Mediation of Lady Gaga free essay sample

This essay unpacks the life of cultural objects based on Scott Lash and Celia Lury’s argument in the book of Global Culture Industry: The Mediation of Things. It draws on a set of case studies of a current phenomenon in music and culture, Lady Gaga, using the framework of The Global Culture Industry. Lady Gaga has only been in the spotlight since she first appeared on the television in 2008. Since then, she has been gaining her fans from all over the world. She is seen as a brand that has a global flow of movement. The theory is tested by being compared to other writers’ view on social objects, which includes Karin-Knorr Cetina (2002), Appandurai (1986), Deleuze (1994), World Industry of Information Culture industry was the term that first mentioned by Adorno and Horkheimer in Dialectic of Enlightment (1947), which has been the main reference to the critical theories. However, in the glorious era of ‘dot. We will write a custom essay sample on Mediation of Lady Gaga or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page com’ and social network such as blogs, twitter and facebook, the relevance of the theory is questioned by contemporary theorists. One of the critiques is elaborated in Lash and Lury’s Global Culture Industry: The Mediation of Things. The book is driven by the concern of the implementation of Adorno and Horkheimers’ Cultural Industries in the global media age. The main argument of the book is culture has taken on another different logic with the transition from culture industry, ‘that globalization has given culture industry a fundamentally different mode of operation’ (Lash Lury, 2007: 3). The view of the objects is rather metaphysical than dialectic. Since the emergence of information industry and the global communication system, culture has been seen in different perspectives. The second half of 1990’s was marked with the 2 boost of globalization of the information economy and the rise of cyberspace. The academic studies were followed by business and management analysis with the emphasis on non tangible assets. In this ‘regime of signification’, signalling ‘not simply a shift to a new mode of producing and circulating signs (cultural commoditization), but an alteration in the very relation between culture and economy’ (Wernick, 1991 in Grainge, 2008). In the nature of capitalism, brands were one of the non tangible assets that have been gaining attention from the world. As Lash and Urry pointed, culture industry is a branded circulating intellectual property (Lash Urry, Economies of Signs and Space, 1994). Moreover, the reproduction process is reassuring the sign value (Grainge, 2008). Lash and Lury argues that global culture industry of operates through brands. Anthropologically, culture is seen as ‘the signifying system through which necessarily (though among other means) a social order is communicated, reproduced, experienced, and explored’ (Williams, 1981: 13). Because culture is the main object of the study, signs and text are the analyzed rather than the objective process that is emphasized in ‘political economy’ (Du Gay, 1997; Hesmondaghl, 2007). There is also ‘culturalization of economic life,’ where ‘contemporary capitalism was marked by a degree of reflexive accumulation in economic life, that included a new degree of aesthetic reflexivity in the spheres of both production and consumption, as capitalist reflexivity in the spheres of both production and consumption, as capitalist production became increasingly design-intensive and oriented toward niche consumer markets’ (Lash and Urry, 1994 in Flew, 2005). In this sense, culture has been industrialized. Hesmondaghl (2008) defines culture industries as a sector or a linked production system which involved in the production of social meaning and deal primarily with industrial production and circulation of texts. The essay will focus on linking a music brand with performing arts, fashion, publishing, and video games. 3 In spite of its multi-billion dollars success, the singular form phrase ‘culture industry’ was first identified by German scholars Adorno and Horkheimer in Dialectic of Enlightment (1947) to show the negative side of the information manufacture. The book probes how the culture industry manipulates its consumers through mass media for ‘the interest of financial profitability of corporate oligopoly’ (Lash Lury, 2007: 3). Human beings become dependent on it and the industry legitimates the power of cultural producer or elitists (Adorno, 1997). At the time the book was written, culture was still in the realm of superstructure, where domination and resistance through ideology, symbols, and representation. Nevertheless, Lash and Lury believe that some of the process no longer exists with the situation in global culture industry era. Images and other cultural forms are thingified, not in the superstructure, but in the materiality of infrastructure, dominating ‘both the economy and experience in everyday life’. Instead of circulating as identical objects, cultural entities have the dynamics of their own and move as if it is by accident and unintended. The form of the objects is not static as an atom and determined by the intentions of their producers (top down). Biopower in Cultural Entities One of the arguments of Global Culture Industry is that the industry is animated (Lash and Lury, 2007: 21). In the logic of ‘singularities’, cultural objects ‘move and changed through transposition and translation, transformation and transmogrification’ (Lash Lury, 2007: 5). Translation is ‘an organizational process in which the product moves in a linear, sequential fashion as a short story to a book, a film, video television and so on’ (Lash Lury, 2007: 25). Authorship, creativity, regional or national culture are understood as the result of integrity of an artistic work related to others. By transposition, Lash and Lury mean the intensive features of the 4 object that enables movement, rather than any kind of aesthetic integrity. The movement of transposition is characterized by multiplicity, intensive, associate series of events, merchandise promotion, and publicity. Organized in part by the laws of trademark and passing off, transposition defined by territorial boundaries from multiple origins. It also can be seen as a zone of identity in order to sell products (Becket, 1998, in Lash and Lury, 2007:25). Meanwhile, is an activity to change into a different shape or form, especially one that is fantastic or bizarre (Menheim, 2010). The objects are viewed as ‘a product of normative or instrumental rational action (mediated by a set of internalized habits and expectations) in the first, and as an outcome of social interaction in the latter’ (Leschziner, 2005). Cultural objects are seen as monads that live in different forms by a trace with a memory complex. Unlike commodities by Adorno and Horkheimer that are seen as atoms, monads are self-energizing have their own lives. They are living in microstructures. This culture of circulation is not anymore determined by the producers as Adorno and Horkheimer stated. The value is added in this movement or self-modification throughout the range of spaces. Therefore, the indeterminacy process of production and consumption are the matter of the ‘construction of difference’. This logic of difference is where brand, one of the cultural objects (Lury, 2004), work, and circulate. The embedding of social meanings and relations in physical world constitutes a social ‘morphology’, a spacial arrangement of material objects that constitutes the landscapes, settlements, and technologies to which human actions relate. This book’s argument is in the flow of the objects’ movements, media becomes things, and things can transform into media. Argument is nuanced chapters ma pping the biographies of seven ‘cultural objects’, which are four media that becomes things, such as Toy Story and 5 Wallace and Gromit; and three things that become media: Euro ‘96, Nike, Swatch. The analysis was drawn from a number of different points of view, which are anthropology, science and technology, media theory, biography, multiplicity, and economic sociology. The theory has a number of influences, including Appadurai on how it traces the objects by following them; Deleuze in relating the objects to one another; and Karinn Knorr Catina in the logic of the space of the objects, in microstructures or networks. Brand Has Risen As mentioned before, brand plays a key role in today’s global culture industry. ‘Culture is driven by imagination’ (Tuan, 1998). Within the growing critical literature on brands, the cultural work of logos, signs and trademarks has often been read symptomatically, an aspect of the thickening hegemony of global capitalism and of the social disjunction represented in the production and promotion of goods. Brands have lives of its own that actualize themselves. It flows from brand’s memory, that is ‘brand identity’. A range of series of goods or commodity generates a brand with diversification of products. According to Lash and Lury, Brand experience can be seen as a feeling of intensity. Objects are not always something that can be seen or touch physically. Unlike most natural scientists, social scientists including Lash and Lury refer objects as something that is in the imaginary world. In the new economy, brands are living on the thin air (Leadbeater, 1999; Simmel, 1978) sees ‘economic objects’ that pure desire and immediate enjoyment. Branding has been linked to structural changes, or intensifications, in the basis of consumer culture, which is especially associated with the move from Fordism to post-Fordism in the last third of the twentieth century. As a critical label, Fordism describes a mode of production based around the factory, the rationalization of labour and the standardization of goods (Grainge, 2008). 6 Although both can be sources of power, Lash and Lury differentiate the brand and commodity. Commodities works through a mechanistic principle of identity, brands through the animated production of difference’ (Fraser et al, in Lash and Lury, 2007: 7). However, Appandurai defines commodity ‘as a situation in social life of any ‘thing’ be defined as the situation in which its exchangeability (past, present, or future) for some other thing is its socially relevant feature’ (Appadurai, 1986). The summary is shown on the table below. Variable Logic Exchange value Production role Valued by History Set of relations with others Life Quantity Determinancy Production Works through Consumption Commodity Identity Money Produced as products Exchange for quantity, use value for quality No No Dead Singular Determined Labour-intensive Reproduction of identity Generalized Fordist consumption Use value: concrete singularity, qualities of product Exchange value (as commodity): homogeneity Brand Difference Not exchanged except for capital markets Source of production Expected future profits and difference Yes Yes Alive Series of goods Indetermined Design-intensive More production difference Specialized consumption Values Sign value: qualities of experience Table 1 Commodity versus Brand Methodology This essay uses the method of Global Culture Industry by following the life of Lady Gaga 7 with a biography. Lady Gaga is seen as a thing, ‘the internal organization of the object itself’ (Lash and Lury, 2007). Although she is a living human, she is a singular, manufactured brand (Gaffney, 2010) which makes her a cultural object. She is no just a pop music singer, she other values behind her. There are several people who shape Lady Gaga, including herself who has a major influence on the brand. The objects are followed by getting as much of information in many places and time from as many points of view as possible (Lash and Lury, 2007: 20). Literature reviews from various articles and research about Lady Gaga are used to reach comprehensiveness and the richness of data; and also to show intersubjectivity. In the book, Lash and Lury uses interviews to support the biography. This essay uses the interviews that are done in the multiple sources. In this biography, writer also incorporates other theorists’ views to the objects in the biography in order to test Lash and Lury’s method on the specific situations, time, and space. This essay will look at the objects with theoretical approaches by Karin-Knorr Cetina, Appandurai, Deleuze, and Heath and Potter; and Beer and Burrows. The biography is structured in three parts: the most recent development which the object enters to a flow; the structure of the industry; the beginning of the cultural object as a thing. Biography: From Germanotta to Gaga ‘I am my music; I am my art; I am my creativity’ (Gaga in Robinson, 2010) ‘She isnt a pop act, she is a performance artist. She herself is the art. She is the sculpture’. Lauper, 2010). Lady Gaga is one of the most successful acts in popular music industry in the last decade. ‘There is no denying it. Lady Gaga is one huge global brand. In fact, the money-making machine that is Lady Gaga is predicted to earn more than $100 million in 2011’ (Daily Mail, 2011). She has 8 been gaining her fans from all over the world, whom she refers as ‘little monsters’. With combining performance, she and her image have been shifting in different kinds of movement, adding her values in the eyes of the world.

Free Essays on Beyond Border

of my aunt. My cousin and I were sitting in the backseat, headphones blaring, totally ignoring everything. We were on our first, annual, all girls, trip to sunny, Rosarito Beach, Mexico. My mom was asleep in the front with my aunt, who was driving, while my sister and the rest of the girls in my family were in two other cars. We were on the freeway, just past the border. The song on my CD ended and a new one was about to begin, when my aunt spoke. I turned off my CD player and looked at my cousin. She just turned hers up and started to read a magazine. So I looked out my window by myself. Abruptly, I felt like I was drowning in a pool of desolation and sorrow. I was looking at a hillside covered with what were supposed to be houses, but in reality the could barely be called shacks. They were pieces of plastic, bits of cardboard and parts of wood and it seemed held together only because of some crazy glue. They reminded me of the projects that I used to make in kindergarten. I couldn’t tell whether the hill had any grass or trees or flowers because shacks and trash covered the ground. Everything from smelly, used, baby diapers to old, beat up, rotten couches littered the entire area. It looked like the hill was a volcano and all this waste was the lava just spewing from the top and coming down the hill, overflowing onto the street. Where was my sunny Mexico beach? We exited the freeway and came to a stop at the light. A bunch of traffic in front of us rendered our car immobile. About 25 people wondered around that little exit. They were knocking on car windows, standing off to the side with signs, and sleeping on the dirt to the side of the road. Out of the 25 people roaming around, more then half of them were under the age of 10. It reminded me of a scene from a war movie, just ... Free Essays on Beyond Border Free Essays on Beyond Border Beyond the Border â€Å"Now, I want you both to look out your windows and take everything in, realize just how lucky you are.† Those were the words of my aunt. My cousin and I were sitting in the backseat, headphones blaring, totally ignoring everything. We were on our first, annual, all girls, trip to sunny, Rosarito Beach, Mexico. My mom was asleep in the front with my aunt, who was driving, while my sister and the rest of the girls in my family were in two other cars. We were on the freeway, just past the border. The song on my CD ended and a new one was about to begin, when my aunt spoke. I turned off my CD player and looked at my cousin. She just turned hers up and started to read a magazine. So I looked out my window by myself. Abruptly, I felt like I was drowning in a pool of desolation and sorrow. I was looking at a hillside covered with what were supposed to be houses, but in reality the could barely be called shacks. They were pieces of plastic, bits of cardboard and parts of wood and it seemed held together only because of some crazy glue. They reminded me of the projects that I used to make in kindergarten. I couldn’t tell whether the hill had any grass or trees or flowers because shacks and trash covered the ground. Everything from smelly, used, baby diapers to old, beat up, rotten couches littered the entire area. It looked like the hill was a volcano and all this waste was the lava just spewing from the top and coming down the hill, overflowing onto the street. Where was my sunny Mexico beach? We exited the freeway and came to a stop at the light. A bunch of traffic in front of us rendered our car immobile. About 25 people wondered around that little exit. They were knocking on car windows, standing off to the side with signs, and sleeping on the dirt to the side of the road. Out of the 25 people roaming around, more then half of them were under the age of 10. It reminded me of a scene from a war movie, just ...

Technology discuss about ( IGES) & (X3D) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Technology discuss about ( IGES) & (X3D) - Essay Example The researcher compared the results between IGES and Web-Based 3D XML format after carrying the observations. This study collected secondary data was collected prior to the study to analyze and compare with findings of research already conducted in this field. 3D XML is a lightweight XML-based standard. It uses NURBS to represent graphic objects such as freeform surfaces and tessellating polygons. XML schema also includes product geometry, structure, and graphical display properties (3D XML 2008). Enables authors and designers to convey 3D information from various systems using a simpler and more direct syntax than straight VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language (An Approach to Accessing Product Data across System and Software Revisions, 2007) The IGES format is a neutral data format used to transfer the design to a dissimilar system. IGES is a commonly used for data interchange of 2D and 3D CAD model. It is also used to illustrate simple figures of CAD or "drawing" applications. IGES files include parameters of the IGES object such as; its version number, model size, and encoded elements. In March 1994, The IGES Project committee approved the registration of the format as a MIME data type. The above discussion highlights the existence of more advantages than disadvantages when comparing 3D XML to other formats. It also highlights the more advantages than disadvantages of IGES’s. This is mainly because of its comprehensive coverage and user friendly features such as its simple control strategies. It is concluded that advantages of IGES outweighs its

Oscilloscope Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Oscilloscope - Essay Example Therefore, these explanations were added. The detailed users’ feedbacks are not required, nevertheless, the key aspects of improving the guide are as follows: 1. The detailed explanations of the basic experiments will help to maximize the educational aspect of the document. Therefore, it should be stated that the actual importance of the feedbacks is explained by the necessity of adding self-descriptiveness for the guide. 2. The guide needs to pay more attention to safety. Since it is not a household device, and it may be used for measuring and analysing high voltage currents, the safety of a user is a cornerstone of the effective research. 3. The guide should be offered in hard- and soft-copies, and an extended remote assistance should be provided. It will help to gather feedbacks, and improve the device itself, as well as the guide. The results of the research involve the proper analysis of the functions and options offered by the oscilloscope, however, the experiments held are of the educational nature mainly.

Prevention of Crime and Disorder Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Prevention of Crime and Disorder - Assignment Example There is adequate external lighting to deter crime. There are employees who check on incoming customers and customers inside. These staff can be easily identified through their uniform and name tags. The Casino is always searched inside and outside before, during, and after opening hours for suspect packages. There are also guidelines on crime, violence, and aggression in and around the casino. When there are events that attract larger than usual crowds, the Casino liaises with the police. It also ensures that there is proper management of the door such that there are a high number of door supervisors when there is an event. There are admissions for only people above 18years and screening of people. If persons fail to meet the admission standards or become violent, they are denied entry or ejected. People known to be violent are banned from the casino. All incidences of crime or violence are recorded in the incidence book. During events, there is the use of plastic drinking vessels instead of glass drinking vessels to prevent the assault. Staff are trained in conflict management to help them deal with difficult situations, reduce violence, and disorders. Drugs and weapons entering the premises. There is a zero tolerance for the use and carrying weapons in the business. Everyone is searched at the door before entering. There are policies displayed in the casino to emphasis customers of a zero tolerance to drugs. When customers are suspected of use or possession of drugs, police are notified. Staffs are trained on drug awareness. The general safety of staff and customers. There is risk management done on the casino to identify potential hazards to staff and customers and to determine a solution to manage them. Staffs are made aware of the risks and precautionary measures to take. There are also first aid boxes in the casino, and they are properly maintained. Employees are trained on the use of the first aid equipment. Accumulation and disposal of glasses.  Ã‚  

Dangers of Methamphetamine

Dangers of Methamphetamine Mark Dawod The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has estimated that five hundred metric tons of amphetamine-type stimulants are produced, coinciding with almost twenty-five million abusers. The US government reported in 2008 that about thirteen million people over the age of twelve has used meth, with over half a million being regular users of the substance. Meth has a market price in the US of thirteen billion dollars, which corroborates with its high street price, ranging from three to four hundred dollars for a fourth of a gram. Although meth is known for its disastrous side effects such as severe damage to the brain and heart, it helps those suffering with ADHD, narcolepsy, and dietary problemy. Overall, methamphetamine is a perilous stimulant that cripples the lives of its users and bystanders. However, with strong public awareness and education regarding the drugs deleterious effects, the dilemma of meth exploitation can be stopped. What is meth? Where did it originate from? Amphetamine, a dialect of the perilous methamphetamine we know today was first synthesized in Germany in 1887, however, scientists were blinded to its stimulant effects at the time. A few years later in 1893, meth was synthesized in Japan, it was not until 1919 that crystal meth was synthesized, similarly in Japan. At the time, the effects of this drug were not fully understood and were not perceived as dangerous, in turn the drug began to gain its popularity, although it did not fully take off until after the second great war. Methamphetamine was given to troops in wars such as World War II, the Korean Wars, and the Vietnam War to help them attain alertness throughout the battles, gaining an advantage over their counterparts. Additionally, methamphetamine was used during Nazi Germany as Hitler was intoxicated and enjoyed indulging in drugs. However, it was not until he sent Nazis thirty-five million pills of meth, known as Pervitin, which gave them the alertness to stay awake and fo cused for days at a time, they believed this pill to be just like coffee. Soon after World War II, biker gangs in California saw the value of this stimulant and began producing and smuggling it, resulting in them making a hefty profit as the drug was easy to produce and sell. To this day, methamphetamine is very well known and used frequently, especially in densely populated regions such as Miami and California. Methamphetamine also has very limited medical use, but is used largely by women seeking to lose weight as the drug suppresses appetite well. Methamphetamine is referred to as crystal, speed, ice, dope, whizz, chalk, and fast, just to name a few. Meth, usually used as a club drug, taken mostly at rave parties, is a poison that systematically destroys the body. I tried it once and BOOM! I was addicted, said a meth addict that lost all that he stood for because of this stimulant. Methamphetamine addiction is single handedly one of the toughest drug addictions to treat and resul ts in death largely because it burns up bodily resources that can only be replenished through frequent consumption of the drug. Who uses meth? And How? Studies show that meth users range from thirteen years old to thirty-three users old, although typically, users are within the fifteen to twenty-two year old age gap. Concerning race, African Americans are less likely to use meth than Caucasians. Meth users are predominantly Caucasian, blue collar workers, unemployed, and studying in either high school or college. Methamphetamine is also largely used in Native American communities because the spread of addiction has been widely spread from Mexican Drug Cartels, which is one of their main access sources for the substance. Women are also more likely to consume meth compared to other stimulants like heroin and cocaine because of its appetite suppressing side effect. Meth can be snorted, smoked, injected, and ingested; statistics concerning the different ways meth is consumed are as follows: 3% injest 12% snort 25% inject 60% smoke How does meth affect the body, mind, relationships, and environment? Upon the consumption of meth, the heart rate of user increases, along with their breathing patterns. Methamphetamine also releases exceedingly high levels of dopamine, 1100% more than cocaine does. This stimulant effect is also one of the main reasons that this substance is very addictive. However, with time, the brain builds a shield to the substance and the only way to get around this is by the consuming the drug more frequently and in higher doses, at this point the user is addicted and builds a reliance on the drug to feed their body resources. Short term, according to drugfreeworld.org, methamphetamine effects include the following: A limited desire for food Heightened heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature Dilated pupils Disorganized sleeping patterns Nausea Abnormal behavior, possibly violent if permitted Hallucinations and irritability Panic and psychosis Convulsions, seizures, and death Long term, according to drugfreeworld.org, methamphetamine effects include the following: Permanent damage to blood vessels, the brain, and/or the heart Liver, kidney, and/or lung damage If smoked, the carnage of nose tissues If injects, excessive diseases Malnutrition which leads to weight loss Harsh tooth decay Disorientation Increased psychological dependence Psychosis Depression Effects of Alzheimers in the brain Methamphetamine also plays a considerably large role in disturbing relationships between family members and friends. When on meth, the drug basically controls the body, resulting in unintended physical, mental, and emotional harm. The producing of meth within the household or near others is also significantly dangerous to those near by. Through explosions, fumes, or even waste (one pound of meth results in five pounds of waste) which in turn damages the environment. How can we lower the consumption and use of methamphetamine not used medically? According to P.A.C.E representatives, users of methamphetamine have indicated that the drug takes complete control over their body. This is due partially because of the high levels of dopamine that is released through the consumption of the substance. However, if a community is well-educated through a program such as Meth360, methamphetamine use will drop and more awareness will spread through neighboring areas. Conclusion Methamphetamine is a perilous stimulant that cripples the lives of its users and those surrounding them. Although, knowing what it is, its effects, and the dangers of its consumption, along with circulation of such information, the use of this drug will decrease and the environment, along with many families coping through the addiction of a loved one, will improve.

Europe after the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter Reform

Europe after the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter Reformation The period immediately following the Protestant reformation and the Catholic counter reformation, was full of conflict and war. The entire continent of Europe and all of it's classes of society were affected by the destruction and flaring tempers of the period. In the Netherlands, the Protestants and the Catholics were at eachother’s throats. In France it was the Guise family versus the Bourbons. In Bohemia, the religious and political structures caused total havoc for over thirty years; and in England, the Presbyterians thought that the English Anglican Church too closely resembled the Roman Catholic Church. Religion was the major cause of the widespread turmoil that took place throughout Europe between 1560 and 1660. One example of a battle in Europe that was caused by religious conflict took place in the Netherlands, between the Dutch citizens and their ruler Phillip II of Spain. When he tried to gain control of the catholic church there, the Dutch rebelled. The Protestants began to assault the Catholics, destroy their churches, and revolt against Phillip and his strict Catholic codes in 1572. The conflict ended in 1579 with a twelve year truce, when seven of the seventeen provinces united under Calvinism and William of Orange, and formed the United Provinces. The remaining ten remained under the rule of Spain. Another example of religious turmoil was the thirty-six year civil war in France, where the Huguenots were increasing in number despite the power of their enemies, the Catholics. The French Catholics, led by the noble family, Guise, faced off with the leading family of the Huguenots, the Bourbons. "The feuds which separate... ...h the freedom to choose religion), and the Presbyterians (who wanted a strict Calvinist system controlled by a strong central power). The Independents dominated the war with their New Model Army, and became an unstoppable force in England. They were led by the influential and militant Oliver Cromwell (whose nickname became "Lord Protector")of the House of Commons, and captured Charles, removed the House of Lords and the Presbyterians from Parliament, and executed the "holy anointed." Although politics did play a major role in the conflicts that occurred in the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries; it was religion which was the major cause of the wars and devastation that occurred in this time period, and many times throughout history weather before or after the seventeenth century. Bibliography: The Western Experience;Chambers. pg505-535. 1997

Gilette Case

GILLETTE CASE 1)Evaluate product innovation at Gillette throughout its history. Has Gillette been a victim of its own success? Has product innovation in the wet-shaving market come to an end? Explain. When we look at Gillette’s product innovation throughout its history, Gillette continued developing, innovating it self. Yes the product innovation in the wet-shaving market come to an end and now it is in decline part of the cycle but Gillette razors are still selling because shaving with razors has become the habit of consumers throughout the years and it is the cheapest way.Gillette also came up with personal care products. As the rivalry gets hot, Gillette comes up with new innovations, which are better than the competitors every time. 2)What do you make of the battle between Gillette and Schick? Is the battle one upmanship good for either company? The battle between Gillette and Schick is very good for the consumer. This rivalry is upmanship good for both of the companies in a way.Because everytime that one of the brands come up with a new product, the other brand decides to produce a better version of it. So the innovations always stay fresh and the consumers benefit from this battle. 3)What actions would you recommend over the next five years that would help Gillette maintain its worldwide dominance in the shaving market? What specific marketing program decisions would you recommend? Should Gillette be worried about Schick? Explain. I would recommend Gillette to focus more on the products for females.Gillette already gained a great success for men products, now the company can produce more women products such as personal care products and woman razors. Gillette should continue supporting sportive activities because sports are always global cases, by continuing this strategy Gillette can stay global. Gillette should not be worried about Schick but should always be on track so that every time Schick comes with a new product or advertisement, Gillette c an do a better one.

Every Person Is an Architect of His Own Future Essays

Every Person Is an Architect of His Own Future Essays Every Person Is an Architect of His Own Future Paper Every Person Is an Architect of His Own Future Paper Every person is an architect of his future. Discuss. First draft Batyrkhan Saniya, ID 20122886 Academic Reading and Writing Course GEN 1120 Turgan Zhanadilov 12 February 2013 Outline I. Introduction. Thesis statement: Although some people believe that it is quite hard to manage the future because of inevitable fate, there seem to be no doubt that the person and only person is a creator of the future. II. Body. A. First, the future depends on person’s attitude to life. 1. Inspiring yourself 2. Doing everything with love B. Second, person and only person can create favorable conditions in his or her life. 1. Experience of successful people D. However, some people argue that no one can manage the future. 1. The destiny 2. Life circumstances III. Conclusion. Meaning of the â€Å"Every man is an architect of his future† make the public understand the phrase in different ways. Some people become rich and successful by a chance, while others reach their goals after a long struggle. According to Dahl Ransom (1999), wealthy people may help to poor people, but they will not make poor people become as rich as they are. Why they will not make them rich? Someone may say that wealthy man cannot make poor man rich because being poor and being wealthy is the fate. Others may say that living in wealth depends on person: if poor person do not want to be rich, he will not be rich; but he can be wealthy if he really want it. Some people believe in nature’s laws that everything in this world is related and nothing can happen just like you want; while others know that everything in their hands, that they are masters of their life, they are making their destiny by themselves. Although some people believe that it is quite hard to manage the future because of inevitable fate, there seem to be no doubt that the person and only person is a creator of the future. One of the main reasons for saying that everyone is an architect of his future is the person’s attitude to life. Our future is what we are thinking and doing now. We creating next day by thoughts, wishes, behavior, etc. That is true! There is not only one possible course of events in your life. Every person has several variants of a destiny, and everyone choose the way which he or she wants to follow. The problem is how people feel about a situation that forces them to make this choice. Almost everyone meet with some obstacles on their life road, and many people see them as something irresistible, irreparable. Others see these obstacles as a challenge. They see them as not a dead end, but the opportunity. In all the events that happen around us, for someone there are opportunities and for others may be â€Å"dead end†. For example, Steil (2007) in his article mentioned about a girl, who almost lost the ability to see and move because of accident, weird accident. Doctors said that the situation is very bad, and many people may give up in her place. However, this girl believed herself and in her strength, she was positively-oriented to everything. It was reflected in her attitude to herself and other people. No matter how the situation was bad, she could struggle with this obstacle and move straight to her goals. Another reason is that the person and only person can create favorable conditions in his or her life. The one of good examples for that are the successful people. Not getting that promotion can make person feel like the end of the world, but people who are the idols for whole world show that devastating failures are just another stop on the road to success. For example, Marilyn Monroes first contract with Columbia Pictures expired because they told her she wasnt pretty or talented enough to be an actress. Monroe  kept plugging away and now she is one of the most iconic actresses and sex symbols of all time (http://marilynmonroe. com/history/). Oprah Winfrey was fired from her television reporting job because they told her she wasnt fit to be on screen. But  Winfrey rebounded  and became the undisputed queen of television talk shows. Shes also a billionaire ( oprah. com/index. html). These are the one of the worlds greatest success stories of people, who just happen to have experience of massive failure that could have easily made them give-up. But they didnt and now theyre the monuments of success that they are remembered for, a good source of encouragement when it feels like you will never make it to the top. However, some people argue that no one can manage the future because of the destiny and life circumstances. As Conchalovsky says (2005), â€Å"For every person, there is a destiny. Nothing happens accidentally, everything happens because of some law or other things. † There is a nature’s law that everything comes from something, all subjects and objects are related to each other. Another example is inevitable life situations occurring frequently nowadays that can ruin plans of human at anytime. But, as it was written, the attitude to life helps to fight with these situations. To conclude, our life is complex and unpredictable. Often people think that no one can hide from the fate, that we were born and live on a particular scenario, and that everything what destined above will happen. But few of us have thought about the fact that person creates the future, person’s actions, thoughts, desires and feelings. Always remember that people are the creators of the future, so they must create it with enthusiasm, reveal the creative potential. Reference list: Ransom, M. R. , ; Dahl, G. B. (1999). Does Where You Stand Depend on Where You Sit? Tithing Donations and Self-Serving Beliefs. American Economic Review  (pp. 703–727). American Economic Association. Retrieved February 9, 2013 from www. jstor. org Steil, M. (2007). Chto takoe pozitivnoe otnoshenie k zhizni? Retrieved February 8, 2013 from www. shkolazhizni. ru Baraban, E. (2007). â€Å"The Fate of a Man† by Sergei Bondarchuk and the Soviet Cinema of Trauma. The Slavic and East European Journal,  51(3), 514–534. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from: jstor. org/stable/20459525 .

Miller achieve emotional intensity Essays

Miller achieve emotional intensity Essays Miller achieve emotional intensity Essay Miller achieve emotional intensity Essay The Crucible is a highly emotional play, especially at the end of Act One and beginning of Act Two. Arthur Miller integrates many dramatic techniques including: interesting poignant characters, a great deal of dramatic and literacy devices, powerful language and themes of envy, power, hysteria and dignity. Miller also draws upon contextual significance; he uses the Salem witch trials as an allegory for the communist trials of McCarthyism. These techniques contribute to the overall emotional intensity at the end of Act One and the beginning of Act Two. The Crucible can be read by different audiences in varying ways; the original audience would have been more emotionally involved therefore finding it more emotionally intense. Nowadays, the audience may be more detached from the story finding it less emotionally intense. The Salem witch trials in The Crucible can be seen as a parallel to the McCarthyism era in which the play was written. To that audience many things that an audience today may not notice, would be deeply significant and emotional. The first similarity between the two eras is the way that the characters accuse other people of being involved with the devil to save themselves from punishment. This happens when Abigail says I saw Goody Sibber with the devil. Abigail is one of the many characters who is thought to be a witch, she then accuses someone else as being a witch thus, saving herself. This also happened in McCarthyism, if you accused someone else, you got a lighter sentence. This parallel with McCarthyism would have evoked great emotions at the time the play was first performed. The second parallel is the way the court would be more lenient if people pleaded guilty. This is shown at the beginning of Act Two when Elizabeth says The deputy governor promise hangin if theyll not confess. This not only evokes emotion because innocent people were not given a fair trial but at the time the play was first performed would have been seen as a parallel to McCarthys trials where if people did not confess under little or no evidence they would face a greater punishment. People would have been deeply moved by this significance. When the play was first performed during McCarthys times, Senator McCarthy believed that communists were going to spoil their way of life, the American dream. In The Crucible Salem is a theocratic society in which the law and the church are the same; they are worried that the devil is trying to ruin their way of life. The theocracy in the play is endorsed by the power that Reverend Parris has in the village, when he says you will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to death and when he says the devil can never overcome a minister. Both show the authority and power the church had in their society. Again this parallel would have a deep impact on the audience of millers time. A modern audience may relate the persecution of differences in Salem similar to the modern persecution of Islam and the middle east. Salem was perhaps a more extreme version of Senator McCarthys trials however their allegorical significance would still increase the emotional intensity of the play for its original audience.

Currency War of China Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Currency War of China - Research Paper Example In connection to this, this paper provides detailed information on the effects of World War II to China’s currency. In doing that, it expounds on the Japanese presence in China and their effect on the economy as well as how the war between the Chinese currency and Japanese currency led to confusion of China’s currency. It also details on the activities that were carried out by the Japanese and their effect to China. The paper also expound on how silver affected the economy of China alongside explaining how the U.S. control of IMF led to currency issues in China. The paper expound on not only the effects of Cultural Revolution in 1966, but also on the effects of Post-Bretton Woods. Additionally, the paper also provides detailed information on not only what currency wars have brought to China, but also on how China will act differently if WWIII will be a currency war. Currency wars are terms used in referring to the manipulation of currencies with the intention of boosting exports. â€Å"On the other hand, currency war (competitive devaluation) is a condition in international businesses where countries compete with in opposition to each other with the intention of achieving relatively low exchange rates for their own currency† (Rickards 111). The term currency war was launched in September 2010 by a Brazilian Finance Minister referred to as Guido Mantega. According to him, emerging markets were experiencing challenges from not only depreciation of U.S. dollar, but also through undervalued Chinese renminbi (RMB). A week later after the coining of the term â€Å"currency war,† the President of France by name Nicolas Sarkozy also placed a reform of the international monetary system on top of the agenda of the G20 under France’s chairmanship with the aim of ensuring the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other competent organi zations launch diverse host to discuss on the same issue. It was

Global competition study of Accor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Global competition study of Accor - Essay Example The rate of growth within the hotels and motels industry has been described as a generally promising one (Accor, 2013). As exhibited in figure 1, from 2009, the industry has recorded increase in industry value. The recorded growth notwithstanding, Hospitality Net (2012) lamented that the overall growth has been saturated around very few competitors. This means that until an individual company within the industry performs extraordinarily well, it would find itself within a growing industry but will not really be part of this growth. This is the reason it is extremely important and relevant that the current research be undertaken with the aim of analysing the strategic competitiveness of Accor. The selection of Accor is also of interest because it is considered as one of the leading contributors of the industry’s growth (Accor, 2013). It is therefore important to study the company so as to find ways in which the company can maintain its current competitive position within the industry. Accor is headquartered in Paris and a member of the Paris stock exchange with an operating ticker of AC. Due to its key financials, Accor is regarded as a major global hotel operator (Hotelier News, 2014). Among the 92 countries in which Accor operates, Europe is its largest market with nearly 3,576 hotels and 461,719 rooms in Europe alone (MarketLine, 2014). The target markets of Accor have been largely influenced by its two major segments which are hotels and other businesses. Under the hotel segment, there are targets with luxury, upscale, mid-scale, and economy target markets. As far as other businesses segment is concerned, there are target markets for corporate departments and casinos (MarketLine, 2014). Table 1 gives the key financials of the company from 2009 to 2013. When the key financials of Accor is graphically represented, it is possible to get the real impulse of why it is important for the project to be carried out. This is because the graph in