Animal Farm, By George Orwell - 2858 Words

The events that surround Animal Farm’s publication, and Orwell’s own consistent outlook towards his book provide support of its political meaning. Orwell plays a two-sided game with his reader. He emphasizes the similarities between the animal on Animal Farm and the humans they are designed to represent. At other parts of the narrative Orwell shows with both humor and pathos the profound differences separating animals from man.In doing this, he makes his reader create a distinction between the personalities and conduct of the beasts and those of the human world. the animals are designed to represent working people in their initial social, political, and economic position in society, not just of Animal Farm but of England. Just because all have been subjected to human rule, this does not mean that they will act as a united body once they take over the farm. The qualities which, for Orwell, clearly unite the majority of the animals with their human counterparts, the commo n working people, are a concern for freedom and equality in society and a form of natural decency which prevents them from desiring power for any personal gain. While his decency hinders the animals from discovering the true nature of the pigs until the final scene, it also provides them with an instinctive feeling for what a fair society might look like. By revealing the division within the animal ranks, Orwell is cautioning his reader to question the animal view of the class struggle, for the crucial problemShow MoreRelatedAnimal Farm And George Orwell By George Orwell1034 Words   |  5 Pages Eric Arthur Blair, under the pseudonym of George Orwell, composed many novels in his lifetime that were considered both politically rebellious and socially incorrect. Working on the dream since childhood, Orwell would finally gain notoriety as an author with his 1945 novel Animal Farm, which drew on personal experiences and deeply rooted fear to satirically critique Russian communism during its expansion. Noticing the impact he made, he next took to writing the novel 1984, which similarly criticizedRead MoreAnimal Farm By George Orwell1397 Words   |  6 PagesAn important quote by the influential author of Animal Farm, George Orwell, is, â€Å"Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism.† George Orwell, a Democratic Socialist, wrote the book Animal Farm as an attack on the Communist country of Russia (â€Å"The Political Ideas of George Orwell,† worldsocialism.org). He had a very strong disliking of Communism and the Socialist party of Russia. However, he insisted on finding the truthRead MoreAnimal Farm, By George Orwell1545 Words   |  7 Pagesallow because an this elite institution of people often use this gear to dominate and oppress society. In George Orwell’s story, Animal Farm, Orwell demonstrates that education is a powerful weapon and is a device that can be used to at least one’s benefit. Living in a world where strength is a straightforward to benefit, the pigs quick use education to govern the relaxation of the animals on the farm to serve themselves worked to their advantage. This story in shows the underlying message that   firstRead MoreAnimal Farm by George Orwell1100 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction: Widely acknowledged as a powerful allegory, the 1945 novella Animal Farm, conceived from the satirical mind of acclaimed author George Orwell, is a harrowing fable of a fictional dystopia that critiques the socialist philosophy of Stalin in terms of his leadership of the Soviet Union. Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose initial virtuous intentionsRead MoreAnimal Farm By George Orwell1538 Words   |  7 PagesMecca Animal Farm The Russian Revolution in 1917 shows how a desperate society can be turned into a military superpower filled with terror and chaos. George Orwell uses his book, Animal Farm, to parallel this period of time in history. This book is an allegory of fascism and communism and the negative outcomes. The animals begin with great unity, working toward a common goal. The government then becomes corrupted by the temptations of power. George Orwell uses the characters in Animal Farm to showRead MoreAnimal Farm By George Orwell944 Words   |  4 Pageslegs(Orwell 132). He carried a whip in his trotter(Orwell 133). In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, animals have the ability to talk and form their own ethos, Animalism. Animal Farm is an intriguing allegory by George Orwell, who is also the author of 1984, includes many enjoyable elements. More knowledge of the author, his use of allegorical elements, themes, symbols, and the significance in the real world, allows the reader to get more ou t of this glance into the future. George OrwellRead MoreAnimal Farm, By George Orwell876 Words   |  4 Pagesrebellious animals think no man means freedom and happiness, but they need to think again. The animals of Manor Farm rebel against the farm owner, Mr. Jones, and name it Animal Farm. The animals create Animalism, with seven commandments. As everything seems going well, two of the animals get into a rivalry, and things start changing. Food starts disappearing and commandments are changed, and the power begins to shift. Father of dystopian genre, George Orwell writes an interesting allegory, Animal FarmRead MoreAnimal Farm by George Orwell1175 Words   |  5 PagesAn enthusiastic participant in the Spanish civil war in 1936, George Orwell had a great understanding of the political world and made his strong opinions known through his enlightening literary works, many of which are still read in our modern era. Inspired by the 1917 Russian Revolution and the failed society it resulted in, Animal Farm by George Orwell is an encapsulating tale that epitomises how a free utopian society so idealistic can never be accomplished. The novella exemplifies how influencesRead MoreAnimal Farm, By George Orwell1089 Words   |  5 PagesIn George Orwell’s â€Å"Animal Farm†, the pigs as the farm leaders, use unknown language, invoke scare tactics and create specific laws, thereby enabling them to control other animals, to suit their greedy desires, and to perform actions outside their realm of power. Because of the pigs’ use of broad language, and the implementation of these tactics they are able to get away with avoiding laws, and are able to convince other animals into believing untrue stories that are beneficial to the pigs. The firstRead MoreAnimal Farm By George Orwell999 Words   |  4 PagesAnimal Farm Essay George Gurdjieff was an influential spiritual teacher in the early twentieth century. He references in the following quote that when one is uneducated he will always remain a slave. â€Å"Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave.† (Gurdjieff) This ties in with how the animals are treated in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Animal Farm is a novella about animals who

Life in the Ocean Free Essays

Question 1: Parts of Chesapeake Bay were affected by unexpected blooms of a toxic dinoflagellate, Pfisteria piscicida, in 1997. Research those occurrences in the internet, and discuss the blooms and their effects on the local economy. Was it sensationalist press coverage, or a real danger to humans? Ans. We will write a custom essay sample on Life in the Ocean or any similar topic only for you Order Now :Â  During the summer of 1997, the Chesapeake Bay was reported to have an unexpected bloom of the plankton, Pfisteria piscicida. Experts believed that it was caused by too much pollution from the surrounding districts of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Farms, factories, and towns contribute to the pollution. According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 318 million pounds of nitrogen and 19 million pounds of phosphorus are deposited into the Bay as the result of development, run-off, and air pollutants. Agriculture and poultry operations constitute a large part of the causes of pollution of the Bay. The presence of these pollutants at high concentrations triggered the pfisteria bloom, the result of which was devastating. Thousands of fishes were killed rendering massive losses in the local economy, i.e. seafood sales drop. Maryland alone had lost $43 million in sales. Many people were sick due to the toxins taken from t he Bay products which increased expenditure in healthcare and medicine. Pfisteria bloom in the Chesapeake Bay posed a threat to humans as well as other organisms. In Maryland, environmentalists are making some steps to minimize pollution of the Bay. The US government had spent millions of dollars in trying to eradicate the cause of such phenomena. Question 2: Whale watching is considered as a worthwhile environmental activity. Some tour guide operations even allow `whale petting`, as in the Pacific Gray whale nursing grounds in Baja California. `Swim with the Dolphins` operators are popular in Florida, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. Discuss the potential deleterious effects that these interactions with humans may have on these marine mammals. Ans.:Â  Human activities have substantial effects to the marine environment, especially the marine mammals. Activities like that cause loud underwater noise, deep-water gillnetting and driftnet fishing, pollution, whaling, large-scale industrial fishing, vessel traffic as well as activities like whale-watching, whale-petting, or simply interacting with the marine mammals have deleterious effects to them. The immediate effect of these interactions to the marine mammals is disturbance. Whale-watchers observed that whales are becoming more difficult to search in the open seas because of changes of areas and modes of operation as the result of these disturbances. Visual and acoustic surveys proved that whales are susceptible to acoustic changes, i.e. sound of the vessel engine, as it is there primary mode of communication. Whales and other marine mammals use echolocation in searching for food and other activities (i.e. mating, social contact). Noise from tour boats disrupts the sound signals transmitted and received thereby affecting their senses. This resulted to decline in whale population and other marine mammals. Research also showed that the presence of tour boats in their surroundings causes stress which affects their behavior. Question 3. What fish and shellfish populations are at or below historic levels? What restoration efforts are being revised to manage the most important fisheries more effectively? Discuss these and other issues affecting marine resources RIGHT HERE in Maryland. Ans.:Â  Chesapeake Bay fish and shellfish populations are largely affected by pollution from the surrounding states. Blue crab, oyster, striped bass, Susquehanna shad, and menhaden are some of the species studied. Different strategies used to increase harvest were examined by scientists and natural resource managers. The American shad and the blue crab were found to have increased over the past decade and are no longer below historic levels. This increase was attributed to the responsible fisheries management. Current reports have shown that the Bay’s fish and shellfish are three-fifths away from the desired levels. In this regard, scientists and managers are trying their best to restore the Bay’s abundant estuarine ecosystem. The restoration efforts include the following activities and plans: reducing pollution, maintain restoring habits, responsible fisheries management, watershed protection, and fostering stewardship. Pollution, as the primary cause of death of estuarine species was tackled by different states by enforcing laws that protects the Bay area from ruthless throwing of waste matter, i.e. increasing taxation of industry-scale poultry operations in Maryland. References Spotts, P.N. (1997). US Pours Money, Expertise into Halting Legal ‘Blooms’ [Electronic Version]. Christian Science Monitor, 10/08/97(United States), 3. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/notedevents/gennews/generalHABnews.html Goodman, P.S. (1998). Ma., Va. Brace for Pfiesteria Outbreaks. The Washington Post, April 5, 1998. Lauhakangas, R. (n.d.). Special Aspects of Sperm Whales and Their Relevance to Whale Watching. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://www.helsinki.fi/~lauhakan/whale/education/sc4876.html Stiffler, L. (2002). Whale-watchers Might be Harmful to Orcas, Study Shows. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/72927_orca01.shtml How to cite Life in the Ocean, Essay examples

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Answer: Introduction: This essay demonstrates the assistance that should be given to Razzaq and his family members by the registered Nurse and other healthcare professionals so that he recovers soon. It also discusses three mental health assessments that are required in order to assess Razzaq. The essay demonstrates the medical, psychosocial and nursing care interventions that are required to improve the well-being of Razzaq (Muskett, 2014).It explains the ethical and legal principles that need to be considered when delivering patient centred care.It also focuses on the cultural needs and explains the culturally evidence based care for Razzaq. Razzaq is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder since he was held in a detention centre for two years. He gets scared very soon when he hears any sound as it reminds him of the noises from war. He is irritated and shouts on his wife and hits her after getting angry. He also yells at his kids on petty issues. Nurses and other health care professionals can play an important role in providing care to Razzaq (Moorhead et al., 2013). They can provide counselling to him and his family members. It is important for them to work as a team by using proper interpersonal skills and provide patient centred care to the patient. They should guide and assist Razzaq to remain calm which will help him to lower down his anger at small issue. It is important for them to remain patient while dealing with him and his family members since he does not have a normal mental state (Happell Gaskin, 2013).A carer should be appointed for Razzaq so that he provides proper support and care services to him and his family members. It is important for the nurses, healthcare professionals and the carers to perform their duties effectively so that Razzaq recovers from his health issues (Hockenberry Wilson, 2014). Three mental health assessments required to assess Razzaq Amental health assessmentgives the concerned physician a complete picture of Razzaqs emotional state. Mental assessments will enable the medical practitioners to analyse his cognitive functioning and higher mental faculties related to thinking, reasoning and remembering. Some of the assessments will require a written examination where Razzaq might have to answer some questions in writing management. This will help the physicians to assess his mood and behavior and how well he can express himself. The mental assessments will also involve questions related to his association with the people surrounding him, which includes his family members and friends. The assessments will be generally carried out by a psychiatrist or social worker and the results will be kept confidential. 3 such assessments that can be conducted are: face-to-face interviews, brief trauma questionnaire and aftermath battle scale screening (Hoge et al., 2014). Face-to-face interviews are considered as an optimal evalu ation for PTSD patients. Unstructured interview will be used to elicit information about his symptoms. A semi-structured diagnostic interview will also be conducted that will employ a screening tool such as the SCID, CAPS, PTSD Symptom Scale-Interview Version (PSS-I) or Structured Interview for PTSD (SIP) management. These instruments will the mental status of the patient in a clinical setting (Bovin et al., 2016). The CAPS interview can be conducted to determine if Razzaq meets the diagnostic DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. The intensity and frequency of his symptoms can be assessed. The trauma questionnaires will measure the degree of trauma he has experienced or has been exposed to. 10 self report questions will be asked to derive information on the events he has faced. The exposure to a particular event will be given a positive score if he replies yes to the questions being asked on his life threat or incidents of severe injury. The screening of battle aftermath will measure his expos ure to cobat consequences and will make a close observation of the way he handles human remains or interacts with prisoners or detainees of any war (Schaller, 2012). It will also make a record of his interaction with homeless refugees and people belonging to devastated communities. A 6 point Likert scale will be used to measure the observations where 1 would represent never and 6 would represent most likely or daily. Ethical and legal principles There are several ethical and legal principles that should be taken into account while delivering patient centred care to Razzaq. There are six ethical principles that should be followed by the nursing staff while providing care to him such as autonomy (respect) towards the patient, beneficence( providing benefit to the patient), Non- maleficience (avoiding harmful deeds), Justice( no discrimination in providing care to the patient), Veracity( truth) and fidelity( being faithful)* Butcher et al.,2013). These principles would play an important role in providing quality and patient centred care to Razzaq and taking ethical decisions. These principles can be referred from American Nurses Association code of ethics. This code demonstrates the ethical standards that are required by the nurses and other health care professionals to perform their roles and responsibilities diligently (Norman Ryrie, 2013). The nursing staff should follow legal principles such as laws related to the nursing practice and maintain professional standards of nursing practice. Nurses should be properly educated and trained to handle different types of patients such as aggressive, depressed or have experienced any trauma in the past. They should not be negligent in providing safety or use of any malpractice while dealing with Razzaq as it may lead to a cancellation of the licence of the nurse (Robson et al., 2013). Nursing staff should respect the cultural and the religious background of Razzaq and not discriminate him on the basis of his caste or religion. They should understand his religious beliefs and practices related to faith such as praying to god (Wynaden et al., 2014).Since, Razzaq belongs to a muslim family he should be allowed to pray any number of times according to his wishes. They should also understand his spiritual requirements such as if he has any issues related to faith, hope or fear (Corrigan, Druss Perlick, 2014).He should be provided individual attention when issues such as privacy and dignity are concerned. For instance, if he wishes to be addressed by a nursing staff of the same gender in order to provide nursing care. He should be provided food according to his requirements and it should be documented properly in his diet chart so that he gets a quality patient experience (Townsend, 2014). Hence, it can be concluded that Razzaq should be provided counselling to him and his family members by the nursing staff and healthcare professionals. It is important for them to work as a team by using proper interpersonal skills and provide patient centred care to the patient. Razzaq should be taken along with his wife for mental health assessment so that she can explain his behavioural symptoms in a better manner.The three methods of mental assessment that can be done for Razzaq are by assessing his physical health, emotional health and mental health of the patient by the doctor. Various medical, psychosocial and nursing care interventions can be taken to improve his health condition from post traumatic stress disorder. There are several ethical and legal principles that should be taken into account while delivering patient centred care to Razzaq. The nursing staff should follow legal principles such as laws related to the nursing practice and maintain professional standards of nu rsing practice to provide patient centred care to Razzaq. References Bovin, M. J., Marx, B. P., Weathers, F. W., Gallagher, M. W., Rodriguez, P., Schnurr, P. P., Keane, T. M. (2016). Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental DisordersFifth Edition (PCL-5) in veterans.Psychological Assessment,28(11), 1379. Butcher, H. K., Bulechek, G. M., Dochterman, J. M. M., Wagner, C. (2013).Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC)-E-Book management. Elsevier Health Sciences. Corrigan, P. W., Druss, B. G., Perlick, D. A. (2014). The impact of mental illness stigma on seeking and participating in mental health care.Psychological Science in the Public Interest,15(2), 37-70. https://books.google.co.in/books? Happell, B., Gaskin, C. J. (2013). The attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards mental health nursing: a systematic review.Journal of Clinical Nursing,22(1-2), 148-158. DOI:10.1111/jocn.12022 Hockenberry, M. J., Wilson, D. (2014).Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. https://books.google.co.in/books Hoge, C. W., Grossman, S. H., Auchterlonie, J. L., Riviere, L. A., Milliken, C. S., Wilk, J. E. (2014). PTSD treatment for soldiers after combat deployment: Low utilization of mental health care and reasons for dropout.Psychiatric Services,65(8), 997-1004. Moorhead, S., Johnson, M., Maas, M. L., Swanson, E. (2014).Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC)-E-Book: Measurement of Health Outcomes. Elsevier Health Sciences. https://books.google.co.in/books? Muskett, C. (2014). Trauma?informed care in inpatient mental health settings: A review of the literature.International journal of mental health nursing,23(1), 51-59. DOI: 10.1111/inm.12012 Norman, I., Ryrie, I. (2013).The art and science of mental health nursing: Principles and practice: A textbook of principles and practice. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0920-9964(03)00186-5 Robson, D., Haddad, M., Gray, R., Gournay, K. (2013). Mental health nursing and physical health care: A cross?sectional study of nurses' attitudes, practice, and perceived training needs for the physical health care of people with severe mental illness.International Journal of Mental Health Nursing,22(5), 409-417. Schaller, B. R. (2012).Veterans on trial: The coming court battles over PTSD. Potomac Books, Inc.. Townsend, M. C. (2014).Psychiatric mental health nursing: Concepts of care in evidence-based practice. FA Davis. https://books.google.co.in/books. Wynaden, D., Heslop, K., Al Omari, O., Nelson, D., Osmond, B., Taylor, M., Gee, T. (2014). Identifying mental health nursing research priorities: A Delphi study.Contemporary nurse,47(1-2), 16-26. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2014.11081902

Romeo and Juliet English Coursework Essay Example Essay Example

Romeo and Juliet: English Coursework Essay Example Paper Romeo and Juliet: English Coursework Essay Introduction So far we know the whole story because of the prologue at the start of the play. However, due to the tragic nature of the play and its background, the audience would forget this and believe that the play would change. Both of the â€Å"star-crossed lovers† haven’t met each other, yet. And their families, the Montagues and Capulets are in an on-going rivalry which makes it almost impossible for Romeo and Juliet to even meet, let alone fall in love. It is these obstacles, and the main themes of destiny and love, revenge and conflict.Just before Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio enter the ball, Romeo begins a soliloquy. He uses poetic language, a type of speech that differs between the characters throughout the scene and the play. Poetic language is used for characters that have a point to emphasise to the audience. Added along with the soliloquy, this allows the audience to focus solely on what Romeo says, and is a sign to say that whatever he talks about is important.Itâ€⠄¢s a line that should not be ignored, and is used by the most passionate characters like Romeo and Tybalt. In this soliloquy, Romeo speaks of death. In fact, he tells the audience that his own death will come just by entering the ball. However, he also says that his fate is in God’s hands â€Å"But he who hath steerage of my course Direct my sail!† This last line creates a feeling of mystery among the audience what will his fate be when he enters the ball? It also sets up tension for the next scene.As soon as Romeo and his friends enter the Capulet ball, the tension that was created from Romeo’s soliloquy has died down. The first parts of this scene are dominated by servants at the ball. The comical lines from the servants start to lower the tension. One moment the play is serious, next moment it’s very jolly. In Shakespeare’s times, this comical section of the play would be used to get the audience back into the play. This was done, because most of Shakespeare’s audience wasn’t educated very well, so they wouldn’t fully understand the play. After the servant’s comic contribution, the audience hears a pointless speech from a character known as Capulet.The speech from a seemingly drunk Capulet is quickly followed by Romeo’s first sight of Juliet. This is a quick peak of tension which happens a lot throughout the play. In the Marco Zefferelli film version of Romeo and Juliet, a very soft and romantic song is sung in the background to set the scene for the meeting. Another interesting technique in this film used to describe the event is a dancing circle with many party guests including Romeo and Juliet.The circle represents the inevitability of Romeo’s meeting with Juliet. He starts to describe her beauty in great detail, using his poetic language again. This means that it’s another important piece of speech. The large amount of emphasis on Juliet’s beauty is used by Shake speare because of the time period the play was set in. Only men would be able to act on the stage, so the male version of Juliet wouldn’t look very appealing to many in the audience and they would be confused as to why Romeo wants Juliet.Phrases such as â€Å"Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear† mean that Romeo sees Juliet in some sort of divine way. She isn’t of this world. The question â€Å"Did my heart never love till now?.never saw beauty till this night† is important because it shows the audience the distinction between the love Romeo now has for Juliet and the lust that Romeo had for Rosaline. The way that Romeo delivers these lines to the audience in both film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, the amount of conviction shown in his movements, facial expressions and speech is more than enough to tell the audience that this is true love.Soon after Romeo’s first sighting of Juliet, the audience sees Tybalt and Capulet engage in an argume nt over Romeo. From the previous scenes with Tybalt, it’s known that he has a temper and hates the Montague family (and those associated with them) with a fiery passion. He first warns Capulet that Romeo is at the Capulet Ball. In his first few lines, he mentions killing Romeo. Because he has come to the enemy’s party, Tybalt sees it as an invasion, an insult to his name and what it stands for, â€Å"by the stock and honour of my kin.not a sin†. However, Capulet doesn’t believe that Romeo has any ill intentions against his family at the Ball, â€Å"A bears him like a portly gentleman†. Capulet (seemingly) takes control of the situation with his plea, but this angers Tybalt more.He says â€Å"I will not endure him†. He cannot stand for Romeo to be here any longer, his rage begins to show even more in his short, yet, strong response to Capulet. The reply to Tybalt is what infuriates him the most. â€Å"You are a saucy boy!† In previous scenes, Tybalt has proven that he’s a reckless, angry young man. He likes to maintain his bad boy image. For example, his demeanour in Baz Luerrman’s version of Romeo and Juliet is very suave. In the opening fighting scene, a conversation between himself and Benvolio leads to a huge fight. However, one of the most important things he said in an angry tone of voice was â€Å"Peace.I hate the word†. So from his reckless actions, forceful angry voice, and choice of words, the audience can see that Tybalt is belligerence and hot-headedness is very strong. He has convinced himself that he is a man, therefore is.Back to Capulet, he continues to verbally attack Tybalt. In both film adaptations, Capulet’s voice becomes less gleeful and more serious. He begins to play a more paternal role towards Tybalt in this scene. Insults such as â€Å"You are a princox (insolent young man)† and â€Å"goodman boy (unmannerly child) are what Tybalt does like to be addre ssed as. The last and most important section to this argument is what he says to the audience. â€Å"Patience perforce with.greeting† is Tybalt expressing his emotions. He doesn’t like that fact that he can do nothing to his greatest enemy inside his own house because of Capulet’s orders. The rhyming here is important to address the audience. â€Å"I will withdraw.bitter gall†, continues to explain how Tybalt feels. He continues to say he won’t fight with Romeo right now, but eventually he will. â€Å"Sweet convert to bitter gall† means that however nice it is to have more of a reason to kill Romeo, the patience he must have to get Romeo will not be good for him.He does lot of important things with the play with these four lines. Firstly, he sets up more tension and makes the audience ask more questions, â€Å"When is Tybalt going to face off with Romeo†, â€Å"How?† etc. Secondly, he makes sure that the audience gets the messa ge. His sudden shift to poetic language and using rhyming couplets is a stand out point to say â€Å"This is important†. And it shows the passion of the character as well, Tybalt had a passion to exact his revenge on Romeo and the audience can hear it through the little rhyme.Romeo and Juliet’s meeting is made even more interesting by Shakespeare’s use of a sonnet (a 14 line poem, in a 4-4-4-2 layout). The factors that make this so interesting and very powerful as a romantic scene are as follows. Firstly, the back and forth motion of speech. They both recite the sonnet, with a flow that adds more tension to this scene. The main theme of fate is very important here, as there’s a definite connection. The flow that these two have makes it seem as if they are one person speaking directly to the audience, they were meant to be together. Secondly, the convictions of Romeo’s speech and slight role play from both characters.The way he address Juliet, treat ing her as a holy object, a shrine. Evidence of this is in the lines, â€Å"If I profane with my unworthy hand†, and referring to Juliet as a â€Å"holy shrine†. He is deep in love with her, and he is chasing her. In addition to the previous points, the sonnet helps to make the audience see the side of Juliet that is playful, cheerful and what makes her so attractive to Juliet. In the Baz Luerrman film version of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet’s personality is very flirtatious, almost tempting Romeo even more with every word she says, as if Romeo’s life hanged on every word that came from Juliet. The written script is just the same, Romeo chasing the girl he desires, the he loves.As the storyline continues after the Capulet Ball, we are carried straight into the balcony scene. Romeo starts by using poetic language in relation to how in love he is with Juliet. Conversely, Juliet is doing the same but she wonders about Romeo and if she is really to love him fully . In the modernised film version of Romeo and Juliet, both of them show passion in their voice relating to each other and expressing their love; using camera shots to show the individual characters when they use their own poetic language to emphasise the points that are made respectively. The amount of effort Romeo conveys in the usage of the language is also shown in the Baz Luerrman version of the film. It is made to be read as (and seen as) a testament to the love that Romeo has for Juliet; in terms of the danger that Romeo risks as being a Montague.At the end of the balcony scene, the storylines for the conflicts to come are set. Tybalt seeks revenge on Romeo for what he sees as an invasion of â€Å"his† party, Juliet and Romeo plan to be engaged but still have to face the family rivalry barrier that prevents their relationship from being free. The next scenes will all highlight the conflicts and the tragedy aspect of the story – the common outline for stories such as Romeo and Juliet are : Setting the scene, introduce a catalyse for a change in the scene, highlight the changes from the catalyse and resolve the changes to re-establish the scene at the beginning.In terms of how we see the characters at this moment in time, Romeo is seen in the audience’s viewpoint as a heroic character, trying be the man, the protector, the â€Å"rock† for Juliet and personally believes that it’s fate that they are together and it’s fate for them to stay together and that’s the feeling that Romeo conveys to audience in the conviction of his words and the poetic language he uses when referring to, or directly addressing Juliet.The furious Tybalt in many retrospects can be seen as very similar to Romeo but plays the villain in this scenario. He doesn’t want to protect Juliet, he wants to protect his honour, his name and prove he is more than a â€Å"saucy boy†. He is convinced he is a man, and now needs to prove i t by carrying out his threats onto the Montagues and Romeo. The audience however sees exactly what the character called Capulet sees; Tybalt is nothing more than an angry boy who focuses too much on how others see him – almost shallow.In conclusion, at this stage of the play, Romeo and Juliet are caught in the middle of controversy, history and rivalry which allow for the readers to become enthralled in the storyline and makes for a successful written story, and a decently made film adaptation.I have examined the dramatic impact of the Capulet Ball scene and the Balcony scene and expressed how the characters and the language used together create some of the most important moments of the play. Romeo and Juliet: English Coursework Essay Thank you for reading this Sample!

Chemistry in depth essays

Chemistry in depth essays Archaeobacteria-prokaryotic organisms lacking peptidoglycan in their cell walls and differing from eubacteria in many ways. Binomial nomenclature-by Linnaeus where each organism is assigned a genus and specific epithet (2nd name) Cyanobacteria-photosynthetic, prokaryotic, typically unicellular organisms that are members of kingdom Monera Divergent evolution-process where descendents of a common ancestor species undergo sufficient change to be identified as separate species DNA hybridization-process where double strands of DNA of ea. Of 2 organisms are split apart and split strands from 2 organisms are allowed to combine Domain-new taxonomic category above kingdom level, consisting of Archae, Bacteria, and Eukarya Eukaryote-organism with eukaryotic cells (w/nucleus and other membrane bound structures Extreme halophile-grow in highly saline (salty) environments. Generally obligate aerobes Extreme thermoacidophile-require hot and acidic environment usually from Domain Archae Five-kingdom system-system of classifying organisms into one of 5 kingdoms: Monera (prokaryotae), Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia Fungi-kingdom of nonphotosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms that absorb nutrients from their environment Genetic homology-similarity of DNA base sequences among organisms Genus-taxon consisting of one or more species (1st name) Methanogen-one of groups of Archaeobacteria that produce methane gas Monera-(prokaryote) kingdom of prokaryotic organisms that are unicellular and lack true cell nucleus Mycoplasmas-very sm. Bacteria w/ cell membranes, RNA, and DNA, but no cell walls Numerical taxonomy-comparison of organisms based on quantitative assessment of a lg. # of characteristics Phage typing-use of bacteriophages to determine similarities or differences among different bacteria Phylogenetic-pertaining to evolutionary relationships Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE)-a technique for separating p...

How to Make Flavored and Colored Rock Candy

How to Make Flavored and Colored Rock Candy Rock candy is another name for sugar or sucrose crystals. Making your own rock candy is a fun and tasty way to grow crystals and see the structure of sugar on a big scale. Sugar crystals in granulated sugar display a monoclinic form, but you can see the shape much better in homegrown large crystals. This recipe is for rock candy that you can eat. You can color and flavor the candy, too. Materials Basically, all you need to make rock candy is sugar and hot water. The color of your crystals will depend on the type of sugar you use (raw sugar is more golden than refined granulated sugar) and whether or not you add coloring. Any food-grade colorant will work. 3 cups sugar (sucrose)1 cup waterPanStove or microwaveOptional: food coloringOptional: 1/2 to1 teaspoons flavoring oil or extractCotton stringPencil or knifeClean glass jarOptional: Lifesaver candy Instructions Pour the sugar and water into the pan.Heat the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. You want the sugar solution to hit boiling, but not get hotter or cook too long. If you overheat the sugar solution youll make hard candy, which is nice, but not what were going for here.Stir the solution until all the sugar has dissolved. The liquid will be clear or straw-colored, without any sparkly sugar. If you can get even more sugar to dissolve, thats good, too.If desired, you can add food coloring and flavoring to the solution. Mint, cinnamon, or lemon extract are good flavorings to try. Squeezing the juice from a lemon, orange, or lime is a way to give the crystals natural flavor, but the acid and other sugars in the juice may slow your crystal formation.Set the pot of sugar syrup in the refrigerator to cool. You want the liquid to be about 50 F (slightly cooler than room temperature). Sugar becomes less soluble as it cools, so chilling the mixture will make it so there is less chance of ac cidentally dissolving sugar you are about to coat on your string. While the sugar solution is cooling, prepare your string. You are using cotton string because it is rough and non-toxic. Tie the string to a pencil, knife, or another object that can rest across the top of the jar. You want the string to hang into the jar, but not touch the sides or bottom.You dont want to weight your string with anything toxic, so rather than use a metal object, you can tie a Lifesaver to the bottom of the string.Whether you are using the Lifesaver or not, you want to seed the string with crystals so that the rock candy will form on the string rather than on the sides and bottom of the jar. There are two easy ways to do this. One is to dampen the string with a little of the syrup you just made and dip the string in sugar. Another option is to soak the string in the syrup and then hang it to dry, which will cause crystals to form naturally (this method produces chunkier rock candy crystals).Once your solution has cooled, pour it into the clean jar. Suspend the seeded string in the liquid. Set the jar somewhere quiet. You can cover the jar with a paper towel or coffee filter to keep the solution clean. Check on your crystals, but dont disturb them. You can remove them to dry and eat when you are satisfied with the size of your rock candy. Ideally, you want to allow the crystals to grow for 3 to 7 days.You can help your crystals grow by removing (and eating) any sugar crust that forms on top of the liquid. If you notice a lot of crystals forming on the sides and bottom of the container and not on your string, remove your string and set it aside. Pour the crystallized solution into a saucepan and boil/cool it (just like when you make the solution). Add it to a clean jar and suspend your growing rock candy crystals. Once the crystals are done growing, remove them and let them dry. The crystals will be sticky, so the best way to dry them is to hang them. If you plan to store the rock candy any length of time, youll need to protect the outer surface from humid air. You can seal the candy in a dry container, dust the candy with a thin coating of cornstarch or confectioners sugar to reduce sticking, or lightly spritz the crystals with non-stick cooking spray.

Are there any objective values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Are there any objective values - Essay Example They are reflected in the form of theories and moral rules. Many philosophers including atheists reject the possibility of creating ethical system basing on the physical forces and natural processes. They state that ethical rules and principles appeared naturally from the practical needs of people: marriage, wars, conflicts, etc. In the early stage of its evolution ethics represented the area of practical reasons, and only long-time experience led to the formation of theoretical ethics. However, the principles, which were formed in the process of social experience, were not set as unchanged like the God’s commandments. Consequently, they could be transformed, forgotten or changed for the new principles, which reflect the constantly collected by the human experience in the spheres of science, technology and psychology (Kelly, 2006). The conclusion can be made that the values can be objective. Ethical values are not merely culturally contingent, but acquired during the process of acquiring experience, thus they are totally

Medical Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Medical Ethics - Essay Example Such an individual whose sole field of training is entirely concentrated with treatment or diagnosis may not easily possess or acquire interpersonal and conceptual skills demanded by consent. It is, therefore, another thing demanding that a doctor ought to acquire expertise and could entirely not be reasonable. It is, therefore, worth recommending that they acquire proficiency in various fields of medicine although also protecting them on a legal framework where their rights may be violated. There will be instances where a doctor will work better aware of the medical ethics involved although not declaring one as ethicists (Beauchamp and Childress 2009). Moe often than not, there are the conflict of interests among the roles. For instance, one could take a nurse as an advocate for her patients who at a moment collide with prioritized tasks such as resource allocation, diagnosis or treatments guided by the principles of contract, misrepresentation and regulation. Observing such an occurrence on a legal platform, courts encompass the role although this could be argued as merely exchange medical for legal paternalism (McFadden 2010). This paper will explore what lies behind informed consent versus disclosure and the terms governing it directed by medical ethics and the legal framework. Here in, Chester v Afshar  (2004)  is one of the  English tort law  cases regarding  causations  in a  healthcare negligence  concept to guide this paper in expounding the con cept. The House of Lords were of the verdict that a practitioner’s failure to provide informed consent to a patient of medical risks vitiates the want to indicate that harm could have resulted from failure to inform the subject. As some of these fields may be non-medical, from a strict perspective, it may derive an argument from withdrawing treatment and information disclosure decisions. The tort of negligence must be patient-centered rather than medical team oriented. It may seem like an

Ocean city and Clearwater beach Essay Example for Free

Ocean city and Clearwater beach Essay One of the great things about summer is going to the beaches. Over the past ten years my family and I have had the pleasure of heading up to Ocean City Maryland on the eastern shore. The beach there is an excellent place for the family to get together and have fun. The sand at Ocean City is an off white color and warm to the touch and the water with its bluish green color feels cool on your skin. Ocean City has one of the largest boardwalks on the east coast with its many shops, stores, and restaurants it attracts families from all around the world. Ocean city also has a great amusement park for all the kids at heart and for all the true little people. However, At times it does tend to get a bit crowed but that’s half the fun of going to the beach the sights, sounds, the smells, and the many different types of people all enjoying themselves. A few years ago we did happen to change up a bit and headed down to Clearwater Florida for a short vacation the beach in Clearwater is also a very nice beach the sand there is a pure white color and feels so cool on your feet as you walk upon it, and the water is a very clean clear light blue, and very warm as you wad though it. You can even see your feet as small fish move around you Clearwater beach doesn’t have a boardwalk, but it does have the many restaurants and shops to visit. I did notice that Clearwater beach seems to be more geared to the young professional type people. There isn’t an amusement park for the kids and it didn’t seem like many families were there. The time that I spent there it never seemed to get crowded at all, but that was fine because it was relaxing and a nice change of pace. I would recommend both beaches to anyone that wants to get away for a good time, good people and a change of the norm.

Animals are Valuable in Behavioral Research :: Behavioral Research Essays

From the dawn of time, when the first human killed an animal for food, or drove it from a fruit patch so that he could eat instead, there has been competition with animals for basic resources. Likewise, over the ages, humans have contemplated their relationship with animals. Ancestral societies worshipped the animals they used recognizing that the lives they took fueled their own lives. Further introspection on humanity's place in the world resulted in the development of codes of morality and ethics and subsequently the first modern religions. While biblical views of animals are primarily those of utility rather than of moral value, early scholars argued that animals should be treated kindly because animal cruelty represented a flawed morality and was ultimately detrimental to the moral development of humans. This view that humans may ultimately be judged based on their treatment of other lives exists to this day, and for many, is a strong argument for stewardship toward animals. Interestingly, advances in biology that began in the 1800's have provided some of the strongest arguments for imbuing animals with an enhanced moral value. By recognizing that the nervous systems of all vertebrate animals are very similar, it is assumed that activities that will cause a human pain or distress will likewise cause pain or distress to other animals. It is for this reason that current animal use regulations require the use of analgesics, anesthetics and sedatives for any procedures on animals that may cause more than momentary pain or distress. Animal experimentation is an essential component of biomedical and behavioral research, a critical part of efforts to prevent, cure, and treat a vast range of ailments. As in the past, investigators are using animals to learn about the most widespread diseases of the age, including heart disease and cancer, as well as to gain basic knowledge in genetics, physiology, and other life sciences. Animals are also needed to combat new diseases, of which AIDS is currently the most prominent example. As Miller (1985) pointed out in a trenchant defense of animal research in psychology, behavioral research on animals has laid the foundation for breakthroughs in the treatment of drug addiction, anxiety disorders, phobias, urinary incontinence, and ruminative vomiting. At the same time, behavioral researchers are drawing on animal studies to learn more about such major causes of human suffering as mental illness, and senility. Teaching machines and programmed learning have evolved out of experimental work on animals (Skinner, 1958) and are being used to increase the efficiency of instruction by the armed forces and by industry.

Impact Of Motivational Rewards on Employees Essay

MOTIVATION: Internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal. Motivation results from the interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors such as the (1) intensity of desire or need, (2) incentive or reward value of the goal, and (3) expectations of the individual and of his or her peers. These factors are the reasons one has for behaving a certain way. An example is a student that spends extra time studying for a test because he or she wants a better grade in the class. MOTIVATION IN BUSINESS: Companies can motivate employees to do a better job than they otherwise would. Incentives that can be offered to staff include increased pay or improved working conditions. Motivational theories suggest ways to encourage employees to work harder. A motivated workforce results in: Increased output caused by extra effort from workers. Improved quality as staff take a greater pride in their work. A higher level of staff retention. Workers are keen to stay with the firm and also reluctant to take unnecessary days off work. Managers can influence employee motivation in a variety of ways: Monetary factors: some staff work harder if offered higher pay. Non monetary factors: other staff respond to incentives that have nothing to do with pay, eg improved working conditions or the chance to win promotion. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Reward Systems is a vital aspect of any organization. They can actively engage and renew the overall sense of community and mission of an organization Reward systems according to Sziligyi [1981], are outcomes or events in the organization that satisfy work related needs. Rewards systems are much more than just bonus plans and stock options but while they often include intrinsic incentives, they also include extrinsic. A well-organized reward system will motivate and energize employees because it recognizes the achievements of employees . Reward system implemented by organization will  influence employees’ behavior and attitude towards their job if the rewards satisfy their needs and help them to reach their personal goals. When employees desire to get the rewards, they will change their behavior in order to achieve the minimum level of performance required by organization. Organizations often design and implement the reward system without linking it with the ultimate improvement of organization’s performance .Therefore, the reward system is unable to contribute significantly to the performance of an organization Motivation is such a factor that exerts a driving force on our actions and work. According to Baron (1983) motivation is an accumulation of different processes which influence and direct our behavior to achieve some specific goal. Motivation depends on certain intrinsic, as well as, extrinsic factors which in collaboration results in fully committed employees. Incentives, rewards and recognitions are the prime factors that impact on employee motivation. The factors like incentives and rewards are the most preferred factors for employee motivation programs Rewards is one of the important elements to motivate employees for contributing their best effort to generate innovation ideas that lead to better business functionality and further improvise company performance both financial and non-financially. Today an organizations result is highly dependent on the employees work motivation. It is therefore important for a company to find out what motivates its employees so that it can plan a suitable reward system and gain better results. The right combination of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards can boost up the employees’ work motivation and enhance their commitment to the company. COMPANY PROFILES: KASBIT: KASBIT Private Limited is the parent body of KASBIT that was established in September 1999, through Registration with Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan. It is the first Private Sector Institute of Higher Education that was registered as a Corporate body. Since its inception, KASBIT has achieved many a mile-stones that advocate its high standard, excellence and quality recognition. KASBIT is Chartered by the Government of Sindh and recognized by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, which has also awarded the highest category W(4) rating to KASBIT in recognition of the high educational standards that it maintains KASBIT is  recognized by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and has been awarded the highest ranking of W(A) under whom the standards of educational institutions are scrutinized and evaluated in Pakistan. KASBIT became a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which is based in the US to ensure the quality and continuous improvements in collegiate management education. KASBIT was certified by ISO in January 2002 in recognition of the high quality control system that it has in place. By this virtue, KASBIT became the first ISO-9001 Certified Degree Awarding Institute in the Private Sector of Pakistan. BAHARIA UNIVERSITY: Pakistan Navy established Bahria Institute at Islamabad and Karachi in the late eighties. These Institutes were aimed at providing quality and uninterrupted education up to Intermediate level, to the children of naval personnel on their transfer from one station to another and in turn to contribute to the cause of promotion of education at the national level. Over the years these Institutes grew in size and facilities, leading to the starting of BBA and B.Sc(CS) classes in 1995. These programs have since been upgraded to BBA (Hons), BCS (Hons) and MBA, MCS Program which were introduced in Fall 1997 as ‘evening programs’ run under the management of two independent ‘Institutes’ one each at Karachi and Islamabad respectively. The institutes are known as â€Å"Bahria Institute of Management and Computer Science† short title â€Å"BIM&CS† suffixed with the location i.e. Karachi or Islamabad. Objectives: Bahria University, though very young, has the will and determination to develop and attain the objectives set forth below: Ensure academic excellence through quality education in disciplined and peaceful learning environments. Establish Campuses, Research Institutes, Schools and Colleges across the length and breadth of Pakistan to turn population explosion into knowledge based force. Prepare the younger generation to become future leaders and managers for a prosperous and educated Pakistan, through development of their mental, moral and professional strengths. Ensure academic excellence through quality education in disciplined and peaceful learning environments. Constantly monitor and upgrade facilities and update  the curricula to keep pace with the emerging trends and technologies. Coordinate and provide facilities for exchange of knowledge and applied research in the newly emerging fields in collaboration with national and international Universities and research institutes. RES EARCH AREA: Human resource (HR) OBJECTIVE: Find out to what extend does employees performance influenced by motivation PROBLEM STATEMENT: Decreasing Employees performance & satisfaction due to lack of motivational factors that drives employee’s productivity level at its best in educational sector. KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS: 1. What Is the Relationship between Employees Performance and motivation? 2. How many types of motivation that drives employee’s productivity? 3. What Is the Effect of Intrinsic motivation On Employee’s Performance? 4. What is the Effect of Extrinsic motivation On Employee’s Performance? 5. What measures can be taken to increase employee’s motivation level? 6. What are the factors behind the low productivity of employee? 7. What should be the behavior of employer towards the employee’s job satisfaction? INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: Intrinsic Motivation 1. Recognition 2. Learning opportunity 3. Career advancement Extrinsic Motivation 1. Basic Pay 2. Performance Bonus DEPENDENT VARIABLES: EMPLOYEES PERFORMANCE LIMITATION: Insufficient Funds Small sample size Time barrier Hardly possibility that organization will provide authentic information regarding their employees Research can take place only within the city Being a student’s it’s hard to get perfect information regarding their whole scenario of problem DE-LIMITATIONS: Respondents will not provide appropriate response Employees will feel insecure while sharing their organizations’ point of view. Time conscious City situations SCOPE OF THE STUDY: This study will provide a better understanding to employers who have been facing employees low productivity level they can get a better understanding of how motivational factors can influence an employee’s performance level that ultimately helps in growth of organization. This study will helps organization to increase employees performance through a perfect combination of intrinsic or extrinsic motivational factors. And it can be use in different dimension of business where employers are facing low productivity of employees. HYPOTHESIS: H1: Recognition has an impact on Employees Performance. Ho: Recognition has not impact on Employees Performance. H1: learning opportunity has an impact on Employees Performance. Ho: learning opportunity has not impact on Employees Performance. H1: Career advancements have an impact on Employees Performance. Ho: Career advancements have not impact on Employees Performance. H1: Basic Pay has an impact on Employees Performance. Ho: Basic pay has not impact on Employees Performance. H1: Performance bonus has an impact on Employees Performance. Ho: Performance bonus has not impact on Employees Performance.

Nashville Predators Case Essay

The Nashville Predators have been going through a seemingly endless process since entering the NHL in 1998. It did not take the Predators long to establish a successful and competitive nature among the franchise. Their first five seasons they struggled becoming a team and missed the playoffs, however, they have come together and made the playoffs every year since. The Predator’s on-ice performance was consistently among the top three teams in the league, but still faced many challenges. Although the Predator’s on-ice performance continued to mature, they still struggled with growth in ticket sales. How does a number three ranked NHL team fall to twenty-three of thirty teams in overall ticket sales? Clearly something needs to be evaluated in the management marketing strategy. According to many officials, Nashville has all the tools to generate a profitable franchise. It seems that since a team plays well that they should attract a loyal fan base. It was not this easy for the Predators as they dealt with several contracts over the years to gain one full-time owner. The team’s franchise might be undergoing new ownership once again. This puts an immense amount of stress on the management team as they have several things to prepare, for a potential new owner. The team believes that a new owner might move the Predators to a location outside of Nashville. The management team needs to come up with an efficient marketing plan/ strategy for the new owner. Re-location suggestions are among the top issues to evaluate. The team has narrowed their approach to five potential cities for the Predators, as well as the possibility of leaving them in Nashville. Hamilton, Winnipeg, Kansas City, Las Vegas, and Houston were among the best-fit re-location options. Although the team needed to look at other cities, they were also determined  to prove Nashville could be a success. The management team believed that with the on-ice success and a new and exciting marketing campaign would increase the average attendance at games. Some challenges they faced along the way were mainly generating more revenue, and targeting a new clientele. NHL depends heavily on ticket revenue and less on broadcasting compared to any other professional sport. This alone tells the management team, much more focus needs to be applied toward selling tickets. While more tickets need to be sold, there is a separate approach within this strategy. The majority of NHL teams sell sixty percent of their tickets to corporations, and accommodate business suites. The Predators are generating seventy percent of ticket revenue through individual sales and only thirty percent from business packages. This is a number that needs to improve for the franchise as they look to increase rev enue. Gaining support from major corporations is always an upside for any business. Whether the team moves, or remains in Nashville, there are several key decisions that the management team must make. First off they have to establish a comprehensive strategy starting with a recommended location. Where the Predators will be best fit is a decision that must be set in stone. Once you have the location set is when the team can move into an overall strategy for the franchise. They will need to consider recommendations on promotions, pricing, and customer focus. What will the ticket prices be, and how will they obtain the brand (team) loyalty from fans? No matter what strategy they decide it must be viable and profitable. Ticket prices are directly correlated to the attendance in the building, and present a major challenge. Last but certainly not least; the team must develop a strategy for targeting new corporations among its new location. This is hockey, however, at the end of the day this is business and is about having, â€Å"a good product on the ice†. Upon further evaluation of the franchise’s relocation, an internal analysis of strengths and weaknesses helps to visualize potential. As I said before, the Nashville Predators have a good team, but things must be evaluated to understand what to and what not to stress in their marketing strategy. Nashville Predator Franchise STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES On-ice performance: achieved playoff contention every year since 2003; Ranked third of thirty teams in NHL Competitive Nature: a team that plays well and succeeds generates more awareness & fans Sommet Center: only twelve years old; over seventeen thousand in capacity Seventy luxury suites for businesses Newly Renovated Arena: updated game clock/ score board; hundreds of televisions added for better spectator views State of the art technology in Arena Majority of employees/ players have been together for a while now and know how to work together through changes As of right now they have no clear strategy Management team is â€Å"in the dark†: because the team has not confirmed whether or not they are gaining a new owner- the management team is forced to plan for multiple scenarios under new ownership; Preventing them from focusing on one effective strategy Lack of corporate interest in Predators franchise Due to the attempts/ failures of multiple ownership agreements: the franchise appears as unwanted and undesirable to outsiders Lack of customer Service Department- over five hundred thousand dollars Lack of consistency within franchise External Analysis: Customers- NHL tickets serve purely hedonic needs in the eyes of the consumers, as Sports games are a facet of the entertainment industry. One group that the NHL targets in ticket sales are fans of the sport, both diehard and casual. Diehard fans purchased season tickets regardless of winning or losing seasons or other conditions and as such they are not considered price sensitive compared to casual fans. Casual watchers of hockey perform more of a search to find the best entertainment option for their dollar and can be trickier to encourage buying multiple tickets. Based on statistical figures your average NHL fan is a male in his middle 40’s, although almost 40% of fans are women. An interesting fact is that according  to the article, NHL fans are wealthier than any other fan of a major league North American sport. Fans of the sport geographically speaking are spread out across North America, but NHL franchise attendance is highest in Canada and Northern U.S. regions. Cont ext: Political: the National Hockey League governs Major league hockey games. The NHL regulates how many games are in each season, controls where teams are located or relocated, and determines salaries for players, etc. Economic: Like any other entertainment option, success as a business depends on the customer’s amount of discretionary income. If the general economy is suffering, NHL games likely suffer in terms of ticket revenue. Social: NHL is a part of the sports entertainment industry, which continues to grow into a multi-billion dollar industry. Many in North America follow a sport one way or another and are a way to socialize with other fans. Technological: Not too many technological advances in the sport of hockey, other than to watch games while not in attendance. Company- The National Hockey League (NHL) is the governing body for professional hockey teams. The league, more than any of the other professional leagues, depends on ticket sales as a main source of revenue. According to Porter’s generic strategies, the focus of the NHL is to provide a different kind of professional sports experience at a competitive price point. Unlike football or baseball, hockey is generally not susceptible to fluctuations in ticket revenue based on weather since it is an indoor event. No other sport is played on ice so that is the NHL’s main source of competitive advantage. Collaborators- The NHL is in contract with venue leasing companies to provide the arena for the games and they are their biggest collaborators. Also contributing to the game day experiences are the firms that provide the food and beverages, manufacture the merchandising and player uniforms/equipment, security, etc. Most of these arenas aren’t built solely for hockey games so firms that design, build, and manage the ice rinks are crucial to delivering the product. Competition: Product Category Competition: NFL, NBA, MLB, and MLS Generic Competition: College sports games, race tracks (of horse and car variety), lesser league/amateur league sports games, high school sports  games, heater performances, concerts, other live events, etc. Budget Competition: Movie theaters, restaurants, PPV, etc. Power of Suppliers- Low/ If we are assuming the players are the suppliers since without Them the sport wouldn’t exist. The NHL has every player on a contract and while there Are other hockey leagues they are of lesser quality and do not pay as well as in the NHL. Providers of the food/beverage, merchandising, etc. are not in control because it is easy for the NHL and the individual teams to seek other sources. Power of Buyers- High/ Potential ticket purchasers can seek other forms of entertainment that is of more value to them. Powers of Substitutes- High/ There are other lesser leagues as well as a plethora of non-professional sports that the NHL has to compete with. Power of New Entrants- Low/ Each individual sport has their own governing body that regulates the professional games. To rival the NHL there would need to be massive capital costs, economies of scale, etc. Rivalry- High/ Other professional leagues compete to attract the casual sports fans to increase ticket revenue When looking at the Nashville NHL franchise, it is important to consider the competition it has with other league teams, such as the Tennessee Titans and the Nashville Sounds. In this situation, Nashville in particular doesn’t have any other major league team but within a couple hours’ drive is the Memphis Grizzlies, an NBA team. Nashville is also a popular destination for music lovers. This aspect of the entertainment industry poses a threat to the Predators franchise. The franchise is also at a disadvantage geographically as fans of NHL is more congregated in northern regions and into Canada. The NHL desired to reach into the southeastern U.S. region but based on the performance of Nashville and other franchises as Atlanta, Carolina, and the Florida Panthers, it seems that the experiment is failing. 4. Hamilton- The target market that this city should focus on is the casual fan. With its proximity to Toronto and Buffalo, Hamilton will have a difficult time luring diehard fans since they already have their team loyalties. Casual fans aren’t as willing to travel to watch games so targeting these fans would be an advantage. The team should be positioned as the closer, more hometown team since fans in the city probably had to travel to attend NHL games. Competition could arise from its close proximity to already established NHL teams; this location option in our opinion is seen as cannibalization more than already as ticket revenue would likely cut into Toronto, Buffalo, and other Canadian teams. Winnipeg- This location should target the diehard fans in particular as it is noted that the city once held an NHL franchise and many in the city are desperate to have another team again. Positioning the team would be easy, it’s the best games, the best players, and it’s the NHL, the pinnacle of hockey. As far as competition, it seems that the team would have no significant location competition, as there are no other professional teams in the area, just NHL affiliates. Kansas City- This location should target the casual fan or entertainment seeker, as there is intense competition from other professional teams such as the NFL Chiefs, MLB Royals, and an arena football league team. The franchise would have to be positioned as something different in the city, as a different way to enjoy an intense physical sport that compares to football in that regard. Las Vegas- An NHL franchise in this city would be the only professional league team in the city, and other than competing with the gambling/dining/other entertainment options offered by the tons in the â€Å"entertainment capital of the world† would have the ability to stand out as an elite sports experience that stays year round. Las Vegas hosts all sorts of other sports events, but this would be a year round sports experience. The target market would need to be both casual and diehard sports fans as this would be the only professional sport in the city and the franchise could easily capitalize on this. Hous ton- Competition from all the major professional league franchises would make this city a challenge for the Predators. Appealing to casual fans would be important for the team, although diehard hockey fans who regularly attend Dallas Stars could attend games in Houston if they lived closer. Houston  usually doesn’t endure any harsh winters so this team could be positioned as a way to cool off and get chilly watching intense physical hockey games. After carefully reviewing all the possible candidate cities, our group decided that we would select Las Vegas as the next location for the Predators franchise. One of the main reasons why we chose this city is because it is devoid of any professional league teams already, so the franchise would be the only one in the area. The franchise could easily capitalize on this and create a niche for itself against the wide assortment of gambling and other entertainment in the city. The city is also one that is quickly growing, with a population of 1.7 million at the time of the article and a yearly growth rate of 11.5%. While seat capacity is limited, creating high demand for the NHL experience in the city would allow the franchise to potentially raise ticket prices, therefore increasing revenues and profits. Median family income is also the highest of all the U.S. candidate cities with $58,465, which could further justify charging higher ticket prices. As the â€Å"entertainment capital†, Las Vegas is a popular tourist destination in the country and the world. Having a team in this city could see casual and diehard sports fans making the trip to Las Vegas and make a complete experience out of attending an NHL game. After attending a game, fans can explore all the casinos and nightlife hotspots that make Las Vegas famous. In our opinion, Las Vegas is the most exciting prospect for an NHL team and with the potential to charge more premium ticket prices could see the franchise turn around and become profitable. Ticket Pricing: In order to determine the ticket price that the Predators should charge, assuming they move to Las Vegas, we will need to determine the fixed costs associated to running the team in this area. Fixed Costs Nashville Predators Sponsorships Player Salary 48,300,000 MGM Casino 5,000,000 Lease 1,500,000 Corporate 8,500,000 Broadcast costs 1,000,000 Total 13,500,000 Arena Operations 7,000,000 Total 57,800,000 Sponsor -13,500,000 Total FC 44,300,000 Above are the fixed costs associated with the Nashville Predators moving to Las Vegas. Broadcast costs along with lease costs were used from historical data. Total fixed costs amounted to $44,300,000 excluding sponsorships from the MGM casino and corporate historical sponsorships. Next our group chose to use the historical average prices from the Predators and the average prices from the NHL. We decided to use these prices as reference because we wanted to get a general feel as to where the Predators sit in their pricing scheme compared to the national average. From this analysis we decided that the Predators are charging too low for their ticket prices. We did not want to charge above the national average though, after the Predators move to Las Vegas they can then get a better feel for whether or not they should increase the price even more. So our group decided to charge $48.72 for regular admission and $112.10 for premium tickets. If the arena meets capacity of 19,300, this would bring in revenues of $529,175.14. We also wanted to make sure that the Predators are able to recoup the initial investment they will make. To do this we ran a break-even analysis to see how many tickets they will need to sell to cover their fixed costs. Below is our break-even analysis. Break-even Analysis Total FC 44,300,000 Ticket price /(48.72*.79)+(112.10*.21) 62.0298 Total Tickets 714172.8653 We weighted the ticket prices by their percent of interested fans in that price. Then took the fixed costs and divided them by the ticket price to come up with 714,173 tickets that must be sold in order to cover fixed costs. This is solely in ticket sales and does not include the revenue from future concessions and other revenues from the arena in Las Vegas. This number is slightly higher than the number of tickets the Predators sold last year that was 611,328. This number was extremely low compared to the league. Our group believes that our estimated 714,173 tickets is a plausible number if the Predators move to Las Vegas. Promotional and Advertising Plan: TV/Radio Promotions: TV and radio ads are aired typically on sports-related media. The viewers and listeners to these stations were males between the ages of 25 and 54. In Las Vegas the median age of residents is 34, which is right in the middle of the TV/Radio viewer age. Also Las Vegas is primarily male, coinciding with the viewers of sports radio and TV. We would hit hard in promoting the Predators though radio and TV. The demographic for this type of promotion is perfect and we believe we would be very successful using this media. Player Appearances: As the main demographic for player appearances is a younger child, we believe that this tactic can only be used for specific events that may hit the city of Las Vegas. Most likely we would have players appear at charity events, and other found raisers that are hosted in the city. This way they can get in touch with an older generation that better fits the demographic of Las Vegas. Corporate Mail Outs: We would use corporate mail outs in our strategy. As Las Vegas is already thriving in businesses that are mainly casinos, shows, and shopping, asking them for sponsorships and advertisements would be competition against our main sponsor MGM, also the hotel where the arena would be located. Fan Giveaways: Fan giveaways will be very useful in promoting the Predators. Las Vegas is a place where people come to WIN! Having giveaways for our main ticket purchasers, such as a free stay at the MGM Grand, or simply cash, would be very effective in keeping out current fans interested and satisfied while also attracting new fans with the hope of WINNING BIG! Online Advertising: Online advertising is a medium that is becoming more and more successful with the increased use of technology. As research stated, 68% of avid sports fans had used the Internet in the past 30 days. We would take full advantage of this less-costly way of promoting the Predators. The website for the Pr edators would need to be updated to coincide with the likes of the Las Vegas demographic, and the surrounding area. The site would need to be exciting and captivating as well as very easy to access. Our advertising would also have to appeal to the nation, as it would be seen on ESPN.com, TSN.ca and NHL.com, all of which are viewed nationally and internationally. Ticket Sales: With using TV/radio and Fan Giveaways as our main ways of promotion and advertising, these two mediums would be where most of the  Predators ticket sales would generate.  Cost of Plan: In order to use these two mediums to create the most hype and ticket sales, it is going to be costly. The predators would need to spend about $3.5 million and up on TV/radio advertising, in order to sell the number of tickets they need per game. If TV/radio advertising is successful then the Fan Giveaways can become less and less costly. If TV were successful then the Predators would need to spend from $0 to $500,000 to make up for the rest of ticket sales. If TV/radio advertising is less successful then they will need to spend from $750,000 to $1,000,000. If they go higher than these costs, research shows that in Las Vegas they will still attract the same amount of ticket sales as they would if the only spent $1 million. As we are not completely utilizing corporate mail outs and player appearances, combined these would cost the Predators a maximum of $200,000, but most likely the cost would be much less. As previously stated we would use online advertising. Las Vegas stays rather consistent with the number of tickets that are sold related to online advertising so the Predators would only need to spend a maximum of $700,000, after this amount, historically the same number of tickets have been sold. Below is a table that shows the maximum that the Predators would have to spend on advertising and promotion in Las Vegas. Maximum Cost of Promotion and Advertising TV/Radio 3,500,000 Giveaways 1,000,000 Online Ad 700,000 Appearances/Mail outs 200,000 Total Cost 5,400,000

Flextime Memo Essays

Flextime Memo Essays Flextime Memo Paper Flextime Memo Paper The Current Problem County Government offices are currently open from game to pm. Employees have limited flextime in that they can come in half an hour early or leave half an hour late. However some employees want to start at am so they can leave at 2 pm; a few others would prefer to start at 1 lam and leave at pm. In the past few months, we have had an increase in the attrition rate from 10% to 25%. Feedback from our survey indicates the main reason for this is the limited flextime. Proposed Solution I recently met with the HER directors from SST Charles and Jefferson countless and learned that they had the same problem, as well as the same request for expanded flextime from their employees. By Increasing the flextime they have noticed a major drop in the attrition rate from 20% to 5%. Potential Disadvantages The following are the disadvantages 1. Staff Meetings: How to hold staff meetings or supervise our staff members if everyone works different hours. Solution: Regardless of their start time, all the employees will be present In the office from pm 2 pm; we can hold our staff meetings during these hours. 2. Service to Customers: How to ensure that we are available to serve the public if our employees work on sun nacelle mourn? Solution: Expanded flextime would actually allow us to expand our open hours (E. G. , am pm), which would be helpful for taxpayers who also have to work am pm. 3. Cost: There will be a minimal increase in the usage of electricity by 200$ per month due to longer working hours. : Solution: This can be nullified when compared to the additional hours/day customer service without an increasing overtime or employee pay. Potential Advantages The following are the advantages 1. Decreased Attrition: A drop in the attrition rate with an anticipated savings of 70% on the training and recruiting of new employees. 2. Enhanced Customer Service: We will be available to the public longer each day, reducing delays at the counter and by phone, with an anticipated increase in efficiency of 30% per day. 3. Improved Customer Satisfaction: Customer calls will be answered promptly. Queries that can be resolved on the phone, which will save the customers traveling time and reduce employee counter time. The Human Resource directors of the other counties conducted a survey, which showed that their employee satisfaction has improved 70% after flextime was expanded. If we do the same we can Apart from this we can have savings by 70% at no increased cost.

A Dirty Job Chapter 10

– Dag Hammarskjà ¶ld 10 DEATH TAKES A WALK Mornings, Charlie walked. At six, after an early breakfast, he would turn the care of Sophie over to Mrs. Korjev or Mrs. Ling (whoever’s turn it was) for the workday and walk – stroll really, pacing out the city with the sword-cane, which had become part of his daily regalia, wearing soft, black-leather walking shoes and an expensive, secondhand suit that had been retailored at his cleaner’s in Chinatown. Although he pretended to have a purpose, Charlie walked to give himself time to think, to try on the size of being Death, and to look at all the people out and about in the morning. He wondered if the girl at the flower stand, from whom he often bought a carnation for his lapel, had a soul, or would give hers up while he watched her die. He watched the guy in North Beach make cappuccinos with faces and fern leaves drawn in the foam, and wondered if a guy like that could actually function without a soul, or was his soul collecting dust in Charlie’s back ro om? There were a lot of people to see, and a lot of thinking to be done. Being out among the people of the city, when they were just starting to move, greeting the day, making ready, he started to feel not just the responsibility of his new role, but the power, and finally, the specialness. It didn’t matter that he had no idea what he was doing, or that he might have lost the love of his life for it to happen; he had been chosen. And realizing that, one day as he walked down California Street, down Nob Hill into the financial district, where he’d always felt inferior and out of touch with the world, as the brokers and bankers quickstepped around him, barking into their cell phones to Hong Kong or London or New York and never making eye contact, he started to not so much stroll, as strut. That day Charlie Asher climbed onto the California Street cable car for the first time since he was a kid, and hung off the bar, out over the street, holding out the sword-cane as if charging, with Hondas and Mercedes zooming along the street beside him, pas sing under his armpit just inches away. He got off at the end of the line, bought a Wall Street Journal from a machine, then walked to the nearest storm drain, spread out the Journal to protect his trousers against oil stains, then got down on his hands and knees and screamed into the drain grate, â€Å"I have been chosen, so don’t fuck with me!† When he stood up again, a dozen people were standing there, waiting for the light to change. Looking at him. â€Å"Had to be done,† Charlie said, not apologizing, just explaining. The bankers and the brokers, the executive assistants and the human-resource people and the woman on her way to serve up clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at the Boudin Bakery, all nodded, not sure exactly why, except that they worked in the financial district, and they all understood being fucked with, and in their souls if not in their minds, they knew that Charlie had been yelling in the right direction. He folded his paper, tucked it under his arm, then turned and crossed the street with them when the light changed. Sometimes Charlie walked whole blocks when he thought only of Rachel, and would become so engrossed in the memory of her eyes, her smile, her touch, that he ran straight into people. Other times people would bump into him, and not even lift his wallet or say â€Å"excuse me,† which might be a matter of course in New York, but in San Francisco meant that he was close to a soul vessel that needed to be retrieved. He found one, a bronze fireplace poker, set out by the curb with the trash on Russian Hill. Another time, he spotted a glowing vase displayed in the bay window of a Victorian in North Beach. He screwed up his courage and knocked on the door, and when a young woman answered, and came out on the porch to look for her visitor, and was bewildered because she didn’t see anyone there, Charlie slipped past her, grabbed the vase, and was out the side door before she came back in, his heart pounding like a war drum, adrenaline sizzling through his veins like a hormonal ti lt-a-whirl. As he headed back to the shop that particular morning, he realized, with no little sense of irony, that until he became Death, he’d never felt so alive. Every morning, Charlie tried to walk in a different direction. On Mondays he liked to go up into Chinatown just after dawn, when all the deliveries were being made – crates of produce, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, melons, and a dozen varieties of cabbage, tended by Latinos in the Central Valley and consumed by Chinese in Chinatown, having passed through Anglo hands just long enough to extract the nourishing money. On Mondays the fishing companies delivered their fresh catches – usually strong Italian men whose families had been in the business for five generations, handing off their catch to inscrutable Chinese merchants whose ancestors had bought fish from the Italians off horse-drawn wagons a hundred years before. All sorts of live and recently live fish were moved across the sidewalk: snapper and halibut and mackerel, sea bass and ling cod and yellowtail, clawless Pacific lobster, Dungeness crab, ghastly monkfish, with their long saberlike teeth and a sin gle spine that jutted from their head, bracing a luminous lure they used to draw in prey, so deep in the ocean that the sun never shone. Charlie was fascinated by the creatures from the very deep sea, the big-eyed squid, cuttlefish, the blind sharks that located prey with electromagnetic impulses – creatures who never saw light. They made him think of what might be facing him from the Underworld, because even as he fell into a rhythm of finding names at his bedside, and soul vessels in all manner of places, and the appearance of the ravens and the shades subsided, he could feel them under the street whenever he passed a storm sewer. Sometimes he could hear them whispering to one another, hushing quickly in the rare moments when the street went quiet. To walk through Chinatown at dawn was to become part of a dangerous dance, because there were no back doors or alleys for loading, and all the wares went across the sidewalk, and although Charlie had enjoyed neither danger nor dancing up till now, he enjoyed playing dance partner to the thousand tiny Chinese grandmothers in black slippers or jelly-colored plastic shoes who scampered from merchant to merchant, squeezing and smelling and thumping, looking for the freshest and the best for their families, twanging orders and questions to the merchants in Mandarin, all the while just a second or a slip away from being run over by sides of beef, great racks of fresh duck, or hand trucks stacked high with crates of live turtles. Charlie was yet to retrieve a soul vessel on one of his Chinatown walks, but he stayed ready, because the swirl of time and motion forecast that one foggy morning someone’s granny was going to get knocked out of her moo shoes. One Monday, just for sport, Charlie grabbed an eggplant that a spectacularly wizened granny was going for, but instead of twisting it out of his hand with some mystic kung fu move as he expected, she looked him in the eye and shook her head – just a jog, barely perceptible really – it might have been a tic, but it was the most eloquent of gestures. Charlie read it as saying: O White Devil, you do not want to purloin that purple fruit, for I have four thousand years of ancestors and civilization on you; my grandparents built the railroads and dug the silver mines, and my parents survived the earthquake, the fire, and a society that outlawed even being Chinese; I am mother to a dozen, grandmother to a hundred, and great-grandmother to a legion; I have birthed babies and washed the dead; I am history and suffering and wisdom; I am a Buddha and a dragon; so get your fucking hand off my eggplant before you lose it. And Charlie let go. And she grinned, just a little. Three teeth. And he wondered if it ever did fall to him to retrieve the soul vessel of one of these crones of Chronos, if he’d even be able to lift it. And he grinned back. And asked for her phone number, which he gave to Ray. â€Å"She seemed nice,† Charlie told him. â€Å"Mature.† Sometimes Charlie’s walks took him through Japantown, where he passed the most enigmatic shop in the city, Invisible Shoe Repair. He really intended to stop in one day, but he was still coming to terms with giant ravens, adversaries from the Underworld, and being a Merchant of Death, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for invisible shoes, let alone invisible shoes that needed repair! He often tried to look past the Japanese characters into the shop window as he passed, but saw nothing, which, of course, didn’t mean a thing. He just wasn’t ready. But there was a pet shop in Japantown (House of Pleasant Fish and Gerbil), where he had originally gone to buy Sophie’s fish, and where he returned to replace the TV attorneys with six TV detectives, who also simultaneously took the big Ambien a week later. Charlie had been distraught to find his baby daughter drooling away in front of a bowl floating more dead detectives than a film noir festival, and after fl ushing all six at once and having to use the plunger to dislodge Magnum and Mannix, he vowed that next time he would find more resilient pals for his little girl. He was coming out of House of PFG one afternoon, with a Habitrail pod containing a pair of sturdy hamsters, when he ran into Lily, who was making her way to a coffeehouse up on Van Ness, where she was planning to meet her friend Abby for some latte-fueled speed brooding. â€Å"Hey, Lily, how are you doing?† Charlie was trying to appear matter-of-fact, but he found that the awkwardness between him and Lily over the last few months was not mitigated by her seeing him on the street carrying a plastic box full of rodents. â€Å"Nice gerbils,† Lily said. She wore a Catholic schoolgirl’s plaid skirt over black tights and Doc Martens, with a tight black PVC bustier that was squishing pale Lily-bits out the top, like a can of biscuit dough that’s been smacked on the edge of the counter. The hair color du jour was fuchsia, over violet eye shadow, which matched her violet, elbow-length lace gloves. She looked up and down the street and, when she didn’t see anyone she knew, fell into step next to Charlie. â€Å"They’re not gerbils, they’re hamsters,† Charlie said. â€Å"Asher, do you have something you’ve been keeping from me?† She tilted her head a little, but didn’t look at him when she asked, just kept her eyes forward, scanning the street for someone who might recognize her walking next to Charlie, thus forcing her to commit seppuku. â€Å"Jeez, Lily, these are for Sophie!† Charlie said. â€Å"Her fish died, so I’m bringing her some new pets. Besides, that whole gerbil thing is an urban myth – â€Å" â€Å"I meant that you’re Death,† Lily said. Charlie nearly dropped his hamsters. â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"It’s so wrong – † Lily continued, walking on after Charlie had stopped in his tracks, so now he had to scurry to catch up to her. â€Å"Just so wrong, that you would be chosen. Of all of life’s many disappointments, I’d have to say that this is the crowning disappointment.† â€Å"You’re sixteen,† Charlie said, still stumbling a little at the matter-of-fact way she was discussing this. â€Å"Oh, throw that in my face, Asher. I’m only sixteen for two more months, then what? In the blink of an eye my beauty becomes but a feast for worms, and I, a forgotten sigh in a sea of nothingness.† â€Å"Your birthday is in two months? Well, we’ll have to get you a nice cake,† Charlie said. â€Å"Don’t change the subject, Asher. I know all about you, and your Death persona.† Charlie stopped again and turned to look at her. This time, she stopped as well. â€Å"Lily, I know I’ve been acting a little strangely since Rachel died, and I’m sorry you got in trouble at school because of me, but it’s just been trying to deal with it all, with the baby, with the business. The stress of it all has – â€Å" â€Å"I have The Great Big Book of Death,† Lily said. She steadied Charlie’s hamsters when he lost his grip. â€Å"I know about the soul vessels, about the dark forces rising if you fuck up, all that stuff – all of it. I’ve known longer than you have, I think.† Charlie didn’t know what to say. He was feeling panic and relief at the same time – panic because Lily knew, but relief because at least someone knew, and believed it, and had actually seen the book. The book! â€Å"Lily, do you still have the book?† â€Å"It’s in the store. I hid it in the back of the glass cabinet where you keep the valuable stuff that no one will ever buy.† â€Å"No one ever looks in that cabinet.† â€Å"No kidding? I thought if you ever found it, I’d say it had always been there.† â€Å"I have to go.† He turned and started walking the other direction, but then realized that they had already been heading toward his neighborhood and turned around again. â€Å"Where are you going?† â€Å"To get some coffee.† â€Å"I’ll walk with you.† â€Å"You will not.† Lily looked around again, wary that someone might see them. â€Å"But, Lily, I’m Death. That should at least have given me some level of cool.† â€Å"Yeah, you’d think, but it turns out that you have managed to suck the cool out of being Death.† â€Å"Wow, that’s harsh.† â€Å"Welcome to my world, Asher.† â€Å"You can’t tell anyone about this, you know that?† â€Å"Like anyone cares what you do with your gerbils.† â€Å"Hamsters! That’s not – â€Å" â€Å"Chill, Asher.† Lily giggled. â€Å"I know what you mean. I’m not going to tell anyone – except Abby knows – but she doesn’t care. She says she’s met some guy who’s her dark lord. She’s in that stage where she thinks a dick is some kind of mystical magic wand.† Charlie adjusted his hamster box uncomfortably. â€Å"Girls go through a stage like that?† Why was he just hearing about this now? Even the hamsters looked uncomfortable. Lily turned on a heel and started up the street. â€Å"I’m not having this conversation with you.† Charlie stood there, watching her go, balancing the hamsters and his completely useless sword-cane while trying to dig his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. He needed to see that book, and he needed to see it sooner than the hour it would take him to get home. â€Å"Lily, wait!† he called. â€Å"I’m calling a cab, I’ll give you a ride.† She waved him off without looking and kept walking. As he was waiting for the cab company to answer, he heard it, the voice, and he realized that he was standing right over a storm drain. It had been over a month since he’d heard them, and he thought maybe they’d gone. â€Å"We’ll have her, too, Meat. She’s ours now.† He felt the fear rise in his throat like bile. He snapped the phone shut and ran after Lily, cane rattling and hamsters bouncing as he went. â€Å"Lily, wait! Wait!† She spun around quickly and her fuchsia wig only did the quarter turn instead of the half, so her face was covered with hair when she said, â€Å"One of those ice-cream cakes from Thirty-one Flavors, okay? After that, despair and nothingness.† â€Å"We’ll put that on the cake,† Charlie said. A Dirty Job Chapter 10 – Dag Hammarskjà ¶ld 10 DEATH TAKES A WALK Mornings, Charlie walked. At six, after an early breakfast, he would turn the care of Sophie over to Mrs. Korjev or Mrs. Ling (whoever’s turn it was) for the workday and walk – stroll really, pacing out the city with the sword-cane, which had become part of his daily regalia, wearing soft, black-leather walking shoes and an expensive, secondhand suit that had been retailored at his cleaner’s in Chinatown. Although he pretended to have a purpose, Charlie walked to give himself time to think, to try on the size of being Death, and to look at all the people out and about in the morning. He wondered if the girl at the flower stand, from whom he often bought a carnation for his lapel, had a soul, or would give hers up while he watched her die. He watched the guy in North Beach make cappuccinos with faces and fern leaves drawn in the foam, and wondered if a guy like that could actually function without a soul, or was his soul collecting dust in Charlie’s back ro om? There were a lot of people to see, and a lot of thinking to be done. Being out among the people of the city, when they were just starting to move, greeting the day, making ready, he started to feel not just the responsibility of his new role, but the power, and finally, the specialness. It didn’t matter that he had no idea what he was doing, or that he might have lost the love of his life for it to happen; he had been chosen. And realizing that, one day as he walked down California Street, down Nob Hill into the financial district, where he’d always felt inferior and out of touch with the world, as the brokers and bankers quickstepped around him, barking into their cell phones to Hong Kong or London or New York and never making eye contact, he started to not so much stroll, as strut. That day Charlie Asher climbed onto the California Street cable car for the first time since he was a kid, and hung off the bar, out over the street, holding out the sword-cane as if charging, with Hondas and Mercedes zooming along the street beside him, pas sing under his armpit just inches away. He got off at the end of the line, bought a Wall Street Journal from a machine, then walked to the nearest storm drain, spread out the Journal to protect his trousers against oil stains, then got down on his hands and knees and screamed into the drain grate, â€Å"I have been chosen, so don’t fuck with me!† When he stood up again, a dozen people were standing there, waiting for the light to change. Looking at him. â€Å"Had to be done,† Charlie said, not apologizing, just explaining. The bankers and the brokers, the executive assistants and the human-resource people and the woman on her way to serve up clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at the Boudin Bakery, all nodded, not sure exactly why, except that they worked in the financial district, and they all understood being fucked with, and in their souls if not in their minds, they knew that Charlie had been yelling in the right direction. He folded his paper, tucked it under his arm, then turned and crossed the street with them when the light changed. Sometimes Charlie walked whole blocks when he thought only of Rachel, and would become so engrossed in the memory of her eyes, her smile, her touch, that he ran straight into people. Other times people would bump into him, and not even lift his wallet or say â€Å"excuse me,† which might be a matter of course in New York, but in San Francisco meant that he was close to a soul vessel that needed to be retrieved. He found one, a bronze fireplace poker, set out by the curb with the trash on Russian Hill. Another time, he spotted a glowing vase displayed in the bay window of a Victorian in North Beach. He screwed up his courage and knocked on the door, and when a young woman answered, and came out on the porch to look for her visitor, and was bewildered because she didn’t see anyone there, Charlie slipped past her, grabbed the vase, and was out the side door before she came back in, his heart pounding like a war drum, adrenaline sizzling through his veins like a hormonal ti lt-a-whirl. As he headed back to the shop that particular morning, he realized, with no little sense of irony, that until he became Death, he’d never felt so alive. Every morning, Charlie tried to walk in a different direction. On Mondays he liked to go up into Chinatown just after dawn, when all the deliveries were being made – crates of produce, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, melons, and a dozen varieties of cabbage, tended by Latinos in the Central Valley and consumed by Chinese in Chinatown, having passed through Anglo hands just long enough to extract the nourishing money. On Mondays the fishing companies delivered their fresh catches – usually strong Italian men whose families had been in the business for five generations, handing off their catch to inscrutable Chinese merchants whose ancestors had bought fish from the Italians off horse-drawn wagons a hundred years before. All sorts of live and recently live fish were moved across the sidewalk: snapper and halibut and mackerel, sea bass and ling cod and yellowtail, clawless Pacific lobster, Dungeness crab, ghastly monkfish, with their long saberlike teeth and a sin gle spine that jutted from their head, bracing a luminous lure they used to draw in prey, so deep in the ocean that the sun never shone. Charlie was fascinated by the creatures from the very deep sea, the big-eyed squid, cuttlefish, the blind sharks that located prey with electromagnetic impulses – creatures who never saw light. They made him think of what might be facing him from the Underworld, because even as he fell into a rhythm of finding names at his bedside, and soul vessels in all manner of places, and the appearance of the ravens and the shades subsided, he could feel them under the street whenever he passed a storm sewer. Sometimes he could hear them whispering to one another, hushing quickly in the rare moments when the street went quiet. To walk through Chinatown at dawn was to become part of a dangerous dance, because there were no back doors or alleys for loading, and all the wares went across the sidewalk, and although Charlie had enjoyed neither danger nor dancing up till now, he enjoyed playing dance partner to the thousand tiny Chinese grandmothers in black slippers or jelly-colored plastic shoes who scampered from merchant to merchant, squeezing and smelling and thumping, looking for the freshest and the best for their families, twanging orders and questions to the merchants in Mandarin, all the while just a second or a slip away from being run over by sides of beef, great racks of fresh duck, or hand trucks stacked high with crates of live turtles. Charlie was yet to retrieve a soul vessel on one of his Chinatown walks, but he stayed ready, because the swirl of time and motion forecast that one foggy morning someone’s granny was going to get knocked out of her moo shoes. One Monday, just for sport, Charlie grabbed an eggplant that a spectacularly wizened granny was going for, but instead of twisting it out of his hand with some mystic kung fu move as he expected, she looked him in the eye and shook her head – just a jog, barely perceptible really – it might have been a tic, but it was the most eloquent of gestures. Charlie read it as saying: O White Devil, you do not want to purloin that purple fruit, for I have four thousand years of ancestors and civilization on you; my grandparents built the railroads and dug the silver mines, and my parents survived the earthquake, the fire, and a society that outlawed even being Chinese; I am mother to a dozen, grandmother to a hundred, and great-grandmother to a legion; I have birthed babies and washed the dead; I am history and suffering and wisdom; I am a Buddha and a dragon; so get your fucking hand off my eggplant before you lose it. And Charlie let go. And she grinned, just a little. Three teeth. And he wondered if it ever did fall to him to retrieve the soul vessel of one of these crones of Chronos, if he’d even be able to lift it. And he grinned back. And asked for her phone number, which he gave to Ray. â€Å"She seemed nice,† Charlie told him. â€Å"Mature.† Sometimes Charlie’s walks took him through Japantown, where he passed the most enigmatic shop in the city, Invisible Shoe Repair. He really intended to stop in one day, but he was still coming to terms with giant ravens, adversaries from the Underworld, and being a Merchant of Death, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for invisible shoes, let alone invisible shoes that needed repair! He often tried to look past the Japanese characters into the shop window as he passed, but saw nothing, which, of course, didn’t mean a thing. He just wasn’t ready. But there was a pet shop in Japantown (House of Pleasant Fish and Gerbil), where he had originally gone to buy Sophie’s fish, and where he returned to replace the TV attorneys with six TV detectives, who also simultaneously took the big Ambien a week later. Charlie had been distraught to find his baby daughter drooling away in front of a bowl floating more dead detectives than a film noir festival, and after fl ushing all six at once and having to use the plunger to dislodge Magnum and Mannix, he vowed that next time he would find more resilient pals for his little girl. He was coming out of House of PFG one afternoon, with a Habitrail pod containing a pair of sturdy hamsters, when he ran into Lily, who was making her way to a coffeehouse up on Van Ness, where she was planning to meet her friend Abby for some latte-fueled speed brooding. â€Å"Hey, Lily, how are you doing?† Charlie was trying to appear matter-of-fact, but he found that the awkwardness between him and Lily over the last few months was not mitigated by her seeing him on the street carrying a plastic box full of rodents. â€Å"Nice gerbils,† Lily said. She wore a Catholic schoolgirl’s plaid skirt over black tights and Doc Martens, with a tight black PVC bustier that was squishing pale Lily-bits out the top, like a can of biscuit dough that’s been smacked on the edge of the counter. The hair color du jour was fuchsia, over violet eye shadow, which matched her violet, elbow-length lace gloves. She looked up and down the street and, when she didn’t see anyone she knew, fell into step next to Charlie. â€Å"They’re not gerbils, they’re hamsters,† Charlie said. â€Å"Asher, do you have something you’ve been keeping from me?† She tilted her head a little, but didn’t look at him when she asked, just kept her eyes forward, scanning the street for someone who might recognize her walking next to Charlie, thus forcing her to commit seppuku. â€Å"Jeez, Lily, these are for Sophie!† Charlie said. â€Å"Her fish died, so I’m bringing her some new pets. Besides, that whole gerbil thing is an urban myth – â€Å" â€Å"I meant that you’re Death,† Lily said. Charlie nearly dropped his hamsters. â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"It’s so wrong – † Lily continued, walking on after Charlie had stopped in his tracks, so now he had to scurry to catch up to her. â€Å"Just so wrong, that you would be chosen. Of all of life’s many disappointments, I’d have to say that this is the crowning disappointment.† â€Å"You’re sixteen,† Charlie said, still stumbling a little at the matter-of-fact way she was discussing this. â€Å"Oh, throw that in my face, Asher. I’m only sixteen for two more months, then what? In the blink of an eye my beauty becomes but a feast for worms, and I, a forgotten sigh in a sea of nothingness.† â€Å"Your birthday is in two months? Well, we’ll have to get you a nice cake,† Charlie said. â€Å"Don’t change the subject, Asher. I know all about you, and your Death persona.† Charlie stopped again and turned to look at her. This time, she stopped as well. â€Å"Lily, I know I’ve been acting a little strangely since Rachel died, and I’m sorry you got in trouble at school because of me, but it’s just been trying to deal with it all, with the baby, with the business. The stress of it all has – â€Å" â€Å"I have The Great Big Book of Death,† Lily said. She steadied Charlie’s hamsters when he lost his grip. â€Å"I know about the soul vessels, about the dark forces rising if you fuck up, all that stuff – all of it. I’ve known longer than you have, I think.† Charlie didn’t know what to say. He was feeling panic and relief at the same time – panic because Lily knew, but relief because at least someone knew, and believed it, and had actually seen the book. The book! â€Å"Lily, do you still have the book?† â€Å"It’s in the store. I hid it in the back of the glass cabinet where you keep the valuable stuff that no one will ever buy.† â€Å"No one ever looks in that cabinet.† â€Å"No kidding? I thought if you ever found it, I’d say it had always been there.† â€Å"I have to go.† He turned and started walking the other direction, but then realized that they had already been heading toward his neighborhood and turned around again. â€Å"Where are you going?† â€Å"To get some coffee.† â€Å"I’ll walk with you.† â€Å"You will not.† Lily looked around again, wary that someone might see them. â€Å"But, Lily, I’m Death. That should at least have given me some level of cool.† â€Å"Yeah, you’d think, but it turns out that you have managed to suck the cool out of being Death.† â€Å"Wow, that’s harsh.† â€Å"Welcome to my world, Asher.† â€Å"You can’t tell anyone about this, you know that?† â€Å"Like anyone cares what you do with your gerbils.† â€Å"Hamsters! That’s not – â€Å" â€Å"Chill, Asher.† Lily giggled. â€Å"I know what you mean. I’m not going to tell anyone – except Abby knows – but she doesn’t care. She says she’s met some guy who’s her dark lord. She’s in that stage where she thinks a dick is some kind of mystical magic wand.† Charlie adjusted his hamster box uncomfortably. â€Å"Girls go through a stage like that?† Why was he just hearing about this now? Even the hamsters looked uncomfortable. Lily turned on a heel and started up the street. â€Å"I’m not having this conversation with you.† Charlie stood there, watching her go, balancing the hamsters and his completely useless sword-cane while trying to dig his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. He needed to see that book, and he needed to see it sooner than the hour it would take him to get home. â€Å"Lily, wait!† he called. â€Å"I’m calling a cab, I’ll give you a ride.† She waved him off without looking and kept walking. As he was waiting for the cab company to answer, he heard it, the voice, and he realized that he was standing right over a storm drain. It had been over a month since he’d heard them, and he thought maybe they’d gone. â€Å"We’ll have her, too, Meat. She’s ours now.† He felt the fear rise in his throat like bile. He snapped the phone shut and ran after Lily, cane rattling and hamsters bouncing as he went. â€Å"Lily, wait! Wait!† She spun around quickly and her fuchsia wig only did the quarter turn instead of the half, so her face was covered with hair when she said, â€Å"One of those ice-cream cakes from Thirty-one Flavors, okay? After that, despair and nothingness.† â€Å"We’ll put that on the cake,† Charlie said.