Nature vs. Nurture Essay

Over recent years the nature vs. nurture debate has been extensively discussed and researched. Should human characteristics such as intelligence, personality, behavior and ability be attributed to our genetics or our environment? One problem with this is how to pin a trait down to either an inherited or learned characteristic, or perhaps itÂ’s both. Are we to blame for our behavior or is inevitable due to our genetics? This question and others seems to be part of the controversy over the subject. Also, these questions play a factor in how to change and adapt behavior. Different techniques would be more effective depending on the cause of a particular behavior or characteristic. When analyzing the causes of behavior problems in children the question of nature vs. nurture is a legitimate question. One recent study conducted by the University of Virginia and several others including one in Australia studied 1,045 twins and their 2,051 children. Some of the parents were identical twins with others being fraternal. This affected the amount of genes that were shared among the siblings. Participants were twins from a volunteer twin registry and information was gathered through a series of phone interviews beginning in 1993 and ending in 2003. The study discovered that spousal fighting wasnÂ’t to blame for behavioral problems in their children. Rather, it was the genes that influenced how often they argued with spouses. These genes when passed to their children caused more conduct problems. The conclusion of the study was that in family therapy, more focus on the child rather than the parents would be more effective (Society for Research in Child Development, 2007). This conclusion supports the theory that it is nature or our genetics that influence this particular behavior. On the other end of the spectrum another study involved observing children in different childcare settings. Researchers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development studied the children beginning in 1991 from the age of one month until they were school age. These 1,364 participants were selected at birth and were studied through phone and personal interviews at three month intervals. The childrenÂ’s cognitive and social functioning was measured at certain intervals and followed up to the  children on sixth grade. It was concluded that center based care yielded more aggression and disobedience than other types of childcare, with the quality of childcare was also found to be a factor (Society for Research in Child Development, 2007). This conclusion supports the theory that it is nurture or our environment that influences this particular behavior and the type of care children receive is an important factor in a childÂ’s development. Both of these studies posed the question of whether the cause of a particular problem, this one being behavioral issues, is genetic or ones environment. Both of these studies looked exclusively at one cause or the other with little being discussed about the other possibilities. The differences in the studies was the length of time given to each study with the genetic study being short term and the childcare study involving observations over a period of time. Another difference is the twin study looked at parents of a specific group, that being twins. The child care study looked at the children of many different types of parents. While both of these studies have their merits, neither study was able to conclusively determine the cause of behavioral problems observed as being attributed solely to genetics or the environment. The question of which one plays a greater role will likely continue to be asked. Hopefully this leads to more research and answers that will further our understanding of human behavior. References Society for Research in Child Development (2007, March 26). Center-based Care Yields More Behavior Problems; In Other Types Of Care, Problems Short-lived. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com ¬ /releases/2007/03/070326095340.htm. Society for Research in Child Development (2007, February 7). Parents’ Genes, Not Parents’ Arguing, May Cause Children’s Conduct Problems. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com ¬ /releases/2007/02/070207090943.htm.

Marketing Philosophy Essay

Efforts of reviewing and modelling marketing elements, concepts and philosophical attitudes were numerous and effective. But with new challenges causing hurdles in making marketing function more effective on macro- and micro- level of the economy, a revision of marketing philosophy is always at place. Elements of marketing philosophy Dibb and Simkin (2004)| Lancaster and Reynolds (2005)| Blythe (2005)| Drummond and Ensor (2005)| Morgan (1996)| 1. Production orientation 2. Financial orientation 3. Sales orientation 4. Marketing orientation 5. Customer orientation 6. Competitor orientation 7. Interfunctional Coordination| 1. Production orientation 2. Sales orientation 3. Marketing Orientation| 1. Production orientation 2. Product orientation 3. Sales orientation 4. Customer orientation 5. Societal marketing 6. Relationship Marketing| 1. Production orientation 2. Product orientation 3. Sales orientation 4. Financial orientation 5. Marketing Orientation| 1. Cost philosophy 2. Product philosophy 3. Production philosophy 4. Sales philosophy 5. Erratic philosophy 6. Marketing philosophy 7. Social marketing philosophy| As indicated in Table 1, authors tend to use various terms for the elements of marketing philosophy: a) ‘orientation’ (Dibb and Simkin, 2004; Lancaster and Reynolds, 2005; Blythe, 2005; Drummond and Ensor, 2005); b) ‘philosophy’ (Morgan, 1996); c) ‘concept’ (Kotler and Armstrong, 2008). Even the Lithuanian authors, who wrote the first university book on marketing, professors Pranulis, Pajuodis, Virvilaite and Urbonavicius (1999, 2000 and 2008) have used the Lithuanian counterpart word ‘orientation’. Following this broad tendency of the term ‘orientation’ usage, here, in this article, the choice of the ‘orientation’ term will be applied. The renowned American professors Kotler and Armstrong (2008, pp.9-12) indicated that their choice of marketing management orientations were as follows: * the production concept, * the product concept, * the selling concept, * the marketing concept. * the societal marketing concept. A similar opinion was expressed by a group of Lithuanian marketing professors, where they classified marketing orientations as follows (Pranulis et al., 1999, 2000): a) production orientation, b) product orientation, c) selling orientation, d) marketing orientation; e) socialethical marketing orientation. Because of the difficulty of incorporating all the various facets of marketing into a single definition, Lancaster and Reynolds (2005) distinguished features of the subject in the following statements (Lancaster and Reynolds, 2005, p.16): †¢ â€Å"Marketing is dynamic and operational, requiring action as well as planning. †¢ Marketing requires an improved form of business organisation, although this on its own is not enough. †¢ Marketing is an important functional area of management, often based in a single physical location. More importantly, it is an overall business philosophy that should be adopted by everybody in the entire organisation. †¢ The marketing concept states that the identification, satisfaction and retention of customers is the key to long-term survival and prosperity. †¢ Marketing involves planning and control. †¢ The principle of marketing states that all business decisions should be made with primary consideration of customer requirements. †¢ Marketing focuses attention from production towards the needs and wants of the market place. †¢ Marketing is concerned with obtaining value from the market by offering items of value to the market. It does this by producing goods and services that satisfy the genuine needs and wants of specifically defined target markets. †¢ The distinguishing feature of a marketing orientated organisation is the way in which it strives to provide customer satisfaction as a way of achieving its own business objectives.† The author of the article proposes the following perception on the classification of marketing orientations, which constitute the marketing philosophy essence: 1) the production orientation, 2) the product orientation, 3) the financial orientation, 4) the selling orientation, 5) the marketing orientation, 6) the market orientation (which extends to internal and external orientations), 7) the social-ethical marketing orientation, 8) the holistic marketing orientation (which extends to internal marketing orientation, integrated marketing orientation, social marketing orientation relationship marketing orientation). The holistic marketing concept was proposed by Kotler and Keller (2007) but it was not mentioned or wider discussed in the textbook of Principles of Marketing (Kotler and Armstrong, 2008), but introduced in their co-operative book on Marketing Management (2007). For this reason, it is viable to include this new orientation in the proposed model (Figure 3), as it integrated at least four other sub-orientations: a) internal marketing orientation, b) integrated marketing orientation, c) social marketing orientation and d) relationship marketing orientation. Internal marketing orientation will be directly dealing with a Marketing Department within an organisation. It will directly subordinate to the senior management level and other organisational department, emphasising the organisational culture and micro-climate, suitable for effective work and success factors in marketing performance. Integrated marketing orientation would focus towards integrated marketing communications, the cost-effective selection of marketing channels and integrated development of products and services within the scope, demand and challenges of the national and international markets. Social marketing orientation would be focusing on the concept of societal marketing proposed by Kotler and Armstrong (2008), where the basic societal marketing triangle is based on the well-being of the community, incorporating the corporate social responsibility of companies and non-profit organisations, legal issues and environmental protection issues, which altogether streamline the sustainable development of the economy and consumption patterns. Relationship marketing orientation would be concerned with fostering the customercompany relationship with consumers, offering value added products and services. This orientation will also foster the company-partner company (B2B) relationship, seeking trust and reliability in partner selection process and its maintenance for coming years. Therefore, marketing channels should be effectively developed to reduce costs and enhance profitability ratios for all three market participants: a) producers, b) distributors and sellers, c) consumers. The market orientation is proposed to be grouped as internal and external orientations. Though Narver and Slater (1990) proposed a model that identified the components of market orientation as: †¢ Customer orientation, which incorporates customers’ perceptions and understanding by customers’ creating value, offering cost-effective solutions to satisfy their needs. †¢ Competitor orientation emphasises one of the marketing’s functions, i.e., to seek competitive advantage in the market. Competitor analysis, performed in various techniques (e.g. PESTED analysis, Porter’s forces analysis, Boston matrix analysis, etc.), gives a company tools to objectively evaluate competitors’ capabilities and results on the market. †¢ Organizational culture if analysed on an individual basis could be either included into market orientation factor or in the holistic marketing orientation, depending how integrative the marketing philosophy is on an organisational level. Organisational culture should support customer service and customer relationship development throughemployee performance prism. †¢ Interfunctional coordination should focus on the interaction between internal functional areas of the organization which best serve customer need and satisfaction, which in other cases would correspond to the relationship marketing orientation (Kotler and Keller, 2007). †¢ Long-term focus would incorporate the consideration of how the above can be sustained, and financially viable, over the long term. In this paper the proposition by Drummond et al (2000) is closer to the author’s perception of market orientation, therefore the constituent parts of the market orientation are considered to be the balance between: a) External market orientation: customers, competitors and other external stakeholders. b) Internal market orientation: employees and other internal stakeholders. Marketing Orientation The term marketing is used extensively in modern life. If you stop someone in the street and ask them what it means, they will probably use words like â€Å"advertising†, â€Å"market research† and† a modern word for selling†. In fact, marketing is a lot more than just selling, advertising and research, although all of these functions are important aspects of marketing. The Chartered Lrstitute of Marketing in the UK defines marketing as follows: â€Å"Marketing is the management process which identifies, anticipates, and supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably†. So what is marketing orientation? In the next sections we shall explore this. First we will consider what it means for an organisation to adopt a marketing-based business philosophy. We shall then consider the evolution of the marketing concept and look at how marketing orientation has influenced organizational structures in business. An Overview of a Marketing-based Business Philosophy The points below describe marketing and its role in a marketing based business philosophy. We shall then go on to consider a marketing-based philosophy in more detail. * Marketing is a management process, and the support of management for the marketing concept is a key element in its success. Today, a company has to be marketing orientated if it is to be successful. * Marketing is involved with identifying customer requirements – usually with market research. * We have to consider current needs and anticipate the requirements of the customer in the future. This requires planning – a very important aspect of the marketing process. The satisfaction of the needs will require the supplier to provide benefits – the right market offering at the right place at the right time. * Truly market-driven companies adopt strategic level marketing, where marketing has a key role in defining the long-term objectives and mission of the company. In this way, a strategic framework is established whereby the customer is placed at the centre of the organisation’s activities. * Marketing is not just for profit-making companies. Marketing is for any organisation that has customers, and that includes charities and government bodies. Very many selling jobs in fact are in non-profit-making organisations, although very often the people who have those jobs would not think of themselves as salespeople! Marketing is a business philosophy, the process responsible for anticipating, identifying and satisfying customer current and future needs. The marketing philosophy developed out of the need by producer manufacturers, whose focus was on efficient production, to compete more effectively in their markets. They turned their attention away from mass production at lowest unit cost to try to anticipate the specific needs of customers and produce products/services whose benefits would satisfy those needs. Marketing is sometimes referred to as a ‘pull strategy’. The principle is that we understand customer needs and produce products or services, which meet those needs through specific benefits. Customers will want to purchase products or services, which they perceive as meeting their needs and wants. Literature review on marketing challenges in the new millennium The precondition, which fostered to review the challenges for the marketing in the new millennium, was the statements in various forms and shapes, which appeared during the past decade in text books, social networks, media and social forums. The selection of disturbing statements were selected and presented here for the discussion. The biased perception of marketing functions and orientations at the dawn of the new millennium is not compelling. Traditional (conventional) marketing is visualised as a dead function, notwithstanding the critics of modern marketing practice. The critics bring up the issues of lost customers, mass marketing and viral marketing. Therefore, a more fundamental change for marketing is at stake – towards a more personal touch in the field, as well emphasised by Spellings (2009). Boynett and Boynett (2003) in their book on â€Å"The Guru Guideâ„ ¢ to Marketing: A Concise Guide to the Best Ideas from Today’s Top Marketers† have also identified a number of citations, which question the future of marketing and its conventional functionality. It is apparent that marketing is becoming a multi-disciplinary theory, which inevitably incorporates postmodern aspects of the markets and consumption patterns and consumer behaviour. Selected statements on the death of traditional marketing in the new millennium Authors/sources| Statements| Boyett and Boyett (2003, p.1)| Death-of-marketing gurus rationalize their hyperbole by explaining that marketing is in the throes of fundamental change.| World of DTC Marketing (2008)| Conventional marketing is dead†¦| Bishop (2009)| Marketing is dead; long live marketing: Attracting consumers in the post-mass marketing era| Big Marketing Ideas (2009)| The reason we say viral marketing is dead is not because content no longer spreads in the same way – quite the contrary. But the idea that you could create a flash game or a funny video and expect it to get a million hits and downloads within a week is now patently naà ¯ve. | Wymore (2009)| Forget direct mail, television advertising, and other mass media marketing. They just don’t work anymore. Traditional marketing is dead. In other words, these marketing chestnuts simply don’t stand out in today’s noisy media market.| Spellings (2009)| â€Å"Mass Marketing is Dead. Make Way For Personal Marketing†: The days of mass marketing are coming to an end as we enter a new era of personal marketing. Personal marketing will require more work, more preparation, and smarter implementation, but the rewards will be vastly better than the mass marketing approach.| Selected marketing challenges in the new millennium Sutton and Klein (2003)| Blythe (2005)| Kashani (2005)| Brown (2008)| Kotler and Armstrong (2008)| Bishop (2009)| †¢ Increasing market complexity †¢ Accelerating demand for speed to market †¢ Growing need to capture marketing knowledge †¢ Increasing availability of innovative marketing technologies †¢ Escalating demand for marketing efficiency and effectiveness| †¢ Relationship marketing development †¢ Service quality enhancement †¢ Internet marketing development †¢ Marketing ethics †¢ Marketing strategy revisited| †¢ Commoditisation (change in technologies, more informed customer, more intense competition) †¢ Consolidation(mergers & acquisitions) †¢ Power shift †¢ Margin erosion †¢ Value focus| Postmodern challenges: †¢ Hyperreality †¢ Fragmentation †¢ Reversed production and consumption †¢ Decentred subjects †¢ Juxtaposition of opposites| †¢ The new digital age †¢ Rapid globalisation †¢ The call for more ethics and social responsibility †¢ Growth of non-profit marketing| †¢ Aggressive innovations †¢ Building a strong value proposition †¢ Engagement and connection to the customer †¢ Delivering customer experiences at or above expectations| It could be generalised that marketing in the 21st century presents many new postmodern challenges (see Table 3): †¢ shrinking markets, which in effect implies fragmentation and decentralised subjects (Brown, 2008), followed by increasing market complexity (Sutton and Klein, 2003) and market globalisation (Kotler and Armstrong, 2008); †¢ green issues (Blythe, 2005), more marketing ethics (Blythe, 2005; Kotler and Armstrong, 2008) and social responsibility (Kotler and Armstrong, 2008); †¢ marketing strategy revisited (Blythe, 2005) through accelerating the demand for marketing efficiency and effectiveness (Sutton and Klein, 2003) and speed to market (Sutton and Klein, 2003), and aggressive innovations (Bishop, 2009); †¢ advancements in technologies in the digital age (Kotler and Armstrong, 2008), including Internet, commoditisation (Kashani, 2005), communications (Bishop, 2009), internet marketing development (Blythe, 2005), increasing availability of innovative marketing technologies (Sutton and Klein, 2003); †¢ engagement and connection to the customer (Bishop, 2009), through service quality enhancement (Blythe, 2005), delivering customer experiences at or above expectations (Bishop, 2009), rapidly changing public attitudes towards consumption (Sutton and Klein, 2003); †¢ building a strong value proposition (Bishop, 2009) through growing need to capture marketing knowledge (Sutton and Klein, 2003), power shift (Kashani, 2005) and reversed production and consumption (Brown, 2008). Therefore, marketers are facing the re-evaluation of marketing strategy, applying new tools and sophisticated techniques in the new millennium, where changes are of a constant nature. â€Å"Ultimately, the firms who take the greatest care of their customers’ interests are the ones most likely to maintain their competitive edge in a cut-throat world† (Blythe, 2005 p.332). The case of coffee bars: applying marketing orientations and marketing challenges in the new millennium. In practice, each company selects business and marketing philosophy which suits it best. The decision depends on the company’s type, size, products and services it produces, distributes and sells and etc. In order to apply marketing orientations and marketing challenges to a practical situation, two companies in coffee bars sector: a) an international company STARBUCKS (the USA) and b) a national company COFFEE INN (Lithuania). Their briefs and marketing philosophies will be discussed bellow. The case of Starbucks (the USA) Probably one of the most famous brands in the United States and now in the whole world, reflecting the specific lifestyle of the few generations, is definitely Starbucks. Starbucks is the largest coffee-house company in the world, offering a wide range of various coffees, hot and cold coffee and non-coffee drinks, sandwiches and sweet snacks. Founded in 1979, only as a coffee bean retailer Starbucks became a coffee-house selling coffee drinks as well as beans, when its present headmaster Howard Schultz came in and bought the company from its former owners in 1987. Since then, an extraordinary quick expansion in the Unites States, and from 1996 in the whole world, has begun. Now, Starbucks owns approximately 16 000 stores in the world and announces about opening 900 new stores outside United States in 2009 (on the other hand, Starbucks is closing the same amount of stores in the United States) (www.strabucks.com). It is obvious, that such a big success would be impossible without well selected and formulated marketing philosophy. As one of the most innovative companies in the world Starbucks has chosen social-ethical marketing orientation and declares care for the environment and common wealth as well as for people. The main idea of their philosophy is defined in the Starbucks mission statement. Starbucks has two mission statements which are placed in the official company’s website : „To inspire and nurture human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a timeâ€Å" and „Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our businessâ€Å" (www.strabucks.com). Social-ethical marketing orientation is getting a trendy buzz word, as environmental and ecological problems are on the increase. Some years ago Starbucks was criticised for wasting resources by using paper and plastic cups, for wasting water and even funding Israel army (Vitkus, 2009). Now this company is shown as the best example of environmental friendly business in the business schools around the world. Starbucks announces its corporate social responsibility Annual reports for the public; here the company describes their attention to the employees, customers and the environment, manifesting marketing orientation, marketorientation and holistic marketing orientation. They started to use cups from recycled paper or biodegradable plastic. Social responsibility is also emphasised in their coffee-bars’ design, posters and various promotional campaigns (the integrated marketing sub-orientation in the holistic marketing orientation). According to Pranulis et al (2008), the main idea of marketing orientation is to create the circle of loyal clients rather than one-time buyers. Starbucks could be called a champion in this field too. The chairman of Starbucks Howard Schultz explains, that a person gets more than just coffee when he/she visits Starbucks – „he gets great people, first-rate music and a comfortable and upbeat meeting place† (www.strabucks.com). That’s why people all around the world are willing to pay for coffee more than in other coffee-bars – they buy and experience, not a drink (the selling orientation). According to Howard Schultz, Starbucks build personal relationships with each of their customers (this implies the relationship marketing sub-orientation in the holistic marketing orientation). Even the waiters at Starbucks are called baristas to make them feel exceptional and proud about their workplace, not to feel just simple service workers (internal marketing sub-orientation in the holistic marketing orientation). Another core element of marketing concept (Pranulis et al., 2008, Kotler and Keller, 2007) is to appeal to customers’ needs. Starbucks does everything to achieve its costumers’ satisfaction. They were the first who offered free internet at their coffee-bars and started to open the stores 10 minutes before the actual opening time just to make customers always feel welcome and happy. Viral marketing has also become one of the most important features of Starbucks‘. You can hardly find and advertisement in any newspaper or marketplace, but they build extremely strong relationships by using social networks, internet and mouth-to-mouth marketing, which means Starbucks meets the marketing challenges of a) the digital age, b) value proposition, c) connecting to customers, d) corporate social responsibility, e) green issues and f) overall revised marketing strategy, g) market shrinking factors (as Starbucks was forced to close down 600 coffee-bars in the USA during the economic slowdown (Milasius, 2008)). The case of Coffee Inn (Lithuania) The other company selected for a comparative study is a national company, located only in Lithuania. Coffee Inn is a coffee-bars’ chain opened a few years ago in Vilnius, the capital city of the country. Started from just one coffee-bar, Coffee Inn now owns 7 coffee-bars in Vilnius and one in Kaunas in 2007 (Vaitiekuniene, 2007). At first, Coffee Inn came into the market with the same concept as Starbucks did. It sells coffee and various coffee drinks, served in paper cups, sandwiches and desserts in small, cosy coffee-bars, located in the city centre. The main difference between Starbucks and Coffee Inn is that Starbucks is a big global company (the globalisation challenge) and can afford applying social-ethical marketing orientation, while Coffee Inn is still too small to afford huge investments for various socialprojects and campaigns and it has chosen the marketing orientation. However, Coffee Inn expands constantly, therefore, sooner or later this company will also apply social-ethical marketing oreintation (now Coffee Inn supports various cultural festivals, such as cultural night TebÃ… «nie naktis, or Street music day, not financially, but by helping to promote them, or by prolonging their opening hours during these festivals). The main idea, the co-owner of Coffee Inn Nidas Kiuberis explains, is that they sell a feeling of pleasure rather than just a cup of coffee (Obcarskaite, 2009). It seems extremely similar to Starbucks idea. The waiters are called baristas too, Coffee Inn also offers free internet access and their menu is quite similar to Starbucks one. Lithuanians sometimes even claim that Coffee Inn tries to copy Starbucks. On the other hand, there are a lot of cafeterias offering similar facilities (e.g., Vero Cafe, Double Coffee and etc.), and Coffee Inn is not an exception. However, Coffee Inn is a lot smaller as coffee-bars’ chain than Starbucks and for this reason it is much easier to control it. Being small enables Coffee Inn to be more flexible and to react to customers’ demands and wants quicker and to create new demands and wants at the same time (marketing orientation). Coffee Inn constantly offers new drinks, snacks and other features (product orientation). They were one of the first who invited customers to come together with their pets, set free book collection and invited everyone to come to read or to donate a book (the communication challenge). While talking about customers’ loyalty, new technologies play an important part here too (the technological challenge): Coffee Inn keeps exceptionally close relationships with its customers using Facebook social network, writing the blog and honestly replying to all the letters and comments. The co-owner Nidas Kiuberis maintains the Coffee Inn blog himself – this is very important, as customers notice, that director of the company itself pays attention to their opinion (Milasius, 2008). Nidas Kiuberis explains, they are following â€Å"guerilla marketing† ideas, because it is the best solution for a small business without large budget, where creativity and energy are the most important things (Obcarskaite, 2009). â€Å"Viral marketing and personal blog writing costs nothing and gives better results, than advertisement on TV – your loyalty for customers loyalty, these are the things every company seeks, especially in a crisis time† (Obcarskaite, 2009). As a result, Coffee Inn has created a steady circle of loyal customers, who are indifferent to similar competitors, such as Vero Cafe, offers. The Evolution of the Marketing Concept Marketing is basically about anticipating and serving customer needs, but where does the concept come from? In fact, even though the term â€Å"marketing† quite modern, the idea of customer orientation is as old as trade itself. For example, if we looked at a pre-Industrial Revolution village, we would see a number of trades-people such as the blacksmith at work. These people provided the villagers with what they wanted. There was no question of producing large volumes of goods and assuming that people would take them. Everything was made to order – the customer had needs and the supplier met them. Conclusions In the changing market environment with changing customer behaviour and seeking business opportunities, companies face marketing challenges on a daily basis. In the process of theoretical research, a modified model of marketing orientations, which form the marketing philosophy, was proposed, comprising eight major orientations, where market orientation and the holistic marketing orientation are split into further sub-orientations. The other task for the author was to review and structure marketing challenges in the new millennium and test these issues in two cases of coffee-bars sector on international (Starbucks) and national (Coffee Inn in Lithuania) markets. Starbucks and Coffee Inn both follow similar marketing orientations. Starbucks follows social-ethical marketing orientation as a basis of business, while Coffee Inn is being still guided by the marketing orientation. Both companies sell an experience, rather than just coffee and image is very important for the customers of these companies as they are mainly young people (20-40 years of age, Miksys, 2008). Both companies use viral marketing techniques, though Coffee Inn can create closer relationships with its customers, because it is able to react to changes quicker. Loyal customers could be called the biggest strength and competitive advantage of these companies as they do not compete on price, just by creating exceptional atmosphere.

Digital Fortress Chapter 107-109

Chapter 107 Susan had no idea how much time had passed. A burning in her throat pulled her to her senses. Disoriented, she studied her surroundings. She was on a carpet behind a desk. The only light in the room was a strange orange flickering. The air smelled of burning plastic. The room she was standing in was not really a room at all; it was a devastated shell. The curtains were on fire, and the Plexiglas walls were smoldering. Then she remembered it all. David. In a rising panic, she pulled herself to her feet. The air felt caustic in her windpipe. She stumbled to the doorway looking for away out. As she crossed the threshold, her leg swung out over an abyss; she grabbed the door frame just in time. The catwalk had disappeared. Fifty feet below was a twisted collapse of steaming metal. Susan scanned the Crypto floor in horror. It was a sea of fire. The melted remains of three million silicon chips had erupted from TRANSLTR like lava. Thick, acrid smoke billowed upward. Susan knew the smell. Silicon smoke. Deadly poison. Retreating into the remains of Strathmore's office, she began to feel faint. Her throat burned. The entire place was filled with a fiery light. Crypto was dying. So will I, she thought. For a moment, she considered the only possible exit-Strathmore's elevator. But she knew it was useless; the electronics never would have survived the blast. But as Susan made her way through the thickening smoke, she recalled Hale's words. The elevator runs on power from the main building! I've seen the schematics! Susan knew that was true. She also knew the entire shaft was encased in reinforced concrete. The fumes swirled all around her. She stumbled through the smoke toward the elevator door. But when she got there, she saw that the elevator's call button was dark. Susan jabbed fruitlessly at the darkened panel, then she fell to her knees and pounded on the door. She stopped almost instantly. Something was whirring behind the doors. Startled, she looked up. It sounded like the carriage was right there! Susan stabbed at the button again. Again, a whirring behind the doors. Suddenly she saw it. The call button was not dead-it had just been covered with black soot. It now glowed faintly beneath her smudged fingerprints. There's power! With a surge of hope, she punched at the button. Over and over, something behind the doors engaged. She could hear the ventilation fan in the elevator car. The carriage is here! Why won't the damn doors open? Through the smoke she spied the tiny secondary keypad-lettered buttons, A through Z. In a wave of despair, Susan remembered. The password. The smoke was starting to curl in through the melted window frames. Again she banged on the elevator doors. They refused to open. The password! she thought. Strathmore never told me the password! Silicon smoke was now filling the office. Choking, Susan fell against the elevator in defeat. The ventilation fan was running just a few feet away. She lay there, dazed, gulping for air. She closed her eyes, but again David's voice woke her. Escape, Susan! Open the door! Escape! She opened her eyes expecting to see his face, those wild green eyes, that playful smile. But the letters A-Z came into focus. The password†¦ Susan stared at the letters on the keypad. She could barely keep them in focus. On the LED below the keypad, five empty spots awaited entry. A five-character password, she thought. She instantly knew the odds: twenty-six to the fifth power; 11,881,376 possible choices. At one guess every second, it would take nineteen weeks†¦ As Susan Fletcher lay choking on the floor beneath the keypad, the commander's pathetic voice came to her. He was calling to her again. I love you Susan! I've always loved you! Susan! Susan! Susan†¦ She knew he was dead, and yet his voice was relentless. She heard her name over and over. Susan†¦ Susan†¦ Then, in a moment of chilling clarity, she knew. Trembling weakly, she reached up to the keypad and typed the password. S†¦ U†¦ S†¦ A†¦ N An instant later, the doors slid open. Chapter 108 Strathmore's elevator dropped fast. Inside the carriage, Susan sucked deep breaths of fresh air into her lungs. Dazed, she steadied herself against the wall as the car slowed to a stop. A moment later some gears clicked, and the conveyor began moving again, this time horizontally. Susan felt the carriage accelerate as it began rumbling toward the main NSA complex. Finally it whirred to a stop, and the doors opened. Coughing, Susan Fletcher stumbled into a darkened cement corridor. She found herself in a tunnel-low-ceilinged and narrow. A double yellow line stretched out before her. The line disappeared into an empty, dark hollow. The Underground Highway†¦ She staggered toward the tunnel, holding the wall for guidance. Behind her, the elevator door slid shut. Once again Susan Fletcher was plunged into darkness. Silence. Nothing except a faint humming in the walls. A humming that grew louder. Suddenly it was as if dawn were breaking. The blackness thinned to a hazy gray. The walls of the tunnel began to take shape. All at once, a small vehicle whipped around the corner, its headlight blinding her. Susan stumbled back against the wall and shielded her eyes. There was a gust of air, and the transport whipped past. An instant later there was a deafening squeal of rubber on cement. The hum approached once again, this time in reverse. Seconds later the vehicle came to a stop beside her. â€Å"Ms. Fletcher!† an astonished voice exclaimed. Susan gazed at a vaguely familiar shape in the driver's seat of an electric golf cart. â€Å"Jesus.† The man gasped. â€Å"Are you okay? We thought you were dead!† Susan stared blankly. â€Å"Chad Brinkerhoff,† he sputtered, studying the shell-shocked cryptographer. â€Å"Directorial PA.† Susan could only manage a dazed whimper. â€Å"TRANSLTR†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Brinkerhoff nodded. â€Å"Forget it. Get on!† The beam of the golf cart's headlights whipped across the cement walls. â€Å"There's a virus in the main databank,† Brinkerhoff blurted. â€Å"I know,† Susan heard herself whisper. â€Å"We need you to help us.† Susan was fighting back the tears. â€Å"Strathmore†¦ he†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We know,† Brinkerhoff said. â€Å"He bypassed Gauntlet.† â€Å"Yes†¦ and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The words got stuck in her throat. He killed David! Brinkerhoff put a hand on her shoulder. â€Å"Almost there, Ms. Fletcher. Just hold on.† The high-speed Kensington golf cart rounded a corner and skidded to a stop. Beside them, branching off perpendicular to the tunnel, was a hallway, dimly lit by red floor lighting. â€Å"Come on,† Brinkerhoff said, helping her out. He guided her into the corridor. Susan drifted behind him in a fog. The tiled passageway sloped downward at a steep incline. Susan grabbed the handrail and followed Brinkerhoff down. The air began to grow cooler. They continued their descent. As they dropped deeper into the earth, the tunnel narrowed. From somewhere behind them came the echo of footsteps-a strong, purposeful gait. The footsteps grew louder. Both Brinkerhoff and Susan stopped and turned. Striding toward them was an enormous black man. Susan had never seen him before. As he approached, he fixed her with a penetrating stare. â€Å"Who's this?† he demanded. â€Å"Susan Fletcher,† Brinkerhoff replied. The enormous man arched his eyebrows. Even sooty and soaked, Susan Fletcher was more striking than he had imagined. â€Å"And the commander?† he demanded. Brinkerhoff shook his head. The man said nothing. He stared off a moment. Then he turned back to Susan. â€Å"Leland Fontaine,† he said, offering her his hand. â€Å"Glad you're okay.† Susan stared. She'd always known she'd meet the director someday, but this was not the introduction she'd envisioned. â€Å"Come along, Ms. Fletcher,† Fontaine said, leading the way. â€Å"We'll need all the help we can get.† Looming in the reddish haze at the bottom of the tunnel, a steel wall blocked their way. Fontaine approached and typed an entry code into a recessed cipher box. He then placed his right hand against a small glass panel. A strobe flashed. A moment later the massive wall thundered left. There was only one NSA chamber more sacred than Crypto, and Susan Fletcher sensed she was about to enter it. Chapter 109 The command center for the NSA's main databank looked like a scaled-down NASA mission control. A dozen computer workstations faced the thirty-foot by forty-foot video wall at the far end of the room. On the screen, numbers and diagrams flashed in rapid succession, appearing and disappearing as if someone were channel surfing. A handful of technicians raced wildly from station to station trailing long sheets of printout paper and yelling commands. It was chaos. Susan stared at the dazzling facility. She vaguely remembered that 250 metric tons of earth had been excavated to create it. The chamber was located 214 feet below ground, where it would be totally impervious to flux bombs and nuclear blasts. On a raised workstation in the center of the room stood Jabba. He bellowed orders from his platform like a king to his subjects. Illuminated on the screen directly behind him was a message. The message was all too familiar to Susan. The billboard-size text hung ominously over Jabba's head: ONLY THE TRUTH WILL SAVE YOU NOW ENTER PASS-KEY ______ As if trapped in some surreal nightmare, Susan followed Fontaine toward the podium. Her world was a slow-motion blur. Jabba saw them coming and wheeled like an enraged bull. â€Å"I built Gauntlet for a reason!† â€Å"Gauntlet's gone,† Fontaine replied evenly. â€Å"Old news, Director,† Jabba spat. â€Å"The shock wave knocked me on my ass! Where's Strathmore?† â€Å"Commander Strathmore is dead.† â€Å"Poetic fucking justice.† â€Å"Cool it, Jabba,† the director ordered. â€Å"Bring us up to speed. How bad is this virus?† Jabba stared at the director a long moment, and then without warning, he burst out laughing. â€Å"A virus?† His harsh guffaw resonated through the underground chamber. â€Å"Is that what you think this is?† Fontaine kept his cool. Jabba's insolence was way out of line, but Fontaine knew this was not the time or place to handle it. Down here, Jabba outranked God himself. Computer problems had away of ignoring the normal chain of command. â€Å"It's not a virus?† Brinkerhoff exclaimed hopefully. Jabba snorted in disgust. â€Å"Viruses have replication strings, pretty boy! This doesn't!† Susan hovered nearby, unable to focus. â€Å"Then what's going on?† Fontaine demanded. â€Å"I thought we had a virus.† Jabba sucked in a long breath and lowered his voice. â€Å"Viruses†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he said, wiping sweat from his face. â€Å"Viruses reproduce. They create clones. They're vain and stupid-binary egomaniacs. They pump out babies faster than rabbits. That's their weakness-you can cross-breed them into oblivion if you know what you're doing. Unfortunately, this program has no ego, no need to reproduce. It's clear-headed and focused. In fact, when it's accomplished its objective here, it will probably commit digital suicide. â€Å"Jabba held out his arms reverently to the projected havoc on the enormous screen. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen.† He sighed. â€Å"Meet the kamikaze of computer invaders†¦ the worm.† â€Å"Worm?† Brinkerhoff groaned. It seemed like a mundane term to describe the insidious intruder. â€Å"Worm.† Jabba smoldered. â€Å"No complex structures, just instinct-eat, shit, crawl. That's it. Simplicity. Deadly simplicity. It does what it's programmed to do and then checks out.† Fontaine eyed Jabba sternly. â€Å"And what is this worm programmed to do?† â€Å"No clue,† Jabba replied. â€Å"Right now, it's spreading out and attaching itself to all our classified data. After that, it could do anything. It might decide to delete all the files, or it might just decide to print smiley faces on certain White House transcripts.† Fontaine's voice remained cool and collected. â€Å"Can you stop it?† Jabba let out a long sigh and faced the screen. â€Å"I have no idea. It all depends on how pissed off the author is.† He pointed to the message on the wall. â€Å"Anybody want to tell me what the hell that means?† ONLY THE TRUTH WILL SAVE YOU NOW ENTER PASS-KEY ______ Jabba waited for a response and got none. â€Å"Looks like someone's messing with us, Director. Blackmail. This is a ransom note if I ever saw one.† Susan's voice was a whisper, empty and hollow. â€Å"It's†¦ Ensei Tankado.† Jabba turned to her. He stared a moment, wide-eyed. â€Å"Tankado?† Susan nodded weakly. â€Å"He wanted our confession†¦ about TRANSLTR†¦ but it cost him his-â€Å" â€Å"Confession?† Brinkerhoff interrupted, looking stunned. â€Å"Tankado wants us to confess we have TRANSLTR? I'd say it's a bit late for that!† Susan opened her mouth to speak, but Jabba took over. â€Å"Looks like Tankado's got a kill-code,† he said, gazing up at the message on the screen. Everyone turned. â€Å"Kill code?† Brinkerhoff demanded. Jabba nodded. â€Å"Yeah. A pass-key that stops the worm. Simply put, if we admit we have TRANSLTR, Tankado gives us a kill-code. We type it in and save the databank. Welcome to digital extortion.† Fontaine stood like rock, unwavering. â€Å"How long have we got?† â€Å"About an hour,† Jabba said. â€Å"Just time enough to call a press conference and spill our guts. â€Å"Recommendation,† Fontaine demanded. â€Å"What do you propose we do?† â€Å"A recommendation?† Jabba blurted in disbelief. â€Å"You want a recommendation? I'll give you a recommendation! You quit fucking around, that's what you do!† â€Å"Easy,† the director warned. â€Å"Director,† Jabba sputtered. â€Å"Right now, Ensei Tankado owns this databank! Give him whatever he wants. If he wants the world to know about TRANSLTR, call CNN, and drop your shorts. TRANSLTR's a hole in the ground now anyway-what the hell do you care?† There was a silence. Fontaine seemed to be considering his options. Susan began to speak, but Jabba beat her to it. â€Å"What are you waiting for, Director! Get Tankado on the phone! Tell him you'll play ball! We need that kill-code, or this whole place is going down!† Nobody moved. â€Å"Are you all insane?† Jabba screamed. â€Å"Call Tankado! Tell him we fold! Get me that kill-code! NOW!† Jabba whipped out his cellular phone and switched it on. â€Å"Never mind! Get me his number! I'll call the little prick myself!† â€Å"Don't bother,† Susan said in a whisper. â€Å"Tankado's dead.† After a moment of confused astonishment, the implications hit Jabba like a bullet to the gut. The huge Sys-Sec looked like he was about to crumble. â€Å"Dead? But then†¦ that means†¦ we can't†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"That means we'll need a new plan,† Fontaine said matter-of-factly. Jabba's eyes were still glazed with shock when someone in the back of the room began shouting wildly. â€Å"Jabba! Jabba!† It was Soshi Kuta, his head techie. She came running toward the podium trailing a long printout. She looked terrified. â€Å"Jabba!† She gasped. â€Å"The worm†¦ I just found out what it's programmed to do!† Soshi thrust the paper into Jabba's hands. â€Å"I pulled this from the system-activity probe! We isolated the worm's execute commands-have a look at the programming! Look what it's planning to do!† Dazed, the chief Sys-Sec read the printout. Then he grabbed the handrail for support. â€Å"Oh, Jesus,† Jabba gasped. â€Å"Tankado†¦ you bastard!†

Precedent in English Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Precedent in English Law - Essay Example It is always considered to be the rule-based, legally well-established case law. "The fact that English Law is largely a system of case-law means that the judge's decision in a particular case constitutes a 'precedent'The judge may simply be obliged to decide the case before him in the same way as that in which the previous case was decided, even if he can give a good reason for not doing so," Cross and Harris (1991, p.4). There is no doubt that precedents have not remained what they used to be and as the society evolves, some of the precedents might become irrelevant and it is left to the court's discerning judgement where and how to apply these highly useful precedents. "Rather, what is common to all the various traits of free judicial decision-making is their critical attitude towards the formalist premises of legal positivism and the ideology of bound judicial decision-making," Siltala (2000, p.5) and he argues that legislative techniques have undergone great change in 20th century which has given way to 'judicial anti-formalism'. Precedent spells the legal authority in the form of a forgone legal case that had reached a judgement that could be described as 'out of the track'. It does not say that similar judgement should be established every time; it only becomes a mandatory example from which either the judge could derive inspiration or measure the new case from that angle. Court is expected to consider such precedents before interpreting law for another judgement. Precedent is a landmark decision that could be applied to other cases, but according to independent circumstances. "The rule-based model suggests that the function of precedent is to settle the law so that it can guide individuals and the courts. The reason-based model suggests that the function is to compensate for the erosion of consensus in the common law by simultaneously fixing starting points for decision-making without giving the judiciary lawmaking power" http://journals.cambridge.org/download.phpfile=%2FLEG%2FLEG11_01%2FS1352325205050019a.pdf&code=303b5dd539d0786a50aadfcbedad50cd Precedents could be mandatory/binding or persuasive, depending on the importance of the said precedent, and also depending on the exclusive circumstances under which it was delivered and the authority who created the precedent. Usually binding precedents are created by higher courts for the lower courts to follow. If created by a lower court, it is never binding on the higher court, although it could take it as a matter of sound significance. Even if it is binding, this does not mean that the lower court has to follow it to the letter unless it is 'directly in point' and no additional cases could be formed on the precedent case. Also in rare occasions, a higher court can overturn the judgement of precedent case, or sometimes even limit the scope of the precedent. Even when they are binding, they do so in a certain ratio, which was highly pronounced in Duncan v Cammell. "On that criterion the ratio decidendi of Duncan v Cammell, Laird would have to be "the" reason which explains the holding on "the" material facts and nothing wider. Therefore all utterances in the precedent case which went in verbal ambit beyond such a reason, even though that ambit might seem to govern the instant facts, did not in law do so. For they were simply not a part of the ratio of Duncan's case," says Stone (1985, p.133).

Internet and Ideology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Internet and Ideology - Assignment Example By contrast science’s acceptance was objectively linked with the perception of agreement among the scientists. Rejection of scientific propositions repeatedly implicates conspiracist ideation even without insufficient empirical evidence. Lewandowsky et al. analyzed the response of climate blogosphere to LOG12 publication and followed the hypotheses surfacing in response to LOG12. The multi-phased search involved sampling of LOG12-related Internet activity and deriving six criteria to permit hypotheses’ classification pertaining to potentially conspiracist LOG12. Use of established criteria showed how many hypotheses reflected counterfactual thinking and conspiratorial material. Conspiracist ideation possibly has a role in the rejection of science. To explore the relative importance of projecting alternative explanations in contrast to rejecting conventional explanations for events, Wood and Douglas studied conspiracist and conventionalist comments on news websites. They found conspiracist commentators having greater tendency to argue against opposing interpretation and lesser tendency to argue for their own interpretation or to put forth an account explicitly whereas conventionalist commenters demonstrated the reverse trend. Research led to identification of a range of differences between conspiracists and

Comment on the article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comment on the article - Essay Example In this case, you should not have included the semi colon within the sentence because it does not fit there. You have also some sentence structure mistakes, which you need to correct. For example, you state, â€Å"They decide to both die if the game expects only one winner† (Alajmi 4). Here, you have added the word ‘both’ unnecessarily. You should have written ‘both of them’ instead of ‘they decided to both’. Moreover, you have also made some unnecessary word inclusion mistakes. For example, you state, â€Å"Therefore, despite the strength and better position in which the opponents of Katniss are in† (Alajmi 4). In this sentence, you did not need to include the word ‘in’ at the end of the sentence. Next, you did not introduce the friends of Katniss properly. For example, you just wrote about the kind of care that Katniss gave to Peeta. You did not introduce her at all. Repetition of ideas is another problem that I have found in you paper. For example, you talked about Katniss as a celebrity in paragraph no. 7, as well as in paragraph no. 9. Both paragraphs presented the same idea. You should avoid this in future. You have also made an error in the header section. There should be three spaces between the surname and the page number in the header. You have included only one space. You also need to correct your in-text references. Writing in MLA style, you need to indent the entire quote one inch from the left margin if the total number of words exceed from 40. You did not do this. Moreover, if you write in MLA style, there should be no comma between the last name of the author and the page number. For example, you wrote â€Å"†¦.† (Collins, 135). It should be â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Collins 135). Another thing is that you needed to include 5 direct quotes from the text. You have included just 4. You also need to correct the format of your reference, which you have included in the works cited section. You need to

Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Review - Essay Example ics to determine the positive and negative correlations between and among the prevalence and incidence of pulmonary diseases among employees and the heterogeneous contributory factors such as the duration exposure to unleaded gasoline, employee position and work practices at Nalco in Manila. This researcher suggests unleaded gasoline use for the benefit of all employees in particular and people in general in the Philippines. This research focuses on many related aspects such as short-term and long-term social costs and benefits. While social costs of not using unleaded gasoline and its impact on health of the people in the Philippines would be investigated with reference to Nalco, benefits would be investigated with general reference to a larger population sample in the Philippines. The study in full would investigate health, social, economic and the environmental impact. Environmental organizations and critics in the Philippines have time and again pointed out that the Filipinos’ state of health, especially in Manila, has been deteriorating over the years primarily due to air pollution caused by the ever increasing use of leaded gasoline (Brandon et al 2007; Sastry 2002). These critics have particularly sought to focus attention on the causal factor of using leaded gasoline as a direct impacting agent on the general health factor of the nation (Louella et al. 2006). This state of affairs particularly warrants a comprehensive HIA in Manila. A series of health impact assessments will be made in this HIA to analyze the existing literature on the extent and the incidence of negative health effects on the Filipinos. One of the health impacts would be focused on the verifiable statistical measures such as the mean, the mode and the median population samples that have been affected within a particular locality (AHA 2010). Manilans become the central point of focus while most of the theoretical and conceptual references would be focused on the Nalco employees. Next,

The Aftermath of World War One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

The Aftermath of World War One - Essay Example The race to attract the new colonies became utterly competitive. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire was decaying at a high rate. The nation that had been under the rule of Ottoman became independent resulting into change of balance in Europe. Various ethnic groups of Austria-Hungary began to fight and push for their independence. Trouble, however, came up in Weimar Germany after the Versailles treaty. Various dissatisfactions of the treaty emerged including loss of most of the territories of German speakers. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took over power based on these dissatisfactions and came up with ideologies, which included unifying Germans to a single nation. Tension was created by the dissatisfaction and the ideologies brought about by the Nazis. As a result, Britain collaborated with France threatening to form a two-front war in Germany. Germans signed the non-aggression pact with USSR for their support thus dividing Europe into two: Nazi and Soviet influence spheres. This sparked the Second World War in September

Gender and Cultural Differences in Communication Essay

Gender and Cultural Differences in Communication - Essay Example Verbal communication is best used to convey particular information and is especially suited for communication via technology and over longer distances. Non-verbal communication, on the other hand, is immediate compared to the former. This causes its meaning to be more ambiguous, despite the fact that various non-verbal communication forms, for example, the use of eyes and hand gestures, have the ability to convey the emotions with more effectiveness than verbal communication can. Various technological communication media such as a film can also convey many forms of non-verbal communication. Verbal Gender and Cultural Differences During verbal communication, men will normally tend to give solutions, whereas women will tend to focus more on empathy. This mirrors the fact that women are more oriented towards solidifying relationships while men in most occasions are more goal-oriented. Differences in communication across the gender divide also extend to non-verbal communication. Various gestures may be decoded one way by a man and differently by a woman. Persons from various cultures also differ in their manner of expression, even when the words and their literal meanings are translated to the listener’s native language. In some cultures, the word â€Å"yes† could really mean â€Å"maybe† while in another culture, â€Å"yes† could be considered a commitment that is binding. Women are usually better at the interpretation of non-verbal means of communication compared to men. Men also tend to be less accomplished when it comes to sending non-verbal and subtle messages.

Fauvism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fauvism - Essay Example In Gauguin’s painting, pure and flat red was used to present the message in full intensity so as to point out the seriousness of the subject matter. Red can also be related to anger or passion (Art Factory, n.d.; Elements of Art). Famous fauvism painters include Henri Matisse, Andre Derain and Raoul Dufy. Henri Matisse (1869-1954) painted The Roofs of Collioure (1905, oil on canvas) and The Open Window, Collioure (1905 oil on canvas). Andre Derain painted the Portrait of Henri Matisse (1906 oil on canvas) and The Turning Road at LEstaque (1906 oil on canvas). On a personal notion, I agree with the view of the artists of fauvism. Colours can depict feeling. It can also affect the feeling of the beholder of the artwork. For example, in a painting about war, red and black is commonly the most prominent. The present era though also commonly practice the notion that colours can bring the emotional element of the painting, thus, depicting the effect of fauvism. It can also be considered impressionist in nature since prioritizing colour can mean that the painting does not follow the realistic colours of the subject e.g. Andre Derain’s Portrait of Henri Matisse (1905). In conclusion, fauvism has great effects in the present view of visual arts regarding colours. It also contributed to the freedom of using colours outside the confines of realism or how subjects may have appeared in

The themes of Sickness Essay Example for Free

The themes of Sickness Essay Mary Shelleys infamous literary piece, Frankenstein, is a name that anyone who has ever read a book would be familiar with. Several themes appear throughout the novel, some obvious, some subtle. One of the overlooked but nevertheless significant themes is societys duty to help the poor, the sick, and the ostracized. Multiple imperative events which occurred throughout the piece emphasizes on this theme: Victor Frankensteins mother aiding the poor and sick; Henry Clervals intense care of Victor; and Captain Robert Walton taking Victor aboard and nursing him back to health. Firstly, Victor Frankensteins mother powerfully demonstrates this theme when she regularly visits the poor and performs good deeds on behalf of the impoverished and downtrodden. She further exemplifies her kindness when she and her husband adopt Elizabeth into their family, and take in Justine, the servant girl. Moreover, when Elizabeth catches scarlet fever, a deadly and contagious disease, Mrs. Frankenstein throws her safety away to focus on nursing Elizabeth back to health. Secondly, when Victor becomes ill from troubling events, Henry Clerval tends to him for over several months, helping Victor get through his difficult times. During all that time Henry was my only nurse. [ ] He knew that I could not have a more kind and attentive nurse than himself; and instead of doing harm, he performed the kindest action that he could towards [me] (Shelley ). When one compares Clerval with Victor, one can see that Clerval understands the importance of caring for his fellow human beings, while Victor selfishly ignores others to conduct his own experiment, which he in the end, abandons. There had been no events in which Victor was the one nursing somebody else, yet there were numerous cases of the reverse; where somebody was nursing him. Lastly, not only does Henry tend to Victor, but after Victor tracks the monster to the Arctic regions, he falls deathly ill. When Captain Robert Walton spots a sick, dying man, he takes him aboard and selflessly nurses him-just as Ms. Frankenstein nursed Elizabeth. To put it briefly, one of the most overlooked yet important themes that most characters are contributing in is the theme of societys duty to support and care for the poor, the neglected, and the unhealthy. This theme can be noted by various events which occurs throughout the novel, such as Ms. Frankensteins care for Elizabeth and both Henry and Waltons care for Victor. Each character in the novel can be indirectly-if not directly-connected to Frankensteins theme of tending to the sick. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus. Minneapolis: Stone Arch, 2008. Print.

Diversity within Society Essay Example for Free

Diversity within Society Essay This essay will discuss some of the changes brought to Britain by immigration and new religious teachings. It will briefly analyse some of the benefits and how these still contribute to our society by improving this country. Furthermore, it will show that immigration has led to religious diversity making us a multicultural society. Britain nowadays is an extremely diverse country. There are people of different nationalities and religions all around us and we have learnt to adjust to their own ways and beliefs. With immigration we have embraced new changes: fashion, food, music and festivals. New religions have taught us to be a more tolerant society and become more accepting of other faiths. Some fashion is influenced through migrants, for instance the Hindu sari’s colours and style have helped shape the evening backless gowns. The burka however, still creates great controversy. Although there is a merging of fashion similarly fashion can also separate. It would seem people are judged by their sense of dress, whether they dress for cultural or religious reasons. Today there are even magazines in the media to help expand our knowledge of Islam. Most notably, the Emel is a British lifestyle magazine that reports on contemporary British Muslim culture. Launched in 2003, it was previously only available in Muslim bookshops. It has since become the most widely read British Muslim magazine in Britain and now attracts interest from non-Muslim readers too. As well as covering fashion it also informs on other aspects of life such as consumerism and politics, health and education. The whole aim of the magazine is to explain the positives aspects of Islam to non-Muslims and reduce fear and tension. (Emel, 20/05/2013) Another example of change in the fashion is that Indian people have brought with them their knowledge of threading, a method of facial hair removal, which is currently very popular amongst both women and men. One particularly striking aspect that affected Britain tremendously is new food. Immigration and religion have enriched Britain’s diet. These days there is a large variety of restaurants presenting foreign cuisines. We can have our pick of Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Italian, Spanish, Mexican and many  others to suit our tastes. Amazingly, there are even some restaurants that of fer a mix of cultural gastronomy allowing us the luxury of selection and variation on the same plate. For some people these days, the Indian dish, the curry especially, is a favourite meal and most popular in Britain. In particularly, some people also choose to adapt a Mediterranean diet for health reasons. The food we consume is also determined by our religious beliefs. In Christianity, fish is eaten on Good Friday as a way of celebrating Jesus whereas in Islam and Hinduism, pork is out of the menu as the pig is seen as a dirty animal. Also in Hinduism, beef is not consumed as Hindus believe the cow is holy. British popular music also shows many influences from immigration. Immigrants have brought new musical sounds like reggae, ska and calypso. Black music, most notably RnB has had a lasting impact on British popular culture. Pop music is another indicator of the multicultural nature of Britain today. In most UK towns and cities it is possible for worshippers of Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam and many other religions to find somewhere to celebrate their faith in a community safely with others. The most known religious festivals in Britain are Christmas and Easter as part of Christianity. Eid is the second most important festival in the Muslim calendar. In the same way Christians celebrate Jesus at Christmas, Muslims celebrate Raham at Eid. Both events are about sharing, music, party and simply good fun. In Hinduism, Diwali is perhaps the most well-known Hindu festival. It is known as the ‘festival of lights’ and this five day festival honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. The Notting Hill Carnival in London is the largest street festival in Europe. It originated in 1964 as a way for Afro-Caribbean communities to celebrate their own cultures and traditions. It celebrates the abolition of slavery and freedom. It takes place every August Bank Holiday weekend and since festivals invite participation, every year people get together to enjoy this amazing, lively event and savour the Caribbean food on offer. On the whole, it is obvious immigration has brought significant benefits to Britain. Immigrants have enriched our society by working hard and creating jobs. They have offered us all the beneficial changes previously mentioned and we could no longer live without them. As a result, Britain is now a far  stronger society. Immigration has educated us to be more aware the ‘other’ making us open, tolerant, diverse and welcoming and this is something Britain should be proud of. BIBLIOGRAPHY Emel, http://www.emel.com/, (2O/05/2013) BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/islam/eid_haj.shtml, (20/05/2013) BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/hinduism/diwali.shtml, (20/05/2013) http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2013/03/25/david-cameron-immigration-speech-in-fullpolitics.co.uk, (20/05/2013)

Post Operative Outcome of Extended Nasolabial Flaps

Post Operative Outcome of Extended Nasolabial Flaps TITLE: Reconstruction of post release intraoral Oral Submucous Fibrosis defects by Extended Naso-Labial flaps versus Platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps: A Comparative Study. ABSTRACT- We compared post operative outcome of extended Nasolabial flaps with Platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps, in the management of 20 randomly selected patients with histologically confirmed oral submucous fibrosis. Patients and Methods: All patients in the study were treated by release of fibrous bands and bilateral coronoidectomy. In addition reconstruction was done in ten patients with extended nasolabial flaps (Nasolabial group) and in another ten patients with platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps (Platysma group). In the nasolabial group the mean preoperative interincisal mouth opening was 12 mm (range 3-14 mm) and in platysma group it was 11 mm (~ 3-13 mm). Vigorous post-operative physiotherapy was advised to all 20 patients and they were followed up for next 3 years .The interincisal mouth opening improved to 47 mm (~35-51 mm) in the nasolabial group and 48 mm (~ 41-52 mm) in the platysma group. Conclusion: Both the procedures were equally effective in management of oral submucous fibrosis in terms of postoperative interincisal mouth opening. However the facial extra-oral scars were not aesthetically acceptable in the nasolabial group, which were prevented when Platysmal myocutaneous muscle flaps were used for the reconstruction of post release oral submucous fibrosis defects. INTRODUCTION Oral submucous fibrosis is an insidious, chronic, disabling disease of obscure aetiology that affects the entire oral cavity, sometimes the pharynx and rarely the larynx. It is characterised by blanching and stiffness of oral mucosa, which causes progressive limitations of mouth opening and intolerance to hot and spicy food. It is an established precancerous condition which is seen mostly in the Indian subcontinent. Its precancerous nature was first described by Paymaster 1, who recorded the onset of slowly growing squamous cell carcinomas in one third of the patients. Murti et al, 2 reported the malignant transformation of oral submucous fibrosis. As the aetiology is uncertain, its treatment has largely been symptomatic and various treatments have been described vastly in literature with inconsistent results. In this study, two techniques for the closure of post release oral submucous fibrosis defects were compared. The importance of coronoidectomy was emphasised and two local flaps were used for reconstruction. We hypothecated that the platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps would be a better option than extended nasolabial flaps in terms of unaesthetic extraoral facial scars for the management of oral submucous fibrosis.3,4,5. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty consecutive patients who were treated at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, SDKS Dental College and Hospital, Hingna, Nagpur (18 men and 2 women aged between 18 to 41 yrs of age), were randomly selected for this retrospective study. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. No patient had preoperative interincisal opening more than 25mm. Following aseptic precautions, all patients were intubated using the fibreoptic bronchoscope and operated under general anaesthesia. Incisions were made using an electrosurgical knife from the corner of the mouth to the soft palate at the level of the linea alba avoiding injury to the Stenson’s duct. The bands were cut and the interincisal opening recorded. The coronoid processes were approached via the same incision and bilateral coronoidectomy or coronoidotomy was done. The maxillary and mandibular third molars were extracted. In the nasolabial group, extended nasolabial flaps as described by Borle et al 4, were raised for grafting from the tip of nasolabial fold to the inferior border of the mandible. The flaps were raised bilaterally in the plane of the superficial musculo-aponeurotic system from both terminal points to the region of the central pedicle. The diameter of the pedicle was roughly 1cm and it was distanced 1cm lateral to the corner of the mouth (Fig. 1). The flap was transposed intraorally through a small trans-buccal tunnel near the commissure of the mouth without tension. The inferior wing of the flap was sutured to the anterior edge of the defect, while the superior wing was sutured to the posterior edge of the defect. The extraoral defect was closed primarily in layers after liberal undermining of the skin in the subcutaneous plane to prevent any tension across the suture line. In the platysma group, a superiorly based platysma myocutaneous muscle flap was raised as described by D.A Baur 5 and used for reconstruction of the intraoral defects. With the neck hyper extended, the proposed skin paddle was outlined on the ipsilateral neck, below the inferior border of the mandible (Fig. 2). The superior incision was made first and the plane superficial to the platysma muscle was dissected carefully cephalic to the inferior border of the mandible. A skin incision was then made at the inferior line of the skin paddle, with additional exposure of the platysma muscle inferiorly. The platysma muscle was transected sharply at least 1cm inferior to the edge of skin paddle, and a subplatysmal plane of dissection developed just below the inferior border of the mandible. If the cervical branch of the facial nerve was to be incorporated, it was necessary to identify the nerve in the superficial layer of deep cervical fascia with careful dissection and preservation of its pr oximal portion. Once the plane of dissection was fully developed, the platysma myocutaneous flap was transected vertically, anteriorly and posteriorly for its full mobilisation. The flap was then introduced into the oral defect by creating an appropriately sized soft tissue tunnel. The harvested flap was sutured to the defect, which was created by release of the fibrous bands. The donor site was easily closed in layers, totally avoiding any unacceptable facial scar and obtaining by far a much better cosmetic result (as shown in Fig. 3b). A soft temporomandibular joint trainer was placed in the oral cavity post operatively for 10 days to prevent dehiscence of the flap, as result of occlusal trauma. After a latent period of 10 days, physiotherapy was started with the help of Hister’s jaw exerciser to prevent contracture and relapse. The patients were instructed about the exercises and mandated to do them for the next 6 months until they were followed up in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. We used the Student’s unpaired t test for statistical analysis of the study. RESULTS There were 2 groups of 10 patients each, one of which had nasolabial flaps, and the other platysma myocutaneous flaps.The differences in mouth opening were as shown in Table 1. All patients in nasolabial group developed extra-oral facial scars, compared with none in the platysma group. The differences in mouth opening before and after the surgery were almost similar in both groups (p) There were some complications in the nasolabial group including partial flap necrosis, particularly at the tips, temporary widening of oral commissure, unsightly extra oral scars as shown in (Fig. 3a), subluxation of the Temporomandibular Joint, perforation of the palate and intraoral growth of hair. In the platysma group, few patients developed temporary paraesthesia, which was noticed over the lateral cervical region, subluxation of the mandible and scars over the lower neck region which were usually covered by the shirt’s collar and not visible extra orally on the face. There were no delayed complications in the platysma group, but 2 patients in the nasolabial group had a â€Å"fish mouth† deformity, even after a year (Table 2). DISCUSSION The treatment of oral submucous fibrosis is mainly symptomatic, as the aetiology is not clearly understood and it is of progressive nature. Conservative treatments include multi-vitamins, iron supplementation and intra-lesional injections of hyaluronidase, placental extracts and steroids to name a few. Submucosal injections of various drugs may produce temporary symptomatic relief but can lead to aggravated fibrosis, pronounced trismus and increased morbidity from mechanical injury, secondary to the needle prick injury 6. Different treatment plans and surgical interventions have been proposed by various authors with variable success rates. Excision of fibrous bands and propping the mouth open to allow secondary epithelisation is known to cause rebound fibrosis during healing. The release of fibrous bands followed by split thickness skin grafting results in high recurrence rate following contracture. The survival of full thickness skin grafts is questionable. The use of an island palatal flap based on the greater palatine artery was recommended by Khanna et al., but has limitations including involvement of donor tissue with the limited reach of the flap, as well as the need to extract the maxillary second molar tooth, so that the flap is not under tension.7 The bilateral tongue flap causes severe dysphagia, disarticulation, and it carries unwarranted risk of aspiration. It also provides a limited amount of donor tissue as its reach is inadequate. The doubtful stability of tongue flaps and their dehiscence are the most common post operative complications caused due to uncontrolled tongue movements.8 Buccal fat pads may also be used to cover the defects after excision of fibrous bands and also as their harvest is simple. However in patients with chronic disease they are likely to be atrophic. In addition, the anterior reach of buccal fat pads is inadequate and thus the region anterior to the cuspids often is required to be left raw; which therefore heals by secondary intention and subsequent fibrosis, leading to gradual relapse. 9 Bilateral radial forearm flaps are hairy, and nearly half the patients require a secondary debulking procedure. Facilities for free tissue transfer are not universally available. 10 Caniff et al 11 recommended temporal myotomy or coronoidectomy to release severe trismus caused by the atrophic changes in the tendon of the temporalis muscle secondary to the disease. If the mouth opening was still less than 35 mm after bilateral fibrotomy, then for every case bilateral coronoidectomy was done, which increases the per-operative mouth opening. Complications like extra oral facial scars and intraoral growth of hair were common observation in our study when extended nasolabial flaps were used for reconstruction of defects. The patient’s compliance was not very good as far as facial aesthetics were concerned in the nasolabial group. These issues are taken care of when the platysma myocutaneous flap is harvested. The technique of platysma muscle flap however is more challenging as compared to that of extended nasolabial flap and needs to be mastered properly. CONCLUSION Surgical management of oral sub mucous fibrosis not only permits mouth opening but also facilitates the oral examinations for early detection and timely management of malignant transformation. This comparative study of Nasolabial flaps versus Platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps for reconstruction of intraoral post release oral submucous fibrosis defects emphasises on avoiding the extra oral facial scars in the patient. The postoperative mouth opening three years after surgery was comparable in both the techniques, however with better aesthetic outcomes in the platysmal group. We recommend the use of platysma muscle flap as compared to the extended nasolabial flap for reconstruction of the intraoral defects after release of oral sub mucous fibrosis .The facial aesthetics are not compromised in this technique. The risk of broadening of the commissure and pinched appearance of the lips are subsequently avoided. As the incision is far away from the face, and situated infero-laterally on the neck, the scars are hidden underneath the shirt’s collar, without hampering the facial aesthetics, avoiding an unsightly facial scar and ultimately resulting in better patient compliance and acceptance in today’s conscious society.

The Recluse Essay -- Literary Analysis

Wordsworth suffers solitude, even as he celebrates it. Alone, the poet can explore his own consciousness; it exists at both poles of the notion of ‘emotion recollected in tranquillity’, and is the dominant developmental mode of Wordsworth’s childhood as depicted in The Prelude (1805). Independence is what is exalted in his introduction to that poem: he greets the ‘gentle breeze’ as a ‘captive†¦ set free’ from the ‘vast city’ which has been as a ‘prison’ to his spirit. The oppression of city living is alleviated in this opening reacquisition of isolation; the relief is evident: ‘I breathe again’, ‘that burthen of my own unnatural self [is shaken off], /The heavy weight of many a weary day/ Not mine, and such as were not made for me’. In this, the commencing statement of his autobiography, the independence of solitude is represented as the essential quality of his poetic felicity. T he ‘egoistical sublime’ observed by Keats is manifest in this poetry in a separation from other men, rather than in that of a Byron, whose narrators’ egotisms are evinced by their social interactions. Wordsworth’s company is nature; his sister, his wife, his children exist as assimilations rather than relationships. The sister of Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, is conjured into independence in the final paragraph, so as to exist as a previous self: ‘For thou are with me’, he suddenly reveals, ‘and in thy voice I catch/ The language of my former heart’. She is externalised when poetically useful; and it is by this externalisation that Wordsworth is able to avert and diminish his poem’s undercurrent doubts. ‘This prayer I make/ Knowing that Nature never did betray/ The heart that loved her’, has a contrary traction as a plea intimating des... ...this as his essential condition, but it is worth observing that ‘recluse’ does not imply total isolation. Wordsworth’s solitude, as he left childhood, was never again to be absolute; for as consciousness developed, so did his capacity to apprehend himself, in language, so even alone he could not be alone without self-intercourse, mediated by language. His solitude was necessary for his vocation, but his vocation trespassed on that solitude; for to be a poet is to cast experience away from the self: even in egotism, isolation is disrupted by the projection of an audience. Works Cited Gil, Stephen ed. William Wordsworth: The Major Works (OUP 1984) Hartman, Geoffrey Wordsworth’s Poetry 1787-1814 (Yale University Press 1971) Morgan, Monique R. ‘Narrative Means to Lyric Ends in Wordsworth’s Prelude’ (Narrative, Volume 16, Number 3, October 2008, pp. 298-330)

Classical Music Essay -- Music Musical Classical Essays

Classical Music n : traditional genre of music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste [syn: serious music] Classical music, as the name suggests, is a well-established kind of music, at least in the West. Classical music concerts take place in every cultural center, and they take many forms, from a solo to large symphonic orchestras, from a sonata to an opera. This kind of music has many fans, especially among circles of intellectuals. But how did this great kind of music start? What made the great composers compose? And how was this all used before the time of recorded music and portable mp3 players? These are the questions we are going to examine today. Music historians place the beginnings of classical music in Europe during the 1730s, though there is not a clear cut-point, since it gradually evolved from the Baroque style that was dominant before. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Christoph Willibald Gluck are considered to be the founders of classical music. But what triggered this new kind of music? Ask a physicist, and the answer is quite clear: The new ideas of "natural philosophy", proposed in the late 17 th century by Sir Isaac Newton, suggested that the universe has a clear structure, well founded in axioms, articulated and orderly. These ideas were reflected in the music of the 18 th century, but also in architecture, literature, and the arts in general. This new style in the arts is referred to as "Classicism". Back in those days, music was not as common as it is now. One could not carry thousands of songs in one's pocket. Music was rather a privilege of the royalty and their court. For example, one of the most impor... ... it can be heard in parks, parking lots, train and underground stations. It can be found even in the pockets of people carrying mp3 players around. Young people listen to it, old people listen to it, babies listen to it. Classical music is not only a kind of music; it's a way to concentrate, to relax, to worship. Classical music is a way of life. Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music_era http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.html http://www.classical.net/music/links/musiclnk.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/422644.stm http://www.freenewmexican.com/artsfeatures/10701.html http://www.healingproducts.com/sound_health_series.htm#concentration http://www.freenewmexican.com/artsfeatures/10701.html http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000001GDR001001/0/104-1287315-5901551

Martha Washington :: essays research papers

In 1633, the Reverend Rowland Jones came from England to the colony of Virginia. He had graduated from Oxford University and in Williamsburg had served as minister for fourteen years. Two generations later Martha Dandridge, his great-granddaughter, was born on June 2, 1731 on a plantation near Williamsburg. She grew up in the Dandridge home, Chestnut Grove. She enjoyed riding horses, gardening, sewing, playing the â€Å"spinet† and dancing. Her father made sure that she got a fair education in basic math, reading and writing...something girls didn’t receive at the time. At the age of eighteen, Martha married to Daniel Parke Custis. He was wealthy, handsome and twenty years older than her. Martha set up housekeeping on his plantation, while her husband managed the estate, which covered over 17,000 acres. Her husband adored his young, pretty bride and pampered her with the finest clothes and gifts imported all the way from England. They had four children, two who died before their first birthday. Their two surviving children John Parke, called "Jacky" and Martha, called "Patsy". In 1757, when Martha was twenty-six, Daniel Custis die d after a brief illness. Jacky was three and Patsy was less than a year old. Dying without a will, Martha was left with the duties of running the household, the estate and raising her children. (Fatherless children were usually "raised" under the care of a guardian, even if the mother survived--which meant that another male, primarily a relative, took care of the estates of the children). Her early education proved very helpful in the task. Her husband’s former business manager stayed to help with the operation of the plantation and she consulted with lawyers when she felt she needed it. Sometime later, Martha met a young colonel (several months younger than her) in the Virginia Militia at a cotillion in Williamsburg. His name was George Washington. Martha fell in love and George found her quite attractive. (That she had a good disposition and inherited wealth was an added bonus to the relationship). Martha married George on January 6, 1759. The marriage changed George from an ordinary planter to a substantially wealthy landowner. He had resigned his commission in the militia and so, George, Martha, Jacky who was 4, and Patsy who was about 2 moved into the remodeled Mt. Vernon. Martha was careful in running her home, although she and her husband did not pinch pennies when it came to caring for their home.

Oppressed Caribbean Culture Essay

Caribbean culture, in so far as it is conceded to exist, is at once the cause, occasion, and result of evolved and evolving paradoxes. The psychic inheritance of dynamic response to disparate elements interacting to find ideal, form, and purpose within set geographical boundaries over time could not have produced otherwise. The 1990s have witnessed no less of this, precisely because the decade serves to encapsulate contradictions in human development over the past half a millennium. The entire Caribbean, and indeed all of the modern Americas of which the Caribbean, like the United States, is only one part, are the creatures of the awesome process of cross-fertilization following on the encounters between the old civilizations of Europe, Africa, and Asia on foreign soil and they, in turn, with the old Amerindian civilizations developed on American soil long before Christopher Columbus set foot on it. It is a development that has helped to shape the history and modern condition of the world for some half a millennium and one that has resulted in distinctive culture-spheres in the Western hemisphere, each claiming its own inner logic and consistency. The Caribbean, at the core of which are a number of island nations, themselves in sub-regional groupings, is conscious of the dynamics of its development. For it rests firmly on the agonizing and challenging process actualized in simultaneous acts of negating and affirming, demolishing and constructing, rejecting and reshaping. Nowhere is this more evident that in the creative arts, themselves a strong index of a people’s cultural distinctiveness and identity. Admittedly, other indices of culture such as linguistic communication, which underpins the oral and indigenous scribal literatures of the region, religion, and kinship patterns, reveal the texture and internal diversity that are the result of cross-fertilization of differing elements. The result is an emerging lifestyle, worldview, and a nascent ontology and epistemology that all speak to Caribbean historical experience and existential reality, in some cases struggling to gain currency and legitimacy worldwide (and even among some of its own people) for being native-born and nativebred. For this is the original meaning of â€Å"Creole. † Whites born in the American colonies were regarded as â€Å"creoles† by their metropolitan cousins. And the Jamaican-born slaves were similarly differentiated from their â€Å"salt-water Negro† colleagues freshly brought in from West Africa. The term was soon to be hijacked by or attributed to the mulatto (half-caste) who defiantly claimed certified rootedness in the colonies–a status not as easily claimed by the person of African or European descent whose ancestry lay elsewhere, it was felt, other than in the Caribbean or the Americas. An understanding of the shared human thirst for freedom in terms of its cultural significance is critical. For the impulses that drive the Caribbean people (like people anywhere) to freedom within nation states, to the right to choose their own friends and political systems, and to independent paths to development are the same impulses that drive them to the creation of their own music, their own languages and literature, their own gods and religious belief-systems, their own kinship patterns, modes of socialization, and self-perceptions. All plans made for them from outside must take this fact into account, whatever may be the dictates of military and strategic interests or the statistical logic of tabulated growth rates and gross national products. The Caribbean people, faced as they are with the post-colonial imperative of shaping civil society and building nations, expect to be taken seriously in terms of their proven capacities to act creatively in coordinated social interaction over centuries in the Americas. They feel passionately that their history and experience are worthy of theory and explanation and expect others to understand and appreciate this fact. They are unique, paradoxically because they are like everybody else. The Caribbean has been engaged in freedom struggles and its inhabitants have been at the job of creating their own languages, and designing their own appropriate lifestyles for as long as and, in some cases, longer than most parts of what became the United States. Recognition of this and the according of the status due such achievement is a prized wish of all Caribbean people–Black, White, Mestizo, Indian (indigenous and transplanted), Chinese, and Lebanese. By general critical consent, the principal women writers in English to emerge, so far, from the Caribbean are the properly varied trio of Jamaica Kincaid (Elaine Potter Richardson) and Jean Rhys. I say â€Å"properly varied† because the immensely mixed political and social history of the Caribbean is reflected by and in its writers. Kincaid, the most experimental of the three, is seen by her admirers as a deliberate subverted of Dead White European Male modes of narrative. Yet any reader deeply immersed in Western literature will recognize that prose poetry, Kincaid’s medium, always has been one of the staples of literary fantasy or mythological romance, including much of what we call â€Å"children’s literature. † Centering almost always upon the mother-daughter relationship, Kincaid returns us inevitably to perspectives familiar from our experience of the fantasy narratives of childhood. Kincaid genuinely expresses her regard to Caribbean as those that have been â€Å"creolized† into indigenous form and purpose distinctively different from the original elements from which those expressions first sprang. With some of those original elements, especially those from a European source, themselves reinforcing their claims on the region, whether through politics, economic control, or cultural penetration, the Caribbean is becoming even more conscious not only of its own unique expressions but also of the dynamism and nature of the process underlying these expressions. These in turn constitute the basis for the claims made for a Caribbean identity. Jean Rhys, of Creole Dominican descent, is a formidable contrast to Marshall and seems to me the major figure to emerge thus far among Caribbean women writers. Though she lived mostly in Paris and England, the imagination of Rhys came fully alive in her novel of 1966, Wide Sargasso Sea, a remarkable retelling of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre from the perspective of Bertha Mason, Rochester’s mad first wife. The terrifying predicament of the 19th-century Creole women of the West Indies, regarded as â€Å"white niggers† by colonialists and as European oppressors by blacks, is presented by Rhys with unforgettable poignancy and force. Shrewdly exploiting the modernist formal originalities of her mentor, Ford Maddox Ford, Rhys achieved a near masterpiece in Wide Sargasso Sea. Allusive, parodistic, and intensely wrought, the novel remains the most successful prose fiction in English to emerge from the Caribbean matrix. In Wide Sargasso Sea, the starting point is this placelessness. Although Rhys’s novel starts with Antoinette’s childhood in Coulibri, its boundaries lie outside the novel in another woman’s text. In Jane Eyre we have the madwoman Bertha locked up in the attic of Thornfield Hall. The significant title â€Å"Wide Sargasso Sea† refers to the dangers of the sea voyage. Rochester first crosses the Atlantic alone to a place which threatens to destroy him, then once more, bringing his new wife to England. Both Rochester and Antoinette are transformed through this passage. Rochester gives Antoinette a new name, Bertha, and in England she finally is locked up as mad. Rhys finds her own place in Jane Eyre, â€Å"a prisoner of another’s desire. † She sets out to describe that place and, in doing that, she redefines it as her own. In her challenge to Jane Eyre, Rhys draws on the collective experience of black people as sought out, uprooted, and transported across the Middle Passage and finally locked up and brutally exploited for economic gain. She uses this experience and the black forms of resistance as modes through which the madwoman in Jane Eyre is recreated. In the film version Wide Sargasso Sea develops stereotypes of Black West Indians that strongly mirror Bogle’s discussion of classic film depictions of African Americans. The inner stereotype in the film is that of the â€Å"tragic mulatto† which, the film hints, describes Angelique, the evidently White child who has been raised by Blacks. Although Angelique insists on her â€Å"Whiteness,† a menacing dark skinned stranger claims at diverse points in the film to be her brother through her father’s relationship with a slave. The viewer is left to consider whether the widowed plantation owner seen at the beginning of the film is actually Angelique’s mother. While it does not answer this question directly, it obviously shows through Angelique’s actions that her culture is far more African than European. These suspicions, actions, and Angelique’s reliance on the ex-slave Christophine ultimately destroy her marriage and drive her insane. Christophine, herself, fulfills the â€Å"mammy† role since the film portrays her as a constant presence who fiercely guards Angelique from all dangers. In the West Indian context, though, she is given a twist, as she is not only guardian angel but also a practitioner of the magical art of â€Å"obeah. † This portrayal — a staple of films dealing with the West Indies — is never completely developed. Nevertheless, the film permits us to witness its potency, as Angelique, despairing of keeping her husband’s love, calls on Christophine to develop a magical potion to bind his affections to hers. One opponent for those affections is Emily, a young Black servant who might well be characterized as a female â€Å"Black buck† — a sexual predator who seduces a married White man into interracial unfaithfulness. Finally, there is Nelson, the long-suffering head of the household who intimately approximates Bogle’s â€Å"Tom. In the film, insults of various sorts that are directed towards him result only in silence and a determination to remain a faithful servant. Though, in Dominican novelist Jean Rhys Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), the island’s riotous vegetation and dramatic landscape are depicted with an ominous intensity that prompts the protagonist’s English husband to equate it with evil. Lally, the narrator of another Dominican classic, Phyllis Shand Allfrey The Orchid House ( 1953), faced with the menacing power the island’s nature exerts over Stella and Andrew, ruefully concludes that the island offered nothing but beauty and disease. Rhys’s protagonists, most evidently Antoinette in Wide Sargasso Sea, share a view of England as deadening, grey and emotionally destructive. England is a place of hypocrites, and the English have a ‘bloody, bloody sense of humour’. With a West Indian accent, she goes on, ‘and stupid, lord, lord’ (Wide Sargasso Sea: 134). But it remains Rhys’s place, the source of those English books which provided an early contribution to her construction of herself as writer. The idea of definitive national origin and affiliation is a source of anxiety for Rhys’s protagonists. For Rhys herself nationality was complicated by her exile and her race: also England did not value her Caribbean origins. For Rhys’s women, as perhaps for herself, England is also a place where human emotions, especially those associated with sexuality, are outlawed or repressed; she described sex in a letter of 1949 as a ‘strange Anglo-Saxon word’ (Abalos, David T. 1998, 66). Hemond Brown comments that Rhys’s attitude to England remained remarkably consistent over her whole writing career: ‘For those fifty-odd years, England meant to her everything she despised’ (Bandon, Alexandra. 1995). But despite this, she surely demonstrated in her characterisation of working-class English chorus girls and call girls and Rochester (perhaps informed by her important attachments to Lancelot Grey, Hugh Smith, Leslie Tilden Smith and Max Hamer, all upper- or middle-class Englishmen), that the poor Englishwoman and even the colonizing, socially secure Englishman have their own areas of serious emotional damage. She may have blown off steam sometimes, but in her fiction she took pains to be fair to the country which had both given her sustained literary identity and denied her dignity. In the Caribbean, complex racial narratives are the most powerful signifiers, although class increasingly reverberates now. In England, in Rhys’s lifetime, it was the class narrative which primarily constructed identity, though Rhys clearly writes the importance of race as a formative self-construction from her Dominican childhood. She sometimes sees race and class as equally important even in England, as in the case of Selina, who carries Rhys’s own outlaw status during an important period of her life. In the two explicitly Caribbean novels, Voyage in the Dark and Wide Sargasso Sea, race is evidently a major source of identity. Jean Rhys had long described the cultural dialectic of his region’s historical experience and contemporary reality in the following way: â€Å"But the tribe in bondage learned to fortify itself by cunning assimilation of the religion of the Old World. What seemed to be surrender was redemption. What seemed the loss of tradition was its renewal. What seemed the death of faith was its rebirth†. Caribbean existential reality is here portrayed as a creature of paradox. Surface appearances may well be masks for their opposites. What one sees is not likely to be what one gets. Other similar manuscript was in â€Å"Goodbye Mother† by Reinaldo Arenas, the grief inundated daughters Ofelia, Otilia, Odilia and Onelia kill themselves in front of their dead mum just for their cadavers to occasion a series of triumphant choruses from the legion of rats and maggots who feast on the putrefactory banquet. Neither of these authors, nor the evenly talented Rene Depestre and the former Dominican President Juan Bosch, is Anglophonic. It’s usually believed that the most excellent Caribbean literature in English consists of chronological polemics On the other hand Cristina Garcia novel â€Å"Dreaming In Cuban† tells the stories of the women of a Cuban family, scattered by revolution but still connected through a shared past. The narrative is polyphony of several voices who, in turn, describe their world from their viewpoint. Characters include Lourdes, an anti-Castro exile who runs a chain of â€Å"Yankee Doodle Bakeries,† and Felicia, whose perceptions connect and blur the lines between insanity and santeria. Pillar, Lourdes’s daughter and an aspiring punk artist, is determined to return to Cuba to reconnect with her grandmother and make her present life meaningful. She laments that history does not tell the important stories and longs to recover Cuba for herself: â€Å"[T]here’s only imagination where our history should be† (138). In the title of Dreaming in Cuban, â€Å"Dreaming† includes all the diverse dreams of Garcia’s female protagonists about the nature of being Cuban, what it is to be Cuban, to dream, not in American, but in Cuban. This necessitates Garcia’s taking into account all the conflicting elements of contemporary Cuban-ness for Cuban and Cuban American women. Amazingly, she never invalidates or disputes the diverse and conflicting perspectives of these different dreamers. She succeeds by giving readers a complexity of experience beyond binaries, where many diverse and conflicting perspectives circle around one another endlessly. These differences are constructed by differences in the various ideologies that the characters embrace communism, capitalism, traditional gender relations, voodoo, and feminism–and also by differences in their experiences due to varying historical locations in time and place.