Catalonia's Parliament Abolish Bullfighting Essay

Catalonia's Parliament Abolish Bullfighting - Essay Example The ban which took effect in January 2012 caused a lot of controversy, criticism and debates within Catatonia. The activities which led to the acceleration of the ban include the national anti-bullfighting movements and the cries of the animal rights activists. There were also international influence from individuals and groups who considered this tradition and activity as a total violation of the rights of animals and unnecessary risk on the lives of the participants. A review of the bull fighting tradition in the region demonstrates that it contributed significantly to the tourism and hotel industry. This is attributed to the fact that the bullfighting activities attracted tourists within Spain and from abroad who came to witness and participate in the bullfighting activities. In this regard therefore I do not agree with the ban of the bullfighting tradition. This is because of its economic and social cultural significance of the tradition to the people of Catalonia and Spain in ge neral. It is therefore arguable that the legislators of the region should have considered the benefits that the bullfighting tradition had for Catalonia before they would make a historic decision of passing the ban on this tradition. The important considerations that would have been put in mind by the legislators are the number of people who lost their employment and source of income within the bullfighting industry in addition to the negative implication that this had on the economy. The anti cruelty campaigns within Spain and other parts of the world are attributed to the ban on the bullfighting tradition in Catalonia. These campaigns have been staged for a long time and therefore the decision of the parliament on the ban was caused by the pressure of these bans. It is therefore reasonable to argue that the parliamentarians were responding to the voices and pressures of the activists and the animal rights groups instead of the actual implications that the bullfighting tradition ha d on the social economic aspects of the region. It is therefore evident that without the external pressure, the legislatures would not have decided to ban the tradition. This is due to the economic benefits and the cultural significance that the bullfighting exercise had on Catalonia. Because of the ban, the unique cultural identity of this region which led to the attraction of tourists to this region was lost. This means that the government and the economy in general experienced a negative impact from the ban which forms a reason why I do not support it. The arguments that were put forward by the supporters of the ban include postulations that Catalonia should adopt modern culture instead of the bullfighting which was considered cruel (Igor 1). In line of this, it is arguable that the people of Catalonia should not have been mandated to abandon their culture because it is this same culture which made them unique from the rest of the world communities and societies. In addition, thi s culture had been passed to the people of Catalonia from their forefathers for centuries. Therefore it is evident that the basis of a modern culture as an argument for the ban is not justifiable. Therefore the legislatures should have considered the need for the Catalonia people to preserve their conserved culture rather than submitting to the pressures of people and groups from other cultures who had no comprehension of the local culture and what it meant to the people of Catalonia. Many individuals and groups were affected by the ban of the bullfighting tradition. These include fans within Catalonia, the larger Spain and the rest of the w

Key To Success For Implementation Of IMC

Key To Success For Implementation Of IMC The emergence of integrated marketing communications (IMC) has developed into one of the most significant example of growth and expansion in the marketing discipline (Kitchen, 2003). It has influenced acting and thinking among companies but also state owned companies, authorities and political parties, all facing the realities of rivalry in an open economy (Smith, 1996). Today, integrated communications has developed into an expansive discipline that links marketing to a number of other grounds, including corporate culture, corporate design, corporate communication and public relations (Christensen et al., 2008). IMC has received significant interest in both the practitioner and academic communities, since the beginning. The interest played to IMC is largely a purpose of its strong appeal which makes good sense. Its been more than a decade since the concept was first introduced but however most major businesses have yet to fully apply the ideas contained in the IMC. In fact Schultz, et. al. (1992) state that recognition of IMC has not been as rapid as they thought. The benefits of IMC that Smith et al. (1999) identified are the following: All of the market communications are controlled and managed by the IMC. IMC ensures that brand positioning, personality and messages are conveyed to each part of communication which are delivered from a single reliable strategy. It is said that Relationship Marketing strengthens a bond of devotion with consumers which can also protect them from the competition. It is a great advantage to keep a consumer for life. IMC can increase the sales by extending messages across numerous communication tools to generate more ways for consumers to be aware of the product and to make a purchase. IMC reduces duplication in photography and graphics as they can be shared in advertising and exhibitions. A single agency is used for all communications so the agency fee is reduced or even if many agencies are used, time is as meetings get all the agencies together for strategic planning or briefings. Thus, it decreases workload and stress levels. Successful IMC campaign needs to find the firm a correct mixture of promotional techniques and tools that define their tasks and the level to which they should be used, and manage their use appropriately. IMC helps in making the communications effective and efficient amongst companies through various concepts such as customer focus, customer empowerment, brand resonance, immersive marketing and emotional bonding. If correctly implemented, the IMC plan could collect data and implement response based on the previously gathered data. Marketing communications derived from the consumer need is able to build value into the service or product and divide it from the competition in the customers minds. BARRIERS TO IMC IMPLEMENTATION Marketers appear to be tired when it comes to modifying the change and investment in their approach to marketing communications. The discussion concerning what marketing communications can be predictable to accomplish has been going on for very long ( Ambler, 2000). In the middle of the rising identification that advertising; mostly in the grown markets mainly carries out a reminder purpose focused largely on protecting the existing market-share. Both the agencies and clients have challenges in generating and implementing the efficient communications agenda. All areas of the diverse marketing communication business carry on to face instability among the media, declining audience and the internet (Douglas, 2003). All this are making the companies reconsider the blend of marketing communication tools with consequences for the usual mass media which may not be capable to gather the wants of the 21st century customers and find their market shares wear down despite of the synergies occurr ing from tactical associations in the media business (Davis and Craft, 2000). Another concern is regarding the advertising practitioners where an occurrence of inside-out idea and practice overcomes (Kitchen and de Pelsmacker, 2004). There are various tactical subjects of concern in the broader discussion concerning the development of IMC along with the long term involvement to marketing practice and theory (Gould, 2000). Duncan (2005) advocated the tactical forecasting and examining of brand relationships is who as well said that priority ought to be given to their most important consumers. But, so far, there is very little proof of purchaser value being resolute by any segment of IMC (Garber and Dotson, 2002). In spite of huge investments, the relationship amongst the multiplicity of IMC and customers is not well understood. Though, observed evidence of the effects of mixtures of media, like print advertising and television (Jin, 2004) is rising. According to the consumer driven strategy, IMC is the main organization of all the brand contact points. Different levels exist, where such integration takes place. The different levels would be the following. Level 1 Tactical co-ordination Level 2 Redefining the scope of marketing communication Level 3 Application of IT Level 4 Strategic and Financial Integration Key to success for implementation of IMC IMC is a theory that must be implemented logically and simultaneously at all levels and functions of a corporation. Marketing functions and Public relations are not the only programs that are integrated which makes the company an example of IMC (Low, 2000). The key tip is to be careful of companies with strong marketing cultures, because topics like corporate reputation will take a back seat to the provincialism of brand management (Pettegrew, 2000). Functional and Structural issues must become a critical part of any effective IMC series. Of particular importance is beginning with a communication czar who will become the principles and evangelist of the IMC implementation attempt (Reid, 2005). Any IMC program must be personalized to the unique character of a particular organizational culture. For an IMC program to work successfully, it must reflect the distinctive culture in which it must function well. EXAMPLES: In spite of the demand, the IMC premise fails to take into account the way most companies are structured and functioned. Many corporations that are believed to be examples of IMC; fail to maintain the IMC principles on a company basis. The examples of Nike and Proctor Gamble will disclose that neither of these companies are functionally or structurally integrated public relations and employee communications with their marketing roles. NIKE Nike- the athletic footwear and attire manufacturer, has been cited as an example of IMC excellence and marketing. In a cover story from Fortune, (Hamel, 1997) states: Ask Nike- CEO Phil Knight what he likes to do best, and he does not falter a beat, he likes to break things. then in the 1980s, he turned his booming athletic shoe corporation into a marketing machine, saturating the airwaves with drastic commercials that highlighted emotion rather than the product. Schultz, et. al. (1992) publicized Nikes success in their IMC book: The thinking behind IMC is that every statement logo, price, promotion, label, distribution should be created to help convince the intention of the competitive advantage. Duncan and Caywood (1996) also include Nike among several companies that have been tremendously successful and based on observation, they are doing brilliant jobs of integrating their communication labors. Nikes breaking the marketing rules of the athletic footwear business which has come at a cost paid by its worldwide company reputation. Given these setbacks, one could argue that Phil Knights tactical wisdom for Nike is more alike to original advertising and horizontal integration than true IMC. There is a little proof that Nikes victory was achieved by the tactical management of all messages and media used by an organization to jointly influence its perceived brand value (Keegan, Moriarty Duncan, 1992). There are missteps that suggest Nikes marketing communications which may not be so ideal. For example, in 1997, Nike followed its patently bold and brash in your face marketing formula in an attempt to gain market share in an international soccer (Thurow, 1997). In Spain, an overwhelmingly Catholic nation, Nike introduced a commercial of Satan and his demons playing against a team of Nike endorsers. Spain refused to allow the commercial to air during primetime. Nike also placed an advertisement in Soccer American magazine saying: Europe, Asia and Latin America: Barricade your stadiums. Hide your trophies. Invest in some deodorant, as Asia and Latin America have been crushed. So will Europe. The world has been warned (Thurow, 1997). And finally, Nike ran an ad on British TV featuring a controversial French soccer player who detailed how spitting at a fan and insulting his coach had won him a Nike contract. Far from having an insight into the soccer market from the customers point of v iew and gaining ground against rival Adidas, Nike garnered a scathing editorial in the International Federation of Football Associations newsletter. Another recent evidence that says Nike is hardly the quintessential IMC company. Nike groped and allowed accusations of child-labor sweatshops in Asia that subcontract the manufacturing of Nike shoes to fester. In 1999, a team of journalists went to document the conditions for themselves, but Nike shut the factories. Prior to this series of incidents, widely published news stories detailed incidents in which poor children in the inner-city were robbing, stealing and seriously injuring peers to obtain expensive Nike shoes such as Air Jordans. Publicly Nike ignored these charges for years. Considering these two incidents, there was a genuine public relation crisis where any company engaged in lawful IMC could have anticipated before it became a crisis. Instead, Nike just kept on marketing until crisis overwhelmed it. Nikes power as an IMC example is, at best overstated. Harris (1998) argues: That master marketer of our times, Phil Knight, likes to point out that while an ad page in Sports Illustrated costs $150,000, no amount of money can buy the front cover where swoosh-bearing athletes appear with great frequency. The omnipresent swoosh has a 90 percent-plus awareness among consumers, enabling it to stand alone. Many seasoned public relations professionals are quick to admit that companies that live by extraordinary market exposure can also die by the same token. In a recent effort to distance itself from its public relations problems, Nike first tried to eliminate its swoosh from its marketing campaigns and replace it with a kinder-friendlier marketing approach that emphasizes fair labor practices, the global community and environment. PROCTER GAMBLE Procter Gamble (PG) is considered by academic scholars to be a world-class marketing company and is said to stand 6th in Fortunes Most Admired Companies 2010 list (Wikipedia). Similar to the Nike brand, PG possesses some of the most particular brands in the world like Tide detergent, Duncan Hines cake mix, Jiff peanut butter, Crest toothpaste and Cover Girl cosmetics. It also has dominant market share with many of its leading brands. Even though, PGs marketing command has a record of external internal communication mistakes suggestive of Nike. PG openly misused both the Rely Tampon crisis and allegations that their packaging sign recognized the companys satanic links. It was said that PG lost face openly and separated employees when it was exposed that the company had phone-tapped a few staffs they had assumed of revealing business information. This was followed by a job of dealing with some of the physiological effects of its new replacement, Olestra. Without bearing in mind the public comeback, they allowed their scientists to name the release of Olestra, anal leakage (Henkoff, 1996), raising an additional sign of public controversy. Recently, PG shot itself in the business reputational base again. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) declared to the media that PG anticipated to meet its earnings forecast for the end of the quarter. Few weeks later, new CEO, Durk Jager was forced to declare to the same media that they had incorrectly over-estimated their periodical income and that the business would fall very short of its periodical earnings forecast. Over the following week, the companys stock fell sharply as financial markets and shareholders lost faith in the respected company. The Board of Directors of PG then fired Mr. Jager. New CEO, A.G. Lafley must now try to recover the market share and end the defections of many of the companys finest and brightest to the hi-tech industry. Regardless of Harris (1998) categorization to the opposite, these exemplars explain just how far away PG has been working from the essential IMC state of speaking to all stakeholders with a single voice (Schultz, et. Al., 1992). THE PROBLEM WITH IMPLEMENTING AT THE HIGHER LEVEL OF MANAGEMENT Nike and PG do a wonderful job with the marketing side of IMC without incorporating their employee and public relation functions, their company reputations have suffered. IMC theory has given a short shrift to the organizational barriers that often avoid companies from implementing IMC effectively. BARRIERS BETWEEN THE COMPANIES [NIKE AND PG] I have argued that two companies Nike and Procter Gamble, fall far short of the IMC model. Neither company has effectively integrated its many communication functions seamlessly. Both companies are very strong in terms of marketing, but they remain weak in employee communications, public relations or both. The question is, how do companies like these miss the IMC mark? The answer would be to a great level in their organizational structures. Both- Nike and PG are marketing organizations, organized around product marketing. PG demonstrates a brand management association where both staff and line functions are positioned within a companys various brands or products. While, PGs organizational structure has developed over the years, staff communication functions such as public relations and employee communications are organized around and directly support each brand or group of brands. Brands get the most resources and use huge internal influence. Beginning in June 1999, PG undertook a new organizational proposal that created a unit called Global Business Services providing a centralized staff support service across all of its Global Business Units (GBUs). Prior to this idea, each brand unit had its own communication staff functions with little company-wide centralization and control. While Nike uses another form of organization, its purpose and structure still highlight marketing its products and services. CEO- Phillip Knight is Nikes marketing chief and until its recent reputational woes, exemplified its bold approach to the market (Thurow, 1997). Most of the marketing decisions are made by the heads of these business units without the kind of teamwork and central planning required by IMC. Staff communication functions like investor relations, public affairs and human resources have traditionally played support roles. CONCLUSION The concept of IMC is a good one but it only exists at lower level management and not the higher level management and reasons for it are very clearly stated in the passage above.

The Government And Environmental Policy Essays -- essays research pape

The Government and Environmental Policy The purpose of the United States' public policy law is to implement restrictions in an effort to solve problems, which can be seen with the Clean Water Act. Public policy has also been employed to reform the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Although the United States government is noble in it's efforts to preserve the environment through these acts, the internal structure of public policy often retards these acts' effectiveness. This paper will explore the many ways in which factors such as horizontal implementation, divided government, and other forms of public policy affect the environmental legislation involved with the aforementioned acts. The main factors involved with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 involve horizontal implementation structure and divided government. Before one can discuss how these policies affect environmental legislation, a brief description of each must first be lucidly explained. When our government was founded, a system of checks and balances was implemented between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches to ensure that no one part of government gets too much power. Although this limits the power of any one person in government, it often slows down the ability of government because a consensus can be difficult with so many people working together. Another problem is that there are many subgovernments affecting the legislation as well, such as interest groups like the Sierra Club, Administrative Agents like the Environmental Protection Agency, and Congressional Committees. Because these groups add to the total number of people working on the legislation, the original noble ideology of making policy for the good of the nation is voided. Also because there are so many differences of opinion, few drastic changes are made, instead small incremental changes are made which take up lots of time and retard the effectiveness and enforcement of the legislation. In addition to this chaotic turmoil, four steps must be implemented in order to pass a bill. These are initiation & definition, formulation & enactment (legitimation), implementation, and evaluation. The most relevant one of these steps is horizontal implementation when one considers the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act. This policy is the process that puts a law into effect after it has been legitimized. Congres... ...ne." (Adler, pg. 1) The Act's goals as set forth by Congress was to eliminate toxic discharge into significant bodies of water by 1985, improve water quality for marine and freshwater life by 1983, and for all "toxic pollutants in toxic amounts" into water. Of course that act has had mediocre success, and only through continued cooperation of the government's branches will further progress be made. In conclusion, it has been shown how different branches of government, different administrations, and different policies all worked together to retard the implementation of the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act of the early 1970's. Although these processes do act in a system of governmental checks and balances as the founders of this country wished, the effectiveness of the acts take many years of careful compromising to become significant. REFERENCES 1. Adler, Robert W., et. al. The Clean Water Act 20 Years Later Island Press Washington, D.C. 1993 2. Horton, Tom "The Endangered Species Act: Too tough, too weak, too late." (1992) Audubon Vol. 94 pgs. 68-74

Motherhood And Its Challenges

The word mother means a female parent who brings up a child, takes care of her and loves absolutely by putting the needs of her children over her own. A mother takes the whole duty of parenting with both her words and her actions. Being a mother can be extremely fulfilling but it has got its fair share of challenges; it has got far-fetched highs and the demanding feeling of affection and protectiveness that comes with it has to be well balanced. The most magnificent and satisfying of times of motherhood is just the quality time you spend with your kids and just simply watch them grow and be happy.A mother usually offers a warm, selfless and an understanding environment and to most mothers, the particular moments spent with their children are not comparable to any other moment. Explicitly, the period of being a mother is the most thrilling moment that life can present to a woman. Motherhood involves being a capable wife and mother, to be an affectionate and a kind friend to all member s of the family and above all, to keep the house operational.All these, mothers are expected to do in a single stride and still remain the most self-controlled member of the family because more often than not, mothers should build great friendships with their children and husbands. The unconditional love that mothers offer should carry with it self-responsiveness, beauty that comes from inside and refinement coupled with high aptitude. All these images are not very easy to keep up with but all the same, the society expects mothers to achieve all these. Against this background therefore, it is no little truth to emphasize that motherhood is generally a big challenge.(Rosenberg, D. 64-66). Body: Measuring your achievements as a mother is not an easy concept; the challenges present themselves each single day and the solution is just in having the right attitude and striving to solve a predicament by finding fresh ideas in making things smooth sailing. The positive aspect is achieved by understanding the reason you became a mother in the first place and realizing that it is still in existence; this is important because with time, mothers realize that the challenges do not go, they only change forms.The hitch is that by viewing things from this angle, most mothers identify their shortfalls and deal with them while providing the proof that the challenge is adequately dealt with, this can be well achieved by having a feedback mechanism. The rationale behind this strategy is straight forward: since things that can not be quantified tend to be given less consideration, the gist is to focus more interest and time on the quantitative aspects because they can be planned, registered and evaluated, this therefore enables one to easily come up with solutions (DiQuinzio.P. 32-34). In comparison, juggling motherhood with employment or business can be trickier than managing motherhood as a full time mother. To every mother, the family is the most important thing and is so fulfi lling to give attention to, on the other extreme, ones personal accomplishments are equally important and should therefore not be sacrificed at the expense of the quality of the family unit. This makes the whole issue very difficult contrary to what the society has always believed that multitasking is manageable to mothers.According to Elraviv Yung, a social scientist at the Beijing school of law, â€Å"the potentials of women have not gotten the appreciation they deserve, women add a lot of value to the society and the very fact that they can juggle up their roles as both entrepreneurs and mothers should be a great motivation to the society† Elraviv 56. The best strategy for this group of women would still be to come up with a workable formula on time management and do a feedback mechanism after a certain specified duration.This is mostly by dividing your time in such a way as to have time both for the family and work and to ensure no time is spent on the extreme. The feedba ck plan helps mothers to asses their achievements in the timelines and correcting any deviations from plans. Research has revealed that being a mother in the present day has more to face up to and is more difficult than it was twenty to thirty years in the past. Dealing with busy schedules, coping up with pressure in the society and teaching children to acquire acceptable values are just a few out of the scores of concerns that the society presents.Infact, standards have deteriorated as compared to how they were in the past. Controversially though, the society judges mothers more harshly than fathers and when it comes to instilling values in our children, a lot is expected from mothers than is from fathers (Rosenberg, D. 80-82). The effects of motherhood challenges can be far-fetched: mothers often sacrifice too much to an extent that they end up not having time for their own ambitions. This is very costly than beneficial because in as much as a mother feels that her ideal objective of being a mother are achieved, self fulfillment is overlooked.Another effect is that motherhood-especially full-time- is so devastating-due to fatigue- that in the long run, it leads to different illnesses that may be chronic. These illnesses may be less affordable to treat and this leads to difficulty in achieving these goals in the first place. Achieving the set goals and assessing the deviations from plans at times may be unrealistic especially considering that time in itself may be limited. It should be understood therefore that motherhood is difficult-but at times fulfilling- and trying to live up to the society’s expectations may at times be unachievable (DiQuinzio.P. 89-93). Conclusion: Overall, the role of a mother although difficult, is the most important in her life. Motherhood ,as generally expected in the society, is supposed to be characterized by self-denial, fostering and unrelenting, on the other extreme, a mother is more often than not expected to feel on t he wrong side of the law if her standards are not as high as is generally acceptable. Motherhood as an occupation is expected to embrace social, physical and emotional sides.The social characteristic entails the expectations that a mother will put together the family structure and ensure that the family relationships are functionally healthy. Apart from this, the mother has to guard the way the family and the larger society views her achievement, that is to say, are they up to standard? Emotionally, a mother should be there for her family and to ensure her presence is felt: dealing with a child’s achievements and disappointments as well as their feelings and teaching them how to cope with their emotional challenges.Motherhood also involves meeting the expectations of the larger family in giving them adequate attention and time. Left to one person to deal with single-handedly, striving to achieve these expectations can be overwhelming. Works Cited DiQuinzio. P. The impossibili ty of motherhood: feminism, individualism, and the problem of mothering. Routledge, 1999. Rosenberg, D. Motherhood without guilt: being the best mother you can be and feeling great about it. Source

Linking Verbs

Who could forget the time when one needed a person to serve as a â€Å"bridge† to another person or to something? Also, people have relatives and they are connected by their immediate family members to these relatives. For example, a person is related or â€Å"linked† to his/her grandfather through his/her mother or father. Thus, the link is the parent for this instance. The same is true with verbs for there are the so-called â€Å"linking verbs.† These linking verbs are considered to be the part of the sentence or phrase which â€Å"implies state of being or condition for the subject, [and] not action† (â€Å"Linking Verbs†). To put it more clearly, the linking verb is included in a sentence to connect two different parts of the sentence. In addition to this, the linking verb tries to connect the subject to the parts of the sentence to which it is related (â€Å"Action Verbs and Linking Verbs†). In our previous example of relatives and families, an analogy may be made between the parents and the linking verbs for the two seek to connect two different things or persons. Examples of linking verbs include â€Å"am, is, are, was, were, has been, are being, might have, been, etc† which are forms of the verb â€Å"be,† â€Å"become,† and â€Å"seem† and all of these are considered to be always linking verbs in their sense (â€Å"The Linking Verb†). It is easy to identify the linking verbs for without these, there would be lesser thought to the sentence if none at all. Taking this statement as an example, â€Å"The blue sky is my source of inspiration in finishing my painting† would show that –is serves as the linking verb. It links the blue sky to the phrase â€Å"source of inspiration.† When one is given such sentence, it would be very easy to discern that it is the blue sky is the source of inspiration because of the inking verb. Imagine deleting the linking verb for the statement. It might give a general and vague idea that may be understood by some but can not entirely be discerned. The linking verb may be used for three instances, which is to link the subject with a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective (â€Å"Linking Verbs†). An example of a linking verb that connects the subject with a noun is â€Å"Ana is a queen of her own dreams.† Could you identify the subject and the noun? Indeed, Ana is the subject and the word queen is the noun to which the subject, Ana, is connected. Going to the next, which is connecting the subject to a pronoun, a statement that could be used as an example would be â€Å"The big mansion down the road is his.† In that statement, the big mansion is connected to the pronoun â€Å"his† and this shows that the big mansion is owned by the man referred to in the statement. Lastly, the linking verb is used to connect the subject to the adjective which it is related to. For example, â€Å"The steps she made towards the aisle were as graceful as ever.† The subject here is the word â€Å"steps† and the linking verb is â€Å"were† and this is connected to the adjective â€Å"graceful.† Aside from discussing the purpose of the linking verb, it is also important to take note of when the action occurred to be able to place the correct linking verb. Linking verbs are important in constructing sentences with thought. In one whole page of words, it could be seen that linking verbs play an important role in weaving the ideas together and to show the relationships between the two. Never forsake the usefulness of the linking verb for, though it may only be a few words, it surely makes the difference for the whole thought. Works Cited The Linking Verb. Robin L. Simmons. 23 March 2008 [http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/linkingverb.htm]. Action Verbs and Linking Verbs. 28 April 2002. Gallaudet University, Washington, DC. 23 March 2008 [http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/grammar/actionlinking.htm]. Linking Verbs. Keelee Weinhold. 23 March 2008 [http://grammar.uoregon.edu/verbs/linking.html].

The Secret Garden Essays - Literature, English-language Films

The Secret Garden Essays - Literature, English-language Films The Secret Garden The Secret Garden By Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett takes place in a dreary Misselthwaite manor in England during the Victorian era. The protagonist is Mary Lennox a selfish and spoilt 11 year old. The other major characters are Master Colin Craven her sickly cousin, Dickon Sowerby the animal charmer, Master Archibald Craven her reclusive uncle, Martha Sowerby a hearty housekeeper, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin and the secret garden. The tone is melodramatic and is told in the third person omniscient. The message about life to be learned from the story is that its never too late to change, no matter how terrible, you can make the best of things. Face the problems instead of cowering from them because if your dont theyll never go away. Have a positive attitude, live life and share it with the people around. Alienating yourself is not the solution. Mary, Colin and Archibald Craven are examples of this. Mary didnt care for anything, she was so spoilt that nothing and no one meant anything to he; she was so used to everybody hating her. Colin is also spoilt and filled with ideas that hes going to die. Archibald is the coward that cant face reality or the hope for a better tomorrow. The one thing they all have in common is negatively, you get the sense that they would rather be dead and in reality its like they are because they dont care about anything. Mary is tossed around like a rag doll nobody wants; Colin is expecting to die and Master Craven runs from the possibilities of getting to know his son. In The Secret Garden there is person vs. society and person vs. her/himself. In person vs. society Mary is unloved by her parents and by most of those who she encounters. Her parents ignore her existence and leave her to the care of a hateful ayah. After her parents die she moves to live with her uncle and is greeted by Mrs. Medlock who finds her a disagreeable child. She and others dont give Mary a chance; they judge and sentence her. They do the same to Colin; they dont give him hopes of living and expect him to die soon. Person vs. her/himself is found when Mary, Colin and Master Craven have to find the courage to face the harsh world. They all fear this loneliness which they bring amongst themselves by withdrawing themselves from the world The climax in the story would have to be when Mary cant handle Colins tantrums and all his ranting and raving about the lump on his back thats going to kill him. She realizes that the way that Colin acts was the same way she used to be and she sets him straight. She doesnt give in to his hysterics and proves to him that the only lumps on his back are his bones. From that day on things change, Mary tells him about the garden and Colin gets a sudden interest in life. After that Mary takes him to the garden and this view on life changes, he says I shall live for ever- and ever- and ever. Its a combination of events with the help of different characters that bring this story to its conclusion. But it all starts with Marys arrival to the manor and her curiosity about the secret garden. Mary was used to being served and being alone, neglected by her parents she becomes bitter. Full of disagreeable thoughts about her dislikes and sour opinions of people and her determination not to be pleased by or interested in anything. There was no meaning in Marys life and thats why she was bitter, that changed when she moved to Misselthwaite where she discovers the secret garden with fantastic healing powers. The garden is walled up and has been locked up for years. With the gardeners apprentice, Dickon, Mary coaxes the garden back to life. The garden seems to have a wonderful, magical effect on all those who come into it, allowing Mary to help restore Colin to health and a reunion with his father. Its a story where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit and the

Sun King essays

Sun King essays Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, was the absolute monarch of France from 1643 to 1715. He was the third monarch of the Bourbon Family, who ruled for 72 years, the longest reign of any European Monarch. Louis guided France through a great era that signified Frances continental European dominance, even though he inherited a kingdom that was internally divided, militarily exhausted, and nearly bankrupt. The Sun King, or le Roi Soleil, achieved many of his goals which made France the greatest power in the Western world. Although Louis XIVs nation prospered, many debts were left behind for his heirs. The Sun King was born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638 to King Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, who had not had children in their twenty-two year marriage. Christened under the name Louis Dieudonn (literally, gift of god), he received the throne in 1643, just after his fathers death. Louis XIV was just five years old, so his mother and her principal minister, Jules Cardinal Mazarin, guided the nation until Mazarins demise in 1661. From hence fourth, Louis declared that he would rule France without a chief minister, something no French king had done in living memory. Louis XIV stripped the Estates-General of its power, but created the Haut Conseil, or high council, which was eventually lead by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the prior chief minister of finance. The grandeur of the king was the theme of sermons, poems, and dramatic art. The exquisite and lavish Palace of Versailles (Le Chteau de Versailles) was built under Louis XIVs supervision between 1661 and 1689. It was filled with images of the Sun Kings glory. Over 30,000 men worked on building the magnificent palace, a project that drained the royal treasury for decades. The construction of the palace required over 100 million dollars. Not only did the luxurious palace need built, but also rivers needed diverte...