences within their community (Roberts 2008). African Americans are more likely to delay seeking help until they experience symptoms or during a crisis, and are severely ill during the time of utilization which determines the length of the stay (Bolden 2005, Anglin 200 8). Furthermore, when individuals decide to seek treatment, many of them neglect the prescribed course of therapy, while others terminate mental health services all together (Faye 2005). Research suggests that once contact with mental healthcare professionals is made positive pretreatment attitudes diminish (Angling 2008, Shim 2009). African Americans and minorities have cultural mistrust when it comes to the mental healthcare system, leading to increased dropout and decreased client satisfaction surrounding treatment (Anglin 2008). Negative attitudes and stigma also advocate a strong association between mental healthcare and treatment dropout (Jagedeo 2009). Conclusion Racial and ethnic minorities beliefs regarding the natural course and the seriousness of mental illnesses relate to the perceived treatment effectiveness and common beliefs. Stigmatization, negative attitudes and discrimination attached to mental illnesses often lead to the under treatment of mental disorders. Minorities frequently believe that mental illness can be treated and possibly improve. However, there is inconsistency between the beliefs of actual need for treatment and utilization. Together, these realities support the hypothesis that minorities with mental illness are often less likely to access service from a mental health professional. In sum, increased awareness regarding the benefits of treatment can increase efforts, as well as beliefs hat mental health treatment is necessary.

Welfare For Children of Illegal Immigrants Essay -- Politics Political

Welfare For Children of Illegal Immigrants The United States is in the midst of a major debate over immigrants and their place in our economic and political life. As during other times in our history, immigrants, are being blamed for causing or contributing to the social, economic and political ills of our society. Politicians from both major parties, at both the national and state levels, are promoting a range of punitive legislative proposals that single out immigrants for adverse treatment by the government. Many violate basic civil liberties principles. Based on "The Bill of Rights", foreigners do not have the right to enter the United States, but once here, immigrants are entitled to certain broad constitutional protections. In due process, immigrants have the right to be treated fairly, whether in a deportation hearing or a criminal court proceeding applies to every person within The United States borders. And Equal Protection prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin. An alien's rights to free speech and religious freedom are protected under the First Amendment. The Refugee Act of 1980 gives certain aliens the right to political asylum in the U.S. New immigrants to our country are not a scourge as some politicians claim. In fact, they can help solve many of our economic and social problems. Therefore when a child is born of illegal parents, the child should not be refused welfare. In other words, the child should not be treated as a second class citizen. In fact since it was born in the United States, he or she is to be considered a United States citizen because that is exactly what he or she is. Although it is believed that welfare receipt as a child has a negative effect on the earnings ... ...Uest. March 1998 Waldman, Amy. "Giuliana Oppose Biill To Deny Benefits To New Immigrants" New YorkTimes12 Aug. 1997, late ed.: B3.New York Times Ondisc.CD-Rom.UMI-ProQUest.March.1998 Federal Action Alert: Urge President Clinton to Veto Welfare Legislation that Harms Children. Online. Yahoo. Internet. 10 Mar. 1998. Immigrants' Rights. American Civil Liberties Union Freedom Network. Online. America Online. Internet. 10 Mar. 1998. Available ftp://iaehv.nl/users/hverbak/alert.htm Welfare Reform: CDF Summarize Conference Bill. Online. Yahoo. Internet. 10 Mar. 1998. Available ftp://libertynet.org/~edcivic/welfcdf.html Why Congress Must Reform Welfare. Heritage. Online. Yahoo. Internet. 10 Mar. 1998 Available ftp://nationalsecurity.org/heritage/library/categories/healthwel/bg1063.htm child's portion of welfare benefits as well. But the details would

powmac Macbeth: His Downfall Was Due to His Ambition for Power :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth: His Downfall Was Due to His Ambition for Power In the Shakespearean novel Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth is caught in a down spiral induced by his ambition which in the end, was the cause of his tragic end. Macbeth, once a great hero falls victim of his ambition for power. Although the protagonist initially tries to resist his human urge, he in the end committed crime his country, his friends, and sadly himself. Macbeth's first great crime was the crime against his country. In the beginning, Macbeth was described by his fellow noblemen as a great, loyal soldier, giving all he has for his country. Soon, it becomes evident when the witches foretells Macbeth future: "All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter" (I. iii. 53) that Macbeth will be destined for greatness but not in the way he thinks. After receiving the three prophecies, Macbeth is intrigue by the idea the he will be king hereafter. He soon shows his intention to carry out the prophecies in his aside: "The prince of Cumberland! that is a step on which I must fall down, or else o'er-leap, for in my way it lies" (I. iv. 55-57). With the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth was able to kill the Duncan, the king of Scotland, a man whom trusted and loved Macbeth. With Duncan dead and the two princes fleeing, Macbeth was crowned king of Scotland. In the end, Macbeth had fulfilled his prophecies but in doing, he had committed treason against his country. Macbeth's second great crime was committed against his friends, the people around him whom use to admire him. After he had been crowned king, Macbeth believed his greatest obstacle had been overcame but that assumption was far the truth. By committing the first great crime, Macbeth had unconsciously paved the way for his downfall. Perhaps the turning point of the novel in which Macbeth kills Banquo; his loyal friend, that Macbeth's character begins to deteriorate. In one of his aside: "The very firstling of my heart shall be the firstling of my hand" (IV. i. 161-162) Macbeth's mental deterioration becomes visible. This aside is crucial because it foreshadows the future events to come. Macbeth now seems to have not a shred of decency or guilt left in him. Because of his irrational thinking, Macbeth commits probably the worst crime he had every committed. Macbeth had his Macduff's family slaughtered. This crime was so horrendous because unlike Macbeth's prior murders, this one had no other purpose but to quench Macbeth hatred of his rival Macduff. It soon became clear that

Social Issues in Colonial Africa

The title of a book may give the reader an idea of the story or it may make more sense after reading the book. The title Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad prepares the reader for something unpleasant.The title Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe also gives the reader a hint of bad things to come. After reading both it is clear to the reader the titles refer to the terrible social issues caused by the appearance of European colonizers in Africa.The â€Å"darkness† is not just the absence of light typical in an African jungle. It is the mental and emotional dark side of the colonizers, and the dark result of their intrusion on African societies. There are many â€Å"things† that â€Å"fall apart† in Africa when the Europeans arrive. There is an immediate breakdown in communication between the two cultures. Then the domination and brutality of the Europeans causes the African society to â€Å"fall apart†.Both books show the terrible result to the Africans at the hands of the Europeans. Both authors are very effective in bringing the reader â€Å"into† the story. However, each author uses different methods and styles to illustrate the social attitudes, issues and impact arising from colonization.Joseph Conrad uses a narrator, Charlie Marlow, to tell the story of Heart of Darkness. Marlow is a sailor who tells his shipmates the story of how he had worked for a European trading company in Africa.He was employed to take a boat up-river from a company headquarters to bring back Mr. Kurtz, their best ivory trader. Marlow soon witnesses the European attitude and treatment of the Africans. He describes the horrible scene of the Europeans’ slave laborers: â€Å"They were dying slowly—it was very clear.They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now—nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom† (Conrad 64). One of the men who worked at the station was a clerk who tells Marlow â€Å"When one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages—hate them to the death† (Conrad 66).Marlow learns that the behavior of the Europeans at their headquarters is just the beginning. Although Kurtz is the company’s best ivory trader, he is described as much more to Marlow: â€Å"He is a prodigy†¦an emissary of pity, of science, and progress, and devil knows what else† (Conrad 75). Marlow can begin to see the dark side of the company as the clerk relates Marlow is â€Å"of the new gang—the gang of virtue.The same people who sent him specially also recommended you† (Conrad 75). Marlow discovers a report Kurtz had written for the company describing his experience in the jungle with the Africans. Marlow states that in light of all that happened, and would happen, the beginning of the document â€Å"strikes me now as ominous.He began with the argument that we whites, from t he point of development we had arrived at†¦ ‘approach them with the might of a deity’† (Conrad 111).  It is obvious that Kurtz realized that with all of the â€Å"modern† European goods and weapons he would appear to the Africans as some sort of superior being. What would be even more ominous was Kurtz’ â€Å"note at the foot of the last page†: ‘Exterminate all the brutes!’† (Conrad 111).

Influence of Internet on Family Communication About Sexuality

The Influence of the Internet in Family Communication about Sexuality Christo Jose Central New Mexico Community College ABSTRACT The mass media are an increasingly accessible way for people to learn about and see sexual behavior. Out of all the mass media today, adolescents use the television and the internet more than any other media resource. The use of internet has risen exponentially in the last few years and within a year, it is estimated that 90% of all families with children will have access to the internet. The word sex is the most popular search term used on the Internet today. The Internet may have both positive and negative effects on sexual health. Internet bombards the minds of the teens these days with images of sex almost every single day. Aside from the daily dose of sexuality and eroticism provided by the mainstream media, 50% of all adolescents have said that they have encountered unwanted pornographic material on the internet. Many studies have been conducted to determine the extent of communication between adolescents and parents about sexuality. It has often been shown that students are more likely to turn to friends and the media before discussing this topic with their parents. The availability of a large and wide scale of information on the internet and the freedom from the embarrassment of confrontation has compelled many adolescents in this path. Because of this, fewer families discuss sex and abstinence in their families. One study has found that the patterns of sexuality communication in a family are also dependent on the gender of the parents as well as the child. Preadolescents who have communicated with their parents about sexuality have been shown to go to their parents for more advice when they are older. The internet does play a very important role in children communicating with their parents about sexuality. The internet provides a wide array of information that can lead or mislead children based on where they look for information. Some studies show that the use of internet in families have reduced the family communication and has led to less and less time spent with the family. This leads to a strain in communication between the children and the parents and this lack of communication makes it uneasy on the children to go to their parents when in need of information about their sexuality. The mainstream mass media (movies, music, T. V. , magazines and the internet) provide frequent and sometimes explicit images of sexuality. Available studies show that the media do have an impact because the media keep sexual behavior on public and personal agendas, media portrayals reinforce a relatively consistent set of sexual and relationship norms, and the media rarely depict sexually responsible models. In the Unites States, children spent about a third of their time a day exposed to some form of mass media. Patterns of media use vary greatly based on age, gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic level. Thus, one can never be sure that a message sent out through any form of media is interpreted as the same by the various people exposed to them. The internet being a bottomless pit of information can never be fully trusted. Though the internet provides more explicit material on sex than any other media, most of these are along the lines of pornography and do more harm than good. The internet, being a product of normal people, isn’t always accurate and can provide information that are biased and may not always prove to be useful. The personal opinions and tips expressed in many websites aren’t usually based on any scientific or medical facts and can thus mislead children looking for information. In a study conducted in 1993, adolescents (aged 15-17) put their friends first, then parents and then the media for sources to acquire information about sexuality. Today, the media has risen in rank and leads as the main source of information for adolescents. Among the various forms of media, internet maintains the top spot. The anonymity provided by the internet is one of the main reasons for the children of these days turning to it for information. The risk of embarrassment and confrontation is negated behind the blinds of the computer screen. The extreme nature of some of the sexual content available causes students to misinterpret many things they see online and mislead them into thinking about the prevalence of some activities in real life. The media as a whole provides a picture that is far detached from the problems of real life and it has been shown that many teenagers strive to achieve that level of unnaturalness in their lives. Patterns of Sexuality Communication Between Preadolescents and Their Mothers and Fathers This was a study conducted to examine the extent of communication and the patterns of communication in various families between preadolescents and their parents. Each member of the triad completed a 10-item measure of communication about risk factors for sexual activity, sexual communication, and sexual risk prevention. A majority of parents and their preadolescents reported communication had occurred about most topics. Mothers and fathers were equally likely to communicate with sons whereas mothers were more likely to communicate with daughters than were fathers. Based on the study results, preadolescence may be the optimal time for parents to provide sexual risk prevention messages to their children before sexual behaviors are initiated. Parents and other family members play critical roles in shaping adolescent sexual behavior through their parenting practices, sexuality communications, and modeling of risk reduction strategies. Greater parental monitoring and less parental permissiveness are consistently related to later sexual initiation, less frequent sexual intercourse, less risky sexual behavior, fewer sexual partners, less pregnancy, and increased condom use among teens. The study found that overall, most preadolescents and their parents report that they have talked about risk factors, sexuality education and sexual risk prevention topics. The parents and the children were more prone to discuss topics like drug abuse and alcohol with their children than other sexual topics. Discussion about condoms and abstinence were least reported. Looking at the study gender-wise, we see that boys have discussed their sexuality with both the parents to the same level and have reported doing so. In the case of daughters, the patterns show that they tend to go to their mothers more for information about sexuality. Dad-daughter pairs rarely reported discussing sexuality, menstruation and puberty. Preadolescents are the time of their lives when they internalize the messages they get from their parents. Children who have been educated at this time tend to not be affected peer relationships and the media as much as those who have not been. Children whose families communicate with each other abstain from risky behaviors and have more tendencies to be less influenced by the outside media. Thus parents need to be encouraged to communicate with their children about sexuality rather than letting them search for information outside the family circle. It is better to communicate with children at the age when they are more receptive to family communication. Family Relations and the Internet: Exploring a Family Boundaries Approach Introduction of internet into the family environment can influence and change the way of life in a family. The increase in the use of internet in families has prompted many researchers to see how it can influence everyday life. Connection to the internet opens a window of information to families about parenting, child’s education and family health. Many studies have also stated that the frequent use of the internet by family members have cut into the time spent as a family. This results in a lack of communication among the family members which can cause the children to go after various other media to fulfill their curiosities and the need for information. Most parents view the internet as a positive force in the life of their children and buy them computers and connect them to the internet to help them better at school, to do more research and to learn new things. Teens don’t always use the internet to match their parent’s expectations and in these conditions the positive force can turn into a source of conflict in the families. Conflict, if not handled well, can lead to a lack of communication or miscommunication among the family members. This can lead to a lot of assumptions and misconceptions that can surface from a child’s limited view of the internet. Another argument against the use of internet is the large hole it cuts into the child’s available time. Internet use is time consuming and it has been found that internet use in high frequency is directly responsible for the negative effects on family communication and closeness. All this studies are based on the conception that the communication between the family members is a closed system and that the internet cuts a hole in this closed fence. Communication in a family isn’t always related to the use of internet in every family. Many other factors play into this scenario. The schedules of the whole family are important and should be considered when something like this is examined. Dysfunctional families do not need the internet as a hindrance for the lack of communication among its members. Before the advent of the internet, there did exist many families who did not communicate properly within. Even with these arguments in favor of the internet, its effect on the family can not be withheld. It has been shown that frequent internet visitors go there for social purposes and their personality characteristics are influenced by this and differ from normal. Adolescents who use the internet for social and entertainment purposes seem to have more conflict with their family than those who used it for educational purposes. On the whole, it can be seen that increase in the time spent on the internet has had a negative impact on the family time and a positive impact on the family conflicts. Thus, the internet is directly linked to the decrease in family cohesion due to lack of communication and time spent together. CONCLUSION The three articles come to a conclusion about the nature of the influence the internet provides on family communication. Internet is a very useful resource and source of information and we can never deny its importance in everyday life. But, when we consider its influence on the young minds, we need to think about the advantages and the disadvantages. Depending on the point of view of a person, the internet can be good or bad. From the articles we can see that the families who spend a lot of time on the internet do seem to have more communication dysfunction than those who spend less time. This can be due to two different reasons. Adolescents these days depend on many different sources of information available to them to teach them about their sexuality and sometimes these resources can point them in the wrong direction. Children who don’t have a good communication rapport with their parents at a young age usually don’t develop a good communication bridge with their parents when they get older and the peer relationships are stronger. Some of the messages put across by the internet are factually wrong or morally incorrect and many children accept this as the truth due to lack of communication with parents. This leads to development of wrong set of ideas and can lead to various risky behaviors in the sexual context. The excessive amount of explicit sexual content available on the internet can confuse the minds of teens and younger children alike and can lead to a state of mind in which many of the things depicted may seem natural for them. This again leads to risky sexual behavior. Another way the internet seems to affect the family communication is by cutting into the time spent as a family. This goes hand in hand with the earlier mentioned fact as this leads to lack of communication between the parents and the children leading the children to go elsewhere in search of advice or information. The whole thing works as a circle in which the increased use of internet by children has a negative impact on family communication about sexuality. But it has been shown that parents who communicated with their children at a young age make an impact in their receptive minds and can thus strengthen the bond between the members of the family. This can lead to open communication in a family and thus the children can be educated properly and correctly about the various aspects of sexuality. From this, we can come to the conclusion that early development of a good bond with parents and the control of the use of internet (among many other factors) can help children grow up to be sexually responsible adults. Since I am already an adult, I will use this information I have gained in the future with my family. Making sure to have an open and trustful bond with my children would be my primary objective when bringing them up. I will try to communicate better with my family in that way and can teach my children things that I myself have gone to various places to find. During the time I grew up, my main source of information on this topic was the internet and my peers which have led me to learn through trial and error which was risky and dangerous. I realized from writing this article that one of the causes of this was the internet and I will make sure that my children won’t have to repeat my mistakes. Also, on a broader view, communication is very important in getting any kind of point across to people and it is important to look for accurate information when trying to teach someone something. Depending on the internet is not always accurate and in the right point of view. Another thing that can be learned from this is that it is always important to take time to open communication channels and talk to people. Lack of communication can lead to lack of cohesion and more problems anywhere, be it work, family, friends, etc. BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, J. (2002). Mass Media Influences on Sexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 39(1), 42-45. {text:bookmark-start} P {text:bookmark-end} Wyckoff, S. , Miller, K. , Forehand, R. , Bau, J. , Fasula, A. , Long, N. , et al. (2008). Patterns of Sexuality Communication Between Preadolescents and Their Mothers and Fathers. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 17(5), 649-662. Mesch, G. (2006). Family Relations and the Internet: Exploring a Family Boundaries Approach. Journal of Family Communication, 6(2), 119-138.