Country: White People Essay

Since African American literature started back in the 18th century, the majority of these writings mainly focused on racism, ethnicity, and the struggle of African-American people. Nadine Gordimer and Patricia Smith are but two contributors to this area of literature. In my paper I will compare and contrast the short story by Nadine Gordimer, â€Å"Country Lovers†, and the poem, â€Å"What It’s Like Being a Black Girl†, written by Patricia Smith. In both pieces of literature, the focus is put on the racial background and ethnicities, considering that the main characters or protagonists are black women, dealing with some degree of discrimination because of the color of their skin. It is common knowledge that racism has been a major issue which has tainted society, and the African-American people, particularly females have been dealing with the effects of racism, and have experienced the effects of discrimination and racism. (Clugston, 2010). In the short story â€Å"Country Lovers†, a forbidden love between a black girl named Thebedi and a white male named Paulus, is depicted. In the story, two main characters are brought together since early childhood, spending much of the childhood days with each other. As they grow up, they became even closer, eventually falling in love. They soon realize that the racial politics of the time would not allow them to maintain their relationship simply because, Paulus, being the son of a white farm owner and Thebedi, the daughter of a black farm workers, would be unable to show or share their love publicly. I found that there were many dramatic effect throughout this entire story. For example, when we read about the part were Paulus is going way to school, â€Å"This usefully coincides with the age of twelve or thirteen; so that by the time early adolescence is reached, the black children are making along with the bodily changes common to all, an easy transition to adult forms of address, beginning to call the old playmates missus and baasie little master. † (Clugston 2010). When Paulus watches Thebedi wading in the water, is the part of the story where I interpreted the loss of innocence and the description of a forbidden love. â€Å"The schoolgirls he went swimming with at dams and pools I may bring farms were bikinis but the site of their dazzling bellies and thighs in the sunlight had never made him feel what he felt now when the girl came up to the bank and sat beside him, two drops of water beading offer dark legs the only points of light in the earth -smelling deep shade. They were not afraid of one another, they had known one another always; he did with her what he had done that time in the store room at the wedding, and this time it was so lovely, so lovely, he was surprised†¦ And she was surprised by it too – he could see her dark face that was part of the shade, with her big dark eyes, shiny and soft water, watching him attentively: as she had when they used a huddle over their teams of mud oxen, as she had when he told her about attention weekends at school. â€Å"(Clugston, 2010). It is towards the end of the short story where you realize the racism. It begins when Paulus arrived back home from college over the holidays, and finds out that Thebedi had given birth to a child. When he decides to go and see Thebedi and the child, he said, â€Å"You haven’t been near the house with it? † (Clugston, 2010). His reaction alone reiterated the fact that such a thing would not be tolerated in his community. As the story continues, Paulus returned to the head later on: it states, â€Å"She thought she heard small grunts from the hut, the kind of insufficient grunt that indicates a full stomach, a deep sleep. After a time, long or short she did not know, he came out and walked away with plodding stride (his father’s gait) out of sight, towards his father’s house† (Clugston 2010). For me as a reader, it became apparent that Paulus actually killed the child. After analyzing that particular part of the story it became evident that Paulus was afraid the relationship between him and Thebedi would become common knowledge, so in murdering the child, it would serve as a cover-up as if nothing happened between two of them. In the ending of the story, the police assumed the baby’s body and charged Paulus with murder. During the trial, the story states that Thebedi took the stand. â€Å"She cried hysterically in the witness box, saying yes, yes (the gilt hoop earrings swung in her years), she saw the accused pouring liquid into the baby’s mouth. She said he had threatened to shoot her if she told anyone† (Clugston 2010). A year later, when she returned to the courthouse, she tells the court that, â€Å"she said that she had not seen what the white man did in the house† (Clugston, 2010). Because she altered her testimony, â€Å"The verdict on the accused was â€Å"not guilty† (Clugston, 2010). In the poem â€Å"What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl† seems to depict a very similar theme. In the poem, Patricia Smith tends to use rigid and strong words in order to show the seriousness of the topic she is writing about. From the very beginning of her poem, â€Å"First of all,† I sense of how the story is going to be told and is laid out for the reader. It presents the audience with a picture of a young black girl transitioning into black womanhood, a place where being a black girl as well as being a black woman is often not a welcome thing. To help the reader understand the thoughts that run through the mind of this puberty stricken young girl, she writes,† Its being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished, like your edges are wild, like there’s something, everything, wrong† (Smith, 4) This particular poem, in my opinion, is how racism and discrimination, both of race and gender, affects this young girl as she is transitioning from a young black girl, into a young black woman, while trying to accept all the changes that are happening to her. In the line, â€Å"It’s popping a bleached white mop head over the kinks of your hair and primping in front of mirrors that deny your reflection. † describes how this young girl wishes to look like other girls in order to be accepted in society. I found several tones in this poem that included not only pain and suffering, but courage is well. The poem discusses this young lady’s loss of innocence as a direct result of being raped. In the line, â€Å"It’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them turn blue and suffering the burn in silence,† in my opinion is the showing of this young girl’s pain of being raped by a white person. Since the color blue plays a significant role in this line, it shows not only this suffering, but the despondency this young black girl is experiencing. In both the poem and a short story, the main characters have been negatively affected by the discrimination of a society in which the color of their skin is not accepted. Both of the female characters lost their innocence, the only difference being, that Thebedi lost her virginity under the mask of the forbidden love, and the young girl in the poem lost her virginity is a direct cause of her rape. The sufferings of both characters is basically the same because the color of their skin and nothing else. The gender plays a very important role, but only after the race they belong to, as well as the alarming situation of the issue is accurately brought into the light and both of these literature works. It clearly indicates the suffering in the pain both these women experience. (Fluehr-Lobban, 2010). The mindset of a common young black girl is accurately presented in the poem â€Å"What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl†, and shows the effects that the society leaves on the mind of young black girls who wish to have the appearance like white girls simply because white girls are accepted in the society and the black are usually misused, refused, and disrespected. (Clugston, 2010) Both the story as well as the poem distinguish ethnicity and radical backgrounds, as well as explaining how women experienced cruelty for white racists. I found limited separation between race and gender issues within both authors work simply because they elaborated the fact that they could not, and would not be on the same side with sexists or races. While reading Patricia Smith poem, it gave me the impression she was demonstrating her anger to the fact that white patriarchy confines and limits black women. Black females have been tormented by discrimination racism, and ethical and racial discrimination, as characterized in both the poem and short story can be affirmed as a depiction a reflection of racism and its effects on society. (Dovidio, & Gaertner, 1996). In conclusion, I truly feel that both authors share the same sentiments. First and foremost, both of their main focus was on the role of the black female. Not only did the Explorer the victimization of the black woman, but also brought to light their emotional struggles as well as her experiences. I also feel that both authors were the obstacles of racism and feminists’ society that same time expressed that defeat does not mean giving up, but offers the opportunity to conquer negativity in life. References Clugston, R. W. (2010), â€Å"Country Lovers, Nadine Gordimer. In Journey into Literature (ch. 3): retrieved from http://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 2/section/h3. 2 Clugston, R. W. (2010), Poems for Reflection. In Journey into Literature (ch. 12. 2): retrieved from http://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 2/section/12. 2 Fluehr-Lobban, C. (2010). Race and Racism: An Introduction, Rowman Altamira: pp. 111-116 Dovidio, J. F. , & Gaertner, S. L. (1996). Affirmative action, unintentional racial Biases and inter group relations. Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 52, pp 51-75Ã'Ž

God and the Philosopher Essay

Abstract Philosophers are known to be great thinkers.   The discipline itself is concerned with ethics, what things exist and their essential natures, knowledge, and logic.   Typically, when one is asked about his or her beliefs, the subject of God comes up. Whether or not God exist is the biggest and most ultimate question that people have ever asked. The topic of God is important to the philosopher.   He enjoys the contemplation of the subject. â€Å"Proofs of the existence of God† developed over the past 2,400 years by different philosophers. It is the foundation of most introductions to philosophy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Does God exist?   The existence of God can be compared to space.   We know that space does not have an ending.   God â€Å"has no beginning and no end.   He is eternal† (Cameron, 465).   Some people don’t believe in anything that is not visible to the eye (Cameron, 471). The link to God for most philosophers is the world.   Thomas Aquinas, a theologian, â€Å"specialized in the philosophical analysis of the nature of God and God’s relation to the world† (McCarty, 196). He refers to Aristotle as â€Å"The Philosopher†; â€Å"Aquinas uses Aristotle’s emphasis on the importance of empirical evidence to offer the creation of the world as proof for the existence of God as its cause† (McCarty, 197).   He saw the creation of the world as proof for the existence of God.   â€Å"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.   Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:1-2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Big Bang Theory tries to disprove the Genesis account of creation by stating that the universe was formed from an explosion.   Usually an explosion produces disorder and chaos, not trees, flowers, and animals (Cameron, 418).   Also, in order for an explosion to occur, there must be something present to explode and a means to cause the explosion.   â€Å"You cannot create something out of nothing† (Cameron, 419).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Proofs of the existence of God† is a set of arguments that were developed over the past 2,400 years by different philosophers.   The purpose was to demonstrate that â€Å"there is, or exists, an infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent creator of the universe who goes by the name of God† (Wolff, 364).   The first and â€Å"philosophically weakest† proof is the Argument from Design.   William Paley presented his argument in his book â€Å"Natural Theology†.   He noted that man-made objects were designed to serve a purpose by its maker.    We can compare this to the creations of nature, like the human eye or the brain.   They are sophisticated and cannot be duplicated.   The conclusion is only God must be the â€Å"all-powerful Maker† (Wolff, 366).   The second proof is the Cosmological Argument, which is offered by thirteenth-century Christian philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas.   His first argument is that some things move in the world.   Secondly, there must be a first movement to precede other movements.   A â€Å"first mover† must exist.   That â€Å"necessary being is God† (Wolff, 373). The final proof and â€Å"the most famous, the most mystifying, the most outrageous and irritating philosophical argument of all time† is the Ontological Argument (Wolff, 378).   Saint Anselm writes about this proof in his philosophical work the â€Å"Proslogion†.   The concept of the existence of God was based on the idea of the perfect being.   Nothing greater than God is inconceivable (Wolff, 370).   Some philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant, have defended this proof over the past nine centuries.   On the other hand, it has also been rejected by other philosophers, such as St. Thomas Aquinas, and claimed as invalid because it cannot be proven. In addition to the Cosmological Argument, Aquinas argues his case using five proofs of his own (McCarty, 197).   The first proof is motion.   As with the Cosmological Argument, a â€Å"first mover† must exist to cause motion.   His second proof is causation.   â€Å"The natural world holds together through a tight chain of cause-and-effect relationships† (McCarty, 198).   For example, rain causes vegetation to grow.   The third proof is necessity/possibility. Aquinas argued that all events either have to be necessary or possible.   â€Å"A Necessary Being must exist that actualizes the possibility of the world as we know it† (McCarty, 199). The fourth proof is gradation. Some natural beings are more advanced than others.   Humans are at the top of the evolutionary chain.  Ã‚   â€Å"God has given him dominion (authority) over all the animals (Genesis 1:28) â€Å" (Cameron, 427).   This leads into the final proof of governance.   Humans are intellectually superior to animals and have priority over them (Cameron, 427). This is part of God’s Order (McCarty, 200). Most arguments for the existence of God start with some fact about the world and all of its components and activities (Morris, 243).   The topic of God is important because He is the backbone of any philosophical discussion. The Bible states that God is holy (Psalm 99:9).   Webster’s definition of holy is â€Å"sanctified†, which means to be free from sin. Ethics is a big part of philosophy. It embraces right conduct and good life.   â€Å"Ethical conduct is behavior that respects and nurtures truth, beauty, goodness, and unity, in our own lives, and in the lives of people we deal with day to day† (Morris, 111).   Good people struggle daily to resist temptations and pressures that they would not consider to be proper behavior.   â€Å"A good person is a person who shoots at the target of human happiness and flourishing for other people as well as himself† (Morris, 101).   On the other hand, there are people that don’t think about the consequences of their behavior. They act to satisfy their own selfish needs (Morris, 111). Philosophers view the concept of morality as a set of many rules (Morris, 112).   The Bible lists many of them.   Exodus 20 in the Old Testament lists The Ten Commandments.   The book of Leviticus contains many rules for work, worshipping God, and cleanliness. Another aspect of morality is The Golden Rule.   It states: â€Å"So in everything, do to others what you would have the do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets† (Matthew 7:12). In other words, treats others, as you would like to be treated.   â€Å"It captures the main attitude of an ethical person regarding the impact of his actions on others† (Morris, 114). In conclusion, the existence of God is a link for philosophers to the world. The topic of God is important when discussing ethics, morality, and nature to twentieth century philosophers as well as thirteenth-century ones. References Cameron, Kirk, & Comfort, Ray. (2004). The School of Biblical Evangelism.   Gainesville:   Bridge-Logos Publishers. International Bible Society. (1984). The Holy Bible.   Grand Rapids:   Zondervan Publishing House. McCarty, Marietta. (2006). Little Big Minds:   Sharing Philosophy With Kids.   New York:   The Penguin Group. Morris, Tom. (1999). Philosophy For Dummies.   New York:   Wiley Publishing Company. Wolff, Robert Paul. (2000).   About Philosophy (8th).  Ã‚   Upper Saddle River:   Prentice Hall.   

Assignment on Hr Promotion & Transfer Essay

Flippo †A promotion involve a change from one job to another that is better in term of and responsibility† Chruden and Sherman†A promotion involves a change of assignment from a job of a lower level to one of level with in the organization† Dale Yoder†Promotion is defined as a movement to a position in which in which responsibility and prestige are increased† Pigors and myers â€Å"Promotion is the advantage of an employee to a better job better in term of gather responsibilities more prestige and status gather skill and specially increased of pay or salary†. Employer to support employee higher position, sales, duties, response everything increased is as well as employees enjoy self-determination, (a)progress (b)preferment (c)promotion (d) position Promotions are used to fill the positions which are more important to fill rather than the present position of employee. It can be filled by external recruitment but employees having eligibility and experience must be appointed for their motivation. Also it will decrease labour turn over as external recruitment costs more. Also increase in salary and status will increase job satisfaction. When scale of pay is increased without changing job it is called  up-gradation  and promotion involves changes in job as well as high salary. When higher position is given without change in salary it is known as  Dry Promotion. All these,  Promotion Up-Gradation and Dry Promotion  are used by management to increase morale of employee and as giving reward also. Promotion means the employee present position to superior position . more obviously promotion is the association to the higher position where more responsibility and more power exits with more occurrence. In the higher position, sales, duties, response everything increased is as well as employees enjoy self-determination. The advancement of an employee within a  company  position  or  job  tasks. A job promotion may be the  result  of an  employee’s  proactive  pursuit of a higher ranking or as a  reward  by  employers  for good  performance. Typically is also  associated  with a higher  rate  of  pay  or  financial  bonus. In terms of a career, a promotion refers to the advancement of an employee’s rank or position in a hierarchical structure. A

A policy dictating mandatory marriage classes before couples get Essay - 2

A policy dictating mandatory marriage classes before couples get married should be introduced - Essay Example This article therefore is a reflection of the whole process of working on this project. The reflection outlines the lessons that I have learned, the challenges that I encountered, and what can be done to bring about improvement if a similar project is to be embarked on again. The process of working on this project was long and I learned many lessons from it. Generally, three of them are patience, endurance and planning. Planning was very vital to beat the deadlines. There was a need for strict adherence to the time schedule and this called for self discipline, endurance and patience. Endurance and discipline were especially significant because a lot of time was required in sourcing the correct materials from the internet. Writing the proposal and working on the presentation was quite exhausting and required a strong will to complete. Nevertheless, the project proved useful and I learned a lot was about the topic and academic writing as I continue to discuss below. The topic of the project made it possible to view divorce from a different perspective. I now understand divorce as a serious issue whose effect can be felt by the whole nation – I did not think that divorce was this serious before. The view that marriage and, specifically, wrangles in marriage is a private issue was corrected. I found out that these wrangles are often due to lack of counseling and when divorce is the end product; the government, in the long run, has some costs to incur. ‘Marriage is a public good’ was a phrase I found appropriate in encouraging pre-marital counseling. The topic also made it possible for me to understand that marriage is not a bed of roses since it is a union of two human beings and since human being are not angels they are likely to conflict with each other. I must say I had not seriously thought of marriage from this angle. This project involved a lot of writing and as a result I learned a lot about carrying out a research and

Phase 5 Individual Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS AND FINANCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS AND FINANCE - Essay Example The exchange rate of the local currency comes down due to interplay of demand and supply. The floating exchange rate system based on demand and supply is a self-adjusting mechanism in market economy. But, stability in exchange rate is very important for the growth of the economy. Therefore, the central bank of a country exercises its monetary authority to ensure that the local currency is traded around the desired or target exchange rate. The central bank closely monitors movements of exchange rate of the country’s currency. It will intervene in the market by resorting to open market purchase or sale of currencies to maintain stability or for influencing the exchange rate of the local currency in relation to foreign currencies. Spanjers (2009, p. 10) stated â€Å"As the expectation of stable exchange rates tends to promote trade and thus welfare, the monetary authority of each country commits itself to exchange rate targets.† Central bank also in its liquidity managemen t through monetary policies influences money supply in the country with a view to regulate interest rates and keep inflation under control. Money supply in a country will also influence the behaviour of exchange rates. The interest rates and inflation are closely linked to the behaviour of the exchange rate. Gold standard system In Bretton Woods Conference in 1914 the participant countries have agreed to adopt gold standard system which envisaged economic discipline among the nations. But, it could not succeed in achieving the objectives mainly due to currency devaluation spree post-World War-I by the countries to maintain or improve their exports. While devaluation strategy was adopted to make the countries’ products competitive in the world market, in order to make the local products more competitive locally, they also introduced trade restrictions which made the imports costlier. These measures taken by the governments for protecting their national economies had severe imp act on the international trade. To stem this tide in international economy, International Monetary Fund was created in Bretton Woods in 1944 with the aim of preserving global monetary order. The exchange rates of the currencies fixed in relation to US Dollar or gold could not work smoothly for a long period. Defending these fixed exchange rates has become increasingly difficult due to several factors. Under the fixed exchange rate regime the country has to continuously monitor the system and impose several restrictions on transactions involving foreign exchange. These restrictions are likely to encourage black market operations in foreign exchange. The question of devaluation of the currency for a country with fragile economy is the greatest cause for concern. The countries’ current account imbalances caused failure of the system because under consistent deficit in current account a currency cannot be kept artificially at a higher exchange rate. Stability in Floating exchange rates and economy The stability factor, being the major concern relating to exchange rates, could not be addressed in floating exchange rate system based on demand and supply for currencies as well. The process of self adjustment expected to come into play is affected by several factors. For example, when a currency becomes weak, the imports become costlier and exports more profitable and the volume of exports is expected to increase. The increased demand for local currency due to exports and

Must demonstrate the understanding of new learning in the field of Research Paper

Must demonstrate the understanding of new learning in the field of project management and how it relates to the Project Management Maturity Model - Research Paper Example Maturity model is a tool that enables businesses to measure the ability of an organization to maturely manage different projects. It thus identifies the level of maturity and the avenues within the business within improvement before a roadmap is developed. In this roadmap, different steps are outlined that enable the business to manage its projects within the maturity model and achieve its long and short-term goals (Brown, 2008). The adoption of the maturity model by businesses increases the potential for success and the attainment of the strategic goals within the time set out in the organization’s missions and goals. Through the adoption of the maturity model, an organization increases its ability to continuously improve and develop strategic approaches, which are essential to the success of an organization. Though applied to project management, maturity model was developed under the aegis of quality management and assurance in an organization (Caron, Ruggeri & Merli, 2013). As a result, it was used in the processes of improving the quality of goods and services produced by a given organization, a process that is critical in the success of the same. By adopting the maturity model, an organization links its processes to the continuous improvement goals through a process that involves the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the same. As a result, avenues that can be improved through change can be identified through the adoption of the maturity model and this increases the success possibility of an organization (Brown, 2008). Within different organisations, there is an increasing need for the development of processes that capable of managing the variability has and obtain the desired results within the time set. Working towards achieving goals within the set budget and time constraint has remained the basic component of any project management plan. As a result, the maturity model has enhanced the management of projects especially within the

Bankruptcy of Companies in Qatar Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bankruptcy of Companies in Qatar - Assignment Example Despite this, there is a well laid-down framework that governs the insolvency and subsequent liquidation of companies in Qatar. These rules and regulations mainly anchor on Chapter 10 of the Qatar Commercial Companies Law, Law No.5 of 2002. This legal regime in Qatar resembles the one that governs bankruptcy and insolvency in the United Arab Emirates. The only difference is that the Qatar regime lacks the provision that gives shareholders, with more than 25 per cent of the company’s shares, the right to declare the company bankrupt. This is usually a provision when a company suffers capital losses amounting to more than 75 per cent of its capital turnover. Instead, the provisions of Article 290 of the Qatari Code stipulate that if a limited liability company suffers losses amounting to equivalent of 50 per cent of the company’s capital, the directors of the company are expected to consider dissolving the company. Failure to institute a dissolution procedure makes the di rectors solely responsible for any further losses that may accrue from the company’s failure, to meet its legal obligations. According to (Latham & Watkins 2011), the legal framework that governs the application for dissolution of a company in Qatar still resembles that of the United Arab Emirates. ... There may be other circumstances such as the expiry of the term of the company as noted in the constitution of the company. A merger between two companies may also require the liquidation of the companies as per the constitutional terms. Dissolution due to bankruptcy materializes when a company incurs losses amounting to more than 50 per cent of the company’s financial capital. In such circumstances, the company directors are required to convene an extraordinary general meeting in order for the shareholders to make a determination on whether to dissolve the company. In cases where the board fails to convene the general meeting or where the general assembly fails to reach a general resolution pertaining to the dissolution of the company, any interested shareholder may initiate legal proceedings for the dissolution of the company as stipulated in Article 285 of the Company’s Law. The meeting of the general assembly is at liberty to dissolve the company if a majority of th e shareholders support the resolution to dissolve the company. Similarly, dissolution may be initiated by any shareholder with more than 25 per cent of the company’s shareholding. However, this only applies when the company returns a loss amounting to more than 75 per cent of its total financial capital for any given financial year. This framework is anchored on Article 289 of the Companies Law. When the liquidation of a company gets approved by the required majority, the dissolution process commences immediately and the term ‘liquidation’ is incorporated to the company’s name. It is worth noting that the Companies Law only stipulates the general guidelines that should govern the liquidation process. It does not lay out a formal dissolution

Business Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Grand project on pizza industry Essay Example for Free

Grand project on pizza industry Essay Today, the average American eats 46 slices of pizza per year (about 23 pounds). Buck Jones reports The business is only expected to grow as the industry continues to expand its product base and revenue earnings through imaginative recipes and creative marketing concepts (Jones, 177). Pizza producers are searching for additional pizza products that will appeal to new markets such as the croissant, French bread, and other specialty products showing up today. Most new pizza products are marketed to adult consumers. Adults are targeted because they make up the majority of the lunch crowd and when they take their families out to dinner. Pizza consumption has many different consumers: professional people during lunch, single parent families, two income families, children, high school/college age kids, singles, and more specifically, bachelors. As consumers age, their desire for pizza declines as noted by the survey. Women are generally targeted by pizza chains because they are usually the providers of meals for their families. Currently, pizza carryout represents 46% of all pizza transactions, and home and office delivery account for 26% of delivery. During the week however, Friday through Sunday account for 59% of pizza sales (RI, 88). On average, individual pizza sales are on the rise while the portions sold remain the same. Pizza comes in many different crusts and is sold in the following percentages: regular pizza 56. 8% of pizza sold, deep dish or pan pizza 17. 5%, thick crust 11. 0%, and extra-thin pizza 8. 5%. Overall, beverages were not purchased 52. 9% of the time and carbonated drinks were the majority sold with 31. 1%. Salad bars are surprisingly only seen in 3. 3% of pizza sales. These new products will expand the current pizza markets and increase the average consumption of current pizza users with their new product innovation. Pizza toppings vary geographically based on current trends within a geographic region. Squid is Japans most popular pizza topping and tuna and corn rank high in England followed by Australias affinity for eggs as a pizza topping. The introduction of new pizza toppings has and will continue to be an avenue for increased revenues. Consumers are becoming more drawn to natural ingredients, natural restaurant environments, openness in food preparation, and the need to experience the food ethnically. Presently, newer competitors in the pizza arena are using wood-burning pizza ovens such as Macaroni Bar and Grill, Marios, and Carrabas. Consumers also prefer an open view of the pizza-making process. Pizza consumption has also increased through the distribution of direct mail coupons both locally and globally (RI, 88). These coupons amounted to a 12% increase for pizza chain sales in 1996. Cicis Pizza is presently the pizza segments value leader with their $2. 99 adult buffet ($1. 99 for kids). Many grocery retailers feel inadequately equipped to compete with the major pizza chains and therefore decide to just offer the products demanded. Most retail operators have identified two markets and have created two different product lines for the high quality pizza connoisseur and the price conscious consumer. Another new market in the pizza industry is the selling of raw pizzas. Consumers call in and specify the pizza toppings they wish for their pizza at Papa Murphys. The consumer pays for the convenience of having someone else prepare their pizza and they get to eat it in the privacy of their own home. Future Consumption Trends Consumption is expected to increase in the future due to increases in population and consumers lack of time to prepare their own meals. The pizza industry will continue to expand globally and tap into new pizza markets. This growth will spur on new changes in adapting their pizza product to their environment. Round Table Pizza is the nations fourth largest pizza chain and has 500 restaurants in the Western U. S. and internationally in six Asian countries and the Middle East (Round Table Pizza website. This is a clear example that U. S. companies have great potential in the global market and this can be achieved through adapted or standardized products, depending on the product and its industry. Consumption is also going to move toward more natural, fresh, and healthier pizza products. A shift is under way in the industry away from product novelty to high quality ingredients and an emphasis on taste. Round Table Pizza promotes their Honest Pizza made from dough mixed from scratch, freshly grated cheese, and new sauce. Round Table Pizza also created the Salute Veggie, a pizza piled high with three different cheeses and various vegetables. The Salute Veggie reaches out to the vegetarian consumer who may have previously shied away from the pizza industry due to the meat content. In response to Papa Johns fresher pizza promotions, Pizza Hut has reformulated its entire line, now including more toppings, thicker sauce, and a crunchier crust. Consumption will also increase through the addition of smaller pizza stores/stands that sell pizza by the slice. Although these are smaller sales transactions, they are on the rise as proven by Genuardis Family Market sales, which 75% of its sales are sold by the slice. Smaller Pizza Hut units are being placed inside Stop n Go stores that reach out directly to the consumer on the go. These locations bring the product directly to the consumer they are targeting. On average, there lies the common belief that pizza consumption will increase as a consumer gets married and has children. This is rationalized through decreased time allowed to prepare meals with a family and a desire for easy meals that save time. Another factor is that children on the average like pizza. When an individual thinks of pizza, one conjures up thoughts of a late night at the office, slumber parties, quick lunch meal, pizza parties during the workday in an office, and childrens pizza parlors like Chuck E. Cheese. Pizza generally summons feeling of happiness or fun and is also viewed as a really quick meal. This is a major advantage for pizza chain retailers in that not many foods carry such ideologies or feelings. These connotations generally have to be marketed much like Chuck E. Cheese (fun pizza) or Dominos (quick and delivered to your door). Over the next 5 to 10 years, there will be increases in consumption as a result of more single parent families and two income families. There will be an increase in the amount of women working to support their families and this will add to the need for easy to prepare or fast meals. As single parents continue to work, attend night school, and raise their children they will continue to utilize pizza delivery services to compensate for their lack of time to prepare their children dinner. As the population increases, there will be significant increases in high school and college age kids that order pizza. Another relationship pizza has is with beer. It is very common for students to get their buddies and order pizza to eat while drinking their beer both while studying or partying. Pizza chains should further investigate marketing their products in establishments that serve beer. Retailers could target clubs and sports bars to increase their market share. As consumers go about their daily tasks another market lies in drive-thru pizza restaurants. As people go about their day, pizza chain retailers could better serve some of its customers through drive-thru services. Over time, consumers will remain as busy as they are now and maybe even more so, some consumers could utilize these quick service establishments that allow them to enjoy pizza without having to stop to eat it.

Yogesh Chander Deveshwar Itc Limited Commerce Essay

Yogesh Chander Deveshwar Itc Limited Commerce Essay Yogesh Chander Deveshwar  is the Chairman of  ITC Limited, one of the Indias largest multi-business corporations. Yogesh Chander Deveshwar was born  on 4th February 1947 in  Lahore. He completed his Bachelor Degree in  Mechanical Engineering from IIT, Delhi and Harvard business school  in 1968. He is also known as Yogi as his friends use to call him by this name. In 1968 yogi was chosen by Ajit Narain Haksar and he was the First Indian Chairman for the Company. He is working with ITC from the last 41 years and has worked in virtually every arm of ITC. He was appointed as the Board of director of the Company in 1984, between 1991 and in the year 1994 he took the charge of the Chairman and Managing Director of the Air India. On Jan 1st, 1996 he became the Chief Executive and Chairman of ITC Company. He is also the Chairman of ITCs wholly owned subsidiary, ITC InfoTech India Limited, and its subsidiaries in the UK and USA. Under leadership of Y C Deveshwar, the company has c onsolidated and strengthened its diversified businesses and hotels. Deveshwar is the man who guided ITCs successful into new growth areas including agriculture business, retail and distribution and branded FMCG goods.   On sep.3 2012 by The Central Government of India has nominated him as the director in Reserve Bank of India for four years. He worked for the confederation of Indian Industry. He was also worked for so many educational institutes like Board of Governors at the Indian School of business and even he was the former chairman of society and the Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Management Kolkata. He also worked for the National Executive Committee of Indias Premier trade. In 2006 he was awarded by Lakshya Business Visionary award this award was given to him by the students of National Institute of Industrial Engineering Mumbai. Lakshya Business Visionary award was given him by Mr. Jayant Patil and they salutes to Y C Deveshwar to guide the nation to success through the diligence and as they were committed. Deveshwar is ranked third on the list of the Indias best CEOs between 1995 and 2011. In the Year 2001, by Ernst Young, Y C Deveshwar was awarded with the Manager Entrepreneur Award. He was also inducted to the prestigious Hall of Pride at the Indian Science Congress in January 2006 and in the year 2006 he was awarded as the Business Person of the Year Award by the UK Trade Investment. In the year 2007 he was awarded by the Sustainability Leadership Award. Mr. Deveshwar had also been honoured with the Global Leadership Award by the US Chamber of Commerce. In 2011 Government of India Awarded him by Padma Bhushan award one of the highest civilian award for contributed his service of a high order to the nation. Strategic leadership refers to a managerial potential which express a strategic vision for the growth of organization and to motivate the employees to acquire the vision. Strategic leader creates organizational structure that is focused towards the business which allocates resources that understand business goals and objectives to express strategic vision which is a set of the organizational vision. Strategic Leadership ia a leadership which provides the vision and direction for the growth and success of any organization. As change has become repeatability in organizations, all employees need the skills and tools for strategy implementation. Being a strategic leader, he requires the capability to understand business priorities and their long term and short term goals. Leadership better equipped to not only thinks more incisively about future competitive advantage, but your organization will have greater strategic focus at every level, beginning with the top management team.-Gerald L. Kiser, president CEO The  process  of  using  well considered  tactics  to communicate a vision for an  organization  or one of its  parts. Strategic leadership typically  manages, motivates and persuades  staff  to  share  that same vision, and can be an important  tool  for implementing  change  or creating  organizational structure  within a  business. The true meaning of strategic leadership is nothing more than the ability to anticipate, prepare, and get positioned for the future. It is the ability to mobilize and focus resources and energy on things that make a difference and will position you for success in the future. Effective strategic leadership focuses on the long term rather than solely on the short term. (The Center for Management and Organizational Effectiveness) Strategic leadership is defined as practicing existing abilities and skills and influencing others to train in new formats for new leadership models. Specifically, to obtain successful educational management within the organization.(Barron, 1995) Bernard M Bass developed a system and in this system or model he divided leadership in four different types based on the main two objectives which are task oriented and people oriented. There are some main styles of leadership which is explained below: A directive leader will always tell his colleagues and explain that what to do, how to do and when to do but he should have a good control on them then only he can make his followers to work under him. A consultative leader will always take the decision with the help of his colleagues and he will always conduct a meeting before take any decision. A participative leader The participative leader puts himself as a member of the team and discusses possible decisions with the team. He seeks consensus before coming to a decision and everyone is supposed to take ownership in the final decision. The negotiative leader employs a more political approach to leadership. He has a personal interest in his decisions and he uses incentives to entice his followers to do certain things. Situational leadership refers to when the leader or manager of an organization must adjust his style to fit the development level of the followers he is trying to influence Y C Deveshwar, being one of the prominent and effective hospitality leaders in the hospitality industry. He posses two different styles of leadership which he executes in his career to bring up the ITC group in different sectors with new ideas. Y C Deveshwar, being one of the effective leader , he practices participative leadership style in which he considers the ideas and views of his colleagues and then only he use to takes the decision. In this style of leadership all the BODs will seat together and then only they will take the decision for the company future. All the BODs has to share their views and ideas and on the base of that only they will take the correct decision. Y C Deveshwar always seat with these people and he will also discuss his views and ideas which enthusiastically increases the morale of the employees working under him. Before make any decision he will always ask his subordinates and then only he will come to the decision. He always use to ask his company members to take participate in the meetings and share their ideas or views which they can apply in the company. Even though, the sharing of such ideas and views always helps the company to come up with many innovative ideas and this practices always be nefit the company in a very beneficial way. He preferably want his all Board of Directors should be present in all company meetings, so that they all can sit together and figure out the possible decisions which will benefit the company with maximum profits with minimal loss and also helps to achieve the company objectives. Y C Deveshwar also executes another leadership style which is being a Delegative Leader in which he concentrates only on decision making, and allows his subordinates to take their own course of action. He always gathers his team to discuss possible decisions that could be adopted and help the company to expand and even give high profits. In todays world, ITC has more than 15 products in the market and it is very difficult to handle all the different sectors of the ITC products. Being having Delegative leadership qualities, Y C Deveshwar has divided the different sectors to different managers who will take the decision on monthly basis and they have to inform the steps which they are going to take for company benefits. Y C Deveshwar is a strategic leader. He has some leadership qualities which made him a strategic leader. Strategic leadership is all about the leading, guiding and innovate the new ideas. Strategic leadership is all about leading, influencing and guiding the organising team members to think strategically about their own duties and responsibilities which require the potential to comprehend the work place and environment. It requires potentiality to look at the wider picture which has a vast perspective and they dont need skills in their narrow specialty but they have a good working knowledge and experience about the things that are organizational importance. Adapting strategy to a changing business requirement is must if the organisation wants to remain valuable to the business. The process which assess the leadership talent to lead the change which enables the business to meet its objectives which changes the adaptability of the organisation. Strategic leaders must have zeal to work accordingly which goes beyond money and power and also the investment in their people to motivate them, to achieve the goals of the organisation with determination. Strategic leaders are able to plan and execute a range of possibilities of several stages ahead for the development of the organisation. For a Hospitality Leader, there must be a equalised focus to understand the function which provides the value towards the organization. At the time he joined the ITC Company, it was facing a very bad time. He came and started expanding the business and they entered into the hospitality industry till that company was only in the Tobacco business but at the time Y C Deveshwar entered into company it became the multi-business company. He takes the company to the so many new other business which increased the sale of the company and company has shown a good growth in all the areas ex: Agriculture business, retail business and distribution of branded FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods). As we said he has good creative mind so he used that in the company applied his strategic ideas and because of that today ITC is most valuable Business in India. In 1991there were two major turning points: the company appointed him as the chairman of ITCs Indian Tobacco Division and Indian Leaf Tobacco Development Division; the government handpicked him to be the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India. Y C Deveshwar was not successful in turning around the declining fortunes of the national carrier; he tried to push forward the idea of merging Indian Airlines and Air-India and then privatizing them as a joint entity. Partly the problem lay in the way the groups top management was structured. At the time Y C Deveshwar joined the ITC group, the main income source was only Tobacco Company and the Board of Directors was directly responsible to take decisions. Y C Deveshwar reduces the number from executive team and board became the management arm of company and all the decision started taking by the responsible executives of the different market products. A leader always creates big demands on people. A good leader is always responsible for the vision and goals of an organisation. Unless and until the leader is strong enough the organisation will not survive. So it is very important for the leader to get self-motivated in all the situations. He should be enthusiastic and should feel responsible in the work he does. T hey should always be aware of serving his organisation and also the employees. When Y C Deveshwar joined the ITC group that time ITC is mainly known only for the tobacco products but he joined and he start investing in other business because of him today ITC has more than 15 products and he is only that person who started ITC hotels. I conclude with a brief review of a leader and his qualities and his characteristics. This essay explains that for a smooth and safe running of business a strategic leader is the most important, effective and responsible person where he has to lead his team towards to achieve the organisational goal. A leader has to always build good relation with his all employees and company members; a leader has to satisfy their basic needs that they can work more effectively in the business. This literature also sought out the styles of a leader. It is also important that the organisation should follow the hierarchy in an organisation. Always the top level management should implement their strategies on middle level management and the middle level management should make sure that the strategies given by the top level management are being targeted by low level management. This essay also explains about Mr. Y C Deveshwar history, education, achievements, awards and the different ideas or his views which he contributed within the working in hospitality industry, his different styles, his successful moments, his hard work and his challenges and how did he solve out the challenges successfully. The way which he used to face the different challenges where there was staff turn was very qualitative. Y C Deveshwar always uses to motivate his employees that they can help organisation to achieve the goals. In The end I concluded that Mr. Y C Deveshwar is a successful leader for ITC organisation and he was awarded by the best entrepreneur in the hospitality sector. He is also planning to expand ITC Company in coming years and they are already ready to launch their hotel in Sri Lanka and Nepal. References Management Study Guide: Strategic Leadership Definition and Qualities of a Strategic Leader Strategic Actions: Strategic Leadership. http://www.itcportal.com/about-itc/itc-leadership/board-of-directors.aspx www.wikipedia.com http://www.managementstudyguide.com/strategic-leadership.htm http://article.wn.com/view/2012/09/05/Y_C_Deveshwar_nominated_as_director_on_RBIs_Central_Board http://www.eauc.org.uk/image_uploads/logo_large.jpg Module Strategic Leadership in Hospitality Tourism management Assignment Topic Crisis Leadership B3150 Submitted By 12009871 Module Co-ordinator: Mrs. Gayathri Desai Mrs. Jayapradha K. Word count-2151 The word crisis has originates from the Greek word Krisis which means judgment, choices or decisions. It appears that three elements must be present: a triggering event causing significant change or having the potential to cause significant change; the perceived inability to cope with this change; and a threat to the existence of organizations (Keown-McMullan, 1997) as well as of tourists and members of the tourism industry (Henderson, 2006). Every crisis is unique displaying a remarkable range and variety (Henderson, 2006), yet characteristics generally cited include unexpectedness, urgency and danger (Hermann, 1972). Tourism crises usually share these attributes although certain crisis situations can be predicted and lack  immediacy. Crisis Management is the management and coordination of your institutions responses to an incident that threatens to harm, or has harmed, your institutions people, structures, ability to operate, valuables and/or reputation. It takes into account you r planning and automatic incident response, but must also dynamically deal with situations as they unfold, often in unpredictable ways. Crisis is not a pathological state; it may occur to anyone at any stage in his or her life span. (Golan, 1978). A crisis is any situation that has the potential to affect long term confidence in an organisation or a product, or which may interfere with its ability to continue operating normally.(Pauchant and Mitroff). Crisis can be defined and situation which can affects the whole organisation and as well as the employees of organisation. Crisis can also be described as an unexpected event leading to major unrest amongst the individuals at the work place. Crisis is a sequence of un expected events which can be harmful for an organisation. Crisis can affect the whole organisation as well as individuals. Organization crisis is a low-probability, high-impact event that threatens the viability of the organization and is characterized by cause, effect as well as by a belief that decisions must be made swiftly. (Pearson and Clair, 1998). Crisis Management is the art of dealing with the unexpected events which can affects the employees, whole business as well as client refers to crisis management. Crisis management  is the process by which an organization deals with a major event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public. Crisis management can be defined as a process of handling unexpected changes in the organization culture. There is a vital need of knowing the importance of CMP in the organisation which will directly help the employees to understand as well as to cooperate with the organisation at the time of crisis or after the crisis. Having an effective CMP, it helps the manager to make the strategies to come out of certain conditions and helps to decide for the future execution of plans. Crisis management also includes the processes which helps the managers and even thou staff also to understand the unexpected events. Crisis management will helps the staff to take the eff ective action. Types of crises Natural crises Natural crisis is a disaster which occurs without any prior information to any place in the whole world. Natural crisis is further been explained in many manners like earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, volcanic eruptions, floods. Many of the people in the world consider natural crisis as Act Of God. For Example: Earthquake in Indian Ocean with a magnitude of 9.2 at Richter scale on 26 December 2004 which resulted in Tsunami. Technological crises Technological crises are caused by human application of science and technology. Technological accidents inevitably occur when technology becomes complex and coupled and something goes wrong in the system as a whole. Technology failure is something related with power blackouts, computer irregularities, aircraft crashes and even sometimes the nuclear meltdown. Some technological crises occur when human error causes disruptions. When an accident creates significant environmental damage, the crisis is categorized as  mega damage.  Samples include software failures, industrial accidents, and oil spills. For example: Northern Grid Power blackout in almost 22 states of India out of 29 which vitally affected the daily practices of the people living. This technological crisis effected in many places as for travelling, banking services as well as hotel industry too in context with reservations and other inter departmental operations. Terrorist attacks/man-made disasters Terrorist attack is manmade disaster which means it has threats of human body. It involves negligence, an element of human intent and failure of human system and its results can huge loss of life, wealth and buildings and even it also affects the mentality of a person. Recession in 2008-09:- The 2008-2009 recession hit every industry around the world very hard. One of the most affected industries, however, was the hospitality and restaurant industry. Before the recession, oil prices were at all-time high, and hotels and travel companies had already started to see a significant decrease in travel and tourism. The industry which got affected mainly because of recession is of accommodation, traveling and hotel industry. As we do know that the income of many families goes down badly during recession. Some families even lost all sources of income too, which created panic and turmoil in their life. This is why people are saving on traveling and staying back in their home only. This is affecting the hotel industry badly. Not only the family visitors, but hotel industries are also losing their business travelers too. These days companies prefer video conferencing for meeting rather than going overseas for meeting. All these situations caused panic in the h otel industry and they took some instant measures like slashing the rates, increasing marketing costs, and promoting their websites. Some of the hotels are lucky enough to get the support from the government too, but those hotels were very few and they not only survived the recession but came over it very soon. Overall hotel industry is suffering from the recession and I hope very soon they can heal over it. Terrorist Attack:- It is a manmade disaster which results can be a heavy loss of life and which can affects the life of staff as well as guest also. The terrorist attack happened on the Taj Hotel Mumbai on 9/11. They want to create same environment like Marriott attack which happened in Karachi. The person who was there behind Mumbai attack they planned to create an unsecured environment and them wants to reduce the economic strength. Security  would obviously be the most important element of this disaster management plan and guests at five-star hotels should expect to be checked along with their baggages. The way luggage is scanned through x-ray machines in airports, it should be also done in hotels. The screening should start at the very entrance where minimum damage can be done. All the hotels need to have a proper security system and even they should have a good security team that they can immediately take the decision and the team should be always ready to handle this type of situation because at the time of this type of situation if they will call the security team from outside it will take long time till that time they can damage lots of things. All the hotels should make sure that the security especially at entry gate needs to be more strong so that this thing wont be happen again in future. Security systems should be updated by the latest machines and technology. Tsunami and Earthquake: These are the natural disasters which appear without any prior information the last crisis which affects the whole South India was Tsunami in Indian Ocean in year 2004 and because of this crisis there was a lot of wealth, life loss and even buildings were also damaged. This Tsunami has affected all the hotels and all the coastal areas in South India. Indian south-east coastal region looked very normal on December 26, 2004 but as the day started unfolding, tremors were felt in Tamil Nadus capital Chennai and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Then the tsunamis came which engulfed the Andaman and Nicobar islands, the coastline of Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. Though Orissa and West Bengal recorded minimal or no loss to property and human life, the other regions reported substantial devastation. The hospitality industry in two partly affected Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, suffered due to rumors, fu elled by the panic about incoming tidal waves. But now the Indian Govt. is already set to fight with the Tsunami and The Indian Govt. has pledged $30 million to develop a tsunami early warning system to prevent such a large loss of life. There are some steps which an organisation can take to avoid the much loss at the time of when crisis occurs these are also known as pre- crisis pan or post crisis plan. Here I am going to explain some plans which we can take and it is basis on all the three crisis which I have written above which is recession, manmade and natural disaster. As a leader considering recession which is an economy disaster because of that so many people lost their jobs and even the some organisation also has been shut down as a hospitality leader the steps which I will take is that an organisation should have the enough money power that at the time of recession they can pay the salary to staff and even in this situation also they can run their business easily. Being one of the hospitality leader I will make sure that organisation should not get affected and even the staff also should not leave their jobs. Earthquake is a natural disaster and its results can be loss of life and even it can affect the whole business also it can damage the whole building also. So as a leader the pre steps which I will take is that we have to train our staff that when the situation will come they can make a proper plan and help others also and even the staff which is working in organisation they should have proper communication with each other. Terrorist attack is a manmade disaster which can damage the whole organisation and even a heavy loss of life also so for that we have to take some steps in advance that we can save the life of human and not even staff we have to save the guest also as a attack happened on the Taj, Mumbai on 26th Nov. 2008 where so many lost their life. So for this issue first of all we should have a proper security system and through that only all the staffs have to go not only the guest even the staff also. All the hotels should have CCTV cameras on all the floors that they can see the activities which are happening there and even at the time of check in they should have taken the copy of their identity proof. Post crisis plan for all the crisis which is mentioned above is that the organisation should have the proper plans and all the businesses should have enough money power also that they can easily come out from the situation and again they can again come back to the track and run the business smoothly because if they wont able to recover from all these situation then might be they have to close the business also. As a leader the main important thing is that we have to take the steps through which business can easily come out from the crisis and we have to take and even they have to make a proper crisis management plan also. (Major Suresh Goel, 2002) Crisis is a disaster which occurs without any prior information and its results can be a damage of building, life or lives also. It can effect a whole organisation or departments of organisation. Crisis can be natural which includes (earthquake, Cyclones and landslides) and man-made which includes (Terrorist Attack, strikes, sabotages). Crisis leadership is a style which can help an organisation to save the whole organisation or can help to save the lives in organisation for that they have to make a crisis management plan in the organisation. This essay has given a brief introduction about the crisis, types of crisis, how a crisis can occurs and how to make a plan to save the lives in organisation. In this essay some points has given which can help an organisation to make some pre crisis plan or some post crisis plan. In pre-crisis plans we have to make some plans which we can apply in the future or whenever the crisis will going to affect the business it will be more beneficial for organisation at the time of crisis. So, in the last, I like to conclude that every organisation should create the crisis management plans which can help them in the future and it will help them to save the lives of person working in business or organisation.

Movie Fight Club Essay -- Film Films Movies Movie Fight Club Essays

Movie Fight Club   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For the following analysis, I will be discussing the movie Fight Club’s two main characters. They are â€Å"Jack† played by Edward Norton, and Tyler Durden played by Brad Pitt. However the twist to the movie turns out that Jack and Tyler are the same person and Tyler is Jack’s real name. Tyler the character is everything that Jack the character is not. The story narration is provided by the protagonist of â€Å"Fight Club,† â€Å"Jack.† The ambivalent protagonist, who only refers to himself as â€Å"Jack.† An ambivalent protagonist, usually the main character, is someone the audience likes, but who possesses character flaws.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The character â€Å"Jack† is a character the audience will feel sympathy for and even come to like. However, it is obvious he has serious problems. â€Å"Jack’s† main problem, what the audience comes to find out, is his alter ego, Tyler Durden. â€Å"Jack† struggles to take control as he sees that Tyler’s acts of vandalism are wrong. However, he cannot stop himself until the very end. However, even before the character of Tyler Durden is introduced it is clear that â€Å"Jack† has personal problems; insomnia, discontent for his job, and a dependency on support groups. â€Å"Jack† is also faced with a moral dilemma as well as constantly being put into danger, another characteristic of the ambivalent protagonist. â€Å"Jack† has the personality of an obedient, yet not very outgoing man. He goes to work, comes home, and wants to simplify his life. He sets up his life as simply as possible. For example, he wears the same white shirt, black pants, and black tie everyday. Jack is a very subservient type of person. For example, he goes to meetings his boss doesn’t want to attend. He hates his job and he hates his life, however he thinks he is ok with the job and his life but is tired of doing the same thing everyday. It is important to see that â€Å"Jack† picks out items that would best represent the type of person he is such as the furniture in his house.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He is a gen-xer that has grown to the point of despair. He can not sleep. He has to have every little clever trinket that he sees. The only way he finds happiness is crashing support groups for those with terminal diseases. He says it is amazing how much people care when they think you are dying.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Durden on the other hand is a man with little scruples. He is not an evil man. He just wants to wa... ... he wanted to be all along and that he didn’t need to live through Tyler anymore. He had conquered the inner conflict of his boring life and by him seeing the credit card companies fall, he had realized that he had undergone the change he wanted to at last.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion the characters go hand-in-hand to the point where the resolve is Jack realizing that he truly had shaken the life he never wanted to be and become the â€Å"Tyler† he always wanted to be. It can be seen as though â€Å"Jack† was a boy being jealous and envious of another boy, â€Å"Tyler†. Tyler was the boy everyone wanted to be like. However, in the end, â€Å"Jack† grew up and took a little bit of â€Å"Tyler† with him, but did not let â€Å"Tyler† take control. The way he commanded at the end when he shot himself, by giving orders to the members and Marla was not something â€Å"Jack† would have done. This lets us know that the character of â€Å"Jack† has grown up and evolved on his way to becoming the complete and ideal character he wanted to be. As the story unfolds it brings these two seemingly opposite characters in a unique relationship, which resolves the movie in a very original way. The irony remains subtle, and is missed by most.

Teaching Writing :: Reflective Writing Education Feminism Essays

Teaching Writing As I look back over the course of this semester, the image that I get is one of the murky variety. It is difficult to identify although I have felt its presence for almost four months now. There have been many moments when I have waited for the insights to come, for the reading and the writing to mesh. And instead, I felt like I was lost in a fog that was sometimes dense, other times only misty. The worst part is that the fog is pervading a familiar place and once it clears I will be disappointed with myself because I should have known exactly where I was. What troubles me is why I do not know where I stand, after a semester of studying concepts I believe in. My hopes for myself in this class have not been met (for which I hold myself entirely responsible). I spent the last few months searching for answers in the material, in my dialogues with my classmates and coworkers, in my writing and through my thinking. As a feminist and a critical pedagogue I thought I would surely come to some grand conclusions, with all these theories as my bedfellows. But instead I feel like I have abandoned and failed my agenda: to better learn the theory and grow because of it. This is not to say that I have not learned anything, or not grown from the experience of this class. I know and feel that I have been changed; I am just not certain how. I look back at my reaction papers and I only see doubts. Questioning the people whose projects I admire, whose goals are not so different than mine, who know so much more than I do. And yet each paper that I have written criticizes and tries to poke holes. This sense of being lost, of not knowing is my own fault. I did not allow myself to engage with the writers. It has only been at the end, by doing my research paper and reading the articles about race that I finally felt like there was a place for me this course. It has been an alienating experience to see my peers thriving with our coursework while I felt like a grumpy old dwarf, shouting à ¬What about me?!à ® And then, a couple weeks ago, when we started reading Race, Rhetoric, and Composition, I felt like the fog was beginning to shift.

Interview With an Elderly Person Essay -- social issues, illness, depr

Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms â€Å"success† and â€Å"aging† seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging. Methods I interviewed my 92 year old neighbor who, I believe, presents a case of successful aging. As far as I can tell, she has not experienced many limitations due to age. She is spirited, active, and bright. Other neighbors tell me that she has been somewhat physically restrained in the recent past, and she has been using a walker more frequently, but she seems to be fine with that. She grew up in Germany, a country that is very close to the United States in regards to how people view aging. According to McConatha, Schnell, Volkwein, Riley, and Leach (2003), Germans, compared to US Americans, view aging a somewhat more negatively. They are often more pessimistic about the likelihood of finding contentment in old age and generally do not expect to feel good when they are older. To my surprise, my aunts views about aging were very positive. The Interview Questions The following interview was held on the 1st of March 2014 over the phone. I asked my aunt a few questions and gave her the reason... ...velopment. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. McConatha, J. T., Schnell, F., Volkwein, K., Riley, L., & Leach, E. (2003). Attitudes toward aging: a comparative analysis of young adults from the United States and Germany. International Journal Of Aging & Human Development, 57(3), 203–215. Ong, A. D., Bergeman, C. S., Bisconti, T. L., & Wallace, K. A. (2006). Psychological resilience, positive emotions, and successful adaptation to stress in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 730. Quoidbach, J., Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson, T. D. (2013). The end of history illusion. Science, 339(6115), 96–98. Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1997). Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 37(4), 433–40. Strawbridge, W. J., Wallhagen, M. I., & Cohen, R. D. (2002). Successful aging and well-being: Self-rated compared with Rowe and Kahn. The Gerontologist, 42(6), 727–33.

Accounting: the Forensic Accounting Who Fought Whiet Collar Crime Essay

Abstract The global increase in fraud has caused many people to lose trust in accountants. However, experts in the field of Forensic Accounting, such as Certified Fraud Examiners, are restoring ethics and trust by fighting to deter white-collar crimes. The most prevalent type of fraud encountered is occupational fraud. Under occupational fraud the most common and consequential schemes are asset misappropriation and fraudulent statements. Due to the rapid increase of occupational fraud, organizations have implemented anti-fraud controls. Statistics have shown that these controls have helped to decrease the likelihood of fraud. This examination of Forensic Accounting points out the importance of Certified Fraud Examiners in the economic, business, and financial fields within the International Community. See more:  Masters of Satire: John Dryden and Jonathan Swift Essay Forensic Accounting: Fighting White Collar Crime When asked about ethical issues in the field of accounting, Raymond Reisig, both a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), stated that ethics is the foundation which accounting stands on because â€Å"Our whole profession depends on people trusting us.† However, due to the lack of ethics in many large companies involved with fraud, the public has lost faith in the accounting profession. Hoping to restore the trust of society, many companies worldwide have incorporated Forensic Accounting into their industries. Essentially, the secret to uncovering fraud is by following a trail of money that will eventually lead to evidence that proves where the money has gone. This has been the job of Certified Fraud Examiners for years. A number of different types of frauds occur daily, but the most prevalent type of fraud that seems to catch the public’s eye is occupational fraud. Everyday, Certified Fraud Examiners are working hard to fight off occupatio nal fraud in corporate America. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), occupational fraud is â€Å"the use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization’s resources or assets† (2010, p. 6). Occupational fraud has now become a global problem, which has substantially increased the demand for forensic accounting. Forensic accounting is one of the many branches in accounting; under this specific branch exists Certified Fraud Examiners. Certified Fraud Examiners are experts specifically trained to find fraud, detect the ways in which the fraud was committed, and uncover who may have committed the crime. Two of the many schemes under occupational fraud that certified fraud examiners are confronted with are asset misappropriation and fraudulent statements. â€Å"Report to the Nations†, a worldwide study of 1,843 cases of occupational fraud from 2008-2009, found that in the U.S. â€Å"Asset mi sappropriation schemes were the most common form of fraud†¦ representing 90% of all cases† (ACFE, 2010, p. 4). Asset misappropriations range from conspiracies like skimming, when an employee does not record a sale and instead pockets the money, to schemes like check tampering, when an employee steals blank checks from the company and writes them out to himself. However, the most common fraud is billing. Billing happens when an employee deceives his employer to make false payments by submitting invoices for fictitious goods or services. One example of this could be found in a recent report in The New York Times. Anita Collins, 67, who is being charged for grand larceny in the first degree, for embezzling over $ 1 million over seven years from the Archdiocese of New York. Anita was able to skillfully delude the Catholic Church by sending fictitious invoices to the Archdiocese and issuing 468 checks to accounts she controlled (Otterman 2010). Billing alone can cause an organization to lose, on average, $128,000 annually. Although Asset misappropriation is the most common type of fraud, according to â€Å"Report to The Nations† it is the least costly. In contrast to asset misappropriation, fraudulent statements only made up less than 5% of all cases in the same study. However, these schemes are the most consequential, causing a median loss of more than $4 million annually (ACFE 4). Fraudulent statements involve the manipulation, falsification or alteration of accounting records, misrepresentation of financial statements, and the misapplication of accounting principles relating to amounts (Crumbley 2009). Financial statement schemes can be very hard to catch because they are buried under false numbers and fake company names. In a recent New York Times article authors Hiroko Tabuchi and Keith Bradsher revealed that in October 2011, Michael C. Woodford, former Olympus president and chief executive, exposed the corporat ion’s â€Å"fraudulent accounting†. The scandal covered up $1.7 billion in losses by misstating their finances on their income statements. The corporation’s former and current executives tactically buried their losses so that external auditors could never discover them (Tabuchi 2012). Due to the complexity of financial statement fraud, such as the Olympus scandal, many companies hire certified fraud examiners to investigate their financial statements when they suspect fraud is present. Occupational fraud is hard to detect due to the fact that owners and executives commit most fraud. Take for example the case of Maria do Rosario Veiga. Ms. Veiga was an experienced auditor who had been working for the World Meteorological Organization for 4 years before she blew the whistle on their fraudulent behavior. Ms. Veiga was fired from the organization because she refused to cover- up an embezzlement scheme of 3.5 million dollars stolen by senior officials (WMO 2009). For this reason many organizations have implemented anti-fraud controls to prevent and detect fraud. Anti- fraud controls consist of controls such as hotlines, fraud training for employees, surprise audits and employee support programs. In every study since 2002, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners have found that tips are the most common and effective way to detect fraud (ACFE 4). This study found that tips detected 40.2 percent of all cases; employees were the most common source of fraud tips (ACFE 17). Anti- fraud controls are reinforcing ethical standards in the field of accounting. A specific case study examined by CFE Tracy Coenen exemplifies the right way to deal with receiving a tip from an employee about fraud. First, the board of directors must determine that an independent investigation of the allegations should be done. After this, they seek unbiased analysis, and retain an outside counsel and a forensic accountant to investigate. Management then gathers all documents relevant to the allegations, and gives the investigator access to all employees and accounting records (Coenen 2011). Going through such procedures should be important to any company who receives a suspicious tip from an employee. Due to the major business scandals involving asset misappropriation and fraudulent statements, it is crucial for CFEs to have a good understanding of these schemes. Examining fraud involves close examination and piecing together financial evidence to find the hidden truth behind numbers. For this reason, the requirements to become a CFE include earning a Bachelor’s Degree, passing a ten-hour exam and having at least two years of professional experience in the related field (Meservy, 2006, p. 164). Not only do these requirements prepare a CFE before going into the field of forensic accounting, but they also ensure the public that the work of a CFE is trustworthy. Although it is very important that CFEs obtain knowledge of fraudulent behavior, it is also important that they acquire other skills as well. Many times when people hear the word â€Å"accountant† they rarely think of a person who has excellent communication and writing skills. However, this is a very misleading misconception; In fact in a survey of 725 CFEs, communication and people skills were reported as critical by 44% of the recipients (Meservey, 2006, p. 176). These skills are viewed as critical because when a fraud examiner is investigating a case, he or she must be able to speak directly with their client; A CFE must also be able to orally present their findings in a courtroom to a judge and jury in a way that is clear and easy to understand (Wells, 2009). Along with communication and people skills, surprisingly, writing skills are also one of the most important. After a fraud examiner collects all the evidence needed, he or she must report their findings; A majority of the time these findings are reported by writing. Tracy Coenen, a fraud examiner and forensic accountant, stresses that, â€Å"The best financial expert witnesses help win cases by artfully and simply communicating the facts through written reports†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Coenen, 2007). For this reason, a CFE must have strong writing skills. A part of effectively reporting facts is following an ethical code by remaining unbiased about the innocence or guilt of the suspect, and reporting only relevant facts. If there is a lack of clarity in the way facts are reported and communicated, not only can it cause the jury to lose trust in the CFEs findings, but essentially cause a negative outcome on a case (Coenen, 2007). The corner stone of the accounting field is ethics. For this reason, being ethical is the most important skill a CFE should acquire. Huge fraud cases such as the collapse of Enron and WorldCom led to higher costs for products and services, mistrust in leaders and a loss in retirement funds and job security (Crumbley, 2009). This was one of the driving forces that led to the passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This act not only regulated the auditing profession but it also demonstrated to the public that accountants value ethical standards. Up until now this act is based on making â€Å"everyone responsible for fighting fraud by increasing all parties responsibilities for uncovering such fraud in every direction at every stop in the process† (Crumbley 2009). Not only has the Sarbanes-Oxley Act helped to gain the trust of the public, but CFEs have also played a huge role in this as well. The fact that the main task of a CFE is to deter and detect fraud, proves to society that the field of accounting remains ethical and fair. Fraud has caused many people to lose their trust in accountants; however, the field of accounting is implementing many ways to reduce fraud. Forensic Accounting plays a huge role in this because Certified Fraud Examiners are being used to analyze and examine financial statements in a way that normal accountants cannot. Through excellent communication and writing skills CFEs have ultimately proven that accountants do more than just â€Å"deal with numbers†. The increase in demand for Forensic Accounting shows that our ethical standards are still our main priority. Unfortunately, occupational fraud is something that always occurs in every organization; we cannot change this. However, what forensic accounting can change is the way which society views accountants as ethical.

Book of Negroes Essay

As an old woman, Aminata Diallo is brought to London, England, in 1802, by abolitionists who are petitioning to end the slave trade. As she awaits an audience with King George, she recounts her remarkable life on paper, beginning with her life in Bayo, in western Africa, prior to being abducted from her family at age 11, seeing the death of her mother and father, and being marched in a coffle of captives to the coast along with others from her village. Chekura, a boy of similar age who assists the slave catchers, is at the last minute abducted himself and forced to join Aminata on the slave ship. Despite suffering humiliation, witnessing atrocities, enduring squalor and languishing in starvation, Aminata survives the passage to America because she is able to apply the knowledge and skills passed on to her by her parents, especially the ability to â€Å"catch† babies and to understand some African languages. In South Carolina, Aminata is auctioned off to an indigo plantation, along with a man from her village who has lost his senses during the ocean crossing. She learns the language of the â€Å"buckra† through the teachings of Georgia, an American-born slave, as well as from Mamed, the overseer of the plantation. Daily, Aminata must navigate the new dangers of disease and the eye of the plantation master while she searches for a way to return to her homeland. As she carries Chekura’s child, she is warned that Master Appleby could take it away at any time. Sure enough, at ten months, Aminata’s son, Mamadu, is sold by Appleby and Chekura also disappears. Stricken with grief, Aminata falls into a depression and refuses to work on the plantation. Appleby sells her to Solomon Lindo, the indigo inspector of the region, and she departs for a new life in Charles Town where Lindo promises to treat her as a â€Å"servant† rather than as a â€Å"slave† in that she works for wage and pays rent to Lindo. During rioting in New York City that coincides with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Aminata is presented with an opportunity to escape and does so, while Lindo is forced to flee back to the Carolinas. Aminata quickly makes new friends and connections and supports herself by catching babies and working at a tavern, all the while helping others by teaching them how to read and write. Following the surrender of the British, former slaves who have worked for one year or more behind the lines for the British are offered asylum in Nova Scotia. These people’s names are recorded in a ledger called The Book of Negroes, penned in part by Aminata because of her knowledge of many languages. Aminata and Chekura reunite and are given passage aboard the ship Joseph, but Appleby returns for one final act of vengeance against Aminata: he makes a claim to her, separating her from Chekura once more. While Chekura continues to Nova Scotia, Aminata must stand trial, and it is Solomon Lindo who ends up setting her free. Aminata lands in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, on the last Loyalist ship, and she has to use her talents as a baby catcher, reader and teacher once again to survive, for the sake of herself and her unborn child, as she prepares for the journey to reunite with Chekura in Annapolis Royal. However, her inquiries come up empty. May, their three-year-old child, is abducted by the Witherspoons, a white couple who had befriended Aminata, and Aminata returns to a life without hope. When the opportunity arises for Aminata to cross the ocean again to begin a colony in Sierra Leone, Africa, she is shocked to learn of Chekura’s death and decides to make the journey to her homeland. The struggle to maintain the colony of Freetown under the control of the Sierra Leone Company is complicated by its proximity to Bance Island and the slave trade. Relations with the local Temne are strained, and tempers flare when slave coffles are marched directly in front of Freetown. Longing to see her beloved Bayo village, Aminata agrees to travel back to Bance Island to secure passage into the interior. However, one month into her journey inland, she learns of the betrayal that she is to be sold back into slavery; she flees for days until she finds sanctuary in a village. Realizing that she will never return to her true home, she leaves for London to join the abolitionists to end slavery. She writes an account of her life that is shared in Parliament, and she meets with King George III and Queen Charlotte Sophia. Because of the attention from the newspapers, Aminata’s long-lost daughter, May, finds her after an eighteen-year separation and takes care of her in her old age as the struggle to end slavery continues in Parliament.

Edward Said States

What Should I Write About? So you know which schools you’re interested in, and you’ve looked over the applications and read all the essay questions. Chances are you’re wondering, â€Å"What in the world should I write about? † You’re not alone. In fact, it is safe to assume that everybody who has ever had to write an essay for a college application has asked that very question. Unfortunately, the applications don’t give you much guidance. Most of the essay questions are so open-ended that you can write about virtually anything. Since this essay might be the most significant writing you’ve ever done, the freedom to choose a topic can be paralyzing. Although picking a topic will seem daunting at first, it’s not impossible. The key is to narrow your focus and write about something close to your heart. If you follow this plan, you’ll create a lively essay that shows the admissions committee your intelligence and personality. But finding a great topic is not something you can do in five minutes. It will take a little work. Essay Questions from the 2005 Common Application Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence. Describe a character in fiction, an historical figure, or creative work (as in art, music, science, etc. that has had an influence on you and explain that influence. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in the college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you. Topic of your choice. Not-So-Common Essay Questions According to astronomer Carl Sagan, â€Å"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. What unknown would you like to see revealed in your lifetime? Why is this of personal importance? (Northwestern University) In The Moviegoer, a novel by Carolina alumnus Walker Percy, the narrator observes: â€Å"The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not stuck in the everydayness of his own life. . . . To become aware of the possibility of the search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair. † Are you â€Å"onto something† now? If so, what is that something, and why is it important to you? University of North Carolina) On Mars, the latest TV fad among the native lifeforms is Trading Bodies. You're picked to play. Whose body would you inhabit and why? (University of Virginia) Have you witnessed a person who is close to you doing something that you considered seriously wrong? Describe the circumstances, your thoughts, and how you chose to respond. If you discussed it with the person, was his/her justification valid? In retrosp ect, what, if anything, would you have done differently and why? Duke University) Do you believe there’s a generation gap? Describe the differences between your generation and others. (Denison University) What is your academic passion? (Wake Forest University) Prewriting: Think, Think, Think Early on—say, four or five months before applications are due—start thinking about possible topics. Go about your normal routine, but tuck the topic question in the back of your mind. Note what you’re interested in and appreciate in this world. Carry a notebook to jot down thoughts. Give it time, and chances are you’ll come up with some good stuff. If, on the other hand, you wait until the night before the application deadline to choose your topic, you’ll find yourself staring at your computer screen in a cold sweat, frantically wondering whether you should write about your love of the rainforest, that time you stole second base in junior high, or maybe, um, what your bedroom decor says about you. If you wait until the last minute, it’s highly unlikely that your essay will be a thing of beauty and interest. Choosing an essay topic takes time. Brainstorming Brainstorming is the process of getting your ideas and thoughts down on paper. Brainstorming doesn’t have to be logical or tidy—you can scribble down (or type) ideas in any way that makes sense to you. And don’t worry about editing as you brainstorm. No one is going to see this part of the process except you, so let the good ideas and the not-so-good ideas flow freely. When you’re brainstorming ideas for your college application essay, let your mind wander. Think about issues that matter to you; important moments in your life; high school experiences that stand out in your mind; and places and people that left an impression on you. Jot down emotions you often experience, verbs that mean something to you, and smells that bring back strong memories. Don’t limit yourself to happy experiences: Not all good stories are happy stories. Maybe one of your keenest memories is sitting and crying on the steps outside the school auditorium after you found out you didn’t make the varsity team. If a moment was meaningful and you can write with your emotions, your reader will feel connected to your story. The goal is to mine your life for a subject that will pour out instead of trickle. People brainstorm using different methods. Below, you’ll find explanations of several different methods. Maybe one method will do the trick for you, or maybe you’ll find a combination of methods works best. Make a List Many people prefer to use the straightforward list-making approach as a starting point. To use this method, simply jot down possible essay topics. After you have a long list, go back and pick out the most promising ideas. To get the ball rolling on your topic search, write down responses to the following: The 10 coolest places you’ve visited Your 10 most memorable high school experiences The 5 most difficult moments in your life The 5 most exciting moments The 3 most awkward moments Your 5 best accomplishments The top 5 words your parents, friends, or teachers would use to describe you The 5 most important influences on your life Your 5 favorite books Your 10 favorite activities Connect the Words If you think visually, you might want to brainstorm by writing a word or phrase in the middle of a blank piece of paper. Spend ten minutes looking at this word or phrase and writing down everything that comes to mind all over the page. Stop when your ideas stop flowing. Then circle or draw lines between ideas that are connected. Do this again with a new sheet of paper with a new word or with a word from your first list. Repeat as necessary. Draw a Timeline Here’s another visual brainstorming method: write a timeline of your life. Then go back and underline or highlight the high and low points. Also, note any other epiphanies or pivotal moments. Don’t worry if no single experience changed your life; that’s not usually how it works anyway. You can write a thoughtful essay about a change that happened over time, focusing on a particular incident to illustrate your point. Tell a Story from Your Life Pick a word that describes you and write it or type it at the top of a piece of paper. Then write down the title of five stories about yourself that you could tell to illustrate that word. Pick the title you like the most and write that at the top of a new piece of paper. List all the details you might include in that story. Imagine the smells, sights, and sounds that set the scene. Push yourself to come up with all possible details (you can always eliminate some later). Don’t stop until you have exhausted all possibilities. Free-Write Some writers call free-writing â€Å"the mind dump,† because it means dumping everything that comes into your head onto a piece of paper. To free-write, start with a vague idea, like why your favorite subject is French. For a period of ten or fifteen minutes, write down everything that comes to mind. Don’t worry about grammar, style, or making sense. Just keep writing. If you have nothing to say, just write I have nothing to say over and over again until something else pops in your head. When the ten or fifteen minutes are up, take a break and then go back and reread your words. Underline or highlight everything that is interesting or promising. Free-write as much as you can until you have a good crop of ideas.