Is Objective Of Firms To Maximize Shareholder Wealth Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1900 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Clarifying on the point of what are the objectives of the business is very important to run a business in a purposeful and effective manner. It such as the firm needs to establish what they are trying to achieve and it is also central importance to make choices in business. There are some occasions when manager has to decide which claimants are to have the objectives maximized and which are merely to be satisfied. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Is Objective Of Firms To Maximize Shareholder Wealth Finance Essay" essay for you Create order There are some strong views held on this subject, the left-wing belief that employees should have its rewards maximized and other parties have been satisfied while the pro-capitalist economists believe that maximizing shareholder wealth is the desired objective. From annual report and Financial Statements of Marks and Spencer 2010, it appears that the company doesnt just focus on shareholders; they also build good relations with primary stakeholders like employees, customers, suppliers, local communities and the environment; They tried the best to do the right things cross the business, build a sustainable business through consistent, profitable growth to make sure that their customers and wider stakeholders can trust them to do the right thing. In my points of view, I agree that shareholder wealth maximization should be a superior objective over stakeholder interest and company also should keen on a balanced stakeholder approach. Bellowing are some relevant literature and practical business that support my opinion. Marks Spencer Plc is the leading UKs retailers with over 21 million people visiting its stores each week clarified their objective in its 2006 annual report as our main task to create value for shareholders by developing a trusted brand and delighting customers. Mark and Spencer has a clear idea of its objective. Its mission to deliver economic value to its shareholders through understanding the importance of meeting requirement of existing and potential customers, and the most important customers are the shareholders-the owners of the business. Its objectives, strategies and decisions are toward creating value for them. For almost companies, the largest proportion of long term finance is provided by shareholders. As long as a company performs well and provides them with excellent financial return and opposite. People invest in the expectation that when they sell, the value of each investment will have grown by sufficient amount, above its c ost to compensate them for the risk they took. The relationship between a company and its shareholder is clear. The shareholders give their hard-earned money to the managers of the business in the expectation that they will make good use of the fund. They hope to see substantial return in the form of rising share price as well as a stream of dividend. Glan Arnold, 2008 agreed that the company should make investment and financing decisions with the aim of maximizing long-term shareholder wealth. He also explained through contractual theory that Shareholders are owners of the firm, control its activities. They put money into the business and do not be promised that they will receive a dividend or not. The management board of the firm only promise that will try hardest to produce a return on money. That means the firm may go bankrupt and all money will be lost. The risk that shareholders are taking is not limited, their money may be produced efficiently or it may be reduced, even go to zero. However there are employment contracts between employees and the firm. Employees deal with the firm to provide their services in return for salary and benefit. Suppliers deliver necessary input in return for payment. Customers give money in return for goods and service. Most of the participants bargain for a limited risk, right and a fixed pay off. Because of this unfair balance of risk between claimants on the firms resources, who accepts high risk should be entitled to higher return which result after all the other parties have been satisfied. In Corporate finance principle practice, 2009 Denzil Watson and Antony Head analyzed the relationship between risk and return as high risk parallel with high return. An investor takes on more risk, higher return is offered in compensation. Among relevant claimants of the firm, the shareholders are taking the highest risk of return as mentioned above, so they deserve receiving superior return. On practicalities in a free mark et system, the firm will be difficult and unable to raise more finance from shareholders if it decides to reduce return to shareholders caused by increasing salary to their workers (more interest for employees) or by increasing quality of goods and service for customers (more satisfy and trust from customers) or by paying more for charity, protection environment, ect. Some shareholders will sell their shares and invest to other firms more orientated towards their benefit and concentrate on shareholder wealth creation. According to Pierre Vernimmen (Corporate Finance theory and practice, 2nd edition, 2009) Only creating sustainable value can a company ensure that it has finance growth train, pay to its employees properly, produce quality goods and service and respect the environment. In finance, there is just one overriding objective creating value, only by meeting this objective can one achieve all the others. Marks and Spencer agreed with this theory through their expression in annual report and financial statement 2010. They clarified that their main objective is building a sustainable business through consistent, profitable growth and making sure that their customers and wider stakeholders can always trust them. Cadbury Plc, the world largest confectionery also aims that they should deliver consistent superior return to shareholders in their 2006 annual report: our objective is to consistently deliver superior shareholder returns. We are committed in this objective although we recognize that the company does not operate in isolation. We have clear obligations to consumers, customers and supplier, to our colleagues and to the society, communities and natural environment in which we operate McKinsey and Company (2010) gave explanation for maximizing value of the firm as it is relevant to interest of all stakeholders. Companies that maximize value for their shareholders in the long-term also create more employment, treat the former and current employees better, give their customers more satisfaction, and shoulder a greater burden of corporate responsibility then more shortsighted rival. Competition among value focused companies also helps to ensure that capital, human capital and natural resources are used efficiently cross the economy, leading to higher living standard to everybody. They also argue that value creating company create more jobs, by taking a result of examining employment and found that the US and European companies that created most shareholder value in the past 15 years shown stronger employment growth. Jensen, M.C (2001) cogently argued simple stakeholder balancing or balance scorecard approach to directing a company because of the violation of the proposition that a single financial value objective is a prerequisite and makes society better off. Social welfare is maximized when all firms in an economy maximize total firm value. Value maximization tends to ask managers to make decisions so as to increase total long run market value of the firm. Total value is the sum of the value of all financial claims on the firms including equity, debt, preferred stock, and warrants. So maximizing value of the firm is maximizing value of shares and so on maximizing shareholder wealth. Otherwise, Stakeholder theory extent that firms should pay attention to all their constituencies that can affect the firm. Stakeholders were defined by Freeman (1984) as any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of an organizations purpose. Managers and board of directors have to choose among multiple completing and inconsistent constituent interests to make sure all stakeholders are at level of satisfaction. Customers want low prices, high quality. Employees want high wage, high quality working conditions and good benefit. Suppliers of capital want low risk and high return. Communities want high charitable contributions, social expenditures by firm to benefit the community at large, sta ble employment, increasing investment and so on. Because of this inconsistent interest group, business needs a balance scorecard as explanation of Kaplan (1996). Freemans definition suggested two-way relationship between a firm and its stakeholders. Stakeholders can affect and can be affected the achievements of a firms objectives. Good stakeholder management has clear instrumental value for the firms, Building better relations with primary stakeholders like employees, customers, suppliers, and communities could lead to increased shareholder wealth by helping firms develop intangible. A case study about short-term financial performance To make sure Marks and Spencer succeed, managers have to get thing right cross business such as being properly to each other as colleague, making sure we feel valued, motivated and rewarded; Treating our customers, suppliers and local community with respect; Respecting environment, involving our employees and customers through Plan A. MS has launched Plan A since 2007 to work with customers and supplier to combat climate change, reduce waste, use sustainable raw material, trade ethically and help customers to lead healthier lifestyles. These are commitment of donating all profit from the sale of single use food carrier bags to environmental charity Groundwork to invest in projects that will improve parks, play areas and public gardens in neighborhoods around the UK, working with Shelter to help make a difference to the many UK families who are homeless or badly housed, with The Prostate Cancer Charity to increase awareness about cancer disease, with The Woodland trust to plant new tr ees, closed lope recycling campaign to reduce waste, MS and Oxfam Clothes Exchange to help save water, protect children from disease, new school books for children. MS believes that if they do the right thing, the right way, their business will be successful; a sustainable business through consistent, profitable growth will be achieved. Their customers and wider stakeholders trust them. At the heart of all is making sure a good return for people who own MS-their shareholders. In other respect, base on point of view of left-wing party, Sumantra Ghoshal (2005) argued that the encouragement of shareholder wealth maximization is wrong. He explained that shareholders do not own the company, have no ownership right on the actual asset, they own a right to the residual cash flow of the company. The value a company creates is produced through a combination the resources of both employees including managers who contribute their human capital and shareholders who contribute financial capital. Employees of a company carry more risk than shareholders because shareholders can sell stocks easier than employees can find another job and employees contribute their knowledge, skill, entrepreneurship that are more important than capital. Then there can be no basic for asserting the principle of shareholders value maximization. However Michael Skapinker pointed out one problem with Ghoshal is that while he demolished shareholder value, he proposed nothing in its place, In general, both theoretical and empirical literatures agree that the goal of a well-run company is maximizing its long-term shareholders wealth as a firm shareholders are the residual claimants. However the firm enjoins every side to strive for friendly long-term relationship with employees, customers, suppliers and bringing benefit to local community and the environment. Objectives of a firm are interdependent. Good management knows which objective or claimant they should focus on each time to achieve long-term purpose is building a sustainable business through consistent, profitable growth and making sure they have a good return for their owners-shareholders. In the real business, many organizations are comfortable with no shareholder wealth maximization as Charity, government department and non-profit organizations.

Monster The Autobiography Of An L.a - 1395 Words

In this paper, I will explain the actions illustrated in the book Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, by Sanyika Shakur, also known as Monster Kody Scott, from a differential association perspective and how this ultimately leads to the use of techniques of neutralization. I will begin by giving a brief description of the text as well as providing examples to support my differential association and techniques of neutralization approach. Kody Scott, at the young age of eleven years old joins the Eight Tray Gangster Crip gang. He is initiated in by being â€Å"jumped in†, or assaulted by his fellow gang members. It is then suggested that Kody Scott commit a heinous act of violence and empty an entire clip of bullets and to not†¦show more content†¦While incarcerated, he encounters a Muslim church leader, who encourages his involvement in the participation of his church sermons and also suggests several books for the young boy to read. Just as Kody Scott st arts to have conflicting thoughts over his gang involvement he is quickly released back into the real world and into his tough gang lifestyle. Eventually, Kody ends up in prison once more where he is exposed to the C.C.O., or Consolidated Crip Organization, which is a group against Crip violence. His participation with this group is what leads Monster Kody Scott into becoming Sanyika Shakur and changing his life forever. Kody Scotts participation in gang activity can be explained through the interactions he had with his intimate peer groups as described by Edwin Sutherland in his theory of differential association. The theory of differential association strives to explain, â€Å"Why do certain individuals become criminals?† According to Sutherland (1947), criminality is learned in interaction with others in a process of communication, usually with small groups of people (p. 14). Criminality, from a differential association perspective, is learned from observations of defini tions favorable to law violation (Sutherland, 1947). The learning aspect also includes, both the techniques of committing crime, and the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations and attitudes for committing crime (Sutherland, 1947, p. 15). The learning ofShow MoreRelatedCriminalogical Theories Applied to Monster The Autobiography of an LA Gang Member878 Words   |  4 PagesCriminalogical Theories Applied to Monster The Autobiography of an LA Gang Member In Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, Kody Scott tells the story of the struggle between two significantly large gangs. At the age of eleven he was initiated into the Crips, and committed his first murder. It was this day that began what would become a career for Kody: banging (Scott, 1993). Kody worked hard to secure a reputation for his name. 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Gang Member,Penguin Book Ltd., 1993Read MoreThe Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur aka Kody Scott 1452 Words   |  6 PagesThis book Monster: the Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur aka Kody Scott depicts all of the events that Kody went through from the day he joined a gang up until when he decides to leave the gang, and his life after the gang. He joined the Eight Tray Crips when he was only eleven years old. He gets initiated into the gang after his sixth grade graduation, and he describes his initiation as an even bigger right of passage into society than his own graduation. The reasons that KodyRead MoreEssay about Children and Gangs1455 Words   |  6 PagesDelinquency, Vol. 30 No. 1, Febuary 1993, pp. 88-112 (Journal) Lo, Chun-Nui (Celia), A Social Model Of Gang-Related Violence, Free Inquiry In Creative Sociology, Vol 19 No 1, May1991, pp. 36-43 (Journal) Shakur, Sanyika, Monster: The Autobiography Of An L.A. Gang Member,Penguin Book Ltd., 1993   Read MoreEssay about Social Learning Theories and Juveniles4006 Words   |  17 Pagesinto to society i.e. recidivating is not as likely. Many of the offenders in this prison reportedly gave into peer pressure of delinquent behavior causing their present stay in the Singapore prison. In a novel by Sanyika Shakur titled Monster: the Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member he is a product of his environment, he learned his criminal traits through older gang member he associated with and fed off of his intimate personal group of the Eight Tray Gangsters. Several times during the chronicleRead MorePrice of the Ticket7729 Words   |  31 PagesAirplane and the Fugs, to perform at the benefit. Arriving on a motor scooter with Robert Scheer, the managing editor of the magazine Ramparts, Graham saw a long line stretching down Howard Street - Huge hordes of people, as he recalled in his autobiography, Bill Graham Presents, written with Robert Greenfield. Turning to Scheer, he said, This is the business of the future. There had, of course, been rock-and-roll concerts before the Mime Troupe appeal; the Beatles had filled Shea Stadium a few

The Psychological Affects Of The Holocaust Essay Example For Students

The Psychological Affects Of The Holocaust Essay The Holocaust was a tragic point in history which many peoplebelieve never happened. Others who survived it thought it shouldnever have been. Not only did this affect the people who livedthrough it, it also affected everyone who was connected to thosefortunate individuals who survived. The survivors were lucky tohave made it but there are times when their memories and flashbackshave made them wish they were the ones who died instead of livingwith the horrible aftermath. The psychological effects of theHolocaust on people from different parts such as survivors ofIsrael and survivors of the ghettos and camps vary in some ways yetin others are profoundly similar. The vast number of prisoners ofvarious nationalities and religions in the camps made suchdifferences inevitable. Many contrasting opinions have beenpublished about the victims and survivors of the holocaust based onthe writers different cultural backrounds, personal experiencesand intelectual traditions. Therefore, the opinions of the authorsof such books and entries of human behavior and survival in theconcentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe are very diverse. The Survivors of the Holocaust: General SurveyBecause the traumatization of the Holocaust was bothindividual and collective, most individuals made efforts to createa new family to replace the nuclear family that had been lost. In order for the victims to resist dehumanization and regressionand to find support, the members of such groups shared storiesabout the past, fantasies of the future and joint prayers as wellas poetry and expressions of personal and general human aspirationsfor hope and love. Imagination was an important means ofliberation from the frustrating reality by opening an outlet forthe formulation of plans for the distant future, and by spurring toimmediate actions. Looking at the history of the Jewish survivors, from thebeginning of the Nazi occupation until the liquidation of theghettos shows that there are common features and simmilarpsychophysiological patterns in their responses to thepersecutions. The survivors often experienced several phases ofpsychosocial response, including attempts to actively master thetraumatic situation, cohesive affiliative actions with intenseemotional links, and finally, passive compliance with thepersecutors. These phases must be understood as the development ofspecial mechanisms to cope with the tensions and dangers of thesurrounding horrifying reality of the Holocaust. There were many speculations that survivors of the Holocaustsuffered from a static concentration camp syndrome. These theorieswere proved to have not been valid by research that was doneimmediately after liberation. Clinical and theoretical researchfocused more on psychopathology than on the question of coping andthe development of specific adaptive mechanisms during theHolocaust and after. The descriptions of the survivors syndrome inthe late 1950s and 1960s created a new means of diagnosis inpsychology and the behavioral sciences, and has become a model thathas since served as a focal concept in examining the results ofcatastrophic stress situations. After more research was done, it was clear the adaptation andcoping mechanisms of the survivors was affected by the aspects oftheir childhood experiences, developmental histories, familyconstellations, and emotional family bonds. In the studies andresearch that were done, there were many questions that were askedof the subjects: What was the duration of the traumatization?,During the Holocaust, was the victim alone or with family andfriends?, Was he in a camp or hiding?, Did he use false Aryanpapers?, Was he a witness to mass murder in the ghetto or thecamp?, What were his support systems- family and friends- and whatsocial bonds did he have? These studies showed that theexperiences of those who were able to actively resist theoppression, whether in the underground or among the partisans, weredifferent in every way from the experiences of those who werevictims in extermination camps. When the survivors integrated back into society after the war,they found it very hard to adjust. It was made difficult by thefact that they often aroused ambivalent feelings of fear,avoidence, guilt, pity and anxiety. This might have been hard forthem, but decades after the Holocaust most of the survivors managedto rehabilitate their capacities and rejoin the paths their livesmight have taken prior to the Holocaust. This is more true for thepeople who experienced the Holocaust as children or young adults. Concert Attendance Report EssayMany survivors described themselves as incapable of livinglife to the fullest, often barely able to perform basic tasks. They felt that the war had changed them and they had lost theirmuch needed spark to life. Investigations show that the extremetraumatizations of the camps inflicted deep wounds that have healedvery slowly, and that more than 40 years later, the scars are stillpresent. There has shown to be clear differences between campvictims and statistically comparable Canadian Jews: the survivorsshow long term consequences of the Holocaust in the form ofpsychological stress, associated with heightened sensitivity toanti-semitism and persecution. The survivors, normal people before the Holocaust, wereexposed to situations of extreme stress and to psychictraumatization. Their reactions to inhuman treatment were normalbecause not to react to treatment of this kind would be abnormal. Survivors of IsraelThere were few studies done, following the Holocaust that weremade in Israel of the psychological effects of the Nazi persecutioneven though the number of survivors was high as time passed,research increased and in 1964, a comparison was made betweenHolocaust survivors now in Israel and non-Jewish Norwegians whoreturned to Norway after being deported to camps. The resultsshowed that the Jewish survivors suffered more from the totalisolation in the camps, from the danger of death, which was greaterfor Jews, and from survivor guilt, than did the Norwegians. Italso showed that most Israeli survivors were suffering fromsymptoms of the so called survivors syndrome, but were active andefficient, and often held important and responsible jobs and socialpositions. Another study, of Israeli Holocaust survivors in kibbutzim(collective settlements), revealed that survivors who could notmourn their losses immediately, after the war began mourning andworking through their grief when they adjusted to life in thekibbutz. The study also indicated that many Holocaust survivorshad a low threshold for emotional stress. This was brought outduring situations that reminded them of the Holocaust- especiallyduring the EICHMANN TRIAL, when they had to testify against Nazicriminals, and during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. These were thetimes when they suffered periods of depression and tension. Studies made in Israel more than 30 years after WWII did notshow significant differences in the extent of psychological damagebetween people who were in hiding during Nazi occupation and formerconcentration camp inmates. The only difference that was found wasthat the inmates experienced more pronounced emotional distressthan those who survived the occupation outside the camps. The research done on the elderly Holocaust survivors in Israelindicated that they encountered particular difficulties inabsorption because of the serious problems they had to overcome(loss of family and of the social and cultural backround they hadknown before the Holocaust). The community in Israel tried toprovide them with personal and professional care. Nevertheless, tothose survivors who immigrated to Israel when elderly it was moredifficult to adjust than the younger survivors. There was also a study done in the University PsychiatricHospital in Jerusalem 40 years after liberation. It revealed adifference between hospitalized depressive patients who had beeninmates of Nazi concentration camps and the match group of patientswho had not been persecuted. The camp survivors were morebelligerent, demanding, and regressive than the control group. Oddly enough their behavior may have helped their survival. Despite the many hardships and difficulties faced by thesurvivors in Israel, their general adjustment has beensatisfactory, both vocationally and socially. In the end it hasbeen more successful than that of Holocaust survivors in othercountries. When looking at it from a general point of view, thesurvivors, for the most part have shown to be as strong as humanlypossible. Not one person who hasnt seen what they saw canpossibly imagine how they feel. Many people are greatly affectedby things the survivors would consider menial. There is no otherway they are supposed to act. These people were lucky to havesurvived but there is no doubt that there have been times whentheir memories have made them think otherwise.

Ways to Control Water Pollution free essay sample

And each source requires an individual solution to develop a correct answer. Requiring responsibility and involvement in the problems of water pollution, every human who lives on this planet needs to become knowledgeable about their local water resources. Ways to control water pollution should be something everyone practices in order to combat harmful wastes which eventually end up in sewage treatment plants or landfills. Adequate water planning needs to be boldly approached regarding ways to control water pollutionconservation, recycling, desalination, and stricter controlsin order to keep adequate water supplies for our future generations.Over $300 billion dollars are estimated by our government for upgrading pipes in the United States to handle a newer and more reliable water supply system for the country. The days of cheap water are over. One way to control water pollution is to carefully observe which nutrients are needed on the yard before fertilizers are applied, wisely choosing alternatives methods. We will write a custom essay sample on Ways to Control Water Pollution or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page If fertilizers are applied, make sure they do not run off into nearby surface waters, also keeping any type of pet waste, leaves, litter, and plant residue out of storm drains or gutters.Planting trees and brushes to hold back flooding areas and slopes help maintain water in much needed areas, used throughout the world for not only ways to control water pollution but also to conserve natural wildlife habitats. The United States is not the only country struggling in ways to control water pollution. The country of Australia is in a 30-year dry spell, with the urban centers of sub-Saharan Africa’s population growth straining their natural reserve levels.And believe it or not, Asia has over 60% of the entire world’s population with only 30% of the world’s fresh water. What needs to happen to avoid environmental collapse on a world level is for developing and under-developed countries to work together for workable ways to control water pollution, utilizing methods to prevent any more environmental problems as industries grow. Strategies involving conservation methods are slowly becoming acceptable, with the world’s population realizing they do not have to be comfortless just because energy is being conserved.Advancing technology is helping these two ends of the spectrum meet in a comfortable manner, with important ways to control water pollution involving forms of cooperation among global countries and their people. Ways to Conserve amp; Preserve Water Quality By Barbara Kellam-Scott, eHow Contributor Everyone whos ever lived on Earth shares the same water molecules. The Earth on World Water Monitoring Day, September 18, 2010, contains the same number of molecules of water that it did on the first day it could be called Earth.Water cycles t hrough plant and animal bodies, flows into streams, rivers, lakes and oceans, evaporates and falls again as rain and snow. Humans save water in reservoirs, and the Earth saves it in hidden aquifers, fed by the slow seepage of groundwater through soil and rock that cleanses it, to be drawn up again through wells and put back through sewers and septic systems. Not all water molecules are traveling in good company, but there are options on family, community, society and world scales for keeping clean water clean and cleaning up whats been polluted. . At Home * Most of the water that comes into your home through a municipal supply goes back out through sewers for treatment. You can make a big difference, though, by simply taking your car to a commercial car wash. These businesses may be required to and probably do reuse water, clean it of chemicals before discarding it, and discard it into public water-treatment systems for further cleaning. If you must wash your car at home, do it on the lawn where the water can soak back into the ground.Do not let car-wash water run down the driveway into the storm drains, which are not treated and carry your soap and whatever was on your car straight into your own local rivers and lakes. Around Town * State and federal environmental departments can assist communities and groups of communities to analyze and protect the water resources they share. In 2005 the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported on its National Estuary Program and what it taught them about Community-Based Watershed Management. From the experience of 28 coastal watershed regions on all three coasts, they concluded that the model of viewing a watershed as a shared resource could unite citizens and community leaders in funding, organizing, and executing programs to improve their own and their neighbors water quality. Nationwide * Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NDES), just one of the programs authorized in the 1970s by the Clean Water Act, the U. S. EPA is empowered to regulate any pipe, ditch or other conveyance that discharges water into any U. S. waterway.For the most part, these regulations are administered by the states, and include state regulation of discharges from federal facilities. Thanks to programs such as this, 21st-century American children may find it hard to picture major rivers too dirty to swim or fish in. Globally * Unfortunately, much of the world is still catching up on water quality, but most of the world is paying attention. Among the results of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was the establishment of World Water Day. The UN has also declared an international Water for Life decade that began in 2005 for the purpose of bringing nations together to recognize that everyone shares the same water and passes it back and forth around the world. The U. N. s millennium goals include a focus on water resources. Conclusion Clearly, the problems associated with water pollution have thecapabilities to disrupt life on our planet to a great extent. Congress haspassed laws to try to combat water pollution thus acknowledging thefact that water pollution is, indeed, a serious issue.But thegovernment alone cannot solve the entire problem. It is ultimately upto us, to be informed, responsible and involved when it comes to theproblems we face with our water. We must become familiar with ourlocal water resources and learn about ways for disposing harmfulhousehold wastes so they don’t end up in sewage treatment plantsthat can’t handle them or landfills not designed to receive hazardousmaterials. In our yards, we must determine whether additionalnutrients are needed before fertilizers are applied, and look foralternatives where fertilizers might run off into surface waters.Wehave to preserve existing trees and plant new trees and shrubs to helpprevent soil erosion and promote infiltration of water into the soil. Around our houses, we must keep litter, pet waste, leaves, and grassclippings out of gutters and storm drains. These are  just a few of the many ways in which we, as humans, have the abilityto combat water pollution. As we head into the 21st century,awareness and education will most assuredly conti nue to be the twomost important ways to prevent water pollution. If these measures arenot taken and water pollution continues, life on earth will sufferseverely.Global environmental collapse is not inevitable. But the developedworld must work with the developing world to ensure that newindustrialized economies do not add to the worlds environmentalproblems. Politicians must think of sustainable development ratherthan economic expansion. Conservation strategies have to becomemore widely accepted, and people must learn that energy use can bedramatically diminished without sacrificing comfort. In short, with thetechnology that currentlyexists, the years of global environmental mistreatment can begin to bereversed The effects of water pollution on living things

Socialist Cuba essays

Socialist Cuba essays This essay will attempt to show how the vision of a peoples republic was maintained such that the US blockade failed to lead to a rejection of Fidel and Cuban socialism. It will be assessed through a series of economic and social case studies that underpin Cuban society today, in its successful socialist state. Cuba has great symbolic importance in the region and is unique in the world as a strikingly successful and continuing socialist revolution. Fidel Castro assumed control of Cuba in 1959, as a culmination of the revolution. As part of his revolutionary reforms, the Cuban government expropriated large U.S. estates, oil refineries, and other economic assets. He also allied himself with the Communist Party and fostered a strong ally in the America's Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union, from whom Cuba received annual subsidies worth $4-5 billion. As a result, American relations with Cuba were cut off both diplomatically and economically, the United States tried unsuccessfully to overthrow Castro, and Cold War tensions escalated dangerously and dramatically during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Today, Castro is still in power, U.S./Cuban relations remain cool, and the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba continues. Prior to the revolution, Cuba was considered to be one of the higher income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in 1950s. It was rather urbanised than most countries in the Latin American region, with 55% of its population living in urban areas. Illiteracy was estimated officially about 22%. However, the distribution of health service and education was unequal between urban population and rural population. Indeed, poverty was severe in the pre-revolutionary Cuba. One third of the urban population and nearly two thirds of that in rural areas suffered from malnutrition. The ownership of agricultural land was extremely concentrated and the economy of the country was deeply dependant on sugar export to USA. In response to ...

NEGATIVE REVIEWS

NEGATIVE REVIEWS Okay, lets talk about this. Ive been watching people run rampant across the web, in various writers groups, talking about negative reviews. Yes, they are devastating to writers. Yes, they can make you mad and crave to strike back. You will never please every reader. Someone will eventually think you are absolutely stupid for what you wrote. Your characters were two-dimensional. The plot never made a valid point. The setting was mundane. The red herrings were too obvious. The romance too cheezy . . . predictable, shallow, poorly written, etc. And yes, these people have a right to leave a review. You chose to present your work to the public. Do you think nobody will have an opinion on it? Of course you want four- and five-star reviews. Maybe they made a mistake in the review, like saying your setting was New Hampshire instead of Vermont. Maybe they thought it was a mystery when it was a romance. Maybe they prefer literary and got a commercial sci-fi, and are frustrated they wasted their time. They may have confused the title to mean one topic, then the book took off in another direction. But even if they did not read the entire book, they are entitled to an opinion. There are horror stories abounding these days, where naysaying groups are banding together to bash bad writing Lets just stop here and say that we should treat each other with respect. I have a few iffy reviews. No, I did not chastise them, just as I hope nobody would chastise me for any review I left. Lets try to be professional. Lets try not to toss comments out there anonymously. Lets struggle to post our best work and leave our best reviews. And lets hold our tongues if we dont like what someone else has said. Its so tempting to throw out too-quick remarks on the Web. Publishing and writing is difficult enough as it is without us fueling the fire of negative commentary. But . . . we do owe authors the courtesy of a review. No, Im not pandering for reviews. Ive been as negligent as anyone in reading a book and moving on. Now, I try to make a point to pick my stars and leave comments at Amazon or Goodreads, if for no other reason than to thank the author for spending so much time and effort to put yet another book out there for the reading public.

Examine the role of Business Format Franchising in multinational Essay

Examine the role of Business Format Franchising in multinational businesses and define the effect of International Franchising on globalisation - Essay Example The franchisor-franchisee relationship is based on mutual support and trust. In this relational exchange, they share benefits and costs (Grunhagen & Dorsch, 2003). The franchisor provides support, technology and advice to the new franchisee and guarantees continued support. In exchange, the franchisee has to pay an entry fee and a continued royalty on sales and advertising fees for regular services (Inma, 2005). Franchising is different from other forms of business. The franchise owners try to assess the value they receive in exchange for the sum paid. They would remain in the relationship as long as they perceive that they receive a fair value for the payments made to the franchisor. In this relationship, the franchisor or the principal does not invest its own fund in the local service unit because the responsibility of maintenance, construction and management of the local operation lies with the franchisee (Fladmoe-Lindquist & Jacque, 1995; Welsh, Alon & Falbe, 2006). The business format of franchising was based on two dominant theories – the agency theory and the resource scarcity theory (Inma, 2005). Based on the resource scarcity theory, as the company anted to expand and resources were scarce, franchising became a means of obtaining capital. In addition, it also eased managerial constraints upon the growth of the medium and small-sized firms. The agency theory viewed franchising as a means of efficiently controlling the problems that could arise due to the difference between the agent and the principal. Thus, these theories are based on the view that it eliminates the constraints that a firm could encounter in expansion. Although franchising originated in France, today Australia is the most franchised nation per head of population in the world. A franchise organization is claimed to be a hybrid form and has complex contractual arrangements. However, the franchised system can have hybrid forms as well as hierarchy firms (Inma, 2005). This

PepsiCo Strategic Analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PepsiCo Strategic Analysis - Case Study Example Anthony Rossi founded Tropicana in 1947. Business Segments Frito-Lay, Inc was funded in 1961, by merging of The Frito Company and H.W. Lay Company. Today, Frito-Lay brands account for 40% of the world, snack chip industry, and 56% of the U.S. industry. Brand Pepsi and other Pepsi-Cola products account for nearly one-third of total soft drink sales in the United States, a consumer market totalling about $58 billion. Outside the United States, Pepsi-Cola beverages are available in about 160 countries. Today Pepsi-Cola products account for about a quarter of all soft drinks sold internationally. The company has also established operations in the emerging markets of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Russia, where Pepsi-Cola was the first U.S. consumer product to be marketed. Pepsi-Cola provides advertising, marketing, sales and promotional support to Pepsi-Cola bottlers and food service customers. This includes some of the world's best and most recognized advertising. New advertising and exciting promotions keep Pepsi-Cola brands young. Pepsi-Cola Company products: - Pepsi-Cola - Diet Pepsi - Pepsi One - Mountain Dew - Slice - Mug Root Beer - Mug Crme - All Sport - Lipton Teas (Partnership) - Aquafina Water - Frappucci no Coffee Drink - Miranda 7UP (outside the U.S. only) - Fruit Works - Pepsi Max Tropicana Anthony Rossi founded Tropicana in 1947. ... Tropicana products: - Tropicana Pure Premium - Tropicana Season's Best - Dole Juices - Tropicana Twister. - Hitchcock - Looza - Copella. PepsiCo gave corporation image, which is committed with subjects like racial and sex discrimination, and environmental problems. All that through the special programs focused on each area. General In the last four year PepsiCo has suffered radical changes in its internal structure and in its market strategies. All these changes were propitiated by the arrival in the direction of R. Enrico, who implemented a radical change in PepsiCo's mentality. He made very important decisions like to come off the restaurants (Pizza Hut & KFC) and the bottlers, due to they were a heavy weight for the company. Although they were come off them, they follow linked to PepsiCo through strategic alliances, it is to say, that the restaurants still sell PepsiCo products and the bottlers follow bottling Pepsi. Moreover PepsiCo has a minority percent of share of these companies. Other important decisions that Enrico made were the strategic acquisitions of leader companies in related markets, like Tropicana an d Mountain Drew. These acquired companies have given to PepsiCo as much profit as stronger company brand image of New PepsiCo. Company Analysis External Analysis PEST Analysis: The Pest Analysis identifies the political, economical, social a technological influences on an organization. Political influences: - The production distribution and use of many of PepsiCo product are subject to various federal laws, such as the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act ad the Americans with Disabilities. - The businesses are also subject to state, local and foreign laws. - The international

Biography of Abraham Lincoln Essay Example for Free

Biography of Abraham Lincoln Essay Abraham Lincoln (see Fig. 1), the United States sixteenth President, has productively led his nation through its most difficult crisis: the American Civil War. He was eventually assassinated as the war was coming to a halt. Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer, a Legislator in the Illinois State, and a House of Representatives member. He was the proponent in the fight against slavery in the United States and in 1861 won the Presidency. 1 During his term in office, he contributed much of his effort in the preservation of the United States by defeating the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He introduced countermeasures that led to the abolishment of slavery on his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, though various criticisms was put unto him by the opponents of war (also called â€Å"copperheads†), and the faction of the Republican Party called the Radical Republicans. He also promoted the passage of the Thirteenth Constitution Amendment, which was ratified by the states later after his death. Figure 1. Photograph of Abraham Lincoln During the war, Lincoln closely monitored the proceedings, choosing on his own the top Generals that will lead the army. He successfully handled the factions on the Republican Party, and defused the so-called war scare of 1861 with the United Kingdom. Under his intense leadership, the Union was able to take control of the slave border states when the war was about to start. As the war was about to end, he viewed a concept of reconstruction to speed up the unification of the nation through policies on reconciliation. His eminent assassination in 1865 was the first conducted assassination in the United States history. The incident made him a martyr and an epitome of national unification. Early Life Abraham Hanks Lincoln, son of Nancy Hanks and Thomas Lincoln, was born on a small cabin in a spring farm in Kentucky on February 12, 1809. The area was the called Hardin County but now a part of the LaRue County. This made him the first United States President to be born outside the initial Thirteen Colonies. His ancestor was originally from Massachusetts in Hingham, but later departed westward up to the Virginia states to the frontier (see Fig. 2). Figure 2. Symbolic representation of the Cabin log where Lincoln was born 2 His father initially bought the spring farm for $200 and became a respected citizen of Kentucky. The family belonged to a Baptist church (Hardshell), though Abraham never joined any church including of his own family. In 1816, his family was forced to depart to a new County (the Perry County) in Indiana. This move can be accounted for the existing slavery conditions, and land difficulties in Kentucky wherein people had a hard time securing land titles and properties. In 1830, the family decided to settle on Illinois in Macon County due to problem in land title, and then later transferred in Coles County, Illinois. He was about 9 yrs. old when his mother died of â€Å"milk illness†, and soon his father re-married Sarah Bush Johnston. Though affectionate on his stepmother, his attitude towards his father was distant. 3 Lincoln was known to be a self-educated person and only attended 18 months of formal education. He was an athletic person standing 6 foot 4 inches, and also an active wrestler, and skilled on using axes. He was also concerned on animal welfare by significantly avoiding fishing and hunting. At the age of 22, the young Lincoln set forth on his fortune by eagerly canoeing on the Sangamon River to reach the New Salem village. Denton Offut, later that year, hired Lincoln as goods transporter from New Salem towards Sangamon by using flatboat. Early Military Service and Political Career In 1832, Abraham Lincoln started his political career at the age of 23 as an affiliate of the Whig party. Though unsuccessful on his first campaign, he proposed on the navigational enhancements of the Sangamon River. He believed that the improvement would open the door for trading utilizing the river and will eventually improved sea traffic. During the Black Hawk War, he was elected as captain of the Illinois militia that eventually gave him a sense of satisfaction. He then managed a small store for several months before winning a slot on the state legislature in 1834. 4 This gave him the opportunity to come across the Laws of England and eventually inspired him to self educate. In 1837, he was admitted to the bar and began his practice of law together with John T. Stuart. He developed a reputation of being a redoubtable antagonist on cross-examinations and closing arguments; then later on became a successful and able lawyer. He was able to serve four terms in the House of Representatives in Illinois being the representative of the Sangamon County. He made his first dispute on slavery in the House in 1837, emphasizing that the society was founded on both bad policy and injustices. This was also the year where he met his close friend, Joshua Fry Speed. He then started writing unknown letters in 1842 on the Sangamon journal, scornful of the Democrat and State auditor James Shields. Marriage and Family Lincoln married Marry Todd (see Fig. 3) on November 4, 1842 who was the daughter of a well-known slave-owner family coming from Kentucky. The couple had several offspring’s but only one had survived towards adulthood, Robert Todd Lincoln was born on August 1, 1843 at Springfield Illinois; the other children that died either during their teen years or early years were: Edward Baker (born March 10, 1846 and died February 1, 1850), William Wallace Lincoln (born December 21, 1850 and died February 20, 1862), and Thomas Lincoln (born April 4, 1853 and died July 16, 1871). Figure 2. Photograph of Mary Lincoln Legislative Activity In 1846, Lincoln was elected as a member of the United States’ House of Representatives. As a neophyte member, he was not predominantly influential or a powerful figure. Nonetheless, he relentlessly argued his objections on the Mexican-American War. He eventually challenged the then President Polk’s desire of a â€Å"military haven† and eagerly demanded for a resolution to know the exact spot on the US area the blood was first spilled. After two weeks, President Polk sent a letter of peace treaty to the Congress. 5 Lincoln later on damaged his political figure when he made a speech on the killings of children, women, and men of those murderers and â€Å"demons†, and God has forgotten to shield the innocent and the weak. This statement drew outrage among the Democrats and was held against him when he applied for a post in the administration of President Taylor. He decided to give up his political activities for a number of years and concentrated on practicing law. In his practice of law in the mid-1850, Abraham Lincoln handled a vast amount of cases focusing on different aspects. Some were common but others were celebrated such as the case of the Alton and Sangamon railroad of 1851, the civil case of Hurd V. Rock Island Bridge Company, the criminal trial of William Anderson, to name a few. Lincoln was involved in almost 5,000 cases during his 23 years of practicing law during which he appeared almost 400 times on the Supreme Court of Illinois State. Republican Politics Abraham Lincoln returned to politics as a reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was authored by Stephen Douglas of the Democrat. Douglas argued that in a democratic settings the people have the right to choose whether or not their state will allow slavery or not, and the Congress should not impose any decisions on them. Lincoln argued on the matter and established a new Republican Party. Accepting his nomination as a Republican Senator in 1858, Lincoln delivered his famous speech where it created a reminiscent image of the possible break up or disunion caused by the slave issue. The 1860 Presidential Election Lincoln was then elected as the Republican candidate for the 1860 Presidential elections. The bearings why he was elected as the candidate stood on the premise of his stand on slavery, in addition to his perceived western origins. It was thought of he could get the West and the North was the distressed party. During the electoral campaign, Lincoln did not make any speeches for many of the Republicans handled their own State and County. Little effort was made to alter non-Republicans, and there were no relative campaigns in the South. But in the North, a large-scale campaign took place with Republicans speaking on assemblies, leaflets, and editorial newspapers were eminent. 6 The campaign focused on the platform of the party, on Lincoln’s childhood and his rise from poverty, it also showcased his natural gift of intelligence and was given several nicknames such as â€Å"Rail-Splitter† and â€Å"Honest Abe†. The campaign also emphasized on how a common farm boy can rise to adversity and become successful in life. After the election, Lincoln won the Presidency garnering a vast 39. 9% of the total votes, next is Douglas with 29. 5% of the total votes. Presidency and Civil War After Abraham Lincoln won the Presidency n 1860, several uprisings were eminent coming from the South. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina took the first step to leave the Union, and soon followed afterwards by six other States in the South. These seven States established a new nation called the Confederate States of America. The new nation consists the States of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia, The newly –elected President Lincoln and former President Buchanan both refused to distinguish the newly established confederacy. Though there were several attempts to compromise, such as the Crittenden Compromise, but President Lincoln denounced the proposal and maintained his position for a unified States. He successfully evaded the assassination plot on him in Baltimore on February 23, 1861 and on his inauguration as President on March 4, 1861. Sizable troops of German- American Turners were front-lined during on his first inaugural Address. He emphasized on a unified State with strong reference on the United States constitution. But even though he exerted tremendous effort to maintain a unified State, the Confederacy was able to establish itself: therefore compromise seemed to be impossible. The inevitable happened on April 1861 when the Union troops were forced to give up the Fort Surnter and eventually surrender. The event forced President Lincoln to call some 75,000 troops to restore the forts, protect the capital state, and eventually preserved the Union. Almost 18,000 rebels were arrested and held in prison, at the same time President Lincoln negotiated with the uprising States. In July 1862, the Second Confiscation Act was implemented liberating the slaves owned by the rebels. The goal of the Act was to weaken the rebellion, which was relatively controlled and led by slave owners. This new law was termed the â€Å"Emancipation Proclamation†, had the support of the Congress for the enactment. To end slavery was the primary objective of Abraham Lincoln’s administration, but the American people were relatively slow to clinch the idea. The Act took effect in January 1, 1863 and slaves were freed on territories not under the control of the Union. As the army of the Union continued to march south, more and more slaves were freed until almost the entire Confederate’s army (mostly slaves) was liberated (approximate 3 Million people). During the war, the Battle of Gettysburg was considered the most devastating and bloodiest among the casualties of both parties. It has brought a big blow to Lincoln’s effort towards war and sentiments greatly rose on the war and to President Lincoln. Though political sentiments were eminent, Lincoln was able to establish victories on Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga: major victory was at hand. The Confederate army continued to weaken but with high casualties on the part of the Union. As the next election was near, there were fear and doubts if Lincoln would be able to sustain his leadership and win again. At the Republican convention, He was then again elected to run for Presidency alongside with Andrew Johnson. They were able to unite the War Democrats and the Republicans under a new-formed Union Party. Lincoln, with the concern of having the possibility of being defeated, made a pledge that if so he would continue to beat the Confederate before turning over the post. This pledge was sealed and signed by him and all of the representatives of the Republican Party. The eventual splitting of the Democratic Party led to the landslide victory of Lincoln garnering a total of 212 out of 233 electoral votes. He outstandingly delivered his second inaugural speech on March 4, 1865 with the victory over the Confederacy was eminent, the slavery was abolished, and he was looking forward for a new future of the Nation. Reconstruction began and his subordinates initiated the integration of the Southern States, what would be the course of action towards the defeated Confederate leaders, and also for the slaves who were freed. Amnesties were given and each affected State was under reconstruction policies. Governors were appointed on Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The war has officially ended on April 9, 1865 with the Confederate surrendered at the court house in Appromatox. The other rebels also surrendered and there have been no any signs of rising guerilla conflict. During the war, Lincoln has subsequently used his political powers: formed a blockade, suspended relatively the writ of habeas corpus, used huge amount of money without any authorization from Congress, imprisoned without trial some 18,000 alleged Confederate leaders and sympathizers. Assassination Though Lincoln was able to unite the States and abolished slavery, many of his detractors were eagerly anticipating a hostage or a possible assassination plot against him. 7 On April 14, 1865, John Wikes Booth, a Confederate spy, shot Lincoln to the head. With only a single bodyguard on his post, Booth waited for the main line of the play, Our American Cousin, where the audience would be all laughing. He hoped that the magnitude of the audiences’ laughter would camouflage the gunshot noise. As the main line was told, Booth immediately jumped on the state box and shot Lincoln at point blank. Major Henry Rathbone struggled with Booth but eventually was injured by Booth’s knife. He jumped from the box to escape and was chased by Federal agents. A nationwide manhunt were conducted for 12 days before he was consequently cornered and shot in a barn house at Virginia, he died soon after. Abraham Lincoln, with a bullet on his skull was comatose for 9 hours before finally death crossed his path on April 15, 1865. His remains were returned to the White House and laid inside the East room. A train in a funeral grand procession passing through several states on its journey back to Illinois carried his body. Several bronze statues of himself and the tomb stood at 54 m. tall surrounded the Lincoln Tomb located at Oak Ridge Cemetery. To prevent continuous attempts to steal and hold Lincoln’s cadaver for ransom, Robert Lincoln decided to exhume the body of his father and re-buried back with several feet thick of concrete encasement. His death consequently made him a martyr and repeated polls indicated him as one of the most popular and greatest President of the United States. 8 He was clearly personified as an epitome of values in terms of integrity, honesty, love for freedom, respect for minority and individual rights. He was named after several corporations and structures such as the Lincoln National Corporation, the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, and the ballistic missile Abraham Lincoln, to name a few. He had several memorial statues in different States, his birthday was declared a President’s holiday, the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, and the Abraham Lincoln Memorial (see figure 3). Figure 3. The Abraham Lincoln Memorial Abraham Lincoln, the orator and the great debater, can be considered one of the finest Presidents of the United States. Having the gift of extraordinary knowledge, being formally educated only for 18 months, he diligently worked hard and self-studied to become a successful lawyer. He represents the common people that strived and worked hard to achieve one’s ambition. He was the pioneer in the attempt to abolished slavery, he was an advocate of human rights, and strength fully kept and re-united the States in times of rebellion and uprisings. His death, being the first U. S. President to be assassinated, was symbolic and paved the way for him to become an icon of peace, honesty, respect, and love for freedom. References [1] Thomas, Benjamin T. 1952. Abraham Lincoln: A Biography. University Press, 18. [2] Kunhardt, Philip G. 1992. Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography. Gramercy Books New York, 324 – 450. [3] Lea, Henry James D. 1909. The Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln. Houghton Miffin, 65. [4] Goodwin, Doris K. 2005. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. McGraw Hill, 101. [5] Waugh, John C. 2007. One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln’s Road to Civil War. Harcourt Publishing, 156. [6] Donald, David E. 2003. Lincoln Reconsidered: Essay on the Civil War Era. Simon and Schuster, 176. [7] Gienapp, William C. 2002. Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography. McGraw Hill Publishing, 267. [8] Basler, Roy L. 1955. Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Rutgers University Press, 67.

Wilfred Owens Poetry and War Essay -- Wilfred Owen Poetry Poems War E

Wilfred Owen's Poetry and War Wilfred Owen is now seen as one of the most important of the many poets of the First World War. He was born the son of a railway worker in Shropshire, and educated at schools in Shrewsbury and Liverpool. His devoted mother encouraged his early interests in music and poetry. When he could not afford a university education, he went abroad to teach English in France. He was there when war broke out in 1914, and decided to return to England to volunteer for the army. After training, he became an officer and was sent to France at the end of 1916, seeing service first in the Somme sector. In spring 1917, he took part in the attacks on the German Hindenburg Line near St Quentin. When a huge shell burst near him, he was shell-shocked and sent back to England. The horrors of battle dramatically changed him from the youth of August 1914, who had felt 'the guns will effect a little useful weeding'. From his experiences, Owen was able to write very graphic and realistic poems, to show his reader the true atrocities of war. Three of his poems that show different aspects of war are; 'Anthem for Doomed Youth', 'Dulce et Decorum Est', and 'The Send-Off'. The poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth', is a long comparison between the elaborate ceremonial of a Victorian-style funeral, and the way in which men go to their death on the western front. The poem is written in the form of a sonnet, and has a very traditional format. Owen wrote in this way mostly due to the influence of the poet Siegfried Sassoon, whose experience and high education helped him greatly during this period. The poem is made up of fourteen lines, and follows the rhyme scheme abab, cdcd, effe, gg. The title of the poem ... ...st; the contrasting 'lie' of the phrase 'Dulce et Decorum Est, Pro patria mori', the contrast of elaborate Victorian funerals and the way in which men go to death, in Anthem for Doomed youth, and in The Send-off, the contrast of the phrase 'grimly-gay', to imply a sense of guilt and conspiracy to the poem. The three poems that I have studied, all show different aspects of war, and have many similarities and comparisons. However, they were all written with the same intention and opinion, by a soldier who had first-hand experience of the front line, and as such would not be duped by the media's portrayal of war as romantic and heroic. I think that the overall message Owen is trying to portray, is that the atrocity of war should be considered utterly senseless, brutal, and inhumane, and avoided at all costs, no matter what the situation happens to be.

How Successful Were The Nazi Party In Carrying Out Their Aims Essay

During the 13 years they were in power, the Nazi party put forward a lot of opportunities and propaganda that would encourage children to be inspired and take part in the National Socialist movement. These were also aimed to turn young boys in to selfless, strong soldiers and young women in to the soldiers of the household and childbearing front. One of the first policies that the Nazi’s brought out was to instigate a Nazi cadet force. These young men that were aged from 13 – 18 would arrive and spend time learning a plethora of soldier making skills including, trench digging, grenade throwing, uses of dugouts and bayonet drill. Although having these skills was incredibly useful to them when it came to the upcoming war but the membership in 1938 were actually only 25% of students attended the meetings regularly. Despite this it can be argued that especially after it became compulsory in 1939, many students became fanatical over the idea of being a part of the German Reich, suggesting that when it really did matter, during the Second World War, the Nazi policies backing up the Hitler Youth were incredibly effective. Another aim of the Nazi party was to turn children in to anti-Semitics from the moment that they learn to think. They did this primarily through changing the education system. This entailed re-naming biology as race studies. This was a subject where the class would analyse the problems with the Jewish faith and what they have done wrong throughout the history of their religion. Largely speaking this was incredibly successful; this was because, in most children, it was easily to shape their minds. This ended up with a lot of them, snubbing their original Jewish friends, a lot of the time without having any good reason other than the fact that it was the anti-Semitic ideology that had been ingrained in to them. Fitness was an incredibly important of the Nazi society in all aspects of society and not just children. Despite this, children, especially males did have an incredibly hard regime to follow. These kinds of activities revolved around the centre point of a Nazi boy’s upbringing which was being ready for war. Throughout the future war, Hitler knew that a fit army was an efficient one and starting this mindset from an early age was an incredibly effective way of making sure this happened. Although this did turn them in to war ready, fit young men, some of the regimes were slightly excessive when you consider the range of ages. Especially when children were being evacuated in to the â€Å"countryside† they were actually being taken to Nazi camps, were generals would test out fitness programs for some of the elite regiments. This could lead to the suggestion that a lot of children were alienated by this and so was not entirely successful. When looking at Nazi policies towards young women, we can see that although they have a very different structure and content, the final result is the same. The Nazi’s wanted to create women that followed the Nazi ideology. The main way that they did this was to introduce their own kind of youth club. Despite being similar to the Hitler youth, the itinerary of the Jugmadelbund (the name of the organisation), was much more focused on improving skills to do with mother hood, cooking and other household jobs. This had mixed result as many of them only cam to the meetings to see friends and were not really interested in the propaganda message. On the other hand it can be argued that they were successful due to the fact that a lot more girls went to them than boys did to the Hitler Youth pre 1939. This resulted in a lot of becoming part of the Nazi ideal almost through accident. Adolf Hitler knew that children were the future of the German race, for this reason he spent a lot of time, money and effort in to securing this ideological legacy through numerous policies and organisations. Overall these were largely successful in getting across his message. The evidence for this is most prominent, towards the end of the war where children as young as 12 and 13 were taking part in the fighting. Even when the Soviet Red Army was knocking on the door of Berlin, children fought, almost fanatically to defend the Nazi ideal to their last breath, their minds shrouded by the fact that they had never really been apart of anything else but the German Third Reich.

Greek Nationalism

Within the 18th and early 19th century, Greece experienced highly heinous ordeals when it was under Ottoman subjugation, and it aspired to redeem their previously established terms of democracy and overall culture; however, these ordeals for the Greeks were so influential that they ultimately altered their culture and general customs. These changes affected Greece in vast, multifarious ways but they can primarily be classified by Greece’s economical, social, and political aspects.Economically, Greece experienced, under Ottoman rule, poverty and were hardly able to provide for themselves nonetheless defend themselves from Ottoman rule with substantial weaponry and armor, they also received a transfiguration in not striving to possess lands and riches as in precedent instances but to possess and utilize income as a means of ensuring liberation, and they experienced a great economical and thus cultural diversity amongst themselves with extensive, distinct attitudes and economical intentions within Greek society between the more opulent and poorer individuals.Socially, the general sentiment of Greece was deteriorated by its transfiguration into a more solemn nation in Europe and the precedent vibe of Greece, before Ottoman domination, was altered and substituted with Turkish gloom with apathy reflected towards Greek arts, passions, and sciences, and their only manner of which they managed to free themselves was by working together with other nations and forming a resistance, which they did; also, Greeks were very compatible with other nations and they were able to become cared for by other nations and were able to receive assistance from them during the Greek Revolution in result.Politically, Greece’s government transfigured with the Ottoman’s political customs and their authorities were poorly implemented, and even formal approbation had to be made in order for officials to enact on malpractices such as robberies and rebellions; subsequently, this caused revolutions in Greece in order to bring retaliation on the Ottomans for killing their leader of the Greek Orthodox church, which was apart of their religious, or sultan’s, government, and ultimately, they subjugated the Ottomans’ jurisdiction in Greece and, as they aspired, established their own government as well with beneficial leaders.Indeed, there are many puzzling factors and results of the Greek Revolution, but they can become vividly perceived with the synopsizes and recounted instances given by individuals who in which were living at these times expressed by there works and archived data. There were many inauspicious economical aspects of Greece during the 19th century that contributed to its anarchy, yet also enabled the people with an incentive of change.The economical stature of Greece had its people predominately classified among the rich who were respectful to their Turkish masters and the poor, who comprised much of the Greeks, were not too fo nd of the Ottomans, and this, as conceivable, caused contention amongst these major classes in Greece as well as the Ottomans; James Dallaway, a chaplain to an English community in Constantinople, sent a missive that comprised these ideas and aspects of Greece’s economical aspects and anarchy.He conveyed a vital component in his missive by saying, â€Å"The richer Greeks are very devious and intriguing, and with very limited exception only less ignorant than their Turkish masters. The lower ranks are the merriest creatures imaginable, but are untrustworthy, and awake to every advantage. † His purpose in devising this missive was most likely to express his great concern for the dreadful economical status of Greece and to imply the ultimate effect of how sovereign acting country and an extensive variation between a rich and middleclass can impact a practical nation (Doc. ). Subsequently, another economical issue lied primarily with how Greece would be able to request acc ommodations from other countries to receive independence from the Ottoman’s with assurance of the other countries’ moral incentives, such as Russia that in which aspired to assist Greece in order to receive financial compensation from Greece to a broad extent of possessing Greece’s lands.Percy Shelley, an English poet, provided this evidence through his poem entitled â€Å"Hellas† that says in its preface, â€Å"Russia desires to possess, not to liberate, Greece; and the wise and generous policy of England would consist in establishing the independence of Greece, and in maintaining it against both Russia and the Turks. † He wrote this poem with an intention of, perchance, expressing admonition during this revolution for the Greeks (Doc. 7).As a another, supported economical ordeal, A. Regnier devised an engraving entitled Greece Sacrificed that in which comprised a display of Ottomans attacking Greeks, which seem to be of a poorer class in; however , as mentioned antecedently, most people in Greece were impoverished during this revolution. These Greek individuals seemed defenseless and, as made apparent, did not possess any weaponry as the Ottoman Turks confronted them; this engraving was most likely devised by A.Regnier with a purpose of conveying Greece’s economical strife during this Greek Revolution, and it also expressed how Greece’s religious integrity remained in tact as the soon to be succumbed Greeks await their deaths from the Ottomans (Doc. 11). Like the many adverse economical aspects in Greece, there were also manifolds of unfavorable social facets in Greece as well while under Ottoman subjugation.The precedent vibe of Greece, before Ottoman subjugation, was one of jubilancy and patriotism or nationalism in Greek contrivances and culture; however, this sentiment altered as they were undermined by the Turks. Sneyd Davis, an English writer, composed a poem entitled To His Friend and Neighbor Dr. Thomas Taylor that coveys an articulate way of describing the solemn effects that were wrought in result of the Ottoman jurisdiction in Greece.He conveyed an exceptional perspective of these adverse effects even in the most popular location in Greece, Athens, by saying his poem, â€Å"Go, search for Athens; her deserted ports, Enter—a noiseless, solitary shore, Where commerce once crowded the Athenian strand. Trace her dark streets, her ruined shrines; and wonder, where her glories shined. Where are her orators, her sages, now? Shattered her moldering arches, her towers in dust, but far less ruin’d, than her soul decayed. Sneyd Davis ensured to incorporate the correlations between Greece when it was experiencing its utmost prosperity in its ancient times to its most pitied downfall during Ottoman domination, which he did so to supplement imagery to hopefully elicit a realization in individuals that Greece was in desperate need of assistance of becoming liberated from the Tu rks; although, Greece would not be liberated for another 100 years from the publication of this poem, the ideas of freeing Greece grew early in the hearts of individuals from other nations, especially, as made apparent, Great Britain and, soon later, France. Doc. 1). As antecedently mentioned, Greece’s culture was altered monumentally by Turkish domination, but the primary manners of how it was affected are not specifically by how its economy or how its vibe of jubilancy was effected but also incorporating its arts and artistic passions, its build on philosophies and sciences, and how the subjugation obstructed the entire progress of the Greeks.Claude Etienne Savary, a French scholar of Greek and Arabic, wrote a missive, like James Dallaway, and described his loath for the deterioration of Greek culture by saying, â€Å"Let me not be accused of painting the Turks in darker colors than they deserve, but I have traveled through their empire and have seen the injuries of every kind which they have done to the sciences, the arts, and the human race. At the sight of these melancholy spectacles my heart groans, my blood boils in my veins and I would wish to excite all Europe to combine against these Turks who have crushed the Greek nation. Claude Etienne Savary reflected this deep resentment towards the Ottoman Turks most likely because of their intrusion between Savary and his avidity directed towards Greek culture; this obstruction of Greek progression in Greece’s magnificent talented unity of culture and artistic passion even enraged those of distinct cultures with aspirations of reprimanding the Turks and helping ignite a revolution in Greece (Doc. 3).According to opinions from other nations, Greece was a very compatible and respected nation because of their sympathy directed to other nations, and they were always recognized for persisting with their religious integrity throughout very challenging trials such as through Ottoman domination. Alexand ros Kalpholougo, a popular poet concerned with Greek culture, composed an untitled poem that reflected Greece’s avidity with other nations; he said through his poem, â€Å"Greeks love every foreigner, they love a German for his company and an enlightened Frenchman, an impious libertine.In conversation not a word about the commandments of God.? The young, the educated, do not go to Church, for they have got French enlightenment.? They say, â€Å"We have books and French romances, all the other books are so melancholy! †Ã¢â‚¬  (Doc. 4). As the years grew closer to the initiation of the Greek Revolution in 1821, exhortations were made by more and more Greeks to commence a revolution and as these expressions augmented and stressed the things that they were unjustly being pressed against by the Ottoman Turks, their aspirations of rebellion increased as well.Greek exiles, which had experienced the ordeals made by the Ottoman Turks, encouraged their Greek comrades to fight and rebel against the Ottomans; they encourage their belligerent desires by saying, â€Å"O Greeks, learn forever that the weapons of justice are unconquerable, and that the Ottomans will flee from the armed Greeks.Remember, finally, that the beginning of victory is resistance, and that the Greeks are neither savage nor of worthless spirit, as are their enemies. Freedom has approached her ancient home. † (Doc. 6). Greece’s political statuses were also altered by the Ottoman’s self-righteous desires of subjugation in multifarious ways.With the Ottoman’s established governmental regime, enforcement for robbers and what may be considered as â€Å"righteous criminals† were not regulated properly, and if a lamentable occurrence was to transpire, then there generally was a need for the head sultan over the Turks to initiate a means of retaliation rather than having leaders that were designated to make decisions perhaps even allowing Greeks to participate in decision making; this can reflect an improper distribution of power, poor governmental/ enforcement systems, and imposing sovereignty with not allowing Greeks to contribute to conclusions made by government.Mustapha III, the Turkish sultan during 1765, ordered his chosen governor in northern Greece to repress rebellions made by Greeks and said, â€Å"With the arrival of my imperial decree be it known that robbers continually incite the district of Larissa to rebellion. Impose order and report on the measures taken. Mustapha III must have enacted on this order to his governor as a matter of ensuring that his jurisdictions remained stable; however, based on the apparent previous information given, the logic behind the Greeks’ rebellions was because of the maltreatment made because of him, so, therefore, there is an ignorant contention with Mustapha III who needed to refrain from being greatly imposing with the Greeks and should have respected Greek nationalism (Doc. 2).Thr oughout Greece’s strife through the difficult times of Ottoman sovereignty, Greece depended on the reliable political/ religious guidance by their leader in the Greek Orthodox Church; however, during the commencement of the Greeks’ enragement. Edward Blaquiere, an organizer and fundraiser for the London Greek Committee, wrote in his composition entitled the Greek Revolution, published in 1824, and said, emphasizing these matters, â€Å"The fortress of Navarino, which surrendered soon after the uprising began in 1821, was the scene of another tragedy, to which only wars between slaves and their masters ever give rise.During the siege, news of the murder of the head of the Greek Orthodox Church by the sultan’s government spread throughout Greece. † Edward Blaquiere’s purpose in composing this work of his, regarding that he is a fundraiser for the London Greek Committee, was most likely to not only inform people of these inauspicious occurrences but t o also elicit subsidization and assistance for the Greeks during the Greek Revolution. (Doc. 8).Although Greece had lost their reliable leader that was head over the Greek Orthodox Church, another leader, Alexander Mavrocordato the writer of Declaration to the Christian Powers, assisted in the Greek Revolution and helped produce the Greek revolutionary government; this regime, with the assistance of other nations, enabled Greece to proclaim its independence and established a stable government free from Turkish rule entirely (Doc. 10).As it is apparent, the Greeks had to endeavor through many trials during 18th and early 19th century while they were under Ottoman subjugation; these ordeals mainly affected Greece in practically every manner possible: its economical, social, and political aspects. Economically, most Greeks were impoverished, there was economical distrust towards other nations in alliances with Greece, and there was a vast aperture between the major poor and minor rich classes in Greece that caused conflict among them.Socially, Greece became more of a solemn nation, there was degrading found within former Greek passions such as artistic productions philosophies and sciences, and Greeks were luckily able to receive accommodations by other nations in result of their great compatibility.Politically, the Ottomans enforced their own governmental regime that was very unstable and irresolute, they murdered the head leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, and, at least luckily for the Greeks, they attained a new leader for their revolution who in which assisted among with the accommodations of other nations in order to reestablish stability in Greece and was contrived successfully.The Greeks may have had an interval of where they were unable to progress with their cultural achievements due Ottoman subjugation in Greece; however, due to the Greeks persistence of revolutions and with the accommodations made by other nations, the Turkish sovereignty was not pro longed and Greece was able to recover its splendid, wholesome culture.

Whats Actually Tested on the ACT English Section

What's Actually Tested on the ACT English Section SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you planning to take the ACT soon? Curious about what the English section is like? It's more than just correcting grammar and recognizing proper punctuation. In this post we will break down exactly what the ACT English section tests. What Is the ACT English Section Like? The ACT English section is a 75-question, 45-minute test. That comes out to just 36 seconds per question! So you will have to work pretty quickly to complete each question before you run out of time. Also, be aware this is always the first section of the ACT, so you need to be ready to tackle it very early on a Saturday morning. Do some warm-up problems at home so you’re not starting this section cold. Each English test has five essays or passages, each of which is accompanied by a sequence of multiple-choice questions. Some of the questions ask about specific phrases or sentences in the passage, and some ask about a paragraph or the entire passage as a whole. We will explore what those questions specifically test below. What Does ACT English Cover? ACT English tests two broad content areas. The first is Usage and Mechanics (including punctuation, grammar, usage, and sentence structure). The second is Rhetorical Skills (including strategy, organization, and style). Usage and Mechanics requires fine-tuned punctuation and grammar knowledge. Rhetorical Skills focuses on your comprehending of the passage as a whole and your ability to maximize the passage's organization and style. You'll receive a subscore for each of those two categories, though keep in mind that your overall section score is more important. (For more about how the ACT is scored, see our post!) So rather than worry about the subscore you'll get for each section, just use those two categories to help guide your studying. Spelling and vocabulary aren’t tested on ACT English. And while grammar rules are tested, you will be working with passages, meaning you can use context to help you find the correct answers. You won't be expected to know tricky, obscure grammar rules in isolation. Now let's look at each subsection in depth, and show you some practice questions to give you an idea of what you will face on ACT English. Subsection 1: Usage/Mechanics Think of this as the nitty-gritty, detailed portion of the English test. You have to know punctuation rules, grammar rules, and how to construct a sentence properly to do well on this part. One trick for these questions is to pretend you're editing a paper for class. Choose the answers that make the passage as clear and precise as possible. Punctuation (10-15%) These questions test conventions of internal and end-of sentence punctuation. In other words, you have to understand correct comma, apostrophe, period, and semicolon use. Punctuation questions emphasize the relationship of punctuation to meaning. In other words, how can you use punctuation to make sure the writing is as clear as possible? Make sure to take the entire sentence into account, even if the question asks about the punctuation of just a short phrase. Check out the example below to see what we mean. Source: ACT Assessment Practice Multiple-Choice Test. Although the question is asking about the correct punctuation to use for the phrase "charcoal gray suits," you have to take the entire sentence into account to make sure you choose the correct answer choice. The phrase comes at the end of a list of various subway passengers, ending with "a group of stockbrokers in crisp, charcoal gray suits." Since commas are used to separate items in lists, you do not need to add a comma after the last item in a list. Thus, you can leave this phrase alone and select F., No Change. In other words, our process here was to take into account the sentence as a whole, and use that to guide our punctuation choice. Never focus on just the short phrase when doing ACT English questions. Always make sure your answer choice makes sense in the entire sentence. Grammar and Usage (15-20%) These questions test your understanding of grammar rules like agreement between subject and verb, agreement between pronoun and antecedent, and agreement between modifiers and the word modified. Verb formation, pronoun case, and formation of comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs are also tested. Finally, you have to be aware of idiomatic usage. While we won't explain each individual grammar rule in this post, you can refer to our complete ACT grammar guide to get a more in-depth look at what you'll see on this section. And check out the example below to see what an ACT grammar question can look like. Source: ACT Assessment Practice Multiple-Choice Test. The question is seeing if you can identify correct and incorrect forms of a verb tense. You have to decide which of the four answer choices would be incorrect. One simple way to do this is to plug each of the answer choices into the sentence and see if they fit correctly. By doing this, it's easy to pick out that choice H., "played," does not fit in the sentence, making it the right answer. This question is an example of an ACT English question that asks you which choice is NOTacceptable in the sentence. Make sure you are reading these questions carefully so you don't make the silly mistake of choosing an answer that is acceptable in the sentence! Sentence Structure (20-25%) These questions test your understanding of relationships between and among clauses, placement of modifiers, and shifts in construction. So while the previous two question types tested punctuation and grammar in short phrases, these questions your ability to understand the relationship between clauses in order to form correct sentences. Check out the example below to see what this looks like. Source: ACT Assessment Practice Multiple-Choice Test. Even though the question only looks like it's asking about a few words, it's actually testing your ability to link the clauses "About three and half million people a day ride the subways" and "I think maybe I might have possibly have met them all." As it stands, these clauses have been grouped next to each other with nothing to link them, so choice A (No Change) can't be correct. So now you have to decide the word that best links the two clauses. Testing the choices in the sentence, only choice B. "subways, and" makes sense. The conjunction "and" links the two clauses as a sequence. The other two choices, "which" and "actually," would imply comparison which doesn't make sense in context. In short, make sure to keep an eye on the sentence as a whole and find the answer that makes the relationship between clauses as clear and natural as possible. Subsection 2: Rhetorical Skills Think of this as the â€Å"big picture† part of the ACT English test. Rather than correcting individual sentences, you are now thinking about the passage and argument as a whole. You have to find the answer choices that make the ideas, organization, and style of the passage the clearest. We'll dive into the subcategories below. Strategy (15-20%) Strategy questions test how well you can develop a given topic by choosing words or phrases that match an essay's audience and purpose. You also have to judge the effect of adding, revising, or deleting supporting material. Ask yourself, does the extra material add to the argument, or just confuse it? You have to judge the relevance of possible additional statements in context, and choose whether to include them or not. For these questions, you have to take the entire passage into account and carefully consider whether the possible revision clarifies or confuses the passage's message. For example, check out the example below, which asks about the entire passage. Source: ACT Assessment Practice Multiple-Choice Test. You have to figure out two things: first, whether or not you should make the addition, and second, why you should or should not. We won't make you read the entire passage for this post, but when faced with a style question like this, consider the material the passage has already introduced. Would adding the sentence enhance the passage's point or confuse it? Only choose to add a statement if it directly ties to information already introduced in the passage. Organization (10-15%) The organization questions test how well you organize ideas and choose effective opening, transitional, and closing sentences. These questions tend to focus on the beginning and ends of paragraphs, so again, it's important to have a solid grasp of the passage's meaning as a whole to do well here. Here's an example of what an organization question might ask: Source: Preparing for the ACT, 2014-15. Given the content of the paragraph, you need to find the choice that most naturally leads into the first sentence. The paragraph starts with a description of biking that leads into a longer description of nature. Although this makes choice C, "Nature always impresses me," tempting, you need to make sure the first few sentences still make sense. In this case, "Bicyclists streak past" best introduces the description of bikers. This makes the answer A, "No Change." For organization questions, make sure to consider both the paragraph's overall point, but also think about how to make smooth, logical transitions. Style (15-20%) These questions test how well you select precise and appropriate words and images, maintain the level of style and tone in an essay, manage sentence elements for rhetorical effectiveness, and avoid ambiguous pronoun references, wordiness, and redundancy. Again, it's important to have a solid grasp of the passage's tone and meaning to get these questions right. Source: Preparing for the ACT, 2014-15. The question asks you to choose a phrase that communicates the narrator's "positive, friendly attitude." The phrase in the passage, "moves slowly," as well as choice C, "proceeds carefully," are pretty neutral, so you can eliminate them. Choice B, "travels safely," is positive but not particularly friendly. This leaves choice D, "purrs softly," as the correct answer. For style questions, make sure you focus on identifying the passage's tone and choose words or phrases that add to it. What’s Next? Not sure if you’re up to speed on grammar rules? We have a complete guide to all of the grammar you need to know for ACT English. Ready to try some practice questions? Check out our links to free, official ACT practice tests to try out a full English section for yourself. Want to ace this section? We have nine strategies to get a perfect 36 on ACT English. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by ACT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

The Power of Setting Using Vivid Description to Enthrall Your Readers - Freewrite Store

The Power of Setting Using Vivid Description to Enthrall Your Readers - Freewrite Store Starting out as a fiction writer, you’ll be told to focus on plot, dialogue, and characterization - but there’s something else that should be on that list - that often gets relegated to the ‘not-so-important’ pile. The power of evocative description of the setting of your story is frequently overlooked - but it shouldn’t be. I did a bachelor's degree in Creative Writing in my mid-twenties, aftermy first novel was published. (Yeah, I know that’s backward way on, but it seemed a good idea at the time!) It surprised me that vivid description of the story setting didn’t really come up until a module on ‘world-building’ for fantasy fiction. The story setting isn’t just important in fantasy fiction. It’s important in all fiction, offering the opportunity to enthrall your readers and bring your story to life. Great fiction, I believe, is the kind that has you dreaming about the setting and the characters long after the book is finished - and if you don’t offer a vivid description of the setting to your readers, they can’t dream about it. So, now you know why creating vivid and evocative descriptions of your setting is so important, let’s look at what goes into crafting the kind of descriptions that stick in your readers’ minds. The Essential Ingredients of Vivid Settings If you’re cooking a complex meal, you know that you have to measure out the exact ingredients in the recipe if you want it to turn out as expected. With vivid descriptions of settings, you also need to include a range of ingredients - although you have a little more freedom with the quantities. The ingredients of an evocative setting are the same whether you’re writing fantasy or romance, historical fiction or a crime thriller. Let’s take a look at what you need. Sensory Details The best descriptions of settings use a lot of sensory details. As humans, we explore our world using our five senses, so it’s only natural to use the senses to craft realistic and vivid details that your readers can easily imagine. Sensory details - which evoke smells, colors, textures, sounds, and sensations - can instantly add power to any description of a setting. Of course, different settings will evoke different senses - and you don’t have to evoke all five senses in each description. Let’s look at the difference that sensory details can add to your writing in the contrast between these two descriptions: Alex forged ahead. There was a path leading through the trees and into some bushes A path of crushed pine needles wound among the trees and into a shadowy clump of bracken and snow-laden rhododendron bushes. A sharp, icy wind carried the sharp tang of pine and the damp decay of leaves on the forest floor. Sunlight spilled through the canopy of trees and reflected off droplets of water clinging to the sleeve of Alex’s jacket. A twig snapped beneath his boot, and he froze, holding his breath as the deer’s head turned sharply towards him. It sniffed the air, and then, as if it could smell the danger, bolted away through the undergrowth, its hoof-beats seeming to echo the frustrated beating of Alex’s heart. If you struggle with bringing sensory details into your writing, you could try keeping a ‘sensory diary’. By this, I mean carrying a notebook with you and spending a few minutes every day describing your setting. Focus on: What you can hear What you can see What you can smell What the surface you’re sitting on feels like What you can taste (this applies even if you’re not eating or drinking anything!) Metaphors and Similes Metaphor: A word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar; An object, activity, or idea that is used as a symbol of something else For example: â€Å"Love is a battlefield† Simile: a type of figurative language that describes something by comparing it to something else with the words like or as. For example, â€Å"Life is like a box of chocolates.† As literary devices, metaphors and similes are tools that every writer should have in their toolbox. Although metaphors and similes can become tired with overuse, their familiarity can help instantly connect your reader with the setting you’re describing - evoking powerful sensory details without having to articulate those details. Both metaphors and similes have extensively been used throughout the centuries - and to great effect. Take a look at these examples:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The sun in the west was a drop of burning gold that slid near and nearer the sill of the world.† - Lord of the Flies, William Golding â€Å"Small flames stirred at the trunk of a tree and crawled away through leaves and brushwood, dividing and increasing. One patch touched a tree trunk and scrambled up like a bright squirrel. The smoke increased, sifted, rolled outwards. The squirrel leapt on the wings of the wind and clung to another standing tree, eating downwards. Beneath the dark canopy of leaves and smoke, the fire laid hold on the forest and began to gnaw.† - Lord of the Flies,William Golding â€Å"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!† - Romeo Juliet,William Shakespeare â€Å"In the eastern sky there was a yellow patch like a rug laid for the feet of the coming sun . . .† - The Red Badge of Courage,Stephen Crane â€Å"The water made a sound like kittens lapping.† - The Yearling,Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Similes and metaphors can be overused, however, so it’s important that you don’t rely on them too much when you’re working on writing vivid descriptions of your story setting. Instead, you should aim to balance your writing with a variety of figurative techniques. If you struggle with coming up with metaphors and similes for your writing, it may help to go through some of your favorite books and see how the authors you admire use these literary devices. Atmospheric Details Creating an atmosphere in your setting can truly take your scenes to the next level. Describing an atmosphere can add tension, a sense of urgency, apprehension, excitement, and so on. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens used atmospheric imagery in his descriptions of Miss Havisham’s house to create a vivid sense of despair and decay. The narrator, Pip, describes it as being made ‘of old brick and dismal... [with] a great many iron bars to it.’ Dickens writes: Some of the windows had been walled up; of those that remained, all the lower were rustily barred [†¦] While we waited at the gate, I peeped [†¦] and saw that at the side of the house there was a large brewery. No brewing was going on in it, and none seemed to have gone on for a long long time. ‘The first thing I noticed was, that the passages were all dark and that she had left a candle burning there. She took it up, and we went through more passages and up a staircase, and still, it was all dark, and only the candle lighted us.’ The atmosphere Dickens creates is gothic - perfect for Miss Havisham - but you can use details like these to create any kind of atmosphere. There are particular kinds of words that create an atmosphere. For example: Rattling Creaking Thumping Whistling Shuddering Echoing Try looking at how your favorite authors create an atmosphere in their novels. Why is it so effective? Do you think some types of atmosphere are more commonly evoked in settings than others? A Note on Authenticity When you’re writing vivid descriptions, it’s easy to get carried away. However, unless you’re writing fantasy fiction (where you literally have a license to let your imagination run wild) or creating your own fictional towns, it’s important that the settings that you describe are authentic. Even if you’re creating a fictional town or city, you have to make it realistic. This especially applies if you’re writing historical fiction - but it’s important for all kinds of fiction, really. Creating an authentic setting avoids jarring the reader out of the story with a detail that is out of place in the time period or location of the setting. For example, imagine you’re reading a book set in Victorian London - in 1855. The author has been using authentic dialogue and using really evocative language in describing the setting. You’re engrossed in the story, immersed in all the details that make you feel like you can actually smell the streets of London. Then, the author has a character catching a train on the London Underground. Except you happen to know that the London Underground didn’t open until 1863. This jarring detail immediately ruins the sense of authenticity. Always fact-check when you’re writing about settings that your readers may be familiar with. All the descriptive skills in the world can’t save a novel that is inaccurate! It can be helpful to keep a file with all the necessary details about any real-life settings to ensure you’re keeping to the facts. Practice Writing Vivid Descriptions If you want to master the art of vivid description, you need to hone your skills before you start working on your novel. We’ve covered all the essential ingredients for an evocative description of a setting, so now it’s your turn to put them into practice!   Here’s some prompts and exercises to get you started: Go and sit in your local coffee shop and spend ten minutes describing the atmosphere, the sounds, the smells, the sights, and so on. If you want to make this more challenging, try emailing your description to a friend to see if they can guess the location. If they can’t, keep practicing. Find a book about the history of your town or city and pick a street or location that has changed significantly during the past 100 years. Write a scene set in the location - but describe the scene 100 years ago, then 75 years ago, 50 years ago, and 25 years ago. If you know older people who may remember the location in the past, you could share your description with them to see if they would add any different details - or take some out. Create a fictional setting for your story, and spend 30 minutes writing a scene full of vivid description. Make sure you evoke sensory details, create an atmosphere, and use metaphors and/or similes to bring your description to life. Learn from one of the greatest masters of descriptive writing: J.R.R. Tolkein. In Book One of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, he wrote: "The trees do not like strangers. They watch you. They are usually content merely to watch you, as long as daylight lasts." Get hold of a copy of The Lord of the Rings and find a passage the describes a setting. Study the language that Tolkein uses and the way that he brings the locations to life. What types of words does he use? Why are they so powerful? What similes and/or metaphors does he use? Can you identify any other techniques in his writing? Now, describe a setting using the same techniques. Go through one of your past stories/novels and find a couple of scenes that you haven’t used a lot of description in. Rewrite them, putting into practice the things you’ve learned about creating vivid descriptions.