History of IKEA Essay

Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943. The name IKEA is formed from Kamprad’s initials (I.K.) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd (E) and Agunnaryd (A), the farm and village where he grew up (1). IKEA originally sold pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, and jewelry and nylon stockings. Known today for its furniture, IKEA did not start furniture sales until 1948. Kamprad saw opportunities for selling furniture on a large scale, distributing the first catalogue in 1951. In 1955, in the midst of a fierce price war with a competitor, Kamprad took his company a step further by opening the first store showroom. The concept behind this was that customers could now touch and look at IKEA home furnishings before they purchased, showing that quality did not have to be sacrificed for lower prices. With this being a success, Kamprad opened the first store in Almhult, Sweden in 1958. At its opening, the 6,700-meter store was the largest home furnishings store in Scandinavia (1). Kamprad retired as IKEA Group’s president in 1986, with Anders Moberg becoming his successor. This brought about many other changes for IKEA. Starting in 1990, IKEA took interest in corporate social responsibility (1). The IKEA Group developed an environmental policy that would ensure the company and its co-workers take environmental responsibility for all activities conducted within its business. Since then, they have become more energy efficient by generating their own renewable energy. They also work with their suppliers to inspire them to do the same. One example of this is each of their facilities is fully equipped with solar panels on the roof. They also take into consideration where and how they get their raw materials. Raw materials most important to the business and those that have the highest potential environmental or social impact are wood, cotton, palm oil, leather and food (3). Taking wood, they are continually looking for ways to get the most out of the wood they use by designing their products to minimize the amount of material needed and increasing the effici ency of manufacturing. They also only use wood that comes from responsibly managed forests in an effort to safeguard wood supplies to protect the future of their business, prevent deforestation, and to support the livelihoods of those communities. In order to make sure these efforts continue IKEA hired a fulltime forestry manager to secure sustainable use of forest resources (3). Upon Anders Moberg leaving IKEA in 1999, Anders Dahlvig became the President and CEO of the IKEA Group. This brought about more changes for the company by writing out a Code of Conduct. This code of conduct called â€Å"The IKEA Way on Purchasing Home Furnishing Products (IWAY)† defines what suppliers can expect from IKEA and specifies what IKEA expects from its suppliers in terms of legal requirements, working conditions, active prevention of child labor, external environment and forestry management (1). In addition, IKEA also introduced â€Å"The IKEA Way on Preventing Child Labor† in order to ensure that their suppliers and their sub-contractors use no child labor (1). IKEA has grown rapidly since its founding. As of August 31, 2012, the IKEA Group has operations in 44 countries, including 30 service-trading offices in 25 countries. T hey also have 33 distribution centers and 11 customer distribution centers. The IKEA Group had 298 stores in 26 countries. They employ 139,000 co-workers, 99,000 in Europe, 18,000 in North America, 11,000 in Asia and Australia, and 11,000 in Russia. They send out over 212 million catalogues, which has increased their foot traffic into the retail setting to 776 million visits. As technology use increases, so has their internet and app traffic with 1.1 billion visits to their website and over 5.7 million app downloads. With these increasing numbers, they have been able to open another 18 stores around the world in 2012 (5). IKEA’s vision and business statement paraphrased is to provide quality furniture products at a low price for all. Their product has always been furniture and over the past few years, they have grown to a company that is well known among all ranges of income from, broke college students to wealthy senior executives of companies. They do provide quality products whose function and style rival all other products in their industry. With those rival products, they also have prices that are lower than any of their competitors can afford to rival. How do they do it? IKEA is a very cost conscience company, where other companies will spend large sums of money on employee accommodations, IKEA does not. They tell of an instance where employees were at a conference and instead of paying for them to stay in the one and only hotel in town, an overpriced Marriot, they had their employees sleep in their cars (6). They have recently adopted a new energy saving method for each of their stores, both bettering the atmosphere as well as cutting energy costs. This mentality of saving, though extreme, has allowed the company to build a business into an industry leader in quality and price that most companies are not able to touch, based on their spending habits. This has been the mentality of the company structure since day one. Kamprad grew up in a farm-based village where people were not used to having quality products at an affordable price. From this, he developed the mentality and business structure that continues. The company has grown immensely due to their overall understanding of cost cutting and satisfying customer needs. The companies’ culture, as listed above, is all about saving money to provide a better company and product to the customer. One example of this is Kamprad had made company employees sleep in cars on a business trip. Having not talked to an employee that was forced to sleep in their car, as opposed to a Marriot hotel bed, I cannot say how they feel toward the company. That being said, I could make two inferences. The first is that the employees were upset. They should be provided with the basic essentials of life when on a business trip and the company should be able and willing to provide that. My second inference would be that these employees made this decision for themselves as well as the company, for the overall benefit of the company. The company advertises that that they share values for each employee. They ask for a unique employee and they advertise that they are not â€Å"filling jobs† but rather collaborating with people based on shared unique values. They compose and suggest these four-shared values as just a start to their list of shared values; One: togetherness, two: cost-consciousness, three: respect, four: simplicity. With those, four shared values maybe being their foundations, it would be easy to say that all employees, if truly investing time and effort into these values, are happy to work together in a uniform effort to save money as well as remain simple and respect one another. This would imply that they all are happy to work together in a situation that is best for everyone, as well as the company. IKEA is an industry leader when it comes to cutting costs and providing quality furniture at a price for everyone. In the market place, they have established themselves with their main competitive advantage to be price. They have done this in a way that most companies are not willing or would be too difficult for companies to rebuild their business model; and thus they are an industry leader. IKEA has established their marketing strategy as a furniture store that provides its customers with stylish furniture at an affordable price. Its founder Ingvar Kamprad instilled this strategy/mindset of the company. Mr. Kamprad’s mission for IKEA is to offer â€Å"a wide range of home furnishing items of good design and function, at prices so low that the majority of people can afford to buy them.† Therefore, IKEA’s focus is finding ways to lower prices yet still maintain the quality product they have been delivering, to its customers, for 70 years. This is their competitive advantage. IKEA maintains their competitive advantage by operating outside the practices of the conventional furniture supplier. A typical furniture store has an open show floor, where customers can peruse at their own leisure. IKEA steers away from this by designing its store in a trail pattern. This forces the buyer to proceed to the entire store and possibly find items they might not had intended on purchasing. Another thing IKEA does differently is, instead of providing delivery for every purchase, IKEA provides means of attaching containers on a customer’s car. This allows them to be able to take the furniture home the same day that they purchased it (7). The containers are usually pods that strap onto the top of a car. Then the customer takes it home and brings it back upon their next visit to IKEA. In addition, IKEA requires more of its customers than classic furniture stores. IKEA does not offer pre-assembled furniture. IKEA’s furniture is easy to assemble furniture that customers can take home and quickly put together (7). They take pride in the simplicity of their designed assembly. They also will not place a cumbersome item that would need to be assembled in the store because it is neither cost effective nor customer friendly (7). IKEA’s main strength comes from their value chain. â€Å"Unique design capabilities, unique sourcing, and tightly controlled logisti cs†¦they are able to produce products that are distinctive enough to provide market recognition, secure sourcing for long runs at profitable levels, and reduce inventory costs through regional warehouses which work closely with stores† (4). Meaning, IKEA is in complete control from furniture design to furniture delivery and storage. IKEA’s main weakness, one could assume, would be the large operation that it is. IKEA now operates in 29 different countries with over 2,000 suppliers in over 50 countries. With the large span of products and countries involved, maintaining control and communication will pose as one of IKEA’s biggest issues. The biggest challenge IKEA is facing would be wood. IKEA consumes 1% of total commercial wood, which amounts to over 13.5 million cubic meters (8). With all this considered, IKEA is launching a new campaign to operate in a more economic-friendly way by only processing wood that has been FSC certified. They are slowly incorporating new policies and plan to be â€Å"forest positive† by 2020; however, missed their 2012 goal of using 35% of their wood from FSC certified wood mainly because according to IKEA’s CSO Steve Howard, ‘only 7% of the world’s forest areas are currently certified to FSC standards† (8). However, IKEA is not only meeting obstacles from the environment, certain countries bureaucratic powers are causing some difficulty for further advancement in the country. China is one of these countries. The Chinese government is imposing harsh restrictions on its real estate market, which has caused stores to close (9). IKEA continues to grow every year by saving money at their current locations through energy saving building and using renewable resources. With their corporate responsibility programs, they continue lead the way in their industry. They also continue to work toward a better future for children all over the world through their Child Labor initiatives. As they continue to keep costs down, they will continue to expand all over the world. Works Cited 1. â€Å"About IKEA.† History. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. 2. â€Å"Facts &Figures.† Inter IKEA Systems B.V. N.p., Oct. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 3. Canada, Newswire. â€Å"IKEA Group releases 2011 Sustainability Report.† Canada Newswire 15 Feb. 2012: Regional Business News. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 4. Grol, Paul, Christopher Schoch, and Michel Roger. â€Å"Culture as a Competitive Advantage.† Efbl.org. N.p., 16 Dec. 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. 5. â€Å"IKEA Group SWOT Analysis.† IKEA Group SWOT Analysis (2012): 1-8. Business Source Complete. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 6. Lewis, Elen. â€Å"Chapter 2: Ingvar Kamprad: The Grand Designer.† GBS: Great IKEA!. 28-45. n.p.: Marshall Cavendish Limited, 2004.Business Source Complete. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 7. â€Å"The IKEAConcept.† Inter IKEA Systems B.V. N.p., Oct. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 8. Kelly, Annie. â€Å"IKEA to Go ‘forest Positive’ à ¢Ã‚€Â“ but Serious Challenges Lie Ahead.† The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 201 3. 9. â€Å"WantChinaTimes.com.† WantChinaTimes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2013.

Is Marxism Still Relevant Today?

The Industrial Revolution (1750-1850) had brought about significant changes in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation and technology and subsequently established an era of unprecedented economic growth in capitalist economies. It was within this era that Karl Marx had observed the deprivation and inequality experienced by men of the proletariat, the working class, who had laboured excessively for hours under inhumane conditions to earn a minimum wage while the bourgeoisie, the capitalist class, reaped the benefits.For Marx it was this fundamental inequality within the social and economic hierarchy that had enabled capitalist societies to function. While Marx’s theories, in many instances have been falsified and predictions invalid, his ideas about class struggle and conflict being a motivator for change is still relevant in contemporary society. The disparity of wealth between occupations in Australia demonstrates that class stratification is still inherent within society and the recent Qantas airline dispute is a relevant example of this.Marx’s theory of class struggle originates with his belief that â€Å"the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles† (Marx & Engel, 1848). Marx had established that conflict between classes was the key driving force of history and the main determinant of social change. For Marx, conflict originates with the deterioration of a ‘false consciousness’ and the subsequent acquisition of a unified ‘class consciousness’.Marx argued that that proletariat was under the influence of a ‘false consciousness’ brought about with the acceptance of the dominant ideology that freedom and equality could be interpreted as an equal exchange of labour for wages (van Krieken et al. , 2010). Marx however, perceived this as an exploitive relationship because in capitalism, the labourer only receives what is deemed sufficient to meet his basic needs for himself and his family, as opposed to the real value of his labour power.Marx had identified that the difference between the labourer’s wage and the value of the goods in which he produces is taken as profit, of which only the capitalist is the beneficiary (Habibis & Walter, 2009). Marx had theorised that, as a result of this exploitive relationship, alienation would occur. Marx argued that commodification of goods and services produced in conjunction with the lack of control over the end result would mean that workers would no longer recognise a connection with their labour, and hence become alienated from their labour.Only with the recognition of class exploitation and alienation would a class consciousness develop. Marx referred to class consciousness as a ‘class for itself’, denoting a collective self-awareness of the interests shared by members of a social group (van Krieken et al. , 2010). Marx predicted that class consciousness would create a conflict of interest between classes and revolution would eventuate. The bourgeoisie would be overthrown, capitalism would collapse and a classless state would emerge as its successor (van Krieken et al. , 2010). In post-modern times however, it is widely accepted that the opposite occurred.Critics insist that Marxism’s credibility was eradicated with the fall of the communist states within the ‘Eastern Bloc’. While others such as China, although still governed by a communist party, have adopted numerous capitalist policies (van Krieken et al. , 2010). Marxism has also been criticised for its over-concentration on economic relationships and its tendency to overlook other forms of non-economic conflicts (Griffith, 2005). Feminists, for example, argue that the conflicts between male and female relations are not necessarily related to economics, but patriarchal.Furthermore, Marx like other social theorists at the time had ignored the role and contribution of women. Marx had described the proletariat of industrial societies where manual labour was involved; he did not however, take into consideration a woman’s domestic or reproductive labour. Federici (2004) asserts that Marx failed to recognise the importance of reproductive labour because he had adopted the capitalist criteria for what constitutes labour and believed that a wage in exchange for labour would be the paradigm that shapes humanity. Considering that as of 2010, 45. % of the Australian labour force comprised of women it would seem that Marx’s socialist perspective is less so equal or relevant in contemporary society. Marxism is often cited as being irrelevant within contemporary society due to the fact that Marx had critiqued an almost incomparable society. McDonald & Brownlee (2001) argue that contemporary society exists in a post-modern era where westernised societies enjoy the benefits of higher living standards, where the rights of employees are elicited within the Austra lian Constitution and the rights of humans are dictated within Geneva conventions.An era where employees are entitled to government pensions, allowances, superannuation, and employees accrue sick and annual leave (McDonald & Brownlee, 2001). Furthermore employees are able to seek union representation and are legally entitled to industrial action. McDonald and Brownlee (2001) assert that Fair Work Australia, established as an institution responsible for fixating minimum wage and resolving work related disputes, perpetuates the notion that Australia is in transition to become an egalitarian society with minimal class disparity.Critics have also argued that Marxism within western society is no longer relevant due to the increased levels of social mobility. Social mobility refers to movement in an individual’s or group’s social position over time and is often assessed on their change in income over time (Borgatta & Montogomery, 2000). The traditional stratification of clas ses had a tendency to overlook the middle class and analyse the two extremes of rich and poor, bourgeoisie and proletariat (van Krieken et al. 2010). In the context of Marxism, the middle class was ignored due to their perceived limited role within the political revolution that would depose of capitalism. In contemporary society however, the traditional labouring occupations have decreased, leading to a shortage of skilled labourers and tradesman. As a result these occupations often earn a higher income, blurring the line between working class and middle class (Braverman, 1974).In August 2011 the most common occupations were distinctly white collar with the workforce comprising of 22% professionals, 15% Clerical and administrative workers and 14% Technicians and trades workers (Australian Bureau Statistics, 2011). The evident emergence of the white collar-middle class within contemporary society significantly undermines Marx’s theory of class stratification who had predicted an absorption into the working class and the emergence of a classless state. Despite this however, research has suggested that social mobility has not necessarily increased.Graetz and McAllister (1994) identified that while the shift between manual and non-manual occupations has increased since the 1970’s, most of this has been the result of structural changes in light of technological innovations and advancements in modern society, as opposed to mobility in social classes. Moreover, Leigh (2007) argues that the youth of Australia are equally likely to reproduce, or not reproduce, the class of their parents and that social mobility in the context of Australian youth, has not necessarily increased.Argy (2005) reinforces this argument and states that while Australia can be referred to as economically liberated country, there has not necessarily been an increase in equal opportunity and the distribution of wealth within Australia is an evident example of this. The National Centr e for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) was commissioned to conduct a study in relation to the distribution of wealth in Australia. NATSEM analyst Simon Kelly (2002) reported that the richest fifth of households in Australia each have, on average, forty times more wealth than the poorest fifth of the population.The NATSEM data reiterates that wealth within Australia is still concentrated in the hands of the wealthy minority who have ascertained the benefits of the economic growth in recent years by disproportionately increasing their personal wealth (Stillwell & Primrose, 2011). The disparity of wealth between occupations was a key indicator of the inequality between classes. NATSEM data identified that personal wealth is the highest for managers and administrators (men $250,000, women $183,300) and professionals (men $173,800, women $99,700).In contrast to these figures, the lowest personal wealth is held by the production and transport workers ($55,400), labourers (men 39,700 , women $29,300) and trade persons (men 60,000, women 35,000) (Stillwell & Primrose, 2011). From a sociological perspective class inequality is often represented by comparing class personal wealth and income. From a Marxism perspective however, a person’s social class isn’t defined by personal wealth but rather the level of control that a person wields over the means of production.According to Ben Hillier (2012) it is measured in terms of social wealth derived from the â€Å"control of the productive or financial apparatus of society†. This can be interpreted as the bourgeoisie having ownership of the assets that enable modern society to function such as the telecommunications infrastructure, electrical companies, newspaper enterprises, transport facilities and mines etc. The transactional influence of these assets inevitably provides its owner with the power to influence governments of capitalist societies and effects how society functions.The recent Qantas air ways dispute demonstrated how this power is exercised. One recent example of class conflict inherent within Australian society was the Qantas airways dispute. On 29th October 2011, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce issued a press release announcing the immediate grounding and cancellation of all Australian domestic and international flights and the lock-out of all employees without pay. Leading up to the unprecedented grounding, Qantas had been involved in contract negotiations with unions representing employees of the company.The unions were seeking a 3-5% wage increase and better job security for casual staff. (Mulcahy, 2011). Around the same time Qantas had announced its decision to slash 1000 jobs and restructure its fleet to move to Asia under a new airline Jetstar Japan. The traditional international routes within the North Atlantic were operating at a loss with a half year profit of $241 million a year ago, dropping by 83%, to $42 million (Ryan, 2012). Despite the evident decline in prof it the airlines had awarded Alan Joyce with a 71% lift in his total remuneration package to $5. 1 million, after he received $2. million worth of shares (Mulcahy, 2011). After two days the debacle finally ended with the intervention of the Federal government submitting an application to Fair Work Australia (FWA), terminating the industrial dispute and ordering Qantas to resume operations. The verdict stated that those involved had 21 days to finalise a settlement to the dispute and neither party could engage in further action for three years after a settlement had been made. If an agreement could not be reached the Fair Work industrial courts would arbitrate the details of the contracts (Mulcahy, 2011).The economic impact was expected to be profound, Qantas which represents approximately 65% of the aviation industry, contributes $6 billion to the Australian economy and employs 50,000 employees (Squires, 2011). Although Qantas reports that the dispute cost them $120 million, its shar e prices increased by 6% to $1. 61 (Frith, 2011). The controversy attracted much political and economic commentary speculating on who won the dispute and what this would mean for those involved. Alan Joyce explicitly stated that the FWA ruling was a favourable decision for Qantas as â€Å"nobody any more can take industrial action† (Taylor, 2011).This thereby would allow Qantas to restructure its fleet in Asia, ascertaining cheaper wages by outsourcing and offshoring labour, without any internal opposition. The unions established to represent the working class of businesses and corporations would be made obsolete for three years allowing any injustices within the workplace to remain unresolved. From a Marxist perspective this would mean that the bourgeoisie of the company, the CEO and high profile managers, who already have exceeding high salaries, would profit from the new means of production and the proletariat would be further disadvantaged with pay cuts and the isk of red undancy. Karl Marx’s critique of industrial societies developed out of the belief that conflict between stratified classes such as the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, would be the drive needed to perpetuate social change. Marx believed that with the acquisition of a class consciousness the proletariat would revolt against the exploitative capitalist institution, eradicating all class structures and establishing a socialist state. Admittedly, Marx’s critique failed to recognise essential components of society such as the middle class and female representation which has significantly undermined Marx’s theory of class struggle.Furthermore Marx’s predictions have been falsified in light of modern developments which have led to many critics casting doubt on its relevance within contemporary society. The higher living standards, government allowances and union representation enjoyed by citizens within Australia all perpetuate notions of equality and repudiate the potential collapse of capitalism. Despite this however, there are still many instances of class inequality inherent in Australian society.The disparity of wealth between occupations in Australia demonstrates that the minority with extreme wealth have control over the means of production, and have used the power derived from it to influence society’s development. The recent Qantas dispute is a testament of how this power is exercised and demonstrates how the wealthy minority are able to accumulate excess wealth at the expense of the labouring class. Thus attesting to the inherent class inequality that Marx had recognised, and acknowledging its existence within contemporary Australian society. ?

A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college Essay

ducation is one of the most important pillars of the nation’s development. Education is a weapon which can change the world. Primary education is the base for the students. So a country should have a very good curriculum for the students in their Primary school study. A curriculum, which will make each student withstand the future competition and will lead to country’s development. So if a nation have the same national curriculum it would be beneficial in so many perspectives. If a nation have same national curriculum then it would be easy for government to construct a nationwide program to train teachers. It would be easy to evaluate students on the same basis. Same national curriculum will decrease the efforts to construct the region wide education course in country. In India we have Central Board and State Board. Central board is followed by some states, while all other states follow a separate State board program. Each state has its own Program of primary education including different evaluation system, marking system and subjects to study. This requires a big management to maintain the track. So same national curriculum will cut down these efforts and can make use of these efforts in improving the education system. This approach would be beneficial for the students in terms of options available. The same curriculum will open the doors of all the colleges and courses available there nationwide. Students will have a healthy competition environment. Students can study variety of courses and will be able to go in desired college. In the current system of a student wants to go in any other college belong to other state then he has to give an entrance examination and it differs according to the course he wants to study. But if this approach get followed by the nation then it would be easy for a student to get this rid of this. A student can follow his heart and make his dreams true. It would be propitious for them who have to frequently transfer their locations because of their service such as in military services, government services etc. Currently it is very difficult for their children’s to accommodate in new environment, especially school and its curriculum. For example in India If a student belonging to Maharashtra went to study in Chennai then it would be difficult for him to get into routine. He has to start again in new way in the new environment. But if the curriculum would be same at national level till college then it would be easy for them to continue their study without any difficulty. But though this approach is good enough, it may create some problems while implementing it at national level. Like to change the established system and to implement the new on nationwide would take significant amount of time and efforts. Students in the middle of the primary education may find it somewhat difficult to get adjust to new curriculum. As students would be having more options to choose then it might lead to confusion while making choice. Those students who don’t want to leave their native place or state then it would be difficult for them. For example if a student don’t get admission I any college residing at his place then that student might have to go another place. But overall this approach is beneficial enough to implement. Though it would require some efforts and time once get implemented it would be best.

The Mass - An Obligation Or Joy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

The Mass - An Obligation Or Joy - Term Paper Example The primary objective of this paper is to establish that the Mass is a feast of joy and not an obligation. This research paper will compare and contrast the Old and New Testament viewpoints of the Mass and illustrate how different parts make the Mass a joyful feast. The paper will also highlight the significance of active participation during progress of the Mass makes it a feast of joy. The concept and process of the Mass are similar in the both the New and Old Testaments, although there are some differences in viewpoints of the Mass between the two Testaments. The New Testament mass comprises of two main parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist2. These major parts are further divided into subsections to make a whole Mass. The standard duration for a Catholic Mass is two or three hours, and two or three Mass services may run on a Sunday. The Mass is a symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice, which makes present the passion of Christ through the priest and joins huma n beings as partakers of His meal. Most people believe that the Mass is an obligation for all Catholics; however, the Mass is a joyful and voluntary activity among the Catholics. The Celebration of the Mass in the Old Testament and Comparisons to the New Testament Concept of the Mass The fundamental nature of the Mass is contingent upon the venue and functions that participants perform. The Mass in the Old Testament was celebrated in Tents and Temples. There existed the Holy of Holies that housed the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was covered with the Propitiatory or Mercy Seat. The Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s staff and the vessel containing Manna. The Holy of Holies also contained the Cherubim, which was a winged creature supporting the throne of God and acting as a guardian Spirit. The Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant were kept in the Temple. Old Testament priests were allowed to access the Tabernacle and the Ark of th e Covenant during feasts and sacrifices. The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies are similar to the Tabernacle in the New Testament. The Old Testament Temple and Tents of Worship housed the sanctuary. The sanctuary was the Altar of incense, which contained ten candlesticks. The sanctuary also contained the table of loaves, which was also referred to as the bread of the presence. The frankincense that the New Testament priests spray to the congregation during the Mass commemorates the Old Testament incense. The Catholic Church has an altar table from where the priest prepares the Eucharist before distributing it to the congregation3. This table holds the Eucharist bread and the wine that symbolizes the blood of Christ. The candles keep burning on the sanctuary throughout the church service. These candles are similar to the ten candlesticks in the Old Testament. The New Testament, however, burns two candles while the Old Testament used ten candlesticks to represent the Ten Comm andments. The table for the loaves in the Old Testament is similar to the Eucharist table in the New Testament. Another component of the Old Testament Temples was the Vestibule. The Vestibule was the bronze altar of sacrifice. The Vestibule contained the bronze sea of water for purificatio

Is Realism realistic as an approach to understanding contemporary Essay

Is Realism realistic as an approach to understanding contemporary global politics - Essay Example Neo-realism ideologies however suggest that the states may not be entirely in control as there is a layer above the states which may be dominating in terms of defining the overall behavior of states at the global level. neo-realism therefore differs quite significantly from the realism as it views the states and the overall global political order as a system based upon complex relationships. As per the system thinking, states may not be entirely in charge of determining their own behavior and moves. Though realism may seem a realistic approach theoretically but it may not be entirely a realistic approach in terms of implementing the same. Issues such as globalization, changing economic preferences, dominance of terrorist and other pressure groups as well as the influence of super powers may be some of the key issues which may not allow States to actually design and develop strategies based on their own self interest. The first part of the essay will discuss the theoretical background about the realism and neo-realism whereas in the second part of this essay, it will be argued as to whether the realism remains one of the realistic approaches to deal with the issues of contemporary global politics. Realism – A General Introduction Realism is one of the most important concepts with wide ranging applications both in international relations and politics. Political realism outlines that national interests are always above any other moral obligations. Realism therefore outlines the need for nation-state and suggests that nation-states are motivated by the national interests of the states and these interests are often disguised in the moral concerns for the nation-states. Realism is an opposite of liberalism which advocates the use of cooperation in the international relations. Realists however, on the other hand believe that the principal actors in international arena are the states themselves wh ich decide based on their own interests and other considerations. There is therefore an inherent dichotomy within realism which outlines that the politics at the domestic level must be governed by the rule of law and ethics however, at the international level it must not be engaged into any ethical considerations and therefore should only focus on its self-interests while dealing at the global level. (Harrison, 2002) It is also however, important to note that the classical realism does not actually discard the ethics entirely within international politics. As such realism therefore is not entirely based upon the Machiavellian notion of everything is fair in the interest of the State. Realism is also not inclined towards any conflict or War Between the States however, it only points out to the assumption that the international relationships between the states should be based upon securing the interests of the state first. However, the ability to secure the interests of the State firs t largely depends upon the ability of the State to have power both in terms of economic as well as military. If the State cannot have sufficient economic and military power, it is unlikely to secure or safeguard its interests in the international politics. It is therefore important to understand that realism or classical realism as it is often referred to gives preferences to national interest

Management Report on the Analysis of the Strategic Situation of ARM Essay - 1

Management Report on the Analysis of the Strategic Situation of ARM Holdings - Essay Example The main objective of the report is to understand the strategic initiatives that ARM Holdings takes to gain a formidable stand in the microprocessor market in United Kingdom. Herein the paper focuses on the business and gross environment of the company in regards to the United Kingdom market for microprocessors and then endeavours to understand the strategic initiatives taken by the company in that regard. The paper focuses to understand the strategic position of the company in regards to its different competitors operating in the United Kingdom market. In the second phase the company focuses on the analysis of the industrial and macro environment of the company in regards to the United Kingdom market to understand its relative position in the enhanced market. The paper moves on to discuss the strategic elements incorporated by the business corporation to sustain its competitive and business position in the market. Here the paper incorporates separate strategic tools to evaluate the position of the company in the United Kingdom microprocessor market. After conducting the evaluation of the strategic position of the company in the United Kingdom region in regards to other competitors and general and specific business environment the paper tends to draw effective recommendations. In regards to recommendations it is stated that how the company can help develop on its business and gain a la rger market in the region.

Ethical dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Ethical dilemma - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that ethics is at the core of every practice in the field of childcare. When childcare workers deal with an ethical dilemma, they must be guided by the essential values which underpin ethical framework, honesty, and trust. When dealing with a dilemma, it is important to follow the Ethical Response circle (ERC) to resolve the dilemma. If one educator or director handles the issue without supporting evidence, the dilemma won’t be resolved completely. When a dilemma arises it is important that the staff follow the ERC using supporting documents to support them. The researcher’s   group chose Ethical dilemma 3. The dilemma centered around a preschool boy who was wearing a female clothing when his dad arrived to pick him up. The father got really angry seeing his son in female clothing. The childcare educator tried to explain the situation, but the boy’s father was really frustrated. So the researchers started the Ethical Response Circle, where I had the role of the child. Each of the group members posted a reactionary response according to the stages provided by the tutor.   At the end, the researchers reached a resolution. The child’s best interests were the main focus of the discussion between the parents and the childcare center staff. The researchers agreed to provide the boy's parents with information about our program, their son's interests and choices of activities by using the daily communication book.  ... But sometimes there is usually a difference between the parents knowledge and the career professional's knowledge. These are noted as factors inhibiting parent-career partnerships. In this dilemma there is a big gap between the partnership of the centre and the parents. That is why we looked at NQS Element 1.1.6. Each child’s agency is promoted, enabling them to make choices and decisions and to influence events and their world. Early childhood professionals have an important role in advocating for children (Smith, A. B. (2007). But advocating for children is not about undermining the role of parents. That was why we moved to the next level of the ERC; Professional Consideration. At this level, we believed that it was important to support our practice and policies by addressing the Code of Ethics as the key factor of our professionalism. The Code of Ethics acknowledged that in relation to children we must â€Å"Acknowledge his uniqueness and potential to ensure he enjoys his childhood†. Besides this we incorporated The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the National Quality Standard (NQS) into daily life at our centre. Our professional staff plan daily activities based on their observations, extend them when children show interest in particular themes and we also use intentional teaching as part of our program. We encouraged the boy's parents to borrow the copies of EYLF and NQS to get a better idea about the principles that our professional team follows to enhance children’s learning and development. After that the boy's parents showed more interest in listening to us. This is when we moved to next circle in ERC. The next circle was ethical principles. According to

SWOT analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SWOT analysis - Essay Example On the other hand, the findings of SWOT analysis lay the basis for developing tourism development and improvement programs that may come from the government. Therefore, this essay seeks to present a SWOT analysis of Malaysia as a destination and present the findings to the relevant authorities to find the best way of developing the country’s thriving and lucrative industry. Malaysia boasts of many tourist attractions ranging from the modern cities to the rich biodiversity (Chong, 2014). Tourists can enjoy themselves in a clean and large modern cities. On the other hand, the country offers opportunities for hiking where tourists can enjoy natural trails in the tropical jungles rich with plants, insect life, and animals. Tourists can also sunbathe on countrys unique sand beaches or can as well scuba dive in Malaysias rich coral reefs (Wong, Velasamy, & Arshad, 2011). The implication is that Malaysia, apart from the big and clean cities, is also rich in biodiversity but the effects that conventional tourism activities leave on the environment requires a deeper understanding of how to integrate tourism planning with biodiversity conservation. Moreover, the country provides mountain climbing experiences where tourists can tower the Malaysian mountains rich with strawberries and enjoy the view of tea plantations (Chong, 2014). Most of the Malaysian mountains lay within the central parts of the country, and the agglomeration of the modern cities provide unique experiences for visitors. Therefore, this essay seeks to carry out a SWOT analysis of Malaysias tourism industry. The government of Malaysia has put more effort to developing tourism in the country because it does not want the country to depend entirely on exports for economic growth. Thus, the government has initiated many projects with the aim of improving tourism sector to become a significant foreign exchange earner.

Summary and review of Selma movie Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary and of Selma - Movie Review Example In the movie, Ava DuVernay narrates the story of how King and his family created a transformation that changed the American history forever. The movie is a representation of the ancient darker days experienced by black Americans. The message ends with promises that terror will never be accepted or celebrated. Apart from depicting the advancement of change, Selma shows stunted evolution. It is a reminder that history is necessary to avoid making mistakes. The story gives an outline of both the ancient times and the way forward. While representing King, Oyelowo becomes a revelation in the movie. For instance, he brings out the spirit of his character instead of a visual interpretation. He brings out the image of the King as an exhausted man with the task of creating change and then combines it with disobedience, comedy, strength, and calculated expertise. Oyelowo’s outstanding performance depicts King as a complicated and imperfect person whose belief in God prevented him from experiencing absolute despair. This touching film intends to irritate, depress, and inspire the

International Comparative Human Resource Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International Comparative Human Resource - Essay Example The following are major functions of the human resource department as identified many organizations with well developed department divisions; Human resource planning (keeping workers records, forecasting, career modelling and succession planning); employment (recruitment, training, selection, testing and orientation); training and development (primary and advanced skills training, devising working programs); labour relation (solving employee concerns, monitoring morale, labour management programs); compensation (incentives, analyses of job performance, salary surveys and performance reviews); workforce benefits (administration of policy, health insurance, designing vacation and sick benefits schemes) (Fisher & Ashkanasy 2000); safety (making sure that the workplace complies with safety regulations like Occupational Safety and Heath Act, supervising security, carrying out possible accident investigations, and evaluation of the physical environment); discipline (policy formulation and coordination, conduction of disciplinary measures); and personnel research (conducting opinion surveys, carrying out the Human resource audit s, and analyzing work related statistics as well as publishing it), Gibb (2001). The understanding of the specific dimensions of the human resource management is very essential for any business o... Man power planning is very essential for any organization of a business firm. This sis because the consequences of the failing to do so are very costly and as such, a firm that is understaffed losses out on the economies of scale of the business and customers, profits and orders. However overstaffing on the other hand is wasteful and very costly at the same time (Johnson 2000, p 69). Basing on the current legitimate handling of workforce issues, it would be difficult to eliminate such a phenomenon because of redundancy payments, time of notice, and consultations. Furthermore, overstaffing discourages the competitive effectiveness of the firm. During planning, it's very essential to take into consideration all the future requirements so the firm and make comparisons with the current resources from which postulations can be made in terms of resources. This step attempts to balance the supply and demand needs. The process of selection and recruiting of workers is the second most critica l function of the business organization (Browne 2000). The first step to be conducted before the recruitment id initiated is the analysis of the work to be carried out (that is the analytical study of the responsibilities to be taken care of and to establish their important aspects) this is then written out in job descriptions so that during the selection those in charge can have a clear indication of exactly what to look for (applicant's mental and physical characteristics) in terms of attitudes, qualities and what are disadvantages (Johnson 2000, p 69). Employee evaluation is a crucial function as an organization needs to continually know the performance of tits

Calgon Water Softeners Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Calgon Water Softeners - Essay Example Johann A. Benckiser set up a chemical business ten years later to Colman setting up his business and the two companies became rivals for two centuries. Isaac Reckitt in around 1840 also setup a company that dealt in starch, polish, washing blue and other household products. His company went international within forty years. Colman and Reckitt merged in 1938 and formed Reckitt & Colman Ltd. Reckitt Benckiser is divided into two sections, the fabric care and surface care. The fabric care deals with products such as water softeners, pre wash treatment products, easy ironing aids, fabric softeners, etc. The Surface care section deals with all types of surface products like specialty cleaners, lavatory cleaners, surface polish, etc. Water containing high quantities of magnesium, calcium and other dissolved minerals is called hard water; hard water leaves layers of mineral deposits on surfaces that come in contact with it this deposit is generally termed as "limescale". It reduces the cleansing power of soap. "Water is described as "hard" when it contains too much calcium. This can be a problem, because the calcium prevents soap from lathering properly, and it also clogs up pipes" (Thomas 19). Due to this nature of hard water it causes failure of detergent to foam which reduces the performance of the detergent and initiates use of more detergent. The limescale gets deposited on the fabrics and it makes the fabric feel rough and due to this the cloth looses its natural suppleness thus leaving the fabric rough and uncomfortable. It also leaves deposits on the inner surface of washing machine pipes which causes failure of the equipment and shortened overall life. A chemical that reduces the hardness of water is called a water softener; these chemicals reduce the quantities of dissolved magnesium, calcium and to some extent the ferrous iron and manganese concentration in hard water thus softening it and the most common water softener is sodium carbonate. "Calgon has a unique formulation with active ingredients being polycarboxylates which softens hard water, preventing limescale from forming in the first place" (Calgon Water Softener). These ions that cause hardness in water cause three kinds of major problems. As mentioned above these ions react with the components present in soaps and detergents affecting the performance of the detergents, they form precipitates and hinder the detergents in forming lather. Other than this the second point is magnesium and calcium carbonates precipitate as hard deposits on heat exchanger surfaces and pipe surfaces. This is fundamentally caused either due to the thermal decomposition of the ions of bicarbonates or even in their absence. Due to this deposition the flow of water is restricted in the pipes. The flow of heat into water is also affected due to these deposits in boilers because they act as insulation, which overheats the components of the boiler and therefore reduces the heating efficiency. This results in the failure of the boiler in a pressurized system. "Calgon has the property of holding calcium and magnesium salts in solution, even when boiling" (Anchell 20). The third point is if the ions are present in the electrolyte which happens in this case, it may result in galvanic corrosion of hard water when one metal is corroded by another when it comes into contact, especially

Own Self Concepts Essay Example for Free

Own Self Concepts Essay Own Self Concepts SPC 2300 – 12 Own Self Concepts 1. Define one change you would like to make in yourself. It might be a behavior or anything about yourself that you would like to alter. * I would like to change one of my behaviors about myself. The worst quality about me is that I am always late no matter what the case may be. I am not late on purpose, but it seems like something always puts me behind schedule. It drives both my family and friends crazy. They have learned when I say I will be there in thirty minutes, to expect me in about an hour. This is a behavior of mine that I need to work on immediately. . Write a specific goal for making the change, being sure your goal is realistic and fair. Use affirming, motivational language in your goal. For example, â€Å"I will show my best friends that I am paying attention when they talk to me. † * This is something about myself I have needed to change for a long time. It is not something I do intentionally to drive my family and friends crazy. I need to become a little more time oriented, so that I can be where I say I am going to be, at a certain time. I will show my family and friends that I can be on time to their events. My first goal is to sit down with a calendar, and write down already known events and times. This way I will not schedule more than one event at a time. Next, by having a planner, I can add any new events that occur in future. I will be able to check available dates and make sure I have nothing already planned. Lastly, by sticking to my schedule and planning ahead it should reduce the amount of time I am late. I know I always have to expect the unexpected, but at least I have control over the already known about. 3. Observe or think of others who are models for what you want to be. Write down what they do. For example, â€Å"Tracy nods a lot and repeats back what others say so they know she is listening. † * A model person for me to observe and take tips from would be my mother. She will have a whole list of things to accomplish within her day, and gets them all done and on time. She has a monthly day planner that she carries with her at all times. She always makes sure to add important and upcoming events, as well as any of her daily to-dos to the planner. My mom also makes sure not to make more plans than she can fulfill within her day. It seems to work for my mom, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for me. . What context or setting is required for you to achieve your goal? For example, â€Å"I will talk with my friends in private, distraction-free settings. † * I will need to follow the schedule I set for myself and not let myself get distracted from my original plans. It might even be good for my family and friends to be a little bit stricter when it co mes to my tardiness. For the most part, this behavior is something I have to train myself on. No one else can do this for me. I have got to learn how to manage my time better, so that I will arrive at events when I am supposed to be there. . Identify potential barriers to the change. Some potential barriers that may cause some problems for my change will be the exact people who request the change of me. I will admit that I do control a lot of my tardiness, but not all of it is my fault. I will be on my way somewhere, when a friend asks me to do something for them. They promise it will only take five minutes. At that point, it is usually over an hour when they are done with me. I have got to learn to tell my family and friends no sometimes, in order to fulfill prior obligations.

Adams Building St Marys Church: Nottingham Architecture

Adams Building St Marys Church: Nottingham Architecture Outline the stylistic and technological contexts which influenced the buildings In this patchwork essay I will be outlining the stylistic and technological context which has influenced my chosen buildings, which is the Adams Building and St Marys Church in Nottingham. The Adams Building dates back to the 10th July 1855 has been the largest building in the Lace market district of Nottingham City centre. When Nottingham was the heart of lace production around the globe the building was once a lace warehouse and also a showroom for the people. The building got its name after Thomas Adams who was once a famous Quaker and industrialist in the 19th century. The St Marys Church is known to be the oldest parish in Nottingham and is believed to date back into the Saxon times. The building dates from the end of the reign of Edward III (1377) to that of Henry VII (1485-1509). The entire nave was finished before 1475. It is also The University church for the University of Nottingham and several schools and organisations hold annual services here. Many organisations hold annual yearly services and many use its function for a place of worship. As mentioned above, Adams was a Victorian industrialist with strong Quaker views and a deep social conscience. He had selected a local Nottingham based architect Thomas Chambers Hine who was drawn equally to history and technical innovation. Between them they created a building which, for a variety of social and architectural reasons, is now a quite a unique building. The building shows series of construction from 1854 to about 1874. The earliest phase of the building was when it faced Stoney Street with its unique symmetrical frontage behind a railed courtyard. Adams was very determined had provided good facilities for his workers. A large area of the basement was designed as a chapel where nearly 500 workers and managers would share service each day. On the other hand indoor toilets and rooms where also provided for employees, records show various funds and savings and a book club. During winter heating was also provided by the use of coal and patent warm air which flues through du cts from a heat exchanger boiler. Adams Buildings main entrance display area seems to have a very spectacular two storey light well in the centre of the building which is lit up by decorative gas lamps and approached by a grand staircase. As time went by the building became as part of Nottinghams heritage and was later listed as a grade 2 building.  £16.5 million was also spent on the building for refurbishment allowing the site to convert into Nottinghams college. Several floors had to be altered so that it met the buildings requirements. The main reason for refurbishment of the building was during the WW2 when the RAF used parachutes to store their belonging and this had damaged several floors which forced the building to close in the 1950s. The building became into disrepair as many of the floors were structurally unsound and often heavy machinery had caused some of them to fail. St Marys church is the only the present building on the site which occupies a prominent position in what was originally the Saxon town of Nottingham. Over the years great amount of work was done on the fabric of the church. In 1588 the tower vaulting collapsed into the church and was not replaced until 1812. The foundation stones of the piers of the tower had consisted of various fragments of a much earlier building, probably Saxon, or very early Norman. They consist of capitals, shafts, bases, arch mouldings, and plain ashlar of strong grit-stone. In conclusion to my two building i have outlined the stylistic and technological context which has influenced the twobuildings. Over the years the two building has playeda very important part for their people. The importance of these great two buildings only comes to know if we research thoroughly. Bibliography: http://viewfinder.historicengland.org.uk/search/detail.aspx?uid=145421 http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1317165 http://flickriver.com/photos/bobwatt/tags/staircase/ https://sarahormerodntuarchitecturaltechnology.wordpress.com/author/sarahnormerod/page/2/ https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56275a18e4b0361a456e9c4d/t/5630e9abe4b0d9f80f94ded6/1446046123819/adams-history-leaflet.pdf http://www.nottinghamenglishschool.com/location/ http://www.experiencenottinghamshire.com/discover/adams-and-page-building-p666951 http://southwellchurches.history.nottingham.ac.uk/nottingham-st-mary/harchlgy.php http://www.stmarysnottingham.org/about_st_marys.html Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism | Review Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism | Review In Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich, Shelley Baranowski presents a detailed history of Nazi Germanys main leisure organization Strength through Joy (Kraft durch Freude or KdF). Although she attempts to point out the failures of KdF, the influence of politics and propaganda, and the likely inflated statistics of the organization, Baranowski seems to portray KdF as being largely successful in achieving many of its goals. Particularly, the author argues that KdF achieved an impressive increase in tourism and was relatively successful in improving the popular appeal of the regime and that its after-work branch, Beauty of Labour, improved conditions in numerous companies, though not appeasing workers entirely. This essay will provide arguments that in some cases contradict these conclusions. Overall, Strength through Joy sheds light on some of the positive aspects of the Nazi regime and helps explain to what extent KdF managed to bring leisure to the m asses, serve the political purposes of the party and diminish the role of class in society. Despite these strengths, Baranowski fails to include important economic and statistical measures and comparisons with other Nazi, pre-Nazi and foreign organizations or commercial travel agencies. Furthermore, the author appears to not discuss sufficiently the extent to which KdF was based on Socialist or other Weimar organizations. Without these points elaborated, the author seems to make some questionable interpretations regarding the extent of KdFs success. Therefore, this essay will argue that although this book attempts to provide a detailed and objective look into KdFs activities, it seems to lack information necessary to construct an accurate portrayal of KdFs impact in and on the Third Reich. Strength through Joy was organized under the German Labour Front in late 1933 as a tool to coordinate existing leisure organizations in the newly formed National Socialist regime. It soon consisted of several departments including the Beauty of Labour (for the beatification and improvement of factories), Sport and Tourism, among others. The Nazi idea for the organization was based on the Italian After Work, but while After Work was, as the name suggests, only concerned with organizing workers leisure time after working hours, KdF was meant to take on the ambitious task of managing both work and leisure for German workers (Baranowski 2004, 45). One of the main themes in Strength Through Joy is thus the role of KdF as a political tool and a class destroying mechanism. More specifically, Baranowski points out that KdF was a way to save resources for rearmament by providing the German people with an alternative to mass consumption (2004, 8-9, 119). KdF was supposed to achieve this throug h the creation of cultural activities, sport facilities, the active organization of tourism and the improvement of factories conditions. KdF was also to solve the problem of the eight-hour workday, which according to Robert Ley, leader of the Labour Front, left too much free time at the hands of the workers and could potentially threaten the unity of the racial community (Baranowski 2004, 42). In addition, Kristin Semmens adds that another purpose of KdF was to prepare the German Volk for future struggles through strengthening their bodies, but at the same time to aid for the temporary avoidance of war, through the significant exchange of German and foreign tourists (2005b, 145-146). However, perhaps the most important goal of KdF was to provide the feel in the German public that living standards have improved under the Nazi regime (Baranowski 2004, 38-39). In Strength through Joy Baranowski examines mainly two ways in which KdF attempted to achieve its goals, namely KdFs Beauty of Labour and the Tourism departments. She looks at case studies of workers experiences in factories, trips and cruises and although she attempts to maintain a fairly objective view of KdFs success, from those individual cases she generalizes that the regimes social policy yielded positive results (Baranowski 2005, 197). Baranowski even goes as far as to claim that KdF was relatively successful as an alternative to other options to raise living standards Fordism and Socialism (2005, 136), which seems far-fetched considering these two alternatives were never truly experienced within Nazi Germany. Here, Baranowskis definition of raised living standards is required. It would be perhaps possible to demonstrate that KdF or the regime in general had been successful in improving the well-being of ordinary Germans, if the results are measured by intangibles, such as access to vacations and improved factory conditions. On the other hand, it would be fairly hard to demonstrate the same if the r esults are measured by increased wages or material goods. The author does not provide that definition. Therefore, although it may seem logical to conclude that KdF was at least partially successful in both improving the public perception of the ruling regime and the well-being of Germans judging by some of the statistics it managed to achieve, the correlation between the increasing activity of KdF and the increasing support of the Nazis does not necessarily imply a causal relationship. For example, other factors in the 1930s such as the rise of employment and productivity could have contributed to the increased standards of living. Therefore, one should be careful when drawing conclusions on the KdFs success on a stand-alone basis, especially considering KdF was a part of both the Reich Tourism Association and the Ministry of Propaganda (Semmens 2005b, 147) and therefore it was just a small part of a very big machine. Furthermore, in terms of reducing the clash between classes and promoting the Volksgemeinschaft, Baranowski concludes that KdF helped link Volksgemeinschaft and Lebensraum (2005, 138) and that the organization was no mere beautiful illusion' (2004, 177). Undoubtedly, she does discuss the social conflicts on the KdF trips, but she seems to put more emphasis on the numbers that these tours achieved to draw her conclusions about their success as a political tool. Baranowski states that through the number of tourists who flocked to KdF, it reaped the dividend it sought, the enhancement of the Third Reichs popular legitimacy (2004, 161). However, other historians such as Christopher Kopper find that the propagandistic self-stylization of a seemingly classless society of vacationers was based on a Utopian vision, not on hard socio-economic facts (Kopper, 3). Thus, workers were still underrepresented on tours, middle classes were unhappy with the quality of KdFs service, Jews were consisten tly ignored and discriminated against and party leaders consistently flaunted a well-being far superior to that of most other Germans. More specifically, Kristin Semmens points out that only 5% of all KdF overnight stays in 1939 were taken by workers. She explains that number with the fact that although tour prices were astoundingly low, they were still fairly high compared to workers salaries, which had to cover many expensive trip extras (2005a, 100, 108). This argument weakens significantly Baranawoskis conclusion regarding the success of KdF, especially considering that even in the Weimar Republic workers composed about 10% of all tourists (Baranowski 2004, 15). Furthermore, KdF seems to have actually intensified class conflicts to some extent. First of all, the organization made the middle and especially the upper class angry when it refused to let them sign up for the considerably cheaper tours (Semmens 2005a, 107). Second of all, richer tourists seem to have been complaining openly against the behaviour of the masses of KdF tourists, while the KdF tourists complained they were not getting the same level of service as the richer tourists (Semmens 2005a, 102,107). Eventually, KdF was forced to move to unpopular and poor sites in order to both avoid growing conflicts and to attempt to financially support those underdeveloped areas (Semmens 2005a, 110). As a result, Semmens findings partially contradict Baranowskis, as she claims that KdFs promises to eliminate privileges were entirely unfulfilled and images of community misleading (2005a, 100). Nevertheless, although perhaps not as successful in promoting unity and improving the regimes image as Baranowski argues, KdF seems to have effectively demonstrated Nazi Germanys supremacy over other countries in at least one way -through its foreign tours. German tourists often visited cheap and poor areas of Portugal, Italy and Africa, where they could see for themselves the superiority of the Aryan race and thank the regime for the benefits that it brought (Baranowski 2004, 127). Still, despite the obvious effects of this subtle propaganda, Baranowskis generalization of the impact of these foreign tours on the German population seems far-fetched. Specifically, it is debatable whether she is correct in her conclusion that the KdFs foreign tours persuaded the majority of Germans that an improved economy, rising living standards and the regimes commitment to social opportunity defined the Third Reich (2004, 198), when her evidence seems to consist of only a few case studies from satisfied workers. A second theme that Baranowski discusses, though more briefly, is the emergence and the role of the Beauty of Labour office of Strength through Joy. The Beauty of Labour (Schà ¶nheit der Arbeit, SdA) was given the relatively difficult task of eradicating political divisions on the shop floor [through] environmental improvements in the factory, as well as the supervision of the recreational choices and personal habits of workers (2004, 75). Interestingly, this definition did not entail eliminating racial conflict, as the SdA sometimes described to employers the alternatives to its visions as Jewish (Baranowski 2005, 129). The main goal of this office was therefore to eliminate class conflict in factories by improving the quality and efficiency of design, lighting, ventilation, sanitation, noise and temperature, as well as sports, dining and washing facilities. SdA was most likely a way to increase the regimes public appeal and boost productivity, but also to compensate for reduced wa ges and the destruction of trade unions and the overall domination of employers over employees under the regime. It is fairly difficult to assess what Baranowski believes about the actual achievements of the SdA. On the one hand she seems impressed by the sheer number of events that SdA managed to organize. For example, the author quotes the programs likely inflated statistic that it improved over 17,000 companies by as early as 1935 and over 33,700 companies by 1938 (2004, 56, 110). She explains this apparent employers volunteerism to cooperate with SdAs suggestions with the fact that businesses were grateful to the regime for the destruction of unions, but also that in the mid-1930s organizations were actually competing for labour (Baranowski 2004, 112). Thus, Baranowski suggests that employers themselves considered that making factory improvements would be an important factor for attracting workforce. Baranowski seems to have paid little attention to the third likely reason for corporate cooperation the perceived and desired boost of productivity that would come as a result of improved fact ory environment and increased goodwill on the workers side. Tom Mason claims that there was such a boost though it was likely a very short term one (1966, 120). Thus, it is possible that corporations took that into account when complying with SdAs proposals. On the other hand, Baranowski makes the conclusion that improved factories did not compensate for longer hours, frozen wages and coerced volunteerism' (2004, 116), which seems to have been drawn from evidence of individual workers opinions. This conclusion makes intuitive sense, as within their workplace workers were actually under the direct control of the harsh reality of the Nazi regime geared towards rearmament, marked by frozen wages and curtailed consumption, and often dominated by big business. These workers were underpaid and overworked, and the beatification of their working environment, which they often had to execute themselves in unpaid overtime, seems a less efficient propaganda tool than after-work cultural events or vacation trips. Nevertheless, there were aspects of SdAs policies that workers appear to have welcomed. For example, some companies employees took it to heart to improve their working environment, either for their own healths sake or for the pride of winni ng an SdA award. As a result, Baranowski concludes that the praise [that]Beauty of Labour bestowed on retinues dedicated to improving their workplaces was less empty than it might retrospectively appear (2004, 114). Interestingly, with regards to the SdA program of improving the overall look of villages on key German roads, Baranowski claims that by 1938 only 708 villages were affected (2004, 107). It seems difficult to justify her qualifier (only), as the author does not provide any information on how many villages were supposed to be reformed or how many villages were there in total in Germany at the time. Nevertheless, the number seems vast and demonstrates a point Joshua Hagen supports- that from this success rate it is evident that these villages had some desire for and experienced pride from doing beautification. Particularly, Hagen analyzes the example of Rosenthal and describes how the political agenda and foreign policy at different times of the regime during its 12 year hi story had different impacts on Rosenthals desired image and the tourist groups that visited it. He concludes that the level of initiative demonstrated by local residents to beautify their city, the pride they seemingly experienced from doing that and number of tourists that came to the city were all significant (Hagen 2004, 223). Therefore, one should possibly be careful to qualify SdA as unsuccessful, coercive or as a small scale program, because it appears to have been, at least in some cases, the exact opposite of that. The third main theme in Baranowskis book regards the success of KdF in stimulating tourism in Nazi Germany. The tourism industry was one of the several focal points that the Nazi regime had since its coming to power. With considerable effort the regime strived to coordinate hundreds of independent travel societies and as a result by 1938 the Reich Tourism Association had managed to become a central authority incorporating all tourism organizations. Additionally, through establishing a legal framework, it was able to create a proper hierarchy, standards and professionalization requirements. Thus, it managed to distance itself from the usual organizational chaos in the Nazi regime (Semmens 2005a, 9, 23, 34, 41).Tourism is also the most widely covered and most debatable point in Baranowskis book. That the numbers KdF managed to achieve are impressive seems beyond doubt from 1934 to 1939, 43 million Germans took advantage of its trips (Baranowski 2004, 55), thus becoming the worlds bigg est organizer of package tours (Kaiserfeld 2009, 9). However, what is problematic is the perspective that Baranowski takes as presenting KdF as achieving these statistics almost single-handedly, with minimal discussion of the size and impact of commercial tourism in Nazi Germany , the role of the improving economy on the growing desire of Germans (and citizens of virtually all industrialized countries) to travel and of the significance of Socialist and Weimar organizations to the jump start of the organization. At the same time, she provides few economic figures to support her conclusions, and even those stand alone, left with no explanation as to their value in the 1930s and compared with neither commercial tourism, nor with similar organizations in France, Italy, Spain or Britain. When one does such a comparison, it appears that while KdF did achieve a rise in tourism, it was by no means unique. For example, Kopper states that while only 15% of adults in Nazi Germany took a week-l ong vacation in 1939, in the same year about 40% of the British vacationed for a week (2009, 2,4). Moreover, Semmens points out that between 1928 and 1933, domestic travel decreased by 40% (2005a, 8), which was most likely the result of the Depression. This allows for the reasonable assumption that at least part of the increase in tourism in the 1930s was due to the return of tourism to pre-Depression levels, as people deprived of resources and possibility to travel for several years finally had this opportunity again. Perhaps even more importantly, while Baranowski discusses in great detail the positive impressions that the KdF Tourism departments flagship- its cruises left on certain workers and other tourists, it seems that one cannot generalize from these individual cases that Nazi tourism or KdF as a whole left the same agreeable impression on the German population. In addition, cruises only accounted for about 2% of all KdF trips (Hachtmann 2007, 124) and so they were experie nced by a very small portion of Germans. What is more, on a national level KdF never really managed to compete with commercial tourism within Nazi Germany, as it never actually exceeded 11 % of the tourism industry. Furthermore, KdF had troublesome collaborations with hotels, restaurants and other travel accommodations, because the rates these had to agree on were far below what they charged individuals or even travel agencies (Baranowski 2004, 165). Importantly, one of Baranowskis strongest arguments regarding KdF that it promised comfort, individual choice and outlets for fantasy (2004, 161) can be disputed. The organizations cheap package tours certainly allowed at least some workers access to previously inaccessible luxuries and left them pleased (Semmens 2005a, 117). However, for the majority the KdF vacation meant a visit of unknown or poor domestic areas by travelling in a 3rd or 4th class train cars, cramped with hundreds of other tourists (Semmens 2005a, 126), which could probably be hardly described as comfort or fantasy. In addition, Baranowski nearly neglects to discuss the role of commercial tourism in the public perception of the Nazi regime. In contrast, Kristin Semmens argues that this type of tourism was more influential on German opinion of the Nazi party, which the regimes leaders realized well. Semmens further claims that this perceived importance of private tourism was the reason why KdF was not allowed to interfere with or endanger in any way the commercial travel sector and often had to succumb to travelling to unfamiliar sites. However, the Nazis did not merely let commercial travel unattended or uncontrolled. Instead, through it they purposefully provided continuity and an illusory escape from everyday reality in a particular area of civilian life. Thus, commercial tourism actually became a calculated attempt to maintain a degree of touristic normality (Semmens 2005a, 40, 73, 97, 99). Semmens concludes that there was only a superficia lly state-free sphere in the realm of tourism (2005b, 157), and thus both KdF and commercial tourism actually served the same, essentially political, purpose. However, there was one important difference between the two types. When the war started, KdFs activities became critically limited or stopped completely, and the organization was reduced to troop entertainment. At the same time, commercial tourism thrived until late in the war (2004, 201). Private travel survived in other hit hard countries as well, such as in occupied France until about 1943 (Furlough 2002, 469) and Civil War stricken Spain, where it thrived throughout the entire WWII (Holguin 2005, 1424). This demonstrates the inherited deficiencies of the state-run KdF as compared to private tourism that it was extremely dependent on state budgets, public appeasement, rearmament and later war effort, macroeconomic and political conditions. Thus, when problems began the government support needed to maintain the organization was no longer available and KdF had no choice but to assume a much smaller scale and a less visible role in the new war reality. This essay has attempted to provide a critical review of Shelley Baranowskis book Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich. Quotes, statistics and examples were drawn from different sources to confirm, or more often to contrast, Baranowskis findings in three main areas of her book the success of KdF as a political tool, the impact of Beauty of Labour on workers view of the regime and the role of Strength through Joy for the increase in tourism in the 1930s. For all three points, some weaknesses and limitations of Baranowskis work were pointed out. Admittedly, this essay has therefore taken a rather critical view of Baranowskis book. However, most criticism has been directed not towards the authors research, data, sources or methods of presentation, but rather towards her conclusions. Thus, this essay should not help diminish the importance of the book for the topic of tourism in the Third Reich. While Baranowskis book may have potential for improvement, it is certainly one of the first and so far major sources on Strength through Joy available in English. The significance of the book is further elevated when one considers that KdFs main archive and other related documents were largely destroyed during WWII, that the topic of tourism and popular appeal in a dictatorship are generally difficult to research and analyze, and that throughout most of the book the author has actually managed to preserve an organized, objective and fairly detailed view of her topic. In conclusion, a consideration of the points made in this essay may certainly contribute to Baranowskis pioneering study, but even without them the book still remains a strong addition to the Third Reichs historiography. Bibliography Baranowski, Shelley. Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Baranowski, Shelley. Radical Nationalism in an International Context: Strength through Joy and the Paradoxes of Nazi Tourism. In Histories of Tourism edited by John Walton. Clevedon, UK: Channel View Publications, 2005. Furlough, Ellen. Une le?on des choses: Tourism, Empire, and the Nation in Interwar France. French Historical Studies 25, no. 3 (2002): 441-473. Hachtmann, Rà ¼diger. Tourismus-Geschichte. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck Ruprecht, 2007. Hagen, Joshua. The Most German of Towns: Creating an Ideal Nazi Community in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 94, no.1 (2004): 207-227. Holguin, Sandie. National Spain Invites You: Battlefield Tourism during the Spanish Civil War. The American Historical Review 10, no. 5 (2005): 1399-1426. Kaiserfeld, Thomas. From Sightseeing to Sunbathing: Changing Traditions in Swedish Package Tours from Edification by Bus to Relaxation by Airplane in the 1950s and 60s. Working Paper, Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, 2009. https://www-edit.sys.kth.se/polopoly_fs/ 1.29134!KAISERF.pdf Kopper, Christopher M. The Breakthrough of the Package Tour in Germany after 1945. Journal of Tourism History 1, no. 1 (2009): 67-92. Mason, Tom. Labour in the Third Reich. Past Present Society 33 (1966): 112-141. Semmens, Kristin. Seeing Hitlers Germany: Tourism in the Third Reich. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan Publishing, 2005a. Semmens, Kristin. Travel in Merry Germany: Tourism in the Third Reich. In Histories of Tourism edited by John Walton. Clevedon, UK: Channel View Publications, 2005b. Spode, Hasso. Fordism, Mass Tourism and the Third Reich: The Strength through Joy Seaside Resort as an Index Fossil. Journal of Social History 38, no. 1 (2004): 127-155.

Make Up Artists In Movies

Make Up Artists In Movies From massive scars and head wounds to flawless skin and supermodel good looks, many actors have only one person to thank the make up artist. All sorts of cinematic magic have relied on the skill and imagination of the movie make-up artists. Depending on the ideas and thoughts of the director and the script, film make-up artists made need to put their skills to the test and push the boundaries in order to get the perfect look. Make up artists need to be able to adapt from creating a sophisticated, high fashion look to showing an actor who has aged 50 years, has an injury or even looks like an alien or cartoon character. From the earliest days of the movies, make-up artists have had to combine their art with film-making technology. Actors in silent films, for example, had heavy yellow make-up to compensate for the monochromatic film that was insensitive to the red end of the light spectrum. Today, make up techniques and computer-generated images come together to create visions like Spock ears from Star Trek and Hellboys red facial prosthetic. Behind the magic on the screen, the world of a make-up artist is a demanding one. These facial masks can take hours to create just to be used in a very short seen in a movie, yet the movies would not be half as effective without these characteristics. Responsibilities of a Movie Make-up Artist The responsibilities of a movie make-up artist vary depending on the type of work and level of responsibility that the make-up artist has. Hollywood union regulations classify movie make-up artists based on the area of the actors body being made up: A make-up artist is allowed to apply cosmetics only from the top of the head to the top of the breastbone, from fingertips to wrists and from toes to ankles. A body make-up artist applies cosmetics as required to any other areas of the actors body. While the regular make-up artist generally works throughout filming, the body make-up artist is hired per day when needed. Different Make-Up Artists and their Role in the Film The key make-up artist is in charge of the make-up department for a movie. They decide what will be the best approach to the make up of a certain character and make sure that this idea is seen through. During pre-production, the head make-up artist reads the script and meets with the director and screenwriter to discuss their needs and ideas for the films make up. This is done to make sure the final product shown in post-production is the same as the starting idea. The key make-up artist also will work with the main hair designer, costume designer, set designer and director of lighting throughout the film. Together they will discuss exactly what is that needs to be done in order to pull the make up off successfully. The head of make-up then researches and determines how to design the make-up and special make-up effects for the film. They will often need to work with special effects companies in order to pull off some harsher make up looks (such as scars, major wounds on limbs, major disfiguration of a body part etc.) The key make-up artist also hires the additional make-up artists needed, sets the work schedule and supervises the make up team during production. The senior make-up artist oversees the work of the other make-up artists and usually become primarily responsible for the actions of all the make-up artists. This means making sure that actors make-up remains the same or changes as filming requires, such as the addition of scars after an accident or evidence of aging as the film progresses. This job is vital in a film and needs the artist to be 100% focused, commuted and knowledgeable about the script. Make-up artists do the actual work in making actors looks match the designs set for the movie. They also apply and touch up the make-up when necessary. Assistant make-up artists handle lower-level make-up chores such as fixing up mistakes in the make-up and assisting the make-up artists. Working as a Make-up Artist in Movies Working as a movie make-up artist means starting work very early in the day and working for very long periods of time. During daily production, the make-up artists need to be at the location before dawn each day to lay out supplies, get prepared for the actors and set up any other special equipment for each specific actor. The movie make-up artists work off a schedule of make-up, hair and wardrobe calls for each actor. The assistant director sets the schedule, based on the scenes to be shot that day and passes it out late the day before. This then lets all the different departments know what exactly will need to be done that day and how many hours they will be working for. Each film make-up artist is assigned specific actors to look after. The make-up artist will have detailed notes, sketches and photos as reference to help achieve the right look for their actor. Throughout the day, the make-up artist or an assistant will touch up the actors make-up and change it as required by the scenes being filmed at that time. Achieving the right look can be a time-consuming process, particularly if the make-up includes special effects Hellboys make-up took four hours everyday with only short breaks in between for the actor. Foam pieces covered the actors back, chest and head. Once everything was on, the suit had to be painted and hair was added. Imagine having to go through this process every single day? At the end of the filming day, another long process has to begin for the make-up artists. The make-up artist has to remove all the actors make-up, hairpieces, prosthetic facial features (if any were used) and other effects and store them all so they are easy to find the following morning. While working as a make-up artist can be grueling but fun, movie jobs are not easy to find for most people and it is very difficult to break into the market of films. Becoming an experienced make-up artist means starting at the bottom, as an assistant. From there, an aspiring make-up artist has to work his/her way up the ladder by learning on the job, as well as building a strong portfolio of work and gaining a reputation with directors, actors and key make-up artists. For some it may take years to be able to achieve what they set out to achieve while for others luck and pure, raw talent may be enough to win them the job in a higher ranking. Becoming a Make-Up Artist Just like any other job in the film industry, youll need knowledge, experience, skill, luck and the right contacts in order to make your mark. For starters, you shall want to consider the right education. The best way to start off would be through a cosmetology school. You may even consider an art school if you wish to work with the prosthetic side of the movie make-up world. These schools often include a movie make-up course in their curriculum and also can give you the chance to learn more about the film-making industry and how to become apart of it. In addition to this, schools with a film focus may be able to help you get internships, jobs and make contacts with potential clients. Once completed, you will have to pass a state licensing exam. This will give you the license to work as a registered make-up artist. Student films can give you a start on your work portfolio, which will be a valuable tool in seeking work and becoming successful in finding a job. Make-up artists and directors will then be able to sift through your portfolio to see what you are able to do and can therefore decide where to go from their. Major Hollywood feature films require union membership which is unlike independent films. Although school will give you a good heads start, your training really will come from working in the industry itself. That may mean starting off with make-up in television or theatre, or even starting as an assistant to an already established make-up artist. By being on a set working with make-up challenges, youll learn how production works and pick up tips on how to be effective as a make-up artist. With solid training behind you, a strong portfolio and your eyes to the future, you should be ready to create some movie make-up magic of your own.

My Definition of Freedom Essay -- Definition Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The constitution of the United States of America gives me the right to freedom because I am a United States citizen. I consider "freedom" to be my right to express myself in any way I choose. Freedom is defined as "having liberty of action or thought, independent". "Self-governed or not controlled by an outside party" is another definition of freedom. Freedom has a different meaning to each individual thus making it hard to find a clear concise definition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When referring to freedom these words are often associated with freedom: Liberty, independence, sovereignty, autonomy, privilege, immunity, and indulgence. Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and justice. Independence is granted by freedom in the sense that an outside party does not control you. To gratify ones desires by whichever ways they choose is freedom through indulgence. Privileges are g ranted through freedom. In some countries the dictator or ruler makes choices for their people on regards to what profession they shall have or to what religion they shall worship. In the United States we have special privileges that let the people of the country decide on their own religion and professions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freedom has limitations just as it has privileges. Everyone is allowed freedom of speech, but if an individual were to yell fire in a public building they would be thrown in jail. Thus implying that freedom of speech has limitations. The government does in ...

Poes Fall of The House of Usher Essay: A Psychological Piece

The Fall of the House of Usher as a Psychological Piece This essay examines "The Fall of the House of Usher" from the viewpoint that none of the events really happened -- or if they did, were exaggerated by the fear felt by the characters.   The essay proposes that the action took place in the mind of the narrator and discusses the dream imagery present in the story and how this supports this theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While discussing "The Fall of the House of Usher," Thompson investigates the idea that the story is not really a truthful tale - that is, a re-telling of events that the narrator experienced - but is rather the result of a "mutual hysteria of the narrator and Roderick Usher."   Basically, he asserts that the narrator and Usher are both so filled with fear that they imagined the events, or else there is a logical explanation for the things that happened while the narrator stayed at the House of Usher.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thompson's first point reminds us that the narrator of this story attempts to rationalize many of the spooky things that he witnesses at the house.   This is in contrast to the fact that Usher's mind is obviously disintegrating throughout the tale.   Thompson claims that Poe uses the "apparent" rationality of the narrator to "heighten the irrational."   By instilling in the reader a sense of coherence, the weirdness of the situation and the mental state of Usher are more noticeable.   Also, Thompson mentions that an integral part of the tale is the "mechanism of fear itself," which begins with Usher and spreads to the narrator.   This feeling of fear, he claims, is what gives us the basis for reading this story as a psychological thriller rather than a series of events that actually happened.   Thompson looks at p... ...ndriac," which might be how people of that time period referred to mental illness. Many people seemed to believe that Usher really suffered from mental illness rather than a physical ailment. And lastly, the possibility of incest between brother and sister, and other generations of Ushers, was discussed. This stemmed from the part of the story that talked about how the Usher family tree did not branch out much. Some people took this to mean that not many people were brought in from outside the family. I think this is very plausible, and is actually what I always thought was at the core of this story. I think that the two siblings are more than just brother and sister, and found this to be one of the more interesting discussions we had.    Works Cited Thompson, G.R. "Explained Gothic," Poe's Fiction.   University of Wisconsin Press, 1973.   Pages 87-97.   

A Doll’s House: The Subordinate Woman

A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen The Subordinate Woman 4/2/2010 DePauw University Mira Yaseen Mira Yaseen Professor Anthony Comm 214 2 April 2010 A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen The Subordinate Woman In the wake of realism, Ibsen came upon us with an outspoken controversial play that encompassed many realities of the conservative Victorian era. Presenting a genuine image of the societal issues at the time, A Doll House gives us an insight to the world of women in the nineteenth century; it tells us about their struggles and realizations. Nora Helmer’s decision to leave her husband and children to educate and explore herself reflects Ibsen’s hope for a reform in women's role in the society. This necessitates a change in the masculine point of view towards women. Nora’s characteristics pertain to the stereotypical image of the subordinate woman. However, Nora's contradictory actions -such as her spendthrift nature and her attempt to buy the ‘cheapest outfits', and her ineffectuality yet her ability to save her husband's life regardless of her methods- shed light on these characteristics and show that they are products of the patriarchal society's superiority and its expectations and misconceptions of women (Jacobus 660, 668). We first meet Nora as she enters her house after a Christmas shopping spree. We are introduced to Torvald and Nora’s relationship; â€Å"is that my little lark twittering out there? he calls on her, â€Å"Is that my squirrel rummaging around† (Jacobus 663). The first noticeable thing about the relationship is Nora’s inferiority to Torvald. As the interaction continues between Nora and Torvald, her childishness becomes evident. Nora wipes her mouth and puts the macaroons away so that Torvald would not know about them. Later on in the play, when Nora and Torvald finally have th e first serious conversation in their marriage, Nora reveals how her father treated her; â€Å"he used to call me his doll-child† she declares. Obviously, Nora has been pampered her whole life, first by her father and now by Torvald, who treats her the same way, as his doll-wife. This doll-like lifestyle prevented Nora’s maturity and amplified her childishness instead. Therefore, her childishness is a result of the way she was brought up and later treated by her husband. As the audience is introduced to Nora's spoiled nature, it is not surprising to find out that she is a spendthrift. However, this view is challenged once we learn more about Nora's seemingly contradictory behavior. She is depicted as a wastrel from the beginning of the play. As Torvald just got a promotion and a raise, Nora urges him to give her more money for Christmas shopping, â€Å"Oh but Torvald, this year we should really let ourselves go a bit† she argues. She even suggests that he take a loan just so that she can let herself ‘go a bit’ (664). Nonetheless, this image is later contested once we find out that Nora found a way to get money to save her husband’s life, regardless of her unorthodox methods of getting the money. Not only did Nora find a way to get the money, but she was also able to make the payments on time by doing some copying to earn money. Furthermore, Nora is also seen as resourceful and money-smart when she mentions buying the ‘simplest cheapest outfits’ for herself (668). In addition, although Nora might have been shown as a squanderer, she is still trying to pay the debt and might have been nagging Torvald for more money to secretly save up for the loan’s payments. This contradiction in Nora’s actions illustrates society’s low expectation of women which reflects on their personalities. If Nora was given a chance from the beginning she could have excelled. She is only after luxury because this is what the society conditions her to be interested in. It is the life style that both her father and her husband provided her with and expected her to embrace. Thus, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy that did not encourage her to change. The initial image of Nora's personality gradually changes throughout the play from a pampered incapable woman to a seemingly witty and resourceful one. However, her unawareness and inexperience in dealing with situations disadvantage her. We see Nora’s capability in the mere fact that she thought of forging her father’s signature to be able to travel to Italy for treatment. Nora remarks that she could not give the trip up, it â€Å"was to save my husband's life† (672). In spite of that, Torvald considers her helpless and clueless; â€Å"But you think I love you any less for now knowing how to handle your affairs? No, no-just lean on me’ I’ll guide you and teach you. I wouldn’t be a man if this feminine helplessness didn’t make you twice as attractive to me† he protests (688). Nora proves her capability, yet, the novelty of taking charge in a situation complicates it. Nora is not aware of the seriousness of a crime like forgery. She goes further to assume that â€Å"somewhere in the books these things are allowed† (672). Moreover, she acts naively when she reveals to Krogstad earlier in that conversation that she did indeed forge her father’s signature, â€Å"I signed Papa’s name† she admits candidly. She reasons that her father could not sign the papers due to his sickness. Nora thinks that her circumstances justify her actions and does not understand the rigidity of law. This example accentuates the fact that the gender inequality and the inferior position occupied by women in the Victorian era, denied them rights and chances that would have made them more knowledgeable and capable. Education, for example was not the same for both sexes. Women's education was focused on teaching skills that would make them better house wives, like embroidery and sewing, while men's education was geared towards preparing them for their future careers, as they were taught law and languages. Work was almost exclusive to men. Nora points that out and expresses that it is a fulfilling experience for women too. She notes that copying â€Å"was wonderful fun, sitting around and working like that, earning money. It was almost like being a man† (668). If we consider Nora and Torvald an average Victorian couple, I assume that if Nora had the same education her husband did she probably would have understood the strictness of the law and the consequences of forgery. A society that did not understand the importance of educating women created a class of ignorant women who could not take action or responsibility for their actions. Torvald and the audience are not the only ones who see Nora as incompetent, Mrs. Linde, a woman, shares this same view. Nora seems to be very selfish and self-centered. After she learns about Mrs. Linde’s dire circumstances after her husband passed away, she starts rambling about her own life and good fortune. â€Å"I don’t want to be selfish, I want to think only of you today† she say and adds that her husband is getting â€Å"a big salary and lots of commissions. Our lives’ll be so different; we’ll be able to do whatever we want. Oh Kristine, I’m so relieved, so happy. To have no more worries, all one needs, isn’t it wonderful? † (666). Like Torvald, Mrs. Linde thinks Nora is inept. She thinks that Nora â€Å"really knows so little of life's burdens†. Nora is aware of the way other people see her and it aggravates her. We see her frustration when she responds to Mrs. Linde: â€Å"You're just like the others; you all think I'm incapable of anything serious† (667). The words ‘the others' and ‘you all' suggest that Nora has been treated this way by almost everyone, starting with her father, later on her husband, and now her female friend as Jacobus points out: â€Å"She is made of much stronger stuff than anyone has given her credit for† (660). This suggests that Nora has been considered inferior and treated as an incapable individual by the whole society. Ibsen makes sure the viewer and reader think of her as incapable too since her behavior at the beginning supports this conception. Nonetheless, this depiction changes when we find out that Nora has gone to great lengths to save her husband’s life. The fact that Mrs. Linde sees Nora as incapable is a very crucial point; it represents the way women viewed their selves and their abilities. They seem to have had low expectations of themselves; they succumbed to the society's conventions like Nora succumbed to her husband's repression. The society's perceptions shaped theirs as well and that is why a transformation of their role in society at that time was needed. All these contradictions in Nora's character imply that Nora did not have the strong will to overcome the limitations set in front of her by the society and her husband, until the crisis pushes her to make a decision, and leave Torvald and her children. The first audience to watch this play found Nora's reaction preposterous. Nora goes on a mission to discover herself, outside of the doll house. She realizes that what she has been living is not the real world, that she cannot be a good person, wife and mother if she does not know herself. This play does not only send a message about women's rights, equality and society, but it stresses the importance of individuality and self-discovery in the first place. The primary duty of anyone is to find out who they truly are (Jacobus 661). This play can be interpreted in a humane context rather than a feminine one. The stereotype of the inferior, naive, and incapable oman appears throughout the play. We see it in Nora's actions, which are contradictory to what we expect at the beginning. This progression reaches its peak when Nora finally decides to leave and sets on a journey of self-discovery. Her departure highlights the importance of and expresses the hope for a reform of the repressed and inferior status of women in the society, which was caused by the suprema cy of men and the patriarchal society. Works Cited Jacobus, Lee A. The Bedford Introduction to Drama. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's. Print.