The Crucible Characters

Most of the characters from The Crucible, which include townspeople from Salem, judges, and reverends, existed in historical accounts of the 1692 trials. With the exception of Abigail, a manipulator, their goodness and wickedness is measured based on how little or how much they abide by the dogmas imposed in their community. Reverend Samuel Parris   Reverend Parris is a widower in his mid-forties who places great value on his reputation. He is more concerned about what his daughter’s illness would do to his status as a town’s minister than her actual ailment. A repressive, insecure, vain, and paranoid man, he quickly supports the authorities when the witch trials begin. He is the uncle of Abigail Williams, whom he brought into his house after her parents were viciously slain.   Betty Parris Betty Parris  is the minister’s 10-year-old daughter, who has been caught dancing in the woods. At first, we see her bedridden due to an unspecified illness. Guilt-ridden and fearful of what may happen to her, she accuses others of being witches to cast blame elsewhere.   Tituba Tituba is the slave of the Parris household, hailing from the Barbados. A â€Å"conjurer† who has expertise in herbs, she is thought to be the cause of Betty Parris’ â€Å"illness† and is the first to be accused of witchcraft once mass hysteria takes over the townspeople. Abigail Williams   The antagonist of the play, Abigail Williams is Reverend Parris’ beautiful 17-year-old orphaned niece who lives with his family. She previously served the Proctor household, where she seduced John Proctor. Abigail starts the fire of the witch hunt in order to frame Elizabeth Proctor as a witch so that she can claim John Proctor as her man. She leads the girls in their accusations in court against some of the most well-respected and good townspeople, and resorts to hysterics to manipulate the jury during the trial.   Mrs. Ann Putnam Ann Putnam, the wife of Thomas Putnam,  is  Ã¢â‚¬Å"a twisted soul of forty-five.† Seven of her children have died in infancy, and, out of sheer ignorance, she blames their death on a murdering witch. Thomas Putnam Thomas Putnam is nearly 50, the oldest son of the town’s richest man, and highly vindictive. He is a prime example of evil in the village, believing himself superior to most and looking for revenge for past grievances. He has attempted to use force to get his way in the past but has always failed. Deeply embittered, he accuses many of being witches, frequently is a witness against those accused, and has a daughter who at times leads the hysterical girls in the finger pointing.   Mary Warren   Mary Warren is the Proctor Family’s servant. She is weak and impressionable, which, at first, leads her to blindly admire Abigail’s strength, following her commands. She gifts Elizabeth Proctor a â€Å"poppet† with a needle in the abdomen, which will be used against Mrs. Proctor during the trials. John Proctor manages to convince her to admit to having lied about their â€Å"supernatural experiences† that have resulted in the arrest of many innocents. Yet, Mary’s confession comes to nothing, as Abigail, in turn, accuses her of witchcraft. This leads Mary to renounce her confession and, subsequently, to accuse Proctor of forcing her to make it. John Proctor   A well-respected, strong Salem farmer, John Proctor is the main protagonist of the play. He is independent-minded, which emerges in actions such as working on his farm during the Sabbath and refusing to have his youngest son baptized by a minister he is in disagreement with. He was seduced by Abigail when she was a servant at his farm, and this secret plagues him with guilt. He is a character with a strong sense of self, and often questions the dogmatic authority of the theocracy Salem lives under. This fully emerges in his final act, where he refuses to formalize his sham confession. Rebecca Nurse   Rebecca Nurse is  the ultimate good, religious community member. She takes on a near godlike aura when she first appears onstage and quiets a troubled child merely by her loving, calm presence. Hale says she looks â€Å"as such a good soul should,† but this does not spare her from dying by hanging. Giles Corey   Giles Corey is the local â€Å"crank and a nuisance† who is constantly blamed for numerous things that go wrong in the town but is not guilty. Corey is independent and brave, and he has a lot of knowledge by experience, such as knowing how trials operate due to having been in court multiple times. He claims that the witch trials are orchestrated just so that the land of those found guilty can be seized, and brings evidence to court, albeit refusing to name his sources. Eventually he dies by pressing, refusing to answer â€Å"aye or naye† to the interrogators.   Reverend John Hale Reverend John Hale comes from a nearby town and is the recognized authority on witchcraft. He relies on knowledge coming from books, which, he believes hold all the answers. While at the beginning of the play he speaks with conviction about his knowledge,  saying things like â€Å"the Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone,† he does possess intuition that goes beyond what he was taught: he recognizes Rebecca, even though he had never seen her before, as being â€Å"as such a good soul should,† and  about Abigail he says â€Å"This girl has always struck me false†. By the end of the play, he learns the wisdom coming from doubting dogma. Elizabeth Proctor   Elizabeth is one of the most upright members of the community, but she is more complex than a stereotype of goodness. At the beginning of the play, she is the aggrieved wife of John Proctor, but, by the end of the play, she becomes more loving and understanding of her husband. Abigail wants to frame her for witchcraft: after piercing her own abdomen with a needle, she falsely accuses Elizabeth of having pierced the abdomen of a witchs poppet doll with a needle in order to torment her, an accusation of witchcraft. This event leads many in the community to find other reasons to suspect Elizabeth Proctor.   Judge Hathorne   Judge Hathorne is one of the officials sent to question the accused witches. He acts as a foil for Proctor and the upright citizens. He is concerned more with wielding his power than true justice, and blindly believes in Abigail’s machinations.   Judge Thomas Danforth Thomas Danforth is the chief judge of the court, and  views the proceedings as a pretext to cement his power and influence, eagerly convicting anyone brought before him. He refuses to suspend the trials even as they tear Salem apart. Near the end of the play, Abigail has run away with Parris’ life savings and many other lives have been ruined, yet Danforth still cannot agree that the trials were a sham. He remains firm in his conviction that the condemned should not be executed. When John refuses to let him post his confession in town, Danforth sends him away to be hanged. Miller claims he is the true villain of the play.

Sample of a Good Marketing Plan - 5685 Words

Thursday, 4th November 2010 ASSIGNMENT ------------------------------------------------- Marketing Plan BSBMKG514A Implement and Monitor Marketing activities BSBMKG507B Interpret market trends and Developments Compiled Produced By Bernadette Moawad, Marcus Hardy and Joel Dobbie. Contents Page 1 Executive summary page 3 2 Situation analysis page 4 3.1 Market summary page 4-5 3.2 Swot Analysis page 5 3.3 Strategies page 6 3.4 Tactics page 7-8 3 Marketing Strategies page 9 4.5 Mission page 9 4.6 Marketing Objectives page 9†¦show more content†¦3.2 SWOT ANALYSIS | POSITIVES | NEGATIVES | INTERNAL | Strengths * Good Return on investment * Have Great pricing strategies * Are constantly competing for the highest market share. * Just Built a factory in Soreno * Have the best quality and the newest model all the time * Highest Profit margin | Weaknesses * Not a Good enough return on investment * Not constantly the market leaders * Not having the highest improvement percentage * Losing Staff | EXTERNAL | Opportunities * To be the market leaders (no apparent market leader) * To have the highest market share * To make the most money in our factory as opposed to Company 2. * Technological advances * Training * Research and development | Threats * Company 2 have a factory * Company 2 are at rivalry with us for market share * Losing Staff * Other companies havin g a newer model then us! * Pricing Strategies * Promotion strategies | TROUBLE GROUP CEO: Bernadette Moawad ACCOUNTS: Raph PRODUCTION: Joel Dobie INVESTMENT: Marcus Hardy 2.3 Strategies Our 4 prime strategies relate directly to maintaining our status as a market leader and driving force for relative pricing and sales force management and application. Burst of rapid expansion (factories) will be executed in key points at year 5 6 so that infrastructure is in place to saturate the market place. Building in Sereno should be considered first follow by areas 1 2 respectively. 4Show MoreRelatedResearch Process930 Words   |  4 PagesMarketing Research Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company.† [Philip Kotler] â€Å"the systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of all data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services.† [The American Marketing Association] Basic purpose of marketing research Marketing research reduces uncertainty or error in decision-making. The information collectedRead MoreFirst Flavors Is An Organization, Which Offers Their Consumers1318 Words   |  6 Pagesconcerning the market industry. The company creates a developmental opportunity for their users to actively be involved in a sample taste testing method of new brands and product goods. A strategy approach such as this one permits all stakeholders to be active in the marketing process. The method of implementing innovated marketing approach introduces the product and goods on a taste strips film test for the customer to test out various flavors. The consumer is permitted to try different beveragesRead MoreUnit 3 Introduction To Marketing P3 M2 D21716 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿P3-Describe how a selected organisation uses marketing research to contribute to the development of its marketing plans In this section of the unit the investigation of the marketing research used by Kellogg’s will be shown through thorough research and evaluation also how it links in to the development of Kellogg’s marketing plans. 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For example, complementary goods are items such as coffee and cream, and substitute good would be energy drinks and coffee. Therefore, Choffy competes as a substitute to coffee. Choffy does have the potential toRead More9 Stages to Marketing Research Success1042 Words   |  5 PagesMarketing Research Process: 9 Stages to Marketing Research Success Stage 1: Formulating the Marketing Research Problem Formulating a problem is the first step in the research process. In many ways, research starts with a problem that management is facing. This problem needs to be understood, the cause diagnosed, and solutions developed.However, most management problems are not always easy to research. A management problem must first be translated into a research problem. Once you approach the problemRead MoreBuisness1034 Words   |  5 Pagesresearch involves finding numerical data in Kellogg’s. Kellogg’s quantitative data is generally collected from large samplers and is easy to analyze to see how many people like to have Kellogg’s for there breakfast. With method of this will be doing samples in stores and taking people word of mouth to see if they have liked the product or disliked it. Also I will be doing online questionnaires to also collect date from that. The step by step information they need to follow in order to make a successfulRead MoreDecision Modeling Analysis And Analysis1386 Words   |  6 Pagesthe power of big data to customize marketing, select locations and manage staffing. These are the companies leading the charge† (Daley, 2016, p. 133). This is how today’s world works. However, just simply collecting data is not enough. What do you do with it, and how do you turn it into something meaningful? Competition is fierce, and being wrong is never a good option. Using terms like I think, hopefully, and that is the way we have always done it, is a good first step to going out of businessRead MoreWhats Up with Pasta1666 Words   |  7 Pagescalculations (Appendix 1), there is an underutilized yearly market gap of EUR 87Mln. Given this significant amount we find it justified to spend 0.2% (Eur 175.000) of the market gap initializing the market research plan, collect the data and conduct the analysis. Costs to marketing strategy, marketing planning and implementation are not included in this figure. We estimate the overall cost of the market research will be Eur 132.800 Judging from informal discussions with contacts in Unilever and Kraft Foods

Two of a Kind free essay sample

What’s it like to be a twin? People often ask me if my twin sister and I look alike, think alike, act alike. Mi-ae and I were born a minute apart: me first, her second. As we grew up, we constantly bickered over little things like who sat in the front seat of Mom’s car, or who carried the pink umbrella on rainy days. Even though people around us know we’re twins, they often ask, â€Å"Where is your other half?† or â€Å"Which one are you?† or – most ridiculous of all – â€Å"Is one of you smarter than the other?† If I had a dollar for every one of these absurd questions, I would be rich. When I was little, I hated, more than anything else, being forced to be one of a pair, a copy of someone else; a â€Å"Twin.† I never enjoyed the reactions (â€Å"Aww, how cute!†) when my mother dressed us in matching outfits. We will write a custom essay sample on Two of a Kind or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page So I always wore different styles and colors, joined different circles of friends, played different sports, and even attended different schools. Because I worked so hard to be different, we have grown up to be two different people. Mi-ae is great at math. She has won awards at her school and in national math contests. She is introverted and studious. She always earns good grades. She’s good with directions and at fixing broken MP3 players. I, on the other hand, am good at drawing pictures and at composing music. I am active and sociable unlike my sister. I love learning foreign languages, especially English. Unlike Mi-ae, I am terrible with directions and I do not know the first thing about what to do with a broken MP3 player. We each have our own values and personalities and each distinguishes us from each other. But having a twin does come with some advantages. Since we are about the same size, we share the closet and wear each other’s clothes. More than once, we â€Å"shared† our homework assignment. Having a twin is living with a best friend (most of the time). We finish each other’s sentences, share the same thoughts, dream the same dreams, and speak the same words at the same time. At times, when we were younger, we hated each other. We were so obsessed with the idea of being treated as separate people. Back then, I thought I could be the center of the attention if Mi-ae were not there. But now I see that, without her, I would be incomplete. Even though I still hate it when people cannot tell us apart, I cannot imagine life without my sister. She is my friend, my family

The Statement of Milton Friedman-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Milton Friedman classically argued that the purpose of a private firm is to make money for its shareholders. Any attempt to impose more payments on the firm by way of social responsibility is an additional cost and should be avoided. Do you agree with this statement? Discuss briefly. Answer: I totally disagree with the statement of Milton Friedman that a companys purpose is only to earn profits for the sake of the shareholders and that the cost of social responsibility is a burden for the company that should be avoided. As we all know, that the primary reason for running a business is earning profit. However, it is not possible to survive in the long run if it only aims at earning profits. It is equally important to fulfil the responsibilities towards the society(Agarwal, 2008). Milton Friedman is of the view that they should focus on maximising the return of the investors rather that incurring additional cost on fulfilling the social responsibilities. He is of the thought that such activities distorts the economic freedom of the company and also that the investors have invested their funds to earn higher returns and not perform charitable activities (Baxi Prasad, 2006). These charitable activities will not increase the revenues of the company in any manner. He thinks of economic benefits prior to the ethical needs of the company. According to him, it is the sole responsibility of the company to think of ways by which it can maximise profits and all these activities are wasteful expenditures. In order to explain my view point clearly and precisely, it is first important to understand the meaning of corporate social responsibilities and its importance. Corporate social responsibility is the responsibility of the business towards the social welfare and the environment. It is the social responsibilities of the companies in existence to maintain a balance between the profits and the activities that has certain benefits to the society. There are large numbers of companies that have adopted various approaches to avoid any kind of harm to the environment (Chandrasekaran., 2011). However, the shareholders will never demand profits by keeping stake on the societies needs as they also are a part of the society. A company can successfully run only when it maintains a good reputation in the market. The reputation of the company is not build in a day. We can also say that the goodwill of the company is formed only by performing activities benefits the society in a day or other. It is build over time when the society observes the activities carried out by them (Chatterji, n.d.). One of the main reasons for my disagreement with his statement is that a company needs resources to carry out its operations smoothly and these resources finally belong to the society. The society has provided license to the companies to use these resource. So, it is the duty of the business enterprises to look after the betterment of the society and fulfil the social obligations. According to the Iron Law of Responsibility, the society can revoke the license anytime when it feels that a company is not capable of fulfilling the social needs of the society. Hence, it is impossible for the company to survive for a longer period of time. The investors not only demands higher return on their investment but also want the company to behave in an ethical manner. It is a known fact that a company cannot grow and improve its performance over the years if it does not work efficiently and ethically. The investors would never like to invest in a company that behaves unethically because it becomes difficult for them to trust with their hard earned money. Now, lets talk from the point of view of the customer. Every business needs to increase sales in order to generate revenue (Crane et al., 2008). Indirectly, the business requires a huge number of people in order to survive in the competitive market. It is important to attract new customers as well as to retain the old ones. It is a loss of reputation for the company if the old customers lose their faith in the company. All the customers before buying the product see the environmental impacts that it had while getting processed because normally these additional cost are include d in the price of the product which results s a burden on the customers. Therefore, we can conclude from this that along with the investors customers are also an essential part and so their needs and desires should also be given equal importance(Katamba, 2012). Friedman was of the view that performing social responsibilities may prove to be detrimental for the companies and as a result of this the stakeholders may lose their interest in the company. They neglected the fact that being ethical is also one of the marketing strategies as it helps to win over the confidence of people (Kotler Lee, 2005). Freidman does not say that the directors should do anything in order to maximise profits but he is against doing any kind of charitable activities. He neglects the benefits that it would have in the long run from the aspect of the business. He thinks that it is absolutely foolish to spend such large amounts on these things and that too when these funds finally belongs to the shareholders of the company (KHANKA, 2014). Friedman thinks that meeting the expectations of the shareholder is the only way by which it can fulfil its moral responsibilities. In order to explain Friedmans view in more depth, let me take an example. Once there was a electric company that disconnected electricity of a person because of the non payment of the bill. The person died as a consequence of some unwanted happening during that time. Friedman in this case gives his opinion that the directors of the company did what was thought to be ethical as it is their sole duty to think about the corporation. The survival of the company should be the most important and by safeguarding it the directors are performing their social obligations (Moon, n.d.). Apart from earning profits, value creation is the most important. Value creation can be defined as the increase in the goods, services and the business itself. Value creation does not only means earning huge profits but various other aspects has also to be seen such as maximising return on equity. For example, there may be two companies one whose shareholders equity is 20000 and the other whose shareholders equity is 1000 only. The first company earns a profit of 1000 whereas the second company earns a profit of 100 only. If these raw information is available then people may think of investing in the first company but on comparing the return on equity they would prefer the second company. As the return on equity of the first company is 5% whereas of the second company is 10%. Therefore, only raising huge funds from the shareholders is not enough proper allocation and optimum utilisation must be done (Perrini et al., 2006). Saving cost should be the motive of all the companies. However, saving money by not performing social duties is incorrect. A company has various many other factors where it could reduce cost. A company should analyse properly before taking make or buy decision. It should calculate the incremental cost or differential cost before taking up an order. Incremental cost here means the additional cost a company has to incur on producing an additional unit of product. Differential cost is the gap between the two important economic decisions at different levels of output. In support of my answer, I would like to conclude that Friedman thought that it was unethical or wrong to invest shareholders fund in a place that could not generate direct wealth to them. However, the shareholders never wanted the company to run away from performing its social duties. The shareholders are also a part of the society and they will never demand dividend at the cost of the fulfilment of the needs of the society (Ravichandran, n.d.). If the company is behaving in an ethical manner then it will not only benefit the society but also the shareholders and the business also. There will be an automatic growth of the company with the growth of reputation in the market. So, it is absolutely incorrect to think that the expenses involved in performing corporate social responsibility is an additional cost. If the companies accept Friedmans opinion then there will be no investors that would like to invest in such companies. Therefore, all the reasons for my disagreement with his vie w have been stated clearly (Sacconi et al., 2011). References: Agarwal, S. (2008)Corporate social responsibility in India,. Baxi, C. and Prasad, A. (2006)Corporate social responsibility, New Delhi, Excel Books. Chandrasekaran. (2011)Corporate governance and social responsability, [Place of publication not identified], Prentice-Hall Of India Pv. Chatterji, M. (n.d.)Corporate social responsibility,. Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spencer, L. (2008)Corporate social responsability, Abingdon, Routledge. Katamba, D. (2012)Principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR), Houston, Tex., Strategic Book Publishing and Rights. KHANKA, D. (2014)BUSINESS ETHICS AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, [S.l.], S CHAND CO LTD. Kotler, P. and Lee, N. (2005)Corporate social responsibility, Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. Moon, J. (n.d.)Corporate social responsibility,. Perrini, F., Pogutz, S. and Tencati, A. (2006)Developing corporate social responsibility, Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar. Ravichandran, K. (n.d.)Corporate social responsibility,. Sacconi, L., Antoni, G. and Frey, B. (2011)Social Capital, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Behaviour and Performance, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan.

The Host Essay Example

The Host Essay Improving lives. The Host, by Stephanie Meyer is a book about a race of aliens that have come to planet Earth to take over. These aliens called souls are silver centipede like creatures that are placed inside the humans by an insertion on the back of the neck. They take over the human body. The humans are scarce from the planet, except for a small rebellion group. From this group, Melanie, one of them is capture and a soul named Wanderer is placed inside of her. After insertion Melanie does not disappear like she is suppose to. This leads to a series of events where Wanderer is trying to figure out whether she should continue or move on to another host. Wanderer sets out to find Jamie, Melanies brother and Jarred, Melanies lover. And in the process she is captured by the group of surviving humans. The humans soon after realize Melanie is still alive inside Wanderer. And after a lot of controversy is somewhat welcomed as a member of the community. On a certain incident Jaimie gets injured and they need soul medicine. Wanderer suggests of her going on a raid to acquire the medicine, but they instantly refused. We will write a custom essay sample on The Host specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Host specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Host specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This raises the debatable question: should Wanderer be allowed to go on raids? Wanderer should be allowed to go on raids because she can provide them with a broader variety of resources humans cannot get, she is also familiar with the soul community which allows humans not to risk their lives and she could in the long run help them survive longer. The humans should allow Wanderer to go on raids because she has the ability to give them a bigger range of resources which they cannot get themselves. Once a soul is inserted into a human body you can see a silver ring within their eyes, this is the tell to who is human and who is a soul. When the humans go on raids, they have to be very careful not to be seen because this can result in them being captured. With the ability of Wanderer going to raids they won’t have to worry about any of this. She can walk among the souls and not be suspected because she is a soul herself. Wanderer would be able to walk into stores and gather clothes, supplies, food and anything of their desire. She can even get them medicine. She can get them soul medicine which not only treats but cures all of their sickness. There is an specific event in the book when she escapes with Jarred to find Jamie medicine. She succeeds, and brings back the community a large supply of medicine. â€Å"There was the stacked column of Heal. I grabbed the whole column and let it clatter quietly into the bottom of my pack† (Meyer). Allowing Wanderer to go on raids would also help the humans experience less danger. â€Å"†¦she was absolutely phenomenal† (Meyer). â€Å"Walked right out of there with medicine enough to last us all for a long time. She even waved at the bugger behind the counter as she drove away. † (Meyer). The souls don’t suspect her. They are friendly creatures towards their own kind. And with Wanderer on their side, the humans could use that to their advantage. The humans can have Wanderer deal with the souls without putting themselves in danger and they could do the heavy work like carrying all the supplies gathered from the raids. And finally if the humans allow Wanderer to go on raids it can help them survive longer. With Wanderer going on raids and being able to manipulate the souls, they can gather way more supplies then they do at the time. This means they will have more provisions of food and they won’t have to ration their servings. Wanderer can get medicine very easily too. This means less sickness among the human community. If the humans are healthy it will result in a longer life span. Others would argue that Wanderer would turn on the human community and rat them out. They would imply that this can be a silly excuse for her to try and escape. But this is senseless to suggest when Wanderer has come to trust and love the human community so much. She adores Jamie and wouldn’t allow anything horrible to happen to him. â€Å"Jamie was sick. There was nothing to treat him with here. (Meyer). This is a direct quote when she figures out that Jamie is sick and is frantic to find medicine to make him better. It just goes to show how much she cares about him. She wouldn’t do anything to put him or anyone in the community in dangers way. Wanderer should indeed be allowed to go raids. First because she can offer a bigger variety of resources and supplies for the human community. Second because humans wonâ €™t have to take dangerous risk with her around. And lastly because it can help the human community survive longer. The odds are all their side, so why shouldnt the human community take advantage of this and improve their lives? Others would argue that Wanderer would turn on the human community and rat them out. They would imply that this can be a silly excuse for her to try and escape. But this is senseless to suggest when Wanderer has come to trust and love the human community so much. She adores Jamie and wouldn’t allow anything horrible to happen to him. â€Å"Jamie was sick. There was nothing to treat him with here. † (Meyer). This is a direct quote when she figures out that Jamie is sick and s frantic to find medicine to make him better. It just goes to show how much she cares about him. She wouldn’t do anything to put him or anyone in the community in dangers way. Wanderer should indeed be allowed to go raids. First because she can offer a bigger variety of resources and supplies for the human community. Second because humans won’t have to take dangerous risk wit h her around. And lastly because it can help the human community survive longer. The odds are all their side, so why shouldnt the human community take advantage of this and improve their lives?

“A Homemade Education” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

â€Å"A Homemade Education† and â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† â€Å"A Homemade Education† by Malcolm X and â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† by M.L. King A Homemade Education by Malcolm X and Letter from Birmingham Jail by M.L. King have both similar and different features. King seems to use stronger rhetorical technique (logic, emotion, credibility) than Malcolm X. Both literary works are addressed to various types of audience. King appeals to his clergymen, and this letter was his response to a public statement of concern and caution issued by eight white religious leaders of the South (p.1). This fact explains the official tone of the letter, while Malcolm X writes his A Homemade Education in simple words, which can be understood by ordinary people without any special educational background. This aspect of simplicity makes Malcolms work more appealing to the majority of ordinary readers. Apart from these differences, both authors have a common purpose: help overcome racial prejudice and urge Black people to stand up for their civil and human rights. Ethos, Pathos and Logos inA Homemade Education and Letter from Birmingham Jail It is noteworthy to consider the rhetorical techniques used in both literary works in more detail. King masterfully applies ethos, pathos, and logos to his statements. His ethos has the following forms in the letter. Firstly, he writes the letter to respond to the Alabama clergy who find Kings protest in Birmingham unwise and untimely (p.1). Although the clergymen present King as an outsider, he rejects this claim, saying that he has the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South (p.1) Besides, King justifies his actions by drawing parallels with the Prophets and the Apostle Paul. Referring to historical personalities, like Hitler, Martin Buber, Paul Tillich, Socrates, he proves that it is right to fight against oppression of human rights. Malcolm X also refers to some historical figures and events to present his ethos. He lists Herodotus, Will Durants Story of Civilization, Wells Outline of History, refers to the slave preacher Nat Turner, who put the fear of god into the white slave master and the Opium War on China, as well as the British Invasion to India (p.8). Mr. Elijah Muhammad taught Malcolm X how history had been whitened (p.4), which was the hardest stroke for him. Kings letter is imbued with logos since it is a justification of his deeds He describes two parts of the community a force of complacency and a force of bitterness and hatred (p. 4) and implies that he did not allow the latter to resolve a conflict in a violent way. Since Malcolm X does not justify his actions but simply tells how he acquired a homemade education, his logos is rather weak. Nonetheless, he clearly shows the readers that books completely changed his life, and the wisdom he took from them helped him make his arguments reasonable and profound. When it comes to pathos, it seems that Kings pathos is much stronger than Malcolms Presumably, this is explained by the fact that he took a direct part in the protest and witnessed black peoples oppression, humiliation, and suffering. The part of the letter, where King ponders upon the issue of untimely actions, constantly using the word when, has an immense emotional appeal. Even a few lines would be enough to feel Kings painful agony, when he describes the inhumane treatment of black people: When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your fathers and mothers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sister with impunity (p.2) Malcolms painful experience of violent treatment comes mainly from books and illustrations, which make his pathos weaker than Kings. All things considered, from the rhetorical standpoint, Letter from Birmingham Jail by M.L. King is stronger than A Homemade Education by Malcolm X, which is explained by Kings personal involvement into the issues he describes. Both authors revolt against racism since it is viewed as an encroachment on human innate rights, regardless of skin color. References King, M. L. Letter from Birmingham Jail. Rossier School of Education. Retrieved from uscrossier.org/pullias/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/king.pdf X, Malcolm. A Homemade Education. Canton Local Schools. Retrieved from cantonlocal.org/downloads/malcolm_x_and_his_view_on_education.pdf

Kindle Fire Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Kindle Fire - Research Paper Example Indeed, there is no denying the fact that the name of Apple’s tablet computer, which is the iPad has come to replace what every other tablet computer should be called. There are hardly people who know that iPad is only a registered brand of Apple’s tablet computer because they think that is what every other tablet computer is called. Such popularity is a major brand equity that brings about massive profits for companies involved (Prosser and Wittenberg, 2007). If for nothing at all, consumers of tablet computers who have no relevance to the brand of a company’s product may just go to the shop and say they want to buy an iPad and it is apple’s tablet PC that they will be given. Stratified marketing: Another major advantage or strength that Apple Inc and their iPad have over the Kindle Fire is that the company operates a multi-stratified market. What this means is that the computer is not only into the production of table computers. Subsequently, the company is always assured of a means of gaining revenue and raising expenditure to cover up for the key account expenses of its product. To this end, it becomes almost unthinkable that the company would run out of fund to promote its products. Another thing about the stratified market is that the perceived performance and quality of Apple’s other products may be directly related to its tablet computer and this may be a major competitive advantage. Weaknesses Costing : Regard of the major advantages that have been looked at, there remain some key weaknesses that Apple Inc and its iPad suffers. Typical among these is the fact that Apple’s iPad are one of the most expensive on the market (Porter, 2010). Even though the company may have some justification for this by citing issues of the fact that their products are filled with sophisticated software and applications and the fact that the products are of high quality, it remains a fact that there continues to be a large proportio n of the consumer market, whose major selection criteria for any product is the price or cost of the product. This is a weakness to iPad, which may well come as an advantage and strength to the Kindle Fire. Stagnated market syndrome: Analysts have said that until the Apple Company comes to realize the importance and need to take advantage of what they call abandoned market, the company may hardly maximize its full financial potency (Introduction to Evaluation, n.d). Currently, Apple concentrates on North America, Asia and Europe as its major market destinations. To this end, there has been a stagnated market syndrome whereby virtually no new customers are being added. As the Kindle Fire roots for the African and Southern American markets, the stagnated market syndrome would continue to be a major disadvantage to Apple. Support services buyers of product want and need Technical specification support: Most consumers and customers of the Kindle Fire get hooked to the product not becaus e they are people with technical expertise of the functioning and

Perfect Personal Statements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Perfect Personal Statements - Essay Example I have always been charmed by advancements in technology, which have facilitated progress in terms of the development of electronics. My interest in electronics began when I received a Gameboy gift from my parents. Since then, my desire to learn more about anything concerning electronics has grown by leaps and bounds. I believe I am profoundly suitable to study electronics since challenges, which a normal domain of the Gameboy world, typically bring out the best in my abilities. I relish the opportunity to think creatively and imaginatively and take immense pleasure in learning the intricacies of how electronics function. Since my childhood, I have been satisfied with my level of intelligence and constantly establish new goals and objectives to help stretch my mind and imagination in a better manner than previously. I always allow my experiences to shape my thoughts, while simultaneously holding on firmly to my convictions and what I have learned in the past. This continues to be my way of life. In order to supplement my interest in electronics, I took quite a number of computer courses in the high school curriculum over the years. In addition to my enhanced knowledge of computer, I took an English 4 course during which I grew exceedingly passionate regarding photography, as well as video editing. In my spare time, I love playing video games, watching quizzes and shows on technology gadgets, discovery channels and science. These games and shows enable me keep up with the latest trends in the electronics world, as well as appreciate the latest and greatest technologies and gadgets from across the globe. When I first came to the US, I loved listening to classic rock, which played a pivotal role in enhancing my knowledge of the English language.

The decline in United States power in the 1970s was illusory. Discuss Essay

The decline in United States power in the 1970s was illusory. Discuss - Essay Example presidency of Richard Nixon was shattered as evidence of insidious corruption cane to light and threatened to destroy the power of the once great office. The Cold War continued to drain resources away from other domestic programs, while the price of gasoline and inflation took an economic toll on the public. Still, the United States has been able to survive the onslaught of the problems of the 1970s. The period was marred by a world misperception of our nations vulnerabilities that contributed to an image of a weakened state around the world. World power is the elusive ability that some nations have to persuade countries to agree with their policy, even when it might not be in their own best interest. Power is a perceptual construct that is gained through respect and held by deference. Power can only be granted by a country or a leader that considers themselves a subordinate, and has respect sufficient enough to show deference to the world power. Note that legitimate power must be granted; it cannot be taken or seized. Jackson (2007) states that, "most of the time states cooperate with each other more or less routinely, and without much political drama, for mutual advantage" (p.26). In most situations, states are on par with each other as power is a secondary concern. Power is only gained by framing the world leader in terms of superior economic, military, and political might. These are the pillars that support the power structure and will continue to gain respect until the factors erode and the states no longer have a m otivation to cooperate. A downturn in the economy, a failed foreign war, and corruption in government can all reduce the perception of the power held by the United States. Wealth is a defining characteristic of a country that holds power and it gains the worlds respect from nearly all corners. Since the 17th century states and nations have drawn a significant part of their perceived power from their economic and financial prowess. The United

Hiring employees

Hiring employees factors when deciding the most effective way to assess the suitability of job applicant for vacancy. traditional unstructured interview most common but least effective, why still relied on by managers during selection process, and how to make selection process more effective? Explain best approach to making sound selection decisions and justify Hiring employees effectively is vital to the survival of any organisation. The hiring process consists of soliciting potential candidates during recruitment and then determining the best candidates to be employees during the selection process. The selection process, in particular, enables organisations to build and maintain a productive and motivated workforce that will be the key to their success. The objective of the selection process is to enable valid predictions of performance and effective employee decisions in potential employees. Mistakes in selection could have terrible consequences on the organisation. For example, if a company hires someone who does not have people skills and place him in customer services, it could result in loss of future sales. Therefore, it is in an organisations interest to make sound selection decisions and make the selection process as objective and scientific as possible. Any recruitment and selection process usually begins with the applicant indicating their formal interest in the vacancy. After that, there are several selection systems employed by organisations. Methods include interviews, psychological tests and performance tests. These are designed to assess the candidates knowledge, skills, personality and attitudes. Each of these methods has their strengths and weaknesses, and when evaluating each method, one should consider its practicality, sensitivity, legality, reliability and validity. Interviews are the most widely used method in the selection process, but also one of the least effective. According to the a CIPD survey from 2009, competency-based interviews is the most used method (69%), while interviews following a biographical CV and structured interviews ranked second and third respectively. Anderson (1992) summarised that interviews remain popular because of their social functions of selling, persuading and negotiating, their acceptability to interviewers and candidates, and also due to time and cost constraints. Unstructured interviews have many weaknesses and limitations, including stereotyping, the similar-to-me effect, the personal liking effect, the primary effect, and the contrast effect. Structured interviews in the form of situational interviews and behavioural interviews have proved to be more effective than unstructured ones. Behavioural interviews asking candidates how have performed in the past give good indications of how they will perform in the future. Situational interviews can find out more specifically how candidates would respond to a particular situation relevant to the job. These two types of interviews also obtain more consistent information for comparison as the same questions are asked of all candidates. Consequently, the structured approach has been criticised by Anderson (1992) as being inflexible and reduce the role of the interviewer to a mere administrator of questions, leading to potential resentment. Another selection method is psychological testing. These include cognitive tests of ability, numeracy and literacy, and personality measures. They are professionally developed and therefore checked for validity and reliability. This method is also scientific and objective, and increases the validity of selection decisions. Factors which cannot be measured through interview can also be tested in this way. This method is mostly used by larger organisations. However, racial and ethnic bias is a concern for this type of tests. Personality tests that use frameworks such as Big Five can capture up to 75% of a candidates personality. Emotional stability is an especially important trait to be tested. Performance tests require candidates to perform the job in a short period of time. These are done either by work samples or assessment centres. Work samples can give good indication with high validity of how well the candidate can perform at the job if they are designed well. However these are costly to design and must be specific to each job, having to be modified as the job changes. Assessment centres are also expensive. They assess a number of candidates together using multiple methods. New advances in technology are rapidly changing the selection process. The weighted application blank (WAB) captures data using a standardised application form and assigns weighted values to each question depending on the employee characteristic to be measured. The resulting score will then be used in making the selection decision. A study by Kaak et al. (1998) reported that the WAB is an effective selection tool that can distinguish good performers and can reduce turnover rate in the hospitality industry. It is an objective and scientific tool, and proves to be cost and time efficient once the scoring system has been established. In addition, many researchers have concluded that biodata is one of the best selection devices for predicting employee performance and turnover (Harold et al., 2006; Ployhart et al., 2006). Biodata is the life historical events that may contribute to shaping of the candidates preferences, attitudes and personality traits. Work sample and ability tests have the highest validities of over 0.4 while biodata, assessment centres and structured interviews follow closely behind. Other methods such as unstructured interviews and personality tests have lower levels of validity. Therefore, to make sound selection decisions, an organisation should use methods of high validity, taking into considering how cost efficient it is with the number of candidate expected.

The yellow wallpaper -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The plot of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† comes from a moderation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s personal experience. In 1887, just two years after the birth of her first child, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell diagnosed Gilman with neurasthenia, an emotional disorder characterized by fatigue and depression. Mitchell decided that the best prescription would be a â€Å"rest cure†. Mitchell encouraged Gilman to â€Å"Live a domestic life as far as possible,† to â€Å"have two hours’ intellectual life each day,† and to â€Å"never touch a pen, brush or pencil again,†(Gilman 20) as long as she lived. After three months of isolation, abiding by Dr. Mitchell’s orders, Gilman realized she was becoming insane. She abandoned Dr. Mitchell’s advice and, after recovering, she wrote an exaggerated version of her experience. Written in 1892, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† reflects the social mindset of United States’ citizens just after the Civil War. This was a time of cultural and economical growth, expansion, and development. Women received little political and social freedom; their actions were greatly influenced by their husbands’ wills. The wallpaper’s chaotic pattern represents the metaphorical bars that Jane feels trapped in as a woman. The woman in the paper represents Jane trying to escape and become free from the reigns of her husband. Women were not expected to have a career or a â€Å"public life;† instead, they were expected to focus on the upkeep of home and family. People in this time lived ... The yellow wallpaper -- essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The plot of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† comes from a moderation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s personal experience. In 1887, just two years after the birth of her first child, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell diagnosed Gilman with neurasthenia, an emotional disorder characterized by fatigue and depression. Mitchell decided that the best prescription would be a â€Å"rest cure†. Mitchell encouraged Gilman to â€Å"Live a domestic life as far as possible,† to â€Å"have two hours’ intellectual life each day,† and to â€Å"never touch a pen, brush or pencil again,†(Gilman 20) as long as she lived. After three months of isolation, abiding by Dr. Mitchell’s orders, Gilman realized she was becoming insane. She abandoned Dr. Mitchell’s advice and, after recovering, she wrote an exaggerated version of her experience. Written in 1892, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† reflects the social mindset of United States’ citizens just after the Civil War. This was a time of cultural and economical growth, expansion, and development. Women received little political and social freedom; their actions were greatly influenced by their husbands’ wills. The wallpaper’s chaotic pattern represents the metaphorical bars that Jane feels trapped in as a woman. The woman in the paper represents Jane trying to escape and become free from the reigns of her husband. Women were not expected to have a career or a â€Å"public life;† instead, they were expected to focus on the upkeep of home and family. People in this time lived ...

Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson Essay

Isaac’s Storm is a book written by Erik Larson that describes a hurricane coming toward Galveston figuratively and literaly with his use of diction,figurative language, sentence structure, and organization of the piece. Larson starts out by describing Africa as â€Å"awakening,rose, and warmed (paragraph 1)† to bring the reader in to the chapter with the calm and tranquil presence of Africa. He continues to build on this with a shift â€Å"heat scalded the air(paragraph 2)† and â€Å"winds filled the sky with dust (paragraph 2)† to intice the reader with the sudden change in scenery. Africa was calm, tranquil but now something is forming, building up which creates suspense for the reader; capturing their interest. Paragraph three continues with the weather of not only Africa but in the U.S. with the â€Å"sea was hot (paragraph 3)† and â€Å"land was hot (paragraph3) to change the focus to the on the U.S. He does this so the reader can see how this brewing storm in Africa is effecting the U.S. Larson uses words like â€Å"wool, black, superheated (paragraph 3)† to further describe the intense heat U.S is suffering from which creates imagery. He than pulls back to Africa in paragraphs five and six with â€Å"the winds are arced (paragraph 5)† and â€Å"air filled with snow flakes and shard ice (paragraph 6)† to show the storm is only getting worse ,rising and getting stronger. Larson again move back to the U.S saying â€Å"children saw clouds†¦clouds bloomed before their eyes (paragraph 6)†to show the obliviousness the people of U.S. are about this coming storm toward them from Africa. Larson furthers his suspense with the weather in the U.S and Africa not only with his diction and figurative language but with his sentence structure. He uses short, choppy sentences to add imagery to his writing such as the â€Å"trains were hot (paragraph 2)† and â€Å"passengers roasted (paragraph 2).† Larson does this to emphasis the inescapable heat weather that is simply written but is very clear to the meaning. He uses these short sentences in the right way that gives meaning to the writing so the reader may imagine this and connect. Larson also uses parallelism to emphasize the weather with â€Å"colder and colder (paragraph 6)† and â€Å"higher and higher (paragraph 6)† he does this again for suspense to what is coming. Erik Larson describes a hurricane coming toward Galveston figuratively and literally with his use of diction, figurative language, sentence structure, and organization of the piece. To show by one naà ¯ve nature can be their very downfall in the end.

Sociological explanation of the rise of cohabitation, divorce and remarriage Essay Example

Sociological explanation of the rise of cohabitation, divorce and remarriage Essay Example Sociological explanation of the rise of cohabitation, divorce and remarriage Essay Sociological explanation of the rise of cohabitation, divorce and remarriage Essay Today, almost 25% of 18-49 year olds are cohabiting, it has been suggested that this is now an alternative to marriage. However, only a small percentage of women are cohabiting on a permanent basis and the majority of cohabitees are in a stage which proceeds marriage or going through the process of a breakup. For example, more than half of cohabitations last for less than two years and the reason the main reason for breakup is their decision to get married. This is linked to the decision to have children or the fact that the woman is already pregnant. There are three types of marital breakdown, divorce, which is a legal dissolution of marriage, separation, this is where partners live apart and empty-shell marriages, where the couples remain married but have separate emotional and social lives. Since 1971, marriages have fallen by one-fifth and divorce have doubled, this suggests a collapse in the institution of the family but it could be argued that all of this happened due to unhappy marriages which are likely to end in divorce and the number of empty-shell marriages has declined. The divorce rate partially reflects legal changes. When the law was liberalised to make divorce easier to obtain, there became an increase in the numbers applying for divorce. This is not a course of divorce but a reflection of unhappy marriages. Goode has argued that this process of liberalisation is part of a wider process of secularisation in western societies, by which he means that it reflects the decline in the institution of religion. There is now less stigma attached to it as society as accepted it. Examples of the sudden increase in divorce include the Divorce Reform Act which came into force in 1971 and in 1984 the shortening of the period that a couple had to be married before they could petition for divorce. The divorce rate is an almost exact reflection of the gradual liberalisation of divorce in the twentieth century. In 1969 the law was changed so that irretrievable breakdown of marriage became the only reason for divorce. This meant separation for two years if both partners wanted divorce or separation for five years for five years if only one partner wanted divorce. It has to be remembered that changes in the law reflects changes in public opinion, so we cannot say that the changes in divorce laws caused a rise in divorce, rather they allowed a rise in divorce. Goode has suggested that historically marriage in most societies was not based upon love, but was supposed to be an economic relationship with limited expectations regarding companionship. Partners did not expect marriage to provide partnership and sexual fulfilments as we do today. This links to another sociologist, Parsons who claims that the family has lost its wider functions and instead today is relegated to providing the emotional needs that are not available in the broader society. Furthermore, the decline in the extended family and the move to the nuclear family places greater emotional pressures on the fewer family members. The result of all this emotional loading is that the family becomes an emotional pressure cooker, with the head of emotions leading to chances of an explosion. If the family fails to provide all the emotional and social needs then the marriage breaks down. Changing attitudes of women, three-quarters of divorces are started by wives. This suggests that: the increasing economic independence of women, the increasing beliefs in their own rights and the availability of legal aid for divorce have allowed them the opportunity and desire to divorce if they feel restricted in their marriage. Traditionally, the dominant economic role and the values of patriarchy meant that it was difficult for wives to initiate proceedings. The informal social control and community pressure which helped marriages to remain in place have weakened as a result of increasing urbanisation and the related decline in community. Marital breakdown occurs with greater frequency amongst certain social groups than others. There are higher divorce rates amongst the working and lower classes. The younger the partners at marriage, the higher the chances of divorce. This reflects possible emotional immaturity, the fact that the woman is more likely to be pregnant at marriage or their personal development may take place at different speeds and in different directions. However, the increase in cohabitation and the availability of terminations and contraceptions have decreased the numbers of people marrying young or when the partner is pregnant with an un-planned pregnancy. More than 90% of people still marry today. Although divorce rates are high, remarriages are high too, suggesting that people may reject their partners but they are not rejecting the institution of marriage. However, cohabitation is increasing rapidly and it is now normal to cohabit before marriage. Divorce has increased rapidly since the 1960s and the first marriages have declined. The continuing popularity of marriage is reflected in the fact that those who divorce are still likely to remarry. The increase in divorce reflects changing attitudes and expectations from marriage and the fact that divorce is now easier to obtain.

Requisitos para viajar sin visa a EE.UU. como turista

Requisitos para viajar sin visa a EE.UU. como turista Cada aà ±o, millones de turistas viajan sin visa a Estados Unidos porque tienen un pasaporte de uno de los 38 paà ­ses incluidos en el Programa de Exencià ³n de Visados (VWP, por sus siglas en inglà ©s). En este artà ­culo se informa sobre quà © paà ­ses estn incluidos en esa lista, los casos de doble nacionalidad, cules son los requisitos, quà © es la autorizacià ³n para viajar o ESTA, tambià ©n mal llamada visa electrà ³nica, cul es su costo y, finalmente, cules son las ventajas y los inconvenientes de ingresar sin visa a ingresar con visa de turista B2. Paà ­ses en Programa de Exencià ³n de Visas y doble nacionalidad En la actualidad,  38 paà ­ses estn incluidos en el Programa de Exencià ³n de Visados, casi todos europeos o asiticos. Esta regla general tiene una excepcià ³n y es que si los ciudadanos de esos paà ­ses tienen doble nacionalidad con Irn, Irak, Siria o Sudn entonces no pueden beneficiarse de ese programa. De todos los paà ­ses hispanohablantes, solamente los ciudadanos de Espaà ±a y Chile pueden beneficiarse de este programa para viajar sin visa a Estados Unidos.  Es suficiente con tener pasaporte chileno o espaà ±ol, aunque se resida habitualmente en otro paà ­s. En el caso de personas con doble nacionalidad, cuando uno de los pasaportes est incluido en el listado del VWP puede utilizarse cualquiera de ellos para ingresar a EE.UU. Si se elige el que permite viajar sin visa, es necesario que a su titular no se le hubiera negado o cancelado previamente una visa a EE.UU. solicitada con el otro pasaporte. Por ejemplo, una mujer colombiana nacida en Colombia pero que tiene un pasaporte italiano porque su padre tenà ­a esa nacionalidad y se la transmitià ³ a la hija puede ingresar a EE.UU. con el pasaporte colombiano con visa de turista o con pasaporte italiano y la ESTA. Sin embargo, si esa misma mujer solicità ³ una visa con el pasaporte colombiano y le fue negada, no puede ingresar con ESTA y pasaporte italiano. Es obligatorio que solicite y obtenga la aprobacià ³n de una visa B2. Sin ella, no podr viajar a Estados Unidos como turista. Las autoridades estadounidenses saben que se trata de la misma persona con pasaportes de dos paà ­ses diferentes por las huellas digitales. Se toman a todo solicitante de visa y tambià ©n a los turistas extranjeros en los pasos de control migratorio y el sistema informtico encuentra la coincidencia. Requisitos para viajar sin visa a EE.UU. Adems de tener un pasaporte de un paà ­s incluido en el listado del VWP, es necesario cumplir otros requisitos. En primer lugar, por aplicacià ³n de la Ley de Mejora del Programa de Exencià ³n de Visas y Prevencià ³n de Viaje Terrorista de 2015, es condicià ³n fundamental para viajar a EE.UU. sin visa no haber viajado a Irn, Irak, Libia, Siria, Somalia, Sudn o Yemen en fecha del 1 de marzo de 2011 o posteriormente. La à ºnica excepcià ³n son los diplomticos o miembros de ejà ©rcitos que hubieran estado en esos paà ­ses por razones de su trabajo. Otro requisito es que el pasaporte debe ser digitalizado con un chip integrado que pueda leer una computadora y con fecha de expiracià ³n de al menos seis meses ms que el dà ­a previsto de finalizacià ³n del viaje a EE.UU., si bien hay excepciones a este requisito para algunos paà ­ses. Asimismo, es imprescindible que cada persona que viaja tenga su propio pasaporte. En otras palabras, nià ±os y bebà ©s deben tener su propio documento y no estar incluidos en el pasaporte del padre o de la madre. Si se quiere llegar a un puesto migratorio de EE.UU. por avià ³n de là ­nea regular o barco, debe llenarse por internet antes de viajar el formulario ESTA, que significa Sistema Electrà ³nico de Autorizacià ³n para Viajar. Adems, se debe tener ticket de regreso. Por el contrario, si se llega en avià ³n o barco privado es obligatorio solicitar a la embajada o consulado una visa de turista. Si se llega por una frontera terrestre no es necesario solicitar autorizacià ³n electrà ³nica. Al llegar allà ­ debe completarse un documento que se conoce como  I-94 registro de ingreso y salida. Otro requisito a cumplir es que el propà ³sito del viaje debe ser turismo, negocios, visitar amigos o familiares, recibir tratamiento mà ©dico o participar en una feria o conferencia. Bajo ningà ºn concepto se puede trabajar. Por ejemplo, los periodistas que tengan la intencià ³n de cubrir un evento debern pedir el correspondiente visado. Tampoco es legal buscar trabajo cuando se tiene situacià ³n de turista. Tampoco se puede estudiar, a menos que se trate de una actividad a tiempo parcial por menos de 19 horas a la semana. Por otro lado, es posible casarse en situacià ³n de turista pero para evitar problemas se recomienda seguir unas directrices de precaucià ³n. Finalmente, es imprescindible no ser inelegible o inadmisible para ingresar a EE.UU. y que, por otra parte, son los mismos requisitos que se exigen a todos los que solicitan visas no inmigrante en un consulado americano. Esas son dos grandes categorà ­as incluyen diversas situaciones como, por ejemplo, haber estado previamente en EE.UU. ms tiempo que el autorizado, carecer de lazos econà ³micos, familiares y sociales fuertes en el paà ­s de residencia habitual, etc. Las causas de inelegibilidad o inadmisibilidad pueden dar lugar a que el oficial migratorio en el puerto de entrada (aeropuerto, puerto o frontera terrestre) niegue la entrada a EE.UU. Ventajas de viajar sin visa frente a obligacià ³n de obtener visa de turista B2 La posibilidad de viajar sin visa es, en primer lugar, ms cà ³modo ya que supone que no se deben obtener los documentos obligatorios y de apoyo que se presentan en el consulado o embajada de Estados Unidos durante el trmite de la entrevista para obtener la visa de turista B2. Otra ventaja es que es un proceso es ms rpido, ya que no hay que esperar a la entrevista ni programar una maà ±ana de tiempo dedicada a presentarse en el consulado y, dependiendo del paà ­s, tambià ©n a un Centro de Apoyo CAS o ACS. Adems, viajar sin visa es ms barato. En estos momentos la visa de turista tiene un costo de $160 por persona, que se puede incrementar en algunos paà ­ses en cumplimiento de leyes de reciprocidad. Esa cantidad nunca se recupera, aunque la visa sea negada. Por el contrario, la autorizacià ³n para viajar que se conoce como ESTA tiene un costo de $14 y si es rechazada el solicitante obtendr un reembolso de $10 con lo que el costo es de $4 para esos supuestos. Adems, la ESTA la puede solicitarla cualquier turista que cumple todos los requisitos del VWP desde su casa sin necesidad de presentar documentacià ³n o acudir a una entrevista en un consulado. Cabe destacar que no es necesario solicitar la ESTA si se llega a una frontera de Estados Unidos por và ­a terrestre. Autorizacià ³n de viaje ESTA vs. visa electrà ³nica y tiempo mximo de estancia en USA Es comà ºn llamarle visa electrà ³nica a la ESTA, pero no es correcto. No es una visa y, al no ser una visa, no se puede bajo ningà ºn concepto extender el tiempo mximo autorizado de presencia en EE.UU. Tampoco se puede cambiar por otra visa como, por ejemplo, la de turista, por la misma razà ³n, porque la ESTA no es una visa. Y lo mismo aplica a los que ingresan con pasaporte de un paà ­s incluido en el listado de los VWP y sin ESTA porque llegan a travà ©s de una frontera terrestre. Un ingreso a EE.UU. sin visa bajo este programa tiene una estancia mxima de 90 dà ­as. A los tres meses hay que salir del paà ­s. No hay posibilidad de prà ³rroga. Si durante la estancia en Estados Unidos, el turista visita brevemente Bermudas, Canad o Mà ©xico, al regresar se podr entrar, pero no se alargar el tiempo de estancia que seguir siendo el mismo que correspondà ­a a la primera entrada. Cabe destacar que ss muy comà ºn que justo antes de acabar los tres meses la persona extranjera salga a Bermudas, Mà ©xico o Canad por un periodo corto de tiempo, con el fin de lograr un nuevo permiso de estancia en Estados Unidos por otros tres meses. En el momento que regresa puede suceder que el oficial de Inmigracià ³n le deje entrar, sin conceder ms dà ­as extras. Sin embargo, tambià ©n puede que  no le permita regresar a Estados Unidos. La razà ³n es clara: se est vulnerando el espà ­ritu de las leyes migratorias de EE.UU. Si quiere prolongar su estancia en Estados Unidos deber salir del paà ­s conseguir la visa apropiada en una embajada o consulado americano. Finalmente, es recomendable  este test de respuestas mà ºltiples sobre la ESTA y sobre viajar sin visa para asegurar los conocimientos que aplican a esta situacià ³n y evitar problemas migratorios en EE.UU. Puntos Claves: viajar sin visa a Estados Unidos Las personas con un pasaporte incluido en el listado del Programa de Exencià ³n de Visados (VWP) pueden viajar sin visas a Estados Unidos como turistas, para tratamiento mà ©dico, reuniones de negocios, etc.En la actualidad, 38 paà ­ses estn incluidos en el VWP, entre ellos Chile y Espaà ±a. La mayorà ­a de los otros paà ­ses son europeos y asiticos.No pueden viajar sin visa bajo este programa las personas que han visitado Irn, Irk, Siria, Somalia, Sudn, Libia o Yemen con fecha de 1 de marzo de 2011 o posteriormente. Ests excluidos de esta regla militares y diplomticos que viajaron por razà ³n de sus viajes.Si se llega a EE.UU. por barco o avià ³n regular, debe solicitarse con autoridad una autorizacià ³n para viajar conocida como ESTA. No es necesaria si se llega por tierra. Si se llega en avià ³n o barco privado no se puede viajar con ESTA y es imprescindible solicitar una visa de turista.La estancia mxima de estancia en EE.UU. cuando se viaja bajo este programa es de 90 dà ­as. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Finding and Evaluating Business Opportunities Case Study

Finding and Evaluating Business Opportunities - Case Study Example Thus, in 1993, both Tim and Brad Larson had the advantages of experience in managing businesses, making investments and securing bank loans using the seller’s assets as collateral. However, as the case study suggests, all their potential target companies are small in size (valued at less than $5-$6 million each). Besides, each candidate business was involved in a specific business segment and was affected by either limited or unseasonal sales. Thus, the Larsons are expected to flourish the most through the focus niche strategy. This strategy is the most applicable as all target firms currently do not enjoy a wide scope in terms of cost leadership or differentiation. By adopting a focus strategy, the Larsons can focus their experience and limited resources on a defined business or market segment. Besides, the focus strategy works best for smaller companies and can be implemented with a focus on either differentiation or cost. Most suitable company for purchase The profile of ea ch of the four companies shall be evaluated to identify the most suitable company for purchase (all discussions are with respect to the year 1993). Landscape Products manufactures a number of products and is operating at full capacity. While the labour costs are cheap, the demand is rather seasonal in nature. The company had been in operation for over 12 years and was managed by experienced owners. However, the company depended on supplies from certain lumber mills and there is no reason given for the unusual closure of some of these mills, which had a direct impact on the production output at Landscape. Hence, there is some uncertainty over when production levels would pick up and whether Landscape would be in a position to reduce its dependence on these mills and seek alternatives. Fairway Outfitters has a huge client list and shows a strong potential for growth in the future. Information from customers also indicated that they are satisfied with the services provided by Fairway. However, the small size of its workforce when compared to its long client list indicates that a strong reason for the company’s growth could be the experience and skill of its founder, who is now interested in managing some private golf courses. The fact that the founder does not have confidence in handing over the management to one of his staff members adds to this doubt. Richmond’s Snacks has performed considerably well within the snacks industry over a long period. These figures were achieved even though the company’s market was limited to the mid west. The company is however affected by a high level of seasonal sales. While there is a huge potential for growth (expansion into new regions, improving production capacity etc) at low investments, the company was being sold due to a struggle between the owner and his sons. It may therefore be advisable to evaluate any litigation that may exist before considering this company for purchase. Although Teletechâ€℠¢s product and operational procedure sound simple and interesting, it is a concept currently in development. The product is yet to be introduced into the market and there is no information or certainty if the product will succeed in evoking any interest among consumers. In fact, the company is in the process of testing the product and the actual product is to be introduced only after 8 months. Besides, the owner of Teletech was asking a steep price although the components involved in producing the product and related components are not very expensive. Based on the above considerations, Richmond’s Snacks is recommended for purchase among the four candidate firms as it produces a

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Research - Essay Example The common characteristics of all social networks are the provision rather the requirement of making a profile that usually demands some personal information including contact information. A national survey conducted by the American Life Project in collaboration with the Pew research center (as cited in Lenhart & Madded, 2007), revealed that more than half of the teenagers, aged between 12 and 17 years of age regularly use online social networking. A technology being used at such a rate definitely would be having some effects on the lifestyle of its users. According to Pew Internet (cited in Chartier, 2009), a survey in 2008 revealed that the ratio of adult versus teen users of online social networks is 1:2. Teenagers form a group almost double in size to that of adults comprising social network users. Such findings lead to the speculation that adults and teenagers might have different opinions regarding the usability, security issues, productivity and impacts of social networking on one’s life. This study aims at identifying and presenting the differences in opinion that exist among adults and teenagers regarding the usage of online social networking. The main objective is to explore the areas of perceptions regarding online social networking in which the two age groups differ. Different surveys conducted by Pew Internet in 2007 and 2008 have revealed that teenagers use online social networking twice as much as adults do. Keeping in view these striking differences, it is speculated that opinion differences regarding the usage of online social networking might also be prevalent among the two groups. This study is an attempt to reveal such perceptional differences among the two age groups. It is hoped that it will contribute eventually in bridging these opinion gaps among the two groups. If the findings are utilized properly, the study can lead in spreading proper awareness about

STD Education Campaign Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

STD Education Campaign - Case Study Example 4. Public education: The campaign should be able to teach the students how transmission of STDs occurs and the potential preventive measures. The campaign should also teach the students the importance of knowing ones HIV status. Hygiene should also be part of the teaching during sexual activities (Aral, Fenton, & Lipshutz, 2013). 5. Promoting openness: Most of the people that have contracted STDs feel shy to seek doctors’ help. The campaign team should make the students understand that keeping STD as a secret is risky to an individual’s life. They should be encouraged to seek a doctor’s help as soon as they realize some of the symptoms. By doing that cure would be easier than waiting for the disease to worsen. 6. STD patients care: During the campaign‚, the students should accomplish services such as STD, HIV and pregnancy test. The campaign team should advance health care to STD, HIV and Pregnant patients. Moreover, the team should provide the patients with medicine to fasten the healing process and preventive process. 7. Motivating the students; Notably, students would always appreciate and remain motivated when given gifts. For a student, issuance of a participation certificate could be the most precious thing in the campaign. The certificate would assist them remember the teachings about STD and act as a professional

Problems and Aspirations of Youth Essay Example for Free

Problems and Aspirations of Youth Essay INTRODUCTION: Trying hands on contemporary writing and then reigning over hearts of millions is not that easy as has been proved by one of the prominent writers of the day – Chetan Bhagat. Very few authors have managed to reach out to such a wide audience as Chetan Bhagat. There is originality of content in his writings and when he writes people feel as if it is their story. He is a phenomenon that has affected everybody, touched everybody’s life. Indian Publishing shall now be divided into pre and post Chetan Bhagat. He has created those kinds of landmarks. Chetan Bhagat projects his readers’ viewpoint in his writings. According to him,† A writer’s first job is to strike a chord, and not to please elitist circles,† He does it by caring for his readers and listening to them,† It can’t be just the language, as it is simply the common language of the people. It is more about what is being said and communicated that strikes a chord.† Chetan strongly believes that the language should be colloquial- a popular fiction has to be a dialogue with the people on the streets. CHETAN BHAGAT:- A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Chetan Bhagat (born on 22 April,1974) is a contemporary Indian author who has written four novels namely :- â€Å" Five Point Someone- What not to do at IIT†, â€Å" One Night @ The Call Center†, â€Å"The 3 Mistakes of My Life† and â€Å"2 States: The Story of My Marriage†, respectively. He grew up in Delhi in a Punjabi family in an uncertain home environment where his parents used to fight a lot. His father, an army officer, was very strict and he wasn’t allowed to watch television or films. So, Chetan and his brother used to make up movie stories and perhaps that’s where this tact of writing all sprang up. Bhagat attended Army Public School (1978-1991), Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi (1991-1995), and then studied at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmadabad (1995-1997), where he was named â€Å"The Best Outgoing Student† He fell in love with his IIM Ahmadabad classmate Anusha and they eventually got married. His novel â€Å"2 States: The Story of My Marriage†, is a fictional version of his love story. After graduating from IIT and IIM, he joined Peregrine, a financial service company in Hong-Kong. It shut down in six months but Chetan stayed on in Hong-Kong for eleven years, moving to Goldman Sachs. It was to spite his boss that he started writing his first novel. No doubt it was a great moment for Bhagat but he was in a bank and dissatisfied. His boss was very bad. So to take revenge on him. He started writing in office. CHETAN BHAGAT’S WRITING STYLE AND CHARACTERS The secret to Chetan Bhagat’s success is he writes in ordinary English and it is reassuring for young people to know someone knows what they are going through. In other words, Bhagat’s writing style tends to be simple with linear narratives and vivid storytelling. His protagonists tend to be named after avatars of Hindu deity Vishnu, like Hari, Shyam, Govind or Krishna. All his books have a number in the title (e.g. ‘five’ in the first, ‘one’ in the second, ‘three in the third and ‘two’ in the fourth book.) When asked about this, Bhagat replied that he is a banker and he can’t get numbers out of his head. Bhagat, 35, is the first to admit that he is no Arundhati Roy, the Indian Booker Prize winning author and says he knows critics feel his books are shallow. But Bhagat, who enjoys a rock-star like popularity among his readers, aged mainly 13 to 30, said he has the ultimate riposte—â€Å"My books sell.† Bhagat says that he writes for ‘ordinary young people’ who feel suffocated by their parents’ desire for them to become doctors, lawyers, or engineers. According to Bhagat- Indian youngsters live under pressure-cooker conditions to succeed. There is cut-throat competition to win places in India’s elite universities with youngsters compelled to score highly from primary to high school. Entrance to top universities often requires ninety percent- plus averages and most children have afterschool tutoring to attain such marks. A paragon of this philosophy can be seen in his novel â€Å" One Night @ The Call Center†, where the hero, who answers the phone calls from clueless Americans about their cooking appliances, remarks,† Every cousin of mine is becoming a doctor or engineer,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.You can say I am the black sheep of my family.† Bhagat believes that India tends to have an academic and social revolution to prevent young people simply regurgitating what they learn without thinking. He wants to convey this message across to the Indian youth- even if they don’t get stratospheric marks, they are still entitled to a happy life; and it’s not the end of the world if they fail. He generally talks about youngsters’ worries, their anxieties and all those things which preoccupy them, by means of his writings. His writing subjects include parental academic pressure along with pre-marital sex, drinking and other topics taboo in socially conservative India. CHETAN BHAGAT’S NOVELS 1. FIVE POINT SOMEONE- WHAT NOT TO DO AT IIT! â€Å"Five Point Someone†¦.† was his first book which adopted a breezy, ironic tone to explore the lives of exam-oppressed students who cram to get into the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and then rebel against the stultifying atmosphere of academic competition. It features soft-drugs, binge- drinking, and an affair between a student and his professor’s daughter. To be clear, the story of â€Å"Five Point Someone†¦Ã¢â‚¬  revolves around three studentsHari, Ryan and Alok who come from three different backgrounds. The book is about their years in IIT Delhi and how they cope with the pressure of studies, family and relationships. The book was well received by the public, especially among the younger generation, and brought Bhagat a large following. It was adapted into a play by the theatre group ‘Madras Players’ and also by ‘Evam’. This book was adapted into a movie called ‘3 Idiots’, though Bhagat has stated that he was not involved in the scriptwriting in anyway, and was involved in a controversy with the director and the producer of the movie over crediting his contribution to the script. Directed by Raj Kumar Hirani, and starring Aamir Khan, R. Madhvan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, and Boman Irani in pivotal roles, it was released on 25 December, 2009. About a week after the release of the movie, ‘3 Idiots’, Chetan Bhagat claimed for the credit for the story and this credit row became a national issue. On January 1, 2010, Star News channel got Chetan Bhagat, Aamir khan and Abhijat Joshi- the so-called script writer, switched to each other at their respective places through Star News correspondents. During this programme, Chetan Bhagat claimed that before the release of the movie ‘3 Idiots’, neither he had been shown the preview of the movie nor given any participation in the script writing. At that time he was told that the adaptation of ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’ to ‘3 Idiots’, was just two to three percent or at the most just five percent and rest of the plot was different, but when the movie released and hit the Box Office as the biggest hit of the time, Chetan felt bad, because the story was not just five percent from his book rather it was seventy to eighty percent of his book. He kept mum for a week but when his fans and readers kept on asking him why he didn’t take any action or show any reaction against the makers, at that point of time Bhagat sought the shelter of the media and came into the lime-light with his credit claim. On the other hand Aamir khan in one of his interviews made it clear that there was no similarity between the movie and ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’ and also as Aamir had not read Bhagat’s novel, Bhagat prohibited him to go through ‘Five Point Someone’, saying that both the movie and the novel were quite different from each other in story as well as plot. And now after the release of the movie, seeing it to be a big hit Chetan Bhagat is claiming for credit? It is quite wrong on his part because he wants to snatch the credit of Abhijat Joshi- the actual script writer of ‘3 Idiots’, who worked on the story along with Raj Kumar Hirani – the director. Aamir also interrogated Chetan Bhagat saying that Raju Hirani had directed ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’ and its sequel ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’, so Chetan Bhagat would claim that these two movies were also his creations! Aamir labeled Chetan Bhagat as publicity hungry writer. Chetan Bhagat defended himself by saying that the producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra had told him that there was hardly any similarity between the movie and the novel apart from the five percent of loose inspiration. He added that he relied upon Vidhu and said so to Aamir prohibiting him going through ‘Five Point Someone’. It was only after the release of ‘3 Idiots’ that Chetan Bhagat realized that he had been duped as Vidhu kept him in dark by lying and that was why he claimed for credit. He said that as per contract signed between him and Vidhu, he had been promised full justice by displaying his name among the main star-cast, but his name was given towards the end among assistants’ names in the rolling cast. This really pinched him. At one occasion during the promotion of the movie ‘3 Idiots’, interacting with the media persons in a press conference when a press reporter asked Raju Hirani, Aamir and Vidhu Vinod about the authenticity of the story whether it was an original one or taken from Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’, Vidhu Vinod lost his temper. He raised his finger at that press reporter and asked him to shut up. This act of Vidhu further added oil to fire and the matter turned from bad to worst. All the news channels repeatedly telecasted Vidhu raising finger and saying ‘SHUT UP’. No doubt, the next day, somehow, Vidhu realized his mistake and openly apologized labeling himself a ‘BEAST’ and his action of raising finger and saying ‘shut up’- an insane or uncivilized act. When asked about Vidhu’s ill-mannerism from Chetan Bhagat, the later showed his gratitude to the media for bringing forth Vidhu’s real per sonality, as it would have been quite difficult for him to do so at his own level. A few days after this incident another interview with Chetan Bhagat was telecasted on news channel where he disclosed that Abhijat Joshi had threatened him to send a legal notice in his name if he ever claimed for the credit for the story again. Chetan Bhagat subsided for some time. It was a great shock to the fan-readers of Bhagat when a video clip of Bhagat’s interview on 24-12-2009 was telecasted on another news channel. It showed Bhagat in very high spirits saying that he had given his book ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’ to the makers of ‘3 Idiots’ just like a daughter and after watching the premier of the movie ‘3 Idiots’, it seemed to him that his simple daughter turned into a bridal-look, so he would definitely give five out of five points to the movie. Chetan Bhagat also appreciated the adaptation of ‘Five Point Someone†¦.’ to ‘3 Idiots’ and confessed that he couldn’t have done this if asked for as Raju and Vidhu have done and added that his family is quite happy over this. Bollywood News channel Lehren depicted this incident of credit claim row and Vidhu’s misbehavior mere a pre-planned drama to benefit both the movie as well as the book. 2. ONE NIGHT @ THE CALL CENTER It was released in India in October 2005 also to popular demand. This book was about six people who work at a call center and about a night when they receive a call from God. Noted Bollywood film director Rohan Sippy bought the rights from Bhagat, but later Sippy let the rights pass on to director Atul Agnihotri, brother-in-law of Arbaaz Khan. The movie version of the novel is titled as ‘HELLO’ starring Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Amrita Arora, Esha Koppikar, Gul Panag, and Sharman Joshi. Bhagat worked directly on the script of the movie, moulding it to fit the silver screen. However, the film did not succeeed commercially. ‘One Night @ The Call Center’ is a romantic comedy set in an office where bored young Indians try to resolve the mindless inquiries of Midwestern American Technophobes. The story is a comedy of romance and crossed lines. There are three main themes: ex-girlfriend, bad-boss, and God. The story revolves around six friends who are selling home appliances to the US from a call center in India. Each one has an issue with love. Call agent Sam works right beside the girl who has just duped him. He is dating someone he can’t stand just to get over her. Esha is just short of becoming a model. Two inches, to be precise. Vroom wants to change the world. Radhika is trying to manage her mother-in-law, and hold down her job. Tonight is Thanksgiving in America, and customers are queuing up to complain about white goods going wrong. On this night of a thousand phone calls, when life couldn’t look more dismal, one unique caller got on the line- God: and that call is going to change everything†¦.A romantic comedy of six friends kicking against the system, against their boss, and against each other. The fact that ‘One Night @ The Call Center’, was an enormous success in India is very strange or unusual and troubling. Although it may seem a feel-good story about Indian empowerment in a globalized world, but Bhagat finds no other way to reach a happy end but through a ridiculous and an unexpected event saving a seemingly hopeless situation and a series of morally reprehensible acts. One might be able to forgive him invoking God- the ultimate fall-back guy when nothing else works: but the mean-spirited and outrageous means he chooses for his characters to find happiness and satisfaction is beyond contempt. In the opening page, we are asked to do a task- think about something you fear, that makes you angry and one thing you don’t like about yourself. After a deep pondering, one may come up with an idea and plod on with the reading. When you reach the end of the novel you find yourself thinking about what you said in the beginning and viewing it in a different way- clever stuff, actually Bhagat’s writing style is so easy that you are soon swept along with the narrative. The novel has a prologue, in which author- Chetan Bhagat encounters a beautiful woman on a train-trip. She offers to tell him a story- but will do so only on one condition that he uses it for his next book. It is set at a call center, describing the events of a single night shift†¦..and she warns him (as well as the readers) to expect at least one unusual occurrence: â€Å"it was the night†¦.it was the night there was a phone call from God.† That’s a lot of pressure to put on a book- and since the phone call comes on page241, that’s also an awful lot of suspense to leave the reader in for a very long time. The story is narrated by Shyam Mehra, who works at the Connections Call Center. Here Indians man the phones all night, fielding calls from American consumers who are having troubles with their electronic goods. The company is kept afloat by its account with Western Computers and Appliances, but isn’t doing spectacularly well (â€Å"call volumes are at an all time low†¦.Connections is doomed†) and there is talk of â€Å"rightsizing† i.e. downsizing. Shyam works in the WASG bay which stands for the Western Appliances Strategic Group, handling home appliance issues i.e. people having trouble with their refrigerators, ovens, and vacuum cleaners. The novel focuses on Shyam and handful of his colleagues- a motley crew of Indians who, for a variety of reasons, have wound up in the same job. For quite a while ‘One Night @ The Call Center’ is fairly predictable; the characters and their personal stories are introduced, the bad boss is shown being bad, the American callers are unlucky. Bhagat does not do any of this particularly well, but it’s modestly engaging and there seem to be some possibilities. Priyanka’s sudden engagement to a Microsoft-man she has never seen, stirs the things up, and each of the characters has his or her own story which Bhagat at least offers a glimpse of. He is at his best in describing the workplace- silliness, dealing with customers and bosses, though not particularly creative or imaginative. Bhagat has a self-righteous and important streak that undermines much of his possibly valid social criticism. Claims of intellectual superiority hardly mask the pathetic inferiority complex they all seem to suffer from. At Connections they are taught: â€Å"the brain and IQ of a thirty-five-year-old American is the same as the brain of a ten-year-old Indian. This will help you understand your clients. You need to be as patient with them as you are when dealing with a child. Americans are stupid, just accept it.† It was quite surprising that the novel ‘One Night @ The Call Center’ was getting an American release, as Americans aren’t exactly shown in a flattering light here. The thirty five is equal to ten rule just makes one stunned. The Indian call center teaches all the agents that a thirty five year old American is as intelligent as a ten year old Indian child!! One would wonder how Americans will take this saying. Perhaps one sort of has to insult the people who call all night long to complain about idiotic problems now and then to stay sane and not end up screaming at them after one stupid question too many. The author does acknowledge that in spite of the vast intelligence Indians have, the country is plagued by corruption and thus very behind America. In a nutshell, it can be said that Bhagat raises valid issues and concerns- but does not take them in the least seriously, offering neither reasonable descriptions of the issues, nor any sensible way of dealing with them. The characters one finds working in these places like call-centers, the cross-cultural issues (some of which he even manages to begin to convey), the different faces of modernizing India, the family pressures especially on women; Bhagat even lays a decent foundation. But in going completely overboard like God! Operation Yankee fears! ; He undoes all of the promise of the book, and with his morally defective happy end, sends such a wrong message that one has to condemn the whole exercise. 3. THE THREE MISTAKES OF MY LIFE It is Bhagat’s third book, about cricket, religious politics and rebellious love. About how three friends get caught in a tangle to earn some money and fame, and how they sort it out. The book was published in May 2008 and had an initial print –run of 200,000 copies. The novel follows the story of three friends and is based in the city of Ahmadabad in western India where the author had begun his independent life and so this city is quite close to his heart. Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment has bought the rights for making a movie based on this, and it will be directed by Abhishek Kapoor of ‘ROCK ON!’ fame. The book has fiction: sentiment, romance, social message, business, life, relations, religion and of course cricket. It’s the story about three friends Omi, Govind and Ish who are struggling to decide their goal. The story is presented through Govind’s eye; he is a brilliant student of mathematics. He has an aptitude and penchant for business and it’s his three mistakes of life that are presented along. Govind is a true Gujarati, interested in coming up on his own in life through business. Ishaan or Ish- a failure in studies but a great cricketer (obviously great in the local school team), has a passion in playing, teaching and watching cricket. Omi comes from a family of priests with no inclination of becoming a priest and just moves along with his two friends. The journey of these simple people in life, how their lives get affected by the worst disasters in Gujarat’s history is portrayed in a simple yet efficient way by Chetan Bhagat. This book also teaches you how your dreams crash into pieces by unexpected events but how with the support from people around, you get back on track, focus and rebuild your dreams. Vidya, Ishaan’s sister, a teenager with her eyes on Govind, represents typically homely Indian girls trying to lose their virginity and so-called boys feeling shy and guilty after having sex with them†¦. as Neha in ‘Five Point Someone’ and here Vidya in this novel. Ali, a gifted batsman and son of a local Muslim politician, plays a prominent role in the story. It’s the story of how Govind, Ishaan and Omi come up with a sports store in their area and how they achieve success in it by clubbing it with Math’s tuitions and cricket coaching classes. The writer has thrown in the angle of Ali a gifted batsman who is in need of coaching and as Ishaan is an avid cricket player whose passion lies in playing, teaching and watching cricket, comes in as Ali’s savior because he does not want a brilliant talent to be wasted. Then there is a love angle of Vidya and Govind thrown in. And to top it all Chetan Bhagat has placed the novel in the era when Ahmadabad suffered with a nightmare of an earthquake and riots. The book traces the lives of these characters and their trials and tribulations. This novel especially comes at a time when people only want to come up with excuses to show or feel how different they are rather than see the common aspects and bring oneness which can keep us together and achieve our common goal of growth, peace and prosperity. The language is simple, it connects well with the youth of India and the narration has improved as compared to the earlier novels. Chetan Bhagat has again proved that to be best novelist you don’t need fabulous vocabulary or you don’t need awesome critics review, all you need is a thread to connect to the plain minds of people. Truly this novel teaches you- life will have many setbacks. People close to you will hurt you, but you don’t break it off, you don’t hurt them more. You try to heal it. It is a lesson not only you, but our country needs to learn. The story involves some of the major headlines of early 2000 like the Gujarat earthquake, India-Australia test series, the 9/11 WTC attack and not to forget the Godhra train mishap. Apart from cricket, business and religion it also has the mesmerizing love story between Govind and Vidya the story is good, since the events are from recent past and it’s easy to connect with it. It can be completed in one sitting. But there are not many surprises as it has not gone away from Bhagat’s typical style of writing. It is less on humor content as well. Chetan has been very clever by stating ‘3 mistakes’ and you keep flipping the pages for knowing the other two mistakes as the first mistake you will come to know quite soon. It is a book with nice ingredients of real events and fiction perfectly cooked for a delicious dish. No mistake in giving it a read. 4. 2 STATES: THE STORY OF MY MARRIAGE This book is about how love marriages work in India and is again typical of him in the first person. It is like his first book ‘Five Point Someone’, expected to be inspired by his own life. The book is funny and completely different from his previous novels; perhaps this time Bhagat did not want to write about friends any more. ‘2 States.’ is about Krish and Ananya, who are from two different states of India. They are deeply in love and want to get married. But their parents do not agree. To convert a love story into a wedding, the couple has a tough fight ahead of them. Perhaps it is no secret that Chetan, a Punjabi and Anusha, a Tamilian, had to work hard to have both sets of parents agree to their relationship and subsequently their marriage. To provide a further glimpse into their personal story, Chetan decided to take up penning this book after leaving his banking job and having decided to become a full-time writer. While Anusha emphasizes that when Chetan announced to her for the first time this book would heavily lean on their life story, she indeed was a little wary. In fact Anusha also stresses that before writing the book, both Chetan and she spoke to their parents assuring them that it was not about them. While Chetan accepts that a lot of portions of the book have been dramatized at the insistence of his wife, he credits his fans for conceptualizing this book. When Anusha read the book, she loved the female lead, who is modern, liberated and educated. India is opening up and parents are learning to accept love marriages despite prejudices about caste. Bhagat has dedicated this book to his in-laws and it would be for the first time any Indian writer has dedicated a book to his in-laws. In fact Chetan Bhagat admits that one of the biggest challenges would be to make sure that his in-laws still want to talk to him after reading this book. He surprises us by saying that he hopes that his wife’s parents will still be his in-laws. But, interestingly, Anusha’s parents had actually flown down from kolkata to attend the launch of the book ‘2 States†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ There is no second opinion about this that Indian love marriages are not easy. It’s just the boy and the girl who fall in love, but everyone- i.e. both their clans, have to fall in love too. In the end, the boy and the girl start questioning whether there’s anything more left to it and even fight. But it’s important to know what parents think of your marriage. Parents still have the remote control when it comes to emotions. According to Bhagat- however independent you are, getting married without parents’ approval is not good for the relationship. No doubt parents’ protesting against children marrying outside caste or religion is archaic today, still there are some honour-killing incidents in the recent times. Bhagat inspires by saying that if all else fails, the parents should do it for the sake of country. ‘2 States†¦.’ we all know well, is the story of Bhagat’s own love marriage to a Tamil Brahmin. Bhagat found that his own marriage had scope for humor because this Punjabi-Tamil is a continuous thing and a lot of Indians can relate to it. The story is fictionalized but the feelings that Bhagat had gone through, are the same as what the characters experience. And of course it was difficult for him to convince his own parents to accept his Tamilian wife – Anusha, who was also a banker. So, there are jokes about Punjabis and Tamilians in this book. More importantly, Bhagat used it to address to his strained relationship with his father. Speaking about ‘2 States†¦.’, Bhagat says that the story is not a memoir, it was nice, the feeling of suspension of disbelief, but as it involves his own family, so he wants to make it clear that it is a work of fiction. That is why there are character changes and the dramatization is higher. Calling it a fluffy novel, Bhagat says that it is personal and treats the complex issue of inter-community marriages, the fun way. And sends home a bigger message of homogeneous society. According to Bhagat, homogeneity is important for a country to move forward. Today’s youth are traveling to different cities for studies and work, and they will meet someone; but parents are still rooted in prejudices that have to be addressed. To take his stand point firmly, Bhagat cites the success stories of Korea, Taiwan and China that have seen progress from a developing country by adopting homogeneity. Chetan Bhagat believes to do what your heart says. Knowing what you want and sticking to your decision is most important. And he himself did just that. He fell in love, knew what he was doing and followed his heart. And so, a book happened. Bhagat feels that his best stories are those drawn from his own life and experiences. The more personal the book, the more unusual and funny it becomes for him. People relate to it better because they know him, his wife and his twin sons. He strongly believes that the function of literature is to reflect society and by means of his novels he is causing some change in a large part of India, which is far more satisfying. AS A COLUMNIST Bhagat has an open-ended column in Dainik Bhaskar, a large Hindi newspaper and another at The Times of India, English daily. He says,†the main purpose of the books and films is to entertain, but the columns allow me to give my views on how the nation should be run.† His articles are written in simple English to achieve mass appeal. He also visits Educational Institutions in India to give motivational talks. ON TELEVISION Bhagat was a judge on a reality show by Star News called ‘Star Anchor Hunt’ AWARDS Chetan Bhagat has been honoured with ‘Society Young Achiever’s Award’ in 2004 and ‘Publisher’s Recognition Award’ in 2005.