Compare and Contrast how Aristophanes depicts Essay Example for Free

Look into how Aristophanes delineates Essay Aristophanes and Euripides were writers in Athens during the Peloponnesian War. They had totally different composing styles. Euripides was the more seasoned and he composed Greek Tragedy and Comedy. He was one of the three significant disaster essayists of the time, the others were Aeschylus a Scophocles. Euripides presented new techniques for taking care of the customary fantasies, for instance he utilized authenticity in his topic and was keen on the manner in which ladies thought and how they acted. This is appeared in his plays Hippolytus and The Trojan Women. Aristophanes composed comedies in which creative circumstances and brilliant language were average. His sonnets were principally worried about circumstance which was topical around then. He mocked government officials and researchers and spoofed his kindred artists. He utilized political and social dream a lot as in the womens sex strike in Lysistrata. Aristophanes composed two satires which highlighted the heartbreaking artist Euripides. These were The Poet and the Women and the Frogs. Euripides passed on before Aristophanes composed the Frogs thus he had the option to make the spoof more noteworthy. Aristophenes composed The Poet and the Women while Euripides was as yet alive and a regarded and renowned creator. Aristophanes couldn't avoid ridiculing him in his play. He depicted him as a man who was ungainly and in dread for his life, This day is to choose whether Euripides is to live incredible. (Page 102). This was on the grounds that Euripides was being compromised by the ladies of Athens who needed to kill him since his plays demonstrated the most noticeably awful side of ladies, the ladies are getting together at the Thesmorporia today and theyre going to sentence me to death for defaming them (Page 106). Euripides realized that the Thesmophoria, a strict celebration for ladies, would happen soon and he needed to send a covert operative to discover how the ladies were plotting his passing. Euripides, with the assistance of his companion Agathon, along these lines, convinced his older relative Mnesilochus to spruce up a lady, loan me a dress and a headband for my companion here? You cannot imagine that you dont have such things (Page 108), and go to the function. Mnesilochus was found by the ladies who caught him and took steps to consume him as they trusted him to be a covert agent for Euripides. Mnesilochis recollecting that one of Euripides plays communicated something specific A stunt out of one of his own plays, The Palamedes. Chap composed a message on an oarblade (Page 125). Euripides acted the hero as a character out of that play indicating mental fortitude he didn't have, Thou lookst like Menelaos. (Page 133). In The Frogs, Euripides has been dead for quite a while and is depicted as manipulative and avaricious, in addition, Euripides will be readier to slip away with me, hes a substantially more dangerous client (Page 159). The storyline is about the God of Wine, Dionysus, who goes to the black market to discover an artist who will expand Athenian assurance and lead them to triumph in the Peloponnesian War. After first counseling the legend, Hercules, to discover an approach to Hades You could go by means of Rope and Gibbet: that is a snappy way, on the off chance that you dont mind staying nearby for a piece, in any case (page 160), he sets off with his hireling. He shows up in Hades just to discover that position of the best artist in Hades was in question, Oh, theres incredible goings on among the dead nowadays, extraordinary goings on. Common war, you may call it (Page 185). Aeschylus the more established Athenian writer, who composed at any rate 50 years before Aristophanes, was being tested by Euripides, Well at that point along comes Euripides and begin flaunting to all the fellers weve got down here cut-throats, robbers, murders, criminals, ordinary unpleasant part they are, (Page 185) Euripides had the help of the crooks, mavericks and the most noticeably awful men when all is said in done while Aeschylus had the sole help of Sophocles, hes communicated something specific: with this challenge going ahead, he says, hellfire hold on for third man if Aeschylus wins damnation simply go on as in the past, however in the event that Euripides wins damnation take him on himself.(Page 186). Sophocles was a companion of Aristophanes. Dionysus concluded that despite the fact that Euripides had more help, it was Aeschylus picked to reestablish Athens to its previous greatness, Well in my true inner being I have known cons tantly. No inquiry concerning it, the man for me is (Page 210). Euripides in The Poet and The Woman is very entertaining particularly when he is playing his own sad legends as they have courageous characteristics which he needs, other than steadfastness which he shows when he attempts to salvages Mnesilochus from his Scythian captor. Be that as it may, Euripides in The Frogs is progressively vile and can control the scoundrels and mavericks. He is along these lines depicted as an agitator, who were individuals who played on people groups fears to expand their own political force. Aristophanes portrays Euripides in these manners since I accept that Euripides and Aristophanes were not companions but rather graceful adversaries that regarded each other despite the fact that they didn't concur with every others kind of verse. A rendition of Ancient Greek expert civility. I likewise feel that the political and social circumstance at the time that Aristophanes was composing affected the manner by which he depicted him. Euripides in The Poet and The Woman is an impression of his Euripidess character, in actuality, however has been contorted to make the make the play diverting. His awkwardness and cowardliness have been misrepresented for this end. Euripides shows how fearful he is on the grounds that he sends Mnesilochus to the Thesmophoria and not himself. His awkwardness is appeared through his utilization of the Deux Ex Machina which he uses to make the farce of Perseus yet he cannot control it, He should be coming to spare me: he wouldnt have flown by just to sit back of day. (Page 136), and he flies to and fro. Be that as it may, Euripides demonstrates unwaveringness to his companions by endeavoring to safeguard Mnesilochus.

A Rose for Emily Essay -- A Rose For Emily, William Faulkner

1. Question no. 2 a lot of the pressure in Eugene O’ Neill’s Before Breakfast comes from the primary characters’ poor monetary conditions. The crowd starts to comprehend their circumstance when Mrs. Rowland says to her life partner â€Å"Hmm! I guess I should eat readyâ€not that there's anything a lot to get. Except if you have some cash? Silly question!† (section 10) Mrs. Rowland, the discouraged spouse of a destitute artist, spends the aggregate of the story grumbling about her husband’s treachery and uselessness. In the midst of her tirade, she shouts â€Å"I've a decent thought to return home, on the off chance that I wasn't too pleased to even think about letting them recognize what a disappointment you've beenâ€you, the mogul Rowland's just child, the Harvard graduate, the artist, the catch of the townâ€Huh!† (line 16) This statement alludes to the way that when she wedded Mr. Rowland, he seemed to have a promising future and w as thought of, as referenced over, the â€Å"catch of the town.† Her husband’s absence of both budgetary achievement and current work, combined with his unfaithfulness, are the elements that light her disappointment and, eventually, lead to the monolog that instigates Mr. Rowland’s self destruction. 2. Question no. 4 William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is introduced from the perspective of the main character’s neighbors and individual townspeople. The storyteller starts the story by depicting Emily as fairly a town exhibition; a puzzling loner luxuriating in isolation. The main depiction of Emily by the storyteller is â€Å"Alive, Miss Emily had been a custom, an obligation, a consideration; a kind of innate commitment upon the town†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (section 3) This charms the crowd with the possibility that Emily was not especially close to home with anybody inside the town and was viewed as mo... ...e unreasonable language to my wife.† (passage 6) This causes it to appear as though the storyteller is attempting to mitigate how horrendous his activities are which, thus, makes him untrustworthy. Bonus: Ancient Greek Drama advanced countless occasions inside its period. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides added to and touched off a significant number of these commitments. Aeschylus’s plays considered a more prominent number of characters to be presented, which permitted strife to emerge inside the plot. This replaced past plays wherein characters talked distinctly to the ensemble. Sophocles affected Greek Drama by both making a job for a third character and bringing progressively complex characters into the plot. At last, Euripides developed making complex characters and furthermore presented characters that were beforehand new to Greek crowds, for example, female heroes.

Unity, Identity and Fellowship in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales

Unity, Identity and Fellowship in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Unity, Identity and Fellowship in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Unity, Identity and Fellowship in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Academic Discipline: English Course Name: Chaucer Assignment Subject: Unity, Identity and Fellowship in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Academic Level: Undergraduate Referencing Style: MLA Word Count: 2,110 In the opening of the General Prologue to “The Canterbury Tales,” Geoffrey Chaucer’s narrator (Geoffrey Chaucer) emphasizes the unity, fellowship and common identity of the pilgrims about to set forth on a journey to the shrine of Saint Thomas á Becket in Canterbury, southeast of London (A 23-26). This insistence on unity and wholeness is important because Chaucer’s text attempts to capture the entirety of medieval English society; the three estates â€" the nobility, the clergy and the commoners â€" are all represented, but the assumptions embedded within this (generally) fixed social hierarchy (spiritually, politically and in terms of gender assumptions) represented by the three estates is problematized as the text develops. In fact, the emphasis on companionship and a common identity revealed in the opening of the General Prologue serves as a counterpoint to the social tensions revealed through the interplay of the tales, their tellers, and the frame narrative. This paper will briefly illustrate how the frame narrative, the pilgrims, and their tales work to comment on the assumptions of unity, fellowship and common identity insisted upon by the narrator in the General Prologue. A brief explanation will also be given as to why the frame narrative structure employed by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales is particularly well-suited to representing the whole of late fourteenth century English society. The frame narrative employed by Chaucer is, in the simplest sense, a story utilized to contextualize a series of smaller stories or tales. The story of the frame narrative is that twenty-nine pilgrims have met in the Tabard Inn in South London before heading off on their journey to the shrine of Saint Thomas á Becket in Canterbury (A 20-27). Their host at the tavern offers to provide the pilgrims with a game to kill time on the way to the shrine; he proposes that each of the pilgrims tell four tales, two on the way to the shrine, two on the way back (in actual fact, each pilgrim tells only one tale; the tales were condensed and the return journey was never written by Chaucer) (A 790-795). The host â€" who decides to act as the pilgrims’ guide on the journey â€" then states that the pilgrim whom he judges to have told the tales “. . . of best sentence and moost solaas” (A 798), will have supper at his tavern at the other pilgrim’s cost (A 799-800). The framing narrative, the refore, allows each pilgrim â€" each representing a member of English society â€" a chance to express themselves; to this end, the narrator makes an (apologetic) point of stating that he will recount the tales exactly as told by the pilgrims, regardless of how vulgar they might be (A 725-736). Thus, the framing narrative allows Chaucer to explore the character of each pilgrim, both through the tales they tell and through the commentary they provide to each other’s tales. Also, the framing narrative structure works to allow Chaucer to add or remove pilgrims as he sees fit (allowing for him to create a more all-encompassing portrait of medieval English society). If Chaucer thinks of a new pilgrim not mentioned in the General Prologue, he can simply have them ride up and join the rest of the pilgrims during the journey. The framing narrative works to reveal the societal tensions hidden beneath the veneer of unity presented in the opening of the General Prologue. These tensions are revealed in the apologetic stance taken by the narrator in regard to both the potential for vulgarity in the tales and his inability to present the tales in order of social rank (A 743-746) â€" a point which initially seems to become less relevant when the Knight (the highest-ranking pilgrim) wins the right to tell his tale first (A 835-846). The Knight, as the highest-ranking pilgrim (itself a problematic point, given that Christ was both poor and common â€" and given that Christianity is based on both humility and the universal equality of the human soul), decides to tell a romance â€" a “high” form of literature, befitting his position as a noble. Thus, even the literary style of the tale can be seen as commentary; this becomes especially clear when the (drunken) Miller reacts negatively against the content of “Th e Knight’s Tale.” The Miller’s interjection is important for a number of reasons. The Miller disrupts the social hierarchy â€" the Host, upon the completion of “The Knight’s Tale,” asks the Monk (an attempt to respect social hierarchy; the monk is a member of the clergy) to match “The Knight’s Tale” with one of his own (A 3118-3119) â€" and will not be silenced, even threatening to leave the journey if he is not allowed to speak (another instance wherein the interplay of the frame narrative and the tales facilitate the dialogue and reveal the social tensions between the characters) (A 3132-3133). “The Miller’s Tale” â€" his vision of what really constitutes courtly love â€" is told in the form of a fablieaux, a “low” form of literature befitting his common status. Thus, the Miller’s interjection, facilitated by the frame narrative structure linking the tales, also serves to present a stylistic juxtaposition between high and low forms of literature; the dialogue between the characters is mirrored in the dialogue between literary styles. The stylistic juxtaposition, combined with the characters (their social rank and gender), combined with the frame narrative which allows this interplay to take place, presents a more complete and realistic picture (both socially and artistically) of the “wholeness” of medieval England, while simultaneously undercutting the notions of “unity” and “fellowship” posited by the narrator in the General Prologue. It is through the contrivance of the frame narrative (the idea that a member from each societal rank and vocation wo uld gather together and travel on a pilgrimage is contrived in that it is highly unlikely that this would happen in reality) that these characters are allowed to engage directly with one another. The Miller, a commoner, is here given an opportunity to challenge a member of the aristocracy; the Miller’s refusal to respect the social hierarchy â€" the Host wants to find “Som better man” (A 3130) than Miller to match “The Knight’s Tale” â€" illustrates in a microcosmic fashion, the societal tensions then at play in late fourteenth century England at large; there was a major peasant’s revolt in England in1381 (Britannia Web site: History: Docs: Peasant n. pag). “The Miller’s Tale” also contrasts with “The Knight’s Tale” in terms of content. “The Miller’s Tale” â€" stylistically low â€" interprets love as something physical, while “The Knight’s Tale” â€" stylistically high â€" interprets love as something remote. “The Miller’s Tale” is very sensual â€" the characters of Nicholas and Absalom are motivated by lust (though they do eventually “fall in love”); Nicholas’ pursuit of Alison is further complicated by the fact that she is married to a carpenter named John. When Nicholas finally wins her over, they make love in her husband’s bed (A 3651-3656). “The Miller’s Tale” is meant to be funny, contemporary and populated with realistic characters (a fablieaux). It therefore, presents a stark contrast to “The Knight’s Tale,” which is set in a distant past, concerns morality and virtue and involves aristocratic characters (a romance). In “The Knight’s Tale,” the two young knights fall in lov e with a young woman from afar â€" first with her beauty (A 1098-1100; A 1114-1115) and then with her virtue; unlike “The Miller’s tale,” “The Knight’s Tale” lacks any sense of physicality or sensuality in the nature of love â€" it is highly formalized. The two knights spend years loving Emily from a distance (in this case because they are locked in prison), they have no idea who she is, only that they love her (based on her beauty) and that they will fight each other to the death to have her (A 1592-1621). The content of the two tales, therefore, engage in a kind of dialogue with one another. Both knights in “The Knight’s Tale” objectify Emily; even the Gods tell her that she must wed one of the two young knights, though she wishes to remain a virgin (A 2348-2352). In “The Miller’s Tale” the reader is given an example of what can happen when a man marries a woman as an object. John is old and his wife Alison is only eighteen (A 3223-3227). John is characteri zed as viewing himself as a cuckold and as having fallen into a snare (A 3226; A 3231). John’s humiliation in the tale illustrates the consequences of a marriage devoid of physical attraction; Alison and John are married because he is wealthy â€" he does not love her as a person; he “heeld hire narwe in cage” (A 3224) â€" and he values Alison as an object to be coveted. Here again, in the dialogue between the tales, their tellers and the frame narrative, is an example of how certain ideals (courtly love, chivalry) are undercut in the text. The interplay between the Miller and the Host (and the narrator) in the prologue to his tale (the frame narrative), serves to contextualize “The Miller’s Tale” as a response to the “ideals” both stylistic and social, articulated in “The Knight’s Tale.” The narrator also acts as commentator on the dialogue between the characters and the content of their tales. The narrator’s commentary is not objective, however, and because of this it exposes some of the inconsistent or illogical assumptions embedded within the societal structure (the estate system; chivalry etc…). For example, in the General Prologue, the narrator comments that the Knight is a “worthy man” (A 43) and is also “meeke as is a mayde” (A 69). Yet, the narrator also catalogues every battle the “verray parfit, gentil knyght” (A 73) has taken part in â€" many of which paint the Knight in a less than favourable light. The narrator notes that the Knight has worked as a mercenary in wars between two Islamic powers (A 64-66) and took part in the slaughter of the Christian population of Alexandria (A 51). Yet, the narrator never comments negatively about these facts and continues to insist upon the “gentleness” and “meekness” of a knight that has killed more than fifteen human beings for money (A 61). The absence of a negative judgment by the narrator acts as an implicit commentary on the “ideals” surrounding knightly behaviour â€" honour, truth, freedom, chivalry (A 46) â€" and the realities of it; it also informs the reader about the character of the narrator himself. The juxtaposition of the narrator’s commentary with the reality implied by the facts of the Knight’s endeavours illustrates the superficiality of the General Prologue’s “unity” and “fellowship”; it also illustrates how the frame narrative (which gives the narrator his rationale for commenting on the Knight) works to challenge idealized societal assumptions obliquely. The narrator’s commentary on the Miller also reveals a lack of objectivity; he states that the Miller “tolde his cherles tale in his manere” (A 3169) and both apologizes for the ensuing tale and tells the reader that they should “Turne over the leef and chese another tale” (A 3177) if they want to read about morality and holiness. At the very least, the apologizing by the narrator reveals a tension between himself and the Miller (not present with the Knight) that undercuts the assumptions of unity and fellowship posited in the General Prologue. While the Miller is self-admittedly drunk, the narrat or’s attempt to dissuade the reader from reading the Miller’s tale â€" both via his negative characterization of the Miller and his tale, and through his stating that there are other tales focusing on virtue and holiness later in the text (implying these are worthier of reading) â€" can be interpreted as an active attempt to impose order on the Miller by encouraging readers to avoid his tale, and thereby silencing him. The frame narrative therefore, in linking the tales and their tellers together, allows for the characters to interact with one another, so that the tales do not simply inform us about who the characters are, but also about how they feel about one another. The tales, the frame, the characters and the narrator, all work together to present a world of conflicting views, hypocrisy and resentment, where fixed assumptions about etiquette, morality and social standing are all coming under increasing pressure. The overall structure of The Canterbury Tales allows for competing viewpoints to be expressed by members of the various estates and professions of society â€" even the narrator becomes involved in this process. These often-conflictual perspectives challenge the notion of unity and wholeness insisted upon in the General Prologue. Work Cited: Chaucer, G. “The Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer to Spenser: An Anthology, edited by Derek Pearsol, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 1999,79-164. Unity, Identity and Fellowship in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Unity, Identity and Fellowship in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Unity, Identity and Fellowship in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Academic Discipline: English Course Name: Chaucer Assignment Subject: Unity, Identity and Fellowship in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Academic Level: Undergraduate Referencing Style: MLA Word Count: 2,110 In the opening of the General Prologue to “The Canterbury Tales,” Geoffrey Chaucer’s narrator (Geoffrey Chaucer) emphasizes the unity, fellowship and common identity of the pilgrims about to set forth on a journey to the shrine of Saint Thomas á Becket in Canterbury, southeast of London (A 23-26). This insistence on unity and wholeness is important because Chaucer’s text attempts to capture the entirety of medieval English society; the three estates â€" the nobility, the clergy and the commoners â€" are all represented, but the assumptions embedded within this (generally) fixed social hierarchy (spiritually, politically and in terms of gender assumptions) represented by the three estates is problematized as the text develops. In fact, the emphasis on companionship and a common identity revealed in the opening of the General Prologue serves as a counterpoint to the social tensions revealed through the interplay of the tales, their tellers, and the frame narrative. This paper will briefly illustrate how the frame narrative, the pilgrims, and their tales work to comment on the assumptions of unity, fellowship and common identity insisted upon by the narrator in the General Prologue. A brief explanation will also be given as to why the frame narrative structure employed by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales is particularly well-suited to representing the whole of late fourteenth century English society. The frame narrative employed by Chaucer is, in the simplest sense, a story utilized to contextualize a series of smaller stories or tales. The story of the frame narrative is that twenty-nine pilgrims have met in the Tabard Inn in South London before heading off on their journey to the shrine of Saint Thomas á Becket in Canterbury (A 20-27). Their host at the tavern offers to provide the pilgrims with a game to kill time on the way to the shrine; he proposes that each of the pilgrims tell four tales, two on the way to the shrine, two on the way back (in actual fact, each pilgrim tells only one tale; the tales were condensed and the return journey was never written by Chaucer) (A 790-795). The host â€" who decides to act as the pilgrims’ guide on the journey â€" then states that the pilgrim whom he judges to have told the tales “. . . of best sentence and moost solaas” (A 798), will have supper at his tavern at the other pilgrim’s cost (A 799-800). The framing narrative, the refore, allows each pilgrim â€" each representing a member of English society â€" a chance to express themselves; to this end, the narrator makes an (apologetic) point of stating that he will recount the tales exactly as told by the pilgrims, regardless of how vulgar they might be (A 725-736). Thus, the framing narrative allows Chaucer to explore the character of each pilgrim, both through the tales they tell and through the commentary they provide to each other’s tales. Also, the framing narrative structure works to allow Chaucer to add or remove pilgrims as he sees fit (allowing for him to create a more all-encompassing portrait of medieval English society). If Chaucer thinks of a new pilgrim not mentioned in the General Prologue, he can simply have them ride up and join the rest of the pilgrims during the journey. The framing narrative works to reveal the societal tensions hidden beneath the veneer of unity presented in the opening of the General Prologue. These tensions are revealed in the apologetic stance taken by the narrator in regard to both the potential for vulgarity in the tales and his inability to present the tales in order of social rank (A 743-746) â€" a point which initially seems to become less relevant when the Knight (the highest-ranking pilgrim) wins the right to tell his tale first (A 835-846). The Knight, as the highest-ranking pilgrim (itself a problematic point, given that Christ was both poor and common â€" and given that Christianity is based on both humility and the universal equality of the human soul), decides to tell a romance â€" a “high” form of literature, befitting his position as a noble. Thus, even the literary style of the tale can be seen as commentary; this becomes especially clear when the (drunken) Miller reacts negatively against the content of “Th e Knight’s Tale.” The Miller’s interjection is important for a number of reasons. The Miller disrupts the social hierarchy â€" the Host, upon the completion of “The Knight’s Tale,” asks the Monk (an attempt to respect social hierarchy; the monk is a member of the clergy) to match “The Knight’s Tale” with one of his own (A 3118-3119) â€" and will not be silenced, even threatening to leave the journey if he is not allowed to speak (another instance wherein the interplay of the frame narrative and the tales facilitate the dialogue and reveal the social tensions between the characters) (A 3132-3133). “The Miller’s Tale” â€" his vision of what really constitutes courtly love â€" is told in the form of a fablieaux, a “low” form of literature befitting his common status. Thus, the Miller’s interjection, facilitated by the frame narrative structure linking the tales, also serves to present a stylistic juxtaposition between high and low forms of literature; the dialogue between the characters is mirrored in the dialogue between literary styles. The stylistic juxtaposition, combined with the characters (their social rank and gender), combined with the frame narrative which allows this interplay to take place, presents a more complete and realistic picture (both socially and artistically) of the “wholeness” of medieval England, while simultaneously undercutting the notions of “unity” and “fellowship” posited by the narrator in the General Prologue. It is through the contrivance of the frame narrative (the idea that a member from each societal rank and vocation wo uld gather together and travel on a pilgrimage is contrived in that it is highly unlikely that this would happen in reality) that these characters are allowed to engage directly with one another. The Miller, a commoner, is here given an opportunity to challenge a member of the aristocracy; the Miller’s refusal to respect the social hierarchy â€" the Host wants to find “Som better man” (A 3130) than Miller to match “The Knight’s Tale” â€" illustrates in a microcosmic fashion, the societal tensions then at play in late fourteenth century England at large; there was a major peasant’s revolt in England in1381 (Britannia Web site: History: Docs: Peasant n. pag). “The Miller’s Tale” also contrasts with “The Knight’s Tale” in terms of content. “The Miller’s Tale” â€" stylistically low â€" interprets love as something physical, while “The Knight’s Tale” â€" stylistically high â€" interprets love as something remote. “The Miller’s Tale” is very sensual â€" the characters of Nicholas and Absalom are motivated by lust (though they do eventually “fall in love”); Nicholas’ pursuit of Alison is further complicated by the fact that she is married to a carpenter named John. When Nicholas finally wins her over, they make love in her husband’s bed (A 3651-3656). “The Miller’s Tale” is meant to be funny, contemporary and populated with realistic characters (a fablieaux). It therefore, presents a stark contrast to “The Knight’s Tale,” which is set in a distant past, concerns morality and virtue and involves aristocratic characters (a romance). In “The Knight’s Tale,” the two young knights fall in lov e with a young woman from afar â€" first with her beauty (A 1098-1100; A 1114-1115) and then with her virtue; unlike “The Miller’s tale,” “The Knight’s Tale” lacks any sense of physicality or sensuality in the nature of love â€" it is highly formalized. The two knights spend years loving Emily from a distance (in this case because they are locked in prison), they have no idea who she is, only that they love her (based on her beauty) and that they will fight each other to the death to have her (A 1592-1621). The content of the two tales, therefore, engage in a kind of dialogue with one another. Both knights in “The Knight’s Tale” objectify Emily; even the Gods tell her that she must wed one of the two young knights, though she wishes to remain a virgin (A 2348-2352). In “The Miller’s Tale” the reader is given an example of what can happen when a man marries a woman as an object. John is old and his wife Alison is only eighteen (A 3223-3227). John is characteri zed as viewing himself as a cuckold and as having fallen into a snare (A 3226; A 3231). John’s humiliation in the tale illustrates the consequences of a marriage devoid of physical attraction; Alison and John are married because he is wealthy â€" he does not love her as a person; he “heeld hire narwe in cage” (A 3224) â€" and he values Alison as an object to be coveted. Here again, in the dialogue between the tales, their tellers and the frame narrative, is an example of how certain ideals (courtly love, chivalry) are undercut in the text. The interplay between the Miller and the Host (and the narrator) in the prologue to his tale (the frame narrative), serves to contextualize “The Miller’s Tale” as a response to the “ideals” both stylistic and social, articulated in “The Knight’s Tale.” The narrator also acts as commentator on the dialogue between the characters and the content of their tales. The narrator’s commentary is not objective, however, and because of this it exposes some of the inconsistent or illogical assumptions embedded within the societal structure (the estate system; chivalry etc…). For example, in the General Prologue, the narrator comments that the Knight is a “worthy man” (A 43) and is also “meeke as is a mayde” (A 69). Yet, the narrator also catalogues every battle the “verray parfit, gentil knyght” (A 73) has taken part in â€" many of which paint the Knight in a less than favourable light. The narrator notes that the Knight has worked as a mercenary in wars between two Islamic powers (A 64-66) and took part in the slaughter of the Christian population of Alexandria (A 51). Yet, the narrator never comments negatively about these facts and continues to insist upon the “gentleness” and “meekness” of a knight that has killed more than fifteen human beings for money (A 61). The absence of a negative judgment by the narrator acts as an implicit commentary on the “ideals” surrounding knightly behaviour â€" honour, truth, freedom, chivalry (A 46) â€" and the realities of it; it also informs the reader about the character of the narrator himself. The juxtaposition of the narrator’s commentary with the reality implied by the facts of the Knight’s endeavours illustrates the superficiality of the General Prologue’s “unity” and “fellowship”; it also illustrates how the frame narrative (which gives the narrator his rationale for commenting on the Knight) works to challenge idealized societal assumptions obliquely. The narrator’s commentary on the Miller also reveals a lack of objectivity; he states that the Miller “tolde his cherles tale in his manere” (A 3169) and both apologizes for the ensuing tale and tells the reader that they should “Turne over the leef and chese another tale” (A 3177) if they want to read about morality and holiness. At the very least, the apologizing by the narrator reveals a tension between himself and the Miller (not present with the Knight) that undercuts the assumptions of unity and fellowship posited in the General Prologue. While the Miller is self-admittedly drunk, the narrat or’s attempt to dissuade the reader from reading the Miller’s tale â€" both via his negative characterization of the Miller and his tale, and through his stating that there are other tales focusing on virtue and holiness later in the text (implying these are worthier of reading) â€" can be interpreted as an active attempt to impose order on the Miller by encouraging readers to avoid his tale, and thereby silencing him. The frame narrative therefore, in linking the tales and their tellers together, allows for the characters to interact with one another, so that the tales do not simply inform us about who the characters are, but also about how they feel about one another. The tales, the frame, the characters and the narrator, all work together to present a world of conflicting views, hypocrisy and resentment, where fixed assumptions about etiquette, morality and social standing are all coming under increasing pressure. The overall structure of The Canterbury Tales allows for competing viewpoints to be expressed by members of the various estates and professions of society â€" even the narrator becomes involved in this process. These often-conflictual perspectives challenge the notion of unity and wholeness insisted upon in the General Prologue. Work Cited: Chaucer, G. “The Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer to Spenser: An Anthology, edited by Derek Pearsol, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 1999,79-164.

The princely powers of the Duchess of Malfi - 1040 Words

The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy, originally published under this name in 1623, is a Jacobean drama written by John Webster in 1612-13. The play starts off as a love story with the Duchess secretly marrying the steward of the household Antonio; a man beneath her class who she has fallen in love with. This marriage immediately shows the Duchess’ â€Å"princely powers† by defying the wishes of her brothers, Ferdinand and the Cardinal, to not marry again after being widowed. â€Å"The Duchess of Malfi is ostensibly a story of resistance of a wilful widow who actively defies her brothers’ wishes and refuses to be constrained by (male) authority† (Bartels 420). Webster portrays her brother Ferdinand’s power as a corrupted duplicate of an ideal. An ideal that the Duchess reaches through the drag of patriarchy. However the play ends as a tragedy with the deaths of almost all the major characters in the play. The Duchess of Malfi contains a lot of stag e violence and horror especially in the later scenes which attracted many visitors. However this is not the reason Webster’s play is a great English renaissance drama. The poetic language usage by Webster and the complex characters should ultimately receive the credits. The focus in this paper will be on the complexity of the Duchess’ character and especially on her comment in Act III, scene 2: â€Å"For know, whether I am doomed to live or die, I can do both like a prince.† (Webster 1603). Furthermore the exploration of the theme ofShow MoreRelatedThe Princely Powers of the Duchess of Malfi849 Words   |  3 Pages1612-13. The play starts off as a love story with the Duchess secretly marrying the steward of the household Antonio; a man beneath her class who she has fallen in love with. This marriage immediately shows the Duchess’ â€Å"princely powers† by defying the wishes of her brothers, Ferdinand and the Cardinal, to not marry agai n after being widowed. Webster portrays her brother Ferdinand’s power as a corrupted duplicate of an ideal. An ideal that the Duchess reaches through the drag of patriarchy. However theRead MoreThe Duchess of Malfi1313 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿The princely powers of the Duchess of Malfi The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy, originally published under this name in 1623, is a Jacobean drama written by John Webster in 1612-13. The play starts off as a love story with the Duchess secretly marrying the steward of the household Antonio; a man beneath her class who she has fallen in love with. This marriage immediately shows the Duchess’ â€Å"princely powers† by defying the wishes of her brothers, Ferdinand and the Cardinal, to not marry againRead MoreDuchess Of Malf Open Learn10864 Words   |  44 Pagesï » ¿John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi Introduction 3 Learning outcomes 3 Background 3 Description 4 Act 1: setting the scene 5 Courts ideal and real 5 Discussion 5 Description 8 Bosola the malcontent 8 Discussion 9 Marriage for love: family opposition 10 Discussion 10 Love and marriage: Antonio the steward 13 Discussion 14 Love and marriage: the Duchess 15 Description 16 Description 17 Discussion 19 Act 2: discovery 21 Ferdinand 21 Discussion 22 Conclusion 24 References 24 Further reading 25 Next

Slavery and Abolition

Ritual †wine taralli Free Essays

Nonna’s Wine Taralli In a tiny house surrounded by a forest of fig trees in Rende, Cosenza, Calabria, my great great grandmother taught her little granddaughter how to make â€Å"Nonna’s Wine Taralli. † That little girl would eventually become my grandmother and she would also teach me the art of wine taralli-making. Two cups of my grandfather’s homemade white wine, fourteen ounces of canola oil and sugar, two teaspoons of baking powder, an envelope of â€Å"Lievito Bartolino,† three and a half pounds of flour and â€Å"un po’ di aranzi,† as my Italian grandmother says, which are the licorice-flavoured seeds of the nise. We will write a custom essay sample on Ritual – wine taralli or any similar topic only for you Order Now These ingredients combine to make â€Å"Nonna’s Wine Taralli† – a cookie-textured, ring shaped and slightly sweetened version of the traditional Italian taralli, whose recipe has been passed on for generations by the women in my southern-Italian family. Come fall and spring, a grandmother makes an abundance of wine taralli in the presence of daughters and granddaughters who watch intently and help accordingly. According to Searle’s Taxonomy, the making of â€Å"Nonna’s Wine Taralli† is regarded as ritualistic behavior as it is collective, formal, performance and formative, trengthens existing social statuses and relationships, and exudes ultimate goals. To begin, the making of â€Å"Nonna’s Wine Taralli† is consistent with Searle’s Taxonomy as it is collective, meaning there are at least two people (Searle 19) as well as formal since it calls for conformity, cannot be improvised and is not spontaneous (20). The activity is collective. It involves at least two and at most three women: a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter in any which combination. The activity is formal. Each and every ingredient is essential. There is not much, if any, room for improvisation. The flavour is entirely dependent on each and every ingredient. If certain ingredients are missing, sacrificed or substituted, the wine taralli will not taste as they are expected to taste and should taste. There is not only an expected taste, but also an expected and fixed order of events. The beating of the oil, sugar and white wine come first, followed by the sifting of the flour, baking powder, â€Å"Lievito Bartolino† and â€Å"aranzi,† then the kneading of the dough, the cutting of the strips and finally, the formation of the rings. Furthermore, the activity is performance. It can be seen as performance as it is bodily and demands its participants submit to a particular role (22). The activity involves the beating and sifting of the essential ingredients and the kneading of the dough through folding, pressing, and stretching, which require steady hand and wrist movements. It also involves roles which are quite fixed and unchanging. I recall standing on top of a chair in order to reach the counter of my grandmother’s kitchen at the young age of five. I watched her perform er role which involved kneading the dough with her strong hands as I waited anxiously for my role to come, which consisted of rolling the soft dough into strips and then forming them into the taralli’s distinct ring-like shape. Throughout the years, the roles between my grandmother and I have remained the same. Finally, the making of wine taralli is formative and strengthens existing relationships and social statuses (24). An abundance are made to last several months since we gather only twice a year to make them. Since so many ot them are being produced at one time, he participants, especially young granddaughters like myself, have the opportunity to develop the ability to create and perfect the art of taralli-making. It also allows participants to strengthen existing familial and cultural bonds and social statuses. The familial bond between grandmothers, mothers and daughters and the familial status of being a member of this particular family are present and strengthened. The cultural bond that is shared in being members of the Italian heritage is strengthened by the practicing of an age old cultural tradition. The bond of womanhood is trengthened in that the participants are exclusively Italian women from the same family. These bonds are present while not explicitly stated. While there is only a small group of participants, the bonds and social statuses that are shared amongst them are strong and meaningful. A popular Italian saying that is spoken by my grandmother when making wine taralli is, â€Å"one can resolve any argument over a glass of wine and a handful of taralli. † As I get older, it becomes more clear to me what the ultimate goals of this ritual are and how they are achieved. How to cite Ritual – wine taralli, Papers

Implementing Policy Include Communication †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Implementing Policy Include Communication. Answer: Introduction: Three long-term employee relations objective include job design which can be achieved through clearly defining tasks to be done, skills required for the work and how these tasks should be done. Organization culture is another objective which can be achieved through improved communication between the management and its workers. The third objective is workforce planning which should be achieved by involving the workers in planning roles (Radhakrishna Raju, 2015). Analyzing employee relationship based on the above objective would require that employees are examined on the basis of whether they are performing their roles according to their skills under job design (Seifert, Brockner, Bianchi Moon, 2016). Analyzing existing employee relation under organizational culture would require examining absenteeism and days lost in industrial disputes. Employee relations under workforce planning can be determined by a positive picture while a non-existent involvement would lead to distrust between staff and management. Evaluating options regarding cost benefit would be measured through productivity measures, days lost to industrial action, labor turnover and absenteeism. Under risk analysis, five steps are used which include identification of risks, evaluation of the risks, developing a control plan, analyzing the budget and risk administration. To abide by workplace laws, workers have to follow the rules of the organization as stipulated. Workplace health and safety can be followed by a set of procedures provided by the authority. Equal employment opportunity can be governed based on skills and requirements. One can abide by anti-discriminatory laws by ensuring workers are not punished for similar mistakes. Higher management should be involved in developing the policy to ensure all aspects are covered through encouraging ideas and feedback from both the management and staff. Skills and knowledge in implementing the policy include communication, listening and negotiation skills as well as knowledge in enterprise and workplace bargaining processes, relevant legislation and organization goals and objectives. My documented objective for Colesworths industrial relations includes promoting a healthy relationship, increase productivity and ensuring the rules are well understood in the workplace. The methodology I will use is to analyze the risk in involved, ensure compliance with fair work and ensure sufficient training and development is offered. The time frame will take a month with weekly meetings. The training and development for Colesworths will evaluate the existing skills, train different sets of skills that are required, ensure the training is based on national standards and train a team leader. Create a committee from the team to ensure consultative discussions are agreed upon References Radhakrishna, A., Raju, R. S. (2015). A Study on the Effect of Human Resource Development on Employment Relations. IUP Journal of Management Research, 14(3), 28-42. Seifert, M., Brockner, J., Bianchi, E. C., Moon, H. (2016). How Workplace Fairness Affects Employee Commitment. MIT Sloan Management Review, 57(2), 15-17.

An Account of Library and Information Science Education at National and International Levels Essays

An Account of Library and Information Science Education at National and International Levels Essays An Account of Library and Information Science Education at National and International Levels Essay An Account of Library and Information Science Education at National and International Levels Essay An account of Library and Information Science Education at National and International levels By Keshav R. Dhuri Goa University INTRODUCTION: Among the countries imparting library and information science (LIS) education, India would rank within five nations chronologically, in output and contribution to the development of thought content. If it was Melvil Dewey who made an auspicious beginning in the west, then much more notable contributions came from Dr Ranganathan in the east in all domains of LIS knowledge, thought and content. For LIS education and pedagogy from India in general and from Ranganathan in particular, the it has been unmatched and the world has always turned towards India for something new to emerge from and excel. India has been a pioneer in education and research in LIS, particularly among the developing nations who are looking for a just educational environment in this context. What India can offer to the developing nations in imparting best education, training and research to the aspirants has been discussed in this paper? It gives a brief description of various aspects of LIS education in India and its implied suitability to the aspirants of educatee from the developing nations. PROFILE OF LIS EDUCATION IN INDIA: 1) Genesis and Growth LIS education in India started in 1911, when the Baroda School was started by W A Borden due to the initiative taken by Sayaji Rao Gaikwad II, the then Maharaja of State of Baroda. Since then, India has not looked back and has been striding high in the ladder A. Y. Asundi and c. R. Karisiddappa Information Officer, Siddaganga Institute of Technology. The paper presents a succinct profile and contributions of Indian LIS education since its inception. It also attempts to bring to the fore how this profile presents its international potentiality and perspective scenario in context to developing countries. Bull. Inf. This apart, several universities are concurrently running Distance Education Programmes too. The details of the developments of LIS education in India are well recorded in the status report of the Curriculum Development Committees (CDC) Report on Curriculum for LIS by the University Grants Commission (UGC) 2 ) UGC Efforts: The UGC efforts in the development of LIS education are well evidenced by the three committees that were constituted to formulate model curriculum and pedagogic guidelines for the LIS courses in India. The Ranganathan reports on University and College Libraries and Library Science Education were the first landmarks in this regard. Later, report of the Kaula Committee on Curriculum Development in LIS Education was published in 1992. This was followed with the Karisiddappa Committee report on Curriculum Development in LIS in 2002. The impact of these efforts were first seen in the continuous development of the curriculum with changing times. Second, the UGC recognised LIS as a discipline on par with other pure and applied subjects. Third was the growth of teaching departments in various universities. And finally, it also necessitated the need for qualified personnel to teach the subject, which gave impetus to start the masters and research degrees programmes. Thus the curriculum, developed over the years for the LIS matches with the modem and contemporary developments in the field and has been responsible for the creation of manpower to man the different types of professional responsibilities, in practice and teaching. ) Role of Professional Bodies and Other Agencies: The role of professional associations in India in the promotion of the LIS education and its systematic development has also been noteworthy. The three main professional associations-the Indian Library Association (ILA), the Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centres (IASLIC), and the Indian Association of Teachers of Library and Inform ation Science (IATLIS)-have been holding annual conferences at the national and international levels to take stock of manpower needs and supply of qualified manpower from the departments. In particular, the IA TLIS has been focusing much closer on the education sector than the other two; it widened the scope of the membership to plasticizing librarians so that the teachers and practioners share a common platform towards the developments of education sector and the needs of the practice sector. The IATLIS with ILA and IASLIC also organised jointly a National Seminar on Hundred years of Library Science Education and its Future in October 1987. IATLIS and AGLIS again rganised jointly a National Seminar on IT and its Impact on LIS Education and Library Management in 19965, Two unique courses were developed by the Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC) and the Indian National Science and Documentation Centre (lNSDOC) to cater to the needs of special libraries in particular. However, the inculcation of the graduates from these institutions in teaching programmes have given a new direction to the educational paradigm of LIS. While DRTC is an autonomous central ins titute under the Indian Statistical Institute, INSDOC is a constituent centre of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. The National Centre for Science Information is also offering a postmasters degree course with intensive application of IT to LIS. 4) Levels of Courses in LIS in India In India a variety of courses in LIS are offered and as such the learners have a wide DESIDOC Bull. Inf. Technol. , choice. From a three months Certificate Course to two years Diploma Courses are available to create Para-professionals. The Bachelors, Masters, MPhil and PhD degree programmes are also offered by most of the universities conducting LIS courses. Even at the Masters degree level, there are two courses offering one year BLISc, and one year MLISc or a two years integrated MLISc programme. Besides these, library science is also offered as an optional subject at the three years degree programme to inculcate professional knowledge with college level itself. The UGC report of the CDC gives more details on the structure of these categories. 5) Distance Education in LIS in India: Besides the formal educational programmes in LIS, India also has a good infrastructure of distance education programmes in LIS. As many as 52 universities are offering distance education prgrammes in LIS; some of them such as the Indira Gandhi National Open University (lGNOU) are providing this facility exclusively. IGNOU offers Bachelors, Masters, and Postmasters degrees and even is in the line to extend doctoral programmes in LIS through distance education mode. The course material and the audio- video lessons prepared by IGNOU can match to any international standards in this regard. 6) Curriculum Development and Research Growth: As already mentioned the curriculum of LIS has been continuously revised by he departments at least once in five years. In some cases, it is even once in three years. It takes recourse to the progress of the subject in its various dimensions. The three committees, mentioned already, have been second came only after 20 years. But, today the number of PhDs in LIS far exceeds the time frame; there are 1000 estimated PhD holders in India and each one of them has been guiding several st udents from their respective departments. In the next five years the number of PhD holders in LIS in India would be around SOOO-estimated at about five times more than today. A national meeting on Research in LIS was held in 1994 and numbers of papers on this subject were published to take stock of research output Infrastructure and Other Physical facilities UGCs initiative in providing adequate infrastructure to the LIS departments has enabled them to equip with IT laboratories to provide intensive training in their use. It is a matter of pride that among the developing nations India has the best suited curriculum with orientation to technology applications, (India has been the earliest to include a compulsory paper on library automation as early as in 1980s). The National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) under UGC have provided enough impetus towards creating good infrastructure, for both libraries and teaching departments. The faculty to teach the traditional and IT related subjects is also available in good number as is evidenced by the large number of conferences, workshops and refresher courses organised by several professional bodies, and the Academic Staff Colleges. The IATLIS also organised a National Conference on the Study of the Infrastructure Facilities available in the LIS departments of the country8. Besides, a statistical presentation in this context has also been given in the UGC Reportl. 8) IT in LIS Education: After the USA, the UK and some European countries, India is one among the few countries, where information and communication technology (ICT)-oriented LIS teaching is being provided. In late 1960s and early 1970s teaching of computer application commenced in Indian library science departments. The courses run by the DRTC and INSDOC also included a paper on library automation. The starting of the INFLIBNET and the Online Information 8 DESIDOC Bull. Inf. Technol. , Retrieval Experiments carried out at National Aeronautical Laboratory and INSDOC gave boost to the inculcation of new technology trends. The contributions of private agencies, in particular the online and CD-ROM database search services started by Informatics (India) are responsible for the initiation of technology culture in Indian libraries and among the library science teachers. A detailed account of technology application in India libraries and library science education has been given by Kumar. The National Information System in Science and Technology/Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (NISSA T IDS IR) and other research and development organisations like Defence Scientific Information and Documentation Centre (DESIDOC) and Sectoral Information Centres under NISSA T have also contributed to this process of technology application in libraries and the manpower development to man many of these libraries and information centres. Today, India with many projects on digital libraries on hand can be considered as technologically advanced in LIS education with IT applications. Many national and international conferences organised in this aspect gives a clear idea of its technological capabilities. INTERNATIONALISATION OF LIBRARY SCIENCE EDUCATION: The profile of LIS education development prescribed under above shows Indias unique experiences in different aspects of LIS education and place it on par with developed nations in imparting LIS education to the aspirants within and outside the country. Students from Kenya, Ethiopia, Thailand and from SAARC countries: and from many African and South-East Asian regions are coming to India under the fellowship of Indian Council for Cultural Relation (lCCR) for pursuing studies in LIS (from bachelors to PhD programmes) and leading the LIS education mantle in their respective countries. In 2005 two Indian professors of LIS were invited by the Danish Government to participate in the workshop organised by the Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, where the participants were LIS educators from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The two scholars are members of the Discussion Group formed by International Federation of Library Association (IFLA) with a special emphasis on LIS education in developing countries. There is growing awareness in the Asia-Pacific region about the training and practice of library and information professionals in the 21st century and need for a regional cooperation with the countries like India, which is affluent with vast experience of teaching, research and practice in LIS. Study by Abdullahi, et al. needs to be referred here in order to surface the ppropriateness of India taking a lead-role in this context, particularly with an emphasis on developing countries. They made a theoretical survey on the importance of international and intercultural opportunities in serving as essential components In educating and training library and information professionals. The scope of the paper is though limited to Europe and North America, but the kind of opportunities identified by them can be a good frame work for the others to set-in their goals. Promotion of distance education is another area where internationalisation of LIS education can be promoted. India, since last 25 years; has been imparting distance education programme is LIS, particularly through IGNOU. IGNOU over the years has achieved substantial experience in this area, has created excellent course material using nations best subject experts to write the lessons, and has also broadcasted the lessons through its national television network. Like India, many other developing countries such as Ghana have been utilising ICT for distance education programmes. Martey in his paper has described the ICT scene in Ghana from 1996 to 2004. His paper emphases on the benefits that distance learners in Ghana will derive from an ICT -enhanced distance education. The paper also makes some suggestions as how academic libraries in Ghana can assist distance learners. India with her experience can also exchange the views with others in DESIDOC Bull. Inf. technology, the developing world. The suggestions made by Subba Rao in this context are also worth mentioning STUDY OF ISSUES RELATING TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: The broad perspectives on making LIS curriculum viable for the global issues were Presented by Karisiddappa. They also deliberated on major issues like emergence of information and knowledge society. The paper enlisted nine major factors that needed inclusion in the LIS curriculum. Many of them have now find place in the curriculum on LIS developed by the CDC of UGC. The curriculum has a viable balance between the traditional and technological aspects, practices, skills, and techniques. Karisiddappa has succinctly stressed the need for a model curriculum for developing countries. Shiholo and Ocholla21 in their paper have deliberated on the training needs of LIS professionals in Kenya. Their paper implies to seek international collaboration in developing a need-based curriculum. Indian expertise can be a part of this exercise to fulfill the requirements. Wijetunge stated that Poor information system has poor curriculum development in Sri Lanka. Ocholla and Bothma made some detailed study on the status, trends and challenges of library and information education and training in Eastern and Southern Africa. Similar studies have come from Mexico by Morales and from Croatia by Horvat. In the comparative case study of graduate courses in library and information studies in the UK, USA, India and Iran Mortezaie and Naghshineh have highlighted the need for curricula revamping in terms of diversity of courses offered; university independence; diversity of degrees offered; ease and flexibility of the higher education system; updated course programmes; emphasis on research; and course and curricula development. The paper also laments on a widening chasm between LIS education in developing countries and those in developed countries. In this context the paper by Asundi and Karisiddappa has presented a detailed perspective on the developing countries needs in their paper presented at the Copenhagen workshop in Denmark. Leif has identified number of collaborative aspects, which are not successful in Europe but could be of relevant to developing nations. The issues of collaboration can be examined by the Indian LIS teachers to make concerted efforts to achieve them. Asundi have also identified some areas of study relevant to developing countries. Like the Bologna Declaration-an international agreement with the help of IFLA could be arrived at with the Indian library and information science Departments working towards achieving the collaborative and participative attitude with The developing country schools. Chaudhry identified The aim to look into projects undertaken to promote collaboration between LIS education programmes in South East Asia. He suggested a plan for developing a repository of learning objects for facilitating sharing of teaching materials for improved LIS education. Faculty development was identified another important area of possible future collaboration in the region with possible involvement of international forums. Wijetunge, made a descriptive survey of LIS teachers of Sri Lanka. He identified a strange reason for the dearth of faculty to teach LIS subjects in Sri Lanka. He also expressed lack of full-time teachers to teach in LIS schools resulting in a set-back to professional education in Sri Lanka. Though the paper suggests for a complete manpower survey of LIS professionals, the gap needs to be filled-up as early as possible. Until then neighboring countries like India, which has needed expertise can help under the collaborative approach adopted by the SAARC countries. The two sections, the internationalization and the issues relating to developing countries, should be placed in juxtaposition and superimposed with the profile of the LIS education presented in the Sections International forums like IFLA have endorsed this View as is evident from the formation of Discussion Group under its purview. The trends in LIS education are rather very conspicuous and the influence of technology is diversifying its approach. Hence, the countries with both traditional approach and suitability to adopt the technology will endure the durability for the future. CONCLUSION: The LIS education in India has a unique profile, as it started as a voluntary vocation by many university libraries. This trend followed for at least a decade or so. An independent identity to the course was reached only in early 1970s. Despite these lacunae, it has progressed well and has attracted the world focus particularly that of the developing world. The profile of LIS education given in the paper shows the landmark achievements in its stride for recognition. Today, it has reached a stage where it is being considered as a course to be reckoned with technologically affluent programmes, and being considered on the agenda of apex bodies offering technical education. It is influenced by within and goes with concurrent progress made by India in the field of IT. In traditional subjects of LIS too, India stands different with scholarly contribution by Or Ranganathan and his contemporaries and disciples. Or Ranganathans contributions are being considered in the design of computerized information retrieval systems. Eisenberg, Michael B, et al. mentioned that an integration of traditional areas and IT developments is seen vibrantly in India as is evidenced by the PhD theses generated by the departments of LIS of Indian universities. The range of LIS subjects researched in India presents a very broad base, expressing in itself its potentialities and expertise in conventional subjects like library classification, library cataloguing, and library management and in the specialized areas like, digital libraries and open archives initiatives. The internationalization of LIS education is an issue being discussed at many international forums, and the role that Europe and North America played in the early genesis, was noteworthy. However, the needs of the developing countries are variable and they are looking towards viable partners to suit their social, cultural, economic and political environment. In consideration of these aspects, India can be considered as a viable partner in reshaping LIS education in developing countries. REFERENCES: 1. Dayani, M. H. (2005). Library and information science educational curriculum: Guidelines for evolution. Quarterly Journal of Library and Information Science 3 (1): 1-20. (Persian language). 2. Fattahi, R. (2005). Education for librarianship in Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution: An historical review of the American roles and influences. Library Review 54 (5): 316-327. 3. Fattahi, R. , et. al. (2006). The new MA curriculum for librarianship and information science: The report of a research project. Iranian Journal of Information Science and Technology 4 (2) 4. Ghadirian, A. , ; Asili, G. (2005). The prophecy of government, university and industry in national development. Quarterly Journal of Research and Planning in Higher Education: 127. (Persian language). 5. Gharibi, H. (n. d. ) Information Committee bulletin, No. 8, Available: irandoc. ac. ir/Com/Newsletter/Bulletin-8. htm#A ?. (Persian language). 6. Hayati, Z. (2008). Library and information science challenges in universities of Iran. Quarterly Journal of Library and Information Science 1 (2): 23. (Persian language). 7. Human resource development. (2002). Damparvar Journal 3:9. (Persian language). 8. Iranian Book News Agency (IBNA). (2008). Library and information science educational curricula should be correct: An interview with Dr. Horri. Available: ibna. ir/vdcgwq9x. ak9n34prra. html. (Persian language). 9. Kumar, P. S. G. Computerisation of Indian libraries. B. R. Publishing, New Delhi, 1977.

On Virtue and Happiness, by John Stuart Mill

On Virtue and Happiness, by John Stuart Mill English philosopher and social reformer John Stuart Mill was one of the major intellectual figures of the 19th century and a founding member of the Utilitarian Society. In the following excerpt from his long philosophical essay Utilitarianism, Mill relies on strategies of classification and division to defend the utilitarian doctrine that happiness is the sole end of human action. On Virtue and Happiness by John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) The utilitarian doctrine is, that happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable, as an end; all other things being only desirable as means to that end. What ought to be required of this doctrine,what conditions is it requisite that the doctrine should fulfill, to make good its claim to be believed? The only proof capable of being given that an object is visible, is that people actually see it. The only proof that a sound is audible, is that people hear it; and so of the other sources of our experience. In like manner, I apprehend, the sole evidence it is possible to produce that anything is desirable, is that people do actually desire it. If the end which the utilitarian doctrine proposes to itself were not, in theory and in practice, acknowledged to be an end, nothing could ever convince any person that it was so. No reason can be given why the general happiness is desirable, except that each person, so far as he believes it to be attainable, desires his own happiness. This, however, being a fact, we have not only all the proof which the case admits of, but all which it is possible to require, that happiness is a good, that each persons happiness is a good to that person, and the general happiness, therefore, a good to the aggregate of all persons. Happiness has made out its t itle as one of the ends of conduct, and consequently one of the criteria of morality. But it has not, by this alone, proved itself to be the sole criterion. To do that, it would seem, by the same rule, necessary to show, not only that people desire happiness, but that they never desire anything else. Now it is palpable that they do desire things which, in common language, are decidedly distinguished from happiness. They desire, for example, virtue, and the absence of vice, no less really than pleasure and the absence of pain. The desire of virtue is not as universal, but it is as authentic a fact, as the desire of happiness. And hence the opponents of the utilitarian standard deem that they have a right to infer that there are other ends of human action besides happiness, and that happiness is not the standard of approbation and disapprobation. But does the utilitarian doctrine deny that people desire virtue, or maintain that virtue is not a thing to be desired? The very reverse. It maintains not only that virtue is to be desired, but that it is to be desired disinterestedly, for itself. Whatever may be the opinion of utilitarian moralists as to the original conditions by which virtue is made virtue, however they may believe (as they do) that actions and dispositions are only virtuous because they promote another end than virtue, yet this being granted, and it having been decided, from considerations of this description, what is virtuous, they not only place virtue at the very head of the things which are good as means to the ultimate end, but they also recognize as a psychological fact the possibility of its being, to the individual, a good in itself, without looking to any end beyond it; and hold, that the mind is not in a right state, not in a state conformable to Utility, not in the state most conducive to the general h appiness, unless it does love virtue in this manner- as a thing desirable in itself, even although, in the individual instance, it should not produce those other desirable consequences which it tends to produce, and on account of which it is held to be virtue. This opinion is not, in the smallest degree, a departure from the Happiness principle. The ingredients of happiness are very various, and each of them is desirable in itself, and not merely when considered as swelling an aggregate. The principle of utility does not mean that any given pleasure, as music, for instance, or any given exemption from pain, as for example health, is to be looked upon as means to a collective something termed happiness, and to be desired on that account. They are desired and desirable in and for themselves; besides being means, they are a part of the end. Virtue, according to the utilitarian doctrine, is not naturally and originally part of the end, but it is capable of becoming so; and in those who love it disinterestedly it has become so, and is desired and cherished, not as a means to happiness, but as a part of their happiness. Concluded on page two Continued from page oneTo illustrate this farther, we may remember that virtue is not the only thing, originally a means, and which if it were not a means to anything else, would be and remain indifferent, but which by association with what it is a means to, comes to be desired for itself, and that too with the utmost intensity. What, for example, shall we say of the love of money? There is nothing originally more desirable about money than about any heap of glittering pebbles. Its worth is solely that of the things which it will buy; the desires for other things than itself, which it is a means of gratifying. Yet the love of money is not only one of the strongest moving forces of human life, but money is, in many cases, desired in and for itself; the desire to possess it is often stronger than the desire to use it, and goes on increasing when all the desires which point to ends beyond it, to be compassed by it, are falling off. It may, then, be said truly, that money is desired not for the sake of an end, but as part of the end. From being a means to happiness, it has come to be itself a principal ingredient of the individuals conception of happiness. The same may be said of the majority of the great objects of human life:power, for example, or fame; except that to each of these there is a certain amount of immediate pleasure annexed, which has at least the semblance of being naturally inherent in them- a thing which cannot be said of money. Still, however, the strongest natural attraction, both of power and of fame, is the immense aid they give to the attainment of our other wishes; and it is the strong association thus generated between them and all our objects of desire, which gives to the direct desire of them the intensity it often assumes, so as in some characters to surpass in strength all other desires. In these cases the means have become a part of the end, and a more important part of it than any of the things which they are means to. What was once desired as an instrument for the attainment of ha ppiness, has come to be desired for its own sake. In being desired for its own sake it is, however, desired as part of happiness. The person is made, or thinks he would be made, happy by its mere possession; and is made unhappy by failure to obtain it. The desire of it is not a different thing from the desire of happiness, any more than the love of music, or the desire of health. They are included in happiness. They are some of the elements of which the desire of happiness is made up. Happiness is not an abstract idea, but a concrete whole; and these are some of its parts. And the utilitarian standard sanctions and approves their being so. Life would be a poor thing, very ill provided with sources of happiness, if there were not this provision of nature, by which things originally indifferent, but conducive to, or otherwise associated with, the satisfaction of our primitive desires, become in themselves sources of pleasure more valuable than the primitive pleasures, both in permanency, in the space of human existence that they are capable of covering, and even in intensity. Virtue, according to the utilitarian conception, is a good of this description. There was no original desire of it, or motive to it, save its conduciveness to pleasure, and especially to protection from pain. But through the association thus formed, it may be felt a good in itself, and desired as such with as great intensity as any other good; and with this difference between it and the love of money, of power, or of fame- that all of these may, and often do, render the individual noxious to the other members of the society to which he belongs, whereas there is nothing which makes him so much a blessing to them as the cultivation of the disinterested love of virtue. And consequently, the utilitarian standard, while it tolerates and approves those other acquired desires, up to the point beyond which they would be more injurious to the general happiness than promotive of it, enjoins and requires the cultivation of the love of virtue up to the greatest strength possible, as being above all things important to the general happiness. It results from the preceding considerations, that there is in reality nothing desired except happiness. Whatever is desired otherwise than as a means to some end beyond itself, and ultimately to happiness, is desired as itself a part of happiness, and is not desired for itself until it has become so. Those who desire virtue for its own sake, desire it either because the consciousness of it is a pleasure, or because the consciousness of being without it is a pain, or for both reasons united; as in truth the pleasure and pain seldom exist separately, but almost always together- the same person feeling pleasure in the degree of virtue attained, and pain in not having attained more. If one of these gave him no pleasure, and the other no pain, he would not love or desire virtue, or would desire it only for the other benefits which it might produce to himself or to persons whom he cared for. We have now, then, an answer to the question, of what sort of proof the principle of utility is susceptible. If the opinion which I have now stated is psychologically true- if human nature is so constituted as to desire nothing which is not either a part of happiness or a means of happiness, we can have no other proof, and we require no other, that these are the only things desirable. If so, happiness is the sole end of human action, and the promotion of it the test by which to judge of all human conduct; from whence it necessarily follows that it must be the criterion of morality, since a part is included in the whole. (1863)

Religion, Feminism, and Environmentalism Research Paper - 2

Religion, Feminism, and Environmentalism - Research Paper Example Buddhism holds two concepts for feminism. In the first concept it, says that it’s better for women to take another life to be born as a man. Whereas the other concept says that genders do not matter, it is spirituality that is considered important in Buddhism. Hinduism, on the other hand, deals with ecofeminism as a scared concept. They say that the power of a goddess resides within women, and this gives them an authority over everything. Perhaps this is because there is a connection between nature and feminism that gives them the authority over nature. Christianity too treats women as sacred entities and believes in the fact that there are some similarities between nature and women. Women and nature both are considered to possess the quality of reproduction in all the religions. Ecological feminism can be defined as a concept which unites or merges the movement of nature with the movements of feminism. Eco feminists have tried to portray the importance of feminism to environmentalism (Cheney 179)2. The term ecofeminism was first used by a French writer, Francoise d’Eaubonne in 1984. She used this term for the first time in her bookâ€Å"Le Feminismeou la mort†. Ecological feminism can also be defined as a concept which connects environmentalism with feminism. It can further be elaborated as the ability of the women power to work towards the achievement of balance in the ecological processes. Ecofeminist philosophy finds, analyzes and studies the connection between the behavior that dominate the women and the behavior that can be considered detrimental for the society or the environment. Ortner was the first anthropologist to raise the question of similarities between women and nature. He said that as woman is to man, similarly nature is to culture. He said that there are many similarities between women and nature. The first one, he elaborated was the reproductive function played by both. He further added that as women

Critically evaluate which theoretical approach in International Essay

Critically evaluate which theoretical approach in International Political Economy best explains the nature of power in the inter - Essay Example Governments have to relate with other government. Governments must also consider the non state actors if they are to have an impact in the trade and policies. Some states are influenced by liberal theories. Trade must be having some duty and tariffs. These tariffs are sources of government revenues. Mercantilists’ theory has also been instrumental in the International Political Economy. Liberalisms dates back to the revolutions in the 18th century. The mercantilist financial arrangement developed into free enterprise. They were initially termed as centrists believed there should be little state intervention in the economy. According to the liberal economic theory, states were discouraged to minimize intervention in the economy. The theory advocated for free market and believed that internal markets should have negligible intervention from the state. The theory suggested that tariffs should not be used to prevent competition between countries (Eatwell & Wright). According to Co mfort, the initial liberal market theory advocated for a free market approach and was referred to as left wing or centrist in terms of outlook (Agh 1998). The liberal theory was enshrined on the premise that people can acquire wealth and property whenever they want. The basis was that freedom in culture and belief was influential in developing capital and gaining property. According to Wright, states, individuals and businesses were encouraged to freely gain capital under the liberal theory. The classical liberal approach suggested that free market should come up with system of setting the process of goods and services. The theory set currency exchanges and wages and resources. The move depended on sheer optimism in the free market (Smith 2003). However, it became clear that fluctuations in the free market have caused serious consequences politically and economically. This has resulted in unemployment and poverty. This has made international competition hard. Governments have attemp ted to deal with this challenge by establishing strict tariffs on goods. Governments have attempted to set up welfare or subsidizing businesses and industries. According to Harvey, tariffs and restricting trade were the foundation and reasoning behind the capitalist premise. The theory suggests that the government should be involved in restricting trade and controlling the flow of goods and services. The government does this in an attempt to reduce the challenges that are created by international competition (Ambrose & Brinkley 1997). The government believes that the use of tariffs shields the populace from international trade aggression and becomes a dominant source of revenue. During the 19th century, the theory of broadmindedness was the popular in IPE. Britain dominated the global trade by lifting restrictions. This facilitated Britain’s spread in the international trade arena (Smith 2003). The liberal theory of the power of international political economy seemed unassail able. According to research, the economic elites in many developing countries had no reservations in playing subordinates because they made profits in the process. Nonetheless, steps were made to start restricting trade. The initial moves came from the United States of America and Germany. The United Kingdom started to doubt the free market venture. After the First World War, the prominence of the liberal theory appeared to decline in the sphere of international

Inditexs Zara: An Analysis

Inditexs Zara: An Analysis The overall focus of this dissertation will be the Spanish organization Inditex, in particular its clothing brand Zara. More specifically it will concentrate on Inditexs past and current performance and its unique business model. In order to effectively write this dissertation it will be split into five sections. In the second section a brief overview of the company, operational and financial performance will be described as it is vital to establish an understanding of Inditexs background before commencing on further analysis. The third section will provide an industry analysis in relation the organisations business environment which will include a PEST analysis and Porters Five Forces model analysis. This will allows for an understanding of Inditexs external business environment which can then be used to analyze the marketing strategy (PEST) and an understanding of the industry in which Inditex is located (Porter). The next section involves an evalutation of Inditexs business strate gy through all stages of business process; design, manufacturing, distribution and marketing stages. The fifth section consists of the business model analysis and a SWOT analysis of Inditex. The business analysis explains why Inditex use a vertical integration model and the SWOT analysis allows for clear evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization. The final section offers a series of recommendations that I will put forward based on my research and analysis carried out in the preceding sections. The company overview 2.1 The company profile Inditex ( Industria de Diseno Textil) is a global fashion retailer and has expanded rapidly to become one of the largest fashion retailers in the whole world. The company designed, manufactured and retail apparel, footwear and accessories for women, men and children through its seven apparel retail chains: Zara, Bershka, Stradivarius, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull and Bear, Skhuaban. Each of these brands targets varied market segments in terms of age and disposable income. The group owns more than a hundred companies involved in different textile, manufacturer, infrastructure and distribution businesses. At the end of the 2009, the group operated 4607 stores around the world. At the beginning, Inditexs operations were mainly focused on its domestic market in Spain with the first Zara shop was opened in 1975. Following on the company has expanded internationally quite quickly within clothing sector. History of Inditex In 1963, Amancio Ortega Gaona, Inditexs founder, founded confecciones Goa to manufacture products such as housecoats. As the demand increased, the company integrated forward into retailing, then the first Zara store was opened in 1975. Zara stores expanded quickly within Spain market. In 1985, Inditex was founded as the holding company of the group of businesses operating at the time. In 1988, Zara opened its first store outside of Spain and began to expand internationally. In 1991 , Pull Bear was founded, and Inditex bought 65% of the Massimo Dutti Group in 1991. Shortly afterwards, Inditex acquired 100% of Massimo Dutti Group and launched its first shop in 1995. Inditex launched the Bershka chain and then acquired Stradivarius respectively in 1998 and 1999. Soon after, the group launched Oysho chain in 2001 and Zara home in 2003. Zara home was introduced as Inditexs first online store in 2007. Exhibit 1 Timeline of Inditex Picture 1.png 2.3 Products Mix Over past few decades, Inditex has built its own multi-brand portfolio, which has allowed Inditex to target various market segments more effectively. The group uses a multi-brand name strategy to diversify their seven endorsed brands and one extended brand. Zara is the flagship brand of Inditex . Although Pull and Bear and Massimo Dutti are both fashion brands for women and men, their target market is different. The former brand targets a younger group with more leisure and sports based design, while the latter one targets men and women from 24 to 45 providing a higher quality. Bersha and Stradivarius provide elegant and latest fashion for only young woman. Exhibit 2 Inditexs brand portfolio 2.4 Financial Performance and comparison Exhibit 4 Total revenue Exhibit 5 Net profit margin Operating profit margin and return on capital employed  ¼Ã‹â€ ROCE ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° are two indicators used to evaluate profitability of the firm. The comparison of net profit margins between Inditex and its main competitors over the same period is another indicator to show how effective a company is at cost control and profitability. Net profit margins are calculated from the Net profit divided by net revenues. The net profit margin is a good measure to compare companies in the same industry due to similar business environment all companies confronted. The higher the net profit margin is, the more profitable the company is. To put it in another way, the more effective the company is at converting sales into profit . According to exhibit 4, we can see that HM have strong capacity to consistently convert around 22% of its total revenue into profit; Inditexs net profit margin is similar. However, when compared with Inditex and HM, GAP has lowest net profit margin. Exhibit 6 Return on capital employed Exhibit 6, above, demonstrates return on capital employed (ROCE) demonstrating how much profit a company can earn from the investments of its shareholders have made in their company. It basically is used to show how much a company is gaining from its capital. In figure 6, GAP underperforms in this measure, not just due to low profit levels, but also because of huge amount of capital in order to generate profit. However, GAPs return on capital employed ratio is increasing gradually. On the other hand, Inditex requires higher capital per unit of profit than HM. there has been a decline in its ROCE ratio since 2007. HM vastly outperforms all other firms. Inditex invests more than HM in fixed assets dues to its vertical integration. Inditex has 5371 million euro in assets, plants and equipment ¼Ã‹â€ Inditex Annual Report, 2009 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °, while HM only has 661 million euro. This is the main reason that HM has much more higher ROCE ratio than Inditex. Inditexs business model focuses mai nly on vertical integration and in-house production. While at the same time outsourcing is becoming a popular trend in clothing industry. Inditexs closest comparable competitors had narrower vertical scope than Inditex but outsourced all productions. In todays competitive business environment, more and more companies choose to send out non-core operations or their manufacturing sections to a supplier in order to reduce the cost by specializing and making the firm focus purely on its core operation. This is due to the low labor cost in some developing countries such as China and Vietnam. On the other hand, there are some companies that constantly try to gain control over as many sections as possible within entire value chain, usually by in-house production. 3. Industry Analysis The culture of fashion has been changed from haute couture and ready-to-wear to fast fashion. Generally, fast fashion retailers do not heavily invest in the creation of fashion trend and designs, but instead are inspired by the most attractive and promising trends spotted at fashion shows and by cues taken from mainstream consumers (Agins, 1999; Reinach,2005). They are able to keep up with these new fashion trends and add them into their products that can be provided on the market almost immediately with relatively lower price. Fast fashion is dominating the industry on the premise of several conditions. Firstly, short lead times and life cycles are two of key precondition of fast fashion. Secondly, considerable number of retail stores can reach potential customers. In addition, a very fast supply chain is required to connect customers demand with upstream operations from design, manufacture to distribution. Nowadays, more and more fashion retailers across the world engaged in this kind of fast fashion race. They make every effort to minimize the time in which they respond to fashion trends and the speed of their supply chains. For examples, Spanish Inditex (Zara), US GAP, Swedish company Hennes Mauritz (HM). British Topshop and Next, all focus on a fast fashion model. This fast fashion retail can be divided into two categories: some with factories to produce its products represented by Zara (Inditex); some without manufacturing competencies of their own such as HM and Gap, which therefore means they outsource production to labor intensive countries. 3.1 PESTEL Analysis Political factors Since 2005 the global system of quota has phased out, textile and apparel industry entered the global free market. In the meanwhile, the textiles and apparel market has become more competitive than before and has also become more intense for the small and marginal players due to such intense competition. It seems that large fashion companies such as Inditex, HM, can dominate the fashion industries due to economy of scale, which gives big companies lower cost per unit resulting from increased production. Also, the remove of all import quotas in clothing industry gives Indiex access to a larger market to operate with greater geographical reach and then generates more sales. Economic factors The world is facing global economic recession. Consequently, the business environment is difficult to operate within, which in turn has a huge influence on textile industry and fashion industry. This due to rising unemployment, the so-called credit crunch and reduced disposable income forcing changes in consumers spending habits. Many consumers have become more price-sensitive and cautious. Consumers are more likely to cut budgets on apparel and fashion accessories. Such a change allows Inditex to attract more consumers shopping at its chain stores. Social factors Strong brands play a significant role in sales, because consumers prefer branded products as oppose to generic products. Most consumers value highly good branded products or services. Even though many companies went to bankruptcy in economic recession, most Brand fashion retail still managed to remain profitable. In the international fashion retail market, strong brand identity is very important. This is not only a precondition to attract customers, but also is a foundation of global expansion. Inditex not only provides fast fashion with relative lower price, but focus on brands building as well. Technological factors Technology is not only limited to companies within the software and computer industry such as Microsoft and Intel. Currently, technology plays a very important role on the fashion industry. With the increased competition, companies are taking advantage of IT to improve its Supply Chain Management (SCM) and using it to ensure a competitive advantage is gained. Many fashion companies are relying on the technological capabilities to add value to their products. More and more companies have adopted an online shopping platform to enhance their service and increase sales. Legal factors The fashion industry has been calling for stronger worldwide copyright protection and intellectual property protection for fashion designs because they fear major losses to their competitors. Fridolin Fischer pointed out that a dynamic interaction between innovation and imitation can be seen as a competition. Indeed, new innovation creates superior products; imitation makes these products more available to a greater number of consumers. Therefore, a lively imitation process is crucial for dynamic competition. It is true in reality, but it is not fair to the designer. At present, more developed countries expand their copyright Law to include fashion designs, fashion design owners would be granted the exclusive right to place their design on the marketplace. These copyright Act will limit the development of some fast fashion retailer, such as Zara. Environmental factors The environmental impact of the textile and apparel industry stems from its consumption of energy and toxic chemicals. The apparel industry contributes to climate change indirectly through the burning of fossil fuels to create electricity which is used to produce chemical materials which are then used as raw material to take place of cotton. Other major energy consumed involves using fuel for agricultural machinery and for distribution. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton planting and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. The volume waste from the fashion industry has become higher because of the advent of fast fashion. It is undeniable as regard to the current situation that the Fast fashion is causing a pollution issue due to shorted clothing life cycle, which has more negative impacts on environment. 3.2 Five Force Analysis Fashion apparel is a highly competitive business industry that is completely internationalized and posses no boundaries to its operations. The fashion retail industry is a large, mature and highly competitive industry. The annual growth rate of the market was about ** in the past decade. In 2009, total apparel sales were 362 billion. However, high fragmentation gives rise to intensive competition and price pressure in this market. Porters Five-Forces Model will be used to illustrate business environment of apparel industry. Threat of entry The apparel industry has very low entry barriers. Entry does not require huge amount of capital, workshops can be set up with workers with relative low skills. However, the economy of scale in production has significant impact on the entrant. It forces the entrants either to accept cost disadvantage or produce in a large scale. On the other hand brand identification and production differentiation plays the significant role, because brand identification creates a barrier to entry. Threat of substitutes The threat of substitution in this market is very high. The threat comes from other apparel retailers, designer retailers and tailor houses. On the other hand, Generic substitution is more likely to present a threat by offering products at lower prices. Power of buyers Todays buyers have more purchasing power than ever before. Customers demand high quality, a large variety and more frequent changes in the choice available to them. They want the exact garment they require when they want it and accessories in their preferred color and size in same store. This is the reason that retailers differentiate its product in order to satisfy the consumers needs. This is done by ensuring there are alternative sources of supply available for consumer and the cost of switching is almost zero. Inditex exactly meets the these customer demand by offer most fashionable clothes to cover various target markets at inexpensive price. Power of suppliers Power of suppliers in apparel market is low because most of fashion retailers outsourced the production section to developing countries, switching costs are low, buyes brands is powerful enough to get strong bargain power. There existing fashion retail brands command strong enough bargaining power to attain low costs. Therefore, the possibility of forward integration and suppliers customers are not fragmented. One the other hand, Inditex has more bargain power due to its vertical integration business model. Competitive rivalry The apparel industry, due to its low barriers of entry and declined obstacles to trade among nations, is one of the most highly competitive industries in the world. Hennues and Mauritz (HM) and Gap are Inditexs major competitors in terms of size and sales. Hennes and Mauritz ( HM) Hennes and Mauritz, was founded in Sweden in 1947, is another high performing fashion retailor. Today HM has expanded to 2000 stores acorss the world with more than 76,000 employees(HM Annual report,2009). HM offers similar product mix with Inditex in the same market, such as clothes, accessorise, nightwear and underwear to women, men and children. While HM is considered as the closest rival to Inditex, there are many key differences. First of all, HM outsourced all its production section. Moreover, HM tends to offer prodcuts at a slightly lower price than Zara by outsourcing it production. Beyond store-based retailing, HM also ventured into online shopping and Internet retailing. Inditex has been relatively slow to develop its online selling. However, HM has relied almost exclusively on only one brand. Inditex has broader brand portfolio, which is made up of eight brands in order to reduce risk and refine the companys targeting of specific consumer groups Gap The second biggest clothing retailor, Gap, is American fashion retailer founded in 1969. The company has five brands: GAP, Old Navy,Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta. At the beginning, Gaps merchandise consisted of other brands such as Levis and LPs. After Gap continuing to expand rapidly across the United States, Gap started to sell its private label products in its stores. Gap is a famous fashion retailer with a distinct marketing campaign consisting of mainly primetime television adverts which target the fashion conscious 15 to 35 age old women and men. The company operates over 4000 stores all over the world. Gap was well known for extensive collections of T-shirts and jeans which is simple but stylish. However, since 2001 the pace of development became slow due to lack of a clear fashion positioning and failing to meet consumers fast fashion demand. More than 90% of its products are outsourced, which has meant the supply chain is too long and they have therefore a slow resp onse to fashion. Also, Gaps core customer base has aged. Gap needs a reposition for its brand and design, but the chain has struggled to attract a younger generation to its stores. The company lacks an effective approach to deal with it. Gap is suffering from a plummet in sales and its competitors such as Zara and HM have consequently profited from Gaps downfall. In 2008, Inditexs fashion chain Zara overtook Gap to become the worlds largest clothing retailer. Inditexs Business Strategies 4.1 Design-Fashion follower, industry leader The process of Inditexs product development design programme is constantly working in order to adapt to new fashion trends . Designers and managers attend high-fashion fairs and exhibitions to obtain fashion information and then convert the latest fashion trends of the season into their designs. Other sources of design inspiration come from TV, Internet, film content or trend spotters. product development teams focus on venues such as university campuses and clubs around the world to capture fashion trends and customer preferences. Zaras product development teams have frequent dialogue via their internal IT system. Inditex gave significant autonomy to each store manager in deciding the quantity of product needed by each store. Moreover, the store manager is able to decide which product to display in their stores and which product is to be sold at a reduced price. The managers responsibility is to make these decision based on market research and sales trends. Moreover, by employing yo ung and fashionable member of staff ensures that employees also contribute by helping to report the sales analysis, the product life cycles, and the store trends to the designers. There are specialized teams in headquarters to analyze feedbacks and information from each store, then design and produce their products. These sales analyses allow the designers to develop the right products to meet consumer Demand. Design team issues up to approximately 12,000 new design styles per year. Such a design concept obviously depends on the regular creation of new design. For example, Zaras designer team came up with approximately 40,000 new designs per year, from which only slightly more than one-quarter of them for production. Zara often follows the fashion trends of the high-fashion houses and offers similar products at much lower prices by using less expensive fabric. It also attempts to offer more colors and larger range of sizes to meet the need of consumers. After a prototype of new design was selected, a computer-aided design system is used to refine colors and textures. Limited number of new items were produced and presented in certain stores for a trial period and large volumes of the product are produced only if customers reaction is positive. As a consequence, failure rates on new products is only 1% which is less than the average rate of 10% of other fashion retailers. 4.2 Manufacture process Inditex has been able to obtain excellent financial record due to its vertical integration and fast fashion business strategies which provide Inditex with a competitive advantage over traditional fashion retailers in the industry. Generally speaking, apparel retailers always try to keep slower costs by outsourcing production to developing countries where the lowest labor could reduce its manufacture cost. On the other hand, Inditexs subsidiary retailing chain adopted a successful diverse method of doing business by working through the whole value chain. Highly capital intensity and vertical integration is a distinctive feature of Inditexs business model. From the upstream value chain, a subsidiary of Inditex company, Comdietel, funnels fabric and other input supplied by external suppliers. More than half of the fabric was undyed which provide maximum flexibility to produce in-season clothes. Comdietel is able to dye and process gray fabric into certain pattern within only one week to meet the requirement of downstream value chain. Inditex has 20 fully owned manufacture factories across the Europe. These factories use capital intensive production processes and provide cut garment and semi-manufactured products to approximately 500 in-house workshops. The relevant cutting machines and other systems produce semi-manufactured items and cut garments which will be transited directly into workshops. The progress looks rigmarole, but it is quite efficient because bar codes track the cut pieces through the every production steps. Workshops are located in labor-intensive areas across Europe such as Spain and northern Portugal. These workshops manufacture clothes in small scale to offer specialization in product type. The sewn clothes were sent back from these workshops to various product line under different brands. The center will inspect, iron and fold before sending finished garment to distribution center. The secret of Inditexs success is that vertical integration leads to short turnaround times and great flexibility. By implementing in-house production, inditex has obtained high level of variety, quantity and frequency of new styled clothes. Inditex adopts market orientation by reducing lead-times and increasing flexibility. Zara is able to upgrade products in its stores within 10 to 15 days from design to stores. Vertical integration decreased Inditexs stock to a minimum level and reduced fashion risk. In the mean time, providing small amount of products in a great variety of styles rendered Inditex shorter lead times and high level flexibility. As a consequence of offering fewer amount of product more often, Indite obtains larger percentages of the full price due to in-season sell and thus achieve higher net margins on sales. By focusing on shorter response times to fashion trends and keeping up with fashion. Inditex made efforts to make sure that its stores are able to offer latest fashion items that consumers desired at a given time. Inditex can move from coming up a design to having clothes in its stores within 2 weeks. Short lead times is Inditex one of the most important competitive advantages over its competitors. When Inditexs retail stores provide consumer with latest fashion items and gain huge amount of sales, its competitors have still struggled to catch up. In comparison, HMs lead time is more than 20 days. Traditional retailers use 4-6 months . 4.3 Distribution A more systematic approach to inventory distribution is another feature of Inditex. Each retail chain has its own centralized distribution system. Distribution center is located in Arteixo and small satellite centers across the world. In order to keep its stores refreshed with new merchandise every two weeks, the warehouses of Inditex is simply a place to transfer merchandise rather than store them. Under Indetexs distribution system, most of merchandise stayed at the distribution centers for only few hours. Products are inspected and shipped immediately in distribution center. Store managers can check lists of items available to be shipped to their stores. Based on their store inventories, they can request quantities and type of products. However, Inditexs international expansion required constant adjustment on distribution. Zara schedules the shipment by time zone to make sure distribute effectively. Inditex uses this method to gain a competitive advantage by minimizing the lead ti mes. 4.4 Marketing mix Placement Inditexs marketing strategy is very effective because its marketing policy involves zero advertising. Inditex invest in selecting locations for its subsidiary retail chains and the presentation of those stores. For example, products in Zara are relative inexpensive, but shopping in Zara shores does not feel cheap. Zara stores are centrally located with spacious and nice interior. The clothes were presented very tide and upscale. There is a big difference between Zara stores and the store of some upper scale stores. Product Inditex constantly changes its products. Therefore, customers are never sure what is going to be on Zaras shelves the following week. Zara designs apparel to meet consumer demand, attempting to pull customers in by producing small amount to create a fear that if customers do not buy immediately, the product will soon be out of stock. There is not any other company that can produce high fashion clothes faster than Zara, which positions itself as high fashion at cheap prices. Although Zara has been accused of copying the design of other upscale fashion retailers, the prime difference is the price, which allows high fashion to be affordable for average consumer. Price The pricing strategy chosen can affect revenue. The price of a product is very vital for a company to get back all its effort. The other three elements of marketing mix are costs. Thus, no matter how good the garment is. How efficient the supply chain and how creative the promotion, unless the price covers cost, the company will not make profits. Clothes might suffer from prices that are too low among competition. Pricing is very important since it often send quality cues to customers  ¼Ã‹â€ Jobber, 2007 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °Inditex does not compete on price because they know their customers are more sensitive to fashion instead of the price. Inditexs subsidiary brands follow a market-based pricing strategy. Inditex sets price in line with its marketing strategy with reference to other marketing decisions such as position, strategic objective, promotion and value to customers. Therefore, Inditex sets price differently on different brands. Zaras prices are very reasonable. Its objective is to set price as cheap as possible to allow people to have fast fashion clothes. Inditex will adjust its price for certain product to keep low inventories if the company overestimated the demand. Promotion The fact that there is no advertising promotion strategy is another effective cost cutting approach for Inditex. Other fashion retailers spend 3.5% of their revenue on advertising, while inditex only spends 0.3% on promotion. Advertisement is carry out only at a new store opening. But that does not means Inditex make less efforts on promotion. Zara does not engage in large advertising campaigns on television and magazines. It just adopts a different approach to promote its products. It invests its money on location, Zaras stores are situated at commercial center. The company believes that their shop windows presentations are all the advertising it needs and its sores only opened in the most fashionable district. 4.5 International Expansion Inditex has become possibly the most internationalized fashion retail chain. Zara operates 2707 stores in countries outside its home market Spain. By 2010, its has 1900 stores in rest of Europe, more than 150 stores in Asia, 366 in America, 485 elsewhere in the rest of world. Inditex generates 68 percent of its total revenue from oversea markets. Zara contributes most of international sales and revenue to Inditex. Zaras international expansion started in 1988 with the opening of store in Portugal, when Inditex found that the company has dominated domestic market and abroad market was very profitable. Since then, Zara entered into one country per year until it opened stores in 7 European countries. After that, the pace of Zara expansion has speed up more rapidly. Zara has successfully entered 74 countries. On the same period, HM expanded its retail network to 36 countries, and Gap entered into 30 countries worldwide. .( Indetex Annual Report, 2009 ) SALES 2008 2009 Spain 3.730.099 3.708.967 Rest of Europe 4.809.263 5.221.491 America 1.038.065 1.096.709 Asia and rest of the world 829.333 1.056.347 Total 10.406.960 11.083.514 5. Business model Analysis This section will further analyze the reasons why Inditex, who are competing in the same business field and under the same conditions as rivals such as HM, next, Gap and Mango, choose different business models. It describes exact competitive advantages that have derived from Inditexs business model and the negative sides of business models. According to Inditexs financial ratios and business models, we can conclude that Inditexs higher income result from its business model of vertical integration which keeps costs and operating expenses much lower than Gap and HM. In-house production allows Inditex have little transaction costs. In light of the transaction cost theory, Madhok said that manage business activities inside the company is direct way to diminish the transaction costs. The costs of managing upstream or downstream of business activities within an institution will be much lower than through the market. Meanwhile, vertical integration gives a firm more control and flexibilities to operate directly. Forward integration can provide product differentiation advantages that are difficult to imitate as well as superior design intelligence. Potential advantage from integration is the degree of value added at the throughout all stages of the business. The group has authority to operate directly through designing, manufacturing and distribution. Due to vertical integration, the group gains a better po sition in the purchasing of raw materials, controlling the manufacturing process and obtaining better lead time to market. Decreased Cost does not only derive from lower transaction cost but also comes from waste reducing. This happens by designing and cutting its fabric in-house and it acquires fabrics in grey to keep costs low. Zara dyeing and printing fabric until close to manufacture to acquire more flexibilities in order to meet various design requirements, thereby minimize raw material waste and rendered Zara great flexibilit