A Brief History of the Chinese in the Philippine Essay

According to The History of the Sung Dynasty or Sung Shi, published in 1343-1374, China already had trade relations with the people in the Philippines as early as the tenth century (AD 982) (Miclat, 2000). By the time of the Sung Dynasty (860-1127), Chinese colonies were already founded in some towns by the coast. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) , colonies were already found in the hinterlands (Agoncillo, 1990). When the Spanish arrived in Manila in 1571 the resident population of Chinese in the area was around one hundred and fifty. Many of them were traders in Chinese merchant ships. The Chinese said they were seng-li (or xang lai), which meant â€Å"we are traders† (Gardner). The Spanish eventually called them Sangley, which is derived from the Hokkien word seng-di or seng-li meaning â€Å"business† (Mempin, 2009). The Chinese established themselves near Spanish communities, taking on important roles as food providers, retail traders and artisans. The Spanish soon became dependent on the Chinese economically; after all, they provided many of the goods shipped to Europe through Mexico by the Manila galleon trade . However, because of cultural differences, there were also mutual feelings of distrust. There came a time when the population of Chinese outnumbered the Spanish, who were afraid that they would revolt (Wickberg, 1964). Because of this, in 1582, the Spanish required the Chinese to live in a walled compound called the Parian, which soon became the commercial center of the area (Gardner). By the sixteenth century, there was a royal order for all Chinese to be expelled from the Philippines and the Parian , evacuated. However, Governor Dasmarinas knew that the City of Manila, which was the largest Spanish settlement, were dependent on the Chinese for economic services. Governor Dasmarinas bought some land across the river from the walled city of Intramuros and turned it over to a group of known Chinese merchants and artisans, for the purpose of creating a new Chinese settlement. The intention was to formally obey the royal order, while at the same time, making sure that the Chinese would continue to provide good and services for the Spanish. The land grant was tax-free and given in perpetuity. This settlement came to be known as Binondo. In the beginning, there were no religious or cultural issues involved, but when the Spanish Dominican priests were assigned to Binondo, they turned it into a community of married Catholic Chinese and their. By the year 1600, the population was around five hundred or more, and the first generation of mestizos (mixed Chinese-native ancestry) had appeared (Wickberg, 1964). In time, Binondo came to be known as the community of Chinese and Chinese mestizos who had been baptized and converted to Catholicism, and Parian was where the n0n-Catholic Chinese lived. In the nineteenth century, there was a mass emigration of Chinese into other parts of the world as a result of wars, starvation, corruption and civil unrest in mainland China. This was called the â€Å"Chinese Diaspora†. Most of these Chinese who went overseas came from maritime provinces like Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan (Overseas Chinese, 2008). In the Philippines, most of the Chinese who immigrated in the second half of the nineteenth century came from Fujian on the southeastern coast of China (Dolan, 1991). One of these sub-provinces of Fujian is Xiamen, also commonly known as Amoy. The term Amoy became known when Xiamen became a treaty port after the 1st Opium War (1839-42), and is thought to have come from the island’s name â€Å"Ah Mo† in the local dialect (Brown, 2007). In those days, it was common for newly baptized Chinese immigrants to incorporate his baptismal sponsor’s name after his own. Let us take, for instance, the case of Don Pedro Gotiaco who is the ancestor of today’s wealthy Gokongwei clan. When he was baptized, Don Pedro’s baptismal sponsor was Don Mariano Singson, from a well-known mestizo family. Don Pedro incorporated his sponsor’s name into his own, which was commonly done those days. The sponsor or â€Å"padrino† was considered a necessary protector for a new immigrant like Don Pedro.

Smoking Should Be Made Illegal

Kelvin Omogbeme CIGARETTE SMOKING SHOULD BE BANNED IN THE SAME WAY AS OTHER ILLEGAL DRUGS Tobacco is one of the most widely used drugs in the world, mainly in the form of a cigarette. Although most countries have tried to restrict the use of tobacco, people still smoke everyday despite the fact that it is poisonous and harmful to their health. Cigarette smoking has been part of our lives for many decades now. Whether cigarettes should be banned or not becomes an object of controversy for many countries. Smokers claim that smoking helps in reducing their stress and also it strengthens the economy.But the negative aspect of smoking outweighs the positive. Smoking is a bad habit, and it is not good for human health. Cigarette smoking has seriously negative effects and it should be banned completely because it is hazardous for smokers and non-smoker’s health, it costs a large amount of money, and also it tends to influence people around us. Firstly, smoking undoubtedly helps many people to relax. For some, it even improves concentration. Many people like to smoke before exams or when they are relaxing with friends. A further point is that governments throughout the whole world make huge profits from levying taxes on cigarettes.This provides funds which are used for building schools, hospitals and other public amenities. The tobacco industry also employs tens of thousands of people throughout the world, particularly in poorer countries. Without cigarettes, these people would have no jobs and they will be suffering. However, despite these points, the arguments against smoking are strong. Smoking has been shown to be hazardous to people’s health. Smokers are taking into their body large amount of toxic such as; nicotine, carbon monoxide, and ammonia daily. These chemicals are dangerous to our health.First of all, cigarettes contain 4000 chemicals in it, and 69 of them are known to cause cancer. Smoking too much causes first-hand smokers to get yellow tee th, swollen gum, skin disease, and bad fingernails. They are also known to get headaches, lung cancer and bad breath much more easily than nor-smokers do. Years ago, millions of people died of lung cancer because of smoking. It was a dreadful scene. Those families were sad and they went bankrupt because of the amount of money they spent on treating their loved ones illness, while they were sick in the hospital. Smoking can cause damage to the respiratory system and circulatory system.Furthermore, people who smoke get heart attacks and their kidneys no longer function properly. About 400 thousand Americans die each year, and 5. 4 million die globally from smoking related disease. The most common illness causing deaths are respiratory disease such as, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart disease like high blood pressure and heart attacks. From x-rays results, a smokers’ hearts is known to be much darker than a non-smokers heart. The most amazing p art about a smoker is that he knows that it is terribly hazardous to him, yet he continues killing himself slowly.Cigarettes contain nicotine which is an addictive substance and that is why it is hard for smokers to stop smoking. Smokers are occasionally outside smoking, making the people beside him or her breathe in smoke too. These people are known as second-hand smokers or non-smokers. When second-hand smokers breathe in first-hand smoker’s smoke, they also get badly harmed by it. Cigarette does not just harm the people who smoke, they also harm the people who are near them and breathe the smoke. Non-smokers do not like to breathe polluted air; they feel annoyed when someone around them smokes.For instance, if you are trying to enjoy a meal in a restaurant, and you suddenly inhale the smoke from your neighbor; you will feel uncomfortable. Studies show that exposure to cigarette smoke for as little as thirty minutes a day can raise a non-smoker's risk of suffering a heart a ttack. Children are being harmed by first-hand smokers and it is unfair. Children's lives are being put at risk every day because people make the bad decision to smoke. When children breathe in cigarette smoke, they have an increased risk for childhood illnesses such as asthma and ear infections. It is also harmful to pregnant women and unborn children.If the health of a pregnant smoker is not enough for her to quit smoking, then the health of her baby should be. Smoking during pregnancy affects you and your baby's health before, during, and after your baby is born. The nicotine (the addictive substance in cigarettes), carbon monoxide, and numerous other poisons you inhale from a cigarette are carried through your bloodstream and go directly to your baby. Another reason why smoking should be banned is because it helps to save money for better use. Many people who smoke cigarettes are not even aware of how much they spend on cigarettes every month.Depending on how much people smoke, it can run up to a couple of hundred dollars per month. People spend lots of money on buying cigarette. If people are not allowed to smoke, they gradually reduce the number of cigarette they smoke; thereby, saving lots of money. All the money they spend in buying cigarettes can be saved and used for something much more important and useful like paying off a loan or a saving for a child’s education. After all, we can better our society by educating the future generation to be financially sound and debt-free. Just try stopping smoking cigarette; you will be surprise how much amount of money will be saved.Finally, another reason why smoking should be banned is because smokers tend to influence people around them. For instance, when your son or daughter sees you smoking, he or she would become interested in trying it; thereby he or she may be addicted to it and that makes him or her become smoker. Same thing goes with a teenager, who just entered high school, and he sees his teac her smoking, or even at work when your colleagues see you smoking, he might be influenced too especially when the smoker gives it so much importance and glorifies it like it is the best thing to do.This definitely has an impact on the way a person thinks about smoking, and more often, leads people to begin smoking. As you can see, smoking causes a lot of problems in our society. The reasons why smoking should be banned is because it is dangerous for smoker’s health and non-smokers health, it helps to save a lot of money and it tends to influence other people around. What people don’t realize is that they have the power to control, and stop the terrible habit that affects them and millions of people across the globe.If smoking is banned, the food that smokers eat will begin to taste better, their sense of smell will return to normal and they will gradually be able to exercise or do normal chores such as taking out the trash without loss of breath and wheezing, their blo od pressure becomes lower, the carbon monoxide level in their blood drops to normal, coughing and shortness of breath decrease and the lung cancer death rates will reduce and people will be able to save a lot of money. If smoking is banned, the environment would be a better, and a safer place to live for us and our future generations.Overall, I think the world would be a better place without cigarettes. I suggest the government take immediate action and stop the puff of smoke from coming out of a person’s mouth and make them happy and invincible from smoke! Therefore, cigarette smoking should be banned in the same way as other illegal drugs. REFERENCE Rachael Rettner. (2013, January, 25). Should cigarette smoking be illegal. Retrieved from http://www. foxnews. com/health/2013/01/25/should-cigarettes-be-illegal/ Andy Phan. (2011, July). Should Cigarette Smoking Be Banned. Retrieved from http://www. tudymode. com/essays/Should-Cigarette-Smoking-Be-Banned-707870. html Tom Head. (2009). Should cigarettes be made illegal. Retrieved from http://civilliberty. about. com/od/drugpolicy/i/cigarettes_ban_2. htm S Chapman, R Borland, M Scollo, R C Brownson, A Dominello, and S Woodward. (1999, July). The impact of smoke-free workplaces on declining cigarette consumption in Australia and the United States. American Journal of Public Health July 1999: Vol. 89, No. 7, pp. 1018-1023. Retrieved from http://ajph. aphapublications. org/doi/abs/10. 2105/AJPH. 89. 7. 1018

Age Constraints on Second-Language Acquisition

Age Constraints on Second-Language Acquisition Introduction: The main topic of this study is to see if the age in which a child immigrates to America has any affect on their relationship with English. The authors tested native Korean speakers, all of whom moved to the United States at various ages on their understanding of English syntax and phonology. They were testing them to see if the critical period hypothesis stands. The critical period hypothesis rests on the belief that as a person matures, their brain begins to become lessÂÂ   plastic, and as the brain loses neural plasticity, it also loses its second language learning ability.ÂÂ   (Scovel, 1988; Patkowski, 1980, 1990). However, others believe that second language learning ability is related to how often the second language is actually implemented into conversations (Oyama, 1979; Flege, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1998b; Bialystok, 1997). The authors are trying to see which of these two theories are valid; the maturational theory or the interactive theory. While bot h theories have yielded supporting evidence, there is not enough data to know which theory is more valid. Also, it is difficult to test the critical period theory because there can be multiple factors contributing to why a child is unable to acquire language past a certain age. The authors hypothesis is that age of arrival does have an affect on the relationship they will have with English as their second language. Methods: The authors tested 240 native Korean speakers. All of these people had immigrated to America between the ages of 1 and 3, and had lived in America for at least 8 years. Their age at the time of testing ranged from 17 to 47 years old. There were also 24 native English speakers in the study, and their ages ranged from 20-45. They used the discontinuity theory for this study. The discontinuity theory is the idea that development occurs in a series of distinct stages rather than gradually in a continuous process. The participants were split into 10 groups based o n their age of arrival to the United States. Most of the participants completed high school in the United States, and many also went on to higher education in the US as well. Participants were tested on an individual basis by bilingual Korean-English research assistants in an hour and a half study session. The participants were asked to repeat English sentences that were later examined by 22.05 kHz where they were normalized for peak intensity. They were thenÂÂ   judged by native English speakers for degree of foreign accent by having them rate the sentences on a scale 1-9 from strong foreign accent to no accent. Now to test their morphosyntax, the participants were asked to take a 144 item grammaticality judgement test. In the test, they had a recording of a man speaking both grammatical and ungrammatical sentences, and the participants had to judge which were grammatical, and which were not. These were the two methods used to test if age of arrival had any effect on the relat ionship of learning English as a second language. Discussion: The aim of this study was to see if the age in which a person moved to the United States had any impact on their relationship with learning English as a second language. In the study, the authors tested 240 Native Korean speakers to see if their age of arrival affected the way they learned English as their second language. They were tested on their phonology by examining their accent for degree of foreign accent as well as their understanding of English morphology by having the participants take a 144 item grammaticality judgment test. The results showed that age of arrival had more of an impact on the participants morphosyntactic understanding compared to their phonological understanding. Based off the data, we could conclude that age of arrival definitely affects a persons relationship with learning English as a second language. This finding definitely supports the idea that a critical period exists when it comes to learning a second language. One problem with the study is that it does not explain why morphosyntactic understanding was affected more than phonological understanding. There could be a number of reasons contributing to this, and it is still unknown exactly why this is the case. I think that this study really helped to prove that there is a correlation between the age of arrival and ability to pick up a second language. However, more research needs to be conducted in order to understand exactly what factors are causing difficulties to arise in being able to learn a second language after a certain age. Also, more research could be done to find out exactly what age it is that second language learning ability starts to decrease. References: Flege, J. E., Yeni-Komshian, G. H., & Liu, S. (1999). Age Constraints on Second-Language Acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language , 41, 78-104

Make comments on the blogs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Make comments on the blogs - Essay Example As far as I understood, the exhibition you work at is quite a huge one, as you have a lot of art works and the beach where the SxS is located must be large. But I’m interested in how do your staff managed to control all those territories, like looking after the sculptures preservation from weather changes and visitors’ carelessness etc. You’ve mentioned that there were some problems with the project’s sponsors. Why was that? Was the project commercially unprofitable? I thought that the projects like this one should definitely attract tourists, as they are quite convenient and located in travelled places. The post was absolutely useful to me, as I think that such very practical internships like yours are just extremely interesting, because you never know what kind of information you will learn while installing another piece of art. I can imagine how scary it was when you came there for the first time and had to get involved into what was going on there within a short time! I bet it was crazy, especially when you worked with installations, as it is such a responsibility not to mix up anything accidentally. Thanks for the post. It’s been very interesting! As I understood, you worked with the Vernon system for the first time? Was it difficult to figure out how everything in this system worked? Because I don’t get whether the problem with saving your entries concerned shutdowns of the system or the computer that your gallery provided you with? If it is the system, then why wouldn’t they upgrade it somehow? Cataloguing seems like a very boring kind of work though. I hope you finally defeated the system and had your job with cataloguing done! I can’t even imagine how angry it made you to rewrite the entries over and over. As more I read about your internship the more it seems really exciting to me. This is just amazing that you’ve had an opportunity to become familiar with such great artists like Tony Mott and get to know their art works

BHE 415 - Community and Domestic Violence (Module 1-SLP) Essay

BHE 415 - Community and Domestic Violence (Module 1-SLP) - Essay Example Violence may affect anyone, including us and our loved ones. With an increasingly violent society, how can we have peace of mind? How are we sure that the next victims are not us or our family members? The reasons for violence are multifold. There are some theories which say that violence is genetic. Each of us has our own biologic make-up, or a set of genes that we inherit from our parents. Some studies have pointed out that children born to violent parents have the tendency to become violent later on. This was viewed as a result to hormonal imbalances, such as serotonin, testosterone and low blood sugar levels. Some factors like poor nutrition, head injury, exposure to toxic waste and chemicals can also make a person to be prone to create violence. (Wilson, 1985) The next factor is psychological. A person grows through time not only physically and mentally but also psychologically. If a person was abused during his childhood, may it be physically or sexually; if there is deprivation of love, care and physical needs, if a person has been denied of his right to education, then that person is prone to violence. Drug abuse is also a contributing factor. Many crimes have been committed by people taking illegal drugs or alcohol. (Monahan, 1992) As a result, violence not only the health and welfare of individuals—it also affects communities. It affects families by weakening their bond and creating chaos among the family members. Violence also affects people psychologically; the feeling of fear, insecurity, inadequacy and helplessness are enough to make a person become psychologically deranged. Abused people may have low self esteem, anxiety and depression. These people are prone to post traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideations. (Elliot, 1994) The direct effects of domestic violence are devastating. It leads to low birth weight disabled infants who have the risk of dying. Injured children who are

Sampson and Laub's Life Course Perspective Theory Essay

Sampson and Laub's Life Course Perspective Theory - Essay Example The Social Control Theories is an umbrella of various theories written and formulated by several researchers and sociologists, one of which is the Life Course Perspective Theory by the tandem of Sampson and Laub (1992). This theory is distinct from other theories within this umbrella not only because it does not subscribe to some of the principles adhered to by the theorists of the Social Control school of thought, but also because of its potential broader utility in the study of criminology. Sampson and Laub’s Life Course Perspective Sampson and Laub (1992) formulated a theory that seeks to remedy the ‘either or focus’ of researchers in explaining the origin of criminal behavior, one that attempts to resolve two opposing research findings by harmonizing them. Calling this theory life course perspective, these two researchers observed that one group of researchers emphasizes youth in crime in a theory called age-crime curve where criminality starts and peaks durin g teen years while the other group believes that criminal behavior persists even in adulthood. The ‘overemphasis’ of these two groups on their respective theories result in the failure of sociologists, as a whole, to link childhood propensity to criminality to adult criminal behavior. Life course perspective, which Sampson and Laub (1992) defined as â€Å"pathways through the age differentiated life span† (p. 65), synchronizes the aforesaid theories by taking a comprehensive view of the criminal behavior from childhood to adulthood particularly noting the various events that incite changes in the course of an individual’s and affects criminal propensity. The life course perspective is a theory under the broad umbrella of social control theory, but differs from all others in the group by advocating, not for a single factor, but for more comprehensive multi-factor underpinnings of criminal behavior (Sacco & Kennedy p. 74). It is underpinned by two elements: trajectories, and; transitions. Trajectories, according to Sampson and Laub (1992), are the general direction that an individual is expected to take on the basis of his overall pattern of behavior while transitions are significant life events that occur in a person’s life that cause changes in the general trajectory of his life. Furthermore, life events, however significant, may or may not cause transitional change, but depends on â€Å"timing, duration, and ordering of major life events and their consequences for later social development† (p. 66). The way a person reacts to a significant life event is underpinned, according to this theory, to his childhood past, but also acknowledges that events in themselves can be a cause for a redirection of life trajectory. Overall, the life course perspective concerns itself with the study of life trajectories, the connection between childhood and adult behavior, the social implication of age, the transmission of social patterns from one generation to another, and the effects of significantly big events such as international catastrophes (Sampson & Laub, p. 66).  

The Holocaust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Holocaust - Essay Example Though anti-Jewish laws have been adopted, Hungarian authorities opposed to the German demands for deporting the Jewish to the death camps. The situation changed in 1944, when the German army occupied Hungary. During the 42 days, starting from the beginning of May, more than 437 thousand of Hungarian Jews have been sent to Oswiecim - Birchenough. While the world community pretended, that nothing was happening, the Germans killed in gas chambers 12 thousand people every day. Only at the beginning of July 1944, the head of the Hungarian government, Miklosh Horti, signed the order to stop the deportation, or to slow it down, and about 200 thousand Jews from Budapest have finally avoided deportation. The neutral diplomats of Sweden, Switzerland and Vatican have given their assistance to the Hungarian Jews. However, already at the end of 1944 about 30 thousand Jews more died during the so called 'death marches' to the Austrian border. (Braham 1981, p24) Italy has also been a German ally; and as well as in Hungary, the anti-Jewish laws have been adopted there. ... ty, and only after the failure of the Mussolini's government in July, 1943, German troops were able to capture eight out of thirty five thousand of local Jews and to deport them to Oswiecim-Birchenough. All this took place with the support of Italian Nazis. (Berenbaum, 1998, p86) After the German occupation in April, 1944, Yugoslavia has been divided into several parts. The total number of Jews living in the country was 80 thousand, out of which about 16 thousand lived in Belgrade. The Germans used thousand of Jews as cheap labor force, having deprived them of their entire inventory beforehand. In August, 1941, the wave of mass arrests seized the country. The bigger portion of Serb Jews has been killed. In spring 1942, in the Semline concentration camp in Belgrade suburbs, people were killed by gas, using the specially equipped truck. Only several hundreds of Serb Jews remained alive by summer 1942. (Braham, 1994, p144) Croatian fascists have also become close allies of Germany. Croatian Jews were obliged to carry the 'David's Star' and their property has been confiscated. The regime was constantly destroying Serbs, Jews and Gypsies all across the country. Only in Yasenovo concentration camp, dozens thousands of Serbs and twenty out of thirty thousand Croatian Jews have been killed. By the end of October, 1941 almost all Jews of Croatia have been destroyed. About seven thousand of those who remained alive were sent to Oswiecim. During the whole period of war, about sixty thousand of Yugoslavian Jews have been killed. (Berenbaum, 1998, p91) Greece has been simultaneously occupied by the two armies - German and Italian. The Jews, who appeared to be in the Italian zone, have not been subjected to repressions until 1944. As for the German zone, the 50-thousand Jewish

Professional Team Sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Professional Team Sports - Essay Example Making profits is a key aspect in any business venture (Wladimir and Stefan, 2006:617). This understanding has created interest in finding out the real effect of decisions made by club owners and franchise on the structure and regulation of leagues around the world. This paper therefore seeks to interrogate the different ways in which the objectives and decisions of club owners in professional sports affect the overall sporting arena. In order to get better sales in sports, high level of competition is required unlike in business where monopoly is the ultimate goal. If there are championships or leagues, the participation of more than two clubs will be necessary to ensure better products to the fans. If one club is far better than the rest and keeps on winning all games with ease, the products become so predictable and therefore less marketable to the fans (Wladimir & Stefan, 2006:27). Fans will get bored in watching a team that wins with big margins repeatedly and so need some degre e of uncertainty for them to enjoy watching the game. This phenomenon of the professional sports as an industry has led to the development of cooperation among clubs and the adoption of governing bodies charged with ensuring that the industry attains its optimal production capacity by way of organising championships and leagues. These leagues are highly competitive and as such have become some of the most profitable enterprises around the globe. For instance, the European champions’ league, the Barclays premier league in England and the La-liga of Spain are some examples among many leagues in football that are leading income earners for the respective clubs and contribute a considerable amount of the countries’ GDP. Baseball, basketball, indoor sports, golf, athletics, and Olympics in general all form a multibillion-dollar economy (Masteralexis and Hums, 2002:295). The graph below shows how revenue from sporting activities has increased over the years. Figure 1: graphi c illustration of increase in revenue in the sports sector associated with increasing commercialization Retrieved from http://www.econweb.com/MacroWelcome/sandd/D-Shift_New_Equilibrium.gif According to some economists, this feature of professional sport is quite favourable as it eradicates monopolies, which are responsible for poor quality of products or services offered and high non-commensurate prices. In the end, the whole arena of professional sports forms a model of free market where competitiveness of the product offered carries the largest share. This competition however is not always healthy especially with respect to the labour market (Stefan, 2007:47). Here, the free relocation and transfer of players from one club to the other based on the wages has made the wealthier clubs maintain a grip of the top leagues and championships over the less wealthy clubs. Therefore, wealthy club owners can get all the best talent there is in the market and thereby in a way kill competition , which is the very phenomenon on which the industry thrives (Rodney, 2004:25). This has resulted to creation of oligopolistic cartels where the higher level of game is exclusive to the rich clubs where as the less wealthy clubs play in the lower divisions that are less competitive and less famous among the fans ((Wladimir and Stefan, 2006:64). This means that fans will be flocking the gates only when big teams are playing. This obviously means very high revenues for them where as the poorer clubs will only have small number of fans in

IKEA's Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

IKEA's Strategy - Essay Example It is IKEA’s vision to give a as many individuals as possible a better life. The company wishes to achieve this via the business concept they have which offers furniture that has very low prices many can afford them. They go beyond just selling tables and chairs by offering a better living environment and comfortable home. IKEA is cognizant of the importance of home environment to many. It can easily affect their well-being. Thus, it is necessary that their homes are comfortable, attractive and practical without having to pay a fortune to gain it. At present, there are more than 260 IKEA branches in over 35 nations and territories around the world as of 2007. There are more than 400 million individuals visited the stores annually. The products are also now made available online or via catalogues. The company sold more than 17 billion Euros in 2006 alone. IKEA also makes sure that the company adopts responsible attitude towards social and environmental issues. Evidently, IKEA i s greatly successful it its business in Europe and the world over (IKEA Website). This paper will be focusing on IKEA and the strategies it implements that make it the success that it is now. This study will first present its value proposition. It will also explore IKEA’s entry into the foreign markets as well as the factors that surround such move. Then, the paper will be delving into the strategy that IKEA makes use of which is mainly responsible for the success it is enjoying at present. Then, a closer look into its HR and what strategy is implemented will be discussed. Finally, concluding remarks will be given based on the information gathered about IKEA as incorporated in this study. II. IKEA’s Value Proposition A number of companies have lined up their values inside and out and a brilliant example of such companies is IKEA. IKEA is the biggest and one of the most popular manufacturers of furniture worldwide. It has 179 outlets in operation in 23 countries and emp loys 84,000 workers. The value proposition of IKEA that attracts buyers—its capability of offering affordable, distinctively designed functional furniture—is communicated and executed consistently. To minimize the costs for manufacturing, buyers assemble the accessories and furniture themselves. They also usually collect these from the warehouse and take them home themselves. Delivering the items is a separate service that is promoted as being priced reasonably. This self-service environment assists IKEA in keeping the prices to a minimum, which is vital to the values of buyers. The value proposition is the service and/or product that creates utility that is offered to buyers by a company, according to Bovet and Martha (2000). Another definition is that it all the central aspects of the situation and the advantages sought by the customers in the purchase (Best, 1997). The value proposition refers to the bundle of value that delivered by a company to its customers (Shee hy, Bracey, & Frazier, 1996). It includes intangibles (e.g. brand equity, image), selection, service, and price; it is more than just the product itself. In other words, it is not what the buyer is buying, but what the buyer thinks he or she is buying. Both the offer to the organization and the duties and roles of stakeholders are identified by the value proposition (Webster, 1994). It becomes the selling proposition to

Edgar Allan Poe Essay Example for Free

Edgar Allan Poe Essay Edgar Allan Poe was evil genius for his time and a great literary forerunner of today. He created the mind set for current writers such as Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Robin Cook by creating the horror story. Poe invites the reader to enter the mind of the narrator by using our senses as a way to provoke terror, suspense, and awe. His writing was influenced by many tragic losses in his life, and this would explain why Poe was a writer of such morbid short stories and poems. Poes experiences in life definitely influenced the remarkable literary work he produced. In his early life he had to deal with the death of both his parents, a difficult experience, but Poe accepted it as time went on. Later on in his life Poes stepfather disowned him. Young Edgars life was changed due to abandonment, alcoholism, and depression. In 1832 Poe moved in with his aunt and his 11 year old cousin in Baltimore. Poe then married his younger cousin in 1836. However, Poe did not know that he would suffer yet another terrible loss, the loss of his love, his wife. Poes ability to write literature was the window for him to express his feelings. All of Poes tragic losses affected the way he wrote. Poe used his life experiences to make his writing a lot more interesting. Poes writing is remarkably interesting. The poem The Raven showed how Poe erected a crazed state of mind, as the poem shows how the loss or a loved one drove a person crazy. This poem was possibly created for his wife that he had lost. While reading the poem it seems as if the stresses of the life of Poe, and his thoughts and feelings were all put into this poem. Throughout Poes life, many factors have contributed and influenced his writing style. He lived a difficult life, because he was raised in a dysfunctional household. But the final product of Poes mind is printed in his short stories and poems. Poes stories all have similar motifs and composition that would suggest suppressed emotions from life experiences are being discharged through his writings. The most prominent feature of Poes writing is his obsession with death. Poes writing does more than entertain the reader. It can be an insight into the dark and somber world of Edgar Allan Poe. One does not understand the meaning of Poe if one reads at the superficial level. One has to read into Poe, and understand the hardships of his life and how he maintained them that way. He knew that death was an inevitable part of life, it is the price of life, but he tried to fight it as if it was an unnatural part of life. He was an extremely intriguing man from all viewpoints, and he was and is, the dark side of all of us. It is difficult not to link Poes fictional stories with his real life. Evidence shows that Poe had a heart condition during his later years in life. Could The Tell Tale Heart be his own fear of the disease? Who knows? Could Poe have been expressing his fears that his alcoholic rages may cause him to hurt the ones he loved most in his tale The Black Cat? Finally, was the Pit and the Pendulum an allegory of his life? Did he find himself caught between the pendulum of financial adversity and the pit of degradation of death? Poe made the reader feel as if the reader were there, in the story, struggling with the same terrors of the characters. All his famous mystery thriller works give the reader a sense of nervousness, a sense of fear, and a sense of evil, by making our five senses awaken by reading every word. Critics say that Poe did not merely imitate the Gothic tales, but he also enriched them by preserving a central action while adding philosophical speculations and lore that deepened the impressions of the tales. As a result of the traumas he endured, Poe was unafraid of taking his readers for a walk on the dark side, where lines between life and death were sometimes blurred. His ability to tap into humankinds deepest fears and his consistency in portraying such intriguing and captivating themes is what has kept the work of Poe timeless. In short, Edgar Allan Poe has created many great stories for us. He liked to illustrate the dissolution of an individuals mind and body, as he had suffered it himself for quite a long time. He thought death is unavoidable, because he experienced keenly deaths all around him and its threat on his own life. He was obsessed by the loss of love of ideal women, for he had the same experience in life. Now, we can understand why Poe had a tendency of choosing such themes. Poe is an author of the inner world and his writings are his psychological autobiography to some extent. In this respect, Poe pioneered a new field in literature. He is the first one who focused on mans mental and spiritual activities, and his writings have deep influence on many of later writers. WORKS CITED Poe, Edgar Allan. Introductory Notes and Editors preface by Phillip van Doren Stern. In Selected Tales and Poems. The Viking Portal Library, Penguin Books, 1993. Moore, R. The Tell-Tale Heart: Discussion. 2002.Online. Internet. 11 November 2002. Available WWW: http://www.allpoe.com Murphy, Sally. Poes Poetry. 2002.Online. Internet. 12 November 2002. Available WWW: http://www.allpoe.com Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe His Life and Legacy. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992. Peters, James. Edgar Allan Poe. April 1, 2002.http://www.island-of-freedom.com/POE.HTM Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: A Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991. Death of Edgar Allan Poe. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998

Representation of Evil in “Vasilisa the Beautiful”

Representation of Evil in â€Å"Vasilisa the Beautiful† Introduction Russian folklore is rich with various myths, legends and folk tales that detail the life of various mythical characters. In many of such tales, there is extensive use of magic, witchcraft and the use of extraordinary powers. However, the most common characteristic of Russian folklore is the use of women in storytelling. Historical scholars define Russia’s literature as one that is rich with folk tales involving mystical adventure. However, most of these tales have a heroine instead of a hero at the end. Vasilisa the Brave has its setting at a time when magic and the use of extraordinary power was at its peak. A story is told of a young lady named Vasilisa who is sent by her cruel step-mother to collect some light from a witch called Baba Yaga. However, the main essence of the errand is to have Vasilisa be harmed and possibly die in the process of collecting the light. However, it is her humility and generosity that saves Vasilisa from being devoured by the witch Baba Yaga. The condition given by the witch is that Vasilisa completes a few tasks including basic household chores for Baba Yaga. After successfully completing the task, Baba Yaga hands Vasilisa a lantern fashioned from a skull, which ultimately burns the stepmother and the stepsisters to ashes. Background The story of Vasilisa is laden with symbolism. The writer uses various representations of the local culture to relate to the actual happenings in contemporary culture. The character of Baba Yaga has also been used on various platforms to bring out not only an evil but also a powerful character. â€Å"Vasilisa the Beautiful† characterizes Baba Yaga as a dangerous person who wields massive power of magic. However, her actions towards Vasilisa paint a person who despite being associated with evil does not seem to support evil deeds against the innocent in the society. From the common folklore history, Baba Yaga comes out as the villain who will go to any lengths to harm the protagonist. It is no doubt that Baba Yaga’s character is meant to strike a balance in terms of interpretation and giving the story the intended happy ending. Representation of Evil in â€Å"Vasilisa the Beautiful† â€Å"Vasilisa the Beautiful† is seen as being more of a Russian Cinderella story thus appealing to the Western readers. Despite the fact that the story has been written in so many forms by writers who have different versions of what happens in the story, the basic facts in the story are predominantly similar. The story revolves around a young lady Vasilisa. After the death of her mother, Vasilisa is left with no one to take care of her. However before her death, Vasilisa’s mother leaves her a doll that is supposed to help Vasilisa whenever she needs help. The condition by the mother is that whenever she needs help, Vasilisa should feed the doll and the doll reciprocates by assisting her in her problems. The greatest condition that Vasilisa is given by her mother is never to let anyone know of the doll’s existence (Zheleznova, 1966). Vasilisa’s stepmother is described as a cruel woman who discriminates against Vasilisa making her do most of the chores in t he household while her daughters lazy around the house doing nothing. Further cruel treatment directed towards Vasilisa is whereby she is given only a merger portion of all meals. However, Vasilisa does not eat her meals but rather saves the entire meals for the doll which in turn helps her complete her chores. The doll in the story is a characterization of how Russians and the society in general view super-natural beings. The doll in this case is presented as a mundane object that has extraordinary capabilities while keeping in mind that it can be found anywhere. The author tries to portray Vasilisa’s relationship to the doll as mutually exclusive. It is the treatment towards the doll that dictates whether the doll offers any help to Vasilisa. By feeding the doll, Vasilisa is rewarded by having her chores done by the doll. It is important to note that Vasilisa does not have direct power in her relationship with her doll. Hartman (1993) is of the view that it is only by using the doll that Vasilisa is able to improve her living condition characterized by cruelty. Vasilisa was able to follow her mother’s instructions who directed that she feeds the doll any time that she needs the dolls’ assistance. In addition, Vasilisa is not supposed to tell anyone regarding the doll’s existence. The application of these in the contemporary society is the need to follow instructions. The author depicts Vasilisa as an obedient lady who always heeds instructions from elders as it is depicted throughout the story. It is this obedience that helps Vasilisa time and time again during difficult situations. By being obedient, Vasilisa is able to escape the wrath of her stepmother and later from Baba Yaga. Towards the end, it is the willingness to listen to advice that eventually sees Vasilisa get married to the tsar. When her father is away on business, Vasilisa’s cruel stepmother plots to kill Vasilisa and together with her daughters send Vasilisa though the forest to Baba Yaga for some light. Upon arrival Vasilisa is required by the witch Baba Yaga to do menial household duties and also serve her meals. Vasilisa does all the work without questioning and even goes further to enlist the help of her doll when Baba Yaga requires her to do some almost impossible tasks. After completing all her task, Baba Yaga asks Vasilisa why she is so humble and why she does things without questioning. In her response, Vasilisa asks Baba Yaga about three horsemen who she had previously seen entering and leaving the witch’s homestead. Baba Yaga responds by saying that the three horsemen are her my bright daymy red sunand my dark night—and all three of them are my faithful servants(197). In a critical analysis of fairy tales known as Shadow and Evil In Fairy Tales, the author states that Baba Yaga’s reference to owning the night and day is a literary representation of the pagan culture not only in Russia but the world in general. Franz is of the view that Russian paganisms manifest itself particularly in the Russian society that often has hard-line views on different issues in the society. For some reason, Russia has over the years been viewed as ‘female’ with the reference of ‘rodina’ which means motherland being the best example to support this reference. In relation to â€Å"Vasilisa the Beautiful†, the author is seen to hand more power to women based on the fact that from the story, women seem to make decisions and are also the key characters in the story. In light with all the female characters in the story, Vasilisa’s fate rests with the major characters that are; her mother, the doll, Baba Yaga and her stepmother. Baba Yaga claims to own day and night. This situation replicates most countries and the level of authority exerted to the common citizens. Franz also notes that there are several skulls in Baba Yaga’s hut which is interpreted as the witch’s power over life and death. This can be compared to the power of life and death that the state has over ordinary citizens. In Indo-European folklore, light is often used to symbolize knowledge. Most Western fairy tales describe the quest for knowledge as progressive growth that is beneficial in the society. From the story, Vasilisa was sent by her stepmother to get some light for Baba Yaga. The representation of light in the contemporary society is knowledge. However, â€Å"Vasilisa the Beautiful† introduces a rather unique feature of Russian tale. Instead of the quest for knowledge being represented as a beneficial process, the Russian version suggests that the quest for knowledge is a dangerous process and thus should be avoided unless there are compelling reasons as to why the process must be undertaken. It is important to note that by being sent to collect some light from Baba Yaga, Vasilisa’s stepmother expects that she will not survive her task. However, Vasilisa’s behavior and conduct enables her to succeed in her quest. In addition to this, Vasilisa is able to acknowledge her subordinate role in the society particularly based on how she treats Baba Yaga. Thus from a wider perspective, the author tries to emphasize the rewards that come with good behavior and humility in the society. Faced with a near-impossible task, Vasilisa is able to tame even Baba Yaga who is a witch. Baba Yaga even goes further to state that she does not comprehend how Vasilisa is willing to take orders without questioning. As stated by Compora (2010), the metaphor of identifying Baba Yaga with the state is continued further in the story. From the story, it is permissible for Vasilisa to inquire about some of the things that happen at Baba Yaga’s hut. However, Baba Yaga tells Vasilisa that not every question has an appropriate answer. Baba Yaga goes further to tell Vasilisa that too much knowledge will lead to old age. Before answering the question about the three horsemen, Baba Yaga asks Vasilisa how she was able to complete all the tasks given to her. Vasilisa says that the reason why she successfully completed various tasks was because she had her mother’s blessing. From the story, Baba Yaga is seen as both the villain and the protagonist. This assumption is based on the fact that she rewards Vasilisa for her good behavior and exhibiting good morals. On the other hand, Baba Yaga is described as terrible when she is angry. All the main characters have certain characteristics that define their personality. Vasilisa is portrayed as humble, obedient and hardworking. Vasilisa’s stepmother and stepsisters are portrayed as cruel, selfish and evil. Baba Yaga on the other hand strikes out as considerate and non-manipulative. The portrayal of Vasilisa as selfless implies that she always considers other people’s opinion in her decisions. This reflects in modern society the importance of selflessness. Perhaps to show just how much generosity is in the society, Vasilisa’s stepmother and stepsisters attempt to use Baba Yaga’s power to destroy Vasilisa. This is evident from the story whereby Vasilisa is sent to fetch some light from Baba Yaga even though the stepmother and stepsister knew that she was likely to be harmed in the process of collecting the light. However, it is the stepmother and stepsisters who pay for their evil deeds with their lives. According to Schielzo (1983), â€Å"Vasilisa the Beautiful† further characterizes the use of stepmothers in mythology. Since time immemorial, there is always a negative connotation that accompanies the word stepmother. Stepmothers have been used in myths to contradict the positive nature of mothers. It is therefore not surprising that throughout the folklore history, stepmothers always seem to carry specific personal traits. The most common attribute that is associated with stepmothers is jealousy. In the case of Vasilisa, she is mistreated by her stepmother simply because the stepmother felt that she was prettier than her own children. The same scenario of a jealous stepmother is replicated in various stories throughout history. Baba Yaga gives Vasilisa a skull with fiery eyes indicating that this was the light that the stepmother and the stepdaughters had requested for. Vasilisa innocently takes the skull with her back to her stepfamily that is immediately burnt to ashes by the fiery eyes. The death of Vasilisa’s stepmother and stepsisters mark the assumption in early mythology and story writing that evil never wins. Vasilisa maintains her humble nature which gives the story one of the rarest features of Russian literature which is a happy ending. Conclusion â€Å"Vasilisa the Beautiful† is a manifestation of how various phenomena influenced early folklore. Most mythical analogies incorporate the use of a supernatural being, witchcraft and magic. Also a common trait in such analogies is the use of an evil stepmother. This application relates to so many things in the society and is meant to reflect the situation on the ground. From the beginning of the story, the writer is very specific regarding the direction of the story. Perhaps it is the use of magic that has the greatest impact on the story. Critics argue that despite it not being realistic to apply magic in modern literature, the latter was extremely relevant in early literature especially Greek Myths and Legends. More importantly, the major themes analyzed in the story indicate a systemic application of literature to influence behavior and promote good conduct. This is evident from the story where the evil stepmother and the stepsisters are burnt to ashes by the skull. The d eath of the stepsisters and the stepmother is considered as payback regarding how the same people treated Vasilisa. References Compora, D. P. (2010). Folk and Fairy Tales. Journal of Folklore Research Reviews Hartman, D. K., Hartman, J. A. (1993). Reading across texts: Expanding the role of the reader. The reading teacher, 202-211. Louise, M.F. (1974). Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales. Boston: Shambhala  Publications Mayer, M. (1994). Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave. Morrow Junior Books. Sanders, R. Folk Fairy Tales. (1978)UK: Methuen Co.Ltd. Scielzo, C. (1983). AN ANALYSIS OF BBA-YAG IN FOLKLORE AND FAIRY TALES. The American journal of psychoanalysis, 43(2). Zheleznova, I. L. (Ed.). (1966). Vasilisa the Beautiful: Russian fairy tales. Progress Publishers.