Monday, September 16, 2019
Poem Analsys
After reading The Eagle and Hawk Roosting, there were several differences and similarities that I noticed between them. Some of these brought them closer to each other while others made them more independent of each other. In both poems the main characters of the hawk and the eagle seem to be aware of their surroundings in a humanistic way. The Eagle, while being much shorter than Hawk Roosting, is still able to impart the feeling that he is the master of his domain.I think that Hawk Roosting, however, is able to give more relatable sensory details than The Eagle because of the perspective that it was told from. Because of the first person point of view in Hawk Roosting the author is also able to use personification to make himself seem more important. In The Eagle, a sense of importance is still present, but it can be overlooked because of the third person point of view. While only The Eagle uses rhyme, the rhythm in both poems helps to move the reader through it.They both have sens ory details for sight, but I think that Hawk Roosting uses the sense touch in a very personal way with the phrase ââ¬Å"My feet are locked upon the rough bark. â⬠While both poems impart a feeling of power and majesty, they convey different parting experiences for the reader. Hawk Roosting ends with the hawk believing that he is the master of everything. The Eagle, I believe, finishes with a sense dignity.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Frontline: Camera and Current Affairs Programs
How do the creators of ââ¬Å"Frontlineâ⬠convey the main issues in the text? The truth in the media is a subjective commodity which is often sensationalized, fabricated and manipulated for a number of reasons. Therefore, realistically the media only represents certain facets of the truth to suit their purpose and context. Rob Sitchââ¬â¢s Frontline is a satirical examination of current affairs programs and explores the mediaââ¬â¢s selective dissemination of information to construct the desired truth. Though being disturbingly accurate in their sarcastic attack on the deceit and hypocrisy of the media, the producers of Frontline use wit and parody to challenge the reliability of the media and such concepts are explored through a number of film techniques in episodes such as ââ¬ËThe Siegeââ¬â¢ and ââ¬ËAdd sex and stirââ¬â¢ The commercial nature of the media dictates that the content of the broadcast must rate well and be profitable. The episode ââ¬ËThe Siegeââ¬â¢ exemplifies the commercial nature of current affairs programs and re-emphasizes the mediaââ¬â¢s potential to regard the truth as a subjective commodity to further gain higher ratings. Frontline seeks little more than authenticity to convince their audience that they are a credible resource. In ââ¬ËThe Siegeââ¬â¢ Rob Sitch blurs the boundary between fiction and reality, through illustrating a story based on a real incident which occurred in 1994 making it harder to discern the truth. Frontline pursues a story about a father who has held his children hostage during a custody battle. This episode exposes the true nature of journalism and the unethical practices that the media undertakes to win the ratings war. Marty ironically says ââ¬Ëyouââ¬â¢ve crossed the line mateââ¬â¢, this pretense of ethics is juxtaposed with ââ¬Ëyou beautyââ¬â¢ when he realizes that it was the Frontline team itself that got through to interviewing the gunman. Marty further sensationalizes and exaggerates the truth by wearing a flak jacket and crouching down to make it appear that he is in a dangerous situation, when in reality he is five kilometers away from the danger zone. Through the use of dialogue ââ¬ËHow about if I crouch down like this? To make it look like Iââ¬â¢m in dangerââ¬â¢ Marty illustrates his blatant disregard for the truth thus emphasizing the importance of appearance and ratings over the depiction of the truth within the media. Brooke further epitomizes the mediaââ¬â¢s motives through the use of incongruity in the dialogue ââ¬ËMrs. Forbes do you have any nine volt batteries? ââ¬â¢ Such dialogue accentuates Brookeââ¬â¢s superficiality as she is not at all concern ed about Mrs. Forbes feelings. The camera close up of Brookeââ¬â¢s exceedingly concerned facial expression when she interviews Mrs. Forbes is juxtaposed with Mrs. Forbes misery and Brookeââ¬â¢s deception when she asks ââ¬â ââ¬Ëwould you be able to cry again Mrs. Forbes? ââ¬â¢ The on and off camera persona evidently shows that the truth is subverted by the media to construct a desired representation, portraying the truth to be a subjective commodity. The mediaââ¬â¢s relentless pursuit of higher ratings to ensure commercial success plays a significant role in determining the representation of the truth they present to their audience. The episode ââ¬ËAdd sex and Stirââ¬â¢ epitomizes the mediaââ¬â¢s selective dissemination of information to construct a desired truth, thus exemplifying truth to be a subjective commodity. Frontline pursues a story about the unfair dismissal of a sportswoman who is supposedly dropped from the team because she is not gay. Although Brooke acknowledges that the sportswoman was dropped from the team because of poor form, she decides to portray the misleading sex angle of the story in the pursuit for higher ratings to ensure Frontlineââ¬â¢s commercial success. Frontlineââ¬â¢s clean crisp picture quality, still camera and immaculate sets gives a sense of professional respectability and authority to create a sense of credibility. Rob Sitch employs caricature to emphasize the potential for the media to regard the truth as a subjective commodity to gain more ratings. Sitch satirizes the limited value that the media places on the truth through Brookeââ¬â¢s satirical comment ââ¬ËWell thereââ¬â¢s a lead story, Stu, lead player dropped due to bad form, out breaking. ââ¬â¢ The truth is further manipulated through filming Brookeââ¬â¢s nods separately and out of context which further amplifies their falsity, emphasizing her lack of integrity. Brooke completely distorts the truth through creating a re-enactment, in which the story is further exaggerated through the steamy atmosphere in the girls change rooms, demonstrating that it is sleaze that sells rather than the truth. The dramatic background music in the re-enactment further satirizes the mediaââ¬â¢s pursuit for higher ratings, portraying that the mediaââ¬â¢s ââ¬Ëessential objective is profit, rather than saving the worldââ¬â¢ Chris Masters (ABC correspondent). Through this it is clearly evident that the truth to the media is a subjective commodity that can often be manipulated, fabricated and sensationalized for a number of reasons.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
What It Means to Be a Pastor
ââ¬Å"Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? â⬠says the LORD in Isaiah 43:18-19(Holy Bible, KJV). Though these words were written thousands of years ago, they speak anew for being a pastor today. How does a person know if they are called to be a pastor? How does a person know what God is calling them to do? Why is it important to consider carefully and prayerfully oneââ¬â¢s call, especially a call to be a pastor? I am convinced that to enter pastoral ministry without Godââ¬â¢s call is one of the greatest deceptions of the devil. This is so because the one who is deceived and drawn into pastoral ministry apart from Godââ¬â¢s call will not be as effective, because it takes a special anointing, and a closer relationship with God to be a pastor, but worse, the one who ventures into ministry for the wrong reasons will be powerless to prevent the desecration of Godââ¬â¢s holy name. Here are some questions to consider for those who may be in the feeling stage of considering their call. Why is it important to consider carefully and prayerfully oneââ¬â¢s call, especially a call to be a pastor? The non-called pastor, the non-called person in any position, is one of Satanââ¬â¢s most effective weapons. (See 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 3-4; 2 Peter 2; Jude; and Revelation 2-3). Spiritual leadership requires the ability to listen, to respond to, and to effectively communicate Godââ¬â¢s desire and will for a congregation Ministry is not only teaching, or being in view of congregation, but it is above all serving. It is shepherding, discipline. It is running to the hospital to sit at the beside of the sick and doing so at any time of night or day. In todayââ¬â¢s economic times, we all have one way or another faced some difficult times, and instead of drawing closer to God, there seems to be a collective turning away from God. . According to the Western Recorder August 3, 2010 issue, the average salary for a full time Southern Baptist Pastor is $55,829; while the average pay package for a full time Southern Baptist pastor is $66,275. I donââ¬â¢t know about you, but these amounts sound insanely high to me. I figured that pastors made about $10,000 less than this; I make almost $28,000 less than this (God takes care of us). (http://sbcvoices. com/what-is-the-average-pay-for-a-full-time-southern-baptist-pastor-or-staff-member/#sthash. grh71N84. dpuf) Being a pastor will require a lot of your time and a whole lot of sacrifice, your wife and children will miss you every time you step out to minister and you will constantly be reminded of the cost of such a venture. Being a pastor is a continuous sacrifice, there will be times you have to choose between your ministry and your personal life, when the phone rings in the wee hours of the morning and you have to deal with your wife going through the house, cussing the dog and kicking the cat because the members donââ¬â¢t seem to respect the house, but you must go because the will of God must be done. Being a pastor is not something you can be trained to do, because to pastor you must have a love for Godââ¬â¢s people. There is no other job or position in which people allow you into living rooms, hospital rooms and often the darkest places of their lives, there are very few jobs that require the amount of love and compassion it takes to truly and effectively care for Godââ¬â¢s people, to whom much is given, much is required.
Friday, September 13, 2019
Anthony Burgess and A Clockwork Orange Essay -- A Clockwork Orange
John Anthony Burgess was born on February 25, 1917, in Manchester, England. He was born to Catholic parents (mom died early). Anthonyââ¬â¢s mother died when he was only two years old from an illness, so he was brought up and raised by his aunt. A few years later when his father remarried, his stepmother primarily raised Burgess. Anthonyââ¬â¢s father was not around much and frankly didnââ¬â¢t care much for Anthony. Burgessââ¬â¢s upbringing was rough and somewhat traumatizing, which reflect in some of his works, including the novel, A Clockwork Orange. Burgess married at a young age and had only one child, Paolo Andrea Burgess. In a review article about Anthony Burges, Thomas Horan said, ââ¬Å"As Burgess acknowledged, he was a neglectful parent, too preoccupied with his writing and composing to take much notice of the high-spirited urchin who often rd a lot of things throughout his 76-year-old life, but he is most famously known for his controversial novel, A Clockwork Ora nge. Works Cited Burrow, Colin. "Not Quite Nasty." London Review of Books. LRB Ltd (1997-2004), Nov. 2005. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. Covert, Colin. "Anthony Burgess." Hutchinson's Biography Datbase 2011: 1. Ebscohost.com. Web. 8 Jan. 2014. Criticism, Contemporary Literary, and Carolyn Riley. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research, 1973. Print. Horan, Thomas. "A Clockwork Counterpoint: The Music and Literature of Anthony Burgess." Academic Search Premier. Studies in the Novel, Apr. 2011. Web. 8 Jan. 2014. . Liukkonen, Petri. "Anthony Burgess." Anthony Burgess. Ari Pesonen, 2008. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. "Movie Spotlight: "A Clockwork Orange"" Review. Newspaper Source Plus (2013): 1-2. Ebscohost.com. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Vodafone Finance Report Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Vodafone Finance Report - Case Study Example According to Reuters (2005) analysts' opinion, the company is outperforming currently (financial ratios provided can be seen in Appendix 1). The group turnover was 34,133 m on the year ended March 31, 2005, which was 33,559 in 2004 and 30,375 in 2003 (Vodafone Annual Report, 2005, p. 78). Presented in percentage, the growth of turnover in 2003/04 was 10.4% and in 2004/05 it was 1.7%. The rise of the group turnover represents the addition of new customers and the increase of revenue from value added services. Looking at the five-year annual growth of turnover given on the diagram 1 it can be easily seen that the company's rate of expansion is decreasing. During previous years the company was rapidly expanding due attraction of new customers; now the customer audience of Vodafone is stable. The interim results of six months ended September 30, 2005 show that the group turnover has increased 9% to 18,250 m (Reuters, 2005). Reasonably the cost of sales in 2005 has increased along with the group turnover, leading to the gross profit of 13,380 m. In 2004 gross profit was 14,098 m and in 2003 it was 12,479 m (Vodafone Annual Report, 2005, p. 88). This gives us the ability to evaluate gross profit margin providing us with the information on how much of the group turnover can cover the non-operational costs by dividing gross profit on group turnover. The following diagram shows the three-year perspective. As can be seen there is hardly a trend can be outlined, but it can be concluded that the gross profit margin has fallen to 39.19%, indicating the rise of operating costs. Diagram 2: Gross profit margin (%) The group's operating loss was 5,304 m, 4,842 m, 5,052 m in 2005, 2004, and 2003 respectively (Vodafone Annual Report, 2005, p. 78). Thus we can calculate the net profit margin, showing us basically the percentage of profit earned on sales, or in this case the percentage of losses lost on sales. Basically, net profit margin shows the profitability of the company. It is found by dividing operating profit (loss) on group turnover. The next diagram shows the net profit margin of three years. As can be seen the previous year 2004 was more profitable for Vodafone than 2005. Additionally Reuters (2005) report of net income 23% decrease to 2,780 m in the first half of 2006. The reasons of the decreasing profitability are increased operating costs, administrative expenses and a decrease of non-operating income. Diagram 3: Net profit margin (%) Liquidity Liquidity is important for the company as it reflects the ability of meeting its liabilities. High liquidity can detract from profits, because liquid assets are low returning investments. Low liquidity stunts company's growth and eventually leads to bankruptcy. Liquidity ratio is measured with dividing the current assets of the company by the its current liabilities. Current assets of Vodafone were 11,794 m and 13,149 m in 2005 and 2004 respectively (Vodafone Annual Report, 2005, p. 79). Current liabilities to creditors were 14,837 m in 2005 and 15,026 m in 2004 (Vodafone Annual Report, 2005, p. 79). The comparison of liquidity ratios for 2004-2005 can be found in the following table. Along with current ratio there is a quick ratio, which shows the ability of a company to repay its liabilities with cash only excluding inventory assets (sales of inventory are often
Strategic Analysis of Zara Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Strategic Analysis of Zara Inc - Essay Example Research indicates these factors include intensive competitive rivalry, buyer power with consumers, and even threats of substitute products that can drive pricing lower. Research has also indicated much negative publicity for Zara, something requiring addressing by Zara executives in order to improve and sustain a quality brand reputation in its international markets. Though Zara is able to effectively create some barriers, such as new market entrants and by removing buying power by limiting outsourced supplier presence, Zara still requires more emphasis on understanding market characteristics effectively to provide relevant products and gain more brand loyalty. Recommendations for business improvement have been identified as conducting more intensive market research, more emphasis on the promotional function and utilisation of interactive marketing, decentralisation of certain business functions along the value chain, and building more self-owned manufacturing and supply capacity in order to gain competitive advantage. 1.0 Industry analysis Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) provide knowledge of contingency theory, a strategic model that indicates as circumstances in the market or industry change, the organisationââ¬â¢s structure must also be changed in order to adapt and stay relevant. Zara is a prime example of a business that understands the market characteristics and capabilities of major rivals, creating contingency strategies in order to respond (quickly) to changing market and industry dynamics. This is accomplished, of course, through maintaining a stance in which Zara executives routinely scan the external environment to identify threats and opportunities that could contribute to a better market position. Thompson, Gamble and Strickland (2005) offer the Five Forces Model proposed by Michael Porter identifying five competitive threats that are industry-related that will either enhance or disturb maintaining profitability and competitive advantage. The most intensive industry concern for Zara is threat of substitutes in its operating markets. H&M, Gap Inc. and Benetton offer similar fashion merchandise that is focused on either youth markets with a trends-focused set of buying characteristics or mass markets that are attracted to fashionable styles at affordable prices. Macro-economic theory indicates that threat of substitutes becomes a legitimate concern when the demand for the product has been affected by price changes associated with substitute products (Boyes and Melvin 2007). For Zara, substitute products include clothing sold at resale shops, such as with the emerging trend for retro-style fashions. In this environment, clothing is sold at a nominal price, but still offering consumers products that are deemed fashionable. The ability of consumers to procure merchandise and fashion accessories from a variety of lower-cost sales facilities has the ability to affect demand for Zaraââ¬â¢s merchandise. Thus, Zara must be aware of alternative procurement
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2
Education - Essay Example The hurdle ahead to making and cultivating of bright future leaders lie in the fact that there must be a solid, rational and foolproof system in place that ensures the supply of the best possible talent in a systematic manner for generations, just like the flow of fresh waters from glaciers, unconditional and superfluous. Young talent originates from the children of a nation. Indeed the birth of a ââ¬Å"born brilliantâ⬠is the miracle of Mother Nature but the polishing of a gem till its transformation into a priceless jewel that the world can admire but cannot afford to buy is the duty of a jeweler. Similarly the states today need to nourish their children and develop them into accolades that honor the nation in the future with standout performances in the fields of military, science and technology. Perhaps this one of the most significant reasons that why developed countries spend large chunks of their budgets on the development programs for children; and why do they allocate high percentages of their budgets to educational and other development programs that are aimed at providing the best of the facilities and infrastructure to their children. Some Exemplary Moves It took United Nations (UN) not long to correctly identify the benefits and meaningfulness of children to the progress and success of the world in the long run. UN was proactive in addressing to the arrangements that were required to be made in order to provide a platform to children and adolescents to coin their opinions and voice their concerns on higher levels. Several resolutions have been passed in the UN as part of the process that ensures that member states provide bright and lucrative opportunities to the young members of their populations to be a part of the decision making process and of the work force (Harry Sheir, 2001). Inviting young individuals to higher platforms and including and considering their opinion and views into the final decision making has become the order of the da y in most developed countries as of today. Activation of youth parliaments and student convoys of International Relations and Law students travelling from one country to another in search for knowledge and solution to modern day political enigmas and scenarios is a rising trend. United Nationsââ¬â¢ Convention on the Rights of Children is also a great breakthrough in the right direction. In light of the articles and clauses of this convention the rights of children to participate in decision making were addressed and implemented in various countries. Developed nations like UK have adopted this convention as one of the primary guidelines to enhance the development of children in its territory and to give them more rights and space to work with (US Census Bureau, 2011). In United States of America, children development is a seriously considered issue and it entails a lot of policy making measures around it. There are several prominent state funded child care and development programs in the US that ensure that children are given the best possible facilities and infrastructure to grow and nourish and flourish. To ensure that children are taken care of well at all times programs such as Child Care and Development Block Grant is one example of state funded programs for children that cater to families belonging
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