Competitve advantage Essay

â€Å"A firm that already has sustained competitive advantage in its domestic market may not have the same advantage in an overseas market. Discuss the issues that this creates for a firm, and how it might exploit its resource advantages to secure successful market entry and create competitive advantage in a new overseas market.† With the global trade network more integrated, according to Pearce and Robinson (2009), firms tend to enter foreign market to gain more profit due to the maturity of domestic market, excess capability, and potential purchasing power in foreign market. Therefore, as a firm has already achieved success in its domestic country it might consider enter a new market. Before it operates in a new market, it has to consider the barrier of market entry, such as the barrier of political, social, economic or technology in a new market. And as foreign entry decision (Peng, 2009) model presents three aspects: where, when and how should be considered before enter in a new market. In addition, as a manager of a company should adjust its competitive advantage to adapt different market. Based on the study of Hill (2013), changes in the forces which include macroeconomics, social, technological, global, political and legal, and demographic may give great influence in competitive force model. Therefore, the ability of a firm to solve problems by the impact of different forces then build new competitive advantage by its resource advantage and competences significant as it enters a new overseas market. This essay will present some specific example of the firms which may enter a new overseas market and face different issues during the process of entering a new market and offer solutions to each issue. Price wars are common in any industry which is a common issue to be considered before enter a new overseas market, moreover, base on five force framework, in order to increase the ability of competing with rivals in industry, the ability of rivalry among competitors is one of the forces. Primark is one of the most successful fashion retailers in British. Its competitive advantage is from its low price. In another word, it gains profit from the cost leader strategy. (Hooley & Piercy ,2008). India is one of the biggest developing countries in the world. It has large population wh ich means India has a huge potential market for Primark. As reported by  BBC (2013) Recently, India government has opened up its retail market to foreign companies to stimulate its economic. Assume Primark enter the market of India, it may face competitive rivals, such as H&M and Gap. It has to maintain its competitive advantage and improves the ability of efficiency of cost .However, as a company which relies on low cost supplier, first of all, it has to decrease the barging power of supplier, thanks to the large population in India, it is not only providing a huge market for Primark but also offering a powerful labor resource to it. It offer an exactly social force to exploit its resource advantage and strategic fit in market of India.(Grant,2007) According to value chain study, reducing the cost of individual cost driver and reemployment could offer cost advantage to a firm. (Thompson & Martin, 2010) Primark could outsource to different local manufactures and create competition among them. In order to reduce the bargaining power of local supplier, Primark should deduce the dependence of a certain supplier. A good experience of Wal-Mart (Peng, 2009) could be used to Primark, it set up a policy within company which prevents any supplier offer more than 3% of its purchase. Furthermore, Primark should constrain those factories by contracts to prevent them copy the product and become both supplier and rivals. Primark might gain profit from controlling the cost and matching the opportunities in the external environment eventually enter a new overseas market. Before enter a new overseas market, the culture is always a considerable problem for a firm. Different countries have different belief, values, and behavior depend on their national culture.(Rugman & Collison) Furthermore, a firm should think about where to enter, base on Institution-based considerations on country risk.(Peng, 2009) It should evaluate the culture distance from its domestic country to a oversea market, moreover, taking advantage of common cultural, language, and historical ties.(Makino& Tsang,2011) If a firm enters a different cultural environment from its domestic and it may lose its competitive advantage. Therefore, when a firm enters a new market, it should not only focus it competitive advantage but also match the requirement of local people and adjust its strategy to current situation. Disneyland built the sixth Disneyland in Shanghai and it will operate in 2015. Consider it is as a cross culture theme park, it should learn the experience of other Disneyland in other countries. French Disneyland (Trigg, 1995) which has not reach its  expectation. It failed in France because it used English as official language in it which annoyed French, alcohol was forbidden in French Disneyland and this policy against the behavior of local people. What is more, it had conflict with farmers for land expropriation and caused opposition in France. Another example to support the argument is Tesco. Tesco lost 1.8 billion in USA, a lot of factors led to its failure, and one of the most important factors is Americans having different eating habits from European. Tesco has not considered it and eventually fail in a different culture environment. In order to gain profit in different culture markets, a firm should improve its abilities of adaption to a specific national market and blend global standardization and local adaption. For example, McDonald’s gained great competitive advantage from its global strategy (Grant, 2010). Although the menus of McDonald’s include globally items, likes happy meals, however, in different counties it ha s locally items. Considering about local relevance and find a balance point between global standardization and local adaption could maintain competitive advantage in a new culture market. In addition, to compete with first-mover in a new market is an important risk to a firm. Late entrants may face entry barrier which set by first-mover and hard to gain market share. Furthermore, the relationship between first-mover and local government maybe stable. (Peng, 2009) Kindle e-book reader is an electronic product was launched by Amazon from 2007 which linked to the electronic books. If Kindle enters Korean market, it would face some powerful competitors. The most competitive rivals is Galaxy Tab of Samsung as well as it have already gained great market share in Korea. In order to compete with Samsung, differentiation strategy could be used by Kindle. Innovation is the most competitive advantage of the technology industry. In another word, kindle should focus on its unique resource which is the large amoun t of e-resources of Amazon. This tangible source could attract customer and create the demand of customer. By increasing its dynamic capabilities by updating its organizational knowledge, accepting different ideas and developing the blend of tacit and explicit knowledge in a new market. (Wall, et al.2010). Besides, Kindle can evaluate the market of Korea which based on the current situation of Samsung before it enters this market and predicts the potential risk and makes some measures in advance. Moreover, late entrances could  cooperate with the first- mover to share the fixed assets to reduce the cost of entering a new market. As for small-medium companies, one of the biggest problems is the scale of the companies cannot support high risk of entering overseas market and they can afford the huge capital. P.van Dam & Zn. BV is family business with less than 30 staff which exports fresh flower and wholesale company in Netherlands. The competitive advantage of P.van Dam & Zn. BV is flexible to response the requ irement of customer. Customer could order flowers by their official website, telephone or E-mail them and customer can contact specialize staff in each step, in other word, P.van Dam & Zn. BV contact customers personally. It can react rapidly and fit the demand of customers. If it wants to enter UK market, it may export directly since the size of it is really small and it prefer to take whole controlling of distribution. The small scale of entry is suitable for them and the best entry mode of this kind of small companies is exporting. It is not only reducing the cost of entering overseas but also get better control over distribution. (Peng, 2009) After a company enters a new market, According to Industry-based consideration on the degree of competitiveness (Peng, 2009), one of potential risks is substitute. For example, Lipton is one of the most competitive brands in China and became the best sale in tea market in five years. The core competence of Lipton is the sensitivity of the requirement of customer (Chanston, 2012). Lipton invests a lot on researching the tendency of tea and the preferences of customer as well as setting up a data base and in different countries. It combined the tea and the life of target customers together. Base on the VRIO framework (Peng , 2009), value, rarity, robustness and Non-substitutability to keep sustainable competitive advantage, Lipton brings a health and new style of drinking tea to Chinese market which also brings value to its brand. Besides, it is will cost a lot to copy the operating model of Lipton. In addition, the healthy image has been accepted by costumers, some substitutes such as coke, juice can’t take place of it. Therefore, increasing the ability of each element in VRIO framework and improve the sustainable competitive could avoid the threat of potential substitute in new market. In conclusion, this essay has covered some major issues when a firm enters a new market, price issue, culture issue, first-mover issue small-medium size company issue and substitute issue. And give some specific companies as examples to explain how to gain  competitive advantage to response to each issue. For example, Shanghai Disney should blend global standardization and local adaption to get competitive advantage in a new market. A firm should change or improve its competitive advantage as it enter a foreign market, otherwise, it will loss the opportunities and fail in a new overseas market. References: BBC (2013). H&M wins final approval to invest in India. [Online] Available at < http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25196418> Accessed 4th January 2014. Grant, R (2010) Contemporary strategy Analysis: Text and Cases (7th ed). A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Pubilication Grant, R (2007) Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Concept, Techniques, Applications (6th ed). Wiley Blackwell Edition Hill, J (2013). Theory of Strategic Management (10th ed).International Edition Hooley, G. Piercy, N(2008) Marketing Strategy and competitive positioning(4th ed). Prentice Hall Edition Peng, W(2009) Global strategic management(2th ed). International student Edition Pearce, J.& Robinson, R. (2009). Formulation, implementation& control of competitive strategy (11th ed ). McGraw. Hill international Edition Rugman, A. & Collinson,S (2009) International Business( 5th ed) Prentice Hall Edition. Thompson, J.& Martin, F.(2010) Strategic Management : Awareness and Change(6th ed) South-western Edition Trigg, M. &Trigg, D( 1995) â€Å" Disney’s European theme park adventure: a clash of cultures† Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal. Vol2.No.2. PP.13-22 Makino, S.& Tsang, E(2011) Historical ties and foreign direct investment, JIBS, 42:545-557 Wall, S. Zimmermann, C. Klingebiel, R.& Lange,D. (2010)Strategic Reconfigurations: Building Dynamic Capabilities in Rapid Innovation-based Industries. Mixed sources edition.

Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Crisis Essay

Johnson & Johnson had manufactured Extra-Strength Tylenol in capsule and tablet form since 1959. Tylenol became one of Johnson & Johnson’s most successful products, accounting for 17 percent of the company’s profits. Extra-Strength Tylenol constituted 70 percent of all Tylenol sales. Johnson & Johnson also enjoyed a tremendous amount of trust and goodwill from the public, nurtured in part by its adherence to the company credo of responsibility to customers, employees, shareholders, and the community. In 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules that were laced with cyanide. After this incident, the CEO of Johnson & Johnson was faced with very serious, important decisions; should he recall only the extra strength Tylenol in Chicago or nationwide? He was also concerned that this incident would forever ruin the Tylenol name, even after the investigation, proved that the tampering did not occur within the company. I would have advised the CEO of the company to make a public announcement, assuring the pubic that these cases were isolated to the Chicago area, that this was by no way caused by the negligence of Johnson & Johnson employees. Also, he would need to state that the company is doing everything possible to ensure that this does not occur again and that they were working closely with the authorities to determine the cause. I would also advise a nationwide recall. I believe that a recall should have been issued for the entire nation. Although this would cause a significant loss for the company, it would save their reputation. It would ensure the customers that the CEO was doing everything possible to protect them, which would help reestablish their trust in the company. If a recall were not issued, people still would not be buying the product and it would sit on shelves for months, even years, because people would always be fearful they would get a bad batch. If a recall were issued, this would not be called into question. The new batches would be issued with a tamper evident seal and there would be no question whether or not they were tampered with again. From an economic point of view, recalling the product resulted in a loss of an estimated $150 million dollars. Legally speaking, recalling the product could have saved Johnson & Johnson millions of dollars in law suits not to mention certain laws that they had to abide by through the food and drug administration. Morally, Johnson & Johnson did the right thing. They removed their product from store shelves, re-embedded a certain amount of trust in their company and potentially saved many, many more lives. These results do not significantly differ from the decision Johnson & Johnson eventually made. Economically, the company suffered for a short period of time, but returned full force after precautions were made to ensure this never happened again, sealing the future of the company, literally and figuratively. The company benefitted from their credo because they stated their responsibilities and what they valued to the public which reinstated a certain amount of trust in the company again. There are other companies since Johnson & Johnson that could have used a similar credo, for instance the peanut butter incident and the formula incident (both from a couple years ago). Both of these cases were similar because it involved poisoning of a product. The companies also eventually bounced back from the incident. I believe that the credo had a great deal to do with saving the company brand because it stated all of the main goals and responsibilities of Johnson & Johnson. However, I think that developing the tamper-resistant packaging, recalling the product, and distributing over 80 million in coupons also had a great deal to do with it. Without all of these factors though, who knows whether or not the company would have been able to recover from this incident. I believe that Johnson & Johnson should not have continued to market the capsule form as soon as it returned to the market. The incident was too fresh in the publics’ mind for it to sell as well as it had before the incident. I do however feel that the capsule form should have been reintroduced to the market after a few years. Upon discovering that there was another death three years later from a similar incident, I would advise the company to ensure that this death was not from the previously recalled batch. Also, since this incident was isolated to one person, it would seem that someone tampered with that particular bottle. With all of the new tamper-resistant packaging it would be nearly impossible for someone to poison a bottle with it going unnoticed. However, I would advise the CEO of Johnson & Johnson to inform the public of the incident instead of trying to conceal it. I would be much more interested in purchasing a product from an honest company than one who hides mishaps.

Shadow Kiss Chapter 2

TWO Or, well, it looked like mason. He – or it or whatever – was hard to see. I had to keep squinting and blinking to get him in focus. His form was insubstantial – almost translucent – and kept fading in and out of my field of vision. But yes, from what I could see, he definitely looked like Mason. His features were washed out, making his fair skin look whiter than I recalled. His reddish hair now appeared as a faint, watery orange. I could barely even see his freckles. He was wearing exactly what I'd last seen him in: jeans and a yellow fleece jacket. The edge of a green sweater peeped out from underneath the coat's hem. Those colors, too, were all softened. He looked like a photograph that someone had left out in the sun, causing it to fade. A very, very faint glow seemed to outline his features. The part that struck me the most – aside from the fact that he was supposed to be dead – was the look on his face. It was sad – so, so sad. Looking into his eyes, I felt my heart break. All the memories of what had taken place just a few weeks ago came rushing back to me. I saw it all again: his body falling, the cruel look on the Strigoi faces†¦. A lump formed in my throat. I stood there frozen, stunned and unable to move. He studied me too, his expression never changing. Sad. Grim. Serious. He opened his mouth, like he might speak, and then closed it. Several more heavy moments hung between us, and then he lifted his hand and extended it toward me. Something in that motion snapped me out of my daze. No, this could not be happening. I wasn't seeing this. Mason was dead. I'd seen him die. I'd held his body. His fingers moved slightly, like he was beckoning, and I panicked. Backing up a few steps, I put distance between us and waited to see what would happen. He didn't follow. He simply stood there, hand still in the air. My heart lurched, and I turned and ran. When I'd almost reached the door, I stopped and glanced back, letting my ragged breathing calm down. The clearing he'd stood in was completely empty. I made it up to my room and slammed the door behind me, hands shaking. I sank onto my bed and replayed what had just happened. What the hell? That had not been real. No way. Impossible. Mason was dead, and everyone knows the dead don't come back. Well, yeah, I had come back†¦but that was a different situation. Clearly, I'd imagined this. That was it. It had to be. I was overtired and still reeling from Lissa and Christian, not to mention that Victor Dashkov news. Probably the cold had frozen part of my brain too. Yes, the more I thought about it, the more I decided there had to be a hundred explanations for what had just happened. Yet, no matter how often I told myself that, I couldn't fall back asleep. I lay in my bed, covers pulled to my chin as I tried to banish that haunting image from my mind. I couldn't. All I could see were those sad, sad eyes, those eyes that seemed to say, Rose, why did you let this happen to me? I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to think about him. Since Mason's funeral, I'd been working so hard to go on and act like I was strong. But the truth was, I was nowhere near being over his death. I tortured myself day after day with what if? questions. What if I'd been faster and stronger during the Strigoi fight? What if I hadn't told him where the Strigoi were in the first place? And what if I'd simply been able to return his love? Any of those could have kept him alive, but none of them had happened. And it was all my fault. â€Å"I imagined it,† I whispered out loud into the darkness of my room. I had to have imagined it. Mason already haunted my dreams. I didn't need to see him when I was awake too. â€Å"It wasn't him.† It couldn't have been him, because the only way it could have been was†¦Well, that was something I didn't want to think about. Because while I believed in vampires and magic and psychic powers, I most certainly did not believe in ghosts. I apparently didn't believe in sleep, either, because I didn't get much of it that night. I tossed and turned, unable to quiet my racing mind. I eventually did drift off, but it seemed like my alarm went off so soon after that I could have hardly slept for more than a few minutes. Among humans, the light of day tends to chase off nightmares and fear. I had no such daylight; I awoke to increasing darkness. But just being out with real and living people had nearly the same effect, and as I went to breakfast and my morning practice, I found that what I'd seen last night – or what I thought I'd seen last night – was growing fainter and fainter in my memory. The weirdness of that encounter was also being replaced by something else: excitement. This was it. The big day. The start of our field experience. For the next six weeks, I wouldn't have any classes. I'd get to spend my days hanging out with Lissa, and the most I'd have to do was write a daily field report that was only about a half-page long. Easy. And, yeah, of course I'd be on guard duty, but I wasn't concerned. That was second nature to me. She and I had lived among humans for two years, and I'd protected her the whole time. Before that, when I'd been a freshman, I'd seen the kinds of tests the adult guardians planned for novices during this phase. The ordeals were tricky, absolutely. A novice had to be on watch and not slack – and be ready to defend and attack if necessary. None of that worried me, though. Lissa and I had been away from the school our sophomore and junior years, and I'd fallen behind then. Thanks to my extra practices with Dimitri, I'd quickly caught up and was now one of the best in my class. â€Å"Hey, Rose.† Eddie Castile caught up to me as I walked into the gym where our field experience orientation would kick off. For a brief moment, looking at Eddie, my heart sank. Suddenly, it was like I was out in the quad again with Mason, staring at his sorrowful face. Eddie – along with Lissa's boyfriend, Christian, and a Moroi named Mia – had been with our group when we'd been captured by Strigoi. Eddie hadn't died, obviously, but he'd come very close to it. The Strigoi who'd held us had used him as food, feeding from him throughout our capture in an effort to tease the Moroi and scare the dhampirs. It had worked; I'd been terrified. Poor Eddie had been unconscious for most of the ordeal, thanks to blood loss and the endorphins that came from a vampire's bite. He'd been Mason's best friend and nearly as funny and lighthearted. But since we'd escaped, Eddie had changed, just like I had. He was still quick to smile and laugh, but there was a grimness to him now, a dark and serious look in his eyes that was always on guard for the worst to happen. That was understandable, of course. He pretty much had seen the worst happen. Just like with Mason's death, I held myself responsible for this transformation in Eddie and for what he'd suffered at the hands of the Strigoi. That may not have been fair to me, but I couldn't help it. I felt like I owed him now, like I needed to protect him or make things up to him somehow. And that was kind of funny, because I think Eddie was trying to protect me. He wasn't stalking me or anything, but I'd noticed him keeping an eye on me. I think after what had happened, he felt he owed it to Mason to watch over his girlfriend. I never bothered to tell Eddie that I hadn't been Mason's girlfriend, not in the real sense of the word, just as I never rebuked Eddie for his big brother behavior. I could certainly take care of myself. But whenever I heard him warning other guys away from me, pointing out that I wasn't ready to date anyone yet, I saw no point in interfering. It was all true. I wasn't ready to date. Eddie gave me a lopsided smile that added a little boy type of cuteness to his long face. â€Å"Are you excited?† â€Å"Hell, yeah,† I said. Our classmates were filling in bleachers on one side of the gym, and we found a clear spot near the middle. â€Å"It's going to be like a vacation. Me and Lissa, together for six weeks.† As frustrating as our bond was sometimes, it nonetheless made me her ideal guardian. I always knew where she was and what was happening to her. Once we graduated and were out in the world, I'd be assigned to her officially. He turned thoughtful. â€Å"Yeah, I guess you don't have to worry as much. You know your assignment when you graduate. The rest of us aren't so lucky.† â€Å"You got your sights set on someone royal?† I teased. â€Å"Well, it doesn't matter. Most guardians are assigned to royals lately anyway.† That was true. Dhampirs – half-vampires like me – were in short supply, and royals usually got first pick of guardians. There was a time in the past when more Moroi, royal and non-royal alike, would have gotten guardians, and novices like us would have competed fiercely to get assigned to someone important. Now it was almost a given that every guardian would work for a royal family. There weren't enough of us to go around, and less influential families were on their own. â€Å"Still,† I said, â€Å"I guess it's a question of which royal you get, right? I mean, some are total snobs, but lots of them are cool. Get someone really rich and powerful, and you could be living at the Royal Court or traveling to exotic places.† That last part appealed to me a lot, and I often had fantasies of Lissa and me traveling the world. â€Å"Yup,† agreed Eddie. He nodded toward a few guys in the front row. â€Å"You wouldn't believe the way those three have been sucking up to some of the Ivashkovs and Szelskys. It won't affect their assignments here, of course, but you can tell they're already trying to set things up after graduation.† â€Å"Well, the field experience can affect that. How we're rated on this will go into our records.† Eddie nodded again and started to say something when a loud, clear feminine voice cut through the murmur of our conversation. We both looked up. While we'd been talking, our instructors had gathered in front of the bleachers and now stood facing us in an impressive line. Dimitri was among them, dark and imposing and irresistible. Alberta was trying to call us to attention. The crowd fell silent. â€Å"All right,† she began. Alberta was in her fifties, wiry and tough. Seeing her reminded me of the conversation she and Dimitri had had last night, but I filed that away for later. Victor Dashkov was not going to ruin this moment. â€Å"You all know why you're here.† We'd become so quiet, so tense and excited, that her voice now rang through the gym. â€Å"This is the most important day of your education before you take your final trials. Today you will find out which Moroi you've been placed with. Last week, you were given a booklet with the full details of how the next six weeks will play out. I trust you've all read it by now.† I had, actually. I'd probably never read anything so thoroughly in my life. â€Å"Just to recap, Guardian Alto will highlight the main rules of this exercise.† She handed a clipboard to Guardian Stan Alto. He was one of my least favorite instructors, but after Mason's death, some of the tension between us had lightened. We understood each other better now. â€Å"Here we go,† said Stan gruffly. â€Å"You'll be on duty six days a week. This is actually a treat for you guys. In the real world, you're usually working every day. You will accompany your Moroi everywhere – to class, to their dorms, to their feedings. Everything. It's up to you to figure out how you fit into their lives. Some Moroi interact with their guardians just like friends; some Moroi prefer you to be more of an invisible ghost who doesn't talk to them.† Did he have to use the word ghost? â€Å"Every situation is different, and you two will have to find a way to work it out to best ensure their safety. â€Å"Attacks may come at any time, anywhere, and we'll be dressed in all black when it happens. You should always be on your guard. Remember, even though you'll obviously know it's us doing the attacking and not real Strigoi, you should respond as though your lives are in terrible, immediate danger. Don't be afraid of hurting us. Some of you, I'm sure, won't have any qualms about getting us back for past grievances.† Students in the crowd giggled at this. â€Å"But some of you may feel like you have to hold back, for fear of getting in trouble. Don't. You'll get in more trouble if you do hold back. Don't worry. We can take it.† He flipped to the next page of his clipboard. â€Å"You will be on duty twenty-four hours a day for your six-day cycles, but you may sleep during daylight when your Moroi does. Just be aware that although Strigoi attacks are rare in daylight, they aren't impossible indoors, and you will not necessarily be ‘safe' during these times.† Stan read over a few more technicalities, and I found myself tuning them out. I knew this stuff. We all did. Glancing around, I could see I wasn't alone in my impatience. Excitement and apprehension crackled in the crowd. Hands were clenched. Eyes were wide. We all wanted our assignments. We all wanted this to begin. When Stan finished, he handed the clipboard to Alberta. â€Å"Okay,† she said. â€Å"I'm going to call out your names one by one and announce who you're paired with. At that time, come down here to the floor, and Guardian Chase will give you a packet containing information about your Moroi's schedule, past, etcetera.† We all straightened up as she leafed through her papers. Students whispered. Beside me, Eddie exhaled heavily. â€Å"Oh man. I hope I get someone good,† he muttered. â€Å"I don't want to be miserable for the next six weeks.† I squeezed his arm reassuringly. â€Å"You will,† I whispered back. â€Å"Er, get someone good, I mean. Not be miserable.† â€Å"Ryan Aylesworth,† Alberta announced clearly. Eddie flinched, and I instantly knew why. Before, Mason Ashford had always been the first one called on any class lists. That would never happen again. â€Å"You are assigned to Camille Conta.† â€Å"Damn,† muttered someone behind us, who'd apparently been hoping to get Camille. Ryan was one of the suck-ups in the front row, and he grinned broadly as he walked over to take his packet. The Contas were an up-and-coming royal family. It was rumored that one of their members was a candidate for when the Moroi queen eventually named her heir. Plus, Camille was pretty cute. Following her around wouldn't be too hard for any guy. Ryan, walking with a swagger, seemed very pleased with himself. â€Å"Dean Barnes,† she said next. â€Å"You have Jesse Zeklos.† â€Å"Ugh,† Eddie and I both said together. If I'd been assigned to Jesse, he would have needed an extra person to protect him. From me. Alberta kept reading names, and I noticed Eddie was sweating. â€Å"Please, please let me get someone good,† he muttered. â€Å"You will,† I said. â€Å"You will.† â€Å"Edison Castile,† Alberta announced. He gulped. â€Å"Vasilisa Dragomir.† Eddie and I both froze for the space of a heartbeat, and then duty made him stand up and head toward the floor. As he stepped down the bleachers, he shot me a quick, panicked look over his shoulder. His expression seemed to say, I don't know! I don't know! That made two of us. The world around me slowed to a blur. Alberta kept calling names, but I didn't hear any of them. What was going on? Clearly, someone had made a mistake. Lissa was my assignment. She had to be. I was going to be her guardian when we graduated. This made no sense. Heart racing, I watched Eddie walk over to Guardian Chase and get his packet and practice stake. He glanced down at the papers immediately, and I suspected he was double-checking the name, certain there was a mix-up. The expression on his face when he looked up told me that it was Lissa's name he'd found. I took a deep breath. Okay. No need to panic just yet. Someone had made a clerical error here, one that could be fixed. In fact, they'd have to fix it soon. When they got to me and read Lissa's name again, they were going to realize they'd double-booked one of the Moroi. They'd straighten it out and give Eddie someone else. After all, there were plenty of Moroi to go around. They outnumbered dhampirs at the school. â€Å"Rosemarie Hathaway.† I tensed. â€Å"Christian Ozera.† I simply stared at Alberta, unable to move or respond. No. She had not just said what I thought. A few people, noticing my lack of movement, glanced back at me. But I was dumbstruck. This wasn't happening. My Mason delusion from last night seemed more real than this. A few moments later, Alberta also realized I wasn't moving. She looked up from her clipboard with annoyance, scanning the crowd. â€Å"Rose Hathaway?† Someone elbowed me, like maybe I didn't recognize my own name. Swallowing, I stood and walked down the bleachers, robot-like. There was a mistake. There had to be a mistake. I headed toward Guardian Chase, feeling like a puppet that someone else was controlling. He handed me my packet and a practice stake meant to â€Å"kill† the adult guardians with, and I stepped out of the way for the next person. Disbelieving, I read the words on the packet's cover three times. Christian Ozera. Flipping it open, I saw his life spread out before me. A current picture. His class schedule. His family tree. His bio. It even went into detail about his parents' tragic history, how they'd chosen to become Strigoi and had murdered several people before finally being hunted down and killed. Our directions at this point had been to read through our dossiers, pack a bag, and then meet up with our Moroi at lunch. As more names were called, many of my classmates lingered around the gym, talking to their friends and showing off their packets. I hovered near one group, discreetly waiting for a chance to talk to Alberta and Dimitri. It was a sign of my newly developing patience that I didn't walk right up to them then and there and demand answers. Believe me, I wanted to. Instead, I let them go through their list, but it felt like forever. Honestly, how long did it take to read a bunch of names? When the last novice had been assigned his Moroi, Stan shouted above the din for us to move on to the next stage of the assignment and tried to herd out my classmates. I cut through the crowd and stalked up to Dimitri and Alberta, who blessedly were standing with each other. They were chatting about something administrative and didn't notice me right away. When they did glance at me, I held up my packet and pointed. â€Å"What's this?† Alberta's face looked blank and confused. Something in Dimitri's told me he'd been expecting this. â€Å"It's your assignment, Miss Hathaway,† Alberta said. â€Å"No,† I said through gritted teeth. â€Å"It's not. This is somebody else's assignment.† â€Å"The assignments in your field experience aren't optional,† she told me sternly. â€Å"Just as your assignments in the real world won't be. You can't pick who you protect based on whim and mood, not here and certainly not after graduation.† â€Å"But after graduation, I'm going to be Lissa's guardian!† I exclaimed. â€Å"Everyone knows that. I'm supposed to have her for this thing.† â€Å"I know it's an accepted idea that you'll be together after graduation, but I do not recall any mandatory rulings that say you're ‘supposed' to have her or anyone here at school. You take who you're assigned.† â€Å"Christian?† I threw my packet on the floor. â€Å"You're out of your mind if you think I'm guarding him.† â€Å"Rose!† snapped Dimitri, joining the conversation at last. His voice was so hard and so sharp that I flinched and forgot what I was saying for half a second. â€Å"You're out of line. You do not speak to your instructors like that.† I hated being chastised by anyone. I especially hated being chastised by him. And I especially hated being chastised by him when he was right. But I couldn't help it. I was too angry, and the lack of sleep was taking its toll. My nerves felt raw and strained, and suddenly, little things seemed difficult to bear. And big things like this? Impossible to bear. â€Å"Sorry,† I said with great reluctance. â€Å"But this is stupid. Nearly as stupid as not bringing us to Victor Dashkov's trial.† Alberta blinked in surprise. â€Å"How did you know – Never mind. We'll deal with that later. For now, this is your assignment, and you need to do it.† Eddie suddenly spoke up beside me, his voice filled with apprehension. I'd lost track of him earlier. â€Å"Look †¦ I don't mind†¦. We can switch†¦.† Alberta turned her stony gaze from me to him. â€Å"No, you certainly cannot. Vasilisa Dragomir is your assignment.† She looked back at me. â€Å"And Christian Ozera is yours. End of discussion.† â€Å"This is stupid!† I repeated. â€Å"Why should I waste my time with Christian? Lissa's the one I'm going to be with when I graduate. Seems like if you want me to be able to do a good job, you should have me practice with her.† â€Å"You will do a good job with her,† said Dimitri. â€Å"Because you know her. And you have your bond. But somewhere, someday, you could end up with a different Moroi. You need to learn how to guard someone with whom you have absolutely no experience.† â€Å"I have experience with Christian,† I grumbled. â€Å"That's the problem. I hate him.† Okay, that was a huge exaggeration. Christian annoyed me, true, but I didn't really hate him. As I'd said, working together against the Strigoi had changed a lot of things. Again, I felt like my lack of sleep and general irritability were cranking up the magnitude of everything. â€Å"So much the better,† said Alberta. â€Å"Not everyone you protect will be your friend. Not everyone you protect will be someone you like. You need to learn this.† â€Å"I need to learn how to fight Strigoi,† I said. â€Å"I've learned that in class.† I fixed them with a sharp look, ready to play my trump card. â€Å"And I've done it in person.† â€Å"There's more to this job than the technicalities, Miss Hathaway. There's a whole personal aspect – a bedside manner, if you will – that we don't touch on much in class. We teach you how to deal with the Strigoi. You need to learn how to deal with the Moroi yourselves. And you in particular need to deal with someone who has not been your best friend for years.† â€Å"You also need to learn what it's like to work with someone when you can't instantly sense that they're in danger,† added Dimitri. â€Å"Right,† agreed Alberta. â€Å"That's a handicap. If you want to be a good guardian – if you want to be an excellent guardian – then you need to do as we say.† I opened my mouth to fight this, to argue that having someone I was so close to would train me up faster and make me a better guardian for any other Moroi. Dimitri cut me off. â€Å"Working with another Moroi will also help keep Lissa alive,† he said. That shut me down. It was pretty much the only thing that could have, and damn him, he knew it. â€Å"What do you mean?† I asked. â€Å"Lissa's got a handicap too – you. If she never has a chance to learn what it's like to be guarded by someone without a psychic connection, she could be at greater risk if attacked. Guarding someone is really a two-person relationship. This assignment for your field experience is as much for her as for you.† I stayed silent as I processed his words. They almost made sense. â€Å"And,† added Alberta, â€Å"it's the only assignment you're going to get. If you don't take it, then you opt out of the field experience.† Opt out? Was she crazy? It wasn't like a class I could sit out from for one day. If I didn't do my field experience, I didn't graduate. I wanted to explode about unfairness, but Dimitri stopped me without saying a word. The constant, calm look in his dark eyes held me back, encouraging me to accept this gracefully – or as close as I could manage. Reluctantly I picked up the packet. â€Å"Fine,† I said icily. â€Å"I'll do this. But I want it noted that I'm doing this against my will.† â€Å"I think we already figured that out, Miss Hathaway,† remarked Alberta dryly. â€Å"Whatever. I still think it's a horrible idea, and you eventually will too.† I turned and stormed off across the gym before any of them could respond. In doing so, I fully realized what a bitchy little brat I sounded like. But if they'd just endured their best friend's sex life, seen a ghost, and hardly gotten any sleep, they'd have been bitchy too. Plus, I was about to spend six weeks with Christian Ozera. He was sarcastic, difficult, and made jokes about everything. Actually, he was a lot like me. It was going to be a long six weeks.

Two short answers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Two short answers - Assignment Example in 2421 according to place values where digit ‘1’ is in ones place whereas the ‘2’ beside it falls in the tens place the next ‘4’ and ‘2’ toward the left are each in hundreds and thousands places, respectively. Then to come up with a scientific notation, the child must note first that the decimal point in that order lies at the right side of the digit bearing the ones place and he or she should move it as many times as until the point reaches the spot between the two leftmost digits which, in this case, are 2 and 4. Consequently, that should make 2.421 then the child must be instructed that the number of times the decimal point is moved would be power of ten that goes with 2.421. Since the point has been moved three times from right to left as indicated, therefore the scientific notation of 2421 ought to be 2.421 x 103 (Banfill). One point would be for the clients to keep track of the list of medications provided by the physician, noting that the more prescribed medicines or drugs taken, the more likely that food and drug interactions would occur. Besides this and the risk factors that include age, gender, medical history, and body composition, a client must understand how drugs alone are acquired by the human body. Second point is to bear in mind that, like food, drug is broken down into useful form through dissolution in the stomach and travels via the bloodstream upon absorption into sites where it needs to operate and perform its repairing action once it has obtained body response or signals. The most important point to consider is the knowledge of the stages in which food may potentially interfere with drug work such as during the process of substance absorption so that when this happens, drug tends to function less effectively. Equivalently, food may also affect the efficiency of drug when food nutrien ts and chemicals react to the drug first yielding new products that may work differently compared to the original components of the medical

The alternative existence system for Scotland Essay

The alternative existence system for Scotland - Essay Example Scotland was very slow to industrialization than other parts of the region. There were a number of attempts to awake Scottish consciousness. The famous Covenants revolution was such an attempt. Relying on sixteenth century philosopher George Buchanan's arguments that royal power came from the people and if rulers forget it, people can take that powers back, there were movements in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century against the rulers. The Marquis of Montrose's brutal attempts at repression with an army of Irish Catholic mercenaries were also to feed into the Scottish consciousness. Like all the Stewarts, Charles II learned little from the past and, while he survived, his brother paid the price of attempts to impose bishops and subsequently Catholicism. This was the beginning of self-rule by Scots. The Scotland has seen a high level of intellectual activity by the end of the sixteenth century. Level of literacy in this area was higher than that of England. There were lot of discussions and debates on intellectual subjects. But their high obsession with religion was a major challenge. The cash trapped Scots were happy with the Union of 1707.Even though there were some resistance Scots generally has ambition for merger with England. With the Act of Union, England and Scotalnd became a union called Kingdom of Great Britain. Till then both these regions were sharing a monarch but retined soverign Parliament. But the new act abolished both Parliaments with a new Parliament of Great Britain. The subsequent Scottish Enlightment and industrial revelotion had helped Scotland to become a major intellectual power house of Europe. But after the second world war had left it again as a cash straped region. During the war Scotland had provided a disproportionate number of recruits for the army. Many young lives lost and many villages and communities suffered crucially. During the 1920s and 1930s global recession had also played a major role in increasing poverty and unemployement scenario in Scotland. During Second World War period naval bases and infrastructure in Scotalnd was a target for German forces. The highlands again suffered huge human loss due to large number recruits from this area for UK army. (Kellas, J. G. The Scottish political system. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984) But in the end of 20th century it has been in the process of regaing its past glory with the strength of cultural and economic renaissance and resurging financial services sector. But the Union had created many problems for Scotland also. Culture, language and land ownership situation had been distroyed. Earlier ownership of land was with the Clan, but British had encouraged Clan chiefs to become owners of the land in their control. This has created a lot impact on the lives of Scots. So many people were forced eviciton from highland areas, popularly later known as highland clearance. People had moved to low land areas. However it was the Scottish agricultural revelotuion, which changed the low land area and the traditional farming methods were replaced by efficient and stable agricultural syste. This also ignited more migration to low land area. The agricultural revolution had helped Scottish agriculture to become the most modern productive system in Europe. The first two world wars

Examining My Community's Source of Energy Essay

Examining My Community's Source of Energy - Essay Example This paper seeks to establish the sources of energy in Hillsborough County, Florida both at the basic home level and the community level. It will look into the type of energy in use and the approximate cost of energy from the household to the community. This will also include the impacts of the energy source to the community over the time it has been in use and seek to establish new alternative sources that can effectively replace the existing sources with consideration to the effects both to the household and the environment. Sources of energy for the community Hillsborough County in Florida is a community that has several choices on the sources of energy to use. This comes as a result of the availability of several companies that specialize in provision of the different types of energy. Currently, there are around sixteen energy production companies in the area. The common types of energy source in use are coal, electricity, solar energy and wood. However, is worth noting that thes e sources of energy are mostly generated locally which leads to the centralized pollution system to the environment by the well over sixteen companies in the area. ... The coal is also used for the same reason of heat and energy production by the companies though there are a small number of households that make home use of it. Impacts of available energy sources on home and community The discussion about use of coal, wood and the production of electricity are all embroiled in the fact that to some extent, they all pollute the environment. The United States of America is one of the countries with the highest use of coal. In the locality, the disaster caused by the use of coal cannot be undermined. One effect of coal use is the radiation exposure. Coal is known to contain traces of Uranium and Thorium which are radioactive materials that occur naturally occur naturally. The coal wastes from the plants are known to be highly disastrous than the direct emissions from a nuclear plant. The other long term effects of the gases released from the use of coal are those associated with the greenhouse gas release to the environment. These greenhouse gases are of great hazard especially to the ozone layer depletion. The third negated effect of coal use is that it causes so many annual deaths. In the United States at large, the deaths resulting from the coal particulate pollution and ground level ozone without effective pollution control measures is on the increase. The deaths are caused by probable development of lung cancer, heart attacks and the acute bronchitis to the victims. Coal also when used even in traces release methyl mercury to the environment. This is a mercury emission that is very fatal to the plant and animal life. The air emissions related to use of coal in this environment is of absolute interest. There are a

CRJS406(2) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CRJS406(2) - Research Paper Example Even though these characteristics are simple concepts, in some instances it is not easy for investigators to discern their meanings or uniquely identify them to a source. Hence, the aim of this paper is to discuss how investigators can identify class and individual characteristics evidences and their significance to the court process. Class and Individual Characteristic Evidence Class Characteristics evidences are those that no matter how painstakingly they are scrutinized, an explicit identification can never be realized, and they are thus categorized within a group or cluster (Brown, 2001). Under class characteristic evidences, there is commonly the likelihood of having in excess of one source for the material discovered, and they are applied in narrowing down a catalog of possible items or suspects. For instance, there are thousands of polyester fiber with definite shapes, outlines and colors; however, all of them have similar chemical nature, which makes it hard to identify the i tem as the specific one in a crime scene (Brown, 2001). Secondly, while human hair possesses similar class characteristics under microscopic observation whereby the medullas are either disjointed or nonexistent, the color and size pattern varies from all over the whole scalp in just a single person. This then makes it hard to positively point out that a hair sample belongs to a particular individual. Other forms of class characteristic evidences include blood samples, soil samples, and paint, in addition to glass fragments (Gardner, 2011). Conversely, individual characteristics evidences are those, which can be positively identified from a particular individual or a particular source due to existence of adequate microscopic inscriptions or even accidental markings (Gardner, 2011). Individual characteristics have unique physical qualities that are exceptional to a certain evidence item mainly due to natural variations, inadvertent damage and natural dress in. Some examples of individ ual characteristic evidences comprises fingerprints pattern, striation marks located in firearms, shoe prints, and blood or semen DNA code. Others include glass pieces whereby broken edges match each other, in addition to pattern formed by ejectors or firing-pin marks of fired cartridges (Buckles, 2010). Class Characteristics and Court Class characteristics evidences mainly aid in the buildup of circumstantial evidences during cases, and during substantiation of alibi false. This is because class characteristic evidences can offer a distinct negative or a positive substantiation that a certain portion of the evidence did not emerge from a source (DuPre, 2013). For a case to have good chances based on presentation of class characteristic evidence, the investigator should have a bigger number of classifying features, or otherwise massive amounts of diverse types of class evidence. Hence, class evidences are important mostly in proving of definite negative in court. For instance, in ra pe the identifying features like hair strands, blood samples, and semen samples can be proved not to come from a certain individual. Class Characteristic and Investigator The value of class characteristic evidences for an investigator rests in its capacity to substantiate events using facts that are

Degrauwe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Degrauwe - Essay Example The EMF must, therefore, employ a more intelligent approach than that previously employed by its predecessor. During the period the EFSF was in existence, the interest rates charged were extremely high. For instance, in the case of Ireland, the interest rate charged by the EFSF on the Irish rescue program was up to six percent. The effect of this was very unfortunate: first of all, it made the Irish government experience hardship when trying to reduce its budget deficits that would consequently reduce the debt accumulated. Secondly, the EFSF charged Ireland an interest rate that was three percent above what had been charged on Germans, Dutch, and the Austrian government, which is a risk free rate. Simply put, what the EFSF did sent the signal that with such rates there was a risk of default. Meaning, the government of Ireland was not in a position to recover and put its budgetary situation in order. This should explain why the financial market developed mistrust that led to them also charging high risk premiums that consequently led to a high risk of default (Degrauwe p12). It is not easy for governments to borrow money from the Eurozone in their own currencies. This is because there are quite a number of challenges that countries face by going this direction. One major challenge is that the European debt crisis is treated as a series of a country’s individual problem and not as a collective responsibility that has occurred as an outcome of systematic problems in the Eurozone. This makes the economic sovereignty of a member state become vulnerable whenever they are in debt. This is because unfavourable market sentiments can force them to default. This may lead a country to a situation of being in unstable as a consequence of high interest rate. The high interest rate on a country means that domestic lenders will also have to demand high interests on borrowers and this is what leads to economic crisis (Degrauwe p12). Another

What a women looks like Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What a women looks like - Assignment Example The main essence lies in the exploring of how the country persistently follows the formula of tracing and evaluating an individuals’ characters according to their looks and attires. â€Å"In a highly mobile society, where first impressions are important and where selling oneself is the most highly cultivated â€Å"skill,† the construction of appearances becomes more and more imperative.† (Ewen, 1988: 85). Throughout the past and in the present as well, America’s view for women and men based on their appearance and dress remains unchanged. This can be best established through Douglas Bradley Smith’s question in his Quarterly Journal of Speech which asks: (1977: 215) Why has no communication scholar bothered to decode the specific meanings of the American wardrobe? While total absorption in such details might reduce us to public relations consultants, to ignore such details is to deny the global nature of human interaction. Clothing persuades. According to Susan S. Gilpin, an Assistant Professor at Marshall University, the matter has still not been explored in a deeper level by communication scholars (Gilpin, 2009). Her remark, â€Å"The workplace inequalities legitimated by contemporary dress for success rhetoric still requires scholarly investigation and critique†, (Gilpin, 2009) lucidly confirms the America still judges individuals as per their looks and attire. Despite the prevailing trend of judging men and women on the basis of their appearance and dress, a different school of thoughts still claims that America’s views in this regard has changed considerably. According to these opinions the country now perceives an individual by his or her potentials and qualities rather than the artificial facades. The best examples for them are Michale Jackson, who has rocked the world despite being not white and Barrack Obama, a black president

Latinos Communityeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Latinos Communityeth - Essay Example Latinos is a term used for the people who belong to Latin America. This region consists of each countries, each with their unique language, culture and identity. But their immigration to other countries of the world like United States of America and Spain have crushed their individual identity and made them popular as a collective unit, yet considered a minority and treated with biases and prejudice. This discrimination and highlight of a community aspect of Latinos has been mostly brought forward by the Spanish media, whether it be the television, newspapers, radio or the likes. Such media propogation by any country gives further impetus to different countries to form stereotypes and biases for these people. An Argentinian has a totally different culture than the Bolivian who lives in U.S., a Brazilian has different beliefs than a Colombian who works in U.S. and Ecuadorian will have different thought processes than a person from Panama who study together in U.S. Such differences nee d to be highlighted. Latin America's rich and diverse culture needs to be brought in front of the world but what media does is only show a cross-section of population from Latin America, collectively labels them as Latinos and ignores the diversity available in the region. This is an important topic to address as it wants to... Other topics would just have been an addition to the database of various papers who talk about Latinos. But talking about the injustice that they go through and the situation of being referred to as "Latinos" puts them in an advantageous position as a community and at a disadvantage when it comes to their individuality. This ambiguous situation is difficult to weigh and talked about rarely. The Latinos know what they go through but I, being a student, subjected to the study of Latino culture, want to unravel their range of cultures and individuality as written and argued by prominent authors. Many authors have written on the subject of Latino identity in U.S. and propogation by the Spanish Media. Let us analyse each book and what went in the writing of each: LATIN AMERICA AND ITS PEOPLE, VOLUME I This book has been beautifully penned down in unity by Martin C. and Wasserman, M. They have talked about Latin America till the 1830s. The writers have emphasized on the relationship that Latin America had with Spain. It got a kick start when Latin America got most of Spain's colonies, only with the exception of Cuba and Peurto Rico. This was the harvesting of the seeds of enmity in the heart of Spain. They had lost all their colonies to Latin America and therefore, from them onwards till date, they have used their media as a powerful tool against the Latinos. They are clever enough not to declare open wars against them, but are satisfied by what little damage they can create throught their media. The author has focused on all sides of Latin America, be it be social, political, environmental and cultural history. It does not focus on Latin America country by country, rather takes an all-region approach. But nonetheless, it does not ignore the

Critical discuss empirical evidence supporting, or challenging, Essay

Critical discuss empirical evidence supporting, or challenging, Noelle-Neumann' s theory of Spiral of Silence - Essay Example In addition, the people experiencing the circumstance of the theory often fear to lose their position in the society because of their divergent views (Donsbach, Salmon and Tsfati, 2013). Secondly, persons fear of adverse isolation or reprisal in a particular group. The individuals fear that their contribution to the group might lead to a negative impact on the operations of the group. The theory further expounds that individuals have a "quasi-statistical organ" which enable them to what characters and contributions will lead to their isolation by the majority people in the group. According the theory, the closer an individual perceives the opinion held agrees to the prevailing opinion of the public, the more the likelihood of the person disclosing their opinion regarding the topic (Mutz, 1998). In this case, people in a particular group tend to embrace the opinion of the majority in the society regardless of their personal opinions about the issue. Additionally, if the opinion of the public changes regarding a particular concept, the individual realizes that their opinion does not agree with the overall opinion of the public. Consequently, they tend to minimize their contribution in various public forums in the society. The interpretations of the Theory of Spiral of Silence focus on various aspects of the society such as political, economic and religious contexts . People in the various social contexts fail to contribute to the affairs of the society because of the effects of spiral of silence (Donsbach, Salmon and Tsfati, 2013). The spiral of silence starts with an in the initial contribution by the affected person top various issues in the society. According to the principles of the Spiral of Silence, an individual experiences the effects of the concept after their first opinion fails to concur with the overall opinion of the public (Daschmann, 2000). On religious context, people fail to criticize

Martha Graham Essay Example for Free

Martha Graham Essay Yes, I would do that. I had found my fate. †(Hari 70) Daoud Hari is a man that travels in and out of Darfur many, many times putting himself at risk. He was willing to risk his own life while many others think only of themselves. Bravery is not something many people are born with. Some people may obtain it and some do not. Martha Graham is one of the people that did obtain bravery, and it was a very strong bravery that is very rare to find. â€Å"Martha Graham’s dancing and choreography exposed the depths of human emotion through movements that were sharp, angular, jagged, and direct. (â€Å"Martha Graham Dancer’s Journal†) Martha Graham experimented with many different movements and many different ways so her dancing was very different from the dance movement people were most comfortable with. Many people criticized her and told her that her work was too out of the ordinary. â€Å"If Graham ever gave birth,† one critic equipped, â€Å"it would be to a cube. † (â€Å"The Dancer†) No matter what critics said, she kept going. Martha Graham was an innovative and focused individual. Her love of dance was so intense she refused to leave the stage when critic’s said she was too old. That’s the type of bravery people need, the bravery to keep doing something that one believes in when the majority is against them. Daoud Hari’s bravery is similar to Martha Graham’s. Daoud Hari had to learn to accept what might happen to him if he kept returning to Darfur. Sometimes it is difficult to accept the fate, but Daoud Hari was willing to accept the possibility of death if it meant he could change the way people viewed Darfur. â€Å"No single group held the territory. There was no one to call for permission to come through. This is when it is most dangerous to travel. † (Hari 122) Daoud Hari always had to get where he needed to be. No matter what the circumstances were at the time, he provided as much information as possible to the reporters traveling with him to get the word out about Darfur. Armed with his ability to speak Zaghawa, Arabic, and English he was able to translate for the news and aid organizations. Even though the government of Sudan had outlawed journalists to the region, Daoud Hari risked the possibility of capture and even death. This is complete bravery- to accept something that could happen any moment of any day at any time. Heroes need to have trust in themselves. Martha Graham always had trust in herself no matter what she did. Most of her works she created were based on a historical or emotional feeling. â€Å"There are always ancestral footsteps behind me, pushing me, when I am creating a new dance, and gestures are flowing through me. Whether good or bad, they are ancestral. † (Yaari) The dances with a historic background behind them were called the Greek cycle. These dances were the ones that officially made her famous. The movements in them were so empowering people were shocked after experiencing them. The reason people liked them was because they related so much to how harsh history had been to society in the past and how it might be in the future. Serious issues such as the Great Depression and the Spanish Civil War were brought to the stage along with the dark emotions experienced by all. If she had never followed her brain, heart, or spirit then none of these dances would have come alive. Trusting in herself was a key factor in the making of many of her works. Martha Graham, much like Daoud Hari, had to find a way to believe in herself and take dance to the next level whether based on her gut feeling or her spirit regardless of what people thought of her. Daoud Hari always followed his gut. Whenever he saw people in pain, he would trust his gut and try and help the people in need no matter who they were or what they believed in. â€Å"The commander ordered a soldier to go get him some food, but I said that he must not eat our kind of food, that someone must go into town and get him an American-style sandwich that a white man could eat, and a coke or Pepsi. There was an argument about the cost of this, but I assured the commander that our food would kill this man, and I truly believed that he was not strong enough for anything but his own food. (Hari 160) Daoud Hari is one of the few in the world that could actually tell a guard to go get another prisoner food because the prisoner looked like he was about to die. Trusting his gut that the guard would do it is about 99% of the battle that he had to face. It was not getting the prisoners food; it was standing up to the guard and saying that he will die if he does not have an American- style meal. Martha Graham and Daoud H ari are both heroes in their own way. They both have confidence, bravery, and trust in themselves, which are the necessary traits that a hero needs to be a true hero. In the world there are people who see bad things being done to people and do not do anything about it and there are people who do something about the bad things being done. This is essential because Daoud Hari and Martha Graham both helped the people that needed to be helped. Martha Graham helped dancers develop a new style that they might like better than ballet, providing a wider spectrum to choose from. Daoud Hari helped numerous news reporters get into Darfur and get back out safely with what they wanted and what they needed to know about what is happening in Darfur.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne The scarlet letter A has a close interrelation to the novels thematic structure which is centered on the three scaffold scenes in chapter 2, chapter 12, and chapter 23. At the first scaffold scene, the author introduces the theme of sin, judgement and the religion. Dimmesdales moral conflict is shown on the second scaffold scene which symbolizes the center of conscience. At the last scaffold scene, Dimmesdale can escape from his guilt and reconciles with Hester. When when Dimmesdale dies, Chillingworth doesnt need for his revenge. And Pearl can have a life that is filled with love and happiness. Thus, the scarlet letter A affects the lives of the main characters, and it makes them be related with the symbol A: Hester Prynnes free will and adulterous relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale provoke the anger of Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdales passion leads him to his ruin, and Chillingworths search for the seducer of his wife implies the evil of the nature of man. Hypocritical effort to conceal their secret sins have Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth collapse. This kind of hypocrisy and the harsh and inhumane system make Hawthorn be disappointed with the Puritan society. Hawthorn criticizes this inhumane hypocrisy with the technique of tragic irony in the novel. For example, the irony of Dimmesdales situation is that he becomes imperfect by trying be perfect. The more his followers regard him as a saint, the more he should dismiss himself as the vilest of all sinners. Thus, the story is full of tragic irony, and the authors purposes are well represented by it. Paraphrase At the outset, Hester with black eyes and dark hair stands on the scaffold, holding her baby of three months old. With the scarlet letter A on her bosom, she stands for three hours on the scaffold. Though she is stigmatized by the scarlet letter on her breast, she has to withstand the public glances. Meanwhile, The Reverend Mr. Wilson delivers his speech about sin and emphasizes the symbolism of the letter A. He persuades Hester to uncover the father of her child, but she does not speak at all. She suddenly sees s Chillingworth, her husband, standing in the crowd. He makes a gesture with his fingers in order not to disclose his identity. Back in her prison, she is in a state of nervous frenzy. That evening, Chillingworth visits her in prison. She has an interview with him when he enters the dark prison as a physician who takes care of the distraught state of her after the public ordeal. She confesses to her husband that she does not feel any love for him. She admits that she has greatly wronged him with the letter of her shame, but she does not want to tell him who the childs father is. Asking her to promise never to reveal his true identity as her husband, Chillingworth decides to discover the father of Pearl. Three years after her releases from imprisonment, Hester does not leave Boston instead of moving into a small seaside shanty on the outskirts of Boston. She makes her living by doing stitchwork for local dignitaries, and spends her time helping the poor and the sick. She slowly gains respect from the people of Boston. Her skill at needlework, her acts of kindness, and her self-reliance make her scarlet letter stand for something other than adultery. Meanwhile, the Puritan authorities force Hester to give up her child, because an immoral woman like her is unfit to bring up a child. The governor Bellingham persuades Hester to raise Pearl in a Christian way and tries to take her away from Hester, but she does not give her up. As the years pass, Pearl grows up and becomes Hesters happiness and torture. Roger Chillingworth gets a good reputation as a physician, and becomes the medical adviser of Dimmesdale, giving him medical consultations. Because their intimate friendship develops, Dimmesdale even speaks of his personal matters to Chillingworth, and it makes them live in the same house together. Chillingworth finds that Dimmesdale is deeply concerned with Hester. Chillingworth eventually recognizes that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, and he decides to revenge. In order to get a confession from Dimmsdale, Chillingworth cautiously drives him to feel sinful. Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold one night. While he is standing there, Hester and Pearl come. Dimmesdale calls them to the scaffold, and they mount. The three of them stand hand-in-hand there. At the same instant, Chillingworth is again present. He cruelly watches them standing on the scaffold. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale tells Hester that he is afraid of Chillingworth. Hester realizes that Dimmsdale is slowly being killed by Chillingworth, so she decides to help him. Four years have gone by. Hesters position in the community has risen because of her charity. Her scarlet letter A now stands for Able. Meanwhile, Dimmesdales suffering makes his sermon become more humane. One day Hester sees Chillingworth picking herbs in the seashore, and she asks him to stop torturing Dimmesdale, and she tells him that she will disclose the fact that he is her husband to Dimmesdale. While Hester and Pearl are taking a walk in the forest, they meet Dimmesdale. He looks despaired as if he doesnt have any desire to live. He confesses his misery and unhappiness. Hester realizes that she still loves Dimmesdale, so she reveals the identity of Chillingworth as her husband. She asks him to forgive her deception. When Dimmesdale hears from Hester that Chillingworth is her husband, he is furious at first, but finally forgives her. They agree to leave this Puritan community and go to Europe together with Pearl. Dimmesdale believes that Europe offers more civilization and refi nement, so going to Europe is the better choice. Returning from the forest, Dimmesdale decides to expose himself for the peace of his own soul by confessing his sin in front of the whole congregation. He writes the Election Sermon with tremendous inspiration. The sermon is successful. Meanwhile, on the day when Hester finds a ship that will carry all three of them to Europe, Chillingworth asks the ships captain to take him on board. After Dimmsdale finishes his sermon, he beckons to Hester and Pearl to come. They go to the scaffold and stand there together in his penitence. Chillingworth tries to stop them, Dimmesdale uncovers the secret of his sin to the crowd. After telling the people that he is a sinner like Hester. He dies on the scaffold. After Dimmesdales death, Hester goes to Europe with her daughter. Pearl happily marries there, but Hester returns to Boston alone. She never removes her scarlet letter. When she dies, she is buried next to Dimmesdale. Her tombstone shares a scarlet letter A. with Dimmsdales. Connotation 1. Simile .I happened to place it on my breastIt seemed to me then, that I experienced a sensation not altogether physical, yet almost so, as of a burning heat; and as if the letter were not of red cloth, but red-hot iron. I shuddered, and involuntarily let it fall upon the floor. (P 30) The letter A is compared to burning heat or red hot iron: It shows the connections between spiritual perception of sin and the physical manifestation.(Simile) 2. Simile It might be, too, that a witch, like old Mistress Hibbins, the bitter tempered widow of the magistrate, was to die upon the gallows.(P 63) a witch, like old Mistress Hibbins: A witch is compared to old Mistress Hibbins.(Simile) 3. Onomatopoeia, Metaphor Ah, but, interposed, more softly, a young wife, holding a child by the hand, let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart.(P 66) pang.(Onomatopoeia) Pang in her heart is compared to sin as pain.(Metaphor) 4. Assonance, Alliteration On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony. (P 68) elaborate embroidery.(Assonance) fantastic flourishes.(Alliteration) 5. Imagery Never! Replied Hester Prynne, looking, not at Mr. Wilson, but into the deep and troubled eyes of the younger clergyman Dimmesdale. It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine! (P 91) deeply branded: Her sin is burned into her like branded cattle.(Imagery) 6. Simile Thy acts are like mercy, said Hester, bewildered and appalled. But thy words interpret thee as a terror! (P 101) Thy acts are like mercy: Chillingworths act is compared to the mercy on Hester.(Simile) thy words interpret thee as a terror: Chillingworths words are compared to a terror.(Simile) 7. Alliteration, Assonance, Imagery But there is a fatality, a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that it has the force of doom, which almost invariably compels human beings to linger around and haunt, ghostlike, the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime; and still the more irresistibly, the darker the tinge that saddens it. (P 105) a fatality, a feeling.(Alliteration) irresistible and inevitable.(Assonance) Linger, haunt, ghostlike is image of Hesters mind.(Imagery) 8. Alliteration, Imagery But it is not recorded that, in a single instance, her skill was called in aid to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride. (P 110) blushes of a bride.(Alliteration) White veil is the images of purity and absence of sin.(Imagery) 9. Alliteration, Simile She stood apart from moral interests, yet close beside them, like a ghost that revisits the familiar fireside and can no longer make itself seen or felt, no more smile with the household joy, nor mourn with the kindred sorrow; or, should it succeed in manifesting its forbidden sympathy, awakening only terror and horrible repugnance. (P 112) familiar fireside (Alliteration) like a ghost: Hester is compared to a ghost.(Simile) 10. Symbol, Imagery Throughout all, however, there was a trait of passion, a certain depth of hue.The child could not be made amenable to rules.The mothers impassioned state had been the medium through which were transmitted to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life; and, however white and clear originally, they had taken the deep stains of crimson and gold, the fiery lustre, the black shadow, and the untempered light of the intervening substance. Above all, the warfare of Hesters spirit, at that epoch, was perpetuated in Pearl. (P 121) Pearl is a symbol of Hesters sin (symbol) White and clear, crimson and gold, the fiery lustre, and the black shadow are the dual image about morality.(Imagery) 11. Symbol, Imagery I am my mothers child, answered the scarlet vision, and my name is Pearl! (P 154) Pearl is a symbol of her mother sin. In a way, Hester traded in everything she had; her marriage, her standing in a community.(Symbol) Christian image, Pearl of great price from Matthew 13:45-46.(Imagery) 12. Metaphor After putting her finger in her mouth, with many ungracious refusals to answer good Mr. Wilsons questions, the child finally announced that she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison-door.(p 157) Pearl is being a wild roses.(Metaphor) 13. Simile, Imagery Roger Chillingworth the man of skill, the kind and friendly physician- strove to go deep into his patients bosom, delving among his principles, prying into his recollections, and probing everything with a cautious touch, like a treasure-seeker in a dark cavern. Few secrets can escape an investigator, who has opportunity and license to undertake such a quest, and skill to follow it up. A man burdened with a secret should especially avoid the intimacy of his physician. (P 177) Treasure is compared to the seeker in a dark cavern (Simile) Being able to go through someones brain and see their thoughts (Imagery) 14. Imagery When, an uninstructed multitude attempts to see with its eyes, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived. When, however, it forms its judgment, as it usually does, on the intuitions of its great and warm heart, the conclusions thus attained are often so profound and so unerring, as to possess the character of truths supernaturally revealed. (P 182) Image of group or crowd, as if these people were a single person.(Imagery) 15. Allusion Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, mother, or he will catch you! But he cannot catch little Pearl! (P 193) Black man is an allusion to Satan, and occasionally a reference to Chillingworth.(Allusion) 16. Implication Then I need ask no further, said the clergyman, somewhat hastily rising from his chair. You deal not, I take it, in medicine for the soul! (P 196) Medicine for the soul is implication of spiritual healing. It is the one thing Dimmesdale needs. It is as if he recognize on some level that Chillingworth cannot help him.(Implication) 17. Metaphor, Implication But, if it be the souls disease, then do I commit myself to the one Physician of the soul!But who are thou, that meddlest in this matter? that dares thrust himself between the sufferer and his God? (P 197) Physician of soul is compared to God (Metaphor) Souls disease implies that the soul can be sick in much the same way the body can be sick.(Implication) 18. Metaphor, Allusion But with what a wild look of wonder, job, and horror! With what a ghastly rapture.making itself even riotously manifest by the extravagant gesture with which he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor! Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom. (P 199) Chiilingworths ecstasy is compared to Satans ecstasy.(Metaphor) His kingdom is Hell: Chillingworths joy over the suffering of another person is compared to Satans happiness when a sinner sins and gets another step closer to hell.(Allusion) 19. Metaphor, Oxymoron a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active nowwhich led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy. (P 201) Malice is metaphor for evil growing like a disease (Metaphor) Intimate revenge (Oxymoron) 20. Duality To the untrue man, the whole universe is false,- it is impalpable,- it shrinks to nothing within his grasp.The only truth that continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth was the anguish in his inmost soul (P 212) Existence or non-existence, true or false: Truth is equated to existence, and falseness is equated to non-existence. (Duality) 21. Irony Satan dropped it there, I take it, intending a scurrilous jest against your reverence. But, indeed, he was blind and foolish, as he ever and always is. A pure hand needs no glove to cover it! (P 232) Dimmesdales hand is not pure. He does need a glove to cover it in accordance with the Sextons comment. (Irony) 22. Metaphor The scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nuns bosom. It imparted to the wearer a kind of sacredness which enabled her to walk securely amid all peril. (P 241) The scarlet letter is a protective talisman much like an nuns cross. (Metaphor) 23. Paradox It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society. (P 245) Those who behave the best secretly imagine what the sin will be like. (Paradox) 24. Imagery It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge.Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport. (P 253) Fall away of its own nature is subtle image of nature.(Imagery) 25. Metaphor What choice had you? asked Roger Chillingworth. My finger, pointed at this man, would have hurled him from his pulpit into a dungeon, thence, peradventure, to the gallows!(P 256) My finger is compared to Chillingworths accusation.(Metaphor) 26. Imagery, Oxymoron, Alliteration, Metaphor Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of her heart! Else it may be their miserable fortune, as it was Roger Chillingworths, when some mightier touch than their own may have awakened all her sensibilities, to be reproached even for the calm content, the marble image of happiness, which they will have imposed upon her as the warm reality. (P 265) Tremble is image of fear.(Imagery) Miserable fortune.(Oxymoron) Calm content (Alliteration) Marble image of happiness is metaphor for marriage without passion. (Metaphor) 27. Symbol, Alliteration Truly do I! Answered Pearl, looking brightly into her mothers face. It is for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart! (P 269) Dimmesdales hand over his heart is symbol of his sin.(Symbol) Hand over his heart.(Alliteration) 28. Metaphor But mother, tell me now! Is there such a Black Man? And didst thou ever meet him? And is this his mark?.Once in my life I met the Black Man! said her mother. This scarlet letter is his mark! (P 279) Scarlet letter is metaphor for sin and the mark of Satan.(Metaphor) 29. Contrast Thou shalt forgive me! cried Hester, flinging herself on the fallen leaves beside him. Let God punish! Thou shalt forgive!(P 294) Contrasting who doing action: human forgives, God punishes.(Contraction) 30. Metaphor à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦That old mans revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!(P 294) Blacker: Degree of black is connected to the gravity of sin. Blacker means worse. Colour as degree of sin.(Metaphor) 31. Metaphor, Imagery, Onomatopoeia There played around her mouth, and beamed out of her eyes, a radiant and tender smile, that seemed gushing from the very heart of womanhood. A crimson flush was glowing on her cheek, that had been long so pale. (P 307) gushing.(Onomatopoeia) Beam, radiant, and glowing is image of light.(Imagery) Smile is compared to blood.(Metaphor) 32. Implication, Dual meanings At least, they shall say of me, thought this exemplary man, that I leave no public duty unperformed, nor ill performed! (PP 325-326) Private duties are left unperformed.(Implication) Dimmesdale is a good man, and Dimmesdale as a bad man.(Dual meanings) 33. Alliteration, Imagery Ha, tempter! Methinks thou art too late! answered the minister, encountering his eye, fearfully, but firmly. Thy power is not what it was! With Gods help, I shall escape thee now! (P 384) fearfully, but firmly.(Alliteration) Tempter is a image of Satan.(Imagery) 34. Metaphor Thou hast escaped me! he repeated more than once. May God forgive thee! said the minister. Thou, too, hast deeply sinned! (P 389) Chillingworth is compared to Satan.(Metaphor) 35. Alliteration, Onomatopoeia Hush, Hester, hush!The law was broke! the sin here so awfully revealed! let these alone be in thy thoughts! I fear! I fear! It may be that, when we forgot our God, when we violated our reverence each for the others soul, it was thenceforth vain to hope that we could meet hereafter, in an everlasting and pure reunion. (P 390) Hush, Hester, hush.(Alliteration) Hush.(Onomatopoeia) 36. Imagery that the awful symbol was the effect of the ever-active tooth of remorse, gnawing from the inmost heart outwardly, and at last manifesting Heavens dreadful judgment by the visible presence of the letter. (P 393) Tooth of remorse is painful Image. Remorse as an emotion that eats away at a person.(Imagery) 37. Oxymoron Without disputing a truth so momentous, we must be allowed to consider this version of Mr. Dimmesdales story as only an instance of that stubborn fidelity with which a mans friends-and especially a clergymans-will sometimes uphold his character, when proofs, clear as the midday sunshine on the scarlet letter, establish him a false and sin-stained creature of the dust. (P 394) stubborn fidelity: Fidelity means truth and faithfulness, but the stubborn means not changing ones judgment in light of evidence.(Oxymoron) 38. Imagery, Alliteration Hester comforted and counseled them as best she might. She assured them, too, of her firm belief, that, at some brighter period, when the world should have grown ripe for it, in Heavens own time, a new truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness.(P 400) comforted and counsel.(Alliteration) Passage of time is the image of Heavens own time, brighter period, grown ripe.(Imagery) 39. Insinuation, Assonance, Alliteration, Imagery The angel and apostle of the coming revelation must be a woman, indeed, but lofty, pure, and beautiful; and wise, moreover, not through dusky grief, but the ethereal medium of joy; and showing how sacred love should make us happy, by the truest test of a life successful to such an end! (PP 400-401) angel and apostle (assonance) truest test (alliteration) Insinuating that women are usually pure by nature: The angel and apostle of the coming revelation must be a woman, indeed, but lofty, pure Dusky grief is the image of sinner 40. Metaphor a new grave was delved, near an old and sunken one, in that burial-ground beside which Kings Chapel has since been built. It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both.(P 401) Dust is compared to the ashes of two dead people; Dimmesdale and Hester.(Metaphor) Sleepers is compared to dead people.(Metaphor) Attitude Nathaniel Hawthorne is a remarkable ironist who makes good use of the dramatic irony. He regards human beings as originally imperfect creatures. The dehumanization in a Puritan society in The Scarlet Letter is criticized with the method of tragic irony which is closely related to a dualistic view of life. Most of the characters are Puritans. They are innocent and try to build an ideal society in their own way. Such a perfect Puritan community hold its own secrets and sin within each member. This creates irony or hypocrisy and has each person feel guilty. In the novel, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chilligworth are isolated from a normal society and they suffer from the various aspects of sin. Hypocritical action to conceal their secret sins make them collapse. Although Hester feels humility and embarrassment because of her sin, she is the only one who is spiritually free. When Dimmesdale finally uncovers his sin to the people around the scaffold, they refuse to believe that he is sinner li ke Hester. The fact that is the vulnerable minister and a secret sinner results in an endless maze of irony. Dimmesdales dual identity is shown in Hester with the shameful scarlet letter on her breast and in Chillingworth with his secret revenge for Dimmsdale. The irony of Dimmesdales situation is that he becomes imperfect by pretending to be perfect. Dimmesdale tries to appear to be a perfect man, for he thinks there is absolute good and evil in the world. By using tragic irony, Hawthorne builds up the plot which gives us constant interest in his novel. Thus, The Scarlet Letter is chiefly composed of tragic irony, and the authors purposes are well represented by it. Shift In chapter 16, Dimmesdale appears to be in despair, as if he has no purpose or desire to live whereas in chapter 18, he takes courage and decides to leave the Puritan society with Hester and his daughter, Pearl. He is reborn with great energy, He thinks everything positively. But in chapter 23, he suddenly gives up everything. He cannot act against his conscience. In this chapter, Chillingworth loses his purpose of revenge completely when Dimmesdale dies. He no longer has Dimmesdale to confess his sin. Hester also lose her love. She doesnt need feel the loneliness she has already has when Dimmesdale dies. Pearl can have a life which is full of love and happiness. In chapter 13, Hesters position in the community gradually changes because of her charity and kindness. She helps the poor and the sick. She slowly gains good reputation from the people of Boston. Her skill at needlework and the charity for the needy make her scarlet letter symbolize something other than shameful adultery. Hesters scarlet A now stands not for shame but for Able. It is no longer a token of her shameful adultery. The readers can see the shift of Dimmesdales conscience by comparing the three scaffold scenes in chapter 2, chapter 12, and chapter 23. In the first scene, he does not want to reveal his secret sin In the second scaffold scene, he confesses his sin in private at night, so it does not seem to be a public confession. In the final scaffold scene, he confesses his sin in public. At this time, his conscience finally clears. Themes This section will discuss the following four themes: sin, conscience, Puritanism, and forgiveness. Sin By choosing a Puritan society and adultery as the setting for this novel, Hawthorne is free to explore the psychological impact of sin on everyone involved. In Puritan society adultery is both a crime and a sin. As a woman whose husband is absent, Hesters pregnancy is evidence of her immoral relationship with a man, not her husband. Puritans usually impose the death penalty on adulterers, however, since Hesters husband might be dead they refrain from administering it in this case. They cannot let her sin go unpunished, so they sentence her to three years in prison, and she must wear the A on her chest for adulteress for the rest of her life. In addition, she is cast out of the community. To the Puritans, sin is like infectious disease. Hester is quarantined in the hope that her sin will not pollute the community. Puritanism is a strict version of Christianity. In other sects after Christians confess their sins and perform penance, their sins are forgiven and they receive reconciliation with God and their community. Hester for her part acknowledges her wrongdoing and endures her punishment with grace. Upon her release from prison, she mak es a living for herself and her daughter by sewing and embroidery. Her industriousness and thrift allow her to carry out many works of charity for the poor. Although her life is not a very happy one, her sin and subsequent penance create an opportunity for her spiritual development and personal growth. Dimmesdale carries the weight of sin in private. He does not make spiritual progress instead he becomes a hypocrite. Puritans expect their ministers to have high moral standards. He feels guilty that he is not living up to them. He tries to perform penance in private, but his efforts do not offer him any spiritual relief. His spiritual agony starts to affect his physical health negatively, to the point where his congregation begins to worry about him. Chillingworth has a readers sympathy in the beginning because he is a man who has been wronged by his wife. Marrying a much younger woman does not qualify as a sin. But as time passes he gives himself over to sin by seeking revenge on the man who slept with his wife. The sin of revenge physically transforms him in the following ways: accelerated aging, deformation of facial features, and the stoop in his back. He can be said to personify the phrase ugly as sin. Conscience For Hawthorne, individual conscience plays a valuable role. When a person relies on his intuition and sympathy for others, he/she is able to make good moral decisions. The Puritans, in contrast, have little use for individual conscience. In order to do what is right, a Puritan only has to follow the religious rules of community. As such individual conscience is subordinate to the religious commandments of the Bible, Hester uses her own intuition to make moral decisions, a characteristic which sets her apart from her fellow Puritans. Dimmesdales conscience torments him. The readers can see the developments of his conscience by comparing the three scaffold scenes in chapter 2, chapter 12, and chapter 23. In the first scene, he exhorts Hester to name the father, but it is clear from his double speak that he does not want his sin to be revealed. In the second scaffold scene, he is moved to confess his sin out loud, but he is alone at night, so it does not count as a public confession. In the final scaffold scene, after his election day sermon, he confesses he is Hesters partner in sin in front of the whole congregation. His conscience finally clears, but he has lived with the guilt for so long that he has no strength to live after his confession. Chillingworth starts out with a conscience as evidenced by his conversation with Hester in which he admits marrying her against her wishes is a mistake that leaves her vulnerable sin of adultery. When he suspects that the other party to adultery is still in town, he loses his conscience in direct proportion to his effort to exact revenge on Dimmesdale. With revenge as his whole motive for living, he cannot survive after Dimmesdales confession, which renders revenge useless. Puritanism Puritanism has an strong effect on The Scarlet Letter. In the novel, Hawthorne wants to describe how Puritanism in the 17th century apparently ignores the sanity of human minds in every aspect of punishment and salvation. He gives us the essence of the Puritan thoughts of Boston, including the Puritans view on mans sinful situation, and the intolerant Puritan attitude towards sinner. The Puritan leaders at that time condemn every person who fails morally and force them to face a public penitence. The Puritan laws is far from Gods divine love which embraces all sinners having imperfect nature and human weakness. Hawthorne is disappointed with the intolera

Analysis of the Bosman Case

Analysis of the Bosman Case The decision of the ECJ in the Bosman case[1] had an extremely significant impact on professional sports within the European Union. As has been pointed out by a number of commentators the decision in Bosman led to an overhaul of the existing transfer rules of club football within Europe. It also had a wider impact on professional sports as a whole as the post-Bosman period witnessed a significant influx of migration of professional athletes within the EU.[2] Within the EU, sport has assumed a special status and forms an integral part of European identity and its culture. The European parliament has coined the term specifity of sports to address the interaction of Community law in the sporting arena and the extent of such an interaction.[3] This interface between sports and community law was first addressed in Welgrave and Koch v Union Cycliste Internationale[4] followed closely by another decision in the case of Dond v Motero.[5] Almost twenty years down the line came the decision in Bosman which clearly elucidated the role of Community law within the sporting arena and in the process reaffirmed and elaborated upon some of the principles discussed in the two above mentioned decisions. The controversy around the Bosman decision stems from the fact that it put an end to the existing transfer process in European football by abolishing player transfer fee system and creating free agency for European footballers. It also brought an end to the existing UEFA Non-National rules. Both the above regulations followed by European clubs were tested against the Community provisions aimed at protection of labour rights and were found wanting. The transfer rules as well as the nationality rule was found to be violative of Article 48 of the Community treaty safeguarding against free movement of labour as well as anti-discriminatory treatment of workers. The significance of the Bosman judgment lies in the fact that it managed to make a significant contribution to the corpus of labour law by emphatically reinstating that sportspersons rights were protected within Community law and also laid down the framework for subsequent judgments which further established the labour rights of pr ofessional sportspersons. The paper will first explain in brief the background in which the Bosman judgment arose. Then paper will delve into the intricacies of the judgment along with some of the most persuasive arguments raised by the parties to the dispute. Then judgment of the court along with the reasoning behind the judgment will be explored. At the outset it has to be mentioned that the paper will only address the issues of transfer rules and nationalily rules which were evaluated on the anvil of Article 48. The ancillary issue of related to Article 85 and Article 86 of the Community treaty would not be addressed. In the next section the paper will explore the extent to which the judgment in Bosmans case contributed in settling the law related to free movement and non discrimination of sportspersons within the EU. In this section of the paper subsequent judgments would also be briefly looked into to describe the establishment and development of the principle of applicability of non discriminatory princ iple within the arena of sports in the EU. Finally the paper will briefly look back at the arguments raised in the Bosman case related to the need for keeping sports outside the ambit of the provisons of Community treaty. In this section existing regulations in England as well as the United States will be looked into to evaluate whether the guidelines laid down in Bosman is in sharp contrast to the sporting regulations existing in those states. Literature Review A Closer Look at the Judgment of Bosman Background and Facts Within the European Union football is played either as an amateur or a professional sport. The structure of professional football comprises of clubs which belong to national associations or federations. The national associations including Belgiums ASBL Union Royale Belge des Societes de Football Association (URBSFA) are members of the Fà ©dà ©ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). FIFA is again divided into confederations, UEFA being the confederation which governs football in Europe. As per the rules framed by the URBSFA prior to Bosman case, every player whose contract is expiring must be offered a new Contract by April 26, failing which he is given amateur. The player has the option of accepting or rejecting the contract offer. If the player rejects the contract, he is placed on the compulsory transfer list for a month from 1st may onwards. In this period any club can buy the player from his existing club even without the permission of the existing club by paying certain compensation fee for training which is called transfer fees. On 1st June the period of free transfers begins and in this period a player can be transferred by the mutual agreement of both clubs after the payment of the requisite transfer fees. If the transfer does not take place the clubs are required by URBSFA to offer a contract to the player which is not less than the initial contract of April 26. If this contract is rejected by the player, he is classified as an amateur and has two wait two years to obtain a transfer without the clubs consent. Jean Marc Bosman, player for Belgian club RC Liege, was offered a contract before the expiry of his existing contract which entailed a substantial reduction in his wages, of almost 75%. As a result Bosman refused this new offer and as a consequence was put on the transfer list. During the period of free transfer the French second division club US Dunkerque became interested in employing Bosman. However as per rules for international transfers, the Belgian football association had to pass a transfer certificate to the French football association within a specific time. However in spite of RC Liege and US Dunkerque agreeing upon the amount of transfer fee for a seasons, RC Leige refused to give permission to the Belgian league to pass on the certificate to the French association as they were unsure about the financial solvency of Dunkurque. Thus Bosman was preveted from joining RC liege leading to the initition of a suit in the Court of First Instance in Leige which finally culminated in the landmark decision of ECJ in 1995. Transfer Rules and Article 48 The Courts assuming jurisdiction under Article 177, restated the principle of applicability of Article 48 of the EU Charter to sporting activity as long as there is an the existence of, or the intention to create, an employment relationship. ECJ decided in favour of Bosman and against the respondents namely RC Liege, URBSFA and UEFA. The court ruled on two main issues. Firstly the Court overhauled the existing transfer system by holding that transfer fees for out-of-contract players were illegal and in violation of Article 48 of the EU treaty when the players were moving from one E.U. nation to another. Secondly the court also found nationality clause to be inconsistent with Article 48 and as a result struck it down. Firstly in spite of the arguments raised by the respondents the ECJ found that the right to movement of workers as enshrined under Article 48, which is one of the four fundamental rights guaranteed by the EU charter, was being violated by the existing transfer rules of URBSFA.The Court rejected the contention that transfer rules governs relationship between culbs and does not affect the players. The Court pointed out that transfer fees is a burden which the clubs has to bear and the failure to pay such fees ultimately affects the employment rights of the players.The Court then pointed out that in spite of being contrary to Article 48 the transfer rules could be saved if they could be justified on the grounds of pressing public interest and the principle of proportionality between the means exercised for the objectives sought. However in Court went on to reject the different justifications forwarded by the respondents. The Court found merits in UEFAs goal of maintaining financial and competitive balance but rejected the claim that the transfer rules furthered this object because the existing rules had failed to preserve the level of financial and competitive balance as the rules failed to prevent the richest clubs from securing the best players. The merit of the second justification advanced by respondents regarding UEFAs goall of encouraging the recruitment and training of young talent was also accepted by the Court. However the Court failed to establish the nexus between the transfer system and the achievement of that goal. The Court found no relationship to exist because the amount of a transfer fee is unrelated to the actual cost of training and recruitment, and because receipt of such fees for any particular player is speculative. Finally the argument that transfer fees are acceptable on the grounds that such transfer fees are necessary for clubs to buy players was rejected because the Court o bserved that obstacles to freedom of movement cannot be justified simply on the grounds tat such obstacle was in existence in the past. Finally the Court reaffirmed the opinion of the Advocate general that as alternatives which does not tantamount to an obstacle to freedom of work can be used to achieve the ends sought by the transfer rules and hence the transfer rules has to be struck down. Nationality Principle The ECJ also rules that the 3+2 rule which restricts the employment of footballers of a different EU state is in direct violation of Article 48(2) of the EU treaty which expressly seeks to abolish any discrimination based on nationality between workers of the member states of the EU in relation to employment, remuneration and conditions of work and employment.[6] In this regard the Court further refers to Regulation 1612/68 of the Council which seeks to enforce the provion under Article 48. Finally the court extends this principle of non discrimination to the existing transfer rules by referring to the principle propounded in the Dona case where regulations of sporting bodies were held to fall under this principle of non discrimination. In light of the conflict between the nationality provision of the ransfer rules and Article 48 the Court examines a few possible justifications which can save the nationality rule followed by UEFA. It was argued by the respondents that the nationality rule can be justified on non-economic grounds including maintaining a natural link between the club and the country, the maintenance of a pool of national players and to maintain the competitive equilibrium between the clubs. However the Court referring to the Dona case observed that though non economic objectives may justify the exclusions of certain players in certain fixtures but that principle is not relevant in this case because the 3+2 rule of UEFA applies to all clubs and all matches. Similarly the Court also observed that the nationality rule is not adequate enough to prevent rich clubs from acquiring the richest players. Further the argument regarding the nexus between club and country was also rejected along with the point regarding the maintenance of a pool of national players. Another important point which was argued and rejected by the Court was that the 3+2 rule was developed in cooperation with the Commission and hence should not be struck down. In this case the Court observed that Finally, as regards the argument based on the Commissions participation in the drafting of the 3+2 rule, it must be pointed out that, except where such powers are expressly conferred upon it, the Commission may not give guarantees concerning the compatibility of specific practices with the Treaty Hence if the rule in violation of Article 48 then the fact tht it was made in cooperation with the European Commission will not validate it. Community Law and Principle of Non Discrimination of Foreign Nationals In order to understand the interface between nationality restrictions and its conflict with the EU treaty it is imperative to briefly look into the framework of the EC treaty. Sports per se has not found a place in the present EC treaty, but as has been discussed before, it falls within the competence of EC law when it concerns an economic activity.[7] Article 12 of the EC treaty prohibits discrimination on the grounds of nationality. More specifically discrimination on the basis of nationality of workers is dealt with in Articles 39[8] to 42 of the EC Treaty. However it has to be remembered in this context that the compatibility of a sporting rule with a particular article of the Treaty does not release the rule from the requirement to comply with other Articles of the Treaty.[9] However, the general protection against nationality discrimination can only be invoked in the absence of any specific provision within the treaty. This principle was elucidated in the case of Lehtonen and C astors Canada Dry Namur-Braine v. Federation Royale Belge des Societes de Basketball (FRBSB),[10] where it was observed that Article 39 of the treaty dealing with nationality discrimination of workers will be applicable in the instant case. The Court further observed that Article 12 will only be applicable independently in case of the absence of any specific provision.[11] In light of the above framework of Community law the Lehtonen judgment can be briefly evaluated to determine whether it has also followed the Bosman line and determined whether a sporting rule can be discriminatory within the EC treaty in the absence of objective justification. In Lehtonen different periods of transfers were applicable in the Belgian basketball league of players from Belgian clubs and European clubs. This vires of the transfer rule was challenged to be in violation of the non discriminatory rule enshrined under Article 48. The ECJ observed that Article 48 precludes the application of rules laid down in a Member State by sporting associations which prohibit a basketball club from fielding players from other Member States in matches in the national championship, where they have been transferred after a specified date, if that date is earlier than the date which applies to transfers of players from certain non-member countries, unless objective reasons concerning only sport as such or relating to differences between the position of players from a federation in the European zone and that of players from a federation not in that zone justify such different treatment.[12] In other words the Court followed the line of Bosman and held that Article 48 can act as a threshold which specific sporting regulations have to abide by. However a divergence from the non-discriminatory principle is allowed if they can fulfill the test of objective satisfaction. One more interesting aspect of the non-nationality principle, which has come to the limelight in subsequent cases, is the status of individuals belonging to non-member states who have entered into Cooperative agreements with the EU containing non discriminatory terms in relation to nationality of the members of those states as well as the members of third party states. In the Malaja[13] ruling a Polish basketball player Malaja, challenged the restriction of the French Basketball Federation on the number of foreign players in a club. She based her claim on the basis of an agreement entered by Poland with the EU which ensured non discrimination of Polish workers within the EU. The Council the Etat held that the non-discriminatory principle enshrined in the EU treaty will also be applicable to eastern European states along with Poland who had entered into cooperation treaties with the EU. Another landmark decision in this respect is Kolpak case. Kolpak who was a Slovak national, signed consecutive fixed-term contracts in 1997 and 2000 as a goalkeeper for a second division handball team. However the German Handball Associations imposed a cap on the number of non-EU players who could play in one team. This precluded Kolpak from performing his duties under the employment contract. Kolpak held a valid residence permit in Germany. He took the dispute to the German courts arguing that the agreement between Slovakia and the EU would prevent the Handball association from treating him differentially from other non-EU or German players. The dispute was referred to the ECJ. The Court observed that the agreement with Slovakia did not contain any specific provision safeguarding against anti-discrimination. However the Court compared the agreement with Article 48 of Treaty of Rome and came to the conclusion that the agreement embodied the same principles which have been enshrined u nder Article 48. Hence even in the absence of any specific provision preventing discrimination, the Court held that the principles of non-discrimination established in Bosman can be extended to the present case. However the Court restricted the scope of the non-discriminatory principle by holding that the non-discriminatory principle construed from the agreement will be limited to Slovakian workers already employed in the member states of the EU. The final judgment that has to be mentioned in this regard is the Simutenkov case in which the Courts closely analyzed the Bosman and the Kolpak decisions. The decision of the Court in the Simutenkov mirrored the judgment in Kolpak and extended the principle of non-discrimination to Russian workers employed within the EU. The decision followed Kolpak to the extent that the scope of the non-discrimination principle was restricted to existing workers. In other words it did not bestow a general right on all EU members to circulate freely within the EU. A Closer Look at the Sporting Exception In Bosman, UEFA had argued that sports was always respected within the European Union and owing to the difficulty in extrapolating the economic aspect from football Article 48 should be interpreted in a flexible manner. German Government further emphasized on sports being an expression of European culture and hence should be protected under Article 128 of the Treaty of Rome which seeks to safeguard the national regional diversity of culture. However as has been discussed previously the Court relied on previous ECJ decisions in Walgrave and Dona to determine the extent to which Article 48 of the treaty of Rome can regulate sporting activities. Again as recently as 2006, The ECJ in its decision in Meca-Medina v. Commission[14], reaffirmed the principle of Bosman when they observed that having regard to the objectives of the Community, sport is subject to Community law in so far as it constitutes an economic activity within the meaning of Article 2 However the approach of the Court in this respect has been severely criticized in certain quarters. Commentators have alleged that the Court has in their zeal to extend economic regulations have failed to recognize the specific nature of sports.[15] However a brief look at sporting regulations and the legal restrictions imposed on such sporting rules in US and UK points to the shortcomings of bestowing unfettered power in respect of sporting activities. The transfer system in British football can be traced as far back as the last decade of the 19th century when football clubs started to purchase and sale football players. The concept of transfer fees was in existence even in that period. Even though these rules flagrantly violated the contractual and labour rights of the players, these rules remained in existence throughout the majority of the twentieth century and were justified on the grounds of regulating player mobility and competitive equilibrium. The landmark case of Eastham[16] the retention and transfer system[17] was challenged by George Eastham who wanted to move from Newcastle to Arsenal. However Newcastle simply retained him despite his repeated request for transfers. As a result a writ was filed in the High Court against Newcastle for restraint of trade. Five issues was considered by Judge Wilberforce out of which the one of relevance where whether there was actual restraint of trade and whether such restrain was necessary for the maintenance of the nature of the league or its members. The Court found that Newcastle had indulged in activities which tantamount to restraint of trade. More importantly the Court found that the transfer and retention system was also an unreasonable restraint on trade on the ground that it acted as a barrier to the movement of players even when their contracts have expired unless a transfer fee was paid.[18] As a consequence of the Eastham rulin the retention and transfer system was overhauled and a new system was introduced where a player was free to move from his existing club unless the club offered a contract which atleast equaled the terms of the previous contract between the club and the player. In 1978 further changes were brough about which gave players the right to reject contracts and move to a different club. Further it was provided that in case of a dispute between the new and the former club regarding transfer fee a four member panel will be constituted to determine the amount of transfer fees. Finally the regulations existing in the baseball league in US [MLB] and its interface with different fields of law can be briefly explored. The major contentious issue in American Baseball league was surrounding the reserve list and reserve clause: which raised significant questions regarding players right to movement and free agency. However in the early years of the twentieth century the US legal system was averse to the idea of collective bargaining rights and hence there was a lacuna in the law related to labour rights. Further the Sherman Act, which sought to prevent restraint of trade also provided an exception to the MLB and as a result the employment rights of the players suffered. However the gradual development of collective bargaining culminated into the creation of baseball players association[MLBA] which entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the club owners. The significance of this collective bargaining agreement was that it contained an arbitrational clau se for addressing players grievances. On the basis of this collective bargaining agreement, arbitration proceedings were initiated inNational American League Professional Baseball Clubs v. MLBPA[19] where baseballs reserve system was challenged. The arbitrator found in favour of the players. However the true significance of the judgment lies in the fact that the arbitrator held that though it was possible to negotiate a reserve system which contained the option of continuous renewal, however the option clause was not implied into the contract and had to be bargained for. In other words the arbitrator laid down that the though the reserve system cannot be overhauled, however the incorporation of such a clause in player contract cannot be implied. The presence or absence of such a provision will be decided on the basis of collective bargaining between the parties. This was also affirmed by the [1] Union Royale Beige des Societes de Football Assn ASBL v.Bosman, 1995 E.C.R. 1-4921, 1 C.M.L.R. 645 (1995 [2] [3] [4] [1974] ECR 1405 [5] [1976] 2 C.M.L.R. at 587 [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] Meca Medina v. Commission, 2006 E.C.R. I-6991 [15] It has been argued that players have been treated as mere factors of production and the link of sports with the culture and identity of the Community have been overlooked. Further it has been suggested that one of the primary shortcomings of Article 6 dealing with discrimination in general and Section 48 dealing with discrimination against workers is that these two article fail to recognize this important characteristic of sports. [16] Eastham v. Newcastle United Football Club, Ltd., 1964 Ch. 413, 419. [17] Prior to the Eastham case this system existed in England where a club could virtually retain control over a player even after the expiry of a contract by withholding his player registration. A player could not move until the registration documents were released by the club which was usually done on the payment of a transfer fees. [18] [19] 66 Lab. Arb. Rep. (BNA) 101 (1975) (Seitz, Arb.).