A Short History Of Confucianism And Confucianism - 1196 Words

Daniel Meltzer ASST 101 Professor Dimick 23 November 2014 A Short History of Confucianism Confucianism is a way of life propagated by the Chinese philosopher Confucius in the 6th–5th century BCE, and it has been followed by the Chinese for more than 2000 years. Although Confucianism as changed over time, at its core, it is still places the same emphasis on the substance of learning, the source of values, and the social code of the Chinese. Additionally, the influence of Confucianism has extended to other countries such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. While Confucianism is sometimes viewed as a philosophy or religion, Confucianism is probably best understood as a sort of all-encompassing way of thinking and living, which includes such practices as: ancestor reverence and human-centered religiousness over that of the environment. While people all over Asia can argue that they are Shintoists, Daoists, Buddhists, Muslims, or Christians, but, by announcing their religious affiliations, very rarely do they stop practicing a Confucian way of life in addition to their religious affiliation. Although Confucianism is often grouped with the major historical religions, Confucianism differs from them in that it is not an organized religion. Regardless of this fact, Confucianism has spread to other East Asian countries under the influence of Chinese literate culture and has exerted a huge influence on their spiritual, cultural, and political life. Both the theory and practice ofShow MoreRelated Confucianism Essay example1262 Words   |  6 PagesConfucianism The religion of Confucianism is and interesting and unique religion. The various parts of this belief system deal more with humanity than with deities or supernatural occurrences. It is this fact that leads many to believe that Confucianism is more a philosophy or way of life than a religion. There are, however, various ceremonies and beliefs that those who follow Confucianism observe. In short, Confucianism has had more impact on the lives of the Chinese than any other single religionRead MoreThe Impact of Confucius on the Development of Chinese Thought and Culture1528 Words   |  7 PagesThe impact Confucius had on the development of Chinese thought and culture Confucianism has been a part of Chinese culture for over a thousand years. Many who have studied Confucianism would say that it is not a religion. It is better described as a philosophy or moral code. The philosophy of Confucianism comes mainly from the speeches and writings of Confucius, a great Chinese thinker and educator. He believed that Humanity, Rite, Neutrality, Virtue, Education, and Cultivation were the basisRead MoreEssay on Confucianism vs. Buddhism1607 Words   |  7 PagesConfucianism vs. Buddhism By Robert Truckle In this essay, two world religions will be compared to see how similar and/or how different they are; these two religions are Confucianism and Buddhism. Confucianism speaks about the wise thoughts that Confucius came across throughout his life. Buddhism speaks about how to acquire great knowledge throughout life. Confucianism was founded by a Chinese man, but Buddhism was founded by an Indian man. These quick comparisons show how the religions differRead MoreThe Night Watches Of The Buddha1747 Words   |  7 PagesQuestion 3 Compare, contrast and exemplify the role of Chi in Daoism and Confucianism thought This research will compare, contrast and exemplify the role of Chi in Daoism and Confucianism thought. Firstly, this research compares these two religion’s basic practice and to see both belief and practice. Then this research examines how both religions interpret the role of Chi and Confucianism thought. Both Taoism and Confucianism are originated in China and both visits in Temple to pay homage to theirRead MoreConfusion About Confucianism : Everything Is One1419 Words   |  6 PagesConfusion about Confucianism: Everything is one As Confucius said, â€Å"Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors.† How can one affect the others? What will be lost if one element is missing? In Confucianism, there are the five constants (Ren, Yi, Zhi, Xin, and Li), each correlates with others; however, the main focus is the practice of Ren and Filial Piety, which can transform us into Jun Zi. Confucius suggests that all practices are related to each other, and missingRead MoreThe Core Philosophy Of Confucianism1223 Words   |  5 Pageshave opportunities to raise their rights after the oppression of thousands years. For those centuries, Confucianism plays the dominating role in terms of the China politics and culture. The core philosophy of Confucianism is to enforce the stabilization of agriculture society and politics. Hence, it became popular and be promoted by Chinese and other East Asian monarchs in history. Confucianism requires or forces women to be loyalty to their husband a nd hyper sexuality of women is absolutely notRead MoreConfucianism And Its Influence On Chinese History1713 Words   |  7 Pagesas Confucius, was an iconic figure in the Chinese history. He was a teacher, a philosopher, and also the founder of Confucianism. Confucius’ philosophies, on the other hand, would became well known as Confucianism. Confucianism can be considered as an ancient Chinese philosophy as well as a popular religion in the Chinese history. It is known to be a way of life taught by Confucius. Although being transformed over a long period of time, Confucianism is still the source of values and the social codeRead MoreThe Role and Status of Women in Buddhism and Confucianism Essay1186 Words   |  5 Pagesreligion in the word is known to be controversial. In Buddhism and Confucianism, women are seen as unequal and some of their belief promotes gender inequality. As outsiders of both main Chinese religions, we wonder how women put up with the gender inequalities. Women go through with the inequalities because they respect their faith and believe deeply in the teachings of Buddha for Buddhism, and Confucius for Confucianism. Much research and also thought has been put together to obtain trueRead More Confucius and Confucianism Essay788 Words   |  4 Pagesunsettled. The rulers were catastrophic, and Confucius thought the only way to keep life in order was for everyone to go back to traditional principles. He wanted China to go back to the quiet days of the sage Kings. This was a time in Chinese history when Kings ruled organized kingdoms. They were peaceful because everyone knew their place in life and acted accordingly. Confucius taught in his school his beliefs about respecting family and ancestors for many years. His theoriesRead MoreThe Revival Of Confucian Ethics1269 Words   |  6 PagesConfucius origin, thus, demonstrating a need for preservation of Neo-Confucianism ethics in their society. The success of the Korean educational system is credited to being influenced through Confucianism, resulting in the â€Å"educational fever† that has encompassed South Korea. When Confucianism was introduced during the Chosà »n Dynasty (1392-1910) it originally served as a way to maintain power for the upperclassmen. However, Confucianism began to replace the influence of Buddhism, leaving in its place

Essay on Rethoric in A Modest Proposal by Johnathan Swift

Johnathan Swift the author of The Modest Proposal went and got a college education. He writes in a direct and engaging approach for his proposal to save Ireland in the 1720s. Swift’s purpose is to solve many types of dilemmas in Ireland during his time. He adopts a mystifying tone in order to seize his Irish government. The issue Swift attempts to solve is the over population of children and the lack of food in Ireland. Ireland in the 1720s was fairly poor especially in Dublin, where Swift lived. The Irish government begged for help from Britain but they did nothing to aid. Dublin’s issue was to feed millions with the little food they have grown. Swift believed he had an excellent idea to solve the poverty in Dublin’s streets. Since he†¦show more content†¦He says a few dishes to but the babies into to prove it will be delicious. â€Å"†¦ a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether st ewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.† Emotionally he doesnt show much of it considering the abundance of logic and credibility in his proposal. Yet when he does show some emotion it is apparent that he is passionate for his proposal because he mentions his sincerity and his passion to help out feeding the people of his city. With his emotion he makes the reader sympathize with him in order to persuade us to agree with his proposal. He makes us sympathize by coming to terms with each individual and expresses his ideas as if he wasnt in charge and that he is a friendly neighbor trying to help out the community. Swift doesnt mention the wrong ideas within his plan because the opposing view has a strong argument to diffuse his own proposal. I find that even if the government agrees with his proposal they cannot just force mothers to give up their newly born child. Also they cant force couples to reproduce more children because the participant could refuse or become infertile. Within his own writing I find that Swift is truly passionate for his country but he is a â€Å"serial killer† with his delusion of serving for his countries people. Killing infants to

Hamlet Comparative Essay Example For Students

Hamlet Comparative Essay Hamlets agonized worrying over his state of existence begins before his first encounter with the ghost. He reports first to his mother that These but the trappings and suits of woe (I,ii) do not begin to illumine his inner heartbreak over the death of his father. But it is soon revealed in his first soliloquy that he despairs more over the hasty remarriage of Gertrude than the death of King Hamlet. a beast, that wants discourse of reason, / Would have mournd longer. (I,ii) Gertrudes apparent disregard of his honorable late father causes his suicidal dejection. When he hears from the ghost of his fathers murder, he does indeed vow revenge. However, that revenge never seems to materialize, he thinks and worries but commits no action to fulfill his vow. For some reason, he plays the fool and delays his revenge. Significantly, he presents the play with the scenes altered to mirror the circumstances of Claudius crime so Hamlet can watch his reactions with his own eyes. For I mine eyes will rivet to his face, / And after we will both our judgments join / In censure of his seeming. (III,ii) Hamlets revenge, when it finally occurs, is the result of considerable provocation. Claudius has been exposed by Laertes as a conspiring murderer of Prince Hamlet. Claudius has caused Hamlet to be the death of several people, notably Ophelia and Gertrude. In the end Hamlet kills Claudius, and the ghost is revenged. But truly, whose revenge has taken place? The connection among all of Hamlets actions is merely himself. He certainly mourns his father, but mainly he feels sorry for himself because he lost his mother and his crown the day his father died. It is possible that he misses Gertrude and Denmark more than his father the king. Also, Hamlet cannot accept the ghosts word for Claudius guilt, he arranges a situation where he can watch Claudius condemn himself. Again, this is a reaction from his self-centered motives-he requires the feeling of hatred that is only achieved when he is the victim of a crime. Although the play shows him a first-hand picture of Claudius guilt, it is still not enough provocation for murder. In Hamlets case, self-centered is not a fault but a way of feeling emotions. He is evidently unable to feel the necessary passion when they are related secondhand, he must have the immediate relation to his own psyche. Finally, Claudius presents Hamlet with all the reasons for revenge and no room for reservations. A dying Laertes reveals Claudius plot to send Hamlet to an English death, and Gertrude is dead from Claudius poison that was meant for Hamlet. With such incitement, Hamlet is able to execute Claudius. Hamlet can be deemed successful in the end, because he has redeemed the wrongs committed against his person if not his fathers. He lacks some interior ability to commit bloody revenge for some victim other than himself. However, Claudius eventually unites Hamlets passion to avenge the old king with his need for a primary injury, which causes Claudius death and the satisfaction of all Hamlets goals, both for himself and his father.

Problems in Marriage Case Study

The case under consideration evaluates the situations where a wife and a husband face a number of problems connected with their family life and cannot find another decision but divorce. Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Problems in Marriage Case Study specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The husband believes that it is impossible to trust his wife as she cheats him through the Internet services, and the wife explains that her husband does not want to be involved into their family affairs. Both partners are not confident in the desire to remain committed to each other in this marriage; still, they have to sons, the twins, and have to think about the wellbeing of their children. The outcome of the situation is not that pleasant: the husband hospitalized because of suicidal ideation subsequent. Both partners are in need of professional help; both partners should evaluate the situation and their life, and both partners should be provided with a chance to develop appropriate communication with each other. To help two people comprehend their mistakes and choose the most effective solution in such situation, it is possible to make use of Reality Therapy offered Dr. William Glasser at the end of 1965 (Zastrow, 2009). The main point of the chosen therapy is that it is usually available to anyone and aims at helping people reconnect. This theory best addresses the chosen family’s treatment need as it focuses on the present. It is sometimes wrong to evaluate the actions taken in the past as the main reason of human problems is present discontents, present problems, and present feelings. People have to comprehend the results of their actions and inabilities to find some common decision. A man could lose his life, and a woman is so involved into personal satisfaction of needs. They cannot evaluate the situation from numerous perspectives and admit how terrible their problems in regard to their chi ldren are. There are two main components of the chosen therapy: the creation of trusting environment where two adults are able to develop conversations and the choice of the ideas which help to define what the patients really want, create a plan, and evaluate whether some negative outcomes may be expected. Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The results of the case assessment show that two people are sick and tired of their relations and cannot find appropriate reasons to continue living together. Still, they have already faced similar problems before and managed to find some successful solutions. This is why it is possible to evaluate their present feelings and problems. This couple is diagnosed as the one with inabilities to plan their future and to think about positive aspects of their life together. The prognosis is the following: in case the couple avoids mutual judgments and con stant blaming, they may learn to prevent the situations which may destroy their relations. For example, it is possible to create a plan according to which the demands of the couple are met. One day is organized in accordance with wife’s demands, the next day is for husband, and one more day has to be devoted to children’s wishes only so that parents could comprehend that they are responsible for two lives they gave birth to one day. If the wife and the husband agree to follow the treatment, the prognosis may become rather promising. There are some other relevant treatment goals which may be expected: the couple has to be provided with fun and entertainment that is possible in human life. In case they are involved into some activities, they are not bothered with the memories from the past and the misunderstanding they may suffer from. Finally, it is necessary to keep in mind that human behavior is hard to changes, still, it is possible to create the conditions under wh ich people may feel safe, protection, and pleasure of being together without taking into consideration the troubles and discontents from the past. Reference List Zastrow, C. (2009). The Practice of Social Work: A Comprehensive Worktext. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. This report on Problems in Marriage Case Study was written and submitted by user Quinten Lawrence to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Arachnid Arthropods

The Arachnid Arthropods Arachnids (Arachnida) are a group of arthropods that include spiders, ticks, mites, scorpions and harvestmen. Scientists estimate that there are more than 100,000 species of arachnids alive today. Arachnids have two main body segments (the cephalothorax and the abdomen) and four pairs of jointed legs. By contrast, insects have three main body segments and three pairs of legs- making them easily distinguishable from arachnids. Arachnids also differ from insects in that they lack wings and antennae. It should be noted that in some groups of arachnids such as mites and hooded tickspiders, the larval stages have only three pairs of legs and fourth leg pair appears after they develop into nymphs. Arachnids have an exoskeleton that must be shed periodically for the animal to grow. Arachnids also have an internal structure called an endosternite that is composed of a cartilage-like material and provides a structure for muscle attachment. In addition to their four pairs of legs, arachnids also have two additional pairs of appendages that they use for a variety of purposes such as feeding, defense, locomotion, reproduction or sensory perception. These pairs of appendages include the chelicerae and the pedipalps. Most species of arachnids are terrestrial although some groups (especially ticks and mites) live in aquatic freshwater or marine environments. Arachnids have numerous adaptations for a terrestrial lifestyle. Their respiratory system is advanced although it varies among the different arachnid groups. Generally, it consists of tracheae, book lung and vascular lamellae that enable efficient gas exchange. Arachnids reproduce via internal fertilization (another adaptation to life on land) and have very efficient excretory systems that enable them to conserve water. Arachnids have various types of blood depending on their particular method of respiration. Some arachnids have blood that contains hemocyanin (similar in function to the hemoglobin molecule of vertebrates, but copper-based instead of iron-based). Arachnids have a stomach and numerous diverticula that enable them to absorb nutrients from their food. A nitrogenous waste (called guanine) is excreted from the anus at the back of the abdomen. Most arachnids feed on insects and other small invertebrates. Arachnids kill their prey using their chelicerae and pedipalps (some species of arachnids are venomous as well, and subdue their prey by injecting them with venom). Since arachnids have small mouths, the saturate their prey in digestive enzymes, and when the prey liquifies, the arachnid drinks its prey. Classification: Animals Invertebrates Arthropods Chelicerates Arachnids Arachnids are classified into about a dozen subgroups, some of which are not widely known. Some of the better-known arachnid groups include: True spiders (Araneae): There are about 40,000 species of true spiders alive today, making the Araneae the most species-rich of all arachnid groups. Spiders are known for their ability to produce silk from spinneret glands located at the base of their abdomen.Harvestmen or daddy-long-legs (Opiliones): There are about 6,300 species of harvestmen (also known as daddy-long-legs) alive today. Members of this group have very long legs, and their abdomen and cephalothorax are almost completely fused.Ticks and mites  (Acarina): There are about 30,000 species of ticks and mites alive today. Most members of this group are very small, although a few species can grow to as much as 20mm in length.Scorpions (Scorpiones): There are about 2000 species of scorpions alive today. Members of this group are easily recognized by their segmented tail that bears a venom-filled telson (sting) at the end.

Patriarchal Society Defined According to Feminism

Patriarchal Society Defined According to Feminism Definition: Patriarchal (adj.) describes a general structure in which men have power over women. Society (n.) is the entirety of relations of a community. A patriarchal society consists of a male-dominated power structure throughout organized society and in individual relationships. Power is related to privilege.  In a system in which men have more power than women, men have some level of privilege to which women are not entitled. The concept of patriarchy has been central to many feminist theories.  It is an attempt to explain the stratification of power and privilege by gender that can be observed by many objective measures. A patriarchy, from the ancient Greek patriarches, was a society where power was held by and passed down through the elder males. When modern historians and sociologists describe a patriarchal society, they mean that men hold the positions of power and have more privilege: head of the family unit, leaders of social groups, boss in the workplace, and heads of government. In patriarchy, there is also a hierarchy among the men.  In traditional patriarchy, the elder men had power over the younger generations of men.  In modern patriarchy, some men hold more power (and privilege) by virtue of the position of authority, and this hierarchy of power (and privilege) is considered acceptable. The term comes from  pater  or father.  Father or father-figures hold the authority in a patriarchy. Traditional patriarchal societies are, usually, also patrilineal - titles and property are inherited through male lines.  (For an example of this, the Salic Law as applied to property and titles followed male lines strictly.) Feminist Analysis Feminist theorists have expanded the definition of patriarchal society to describe a systemic bias against women. As second-wave feminists examined society during the 1960s, they did observe households headed by women and female leaders. They were, of course, concerned with whether this was uncommon. More significant, however, was the way society perceived women in power as an exception to a collectively held view of womens role in society. Rather than saying that individual men oppressed women, most feminists saw that oppression of women came from the underlying bias of a patriarchal society. Gerda Lerners Analysis of Patriarchy Gerda Lerners 1986 history classic,  The Creation of Patriarchy, traces the development of the patriarchy to the second millennium B.C.E. in the middle east, putting gender relations at the center of the story of civilizations history.  She argues that before this development, male dominance was not a feature of human society in general.  Women were key to the maintenance of human society and community, but with a few exceptions, social and legal power was wielded by men. Women could gain some status and privilege in patriarchy by limiting her child-bearing capacity to just one man so that he could depend on her children being his children. By rooting patriarchy - a social organization where men rule over women - in historical developments, rather than in nature, human nature or biology, she also opens the door for change.  If patriarchy was created by culture, it can be overturned by a new culture.  Ã‚   Part of her theory carried through into another volume, The Creation of Feminist Consciousness, is that women were not conscious that they were subordinate (and it might be otherwise) until this consciousness began slowly to emerge, starting with medieval Europe. In an interview with Jeffrey Mishlove on Thinking Aloud, Lerner described her work on the subject of patriarchy: Other groups that were subordinated in history - peasants, slaves, colonials, any kind of group, ethnic minorities - all of those groups knew very quickly that they were subordinated, and they developed theories about their liberation, about their rights as human beings, about what kind of struggle to conduct in order to emancipate themselves. But women did not, and so that was the question that I really wanted to explore. And in order to understand it I had to understand really whether patriarchy was, as most of us have been taught, a natural, almost God-given condition, or whether it was a human invention coming out of a specific historic period. Well, in Creation of Patriarchy I think I show that it was indeed a human invention; it was created by human beings, it was created by men and women, at a certain given point in the historical development of the human race. It was probably appropriate as a solution for the problems of that time, which was the Bronze Age, but its no longe r appropriate, all right? And the reason we find it so hard, and we have found it so hard, to understand it and to combat it, is that it was institutionalized before Western civilization really, as we know it, was, so to speak, invented, and the process of creating patriarchy was really well completed by the time that the idea systems of Western civilization were formed. Some Quotes About Feminism and Patriarchy From bell hooks: Visionary feminism is a wise and loving politics. It is rooted in the love of male and female being, refusing to privilege one over the other. The soul of feminist politics is the commitment to ending patriarchal domination of women and men, girls and boys. Love cannot exist in any relationship that is based on domination and coercion. Males cannot love themselves in patriarchal culture if their very self-definition relies on submission to patriarchal rules. When men embrace feminist thinking and practice, which emphasizes the value of mutual growth and self-actualization in all relationships, their emotional well-being will be enhanced. A genuine feminist politics always brings us from bondage to freedom, from lovelessness to loving. Also from bell hooks:  We have to constantly critique imperialist white supremacist patriarchal culture because it is normalized by mass media and rendered unproblematic. From Mary Daly: The word ‘sin’ is derived from the Indo-European root ‘es-,’ meaning ‘to be.’ When I discovered this etymology, I intuitively understood that for a [person] trapped in patriarchy, which is the religion of the entire planet, ‘to be’ in the fullest sense is ‘to sin. From Andrea Dworkin: Being female in this world means having been robbed of the potential for human choice by men who love to hate us. One does not make choices in freedom. Instead, one conforms in body type and behavior and values to become an object of male sexual desire, which requires an abandonment of a wide-ranging capacity for choice... From Maria Mies, author of  Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale, linking the division of labor under capitalism to the division of the sexes: Peace in patriarchy is war against women. From Yvonne Aburrow: The patriarchal/kyriarchal/hegemonic culture seeks to regulate and control the body – especially women’s bodies, and especially black women’s bodies – because women, especially black women, are constructed as the Other, the site of resistance to the kyriarchy. Because our existence provokes fear of the Other, fear of wildness, fear of sexuality, fear of letting go – our bodies and our hair (traditionally hair is a source of magical power) must be controlled, groomed, reduced, covered, suppressed. From Ursula Le Guin: Civilized Man says: I am Self, I am Master, all the rest is otheroutside, below, underneath, subservient. I own, I use, I explore, I exploit, I control. What I do is what matters. What I want is what matter is for. I am that I am, and the rest is women wilderness, to be used as I see fit. From Kate Millett: Patriarchy, reformed or unreformed, is patriarchy still: its worst abuses purged or foresworn, it might actually be more stable and secure than before. From Adrienne Rich,  Of Woman Born:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"There is nothing revolutionary whatsoever about the control of womens bodies by men. The womans body is the terrain on which patriarchy is erected.†

Defining Leadership and Providing a Brief Overview of Leadership Essay

Defining Leadership and Providing a Brief Overview of Leadership Theories - Essay Example Thus, a leader may also be described as a person with the authority and/or the position within an organization capable of influencing the people around them and making decisions that people around them are willing to follow. There are 5 different types of leadership styles2 namely Directive (Authoritative), Delegative (Free Reign), Participative (Democratic), Consultative and Negotiative. Directive (Authoritative) Leaders are characterized as individuals who instruct their employees on the ways to perform a task without allowing them much leeway to give their own thoughts or display independence. The leader exercises firm authority over his employees and makes sure that they follow his rules and guidelines in performing a task. Delegative (Free Reign) Leaders, segregates and hands out the tasks to their employees and allows them to make decisions and decide on how a task should be performed. However, as the leader will still be held accountable for the decisions made and the fact tha t this style is not entirely democratic, situations may arise whereby employees may be assigned work rather than being allowed to participate actively on how a task should be done or completed. ... They often motivate their employees with incentives or words of encouragement to push them in the same direction as the rest of the team. 2.0 Case Study Analysis 2.0.1 Leadership at Swatch In my opinion, the leadership paradigm displayed at Swatch is that of the Consultative style. Although the leadership lies on both Hayek Senior and Nicolas Hayek Junior to drive the organization forward, they allow their employees to contribute and participate in brainstorming for new ideas and allows for new project teams to come up with ideas. Leadership seems widely distributed across the Swatch Group with only a small number of positions existing to ‘head’ different sections. The Group does not believe in bureaucracy and has very little formal hierarchy. The employees are given the discretion to develop ideas and lead project teams in their own areas. There is room for growth and independence for the employees working with Swatch. Based on the case study, it would seem that the org anization is quite dependent on the energy and influence of the Hayeks as both senior and junior Hayeks are very involved in the business. They are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide ‘hands on’ assistance to various levels of needs in the Group. Although leadership seems widely distributed across the divisions at Swatch, it is mentioned that if the Hayeks dislike a product or idea, the company’s morale is said to decline but morale is notably high if the Hayeks are behind an idea. That clearly shows how important the Hayeks are in the organization. In terms of securing the future leadership of the organization, Hayek Senior has placed members of his family in significant positions within Group to ensure the longevity and growth

For the film JFK, what is Oliver Stone's agenda Essay

For the film JFK, what is Oliver Stone's agenda - Essay Example Johnson was a member of the ring that planned Kennedy’s assassination (Stone 589). So, the most critical question in this film is the director’s agenda when he was making up this film. This essay examines Stone Oliver’s agenda in the film and whether the film was received, by both the public and the media, as it was intended. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy was a thrilling event that left the American people and the world startled. The world was confused the most when such an injustice in a developed world was tainted by unexplained occurrences when the assassination investigations started. The film captures this in detail by going back to the years when President Kennedy was President and the unfolding of the events that supposedly cost his life. Among the ones captured are the early years of Vietnam War, the invasion of the Bay of Pigs, the missile crisis in Cuba, and the Laotian civil war (Brent 51). It was in November 22, 1963 that President Ke nnedy was brutally killed. It was after this occasion that New Orleans Jim Garrison and team got some hints on the assassination, and they commenced their investigation but the Federal Government publicly rebukes the developments (Salewic 80). The New Orleans attorney is forced to close the case when the alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is murdered before he could go on trial. This occurrence further startled the world as to the game which Kennedy’s assassins had launched. After this closure, the film captures the reopening of the investigation in 1966 when Garrison related his encounter to Senator Long while he was on a plane trip. The inaccuracies in the Warren commission’s report enabled Garrison to identify some conflicts. In the film, several witnesses are interrogated by Garrison and his staff including other witnesses involved with Oswald. His informal investigations led to another suspect Ferrie, who is put on the spot when a witness testified that he saw Fer rie conspiring with Oswald, Shaw, and some Latin men to murder the President (Gary 1). Another interesting development was placed by Jean Hill who told the investigators that she witnessed the killing, and had heard four to six shots in total coming from the grassy Knoll, but was coerced by the U.S. Secret Service to testify that she had heard three shots from the book depository (Brent 52). This revelation led Garrison team to believe that there were changes made to Hill’s testimony given to Warren commission. Garrison investigators revealed that from their logical analysis of the alleged crime scene, the shots were not made by one person; there were others who were involved in the shootouts and thus, Oswald was not the only assassin. Given that there were two close shots, there was a possibility that two more assassins were involved. Another message that Oliver was sending to the world was that the then senior government personalities and the security ring were involved in the murder. In this case, the film reveals that Garrison discovered electronic surveillance microphones placed in his offices and meets X, a high official in Washington DC who revealed that the government, the CIA, the FBI, the U. S. Secret Service and the then Vice President Lyndon Johnson had a motive to cover up the cause of Kennedy’s death (Gary 1). Mr. X explains that president Kennedy was killed because it was

Fair Is Foul and Foul Is Fair Essay Example for Free

Fair Is Foul and Foul Is Fair Essay â€Å"Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air,† said the witches in the first act and scene of Macbeth. Pertaining to the story, I believe this quote sheds light to the audience on the evil the witches possess. Without even reading further into the book, the audience can feel the eerie aura that the witches give off. You can foreshadow that the witches are going to turn what is good, foul and maintain what is foul. The witches are saying that fair and foul are the same: to be fair, you must be foul and to be foul, you must be fair. The witches do foul things because they think it is the only fair way. The witches basically symbolize everything that the kingdom does not need to prosper. The witches are manipulative. They manipulate Macbeth simply because his downfall would bring them joy. Evil and foul prophecies will cloud Macbeth’s judgment, making him think that they are fair and what he needs to follow. They are foul in their motives but their words are fair and their wordplay cannot be defined as lying but they skillfully dance around the truth. To the witches foul is fair and vice versa. You can also say that what is foul to any normal human is what is fair and good to the witches because they embody everything that we believe is evil. You can relate the phrase to reality or just believe that this is the witches’ opinion. Relating to real life outside of the book, I believe that this quote can mean that sometimes do be fair and just you have to go about it in a way that isn’t fair and just. Justice has to be attained, sometimes, by unjust means. It can also mean that the truth hurts and life is not fair, also to be fair is not to be appealing. These two words are opposite of their meanings. Depending on a person’s definition of fair and foul, it can change its meaning. It is circumstantial, and the meaning can change frequently. Defining fair as benevolent and good and foul as evil and menacing, you can say that to be good, you have to be malicious and to malicious you have to go about it in a ‘good’ and nice way. Some things that are fair might not always be the best but things that are fair might always be what a person what a person wants. Also, it could mean that people and things aren’t as they seem. People who seem foul could be fair and people who seem fair could be foul.

La Oferta del Año - Spanish Essay :: Papers

La Oferta del Aà ±o Esta casa es ideal para una familia grande. Es situado en el corazà ³n de la ciudad y es la cerca muchas estaciones. Hay abajo una bastante grande cocina integral. Es muy mordern con baldosines. Hay tambià ©n un comedor grande y es decora agradablemente. Prà ³ximo a el comedor hay un aseo pequeà ±o. La casa tiene dos espacios de recibo, ambos grande y con chimineas. Al lado de primero espacio de recibo, hay un conservatorio nuevo con el plan encantador de madera y es la iluminacià ³n muy buena. Hay arriba cuatro dormitorios y dos cuartos de baà ±o. Ambos cuartos de baà ±o son completamente embaldosado. El dormitorio principal es grande, tiene las ventanas grandes y armarios empotrados. El tercero y segundos dormitorios son idà ©nticos con armarios empotrados. El cuarto dormitorio es pequeà ±o pero puede quedar una cama matrimonial. Todo el dormitoros son decorado hermosamente. Afuera, hay un garaje con suficiente espacio para dos coches. En el fachada jardin hay arboles frutales y las plantas grandes. En el jardà ­n de espalda hay una piscina climatizada pero pequeà ±o. La casa tiene el calefaccion central, vantanas insulados y parabolica. La arquitectura es extraordinaria, mordern y es diseà ±ado por un arquitecto bueno. El precio muy razonable y se acceptan afertas. Para mà ¡s informacion, contacta. Agentcia Anjani Amlani sobre: TLF: 0208 863 4444 CELULAR: 07704 404 404 ====================== Mi Casa Mi casa esta en Harrow Weald. Esta tambià ©n cerca de Wealdstone y diez minutos de mis escuelas. Mi casa tiene dos pisos. Abajo hay un grande salon. Es decorà ³ agradablemente pero es un poco pequeà ±o. El comedor es conectado el salon y es decorà ³ misma manera con una mesa pequeà ±a de vidrio en el centro del cuarto. La conservitorio es muchisimo largo y y tiene la iluminacià ³n bueno. Es muy frio en inverno o muy caliente en verano. Arriba hay tres dormitorios y una cuarto de baà ±o. El cuarto de bano es regular y es todo azul. El dormitorio de mi hermano es muy pequà ±o y

Comparative Criticism of Two Museums

Mark Moran Prof. Elizabeth Marlowe Masterpieces of Western Art November 8, 1999 Formal Comparison of Two Museums The Frick Collection and The Guggenheim Museum are both museums on 5th  Avenue in New York’s Upper East Side neighborhood, and they are both named for famous American tycoons from the early 20thcentury. But their similarities pretty much end there. The Frick Collection is the former residence of steel baron Henry Clay Frick who spent forty years assembling a large collection of artwork for his personal enjoyment.The Guggenheim Museum, on the other hand, was always intended as a public museum to display various art exhibits. These fundamental differences are most evident in the architectural design of the buildings themselves: the Frick building is a calm, warm house built for a family to live in while the Guggenheim building is a cold, public hall built to accommodate hundreds of art enthusiasts at a time. The styles of the architecture are quite different, and th ey reflect the very different styles of artwork inside.Furthermore, the shapes and layout of the buildings lend themselves to quite different viewing experiences for the visitor. From the outside, the only things the two buildings have in common is that they both dominate an entire block of 5th  Avenue and they are both white. The Frick building, designed by architect Thomas Hastings, was built from 1913-1914 in the neo-classical style prevalent in New York at the time. Classical arches, ionic columns, and outdoor gardens and fountains remind the viewer of an ancient Roman villa, much like fellow baron and art collector J. P.Getty’s museum in Malibu, CA. Elaborate decoration over the doorways and columns as well as ornamented atriums and statue niches further enhance the classic design and tranquil setting. The building is relatively horizontal, primarily one story that sprawls out much lower than the towering buildings which surround it. The Guggenheim building is just the opposite. Built in 1956 from architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s design, it is as much a vision of the future as Frick’s house is an homage to antiquity. The Guggenheim is a giant concrete and glass spiral designed with mathematical curves and no right ngles. The surfaces are all completely smooth and there is no decoration or ornamentation inside or out. The bizarre structure conjures up images of alien civilizations and challenges the viewer with its unusual shape. The Guggenheim resembles and upside-down wedding cake, which gives it a much more vertical feeling than the Frick, even though it is also shorter than the surrounding buildings. There are no living areas inside the Guggenheim, just one huge chamber with a long spiral that visitors are intended to wind down and view all the artwork from.Artwork is primarily installed along the large spiral, although there are also small rooms which come off the spiral ramp. Because visitors take the elevator to the top, they ha ve nowhere to go but to follow the spiral down. This ensures that they see the artwork in a specific order and provides the satisfying feeling that the viewer has seen all there is to see. The Frick, however, has no set order. Even though some modifications were made by architect John Russell Pope in the 1930’s to convert it for public use, the building largely retains the feeling of a house.Just as one would expect of a house, it is a mixture or narrow hallways, living areas, large banquet rooms, and outdoor courtyards which sprawl out in various directions from the entryway. The rooms are designed for comfort and practical living, not for efficiently taking a tour. Visitors are encouraged to wander through the rooms in any particular order without guidebooks, simply enjoying the pieces as Frick himself did. This provides a relaxing and laid back setting for viewing the assorted artwork inside, but also leaves the visitor unsure of when he has finished seeing the entire coll ection.Since the collection doesn’t change much, seeing it all is not the point. Relaxing in the setting is. This very different interior designs demonstrate the different priorities of the museums. The Frick Collection is primarily static; that is, it is almost entirely the varied artwork collected by Frick himself (although there is a small area in the basement for temporary exhibits). There is no unifying theme of the pieces inside and Japanese vases sit right beside European paintings. Frick’s goal was to collect pieces of art that he found pleasant to live with, regardless of their genre or origin.For this reason, he had a house built to hold his artwork rather than a museum, even though he always intended to eventually bequeath it as a public collection. The Guggenheim, on the other hand, transforms itself every several months as it rotates in a new exhibit. One month it may be almost entirely 20th  century French paintings and the next month mostly Harley-Davi dson motorcycles. That permanent collection of the Guggenheim is relatively small and not its main focus. The main focus of the Guggenheim is to show off a particular theme or genre of artwork assembled by professional museum curators.Since the exhibits only last a few months, the museum encourages repeat viewers who benefit from the spiral design that allows them to efficiently see the entire new show. What is consistent about that Guggenheim’s exhibits is that they are generally modern and challenging, just like the building. The design of the Frick residence is to inspire tranquility. The painting, sculpture, furniture, and pottery range from the Renaissance to the late 19th  century, and there are no violent or startling works in the collection.The building’s layout, from the peaceful fountains to the elegant columns and niches all enforce a feeling of serenity inside the building and out in its gardens. The constantly changing Guggenheim strives to do just the o pposite. It’s goal is to be thought-provoking and shocking which is emphasized by its strange structure and lack of benches and resting areas, which are abundant in the Frick. Because Frick’s artwork is pre-20thcentury and somewhat traditional by today’s standards, the mansion built to house the works was designed to be as classical as possible.The building itself is a classically inspired artwork. Likewise, the Guggenheim building is an abstract, thought-provoking piece of 20th  century artwork. The Guggenheim Museum and the Frick Collection are two of New York’s most famous museums. They have fundamentally different architectural designs, both inside and out, that reflect and enhance the different goals of the museums. And yet, they both interact with their environments in a similar manner. Neither building is a large rectangle like the apartment buildings and consulate offices that tower over them.Their unusual designs which dominate entire blocks in stead suggest buildings that are open to the public, just as libraries or churches do. Neither of them blends in with the surrounding buildings, and yet each one elegantly faces Central Park and adds to the neighborhood’s overall harmony. The unique shapes of these museums invite passersby to marvel at them and perhaps to come in and admire the artwork, or at least browse through the gift shops. In this sense, the different architecture of these buildings, one classical and one futuristic, produce a similar emotion in the viewer and thus achieve the same goal.

Formal Education Tends to Restrain Our Minds and Spirits Rather Than Set Them Free Essay

The statement that formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather than set them free seems true to a very good extent. It is based on the assumption that too much of formal education tends to create a narrow line of thinking. Formal education dictates the path that a person is supposed to follow to reach his/her destination. It stresses on the need to learn from the mistakes of the unsuccessful people and adopt ways of the successful people. It discourages experimentation and out-of-the box approaches. However, ironically, some of the most successful people, both in the past and the present are those who had little formal education and who did not confirm to its structured and one-dimensional learning approach. Thomas Alva Edison, who has more than a hundred inventions to his credit, had dropped out of school in his early years. He did not certainly have a full fledged formal education but learnt a lot of things on his own through experimentation and by trying out things that might have seemed stupid to his formally educated peers. More modern examples could include the likes of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, both of who were instrumental in the world switching to the Information Technology era, were both college drop outs. Having said this, it is also important to realize that education is important. Edison, Bill and Steve, all of them did learn a lot of things in their journey to becoming legends on their own. But they did that with little formal education but more of practical and creative learning.

Cash Management Techniques

Cash Management Techniques A business in any industry faces competition from other businesses in same industry and as they sell the same products. Businesses thus have to come up with techniques to enable them become successful in the industry they operate in. Cash management techniques are applied in a business to increase sales and create awareness of a product. Cash rebates, cash discount and coupons are mostly used in a business to promote sales.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cash Management Techniques specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Cash rebate is the amount of money paid to a purchaser of a product by the product’s manufacturer after proof of purchase. Cash rebate is done after a customer buys a product which has a rebate. The customer then fills a rebate form and request for the rebate reimbursement before it expires (Treaster, 2000). Rebates offer consumers part of the money they purchased a product with. This reimbursement o f customers purchase is tax free which highly attract customers in purchasing a product. Rebates thus act a way of promoting sales of a product. A customer must ensure the rebate form is filled and sent to the manufacturer before the specified time after which it is invalid. Coupons and cash discounts are other techniques of cash management which also act as ways of promoting sales of a product. Coupons are like cash rebates but only issued as a document which customers can take to a retailer and use as money in buying certain commodities (Mullin, and Cummins, 2010). These coupons do not reduce the taxable selling price of those commodities bought with them. Cash discount is a deduction allowed by retailers or sellers to buyers as a technique to encourage them pay within a given time. These cash management techniques enable businesses to make cash sales which ensures good cash flow for the business. This enables a business to have a competitive advantage over others using credit sal es as a way of attracting customers. Cash management techniques are sound business decisions. This is because not only are they advantageous to the business itself but also to customers. They induce customers to purchase products and try them out. This boosts the sales of retailers and manufacturers which enable them to solve the problem of excess inventory. These techniques help manufacturers to create awareness of their products as well as developing loyalty to consumers. This enables manufacturers to gain competing power within the industry they operate in.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Cash rebates and other cash management techniques are ethical. This is because they create competition which is advantageous to customers as it leads to reduced prices and production of quality goods. Rebates means less spending for customers and more sales for manufacturers. ( Bowie, and Schniender, 2011). Cash rebates are still an issue in the business world as most are not claimed. The issue of filling forms and sending them before deadline discourages many consumers to claim them. About only 10 percent of rebates are claimed and paid up by manufacturers. (Mullin, and Cummins, 2010). This is because companies pay up these rebates in the form that cannot offer whole amount, for example in form of a Visa debit card. Selling of cars is a good business but which has a variety of cars for customers to choose from. In the car selling business I would recommend use of cash rebates. This is because when customers are looking for a new car, they are in a dilemma of which model to buy. This makes their decision to be easily influenced by cash rebates. Cash rebate in the car selling business is a good competitive method to encourage sales. References Bowie, N., Schniender, M. (2011). Business Ethics For Dummies. New York, NY: John Wiley Sons. Mullin, R., Cummin s, J. (2010). Sales Promotion: How to Create, Implement and Intergrate Campaigns that Really Work. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Treaster, J. (2000). Rebates May Save Money, Just Maybe Not for You. Retrieved from https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/09/biztech/technology/20treaster.html

Purposive Sampling Definition and Types

Purposive Sampling Definition and Types A purposive sample is a non-probability sample that is selected based on characteristics of a population and the objective of the study. Purposive sampling is also known as judgmental, selective, or subjective sampling. Purposive Sampling Types Maximum Variation/Heterogeneous Purposive SampleHomogeneous Purposive SampleTypical Case SamplingExtreme/Deviant Case SamplingCritical case SamplingTotal Population SamplingExpert Sampling This type of sampling can be very useful in situations when you need to reach a targeted sample quickly, and where sampling for proportionality is not the main concern. There are seven types of purposive samples, each appropriate to a different research objective. Types of Purposive Samples Maximum Variation/Heterogeneous A maximum variation/heterogeneous purposive sample is one which is selected to provide a diverse range of cases relevant to a particular phenomenon or event. The purpose of this kind of sample design is to provide as much insight as possible into the event or phenomenon under examination. For example, when conducting a street poll about an issue, a researcher would want to ensure that he or she speaks with as many different kinds of people as possible in order to construct a robust view of the issue from the publics perspective. Homogeneous A homogeneous purposive sample is one that is selected for having a shared characteristic or set of characteristics. For example, a team of researchers wanted to understand what the significance of white skin- whiteness- means to white people, so they asked white people about this. This is a homogenous sample created on the basis of race. Typical Case Sampling Typical case sampling is a type of purposive sampling useful when a researcher wants to study a phenomenon or trend as it relates to what are considered typical or average members of the effected population. If a researcher wants to study how a type of educational curriculum affects the average student, then he or she choose to focus on average members of a student population. Extreme/Deviant Case Sampling Conversely, extreme/deviant case sampling is used when a researcher wants to study the outliers that diverge from the norm as regards a particular phenomenon, issue, or trend. By studying the deviant cases, researchers can often gain a better understanding of the more regular patterns of behavior. If a researcher wanted to understand the relationship between study habits and high academic achievement, he or she should purposively sample students considered high achievers. Critical Case Sampling Critical case sampling is a type of purposive sampling in which just one case is chosen for study because the researcher expects that studying it will reveal insights that can be applied to other like cases. When sociologist C.J. Pascoe wanted to study sexuality and gender identity develop among high school students, she selected what was considered to be an average high school in terms of population and family income, so that her findings from this case could be more generally applicable. Total Population Sampling With total population sampling a researcher chooses to examine the entire population that has one or more shared characteristics. This kind of purposive sampling technique is commonly used to generate reviews of events or experiences, which is to say, it is common to studies of particular groups within larger populations. Expert Sampling Expert sampling is a form of purposive sampling used when research requires one to capture knowledge rooted in a particular form of expertise. It is common to use this form of purposive sampling technique in the early stages of a research process, when the researcher is seeking to become better informed about the topic at hand before embarking on a study. Doing this kind of early-stage expert-based research can shape research questions and research design in important ways. Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

Epidemiology According to John Snow and William Farr Research Paper

Epidemiology According to John Snow and William Farr - Research Paper Example When the second cholera pandemic broke out and reached London in 1832, a number of theories on the causation of such catastrophic spate were proposed, including miasma or â€Å"bad air† and changes in environmental conditions (Morabia, 2001, 150th Anniversary, 2004). However, John Snow, who was a respected medical practitioner specializing in anesthesia and respiratory physiology, questioned the correctness of those theories. He observed that the symptoms were intestinal in nature, abdominal pain is one of the first complaints of the afflicted, accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration (Eyler, 2001). At the same time, treatments that acted specifically in the digestive tract seemed to alleviate early symptoms. From these observations, he proposed that cholera could not be a blood or respiratory infection but an infection of the gut. Snow proposed that the main proponent of transmission was not the soil, nor climate change or miasma as originally suggested, but the ing estion of water contaminated with fecal matter. But this did not convince the medical community. Without definitive data, Snow’s analogy was not good enough. In 1854, another wave of cholera plagued the Soho district yet again. This time, Snow suspected that an infected water pump located in Broad Street brought upon the outbreak. Following his earlier proposal that the cholera infection was from the ingestion of contaminated water and bearing a record of death from Cholera from the General Register Office, he traced the deaths attributed to cholera within the vicinity and found that they drank water from a common water pump in Broad Street. Snow elucidated this by plotting a Cholera spot map showing the areas collectively affected by the epidemic, as well as its proximity to the specific pump in question.  

Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Portfolio - Essay Example al environment and achieve the objectives of the organisation. To do everything possible to promote and improve organisational standards through adherence to defined standards of work. To continually expand my knowledge and skills through continuous professional development. To work with creativity and initiative, through team work and deliver my best with full readiness to adopt and learn new skills in any dynamic field. To utilise the knowledge and skills I have acquired to serve the organisation efficiently and dedicatedly. To learn new ideas, skills that will enable me to acquire expertise, while serving the organisation. To serve the society without discrimination and help each individual achieve their desired objectives in life. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: ********** ************ *********** *********** ************* *************** JOB EXPERIENCE ********* *********** Extracurricular Activities and Hobbies Watching documentaries Playing and watching football Travelling Participati ng in talks and debates Painting REFEREES: **** **** **** Discussion The C.V. contains a description of my personal, educational and professional life. The career aspirations and goals resonate with the skills disclosed in the skills audit section. The information contained in the C.V is very helpful as it can be used by a potential employer to assess my qualification, skills and capability. As such, the C.V. has been written coherently to reveal my strengths such that potential employers can understand why I could be the best candidate for a particular position, which I will be interested in. Therefore, this CV is designed to attract an employer’s attention by making it possible for them to assess my unique qualities in the shortest time possible. For that reason, the CV has started by highlighting what I can offer to the employer at the beginning. Ideally, my CV captures the following skills which were also the main components in the skills audit.1 My teamwork capability ha s been emphasised in the CV. As part of my career objectives, I have disclosed that I want to be a team player. This issue is fundamental considering that most of the organisational goals cannot be achieved without people working together as a group, and therefore any potential employer will be on the lookout for those potential employees who are driven by the spirit of teamwork. In my profile, I have mentioned that I am a strong communicator, a quality that resonates with written and verbal communication skills mentioned in the audit section. Certainly, any business activity involves communication and many employers are interested with employees who have strong verbal and written capability. Strong initiative and creativity is also empathised in my CV, because as explain in the skills audit, this skill will make employers to realise that I can add value in the companies because creativity will help solve problems and come up with new ways of doing things. This unique quality differ entiates me from a crowd of applicants. Also my strong computer qualifications as disclosed in the CV

Applied Electronics Assignment. Coursework Lab Report

Applied Electronics Assignment. Coursework - Lab Report Example This lab report was based on the application of Arduino that is the hardware of the computer from the open source. In the design of a combinational circuit, a connection to the seven segments was done, and this has seven sections that were each controlled in ON or OFF to display a figure that was desired. The codes provided in the screen shots were used in the design to come out with the needed device. The desired figures were in the range of 0 – 9 that were displayed in the combinational circuit and these were in the seven segments connection. The letters were from A – F and these were hexadecimal letters used in the circuit designed. After entering all the necessary codes, the seven segments was able to display. This device (seven segments) are organized in such a way that it could make the shape like square â€Å"8† that is a little bit inclined towards the right. The device used was based on the LED and in this task; a reasonable stress was imposed on the display of the LED seven segments. On this LED, seven segments including a dot element were entirely based on the LEDs (Balagurusamy 2008). 3. The code used was 0001and the output displayed was 1 for 0010 of the output display, and the output result shall be 2, etc. The circuit was driven using 7446 IC, and this was based on the PCB to the seven-element display power drive of IC and was of a low active output. Every output to the PCB had the fully completed rippled bank and had no outside transistor driver. In the PCB, there were the built test functions that could be used for the test. Holding the ripple blanking high the test input pin was low all the LED element result was

Case Study Simulation Cotton On Limited Marketing Essay

Case Study Simulation Cotton On Limited Marketing Essay The purpose of the report is to establish three strategies which will address issues within Cotton-On Ltd causing their current financial troubles. The three chosen strategies are: research consumer buying habits, introduce online sales and expand sales into the European Union countries. These strategies will be explored and discussed to explain how they help improve the situation at Cotton-On Ltd. The first strategy research consumer buying habits shows how we look through the range of methods used for researching consumer buying habits in order to make a recommendation which is most suitable related to Cotton-On Ltd. Gathered data can be used to make decisions regarding various concerns with Cotton-On Ltd, such as product range, pricing or available sales channels. The methods used for researching consumer buying habits helps support other strategies because it allows Cotton-On Ltd to understand potential customers in new market settings. The second strategy introduce online sales refers to Cotton-On Ltd using the internet as a tool to strengthen the company because it is increasingly beneficial for them. Through extensive research Cotton-On Ltd should introduce online sales because of their position within the market otherwise they will be disadvantaged compared to competitors. Also the potential of the online sales channel is an opportunity for them to expand online and take advantage of the internet as a marketing tool. However there is a range of different ways Cotton-On Ltd can choose to approach selling their products online and this will be further discussed within the report. The third strategy expand sales into European Union countries explores this topic in context of online sales. The UK is a leading European country in relation to online sales however there are bigger markets to be explored, since some of these markets are expected to grow in the next few years. The topics which will be discussed is the European market related to Cotton-On Ltd, the aspect of the language barrier, the pricing / currency and any other points will be taken into consideration. All three strategies are explained to show the advantages for Cotton-On Ltd and highlight the main issues. We show how the strategies are linked together and where possible, suggest methods for implementation and overcoming issues. Those strategies are a starting point for the company to overcome their problems. Research Consumer Buying Habits Methodology Consumer buying habit is a complex matter and there are many factors that influence buying decision of the customer. When it comes to researching consumer behaviour for a business it is the greatest mystery of any business to solve (Matt Alderton, no date). There are many ways we could find out about consumer buying habits, but before doing anything else we need to investigate Cotton-On Ltd, its System or any previous study on the matter. One of the following techniques would be chosen to suit Cotton-On Ltd namely, interview, questionnaire, survey and consumer panel, but the best would be to organize customer focus group to help Cotton-On Ltd identify and find consumer specific needs. Customer focus group will produce good customer data in their own words, which would help create more effective marketing campaign and will expose problems within Cotton-On Ltd (Matt Alderton, no date). To get the best out of customer focus group it is important to stay focused on Cotton-On Ltd objectives that would have to be why the business is losing sale and how to save money? Predetermined questions and Moderator who be able to speak comfortably, easy to approach. Recruit up to twelve participants; the selection will be according to our question and will avoid random customer. Record the focus group either with a tape recorder or a video camera, but will have to ask participants permission. Evaluate feedback by reviewing the session to improve the quality (Matt Alderton, no date). As well as organising focus group Cotton-On Ltd should have a Consumer Panel to test our product as Consumer Panels are useful for fast short survey (DJS Research Ltd, no date). Discussion There are a few problems with Cotton-On Ltd system needs updating, improving and even would be scrapped once the new recommendation and system is implemented, but global issues have to be taken into account too, due to economic climate of UK, which is either flat or negative growth for the last six months family budgets are tight only spending where it matters most. The first issue has been noticed in Cotton-On Ltd case is that until last year it represented 20 per cent of UK customers, which is equivalent of 30 per cent of the UK sales revenue. That means Cotton-On Ltd prices are higher and something needs to be done in order to increment the sales revenue, whilst retaining the same sales revenue at least for now. In the light of the focus group Cotton-On Ltd will have to move accordingly whether to keep the same price for the moment, but offering something in addition to what customer buys or anything, otherwise desired. As Cotton-On Ltd have 20 stores across the UK and the only other mean of sale we have is through mail order, the Office for National Statistics retail sales figure for January 2012 out today 17-February 2012, non-store retailing which is mainly internet sales, grew by 13.3% in January (Chloe Rigby, 2012). So the shift continues from high street sales to online and mail order Cotton-On Ltd needs to recognize this and move accordingly. As a retailer the key for Cotton-On Ltd is to combine the flexibility that online and mail order delivers, with the customer service of the physical shopping. By bringing those together Cotton-On Ltd services and offers become more compelling to it is customers and this will lead to increased revenue, and will improve Cotton-On Ltd brand value (Chloe Rigby, 2012). As it shows in meeting of Cotton-On Ltd directors that the business does not know sales of their products by colour, size and Cotton-On Ltd should know which product is selling well and which one is not. So once we produce the final report on consumer buying habit we would be able to know these answers to some extent. Cotton-On Ltd would be able to decide accordingly to whether it is best to have online system that can filter separately each online sold product to our database then it will be easier for Cotton-On Ltd to see the products selling more, less, or none. In this way, we would be able to collate the data easily without losing them and produce in our factories according to these good and rich customers data. For finding out more about customer buying habits Cotton-On Ltd should have a good information system that allows collating data from online sales and also customers should be able to track their order. In this way we can expose our customers buying habits that how often they buy, their desired colour, for example it is very likely giving the system we have in Cotton-On Ltd that there are lots of certain products colour and sizes that never or very little been sold, so we need to cut producing those product in order to reduce waste and will result saving money. Introduce Online Sales Justification Cotton-On Ltd provides their customers with a few traditional ways of buying their products, they also have presence on the Internet via their website and advertising but they do not use it as distribution channel. Research shows that in the current market, where many traditional retailers have already introduced Internet sales, this step becomes a strategic necessity (Bernstein et al., 2008). Therefore Cotton-On Ltd is currently left in a disadvantaged position. In addition, even in this time of economic difficulties, when the traditional retail sector is shrinking, the number of online buyers and online sales are increasing (Datamonitor, 2011a). According to Datamonitor (2011a) in 2010 the online retail sector in the United Kingdom reached revenue of over  £24.1 billion ($38 billion) and sales in apparel (including accessories and footwear) reached  £3.5 billion ($5.5 billion). The entire market is expected to grow to over  £41.9 billion ($66 billion) by the end of 2015, 11.6% growth. This shows the potential of the online sales channel. It is relatively easy to enter into Internet retail, especially for an established company with set up distance sales, as the costs are low and there are little additional regulations (Datamonitor, 2011a; Great Britain. Office of Fair Trading, 2006). Implementation and Issues Cotton-On Ltd may not have staff with sufficient skills to build and maintain an online store integrated with their website; however this is not the only way of implementing this strategy. Using an existing online service, which allows retailers to sell through their website, may prove more feasible as the first step in providing online sales. Even though this is not an ideal solution (Bernstein et al., 2008) it also addresses other issuers mentioned later in this section. The current website can be updated to direct interested customers to the service where they can make a purchase, while the staff will only be faced with learning whatever interface the service is providing. There are a few other concerns related to online sales and gaining new customers through this channel. Research suggests that the reason for the strong standing of the online market is the convenience of lower prices and price comparison tools (Datamonitor, 2011a; Bernstein et al., 2008). Therefore price competition may be stronger than in the traditional market. At the same time, use of online sales helps to reduce transaction costs and some of those savings can be passed to customers (Bernstein et al., 2008) at least partially addressing the pricing issues. It is likely that this strategy will reduce sales through other channels, but this redirection is desirable due to the aforementioned reduced costs (Bernstein et al., 2008). The effects should be monitored and further decisions should be made accordingly. For example, telephone sales may no longer require as many staff members, but they may be trained for support in online sales and customer service via email. Trust is the main issue when attracting new buyers in the online setting. Customers are concerned about the security of online transactions, which means they are more likely to select known and trusted retailers (Datamonitor, 2011a; Premazzi et al., 2010). A study conducted by Premazzi, Castaldo, Grosso and Hofacker (2010) find that customers are more willing to provide their information only for certain compensation (prizes, vouchers etc.). And therefore, if this method is used, the type of compensation should suit the targeted audiences. It also concludes that well designed, user friendly and error free websites may increase customer trust. Another way of targeting new customers may be by using an already known and trusted service, for example Amazon. They are one of the biggest online retailers (Datamonitor, 2011a) and they offer ways for retailers to sell products on their website with relatively low cost (Amazon, no date). Products made available through Amazon website will be exposed to millions of shoppers that use their services, and Cotton-On Ltd could use Amazons position in the market as a declaration of the safety of the transaction to the customers (Amazon, no date). Additionally, successful transactions will increase Cotton-On Ltd brands exposure and increase trust for it. Legal considerations Selling over the Internet is considered the same as selling over the phone in light of distance selling regulations (Great Britain. Office of Fair Trading, 2006). Therefore we can expect that Cotton-On Ltd is already adhering to those regulations. However the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 introduces additional rules regarding advertising and sales using electronic channels. Because Cotton-On Ltd is already advertising on the Internet, hopefully with respect to those regulations, only extensions to sales specific regulations are required. Those rules affect: Information provided on the website used for sales. Technical means provided to customers (for example for identifying and correcting errors). Method of acknowledging orders (i.e. receipt supplied by electronic means). (Great Britain. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, 2002). Introducing an online distribution channel should not cause high additional costs related to legal matters. Additional Benefits Besides reduced costs and the chance of attracting new customers, use of the electronic sales channel also automates data collection and saves time required for order processing. If the changes are monitored and correct decisions are made to maximise benefits, Cotton-On Ltd will not only attract additional revenue but also lower its operation costs. Expand Sales to European Union Justification We propose the expansion of sales to other European Union countries only applies to the sales over the Internet. Costs of online expansion are relatively low, compared to a more physical solution (Premazzi, 2010) and high cost projects will probably not be possible due to the current situation at Cotton-On Ltd. The United Kingdom represents 23.5% of the European online retail sector (Datamonitor, 2011a). The other big markets are France, Germany, Italy and Spain with respectively 21.5%, 14.9%, 7.2% and 5.5% share of the market (Datamonitor, 2011a). It is also worth noting that both France and Germany have larger predicted growth over the next few years than the United Kingdom market. The French market is expected to exceed  £57.8 billion ($90.8 billion) 21% growth, and the German market is expected to exceed  £27.8 ($24.2 billion) 12.5% growth. Apparel (including footwear and accessories) accounts for 14.1% in both the German and French markets (Datamonitor, 2011b; c). This means that there is a large potential market outside of the United Kingdom. Implementation and Issues The technical and trust issues were already covered in the section on introduction of online sales, and the information provided also applies to this strategy. Pricing issues will be revisited in the context of foreign markets, due to issues arising from currency differences. The Single Market The European Union market is easy to access. European Union member states standardise their law to operate in a single market programme. The aim of this programme is to make doing business with other European Union counties as similar as possible to doing business in the companys country of origin. Measures, that European Union countries have introduced to achieve this, include: Reduction of paperwork accounting for the purposes of VAT is the same as for sales/purchases in the United Kingdom. Unified standards complying with United Kingdom technical and safety standards ensures meeting standards in other European Union countries. Free movement of people it is easy to employ European Union citizens in United Kingdom companies. Free movement of goods goods produced in the European Union or imported into a member state with duty paid, are considered to be in free circulation, further customs duty is not payable. Common currency 17 out of 27 member states have introduced the Euro as their currency, which reduces currency considerations for businesses. (Business Link, no date c; d; f) Languages Even though English is the language used internationally in business, it is still beneficial to have knowledge of countrys language and culture while doing business there (Business Link, no date a). A Eurobarometer pool found that almost half of the European Union citizens only speak one language (European Commission, 2012). Cotton-On Ltd needs to translate their website and products descriptions to the languages of targeted countries to not miss out on potential customers from those markets. They should also consider providing customer service in selected languages; it is possible they already have staff with language skills and if not, the free movement of people within the EEA makes it easier for businesses to find employees with the right skills (Business Link, no date b; d). Pricing Customers in other countries expect prices in their local currency. Therefore a company entering a foreign market should consider pricing and issues related to currency exchange (Business Link, no date h). Additional research into the market is required to make decisions on pricing; prices appropriate in the United Kingdom may not be appropriate in the new market (Business Link, no date e). Other Issues Cotton-On Ltd should also research competition in the new markets; consider marketing, delivery methods, payment methods and related costs (Business Link, no date e). Implementation suggestions The solution proposed for introducing online sales, where Cotton-On Ltd would use a known online retailer is also applicable here. If they choose an online retailer that already operates in their target markets, like Amazon (Amazon, no date), it may reduce some costs and solve some technical issues. Because each countrys market and culture is different, and some European countries still operate with their own currency, it is probably not feasible to expand to the entire European Union at once. Cotton-On Ltd should perform more detailed research into potential target markets and decide which to enter. Conclusion In our report, we established the three strategies: Research consumer buying habits, introduction of online sales and expansion of sales to European Union, which we think will address some of the problems arising at Cotton-On Limited. The main problem of the company is its financial situation and we are finding ways on how the three strategies and the process that can help to cope with this problem. We also talk about the possibilities on how the company can increase their sales through the strategies. In our research we also found out that the Cotton-On Ltd cannot only increase sales, but can also gain new prospected customers if Cotton-On Ltd follows the right procedure in implementing the strategies. In the Consumer Buying Habits, we were able to explain the methods that can be used to help the company with the targeting of their consumers. With the production of their products, the company will be able to target consumers who will be interested in the products. Interviews, questionnaire, survey and consumer panel are the method that can be used to get the target market for Cotton-On Limited. The Introduction of Online Sales is about using the Internet as a tool in selling their products. This strategy can also strengthen Cotton-On Limited, because it shows in the research that the number of online sales in the UK is increasing and will continue in same scale. We raised the implementation and the legal issues that the Cotton-On Ltd should take into consideration. We find out benefits as well that the company can get like reducing of cost however; they can still increase their profits. They can also attract new customers and gather customer information. There is a major issue in gaining customer trust. Most customers do not trust online sales so we recommend Cotton-On Limited to use known online retailers such as Amazon to target new customers and increase trust for the brand. In the Expansion of Sales to European Union, it is more likely the introduction of online sales because the company need to use the Internet for this strategy. Cotton-On Limited can use their internet setting so they can easily expand their business to the European Union countries. There are issues in this strategy such as the currency because most European Union countries use different currency so customers expect the prices to be in their local currency. With this issue, Cotton-On Limited should consider the pricing and issues related to the countrys currency exchange. We also talked about the language issue because different country speaks different language. It is discussed that it will really not be a big problem as English is the language used internationally in business however; customers expect their native language to be used so in selling the products, Cotton-On Limited needs to use the native language of the country where they are running their business. The company should also consider that they will enter a new market so they will also have new competitors in the business. The goal of these three strategies is to increase the revenue of Cotton-On Limited. The three strategies mentioned can help in increasing the funds of the company. If the company will be able to increase their funding because of the three strategies, they will have more budgets to make further improvements to increase the money coming in to the company. The company can also do stock control. This is a very useful improvement to increase their revenue. Stock control is very important because if they cannot do it effectively, it can lead to loss of sales or it can damage the reputation of the business. They have to make sure that they have enough stock all the time at the right time. They have to make sure that they have products to offer to their customers to gain business reputation so that they can have loyal customers and gain new ones. The company should make sure that they make careful planning with their stock control because having effective stock control can lead to making the business larger. The company will also need more tailored information system across their departments so they can get support on gathering data that can make the operation smooth and can reduce related costs.

The Evaluation Of The Microprocessor. Essay -- essays research papers

The Evaluation of the Microprocessor. The microprocessor has changed a lot over the years, says (Michael W. Davidson,http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/chipshot.html) Microprocessor technology is progressing so rapidly that even experts in the field are having trouble keeping up with current advances. As more competition develops in this $150 billion a year business, power and speed of the microprocessor is expanding at an almost explosive rate. The changes have been most evident over the last decade. The microprocessor has changed the way computers work by making them faster. The microprocessor is often called the brain of the C.P.U.(or the central processing unit)and without the microprocessor the computer is more or less useless. Motorola and Intel have invented most of the microprocessors over the last decade. Over the years their has been a constant battle over cutting edge technology. In the 80's Motorola won the battle, but now in the 90's it looks as Intel has won the war. The microprocessor 68000 is the original microprocessor(Encarta 95). It was invented by Motorola in the early 80's. The 68000 also had two very distinct qualities like 24-bit physical addressing and a 16-bit data bus. The original Apple Macintosh ,released in 1984, had the 8-MHz found at the core of it. It was also found in the Macintosh Plus, the original Macintosh SE, the Apple Laser-Writer IISC, and the Hewlett-Packard's LaserJet printer family. The 68000 was very efficient for its time for example it could address 16 megabytes of memory, that is 16 more times the memory than the Intel 8088 which was found in the IBM PC. Also the 68000 has a linear addressing architecture which was better than the 8088's segmented memory architecture because it made making large applications more straightforward. The 68020 was invented by Motorola in the mid-80's(Encarta 95). The 68020 is about two times as powerful as the 68000. The 68020 has 32-bit addressing and a 32-bit data bus and is available in various speeds like 16MHz, 20MHz, 25MHz, and 33MHz. The microprocessor 68020 is found in the original Macintosh II and in the LaserWriter IINT both of which are from Apple. The 68030 microprocessor was invented by Motorola about a year after the 68020 was released(Encarta 95). The 68030 has 32-bit addressing and a 32-bit data bus just like it's previous model, but it has paged memory management buil... ... 80-bit floating-point numbers, and 18-digit BCD (binary coded decimal) operands; it coincides to the ANSI/IEEE 754-1985 standard for binary floating-point arithmetic. The 80387SX operates individually on the 80386SX's mode, and it performs as expected regardless of whether the 80386SX is running in real, protected, or virtual 8086 mode. The microprocessor mi486 also called the 80486 or the 486 was invented in 1989 by Intel(Encarta 95). Like its 80386 predecessor, the 486 is a full-bit processor with 32-bit registers, 32-bit data bus, and 32-bit addressing. It includes several enhancements, however, including a built-in cache controller, the built-in equivalent of an 80387 floating-point coprocessor, and provisions for multiprocessing. In addition, the 486 uses a "pipeline" execution scheme that breaks instructions into multiple stages, resulting in much higher performance for many common data and integer math operations. In conclusion it is evident by the following that microprocessors are developing at leaps and bounds and it is not surprising that if by the time it hits the teacher's desk or by the time you read this the next superchip will be developed(Encarta 95).

Superflat

Bijutsu Fine art Kindai Bijutsu Modern art Manga Manga are comics and print cartoons, in Japanese and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century. Otaku Known as a mass media product presenting Japanese Culture, anime, has gained an increasing exposure and acceptance overseas during the 1990s.The term otaku, which was coined in 1982 and came into popular usage by 1989, is usually translated as ‘geek’ or ‘aficionado,’ and refers to a group of people who ‘take refuge in a world of fantasy, drinking in the images supplied by the modern media – usually from television, magazines and comic books, but also computer images or video games’ (Baral 1999: 22). The etymology of â€Å"otaku† was drawn upon the work of Volker Grassmuck in his seminal otaku-studies article: I'm alone, but not lonely†: Japanese Otaku-Kids colonize the Realm of Information and Media, A Tale of Sex and Crime from a faraway Place. Superf lat art â€Å"The world of the future might be like Japan is today – Superflat. Society, customs, art, culture: all are extremely two-dimensional. It is particularly apparent in the arts that this sensibility has been flowing steadily beneath the surface of Japanese history †¦ [Superflat] is an original concept that links the past with the present and the future. † (Murakami, 2000: 9)Superflat is a concept and theory of art created by the contemporary Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami. The Superflat (2000) exhibition in Tokyo marked the launch of this new aesthetic which took contemporary Japanese art and identity into a globalised milieu of critical thought. The exhibition, which was curated by Murakami and subsequently travelled to the United States, featured the work of a range of established and emerging artists drawn from art and commercial genres in Japan. As an essential part of Murakami’s political strategy, Superflat was always designed to travel g lobally.An elaborate, bilingual catalogue Super Flat (Murakami, 2000), which included Murakami’s manifesto, A Theory of Super Flat Japanese Art, accompanied the exhibition. In this manifesto Murakami affirmed that the Superflat exhibitions were created to provide a cultural-historical context for the new form of art that he was proposing, and which was specifically exported for Western audiences. Superflat art, as a cultural text, is intricately enmeshed in the tensions between the location and representation of local/global cultural identities.These identities, while proffering resistance through the assertion of difference, are also formed as part of the processes of globalization rather than in strict opposition to it (Robertson, 1995). In producing Superflat for Western art markets and Japanese art worlds, Murakami addresses existing discursive knowledge of Japanese art, history and popular culture, while simultaneously presenting a new variant of those identities. In thi s way, Superflat is part of the politics of commodification and expression of cultural difference generated in global consumption.Murakami’s Superflat concept identifies a new aesthetic emerging from the creative expressions produced in Japanese contemporary art, anime (Japanese animation), manga (graphic novels), video games, fashion and graphic design. Superflat is presented as a challenge to the institutions and practices of bijutsu (fine art), which Murakami argues are an incomplete import of Western concepts. Murakami is specifically referring to the modern institutions of kindai bijutsu (modern art) that were adopted during the Meiji period (1868–1912) as part of Japan’s process of modernization and Westernization.To Murakami, the innovation and originality of post-1945 forms of commercial culture represent a continuation of the innovations of the Edo (1600–1867) visual culture. Murakami problematically argues that Edo culture represents a more â₠¬Ëœoriginal’ cultural tradition, because it was a time of restricted foreign contact. At the same time, Murakami self-consciously uses Western art markets and the popular appeal of Japanese consumer culture to propose the Superflat alternative. That is, Murakami utilizes the Western popular imaginings of Japanese culture as a hyper-consumeristic, postmodern layhouse (Morley & Robins, 1995: 147–173) in constructing Superflat. SUPERFLATNESS: GLOBALIZING STRATEGIES IN ART MARKET As the interaction between social groups has become increasingly globalized, the meaning-making and expressivities associated with ‘art’ have also become progressively more engaged through national and transnational gradients (Papastergiadis & Artspace, 2003). In particular, the formation of identity and expressive modes in a national genealogy becomes problematic within a globalizing cultural sphere.Many artists struggle to find the binary position of balancing East and West cultures , while Takashi Murakami, contemporary Japanese artist, with his theory of Superflat art, worked out his way in this dilemma. He provides a useful case study of the strategies artists can employ to negotiate cultural and artistic identities ‘in between’ this binary. This paper investigates the Superflat concept and analyses Murakami’s art works to expose the tensions and dialogues regarding cultural identity and commodification that are produced by their global circulation.The first section maps Murakami’s strategy in constructing Superflat and contextualizes this in relation to discourses of Japanese national-cultural identity. The second section applies this theorization by analyzing the visual codes of Murakami’s figure sculpture My Lonesome Cowboy. This figure sculpture is part of a series in which Murakami combined the aesthetic codes and markers of otaku culture, particularly the prominence of anime and manga characters, with various art histo rical references.This piece demonstrates the multifarious local/global codes and cultures that Superflat art engages. Global Flows and the Soy Sauce Strategy Globalization creates spaces in which mobile elements interact with both positive and negative effects. Three key issues emerge in contemporary theorizations of globalization that are relevant to this discussion: firstly, the problem of how to retain the concept of local/national cultural particularity and to concurrently recognize the onvergences and overlaps between cultures in a global context (Robertson, 1995); secondly, how to recognize the value in cultural difference as a tool of critical (oppositional) agency (Fisher, 2003) and acknowledge that difference can also become a commodity in the global market place (Hall, 1991); and thirdly, to acknowledge the dominance of Western cultural, political and economic imperatives in globalization (Hardt & Negri, 2000), but also to recognize that it cannot be reduced to this condit ion (Held et al. , 1999).Consequently, concerns and celebrations are generated by the increasing fragmentation of national and cultural identities (Morley&Robins, 1995). In response to this process of deterritorializing identity, impulses arise to reclaim local and national identities in a form of resistance (Hall, 1995). This resistance is complicated because it is formed in relation to the transnational imaginings of the Self and the Other, stimulated by the constant circulation of people and mediated images through globalizations (Appadurai, 1996).These are irresolvable struggles and they demonstrate how globalization contributes to rather than eliminates incommensurability (Ang, 2003). Thus, while cultural identities can become territorialized and demarcated, for instance as ‘Japanese’, they are also challenged by the processes of deterritorialization activated through interaction and exchange. The meaning of ‘Japanese’ is therefore open to re-articulat ion by both global and local forces allowing new strategic identities to emerge.These processes are evident in Murakami’s â€Å"soy sauce strategy†. Murakami demarcates the identity of Superflat as Japanese by proposing it as an affirmation of a Pop Art aesthetic that is â€Å"born from Japan† and distinct from Western art: a type of post-Pop (Murakami, 2005: 152–153). Murakami asserts Superflat as an example of the current influence of Japanese culture globally and as a model for a future aesthetic, thereby identifying the ‘Otherness’ of Superflat in a positive way.Even though Murakami acknowledges that this sensibility emerges from the transformations arising from the influences of Western culture, he simultaneously reaffirms the originality of Superflat as a Japanese sensibility. This is what he refers to as his â€Å"soy sauce† strategy. Japanese contemporary art has a long history of trying to hide the soy sauce. Perhaps they will strengthen the flavor to please the foreign palette, or perhaps they’ll simply throw the soy sauce out the window and unconditionally embrace the tastes of French or Italian cuisine, becoming the Westerners whose model of contemporary art they follow †¦I see the need to create a universal taste – a common tongue – without cheating myself and my Japanese core †¦ I continue to blend seasonings †¦ I may have mixed in the universal forms and presentations of French, Italian, Chinese, or other ethnic cuisines – and I am vigilant in my search for their best points – but the central axis of my creation is stable †¦ at its core, my standard of ‘beauty’ is one cultivated by the Japan that has been my home since my birth in 1962. (Kaikaikiki Co.Ltd & Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2001: 130) This essential Japanese identity of Superflat is reinforced by the ways in which Murakami connects (visually and ideologically) the kawaii (cute) forms of anime and manga with the playful aesthetic of Edo period artists and the two-dimensional formal properties of Japanese screen painting. This foundation is then used to propose Superflat as an alternate lineage of Japanese visual culture, one that breaks away from the canon of kindai bijutsu and Western art history.Edo functions in Superflat as the determinant of its cultural authenticity – that is, as the DNA of Superflat (Murakami, 2000: 25). Edo is presented as the site of Japan’s cultural tradition and subsequently as a symbol of its Japaneseness. This is a convention from modern Japanese discourses in which Edo becomes the repository of nostalgic yearnings for a pre-modern, traditional Japan (Ivy, 1995).In the late 1980s and early 1990s this was extended to become part of the debates on Japan’s (post)modernity; postmodern cultural expressions in Japan were considered to be a revival of Edo concepts and practices and thus particularly à ¢â‚¬Ëœindigenous’ to Japan (Karatani, 1997). However, as Gluck (1998) points out, the definition of authentic and traditional Japanese expression in relation to a fixed point of origin in Edo culture has been heavily challenged. Therefore, Murakami’s use of Edo to mark the culturally authentic transmission of the Superflat aesthetic should be treated with caution.At the same time, Murakami has emphasized that he is not presenting Superflat as the definitive interpretation of Japanese art nor does he claim a unified identity for Japan: Unfortunately, I can never give ‘Japan’ a fixed shape. I cannot meet my real ‘self’. Nor can I discern what ‘art’ really is †¦ I thought I could solve the problem by lining up a series of images in a powerful procession that words could not clarify. (Murakami, 2000: 9) Even this position can be critiqued.Murakami self-consciously demonstrates his awareness of the historical interaction between J apan and the West and stresses the hybrid history of Superflat. However, he also tends to celebrate Japan’s skill in assimilating and domesticating foreign influences, echoing other discourses on Japan’s hybridity as a national-cultural trait (Tobin, 1992), which paradoxically reconstructs Japan’s hybridity as an essential identity. Murakami’s intention to create an epistemological context for Superflat is explicitly part of his aim to sell work in international art markets: First, gain recognition on site (New York). Furthermore, adjust the flavoring to meet the needs of the venue. 2 With this recognition as my parachute, I will make my landing back in Japan. Slightly adjust the flavorings until they are Japanese. Or perhaps entirely modify the works to meet Japanese tastes. 3 Back overseas, into the fray. This time, I will make a presentation that doesn’t shy away from my true soy sauce nature, but is understandable to my audience. (Kaikaikiki Co . Ltd & Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2001:131)The impulse in Superflat towards the affirmation of a national-cultural aesthetic can be considered as a form of self-Orientalism: an identity formation that is constructed in relation to the Western Oriental gaze (Said, 1995). While self-Orientalism has been considered (although not specifically in relation to Superflat) as an empowered strategy, because it appropriates the West’s gaze of Japan and re-packages it for the same audience (Mitchell, 2000), others have considered it collusive to Orientalism and a continuation of the Japan/West binary construction (Iwabuchi, 1994).This self-Oriental identity is complicated by a number of factors. First, Superflat does echo conventional discursive constructions of a Japan/West binary, which obscures the connections and power relations in this structure. In particular, Superflat can also be interpreted as being part of the discourses on Japanese identity, particularly the emergence of nihonjinron and postmodernism post-1970s in relation to Japan’s economic and technological influences (Befu, 2001). There was a tendency in both these strains of discourse to emphasize Japan’s national identity as unique and different from the West and the East.Secondly, while Murakami acknowledges the Western influences on the Superflat aesthetic, his simultaneous transposing of this hybrid identity into a reinforcement of a Japanese identity, characterized by cultural assimilation and hybridization, reinforces a unified national-cultural identity. This identity is supported by the references between Superflat and already existing discursive constructions of Japanese culture as post-modern and the interpretation of the two-dimensional properties of Japanese art, which will be discussed later in the paper.Thirdly, Superflat is also part of ongoing trade relations and cross-fertilizations of visual culture forms between Japan and the West particularly since the late nineteenth century. These include the adoption of bijutsu in the Meiji period, the popular consumption of Japanese visual culture in the West (in late nineteenth century Japonisme and since the 1990s with the consumption of anime and manga), and the post-1945 influx of commercial culture from the United States and its subsequent impact on the development of the anime and manga industries (Kinsella, 2000).In some ways, the self-Orientalism of Superflat can be interpreted as a post-colonial defensive reaction. Superflat is presented by Murakami as a localized expression of cultural uniqueness resisting the global hegemony of Western art and transcending the imported colonialist history of bijutsu by presenting â€Å"icons of excessive otherness† (Matsui, 2001: 48). This resistance, in turn, strategically uses identity as a commodity in Western art markets.By explicitly emphasizing the differences of Superflat, and Superflat as Japanese, Murakami becomes open to criticism that h e is merely providing a futuristic Orientalist spectacle for Western audiences (Shimada, 2002: 188–189). Furthermore, the ever-present danger with this position is that the centrality of the United States and Europe is re-asserted rather than challenged. Murakami explicitly reinforces this centrality through his statements regarding the importance of his profile in New York, London and Paris (Kelmachter, 2002: 76).Murakami’s strategy of merging artistic expression and the commercial imperatives of Orientalism also echoes the export art of the late nineteenth century in which new works were created for foreign markets, according to the dictates of those markets (Conant, 1991: 82–84). Export objects were deliberately constructed to appeal to the taste for Japonisme that was fashionable in Europe and the United States at the time. Murakami’s affirmation of Superflat as a Japanese-made model for the future also reiterates the recent rhetoric on Japan’s global cultural power in relation to the export of anime and manga (McGray, 2002).These discourses emphasize the symbolic (and subsequent economic) capital of the Japaneseness of anime and manga texts and they deliberately emphasize the commodity potentials of self- Orientalism. Murakami draws attention to these politics in the Superflat exhibition Coloriage (Coloring) at the Foundation Cartier by referring to it as â€Å"post-Japonisme† (Kelmachter, 2002: 103–104), thereby both connecting with the past market in Japanese art and suggesting a new contemporary context for the consumption of Superflat art.However, to reduce Superflat to a collusive Orientalism, or to see it as just a commodification of identity in a pejorative sense, misinterprets the dynamics in play. Murakami is both proffering resistance as well as marketing his work strategically. Firstly, Murakami articulates his identity through the exhibition structures of the West as well as through conventional signifiers of Japanese aesthetics in order to establish his profile and to sell his work.Yet he also acknowledges the ambivalences of his own position and the playfulness of this global soy sauce flavoring: In the worldview that holds delicate flavoring as the only concept of ‘beauty’ with any value, heavy flavouring is taboo, and too much stimulation is definitely problematic†¦ In order to create something that is understandable both to the West and Japan, what is needed is an ambivalent flavor and presentation †¦ . (Kaikaikiki Co. Ltd & Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2001: 131)Furthermore, dominant scholarly arguments on the popular consumption of anime and manga outside Japan hold that these forms express plural cultural identities and, as Allison (2000) shows, are detached from specific representations of space and place. This suggests that the consumption of Superflat, like that of anime and manga, is not simply based on a desire for reflected images of Japaneseness as a cultural Other; rather, it offers audiences a flexibility of alternate identities, free from specific geo-cultural connections.It can also be argued that a critical factor in the reception of Murakami’s works in the United States and Europe has been the familiarity of the Superflat aesthetic to anime and manga as part of a common rather than Orientalised visual vocabulary. Superflat echoes the paradox of affirming the non-nationality of texts, while also presenting them as expressions of national-cultural identity. However, there is another way to explain this contradiction of Superflat between the affirmation of non-national and specific cultural identities.The critical theorist Yoda Tomiko (2000) presents contemporary anime forms as a useful example of a coterminous fluidity between local codes that are interchangeable and coexistent with non-local elements. Elements in the text can be swapped around and adapted for different audiences, and these elemen ts are simultaneously collated with non-specific elements drawn from a wide variety of sources; therefore, the overall form remains transportable as well as expressing cultural proximity.While this process of adaptation is not new, what Yoda indicates is that it is increasingly becoming a normative process within the logic of postmodern consumer society. The local identity expressed in Superflat utilizes the connections with Edo and anime and manga culture to articulate its cultural specificity and yet it also expresses a postmodern fluidity and self-reflexivity that enables it to be globally circulated. The following section demonstrates the multifarious local/global codes and cultures in Murakami’s figure sculpture My Lonesome Cowboy. Superflat IdentityTakashi Murakami may have been the happiest at Sotheby’s Auction on May 14th. My Lonesome Cowboy, his larger-than-life sculpture of a boy waving an ejaculate lasso, brought in $15. 2 million — quintupling the ar tist's previous record at auction. Just like what Alexandra Munro has written, â€Å"Murakami does not merely appropriate the manga and anime based worlds of otaku subculture; he operates within them. His lushly bright, mutant characters, all of which have names, act coveted by convenience store consumers as much as they are sought after by international art community. Murakami’s works always act in the multiple spaces in and between Japan and the West, referencing there intertwined relations. My Lonesome Cowboy can be linked to a number of familiar aesthetic forms from both Western and Japanese art history, thus it is a field of knowledge operating both within and between the social, cultural and aesthetic conditions of East and West. My Lonesome Cowboy is characterized by a large lasso of ejaculate reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s splash paintings in the late 1940s.The confident masturbatory pose of the figure can be interpreted as a parodic and sexualized reference to the phallo-centric ideology of Western Modernism, in which the autonomy and expressive subjectivity (as well as the masculinity) of artists such as Pollock was celebrated. The title itself, My Lonesome Cowboy, also references the heroism and romanticism of the iconic image of the cowboy, which was celebrated in relation to the New York Abstract Expressionist painters, and was parodied in the homo-erotica of Andy Warhol’s film Lonesome Cowboys (1969).The stream of ejaculation fluid is both an exaggerated and grotesque parody of otaku (hard-core anime and manga fans) imaginings and masturbatory activities and a parody of the ‘unique’ stroke of the brush of the artist. The overt and ironic decorativeness of the fiberglass splash subverts the modernist ideology of the unique mark of the artist’s hand as an expression of interior subjectivity in a manner that is reminiscent of Roy Lichtenstein’s series of screen-prints, Brushstrokes, created in the m id to late 1960s.These references are then combined with recognizable Japanese aesthetic markers. For example, the Dragon Ball Z character Goku is the model for the head of the cowboy; the splash of ejaculate is also reminiscent of the static dynamism of Hokusai’s ukiyo-e print View of Mount Fuji through High Waves off Kanagawa (ca. 1829–1833). The standing pose of the figure with the power and energy concentrated in the hips thrust forward, accentuated by the expulsion of liquid from the penis, is something that has also been specifically linked to the style of character pose developed in anime (Kaikaikiki Co.Ltd & Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2001: 96). This is contrasted to the Western comic hero pose in which the concentration of power and muscular strength is emphasized in the pectoral muscles (96). The sense of dynamism between stasis and movement in My Lonesome Cowboy can also be linked to various forms of compositional structures in Japanese screen-paintin gs and anime. One of the key features of early Japanese television animation is an aesthetic based on the frozen pose, in which a figure can leap in the air and freeze the pose, unfixed from gravity.Part of the rationality behind the frozen moment in animation was a response to budget constraints and efficient production processes; by freezing the frame and allowing the dialogue to continue fewer frames of animated movement were needed for the narrative (Lamarre, 2002: 335). As a stylistic tendency, the technique of freezing the action in animation relies on selecting the most dramatic or aesthetic moment to freeze, creating a dramatic pause before the action (2002: 335–336).Therefore, what is evident is that Murakami simultaneously articulates Japanese and Western aesthetic markers in My Lonesome Cowboy. While these references can be individually demarcated and identified, there is also an interchangeable flexibility that is addressed. More specifically, what this means is t hat the splash of semen can simultaneously reference Pollock, Lichtenstein, Hokusai and Kanada. Thus, it becomes a fluid and slippery signifier. This can be explained as one of the reasons for the global prominence and popularity of Superflat and Murakami.Furthermore, the art historical and popular cultural references would be considered relatively conventional markers for audiences conversant with these texts. Many of the Japanese works in the Superflat catalogue are held in Western collections, including Hokusai’s Great Wave. Murakami’s works are therefore characterized by a particular inter-determinacy, which enables him to manipulate the Japanese identity of the works while also utilizing the familiarity of the visual references for Western audiences. This trategy is further complicated by the overlapping historical aesthetic relationship between Japan and the West. First, the concept of Superflatness, as an aesthetic of two-dimensionality, reinforces the Western i mage of Japan as a culture of surface. The development of the flat surface, which has been interpreted by Clement Greenberg as the underpinning aesthetic realization of Western modern painting, was influenced by Japanese art, particularly ukiyo-e prints, in the nineteenth century (Evett, 1982: ix–x).In particular, an aesthetic of two-dimensionality was identified as a distinctive feature of Japanese art in late nineteenth century Europe (1982: 30). 13 In contrast to the Western discursive construct of Japanese art as inherently two-dimensional, Western practices of linear perspective by this time had already influenced Japanese art. 14 Secondly, because anime and manga are increasingly familiar to consumers outside of Japan, particularly since their export in the 1990s, they have become part of the database of visual aesthetics of artists and fans outside of Japan (Craig, 2000: 7).The complex visual cultural relationships between Japan, United States and European art are more politically intertwined than these explicit and obvious references imply because they are influenced by ideologies and constructions of national identity. The image of Japan as a culture of surface continued into the twentieth century and was translated from the mid-1980s into the confirmation of Japan’s post modernity: Japan as a culture of surface was now celebrated (Barthes, 1982; Field, 1997) and it was constructed (arguably) as the epitome of post-modernity (Miyoshi and Harootunian). 5 This was contrasted to Western modernist discourse of the surface as a manifestation of interior subjectivity. Postmodernism presented a challenge to this concept of originality and interior/exterior distinctions through theories of simulacrum, pastiche and the collapsing of surface/depth models as developed by Baudrillard (1983), Jameson (1991), and Virilio (1991). Even the discourses that emphasized Japan’s creative skill in domesticating foreign imports (Tobin, 1992) as a contra st to the earlier pejorative concept of mimicry reinforced the image of Japan as an appropriator of different styles or surfaces.While the distinction between surface and depth is not absent in Japan, the duality between surface and depth in Western modern epistemology (and even in subsequent discourses that challenge it) is not necessarily expressed using those dichotomous terms in Japanese culture; rather, the surface is considered to be meaningful and creative. For example, the art historian Tsuji Nobuo (2002: 18) identifies the decorative surface as providing a link between the ordinary and everyday sphere and the extraordinary metaphysical realm.In this way, the decorative surface does not ‘lack’ meaning but is active as an intermediary expression and aesthetic. Hendry (1993) also identifies the importance of ‘wrapping’ in Japanese culture, in which the external layers, whether they be clothing, architecture or gifts, form the critical meaning structur e. Wrapping operates as a method of accumulating ‘layers of meaning’ that are not normally present in the unwrapped object (1993: 17). This process inverts the Western philosophical privileging of the core (the object inside the wrapping) as the primary site of meaning and the external wrapping as obscuring the object.In fact Hendry argues that the meaning of the enclosed object and the layers of wrapping are conceptually embedded in each other and cannot be separated (1993: 17). While flatness and the emphasis on surface quality and decoration in Superflat art can thus be considered an exploitation of the Western construct of Japan as a culture of surface aesthetics, it can also be interpreted as an assertion of the creative value of the surface in Japanese culture. In this latter interpretation Superflatness becomes a unique aesthetic form that articulates multiple and active spaces, not the erasure or reduction of meaning.The concept of active flatness and continual transformation is a useful approach to understanding the Superflat aesthetic. It is difficult to differentiate a singular point of origin or a stable and unified subject in the multiple cultural identities embedded in My Lonesome Cowboy. Such is the shared history and cross-fertilization of aesthetic forms that these multiple layers of references and aesthetic histories of Japan and the United States/Europe present a significant complexity to the explicit identification of these references as Japanese or Western.Furthermore, to presume that they will even be decoded as signifying geo-cultural aesthetic territories is equally problematic. It is evident that Murakami’s explicitly playful references act as heterogeneous and malleable signifiers of identity, and thus can be readily interpreted as a postmodern expression of multiplicity. Furthermore, the inter-textual references to Japanese art history, Western art history, and imagined constructions of Japanese identity, play to the knowingness of audiences. The Westernization of Superflat and its Japaneseness articulate two forms that can be accessed by Murakami from his database of codes.