My Learning Profile Essay

In today’s ever-changing fast-paced world the most important skill one requires is learning how to learn. Transformation is inevitable and one will be forced to learn change or fall significantly behind. Every individual has a distinct way of learning. One must identify his or her learning profile to ensure their success in today’s and future humanity. Additionally, by identifying your learning profile strengths and weaknesses you are provided an avenue for improving yourself in most aspects of every day life. I have incorporated this concept by identifying my learning profile and my learning strengths and weaknesses. Also, I have established a plan to capitalize on these strengths and to mitigate my limitations. This paper will discuss my learning profile broken down into four areas. The areas are: learning times, bottom up or top down learning, quadrants of learning and eclectic disciplines of personal intelligence. To begin, everyone has a favorite time of day–one that is conducive to learning. Some have enhanced concentration in the early hours while others achieve a higher level of knowledge absorption and retention during noon hours. Still, some people are at their peak learning zone during the evening hours. For me, I learn best during the early morning timeframe. I always believed I was a morning learner and Test 1 in the course text supports this theory. This test helped determine the times I am more receptive to learning. Next, I will ascertain the basic aspect of my personal learning style. Understanding if you learn more effectively in unstructured situations or in a logical presentation of facts in a rigid strategy is critical to one’s learning profile. I am the latter. I learn best in a systematic, methodical approach allowing me to master specific details before moving to more general concepts. In other words, I am a Stringer. The next step after comprehending this is to expand further into your learning preferences. Digging a little deeper into one’s profile, it is now imperative to  understand our preferences for dealing with facts or feelings, using logic or imagination, and thinking things through yourself or working with other people. After studying the Four Quadrants for Learning descriptions and evaluating how they relate to my learning abilities and preferences, I have concluded that my learning profile crosses the boundaries and encompasses two of the quadrants. Specifically, I assimilate well with quadrant styles A and B. Style A incorporates my dependency on learning through specific knowledge. This style focuses on verifiable facts on which everyone can agree. Style B thrives on order and sequence. Both quadrants represent my style of learning where you base learning on a solid foundation with direction. Lastly, all of the aforementioned portions of my learning profile are coupled with my learning talent or personal intelligence. Most people believe that their capacity to learn is determined by personal intelligence. Contemporary psychologists have changed the idea of a single learning capacity called intelligence into seven different intelligence learning categories used to enhance one’s learning abilities. After answering the personal intelligence questionnaire in the text, I strongly associated with interpersonal and spatial intelligence. I related somewhat in the interpersonal, linguistic and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence categories. To my surprise, I did not select any choices concerning logical-mathematical intelligence, a category I have always believed I was prominent in. In conclusion, I have discussed the importance of identifying one’s personal learning profile. This profile varies from individual to individual. However, everyone possesses and needs a learning profile. Researching this paper, I have discovered how my brain prefers to process new material, which modes and media of instruction suits me best, and which times of learning I am more receptive to. I have acquired an awareness of myself as a learner, which is the first prerequisite of Peak Learning.

Electronic Bill Payment in Canada

1-Introduction: In today’s evolutionary world, where technology keeps on revolutionizing our everyday tasks, electronic bill presentment and payment offer a whole new billing process by offering online and real time presentment of bills and payment choices. It offers great advantages and significantly improves customer care and customer relationship management. We will cover the information found in an electronic bill, followed by the process of a bill presentment. We will briefly compare traditional paper-based bills and electronic bills.And then, we will expose the different parties involved in an electronic bill presentment and payment, followed by the different evolution phases. The advantages and the risks associated with the adopting the EBPP or not. Finally we will see the different users of EBPP in Canada. Electronic transactions will gradually become the principal method for both consumers and companies to pay their bills. The main business driver is the important cos t reduction for billers from reducing manual work and paper, but it must also present an advantage to customers in order to be successful.For now, customers who have become accustomed to internet banking are the prime candidates for EBPP. On July 8, 2004, EPO Inc (Canada Post’s epost) acquired Webdox, the only other bill delivery service in Canada. Together they will provide Canadians with a single EBPP service that will be one of the most advanced of its kind in the world. Figure: Billing Process Stages 2-Definitions: Instead of the hassle of having to make physical payments, electronic payments are payments made online. They are made through the financial institution’s website.Electronic Billing is the electronic delivery and presentation of bills, invoices, and related information sent by a company to its customers. Instead of receiving paper bills through the mail, and then writing out and sending a check, bills can be received by e-mail, or accessed through the bi ller’s website. It is also known as Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment, or EBPP, which is a model based on business-to-consumer. Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment, or EIPP, is the equivalent for a business-to-business payment, however, we won’t be overing it in this paper. The Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment (EBPP) model enables customers of banks and billing companies to use the internet or the phone to conveniently remit payments as well as access their billing information. It was created in the United-States by the Council for Electronic Billing and Payment (CEBP) of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) The biggest and most obvious difference between EBPP systems and the traditional method of bill payment, is that of technology.Rather than receiving a bill through the mail, writing out and sending a check, consumers receive their bills in an email, or are prompted to visit a website to view and pay their bills 3-Content Creat ion and Bill Design: There are several types of information in an electronic bill, most of which are the same you would find in a traditional paper bill. First, it identifies the customer, or their authorized agent, in order to link this particular bill to the biller’s account receivable processes.It includes the name and address, the account number with the Biller (or any other information that the biller has determined to identify its customers like an ID number, username, or phone number), and the time period for the bill ( a week, or a month, or a year). Second, it states the amount due from the customer, as well as any details explaining new charges over the billing period if there are any; for example, long distance phone bills contain details of each call and other specific charges included in the amount due. Third, it specifies the date when the total amount is due.Fourth, it includes a period-to-period reconciliation of activity since the last bill or statement was p roduced, so that the customer is able to compare the differences. Fifth, it specifies the disclosure information from Biller to Customer, so that the Customer is advised of the disclosure policy of the biller. Sixth, the customer can view his previous bills and account activity history from prior billing cycles. The electronic bill is also an opportunity for advertising (which the biller controls) that help in cross selling and marketing the biller’s product and services.Finally, customer care contact information is available in case a customer needs help or guidance. The term Bill Summary is generally used to encompass the essential items : Name, Amount due and due date. The term Bill Detail is used to include any of the remaining items, which a Biller may elect to send to its customers 4-Presentment of the Bill – Process: Transitioning from Paper-Based to Electronic Formats There are five different methods of porting the printed documents and their information conten t to an online form that can be utilized by EBPP: 1. Conversion to PDF format . Rasterization to GIF, JPG or PNG formats 3. Recomposition into HTML or XML 4. Conversion to normal HTML or XML 5. Translation to highly formatted HTML or XML Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages. Depending on the application, the organization will decide which method to use. i)Content Creation and Deployment: In the bill-presentment stage, the primary steps of content authoring and deployment are essential. The steps include creation of the content, content reviews, approving the content, modification of the content and lastly, the deployment of the content.Exhibit 1, illustrates the process involved in the content creation and deployment phase. The policies and procedures involved in the content creation and deployment require responsibilities to be designated to certain individuals to further ensure that all aspects of the web page are well maintained. Developing an internal style gui de would serve to provide the page layout, design elements and maintain consistency in terms of the look and feel of the web pages. The style guide would also facilitate the system by providing information on how to link one page to other pages. The creation of the web page (presentment) is rather straightforward.The true challenges arise when facing a number of issues, namely the maintenance of the web page in terms of the content of information and errors/breakdowns and up to date modifications (could be daily), as well as the configuration of the access network on which the web page is based. ii)Notification Notification about the invoice can be delivered to the customer (bill payer) in a variety of ways. The most common method used is notification through e-mails. The customer receives an e-mail notifying them of the account balance or amount due. However, this method is limited in terms of its graphical presentation and potential.A more effective method of notifying the consume r of their invoice is to send the URL (link of the website) that contains the invoice in order to overcome the limitations of e-mailing the invoice. The latest trend however in the notification aspect of a bill is via mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Instead of e-mailing the customer, the biller may establish a database for the client’s phone numbers and send them text messages stating the amount due, the due date of the bill as well as any additional information the biller finds necessary to provide.In the traditional case of paper-based bills, notification is done through mailing the actual invoice to the customer/client. iii)Bill Presentment: Under EBPP, bill presentment is the stage where the biller/consolidator delivers a copy of the actual bill to the customer/client in an electronically generated format. The bill may be presented with complete details of the invoice or as a summary of the details, depending on the extent and intensity of the detail s involved. Through bill presentment, the biller is able to communicate more effectively with the clients being billed.The reason why interaction between the biller and the clients is enhanced is due to the ability of the biller to guide the customers to the areas of interest as well as study or better understand the client’s preferences and trends. Electronic bill presentment may also assist the biller by improving brand loyalty by providing the clients with a well developed a compelling experience. Aspects concerning marketing and advertising can also be addressed by monitoring and controlling the space of the web page surrounding the area of the invoice.Additional aspects may be provided by making information about pending orders, past payments as well as pending payments available. iv)Electronic Payment and Posting: This presents the last stage involved in EBPP. The Billers as well as the consolidators are required to provide the customers with various forms of payments i n order to provide the customer with flexibility. Payments may be set to be made automatically or at the discretion of the customer. The types of payments may include: †¢Direct debit from accounts †¢One-time payments †¢Check payments Online payments/ Electronic funds transfers †¢Bank cards/ Credit card payments. Customers are also provided with the choice of making multiple payments to a single provider or one combined payment for multiple services to the consolidator (such as epost). The concept of â€Å"Posting† highlights the documentation of the information on when the bill was paid, how the payment was made and the amount of the payment made for the services. Such information is then updated to the biller’s accounts-receivables systems. 5-Comparison of Paper-Based and Electronic SolutionsExhibits 2 and 3 show the comparison between the paper based billing cycle and the electronic billing cycle. In both billing cycles (electronic and paper based ), the creation of the bill goes through the same stages: Data collection, Mediation, Rating and Content creation and bill design. In the stage of bill design and creation however, the bill is only formatted when it’s a paper based one, and printed when it’s an electronic bill. The main difference between the two cycles is at the stage of the Presentment of the bill.In the case of a paper based payment, after the bill is formatted, there is notification by regular mail and then the bill is presented. In the case of the electronic billing cycle, there is notification by internet and then there’s an extra stage where the bill is converted onto a Web-friendly format, this is referred to as the Transition to Electronic stage. Finally, the bill is presented either by Web or printed and the check is sent to the biller if it’s a paper based bill, or the payment could be executed immediately and electronically in the case of an electronic bill. – Parties I nvolved: Billers, bankers, aggregators and consolidators implementing EBPP can play various roles in the overall EBPP process. Once roles are defined, it is easier to identify which model (aggregator, biller-direct or e-mail based) is most appropriate for the client's EBPP strategy. Billers may also implement more than one model in order to best serve their clients. Because the industry is continuously changing and redefining, the options and opportunities for EBPP will continue to expand.There are several parties involved in the EBPP process: The biller payment provider, or BPP, is the biller’s bank that receive payment and provides account receivable information. It is an agent of the biller that accepts remittance informatio on behalf of the biller. The bill service provider, or BSP, provides EBPP services to the biller like posting bill details, consolidating bills and delivering them to the customer service provider, or providing bill summary ditribution. The customer se rvice provider, or CSP, as it names implies, provides the customer with an interface for bill presentment.It enrolls them, enables presentment and provides customer care and support. They are contacted directly by the customer to help with a payment or receive general assistance and answer questions. The Consolidator is a biller service provider that aggregates all the customer’s bills from multiple billers in one central website. An example of a consolidator is Canada’s epost where the customer securely accesses the website to both view and pay his/her bills. It is advantageous in that the customers can view and pay all their bills at once. 7- Evolution Phases:The fast paced development of the Internet (World Wide Web) has enabled the establishment of an environment where companies and customers have direct and immediate forms of communication. This made way to more effective and efficient methods to undertake transactions between two or more parties. Services such as Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) were bound to take place. The end result was replacing paper mail bills with electronic documents that served the same purpose, only in a more efficient light. In 1999, Canada post implemented the world’s first electronic post office, epost.This put Canada in the forefront of the Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment market. By providing a free and universally available service, epost dominated the e-billing market and provided solutions to many Canadians. By 2002, the e-billing market was split between epost and Webdoxs, epost’s main competitor at the time. In July 2004, epost increased its market share through its acquisition of webdoxs. This made epost Canada’s main EBPP service provider and by the end of 2004, epost secured 1. 6 million registered users. However, despite the growth of the e-billing sector, the profits generated were not significant.The combined revenue of e-billing service providers, namely, epost, Innovapost and Canada post International Ltd. was $192 million in 2004, $18 million less than the previous year. Despite the substantial drop in the revenues generated by e-billing service providers the prospects for the e-billing sector remained optimistic due to the high growth potential of the e-billing sector. Canada post was aware of the fact that the average bill paying customer needed time to adapt to the new techniques provided by e-billings sector. Visa Canada's national purchasing study, â€Å"How Business Buys,† released May 2001, shows that e-commerce based billing and ordering processes will more than quadruple by 2005. Currently, e-billing accounts for only two percent of corporate billing. Benefits include reduced internal costs and reduced time consumption. † Visa Study published by Allbusiness in 2001 (http://www. allbusiness. com/public-administration/1169884-1. html) In 2005, epost approached Canada’s major financial institutions in orde r to implement the e-billing component through the financial institutions’ online banking element.Such a step would allow the banks’ clients to gain access to the same epost features (receiving, viewing, paying and storing bills online) directly from the financial institutions’ website. This in turn would enable epost to reach a larger market base of customers through the financial institutions. â€Å"Research that focused on people who bank online shows they are increasingly valuable, long-term bank customers who are more likely to invest more money and purchase additional services. These are the same customers that would be attracted to and benefit from EBPP.It’s our goal to have every Canadian banking online, receive all their critical mail online through epost. † As stated by Roger Couldrey, president and CEO of epost. By the end of 2005, epost had been integrated into many of Canada’s major financial institutions, namely Bank of Montrea l (BMO – Canada’s first bank), CIBC, Laurentian Bank, Desjardins, Royal Bank of Canada Financial Group, National Bank of Canada, Scotia Bank and Toronto Dominion Trust. By targeting Canada’s online banking customers, epost was able to effectively increase interest and use of the e-billing sector.According to statistics gathered by ComScore Media Metrics in 2004, 11 million Canadians browsed their financial institution’s website in order to access their financial information. Additionally, in 2003 Forrester Research found Canadians to be early adopters of Web-based financial services when compared to Americans. A large number of Canadians, 55 percent, used the web for banking/financial services while only 37 percent of Americans used the internet for banking services. Such statistics set the market base for epost and established the key basis for its inevitable expansion as Canada’s leading EBPP service provider.Today EBPP is one of the most utilize d concepts in North America, with a market of approximately 330 million regular users. Interest among Canadian businesses is growing at an overwhelming pace; many are discovering that it is the most cost effective method to undertake the billing aspect of conducting business. Moreover, due to the ever increasing importance of preserving the environment, the implementation of the e-billing component would contribute to the cause of saving the environment by using less paper and producing less waste. 8- Advantages of EBPP )Benefits to the corporations/implementers: The implementation of EBPP has brought about many advantages for both the companies billing and the customers getting billed. The 100+ Canadian companies, now using epost’s e-billing services, have experienced a number of advantages starting with delivering bills to their customers instantly. This saves a substantial amount of time for the billers, since the mailing and processing floats will be significantly reduced , leading to quicker payments of bills, as well as reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO).This means that bills will be collected faster by firms, enabling them to pay their suppliers earlier, hence enhancing the way in which business is conducted between a corporation and it’s paying clients by reducing the cash conversion period. Payments made by customers will be automatically linked to the corporation’s Accounts Receivables, providing the company with better control over its pending payments and overall cash position. Beyond the aspect of speed, the corporation’s costs of presentment will be significantly reduced, up to 80%.It would also abolish the costs of paper, printing and postage fees. With the lowest possible costs of payment processing, distribution and collection of bills, firms will be reducing their costs effectively while increasing their profits. Additionally, the costs of implementing the e-billing component are relatively little, taking into acc ount the vast cost reductions of implementing the system. Furthermore, EBPP will enable a corporation to observe its customer’s behavior, since customer needs will be apparent through the usage of the features provided.The corporation will be able to achieve customer satisfaction by placing emphasis on and enhancing the features its customers appear to be utilizing the most. The corporation will also be able to reach its customers through the â€Å"interactive† statement messages system, which can be used as a tool for marketing and advertising new features, products and/or services. Furthermore, such a system can be used to get clients registered for recurring automated payments each month/period as well as providing the option of non-recurring payments, such as a one-time bill.Taking into consideration the overall advantages provided by the implementers of EBPP, it would be safe to say that the growth potential for the e-billing sector is enormous. Up until now, ther e are approximately 100 Canadian companies implementing the system. This number is expected to grow in time due to the vast number of advantages provided by EBPP. ii)Benefits to the customer: Although most systems are designed to further benefit the company implementing them, EBPP is a tool for both the company and its clients.EBPP enables the customer to immediately self-activate (open) their account in order for them to make recurring periodic (monthly) payments. It ultimately saves the customer the time taken to physically mail or make the payment at their financial institution, and practically eliminates the mail float by allowing the customer to make payments immediately after viewing the bill online. EBPP is also flexible in the sense that it can be implemented in many different forms providing the customer with a vast number of ways to utilize its many features.EBPP gives the customer an array of drafting options, from customer-initiated payments to automatic drafts or even s afety drafts if necessary. Customers can make the payments either through a consolidator such as epost, the corporation itself such as Rogers Telecom or through their bank such as Bank of Montreal. By giving the customer a wide range of choices, he/she can choose what they are most comfortable with in terms of security and quality of service.The number of errors made by the bill payers and the billers are also substantially reduced due to the ability of the platform to allow pre-filled customer interactive information to ensure all content collected/distributed is correct. Additionally, epost provides its registered users with the option to store their bills for up to 7 years. This allows for maximum efficiency, the customer will no longer have to pile up his/her paper bills for future reference rather, they will have their bills stored online and accessible at all times. Security wise, EBPP is rather comprehensive.In order to gain access to an account, the account number and its ma tching password are required. Furthermore, it encrypts the information transmitted from a computer to the designated server through Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. This reduces the chances of confidential information falling into the wrong hands. Overall, EBPP systems are usually designed to maximize security and confidentiality in order to encourage users to share their personal financial information to streamline the activities involved in making payments for desired products/services. ii)Benefits to the Environment: Although the benefits to the environment are clearly visible, translating the benefits in terms of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reductions would illustrate the concept in a more effective light. If Canadians were to replace 40% of their paper bills with electronic bills and only print 20% of the electronic bills, GHG emissions would be substantially reduced by 10,500 tonnes per year. Replacing 80% of the paper bills and printing only 5% of the electronic ones w ould lead to 22,000 tons of reduced GHG emissions.Such goals would serve to better preserve the environment and would reduce the amount of waste produced by a significant portion. Canadian businesses would end up saving approximately $1. 1 billion dollars in total. Doubling the implementations would lead to a $2. 2 billion reduction in expenditure by businesses increasing their overall profits while ensuring that their operations are in line with the environmental constraints of reducing waste/GHG emissions. 9-Risk Affiliated with the Adoption and Non-Adoption of EBPPBillers must take into consideration every type of billing presentment and payment the market offers today since it is their main ingredient to be successful. Therefore, billers have to offer the optimal billing presentment and payment that will bring customer satisfaction and be convenient for the biller at the same time. After the introduction of Electronic Bill Presentment and Payments (EBBP) many billers are facing a dilemma of risk due to the adoption or non-adoption of EBPP.For instance, if the biller decides to adopt EBPP, there will be potential of non-acceptance from the biller’s customers after the implementation of EBPP and that will lead to a decrease in the profit margins because of lost customers. The biller might also encounter fraud attempts especially because the bill will be electronically paid. Moreover, there might be a defect in the operational process of electronic presentment and payments such as a system freeze which will incur more costs on the behalf of the biller.Then again, if the biller decides not to implement the EBPP, the biller might be going against the market’s new trend hence this will put the company in a competitive disadvantage. Therefore, the biller will start losing market share and this will reflect negatively as a decrease in the biller’s profit margins due to lost customers. 10- Users of EBPP in Canada (Business Sectors): Most busine sses that implement EBPP provide their customers with services that require recurring payments, rather than a one-time payment (non-recurring).This implies that EBPP would be more convenient for service geared businesses that provide the customer with an ongoing service, which would require the customer to make repeated payments. Businesses operating in the following service providing sectors would greatly benefit from the implementation of EBPP, since all forms of viewing/paying the bill would be streamlined and undertaken from one location. i)Telecommunications Service Providers ii)Utilities Service Providers iii)Visa/Master Procurement cards iv)Banks and financial institutions v)Insurance providers vi)Postal Industries 11-Conclusion:Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment offers a streamlined method of payment, which is very advantageous for both the billers and their clients and notably the environment. Moreover, it considerably reduces costs and the amount of time to make a pay ment. Despite the drawbacks or risks of implementing EBPP, the benefits clearly outweigh the disadvantages. We believe that by 2015 paper bills will probably be inexistent in Canada, due to the expectations of recessions, companies will realize that they will save a lot of money by implementing the e-billing component, despite its high implementation costs.EBPP is the next trend for all businesses, and is expected to become the standard form of bill presentment and payment. 12-References: http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2004_July_8? pnum=3&opg=n6098705&tag=artBody;col1 http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2004_July_8/ai_n6098705 http://cebp. nacha. org/documents/ebpp-buspractices-2-1. pdf www. cdnpay. ca www. wikipedia. ca http://www. bce. ca/data/documents/responsibility/innovating_toward_a_low_carbon_canada. pdf Margaret Tan (2005). E-payment: The digital Exchange. NUS Press Kornel Teplan (2003). Electronic Bill Presentment an

Henrietta's Immortal Cells Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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The role group membership theories play in subprime home mortgage Essay

The role group membership theories play in subprime home mortgage lending - Essay Example there is no evidence defending this position of Predatory Lending; however, it is the intent of this paper to supply an additional theory to the prevalence of subprime lending to lower income families. I postulate that the prevalence of this type of lending is, in part, due to the effects of group memberships. Numerous studies have been conducted over the past decade concerning the prevalence of subprime lending for low income families. The studies have shown that low income families have a higher rate of subprime loans when compared to their middle and upper class counterparts, and that payment history makes little difference. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (2000); Unequal Burden: Income and Racial Disparities in Subprime Lending in America, â€Å"Subprime loans are three times more likely to be found among low-income neighborhoods than in high-income neighborhoods - In low-income neighborhoods, subprime loans accounted for 26 percent of total loans in 1998 – compared with only 11 percent in moderate-income neighborhoods and just 7 percent in upper-income neighborhoods† (p. 2). In addition, Association of Community Organizations Organized for Reform Now (ACORN), released a study (1999) â€Å"Financial Apartheid† in Mortgage Interest R ates which stated that high cost mortgage financing was disproportionately more prevalent in lower income borrowers whether it was for home purchase or the refinancing of an existing home. The previous statements are what this paper is set to examine from the perspective that group membership plays an integral role in the presence of subprime home mortgage lending to lower income families. The following pages provide a thorough description of the subprime home mortgage lending market, the refinancing practices of lenders and a description of what is known as Predatory Lending. After that I will lay out group membership theories and describe the attributes of the target group: lower income

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On Socrates argument in The Crito is actually an argument developed by Essay

On Socrates argument in The Crito is actually an argument developed by each PHI 101 student that explicates and evaluates Socrates argument in The Crito. S - Essay Example More importantly, Socrates emphasized in his argument against Crito that he had to follow the law. The first premise of the argument of Socrates is, â€Å"If a citizen actively or tacitly accepts the benefits of the States Laws, then that citizen agrees to abide by all those Laws.† The second premise is, â€Å"Socrates actively accepted the benefits of the States Laws. The conclusion is, â€Å"Therefore, Socrates must obey the Laws and command to drink hemlock rather than flee Athens.† Although Socrates’ argument sounds theoretically possible, the problems with the two premises as well as his faulty answers to Crito’s suggestions somehow makes the whole argument unsound. Socrates’ case was that of a certain death penalty through drinking of the hemlock. Crito arrived in prison in Athens in order to convince Socrates to escape for that was obviously and logically his only chance to escape. Crito offers him four reasons to escape. First, he offered him a bribe of money. Second, he told him that it was Socrates’ friends desire to help him. Third, Crito said that Socrates’ survival would benefit the majority. Lastly, Crito emphasized the idea of the importance of posterity to Socrates. Nevertheless, Socrates refused for the fact that none of these four ideas mean the good and upright life that Socrates has been trying to emphasize. According to Socrates, â€Å"†¦the most important thing is not life, but the good life† (Crito 48b, 51). The basis of this good and morally upright life is the good life that would result if Socrates did not disobey the laws of Athens, which now makes up the essence of his argument. Therefore, for Socrates, the alternative to the evil decision to escape is the morally upright decision to stay and obey the laws of Athens in the name of justice. However, the major premise of Socrates’ argument has flaws of its own. It says, â€Å"If a citizen actively or tacitly accepts the benefits of the

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 14

Research paper - Essay Example This implies that racist organizations, as well as other antisocial organizations, exploit Internet to achieve their objectives. Social media networks are widely being used propagate vilification and hostility against other groups. In most cases, cyber-racism and hate speech in social media networks are characterized by cultural and ethnic divides. Although the Internet has revolutionized many areas of the human society, it also has far-reaching negative consequences when abused, misused or used without proper guidance. Dixit and Green (188) assert that the Internet is one of the platforms through which people propagate racial violence. It is observable that people can freely interact and express their views on the Internet without jurisdiction or geographical restriction. However, this freedom has not been accompanied by the responsibilities that it deserves. For this reason, cyber racists have seriously abused that freedom. Such groups often use the Internet as the avenue in which to unleash hostile sentiments against whom they consider detestable or unwelcome. In many cases, the groups or individuals that have been attacked do not take such prejudice kindly. They are likely to respond to such negativity in a similar negative manner or with a higher degree of counter-retaliatory abuse. Ultimately, it is easy to observe that the Internet is a potential battlefield for racist groups. It is also an avenue for extending extreme ideologies that result in social divide. Sexism is another largely contested consequence of the Internet usage. Sexism refers to the discrimination against women. It could be true that men and women have equal access to the Internet globally (Szoka and Marcus 69). However, the same cannot be said about online experiences of both sexes. It this case, women face a wider spectrum of discrimination. The discrimination is in many cases, multifaceted and to a greater extent

French Literature in Translation (Tristan and Iseult) Essay

French Literature in Translation (Tristan and Iseult) - Essay Example Analyzing the translations of the French version of Tristan and Iseult, one can see that there were two main versions from the French poets of the twentieth century: Beroul and Thomas. These two versions differ in their presentation, style and in some of the scenes, though the theme and the plot were still the same. â€Å"Berouls romance was considered to be the uncourtly version, because it was less refined, and some of the scenes and the behaviors of the characters were brutal at times†¦On the other hand, Thomas wrote courtly version of the romance. Thomas was much more interested in the inner thoughts of the characters† (Joe, 1999). It makes clear the fact that there are differences between these two French versions. The reader/audience can feel the driving force which is yearning for union beyond the restrictions of time, physical passion and their own separate material existence while going through Tristan and Isolde. Through their death, lovers achieved the realization of divine love. In other words, through the world of divine love they receive the status of immortality. Death is presented as a great opportunity to reach the state of oneness forever. Iseult embraces death with full passion and she joins her lover in a mystical background. In the old stories the lovers were buried on the side of a chapel and believed to be regained life with self realization. Wagner, in his opera, demonstrates the events with necessary improvisations and as a result reader can see the historical elements of Western ideologies and principles about love and death is presented clearly in Tristan and Iseult. Wagner’s work underlines the fact that the story discusses serious sociological and psychological layers. The human relation (love between Tristan and Iseult) explores the elements of a great symphonic texture. Merging of the lovers is a perfect example of the

Causes of Wrongful Convictions in the United Sates judicial System Research Paper

Causes of Wrongful Convictions in the United Sates judicial System - Research Paper Example shown that wrong convictions happen on daily basis in the US judicial system, with the Bureau of Justice Statistics admitting publicly that about 8% to 12 % of all the state inmates are either factually or actually innocent (Bohm, 2011). Therefore, this research paper is going to explore the issue of wrongful conviction in the USA judicial system, establish the root causes of the problem as well as introduce possible solutions with DNA being the most viable alternative to the problem. Controversial studies have shown that USA has one of the highest numbers of inmates in the world which is said to be roughly 7.1 million people (Free & Ruesink, 2012). Other contentious statistics estimate that about one person in every one hundred adults is an inmate with the ratio dramatically increasing if persons under probation are considered. The country has about 8 percent of prisoners in the federal prisons incarcerated for engaging in violent crimes with about 52 percent inmates being sentenced in state prisons (Free & Ruesink, 2012). It is estimated that about two-thirds of these criminals are rearrested within the first three years after their release with 52 percent of them being incarcerated. The findings of these studies are highly alarming and more precisely because of the high number of innocent persons who were convicted wrongly and imprisoned. However, most people in the country used to hold the presumption that the country’s judicial system is fair and blin d and that no individual is convicted for a crime that he or she did not commit (Tong, Bryant & Horvath, 2009). A number of factors are believed to have attributed to the wrongful conviction of innocent people in the USA with eyewitness misidentification being one of the major causes. Many scholars believe that eyewitness misidentification is the root cause of this prevalent problem in the country. The US judicial system used to rely so much on witness brought forward by eyewitnesses when convicting suspected

Chinese Artifacts Essay Example for Free

Chinese Artifacts Essay The artist of this calligraphy scroll, Zhao Mengfu, was highly praised by the Yuan emperor Renzong as unrivaled traditional Chinese polymath (for a lack of a better word). It is said that the emperor admired him for possessing the following seven outstanding qualities: wide learning, Song royal ancestry, elegant and charismatic appearance, pure character and righteous conduct, literary accomplishment, mastery of calligraphy and painting skills, and profound knowledge of Buddhist and Daoist teachings. As an leading and influential calligraphy during his era, Zhao was able to successfully advocate and promote many of the views that he had on Chinese calligraphy. Zhao supported a return to the ancient models, which integrated the Jin (265 – 420AD) and Tang (618 – 906AD) dynasty styles to synthesize a new norm for standard and cursive scripts. In later eras, many printed texts were modeled after the standard script that he helped create. Furthermore, the cursive style script, depicted in this scroll titled Four Anecdotes from the Life of Wang Xizhi, became the foundations of the informal calligraphic styles of those how succeeded him. One of the four anecdotes from the â€Å"Life of Wang Xizhi† tells the story of a time when Xizhi, a ‘calligraphic’ sage, was extremely fond of the [graceful appearance of] geese. In Shanyin there was a Daoist monk who had raised a flock of more than ten fine geese. One morning Wang decided to take a small boat and go there. He was delighted with the geese and wanted to buy them, but the monk refused to sell. Wang tried in vain to persuade him. Finally, the monk told Wang that he loved Daoist philosophy and had always wanted a transcription of Laozis Daodejing with its commentary by Heshanggong. He had already prepared the silk, but no one was qualified to write it. He asked if Wang would condescend to transcribe two chapters each from the Dao and De sections, for which he would give Wang the whole flock. Wang stayed for half a day to write out the chapters, then he caged the geese and returned home. (Citation) In many ways, this story possesses many aspects of traditional Daoist philosophies. Firstly, the events and interactions between the Monk and Xizhi is highly reflective of the ‘interdependence’ between beings. Furthermore, the fact that the Monk refuse to trade his geese through monetary means underlines Daoist de-emphasis of material objects, especially something as superficial as money. Rather, the Monk was willing to give up his geese for an implementation Xizhi’s skill and mastery of calligraphy. In a way, this reveals belief that an individual should play the role of what he or she was ‘meant’. In other words, the Monk’s offer of his geese for calligraphy mirrors some sort of a natural guidance for Xizhi to walk in accordance to the Way. In summary, the story told through the calligraphy of this scroll is highly relavent to the Daoist themes that were studied throughout the course. Object : Buddhist stele, Tang dynasty (618–906), ca. 700 Origins: China Material: Black limestone Size: H. 64 1/2 in. (163. 7 cm) This relic originates from the temple in the Xinxiang County in the central Chinese province of Henan. A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief or painted onto the slab. In this case, the Buddhist stele is made of black limestone and is curved to give the outline of the figure of Guanyin. In this stele, we see many of the symbolism commonly studied in the Chinese Buddhism. Firstly, the graceful of stance the pair of bodhisattvas implicates a noble yet welcoming gesture which is reflective of the characters theor sage-hood. Secondly, judging by the small objects inscribed on the crown – a figure of the Buddha – they represent Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara), one of the principal bodhisattvas associated with the Pure Land cult. Despite the damages accumulated over time, the gentle S-shape swing of the bodhisattvas bodies gives an essence of individuality to each of the figures. The Western Pure Land sect, derived from the teachings of the Buddha Amitabha, was the sect that attracted the largest number of followers. As we have discussed in class, this was most likely due to the motivation that salvation awaits each and every devotee in a paradise situated in the western realm of Buddhist cosmology. The ability of Buddhism to discuss subjects like the afterlife was one of the largest sources of its popularity. This black limestone stele is one of the best examples of Buddhist devotional art in the Tang period of Chinese history. Object: Central watchtower, architectural model, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220), 1st–early 3rd century Origin: China Material: Earthenware with green lead glaze Size: H. 41 in. (104. 1 cm) The Han dynasty (206 B. C. –220 A. D. ) is deemed to be one of the most important and inflectional dynasties in pre-modern China due to it lasting effects in imperial structure and formation of a national consciousness. Chinese people, until today, still refer to themselves as ‘Han Chinese†. Furthermore, the architecture styles that were established during the Han period layed the ground works for the architecture of the eras to follow. Han architecture was a grand improvement to the architecture of those that precede them; it includes vast palatial complexes, towered gateways, and city walls were built as symbols of power and prestige as well as for defense. This model art piece embodies many of the essential features of Han architecture: the overhanging tiles supported by the roof, the four sided style infrastructure and the stacking effect. In many ways, this specific model, less a few details, is reminiscent of the temple building the class visited for the lecture on Buddhism. In relation to our studies, a great variety of these architectural models were used in the decoration of the tomb in the Han era to show the status of the person being buried. Object: Spouted ritual wine vessel (guang), Shang dynasty, early Anyang period (ca. 1300–1050 b. c. ), 13th century b. c. Origin: Possibly Anyang, Henan Province, China Material: Bronze Size: W. 13 in. (33 cm) This artifact, a bronze casted vessel, dates back to the late Shang era (ca. 1300–1050 B. C. ). The shape of the wine vessel is said to be loosely based on a figure of a bird; this is identifiable through the hooked beak feature and glaring eyes effect from the face on view. As we have studied, the Shang people had many beliefs about the spiritual world. This vessel is believed to have been used to pour wine and other beverages in ceremonies involving Shang ruler and their ancestors and supernatural forces. Other feature on the vessel includes coiled serpents emerging from the wings, roaring tiger-dragons prowling along the sides, horned bird that serves as a handle. This existence an artifact of this age gives us insights into the superior technology of casting in ancient China. The complicated multilayered designs are unparalleled by other cultures of the time. It is believed that the technique used for this the bronze casting is through a ceramic mold and the usage of an interior clay core. Motel bronze is then poured into filled the empty space between the intricate design and the core. Once the clay core was emptied out, the result is the astonishing bronzed vessel with complex designed as described. Again, such artifacts can be used to validate the hypotheses and speculations about the technologies and lifestyle during an ancient civilization like the Shang.

A Case Study Of Jennys Restaurant Marketing Essay

A Case Study Of Jennys Restaurant Marketing Essay Jeenys Restaurant is a national chain cafe restaurant with a dedicated customer base, which is known for its best service, good quality food and family dining flair. But in the past year, the company has seen a manifest decline in its sales. The decline in sales is increasing as every fiscal quarter passes by. The reason behind decline in sales is totally unknown to the company. The restaurant has not changed layout or menu options within the past several years. The hypothesized root cause of the problem is poor customer satisfaction. This research will help to analysis the main root cause of sales decline. The objective of this research is to find out whether or not customer satisfaction and experience is the issue, and if so how customer satisfaction can be enhanced. Research Objectives As impact of global recession is still affecting large number of household in United Kingdom with their buying behaviour, it is important to find out if customer satisfaction with particular restaurant is the main cause or there are other factors. This research is going to use primary data by developing questionnaire to the restaurant customers, which helps to find out actual problem and weakness of current situation of the restaurant. The purpose of the literature review is to analyse past experience relating to customer satisfaction elements of the food and dining industry while emphasising on the sales increment. As I am working as a Manager in this restaurant, this research with help of primary data will analyse the customers attitude towards its service and experience, which will help to find out main reason behind downward sales line. The main objectives of this proposal is as follows: To analyze Customer satisfaction and its relative importance (debate) and evidence about key factors influencing peoples choice of fast food restaurant. To identify the best suitable model to measure customer satisfaction for my primary research. To review exiting complains and comments submitted by customers over the past 6 months in order to find out the area of subject where most of the customer did raised the issue. To arrange the questionnaire to the existing customers in order to explore their attitude towards Jennys Restaurant, why they like to dine at Jennys Restaurant, their experiences of and attitude towards current management process and their views on possible changes that the company could make for better satisfaction. To make recommendation to the management at Jennys Restaurant about cost-effective and management strategy that could be implemented in order to increase customer satisfaction. Literature Review Realisation of customer satisfaction in order to get success in the business is essential elements. is How the customers get the satisfaction and how we can measure the different between service provided and customer expectation ? Researcher is going to look different theories, journals and articles to establish an analytical concept about customer satisfaction elements. According to Kotler (2000) a persons feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance in relation to his or her expectations. Also Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) said that satisfaction can be associated with fellings of acceptance, happiness, relief, excitement and delight. It is very important to understand the expectations of the consumers to make them satisfied. According to Hokanson (1995), these factors include friendly employee, courteous employee, accurancy of billing, billing timeliness, competitive pricing, service quality, good value, billing clarity and quick service. Additionaly, (Labarbera and Mazursky,1983) state that By fulfilling the customers needs and wants will helps to achieve customer satisfaction. So that it should be notice by researcher that the customer satisfaction can be occurred by understanding their expectation. After having idea about customer satisfaction, researcher want to know how it can be implement in fast food sectors. According to Farrel (2007) The quick service restaurant responds to the universal desire for inexpensive and reliable fare that is feshly prepared, portable and ready on demand. It explains that the quick service, freshly prepared and economic factors motivate the customers to shop in fast food restaurants. Also according to (Schroder and McEachern, 2005) Brand value, nutritional value, ethical value and food quality determine the customer satisfaction towards fast food restaurant. There are other factors,according to (Jang and Maltila, 2005) Monetary gratification and intangible benefits such as quality and convenience also received high rating in customer satisfaction. Researcher should give attention to the intangible things such as service quality, serving time, internal environment of the company along with the development of core product in order to get maximum customer satisfaction. According to (Katz and Martin 1985) If the firms can improve customers perceptions of the time they spend waiting to be served, then customers will experience less frustration and may feel more satisfied with the service encounter. Also (Ho and Zheng 2004) clarify that A firm might choose a delivery time commitment to influence its customer expectation. However, there are debates and discussion about the influencing factors which are affecting to less shop in fast food industries. According to (Goyal, Singh 2007), The young generation in India likely to go to Fast food restaurant for fun and changes. But they like house food much better than food served at fast food outlets because they have the highest value for taste and quality followed by hygiene. Adding with that (Bose, 2011) stated The most evident advantage of Fast food is that it save time and money for a busy life people, but fast food is unhealthy than home cooked meals, as they contain higher amount of salts, fats and calories . Most of the people today are usually aware that fast food is not the healthiest food to eat. People eat fast food because it is convieneient, cheap and taste good. Fast food is not just less healthy food, but sometime it can be dangerous for your health as well. Stacel (2009). So it is clear that despite of good service provided by the company, th ere is other factors such as health consiousness which affect the customer satisfaction level. Along with that there is hygienic factor which also affect the customer revisit in the particular restaurant. A survey shows, one in three people is worried about the level of food hygiene when buying fast foods. Cleanliness of staff and premises top the list of concerns, followed by the way food is cooked and handled. (Consumer question fast food hygiene, 2003). As a result it can affect the customer to discontinue or decrease there buying behaviour in fast food sectors. According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) dissatisfied customers can decide to: discontinue purchasing the goods or service, complain to the company or to a third party and perhaps return the item or engage in negative word of mouth communication. The above study based on previous research explains the reasons for choosing and avoiding the fast food sectors and the importance of customer satisfaction which can be fit or not in the problem statement of the Jennys restaurant. To get the more evidence and support, researcher is going to develop questionnaire survey by using SERVQUAL tools. According to (Stevens, Knutson and Patton, 1995) SERVQUAL method helps to produce a sequence of questionnaire appliance for measuring hospitality service quality in DINESERV. John and Tyas (1996) have also use the tool SERVQUAL for measuring the satisfaction of consumer in restaurant. According to (Lee and Hing 1999) SERVQUAL is an instrument which helps to measure and compare the service quality of the fine dinning sectors which is easy and inexpensive to occur. It showing that the researcher will get help to accumulate the findings and reasons of gap between customer expectation and experience they have had in their last visit. This tools also helps to find out the correlation between service quality, customer satisfaction and purchase intentions. According to (Cronin, Jr and Taylor 1992) There is correlation between service quality, customer satisfaction, and purchase intentions. Service quality is an antecedent of customer satisfaction and consumer satisfaction has a significant effect on purchase intension. Although the popularity of the SERVQUAL tools to measure the service quality level, there are some debate over the use of SERVQUAL instrument. Detractors argue that the difference score leads to unreliable measure and that the dimensionality and validity is erratic. Jiang etl, (2002). However, SERVQUAL measuring method is adopting by thousands of business to know the actual demand and expectation of current customers. Because it helps to explain many factors such as tangible, reliability, responsiveness, competence, courtesy, credibility, security, access, communication and understanding the customers. Parasuraman et. al. (1990). Besides of some disadvantages, SERVQUAL is good tools to understand the customer satisfaction elements. Fedoroff (2011). Methodology Method Approaches (Bryman and Bell 2007) Quantitative research is that research strategy which gives and relates to the quantification in the collection and analysis the data. This method is relates to the deductive approach in testing the theory and research. It takes the positivism epistemological orientation and natural scientific model. It focuses on the objectivism of the social reality Researcher intends to implement all quantitative research methods in a way to trace the best results out of the research. The entire research approach and methodology will be ethical and best at its level. Research will be conducted by keeping in mind the Research Question. The research will be performed using questionnaires. Justification Explanation Conducting survey/interview Analysing data 1. Justification: The advantage of choosing quantitative research method questionnaire Low cost in time and money: As my questionnaire is designed to take just 5 minutes and can be done by making photo copy of 35-40 questionnaire, will help to make it economic and time saving. Respondents can complete the questionnaire when it suits them: As I am going to conduct the survey by requesting them to complete the questionnaire with the time avaibility of the customers. Respondents anonymity: There is no personal identifying information is going to ask to protect the anonymity. Lack of interviewer bias: The disadvantage of choosing quantitative research method questionnaire The need for brevity and relatively simple questions: The most of the part of my questionnaire is going to be closed question rather than open question. Questionnaire development is often poor:. Poor design and concept of questionnaire will not help to find out the actual problem and track to the solution. Lack of control over order and context of answering questions: not to specific Question wording can have a major effect on answers. : one question ask twice with different format to check exact answers. 2. Explanation Preparing for the survey interviews. As I am the manager of the Jennys restaurant I have access to secondary data such as sales figures for the past two years and complain and comments made by the customers in the restaurant and can organise a survey by collecting primary data from a questionnaire given to the existing customers. I am going to choose random sample survey with help of SERVQUAL Questionaire and dineserv method to collect primary data from a questionnaire taking 35-40 customers from Monday to Saturday 9:00am to 9:00 pm. My sample size is going to be small. Requested participants of this study will ask if they are over 18 and willing to complete survey upon exiting the restaurant. Willing participants will be ask to read the informed consent before completing the SERVQUAL Questionnaire survey instrument. Developing the questionnaire. To collect the primary data from the customer, my questionnaire key themes will be to analysis their current experience, expectation and attitude towards the existing setup and behaviour of the organisation. In above literature review, I was trying to analyse and understand customer behaviour and expectation towards food and dinning service, which help me to link and study the existing customer of the Jennys Resturants behaviour and also help me to think analytically about whether customer satisfaction is only the key point in the success of business development or there are other important factors. 3. Conducting Survey/interview The questionnaire survey is going to held on the Jennys Restaurant premises from Monday to Saturday between 9:00am to 9:00 pm. The survey will be conducted by requesting existing customer with detail pre information about the reason of the survey while their visit in the restaurant to fill up the answers of the given questionnaire which will take 5 minutes . The maximise the response rate of questionnaire survey; I am going to use following techniques. Brief Questionnaire: The questionnaire is going to use not more than 20 words to make it less time taking for the respondents. Make the return time not to short and not to long: The questionnaire can be fill during their visit in the restaurant or can take with them by requesting them to return it within 2 weeks time in given address. Easy to read (clear language, good print): The questionnaire is going to use simple language which can be understandable and use of quality printing. Easy to answer: The questionnaire is going to use tick box to place their attitude towards the restaurant. Be clear about what the respondent should do to answer the question: The questionnaire is going to use likert scale format, which is going to clear to click their answer just one for one question in the top of the page. Easy to respond (return envelop): The questionnaire which has been taken by the customer to fill it in their home will be provided a free post return envelop with them. Do not offend the respondents: The questionnaire is not going to include any subjects which will offend the respondents. Trustworthy: The questionnaire will start from explaining about the purpose of research by not taking personal information of respondents and is just for the academic use by showing college identity card to them. Analysing data Statement of service provided (Independent Variable) Very Dissatisfied (Dependent Variable) 1 Dissatisfied (Dependent Variable) 2 Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied (Dependent Variable) 3 Satisfied (Dependent Variable) 4 Very Satisfied (Dependent Variable) 5 Food Quality Service Food Hygiene Price of product Survey: Survey allows the collection of large amount of data from a sizeable population in a highly economical way (Saunders et al, 2008).It was done by explaining questionnaires and handing out and collected during session The research is going to find out the correlation between two variables. One is dependent which is customer satisfaction and another one is independent which is service provided by the company. The changes in the independent variable are going to affect the dependent variable. There are some other moderate variables which influence the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Such as Age, Gender, Marital status etc. As the above questionnaire sample can be broken down to subgroups such as age, gender, marital status to analyse differences. And data can also analysed by looking at average scores for each category (eg. Food quality, service, food hygiene and cleaniness and product price) as categorized in questionnaire to see if there are noticeable difference in their averages. The formula to calculate average score is Average score= Sum of Valued dependent variable which has been ticked divided by No.of dependent variable allocated For example by taking above Table Average score= Food quality (3) + Service (3) + Food Hygine (4) + Price of product (5) divided by 5 =3 It can be broken down into subgroups for food quality, service, food hygiene and price of product to noticeable difference in their averages Checking the forms Spreadsheet Graph/table: Graph are going to allocate to explain and analyse the data. As taken example of above sample, the graph is going to be like. Analytical qs Statistics Ethical issue The questionnaire will start with explaining the purpose of the research which is only for the academic requirement by showing the college Identification card. And also questionnaire will start with explaining the subject matter of the questionnaire up-front. The questionnaire is not going to take any sensitive data, like personal details, history and background to protect there anonymity. The researcher does not use force and hard request to get response from the customers and the research confidentiality should be maintained in term of collecting the data. Timescales and Resources S.No. Phase/Milestone Start Date End Date Notes 1 Literature Review 2 Development of research instrument- final survey/interview Question Schedule 3 Data Collection-completion of survey 4 Data analysis- results of primary data analysis written up 5. Report Writing- finalisation of dissertation. Conclusion Appendix A Quantitative Survey (Questionnaire) Customer Satisfaction Survey: Academic Survey to fulfilment of Master Degree Program(Cavendish College and University of Wales) This survey is being carried out to find out the customer attitude towards the Jennys Restaurant. Please answer the questions freely. You cannot be identified from the information you provide, and all the information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence. The questionnaire should take you about five minutes to complete. Please answer the questions in the space provided. Try to complete the questions at a time when you are unlikely to be disturbed. Also, do not spend too much time on any one question. Your first thoughts are usually your best! Please tick one box for every question. When you have finished the questionnaire please return in to me in the enclosed freepost envelope. Nameà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. What is your age range (Please tick where appropriate) Gender(Please tick where appropriate) 18-30à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Maleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. 31-50à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Femaleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 51+à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Othersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Question Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied Satisfied Very Satisfied Food Quality The food is served hot and fresh The menu has a good variety of item The quality of food is excellent The food is tasty and flavourful The food portion is enough The food provide balance nutrition Restaurant Service My food order was correct and complete Employees are patient when taking my order I was served promptly The menu board was easy to read Employee speak clearly Employee are friendly and courteous The service is excellent Value of price paid Quality of food Food hygiene and cleanliness The handling of food is good Restaurant Premises are clean Toilets are clean Product Price Food is good value for the price paid Prices are competitive If have any comments with the service of our restaurant please share with us. Thank you for taking the time to help us. If you have any queries or would like further information about this project, please call me on 07828857702. Thank you for your help. Activities Appendix B Gant Chart of Time ScaleMay 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 1st Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4th Week 1st Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4th Week 1st Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4th Week 1st Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4th Week Collection of literature review Critically review of the literature Meeting supervisor Review of project aims and objectives Questionnaire Process Interview the customer Accounting calculation of the breakeven point Meeting supervisor Analysis the accounting data Analysis and interpret qualitative data Analysis and interpret quantitative data Meeting supervisor Final report writing, Amendments, Binding of the project Referencing John. N., and Tyas (1996). Use of service quality gap theory to differentiate between foodservice outlets. Service Industries Journal, 16(3), 321-346. Stevens, P., Knutson, B., and Patton, M. (1995). DINESERVE. A tool for measuring service quality in Restaurants. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 36(2), 56-60. Alan Bryman and Emma Bell, 2007, Business Research Methods-2nd Edition, Oxford University Press Kotler, P., (2000), Marketing Management. 10th ed. New jersey, prentice-Hall. Hoyer, W.D. MacInnis, D.J., 2001, Consumer Behaviour. 2nd Ed., Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co. Hokanson, S., (1995). The deeper you analyze, the more you satisfy customers, Marketing News, p. 16. Labarbera, P.A. and Mazursky, D. 1983, A longitudinal Assessment of consumer satisfaction, Dissatisfaction: the dynamic aspect of cognitive process: Journal of marketing research, vol. 20, Nov, p.p. 393-404. Farrell, JP.,(2007). A management consultant @ large. The evolution of the quick service restaurant. [Online] 25th April 2008. [Cited] 1st of April 2011. Retrived from http://jpfarrell.blogspot.com//2007/11/evolution-of-quick-service-restaurant.html. Goyal, A. Singh, N.P. (2007). Consumer perception about fast food in India: an exploratory study. British food Journal. Vol. 109: Issue:2, 2007. Schroder, Monika J.A. McEachern, Morven G. (2005). Fast foods and ethical consumer value: a focus on Mc Donalds and KFC. British food Journal. Vol 107. Issue:4. 2005. Jang, Dongsuk. Mattila, Anna S. (2005). An examination of restaurant loyalty programs: what kinds of rewards do customer prefers? International Journal of contemporary hospitality management. Vol. 1. Issue:5. 2005. Katz, Karen L. Martin, Blaire R. (1985). Improving customer satisfaction through the management of perceptions of waiting. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bose, Debopriya. (2011). Advantage and Dissadvantage of Fast food. [Online] 2011. [Cited] 7th of April 2011. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-fast-food.html. Khilawala, Rashida. (2010). Unhealthy Fast Food. [Online] 2010. [Cited] 7th of April 2011. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/unhealthy-fast-food.html. Stacel, Richard. (2009). Why you should avoid fast food at all cost. [Online] 2009 [Cited] 6th of April 2011. Retrieved from http://www.naturalnews.com/025241-food-fast-food-foods.html. BBC News in U.K. Consumer question fast food hygiene. [Online] 17th Feb 2003. [Cited] 5th of April 2011. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/l/hi/uk/2769907.stm. Lee, Yun Lok. Hing, Nevilee. (1999). Centre for Tourisim, Southern Cross University. Vol. 14, Issue:3-4, Pg:293-310. Cronin, J. Joseph., Jr. Taylor, Steven A. (1992). Journal of Marketing: Measuring service quality: A reexamination and extension. Vol: 56, No. 3, Pg: 55-68. Ho, Teck H. Zheng, Yu-Sheng. (2004). Management Science. Setting Customer Expectation in Service Delivery: An Integrated Marketing-Operations Perspective. Vol: 50, No. 4, Pg: 479-488. Jiang, James. J., Klein, Gary. Carr, Christopher L. (2002). Management Information Systems Research center. Measuring information system service quality: Servqual from the other side. Vol:26, No. 2, Pg: 145-166. Fedoroff, Paul. (2011). Comparing service quality performance with customer service quality needs. 12 Manage the executive fast track. [Online] 2011. [Cited] 7th of April 2011. Retrieved from http://www.12manage.com/methods-zeithaml-servqual.html. Parasuraman A., Zeithaml V. Berry L. (1990). Delivering Quality Service, Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations.

Lewis Carroll Essay -- essays research papers fc

Lewis Carroll is one of the most well known Nonsense Writers. Though using nonsense in poetry has been dismissed as simply "for entertainment purposes", most nonsensical poetry acts as an allegory, has deep symbolism and leaves the door wide open for varying interpretations. Lewis Carroll has utilized this sense with nonsense through his poems and prose found in his novels Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass . Through Carroll's interactions with his close friends and family, and the innovative and eccentric society and politics of the Victorian Era, he has created beautiful poetry with many different levels. The Victorian Era lasted from 1837 until 1901, which was the time during Queen Victoria's reign in England. The term Victorian has "conveyed connotations of ‘prudish', ‘repress', and ‘old fashioned'"(Landow 1). This era is now seen as a time of " great expansion of wealth, power, and culture"(Landow 1). This change in ideas and politics led to great change in democracy, and saw a rise in other modern movements. Since the era lasted for so long it is comprised of several different periods including Socialism, Darwinism, and scientific Agnosticism. The widespread use of opium during the Victorian period may have influenced or been reflected in Carroll's work. "In Carroll's time five out of six families used opium habitually"(Wohl 34). The Victorian Era, ideology, and politics had a great impact on Lewis Carroll's poetry. Lewis Carroll, formally Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was born at Daresbury, Cheshire, on January 27, 1832. His parents were Charles and Frances Dodgson. He was the oldest of 11 children.All through his life he loved to write, and take photographs. During 1854 Carroll continued to write and compiled a scrapbook of his best writings, called "Mischmasch". "Mischmasch" included a four line verse, titled "Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry". Later this became the first verse of his nonsense poem "Jabberwocky". In 1855, Henry Liddell arrived as the new Dean at Christ Church and Carroll was introduced to his children. He had a son, Harry, and three daughters: Lorina, Alice, and Edith. Carroll had begun to photograph the family and had become especially charmed by the little girl Alice. Alice later b... ...nbsp; Works Cited Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. Norton Critical Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1992. Connell, Kate. "Opium as a Possible influence upon Alice Books" 22 Mar 2000. The Victorian Web. <http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/victov.html>. Graham, Eleanor. Lewis Carroll and the Writing of Through The Looking Glass Great Britain: Puffin Books, 1981. Landow, George P. "Victorian and Victorianism" 23 Mar 2000. The Victorian Web. <http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/vn/victor4.html> Sewell, Elizabeth. The Field of Nonsense London: Chatto and Windus LTD., 1952.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki the untold story Essay -- essays papers

Hiroshima and Nagasaki the untold story On August 6th 1945, the first Atomic Bomb, â€Å"Little Boy,† was dropped on Hiroshima, and three days later on August 9th 1945, the second atomic bomb, â€Å"Fat Man,† was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan’s industrial capital. The decision to use the Atomic Bomb against Japan was a poor one considering the damage, the devastation, and the amount of people left dead, injured, or suffering the loss of a family member or a friend, all for the sake of quickly ending the ongoing War. When the Japanese had realized that they were the only ones left in the war, Germany their ally, was already beaten out of the war and all efforts were now concentrated at them, the Japanese began suing for a peaceful end to the war. Apart from the fact that Japan had been suing for a peaceful end to the war, there were a number of alternative routes of action that the Americans had at their fingertips, and could have taken advantage of at a moment’s notice, which could have possibly sa ved a lot of lives, both American and Japanese. After analyzing the amount of damage and the amount of lives lost as a result of the dropping of the Atomic Bomb, it becomes evident that dropping the bomb was not worth a quick end to the war. Much of why Japanese surrender took so long to come through reverts back to the Samurai Tradition in Japan. First, the Emperor didn’t not intervene in political affairs as he was considered to be above such petty human politics, and second, the Japanese code of honor which puts death before dishonor. The Americans had intercepted messages from the Foreign Minister Togo, to Ambassador Sato expressing the desires of the Emperor for a peaceful end to the war,â€Å"[h]is Majesty the Emperor, mindful of the fact that the present war daily brings greaterevil and sacrifice upon the peoples of all belligerent powers, desires from his heart thatit may be quickly terminated† (Alperovitz 23). The desire of the Emperor for an end to the war never came true until both atomic bombs had been dropped on two of Japan’s key industrial cities, as the Emperor never formally expressed this desire. In the samurai tradition, the Emperor is held at a God-like status and therefore, is considered above politics, so therefore he never intervenes, and was never expected to intervene in political issues, his role was to sanction decisions made by the Cabinet, wh... ...Eye Witness Account: Atomic Bomb Mission over Nagasaki." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . Lifton, Robert Jay & Mitchell, Greg. Hiroshima in America: Fifty Years of Denial. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons New York, 1995. Long, Doug. " Hiroshima: Was it Necessary?" . 30 Aug. 2000. . . Maag, Carl and Rohrer, Steve. "Project Trinity." EnviroLink. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . Stimson, Henry. "Henry Stimson’s Diary and Papers." . 30 Jan. 2000. . . . Takaki, Ronald. Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb. Canada: Little, Brown and Company, 1995. The Manhattan Engineer District. "The Atomic Bombings Of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . The Manhattan Engineer District. "The Manhattan Project (and Before)." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . Trujillo, Gary S. "Hiroshima Witness." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . Truman, Harry. "Hiroshima: Harry Truman’s Diary and Papers." 30 Jan. 2000. . . . Truman, Harry. "Statement by the President of the United States." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . .

powmac The Power of Religion and Fate in Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essa

The Power of Religion and Fate in Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚   Macbeth presents a religious view of man's existence and destiny. Shakespeare, however, did not write a religious or theological tract. He explored the meaning of human life in those terms which art uses in order to project our deepest thoughts and feelings; in broad, popular religious symbols and myths, whose meaning is as profound as it is easily recognized.    The unparalleled religious crisis, through which Europe was passing at the time of Shakespeare writing Macbeth, the first decade of the seventeenth century, shook the traditional religious heritage to its foundations. Placed between an Everyman and a Pilgrim's Progress Macbeth did not have the simple clarity of either; the former was written before the phase of violent disintegration and the latter when more settled ideas had begun to consolidate themselves. We do not see the fluency of construction in Macbeth as we see in Everyman or Pilgrim's Progress. But the religious, Christian view is intensely there to determine the nature of imagery and the significance of characters. The human problem that is the basic idea of Macbeth is the relation between evil in human nature called "sin" and the everlasting scheme of things presided over by a Deity whose justice, wisdom and benevolence could be doubted temporarily but never rejected. More abstractly, the problem was that of h uman responsibility and free will, human freedom, in a world ruled by divine necessity.       Macbeth begins with a set of supernatural figures. Witches have been always associated with darkness, night and crime. Saul, in Samuel (1), visits the Witch of Endor in order to know his destiny. Saul himself had taken seve... ...moil in Act I shows the process of perversion of reason and corruption of will. He knows the good but will not and cannot do it and there is no intercessory power for him to turn to for aid His incapacity to pray in the soliloquy in Act I, the intervention by his wife (instead of by a good angel) just when he decides not to proceed further, the promptness with which the fantasy of the deed forms itself in his mind after he hears the prophecy-all these testify that Macbeth is a reprobate predestined to damnation.          Works Cited:    Macbeth. New York: Arden Edition (New Series)    Bindoff,S.T. Sr Tudor England, Pelican Books.1959    Dyer, T. Folklore of Shakespeare. Griffith & Farren:London,1883 (First Edition)    Elliott,G.R. Dramatic Providence in Shakespeare. Princeton University Press, 1958 (out-of-print Title)

Computing and Connectivity Essay

Nonmanagement employees perform the day-to-day operations. The employees in this role can work in a warehouse, in a call center, or even teachers. Employees are serving one main purpose here, and that is to serve the customer. Nonmanagement employees report to a manager or supervisor that falls under the operation management role. Publix has thousands of nonmanagement employees. When someone goes to the grocery store, he or she can see cashiers, deli counter associates, floor associates, bakers, butchers, and others. These roles all are there to serve the customer. They work latterly with the company’s warehouses, call centers, and technicians. While the warehouses, call centers, and technicians are not serving an external customer, the actual supermarket is an internal customer. Based on the author’s job functions, she would fall under the nonmanagement employee role. The author is a supply chain development lead which is a fancy way of saying programmer analyst. She oversees all software coding that arrives from the supplier, tests the coding, and works with the business areas that will be using the software. While her position is salary, and the business areas being supported or reviewed by her are not salary, Jessica’s role is providing a service to a customer. Her customer is also providing service to other customers, whether a store or a vendor. This author has participated in a GPS tracking initiative for the technician’s vans. With this hardware and software install, the application located on the web server is able to go out and determine the geographical location of any technician. The software will then use this to optimize the calls for that location and assign the call to the technician who is closest, thereby saving travel time, communication to the call center, and lost labor time. Optimization such as this is an example of how Publix is working with distributed computing and connectivity. More Opportunities to Revolutionize Publix has numerous competitors such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Winn-Dixie, Albertsons, and even some small grocery chains. The main advantage is that when shopping at Publix, the customers can expect to have a good experience and have quality groceries. The quality does not stop with the groceries either. Currently all the 915 stores are upgrading software and hardware to keep up with the changing technology. The point-of-sale cash registers are being updated to be touch screen and to have a large display for the customer to be able to review all items as they are scanned. Another project is the upgrade of the wireless networks. Before the upgrade, the stores were on a slow wired network, which caused issues if the technicians needed to review all the details or to update his or her calls. The new network will allow the technicians to use their handheld devices and communicate using the store’s fire walled wireless intranet to update their service calls. Recently, Publix jumped into selling liquor in some of their stores. Some were worried this would tarnish the image of the wholesome store. Publix approached the topic very carefully and opened liquor stores adjacent to the supermarket. The profits soared after all these new projects start implementing. Recently, to stay a head of the competition, Publix started a generator project. This project will install a large generator in every store by the beginning of next hurricane season. About 269 stores already have these generators in them. These large generators will run the refrigerated cases for several days after a natural disaster. This project started after millions of dollars in food was lost after the past two hurricane seasons. Publix has reserve fuel supplies at the ports and tanker trucks on reserve ready to roll out to fill any generators needed. These generators are monitored remotely in the corporate offices by an in-house software package that alerts the key personnel to any issues that may arise. When a situation does arise, the store manager is called to check to see if the situation is a false alarm or not, and to help rectify the situation until further help can be contacted and dispatched to the location. Other advantages are allowing customers to refill their existing prescriptions online with their Publix pharmacy. Customers can select a pickup time for the prescription, but if none is selected, the time defaults to the following afternoon. While the pharmacy is always convenient to visit and have prescriptions refilled while shopping, this service allows someone to refill his or her script and run in to pick up if shopping is not intended. These types of technological benefits help Publix revolutionize the grocery industry. Conclusion This author has shown several examples of how her role and others in the organization have been influenced by distributed connectivity to communities surrounding the organization. This author recognizes the potential for growth and revolution for her company and how all jobs must report not only laterally, but downward, upward and even externally. Proactive measures such as the generator program show that Publix is preparing for the future so service can still be provided to areas that are hit by natural disasters. Ability for customers to refill their prescriptions online shows how Publix is keeping connected through distributed computing. While many levels in an organization exist, this author realizes that all roles play an important part in the success of any company and that success can be maximized through distributed connectivity.

The Philosophy of Cartesianism

â€Å"Cogito, ergo sum† (â€Å"I think, therefore I am. â€Å"), Descartes famous basis for his philosophy of Cartesianism, is also compelling evidence towards the defense of one of the most famous of the early Greek teachers, Socrates. In order to be, one must think. Socrates was a seeker of truth, and the highest knowledge is knowing what is best for oneself and one†s community. He was penalized and served the ultimate sentence for his belief in the true nature of education. He was blamed for opposing the authoritative belief that education had the sole purpose of transmitting social mores intact. He believed instead that education was meant to examine and re-evaluate social norms for the betterment of society. It was his re-evaluation of social norms that was perceived as dangerous by his society. This leads to the question, â€Å"Is it dangerous to think to much? † Is it sometimes better to let things be, in order to keep the peace? One of the many charges brought against Socrates was the charge of corrupting the youth with his teachings. Instead of letting the laws govern their lives, he was attempting to show his pupils ways of rationalizing their own world. God originally gave mankind free will so that we would not become a bunch of robots walking around doing his bidding, and yet this is what traditions were doing. The customs of early Athens were limiting on what a person could or could not believe. Socrates believed independent thought in itself could never be bad. It is what one does with this knowledge that determines its worth. Socrates believed that â€Å"self-knowledge† is different from the â€Å"knowledge of information† that had been handed down from generation to generation. Socrates was more concerned with ethical knowledge: self-understanding means self-improvement. Not only must one know what it means to be a human being and understand one's own character (and how it falls short of the ideal), but knowing better means doing better. Knowledge becomes a virtue. One must transform one's own character in the light of one's vision of what is best. Socrates believed true knowledge or human wisdom was not abstract information or facts that filled the brain. It is knowledge that transforms character, brings order to a disorderly life, refines attitude, and makes one better. This self-understanding that Socrates taught his pupils is actually beneficial to a community. When one has order in their lives, it is easier for them to bring order to the world around them. When you smile the world cannot help smiling too. Conversely, when one allows himself to be corrupted, he corrupts the society around them. Self-improvement equals social reform. At the same time, social reform requires knowledge of what is best for the community (as a whole). Thus, since self-improvement and social reform are interdependent, self-knowledge and knowledge of social justice are also interdependent. Ethics is inseparable from politics and individual good is inseparable from the common good. Therefore, by teaching the youth to think without worrying about following tradition, Socrates not only helps them enhances themselves, but he improves society in general. There still remains the question as to whether or not this constant inquiry into the world can be detrimental. Without pioneers of thought, pioneers of action would never exist. As science progresses through time, more and more of its theories are being put into development. Although the progress of science has greatly enhanced society and the world we live in, there are many cases where an invention or discovery managed to set society back. One of the best examples of this is weapons of mass destruction, more specifically, the A-bomb. No one would disagree that this was a terrible thing to create; even the inventor had hesitations when he figured out what he was doing. Still he made it, and as society progress, it progressively develops newer and more destructive weapons. The irony is that the leaders of society are the people pushing for the bigger and better weapons, for the sake a guaranteeing public safety. Yet as more and more weapons are created the inevitable mass destruction of all societies becomes evident. In this way, Socratic thought and the quest for knowledge is detrimental to a society. Pure Socratic belief is best summed up by his saying, â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living. † Many of Socrates adversaries believed that this principle was an open invitation for anarchy. Examining life leads to new ideas that do not necessarily conform with the beliefs of society. This causes great movements of revolution. Socrates believed these movements were a great tool in the advancement of civilization. One great proof against this idea is the rise of Hitler and communism. Hitler examined his life and found that the Jews were the source of all his problems. He therefore decided to kill as many of them that he could. His ultimate goal was genocide. In this case the personal thoughts of an individual did not help the advancement of society. The new debate becomes, â€Å"Is it justifiable to condemn a person for Socratic behavior? † The answer is no. Everyone should be allowed to quest for knowledge. That is why the necessity for a college education in the modern world is so strong. Society needs thinkers. What is condemnable is the specific actions that are taken as a result of some of these thoughts. Hypothesizing about what a weapon of mass destruction can do and testing it out on innocent people and animals are two different things. Many people criticize Socrates for not being a man of action. All Socrates ever accomplished was questioning and probing the democratic beliefs of his day. He built nothing, and he wrote nothing, all he did was think, and a person cannot be condemned for their thoughts. In the big picture, people should be encouraged to think for themselves, to decide what they are going to believe and what they are going to dismiss as fiction. Society has the right to punish a man†s actions if they are causing harm to society, but expressing a view other than popular opinion is not harmful to society. In actuality, contemplation can help to resolve many of society†s problems. Meditation on a problem leads to possible solutions to the problem, and in essence, progress. By examining oneself, a person gains better insight into who they are, and where their place in society is. This allows them to become more secure with themselves and more efficient in the community. Socratic behavior is about examining everything in order to gain knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge is not condemnable as long as no one is getting hurt.

Love and Power in Marriage as Portrayed in A Doll House

A Doll’s House by Ibsen has become a starting moment for a new step in the development of drama genre. Prior to this play, Ibsen’s contemporary drama consisted of behavior plays and historical theatre. But A Doll’s House added a new aspect to the problems highlighted by the contemporary drama. Ibsen in his play introduced a crucial examination of social issues, and the nature of Victorian marriage. By revealing the background of Helmer marriage Ibsen makes the intimate private and stands up for women identity. Revealing the secrecy of marriage Ibsen overturns the customary roles of a woman and a man as they were regarded by the society before. Marriage in Victorian Society Ibsen provides Nora with the new role different from the role of wife and mother that was an innovation for the contemporary society. As it was customary to refer to woman’s identity in the context of her marital role, Ibsen’s play appeared as a protest, and this play is still regarded as a feminist writing, although the author denied it. The author touched a few intertwined themes, but marital relations are one of the most crucial issues, referred to in the play. Victorian age was cruel towards human identity in general, let alone woman’s individuality. The economical background buried the interest to the individuality within the society. During the period after the French Revolution the thirst for individual freedom was replaced by the economic power, and as the result, women were deprived of the power more than ever. Nora’s changed attitude towards her marriage is not just a problem in the relations between a husband and wife; it is the symbol of the most serious problems of bourgeois values of the middle class. By rejecting the marriage, Nora also denies these values, thus demonstrating the opposition between identity and economical stability: â€Å"I should try to become a human being† (Act Three) A Doll’s House reflects Ibsen’s own relation to the problem of woman’s self-expression. He was sure that women could express themselves, their individuality but in a real life woman’s role in marriage came to a sacrifice. Neither husbands nor society treated women as equals with their spouses. The scene of Torvald being afraid of his employers believing that he had been influenced by his wife is a perfect illustration of the relation to women in Victorian society. Marriage in Victorian society became a kind of a social trap, worse for woman than for men. Divorce was not forbidden, but it was accompanied by such a strong social ban that it could ever be regarded as the possible way to resolve the problems in family life. That’s why Torvald shows his inner weakness by his desire to pretend that he and Nora had a happy family, rather than bear the social antagonism: â€Å"From this moment happiness is not the question; all that concerns us is to save the remains, the fragments, the appearance – † (Act Three) On the contrary, Nora, as the symbol of woman, who wasn’t treated as a powerful identity, shows her force by her serious intentions in finding her individuality. Nora feels a fragility of love, but she doesn’t give up and feels the power to build a new happy life instead of her unhappy marriage. Love and Power in the Marriage of Torvald and Nora Nora, who at the beginning was displayed as a happy woman full of love and devoted to her family, realizes that that her happiness is just her dream, but not reality. Thus, she and her husband exchange their roles – Nora is strong enough to face the reality, while her husband is afraid of everything that may damage his habitual life. Nora understands that she was treated like a child used for amusement. The men around her, her husband and her father wanted to see her helpless, seeing her only mission in serving them: â€Å"I have existed merely to perform tricks for you, Torvald. But you wanted it like that. You and father have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life. Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was father's doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls.† (Act Three) This is how the concept and picture of marriage changes as the plot of the play goes. At the beginning of the play Nora and her husband seem to be a happy family, a husband and a wife who love each other. However, this happiness and love are built on a lie. Nora pretends that she is helpless without Torvald’s protection and power: I would never dream of doing anything you didn’t want me to† and â€Å"I never get anywhere without your help† (Act One), while the reader and spectator knows that she has already rescued Torvald’s life, and Nora’s words acquires dramatically ironical nature. When Mrs. Linde asks Nora if he ever reveals her secret about the loan, Nora shows her awareness of Torvald’s real attitude to her as to a beautiful doll, which has to amuse him: â€Å"Yes – some day, perhaps, after many years, when I am no longer as pretty as I am now. Don't laugh at me! I mean, of course, when Torvald is no longer as devoted to me as he is now; when my dancing and dressing-up and reciting have palled on him then it may be a good thing to have something in reserve.† (Act One) Conclusion As the play starts, Nora makes an impression of a weak and powerless woman, whose life is fully devoted to her family life, while Torvald seems to be the personification of power and domination. Their relations are set against the life story of Mrs. Linde, who at first denied her strong love to gain power and financial security. But by the end of the play the situation changes, Nora finds herself and her individuality although loses her love, and Mrs. Linde turns back to her true feelings. The problems shown with the help of characters’ interaction are not resolved by the author. Ibsen demonstrates the conflicts, but does not give any ways out. He just offers the possibilities, offering the readers and spectators to find their own viewpoint and solution. Related article: â€Å"My Ideal Wife† References Ibsen H. (1991) A Doll's House, Tram. W. Archer. London